"Izaya Orihara again, huh."

In a seat of his favorite high quality club, Ryuuji gulped down his sake while surrounded by the club"s girls.

The person in front of him was a still young hoodlum-like man. Hearing the man"s friends from a long time ago belonged to the Oukarengou he had him habitually tell him information on them, but the information he brought in today caused various waves in Ryuuji"s emotions.

– A nightclub that was one of the Oukarengou"s meeting spots was attacked.

At first, he thought it was one of the common disputes, but listening in full it seemed they were dealt with by an old man who suddenly appeared there. He initially questioned it, thinking it was some sort of joke, but then the term "Izaya Orihara" came up in the midst of the information, and squinting he ordered, "tell me from the beginning again."

As a result what he understood was the old man named Sozoro seemed to be someone working under Izaya Orihara. And, although hard for him to believe, the subordinates of the Oukarengou were lead by the nose by that old man.

"The guys of the Oukarengou, what a good feeling…Although. What happened to Douma? If he was kidnapped like that, his father wouldn"t be quiet about it, right?"

"It seems he returned normally the next morning."

Ryuuji"s eyes narrowed.

If he did not come back, then that would be doubted as "Adamura"s instigation," but him having returned was a more serious problem.

What was the reason for the man moving so strangely to kidnap and then release Douma?

– Does that mean they made some sort of deal?

– He was released peacefully.

– Is that possible?

– Getting kidnapped by a guy who picked a fight with the Oukarengou and then get released unhurt?

There was only one answer. They teamed up: the man Izaya Orihara and Douma.

– At a time like this he would team up with such a suspicious person? Why? Just what did they exchange?

Ryuuji tried to build up an answer by gathering his deductions.

– Does that mean Douma has a grasp of some kind of weakness?

– A weakness of Kiyojima"s…..

– …….

– My brother"s case then?

– Then the Kiyojima group really did……?

For him to oppose the Oukarengou would mean Izaya Orihara was not someone who was hired by Kiyojima from the start. If he was not with Adamura either, then he was a third party. If Kiyojima"s side were the ones who killed Ryuuichi, then that information…..or in the case an outsider held the evidence, then that would be enough threatening material against the Kiyojima group.

– The timing is too good. I really can"t think my brother being killed and Izaya Orihara not being related to it to be unlikely……

Either way, with Izaya Orihara having made his move, then the ident.i.ty of the person behind it must be clear.

Ryuuji drank up the sake he paid for on hand, took out his cell phone and made a call to his father.

"…….Dad? I have a favor to ask."

Not saying it in a way to indicate this was from the momentum of drinking, he collected himself and stated.

"…I would like to use the guys from Candiru. Call up the Futsuku group"s Usubara too."

A Few Hours Later, The Adamura Family Household

Kazuhisa Adamura felt depressed.

There were no happy days since he was brought into this household, but he was especially depressed just being here for a while.

When his brother died tension began to rise between Kiyojima and Adamura. At first more than half of the people thought ‘Kiyojima was not that hasty,’ but in a scenario where after so many days and no identification of a culprit arising more people started to whisper conspiracy ideas that ‘perhaps it really was Kiyojima…..?’

In the midst of that there were rumors being spread by someone called Izaya Orihara, but just what is his aim? But thanks to that, he could not hide from the public eye and go see Kiyojima"s daughter Nana.

It was not that he was monitored regularly, but the day they were seen at their meet up place together forced separation would await them. Nana also had said, ‘he might send me to study abroad forcibly.’ He was unsure if he would do such oppression, but Kiyojima was a man who had power publicly and privately. He may send his only daughter to a distant land and confine her to a boarding school.

In these times if something like that was spread throughout the internet it may be impossible to completely confine her, but Nana did not have the intention to expose her family to the world, and with the same reasoning Kazuhisa also wanted Nana to try her best to avoid doing anything to be scorned by society.

Even he could not make a move.

Kazuhisa, who was one year above Nana, planned to enter university after graduating high school, but he gave up going into university by the troubles he was brought into, and so his position was turned into someone who failed the entrance exam.

His father gave him a simple answer, ‘if you are going to live with the related groups of this household, you don"t need university. You"ll learn what you need to know as you go. If you want to live at another place then you are free to learn though.’

At a glance he seemed like an understanding father, but it was expressed as ‘if you"ll become my p.a.w.n, I"ll shelter you. After that you"ll manage on your own.’ In truth even when he received terrible bullying from Ryuuji he told himself , ‘strike back on your own. If you don"t have the strength to punch back use your wit,’ but he did not stop the bullying in itself.

The exception was the statement Ryuuji made like he showed the previous day in the living room. With the reasoning of him being a child of a mistress he was not made light of by his father, but as he could not change that, Ryuuji made mean spirited comments to him minutely one way or another.

– I"m done with this house and city.

– If I can take Nana and get out, I want to leave here.

But it was not that simple.

If they did not have any means to live off of after eloping then they did not have the means to succeed in leaving in the first place.

Both families had plenty of money. Once having left to another land far away, they would easily be discovered. If their families had connections to authorities who would lend a hand to both sides of a company by giving cell phone history records and ATM withdrawal records, then they would be able to follow the traces from that information. Could it be possible for them to look for jobs under completely fake names and be able to rent an apartment under those fake names? Or could he compel Nana to live in manga cafes or camp sites?

The more he thought it over, the more impatient he became. Kazuhisa let out a heavy sigh when the ringtone of his cell phone went off.

It was from Nana. For times it was seen by his family he disguised it under the name of a male cla.s.smate of his from high school. When he quickly opened the text message, there was a sentence attached to it that made him doubt his eyes.

[Let"s run away from town together.]

Kazuhisa did not expect she would make that sort of statement and quickly read through the rest of the text. And after a few seconds, the young man was left even more shocked.

It said they could run from the city and a person who would help them manage after that appeared, but-  the problem was the name of their helper.

[His name is Izaya Orihara, but I want you to meet him once.]

Izaya Orihara (折原イザヤ).

There was no need to confirm it. The 折原 was read as "Orihara." For "Izaya" not to be written in kanji was probably because it was not characters to easily convert.

That crossed through his mind for a moment, but Kazuhisa slapped his own cheeks to tell himself it was not the time for that. There was the possibility of the person being searched for by the Adamura group made contact with Nana.

Is that his aim? Or does he plan to use her as a hostage against Kiyojima for something?

Kazuhisa was filled with more impatience.

– I have to go.

Thinking that, the young man sent back, "I want to meet him too, so I want you to tell me where to meet up," and decided to head for the entrance.

Then he saw his brother Ryuuji and many adults walk by in the middle of heading from the entrance to the living room.

