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Chapter Text

After the final battle against Shizuo, Izaya left Japan and moved to Russia . He was in a wheelchair for a year and at first, he refused to do his rehabilitation. It has been 2 years now, all of his injuries were mostly healed. If it wasn't for Kine, Manami and Shinichi, he would probably be dead by now. Either because of his depression or because of his injuries. But anyway, he lived a more peaceful life far away from all the people who despised him . It's not that he regretted what he had done, bothering Shizuo was too much fun and he preferred to be an unforgivable and unforgettable hated figure to Shizuo than be a blurry face in the blond's life. Izaya knew that his love for Shizuo would destroy him but he couldn't stop, and before he knew it, it was too late.

-

~SOME DAYS AFTER HIS FIGHT WITH SHIZUO~

Izaya woke up and stared at the unknown ceiling. It was dark outside, he couldn't see anything through the window. It looked like he was in a hospital room but he knew that he was in an underground clinic . For once, he wasn't at Shinra's place. He was covered in bandages, he got broken legs, broken bones, broken arms and many other injuries. He was completely paralyzed. He didn't know how he was still alive and why, he struggled to think properly and his eyes were unfocused . He did what he had to do but he couldn't help but feel empty as he thought of everything that happened. He really didn't have the strength to continue, he was so done. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang. The door was opened by a girl, Manami. She walked in his room and looked at him with a stern gaze. He just looked at her blankly.

-"I didn't thought that the all mighty Orihara Izaya would be defeated like that. Look at you, you are pathetic." She mocked.

As she didn't receive an answer, she continued with a smirk.

-"It's truly a delight to see you in this state, I feel like all the problems in my life are disappearing." Her words were filled with venom.

However, Izaya just continued to stare at her with an emotionless face. She scoffed and turned to walk away.

-"What a poor thing, I think that he really broke you." Was all she said before disappearing outside the door.

-

The second time he woke up, the sun was already up in the sky. The sunlight was blinding him but he couldn't even move his hand to shield his eyes so he just squinted. He didn't notice that there were now three people inside his room ; Kine, Manami and Shinichi. If he was surprised, his face didn't show it. Shinichi was sitting on a chair beside his bed while the other two were standing beside the door with their back on the wall.

-"Yo." Shinichi waved his hand.

-"What are you doing here?" It was a simple question but it took a lot of energy for Izaya to say it. His voice was hoarse and came out like a whisper. If the room wasn't actually very quiet, they wouldn't have heard him at all .

Shinichi looked at him with an unreadable expression. -" I'm taking you with me, we'll go to Russia."

-" What!? Why are you taking him? Why are you bothering to help this shitty guy!" Manami sneered.

-"It's none of your business." Shinichi said coldly.

Manami huffed. " Fine, but I'm coming with you."

-"Why?" Shinichi eyes widened slightly, a little surprised.

-"All I want is to see Izaya suffer." She stated simply.

-"If she goes there, then me too." said Kine as if it was very logical.

That was how Izaya ended up being dragged to Russia , not that he minded.

-

The days after that were blurry, Izaya vaguely remembered Manami yelling and insulting him, Shinichi pestering him to drink and eat. Kine was quiet most of the time and he was thankful for that. He wasn't still able to use his hands so they would fed him, he wasn't ok with that but they would shove the spoon into his mouth. He wasn't very talkative during those periods, he was always zoning out and would spend hours overthinking. Shinichi would notice that and would try to attract his attention. Izaya still didn't understand why Shinichi was so caring about him but he wasn't totally opposed to it.

-

Izaya was actually sitting on his bed, looking out of the window. He couldn't finish his breakfast as he was already feeling nauseous. He was finally able to use his hands but his legs were still paralyzed . He accepted all of the things that happened to him. Now, in the eyes of everyone he was the villain, the despicable guy, the monster, but he wasn't sad or mad because of that fact , being viewed like that was his goal after all.

-"Stop that." Manami suddenly said.

-"Stop what?" Izaya didn't bother to look at her.

-"You look pitiful, it's like you're the victim here. It makes me sick." Like always she was cold and snarky with him.

-"If looking at me makes you sick then why are you tagging along? You can just fuck off." He snapped back.

-"The sight of you being this miserable is too priceless. I can't miss that." She smirked. She was right, he was pathetic, but at this point, he didn't care. He didn't thought that he would survive, now that Shizu-chan was happy with his friends, far away from him... He couldn't help but feels empty and he didn't know how to fill this emptiness. It was suffocating, he felt like the darkness of his mind would swallow him. He was drowning in his own messed up head.

-"Manami." Kine warned.

-"What? I'm not shutting up. Your precious monster had finally turned his back on you. He will not chase you around anymore. Ikebukuro finally got rid of its nuisance. You were so stupid to think that your 'humans' would love you back, that anyone would understand your twisted logic and love you back. And Heiwajima Shizuo is surely the most happy of them, he will finally be able to count you among his bad memories. " She mocked. Izaya flinched at that.

-" Yeah you're right, I was so stupid. " Izaya smiled, his eyes were empty but the sorrow in his gaze was obvious . His expression was so broken that it shocked the red haired girl . She was left speechless. Kine's eyes widened.

-" Enough " Shinichi said harshly as he came inside the room.-"Manami-san, can you follow me outside, there's something I want to show you . Kine-san, too." There was no room for an argument.

-

They left Izaya alone in his bedroom and headed outside. -"So, what do you want us to see." Manami asked impatiently.

-"The truth." Shinichi answered.

-"What truth?"

-"The truth about everything, the truth behind his mask. I want you to know who Orihara Izaya really is. If after that you are still not convinced , you can insult and humiliate him as many times as you want. I won't stop you anymore."

-"Now I'm interested." She smirked deviously.

-

The day after that was very odd for Izaya. At first, he thought that he woke up in a strange parallel world . Shinichi was concerned about him like always but Kine and Manami were acting weird. Since this morning, they were looking at him with that 'look'. Kine was more friendly to him and Manami was freaking him out him. She didn't insult him or anything, it was quite the opposite. The first time he saw her, her eyes were red and puffy. It seemed like she had been crying all night. She began to say things like "eat you idiot" and "are you alright, dumbass? ". It was really confusing, it was like the cold girl who liked to mentally torture him vanished.

- -"Did you threaten them yesterday?" Izaya asked Shinichi who was sitting at his bedside.

-"No, why are you asking me that?" Izaya was definitely suspicious of the hacker but he was too tired to argue. He closed his eyes and decided to sleep some more.

-

"You're the real monster, not Shizuo-san. You like ruining everyone's life and now you're all alone. Nobody would want to be friends with someone like you." Kida chided.

"You're the one behind all of this right? I knew that you were a bastard but you went too far this time. If my friends are in danger because of you, I'll make sure to you'll be far away from our life myself." Kadota warned.

" I shouldn't have asked you to be my friend." said Shinra.

_No, don't say that.

" Ignore him Shizuo-senpai, he just wants your attention, let's just go. "

_What?

" She's right Shizuo, don't give him what he wants." Tom added

_No

" I don't want to fight you anymore, Izaya. This is goodbye." Shizuo walked away, without turning back.

_Don't leave me!

Izaya woke up in a cold sweat. Another nightmare. He chuckled as tears formed in his eyes. He sighted and ran his hand through his hair.

-" Are you happy now, Shizu-chan? You have all you ever wanted. And my life is completely ruined." His hysterical laughter was interrupted by a few coughs. This situation was so fucked up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been 2 years since the flea vanished and Shizuo's life became calmer. Less people tried to pick a fight with him. Izaya was the only one who dared to challenge him every time without fear. He finally get rid of the pest and it was really freeing. He was persuaded that everything would be more enjoyable without the flea around.

At first, he felt guilty that he beat izaya too badly but later he knew that the flea would be fine and was probably back on his feet to poison others life in another city. Days after days, the nightmares about that night became less and less frequent. As if his mind really wanted to forget it. But even if almost everyone thought that the flea was dead, he was sure that it wasn't the case. He continued his life while trying to erase the feeling that something was missing in his life.

But in ikkebukuro, no one's life can be peaceful for too long, there were always troubles. Recently, there were people who were murdered in alleyways or in places which where less crowded. They thought that it will pass or it was just some sort of yakuza conflict but most of the victims were innocent citizens. They came to the conclusion that it was because of a new gang. But as time passed, the incidents in the city became more violent and dangerous. But Shizuo being the person he was, didn't care. If the persons he cared about were alright then everything was alright. And his friends were all able to defend themselves, so he went on with his life. Yeah, that was the case until Kasuka was attacked by one of these thugs. Now, he knew that he should do something about that "gang" .

Chapter Text

Shizuo went to visit Kasuka as soon as he found out about the incident. Saying that he was pissed off was an understatement. Fortunately, Celty came to pick him up so there was no flying vending machines on his way. Shinra and Ruri were also in Kasuka's apartment when he arrived.

- "I'm fine, brother. It's just a broken arm, it'll heal after some weeks." Kasuka said with his usual stoic face.

- "Yeah, you're fine but those fuckers won't be for too long." Shizuo was on the verge of exploding, he wanted to find the culprits and punch the life out of them. Sensing that, Celty hastily wrote something on her phone.

- "[ Calm down, Shizuo. If you act in this state , you risk to hurt the wrong person. ]"

- "I don't care! If those thugs attack my family, they must pay!"

- "They caught me by surprise but I was able to see that their faces were entirely covered by white masks and they were also wearing some black outfits. "

- "They ran away when they saw me." Ruri chimed in.

- "I personally think that it's just a foolish bunch of gangsters wannabe who want to take over the city or something . There were a lot of incidents caused by them recently, my clinic is almost always full~ They are beginning to be troublesome. But as long as my Celty is safe , nothing else matter_ Ouch! "

-" [Shut up, Shinra!] " Celty hit the back of his head.

-" So what are you expecting me to do! " Shizuo roared.

-"It's too late now, I think that they won't show up anymore. " Shinra spoke .

- "I can't just sit there without doing anything !"

- " I'll be more careful from now on, so that it won't happen again, brother." Kasuka tried reassure the fuming blond.

Shizuo take a deep breath. "Fine. I'm getting out of there."

He went outside to wander in the streets of Ikebukuro while trying to calm down but he couldn't promise that the first person who will get on his nerves won't end up flying in the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, somewhere near Raira high school...

After the last incident with the slasher, the dollars, the yellow and blue squares Mikado was finally able to accept who he really was. He was a normal guy but it didn't mean that he had nothing to offer. He was once again able to enjoy the little things in life even if it could be too boring. He and Anri were in a relationship and he was excited to see how their future would be.

After their class, Mikado and Anri decided to go to the Russian Sushi because they wanted to eat something before going home. As they were walking, they passed near an empty park. They suddenly got surrounded by a group of people wearing black outfits and some sort of Japanese white mask which covered their face. Something told him that they were different from the other random thugs who pretend to be part of a 'powerful gang' . Mikado tightened his grip on Anri's hand.

- "Who are you and what do you want?" Mikado inquired with a frown.

- "Are you the mother of Saika's children ?" asked a girl who had long black hair and who was wearing a white fox mask.

Anri 's eyes turned red as she was in the process of bringing out Saika's blade. But the girl with the fox mask also plugged out a saber and attacked Anri. Anri immediately punched Mikado out of the way and dodged the attack. Mikado's eyes widened in schock as the two girls fighted with their blades. It was impressive and scary. But he didn't had the time to admire the fight for too long because the other thugs began to attack him. He managed to dodge a few attacks, he also managed to land some punch before electrocuting some of them with his taser but they were too many and he was just one man . Plus , one of the person in the gang was really tall, probably reached 2 meters, and was insanely strong, Mikado wondered if that guy was a cousin of Shizuo-san or something. As he was nearly hit by a park bench, a shadow stopped the man and threw him away. Celty knocked the thugs out and was about to help Anri as well, but they all disappeared inside a shadow which appeared on the ground .

-[Are you two alright!? ] Celty asked in concern.

-"Yes, I'm alright. Thank you, Celty-san." Mikado answered with a smile.

-"Are you okay, Anri?"

-"Yes, it was just very confusing."

-"Yeah, we should go somewhere safer."

-[Mikado is right, we should go at my place, I'll tell Shinra that you are coming with me. ] Celty wrote on her phone.

-"That's a good idea, Celty-san" Anri said with a small smile.

When they arrived at Shinra and Celty's place, they were surprised to see that everyone were there. The van gang; Shizuo's co-workers, Tom and Vorona; the Orihara twins; a woman with long brown hair, he thinks that her name was Namie or something ; Saki ;Kida and Aoba who were glaring at each other.

- "Now that everyone is here, let's begin our little reunion ~" Shinra exclaimed with a cheerful voice as he clapped his hands.

Chapter Text

After his outburst at Kasuka's place, Shizuo went to join Tom and Vorona to finish their shift for the afternoon. Everything was going well, Tom proposed them to eat something at a food truck when their job was over. There was a comfortable silence between them, sometimes, they would have a little chat about some random topics . But when there was a calming moment in his life, something would always ruin it. Before, he would have blamed Izaya for it, but the flea wasn't around anymore. At some point, they got attacked by a group of people who were wearing black and white outfits. Obviously, Shizuo threw them few meters away. When one of these thugs was about to stand up a van knocked him out.

- "Yo, Shizuo. It seems like you are having a good time here." Kadota said with a sarcastic tone.

- "Shut up." he mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

- "HI Shizu-Shizu! How are you doing?" exclaimed the nerdy girl...Erika. "Shinra asked us to pick you up!" She also pointed at Tom and Vorona who were behind me him.

- "What does that four eyes want?" He grumbled.

- "I don't know, but it seemed to be important, I think that it has something to do with those incidents in the city recently." Kadota explained.

- "Shouldn't we interrogate them before going there?" Vorona inquired.

Shizuo crouched down and grabbed one of men by the collar. "Are you one of those guys in black and white who attacked Kasuka! Do you want to die!"

- "N-no I d-don't know what are you talking about. W-we're not even members of the black gang. We're just wearing the same outfit as them so that the others will respect us more!"

-"That's bullshit!" Shizuo shoved him away and stood up.

-"So they are just some impostors" Tom hummed.

"-They are stupid." Walker said snorted.

-"Anyway, let's get going" Togusa said.

Shizuo got dragged to Shinra's place like that. And it seemed like Shinra also called everyone. Soon after, Celty entered the room with Mikado and Anri in tow.

~~~~~~~~~~~

~In the living room of Shinra and Celty.~

- "Hello, everyone! I think that everyone is aware of the reason why I called you! The chaos started to reign in our beloved city so we shall do something about it!" Shinra exclaimed with his usual cheerful tone.

-"I know that you're all concerned about the fate of your city or whatever but I don't understand why I'm here as well"

-"Don't worry Yagiri-san. I can assure you that you'll this ordeal very interesting." Shinra said with a glint of mischief and amusement in his eyes. It sent shiver down Namie's spine as if something really troublesome will happen to her.

-"Is it about that mysterious gang?" Vorona inquired.

-" Yeahh and I already asked Kida to gather some informations about them. Kida we are listening to you~"

-" People call them the "Black Gang ". They began to act out in the city 6 months ago. At first, they just committed robberies. But after some time, they started to attack and kill people. Some of the victims were slashed, smashed on the pavement or mutilated." Kida narrated.

-" That's horrible " Anri whispered.

-"At first, it was just a small group. But later, there were a lot of little gangs who were wearing black and white outfits. Recently, they began to attack the other gangs like the Blue Squares and even the Yakuzas. We came to the conclusion that some of them were just impostors who were using the reputation of the Black Gang to cause troubles and the others were the lackeys of the Black Gang. The true members are hiding their face with white masks . Some people say that the main members have supernatural powers." He continued.

-" That's right, Anri and I were attacked by them hours ago . There were a girl who used a Saber which was like Saika and a tall guy who smashed a bench as if it was a simple twig! After, they all disappeared inside a shadow. " Mikado told them.

-" That girl also asked me if I was the host of Saika. "Anri added.

-" [You shouldn't stay alone from now on. ] "Celty tapped.

-" You're right, Celty-san and thank you again for saving us." Anri's lips quirked up.

-"[Don't motion it ^_^]"

-"Unfortunately, that's all the information we could get." Saki said.

-"All of the informants I engaged refused to get involved , they said that it was too dangerous and that some of the other informant brokers who were investigating about that gang were either dead or too traumatized to talk. And it seems that the police isn't doing anything. " Aoba said with a scowl.

-"So we are blocked." Kadota frowned.

The room fell silent and everyone was tense.

-"I don't care, I'll beat them all !" Shizuo shouted.

-"Yeah let's avenge Kasuka-kun!" Mairu screamed as well.

-"Yeah."added Kururi with a quiet voice.

-" You're talking like he's dead. " Kida rolled his eyes.

-"[We can't act without knowing who they really are, it can be very dangerous] "

-" My darling Celty is right. And I have a suggestion~" Shinra 's eyes became serious but they could see that he was plotting something. The doctor grinned and said

" Let's call Izaya."

Everyone went still. And it was obviously Shizuo who exploded first.

-" Why are you bringing the flea into this! We doesn't need that pest to solve this problem!"

-"Yeah and I'll not be surprised if he was already involved with those murderers. '' added Kida with an annoyed voice laced with hatred.

-" I can assure you that Izaya is a coward, he would never be able to kill someone intentionally. " Namie's said..

-"Why are you defending him? I thought that you hated him." Kida fumed.

-" I'm not defending him. I'm just stating a fact."

-"I agree with that kid." grumbled Shizuo.

-"Wait a minute !! I thought that Iza-Iza was death!! Erika cried. Kadota and Togusa face-palmed and Walker put a hand on her mouth so that she won't say any more stupid things.

-" Iza-ni wouldn't die like that. " It was the first full sentence that they heard Kururi utter. Everyone was shocked.

-" Unfortunately, that bastard is like a roach with several lives. Aoba sneered.
For once, Mairu was quiet with a disturbed expression on her face.

-"Everyone!!! That's not the problem!!! That so called black Gang is not only disturbing our city, it's literally exterminating people, we don't know who is their next target but we should do something before it's one of us. I don't know about you but I don't want my beloved Celty to be injured or in danger. I'll not be able to live with it!!! " Shinra interjected and everyone went quiet. He took a deep inhale and continued more quietly.

-" We can't do nothing if we don't know more about them. We don't even know if they have other members who have some deadly powers or something. I don't wanna hear that one of us is severely injured or on the verge of death because some information escaped us"

-"[Calm down, Shinra. We understand your point.] Celty patted his shoulder.

-" Thank you... "

-" Still, I don't want to seek his help. I'm sure that we can deal with that on our own. "Aoba spoke up.

-" Yeah, and I don't want to see that bastard ever again! "There was some animosity in Mairu voice but Shizuo could tell that there was also something else. Shizuo wondered how Izaya managed to be hated even by his own sisters. That was so sad. Kururi placed a comforting hand on her twin's shoulder.

-" That was an interesting conversation but I need to go. Kishitani-sensei, I don't have his number or the coordinates of his location if that was what you wanted from me." Namie walked out of the apartment.

-"We'll all do our own research about the Black Gang . We'll stay in contact via the group chat. We'll get going now." Kadota said his goodbye, followed by his gang.

Everyone said their goodbye and went home.

Shizuo grumbled something along the line "It was the worst idea you ever had. "

-"[I agree with them] Celty tapped.

Shinra sighted." Maybe you're right. Orihara-kun may still be the same asshole as before.

