Canon Notes 3
Oct. 21st, 2011 03:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanaka_taroVol. 5
Chapter 1, part 2 - Bakyura
Did Taro-san go to bed already
Bakyura
It's like 10 p.m.
Bakyura
Just how healthy a lifestyle does he feel like he must stick to
---
Setton
Synchronicity again.
Bakyura
Sin-Clone-y-City sounds like some kind of final revelation scene in a game.
Tanaka Taro
I really can't say I'm interested in replying to that.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Mikado
[Private mode] Bakyura
I need to talk to you
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Eh?
---
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
You're Masaomi, right?
[Private mode] Bakyura
...I don't think who I am even matters right now
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
But these two months you've been pretending you don't even know me in this chatroom......
---
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Sorry, I said I wasn't interested in replying to you because that seemed like what everyone else would say...
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Ahhh, I really don't know what to say. I never expected to talk to you with the clear knowledge that you're Masaomi in a place like this......but are you really so annoyed that I said that? I thought Masaomi wouldn't mind being told that...but actually, Sin-Clone-y-City was pretty funny.
[Private mode] Bakyura
No, that's not what I need to talk to you about
[Private mode] Bakyura
Ahh, hang on a moment
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
Good, now I can concentrate
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Thanks for getting all serious. By the way, I'm glad you're no longer hitting enter after every punctuation mark...
[Private mode] Bakyura
Anyway. There's a reason that I'm not talking to Tanaka Taro today, but directly to you, Mikado. In fact, I was waiting for you to come online.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
You could have just called me. I haven't changed my number.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Can't. Hearing your voice would probably have swung my heart the unwanted way.
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
I was talking to Kyo-san and others
[Private mode] Bakyura
Are you going somewhere for Golden Week?
---
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Ah, I'm not going anywhere! So if you want to meet we can definitely meet!
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Your parents don't really care what you do, so I'm guessing they don't mind your dropping out of school either. But everyone at school is worried about you. Satou-sensei was asking about you too.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
And Anri really wants to see you again.
[Private mode] Bakyura
......That's not really what I want to talk about. Sorry.
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
Mikado, are you going anywhere for the break?
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Eh? Not really, I have class representative stuff so I'll be at school tomorrow.
[Private mode] Bakyura
I see......Mikado. This is my best advice for you.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Don't go roaming around alone at night, at least not during the break.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Even if you have to, try not to hang out with anyone else in Dollars.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Eh?
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
It's best if you just try to be a high school student with nothing to do with Dollars for a while.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
What exactly is happening?
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
I don't have the clearest idea either, so I'm probably not the best person to brief you
[Private mode] Bakyura
It's just...a hunch, yeah, something close to a hunch
[Private mode] Bakyura
Something just smells dangerous
[Private mode] Bakyura
Dollars is in danger. I have this feeling that Dollars is in danger.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Dollars is?
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Not really sure why, but I see what you're trying to say. I'll be careful
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
I trust Masaomi's hunches for this kind of thing since they've never been wrong.
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
Thank you, Mikado.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Take care of yourself.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Thanks. You too, Masaomi. I really mean it. Thank you for everything.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Don't talk like that, it makes us feel like strangers.
---
Tanaka Taro
Well, I won't call that one a bad person, but it's true that Kanra-san is a little strange...
Kyo
Alas, alas. Yet another human being taken in by Kanra-san's sweet words......
Chapter 2, part 1 - Mikado had a crush on Anri. He never talked about it, but everyone in the school seemed to already know. Anri was on pretty good terms with Mikado, and the two were usually regarded as a couple.
- Except that neither Mikado nor Anri was aware of it.
From their point of view, they were nothing more than good friends.
Mikado wanted to confess to Anri, but he felt like he had to wait until a certain problem is resolved.
The face of his best friend who had dropped out of school recently came to his mind.
Kida Masaomi.
He was Mikado's childhood pal back in their hometown. Anri joined them later, and their high school days had been happy and fulfilling.
But in fact - all three of them kept their respective secrets.
Ryuugamine Mikado was the founder of the Color Gang "Dollars".
Kida Masaomi was the founder and leader of its enemy, the "Yellow Turbans".
Sonohara Anri hosted in her body a "creature" that was abnormal like Celty Sturluson.
They began to find out about each other's secrets after a certain incident -
And Kida Masaomi ended up disappearing altogether from their lives.
Yet Mikado and Anri did not believe that it was the final farewell.
They believed that he would come back. That was why they did not dig deeper into each other's secret identity.
They had made up their minds.
Therefore they had been neither closer than before nor further apart; they maintained the delicate balance in their uneventful routine.
---
Mikado had thought that Aoba had been avoiding him after all the trouble they got in. Aoba's face broke out, however, in as bright a smile as the one he wore a month ago.
His smile changed way too little for a boy who had barely escaped the claws of those raging bousouzoku -
But Ryuugamine Mikado did not notice what was weird about it.
---
"Don't talk like that! Anri-sempai, you're beautiful! I'll be happy just to be able to see you there!"
- Anri-sempai!?
- Since when has he moved from "Sonohara-sempai" to "Anri-sempai"!? Has she even agreed!?
- Cheating! This is cheating, Aoba-kun!
"Please don't make jokes about me."
"I was not joking. So what time tomorrow can you……"
Mikado could hold himself back no longer.
He was forced to open his mouth.
"Wait a moment! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I must have remembered wrong. I actually have nothing planned for tomorrow!"
"Eh? Really!?"
Mikado was confused as Aoba flashed his innocent smile at him again.
- Eh……is it just me or is he looking really happy?
- Was he just kidding about Sonohara-san?
Chapter 2, part 2 -
Tanaka Taro
How is it a gang of lunatics?
Kyo
There's no other way to call it. It doesn't even look like it has a purpose. Had it been a typical Color Gang, people would have assumed it was a gang meant to channel destructive energy on the streets. Even if they were mere goons for money under violence organizations people would have been more sure of their identity and presence. But Dollars is none of these.
Mai
What is it?
Tanaka Taro
You're thinking too much into it.
Kyo
Dollars has no actual structure. They don't even know who the other Dollars are. A student on the street or a housewife you happen to pass by may be one of them. Even your schoolmate talking to you casually on the street could turn out to be a Dollars member……honestly, no one knows how many members it has.
Tanaka Taro
You're right about that.
Tanaka Taro
But it could also be as innocent as an extracurricular club, right? I feel like it's just a group of people calling themselves members because they wanted some sort of identity. It's like calling yourself a Saitaman or city folk.
