Romantic Troubles of Duanmu-kun

Just then, a white flash and the crisp sound of a camera shutter echoed from a dark corner of the parking garage. It was loud enough for an ordinary person to notice, let alone the assassins who had been vigilantly watching their surroundings.

The burly man emanated an intimidating aura as he strode toward the source of the sound.

The culprit’s reaction wasn’t slow – they tried to flee as soon as they noticed the man’s movement. But they hadn’t taken more than a few steps before being caught from behind.

A hand like a giant fan grabbed the hooded man by his collar, effortlessly lifting him off the ground and bringing him face to face with his captor.

“Hey, you— what were you just doing?”

The scarred face combined with his imposing, rock-solid physique created an overwhelming presence. An ordinary person would have been paralyzed with fear from just one glare.

“Ahaha, sorry about that. What was I doing indeed…”

The young man showed surprising courage, forcing a laugh while trying to hide something behind his back.

Such a simple trick didn’t escape notice. The burly man snatched the camera from his hands and smashed it to pieces on the ground.

“Hey! That camera cost me months of savings! Isn’t that going too far? You’re going to compensate me, right? You have to!”

The hooded man struggled fiercely in the burly man’s grip. After breaking free, he fell to his knees, mournfully caressing the “remains” of what was now just a pile of metal and plastic fragments.

“Kid, do you have a death wish?”

The burly man’s expression darkened as he watched the young man, who seemed oblivious to any danger, complaining self-indulgently.

“What is he… doing?”

Fujishima Misao, observing this scene from the shadows, couldn’t help but show a puzzled expression.

“Just a passerby? I’m not sure if he’s brave or just dense, but those two are clearly dangerous people who wouldn’t think twice about killing someone…”

At this rate, even if the cautious assassins didn’t kill him, a beating was inevitable.

“Going to kill me?… Ah, wait. Hold on. I can’t die just yet.”

The young man stood up from the ground as if giving up, took out his phone from his pants pocket, and pointed the camera at the burly man and the woman.

“After all, I haven’t seen you in action with my own eyes yet. Ideally, I’d love to capture footage of assassins cleanly executing someone.”

He smiled as he spoke, his cracked lips parting to reveal gleaming white teeth.

“…!”

The burly man looked to the side alertly.

At first, it was just another white flash from the corner of his vision. Looking aside, thinking it might be this kid’s accomplice, he vaguely saw what appeared to be an office worker with a briefcase hiding in the shadows of an RV.

Strange, they didn’t seem like someone who would know this kid…?

Click.

A new camera shutter sound came from another direction. This time it was a woman in a convenience store uniform, casually taking a selfie.

Click click.

A well-dressed middle-aged couple sat quietly in their car, their faces unclear.

Click click click.

Several young people with wild hairstyles, looking like the type who frequently wandered Shinjuku’s streets, were taking photos while grinning in their direction.

Click click click click.

A few men in tank tops carrying bottles of alcohol stumbled in from outside the garage, drunkenly telling crude jokes. Video cameras hung from their necks.

Flash after flash after flash after flash.

Click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click—

Flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash.

By the time the assassins noticed, it was too late. They had been completely engulfed by a tide of light and sound.

…

“Hey, something’s not right about these people…”

The woman tugged at her companion’s suit jacket from behind, her voice trembling slightly.

At some point, the lights and sounds had temporarily subsided, replaced by the silent stares of dozens—no, perhaps hundreds of people.

In the dark and quiet parking garage, shadowy figures stood along the central path and in and around the parked vehicles, hidden in the dim atmosphere.

Occasionally, when some came closer, groups of people could be seen whispering among themselves, but their gazes never left the assassins.

Even as professional killers who had dealt with all sorts of people, targets, and clients, they had never encountered such an eerie scene as tonight.

The people’s gazes were like those watching rare animals from outside an enclosure—eyes that had relegated the assassins to another isolated world, placing them on a bustling stage.

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

The burly man roughly grabbed the young man’s throat, lifting him into the air.

“Is this your doing?”

As if affected by the bizarre atmosphere, he had unconsciously lowered his voice, worried about being heard by the strange people surrounding them.

“Cough cough… are you… going to kill me?”

The hooded man whose hood had fallen back to reveal an exceptionally young face coughed painfully as he was gripped by the throat.

Yet he was smiling pleasantly, showing not a trace of fear or concern on his face.

“It’s fine, if you want to do it, go ahead. Just to be clear, I don’t know these people. Though if I had to say, they’re just like-minded companions.”

Aren’t those two statements contradictory? the assassin thought. If they were really companions, wouldn’t they try to save him?

“Honestly, if I were to be disposed of by assassins right in front of them…”

The young man’s pupils gleamed with intense light.

“They’d probably be ecstatic. Forget sadness—this is exactly what these people want to see. Dregs without compassion, without empathy, without dignity, without bottom lines. That’s their true nature.”

The audience awaited the show.

Just like “me.”

The hooded man concluded with these words.

“So… what should we do?”

The woman’s hand, with its red-painted nails, remained inside her bag. It seemed her fingers had grown stiff from gripping the gun handle so tightly.

The burly man noticed his companion’s excessive tension. After taking a deep breath, he made his decision.