A/N: I've only ever watched the anime, which isn't much to go off, so this story will progress as the anime progresses. It's probably odd to use non-canon characters as pairings for Durarara!!, well, for me. Which is why I am writing this now, so bear with me.
Fail title is fail title.
Summary: Kokubo Yoshie, commonly known as her screen name Bunko, is a frequent user of the local BBS. She's highly regarded for her criticism and advice, as well as her online manga and fanworks. For some reason, she stops posting on the internet suddenly. A mysterious disappearence, or perhaps just a quick hiatus? There's actually another story behind it...
Pairing(s): Izaya x OC, slight Kida x Mikado
Rating: T+, ratings may go up as soon as I get a storyline straight.
Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara!!, 'cause if I did, it wouldn't be as popular as it is.
Penalty Game
Chapter 1:
Content Deleted
Kokubo Yoshie, age seventeen, Art major at the local Ikebukuro institute.
It wasn't a common name, one could even call her name cool.
Opposite her 'cool' name, is her plain appearance. She had black hair and brown eyes, like any other natural Japanese out there, only her hair was short and slightly disheveled. Her features are slightly chubby; cheeks smooth with baby fat, a button nose, and a round chin, not angular like those model types strutting the streets. She wasn't that tall either, just barely 5'2, and could probably be mistaken for a middle-schooler. You could even say she looked normal, if normal existed nowadays. She likes normal, since it's so rare to see normal anymore. No one's normal or natural, there's always someone wearing make-up, always getting nose-jobs, always buying the latest trends, from little kids to old women. Always someone wanting to be different from their usual self, but only becoming part of a larger group of wannabes.
Even she was wearing some new apparel; a black North Face jacket, brand new Jordan Ol' School's, and recently bought Panache glasses with a high prescription.
In her latest online series, she had pondered over how she should design her characters to fit the needs of her audience. In the end, they ended up being those 'hot' trendy characters, over-using the hip Harajuku-pseudo. Not that she didn't like the Harajuku fashion, in fact, she adored the variety. Recently, she's come to love the Victorian-esque stylings of Alice and the Pirates... anyway, the point is is that she felt she was becoming too repetitive in her routine life.
And from this revelation, Yoshie decided it was time to change some of her habits.
"Eureka! Suck it, suck it, suck it!" Yoshie screamed into her headset, eyes focused on the the television screen infront of her as her fingers played with the controller in her hands. Her brother had gone through a lot of trouble to ship the Xbox 360 out to her, he prevailed, and now here she was, reclaiming the once lost Halo 3 skills she once prided over. For the past three hours, she had played nonstop, winning MVP each round and bellowing vulgar words into the headset when she did. It was one of the little out of character things that made up her bad habits.
"Oho," a voice came from behind, startling her. Of shock, she accidently pressed down on the LB, chucking a grenade at an explosive, betraying atleast three of her teammates just as the new match had begun. Whispering 'shit' under her breath, she turned around to face the person who cost her the match, having been booted for the gruesome betrayal. "Don't scare me, that made my stomach-!"
Yoshie adjusted her glasses, frowning. "Again..."
Like many times before, she'd hear a remark or snicker, mocking her, always in the same husk voice. Everytime she'd turn around, nothing, not even a breeze or trace someone had been there. She would have been scared, had she not already accepted paranoia would get her nowhere. Many times before also, she'd feel something like claws digging into her shoulder, but went to feel nothing. In actuality, she was somewhat comforted by the mysterious unknown presence that seemed to follow her, when not startled by their voice studdenly making itself known.
"I think... maybe I'll head out today," she mumbled. "Yeah- I heard there's a new Jump comic that's released today."
Grabbing her mp3 player and jacket, she slipped her arms through and rested the studio headphones around her neck as she stuffed the iPod in her pant pocket after selecting 'shuffle.' She also slipped some pocket money into her coat, in case she wanted do to some last minute grocery shopping; she had been craving pocky for some time now and it seemed like a good time to get it.
---
Ikebukuro wasn't somewhere she was familiar with, since she had recently transferred from America as an exchange student. It didn't feel as large as it looked because of the always busy streets and sidewalks, but it definitely seemed dangerous. Besides traffic and the hustling of business men and students, it's a relatively calm city, until the neighing of a horse and the rumbling of a motor brakes it, or someone yells out potty words as some yield sign comes flying out of nowhere, or some wannabe gangsters are 'yanking dat cameltoe' and attempting to rap. It seems to rather only attract the wind in their pants though.
Sighing, Yoshie slid her jacket to her waist and tied its sleeves in a knot around her. It was hotter than the forecast predicted, something she wasn't too delighted about. She had always been one for mild weather, rather a hot, humid day.
"Thanks," she placed some coins infront of the vendor and grabbed the new Weekly Jump, which happened to be the last on the shelf. Raising the book to eye level, she immediately skimmed through the magazine before continuing on her way. It was a habit of hers to do that to any book before actually reading it, deducting which articles she was actually interested in; like the new Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee chapter.
