Canon notes
Oct. 20th, 2011 03:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanaka_taroVol. 1
Chapter 8, part 2 - As Mikado imagined what his friend would look like enforcing discipline, Mikado bluntly expressed his opinion on the matter.
“Wow…”
“What was that ‘wow’ for? I actually wanted to run for the position of class representative, but unfortunately I lost in an exhilarating janken1 competition held by the fifteen male candidates.”
“Fifteen people?! With janken?! That’s way more exciting than my class!”
On seeing Mikado’s obvious astonishment, a smug grin appeared on Masaomi’s face, “Only six people competed for the position of discipline committee head. Oh yeah, the discipline head in your class looks as if he’s going to be very strict about discipline. So I was thinking, if I got the job, then I could do whatever I wanted with the rules.”
“…What are you saying?”
“Forget it. Since I’m the head of discipline, I’m not going to let anyone bring heavy weaponry into the school!”
“Then what about light weaponry…”
After Mikado had once again regained his use of icy remarks, Masaomi could only stomp on the floor mutinously.
---
Mikado realized as he stood here, that this was indeed the place that he’d seen on television. But being here in person was so different from watching it on television. He also thought about how this same place had appeared on the news, dramas, variety shows, but would give people a different vibe each time it did.
So different portrayal techniques could make such a huge difference—Mikado could only applaud this, and as he watched what Masaomi was doing, sighed.
As there were no girls around their age hanging around, Masaomi had gone and tried to pick up women in the workforce who were having their afternoon lunch break. Naturally, these members of the workforce wouldn’t be interested in talking to a high schooler (and during their precious lunch break too). As he watched Masaomi’s diligent efforts to do such pointless things, Mikado felt rather sorry for him.
When Masaomi finally returned to Mikado’s side and heard Mikado’s negative comment, he laughed and answered, “Eh? What are you talking about? It doesn’t matter if I don’t get the girl. The main point of hitting on them is to talk to them! And besides, you’d better listen up, when you’re picking up girls, you definitely can’t think thoughts like ‘Impossible’ or ‘I can’t do it’…that kind of thing! With pretty girls, if you think it’s impossible, then it will be impossible. And if you think you can’t do it, then you really won’t be able to do it. Understand?”
“I totally don’t get it.”
Mikado could only respond in a low voice. He stretched.
---
“Then wouldn’t we have to take the girls we picked up to go pick up some more other girls?”
Masaomi was completely unaware that Mikado was being sarcastic. Then he ran in the direction of the station. Mikado decided to see what he was up to, only to see his friend walking up to a housewife who had just finished her shopping, and was even with her child.
Mikado sighed the biggest sigh of the day and made his way towards east entrance of the station by himself.
Although he got slightly lost along the way, Mikado still managed to find his way to the 60-Storey Street as he followed a more familiar path. This place was near his apartment, so he could take a walk around here till night fell, and then go home directly. As for Masaomi, if he still acted like he did in elementary school, he’d most likely forget about the contest and go home by himself.
When they were both seven, there was once when they’d played hide and seek and Masaomi had been the seeker. But he ran off halfway. Mikado had waited until night fell and finally went home crying, only to find Masaomi in his house, eating Mikado’s dinner and looking very pleased with himself. He’d said, “Found you.”
—Come to think of it, my hometown was filled with adventure when I was a kid. When did it all change?
After starting junior high, nothing new happened anymore, and the days grew more mundane.
Although he wanted to see the world, he didn’t have a reason to leave. So he could only accept the fact that he wasn’t able to change his life and could only live it quietly. Until one day, after his home got web access, his entire world changed.
The internet was brimming with all sorts of ‘worlds’. ‘Worlds’ clashing with information you can never get in real life. It was like outside the world he was living in now, there was an even bigger one out there. And this world wasn’t limited by ‘distance’.
Mikado gradually become more and more immersed in the online world, till everyone thought he was turning into some kind of hikikomori3. Then one day, Mikado suddenly realized that although a life which involved merely involved the passive acceptance of information from the Net was rather unrestrictive, but he didn’t know about what he should do if he were to be the one giving out information.
And when Mikado realized this, he started developing a burning interest in the outside world he’d never had before. And when he heard about how amazing and eye-catching Tokyo was, he became even more interested.
---
The three girls took turns hurling abuse at Anri, but Anri remained silent.
—Uwa, she’s being bullied?! So there are still these kinds of things still exist in Japan! And in a really clichéd way too! It’s like they’re acting out a scene from some old manga!
Such typical bullying wasn’t really that intimidating to anyone, but since he was the class representative, he had to do something. Although that was what Mikado thought, but he had no idea about what would be the most sensible thing to do. By now, he couldn’t pretend not to have seen anything, but he was still scared of provoking those girls—
—I know. I’ll just pretend I didn’t notice that they were bullying Sonohara-san, and just come over smiling and say something like: “Ah, what a coincidence, Sonohara-san” and it’ll be fine. Just like that! And if those girls have anything to say, I’ll just act according to the circumstances!
After coming up with such an ambiguous idea, Mikado gingerly took one step forward—then, he felt a hand reach out and land on his shoulder.
“?!”
Mikado inhaled sharply, and turned, and noticed he was looking at a familiar face.
“She’s being bullied? You going to stop them? How noble.”
Orihara Izaya said this in relative admiration. Then with the hand he was holding Mikado’s shoulder with, gave him a rough shove.
“Wa—wait?!”
Mikado’s exclamation had caused the four girls to notice that there was someone else here.
“Ahahaha, what a coincidence, Sonohara-saaaaaaaan—heeeeey...hold on!”
After shoving Mikado in front of the four girls, the person behind him finally stopped.
---
“But, I don’t make hitting girls my hobby…”
In the next second, Izaya was holding a shoulder purse in his right hand.
“What? Eh?”
On seeing that seemingly branded shoulder purse, one of the girls screamed. The shoulder purse which had been hanging from her shoulder had somehow ended up in that guy’s hand.
The strap hanging from her shoulder had been cleanly cut somewhere near her waist.
Unlike the bewildered girls, what Mikado who was standing behind Izaya felt was in fact fear.
Because in his left hand which he’d just put behind his back, was a small, sharp knife. The problem was, even though Mikado had been watching Izaya’s every move, he’d failed to notice where the knife had come from, and hadn’t even seen the instant when Izaya had cut the strap with his knife.
Deftly, with his left hand behind his back, he withdrew the blade of his switchblade knife and swiftly withdrew it into the sleeve of the jacket. A single-handed manoeuvre like this was like a magic act in Mikado’s eyes.
Chapter 8, Part 4—Ah ah ah, what am I supposed to say? If only Masaomi was here…
Although he was pretty flustered, it’d be rather weird if he didn’t say anything. So Mikado opened his mouth to start a conversation:
“Were those girls just now from your middle school?”
Anri nodded in response to his question.
“I see…so, those girls were always bothering you in junior high, and there was this amazing girl called Mika who’d always stand up for you, but now that Mika’s gone, they’ve come back to harass you again?”
After hearing Mikado’s proffered conjecture, Anri froze momentarily:
“How…how did you know all that?!”
“Ah…don’t worry, I just guessed based on what I put together from what you guys were talking about just now…but that’s not important. This Mika person—is she the Harima Mika from our class?”
On hearing Mikado’s question, Anri regained her composure and began to explain:
---
“You don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. The only person I might tell, is currently busy having an affair with a woman who has kids.”
Mikado had just said he’d keep quiet about it, but then he’d gone and said he might blab about it later right after that. But Anri didn’t feel anything contradictory about what he’d said, and thought for a while, and warned:
---
After hearing what Anri had to say, Mikado felt that their relationship couldn’t be so simple. He’d seen situations like this before when he was surfing the Net. And pertaining to the darkness hidden behind such things, there were a surprising number of detailed descriptions online.