"……You"re in the way. We have important discussions to talk about. If you"re going out don"t come back home for a while."

Ryuuji said, treating him like a lion chasing away a dog, and Kazuhisa tried to pa.s.s him on the side.

In the midst of that he saw the faces of those adults.

They were an unsettling group. That was Kazuhisa"s genuine thought.

The first to enter his sight was a man wearing a tight business suit. His hair was kept all back and was wearing thinly tinted gla.s.ses. The next was a woman walking behind the man who had the exact opposite aspect as him. She was probably around twenty years old. Or she may be a bit younger, but he could not clearly tell her age.

After all she wore gla.s.ses, had Gothic-Punk looking makeup, and had cross chain piercings hanging from both of her ears. Her laptop had strange ornaments in black and red like her clothing with disturbing types of stickers like skulls and zombies on it.

– Candiru…..

Even Kazuhisa knew the existences of these two. They were from an organization Adamura worked closely with, and publicly they were called the "Candiru Co., Ltd." but in actuality they were an underground detective agency that undertook illegal investigations through hacking or coercion to use even wiretapping bugs and hidden cameras.

They had investigated Kiyojima"s actions outside the city plenty of times before, but he had heard that Kiyojima was most vigilant of them. It seemed Nana was investigated by them too. Actually he heard the ones who first reported to his father that he was dating Kiyojima"s daughter was also them.

To Kazuhisa they were a group he resented, and the two in front of him were the man calling himself as the company"s director and the woman who was said to be the top of the information management division.

Kazuhisa attempted to glare at them but could not when he saw the silhouette of a person turning the corner in the hallway a bit after them. The one who appeared was a giant man with dyed blue hair who could marginally reach the tall ceiling of the hallway.

Black bandages were wrapped around his eyes, and the large black eyes seen in the open s.p.a.ces were staring through. There were no bandages around his face from below his nose, but several painful st.i.tch marks like music scores were etched around the top of his head.  The muscle ma.s.s that was his body was clad in a business suit, and imagining those large hands possibly being capable of crushing a person"s face like an empty can Kazuhisa unconsciously shook.

– The killer of the Futsuku group…..!

If I remember right, his name was Usubara?

The man was given the name "the Feudal Lord"s Pet Whale" in town. This was the first time he had seen him in the estate, but Kazuhisa has seen him in town. Even within the Futsuku group he specialized in fighting, and that frightening outwardly strength would not be forgotten for the ones who had witnessed it once.

– Why….

– It"s not even the people from Candiru. To even call a killer to the head house, what is my brother trying to do?

– It can"t be.

An unsettling feeling swelled up within Kazuhisa.

Candiru were pros when it came to looking for people or collecting information. His father Jingorou had said, "naturally they are people from the outside," so he had not frequently used them that much, but apparently Ryuuji thought differently.

What does Ryuuji want them to look into?

Who does he want the killer Usubara to finish?

Hoping to be mistaken, Kazuhisa was completely filled with one insecurity.

Izaya Orihara.

Have they been gathered to hunt down that man Izaya?

If that is the case – if Nana happens to be with that Izaya in that moment?

Turning pale at the thought of the worst situation, he left the residence behind as though to flee.

To see the face of his beloved Nana as soon as he can. And to ascertain who the man with the name Izaya Orihara was with his own eyes and depending on the situation, to save Nana from there.

Adamura House, The Office Room

"…..You came."

The grave voice of Jingorou resounded in the room left with sofas to greet guests. It was used when work was brought home as well as a private room.

"Well thank you. …..We did not receive much of a welcome though."

"Naturally. Originally I didn"t want you involved."

"My, you say that so upfront."

Jingorou answered the man wearing the sungla.s.ses, who said that as though troubled with a solemn face.

"There is also the case with my son. It would be a problem if he moves and stirs up a fight with Kiyojima. We"ll crush them when it is time, but I decide when that is."

"We will not do that. Can you not you trust in us a bit more?"

"You guys are originally not from this town. I don"t plan on having you get in on the inside much."

Jingorou Adamura used Candiru in the past to look into an organization from the outside meddling around. Although it was certainly not exaggerating to say "they are partial to him," but he was pretty reluctant to use them for Bunokura"s internal conflicts.

– They are like their name after all.

Candiru.

It was a name originating from the small carnivorous fish that inhabits the Amazon river. It was not that they had the large body of a shark, but it was said they were more feared than piranhas in the Amazon basin.

Unlike the relative gentle disposition of the piranhas, they were a fish that had the ferocity to attack far larger beings than themselves and slip into the body from the open holes and scars they bit into to eat their victims from the inside. No matter how large their opponent was, they used their power as a group and chewed through them thoroughly.

For an information collecting organization it was a perfect name. Jingorou considered that anyway.

They only had the name of a public corporation, but behind the scenes it was rumored there were several tens of employees officially not employed in the company. The full ‘other side" of the company was unknown, and although their registered base was nearby there was talk their real base was in Tokyo or overseas. Although, even for a suspicious organization as themselves, when they receive a request they punctually provided results. And so the ’employees that were not suppose to exist" were able to lend a hand in illegal activities.

Adamura would like to leave the illegal activities all to the Futsuku group, but they were weak in an information battle. Not having connections to major organizations in a wide area they were free to move as Adamura"s protege, but they were separated from the information network in the organization so when it came to concerns getting involved outside the city they were left a step behind.

For this case his son Ryuuji had called him and said, ‘I"ll put down the money. Just make the call," but for Adamura it was not a very interesting development. Ryuuji wanted to use them to find Izaya Orihara, but that matter itself would be stepping too far into Bunokura.

– If he only wants a fight, with the Futsuku group…..no, even with just Usubara is enough.

Giving a sigh, Jingorou briefly glanced over to the blue-haired giant.

Usubara bowed his head wordlessly.

He had a unique standing position even within the Futsuku group. Due to his outward appearance he could not move anywhere else besides Bunokura to finish certain cases without standing out. But even comparing the demerits there were just enough merits with that, and so he was appointed by Jingorou"s preference of "simply liking a person strong in a fist fight." He did not have guns or weapons, but for a small gang he finished his opponents faster in time before the police get reported.

Moreover, since he could do modest work unlike his outer appearance would suggest, he was truly an excellent capable person; excluding the ‘standing out" quality which made him unsuitable for behind the scenes dark a.s.signments such as a.s.sa.s.sinations and surprise attacks.

"……I"m opposed to Candiru and Usubara moving at the same time though."

"Don"t worry dad; it"s not like these two are going to be working together. It just seems there is someone with Izaya Orihara who is capable of twisting the Oukarengou around his finger. It wouldn"t stand out as much if we leave it to just Usubara instead of everyone moving without weapons, right?"

