But now Nasujima understood.
He saw that the Grim Reaper himself had come bearing his downfall.
“Th-there’s no time! Hurry! Break down the door to the sushi shop or the windows! G-go and take control of the dread-head with glasses right now!” he roared, all his calm and confidence completely shot.
And so the Saika Army surrounding the restaurant converged on Russia Sushi all at once.
✦ ✦ ✦
Intersection near Tokyu Hands
✦ ✦ ✦
Izaya stood silently in the middle of the intersection after leaving Tokyu Hands, on the left-side crosswalk, where Sixtieth Floor Street and Russia Sushi’s street met. From there, Shizuo approached him, step by step.
“S-so that’s Shizuo Heiwajima…”
“Holy crap, he wasn’t an urban legend?”
“Did he just throw that motorcycle…?”
“Look, he’s dragging a vending machine behind him…”
The punks who had been so ready to pound Chikage were now hushed and awed by the threatening sight that was Shizuo.
“D-do you think that if we beat him, we’ll be known as the toughest guys around?” one of them suggested. Carried away by enthusiasm, he brandished his metal bat and rushed at Shizuo.
But when he swung, there was a crumpling sound—and the bat itself broke and twisted against the side of Shizuo’s skull.
“Ah, ah, aaa, aieeeee!!” the thug screamed. He stared at the bat, which was as mangled as if it were just a cardboard tube, and pissed himself.
With a rustling of air, the bikers all unconsciously drew themselves back, creating a path through the mass of humanity. But Shizuo did not pay them a single glance. His course was set. His feet moved with one purpose.
And now he stood before Izaya Orihara.
Chikage wanted to say something to Shizuo but thought better of it when he saw the man’s eyes. It was clear that this was not the time to interfere except for the gravest of reasons.
While all this was happening, Izaya Orihara did not make a single attempt to escape. He twirled a knife in his fingers and soaked in the brunt of Shizuo’s burning hatred.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was only a few seconds that the two of them stood facing each other.
But it felt many times longer than that to everyone else present.
Those who knew Shizuo and Izaya and those who didn’t held their breath equally.
The man in the black intended to challenge the monster in the bartender’s uniform.
How would Shizuo Heiwajima’s overwhelming strength be utilized? And what would happen to the man on the receiving end of it?
In the face of this coming bloodbath, neither the thugs, nor Chikage and the Blue Squares, nor even Aoba Kuronuma could keep in mind what they were doing before. They all waited, watching the scene before them unfold.
✦ ✦ ✦
The pack of the Saika-possessed reacted largely in one of two ways.
The group with Nasujima as its mother was entranced by the appearance of the mighty Shizuo Heiwajima.
The group with Haruna as its mother quaked in fear of Shizuo, their Saika having been imprinted with the trauma of what he did on the Night of the Ripper.
So Nasujima, who was terrified of Shizuo, and Haruna, who was not, had Saika children with the exact opposite reactions—and the previously uniform actions of the Saika-possessed began to crumble spectacularly.
✦ ✦ ✦
“…”
“…”
Izaya and Shizuo stood only six feet apart once Shizuo came to a stop.
A single step would put them within striking range.
Their eyes met.
The next moment, Shizuo swung the vending machine he was dragging vertically, like an iai quick-draw katana technique.
A sound of unfathomable destruction blanketed Ikebukuro.
✦ ✦ ✦
Togusa’s van
✦ ✦ ✦
Moments before all this—less than a minute before Shizuo and Izaya’s clash, in fact—Anri felt her body seize up at the sound of the man laughing in front of the van.
“What…did he…just say?”
Why would the name Mikado Ryuugamine come up in this context?
Was this man working with Nasujima?
Questions swirled within her mind—when a new, sharp sound pierced the broken windshield, snapping her back to attention.
It’s that sound again! Though it seemed a bit different this time…
This sound, combined with the new presence of Mikado’s name in her mind, made Anri suddenly feel very unsettled. She pushed it all down and mustered her silent resolve.
She would control these men with Saika and have them explain as much as possible.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash in her eyes.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I’ll admit, I don’t know what Ryuugamine’s up to at the moment, but…hmm…?”
A few seconds before the light flashed, Izumii spotted something. A skinny man on the sidewalk, taking something out of his backpack.
