Durarara!! Light Novel Volume 08/Prologue

"The Dollars have changed. The gang no longer has the freedom to lollygag."

Two Sides, Same Coin @ Ikebukuro is the prologue of the eighth Durarara!! light novel. The prologue is split into three parts.

Heads
While harassing a salaryman, a group of muggers claiming to be with the Dollars are attacked by another group of Dollars members. The attacking group, wearing ski masks with shark teeth extending around their heads, claim to be cleaning the ranks of the gang under orders from the boss.

Tails
Shingen Kishitani and Seitarou Yagiri are riding in a limo together when Shingen warns Seitarou to be wary of Jinnai Yodogiri, who is trying to align himself with Yagiri Pharmaceuticals. Seitarou seems unlikely to heed the warning, planning to use the middle-man to his own ends. While discussing the merging of their companies and Celty Sturluson's head, Seitarou admits to having fallen in love with the head, though to a lesser degree than his nephew, once even threatening Shinra Kishitani's life to obtain it. While he appears disinterested in the head's current location, he laments that his niece Namie disappeared with it a year prior. After Seitarou departs, Shingen continues discussing Jinnai Yodogiri with the driver, Egor, using Yodogiri's evasion of his would-be assassin Ruri Hijiribe as evidence of his skill.

Edge
In the chat room, Bacura brings up rumors of Ruri Hijiribe's stalker and notes TarouTanaka and Kanra's long absence. Trying to liven up the chat, everyone agrees to invite a friend.

At Rakuei Gym, Eijirou Sharaku warns Mairu Orihara about Kisuke Adabashi, the man training in private on the second floor. After kicking a punching bag repeatedly, Adabashi removes a destroyed picture of Ruri Hijiribe from a bandage around his ankle and eats it. After replacing the picture inside the bandage, he continues kicking the punching bag, breaking down the picture of Ruri.

Character Debuts

 * Seitarou Yagiri
 * Eijirou Sharaku
 * Kisuke Adabashi

Quotes
Dollars member: "We're gonna need to borrow your phones so that we can log in to the Dollars website and cancel your memberships. Having guys like you in the Dollars is a bit of a problem, you see. And our leader wants us to purge you from the ranks."

Shingen (to Seitarou): "I know how arrogant you are. You think you'll use him for all he's worth, then cut him loose when you need to, like a lizard's tail...but that's a perilous idea. He might be the tail, but you never know when it's actually the body that's being cut loose."

Shingen (to Egor): "Then I shall say this... under the assumption that you are 'a child' of Saika and thus inhuman. You should stay away from Jinnai Yodogiri. You never know what distant land he'll sell you to."

Eijirou: "Well... maybe I'm just generalizing, 'cause this is only my impression, but I don't think he's training for the purpose of being stronger... I dunno, I just get a much more dangerous vibe from him...."