So here I am, sat in a toilet cubicle, in the female toilets, in a random guy's apartment. I, Masaomi Kida, certainly never expected this. Of course, I was not the only one there; actually, there were numerous attendees, as it was a party of sorts. The reason I was in the toilets, well, that's a long story, but the short version, is that I ran away, whereas the reason for it being the girl's toilets, cannot possibly be explained in such a short answer. Or at least a way to make me seem at least slightly sane, not that any of this is sane.
It all started when I was asked a favour, from none other than Izaya Orihara. At first, I straight out refused, before I had even been told what was to be asked of me. However, once he told me, I declined even more. Despite all this, when money was brought into the picture, my mind wandered.
"How much?"I queried, hoping for a high quantity.
"As much as you're willing to take" he said, with his usual devious grin, which always made me feel uneasy. Knowing what he said wasn't entirely true; I opted for a lower price.
"200,000 yen?"
"Pfft, that's nothing" he declared, chuckling slightly.
"More?"
"Now don't be a glutton, Kida-kun."
"Then why- never mind…"
Izaya tilted his head, and then asked his final question. "So will you help me?" I sighed before answering. Well, it was more of an aggravated grumble.
"Fine," Then my tone became serious, "so long as you don't embarrass me too much." I said, glaring up at him.
"Now, now, Kida-kun, why would I do that?" he asked sarcastically, also sounding fairly demanding that got me worried. "And don't worry, when we're done with you, no one will even recognise you."
"We?"
"Oh, I forgot to mention that Namie will be helping by getting you ready, seeing as, being a girl herself, she'll have a better opinion on the matter than yours truly." As he said 'yours truly' he placed his hand on his chest and looked up proudly, making him seem very narcissistic, which he was.
If by now you are very confused as to what's going on, you should be. I found it quite bewildering myself. Basically, Izaya had been invited to a party, more of the formal type, organised by a former client of his. Ordinarily, he would not have attended, but he thought that this may increase his chances of this client using his services once again, and also a great way to find and certify future clients. Being the kind man he was, the customer invited the Orihara sisters also. Knowing that his sisters would mess it all up, he decided to opt them out of the occasion. Or at least this is what he had told me.
If you were to put it briefly, he was asking me to pretend to be his sister. In other words, he wanted me to dress and act like a girl for I have no idea how long, as he had not told me how long it would last, in place of his sisters, which was probably going to be very amusing to him. Why he couldn't just tell someone they couldn't make it or didn't want to, I didn't know. But in the end, I gave up, and agreed.
I had a few days to prepare for my humiliation, which I needed, because, no matter how much I thought I knew about girls, I wasn't quite sure how to act like one. I had some plan on what to do, but I had no idea who to test it on. They would just think I was insane, or some kind of transvestite in training.
For some reason, that I was unaware of, I felt like I needed to make this perfect. Even though it was a favour for someone I despised, I still felt that way.
The day finally came. No matter how long I had to organize myself, I still had nothing prepared, apart from maybe some ideas on how to act, but that was still nothing. I stood outside Izaya's apartment, waiting until I was ready to knock. Eventually, I did so. No one answered. Maybe nobody was in, at that time, I was earlier than expected. I decided to see if the door was unlocked. To my surprise, it was. I pushed it open to see Namie sat doing some paper work. I guessed she wasn't bothered to let me in, or maybe she thought I was clever enough try the door before resigning. Or possibly she was just lazy. I decided it seemed more likely to be the latter.
Namie looked up from her papers and told me that Izaya would be back in at least an hour, and that it was probably best to get ready before he returned. She then stood up and said she would show me what I was to wear. I found it strange how she treated this as if it were ordinary. I wandered about where he might have been, but I was too worried about what I had to wear to care about that.
A few moments later, she came back out of the room she had previously entered, and returned to her seat. "The clothes are on the bed, sort yourself out." She said in a monotone voice, and then returned to her work. Puzzled, I stared for a moment, and then proceeded to the room.
The room was plain and simple, there wasn't much to it. It was actually quite a depressing room. The walls were black the floor was black, the bed was black, everything was black. Wait, Bed? Surely that means this is Izaya's bedroom? Is what I thought at the time, which was later confirmed.
Placed on the bed was a black dress, which looked relatively short, a pair of black tights and an assortment of jewellery bunched together in a big tangled mess. Everything seemed to be black, which I suppose everything was for the informant. On the floor were some massively heeled boots. I sighed at the sight of them. I had no idea how I'd pull this off, or even why.