"If that"s the case, that"s fine."

– I feel like Ryuuji is making light of both Usubara and him though…… Should I let him make a huge mistake and have him owe me?

Jingorou began to consider how much management his son would be allowed to have and what he could lend and borrow from him.

– I had Ryuuichi under many debts for his whole life.

– Seriously now, he"s an ungrateful person up and dying like that.

Jingorou quietly exhaled, not thinking with hardly any emotions of their parent and child relationship mixed in.

– ….No, more than debts……

Ignoring Jingorou in thought of something, the man with his hair combed straight back spoke.

"So, Izaya Orihara….it is alright for us to search for this person?"

Ryuuji nodded at the man"s words – a leader of Candiru, Isozaka.

"Yeah, that"s right. Izaya Orihara! Fish up any information on him thoroughly. Anything that could be a weakness. It may be a fake name, but it"s certain there is someone calling himself that and had contacted Douma."

"Hmph….how about it, Nec?"

While shrugging his shoulders, Isozaka addressed the person on the other side of the sofa in the reception room. Hearing his voice, the woman sitting on the floor and reclining against the sofa – Nec – spoke back as she gazed at the laptop connected to the wireless network.

"Hmmm. It seems like it can go through, yep. It seems there are kids that know of him in the Tokyo area, so I"ll check over there."

"Seriously!? You"re fast! Tell me at once!"

Ryuuji tried to take the laptop, but Nec rolled over on the floor, dodging him.

"Not. Yet. I can"t hand it over until I confirm the information, old man."

"Old ma-……"

Jingorou said to the open-mouthed Ryuuji.

"It"s obvious. What is the point of s.n.a.t.c.hing the information before it"s all collected?"

"W-well, yeah, but….."

In the place of Ryuuji who quietened in embarra.s.sment, Jingorou addressed the two from Candiru.

"From confirmed information is fine. What"s priority is finding out what outside organization is backing him."

"Understood."

"Got i~t."

Nec raised her hand in sync with Isozaka"s words, lifted her blue light reducing gla.s.ses and closed the laptop while cackling. And then the two left the room close on time. They did not bring up payment because they already did when he made the call earlier.

Moving onward, the fl.u.s.tered Ryuuji lifted his head, jerking it towards the entrance where Usubara was and gave him an order.

"Alright….Let"s go, Usubara. I have something for you to do."

Nodding his head wordlessly, Usubara went out of the room behind Ryuuji.

After Ryuuji and him left, Jingorou spoke to the young head of the Futsuku group standing next to him.

"Udagawa."

"Yes?"

"I believe in Usubara"s strength, but right now he"s moving under Ryuuji"s command. I cannot believe in his command. You watch over their movements too. If possible, once you have grasped Izaya Orihara"s true motives contact me."

"……I do not mind, but what for?"

Jingorou answered Udagawa"s question while chuckling.

"That Orihara guy has meddled with the Oukarengou, but it doesn"t seem he came to this town specifically under Kiyojima"s or my suggestion. While not directly involved, he"s a guy who seems to brew up the town just by existing. He"s caught my interest a bit."

"It can"t be, you plan to win him over? If Ryuuji-san"s story is correct, then there is the possibility he has made some sort of deal with Douma Kiyojima."

Jingorou said to the frowning Udagawa with a far more human-like smile than his sons.

"He probably just set up the roots for transactions with a guy like that."

"Oh, I thought you would avoid any disputes with Kiyojima?"

"I thought that. But with the guys from Candiru getting involved, I think it"s a problem of time for when the secret of the mine is let out."

Only a small fraction of people currently knew of the secret details relating to the mine drying up. The current miners carried the dug up bedrock with machines, but they believed there was an abundance of mineral resources in there. Even if they deduced that on their own, there were many people noticing something off in each division for those working in the inner circle.

But the people who knew were kept away from the place through "promotions," or were suppressed to speak completely of their views in a roundabout way. Since there were no casualties coming from that matter, there were many people who noticed that ended up accepting the "hush money."

"I don"t know whether to use that Izaya Orihara as a scapegoat or drag him in to our side. But if I can pull beneficial material away from Kiyojima, then that is one way of going about to do it."

"But, what about the danger?"

Jingorou replied back to Udagawa.

"Even if something happened now, it would just be Ryuuji"s misfortune, right? Then I can brush him aside and have Kazuhisa take the inheritance, or make the effort to have a fourth successor….Well, this is putting it frankly, but it"s a matter of who will inherit the group after I die."

Udagawa nodded tiredly at the man"s words he had stated so readily.

"We the Futsuku group are allies of the ones who bear profits, so please do not worry."

"…..Then that means if we fail to blunder the redevelopment plans, you"ll follow Kiyojima?"

"That would depend on what the boss thinks. It is presumptuous I would have any thought in the matter."

"You just took back your words in three seconds….seriously…"

After shrugging his shoulders in amazement, Jingorou grinned daringly at the man he had still yet to see.

"Now then, it"ll be enjoyable to see how much of an idiot this Izaya Orihara is."

The Royal Suite of the Bunokura Grand Palace Hotel

This man may be more stupid than I originally imagined.

The reason why Kazuhisa thought this is because of the moment he saw the man in the high quality suite hotel room. The man took an elegant poise as he slightly swayed the wine gla.s.s he was holding with one hand and with his legs crossed as he sat in his wheelchair.

"Hey, you"re Adamura-kun, right? I"m Izaya Orihara. Nice to meet you."

If he only started off the conversation like that it would have brought forth the image of a puzzling man shrouded in mystery, but the problem with that was the elementary school child who started to push the wheelchair around the s.p.a.cious room at full speed.

"Vroom. Vroom, vroom! Woohoo! It"s started to get fun Izaya-san!"

The child wiped his brow from sweat and continued to push the wheelchair around happily. Perhaps the child had excellent leg muscles or arm muscles, but he was running around the high cla.s.s furniture at quite a fair speed. At that oscillation a bit of the liquid from the wine gla.s.s managed to spill out, but it seemed like the contents were the barley tea that was left on the table.

"What do you think? What are your thoughts of the man who deceived your cute lover?"

"Well, I……"

Kazuhisa had no idea on how he should respond, and unintentionally averted his eyes from the man. In the previous glance, Nana was there. Giggling slightly, she watched the man"s state.

"Nana, I"m glad that you"re okay."

"Yeah, I"m so glad you"re okay too…!"

Kazuhisa and Nana confirmed each others" condition. As they were doing this, the man in the wheelchair, Izaya Orihara, was being pushed around restlessly.

