"Hey, have you heard?"
"?"

"Heard what?"
"People have been found around alleyways all over Ikebukuro."
"These people are definitely dead, however no doctor can give a reason why. There are no injuries after all."

"Wha.. Really? How many people so far?"
"50 or so."
"Seriously!?"
"Yea. They're also saying that each person found had a strand of blonde hair on them."

As I walked down the streets of Ikebukuro for the first time, I curiously gazed at my surroundings. I looked at the tall buildings, the bustling crowds, the immediate shops, and I could feel that I would have a great time here. The main target of my interest happened to be this average looking shy guy walking with his dirty blonde companion. "Hey, girly." After feeling two heavy, broad hands land on my frail shoulders, interrupting my thoughts, I turned to look at the owners of the three large shadow the enveloped me.

Three men, all who were more than 2x my height or so, stood behind me. Before anything else, I noticed the mischievous smiles and perverse gazes. Then I noticed the yellow scarves hanging from their persons. One of them was tied it around their wrist. One hung it out of his pocket. The person with his hands on my shoulders tied it around his forehead. As I looked around, I could notice a few outside stares and quiet whispers, wishing for my safety.

"Do you have any business with me sirs?" I asked meekly as I turned to face them. The man who tied his scarf around his wrist spoke up for him to answer my question. "No, not exactly." To finish his thought, the man holding onto my shoulders chimed in. "We just wanted to ask about why a foreigner would be wearing a kimono. Especially when there's no particular event, at least for a month or so."

As he spoke, he took a lock of the long, bright blonde hair that came from my head, bringing it to his nose and he took a breath of it's scent. "Ah, well-" As soon as I attempted to reply, he cut me off, letting go of my hair so he could hold his hand up, gesturing me to stop. "Hold that thought. Why don't we talk somewhere else?" His friends chuckled as they surrounded me and led me out of the subway to an alleyway nearby.

What a strange place to have a chat… I thought to myself as I looked around the damp place.

When I felt the rustling on the top of my head, I instinctively reached for my hair to try and smooth it down. Though I adjusted my locks somewhat to be able to provide relief to my ever-so-delicate ears.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?"
"Quite the sweet catch if you ask me."

"First time in a while since we had a cute teenager."

I heard it all. And as I listened, something tightened in my chest. Anxiety was the last thing it was however.

As they approached, I turned to them with a curious expression, like I had not heard a word. I started a conversation before they could speak however. "Say… Ikebukuro is famous for many strange occurrences… correct?" They all turned to each other, surprised at how normal I was reacting to the situation. However, they turned back at me, nodding. "Yea, it's pretty strange. You hear things outta fairy tales around these parts."

"F-For example..!?" They all took a step back once they saw the spark of interest in my eyes. "W… Well.." One of his friends hopped into the conversation. "Definitely the headless rider." "Yea, that's definitely gotta be the strangest urban legend."

Headless Rider… I mouthed the name, gliding my finger across my lips, enjoying the way the words left my mouth. "Ufufu… You have my thanks." From my laugh, I could tell goose bumps ran along their skin. I noticed that my cutesy personality had been dropped and quickly re-equipped it. With a tilt of my head, I blinked at them. "Is something the matter?"

Brushing off my change in personality, they chuckled as their main goal returned to their thoughts. "Nope. Nothin." Before I realized, the men had backed into me into the back of the alley, leaving me almost no room to breath. It was at the moment I realized that one man had grabbed my hands to pin me against the wall, while the other two attempted to disrobe me.

I didn't attempt to resist and allowed them to remove the obi, with the kimono barely sticking to my body. They all smirked as the man pinning me with both hands moved my arms above my head to restrict me with one hand, as he used the other to brush the cloth that persistently tried to hide body. But as he did, a smirk forced it's way on my features as he received quite the shock.

The crimson red that splashed on my bare body and the pained and frightened expression that he wore… Oh how the electricity I felt. His grip soon left my wrists as he fell to the floor. "Ufufu…" I kneeled down in front of him, gently caressing his cheek as he desperately held onto life. "This is what happens to TRASH…" I gently whispered as I watched light fade from his eyes.

"Y… You bitch!" One of his friends found a steel pipe and swung it down at my head with all his might, but I knew better than to get hit by such an obvious attack. The more red that littered the walls and blended with the dirty water around us only widened my manic smile. I couldn't help bursting into laughter, as pleasure hit my body like tidal wave.

But reality dawned on me quickly. Their pathetic bodies lay still at my feet, however my kimono is still securely tied across my body and there was no blood to be seen. With a disinterested expression, I calmly waved my palm in front of where I saw their bodies, and left the alley like nothing transpired. "Now…"

IT IS TIME FOR THE HUNT