Durarara!! SH Vol 1 Chapter 2.2

Durarara!!SH

CHAPTER 2B

The Gossipmonger

Night. Ikebukuro. Rakuei Gym.

Rakuei Gym was a martial arts dojo that boasted a scale of top-class level in Ikebukuro.

While it was technically an MMA gym, it taught various kinds of martial arts such as karate and boxing; even covering martial arts centralised around weapons, such as the sword, spear, or staff.

People from those pursuing the martial arts professionally to housewives on diets gathered here; aside from the tension unique to a martial arts gym, it was wrapped in a mixed atmosphere characteristic of a city.

A scene in the gym.

“Well… I was attending the Takadanobaba branch up till I finished middle school, so… We were just on the way home, so I thought it might be fun to drop by.”

“I’m surprised myself.”

The conversation, while not entirely common, was not unnatural either, between fellow students in a new semester.

“Ah… Sorry, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Kuon’s classmate, Mizuchi Yahiro.”

“Yes, please take care of me.”

She was wearing sports spectacles, and seemed to have gotten away from the intense session of spars and matches.

“Eh… um, thank you very much.”

On the other hand, Kuon frowned as he protested to the girl that was his senior.

“True~, you must be up to more dangerous things if you’re with Aocchi.”

Kuon, who was genuinely agitated; and Mairu, who was chuckling.

“So, are you hoping to sign up?”

Then Kuon interjected from beside him.

Kuon huffed as he dug his elbow into Yahiro.
“We were supposed to go looking for the Headless Rider, but Yahiro absolutely refused~”

It was one hour earlier.

Kuon exclaimed, but Yahiro replied, abruptly:

“Wait, why?! You don’t have anything on, right?”

Yahiro calmly asserted this, to which Kuon’s face turned confused.

“…”

—Even if you were to ask…

Would speaking of it be just as impolite as exposing a secret?

“Sorry, it’s a secret. I can’t say even if we’re friends.”

“I’m not sure, is it important…”

“You’re weird…”

—Oh no.

Yahiro, who was currently unable to understand the concept of having a comfortable distance between friends, was now forcing an awkward smile, but because he was not used to smiling in the first place, the result was a stiff smile surfacing under the evening of Ikebukuro.

“Well, then let’s leave that for today. I might be showing my face at the dojo today too.”

“Yeah, Rakuei Gym, it’s called. Up till now I was attending at the dojo at Takadanobaba, but for high school I’m here, right? So from now on I’ll be attending the one in Ikebukuro.”

Yahiro was for some reason suddenly interested, and Kuon smiled friendlily as he replied.

At Kuon’s words Yahiro’s eyes widened slightly, and after some thought, he asked:
“Could I hear more?”

After that conversation, they had decided that Yahiro would come to Rakuei Gym to watch, bringing them here.

(*Actual term is a proverb – hebi no namagoroshi – killing a snake halfway.)

“Hm? You two are interested in the Headless Rider?”

“Oh~! From Akita just for that?! That’s some willpower! Aren’t you cool.”

“Ah, no… It’s not like… the Headless Rider was the only reason…”

“I’m sorry, I don’t really get…”

“I just met this person myself, but if you find her annoying it’s fine if you basically ignore everything, all right? In the first place, her older sister would be something else, but this person’s body isn’t quite worth coming down from Akita f…”

Mairu, who had slipped behind him, ground her fists into Kuon’s temples.

(T/N: Umeboshi – what Mairu is doing. Shippe – jabbing someone’s wrist with two fingers, apparently.)

Information on the Headless Rider.

“Eh?”

Faced with the confusion of the two, Mairu snickered and said,

“Bodyguard?”

“Yep. Apparently our brother was friends with the Headless Rider.”

Next to Yahiro, who was getting increasingly bewildered, Kuon stared at Mairu and said.

“Ah, by that look of yours, you don’t believe it? It’s not a joke, and I don’t have a lying streak, hm? You can ask Kuru-nee, even Aocchi if you want.”

There Kuon frowned slightly.

“Kuronuma-sempai?”

Behind Kuon, who was chewing his words, Mairu added, unhesitantly:

“Hey! Read the atmosphere!”

“You’re so troublesome!”

