7:50 A.M
"He'll surely be worried and arrive late to school!" 8 year old Mairu nodded confidently, her hands set on the hips.
How could their brother tell them to go away whenever they wanted to play with him? The stuffed toys should be interesting enough to play with. But Izaya instead told them that it was childish, and when he did give in, he would always make Kaoru-chan (the bunny) be mean to the rest. His excuse was 'Kaoru-chan won't succumb to the idea of sorority tea party and prefers to be different. Maybe Kaoru-chan wants to take up judo.'
Iza-nii should just say it if he doesn't have good imagination like us.
Thankfully, Shinra had told them about the plan for today and it was just the chance they needed to get back at their brother.
Talk about good timing!
"Iza-nii! We don't want to go to school today!" said Mairu, acting as though she was about to throw a tantrum, her little foot slamming down onto the floorboard.
"Don't…" Kururi added.
Izaya gave them a lingering stare, his expression nonchalant. It didn't take him long to reach a conclusion as he turned around to slip on his shoes, "Okay."
…?
Horror dawned on the twins. The plan was backfiring! Now it'd be nice to stay at home, but this was not what they need today! Holding a palm up, Mairu's usual loud voice took another notch as she hurriedly yelled before Izaya could leave the house.
"W-wh- Wait!"
Mairu frowned before continuing, "We'll go! But I don't want our neighbor to send us to school! Nohara-san never bathes in the morning. His body odor is too bad, we might die on the way there."
"Want… Iza-nii…" Kururi gave her brother a nod.
Izaya closed his fingers around the doorknob, a sigh slipping past his lips. It was his birthday and his sisters were being hard-headed as usual. It'd never been easy living with these two. His only solace was knowing there'd be wishes and presents waiting for him at school.
Shrugging the strap of his bag onto his shoulder, he angled his frame sideways to have a better look at Mairu (considering she'd been the one complaining the most), "Then I'll have to send you off now. Get ready within five minutes."
"No! It doesn't start until 9!"
"Don't go today, then."
"I-It's Akiko-chan's birthday today and there'll be cake! So we have to go!"
"I can buy you cake when I get home."
"It won't be the same!"
"Cake is still cake."
Furrowing her brows, Mairu puffed her cheeks up in frustration. She glared at Izaya and when he returned the glare with one of his own, they ended up caught in a staring competition. Neither of them seemed like they would give in anytime soon. They were both competitive in nature. Once, they'd wrestled for a good one hour until Mairu's favorite show came on and she begrudgingly retreated while the triumphant smirk on Izaya's face ended up lasting all day.
If their parents were there, they probably would've gotten mad over the bad table manner when Mairu got annoyed from Izaya's smirk during dinner and they proceeded to attempt to stab each other using chopsticks.
"Iza-nii…"
A soft voice spoke from behind and they both turned their heads to Kururi, whose light steps made way to Izaya and with her hand outstretched, she tugged at the wine red shirt of Izaya's. Her neutral expression was akin to Kasuka's expressionless one, thought Izaya, but Kururi had more reactions. They were just not as exaggerated as Mairu's.
After living together for years, he could pick up the subtle sulky pout on her face— and upon seeing that, Izaya tipped his chin up slightly as he pinched the bridge of his nose with slight distaste.
"Alright."
.
.
8:55 A.M
"Wake up!"
"H-Hiroto! Hiroto! Are you okay?"
"He's unconscious…"
"Carry him to the infirmary!"
Izaya rolled his shoulders and brought an arm up to rub at the back of his head, appearing bored. Who would've known that he could use his special attack only once? After the ball collided with Hiroto's cheek, they immediately stopped the game. How boring! Even in real games, they would just take away the injured player and the game will continue merrily.
"Shizu-chan, this is all your fault." whined Izaya.
Shizuo couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was him that threw the ball, indeed, but Izaya provoked him. Izaya knew of what was going to happen. Shizuo stood up, finally leaving Hiroto's side to face Izaya, "It's your fault! Why did you have to stand behind Harita?"