As I examined the heap, my eyes widened and my face flashed red when I noticed a lacy black, like everything else, bra. Why the hell do I need that? He said he wouldn't embarrass me! Really, I should have expected this, and how could I have expected him not to mortify me. That's just the kind of man he was.
Disgusted, I picked up the bra, using the tips of my fingers, and studied it. I looked up at the bra, then down at my torso. I suppose I did need it, seeing as it would help in the glitch of not having breasts, considering that I wasn't a girl. Still, it was most defiantly out of the ordinary.
For a while, I stood in front of the mound, then realizing I had no idea what I was doing. I poked my head out the door, and ask if Namie could give me some pointers. She complied. After at least ten minutes of awkwardly being helped by Namie, it was done. She then told me to wait a few seconds, and left the room. She returned with a long black wig. Oh dear. Is what I thought. She then placed it on my head, and made sure no blonde hairs we visible. She looked me over; I observed a hint of amusement on her face. This wasn't going to be fun, for me at least.
As we left the bedroom, I noticed Izaya had returned, as he was putting on his usual coat on, it seemed he even wore it to formal occasions.
"Wh-what d-do you think? Will it do?" I asked shakily, furthermore feeling very humiliated, I really wasn't comfortable with this. The dress was incredibly short, which you can't deny, is very embarrassing, and I was struggling even to stand in the high heel boots.
Izaya looked over to me, it seemed he didn't quite identify me at first, as I stood there attempting to extend the skirt length, looking rather embarrassed. While he did so, his eyes widened and he blushed, which, in my head, I laughed at, but I was also too busy being ashamed, and nervous, about my own appearance to criticize him.
Once he had calmed down, he smirked, as he always did. "Adorable~!" He muttered playfully. "Great job, Namie-san~!" he shouted, though there was no need to, as she was merely a few metres away, he was just trying to irritate her. She plainly grunted, then resumed her work.
Izaya walked over to me and handed some coloured contact lenses to me; he really must have been taking this very seriously.
"Put them on" he instructed, his humorous manner gone, destroyed along with my confidence. But unlike his 'humour', I could not regain my buoyancy so effortlessly.
"D-do I have too…" he simply glared at me; I took it as a yes.
Once I was done Izaya handed me a coat, which was similar to his own, except it was longer and more feminine, but I don't think you can exactly call anything with fluffy brims masculine. After I had put on the extra layer, we left. I was beginning to very much regret this, but there was nothing I could do now.
Instead of getting a taxi or driving, or anything, we walked, which for me, was agonizing. And to top it off, it was silent the whole way, and very awkward, probably only on my part.
As we were walking, I realized how warm and snug the furred jacket was. I wondered whether Izaya's coat felt this inviting, not that I'd ever find out.
Once we had arrived, I took of the damned shoes, but kept the coat firmly on, not caring what others might think, and placed them under the nearest table, to make sure I did not lose them. Izaya didn't seem to mind, which I was glad of. Izaya then told me he was going to do some mingling, and I was to do as I pleased.
As I had nothing else to do, I decided to look around the apartment. It was quite a large space, it took me a while, but I still had a lot of time to waste. I had been around a few times and was beginning to get bored. So I decided to find someplace to sit down. While I was doing so I felt something latch onto me. "Hey, you're Izaya Orihara's sister, right?" the man holding my arm questioned.
"Ummm, yes, that's me" I answered, still not quite familiar with the fact I was an 'Orihara' until further notice.
"I see…" He smirked, and I began to wonder what he was thinking.
"If you don't mind, could you maybe… let me go…?" I pleaded, as his hand was still fastened to my arm. His face showed he was in deep thought about something I didn't really want to know about, which got me worried. Then he began to laugh.
"No, I won't let you go" he muttered out through a chuckle.
"Eh? Wh-what do you m-mean?" His grip tightened, and my instincts told me to run. But I couldn't.
"Nah, I'm not gonna, 'cause you see, like a lot of people, I hold a lot of hate towards your dearest 'onii-chan', and I'm sure that if something were to 'happen' to you, he wouldn't exactly be happy, am I right?"
I catch sight of his other hand beginning to reach out to me. I gulped, this wasn't good. I felt beads of sweat on my forehead, this really wasn't good. I didn't know what to do. All I could do was stare up at the man, as his grasp just got firmer and stronger, and his other arm drew closer. Because of this, I didn't see much point in trying to pull away, but I tried anyway. Luckily, it worked. I began to run, not looking back.
