Durarara!! Dengeki Magazine Omake Story (Part II)
Now, the hotpot party
Anri smiled quietly as these memories came back to her.
Mika wasn't found guilty in that incident since she was attacked first.
Anri told the teachers that the bullies had threatened to strip their clothes and take photos. It was found that several girls have already been taken nude photos of by the same group of bullies.
After that incident, Mika and Anri always moved together.
Now that she thought about it, it was the first time she noticed the "abnormality" in Harima Mika.
But Anri did not grow afraid of Mika. She continued to be Mika's friend - or rather, the girl Mika kept around to make herself look better.
Anri knew why she was OK with that.
Because she was abnormal enough a human being herself even if she didn't have a "voice" that whispered incessantly inside her body.
Right in front of Anri Mika was still teasing Mikado, and Seiji joined her a moment after. Mikado was now in a state of groaning despair and asking around for someone to back him up.
Karisawa and Yumasaki, who had looked on from the beginning, continued to gossip.
"My, my, would doors to new sensations and new fetishes open in front of Mikapuu after being scolded by girls like that - ?"
"He's gonna be alright, 'cause we're all in 2D and he's automatically kept away from any kinky stuff!"
"What on earth are you two talking about?"
Seiji was saying with a shocked expression to Mikado, who was still busy shaking his head:
"I see, Ryuugamine, so you also have a thing for Mika......?"
"It's not like that! Please, rest assured! Why would I ever try to break you up when Harima-san and Yagiri-kun love each other so much! How does that sound?"
"Hey, don't get it wrong. I don't like Mika. I just like her face."
"Ehhhhhhh!?"
"Seiji......I'm so happy to hear that☆"
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
The confused noise was coming from Mikado, who couldn't fish out a piece of meat from the hotpot for his life.
Two figures were eating silently with gusto and watching this scene from afar.
- Kadota, who was in his usual clothes but without the knit cap, and Heiwajima Shizuo in his everyday attire.
Kadota lowered his chopsticks as the party was increasingly derailed from its original track and said:
"Speaking of which, Shizuo, how's working with Tanaka-san?"
"Hmm......? Ah, you mean Tom-san?"
Kadota and Shizuo were in the same high school class. Not that they didn't talk with each other back then - but it was true that they had more interaction after graduation.
The only two people Shizuo could comfortably talk to at this hotpot party were Shinra and Kadota; now that Shinra was talking nonstop to Celty, it was only natural that he had to make conversation with Kadota instead.
"Well, Tom-san is a nice person. As is our manager...without him I probably wouldn't have been able to continue doing this job. ......There's no way I'd be able to pay the manager back if I quit."
"Huh......so I assume your manager always pays for the damaged sign posts and stuff?"
"Yeah. I'm infinitely grateful that despite all that he still pays me a salary."
"You've known Tanaka-san since long ago, right?"
It was a rare occurrence that Kadota would ask about Shizuo's boss even in such small talk meant to aid digestion. He probably felt something akin to admiration for this Tanaka guy who was able to work with Shizuo for so long.
"Hmm? Ahh. Right."
"Now that you mention it, I actually dyed my hair because Tom-san told me to."
Years ago, Raijin Middle School, Ikebukuro
"I......HATE VIOLENCE!"
The raging figure was Shizuo, still in middle school, but already every bit as violent as the word he claimed to hate.
Wielding a twisted sign post, the first-year hit his upperclassmen one by one.
No one would have guessed that Shizuo, who was sending his upperclassmen flying one after another, was only an elementary school kid one month ago.
The hurricane of violence swirled past, and silence reigned. More than ten upperclassmen lay motionless and crestfallen on the ground.
Shizuo lost track of how many minutes had passed.
Feeling his temper subside at last, he turned on his heels to leave -
When another guy appeared.
"How's it going? Feeling like your head's cooled down at last?"
He was wearing the uniform of Shizuo's middle school.
Judging from the way he looked and behaved, he was probably also a senior.
Thinking that he was simply another upperclassman coming for him, Shizuo raised his sign post again, poised for attack -
"Ah, chill out. I didn't come to fight you."
Shizuo lowered his sign post in confusion as the senior put his hands in the air.
"What? You didn't come to avenge these guys?"
"No, I'm far more comfortable working with my brain."
The bespectacled senior, in a straightforward manner, replied to Shizuo's childish inquiry.
"Also, there's hardly anything to 'avenge' when they picked on you with their nonsense talk in the first place."
"......"
"Well, it's also true that I don't want to get beaten up."
The senior began to inspect the motionless figures on the ground with a bitter smile on his face. Once he had a general idea of which ones were more critically injured, he lifted one of them onto his shoulder and said:
"Sorry, but it looks like I gotta take these guys to the hospital. Think you can help move them?"
