Super Mario
IT'S A ME!
- AKA
- Jesse McCree. I feel like a New Man
Did he knock up Vorona yet? XD Its painfully apparent so many shippers love em both.
Durarara!!
- Thread starter crack
- Start date
crack
Donator
I wish. But apparently Vorona's only 'in love' with his strength at this point, not exactly him. But I have no idea what goes on in the later volumes, and because anni-fiesta ships it, I suppose they have something going on.
edit;
Lovely icon, btw.
edit;
I can't believe I missed this comment - you should totally try it out and show us!
Lovely icon, btw.
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Alessa Gillespie
a letter to my future self
- AKA
- Sansa Stark, Sweet Bro, Feferi, tentacleTherapist, Nin, Aki, Catwoman, Shinjiro Aragaki, Terezi, Princess Bubblegum
Celes Chere
Banned
- AKA
- Noctis
SHIZUOCELTYIZAYA UNF UNF UNF?
I really like the way Shizuo and Vorona LOOK together. That's pretty much it so far. =/
I really like the way Shizuo and Vorona LOOK together. That's pretty much it so far. =/
Xinda
Memento Mori
Ha, I came out of lurking at the wrong time I think.
Well, I keep tossing around that I'm not sure which series that I'd want to do it to. But, I will definitely share, then.
Thanks!
Edit: Your sig is insanely amusing.
crack
Donator
Shinra's a twisted character.
And there's FINALLY a translation for Akane! I love her already.
Credit goes to anni-fiesta and nomimushi.
Am I* a bad guy, you ask?
* Here Shinra uses "boku" to refer to himself.
Is that even a question?
Although I do think that the most evil thing I've done to date is to have lied to you, I've also told you that I didn't regret it, haven't I?
What's up? Your neck's blushing.
Just kidding. It's not like Celty's blood even circulates like a normal human's...uwahh! That hurts, that hurts! I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Speaking of which, every time I* tell you that I like you you'll say -
* Here he uses "ore".
"You must have been pretty lonely back when you were a teenager."
That's mean. I* wasn't lonely at all. As to why - because I had you by my side, of course!
* Here he uses "watashi".
Eh? You want me to "stop switching back and forth between 'boku', 'watashi' and 'ore', pick just one and stick with it"?
But I don't want to, Celty. A leopard doesn't want its spots changed. Even if you ask me to change the personality I'm born with, I can't. First-person pronouns are meant to be varied with different conversation partners anyway.
The world is filled with all kinds of people. That's why you need to use different pronouns in front of different people......but to me, Celty equals the entire human race, or the entire world. That's right. I have to show every single facet of me in front of you, be it my preferred facade in front of other people or my real self!
......Hmm, where were we?
Ahh, right, we were talking about whether I was a bad guy or not. What brought that to your mind?
Heheh. I know. It's got to be that movie you just saw. Weird movie, that one, isn't it? All the characters are good, but end up having to do bad things because they have no other choice. That's how the story's like, right?
You're way too adorable for coming to ask me if I was a bad guy just because you saw that movie.
I'm so in love with you and your outspoken ways. You should watch a romantic movie next time around and come tell me we should make love to each other like they do in the movie.
......"'If it's something like 'The War of the Roses', I can give it a try.'"......? Celty, you always say such mean things to me.
Let's go back to the "bad guy" topic.
Hmm. If it's for the love between Celty and me, I'm pretty sure I can become as bad as bad can be.
"'Don't use love as your excuse'"? Ahh, don't say such things to me. Love has nothing to do with either good or bad to begin with, anyway.
Speaking of which, though, I feel like we hear the phrase "love and justice" a lot but no one seems to ever mention "love and evil".
Evil guys whose love is deeper than the ocean.
I think there are many such guys out there in the world, don't you?
If the object of affection is narrowed down to Celty, then I am one.
"'Stop saying embarrassing nonsense'"?
That's not possible. In front of Celty embarrassment is for me but a double shot in the cocktail of love.
Eh, "'I meant me! I'll get embarrassed so just shut up!'"......? That's no problem! They say requited love is like "Fallen petals on a running brook", so if you feel embarrassed, I'll just hold tight in my arms that embarrassed body of yours awwwww!
That was mean. How come you're punching me all of a sudden? Now we're like "Fallen petals want to be loved but the brook simply runs on with indifference"!
But your perversity is what makes you all the more lovely, Celty! Uwahh that hurts that hurts that hurts! Ah, were you trying to conceal your embarrassment with that pinch in my cheek aaaah that hurts that hurts it's being torn apart! My face's being torn apart aaaaaaaah......
END
* Here Shinra uses "boku" to refer to himself.
Is that even a question?
Although I do think that the most evil thing I've done to date is to have lied to you, I've also told you that I didn't regret it, haven't I?
What's up? Your neck's blushing.
Just kidding. It's not like Celty's blood even circulates like a normal human's...uwahh! That hurts, that hurts! I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Speaking of which, every time I* tell you that I like you you'll say -
* Here he uses "ore".
"You must have been pretty lonely back when you were a teenager."
That's mean. I* wasn't lonely at all. As to why - because I had you by my side, of course!
* Here he uses "watashi".
Eh? You want me to "stop switching back and forth between 'boku', 'watashi' and 'ore', pick just one and stick with it"?
But I don't want to, Celty. A leopard doesn't want its spots changed. Even if you ask me to change the personality I'm born with, I can't. First-person pronouns are meant to be varied with different conversation partners anyway.
The world is filled with all kinds of people. That's why you need to use different pronouns in front of different people......but to me, Celty equals the entire human race, or the entire world. That's right. I have to show every single facet of me in front of you, be it my preferred facade in front of other people or my real self!
......Hmm, where were we?
Ahh, right, we were talking about whether I was a bad guy or not. What brought that to your mind?
Heheh. I know. It's got to be that movie you just saw. Weird movie, that one, isn't it? All the characters are good, but end up having to do bad things because they have no other choice. That's how the story's like, right?
You're way too adorable for coming to ask me if I was a bad guy just because you saw that movie.
I'm so in love with you and your outspoken ways. You should watch a romantic movie next time around and come tell me we should make love to each other like they do in the movie.
......"'If it's something like 'The War of the Roses', I can give it a try.'"......? Celty, you always say such mean things to me.
Let's go back to the "bad guy" topic.
Hmm. If it's for the love between Celty and me, I'm pretty sure I can become as bad as bad can be.
"'Don't use love as your excuse'"? Ahh, don't say such things to me. Love has nothing to do with either good or bad to begin with, anyway.
Speaking of which, though, I feel like we hear the phrase "love and justice" a lot but no one seems to ever mention "love and evil".
Evil guys whose love is deeper than the ocean.
I think there are many such guys out there in the world, don't you?
If the object of affection is narrowed down to Celty, then I am one.
"'Stop saying embarrassing nonsense'"?
That's not possible. In front of Celty embarrassment is for me but a double shot in the cocktail of love.
Eh, "'I meant me! I'll get embarrassed so just shut up!'"......? That's no problem! They say requited love is like "Fallen petals on a running brook", so if you feel embarrassed, I'll just hold tight in my arms that embarrassed body of yours awwwww!
That was mean. How come you're punching me all of a sudden? Now we're like "Fallen petals want to be loved but the brook simply runs on with indifference"!
But your perversity is what makes you all the more lovely, Celty! Uwahh that hurts that hurts that hurts! Ah, were you trying to conceal your embarrassment with that pinch in my cheek aaaah that hurts that hurts it's being torn apart! My face's being torn apart aaaaaaaah......
END
And there's FINALLY a translation for Akane! I love her already.
The girl was blessed by the world.
By normal standards, she had a very high standard of living.
A mansion in the outskirts of Ikebukuro.
With a loving mother and understanding father, and a dignified grandfather, she had many people taking care of her, and her opinions were respected.
Even so, she couldn't be said to be spoilt, and wasn't raised to be selfish; the girl grew up healthily.
From the time she was aware of her surroundings, she lived a life without a lack of freedom.
Or rather, she wasn't aware of her lack of freedom, and so wasn't aware of how fortunate she was as well.
She was happy.
Until the moment she knew her father's and grandfather's jobs, and the hidden side of the world around her.
It began with a cell phone.
Isn't it too early for an elementary school student to own a cell phone. So her father said, hesitantly, but for security, the girl received a personal line.
The cell phone line did not only connect her to conversational partners.
The invisible line delved into the Internet, and to the girl, was a magical door that showed her the world. As she did not have a personal computer, this was the first time she had contact with the Internet.