Kyo
That's kind of overstretching the concept. You're a Dollars member from the moment you identify yourself as such. Even if it's online only, they do have an Internet-based community to exchange information. Their network is loose, but they are tied to each other with the common identity as Dollars members. Doesn't that sound scary to you at all?
Mai
That's scary.
Tanaka Taro
Why is that scary?
Kyo
It's like - say - having surveillance cameras in the form of human eyes everywhere on the streets. The only difference is that these surveillance cameras are capable of thinking. The ones under such surveillance have no way to know whether they are being "shot" or not. If you happened to have done something indecent on the street, it would be like exposing your weakness to Dollars itself through its members' eyes.
Mai
It's scary.
Tanaka Taro
You're thinking too much into it. I don't think it's like that.
Shinra's Monologue, part 2 - Hmmm. I don't know a lot of them, but Ryuugamine Mikado-kun - he was at the hotpot party - is an acquaintance of Celty's. Ah, I know Sonohara Anri-chan somewhat better. Remember? I think you've met her once when you were shot and had to spend a night here. Other than those two there are......Yagiri Seiji-kun and Harima Mika. You know them? They came to the hotpot party when you were also here.
Eh? You know Seiji?
He stabbed you with ballpoint pens? What?
Whatever......anyway. They all look like pretty mature kids.
Mikado-kun and Anri-chan are just typical high school kids who look like they'll be scared to get into any kind of fight.
---
My high school days look completely ruined thanks to you and Izaya. But as long as I had Celty at home, I couldn't really complain.
All was fine as long as I had a place to return to.
Though it looks like Mikado-kun knows Izaya. That calls for some concern.
Youth, in essence, is just restlessness.
---
Though the Japanese word for "youth" translates literally into "green spring of life"......a lot of things happen during spring, most of them far from clean or fresh.
Caterpillars and many other creatures disturbing to humans also appear during the spring season.
Maybe you'll even become one of those creatures yourself.
I do hope it doesn't turn out that he's becoming one of those. But as I said before, you never know what you did to deserve the hate you get in your life.
Now that I think about it, there could already be something ominous in store for Mikado-kun from the moment he got to know Izaya.
Anyway. Now that he got to know you too at the hotpot party, he's probably half-destined for the hotpot bubbling at the bottom of Hell arrrrrrrgh -
Chapter 3, part1 - As a first flutter of his wings, he dialed a certain boy's cell phone number.
Soon a somewhat sheepish voice sounded from the other end.
"……Yo, long time no see, Ryuugamine-kun. Or should I call you Tanaka Taro-kun?"
Izaya greeted him in a half-joking voice before switching to a more serious tone and bringing up a certain topic.
"I just checked out the chatroom log. I've caught wind of that incident in Saitama, too."
"……It looks like Dollars is in a very strange situation right now."
Chapter 3, part 2 - - Turned out I did not get that much sleep after all……
Mikado leaned back into the chair in front of the computer and covered his exhausted face with his hands.
He had been collecting every bit of information he could find right after hearing about the "Dollars Saitama Incident" in the chatroom.
He hadn't been forced to; neither was it his responsibility to begin with - yet Mikado somehow felt like he "had to."
For Mikado, one of the founders of Dollars, Dollars was already part of himself.
Not that it was necessary for living or anything.
But just like cell phones or the Internet, it was something hard to take out of his life once it had an established existence in it. That was what Dollars was for Mikado.
---
Secondly, the "confession", which had started out as a pastime for fun, was turning into a dangerous sport itself.
The first confessions were the likes of "I've grabbed food with my hand" or "I've drawn eyebrows on my dog's face", but soon after they began to warrant more attention as confessions of theft and violence became more frequent.
Some even scoffed at others for not having the guts to do something "more mature" and bragged about the worse things they had done. After seeing a certain post that said "I stole for the first time in my life so that I can join Dollars", Mikado decided to delete this page altogether.
Dollars was an organization founded for fun.
Not for destroying the social order, lowering the morals or bragging about violations of the law in real life.
That was why he just had to do something to stop Dollars from going rampant if he could.
He had no idea if he would succeed or not, but he would be shifting a founder's responsibility to others if he didn't even try to investigate.
---
"I want to try to stop them, but……"
"Why?"
"Eh……"
"There's no rule in Dollars's book that says 'Thou shall not pick fights outside of Tokyo', is there? There's no need for you to interfere at this point."
"But……"
"Or have you gotten afraid of those Color Gang games after you saw what happened to the Yellow Turbans? I heard that was what separated you and your best friend?"
"It's not like that. Masaomi's still my friend."
"Let's hope he feels the same way about you."
"……Why do I sense a little sarcasm here?"
"Nah, you bet there's none. I'm just being a little jealous of my young kouhais enjoying the best times of their youth. There were no such friends for me, you see. All I had was this freak of an old acquaintance and that irritating violent thickhead."
"……"
"Anyway. Back to the topic."
"Yes."
"Whether you had wished for it or not as a founder, Dollars is now not only a concrete existence but also more or less a force to be reckoned with. It's only natural that you'll see people toying with the idea of making Dollars an even better-known organization by marking more territory and thereby promoting their own names as well, isn't it?"
"……That I realize."
"It's going to be OK. There's virtually no horizontal structure in Dollars. Even if those who picked on the Saitama folks will have to face retaliation, you'll be fine as long as you don't say anything. That's just how Dollars is, isn't it? If you want to help, you go ahead and do it, but if you don't, it's OK to just stay lazy*. Freedom. Yeah, that's what you call freedom."
* Here Izaya uses the "dara-dara" (being lazy) expression, which was the origin of the name "Dollars".
"……Are you calling me just to say this?"
---
"……I don't think Sonohara-san has anything to do with this."
"I wouldn't be so sure. If they knew that you're a Dollars member and that there's this girl you really like, what do you figure they'd do……? There's no guarantee that your opponent will not touch ordinary people who are not 'part of this'. They're here to revenge, you know."
"……"
"You've used Dollars on many occasions yourself, haven't you? Like when you got into trouble with Yagiri Pharmaceuticals. It's not going to make sense to them now even if you tell them to 'Stop doing bad things.'."
"……So what do you want me to do?"
"Shouldn't you ask yourself before you ask me?"
"I only want to 'do something about it'. I've said that already."
