Chihiro was a coward.
She wished she could honestly say otherwise, but she couldn't. A nicer way to put it was to say she was easily frightened, but the truth was, Chihiro was borderline paranoid.
She wouldn't open her door unless she knew someone was definitely coming to visit and she made sure to lock the front and bathroom door when she showered. Chihiro would not and could not step in when she saw someone being attacked; she simply hid and called the police before running away. Chihiro never went into haunted houses, cemeteries, or watched scary movies.
Regardless, most of the time Chihiro was either content or bored; every day she woke up, got ready, and went to work. Afterward, she would eat dinner and relax at home. Chihiro tried to go to bed at a reasonable time, although she sometimes stayed up too late on her computer or watching TV. In the morning she did it all over again; this was her perfectly routine life.
The only problem was when Chihiro wasn't content, she was afraid or worried.
It seemed that fear was an all encompassing emotion she felt at least once a day; it would grip a hold of her and refuse to go away entirely. Chihiro tried to be a good person, but she knew fear was holding her back from many things. Sometimes fear is necessary; being worried or stressed keeps you on your guard. It helps you to keep from making horrible decisions or mistakes; Chihiro liked to believe that.
Chihiro was walking to work that day; she usually took her bike, but the front tire was flat and her workplace wasn't far. She still wished she could ride her bike; she carried all her things in a large bag and today she had to carry a box of paperwork too. It was a bit heavy and if she had her bike, Chihiro could've put it in the basket attached to the handles. The sidewalk was crowded and she tripped; the box fell from her hands and the papers not stapled together scattered on the ground.
"Damn it." Chihiro cursed in frustration.
She sighed and began collecting her papers; she was about to grab the last page when someone else's hand had picked it up instead. Chihiro frowned slightly; she hoped it wasn't someone looking to cause trouble. She straightened up and in front of her stood a man that seemed to be about her age.
The first thing Chihiro noticed was how handsome he was; her heart tightened a bit. She was admittedly always awkward around attractive men, and this guy was a looker. His smile was friendly; he held out her papers for her to take.
"Oh, thank you." Chihiro said, putting the papers back inside their box.
The man waved his hand at her words dismissively. "It was no problem; that all looks pretty heavy. May I carry them for you?" He offered politely.
Chihiro smiled cautiously at him. "Thank you, but I'm ok. I'm actually not too far from my work."
"I know." he replied still smiling. Chihiro felt her body stiffen; she was taken off guard at first by his kindness. Now she grew suspicious.
"How do you know that?" Chihiro asked trying to keep her voice from faltering; she didn't want him to know she was a bit shaken.
"I saw the company's name on the papers." he answered simply.
Chihiro let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh, I see. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so suspicious of you."
"Don't feel embarrassed; I didn't mean for it to come out like that." he chuckled.
"Well, thank you again. I have to go or I'll be late." Chihiro explained.
"Ah, sorry to keep you." he said sheepishly; he held out his hand to her and she took it firmly.
"My name is Izaya Orihara, it was nice meeting you."
Chihiro smiled once more before letting go of his hand. "It was nice meeting you too, my name is-"
"I know that already too." he interrupted cheerfully. "I saw your signature on the paper."
"Oh, well, goodbye then Orihara-san." Chihiro said walking away at a fast pace.
Izaya called after her with a smile. "See you around Chihiro-chan!"
5 months later:
Chihiro was walking to the park; she had felt restless all day and figured some fresh air would make her feel better. She missed her old house in the suburbs; the city didn't have much in terms of nature. Chihiro decided to rest on a bench facing a small pond.
It looked so pretty, the sun made the water glitter and she found herself hypnotized for a bit just staring at; she almost didn't realize someone was nearby until they sat down right next to her.
"Good morning, stranger." they greeted lightly. It was Orihara-san.
"Oh, good morning." Chihiro replied; she wasn't sure what else to say.
"You start most of your sentences with the word "oh", don't you?" he asked suddenly.
Chihiro stared at him a bit taken aback. "Uh, I didn't realize. Do I really?" she asked tentatively. She couldn't help but wonder where that came from.
"Sometimes." he replied carelessly. "Are you surprised easily?"
"I suppose." Chihiro answered noncommittally; she was feeling a bit unnerved by him. Chihiro admonished herself at first. He was just making conversation, albeit, somewhat awkwardly. She decided to be friendly and chat with him instead of clamming up.