"It's Hiroto!" laughing, Izaya leaned down to pick the ball up before throwing it at Shizuo's chest,"And you were supposed to aim for him. Not me, ne? I'm in your team."
"I'd hit you with this any day, even if it's a game for pairs and you're my partner." Shizuo bounced the ball in his hand. After three bounces, the ball came shooting towards Izaya. It was fast and no one saw it coming. No one except Izaya, whose eyes held a peculiar glint as if he was fascinated by the move, even though he managed to dodge Shizuo's attack at the last second.
"Oh, how cute! Shizu-chan thinks we could be partners. I'd rather not but Shizu-chan is quite useful so I'm willing to reconsider. Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to be paired up again after what happened today. Of course, you're to blame for that."
Izaya snickered, straightening his back and turning around to exit the gym as he waved farewell without sparing others a glance, "But maybe we will someday."
"Where are you going?" Shinra asked. The sight of Izaya leaving made him nervous. How could they execute their plan if the star of it leaves?
"Home."
"What?! Izaya!"
.
.
9:03 A.M
"He really came…" Mairu's lopsided smile threatened to turn into a frown, the corner of her lips already twitching as she chuckled in disbelief, "…and he looks happy."
The twins were already dressed in their school uniform and standing outside of their house. They wondered for a moment if they should've just lounged in the living room in case Izaya wouldn't come, but Izaya would get mad and ditch them.
Kururi was the first to greet Izaya when he finally reached them.
"Late…" she muttered softly.
"What're you going to do when you work? Punctuality is important!" Mairu, chirping in, started to flail her arms with her fists clenched. "And leaving me and Kuru-nee here for so long, what if we get kidnapped?"
"I'd be glad to have you off my back." Izaya flashed them a grin. "Ah, anyway, I had a good game earlier." He started walking and naturally, his hands intertwined with Mairu and Kururi's. The outcome of the game was really putting him in a good mood. It was hilarious, and he'd managed to make Shizuo lose control again. This time even going as far as to hurt someone!
Although it would've been better if it was Yuuma-kun who'd gotten hit.
"Iza-nii… wearing gym clothes." said Kururi, her chin tipped up to look at Izaya.
"We played dodgeball. Did you know that Shizu-chan hurt Hiroto-kun? You should've seen it, the ball hit so hard I was surprised his skull didn't crack!"
Mairu fixated her gaze on Izaya. She observed her brother's behavior and Izaya didn't seem bothered by the fact that he had to leave during class to take them to their school. In fact, he was so happy that even Mairu's unusual silence didn't catch his attention while he went on about how the game went.
If it's like this, then…
Letting go of Izaya's hands carefully, Mairu and Kururi glanced at each other and nodded. Kururi then shifted her attention back to the oblivious Izaya. He must've thought Mairu was still by his side, when in reality, Mairu had gone back to hide in an alley. Just as planned.
Kururi pulled at Izaya's arm, leading him to an ice cream parlor with a faint smile painted across her face, "Ice cream?"
Izaya shook his head. He came here to bring his sisters to school, not treat them to ice cream.
"Own… money." retorted Kururi as she dipped her hand into her bag and took out a few bills.
"That's the money I gave you."
Kururi smile turned upside down at Izaya's reply. She contemplated briefly before deciding to let it go. Her shoulders jolted a little as she feigned shock, pretending that she had no clue of Mairu's whereabouts when they'd already come here yesterday and picked a secluded area where Mairu could hide.
Behind the big trashcan in the alley not far from where they were standing!
"Mairu?" Kururi called out.
Izaya blinked, finally noticing Mairu's disappearance upon looking to his right. He'd been so engaged in reliving the moment he'd reigned over Shizuo's control in his mind that he didn't realize when Mairu sneaked away from him. He really couldn't take his eyes off of them, could he? It would be no problem if they knew how to protect themselves.
Bottom lip caught between the set of his teeth, Izaya's sharp gaze darted from one corner to another. There were a lot of possibilities as to where Mairu could've gone. Back home, school, some shops or even Russia Sushi. Checking each place would be such a hassle. It would take too much time.
