Durarara!! Epitome of Eighteen Histories

Kawagoe Street

Kazane Kinomiya was Shinra Kishitani’s younger sister.

He was apparently the child her mother gave birth to while with her former husband Shingen Kishitani, but they still had not directly met face to face. Perhaps it was because of timidity or perhaps it was to continue bearing the illusion as an illusion.

Just over the past few days alone she had been told various explanations as to why Kazane had not yet met her brother, but she finally decided to make the attempt to take that first step, arriving at this place to meet her family.

“……I have to be brave.”

Kazane Kinomiya whispered that with an unbound expression, heading towards the district around the prefectural border of Tokyo and Saitama.

Having heard her brother of the same mother had been injured, she at last solidified her determination to meet him after wavering over it for a bit.

It had been several years since she came to know of her brother. And the time had come to meet her brother who had been ‘a figure on the side of admiration’ and to inform him of his family that is her.

Maybe she was disillusioned.

He may treat her cruelly for daring to come. There was even the chance he would not believe she was his sister and treat her as a questionable character.

Yet even so, she decided to proceed forward.

– I wonder if Kasane-Kujiragi-san already confessed to my brother……..

The form of the woman she gave encouragement with appears in her mind.

– She felt like a wonderful grown-up woman…….. I wonder if she’d be called cool then?

Kazane who favorably accepted her expressionless nature walked while practicing the relatively cheerful smile she would give her brother when they meet unlike her.

– But I’m worried.

– I wonder……is that really with nii-san? That Headless Rider-san.

There had been moments when she attempted to meet her brother, but Kazane would feel sweat forming on her hands, imagining the Headless Rider to act as though it was part of his family.

– When I talked with Emilia-san she had said it was “an existence you don’t have to worry about” though…….

And then she remembered the portrait of the Headless Rider others had depicted when she had pursued interviews about it with various people she had met until now.

Several voices interwove together in her mine. The voices that spoke up whenever she had asked, “what is the Headless Rider to you?”

The people who did not reside in Ikebukuro were doubtful.

– “Yeah, I know of it. It’s the ghost right? It’s in Ikebukuro.”

– “It is the grudge of the Rider who lost its head from a wire.”

– “I think it’s a Dullahan. It’s an Irish fairy……Do you know of it?”

– “It’s just a criminal.”

– “Just what is it seriously? Isn’t Ikebukuro dangerous?”

– “Eh? Wasn’t that a campaign of a drama or something?”

– “Isn’t it just movie propaganda?”

– “That’s an alien.”

– “It……doesn’t look like CG though. But I haven’t actually seen it……”

The residents of Ikebukuro would whisper to each other while tilting their heads.

– “That’s right……now that you mention it, there is.”

– “They say it’s been running since before I was born. Isn’t that crazy?”

– “This black shadowy thing comes out. That’s not CG. I saw it in real life.”

– “I saw it talking with the guys from the Awakusu Group before. It’s scary…….”

– “There were times it was with Shizuo Heiwajima, right?”

– “What to say; it’s really mysterious, but I’ve also gotten used to it already.”

– “With no sound or headlights it naturally stands out, so it’s a bit unnerving.”

– “I want it to be caught by the motorcycle cops soon.”

– “It is the way of God to guide us to the next stage.”

The leader of the Dollars she interviewed the day before, Mikado Ryuugamine, said this.

– “The Headless Rider……that person gave me courage. Courage……to take a step in the water.”

Shinra’s friend Kyouhei Kadota had this to say about the Headless Rider.

– “Well then. It’s not like I know everything about him. I know he’s not that dangerous of a guy, but there’s no safe place from trouble around him. It’s fine if the reason is you’re interested in the acquaintances of your brother, but I don’t recommend approaching it out of curiosity. It’s not like he wants to stand out or anything. It’s bothersome to be approached as some exhibition piece or a rare creature, and I think there would be no good result that would come from either, you know?”

Kadota’s friend Erika Karisawa mentioned her delusions while her eyes shined in joy.

– “About that Headless Rider! I think it could be a princess of a far off country somewhere! The queen of the country of night! And she’s pretending to look for her head while searching for her prince!”

The slit-eyed young man next to her, Walker Yumasaki, shook his head while excited.

– “That’s not it, Karisawa-san! The Headless Rider is a spirit that came from the shadow realm that turned over the channel of this world, became a shadow warrior and is searching for a dark hero to fight evil! And if it chooses me, I would be able to use black flames and decide on the name Black Crimson.”

– “Yumacchi, you can’t tell if that is black or red then.”

– “……My body is wrapped in black shadows, and in my heart it burns bright red! This is what it is.”

– “Ahaha, that’s Ce- …… that’s the Headless Rider!”

Shizuo Heiwajima back when he was in high school had answered bluntly.

– “Who knows. At the very least, I don’t think he’s a bad guy. He isn’t noisy. He stays quiet and listens to what I say. ……Well, it’s not like he can’t speak from the beginning. There’s plenty of guys that run without saying anything. But this guy listens. To what someone like me has to say. And well, that’s why he’s not a bad guy to me.”

