RARARA! VOLUME 1 CHAPTER 3-INTERLUDE OR PROLOGUE F

NISHI AKIHIKO

(Now things are starting to roll, huh? Thank you~ Thank you thank you~ If you're wondering, yes, I already finished typing up the whole story. Just needed to submit it. Which I'm doing now XP I appreciate anyone who reads it)

July 30. Afternoon. Somewhere in Ikebukuro.

"I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Oh wow, Akihiko-san! You sure have grown!"

"Where have you been?"

"Oh good to see you! Just in time too! I need a little help with something!"

"Finally got rid of that Takeshi kid, huh? Good. He was bad influence on you."

The young, tall, slender man named Nishi Akihiko had been surrounded by a crowd of people with different genders, appearances, and age. He had been smiling warmly at all of them and replying politely but now his eyes were on the last to speak. Although his smile remained on his face, his eyes narrowed as they locked down at the speaker momentarily. He laughed it off.

"I still live with Hitoshi-san, actually."

He replied curtly before laughing again.

"But what a welcome! Oh my, it's like I just left for a day! I feel so honored with you all around me! Are you all doing well? Are you happy?"

The crowd surged forward as different answers broke out through murmurs.

"It seems I have come home to be murdered! I will suffocate at this rate!"

Akihiko joked in a carefree manner. Although his childish laughter rang clearly through the crowd, everybody gasped and gave him space.

Akihiko was known as the "man who would die to make a stranger happy"

Although he had left for Romania years back with Hitoshi, his legacy continued even today. Everybody accepted him as he was.

Not because he was funny.

Not because he was good looking.

Not because they cared for him.

It was because they all had something they wanted him to do.

Like flies swarming in on a dead carcass, they had all put their daily lives on hold so they could get a chance to request something from him.

Be it a present, a person, a prank, a dare, or a task, they all wanted to ask him.

Because they knew the answer would be yes.

Akihiko smiled innocently down at all of them as if they genuinely cared for him.

He knew they didn't.

I don't even recognize some of these people.

Haha, I don't recognize most of these people.

Perhaps I met them but forgot.

Should I start my priority list from scratch?

Hitoshi will be #1. That would make Shizuo #2. And then...?

Ugh, Shizuo almost hit Hitoshi. The bully.

Akihiko's millions of thoughts started going off topic when he felt a sharp tug at his sleeve. Going back to reality, he blinked and looked down at whoever tugged him.

"DID YA HEAR ME?"

Akihiko winced. Perhaps this stranger thought that Akihiko was listening to music since he wore his bear-eared headphones. But those things were never plugged into anything.

"Huh? Umm.. No, I'm sorry."

Akihiko replied somewhat timidly with an apologetic smile on his face.

"I SAID-"

"There's no need to shout. I hear you perfectly well. Although, if you'd prefer to shout or it makes you happy, then be my guest and do it!"

The yelling stranger blinked then looked flustered.

"Oh, sorry about that. What I was saying is that I'd love for you to vandalize my ex-wife's' house. I-er-would myself, but the cops have gotten tougher recently."

Akihiko blinked in surprise. His smile remained intact.

"Is that so? How interesting."

More voices rose in the crowd, desperate to be heard. It was a bit overwhelming for the tall young man with bear-eared headphones, but he mentally noted all the tasks presented to him.

"Well, many thanks for the greeting everyone! If you come back here tomorrow, I will be sure to have done what was requested of me to do. All I ask you to do is keep a hold of your happiness until you meet me, hahahaha~!"

With those final words, he waved them off.

The crowd, pleased with this reaction, quickly dispersed as soon as their request was confirmed, like pieces of a shattered mirror. Messy. Disorderly.

Strolling lazily from the scattered crowd, Akihiko hummed a soft tune to himself, all the while thinking:

"I am the most selfish man in Ikebukuro."

Later that day. In front of an art gallery in Tokyo.

It was those types of situations people would generally avoid. There's this small hero calling out inside that wants to save the woman from the plain out-and-open abuse, but reality doesn't want you involved. Some kind of childish mechanism that states "That's not my problem" seems to work perfectly for the people avoiding the scene.

Nishi Akihiko did not have this mechanism.

This dilemma actually attracted him.

He had no wish to be hero though. In his eyes, he simply saw two people in distress. He loved these kind of situations. It was the easiest way to tell if a stranger was upset. He paused, a foot away while the man before him yanked forcefully on the young woman's wrist. Akihiko was analyzing the situation. He had never met these two in his life so he wanted to see who was the most upset in this case. A smile was plastered on his face.

"Hello~"

He finally walked up to them. His smile widened as his blue eyes softened. The man harassing the woman snarled impatiently.