"......Why should I?"
There was no note of accusation in the senior's voice; rather, he was simply asking for a favor from Shizuo, who had obviously inflicted some heavier-than-necessary injuries on the upperclassmen.
After some initial confusion, Shizuo eventually had to obey when he heard the guy's next words.
"Please. You do me this favor, and supper's on me."
An hour later, a fast food chain restaurant in Ikebukuro
"Sorry for asking you for such a favor..."
"......You don't have to be."
"Anyway, I don't think these guys will be coming for you again in the near future if they don't want more injuries."
"I can't even bring myself to mind now."
Shizuo said as he stuffed his own stomach with milk and fast food consisting of mackerel and miso soup.
The guy had told him that his name was Tanaka. Having finished his chicken and egg on rice, he was watching Shizuo eat with a dumbstruck expression.
"You sure do drink a lot of milk......although I was more surprised that this restaurant even served bottled milk to begin with."
Eyeing the five milk bottles already lined up on the table, he asked Shizuo:
"Do you hate fights?"
"......How do you know?"
"......You were yelling that you disliked violence."
"Ah, yeah I was......"
Shizuo downed the milk in one gulp as he continued to gobble up the remaining food somewhat furiously.
Then, setting the bottle back on the table, he said in a mildly forlorn tone:
"I...don't want to fight people at all. But I lose all control over myself once I get mad......and by the time I come to my senses, the damage's done. It's always been like that."
"......I see. Since that's the case the only way is to counter violence with violence."
"Huh?"
"Fewer people would come to you for fights if we spread the rumor beforehand about how one just 'don't mess with' you. Of course, some would still come if they're headstrong enough...anyway, guess it won't work if rumors like that make you feel uncomfortable."
Tanaka sipped his own iced drink as he looked at Shizuo's hair and said:
"Or you can consider dyeing your hair. That would make you look more your part so they won't underestimate you as much. Also when we go about spreading the rumors we'd just have to say 'stay away from the blond one at Raijin Middle School'. That way no one would pick on you by mistake, and you'd be able to attend middle school in peace."
"......Dyeing my hair sounds like a hell of trouble. And how can I just change on a whim the hair color my mom and dad gave me?" Shizuo replied as he averted his gaze.
Tanaka smiled hollowly and began to ask about other things:
"......You're far more conservative than you look. So you take this kind of seriously. Well, not that it's a bad thing to cherish the body you got from your parents, so I won't make you dye your hair if you don't want to. So is there anything I should avoid saying in particular? Anything that makes you mad?
"?"
Shizuo frowned not knowing where Tanaka was going with that. Tanaka, on the other hand, explained in an embarrassed tone:
"I have another year before graduation...so I figured it was a good idea to ask you that before I get beaten the crap out of by a kouhai."
After witnessing the sight of the extreme violence he was capable of -
Tanaka still referred the God of Wrath as his "kouhai" in his subdued voice.
"I'm more of the brains type, so I'm not good at taking blows with my body, you know."
"By the way, I won't personally mind if you don't use honorific speech with me, but try to use it more with your elders even if you don't like them. That way you won't get picked on as much."
A month later, rooftop, Raijin Middle School
"You did a good job taming that rabid dog, Tom."
"Huh?"
Shizuo was taking an after-school nap next to the water tanks on the rooftop when the voices of several seniors sounded from the entrance.
Since he heard Tanaka's voice among them, he concentrated on the flow of their conversation.
"Really good job, I say, Tom."
"Except that if I recall correctly......you didn't do anything when we got beaten up by that kid, did you?"
"Anyway. We've decided to forget about that since you've turned that little monster into our subordinate. We can pick on any gang in the neighborhood with him on our side, even the high school ones. We'll award you accordingly if you make sure to bring the Heiwajima kid over to our side."
Shizuo's raging temper was about to explode upon hearing such dialogue between the seniors -
When Tom - Tanaka - sighed and said something that made both Shizuo and the seniors jump in surprise.
"You got something wrong about this whole business, you realize that?"
"Ahhh?"
"That kid's not a dog, and he's not on anyone's side to begin with. You try talking to him and you'll know. He's far more normal than you may think."
"What the hell has that got to do with anything? He only listens to what you say anyway, doesn't he? If you tell him to go beat up the high school folks he'll probably do it."
The guy who looked like the head of the delinquent group was saying. Tom sighed once more before saying in a surprised tone:
"You guys......didn't you hear him say that he hated violence? Plus, it's not like using your kouhai to win a fight would earn you any face to begin with."
Shaking his head as if saying that these guys were impossible to communicate with, Tom turned on his heels to leave.