Even though there are people who say you can't live in the virtual world that is the Internet, on the other side of the virtual wall, there must be some kind of reality. Chat partners can put on a mask in an imaginary space, but you definitely can't say they're AIs that only exist on the Internet.
If you connect to pay sites, your money in the real world decreases. The evil intentions to cheat others via such methods are unambiguously things that exist in reality.
Due to receiving her cell phone, the girl became connected to a countless number of realities.
For example, things that she did not want as well.
In school, the girl was cheerful and lively, and experienced almost no trace of bullying.
Almost, because she had seen it once before.
About half a year ago, a classmate was bullied; she was ignored by everyone and had dead insects put into her bag.
The girl, by chance, witnessed the incident and strongly chastised her classmates.
-- Bullying is bad.
The girl raised in happiness raised her voice for those values.
However, for the girl, it was an action that required utmost courage.
In her youth, she could somehow feel it.
If she did it, she would probably be the next one to be bullied.
Even so, she opened her mouth and protected the bullied girl.
She didn't regret it.
At least, at the time.
As a result, she successfully stopped the bullying then.
So, did she become the new target of the bullying?
The answer is: no.
In a surprising turn of events, after a number of days, there was no bullying and there was peace around her.
She wondered if there was any bullying going on where she couldn't see it, but there were no such indications.
From then on, she became the centre of her class.
Even though she was the class rep, she never let it get to her head, and worked hard to make her class get along with each other. In truth, those around her could not stand her cheerful face.
She was happy.
Those classmates who laughed with her were all happy, she thought.
She didn't suspect anything - just at the time, she lived innocently.
Still at the age to carry a ransel, she came to believe that life was wonderful. She also thought that if anyone was unfortunate, she would like to help.
That sentiment occasionally caused incidents where she imposed her good intentions on others, but -
At least, she helped the relationships around her, made more plans to play and gained more opportunities to visit mountains and sea; in class and school there would be no objection if anyone said she was important.
When I grow up, I want to have a job that will make everyone smile.
She did not really know what her grandfather worked as, but her father appeared to sell art at various shops.
At home, there were many expensive-looking artworks of scenery from some faraway place, decorating the house. The girl did not know how much they were worth, but she knew they were very pretty.
-- These great artworks must be able to make lots of people happy.
-- Dad must be doing a wonderful job.
-- I know, I'll draw pictures. I'll become an artist!
-- I'll draw a lot of pictures, and someday Dad will sell them for me!
The girl who thought so began to learn art.
Even though those around her encouraged her, she remembered that at the time she mentioned her dream, her grandfather and father exchanged glances for a moment.
In any case, in addition to her sheltered life, she obtained a dream to reach for.
One of the things given to her, as a part of that life wrapped up in happiness, was a cell phone.
As a means of security and contact with her family, she hardly used the phone, but - that cell phone caused one fact to be thrust before her.
There was no reason for a stranger to call her.
There was no reason to connect to the school's underground site.
At first, it was a thing that happened naturally.
A thing no simpler than forgetting her phone at her friend's home.
The girl returned to her friend's home in a panic.
And, when she was about to use the intercom, she heard her friend's voice from the garden.
When she was going to call out and go over there, that friend's mother muttered the girl's name.
"You didn't cause any problems for Awakusu Akane-chan, did you?"
-- Eh?
The girl was confused, and stopped heading towards the garden.
Just now, of those playing at her friends house, there were three others besides her.
Only her, who had forgotten her phone, happened to return.
Even so, why did her friend's mother mention her name?
Perhaps she did something weird in the house.
Besides that, what she said was strange.
-- What she said.
The girl, still young, thought she had heard something wrong.
However, the next thing she heard from her friend demolished that thought entirely.
"I know! I always listen to the things Akane-chan says!"
-- .......Eh?
The girl's time stopped.
The girl's world froze.
It was a voice that sounded like the times when one yells "I was just about to do it!" when their parents get angry, just as they were about to do homework.
Even though the confused girl did not think that far -
Presumably, if an objective listener were to hear that voice, they would probably think of it this way.
One is obliged to listen to Awakusu Akane's words just as they are obliged to do homework.
"No one else is making Awakusu Akane-chan upset, are they?"
"They aren't!"
"Really? If anything happens, then too bad! Really, it would be nice if it were a different middle school......"
*(translation likely not 100% accurate, mum-speak is hard)
At those words, even the child was confused, and replied with a voice filled with some kind of guilt.
"......But, Akane-chan doesn't say such selfish things, so it's okay. Mum, you're thinking too much about it."
Rather than sounding like an attempt to cover for her friend, it was like she could not stand her parent being biased against someone.
On the other hand, her mother, raising her voice, replied to her daughter.
"It doesn't have anything to do with Akane-chan being a good child or a bad one! The Awakusu people are really scary! How am I supposed to explain if you get into fights, get beaten up and injured!"
-- ...... .
-- ......?
-- ......? ? ? ......?
The girl, of course, was unable to understand what her friend's mother was saying.
However, she understood that she was feeling terrible, in her heart.
In the end, the girl - Awakusu Akane, ran away from that place.
I should not be here.
With that thought, she ran away.
She had still forgotten her phone, but then it did not matter to her.
She only wanted to leave her friend's place as soon as possible.
If only she could give up on trying to understand what that conversation between her friend and her friend's mother meant.
But, fate would not let her escape.
That night, the phone was delivered to Akane's home.
Her friend's parents drove the car over.
Even though it was okay to return the phone the next day in school, her friend's parents came to deliver it.
Her friend's parents, bowing to her mother.
"Hoi, Akane-chan, say thank you," her mother said, and while she bowed, she looked at their faces - due to the courtesy smiles pasted on their faces, she could not tell what they were thinking.
After that, when she mentioned it to an older acquaintance, they said,
"A cell phone is a chunk of information. Probably, before your parents thought they were peeping into your phone, they came to return it themselves."
(*the speaking style here reeks of Izaya.)
Even so, and of course, this was not a reason that would make Akane say "Oh, is that so," and be satisfied with it.
In any case, that incident was - entirely something that happened by chance.
Using the returned cell phone, she accessed the terrifying thing known as the Internet. At first, she was nervous, and had no idea what to do.
Up until then, she had never been tied to the Internet, and only knew the e-mail address to her phone. However, spending days learning, the girl, a fast learner, gradually picked up the method of traversing the thing called the Internet.
Of course, she went to school as usual during that time.
As usual, she also communicated with the previously mentioned friend.
Nothing really changed from the normal, but this scared her instead.
She began to hope that she had really heard things wrongly on that day.
However - the world she was connected to through her phone told her the cruel truth.
With the knowledge of how to use a search engine, she set out to investigate.
She typed in "Awakusu" and looked at the results.
"Medei Group Awakusu Company"
One of the Internet's dictionaries, "Bunko Youki".
There, detailed information about that organisation had been typed up.
As an elementary school student, she could not understand a lot of things, but she understood something even more important.
The kind of organisation that was the Awakusu Company.
In the moment that she realised it, she noticed she was shaking.
-- Wrong.
There must be some kind of mistake.
She had seen the words "Awakusu Company" many times at home.
She also knew that, in the room with the Shinto shrine, lanterns with the words "Awakusu Company" written on them were put up for decoration.
-- This is wrong.
Surely, it just happened to be the same name.
She thought so, but -
The instant she saw that the person in the photo of the president of the Awakusu Company was her grandfather, the girl's world stopped moving.
And then -
In other search results, she found the words "Uses the sale of art etc. as a cover for their activities", and her frozen world began to audibly crumble.
Even so, she did not make a fuss, or cry out.
She only closed the Internet browser with empty eyes, and made a call to one of her friends.
The girl she saved from bullying, once.
She made a call to the person she thought to have become a close friend since then, and asked a single question.
"Why does everyone......listen to the things I say?"
As such.
In that voice, there might have been some kind of strangeness that could be sensed.
Even though that girl, her close friend, was largely hesitant to answer, she slowly began her reply.
"......Actually, everyone said they would bully Akane-chan next. They even said that if I joined in, they would stop bullying me. But......someone said that we shouldn't make Akane-chan's father angry, because he's a scary person......"
Someone mentioned it to their parents, and the news spread quickly among the other parents nearby.
The news that "our children are planning to bully the granddaughter of the president of the Awakusu Company".
Some of the parents fell into a panic, and admonished their children sharply.
"Never, ever go against that girl called Awakusu Akane."
The party concerned was the granddaughter of the Awakusu Company.
Moreover, if any of the children here went ahead with the bullying, if by any chance there was a false accusation, it couldn't be explained away on the basis of principle.
Before that happened, some of the parents strongly admonished their children.
"Don't upset Akane-chan."
