Much like a young kid who wanted to talk about what happened in yesterday's anime, an innocent smile spread across Masaomi's face:
"Hey, Mikado, I saw it online...I heard there was a Dollars gathering yesterday! And it turns out Simon and Shizuo are part of the Dollars! And and, that black biker really doesn't have a head, and he rode up a wall, and he even had this huge scythe which went like 'BWAA-' and everything was like super amazing!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Something so big had just happened, but obviously the school wouldn't disappear because of that. The school bell still rang like nothing had happened, and normal classes went on as always.
That day during lunch, Mikado went up to the roof of the first school building. At that time, almost everyone in the school had gone to have lunch at the student cafeteria which was of the same standard as that of an eatery in a private university, or had gone out to eat at some shop-but there were some students who were different from them, and preferred taking their bentos up to the roof to eat.
The sky was the same whether he was looking from the roof or from the street, and Mikado then realized, it was the exact same sky from his hometown. Something perfectly natural like that. The strange thing was, he'd clearly experienced so many extraordinary things, yet the feelings in his heart were inexplicably down-to-earth. It felt very much like he was experiencing the day after that of a long-anticipated school trip.
The day after that event, Mikado, rubbing his bleary eyes, had gone to school and noticed that Yagiri Seiji was seated at his seat as though nothing had happened. During lessons, he hadn't even looked at Mikado once. Then when the first period had ended, he'd come over to him and said: "I'm sorry for having caused you so much trouble."
Then, he'd turned and returned to his seat.
And even more shockingly, Harima Mika had showed up in school as well, perfectly composed. Anri was slightly startled when she saw that Mika's face was now different from what she'd remembered. But it was the first time the other students had seen her and they were pretty curious about her, and not only about the bandages on her neck.
Mika who sat beside Mikado had just said "Thank you" to him after class, and then run off to stick herself to Seiji.
"Despicable. So she's Seiji's girlfriend! So it's like that! A hot girlfriend like her, no wonder he says he lives for love!"
Masaomi began complaining as he saw their actions. But Mikado who knew their troubles could only give a pained laugh and say "Yeah" to that.
But, it was also because of that that Mika and Anri wouldn't be together anymore. Every time class ended, Anri always sit by herself in a corner of the classroom. And Mikado would always watch her from afar with a strange feeling inside him.
Whether that development was for better or for worse, only she herself knew.
-But, is it really like that? Is there really no way for me to know? Could it be that humans really don't have the ability to perceive the thoughts of others?
(You have no choice but to keep evolving.)
Izaya's words rang out in his mind.
-That's right, I'll definitely evolve. I want to see how much I can evolve in this everyday life of mine, in this world I'm living in. One day, I'll let that person see what I can truly do.
Whether his goal was to rise up or to sink lower-would presently remain unknown. But he was definitely still moving towards his goal. It was just that, now he had a little more room for circumspection.
Mikado looked out from the classroom window, and looked to that huge sixty storey building, and began to reflect on his current feelings.
After experiencing something that had completely defied normality, what was left was in fact a curious feeling of both fulfillment and emptiness.
-The me now, will definitely be able to face reality straight up and accept it.
But before he faced himself honestly, there was something else he needed to do.
So, he had gone up to the rooftop. Because he'd heard, she went there for lunch everyday.
He thought that nothing would be able to hinder him ever again if he could do something so bold. He thought he wouldn't be afraid of anything ever again-
He didn't think, he'd freeze up at that juncture.
Online, it was so easy for him to talk to just about anyone...
But he had never expected at all, that fulfilling such a tiny wish in his everyday life would be so difficult.
-I didn't think I'd need so much courage just to ask a girl from my class out.
Time before the youth notices Anri, another thirty seconds
Time before the youth sees Masaomi hitting on Anri, another thirty five seconds
Time before the youth gives Masaomi a flying kick, another forty five seconds
Time before the youth gets a roundhouse kick from Masaomi, another fifty seconds
Time before the youth invites Anri out for tea, another seventy three seconds
Time before the youth's offer to go out for tea is rejected by Anri, another seventy four seconds
Time before the youth accepts Anri's invitation to have lunch with her on the roof, another seventy eight seconds
Time before the youth falls in love with Anri, another-
Time before the youth confesses to Anri, another-
Chatroom.
After that day had come to an end, Mikado slowly turned on his computer. He was intending to see what kind of response had been generated from yesterday's commotion. However, there weren't any particularly heated discussions. There were a few people who posted some things about the Dullahan, but not many people paid heed to them.
-Well, it was to be expected.
After giving a pained smile, he went on the chatroom he went on practically every day. It was the chatroom Izaya, under the alias of Kanra, had invited him to join. So at this point, he only had one online friend whose username was Setton.
-That person also said that Kanra-Orihara Izaya invited him. I hope he isn't someone from the underground as well...
-Tanaka Taro-san has entered the chatroom-
【Good evening.】
[Evening. I've been waiting here by myself for a long time.]
【Is that so? But I'm pretty sleepy today, so I'll probably go off earlier.】
[Oh, not enough sleep? You stayed up late last night?]
【Yeah, I had something on.】
[I wonder when Kanra will be coming on.]
【Kanra...I wonder if he's even coming.】
[Ah, I'm sorry, something came up here, so I'll go off first.]
【Ah? I see...】
[So sorry, I'll go off now.]
【Hm, alright then.】
-Setton-san has left the chatroom-
"Sorry for interrupting your fun."
The man in white smiled apologetically behind Celty.
It's alright.
After tapping a few times on the keyboard with one hand, Celty got up from the chair.
"That's good. Today's job seems pretty dangerous, so be careful. You're supposed to..."
After accepting the job request, Celty walked out the door soundlessly.
With that-Celty had begun another day.