“And, although Harima-san’s grades could have gotten her into a better school, she still chose the same school as me…I felt really bad…”
—That’s probably only because she didn’t want to lose the benefits of having a convenient lackey like you by her side…
Mikado had to swallow these words which had crawled up his throat back down. Deep down, he was glad Masaomi wasn’t here. If this was an Internet chatroom, he’d have just unreservedly told her this flat out.
—But, maybe it’d better if I tell her.
As he thought that, Mikado began battling with his conscience. On seeing Mikado subconsciously averting his gaze, Anri’s mouth curved into a smile:
“It’s OK, I know.”
At having been seen through, Mikado frantically asked, “K-Know what?”
“I know she was just using me to look good. So, I was using her as well. I thought life would be easier with her around, that I couldn’t live without depending on her. The only reason I volunteered to be a class representative was because Harima-san would have wanted to become one, and I decided to do it in her stead before she came back—”
Anri’s words cleared all of Mikado’s doubts. So that time in class, when she turned in his direction, she wasn’t really looking at anyone, but at Mika’s vacant table. And Masaomi had been sitting there.
As Mikado made sense of this, Anri went ahead and stated her opinion:
“But, it was mainly for my own satisfaction. I thought maybe if I became a class representative, I could surpass her…I’m horrible, aren’t I?”
Mikado didn’t wait for her to finish before throwing out an icy remark:
“In my opinion, I think what’s horrible is telling people all that.”
“—”
“It sounds like you’re trying to get someone to forgive you. In my opinion, it’s a good thing that you want to surpass Harima-san, so you should hold your head high and be more confident.”
After spilling out everything that had been in his mind, Mikado began to regret it greatly. He felt that he’d said too much. Perhaps it’d because they’d hit it off, and he’d been getting more tense as they’d talked, and thus hadn’t been able to restrain himself and poured out all the thoughts he’d normally keep to himself.
He was afraid Anri would get angry, so he withdrew his head nervously and looked up at her. But she didn’t seem angry or upset.
“You’re right…thank you.”
On seeing her slightly bewildered smile, Mikado thought about it seriously.
—To reduce someone like her to the role of a lackey…just how beautiful is this Harima person?
Chapter 8, Part 5 - But, based on what Anri had said, she’d forced open the lock of the house of a guy she merely liked and broken in, and had done so when she was in junior high. Would someone like that really just give up on their ‘soulmate’ just because they were threatened with the neighbourhood police?
When he realized he was starting to get seriously concerned a stalker girl he’d never met before, Mikado raised his head, and sighed deeply.
—Sigh. Even though I look forward to unconventional things, I don’t want to get involved with something like this.
Mikado who had lapsed into a bout of depression decided to find a way to lift his spirits. So he decided to go to the hundred yen store before going home.
---
Mikado had no idea what Masaomi was talking about so he held his chin and sank deep into thought.
—I really like extraordinary things, but if they manage to escalate into a situation like this, then maybe I might be dreaming.
Or more precisely, he wished for all this to be nothing but a dream.
Masaomi continued spouting nonsense to the pensive Mikado:
“Did you notice the stuff I just said just now was all really clichéd?”
“I think it’s even worse when you have to point it out.”
As Mikado thought about the words which he remembered saying some time ago, he glanced at the girl lying between them. Although he wasn’t sure of her age, Mikado supposed that she was probably a little older than him
Chapter 9, part 4 - Celty clenched her firsts, and thought about the two students she had met today.
Both of their expressions had revealed their true feelings. The first student had faced Celty and Shizuo without a single hint of fear or hesitation, and had glared at them from start to end with steady and gleaming eyes. And the other one—he’d shown very apparent fear towards Celty, but even so, even when facing Celty, he had been ‘grinning’. His expression then, was like he had seen the very demons and apparitions which he had feared so deeply in his heart appearing right before him.
When she thought of that, she once again withdrew her feelings.
Chapter 10, part 1 - The only thing that had bothered Mikado today, was not only Harima Mika’s absence, but also the fact that the welfare head Yagiri Seiji was similarly absent. After hearing about their relationship yesterday from Anri, Mikado had been feeling rather uneasy. He wondered if their twin absences had anything to do with each other.
Not only that, the girl who had lost her memory and was sitting alone at home was another source of worry for him as well.
---
Izaya was grinning at Mikado, but Mikado didn’t know the point of his smile, nor his reason for looking him up.
No, more accurately, there was in fact one reason for this person to look him up. But Mikado wasn’t willing to admit it, and merely tightened his fists.
Chapter 10, Part 2 - It looked like he understood human language. Mikado heaved a small sigh of relief, and realized the strangeness of the situation he was facing.
—Ah, I kind of feel like crying now.
---
“Um…could you let me see inside your helmet—”
On hearing his rather blunt request, Celty stared intently at his face.
—Ah ah, it’s the same expression as yesterday.
That strange expression that was both uneasy and tensed with anticipation, and mixed with despair and joy. The student before her had asked her to reveal herself with such an intriguing expression in his eyes. Celty considered his request for a bit, and typed the following line of words:
Promise me you won’t scream?
Celty once again felt that she’d asked another stupid question, but she just wanted to make sure. These twenty years, aside from doing so in Shinra’s presence, she had never taken off her helmet before. There had been a few times when her helmet had been knocked off in a scuffle, and the reactions of all who had seen it, had always been that of ‘sheer terror’.
But the youth called Mikado in front of her was ready and willing to experience this terror. Not only had he believed Celty and not dismissed it as a lie or joke, he even wanted to see for himself. Asking someone like him to promise ‘not to scream’, was stupidity in itself.
As Celty thought about that, Mikado gave the response she had expected.
As she watched him nod vigorously, Celty slowly—pushed up the visor of her full-face visor.
Darkness. It was just a space of nothingness. Of course, logically, there’d still be air, but the presence of something like that was unimportant to Mikado. The thing that was supposed to be filling up that space was no there, and it was meaningless even if there was something else there.
—Ah ah, it’s not there. It’s really not there. This definitely isn’t some trick. But even if it was, it’d be interesting to look into something like that.
A sliver of fear flashed in Mikado’s eyes, but that fear did not result in him screaming, but instead caused shock to transform into pleasant surprise in his heart, and tears began to gather in his eyes.
“Thank you…thank you very much.”
Mikado didn’t know how to express his thanks. Then, he looked up at Celty, very much like a child would.
---
Mikado felt like crying from fear on hearing that clichéd line the crook had spouted. When he’d seen that supernatural being before, he’d been filled with unmistakable joy, yet as he faced these two crooks who were clearly human just like him, there was only fear in his heart. What was wrong with him anyway?
Just as he was about to cry from his helplessness, one of them shouted:
“Someone’s coming!”
After shouting that, the two of them rushed outside. Then not long later, came the sound of car speeding away.
“I…I-I-I…I’m saved…”
Mikado held back tears that had stemmed from his terror, but then burst into tears anyway because of the immense feeling of relief that followed.
Chapter 10, Part 3 - After making sure he wasn’t hearing things, Mikado widened his tear-filled eyes. Firstly it was because the company name was the same as a classmate of his—and secondly, because ‘he’d heard the company’s name from something else’.
The tears were withdrawn.
The missing head girl. A Dullahan. Yagiri. Pharmaceuticals. Missing. Harima Mika. Sonohara Anri’s story. Yagiri Seiji. Human trafficking. Dollars.
The connection between all the pieces had suddenly appeared in Mikado’s mind, and then suddenly disappeared, and finally became a pile of deductions.
In that silent room, Mikado swiftly turned on the computer.
As he waited for the computer to boot, he turned on his cellphone which had been switched off during class and promptly checked his messages.
Celty watched Mikado in shock, not knowing what he was doing. Beside her—Izaya’s eyes gleamed, like a hunter which had chanced upon a rare animal.
“Honestly, I half-assumed he was—”
Izaya was only in mid-sentence when Mikado’s computer finished booting and he’d immediately gone online, and was entering some kind of password at an extraordinary speed. After accessing some website, he gripped the mouse and moved it with some kind of rhythm.
After browsing it for a while, Mikado turned to face the two of them.
