General translator's note: from this chapter on I will be adding italics where Narita has put accentuation marks in the Japanese original. They will sometimes look weird and out of place, and I will leave it to my beta to decide on a proper final form when we make the pdf version. For now they'll be here to give you a taste of Narita's writing quirks. Enjoy.
Orihara Izaya was walking in a street in Northern Kantou.
He was on his way to another train station on another line. Around him countless families were swarming the streets; it was Golden Week.
His gaze was fixed on his cell phone.
It looked like he had to keep an eye on something on the screen. However, he was able to walk without bumping into anyone despite how crowded these streets were.
The display on the screen appeared to be a certain chatroom.
"Bakyura", "Kyo" and "Mai" were leaving the chat one after another. Izaya, who watched this with the corner of his mouth curled into a twisted smile, said quietly to himself:
" - About time."
He pressed the power button on the cell phone and shut down the internet mode.
Instead the cell phone started to ring, signaling a call from someone.
The name displayed was "Kida Masaomi".
- BINGO ☆
Flicking his finger quickly at the screen, Izaya went on to extend his finger towards the TALK button.
"Hello."
"......Hello."
"Yah, it's you. What's up? Dialing me up all of a sudden. I thought we were already done talking this morning? Or are you slowly falling in love with my voice? If that's indeed the reason your love would be a tad too heavy on my shoulder. Quite frankly, I don't have the time to provide you with comfort either. How about you go to Saki-chan instead? I'm sure she'll drown you in the comfort you need."
"I don't have time to listen to your unimaginative jokes."
"What happened? Why are you sounding so angry?"
Izaya's provocative chattering tone was met with a furious voice coming from the other end of the line.
"What did you say to Mikado......?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You were the one who used my handle to fool everyone in the chatroom, weren't you?"
"You got proof?"
"The only one who would do something like that is you."
"Could be one of Kyo-san and Mai-san's little conspiracies. And you never really know if there's a dark side to Setton-san or not. As for Saika-san, she has her record of spamming the chatroom too."
"Say whatever you want to say. It's definite proof in itself already that you're trying to distract me with these speculations instead of just saying 'No'."
"I don't think the jury would buy that, though? But never mind, I'm going to let you pass for this time. So yes, it was me who used your handle to trick everyone else. Really, it took a hell lot of effort trying to imitate the way you usually behaved in front of people."
"......What did you say......to Mikado?"
"Why are you so sure that I must have said something to Mikado-kun? I saw you talking to Kyo-san and Mai-san just now. They never mentioned anything about Tanaka Taro-kun talking to 'you', did they?"