If they said not to go near Awakusu Akane, it might be interpreted as bullying.
However, carelessly becoming close to her might somehow result in fighting, and receiving injuries.
Therefore, the parents said to preserve Akane's face.
Just then, at the time it was reported on TV about underground school sites - parents overreacted and found out the underground site's address from their children, and checked that there were no bad comments about Awakusu Akane.
This interaction between certain parents became news, and gradually affected the surrounding parents and children - in the end, no one stood up to Akane.
While Akane herself had not noticed - she had become the queen of the classroom.
She thought herself on the same level as everyone else, and the girl continued to not look down on anyone else.
She did not notice that everyone around her, were dolls that could pierce upwards from below.
In truth, there isn't a person who can correctly answer the question "Would the Awakusu Company president and underboss, due to the girl's relationships in school, go so far as to bring up the company's name to honest people?"
(* underboss - originally wakagashira in text, the middleman who sees that the yakuza boss's orders are carried out)
But due to the excessive worry displayed by some of the parents, the concern spread.
If not for that, Akane might have been bullied, in which case would it be possible to say her father, an executive of the Awakusu Company, and her grandfather, the company president, would not step out?
Because no one said "They wouldn't step forward" - such a twisted human relationship was born.
Unable to know of those events from her friend's words - the girl, with a good ability to sense things for her age, picked up on the situation.
After putting the phone down, Akane, in the centre of the room, blankly drooped her head for a while.
She thought she was happy.
No, she really had been happy.
But she thought everyone was happy, like her.
She thought it was a class where no one was bullied, and could speak their thoughts freely.
Her presence had robbed everyone in the class of their freedom.
As a result, the bullying from her class had stopped.
However, that result did not matter to Akane right now.
Time passed while she was stunned, and her mother's voice calling from the dining hall could be heard.
It seemed the preparations for dinner were finished.
Although her father and grandfather were busy and most of the time, had meals with only her mother, Akane didn't think it was a lonely thing. To her, her father was very loving, and she really loved her father.
The girl toughened herself up, while having dinner with her mother.
The same smile as always, the same cheerful conversation as always.
I can't relax.
She thought, and after the meal was over, she wore the fake smile to her room, closed the door and began to tidy her table in order to distract herself.
In the middle of it all, a sketchbook fell from the table, opening at a drawing in it.
What was drawn there, was a scene of everyone in class during lunch.
Each person's face had a happy smile, looking as if they were enjoying themselves.
Enjoying themselves, from the bottom of their hearts.
And then - the act of looking at that drawing became her break down switch.
"Aa......AaaaaaAAAAaaaaaaAAAAaaaaaAaah!"
Akane tore the page out from the sketchbook, crumpled it into a ball, ripped it up, threw it away.
--"I'll draw a lot of pictures, and someday Dad will sell them for me!"
The girl's dream resonated in her head.
While she couldn't understand why she was sad, the young girl cried out, destroying her pictures one by one.
What she had been seeing was -
The class's happy smiles, were all lies.
And, it was her presence that forced these lies.
In her confusion, the girl continued to destroy her drawings, her dreams.
Those few seconds felt like an incredibly long time to her.
In that lengthened time, she denied her happy life up till then.
However, her hand stopped at the middle of the sketchbook.
It was a drawing of her father's and mother's faces.
As she looked at the page with her family drawn on it - the girl realised.
Even while she was in shock over her father's and grandfather's work for the Awakusu Company - she could not bring herself to hate her family.
"Akane? Akane! What's wrong!?"
Before long, her mother, hearing her cries, burst into the room.
Not knowing what to do, Akane could only throw herself into her mother's arms and continue to cry.
The girl was blessed by the world.
But that blessing did not bring her only happiness.
A while later, the life of the the girl, broken somewhere, began.
She knew she was gradually becoming more distant from her family, especially her father.
Her father, Mikiya, seemed to know that his daughter had become aware of his line of work, and the mutual denial of the distance between them continued.
In order to not show that side of herself in school, she continued to pass the days with a smiled forced to the best of her ability.
On one hand, she was shocked by the hardened lies of the world around her; on the other, she, knowing the truth, found it painful to destroy those lies.
Akane's classmates went along with her, Akane went along with those lies in her surroundings.
A world including herself, where only lies existed.
The girl was blessed by that kind of world.
Then, several months later -
The girl who had thought long and hard decided to leave home.
She did not think she could do anything.
Only, she believed that if she went to someplace she and the Awakusu name were not known - something might change.
Using the Internet capabilities of her cell phone, she collected information about leaving home.
Searching with a number of keywords soon brought up many sites.
Within the terrifying things written on the bulletin boards there -
She received a positive response from a man using the handle name "Nakura".
He answered the still-young Akane's questions thoroughly, and cordially talked about different things with her. It probably couldn't be helped that Akane, who was not used to the Internet and had a breaking heart, trusted this person.
Then, they said to meet, and even Akane was cautious, but after deciding to check up on what kind of person he was before meeting up -
At the meeting place, was a long-haired, pretty woman.
As she slowly approached the place, the long-haired woman smiled and spoke.
"You're Akane-chan? Nice to meet you, I'm Nakura."
At the intellectual-type woman's words, Akane's eyes widened in surprise.
She had not thought Nakura was female.
She was kind, and wrapped the sad Akane's heart in warmth. It was probably the rebounding effect of dispelling her "what do I do if he turns out to be a scary man" worry. Soon, the girl became open to "Nakura", and met on the streets many times.
And then, on one occasion they met - she was introduced to a man.
"You want to leave home?"
The young man named "Izaya" was said to be a colleague of "Nakura"'s.
He and "Nakura" listened to the girl's talk many times.
To these people, "Nakura" and "Izaya" who had found their way into her heart, Akane brought up her circumstances.
After she spoke, she regretted it.
If I talk about the Awakusu Company, these people will definitely be scared.
She realised her legs had begun to shake.
-- What do I do.
-- What do I do. What do I do. What do I do.
-- These people are also afraid of Dad and Granddad.
However, a gentle hand was placed on Akane's head.
"Izaya" gently patted Akane's head, smiling softly as he said,
"It's okay, even though I'd be lying if I said I'm not scared...... . Akane-chan's Akane-chan."
The girl with a breaking heart.
Just that was probably enough to enter through the cracks in her heart.
From there, "Izaya" supplied her with information, and sometimes told her special mobile phone web addresses and normally unused methods to use her phone.
Then, one month later -
If anyone had taken notice, they would have realised she had left home.
Actually, what they would have noticed was the atmosphere.
From the end of April, the girl did not return home.
She sent an e-mail saying "Don't worry, I'm staying at a friend's home" to her mother every day.
On the first day, she really did stay at a friend's home.
"Nakura"'s home.
She doesn't tell lies. The next day, "Izaya" took her to a manga cafe, and the day after that, she slept in a family restaurant that operated 24 hours a day.
Akane's actions were completely taken on "Izaya"'s instructions.
But she did not think that was strange.
She thought this was what she had wanted.
An environment where she would not be considered as the "daughter of Awakusu", but as herself.
If asked whether she felt lonely for not being able to meet her family, she couldn't really say it was fine.
However, maybe her father and grandfather would stop doing things that scared people if she left home.
Deep in her heart, she understood that things would not be so simple but - the possibility filled her heart and numbed the thought of going home.
But when she felt that even that was reaching its limit - "Izaya" brought this up.
"......Do you hate your Granddad and Dad?"
To this sudden question, Akane remembered the time she destroyed her drawings, and looked down, answering quietly.
"......I don't know."
"Izaya" smiled kindly at Akane and spoke.
"It's not an urgent question. You can think about it in your own time."
However, that expression suddenly clouded over, and he spoke in a serious tone of voice.
"But until the time you figure out the answer, your Dad and Granddad might not be safe."
"Eh......?"
"See, your Dad and Granddad are scaring other people in their concern for you, aren't they?"
"Y- yes......"
To Akane, who was worrying about what the point of this talk was, "Izaya" pulled out a piece of paper.
It was a photo of a blond man in white and black clothes, with wolflike eyes under his sunglasses.
"He's Heiwajima Shizuo. He's said to be the most dangerous assassin in Ikebukuro."
"A-, assassin?"
The girl caught her breath at the dangerous word.
"Izaya", with a serious expression, said something terrifying to the girl.
"He might be after your Dad's and Granddad's lives."
"......What would you do if I said so?"
There was no compulsion in the man's voice.
It was just a question.
However - that was undeniably one of the strings twined around her heart.
And then, she was captured into the circle of chaos.
Nothing changed from the moment she was born, while the world blessed her.
---
By normal standards, she had a very high standard of living.