Celty was astounded. Because Mikado’s eyes were no longer those of the youth who had been so amazed by his surroundings from before. He was like a hawk which had spotted its prey, and his expression was both unfathomable and forthright as he faced the two of them. Then he lowered his head.
The person before her and the cowardly student just now were like two different people, which made Celty a little confused.
“Please, the both of you, cooperate with me for the time being.”
Mikado said in a firm voice that would make it hard for someone to decline his request:
“All the pieces are ‘in my hand’.”
---
Although she wasn’t sure what was going, she did know that she’d never seen Izaya this happy before.
But, the happiest amongst the three was in fact—Ryuugamine Mikado.
Mikado was rather still baby-faced, so now he looked very much like a child who had just received a toy, and his eyes were sparkling with joy. It was hard to imagine he’d previously nearly been crying out of fear with an expression like this. He looked like it was taking his all to suppress his unbounded joy.
—These past few days…since he’d come to Ikebukuro, he’d met with a lot of incomprehensible situations. And it was those situations had linked together to form something so complete right before his very eyes.
Mikado once again confirmed the pieces that he’d assembled in his head, and happily took a deep breath.
His boring everyday life. The never-changing scenery. His ordinary self.
He wanted to free himself of all that, so he had come to this place.
Now, he felt that, indeed, he had finally freed himself from all that.
Ryuugamine Mikado had noticed, that at this very moment, he had risen to the level of being some kind of ‘main character’.
And he also realized that, an ‘enemy’ that was threatening his way of life and perhaps even his very existence had also appeared.
As Mikado was already brimming with such excitement, he didn’t feel a shred of hesitation or fear even at the thought of eliminating this ‘enemy’ of his.
Then, he began to speak. He told everything about himself to Celty and Izaya—
---
“I want you to admit what your brother did to Harima Mika, as well as the things you did to her body. Unfortunately, what I have is only circumstantial evidence, so to put it bluntly—I want you to turn yourself in.”
Mikado said all that calmly and composedly, yet sweat was pouring down his hands like a waterfall. For a moment, his opponent looked even more murderous than before. He feared that relaxed just a little, he might just burst out crying.
“Um, I’m sure turning yourself in will result in the least possible losses for your company.”
---
Mikado had nearly been overwhelmed by Namie’s unusually passionate devotion to her brother, but he’d managed to get back on his feet, and launch a counter-attack.
—She caused someone’s death and gave that corpse a ‘personality’ for selfish reasons—and now she even wants to kill me. Ah, so this is what was getting on my nerves the most. I see, so the person I care about most is myself. For myself, I’ll do anything. It’s because I’m like that, that I absolutely can’t stand people like her who use other people as an excuse to do things for themselves! Especially when they use a reason like that to screw up people’s lives, I simply can’t stand it—!
Anger slowly rose in the youth’s heart. He was still longing for an unconventional life, but if it was this outrageous, then it was a different story.
---
But Mikado would not be defeated:
“Yeah, I only know how to say things like that. But so what? You killed someone so you should repent. How can someone who doesn’t even understand such a simple concept lecture me on this?”
As if he was trying to force Namie back, he too took a step forward.
“You watch too many dramas, and they’re probably all those ones for old people with forced happy endings! What do you take this…this city for? This is reality! This isn’t TV or in the magazines, and you’re no hero. Know your place!”
Both of them took a step towards each other. Namie’s voice was quivering with frigid anger, but Mikado showed no sign of retreating.
He was always with Kida Masaomi, and whatever he said could hardly be understood. Even though the topic was different, but it was definitely easier for him to rebut Namie’s arguments.
“So what if I love beautiful things like that. I want a happy ending and I absolutely adore clichéd and stereotypical developments. What’s wrong with that?...So what’s wrong with trying to achieve an ending like that in reality? I won’t say it’s for someone else, because in the end it’ll always be for myself. That’s why I do it! Yes, this way of thinking is really old-school, but since it’s old-school, doesn’t it just mean that that’s what everyone thinks?”
The argument effortlessly spilled out of Mikado’s mouth, even things that he didn’t believe in with had simply gushed out.
He wasn’t deliberately provoking her because he had low-self esteem or something, but only because he wanted her to focus her attention on him, until ‘the time was ripe’.
Chapter 10, Part 4 - —I don’t have the ability nor knowledge needed to face off an opponent like her who doesn’t listen to reason. And I don’t have the time to try either, so I can only think of something right here and now to overcome this problem.
Mikado toughened his resolve, took a deep breath, and pressed the ‘Send’ button just as he exhaled.
—So I’ll—‘rely on numbers’!
---
But the stares didn’t stop even as she did, and the illusion that the whole world was against them slowly began invading their consciousness.
And Namie and her minions hadn’t noticed at all, that the youth that had been making a deal with her, had just disappeared in the crowd, and disappeared into the stares—
The Dollars leader, had become a part of the crowd without a single person knowing.
*(Excellent use of psychological warfare Mikado)*
---
Although they didn’t know who that trembling girl in the back of the van was, but Kadota as always, had filled in a ‘report’ form on the Dollars website. This form was to stop disputes between fellow Dollars members, but then again Dollars members practically never bumped into each other on the streets.
And if there did, it would probably be on friendly terms like with Karisawa and the illegal immigrant Kaztano; they had only found out today that they were in the same group as Simon and Shizuo.
*(Report forms. Good to keep in mind how Mikado's mind works.)*
---
Mikado had sent out a message just in time to everyone in his contacts—which was virtually everyone who had come, a message like that—
Anyone who isn’t looking at their phones now is an enemy. You don’t need to do anything, just stare silently.
Last Chapter, part 1 - The “Dollars” had originally been nothing more than a joke.
It had been Mikado’s idea, and a few people he’d met online had felt it was a pretty good idea and had thus agreed to help him out with it.
They made up things about a group which was based in Ikebukuro, and spread its name all over the next. And later, they made up even more things on top of that, and whenever anything happened, they’d spread rumours about how they were the doing of the “Dollars”. They never claimed to be from the “Dollars”, and would always say that they had heard it from someone else. And if anyone wanted to know their source, they’d just ignore them, and they had even made a fake site to fool people.
And when the rumours began getting out of hand, Mikado and friends decided that since they’d started it, they might as well just go with it to the end and started a Dollars website. The website required a password to enter, and even prepared many ‘member posts’. Then they began spreading the website’s address. If anyone wanted the password, they’d pretend and say ‘someone I know who’s a member secretly told me’, and then email it to them.
And just like that, they’d made up an organization. As for their objective, all they’d written on the homepage had been “All are welcome.” There was absolutely nothing about ‘rules and restrictions’ on it.
---
The joke was going too far, and was leaving their extent of control. Things had come to this, so they could just ‘fess up. Thus, Mikado and his friends just slowly disappeared from it all. They believed that just leaving Dollars alone, just letting it vanish by itself was the best way.
And yet, Mikado was the only one who was desperately clinging onto this ‘joke’.
Today the group was indeed possessing real power. And Mikado felt that, should there be no one to keep these people in check, it would definitely be too dangerous. Deep down, there was certainly a misguided sense of superiority he’d gained from that power. But he kept feelings like hidden in his heart. And when he finally realized it, he’d become the leader of the “Dollars”.
---
Before he left, Izaya walked up to Mikado’s side.
“Honestly speaking, I’m pretty shocked.”
Izaya said that with a face full of joy, and not a single drop of sweat ran down his face. Speaking of which, during that meeting just now, just where had he been? Mikado was completely clueless about that.
Oblivious to Mikado’s doubts, Izaya began candidly praising him:
---
“But, Mikado-kun…you came here just because you dreamed of escaping a mundane everyday life didn’t you? But just give it over a year or so, and life in Tokyo will become ordinary for you too. If you want to continue pursuing an extraordinary life, then I suggest you look elsewhere. Perhaps you could do things like drugs and prostitution, and delve deeper into the underworld.”
Only when Izaya had mentioned that, did Mikado realise something. Just what should he do if that excitement he’d just experienced kept repeating itself, or if he truly became the head of the Dollars? Once his current life failed to satisfy him, would he be able to continue pursuing a new way of life for the rest of his life?
