Jokes, Whims, & Coincidences

By: Aviantei

Chapter Twenty-Four, Racking Up Coincidences

Susanuma Aiako: Wishing for Peace

Oh, are we doing the narrative thing where we go back a bit in time to have things make sense from another character's perspective? I think I've seen this before, but I don't know how well I'll do. I'll give it my best shot anyways!

My day had, all things considered, gone well. I was managing in classes without too much trouble. Other people still freaked me out, but I'd been able to manage alright by using the Dollars forums as a distraction. While my general shyness had led to be getting picked on before, the Orihara twins had been bothering me on a regular basis after I ran into them with Sosa. The past three years of sharing a grade at Raira Middle with Mairu and Kururi had convinced most others to give them a wide berth, and so I was safe. That meant I still had to put up with the occasional overwhelming bursts of attention, but Orihara Mairu seemed tame in comparison to Sosa-san, so I'd been able to survive with minimal issue. On that day in particular, the twins had practice at their dojo, which freed me up to go home since Sosa-san hadn't called on me.

Given everything that had been happening to me since the start of the school year, I couldn't help but feel a little suspicious about how peaceful things were gone. It sounded kinda fake, tbh. I didn't even have a shift at work that day!

"Better not look a gift horse in the mouth…I think that's how it goes?" I muttered to myself as I came home. My apartment wasn't anything impressive—in fact, it was super cheap and dingy—but I didn't mind it. If I had to complain about anything, it was that the limited floor space made it hard to keep all my sewing supplies at hand, but I'd figured out a compromise.

Sewing and costume making were hobbies I couldn't see myself ever giving up, even if I tried. There was something just…satisfying about it. Taking stretches of fabric and string and turning them into things you could wear. The slightest adjustment of a stitch or type of material could change the total impression of an outfit, which was the best. My old middle school friends had enjoyed dressing up, so I'd helped a lot with the work, though my costume designing skills were a bit on the shoddier side.

My current project was another dress for me to wear on days off, though it was more meant to be loungewear. While I didn't know if I'd done anything worth the amount I was getting paid whenever I got dragged around by Sosa-san, but it did give me some nice spending cash to work with, so I'd picked up some super comfy fabrics the other day. My plan was to combine more pastel colors into a similar blocky pattern to my usual dress, though I intended to vary the sizes and shapes to be able to tell them apart.

I was halfway through turning my rough design sketch into actual pattern-pieces whenever my phone rang. I didn't even sigh, knowing that one peaceful day was way too much to ask for in Ikebukuro, and checked the caller ID. Rather than seeing something from Sosa or the twins, though, I had an unexpected result on the screen.

Ryūgamine Mikado.

"S-S-Senpai?!" We'd crossed paths a few times on the way home from classes, and it had been Kida-senpai that had insisted we all trade numbers around. "What's he calling for?" He'd never called me; we hadn't even sent more than the initial mail to get each other's contact info.

You know, Aiako-chan, said Sosa's voice in my head, most people would just answer the phone and ask.

There was no denying that she had a point (or, since it was my imagination conjuring her up, I had a point? Ugh, just considering it made my head hurt), so I took a few more deep breaths to steady myself and clicked accept. "Hello?"

"Susanuma-san, thank goodness." Well, that sort of response just made me even more confused. What could Senpai even be doing that reaching out to me deserved that sort of sheer relief in his voice? "I'm sorry to call out of nowhere. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, not really." Okay, so not one-hundred percent true, but I was the one who'd left my phone on, so I had no one to blame but myself. But cutting out fabric pieces was an easy enough task to do while on the phone with ready pattern bits, so I could multitask. I turned on speakerphone and put my phone to the side. "What's up?"

"Still, I'm sorry for calling out of nowhere," Senpai was saying, and he did sound apologetic. "I was just wondering…couldyouhelpmegoshoppingforthisgirl?"

"What?" The words happened in a massive rush, but that wasn't why I had trouble understanding them. Needing help going shopping, sure. But for Mikado-senpai of all people to be asking to go shopping for a girl whenever he was still new to the city and had a pretty small social circle? I was having a hard time processing it, and the way that Senpai continued to explain it did not make matters easier.

