Durarara!! - Volume SS01 - Chapter 9

EPILOGUE, OR SIDE STORY 9

 FESTIVAL SPIRITS

Festival day, Japan

The chants and strains of the festival music filled the night sky.

It was like the hearts and minds of the people in the streets were being reflected upward.

Even if not everyone on the streets was human, the festival music would envelop them all the same.

Wow…

With Celty’s night vision, she could sense a couple enjoying a bit of a makeout session amid the trees off the path.

The headless woman hastily averted her “gaze” and typed up a message to show to Shinra.

“Being able to see in the dark is a double-edged sword. You end up spotting things you didn’t need to see.”

“What did you spot?”

“Nothing,” Celty lied, strolling past the food carts with Shinra.

It would be crude to make light of other people’s romantic lives. Plus, if I’m foolish enough to mention it, Shinra’s going to say, “Let’s go find our own dark spot and do that, too!”

They were at a festival being held near Ikebukuro. She was dressed in a black-themed kimono, while Shinra wore a yukata that was primarily white.

Few were surprised to see the dullahan out and about. In fact, almost no one looked at her with curiosity.

This was because she had removed her trademark riding helmet and disguised herself as a human today.

Now, the disguise in this case was simply extending her shadow to create a mass of long hair, then adding one of the typical anime character masks that were so often sold at festivals. It didn’t seem that anyone who passed by her was interested in what was under the mask; it meant she could stroll in peace and be one with the crowd, and no one was any the wiser.

“It really is crowded, though. I haven’t been through a crowd of this size since I made that delivery at the summer event to Yumasaki and Karisawa.”

“All the festivals in Tokyo are crowded. The Fukuro Festival in Ikebukuro brings tons of attention and life to the area right by the station.”

“That’s true. I’ve passed by there when it’s on… It’s a really wild festival.”

This festival was not on the same scale, but it still featured an impressive array of food and entertainment, and the lively excitement and atmosphere was as thrilling as any other event.

“Let’s just enjoy the evening! I’ll show you all the things there are to do, aside from just eating food!” Shinra said, grinning like a child. Celty’s fake, masked head nodded.

The first stand they saw that offered something other than food was an old-fashioned shooting gallery.

“We have to try shooting first, Celty! We’ll take one go, mister!” Shinra said, paying the man behind the counter. He handed Celty a toy gun, much to her confusion.

“Hang on, young lady, are you really going to aim that with your mask on?” the man asked. Celty tilted the mask without a word, then took aim with the gun.

Heh-heh-heh. I know how this works from movies and comics. They always have supports holding up the really expensive items, so they don’t actually fall over. It’s just the sort of thing a real trickster would think up. But I’ll play along and give it a try at first.

She pointed the gun at the alarm clock on the highest pedestal and fired.

A burst of air.

The cork shot forward.

The projectile flew at the clock on the highest point, hitting the target—and with a heavy lurch, the clock wobbled and toppled right off the shelf.

Huh?

“Congratulations!”

Huh? Huh?!

“That was impressive, young lady! You knocked the alarm clock clean off!”

To Celty’s shock, the people around her started to applaud.

Shinra was beside himself with excitement. He hugged her shoulder to him and shouted, “Amazing, Celty! You got it in one! It’s because you’re always thinking such good thoughts!”

Even the man running the game had to give it to her. “Well, I’m out a lotta money for that one, but at least it went to a charming girl like you, eh?” he said with chagrin.

She felt very self-conscious about it.

No, I…I just assumed you were a cheat… I called you a trickster in my mind…

“So happy you can’t even speak? Well, that just makes my day. Go on, take your prize!”

She took her alarm clock and walked a short distance from the game stand.

“That was incredible, Celty! It’s more than just beginner’s luck! You must have a real talent for shooting games!” Shinra said, excitedly heaping praise onto her. Her shoulders slumped.

“I feel ashamed of my cynicism… I wish I could bury myself in a hole right now…”

“Why are you so depressed?!”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Shooting Gallery Man… I’m sorry!”

Once Celty had recovered her mood, they moved on and tried their luck at other festival games like the ring toss, darts, mold carving, and bouncy ball scoop.

Either through good luck or Celty’s innate good skill, she won game after game until she was carrying a pile of prizes around with her. It put her in such a good mood that she was looking left and right like an excited child.

“What do you think? Is the festival fun?” Shinra asked.

“Yeah, I think so. It’s much more fun than I thought it would be. Everyone else is having fun, too… The crowds here feel completely different from the usual crowds around town.”

“That’s true. Despite all these strangers, the strains of the festival music around you brings us all together, sharing this experience. That’s a really special thing.”

“…Yeah.”

Especially when it’s with you.

“Were you just thinking, ‘Especially when it’s with me’?”

“No, I wasn’t! Don’t get full of yourself!” Celty lied, to hide her shock at his good guess. At that moment, they came across a mask vendor. “Oh, they have proper masks here too,” she noted, seizing on the opportunity to change the subject.

“Yeah, we just bought that mask you’ve got at a variety shop. You want to get a new one and switch it out in the shadows?”

“Yeah, that’s not a bad idea…and I don’t want to wear the same mask the entire time,” Celty replied, making her way to the mask seller—but she had difficulty believing what she saw there.

Dominating the upper half of the six rows of masks on sale was a design that was clearly based on the full-face riding helmet that Celty typically wore.

Huh?

…Wait, what?!

She did a double take. Even Shinra was shocked by it.

“What?! What are these masks, old lady?!”

“Oh, sonny, you should call me young lady instead, hee-hee-hee!” cackled the woman, who was in her fifties or sixties. She grabbed one of the Celty’s-helmet-styled masks and put it on as a demonstration. “This is a mask of the latest crazy in Ikebukuro, the Headless Rider. Not that it makes much sense to have a mask of a headless creature. Hee-hee!”

