DURARARA Vol.3 Anri & Izaya scene (Part 2）
Anri was speaking in a tone she'd never in the wildest imagination thought she was capable of. She dived at Izaya in a sharp move, the blade tracing a bold curve without hesitation in accordance with her advance. This was an attack worthy of an Iaigiri master and should have messed up Izaya's perception of depth.
But Izaya looked as if he saw it coming from the start. If anything, he was retreating at a pace that made him seem like a chicken, jumping from the pavilion into the grass on the hummock.
"So it's true...that some Iaigiri moves prefer to mess with your sense of depth rather than get you by sheer speed."
Izaya said appreciatively before going on to pique Anri, who resumed her at-the-ready pose, again.
"OK...now, what are you going to do? If a happily uneventful life is all you want, why not just cut everyone you know with that good old katana? Be the queen of them all. That way you can even have world peace if you want."
"That...that is wrong! Even though I...I can't love anyone myself...I still think that's wrong."
"Oh that so? Then what's with this: Mikado and Masaomi both have feelings for you. Yet you never gave a clear response to either of them. Does that count as being 'right'?"
"......"
Anri fell silent. Izaya, on the other hand, taunted her harder.
"What a funny way to go about justifying yourself. You said you can't love anyone so you'd just have Saika do all the loving for you? Foolish girl. That's a mere rationalization to make yourself as you are now look better. Saika? It's nothing more than a cursed blade. How would you expect it to 'love' people like people themselves do?"
"- Please - shut up..."
Before she even finished the sentence, Anri's body commanded itself to move.
Her second attack left an even sharper trace in the air than the first, yet Izaya fended it off with the switchblade he had hidden inside his coat, and moved swiftly to look for a better angle of counterattack from behind Anri's back.
Anri, realizing what he was trying to do, quickly turned the direction of the blade backwards to slash Izaya -
But Izaya didn't attack; instead he ensured that there was even more space between him and Anri before he spoke again.
"See, you'll be in trouble if you underestimate me. There is a reason that I can pick fights with Shizu-chan. Plus, you should have at least attacked earlier - before you let me have this."
Izaya grinned malevolently and aimed the pistol he just got from Higa at Anri.
Anri, however, wasn't moved in the slightest. She had taken all the bullets from that pistol beforehand, expecting exactly this to happen.
But she was still one step behind Izaya's calculations. His face broke into a smile, with the pistol in one hand, and a little transparent bag in the other.
"......!"
There were things looking like bullets in that bag.
"So! In our next few rounds of exchanges...will I or will I not be able to fill the pistol with bullets?"
Izaya tossed the provocative question at Anri, who was regaining composure as she decided to focus on Izaya's moves. Even if he manages to fill the pistol, she could still do something as long as the Saika in her knows how.
Of course, the Anri in her would be shaking in fear of death - but as always she dissected her being from the surroundings, and treated that fear as part of the latter.
Then - Izaya spoke quietly while staring into the eyes of a cool and collected Anri.
"Ah, I'll make it clear - I won't aim it at you."
"......?"
"I'll aim at Higa."
"......!"
"- Or is that couple walking over there better? Can't decide."
That made Anri's heart tremble again.
Izaya's eyes weren't fixed on Anri - instead they followed Higa, who was behind Anri and walking down the hummock. Anri had no idea exactly how far from Izaya these people were. She couldn't hear their footsteps, nor did she know enough about guns to decide if Izaya could actually kill them from such a distance - most unfortunately, nor did Saika.
"You won't feel hurt inside even if irrelevant people are affected...right? Since you said you can't love people?"
Watching Anri stiffen, Izaya disclosed the truth in a tone of apparent apathy.
"I'll tell you something...I knew from the start that Higa was possessed. He got cut right after he picked on Shizu-chan and had to run for it wounded. Now the question is - why did I, then, order this very Higa to retrieve that pistol?"
And then -
"- In order to meet you. To talk to you like this...to declare war on you."
Not on Anri - on the blade she was wielding.
"I'm so, so, so, so much in love with humans."
Izaya smiled slightly and reiterated what he said before.
"- How could I ever let a mere katana take my love away from me?"
This would be Orihara Izaya's declaration of war on Saika.
"Because all humans are - mine."
Then, making the threats up until this point all look like a joke, Izaya added something with a wide grin.
"- Ah, except for Shizu-chan, whom you seem to have a particular taste for. I don't want him, so you can have him any way you want. I can't wait to see you slice and dice him...I'll even add that to my daily prayers. That said, good luck, and goodbye."
With a sunny smile, Izaya turned his back on Anri.
Higa was already nowhere to be found as Anri turned to look - instead there were several couples strolling around in the park.
No one seemed to notice Anri and Izaya far away in the dark - but if things got out of hand, it would be hard to tell how they would revolve.
If Higa was at a safe distance from Izaya, would Izaya aim the pistol at those couples instead?
Anri decided that Izaya was a completely different type of being from all the other people she had encountered as she slowly resheathed Saika into her body.
- Saika might have felt some sort of revolting vibe from Izaya.
As if to confirm her speculation, the usually ceaseless curses and murmurs were meaningfully absent until Izaya's figure disappeared completely into the night.
It felt as if...as if Saika was, for the first time since it was born, disgusted by a human being.
*
Probably my favorite scene of Anri in the novel.
Not to mention Simon punching Izaya in the face right afterwards made the entire volume for me.