"So you see, I was just out and about, and I ran into this girl. I thought she was Harima Mika-san, except she wasn't Harima Mika-san at all, and then the Black Rider showed up out of nowhere and was chasing her. Then she asked me to help her, and I just kinda grabbed her hand and ran off without thinking, so now she's over at my place, and she doesn't have anywhere else to go, but she doesn't want to talk to the police, so I don't know what to do, but I figured she should at least get a change of clothes and have some bathroom stuff, so…"

A girl? Staying over in Senpai's—Ryūgamine Mikado-senpai's—apartment? I couldn't imagine it. We were talking about a guy who'd turned red whenever he'd been dragged off by his classmate with the glasses during the whole bullying incident I'd witnessed while I was with Sosa. Then again, he'd been the type to also try and stand up to said bullies (stuttering all the while), so I could see him helping someone else that he thought was in danger.

And it would be a bit awkward for him to go shopping for her… Wait. "Whenever you say bathroom stuff, Senpai, what do you mean?"

"W-well that's—!" Senpai almost choked on his own words, and I could imagine him turning beet red through the phone. "I mean…there's stuff that girls need that guys don't, so… I-I just wasn't sure who else to call! But if you can't I get it, please forget I asked!"

My senpai had called to ask me to pick up tampons for him.

I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing. I felt bad about it right after, but the whole situation was so silly that it took me a minute to contain myself to just giggles. Poor Senpai had run out of steam, so he couldn't do anything to stop me. "S-sorry," I said, taking another deep breath to contain myself. "I just…wasn't expecting that…"

"It's fine, please don't worry about it!" Senpai sounded plenty flustered. I wondered if he was blushing. "If you can't help, though, please don't feel like you have to. I just thought I'd ask…"

"It's okay. I can do it. Though I'll probably just bring over some of my stuff instead of buying new ones." Seemed like a waste otherwise. Besides, if Sosa-san found out something like someone hiding out from the police had happened in my vicinity and I hadn't checked it out, then I'd never hear the end of it. "If you mail me your address, I can bring it over?"

"Thank you. You're a life saver! I'll send it right away! I'll see you soon." And, with a couple more pleasantries exchanged, we hung up. Lucky for me, none of my outbursts meant that I'd made a mistake in my fabric cutting, though I did need to set aside progress for the time being. By the time I'd finished pinning pieces to their respective patterns and stacking the whole thing up in a neat pile, Senpai had texted me his address, though I had to take a while to process what I was seeing, since it was the most shocking thing I'd encountered yet that afternoon.

Not that Senpai was having a girl stay over at his apartment.

Not the fact that said girl might be connected to Celty and Harima Mika.

But that the address he'd sent me, save for the apartment number, was the same as mine.

It can't be, right? But there's no way you'd get your whole address wrong like that. What would Sosa-san call this? A coincidence to end all coincidences?

There was just one thing to do, and that was confirm it for myself. It didn't take me long to gather some spare pads and tampons and tuck them into a spare drawstring bag I'd made on a whim ages ago. It took just a bit longer to do up my ballet slippers, but I was so used to the process that I didn't even process it anymore. With one more look at my phone, I confirmed the number, headed up the rickety stairs to the second floor, and then knocked on the door.

"Just a moment!" came Senpai's voice from the inside, confirming that we did, in fact, live in the same apartment and hadn't even noticed. It took a moment, but there was the sound of the door unlocking, and soon Senpai was staring at me with wide eyes. "Susanuma-san? How did you get here so quick?"

"Funny story…I'm your downstairs neighbor." He looked just as flabbergasted as I felt, which was a bit of a relief, but it wasn't like standing around in shock was going to get us anywhere. From further inside (our apartments were one-rooms, after all), the girl he'd mentioned peered at me with curious green eyes underneath short orange hair. Sure enough, her fashion was similar to the pictures of Mika Harima we'd been shown (like…to an almost one-to-one degree), but her face was different—not to mention the nasty shape of a scar around her neck. "Um, Senpai, don't you think keeping the door open is a bad idea?" The girl had Celty-san after her, after all.

