[Summary: A strange mood overcomes Nanako, and she skips school.]

[6/13: Monday]

It was the first day of summer, which meant it was time to bring out the summer edition of the Yasogami school uniform. That meant no more school jacket. Nanako was actually a bit bummed out about that. Now she had fewer pockets to store stuff in! Her school bag would now be full to bursting.

On the bright side—and it was a very bright one, indeed—the lack of school jackets allowed her to, well, ogle her classmates a little more. The dress shirts were tight, and some boys left the top button undone so that part of their chests were exposed. And the girls, mmm, now she could get a better gauge of bust size! And just body shape, in general. Who knew the school jackets had hidden so many gems?

Nanako fanned herself after taking inventory in class. Chie, in the desk next to her, noticed her discomfort. "Nanako, are you okay?" she asked. "You look kind of flushed."

"Heh heh..." was all Nanako said, avoiding her eyes.

"She's probably planning something," Yosuke said from his seat behind her.

Ah! She hadn't even looked at Yosuke in his summer uniform. She wasn't expecting much but—oh hello, he was wearing a v-neck undershirt with a conspicuous red collar, damn. She'd seen him shirtless during their forays into the TV World bathhouse to rescue Kanji, so it shouldn't mean anything, but...! That splash of color was perfect to draw attention to his collarbone. It was totally accidental, too. She was sure he hadn't planned that.

"Uh, Nanako?"

She was staring. Look somewhere else!

Yukiko!

It was vastly disappointing. Yukiko wasn't wearing anything different from her winter uniform. What the hell, that wasn't any fun! Chie, at least, had taken off her signature green athletic jacket. Well, she still had it with her, but it was wrapped around her waist. Nanako disapproved; it hid the shape of her hips. Not that she could see much with the girl sitting. Well, at least without the jacket, she could see the striped pattern of Chie's sports bra through her blouse, heh heh!

Nanako looked away and bit her thumb. Damn, she was such a bad girl. If Morooka knew...!

Morooka knew. He eyed her from behind the podium. "What the hell is your problem, Dojima?"

Okay, he didn't know, but he must have noticed her red face and that she was acting weird. Weirder than normal, that is. Heh heh.

Nanako excused herself to use the bathroom, but instead of heading there, she wandered down the hall and tried to think calming thoughts.

She hadn't been like this back home, had she? Inaba's fresh country air was laden with pheromones or something! Yeah, that was a nice excuse, but completely wrong. It was hormones, plain and simple. There wasn't much she could do about it, either. The problem with being attracted to pretty much everyone was, well, being attracted to pretty much everyone.

She sighed. If there was someone else like her in the school, she'd have heard about it by now. She had no one to commiserate with! No one who'd understand. And there was no way she'd talk to Morooka about this. Nor Aunt Seta. Simply imagining trying to explain her problems to either of them was making her laugh humorlessly.

The laugh turned into a whimper. She surprised herself with the sound of it, then shook her head. With renewed purpose, she hustled down the stairs and to her shoe locker, exchanged her indoor shoes for her outdoor ones, and headed out of the school. She needed some time alone for a bit.

Skipping class, wow, that wasn't something she'd done in a while, and never before here in Inaba. Unsure of what to do now that she was outside the school grounds, she headed towards the familiar Samegawa flood plain and hoped she wouldn't run into anyone on the way. The town was a fairly sleepy one, and the morning fog had yet to burn off. There was no one around—well, except an old lady by the river wearing black mourning garb. Nanako avoided her and headed to the picnic table.

Sitting on the rough wooden bench, she stared off into the fog for some moments, and then took out her phone and slowly went through the emails and texts she had received over the last few months from her friends in Tokyo. They all said that they missed her, and she'd told them the same, but electronic communication was so impersonal. She wanted to talk to one of them, have a heart-to-heart. Of course, they'd all be in school right now, so she couldn't call any of them.

Well, there was someone she could call, someone who would understand her. What time was it right now in Canada? She used her phone's time and date function to find out, and yeah, she could be awake now. It was worth a try, anyway!

The phone rang, and rang, and rang, but then went to voice mail. "M-Mom," she told it evenly. "Please call back when you can."

She carefully closed her phone and set it down on the picnic table, then buried her face in her arms. D-dammit, why was she crying? She was Nanako, she was strong, she was The Boss—but she also really, really missed her home, and her mom, and her dad...

