Vol 2 Chapter 61 (1/2)
Durarara!!SH×2
CHAPTER 6A
The Visitors
The next day Raira Academy
“Good ”
“…Good ”
Hi, voice no different from usual
“Yesterday must have been hard on you”
“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 ht be too intrusive and hesitated
“Do you still think of the Headless Rider as a demon?”
But his hesitation did not lead to restraint, and in the end he asked her anyway
If Yahiro was the kind of boy who could be sensitive to this situation, he would probably have handled his childhood better
“…You really are frank”
Himeka, however, did not appear particularly unhappy about it
She had probably coh their interactions in the past few days
“It ht have been better, and easier to accept, if the Headless Rider was the culprit”
“But if our enemy was someone who could control those weird shadoouldn’t be able to rescue the people ere kidnapped”
“Yeah, that ht be true”
Hihtly Yahiro did not kno to answer
“But then…”
“But, Yahiro-kun, I’…”
“Eh?”
Himeka turned and walked forward, and still, with a voice that could not be more casual, continued:
“If the Headless Rider is so friendly, if you’re interested in it, if you’ve researched… you’d be evento follow it, wouldn’t you?”
“Ah…”
“Even to a deserted area, or deep in the mountains, anywhere”
“I… guess so”
The line of reasoning Himeka expressed did make sense
Just by her words alone he was able to realise she was still suspecting the Headless Rider
Yet Yahiro was unable to accept that what Hiht the Headless Rider was a demon, stemmed from this suspicion alone
—Ngh… What now I’m bad at these situations
—If Kuon were here he’d be able to ask all kinds of questions He really is great
—I wish I had his skill to push conversations forward
Yahiro had judged Kuon as a social person despite that he had isolated hireen He continued the conversation casually as they walked towards their classroom
And when ho odd
A fareen head was not in the classroom
—Hm?
—Maybe he’s absent
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
‘The person you just called nal – ‘
This fe his worry
Yahiro reht:
—’Yo That was exciting’
—’But Himeka-chan really was cold back there’
—’She should have beenprovocative, like, “Give my sisters back, you kidnapper!” But she was unexpectedly calreat help’
—’Well, starting toainst the Headless Rider’
—’See you in school I’ to pop by the store’
They had talked about other things, too, but from what Yahiro remembered their conversation had been mostly chit-chat
Most i to school
It was difficult to believe he had planned to skip school
A chill ran down Yahiro’s spine
Because he remembered a rumour about the serial disappearances and the Headless Rider
The ruiven truth to: that ‘people who look for the Headless Rider will disappear’
—No, wait This is weird
—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
“I wonder what happened to Kuon-kun…”
“Did he skip? He doesn’t seem the kind to take school seriously”
“That was frank… But I haven’t been able to get him on his phone”
“If he didn’t skip school… It ht be related to the Headless Rider”
Hiht
“I wish it weren’t, but… Should we text the Headless Rider?”
Saying this, Yahiro opened his e to communicate with his family lately –
But before he could type anything, a voice called out,
“Hey, are you dating, Mizuchi-kun, Tatsugami-san?”
A posse of girls froether
“Not really, we’re just hanging out together”
Himeka answered evenly
There was no dislike or embarrassment; she simply converted the truth in her mind into words
“Eh~? What about you, Yahiro-kun?”
“Huh? Me?”
Meanwhile, Yahiro’s response did not lose to Himeka’s in terms of honesty
“I’d be glad to have such a pretty girl as , unfortunately”
“That was half confessing, wasn’t it!”
“Really?”
“It was! You’re so funny!”
Yahiro tilted his head in confusion as if it were not he hiirls began to laugh
“Be a little embarrassed, Himeka-chan~”
“You’re really interesting, Yahiro-kun”
“Is it an Akita thing?”
“No, that’s not it”
He answered that with more certainty than the other questions
He was different froe They, the ones who called him ‘monster’ – were the normal people
Such self-loathing thoughts ran through Yahiro’s irls around them probed further:
“But, uh, Kotonaht?”
“Oh? A love triangle?”
“Is he your cup of tea, then, Tatsugami-san?”
Their classmates proposed wilfully, to which Himeka calmly replied,
“Not really, we’re just hanging out, too”
“Whoa~, so self-assured~”
Although the girls’ teasing was somewhat malicious, Himeka remained unaffected –
But her expression shi+fted slightly at the next sentence
The same could be said of Yahiro, however
“But speaking of Kuon-kun, was that real? The thing with the Headless Rider?”
