I hope I may be of service

My dearest, disgusting, despicable sister,

☬    Geez…the way this guy talked sort of put her in her place…but at the same time she could sit happily knowing she was right in her own world.

  In this aspect, there was no seeing eye to eye with most people, and that’s just how things were.

  And before there was even a moment of rebuttal, the brunette was forced to bear another abrupt subject change that made her skin tingle with pure distrust.

  “I’d say no, just to be on the safe side. After all, what if you put it on a wanted poster all over town and people start ganging up on me…or something?” A slight joke, but it was certainly said with serious undertones, “Maybe if you were to just tell me I might say yes…”  

  Then again, she still didn’t know whether he would lie about it or not, there were so many penalties to every action in life.

He laughed lightly as he put his phone away and waved his hand dismissively. “I’m only joking, only joking! Your reaction gave me another glimpse of what you’re like, and that’s enough for me.”

He hummed softly before putting his hands into his pockets. “Well, I think it’s about time. Any moment now, you’re special guest will be arriving. I’d love to stay and watch you interact with her. However, that monster never really liked me...” He shrugged. “You’d get more unguarded answers from her if I’m not around, and I wouldn’t want to sabotage the information you gather.”

☬    “Why are you acting so all knowing? Everyone has a different perception of the ‘truth’, and everyone has a different idea of what love is. There is no right or wrong, really.” The female practically scoffed at Izaya, a little ruffled.

  Clearly there was reason to be, when someone acted like this - not to say she had never acted in a similar fashion - it was rude to project your views of such a broad topic onto everyone.

  Ah, why did she even care? What did it matter in the end? That thought caused her to shrug involuntarily.

  In truth, his last statement was really clever…

  “I can see that. Love is strange no matter what angle I look at it anyway, so I suppose to try and explain it makes it sound like I don’t understand it…which is entirely true.”

He grinned, happy to have evoked some annoyance in her simply by talking about a subject he was absolutely fond of. “Well, as I’ve stated you’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to love, whereas I have thrown myself down into it’s depths, have seen many different forms of love, both disgustingly vile and sickeningly sweet, from many different people.”

“I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m merely stating that it isn’t something you know much about, at least that what I gather,” he shrugged offhandedly before pulling out his phone. 

☬    Once more, she stood and watched as the mysterious informant again walked to the ledge of the building and stood before it.

  “It would be safe for you to assume that, I might even say it’s entirely true. What motivates others in life is lost on me most of the time.” And again, she shrugs, “I just float along, seeing things, learning things, and worrying about the average concerns such as bills and illness. It’s an empty way of life, I suppose.”

  She just did what she needed, and what she wanted came along with that too. But boy, was he making her feel that her life was dull.

  “Not entirely, but trust is a big portion of it. about forty percent, I’d say…the rest is the animal attractions like smell and such, then there’s looks, personality, financial stability, habits…there are a lot of factors.” Why? What did he know about it that she didn’t?

“Oh dear,” Izaya said disdainfully, but his face betrayed the tone of his voice for he was bearing a smile as bright as all the other smiles he’s made today. In fact, it almost sounded as if he were mocking her. “Your perception of love is so shallow, it’s no wonder you don’t really find much interest in it.”

“There is so much more to loving a person, or a concept, or something that doesn’t even exist. Love is a feeling, an experience, and many other things. To think that forty percent of it would only be allocated to trust...” He shook his head and sighed exasperatedly, though he was only doing it for show. “But I suppose it’s understandable that you don’t fully understand what love is. After all, the discrepancy between our experiences with love is probably a gap too wide to jump.”

“If there is such a thing as love that is pure, the type of love that is based on trust, understanding, and care, then surely there is the type of love that’s so wrong and twisted beyond recognition, that others wouldn’t even consider it as love anymore. But at the core of it all, wouldn’t you say that love is more of an obsession rather anything else?”

☬    “Man, you’re funny…have you ever considered stand-up comedy?”

