[Evenin’.]
<Welcome!>
|good evening. um, sorry|
{Why are you apologizing? lol}
<Saika always apologizes right off the bat. That first time was because you weren’t used to the Internet yet, and you got hit with a virus, right? You can’t help that!>
|sorry|
|sorry|
[Too much apologizing, ha-ha.]
{Anyway, we were just talking about the Yellow Scarves.}
<Do you know about them?>
|from the romance of the three kingdoms?|
[Well, yes, but more specifically, it’s a gang named after that.]
|oh, the people wearing yellow scraps around town?|
[Yes, those are the ones.]
{Have you seen them, Saika?}
<I’m telling you, pretty much anyone living in Ikebukuro has seen them.>
|sorry, yes, i have|
<Don’t apologize, lol.>
|sorry|
<Speaking of which…seems like the Dollars and the Yellow Scarves are in a touchy situation right now.>
[Oh?]
|what is the dollars?|
{Oh, you don’t know about the Dollars.}
|sorry|
{No, look, you don’t have to keep apologizing.}
<Private Mode> {…Is it true, Izaya?}
<Private Mode> <Yep, dead serious. Though I’m sure you’ve heard about it, too.>
<Private Mode> <The Yellow Scarves are on edge because they think the slasher might have been in the Dollars.>
<Private Mode> {I see…}
[The Dollars are a group of young people, a lot like the Yellow Scarves.]
[They just don’t stand out as much, because they don’t have an easy identifier.]
<Both groups have been in a precarious state ever since the slashings.>
|huh|
|what do you mean?|
[It’s not really worth explaining to someone who doesn’t know the details.]
<That’s not true, Setton. If you live in Ikebukuro, you ought to know!>
<Let’s see. The slashing hit both the Dollars and the Yellow Scarves, but it seems like each side suspects the other of orchestrating the whole thing.>
<And after all, they never caught who did it.>
<After the Night of the Ripper, the whole thing just stopped abruptly.>
<There’s lots of speculation flying around in every direction.>
<And both the Yellow Scarves and Dollars suffered losses due to the attacks.>
<So both sides are eager to find the attacker to preserve their reputations.>
{…The Dollars aren’t that fixated on reputation, though.}
{I think they just want vengeance for their friends.}
<And that’s how we’ve arrived at the current situation!>
{So…I don’t think either side understands the other very well… There’s lots of misunderstandings going around.}
|i see, thank you|
<Private Mode> [I’m sorry. But you really don’t need to worry about this, Anri.]
<Private Mode> [I don’t think you’d do this, but turning yourself in would have no real effect on any of this. You’re not even the real mastermind.]
<Private Mode> [You shouldn’t rush to a hasty decision.]
<Private Mode> [And the police out there are scary right now…really scary! Especially the traffic cops!]
|i’m sorry, thank you|
{?}
<Private Mode> [Oops. I need to teach you how to use private mode sometime.]
<Private Mode> [Anyway, we can talk about this some more another time. Okay?]
<Either way, if both sides don’t find the real slasher and crush them together, it could be raining blood in Ikebukuro pretty soon… It’s scary stuff. Gang warfare!>
{…I’ll be praying it doesn’t come to that.}
|um, sorry|
|i’m going to leave now|
{Oh, sure. Thanks for coming on, Saika.}
<Have a good night. >
—SAIKA HAS LEFT THE CHAT—
<Private Mode> [I’m really sorry. You shouldn’t let it bother you.]
<Private Mode> [Oops, too late.]
[Night, Saika!]
[Oops, just a second too late…]
[In addition to being late, I think I’m going to log off for tonight.]
<Huh? Isn’t that a bit early for you, Setton?>
[I’ve got a guest staying over.]
[Anyways, night!]
<Okay!>
{Talk to you later.}
—SETTON HAS LEFT THE CHAT—
<Private Mode> {Those weird things that the virus was causing Saika to post…}
<Private Mode> {You think they have something to do with the slashings after all?}
<Private Mode> <That’s what I’m looking into now. I’ll tell you if I find out anything…for a low, low price.>
<Private Mode> {If only the police would catch this guy already…}
<Private Mode> {It would make things so much clearer and help us avoid fighting with the Yellow Scarves…}
<Private Mode> <I’m not so sure. Neither the Yellow Scarves nor the Dollars are just one monolithic entity.>
<Private Mode> <Some people are going to start extorting others for their own personal profit under the guise of “gang rivalry.”>
<Private Mode> <After enough of that, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.>
<Private Mode> {Well…I won’t let it happen.}
<Private Mode> <We’ll see.>
<Private Mode> <I don’t think you can stop it from happening at this point.>
<Private Mode> <Besides, you have no control over the Yellow Scarves.>
<Private Mode> {Even still…I won’t let it happen.}
<Private Mode> <Hmm…well, I’ll look forward to seeing you try.>
<Welp, gotta go!>
{Nice talking to you.}
—KANRA HAS LEFT THE CHAT—
{And now…}
—TAROU HAS LEFT THE CHAT—
—THE CHAT ROOM IS CURRENTLY EMPTY—
—THE CHAT ROOM IS CURRENTLY EMPTY—
—THE CHAT ROOM IS CURRENTLY EMPTY—
Raira Academy, near the front gate
Raira Academy was a private high school located fairly close to Ikebukuro Station.