~~~~~~~~~

~Somewhere in Russia, some months ago~

-" Did you take your meds? " Manami asked him.

-"Yeah." Izaya responded.

Izaya, Shinichi, Manami and Kine managed to have a somewhat peaceful life. Their relationship changed since the day Shinichi practically dragged Manami and Kine out of the room after Manami said all of theses awful things to Izaya . It wasn't like she wasn't insulting him anymore. She still did but there was no animosity or hatred behind her words. It was almost like two bickering friends. It was the same thing with Kine. And, either he admitted it or not, Izaya knew that Shinichi was already his friend since a long time.

When Izaya was trapped inside his own head, drowning under his thoughts, they would snap him out of it by telling him something like "stop sulking you idiot" or "that look is ugly on you". Thinking about it now made him chuckle but back then, it wasn't that simple. He almost succumbed to his depression.

They lived in a peaceful area in Russia, in a small town. That town was really small compared to Ikebukuro but that place helped him to heal. When Izaya refused to do his rehabilitation, they immediately knew why , so they tried to not be too punchy with him. But they still tried to convince him, nonetheless. Izaya though that being in that wheelchair was his punishment for his mistakes , for his stupidity . But despite that, if he was obliged to turn back in time, he would have done the same things.

He was traumatized to the point that even when his legs were completely healed, he was still paralyzed. He was always tortured by nightmares and his state became worse. He lost weight and had insomnia. At some point, they were all concerned about his mental health. Nothing seemed to cheer him up. Izaya even tried suicide once but Kine stopped him on time and since then, they would not leave him alone even for one second.

-"You're free now Izaya. You're no longer obligated to have the bad role. So let's enjoy this new life, 'kay ?" Izaya remembered Shinichi saying that to him once. Izaya really wanted to do that but the shadow in his head was dark as ever. It was like all the brightness in him vanished. Shizuo gave him a purpose and now that Shizuo was not in his life anymore, he didn't know what to do. By protecting and making Shizuo his priority, he lost everything else in the process. He had new friends now but it's like his mind didn't want to acknowledge that. It was a mechanism of defense, he didn't want to be hurt by someone else. But what Shinichi told him stirred something inside him.

-"Come on Izaya, let's get some fresh air." Kine cheerfully said as he punched his wheelchair.

-"I really don't_"

-"No, no, no. You look like a vampire, you're too pale. Let's just go out and visit the town."

-" Okay..." Izaya sighted. The blinding light of the sun was burning his eyes. The little town was pretty and everyone was nice to them. Being there calmed his thoughts. He decided to relax and enjoy the view, the setting sun was stunning. When they decided to head back home, the dinner was already prepared.

-"Hi guys! Where have you been! Dinner is ready!" Manami exclaimed.

-"My my what a lovely housewife." Izaya teased with a smirk.

-"Shut up you jerk or I'll let you starve." She snapped.

-" Quite aggressive though."

-"Stop teasing her, Izaya." Shinichi said.

-"My bad."

Aftereating, everyone said goodnight and went in their own room. But as he was about to go in his bedroom, Shinichi stopped him and crouched down at his eyes level. They were actually in the hallway.

-"Let's make a deal, Izaya ." Shinichi spoke.

-" A deal?"

-"Yeah, if you promise me that you'll make an effort to get better, I promise you that I will make you see the light again. You'll be happy again." Shinichi's eyes were serious.

-" How would you do that?" A small laugh escaped Izaya's lips.

Shinichi smirked.

-" I have my way. I'm not your best friend for nothing."

-" Since when are we best friends? "Izaya inquired playfully.

-" Since the beginning. "

There was a spark of hope inside Izaya. Something inside him really wanted to believe him. Izaya 's lips curved into a small smile.

-" Okay then. "

After that, Izaya started his rehabilitation. He didn't became more happy just after that conversation but it motivated him. He really needed an anchor. Something to hold onto. Months after months passed , and his legs began to be operational. After a year and some months, he was able to walk again.

Chapter Text

"Do it monster."

That sentence never left Shizuo's head. When he was about to punch someone who was already on the ground, the image of the flea was always on his mind. But after those years, it occurred less frequently. Two years passed and the name of Orihara Izaya was just a mere memory for everyone.

After the problem with the Black Gang , they were all on their guard. But nothing happened for two weeks . Maybe that gang was just passing by but his gut told him otherwise. Something dangerous will happen to this city. The sky was grey, he could sense the smell of the rain.

-

Outside, it was pouring. Shinra looked at the droplets that were falling against the glass of the window. He sipped his tea and sighed. Celty was out finishing her works. He thought about their "little reunion". Proposing to call Izaya for some informations wasn't really a bad idea, it was true that he was an asshole but he was good at his job.

And Shinra couldn't deny that he wanted to see the man he once called a friend again. Maybe he just wanted to know how he was doing. Shinra knew that he was being selfish, he knew that he was the one who cut ties with Izaya. But Shinra didn't felt guilty because Izaya deserved all of the things that happened to him, he practically asked for it.

Shinra was disappointed in him. At some point, he didn't want Izaya to return to Ikebukuro, everything was going well without him, Shizuo was more calm and Celty wasn't involved dangerous things again (dangerous in a dullahan standard) . Celty was also happy that Shizuo became calmer and less irritated and Shinra was happy when Celty was happy. But sometimes, Shinra found himself thinking about his old friend, wondering if Izaya was okay. But he would immediately shove the idea out of his head, it was better like that.

-

Something was lurking in the shadows. Waiting for the best moment to come out.

The rain was less violent. Celty was in her way to her apartment. She could tell that Shooter was also impatient to be home, he didn't like to be wet. She spotted the van of Kadota 's gang parked beside the Russian sushi. Maybe, she could buy some take-out for Shinra. Thinking about his reaction amused her. She left Shooter beside the van and entered the restaurant. She didn't notice the two figures who were observing her from an alleyway. Inside the restaurant, Celty noticed that the van gang was the only customers. Kadota spotted her immediately and stood up to greet her. She suspected that he especially wanted to take a little break from the usual antics of his group of friends.

-"Good evening. It's good to see you, Celty. Do you wanna join us?" Kadota asked her.

-"Hiii, Celty !" Erika waved at her cheerfully. Walker and Togusa smiled and gave her a small nod.

Celty waved at them and tapped something on her phone .

-"[Good evening! Sorry but I'm just here to order some take-out. Shinra would keep pestering me if I'm late to prepare dinner. ]"

-"I see. Taking care of that big baby seems pretty difficult." He smiled playfully.

Her shoulder slumped. "[ You have no idea. ]"

-"You guys still didn't chose the wedding date?" Kadota suddenly asked.

Celty was sputtered as some smoke escaped her. She quickly tapped down something on her device.

-"[No but it won't be for very long. ]" She looked happy as if she didn't even complain about Shinra seconds ago. Kadota smiled softly.

-"That's great. I can't wait." Celty was about to reply when Simon suddenly appeared behind the counter.

-"Welcome, welcome! What can I do for you! Sushi good. Sushi will bring you a lot of happiness!" Simon cheered.

-"[ I'll take your chef's specialty .]"

-"Okay okay! Denis we have another order! Prepare our chef's specialty"

-"Okay!" Denis yelled from the kitchen.

The front door opened and a girl with long black hair entered. She wore black clothes and a white mask was placed above her head, Celty could see some treat of her face. Kadota was still talking to her but all of her focus was entirely on the girl. Celty didn't know why but as soon as that girl walked in, she had some creepy sensation inside her gut. The girl approached the counter and placed a little basket on the table. Simon was busy taking her order from Denis, so he didn't notice her.It was like everything happened in slow motion. The girl turned to walk away and was reaching the door. As the door was closing slowly behind her, Celty immediately looked at the basket. And then, it clicked thatt girl was the one who attacked Anri and Mikado. She saw a little light blinking inside it. It was like a reflex. A blinding light come out of the basket and Celty immediately warped everyone with her shadow. Only, because of the adrenaline and the heat of the action, Celty wasn't aware that she forgot to wrap someone inside her shadow.

The restaurant exploded and the commotion startled the passersby. Outside, it was already dark and the rain didn't really stopped but it was just a few little drops. When Celty unwrapped her shadow everyone was too shocked to move. Simon rapidly stood up and ran toward the destroyed restaurant. That's when Celty realized that Denis wasn't with them. She rapidly ran beside Simon and helped him to search for the Chef. When Kadota and the others recovered from their shock, they helped them as well.

When they managed to find Denis they all sighed in relief.

-"How are you feeling?" Simon asked in Russia. As he kneeled beside him. He had an unreadable expression in his eyes.

-"I'm fine. Just some little injuries." They could see that his leg was broken.

-"[ I so sorry! I didn't protect you, too]" Celty hastily tapped. She seemed very guilty.

-"It's not your fault Celty - San. Don't worry about it." Denis said reassuringly.

-"[But...]" She lowered her helmet.

-"You saved us, Celty. Let us thank you with some sushi!" Simon said with a big smile. But they could see that there was anger inside Simon's eyes. But it wasn't directed at Celty but at the person who blew up their restaurant and managed to injure Denis.

-" [Okay...] " Kadota could imagine a smile on her.

-"Do you want us to call the ambulance?" Kadota asked Denis.

-"No, I don't like hospital. My injuries are not even severe." Denis answered.

-"[Do you want me to bring you to Shinra?] Celty asked.

-" Yeah, that would be good. "

-" Let's go with the van. " Togusa said.

Simon helped him to stand up and guided him inside the van. The ride in the van was quiet. Everyone was lost in thoughts. Celty followed them from behind with Shooter. The news about the explosion of the Russian sushi spreaded very rapidly. That became the subject of conversation of everyone. In the group chat and on the social networks. There was pictures of them beside the ruin of the restaurant. Some people were amazed by the fact that the headless rider was involved in the accident.

~

-" That should be good!" Shinra exclaimed after patching Denis up. "I think that you should be able to walk again after some weeks."

-"Thank you sensei." Denis said.

-"You're welcome. I'm sorry that you're restaurant was destroyed." Shinra smiled apologetically.

-"Do not worry, we planned to renovate it anyway." Simon reassured them.

-"The person who did it should pay!"

-"Yeah! Let's pay them some visit." Erika and Walker exclaimed with a sadistic smile.

-"Calm down you two. We don't even know who did this." Togusa spoke.

-"Yeah, he's right. Fortunately, there wasn't other customers." Kadota added.

-"[ I know who did this.]" Celty tapped.

Everyone's eyes were on her.

-"What do you mean my love?" Shinra asked.

-"[ That girl... She was one of the ones who attacked Mikado and Anri. I think that she's a member of the black gang.]"

-"Are you sure?" Kadota asked.

-"[ Yeah.] She affirmed.

-"What are we gonna do now?" Togusa asked.

-"Frankly, I don't know." Shinra said as he rubbed his temple.

-"[We're all tired and stressed because of this. Let's just rest for today. We can talk about it when everyone is fully rested.]"

-"Yeah my beloved Celty is right. We'll figure something out when we'll be more calmed. "

-"Okay then. Good night you two." Kadota smiled.

-"Bye bye!" "Goodnight." Erika, Togusa and Walker walked out.

-"We will accompany you." Kadota said to Simon and Denis.

They all go in their respective home and Celty and Shinra were left alone in their apartment.

-"Pfiou! That was a hell of a night!" Shinra exhaled.

-"[Yeah... That was scary.]"

-"When I heard that you were inside that explosion, I was terrified. I was just sitting here while you... ." Shinra's hands trembled. Celty pinched his nose.

-"[I'm okay... See ^_^ ]" She hugged him and touched his forehead with hers.

-"I don't know what I would do if you weren't there anymore." Shinra whispered.

-"[I don't know what I would do if you weren't there either...] Celty sat straight and looked at her hands.

-" What's wrong? "

-"[ I just thought that... If I wasn't ther, Kadota, Erika, Simon and others would be dead by now.. .] " Shinra took her hand and smiled warmly at her. There was so much adoration in his eyes.

-"But you were there, and you saved them all. You're amazing Celty! "

Shinra always knew the right words to make her feel better.

-"[Thanks, Shinra.]"

-"I love you."

-"[I love you, too.]"

She stood up and walked toward the kitchen. -["I'll prepare the dinner"] Celty announced.

-"Okay~"

~

<>

They ate in silence. Well, Shinra ate in silence. Celty sat in front of him and seemed lost in her thoughts. For once, he didn't want to disturb her. Suddenly, his phone buzzed. There was new message on it. It was an unknown number. Shinra looked at it curiously.

"[You want to contact your friend right? Here's his phone number xxxxxxxx. Don't forget that you owe me a favor now.]" It simply said.

Shinra choked on his drink. Celty panicked and patted his back.

-"[What's wrong?]" Celty asked, concerned.

-" L-look at this! " he shove his phone in front of Celty.

-" [You think that...] "

-It's Izaya's number. " he said with wide eyes.

-" [Are you sure?] " [You didn't give up on the idea to call him right?]"

-"Let's try to call it."

It went to voice mail so he just left a message. He took a deep breath and said : "H-hello Orihara-kun. It's Kishitani Shinra. I just wanted to tell you that ikkebukuro is in danger and we may need your help... C-call me if you hear this message."

-"[ And if it isn't him? And if it 's really him, what if he just ignore you?]

-"I don't know Celty but if he do ignore this message, then we should find another plan and we should find it quickly."

-"[It' s like you are pretty sure that it's Izaya 's number.]"

-"I don't know... That message came to me after the accident. It can' t be a coincidence. And when it said that it was my friend's contact. I couldn't think about someone else. It couldn't be Shizuo that wouldn't make a sense "

-"[If you say so... But I doubt that Izaya would help us.] "

-" I can't completely disagree with you. But all I want is to save the city and if we should use him for that . "Shinra sighed.

-" [So you don't consider him as a friend anymore?]

-"He's alone now. And he deserved it."

-"[You're being mean. You shouldn't ask for his help if you think about him like that.]"

-"I already told you, all I want is to protect you and our city. No matter how."

-"Cause, if the city is destroyed, my beloved Celty would be sad and I can't stand the sight of that~" Shinra began his rambling and Celty punched his gut.

Meanwhile in Russia, Izaya's phone buzzed as he received a new message on his answering machine .

Chapter Text

Izaya and his friends used to help the person who lived in the town for a living. Izaya continued to sell informations to catch robbers or to catch the crooks scamming their own family. The police already asked their help, once. Shinichi helped him with his hacker's skills and it didn't take too long for them to be well known in the little town. Kine and Manami preferred to have a more peaceful job. They bought a farm and it was pretty successful. Izaya never thought that it was their things.

It was Izaya's turn to buy groceries. His cooking was always very good, so no one dared to skip the dinner when it's his turn to use the kitchen. Izaya had to admit that they were all weird but it was the reason why they stick together. They even managed to function like a normal family. Izaya was sure neither of them really know how a normal family function but it was just a little detail. Izaya was happy to say that they were his friends. After those years of loneliness, he was finally surrounded by people who cared about him. It filled his chest by an soothing warmth.

-"Hi, Izaya-kun. How are you doing, today?" It was the grandma who lived in front of their house accompanied by her grand daughter. They were another Japanese family who lived in the town.

-"What is that question, grandma? With that creepy smile on his face, it's sure that he's doing Okay."

-"You're too flattering, Haruka-Chan."He pulled on his most charming smile. There were a faint blush on the girl's face.

-" S-shut up! It's your turn to cook right? I'm sorry for your friends,they will eat your disgusting meal again. " She sighed very loudly.

-" I know that you like my cooking." he purred.

-"Stop it you two, you sound like an old couple." The two of them glanced at the voice and blushed at the statement. The grandma interrupted their bickering. Izaya even forget that she was still here.

-"D-don't say something like that grandma!"

A little laugh escaped Izaya. And the two women turned their head toward him. Haruka blushed more.

-"What is so funny!" She was hitting his right arm now.

-"Nothing, nothing! It's getting late I should go to the supermarket now or they'll all complain to me! Bye bye" Izaya said as he waved his hand.

-"Bye bye." The grandma imitated him.

-"Yeah, yeah get lost!" Haruka yelled.