“Ah, the part about the delinquents is Mairu’s misunderstanding. It’s just that some of his friends are rowdy. Like, they’re quick to get into fights, sort of…”

“Anyway, more importantly! Now, call your brother right now! Teleteletele! Tele-tele-call-call or no more bet!”

“Ahahaha, I can’t do that.”

At Kuon’s pestering, Mairu, her smile never once wavering –

said this explosive statement.

“…”

With the two of them unsure what to say, Mairu continued, her tone indifferent:

In response, Yahiro felt just a little relieved.

But that relief was destroyed by Mairu’s next words.

“…”

“No… isn’t that very worrying…? If he knew the Headless Rider and he disappeared, that’s like the recent…”

“No, you’re wrong.”

“The Headless Rider wouldn’t do that.”

She looked to be in middle school, but there was still some trace of childishness in her face.

(*Hakkaku-bō. Japanese red oak – Akagashi; one of the standard woods for weaponry, if you search it up.)

“Ah. Akane-chan. Yahoo~”

To Akane, who bowed her head courteously, Kuon asked:

“…Awakusu Akane, from the Rakuei Jōdō Section’s Girls’ Division.”

“Ah, I’m, uh, I just came to see; I’m Mizuchi Yahiro.”

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

“The Headless Rider wouldn’t kidnap anyone.”

Only, it appeared that she had some feelings regarding what Kuon had said, about a link between the disappearance of Mairu’s brother and the Headless Rider.

“Everyone is… misunderstanding the Headless Rider. That person isn’t a scary monster like the online rumours say…”

—Huh?

The boy quickly realised what the noise rising in his chest was.

There were people who looked on the Headless Rider with that same gaze.

To prove he was normal, coming to see the Headless Rider, was that not an arrogant thing to do?

—…I…Aren’t I being very rude to the Headless Rider…?

Having not noticed that the classmate he had brought here had become gloomy, Kuon asked Akane,

“…”

Rather, she looked at him warily.

“Wait, don’t be so scared~. See, it’s like that. There’re some frogs in the jungle that look super bright, aren’t there? Like the poison dart frog. It’s just like that, just like that.”

“It’s called the poison dart frog, too…”

“And besides, it’s not like we think the Headless Rider is evil or anything. That’s why we want to know what kind of person they are.”

“Eh?”

“…”

To Kuon, who had broken out in cold sweat, Akane said,

Akane continued, looking away sadly.

What came to her mind was a memory from one week ago, of the senior she had met during the spring break.

That senior had been a student president in their elementary school, and her ‘Headless Rider mania’ was well-known in the school.

—’If I really get to know the Headless Rider, sometime I’ll introduce them to you too, Awakusu-san!’

This upperclassman, who had worried about Akane when she had been unhappy for various reasons – who should have become her senior at the same middle school – Akane heard that she had disappeared.

As if the same thing had been broadcast to everyone else, in the blink of an eye,

this ridiculous, unbelievable rumour spread throughout the school.

That the Headless Rider did exist.

—It’s not of this world.

Akane, who had in the past been saved by the Headless Rider, could not bear the one-sided smearing of the urban legend’s name.

She understood that it was a route that would not result in any happiness for anyone.

Just as she had set her heart on this she happened to hear the conversation of Kuon’s group, and without thinking, spoke to defend the Headless Rider -—

“So, what are you planning to do?”

“Search for her… On your own? Really?”

A dark expression, but firmly.

“That…”

“Hey, hey, I won’t do anything bad, so tell us about the Headless Rider! If there’s a misunderstanding, you’ve got to clear it. And if we know it’s a misunderstanding, we can tell everyone that the Headless Rider’s a good person, too. Right?”

At Akane, who was looking at him suspiciously, the green-haired boy smiled spiritedly, but —

“Agagagagagagaga”

“There are things people don’t want to tell anyone, so read the atmosphere. Air-read, air-read.”

From beside him, Yahiro, who had recovered from his gloom, stepped towards Akane.

“…sorry.”

“Anyone who’s spoken to them would know… That person definitely isn’t bad.”

“Eh?”

Even though she felt strange at the somewhat self-deprecating smile Yahiro wore as he said this, Akane smiled, slightly cheered, as she thanked him.

