AN: So, here comes the new update and gosh! This took ages to correct and yet I´m not damn near satisfied... oh well, hope you enjoy it.
Welcome to Ikebukuro
Rena´s eyes widened as she looked out through the airports windows. It had been ages since she´d seen such tall buildings, so many cars and above all so many people. She had lived in Ibaraki for years and yet it appeared as if those years hadn´t been nearly enough to prepare her for the chaos that was Tokyo. In fact such a chaos that if you were to meet someone here you might not actually… As she stood there waiting for her friend an unpleasant thought entered her mind. Regardless of having spoken to him so many times on the phone, and seen several pictures of him, Rena couldn´t help but wonder, would she recognize Mikado once she finally saw face to face with him?
Looking at the watch on her wrist, Rena could tell five minutes had passed since the appointed time they´d set up, and for a while she almost believed that she´d misunderstood Mikado on the location. Just as she was about to pick up the cheap cellphone her father had bought her a month ago she saw three adolescents running towards her. One girl and two boys, one of whom she recognized instantly.
"Mikado-Kun", her smile was discrete yet genuine as she laid eyes on the raven haired boy.
"I´m so sorry we´re late!" her former online friend said apologetically, a concerned frown on his face as he looked back at her.
Rena only looked at the boy in silence for a few moments before it dawned on her that this was no longer one of her daydreams or one of her and Mikado´s "what if you came to Ikebukuro"-scenarios. She was actually here and the journey she had discussed with her friend for ages had actually taken place.
"Mikado-kun, what a pleasure to finally meet you", Rena´s smile grew wider.
"Rena-chan!" Mikado smiled back as he too seemed to have grasped the reality of their situation, "once again sorry for the delay! How was your trip?"
Rena maintained her smile as she looked back at the black haired boy. Despite of the fact they´d never seen face to face she didn´t even feel close to uncomfortable around him. But she supposed that speaking together about once a day regardless of it only being on the phone or on the internet did that to you.
"It was fine", she said, "it´s been a long time since but…"she paused, giving a frown, "it´s been interesting".
Knowing fully that Mikado must have seen that frown on her face for exactly what it was she wasn´t all that surprised when he gave a kind laughter in return. After all she had been told by everyone she knew that she was ridiculously easy to read.
"Airplanes aren´t my favorite rides either", Mikado admitted before turning his head towards the two teens that stood behind them, a black haired girl wearing thick glasses and a blond boy with tanned skin and a yellow hoodie, "this is Anri and Masaomi"
Rena looked at her future roommates. She had been excited to meet them ever since Mikado had informed her about them sharing the apartment with them, and Mikado had told her so much about them she practically felt like she knew them already.
"Sonohara Anri!" the black haired girl reached out her hand, a reserved smile on her lips, her eyes slightly facing the ground, "pleased to meet you".
"Ryuugu Rena! Pleased to meet you too", Rena looked back at the girl, returning her smile with only a slightly more relaxed one before turning towards the blond boy.
_._
Masaomi had observed Mikado´s friend quietly as she´d spoken to the otherwise shy teenager, the two conversing as though they´d known each other for ages.
He had pestered Mikado for pictures of her the entire week, although he honestly wasn´t have as interested in those pictures as he let on, for after all he had only ever had one girl on his mind. But as he finally looked at the person his best friend had spoken about so warmly something happened.
He wouldn´t call her hot in the traditional sense. She wore a long white dress ending slightly below her knee, the little that was visible of her legs covered by thick stockings. Compared to Anri he would say that her `assets` were all other than `noteworthy`and her large eyes and slightly rounded cheeks made her look almost younger than the 16 years she claimed to be.
But there was something almost fascinating about her delicate features, something about that light brown slightly curled hair and that innocent spark in her blue eyes that drew his gaze to her. She was cute, or rather beautiful would be the correct word… a type of appearance that was ….
"Masaomi-kun, Masaomi-kun!"
The blond almost jumped on the spot as he heard his best friend call his name. Blinking with both eyes he instantly became aware of the white hand the girl reached out for him.
"Oh sorry!" he quickly gathered himself, looking at her with his trademark grin, "Kida Masaomi! Call on me if you´re in need of an escort!" he gave her one humorous wink, in the corner of his eyes catching Mikado giving him a resigned look.
"Ryuugu Rena!" her smile was broad as she gave his hand a light squeeze, "and thank you!"
