There were some beings in this world that shouldn't exist.
One such being a demon. Demons were other worldly creatures that were the spawn of Satan himself. They were his creations. Demons only desired chaos and destruction. They were sin incarnate. It was only a few centuries ago that humans had figured out how to combat and capture these demons.
However, Izaya was proud to say that he'd never even been caught once. Sure, he'd been in tight situations, but, the demon never failed to escape.
In fact, it was his favorite game.
Izaya was a creature of desire, the root of all evil. He was a demon, and not just any demon, but Mara. The demon of desire. He loved to play with the humans- they were so easy to toy with. Their desire was an endless fountain, reliable in its waters. And Izaya had a thirst for chaos that could never be satisfied.
Some humans were too innocent for the demon's liking. He could always tell. They were too pure. Too clean. They were always out of place in this world of sinful humans. In fact, as Izaya meandered through the crowds of Ikebukuro's underground train station, he'd spotted one such human right off the bat. The poor boy looked lost and confused as he anxiously glanced around at multiple signs, trying to figure out where to go. The boy's white-knuckle grip looked like it could rip the strap of his shoulder bag in two if he pulled any harder.
"Excuse me," Izaya said, with a kind smile. "Do you need any help? You seem lost…" His smile turned a little shy, and he put his slender hands into his coat pockets.
Ryugamine was the name this young boy had to live up to, the family name that possessed some of the greatest demon hunters known around. This being the one thing that caused the boy to panic. Demons. Even the name caused him to writhe, he hated them and it wasn't just because they were sinister and wreaking havoc, but they basically were the reason he had to come to this city. To leave behind the life he had to live up to a name that sounded too high up for him to reach.
Stepping off the train the boy could feel his stomach churning, somewhere in this new found city there was evil lurking about and he intended to find it even if it was the last thing he'd do and destroy it's existence. His body language was more than enough to show for it as he yanked on his bag strap in desperation to turn right back around and get back onto his train to normalcy.
This attempt of escape was halted when a strange man, who stood at least a foot above him, approached Mikado without a second thought it seemed. Realizing that the man was offering some sort of encouraging support, Mikado felt relieved only slightly as this person was still just a stranger.
"Ah- no," the boys nervous tone settling down a bit to put up a front and leaving a smile on his features. "You see I just moved here and I need to-" he went silent, he couldn't just tell a stranger his reason for coming here. Smiling once more he shook his head, "I just enjoy seeing the sights down here." Beautiful lie.
"You just moved here, hm? All by yourself? That's brave of you!" Izaya said, his smile growing ever wider. "Well, if you need some help, I'd be glad to show you around. I'm not a tour guide for nothing." He quickly checked his watch. "It's not that late, so I have some time to kill if you're okay with being shown around the city. At least, the major hotspots."
Izaya took a moment to analyze the kid.
"What's your name? I'm Nakura." He said, holding out his hand proudly. "I work for the local tour guide, so, I know pretty much everything there is to know about this place. I assure you that you won't get lost." He just needed to convince this to happen, and maybe he'd get to play with his food for a bit. Izaya fed on all types of desire, no matter where it came from."Were you looking for any place in particular to see? You mentioned that you liked the sights of this place." He paused for a moment. "Oh, are you from up north? You said something about the sights 'down here', so I'm only guessing." He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh-" The boy realized how rude it was that he didn't introduce himself back to the other, and having no sense of what was up with the man before him, said his name with a clear smile on his face, "My names Mikado, I hope you don't just mind my first name. I am from up north, but I change homes a lot." In all honesty he didn't need anyone knowing where or who he came from.
Brave of him huh? He almost forgot that people here looked at him as if he was a child. He was young, but the view point of others was the least of his concerns. "You mentioned you're a tour guide…?" Mikado asked, looking around the train station at how empty it was getting, a majority of the other passengers already finding who they were looking for and heading home.
"I do have a few places i'd like to see before it got too dark out, so I suppose I at least wouldn't mind the company of a person who lives here if you think you have the time." Mikado wasn't that naive, but naive enough to continue contact with this complete stranger. His hand slightly unclenched from his bag as his nerves went down just enough to not want to gag.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mikado!" Izaya beamed. "Ah, so you're the adventurous type, I see." In all honesty, the kid looked like a NEET who'd prefer to take a knife to the throat instead of being outside in an unfamiliar place. "Alright, well, give me the run down of what you'd like to see, and I'll take you there!" He exclaimed as he started walking towards the exit.
