Chapter Text
A monochrome island in a sea of colourful infrastructure - a gray courtyard stood still, framed by the gray sky. The atmosphere swirling with both boredom and anticipation, the scene had a pressure comparable to the shrine of some extremely bored deity. The heavy concrete dividing it from the movement of the city; this place ran on its own pace. Even time sat stagnant within its walls - like the tepid air before a storm until all is interrupted by the sound of the rain.
As the crisp sound of the school bell echoed like a clap of thunder, the gray scenery suddenly began to fill with colour.
Uniforms slowly dotted the scenery with specks of blue - raindrops on sun warmed concrete.
Lively after a long week of classes, chatter bubbled in the dense, humid air of the Tokyo summer. Spirits and voices rose along with the wind, discussing their plans for the break, visiting a new cafe, an upcoming movie… Refreshed by the rare shade of a cloudy day, few noted the sudden arrival of the city’s rainy season. Soon, many would be drenched by the sudden downpour, regretting that they had ignored the ominous cover of gray clouds.
But of course, ominous things are only ominous in hindsight. Omens become mere fiction depending on how the future changes. With a slight change in the wind, “the premonition of rain” simply becomes a needless worry. Be it the collision of charged ice particles in a cloud or the countless inhabitants in the streets below – thunderstorms are dependent on trivial matters.
In a city where the rain comes down on a whim - can a simple meeting between two people be considered ‘inevitable’?
Unnoticed by the students below, a sliver of pure white fluttered against the darkened sky. The girl mulled over the importance of such meetings as she peered over the railing. Her middle school uniform waving in the wind, Kinomiya Kazane wore a complicated expression on her face.
Her eyes skimmed over groups of normal teenagers cheerfully mingled in with the other less orthodox residents of Raijin high school. Many of the faces had already become familiar to her. In the mass of people, Kazane easily picked out the serious-looking back of Kadota Kyohei and the unmistakable figure of Hajime Shishizaki, trailed by an entourage of timid female students.
She spotted a blond head, surrounded by a distinctly empty circle where the crowd swerved around him, students and delinquents alike. Although he was isolated, he walked with a certain calmness. The fact that Shizuo was alone simply meant that he was not fighting.
It’s good to see Heiwajima-senpai going home normally…
But …
“Well, if it isn’t Kazane-chan. What a surprise.
Along with Heiwajima Shizuo’s “image of peace”, Kazane felt a certain “premonition of trouble”.
“If you’re still looking for Shinra, he left during fourth period with something like ‘The person I love is finally coming home, so I have to be there to welcome them with a passionate embrace!’”
Against the gray sky, his black uniform stood out just as much as her white one. The boy dressed in the opposite colour smiled down at the girl as he leaned against the rooftop water tank.
“There really was no need for you to come all the way here today.”
“Izaya-senpai… how long have you been here?”
“Hmm… let’s see, long enough to have seen you sneak over the school fence.”
“…”
“Hey, don’t look at me like that. You were making such an interesting expression. It would have been a waste to call out to you. Even such a troubled look is lovely and endearing to watch. No matter what kind of face people wear, I will gladly observe it. Because, you know.”
His smile twisted.
“I love humans.”
“Ok then, I’ll see you later, Izaya-senpai.”
“...”
Turning away from him, Kazane walked toward the stairs.
“Oi...That’s cold, Kazane-chan… Leaving as soon as you see me?”
Izaya’s smile waned as he watched her move past without a single glance in his direction.
“Don’t you think you should at least humour me a little after I came all the way to the roof?”
Her footsteps paused.
“Pfft - ” Suddenly, an unexpected expression.
“It’s strange… Izaya-senpai’s offended expression is surprisingly likable.”
A bright smile.
Against a backdrop of slow-moving gray clouds and gray concrete floor, the girl in a white uniform pushed aside her brown hair fluttering in the wind. Kazane looked up to him with a pure, unobscured smile.
