RARARA! VOLUME 1 CHAPTER 8-THE INFINITE LOVE OF A SERIAL KILLER PT.2
(This is the chapter where Anri-san's introduction is. Any words between _0_0_0_ belong to dear Narita. I'm so sorry. Ah! Forgive me!)
CHATROOM
Kuma-san has joined the chat.
Kuma
Hello everybody.
Kuma
Oh? No one's here? Shame...
Kuma
You must all be out there in your lives being happy! The shame has left the building!
Saika-san has joined the chat
Kuma
Oh hello~! Haha I believe your enjoying your life as well!
Saika
?
Saika
Pardon me. I was just a little surprised. Hello.
Kuma
What a warm welcome~! I truly appreciate it!
Kuma
Have you heard about those Moon attacks?
Saika
?
Kuma
Hahahahahaha~! It sends chills down my spine!
Kuma
Something about a serial killer. Really interesting~
Bakyura-san has joined the chat
Kuma
Oh things have gotten really lively!
Kuma
This isn't at all how it was when I first started!
Bakyura
Hi
Bakyura
Kuma? Why Kuma?
Saika
A serial killer...? Oh no.
Bakyura
...
Bakyura
Why are you terrifying Saika-san with such news?
Kuma
Hmm?
Kuma
Oh my, what a lovely greeting, Bakyura-san! You are truly enjoying life with your directness!
Saika
Please don't fight...
Kuma
Fight? Oh wow really~? This would be the first time then!
Bakyura
We're not fighting, Saika-san. Don't worry lol. Kuma-san... Are you ignoring me on purpose?
Kuma
Oh right. I do apologize. Uh, Kuma because I love bears~! Indeed! Their wonderful creatures!
Kuma
My friend has an account too. He just didn't bother with it. I made him get Hagewashi. I was too embarrassed to be the only one with an animal username lol.
Saika
Oh it's too bad he can't come on.
Kuma
I'll make him come on~! Heehee he's the best!
Kuma
Anyways, can you believe this serial killer? It's like the Slasher all over again!
Bakyura
Hagewashi? How strange!
Bakyura
It's a zoo now!
Saika
I don't think it's like the Slasher at all...
Kuma
Hagewashi-sama at best! Hagewashi-san at worst!
Kuma
Hmm? You don't? I do~! Maybe he returned! Oh how horrible the streets are with people like that!
Saika
...
Bakyura
...
Kuma
That's what most people say, right? Not me~!
Kuma
I just wonder why they kill people.
Kuma
They all have different reasons
Kuma
It's sort of exciting! No, really exciting~! What goes in the minds of serial killers? Forever a mystery! Secrets secrets secrets~!
Bakyura
How sick
Kuma
No, you're right. Pardon me.
Kuma
What I'm trying to say... Is that people that seem to be monsters...
Kuma
...are more human than you think...
Saika
That's an interesting thought.
Bakyura
I don't get it.
Kuma
Oh that's too bad.
Kuma
Well I have to go~! Hagewashi-sama and I are going to run around the streets!
Saika
Be careful...
Kuma
Heheh. Maybe we'll bump into one of ya~!
Kuma-san has left the chat
Saika
Oh he left before I could say goodbye... Ah, Bakyura-san... I found out I have something to do as well
Saika
Goodbye Bakyura-san.
Bakyura
Ok! Take care!
Saika-san has left the chat
Bakyura
I guess I should go as well then..
Bakyura
Who was that Kuma-san person anyways...?
[Private Mode] Bakyura
Izaya... You better not have any thing to do with these two new people.
[Private Mode] Bakyura
Drop dead!
Bakyura-san has left the chat
No one is in the chatroom right now.
No one is in the chatroom right now.
.
.
.
.
A bespectacled girl stared at the computer screen, the light from the screen reflected off her glasses.
"..."
What happened?
Another daughter...? No..
This person was murdering people.
She could hear the curses coursing through her body. Saika was whispering it's love to her.
_0_0_0_
You see, Sonohara Anri was once ordinary. This had, however, come to a halt five years ago.
She became a host for something supernatural which took refuge inside of her.
This supernatural thing was a demon blade that Kishitani Shingen used to steal Celty's head.