-"Maybe, I should prepare some curry." he mumbled to himself. As he walked toward the supermarket.

~~~~~~~~~~

-"That was delicious!" Shinichi said loudly after finishing his curry.

-" Yes, obviously." Izaya affirmed proudly.

-"Always so modest." Manami said sarcastically .

-"If he stopped to be a narcissistic bastard I would be concerned."Kine spoke while chewing his food.

-" I'm amazed that his head didn't explode whit all of that ego."Manami rolled her eyes.

-" You wound me guys!"Izaya placed a hand on his heart dramatically.

While the others were clearling the table and were washing the dishes. Izaya sat comfortably on the couch. Suddenly, he heard his phone buzzing. There were a missed call and a new message on it. When he pressed the button, he wasn't expecting to hear what he heard. It was Shinra's voice, after all these years he didn't thought that he would hear it again and like that...

"H-hello, Orihara-kun. It's Kishitani Shinra. I just wanted you to tell you that ikebukuro is in danger and we may need your help... C-call me if you hear this message."

Okay, that was very disturbing. Izaya didn't know what to think about it.

-"So, what you gonna do?" Shinichi suddenly asked from behind. It startled him.

-"You'll really go back there just because of this? We don't even know what is he talking about." Manami asked him, perplexed.

-"Apparently the Russian Sushi exploded."Kine stated.

-" Whaaat !? How did you know that?! "Manami was dumbfounded.

-" It's everywhere on the social networks. Ikebukuro is in panic right now. There were many murder in the city recently. There was also the attack on Hanejima yuuhei and now this. " Kine explained. It's true that Izaya stopped to look at everything on the net which was related to ikebukuro or Japan for that matter.

So Shizu-chan's brother was attacked. I'm sure that he was pretty mad. But that story about the explosion of the Russian Sushi is very concerning. Izaya frowned.

-" So, what will we do, Izaya-kun?"Kine inquired with a playful smile.

-" We? "

-" Yeah, we know that you wouldn't be able to ignore this situation. Even if it's for that egoistic friend of yours. "Manami said.

-" And we will not let you go there alone. "Shinichi added.

-" Guys..." Izaya was shocked by that statement. But he smiled softly and said" You are being gross. "

-" We know that you looove us. "Manami wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

-" Don't be desilusional . "He smirked and tried to punch her off him.

-" I think that I will go back to Japan to investigate."Izaya told them.

-" I was sure that you would say that." Shinichi sighed softly." I still don't like your 'acquaintances' from ikebukuro but I will help you. "

Manami raised her hand -" But where will we live?"

-" My old apartment in Shinjuku is still available. I'll engage a cleaning company to make it more livable." Izaya stated.

-"So it's decided, then. Let's go to ikebukuro!" Manami exclaimed.

-"I hope that I will not regret that decision. But I know that I should face them one day." Izaya mumbled.

-"Don't worry, we will support you no matter what. " Shinichi reassured.

-"Thanks." Izaya smiled.

-"You are the one who's been gross now."Manami mocked him.

-" Shut up, you pest. "

It will be the first time after two years, that he will set foot in Japan again.

~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Text

During the flight, Izaya slept the entire time. He spent the entire night researching the cause of the chaos in ikebukuro. He has already found a lead. It was fast but not surprising, he was best informant after all. It's been a long time since he's had to deal with this kind of thing. It was exciting.

When their plane landed, they took their baggage and immediately took a cab. Shinjuku was the same but at the same time, different. It was nostalgic to look at the vast building and the different streets he used to know by heart. When his old apartment building came into view, he smirked. "Let the game begins."

-

-"It's like I didn't leave at all." Izaya was spinning in the middle of the living room.

-"That place brings back memories." Shinichi spoke.

-"Yeah, the memories of Izaya losing it." Kine added.

-"You're mean!"

Izaya immediately sat at his desk and began tapping. Manami came beside him and looked at what he was doing curiously.

-"I suppose that you already have some leads." She started.

-"You know me so well." He smirked.
"But there are a lot of missing information, yet. Are you well settled hacker-kun, I may need your help here~"

-"I'm already on it." Shinichi said from the couch. He was already surrounded by many machines.

-"So, are we gonna do?" She pointed at herself and Kine.

-"Mmm I may need you to complete some missions..." Izaya placed his hand on his chin and printed something.

-"Here is the location of the places the 'black gang' attacked in ikebukuro. I want you to investigate from there." Izaya gave them some files.

-"But even the police didn't find anything." Kine stated.

-"Yeah, but we're more efficient than them."Izaya said smugly." And don't forget, every details can be useful, I trust Kine but you... "

-" I may not be an informant but I know how to get good informations. "Manami scoffed.

-" Okay, then. "He grinned." I count on you "

-" One week is enough for us to find the culprits"Shinichi announced confidently."They've turned ikebukuro upside down for months without being caught, I'm sure that they use some tricks which is out of the ordinary. The police are too simple to think about that and those criminals are too dangerous for the little gangs to search further. And the yakuza doesn't know how to search correctly, their best informant is no longer with them after all. "Shinichi grinned and glanced at Izaya.

-"If I didn't know you guys, I would be scared." Kine spoke.

-"Don't worry my bald friend, we'll not going to be some terrorists ." Izaya said while spinning with his chair.

-"If it was the case, I wouldn't be your partner in crime ." Kine retorted.

-" I am already his partner in crime anyway." Shinichi pouted.

-

She was at the last location, the park near the Raira high school. The park was lively. At some point, she and Kine decided to separate their way to make it more quickly. All the informations she managed to find are all the same. She wondered if baldy was more lucky than her. Frankly, Manami didn't really know what they were supposed to find in this area. But Izaya insisted, so here she is . She took a break and sat down on a bench. She sighed and looked at the sky, the sun was already setting. Maybe she should go back home. That was enough for today. She heard someone sitting on the bench behind her. They were back to back so she couldn't see them.

-"You can talk to me you know..." It was a girl's voice. With her tone, Manami could tell that she tried to be reassuring. But the person with whom she was talking didn't seem to respond. Manami didn't mean to eavesdrop but she was a little curious.

The girl placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and forced him to look at her. The boy was really shaken up and scared. He didn't want to look at her but surrendered. His hands began to shake again.

-"If I tell you what happened , you will be in danger." The boy told the girl.

That starts to be interesting. Manami thought.

-"It will stay just between us. I just want to help you. If you talk to anyone about what you're so terrified about. Nothings gonna work out." The tried to convince him. The girl's gaze hardened.

-"What happened to you and your gang friends?" The girl finally asked.

-" We... Our leader wanted to beat some new big gang which appeared in ikebukuro recently . I don't know if it was a fluke but we managed to find one of their HQ."

Manami's eyes widened at that.

-" B-but, when w-we g-got there..." His voice was shaking even more. He placed his hands on his head and leaned forward." It was terrifying! That girl began to c-cut everyone and shadows appeared everywhere! Everyone panicked and I was pushed in the water." His voice continued more quietly and tears began to fall "I was saved like that... I'm so ashamed of myself."

-"Your friends... Are they?" The girl tried to ask.

-"No... I saw them three days ago ."

-"Then_"

-"But they forgot everything. When I asked them how they got out of it, they all acted like they didn't know what I was talking about. And I could see in their eyes that they weren't faking it... For them, they were just fighting with some random guys like always and that was the reason why they were injured ...That's surreal... I-I don't know what to think... And today, I wanted to talk to them again but it's like they disappeared, and I'm too sacred to return at that place... "

For once, the girl didn't know what to say.

-" I know someone who could help you. " Manami suddenly spoke. She was now , standing in front of them. The two were still young, maybe high-schoolers. They seem to have the same age. The boy had fluffy brown hair and the girl had the same hair color, her hair was above her shoulders. The two of them seemed related.

-"Did you spied us?" The girl was on the defensive. That was normal, after all.

-"I'm sure that we could help you with your problem, let me just introduce them to you." Manami continued as she looked at the boy with a determined gaze. The boy looked intently at her as well, like he was searching for some lies.

-"Okay... Take me to that person."He finally said.

-" W-what!? But Ryu, we don't even know them! "The girl panicked .

-" She doesn't seem to lie and I don't have another solution . "

-" You are a smart boy. " Manami grinned.

-" I want to search for my friends but I can't do it alone... Calling the police is not an option. "

The girl sighed.

-" Okay... But I'm coming with you. " She insisted.

-" Why? "

-"I still don't forgive your friends for dragging you into this gang thing but they are good guys maybe too naive but they were kind to you, so I'll help you to find them, too." She seemed determined.

-"Okay..." He smiled softly at her.

-"Let's go then." Manami was already walking towards the exit of the park.

-
Back to Shinjuku.

She was gone just for some hours and at her return, the apartment was a mess. There were flying papers everywhere. Kine even installed a board with the city map and photos of suspects? It feels like a real police investigation.

Izaya and Shinichi were taped on their screen all day. They were too concentrated to notice Manami entering the room.

-"That room is a mess." Manami mumbled.

-"Welcome home, Manami-chan." Kine greeted. "Who are they?" He looked at the two persons behind her.

-"Oh, I met them in the park near Raira high. Apparently, that boy over here, do know where the HQ of the black gang is." Manami explained as she pointed at Ryu.

Shinichi and Izaya stopped tapping on their keyboard and turned in their direction.

-"I'-I'm Ryunnosuke Toru and this is my sister Aoi. Nice to meet you!"

-"Nice to meet you." They bowed.

-"Nice to meet you, too" The three men said in the same time with a smile.

-"Manami-san told me that you can help me to find my friends." Ryu started.

-"Yes, you have knocked on the right door! " Izaya exclaimed. "Please take a seat."

-"If you want us to help you efficiently, you need to tell us the entire story without forgetting the smallest details." Izaya look at him with serious eyes.

-"I'm part of a little gang. We wanted to expand our influence by taking down the black gang which seemed to inspire fear in the city of ikebukuro."he began his story and told them the part Manami head in the park.

-" The person who attacked you... Are they them? " Izaya showed him four pictures.

The first, was a picture of a girl with long black hair and a white fox mask but in the picture she didn't wear the said mask and was just holding it with one hand. She was pretty and had green eyes.

The second was a picture of a tall muscular guy with black hair and black eyes.

The third picture was of a tall blonde guy whit green eyes as well but in a most clear shade of green.

The last picture was a picture of a guy who was less tall, his skin was tan and he had brown hair and blue eyes. He was shorter but he looked more menacing than the other three.

-"Y-yes, I can recognize the three of them but not the last one." Ryu confirmed.

-"I see." Izaya hummed.

-"How did you manage to get good pictures of them while the police didn't even know their face." Aoi was dumbfounded.

-"Kkk we are professionals." Shinichi boasted.

-"So will you help me?" Ryu asked another time.

-"Yes of course, you also helped us, after all." Izaya assured.

-"But I think that you should stay with us, we don't know if those guys will be after you." Shinichi said to the siblings. "Izaya has many guests room."

The the two siblings looked at each other.

-"I'm worried about Ryu so I think that it's a good idea."

-"It's decided then." Izaya clapped his hands.

-"What will you do know?" Kine asked Izaya.

-"I think it's time for me to go to the field." Izaya smirked.

Chapter Text

-"What are you planning to do, Izaya?" Kine asked.

-"For reuniting the last pieces of the puzzle, we should observe the enemy more closely."Izaya stated.

-"But even if we know where their HQ is, we can't just go there and fight them." Manami said with a frown.

-" That's the reason why, we will be more subtle." Izaya grinned, he was holding a black mask in his hand.

-"I have a bad feeling about this." Manami mumbled.

-"There will be an auction organized by some of the criminals leaders , today at 22pm in the East of ikebukuro in 'Moonlight Hotel' . We are 95% sure that the ones we are searching for will be there." Shinichi explained.

-"What some gangs leaders would do in a fancy event organized by rich criminals?" Aoi asked, confused.

-"That's where you are mistaken, the 'black gang' as everyone likes to call them is not a random gang which was formed in the city." Kine pointed out. "In fact, those four people in the pictures are part of a Mafia organization called 'Spider Lily'."

-"Seriously?" Ryu and Aoi said at the same time, dumbfounded.

-"I'm lucky that I survived." Ryu leaned against the couch and sigheg in relief with a reassured smile.

-"Are you insinuating that your friends are dead now? What is this whole story about then? " Aoi asked her brother with a dark gaze and a threatening smile.

-"Anyway, I'll go to that auction and I'll test them." Izaya said to them like he was just talking about the weather. They all looked at him.

-"By 'testing them'... what do you mean?"Manami asked septically.

-" Knowing him, he will just talk to them and provoke them. " Shinichi said unfazed as he continued to type on his computer.

-" Are you nut?! "Manami suddenly screamed.

-" Calm down woman, you hurt my ears" Izaya complained.

-" Oi did you eat your brain instead? . "Kine frowned. He seemed concerned.

-"That would be very suicidal Izaya-san!" Ryu panicked.

-" Calm down guys, if someone is capable of doing that, it's Izaya." Shinichi spoke.

-"Don't encourage him!" Manami was glaring at Shinichi.

-"I'm serious, I wouldn't allow him to do that if I wasn't entirely sure of it." Shinichi assured them.

-"You all talk like you would be able to stop me." Izaya shrugged playfully.

-"You wanna try?" His three friends asked him menacingly.

-"No no thanks." Izaya raised his hands in surrender with a playful smile.

-"If Shinichi is that confident..." Manami sighed. "But we should come with you!"

-"No, if I come alone they would be less suspicious."

-"Okay... We trust you then." Kine said to him.

-"Everything would be fine." Izaya smiled at them. They all looked worried, minus Shinichi who smiled back . "So I'll get ready know, I don't wanna be late."

Izaya headed towards his bedroom to get ready. Manami looked at his retreating back.

-"Since I discovered his real personality and what he was going through, sometimes, I tend to be worried about him even if I know that he can handle it."Manami confessed.

-" His real personality? " Aoi asked.

-" He wasn't like this before. "Kine spoke.

-" That's a long story. " Shinichi stretched and yawned. "We'll tell you when it's the right time."

-"Okay..." Ryu and Aoi looked at each other.

-

Izaya was dressed in a black suit with a red shirt and a black tie. His trousers was also black. They all stared at him and Aoi blushed a little.

-"Well, you're ugly." Kine stated.

-"Thanks!" Izaya said cheerfully as he put on his black mask.

-"That thing just covers your eyes." Manami pointed out.

-"I think that it's enough ?"Izaya titled his head.

-" Hhh whatever, just go before your stupidity will spread in the room. " She continued.

Izaya pouted but left anyway.

-" Are you sure that he would be alright? " Ryu as the door was closing behind Izaya.

-" Yeah don't worry. " Kine said simply.

-

The hotel was big and fancy. It was a tall building with dark window panes. There were lights along the driveway leading to the main gate. On the building, there is written in large" Moonlight ". That writing glowed blue.
Izaya admitted that the disign of this building suits totally his tastes.

He was surprised that the other person who had come to attend the auction also put on different masks. Maybe it's because they are famous in the underground world. But Izaya didn't have time to stare at their masks, he's got people to find. Fortunately, the girl with the fox mask was easy to spot. Izaya also recognized the three guys who were with her. All of their masks were white. The blond one had a demon mask, the one who was not very tall put on a tiger mask and the tall muscular one had a simple mask which had a smiling emoji on it, that's creepy but Izaya must make sure to sit next to them in the auction room. They were all wearing black clothes.

Shinichi guessed that he will talk to them and then provoke them but he wouldn't do exactly that, no. He will talk to them, provoke them and fight them. He wanted to make sure who had what power. He nodded at himself. Saying it like that seemed very stupid but he had a plan.

Everyone entered the auction room. Izaya followed his targets but didn't come too close to them. Everyone went to their place and when he saw someone who was about to sit next to his targets, he pretended to stumble in front of her and took her place saying 'Sorry I think that I' m already drunk '. He was now sitting next to the girl whit the fox mask. The lights were off and the platform in the middle of the room was illuminated.

-

The presenter was already showing the 20th article which seemed to be a very valuable necklace, and none of the members of the 'Spider Lily' have bought anything yet.

"So they are looking for something in particular." Izaya thought.

-"You aren't buying anything ?" The girl asked.

Izaya was surprised that she decided to talk to him first.

-"No, nothing has interested me so far." He answered her. The others seemed disinterested by their little discussion.He glanced at her sideways.

-" Are you searching for something in particular?" He inquired.

-"Yeah, I'm looking for an ancient object." She answered simply.

-"How so?"

-"Just some old thing."

-"Haha I see."

Izaya didn't want to piss her off this early in the evening so he didn't ask more questions. There will be 80 rare items presented in this auction. Shinichi wasn't able to find the exact list of those items. It means that it wasn't checked in for more security. They deal with criminals after all. He will wait and see what kind of ancient items they really want.

-

Celty didn't know why she agreed to come there in the first place. All of this was Shinra's fault.

She was actually in an auction organized by criminals, CRIMINALS!? . Shinra dragged her in this fancy hotel cause he didn't want to go here alone and she honestly didn't want to leave him alone surrounded by those criminals. Yeah, that night was fucked up.

Everyone in the room put on masks which was a good thing. Celty was wearing a deep blue dress and a long cape with a hood. She put on a white mask which had golden lines on it. That mask would cover all of her face if she had one. Shinra was clothed in a simple black costume, his mask matched her.

Celty was sure that it will be past midnight soon and Shinra didn't buy anything yet.

-"[What are we doing here!?] She asked Shinra angrily.

-" I already told you, Celty. My dad wanted to buy a rare medicinal plant which was very effective during operations. " Shinra explained.

-" [Why didn't he go here by himself?!]"

-" He has an urgent last minute business. And I 'm not doing this just for him, i' m going to take half of that plant for myself. It's a very rare one, after all. People who were on the verge of death during their operation were saved by it. " Shinra was enthusiastic.

