Vol 2 Chapter 72 (2/2)

Maybe this is just how the world is

I can’t say if the Gods really exist Even if they do, they can’t instantly help people who do the right thing So let’s fight through this together

Himeka said this innocently, but her sister replied:

—”…You say such cruel things so easily”

—”Do you knohat our broken mother said to the wall?”

—”She said… ‘Don’t report your father to the police We’re family’ …”

—”Is that how the world should be to her?”

—”Are you saying the world is right when I have to hear that from my own mother?”

—”I don’t want that I can’t think like you”

—”I refuse to look at the world so coldly like I know everything already and give up just like that”

Those words stabbed at Himeka’s heart

It was not that her sister was right

His coldly; it was because she was truly suffering that she did not want to give up

It inevitably hurt that she was perceived to be doing the opposite

But Hi that hurt, without crying or beco a casual conversation with her sister, who could not move in her injured state

Yet, to her th was abnormal

‘That girl has no feelings’

This thought would even cross their minds

She was no less sensitive than the people around her; her heart possessed the same spectrum of emotions

If there was soh In that she was the same as anyone else

But she had enduredthan happiness; too much more

For that reason she was aler and sn tears of grief

It was not that her ability to express emotions was inferior in any way

Tatsugami Himeka’s problem came before that step

For better or worse, she was highly resilient to any obstacle that sought to attack her emotionally

Because of that strength, the path she walked did not meet

With those of the sisters she treasured more than herself

The arrest of their father and the hardshi+p that had followed, the assault of their sister who had done the right thing, the cruer sister Ai had not been strong enough to endure the brutality of their reality

Their oldest sister, while able to return to college after a full recovery, fell into limbo about her undecided future career after her hospitalisation, and seemed to have felt it was only more proof of the world’s unfairness

And one day, while watching the television, her older sister had murmured

—”The Headless… Rider…”

Anyone who had stayed in Ikebukuro for long knew of it

Himeka had been surprised when she first saw the silent ht was that it was a ‘an unusual speedster on a strange motorcycle’

She was not alone Toin Ikebukuro at the tiue impression of the Headless Rider as well

But one day things changed

The Headless Rider, previously an unidentified being, had showed itself on television

As if to flaunt its own existence, the Headless Rider had displayed iiant scythe fro on speed alone

Hi, but had not paid e

But since then, the Headless Rider had come to use its superhuman powers even in the day; even in front of people

It was as if the city itself had accepted the Headless Rider into its fold

Aya had probably seen it directly at some point

She began to research the Headless Rider like a wo that had shed the shackles of common sense, of the rules of the world

Himeka noticed

That Aya was experiencing a form of fanaticism

She believed that while the society around her was untouchable and unreasonable, the Headless Rider was a being ical than that society itself, coh its fabric

Perhaps the Headless Rider was truly soel or demon

Just proving that alone would alter the rules of the world

She did not know if the state of society would evolve or regress

Whether the Headless Rider would be laid bare by science, or worshi+pped as a deity

Whichever happened, the world would change

The Headless Rider would lead them out of this unfair world

Without any kind of proof, Aya was convinced of this

Despite the fact that the Headless Rider had not co that bypassed the laws of the world

In the first place, the Headless Rider had apparently been in Ikebukuro for twenty years at least If it was here as a saviour, it should have saved Aya fro stabbed previously

That hy, to Hier with unbelievable powers’

But she was not inclined to persuade anyone of it

Because for Aya the Headless Rider was a source of strength to go on living, and just by existing in the city it had without a doubt saved her older sister

This hat she thought

Until the Headless Rider vanished from the streets of Ikebukuro

At first it had only been rumours, but as the days passed and the Headless Rider showed no hide or hair, Aya grew visibly high-strung

At ti to the wall by herself, like their mother

—”The Headless Rider will take us away”

—”The Headless Rider will help us escape this world”

This hat Aya had mumbled Ai was sione out into the streets to search for the Headless Rider

The Headless Rider had given the sisters hope, but vanished without fulfilling it

Even knowing that her resent herself to like the being

She even thought the Headless Rider ht truly be a demon who offered false hopes to people only to thrust them into despair

At the sa she had neverthat she was no better than the man who had stabbed her sister, or even beneath him, pained her

She felt that she herself was, to the Headless Rider, being unfair

Although it never showed on her face, these heavy thoughts continued to plague Hi in her mind

One day, Aya’s mood suddenly lifted

Following that, Ai had becoe as well

At that time, Aya had asked Himeka countless times,

—”Maybe it’s just as you said, Himeka; maybe there are no Gods”

—”But if there is no God, why don’t we just create our own?”