That's when I saw it, the girl's toilets; it seemed like such a good idea. I pushed the door open, without slowing my pace, and hurried into one of the cubicles.
That's basically how I ended up here, huddled up in a toilet cubicle. Pathetic, I know. Now, I suppose, I need a plan to get out of here. I rested for a while, trying to calm my breath. I then realized that, if he did follow me, then I simple sign couldn't stop him.
Suddenly, I heard a noise, it was the door. I clutched my legs into my chest, in order to hide from the intruder. I heard footsteps outside, sauntering towards the cubicle in which I had entered. Then the cubicle door creaked opened. I buried my head in my lap, before I could take a glance at the prowler, and my grip around myself became stronger, I should have locked it. I was afraid, how pathetic. I didn't want to see who was there, because I had my suspicions. Then I heard the familiar voice, though it wasn't who I expected. It was Izaya.
"Where the hell have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere." He said sternly, leaning against the door, with his arms folded. I looked up, probably looking extremely pathetic, but not possibly as useless as I felt. I could no longer take it. My eye sight began to blur as tears began to stream down my face, even more pathetic. Izaya's harsh glare changed to shock, maybe even worry.
I dropped my head back into my lap, not bothering to erase the tears. Hastily, he took a step closer to the emotional ruin that was me, and crouched down to be on level with me. He began to stumble, which was something I never expected from someone such as himself. "Wait, wh- what's wrong? Are you okay? Did something happen?" It's funny, it actually sounded like he cared, but there's no way that could be true. I decided not to tell him, by staying silent.
"Come on, tell me" he said, continuing to sound concerned.
"Why should I?" I said in a shaky muffled voice, as my lips were concealed within knees.
"Because if you don't…" he paused, perhaps about to threaten me, "Because if you don't… I can't help you." He said solemnly. To my surprise, he then placed his hand on the back of my head, and delicately pulled it into his chest. For some reason, this made my emotions burst even more, as I began to sob quietly.
He placed his head on top of mine, as if to comfort me, which I couldn't yet understand. "Don't worry, I'll protect you" Astonished, I looked up. And with that, he brought my head towards his, and his lips connected with mine. My eyes widened with, once again, astonishment.
I thought I'd be angry, but I wasn't. It could have been because I was too worried about other things or I simply didn't mind, or maybe, just maybe, I liked it.
He stood up, and grabbing onto my arm, carrying me with him, and then took me into a tight, reassuring embrace. Once again, my head was against his chest. We stood like this for a while and I wasn't complaining. I could feel his breathing, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, the pattern continues. Somehow I found it comforting. I could also hear his heartbeat, which was soothing. If this were any other time I'd probably be making some sort of joke about the fact he actually had a heart, but this wasn't the time.
"Come on, I think it's time we left" Shakily, I nodded in response, seeing as I felt like I couldn't quite yet use my voice. He grasped hold of my arm and dragged me quickly, yet cautiously, out of the room, and then out the building
As he pulled me along, all I did was stare up at him, wandering what could be going on in his mind. I then looked down at my arm, noticing that instead of holding onto my wrist, it was my hand in which he was seizing.
I stayed silent the whole time, as I didn't quite yet know what to say. I was too overwhelmed even to think. Realizing I forgot the boots, I stopped. Izaya turned to me and tilted his head looking rather perplexed, not releasing my hand. I looked down to the concrete floor, not wanting to see his reaction. "The shoes…" I said wearily, "I left them behind…"
I tugged my hand away from his, and began to nervously fiddle with my fingers. "S-sorry…"
Izaya walked over to me, and knelt down before me. I turned away, to once again avoid him.
"Look at me…" he said calmer than I expected. I shook my head, I didn't want to. Guessing I wasn't going to give up he raised one of his hands up to turn my face it towards him, and the other to remove the wig on my head. I felt the tears again. As he wiped away some of my tears with his thumb, I noticed he was smiling, but it wasn't his usual cruel grin, it was a calming warm smile.
"It's fine, they're just shoes" he declared, chuckling slightly.
I suddenly felt weak, I don't know why, maybe it was stress, but my legs could no longer hold me. Seeing as Izaya was opposite me, I fell onto him. Feeling too pathetic to move, I didn't bother. My head rested on his shoulder, as I leant against him. Izaya didn't seem to move or be disturbed by this. I decided to ask a question that was lingering in my mind.
