Hey ho everyone! Today marks off the kick off for both the Summerarara and Durarara Rarepair Month events! So, here is one of my stories for rarepair month to get us all started - Aoba/Kururi/Mairu with side Mikado/Anri. This was actually started before rarepair month was even thought of, but I decided to put off publishing until the event started after it was announced because it is a rarepair.

A few notes before starting:

I learned from an episode in Durarara x2 that Aoba is apparently part of Raira's Art Club. It's in one of the Shou episodes, if I remember correctly, and Aoba mentions it to Mikado.

Second! I learned while writing this that Japanese schools don't have dances/prom like American schools do, but there is an explanation as to why there is a school dance occurring!

Please enjoy~!

Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara

One Boy, Two Dates

Or, "Raira Academy Dance Party Disaster (Part 2)".

In which Raira Academy decides to hold a school dance and Aoba has the honor (?) of taking both Orihara twins as his date.

After the class reps, Aoba's part of one of the first groups of students at Raira to know that there's been approval given for the seniors to hold a school dance as a fundraiser event. Open to all years, tickets are priced at 1500 ¥ for single students, and couples receive a discounted price of 2500 ¥. The announcement is supposed to be made to the student body Friday after classes, and the dance is aimed to be held in the gymnasium two weeks after.

Aoba knows all of this because the class reps approached the Art Club to make the posters for advertising the dance, as well as to get the members to assist in decorating for the dance as well. Really, it all sounds like too much of a hassle, and Aoba personally doesn't want to deal with it, but their president is good friends with the female rep from Class 3-B and readily agrees to have the club help without asking the other members of the club. So, Aoba has to resign himself to spending time he'd rather be using for doing work for the Dollars or Blue Squares helping to design posters for this stupid dance.

As a result, he spends the better part of his free time that week helping the club make posters for a dance with no theme, watches his seniors in the club get into no less than fifteen arguments with the class reps over giving the dance a theme and what it should be, helps design and redesign the posters at least twenty times, has thirty ideas scrapped, and then, scooting just under the deadline with less than 24 hours to spare, Aoba spends his Thursday afternoon and early evening reluctantly assisting his fellow club members in plastering the school with the posters that the class reps and club officers finally agreed on.

Then Friday is here, and the school explodes with gossip and talk about the dance.

Some of it, Aoba has already heard – such as the fact that this is the first dance the high school has held in about ten years. Before then, the dance was a yearly fundraiser held by the seniors, but something occurred the one year that caused a 'never again' judgment to be passed down until this year's class reps finally wore down the faculty. None of the students are too sure what exactly occurred, but there's talk that it was a fire or explosion of some sort seeing as a few years ago the gym had to be redone due to smoke and water damage. Aoba thinks it also might have had something to do with the twins' older brother, because he knows the whole family is at Raira on an escalator, and he's overheard talk from some faculty members and class reps about not allowing the twins at the dance.

Of course, that all doesn't matter to Aoba. His plans for the dance are to attempt to ask Anri-chan to the dance before Mikado-senpai and, when he is inevitably turned down, spend the night with the other members of the Blue Squares causing trouble for the Dollars. Aoba doesn't intend to ask either of the twins, because he doesn't want to be bothered to choose between them – though he'd obviously go for Kururi if he did have to choose.

That doesn't seem to matter though, because his choice is taken directly out of his hands.

Monday after school, he spies Anri-chan and Mikado-senpai leaving just as he's putting on his street shoes. He skipped out of Art Club early, because he didn't want to deal with any more arguing over decorations for the dance, and figured that today's as good as any to ask Anri-chan to the dance. Their names have barely passed Aoba's lips as he calls out to greet them though before he's suddenly stopped.

"There you are Aoba-kun!" Mairu greets him cheerfully, a vice grip on his shoulder as she and Kururi come up from behind him and flank him on each side. "Kuru-nee and I have been looking for you everywhere! Seriously, with how long we were looking for you, you'd think you were hiding from us or something!"

"Aoba-kun," Kururi acknowledges him in her quiet manner, not at all bothered by her sister's exuberance, and Mairu tugs on his shoulder until Aoba complies with the younger sister's demands and turns to face the twins.

"Sorry," He apologizes, halfway sincere, throwing a look over his shoulder to Mikado-senpai and Anri-chan, who are sharing looks and seem uncertain as if they should intervene or not. "I had Art Club today, what was it that you needed?"