Izaya, who was not used to such expressions suddenly directed towards him, instinctively frowned.
“Hey, you shouldn’t be making such a cheerful face right away… You know, even I can’t read Shinra’s actions sometimes. Who’s to say that he won’t appear in front of us right now instead of going home early?”
“Ah, so you came here to warn me?”
“That really wasn’t my intention…”
Raijin High School's campus, despite its large delinquent population, could be actually quite pleasant with proper maintenance. With its hilltop location, the school offered an expansive view of the city - the lonely feeling of the nearby Zoshigaya cemetery being offset by the towering highrises in the distance. From the water tower ledge on the rooftop - the highest point in the school, a sharp-eyed person could easily point out the landmarks of downtown Ikebukuro. Squinting her eyes slightly from where she’d climbed up and perched beside Izaya, Kazane could even see the pedestrian walkway where he’d first called out to her.
Although she had run away that time, the fact remains that Izaya had the habit of appearing at the worst of moments. Of course he had noticed the recurring figure of Kazane sneaking around the gates of Raijin high school. Soon after, he would suddenly appear around a corner in front of her, or on the other side of a tree she was standing behind. And of course he took the liberty of giving her a tour around the campus despite Kazane’s polite refusals. But like everything else Izaya did, it was more to satisfy his own amusement rather than Kazane’s.
“The school does have a swimming pool, actually. Well, it’s been locked since the chlorine gas explosion. Come to think of it, things might have gotten really got of hand if Shishizaki hadn’t interfered.”
“This is the art room. It’s been closed lately, because of a certain recent event. I’m still surprised that no one ended up dying in that one…”
… Nii-san’s high school life with Izaya and Heiwajima-senpai might be unimaginably disastrous.
“Ah, these scorch marks? It was from that incident at the cultural festival. The school nearly caught on fire as well.. looks like they haven’t finished repairing yet.”
Casually pointing out the aftermath of what seemed to an explosion on the building’s walls, he had seemed to enjoy Kazane’s progressively more worried expressions.
“Well, you can probably see the whole school grounds from the rooftop. Oh, don’t worry about someone catching you. That beast is known for hanging out here at lunch, so it’s natural instinct for most humans to avoid it. You should be able to observe that brother of yours with ease.”
Regularly crossing paths, eventually, they came to be in the present situation
The apprehensive-looking middle school student in a white uniform and the black-clad high school student with an infamous reputation, looking equally out of place at Raijin high school.
What exactly was the relationship between these two?
Meeting on a rooftop after school, talking casually.
In Izaya’s case, as always, he simply wanted to see.
The girl who looked at the overcast city with a hopeful expression. Unlike him, who already had a hand in Ikebukuro’s more sinister dealings - Kazane knew nothing of the city’s dark side.
The rain clouds rolling in over the distant buildings spiraled heavily in between the skyscrapers, obscuring the top of Sunshine 60 from view. Settling over the streets, the mist crept and flowed like something sentient.
There was a certain author with a habit of describing of that city as a living thing having its own personality. Borrowing Tsukumoya Shinichi’s penchant for metaphors, if the city was a person, to Izaya, the storm was a monster. Covering people’s eyes, twisting its tendrils around their hearts, the clouds hid his precious humans from view.
Of course, it didn’t help that the spiraling rain clouds reminded him of a darker coloured mist.
Of course, it didn’t help that Kishintani Shinra was infatuated with that mysterious existance.
And it didn’t help that Shinra’s little sister, who was so similar yet different, chased after her brother from a distance.
This girl that watched Shinra brought up unpleasant memories.
Back then, I was curious about him too, wasn’t I? Although my personality was probably different.
For Izaya, who had been living normally, Shinra’s detachment was interesting. However, the trait that fascinated Izaya also opened up the way to a world of monstrous existences.
Izaya wanted to see what she would become.
For this girl that only saw Shinra from afar,
Shinra’s abnormality is a direct result of the Headless Rider.