Celty sigheg internally and looked at her surrounding instead. On top, on their left, there were people she felt like she knew but she didn't know from where. Especially the guy with the black mask and red shirt. The said guy seemed to talk to someone beside him, when he was sitting straight, the person with whom he was talking to was more visible , and Celty immediately freaked out.

That girl... Celty would always recognize her, she was the one who attacked Anri and the person who blew up the Russian Sushi. Because of her, her friends would have been dead.

Celty was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Shinra winning his supposedly 'medical plant'.

-"I have it Celty! We can go home now_"

-"[She is here !?]" Celty tapped in her PDA rapidly.

-"Who is there?" Shinra titled his head curiously.

-"[The girl who caused the explosion at the Russian Sushi?!]

[And I'm sure that her partners are there as well!?]"

-"Calm down, Celty. Are you sure that it's her. Maybe it's another person who has the same mask." Shinra tried to appease her.

-"[I would recognize her everywhere!?]" Celty insisted.

She was really panicked. And Shinra looked at the direction she was pointing. There was indeed a girl with a fox mask who was sitting there. But what intrigued him the most was the guy with whom she was talking to. His eyes widened, even with the mask he could recognize him.

-"That couldn't be... Orihara-kun ?" Shinra mumbled.

Now, Shinra's mind was a mess. Is it really him?! Why was he here?! Is that girl one of the enemies ?! If she's the enemy, why was he talking to the enemy!? Was that the reason why Izaya ignored his call?! Because he was with the enemy!!! He didn't change after all!!! No no no, calm down maybe he just getting informations from them... And if it wasn't that!!!

But before Shinra's mind could go wilder. Something knocked him out. Now, Celty had one more reason to panic.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, at Izaya's side...

It was during an eternity. They were showing the 75th item and those person didn't buy anything yet. Are they really waiting for something or are they just killing time? Izaya glanced at the four mafioso with a frown. They seemed disinterested by every objects presented on the platform. But suddenly, the presenter announced the name of an other item.

"This is a saber which came from an ancient Era! People say that the warriors who have used it have all experienced overwhelming victory against their opponents! And the name of this magnificent object is Psyche!"

The other person in the room were in awe of the saber.

Izaya's eyes widened. It was impossible that this saber was authentic. But the four mafioso seemed to react as well. It looked like they were getting ready to take action.

So it was what they were searching for... Izaya thought... He smirked as an exciting wave of adrenaline was passing through his vein. A smirk was forming on his lips.

"That's very interesting"

-"We should begin to move, nee-san." The shorter one with the tiger mask said to the girl with the white fox mask. The said girl nodded her head and began to stand up. The others were about to follow, but Izaya will never let that opportunity slips away.

-" You are leaving already. What a shame, I was so glad to spend the night sitting near a beautiful girl like you." Izaya purred as he placed his hand above hers.

-"What are you doing, you freak! Don't touch her!" The guy whit the tiger mask began to yell.

-"Calm down, Hayato. We don't want to make a fuss and attract more attention." The girl calmly said. The other two didn't say anything but Izaya can see that they shoulders were tensing. So the guy's name was Hayato. Izaya grinned and continued.

-"She's right little guy~ And I just want us to get to know each other a bit."Izaya didn't take off his hand. But that statement seemed to enrage the Hayato guy. Izaya even heard the blonde one chuckling.

-" Bastard ! I'll fucking kill you! " The little mafioso threw a black object at Izaya but he easily dodged it. It was a cubic object, the thing landed on someone else's head. The guy also pulled out a gun and fired at him, but Izaya also dodged the bullet. That caused a commotion and the other people who were in the room began to scream as they run away.

-"Hayato, did you just throw the urn!?" The girl with the white fox mask suddenly exclaimed.

-"Ah yeah, sorry..." The choleric guy said.

-"Whatever, we don't have time for this." The girl kickly regain her composure and turned to the other two mafioso. "Sousuke, Rolland, take the saber. Hayato, find the urn." She ordered them. They immediately complied.

After that, she turned her head toward Izaya and said :

-"I don't know who are you and what do you want but if you get in our way, I won't hesitate to kill you." She pointed her saber at Izaya's throat.

_"That's to bad cause I won't let you take the saber. " Izaya grinned.

-

Something hit Shinra on the head and knocked him out. Celty took off his mask and shook him but he didn't wake up. Celty took the object which hit Shinra and began to inspect it, it looked like a black cubic box. It came from the place where the girl with the white fox mask was. There was a strange aura around it. Suddenly, there was a gunshot and and everyone around them began to panic and leave the auction room. Celty wanted to confront the girl but with Shinra in this state... It was better to go home. She picked him up, bridal style and put the black bow in her pocket. But as she was about to leave with Shinra in her arms , a figure appeared in front of them. It was a man who wore a tiger mask and was dressed in black. The guy was a little shorter than Shinra. He looked like a high-schooler? But Celty could sense that he was dangerous. To her surprise, the guy pulled out a saber which came from the palm of his hand. Seriously, how many people have saber inside their bodies? Celty exasperatingly thought.

-"Give me the urn and I'll spare your life." The boy started.

Celty didn't bother to give him a reply. She will not have another choice but to fight after all. Celty changed her dress with her usual black clothes with her smoke and materialized her scythe.

-"That's impressing. " The guy was calm as ever, Celty had a bad feeling about this.

Celty tried to cut him but that boy was surprisingly very quick. He even managed to cut Celty once but Celty was confident cause she couldn't be injured by something like that.

The fight was impressing, that guy was almost as fast as Celty. He dodged almost every attack she aimed at him. She was even obliged to put Shinra down. She didn't know why that member of the black gang wanted that strange black box but her instinct tells her not to give him. She knew that coming to that stupid auction was a bad idea.

-

Izaya pulled out his pocket knife and began to fight back as the girl with the white fox mask attacked him.

-"You are a lovely lady. Would you tell me your name? " Izaya asked her as he continued to dodge her attacks.

-"That would be useless, you'll die anyway." She snapped.

-"Then, don't you think that I deserve to know the name of my killer."

She briefly stopped her attack and said:

-"My name is Akane."

-"I'm Nakura. Nice to meet you." Izaya put on his best fake smile.

-"I don't care about your name." She kicked him on the stomach and he landed in the other end of the room.

Maybe Akane thought that he was knocked out cold cause she ignored him and directed her attention toward the other two who were charged to take Psyche's saber.

That's cute, Izaya was already kicked by Shizu-chan before, and it was 100 times more painful than that. Izaya's mask fell on the ground. He was about to stand up but something more shocking made him froze.
It was Celty, fighting against the Hayato guy with an unconscious Shinra in her arms. What are they doing here!? The other members of the 'spider lily' seemed do be destabilized by the sudden apparition of the dullahan as well but they continued to search for Psyche's saber. The staff of the auction and some guards tried to run away with it but they had no chance against these two. The blond one used his shadow, it surrounded the guards and the other employees of the hotel, they began to scream like they were having their worst nightmare and collapsed on the ground. The muscular one took the box which had Psyche's saber.

Izaya took a little time to observe everything.

At some point, Celty put Shinra on the ground, maybe for being more concentrated. That Hayato kid is strong, he couldn't deny that, but even with that saber, Izaya doubt that he could fight against Celty's shadow. Speaking of which, some shadows were surrounding Celty but instead of attacking Hayato, her shadows were attacking Shinra who was still unconscious on the ground. How was that imbecile capable to be unconscious with all of this commotion!?

-"Celty, stoop!" Izaya yelled as he threw his knife at Celty's direction. It cut her wirst but fortunately, her shadow stopped. She seemed desoriented like she wasn't aware of what she was doing . That was concerning, Izaya decided to go at her side. In addition, the other members of the 'spider lily' were surrounding Celty and Shinra.

Izaya jumped in front of Celty and was facing the enemy. He even managed to steal the box which contained Psyche's saber.

-"Stop right here." Izaya smirked and pointed his knife at them.

-"You again!!" Hayato yelled.

-"Calm down, little guy. You are so loud." Izaya nonchalantly said.

-"Let's kill them already and move on." The blonde guy proposed.

-"Give that box back and your death will be less painful." Akane looked at him menacingly.

Izaya could say that Celty was surprised to see him. Those people were crazy to think that they could kill a dullahan. But what Hayato did to Celty earlier was worrisome.

Izaya took the saber from the box and began to inspect it. As he took the saber in his hand, the four mafioso flinched like they were expecting that something would happen. But nothing happened.

-"Woa that saber is pretty, no wonder you wanted it so bad." Izaya said playfully.

-"We are telling you this the last time, give that saber and you and your little friends may be able to go out there alive. " The blonde guy tried to reason him.

-"Let's not waste your time talking to that bastard. Let's kill him already."

-"You wound me Hayato-chan! " Izaya dramatically exclaimed.

-"How did you call me!"

-"Stop playing, let's attack them." Akane ordered them sternly . They began to attack and Izaya whispered something to Celty. She seemed skeptical about what he told her but she accepted anyway. She quickly took Shinra with her shadow and jumped toward the exit. She also threw the black box at Izaya.

The four mafioso ran toward Izaya but
he managed to dodge all of their attacks and climbed on top of the platform.

He used Psyche's saber and cut the blonde's shadow which was aimed toward him. The action shocked his attackers. Izaya took advantage of that moment .

-"You want this? "Izaya inquired while waving the saber and the black box in the air.
" Then go catch em" he threw the two items far away in the other end of the room. Before one of them had the occasion to attack him again. Celty's shadows were invading all the space, drowning the room in black. They couldn't see anything at all.

Izaya could sense Celty's shadow pulling him by his waist and drag him toward the exit.

He and Celty (plus an unconscious Shinra) managed to escape the moonlight hotel like that.

Chapter Text

Celty's perspective...

Saying that Celty was confused was an understatement.

At first, as her fight against the tiger masked guy was taking too long. Celty decided to summon her shadows. She began to overpowering her opponent as he fell on the ground. When Celty was about to finish him off, he suddenly heard someone calling her name. A knife appeared out of nowhere and cut her wrist. She began to feel like her mind was being cleared. It was then that she realized that the person her shadows were directed against was not the enemy but Shinra who was still lying on the floor. She managed to stop them in time. That was really close, Celty sighed in relief. She was still a little desoriented. But tried to regain her composure.

But the worst was still coming. Celty was quickly surrounded by three other persons. She could recognize the girl who attacked Anri-chan and the tall muscular one, they both were at the park that day... But she didn't recognize the one with blonde hair. This was beginning to be troublesome, Celty was more worried about Shinra's well-being and this rate, she didn't want him to be injured because of them. She glanced briefly behind her, she king if Shinra was okay.

Celty was about to attack but someone appeared in front of her. She was facing their back but she immediately knew who it was. It was the person she thought she would never see again... Orihara Izaya.

_

Izaya was facing Celty's attackers, pointing his knife at them. Celty was really lost in that situation.

What in the world is happening?

The members of the black gang were asking Izaya to give them a saber? Izaya was provoking them as they were threatening him...There are things that will never change.

Celty could sense the animosity which came from the black gang's members. She prepared herself for their next attack but Izaya was suddenly at her side whispering something to her.

-"Give me the black box and I will deal with them." Izaya started. His voice was serious and determined, there were no trace of his usual condescending and mocking tone.

What? What does he mean by that? Celty wasn't really convinced. What if Izaya was just trying to trick her. She wasn't entirely sure if Izaya wasn't, in fact, one of the enemies. She saw him talking calmly to them after all. That black box had a dark aura around it, what if it was something dangerous. Celty didn't want to give it to them.

-" I know that you don't trust me but it's the best solution. You should prioritize Shinra's safety and leave that place with him." Izaya continued.

Celty glanced at Shinra. Maybe he was right. Celty really wanted to take Shinra to somewhere more safe. She didn't want to take some risks. And for once, she wanted to give Izaya a chance and see what will he do. Celty sighed and gave the box to Izaya.

Then, she took Shinra with her shadow and headed toward the exit. Izaya ran toward the opposite direction. The four gang's members went after him, they exchanged some hits and Izaya managed to cut the blonde guy's shadow with the saber. That stunned his opponents and then, Izaya threw the two items at the other end of the room. Celty really thought that he shouldn't have done that but she also couldn't blame someone who save them life by acting like a coward. Even if we were talking about Izaya.

That was suspicious but she let it go, Celty really hoped that she wouldn't regret that action later. Before the enemies could have the opportunity to attack Izaya again. She surrounded the room with her shadows, so that their attackers wouldn't see her taking Izaya with Shinra and her toward the exit of the room.

_

Her plan succeeded. Celty ran as fast as she could toward the hotel's exit, dragging Izaya and Shinra along her with her shadows. She immediately jumped on Shooter which was parked near the gate and drived as far as possible from the hotel. She intended to immediately take Shinra at home but she suddenly remembered that Izaya was there, too. She abruptly stopped her motorcycle and parked at the side of the road.

Celty put Izaya down and released him from her shadows. She made Shinra lean against a nearby wall.

-"Thanks, Celty!" Izaya cheerfully said. Whit a smile on his face.

-"[Youuu!!!!!!!]" Celty quickly tapped on her cell phone. She was clearly agitated.

-"Me?" Izaya asked innocently.

-"[W what are you doing here!? Why are you_ for what reason_ What is the meaning of all of this! !??]" She hastily wrote. Her shoulders were shaking from anger? Confusion?

-"Calm down, Celty-chan. Can I ask you the same question?" Izaya inquired with a playful grin.

-"[No you can't!!!]"

-"Okay okay. I'm here for my usual job, you know, gathering informations and all..." he shrugged.

-"[That doesn't explain why you were with those people! What were you doing with the black gang?! Are you helping them?!]" Celty couldn't stay calm. She needed answers!

-" Now, now, are you accusing me? Didn't you see them beat me up earlier? What kind of guy do you think I am? A masochist?"Izaya dramatically put his hand on his chest.

-"[ You are a shady guy. We all know that you are capable of the worst.]"

-"If you really think of me that way. Then, why did you help me ? You even gave me that strange box."

-"[And you threw it away!! You gave it back to them!! Why would I trust you?! I don't know what that sword or saber can do, but giving that to them is an enough proof to say that you are with them!!] "

Celty began to panic even more.

" [Gosh, you're right. Why did I even help you to escape if you are with them!? But one thing is sure, if you do something to Shinra or to Shizuo or to my other friends you will regret it!] "

Izaya's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Shizuo's name. Huh he was really hopeless.

Being spotted by Celty was an even bigger problem than he thought.

-" Celty, you ask me a lot of questions but you don't give me the time to answer at all. " At that, Celty tried to regain her composure. Despite of her internal turmoil.

Fortunately, she was diplomatic, not like Shizuo who would kill him before he could even say a word.

Now that Celty knows that he was back. It would be problematic if everyone in ikebukuro decides to gang up on him. He had no choice but to tell her the truth.

-" Well, I'm here to investigate that group." He stated. Celty titled her head.

-"[That group? You mean...]"

-"Those people who attacked us. I'm gathering some informations about them." Izaya clarified as he rubbed the back of his neck while looking at anything but her.

Celty was taken aback by that Statement. She could see that Izaya was sincere. And he wasn't smirking with his usual mocking tone. He wasn't even trying to confuse her with his smartass comments. Like "why would I give an explanation to a monster like you".

-"[ So... you are on our side? ]" Celty asked in disbelief.

Izaya put his hands on his pocket.

-"Not really, those person I fought against earlier are my enemies but that doesn't mean that I will be your ally either." Izaya stated.

-"[ But Shinra_ ]"

-"Shinra's message was the reason why I came here." Izaya mumbled very quietly as he turned to walk away. But Celty heard him anyway.

Izaya was about to go but Celty grabbed him by the wrist. He looked at her with an annoyed expression.

-"What?"

Celty was confused but she was sure that Izaya was not lying. That look on his face... Even with his acting skills, he wouldn't be able to create a fake an expression like that. Shinra's right, maybe with his help...

-"[I'll help you.]" She began to write.

-"Huh?"

-"[I'll help you to stop the black gang!]"

-"Thanks for the offer Celty but I 'll manage_"

-"[Didn't you see? They also have some supernatural power! They are dangerous! You can't fight them alone!]"

-"I'm not alone." A guenine smile appeared on Izaya' s face as his eyes softened.

Now Celty was more lost than ever.

-"[ I want to help you, nevertheless... You seem to know more things than us and I want to be able to protect the people I care about.] Her shoulder dropped a little.

[In fact, I'm the one who is asking for your help... Help me to protect my city from those criminals, please Izaya! ] " Celty was very determined.

Izaya's eyes widened, he didn't expect this.

-" Why are so sure that my help will change something? " Now he was a little amused by her reaction.

-"[An intuition... My gut is never wrong!]

-"Is that some sort of dullahan's magic intuition?" Izaya chuckled a little. That helped Celty to relax a little a well.

-"[Maybe...^_^]"

Izaya smiled a little. He looked at the full moon which was almost entirely covered by clouds.

-"Okay..."

-"[What?]"

Izaya groaned a little and cleared his throat.

-"I accept your help. But I don't take back what I said. I will not join your little comrades. I'll continue my work on my side and I will inform you when I'll need your help or when I'm going to take action. I'll also tell you about all of the informations I gathered about them."

-"[Really!?]" Celty began to be more enthusiastic.

-" Yes but I have one condition. " Izaya continued.

