(Hello, all! I'm new to the DRRR! fandom. /nodnod. But, goddamnit, I love the show/light novel/manga! It's just... /fangasm. Anyways... I'm not a big fan of yaoi, but I'm sort of finding myself shifting towards Shizaya... idk why xD. Should I put that pairing in this ff? And if so, what other pairings should I do? I mean, I'm going to do ErikaxWalker since those two are just so cute together... but any other suggestions? ;o. Anyways, I apologize for any OOC-ness /winces/ and I hope you enjoy le fic. Oh, I would much appreciate reviews 'cause they definitely cheer me up! lD)
0 .Snapshots.
Summer.
It was his favorite season.
It was the season of bright sunshine, open skies, and new connections. These said connections he saw forming between different people who were the same started with simple coincidental meetings. Ah, yes, simple coincidental meetings—
Just like how he first met it. Purely and utterly coincidental. He and the one who loved humanity had met under the clear skies one bleary summer day, and through that meeting, they formed a purely accidental connection.
[ fifteen years ago ]
The summer in which they met wasn't a particularly special one, and the day they met had started out normal for both of them. They both stood under the same shroud of trees with the same heavy humid summer air tickling the tips of their tongues, as they gazed at the same setting sun. The sky had been dappled with a warm shade of orange on that particular day and faded white clouds had sparsely dotted the sky. And as if drawn out by the alluring scent of the melancholy atmosphere, the cicadas made their appearance on the dew-lined overgrowth and chirped with song.
"Mm." the boy sighed quietly to himself as he rocked his small body back and forth and allowed his legs to dangle freely in the air. "I'm bored." His maroon eyes fell slightly towards the ground, and he let out another long sigh as he watched a group of children play down below him. He lifted his dark gaze back to the lowering sunset. "I'm really bored."
"Izaya!" came an indignant shout. "Get down from there right now. It's dangerous!"
"No." the young boy, Izaya, replied with a slight tone of indignation, not even lowering his gaze down towards his fuming mother. He whistled to himself from his high perch on top of his – yes, he had dubbed the tree he was currently swinging from as 'Izaya Orihara's Tree and No One Else's' – tree, completely ignoring his mother's shouts from below.
"I-Z-A-Y-A-A-A." his mother called for a second time, a new bittersweet tone settling into her voice. "Did I just hear you say 'no'?"
Izaya immediately flinched as he caught onto the hint of malice in his mother's voice and a chill escalated up his spine. He glanced down shakily at his mother who stood at the foot of his tree and watched as a menacing aura emitted from her petite body.
"O-Of course not, okaasan," he replied chirpily, though he internally growled in frustration. "I'm coming down right now~!"
Standing up upon the branch with his tippy-toes, he spread out his arms outwards from his breast and deterred towards the trunk of his tree in a haphazard fashion.
"Izaya, be careful!" his mother ordered in worried tone, eyebrows furrowed unhappily. "You're going to fall!"
Rolling his eyes, the boy spun around to look down at his mother, arms still spread horizontally outwards like bird wings. A confident smile was etched upon his face, and he reassured his mother with an egotistical phrase: "It's fine~! I've got this—
CRACK.
The loud single-noted sound resonated loudly through the air, silencing the songs of the cicadas. And it was soon followed by a similar, yet louder sound.
"Izayaaaa!"
...
(The sky suddenly rushes up above him and his stomach flip flops uncomfortably inside of his body.
'Eh? A-Am I falling?'
Cool air rushes around his body, caressing him in a suffocating blanket; bright green leaves and brown pieces of bark add another layer to the blanket.
'I'm falling, aren't I?'
He's not afraid though, strangely enough. He's not afraid of splattering upon the grassy ground. He's not afraid of—
'I'm falling—
CRUNCH.
Unbelievable pain ricochets through his body and he can only describe it with one word: red. It's red all over. The grass is being painted a shade of red. The sky is dimming and morphing into a shade of red. Red. Red. Red. Red.
Something glints brightly in the overturned dirt just out of his peripheral view, and he – for some unknown reason – reaches for it.
Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.
His fingertips brush up lightly against the glinting object and something indescribable surges through his tiny body.
Red. Red. Red. Red. Red.
'Ha-ha, this is interesting. I just love humans!'
Black—)
And this was how the two first met.
[ present day - Ikebukuro ]
It was an unusually quiet day in Ikebukuro – well, in Ikebukuroian terms, that is. The city wasn't getting destroyed or torn apart, but once in awhile, one would see a stop sign flying across the afternoon sky and hear a horrified scream as it crashed to the ground. There weren't any gang fights happening around every turn of the corner, yet if one was to walk down an alleyway, they would surely happen to find a group of people dressed in the same color beating up a single person who was not. And of course, while the streets of Ikebukuro were jam-packed with ordinary looking cars, if one would wait patiently long enough, they would so happen to see the infamous Headless Black Rider.
So, all in all, it was an unusually quiet afternoon for the unusual city.
Simon wasn't complaining though. In fact, he loved the peaceful side of the city. The side was quite rare, but he loved it. Anyways, violence was bad.
"Sushi!" the Russian called in his thick accent, waving shiny blue pamphlets in the cool air. "Sushi is very good! Discount on Russian sushi!"