Acknowledging that abnormality in him also meant acknowledging the unnatural forces which made him that way.
However, Kazane, who had never approached Shinra, would not know that part of her brother.
In Kazane’s case, Kishitani Shinra was probably no longer a normal existence to her.
By not meeting him, “the shadow of Kishitani Shinra” would grow within Kazane’s mind, becoming more and more abstract. Without facing him as a human, her brother would fade as a person and become akin to a symbol.
To Kinomiya Kazane, Shinra might as well represent the very boundary between common sense and fiction.
In that case, “Shinra’s shadow” would eventually surpass humanity, and he would become something even more significant, while all the while remaining human himself.
Orihara Izaya wanted to see this.
While looking at a “human existence that was beyond human”, what kind of poison would form within Kazane’s heart? Or maybe “the concept of Kishitani Shinra” would become an antidote that could save her from the corruption of viewing the monsters in that city.
The girl who spoke to him with clear eyes.
She might really become something incredible.
But this was a baseless theory for now. It could be just as likely that Kazane would simply decide to call out to her brother one day, or lose interest in him completely. Izaya knew this. However, the instincts instilled in him since childhood from watching people prickled at the back of his mind.
In other words, Izaya felt a certain “premonition”.
It was similar to the kind of feeling he experienced meeting Shinra for the first time. To Izaya, who loved to see the change in people, she had the air of someone who was able to make a “shift” happen. In a city like this one, such a shift had the ability to send ripples throughout the entire urban fabric.
“Come to think of it, you’ve been appearing here even more than before, Kazane-chan. You already know that you’re not going to get any information about Shinra from me.”
Hiding his true intentions, Izaya simply continued to talk flippantly about mundane matters, watching her closely to catch the possibility of that extraordinary moment. However, while his own intentions were clear, it perplexed him as to why Kazane, who more or less knew what kind of person he was, chose to continue associating with him.
“Let me take a guess.”
Pretending to think it over, Izaya’s eyes widened in mock surprise.
“Don’t tell me that it’s because you’ve fallen for me? Well, love me if you want, although I wouldn’t really recommend it.”
Kazane put on a face of contemplation. Interested by this response to his joke, he looked at her her curiously as she pondered for a few seconds.
“Hmm, to put it simply, my impression of Izaya-senpai is definitely ‘a harmful influence’.”
“Hey, wasn’t that way too straightforward…”
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing, I think.”
Kazane titled her head back towards the gray sky, a serious expression settled on a face that still contained some traces of childishness.
“You are a person that causes all kinds of trouble, right? You stir things up and watch from where it doesn’t reach you.”
Izaya, watching her out of the corner of his eye, was inevitably reminded of Shinra.
“I think...I’ve already realized, that I’m probably a person with the luck to attract all kinds of troublesome things… Although it’s not like I try to stay away from them.” A wry smile appeared on Kazane’s face as she continued to speak in a voice that seemed not at all childish.
“You always say cruel and insightful things to move people’s hearts, but you watch them from far away by yourself… A troublesome person and a person who likes troublesome things… Don’t you think it’s natural for us to be friends?”
“Friends… Well, you can think what you like.” Izaya simply shrugged his shoulders like it was none of his concern.
However, prophecies were prone to omitting important details, especially when the prophet was a liar himself.
A “premonition”.
A foreboding feeling.
A slight sense of unease. Kazane’s carefree smiles and bright words that proclaimed him as her friend.
“Shifts” that change the world and “shifts” that change oneself - are they really very different? For Izaya, who would laugh and frolic in the rain watching humans even if it meant getting soaked, it might be an unnecessary question.
The last sounds of laughter fading as the remaining students passed through the front gates, the air stilled.
In a concrete courtyard where time has again come to a stop, from a rooftop above the city, the pair dressed in opposite colours continued to watch the distant skyscrapers, despite the approach of imminent rain.
And so the gray clouds swirled on,
Twisting into the future.