QRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
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It sounded like a scream, like a roar, like the sound of the wind blowing past, all at once. The sound vibrated the vast expanse of shadow, extending far across the sky of Ikebukuro.
Celty did not react in any way to the horse’s call. She simply observed the city below.
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And more specifically, the clearly visible figures of Mikado and Masaomi.
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Kawagoe Highway
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“Whew, I think I should be safe at this distance…but on the other hand, what’s up with all the motorcycle gangs? Is someone having a retirement ride?”
Karisawa had escaped the area where all the red-eyed people were and, following the instructions in Yumasaki’s text message, was now heading for Shinra’s apartment.
“At least I was able to give Miss Kujiragi the message. Now I just have to get in touch with Mikarun. Did we ever trade numbers…?”
She was looking through her phone book for Mikado’s information as she walked, when a car passing by her in the street suddenly sidled over and stopped right next to her.
“Huh?” She looked over and saw a very familiar van. “Ahhh!”
She raced over toward it. When she saw the face in the window, there were already tears in her eyes. “Dotachin! You’re all right!”
But then…
“Oh no! We weren’t in time! We’re too late!”
“Huh?”
Yumasaki opened the back door and jumped out, and as soon as he saw Karisawa’s eyes, he promptly pinned her arms behind her back.
“What?! Yumacchi! What?! What are you doing?!”
“Calm yourself down, Karisawa! We’ll give you an exorcism now! Take it away, Shakugan no Anri!”
“Huh?! What the—?! Why is Anri here?!”
“I-I’m sorry, Karisawa…! I’m going to scrape your fingertip a little bit!” Anri got out of the vehicle next, her katana in her hand.
“Wh-what?! Wait—what’s going on?!”
“Listen to me, Karisawa,” said Yumasaki. “You might not realize it, but you’ve been infected by a blade-shaped alien parasite, and now you’re its earthling puppet body!”
“What are you talking about?!” she snapped, baffled, but he held on hard.
“Don’t even try to talk your way out of this! Those red eyes of yours are all the evidence we need to identify the problem!”
That was when Karisawa finally remembered: In order to fool the slashers, she’d popped in those red contact lenses.
“Huh?! Ohhh! No, no, no! It’s not what you think!”
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A few minutes later, Karisawa slumped exhaustedly in the back seat of the van. It was only when Anri, sword in hand, saw her and realized that her red eyes were not those of a Saika-possessed that she was fully out of trouble.
“Good grief. Totally ruined my emotional reunion with Dotachin.”
“Sorry about that, Karisawa,” Kadota said from the front passenger seat.
She waved him off. “Oh, it’s fine. I’m over it. Besides, Azusa’s the one who should be clinging to you in tears, not me. Let that be the foreshadowing for your eventual marriage to her.”
The brief confusion had actually jolted her out of her funk and back into her usual state. She breathed deep, in and out, and looked around the van again.
“So I’m kind of in the dark here. What’s with the festivities?”
Not only were the people in the van different from the usual lineup, there were more than could safely fit inside. Because traffic was barely moving, Yumasaki trotted alongside the car and kept tabs on the surrounding environs.
There was a distant roar of what sounded like an endless gang of bikers somewhere up ahead, and every now and then, a few more of them wove through the lanes past Togusa’s van.
“Where do we even begin…?” Kadota wondered. Before he could launch into an explanation, new information came in over the car radio.
“As for today’s forecast, we’ve got… Excuse me, folks, there’s been a breaking news bulletin just now.”
The DJ’s voice was followed by the sound of a piece of paper being flipped over. If they were postponing the usual weather forecast, it had to be pretty urgent news indeed. Everyone in the van listened intently, all their faces serious.
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The contents of the report were far more serious than they could have imagined.
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The rooftop of a mixed-use building