DURARARA!! Vol.9 In a Dark Place 5
In a Dark Place 5
“Orihara Izaya-san, say, are you friends with that Black Motorbike?”
“…”
“That urban legend’s been sniffing around for information on us in these recent days. It was on your orders, right? Didn't you ask him to look for information on ‘Heaven Slave’ too? Are you going to send Black Motorbike off to meet them?”
“…”
The conversation between Earthworm and the man under the linen bag was still going on inside the dimly-lit bar.
It was hard to tell how long it had been. The cake was now nowhere to be seen. Instead, three dozens of 2L mineral water bottles stood on the counter.
Earthworm kept talking. The man under the linen bag remained dead silent.
It was hardly even a conversation, but it apparently qualified as communication by Earthworm’s standards.
“Like I said, neither ‘Owner’ nor I know about those folks very well…but we’d have to finish them off as soon as possible if they’re going to land us in trouble. So if there’s anything at all that you know about ‘Heaven Slave’, you’d better spill it out to me.”
“…”
“Either way, I think you’ll want to tell me once your sisters are here. Or do you want me to break your fingers one by one with my hammer? See that table over there? You can still see the blood left by the person whose fingers I broke last time…do you want to see it? Oh, I forgot, you can’t with that bag over your head! Aha! My apo-lo-gies!”
She pictured the way fear was pressing the insides of his skull, distorting his face and wretching his heart, all because she was threatening him from outside the linen bag.
Repeating this step was her idea of communication. It was the way she made herself feel connected to other people.
“Here, here. I think we can be even closer if we work on it.”
“…”
Earthworm slipped her arm around the man’s neck. She had a bottle in her hand.
She rocked the bottle to let the man hear the liquid sloshing against the walls.
“Do you want to be rescued?”
“…”
“Do you not wish to die?”
“…”
“Are you worried about your sisters? Or are you more worried about yourself?”
“…”
Earthworm asked several questions, but the man under the linen bag seemed determined to remain silent.
But it was enough for Earthworm.
For silence was the best “food” for her soul.
Even though she had yet to put him through any physical pain, Earthworm couldn’t help but be impressed by the man’s tenacity. He had remained decidedly silent when anyone else would have at least uttered one or two curses at her.
“Hey, don’t tell me you’re feeling kind of relieved? Are you thinking that at least neither you nor your sisters are going to be killed…? You can’t be. Not if you’ve done your research on us, which you have…”
Earthworm giggled and screwed the bottle open.
“I’ve always been in love with ‘Owner’, so I’ll do anything for him, you know.”
“…”
“Anything…for him…”
It was a dark smile.
Earthworm tipped the bottle over the man’s linen bag so that its contents slowly flowed into its fabric.
The liquid was almost completely absorbed by the linen bag; only a few tiny drops bounced off upon contact.
She moved the bottle in a circle above his head, making sure that the liquid soaked the linen bag evenly throughout. All the while she carefully avoided getting any liquid onto her own clothes or the floor.
“I could have made your face and the linen bag a mess with sulfuric acid, you know, but that is way too underhanded for me. So I’m going to make sure that it is all upright and open…like this!”
As she spoke the odor of the liquid diffused throughout the room.
To anyone who had smelled the substance before it was immediately evident what it was - lamp oil.
The odor was not as strong as the kind that followed whenever a lamp oil stove was distinguished, but it was more than enough for identification purposes.
“Are you alright? Are you sure you’re not going to suffocate? Don’t pass out even if you inhale too much, OK? Wait, does the odor of lamp oil make you pass out like paint thinner? Whatever.”
“…”
“Anyway, once your sisters get here we’re going to do all sorts of things to them…and when we’re halfway through, I’m going to set fire to this bag for you, OK? If it burns well you’ll even be able to see what will have happened to your sisters, right? Oh, but remember to hold your breath when it burns to avoid asphyxiation. Fire takes the oxygen away from you, you know - though I have no idea how long it’s going to keep burning.”
If she were to set fire to the bag, the man would have been in too much pain from burning to even think about holding his breath. Of course, she knew how ridiculous her warning was; she had said it on purpose.
What kind of face will be revealed when the bag actually starts burning?
One full of the fear of death? Or grief for the fate of his sisters? Endless anger? Despair? Or will I see determined eyes, never giving up hope, staring back at me?
Anything goes - thought Earthworm.
“What would a human being do? Would he care more about himself or his loved one when they’re in such a dire situation together? I’d say humans are creatures that ultimately put themselves first. Do you know anything about that, Mr. Information Broker? After all, you know everything about humans, don’t you?
Earthworm had raised a ridiculous question. She was not expecting an answer, of course.
Her sole purpose was to unsettle the man with her questions. But the man had almost won her admiration with his absolute lack of reaction.
What should she do next to get him to talk? Pull his fingernails out? Strip him and write on his body with a soldering iron?
No longer able to suppress her own desire, she had begun to contemplate switching to physical torture when -
Footsteps of at least several people were heard from the entrance of the bar.
“Ah. Is it time already…?”
“…!”
“I think your sisters are here☆”
Earthworm stood up from her chair in a relaxed way like a housewife who finally saw the goods she bought online delivered. Instead of getting the door herself, however, she told one of her subordinates:
“Go get the door.”
A young woman nodded and walked toward the door.
Earthworm watched the woman go. She said to the man under the linen bag sitting behind her:
“Finally, the family reunion! I think I might cry!”
“…”
She kept giggling as she spoke -
Several seconds later, however, her giggling stopped.
As soon as her subordinate opened the door, more than ten young men walked in -
But these were men Earthworm had never seen before in her life.
- Who are they!?
- Are they working for the information broker?! - No way!
- Awakusu-kai? - No, they’re way too young!
- How come they know this place? - Who are they, dammit!
- They can’t be cops. - They’re probably younger than I am…
- Who are they? - Enemies? - Friends? - Dangerous?
- “Owner”… - Help me, “Owner”!
All sorts of thoughts rushed to Earthworm’s head. Eventually she had to ask for help from the one she trusted the most.
There was no one to respond to the pleas of her heart, of course.
Her subordinates were likewise surprised and alarmed when they saw the men who had just walked in.
The young man who stood at the center of the gang, however, stretched out his hands and said in a sonorous voice that rang throughout the bar:
“Nice to meet you all, members of ‘Amphisbaena’. We are not your friends yet, but we are not your enemies, either.”
“…Who are you?”
Earthworm was even more alarmed. She asked the question in a completely different voice from the one she used to interrogate the man under the linen bag.
The young man had probably realized that Earthworm was the center of her gang in this room. Without losing a second he bowed courteously and said his name:
“I’m sorry for the intrusion. My name is Shijima.
Otherwise known as the second in command in the group that sells the drug called ‘Heaven Slave’.”
And with that - we’ll be going back half a day in time.