"Dance…" Is what Kururi says, looking at the ground rather than him, and Aoba makes the connection half a second before Mairu is nodding in agreement with what her sister said.

"Yup, that's right!" Mairu nods, glee written across her features. "Kuru-nee and I want you to take us to the dance! We've figured out that nobody's asked you yet and you haven't asked anyone, so that means you're free to go with us! And by us, I obviously mean both of us, in case you didn't understand that, so you'd be both of our dates. Of course we'd rather be going with Hanejima Yuuhei, but because he has a girlfriend now we both suppose it'll be all right if we go with you, Aoba-kun."

"Please," Kururi contributes, and that's probably the only time he'll hear either of them say please in this conversation. As he thinks about it, Aoba wonders if he even has a say in whether or not he takes them. Actually, he doesn't have to wonder, because he knows the answer: he doesn't.

"Ah, I suppose I'm not doing anything that night anyways," Aoba concedes, mainly because he doesn't have a choice. Even if he tells them no, Aoba's fairly certain that the night of the dance he'd still receive a visit from the twins expecting him to escort them. "I guess I can take you two to the dance."

"Great!" Mairu's beaming, and Kururi mumbles,

"Thanks." As well.

Before Aoba can blink, there's a girl on either side of him, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and then they're gone.

"All right Aoba-kun!" They've bounced away, and Mairu's waving goodbye cheerfully with her free hand, the other laced with Kururi's. "We'll see you in class tomorrow, and we'll let you know what we're wearing so you can match!"

And they're gone, through the school gates, leaving Aoba to wonder what exactly happened.

"S-So, Aoba-kun," Mikado-senpai starts hesitantly, him and Anri-chan having seen the whole exchange, looking at Aoba like he just watched him be given a death sentence. "You're taking the Orihara twins to the dance?"

Aoba sighs in response, and wishes he could have just asked Anri-chan.

The Friday of the dance finds Aoba standing outside of the Orihara family residence a half hour before the dance is supposed to start. Technically, he's currently supposed to be with the Art Club finishing up prep work, but Aoba skipped out yet again in favor of avoiding the work. Instead he spent the time 'getting ready', and then making his way across Ikebukuro to the twins' family residence.

He's been over to the twins' apartment a handful of times, but this is the first time Aoba's actually been over to the family residence. As he rings the doorbell, he wonders if it's because their parents wanted to meet him – the twins don't really talk about their family, after all. All they've ever really talked about has been their brother. Scowling, he thinks maybe it's because their parents want pictures, seeing as his mom was insisting on them as well.

Through the door, Aoba can hear a muffled voice call for someone to answer it, then Mairu's voice comes clear as day as if she were right next to him –

"I'll get it!" Followed immediately by a yelp of pain and someone else sighing as if they are physically pained by the occurrence.

After a moment, the door cracks open and Aoba's greeted by the sight of Kururi peering cautiously through the crack, before swinging the door open completely.

"Aoba-kun," She steps aside, leaving room for him to enter. "Welcome."

Kururi's wearing a sleeveless dress that definitely draws Aoba's attention to her chest first. When he drags his gaze upward, he notices her short hair is curled in tight ringlets that frame her face. He takes a cautious step inside, uncharacteristically worried that he's about to be surprise attacked by parents – and why should he be worried?

"Ah Aoba-kun," A male voice greets from off to the side in the living room, and it takes Aoba less than half a second to discern who it is. "Come in, come in! It's unsurprising you're the poor sap my sisters coerced into taking them to the dance tonight."

Izaya's sitting crisscross on the couch as Aoba enters the living room, positioned directly behind Mairu, who's sitting on the floor in front of him. There are hair ties decorating the older man's hair, making him seem very much like a toddler who's done their own hair, and he's humming an odd tune while his hands are buried in his sister's hair. A video is playing on a computer on the coffee table, and as it ends Izaya gives Mairu an absentminded instruction to repeat it.

"It's played ten times already!" Mairu protests and it takes a full minute for Aoba to actually comprehend that Izaya is braiding his sister's hair.

Aoba watches passively as Izaya yanks on his youngest sister's hair hard enough that he's physically pulling her head back until she's staring up at his impassive face.

"Would you rather me just tie your hair in knots instead." He informs her in a rather flat voice that doesn't pose itself as a question, more of a threat. Mairu hisses compliance, and Izaya eases his grip on her hair as she restarts the video.

