kscans

Chapter 230 - The Local Hanako-san ⑥

While Kawasaki and Feiko were starting their anticlimactic battle.

"Kyahahahaha! With driving that polite, you couldn’t pull away in a million years! You scared of gettin’ your license suspended?!"

【Ggggrrrrrrr…!!】

Satou and the Headless Rider were also engaged in a profoundly disappointing dead heat. The main cause was Satou, who was driving at full throttle and tailgating like a maniac.

‘You wanna go help your buddies, right? Then let’s race.’

Satou had created a pseudo-metropolitan expressway and proposed a race there… but of course, he had no intention of playing fair. You could tell just by looking. Who would think he’d play fair seeing him in a kamikaze pilot-style jacket embroidered with phrases like ‘Company Loyalty’ and ‘Salesman’s Spirit’? No one.

Even so, the Headless Rider had no choice but to accept.

"I even matched my level and my machine to yours, except for teleporting you here, so what’s with this sorry display? You fresh out of driving school or something?"

Pee-peh-poo-peh-peh-poo♪ Satou’s horn played a melody.

【Stop playing that crosswalk BGM! Are you mocking me?!】

"It’s your fault for being mockable!!"

Five meters. If the Headless Rider could pull away by just five meters, he would win. Despite that, he couldn’t create that gap even once. He had gotten ahead several times. But the meter Satou displayed in an easily visible spot, showing the distance between their vehicles, never once reached five meters. The limit was 4.99 meters. You could tell from the number. It was just to taunt him. Was the display fake? No, this man wouldn’t do something like that. He wouldn’t be so kind. The Headless Rider’s pride was being wounded beyond measure.

"Whoa whoa, you’re gettin’ anxious, huh? Your driving’s getting sloppy."

He was wasting precious time. That meant the survival rate of his comrades was steadily dropping. The Fakers had a strong sense of camaraderie, and the Headless Rider was no exception. That very fact was holding him back.

"They’re still safe. Jeez, this is no fun."

Satou, who had been driving while slurping a cup of udon he’d pulled from somewhere, lightly tapped his disposable chopsticks together.

【What are you…】

"I messed with time. No matter how much time you waste here, not even a second will have passed when you get out. Your friends are still fine."

Now you can focus on the race, right? Satou said, biting into a piece of fried tofu.

【…You monster.】

He was far more of a bizarre and alien being than an apparition like himself. The pinnacle of strangeness. The king of glitches. The Headless Rider cursed, but inwardly, he was beginning to calm down. It was a strange thing, but he knew that his enemy would never lie about a rule that was advantageous to him.

【That arrogance will cost you your life and…】

He tried to say something, but the horn music cut him off. It wasn’t pee-peh-poo-peh-peh-poo♪. It was a different song.

【Stop playing the jingle from that supermarket that delivers sincerity!!】

"Oh, you know it? You’re from the west, so I thought you might… I like it so much that when I go to Wakayama on business, I go to the store just to hear the music."

【Like I care!!】

The race was restarted.

【(Still, he’s so skilled.)】

It was true that Satou was matching his level. But that was only his overall stats, not aspects beyond his absurd power output. His natural dexterity remained as it was.

【(He must have been a very experienced rider to begin with.)】

If he had almost no experience, even with that dexterity, he wouldn’t have been able to keep up. After all, he was the Headless Rider. A being truly one with his steed.

【Kuku… Interesting.】

"Oh, finally got a fire in your belly? You’re gonna entertain me, right?"

【Don’t get cocky! I may be inferior in all other aspects, but I cannot lose when it comes to speed!!】

"All bark, huh."

The contest grew even more intense. The fact that Satou had stopped his taunting driving style was clear proof that the Headless Rider had flipped a switch. The safety of his separated comrades. What to do after they escaped. He had been carrying too much extra baggage. Those things had been weighing him down, but now his comrades’ safety was confirmed, and he no longer had to worry about time. That left only one thing. Discarding the idea of holding back for the future sharpened his riding.

【(Ahh.)】

Faster, pushing the limits even further. By shedding the excess and purifying his purpose, a change occurred in the Headless Rider’s state of mind.

【(This is fun. It’s so, so much fun.)】

The complex of not being one of a kind was common to all the Fakers. The Headless Rider had also been tormented by it. But look at him now. It was so much fun that he forgot the annoyance of that complex that clung to him like mud. He never knew that competing in a race, without a single other thought, could be so wonderful. That is why.

【(…Everyone, I’m sorry.)】

He apologized to his comrades in his heart.

【(I… want to win.)】

Even if it meant burning everything to ashes. As if in response to his resolve, the Headless Rider’s outline began to blur, and the black mist turned orange, scattering like sparks.

"You."

He was burning his own life force. Satou, who saw this in his mirror, widened his eyes for a moment, but then a smile spread across his face. Not the delinquent smirk that made a fool of people. It was a bright, joyful smile as he declared.

"Now that’s a real man."

A dead heat in the truest sense of the words. A close-fought battle where neither would yield an inch. The fierce dance seemed as if it would go on forever, but…

【Ahh.】

He was drifting away from that paradise of speed.

【What a shame.】

Contrary to his words, his tone was calm, and if he had a face, he would surely be smiling. His body began to crumble, turning into fine particles of light like sand. He had regrets. He felt apologetic. But to die in a moment more fulfilling than any he had ever known, that wasn’t so bad.

—As if this man would ever permit such sentimentality.

【?!】

The disintegration of his body stopped. No, more than that, his lost life force was replenished in an instant.

【Wh-why?】

He didn’t even need to think about who had done it. The Headless Rider asked Satou, who had pulled a brake turn and was now smoking a cigarette.

"That was fun, wasn’t it?"

【Huh?】

"It was so much fun you forgot all about being the original and all that, right?"

Well then, Satou grinned like a little prankster.

"Let’s do it again."

【…】

The Headless Rider was not so dense as to miss his meaning.

【…I see. So that was your intention all along.】

"Not me, but Jimoko-san. The Hanako-san you guys were targeting."

If possible, she didn’t want to kill them. She wanted to show them a path other than fighting. Satou had understood Jimoko’s true wish. That said, if they were the type to spit on mercy, Satou had no intention of letting them live. Jimoko also had her wishes, but she wouldn’t have said anything, not wanting to cause him too much trouble, so he would have played ignorant. But the Headless Rider, at least, was a man worth sparing. No, he was a man he wanted to spare. That was the result of their conversation, spoken not with words but with a race more eloquent than any speech, through the clear, rushing wind.

"Yo, you want one too?"

【Tell me my species.】

The two of them burst out laughing.