And then, for just an instant a self-deprecating look crossed her face as well, as she continued.

“Eh?”

Hearing Akane, Mairu, who had stayed silent till then, clapped as if she had remembered something.

Yahiro’s heart raced.

—’Shizuo’ as in… it can’t be…

“Geh—?! Seriously?! You mean Shizuo as in, that Shizuo?! Heiwajima Shizuo!”

“Of course! I’ve heard the legends from Kuronuma-senpai, and I saw him throw a vending machine myself just once! Eh?! The Headless Rider knows Heiwajima Shizuo?! Seriously?”

Mairu said this, surprised.

—Heiwajima, Shizuo.

—There’s no mistake!

When he had looked up Ikebukuro’s urban legends on the internet, the name had turned up countless, countless times.

—To think his name would show up here!

—Because they’re fellow urban legends?

—No, now’s not the time to think about that.

“Then, I’ll help you find your seniors.”

At this wild offer, Akane’s eyes widened.

“I want to know what kind of person the Headless Rider is. But if they’re not bad, like you say, I want to prove it too. So I want to try asking those seniors who’re big fans of the Headless Rider.”

—It’s okay, I didn’t lie.

To Yahiro, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get closer to both the Headless Rider and Heiwajima Shizuo’.

—No, that’s irrelevant.

—If the Headless Rider is really a ‘monster’…

—Whatever it is, those seniors who ran away from home are the most worrying.

Even as he felt this sudden guilt, in the end Yahiro hid this motive within himself, and chose to honestly help in the search.

“…”

Her gaze sought an opinion on Yahiro, who she had just met and whose personality she did not know.

“Isn’t that great? Kuru-nee and I’ll help too!”

“Kuon-kun, you’ll ask Aocchi and the rest, won’t you!”

“Eh, wait, does that mean I’m helping too? And you’re dragging Kuronuma-senpai in?”

Mairu’s eyes and her words conveyed, implicitly, to Kuon:

A single statement that saw through one part of Kuon’s true nature.

“We’ve only met a few times; you’re saying that very confidently.”

Mairu, laughing, said as though to comfort Akane:

“But…”

“Ah, if you’re thinking, ‘It might be a bother…’ to us, worry about that later, later! They and I, all of us are following our own ambitions and desires to say, ‘We’ll do it,’ knowing full well we might meet danger, so Akane-chan, don’t always rely on what older people are doing!”

“No, I don’t really have an ulterior motive…”

“So, you’ll pull out? I can be the one to ask Aocchi.”

Seeing Kuon sigh and smile, Akane, after a moment of thought —

“Thank you so much… I’ll be counting on you.”

“But… if anything feels dangerous, please stop right away. I just want everyone to stay safe…”

“Oh no oh no, oh no no no, no matter how you look the one in most danger here would be Akane-chan, the youngest, wouldn’t it?”

“Serious?! I see~, then the one who should be most careful here might be Yahiro-kun, huh.”

“Y, yeah. I’ll take care.”

“Um… By the way, er, what’s the name of the one who disappeared?”

“It was Tatsugami… Tatsugami Ai-senpai.”

Tatsugami.

It was a unique surname, but although he tried to consider that it might be common in the region of Ikebukuro, it seemed natural to think the following:

Apparently Yahiro was not the only one who thought this; Kuon said, slightly puzzled.

Kuon asked this, but Yahiro had no answer at all.

A girl who was a big fan of the Headless Rider had the name of Tatsugami as well.

The ‘warning’ from his classmate repeated again and again in Yahiro’s chest.

He was being dragged into ‘something’.

But it was too late to stop this.
Fighting the uneasiness swirling in his chest, the cowardly boy set on moving forward.

Afterward, after finishing his observation of the training Kuon and the rest had, Yahiro accepted a pamphlet and returned home.

“I’ve to tell Kuru-nee as soon as possible too~. That tomorrow’ll be the start of the missing persons search of the Secret Society of Hot-Blooded Cold-Blooded Ikebukuro Detectives Society. Ah, I said Society twice. Ah whatever.”

“Oi, Mairu.”

(*Shihandai – assistant instructor.)

She was the daughter of the director of Rakuei Gym, a female assistant instructor recognisable by her sporty appearance.

