Durarara!! SH Vol 2 Chapter 6.1

CHAPTER 6A
The Visitors

The next day. Raira Academy.

“Good morning.”

Himeka returned Yahiro’s greeting, voice no different from usual.

“Yeah, I haven’t sorted it all out yet.”

Yahiro wanted to ask her about what she had said yesterday before they parted, but felt that it might be too intrusive and hesitated.

But his hesitation did not lead to restraint, and in the end he asked her anyway.

“…You really are frank.”

She had probably come to understand this side of Yahiro through their interactions in the past few days.

“But if our enemy was someone who could control those weird shadows we wouldn’t be able to rescue the people who were kidnapped.”

Himeka said lightly. Yahiro did not know how to answer.

“But, Yahiro-kun, I’m thinking…”

Himeka turned and walked forward, and still, with a voice that could not be more casual, continued:

“Ah…”

“I… guess so.”

Just by her words alone he was able to realise she was still suspecting the Headless Rider.

—Ngh… What now. I’m bad at these situations.

—I wish I had his skill to push conversations forward.
Yahiro had judged Kuon as a social person despite that he had isolated himself from others by dyeing his hair green. He continued the conversation casually as they walked towards their classroom.

And when homeroom period came around, he noticed something odd.

—Hm?

It was likely he was simply late, but because of what had just happened yesterday, he was disturbed.

In the break after the first period, Yahiro called Kuon.

This feminine voice answered, only escalating his worry.
Yahiro remembered Kuon’s call to hin last night:

　—’Yo. That was exciting.’

　—’She should have been more… I would’ve thought she’d say something provocative, like, “Give my sisters back, you kidnapper!” But she was unexpectedly calm, which was a great help.’

　—’See you in school. I’m going to pop by the store.’

Most importantly, he had said he would be coming to school.

A chill ran down Yahiro’s spine.

The rumour that Himeka’s sisters had given truth to: that ‘people who look for the Headless Rider will disappear’.

—In that case, Tatsugami-san or I should have disappeared first.
Yahiro, bewildered, continued to sit through his lessons after that, engulfed in uneasiness.

When lunch break rolled around he approached Himeka.

“Did he skip? He doesn’t seem the kind to take school seriously.”

“If he didn’t skip school… It might be related to the Headless Rider.”

“I wish it weren’t, but… Should we text the Headless Rider?”

But before he could type anything, a voice called out,

A posse of girls from their class had approached upon seeing them together.

Himeka answered evenly.

“Eh~? What about you, Yahiro-kun?”

Meanwhile, Yahiro’s response did not lose to Himeka’s in terms of honesty.

“That was half confessing, wasn’t it!”

“It was! You’re so funny!”

“Be a little embarrassed, Himeka-chan~”

“Is it an Akita thing?”

He answered that with more certainty than the other questions.

Such self-loathing thoughts ran through Yahiro’s mind. At the same time the girls around them probed further:

“Oh? A love triangle?”

Their classmates proposed wilfully, to which Himeka calmly replied,

“Whoa~, so self-assured~”

But her expression shifted slightly at the next sentence.

“But speaking of Kuon-kun, was that real? The thing with the Headless Rider?”

Yahiro and Himeka both looked towards the speaker.

As she said this the girl took out her smartphone, and showed it to them.

On the screen was a photo of a boy next to the Headless Rider, with a black box edited over his eyes.

And Yahiro and Himeka, both of whom did not keep up with current events, came to realise something over the course of their lunch:

Kuon had become the man of the hour.

After school. Rooftop.

“And so you came to me.”

They were on the opposite end from the rooftop garden that students used as a recreational area.

Because Raira Academy did not have a significant population of ‘delinquents who looked like delinquents’, the rooftop was open for access – but in this area around the solar panels there was a unique tension not to be found elsewhere.

Yahiro, for all he was afraid of this atmosphere, pressed Aoba with his questions.

Aoba answered his junior with good humour.

“Did he pick up?”

He cut off there, and, lips quirking, continued,

“!”

