DURARARA Vol.5 Aoba, Ran, and Blue Square.
I expect to wrap up my work with Durarara shortly; off the top of my head I'll still need to finish Shizuo Musou, the timeline, Kasuka's wiki page and...something else. After that I'll just be filling requests sporadically in previous threads. If I don't change my mind by July, I'll probably start something more ambitious than the random stabs I've been taking and actually do one or two entire volumes of either Durarara or Etsusa Bridge. But we'll see.
INTERLUDE, OR PROLOGUE C: KURONUMA AOBA
3 years ago, a suburb of Ikebukuro, rooftop of a certain apartment building
"...The hell you were gonna talk to me about? I don't have that much time to waste either if that's what you're thinking."
The young man did not bother to conceal his irritation as he spoke to boy in front of him.
From the rooftop the view in every direction was already drenched in the red glow of the sunset. The young man narrowed his eyes since the boy he was facing had his back turned to the sun.
It was difficult to make out the exact expression on the boy's backlit face, but the corner of his mouth was curled into an unambiguous smile.
The young man - Izumii Ran - did not like his younger brother Izumii Aoba at all.
Aoba had always acted all smart and appeared highly aware of other people's needs, which somehow never failed to stir a weird kind of annoyance in him.
Not that his younger brother had ever actually done anything to him. But although he never felt inferior to Aoba in any way, he had this feeling that Aoba was always the one getting all the affection.
Love from their parents, praise from their teachers, friendship from their peers - he felt like Aoba was raised with more of all these forms of love than he was.
Not that he actually wanted more of those than what he had gotten. But his impression had since been that Aoba was the one who was getting everything, and that annoyed him to no end.
As a sort of revenge he had beaten Aoba up on several occasions and encountered little resistance on Aoba's part.
Until this one day, after he had overdone it just a little bit - a small fire broke out in Ran's room. Apparently it started while he was out having fun for the night. The moment he got back home, his father broke his nose.
They said it was because he didn't put out his cigarette.
Fortunately the fire didn't evolve into anything more serious. The problem was, however, that he did not recall smoking at all before he left home that night.
"I'm just so glad big brother is not injured."
His younger brother, then still in elementary school, had smiled the most refreshing smile at him.
The sheer pressure from that smile had kept him from voicing in front of his brother any doubt he might have had.
Instead he simply distanced himself from his brother, which became easier to do when they began to live physically apart after their parents' divorce.
His younger brother seemed to have changed his surname to their mother's maiden name. Not that Ran cared.
Everything was good as long as he didn't have to see his irritating little brother again.
By now Ran had already earned a reputation as a famous delinquent in the neighborhood. It was best to stay away from the one that was capable of unsettling him.
However - this very younger brother had said "I need to talk to you" in a serious tone.
Izumii, who came to the rooftop as his brother had asked, did not let his guard down as he hurled insults at his brother.
He was used to fights, after all.
He had no immediate plan to attack. But if his featherweight little brother were to try to pick a fight, Ran should be able to knock him down in no time.
The corners of his mouth relaxed as soon as he double-checked that fact in his mind.
Aoba, meanwhile, moved his smiling lips just as his older brother took on a more laid-back stance.
"Actually, I have a favor to ask of you, big brother."
"What? I got no money to lend to my little brother."
"It's not that kind of favor......look, big brother, you're sort of famous among high school students in this area, right?"
"Ahh? The hell you're tryin' to say?"
Aoba slowly began to explain as his brother frowned.
"I um, gathered some friends and um, sort of made this gang-like thing. It was really a joke when it started out....."
"Gang? What gang? Study group kinda thing?"
"Well, at first that was what it was.....but then we had all these weird people joining in......some are much older than we are, even adults are starting to have stuff to do with us recently."
Ran was getting more irritated by the minute as he listened to his brother's pointless rambling.
But the look in Ran's eyes couldn't help but change at Aoba's next words.
"You know Horada-san and Higa-san from No. 3 Middle School?"
"Ahhhh.....?"
He had heard of those names.
Those were pretty famous veteran evildoers who had a reputation among Ran's peers.
He had heard that Horada dropped out of high school. The last thing he expected, however, was to hear Horada's name spoken by his perfect student of a younger brother.
"I haven't really met them in person......but they are in my gang too."
"......Huh?"
Perhaps he should just dismiss that as a joke.
But he couldn't.
Even if it really were nothing more than a joke, it was odd enough that his brother had mentioned Horada and Higa in the first place.
"It's starting to get out of my control......I have no idea what Horada and the other adults will do if they ever get to know that the leader of the gang is someone like me......I'm so scared."
