EPILOGUE A The Founder On the Ikebukuro information site IkeNew! Version I.KEBU.KUR.O Popular Post: [Birth of an Urban Legend] Does the Headless Rider have a boyfriend?! “A new urban legend escorted by the Headless Rider” (Rehosted from Tokyo Warrior online site) In the middle of April, eyewitness reports started coming in, saying the famous urban legend, the Headless Rider, had returned to Ikebukuro. But did you know that a new urban legend became the hot new topic around the same time? Footage uploaded to an online video site shows what appears to be a battle between rival motorcycle gangs late at night. The sudden appearance of the Headless Rider in their midst seems to bring the battle under control—but the problem is that the figure who used force to bring an end to the fighting was not actually the Headless Rider. A silent motorcycle that transforms into a headless horse. A headless rider who swings a pitch-black scythe. And what he or she brought along: another mysterious being. It was covered in flickering black shadow all over—even its face. And with incredible strength and agility, it defeated the brawling combatants one after the other. All alone, this new being took on dozens and overwhelmed them single-handedly. So who is this new urban legend? The Ikebukuro-centric writer Shinichi Tsukumoya said this in an entry on his blog: “Tired of giving birth to legends, the Headless Rider has brought back an heir. Perhaps the six-month disappearance was actually just a trip in search of the next urban legend.” —(The rest of this article can be read at the original link) Comment from IkeNew! Administrator A new boyfriend, the Headless Rider has. I have often claimed that the Headless Rider was a woman, but now it turns out a real player, she is. The Black Rider and Black Warrior. A very good combination, it is. Always together, wherever they go, inseparable. Around the folks in Dragon Zombie, it seems the new monster has acquired the name of Snake Hands. Therefore, for the sake of convenience, on this site, the abbreviation SH to the new monster, we shall refer. Widen even further, the world does. May the day soon come that it appears in the dictionary. Apparently, the missing green-haired boy was rescued by these two, and found safe, he was. The Headless Rider has a boyfriend, and a happy ending is enjoyed by all. Happily ever after. Ever after? Admin: Rira Tailtooth Zaiya Shinra’s apartment “Happily never after!” exclaimed Shinra, after reading the news article. He rolled back atop the sofa. “Happily not at all! I am not happy in the least about this, Celty. Cellltyyy!” “Why, what’s wrong? Do you have brain worms?” “Just look at this article! They’re spreading terrible false stories about you having a boyfriend, and it’s not even about me!” “What if they’re not false stories?” she teased. Shinra’s face went pale. He shouted, “If…if that happens, I won’t give you away! I’ll fight that Yahiro boy!” He brandished his fists, ready for battle; Celty had told him all about what happened at the mansion. “You know he’s a match for Shizuo.” “…I’ll challenge him to a contest of medical vocabulary terms!” “Don’t be childish!” she snapped. But Shinra kept rolling. “Waaah! Everything about this makes me angry! They claim they worship you, Celty, but they don’t build a single statue of you?! I would have taken a 3D scan of you while you were sleeping and mass-produced life-size Celtys ages ago!” “I’m sorry, can we rewind and discuss that for just a second?!” Later, once she had calmed Shinra down a bit, Celty thought back on her time with Yahiro. “I wonder who it was that taught him there was a monster in Ikebukuro.” “Hmm?” Shinra wondered. She decided to touch on the boy’s past for context. “Well, Yahiro said he came to Tokyo because he was fighting in his hometown once and a tourist told him there was an even more incredible monster in Ikebukuro.” “…Hmmmm?” Shinra murmured again. He considered this for a moment. “Where did you say this Yahiro boy came from?” “He said he was from Akita.” Then Shinra smacked a fist into his palm. He had the answer. “Oh. That was me.” “…Huh?” “Remember the day after the Omagari Fireworks Festival, when we stopped by that hot spring in Haburagi?” “Oh, right…that out-of-the-way spot.” “I was going for a little walk there when I happened to spot a boy who’d gotten all bloody in a fight. I remember talking to him about something like that.” Wow, what a funny coincidence—they laughed…and then Celty set the font size to maximum and shoved her phone in Shinra’s face. “You…you were the one who dragged him into this!” “Um, I suppose I was.” “I don’t believe it… When the article said the Headless Rider was going on a pilgrimage across the country and scouting out an heir, it was more or less accurate!” “…Oh noooo! What have I done?!” Shinra looked absolutely distraught. “Have I summoned my own romantic rival here to Ikebukuro?! Have I given myself a valentine’s present of trials and tribulations?! Give mercy to your enemies, they say…but I’ve given a stranger mercy, and his character class upgraded into ‘romantic rival’! I’m screwed… That’s it, Celty—I’ll become a monster, too! So spin off a little of that shadow you’re wearing and share it with me, or alternatively you can wrap us both up together—blfhg!” “Stop trying to