“…Is that…Yumasaki?!” He couldn’t understand why the man wouldn’t be inside of the van, and he pointed at him for his followers’ benefit. “Hey, go get… Huh?”
Then he noticed that it was a fire extinguisher Yumasaki was pulling out of the backpack.
Fire extinguisher?
Smoke screen? Put out.
Yumasaki? No.
Fire.
✦ ✦ ✦
Tiny thoughts, individual flashback images burst through Izumii’s mind, leading him to one answer.
“Yumasakiii! You son of a bitch…”
Yumasaki pointed the end of the extinguisher toward Togusa’s van.
And then…
✦ ✦ ✦
“Here we go! It’s my ultimate attack! Innocentius, king of the witch-hunters!”
✦ ✦ ✦
With that cry, Yumasaki’s fire extinguisher shot a maelstrom of flames from its tip. It was his own homemade flamethrower using the shell of an extinguisher. The flame lit everything in a red glow, covering a shocking range from sidewalk to van.
“Aaaaah!!” “Wh-what the—?!”
The thugs with their picks and metal pipes never saw it coming. They fled in panic from the van’s vicinity. Yumasaki didn’t specifically single any of them out for immolation, but he did spit fire bit by bit to push them back, clearing the space from one side of the van.
“Y…Yuma…saki… You bastard!” shrieked Izumii, who suffered from fire-related trauma. He hid behind a nearby car, still clutching his hammer.
“Now! Hurry! Get out of the van!” urged Yumasaki, and Kadota and the rest all poured out of the left side of the vehicle. Togusa was the slowest of them, being in the driver’s seat, but they all managed to get out soon enough.
“You…! Kadota! Don’t you run away from me!” Izumii hissed from behind the other car, cowering from the spray of Yumasaki’s flamethrower.
The drivers of the other cars nearby all fled from their vehicles when they saw the flames, which only increased the clamor and chaos of the situation.
Kadota came gingerly to a standing position and said to the others behind him, “Leave this to us guys. You girls run for safety.”
He, Karisawa, Togusa, and Yumasaki blocked the path of the thugs, creating a lane for escape.
“B-but…!”
“Just do it and leave this to the adults.” Togusa grinned.
“Aw, man!” Yumasaki cheered. “I always wanted to say that! ‘Go on ahead and leave this to me!’”
“Ha-ha-ha, that’s a death omen,” Karisawa said with a smile, despite the crowd of enemies surrounding them.
Anri still wasn’t sure what to do, so Kadota continued, “This is a squabble between people who haven’t grown up yet and need to get on with it. There’s no reason for you girls to get infected by this idiocy, too.”
He turned to Seiji, who was standing protectively in front of Mika, and said, “Take your girlfriend and get out of here. Make sure she stays safe.”
Seiji considered staying here to fight alongside them, but then he glanced over his shoulder at Mika—and Namie, who was glaring at her.
I’m guessing there’s no point in asking my sister to watch over her for me.
If he just told them to escape on their own, Namie was bound to attack Mika once they were alone again. Reluctantly, he came to the realization that the best choice for Mika’s safety was to escape with her.
“…I will. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank us. I told you, we’re just a bunch of idiots having a fight on our own.”
Kadota turned and punched one of the oncoming thugs. It was a far more powerful punch than it had any right to be, coming from a guy who ought to be in a hospital bed. The other thugs shrank back.
He used that brief interval to yell to Saki, “Kida’s surprisingly weak on the mental end…so make sure you help soothe him when you see him again.”
“…I will!” Saki replied and squeezed Anri’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go.”
“…But…”
Anri was hesitant. If she used Saika’s power, she could easily defeat all these people and possess them with the blade’s curse. But Kadota saw through what she was thinking.
“They’re not worth the burden on your conscience.”
“…!”
“Just get going! Do whatever you need to do to protect Mikado!”
“Kadota…”
Anri bit her lip and bowed fiercely. Then she turned and raced for the sidewalk with Saki.
“Hey! Wait, you bitches!” growled one of the thugs. He made to chase after them but got in only a step or two before Togusa dropped him with a roundhouse kick.
“Gahk…”
“You asshole, you didn’t think you could mess up my car and get away with it, did you…?”
That kicked off a majestic round of chaos.
Fights broke out here and there in Ikebukuro.
It was like fireworks going off in a chain reaction.
They burst into motion, burning and flaming, only to go out with a whimper.