Durarara!! Saika Arc Chapter 001

Red Breath, Long Breath is the first chapter of the Saika Arc manga adaptation.

Synopsis
In the beginning of the chapter a person named Saika in the chat room starts spamming. After it leaves, users Kanra, Setton, and Tarou Tanaka come on. Kanra tells them about the name of the person who was spamming is like a demon blade. Elsewhere a man is being chased by he Black Rider. It corners him, telling that he should return the money he stole, but a blade is stabbed through her own and then the wielder proceeds to cut her head off. The Black Rider turns around to catch it, but the assailant retreats before she is able to. The man runs away, terrified of the headless being.

The next day Mikado Ryuugamine asks Anri Sonohara if he can turn in her notebook for her, however she is not finished. After walking out of the classroom, Anri is then approached by her teacher Takashi Nasujima, who starts to sexually harass her. Masaomi Kida interferes and threatens to play the audio recording of their exchange to the other teachers, scaring him away. Masaomi then warns Anri about Takashi and what he does to girls. Shortly after, Mikado comes and they all walk home with each other hearing about what Takashi did to Haruna Niekawa.

The friends then split up. While Anri walks home alone, the three Ganguro bullies berate and torment Anri in a dark alleyway. They taunt her for her dependence on others, such as her codependent friendship with Mika Harima, and her closeness to Mikado and Masaomi after Mika abandoned her. Just then, a dark figure with a knife appears behind the bullies, who is revealed to be the Slasher. Later in the chatroom, Kanra talks about the high school girls who were slashed, making Tarou Tanaka worried hearing his friend Anri was there.

Elsewhere, Shuuji Niekawa is trying to find out the strongest man in Ikebukuro for a magazine company he works for. He first visits Shiki who suggests Shizuo Heiwajima as a possibility. Shuuji then approaches and questions Simon, but his reasons end up being irrelevant for the article. Simon's co-worker Denis points him to Izaya Orihara for information, which Izaya reluctantly admits Shizuo Heiwajima is the strongest in a scenario where 'everything goes.' Not willing to talk more about Shizuo out of hatred, Izaya then contacts Celty to have her talk to Shuuji.

After Shuuji meets with the Celty, he makes a final stop at Shizuo's workplace to talk with him. Not believing Shizuo is the man everyone hyped him up to be, Shuuji makes the mistake of instigating Shizuo, prompting him to lose his temper. Shuuji gets up after being on the receiving end of Shizuo's punch, and fascinated from the encounter he walks home, planning on writing the article. But on his way back, a figure creeps up from behind him and slashes him. The chapter ends with Saika appearing on the chat, saying she has found Shizuo.

Quotes
Celty (to Shuuji about Shizuo): "That's it - his strength is like the power of a gun."