Shizuo's Conflict: My brother has been hanging around that Roppi guy too much, and he's shady. I don't like it.
For one, he looks too damn much like the flea for anyone's comfort. Secondly, that bastard gives him dirty looks in class and it's taking every ounce of my willpower not to pounce and kill the sorry bastard. Who the hell looks at anyone like that, anyways?
Worst of all whenever I confront Kasuka about it, he brushes it off and says that he's just associating.
Associating with that menace? Right. Tch.
"Vorona, I'm giving you a mission." Shizuo straightened his glasses, habitually pushing them up on the base of his forehead, eyeing Vorona carefully.
"I accept your mission, senpai." she stated in a tone that implied she was born ready. Confident. Which was mandatory in a case like this. She clutched her books tightly, clenching her fists. "I will do anything that you have assigned for me, no matter the challenge!"
He figured she'd say something like that. She was strange. That aside, "My little brother, Kasuka. He's been hanging around that Roppi guy- the one that looks like that flea- and I need you to figure out what's going on. What kind of associating my brother is doing and why, specifically, it's with him. And if you can, I'd like you to get Kasuka out of that situation. I'd do it myself, but.."
"Understood." She dropped her books, slamming her fist into her palm. The crowded school halls parted in her wake, "Operation: Stalk Senpai's sibling and abide by senpai's reluctance to confront him!"
He stiffened, "Lower your voice. Also, I'm not avoiding confrontation."
In that event, he probably wouldn't have hired her. However, Vorona knew the truth and she was eager as it was, to carry out this mission. The bell tolled, and she hastily stuffed her books into her bags, before heading off to class, in the opposite direction of her senpai whom had made his slow descent down the hall already.
Shizuo stood by the bordering door of the cafeteria, and patiently waited. There, a row or two over, sat the nuisance. No, it wasn't the flea this time. The flea hadn't shown up to school, thankfully, or carrying out this.. mission, would have been impossible. Not for Vorona, of course, but he personally would have been too busy trying to launch a table at the bastard to properly hire her.
Speaking of which, Vorona apparently didn't come cheap. Though he'd been given the 'senpai-discount', he still owed her his lunch for the next two weeks, in compensation for the 5000 yen he would have spent. That aside, her services were well over worth it. He casually slipped further behind the door, wary of being noticed.
A text message appeared. Regarding it quietly, he noted Vorona's very formal update: "Target is in position."
He hoped and yet feared she was talking about Kasuka. He stole a glance through the door's small window, allowing very shaded, unclear vision through it's grated lining. However difficult, he could definitely make out the silhouette of his brother, approaching the table with a lunch tray.
In response, the infamous misanthrope could only grumble and nod in vague acknowledgement. Kasuka took a seat across from him, immediately leaning on his elbow.
That was far too odd for Kasuka. Being sociable like that, in a way that made him seem so.. familiar. He'd never known Kasuka to have too many friends outside of himself, but that could have just been a result of his own oblivious nature. However, surely he'd paid enough attention to his brother to know-
"Senpai. The target is not speaking." the new message read, and he couldn't help but realize that he didn't see Vorona at all. She was good at her job, he supposed.
Pulling his glasses off for a moment, allowing him to clear up a bit of the excess-shading, he squinted slightly. It was difficult to pin-point just one person in particular through the haze of students, but not impossible. At least, not when you knew what to look for. Eventually a stroke of blonde hair became evident in the sea of students, and he realized Vorona had slipped in behind a group of chattering girls. Just to blend in, he supposed.
The misanthrope didn't touch his plate, but Kasuka did. Taking small bites here and there, listening as Roppi seemed to open his mouth and spout out a word or two that never really provoked reactions. On occasion he'd frown- Roppi, that is, or smirk, grin, etc. but after a while it seemed he gave up on whatever he was trying to accomplish and ultimately kept quiet.
The table was empty aside from them. Roppi was known to be a bit of a loner, after all. One more reason why Shizuo just couldn't fathom Kasuka's sudden desire to associate with a guy like that. Even more so, what the flea might have to do with it. Because someone that looked just like that guy wasn't trustworthy.
After a while, he got tired of watching. He hated not knowing what his brother was up to. At least, in a situation that may or may not put him in eminent danger. Affiliation with that flea, or anyone associated with the flea, could only lead to trouble and there was no way in hell he was allowing Kasuka to get dragged down to the underbelly of whatever the flea was planning.