"So…", Mikado gave a small smile as his gaze wandered from Rena to Anri and finally to Masaomi himself, "shall we..?" he nodded towards the glass entrance.
"I´d love too!" despite of her discrete tone and smile Rena´s eyes practically beamed as she looked outside the window.
"And oh…", Mikado smiled apologetically at the brunette as he suddenly took note of the huge bag situated next to her, "you´ve carried this one long enough!" he picked it up with an effort that was more visible than he´d wished it to be.
Secretly Masaomi wished he had been the first to offer carrying it for after all he was supposed to be the ladies-man around here, but considering the fact Mikado practically was her host he guessed it was only reasonable he´d be the one to carry her bags. He guessed…
_._
"This is so different from Ibaraka!" Rena gasped in awe as her gaze wandered from the many colorful cars driving past them, to the countless stores and restaurants on the sidewalk, "so…. Much!" her eyes widened as she seemed at a loss for words, "life…!"
Anri had kept her eyes on the girl since they´d left the airport smiling politely as she listened to her speak of how different this was from the life she knew and how much she looked forwards to this year and their studies. While Anri couldn´t say that she disagreed she couldn´t precisely say that she agreed either. This year and their studies just were, plain and simple like practically everything else in this world, and the manner in which every particle of Rena´s being appeared to move with her excitement was something so incomprehensible to Anri that she had to go back years and years in time to find a memory in which she had even been remotely close to being this happy.
"Well", Mikado chuckled as he gave Rena a friendly smile, "Ikebukuro is known to be quite…", he gave a meaningful frown as his hand made a vague gesture, "… lively to say the least. You´ll see, I´m afraid".
"How?" Rena tilted her head to the side, an equally meaningful brow raised as she looked back at him, "is there something you´re not telling Rena?"
"Well…", Mikado gave a genuine laughter, grinning humorously, "we wouldn´t want to tell you when you still had the chance to leave?"
"Typically Mikado-kun!" Rena pouted although her beaming gaze gave away the fact that she wasn´t serious , "so mean to lure Rena out here only to use her as a shield ".
And then there was that… Anri couldn´t ever recall having seen Mikado so lively and enthusiastic before, and the connection he and this girl seemed to share may potentially be even more genuine than the one he shared with his best friend Masaomi. It puzzled her to no ends how close the two appeared to be after only having known each other for half a year, and that without even having seen face to face until now. Anri had gone to school with Masaomi and Mikado for a year and a half and she still didn´t find keeping a conversation with either of them close to simple.
"So cute!" without even as much as a fair warning Rena ran towards a display window at one of Ikebukuro´s most beloved toy-stores, her face practically glued to the glass as she looked at the pink teddy bear with the green ribbon around its neck.
Mikado chuckled slightly as he gave Anri a meaningful glance which she managed in returning with a smile. She felt something unfamiliar and unidentifiable gnawing at her chest before once again giving the transfer-student her full attention.
Being so excited over something so small and trivial… Anri supposed she had learnt to see the world somewhat more colorfully since her last trial but somehow she doubted she´d ever be capable of seeing it as Rena did where every little detail seemed to be a wonder. She doubted she´d ever be able to…
"Kawaiiii, kawaiiiii!" Rena´s eyes grew twice as big as they practically blew light beams through the poor plushy, "omochikae…"
"There are lots of those on our way back home", Mikado interrupted kindly, his voice waking the girl up from what almost appeared to be a trance "I´m sure you´ll have plenty of times to find something to your liking".
Rena blinked twice before suddenly turning her gaze back at the boy, an almost baffled expression on her features.
"Oh, sorry!" she blushed as though she´d been caught reading comics during math, "let´s go!" her smile appeared almost shy as she looked back at her comrades.
Reflexively Anri´s gaze shifted towards Kida, almost expecting yet another one of his silly and not so appropriate comments and was almost equally baffled as he himself looked when it never came.
Perhaps his last adventure has made him mature in that sense, Anri thought to herself before the blonde´s voice roused her from her assumptions.
"Oh, right!" Masaomi grinned finally, "I keep forgetting! Mikado said you had a thing for cute stuff! You should try this one", his hazel eyes nodded towards a display windows two stores away showing female underwear in all shapes and forms, an alarming amount dressed in ribbons and lazes. Masaomi gave a meaningful whistle.
"Oh?" Rena´s eyes grew even wider with confusion, as she seemed to struggle hard to figure out where the boy was going with this.