"Mean." Kururi's voice appearing at his side startles Aoba, who didn't notice her appear.

"Yes, I'm so cruel," Izaya agrees with her in a mocking voice and a strange part of him wonders if it would have been possible for him and Izumii to have a relationship close to this. Of course, Aoba squashes it down immediately, appalled at himself for even wanting any sort of relationship with that asshole that didn't include trying to seriously maim him. "I take time out of my busy schedule to play stylist for you ungrateful brats, graciously tote over my makeup for you both to defile, sit here painstakingly learning an obnoxious braid that neither of you will ever want to have done again, and I'm the mean one. Yes, your logic is perfectly clear!"

"Your makeup?" Aoba's mouth moves before he can stop it, that the only part of Izaya's annoyed tirade that his mind actually caught.

Izaya… well, he's not startled, but his head does come up, scrutinizing Aoba as if he had already forgotten that the teen was there.

"Yeah!" Mairu cuts in quickly with an explanation before Izaya can say anything. "Iza-nii is a crossdresser! He dresses in drag, and thinks he can get away with liking men if he pretends he's a – ow, ow, ow! Stop pulling my hair, stop pulling my hair!"

"There is nothing wrong with wearing what society deems as 'women's clothes'," Izaya does not stop pulling Mairu's hair, and Aoba feels distinctly as if he has officially learned too much information about the informant. "The segregation of clothes by gender is merely a social construct. Not only that, but my line of work calls for a lot of skills, and if one of those skills happens to be playing a convincing female, then so be it."

He doesn't address the last part of his sister's statement, but there's no way Aoba's about to point that out – he may live for danger, but he's not an idiot.

"Iza-nii… dress…" Kururi pipes up from her spot, and Aoba sorely wishes he was as good as Mairu and Izaya at interpreting the quieter Orihara's sentences.

"Yeah, that doesn't explain why you went to your year's dance in a dress, Iza-nii!" Mairu shouts needlessly, less than five feet away from the person who she's addressing, and receives another sharp tug on her hair as a reward. Again, information that Aoba is pretty sure he both did not need nor want, and probably can't use to his advantage anyways, considering how blasé Izaya is about sharing it.

"None of your business," Izaya responds, a look of vague annoyance decorating his features, and then Kururi is shoving an open picture album into Aoba's hands.

"Iza-nii," She points down at one of the pictures, which features three teenagers – one dressed in a red dress, grinning like a maniac, who Aoba instantly identifies as Izaya, and a male on either side of him, both looking very regretful and absolutely done with whatever situation was occurring at the time it was taken. "Friends."

"Hey," All of a sudden, Izaya's voice is sharp and snapping in front of him, and the album is slicing shut neatly right before Aoba's nose. "There's no need to pull out those pictures."

Obviously, he's done with his sister's hair, and Mairu has already bounced to her feet and slotted herself neatly at Aoba's side.

"What, embarrassed?" Mairu croons as Izaya stuffs the album on top of a shelf. "There's no need to be, Iza-nii! It's perfectly normal when you want to be accepted that you –"

"Outside," Izaya cuts his sister off, a camera in his hands, and he starts shepherding them outside before Mairu can finish. "They want pictures, so apparently I have to take pictures."

"They?" Aoba questions before he can stop himself, though the answer is obvious.

"Parents."

"Mom and Dad," Mairu and Kururi answer in what's essentially unison, and Aoba wonders where they are – he had been expecting an interrogation from a parent, not… Izaya.

"Ah, they're abroad at the moment," Izaya answers the question that Aoba never asked. "Line up you three. I'm guessing your mom wants copies too, Aoba-kun."

"They're always abroad," Mairu mutters as the twins crowd on either side of him and Izaya halfheartedly takes pictures. Apparently mentioning their parents has effectively soured whatever lighthearted mood had been present before.

"There, there!" Izaya shrugs lackadaisically before commanding them to split up so he can take individual pictures of them all. "At least they remember you exist! That's more than some of us can say!"

Aoba's forced to have his picture taken with Mairu, then with Kururi, then he's off to the side as Izaya snaps a couple of the twins together.

"That'll do, I suppose," Izaya announces after a while, before dismissively waving them away. "Go, enjoy Raira's first dance in a decade, I have a meeting until 10:30 so don't get arrested until after then otherwise I'm leaving you to spend the night in jail."