Uncouely—but Aya had continued dreamily

—”You don’t have to try so hard anymore, Himeka You’ll understand eventually”

In the district of Ikebukuro, now bereft of the Headless Rider, it was Aya who most craved its presence

And one

At the sa the Headless Rider

For an average person the shock of losing both sisters at once would have iht But Himeka had had the resilience to overcome this shock and arrive at a certain theory

—Had Aya truly been kidnapped?

Upon seeing the notes Aya had left in the azine’s editorial department, Himeka was deeply disturbed

For one, it ritten all too calhly worshi+pped the Headless Rider—and the inforht up so passionately at home

—Impossible

She had had a sense of foreboding; had been aware of the possibility

Nevertheless she wanted to deny it

She wanted to believe her sisters would not do so so foolish

Himeka loved both her sisters as family

That hy, if forced to choose between the Headless Rider and her family, Himeka had firmly decided to believe in them

And now

Himeka reunited with Aya in the worst of circumstances

Or, if death or irreparable injury were the worst circuht after

In the basement of this villa a distance from Ikebukuro, Himeka learnt:

That her sister was not a victi been on the side of the ‘culprit’

“It’s been a long time, Himeka How many days?”

The woreeted as her sister looked down at her prone for somewhat hollowly

Hiaze with a cool expression

“Weren’t we together in the van for quite so down, so I didn’t see your face well”

“Oh? Really—… Ah, that ht have been the case”

Hia, said so very odd

“It’s great you arrived safely It’s all right, everyone here is very nice”

“…What are you saying, Nee-san?”

“The Headless Rider Celty-sa will be fine”

“Nee-san?”

Noticing that what they said was notup, Himeka’s face morphed to one of wariness

“We’ll be ushering in a new age You’ll bear witness to it too”

“What are you saying… Nee-san… Is Mom safe?”

“Mo to the bathroos to Dad Neither you nor Ai have to suffer over our parents any is thanks to Celty-sama Dad will die off somewhere in jail, I know it And Celty-sa will be fine, it’s fine…”

“Stop it… Nee-san, you’re just using the Headless Rider as an excuse to escape You’ll cause a lot of trouble for that person”

Himeka said Aya tilted her head violently, and asked Himeka:

“That person? Meaning Celty-sama?”

The smile was still on her face, but in her voice there was an infinite iciness

“…Yes”

“What do you know about Celty-sama?”

“I know because I was told directly”

Aya’s s those words

“…What? What do you mean?”

“That is…”

Himeka faltered, and instead, Kuon spoke up

“We were together e met Celty-san”

A single, challenging statement

At that point, time froze in the room

Aya’s sombre silence drove the men around her to speechlessness as well

“…Why?”

She spoke quietly, breaking the silence

“Why? Why you?”

“Nee-san…”

“It’s all wrong The world is wrong, after all We have to run… quickly, quickly, into the black smoke…”

Aya mumbled these ridiculous words Himeka yelled back,

“Nee-san, stop already! I don’t believe you were the one who started soated you?!”

“Instigated…? No, Himeka We were inspired To lift ourselves froht now Isn’t that proof enough? Do you get it?”

“What…”

Still their conversation was notup

Just as Himeka found herself at a loss for words, shi+ki whispered from behind her

“I believe it’s useless trying to persuade her now, Miss”

“Huh…?”

“That is… Do brace yourself for this—it sees”

“…!”

Himeka’s face, which had been steely up till now, paled

“Her eyes and expression… are faave off this vibe I hear it acts up the et enveloped by bliss and can’t see or hear anything undesirable”

‘Undesirable’ in this case was probably that Himeka had met Celty before her Himeka realised this instantly, and that her sister was truly not in her right mind at the moment

“What…!”