The delinquents left on the rooftop spit on the ground as they continued to talk about Tom.
"Who does he take himself for? That bastard."
"Exactly. But we still have to kick that Shizuo's ass first don't we? It's hard to make people take us seriously when a first-year can beat us up like that."
"But if we had any chance against him we wouldn't be doing this to begin with....."
"Simple. Just take that pretentious bastard who had just gotten off this rooftop hostage. Since he's the only guy Shizuo's close with, we'll have the chance to attack Shizuo from his back that way."
Mere minutes ago Tom was still talking with these Raijin seniors, and now they were talking about taking him hostage.
At that moment -
They heard a hissing sound from behind the water tanks and felt shudders run down their spines.
As soon as they raised their heads - their fear was confirmed.
"S - S - Shizuo......"
"......WHO'S TALKING ABOUT TAKING WHOM HOSTAGE? WHO'S GONNA ATTACK FROM WHOSE BACK AGAIN......? SEM - PAAAAAAIIIIIIIII - !"
As he began to kick one of the several water tanks around on the rooftop -
- The seniors knew that they were bound for the hospital once again.
Several months later
The incident happened anyway after several months of quietude.
The delinquents who got beaten up by Shizuo targeted Tom instead of Shizuo for their revenge.
Shizuo only knew about the incident after it had happened.
The delinquents had told Tanaka that they would let him off the hook if he lured Shizuo here.
Tanaka had sighed and said OK.
"But he's still my kouhai, you see......had he done anything wrong, I would have apologized. But it was your fault to pick on him in the first place. There's no way I'm selling my kouhai out to you when he's completely innocent."
When all was said and done, he still ended up having to fight.
Shizuo arrived to see some of the delinquents lying on the ground in a haphazard fashion. Tanaka, who looked at him as if to say 'Finally,' was badly injured but still standing.
After taking the remaining delinquents down with violence, Shizuo stared at Tanaka, who was trying to conceal himself in fear of getting embroiled in the fight again, and asked:
"Tanaka-sempai, are you not good at fighting? Then why not just use me like the other sempais have said?"
Tom beamed at Shizuo, whose honorific speech was still a little awkward, before saying:
"I'm just 'not good at' fighting."
Tanaka shrugged at his kouhai, trying to act tough to fit his part as the sempai as he said:
"You said you 'hated' violence though you're good at fighting, didn't you? If that's true, it's better to not fight."
Now, the hotpot party
"After that I dyed my hair like Tom-sempai told me to......and not nearly as many people came to me for fights after they spread the rumors around......it was a peaceful period in my life."
Kadota nodded at Shizuo, who sounded nostalgic as he talked about the old days.
"It's so good to have a nice sempai like him."
"Yeah......but he and I ended up going to different high schools......anyway, after I met that fucking flea, those peaceful days just crumbled to pieces."
Shizuo's face began to show signs of an imminent storm presumably because his enemy's face had surfaced in his mind. Kadota hastened to try to pacify his temper:
"Calm down. He's not invited to this place anyway. Probably sulking somewhere on his own. He's pathetic as he is, so try to leave him alone if you can."
"......If he never appears before my eyes again, I'd consider that."
Shizuo's temper receded as he thought of the almost-crying face of Orihara Izaya, his enemy, all alone in front of a hotpot - and he was able to focus on helping himself to more food again.
"But Kadota, the people you take around with you are strange folks as well......where did you come to know them?"
Shizuo was looking at Yumasaki and Karisawa, who were mixing very well with the high schoolers, and Togusa, who was yelling "Isn't.....isn't this Hijiribe Ruri's autograph!? How did you - !?" while looking at a picture frame hanging in the corner.
"Huh.....you mean those guys......"
Kadota narrowed his eyes as if trying to remember before saying, slowly:
"I met those guys, I think......"
" - Four years ago, in winter. Can't forget even if I tried."
"Kadota Kyohei and Yumasaki Walker were butler trainees.
Young men were trained at this butler subdivision under the postgraduate division at Hakureiryou Academy* to vie for the right to serve the most elegant of masters and mistresses -
Before their eyes stood, in her black dress and surrounded by black roses, the Queen -
Erika Beatrice Karisawa, heiress of the Karisawa Corporation!
Kadota fell in love with her at first sight......that's right, he had became the butler of love who was dying to be a slave of love even before he even earned the right to serve her......!"
"......Hang on."
"But one day, Kadota realized that he was not his real self, and his feelings for the heiress was unadulterated respect rather than love! And then Dotachin came to his senses. He realized that the only source of comfort for him was his one and true rival, Walker......!"
"......Hang on."