This person brought up a question to Mairu:

“Ah, Kuon-kun and Mizuchi-kun? Yeah, they’re my juniors from Raira. Apparently they had their entrance ceremony today.”

“Eh? Kuon-kun’s been a Rakuei student since before, did you know? He says he was attending the Takadanobaba branch. What’s that, Mikage-san! Could it be you see some high hopes?! Could he be like Kisa-senpai, on par to become the next Traugott?!”

Mairu, who had not personally seen Kuon training, asked Mikage in turn, thrilled.

“Kuon was the green-haired one, right? Well, he was using our style. So I could tell he was a student…”

“The one who came to see, he’s Mizuchi-kun?”

“Ridiculous, it’s not that. …That kid, has he trained before?”

Mairu had not imagined Mikage would express more interest in Yahiro, who had merely come to watch; she asked again,

“Did you see his hands, Mairu?”

Mikage thought even more, and then, heaving a small sigh, warned Mairu.

The assistant instructor spoke with an unusually serious tone, and Mairu stopped swinging her legs, and, still smiling, nodded.

“Thanks. I would be sorry to him if rumours started.”

“He was watching very seriously in seiza, so I caught a glance of his hands on his knees…”

“His hands were full of scars.”

It was true that if one trained with a training post, wounding their hands would be common.

“But if it was just scars, maybe he has a cat and just got bitten or something?”

Mikage nodded at Mairu’s words.

“Eh?”

As Mairu saw Mikage’s hand gripping the drink can as she spoke, she noticed.

“Those were marks from human teeth.”

Mairu tilted her head. Mikage shook her head.

“…”

After saying this, Mikage remembered, clearly, Yahiro’s ‘hands’, and, with complicated feelings, spoke an ‘answer’ to Mairu’s question expressionlessly.

“…really?”

Mikage took a sip of her drink, and smiling faintly, murmured to herself.
“I shivered, just a little.”

Takadanobaba. Kuon’s apartment.

“I’m home.”

Beside the door cardboard boxes from mail orders were piled up to nearly the ceiling, the opened and unopened separated into stacks.

“Oh, Nee-chan, you ate everything today.”

“Honestly; you use the shower just fine, but you hate coming out to eat~. I don’t get your criteria.”

Other than the area in front of his sister’s room, the rest of the apartment was tidy; there was not even mould around the sink.

And turning on the TV, he slid his thumb over the screen of his smartphone with his free hand.

While watching a night news programme on the television, Kuon put the smartphone to his ear.

‘———’

Kuon grinned at the person on the other side of the call, and spoke of the day’s ‘results’.

‘———————’

Unlike the false smile he had presented to the others in the afternoon, Kuon wore a smile that felt somehow cold.

‘———————’

‘————’

At what the other party said, Kuon shrugged unconsciously.

Kuon remembered the face of the ‘pawn’ he had just met today, and said, narrowing his eyes like a snake:
“Just by travelling with him, I got plenty of other returns.”

Rakuei Gym.

After she finished speaking about Yahiro, Mikage, as though she had just remembered something, asked about another student.

“Yeah~. Though it’s interesting so I’d prefer it to stay green~”

“Well, maybe you’d say he’s a bad guy~. The type to use people instead of acting himself. Even attending this dojo seriously is to learn the very basics of self-defence at least, probably. For when it’s necessary. …ah, speaking of that made me remember – I feel he’s the same type as Iza-nii.”

“…if he’s like your brother, then he’s not a bad guy, he’s a scoundrel.”

“…well, Mairu, you talk very friendlily about that kind of guy yourself.”

And hearing of Akane’s issue, Mikage smiled.

“Yeah, it’d be nice if we could find them safely…”

To Mikage, who was disposing of her can into a bin as she said this, Mairu disagreed.

“?”

“If he’s with Aocchi, then I’d think he definitely knows about the Awakusu-kai~.”

Kuon’s apartment.

“Yeah, Awakusu Akane. The granddaughter of the head of the Awakusu-kai!”

“It’s funny, isn’t it? That the little miss of the Awakusu-kai would have some connection with the Headless Rider.”

