"Ne, Kuru-nee, don't you think Iza-nii's been different lately?"
"Mm."
"Why do you suppose that is?"
"Obvious?" ('Why are you asking me something you already know the answer to?')
"Mou, I just wanted to see what my beloved big sister's thoughts on the matter were!"
Mairu, who had been walking the streets of Ikebukuro hand in hand with Kururi, dramatically flung herself into her sister's arms. Passers-by gave them a wide berth as Mairu rocked them from side to side, simply enjoying the feel of having a warm body to hold onto. As usual, Kururi went along with it, wrapping her arms around Mairu's shoulders.
"Kuru-nee really is the best to cuddle," Mairu nuzzled into her sister's shoulder. "I don't need anybody else as long as Kuru-nee is around."
Kururi just hummed and lay her own head against Mairu's.
The sisters stood there for a little while longer, paying no mind to the strange looks and double takes they were attracting. Only when she was satisfied did Mairu pull back, grinning into her twin's face.
"Really though, Kuru-nee. Iza-nii's been strangely nice lately. It makes me want to punch him until he confesses what he's up to."
They continued walking, hand in hand and completely aimless.
"Agreed," Kururi replied softly. "Biding his time?"
"That seems like him, doesn't it?" Mairu laughed. "Our brother is really a terrible person."
They spent another twenty minutes cheerfully discussing just how awful of a human being Orihara Izaya was before actually getting around to the probable reason behind their brother's sudden change of behaviour.
That reason being, of course, Kurosaki Ichigo.
Mairu really liked Ichigo. He had a grumpy face and a quick temper (and was even quicker to act upon it), but mostly, he was just really nice. From what the twins could see, Ichigo seemed unbothered by their brother's villainous ways; he followed Izaya dutifully around Ikebukuro as he played his games with the yakuza and the local street gangs, looming when required and generally just being a mysterious presence at Izaya's back.
And yes, maybe the twins knew this because they had followed the two men around for almost two hours a few days ago and had thus seen it first hand, but who cared about minor details like that? Izaya hadn't caught them, therefore, it hadn't happened.
Kururi, who had dragged her twin into their current favourite café for hot chocolate and cake, swirled her spoon around in her cup, looking thoughtful.
"Ichigo… makes Iza-nii… happy?"
"Yes!" Mairu said, shoving a forkful of vanilla strawberry cake in her mouth. She chewed furiously and pointed her cleaned off fork into Kururi's expressionless face. "It's weird! Iza-nii doesn't like individual people, and especially not people with superpowers."
"Shizuo-san." Kururi nodded.
"Iza-nii doesn't even like us. His wonderful, adorable baby sisters." Taking another, less violent, bite of cake, Mairu tapped her fork against her lips. "So what makes Ichigo so special?"
"Mm… tolerant?" ('He actually puts up with Izaya's heinous personality and hobbies despite seeming like the type who would morally object to them?')
Mildly impressed by her sister's rapidly improving skill at smushing an entire sentence into two words, Mairu leaned forward, resting her chin in her cupped hands. Kururi had a point. Ichigo was a very stand up, no nonsense guy. You definitely wouldn't think him the sort to accept Izaya's awful tendency to prance around messing with the unsuspecting masses.
But he did. He hadn't seemed to care at all, during that brief period when the girls were shadowing them around the city. Of course, Izaya had been targeting Ikebukuro's underbelly on that particular day, so perhaps Ichigo's moral objections only to applied to 'innocents', so to say. Civilians. Mairu made a mental note to figure that out soon; it would niggle at her incessantly if she didn't.
Grinning at her sister, Mairu made a suggestion.
"Ne, Kuru-nee. Iza-nii's quite pleased with himself, isn't he? Playing with his shiny new toy, showing him off to all his other toys." Her grin turned foxy. "Don't you think it's time somebody else got a turn?"
"Ah." As always, Kururi was immediately on the same page. She nodded again, face thoughtful. "Friends…?"
"I think so," Mairu replied, satisfaction thrumming in her veins. "They seem like they would get along, right?"
"Mm. Similar."
She knew exactly what her twin was getting at. They weren't all that similar in terms of personality, but they definitely gave off the same vibe.
Mairu giggled, reaching one hand across the table to catch one of Kururi's. She squeezed, eyes shining conspiratorially. "So, Nee-chan. When are we introducing Ichigo to Shizuo-san?"
His sisters were up to something.
While it was honestly a relief for Mairu and Kururi to seemingly be back to their usual annoying selves, it was also just that: annoying.
Izaya didn't often dedicate any brain space at all to his younger siblings. The last time he'd tried an experiment with them (purely on a whim), they'd gone beyond any of his expectations and rolled dice to create personalities for themselves. He had asked them what the point of their dual existence was, and instead of spiralling into despair or any sort of existential crisis, they had calmly and logically (?) gone about assigning themselves characteristics so that together the two of them personified all of the positive personality traits possible.
He hadn't tried anything since.
The little monsters that Izaya called sisters were simply beyond his understanding and therefore, he avoided contact with them wherever possible.
But now that there was an interdimensional traveller living in his apartment, the twins popped up at least once every day. And for the past week or so, they had had a very clear vibe about them. A conspiratorial, secretive, quite obviously planning something vibe.
Izaya didn't trust it.
"Those two are going to try something." He told Ichigo one evening after the twins had left. The two of them were sitting on the sofa, finishing up the takeout dinner that Izaya had once again paid for (basic ramen, because Mairu and Kururi were getting far too comfortable spending Izaya's money).
Ichigo placed his bowl down, raising an eyebrow in Izaya's direction.
"Okay? Am I supposed to be worried about this?"
"Maybe not worried," Izaya replied, lowering his own bowl to the coffee table. "But definitely keep an eye out. My dearest sisters do come up with the strangest ideas."
Like rolling dice to determine who they were going to be as people. And then actually sticking to it.
"I'll stay alert," Ichigo said amusedly. "But anything they do can't be half as bad as anything that Urahara gets up to in his spare time. It'll be fine."
Now, Izaya wasn't the biggest believer in things like destiny or fate, but nonetheless, he couldn't help feeling as though Ichigo was only tempting it.
AN: You know the drill! Thoughts welcome!
- Kelsey