“Eh?”
Yahiro and Himeka both looked towards the speaker
“Oh? You don’t know? The ru around all lunch”
As she said this the girl took out her smartphone, and showed it to them
“See… The one on the news right now is hiht?”
On the screen was a photo of a boy next to the Headless Rider, with a black box edited over his eyes
The fact that he had green hair less, however –
And Yahiro and Himeka, both of whom did not keep up with current events, ca over the course of their lunch:
Kuon had become the man of the hour
After school Rooftop
“And so you came to me”
Kuronuuardrail on the roof
They were on the opposite end froarden that students used as a recreational area
As there was an installation of solar panels here, it was more or less empty, and even if there was anyone it would not be a model student
Because Raira Acadenificant 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
“Yeah, I was thinking you , Kuronuma-sempai”
Yahiro, for all he was afraid of this atmosphere, pressed Aoba with his questions
“I can’t believe he went so far as to say the Headless Rider’s favourite food is suzu castella, though That was too much”
Aoba answered his junior with good humour
“Well, if you’re asking about where he is, I’d like to know myself I called him the moment I saw that article”
“Did he pick up?”
“No, either his battery was out or there was no signal…”
He cut off there, and, lips quirking, continued,
“Maybe sonal…”
“!”
“If you chase after the Headless Rider, the Headless Rider will abduct you… was it?”
“Are you saying he was abducted by the Headless Rider-san?”
Yahiro blurted anxiously Aoba narrowed his eyes
“Oh… Headless Rider ‘-san’, huh…”
“Ah…”
“Could it be you ith Kuon, and ether?”
“…”
Caught red-handed, Yahiro was temporarily speechless
But it was as good as confir Aoba’s conjecture
“You’re bad at lying, huh”
“Really?”
“Really”
Yahiro tilted his head, while Aoba answered cheerfully with a faint smile
“Well, it doesn’tI can say for sure”
“What is it?”
“The Headless Rider isn’t the kind of huh they’re not even ‘human’ in the first place… But there’s no need to cos, so let’s leave it at that”
“?”
He spoke as if he had been fa time; Yahiro cocked his head
“You like tilting your head, huh”
“Ah, sorry There’s still a lot of things I don’t know about Tokyo…”
“It’s nothing to do with Tokyo, but sure …Well, it’s probably fine to eliminate the Headless Rider from the suspect list Even if they had reason to kidnap someone, they wouldn’t hurt anyone on purpose”
With a self-deprecating smile, Aoba continued to describe his own impression of the Headless Rider
“To put it siuy”
“A good guy?”
“More so thanwithout a license, but if they see anyone in trouble, they’re ular humans”
“Do you know the Headless Rider, Kuronuma-sempai?”
The question should have been expected, but Aoba sh it:
“It’s not like we’re such good friend you can ask ht?”
“With soht, Yahiro bowed his head obediently
“You’re right Thank you very much”
“Ah, you didn’t argue”
Aoba shrugged, see somewhat disappointed
Just as his junior was about to turn around and leave, Aoba stopped hi:
“Oh right There’s one ive you”
“?”
“Do you knohere Kuon lives?”
Evening Somewhere in Takadanobaba
“So this is… Kuon-kun’s home…”
Yahiro
Yahiro, having gotten Kuon’s address from Aoba, had decided to visit with Himeka after school
Despite his hopes that it was just a cold that kept him from school, Yahiro could not repress his fears
The apart was a fair distance frohbouring buildings; from the roof one could probably see most of the city
As a building ate was lax, and there ht not even have been a camera at the entrance
Looking at the building, Himeka voiced her impression:
“It’s big, but it looks rather old”
“Really?”
Yahiro asked automatically when Himeka said this
Having coe with no apartments to speak of in the first place, he was unable to differentiate between new and old buildings very well
There were no cracks in the walls or anything; it did not look especially old compared to their school
“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”
With this, Hi
Still, there were no security measures; the oods 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
“What are we going to tell his family?”
“He was absent from school today, so we can just say we’re here to return a book to him”
Hi as she said this
It was a book she had been reading occasionally during lesson breaks and such
The title was Ikebukuro Fights Back
“What book is that?”
“It’s an introduction to Ikebukuro The writer is Tsukumoya shi+nichi; there are some detailed sections on the Headless Rider”
“Oh…”
He had looked up information about the Headless Rider back in Akita, but that wasfor books
He ought to borrow it later, or buy it himself