The Happiest of Man

Chapter 1

Preface to the changes that he may face (his connections, his perspective, his life – ) :

Sitting on the couch in front of a coffee table that held his half-filled cup of tea, his eyes did not focus itself upon the television before him. Instead he stared outside of his large windows as he watched the clouds drift ever-so slowly across the blue sky. 

Thinking about his childhood, his adolescence, he did not remember his parents ever being in the picture to reprimand him when he had gotten himself in trouble or have done something that he shouldn’t have. He had always gotten away with the troubles he was involved in, always having somebody else to take the blame, head hung low, chest burning with anger and rational hatred. 

Would things turn out differently if his parents were there to scold and punish him?

His musings led him to his identical siblings who possessed very different personality traits from one another. He, as well as his parents, was rarely there to support them although admittedly, Izaya usually came home to a bright and sullen expression and was forced to take care of them during his high school years. He was quite sure that they had to fend for themselves when he wasn’t around, now that he was twenty-three and decided to live a life that he didn’t wish to lead, and to be quite frank, he did not care. They were embarrassing and an eyesore for him. He had better things to do than to baby sit them. Besides, they were not all that interesting and since they were a handful, he didn’t want to bother troubling himself with such a predicament. What they do with their life was none of his concern and he made it an effort to keep out of their way or to keep them out of his way. 

He wouldn’t be surprised if they did not appreciate him at all and were waiting for him to finally drop dead (the same can be said for his enemies, right?). He wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t remember that he was even alive right now (although he’d like to think that he’s unforgettable, maybe it was best if his siblings forgot about his existence if it were to keep them from harassing him).

And suddenly, that monster came to his mind.

He was capable of controlling his anger, but the weight within his chest was suffocating. He hated him that much. Always, always, always ruining his plans, causing everything to not go the way he had thought out and thus, he’ll have to adapt to what had occurred and work around it even if he’d prefer not to. 

It was always him he didn’t want to see; that face that was etched so deeply into his memory. It was always that voice he’d rather not hear when he took a stroll down Ikebukuro’s streets; deep, irrationally angry, disgustingly provoking. Just the mere thought of him caused his teeth to grind against one another. 

Deciding to busy himself to distract such thoughts from invading his mind again, he grabbed onto his tea cup and walked over to the windows as he loomed over the crowd down below. He thought that they resembled a colony of ants and decided to chuckle at the ridiculous thought.

“Everyone dies.” He murmured as he frowned deeply at the reality he was aware of since he was a child. 

The moment those words left his lips, he knew for a fact that no one will miss him if he were to die.

If he were to disappear, many people would be happy, wouldn’t they? Especially, that monster that he was not so fond of.

If he were to die . . .

No one would care.

Not his family, not his acquaintances, not his enemies, not his subordinate -

No one.

“And that’s all right!” He shouted to the empty room that lacked an audience.

“That’s all right, isn’t it?” A wide smile pressed against his skin.

He did not know how distressed he looked at that very moment as he sauntered over to the front door and left with the mindset that it didn't matter, it shouldn't matter, and it never will matter as long as he was alive.