She hadn't emailed her dad at all after his response to the playful one she'd sent about eloping with Naoto Shirogane. And her mom, well, she had an agent who took care of all that for her, which meant any emails sent to her weren't very private.

She could call her dad, but he'd be at work and maybe busy, or maybe he'd think she was calling because something was wrong and then she'd waste his time for nothing. He was a good dad, really, always tried to be there for her, but taking personal calls during work hours was frowned upon. Besides, Father's Day was next Sunday, so she'd call then.

She traced random patterns on the table's surface with her fingers, and then a Beethoven piece began to play from her phone. Never had she found the melody so soothing. She almost let it play too long before picking up the phone. "Mom?"

"Nanako-chan! How are you, honey?" Despite the distance, her mom's voice came through loud and clear, although tinny from the phone. "Isn't it Monday over there? Monday morning... what time?"

"Ten in the morning," Nanako replied quietly.

"It's not a holiday... Did something happen at the school? There wasn't another murder, was there...? Honey, are you all right?" Chisato sounded more and more worried as she spoke.

"No, nothing happened, Mom," Nanako quickly assured her. "I'm skipping school because... I'm not sick, but I'm not feeling well, y'know?"

"What's the matter, honey?" She sounded sympathetic, and Nanako knew her—the emotion was true.

"M-Mom, I miss you, and everyone back home," Nanako said, swallowing hard. "I'm... I'm homesick, I guess. Sometimes it's just not enough that you're only a phone call away, y'know? I want... I wish you were here!"

"Do you want a hug?" Still sympathetic, but with a hint of teasing. Yep, this was her mom all right, if there had been any doubt.

"Yes!" Nanako growled. "No, I want more than a hug! Well, not from you, but... Mom, I just... You're too far away! You and Dad!"

"Your summer break is coming up, honey," her mother reminded her gently. "I'm sure your father would love to see you then. I won't be there, but you can reconnect with all your friends, I'm sure. I know you'll have a great time."

"Yeah... but that's not gonna help me now, is it?" Nanako said bitterly. "I'm feeling... anxious, Mom, I dunno..."

"What about your little friends there, honey? You said you'd made some? The fusuma kicker and the others. They're probably missing you in class right now."

"They're... part of the problem, Mom." Nanako paused, deciding how to continue. "Look, Mom, I was fine before I went to school this morning, but I saw everyone in their summer uniforms, and... I... I liked what I saw! Too much!" She shouted the admission, then sniffled. She'd told Kanji her thoughts on what it meant to be 'normal,' but in truth, she had so many doubts of her own.

"Honey, honey," Chisato soothed. "What's wrong with that?"

"Well, I couldn't really concentrate and... It felt like the room was too warm. And, and people noticed!"

Chisato laughed and told her to be glad she wasn't a boy—then her problem would have been far more obvious.

"Moooom!" Nanako protested, but it made her smile anyway, if only for a moment.

"Really, honey, I don't see the problem," Chisato said. "You're attracted to your friends. I was attracted to more than one of mine when I was your age. It was awkward, yes, especially when I started dating one of them, but I managed just fine."

"Men, women, and everything in between?" Nanako queried. "I don't want to date any of them, Mom! But I wanna have fun with all of them! And I don't think... I don't know if they're gonna go for it. They're different. We're close, but... I've seen half of them naked, and the rest half-naked," – and whoa, she was getting herself hot and bothered again, and she was talking to her mom! – "b-but... we're just friends, y'know? They don't really know me."

"I'm not sure I understand. You can talk to them, right? You've only had two months, yes, but I'm sure they know you preeetty well, honey. You wouldn't be friends, otherwise!"

"No, Mom," Nanako said sadly. "No, they really don't. No one really knows me. Whenever I say something outrageous, it's just Nanako being Nanako, y'know?"

"I know," her mother replied.

"But it's how I really feel. And they don't know that. Because when I tell them I wasn't joking, they think it's just another joke. I can only believe that it's because they want it to be a joke. Because, y'know, if I wasn't joking, I'd... I'd just be..."

"You'd still be Nanako, honey."

"I'd just be a pervert," she announced. "And, damn, they wouldn't be wrong, but that's just how I am. Should I... should I try to make them accept that? It's embarrassing."

"Everyone's a pervert, honey," her mom told her. "You're just one with no shame. Remember the time you sneaked into the boy's locker room in middle school?"

