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The mundane is easily shattered, or rather, it’s better to say that the air of the everyday changes on a whim. For example, on the morning of March 13th, the city had woken up to an unseasonal snow. Although Ikebukuro itself was the same, a scent of coldness clung to clothes and moods alike. The streets and alleyways were blanketed in a thin layer of white, almost eerie in its pureness - even the colour gangs and brawlers seemed more quiet than usual. In other words, the atmosphere was different.
Similarly, the unknown number on the display made Kazane’s cheerful ringtone take on a rather ominous feeling. She stared at the screen, titling her head quizzically. Recently, the girl had been collecting the ghost stories and fortune-telling games that had been passing around various schools in the area. In years to come, Kazane would be writing articles on a global scale, but for now she was simply researching for her middle school newspaper. A man called Tsukumoya Shinichi, her mentor of sorts, had offered to help edit her report later on in the week. But Kazane somehow doubted that he was the one calling her now.
“...Hello?” She lifted the cellphone hesitantly.
“Good morning, Kinomiya Kazane-chan! What a tentative greeting… Actually, I thought you wouldn’t even pick up because of the strange number. That cautious tone means you were at least suspicious. Hmm… could it be that you were expecting me? That makes me really flustered!”
As the voice curved mockingly, Kazane’s heart dropped.
He doesn’t sound flustered at all…
Crafty. Twisted. Unpredictable. Those were only some of the whispers swirling about the individual called Orihara Izaya. Kazane suspected that there were even more nefarious things that Izaya kept from the light. Although she had been curious about him because of his closeness with Shinra, Kazane had already deemed the boy “very dangerous”.
“Orihara-san…”
“Izaya is fine. Your brother is really the only one that calls me Orihara.”
“...Izaya-san, how did you know my cellphone number?”
“The same way I knew you were Shinra’s sister.” Kazane could practically hear him smirk. “I wonder how you would react if this information accidently got out? What kind of face would you make if your older brother showed up at your door one day?”
“Please don’t do that...”
“Don’t worry, I won’t leak your address or anything. Actually, I wanted to offer you some information. I heard from Rui-kun that you were looking for weird rumors and that sort of thing.”
Kazane had asked a friend’s brother about Raijin high, with the excuse being for her research. She now felt a twinge of regret for her curiousity.
“T-thank you very much, but I will manage on my own… I’ve already collected enough for my project, really.”
“Hmm, you say that, but instead of schoolyard rumors, shouldn’t you be looking at ‘urban legends’ instead?”
Izaya’s suggestion was vague, but Kazane felt a rush in her ears.
“I heard that headless person appeared again. Rumor has it, it’s going to pass by a certain intersection of downtown Ikebukuro.”
“Izaya-san… Do you mean...”
Click.
“Huh? It disconnected?”
She tried to call back, but it seemed that he had been using a public payphone.
“What was that about…”
Kazane stared at her cellphone with a strange expression for a while, before silently grabbing her jacket from the closet.
Although it was the weekend, Ikebukuro was bustling as usual. Footprints crisscrossed the ground, erasing the thin layer of snow little by little. Already, the eerie atmosphere of the morning was melting from everyone’s minds. She had grown up here, but often it felt like its pace still threatened to sweep her away.
Kazane tried to focus, slowing her walk to look around. Honestly, she was not too familiar with this part of town. It’s not like she was an indoors kind of person or had a bad sense of direction. Since elementary school, Kazane had already explored most of the city, but she had avoided this particular area, near Kawagoe highway.
She hadn’t wanted to run into her brother. Maybe in the depths of her mind, she instinctively knew that knowing Shinra meant knowing the dark, twisted secrets Ikebukuro stored underneath its shining surface. But here she was, her steps slipping a little as she wove through the thickening crowd. For two children who grew up separately, on opposite sides of the city, their paths were surprisingly similar. Neither sibling could stay away from the pull of the extraordinary.
Sometimes it was as if the abnormal itself was seeking them out, instead of the other way around.
A hand landed on her shoulder.
Orihara Izaya was not dressed in his black uniform this time, but he was unmistakable even in the crowd. His dark casual clothing did nothing to soften the air around him. In fact, they worked to accentuate the boy's features, making his smile even sharper than usual.
