Chapter 3 (2/2)
As Simon continued to give his nonsensical sales speech while dancing in front of the
camera, Celty gave a deep sigh and turned her smart phone screen to the shop owner.
“No…it’s forbidden to post goods and services advertis.e.m.e.nts on Niconico
without permission from the managing company.” At those words, Dennis glanced at
Celty while sharpening his knife and said,
“I see…then I’ll leave it to you to get permission.”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
♂♀
Russia Sus.h.i.+ - Back Entrance
Celty had just bid good-bye to Dennis and Simon when she unexpectedly ran into an
acquaintance in the back Russia Sus.h.i.+ who had come to get an order of crab and decided
to ask him for his opinion.
“Um, Niconico Douga, well, do you know anything about it?”
His name was Akabayas.h.i.+. He was a high ranking member of the Awakusu-Kai, the
group that claimed Ikebukuro as their turf, and a man who worked in the city’s
underworld.
“Due to certain circ.u.mstances, I have to make a video that will get a lot of
views…but I don’t really know what kind of video to make…”
“I see. Well, if you’re fine with an old man’s opinion, I may have something that will
get a lot of views.”
“!! Really!?” Celty jumped on Akabayas.h.i.+’s unexpected response.
“Yeah, it’s a secret video, one that has not been shown to the general public. The only
copy is on my phone.”
“That’s, what on earth…”
“…If I tell you, there’s no going back, got it?”
“Eh!”
Akabayas.h.i.+ continued to speak in undertones to a perplexed Celty.
“At any rate, it’s a video that deals with the management of my organization. So you
must be prepared for it to come to mortal combat if you release it to the public.”
“That’s a little…”
“There are many different kinds of videos in this world. There are even weirdos who
want to see snuff videos, and are willing to pay money for it, so I have colleagues who
are making those kinds of films. Of course it’s not faked, and it actually is 120 minutes of
uncut snuff film.” Ignoring the suddenly frozen Celty, Akabayas.h.i.+ continued on.
“So when people ask me, ‘Do you have any interesting videos’ and such…of course,
they are people who want to see a video that’s different from the mask the world puts
on...But if you upload it to Niconico, you’ll get to see an interesting mix of the public
world and the underworld…It’s a bit risky but…Well, what do you think of that?”
“S-sorry, I just remembered something I have to do!”
“I wonder if I was I a bit too threatening.” After bidding goodbye to Celty, who fled to
escape, Akabayas.h.i.+ replayed the video on his cellphone.
“Well, it’s just a video of a guy who tried to rough up one of the shop girls in our
territory getting beaten up and then prostrating himself naked on the ground.”
♂♀
A Certain Place in Ikebukuro
“A…video?” While fleeing home in a panic, Celty unexpectedly encountered
Sonohara Anri, who was on her way home from school and called out to Celty.
“I’ve never made one before…ah, but I did receive one once.”
“Really?”
“Yes, a really cute cat video…Mika-chan, who you once took care of at your
apartment, took a video of a cat and sent it to me.” Taking out her cellphone, Anri
naturally opened up the video and showed Celty. It was only a flip phone so the size
wasn’t good, but you could still see the cute little kitten with its folded ears.
“Ooh, this, I want to make a video like this!”
If it comes down to it, perhaps I should borrow this video and upload it instead?
Celty was slowly being driven up the wall, and had reached the conclusion she should
leave it to someone else but––
——……
As the video played, Celty erased that strategy from her head. Because as the camera
zoomed out, the place where the kitten was playing also became clear. The round
swelling Celty had thought was part of a cus.h.i.+on was actually the top of Anri’s body.
Celty knew Anri was well-endowed, but it was amazing that the kitten could play on top
of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and not fall down, even with them shaking.
“Ah, yeah…thanks. I’ll use it as a reference.” Celty thanked her as she returned the
video, before going on her way.
♂♀
As Celty rode her bike, she thought about her options.
——So Izaya’s sisters have that kind of side to them too.