"Get lost. We're busy."

"Get lost? That's kind of hard to do in Ikebukuro."

Akihiko replied. Despite his smile, he wasn't joking. His tone couldn't be any more serious.

"Go away!"

The harasser launched his fist in the air. Akihiko dodged it easily by leaning back as his attacker moved forward. The man tripped over Akihiko's foot.

"Oops~! Sorry! Are you ok?"

Akihiko tilted his head in concern. His smile never left. The man felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment.

He's taunting me.

What does he want?

Why won't he go away dammit?

The man just sputtered and picked himself up off the ground. That was just a small mistake. That's all.

"You know, I just met you but you're already on my priority list."

Akihiko informed him in the sweetest way ever. His smile is gentle. But still...

"The lady over here has to be higher, considering the situation though. I don't think she could ever be happy if you abuse her like that."

He's protecting someone he doesn't even know?

Wait, haven't I heard about that one guy that would beat the crap out of anyone that mistreats a woman?

No, that's not him. Can't be him. That guy left already.

And besides, this guy looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly.

He looks like a child.

Yeah.

Look at those bear-eared headphones. Who does he think he's trying to kid?

"That's why..."

"Just shut up already!"

The man interrupted as he launched himself at the smiling stranger. Akihiko's smile widened eagerly as he raised his leg lazily, his foot making immediate contact with the man's stomach. The man started to double over in pain but before he could, Akihiko switched legs and gave a high kick to the man's face. A sickening crack was heard.

The man was curled up on the ground, groaning in pain, not sure which hurt more. Above him was the now apologetic smile of the handsome young man.

"Did I hurt you that bad? I'm sorry~ Sometimes I don't even know my own strength!"

Akihiko let out an airy laugh.

"Hitoshi-san making me study all those moves... You know, I could've hit your nose if I wanted to! But that would've been more painful. You should go to the hospital! I bet your internally bleeding! Would you like me to take you?"

It grew quiet as Akihiko waited patiently for a response.

"Oh I see... He fell unconscious..."

The tall man stood still for a while before shrugging and turning to the lady.

"Are you ok?"

The lady, shocked at first, was calmed down by the blue-eyed man's soothing smile. She felt her cheeks grow red.

"Oh... W-well I.."

The blue-eyed man spotted something behind her and instantly looked excited. He patted her back gently as he rushed past her.

"Good for you! Glad I could help!"

His hand raised over his head as he waved at a shorter man who just noticed him.

"Hitoshi-san~! Were you waiting for me?"

"What're you talking about baka? I just got here!"

"I saved a beautiful damsel in distress from a big scary man!"

"Pfft! Selfish bastard~! Huuhuuhuu~!"

The young woman watched as the tall man laughed along childishly as the two men disappeared into the crowd. She smiled softly.

"Ah, so Nishi-san really is back..."

A woman that looked similar to her as if she was her sister came from the building and looked confused. She gasped at the sight of a man unconscious on the ground.

"What happened?"

The young woman who was saved gestured at the crowd.

"Nishi-san has returned."

Her sister looked worried then peered at the crowd to try and catch a glimpse of him. Sure enough, a blurry outline of bear ears stood apart from the crowd. The woman turned to her sister and hesitated on what to say next, considering that it appeared that Nishi saved her sister. She decided not to say anything at all until her sister was out of ear-reach.

"Is that... Really a good thing...?"

She murmured to the air before turning and gesturing her sister back into the building.

"What'd you say? Who attacked that man?"

Tanaka Tom had just finished working. He was heading home until he heard news of a tall man with oversized bear-eared headphones had beat up someone in just two kicks. The appearance alone could remind him of only one person.

"Oh it was just Nishi-san being a good guy like always."

"Oi! Don't imply that Nishi-san is always good!"

It had been a couple of fellows, probably older than Akihiko, who had been gathered on a park bench and were talking openly about what they had heard.

"What do you mean..?"

Sooner than he had thought, Tom had the opportunity to gain more information on the young men he had encountered earlier.

He knew that Akihiko was willing to do anything to please people. Maybe they just meant that Akihiko was willing to work for criminals. Tom already knew that because of what Shizuo told him.

The men before him, though, shared uneasy looks.

Tom sighed.

"If you're worried about getting him in trouble, it's alright, I know about him working for some underground people."

"It's not that."

One of the men explained quickly. The one next to him elbowed him quickly.

"Shut up!"

Tom blinked then raised a brow.

"Then what is it..?"

What could possibly frighten these men?

"Well, you know Raijin High School? Before it turned to Raira Academy, of course. We went there during the bloody times. There was this monster kid named Shizuo who everybody knew to get out of the way from and this sneaky punk named Izaya who wasn't exactly bad but... Eh..."