No shame... but if she had no shame, Nanako wouldn't be bothered by this at all, would she? And, ugh, why was Mom bringing that up!?

Her mom giggled. "I can't imagine what it must have been like for the teacher who caught you. I remember getting that call so vividly. Oh, my, dear..."

"Okay, Mom, I think I'm gonna cut you off there," Nanako said, aggravated. "Thanks anyway. Hope your tour is going well."

"Nanako!" Chisato chided. "Really, it would have been fine if you hadn't pulled the same stunt the following day!"

"Yeah, bye!"

Nanako hung up and scowled at the phone. So much for Mom making her feel better!

After staring at the phone for over a minute, she let out her breath in a long sigh. She should get back to class. Morooka might be worrying about her. In the worst-case scenario, he'd sent someone to look for her, someone who'd never find her. Well, Chie or Yukiko or Yosuke should have texted her if that happened, and her phone hadn't buzzed at all. It probably would at the lunch break, though. Yeah, Yosuke might be panicking at her absence. The thought was strangely comforting.

The wind picked up a little, blowing through her hair.

She didn't want to go back.

She started to walk down the flood plain, no clear goal in her mind. Maybe she'd visit Daidara's. Not that they'd gone into the TV recently. She'd checked in with Teddie and there was really nothing going on there. There was nothing left to do. They'd fully explored the bathhouse, the castle, and the shopping district areas, and Teddie refused to help them go off into the mist to search for other areas. Too dangerous—according to him, there were places where the fog was so thick that even his special glasses wouldn't help.

A large drop of water landed on her head. Crap, it was starting to rain. And her umbrella was still in class, learning about cosines and tangents without her.

By now she'd arrived at the southern end of the shopping district, so she could escape the rain by entering the Velvet Room, but she suspected time didn't actually flow in there, and really, fuck the Velvet Room. She was not in the mood for the sneer she knew would be plastered on Margaret's face the moment she finally walked back in there.

Working mostly on automatic, she headed to the nearest shelter: the Moel gas station. Not a soul was around. Damn ghost town. She leaned against one of the gas pumps and then slowly dropped down until she was sitting on the concrete, then wrapped her arms around her legs and hugged them close.

She shivered. The day was humid and warm, but the rain was cool. If only she had her school jacket!

"So you don't like the rain..." said a mildly disappointed voice from behind the gas pump.

Nanako stiffened. Izaya...!

The man in the gas station uniform stepped out from the shadow cast by the gas pump she'd chosen to rest against. "Or has something else depressed you?"

Nanako cleared her throat. "The rain's okay," she croaked. "I just... I'm having a bad day, okay?"

"How bad is it that you'd come here?" Izaya seemed interested, for some reason. Nanako definitely didn't want to tell him. "I'd gladly trade my problems for yours."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just a high schooler," she said tiredly. "None of my problems are gonna last in the grand scheme of things. I know, I know." I've heard it all before, Grandpa.

"Your problems are important to you now, and some will last..." he said, pausing thoughtfully. "Some will last forever."

Nanako shuddered, because he was right in the fact that her sexuality was something that likely wouldn't change. "Y-yeah," she said. "I think I'll have to learn to live with it, even when it frustrates me."

"Learning to live? Sounds like that should come naturally." Izaya chuckled.

"It's just a figure of speech," she said. "But... I'm different from other people. I always have been. It's annoying. I like being me but sometimes I think of how much easier it would be if I was someone else completely. If I didn't have to have all these feelings and desires and shit."

Izaya tilted his head. "Being someone else? Hmhm. What's that saying? The grass is always greener..."

"On the other side, yeah..."

"...after a rain," Izaya corrected, his lips turning up in an amused smile. "You might need a moment to let yourself go. What do you say?" He stepped towards the drizzle outside the awning.

"Huh?"

He glanced at her sidelong. "Join me in the rain."

"You're weird, Izaya-san."

His creepy smile didn't waver, and he didn't answer.

Nanako sighed. "Fine, but it'll only make me miserable and wet instead of just miserable."

He chuckled and walked out into the street. She followed him, feeling foolish.

The rain was light, the drops soft on her skin. She lifted her face to the sky and let it wash over her. Izaya looked on with something akin to approval, but she ignored him. She took the scarf out of her hair and shook her hair out. It wasn't soaked yet, but she felt the water seeping into it.

