“…What’s going on?”
The last customer in the place, the man with the shaved head, looked at Shizuo and Tom curiously.
Simon spoke a few words of Russian to Denis. Rather uncharacteristically, there was no smile on Simon’s face; Denis scowled, too, when he heard the message, and he looked through the windows to see what was happening outside.
Then, in his capacity as business manager, Denis warned the bald man and Tom, “Sirs, you’re better off not going out.”
“What does that mean?” asked the other man. The chef gestured with his eyes to the window. Tom and the man turned to look.
“…”
“Whoa, what the hell is that?” Tom exclaimed, while the bald man went silent.
The view outside the building was the same as it ever was.
Except for one thing…
✦ ✦ ✦
Slow-moving crowds of people, all with bloodshot eyes, and all staring right at them.
✦ ✦ ✦
Automated parking garage, Ikebukuro
✦ ✦ ✦
“Tch…screwed that one up,” cursed Takashi Nasujima, who made a big show of being disappointed. “But he definitely reacted like he recognized my face. It was a good thing I checked before I run across Shizuo Heiwajima. Guess I should keep the disguise on.”
Nasujima put a face mask and sunglasses on to hide his features. “Can’t let it get out that I’m around town. I’ve got to slip Saika into that guy with the dreadlocks. He might come in handy as an ace up my sleeve against Shizuo,” he chuckled.
Next to him, Shijima shivered violently. “What the hell is this…? They’re all like them…”
He was thinking of how the members of Amphisbaena had looked when Izaya Orihara’s subordinate had sliced them up. Earthworm and the rest of them had had glowing red eyes, as though their bodies had been taken over by aliens, and they’d followed the orders of the one who had cut them.
“You don’t have to worry about it. I’ve instructed them not to cut you. For now.”
“Er, uh, okay…”
Nasujima didn’t explain anything about Saika to Shijima. Of course, a blanket reassurance only made him more anxious. Nasujima then put even more pressure on Shijima by asking, “By the way, have you fully infiltrated the Dollars by now? Did the plan go well?”
“Huh? Oh…yes. I think.”
“I wasn’t asking you to think.”
“S-sorry, sir!” Shijima said on instinct, eliciting a laugh from Nasujima.
“Look, don’t get so formal with me. For one thing, Saika is extremely inflexible; when you’re being controlled, the red eyes are obvious and unavoidable. It’s valuable having people like you, Shijima, who can help us out while in a normal state.”
“O-okay…”
“I honestly didn’t expect to grow so many ‘grandchildren’ at this rate, however. It was worth doing those experiments to find out that nails and teeth could be treated like Saika, too. All you really need is a bit of pain and fear. We won’t need to take Kujiragi’s route—we can even feast on the Awakusu-kai’s turf.”
“Ummm…if you’ve got all this power, why bother with the Awakusu-kai, when you can just take over the world…?”
Nasujima shook his head from side to side. “No, no, no, Shijima. It’s not good to set your sights too high. Yes, it would be lovely to control the entire world. But you see, I’m not looking to be a king. I just want a lot of money that can buy me a lot of comfort, and the ability to have my way with a well-endowed woman whenever I want. That’s all.”
Shijima felt a bit gloomy; the absence of the phrase woman I love in that statement felt like a revelation of Nasujima’s true nature. But it was true that the man had great power at his command.
If the street slashings started again, they would cause a big commotion, but he never hesitated. In a place without security cameras, he surrounded his targets with “grandchildren,” and as soon as they panicked, he had them pierced with Saika blades—from small knives to claws and teeth, even little safety pins hidden in the palm. Anything would do.
It was as simple as that.
The reason the last time had become so public was that the targets had been cut so badly, they’d needed to go to the hospital to recuperate. Nasujima had realized that and done his best to experiment with methods to quickly but surreptitiously grow more grandchildren, until he had constructed this simple method.
In this one area, at least, Nasujima lived up to his credentials as a former teacher. He told the woman who was once his pupil, “I got this power all because of you. I’m grateful, Haruna.”
He was speaking to Haruna Niekawa, who stood across from Shijima. He had once been a shining star to Haruna, and until yesterday, she might have passed out with excitement if she had heard him say those words.
But now she just smiled dully and didn’t even turn to look at Nasujima. “…Right.”
Shijima eyed her out of the corner of his vision and wondered, This chick…used to work with Izaya Orihara, right? Awww, man, this is all crazy. I don’t even know what’s goin’ on anymore. He plunged into terrified, ignorant chaos, his face pale and sunken.
Meanwhile, Nasujima’s barely exposed skin was bright and shiny. “It’s gonna happen tomorrow. No, I guess it’s technically today now… We’re going to settle everything today, Haruna.”
“…Right.”
“I can’t wait for that all to be done. Then I’ll be able to give you allll the attention again, Haruna…,” he said with a leer, licking his lips. His eyes traveled from Niekawa’s face to her chest, and then lower.
Despite the gaze of pure lust sliding all over her skin, Haruna Niekawa merely stared into nothingness with bloodshot eyes and spoke in a voice with no affect.