As if he’d read his mind, Izaya quietly smiled:
“To someone who’s a member of the underworld, things like that are completely normal to them. Once you step into it, it’ll become ‘normal’ to you in three days. Is someone like you really able to put up with a situation like that?”
Mikado had a deep empathy of what Izaya was driving at. But, this person—why was he telling this to him? Mikado couldn’t help but think Izaya probably had some kind of agenda, but since he had no idea of what this agenda was, he couldn’t say anything just yet.
“If you really want to leave normality—you have no choice but to keep evolving. It doesn’t matter if you want to rise higher or if you want to sink lower, it’ll be the same.”
*(Izaya you creeper. What kind of monster do you intend to create?)*
---
“Actually I’ve been watching you online the whole time…ah~I’ve wanted to know all along just what kind of person started that amazing group called the Dollars. Alright, good luck then, Tanaka Taro-kun!”
“?!”
How had he known that name?—it was the username he used on that chatroom. Speaking of which, he’d also called Kadota “Dotachin”.
Then, he thought of what Izaya had just said. He knew he was the creator of the Dollars, and had been observing him the whole time—following him online.
Then, Mikado thought of one person. The person who had invited him to join that chatroom. The person who knew so much about Ikebukuro and the Dollars.
—No way—no way—no way?!
*(Hope you never hit on Kanra.)*
---
After thanking him in such an insipid manner, Seiji made to blatantly move past Mikado. Mikado hurriedly threw out a hand in an attempt to block them, and managed to glance at the girl with Seiji. Then, she perplexedly looked away. From what Mikado saw, this reaction was because she was afraid of something.
So Mikado stared at Seiji, and asked about an important matter:
“I hope you’ll be able to answer me…it’s about the thing I told your sister to scare her just now…”
“You mean the stuff about how I killed someone? Yeah, it’s probably true.”
On hearing him say that, Mikado momentarily felt a slight chill run down his whole body just looking at the person before him.
---
Something was wrong. Izaya, Kadota, Yumasaki and the others successively surrounded the two of them.
On seeing the group of aggressive-looking people, Seiji shook his head gently:
“You guys are really annoying. No one can stop the power of love.”
Even in the face of a situation like this, he still said with a completely straight face. He twisted the scalpel raised in his hand, turned to Mikado and said firmly:
“Speaking of which, don’t you feel you’re pretty useless? Whether it was then or ‘now’, you’d always have a bunch of cronies who’d be helping you out…you never did anything yourself, like the lowest-ranked underling. You probably haven’t been in love with someone before right?”
“Someone who doesn’t know how much work it is to gather people, is not even at the level of an underling.”
*(Oooh Mikado oooh~)*
Part 2 - Practically at the same time, Mikado had realised who she really was.
—This girl isn’t the Dullahan’s head—! She’s—
“Harima…Mika…?”
To Mikado’s question, which sounded more like something he was saying to himself, she began to shiver uncontrollably and averted her gaze.
“Am I right? You’re the person whom we thought Yagiri-kun killed—Harima Mika, right?”
---
To Mikado, it seemed very much like a rather hilarious comedy, but he couldn’t exactly laugh at it.
After thinking for a while, Mikado walked towards them, and sheepishly began to speak:
“Uh…although you couldn’t tell she was a fake, but you still risked your life to protect her. I think that’s really admirable.”
After comforting Seiji a little like that, he proceeded to tell them:
“When I heard about what happened to Harima-san before, I think I must have misunderstood. There are some problems with her personality, but she’s definitely not a stalker.”
The words that followed, were said as if he was talking to himself:
“Eh… in the end she still ended up troubling you like this. And, as far as stalkers go, all she’s done so far is just show possessiveness of you. But, she willingly risked her life for Yagiri-kun. I don’t think she’d do just a thing if it really was just selfish possessiveness. And from another angle, it’s really admirable how she can still like the person who almost killed her…”
After leaving one last unnecessary phrase behind, he left the street in the night.
“I think, Harima-san…is a lot like Yagiri-kun.”
*(So tactful. Good to remember how Mikado talks at times like these.)*
Epilogue 1 - Something so big had just happened, but obviously the school wouldn’t disappear because of that. The school bell still rang like nothing had happened, and normal classes went on as always.
That day during lunch, Mikado went up to the roof of the first school building. At that time, almost everyone in the school had gone to have lunch at the student cafeteria which was of the same standard as that of an eatery in a private university, or had gone out to eat at some shop—but there were some students who were different from them, and preferred taking their bentos up to the roof to eat.
The sky was the same whether he was looking from the roof or from the street, and Mikado then realized, it was the exact same sky from his hometown. Something perfectly natural like that. The strange thing was, he’d clearly experienced so many extraordinary things, yet the feelings in his heart were inexplicably down-to-earth. It felt very much like he was experiencing the day after that of a long-anticipated school trip.
---
“Despicable. So she’s Seiji’s girlfriend! So it’s like that! A hot girlfriend like her, no wonder he says he lives for love!”
Masaomi began complaining as he saw their actions. But Mikado who knew their troubles could only give a pained laugh and say “Yeah” to that.
But, it was also because of that that Mika and Anri wouldn’t be together anymore. Every time class ended, Anri always sit by herself in a corner of the classroom. And Mikado would always watch her from afar with a strange feeling inside him.
Whether that development was for better or for worse, only she herself knew.
—But, is it really like that? Is there really no way for me to know? Could it be that humans really don’t have the ability to perceive the thoughts of others?
(You have no choice but to keep evolving.)
Izaya’s words rang out in his mind.
—That’s right, I’ll definitely evolve. I want to see how much I can evolve in this everyday life of mine, in this world I’m living in. One day, I’ll let that person see what I can truly do.
Whether his goal was to rise up or to sink lower—would presently remain unknown. But he was definitely still moving towards his goal. It was just that, now he had a little more room for circumspection.
Mikado looked out from the classroom window, and looked to that huge sixty storey building, and began to reflect on his current feelings.
After experiencing something that had completely defied normality, what was left was in fact a curious feeling of both fulfillment and emptiness.
—The me now, will definitely be able to face reality straight up and accept it.
But before he faced himself honestly, there was something else he needed to do.
So, he had gone up to the rooftop. Because he’d heard, she went there for lunch everyday.
He thought that nothing would be able to hinder him ever again if he could do something so bold. He thought he wouldn’t be afraid of anything ever again—
He didn’t think, he’d freeze up at that juncture.
Online, it was so easy for him to talk to just about anyone…
But he had never expected at all, that fulfilling such a tiny wish in his everyday life would be so difficult.
—I didn’t think I’d need so much courage just to ask a girl from my class out.
Vol. 2
Prologue - PM Mode [Taro] ...Speaking of nekama, you’re only joking aren’t you? Orihara-san.
[Kanra] How meeeaaaannn! Taro-kun’s sexually harassing me in PM Mode!
[Taro] It’s a misunderstanding! Misunderstanding!
PM Mode [Taro] But but but, seriously speaking, just who is Setton-san?
PM Mode [Taro] Is it someone I know? Like Karisawa-san?
PM Mode [Kanra] Oh~ That’s a secret.
[Kanra] It’s about time for me to go off~ Careful not to get possessed by a demon blade
—Kanra has left the chatroom—
[Taro] Alright, goodnight~
[Taro]…And it really was a misunderstanding! I wasn’t harassing anyone in any way!
Chapter 2, Part 2 - “Either way just be careful. If anything happens, me and Mikado’ll think of some way to help you out. Right? Mikado!”
Mikado had been looking around the whole time so when questioned by Masaomi, he’d blinked in surprise:
“…? I have no idea what you were talking about, but as long as it’s within my ability, I’ll help.”
“Chitsu chitsu chitsu, Mikado’s really dumb. At times like this, you should be saying “Even if it’s something I can’t do, I’ll harness the power of love!” That’s how a real man does it”
“Isn’t that a little ironical?”