"Hey, Haruto-kun, I"d be happy if you were to stop soon."

"Okay! Izaya-san!"

Giving an upbeat reply, the boy named Haruto stopped the wheelchair. Whether it was because of the sudden stop or the way the man had his legs crossed upon the wheelchair, Izaya"s body was thrown forward, and from there he fell from the wheelchair.

"Whoa."

However, with good timing he grabbed the nearby arm of the sofa and managed to slowly sink himself onto the sofa with his upper body before crossing his legs again.

"Fuu, Haruto-kun, it"s alright with me, but with other people in wheelchairs you must not recklessly push them around and then suddenly stop like you just did, alright?"

Nodding with a too simple-minded face, it felt unlikely that he really understood or not. Even while thinking that, Kazuhisa decided to ignore that and ask the man adjusting his seating on the sofa.

"……Your legs, there"s something wrong with them, right?"

Izaya gave a composed smile as he answered Kazuhisa"s question.

"It"s just difficult to stand or to walk around. Relatively speaking, the symptoms are rather persistent. If I can handle the intense pain it brings like crossing my legs like this I can manage."

"Was it from an accident?"

He thought it was a bit rude to ask such a question without restraint, but this was the man who suddenly summoned him to this place. The man apparently thought a little bit of rudeness was alright in this case.

"Something like that. An accident…Well if you can call picking a fight with and getting attacked by an enormous monster an accident, then I guess it"s an accident."

"It"s an allegory. I only got hit by a steel beam, thrown away several meters, and was stabbed in my side with a knife while both arms were broken. It seems that the first injury dealt by the steel frame was the worst, and bones all over my body got damaged. But after that I stubbornly persisted, the anesthesia from my brain (adrenaline) eliminating the pain, resulting in continuing to pick an impossible fight with the monster."

"Huh……"

He did not quite understand the example with the monster, but he supposed he must have received terrible injuries, and this seemed to be part of the after-effects. Trying to comprehend the story, he thought perhaps after getting involved with the steel beam incident he partic.i.p.ated in a foreign running of the bulls event.

As Kazuhisa imagined such a scenario, Izaya further talked of his condition in an exceedingly cheerful manner as if to say his own injuries were not that trivial.

"Well, it"s not like I cannot completely stand, so it"s a small mercy I can use the bathroom or shower and can move from the bed on my own. It"s just it would be difficult to run around the town like in the past."

"Are you in rehab right now?"

"…….If I rehabilitate at a decent place, they said I might be able to run around again……But I don"t plan on doing that."

"How come?"

Being asked straightforwardly, Izaya replied with a somewhat serious expression, all the while with a smile on his face.

"You see, this is punishment. My punishment."

"Punishment……?"

"Yes, my punishment. Up until now, I would flashily skip about and run away despite my meddling while saying I love humans. Well, the monster…no, that seems deceiving. I got caught by the man who distanced himself from humans, and ended up like this."

Izaya let his gaze stray off as if staring at something far away and continued to smile with self-ridicule.

"If I really love humans, then I should not run away from humans, monsters who are distanced from humans, and real monsters. I tried to gain what I wanted from a fixed distance, and I always tried to stay in a safe place. In terms of love, this is impure. That"s right. It was impure."

Izaya spelled out the next words as if to let himself hear it to the uncomprehending Kazuhisa and Nana.

"And so, I decided to not run anymore. I will hide from or trick others though. But even then, if a human who overcame such a predicament arrived right in front of me, I thought I would try to confront that person fair and square."

After saying such a strange statement, Izaya gazed at Kazuhisa and said,

"Well, since I was the one that called you over here, of course you stand in front of me like this. Even if I try to escape right now, like this I cannot. But I guess Haruto-kun here may save me."

"Understood, Izaya-san! When it"s time, I"ll call the police!"

"Right, Haruto-kun. That will be an 80% chance of me getting arrested too so let"s not do that. I think the most certain thing to do is to call Sozoro-san, right?"

"Oh, I see! Izaya-san is really amazing! But if there was even a 20% chance if it was you it would be alright!"

Looking at the boy with twinkling eyes, he whispered, "you"re not making a fool of me are you……?" But it seemed it did not reach the boy"s ears.

"Well, anyway, how about you standing before me face off with me fair and square? Although, it"s natural since I invited you."

He was saying what he wanted, but they were words naturally spoken in riddles. While thinking that this was likely the man"s nature, Kazuhisa asked.

"Well, um, what does that mean? How much do you know about us…..?"

"How much, huh. Yeah, I guess that"s right. I"ll ask in return, but how much do you want me to know?"

"Eh?"

"Even you have one or two things you don"t want anyone to know, and your cute girlfriend also has her secrets, right?"

Izaya"s eyes narrowed, and the corners of his lips curled up in glee.

"Well, that"s fine. We"ll talk separately afterwards. What I want to know is information. To ask that information and not have it leak out it"s necessary to talk individually. For instance your lover enjoy a meal in the restaurant on this floor during that time. I think having a meal alone is pitiful though, so I"ll have Haruto-kun be an escort."

"Haa……"

Nana was staring blankly, but Haruto came by her at some point and pulled her hand.

"Okay! Let"s go, miss! The Chinese fried rice in that restaurant is super good!"

The boy"s eyes lit up and drool poured from his mouth.

"Okay, I think I can pay if it"s just fried rice….."

"Of course it"s my treat. Did you think you would have to pay?"

He threw the pouch he took from his pocket to Haruto. The boy took that, pulled her hand and said, "Okay, let"s hurry up and go!" Nana without feeling apprehensive, "W-well then, I"ll go ahead first! I"ll wait for you Kazuhisa, and Izaya-san." She said and left the room.

"Your girlfriend is quite lenient even in a situation like this, isn"t she?"

After Nana left, Izaya asked Kazuhisa standing there with a dumbfounded expression.

"She always is in that dream-like state……"

Even that was a trait Kazuhisa liked, but when she proclaimed "if you and I are on such friendly terms, then the relationship between Kiyojima and Adamura should improve too," he sagged his shoulders when her ideals surpa.s.sed into dreams.

Izaya said to Kazuhisa who let out a big sigh.

"It"s a good thing. Those sort of carefree, good people being around are fine too. Contrarily, realistic ideologists such as yourself are fine too. I can love them equally. Ah, I don"t mean that as anything s.e.xual, so you can relax."

"More than that, calling me a realistic ideologist, what do you-……"

"It"s obvious without you saying anything, you know?"

He felt the illusion of Izaya"s words soaking into his backbone. Sweat formed on Kazuhisa"s palms, and he glared at the man in front of him as though looking at a monster.