---
"But……"
"I'll try to explain. Let us assume that you really want to keep Dollars out of any kind of conflict with your own hands……or stop Dollars from going rampant and attacking others……and let us also assume that you've succeeded. If so, this organization will no longer be 'Dollars'. If you're able to control how everyone within the organization moves, it will have become something else……I think that should be pretty self-explanatory."
"That I do understand."
---
"……"
"Sorry, I've been talking too much. I was annoying, wasn't I?"
"Ah, no. Um……thank you, for telling me all these things."
"………"
"……What is it?"
"Mikado-kun."
"Yes?"
"Aren't you feeling a little excited?"
"……Sorry?"
"Nothing, I was just trying to picture your face on the other end of the phone."
"What nonsense are you talking about…?"
"But isn't this your favorite non-daily life?"
"I never said I liked anything that's not 'daily'."
"Really?"
"Of course……"
"When you closed down the Dollars website you wrote in the explanation that it was because people were spamming with the registration page, and that the 'bad things' they confessed were getting more serious in nature……I won't say anything about the former part, but the latter kind of concerns me. Did you not like it because you thought they were too thoughtless?"
"That should go without saying."
---
I'm one of the founders……how can I do something that irresponsible?"
"It's alright. No one in Dollars expects you to take on any responsibility. If you still insist on taking on some responsibility, you're one mature kid……that's what I was going to say, but I don't think you're that type."
"Why are you saying this all of a sudden?"
"Whatever, I guess it's better not to say it. It's always better to not know what others think of you, isn't it?"
"Isn't it too heartless to stop here when you've already said this much? ……Please go ahead and say it, I promise I won't mind."
"Really? Alright. This is nothing more than my own guess, so if it's wrong, you're free to just disregard it. Information brokers enjoy talking nonsense, you see."
"OK."
"……You're not fearing that Dollars will go rampant. Am I right?"
"Eh……"
"You're fearing that you will fall into the position of a mere bystander while Dollars keeps changing, aren't you?"
"It's not like that!"
"……"
"Ah……"
"That was a fast denial. You know that only makes it sound more suspicious, right? You'll want to be more careful about that next time. That would only mean that you're already having the same thought."
"……"
"You're not good at fighting. You're not even a delinquent to begin with. You've probably never touched cigarettes or alcohol. You don't like people who brag about stealing things - you're just an ordinary good human being. Not that I don't consider it a virtue - but you founded Dollars and kept it running till this day exactly because you were tired of it, didn't you? Isn't it your dream to get away from your daily life?"
"……"
"That's why I'm worried about you."
"Eh……?"
"Haven't I told you before? If you really want to get away from your daily life, you'll have to keep evolving. But you don't necessarily have to do it alone."
"Kanra-sa……Orihara-san……"
"Izaya is fine. Kida-kun calls me Izaya-san, too. That's right, you have many companions even if you don't count the Dollars members. Don't you ever forget that. There's Anri-chan and Kida-kun……well, if there's anything I can do, I'll be glad to help you out, too. That's why I'm saying there's no need for you to try to keep everything to yourself and do everything on your own this time. I just wanted to tell you that."
"……Um, Izaya-san."
"Yes?"
"Thank you……very much."
---
Mikado couldn't help but smile in a self-ironic way as these dialogues came back to his mind.
- Izaya-san. At first I thought he was just a weird person who did all sorts of things I didn't know -
- But he's a nice person after all.
Mikado simply felt encouraged by Izaya's words.
Had his brain not been so overloaded with thoughts on Dollars, he would perhaps have remembered what his best friend had said to him the first day he came to Ikebukuro.
"Never have anything to do with Orihara Izaya."
It was probably the most important piece of advice his friend had to offer.
But right now it simply failed to reach Mikado's ears.
Because Mikado still didn't know exactly what Izaya had done to Masaomi in the entire Yellow Turbans incident.
---
He did feel grateful to Izaya for what he had said towards the end of the call; but it was also true that he had felt shocked when he heard what Izaya had said before that.
He could no longer understand himself.
- Do I…really…..want to keep Dollars from going rampant?
---
But it was certain that some people had committed a violent crime in the name of Dollars.
- But how would I be excited about anything like tha……
He tried hard to convince himself, but he was not sure he succeeded.
He wanted more than anyone else to get away from his daily life. It was a fact. He had that wish even now.
Even after he had met being furthest from "daily" like Celty Sturluson, the smokeless flame in Mikado's heart still didn't feel completely satisfied.
- ……I'm a coward.
- Just like Izaya-san said, I……never tried to put up a fight with anyone. Neither have I ever been beaten up by a large group of people.
Wasn't that just shameless of me to say that I wanted to keep Dollars from going rampant when I'm like that?
With that question lingering on his mind, Mikado ended up wasting his time and not coming up with anything at all.
---
But he was not poor.
In fact, Mikado paid for his own living expenses apart from his tuition.
His parents hadn't wanted him to come to Tokyo, but he had insisted saying that he would find part-time jobs and pay for everything apart from the tuition. His parents would send him some money now and then - but that all went into his savings.
He had told them that he was working part-time, but in fact, his income was from conducting all sorts of online business, which took a large slice of Mikado's spare time to manage.
But he was still something for being able to earn his own living in this way when he still had schoolwork. Mikado, however, did not consider it in any way remarkable; he simply saw it as part of his everyday life.
---
"Good morning to you, sempai!"
"A - ……Aoba-kun?"
It was Kuronuma Aoba, his kouhai who was supposed to tour the Ikebukuro streets with him today.
"Is something up? I thought we were meeting 2 hours from now."
- Eh?
Mikado had sensed vaguely that something was not right.
- When did I tell Aoba-kun where my apartment was?
---
"You could have just called. Also, how did you know that I live in this apartment……"
"It's about Dollars."
Aoba cut in as Mikado tried to ask in a diplomatic tone. He kept the refreshing smile plastered on his face as he continued to say.
An eerie chill ran down Mikado's spine.
Aoba, seeing that Mikado's expression had stiffened, put his face close to Mikado's and flashed the smile of an angel at him:
---
They were all about the same age as Mikado was. These boys of different types surrounded Mikado and Aoba, making Mikado follow them further into the abandoned factory.
He was also sure that he saw several men looking well over twenty. They were no longer here, but they had driven Mikado and the other boys here in their cars.
- Why did I follow them?
It was way obvious by now that the atmosphere in this place is abnormal.
He knew very well that he shouldn't have agreed to come with them. But the atmosphere had left him with no room for refusal or escape.
