Durarara Vol. 4

Chapter 1.1

CHAPTER 1

KING TELEVISION SPECIAL REPORT: IKEBUKURO, A

HUNDRED DAYS AT THE WAR FRONT

"Ikebukuro, a town that knows not what rest is - "

The heavy-hearted voice on TV was narrating the clip showing the view of the night

street being shot from a patrol car.

"Two months ago, 'Ripper Night', which resulted in a series of injuries, had left the entire

city in panic. Today, the Ikebukuro night is not looking any more reassuring."

It was the kind of special report you see everywhere around the end of the year.

In the peaceful living room, precious clips of previously solved cases - obtained by

journalists who followed the police's heels to shoot them - were airing on TV.

Their subjects weren't anything of national concern - usually street fights, drunk or

license-less driving, or the retrieval of stolen cars - in fact, hardly anything that was likely

to even make its way into regional newspapers.

But these events, captured raw and live on film, did give the audience the impression that

malicious crimes were being committed in front of their eyes, and conveyed a central

message - "The city is scary tonight."

Still, this special report on King Television had one key difference from other programs

of its kind.

"An unnerving shadow is dancing in the darkness of the night on this highway serving as

an artery to this city."

The street view switched to a famous video clip.

"This motorbike's got neither a number plate nor a headlight - what's more, it's painted

completely black. Naturally, it's already risky driving to begin with."

As expected, the view was still of the Ikebukuro night.

Nevertheless, it gave off a different vibe from everything that had been on air till now.

At the center of the view, a black motorbike was soaring after another car.

As the narrator had pointed out, the motorbike was equipped with neither a headlight nor

a number plate; if anything, it was more like a black silhouette that had turned into a

three-dimensional object.

A gunshot was heard, and the rider on the motorbike bent far backwards to dodge it; for a

moment the safety helmet seemed like it was floating away in the air.

However, it returned almost immediately to where it was a second before -

- as if it were connected to the rider's shoulder by black elastic bands. This was creepy

enough to make the viewer's hair stand on end, but the real problem was the "fact" that

revealed itself for a split second during that process.

In the split second the safety helmet had threatened to float away -

It revealed mere emptiness underneath.

The viewer's eyes had not been deluded. Nor was it deliberate camouflage utilizing darkcolored