The risk snapped Senpai back to his senses. "Right! Please come in, Susanuma-san." I shuffled inside, making a record for the shortest amount of time I'd been in my ballet slippers ever. Senpai filled up a glass of water from his sink in a show of hospitality, which was sweet, but also kind of sad. Like, I knew he must not have too much allowance if he was staying in a dirt cheap apartment, but even I had more spending cash. Then again, I worked at Ransom and also had bonuses from Sosa-san coming in, so maybe that was unfair. "I know this was out of nowhere, but I appreciate your helping."

"Of course. This is the sort of thing we gotta stick together on." I turned to Not Mika Harima and offered her the bag. "I'm Susanuma Aiako. It's nice to meet you. I brought enough to last for a couple of days, so I hope it's enough. Don't hesitate to let me know if you need more, though." Whoa, that was a lot of sentences to say to a complete and total stranger. Maybe Sosa-san's immersion therapy had some merit to it.

"Thank…you…" In comparison, Not Harima Mika seemed struggling to get her words out, and she was even quieter than I tended to be, which was saying something. "Sorry, I…don't remember my name…"

Hm. That was unfortunate, but I couldn't just keep calling her Not Harima Mika. That was kinda rude. Too bad for me that all the alternatives I could think of were plays on Mika's name. "Don't worry about it. Is there anything you do remember? I might be able to help?" Which was a genuine request, but it was also a way to learn whatever I can. Sosa-san would be proud of me, I was sure. "Senpai said you were running away from the Black Rider. Do you know why?"

"N-no! I don't—I don't know anything!" She squeezed her eyes shut as her voice rose, and I didn't press anymore. If she was in that much distress, I wasn't going to push it. Sosa-san and Orihara-san might've done it, but I had too much empathy for being asked questions you didn't want to answer.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. If you don't know anything, you don't know anything. I just thought I'd ask." If she was going to react that strongly to a mention of Celty, it would not be a good move to mention that I knew her personally. Still, Celty's a sweetheart. What has her so freaked out? Oh, well, I guess there was the way Celty took care of those human trafficker punks, but I don't she would've gone that far against some kid. "You're safe here with Senpai, so don't worry about a thing. I'm sure you've been uncomfortable, too. Why don't you go freshen up?"

She took the out, not quite rushing into the bathroom. Her outfit was a mix of white and pink, and the red tie fluttered as she moved. It was a cute, trendy sort of outfit, but it was still far too distinct to be passed off as coincidence. I would've thought she was Harima Mika, too, from a distance, though her shy attitude was a far cry from the energetic, sociable girl that Sonohara-san had described to us.

But my gut's telling me not to let this one go…

With the bathroom door closed, I lowered my voice to a whisper and turned back to Senpai. "You said she doesn't want to talk to the police?"

Senpai shook his head. "She won't say why, but she doesn't like the idea at all. It's not as bad as how she is about the Black Rider, but I don't think it would be a good idea to force her." I agreed. If this girl was so freaked out, then pushing it could just have her running away, and then she could end up in worse danger. And, again, Sosa-san would never forgive me if I let a clue like that slip through my fingers. "I'm just kind of at a loss for what to do…"

"I'm sure she's freaked out bad. If she's comfortable with staying here, that would be a good idea. Or I guess she could stay in place, if she's more comfortable with that idea." I'd made a blanket or two in my day, and, while they weren't perfect substitutes for an actual futon, they were cozy enough. "Maybe she'll feel a lot calmer in the morning, and then we can figure out a plan after school tomorrow." That would also give me enough time to get some better advice on the situation, at bare minimum.

"Yeah, that sounds best…" Senpai still looked worried, but there wasn't much else we could do about it. Maybe, if we were lucky, Sosa-san could get in contact with Celty and find out what happened, and everything could have a peaceful resolution! "Thanks Susanuma-san. You're a real lifesaver."

"It's no big deal. Helping with something like this is easy." Or, well, the bringing tampons part was. The bigger picture was a bit more complicated, but, somehow, I didn't feel like it was beyond overwhelming or anything, which was kind of hilarious. What is my life right now? "I have some extra pajamas and stuff, too, so I don't mind lending her some if she wants. They might be a bit short, but it's better than sleeping in your street clothes."