When the blade was no longer needed for use, Shingen sold the demon blade named "Saika" to the antique store Anri's father had run. After a series of events, Anri ended up losing her parents, and the demon blade ended up in her body.
The demon blade had not caused her parents' death.
In fact, she and her mother would probably have already died under her father's violence had it not been for the demon blade.
That her mother would have died either way was indeed a thought that rendered her wordless, but Anri had come to accept the fact that only she was saved just like she accepted the existence of the demon blade in her body.
Anri had had such thoughts before:
Had her consciousness been completely in the demon blade's control like the way things were in the slasher tales set in old times, she would probably been able to feel better about her life.
Or, alternatively, had the blade been one that could talk to her freely like the ones in manga, she would actually have felt fortunate.
But Saika was nothing more than a wicked curse that had found a home deep down in her heart.
Saika had only one wish.
To love humans.
To fall in love with the entire human race.
That was it.
But for Saika, "loving" meant becoming one with the person it loved.
In other words, with the entire human race.
It wanted to infect every human being in the world with its curse and fill their bodies and souls with its loving whisper. In that way, it wanted to swarm the earth with its countless "daughters" born in its union with human consciousness.
That was all to Saika's wish.
But it was suppressed to a certain degree by Anri's consciousness.
Anri, who had always seen things around her through a "picture frame", simply regarded Saika's overwhelming "loving whispers" as yet another picture far, far way from her in the frame. .
What she felt for Saika, which loved human beings as if it could never get tired of it, was - a strong sense of uneasiness and a smidgen of friendship and overwhelming jealousy.
This child…Saika…she can love anyone in the world as if her life depended on it.
How fortunate.
A powerful sense of guilt seized Anri as she caught herself having such thoughts; yet the sense of guilt was not directed at anyone.
On the other hand, Saika did nothing to save Anri from her hell.
It couldn't hurt Anri, who was its host, so it had to exclude Anri from the humans it "loved".
Anri admired Saika. Saika used her but was at the same time suppressed by her.
It was not a form of symbiosis; more like mutual parasitism.
If Saika had bequeathed anything on Anri -
It would be the overwhelming amount of "experience" etched into Saika's consciousness.
Thats how Sonohara Anri turned out to be not-so-normal in the end.
_0_0_0_
Anri didn't know where to turn. She wanted to talk more about these attacks but the only one she could think of talking to was nowhere to be found.
Ryuugamine Mikado...
With much reluctance, Anri decided it should be up to her to investigate this case further. She stood up and left her apartment.
Her eyes were glowing red as a sharp item emerged from her hand
The cursed katana-
Saika
There was a young man walking the streets.
He was tall but looked childish.
His soft blue eyes and oversized bear-eared headphones made him look younger.
This young man was usually following after his older friend but tonight, he strolled the streets on his own.
Waiting for something.
At the same precise moment, the serial killer Moon hid in the shadows as he awaited his next victim. He had a knife at hand, an empty pit in his stomach, and rage in his heart. He was also waiting for something.
A young teenage girl with glasses and huge knockers also was prowling into the night.
Although there were many concerns for her safety, they had all been erased because something about this girl was special.
Her eyes glowed red and she wielded in her hand, a katana.
She, as well, was looking for something but not quite sure what.
Lastly, a short but older looking man with intelligent green eyes roamed the streets. Unlike the other three, he was not quiet in the street. Nor did he care to be.
His sleek black boots echoed into the night air as they hit pavement.
Also unlike the other three, he seemed to know exactly where he was heading.
"Stop right there."
The teen had talked. Her name was Sonohara Anri.
She had pointed her katana at the stranger before her.
The stranger blinked.
"Oh...?"
Elsewhere, the serial killer Moon had been awaiting for his moment. His eyes fell on a young woman who appeared alone and defenseless. He chuckled to himself.
A first victim. Now things shall truly begin.
Before he could move onwards, he felt a sharp thing prick his neck.
"Amateur."
The person behind him hissed in disappointment in his ear.
Back to where the teenager was, her katana was pointed at the tall young man. Instead of being frightened, he was smiling because he had found exactly what he was looking for.
"Saika~!"
It was Anri's turn to be surprised. She felt her reflexes slacken until she noticed the oversized bear-eared headphones the young man had on.
"Kuma...?"