The man who was elbowed shrugged. Tom nodded as if persisting him to go on.

"W-Well, we knew full well we had to stay out of their way. Us men right here had to learn the hard way. That Shizuo monster almost killed us one time..."

Now the atmosphere was unsettling. The man speaking no longer wanted to continue. Tom ignored them calling Shizuo names but was starting to grow impatient, not seeing where this was headed.

After a long terrified pause, the man forced himself to continue.

"There was this guy... This one guy no one warned us about. He didn't look like much but..."

They couldn't be talking about Akihiko. He didn't even go to high school at that time. Shizuo told him that as well. Tom finally settled mentally that these men were simply talking about someone else. Although he knew it wasn't over Akihiko or Hitoshi, he was interested.

"I mean! That monster didn't look like much either but this guy realllllyyyy didn't look like much. He was short and looked fragile. He wore a clip on his hair because apparently he hated his hair in his face. Hmm.. He wore some sort of hat and he always wore these sleek black boots no matter what."

Tom froze. Although the clip hadn't rung any bells, the hat and boots did.

Hitoshi, the man he met yesterday, was the center of this conversation.

"Hitoshi-kun...?"

Tom murmured below his breath.

The man nearest him heard him and stiffened, his eyes bulging in fear.

"How'd you know?"

"Uwah! You addressed him so boldly!"

This confirmed it.

"What'd he do to you guys? What's so bad about him?"

Tom asked anxiously. The men started to get up or back off.

"No way man, no way!"

"Is he here? I thought Nishi-san was the only one that returned!"

"Forget everything! We didn't say anything!"

Tom looked around, exasperated for an answer.

The man who had originally started the story remained seated but looked like a deer in headlights.

"What happened?"

Tom insisted at him. By now, the other men left.

"Oh man... Oh man... Oh man! If he was like that as a child, I don't even want to think of how he is now!"

"Please... Calm down..."

Tom tried frantically to calm him down, a queasy feeling in his stomach.

The man, after a long period of persuasion, could now return to his story although he looked over his shoulder in fear constantly.

"We shouldn't have ever messed with Shizuo! Like getting beaten up by him wasn't bad enough... L-look..."

The man lifted his shirt to reveal an ugly scar at his side which looked like it had been picked on over and over and over.

"Shizuo-kun did that to you?"

Tom wouldn't believe it. The man shook his hand frantically.

"No, it was the Invisible Boss. The one no one would speak of because his victims wouldn't dare utter a word. After we came back from the hospital, we were confronted by a tiny kid named Takeshi Hitoshi... He scolded us in this quiet voice about why we shouldn't have bothered the monster then ranted on about how we'd never be loved. We'd already been insulted so we thought we'd give this kid a beating but... He had these thin knives and cut us. The pain was like hell but when we tried to show our parents, it wasn't visible! The cuts appeared thin no matter how deep they were!"

The man's voice quivered as he remembered.

"We were a little shaken but the next day, the Invisible Boss threatened us not to tell anyone. Then, he told us to cut each other with these huge knives so it looked like it had been our fault and we only told our parents for attention! Naturally, we said no but then he started threatening us each with horrible consequences far worse. We were planning to gang up on him and maybe run away but the middle school kid Nishi-san appeared and told us to not betray Takeshi..."

The man was in tears as he reached to his conclusion.

"It became a daily thing. Nishi-san would pin us down forcefully no matter how many times we begged and cried for him to get off. He'd tell the Invisible Boss if our friends had cut deep enough or if we were faking it. There was the kid who supposedly would die to make everybody happy but just because Takeshi gave him the orders, he dropped our pleading without even betting an eyelash! He was ruthless! The sick bastard was smiling down at us as we stabbed each other! When it was over, he would apologize everyday but his stupid smirk never left his face! And the Invisible Boss would be laughing his head off the whole time."

Tom remained silent. The two he met didn't seem that way at all. He was thoroughly repulsed by the images in his mind. Surely, Shizuo-kun doesn't know this...?

But why does Hitoshi take such an interest in him?

The man spoke up once more. He was breathing heavily and traced his scar as if in a trance.

"I'll never forget his laughs...

'Huuhuuhuu~!'"

Tom spent the rest of the day questioning people that have once gone to Raijin High School how many "bosses" there were.

Shizuo was mentioned as the Shadow Boss.

Some people joked and called Kadota the Light Boss.

But no one ever mentioned the Invisible Boss. Like he never existed.

Although...

Some people hesitated before answering. They would look off into the distance and after seeing this unknown thing, would shut up and change the subject. They didn't want to get reminded of their high school years. Something in their past traumatized this group for life.