Break You
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Chapter 1
Heiwajima Shizuo was supposedly a brute. If one were to adopt the style of a self-help book, they would say, 'He did not control his anger, his anger controlled him'.
"You make it so obvious when you stare like that, Nene-chan," said Kimi, taking a seat beside her on the stands surrounding the sports grounds. "Close your mouth."
"What?" said Nene, eyes fixed on the young man throwing a baseball at his friend. "Shut up."
"There's drool on your chin."
Nene turned and saddled the bench, staring at Kimi's bag. Kimi shot her a tired glare before reaching into it and taking out a plastic box.
"Here," she said, flinging it into Nene's lap. "Don't bitch if you don't like it."
"You didn't make it, did you?" Nene asked as she lifted the box into the air and scrutinised it against the light.
"Of course not," said Kimi, turning up her nose. "I had Okaa-sama order it from that new bakery and it came fresh this morning, so you better appreciate it."
Half the cake disappeared into Nene's mouth in one bite.
"Yrrnurfadmud?" At Kimi's look of disgust, she swallowed quickly. "I said are you in a bad mood."
"I just got off the phone with Otou-san. He's threatening to cut my allowance."
"He can't do that."
"You're worried about where you're going to live, aren't you?"
"Yes."
Before Nene could react, Kimi reached out, plucked the remaining bit of cake from her hand and shoved it into her mouth. A smug grin extended over her inflated face.
"I hope you choke," Nene said darkly.
"But then where would you live?"
Nene grinned.
Ten years they had been friends, ten years and Nene could safely say she knew everything about Toyoshima Kimi. Headstrong and pig-headed to a fault, Kimi wasn't an easy force to be reckoned, and being the heiress to a multi-million yen company didn't exactly leave much room for insecurities and likewise those with insecurities had little room for her. The attitude could get tiresome, Nene could admit, but then she wasn't entirely blameless when it came to Kimi's behaviour. Being one of the only people in the world whose opinion actually mattered to the young spitfire, Nene should have intervened, or at least tried to help, but during an argument between Kimi and the rest of the world, you'd likely find a Nene shaped hole in the wall.
"You're spacing out again," said Kimi, slamming her locker shut at the end of the school day.
"I was thinking about how you're probably going to get us killed one day," said Nene.
"You set the kitchen on fire last week."
"Indestructible oven my ass," said Nene, looking up at the ceiling. There was a sizeable hole showing through to the science room above. Must have been from the other week when Shizuo threw a desk through two floors.
"Oh, so you weren't trying to bake Heiwajima cookies," said Kimi, one hand pressed against the lockers, the other on her hip.
"I was testing it," said Nene.
"Last year, you baked him cookies."
"I've told you a thousand times, it was his birthday."
"Whatever. I'm not judging. The heart wants what the heart wants."
"The heart wants you to be quiet."
"Maybe this year you'll actually make eye contact with him," said Kimi, "and then he'll punch you."
"It's funny that you don't like him, since you're both so alike," said Nene. "I mean the whole school's terrified of the both of you."
"And in ten years," Kimi continued, like she hadn't her, "you'll open your mouth in front of him and actual words might come out."
"Yes," said Nene. "Hopefully by then I'll have figured out what to say to him."
All her life, Nene had been under the distinct impression that people used idle chitchat to get over the figurative hump of the first meeting.
Shizuo had not.
Often, his method involved beating the new acquaintance into a bloody pulp. Said new acquaintance was usually a rival gang member so it probably didn't apply to Nene, but better safe than sorry.
"So what time does your weird little club convene?" asked Kimi, hitching her bag up on her shoulder.
"Fifteen minutes. And it's not weird," said Nene.
After the collapse of the Bird Watcher's Society, fellow bird watching partner and resident hippy Shin had recruited Nene for the Raijin Philosophers club. She figured it couldn't hurt, although Shin had recently started turning up late smelling strongly o f incense and grass.
"See you at home then," said Kimi, turning and walking off.
"You're not even going to wait?" called Nene.
"Better things to do with my time," she called as she disappeared round the corner.
Nene wondered if she should head to the club or wait for Shin, who was probably getting high behind a dumpster somewhere when a loud crash shook the building. She slipped into the walkway and headed towards where she thought the sound had come from, already having a good idea of what it was.
"I-ZAY-A!"
Poking her head out of the walkway exit, Nene gulped at the sight of Heiwajima Shizuo standing on the far side of the sports field, his arms raised high above his head, a mangled goal post in his hands. And then in front of her, Orihara Izaya, a flickblade twirling slowly between his fingers.
