Jokes, Whims, & Coincidences
Chapter Eight, Presenting
Orihara Izaya: The Act of Decimation
I suppose you could say the annoying part was the waiting.
Well, not annoying, per se. More so it was boring. You had to consider that, in this case, without going to retrieve my target on my own, all I really could do was wait. It wasn't a short one either, as Celty was going to have to go from her house to the drop-off area, intercept the traffickers, and then drop Mazenda-san off at the base of the building where Sosa and I were lying in wait.
Sosa didn't seemed too bothered by the delay, as she was laying idly on top of the structure that housed the stairwell we had come through not too long ago, a lazy smile on her face. Her head dangled off the edge in an upside-down fashion, and every now and then she would spout off nonsensical fragments of conversation without really demanding a response. I almost wanted to classify it as annoying if it weren't for the fact that it passed time.
Overall, Sosa appeared to be psyching herself up for the coming event more than simply waiting for it. I understood the value of doing so, but often refrained from the concept in the event of disappointment. Not to say that I wasn't excited by the idea of what I was about to do, but I already knew that it would be the sort of typical event that I had already concocted all the potential scenarios for in advance. But Sosa was a slightly different classification than me, so to her an event could be all the more enjoyable by an act of pure willpower.
Besides, I most certainly knew that her perception of the event and mine would be different. I was doing this for a little bit of fun, while Sosa was here not for her own personal sick kicks, but for the sake of watching me in action.
The only reason we knew things were about to begin was the sound of Celty's motorbike, the ethereal neighing of a horse as opposed to the typical sounds of machinery serving as the signal. Sosa obediently rolled to her stomach before shuffling behind the cover of what appeared to be some sort of air vent on her perch. True, this would limit her overall ability to actually view the event, but she was doing it for the sake of security ("Cause it's more so about listening than seeing. I possess plenty of imagination to fill in the blanks, Izaya-kun.").
I was almost impressed by her determination to not interrupt me, just like she had promised.
I didn't waste much time after Sosa had gone into hiding to prepare my own position. I did an unnecessary parkour jump over the railing I had been propping myself up against prior and dropped down past the small sets of stairs. I almost expected some sort of commentary from Sosa until I remembered she couldn't see me, and instead went to take shelter in the shadows of the very stairs I had just bypassed.
There was a space of a few minutes as I waited for Mazenda to complete the trek to the roof of the building. Soon enough the sound of the door opening came through the air, followed by another pause of silence that could be attributed to an observation of surroundings—at least she had that much common sense. The noise of light footsteps being taken down the stairs, although they sounded slightly louder due to the vantage point I had placed myself in, and ultimately I was rewarded by being able to see my prey.
I gave her another moment to look around, body language screaming anxious, before calling out. "Mazenda-san." The name lightly popped out of my mouth in much friendlier tones than I would generally use towards anyone else. She gave a slight jump before turning around, and I chose to step away from the shadows so she could get a better look at me. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Nakura."
For a moment, I couldn't help but compare her to Sosa. It wasn't that they were similar in looks—Mazenda's hair was a far lighter shade of brown, and pulled into pigtails at that; her eyes were nowhere near that exotic orange; and their figures would have been impossible to confuse—but it was the fact that the two had dressed significantly similar to each other in high irony. I wondered if it was a popular look at the time and that had been why Sosa had chosen it: a jacket made of very light material, open in front to show the undershirt beneath, and shorts that were hardly any longer than the bottom hem of the jacket, although in Sosa's case it had been paired with an everyday, almost school-issue skirt.
But what was the most fascinating part of that association was just how highly contrasted their expressions were. Sosa had been unperturbed, defiant even, while the best words to describe Mazenda had to be apprehensive and scared. There was some slight trace of suspicion, but the overall desperateness—the type of face that said no more of this, I can't take it, please don't let anything else go wrong—canceled the latter out, diminishing any effect.
I felt an unmistakable urge to find out what it would take to get that mixture of emotion on Sosa's face, and made a mental note to put some serious thought into the process later.