Her cackling had a weird, high-pitched quality to it.

“This is horrible,” murmured Shinra. “They’ve turned you into a product to sell, Celty…”

“Let it go, Shinra,” she typed. She was just as shocked and confused, but she felt that keeping Shinra calm was for the best. But before she could show him the message, Shinra pulled his wallet out.

“So I might as well buy it! I’ll take all of them!”

“What are we supposed to do with these…?”

Celty made a sighing motion, laden with the alarm clock and other prizes, on top of a huge number of masks. Because she was wearing one of the masks modeled after her own helmet, it kind of just looked like the normal Celty from a distance.

“Sorry, sorry. Couldn’t help myself… Hang on, I’ll carry those, Celty.”

“They’re not heavy or anything…”

“Go on, go on. Let’s take a little break.”

He practically grabbed the items from her, then walked her over to a stone step slightly removed from the row of stands.

“If only they were doing a fireworks show, too. Apparently that’s not part of the custom for this festival.”

“Oh, I see. That’s too bad,” Celty replied.

Shinra suggested, “I don’t have any particular plans for this trip we’ve got coming up, so do you want to go see the fireworks show in Akita on the way?”

“That would be nice. I want to see fireworks somewhere other than Sumidagawa for once.”

“The Omagari Fireworks Show is supposed to be grand.”

The tipsy feeling of the festival had them talking about their future plans. It was at this point that Celty realized they were one of the couples keeping its distance from the crowd now. She thought back to the couple she’d seen making out earlier.

Ugh, what am I thinking?! I wouldn’t dare do something so embarrassing with all these people around! she thought, and glanced at Shinra.

Illuminated by the festival and looking up into the sky, Shinra’s smile made him look like an eager child.

“But even without fireworks, just looking up at the sky like this with you is all I need to be happy. I’m never bored.”

“Shinra…”

Celty had been on guard, expecting that he would try to leap on her. His smile caught her by surprise. She felt guilty at having been cautious of him, but there was another emotion she felt toward Shinra that was flooding through her now.

Oh, damn. What do I say at a moment like this…?

If she were human, her cheeks would have been bright red. She wanted to figure out how to end this deadlock, to say something important to Shinra…

But someone else intruded on their moment, ruining it permanently.

“Hey, you.”

Hmm?

“Yeah, you. Who said you could wear my mask, bitch? Huh?” said a strange man, to their surprise. Shinra and Celty just looked at one another in confusion.

It wasn’t the nature of his accusation that surprised them, however, but his appearance.

“Huh…? Celty cosplay?”

……

“Hah? What are you starin’ at, huh? Who said you could go around wearin’ my mask on my turf? Speak up! Huh? Don’t you think you owe me a li’l somethin’ first?”

Something about the voice and the way he’s threatening us sounds familiar, Celty thought nervously. She gave him a closer examination. But it can’t be…

This large, muscular man, wearing the same kind of face-covering helmet and black riding suit as Celty, gloated stupidly. “Geh-heh-heh, I think you don’t realize who you’re talkin’ to, so I’ll give you an education! Have you heard of the fearsome Headless Rider? Because that’s me—rglfhbl!”

Realizing that this was the very same Fake Shizuo who had appeared in Ikebukuro before, she did not hesitate to smash the would-be extortionist.

He collapsed, foaming at the mouth. She shoved her PDA in his face.

“Give back the money I gave you!”

Despite some unforeseen incidents, Celty thoroughly enjoyed her first festival experience.

But as with all enjoyable things, it had to come to an end.

After ten o’clock, the stands began to tear down and pack up.

The crowds thinned out into a trickle, and the particular sounds unique to a Japanese festival steadily dwindled to nothing. The only thing left was a very minimal amount of music, muted to avoid bothering the neighborhood.

As the workers dismantled all the stands in the distance, Shinra and Celty stayed where they were. The festival’s end was keen in her senses, and so was a feeling of loss.

Aww, it’s ending. The festival is over, she thought.

“Hey, Shinra.

“Let’s come back to the festival again…next year.”

“Celty…”

She hoped the words would ease the sense of loneliness she was feeling. Under the warm light of the paper lanterns, Shinra gave her a comforting smile.

“Of course we will. Anywhere you want to go, I’ll be there with you.”

He was the same Shinra as ever.

But when the same words were said in this special situation, they filled her with a strange and awkward self-awareness. Unable to shake the sensation, she reached for Shinra’s hand.

…Thank you, she wanted to type with her free hand, but instead, she stopped and allowed herself to do nothing more than hold Shinra’s hand.

He said nothing either, and clasped it gently back.

And on, and on, and on.

Until the sounds of the festival subsided at last.

“The time spent in a festival always feels short.

“But if you include the days we spend looking forward to them, the life we spend with them is very long indeed.”

She couldn’t remember what the TV show was about.

But Celty could still clearly hear that narration. The phrase echoed in her head, and she had to agree with it.

I just can’t wait for the next festival to arrive.

But as long as I’m with Shinra, I know it will be a pleasant wait.

Maybe it just feels so short because I had so much fun.

Celty had been alive for a long, long time, so there were times that a year felt short to her.

But she also was keenly aware that Shinra’s time was limited.

There was no telling how many years they would have after this.

That was a sobering fact for Celty, but she enjoyed her festival as though it were the only thing that could clear away those clouds.

Because their time together was limited, the memories they did create would be forever etched on their souls.

Celty let the music of the festival color her heart.

As if to say that the festival of life had only just begun.

And praying that in their time together, they would hear many more festival chants in the years to come.