Bungo Stray Dogs, Vol. 6: Beast PDF
Preview Bungo Stray Dogs, Vol. 6: Beast
Copyright Bungo Stray Dogs, Volume 6 KAFKA ASAGIRI Translation by Matt Rutsohn Cover art by Sango Harukawa This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental BUNGO STRAY DOGS Vol. 6 BEAST ©Kafka Asagiri 2019 ©Sango Harukawa 2019 First published in Japan in 2019 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo. English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC., Tokyo. English translation © 2021 by Yen Press, LLC Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. Yen On 150 West 30th Street, 19th Floor New York, NY 10001 Visit us at yenpress.com facebook.com/yenpress twitter.com/yenpress yenpress.tumblr.com instagram.com/yenpress First Yen On Edition: May 2021 Yen On is an imprint of Yen Press, LLC The Yen On name and logo are trademarks of Yen Press, LLC The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Asagiri, Kafka, author. | Iwahata, Hiro, author. | Rutsohn, Matt, translator. Title: Beast / Kafka Asagiri ; illustration by Sango Harukawa ; translation by Matt Rutsohn Other titles: Dazai Osamu no nyåusha shaken. English Description: First Yen On edition | New York, NY : Yen On, 2019. | Series: Bungo stray dogs ; Volume 6 Identifiers: LCCN 2019005328 | ISBN 9781975303228 (v 1 : pbk) | ISBN 9781975303242 (v 2 : pbk) | ISBN 9781975303266 (v 3 : pbk) | ISBN 9781975303280 (v 4 : pbk) | ISBN 9781975316570 (v 5 : pbk) | ISBN 9781975316594 (v 6 : pbk) Classification: LCC PL8675.S234 D3913 2019 | DDC 895.63/6—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019005328 ISBNs: 978-1-97531659-4 (paperback) 978-1-9753-1660-0 (ebook) E3-20210423-JV-NF-ORI Contents Cover Insert Title Page Copyright #0 #1 #2 #3 #4 Afterword Sango Harukawa’s Beast Rough Sketch Gallery Yen Newsletter #0 The young boy raced through the night. He felt as if he would cough up his lungs any minute as the sweat dripped down his cheeks. Hunger and exhaustion blurred his vision. Most would have passed out by now but not this young boy. He kept moving, forcing each foot forward as quickly as he could even if it cost him a limb, for this boy known as Ryuunosuke Akutagawa was out of time. He figured that he would be dead once he finished running down this path. Akutagawa was a child of the slums, and one of the many who never knew his parents. He lived on the streets with eight other kids who shared his fate. Each one of his peers said the same thing about him: The boy lacked emotions. Even when Akutagawa awoke on the cold pavement every morning, even on the rare occasion he got treated to a meal, even when an adult beat him senseless—he showed little emotion. He would simply stare off into space with his dark, empty eyes. Most adults wrote him off as a heartless brat. But this unfeeling boy possessed mysterious powers. He was able to manipulate his clothing. Once, he used it like a rope; another time, like a blade. Before long, he could make it take any shape he desired. The ability to manipulate the clothing he wore—that was Akutagawa’s gift. Nevertheless, this was Yokohama, the city of demons. Buying illegal firearms and grenades was like buying an apple at the store. It was easy. Turning his sleeves into blades and flinging them around was no more shocking than a magic trick. At least, that was what the adults who knew of Akutagawa’s ability told him as they mocked him. Akutagawa’s peers were different, though. The eight boys and girls who lived on the streets with him knew how dangerous he was. This filthy, frail boy dressed in rags could approach someone, his eyes void of any emotion, and slit their throat without warning. Armed, overconfident adults were the quickest to die like this. Many thieves who tried stealing money from the children met their end at Akutagawa’s hand. Akutagawa murdered all those who threatened his turf without showing any emotion or even saying a word, earning him the moniker of the Silent Mad Dog. There was no threatening roar or warning growl. By the time his target realized what was happening, it was already too late; Akutagawa had them by the throat. He was far more vicious than any noisy mad dog. He was shunned, feared—and that was how he became known by his nickname. Nevertheless, he was still a young boy, one who never got enough to eat and spent his nights in the slums where the cold wind chilled him to the bone. Akutagawa was inherently frail in addition to being short and emaciated. Naturally, the other eight children in his group were hardly any different. That was why they always worked together and looked out for one another. But there was no need for that any longer. All his friends had been killed. He knew who murdered them, too. The killers were part of a small armed organization that had made its way from the west to the slums of Yokohama. In truth, armed organization was just a nice-sounding term for those who attacked and stole from unarmed transport ships that frequented the port and slums. In other words, they were pirates. Though they were newcomers in the area, the group formed an alliance with the criminal organization the Port Mafia and thereby received permission to operate within the region. Not a soul would dare fight back against a subsidiary branch of the Mafia—the very embodiment of Yokohama’s dark underbelly. One of Akutagawa’s friends had accidentally overheard the date and time the pirates were going to carry out an illegal trade deal, so, fearing being reported to the police, the outlaws attacked the children on their turf and slaughtered every one of them. Only with the help of his younger sister was Akutagawa narrowly able to escape, although not unscathed. Despite his grave injuries that would normally take a month’s rest to heal, Akutagawa now dashed through the black of night with the utmost swiftness. The children had a rule: If one of them got hurt, the others would avenge them. It was the only way they could protect themselves from those who tried
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