Mairu boos her brother as the girls bodily haul Aoba off towards the gate, before Izaya's voice slices through the night one last time, addressing him.

"Oh, and Aoba-kun," He calls out, the trio stopping to turn and look back, "If you do anything to my sisters, pens won't be the only thing you're afraid of."

Izaya disappears back inside, and Aoba feels vaguely terrified as the trio sets off towards Raira.

Surprisingly, there are already a lot of people at the gym when Aoba and the twins finally arrive on campus. Barely fifteen minutes have passed since the dance was supposed to start, and the gym already looks to be halfway to three-quarters of the way full. There's a fairly long line to wait for tickets, and Aoba regrets not buying them beforehand in order to avoid waiting in the line.

(He had been hoping he'd be able to get out of it.)

Kururi and Mairu don't mind though, and it's only another ten minutes of waiting before they're awkwardly trying to figure out how exactly they're supposed to get tickets for the three of them. If it was just Aoba and one of the twins, they would have been able to purchase a couple's ticket, but because there's three of them, no one is certain how to handle it. One of the class reps manning the table eventually gets up and hunts down one of the teachers chaperoning the event, and when he reaches the table, his face goes white like he's seen a ghost.

"Of course it's the Oriharas causing the problem," Aoba is fairly certain the teacher didn't mean for them to hear that, or the follow-up, "The brother caused the same damn problem at the last dance."

"Um, Nakamura-sensei," The class rep interrupts hesitantly, and Nakamura-sensei collects himself and handles taking Aoba's money and giving the three of them their tickets, waving them inside with a distressed noise like the night is about to take a sharp downward spiral. Honestly, it's probably not an inaccurate statement.

"Well, this looks boring," Mairu announces, shrugging her shoulders with something akin to disappointment in her voice. "Let's see if we can spice things up, huh Kuru-nee? Aoba-kun?"

Aoba's not sure if he wants to know how Mairu intends to spice up the dance. Considering what he's heard about her from other classes, and seen, while it would be interesting, Aoba's not sure he wants to be complicit in whatever Mairu cooks up.

"No," Kururi shakes her head, and Mairu pouts. She then turns slightly to stare at Aoba, the lights catching off the glitter coating her eyelids. Her mouth moves, saying something, but Aoba's distracted first by how nice she looks, and then by the horrifying crash of remembrance that the twins had their make-up done by their brother – who crossdresses what the hell – and gets distracted by the horrifying image of Izaya in drag with make-up. It's an image (and information) that Aoba really would have rather done without.

"Wow," He's snapped out of it by the presence of Mairu's face in front of him, invading his personal space. There's wicked amusement curling on her lips, and he's dreading the words she says before they even pass through her lips. "Pretty distracted, huh, Aoba-kun? Normally I'd say you were distracted by Kuru-nee's knockers, but with a look that horrified I'd have to say you were thinking of Iza-nii in drag!" She's cackling loudly, and even Kururi lets out a small laugh. Aoba is immensely thankful that the music in the gym is too loud for anyone else to hear her.

Before Aoba can start stammering out a denial, surprised by how easily Mairu had been able to read him, she continues on with, "But that's okay! If you don't want to have the first dance with Kuru-nee, then I will!"

"I never said that!" Aoba intercepts Mairu's hand, grabbing Kururi's before her sister is able. He takes a breath to calm himself before, correcting himself, saying, "I mean, if Kururi wants to dance with me, then that's her choice, right?" He looks towards the older twin, who averts her gaze, a light red dusting her cheeks.

"Aoba-kun…" Is what she says shyly, eyes darting up towards her sister, who flails.

"Aww, Kuru-nee you are too adorable!" Mairu all but squeals, squishing her sister's cheeks together. "Okay, because you asked so cutely, I will acquiesce to your demands this time!" She gives them a hard shove towards the throng of awkwardly gyrating teenagers who are engaging in what could be very loosely termed as dancing in the middle of the floor. "Don't get up to anything too perverted on the dance floor while I'm gone! I'm off to find Sasaki-kun, have fun!"

Mairu disappears into the crowd, leaving Aoba and Kururi awkwardly standing side by side, both uncertain at what to do. Aoba isn't a big fan of any sort of dancing, especially the sort that the other Raira students are doing. Not for the first time, Aoba wishes that he hadn't agreed to go with the twins to the dance, if only to spare himself the awkwardness.