"Really…..just, who are-….."

"Well, I just want to hear it. The scope of the truth you can tell."

"But if I can hear as much of your story….."

Grinning, the informant offers a "deal" to the shaking Kazuhisa.

"I"m fine with helping you escape from this town."

The Restaurant "Kongousaikan"

"Say, are you from here?"

Nana asked while waiting for her order of Chinese fried rice.

The price was more than five times the price compared to the kind one can get at diners in town, but as the daughter of Kiyojima it was not a price she had never seen before, so it was not an issue to fuss over to her. But she understood what it meant to be given such a high priced treat. Just thinking about the suite room he was staying in or the characteristic wheelchair he had, one would suppose he must be quite a wealthy man.

That was what Nana thought, but what she did not understand was this boy, Haruto. Since he called him "Izaya-san", they probably were not siblings. She thought perhaps that they could be related, so she decided to ask the boy of his personal history.

"No, I"m not! I was born in Saitama!"

"Ah, is that so. That"s pretty far…So is this Izaya-san from here, and you just came to visit him?"

"Well, no? That"s not it. Izaya-san is a person who has lived in a lot of places…I wonder where he is from?"

"What"s your relationship with him?"

"Well, Himari-chan and I were saved by Izaya-san. Ah, Himari-chan is that girl that came with us to this town, okay?"

"I see……And he saved you?"

Nana questioned, and the boy Haruto easily spoke these words with little hesitance.

"Well, my dad was killed by Himari"s dad!"

She thought that he was joking. Not understanding the boy"s intention, she waited several seconds, but the boy nonchalantly continued.

"And then mom and Himari"s mom, they were friends before, but they got into a huge fight, and my mom said I couldn"t see Himari-chan and other mean things, you see? And mom in the end stabbed Himari"s mom with a knife and then tried to kill both Himari-chan and I."

"And that"s when Izaya-san saved us! He said he knew my dad. But my mom and Himari"s mom were put in the hospital, and they said we won"t get to see them for a while."

"……so that"s it."

Since he did not talk about it in a harsh manner, Nana at first did not know what to say. However, after having enough time and details to digest it all, she concluded that it was likely that the boy"s mother became mentally ill and was put into a police hospital or a specialty hospital.

"It must have been hard."

"Yeah……but I"m not lonely! Izaya-san helped me with a lot of things!"

The boy said with such an innocent face.

It was clear that this was not a normal story. If they really were saved, then why were this boy and this girl named Himari brought to this town all the way from Saitama? If it was a normal person several questions should be coming up one after the other. But just by looking at the boy"s smiling face, Nana believed him unconditionally.

"I see……it must have been very hard for you, Haruto-kun."

It was like the hopes of this dreamy girl was being pressed on reality. After bringing the boy in for a tight embrace, she smiled at him like an angel with tears acc.u.mulating in her eyes .

"But I think I understand……That this Izaya-san is a really good person…!"

Evening, In Bunokura

– It got pretty serious.

In the middle of going out to do shopping, the housekeeper of the Adamura household Azami Niiyama let out a big sigh after confirming no one else from the Adamura household was around.

– I can"t believe they would start looking for Orihara-san so earnestly.

Just previously when she was working in the home, she saw a suspicious man and woman and the famous yakuza member even in town Usubara enter the parlor room.

They did not want tea or anything, so she continued to clean the hallway without a care, but –

She did not intend to eavesdrop, but she had heard Ryuuji"s large voice from the room. She was very gloomy since clearly hearing the proper noun "Izaya Orihara" from in there.

If it got out that she was the one who leaked information to Izaya Orihara, she would not get away scot-free. Naturally she did not think she would be killed, but there was a high possibility of her getting fired.

– I have to……I have to avoid that…..

It was a place she struggled and worked hard to get to. She could not lose that now.

But what can she do?

The maid gave a huge sigh.

She did not realize. That there was one shadow approaching from behind her.

"……Hey, miss."

"Hee!?"

Turning around, there stood a young girl.

Azami remembered her. She was the girl next to Izaya Orihara in the wheelchair.

"Do you remember me?"

Azami unconsciously nodded in earnest to the expressionless girl"s question.

"Then, this cell phone, you know whom this present came from, right?"

Azami accepted the cell phone, and the girl continued the explanation plainly.

"Careful not to get caught by the people in the household. Izaya-san is registered under the name Nakura."

After pressing the cell phone in her direction, the girl said blood chilling words with a cold gaze.

"It"s better not to throw that away. If you want to work at that household anyway."

"But…….I think it"s better to not get involved."

Night Time, At the Night Club Yamibouzu

"What is this, Douma isn"t here?"

The Oukarengou members in the area got startled by Ryuuji Adamura suddenly appearing in the parking s.p.a.ce.

"Ryuujii! What is someone from Adamura coming here for?!"

"Do you think you"ll go back unharmed, huh!"

Ignoring the shouts of the members he did not know the names of, Ryuuji called out to one of the giants near the entrance.

"Yo, Tadeura."

"…….What are you here for?"

Ryuuji showed the leader of the Oukarengou, Tadeura, making an openly unpleasant face a coa.r.s.e smile.

"Nothing really. I heard you guys were bullied by a weak old man, and thinking you lost a tooth or something I came to by."

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d……"

Tadeura"s eyes narrow.

"Don"t mess with us!"

Had he heard a voice?

One of the Oukarengo members lost his temper and moved to take a wooden sword from the trunk of the car.

"Hey, stop! Don"t give in to his provocation! If you do-……"

Ryuuji spoke over Tadeura"s voice trying to stop him.

"That"s right, the one who killed my brother was really Kiyojima…….would it turn out like that?"

"Tch….."

"But. You can relax. I didn"t come here to pick a fight. I just came to eat,"

Ryuuji moved his gaze to the hoodlum who had opened the truck to take out the wooden sword while suppressing a laugh.

"So put away such a scary thing."

In that moment – they noticed. From behind the roof rack where the trucks were parked in the parking s.p.a.ce a giant shadow slowly appeared. A large ma.s.s like mistaking a truck for a lightweight truck.

Tadeura, who was conceited of himself being a giant, saw the shadow bigger than him and dropped the cigarette that was in his mouth.

"U…..Usubara."

While everyone was taken aback by the giant, only the young hoodlum that opened the trunk remained unaware. A moment faster than his friends were able to call out to him- Usubara vigorously closed the trunk on both of his arms that attempted to grab the wooden sword.

"Gahaa… Bwaaaa? Aa, aaa!?"

There was the sound of his bones snapping, and the young man gave out a scream with his arms deeply stuck in the trunk.