"Wait, Karisawa-san, please stop! Why are you fantasizing about Kadota-san and me in a Boys Love relationship!? I've said over and over that people like Karisawa-san are the reason the society has a negative impression of otaku culture in general! I say Kadota-san and I should become heroes in Galgames who win over the hearts of loads and loads of heroines! Actually, we can even do without Kadota-san! I'll be happy as long as I have this bondaged right hand blessed with the power of ancient moe-moe peoples so that every girl who sees my right hand would go 'Woo ~ '......"
"......Hang on."
"Ehhh? But wasn't Yumacchi talking about writing me and Dotachin in a master-slave relationship? How about this - Dotachin somehow becomes a girl when he gets up one morning, and finds himself in a boarding school for females......"
"SHUT - UP - YOU - TWO - AHHHHHHHH!"
Yumasaki and Karisawa had begun to spill out their nonsense fantasy scenarios again as if to keep Kadota from talking about their past.
Kadota grabbed their collars to make them shut their mouths while Togusa was busy asking Celty where they got the autograph.
Shizuo scratched his face as he watched the scene. He went back to looking for meat in the hotpot before saying to himself:
"......Whatever. Looks like they're having fun anyway."
"Oops, what's with this? Everyone's going all nostalgic despite being so young!"
Shinra, who had been watching the people at the hotpot party, said cheerfully in front of them.
"Anyway! Time flies. Years can pass you by in a blink, so it's not a bad thing to be nostalgic. I'm not saying the present is necessarily worse, of course! I have this once-in-a-life-time story about Celty and me. Can I tell them the story about how we confirmed our love for each other in that kidnapping incident ten years ago? Celty? Will you mind?"
[I told you we just got it today and they said it was for Shinra. I have no idea why we got Hijiribe Ruri's autograph either.]
Celty, who apparently didn't hear him, was still explaining to Togusa how they got the autograph.
After she sensed that the room had fallen silent as if expecting a reply from her, she tilted her head and showed Shinra her PDA.
[......Eh? What's up?]
"That kidnapping incident ten years ago which made us realize our love for each other!"
[......What?]
"Ehhh!? That incident! The incident that happened back when they were fighting for the Etsusa Bridge construction contract, the one that involved politicians! Celty and I somehow found ourselves involved, didn't we?"
Celty simply tilted her head once again as Shinra tried desperately to describe the incident.
[Huh, didn't know that happened......]
"That's all you've got to say to this!?"
Shinra dropped his body backwards to stare at the ceiling in shock. Kadota clapped him on the shoulder.
"......Cheer up. I have no idea what actually happened but there is this thing called unrequited love. Especially if we're talking about you."
"B - But it wasn't like that! At that time we really did......right! I'm sure Izaya knows about this! I'll get Izaya to come here right away and you'll see I didn't just make this up ahhhhhhhhhhhh- "
Kadota had to cover Shinra's mouth with his hand and lower his voice.
"......Do you want Shizuo to destroy your place?"
"Uhhhhh......"
Shinra had to shrug and give up at the thought of the God of Wrath in his bartender suit.
Celty, after seeing him act like that, went straight to the balcony by herself.
She lowered her shouldered as if anxious at the infinite expenses of the Tokyo night view.
- He knows so many idioms......but doesn't he realize what "A secret kept is a flower" means?
- It's so embarrassing. Stupid Shinra.
As she raised her head to look at the night sky, memories of that incident rushed to her head -
But that was another story.
An hour later
"So many different people came today......I was kind of shocked. Thank you for the invitation, I really appreciate it."
Anri insisted on helping to peel the apples for the dessert before leaving. Mikado thanked Shinra after he was completely full.
"Well, it's the first time we did something like this, and your friends were here as well. This is gonna be a pleasant memory for you, I hope?"
Shinra was saying something that sounded like advice before his Raira kouhai.
"But there was really nothing all that special......"
"It's good enough to be able to have hotpot together. Don't you think it's important to have friends you can eat with in a harmonious atmosphere like this?"
Shinra, as if thinking of a specific someone, said sarcastically with a grin:
"There are people in this world who would never get invited to such harmonious gatherings and have to do their hotpots alone."
The second Shinra said this -
Someone sneezed loudly in an apartment in Shinjuku.
"......Did I catch a cold?"
The information broker, who lowered his head to reach for a napkin, had yet to know about everything that happened a couple of days before and the hotpot party which everybody got to enjoy in harmony except him.
He got to know about everything only half a day later, though.
"So......what next?"
The murmur sounded like an odd note. Perhaps he felt more lonely today than usual.
He began to hit the keyboard as he realized how weird he was feeling.
The man who didn't get invited to the "party of the trusted" simply kept hitting the keys - alone.