"Yeah, that might be a good—" There was another knock on the door, which made me almost go into panic mode (there were so many options for who it could be, and, of course, my brain went for all the worst case scenarios!), but Senpai hopped up without issue. "That must be Masaomi! Maybe he'll have some good ideas, too…"

Sure enough, Kida-senpai was on the other side in all his flamboyant glory. "Greetings, Mikado! I've arrived on the scene to be the knight in shining armor you so desperately need! Bask in my—hey, wait, that's our kōhai! When did you turn into such a player without me?"

"That's not what's going on at all!"

After everything was explained and I hauled up some supplies for Senpai's guest to stay the night, I went back home.

While all I wanted to do was go and collapse into bed (I, too, was hoping that sleeping would help me reset), I at least made an effort to call Sosa first. The whole situation with Not Harima Mika not wanting to talk to the police seemed suspicious, so I was looking for some advice. She, on the other hand, had plenty of her own ideas, but she explained none of them to me, instead saying that she'd be there to pick me up after school and that I should get ready for an Adventure.

Super helpful, I know.

It still felt like permission enough to let her handle things and just sleep.

As it turned out the next morning, Not Harima Mika still didn't want to talk to the police, even after a good night's rest, so she was going to stay behind while Senpai and I went to school. While the Raira Middle and High School buildings were separate, we still took the same trains, so it felt like a miracle that Senpai and I hadn't run into each other yet. Then again, we were still just a couple of weeks into the trimester, and I tended to be an early riser (it was worth not getting caught in the early morning rush), so maybe it wasn't all that out of the ordinary.

Despite everything going on in the rest of my life, school was normal. Mairu and Kururi bothered me for lunch, but nothing dramatic happened. It was almost enough to think that, maybe, I'd dreamed up all the stuff with Senpai and Not Harima Mika.

A fantasy that was shattered as soon as I exited the school gates.

"Ai-ai-ko-chan!" came Sosa's enthusiastic greeting as she glomped right onto my shoulders. I staggered at the weight, but just managed to keep upright as Sosa laughed. "Are you ready, are you ready? All sorts of stuff has been stirring in Ikebukuro, and some of it's gonna explode today, I can feel it!" No one but Sosa would be able to sound like an explosion was something to be excited about, but I couldn't help but get pulled along with her energy. After all the weirdness of the night before, I'd started to feel curious, so it felt like something interesting was coming up quick.

"Y-yes, I'm ready!" I'd even clenched my fists in a show of determination, but I ended up stuttering anyways, but could you blame me? Orihara Izaya was also around, which made it hard to keep my composure. At least just seeing him didn't make me run away screaming, so progress. "So, you didn't say, Sosa-san? Where are we going today?"

"Great question!" Turning to face Izaya (and dragging me along with her), Sosa sounded as carefree as ever. "Izaya-kun just said he had a surprise for today, so that was that! Well, we've collected one Aiako-chan, so we've got a full party, right? So, so? Where are we headed today?"

"Raira—the high school that is." Sosa and I tilted our heads the same direction, managing to not bonk our skulls together. Izaya just tucked his hands into his jacket pockets, looking beyond satisfied as he smirked. "It's not much of a surprise if I spoil it, right? Come along. We don't want to loiter and miss who we're looking for."

With Sosa dragging me along, I didn't have much choice in the matter when it came to following, but I didn't want to run away for once. I did keep Sosa between me and Izaya, though. There was a difference between not feeling as terrified of the guy and just straight up being dumb enough to let him anywhere close to you. He seemed distracted by whatever he was planning, though, so at least that kept his attention off me.

I hope.

The trip to Raira High wasn't all that long, and I wondered how Senpai's day had been. Had it been just as normal as mine? Had something happened with Not Harima Mika that had dragged him out of classes in a dramatic follow-up confrontation?! That last one was just my imagination getting out of control, but it's not like it was much stranger than anything else we'd been through. But, as we approached the school gates, it was clear a commotion was going on, because why would things ever slow down in Ikebukuro? How silly of me.