“She’s still in the first stages If she’s stopped soon, there’s hope for her yet”

Kuon, who had been listening, decided to take over froami Aya,

“Hey, lady? So Ai-san is safe, right?”

At the ht for a while before she answered

“Ai? Ai… Oh! Yes, of course, don’t worry Ai-chan’s doing what she needs to do She’s going to fetch that junior of hers as talking so familiarly with Celty-sama and Heiwajima shi+zuo”

shi+ki’s subordinate stiffened abruptly at this answer

“This may be sudden, but as the child’s name?”

“Oh, as it? Well… uht, Akane-chan, was it?”

“…” “A, Aniki!”

shi+ki’s face soured, and his subordinate was visibly dismayed

S over his expression, shi+ki continued calmly

“Why that girl?”

Perhaps she found the question amenable; unlike with Himeka, this time she replied properly

“Heiwajima shi+zuo’s a huht to talk to Celty-sama But we can’t allow an ordinary child to approach and make friends so fearlessly”

As she said this she smiled softly, and kicked Kuon’s head

“Ga…!”

“Nee-san, stop!”

“It’s alright, Hiive hi for us”

Hiain stunned by her sister, who had just said sorave consequence so casually

“Are you… Are you going to blame it all on Celty-san?!”

To that, Aya cocked her head, confused

“? What are you saying? Celty-sama was the one who took all of you We know Celty-sama’s will Our will is the will of Celty-sama”

“…”

“We’re protecting the legend of the Headless Rider who’s disappeared fro persons case, but the rumours are there They say the people taken by the Headless Rider crossed the shadow into a world without suffering”

Nothing was getting through

It was not that she was avoiding their questions; by her face it see

There was no trace of the rational azine reporter; Aya stood before Himeka as no more than a blind fanatic

Hiaze, and lived with the irrevocable reality she had been given

—Nee-san is wrong

—Even so, I won’t run from Nee-san, or from Ai

—Reality, the Headless Rider… I won’t run fro

With that conviction, she spoke to her sister

“Nee-san… Please, could you please meet with the Headless Rider and talk? I know you’ll understand if you talk”

“It’s fine, Hih When we create and spread an urban legend of our own it’s alend ourselves… My senior at work said that; and how true But it’s not ‘alreat Headless Rider”

Her sister’s eyes briaze fully and began to try again

However—before that could happen, the door opened, and the man who entered whispered into Aya’s ear

“…Ai?”

With that murmur, Aya headed for the exit anxiously

“I’irl”

“Huh?”

Himeka’s eyes rounded in surprise, and behind her shi+ki exhaled in relief

“It’s alright, I’ll get it done properly”

“Wait, Nee-sa …”

Aya slauard them

As if running from the reality of Himeka’s words

Somewhere in Hachiōji

‘…Fancyyou here’

After receiving a e from Mizuchi Yahiro, Celty had chosen to rendezvous with the boy so their men

“Sorry I’m surprised myself”

‘But what are you doing here?’

“Actually…”

Yahiro explained his situation, and Celty huffed as she processed their situation

‘So it was Kuronuet that information?’

It was unbelievable, but the boy had an inforood as Izaya’s

Although she had suspicions that heinto the Awakusu’s communications, she chose not to pry

‘But what are you going to do? Since you’re here already, does that roup?’

“Two of ”

‘I would tell you to leave it to the police, but I don’t have the right… But it’s not necessary for you to put yourself in danger’

“Even if there’s no need, I feel like it’s so I must do Please let me help”

Even knowing that what he was saying was irrational, Yahiro did not fall back

“If I stop here, I feel like this turning point will slip from my hands…”

‘Turning point?’