An idea popped up in his head and Izaya finally set his gaze somewhere. Kururi stood where she was, clutching the strap of her bag when he told her to stay put and proceeded to leave her by the ice cream parlor. She wasn't sure why Izaya trusted her not to run away. But even if she tried to, she probably wouldn't be able to go far since Izaya would be keeping an eye on her.
They were twins, after all. Izaya had referred to them as a human being separated in halves. He would expect Kururi to act the same way Mairu did.
"Think Mairu…" Kururi's eyes followed Izaya's every move, "…will be found."
Her brother was fast, she knew that. Izaya didn't waste more time when he scaled a building, hopping from one wall to another until his fingers were on the edge of the roof and he hauled himself up. She watched as he crouched on the ledge, looking around from above.
It would be easier to see everything at a high place like that.
It was a smart move, no doubt.
.
.
"A failure." Kururi whispered to Mairu when Izaya came back a minute after with Mairu being dragged by her braided hair.
"Iza-nii, let go!"
Mairu kicked and kicked at Izaya's legs but Izaya seemed rather unfazed. He only reached a hand out to pinch Mairu's cheek, making her yelp in pain. He leaned his upper half forward to meet her eyelevel and gave Mairu a smile, "You need to do better than that to run away from me. What would've happened if I just left you?"
"Would… do that?" Kururi asked.
Mairu let Izaya grasp their hands in his to continue their little journey. "Of course he would." She scoffed. "We'll try next year."
Izaya only laughed. He knew they wouldn't be able to beat him. With his line of work, he could find information of their location with a snap of his finger. He was a skilled informant and it was interesting to learn so much about people that he was considering to work as a full time informant when he graduates.
"Here." Kururi gestured towards the school building when they came close to the entrance.
"Why is the school starting at 9?" Izaya arched a brow.
"About that… there's a festival! And we're allowed to go whenever we want…" Mairu let out a nervous laugh, not daring to look at Izaya. She took Kururi's hand and ran inside, hastily yelling a goodbye before making her way to her classmate.
"Akiko-chan!"
Izaya scrunched his nose at Mairu's shrill scream but trailed behind them anyway, marveling at the amount of people enjoying themselves and the different types of booths set up. There were a lot of children since it was an elementary school. They didn't interest him much since children changes their minds a lot, and they are still developing. Perhaps he could indulge himself in some of the goods or food sold here instead.
"Going to school?" Kururi crept over to stand next to Izaya.
"I think I'll check this festival out first." Izaya nodded. He attempted to take another step ahead but Mairu and Kururi quickly stopped him, pushing him back whenever he moved forward. They couldn't have Izaya skip school! They already failed at their plan, so Izaya was supposed to move on and fall into Shinra's trap next.
"No! Go away, Iza-nii! Not today!"
"Why not today?" Izaya narrowed his gaze in suspicion at Mairu.
"No reason! Iza-nii doesn't have any coupons, anyway. Go to school!"
Holding his palm out, Izaya wriggled his fingers— signaling the girls to hand him some of theirs. Mairu and Kururi shared a quick glance with each other before looking up at their brother.
"Will you love us more if we give you the coupons?"
.
.
Izaya treaded along the curb with an ice cream cone in his hand, checking the time on his phone which told him that it was five till 9:30. He only had five minutes left until Mr. Fujiwara's 'class' come to an end (although it ended the moment Shizuo hit Hiroto's face with a ball). Five minutes to go back to school and change into his gakuran before class starts.
His gaze trailed to the little party held in the corner for Akiko's birthday.
"Come to think of it," he paused briefly, thinking of his own birthday, "why didn't I get anything from people at school?"
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Note: I don't know how it turned out to be this long... I just hope that it's good and that the characters seem at least a bit IC. This is the second failed attempt at pranking Izaya. One more is coming, and then we'll go back to the current timeline. Also, thank you for the reviews! I read them thoroughly and they make me very happy! I feel so touched that you'd take the time to leave these for me. Thank you for even reading this story, honestly.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I love you. ヾ( ^Д')o* *