Oh, that's… While she was in much more of a yankee getup than her Raira uniform, I recognized the long-haired ganguro girl from the bully group we'd encountered in the alleyway before and took a step behind Sosa on instinct. She had a guy along with her, though it was a different punk than before, this one with a curling blond pompadour, and said punk was in the middle of getting up in Senpai's face. Senpai, what did you do to get into even more trouble than you already have?! In front of me, Sosa adjusted her stance, and even Izaya had his hand tucked into his jacket pocket, but I never got to see whatever either of them had been planning as the punk received a kick that sent him flying.

Said kicker was Celty-san, by the way.

As if the situation wasn't surreal enough, Izaya then proceeded to hop on the fallen punk's back, bouncing with absolute glee. "No fair, me, too!" Sosa said. The two exchanged glances, Izaya shrugging and succeeding his place to Sosa while he went and told off the ganguro girl, who soon ran off with a tearful, "You're an asshole!"

"Have a nice day!" Izaya said with a wave, as cheerful as ever. The punk guy was still stuck under Sosa's unrelenting one-footed hops. But, with a little bit of conversation, it soon became apparent that we and Celty-san alike were here for the same person:

Ryūgamine Mikado-senpai.

Today's gonna be a long day, isn't it?

It seemed like we'd gotten to this point thanks to Celty recognizing Mikado's uniform whenever he helped not Harima Mika the day before, and so she'd been planning to stake out the school to find him. As we traveled to a less conspicuous location, she explained that Not Harima Mika happened to look like her missing head, which was a thing she, as a Dullahan, had lost ages ago and had been searching for. Somehow, despite how fantasy the whole thing sounded, Senpai and I both accepted it without much issue.

You sure can get used to anything, huh? Praise be to human adaptability, I guess. If it meant not having a nervous breakdown over my entire worldview taking a massive shift, I was down for it.

After a bit more conversation, Senpai agreed to let Celty meet Not Mika-Celty, assuming she was up to it. And so, despite the walk being an everyday occurrence to me, I had the strangest collection of people ever around me, which made even the familiar roads more surreal. Senpai had asked to go upstairs and warn Not Mika-Celty (Mikelty?), which was a smart move given how she reacted the day before to even a mention of the Black Rider. I took the opportunity to drop off my school things in my own apartment and change out of my uniform, but, even with all that, Sosa, Celty, and Izaya were all still loitering around the stairs whenever I returned.

"Heyo. Welcome back, Aiako-chan." Sosa waved me over, and I smoothed out the ends of my skirt. "Mikado-chan's taking his time, so we're still waiting for news. Lucky you, having someone you know live in the same building as you, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess it's lucky?" If nothing else, it had made it a whole lot easier for me to put my school bag away. There was no doubt in my mind that I wasn't going to be able to relax at home anytime soon. "Still, I didn't think it would take this long for Senpai to convince her…"

"Very true, very true." Sosa bobbed her head in a nod. "Tho, Aiako-chan, I've been wondering. This place is dirt cheap, yeah? You don't see much of that sort of thing around here, do you?"

I followed Sosa's squinted gaze, finding a cleaning van parked by the apartment on the other end. It wasn't anything all that unusual to see out and about—plenty of people didn't feel like putting in the effort to do chores—but it didn't change the fact that our place was super cheap. Heck, our rooms didn't even have full baths in them. Would someone who lived in such a run-down place go and hire a cleaner?

Something twisted in my gut.

"Ne, Izaya-kun," Sosa said, cutting off his conversation with Celty, "I'm pretty sure that over there's a Yagiri Pharma van."

Yagiri Pharmaceuticals.

The company that had kidnapped Dotachin-san's friend.

"Senpai!"

[Author's Note]

Happy fanfiction anniversary season! I had a ton of stuff to cram into the Aiako POV section for this chapter, because this is the part where things start to go down! This is such a fun moment, so I hope my take on the arc one climax comes across as enjoyable.

Thanks to Alfred McKinley for the favorite since last time. I hope you enjoy what we've got going on here!

While I don't have everything flashed out, I do have a rough idea of how the next handful of chapters for the Dollars meetup will go, so that'll be fun. I don't have an update estimate in mind, but know I'm excited to play around with things. Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[26 December 2024]