Durarara!!, Vol. 1 (novel) by Ryohgo Narita Page A

please, please, please don’t kill meee!”
    “I see. So despite the sinister getup, you’re actually just a salaryman, technically speaking.”
    According to the thug, they were hired by a small temp agency to do various utility jobs. But that was just for outward appearances—in fact, that temp agency was part of a larger, different company.
    That company was a pharmaceutical producer, recently down on its luck, with headquarters and a lab complex in Ikebukuro.
    Kadota grinned happily at the thug’s story. “So a corporation in financial trouble is kidnapping people for human experimentation? And this is happening in a first-world country?”
    He sounded skeptical, but in reality, he didn’t doubt the thug’s story. It was hard to imagine him being able to lie at this point, and there were plenty of rumors around Yagiri Pharmaceuticals already.
    Kadota told them to let the thug out at a random spot, then started to leave the van.
    In a frail voice, the thug called out to his back.
    “Who…who are…you people…?”
    Kadota stopped and answered without turning back.
    “…If I said we were the Dollars, would that ring a bell?”
    Once Kadota was out of the car, Shimada called out to him.
    “Um, Kadota, when you said the other guy talked…were you lying?”
    “You could tell?”
    Shimada looked exasperated for a moment, then grinned.
    “Look, I just didn’t want to let Yumasaki do his thing. I like those Dengeki Bunko books. It pains me to see them making a mockery of those stories.”
    “…Oh. Kinda funny, this is the first time we’ve ever done something like this as the Dollars. I mean, we decided to go ahead and do this for Kaztano’s sake, but if it weren’t for the Dollars, we’d never have met him to begin with…”
    Kadota, Shimada, Yumasaki and Karisawa were all members of the same organization.
    At first it was just a clique of good friends, but eventually Kadota found that some downright dangerous people like Yumasaki were joining in positions below him. He didn’t know what he’d done wrong to cause this, but now that they were affiliated with him, he needed to keep them under control. As time went on, though, he failed to find any of them jobs, and now everyone aside from Kadota was simply bouncing around between part-time gigs.
    They knew some other folks on the wrong side of the law, but as the group didn’t have the backing of any major gangs, they mostly stayed out of trouble—until one day their leader Kadota received an invitation. It simply asked if they wanted to join the Dollars.
    No restrictions, no rules, they just had to call themselves Dollars. It was a very weird invitation. Neither side seemed to benefit from this, but the Dollars were making a name for themselves around Ikebukuro and the label seemed prestigious. Kadota himself was not that interested, but the rest of the group was all for it, so he eventually gave in.
    It must be my easygoing nature that caused this. Hell, even Shizuo Heiwajima has a regular job.
    At first he thought it was just a prank pulled by someone who knew his e-mail address, so he accepted just to play along, but the very next day, his handle name appeared on the Dollars’ home page.
    “So what’s the Dollars’ boss saying about this one?”
    “No idea.”
    “Huh?”
    “That’s the trouble. I’ve still never seen the leader of this gang. We’ve got this hierarchy of all the little groups the Dollars have absorbed, but I can’t find whoever sits at the top.”
    Kadota couldn’t help but wonder who actually created this bizarre organization. He didn’t like working for someone whose name or facehe did not know, but on the other hand, without a clear boss, he didn’t really feel like he was working for anyone in the first place.
    If anyone would set up something like this, it would have to be—
    Izaya Orihara.
    He used to live in Ikebukuro, and Kadota had met him on several occasions. The man rudely stuck him with the nickname