"Aoba-kun!" The familiar voice manages to slice through the music, and the pair turns to see Mikado and Anri making their way over to them. "And Kururi-san, I'm glad to see you two here. Where's Mairu-san?"

"Sasaki-kun," Kururi murmurs quietly, barely hearable over the music, inclining her head in the direction her younger sister disappeared in.

"S-So you didn't come together?" Anri asks, her voice making it seem like she's not too sure if she should be asking or not. "I-I thought both the twins asked you, Aoba-kun."

"We did,"

"They did," Aoba and Kururi speak together, Aoba continuing with, "I don't know why Mairu's looking for Sasaski-san." Well, he has a pretty good idea, but he's not about to say anything.

An awkward silence falls between the two couples as best as it can with pop music playing in the background.

"So are you guys enjoying yourselves?" Mikado attempts to restart the stymied conversation. "The class representatives worked really hard putting this together."

"And the Art Club," Aoba adds.

"Of course, Aoba-kun," Anri cuts in quickly, nervously, as if she's afraid something might start if she doesn't make an immediate attempt at stopping it. "We don't mean to undermine all the effort that the Art Club put into making this happen as well."

"It's nice," Kururi answers Mikado's original question, fingers tightening briefly around Aoba's. Briefly her eyes flit between Aoba and Mikado and Anri, the glitter in her eyeshadow catching on the lights. Her words are slow, as if she's taking care with the words she chooses. "I can tell you all worked hard on it."

Aoba thinks they're all momentarily stunned. This is the most any of them (or at least, Aoba himself, but he's pretty sure he hangs out with the Orihara twins more than Mikado and Anri) have heard Kururi say in one sentence. It's a bit strange, but not necessarily unpleasant. He definitely likes the sound of Kururi's voice more than Mairu's.

Mikado and Anri share a look of surprise, like they're trying to both overcome their shock of Kururi saying so much, as well as decide how to react to and approach her compliment.

They're saved from answering, though, as Mairu returns like a cannonball, literally barreling through the couple, aimed towards Aoba and her sister.

"Seriously, you two haven't started dancing yet? Ah, such an innocent soul Aoba-kun! Don't worry, Kuru-nee and I will corrupt you yet!" She's speaking at a rapid-fire rate before she even reaches them, and her hands come and grab theirs as she invades their personal space, breaking them apart. Before Aoba can fully process what's going on, Mairu's dragging them to the dance floor, and throwing a belated apology over their shoulders to Mikado and Anri. "Sorry, I'm stealing these two! Have fun with your couple time!"

And then, they're being pulled amongst the throng of sweaty, gyrating teen bodies until they're somewhere near the center. With how much of a hurry Mairu had been in, Aoba wonders what Sasaski helped her with, or what she did to him. Naturally, he doesn't assume Sasaki did anything to the youngest Orihara, but that goes without saying – Mairu can kick Sasaki's ass if he tries anything. Hell, from what Aoba's heard, Mairu could take out pretty much anyone in the school with little to no effort.

"C'mon," Mairu hisses, looking past Aoba to what he's assuming is one of the chaperones. "Look like we've been here the whole time." She begins moving in a manner in which Aoba thinks is supposed to be an approximation of dancing.

Suspicion is the first thing that comes to mind, and Aoba doesn't hesitate to call Mairu out.

"What did you do?" He demands, jolting a little when Mairu grabs his hands and forcibly starts dragging him around with her. To the side, Kururi is bobbing up and down in time with the music.

"Nothing," She replies, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Nothing?" Aoba questions, not entirely convinced. "Or nothing I can prove?"

"Nothing anyone can prove, technically," Mairu clarifies, removing one of her hands from Aoba's and grabbing Kururi and dragging her into awkward dance hell as well. Kururi grabs his free hand, making a full circle of hell. "And anything they do prove will lead back to Sasaki-kun! So really, we're in the clear!"

Aoba frowns. "You mean you're in the clear."

"We're in the clear." She reiterates, and he resists the urge to scowl. Of course Mairu would make sure they're all implicit in whatever she did.

"Whatever," He continues allowing himself to be jerked this way and that. Sighing, he goes on, "Just don't tell me what it was. I want full deniability."

"Gotcha!" Mairu laughs, high and bright, "Full deniability, coming right up! So just sit tight and get ready to watch the show!"