The employees at the Sushi restaurant who encountered the Headless Rider on a daily basis in Ikebukuro said.

– “Ohh, the Headless Rider is good guy. Without without a head he makes well manners. He be working so hard all the time, so he never has debt up to his neck. Ohh, even if he does, our sushi does not. This between us, but we have best quality, yes? It is all market value, good price. The price is same as Headless Rider. Open up surprise tamatebako is good, yes. One customer coming in!”

– “Just what is that you say? Who knows. I’ve never seen him eat anything, so I can’t say. Though there was a time he came in with someone through service. Although he was wearing a full face helmet, for him to enter the shop here makes him a trustworthy guy.”

When they were parting in front of the hospital, Izaya Orihara sourly said.

– “You’re free to bear any sort of feelings for Shinra, but watch out for the Headless Rider that’s around him. It’s an existence beyond common sense. Shinra who is also captivated by that thing may also become someone beyond your common sense to you. ……Well, at best, make sure you don’t get captivated by it too.”

A freelance writer called Niekawa she occasionally met at the editorial department said.

– “Eh? The Headless Rider……. Well…… Honestly, I think you better to not get involved with that. It has connections with the Awakusu Group……. And more than that…… No, it’s fine. Forget it.”

A woman and her part-time writer friend – Aya Tatsugami – said.

– “I think it’s a magician criminal or a ghost like everyone else is saying. I think it’s an existence that would release us from such common sense. We may stand on the border line of the world changing. ……If that’s true, I think that’d be great…….”

The editor-in-chief at her part-time job said.

– “Hmmm……The Headless Rider, huh. Since it is an existence we really don’t know just what it is makes it hard for us to make articles on it, truthfully speaking. Since it is something that actually exists it’s bothersome to get people saying completely different conclusions after writing our own unusual deductions. ……Ahh, however, the one who is most familiar about it is him I guess…… Well, I’ve never met him before, but he’s a writer whose made several books on Ikebukuro from our publishing company…….”

She talked with the writer her editor-in-chief introduced her to, who did not show any part of his face – Shinichi Tsukumoya – on SNS.

‘Who is the Headless Rider? That is a difficult issue.

No? I know its true identity.

I know the Headless Rider’s true name and character. However, I think there’s no meaning in it even if I told you it directly. If you think I’m lying I’ll tell you right now, but her real name is Celty Sturluson. She is an existence originally involved in Norse mythology, and she worked as a subordinate under a woman named Razgriz, but she came to Japan when her head was stolen by Shingen Kishitani’s doing while she was active on the earth as the existence that is a Dullahan and has been living with Shinra Kishitani for twenty years.

……Well, you’re not quite the idiot to swallow what I’m sputtering out is true or not, right?

Words have power. It’s the same for information.

However, it’s not now that you have that power.

The meaning among the information you gathered from various people about the urban legend, the Headless Rider, is for when you confront him or her for yourself.

You said it yourself haven’t you. Just what type of relationship does your brother Shinra Kishitani have with the Headless Rider – no, to be more correct you know……you know what kind of territory your brother is stepping into.

Quite frankly, on a world view level you’re just tending to avert your gaze from it. He may not be evil, but he’s probably a criminal violating the law.

But there’s no meaning in it even as I say that truth only right?

Why did you do such things? Out of desire? Or was it out of circumstances beyond your control? There’s a portion of it to take as extenuating circumstances into consideration even in a courthouse at the worst, but if you want to know about the existence that is Shinra Kishitani then first look at him in person.

It’s the same for the Headless Rider. There may be a different truth to what you have heard, but you have to meet it directly to know.

What is important is you knowing that and what you are going to do about it.

However, keep this on your mind. When you know the truth about the Headless Rider, as long as you are a writer there is no turning back. It’s impossible for a writer to forget about it and act as though they’ve never seen any of it.

Confront the Headless Rider as a writer. Confront Shinra Kishitani as a sister. The result will be the same. Either way, the existence of the Headless Rider will eat into you deeply.

I don’t plan on intimidating you. You can confirm for yourself with your own eyes if what I’m saying is true or not.

Naturally I also would stop you if you suddenly said “I want to know how it’d go walking on a minefield,” so it’s not that dangerous……I can guarantee that.

If you’ll let me say from my own personal opinions, I think the Headless Rider is frankly a nice person. But it’ll just mean you’ll step into an unlawful world.

……Along with your brother.’

 

“……Just what type of people are Tsukumoya-san and that person are? ……It seems he knew the connection between Shinra-nii-san and I…….”

After giving a wry smile at the words of the reportage writer she has never seen the face of – or more precisely while she was recalling the enumeration of characters he wrote up, Kazane had tightened her fists.

If the Headless Rider’s true identity was a villain, should she back away in fear?

If it was a good person, then would her relationship between her brother be recognized just like that?