Usubara still wordlessly grabbed the face of the young man screaming and then bashed him against the lid of the trunk while his arms were still halfway trapped in it.

"Gaha"

Along with the distorted voice, the young man lost consciousness.

"Y-you bastaaard!"

All the Oukarengou members around lost their temper, but everyone"s expression was unnerved.

"Ryuuji……What idea was it to even bring the "pet whale," you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

Tadeura moved forward figuring he was the only one to be able to stop that ma.s.sive figure while he stated that.

"I won"t let you go further, you half-witted giant!"

Tadeura tries the words he usually says.

While saying that, he tried to hold back his opponent, but –

"Gah……!?"

He was grabbed by the throat before he could reach and was held up by one hand by Usubara.

"Ngghhhh……"

Bearing the suffocation desperately, Tadeura was shocked.

– No way! There"s no-…..!

– I"m more than 180kg, dammit…..!

He had the confidence to turn over a light motor vehicle, but Tadeura remembered. He recalled legend of when the blue haired giant in front of him encountered a large wild boar that unexpectedly appeared in town. Usubara took the charge of the large boar that was able to turn over even cars with a front kick, and while the boar recoiled from the hit he picked up a vending machine nearby and then dropped it on the boar, killing it. That legend.

He thought it was just idle gossip, but he felt the pressure from the man in front of him that he could certainly do it.

– d.a.m.n…..But I can"t let him kick my a.s.s…..

Trying to make some damage on his opponent while held up, he attempted to attack both of his ears with his open hands and crush his eardrums. But he saw through his intent a moment sooner, and with a force like throwing away a garbage bag Tadeura"s body was hurled away carelessly.

"Guwaa….."

"Yeah, I said so right? I didn"t come here for a fight. But you charged in, so that"s why it"s like this."

While looking down on Tadeura knocked down on the asphalt in agony in front of him, Ryuuji continued to chuckle. He then weaved his way through each of the Oukarengou members a.s.sembled at the scene. And then a woman completely inappropriate for a place like this appeared.

"What"s this~? A fight~? That"s boys for you. That"s youth."

Even her speech and conduct was inappropriate for this place, but the gothic, bespectacled girl encouraged the giant Usubara far larger than her before turning towards Ryuuji and called out to him.

"Aah, employer-sa~n? Done! We"re finished! We tricked the bar owner, but the footage shows him perfectly – that old man! He was pretty amazing! If it wasn"t for work, I would roll up my earnings off the hit count if I put it on Youtube with such immediate data!"

"Is that so? I"m looking forward to seeing him."

"This facility, you know, I was able to process the data from the security cameras with the laptop and connect to the wireless local area network! It was very easy-going, even when stealing the data!"

The deep colored eye shadow under her eyes gave an ill-looking impression. The form of her smiling and wearing gla.s.ses with that make-up made the impression of a hard working office girl who got high all night. Although her gothic clothing completely negated that image.

And then behind the woman, a man with his hair swiped back and sungla.s.ses appeared and spoke to Ryuuji.

"There is no more use here. Please return to the car."

"Why? There was no need for Usubara and I to become decoys."

After shrugging his shoulders back uninterested, he asked the fallen Tadeura.

"Yo, Tadeura.Between my "pet whale" and that kid Orihara"s old man, who is stronger?"

"……Who knows. Either one. At least to kill you using only their pinky…….is enough….."

"I have nothing to do with it. Aah?"

Grinning, Tadeura continued.

"Besides, "my" you say……? Isn"t the one providing for that "pet whale" your d.a.m.n father…..? You can"t even give him food……Gwaa"

"Shuddup!"

Ryuuji drove in consecutive kicks into Tadeura"s stomach while yelling.

"Don"t you make fun of me! I! Will inherit! The Adamura family! This town! When that happens there will be no place for you to stay! Remember that! You s.h.i.t!"

"Let"s stop there and leave him like that. It is a problem to be sued over bodily injuring someone."

At the words of the man with his hair kept back – Isozaka – Ryyuji decided to obey that while clicking his tongue.

"Tch…..Alright."

As though to calm him from his pouting, Isozaka whispered in Ryuuji"s ear.

"We at least know about Izaya Orihara. We cannot show you in front of the Oukarengou, so we will show you the data within the car."

In the Car

"So, what did you find out?"

Ryuuji pressed Isozaka for information, and he told him while looking at the tablet PC in his hand.

"…..First I will say beforehand, but……we are still at the stage where we are in a middle of investigating, so there is not much. There is one thing we confirmed about Izaya Orihara that I can tell you."

Isozaka continued plainly as Ryuuji made a face as though questioning if there was something else to be mentioned.

"The second thing to note is we searched for a person called Izaya Orihara （オリハライザヤ）, so in brief we only looked for information on a person that was likely to take actions like what is going on right now. That said, if we were mistaken by the Izaya Orihara （折原臨也） we looked into, there is the possibility of there being another person with that name. After all, we do not see the faces of the usual people in this town."

"Certainly….."

"However, we have obtained a photographic portrait, so confirmation should be easy."

"Seriously?"

It had not even been a half day since he called them up. But for them to obtain even a photographic portrait was beyond Ryuuji"s expectations entirely.

– Naturally they are a group that my father favors.

In the future those connections would become his. From him beginning to think that in his mind the first reasoning of resent to ‘avenge Ryuuichi’ was thinning.

The tablet handed over to him displayed the face of a still young man. He was wearing a black fur coat, and his glossy black hair was arranged in a short cut.

"He"s more tall and skinny than I imagined….. Actually, what the h.e.l.l"s up with this photo?"

The photo seemed to have been taken secretly from far away with a telephoto lens, but he could see crushed guard rails, broken street lights, plain ornamented automobiles that look like something belonging to biker gangs turned over.

"…..Is this from a shot for a movie or something? He certainly has the face for an actor……"

"Well……not to that extent. It seems someone who had a grudge against Izaya Orihara took that photo secretly from far away while looking for him."

"A grudge, huh. So he really has caused riots here and there then."

Ryuuji commented, reaching an understanding, while Isozaka suggested the next course of action with an indifferent att.i.tude.

"Will you kidnap Douma Kiyojima himself and show him this picture to confirm if it is the actual person himself?"

"……Don"t say something so dynamic."

"I will take that as words of praise. If Usubara-san a.s.sists I thought at least kidnapping Douma Kiyojima would be a simple matter."

Isozaka said while looking back in the rear view mirror to the large station wagon following behind them.

"We only "listened to your request politely," so I thought as long as there are no serious injuries the problem would not become worse than it already is."

"Is that how it is?"

Naturally that should not be the case, but Ryuuji ended up nodding at Isozaka"s pretty bold statement.