He gripped the doorknob. Knowing that, there was no way in hell he'd just stand idly by and let-
Through the grated window, it seemed that Vorona had just intervened. Loudly enough to capture the attention of every bystander within the perimeter for at least a minute or two, before the crowd lost interest and moved along, as it always seemed to. She addressed Roppi with a pointed finger, crossing her arms and leaning on one side of her body. Roppi, in turn, stared at his tray as a hand gripped the underside of the table. It seemed her company was bothering him, which was fine.
Vorona stole a glance at the door, where she met Shizuo's eyes for a brief moment. He stared with a certain intensity, as if hoping to convey a certain message without the use of his phone, or verbal communication. 'Don't, don't, don't, for the love of God, don't point me out'.
She tightened her fists and leaned over the table again, slamming both hands flat on the surface. Both trays rattled a bit at the impact, but it seemed Kasuka didn't do much aside from stare at his tray and lean on his arm, stirring whatever it was that had been thrown on his plate. Roppi did.. more or less the same thing, however, offering what seemed to be a snide retort (based on Vorona's stern facial expressions) in return to whatever accusation she may be throwing at him.
He hadn't realized he'd practically taken up the entire door space until he heard a quiet, "Um.."
Turning around, he spotted the face of... Roppi? He glanced back at the table. What the hell?
"I kinda need to get through." The significantly shorter raven narrowed his eyes, eyeing the strong-man's chest. For, that was the only part of him that was relatively eye-level, it seemed.
Now he understood.
teen!Roppi: A program, much like the Hachimenroppi AI unit, designed with the same mal-intent and misanthropic tendencies. However, a younger alternate estimated to be in his sixteenth year (in accordance to design, not chronology) who shares and yet contrasts his elder/original program.
Alias': Teen; Brat; Rop; Roppi. Full name: Hachimenroppi Orihara.
teen!Roppi's Conflict: Shizuo is in the way.
He stiffened, for a moment, sure he'd been caught. Then, upon recognizing the infamous (and substantially younger) copy of the face ahead, he nodded in acknowledgement. As much as he would have liked to beat the brat to a pulp for that rude, snarky-ass behavior, he stepped aside.
The teen mumbled a quiet, "Thanks." as he passed by, but somehow it didn't seem too genuine. He continued watching as the door shut behind him, and it seemed Vorona had sat down next to Kasuka, now.
He sent her a mildly outraged text, "Your mission was to intercept! Not to have lunch with them!"
A message was sent back, "Senpai, the teen noticed you. Also, I have carried out my mission to my fullest ability but neither will tell me anything about what they have been discussing in regards to their private matters. Your brother has a doll face, by the way, and looks slightly like a female. I thought you had the right to know this."
He shut his phone off and stormed down the hall, right on time. The bell rang, tolling his evident defeat.
Vorona stood by Shizuo that afternoon, cradling her arm. Dismissal had rung true, freeing the students from their mandatory eight-hours of confinement. Most of the students had headed out by now, leaving Vorona and Shizuo alone in the final class- the only one they had together. Home Room.
"Senpai.." she sounded timidly at first, but her tone firmed immediately. "I have failed you! I am sorry. I will take extra care to perform my task, from now on! And you owe me one less lunch in payment."
He placed his hand on her head, ruffling her hair lightly. He wasn't particularly happy with the results, given he'd have to spend that afternoon at home explaining to Kasuka specifically why Vorona had made such a brash approach, given despite his reserved nature, he was rather clever and probably pieced together the situation by now. He could only hope that Kasuka wasn't so clever that he'd be able to infer as to Shizuo's direct motives, i.e., his curiosity.
"You did your best. Go home and have some cake, Vorona."
Her eyes seemed determine now. "I assure you, if any harm comes to your brother, I will take responsibility. And I will cut Roppi up, like cake."
That wasn't quite what he'd like to associate his sweets with but sure, that worked. "Go on." he chuckled, opening the door for her, as she stomped out with her book bag slung over her shoulder.
As expected of his little brother, he'd figured everything out. That next morning, he shared first-period Biology with him. He sat right next to him, actually. Kasuka passed a note, "You don't have to worry about my associations, Shizuo. I wouldn't do anything that you would disapprove of." He meant that in relation to Izaya, but figured it was best to leave that out.
Shizuo scribbled out a reply, which was almost illegible in contrast to Kasuka's neat-print. "I know that. It's not that I'm worried or anything, it's just that people with the flea shouldn't be trusted. No good can come out of it."
Kasuka slipped a reply, "Thank you for worrying. You are welcomed to sit with us at any time, Brother."
He sighed to himself and was going to retort, insisting that it wasn't worry- (though, this would be a statement teetering very much on the fragile truth)- when another note came his way.
"Do you like me? Check yes or no:-"
Shinra swiped the message out of his hand faster than he'd received it. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry sorry sorry,.."