"Wow, what a coincidence, Kazane-chan! What brings you to this part of town?”
A coincidence? Is he trying to be sarcastic?
“H-hi Izaya-san. This morning, you were talking about urban legends. Um… I wanted to ask… just how much do you know about the - ”
As if in response, an unnatural noise sounded from afar. It was a sound that did not belong in the city. Kazane had heard it before, but she couldn’t help feeling ominous. Izaya looked unfazed.
“Well, there’s your answer!” Grasping her shoulders, Izaya pushed Kazane to the front of a small hoard of people. An audience was already gathering at the edge of the street.
It was the neigh of a horse.
A black motorcycle rolled soundlessly onto the downtown street. The ambient buzzing of the city was the only noise to be heard - the bike itself was as silent as the mysterious figure riding it. A few people pulled out their phones to snap pictures - the camera flashes reflecting hollowly on the rider’s helmet visor.
Kazane has seen the myth on several occasions, but each time, she couldn’t help but imagine the curb as some sort of boundary - the threshold between the ordinary and the extraordinary. If she crossed that line between the sidewalk and the street...
Reading the apprehension on her face, the boy beside her couldn’t help but crack a smile, for he was one that liked to push others over such boundaries.
“Ah, you were curious about Celty, weren’t you? I happened to be acquainted with her.”
“Umm...”
One way or another, Kinomiya Kazane was now seated in a living room. It was clean, but not overly so. The walls were a soft cream colour. Overall, the house gave off the atmosphere of a warm family.
“This change of mood is a little too drastic…”
After the encounter with the headless rider, Izaya had expressed in an overly light tone - “This place is too loud. If you want to know more, how about we chat somewhere more private?”
… Leading her to this cozy scene. The only part slightly out of the ordinary were several large stacks of obnoxious-looking pink envelopes. They piled around Izaya, who sat at the end of the table, casually twirling a pen.
"Information isn't free, you know." He had said, despite the fact that it was Izaya who brought up the topic of the headless rider in the first place. This was the reason why Kazane ended up with the rather peculiar task of decorating dozens of envelopes with heart-shaped stickers.
“Kazane-chan, have you ever written a love letter before?” He asked offhandedly.
“...Not personally.” Kazane tilted her head. White day was approaching, and although it was more commonly known as an ‘answer day’, it was not unheard of for boys to give out confessions. She eyed the stacks of decorated envelopes, suddenly unsure. Kazane had assumed Izaya was pulling a prank of some kind, but it somehow felt more serious than one.
“Is Izaya-san writing someone a love letter?” She asked brightly, eyes widening.
Izaya, who had been flipping through some scattered papers rather expressionlessly, suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.
Kazane stared at him with slight alarm.
“Pu- Aha-ha haha-ha. No, this is for a... project of sorts."
He’s actually laughing himself close to tears...
“Ha- I wanted to know how a girl would write one. I wish I’d kept a few of mine for reference, at least. Although if I could write a love letter to all of humanity, I would!"
Izaya lifted an envelope by its corner, looking mildly disgusted. "I guess there can be some level of amusement from things like White Day, especially with the bonus of messing with Shizu-chan. No sane girl would go near that monster, anyway."
Poor Heiwajima-senpai…
Kazane imagined his daily school life with the chaotic force known as Izaya. She silently murmured a prayer for Heiwajima Shizuo.
"Ah, that takes me back. Did you know, a girl confessed to Shinra once? Guess what he said? He told her 'Sorry, I can't love you, because you have a head’! Shinra tends to be extra excited this time of year. It’s problematic, really.”
Just as abruptly as his laughing fit had started, Izaya's grin suddenly dropped off his face without warning. He turned to the girl, who had been absorbing this strange information about her brother with an inquisitive expression.
“Ah, that question I asked you last time, you never did answer me properly. Between me and Shizu-chan, who will you choose as Shinra’s friend?” A hint of coldness had crept into his voice.
“That’s really not my choice to make… even if I had an opinion, that shouldn't impact Izaya-san and Nii-san’s relationship.”
“Ah, this question is a little more serious than that, Kazane-chan. After all, if you want to know about Celty, it’s a reply you’re going to have to give.”
