Darker Than Black

Chapter 1

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Orihara Izaya was about to meet a terrible fate.

It wasn't exactly death, however, it was something of the sorts.

One could call it a misstep, an error that he would make, a bother that would haunt him for the rest of his existence. Whether it was technically a life or not.

He walked down the mildly busy—but not overly crowded—Shinjuku streets, observing his humans, detached as if he himself was not even one of them. It was not an unusual behaviour for the informant.

Some humans would laugh, some would yell, some would look content while others unhappy. An enormous spectrum of reactions from them all, depending on situation, company, time and place. All so different, all so unique.

Yet most so predictable to his perceptive mind. Watching them for years as he did would no doubt have that effect. A bit more excitement could be achieved by swinging the pendulum himself; with just a small nudge. As he had been doing the night before in Ikebukuro.

However, there was a new being here who had just now peeked his interest. She looked rather mystical, quite out of place amongst the crowd based on her attire.

He'd never once seen her before in this area.

It was strange, as she wore completely dark clothing, sticking out like a sore thumb in the dim city. She looked young, possibly late teens, and her whole body was draped head to toe in darkness; not a single patch of skin left for eyes to peer at.

The strange yet fascinating female was soon being followed by his quiet footsteps trailing behind at a short distance.

This was the follower's mistake—but, being interested in new and odd things was merely a very human reaction, even so much so that he himself could not avoid it.

So, as minutes passed, and the city grew ever darker, the two beings walked a small distance apart, until the girl made a quick turn into a slim gap between adjacent buildings.

What she was doing? Well that was something presumed to be very much worth looking into.

His curiosity led him after her as he also turned into the spot, to see her simply standing in silence, face shadowed and invisible from her dark-as-coal hair, moonlight barely reflecting off the strands of it.

It was a few seconds before the eerie silence was broken.

By, of course, the one confident and clueless of the being before him's true nature.

"You're an odd one, aren't you?"

The girl's head tilted up from under her hood. She let it fall behind her to reveal porcelain-white skin.

She locked her eyes with her seeker's, expression twisting into a crooked grin that had been rarely ever given to him.

He approached, maintaining a visual fix on her, and a steady, smooth pace.

"You must be new in town... well, it's always nice to see new humans around. I mean, they're just the most marvellous creatures aren't they?"

"They truly are."

Izaya cocked an eyebrow at that.

He couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right here. Her calm voice was unsettling, even in his ears.

The way she spoke her 'they' was even more detached than how he did, like she was referring to a species of animal completely unlike herself... much like he did.