Mirroring her action, Izaya took off his hat. His wavy hair was almost as long as hers.

"They say this year will have less rain than last year," he remarked.

Sucks to be you, she thought, you rain-ophile.

"They also say we'll have more fog," Izaya went on. "I wonder why that is. You'd think there'd be less fog when there is less rain."

"Yeah, that is pretty weird," Nanako agreed. "There's a meteorologist-in-training at school. Maybe I'll ask her about it."

She shivered because the cold was starting to seep in. Still, it wasn't an unpleasant sensation, so she remained in the rain.

Then the rain stopped. Izaya looked so depressed about it that it made her smile. He reminded her of Souji in some inexplicable way. Probably the gray hair, or maybe the childish personality. With that thought, he didn't seem quite as creepy as he had before.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. "Did the rain help?"

"Yeah, actually," she admitted. She felt quite a bit refreshed. "I should probably go get some dry clothes, though. Before I catch a cold or something. You too, actually."

"Oh, don't worry about me." Izaya snickered and then it turned into a full laugh. Nanako wasn't sure what had amused him, so she shrugged and bid him a good day and headed home.

It was strange to come home to an empty house. Souji would still be at elementary school for several hours, and he often had cram school after that. It wasn't even lunch time.

Nanako took a long, hot bath. She'd almost gone to Junes and the bathhouse, but Rule #2 was still in effect, after all. The soak was nice, just what she needed after that cold rain. She took down Souji's penguin toy and idly watched it float around.

She was still in the tub when her cell phone rang. She'd kept it on the shelf nearby. She had to be extra careful not to drop it in the water, so she dried her hands off with a small towel before handling it and putting it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Nanako?" It was Yosuke. "Man, what are you doing?"

"Oh, you know me. I'm just chilling." She shifted in the water, aware that she'd already started to put on her 'everything is okay' act.

"'Just chilling'?" he repeated. "I can't believe you sometimes. King Moron had a field day ranting about you. Anyway, when are you coming back? You left your stuff!"

Nanako checked the time. Yeah, it was their lunch break. She had plenty of time before school let out. But if she went back, she'd probably get detention. Detention she deserved, she readily admitted, but if she skipped the whole day, she wouldn't have to deal with any teachers giving her lip. She'd already skipped half the day, what point was there in going back?

Besides, her stuff wasn't that important. "Could you... take my stuff home with you?" she asked, poking at the penguin toy with her free hand and watching it bob. "Or give it to Chie. Honestly, I don't care. And just bring it back tomorrow. I don't even care if you go through it all, Yosuke. Nothing suuuuper important is in there."

But he might find something interesting. It would be pretty funny if he found her emergency stash of tampons. She could imagine him jumping away and squealing like he'd suddenly seen a spider. Oh, but how would he react if he found one of her condoms?

Heh heh.

"Yeah, go ahead and go through allll my stuff," she told him playfully.

"Err..." he said. She cut him off by hanging up, just as she'd done with her mom.

When she got out of the tub and changed into fresh clothes—screw the school uniform, by this point she wasn't going back—she found Aunt Seta waiting for her at the table in the kitchen.

Oh shit.

"Uh," she said smartly.

"Nanako-chan, please, have a seat." Aunt Seta patted the table, and Nanako took the seat kitty-corner to her. Apparently the woman was eating her lunch, a commercially-packaged bento box. There were always a few of them in the refrigerator. And Aunt Seta apparently had nothing to say, since she totally turned back to eating after Nanako sat down.

She soon noticed that her aunt was a bit disheveled. Her dark brown hair, normally neatly tied back, was loose about her shoulders, the clip sitting conspicuously on the table. Nanako was reminded of how she'd looked on Mother's Day, exhausted from her trip. It was only a Monday—Aunt Seta should have been rested from the weekend. She'd even been home most of Sunday. But there were definitely bags under the woman's eyes that her makeup couldn't hide.

Aunt Seta was also sitting with her back ramrod straight, keeping her arms close to her body.

You're just eating, relax, Nanako thought.

When Aunt Seta blinked at her and then said, "You're right," with a soft smile, she realized she'd said it out loud. But at least the woman allowed her shoulders to sag.

Nanako relaxed a little, too. And watching her aunt eat made her hungry... so she broke the silence once again to ask if she could eat something.

Aunt Seta told her, "Of course..."

Huh, even her voice sounded drained.