Clank clank Clank clank Clank cla -
THE END
Anri smiled quietly as these memories came back to her.
Mika wasn't found guilty in that incident since she was attacked first.
Anri told the teachers that the bullies had threatened to strip their clothes and take photos. It was found that several girls have already been taken nude photos of by the same group of bullies.
After that incident, Mika and Anri always moved together.
Now that she thought about it, it was the first time she noticed the "abnormality" in Harima Mika.
But Anri did not grow afraid of Mika. She continued to be Mika's friend - or rather, the girl Mika kept around to make herself look better.
Anri knew why she was OK with that.
Because she was abnormal enough a human being herself even if she didn't have a "voice" that whispered incessantly inside her body.
Right in front of Anri Mika was still teasing Mikado, and Seiji joined her a moment after. Mikado was now in a state of groaning despair and asking around for someone to back him up.
Karisawa and Yumasaki, who had looked on from the beginning, continued to gossip.
"My, my, would doors to new sensations and new fetishes open in front of Mikapuu after being scolded by girls like that - ?"
"He's gonna be alright, 'cause we're all in 2D and he's automatically kept away from any kinky stuff!"
"What on earth are you two talking about?"
Seiji was saying with a shocked expression to Mikado, who was still busy shaking his head:
"I see, Ryuugamine, so you also have a thing for Mika......?"
"It's not like that! Please, rest assured! Why would I ever try to break you up when Harima-san and Yagiri-kun love each other so much! How does that sound?"
"Hey, don't get it wrong. I don't like Mika. I just like her face."
"Ehhhhhhh!?"
"Seiji......I'm so happy to hear that☆"
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
The confused noise was coming from Mikado, who couldn't fish out a piece of meat from the hotpot for his life.
Two figures were eating silently with gusto and watching this scene from afar.
- Kadota, who was in his usual clothes but without the knit cap, and Heiwajima Shizuo in his everyday attire.
Kadota lowered his chopsticks as the party was increasingly derailed from its original track and said:
"Speaking of which, Shizuo, how's working with Tanaka-san?"
"Hmm......? Ah, you mean Tom-san?"
Kadota and Shizuo were in the same high school class. Not that they didn't talk with each other back then - but it was true that they had more interaction after graduation.
The only two people Shizuo could comfortably talk to at this hotpot party were Shinra and Kadota; now that Shinra was talking nonstop to Celty, it was only natural that he had to make conversation with Kadota instead.
"Well, Tom-san is a nice person. As is our manager...without him I probably wouldn't have been able to continue doing this job. ......There's no way I'd be able to pay the manager back if I quit."
"Huh......so I assume your manager always pays for the damaged sign posts and stuff?"
"Yeah. I'm infinitely grateful that despite all that he still pays me a salary."
"You've known Tanaka-san since long ago, right?"
It was a rare occurrence that Kadota would ask about Shizuo's boss even in such small talk meant to aid digestion. He probably felt something akin to admiration for this Tanaka guy who was able to work with Shizuo for so long.
"Hmm? Ahh. Right."
"Now that you mention it, I actually dyed my hair because Tom-san told me to."
Years ago, Raijin Middle School, Ikebukuro
"I......HATE VIOLENCE!"
The raging figure was Shizuo, still in middle school, but already every bit as violent as the word he claimed to hate.
Wielding a twisted sign post, the first-year hit his upperclassmen one by one.
No one would have guessed that Shizuo, who was sending his upperclassmen flying one after another, was only an elementary school kid one month ago.
The hurricane of violence swirled past, and silence reigned. More than ten upperclassmen lay motionless and crestfallen on the ground.
Shizuo lost track of how many minutes had passed.
Feeling his temper subside at last, he turned on his heels to leave -
When another guy appeared.
"How's it going? Feeling like your head's cooled down at last?"
He was wearing the uniform of Shizuo's middle school.
Judging from the way he looked and behaved, he was probably also a senior.
Thinking that he was simply another upperclassman coming for him, Shizuo raised his sign post again, poised for attack -
"Ah, chill out. I didn't come to fight you."
Shizuo lowered his sign post in confusion as the senior put his hands in the air.
"What? You didn't come to avenge these guys?"
"No, I'm far more comfortable working with my brain."
The bespectacled senior, in a straightforward manner, replied to Shizuo's childish inquiry.
"Also, there's hardly anything to 'avenge' when they picked on you with their nonsense talk in the first place."
"......"
"Well, it's also true that I don't want to get beaten up."
The senior began to inspect the motionless figures on the ground with a bitter smile on his face. Once he had a general idea of which ones were more critically injured, he lifted one of them onto his shoulder and said:
"Sorry, but it looks like I gotta take these guys to the hospital. Think you can help move them?"
