Major spoilers for Naru's real identity.

Caution:
(1) The story contains (mentions of) dark themes. I also made the decision to not "spoil" the story by specifically mentioning warnings in advance. So please use your own judgment when reading this fanfiction.
(2) The Crows of Shibuya is foremost a mystery, but there will be some mild romance. The pairings are undisclosed and may range from F/M, M/M to F/F. Rest assured, there will be no relationships between adult and underage characters.

Tokyo, 201X

Caw! Caw!

His head rested against the back of his office chair when he heard the calls and rustles outside the blinded window. Heavy eyelids opened, trying to get used to the dim light in the room. Then he sighed as he recalled what happened just earlier: a headache had set in earlier on the day. Reading from the computer screen quickly turned out to be a pain-inducing task. After closing the blinds of his room, he had reclined the chair into a horizontal position. Judging by the glass of water on his desk someone came in to check on him while he was asleep. He had no idea how much time had passed since he laid down.

The headache had passed, but his eyes were still weary.

Someone knocked on the door before he could close his eyes again. He slowly moved his gaze to the source of the sound. The door opened at that very moment. His eyes narrowed when bright light streamed into the dimmed room. Mai's head poked out of the gap. She seemed worried.

"Feeling any better?"

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"…Yes."

Mai let out a sigh of relief and said: "Are you hungry? It's time for dinner."

He looked at the clock on the wall. Almost six o'clock.

"Not yet."

She scrunched her face.

"Well, I am. So I'll go get dinner with Yasuhara-san if you don't mind..." After a pause she added: "But if you come together we can save a table for four."

He sighed a little. In hindsight, he shouldn't have made them wait so long for him.

"Oh. By the way, a letter came in for you while you were asleep. ...It's on the front desk."

He nodded and stood up from his chair.

"Don't wait for me. I'll close the office."

Mai made a sound of affirmation and closed the door. He took a gulp from the glass of water and tidied up his desk.

By the time he closed the door of his room behind him, Yasuhara and Mai had already vanished.

He took a pair of gloves from his coat, walked over to the desk and glanced at the envelope. After putting on the gloves, he took the envelope and opened it. A frown appeared on his face as he read the letter. It was a waste of time. He placed the letter back into the envelope and fed it to the paper shredder.

He locked the office after putting on his coat and walked out of the corridor. Cold. He wanted to reach the restaurant as soon as possible and have a nice warm meal.

But if you come together we can save a table for four.

He paused near the escalator. Did she see him? He turned on his heels and headed to the elevator.

Last night's conversation still bothered him. Maybe he shouldn't have told him, he thought as he pushed the button inside the elevator. It doesn't even matter anymore, so why did I tell him...?

He reached the top floor, stepped out, and adjusted his scarf.

As soon as Oliver Davis opened the door to the rooftop a wave of chilly air hit him. The cold breeze was uninviting, but even so he stepped forward.

The contrasting orange sunlight glimmered weakly against the horizon. Massive crows had gathered on the safety railings. They cawed instantly at his presence. Then the crows flapped their wings and proceeded to scatter into different parts of the neighbourhood. Blue-sheened black feathers flew unnervingly close past his eyes.

Instead of paying any further attention to the urban pests, Noll searched for him with his eyes. Usually they met on the roof of the building. If it were another moment he would expect him to lean against the railing to look at the descending sun, most likely wondering what to eat in a few minutes, dwelling over some existential crisis, or reminiscing over a past lover. Noll had seen oceans of such thoughts at various intervals if his mind allowed him. Even now, surprisingly, the door was open. As if he had stopped caring. But he didn't want to extract the precise thought currently haunting his mind. All he could see was a raging storm out there.

Somewhere.

Now, where is he?

Because right now Noll wanted to go back inside at once.

Cold.

He walked to the other side of the roof. Nothing. His eyes scanned the taller buildings surrounding the roof as he returned to the door. Other offices. People working. People leaving. Some were living a life, but most lived to work. Much like he did. But he still liked to think he had a semblance of life - unlike what Mai claimed him to be.

A workaholic.

Before he knew it, his thoughts had strayed.

"I'm here."

A familiar voice brought him back to the present. It was almost like a whisper. Barely intelligible above the noise of crowds roaming the busier streets of Shibuya.