Though it was a private school, its scholastic rank and tuition were only average, which, combined with its proximity to downtown, made it quite a popular school to attend. Parents typically expressed resistance, but for students coming from distant regions, it held a distinct, powerful allure.
And like any other school, it served as a meeting place for students of all different types, facilitating the creation of groups of like-minded teens, and occasionally very unlikely combinations as well.
After the closing bell dismissed the student populace, these little groups of varied friends gathered and dispersed to their own destinations.
“So I was wondering,” the boy said, straight-faced, in the sunset light that flooded the campus, “what makes you so cute and sexy, Anri?”
The boy and girl listening to him instantly gave their typical reactions.
The bespectacled girl blushed in consternation and mumbled, “Uh…what?”
While the reserved-looking boy shook his head in disappointment. “Not sexy… You shouldn’t say that, Masaomi.”
Masaomi, who was recognizable by his brown hair and earrings, grinned impishly. “Ahh, I see… So Mikado admits that she’s cute, even if he doesn’t think she’s sexy!”
“Wha…? Uh, no. I mean…”
“No? So you’re saying she’s not cute to begin with?”
“No, that’s not what I—! Y-yes, she’s cute!”
The girl’s face got redder and redder.
“Okay, so you will admit she’s cute… But what I’m saying is, she’
s not just cute, but really sexy, and that’s what makes her a total babe. So by viewing her as a sex symbol where you don’t, I understand her more…which means I love her more! And therefore, I win!”
“Hey, who made you judge of that?!” protested his childhood friend, Mikado Ryuugamine. Masaomi side-eyed him and turned to the girl, Anri Sonohara, who was looking flustered between the two boys.
“Well, anyhoo, I’m glad that Anri’s fully recovered from her injuries.”
“Yes, that’s a very good thing!”
“Uh, um…thank you, both of you…”
Prompted by the boys’ smiles, Anri clumsily put on the best grin she could manage.
Mikado Ryuugamine.
Masaomi Kida.
Anri Sonohara.
It was the trio that perhaps most powerfully exuded an aura of “closeness” to other students at Raira Academy. In terms of romantic couples, Seiji Yagiri and Mika Harima in Class A were most famous, but the peaceful romantic triangle between these three was so well-known that some even took bets on which of the two boys Anri would end up with.
Mikado Ryuugamine was a reserved, proper boy. His hair was as black as it was when he was born, he didn’t have any piercings or accessories, and he dutifully wore his school uniform on a campus where that was not required.
In stark contrast, Masaomi Kida’s hair was dyed an eye-catching brown color, his ears had multiple piercings, and at the end of the sleeve of his own personal jacket glinted a silver bracelet and a ring.
Between the two boys, the girl seemed closer to Mikado in personality. She was like an even more boring version of him. The glasses gave her the image of a meek librarian or an honor student.
It didn’t seem like the three shared anything in common, but the smiles on their faces told any observer that they were close friends, and indeed, this was the case.
“All right! Let’s all go pick up some chicks, so we can compare Anri’s cute sexiness to theirs and prove her superiority!”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“Uh…p-pick them up…?”
“Don’t worry, Anri. Your presence will lure them in: ‘Oh, there’s a girl with them, so this has to be safe!’ You won’t need to do a thing.”
The trio created a warm friendliness that shielded them from the chilly breeze. The other groups of students milling around were invested in similar conversations, which gave the school a different atmosphere from the rest of the city surrounding it.
Just as they were about to pass through the school gate, Masaomi came to a sudden stop and turned back wistfully to the building.
“So, just one week left on the path of our first year of school. It all happened so fast.”
“Yeah, it sure did.”
“It was very brief.”
Mikado and Anri found it surprising that Masaomi would act so sentimental. They joined him in looking back at the school, reflecting in their own way—except that Mikado quickly looked sideways at Anri’s meaningful expression, blushing slightly.
She looked back toward him suddenly. He hastily snapped his eyes to the school building, but it felt like their gazes had met for an instant. He didn’t feel like making an excuse like, “I was looking at you”—that was more up Masaomi’s alley—so he tried to hide the awkwardness by changing the subject instead.
“S-speaking of which…Mr. Nasujima sure quit school all of a sudden, didn’t he?”
“…”
Anri’s face looked pensive for a moment. But Mikado didn’t notice; he continued to chatter on about the relatively unfamiliar teacher. “I wonder why? It’s such a random time to leave. He could have just waited another week and made it a clean break at the end of the year.”
It was not Anri, but Masaomi, who responded, “Who knows? Maybe he got busted for leaking the finals questions to me. But if so, wouldn’t I have gotten called in and punished, too?”
“Did I just hear you let slip what I think you did?”
“It wasn’t a slip at all. I summoned considerable courage in coming clean and admitting my crimes to you. Praise me! The same way you’d praise the honesty of the biographer who admitted the story about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree was a total fabrication!”