No.

That would not be such a simple conclusion just be deciding whether it was a bad person or a good person. It was because who she would be meeting, regardless if it was human or not, it would be nothing other than an existence with an unchanging heart from us with complicated feelings and standings.

– That’s right. I have to make that judgement with my own eyes.

– Get rid of all the bias.

– As a writer, as the younger sister of Shinra-nii-san, and as Kazane Kinomiya myself.

– I’ll take what I see with these eyes of mine from all those standpoints.

And bearing such convictions, she raised her head once more.

– Although, it’s already gotten so late already.

After she looked at her wrist watch, she wondered if she should pass up on tonight and go tomorrow. As she was wavering over if her resolve would lessen if she did, she looked up at the apartment building.

When she moved her gaze over to her brother’s room on the top floor she was heading to it happened.

Just when she thought she heard a noise of something falling, it looked like a yellow and white silhouettes were coming down from the top floor’s balcony.

“Eh?”

For a moment, they looked like Kujiragi in her yellow suit and Shinra being carried by her. But before she had any time to confirm that, she heard something being crushed from the top portion of the apartment building next, and a massive black sphere flew out from inside.

“Eh? Eh?”

She had the predisposition to easily be dragged into trouble since she was a child.

Being pulled into a fight with delinquents was a daily, commonly occurring event for her and using those experiences to her advantage she started her part-time job as a writer, but that which was in Kazane’s vision far surpasses the reasonable level to use such a term as trouble.

There was the figure of a person fluttering about from building to building in the air like an American comic book hero and the black sphere chasing it.

Kazane’s breath was taken away hearing the crumbling sounds of reality.

No matter what type of development this was, there was one thing she was certain of.

That the shadowy figures and the black sphere right now had certainly came out from the highest floor of the apartment – from the balcony of Shinra Kishitani’s room.

“Shinra……nii-san?”

After she breathed out the name in a whisper, sweat formed all over her body.

Her brother got dragged into some unfathomable development.

As that dawned on her, her body took off before she realized it. She did not think she could pursue on human feet, but even so she could not stand idle.

She ran just to see her brother. It did not matter to her whether there was a terrifying being ahead or not. It was just on the mere wish as a younger sister to see her brother and talk with him. Or perhaps she was moved by some sort of similar emotion to admiration behind it.

She continued to pursue the abnormality manifested before her very eyes.

To know the truth of her brother who has been protected by the jet black shadow.

 

The sun did not come high above Kazane Kinomiya the next day.

It was a rather dark, cloudy sky, yet a bright light is shining through in the far-off sky.

She continued to run in the darkness that was as though a black umbrella was shrouding just the Ikebukuro skies.

Unaware of what kind of abnormalities were occurring in the city.

Unaware that her brother and the Headless Rider were in the center of it.

Kazane Kinomiya reached out to the “urban legend.”

To know the true being of her brother wrapped in a mysterious haze.

And she –

Translation Notes:

首は無くとも高楊枝ネ。I had extreme difficulty with this Simon line. I admit, I might be wrong. The first part is easy, “even without a head” = 首は無くとも. However, 高楊枝 states in a few dictionaries, “leisurely, post-meal use of a toothpick.” The only use I can find of takayouji (高楊枝) is in a proverb, which is: “ “武士は食わねど高楊枝.” I’ve seen “A samurai holds a toothpick high without having anything to eat.” A common tread I’m seeing with the proverb is that it is an expression to show pride. To not show humiliation even without money. This proverb expresses Japanese chivalry.

This isn’t the proverb used, but since it’s the only result I can find trying to look up anything on takayouji (online and from books), I had to use this as a basis. I think Simon is complimenting Celty for being such a hard worker and, possibly, trying to fit in even though she doesn’t have a head / can’t eat.

As I said, I can be wrong. But this line seems to be a play on words.

Tamatebako is a box in the story of Urashima Taro, a famous Japanese folktale, which contained Taro’s “years.” When Taro opens the box, the decades he spent in the undersea paradise were released and he lost his youth and returned to being his true age, an old man.Simon is just saying “hey, I got a super special gift of a lifetime for you,” basically. Simon’s references tend to be rather loose, in my opinion.Radgrid/Razgriz. There are two alternatives to the romanization of the name I was provided. In Katakana it is ラーズグリーズ, so out of the two I chose the name of more closer to katakana phonetics. The name Razgriz is also used in other media as well, and all are based off a Valkyrie name. Yes, a Valkyrie. Take that as you will.Because of the amount of feedback with Shizuo calling Celty a “he,” I have to clarify that maybe Shizuo thought Celty was a guy back then as others pointed out to me. I didn’t consider it for this translation though, in all honesty. Tsukumoya is the first person to identify Celty with a clear “she/her” pronoun. Any other pronouns that were used were gender neutral until this point. As such, I couldn’t use any female pronouns regarding her until that moment. Therefore, I ask to not look into why characters refer to the Headless Rider as “he” too much.