In the meantime, the abandoned factory began to feel strangely familiar to Mikado.
- This abandoned factory……I've seen it at some point before……
- ……!
Realization hit Mikado only after he had searched his brain for a while.
- That's right, this is the same place……that several months ago…….
---
"You were asking the people last night on the Dollars message board if they knew anything about the Saitama thing, weren't you sempai?"
Aoba alone was wearing the same refreshing smile as he always had. But that creeped Mikado out more than anything else.
He was probably the one person who shouldn't be saying it, but Aoba, too, had a very childlike face.
The boy looked like a middle school student surrounded by a gang of fierce-looking delinquents - yet he smiled as if it was but everyday life for him. That was what creeped Mikado out the most.
"Ah, yeah……I did. I was kind of curious……"
"I happen to know the details, so I was planning to talk to you about it."
"! Really!?"
Mikado immediately forgot all about this eerie situation he was in; some color even came back to his face.
Usually when the other person says "I happen to know the details" under such circumstances, one would at least sense vaguely the other possibility.
But Mikado didn't even for a split second.
For Mikado, it was close to impossible to associate the appearance and aura of Kuronuma Aoba with the other "possibility".
Which was why when Aoba himself declared it a fact the very next instant -
Mikado simply couldn't seem to understand what he was saying.
"It was us."
---
"……Eh? I'm sorry?"
Mikado asked with a stiffened smile threatening to peel off his face.
He was hoping that Aoba had been joking.
But Aoba kept stating the facts with an innocent, childlike expression.
---
"We burned several of their motorbikes and sent around twenty of their men into hospital."
The fierce-looking boy with tattoos added after he had heard Aoba say:
"You mean you threw Molotov cocktails into the parking lot they used for gatherings, Aoba."
Mikado finally began to take everything in after he had heard them uttered from a "he-looks-like-that-type" boy's lips.
"……Eh……ah……"
But perhaps his brain was still in denial - Mikado simply stared at Aoba, trying to move his lips but failing to issue a single sound.
Aoba, on the other hand, continued to voice even more facts in front of Mikado.
- While slowly looking up at Mikado's eyes as if waiting to savor his reaction:
"We're Dollars……but we have another name as well."
"……Another……name?"
"Blue Square - ever heard of it before?"
Connecting Chapter - The ringtone from his own cell phone had been the one he had set for Dollars text messages. Something had just been confirmed for Mikado.
- Just like they said……
- These guys are in Dollars as well……
A group of people gathered in a place. Cell phones ringing at the same time.
The size of the meeting was completely different, but it still added to the disturbance in Mikado's heart as it reminded him of a similar scene one year ago.
Yet, as if trying to send him into even deeper despair -
The shocking contents of the text message informed him of the attacks on Dollars members.
---
Mikado felt everything his vision twist and blur as Aoba told him nonchalantly.
- This……is the reality?
This boy in front of his eyes, was he the same boy who smiled that innocent smile at him at school?
But Aoba was smiling just as innocently now.
Yet his words were impossible to associate with the "reality" Mikado had always known.
"Why……why did you attack those people in Saitama……why did you do it……"
"They ruined my Ikebukuro trip with Mikado-sempai and Anri-sempai. I was just venting my anger……or is that not good enough an explanation?"
"……"
Mikado was rendered wordless. He could simply swallow.
There was probably no way the other person was going to tell him the truth about that.
Mikado, after making that judgment, kept the fingers of his left hand clasped tight around his cell phone and tried to continue "talking" to Aoba.
"Blue Square……I've heard of it……I think it was some……Color Gang in this area……that got partially absorbed into the Yellow Turbans after they clashed with them……that's what I heard."
Several boys around them whistled in surprise after Mikado had finished. Even Aoba's eyes widened as he looked somewhat shocked:
"……You know even more than I thought you did. You're something indeed, sempai!"
"Why are you telling me……someone like me……things like these?"
---
"Because I trust you, sempai. Or is that not good enough an explanation for you?"
"It's not an explanation to begin with……what do you want me to do?"
Mikado was even more confused now. He couldn't figure out what the other person was after.
---
"I won't ask you to become the leader of Dollars. That would be against the very principles Dollars was founded upon."
Heheheheh. They laughed.
Heheheheh. They snickered.
Mikado had no idea what they found so funny, but every boy around them began to laugh after they had heard Aoba. Their laughter ricocheted throughout the factory with a certain rhythm.
As if savoring a poem to that rhythm on his lips, Aoba continued in a voice that blended in perfectly with the atmosphere in the factory and kept pounding at Mikado's heart.
"…….Which is why I'm hoping that you can become the leader of us Blue Square."
"Eh……"
"We'll basically just obey your orders."
That was way too out of the blue.
That was all Mikado was able to feel.
It was as if someone had all of a sudden asked him to become the King of Saudi Arabia. Yumasaki and Karisawa would probably ask him what manga he was in if they were to hear about it.
That was how out of the blue Aoba's suggestion had sounded to Mikado.
"Why……are you asking me……"
"Yeah, there are a lot of reasons. But most importantly it's because sempai occupies a special position in Dollars."
"Special position……?"
Mikado parroted in confusion. Aoba immediately gave a curt answer.
"In short, it's because sempai is the founder of Dollars."
"……!!"
"Are you surprised? We have a pretty decent information network too."
Aoba didn't show the slightest sign of fear or contempt in front of the wordless founder. He simply voiced his thoughts in a casual tone:
"You can use us in any way you want, sempai. ……If you decide to end this conflict right away, have us kneel down in front of Toramaru and let them beat us up……then so be it. We'll do as we're told. And after we get out of the hospital, you'll be our leader. ……If, however, you're to tell us to "Protect our fellow Dollars members and go crush those Toramaru scums', then we're going to crush them no matter what that takes."
"I - I'll never……I'll never tell you to do either of those things!"
Mikado shook his head violently and said to Aoba in an emotionally-charged tone:
"What made you think I would accept it……? If you want to avoid conflict, just don't say you're in Dollars and you'll be fine! That's the type of person I am. I'm not the type who can stand above you!"
It was from the bottom of his heart.
At least that was what Mikado had meant for it to come from.
But Aoba, after hearing what Mikado had yelled - got up slowly and put his face close to Mikado's.
And then he whispered, in a tone only Mikado could hear:
"……That is a lie."
He sounded happy, very happy -
"Because, sempai……"
"Eh……?"
"Mikado-sempai, aren't you……
------------------------------ smiling?"