Translations by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
differentclouds
Chapter 8, part 2 - As Mikado imagined what his friend would look like enforcing discipline, Mikado bluntly expressed his opinion on the matter.
“Wow…”
“What was that ‘wow’ for? I actually wanted to run for the position of class representative, but unfortunately I lost in an exhilarating janken1 competition held by the fifteen male candidates.”
“Fifteen people?! With janken?! That’s way more exciting than my class!”
On seeing Mikado’s obvious astonishment, a smug grin appeared on Masaomi’s face, “Only six people competed for the position of discipline committee head. Oh yeah, the discipline head in your class looks as if he’s going to be very strict about discipline. So I was thinking, if I got the job, then I could do whatever I wanted with the rules.”
“…What are you saying?”
“Forget it. Since I’m the head of discipline, I’m not going to let anyone bring heavy weaponry into the school!”
“Then what about light weaponry…”
After Mikado had once again regained his use of icy remarks, Masaomi could only stomp on the floor mutinously.
---
Mikado realized as he stood here, that this was indeed the place that he’d seen on television. But being here in person was so different from watching it on television. He also thought about how this same place had appeared on the news, dramas, variety shows, but would give people a different vibe each time it did.
So different portrayal techniques could make such a huge difference—Mikado could only applaud this, and as he watched what Masaomi was doing, sighed.
As there were no girls around their age hanging around, Masaomi had gone and tried to pick up women in the workforce who were having their afternoon lunch break. Naturally, these members of the workforce wouldn’t be interested in talking to a high schooler (and during their precious lunch break too). As he watched Masaomi’s diligent efforts to do such pointless things, Mikado felt rather sorry for him.
When Masaomi finally returned to Mikado’s side and heard Mikado’s negative comment, he laughed and answered, “Eh? What are you talking about? It doesn’t matter if I don’t get the girl. The main point of hitting on them is to talk to them! And besides, you’d better listen up, when you’re picking up girls, you definitely can’t think thoughts like ‘Impossible’ or ‘I can’t do it’…that kind of thing! With pretty girls, if you think it’s impossible, then it will be impossible. And if you think you can’t do it, then you really won’t be able to do it. Understand?”
“I totally don’t get it.”
Mikado could only respond in a low voice. He stretched.
---
“Then wouldn’t we have to take the girls we picked up to go pick up some more other girls?”
Masaomi was completely unaware that Mikado was being sarcastic. Then he ran in the direction of the station. Mikado decided to see what he was up to, only to see his friend walking up to a housewife who had just finished her shopping, and was even with her child.
Mikado sighed the biggest sigh of the day and made his way towards east entrance of the station by himself.
Although he got slightly lost along the way, Mikado still managed to find his way to the 60-Storey Street as he followed a more familiar path. This place was near his apartment, so he could take a walk around here till night fell, and then go home directly. As for Masaomi, if he still acted like he did in elementary school, he’d most likely forget about the contest and go home by himself.
When they were both seven, there was once when they’d played hide and seek and Masaomi had been the seeker. But he ran off halfway. Mikado had waited until night fell and finally went home crying, only to find Masaomi in his house, eating Mikado’s dinner and looking very pleased with himself. He’d said, “Found you.”
—Come to think of it, my hometown was filled with adventure when I was a kid. When did it all change?
After starting junior high, nothing new happened anymore, and the days grew more mundane.
Although he wanted to see the world, he didn’t have a reason to leave. So he could only accept the fact that he wasn’t able to change his life and could only live it quietly. Until one day, after his home got web access, his entire world changed.
The internet was brimming with all sorts of ‘worlds’. ‘Worlds’ clashing with information you can never get in real life. It was like outside the world he was living in now, there was an even bigger one out there. And this world wasn’t limited by ‘distance’.
Mikado gradually become more and more immersed in the online world, till everyone thought he was turning into some kind of hikikomori3. Then one day, Mikado suddenly realized that although a life which involved merely involved the passive acceptance of information from the Net was rather unrestrictive, but he didn’t know about what he should do if he were to be the one giving out information.
And when Mikado realized this, he started developing a burning interest in the outside world he’d never had before. And when he heard about how amazing and eye-catching Tokyo was, he became even more interested.
---
The three girls took turns hurling abuse at Anri, but Anri remained silent.
—Uwa, she’s being bullied?! So there are still these kinds of things still exist in Japan! And in a really clichéd way too! It’s like they’re acting out a scene from some old manga!
Such typical bullying wasn’t really that intimidating to anyone, but since he was the class representative, he had to do something. Although that was what Mikado thought, but he had no idea about what would be the most sensible thing to do. By now, he couldn’t pretend not to have seen anything, but he was still scared of provoking those girls—
—I know. I’ll just pretend I didn’t notice that they were bullying Sonohara-san, and just come over smiling and say something like: “Ah, what a coincidence, Sonohara-san” and it’ll be fine. Just like that! And if those girls have anything to say, I’ll just act according to the circumstances!
After coming up with such an ambiguous idea, Mikado gingerly took one step forward—then, he felt a hand reach out and land on his shoulder.
“?!”
Mikado inhaled sharply, and turned, and noticed he was looking at a familiar face.
“She’s being bullied? You going to stop them? How noble.”
Orihara Izaya said this in relative admiration. Then with the hand he was holding Mikado’s shoulder with, gave him a rough shove.
“Wa—wait?!”
Mikado’s exclamation had caused the four girls to notice that there was someone else here.
“Ahahaha, what a coincidence, Sonohara-saaaaaaaan—heeeeey...hold on!”
After shoving Mikado in front of the four girls, the person behind him finally stopped.
---
“But, I don’t make hitting girls my hobby…”
In the next second, Izaya was holding a shoulder purse in his right hand.
“What? Eh?”
On seeing that seemingly branded shoulder purse, one of the girls screamed. The shoulder purse which had been hanging from her shoulder had somehow ended up in that guy’s hand.
The strap hanging from her shoulder had been cleanly cut somewhere near her waist.
Unlike the bewildered girls, what Mikado who was standing behind Izaya felt was in fact fear.
Because in his left hand which he’d just put behind his back, was a small, sharp knife. The problem was, even though Mikado had been watching Izaya’s every move, he’d failed to notice where the knife had come from, and hadn’t even seen the instant when Izaya had cut the strap with his knife.
Deftly, with his left hand behind his back, he withdrew the blade of his switchblade knife and swiftly withdrew it into the sleeve of the jacket. A single-handed manoeuvre like this was like a magic act in Mikado’s eyes.
Chapter 8, Part 4—Ah ah ah, what am I supposed to say? If only Masaomi was here…
Although he was pretty flustered, it’d be rather weird if he didn’t say anything. So Mikado opened his mouth to start a conversation:
“Were those girls just now from your middle school?”
Anri nodded in response to his question.
“I see…so, those girls were always bothering you in junior high, and there was this amazing girl called Mika who’d always stand up for you, but now that Mika’s gone, they’ve come back to harass you again?”
After hearing Mikado’s proffered conjecture, Anri froze momentarily:
“How…how did you know all that?!”
“Ah…don’t worry, I just guessed based on what I put together from what you guys were talking about just now…but that’s not important. This Mika person—is she the Harima Mika from our class?”
On hearing Mikado’s question, Anri regained her composure and began to explain:
---
“You don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. The only person I might tell, is currently busy having an affair with a woman who has kids.”
Mikado had just said he’d keep quiet about it, but then he’d gone and said he might blab about it later right after that. But Anri didn’t feel anything contradictory about what he’d said, and thought for a while, and warned:
---
After hearing what Anri had to say, Mikado felt that their relationship couldn’t be so simple. He’d seen situations like this before when he was surfing the Net. And pertaining to the darkness hidden behind such things, there were a surprising number of detailed descriptions online.
“And, although Harima-san’s grades could have gotten her into a better school, she still chose the same school as me…I felt really bad…”
—That’s probably only because she didn’t want to lose the benefits of having a convenient lackey like you by her side…
Mikado had to swallow these words which had crawled up his throat back down. Deep down, he was glad Masaomi wasn’t here. If this was an Internet chatroom, he’d have just unreservedly told her this flat out.