“Um.. what does this have to do with… Celty-san?”
Celty. Kazane had been secretly rolling the name around inside her head since he had mentioned it on the street. It wasn’t much, but she finally had a name to assign to the mysterious black motorbike.
He waved his arm nonchalantly, and ignored her question with a gentle smile. “It’s intriguing, isn’t it? You’re all so fascinated by the black motorbike. You can walk by extraordinary things every day without a care, but as soon as something inhuman appears, you’re hopelessly infatuated in the blink of an eye. The most wonderful part of a city are the inhabitants themselves, and they choose to observe hints of the supernatural instead of each other.” Izaya looked up at the ceiling, sighing dramatically. “Really, so fickle. But I love it! I love all humans. I love them. I love everything about humans. If humans choose to love the supernatural, I will love that part of them in turn.”
Izaya narrowed his eyes. “But it’s wrong to love monsters, you know? Loving the abnormal taints humanity, it corrupts them. Monsters are allowed to exist, but it’s a crime for them to be loved. They can pretend to be human, they can even get close to it, but they are only imitations. Monsters can only destroy”
“Wouldn’t it be great if they just disappeared as soon as somebody fell in love with them?”
Kazane felt a chill and the twinge of inexplicable sadness.
“You mean.. Celty…I know she is an important existence to my brother, at least. She is someone not human?” Her suspicion had been confirmed.
So she really doesn’t have a head...
“That headless rider and that mindless beast, the biggest urban legends in Ikebukuro... they are both undeserving of any form of love.” Izaya’s smile was harsh and unforgiving.
“The choice I’m asking you to make is not about who is more suitable as Shinra’s friend. I’m asking, which one is allowed to be by his side? Monsters, or humans. In other words, Celty Sturluson and Heiwajima Shizuo.”
He raised his hand, pointing at Kazane. “Or you and me.”
“These two parties cannot coexist. I don’t mind declaring war if it comes to it. Something like that is inevitable, in the end.”
Kazane, sitting frozen, took in Izaya’s words. Quietly, she came to a conclusion.
I had my doubts, but this person is completely human. So very human it’s kind of painful.
Clearing her throat, she replied in a quiet, clear voice. “I think… it doesn’t matter who you love. If you’re willing to risk your heart for someone, you have to have one in the first place. So if monsters are able to love... they must have a heart. That means someone will surely love them back. And monsters… are usually feared more than they are admired, even if they are kind. That’s why… I think it can be a brave and precious thing to love a monster.”
Smiling, Kazane looked up, and added brightly. “But I think that being jealous of monsters is also a rare thing! So I hope Izaya-san will be able to find someone to love him too, one day.”
Izaya regarded her for a moment before bursting into laughter. “You two really are too much to deal with. Seriously, you siblings are both way too level-headed, but at the same time incredibly reckless. Kazane-chan, you’ve been trying to determine if I was fully human, weren’t you?”
Her smile dropped a little.
“Then, isn’t it way too careless to follow someone to their house without even knowing that? Or, was there another reason…”
Suddenly flustered, Kazane involuntarily ducked her head, her face flushing lightly.
“U-um, I think I’ll be heading home now,” She said quickly, stumbling to her feet. But before Kazane could make her escape, there was the click of a key in a lock.
“Oh, it sounds like Nakura’s parents are home!” Izaya remarked casually.
“Huh?” Kazane had noticed that the surname on the house’s front plate was not Izaya’s, but she had assumed that he was staying with a relative. “What do you mean?”
Unhinging a window, Izaya beamed at her. “Oh, you really thought I would just take you to my home on a whim? Sorry, but I don’t trust you that much, so I decided to borrow… a friend’s place.” He contemplated for a moment. “I could talk us out of this, but I don’t really feel like it right now. Kazane-chan, could you grab those envelopes?”
A week later, Kinomiya Kazane realized that she had learned virtually nothing about the black motorbike from Izaya. She also discovered, to her mild horror, that she unknowingly had a hand in an especially violent chapter of Raijin’s history. The letters she helped him decorate were used in a scheme that landed a significant number of Raijin’s students in the hospital on what came to be known as “Bloody White Day”, but that’s another story.