"Well, leave it for now. What kind of person is Izaya Orihara?"

"Yes, first, the kanji is like this."

While saying this, Isozaka handed Ryuuji the printed data from the mobile printer.

Izaya Orihara (折原臨也). Seeing those characters written, Ryuuji frowned.

"This is read as Izaya?"

"It is a fairly unique reading, so normally it is unreadable. They are fitting characters, are they not? I am impressed it went through the government office."

"I see…..there"s no way anything would come up if you searched that on the net."

"There appears to be people mistaking the reading as "Rinya." Actually if you search Rinya Orihara, there are many hits on a community bulletin board in a certain area of Tokyo."

After giving a redundant explanation, Isozaka moved on plainly.

"Izaya Orihara. He is from Ikebukuro. He says he is twenty-one years old, but his actually age is more than that, so I will tell you once we have a clear age for him. He was from Raijin High School in Ikebukuro, and after graduation he took the name of "informant" and had deep connections with the color gangs and other young uprising gangs in Tokyo city. From this, we deduced this Izaya Orihara (オリハライザヤ) that came to this town and this Izaya Orihara (折原臨也) are the same person."

"Huh……"

"From here on out we will be discussing vital matters, so I recommend consulting with your father…."

It was a matter the head of the Adamura family, Jingorou, should know. Putting that on the table beforehand, Isozaka then said his next words.

"Starting from the Awakusu group and Asuki group in Tokyo, he has various connections with the crime syndicates."

"…..!? Does that mean he has the yakuza backing him?"

"It seems he has made plenty of deals with them for many years, but the specifics of the contents are unknown. There is just the data from various sources that he has connections with the Awakusu group subordinates."

It seemed this was a much larger issue than he imagined. Ryuuji considered the possibility and asked about the named organization, swallowing nervously.

"…..Is that yakuza group a pretty big organization?"

"They are a pretty influential organization in Ikebukuro. They are a central power even among the Medei group"s system appointing the wide area, and you can see they break into the upper ranks. I will tell you upfront, but the Awakusu group is different on a fundamental basis than the scale of your protege organization the Futsuku group."

"They seem capable of handling conflicts outside the city, but in this town the Futsuku group have more of the advantage. It"s the same with any organization, no matter how big."

"Yes, and so in order to weaken that power they sent Izaya Orihara……at least there is that possibility."

"But for what……"

"As for the possibility it could be to dig away at the conflict for interests from the redevelopment plans. The scale of the project is one trillion in j.a.panese yen value. Whether it is permanently or temporarily if they break away at it there is enough value in reaching out from Tokyo. After all, this place is not being backed by other organizations in the area."

Ryuuji understood what he was talking about. Actually there were even big organizations in the area who came searching for concessions and had meddled in affairs several times over. Either Kiyojima or Adamura would play at the water"s edge of the town, and it should have prevented internal workings as well.

"Izaya Orihara himself is not a member of the group. I cannot state this earnestly, but at most he could be a character in a gang. He has had clients from afar, and it is not impossible to not be caught in his net."

"You can skip that……So, this Izaya guy, what can he do?"

"Yes, it seems he has only taken the name as "informant." Excluding his connections with the crime syndicates, it seems he has made many levels of connections. From the local gang Dragon Zombie to even various religious cult groups from abroad. He had enough information to continue transactions to his wide range of clients. With that other organizations have not disappeared. That is all."

Shrugging his shoulders, Isozaka gave a bitter smiling saying, "Honestly, we are the ideal type in Candiru."

"It also seems he has been a consultant to the local collars such as the Dollars and Yellow Scarves. However, it seems a few years ago he was involved in some sort of dispute and disappeared from the front stage. There were rumors he was done in by a Russian killer, so it is urgent to confirm if the one in town right now is indeed him or not."

"Just what is his aim…..? Do you think he"s really backed by the yakuza in Tokyo?"

"I wonder about that. I can only offer deductions, but although he has made deals with the Awakusu group and the Asuki group I feel it is not appropriate to call him their obvious p.a.w.n. It seems the person himself was a man famous for being elusive and no one could read his next moves."

"……..I"m getting more and more confused. What type of person is he?"

Although he understood his position, he could not imagine his current "hereditary disposition."

To supply more information to Ryuuji, Isozaka continued on with his report.

"His parents work in the trading business, so it seems they are not in j.a.pan that much. He has two younger sisters, but right now they live separately. There are various opinions from people around him. It is a wide range from people who embrace him like a G.o.d, people who see him as an enemy of man, to even people who call him a simple flea. Well, you could say all of those are just people on edge (picky)."

He looked at the data in thought and added more.

"There was a period of time where he had a hobby of smashing girls" cell phones……so it seems, but this is uncertain information. If you take into account it being rumors."

"With that kind of rumor being gossiped about he"s quite the creep~."

As Nec was cackling in the pa.s.senger"s seat Ryuuji Adamura"s cell phone rang.

"Hmm? For me……? ……It"s a number I don"t know. ……..h.e.l.lo."

Taking out the cell phone while frowning, an unknown voice came into Adamura"s ear.

[Hey, nice to meet you. Are you Ryuuji Adamura?]

"…..Who the h.e.l.l are you?"

[Oh my, I heard you were looking for me, so I thought you would at least know my voice. Did I overestimate the guys from Candiru a little bit?]

The sound registered in Ryuuji"s mind. Reaching an enlightenment on who the speaker was, he uttered the name with a forced smile.

"You"re……Izaya Orihara?"

At that, Isozaka sitting next to him twitched, and even Nec in the pa.s.senger"s seat stopped typing on her laptop.

[Correct! That"s good. You have at least that much guessing ability.]

"You"re making fun of me, you -….."

[It"s not like that. To make fun of the successor of the Adamura family is unthinkable! After all no matter your personal capabilities you"ll become a person worthy to be feared by even idiots just by being a member of the Adamura family.]

It was a fairly straight way of provocation pointing out "you yourself are powerless." Ryuuji understood that meaning right away and threw the cell phone without a thought at the front gla.s.s of the car.

"O-Hee"

Giving a cry that was not very cry-like, Nec embraced her laptop so the cell phone would not bounce back onto it. The durable cell phone fell below immediately, and so there were no injuries to the driver or Nec. There was a slight crack in the front gla.s.s, and with the impact the battery fell out and thus automatically cut the call.

"Please calm down. You"ll doing what he expects."

"As if I can calm down! He made you Candiru guys fools too…..You aren"t even gathering to voice against it, huh! Aren"t you p.i.s.sed being made fun of like that! Aah?"

"That is hard to say."

