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“Hey, it’s me. Listen up.”

“The rumor was true!”“I was just watching Shizuo from afar!”

“This little girl ran over to Shizuo and just straight up hugged him!”

“Really?”“Shizuo’s kid?”

“So not only was the woman part true, so was the kid!”

The rumor raced through a specific class of people like a thunderbolt.

Cell phones and the Internet acted as a medium, giving shape to the rumor in real time—and provided these rumormongers with almost pathological excitement.

“How many people can we get here right away…?”

The rumor that was more wishful thinking than logic turned out to be true.

Of course, in reality it wasn’t true at all, but they were now convinced of its accuracy, anyway.

And that was because they needed it to be true, which meant that considering any other possibility was pointless.

Excitement overtook the gossiping gaggle’s bodies, gifting them with a dynamic agency they could never exhibit otherwise—no matter what their goals were.

“I dunno what’s gonna happen, but I want at least a dozen guys in some cars.”

“Once the girls leave Shizuo’s side, we’re gonna kidnap ’em.”

Why is Akane Awakusu here?

Vorona quietly scanned the area, surprised. She suspected that some of the Awakusu-kai were nearby.

I’m wasting my time, she realized. They could certainly be watching her now, but they would not do so from out in the open where she would see. And without any gear on her person, she would be helpless if anyone on the level of that Akabayashi man showed up.

No, wait… We already settled the matter. As long as I do not touch that Akane girl, the Awakusu-kai will not harass me. On the other hand, I don’t know how sincere they are about that deal, so there’s nothing wrong with being cautious.

In any case…I will not rest easy within the security Father bought for me.

Meanwhile, the three girls chattered and squealed, though the majority of the noise was coming from the one with glasses.

“Hey! Hey! Who’s that pretty lady?! Can I hug her?!”

“Don’t do it,” said Shizuo, grabbing the girl by the back of her collar and holding her aloft like a cat.

The other one, wearing a gloomy face, bowed to Tom. “…Earlier…bag…thanks…” [Thank you for the bag to hide the money the other day.]

“Oh, sure. Don’t mention it,” he replied.

“And since we got another three hundred thousand this morning, we were able to carry it around in that bag, Kuru!”

“Three hun—!” Tom gasped. He decided to tap the girls on the shoulders and advised, “Listen…this isn’t really my place to say, but…don’t do anything that would disappoint your parents. You’re such sweet kids—you shouldn’t sell yourselves short like this. I mean, three hundred thousand yen is a lot of cash, but it’s an asset you shouldn’t put a price on…”

“?” “?”

The twins looked confused. Tom’s lecture was based on an entirely mistaken assumption.

Akane, meanwhile, clung to Shizuo’s pants as she looked up at him with a beaming smile. “Thanks for yesterday, Big Brother Shizuo!”

“Hmm? Oh, sure, don’t mention it. Kids like you oughta be more free-spirited; don’t go dragging your obligations around with you,” he said with a grimace and stroked her head. Akane squealed and pressed his hand down with her own.

Seeing this, Vorona thought, She is so carefree. Especially for having been abducted by us just yesterday. Or…perhaps it’s actually a sign of strength that she’s already overcome her hardship. I suppose I really am weaker than anyone…

Next, Shizuo addressed the twins: “So what are you two doing with Akane, anyway?”

“We’re more surprised that you know Akane, Shizuo! Turns out that she just joined my dojo today! My training for the day is over, so once Kuru came by, I decided to give Akane a tour of the area!”

“Oh, your dojo? So it’s for self-defense? Not a bad idea, actually,” Shizuo replied.

“D-do you think so? Then I’ll give it a shot,” Akane said, smiling.

Shizuo’s grin faded a bit as he considered something. He turned back to the twins. “Speaking of which…what’s up with your fleabrain brother?”

“…Surprise…?” [Huh…?]

“Don’t you watch the news on TV, Shizuo?”

“What? Well, I left early to do the collection rounds. Why? Was there something interesting on the news? Did they finally arrest him?”

“It’s a secret. You should check the papers or the Internet when you get back home. You’ll be amazed!”

“…Brother…safe…” [Izaya escaped with his life.]

“?”

Shizuo wasn’t sure what she meant by that and was going to ask for more information when Tom cut him off: “Hey, Shizuo, we gotta go hit up that place already.”

“Right,” he grunted, switching back to work mode.

“This place will be a little delicate, as there’s a family involved, Vorona. Do you mind waiting this one out?” Tom continued.

“…I am on standby?”

“Well, we don’t want you putting on a big display like the last few. Why don’t you just stay here with these girls and chat over some tea? Uh, tea not included.”

Tom Tanaka’s best quality was his ability to adjust to any person’s needs. Once he got used to them, he could adapt and learn to get along with anyone, even people like Shizuo and Vorona, who normal folks would instantly be too afraid to approach.

One of Tom’s on-the-fly adjustments was recognizing that Vorona, who was more suited to action and not negotiation, was best left behind on this one. Of course, he was still going to bring along Shizuo as a valuable means of ensuring his own safety.

“Well,” he decided, “it’s a good thing we’ve got so many girls here to keep you company. Shizuo and I should be back in, oh, about ten minutes. You can wait alone if you really want, but I’d hate for you to feel lonely on your first day at the job. Can I ask you girls to hang out here?”

“Sure.”

“…Pleasure…” [I’d be happy to.]

“I’ll wait here until you come back, Big Brother Shizuo!”

With those approvals in place, the four women decided to remain on the temple grounds.

None of them realized that they were being watched.

“Hey, Shizuo just split off from the girls! You ready yet?!”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be less than a minute.”

“Also, I doubt they mean anything, but…there are also two teenage girls there who seem to know him.”

“So we’ll grab them, too.”

“Really? All of them? You sure, man?”

“Well, the rumor I heard is…”

“Yesterday, the Dollars abducted a group of, like, five girls, including some motorcycle gang boss’s lady.”

Several minutes later

“Ohhh, you know Simon? So does that mean you know Egor, too?!”

“…It is a surprise. It is outside of expectations that you would recognize Egor.”

“…Surprise…strange…” [This is quite a coincidence.]

Vorona and the girls found it no trouble at all to keep up a conversation after Tom and Shizuo left. She had assumed there would be a long silence with nothing to talk about, but the girl with the braids and her gloomy identical companion weren’t intimidated by her in the least.