Celty quickly nodded her head.

-" Don't tell anyone in ikebukuro about this conversation or about this meeting ." Izaya told her with a more serious tone.

Celty hesitated a little. Izaya was definitely a bastard before, but now he seems to be an other person. She still not forgive him for all the bad things he did to them in the past but something inside her told her to trust him.

-"[Really to no one?]"

-"Especially to Shizuo. Shinra already saw me so you can tell him." He shrugged. "But make sure that that idiot will hold his tongue."

Izaya wasn't confident about the reaction of the others when they will know that he was back and alive.

-"But for now, I think that you should take him home, he might catch a cold, sleeping outside like that." Izaya said as he looked at Shinra's unconscious form .

-"That black box really hit him very hard uh?"

-"[Yeah, you're right!]"

Celty suddenly walked toward Shinra . Their conversation made her forget that Shinra was still leaning against the wall. She wrapped him securely inside her shadows.

-"We should continue our conversation later. I'll send you a mail telling you about the location of where we'll meet up tomorrow." Izaya informed her.

-"[Okay. See you tomorrow.]"

-"Good night, Celty." Izaya walked away and headed towards his own apartment. He could hear the sound of Celty's motorcycle fading away. That night was very tiring, but Izaya had other things to do tomorrow. Let's hope that everything will go according to his new plan.

Chapter Text

When Izaya came back to his apartment, he was surprised to see that everyone was still up, sitting in the living room.

-"What took you so long Stupid Izaya?!" Manami yelled.

-"Something came up ." Izaya simply said.

-" Your clothes are all torn. What happened?"
Ryu asked him.

-"Nothing to be concerned about." Izaya smiled reassuringly as he flopped on the couch beside Shinichi.

-" Did a dog chase you again?" Kine asked.

-"Of course not!"

-"So what happened? Don't leave us in the dark like that!" Manami threw a napkin at him.

-"She's right , Izaya-San. We were all worried." Aoi added as she handed him a cup of coffee. Izaya mumbled a thanks and drank it.

-"I wasn't worried though." Shinichi stated.

-"You, shut up!" Manami snapped.

-"I wasn't attacked by a dog but by four enraged mafioso." Izaya said with an annoyed tone.

-"What !? Those scary people attacked you and you came back alive!" Ryu was more panicked now.

-" Did you manage to get some informations about them?" Shinichi asked.

Izaya smirked. - "I manage to get more things than that." He took the cubic black box from his pocket and placed it on the table.

-"What is that?" Manami asked.

-"I don't know but that 'thing' seemed to be important to them." Izaya explained.

-" It looks like a mystical object or something like that." Aoi curiously eyed the object.

-" Yeah, there are some celtic drawings on it." Manami pointed out.

-" I'll do some research about it. You should rest for now. " Shinichi told Izaya. The said man yawned and stood up.

-" Okay... good night."

-" You better explain us all of the things that happened tomorrow!" Manami yelled at him.

-"Okay okay..."

Before getting ready for bed, Izaya sent a message to Celty telling her about the time and the location of the place where they will meet.

After his night routine, he crawled under the fluffy cover of his bed and closed his eyes.
He really didn't expect things to turn out this way. Celty's reaction was unpredictable. He never thought that Celty would ask for his help like that. Maybe the dullahan just wants to use him as a pawn to get the spider lily's gang out of the city. Yeah that possibility was more plausible. After all, he was still a devil in her eyes. She wouldn't want to team up with him in friendship and trust just because she saw him take her side during an attack.

Izaya just hope that nobody else in ikebukuro would know about his presence. He knows that Celty can keep a secret but Shinra... He couldn't tell what would be the reaction of his past friend about his involvement in this story. Izaya was aware that Shinra was the one who asked for his help at the first place but he was sure that the doctor didn't really expect him to really come back. He was sure that Shinra just wanted to test something . Izaya was sure that he wasn't considered as the friend for the underground doctor anymore.

Izaya sighed and tried to get some sleep.

-

'Let's meet at XXXX at 9 am' it said.

Celty was driving towards the location Izaya sent her. It was at a coffee shop in Shinjuku.

She admitted that she got a little carried away yesterday. When she got home, she replayed her conversation with Izaya in her thoughts again and again. It was a little careless of her to team up with Izaya like that, according to the raven's past. She was so amazed by the fact that Izaya could fight with the members of the black gang like they were nothing that she asked for his help with no further questions . And that feeling in her gut... It kept telling her that Izaya was trustworthy and that he would be a powerful ally. But dispite that, she was still suspicious of Izaya. Celty didn't saw him since two years after all. It was possible that, the innocent look on his face was a new strategy to trick people.

That was part of her plan, she assured herself, "keep your friends close and your enemies even closer". If Izaya was really preparing something shady, it would be easier to stop him if she was near him.
But frankly, deep down, she hoped that Izaya was really on their side.

Celty arrived in the coffee shop and was surprised to see that Izaya was the only client .

-"Mornin' Celty!"

-"[Good morning.]" Celty took a seat and looked at Izaya who was calmly sipping his coffee.

-"[So... About our last conversation...]"

-"Don't worry, I'll explain you everything. But before that..." He finished his coffee and looked at her with a straight face.

-"How is Shinra?"

-"[Oh, he was a little disoriented when he woke up but he is totally fine now.]"

-"That's good." Izaya hummed. "Let's go." He suddenly stood up. It startled her.

-"[W-what where?!]" . Celty asked curiously.

-"At my apartment. We can't discuss something like that in this a place ." Izaya said while walking out of the shop. Celty quickly followed him.

-"[Why did you ask me to meet you here, then?]"

-"I wanted my morning coffee and I also wanted to warn you about something before entering my apartment."

-"[About what?]" She titled her helmet.

-"Um... My apartment is a mess actually and my friends can be very indiscreet and rude sometimes... So don't mind them." Izaya scratched his head and smile awkwardly.

-"[O-okay...]" Celty was a little confused. They went to Izaya's place on Shooter.

Indeed, he didn't lie when he said that his apartment was a mess. There was computers and papers lying everywhere. On the left wall there was pictures of places and of the members of the black gang. There were also people she didn't really recognize in the living room.

-"Oh! Isn't that the dullahan?" Manami smirked.

-"Good morning Celty-San." Kine greeted her.

-"Yo !" Shinichi gave her a big grin and Aoi and Ryu bowed their head.

-"[Good morning, . My name is Celty. ]"

-"We all know who you are." Manami informed her while smiling . There was some sort of masked coldness in her tone.

-"Anyway!" Izaya clapped his hands. " Celty,that rude girl is Manami, this is Shinichi, this is Kine and the twins over there are Aoi and Ryu! Now that I did the presentation let's talk about some more important things! Please, took a seat and make yourself comfortable!" Izaya gestured Celty to sit on the sofa. He also sat down at his desk.

-" So I'll tell you all about the things I discovered yesterday night."Izaya's face morphed into a serious expression.

-" Firstly, Celty. The 'black gang' isn't a simple color gang. It's a group of mafioso who comes from a Mafia organization called the 'spider lily'. It would be pretty dangerous to be their enemy without knowing anything about the . In addition, they have some supernatural power which make more da dangerous. So, warn your little friends and don't let them take some useless risks. "

Celty was shocked by what Izaya just told her. As the new informations were being enregistred by her mind, Izaya continued.

-"And about what happened last night... I found out that they were after Psyche's saber." Shinichi tensed.

-"What is that?" Manami asked, confused.

-" It's a saber which contains an entity like Saika. But its power is different." Izaya explained.

-"How did you know all of that?" Kine raised an eyebrow.

-"Come on, I'm the best informant!" Izaya dramatically exclaimed. "And I already read some articles about Psyche before."

-"I see... So you are assuming that they want that saber." Kine hummed.

-"I'm not assuming anything, it's just the facts."

-"[But, they had the saber, now.] Celty wrote on her phone.

-" No, Celty. The saber they took from the auction is fake." Izaya smirked.

-" How can you be so sure? "Aoi asked him with a frown.

-" I'm 100% sure of it. When I took the saber in my hands, nothing happened. "

-"That's not very reassuring." Ryu mumbled.

-"We should more worry about the fact that when they will be aware that the saber they had is fake, they would continue to destroy Ikebukuro from the inside. They seem to be pretty sure that Psyche's saber is there."

-"[What should we do, then?]" Celty asked.

-" I think that it would be better if we attack them by surprise before the situation escalate further." Izaya told them.

-"Okay! Let's begin to elaborate a plan!" Shinichi said cheerfully.

-"Oh, and I almost forgot. Celty do you know something about this." Izaya pointed the black cube which was on the table in front of Shinichi.

-"[You didn't gave it to them...]"

-"Of course, Celty! I already told you that I was their enemy, too!" Izaya whined.

-"[Sorry but I don't know what is it. Maybe, if I had my head, I would have known but..."]

-"Don't worry Celty, that's alright." Izaya assured her.

-"After my little fight against the spider lily's group I could approximately see who had what power, so we can create some plan with that." Izaya added.

Everyone began to talk about some sort of strategies but Celty was lost in thoughts. Izaya really changed. Even his way of talking with his friends was different from how he used to speak . It was natural and guenine without mask. Celty's beliefs seriously began to shatter. But she wanted to maintain her wariness, she didn't want to trust them and then, be betrayed. She tried to remember all of the bad things Izaya did to them. In addition, that Manami girl showed some sort of hostility toward her.

Celty didn't notice that Izaya looked at her the whole time.

They finally created 'a super plan!' like Shinichi liked to tell them. They studied all of the possibilities and many factors that would be dangerous for them. It took them an entire day to elaborate this plan and be sure of everything. Celty eventually participated and gave them some propositions. She even began to be more comfortable around them and joke with them without being aware of it. 'They are nice people' Celty thought.

It was late and Celty decided to go home. If they plan succeed, all of those problems would be over. She came back home with more positive thoughts.

-

Shinichi and Izaya were the only ones left in the living room. The others were already sleeping.

-"So, what are you gonna do now that the spider lily's group is after you."

-"They are not after me. They are after Psyche's saber." Izaya answered casually.

-"Don't play dumb with me, it's irritating." Shinichi groaned as he scratched his head.
"Psyche is inside you, and those mafioso will know it sooner or later. It would be more wise if we leave Japan and return to Russia. They would not find us there. And when they will see that Psyche's saber is definitely not in ikebukuro, they will end up leaving the city and everything would be back to normal for Celty and the others". Shinichi tried to convince him.

-"No. You said it yourself. They will be after me sooner or later wherever I'll go, it would be better if I end this here in Japan. And for once... I don't want to run away." Izaya said.

-"When will you talk about this to the others?" Shinichi inquered.

-"When it will be the right time..."

Chapter Text

When Celty went home, her thoughts were more positive. Maybe that nightmare would be finally over.

-"Where were you today, Celty?" Shinra asked her while crossing his arms.

-"[Doing my job, like every days.] Celty simply answered.

-" I thought that today was your day off."Shinra frowned.

-" [Yes, but some people asked me to deliver some important things so...]
[And why are you interrogating me? I'm tired it was a long day, I'll take a day off tomorrow.] "

-" But, Celtyyyy. I was just worried about youu." Shinra whined. "And about yesterday night, during the auction. It was really Izaya, right?" His voice was more quiet.

Celty didn't know what to say for some seconds.

-"[Yeah, it was him...]" Izaya allowed her to tell Shinra that he was back, right.

-"He was the one who gave you those jobs, today? Was it dangerous?" Shinra's face began to be serious and his eyes darkened.

-"[Nooo! He didn't give me any jobs!]" Celty quickly typed.

-"Is that true?"

-"[Yess!]"

-"I believe you then!" Shinra's cheerfulness quickly came back. "But I don't want you to be near him. I don't want you to be involved in his shady business."

-"[But... You were the one who left him that message asking for his help...]"
" [You hoped that Izaya would change after those years...]"

-"But that hope vanished when I saw him talking to the enemy." Shinra firmly said.

-"[He wasn't with them. I saw him fighting against them, and he helped me to escape.]"

-"We don't know what kind of schemes he is preparing this time. If he really wanted to help us by fighting the black gang... He would have contacted me..."Shinra looked upset.

Celty couldn't tell him about their plan and she didn't want him to be in danger. Maybe, it was better if he knew nothing and didn't get involved. But, she thinks that it was sad, even the person who convinced Izaya to come back didn't trust him. But Izaya wasn't alone anymore, he has a bunch of friends and seems to get better.

-"[Okay, I will not be in contact with Izaya. Even if it's for a job. ]" Celty slowly wrote. She was lying but it was for the best. The less Shinra knew, the safer he would be. "[But I emphasize with the fact that Izaya is not our

-"Thank you Celty!" Shinra said softly. He hugged her and went to the kitchen.

She really hoped that their plan would succeed so that their life in Ikebukuro would be peaceful again . Well, with their kind of peaceful.

-

Celty was acting weird since the past few days. Shizuo didn't have the time to talk to her about it cause every time he would ask her to hang out, she would always say that she was busy. And Shinra was being grumpy cause he had less and less time with her everyday. Shinra told him that she began to act like that since the day they were attacked by the black gang in an auction. It frustrated him that he wasn't able to help her when she was in some trouble. Celty was always there when he needed to talk to someone.

Today, Shizuo will definitely have a little chat with her. That situation began to worry him. He was actually standing outside the couple's apartment, but before he could knock, the door bursted open revealing the dullahan.

-"[Hi, Shizuo.] [Sorry but I can't talk to you much longer . I have some jobs to do.]
But Shizuo grabbed her by her shoulders and made her go back inside.

-" No, let's talk now."Shizuo said firmly.

-" [What's wrong?] "Celty asked curiously.

-" I'm the one who should ask you that. You've been acting weirdly lately. " Shizuo frowned.

-"It will not work Shizuo. I've already tried to ask her the question several times~" Shinra whined from the living room.

-"[Sorry for worrying you Shizuo...I wanted to hang out with you but I had many works to do these past few days.]" Celty wrote guiltily.

-" I don't mind that but I thought that you were in trouble or something. "Shizuo sounded concerned. And that doubled Celty's rate of guilt.

-" [I'm fine, just busy. You guys shouldn't be concerned for nothing.] " Shizuo stared at her intently and sighed.

-"I'm your best friend, you can tell me everything you know."

-"[I know...And I can assure you that I'm fine]"

-"Okay..." On the background, the news talked about an other violent murder in Ikebukuro .

-"This city is a mess, first the attack of the black gang and now Izaya is back to add more problems ." Shinra mumbled. There was a pause.

-"WHAAAAT ?!" Shizuo yelled.

-"Huh... Oups ?" Shinra looked at Celty apologetically.
The dullahan just facepalmed. That imbecile jjdfjfkgz

-"[Look Shizuo it's not what you think _ ]" Celty tried to calm him down.

-"It's not what I think?! The damn flea is back to poison our life once again and you tell me that I should stay calm?!" Shizuo was fuming and that familiar rage was starting to bubble inside his body.

-"[Izaya is not our enemy but those assassins from the black gang are! You shouldn't go beat a man who did nothing yet and ignore the true criminals!]"

-"How can you be so sure that he is not behind all of that?! This black gang attacks us and Izaya is back, that can't be a coincidence!"

-"[Yes, it's not a coincidence. He's back cause Shinra sent him a message asking for his help.]"

-"You really did it, Shinra?! Are you dumb?!" Shizuo glared at the said doctor.

-"I didn't know that he would really come back... And I'm not even sure that he is on our side." Shinra smiled nervously and raised his hands in surrender.

-"I can't believe you." Shizuo groaned while glaring at Shinra.

-"[That beyond the point.]" Celty interrupted them. "[You trust me, right?]"

-"Yes." The two men said at the same time.

-"[I'm 100% sure that Izaya will not do anything against us, trust me.]"

-"So you admit that Izaya has something to do with your strange behavior?"Shinra titled his head.

-" [More or less.] "Celty was fidgeting.

-" I knew it!! Is he threatening you or something?! "Shinra bursted.

Celty sighed. -" [Well...] "

Celty ended up telling them everything. But she didn't explain Izaya's plan. She still didn't want Shinra to interfere, but now Shizuo also knows, so it became very complicated.

-

Izaya and Celty were actually on the roof of an abandoned building near the spider lily's main HQ in Ikebukuro . They were observing from afar with some equipment and all. The HQ was an abandoned military basement on the outside, but inside, every camera and security machines were fonctional . Yeah, they spent the last few days searching for the spider lily's main basement. Apparently, the one Ryu and his little gang found wasn't the right one. There were just a bunch of useless thugs there.

Celty managed to escape Shizuo and Shinra's interrogation. She sneaked out when the two men were arguing about Shinra's stupid actions . She and Izaya's group were lurking around the mafioso's HQ for 5 days now. Kine and Manami even managed to infiltrate it. Izaya said that they would be ready to effectuate their plan Friday night. There were many armed guys inside, but it was not the kind of thing that would scary them, the problem was the four powered mafioso who attacked Celty and Izaya during the auction.

-"Let's head back, nothing eventful happened today either." Izaya told her.

-"[Okay.]" As they walked toward the building's exit Celty asked herself how she could tell Izaya about Shizuo . To her surprise, it was Izaya who broke the silence.

-"Your resignation not to tell Shinra didn't last long." Izaya told her with a sarcastic voice.

-"[It was very difficult to hide him everything.]" Celty wrote slowly. "[And... I have to tell you something important...]" Celty looked at the ground. She seemed nervous.

"[Shizuo knows.] "

-" What? "

"[Shizuo knows that you're back .] "

-" How could you _"

-"[I didn't tell him anything! Shinra did!]"

-"That damn doctor...*sigh* it can't be helped, then. I just hope that I will not bump into him on the street or something." Izaya groaned.

-"[Don't worry, we worked too hard to come up with this plan. I will not let anyone ruin it.]" Celty looked determined." [And I already told them that you're not the enemy.] "

-" Not suspicious any more? Don't you think that your opinion about me changed too quickly, dullahan?" Izaya scoffed.

-" [Those few days spent with you showed me that you are not that bad and there is something weird about you.] " Celty pointed out.

-"Being weird is in my nature." Izaya rolled his eyes. "

