thick among the rain.
“It’s the Black Rider!”
“The real thing?”
“Oh crap!”
“You serious?”
“Let’s rumble!”
One boy spoke up and compressed all of these emotions further. “I-I saw the rider pop over the wall… Like, just leaped over it, bike and all.”
They were the words of someone in a state of deluded confusion, but Masaomi had heard enough rumors about the Black Rider to know that this was expected.
It’s what the Black Rider can do,
he thought. There was a more pressing concern at the moment.
What is the rider…doing here
now
?
The timing was perfect—almost expectant.
The rider was stopped about sixty feet away, apparently pulling out a cell phone in the middle of the rain.
He could see the faint glow of the screen in the darkness, but there was obviously no way to make out the contents from this distance.
Suddenly, the light vanished.
Here he comes
, Masaomi guessed right as the motorcycle began to silently ride forward. It sped up slinkingly, like a predator with prey in its range, spraying the falling rain as it raced toward the group.
At first it seemed to be coming right for them, but the course veered just slightly—and the bike crashed directly into the pile of vehicles.
“Whoa!” the boys exclaimed. The motorcycle chugged its way over the mountain of wreckage like an off-road bike conquering a rocky path, only to vanish into the little valley between the piles, the very crack that Masaomi was facing.
The image burned itself into his eyes.
Countless shadows extended from the bike, tangling and gripping onto the scrap to pull the vehicle over the hump.
He had heard the rumors.
It seemed like too impressive a gimmick to be relegated to the level of “urban legend”—but there was no doubt that he had just witnessed something eerie, something
unexplained
, amid the pouring rain.
Confusion reigned over every inch of Masaomi.
Just as it did for the intruder shivering behind the rubble.
“Ce…Celty.”
Anri’s eyes were full of surprise, gratitude, and her ongoing confusion as the huge black thing descended from overhead.
“You okay? How did this happen?”
Celty produced her PDA for Anri to see, fashioning a tiny shadow umbrella to keep it out of the rain.
“S-sorry…”
“You can explain later. Let’s scram. Get on the back.”
“Um, o-okay…”
Anri tried to quickly get onto the motorcycle, but it being her first time, she had trouble straddling it. Celty helped her up and placed a hand on her face.
“Uh…”
Black shadow began to spread over Anri’s features, until just a few seconds later, she was wearing a helmet very similar to the one Celty wore herself. Only the shape was the same, however; Anri’s was pitch-black.
There was a small viewport so that Anri could see, and the little glowing PDA screen shone through.
“Better to keep your face hidden while we escape, I’m guessing.”
“Th…thank you!”
It would have been bad for Masaomi to catch sight of her face, though Celty wouldn’t have known that fact. Anri was filled with gratitude.
“Hang on to me tight,”
Celty typed, then stashed the PDA away and cranked the throttle.
A sound like a horse whinnying erupted from the engine of the bike, and Anri experienced a forward lurch in gravity, like the instant a roller coaster begins to dip.
The boys bore witness.
A black shadow leaped from the small hill of scrap as the motorcycle engine screeched.
The only difference was that now a girl wearing a black helmet was seated behind the rider.
When Celty and Anri emerged from the piles of junk, they saw several dozen young men waiting for them. Among the crowd were a few girls, too, but they stared at the two just like the boys.
They were surrounded by a wall of humanity on all sides. Such a wall would be easy to break, but it would only guarantee that some of the Yellow Scarves were injured in the incident.
Are they even aware…that I’m a member of the
“It’s the Black Rider!”
“The real thing?”
“Oh crap!”
“You serious?”
“Let’s rumble!”
One boy spoke up and compressed all of these emotions further. “I-I saw the rider pop over the wall… Like, just leaped over it, bike and all.”
They were the words of someone in a state of deluded confusion, but Masaomi had heard enough rumors about the Black Rider to know that this was expected.
It’s what the Black Rider can do,
he thought. There was a more pressing concern at the moment.
What is the rider…doing here
now
?
The timing was perfect—almost expectant.
The rider was stopped about sixty feet away, apparently pulling out a cell phone in the middle of the rain.
He could see the faint glow of the screen in the darkness, but there was obviously no way to make out the contents from this distance.
Suddenly, the light vanished.
Here he comes
, Masaomi guessed right as the motorcycle began to silently ride forward. It sped up slinkingly, like a predator with prey in its range, spraying the falling rain as it raced toward the group.
At first it seemed to be coming right for them, but the course veered just slightly—and the bike crashed directly into the pile of vehicles.
“Whoa!” the boys exclaimed. The motorcycle chugged its way over the mountain of wreckage like an off-road bike conquering a rocky path, only to vanish into the little valley between the piles, the very crack that Masaomi was facing.
The image burned itself into his eyes.
Countless shadows extended from the bike, tangling and gripping onto the scrap to pull the vehicle over the hump.
He had heard the rumors.
It seemed like too impressive a gimmick to be relegated to the level of “urban legend”—but there was no doubt that he had just witnessed something eerie, something
unexplained
, amid the pouring rain.
Confusion reigned over every inch of Masaomi.
Just as it did for the intruder shivering behind the rubble.
“Ce…Celty.”
Anri’s eyes were full of surprise, gratitude, and her ongoing confusion as the huge black thing descended from overhead.
“You okay? How did this happen?”
Celty produced her PDA for Anri to see, fashioning a tiny shadow umbrella to keep it out of the rain.
“S-sorry…”
“You can explain later. Let’s scram. Get on the back.”
“Um, o-okay…”
Anri tried to quickly get onto the motorcycle, but it being her first time, she had trouble straddling it. Celty helped her up and placed a hand on her face.
“Uh…”
Black shadow began to spread over Anri’s features, until just a few seconds later, she was wearing a helmet very similar to the one Celty wore herself. Only the shape was the same, however; Anri’s was pitch-black.
There was a small viewport so that Anri could see, and the little glowing PDA screen shone through.
“Better to keep your face hidden while we escape, I’m guessing.”
“Th…thank you!”
It would have been bad for Masaomi to catch sight of her face, though Celty wouldn’t have known that fact. Anri was filled with gratitude.
“Hang on to me tight,”
Celty typed, then stashed the PDA away and cranked the throttle.
A sound like a horse whinnying erupted from the engine of the bike, and Anri experienced a forward lurch in gravity, like the instant a roller coaster begins to dip.
The boys bore witness.
A black shadow leaped from the small hill of scrap as the motorcycle engine screeched.
The only difference was that now a girl wearing a black helmet was seated behind the rider.
When Celty and Anri emerged from the piles of junk, they saw several dozen young men waiting for them. Among the crowd were a few girls, too, but they stared at the two just like the boys.
They were surrounded by a wall of humanity on all sides. Such a wall would be easy to break, but it would only guarantee that some of the Yellow Scarves were injured in the incident.
Are they even aware…that I’m a member of the
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