Mikado's funeral was held in Tokyo. It turned out his family had originally hailed from there before moving to Saitama and his family grave was in the city. The ceremony had an air of strangeness about it. The crowds of Raira Academy students that were attending were more concerned with the crazy rumors being passed around than with what was actually happening.
Kida took care to hide from Mikado's parents because he couldn't bear to face them after what had happened. Hiding in the crowd, he was observing the people attending. There were several whom he wasn't exactly happy about being there but one group rubbed him the wrong way in particular. Orihara sisters and Kuronuma Aoba.
He cornered them in front of the shrine where the funeral had taken place, having sent Saki on her way first.
"What are you doing here?"
Aoba smiled politely at him.
"What kind of a greeting is that, Kida-senpai?" He asked. "A lot of the students from our school are here today, obviously, to pay our respects to Ryuugamine-senpai."
"Because it's terrible that he killed himself." Mairu said.
"Terrible." Kururi echoed.
"If that is even what actually happened." Aoba mused. "After all, the last time I saw Ryuugamine-senpai he went to look for his best friend. And then he ended up dead."
"Could he have been murdered?" Mairu gasped. "Who was that friend anyway, Aocchii?"
"I'll tell you later, Mairu. Girls, if you excuse us, I guess me and Kida-senpai need to talk alone for a minute."
"Fine. But don't forget to tell us who it was." Mairu and Kururi smiled at Aoba and left holding hands.
"You have quite the nerve to show yourself here." Kida growled.
"The very same can be said of you, Kida-senpai. I've heard you were there when Mikado-senpai killed himself. What kind of a friend lets something like this happen right in front of his eyes?"
Kida's fists clenched.
"I hope you don't make this into a fight at Mikado-senpai's funeral." Aoba said calmly.
"You sure hope. Because you don't stand a chance."
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you..." Aoba looked pointedly at the cast on Kida's leg. "I respected Mikado-senpai a great deal, you know. It shouldn't have ended like this for him."
"It's my fault he got involved with the likes of you in the first place."
"The likes of me?" Aoba asked incredulously.
"You're spreading rumors about me having killed him."
"Maybe." Aoba smiled. "But why would the rumors about how you, as the leader of the Yellow Scarves, single-handedly got rid of the leader of the Dollars, be such a bad thing for you?"
"I would have never hurt him like that."
"Obviously. We talked quite a lot about you, me and Mikado-senpai. And considering what he's told me, I don't actually believe you could have killed him. Also, we wouldn't have been talking peacefully like that if I did believe you'd done that." Aoba's smile turned cold. "It was just a joke with Mairu." He shrugged.
"I don't understand how Mikado-kun could have ever trusted you." Kida growled.
"Kida-senpai…" Aoba sighed. "Whatever differences there might have been between the two of us so far, we should forget about them now in the face of what has happened to Mikado-senpai. I believe he would have liked that."
Aoba stretched his hand out towards Kida.
But Kida's hands stayed in his pockets.
"I really was there when Mikado-kun killed himself." He said. "And he did not do this peacefully or out of his own volition."
Kida shuddered at the mere memory of the look in Mikado's eyes right before he'd died, a sight that he was sure was going to stay etched in his mind until the end of his life.
"What do you mean?" Aoba asked, his hand dropping by his side.
"There is someone still around who made Mikado-kun do this. And I will make him pay." Kida declared.
Aoba wondered if that was a threat against him.
"Whatever it is you're trying to do…" Kida continued. "I won't get in your way as long as you won't get in mine. But that includes getting involved on the behalf of Orihara sisters."
"Oh, is that what you think, Kida-senpai? That Orihara Izaya was somehow behind it all?" Aoba asked incredulously. "You're selling Mikado-senpai quite short if you think he could be controlled like that by anyone. And you being used by Izaya doesn't actually mean everyone else was doing what he wanted, too. Don't get me wrong, Kida-senpai, I'd gladly see him dead but his sisters have nothing to do with this at all."
"I understand that you want to protect them because they're your friends. But you know what that means." Kida looked Aoba in the eye.
"Why give me a warning?" Aoba asked.
"Because I'm not a sneaky bastard like you." Kida answered before turning around and starting to walk away.
"Kida-senpai, you should get off your high horse if you're going to threaten innocent girls." Aoba called out to him.
His brow furrowed in thought after Kida had left.
"So, what did he want?" Mairu asked when he rejoined her and Kururi.
"You should watch out for him." Aoba said seriously. "If you see him or some other Yellow Scarves wandering around, you should tell me."
"Why?" Mairu asked, not particularly interested.
"Because he may try to hurt you to draw your brother out."
"Oh, but we can take care of ourselves." Mairu smiled mischievously. "And won't you protect us, Aocchi?"
"Sure."
"Oh, you're so manly." Mairu cooed.
Mairu and Kururi giggled, not really taking what he had said seriously. But Aoba knew what he had seen. The cold resolve in Kida's eyes didn't bode well for the future.
"And who was Ryuugamine-senpai's best friend that he went to see before his death?" Mairu asked.
"It was Kida-senpai, actually." Aoba answered.
"So, did he actually kill Ryuugamine-senpai and now wants to put the blame on our brother? Does he really believe Iza-nii could make someone kill themselves?" Mairu sighed. "Everyone knows it's just stupid rumors, right?"
"Worried." Kururi whispered in a barely there voice.
"Don't worry, Kururi." Aoba addressed her. "Your brother's alive."
"We don't know that, Aocchi." Mairu pointed out. "Not like he ever tells us anything."
"I have my ways of knowing, though." Aoba assured them.
Mairu sighed.
"Actually, you're just like him."