“I don’t give a crap about the honesty of someone who has to twist logic in knots to make his point.”
As they bickered like usual, Anri’s conflicted expression gradually softened. Mikado noticed her slight grin and shyly switched to a new topic.
“Speaking of people who vanished…the same goes for the slasher.”
Anri’s smile vanished as well. Mikado suddenly realized his mistake and hastily bowed his head.
“S-sorry, Sonohara. I didn’t mean to make you remember…”
“Huh? No! I’m fine. I’m sorry. It’s nothing, really,” she apologized back for no real reason, startled by his sudden concession.
Anri had been admitted to the hospital after she was attacked by the slasher on that infamous night a few weeks back. Mikado and Masaomi were more concerned for her sake than anyone. Then again, she didn’t really have any other friends, and without a family, the only other people than these two who visited her in the hospital were her teacher Kitagoma and her old friend Mika.
The speed of her recovery surprised everyone, and after a few days and tests—with only Mikado and Masaomi visiting her on each of those days—she was cleared to leave. Once out, they treated her like nothing had ever happened.
Then again, Masaomi’s visits had been very brief, and he usually had some parting comment like, “RN? Caretaker? No, there’s no better term for an angel in white than nurse.”
In personality, Mikado and Masaomi were just as different as their appearances suggested. Masaomi publicly professed his attraction to Anri but said the same thing about other girls equally. Meanwhile, Mikado had never officially announced his fondness for her. He was shy enough that he seemed to be satisfied just hanging out as a threesome at Masaomi’s insistence.
Meanwhile, Anri did not wish to destroy that relationship, and she had no score to settle with the boys on that matter. The other girls at the school understood her personality and therefore didn’t spread false rumors about how she was playing the both of them.
Even the group of bullies who usually harassed her had been strangely well behaved since their leader found herself one of the slasher’s victims. Mikado heard a number of such rumors regarding their little trio.
Now that he no longer felt uncomfortable with his standing, he was ready to head out into the city with Masaomi on his frivolous plan, grumbling all the while.
The sudden vibration of a phone put an end to that brief moment of peace.
Masaomi pulled his phone out of his pants pocket and answered it at once. “Hello? It’s me…” His face hardened for an instant. He murmured a few words back, then stashed the phone away and turned to them, bowing with a hand held vertically in front of his face.
“Sorry. An old friend wants to meet up all of a sudden.”
“Oh, really?”
“If you want to blame anyone, blame my friend all you want. Blaming is free, and it’s no skin off my back: two birds with one stone!”
Mikado shrugged off this sudden change of plans like it was just business as usual. “If it means we don’t have to pick up girls, I’m more inclined to thank your friend instead.”
“Nah, save the thanks for me.”
“You’re such a tyrant.”
“Tyrants make their way into the history books a lot easier than a nice old king. See ya tomorrow!” Masaomi called out, a poor excuse for an excuse, and trotted out of the gate.
Mikado watched his friend grow smaller and smaller in the distance. He turned to Anri with a wry, exasperated grin.
“We could have at least gone with him partway. What’s the rush about?”
“Dunno…”
“What about you, Sonohara? Are you going home now?”
“I suppose… I’ve got so
mething to take care of, too,” Anri said, grinning. She headed for the gate to prod Mikado onward.
“I see… Yeah, okay. It’s funny… The sunset was so pretty today, but there are scary-looking clouds overhead. There could be some showers soon. Stay dry, okay?”
“Ah, okay… Thank you for your concern.”
That doesn’t just mean she wants to stay away from me, does it?
“They say the day after a pretty sunset is always clear, but I don’t know about the night in between.”
“Good point…”
Anri’s typical reaction stung Mikado a bit. He was concerned at the fact that as soon as Masaomi left, she found she had “something to take care of.”
If possible, he hoped to visit a café with her—but it was difficult to bring himself to ask that now, certainly not after she claimed she had business of her own.
Mikado was curious about the nature of her errand, but he never managed to ask. They talked about their usual harmless topics on the way back home.
He never once stopped to think about the nature of Masaomi’s errand, however.
One hour later, Sunshine, Sixtieth Floor Street, Ikebukuro
“Hey, Shizuo.”
“What is it, Tom?”
Two men carefully wound through the crowd that was largely made up of Raira students. The one with glasses and dreads spoke to the other man.
“I’m gettin’ hungry. Time to grab a bite.”
“Good idea. I’m not feeling picky,” the young man in the bartender outfit replied quietly.
“Hey, Shizuo…why the bartender getup?”
“I had a part-time job bartending once, and my little brother wanted to make sure I didn’t get fired this time, so he ordered me twenty of the same outfit. These clothes are all over my house.”
“…Your brother’s pretty damn generous.”
“If there’s one thing he’s got a lot of, it’s money.”
The man envisioned the face of his brother and sighed. This was Shizuo Heiwajima, widely seen as the most dangerous man in the streets of Ikebukuro. At his side was his work superior, Tom Tanaka.