Chapter 24: Время Ключ1
11:55, location unknown
"This is most inconvenient." Vorona gave a cold gaze to her partner, Slon. She had her arms crossed, shaking her head in disapproval.
The burly man nodded, "I know." He replied apologetically. "But this is a time of well-deserved rest!"
"I've too much rest."
"Plus," Slon went on, ignoring Vorona's remarks. "Our target has a lot of security, mind you. This includes a martial artist, a former gang leader, a demon wielder, and the newly reformed Dragon Zombie." His Japanese far surpassed Vorona's, but it was overlooked by reckless abandon and constant informality.
"Inconsistent knowledge." Vorona stated simply. "The worm has been caught."
"Yet the bird starves. I know. Putting it in less poetic terms, timing is important. For all we know the bird caught a flimsy little thing."
This was an old lesson back in Vorona's training days that Simon and Dennis had taught her. "The early bird catches the worm." The woman was asked what the outcome would be.
"If the worm is small, it doesn't matter if the bird catches it or not. If the bird is starved, it will die."
Chances and exceptions, the world could bury all those little things away with their clichéd laws and sayings, yet it goes all the same.
"The late bird catches the mouse."
With better timing come better results.
This all tied down to the matter that Vorona was being impatient. She had no idea why Slon was speaking of white goats2, if he could have just told her instead of forcing the woman to connect the dots. However, Vorona was bright.
"Without a cat mice feel free3," she stated.
Slon sighed, "Vorona, dear, I have no idea why you insist to argue with the proverbs we both grew up with as a child," he commented calmly. "If our prey decides to play some, let em'. Think of it as their dying wish."
"Fine."
"You know, right? How much like Drakon - your father, you are?"
Vorona nodded solemnly. Whether I like it or not, I am walking the same path as he. She sighed, keeping silent, and struggling to keep her stoic, self-aware appearance.
Garden scissors, knives, and even a pistol. Vorona was naturally destructive, and she welcomed the fact with open arms. She loved - savoured - destruction.
Simon Brezhnev and Dennis, the present sushi chefs of Russia Sushi, had taught her all she knew after they left the Soviet Union during its collapse.
"So anyways, didn't Mr. Jinnai tell us to wait in the first place?" Slon asked, giving a light laugh.
"Dai…" Vorona breathed, although her expression remained the same.
"Then wait and we shall receive! We deserve a day off anyways." Slon clapped, "Besides, we've had our fair share of odd individuals."
"Bespectacled girl. Black Rider. Awakusu-Kai." Vorona coolly listed their former targets. They had failed them all.
Slon leaned back, smiling inquiringly at Vorona. "How do you plan on killing this Orihara? He's no ordinary target."
His partner nodded. "True. Or maybe you're overestimating him."
Slon smirked, raising an eyebrow. "What reason do I have for overestimating my target?"
Vorona saw his point, and started to drift off once more.
So even Slon is taking this seriously… I can't help but think that aside from that borderline personality of Izaya's, there's nothing extraordinary about him. He is a smart one, true. However, even the one with the most smarts still dies.
"Vorona, you're being unsettlingly contemplative."
"It matters not to me. The hues of the city are painted diversely. "
"Vorona dear, your Japanese is atrocious." Slon scowled. "It has no fluidity to it whatsoever." He made a disapproving gesture, waving his finger in front of Vorona's face.
"Worry not. Target is of my interest."
Slon nodded, his slit eyes laughing for him. "But of course…"
At that moment, Vorona's phone began to buzz. She read over the message she had received, never changing her expression. She then shut it, glaring coldly at Slon once again. "We act during summer. A long interval."
"When exactly? Where?"
"August fourth. In Ikebukuro or Shinjuku, depending on circumstances."
"So in other words we're playing in the lion's den? Excellent."
1 Время Ключ; Vremya Kluch (phonetic reading): Translates roughly to "Time is key."
2 "…he speaks of goats" : A Russian proverb. Nowadays referred to as "Beating around the bush."
3 "Without a cat mice feel free.": A Russian proverb. Nowadays, it translates to: "While the cats are away, the mice shall play."