A mansion in the outskirts of Ikebukuro.
With a loving mother and understanding father, and a dignified grandfather, she had many people taking care of her, and her opinions were respected.
Even so, she couldn't be said to be spoilt, and wasn't raised to be selfish; the girl grew up healthily.
From the time she was aware of her surroundings, she lived a life without a lack of freedom.
Or rather, she wasn't aware of her lack of freedom, and so wasn't aware of how fortunate she was as well.
She was happy.
Until the moment she knew her father's and grandfather's jobs, and the hidden side of the world around her.
It began with a cell phone.
Isn't it too early for an elementary school student to own a cell phone. So her father said, hesitantly, but for security, the girl received a personal line.
The cell phone line did not only connect her to conversational partners.
The invisible line delved into the Internet, and to the girl, was a magical door that showed her the world. As she did not have a personal computer, this was the first time she had contact with the Internet.
Even though there are people who say you can't live in the virtual world that is the Internet, on the other side of the virtual wall, there must be some kind of reality. Chat partners can put on a mask in an imaginary space, but you definitely can't say they're AIs that only exist on the Internet.
If you connect to pay sites, your money in the real world decreases. The evil intentions to cheat others via such methods are unambiguously things that exist in reality.
Due to receiving her cell phone, the girl became connected to a countless number of realities.
For example, things that she did not want as well.
In school, the girl was cheerful and lively, and experienced almost no trace of bullying.
Almost, because she had seen it once before.
About half a year ago, a classmate was bullied; she was ignored by everyone and had dead insects put into her bag.
The girl, by chance, witnessed the incident and strongly chastised her classmates.
-- Bullying is bad.
The girl raised in happiness raised her voice for those values.
However, for the girl, it was an action that required utmost courage.
In her youth, she could somehow feel it.
If she did it, she would probably be the next one to be bullied.
Even so, she opened her mouth and protected the bullied girl.
She didn't regret it.
At least, at the time.
As a result, she successfully stopped the bullying then.
So, did she become the new target of the bullying?
The answer is: no.
In a surprising turn of events, after a number of days, there was no bullying and there was peace around her.
She wondered if there was any bullying going on where she couldn't see it, but there were no such indications.
From then on, she became the centre of her class.
Even though she was the class rep, she never let it get to her head, and worked hard to make her class get along with each other. In truth, those around her could not stand her cheerful face.
She was happy.
Those classmates who laughed with her were all happy, she thought.
She didn't suspect anything - just at the time, she lived innocently.
Still at the age to carry a ransel, she came to believe that life was wonderful. She also thought that if anyone was unfortunate, she would like to help.
That sentiment occasionally caused incidents where she imposed her good intentions on others, but -
At least, she helped the relationships around her, made more plans to play and gained more opportunities to visit mountains and sea; in class and school there would be no objection if anyone said she was important.
When I grow up, I want to have a job that will make everyone smile.
She did not really know what her grandfather worked as, but her father appeared to sell art at various shops.
At home, there were many expensive-looking artworks of scenery from some faraway place, decorating the house. The girl did not know how much they were worth, but she knew they were very pretty.
-- These great artworks must be able to make lots of people happy.
-- Dad must be doing a wonderful job.
-- I know, I'll draw pictures. I'll become an artist!
-- I'll draw a lot of pictures, and someday Dad will sell them for me!
The girl who thought so began to learn art.
Even though those around her encouraged her, she remembered that at the time she mentioned her dream, her grandfather and father exchanged glances for a moment.
In any case, in addition to her sheltered life, she obtained a dream to reach for.
One of the things given to her, as a part of that life wrapped up in happiness, was a cell phone.
As a means of security and contact with her family, she hardly used the phone, but - that cell phone caused one fact to be thrust before her.
There was no reason for a stranger to call her.
There was no reason to connect to the school's underground site.
At first, it was a thing that happened naturally.
A thing no simpler than forgetting her phone at her friend's home.
The girl returned to her friend's home in a panic.
And, when she was about to use the intercom, she heard her friend's voice from the garden.
When she was going to call out and go over there, that friend's mother muttered the girl's name.
"You didn't cause any problems for Awakusu Akane-chan, did you?"
-- Eh?
The girl was confused, and stopped heading towards the garden.
Just now, of those playing at her friends house, there were three others besides her.
Only her, who had forgotten her phone, happened to return.
Even so, why did her friend's mother mention her name?
Perhaps she did something weird in the house.
Besides that, what she said was strange.
-- What she said.
The girl, still young, thought she had heard something wrong.
However, the next thing she heard from her friend demolished that thought entirely.
"I know! I always listen to the things Akane-chan says!"
-- .......Eh?
The girl's time stopped.
The girl's world froze.
It was a voice that sounded like the times when one yells "I was just about to do it!" when their parents get angry, just as they were about to do homework.
Even though the confused girl did not think that far -
Presumably, if an objective listener were to hear that voice, they would probably think of it this way.
One is obliged to listen to Awakusu Akane's words just as they are obliged to do homework.
"No one else is making Awakusu Akane-chan upset, are they?"
"They aren't!"
"Really? If anything happens, then too bad! Really, it would be nice if it were a different middle school......"
*(translation likely not 100% accurate, mum-speak is hard)
At those words, even the child was confused, and replied with a voice filled with some kind of guilt.
"......But, Akane-chan doesn't say such selfish things, so it's okay. Mum, you're thinking too much about it."
Rather than sounding like an attempt to cover for her friend, it was like she could not stand her parent being biased against someone.
On the other hand, her mother, raising her voice, replied to her daughter.
"It doesn't have anything to do with Akane-chan being a good child or a bad one! The Awakusu people are really scary! How am I supposed to explain if you get into fights, get beaten up and injured!"
-- ...... .
-- ......?
-- ......? ? ? ......?
The girl, of course, was unable to understand what her friend's mother was saying.
However, she understood that she was feeling terrible, in her heart.
In the end, the girl - Awakusu Akane, ran away from that place.
I should not be here.
With that thought, she ran away.
She had still forgotten her phone, but then it did not matter to her.
She only wanted to leave her friend's place as soon as possible.
If only she could give up on trying to understand what that conversation between her friend and her friend's mother meant.
But, fate would not let her escape.
That night, the phone was delivered to Akane's home.
Her friend's parents drove the car over.
Even though it was okay to return the phone the next day in school, her friend's parents came to deliver it.
Her friend's parents, bowing to her mother.
"Hoi, Akane-chan, say thank you," her mother said, and while she bowed, she looked at their faces - due to the courtesy smiles pasted on their faces, she could not tell what they were thinking.
After that, when she mentioned it to an older acquaintance, they said,
"A cell phone is a chunk of information. Probably, before your parents thought they were peeping into your phone, they came to return it themselves."
(*the speaking style here reeks of Izaya.)
Even so, and of course, this was not a reason that would make Akane say "Oh, is that so," and be satisfied with it.
In any case, that incident was - entirely something that happened by chance.
Using the returned cell phone, she accessed the terrifying thing known as the Internet. At first, she was nervous, and had no idea what to do.
Up until then, she had never been tied to the Internet, and only knew the e-mail address to her phone. However, spending days learning, the girl, a fast learner, gradually picked up the method of traversing the thing called the Internet.
Of course, she went to school as usual during that time.
As usual, she also communicated with the previously mentioned friend.
Nothing really changed from the normal, but this scared her instead.
She began to hope that she had really heard things wrongly on that day.
However - the world she was connected to through her phone told her the cruel truth.
With the knowledge of how to use a search engine, she set out to investigate.
She typed in "Awakusu" and looked at the results.
"Medei Group Awakusu Company"
One of the Internet's dictionaries, "Bunko Youki".
There, detailed information about that organisation had been typed up.
As an elementary school student, she could not understand a lot of things, but she understood something even more important.
The kind of organisation that was the Awakusu Company.
In the moment that she realised it, she noticed she was shaking.
-- Wrong.
There must be some kind of mistake.
She had seen the words "Awakusu Company" many times at home.
She also knew that, in the room with the Shinto shrine, lanterns with the words "Awakusu Company" written on them were put up for decoration.
-- This is wrong.
Surely, it just happened to be the same name.
She thought so, but -
The instant she saw that the person in the photo of the president of the Awakusu Company was her grandfather, the girl's world stopped moving.
And then -
In other search results, she found the words "Uses the sale of art etc. as a cover for their activities", and her frozen world began to audibly crumble.
Even so, she did not make a fuss, or cry out.
She only closed the Internet browser with empty eyes, and made a call to one of her friends.
The girl she saved from bullying, once.
She made a call to the person she thought to have become a close friend since then, and asked a single question.