"......Why should I?"
There was no note of accusation in the senior's voice; rather, he was simply asking for a favor from Shizuo, who had obviously inflicted some heavier-than-necessary injuries on the upperclassmen.
After some initial confusion, Shizuo eventually had to obey when he heard the guy's next words.
"Please. You do me this favor, and supper's on me."
An hour later, a fast food chain restaurant in Ikebukuro
"Sorry for asking you for such a favor..."
"......You don't have to be."
"Anyway, I don't think these guys will be coming for you again in the near future if they don't want more injuries."
"I can't even bring myself to mind now."
Shizuo said as he stuffed his own stomach with milk and fast food consisting of mackerel and miso soup.
The guy had told him that his name was Tanaka. Having finished his chicken and egg on rice, he was watching Shizuo eat with a dumbstruck expression.
"You sure do drink a lot of milk......although I was more surprised that this restaurant even served bottled milk to begin with."
Eyeing the five milk bottles already lined up on the table, he asked Shizuo:
"Do you hate fights?"
"......How do you know?"
"......You were yelling that you disliked violence."
"Ah, yeah I was......"
Shizuo downed the milk in one gulp as he continued to gobble up the remaining food somewhat furiously.
Then, setting the bottle back on the table, he said in a mildly forlorn tone:
"I...don't want to fight people at all. But I lose all control over myself once I get mad......and by the time I come to my senses, the damage's done. It's always been like that."
"......I see. Since that's the case the only way is to counter violence with violence."
"Huh?"
"Fewer people would come to you for fights if we spread the rumor beforehand about how one just 'don't mess with' you. Of course, some would still come if they're headstrong enough...anyway, guess it won't work if rumors like that make you feel uncomfortable."
Tanaka sipped his own iced drink as he looked at Shizuo's hair and said:
"Or you can consider dyeing your hair. That would make you look more your part so they won't underestimate you as much. Also when we go about spreading the rumors we'd just have to say 'stay away from the blond one at Raijin Middle School'. That way no one would pick on you by mistake, and you'd be able to attend middle school in peace."
"......Dyeing my hair sounds like a hell of trouble. And how can I just change on a whim the hair color my mom and dad gave me?" Shizuo replied as he averted his gaze.
Tanaka smiled hollowly and began to ask about other things:
"......You're far more conservative than you look. So you take this kind of seriously. Well, not that it's a bad thing to cherish the body you got from your parents, so I won't make you dye your hair if you don't want to. So is there anything I should avoid saying in particular? Anything that makes you mad?
"?"
Shizuo frowned not knowing where Tanaka was going with that. Tanaka, on the other hand, explained in an embarrassed tone:
"I have another year before graduation...so I figured it was a good idea to ask you that before I get beaten the crap out of by a kouhai."
After witnessing the sight of the extreme violence he was capable of -
Tanaka still referred the God of Wrath as his "kouhai" in his subdued voice.
"I'm more of the brains type, so I'm not good at taking blows with my body, you know."
"By the way, I won't personally mind if you don't use honorific speech with me, but try to use it more with your elders even if you don't like them. That way you won't get picked on as much."
A month later, rooftop, Raijin Middle School
"You did a good job taming that rabid dog, Tom."
"Huh?"
Shizuo was taking an after-school nap next to the water tanks on the rooftop when the voices of several seniors sounded from the entrance.
Since he heard Tanaka's voice among them, he concentrated on the flow of their conversation.
"Really good job, I say, Tom."
"Except that if I recall correctly......you didn't do anything when we got beaten up by that kid, did you?"
"Anyway. We've decided to forget about that since you've turned that little monster into our subordinate. We can pick on any gang in the neighborhood with him on our side, even the high school ones. We'll award you accordingly if you make sure to bring the Heiwajima kid over to our side."
Shizuo's raging temper was about to explode upon hearing such dialogue between the seniors -
When Tom - Tanaka - sighed and said something that made both Shizuo and the seniors jump in surprise.
"You got something wrong about this whole business, you realize that?"
"Ahhh?"
"That kid's not a dog, and he's not on anyone's side to begin with. You try talking to him and you'll know. He's far more normal than you may think."
"What the hell has that got to do with anything? He only listens to what you say anyway, doesn't he? If you tell him to go beat up the high school folks he'll probably do it."
The guy who looked like the head of the delinquent group was saying. Tom sighed once more before saying in a surprised tone:
"You guys......didn't you hear him say that he hated violence? Plus, it's not like using your kouhai to win a fight would earn you any face to begin with."
Shaking his head as if saying that these guys were impossible to communicate with, Tom turned on his heels to leave.