-" [Not that kind of weird. There is something about yourself that you hide from everyone who knew you. I want to discover it.] "

-" You are the one who is being weird, dullahan. "

-" [Maybe ^_^ But you're not telling me that I'm wrong either.] "

-" You and your psychic intuition can get lost. " Izaya smirked playfully.

-" [ Sorry y but I think that you didn't have enough blessings from my psychic intuition yet :-P ] "

-" Someone helps me! " He dramatically put his hand on his forehead.

-" No one would help a shitty flea like you. " A deep voice interrupted them.

-"[ Shi-shizuo!?] " Celty panicked.

Izaya was staring at the man he thought he would never see again. There was a weird sensation inside his stomach. It was a melange of fear, excitement and joy... No one should blame him, seeing his first love again after all this time was doing things to him. Izaya wanted to tell him that he missed him and cared for him and a lot of many other embarrassing things but instead of all of that the only things which came out of his mouth was :

-"Well, I'm not pleased to see a protozoan like you either."

Chapter Text

"Well, I'm not pleased to see a protozoan like you either."

Celty was looking back and forth at the two past nemesis? Still actual nemesis? She didn't really know. The two were staring at each other and she could feel the tension in the air. But before one of them would attack the other,Celty shoved her phone's screen in front of Shizuo's face.

-"[We have already talked about this, Shizuo.]"

-"I know, and you are right. I'm not the kind of person who judge people without any proof of what they are actually doing." Shizuo said as he walked casually toward Izaya.

"That's why I'm here, I want to see what you are up to myself." Shizuo stopped a few meters in front of informant.

Izaya's heartbeats started to accelerate.' Why is he approaching me with that piercing glance?' He used all of his willpower to prevent himself from blushing. He calmed himself down and put his usual mask.

-"So, you want to observe my every move? Didn't know that you were the stalking type, Shizu-chan ~" Izaya purred with a taunting smirk.

-"Shut up, flea." Shizuo growled. "I don't care about what you think, Celty seems to trust you enough to team up with you and I want to know the reason why." The debt collector's eyes narrowed. Izaya could see the protozoan's hands trembling with rage. He could admit that Shizu-chan's self control was a way better than before.

-" And you all say that I'm the clingy one" Izaya said with an annoyed voice. "But fine, it's not like I can stop you anyway. But I warn you..."
Izaya also approached Shizuo til there was just a few centimeters between them and looked threateningly into Shizuo's eyes "If you get in my way I won't hesitate to stab you."

He would not allow the protozoan ruining everything.

-"As if I was afraid of a tiny flea like you." Izaya was being more docile than before and that disturbed Shizuo. The louse didn't mock him endlessly with his condescending tone and the insults lacked of their usual animosity and harshness. Shizuo also noticed that Izaya didn't wear his habitual furred coat. He was wearing a long black coat with no fur instead. And his hair were a little longer. Shizuo could also see that those reddish brown eyes seemed have more lights in them. Before, they were just blank with no emotion at all.

-"[I'm glad that you are not trying to kill each other but can we talk somewhere else?]" Celty suddenly appeared between them. Izaya almost forgot that they were still inside the abandoned building.

The chilling breeze of the night hit Izaya's face as they stepped outside the building.

-" Oi where are you going?" Shizuo asked him.

-" I think that I have enough of your Neanderthal face for today." Izaya told him as he quickly walked away. And the informant was sure that if he stayed one more second there, he would combust. But a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

-"We ain't done yet, flea." Shizuo looked down at him.

-"There is nothing else to say ." Izaya glared at the blonde.

-" You don't want to talk? That's a first. Have these 2 years made you quieter?"

-"Let go of me." Izaya's frown deepened.

-"[Enough you two!]" Celty shoved her phone between them. Shizuo ended up letting go of the informant.

-"She's right Shizu-chan. And if you really want answer you can always ask your beastie the dullahan. I'm sure that she would willingly tell you everything." Izaya said sarcastically.

-"[You know that I won't tell him something that you don't want me to.] " Celty told Izaya.

-" Yeah yeah whatever. See you later then, Shizu-chan ~" Izaya waved at them before disappearing out of their sight.

-" [Why did you follow me?!]" Celty asked Shizuo, she looked angry.

-" I... Uh... I was curious about what you were really doing." Shizuo looked away nervously.
Celty just sighed.

-" [You said that you trusted me.]"

-" I trust you! But not the flea."

-" [Well, It would be a good thing if you
'observe him' like you said. You might be surprised of his changes.]"

-" I didn't said that I will observe him!" He didn't know why but he was being a little embarrassed." I just want to see myself what he is up to, that's all. " added more quietly "So that I can stop him if he do some shitty things again. "

-"[You're so stubborn.]" Celty face-palmed.

-

When Izaya entered his apartment, his face was red as a tomato.

-"What happened to you this time." Manami rolled her eyes.

-"That's none of your business." Izaya quickly said.

-"That's suspicious, Izzy. What happened?!" Shinichi cheerfully asked.

-"Nothing! I think that I'm sick haha." Izaya began to laugh awkwardly and Manami and Shinichi looked at each other suspiciously.

-"Ookay that behavior is concerning are you drunk or something?" Shinichi raised an eyebrow.

-"I was wrong." Izaya said as he smiled weirdly. The heat on his face was still there. "I thought that I moved on but nothing changed, I still lov- ugh even this word is disgusting!" The informant ran toward his bedroom.

-"That was the weirdest thing he did since I met him." Manami said.

-"I think that I know what the problem is." Shinichi stood up headed toward Izaya's room as well.

Izaya threw himself on his bed I covered his face with his pillows. 'I look like a desperate schoolgirl, it's so pathetic!'

-"You finally meet him isn't it?" Shinichi asked Izaya as he leaned on the doorframe.

-"Meet who?" Manami asked curiously.

-"The one and only fortissimo of Ikebukuro, of course!" Shinichi exclaimed.

-"What !? You met Shizuo-San! He didn't beat you up right?" Manami's eyes widened.

-"It's more like Shizuo make his head beat faster _" Izaya threw a pillow at Shinichi's face before the hacker could tell something more embarrassing.

-" Shut up!!" Izaya sat up and sighed. "I calmed down now." Indeed, he wasn't blushing anymore and his face was more neutral.

-"So,what happened?" Shinichi asked one more time.

-"Shizuo knows that I'm back and he also knows that I'm here to get rid of those spider lily's people."

-"So what? It's not a problem." Shinichi pointed out. Then, Izaya glared at him.

-"That's a great problem! Shizuo is determined to watch my every move in case I do 'some shitty things again' which might harm his beloved city! Isn't that hilarious!" Izaya threw his hands dramatically in the air as he flopped on his bed once again.

-"I still don't see what is the problem?" Shinichi titled his head.

-" You know that I do a lot of weird things when he's here." Izaya groaned.

-"Glad to know that you are aware of it. Either you slip into your asshole persona, either you become this embarrassing mess." Shinichi crossed his arms and chuckled a little.

-"Wow, that's a new thing I discovered about you, Izzy." Manami grinned at him.

-"You two are two horrible friends." Izaya pouted.

-"And you are so funny." Manami giggled as she looked fondly at Izaya. She wasn't aware that Shinichi was looking at her, too.

They heard the door downstairs opening . Kine and the fake twins went inside with some groceries bags.

-"Oh the others are already there!" Shinichi went downstairs with an excited face.

-"Sooo... Shizuo-San will follow you everywhere?" Manami asked Izaya.

-"I don't know what sort of nonsense Shizu-chan decided to do this time." The informant looked exasperated.

-"Don't tell me that he will tag along the day of our operation." Manami raised her eyebrows.

-"No, Celty didn't tell nothing about our plan. She also didn't want him to be involved."

-"Also uh? Are you afraid that your little Shizu-chan would be in danger?"

Izaya said nothing.

-" I think that you should be more worried about yourself." Manami stated as she crossed her arms.

-"Guysss! Kine brought us some sushi!" Shinichi yelled from the kitchen.

-"We're coming!" Manami yelled back. "That stupid hacker seriously." She mumbled.
"You're coming, Izaya?"

-"Yeah yeah I'm coming." He hoped that there was some otoro.

-

Meanwhile..... At the spider lily's basement.

-" The saber is fake. What will we do now, nee-san?" Hayato (the tiger masked guy) asked.

-"If Psyche's saber isn't in this city. We will have no other choice but to go back home." Akane (the girl with long black hair and the fox mask) said.

-"Father will be very upset." Hayato told her with an annoyed tone.

Akane's hands tightened on the table and almost broke it.

-"We will go back to America after ten days. I'm sure that it's in this city. I can sense it."

Hayato sighed and looked out of the window. "I hope that you're right."

-

-"Ne ne Dotachin ~ Did you hear the rumors? Apparently, Iza-Iza is back! Someone spotted him walking around Ikebukuro! " Erika looked excited about the news as she bounced.

-" His return would not bode well." Kadota stated.

-" At least some exciting things would happen if he's really back!" Walker added with the same enthusiasm as the Otaku girl.

-" Stop moving you two! We will have an accident!" Togusa yelled.

For once, those two weren't completely wrong. Something really eventful will happen in the city. The city will be drowning in chaos and confusion . And they will discover the secrets of the person they all despised and they will learn about the hard truth. But when that day will come, will it be too late?

Chapter Text

Wednesday 8:30 am.

Izaya woke up with a cold sweat. He didn't have that nightmare since two years. Maybe it was because he met Shizuo again after all this time .

They already finished all the preparations they needed for the operation Friday night . Shinichi also managed to hack their surveillance cameras so they didn't need to stalk the spider lily's basement from that abandoned building again. Izaya sighed, maybe he should get some more sleep. As he was about to succumb to sleep again his door was bursted open by Manami.

-"Wakey wakey the breakfast is ready and Celty said that she will pick you up at 9 !" She announced.

-"What does she want from me? " He mumbled inside his pillow.

-"Dunno but she said that she said that she would force you if you don't go with her."Manami informed him.

-" ughhh ! "

After eating his breakfast with everyone and doing his morning routine, Izaya decided to go out. He wanted to leave the apartment before Celty would arrive cause he had a bad feeling about her sudden need to pick him up. But the dullahan appeared in front of him as opened the door. And for his greatest misfortune, the fortissimo of Ikebukuro was there, too. But the blonde didn't look directly at him.

-"Celty, what are you doing here?" Izaya asked her as his eyes flickered at Shizuo for time to time.

-"[You have nothing important to do today, so I decided to take you for a ride ^_^]" Celty wrote.

-"A ride?" He asked slowly.

-"[Yeah, you weren't in Ikebukuro for two years... Let us take you for a ride around town !]" Celty looked excited.

-"I don't think that the three of us would fit on Shooter." Izaya said with a mocking tone. He desperately wanted to get out of that situation.

-"[You're right]" Celty put her hand on her chin. "[ That's not a problem we'll just have to walk! It's not that far!] "

-"O...kay..." Izaya gave up. He spent enough time with the dullahan to know that she would insist until he ends up accepting .

-"I'll spend the day with you, then, Shizu-chan ~" He purred. The said man's frown deepened.

Celty lectured Shizuo and if she actually had a voice, his ears would have been bleeding. She told him something like "[We all deserve another chance. Each of our friends already has made some kind of mistakes in their life. Well, some worse than others. You know, Shinra is far from a good person, but at least he makes an effort to be a somewhat decent human being, maybe Izaya is trying to do the same thing and blah blah blah blah...] " Shizuo stopped reading at some point. He wanted her to shut up, so he ended up accepting to accompany her and the flea for a city tour in Ikebukuro.

-" Let's go, I want to finish this day as quickly as possible. " Shizuo grumbled while walking away. Ikebukuro's two strongest being headed toward the exit of the building. Izaya sighed but followed them anyway.

They were actually in Ikebukuro, Izaya was quietly following Shizuo and Celty from behind. Celty dragged Shooter with her, even if she didn't ride it. Some bystanders looked at them curiously, some teenagers even take some pictures of them . They obviously recognized the black rider and the fortissimo walking side by side. But they were also looking at the all in black guy walking behind them. Izaya wore a black pant, a black shirt and a long black coat, maybe that attracted too much attention. But that was his usual outfit now. The informant thought that after those years, the people of Ikebukuro would not recognize his anymore.

-"I can see that some building changed but the city looks almost the same as the day I left." Izaya pointed out.

-"[That's right. But there are also some new interesting places. It'a shame that the Russian Sushi exploded , it would have been the first place we could visit] ." Celty wrote.

-" What a shame, indeed, Simon's ootoro is the best." Izaya agreed.

As he walked behind Shizuo, Izaya couldn't help but stare at his back. It looked like the protozoan gained more muscles, it was weird cause Shizuo never needed to practice sports. He was already super strong. Plus, the debts collector hated violence and despised his strength, it was very contradictory for him to do some body workouts. Izaya's curiosity grew stronger as he continued to stare at the blonde.

-"What are you staring so intently, flea?" Shizuo's deep voice interrupted his thoughts.
He didn't even realize that they stopped walking.

-"N-nothing." He cursed at himself for stuttering. " Where are going, then?"

-"[Let's do random things like random people!]" Celty wrote excitedly. She parked Shooter and took their wrist toward an arcade ? "[It opened this year, let's try to play some games!] "

-"Are you serious, Celty?" Shizuo asked her. "How can I evaluate Izaya's evilness by playing some games?" Shizuo whispered at her angrily.

-"[We're not here just for testing him. I also want you guys to get along with each other.]" Celty looked determined to help the two men to become "friends" but Shizuo suspected that she was especially excited to play with the games inside the arcade.

-"Fine, then." Shizuo was tired of trying to convince Celty to stop her stupid attempt to change his vision of the flea. He still hated the louse. And his sudden change of behavior was troubling and disgusting. It was like Izaya was trying to play nice and Shizuo hated hypocrite people even more. It was impossible to convince him that Izaya changed that much even if Celty insisted to tell him otherwise. A black heart couldn't turn white overnight. Or did someone exorcized him after he left Ikebukuro? That was crazy. But it was the only logic explanation Shizuo could come up with. He was scheming something, Shizuo was sure of it. He never forgave Izaya for making his life like hell. The flea always sabotaged the others life especially his life. He always would make sure to expose the worst of him. Thinking about all of the things he was going through because of that shitty louse, two years ago made Shizuo's blood boil. The blonde's hands were trembling with rage, and of course, Izaya noticed it. The brunette knew that it was because of him.

-"[Are you alright, Shizuo?]" Celty asked the blonde.

-"Yeah yeah let's go inside." Shizuo said through gritted teeths.

There was a sad smile on Izaya's face and Celty noticed it. It strengthen the dullahan's suspicion.

-"Let's play this game!" Izaya pointed at the snipers game.

Celty and Izaya were quite good at it but Shizuo kept losing.

-"OH the protozoan had a very bad aiming. Why am I not surprised?" Izaya mocked him

-"Shut up before I aim at you instead!" Shizuo looked deadly at him. If Celty wasn't between them, Izaya thinks that he would already have been crushed by Shizuo.

-"Yeah~I have the first place again! I'm the best after all ~ Shizu-chan, you're the loser again mmm. A protozoan just know how to punch, that's not surprising." Izaya shrugged.

-"YOUUU !!!"

-"[That was fun! Let's play another game!!]" Celty appeared between the two men again,fortunately for Izaya.

They played with the basketball game, the fishing game, and the motorcycle game which winner was Celty, of course. Shizuo was the loser of every one of the games they played. Surprisingly, the blonde didn't completely lashed out with all of the mocking comments Izaya threw at him. Celty even noticed the ghost of a smile on the blonde's face. But it seemed like the debt collector wasn't even aware of it.

-"Let's play at it before going out!" Celty pointed at the dancing game.

-"I'll show you that I can dance as well as a popstar~" Izaya made a ridiculous pose with his arms.

But Shizuo could admit that the two of them really know how to dance. Following the moves of that hologram lady.

-"Dance with me, Shizu-chan ~" Izaya suddenly said.

-"[Yeah take my place!]" Celty told him.

-"No, I don't know how to dance _" But Celty's shadow pulled him toward the hologram.

-"Okayy let's begin!" Izaya exclaimed.

The hologram began to dance again and Shizuo tried to follow it but Izaya suddenly exploded with laughter.

-"Oh my g-gosh! Sh-Shizu-chan you dan-dance like a d-dys-functional robot!" Izaya said between laughter. The informant clutched his stomach like it hurt him. Celty also shook her shoulder as she was laughing as well.

Shizuo blushed and stomped out of the dance floor.
-" I already told you that I didn't know how to dance. " He mumbled angrily.

-"[S-sorry Shizuo but that was so funny!]" Celty wrote while her shoulders were still shaking from laughter.

There were even tears on the informant face. Shizuo never saw him laughing so hard and gueninely , it was obvious that it wasn't a fake laughter. A strange feeling was growing inside Shizuo's stomach but he just ignored it.

-"I'm out of there" Shizuo said as he headed out of the arcade.

-"Wait! Shizu-chan!" Izaya said. Celty also followed them from behind.

-"[Let's go to the cinema.]" Celty suggested.

-"Okayy, I want a horror movie!" Izaya agreed.

-"You two have too much energy." Shizuo

It was also a new cinema which opened when Izaya was away. Their movie time was calm. Celty would just shrink in her sit or flinch when there was a scary scene. It was hilarious cause she was a supernatural being herself. But Izaya just smirked like a psychopathe the entire time. Shizuo almost doze off but Celty's startled movements would woke him up every time. Shizuo would lie if he say that he didn't have fun today. If someone said to his past self that he would go to an arcade and to the cinema with Izaya and Celty like that, he would have just punched them.

Before going to their respective home, Celty told them that she would pick them up the the next day as well. The two men didn't contradict her. Izaya was curious about the things they would do, and he was also excited to see what new things he would discover about Shizuo.

Shizuo was also curious about Izaya's new passive not very aggressive behavior. Sure, he was relieved to know that the louse wasn't dead. It assured him that he wasn't a killer after all. But that didn't mean that he wanted Izaya to come back polluting their life again. The blonde didn't expect Celty to suddenly have a soft spot on his nemesis, maybe past nemesis now. They weren't throwing deadly threats at each other anymore. For now, at least. He couldn't deny that a part of him wanted to know where all of this would bring him.

Chapter Text

-"I didn't expect you to really hang out with them." Manami suddenly said to Izaya .

