Fear of Falling (Izaya Orihara)

Chapter 1: Ikebukuro and Friends

Yay! New story! And I haven't even finished my other ones. Oh well.

D I S C L A I M E R: I don't own Durarara or any characters except Hikaru. Now carry on reading.

The city I used to know hadn't changed as much as I thought it would have. It hadn't actually been long since I'd last visited Ikebukuro, but I didn't have time to walk around so I had never seen how the city had changed. From the distance it was the same, but on the streets it was a completely different experience. It was clear to me now that something was different. The city itself hadn't changed, but perhaps the people had.

I walked down the street, soothed somehow by the noise of the city. The cars flying by, the lights of the city, the people talking, the vendors on the street―I closed my eyes for a minute to take it all in. The experience was refreshing. Perhaps it was a good thing to come back to Ikebukuro. Maybe I would actually enjoy this change of pace.

It was a coincidence that I happened to spot a friend while walking around the busy city streets. I almost didn't see him hiding in the sea of people. It was nearly impossible to pick out individuals in such a large crowd, but I had been looking for someone. Although the person I found wasn't who I was looking for, I was almost as happy to see them instead.

"Mikado!" I yelled, easily slipping into the spaces of the crowd. I weaved between the people without brushing a single one of them. It was the effect of living in the city for so long. I had made it to Mikado before he had even spotted me.

He finally saw me and his eyes widened in pure surprise. Recognition flashed in his eyes, then happiness. He had no time to move before I hugged him. I released him just as fast.

"It's been a while, huh?" I said, giving the boy a lopsided smile.

Mikado Ryugamine was an old friend of mine. We had met once a long time ago in a small town. Even though I had only stayed in town a month, we became really good friends, even calling each other by our first names. Although, that part was mostly because I insisted he call me by first name. He was the kind of person who would always use honorifics no matter if the other person was or wasn't.

Back then, he hadn't left his hometown at all and it didn't seem like he wanted to leave. But now that he had left, I suppose it was more like he didn't know where to go until now. It looked like he hadn't changed much. The boy still had no particularly defining feature. His eyes were still round and innocent like a puppy's eyes.

Mikado smiled at me politely but happily. "Haru. It's good to see you. I almost didn't recognize you since you cut your hair."

"Oh yeah?" I rubbed a lock of my mid-neck length hair between my fingers. Was is really that different from before? The again, 13 inches is a lot of hair to cut off.

"Oh! I didn't mean it in a bad way." Mikado panicked. "It suits you."

I chuckled and thanked him. I didn't need reassurance, but I was thankful for the compliment anyways.

"Woah woah woah, hold on now. Mikado, you know this chick."

I looked over at the boy standing with Mikado. He had bleached blond hair and pierced ears―one in his left and two in his right. He seemed like a laid back person, wearing a simple white hoodie under the Raida Academy uniform. He felt like a person who was easy to be around. The energy surrounding him made me want to talk with him, but I felt that as he drew everyone close he also held them at a particular distance.

This boy had been here for a while, I could tell. He seemed at ease with the large crowds and the sights that would make tourists stare in awe. He had street smarts. It made me feel better knowing the cute-but-clueless puppy Mikado was with this person. He would be safer that way.