Chapter 3

In contrast to his looks, Aoba Kuronuma had a dark and twisted personality. He wouldn’t think twice about crushing another person for his personal pleasure and that of his friends. He had already built the core of the Blue Squares in his junior high years, but he chose not to stand in the limelight—instead, he orchestrated those older than he was, even his own brother, to run the operation publicly, so he could lurk in the background as the puppet master. There was no way anyone like him would hang out with some random middle school kid who looked up to tough gangsters. There had to be something else behind it. Anyone who was familiar with Aoba’s true nature would eventually reach this conclusion. But Mairu’s ability to say that out loud in his presence indicated that she was something of a character herself. After a pause, Kuon managed to put on a new kind of smile, something tinged with coldness, and murmured, “Your girlfriend is very interesting, sir.” “I told you, she’s not my girlfriend. If I was going to have a relationship with either of them, it would definitely be Kururi…” “Really?! You’re going to say that in front of me, Aocchi?! Where is your common sense, boy?!” Mairu screeched. Kururi did not seem moved in one way or the other. Kuon decided to butt out of the situation between his upperclassmen and waved a hand. “Well, I don’t want to get in the way, so I’ll go help calm down Yoshikiri, I guess.” “Hey, wait. I told you not to get the wrong idea…” “Enjoy your life, Kuronuma, sir,” the younger boy said blithely, leaving the scene. Aoba could only sigh. He looked to Kururi and Mairu, his expression serious. “Listen, for your own sake, I don’t think you should get involved with him.” “What? That’s hypocritical. You seem to know him plenty well, Aocchi.” “Well…I dunno; he’s just weird…,” Aoba mumbled vaguely. But then he steeled himself and forged ahead with an explanation. “He might dress flashy, but his entrance exam scores were at the top in Raira.” “What? Really?! He’s a genius! He’s a professor!” “…Shock…” [Amazing.] “Yeah. They asked him to give the speech for the incoming class. But he shows up dressed like that, right? So they had to pivot to somebody else at the last minute when they saw him,” Aoba said, averting his eyes. Mairu inquired, “So why’s a boy like that hanging out with you guys?” “Don’t make it sound like we’re just a bunch of idiots… Anyway, we kind of have a give-and-take relationship… Basically, he’s a valuable source of income for us.” “What?! He’s your money tree?!” “Don’t say it like that.” Aoba grimaced. But she grabbed him by the collar with both hands and shook him. “Hey! Are you saying he’s from a superrich family, and you guys are shaking him down for money?!” “…Wicked…” [That’s so mean.] “N…no! No, it’s not like that! I swear!” “Then what is it like?” Mairu said. She stopped shaking Aoba, who coughed and cleared his throat. “He’s got his own unique way of making money. We help him and get a part of the cut. Basically, we’re working jobs at a business he operates, I guess. Not that it’s a store or anything like that.” “You don’t mean producing drugs…or growing marijuana, or…” “No, no, no, nothing like that! It’s just on this side of legal. I think…” “Ohhhh! I get it! I know what it is!” Mairu exclaimed, but Aoba quickly cut her off. “And it’s not some kind of synthetic cannabis or other quasi-legal substance!” “Awww.” “Shouldn’t you be relieved, not disappointed…?” he grumbled, annoyed. Kururi approached and asked, “…What…act…?” [What kind of job is it?] “Well, I can’t explain it so easily…” “…Answer…?” [Will you tell me?] “…” Aoba relented, breaking under Kururi’s quiet pressure, and sighed yet again. “I just can’t keep up my front around you two. It’s something about you… But anyway, it’s kind of an odd jobs service. We might do stuff that resembles newspaper delivery or faking events for TV programs, causing uproars around town—things like that.” “Um…how does that make you money?” “…He’s got connections that allow him to turn these things into money. And I’ve got the details on his biggest pipeline. It doesn’t come up for him very often is the thing.” “Pipeline?” repeated Mairu, who was having trouble visualizing Kuon’s “unique way of making money.” Aoba smirked and said, “You already know the answer.” “?” “The Headless Rider.” “!” That familiar title caused Kururi and Mairu to share a look. “Kuon’s a real eccentric, see. He wants to turn the Headless Rider’s existence itself into money. Not in a bounty hunter kind of way.” “Turn the Headless Rider into money?! What does that mean?!” “…Not just the Headless Rider,” said Aoba. The image of his underclassman’s face put a very pleased twist into his lips. “He’s a real snake.” “Snake?” Mairu repeated. So Aoba went on. “He wants to swallow Ikebukuro whole, himself included.”