They were all sitting in the living room. Shinichi was glued on his computer screen, the fake twins played with some games and Kine watched the TV.

-"We can see your face everywhere on the dollars website. Everyone talks about the return of the shady informant. But they are more shocked about the fact that you were walking casually with the black rider and the fortissimo. " She continued.

-"There's even a girl's comment saying that you are more handsome than before." Shinichi teased.

-"The dollars website? It still exists?" Kine asked.

-"Did you lived under a rock till now, old man? The dollars leader tried to dissolve the gang but many people protested and some of them tried to create other gangs and websites but they were not as famous." Ryu informed.

-"At last, the dollars wasn't dissolved but acts of violence and fights with other gangs are prohibited and the members who don't respect those rules are instantly banned. They also use the fact that the fortissimo and the black rider are close friends of the leader as a warning. " Aoi added.

-" I see... " Izaya simply said a little dazed. 'so Mikado found a solution for his troublesome gang'. He thoughts.

-" You are surprisingly calm about it."Manami titled her head.

-" The person I feared the most knows that I'm back. I can ignore the others. "Izaya said.

-"And your sisters?" Kine asked.

-"I already told you... They are better off without me. "

-

-"Celtyyyyy!!! How could you hang out with them without me ?!! I feel left out you know, it broke my heart!!!" Shinra whined since this morning. Celty really wanted to throw him out of the window.

-"[I already told you... That day, you were busy and I was obligated to find a way to calm Shizuo down and to convince him to give Izaya a second chance!] "Celty told him.

-" And going to the arcade and to the cinema was your best solution? "Shinra asked not really convinced.

-" [That day Shizuo also noticed that Izaya was acting differently. He agreed to not beat him up and to just observe him for now. So it worked!] " Celty crossed her arms and if she had a face she would have pouted.

-" Okay okay, you don't have faith in everyone so I will trust you for this. I hope that Izaya won't deceive you like he deceived me before. "Shinra sighed.

-" [Thank you, and I'm sure that he won't.] "Celty wrote.

-

On the private group chat...

[ Byakura] (Kida) : Guysss did you hear the news!?

[ Tanaka Taro] (Mikado) : What news?

[ Byakura] : Don't play dumb! I know that you know about what I'm talking about!!

[ Blue dragon ] (Aoba) : Are you talking about the pictures?

[ Byakura] : Of course!! Celty!! Shinra!! We need an explanation!?

[ Crazy doc] (Shinra) : Why are you asking me? I wasn't even with them when they were hanging out 🙄

[Setton] ( Celty) : I'm not talking about this anymore Shinra🤦♀️

[ Saika] ( Anri) : So Izaya is really back?

[ Byakura] : Yeah that bastard is back. As if the black gang wasn't already a great problem🙂

[ Tanaka Taro] : But if he was with Celty and Shizuo doesn't that mean that he's with us?

[ Byakura] : Don't be naive Mikado. Maybe Celty and Shizuo wanted to interrogate him🤷♂️

[ Blue Dragon] : He reappears at the same time when the black gang decides to terrorize the city. I'm sure that the cunning asshole finds it funny.

[Crazy fangirl] (Erika) : Oh my ~ are we talking about IzaIza?!

[Walker] : Here she goes again 🙂

[Ruri's greatest fan] (Togusa) : Let's not prolong that conversation any further and talk about more important things...

[Crazy fangirl] : Oh right 😳 Dotachin???

[ Dotachin] (Kadota) : We found a new lead about the black gang.

[Saika] : Seriously?

[Dotachin] : In fact, we found their basement.

[Blue dragon] : Finally

[ Byakura] : 👀

[ Tanaka Taro] : We'll finally be able to end this!

[The fortissimo] :What are we waiting for then. Let's beat them up!

[Crazy doc] : Let's go!!

[Crazy fangirl] : I waited your intervention for too long Shizu shizu!!

[ Setton] : Everyone! I have something to say about the black gang.

[ Crazy doc] : What is it, darling? 🥺

[Setton] : Let's have another meeting at our apartment today evening . I'll tell you about it there...

[Byakura] : Okay yy ~

[ Saika] : Ok👌

[ Blue dragon] : Ok

[ Dotachin] : sure

...

-

The Orihara twins finished their karate course and were on their way to get lunch when they received a dozen notifications from the dollars website. Saying that seeing the picture of their brother after such a long time surprised them was an understatement.

During the past two years they already have accepted the fact that Izaya vanished from the city and maybe from the entire country. A month after the informant's biggest fight against Shizuo, they received a great sum of money that could support them for a few years. They suspected that Izaya sent them his entire fortune but their brother wasn't that generous, right? Or maybe one of Izaya's acquaintances sent them the money cause Izaya died. But they instantly erased that thought from their mind, their brother was more tougher and more obstinated than that. It was not like they were worried or anything, they just wanted to make sure that a member of the Orihara family passed away or not, so they tried to contact him, a few times during a year. They contacted him with his personal phone and with his other 10 other professional phone, Izaya never answered. So they abandoned. They always claimed that they hated him, but something nearly broke inside them when the thought of Izaya's death crossed their minds.

For everyone eyes, Izaya was the devil, a cunning bastard with no remorse. The twins gueninely hated him. Kururi hated him more because of the pain Mairu endured because of him. Mairu always insulted him and always had that joyful behavior but Kururi could see that she was gueninely hurt by Izaya's indifference and hateful words. Kururi hated her brother for that. Of course, she was hurt, too. But Mairu's pain angered her more.

But Kururi would have been more cold and indifferent towards Izaya, if she didn't see through his mask that day... They were still in middle school, Izaya was there during their graduation, Mairu forced him to take a picture of them. He complained but he take it anyway. Mairu was too busy to stare at their picture to notice it but Kururi did. Izaya looked at them with a sad broken smile. It was so sincere that Kururi's heart melted, her resentment toward him suddenly disappeared at that moment . She acted like she didn't see it but she went towards him with Mairu's hand inside hers. She said that she wanted a picture with the three of them. Izaya and Mairu were taken a back by her demand but they took the picture. It was still in her room 'till now.

After the middle school graduations day , Kururi didn't saw an emotional expression on Izaya's face again . Izaya became more and more distant and cold. He was being very mean to them. Kururi even asked herself if Izaya's expression that day wasn't just her imagination.

Mairu stared at her phone's screen, reading their friends last conversation on the private group chat. Maybe, they would find some answers at that meeting at Celty's place. She tightened her grip on the phone. But Kururi put her hand on her sister's shoulder to calm her down.

-"We'll find him." Kururi stated.

-"What are you talking about Kuru-ne? I don't want to see that jerk anymore!~ We are better off without him!" Mairu put her arms around Kururi's shoulder. "And as long as you are here, I'm happy." She continued with a big grin.

-"You miss him." Kururi added with a pointed look.

-"That's not true! Let's not waste more time, we should finish this assignment and then we can go at Celty's place." Mairu began to ramble about many things but Kururi just asked herself about Izaya's objectives. 'Why did he come back just now after all this time ?' 'Is he alright?' 'Does he even think about us?' But the only person who could answer those questions was Izaya himself.

-

Kadota and his friends were observing those little gang whose members were wearing black clothes and white mask. Most of them were useless, just a bunch of thugs who were turning around the city. But at last, they finally catched a group who were heading to a sort of abandoned military basement at the edge of Ikebukuro . The basement was more crowded than they expected. There were many guards and they also spotted the girl with the fox mask Celty described. Kadota decided to tell everyone that they found the black gang's basement before doing something harsh. So he sent a message on their private group chat. But then, Celty wrote that she wanted to meet everyone in her apartment to tell them something important about the said gang. Kadota wandered what it could be.

-"Wow, they are armed as hell." Erika said as she watched the guards in front of the entrance .

-"If only Shizuo was there, we would have been able to get inside and threaten them to leave the city." Walker whined.

-"Those people have too many weapons even for Shizuo." Togusa said.

-"Let's go to Celty's apartment, something tells me that the thing she wants to tell us is important." Kadota told them. He really had a bad feeling about this situation.

-

Meanwhile inside the said basement...

Akane was looking at Izaya's pictures on Ikebukuro's social networks with a satisfied smile. Her fox mask was near her coffee cup on the table.

-" I finally found you, nii-san."

Chapter Text

Since the day she was attacked at the park, Anri wasn't authorized to live alone, a rule created by Mikado. Even if she was a lot stronger than him, he was still worried about her, that was cute but sometimes she found it absurd and selfless for him to throw himself in danger in order to protect her. Due to the fact that her apartment didn't have enough space for a roommate, they decided that she would live with Erika until the danger would be averted. Anri kept thinking about the masked girl who was able to summon a saber like her. So there were other cursed sabers like saika in world? It was the first time that she was confronted to a thing like that. She couldn't stay still and keep overthinking so she decided to do some research about it. There was nothing on the internet so she tried the old fashioned way. She went to Ikebukuro's public library and searched for a book with mystical entity, cursed saber, haunted saber, historical story linked to saber or whatever book which could help her. She spent many days in the library and was ready to give up but the librarian lady noticed the kind of book she borrowed and told her to come back the next day because there was a book she wanted to show her.

Apparently, they had another reunion in Celty and Shinra's apartment today evening . Celty wanted to tell them something important. Anri went quickly to the library so that she could have more time to read the book before going at Celty's place.

-"Anri-chan, you really came." said the librarian lady with an overjoyed tone.

-"Good morning, Sera-san. " Anri bowed.

-"Here is the book you were searching for." It was an old book with weird drawing on it.

-"Thank you very much!" She bowed once again.

-"No need to thank me. You're such a nice kid. And you seem very special." The woman looked at her with a knowing look.

-"How come I didn't notice this book, I went here almost every day? " Anri inquired.

-"Oh that's because it's not a book from this library but an old book I had long ago." The lady explained. - "Read it carefully the answer you need may be inside that old thing."

-"I'll do my best." Anri went to sit at her usual spot at the corner of the library. It was more clam.

-"What a serious kid..."

Anri's phone buzzed and she didn't need to look at her screen to know who it was.

Mikado - [Mornin... where are you? Kida and I are at the xxx station]

Anri-[ I'm at the public library... And I think that I finally found something interesting :3]

Mikado - [ That's great. Wait for us we'll rejoin you.]

Anri - ['Kay]

It was indeed a very old book. She didn't expect to immediately find what she was looking for but for once the universe was in her side. Her eyes widened when she saw the name Saika in one of the pages.

' Saika was an emperor's wife. She deeply loved her husband but unfortunately, she saw the emperor cheating on her the day of their wedding anniversary. After that day , she became more and more mad. The emperor never tried to apologize and began to treat her poorly. After the birth of their second son, she decided to kill herself with her husband's saber. Rumors said that the saber was cursed and her vengeful spirit was still inside it. '

Anri's eyes widened, what a sad story. Was it the reason why Saika always longed for love? Their son' s names were Psyche and Delic. Even their names were crazy. But their entire family was wiped out after a tragic incident. Apparently, that book talks about them. Saying that she found it interesting was an understatement.

-That story was considered as a legend due to his supernatural side but I believe that all of this was true. " The librarian suddenly said from behind her.

-" Where did you find that book, Sera-San? "Anri asked her.

-"It was written by my ancestors. And even if my entire family was a bunch of eccentric guys, I trust them. The official story about this royal family was modified, it said that they were killed by some assassins but that was far from the truth. If you keep reading you'll understand. "

-" I see... I'm so grateful... Thanks to you I finally found the answer I was searching for many years. " Anri smiled widely with guenine happiness. Sera stared at her for many seconds before turning away and scratching her head.

-" It's nothing jeez. You should read the rest at your place. It's a long story. " The woman pointed out.

-" Okay. See you later!" Anri was impatient to tell everyone about this story. That book filled many blanks. When she was outside, she immediately spotted Mikado and Kida.

-" Anri-channn! " Kida yelled while waving his arms.

-"How was your research, Anri?" Mikado asked her.

-"I found out more things than I expected!" She proudly said as she showed them the book.

-"What is that?" Kida raised a brow.

-"Some answers!"

-"You seem very excited about it, Anri." Mikado smiled softly at her.

-"Yeah, more excited than the day Mikado finally stopped to call you Sanohara-san!" Kida smirked teasingly. "Seriously, you two were dating since so long and that imbecile kept talking to you with that irritating fomal way!" Kida shrugged dramatically and Mikado hit him on the back.

-"Hey! I'm just telling the fact!" Anri chuckled at their shenanigans.

-" What is that book talking about?" Mikado finally asked. Anri told them about the things she discovered about Saika.

-"Wow that was interesting..." Kida looked baffled.

-"Yeah, and I'm sure that the rest will help us to understand more about the saber the girl of the black gang pulled out." Anri added.

-"Let's show it to the others at Celty's place. I'm sure that they'll be as excited as us." Mikado said.

But suddenly, there was an explosion in the other side of the road. The commotion caught them off guard. People were screaming and running in all directions.

-" What now!? "Kida asked with exasperation.

-" Dunno but we should get out of here! "Mikado said.

Anri looked in the direction of the explosion. 'Here they are' It was the girl with the fox mask and the blonde guy with the shadows ( he didn't wear his mask this time). Saika became more and more agitated. 'kill them, kill them, kill them, kill' em, kill 'em, kill' em... It kept saying. Anri's eyes glowed red.

-" Anri we shouldn't fight them alone!" Mikado tried to dissuade her to run away but Anri knew that it would be useless. She threw the book in Mikado's hands and pulled out her saber.

-"Show this book to Celty. I'll try to buy some times." Anri positioned herself in a fighting stance.

The girl with the fox mask giggled. "Don't worry we don't want to harm your friends. If you come with us there will be no victims." The girl's eyes was glowing in a green color.

-"Why would I follow?" Anri asked.

-"You don't have other choices." The girl titled her head. "Oh my bad, people say that we shouldn't follow strangers. Very well, my name is Miyazaki Akane. We don't want to harm you in any way,Sanohara Anri, we just want you to follow us."

-" Like hell she'll follow you, you psycho!" Koda yelled from behind.

-"You don't give us other choices then." The Akane girl sighed. But the masked girl didn't attack her like she expected, instead the blonde guy's shadows surrounded her and Anri disappeared. Kida and Mikado's eyes widened in fear.

-"ANRI !!!"

-"What did you do to her?!" Kida growled.

-"Don't worry, your friend is safe with us." Akane said. Kida was about to punch her but the two attackers disappeared inside the shadows as well.

-" Shit!!" Kida punched the wall. Mikado was still in shock, his eyes still wide in fear. Anri was kidnapped and he wasn't able to do anything. He clutched the book Anri threw at him in his chest.

-"...kado, Mikado !!!!" Kida's loud voice snapped him out of his trance. "I know that you're still in shock but we should go to Shinra's place as quickly as possible and ask for them help." Kida looked at him with a piercing gaze.

-"O.. Okay...Let's not waste more times."

-

Meanwhile,...

-"Another reunion?" Shizuo asked her annoyed.

-"[Yeah, hiding you everything is no longer possible, now that Kadota found their basement.]" Celty explained him.

-"What are we doing here, then?" They were in Shinjuku, once again...

-"[You were the one who wanted to observe Izaya. So here we are. But this it will only be o the two of you... We'll see each other at the reunion at 4pm. And try to bring Izaya with you.] "

-" You want me to bring the flea with me? Are you insane?!" Shizuo began to lose patience.

-" [I want him to explain the situation to everyone. He's the only one who could do that. Besides, he can't hide himself forever.] "Celty wrote.

-" Fine... " Shizuo sighed " But I'll not guarantee you that I'll be able to drag him with me. "

-" [You would be surprised.] "

-" What's that supposed to mean? "

-" [Nothing. Anyway, be nice to him. See ya.]" Celty waved and went away on Shooter.

Shizuo was more and more irritated. But he knocked on the door. Surprisingly, Izaya opened it right away.

-" Shizu-chan? Where's Celty? "

-" She ditched us. Anyway, let's go. " Shizuo was about to walk away.

-" Wait! Celty's not here to look at what we're doing, so you can go and we could pretend that we spent the day together." Izaya tried to convince Shizuo to go back to his own home.

-" No, I said that I wanted to now what you were up to. So, let's go."

-"Urgh... Fine." All of this was the dullahan's fault. The flea was mumbling some complaints. And Shizuo found it cute. Wait what? What the hell was that? The flea cute? Is he losing his mind?

Chapter Text

They walked for hours, Shizuo said nothing since they left the informants apartment and Izaya suspected that Shizuo didn't know where they were going either.

-"What do you wanna do, Shizu-chan? You want me to prove you that I'm a changed man? Honestly, I dunno how to do that." Izaya kept talking and Shizuo had enough.

-"Shut up, flea!" Shizuo yelled but the informant eyes darkened at that.

-"Shizuo." The changement in Izaya's tone made Shizuo stop. "You were the one who wanted to be sure that I wasn't doing anything bad to your beloved city again. I went along with this cause I didn't want you to constantly try to beat me up before I finish my business here. But seriously, why don't you just tell me how to prove you that I'm clean so that we can cut this crap and move on already! " Shizuo's eyes widened

-" It's the first time I see you losing your cool like that. "Shizuo said.

-"So what?! Don't try to change the topic!"

The debt collector rubbed the back of his head. - "Honestly I don't know what you could do to prove me that either ." Shizuo began.

-"Hah? Are you kidding?" Izaya was utterly annoyed. The protozoan was unbelievable, how was he supposed to satisfy Shizuo's expectations if Shizuo himself didn't know what his expectations are?

-" Listen, flea. You were acting like a total asshole since the day we met 'til the very end. I know that I' ll never be able to trust you entirely. Even Shinra who were your only friend gave up on you because of that despicable personality of yours. But Celty decided to trust this time and I trust Celty, she's not the kind of person who could trust everyone without a good reason so I decided to give you a chance before kicking you out of the city a second time...". Shizuo sighed. " And I 'm not the same Shizuo you knew two years ago, and I want to believe that you're not the same Izaya either."