—But, maybe it’d better if I tell her.
As he thought that, Mikado began battling with his conscience. On seeing Mikado subconsciously averting his gaze, Anri’s mouth curved into a smile:
“It’s OK, I know.”
At having been seen through, Mikado frantically asked, “K-Know what?”
“I know she was just using me to look good. So, I was using her as well. I thought life would be easier with her around, that I couldn’t live without depending on her. The only reason I volunteered to be a class representative was because Harima-san would have wanted to become one, and I decided to do it in her stead before she came back—”
Anri’s words cleared all of Mikado’s doubts. So that time in class, when she turned in his direction, she wasn’t really looking at anyone, but at Mika’s vacant table. And Masaomi had been sitting there.
As Mikado made sense of this, Anri went ahead and stated her opinion:
“But, it was mainly for my own satisfaction. I thought maybe if I became a class representative, I could surpass her…I’m horrible, aren’t I?”
Mikado didn’t wait for her to finish before throwing out an icy remark:
“In my opinion, I think what’s horrible is telling people all that.”
“—”
“It sounds like you’re trying to get someone to forgive you. In my opinion, it’s a good thing that you want to surpass Harima-san, so you should hold your head high and be more confident.”
After spilling out everything that had been in his mind, Mikado began to regret it greatly. He felt that he’d said too much. Perhaps it’d because they’d hit it off, and he’d been getting more tense as they’d talked, and thus hadn’t been able to restrain himself and poured out all the thoughts he’d normally keep to himself.
He was afraid Anri would get angry, so he withdrew his head nervously and looked up at her. But she didn’t seem angry or upset.
“You’re right…thank you.”
On seeing her slightly bewildered smile, Mikado thought about it seriously.
—To reduce someone like her to the role of a lackey…just how beautiful is this Harima person?
Chapter 8, Part 5 - But, based on what Anri had said, she’d forced open the lock of the house of a guy she merely liked and broken in, and had done so when she was in junior high. Would someone like that really just give up on their ‘soulmate’ just because they were threatened with the neighbourhood police?
When he realized he was starting to get seriously concerned a stalker girl he’d never met before, Mikado raised his head, and sighed deeply.
—Sigh. Even though I look forward to unconventional things, I don’t want to get involved with something like this.
Mikado who had lapsed into a bout of depression decided to find a way to lift his spirits. So he decided to go to the hundred yen store before going home.
---
Mikado had no idea what Masaomi was talking about so he held his chin and sank deep into thought.
—I really like extraordinary things, but if they manage to escalate into a situation like this, then maybe I might be dreaming.
Or more precisely, he wished for all this to be nothing but a dream.
Masaomi continued spouting nonsense to the pensive Mikado:
“Did you notice the stuff I just said just now was all really clichéd?”
“I think it’s even worse when you have to point it out.”
As Mikado thought about the words which he remembered saying some time ago, he glanced at the girl lying between them. Although he wasn’t sure of her age, Mikado supposed that she was probably a little older than him
Chapter 9, part 4 - Celty clenched her firsts, and thought about the two students she had met today.
Both of their expressions had revealed their true feelings. The first student had faced Celty and Shizuo without a single hint of fear or hesitation, and had glared at them from start to end with steady and gleaming eyes. And the other one—he’d shown very apparent fear towards Celty, but even so, even when facing Celty, he had been ‘grinning’. His expression then, was like he had seen the very demons and apparitions which he had feared so deeply in his heart appearing right before him.
When she thought of that, she once again withdrew her feelings.
Chapter 10, part 1 - The only thing that had bothered Mikado today, was not only Harima Mika’s absence, but also the fact that the welfare head Yagiri Seiji was similarly absent. After hearing about their relationship yesterday from Anri, Mikado had been feeling rather uneasy. He wondered if their twin absences had anything to do with each other.
Not only that, the girl who had lost her memory and was sitting alone at home was another source of worry for him as well.
---
Izaya was grinning at Mikado, but Mikado didn’t know the point of his smile, nor his reason for looking him up.
No, more accurately, there was in fact one reason for this person to look him up. But Mikado wasn’t willing to admit it, and merely tightened his fists.
Chapter 10, Part 2 - It looked like he understood human language. Mikado heaved a small sigh of relief, and realized the strangeness of the situation he was facing.
—Ah, I kind of feel like crying now.
---
“Um…could you let me see inside your helmet—”
On hearing his rather blunt request, Celty stared intently at his face.
—Ah ah, it’s the same expression as yesterday.
That strange expression that was both uneasy and tensed with anticipation, and mixed with despair and joy. The student before her had asked her to reveal herself with such an intriguing expression in his eyes. Celty considered his request for a bit, and typed the following line of words:
Promise me you won’t scream?
Celty once again felt that she’d asked another stupid question, but she just wanted to make sure. These twenty years, aside from doing so in Shinra’s presence, she had never taken off her helmet before. There had been a few times when her helmet had been knocked off in a scuffle, and the reactions of all who had seen it, had always been that of ‘sheer terror’.
But the youth called Mikado in front of her was ready and willing to experience this terror. Not only had he believed Celty and not dismissed it as a lie or joke, he even wanted to see for himself. Asking someone like him to promise ‘not to scream’, was stupidity in itself.
As Celty thought about that, Mikado gave the response she had expected.
As she watched him nod vigorously, Celty slowly—pushed up the visor of her full-face visor.
Darkness. It was just a space of nothingness. Of course, logically, there’d still be air, but the presence of something like that was unimportant to Mikado. The thing that was supposed to be filling up that space was no there, and it was meaningless even if there was something else there.
—Ah ah, it’s not there. It’s really not there. This definitely isn’t some trick. But even if it was, it’d be interesting to look into something like that.
A sliver of fear flashed in Mikado’s eyes, but that fear did not result in him screaming, but instead caused shock to transform into pleasant surprise in his heart, and tears began to gather in his eyes.
“Thank you…thank you very much.”
Mikado didn’t know how to express his thanks. Then, he looked up at Celty, very much like a child would.
---
Mikado felt like crying from fear on hearing that clichéd line the crook had spouted. When he’d seen that supernatural being before, he’d been filled with unmistakable joy, yet as he faced these two crooks who were clearly human just like him, there was only fear in his heart. What was wrong with him anyway?
Just as he was about to cry from his helplessness, one of them shouted:
“Someone’s coming!”
After shouting that, the two of them rushed outside. Then not long later, came the sound of car speeding away.
“I…I-I-I…I’m saved…”
Mikado held back tears that had stemmed from his terror, but then burst into tears anyway because of the immense feeling of relief that followed.
Chapter 10, Part 3 - After making sure he wasn’t hearing things, Mikado widened his tear-filled eyes. Firstly it was because the company name was the same as a classmate of his—and secondly, because ‘he’d heard the company’s name from something else’.
The tears were withdrawn.
The missing head girl. A Dullahan. Yagiri. Pharmaceuticals. Missing. Harima Mika. Sonohara Anri’s story. Yagiri Seiji. Human trafficking. Dollars.
The connection between all the pieces had suddenly appeared in Mikado’s mind, and then suddenly disappeared, and finally became a pile of deductions.
In that silent room, Mikado swiftly turned on the computer.
As he waited for the computer to boot, he turned on his cellphone which had been switched off during class and promptly checked his messages.
Celty watched Mikado in shock, not knowing what he was doing. Beside her—Izaya’s eyes gleamed, like a hunter which had chanced upon a rare animal.
“Honestly, I half-assumed he was—”
Izaya was only in mid-sentence when Mikado’s computer finished booting and he’d immediately gone online, and was entering some kind of password at an extraordinary speed. After accessing some website, he gripped the mouse and moved it with some kind of rhythm.
After browsing it for a while, Mikado turned to face the two of them.