Honestly, Aoba's afraid of what the show is, but Mairu's words seem to serve as the trigger. As soon as those words leave her mouth, a girl's scream echoes from the other side of the gym. It's quickly followed by more voices and more shouts and screams, and when the threesome turns in the direction they're coming from, they see flames licking up the side of one of the banners proclaiming "Starry Night".

He spent three hours painting all the stars and constellations on that stupid thing. He should be angrier about it going up in flames, he should be angry at Mairu for undoubtedly orchestrating the fire that caused its destruction – and will cause the destruction of the other decorations – but he isn't. Instead, there's a feeling of satisfaction welling up in his chest at watching it burn. Yeah, Aoba spent three hours making that banner – and countless other hours helping set this stupid dance up – but he had hated every second of it.

Everything in the gym is quiet for a moment, pop music filling the silence accompanied by the crackles and pops of the flames, before screams of panic fill the air, overcoming even the music, and there's a stampede for the doors.

Aoba hangs tight to Mairu and Kururi's hands as they follow the crowd out, and as they're leaving with the rest of the students, he thinks he can hear one of the teachers – probably Nakamura-sensei – angrily cry out, "ORIHARA!"

Everybody congregates in the courtyard while they wait for the fire department to arrive, and as the sirens of the fire trucks sound closer, Aoba recognizes the sound of a police siren wailing along with them as well. The duet is something he remembers from when he was younger, when Izumii's bedroom caught fire and the neighbors were the ones to call the fire department – and the police as well. To this day, Izumii still thinks that he's the one who started the fire. And to this day, Aoba hasn't told whether he was or not.

"Fast," Kururi notes at Aoba's side, watching as the firemen come through, hoses at the ready and starting to douse the gym.

"Yeah," Mairu agrees, an overly chipper tone to her voice, "Almost like they were expecting something like this to happen!"

Maybe they were. Aoba doesn't say anything though, only continues watching the firefighters douse the flames in the gym. Kururi stands silently, watching as well, while Mairu bounces on her heels, humming some song Aoba's never heard. She keeps flopping his arm around with her movement, and the only reason he hasn't let go of her hand yet is because she's the one holding it hostage in a death grip.

Around them, the courtyard is slowly emptying – students are dispersing, couples leaving for other venues, some parents arriving to take their kids home.

They've probably been standing there for a good half hour by the time the flames are almost completely out. Aoba's just about to ask the twins what they want to do next – call it a night or go sneak into a movie or something – when he spots a police officer approaching them, accompanied by Nakamura-sensei.

"Not 10:30," Kururi says as they approach, checking her cellphone, and shaking her head. "Can't get arrested yet." Aoba's momentarily confused at what she's talking about, before remembering Izaya's parting words earlier that evening. Mairu scoffs.

"Who cares what Iza-nii said? Besides, like I said, they can't prove anything." A bit cocky, but Aoba's since learned that this is just Mairu's personality, and settles back for the show as the police officer and Nakamura-sensei reach them.

"Hey ho Nakamura-sensei!" Mairu greets exuberantly, perhaps a little too much so, considering that the gym was just on fire, "Officer-san. What's with the grim looks?"

Nakamura-sensei is scowling at them, and the police officer has a mixed sort of frown on his face, as if he's been told one thing, but is staring at something completely different. A distinct impression washes over Aoba telling him that Nakamura-sensei told the officer that they were the ones who started the fire. (It's not necessarily false, but judging from how Nakamura-sensei acted when they first arrived at the dance, Aoba's fairly certain he's basing his assumption off of personal biases rather than any real evidence.)

"I have a few questions for you three, if that's all right," The officer says. Nakamura-sensei looks aggravated and impatient, as if he wants the officer to arrest them already.

Kururi and Mairu look at one another and shrug, nodding in agreement, and Aoba levels a flat look at the officer that he hopes conveys accurately just how much he wants this to be over with already. He doesn't very much like chatting with the police, for more reasons than one, and this situation is no different.

"What time did you three arrive this evening?" The police officer starts off and, as they answer, goes into the line of questions. What did they see, were there any witnesses to show that they didn't go off by themselves, could the girls please empty their purses? The interrogation – because that's what it at least feels like to Aoba – is periodically interrupted with Nakamura-sensei's own comments, most of them snide and insisting on the twins' guilt in the situation.