"Noo! Yumacchi, look, it's sold out- the new Jump!" A girl moaned in disappointment, clinging to an equally saddened male.
Yoshie glanced at back at the couple, only to adjust her glasses and continue her pace. Absorbed in irrelevant thoughts opposite the matter, she accidentally strode into a wall. Rather, she had thought it a wall, but it was actually a person. Despite having only lived in Ikebukuro for a little less than half a year, Yoshie already knew some of the deadly threats in the city. It was only her luck that this person had to be one of them. Heiwajima Shizuo, the blonde bartender bodyguard. Catchy, right? Miss Kokubo nicknamed him that herself.
"Ah," she nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement, eyes slowly working themselves up the man to meet his eyes. Having been only as tall as to his chest, it felt slightly intimidating to stand under his gaze, so she took a step back and shrugged the discomfort away. "Uh, sorry."
He ignored her and looked away, intense eyes glaring straight ahead of him, hands stuffed in his pockets.
Waiting until he was some distance away, like most did when feeling like they had just been confronted by danger, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Shocked, or maybe enthralled? She couldn't really make out the impression she had gotten from the man, but it felt somewhat inspirational. People like him were only a specialty of Ikebukuro, or what makes Ikebukuro special. The Headless Rider, color gangs, the Dollars, the Slasher...
"Crap!"
The crowds of people seemed to scurry away from the scene, as Shizuo was once again on the move. This particular time, he had chosen to throw an entire convenience store trashcan at whoever had pissed him off. From what Yoshie could make out, a black-haired man, in his 20's, wearing a parka- who seemed to recover rather quickly, pulling out a flickblade. There were others there too, but she was too overwhelmed to take much notice of them.
"Would they classify as bishounen?" she asked herself, sorting the possible ideas for a new dojin. "Definitely a good couple... the black-haired one is small enough to be an uke compared to Heiwajima Shizuo, but Heiwajima Shizuo's personality may come off as rebellious, which is a pretty appealing trait in an uke... could tsundere be used to define him, maybe? I'm still not very familiar with the internet slang around here..."
Then it came to her attention the danger of the situation, should she help, and why? That was usually the mistake of the heroine in any manga, try to stop a fight, thinking they might be able to do it because... well, they're the main character. But on the other hand, the three students might be in trouble... or did she just want to see if something cool would result of her actions, like in most stories?
"I've only just realized I'm putting myself in such miserable contradictions, nothing's like in comic books," Yoshie frowned, feeling her head begin to ache and pulse. She massaged her temple, resting her recently bought magazine under her other arm. "Alright, Kokubo Yoshie, we're just going to go buy some groceries and forget this event ever occurred. Yup."
-- Bunko has joined the channel.
Kanra: Good evening!
Bunko: Good afternoon.
Bunko: Did you hear about the Heiwajima Shizuo incident?
Kanra: Which one?
Bunko: Earlier today. He suddenly threw a vending machine out of no where, plus I heard the 'Dollars' were involved also.
Kanra: Oh, I was there~. I also heard that they picked a fight with Heiwajima Shizuo.
Bunko: Same here, I was buying the new Jump at the time. Hn... Did they? I don't really think it was the real Dollars.
Kanra: Oho, the one with Noizi Ito's special interview?
Kanra: Well, you should avoid them, the Dollars, anyway.
Bunko: Yeah. I'm a huge fan of her work. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
-- Tanaka Tarou has joined the channel.
Kanra: You didn't move here too long ago, I'm surprised you're already aware of the color gangs.
Bunko: I did some research... Ikebukuro is quite the city.
Bunko: 'Afternoon, Tanaka Tarou-san.
Tanaka Tarou: 'Evening, Bunko-san!
--
It was getting late, almost twelve. She had spent atleast an hour chatting with Kanra, whom also seemed to have nothing better to do than type on the BBS. Procrastinating wasn't a usual habit of hers, not with her manga updates, but today she didn't feel like working on anything. Typing to Kanra seemed more appealing than fumbling over her own college projects and doujinshi, but it was late and she had to go to bed.
Bunko: Goodnight, Kanra-san.
Deciding she would lay off some updates on her personal website, Yoshie left the BBS open in one tab and opened another and typed in her web address where she logged into edit her content. In the middle of typing the announcement, her modem was pulled from it's cord and her hard-drive crashed with the repetitive beeping noises, the room's lights flickering ominously.
-- Bunko has disconnected from the channel.
There was that same feeling again, the nails digging into her shoulder, the mysterious invisible force. It always came when she did something out of routine, something not on the list of what she used to do when she started adapting to Tokyo. She was sure it wasn't her imagination, or even something to do with her physical condition, but more of a 'it-is' experience. There's no possible explanation, it just seems to occur, stirring a flurry of emotions. What it was... that was hexing her, she did not know, but right now- she was scared of this presence. It was a different shadow, a different empty space behind her, not the one she was accustomed to.
And that was when Kokubo Yoshie suddenly went missing.
Kanra: Sweet dreams.
-- All channel users are offline.