Nanako heated up a bento box of her own, since the one she'd brought to school this morning was, well, still at school. Her hunger took over her nervousness at the situation and she ate with gusto.

When they were finished, Aunt Seta took the empty cartons and threw them in the trash with a sigh. Then she returned to the table and spread her hands along it. "Nanako-chan," she said quietly. "I didn't expect today for the school to call me and tell me that you were missing."

Nanako looked down at the table. She couldn't bring herself to apologize.

"I'm glad you're safe," Aunt Seta said, letting out her breath at once. "But what happened? If you'll tell me, that is."

"I-I'd rather not," Nanako murmured.

Aunt Seta bit her lower lip, obviously disappointed, but she didn't comment.

"D-did you leave work because of me?" Nanako asked, her own voice strained. W-was she the reason the woman was so exhausted-looking?

Aunt Seta shook her head. "Yes and no. I needed a break, too. Honestly, it's starting to get to me."

"Yeah? You don't seem to have much time to yourself," Nanako remarked. "That's for sure."

"I'm thinking of taking a vacation soon," Aunt Seta admitted with a self-indulgent smile. "I have quite a bit of time saved up now."

"You deserve one," Nanako agreed. "Maybe over summer, when Souji-kun is out of school. He'd love to spend more time with you, I know that."

"He's such a darling, isn't he?" Aunt Seta had on that proud look that she always had when talking about her son.

"I love him a lot," Nanako said with complete honesty.

"I'm glad you're getting along with him. He seems to look up to you... I noticed that he even calls you 'big sis.'"

Nanako now understood her aunt's pride, because hearing that made her feel warm inside.

"You are going back to school tomorrow, my dear," Aunt Seta told her. "Skipping once in a while is fine, but don't make a habit it of it."

"Y-yeah. Of course." It was surprising how understanding her aunt was about this, though... Was there more to her than met the eye, perhaps?

Aunt Seta invited her to watch bad daytime television with her, and Nanako was surprised to find herself enjoying the woman's company. Instead of blankly watching the shows, Aunt Seta talked about them and even made a few jokes about how ridiculous the plots were. Nanako had a good time.

But what was most rewarding was seeing Souji's face when he came home from school and realized his mom was there. He eagerly joined Nanako at the tea table, and Aunt Seta pulled him close until he was sitting between her knees at the couch, the most affection towards him that Nanako had ever seen from the woman. It cheered her up like nothing else.

It was hard to get out of bed the next morning. Nanako wasn't looking forward to a new day. Another day. A day of school and facing what she'd been avoiding yesterday. Morooka was going to chew her out in the middle of class. Or maybe not; they weren't scheduled for philosophy today, but she would still have to endure homeroom with him.

"Big... sis?"

Dammit, Souji had noticed her scowling over her eggs. She softened her expression and asked what was up.

"It's cloudy out," he said, "but you don't have an umbrella."

She admitted that she'd left it at school yesterday. "I'll be fine. It's not raining right now. I can probably make it to school."

"My school is closer," he murmured.

It took her a moment to realize that he meant that she could have the Loveline umbrella back. She shook her head. "It's yours, honey. I'm strong. A little water won't hurt me!"

He wasn't convinced. "You got sick before," he said. "We don't have any more medicine..."

She gave him a hug. "I'll pick some up on the way home, okay?"

He seemed appeased, but he kept looking up at her with mild concern the entire way to school. It didn't improve her mood in the least.

Nanako took her seat at her desk and tried not to let out the sigh she'd been holding in. Everyone was still wearing their summer clothes! She wished she could just get used to it already. She'd tried biting her tongue to control the thoughts, but all it did was give her, well, a bitten tongue. If she managed to stay here the whole day, she'd probably be fine. She didn't really want to stick it out, though. She was sorely tempted to skip again.

"Nanako, umm, here's your stuff from yesterday." Yosuke carefully set the book bag on her desk.

"Thanks," she said without enthusiasm, trying desperately not to notice that he was still wearing his dress shirt in a way that revealed his collarbone. Then she brightened for a moment. "Did you look through my stuff?"

"No? I'm not sure what sort of guy you think I am, but..."

"Come on, Chie would have totally looked through it," Nanako claimed.

"Excuse me?" said the girl in question.

"Ah, fuck it," said Nanako with an overbearing sigh. "It was just a dumb joke."

