Hello all~!

This is my first Durarara fanfiction and it's based on the anime and what little information I get from websites/translation of the light novel (though I'm still deciding whether I will have plots taken from there or continue with fresh ideas). I love the anime, most of the chars are so messed up, but still it captures your attention. Epic. Amazing! Anyway, this will be an OC story, no pairings at the beginning although I would powerfully hint towards an OCxIzaya pairing x3 who knows if I am going to keep it like that or not *is the type who changes thoughts/ideas quickly*

1st POV / thoughts will be in italics – usually.

Mature rating as a precaution: some of the content will have very graphic scenes (blood, torture, xxx contact of various natures), explicit language and cursing, lots of cursing at one point. Will reinforce the warning when such chapters will be posted for those who might not wish to read such parts.

Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara chars, settings, bla bla bla, only my own OCs and plots.

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Marionette

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Prologue

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Ikebukuro...

From afar you may believe it's just one of the many fragment of Tokyo, a normal Japanese city, like any you could find scattered throughout this country's rich lands. It has the same characteristics any modern city of this age would have, the same urban vibe and rhythms flowing in between the concrete and steel monsters, insufflating life into these artificial entities. Flocks of sky scrapers are planted in the center of the town and appear to have sprung from right underneath the earth itself in the same fashion mother nature's trees emerge from the ground beneath our feet, growing higher and higher like their sole purpose in this world is to reach the heavens and reign supreme over humanity. Waves of people and cars are roaming around the spaces created between these massive constructions on a daily basis, struggling to get to their destinations as fast and as soon as possible. The restless inhabitants of Ikebukuro are living their lives after a normal, yet suffocating, routine, which they are unable or, perhaps, unwilling to escape from.

However~!

There are those who have managed to overcome such impediments, after realizing... life is just too damn short, no matter how you look at it. If it isn't lived to its fullest, then the whole idea of living seems... pointless... a cradle of pain and suffering we humans go through for what purpose in the end? Nothing... With such thoughts in mind some decide to place more effort into shaping their world of tomorrow in forms different compared to today's or yesterday's. Evolution. This is the key, the aim - if you will - of this challenging game called 'life'. Stagnation is the beast plaguing this fun little game humans have been blessed with, a monster that is constantly and shamelessly eating one's soul away, indivertibly turning the user's purpose in life into a meaningless one. You could just as well be dead, wouldn't really change anything, would it?

However...

For those less fortunate these changes started occurring not because of the person's own free will. No... but... rather because of the involvement of certain individuals, which clutched upon oneself like parasitic creatures that did not want to let go unless they've drained you of all your energy and even more. The worst kind were those who loved gifting people false dreams and positive emotions for the sole purpose of shattering them at the end in a way that tore your entire being down, bringing you to a point far worse than in the beginning... a point where life was becoming a burden too heavy to follow.

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Sirens.

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The deafening noises of sirens were echoing in an unusually frenetic manner that night, like they were announcing the population about a really bad event that had taken place not long ago. Firefighters, police cars, ambulances strolled away at maximum speed towards the edge of the town, driving like there would be no tomorrow.

I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I arrived in town... that had been made very clear to me from the very first day. I wasn't prepared for this... and I couldn't avoid it...

A deep and loud sigh escaped her mouth as she leaned more against the thin steel railing, carefully brushing her right hand over her slightly hurting arm. Her left sleeve was almost torn right at the elbow, specks of blood tainting the fabric from the time she had been badly grazed in that earlier altercation. The terrace she was standing on belonged to an average sized residential complex in Ikebukuro, very close to the Sunshine Sixty area. She was aimlessly scanning the streets bellow her, lost within her thoughts as images of the past began to flash across her eyes, bringing her mood down as they unraveled in a quick and endless pace.

All I ever wanted was a fresh new beginning... and to find happiness again.

I wanted to find a place where I could finally have full control over my life once more and try to rediscover myself after what had happened at the end of my teen years. I wanted to finally accept those events and find the power to move on and stop being afraid all... the... TIME... just lock those awful memories into the deepest corners of my mind and throw away the key for good! Never come back! But I couldn't do that! Not while living there, in the place where my torments began. Osaka. It was nothing more than my personal cradle of misery and every day spent there only brought me down even further. So... I've realized that the only way to properly heal and move on was to actually to 'move' on. But by doing so, I've shattered all of the real life bonds I had in the process, all of which I've created and maintained for so many years, from childhood 'till high school times... To those people I've now become nothing but a faint nostalgic memory. My friends, my family... Looking back, I think I was quite rash... naïve in my judgment... to think that running away from anything that reminded me of 'it' would be the answer to my wishes coming true.

