"Aoba, Shiro-ba, Aka-ba, I don't care what color you are, you better stop hitting girls."
"Shizuo-sama, to win the duel you must destroy your opponent's rose.
"'-sama'? And you mean this?
Shizuo easily smashed it to bits.
"Just like that, Shizuo-sama."
"And what is this, a blue rose? Weird shit keeps happening…woah, what the heck is that?"
Only now did Shizuo notice the upside down castle suspended above the arena.
"This isn't over. I'll challenge you again! The Rose Bride is mine."
"Is it floating…? Oh well, none of my concern anyway."
And with this Shizuo thought that he was quite done. He still had things to do like unpacking his things and first of all he had to find the dorms. It was already dark when he finally reached it.
"I bet dinner is over by now. Just my luck."
"Welcome, Shizuo-sama."
He stood on the threshold blinking blankly a few times. The pretty boy that welcomed him with a smile did more than just ring a bell.
"You…do you have a twin sister or something? I could swear I just met her…"
"I have yet to introduce myself, I am Orihara Izaya, the Rose Bride and as of today we are engaged. Dinner is served, please follow me."
"Hold it right there, bride? You're a guy! What is this crazy talk about engagement?"
"Who can know? It is a mystery of the world."
In his confusion Shizuo ended up following him to a surprisingly large and very empty dining room. A feast for two awaited him but Shizuo hardly noticed it.
"Now listen here, Izaya…you're a guy, so how come you go around wearing a dress?"
"Same reason why I now belong to you. Because I am the Rose Bride."
"And what is that, exactly?"
"Who can tell? It is a-"
"Mystery of the world, right. Anyway, where is everyone else? It's just the two of us?"
"I prepared this myself, I hope it is to your liking."
Shizuo stared intently at this strange Izaya fellow. He could not shake off the impression that he was indeed looking at a girl. The fey quality of this Izaya lent itself to such misunderstandings even without dresses.
"Hey, this is real good!"
"Thank you very much."
"But wait, so you're telling me that I am engaged to a guy?"
"That is correct. I belong to you."
Shizuo fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Now look, I don't want to offend you or anything like that but I don't want to own you."
"That is alright. You may do with me as you please. Either way, if you wish to rid yourself of me you need only lose next time you are challenged."
"What, more crazy duels?"
"Other duelists will fight you to possess the Rose Bride."
Shizuo could not help blushing at this, the choice of wording was a bit suggestive. He sighed as he sliced a juicy steak.
"The one reason why I transferred to this school was precisely to get away from fighting and you're telling me that I have to do even more of that here? I thought fancy schools didn't have this kind of thing."
So much for Shizuo's idyll of a peaceful school life.
"If you lose then I will be handed out to the winning duelist."
"'Handed out'…? Shouldn't you be a bit more proactive about this? Being 'handed out' like a thing, that just ain't right."
"I am the Rose Bride-"
"Enough of this Bride talk. I'm not good at losing fights and there's no way I'd lose on purpose. So you can at least rest assured of that I won't be 'handing you out' or anything like that. You're free from that Aoba creepo, that much I can assure you."
"I wonder if anyone is at all free."
"Huh?"
"Do eat everything, Shizuo-sama."
"And drop this '-sama' thing."
"But I am engaged to you."
"Okay…even if you are, '-sama' is a bit…"
"Shizuo…-dono?"
"That's just as bad."
Shizuo was more than a bit nervous having to sleep in the same room as Izaya. He kept forgetting that Izaya was indeed a boy only to be reminded anew which led to a perpetual state of anxiety. At least Izaya slept with normal pajamas.
"For a sec there I thought you'd wear a frilly nightgown."
"Would you rather I, Shizuo-sama?"
The question caught Shizuo completely by surprise. Izaya was so difficult to read that Shizuo could not help feeling that there many secrets behind the blank façade. Shizuo tossed himself into his bunk rather abruptly.
"Don't be silly, why would I want that."
"Goodnight."