---
Chapter 1, part 2 - Bakyura
Did Taro-san go to bed already
Bakyura
It's like 10 p.m.
Bakyura
Just how healthy a lifestyle does he feel like he must stick to
---
Setton
Synchronicity again.
Bakyura
Sin-Clone-y-City sounds like some kind of final revelation scene in a game.
Tanaka Taro
I really can't say I'm interested in replying to that.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Mikado
[Private mode] Bakyura
I need to talk to you
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Eh?
---
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
You're Masaomi, right?
[Private mode] Bakyura
...I don't think who I am even matters right now
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
But these two months you've been pretending you don't even know me in this chatroom......
---
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Sorry, I said I wasn't interested in replying to you because that seemed like what everyone else would say...
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Ahhh, I really don't know what to say. I never expected to talk to you with the clear knowledge that you're Masaomi in a place like this......but are you really so annoyed that I said that? I thought Masaomi wouldn't mind being told that...but actually, Sin-Clone-y-City was pretty funny.
[Private mode] Bakyura
No, that's not what I need to talk to you about
[Private mode] Bakyura
Ahh, hang on a moment
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
Good, now I can concentrate
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Thanks for getting all serious. By the way, I'm glad you're no longer hitting enter after every punctuation mark...
[Private mode] Bakyura
Anyway. There's a reason that I'm not talking to Tanaka Taro today, but directly to you, Mikado. In fact, I was waiting for you to come online.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
You could have just called me. I haven't changed my number.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Can't. Hearing your voice would probably have swung my heart the unwanted way.
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
I was talking to Kyo-san and others
[Private mode] Bakyura
Are you going somewhere for Golden Week?
---
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Ah, I'm not going anywhere! So if you want to meet we can definitely meet!
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Your parents don't really care what you do, so I'm guessing they don't mind your dropping out of school either. But everyone at school is worried about you. Satou-sensei was asking about you too.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
And Anri really wants to see you again.
[Private mode] Bakyura
......That's not really what I want to talk about. Sorry.
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
Mikado, are you going anywhere for the break?
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Eh? Not really, I have class representative stuff so I'll be at school tomorrow.
[Private mode] Bakyura
I see......Mikado. This is my best advice for you.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Don't go roaming around alone at night, at least not during the break.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Even if you have to, try not to hang out with anyone else in Dollars.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Eh?
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
It's best if you just try to be a high school student with nothing to do with Dollars for a while.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
What exactly is happening?
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
I don't have the clearest idea either, so I'm probably not the best person to brief you
[Private mode] Bakyura
It's just...a hunch, yeah, something close to a hunch
[Private mode] Bakyura
Something just smells dangerous
[Private mode] Bakyura
Dollars is in danger. I have this feeling that Dollars is in danger.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Dollars is?
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Not really sure why, but I see what you're trying to say. I'll be careful
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
I trust Masaomi's hunches for this kind of thing since they've never been wrong.
---
[Private mode] Bakyura
Thank you, Mikado.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Take care of yourself.
[Private mode] Tanaka Taro
Thanks. You too, Masaomi. I really mean it. Thank you for everything.
[Private mode] Bakyura
Don't talk like that, it makes us feel like strangers.
---
Tanaka Taro
Well, I won't call that one a bad person, but it's true that Kanra-san is a little strange...
Kyo
Alas, alas. Yet another human being taken in by Kanra-san's sweet words......
Chapter 2, part 1 - Mikado had a crush on Anri. He never talked about it, but everyone in the school seemed to already know. Anri was on pretty good terms with Mikado, and the two were usually regarded as a couple.
- Except that neither Mikado nor Anri was aware of it.
From their point of view, they were nothing more than good friends.
Mikado wanted to confess to Anri, but he felt like he had to wait until a certain problem is resolved.
The face of his best friend who had dropped out of school recently came to his mind.
Kida Masaomi.
He was Mikado's childhood pal back in their hometown. Anri joined them later, and their high school days had been happy and fulfilling.
But in fact - all three of them kept their respective secrets.
Ryuugamine Mikado was the founder of the Color Gang "Dollars".
Kida Masaomi was the founder and leader of its enemy, the "Yellow Turbans".
Sonohara Anri hosted in her body a "creature" that was abnormal like Celty Sturluson.
They began to find out about each other's secrets after a certain incident -
And Kida Masaomi ended up disappearing altogether from their lives.
Yet Mikado and Anri did not believe that it was the final farewell.
They believed that he would come back. That was why they did not dig deeper into each other's secret identity.
They had made up their minds.
Therefore they had been neither closer than before nor further apart; they maintained the delicate balance in their uneventful routine.
---
Mikado had thought that Aoba had been avoiding him after all the trouble they got in. Aoba's face broke out, however, in as bright a smile as the one he wore a month ago.
His smile changed way too little for a boy who had barely escaped the claws of those raging bousouzoku -
But Ryuugamine Mikado did not notice what was weird about it.
---
"Don't talk like that! Anri-sempai, you're beautiful! I'll be happy just to be able to see you there!"
- Anri-sempai!?
- Since when has he moved from "Sonohara-sempai" to "Anri-sempai"!? Has she even agreed!?
- Cheating! This is cheating, Aoba-kun!
"Please don't make jokes about me."
"I was not joking. So what time tomorrow can you……"
Mikado could hold himself back no longer.
He was forced to open his mouth.
"Wait a moment! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I must have remembered wrong. I actually have nothing planned for tomorrow!"
"Eh? Really!?"
Mikado was confused as Aoba flashed his innocent smile at him again.
- Eh……is it just me or is he looking really happy?
- Was he just kidding about Sonohara-san?
Chapter 2, part 2 -
Tanaka Taro
How is it a gang of lunatics?
Kyo
There's no other way to call it. It doesn't even look like it has a purpose. Had it been a typical Color Gang, people would have assumed it was a gang meant to channel destructive energy on the streets. Even if they were mere goons for money under violence organizations people would have been more sure of their identity and presence. But Dollars is none of these.
Mai
What is it?
Tanaka Taro
You're thinking too much into it.
Kyo
Dollars has no actual structure. They don't even know who the other Dollars are. A student on the street or a housewife you happen to pass by may be one of them. Even your schoolmate talking to you casually on the street could turn out to be a Dollars member……honestly, no one knows how many members it has.
Tanaka Taro
You're right about that.
Tanaka Taro
But it could also be as innocent as an extracurricular club, right? I feel like it's just a group of people calling themselves members because they wanted some sort of identity. It's like calling yourself a Saitaman or city folk.
