Chapter 69

Chapter 69 is the sixty-ninth chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Unofficial Blurb
Shinjuku is on the cusp of a new Sabaramondian dawn; inexorably, a curtain rises on an ongoing tragicomedy. Where Solitaire fans Bug's flames with Icarian zeal, Civil decides to play flame to others' Moths. Concurrent on the horizon is Lemmings—but, for now, the sunset's spotlight swivels to a sororal squabble between two starlets that concerns a certain dwarf star...

Short Summary
Bao receives word, as do Tsubaki Iwanome and Kōzaburō Arase, of the underground parking lot incident. Meanwhile, Takeru Shinoyama receives word that Lemmings will be back in three days.

As evening falls over Shinjuku, Civil A. Sabaramond and Soara Habaki discuss their next moves in the context of the Bastard Children of Sabaramond elders' flight from Japan and Fire-breathing Bug's flames within, thus leaving Civil's sub-faction to suffer Bug's heat alone. Civil, ever an opportunist, sees a convenience in the spotlight's heat: to have all his enemies in once place is to have an opportunity to crush all his enemies in one swoop. Phantom Solitaire, however, is the elders' enemy, not Civil's—but he is not pawn material either. Civil entertains a third option: making Solitaire their friend.

The friend material in question is currently scraping data generated by his deepfake in Bug and Higuro's company. Higuro probes Sorimura for information on who or what was actually responsible for the 'flock of hands' incident, hinting that Solitaire may have 'already attained what he desires' (the occult)—attained something that Higuro's employers have been searching a century for. Less subtly, he warns Sorimura that "next time [...] it'll be your own face that gets blown off" due to Sorimura's involvement in the heart of the matter.

Momoya Agakura, in his sickbed, cackles at Higuro's expense while watching the deepfake. Nevertheless, he forgives Higuro for abandoning him—and envies Higuro's "buddy-buddy[ing]" up with Solitaire. In the meantime, near the Torture Building, Majiri Agakura informs Bao that, once Majiri makes Xiaoyu Lei her little brother, the two of them will be relatives. Bao ignores her until Majiri interferes with the text message she is writing to a certain sibling, at which point Bao—Heilei leader and Xiaoyu's older sister Yenmei Lei—challenges Majiri's sororial challenge with prejudice.

Synopsis
Bao, upon speaking-via-phone with a subordinate whom she instructed to tail Civil A. Sabaramond, Soara Habaki, and Lulu, learns that the three have entered and already settled a confrontation with an armed gang in an underground parking lot's west exit. Moreover, a crime scene investigation has already commenced.

Within Shinjuku's Community Police Station, Comps-3 members Danjō Tozawa and Ranmaru Yatsu interrupt Tsubaki Iwanome and Kōzaburō Arase's break with news of a gang altercation freshly taken place. With at least ten people wounded, and firearms confirmed to be involved, Yatsu dryly supposes that Comps-3 will be called in for backup; mere moments later, Kayakusa informs Iwanome that their assistance has been requested—not the assistance of the entire station, but of Unit 3 specifically.

At the crime scene proper, a middle-aged detective considers the carnage before him and his junior—men sprawled amongst debris, limbs crushed by enormous chunks of rubble—and is certain that only a troublemaker could have caused such destruction. Only one troublemaker at that—at least, of the ones he knows: Lemmings.

Miles away from Shinjuku, at what resembles a waterfront esplanade, an individual—unseen aside from one unbandaged finger—calls Takeru Shinoyama via a public telephone to report that he will be back in Shinjuku in three days. Accessing a personal electronic calendar, Takeru notes the 18th's displayed event—"Private Business"—and tells Nezu his timing is excellent; Takeru has work for him.

While Polka Shinoyama's half nephew carries on with business, Polka carries on as a kidnapped shark plush: despite the chaotic circumstances of the parking lot confrontation, and Lula's distress, his kidnappers ensured he was still in their possession when they departed from the scene. Having since been brought to a high-rise penthouse, and having the limited mobility of a toy, Polka can do little more than watch Lulu emotionally struggle over the harm her Elemental, if not herself by unwilling proxy, inflicted in the garage. Civil turns from one of the windows to assure Lulu that she 'did her best' and that she 'involved no innocents'. As for any legal concerns, the 'old geezers' took thorough pains to have the parking lot's security cameras destroyed.