"How do I know that for sure?" Mazenda ultimately asked, her voice quiet and uneven. I put a smile on my face, though Sosa would have remarked about it not being reassuring in the slightest if she could have seen it.
"Because I'm the Nakura who wants to disappear with you."
Her face shifted in an instant, along with an audible intake of breath, and while she still looked tired, I could tell she was relieved. Of course, that really was the point of it, give her a false sense of security and then destroy it all in one fell swoop. "It is you." Mazenda's voice was still quiet, but it had slightly picked up volume and had become an almost unperceivable step in the steadier direction. "So then, I guess you're the one that saved me back there?"
By then we had both drifted slightly closer to each other, enough so that the distance between us was one typical of casual conversation. "Right, that's me," I stated, and watched as Mazenda lowered herself down into a bow.
"I don't know how to thank you," she replied, words sounding as genuine as they could be.
"Were you really scared?" I inquired, and her response was in the affirmative, the statement accompanied by a nod. I vaguely wondered if Sosa was resisting the urge to laugh at the moment. I dismissed the thought by adding in faked sympathies of, "That must have been rough."
"It was," Mazenda said, almost seeming to grow a bit weary at the thought of what had happened to her. Then she tilted her head to the side in a slower version of Sosa's general movement before asking a question. "How did you find out about the kidnapping, though?"
That question meant all bets were off, which was perfectly fine by me. I highly doubted that I would ever be as excited about it as Sosa probably was in that moment, but I definitely couldn't have classified as unhappy about the concept. Even so, the next words out of my mouth were as smooth as the others had been. "Easy. I'm the one who had those three losers kidnap you." And then, because I couldn't resist, "Clever, huh?" A slight gasp was the only response I felt like allowing at this point in time. "Oh, and that rescue was arranged by yours truly as well."
I gestured lightly to myself as Mazenda's expression went through a much more drastic change than the previous one. It was clearly shock, and confusion mingled in with her words as she forced the question out. "You arranged it…?"
"Let's recap the last few moments of your life, shall we?" I proposed, walking forward as I did so. My face held an expression akin to a smile, although smile really didn't have the right connotations for the emotion coming across. "You were scared when you were kidnapped, despite the fact that you wanted to die in the first place, and that made you mad. Now if you fought back against your kidnappers, you would be denying the part of you that wanted to die, so you decided to give up and accepted your fate. But now that you're safe and sound, you're thrilled that you didn't die." I had walked past Mazenda during the first part of my tirade, not even bothering to watch her, and now stool in front of the guard rail on the side of the roof. I leaned down against it, arms crossed in front of me. I ultimately turned my head back to watch, because this was the fun part.
"I wanted to see the look on your face when I told you that." Absolute shock, greater than the last, was painted across Mazenda's face, and I could hear her breath starting to hitch. "I wanted to see what you looked like when you came face to face with someone who could see right through your pathetic intentions," I continued as I turned around to lean backwards against the railing, albeit dropping myself down a bit to do so.
"Wh… Why would you…?" Hesitation and fear stained the sentence, but it was enough for me to give roughly the same response I had given Sosa when she had asked me the same thing. I figured I could mix it up a little bit though, so my little observer wouldn't get bored. Besides, there was a different approach required when one ultimately considered the people listening to the explanations.
"Why would I?" I repeated without mocking tones, though they weren't really needed. The intention was clear enough. "Let's see. It might sound philosophical, but you look like a smart girl, so I think you'll be able to understand. Anyway, I'll try to explain it to you. Simply put, I love humans." My hand went into the air with a series of small gestures as the words came out. "Think about it; human beings are the most interesting creatures you could ever hope to find. Oh, and when I said I love humans, I meant all humans, not you specifically. Important detail."
Her cheeks went red for a moment, and she probably waited until the sensation of heat was gone before speaking again. "So then…you lied…?" Mazenda asked, and her tone told me she was hoping for a different answer than the one she was sure I would give. I walked back over to her, shoving my face in a highly close vicinity to hers.
"You're getting the picture; how wonderful," I remarked. Then I grabbed hold of her wrist for the purpose of pulling her towards the railing I had previously been leaning against. "Come here."