grope me in the middle of the conversation!” Celty pushed him off her, feeling keenly aware that their normal life had returned. Now that the missing people had reappeared, the ugly kidnapping rumors were dying out, and it felt like far fewer people were calling Celty a kidnapper anymore. Savoring the feeling of normalcy for himself as well, Shinra said, “By the way…whatever happened with the Tatsugami family?” “Oh…safely hospitalized, I heard. That Shijima guy was forcing them to take the drug, but neither Mr. Shiki nor Kuon have submitted a criminal complaint, so it’s not clear if he’ll be charged with anything or not.” She continued: “The rest is an issue for the family to sort out, I suppose.” Raira General Hospital, private room Though the effects of the drug were still racking their bodies, it was the fifth day after the incident when the “true believers” of Celty finally began to regain a measure of sanity. “They said Ai will be able to leave soon,” Himeka told her older sister. Aya rolled over onto her side to look at her and said quietly, “…You were the one who was right in the end.” “That’s not true. You just went about it the wrong way. It’s very touching that you were thinking of everyone’s happiness,” Himeka said. Aya smiled sadly. “You…really are strong.” “You think too highly of me.” “And that’s why the Headless Rider chose you instead of me…” “That has nothing to do with it. I can introduce you sometime.” Even that casual mention of being a go-between brought a pained smile to Aya’s face. “I don’t deserve to meet her. She could kill me for what I did to her, and I’d deserve it.” “No…she’s not like that.” Himeka sighed. Aya went ahead and asked something that had been weighing on her mind. “So…why did the Gre…the Headless Rider disappear for half a year?” It was an act that led to their despair, so despite knowing that any blame would be misplaced, she couldn’t help but wonder. Himeka thought for a moment, then revealed the truth as it had been told to her. “On a hot springs vacation.” “…” “…” Time between the two came to a stop. Eventually, Aya broke the silence with a tremulous “Hot springs…vacation…?” “Yes… All over the place… Akita, Kyushu…,” Himeka said, nodding. Aya was dumbfounded. Then, like a dam bursting, she laughed. “Ha…ah-ha-ha-ha…ha-ha-ha-ha… What does that mean? A hot springs vacation…” She laughed and laughed for an entire minute, until her voice was muffled with tears. “She went off visiting hot springs for half a year…without a care in the world…and that’s who I was dedicating my entire life to?” She laughed and cried at the joke her life had become, and Himeka just watched. “You were right, Himeka. Maybe…this really is just how the world works,” Aya said and apologized sadly. Himeka just shook her head with that flat, expressionless look on her face. “I’m not saying I accept it for what it is.” “Huh…?” “But I can’t bring myself to hate this life. I have Dad, Mom, you, Ai…all the family I love. So I decided that I didn’t want to run… I wanted to bring everyone happiness.” She took her older sister’s hand, determined to say the thing she hadn’t been able to say before. “The world might not be fair, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be changed.” “You still think of me…as family…?” Aya asked, unsure. Himeka was puzzled as to why she would doubt such an obvious thing. Aya turned away from her sister and looked out the window. The tears streaming from her eyes were for a different reason now. “You really are strong, Himeka.” When Himeka exited the hospital, Yahiro was waiting for her. “How is she?” “She’s doing much better now,” Himeka replied. He looked as relieved as though he were hearing about his own family. “That’s good. So you can go back to the way your family used to be.” “…Yes. Although I’m not sure if I’d say it’s the way it ‘used to be’…” “What do you mean?” he asked, without a moment’s hesitation. But Himeka didn’t seem bothered by that. She explained the particular circumstances of her home life. Yahiro listened to her describe the problems with her mother. It seemed to put an idea in his head. “I’m betting that your mom left herself on the far side of that shadow on the wall.” “Huh?” “The part of herself she doesn’t like… The weak part of herself that might take out her pain on her daughters,” Yahiro said, choosing his words carefully. “You know how in that fairy tale, the barber who sees that the king has donkey ears goes and shouts it into the hole in the tree? I think she’s taking the part of her she wants to hide, the part that she might turn into one day, and locking it behind the shadow on the wall.” “Why do you think that?” Himeka inquired, wary that he might be saying that just to make her feel better. She was not expecting the answer he gave her. “Because that’s how it was for me.” “…For you?” “I was a huge coward, and I was terrified of the people who came to hurt me. Deep down, in the most honest part of my heart, I thought that the quickest solution was to kill them before they killed me. Only then could I rest easy.” “…” “So in my mind, I kept beating them until they stopped moving. Every single night, I fled into that imaginary world. That way, I could get it out of my system and not do it in reality.” “That never backfired on you?” she asked, an honest