Silly me...

I keep wondering even now... if I hadn't left... if I hadn't left mom and the others... how would my life have looked today? Would I have been any less conflicted? Would this pain inside my heart be any less present? Would I have been happier without these bizarre people I've come to know? Would I have still been depressed? Even more broken? Even...

Dead?

She shifted her gaze towards the night sky, the inky black texture slowly getting overcome by a thick layer of clouds. A storm would be setting over the town very soon, trying to wash away the events of tonight; the sky, the moist smell and the steadily growing winds were proof of that too. Ignoring the sudden pain shot through her wounded arm, the girl tightly gripped the cold steel railing with mixed emotions bottling up inside of her, feeling like they were ready to burst out of her any second now, in a form she didn't know yet... She reached a breaking point from where she could find no escape route, there was nothing in the present for her to cling onto anymore... only dreams and wishes that could never come true... not with him around... as much as it hurt, he... just wasn't the right answer if she indeed wanted a brighter future.

Everything is a mess...

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she shifted her position, leaning with her back against the railing while her gaze randomly searched the state of her shabby clothes which carried various stains of red, mostly not her own though, layers of dust and dirt. She bet she looked like a homeless/serial killer at that moment, she thought as the wind grew stronger, messing up her auburn hair further... yet, another thing she was 'thankful' for Ikebukuro – trouble was everywhere here and if you got caught up in the wrong crowds then it usually ended up in some bloodshed. A few corpses here and there too, to make it seem like an even more welcoming town.

A sudden flash of white, shortly followed by a deafening thunder announced the beginning of the storm, slowly feeling the touch of the many icy droplets, which were falling into a still slow, steady rhythm. But what truly woke the girl up from her train of thoughts was a familiar faint aroma of a man's cologne, which began messing with her sense of smell, unconsciously inhaling in more and more of it. She immediately realized who was the one interrupting her moment of silence, but did not bother to flinch or run... it would be futile now... She raised her head from the ground and stared right in front of the shadowy figure of the man, who had, just seconds ago, jumped down from the nearby roof like it was the most natural action to do, casually making his way towards her under the rain. Crimson liquid was tainting the switchblade he was so fond of carrying around, twirling it in the air so carelessly and at the same time, carrying that menacing aura he enjoys using on people. His odd, yet enchanting, brown eyes were like chocolate, but not just any kind. The iris was tainted in a unique red shade making his whole gaze appear quite devilish and unholy – just like he was.

"Mi-tsu-ke-taaaa my little angel~!"

A mocking grin spread across his face as his eyes narrowed, his whole expression being a mixture of playfulness and danger, never ending his activity with the switch blade. She was staring at him, her stomach jumping all of a sudden and tightening with every step he took forward, being flooded with an odd sensation as her heart began to rush in its pace. Her eyes were piercing his, never once breaking the contact for in front of her was the reason she even considered Ikebukuro as the city to start her new journey to recovery. In front of her was the reason... she now ended up choosing the rash path to escape his grasp...

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"Hey... Nakura-kun? Is Ikebukuro really such a great place to be part of...?"

"I'd never leave it even if I were forced to, Tenshi-chan~! ^o^ You'll 3 it, I'm sure of it!"

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Her lips curving faintly at the memory, with a swift movement, she grabbed onto the railing one last time and pushed her entire body weight up, mentally cursing the throbbing and pain felt inside of her body, both physically and emotionally. This was it, no turning back... like every decision so far, no way to turn time around and redo it, rethink it or change it. Throwing herself over towards nothingness and simply... falling... falling... falling down like the curtain of rain drops, leaving behind the man...

...whose playful grin had instantly faded away.

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Crystal: Congrats for reaching the end~! *gives some cookies*

I hope you liked it. What the hell happened? Confused? Well, surprised if you weren't. This isn't the actual beginning of the story. More like a sneak peak of what lies in store in the future. This will be an important future scene, which will take place after the girl had settled in Ikebukuro and lived for quite some time in the city. It will be a crucial moment in her life and not only in hers~~ pam pam paaam~! The entire night will affect more than one character and will mark the start of that truly fresh new beginning for some and ending for others. In what category does she lie? Who knows...

Future chapters will bring the story back to the first day in Ikebukuro and will portray the days, weeks, months that passed by... the events that triggered all of Tenshi-chan's thinking in this part.