Kyo
That's kind of overstretching the concept. You're a Dollars member from the moment you identify yourself as such. Even if it's online only, they do have an Internet-based community to exchange information. Their network is loose, but they are tied to each other with the common identity as Dollars members. Doesn't that sound scary to you at all?
Mai
That's scary.
Tanaka Taro
Why is that scary?
Kyo
It's like - say - having surveillance cameras in the form of human eyes everywhere on the streets. The only difference is that these surveillance cameras are capable of thinking. The ones under such surveillance have no way to know whether they are being "shot" or not. If you happened to have done something indecent on the street, it would be like exposing your weakness to Dollars itself through its members' eyes.
Mai
It's scary.
Tanaka Taro
You're thinking too much into it. I don't think it's like that.
Shinra's Monologue, part 2 - Hmmm. I don't know a lot of them, but Ryuugamine Mikado-kun - he was at the hotpot party - is an acquaintance of Celty's. Ah, I know Sonohara Anri-chan somewhat better. Remember? I think you've met her once when you were shot and had to spend a night here. Other than those two there are......Yagiri Seiji-kun and Harima Mika. You know them? They came to the hotpot party when you were also here.
Eh? You know Seiji?
He stabbed you with ballpoint pens? What?
Whatever......anyway. They all look like pretty mature kids.
Mikado-kun and Anri-chan are just typical high school kids who look like they'll be scared to get into any kind of fight.
---
My high school days look completely ruined thanks to you and Izaya. But as long as I had Celty at home, I couldn't really complain.
All was fine as long as I had a place to return to.
Though it looks like Mikado-kun knows Izaya. That calls for some concern.
Youth, in essence, is just restlessness.
---
Though the Japanese word for "youth" translates literally into "green spring of life"......a lot of things happen during spring, most of them far from clean or fresh.
Caterpillars and many other creatures disturbing to humans also appear during the spring season.
Maybe you'll even become one of those creatures yourself.
I do hope it doesn't turn out that he's becoming one of those. But as I said before, you never know what you did to deserve the hate you get in your life.
Now that I think about it, there could already be something ominous in store for Mikado-kun from the moment he got to know Izaya.
Anyway. Now that he got to know you too at the hotpot party, he's probably half-destined for the hotpot bubbling at the bottom of Hell arrrrrrrgh -
Chapter 3, part1 - As a first flutter of his wings, he dialed a certain boy's cell phone number.
Soon a somewhat sheepish voice sounded from the other end.
"……Yo, long time no see, Ryuugamine-kun. Or should I call you Tanaka Taro-kun?"
Izaya greeted him in a half-joking voice before switching to a more serious tone and bringing up a certain topic.
"I just checked out the chatroom log. I've caught wind of that incident in Saitama, too."
"……It looks like Dollars is in a very strange situation right now."
Chapter 3, part 2 - - Turned out I did not get that much sleep after all……
Mikado leaned back into the chair in front of the computer and covered his exhausted face with his hands.
He had been collecting every bit of information he could find right after hearing about the "Dollars Saitama Incident" in the chatroom.
He hadn't been forced to; neither was it his responsibility to begin with - yet Mikado somehow felt like he "had to."
For Mikado, one of the founders of Dollars, Dollars was already part of himself.
Not that it was necessary for living or anything.
But just like cell phones or the Internet, it was something hard to take out of his life once it had an established existence in it. That was what Dollars was for Mikado.
---
Secondly, the "confession", which had started out as a pastime for fun, was turning into a dangerous sport itself.
The first confessions were the likes of "I've grabbed food with my hand" or "I've drawn eyebrows on my dog's face", but soon after they began to warrant more attention as confessions of theft and violence became more frequent.
Some even scoffed at others for not having the guts to do something "more mature" and bragged about the worse things they had done. After seeing a certain post that said "I stole for the first time in my life so that I can join Dollars", Mikado decided to delete this page altogether.
Dollars was an organization founded for fun.
Not for destroying the social order, lowering the morals or bragging about violations of the law in real life.
That was why he just had to do something to stop Dollars from going rampant if he could.
He had no idea if he would succeed or not, but he would be shifting a founder's responsibility to others if he didn't even try to investigate.
---
"I want to try to stop them, but……"
"Why?"
"Eh……"
"There's no rule in Dollars's book that says 'Thou shall not pick fights outside of Tokyo', is there? There's no need for you to interfere at this point."
"But……"
"Or have you gotten afraid of those Color Gang games after you saw what happened to the Yellow Turbans? I heard that was what separated you and your best friend?"
"It's not like that. Masaomi's still my friend."
"Let's hope he feels the same way about you."
"……Why do I sense a little sarcasm here?"
"Nah, you bet there's none. I'm just being a little jealous of my young kouhais enjoying the best times of their youth. There were no such friends for me, you see. All I had was this freak of an old acquaintance and that irritating violent thickhead."
"……"
"Anyway. Back to the topic."
"Yes."
"Whether you had wished for it or not as a founder, Dollars is now not only a concrete existence but also more or less a force to be reckoned with. It's only natural that you'll see people toying with the idea of making Dollars an even better-known organization by marking more territory and thereby promoting their own names as well, isn't it?"
"……That I realize."
"It's going to be OK. There's virtually no horizontal structure in Dollars. Even if those who picked on the Saitama folks will have to face retaliation, you'll be fine as long as you don't say anything. That's just how Dollars is, isn't it? If you want to help, you go ahead and do it, but if you don't, it's OK to just stay lazy*. Freedom. Yeah, that's what you call freedom."
* Here Izaya uses the "dara-dara" (being lazy) expression, which was the origin of the name "Dollars".
"……Are you calling me just to say this?"
---
"……I don't think Sonohara-san has anything to do with this."
"I wouldn't be so sure. If they knew that you're a Dollars member and that there's this girl you really like, what do you figure they'd do……? There's no guarantee that your opponent will not touch ordinary people who are not 'part of this'. They're here to revenge, you know."
"……"
"You've used Dollars on many occasions yourself, haven't you? Like when you got into trouble with Yagiri Pharmaceuticals. It's not going to make sense to them now even if you tell them to 'Stop doing bad things.'."
"……So what do you want me to do?"
"Shouldn't you ask yourself before you ask me?"
"I only want to 'do something about it'. I've said that already."