A few minutes later I had forced her over to the other side of the railing and stood on the far edge, admiring the view of the concrete below as the wind whistled. Mazenda had chosen to remain as close to the rail as I would allow her without going over it, and I decided the situation called for some commentary. A little lesson, if you will.
"Many people have jumped to their deaths from the very spot you're standing on," I started after taking one step back. "It's not really famous for it or anything, but it's high enough that the fall will kill you. Look! See that stain down there?" I gestured with a point, and Mazenda surprisingly had enough guts to take a look over the edge, though she was clearly afraid.
"Tell me something," I requested, "you think you're special?" My words caused her to redirect her gaze toward me, and I kept up my role as the one who did most of the talking. "You're not. Everyone's the same." I returned my foot to where it had been on the siding of concrete that was slightly higher than rest of the roof beside it, proceeding to walk on it casually, despite the potential fall. "Everyone lies, everyone hides things… No one makes it through this life being completely honest. I bet you've got a couple of juicy secrets you wouldn't tell even your best friend. So explain this:
"How come it's okay for you to have secrets but not your parents?" I turned back around as the question left my lips, keeping my balance all the way.
"Well, I…"
"You wanna know what my thoughts are on this?" The question wasn't really necessary, as I was going to give my opinion anyway, but that didn't really matter either. I started the walk back the way I had come, keeping up conversation all the while. It was time to make things personal, and I alluded to the situation she had poured her heart out to me about to drive the point home. "I think if you're having an affair, if your spouse knows, at times you still laugh at the same dumb jokes. You keep eating the same sweet stew. You just keep going."
Something had sparked in Mazenda's brain, turning her despair into anger, which was a common enough reaction. I had her disposition figured out quite well by this point, so I didn't expect it to last long, though I still had to dodge the slap she aimed in my direction. Using her momentum against her, I took a firm grasp on her wrist before pulling ever so slightly that she was now in danger of falling off the edge, the only things keeping her from doing so being my hand and the chance that her shoes had hooked against the very siding I had been standing on until not too long ago.
"You see? Whatever problems they had, they're just a big old stain on the pavement now. Everyone's the same, no exceptions. All of them, equal before 'God'…" Not that I particularly believed in something as ridiculous as an all-powerful god that ruled over all. There were gods, but no such a powerful existence as that. Nonetheless, I let Mazenda dangle there for a few moments of desperation. "Want me to let go?" I asked. I got no response though, and ultimately just pulled the girl back up.
She fell towards me, and I stabled her before we both slightly backed away from each other. "You get it now?" Once again I was rewarded with no response, although I really hadn't expected one in the first place. All in all, I felt quite satisfied with my work this go round, and had hopefully provided Sosa with the entertainment she had been expecting. Then again, she could be filled with endless prattling of suggestions and commentary on how I could have done better, which was a possibility. Of course, I was willing to put up with that if it resulted in her actually participating in future events, which would most likely turn out to be an interesting experience indeed.
With these thoughts on my mind I prepared to make my exit, but Mazenda said something far too quiet to hear. I paused, replaying the moment mentally, telling myself it was wrong, because there was no way, and it didn't make sense, it had almost sounded like she had said—
"Help me!" This time she actually shouted the words, though her naturally soft voice was still quieter than the general volume expected from such a statement. It took a moment for my brain to process, but I soon realized where her gaze was directed and turned. Sure enough, Sosa was sitting up, a deer in the headlights type expression on her face as she stared back down at us. It took me a moment, but I soon realized that she must have moved around to get a better look at what was happening when Mazenda's back was most definitely turned and hadn't gotten back into hiding in enough time to not be seen.
I couldn't tell if she was looking to me for guidance or not, but I wouldn't have had anything to say if she had been. My brain wasn't quite there in formulating a way to use this to my advantage, though it would be in a minute. The problem was that I wasn't stupid enough to think Mazenda would seriously stand around and do nothing in that period of time.
No, that was a lie. I had enough of a plan to go with until the rest was fully structured in my subconscious, but I just didn't want to use it. The truth of it all was that I wanted to sit back and relax and see how Sosa ran the show on such short notice.
