A Unique Sort of Ubiquity

Chapter 1

Ikebukuro has never stood still. People come and go every day. Some have found in this city a flourishing danger, others have discovered a sort of infinite-faced die, secretly operating, always rolling a different number for each and every one of us.

And yet, this city, a concrete jungle whose neon lights flicker out into the distance and rapid urbanization sweeps the buildings and people up in its tides, has not lost its identity. The color gangs, established in 1985, were originally a means of domination. It is easy to forget a name, a face, but who will forget the stark, fervent red that resounded within the minds of those ignorant enough to arouse the anger of the Red Scarves?

It is always a wonder to know that in the heart of this city, there will always be a deep, dark mystery, occasionally swallowing us up in the folds of its obscurities…

The night that falls on Ikebukuro brims over like a frosted glass, enchanting and scintillating, yet beauty has another layer, because every night is awaiting the arrival of something…or maybe someone…

Tonight, the 10 year old Takashi will find her own place in a rural, much less urbanized part of her life. Somewhere she thinks somewhere in this town I will find a deserted field, an old shack, someplace where I will return every day, because I can find something new...

On the other side of the large world, in a small city, across the glimmering ocean on which a merrily lit ferry is illuminating the waters, a young boy is searching for secrets. One eye squinting against a crack in an age- worn, mold- bitten wall, he thinks to himself will I find anything here? Perhaps a passageway…or maybe this is a letterbox that is out of use…but I do not see any letters. Was this person lonely?

And so is it predestined that these two should meet at the same place where the girl has found her place and the boy has found a secret?