Despite his loud and commanding voice, most of the Ikebukuroian brushed him off and passed down the sidewalk ignoring him. But this was a usual occurrence and the Russian didn't really mind it. So he continued to gaze out into the ocean of the passing crowd and continued to crow: "Sushi! Very good sushi!"
A familiar shade of black suddenly caught Simon's eyes, and he sighed inside slightly as he realized that the city was about to fall into chaos once more. Yes, just a single person dressed in black could delve the city into a chaotic state, but this single person wasn't just an ordinary person. He was—
"Izaya!" Simon called out, waving his sushi pamphlets towards the walking man. "You should come eat sushi! It is very good."
The man whom he had addressed stopped abruptly in place flinching, and shifted his maroon gaze from his feet to the towering Russian man. His gaze seemed unfocused, confused even, and he scanned the Russian from head to toe with disoriented eyes.
"Sushi?" Izaya questioned, eyebrows slightly furrowed and frown in place. He cast his gaze back down to his feet (Simon frowned at this), before glancing back up at the black man tentatively. "Ah...yeah. That sounds good."
Simon noted that the mocking tone and smirk that were always woven into Izaya's mannerisms were not in the least present. To be honest, it was somewhat frightening.
"Ah, Izaya, you're not causing trouble again, are you?" Simon questioned disapprovingly as he ushered the pale man into the restaurant. The Russian did not receive a response, and he glanced down at the shorter man questioningly. "Izaya?"
The information broker glanced up abruptly at the black man and blinked with dazed eyes. "Eh?"
"Are you feeling alright, Izaya?"
"Hai...?"
And that was that.
Izaya seated himself at the sushi-cutting table with uneasy tentativeness and allowed his gaze to sweep the interiors of the restaurant. Simon observed the shorter man's action perceptively as he made his way around to the opposite side of the counter table.
"What would you like, Izaya?" the Russian man questioned, a whopping smile in place.
"Eh?"
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"H-hai." the young man responded slowly, in a tone that made it seem like he was questioning his own response. His frown deepened and his eyebrows furrowed suddenly. However, before the information broker could speak his mind, an energetic group of four entered the restaurant.
"What? Orihime is totally annoying! Ichigo belongs to Renji. It's a fruit smoothie! Perfect combooo~!"
"Eh? F-Fruit smoothie?! Y-Yaoi?!"
Simon looked up from his current customer and waved his new customers with a smile, "Ah, Kadota, Walker, Erika, Togusa, welcome!"
The man whom the Russian had addressed first offered a friendly nod. "How are you, Simon?"
"I am doing fine." the black man smiled in answer as his blue-capped friend approached him. "Everything is good. How are you?"
Kadota prepared to answer, but stopped himself as he felt a pair of maroon eyes on him. He turned his head slightly and blinked in surprise as he saw a familiar looking information broker frowning at him warily.
"Oh, Izaya...Yo."
Kadota waited patiently for the usual smirk and the usual "Ohayo, Dota-chin~!", but it never came. The seated man simply stared at him and his companions in a slightly surprised daze. To be honest, it looked like the information broker was half asleep. And then slow drawn reply came:
"Yo...?"
"Ah, look, it's Izaya!" Erika suddenly piped, skipping over to Kadota's side with Togusa and Walker following shortly behind. Her ebony eyes suddenly sparkled and her gaze quickly darted around the restaurant. "Eh, where's Shizuo? Doesn't he usually here by now to express his undying lov—
Her mouth was suddenly covered up by Togusa's hand and her sentence was cut off abruptly.
"Ahahaha!" Togusa laughed loudly and nervously, his hand still clasped tightly onto the young girl's mouth. "So how are you, Izaya?"
"Shizuo?" Izaya questioned, completely ignoring Togusa's question.
And inside, those surrounding him (minus Erika because she supported Izaya and Shizuo's quarrels 100%) internally face palmed and mentally prepared for their beloved city to fall into havoc.
"Izaya," Simon said in a warning tone. "No, violence-
"Who's Shizuo?"
"Eh?"
Simon peered into Izaya's face to see if whether or not he was being serious. He was expecting it to just be one of Izaya's regular ploys, but when he saw the look of confusion on the pale man's face, he was taken aback.
"No, wait," the information broker frowned as he cast his gaze away from the group, "who are you?"
"Eh?"
Izaya eyes widened a fraction of an inch as if he had just realized something horrifying, and his eyes darted around wildly around the room. He stood up from his seat in a panic. "Where am I?" He took a step back, accidently knocking a glass of water down from the table as he did so.
"Calm down, Izaya!" Kadota ushered in slight confusion, holding his hands up in an attempt to calm the disoriented man.
"What's going on...?" the information broker muttered to himself, raising his hand to gently touch his head.
"He's not looking so good. Maybe we should take him to a hospital?" Togusa suggested as he observed the teetering man. The teetering man whom, only seconds later, fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Simon quickly jumped over the counter and came to the now unconscious man's side to assess the damage done. Walker, who had idly been observing the entire confrontation with mild interests, bent over the Russian's shoulder with a slight frown:
"Well, that escalated quickly."
(Oh no! What hath happened to Iza-chan?! ;O
But y'know, I actually really do feel bad for his character.
I mean, he's a bastard and all, but he's also really lonely. ;c)