"Really," Mairu laughs at one point, between refusals to empty her purse for the officer, "You'd think with how Nakamura-sensei is pushing the blame onto Kuru-nee and I, he's the one trying to shift the blame, right Officer-san?"

"Right," Kururi nods, "Shifting blame."

"Yeah, Nakamura-sensei," Aoba chimes in, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, hands since stuck in his pockets once they'd been released by the twins. "Why are you trying so hard to pin this fire on the Oriharas?" A sharp look is pinned on their teacher. "Could it be that you're the one that set the fire?"

This starts Nakamura-sensei sputtering, and causes the police officer to frown heavily. Not stopping with the new accusation, the twins pipe up once more,

"Yeah, he was one of the teachers on duty ten years ago with the last dance!"

"Iza-nii… fire…"

"That's right Kururi, he kept saying that Iza-nii was the one who set the fire last time, and now he's trying to blame this one on us!"

"Your brother," Nakamura-sensei manages to roar over the (minimal) back and forth between Kururi and Mairu, "Was responsible for and had a hand in several incidents during his time at Raira Academy! Including the incident ten years ago!"

The trio shares a look, and a subtle sneak towards the officer shows that he has his doubts as well.

"I don't know…"

"Has it out…"

"Yeah, sure seems like sensei has it out for your brother."

"Means…"

"That's right Kuru-nee! It means –"

"I am not the one who set this fire!" Nakamura-sensei howls once more over the three first year students.

"Wow Nakamura-sensei," Aoba is the one who raises his hands up as if in surrender, "No need to get so defensive. But, then again, don't they say that the ones who get overly defensive over an accusation are the ones responsible?"

"That's right!"

"True." The twins agree with him, which has the police officer sighing and shaking his head like he doesn't know what to do with the situation and sets Nakamura-sensei off into another set of agitated sputters and half-formed accusations.

While Nakamura-sensei appears to be having a nervous breakdown, Aoba takes the initiative and asks the police officer, "Are we free to go now, sir?"

Sighing and scratching his head, the officer says, "I don't see why not. Take care going home, and if any of you three think of anything that might help with the investigation don't hesitate to drop by the station and tell someone."

"Will do," Aoba lies pleasantly, no intention of doing so, and leads the way off the grounds. If Kururi retakes his hand, Aoba doesn't say anything and definitely does not blush – only keeps his gaze forward and focused on getting away from the school as quickly as possible.

This late in the evening, there aren't many options to do after the failure of the dance. Well, legal options Aoba amends; there are a few things he can think of doing with the Blue Squares or the Dollars, but nothing that he would drag the twins into. (The reasoning is twofold – Aoba doesn't want to involve them in any of the gang stuff he's involved in, and he's pretty sure he'd wind up in Tokyo Bay at the hands of their brother if he involved the girls in anything.) They could try and catch a movie, maybe, or go to a late night café, but Aoba's not too sure what the girls want to do.

None of them say anything as they wander the slowly emptying streets, Mairu eventually taking the lead on wherever they're headed. Aoba doesn't mind, because he has no idea what they want to do, or what they should do, so if Mairu has something in mind he'll go along with it.

Before too long, they're headed down side streets and through some dark alleys that Aoba knows they are dressed too nicely to be going down. With how the three of them are dressed they're just begging to be mugged. Mairu's striding purposefully without fear though, probably in part due to her martial arts training giving her the peace of mind that she could probably kick any mugger's ass who tried to attack her, and it tells Aoba that while they may appear lost, Mairu knows exactly where they're going.

"Where are we going?"

But where that place is, Aoba has absolutely no clue.

"Shh!" He gets hushed when he asks, "Just wait and see! It's a surprise."

Aoba's not a fan of surprises, but it appears he doesn't have much of a choice. When he looks to Kururi to see if she has any insight, she just shrugs. It seems to be as much of a surprise to her as it is to Aoba.

"I don't like surprises," He still manages to protest, as if it'll make a difference.

"Live a little and embrace the unexpected!" Mairu replies, picking up the pace until her and Kururi's heels are making a rapid fire clicking against the street that's reminiscent of the pitter-patter of rain. The three of them are running. "We have an hour left, let's get arrested before Iza-nii's out of his meeting!"

Someone starts laughing and, before Aoba knows it, all three of them are laughing.

And, as they're running through the alleys, Aoba is forced to admit that maybe tonight wasn't as much of a bust as he was expecting it to be.

Please read and review~!