"Why does everyone......listen to the things I say?"
As such.
In that voice, there might have been some kind of strangeness that could be sensed.
Even though that girl, her close friend, was largely hesitant to answer, she slowly began her reply.
"......Actually, everyone said they would bully Akane-chan next. They even said that if I joined in, they would stop bullying me. But......someone said that we shouldn't make Akane-chan's father angry, because he's a scary person......"
Someone mentioned it to their parents, and the news spread quickly among the other parents nearby.
The news that "our children are planning to bully the granddaughter of the president of the Awakusu Company".
Some of the parents fell into a panic, and admonished their children sharply.
"Never, ever go against that girl called Awakusu Akane."
The party concerned was the granddaughter of the Awakusu Company.
Moreover, if any of the children here went ahead with the bullying, if by any chance there was a false accusation, it couldn't be explained away on the basis of principle.
Before that happened, some of the parents strongly admonished their children.
"Don't upset Akane-chan."
If they said not to go near Awakusu Akane, it might be interpreted as bullying.
However, carelessly becoming close to her might somehow result in fighting, and receiving injuries.
Therefore, the parents said to preserve Akane's face.
Just then, at the time it was reported on TV about underground school sites - parents overreacted and found out the underground site's address from their children, and checked that there were no bad comments about Awakusu Akane.
This interaction between certain parents became news, and gradually affected the surrounding parents and children - in the end, no one stood up to Akane.
While Akane herself had not noticed - she had become the queen of the classroom.
She thought herself on the same level as everyone else, and the girl continued to not look down on anyone else.
She did not notice that everyone around her, were dolls that could pierce upwards from below.
In truth, there isn't a person who can correctly answer the question "Would the Awakusu Company president and underboss, due to the girl's relationships in school, go so far as to bring up the company's name to honest people?"
(* underboss - originally wakagashira in text, the middleman who sees that the yakuza boss's orders are carried out)
But due to the excessive worry displayed by some of the parents, the concern spread.
If not for that, Akane might have been bullied, in which case would it be possible to say her father, an executive of the Awakusu Company, and her grandfather, the company president, would not step out?
Because no one said "They wouldn't step forward" - such a twisted human relationship was born.
Unable to know of those events from her friend's words - the girl, with a good ability to sense things for her age, picked up on the situation.
After putting the phone down, Akane, in the centre of the room, blankly drooped her head for a while.
She thought she was happy.
No, she really had been happy.
But she thought everyone was happy, like her.
She thought it was a class where no one was bullied, and could speak their thoughts freely.
Her presence had robbed everyone in the class of their freedom.
As a result, the bullying from her class had stopped.
However, that result did not matter to Akane right now.
Time passed while she was stunned, and her mother's voice calling from the dining hall could be heard.
It seemed the preparations for dinner were finished.
Although her father and grandfather were busy and most of the time, had meals with only her mother, Akane didn't think it was a lonely thing. To her, her father was very loving, and she really loved her father.
The girl toughened herself up, while having dinner with her mother.
The same smile as always, the same cheerful conversation as always.
I can't relax.
She thought, and after the meal was over, she wore the fake smile to her room, closed the door and began to tidy her table in order to distract herself.
In the middle of it all, a sketchbook fell from the table, opening at a drawing in it.
What was drawn there, was a scene of everyone in class during lunch.
Each person's face had a happy smile, looking as if they were enjoying themselves.
Enjoying themselves, from the bottom of their hearts.
And then - the act of looking at that drawing became her break down switch.
"Aa......AaaaaaAAAAaaaaaaAAAAaaaaaAaah!"
Akane tore the page out from the sketchbook, crumpled it into a ball, ripped it up, threw it away.
--"I'll draw a lot of pictures, and someday Dad will sell them for me!"
The girl's dream resonated in her head.
While she couldn't understand why she was sad, the young girl cried out, destroying her pictures one by one.
What she had been seeing was -
The class's happy smiles, were all lies.
And, it was her presence that forced these lies.
In her confusion, the girl continued to destroy her drawings, her dreams.
Those few seconds felt like an incredibly long time to her.
In that lengthened time, she denied her happy life up till then.
However, her hand stopped at the middle of the sketchbook.
It was a drawing of her father's and mother's faces.
As she looked at the page with her family drawn on it - the girl realised.
Even while she was in shock over her father's and grandfather's work for the Awakusu Company - she could not bring herself to hate her family.
"Akane? Akane! What's wrong!?"
Before long, her mother, hearing her cries, burst into the room.
Not knowing what to do, Akane could only throw herself into her mother's arms and continue to cry.
The girl was blessed by the world.
But that blessing did not bring her only happiness.
A while later, the life of the the girl, broken somewhere, began.
She knew she was gradually becoming more distant from her family, especially her father.
Her father, Mikiya, seemed to know that his daughter had become aware of his line of work, and the mutual denial of the distance between them continued.
In order to not show that side of herself in school, she continued to pass the days with a smiled forced to the best of her ability.
On one hand, she was shocked by the hardened lies of the world around her; on the other, she, knowing the truth, found it painful to destroy those lies.
Akane's classmates went along with her, Akane went along with those lies in her surroundings.
A world including herself, where only lies existed.
The girl was blessed by that kind of world.
Then, several months later -
The girl who had thought long and hard decided to leave home.
She did not think she could do anything.
Only, she believed that if she went to someplace she and the Awakusu name were not known - something might change.
Using the Internet capabilities of her cell phone, she collected information about leaving home.
Searching with a number of keywords soon brought up many sites.
Within the terrifying things written on the bulletin boards there -
She received a positive response from a man using the handle name "Nakura".
He answered the still-young Akane's questions thoroughly, and cordially talked about different things with her. It probably couldn't be helped that Akane, who was not used to the Internet and had a breaking heart, trusted this person.
Then, they said to meet, and even Akane was cautious, but after deciding to check up on what kind of person he was before meeting up -
At the meeting place, was a long-haired, pretty woman.
As she slowly approached the place, the long-haired woman smiled and spoke.
"You're Akane-chan? Nice to meet you, I'm Nakura."
At the intellectual-type woman's words, Akane's eyes widened in surprise.
She had not thought Nakura was female.
She was kind, and wrapped the sad Akane's heart in warmth. It was probably the rebounding effect of dispelling her "what do I do if he turns out to be a scary man" worry. Soon, the girl became open to "Nakura", and met on the streets many times.
And then, on one occasion they met - she was introduced to a man.
"You want to leave home?"
The young man named "Izaya" was said to be a colleague of "Nakura"'s.
He and "Nakura" listened to the girl's talk many times.
To these people, "Nakura" and "Izaya" who had found their way into her heart, Akane brought up her circumstances.
After she spoke, she regretted it.
If I talk about the Awakusu Company, these people will definitely be scared.
She realised her legs had begun to shake.
-- What do I do.
-- What do I do. What do I do. What do I do.
-- These people are also afraid of Dad and Granddad.
However, a gentle hand was placed on Akane's head.
"Izaya" gently patted Akane's head, smiling softly as he said,
"It's okay, even though I'd be lying if I said I'm not scared...... . Akane-chan's Akane-chan."
The girl with a breaking heart.
Just that was probably enough to enter through the cracks in her heart.
From there, "Izaya" supplied her with information, and sometimes told her special mobile phone web addresses and normally unused methods to use her phone.
Then, one month later -
If anyone had taken notice, they would have realised she had left home.
Actually, what they would have noticed was the atmosphere.
From the end of April, the girl did not return home.
She sent an e-mail saying "Don't worry, I'm staying at a friend's home" to her mother every day.
On the first day, she really did stay at a friend's home.
"Nakura"'s home.
She doesn't tell lies. The next day, "Izaya" took her to a manga cafe, and the day after that, she slept in a family restaurant that operated 24 hours a day.
Akane's actions were completely taken on "Izaya"'s instructions.
But she did not think that was strange.
She thought this was what she had wanted.
An environment where she would not be considered as the "daughter of Awakusu", but as herself.
If asked whether she felt lonely for not being able to meet her family, she couldn't really say it was fine.
However, maybe her father and grandfather would stop doing things that scared people if she left home.
Deep in her heart, she understood that things would not be so simple but - the possibility filled her heart and numbed the thought of going home.
But when she felt that even that was reaching its limit - "Izaya" brought this up.
"......Do you hate your Granddad and Dad?"
To this sudden question, Akane remembered the time she destroyed her drawings, and looked down, answering quietly.
"......I don't know."
"Izaya" smiled kindly at Akane and spoke.
"It's not an urgent question. You can think about it in your own time."
However, that expression suddenly clouded over, and he spoke in a serious tone of voice.
