“Mikado Ryuugamine and Masaomi Kida. You were close with them, weren’t you?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“”
Her mind froze. She nearly dropped the phone.
At first, she didn’t understand what he was saying to her. But then Nasujima continued, driving home her despair.
“If you want to tell the cops about this, be my guest. I’ll just play dumb, and Ryuugamine and Kida will back me up with statements that support my story.”
“No! Wait! What…what have you done to them?!”
“Nothing…yet. I just invited them to the party.”
And with a chuckle, he hung up the phone.
✦ ✦ ✦
Outside Russia Sushi
✦ ✦ ✦
“Now, Shijima, I want you to keep an eye on them for a while. I’ll give orders to the Saika-possessed, too, though.”
“Keep an eye on them?” Shijima asked.
Gleefully, Nasujima explained, “Knowing Sonohara’s personality, she’ll probably rush to call Ryuugamine about this.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“So if he’s one of the guys in the ski caps outside of Tokyu Hands, then we’ll know that whoever answers a phone next is him.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Inside the van
✦ ✦ ✦
After Anri hung up, she told the others what the call had been about.
“No way, man…,” marveled Togusa. “Why would he bring up Ryuugamine and Kida out of the blue?”
With a frown, Kadota offered, “Dunno. But there’s definitely been some bad business going on in Ikebukuro lately. There’s no telling what might happen.”
“And there’s Karisawa to worry about, too… Let’s rush over to Tokyu Hands! Speaking of which, what’s up with all the red lights?!”
The trip from Shinra’s apartment to Otowa Street wasn’t that far in terms of distance. Even during rush hour, this should be about the time they would finish the trip. But for some reason, the van was barely halfway to its destination.
“No, it’s not reds, it’s just plain old traffic. Shit, why is it like this so late at night?” Togusa swore. He turned on the car radio to see if he could pick up a traffic report. Fortunately, it was right at the late-night news, five minutes past the hour.
“…a number of traffic accidents in the Ikebukuro area, causing gridlock all over…”
“Accidents?” Togusa repeated.
“…and there are also multiple sightings of groups of people out on the street committing acts of violence. Perhaps that’s connected to the accidents themselves…”
And almost as if timed to the radio broadcast, there was the sound of multiple motorcycle engines roaring behind the van. A few seconds later, there was a clamor of exhaust and blaring musical horns as several loud and flashy bikes passed them.
“Meetin’ up at this hour? And they’ve still got those obnoxious horns? Didn’t they go outta fashion? That stuff’s outlawed now,” Togusa grumbled.
But more and more motorcycles blazed past them. A few seconds would pass before more bikes went by, then another ten or fifteen, trickling bit by bit. All in all, quite a large number of motorcycles were heading toward Ikebukuro.
“What is this, some biker gang head honcho retiring? There’s so many.”
“They’re not going to turn out to have red eyes, are they?” snapped Namie, who didn’t care how this question might affect Anri.
But the girl shook her head. “I didn’t feel even the slightest hint of Saika from the people who just passed us…so I don’t think that’s it.”
“Damn…feels like everything’s working against us,” hissed Togusa in frustration.
It almost seemed as if getting out and running would be faster, but he wouldn’t suggest that. If he did, Kadota would actually hop out and try to run it with them. Kadota played it off bravely, but in his present state, he could barely walk. They’d given up on trying to stop him from going with them to help Karisawa, but Togusa wasn’t going to allow him to try anything beyond his means.
✦ ✦ ✦
While the van was stuck in place, the swarm of motorcycles heading toward Ikebukuro’s city center made Anri worried. She decided to take out her phone.
“I’m…going to call Ryuugamine and Kida now.”
Saki turned to her from the adjacent seat and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry—I’ll call Masaomi for you.”
“Oh…thank you. I appreciate that!”
Anri bowed to the other girl, then brought up Mikado’s contact information and hit the call button.
✦ ✦ ✦
But neither of them got an answer to their call, and the mood in the van soon turned uncomfortable.
Anri prayed that they were just at home sleeping. In the meantime, she made a resolution to herself: If the two of them had been possessed by Saika due to Takashi Nasujima, she would have to slice Nasujima herself.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was ironic that she had once told her teacher that she hated him, and now she was preparing to attack him with a sword that existed to love others. But Anri’s determination was quiet and crisp.
She would not hesitate. She was going to slash a man not worth slashing.
✦ ✦ ✦
Outside Tokyu Hands, Sixtieth Floor Street—at that moment
✦ ✦ ✦
“So…what now?”
Down on the street, Chikage headed over to the crosswalk so he could check out the scene across the way.
This was a place where taxis often stopped to wait for riders, but for some reason, there was not a single one here today—but Chikage, not being very familiar with Ikebukuro, didn’t pick up on the distinction.
Instead, his attention was drawn by the vehicles stopped at the entrance to Sixtieth Floor Street. At the spot where the expressway had been previously blocking their view, there were many more cars than he’d initially imagined. Some of the stopped cars might have belonged to ordinary drivers, but given the number of youths in blue beanies and ski masks loitering nearby, it seemed clear that nearly all of them belonged to the Blue Squares.
“Well, well! For a group started by middle and high schoolers, they got better cars than Toramaru!”
Chikage had heard that they had a number of legal adults in their gang, too. He waited at the light for the crossing signal to turn green, feeling excited.
This is nice. They’re ready to rock, even though it’s the middle of the city. The only problem is…
He was looking forward to the simple pleasure of a good fight with the Blue Squares, but it was the ordinary citizens wandering around that spooked Chikage.
You’d think that with a bunch of guys repping colors around, they’d be more nervous or would try to clear out. But they’re just standing, wandering around, doin’ nothing.
He felt an eerie kind of danger from all the people walking around without any apparent purpose.
Then again, I did tell him I’d handle this.
But when the light turned green, he stepped out into the crosswalk with a grin.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Yo!”
When he got to the other side, he clapped a hand on the shoulder of the nearest boy with a blue beanie.
“…Huh? The hell you want?” the boy asked suspiciously.
“If I said I was a friend from Saitama whose motorcycle you guys burned up, would that ring a bell?” Chikage asked.
The boy’s face paled immediately. He looked over Chikage’s shoulder.
“…? Wait, are you alone?”
“Dude, I got lots of girlfriends. I’m not lonely. Now, you look single to me, but don’t give up, buddy. You enjoying your youth?”
“…I see,” said the boy with a grin and beads of sweat on his cheeks, ignoring Chikage’s taunt.
“You know, being single’s not all that bad.”
The next moment, two more thugs approaching behind Chikage swung wooden bats at his head in succession.
There was a loud, crisp smack, and one of the two bats snapped.