- Liar.
Ran decided right away as he heard Aoba say these words.
Aoba was obviously lying.
As distant as they were, they were brothers for a reason. He was at least aware of certain sides of Aoba.
But he couldn't really say anything.
Apparently Aoba wasn't lying about the gang.
Or about Horada and the other adults.
The one thing Aoba lied about was that the gang had begun to "get out of his control".
And what Ran did was - he lied as well.
Put on a false show in front of his little brother.
Somewhat longingly, he took a deep breath and voiced the deceivingly steady words intended to fool Aoba and himself.
"You pitiful little bastard. So......what is it you want me to do? Ahh?"
"I'm so scared right now. I really don't want anything to do with this gang anymore......so I want big brother to become the new leader of this gang."
"......"
He was probably just trying to use him.
Ran was aware of this. But he didn't back out.
If he backed out right now, he would lose the one and only chance to stand above his brother.
This thought preoccupied Ran's brain. He went so far as to decide to let his little brother try to use him if he dared.
"......So this gang of yours, does it have a name?"
Aoba maintained his innocent smile as he answered this question somewhat too cheerfully.
"Yeah, a friend of mine thought it up......"
"It's called Blue Square."
♂♀
One year later.
When Blue Square got into trouble with the gang named Yellow Turbans, Aoba simply looked on.
He didn't put his most trusted fellow members to the rescue. His brother, out of sheer pride on the older sibling's part, didn't ask for his help either.
Aoba did not say anything when the news of his brother's arrest reached him.
However, when he heard that Blue Square got into further trouble with Awakusu-kai and Heiwajima Shizuo to the point where the gang's very existence hung on the line -
The boy still in middle school muttered only two icy words.
"......How useless."
♂♀
Several years later, late April, somewhere in Saitama
"Still......is it really OK to write 'DOLLARS', Aoba?"
In front of burning motorbikes stood some boys holding spray cans.
"Of course. Just do it before anyone comes and sees us."
Said Aoba with a ruthless expression he never showed in front of Mikado or others.
It was a quiet parking lot somewhere in the dead of the night.
There weren't any stores still open around the area or pedestrians passing by.
Aoba did not look like he belonged in such a place. Around him several motorbikes were on fire, and their owners lying flat on the asphalt ground.
On the walls illuminated by the flame there was a painted logo with a gorgeous woman riding on the back of a tiger and the word "TORAMARU".
Had it been painted in the right place it would have qualified as a work of art with its astounding execution. This did not, however, stop the boys from spraying large expanses of black paint over its perfection.
Aoba squinted at the boys as they went about doing their job and turned to the numerous other boys standing around him.
"The name 'Blue Square' just doesn't sound like it would sell."
"Was that why you just let your big brother take over and land us in this phenomenally pathetic state?"
Aoba laughed in self-irony and continued to speak despite his friends' jabs.
"The one who came up with the name Blue Square was actually Yatsufusa."
"Hmm, what's the story behind that name?" "Heheh."
"Yatsufusa said that we were almost like 'sharks stranded in shallow shoals.' Each one of us had a small blue rectangular piece of territory. You guys are like sharks fighting desperately just to protect that little slice of territory you have - that's how he said he came up with that name."
Some of the boys around Aoba nodded as if satisfied with the story, some twisted their heads looking nonplussed, and some simply laughed.
"What does that mean......?" "Go study."
"Aoba...does that mean the guy was making fun of us?"
"Heheh." "That bastard Yacchii." "He was making fun of us all right."
"Maybe. But I really liked that name."
For a moment some actual warmth slipped its way into Aoba's ruthless smile; but illuminated by the flame consuming the remains of the motorbikes around him all it did was send shudders down the spectator's spine.
Not taking notice of the vaguely intimidating smile on Aoba's face, one of the boys looked around and popped up a question.
"Where's the VIP who gave us our name?"
"Yatsufusa? He's home sick. Isn't he always?"
"Yep, that one's pretty frail."
"Hang on, that Mitsukuri just sprayed 'DARAASU' in hiragana!"
"Somebody stop him!" "Whatever, that works too." "Heehee."
"So Aoba, what exactly is to be done with this Dollars?"
Aoba spoke nonchalantly as the boys around him clamored.
"Big sharks can't swim in shallow shoals. They'll drown."
His figure was in silhouette now, backlit by the raging flame.
But his friends knew it.
Aoba was smiling from the bottom of his heart.
"To make the most of the high time of our lives......we'll need to swim in an ocean like Dollars."