"But until the time you figure out the answer, your Dad and Granddad might not be safe."
"Eh......?"
"See, your Dad and Granddad are scaring other people in their concern for you, aren't they?"
"Y- yes......"
To Akane, who was worrying about what the point of this talk was, "Izaya" pulled out a piece of paper.
It was a photo of a blond man in white and black clothes, with wolflike eyes under his sunglasses.
"He's Heiwajima Shizuo. He's said to be the most dangerous assassin in Ikebukuro."
"A-, assassin?"
The girl caught her breath at the dangerous word.
"Izaya", with a serious expression, said something terrifying to the girl.
"He might be after your Dad's and Granddad's lives."
"......What would you do if I said so?"
There was no compulsion in the man's voice.
It was just a question.
However - that was undeniably one of the strings twined around her heart.
And then, she was captured into the circle of chaos.
Nothing changed from the moment she was born, while the world blessed her.
---
Credit goes to anni-fiesta and nomimushi.
Celes Chere
Banned
- AKA
- Noctis
My God... So heaven DOES exist...
Rumpelstiltskin
Banned
- AKA
- L, Castiel, Scotty Mc Dickerson
I know im meant to hate him but i really like the concept art for Izaya lol.
Especially the black hate poster you posted
Especially the black hate poster you posted
Xinda
Memento Mori
...I really need to get used to name changes - I've been lurking long enough to know it happens often.
Haha, hot's one way to put a sig like that.
But omg that stash. That. Is insanely awesome. Is that... all doujinshi or posters or... what at the top?
@ Castiel; it can't be helped. Even knowing who he is, many still love him. Or have some fascination with him...ha.
Haha, hot's one way to put a sig like that.
But omg that stash. That. Is insanely awesome. Is that... all doujinshi or posters or... what at the top?
@ Castiel; it can't be helped. Even knowing who he is, many still love him. Or have some fascination with him...ha.
Rumpelstiltskin
Banned
- AKA
- L, Castiel, Scotty Mc Dickerson
He's actually my fav character in the entire series next to shizuo
Celes Chere
Banned
- AKA
- Noctis
I love both Shizuo and Izaya... Like you can't have one without the other. xD So I cannot choose between them! Sometimes I say I like Shizzy more and other times I say Izzy. X_x Baah. IT KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT. Not really. =P
Kida is actually my favorite character above them all.
Oh! Since Audi got those because of a DRRR convention, I wanted to ask if it was just DRRR, or if it was other Anime? Because I have never heard of a convention of just a single Anime before... imagining a world full of only DRRR makes me happy inside. XD
Kida is actually my favorite character above them all.
Oh! Since Audi got those because of a DRRR convention, I wanted to ask if it was just DRRR, or if it was other Anime? Because I have never heard of a convention of just a single Anime before... imagining a world full of only DRRR makes me happy inside. XD
Rumpelstiltskin
Banned
- AKA
- L, Castiel, Scotty Mc Dickerson
Lol i want to see a proper conflict between them both and also the backstory since ive only managed to see what little was explained during the series 
Although chibi Shizuo looked mental lol.
Although chibi Shizuo looked mental lol.
crack
Donator
I'm Shizuo Heiwajima.
The first picture are all doujinshi's - the second one is merchandise. I took some more pictures:
Durarara!! poster
Durarara!! trading cards - they gave out these for free, apparently. There were supposed to be twenty four in total, but I only got these ;_;
Key chains!
Tbqh, I don't like anime Izaya - he's way too trollish for his own good. In the light novel he actually HAS character though besides being an expert troll. In fact, I like the characters a whole lot better in the novels than the anime.
And it keeps me up at night ;_;It was a Durarara!! only convention - they have a lot of anime/game-only events here, it's pretty cool. There's a Pokemon event too, but that's being held in February gaaaah. And I'm pretty sure they have anime/game-only events in Japan too; in fact I believe they held a Bakura-only event, so. There is an anime expo of the sort here though, I want to go but I don't think I can : (
YEAH IT WAS ALL DURARARA THOUGH.
And I agree with Castiel about a conflict between the two being set. They're cooler in the novels, imo.
Celes Chere
Banned
- AKA
- Noctis
WTFWTFWTFFF! No faaair I need to get my ass to South Korea the next time a DRRR or Bakura convention rolls around.
I always loved Izaya, since I watched the Anime first. Though he is a troll, he's a very interesting character without the novels imo. He's just so...
I agree about reading it, it's much better that way. :B I really love both the Anime and Novel, I can't say there is a bad part of this series. x'D Except for that there should be a second half of it.. -coughcough-
But I think I lean towards Shizzy more often because he's BA and OMG PAST! x'DI also love blondes
I always loved Izaya, since I watched the Anime first. Though he is a troll, he's a very interesting character without the novels imo. He's just so...
I agree about reading it, it's much better that way. :B I really love both the Anime and Novel, I can't say there is a bad part of this series. x'D Except for that there should be a second half of it.. -coughcough-But I think I lean towards Shizzy more often because he's BA and OMG PAST! x'D
Super Mario
IT'S A ME!
- AKA
- Jesse McCree. I feel like a New Man
Do want that Celty keychain!! <8D
Rumpelstiltskin
Banned
- AKA
- L, Castiel, Scotty Mc Dickerson
IZAYA KEYRIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!!
crack
Donator
Second part ftw. And Izaya's okay in the anime, it's just harder to know his intentions without a narration like the one he has in the novel. Blondes are adorable. <3WTFWTFWTFFF! No faaair I need to get my ass to South Korea the next time a DRRR or Bakura convention rolls around.
I always loved Izaya, since I watched the Anime first. Though he is a troll, he's a very interesting character without the novels imo. He's just so...
But I think I lean towards Shizzy more often because he's BA and OMG PAST! x'DI also love blondes
ALSO; anni-fiesta just updated us with the first chapter of Volume 5 - we meet Chikage; holy SHIT I LOVE CHIKAGE (you'll probably like him too Mumble, he wears a hat XD), Shizuo remains as awesome as ever, and the plot thickens:
CHAPTER 1
THE FIGHTING DOLL* IS IN SLIGHT TROUBLE
* The Fighting Doll: short for Shizuo's nickname, "Ikebukuro's Automatic Fighting Doll".
May 3rd, Sunshine 60 Street, Ikebukuro
The street was Sunshine 60, one of the most famous in Ikebukuro.
Usually referred to as the "60-Story Street", it connects the East Gate of the Station to Sunshine City. To those who commute to Ikebukuro by train, it's the most familiar one among Ikebukuro's many crowded streets.
It is the fastest route from the Station to Sunshine Building. Though it is often confused with the street named "Sunshine Street" right next to it, they are actually completely different streets.
The time was Golden Week.
The street was more crowded than usual since it was the beginning of a long holiday.
People passed each other by in the streets heading for all sorts of destinations - families headed for Sunshine City, couples walked towards cinemas, young people were about to shop for clothes and salarymen craved their meals. Akihabara-style young men were heading for Toranoana and Manga no Mori. Young girls, on the other hand, had Animate and the Butler Cafe "Swallowtail" in their minds. Pimps looking for easy targets, men who looked like hosts, women selling paintings and even well-built foreigners could also be found in this holiday crowd.
When one walked on this road from the Ikebukuro Station, there was something quite impossible to miss.
Namely, the huge LCD screen and the numerous posters on the walls of Sunshine Cinema.
Inside the game center on the first floor, game machines like UFO claw cranes lined the walls. Young people were often seen killing their time here while waiting for the movie to begin.
"Ne - , Rocchi! Go for that one next! That one! The stuffed one!"
"Eh~that's not fair! Non just got one, didn't you, Non?"
A throng of girls stood in front of the entrance to the game center. The afternoon looked nice and peaceful.
"Ne - , Rocchi! I want a minute on that machine too!"
"Ah, OK, then we'll just leave Kanacchi here when we go buy juice, won't we, Rocchi?"
"Hang on! Are you guys dumping me!?"
"What's the big deal, Kanacchi? You got plenty of Yuukichi-sempais on you today. Change them into Hideo-kuns and play your UFO game. Wow, I just tried picturing it, and it freaking rocks! Though it's kind of TR."
"……Um, ne, Kiyomin, what the hell did she just say?"
"......If you try to put that into Japanese, it'll be like 'Kana, you have plenty of 10,000 notes on you today, so why not just change them into 1,000 ones, go have fun on your UFO claw crane and let us watch you act all stupid? I just tried picturing it, it's so bad that it's amazing. I'm getting goosebumps'......something like that. This is sick. Why can't she just speak Japanese?"