"So, what brings you here Orihara-san? Do you come here often?" Chihiro inwardly cringed; it almost sounded like she was flirting with him. He smiled easily and seemed to sense her regretting her choice of words.
"Don't be so self-conscious; I do come here now and then. The fresh air is nice. Is that why you're here?"
"Yes, I needed to get out of the house."
Chihiro couldn't help but keep the answers vague and brief around unknown people; it didn't help that Izaya made her feel a bit on edge. He seemed nice, but also slightly….offbeat? Chihiro couldn't really put her finger on the right phrase to describe him.
"You want to get out of here?" he spoke suddenly.
"Huh?"
Izaya smiled patiently. "Let's go somewhere; you and me. We could go get some hotpot; it'd be nice to have a warm lunch with good company, right?" he smiled. His smile never seemed to reach his eyes.
"That's it." Chihiro realized.
Izaya made her uncomfortable. He always smiled kindly, but he didn't seem to mean it. He was handsome and friendly, but she couldn't shake off the feeling she shouldn't even be talking with him. As awful as it sounded, Chihiro got the feeling he was sneaky. Part of her couldn't help being intrigued; who was Izaya Orihara? What were his real intentions, why was he asking her out for lunch? Was he really hiding something like she suspected? Chihiro was tempted to take him up on his offer; who knows what could happen with this mysterious man?
"No thank you Orihara-san. I should be getting back home; perhaps another time." Chihiro got up to leave. It wasn't worth it. She felt a twinge of fear towards him and it was enough to make her back off.
"Screw curiosity, I'm staying away from this guy." Chihiro thought wryly; as interesting as she found Izaya, she was a coward at heart, and though there wasn't much to imply anything was wrong, she felt she'd be better off avoiding him if possible.
Chihiro felt herself calm down as she walked away, but she didn't make it far. Izaya had grabbed her hand, still smiling pleasantly.
"That's pretty rude of you to turn down a perfectly nice outing with a friend." he said. His grip hurt Chihiro's hand; her other hand instinctively went up to push him away, but he grabbed it with surprising ease. His movements were so fast; his grip was bruising. Chihiro felt tears come to her eyes as she panicked.
"Let me go! I swear I'll scream." She threatened; he pulled her closer and covered her mouth with his.
A second later he pushed Chihiro down; she fell on her backside and scooted away from him, tears falling from her eyes. He was laughing hysterically.
"Humans are so interesting! You know you're the first girl to not try to punch me or kiss me back; you must not have much of a backbone." he concluded cheerfully.
Chihiro got up and stared at him in shock; what was he talking about? Was this some kind of fucked up experiment?! She felt her skin crawl at the memory of his touch; the fucking creep! And she had just stood there like an idiot! Chihiro backed away as he smiled down at her.
"Stay the fuck away from me you freak." She growled out; she ran away as fast as she could. When Chihiro was safe inside her own room, she locked all the doors and burst into angry tears.
When she was calmed down, Chihiro went over to her window and looked out, but no one was there. She felt somewhat at ease; he didn't know where she lived and if it really was some freak experiment, than it sounded like he got his "results". As disgusted as Chihiro was, she took some peace in figuring Izaya would not bother her again.
Five hours later:
"She was fun; I'll have to "run into" her again." Izaya decided as he observed Chihiro from his office. He had set up a few cameras in her apartment a month after meeting her by accident. He figured she would be a fun subject in his experiments; she seemed so hesitant and anxious. Then she suddenly threatened him; it was almost scary.
"Perhaps my influence helped her grow a spine!" Izaya thought excitedly. It was fascinating how humans were so dynamic and ever changing; it was all so entertaining and there was so much more he could do to get a reaction from her! There were so many possibilities and Izaya could hardly stop himself from rushing into her room right now.
Namie watched him with bland disgust; she almost felt sorry for that girl. Chihiro at least seemed to have some sense from what Izaya had told her, (she swore he kept her around just so he'd have someone to gloat to) but despite her good instincts, Chihiro had still made the mistake of getting his attention.
"I've never seen him this fixated before; if he wasn't already insane, I'd say he had lost it completely." Namie mused. "Whatever; it's not my problem."
With that, she left Izaya to sit in the dark alone; he giggled every so often as he watched Chihiro stir in her sleep.
"Chi-chan..."