question. Yahiro shrugged. “Maybe it had the opposite effect. But I never actually killed anyone… Then again, I went overboard several times, so I guess it didn’t really help in the end…” He decided that thinking about it wasn’t going to bring him the answer, so he just exhaled and grimaced at Himeka. “I don’t know what the right answer is. I’ll just have to figure it out as I go.” He looked down at his scarred hands and clenched them. “That’s why I want to be your hands. If you or Kuon or anyone has trouble, I want to use my fists to protect you.” “…I can’t believe you said that without feeling embarrassed.” “Really? Am I just weird?” “Yes. Very,” she said bluntly. Then she let her emotions reshape the expression on her face. It was an emotion that she didn’t need to suppress or hide, unlike sadness or anger. “But I think that’s wonderful.” When he saw the gentle smile on her face, Yahiro smiled back, feeling just a little bit bashful. From a distance, Kuon Kotonami watched them go before speaking into his phone. “Well, darn. You just had to go and spill my secrets. Now they know I’ve been playing coy this whole time.” “I’m just saying, it’s hard for you to act coy with your hair and face done up like that.” Nozomi laughed on the other end. “Anyway, I’ll admit, that Yahiro boy is funny. He’s too nice for his own good. Even after learning what you’re really like, he was constantly worried about you.” “And what did you say to that, Sis?” he asked, sulking. Nozomi chirped, “I told him, ‘You don’t need to feel responsible for any of this, Yahiro. He only thinks of you as a pawn meant to be used.’” “Gee, thanks a lot.” “And what do you think he said to that?” “?” Kuon couldn’t begin to guess. Nozomi quoted, “‘It doesn’t matter.’” “It…doesn’t matter?” “No matter the reason, you were the first kids who ever treated him like a normal person. Even after you saw him fighting, you talked to him like normal and didn’t freak out about it. He said that really made him happy.” “…” “And therefore, it was worth risking his life to protect you two. Can you believe that? Just for talking to him like a normal person.” Kuon considered this for a while, then asked, “Did he really say that?” “Good question. It’s up to you whether you believe me or not. You know I make a living on lies and fiction, right?” Oh. He really did say that, Kuon’s instincts told him. He exhaled a long, long breath. “It doesn’t matter what kind of mistaken ideas he’s got in his head,” he said icily, “I’m just using him for my own ends.” “Awww. Poor Yahiro.” “He’s so simpleminded for a guy with such incredible strength,” Kuon said with a shrug. He could feel the bile rising. “That’s why I hate humanity.” Kotonami home Once the call was over, Nozomi grinned mischievously at her phone. “You’ll never be a replacement for Izaya.” She was gleeful, delighted, and hiding her true feelings behind that smile. “Compared to Izaya…you’re a teensy bit too nice!” Shinra’s apartment “I’ll admit, Yahiro’s a pretty funny guy.” “I’m funny, too! Wait, hang on… Let me come up with something funny to say!” “Don’t hurt yourself,” Celty typed, comforting her red-faced partner. In the end, she’d handed over the shadow-crafted mask and body wrap to the boy. She’d already created it for him, after all, and it seemed better to just leave it with him rather than to get rid of it right away. She’d told him, “I’ve never experimented to see how many days it will last on its own, so if it dissipates, just get in touch. When I made a helmet out of it before, there weren’t any problems, so it’s gentle on skin and hair…I think.” Yahiro had looked at her, dead serious, and asked, “Is it safe to wash this?” Shinra noticed that she was chuckling to herself. “Hey! Are you laughing as you remember that Yahiro boy, Celty?!” “You’re extremely keen in the strangest ways.” “Wait…something funny…something funny… C-can I tell you a funny story, Celty?!” he begged, practically crying. Annoyed, Celty typed, “You’re so desperate… Anyway, I should be off duty for a little while again. I suppose listening to you practice your storytelling isn’t the worst thing I could be doing.” “Really?! Wait, so you’re not doing courier work for a while?” “Mr. Shiki asked me to lie low for now. Apparently, there are still people out there who suspect me. But don’t worry—I’ll look for some other kind of job.” “It’s fine, Celty. I’ll support you for life! And I’ll also be your househusband, so you can just slob out and do nothing in my presence all day long!” Shinra said, his eyes sparkling. Exasperated, Celty thrust her smartphone in his face. Her typed message read, “I don’t want a life with nothing to do, either.” At this point, they weren’t aware that in a corner of IkeNew!, mixed in among the usual ads, there was one rather strange banner. It was a small image right at the bottom of the page with the letters SH written on it. Any sharp-eyed visitor who clicked on the image would be taken to a different site with a short message. We’ll solve your Ikebukuro problems. Missing persons, revenge against bullies, personal protection: We do everything! Ikebukuro Mutual Aid Group, Snake Hands This odd little advertisement would go on to create, contrary to Celty’s concerns, a “life with plenty to do.” But she had no idea about that yet.
Chapter 33
15 min read