He scurried off with it, and couldn't help but wonder what he hoped to accomplish by sending those childish things to Celty, whom quite obviously would have none of it. And as expected, that class concluded with a solid punch in Shinra's stomach, surprisingly not by Shizuo.
Brunch: A combination between Breakfast and Lunch. Snacks are offered. Duration: Half the time of lunch.
Brunch came by after a while, and he kept an eye out for Kasuka. Vorona approached instead, and cocked her head at what appeared to be her senpai, glancing from person to person throughout his stilled walk in the hall, students parting around them.
"Is something troubling you, Senpai?"
He shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts. Curiosity was really killing him. Sure, he didn't spend much time with Kasuka at brunch, but that was only because he figured he didn't want to suffocate his sibling in and outside of school. Even a guy like Kasuka needed space, probably. But he'd never really given a thought to where he might go.
"No." He pushed his glasses up on his forehead, "I'm looking for Kasuka, that's all. Hey.. wouldn't mind finding him for me, would 'ya?"
"Understood." She slammed her fist into her palm, "Immobilize and retrieve the target. I will-"
"No." He tapped her forehead with utmost care, vaguely recalling the result of flicking one of the lower class-men, a semester prior. Knocked the poor guy right out cold. "Just.. let me know when you find him, alright? I'll get there when you do."
Vorona nodded, seeming to relax somewhat, but he couldn't help but notice the hint of disappointment that crossed her visage. Well, it's not like it was his fault that Vorona had megalomaniac tendencies- That aside, he figured now was probably a good time to head to put the books he didn't need in his locker, and retrieve his Math book. That class really made his head hurt.. Ah, well. Couldn't be helped.
Approaching the locker, he noticed Tom. He smiled slightly. He hadn't thought that Tom had showed up today. It was nice seeing someone at this school who was sane. "Yo, Tom."
Tom turned around, and waved with an equally nonchalant smile, "Shizuo. Nice to see 'ya, how are classes treating 'ya? Bored yet?"
"Not at all." he chuckled slightly, stuffing his books into his cluttered locker. On it, a scrawled word of profanity courtesy of Izaya. "Wouldn't have happened to see Kasuka around, would 'ya?"
"Hn.. Kasuka?" He shut his locker and slipped his hands into his slacks, "Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure he hung back after class. He and a few other students. The ones that look alike, y'know? Sorry, I could be wrong."
He briefly placed a hand on Tom's shoulder, but was practically already halfway down the hall with the conclusion of his statement. "Thanks, Tom. That helps a lot. I'll see you around."
He left Tom, whom now bore a somewhat dumbfounded look. Vorona approached with purpose, "Have you seen Senpai's younger sibling? I have been asked to neutralize him and in order to do so, I would greatly appreciate precise coordinates-"
Tom casually guided Vorona in the opposite direction, "Let me explain why that's a bad idea."
Shizuo found himself hanging by the door a bit longer than he would have liked to. If he were correct, those three shared a history class together. That and a few other alternates, who he never bothered to meet. (As aforementioned, it wasn't often that Shizuo thought of associating with anyone who resembled the flea).
Chatter was definitely taking place inside, and it sounded heated. However, it did not sound like Kasuka. That was a given. He wouldn't hold Kasuka to be the type to raise his voice at someone. Then again, lately he'd begun to question how well he really knew Kasuka- Regardless, he was going to get to the bottom of this.
After a failed attempt at trying to make out the words muffled by the door, he cracked it slightly, and as quietly as physics would allow.
"..Damned old man-!" erupted from the room, quite loudly. Seemed the door really was muffling a healthy part of the.. conversation, if it could be considered that.
He burst in, knowing a statement like that could only mean one thing-
The teen was on the floor. Roppi had pinned him down and was currently attacking him with his fists, as the teen desperately retorted with a firm choke-hold. Kasuka sat on one of the desks, idly kicking his legs back and forth. He looked up as Shizuo walked in and offered a wave.
Shizuo glanced between the fight and his brother, briefly wondering which one of the two were actually the odd ones out. "Kasuka." He slipped his hands into his pockets.
After a few more seconds of silence, aside from the fighting and struggling going on in the background, Kasuka offered a quiet, "..Yeah?"
In return, Shizuo offered a faint smile. "How about we go grab a bite before class. Sound good?"
Kasuka nodded, hopping off the desk. He casually slipped past the mess and followed Shizuo out the door, who shut it behind him.
Brunch turned out to be pretty nice.
Note: Vorona's speech patterns = Not on point 'til about Ch. 5+ and so on.