The delinquents left on the rooftop spit on the ground as they continued to talk about Tom.
"Who does he take himself for? That bastard."
"Exactly. But we still have to kick that Shizuo's ass first don't we? It's hard to make people take us seriously when a first-year can beat us up like that."
"But if we had any chance against him we wouldn't be doing this to begin with....."
"Simple. Just take that pretentious bastard who had just gotten off this rooftop hostage. Since he's the only guy Shizuo's close with, we'll have the chance to attack Shizuo from his back that way."
Mere minutes ago Tom was still talking with these Raijin seniors, and now they were talking about taking him hostage.
At that moment -
They heard a hissing sound from behind the water tanks and felt shudders run down their spines.
As soon as they raised their heads - their fear was confirmed.
"S - S - Shizuo......"
"......WHO'S TALKING ABOUT TAKING WHOM HOSTAGE? WHO'S GONNA ATTACK FROM WHOSE BACK AGAIN......? SEM - PAAAAAAIIIIIIIII - !"
As he began to kick one of the several water tanks around on the rooftop -
- The seniors knew that they were bound for the hospital once again.
Several months later
The incident happened anyway after several months of quietude.
The delinquents who got beaten up by Shizuo targeted Tom instead of Shizuo for their revenge.
Shizuo only knew about the incident after it had happened.
The delinquents had told Tanaka that they would let him off the hook if he lured Shizuo here.
Tanaka had sighed and said OK.
"But he's still my kouhai, you see......had he done anything wrong, I would have apologized. But it was your fault to pick on him in the first place. There's no way I'm selling my kouhai out to you when he's completely innocent."
When all was said and done, he still ended up having to fight.
Shizuo arrived to see some of the delinquents lying on the ground in a haphazard fashion. Tanaka, who looked at him as if to say 'Finally,' was badly injured but still standing.
After taking the remaining delinquents down with violence, Shizuo stared at Tanaka, who was trying to conceal himself in fear of getting embroiled in the fight again, and asked:
"Tanaka-sempai, are you not good at fighting? Then why not just use me like the other sempais have said?"
Tom beamed at Shizuo, whose honorific speech was still a little awkward, before saying:
"I'm just 'not good at' fighting."
Tanaka shrugged at his kouhai, trying to act tough to fit his part as the sempai as he said:
"You said you 'hated' violence though you're good at fighting, didn't you? If that's true, it's better to not fight."
Now, the hotpot party
"After that I dyed my hair like Tom-sempai told me to......and not nearly as many people came to me for fights after they spread the rumors around......it was a peaceful period in my life."
Kadota nodded at Shizuo, who sounded nostalgic as he talked about the old days.
"It's so good to have a nice sempai like him."
"Yeah......but he and I ended up going to different high schools......anyway, after I met that fucking flea, those peaceful days just crumbled to pieces."
Shizuo's face began to show signs of an imminent storm presumably because his enemy's face had surfaced in his mind. Kadota hastened to try to pacify his temper:
"Calm down. He's not invited to this place anyway. Probably sulking somewhere on his own. He's pathetic as he is, so try to leave him alone if you can."
"......If he never appears before my eyes again, I'd consider that."
Shizuo's temper receded as he thought of the almost-crying face of Orihara Izaya, his enemy, all alone in front of a hotpot - and he was able to focus on helping himself to more food again.
"But Kadota, the people you take around with you are strange folks as well......where did you come to know them?"
Shizuo was looking at Yumasaki and Karisawa, who were mixing very well with the high schoolers, and Togusa, who was yelling "Isn't.....isn't this Hijiribe Ruri's autograph!? How did you - !?" while looking at a picture frame hanging in the corner.
"Huh.....you mean those guys......"
Kadota narrowed his eyes as if trying to remember before saying, slowly:
"I met those guys, I think......"
" - Four years ago, in winter. Can't forget even if I tried."
"Kadota Kyohei and Yumasaki Walker were butler trainees.
Young men were trained at this butler subdivision under the postgraduate division at Hakureiryou Academy* to vie for the right to serve the most elegant of masters and mistresses -
Before their eyes stood, in her black dress and surrounded by black roses, the Queen -
Erika Beatrice Karisawa, heiress of the Karisawa Corporation!
Kadota fell in love with her at first sight......that's right, he had became the butler of love who was dying to be a slave of love even before he even earned the right to serve her......!"
"......Hang on."
"But one day, Kadota realized that he was not his real self, and his feelings for the heiress was unadulterated respect rather than love! And then Dotachin came to his senses. He realized that the only source of comfort for him was his one and true rival, Walker......!"
"......Hang on."