  She was just joking…or was she?

  Next thing she knew, they were talking once more about her opinions on things, which she very much considered to be the universal truth…of her world.

  The question seriously made her laugh, “I don’t believe in love, and especially not at first sight, that’s just plain visual attraction half the time. Honestly, I don’t understand the concept. I’ve tried, but it just never clicked with me how you could trust someone and let someone see you so vulnerable, it’s like allowing yourself to get attacked at any moment.” The brunette summarized with a shrug, “I’ve never gotten those feelings so…for me, love isn’t even real.”

Izaya hummed in thoughtfully, a placid little smile on is face as a thought popped into his mind. For the time being, he decided that he wouldn’t indulge in that and keep the little observation to himself. Instead he walked over to the edge of the building again as he spoke. “Then you don’t believe in loving your job? Would it be safe for me to assume that you just go with the motions of life without really feeling anything besides perhaps a weird sense of duty to collect and compile data?”

He looked down at the streets, at the cars and the people and the city he loved.

☬    “Everyone’s a hypocrite…whoever first said that really knew what they were talking about.”

  This Izaya Orihara…seemed perhaps too smart for his own good, and with a good bit of insanity mixed in there from what she could tell.

  She had never, in all her years of life, met someone as peculiar as this man.

  Even more strange perhaps was that she could understand what he was saying.

  He ‘loved’ humans, he had said? In what way? It was clearly not romantic, as that really didn’t make any sense at all, so perhaps it was just that humans were so amusing? If that was the case, that was understandable; after all, reality TV shows wouldn’t exist if people didn’t think that watching people was entertaining. Hell, the viewers could even fall into a false sense of reality just by watching said programs.

  “I could say the same about you, you seem like an interesting character, Mr. Orihara, and I hope I’ve given you some insight into the type of person I am as well…no, I’m sure I have.”

  She laughed when he had to tack on the last thing about his feelings toward her individually, “Oh no, I hadn’t even thought of that, I assure you. Besides, it would be really weird if you did love me, since we just met today.”

“Ahahaha,” he laughed airily, waving his hand dismissively as is he'd received a flattering comment. “Oh please. Information about me isn't up for sale, but if it was I'm sure that you and even your organization wouldn't be able to afford it!” he replied. After all, he didn't want others to learn about him. “Still, it's flattering that you'd like to know about me, I'm almost blushing,” he teased though there was no trace at all of embarrassment in his words.

At her last words, he smiled cheerfully. “I take it you don't believe in love at first sight? Would you say that it's an impossible prospect? If that is so, then why are there so many people claiming to fall in love with someone upon their initial meeting? Maybe they fell in love with how they look, or in love with their social standing...”

WHO IS THE MOST KAWII AS A KIDDIEWINKLE?

VOTING LINES ARE NOW OPEN AND WILL BE UNTIL SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE

☬    “So they say…” The ‘Butterfly Effect’, was it? It sounded like a metaphor when she had been in high school, yet out in the real world, it was a little more reasonable…just a little.

  Even so, it didn’t change her thoughts.

  Leah kept her eyes trained carefully on the man’s figure as he seemed to teeter on the edge of the building; it was a little cringe-inducing, but looking at the comfort he seemed to display during the activity made her think he had done this many times before.

  Nothing to worry about.

  Tilting her head a bit, she was forced once more to give in and listen to his words…well, perhaps not forced, but compelled. He had interesting things to say.

When he came towards her, Leah knew that, once again he had a question to pose; what he was trying to get out of all of this was unknown…yet she kept answering.

  “…It sounds to me like you’re contradicting yourself…I do the same thing. I said we make no impact, but we do, even in small ways.” She had an almost mocking look on her face as she added, “The point of it all…there isn’t one, not a universal point; we all make our own reasons for living…some can’t do that, of course. People have been wondering that for thousands of years, but as a famous story said, ‘The goal of the journey is the journey itself’.”