“Are you saying he was abducted by the Headless Rider-san?”

“Oh… Headless Rider ‘-san’, huh…”

“Could it be you were with Kuon, and met the Headless Rider together?”

Caught red-handed, Yahiro was temporarily speechless.

“You’re bad at lying, huh.”

“Really.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you’ve met the Headless Rider, but there’s one thing I can say for sure.”

“The Headless Rider isn’t the kind of human to kidnap anyone. …Though they’re not even ‘human’ in the first place… But there’s no need to complicate things, so let’s leave it at that.”

He spoke as if he had been familiar with the Headless Rider for a long time; Yahiro cocked his head.

“Ah, sorry. There’s still a lot of things I don’t know about Tokyo…”

With a self-deprecating smile, Aoba continued to describe his own impression of the Headless Rider.

“A good guy?”

“Do you know the Headless Rider, Kuronuma-sempai?”

“It’s not like we’re such good friend you can ask me that, right?”

“You’re right. Thank you very much.”

Aoba shrugged, seeming somewhat disappointed.

“Oh right. There’s one more piece of information I can give you.”
“?”

“Do you know where Kuon lives?”

Evening. Somewhere in Takadanobaba.

“So this is… Kuon-kun’s home…”

Yahiro, having gotten Kuon’s address from Aoba, had decided to visit with Himeka after school.

The apartment building was a fair distance from the Takadanobaba station, and was taller than the neighbouring buildings; from the roof one could probably see most of the city.

Looking at the building, Himeka voiced her impression:

“Really?”

Having come here from a village with no apartments to speak of in the first place, he was unable to differentiate between new and old buildings very well.

“Yeah… If a place so big was built recently, I don’t think we’d have free access all the way to the front door.”

Still, there were no security measures; the model of the apartment was such that couriers could deliver goods straight to the door.

As they stood in the lift, the two of them discussed what they should say once they were at the door.

“He was absent from school today, so we can just say we’re here to return a book to him.”

It was a book she had been reading occasionally during lesson breaks and such.

“What book is that?”

“Oh…”

He ought to borrow it later, or buy it himself.
While Yahiro was thinking this, the lift came to a stop at Kuon’s floor.

‘Kotonami

This was written on the nameplate beside the apartment door.

‘Nozomi’ was most likely a woman’s name.

As he considered that, Yahiro pressed the doorbell.

“…Maybe no one’s home.”

Yahiro was about to agree with Himeka –

“What’s wrong?

“Eh?”

But Yahiro leant his face closer to the door, and spoke such that anyone inside could hear:

He knocked lightly on the door, but still there was no response.

“No, I heard footsteps.”

They had been numbed for a time due to the sheer crowdedness of Tokyo and the unfamiliar environment, but as he grew used to it his senses had regained their sharpness.

Yahiro had detected faint sounds from nearby with that same sense of someone ‘holding their breath’, and concentrated further.

“What should we do… I’m sure there’s someone… but why aren’t they replying…?”

“…Possibly.”

Yahiro, visualising Kuon’s corpse sprawled on the floor inside, began to panic.

”…There’s no way the landlord would open up just because we said we heard footsteps inside.”

And, sighing softly, said to Yahiro expressionlessly,

“Kind as in?”

“Huh?”

Before he could ask, Himeka had taken out two slim metallic objects from her bag, and begun rattling at the lock.

At the sight of what Himeka was doing, Yahiro’s face paled and he flustered.

“It’s open.”

Yahiro swallowed; he had broken out in sweat. Even so, Himeka was unaffected as she put her hand on the doorknob, her face utterly placid.

“…S, sure.”

And –

No one was inside.

Had he been mistaken?

“…”

“Um, excuse me. We’re friends of Kuon-kun…”

“Are you Kuon’s mother?”

“Do… Do I look that old…”

“W, wasn’t it… locked? How is it open…”

Himeka replied smoothly with this outrageous lie.

“I’m sorry if it shocked you. Are you related to Kotonami-kun?”