They didn't appear to notice her, which was definitely cause for concern. Seeing what they'd already done to the sports field, Nene guessed that she too would be accounted as collateral damage if she didn't get out of there. Except, while the logic was there, she couldn't seem to bring herself to move.
Kimi had always said that it couldn't just be curiosity drawing Nene to Shizuo and she was beginning to think that Kimi might be right. When she thought about it, he was quite good-looking, handsome even. Very handsome. She really hoped that she wasn't drooling.
"Shizu-chan," said Izaya, "if you throw that now, you might end up hitting poor Nene-chan."
So he had seen her.
Shizuo's glare moved from Izaya to the girl behind him with a bright red face. Excellent. Her first impression on the person she had been staring at for over a year would be that of a hindrance. She wanted to die. Well, at the rate things were going she would get her wish.
Izaya had begun to inch backwards. She could guess where this was heading.
"Byebye, Shizu-chan!" he shouted, seizing her hand and running back into the building.
As she was being hauled down the walkway, Nene heard what she could only assume was the crash of the goal post followed by a tremendous roar. A part of her was glad that she had been saved, another was annoyed.
"Excuse me, Orihara-senpai."
He stopped running and turned to her expectantly.
"Yes, Akiyama-san."
"Do you always use your lowerclassmen as human shields?" she asked.
She was already starting to regret opening up a dialogue with him considering the way he was staring at her. Maybe confronting Orihara Izaya of all people was a little ambitious for someone who dove into lockers every time she saw her gym teacher coming. It had to be Shizuo making her act so stupidly.
"But Nene-chan, really I was looking out for you," said Izaya. "If I hadn't told Shizuo you were there, he would have thrown the goal post and then both of us would have been crushed."
He had a strange way of putting things that made his argument seem perfectly logical, and if she hadn't been so accustomed to using base manipulation to get her way with Kimi, she might have found herself nodding along.
"I could have run away after you let him know I was there," said Nene.
"But then I would have been crushed," said Izaya, eyes widening.
Nene frowned.
"Yes, but that's not my problem. You know how Heiwajima-senpai reacts, you put yourself in that position, you deal with it," said Nene. She was about to walk off when a thought occurred to her. "Why Heiwajima-senpai anyway?"
He regarded her carefully for a moment.
"I could say it's because it's interesting, but really I just hate the guy," said Izaya, watching her.
"Are you jealous of him?" she asked without meaning to.
There was an awkward pause and then she started walking swiftly in the other direction.
"Jealous?" Izaya asked, springing up beside her. "Aren't you being judgemental? This is the first time you've talked to me."
Izaya was notorious for wheedling his way into people's heads for whatever malignant purpose and it appeared he had found his next pet project. Nene walked faster, reaching the clubroom five minutes early. She was glad to see three other members were already inside, but not Shin, Shin was probably contemplating the rotational flux of a unicorn's horn.
"Oh Izaya-kun, will you be joining us?" asked the president.
Nene sighed and took her place.
"What can I say, Nene-chan convinced me," Izaya said, plopping down beside her and raising his legs onto the desk.
Nene made a mental note to quit as soon as she left the club.
With club activities over, Izaya, who had spent most of the session annoying Nene and demanding to know what B-standard website had qualified her to make sweeping judgements on people she'd just met, had insisted on walking her home, badgering her with questions all the way. Nene did try to ignore him, but eventually she realised it was better to just give in. The path of least resistance and all that. Of course, she resolved to give nothing away. It wasn't because she was a particularly private person, but she'd heard all the rumours about his little cult following. In the eyes of the school, Orihara Izaya was a puppet master, who used nerve cells as strings, sculpting pliable naiveté into flesh marionettes. Nene was averse to joining the ranks.
"So, how have you been getting along at Raijin?" Izaya asked as they walked out of the school gates. "Are there any boys Nene-chan has her eyes on?"
"Why are you suddenly interested in me after all this time?" asked Nene.
"I've never had the chance to speak to Nene-chan before," said Izaya. That unsettling smile of his rarely faltered. "I'm taking advantage."
"You're right. We should talk. Let's talk about you."
Izaya's smile faded. "And what do you want to talk about?"
"Do you have any siblings?" she asked.
It was one of those nice, idle chitchat questions that attached little commitment. She had a theory. She believed that Izaya was Shizuo's polar opposite and, a mind made up of intricate, interweaving passageways, trick mirrors and trap doors and lastly, in the furthest reaches guarded by a cast-iron door, his Bloody Chamber. But unlike Shizuo, Izaya wasn't that rare a specimen. Humans by nature were manipulative and two-faced and he was just another one, albeit more twisted. And she had seen enough of them around.
