origins. [izaya x oc]

chapter three; HOMO SAPIENS

The night is accompanied by a cool breeze, just cold enough for her to take note of it and feel the need to wrap her jacket tighter around herself. The fog refuses to allow much moonlight from seeping through, making it difficult to keep track of her steps.

As if the situation wouldn't already be uncomfortable enough without any of that to her.

As if she wouldn't already find herself trembling and shivering from the tension and anxiety rushing through her entire being, making her feel so restrained, so heavy and so slow.

Everything inside of her is screaming to run back home and hide away under the blankets again. She wouldn't even care about being called a coward.

Thing is, by acting so recklessly and selfish, even worse things were bound to come her way and she'd rather attend this meeting to quickly get it over with than having to suffer the consequences of making the wrong people angry.

After recollecting her thoughts and coming back to a certain mindset of reason and logic, Reika takes a deep breath before stepping into the cold darkness.

By now, she is actually somewhat used to it. It's the conscience and awareness of being almost numb to it that bothers her. She forces herself to feel the breeze dancing across her skin and crawling right into her flesh and bones.

If she doesn't force herself to sensations so mundane she'd immediately slip from reality and fall into the abyss of sweet despair.

Is it distraction? Maybe. But much more than anything it's proofing that she's still alive, still alright, to some degree at least.

Just like the small vibration in the front pocket of her jeans. It startles her, taking her off guard, but she's thankful for it. She's thankful for any reminder of the real world, even if it generally isn't much fun to be jumpscared. Or to be served as an emotional punching bag by those she once swore she'd trust with her life.

Speaking of the devil...

from: Kaito
to: Takenaka Reika
date: October 22nd, 23:37

Meet you there, babe.

Frowning at the message, the girl apparently still worth of being named "babe" after all, shoves her cellphone back into her pocket without sending a reply and proceeds to take step for step. Even though, it might be necessary to add that she certainly uses a more steady and stomp-like pace.

Anger, for any of that matter, is also a thing she's appreciative of. Such is the ache she feels in her bones upon every step she takes towards the Raijin Middle School.

Paradox, isn't it? Paradox, how desperate someone can be, clinging onto anything and everything for dear life that makes them somewhat real.

Somewhat alive.

Somewhat human.

After taking more twists and turns – physically through crossing the street just as much as she does mentally, contemplating back and forth on whether this is a good idea, whether this is safe, how she ended up here and what she should've done differently to not find herself standing in front of this godforsaken school close to midnight, because of something this stupid – she stops in front of the closed school gates.

Briefly hesitating, Reika tilts her head back to find comfort in the dim silver shine of the moonlight, which sadly doesn't radiate any warmth nor does it soothe her nearly as much as she would hope it might've been able to.

Looking left and right instead to make sure nobody would be standing there, awaiting her, stopping her, saving her ultimately through that, proves to be rather disappointing and uneventful as well.