---
"But……"
"I'll try to explain. Let us assume that you really want to keep Dollars out of any kind of conflict with your own hands……or stop Dollars from going rampant and attacking others……and let us also assume that you've succeeded. If so, this organization will no longer be 'Dollars'. If you're able to control how everyone within the organization moves, it will have become something else……I think that should be pretty self-explanatory."
"That I do understand."
---
"……"
"Sorry, I've been talking too much. I was annoying, wasn't I?"
"Ah, no. Um……thank you, for telling me all these things."
"………"
"……What is it?"
"Mikado-kun."
"Yes?"
"Aren't you feeling a little excited?"
"……Sorry?"
"Nothing, I was just trying to picture your face on the other end of the phone."
"What nonsense are you talking about…?"
"But isn't this your favorite non-daily life?"
"I never said I liked anything that's not 'daily'."
"Really?"
"Of course……"
"When you closed down the Dollars website you wrote in the explanation that it was because people were spamming with the registration page, and that the 'bad things' they confessed were getting more serious in nature……I won't say anything about the former part, but the latter kind of concerns me. Did you not like it because you thought they were too thoughtless?"
"That should go without saying."
---
I'm one of the founders……how can I do something that irresponsible?"
"It's alright. No one in Dollars expects you to take on any responsibility. If you still insist on taking on some responsibility, you're one mature kid……that's what I was going to say, but I don't think you're that type."
"Why are you saying this all of a sudden?"
"Whatever, I guess it's better not to say it. It's always better to not know what others think of you, isn't it?"
"Isn't it too heartless to stop here when you've already said this much? ……Please go ahead and say it, I promise I won't mind."
"Really? Alright. This is nothing more than my own guess, so if it's wrong, you're free to just disregard it. Information brokers enjoy talking nonsense, you see."
"OK."
"……You're not fearing that Dollars will go rampant. Am I right?"
"Eh……"
"You're fearing that you will fall into the position of a mere bystander while Dollars keeps changing, aren't you?"
"It's not like that!"
"……"
"Ah……"
"That was a fast denial. You know that only makes it sound more suspicious, right? You'll want to be more careful about that next time. That would only mean that you're already having the same thought."
"……"
"You're not good at fighting. You're not even a delinquent to begin with. You've probably never touched cigarettes or alcohol. You don't like people who brag about stealing things - you're just an ordinary good human being. Not that I don't consider it a virtue - but you founded Dollars and kept it running till this day exactly because you were tired of it, didn't you? Isn't it your dream to get away from your daily life?"
"……"
"That's why I'm worried about you."
"Eh……?"
"Haven't I told you before? If you really want to get away from your daily life, you'll have to keep evolving. But you don't necessarily have to do it alone."
"Kanra-sa……Orihara-san……"
"Izaya is fine. Kida-kun calls me Izaya-san, too. That's right, you have many companions even if you don't count the Dollars members. Don't you ever forget that. There's Anri-chan and Kida-kun……well, if there's anything I can do, I'll be glad to help you out, too. That's why I'm saying there's no need for you to try to keep everything to yourself and do everything on your own this time. I just wanted to tell you that."
"……Um, Izaya-san."
"Yes?"
"Thank you……very much."
---
Mikado couldn't help but smile in a self-ironic way as these dialogues came back to his mind.
- Izaya-san. At first I thought he was just a weird person who did all sorts of things I didn't know -
- But he's a nice person after all.
Mikado simply felt encouraged by Izaya's words.
Had his brain not been so overloaded with thoughts on Dollars, he would perhaps have remembered what his best friend had said to him the first day he came to Ikebukuro.
"Never have anything to do with Orihara Izaya."
It was probably the most important piece of advice his friend had to offer.
But right now it simply failed to reach Mikado's ears.
Because Mikado still didn't know exactly what Izaya had done to Masaomi in the entire Yellow Turbans incident.
---
He did feel grateful to Izaya for what he had said towards the end of the call; but it was also true that he had felt shocked when he heard what Izaya had said before that.
He could no longer understand himself.
- Do I…really…..want to keep Dollars from going rampant?
---
But it was certain that some people had committed a violent crime in the name of Dollars.
- But how would I be excited about anything like tha……
He tried hard to convince himself, but he was not sure he succeeded.
He wanted more than anyone else to get away from his daily life. It was a fact. He had that wish even now.
Even after he had met being furthest from "daily" like Celty Sturluson, the smokeless flame in Mikado's heart still didn't feel completely satisfied.
- ……I'm a coward.
- Just like Izaya-san said, I……never tried to put up a fight with anyone. Neither have I ever been beaten up by a large group of people.
Wasn't that just shameless of me to say that I wanted to keep Dollars from going rampant when I'm like that?
With that question lingering on his mind, Mikado ended up wasting his time and not coming up with anything at all.
---
But he was not poor.
In fact, Mikado paid for his own living expenses apart from his tuition.
His parents hadn't wanted him to come to Tokyo, but he had insisted saying that he would find part-time jobs and pay for everything apart from the tuition. His parents would send him some money now and then - but that all went into his savings.
He had told them that he was working part-time, but in fact, his income was from conducting all sorts of online business, which took a large slice of Mikado's spare time to manage.
But he was still something for being able to earn his own living in this way when he still had schoolwork. Mikado, however, did not consider it in any way remarkable; he simply saw it as part of his everyday life.
---
"Good morning to you, sempai!"
"A - ……Aoba-kun?"
It was Kuronuma Aoba, his kouhai who was supposed to tour the Ikebukuro streets with him today.
"Is something up? I thought we were meeting 2 hours from now."
- Eh?
Mikado had sensed vaguely that something was not right.
- When did I tell Aoba-kun where my apartment was?
---
"You could have just called. Also, how did you know that I live in this apartment……"
"It's about Dollars."
Aoba cut in as Mikado tried to ask in a diplomatic tone. He kept the refreshing smile plastered on his face as he continued to say.
An eerie chill ran down Mikado's spine.
Aoba, seeing that Mikado's expression had stiffened, put his face close to Mikado's and flashed the smile of an angel at him:
---
They were all about the same age as Mikado was. These boys of different types surrounded Mikado and Aoba, making Mikado follow them further into the abandoned factory.
He was also sure that he saw several men looking well over twenty. They were no longer here, but they had driven Mikado and the other boys here in their cars.
- Why did I follow them?
It was way obvious by now that the atmosphere in this place is abnormal.
He knew very well that he shouldn't have agreed to come with them. But the atmosphere had left him with no room for refusal or escape.