“Well, I didn’t know what to think when Yahiro offered to help with the search, but things turned interesting. The name of Awakusu Akane’s senior who went missing… ‘Tatsugami Ai’…”

“Yeah, there’s no way they’re unconnected. The magazine reporter that disappeared recently was Tatsugami Aya, wasn’t it?”

To what the other party said, Kuon nodded.

‘——————’

At that point, Kuon instead raised a question to the person across the line.

‘————’

As though a snake that had found its prey, Kuon’s eyes glittered.

‘————’

‘————’

Tilting his expressionless face slightly, Kuon asked, blandly, a simple question.
“…sorry, who?”

****CHAPTER END****

Interlude: Rumours on the Internet ②

Ikebukuro Information Site, IkeNEW! Version I・KEBU・KUR・O

Popular article, ‘Announcement – revival of an urban legend’: Looks like the Headless Rider’s the culprit behind the serial disappearances in Ikebukuro!

‘Where did the Headless Rider go?’ – (Extract from Baboo Daily Digital Edition)

Has the darkness of Ikebukuro finally shown its face?

From December last year, there have been consecutive disappearances of young people in the vicinity of Ikebukuro, and in the shadow of those disappearances whispered rumours of the ‘Headless Rider’ have begun to show up.

And that similarity is undoubtedly that they were ‘seeking the Headless Rider’s true identity’.

A motorcycle without the sound of an engine, that can transform into a headless horse.

It is a presence that one could only call an urban legend, but up till at least half a year ago, it was a being residents of the city could easily capture in video even with their handphones.

Have each disappeared, right after telling those around them that they ‘might be able to meet the Headless Rider’.
And furthermore last month, a reporter from a certain information magazine, who had been researching into the Headless Rider, disappeared, leaving only a statement that she was ‘going to meet a powerful information source’.

(Omitted)

Also, there are rumours of the Headless Rider’s connection with the local violence organisations; the police are looking in that direction for potential suspects.

(Further content omitted)

-(Click here for the full article)

IkeNEW! Administrator’s Comment

“If you think they’re gone they’ll be vanished-nari.
Praying that the missing people are found safe.”

Administrator Lila Tailtooth Zaiya

Excerpts of typical tweets from microblogging site Twittia.

The Headless Rider had a bounty once, didn’t it. Quite sure back then the bounty was withdrawn right    after. Thinking about it that was strange. I think there was a secret dealing with the government. Quite sure the police got mad at the person who put out the bounty. It’s common sense the police would be angry, so they should have put the bounty out expecting that, right? Taking it down right after is strange. Don’t underestimate Max Sandshield’s randomness. It’s really bad, someone from my university went missing too. Apparently they’ve been saying they love the Headless Rider since they were a kid. It’s really bad. Was sort of grossed. Maybe it’s better they’re gone. Disgusting. Isn’t it imprudent to say that someone who’s gone missing was gross or disgusting or whatnot? Huh? It’s my own freedom. Don’t pick on everything it’s irritating. Who’re you. Aren’t you the irritating one? It’s my freedom to pick on things too. If it pisses you off don’t look at it die idio~t. Die die die die. You’ve posted before that you went drink driving, haven’t you. And cheating on exams too, I’ll be reporting this, Raira University First Year-san. I apologise it was all a joke. Being a Raira University student was a joke too. Contacting the school might cause trouble for them so please stop.

※ (The poster was expelled from Raira University subsequently, and is under probation for other complaints)

Apparently the magazine reporter said before disappearing that she was going to meet a powerful information source, but who would be able to provide information on the Headless Rider? I’ve seen someone wearing white riding behind them. There’s a rumour that that’s an underground doctor. Heiwajima Shizuo, wouldn’t it be? Since they’re together a lot. So maybe, provoke Shizuo→get thrown far away→go missing? Seriously? Wasn’t there was an informant talking with the Headless Rider now and then? Informant lol No, there really was! Don’t be like that. That guy with the black fur jacket, right? Haven’t seen him recently, hm.

****CHAPTER END****

T/N:

Kuon uses polite form with his seniors (i.e. Mairu, Aoba). He goes informal with Yahiro and the person he calls in this chapter. Not very sure if Max Sandshield should really be translated as Max Sandshield; the katakana for ‘Sandshield’ issandosheruto, which makes the ‘d’ a bit odd. Suggestions welcome.

Chapter end