If there be time I'll most likely do the Shingen/Izaya/Namie part in vol.3 next, then some Mairu/Kururi+Shizuo in vol.4.
But Izaya looked as if he saw it coming from the start. If anything, he was retreating at a pace that made him seem like a chicken, jumping from the pavilion into the grass on the hummock.
"So it's true...that some Iaigiri moves prefer to mess with your sense of depth rather than get you by sheer speed."
Izaya said appreciatively before going on to pique Anri, who resumed her at-the-ready pose, again.
"OK...now, what are you going to do? If a happily uneventful life is all you want, why not just cut everyone you know with that good old katana? Be the queen of them all. That way you can even have world peace if you want."
"That...that is wrong! Even though I...I can't love anyone myself...I still think that's wrong."
"Oh that so? Then what's with this: Mikado and Masaomi both have feelings for you. Yet you never gave a clear response to either of them. Does that count as being 'right'?"
"......"
Anri fell silent. Izaya, on the other hand, taunted her harder.
"What a funny way to go about justifying yourself. You said you can't love anyone so you'd just have Saika do all the loving for you? Foolish girl. That's a mere rationalization to make yourself as you are now look better. Saika? It's nothing more than a cursed blade. How would you expect it to 'love' people like people themselves do?"
"- Please - shut up..."
Before she even finished the sentence, Anri's body commanded itself to move.
Her second attack left an even sharper trace in the air than the first, yet Izaya fended it off with the switchblade he had hidden inside his coat, and moved swiftly to look for a better angle of counterattack from behind Anri's back.
Anri, realizing what he was trying to do, quickly turned the direction of the blade backwards to slash Izaya -
But Izaya didn't attack; instead he ensured that there was even more space between him and Anri before he spoke again.
"See, you'll be in trouble if you underestimate me. There is a reason that I can pick fights with Shizu-chan. Plus, you should have at least attacked earlier - before you let me have this."
Izaya grinned malevolently and aimed the pistol he just got from Higa at Anri.
Anri, however, wasn't moved in the slightest. She had taken all the bullets from that pistol beforehand, expecting exactly this to happen.
But she was still one step behind Izaya's calculations. His face broke into a smile, with the pistol in one hand, and a little transparent bag in the other.
"......!"
There were things looking like bullets in that bag.
"So! In our next few rounds of exchanges...will I or will I not be able to fill the pistol with bullets?"
Izaya tossed the provocative question at Anri, who was regaining composure as she decided to focus on Izaya's moves. Even if he manages to fill the pistol, she could still do something as long as the Saika in her knows how.
Of course, the Anri in her would be shaking in fear of death - but as always she dissected her being from the surroundings, and treated that fear as part of the latter.
Then - Izaya spoke quietly while staring into the eyes of a cool and collected Anri.
"Ah, I'll make it clear - I won't aim it at you."
"......?"
"I'll aim at Higa."
"......!"
"- Or is that couple walking over there better? Can't decide."
That made Anri's heart tremble again.
Izaya's eyes weren't fixed on Anri - instead they followed Higa, who was behind Anri and walking down the hummock. Anri had no idea exactly how far from Izaya these people were. She couldn't hear their footsteps, nor did she know enough about guns to decide if Izaya could actually kill them from such a distance - most unfortunately, nor did Saika.
"You won't feel hurt inside even if irrelevant people are affected...right? Since you said you can't love people?"
Watching Anri stiffen, Izaya disclosed the truth in a tone of apparent apathy.
"I'll tell you something...I knew from the start that Higa was possessed. He got cut right after he picked on Shizu-chan and had to run for it wounded. Now the question is - why did I, then, order this very Higa to retrieve that pistol?"
And then -
"- In order to meet you. To talk to you like this...to declare war on you."
Not on Anri - on the blade she was wielding.
"I'm so, so, so, so much in love with humans."
Izaya smiled slightly and reiterated what he said before.
"- How could I ever let a mere katana take my love away from me?"
This would be Orihara Izaya's declaration of war on Saika.
"Because all humans are - mine."
Then, making the threats up until this point all look like a joke, Izaya added something with a wide grin.
"- Ah, except for Shizu-chan, whom you seem to have a particular taste for. I don't want him, so you can have him any way you want. I can't wait to see you slice and dice him...I'll even add that to my daily prayers. That said, good luck, and goodbye."
With a sunny smile, Izaya turned his back on Anri.
Higa was already nowhere to be found as Anri turned to look - instead there were several couples strolling around in the park.
No one seemed to notice Anri and Izaya far away in the dark - but if things got out of hand, it would be hard to tell how they would revolve.
If Higa was at a safe distance from Izaya, would Izaya aim the pistol at those couples instead?
Anri decided that Izaya was a completely different type of being from all the other people she had encountered as she slowly resheathed Saika into her body.
- Saika might have felt some sort of revolting vibe from Izaya.
As if to confirm her speculation, the usually ceaseless curses and murmurs were meaningfully absent until Izaya's figure disappeared completely into the night.
It felt as if...as if Saika was, for the first time since it was born, disgusted by a human being.
*
Probably my favorite scene of Anri in the novel.
Not to mention Simon punching Izaya in the face right afterwards made the entire volume for me.
If there be time I'll most likely do the Shingen/Izaya/Namie part in vol.3 next, then some Mairu/Kururi+Shizuo in vol.4.