In the meantime, the abandoned factory began to feel strangely familiar to Mikado.
- This abandoned factory……I've seen it at some point before……
- ……!
Realization hit Mikado only after he had searched his brain for a while.
- That's right, this is the same place……that several months ago…….
---
"You were asking the people last night on the Dollars message board if they knew anything about the Saitama thing, weren't you sempai?"
Aoba alone was wearing the same refreshing smile as he always had. But that creeped Mikado out more than anything else.
He was probably the one person who shouldn't be saying it, but Aoba, too, had a very childlike face.
The boy looked like a middle school student surrounded by a gang of fierce-looking delinquents - yet he smiled as if it was but everyday life for him. That was what creeped Mikado out the most.
"Ah, yeah……I did. I was kind of curious……"
"I happen to know the details, so I was planning to talk to you about it."
"! Really!?"
Mikado immediately forgot all about this eerie situation he was in; some color even came back to his face.
Usually when the other person says "I happen to know the details" under such circumstances, one would at least sense vaguely the other possibility.
But Mikado didn't even for a split second.
For Mikado, it was close to impossible to associate the appearance and aura of Kuronuma Aoba with the other "possibility".
Which was why when Aoba himself declared it a fact the very next instant -
Mikado simply couldn't seem to understand what he was saying.
"It was us."
---
"……Eh? I'm sorry?"
Mikado asked with a stiffened smile threatening to peel off his face.
He was hoping that Aoba had been joking.
But Aoba kept stating the facts with an innocent, childlike expression.
---
"We burned several of their motorbikes and sent around twenty of their men into hospital."
The fierce-looking boy with tattoos added after he had heard Aoba say:
"You mean you threw Molotov cocktails into the parking lot they used for gatherings, Aoba."
Mikado finally began to take everything in after he had heard them uttered from a "he-looks-like-that-type" boy's lips.
"……Eh……ah……"
But perhaps his brain was still in denial - Mikado simply stared at Aoba, trying to move his lips but failing to issue a single sound.
Aoba, on the other hand, continued to voice even more facts in front of Mikado.
- While slowly looking up at Mikado's eyes as if waiting to savor his reaction:
"We're Dollars……but we have another name as well."
"……Another……name?"
"Blue Square - ever heard of it before?"
Connecting Chapter - The ringtone from his own cell phone had been the one he had set for Dollars text messages. Something had just been confirmed for Mikado.
- Just like they said……
- These guys are in Dollars as well……
A group of people gathered in a place. Cell phones ringing at the same time.
The size of the meeting was completely different, but it still added to the disturbance in Mikado's heart as it reminded him of a similar scene one year ago.
Yet, as if trying to send him into even deeper despair -
The shocking contents of the text message informed him of the attacks on Dollars members.
---
Mikado felt everything his vision twist and blur as Aoba told him nonchalantly.
- This……is the reality?
This boy in front of his eyes, was he the same boy who smiled that innocent smile at him at school?
But Aoba was smiling just as innocently now.
Yet his words were impossible to associate with the "reality" Mikado had always known.
"Why……why did you attack those people in Saitama……why did you do it……"
"They ruined my Ikebukuro trip with Mikado-sempai and Anri-sempai. I was just venting my anger……or is that not good enough an explanation?"
"……"
Mikado was rendered wordless. He could simply swallow.
There was probably no way the other person was going to tell him the truth about that.
Mikado, after making that judgment, kept the fingers of his left hand clasped tight around his cell phone and tried to continue "talking" to Aoba.
"Blue Square……I've heard of it……I think it was some……Color Gang in this area……that got partially absorbed into the Yellow Turbans after they clashed with them……that's what I heard."
Several boys around them whistled in surprise after Mikado had finished. Even Aoba's eyes widened as he looked somewhat shocked:
"……You know even more than I thought you did. You're something indeed, sempai!"
"Why are you telling me……someone like me……things like these?"
---
"Because I trust you, sempai. Or is that not good enough an explanation for you?"
"It's not an explanation to begin with……what do you want me to do?"
Mikado was even more confused now. He couldn't figure out what the other person was after.
---
"I won't ask you to become the leader of Dollars. That would be against the very principles Dollars was founded upon."
Heheheheh. They laughed.
Heheheheh. They snickered.
Mikado had no idea what they found so funny, but every boy around them began to laugh after they had heard Aoba. Their laughter ricocheted throughout the factory with a certain rhythm.
As if savoring a poem to that rhythm on his lips, Aoba continued in a voice that blended in perfectly with the atmosphere in the factory and kept pounding at Mikado's heart.
"…….Which is why I'm hoping that you can become the leader of us Blue Square."
"Eh……"
"We'll basically just obey your orders."
That was way too out of the blue.
That was all Mikado was able to feel.
It was as if someone had all of a sudden asked him to become the King of Saudi Arabia. Yumasaki and Karisawa would probably ask him what manga he was in if they were to hear about it.
That was how out of the blue Aoba's suggestion had sounded to Mikado.
"Why……are you asking me……"
"Yeah, there are a lot of reasons. But most importantly it's because sempai occupies a special position in Dollars."
"Special position……?"
Mikado parroted in confusion. Aoba immediately gave a curt answer.
"In short, it's because sempai is the founder of Dollars."
"……!!"
"Are you surprised? We have a pretty decent information network too."
Aoba didn't show the slightest sign of fear or contempt in front of the wordless founder. He simply voiced his thoughts in a casual tone:
"You can use us in any way you want, sempai. ……If you decide to end this conflict right away, have us kneel down in front of Toramaru and let them beat us up……then so be it. We'll do as we're told. And after we get out of the hospital, you'll be our leader. ……If, however, you're to tell us to "Protect our fellow Dollars members and go crush those Toramaru scums', then we're going to crush them no matter what that takes."
"I - I'll never……I'll never tell you to do either of those things!"
Mikado shook his head violently and said to Aoba in an emotionally-charged tone:
"What made you think I would accept it……? If you want to avoid conflict, just don't say you're in Dollars and you'll be fine! That's the type of person I am. I'm not the type who can stand above you!"
It was from the bottom of his heart.
At least that was what Mikado had meant for it to come from.
But Aoba, after hearing what Mikado had yelled - got up slowly and put his face close to Mikado's.
And then he whispered, in a tone only Mikado could hear:
"……That is a lie."
He sounded happy, very happy -
"Because, sempai……"
"Eh……?"
"Mikado-sempai, aren't you……
------------------------------ smiling?"
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