Isozaka shrugged his shoulders while keeping a calm, imitated tone.

His eyes narrowed, and he told Ryuuji.

"The problem is not that we were insulted, but the truth that we were looking into him…….he knows that."

"Aah…….?"

"The connections to Candiru of the personnel investigating in Tokyo are erased ostensibly. Even so, it is a huge deal that he knows we are making a move so fast. Or he may have tricked us. It would have been a great disaster if you answered with "why do you know of Candiru," so that is thanks to your nerve."

"Oh? Y-yeah."

He did not intent to evade a trick, but not allowing to be made fun of by his ally he instead affirmed the statement. Without realizing that he was being made fun of by Isozaka and Nec from the start.

"……Hey, can"t you reverse track that call just now?"

Ryuuji proposed something unreasonable.

"It is possible if we threaten them with a grasp on more than half of the weaknesses of the employees from that particular communications company, but I think if you report even one person to the police then you who was contacted would also be caught. Either way, right now it is impossible."

"d.a.m.n. What the h.e.l.l. Can"t use it, huh….."

"If we try to make contact, I think it would be important for us to make the call, though?"

"…..I got it."

Clicking his tongue, he took the cell phone Nec picked up and inserted the battery.

At the same time he activated it there were several missed calls all from the same number.

"It would help if you could put it on speaker so we can hear it as well."

"I got it, I got it."

After he set it to speaker phone as according to Isozaka"s directions, Ryuuji called the number in the missed calls history. And then the line connected without even a few seconds pa.s.sing.

[Hey. Thank goodness. I thought you blocked me.]

"I would like to do that very much though. What do you want?"

[Ah, I thought of dealing information with you personally. You already know that I"m an "informant" right?]

Ryuuji squinted as Izaya chatted with him brazenly.

"……You think you are in a position to do that, huh…..? Actually, who did you get my number from?"

[The origin of the information is a secret. Of course there"s no way I would let out the information bought from you or the source. Though for that you have no choice but to believe in that.]

"You think we don"t know anything about you?"

[Now what do you mean?]

"You have two cute little sisters, don"t you? ……Orihara…..Bu….nagare……? Kyuu….. how the h.e.l.l do you read these?"

He looked at the data on Izaya"s family he was given to by Isozaka. He tried to read the names, but he could not read it as he thought it would be without the furigana.

[Ahahahahaha! That"s right! I have them, sisters! Sorry, the kanji is difficult so you can"t read them, right! When I see my dad next I"ll tell him: that the heir of the Adamura group had to lose face because of his naming sense!]

Once again he was succ.u.mbing to the force of wanting to throw the cell phone, but being watched by Isozaka"s cold eyes beside him Ryuuji forcibly cooled down his temper.

"You won"t have the chance to meet your dad….No, how about I send you to that world so you may be able to meet him……? What do you think will happen to those cute sisters of yours?"

[I don"t care. Do as you please.]

"Don"t try to act tough."

[You know, Ryuuji-kun. Do you think a human who cares for their family enough to worry if they become hostages would behave like this, do such activities with their real name, and make enemies with people like you or Kiyojima-san?]

They were words with persuasive power with nothing more to add to the comment, but Ryuuji raised his voice on another matter that caught his attention.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Why does that Douma get the san, and I get kun!"

[Age difference, I guess? That"s no good. You have to pay your respects to those older than you.]

"Shuddup! You"re 21 though! You"re one below me, aren"t you!"

[Oh my, you know that is what I call myself and that my real age is more than that, right? That"s no good. You have to sincerely listen to the words from the guys in Candiru that you hired.]

His face contorted and he opened his mouth wordlessly, but Isozaka continued with a sigh.

"Is this fine? Izaya Orihara-san. I am of the Futsuku group"s -"

Since it was a conversation on speaker phone, Isozaka"s voice reached through to Izaya. Though he attempted to give a fake name, a well mannered voice came out from the speakers of the cell phone.

[Well now, nice to meet you! It"s a great honor to talk with the subordinate of Canidru Isozaka-san! Then that means next to you is the information processor Inari-san too?]

Izaya Orihara confirmed his name before Isozaka could. Ryuuji was surprised, but he tilted his head at the last words.

"Who"s Inari?"

At that from the pa.s.senger seat Nec stated as though to place a hex.

"……Stop calling me by my real name."

[I think it"s a nice name though? Hisae Inari-san. If you change the reading, it"d be Inari zu……]

"……I"ll kill you?"

Perhaps there was some kind of trauma. Nec had apparent killing intent from the gleam of her gla.s.ses and a penetrating chilling voice. Ryuuji felt the serious chill of her words for a woman younger than him and fell silent to frantically avoid seeing that behavior.

[Right, sorry, sorry. I only teased, but I don"t feel like making enemies with you. I only want to have business is all.]

"Business……?"

[Yeah, that"s right Ryuuji-kun. I have a lot of things to ask about your older brother Ryuuichi-san.]

"……My brother?"

Ryuuji narrowed his eyes.

What does he want to know of his already dead brother?

Even though there was the possibility he killed his brother in the first place.

While Ryuuji thought over those thoughts, he seemed to have only more questions than anger so he decided to wait for the other to continue.

And then Izaya cheerfully mentioned something strange.

[There was a time your brother temporarily got along with Douma Kiyojima-san, right? Do you know the cause of the fight and breakup after the fact?]

"……Ah, well, who knows."

He did not mention it aloud, but Ryuuji knew. He tried to make a move on Douma"s sister Nana, and so it turned into a fight like that of a death match.

The fact his brother was some pervert attacking a girl was a shame of the Adamura household so it was not talked about much, but the people in town that knew of that know: it was not information worthy to cause an uproar over.

[Do you know even the details from after all that?]

"…….What do you mean?"

[Well, that"s fine. What I want to ask is the human relations surrounding Ryuuichi-san. I want you to tell me in detail from the perspective of an insider like yourself as much as you can.]

"……You think I"d tell you?"

Just who is saying something like asking for a collaboration at this pace?

Thinking he was messing around with him, just before Ryuuji could try to yell at him Izaya piped up with a sonorous voice.

[Of course, I"m not saying it has to be for free! How about I offer you information too!]

"……What information?"

Taken in by the other"s strong words, he unconsciously asked back.

And then Izaya gave one piece of information in a fairly quick manner.

Really shamelessly and without any timidity –

"The information that your younger brother and Kiyojima-san"s daughter Nana are trying to leave the town together."

Interlude: The Man Called Izaya Orihara ④

Izaya Orihara…..

Like h.e.l.l I know that flea! p.i.s.s off!

– Extracted from a testimony of man H, rumored to be Izaya Orihara"s natural enemy