Celty was astounded. Because Mikado’s eyes were no longer those of the youth who had been so amazed by his surroundings from before. He was like a hawk which had spotted its prey, and his expression was both unfathomable and forthright as he faced the two of them. Then he lowered his head.
The person before her and the cowardly student just now were like two different people, which made Celty a little confused.
“Please, the both of you, cooperate with me for the time being.”
Mikado said in a firm voice that would make it hard for someone to decline his request:
“All the pieces are ‘in my hand’.”
---
Although she wasn’t sure what was going, she did know that she’d never seen Izaya this happy before.
But, the happiest amongst the three was in fact—Ryuugamine Mikado.
Mikado was rather still baby-faced, so now he looked very much like a child who had just received a toy, and his eyes were sparkling with joy. It was hard to imagine he’d previously nearly been crying out of fear with an expression like this. He looked like it was taking his all to suppress his unbounded joy.
—These past few days…since he’d come to Ikebukuro, he’d met with a lot of incomprehensible situations. And it was those situations had linked together to form something so complete right before his very eyes.
Mikado once again confirmed the pieces that he’d assembled in his head, and happily took a deep breath.
His boring everyday life. The never-changing scenery. His ordinary self.
He wanted to free himself of all that, so he had come to this place.
Now, he felt that, indeed, he had finally freed himself from all that.
Ryuugamine Mikado had noticed, that at this very moment, he had risen to the level of being some kind of ‘main character’.
And he also realized that, an ‘enemy’ that was threatening his way of life and perhaps even his very existence had also appeared.
As Mikado was already brimming with such excitement, he didn’t feel a shred of hesitation or fear even at the thought of eliminating this ‘enemy’ of his.
Then, he began to speak. He told everything about himself to Celty and Izaya—
---
“I want you to admit what your brother did to Harima Mika, as well as the things you did to her body. Unfortunately, what I have is only circumstantial evidence, so to put it bluntly—I want you to turn yourself in.”
Mikado said all that calmly and composedly, yet sweat was pouring down his hands like a waterfall. For a moment, his opponent looked even more murderous than before. He feared that relaxed just a little, he might just burst out crying.
“Um, I’m sure turning yourself in will result in the least possible losses for your company.”
---
Mikado had nearly been overwhelmed by Namie’s unusually passionate devotion to her brother, but he’d managed to get back on his feet, and launch a counter-attack.
—She caused someone’s death and gave that corpse a ‘personality’ for selfish reasons—and now she even wants to kill me. Ah, so this is what was getting on my nerves the most. I see, so the person I care about most is myself. For myself, I’ll do anything. It’s because I’m like that, that I absolutely can’t stand people like her who use other people as an excuse to do things for themselves! Especially when they use a reason like that to screw up people’s lives, I simply can’t stand it—!
Anger slowly rose in the youth’s heart. He was still longing for an unconventional life, but if it was this outrageous, then it was a different story.
---
But Mikado would not be defeated:
“Yeah, I only know how to say things like that. But so what? You killed someone so you should repent. How can someone who doesn’t even understand such a simple concept lecture me on this?”
As if he was trying to force Namie back, he too took a step forward.
“You watch too many dramas, and they’re probably all those ones for old people with forced happy endings! What do you take this…this city for? This is reality! This isn’t TV or in the magazines, and you’re no hero. Know your place!”
Both of them took a step towards each other. Namie’s voice was quivering with frigid anger, but Mikado showed no sign of retreating.
He was always with Kida Masaomi, and whatever he said could hardly be understood. Even though the topic was different, but it was definitely easier for him to rebut Namie’s arguments.
“So what if I love beautiful things like that. I want a happy ending and I absolutely adore clichéd and stereotypical developments. What’s wrong with that?...So what’s wrong with trying to achieve an ending like that in reality? I won’t say it’s for someone else, because in the end it’ll always be for myself. That’s why I do it! Yes, this way of thinking is really old-school, but since it’s old-school, doesn’t it just mean that that’s what everyone thinks?”
The argument effortlessly spilled out of Mikado’s mouth, even things that he didn’t believe in with had simply gushed out.
He wasn’t deliberately provoking her because he had low-self esteem or something, but only because he wanted her to focus her attention on him, until ‘the time was ripe’.
Chapter 10, Part 4 - —I don’t have the ability nor knowledge needed to face off an opponent like her who doesn’t listen to reason. And I don’t have the time to try either, so I can only think of something right here and now to overcome this problem.
Mikado toughened his resolve, took a deep breath, and pressed the ‘Send’ button just as he exhaled.
—So I’ll—‘rely on numbers’!
---
But the stares didn’t stop even as she did, and the illusion that the whole world was against them slowly began invading their consciousness.
And Namie and her minions hadn’t noticed at all, that the youth that had been making a deal with her, had just disappeared in the crowd, and disappeared into the stares—
The Dollars leader, had become a part of the crowd without a single person knowing.
*(Excellent use of psychological warfare Mikado)*
---
Although they didn’t know who that trembling girl in the back of the van was, but Kadota as always, had filled in a ‘report’ form on the Dollars website. This form was to stop disputes between fellow Dollars members, but then again Dollars members practically never bumped into each other on the streets.
And if there did, it would probably be on friendly terms like with Karisawa and the illegal immigrant Kaztano; they had only found out today that they were in the same group as Simon and Shizuo.
*(Report forms. Good to keep in mind how Mikado's mind works.)*
---
Mikado had sent out a message just in time to everyone in his contacts—which was virtually everyone who had come, a message like that—
Anyone who isn’t looking at their phones now is an enemy. You don’t need to do anything, just stare silently.
Last Chapter, part 1 - The “Dollars” had originally been nothing more than a joke.
It had been Mikado’s idea, and a few people he’d met online had felt it was a pretty good idea and had thus agreed to help him out with it.
They made up things about a group which was based in Ikebukuro, and spread its name all over the next. And later, they made up even more things on top of that, and whenever anything happened, they’d spread rumours about how they were the doing of the “Dollars”. They never claimed to be from the “Dollars”, and would always say that they had heard it from someone else. And if anyone wanted to know their source, they’d just ignore them, and they had even made a fake site to fool people.
And when the rumours began getting out of hand, Mikado and friends decided that since they’d started it, they might as well just go with it to the end and started a Dollars website. The website required a password to enter, and even prepared many ‘member posts’. Then they began spreading the website’s address. If anyone wanted the password, they’d pretend and say ‘someone I know who’s a member secretly told me’, and then email it to them.
And just like that, they’d made up an organization. As for their objective, all they’d written on the homepage had been “All are welcome.” There was absolutely nothing about ‘rules and restrictions’ on it.
---
The joke was going too far, and was leaving their extent of control. Things had come to this, so they could just ‘fess up. Thus, Mikado and his friends just slowly disappeared from it all. They believed that just leaving Dollars alone, just letting it vanish by itself was the best way.
And yet, Mikado was the only one who was desperately clinging onto this ‘joke’.
Today the group was indeed possessing real power. And Mikado felt that, should there be no one to keep these people in check, it would definitely be too dangerous. Deep down, there was certainly a misguided sense of superiority he’d gained from that power. But he kept feelings like hidden in his heart. And when he finally realized it, he’d become the leader of the “Dollars”.
---
Before he left, Izaya walked up to Mikado’s side.
“Honestly speaking, I’m pretty shocked.”
Izaya said that with a face full of joy, and not a single drop of sweat ran down his face. Speaking of which, during that meeting just now, just where had he been? Mikado was completely clueless about that.
Oblivious to Mikado’s doubts, Izaya began candidly praising him:
---
“But, Mikado-kun…you came here just because you dreamed of escaping a mundane everyday life didn’t you? But just give it over a year or so, and life in Tokyo will become ordinary for you too. If you want to continue pursuing an extraordinary life, then I suggest you look elsewhere. Perhaps you could do things like drugs and prostitution, and delve deeper into the underworld.”
Only when Izaya had mentioned that, did Mikado realise something. Just what should he do if that excitement he’d just experienced kept repeating itself, or if he truly became the head of the Dollars? Once his current life failed to satisfy him, would he be able to continue pursuing a new way of life for the rest of his life?