  Giving a sigh, she shook her head, “I bet animals don’t question their existence like humans do…they just accept it. But because we’re such curious things, beings that can think in a higher capacity, we are cursed to ask ourselves things like that.”

  “Hey…but why ask me all of this? It’s all a matter of opinion, right?”

He grinned cheekily. “That’s right, that’s right! The butterfly effect!”

“If we didn’t contradict ourselves, life would be perfect, no?” Izaya questioned happily, quite enjoying his time. “And to live a perfect life free from gainsay and negativity that wouldn’t be fun at all! But perfection is subjective so you’re always free to think differently from me and from the other people around you! And that is what makes this world so interesting!”

At her last question, he chuckled fondly like it was one of the most charming questions he had ever heard. “Didn’t I already tell you before? Didn’t I scream it to the heavens just moments ago?”

“I love humans. All of them. Including you.”

He took several steps back from her, putting distance between them as he let out a few more chuckles. No one really could understand his unilateral love for human beings, but at this point he just didn’t care. So long as he could love them, so long as he could watch them, he didn’t even care if he was hated. As long as he could keep watching his beloved humans forever, then he will be contented.

“I want to learn about you, to get to know you,” he elaborated, shrugging. “I could have asked mundane things like “What’s your favorite color?” or “What’s your favorite snack? What do you hate?”” He shrugged his shoulders. “But these sorts of questions, the ones I’ve been asking you through the entirety of our conversation, aren’t they better? Aren’t they more fun and thought provoking? Wont you learn more about a person through their opinions?”

☬    “Sounds about right…” Leah hummed in response to his analysis of her character…he seemed correct, but then again, she didn’t entirely know who she was either. No one did. 

  Yet now, as she listened to the slew of things he was saying, she came to pay more attention to those.

  To her, however, it sounded rather negative in it’s own way…this man was pessimistic, quite frankly. That was not the entirety of him, no way…but he was shrouding his thoughts and feelings in these words and ideas, maybe he was confused and overwhelmed too. The world was like that, there were mysteries everywhere…that was why Leah did what she did. No money or rewards could amount to the fulfillment she got from filling the void of nothingness where ‘sense’ was supposed to be. Before the IIS…she as a dull girl, she didn’t think very much for herself, nor did she wonder and question things she did not know, and that had all taken a 180.

  Pulled from her thoughts by the change in tone, she replied quickly, and with resolution, “I’m not so apathetic, really…but in the long run and the vastness of the universe we live in, I can’t help but think that we live such tiny, indiscriminate lives. Whatever happens to me, no matter how much I may care, will not make the whole universe care.”

  That isn’t to say she wasn’t important, but she understood her microscopic role in the vast yawn of time and space…others may not, and that was probably for the best as they may lose the value of their lives…she, on the other hand, wanted to continue learning anyway, and to always explore.

  Next thing she knew, Izaya was shouting out about his ‘love’ for humans, and she let out a chuckle as she stood up, now fully able to.

  What a peculiar man.

“Even the faintest of flutter of a butterfly's wings can cause a devastating hurricane,” Izaya replied enigmatically, a small smile on his lips as he spun around once before shoving his hands in his pockets. A breeze passed by, tousling his hair and making his body sway precariously from the building's edge. Still, he seemed confident in his steps, walking along the edge like he knew he wasn't going to fall, that the probability of him plummeting to the ground was impossible.

“Many people come to the conclusion that human beings are insignificant but that isn't necessarily true. After all, humans were able to send someone up to the moon,” he said pointing up to the night sky. “Something the people of so many years ago could only dream of becoming true.”

“And human beings could also be considered the cancer of this earth,” he continued, finally jumping off the edge to approach the young girl. “This world has existed many, many years without human beings residing in it and if every single human were to die at this very moment, the world would carry on and thrive. Merely death's whisper in the immensity of time and space.” He shrugged his shoulders, a relaxed and pleased look on his face.