"Why yes, they are indeed bear ears~ congratulations~! You know, Saika-chan, you're really lucky you bumped into me."
The young man kept his distance although his smile was welcoming.
"Uh..?"
He wasn't reacting at all to the fact that Anri had red eyes and a katana. The curses in Saika whispered to her louder.
It wanted to love Kuma-san.
"My name is Nishi Akihiko. I don't know who you are but I certainly know what you are~"
Anri looked around, her defenses rising.
"Where's Hagewashi-san?"
She remembered that Nishi had mentioned a friend.
Maybe they were planning to catch her or something.
Had she walked into a trap?
"Are you... Moon?"
"Ah! Two questions! First one- Hagewashi-san is busy with an important matter so he couldn't see you tonight. Which certainly is lucky for you~ Second! I most certainly am not Moon! I am very deeply offended that you would think that! Do I look like a killer? Then again, I suppose killers don't look like killers do they? Ah, well, Moon is just crappy at his job. That's what I meant."
Anri was confused but nodded slowly. She walked in a slow circle around the man before her. This man was too nice to be in the streets so late at night. But there was something else to him...
"So, Saika-chan, I must warn you, don't go after the man who will kill Moon tonight. If you do, he will kill you without any thought. You will be declared unloved and that will be the end of your story."
"M-my name is not Saika... It's So-"
"No no no~! Don't tell me! If I know your name, then I'll tell Hagewashi-san and he will come after you."
"I... Wait, Hagewashi-san is going to kill Moon? Why? Why does he want to kill me?"
"Oh... I suppose at this moment he looks like somewhat of a hero huh? Uh, well... Moon upset him deeply because the majority of those attacks Moon had supposedly done were actually the attacks of Loveless..."
"What do I have to do with that?"
Did Anri really believe someone could kill her?
No, not when she had Saika...
"You?"
Akihiko's brows raised up in amusement as he chuckled gently.
"You, my dear, are the current Saika. Hagewashi-san has always wanted to destroy Saika."
"Did... D-did Saika harm him in some way..?"
Anri had tried to get near the young man but he must've done his research because he was always a step ahead of her. She was surprised when he evaded her attacks.
"Please stop trying to cut me... Hagewashi-san wouldn't like that. He might kill me."
He gave Anri a sheepish smile. At hearing that his life would be in danger, Anri reluctantly stopped trying. Saika cursed louder in anger.
But there was so much he was hiding.
"Saika never harmed Hagewashi-san. In fact, it fascinated him at first. Until he found out the manner of Saika's attacks."
Akihiko sighed thoughtfully.
"Only Hagewa-no, no. Let's not give him another identity. Let's just call him Loveless. I would hate to reveal his name. Loveless and I both find his name unfair. He actually gives humanity infinite love. But I can't go into detail because that would take for-ev-er~!"
Anri tried hard to comprehend what the man was trying to say but Akihiko continued drifting off subject.
"Ah~! Yes~! Why Loveless is intent on killing you!"
Akihiko paused.
"You're in the way, simply put. Although he admires someone else that harms to show love, he can't stand the thought of anyone else touching the love he feels for humanity... Uh... Roughly put."
Akihiko laughed nervously.
Anri took a determined step forward.
Maybe...
There is no Hagewashi...
Only Kuma...
"A-are you Loveless...?"
Akihiko's eyes widened once again. His smile never disappeared.
"How flattering~! No, I could never be Loveless. I'm too messy."
Akihiko bowed and carefully reached over to grab Anri's hand. After seeing the blade extend from where he almost touched it, he hopped back and laughed as if he was a child playing with a snake.
"How interesting~! Wait till I tell Loveless! Goodbye my dear. I do hope you take my advice to heart. And perhaps you won't ever meet Loveless."
The young man gave a cheeky grin before saluting and striding away. He already started singing innocently.
He was detached from any dangers in the world.
He wasn't the one who said those things to Anri in his head. He was just the messenger.
That was why it was so easy to sing as if he never talked about such a heavy subject.
It wasn't heavy in his mind at all.
Besides, Hitoshi-san would live better this way.
Back in the shadows, it was serial killer against serial killer.
Hagewashi did exist.
Hagewashi was Loveless.
Loveless was a petite young man named Takeshi Hitoshi.