Soara, joining Lulu on a couch, draws Lulu close with a comforting gesture, and, over Lulu's head, raises a question with her usual coarse manner: what could have driven the 'geezers' to approve such a brazen, direct confrontation as that which took place in the garage? Civil replies that the elders are afraid of the Bug—so afraid of being burned that they have fled Japan for the moment, and thus afraid of Civil "leaking any information." They believe, Civil remarks, that "the burning will spread all the way to those of us here at headquarters, in this remote city, at the very least." At the very least, such a belief is rather moot when he, Arahabaki, and Lulu-via-her-Elemental can survive the likes of fire.

Here, Soara reminds him that the majority of Civil's sub-faction within the organization are not so fireproof; as Soara is correct, Civil amends that he will "take on" the flames first, so that the others are spared—for he shall be the flame that lures moths to their deaths. In other words, by 'standing out' as much as he does, Civil will draw not only his opponents' attention, he will draw their selves to 'this city'. From Civil's perspective, this is a grand opportunity to crush his opponents all in one effective swoop.

In a frowzy building, Fire-breathing Bug asks Tena Sorimura what he is doing. Sorimura, feverishly absorbed in scrolling his deepfake video's comments section, explains that he must proactively gather and respond to as much data as he can while he has the chance—that is, before Kannagi's people presumably send him a cease-and-desist letter. In a display of particularly advanced advance strategy, he has already sent a box of cakes alongside an apology letter to Kannagi's office. Higuro wonders how Sorimura has as much money as he acts like he does; after enduring a Solitaire-typical response wherein fact and fiction are as likely to be serious as they are likely to be non-serious, Higuro asks a new, serious two-art question: What took place at the fortune teller's building; and was the "giant swarm of arms" (it is implied, truly) one of Solitaire's magic tricks?

Ebullience faltering, Solitaire mirrors Higuro's own grave expression before inquiring into Higuro's motives; Higuro responds by implicitly invoking Solitaire's quest for the 'real deal' occult: "you may already have attained what it is you desire," he says. "Something my employers have been searching a hundred years for." As matters stand, Solitaire stands in the heart of the matter—and thus in a target's bullseye. Next time someone takes a shot, warns Higuro, the real deal will rip through Solitaire's real head—one of those magic tricks that can only be performed once in a lifetime.

Talk of dummies and decoys continues in a different vein with Civil and Soara, the latter of whom wonders how, exactly, they shall play at being decoys—beyond, say, parading 'get your Sabaramond leader'-style floats around the city. Civil reminds her that Solitaire is already doing the hard work of "spreading information for "them" regardless of what they want. What everyone else in the organization wants and is plotting right now, Civil guesses, is Solitaire's death. What to do? Opining that attempting to make Solitaire into a pawn would "probably backfire," Civil presents an alternative course worth considering: making Solitaire a friend.

Momoya Agakura, still confined to his sickbed, cackles uproariously at Higuro's expense while (re)watching the Higuro-Kannagi deepfake on a smartphone. When his sister, Dahlia, tells him to "pipe down," he calms down for good measure—continuing at such a rate of laughter-induced exertion will risk reopening his wounds. Wiping away tears of mirth, he decides he will forgive Higuro out of pity for "abandoning" him—but just as great as his pity is his envy toward Higuro for "buddy-buddy[ing]" up with Solitaire. Still, a silver lining therein exists: just maybe, somehow, Momoya can score Solitaire's autograph out of this mess. For now, Momoya—subconsciously continuing the theme of "obtaining the object(s) of one's fixed and/or obsessive desire"—turns his thoughts toward a woman whose obsessions are as numerous as her desires, which are as intense as they are obsessive: Majiri Agakura. His thoughts, however, are as idle as the clouds drifting past his window: "I hope she's playing nice with those kids."