"And? Is that why we're picking on these Saitama folks?"
"......Dollars...is vast enough, but quite shallow. Its vastness does surprise even me at times......"
"But for sharks it's just that much easier to swim where the water is deeper. That's really all I'm trying to do here."
INTERLUDE, OR PROLOGUE C: KURONUMA AOBA
3 years ago, a suburb of Ikebukuro, rooftop of a certain apartment building
"...The hell you were gonna talk to me about? I don't have that much time to waste either if that's what you're thinking."
The young man did not bother to conceal his irritation as he spoke to boy in front of him.
From the rooftop the view in every direction was already drenched in the red glow of the sunset. The young man narrowed his eyes since the boy he was facing had his back turned to the sun.
It was difficult to make out the exact expression on the boy's backlit face, but the corner of his mouth was curled into an unambiguous smile.
The young man - Izumii Ran - did not like his younger brother Izumii Aoba at all.
Aoba had always acted all smart and appeared highly aware of other people's needs, which somehow never failed to stir a weird kind of annoyance in him.
Not that his younger brother had ever actually done anything to him. But although he never felt inferior to Aoba in any way, he had this feeling that Aoba was always the one getting all the affection.
Love from their parents, praise from their teachers, friendship from their peers - he felt like Aoba was raised with more of all these forms of love than he was.
Not that he actually wanted more of those than what he had gotten. But his impression had since been that Aoba was the one who was getting everything, and that annoyed him to no end.
As a sort of revenge he had beaten Aoba up on several occasions and encountered little resistance on Aoba's part.
Until this one day, after he had overdone it just a little bit - a small fire broke out in Ran's room. Apparently it started while he was out having fun for the night. The moment he got back home, his father broke his nose.
They said it was because he didn't put out his cigarette.
Fortunately the fire didn't evolve into anything more serious. The problem was, however, that he did not recall smoking at all before he left home that night.
"I'm just so glad big brother is not injured."
His younger brother, then still in elementary school, had smiled the most refreshing smile at him.
The sheer pressure from that smile had kept him from voicing in front of his brother any doubt he might have had.
Instead he simply distanced himself from his brother, which became easier to do when they began to live physically apart after their parents' divorce.
His younger brother seemed to have changed his surname to their mother's maiden name. Not that Ran cared.
Everything was good as long as he didn't have to see his irritating little brother again.
By now Ran had already earned a reputation as a famous delinquent in the neighborhood. It was best to stay away from the one that was capable of unsettling him.
However - this very younger brother had said "I need to talk to you" in a serious tone.
Izumii, who came to the rooftop as his brother had asked, did not let his guard down as he hurled insults at his brother.
He was used to fights, after all.
He had no immediate plan to attack. But if his featherweight little brother were to try to pick a fight, Ran should be able to knock him down in no time.
The corners of his mouth relaxed as soon as he double-checked that fact in his mind.
Aoba, meanwhile, moved his smiling lips just as his older brother took on a more laid-back stance.
"Actually, I have a favor to ask of you, big brother."
"What? I got no money to lend to my little brother."
"It's not that kind of favor......look, big brother, you're sort of famous among high school students in this area, right?"
"Ahh? The hell you're tryin' to say?"
Aoba slowly began to explain as his brother frowned.
"I um, gathered some friends and um, sort of made this gang-like thing. It was really a joke when it started out....."
"Gang? What gang? Study group kinda thing?"
"Well, at first that was what it was.....but then we had all these weird people joining in......some are much older than we are, even adults are starting to have stuff to do with us recently."
Ran was getting more irritated by the minute as he listened to his brother's pointless rambling.
But the look in Ran's eyes couldn't help but change at Aoba's next words.
"You know Horada-san and Higa-san from No. 3 Middle School?"
"Ahhhh.....?"
He had heard of those names.
Those were pretty famous veteran evildoers who had a reputation among Ran's peers.
He had heard that Horada dropped out of high school. The last thing he expected, however, was to hear Horada's name spoken by his perfect student of a younger brother.
"I haven't really met them in person......but they are in my gang too."
"......Huh?"
Perhaps he should just dismiss that as a joke.
But he couldn't.
Even if it really were nothing more than a joke, it was odd enough that his brother had mentioned Horada and Higa in the first place.
"It's starting to get out of my control......I have no idea what Horada and the other adults will do if they ever get to know that the leader of the gang is someone like me......I'm so scared."
- Liar.
Ran decided right away as he heard Aoba say these words.
Aoba was obviously lying.
As distant as they were, they were brothers for a reason. He was at least aware of certain sides of Aoba.