"Wait, Karisawa-san, please stop! Why are you fantasizing about Kadota-san and me in a Boys Love relationship!? I've said over and over that people like Karisawa-san are the reason the society has a negative impression of otaku culture in general! I say Kadota-san and I should become heroes in Galgames who win over the hearts of loads and loads of heroines! Actually, we can even do without Kadota-san! I'll be happy as long as I have this bondaged right hand blessed with the power of ancient moe-moe peoples so that every girl who sees my right hand would go 'Woo ~ '......"
"......Hang on."
"Ehhh? But wasn't Yumacchi talking about writing me and Dotachin in a master-slave relationship? How about this - Dotachin somehow becomes a girl when he gets up one morning, and finds himself in a boarding school for females......"
"SHUT - UP - YOU - TWO - AHHHHHHHH!"
Yumasaki and Karisawa had begun to spill out their nonsense fantasy scenarios again as if to keep Kadota from talking about their past.
Kadota grabbed their collars to make them shut their mouths while Togusa was busy asking Celty where they got the autograph.
Shizuo scratched his face as he watched the scene. He went back to looking for meat in the hotpot before saying to himself:
"......Whatever. Looks like they're having fun anyway."
"Oops, what's with this? Everyone's going all nostalgic despite being so young!"
Shinra, who had been watching the people at the hotpot party, said cheerfully in front of them.
"Anyway! Time flies. Years can pass you by in a blink, so it's not a bad thing to be nostalgic. I'm not saying the present is necessarily worse, of course! I have this once-in-a-life-time story about Celty and me. Can I tell them the story about how we confirmed our love for each other in that kidnapping incident ten years ago? Celty? Will you mind?"
[I told you we just got it today and they said it was for Shinra. I have no idea why we got Hijiribe Ruri's autograph either.]
Celty, who apparently didn't hear him, was still explaining to Togusa how they got the autograph.
After she sensed that the room had fallen silent as if expecting a reply from her, she tilted her head and showed Shinra her PDA.
[......Eh? What's up?]
"That kidnapping incident ten years ago which made us realize our love for each other!"
[......What?]
"Ehhh!? That incident! The incident that happened back when they were fighting for the Etsusa Bridge construction contract, the one that involved politicians! Celty and I somehow found ourselves involved, didn't we?"
Celty simply tilted her head once again as Shinra tried desperately to describe the incident.
[Huh, didn't know that happened......]
"That's all you've got to say to this!?"
Shinra dropped his body backwards to stare at the ceiling in shock. Kadota clapped him on the shoulder.
"......Cheer up. I have no idea what actually happened but there is this thing called unrequited love. Especially if we're talking about you."
"B - But it wasn't like that! At that time we really did......right! I'm sure Izaya knows about this! I'll get Izaya to come here right away and you'll see I didn't just make this up ahhhhhhhhhhhh- "
Kadota had to cover Shinra's mouth with his hand and lower his voice.
"......Do you want Shizuo to destroy your place?"
"Uhhhhh......"
Shinra had to shrug and give up at the thought of the God of Wrath in his bartender suit.
Celty, after seeing him act like that, went straight to the balcony by herself.
She lowered her shouldered as if anxious at the infinite expenses of the Tokyo night view.
- He knows so many idioms......but doesn't he realize what "A secret kept is a flower" means?
- It's so embarrassing. Stupid Shinra.
As she raised her head to look at the night sky, memories of that incident rushed to her head -
But that was another story.
An hour later
"So many different people came today......I was kind of shocked. Thank you for the invitation, I really appreciate it."
Anri insisted on helping to peel the apples for the dessert before leaving. Mikado thanked Shinra after he was completely full.
"Well, it's the first time we did something like this, and your friends were here as well. This is gonna be a pleasant memory for you, I hope?"
Shinra was saying something that sounded like advice before his Raira kouhai.
"But there was really nothing all that special......"
"It's good enough to be able to have hotpot together. Don't you think it's important to have friends you can eat with in a harmonious atmosphere like this?"
Shinra, as if thinking of a specific someone, said sarcastically with a grin:
"There are people in this world who would never get invited to such harmonious gatherings and have to do their hotpots alone."
The second Shinra said this -
Someone sneezed loudly in an apartment in Shinjuku.
"......Did I catch a cold?"
The information broker, who lowered his head to reach for a napkin, had yet to know about everything that happened a couple of days before and the hotpot party which everybody got to enjoy in harmony except him.
He got to know about everything only half a day later, though.
"So......what next?"
The murmur sounded like an odd note. Perhaps he felt more lonely today than usual.
He began to hit the keyboard as he realized how weird he was feeling.
The man who didn't get invited to the "party of the trusted" simply kept hitting the keys - alone.
Clank clank Clank clank Clank cla -
THE END