Celty asked Yahiro shook his head anxiously, and diverted the conversation

“I know I’aht be next; I can be bait at the very least”

‘I never thought even Himeka-chan would be abducted…’

Had Yahiro been an ordinary high schooler Celty would have insisted that he stayed far froer, but by now she had realised he was not ordinary in the least

In a sense, he was a htforward brawl she would not stop hi of their opponent To put it crudely, for all she knew their ene randomly

—The we have those hot-blooded Awakusu on Zombie…

And to add oil to the fire now Blue Square, too

Dragon Zombie and Blue Square’s relationshi+p was nowhere near friendly And if Dragon Zo, just one spark would cause an all-out war

—And the kidnappers tried to go after the Leader’s granddaughter Akane-chan The Awakusu-kai won’t be in the uns with them

Celty shook her head of the negative thoughts, and went back to Yahiro to ask,

‘What is your goal?’

“Huh?”

‘In the past, there was a child who came to Ikebukuro to seek out the extraordinary Even now I’m not sure if I should have stopped him when he first stepped into the underside of society, like you’re doing right now But he stepped out after getting horribly injured If soets hurt because of the ideals they have then yes, it’s fully deserved But I don’t reco yourself with this side of the world for some rash emotion’

Celty looked straight at the boy before her, re a certain other boy from the past as she continued

‘Tellto Ikebukuro?’

And Yahiro, after a ht at Celty, and spoke

“Celty-san”

‘Yeah?”

“…I’ incredibly rude You can hit me for it if you like”

‘? Uh, I don’t think I would hit someone over a question…’

Celty tilted her head curiouslyYahiro took a deep breath, and chose, with determination, to confess

Why he had come to this city

What he had been labelled in his hometown

“When everyone calls you a monster… what do you feel?”

Basement at the villa

“What do we do, if we don’t do so Akane-chan…”

Hionised over her inability to communicate with her sister, but that sadness was quickly suppressed, and she spoke noith a collected voice

shi+ki replied from behind,

“Your sister and her cohorts won’t get the second chance they’re after”

“?”

Kuon, sensingHimeka’s unvoiced question, answered instead of shi+ki

“That Akane-chan she hter of the Awakusu-kai’s leader”

“…You know a lot about this, boy”

“We go to the same dojo”

“…I see, so you’re from Rakuei Gym”

shi+ki nodded, seely satisfied by the explanation

Kuon nodded back, and said, lowly so the guard could not hear,

“To put it simply… Everyone in this villa just made the Awakusu-kai their enemy”

shi+ki elaborated:

“Miss Akane should have guards on standby If so, we can assu tailed”

“Wait, you mean…”

“Yes, in other words… there are any nuht now”

“…”

At shi+ki’s words, Hirew conflicted

Even though there was relief at the prospect of rescue, to her itthat her sister had made enemies of yakuza

“Oi, what are youabout…”

The guard moved towards them with a frown, suspicious of their whispered conversation

“Ah, sorry We got some blood on the floor, so orried about it”

“Blood?”

The man, confused, came closer

So he was a normal civilian after all He examined the four of them without any sort of wariness—

And shi+ki slae

“Fugo…”

His face jerked back, and began to bleed heavily from his nostrils

shi+ki, who at some point in tirabbed the ht wrist

“Now…”

“Hii—”

The man whimpered as his hand was forced behind his back, and his hair pulled

Then shi+ki ravity, and smashed his face into the corner of a shelf

“~~!”

The ain, crashi+ng his face onto the floor

There was a sickening crack, and the others realised the man’s nose had been broken

To the unconsciousfrom his nose, shi+ki said,

“See? There’s blood now”

shi+ki shrugged; Kuon asked, in shock,

“Wha… When did you get free…?”

“I’ve been free froood to stay quiet until we learntin our line of work…”

“Uh, um…”

While shi+ki fished out the man’s smartphone, his bald subordinate spoke up, uncomfortably

“Aniki… I wasn’t able to untie myself, could you please help…?”

Near the villa

‘I see… So then you decided to look for shi+zuo and me’

Celty, after listening Yahiro out, calmly showed the boy these words

‘So, was shi+zuo a monster?’

“…in terth, yes”

‘Other than that?’