"Why me?"
"Huh? Why you what?" he enquired, sounding genuinely confused.
"Why did you ask me to help you? I mean, you could have asked anyone or, you could've just told them your sisters couldn't make it, and they didn't even seem to notice there was only one of me anyway…" I stated, beginning to recover my courage.
"Hmmmmm…you got me~! I suppose there's only one way of explaining it." He answered defiantly, salvaging his usual self once again. "It wasn't compulsory for you come, I lied, it was merely an excuse to see you all cute and flustered like so." I blushed, which wasn't really what I wanted after that had just been said. I couldn't see it but I could feel his sly grin creep onto his face and burn through me like a searing blade. Yet I ceased to move
"Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?" I queried. Though his previous comment had not been so nice, it was still fact.
"Well, I suppose there's only one way of putting it, Masaomi-kun" His sudden swap between my surname and forename surprised me, but not as much as what was to come. He pulled me off his shoulders and pushed me out in front of him, most likely so he could observe my reaction. He then used his hand to draw my face in closer, as he had done earlier. I contemplated what he would do next.
"It's because I love you, Masaomi." I froze. It had me entirely confused. To fuel my bewilderment, he planted a kiss on me once again.
"Now, we should get going, it's getting decidedly chilly" he declared as he stood up from his genuflected position. I, who was now sat on the concrete floor, looked up at him, still feeling dumbfounded, who had now extended his hand to me. I realized I was being too vulnerable around him. So I declined.
I stood up myself, and he appeared to look relatively offended, but in reality, probably didn't care. We began walking yet again. It was, once again, in silence. Except this time, I stayed a few paces behind. Once we arrived back at his apartment I got changed, making it as brief as I could, this time knowing what I was doing.
I thought to myself, I should leave as briefly as possible also, as I no longer felt comfortable around Izaya, not that I did formerly.
I quietly peeked out of the room. As I did, I noticed Izaya, seated on his couch, staring intently at his Chess, Go, Shogi board thing, whatever the hell it was. I never truly understood it, but all I knew was that it was turmoil. His expression showed he was in much thought, I continued to stare. I began to wonder what he was thinking, as his gaze was directly positioned on one lone piece, as if judging where to place it.
Deciding it was not the best idea to stand there for too long, I strolled towards the exit, to make it as if I was not halted there from the start. As soon as I did this Izaya's head instantly turned to look at me. That shocked, and slightly scared, me.
"Leaving then?" he said, whilst the smirk matured. He seemed back to his ordinary self, which I wasn't exactly happy about, but in a way I was.
"Yeah… It's getting pretty late" I hadn't yet looked at the time, but I assumed it was.
"Hmmm… I suppose it is~!" he said, leaning his head back, laughing to himself, one step closer to the natural being.
"… I'll be off then"
"Wait! Can I just ask one more thing?" he turned once again, as I had now made it to the door.
"Ummm... I guess… what is it?" I queried timidly, as he got up and walked towards to me. It seemed he settled on waiting until he had reached me to ask the question.
"Maybe you could come visit me sometime, maybe? That is, if you want to."
His face blushed as he said it, as if he was embarrassed to say it, but so did mine. As the blush passed, I spoke.
"I suppose I could" I said defiantly, deciding, that at this moment, I had the upper hand. A smirk also grew on my face, because of this fact. I then reached over to the door handle, as to leave.
"One more th-" I crudely interrupted before he could finish, as I was developing a bit of impatience.
"I thought you said that was the la-" I was also interrupted, but not by words.
I was interrupted by weight being forced on me, pushing me against the door, which was now behind me as I had turned when I began, but never finished, my speech. But my main interruption was the intrusion of Izaya's lips to mine, same as earlier, yet different. Different in the way that before it was more gentle and sweet, but now, it was strong and fierce. Dare I say, more enjoyable?
It was only then that the words he had said earlier sunk in. "I love you, Masaomi" the words began to ring in my head.
Izaya moved away and grinned, as if trying to cover up the vulnerability he had previously shown.
"I look forward to seeing you next time Masaomi~!"
I left, without saying a word, as I didn't know which ones to choose. Not that I needed to. I was relieved to know that no matter how bad I felt earlier, the fear, the anxiety, I had forgotten it all, because right now I felt great.
For so many reasons.