Underneath that same sky—the calmest evening weather Shinjuku has seen in days—Majiri stands overlooking the Torture Building from a nearby rooftop. Not only is the Building the site of Solitaire's viral 'flock of hands' incident, it is the current residence of her current fixation: "dear little Kidsassin-kun" Xiaoyu Lei. Without looking away, she asks a woman behind her whether she knows if "Kidsassin-kun" is currently in. Her question goes ignored; the woman—Bao—is absorbed in writing a text message. Majiri turns, identifies Bao as one of the Heilei—one of the Heilei whom Majiri has specifically wanted to greet; Bao, by way of unilateral reciprocation, remains aloofly silent. Gracing Bao with a bow that goes unseen, Majiri greets her as a "soon-to-be-relative" via Xiaoyu, her "soon-to-be-little-brother."

Bao's thumb hovers over a 'send message' button. No longer content to compete with a smartphone, Majiri captures Bao in the embrace of a waltz's closed position and leads her into the beginnings of a step sequence. Majiri's initial movement is elegant. It is powerful. It knocks the phone from Bao's hand.

In the seconds that the phone is airborne, Bao wraps her left fist in a chain, snares Majiri's neck, and jerks her hand back with deadly force. Majiri whips her right wrist up to block the chain; her wrist cuts short the chain's movement just as the ground does the phone's swan dive, matching acceleration force for contact force.

Bao's phone survives the fall screen-side up, with Bao's text message on full display. The inherent message is relatively straightforward: Bao has found the 'homewrecker-thief-traitor' Agakura planning to steal Xiaoyu from Bao just as they stole from Xiaoyu his limbs and pride. Bao assures Xiaoyu that she will kill the demons and reclaim his limbs, then begs Xiaoyu "not to forsake him." The text itself, however, is a stream-of-consciousness, repetitive screed steeped in possessiveness.

As both the Heilei Leader "Bao" and Xiaoyu's biological older sister "Yenmei Lei," Bao issues Majiri a notably succinct warning: She is the only big sister that Xiaoyu shall ever need.

Trivia

 * In each previous instance wherein Xiaoyu's older sister's name made an appearance in the manga, Yen Press wrote her name as Imbi Lei. Due to the Yen Press release's history of translation inconsistencies, and the absence of a Translator's Note for 'Yenmei' when one exists earlier in this chapter for Sorimura's stage name, it is possible that the Imbi / Yenmei discrepancy is the product of translation error rather than authorial intent. Should the discrepancy be acknowledged by the characters in future chapters, readers may infer the discrepancy is deliberate. Should neither text nor translation acknowledge the Yenmei-Imbi replacement—or should Yen Press inexplicably revert to Imbi—readers may cautiously presume, based on precedent, that the discrepancy is editorial.
 * It is theoretically also possible that "Imbi Lei" is another sister altogether—for instance, an adopted sister, since this chapter specifies that Bao/Yenmei is Xiaoyu's biological relative. However, the resemblance between Bao and Imbi's texts ultimately implies they are the same person.
 * Solitaire's stage name as provided on page 12—"The Mysterious Phantom Musician Yuki Tengu"—is, according to a Translator's Note, comprised of characters from his real name, Tena Sorimura.
 * Yen Press' release of this chapter spells "Ryouma" as "Ryoma," despite previous chapters using the former spelling/pronunciation.

Referbacks

 * The two detectives at the crime scene are the same detectives seen discussing Lemmings in Volume 1, Chapter 8. The older detective recounts the one time he witnessed Lemmings in action, attesting to Lemmings' monstrosity.
 * Solitaire's dummy decoy was shot in Volume 4, Chapter 26.
 * The 'invisible flock of hands' incident takes place in Volume 4, Chapter 34.
 * Bao's text message is reminiscent of previous texts that Xiaoyu has received from an older sister ('Imbi'). Instances where Xiaoyu's older sister is referenced or indirectly appears prior to this chapter are listed below.
 * Volume 3, Chapter 22: The young silhouetted girl seen with Xiaoyu's father may be Xiaoyu's sister.
 * Volume 4, Chapter 30: Imbi texts Xiaoyu regarding Miyabi Hosorogi, curry, and Sayo Shinoyama.
 * Volume 5, Chapter 41: Following Xiaoyu and Taipei's interaction, Imbi texts Xiaoyu with advice to ignore Taipei, whose savings account's contents she has just transferred to Xiaoyu's account. Imbi's visual monitoring of Xiaoyu can be retrospectively contextualized in Bao's job assignments to gather information and monitor the Torture Building for Takeru.