Summary: The first time Kyouhei heard the names Orihara and Heiwajima in the same conversation, it was through unsavory rumors.
Rumors
Posted: 18/06/2021
Status: Completed
Author's note: another small thing for this series, this time it's kadota's turn
The first time Kyouhei heard the names Orihara and Heiwajima in the same conversation, it was through unsavory rumors.
He remembered he was simply minding his own business as he had always done since he was a child. It had been lunch break, and he had stayed inside his class to eat the boxed lunch his mom had made him that morning. She was learning how to cook, and decided to use her own son as a guinea pig. He wasn’t complaining though, it was simple, but tasty.
A few desks over, a small group of classmates who probably knew each other from middle school were idly chatting while eating their own lunches, either homemade like his own or bought from the school cafeteria.
“—shouldn’t mess with him! He’s honestly like a beast.”
“What, Heiwajima ? But he’s such a twig!”
“That’s what I’m saying! He looks skinny, but I’ve seen him throw desks around as if they weighed nothing!”
“Well, now I know you’re pulling my leg…”
“No, no, he’s right! Didn’t you see him in the first week of school? He turned the football field upside-down and knocked the whole team unconscious. A real monster, I tell you.”
“Wait…that was him? Holy shit!”
Until then, he had been ignoring the group’s chatting, completely uninterested in the ongoing conversation, but the mention of that freakishly strong classmate whose name he had forgotten perked his interest. He had been there watching, like many others, when that fight happened, and he had to admit, he was pretty curious about the guy.
“He’s pretty chill when you leave him alone, though.”
A laugh.
“Yeah, until you piss him off, then it’s over for you.”
“Especially if you insult his little boyfriend .” The last word was drawled with disdain.
Kyouhei frowned into the now empty lunch box. He didn’t like that tone.
“His what now?”
The group’s volume suddenly went down, one of the boys starting to speak in some kind of stage-whisper.
“You know Orihara? That’s the boyfriend .”
“Oh, yeah, he’s in our class, right? The smart-ass pretty boy? Somehow I’m not too surprised about him being… you know .”
That was when Kyouhei had gone back to tuning them out, sensing that the rest of their conversation would become uncomfortable to listen to. Honestly, it was nobody’s business who dated who. At least he had been reminded of the blonde’s name. He was pretty surprised to hear Orihara’s name in this conversation, but in hindsight, learning that he was hanging out with Heiwajima wasn’t too surprising. The smaller boy was quiet and studious in class, but there was a certain twinkle in his eyes that barely hid a strong thirst for knowledge and excitement.
Someone like Heiwajima, in all his apparent unpredictability, would definitely spark that curiosity in Izaya’s eyes.
Speaking of the devil…or devils. At the classroom door appeared Orihara, closely followed by Heiwajima. The gossiping group immediately went silent as they saw Izaya wave goodbye at Shizuo, who gave him a small nod then continued further in the hallway to join his own class, hands in his pockets and back slouched, the very picture of a delinquent.
The homeroom teacher eventually arrived, everyone took their seats, and class begun once more.
The next day, the gossiping boys were all suspended. Apparently, one boy’s bag had caught on fire, which in turn revealed the presence of solvent in the bags of all the others. Suspected of getting themselves high with said solvent, the school decided to suspend them for a week as a warning.
When Kyouhei’s gaze met Izaya’s that day, he found unrepentant gleefulness twinkling in blood-red eyes. He was left to wonder how much his classmate had heard, and if he was responsible for the boys’ suspensions.
Years later, he heard of a similar incident implying Izaya’s younger sisters, and decided that violence must be genetic in the Orihara family.
Author's note: kururi learned from the best