This small man already had the serial killer Moon in a choke hold, a surgical knife against his neck.
"Amateur."
Hitoshi hissed in disgust in the man's ear.
The man who was normally hooded froze in fear. He was revealed to be an even younger man than Hitoshi. This irritated Hitoshi since the younger man still was taller then him.
Hitoshi released his grip and backed off a few paces. The man was breathing heavily but managed a strangled chuckle.
"You're going to regret letting go of me. You know who I am?"
The man spat at Hitoshi. Hitoshi just sighed as if he pitied the man.
"Yes, you're the pain in the ass taking other people's work."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Moon couldn't think of anyone not shaking in fear by now. Well, maybe that tall Russian or the monster, but he made sure to stay away from them.
This small man was nothing.
"I'm just asking... Where are the hearts...?"
Moon laughed. Oh, now he had material to scare away this man who almost killed him.
"I have them stored in my house."
"Really? How ironic. I do too."
Who's kidding who now?
Was this some kind of twisted man?
A mental?
No, that didn't matter. He was just another one. Another victim to make his legacy in this crazy place. Yeah, he could start with this loser instead.
Moon raised his knife, ready to attack.
He liked a good chase.
His challenger looked at him with barely any amusement.
"If you're pointing that thing at me, make sure your prepared to die."
"You're the one who's going to die. I'll give you 5 seconds..."
"No, that'll be unfair to you."
This victims was really pissing him off!
"This isn't some manga! You're not a hero or something!"
Hitoshi gave a bitter smile to himself.
"I never said I was..."
Moon was the first to attack, rushing with great force, sure that his movement alone would make the man in front of him freeze in fear or something.
The petite man with sleek black boots didn't freeze. He moved astoundingly fast and swiftly dodged the knife.
So what if he was a good do-
Moon blinked as he felt a blinding pain from somewhere below. He looked down and saw some blood spurt out.
And was that...
Skin?
His skin?
He couldn't touch it to ease the pain. The night air became deadly as it slapped against his naked flesh. It was a thin but deep skillful cut as if the man had cut a piece of cake.
"I learned that move from this movie called Maniac 2.5. I wouldn't recommend it."
Moon sunk to the ground slowly as he felt several sharp prickling pain across his knees. He glanced down before his head hit the pavement with a loud- THUD
He saw metallic glints sticking down his knees and calves. Surgical knives. Precisely struck at central points.
It took all he had to stop from screaming.
In what?
Anger?
Frustration?
No...
"If your feeling fear right now, you fail even more then I thought so."
Tap tap tap.
He could hear the sleek black boots walk up to him as he fell to the ground. Staring down at him was a cold sharp bright green eye.
"I would've tortured you, but you didn't technically do anything wrong. You haven't harmed Shizuo-sama nor have you touched Celty-chan, chichi-ue, or Akihiko-kun. But you did take credit for my work. Not like I expected you to go up to reporters and go like 'I didn't do this but I did those' hmm... Well, I still didn't like it. So you are declared forever unloved, yes?
"It's a shame you killed people with no reason. Look at you. On the floor. Bleeding to death. Alone. Was it worth it?
"I guess you could argue that I will be in that position one day. Huuhuuhuu~ I probably will. But when I am, all the past 'lovers' I had made will be worth it. My murdering is worth anything because of that endless love and connection I feel towards my 'victims.' I remember each one of them. Do you remember yours?"
Moon was nothing more but a school boy. Who somehow got it in his head that if he kills, he would go down a legend when arrested by cops.
He never planned to die. He just wanted fame.
Yet before him stood his murderer. Not being ruthless but speaking as if scolding a young child.
"Sorry I have to kill you, I suppose. But Ikebukuro waited so long to play with me and I can't let her down. You are the best gift I could give to her to say 'Hey~! I've returned!' so..."
Hitoshi leaned over the barely conscious man and started etching on his chest. Moon wriggled in pain, trying to get Hitoshi off him. Hitoshi tilted his head and stepped back to admire his work.
"That'll do~"
Moon's chest showed, on it, etched in neat deep strokes as if by keyboard were the words "unloved." his breathing grew shallow as his blood started surrounding him.
The last sounds he heard were the sharp tap tap tap of boots hitting the pavement and a soft
"Huuhuuhuu~!"