Noll looked around and saw a young man sitting against one of the rooftop's enclosures with his back against him. His legs were sprawled on the floor. Dark grey jeans. They blended in with the drabness of the roof. Noll stepped in front of him and gazed down. His head hung. There was no attempt at eye contact. A long, tawny coat hung loosely over his navy blue dress shirt. Despite the cold he had not even bothered buttoning up his coat.

Just looking at the man before him made him shiver.

"Let's go," Noll said.

He waited for the other to move or speak. Instead, the man opened a pack of cigarettes and pulled a lighter from his coat's breastpocket. His hand shook the pack a little, leaving him to grab a protruding cigarette with his lips. He lit the cigarette, still not looking back at Noll. Why call him out only to be ignored again? Noll didn't want to waste any more time and proceeded to go back into the building. It was cold.

Then he heard his voice again.

"Why did you tell me?"

Noll stopped walking.

This time he didn't bother turning around. He had enough of that pathetic sight. It reminded him of a foregone past. Making that connection just made his insides squirm.

"Why..." Noll repeated to himself. "I thought you would have wanted to know."

He heard him breathe out suddenly. Noll imagined him looking at the smoke ascending against the darkening sky and slowly receding from his view.

"That I should have died ages ago? God, no. You've gone mad."

His voice sounded exasperated, but Noll didn't let it get to him.

"Back then," Noll paused. "You did the same to me. I'm merely returning a favour."

"A favour? Do you hate me?"

Noll could only tighten the grip in his hands.

"I didn't want to know either."

There. He said it. Unlike the other, he didn't know what was going to come for him. If it was going to happen in the same way. If it was going to happen at all. It had been on the back of his mind the whole time in the past years and he'd been trying to ignore it.

Death is a certainty, but he preferred not knowing when or how it would happen.

"Damn it," The man breathed out. "...I was fifteen, scared out of my mind. You know that! I wasn't thinking. I just-"

He didn't continue. Only a thought slipped into his mind. We were always together.

Noll let out a deep sigh and spoke.

"Your death was prevented. Be a little more grateful to the one who wrote that letter."

Silence.

Then he heard a scuffle of feet.

"Grateful? Are you out of your mind? Maybe it was better if I -"

He left the sentence unfinished again.

Somewhat concerned, Noll turned around and watched him stand there. The young man looked down at the lighter in his hand. The other hand by his hip held the cigarette. He looked shocked. A little scared.

"Unlike you I don't try to hold onto those predictions. The future is in a constant flux, ever-changing..."

How many times had he repeated it to himself? He didn't know anymore.

Noll continued.

"You have to move on, Gene."

Eugene Davis looked up. His dark eyes met Noll's expectant gaze.

"It's a thing of the past."

Last night's confession had been a spur of the moment. It was simply a burst of yet another hidden fragment between the two. Noll knew that withholding that crucial detail from him - his own twin brother - would cause a rift between them. But Noll had expected him to be angry - infuriated even, but nothing like this. There was a storm of jumbled thoughts on the other side, but it wasn't caused by resentment. He tried to dig deeper as far as Gene would let him, but he found nothing - just emptiness.

Noll watched him put the cigarette back on his lips, and frowned. Speaking of early deaths...

Gene closed his eyes momentarily as he inhaled. Some of the glowing ash scattered in a sudden wind. Gene lowered the cigarette again as he walked up to Noll with a pensive expression. He stood close enough to feel each other's breaths on their faces. A hint of smoke. Gene's face turned calm and steady, and a spark returned to his eyes.

"Right. Does it even matter anymore?" He said with a little smirk.

Noll paused before responding. He was unsure what to make of his twin's quick recovery.

"No, it doesn't," he finally replied.

The storm dissipated. The surface calmed until it concluded with a few words:

Because it never happened.

The smirk settled into a smile. Then Gene turned around and nonchalantly waved a hand.

"Go back inside, Noll. I know you're cold. I need to finish this first."

Then the 'door' closed again. Just for how long? He didn't understand him anymore.

Noll watched as Gene put the lighter back in the pocket of his coat and walked over to the railing. Then he sighed and reached for the door handle. Suddenly he remembered Mai's words as he opened the door. He looked over his shoulder to see Gene leaning against the railing with his back to him.

"Yasuhara-san and Mai are at the usual place. I'll go ahead of you," he said.

There was no response.

Noll closed the door.