“K, Kotonami Nozomi.”

“I, I’m Kuon’s… older sister.”

A few minutes later.

Yahiro and Himeka, who had been led to the living room and served snacks, had been exchanging glances, unsure what to say.

Just then, Kotonami Nozomi spoke in a tiny voice, without making eye contact,

“!”

“Why do you know our names?”

At the sight of Nozomi, who was smiling while still averting her eyes, Yahiro was somewhat disconcerted.

“Um, actually, Kuon-kun didn’t come to school today, so…”

“Eh? So he was absent for a reason, right?”

As she sipped at her own tea a dark smile spread over her face, and she said, happily,

“…?””He was abducted; kidnapped. My brother Kuon.”

She said it so blandly Yahiro thought it was a joke, but he started as he remembered their earlier exchange.

“Not really? I’m scared of strangers. I don’t open the door unless it’s Kuon or a deliveryman.”

Unable to understand what she meant, Yahiro turned to Himeka.

“…It doesn’t seem like you’ve contacted the police about this, hm.”

She was swaying back and forth, and even now she was shivering slightly.

Gaze hovering at some point in the air, Nozomi took out a notepad and pencil, and pushed it across the table towards them.

“?”

—Well, we did break in, so that’s to be expected.

“Th, thanks. Drink the tea. There are snacks in the fridge, so just eat, okay?”

Yahiro, who was expecting to be sent home, tilted his head in confusion.

“What’s happening… What should we do now?”

The two were exchanging glances when suddenly Yahiro’s phone rang.

Yahiro was surprised that an unknown number was calling, but nevertheless he picked up.

‘Yaho~! Doing good? Ah~, I’m so sorry we couldn’t talk properly just now!”

‘Ah~, we can finally talk! I’m really bad at talking face-to-face, see! I get so nervous I can’t talk properly! I’m really sorry! It’s not that I don’t like you! Actually I love you! I love you both very much!’

“Um… Nozomi-san?”

“Sorry, I don’t know how.”
After that, with some explanation, Yahiro was able to activate this new function of his phone successfully.

‘Hello~? Himeka-chan, can you hear me?’

“OK~! I can hear you too!”

After all: the other party was only a room away.

“Are you a writer, then?”

‘Nope, I’m not! Ah, but I guess it’s something like that, since I use a pen name and write articles!’

‘Yep, you can call it a handle, but since I’m writing, maybe pen name sounds better after all!’

‘Have you heard of… Lila Tailtooth Zaiya?’

Lila Tailtooth Zaiya.

—Huh?

Before Yahiro could place the memory, Himeka spoke up.

‘Bingo! You’re absolutely right!’

Yahiro exclaimed as he remembered.

“Huh? What? But…”

“? ? ?”

A news article based on a fake journal?

And spread lies about the Headless Rider at the same time?

In the end, who kidnapped Kuon?

“Was it… so he would be kidnapped?”

“…”

To Nozomi, who had said such an odd thing, Yahiro answered, for now ignoring his own doubts:

‘Why do you say that?’

‘I can’t believe I just heard something so straightforward and innocent in this day and age!’

‘Yahiro-kun, you’re more interesting than I expected. Who do you think kidnapped all those people?’

“Yakuza, maybe…”

“Um, I don’t have any basis, exactly… I was kidnapped in the second year of middle school myself, so…”

Both Himeka and Nozomi went silent.

But as she did not know why he would be kidnapped, Himeka was completely unable to absorb the information, and even Nozomi, who was somewhat aware of the rumours surrounding him, was left speechless by the sheer extent of what he had said.

‘You really are interesting.’

‘I see~, so that’s why Kuon’s so interested.’

For all Kuon’s sister was the victim of this incident, Yahiro voiced his doubt directly. And she answered, nonchalantly:
‘Well, I don’t know if he’s safe, but he has his own plans, I guess?’

‘Since, just as our princess over there said… he got himself kidnapped on purpose.’

****CHAPTER END****

Chapter end