"Eh!" Mikado gave an embarrassed smile, an apparent blush on his cheeks as he made an objective wave with his hand, "don´t mind him! Are you hungry?"
"Oh", Rena blinked her eyes again, before smiling back at the black haired boy, "now that you mention it, yes I am! They didn´t serve anything on the plane"
"Ah, we haven´t eaten either!" Mikado hurried saying, "do you like yakiniku?"
"Mhm", Rena nodded eagerly.
"We were planning to make that for lunch!" Mikado gave a broad smile, "does that sound good?"
"Of course!" Rena gave another one of those practically radiating smiles of hers.
Looking at the girl skipping after Mikado with light steps, Anri couldn´t stop that gnawing feeling from earlier finding its way up her chest again, this time even travelling up her throat.
_._
"So this is mine and Kida´s room", Mikado gestured towards the closed door as he guided Rena through the lightened corridor, "yours and Anri´s is just one stair above".
"But feel free to visit it anytime!" Masaomi grinned, shooting the girl a meaningful wink.
Rolling his eyes to yet another one of his friends typically Masaomi-ish comments, Mikado wasted no time turning back to the newcomer.
"Don´t mind him", he said, "this is yet another one of his well… usual jokes!" he laughed nervously before sending Masaomi that would have him combust had looks been able to kill.
"Oh!" Rena who luckily seemed to be too preoccupied with her new abode to notice her roommate´s far less than clean comments smiled, "this place is bigger than I thought!"
Her eyes wandered through the white walls and wooden furniture with a look on her face that almost screamed euphoria. Mikado smiled at her in return, a more genuine smile than he gave most.
"This isn´t much", he said, "the tapestries are old and this furniture is bought at the cheapest possible store but I´m really glad that you…"
Mikado was genuinely happy to have his new friend here. Ever since they´d found each other on the public-forum known as "Hello Japan" where youths all over the country signed up to get a more accurate picture of life in other cities they´d been practically inseparable. They both had so many common opinions about life, friendship and school. Ironically it was the third that had brought Rena here to Tokyo. Rena was in need of a more advanced education than what her village had to offer as well as the possibility of exploring other places than Japan and he, Anri and finally Masaomi were in need of a fourth person to share the apartment with in order to afford the rent. So it truly couldn´t have been more perfect had it not been for…
"So what brought a beautiful girl like you to our humble part of the city?" Masaomi grinned as he looked back at the poor unknowing Hinimizawa girl.
Before Rena had time to open her mouth and give a reply, Mikado plastered a smile to his face and glanced at Anri.
"Anri-san, will you help Rena get installed in your room?"
"Of course", Anri looked back at him, the same reserved smile on her face that he´d attempted to read for ages, "shall we?"
She pointed towards the stairs and Rena nodded as she accompanied the black haired girl. As soon as their figures disappeared out of sight, Mikado glared at his best friend.
"What exactly is the meaning of this?" his voice was practically a hiss once the two girls were out of sight.
He hardly ever raised his voice at the boy he considered his number one role model for ages, he in fact hardly raised his voice to anyone. But Mikado had seen and experienced enough since his move to Ikebukuro to know that friendship wasn´t something to be taken lightly, and he hadn´t lived through what could have ended up in a three-way gang-war to see one of his friends returning to her home village the instant she arrived and the other end up getting himself heartbroken again due to another moment of exceptionally poor judgment.
"Of what?" the blonds eyes widened as he looked back at the black haired boy, clearly playing the innocent.
"You, know that she´s going to live with us for a year, don´t you?" Mikado continued, a deep frown on his face, "you just can´t…"
"Like I said, I need to be me", Masaomi shrugged his shoulders, a mask of indifference on his face that Mikado far too easily saw through.
"Yes", the black haired boy said again, drawing a deep sigh, "and unfortunately you´re being far too much you."
"Ah, she´ll get used to it!" the blond grinned meaningfully, "everyone in Ikebukuro knows I´m the lady´s man after all".
"I´m not talking about her!" Mikado said, that grave look in his face again, "what´s happened the last month. You can´t just…."
"I know, I know!" Masaomi rolled his eyes, "and I also know that if I take your advice I´ll end up going bold from all the time I spend tearing out my hair. I know what I´m doing alright! You who knows me better than anyone should know that I do nothing but talk anyway, and shit-talk just happens to be exactly what I need right now".