Just as I expected, emotions reconfigured after a quick pause. The same exact cool and calm she had presented to me when we first met reasserted itself as she stood up and walked over to the edge of her perch and halted there for a second, like she was judging the distance.
Tekichu Sosa executed a casual jump and her feet made small tapping noises as they hit the concrete. She straightened up, dusting herself off as she did so, ultimately leaning herself across the railing after smoothly walking there. "'Help' you?" she asked, cynicism dripping off her words. Her expression had trailed back into the same smile she had held when we were conversing about her intentions for the people of this city. "'Help' you?" And then there was laughter. "Now why in the world would I want to do something like that?"
I heard Mazenda's breath hitch behind me and turned my head for the sake of seeing her expression. It was truly wonderful, the face of one whose hope had been shattered far too many times to be fixed again.
"Oh, I get it, you have much more faith in humanity than what I do, isn't that right?" Sosa continued, as if she had been planning this speech from the very start, even though I knew that wasn't the case. "You were thinking something along the lines of 'There's no way there's anyone else like this,' now weren't you? Well, I'm sorry to inform you that you're wrong.
"There're some minor distinctions, but I'm quite sure you don't care about those. So as far as you're concerned, let me shatter what little optimism you have concerning this and let you know that there's no way I'm going to do something as ridiculous as help you. After all, I'm just like him. Hell, I'd say I'm even worse than him if you think about it. At least, you'll very likely see it that way. Don't worry, though, I'm quite sure we're the only two of our kind, at least for now, so you can keep the little spark of hope you have in the rest of humanity for as long as it takes you to realize how disgusting they are. Then again, I'm quite sure you'll fit right in nicely, so looks like you have no worries after all, once you're rid of us! Now isn't that a nice feeling!"
It was a wonderfully executed speech for having to come up with it on the spot. Then again, I wouldn't have doubted it if you told me that it had been a structured presentation of all of Sosa's subconscious thoughts as she had listened. "Ah, I better shut up; I don't wanna steal the spotlight. He's the star of this scene anyway, I'll have you know. I just came to watch. But then again, there ain't nothin' wrong with a little audience participation, so I'd say we're all good. Oh, screw it, I gotta say one more thing and then I'm done for sure. I can't stand the thought of you misconstruing me that way."
Sosa took a deep breath and pointed back to Mazenda, hardness setting her voice in contrast from the lighter tones she had just been utilizing. "I recommend you keep your mouth shut from now on and toss any faith that you're gonna be saved by me off the side of this building. The fact that you just assumed that I would do that really pisses me off. And if I hear anything else like that, it won't be good. He could find it amusing because he loves you creatures, but as for me—
"I absolutely hate humans, especially ones like you."
And, after some time, we have chapter eight.
Thanks to Rwisher, PhoenixBreaker90, alwaysblu ctrlaltdiee, NozomiSayo, Matsoine, Aku Tora, Alwaystru, and miaandB for your respective reviews, favorites, and follows. I hope to hear from you again!
I'd like to talk a lot about this chapter, but since I'm currently overseas and it's getting a bit too close to my bedtime for comfort, I'll try and make this quick.
Once again, one of the most challenging things about this chapter was making the canon content interesting. Ideally, I'd be able to do that by writing out the episodes in Sosa's point of view all the time, but that clearly didn't happen. As such, picking out details from the anime and trying to see them through Izaya's eyes takes time, not to mention still trying to make them interesting... I hope this chapter was still enjoyable!
To help that out, I added in a bit new content, which is part of why I found this necessary. And, depending on how they tie the story lines from the anime and the novels together in the new season, Rio will need to have a home in Sosa's consciousness for things to flow properly.
And how about that new season? I know I'm super late for saying this, but I'm totally ecstatic for it. (Congratulatory confetti goes everywhere and flies into the Turkish air).
As it is, I don't really have a planned update time for chapter nine of this story, and it might take some time, especially since I haven't had much time to write so far on this trip. However, we'll see how things go, so know that this will update once I sort things out.
Next time, Izaya goes to wrap things up, episode two comes to a close, and Sosa finds more than she thought she would find. Please look forward to it!
