Devil's Wonderland

Widow

Halo Twenty-Six: Widow:

The following twenty-four hours is a record of what happened before the final Gate to the Apocalypse was opened.

-Mikage-

Five whole days and she heard nothing. Izaya was the one to call for help and now he wasn't answering her calls. At one point, Kururi picked up his phone.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Why do have Izaya's phone?" the martial artist asked, confused. "Where is your brother?"

"Why do you want to know?" Kururi asked. She hung before Mikage could speak. The martial artist frowned. She tried to dial Izaya again.

"He's not in right now," Kururi told her.

"Can I leave him a message?" Mikage asked.

"No," the younger sister said once again. She hung up before Mikage could say anything else. Why did Kururi have to act like this? Didn't she care that Izaya might be in danger?

Mikage's phone rang again.

"Hello?" she asked.

"I apologize for that," Izaya said.

"Stop playing games here," Mikage said. "What is going on here?" There was a pause on the other line. She braced herself for Izaya to dodge her questions. He seemed to be whispering something the phone.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Listen, I have to go," he said.

"Izaya!" Mikage shouted. He had already hung up—again. She remembered the last time she talked to him.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Mikage asked him on a Friday.

"What are you saying?" Izaya asked. "Can't I talk to a dear friend without any motives?"

"Come on," Mikage said, frowning. "I know how you are. What is going on?"

"I have to go," he said.

"Izaya!" she shouted. He had already hung up. Mikage tried to call him back, but Kururi wouldn't let her through.

For the next three days, Mikage didn't hear from him. He wasn't in the Dollars chatroom. Nobody had seen him around Ikebukuro. Aoba didn't tell her where he was.

"How should I know where he is?" he asked. "He just emailed me instructions to come here and get to work."

"And when was that?" Mikage asked.

"About three nights ago," Aoba said. He wasn't much help. Mari didn't know where he was either.

"When did you say you heard from him last?" she asked.

"About three nights ago," Mikage said. "Why, did something happen to him?"

"I am not sure," Mari said. She moved her to her mouth and started biting on her thumbnail. "I have been so busy with work and Kururi won't tell me anything either."

"Yeah, she claimed that she didn't know where he was either," Mikage said. Mari gave her a strange look.

"You actually talked to her?" she asked. "She wouldn't even open the door for me."

"Yeah, his sister is kind of like that," the martial artist said.

"I know," Mari muttered.

When she got home that evening, Mikage's phone rang. It was Izaya's number.

"Hello?" she asked.

"So this is who Izaya-san's been communicating with on this phone," a man's voice said on the other line. Mikage froze. Her phone landed on the dojo floor. The man on the other line spoke again.