Once again Mikado stayed quiet. It seemed he was completely out of arguments, despite of the fact his gut feeling told him otherwise. Perhaps Masaomi was right, he tried to tell himself. Perhaps his happy-go-lucky attitude was exactly what he needed to make it through this unexpected disappointment, but then again… Mikado momentarily seized his inner voices as he looked back at his friend with a smile plastered to his face.
"Yeah, perhaps you´re right!" he said, "but once again, remember she´s going to live with us", Mikado made sure to emphasize every last word in this particular sentence as his gaze practically penetrated the blond´s.
"Yeah, I get it!" Masaomi sighed before looking back at his friend with a smile, "I´ll tone it down a little. I suppose scaring our new roommate off before she even gets to pack up is a bad idea".
"Yeah", Mikado chuckled slightly, "so… he looked into the kitchen. Shall we prepare some tea before the girls get down".
Masaomi nodded in response quickly walking into the beautifully decorated room.
_._
"This is amazing!" Rena practically sang as she waltzed into the room that had been prepared for her and Anri.
Just like the rest of the house the walls were painted in an inviting white, the floors covered by a light blue carpet, decorated with small flowers that matched the walls in color.
"This is so cute!" she giggled enlightened as she looked back at her roommate.
The smile Anri gave in return was smaller and a little bit more discrete as she met Rena´s gaze.
"I´m glad you like it Ryuugu-san", she said politely, "we haven´t finished decorating it yet because we thought you might want a say in the matter but… "
"That´s very kind of you", Renas gratitude was genuine as she looked back at Anri, "I´m sure we´ll have lots of fun figuring it out together. But…", Rena frowned slightly as something her friends back in Hinamizawa said came to mind, "you´ll have to tell Rena if she goes overboard because… Rena can sometimes get very excited and Rena´s taste isn´t like…", she paused as she thought back of the countless things she´d brought back from the lake in Hinamizawa, "most others"
To this Anri for the first time this day uttered what appeared to be a genuine giggle.
"I´m sure it´s not so bad", she said kindly, "I´m sure you have good tastes".
Rena sat down on the small bed as her content gaze wandered around the room. So far her day had been amazing! She had seen many interesting and new things and her roommates had turned out to be just as pleasant as Mikado had described them to be, and as it seemed she was sharing this room with the girl that Mikado… Rena smiled inside as she recalled their last conversations before her trip to Ikebukuro.
Although Anri from what Rena had seen so far appeared timid and most likely far too serious for her friends back in Ikebukuro, she gave a sincere and kind impression and Rena had a feeling they´d get along well during the year they were going to spend in this room. In fact whenever Anri smiled a certain lavender haired girl back at home came to mind.
"Anri-chan, you remind me of a friend of mine", Rena thought out loud all of a sudden.
"Oh, do I?" Anri turned to look at her with a surprised expression on her face.
Rena was just about to open her mouth and tell her when she was interrupted by a voice calling from down stairs.
"Anri, Rena!" Masaomi called out, "come on down before your tea gets cold!"
Rena exchanged a glance with her new roommate. A comfortable apartment, wonderful company, a new interesting class to start tomorrow and… boys that actually bothered making tea on top of it! Rena just knew this year was going to be interesting. But she didn´t know just how interesting quite yet….
AN: So I hope this satisfied you more than it did me. I felt as if I made especially Mikado was a bit OOC (and Kida-kun a bit too much of a pervert) but I pictured he developed a bit more confidence after Masaomi left Ikebukuro and he had only himself to rely on socially. And as you see.. I made Saki break up with Masaomi (sorry Masaomi/Saki-fans) and I swear I will dive deeper into it later in the story. Once again.. sorry if I offend any Masaomi/Saki-shippers but I can´t really get into the pairing for some reason... No offence :3. We each have our own ships.
And on another account... I have about three more chapters done for this but not only do I feel they need a serious amount of correction before I publish them but I also feel as though I need to have a solid route for this story before I gather more confidence in publishing it.
Meanwhile... those of you who are Higurashi-fans knows about the Game-club and the punishments, right? Can you guys do me a favor and think out some funny punishments for the Durarara-cast (a fitting one for each character) and send the ideas to me? I´d be very grateful :3. It will take a while for me to get to those but I´ll cross that bridge further on in the story.
Geesh! This AN was almost longer than the chap. Anyway, see you in the next chap... whenever it arrives :3