Izaya's smile was completely genuine. Especially since this boy, Mikado, was so foolish. It was easy to appear trusting, the hard part was getting people to trust you. Most were smart enough not to. Izaya figured that he was just lucky and that there was some god out there watching over him. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention!" He said, whirling around to face Mikado. "If you want a bite to eat or a drink, feel free to mention it to me. I don't mind making a few stops on this private tour."
"Ah-" Mikado nodded, his eyebrows raised squinting slightly "Do you do this for ever stranger that gets off a train or am I just special…" He was already sure of the answer, but something would give him a huge clue about this guy just by the way he responded to the question.
Not waiting for a response, Mikado took out his cellphone and started to text the number of one of his close friends. Quickly putting the message in before giving any kind of explanation. "You know I rather not be a bother…" he spoke walking up the stairs out of the station, "I wouldn't want to take your kindness for granted, but I could possible get my friend down here if I am in fact a bother."
Izaya laughed. "Well, it has a lot to do with how I was raised. I was taught to help anyone and everyone as much as I could. Especially if they looked like they were in a bad situation." Not exactly how he was raised, but, hey, he was lying the entire time through this. Izaya didn't think he had the capacity to actually tell a full truth. "Oh, no. You're not a bother at all! I'm used to dealing with people." He waved a dismissive hand. "It's much worse when there are kids on the trip. Parents blame me if something goes wrong, and then there's a whole boatload of trouble if a kid gets lost." He sighed in fake exasperation.
Cue the shriek of metal as it was ripped from the ground. An entire stoplight was uprooted and heaved into the air, followed by the sound of a primal roar a few streets away.
Insert Izaya sighing again in exasperation and shaking his head. "If you don't mind, we'll be doing our best to avoid that area…" He said, acting nervous. "That's the so-called 'monster of Ikebukuro'…you wouldn't want to be getting in his way when he's in a bad mood…" Izaya watched Mikado's expression carefully from the corner of his eye
Mikado was listening slightly as he placed his phone back in his pocket, leaving the message he was going to send in drafts for just in case the other was going to leave before he was finished seeing the city. his face seemed less monotonous when he too heard the loud shrieking madness happening only a few streets away, making his soul nearly leave his skin.
"Mon-monster of Ikebukuro…?" He stuttered while looked obviously nervous, or so how he assumed every child his age would act to such loud dangerous noise. That couldn't be it could it, that couldn't be the 'demon' he was sent here for. They wouldn't send a child to take down something that sounded like it was destroying half the city. Quickly Mikado made his way closer to Izaya,
"Isn't anyone going to stop him?" He thought after what a silly question that was, who was honestly brave enough to stop a monster like that. Mumbling under his breathe in a more thoughtful sense then one where he expected the other to hear, "that's the demon I have to kill…"
He was hoping he was wrong.
Izaya's ears caught the words Mikado whispered under his breath. "Aha…well, there's no person who's even capable of stopping something like him…" He said. A demon-hunter? Howvery interesting. The cogs in the demon's mind began to turn.
"He's been such a menace these past few years. There was that Slasher incident a few years back…the possessed were thirsty for bloodshed…" He trembled, biting his lip. In his mind, he knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew it'd work. Shizuo always made it so easy for Izaya to pin the blame on him. The blonde was practically a pincushion. "He's a true monster…just thinking about him makes me absolutely terrified…" He let out a breath that he'd been purposefully holding. "A guy like that…can't be human."
Well, so said Izaya, an actual demon.
He quickly tried to lighten the mood. "We should move on to lighter topics…" Izaya said, drawing his jacket closer around himself. "Anyway, let's try to avoid that street, shall we?"
The boy wished he could move onto a lighter subject, but that statement 'can't be human', he really wished it wasn't true. Nodding quickly and moving onward he tried to forget the noises he just heard.
Considering that this man had claimed to have lived in the area a lot and knew more about the 'monster', Mikado made a side note to ask maybe once again when the time was better. He noticed how it was getting later than he expected. "So…" The boy began to speak, "where are we heading now." obviously not in the path of danger. "I just don't want it to get dark before I'm able to see and invest- ..look at everything this city has."
