Arc 0.5: The Introduction

Chapter: The Interview II

To his credit, the young man didn't lose his composure. It took him less than a minute to regain his bearings. Time was of the essence and he didn't waste any on the waiter with the eye patch. Instead, he studied the people in the booth. The seconds ticked on the clock. But nobody spoke. It was like everyone was waiting for him to make the first move. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long.

"I didn't know Orihara-san had a sister." The young man said in lieu of greeting.

The woman in question let out an exaggerated sigh and hung her head low. "Way to take the fun out of it, Hikigaya-kun. Let me tell you, Yukino-chan," she started talking to the woman sitting beside her. "Ever since Onii-chan became the owner of that stupid newspaper company, everyone around town has started to recognize him. It makes my life real difficult. I mean, how am I supposed to shock people with my beauty and intelligence if they already know who I am because of my stupid brother!"

The woman showed no sympathy to her plight. In fact, she was as cold as ice. "I think you should take some responsibility, Orihara-san. Blaming your brother won't solve your problems. Nobody is forcing you to live under his shadow. You can simply move out. All you have to do is create your own identity. But I can see that might be a difficult challenge for you."

Orihara-san gritted her teeth. "Oh? And why's that?"

"Because you still dress up like your brother. Frankly, I find it a bit embarrassing. You are not twelve."

The young man tried not to wince. The waiter with the eye patch hovered awkwardly. There was no way the woman with the icy blue eyes wasn't hearing the words coming out of her mouth. Yet, she didn't seem cruel. No, it was more like she was stating facts. Or at least what she believed to be true.

But the young man knew that sometimes the truth hurt worse than any knife wound. Wait a minute, why did he think of a knife. Something must have registered on a subconscious level. He hated when that happens. A cursory look at the table revealed what you would expect from a café. There were cups of unfinished coffee and plates of half eaten desserts. Most of the people in the booth had spoons and forks. But Orihara-san was having chocolate waffles. Yet a knife was nowhere to be found.

There's no way she could be this stupid.

But hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

First, get rid of the waiter.

"Kaneki-san, can you fetch me a chair?"

"O-On it."

It seemed like luck was on his corner. The waiter didn't go for the empty chairs sitting near the bar on the other side of the floor which catered to the needs of single people. Instead he broke into a sprint and took the stairs to head for the lower floor. He won't be coming back anytime soon. Perhaps he had an inkling about what was about to go down and thought it was better to make himself scarce. After all, he knew Izaya Orihara, so it stands to reason that he might also be acquainted with his younger sister.

Time to deescalate the situation.

"Actually, I figured out she is Orihara-san's sister by process of elimination." The young man began. "At this table I see an operative from a special branch, an eccentric detective and someone working for the ministry. I have them all figured out to a certain extent. But the person I had trouble figuring out is you, Orihara-san."

All women like to be flattered. "Please, call me Kanra. Orihara-san is my stupid brother."

"Kanra-san." He proffered his hand.

The woman shook it and for a second he thought the worse was over. He should have learnt his lesson. No matter how much fragile they looked, some women possessed an unexplainable strength. They kept it hidden most of the time. Treated it like some big secret. But they exploited it whenever men became too full of themselves.

Kanra-san shook his hand for a second before taking him by surprise and pulling him down for an impromptu hug. The young man wasn't fond of public displays of affection. But there was nothing affectionate about it. Yes, he could feel the contours of her lithe little body brush against his chest, the smell of her perfume and shampoo linger against his nose. But a light brush of his fingers against her long fur coat revealed the true sinister nature behind her actions.

Her lips almost brushed against his earlobe and he heard her voice whisper seductively. "How many knives do I have on my person, Hikigaya-kun?"

"Four. Counting the one you borrowed from the table." He whispered back.

A light throaty chuckle bubbled out of her throat as the young man extricated himself from her embrace in an awkward manner. When he straightened his suit and found himself back to standing in an upright position, he used his peripheral vision and found the borrowed knife was back at the table, placed innocently beside the plate of chocolate waffles.

She's good.

"Excuse me." It was the ice queen whose life he had just saved. "But can someone enlighten me as to what is exactly going on."

Make her leave.

It's for her own protection.

With a straight face, he replied. "Kanra-san made me swoon."

The woman with the blue eyes went red. She looked at her companions for support. But the man sitting on the opposite side of the table was busy balancing seven cubes of sugar on a spoon. It was quite an impressive feat. And the woman operative from the special branch sitting next to him might as well be a robot, because nothing was betrayed on her face. Pity, she had a beautiful face.

But whether knowingly or not, Kanra-san decided to help him out. "I was checking out his package."

Her voice was glib and there was no mistaking it. The woman from the ministry with the icy cold demeanor and the beautiful blue eyes was beyond furious. Her cheeks were tainted pink and she was utterly embarrassed.

"We are in public!" She hissed.

"Oh take your mind out of the gutter, Yukino-chan!" A laugh at her expense. "I was just trying to see whether he had a gun on his person or not."

The female operative sitting opposite to her on the other side of the table didn't blink. But for the first time she showed some interest in the conversation. "Does he?"

"No." The eccentric detective spoke up. "And Kanra-san, in case you were thinking of sleeping with this man for some reason, you should know that he lied. He figured out you were Izaya's sister because you have an uncanny resemblance to your older brother. You dress like him down to the same fur coat and tee-shirts. A man like him would have done his research. He might have not known about you, but he would have definitely looked up your brother before coming to the interview. Tell me Hikigaya-kun, do you know why Kanra-san dresses up like her brother?"

The young man weighed the pros and the cons and thought it was better to lie. "I don't know."

No one at the table believed him. The blue eyed woman from the ministry frowned. The eccentric detective added another sugar cube to the tower which made it wobble a little and stole a glance from his female colleague. The female operative didn't look impressed. In fact, there was a clear warning in her eyes to not pursue this matter any further. But all detectives are cursed. They can't turn it on and off like a tap.

"A gentleman?" The eccentric detective observed. "Or are you more worried about the future and don't want to piss off Izaya Orihara's younger sister. I won't hold it against you. You don't want to make an enemy out of her. Me? I have a death wish. So I will tell you why she dresses up like her brother. It's not because she loves him. It's also not some twisted, sick incestuous obsession. No, the explanation is simple. Because of the dubious nature of his job, Izaya Orihara sometimes finds himself in need of a decoy, someone who could easily pretend to be him and fool everyone. Now who could do this job better than his own sister? No one. Tell me Kanra-san, is that the reason you won't grow out your hair?"

The woman in question sliced her chocolate pancakes with a knife, stabbed them with a fork, brought it to her lips and before taking the first bite said in a completely normal tone of voice, "I hope you die of diabetes."

The eccentric detective chuckled as he toppled the tower of sugar cubes on his own volition and placed the spoon on his empty plate. "Kira will kill me first." He looked at the young man again and threw another question. "Do you know why Kanra-san sleeps around so much, Hikigaya-kun?"

The young man shrugged. "It's her business."

"Damn right it is!" Kanra-san exclaimed. "And let me tell you, I will sleep with anyone I want. In fact, let me make this real easy. Hikigaya-kun, if you work for me, you get to be with me. And I don't mean it in a platonic sense. Think of it as a joining bonus or an employee benefit. Now what do you say?" She asked while waggling her eyebrows in a comical manner.

What was there to say?

"Sign me up."