"Oi, Kiyosuke! Your translation weirded me out. You're no fun at all like an alien."
A crowd of about ten people walked out of the game center accompanied by their usual banter. Then, out of nowhere, a voice broke the peace of this routine scene.
"Get out of the wayyyyyy!"
The brusque voice of a male who was breathing heavily sounded within the crowd on the road that had almost transformed into a pedestrian street.
People turned in the direction of the voice out of reflex. A middle-aged man in a hat was pushing through the crowd forcefully, looking eager to get out.
The street was less crowded than the train station at rush hour. Had the man been a little calmer he would have been able to find his way out with relative ease. However, the man didn't look like he had the luxury; he simply charged forwards in a straight line, scaring people out of his way.
Looking more closely, people saw a woman trying to catch up with the man with a dragging stride while yelling something.
It was hard to hear what she was yelling about, but from the way she was dressed it was easy to tell that she was probably a clerk from a nearby store. From her expression, one could guess that the man trying to get away from her had probably shoplifted or robbed her store.
The crowd was flummoxed for a couple of seconds - but some people quickly realized what was happening and tried to block the man's way out.
"I told you to get out of my wayyyyyyy!"
The man who looked too fired up to catch his breath yelled unclearly on the top of his lungs while knocking people out of his way. Once people got closer to him, it became obvious that despite his modest height, the man had extremely firm muscles all about his body. His fierce determination to knock everyone out of his way reminded one of a professional football player.
(Ooi, that guy's dangerous!) (How come neither Shizuo nor Simon is here!?)
(Run fast!) (Call the police! The police!) (Uh! He's heading this way!)
(Wait! Take his photo!) (Stupid! It's not the time!) (You're the stupid one! You got the photo, you got the evidence!) (Ah, I see.)
(Uwah! I can't get away!) (Dad, what's that guy doing?) (Don't walk away from me!)
(Что случилось?) [What happened?]
(Нет проблем.) [No problem.]
(Eh!? What's up, what's up, Kuru-nee!? What's going on!?)
(Quiet [Don't shout].)
(I didn't even notice, I was too busy looking at porn! Why's everyone shouting?)
(Shut [Shut up].)
Voices drowned each other out and the street was in a commotion -
However, an even more bizarre human being was just about to make his appearance.
The gang of girls who had just got out of the game center retreated in fear of getting involved in whatever was going on. But a man had walked out - flippantly - from the center of the gang.
At first glance he looked like any average young man.
Dressed in several thin layers of clothes, he looked like a model who had just walked off a casual male fashion magazine.
Rather than Ikebukuroian, his appearance struck one as better suited for Daikanyama* or Omotesandou*. His face stood out in contrast to his rather modest dress style.
* Daikanyama: a district in Shibuya, Tokyo. Omotesandou: a road in Shibuya and Minato, Tokyo near Harajuku Station. Daikanyama and Omotesandou are both upscale shopping areas famous for fashion flagship stores such as Louis Vuitton and Prada.
- Which was not to say that he was extremely pretty or ugly; in fact, at present it was hard to tell on which side he fell.
On his face shaded under the straw hat there were layers of bandage wrapped about his forehead, part of which was still drenched in blood. One of his eyes was covered under a medical eye mask used to relieve swelling, and a huge Band Aid was plastered across his cheek.
Around the eye mask his skin looked slightly blue as if he had been recently hit with a bat or fallen down a staircase.
"Ah, Rocchi, it's dangerous! You're already wounded."
One of the girls shouted, but it was already too late. The young man who had just been called "Rocchi" had situated himself on the exact escape route of the man who was charging towards him like a bull.
"GET OUTTA MY WAY AHHHHHHHHH!"
The masculine guy yelled and accelerated while sinking his body lower, ready to knock the young man out of his way -
The young man with the injured face did nothing but deliver a direct kick at the man right when he was about to crash into him.
This move was dubbed "kenka kick*" in professional wrestling; basically, it was like stomping on the opponent without mercy, only horizontally. It was the illustrious move that enabled Kyojin wrestlers to send their opponents flying with one single kick.
* For a visual example check out this picture.
Usually the sight of the man's shoulders as he was charging forward like a bull would have been enough to make anyone lose their balance and get knocked out of his way.
- And that was exactly what everyone in the spectating crowd had expected would happen to the young man standing on one foot.
But their speculations failed completely.
A screeching sound came from the middle of the road.
The origin of that sound was obvious to anyone once they cast a look at the the young man who had moved noticeably backwards from where he had been - and the black line extending from under the one foot he was standing on.
It was impossible to tell what kind of energy flow inside him had enabled him to stop the charging man with the sole of his foot and simply skate backwards a little bit on his other foot instead of getting knocked into mid-air.
The instantaneous impact must have been horrible for the young man judging by the way thin smoke seemed to come out of the black line left on the asphalt - which was actually molten rubber from the sole of his shoe.
The man who had charged at him with the full might of his body didn't advance another inch.
Had he kept his momentum and added to it with a push of his foot, he would probably have been able to send the young man flying with ease. However, the man seemed unable to make the last stride which should have been his most powerful one.
As to why - it was because with that "kenka kick" the young man had stuffed the man's mouth with the heel of his shoe. His foot was now deep in the man's face as well.
"You......knocked three women out of your way just now, didn't you?"
The young man said in a cold voice as if to himself, not seeming to mind that the man could hardly have heard him.
"Gabu……gah……"
His front teeth must have been broken.
The man with a shoe heel in his mouth had hardly any idea what was going on. He simply groaned.
As he listened to the man groan, the younger man narrowed his uninjured eye -
"Three times."
And, with the whole weight of his body concentrated on his foot, he move the tip of his shoe three times.
To put it simply, he ground the man's face rather forcefully.
A slight screeching noise came from the man's nose which was quickly being ground out of its place like a control knob of an electric stove being turned.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ARGH~! ARGHHH!"
The man finally seemed to realize what was going on under the refreshed attack of pain.
He continued to scream nonsensically and roll on the floor with his hands over his bloody face.
The young man looked at him as if he were a mosquito he had just finished off with a spray of insect repellant.
The girls who had been watching him from afar began to chatter anew without sounding worried in the very least.
"Rocchi looks pretty mad, doesn't he?"
"Of course. The clerk who had been chasing this old guy was a woman."
"So it's for women again? How naughty."
"But Rocchi is a playboy. There's nothing you can do about it."
"That's why he's charming."
"Exactly~!"
The female clerk had appeared in front of "Rocchi" before he could hear what the girls were saying about him.
"T - Thank you so very much......this guy stole from us......"
The woman's voice was shaking. It could have been out of fatigue because she had run all the way here with dragging feet, or out of sheer fear of the man who was lying on the ground with blood all over his face and the young man who had put him into that state.
The young man took off his hat and grabbed the female clerk's hand with tenderness.
"It's nothing. I just did what I should have done as a human being."
The words he said sounded so good-natured that it was surprising.
The smile he gave the woman from in-between the eye mask and the bandages was soft, making it hard to believe that he was the same young man who had just kicked the man in the face.
The young man with a refreshing air about him noticed something about the female clerk's foot and looked worried.
"Look, my lady, you're injured."
"Eh......ah, not really......I tried to stop the guy but he knocked me away......"
"......"
The young man kept smiling - but suddenly, he hopped backwards.
"Eh?"
The female clerk shuddered involuntarily, not realizing what the young man was trying to do.
She did soon enough, though.
The young man had landed on nothing else than the leg of the shoplifter who was lying on the ground. He had stomped on the man's knee with all his weight concentrated on his feet.
The man's scream soon drowned out the bone-chilling noise coming from his knee.
"Dahbahhhhhhhhhhhh! Argh! Dahhh! AHHHHRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Shut up, scum."
The young man said in an icy voice and kicked the man mercilessly in the balls.
" ---------------------- Uhhhh......"
"I'll spare you your life for now since I don't want to make your wife and daughters cry if you do have them waiting for you to come home. But how dare you hit a woman when you're a man? Hmm?"
" --------- ! ---------------- ! ----------------- ! "
The shoplifter seemed to have exhausted all the air he had in his lungs. He couldn't move a finger, and simply kept twitching on the ground.
Everyone in the street who had witnessed this scene stood frozen. The young man, on the other hand, didn't look bothered in the very least as he smiled and said:
"Everything's OK now, don't worry. I've avenged you."
"......"
The young man began to talk non-stop once again in front of the completely dumbstruck woman.
"A beautiful lady like yourself is really not carved out for revenge. No, not at all. That's why it's better to leave to me such lowly labor that does nothing but dirties your hands - "
One of the girls standing behind the young man cut in.
"Rocchi."