As if he’d read his mind, Izaya quietly smiled:
“To someone who’s a member of the underworld, things like that are completely normal to them. Once you step into it, it’ll become ‘normal’ to you in three days. Is someone like you really able to put up with a situation like that?”
Mikado had a deep empathy of what Izaya was driving at. But, this person—why was he telling this to him? Mikado couldn’t help but think Izaya probably had some kind of agenda, but since he had no idea of what this agenda was, he couldn’t say anything just yet.
“If you really want to leave normality—you have no choice but to keep evolving. It doesn’t matter if you want to rise higher or if you want to sink lower, it’ll be the same.”
*(Izaya you creeper. What kind of monster do you intend to create?)*
---
“Actually I’ve been watching you online the whole time…ah~I’ve wanted to know all along just what kind of person started that amazing group called the Dollars. Alright, good luck then, Tanaka Taro-kun!”
“?!”
How had he known that name?—it was the username he used on that chatroom. Speaking of which, he’d also called Kadota “Dotachin”.
Then, he thought of what Izaya had just said. He knew he was the creator of the Dollars, and had been observing him the whole time—following him online.
Then, Mikado thought of one person. The person who had invited him to join that chatroom. The person who knew so much about Ikebukuro and the Dollars.
—No way—no way—no way?!
*(Hope you never hit on Kanra.)*
---
After thanking him in such an insipid manner, Seiji made to blatantly move past Mikado. Mikado hurriedly threw out a hand in an attempt to block them, and managed to glance at the girl with Seiji. Then, she perplexedly looked away. From what Mikado saw, this reaction was because she was afraid of something.
So Mikado stared at Seiji, and asked about an important matter:
“I hope you’ll be able to answer me…it’s about the thing I told your sister to scare her just now…”
“You mean the stuff about how I killed someone? Yeah, it’s probably true.”
On hearing him say that, Mikado momentarily felt a slight chill run down his whole body just looking at the person before him.
---
Something was wrong. Izaya, Kadota, Yumasaki and the others successively surrounded the two of them.
On seeing the group of aggressive-looking people, Seiji shook his head gently:
“You guys are really annoying. No one can stop the power of love.”
Even in the face of a situation like this, he still said with a completely straight face. He twisted the scalpel raised in his hand, turned to Mikado and said firmly:
“Speaking of which, don’t you feel you’re pretty useless? Whether it was then or ‘now’, you’d always have a bunch of cronies who’d be helping you out…you never did anything yourself, like the lowest-ranked underling. You probably haven’t been in love with someone before right?”
“Someone who doesn’t know how much work it is to gather people, is not even at the level of an underling.”
*(Oooh Mikado oooh~)*
Part 2 - Practically at the same time, Mikado had realised who she really was.
—This girl isn’t the Dullahan’s head—! She’s—
“Harima…Mika…?”
To Mikado’s question, which sounded more like something he was saying to himself, she began to shiver uncontrollably and averted her gaze.
“Am I right? You’re the person whom we thought Yagiri-kun killed—Harima Mika, right?”
---
To Mikado, it seemed very much like a rather hilarious comedy, but he couldn’t exactly laugh at it.
After thinking for a while, Mikado walked towards them, and sheepishly began to speak:
“Uh…although you couldn’t tell she was a fake, but you still risked your life to protect her. I think that’s really admirable.”
After comforting Seiji a little like that, he proceeded to tell them:
“When I heard about what happened to Harima-san before, I think I must have misunderstood. There are some problems with her personality, but she’s definitely not a stalker.”
The words that followed, were said as if he was talking to himself:
“Eh… in the end she still ended up troubling you like this. And, as far as stalkers go, all she’s done so far is just show possessiveness of you. But, she willingly risked her life for Yagiri-kun. I don’t think she’d do just a thing if it really was just selfish possessiveness. And from another angle, it’s really admirable how she can still like the person who almost killed her…”
After leaving one last unnecessary phrase behind, he left the street in the night.
“I think, Harima-san…is a lot like Yagiri-kun.”
*(So tactful. Good to remember how Mikado talks at times like these.)*
Epilogue 1 - Something so big had just happened, but obviously the school wouldn’t disappear because of that. The school bell still rang like nothing had happened, and normal classes went on as always.
That day during lunch, Mikado went up to the roof of the first school building. At that time, almost everyone in the school had gone to have lunch at the student cafeteria which was of the same standard as that of an eatery in a private university, or had gone out to eat at some shop—but there were some students who were different from them, and preferred taking their bentos up to the roof to eat.
The sky was the same whether he was looking from the roof or from the street, and Mikado then realized, it was the exact same sky from his hometown. Something perfectly natural like that. The strange thing was, he’d clearly experienced so many extraordinary things, yet the feelings in his heart were inexplicably down-to-earth. It felt very much like he was experiencing the day after that of a long-anticipated school trip.
---
“Despicable. So she’s Seiji’s girlfriend! So it’s like that! A hot girlfriend like her, no wonder he says he lives for love!”
Masaomi began complaining as he saw their actions. But Mikado who knew their troubles could only give a pained laugh and say “Yeah” to that.
But, it was also because of that that Mika and Anri wouldn’t be together anymore. Every time class ended, Anri always sit by herself in a corner of the classroom. And Mikado would always watch her from afar with a strange feeling inside him.
Whether that development was for better or for worse, only she herself knew.
—But, is it really like that? Is there really no way for me to know? Could it be that humans really don’t have the ability to perceive the thoughts of others?
(You have no choice but to keep evolving.)
Izaya’s words rang out in his mind.
—That’s right, I’ll definitely evolve. I want to see how much I can evolve in this everyday life of mine, in this world I’m living in. One day, I’ll let that person see what I can truly do.
Whether his goal was to rise up or to sink lower—would presently remain unknown. But he was definitely still moving towards his goal. It was just that, now he had a little more room for circumspection.
Mikado looked out from the classroom window, and looked to that huge sixty storey building, and began to reflect on his current feelings.
After experiencing something that had completely defied normality, what was left was in fact a curious feeling of both fulfillment and emptiness.
—The me now, will definitely be able to face reality straight up and accept it.
But before he faced himself honestly, there was something else he needed to do.
So, he had gone up to the rooftop. Because he’d heard, she went there for lunch everyday.
He thought that nothing would be able to hinder him ever again if he could do something so bold. He thought he wouldn’t be afraid of anything ever again—
He didn’t think, he’d freeze up at that juncture.
Online, it was so easy for him to talk to just about anyone…
But he had never expected at all, that fulfilling such a tiny wish in his everyday life would be so difficult.
—I didn’t think I’d need so much courage just to ask a girl from my class out.
Vol. 2
Prologue - PM Mode [Taro] ...Speaking of nekama, you’re only joking aren’t you? Orihara-san.
[Kanra] How meeeaaaannn! Taro-kun’s sexually harassing me in PM Mode!
[Taro] It’s a misunderstanding! Misunderstanding!
PM Mode [Taro] But but but, seriously speaking, just who is Setton-san?
PM Mode [Taro] Is it someone I know? Like Karisawa-san?
PM Mode [Kanra] Oh~ That’s a secret.
[Kanra] It’s about time for me to go off~ Careful not to get possessed by a demon blade
—Kanra has left the chatroom—
[Taro] Alright, goodnight~
[Taro]…And it really was a misunderstanding! I wasn’t harassing anyone in any way!
Chapter 2, Part 2 - “Either way just be careful. If anything happens, me and Mikado’ll think of some way to help you out. Right? Mikado!”
Mikado had been looking around the whole time so when questioned by Masaomi, he’d blinked in surprise:
“…? I have no idea what you were talking about, but as long as it’s within my ability, I’ll help.”
“Chitsu chitsu chitsu, Mikado’s really dumb. At times like this, you should be saying “Even if it’s something I can’t do, I’ll harness the power of love!” That’s how a real man does it”
“Isn’t that a little ironical?”
Translations by
differentclouds