"I'll say," said Yosuke. "But what happened yesterday, anyway? You really had us all worried."

"Yeah!" Chie exclaimed. "King Moron kept giving me the evil eye! Like it's my fault you left!"

"It was your fault," Nanako muttered sullenly to herself. "Everyone's fault." Louder, she said, "Don't worry about me, really. I was just having an off day. It happens sometimes, y'know?"

Her friends didn't get a chance to answer because Morooka opened the door and stepped in. He immediately stared at Nanako, but, to her relief, he didn't say anything. His eyes held concern rather than the anger and outrage she'd been expecting.

It was too difficult for her to look back at him, so... she didn't. She looked down at her desk instead. I'm okay, she told herself, but she really wasn't. This melancholy. She really needed to beat it. The camping trip was soon! Thinking of the possibilities it would bring failed to cheer her up in any way.

When school let out, she made a flimsy excuse and avoided her friends and swiftly headed down the road leading out of school. She sighed as she passed the gate. Too bad Naoto wasn't waiting for her or something. Yeah, something different, that was what she needed. Oh, hey, what would he look like in a Yasogami uniform?

God, what was going on in her mind?

She'd passed the flood plain and realized she was going down the same path that she had yesterday. After a moment's consideration, she decided to go to the gas station. She had promised Souji-kun that she was going to buy cold medicine. The convenience store was sure to have some.

And she wanted to see Izaya again. Okay, so 'wanted' wasn't quite the word, but...

He wasn't there when she arrived at the gas station, but she went in and told the manager she'd like to work today, and he taught her how to restock. In the middle of his explanation about moving older stuff to the front of the shelf, the patter of rain could be heard on the store's roof. The sound made her sigh to herself, but at least she had her umbrella back.

She spent a good hour restocking various flavors of soda before the store finally got a customer needing gas and the manager told her to go out there and get to it. The customer owned a truck, which made Nanako watch him with interest and take care to note his appearance, but there was no way to know if this guy was the kidnapper. To think he'd be bold as brass, getting gas from the local gas station. Well, where else could he get it? It wasn't impossible.

All it did was remind her of the standstill the case was at. Dammit...

"You're back so soon?"

She jumped, because Izaya was behind the pump again. She treated him to an unfriendly glare.

"Yes, it can't be the pleasure of my company," he said with a half-smile.

"I'm just here for the paycheck," she announced.

The conversation was halted because a motorcyclist came up for gas. A busy day for the station! All of two customers!

"You know," said Izaya during the ensuing downtime. "I was quite impressed when you threw me down to the ground on that first day."

"Y-yeah? I wasn't trying to impress you," she replied. "But I do know some aikido."

"I was surprised. It was so... impolite." He paused and looked out at the empty street. "Japan is focused on useless pleasantries, isn't it? I find it stifling, to be honest. When I met you I thought... Here's someone who, hmm, how to say it... isn't satisfied."

She watched him closely, but said nothing.

"You mentioned that you were 'different' yesterday..." he went on. "Is that what's depressing you? Anyone can see that you aren't happy. Although it could just be my presence." He chuckled. "The first impression is what sticks, hmm? And I left quite a poor one."

"I don't hate you, Izaya-san. I just..." Don't like you? She frowned in thought. That wasn't right either. "You're… different too, aren't you?" There was something odd about this guy, that was for sure, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Different," he repeated. "You could say that. But it's not important." He looked at her directly with those disturbing red eyes. "Nanako. If there were more people like you, I think the country would be in a better place."

"Wh-what exactly do you mean, like me?"

"Willing to do what has to be done to achieve her goals. I'm doing that too, hmhmhm. You hide behind a mask, yes—who doesn't? But you haven't once forgotten who you are. You should not hide that."

Nanako had no idea what gave him that impression. She hadn't interacted with him all that much for him to get such a complete picture.

At the same time... his words felt right.

"You're saying I shouldn't change myself?" she asked. "Or that I shouldn't restrain myself..."

"Some restraint is in order," Izaya admitted, "but... don't let it affect your emotional wholeness. You are what you are."

[AN: You are what you are, even if you are a sexual deviant.

I was feeling melancholic for a bit, so I guess that's why this chapter came about. I was trying to explore what makes Nanako tick, but it's definitely not going to be resolved so easily, hehe.

What do you think about PANSEXUAL Nanako?

Next Chapter: Camping Trip

Title says it all, really.]