"Yo, what's up, Non."
It was the shortest girl out of the throng that had come with him.
The girl who had just been called "Non" was pulling at his sleeve and saying in a nonchalant voice:
"Kiyo-nee said you kind of overdid it for it to count as self-defense. You'll be in trouble if you don't run right now."
"Eh? Is that so?"
The young man answered just as nonchalantly as he eyed the unconscious man twitching on the ground. He turned his gaze to the female clerk once again.
The clerk was blinking without saying a word. She looked even more afraid now then she did when she thanked the young man.
"......What should I do, Non? It looks like I traumatized her."
"You'll be in trouble if you don't run. Look, the police's almost here."
"Oops, that's true."
He spotted vaguely several police officers in their uniforms in the crowd waiting for the traffic light to turn green at the crossing in front of the Station.
"Bye, beautiful lady. I'll excuse myself for now. You better find someone to check on your foot, just to make sure there's no aftereffects from - "
"Enough, Rocchi! Just go!"
"Oi! Wait a sec......Non, since when are you acting like a big baby……got it! I'm coming! I'm coming, OK!? Hey, lady! If that man wakes up, you tell him! Tell him that if he wants a rematch he can come find me any time on Saitama's prefectural highways......that hurts, that hurts! I'm coming! Here, I can walk on my own, so stop pulling at my ear, would you, Non!? Non-chaaaan!"
The young man had been dragged back into the throng of girls and hurried away from the scene.
Some of the people who remained behind tried to take photos of him with their cell phones, but had to be content with taking photos of the shoplifter (though by now it was hard to tell whether he was the criminal or the victim) instead since the young man had quickly concealed himself in the throng of girls.
♂♀
After that commotion, when everyone was wondering just who that young man was -
"So they're here......"
A man sitting in a Lotteria nearby who had witnessed the entire event murmured to himself.
"Goodness...now the city's gonna be in some real trouble."
Just as the bespectacled debt collector with dreadlocks looked deeply disturbed -
A man who was somehow in a bartender suit despite being in a hamburger chain restaurant walked towards him and said:
"Tom-san, I got us coffee. ......Is something wrong?"
"Ah, thank you. ......It's nothing. I just spotted a face I happened to know."
Heiwajima Shizuo - the man in the bartender suit - sat down in front of his boss Tom and replied with a calm expression, either because he didn't hear the noise from the commotion or because he simply didn't care.
"A friend of yours?"
"No, not really......"
Tom sipped at his black coffee and frowned.
"They're not my friends. But they might be looking for you."
"?"
"Look, didn't you give those Saitama bousouzoku the hell of their lifetimes last month?......Or the heaven, since you practically blasted them into the sky."
"......Ah, yeah, the scums who damaged my clothes......"
Tom reminded himself to avoid provoking Shizuo further as he saw Shizuo's face turn dark. He continued:
"The head of 'Toramaru' was there a minute ago."
"......"
"His name is Rokujou Chikage. He may look like he's nothing more than a guy with a gaggle of girls at his heels in the day, but he's not the captain of Toramaru for nothing. Not that he's the type who would set fire to your home or anything, but it's still better to watch out."
Shizuo pondered this over for a moment after he heard what Tom had said.
"Are you talking about the guy in the leather jacket with the white heart-mark print?"
"Hmm? You know him? That's actually a tokko-fuku of sorts, but they only wear them at night."
"Yeah. He came looking for me last night."
"Huh?"
Tom's hand stopped in mid-air with the coffee cup in it as he heard Shizuo's sudden reply. He frowned and stared at Shizuo.
Shizuo chewed his hamburger and began to tell Tom what had happened last night.
"Well……a guy on a motorbike kind of came looking for me for some reason when I was on my way home yesterday."
♂♀
Night of the previous day, somewhere in Ikebukuro
"Yo, what up?"
"?"
Shizuo turned around as he heard somebody talk to him - and found a young man standing in front of a motorbike with its engine stopped.
"You're Heiwajima Shizuo, right? Well, it's not like there are that many guys who walk around in bartender suits anyway. I heard you're famous in the neighborhood."
"......?"
"I also heard that you gave my team the hell of their lifetimes recently."
"Your team?"
The young man - Rokujou Chikage - said in a bright voice to Shizuo, who was looking surprised:
"Well, I also heard that they picked on you first, so I gave them quite the lecture myself as well. But anyhow, they did end up having to be hospitalized, all of them. Even though it was our fault to begin with, that was still kind of overdoing it, don't you think? So I came here to file a complaint."
The young man who was about five inches shorter than Shizuo walked straight towards him with a fearless smile on his face - until they were so close that they could almost sense each other's breath.
"So I asked the guys in their hospital beds, and you know what they told me? They said you uprooted an entire street lamp! At first I thought they were just funny in the head, but when I got here today I did find a street lamp with new concrete around its base."
"And?"
"I'm the Captain of the team, you see. Plus I'm interested in getting to know just how strong you are......ah, by the way, are there women who would cry if you don't come home?"
"Huh?"
Chikage grinned light-heartedly as he saw Shizuo frown, and continued:
"Well, I can let you off the hook today if there are. I don't enjoy making women cry."
At that instant, anyone who knew how Shizuo was usually like would have expected his fuse to burn out and his demon fist to land on the young man.
But he didn't look angry; in fact, he looked like he was finally beginning to understand what the young man had meant.
"......Ah, I see. I got it now."
"Got what?"
"So basically you came here to pick a fight with me?"
"Basically, yes."
Chikage shook his head in a sort of resignation as he heard Shizuo ask him the belated question.
Shizuo took off his sunglasses and put them into his pocket while saying in a nostalgic voice:
"I see, I see. The last time I've been picked on this straightforwardly, I was still in high school. Speaking of which, I'm already working, but you're still a kid, aren't you? You don't even look like you're twenty yet. Even if you get to beat me up it's nothing to flaunt at school about."
"Fighting has nothing to do with age. Have you gotten better at talking thanks to your bartending job?"
"I wish."
Shizuo chuckled slightly and flexed his neck.
"Anyway, I don't hate people who come to pick on me directly. It's still better if nobody comes to pick on me, of course."
"Sorry about that."
"By the way, there's something I should tell you first."
They were already way too close, but Shizuo still tried to say more. At that instant -
Shizuo, who had taken off his sunglasses, became momentarily blinded by the soles of the other man's feet.
Accompanied by a heavy sound of impact, Chikage's feet were now in Shizuo's face.
Just when Shizuo opened his mouth to speak, Chikage had used the guardrail on the sidewalk as his springboard to deliver this seemingly impossible kick with the weight of his body concentrated on his feet.
Yet -
- I got him!
Though that was the feeling that was washing over his body, Chikage couldn't help but notice that something was different.
- What?
- How come this guy's not falling to the ground?
Chikage felt as if he had just delivered a kick at an extremely thick stick of bamboo. An eerie chill ensnared his body.
He nevertheless managed to maintain his balance as he landed, kicked the ground forcefully and swung his fist straight at his opponent with all his might.
But something still felt wrong.
- ......
- ......What exactly is this?
- ......Did I just hit the ground?
Although he did feel the softness of flesh with the front of his fist, he was unable to make his fist advance another inch.
It was like punching the ground with his fist; he couldn't sink his fist any deeper.
Question marks swirled in Chikage's mind along with the chill. Then - Shizuo's unchanging voice reached his ears.
"There's something I should tell you first......what I want in my life is just what my name says - to spend my days in peace."
"......Huh?"
Chikage's eyes couldn't help but widen.
His fist did reach his opponent's face.
But all that did was make Shizuo tilt his face a fraction of an inch; even his expression remained unchanged.
Shizuo, on the other hand, looked as if he didn't even feel the series of attacks and continued to express his wish in a flat voice:
"Therefore...how should I put it......"
"Uwah......!?"
Though the younger man was an expert at fighting himself, the flesh-colored hump still broke through his defense line with ease.
" G O T O S L E E P "
And the fist sank, with an amazing lack of further ado, deep into Chikage's face.
(TO BE CONTINUED IN PART II)
Super Mario
IT'S A ME!
- AKA
- Jesse McCree. I feel like a New Man
Holy shit! At last! A DRRR character who wears a Nice Hat <3!!
Rumpelstiltskin
Banned
- AKA
- L, Castiel, Scotty Mc Dickerson
What is it with you and hats?
Celes Chere
Banned
- AKA
- Noctis
What a tiny ass picture of him (Chikage). But imagined that he looks like Hazama. xD
Rumpelstiltskin
Banned
- AKA
- L, Castiel, Scotty Mc Dickerson
Ok il bite, he looks cool lol.