“…he’s a good person”

Celty whistled internally at that answer

There were very few able to say shi+zuo ‘was a good person’ ith

“He was angry on behalf of you and his brother I thought it was really incredible that he was so angry not for himself but because his friend had been made fun of”

‘Ah, I see’

—Well, he’s often angry for selfish reasons, too

Celty had this thought, but did not derail the conversation with it, and continued to listen quietly

“I was called a monster by many, many people, but I’ve always tried to live as peacefully as I could… I wonder why I couldn’t become like him…”

—…shi+zuo… Peaceful…

The road signs and lah Celty’s ht not to look up to hiht to comment as an unlicensed road user

“I thought that ht if I came to Ikebukuro and spoke to other people ere calledin life… I’m so sorry”

‘You don’t really need to apologise From humans’ perspective I really am a monster’

As she said this, Celty casually removed her helmet

“!”

All there was beneath was the cross-section of a neck, spewing forth black shadows

Yahiro was shocked by her sudden revelation, but he cal and said

“You really… aren’t human”

‘You don’t seem very scared’

“No, ”

Yahiro whispered, sing; clenching his fists, he spoke guiltily

What he feared was not the headless visage of Celty—his terror was at how small he was before this bona fide monster

“It rouped with soets called a monster just because of certain actions”

‘Isn’t it fine to become one?’

Yahiro had bowed his head again, but Celty interrupted him with her smartphone

“…huh?”

‘If you don’t like being in thea monster’s not a terribly bad idea’

Years ago, Celty would never have drea those words

‘Don’t be scared of beco a monster’

There was a time in Celty’s life where she was extremely conscious of the fact that she was not human

At that time, this awareness had driven a rift between herself and humanity

‘Even if you were headless like me… You’re still you’

What had bridged that rift was not her wanting to become human

It wasthat she now considered her fortune

‘The world is a big place Have faith in your future… I can’t say anything awe-inspiring, but… there will be someone who believes in you, who loves you, even as a monster’

The face of the man who truly loved her for her monstrous self was in her mind

The face of the man as, at the same time, the one she truly loved

“Someone who… believes in me?”

‘So long as you don’t lose faith in that person you’ll meet someday, whether you’re a human, whether you’re a monster—’

‘You will always, always be Mizuchi Yahiro’

“Ah…”

In that

That alone was enough

The s point to push Yahiro forward

Basement at the villa

After shi+ki had released his subordinate, he left him with instructions to free Kuon and Himeka,

In that tiuard, and with a map application checked their current location

Then using an online search he brought up the details of the building they were currently in

“Hmph The era of convenience”

As shi+ki murmured this, his eyes roved over the words, ‘Owned by shi+jima Properties Villa’

Apparently this whole area belonged to shi+jima Group, and was currently on sale

The name shi+jima was not unfamiliar

—So this incident ht be linked to him

—Not to mention shi+jiht on tothe case and hit two birds with one stone?

By kidnapping shi+ki, a member of the yakuza, the public’s attention would be on the Headless Rider finally attacking the Awakusu-kai, while at the saainst the Awakusu-kai, which had crushed his drug group

—But why now?

—Did he assemble the Headless Rider cultists as a s cartel?

—Was he the kind of person to drag civilians into the fray so carelessly?

But in the first place, if shi+jima had a hand in this, wouldn’t he have coo?

shi+ki’s ed that the information he had was of little use at the moment, and chose to handle their short-term plans first

First he had to use the phone to contact the Awakusu-kai, through his superior Awakusu Mikiya

shi+ki, who had painfully encies like this, dialed his number directly and called him

‘…Who is this?’

Mikiya’s voice was suspicious Probably because it was a foreign nu him

“Pardon, Mikiya-san It’s me”

‘! shi+ki?! Where are you now!’

“Hachiōji We’re in the heart of their base right now Is Miss Akane safe?”

‘I was told that people tried to kidnap her earlier, but she was saved by your underlings Thanks’

His thanks was curt, but shi+ki paid little mind to that and explained his situation to Mikiya Perhaps mindful ofHimeka so near him, he made no mention of Aya

“There are plenty of people here under drugs, but it’s likely that shi+jiima orchestrated the situation Whether or not there’s anyone pulling his strings I’ve yet to find out”

‘…Akabayashi+’s bosozoku and Aozaki’s lackeys are on their way