——And I really can’t expose Anri-chan to such public humiliation
After thinking about that, she looked back on her day today.
——…In the end, I feel like I haven’t gotten any good consults outside of s.h.i.+zuo’s
encouragement…
——Yeah, definitely only that.
——I’m going to make a video only I can make!
As Celty decided that, she pulled her bike over on the shoulder. Pulling out the handy
cam, she pressed the record b.u.t.ton and fixed it in front of the bike, by all rights where the
headlight should have been, with her ‘shadow’.
Revving the engine with the sound like a horse whinnying, Celty stroked the seat
lovingly.
——Hang in there Shooter. It’s only for a few moments.
——Still, it’s a good idea if I do say so myself.
——I should have done an on-board bike camera recording from the beginning…
——About halfway, I’ll use my ‘shadows’ to make a road and take flight
By making a road out of her own shadows, she could drive off the ground in the sky. It
sounded like an unimaginable thing to do, but Celty had done it and flown in the sky
many times in the past.
——It will be a very mysterious video.
——Afterwards, so that I don’t get found out I’ll add some suitable effects, t.i.tle it
“Ikebekuro Night Right Flying With Special Effects”, and upload it. It’s perfect!
——Fufufu…I wonder what tags would be good to use. Since I’m pretending its
special effects, maybe I should put it in the Niconico Technology Section tag…
——Or maybe the Strange Technique tag.
——I could even put a Peter Pan picture book on the Niconico Market
——It’s perfect. It’s the perfect plan!
Even as she remembered the many times she had over-confidently calculated, she
straddled the bike br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence but––
“Yo.” From the side she heard a familiar voice.
——……
With awful chills running up and down her spine, Celty slowly turned to face the
direction the voice came from.
“What are you planning, attaching a video camera to your bike like that? Have you
started some sort of street view type part time job?”
Almost symmetric with Celty’s black back was a large white bike. Of course, naturally,
the man straddling it was a member of the motorcycle police. Specifically, a member of
the Police Headquarters Traffic Riot Squad, named Kuzuhara Kinnosuke.
Her whole body stiffening with creak, Celty reached her shadows forward and pushed
the camera’s light b.u.t.ton. Then, facing her natural enemy in the motorcycle police, she
slowly showed him her smartphone screen.
“…It’s a headlight.”
“……”
“……”
Inside Celty’s mind, she was forcing the most insincere smile ever––
“…You’re not going to stick to that, are you?”
“…Yes.”
The next instant, the black bike shot away into the dark like a rabbit.
♂♀
s.h.i.+nra’s Apartment
“Wow, what an amazing video~! It’s got a sense of tension to it.” Kis.h.i.+tani s.h.i.+nra
raised his voice in admiration as he watched the output from the handy cam on the
television.
It was taken from the point of view from a bike being chased by the motorcycle police
riot squad in all the directions, the town of Ikebukuro flying by and disappearing at great
speed.
“The only problem is that you can’t really tell what’s going on and if you stare at it too
much it feels like you’re drunk. But still, if you add some effects you’ll definitely get
some MyList bookmarks.”
“Whatever…Ah, I’ve had enough of this town…” Celty was completely finished
after two hours of running away from the police, and she punched her words into her
smartphone while collapsing face down on the sofa.
“Worst of all…I can’t even smile while watching that video…” And so, Celty’s
wonderful plan was smashed into smithereens, and the movie was shelved without ever
being shown——
But there was one thing she still didn’t know.
At one point during the eventful chase, a friend of Karisawa’s rival, Blizzard la
Blizzadia, had happened to record and uploaded it to Niconico Douga.
With the simple t.i.tle of【Headless Rider VS Motorcycle Police】it had already
reached #7 in the site wide rankings of all categories.
When she did become aware that she had unwittingly a.s.sisted the enemy, she became
despondent and her spirit withered––
But that’s a story for another time.
To be continued in Nicococo!!x4
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