"Two younger sisters," said Izaya. There were no traces of brotherly affection in his voice.
"You don't like your sisters?"
"My, aren't we perceptive," said Izaya, adding after a moment's thought,"They're irritating."
"Does that mean you failed as a brother?" Nene was staring straight ahead so she didn't see the way Izaya's eyes widened. "If it makes you feel any better they probably hate you just as much."
"No doubt."
"So you hate your sisters. Is there anything you actually like?" asked Nene.
"Humans," said Izaya. "But I guess that's what I love really."
"Humans?" repeated Nene. That was unexpected. "Humans or people?"
"Mmm, what difference does it make?"
"It sounds like you're trying to say you're not human."
""What if I'm not."
They stopped in the middle of the street. She had no idea where Izaya was going with this, but she knew that she preferred his false smile to the look of concentration he had fixed her with. It dissolved everyone around them until they were the only two people in the world.
"You're human," said Nene. She was used to dealing with egomaniacs, but this was new. No one had never tried to claim that they were beyond humanity.
"That's speculation," he said. He seemed disappointed by her response. The world swam back into focus.
"Being a sociopath doesn't mean you're not human. It just means you're broken," said Nene.
She didn't know why she was still talking. No matter how hard she sucked her breath in, the words just stayed where they were. Maybe Kimi wasn't the only one who liked being right all the time.
"A sociopath," cried Izaya, putting his hand on his chest. "That's hurtful Nene-chan."
The realisation dawned that she had just done the equivalent of tying herself up and hopping into the serial killer's van.
"You know, I should probably go-"
"A sociopath who's jealous of Shizu-chan. Tell me, do I also want to kill my father and have sex with my mother?"
"I didn't mean to offend-"
"I'm kidding of course," said Izaya, waving it off.
Nene glanced around hurriedly for witnesses. Thankfully, they were in a busy street, but she wouldn't put it passed him to stab her discretely.
"Well, it was nice talking to you, Orihara-san-"
"Please, Izaya."
"Izaya-san. I think I can walk the rest of the way home by myself," she said, and in her nervousness, foolishly extended her hand.
Taking it, he tugged her forward so that their fronts were touching and grabbed her other arm. It wasn't so much tight as it was firm.
"Don't tell me Nene-chan is scared of me?" he said against her ear, his voice low.
Some time ago, when Nene and Kimi had first come to Ikebukuro, a couple of local gang members cornered them in an alleyway. The experience had given them a revelation of sorts. They were weak. This didn't sit well with either of them, especially Kimi, who even at a young age distinguished herself from the crowd. For Nene, who had spent three days curled in her bed trying to escape intense feelings of panic, she could not fathom ever having to feel trapped like that again. So when Izaya grabbed her , she reacted. It was automatic. Instinctual. And the years of self-defence classes that had followed finally proved their worth.
Nene kneed him in the stomach.
He buckled to his knees.
Nene didn't wait to see how he would react. Nene ran.
"Oh… wow… did you see that? I mean she had the element of surprise, but wow!" Shinra asked, adjusting his glasses. "I guess Izaya will think twice the next time he accosts a seemingly defenceless girl, huh? Though to be honest, one knee in the stomach probably won't reverse years of having such a horrible personality."
Shizuo released the iron guardrail he had uprooted from the sidewalk. There was no need for it now.
"Pretty impressive," said Shinra, "but you would know more about that than I would, huh?"
"It was okay," said Shizuo. "Amateur technique."
"I wouldn't want to be Akiyama-san right now," said Shinra, sighing. "I can only imagine what twisted revenge he'll think up for her. I hope she doesn't have any pets. Ah Shizuo-kun, where are you going?"
Shizuo was already half way down the street before Shinra had noticed.
"Don't you have a heart?" Shinra asked, catching up to him.
Shizuo stretched his hand towards Shinra. "I could show you yours."
"Ahah, forgive me."
Author's Note:
03/01/2015 Chapter has been rewritten. No major changes.
Hey, I feel oddly fail for posting up this random Fan-fiction, but if any of my regular readers are reading this then you'll all know that if I get into anything I need to write a Fan-fiction about it so I can get over it. It's sort of cathartic you might say. And lo and behold, I have recently become obsessed with Durarara and have decided to riddle you with more cathartic crap. I also feel a bit silly for doing this since my A2 exams are in a couple of days and I've basically spent study leave obsessing over Durarara... sad times my friends. At the end of the day, I wrote this for fun because I enjoy experimenting with interactions between awkward characters and such, and I hope whoever reads this enjoys it too :)