But he couldn't really say anything.
Apparently Aoba wasn't lying about the gang.
Or about Horada and the other adults.
The one thing Aoba lied about was that the gang had begun to "get out of his control".
And what Ran did was - he lied as well.
Put on a false show in front of his little brother.
Somewhat longingly, he took a deep breath and voiced the deceivingly steady words intended to fool Aoba and himself.
"You pitiful little bastard. So......what is it you want me to do? Ahh?"
"I'm so scared right now. I really don't want anything to do with this gang anymore......so I want big brother to become the new leader of this gang."
"......"
He was probably just trying to use him.
Ran was aware of this. But he didn't back out.
If he backed out right now, he would lose the one and only chance to stand above his brother.
This thought preoccupied Ran's brain. He went so far as to decide to let his little brother try to use him if he dared.
"......So this gang of yours, does it have a name?"
Aoba maintained his innocent smile as he answered this question somewhat too cheerfully.
"Yeah, a friend of mine thought it up......"
"It's called Blue Square."
♂♀
One year later.
When Blue Square got into trouble with the gang named Yellow Turbans, Aoba simply looked on.
He didn't put his most trusted fellow members to the rescue. His brother, out of sheer pride on the older sibling's part, didn't ask for his help either.
Aoba did not say anything when the news of his brother's arrest reached him.
However, when he heard that Blue Square got into further trouble with Awakusu-kai and Heiwajima Shizuo to the point where the gang's very existence hung on the line -
The boy still in middle school muttered only two icy words.
"......How useless."
♂♀
Several years later, late April, somewhere in Saitama
"Still......is it really OK to write 'DOLLARS', Aoba?"
In front of burning motorbikes stood some boys holding spray cans.
"Of course. Just do it before anyone comes and sees us."
Said Aoba with a ruthless expression he never showed in front of Mikado or others.
It was a quiet parking lot somewhere in the dead of the night.
There weren't any stores still open around the area or pedestrians passing by.
Aoba did not look like he belonged in such a place. Around him several motorbikes were on fire, and their owners lying flat on the asphalt ground.
On the walls illuminated by the flame there was a painted logo with a gorgeous woman riding on the back of a tiger and the word "TORAMARU".
Had it been painted in the right place it would have qualified as a work of art with its astounding execution. This did not, however, stop the boys from spraying large expanses of black paint over its perfection.
Aoba squinted at the boys as they went about doing their job and turned to the numerous other boys standing around him.
"The name 'Blue Square' just doesn't sound like it would sell."
"Was that why you just let your big brother take over and land us in this phenomenally pathetic state?"
Aoba laughed in self-irony and continued to speak despite his friends' jabs.
"The one who came up with the name Blue Square was actually Yatsufusa."
"Hmm, what's the story behind that name?" "Heheh."
"Yatsufusa said that we were almost like 'sharks stranded in shallow shoals.' Each one of us had a small blue rectangular piece of territory. You guys are like sharks fighting desperately just to protect that little slice of territory you have - that's how he said he came up with that name."
Some of the boys around Aoba nodded as if satisfied with the story, some twisted their heads looking nonplussed, and some simply laughed.
"What does that mean......?" "Go study."
"Aoba...does that mean the guy was making fun of us?"
"Heheh." "That bastard Yacchii." "He was making fun of us all right."
"Maybe. But I really liked that name."
For a moment some actual warmth slipped its way into Aoba's ruthless smile; but illuminated by the flame consuming the remains of the motorbikes around him all it did was send shudders down the spectator's spine.
Not taking notice of the vaguely intimidating smile on Aoba's face, one of the boys looked around and popped up a question.
"Where's the VIP who gave us our name?"
"Yatsufusa? He's home sick. Isn't he always?"
"Yep, that one's pretty frail."
"Hang on, that Mitsukuri just sprayed 'DARAASU' in hiragana!"
"Somebody stop him!" "Whatever, that works too." "Heehee."
"So Aoba, what exactly is to be done with this Dollars?"
Aoba spoke nonchalantly as the boys around him clamored.
"Big sharks can't swim in shallow shoals. They'll drown."
His figure was in silhouette now, backlit by the raging flame.
But his friends knew it.
Aoba was smiling from the bottom of his heart.
"To make the most of the high time of our lives......we'll need to swim in an ocean like Dollars."
"And? Is that why we're picking on these Saitama folks?"
"......Dollars...is vast enough, but quite shallow. Its vastness does surprise even me at times......"
"But for sharks it's just that much easier to swim where the water is deeper. That's really all I'm trying to do here."