The boy looked down at his phone as data rushed across the screen, obviously seeming completely preoccupied with what it was saying before looking back up, trying not to seem rude to his new found acquaintance
"Right." Izaya nodded as if he had been distracted and needed to get back on task. "Well, I was thinking of showing you the Sunshine district. There's a lot of nice spots over there that you may want to visit at a later date." He held his hands out and hopped onto a railing, balancing himself on it. "So, is this your first time here in Ikebukuro, Mikado-kun?"
He hadn't even realized that he'd added the cutesy honorific at the end of it.
Izaya soon hopped off of the railing right next to Mikado again. If this child was a demon hunter…well, then, Izaya knew that he just had to do everything in his power to meddle with him. The demon was the kind of person to play with fire, both literally and figuratively. He liked the thrill and the danger of it. Then again, Mikado didn't really seem to be very dangerous, so Izaya assumed that he wouldn't really be putting himself into harm's way. Namie would scold him for it if he did.
"Oh, so, Mikado, how old are you?" He wondered if he'd been assigned with the task of capturing a demon. "You said that you came here for the sights, but I think that you may have had another reason." Izaya tried not to let it seem as if he knew too much. "I mean, you're a teenager. Not many teens appreciate the beauty in the world. It seems a little too idealistic.
This guy was really strange, even for the kind of strange he heard about finding in the city. Blinking out of his daze he gave a simple nod, placing his hands into his pockets more comfortably, "It is, I was suggested to come here by a close friend of mine." Mikado clearly ignoring the cutsey after effect of the name, blowing it off like maybe it was just a way to show friendliness between the two. but still.
It was normal after all for people to ask questions right? Considering that Mikado was just a small teenager and this was known as a dangerous city. Still, he couldnt give away too much. Not because he expected Izaya of being a demon himself, but because of where that type of information could lead, it would send a lot of dangers his way if other demons knew who he was.
Being a little thrown off by being asked his age, his eyes gazed up at the other to give the best most unclear answer possible. "I may be a teenager, but I was always considered the one who acted older than I actually am." He smirked, nailed it, as he gave off a light shrug, his stomach nearly dropped when he thought he was figured out, does he know I'm not really here for that?…No. that would be ridiculous, but his nervousness of feeling almost caught showed by his more tense stature and the slight bit of worry in his eyes. "How old are you, it's unclear considering you claim to know this place well and you're really polite…"
"Well, that's good of you. Always enjoy the beauty of life." He said, smiling. "Well, I'm actually twenty-three and a fresh college drop out. That's actually why I'm working as a tour guide, actually. It's a funny story." Not that there was a story to actually tell, but, Izaya could work on the fly. He was pretty good with improvisation. He hoped that Mikado wasn't getting too suspicious, it'd be a shame. The broker noticed that Mikado had tensed up a bit.
Hmm. He really must not like being asked questions.
Or perhaps he was hitting a little too close to something extremely private. Either way, Izaya would find out eventually who this 'Mikado' was.
"Is it that weird for an adult, such as myself, to be polite?" He asked, laughing a little. "Not all adults are super grumpy, you know." Then again, Izaya was just the kind of person to consistently be happy. It always helped that there was suffering to cheer him up, even if he was in a bad mood.
Izaya continued leading Mikado through the streets of Ikebukuro, consistent in leading the boy through parts of town that had been destroyed by Shizuo and had had yet to be repaired. The boy clearly had an interest in the blonde, and for Izaya, it wasn't hard to put two and two together.
"So, that concludes our tour! Free of charge." He took a sweeping bow. "I hope you enjoyed yourself. If you ever need any more tours, go ahead and contact Ikebukuro Adventures and ring me up, would you?" Izaya was more than happy to spend time with the boy. He'd found out quite a bit just from hanging around with the kid for a few hours. Destiny and luck had their ways of making life fortunate for the demon.
"It's getting late. We should both be going. After all, we both probably have important things to do, don't we?" Izaya waved to the boy. "I hope to see you around sometime!" What he was really looking forward to was planning the next few course of events. Most of it had to do with Shizuo. He could always rely on the debt collector to take the fall for him.