-" Wow you sure became more philosophical, Shizu-chan. You also become more mature... " Izaya smirked. " But honestly, if I really wanted to cause troubles in Ikebukuro, again. I wouldn't waste my precious time to try to prove you the contrary. I mean, I'm a coward but not that kind of coward. " Izaya began to walk again and Shizuo followed him while listening to his logical explanation." I would want the people to know that all of that mas my doing. I'm an attention seeker after all. "

-" Yeah, you're probably right. "

-" Of course I 'm right Shizu-chan." Izaya pouted. "But seriously, where are we going like that , my legs hurt and I' m hungry." The brunette whined.

-" Okay let's buy something before going to Shinra's place."

-"I beg your pardon?" Izaya blinked in confusion. - " Why would I go to glasses place?" Shit Shizuo's mouth talked to much. It was too late anyway. Let's tell him everything.

-" Celty want you to explain everyone the situation 'cause they' re all about to something reckless." Shizuo explained.

-"Why does she not convince them herself, she's smart she can come up with something."

-"She said that you were the only one who could explain them the actual situation. Besides, Kadota found the spider lily's basement so no one can stop them go there." Izaya face-palmed.

-"What a hassle... But since the day Celty knew that I was back, I knew that I would be discovered by rest of the city somehow." The informant sighed.

-"What you gonna do now?" Shizuo inquired.

-"I'll go with you at Shinra's place obviously. I don't want them to screw up my plans." Izaya huffed. - "But anyhow, let's drop all of these serious topics. How is it going with Vorona? I heard that she came back from Russia especially for you." The brunette grinned. The debt collector blushed.

-"It's not like tha! She didn't come back for me. She said that she wanted to know what being stronger really meant. Apparently, being a debt collector with Tom and I helped her more than being an assassin in Russia. And I didn't really understand what she meant but as long as she was satisfied." Shizuo clarified.

-" You mean that the two of you never dated?"Izaya titled his head.

-" No! I mean yes. I mean we dated for a few months but both of us found that we were better as friends. "

-" You really changed Shizu-chan. Before, you wouldn't be able to tell me all of that without yelling at me or telling me that it's none of my business." Izaya said with amazement.

-" Well, I admit that having a decent conversation with you is not that bad. " Shizuo continued.

-" I'm glad that I survived long enough to see that. "Izaya mumbled with a soft smile.

-" What was that flea? "

-" Nothing. Look, we're already in front of Shinra's apartment. Let's get inside, I'm freezing. " Izaya walked ahead. Shizuo frowned but let it slide.

-" By the way, flea."

-"What?"

-"Where is the ugly furred coat wore every day back then?" Shizuo asked out of the blue.

-"Oh it's still hanging in my room. I just don't wear it anymore. It reminds me of too many bad memories." Izaya casually said. Shizuo decided to not question him further. The blonde knocked on the door and it interrupted the heated argument of the people inside the apartment.

-" Please come on in. " Shinra said almost mechanically as he opened the door." Shizuo and Izaya!!" Everyone's head snapped in their direction at the motion of the informant's name. Izaya immediately received many kinds stare mostly many glares. But he was used to it so he couldn't care less.

-"What is that bastard doing here?" Kida immediately asked already irritated.

-"The dead could really come back to life." Aoba sarcastically said.

-" Make him go, Celty-san!" Mairu whined.

-"Iza-Iza it's really you!?" Erika squealed.

-"[Actually, I invited him.]" Celty announced.

-"Without consulting me?!" Shinra whined, too.

-"Can we go back to the main topic of this reunion!" Mikado yelled.

-"Wha's up with him?"Izaya raised a brow.

-" [Anri was kidnapped by the spider lily's members.] "Celty wrote. Izaya frowned.

-" Spider what? "Shizuo asked as he looked at the screen, too.

-" Ookay... Celty invited me for one reason, so let's get over it quickly! "Izaya exclaimed as he took a seat.

-" What kind of bullshit will you say us this time? "Aoba glared at him.

-" I don't have times for the chit-chat. So either you shut up and hear me out or you are free to get out. "Izaya retorted with a smirk and cold eyes.

-" You... "Aoba growled.

-" Enough, let him tell us what he wanna say. I believe that Celty asked him to come here for a good reason. "

-" Thank you Dotachin, always so wise~"

-" But I warn you, if try to do some things suspicious. "Kadota narrowed his eyes.

-" Yeah yeah I know the rest but anyway. You guys want to defeat the "black gang" right? "Izaya emphasized with his hands.

-" Spit it out already! "Kida snapped.

-" Well,now that Anri was kidnapped, there's no way for me to stop you for interfering."Izaya's eyes became more serious." I'll be brief, the "black gang is not an random gang of thugs. Messing with them can be very dangerous."

-"We're not afraid. We have already confronted some more dangerous situations!" Mairu exclaimed.

-"She's right, we'll kick them out of the city without difficulty." Aoba stated.

Izaya sighed.-"In fact, the 'black gang' like everyone like to call them is a big European Mafia organization called 'spider lily' Being against them would be very suicidal."

-"Are really telling us to stay still and do nothing?" Mikado glared at him.

-"I never said such things. I'm just warning you guys to prevent some bad surprises."

-"So what are you expecting us to do?" Walker asked.

-"Celty and I already have a plan. I didn't want anyone else involved in it but it would be better if everyone is aware of it and participate ." Izaya explained them everything with every detail and they surprisingly agreed with it.

-"Why would we trust you?" Mairu asked but Kururi just stared at him the whole time.

-"Frankly, if you tag along or not, that's not my business, I just don't want you to ruin my plan by showing up there in the wrong moment."

-"If I understand, Celty was part of it since the beginning?" Shizuo asked.

-"Yes we can say that."

-"Another secret, Celty why?!" Shinra cried out.

-"[I didn't want you to be involved.]"

-"I don't care as long as we manage to save Anri." Mikado stated.

-"Yeah, Anri's rescue should be our priority." Erika agreed .

-" Everything is settled then. I'll go now." Izaya stood up and exited the apartment, Celty followed him outside.

-"[Thanks for coming. It would have been difficult to explain them everything without your help.] "

-"It was nothing and I did it for my own benefit."

-"[I hope that all of this will end well.]"

-"Let's be optimistic."

Chapter Text

Friday xxxxx

The day of the operation had come...

-

Two guards were surveying the main entrance of the enemy's basement . Manami was hidden behind a building's wall.

-"You can go now." Izaya told her from the headset. Manami approached them casually with a big smile on her face.

-"Who are you and what do you want?" One of the guards asked her.

-" Eh... I'm lost, can you please help me out?" She said with an innocent look. The two men looked at each other.

-"Sorry but you should ask your way to someone else." The one on the left said.

-"Really that's too bad." Manami pouted. Celty appeared beside them and knocked them out with her shadows . The cameras were already controlled by Shinichi. The hacker was now able to guide them from Izaya's apartment.

-"That was easy." Manami said.

-"[ I knocked out the guards on the other front . Mikado and the others are already heading inside as well. You should hurry up.]" Celty told Izaya and Shizuo who were appearing behind Manami.

- "Okay, stay hidden until something urgent happens." Izaya told the dullahan.

-"[Sure.]" Celty answered.

-"Let's go Shizu-chan!"

-"Don't order around, flea." Shizuo grumbled but followed him anyway.

-"I'll be on my way, too then." Manami said as she also went inside.

-"[Okay. Be safe!]" Celty told her.

As he predicted, the spider lily's men were already on high alert and very aware of their presence. They fired at the duo but Shizuo beat them up . At first, Izaya was doubtful about letting Shizuo and the other fools interfering with his plan but the protozoan's strength was very useful when it wasn't directed at him. Inside the building, there was many corridors and there were guards at each corner but the two of them managed to keep going without difficulty.

-"How are the others doing?" Izaya asked Shinichi through the headset.

-"Mikado's team are on their way towards the underground room where Anri is locked up. And Kadota's team are occupying the other guards." Shinichi informed him.

-" Are we almost there!?" Shizuo asked.

-"Yeah, the two members of the spider lily's organization named Miyazaki Akane and Miyazaki Hayato are in the central room. Don't forget that the two of them have supernatural power, be careful." Shinichi added.

-"Of course." The informant responded. The two past nemesis continued to run through the corridor.

Teaming up with Izaya was the last thing he expected to do in his lifetime. Now that Shizuo think about it, Izaya didn't call him 'monster' since the day he discovered that the brunette was back in the city. That was weird. Maybe he was really changing... 'Nah! Don't let him win your trust now! It's too soon!' The debt collector scolded himself. While the blonde had an internal crisis, they approached their destination.

Shizuo kicked the door open and as expected the girl with the fox mask named Akane and her brother Hayato were there.

-

-"Didn't thought that some people would have the gut to attack us." Akane said with a cold tone.

-"Well, I missed you Akane-Chan! The last time we met we didn't have enough time to talk properly ! " Izaya exclaimed with an irritating voice.

-

Hours ago...

-"Are you sure that it's him?" Hayato asked her with a deep frown on his face. They were looking at the picture of the shady informant of Shinjuku.

-"Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And.. he's the splitting image of father... " Akane said, her face was also deformed by a frown.

-

Back to the present...

Now that he had the occasion to stare at his face, Hayato had to admit that Orihara Izaya really looked like their father, well a skinny version of their father with more messy hair. Hayato narrowed his eyes. 'What a joke, unbelievable ! How could their father hide something like this to them! And ow could a bouffon like him be their brother?! ' he thought, he gritted his teeth and his hands were trembling with rage.

-"You!" Hayato glared at Izaya.

-"What is it, Hayato-kun?" The brunette smirked.

-" Are you really a Orihara?" Hayato asked.

There was a little changement in Izaya's expression but it was so subtle that no one noticed it. Izaya was confused, why the enemy would ask a question like that out of the blue. But his perfect smiley mask was put back on his face like a flash.

-" Of course, why are you asking me an irrelevant question like that?" The informant retorted with a smile .

Shizuo knew that it was a fake smile but there was something off about it. That smile was slightly different from the others taunting and provoking smiles Izaya used to show him. Plus, Shizuo didn't understand a thing about this conversation. 'Are you really a Orihara? Wtf is that supposed to mean?!'

-" Enough!! I don't care about what you're talking about!" Shizuo suddenly yelled. Their attention was immediately directed at him. "I'm here to kick you guys out of my city. If you wanna fight it's now or never." He continued with a low threatening voice.

Izaya snorted . - " So straightforward. But you have a point. Let's end this. "

-

Meanwhile...

-"You're approaching your destination. Anri is right inside the room on the end of the hallway ." Shinichi told them.

Mikado, Kida, Aoba, Manami and the Orihara twins were teamed up to rescue Anri. Kida was worried not only about Anri but also about Mikado. The guy didn't utter a single word since the beginning of the operation. He was obviously tense and stressed out and Kida could see the anger in his gaze. Mikado was scary when he was like this. The blonde could understand, though. If it was Sakic who was kidnapped he would have been like that, too. Fortunately, she was safe in Izaya's apartment with Shinra and Shinichi.

The guards were armed and skilled in martial art. But they managed to handle them by using some tricks like smoke bomb and firecrackers to take them off guard. And they were not defenseless either. Each one them had their own way of fighting. Even Mikado took some self defense lessons with Kadota, saying that he also wanted to be able to fight alongside Anri if something happens. He was also less skinny than before and got some little muscles.

-"We're there, everyone get ready!" Aoba shouted as they were near the door. Manami immediately trafficked the security system so that they can get inside.

-

-"What do you want from me?" Anri asked to the blonde guy who was guarding her. She was actually inside a sort of little a prison cell, her arms and her legs were chained . They could hear commotion outside. But for some reason, she couldn't summon Saika at all.

-"Don't worry miss, we mean no harm. We just want you to join us." He smirked. "My name is Sousuke and I'm an executive of the spider lily organization also known as SLO. Your potential would be very useful for us, of course you will be well payed and there are also many privileges you would granted for if you work for us."

-"Why would I join some psychopaths who hurt my friends?" Anri spat.

-"My deep apologies for those inconveniences but you see we are running out of time and those person where in our ways." Sousuke said undisturbed by Anri
's harsh tone. She knew that this conversation was going to get them nowhere so she decided to change the subject.

-" Why are attacking Ikebukuro anyway? "She inquired. The blonde looked at her with an unreadable before smirking again.

-" We where just searching for something or rather someone we're still not sure. "He shrugged. That didn't make any sense. But before Anri could question him further, the blonde continued his speech." As you know Saika is a supernatural entity which could control an entire army and you are its host. Let me tell you something as a proof of my sincerity, i'm also the host of a supernatural being. Its name is Hachimenroppi, I can manipulate my shadows thanks to it. "

-" Why are you telling me all of that? "Anri narrowed her eyes. Sousuke sighed.

-" Frankly, as I said you're not the one we were searching for. Meeting the host of Saika in this city as well was just a bonus. But considering the situation, I really doubt that we will find what we are looking for. I just don't wanna go home empty handed. "

-" Are you looking for another supernatural entity, right? "She asked. The blonde snorted.

-"You're smart." So she's right.

-"Why are you so sure that the thing you are searching for is in Ikebukuro? If you guys are still here after all this time that only means that your research is failing." Anri tried again to pry for more informations.

-" Because our personal informant told us so and he is pretty reliable. " Anri couldn't help but think about Izaya at the word 'informant' but then again, the brunette wasn't the only informant in this world. As Anri was about to ask more questions the door bursted open revealing her friends and her boyfriend. Huh Mikado was always the first to jump toward the danger even if he was powerless.

-"Anri are you okay?!" Mikado asked with an overly worried face.

-"Yeah don't worry." She answered with a soft expression.

-"That's a relief." He sighed.

-"Well, well it seems that other people are willing to join us in this little party!" Sousuke grinned.

-"Don't worry Anri-Chan, your saviors are there!" Kida exclaimed with his usual cheerful demeanor.

Chapter Text

Some hours before the operation...

Celty and Izaya were standing on Celty's balcony, the chill of the night's breeze was calming the informant's nerves. The silence was comfortable until Celty decided to ruin it.

-"[I noticed it you know.]" The dullahan wrote.

-"Noticed what?" Izaya asked with an irritated tone. Seriously, that 'woman' won't give him any break.

-"[The way you look at Shizuo. It's the same way Shinra look at me.]" Izaya made a disgusted face at that statement.

-"Ugh. Don't compare me to that crazy doctor. Now I'm beginning to question my life choices." the brunette complained. As dramatic as always. Celty shook her helmet in desperation.

-"[I'm serious. I know that you like Shizuo!]" She insisted.

-"*gasp* What a despicable accusation! As you might or might not noticed, I spent my life to sabotage his life so I don't understand why you think that." Izaya shrugged. 'Why is she cornering me with that statement?' Can we just drop it?' He began to feel the nervousness bubbling inside his stomach. That was one the reason why he didn't like to be close to anyone. Now, if he try to change the subject by insulting Shizuo or Shinra, Celty wouldn't buy it.

Celty could see the emotional turmoil inside his head. Uh she was right after all.

-"*sigh * OK you're right. But that changes anything. Between him and I .... There is no future."

He looked like he made up his mind since a long long time. But unlike him, Celty saw it, the little spark of a bright future.

-

-"Don't worry Anri-Chan, your saviors are there!" Kida exclaimed with his usual cheerful demeanor.

-"Be careful!! He can use shadows like Celty!!" Anri warned them. She was feeling anxious, her friends came to save her but she couldn't do anything. She didn't know why she couldn't summon Saika, she was stuck and helpless.

-" Izaya already told us." Manami said.

-"Izaya?" Anri raised her eyebrows. Why are they talking about the shady informant all of a sudden?

-" How troublesome." Sousuke glared at the newcomers .

-" Yeah how troublesome for you! Let her go and we'll spare you!!" Kida shouted.

-"Yeah that's right!! Let her go and we'll spare you!!" Mairu imitated him. And Kururi nodded her head from behind.

-"Anri-san, if you accept my proposition, I won't kill your little friends there." The blond mafioso smirked.

-"Don't listen to what he's saying, we'll handle it! " Mikado looked confident but Aoba knew that it was a facade. They all know that it was a facade. According to Izaya's plan, they were just supposed to buy time. But Anri didn't seem to be unable to move nor summon Saika, so it'll be more difficult than they thought.

-

Hours ago...

-"Just do as I said." Izaya crossed his arms.

-"And you expect us to just trust you and follow your order like some obedient puppies?" Aoba glared at the informant. That bastard just came back like a flower and expect them to just do as he wants?

-"You want to save Anri, right? If you follow my plan without complaining, you'll be able to save her with no problems." Izaya stared at him with a dark gaze.

-

Shizuo tried to punch Hayato but the latter dodged him with ease. The blond growled and chased after the guy. Hayato tried to slice the debt collector but Shizuo broke the sword with his hand.

The mafioso just smirked and materialized five other swords flying around him.

-"What?" Shizuo's eyes widened.

-"Will I be the one who'll kill the fortissimo?" The swords were flying in high speed in the blond's direction. Shizuo dodged most of them but one managed to make some small cuts on his arms. Those things were too fast. But even if he got cut, he couldn't feel anything that was changing in him. Shinra told him that maybe he was immune to those supernatural sword, Saika couldn't do anything to him, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

-

-"Your friend there, seems to have some difficulties. Don't you wanna go help him?" Akane taunted the informant while trying to cut him in half. Fortunately, after all those years of avoiding things, mainly fast flying vending machines , Izaya managed to avoid all of her attacks despite the fact that the young woman was very skilled with a sword. But with a pocket knife, Izaya could be as dangerous.
-"Why are you fighting us? I thought that Ikebukuro wasn't your city anymore?" Akane inquired.

-"Maybe I just wanna mess with you?" The raven dodged another hit.

-"Death is the only thing that wait for the people who do."

-"I know that SLO is a dangerous organization and that kicking you out of the city won't end this." Izaya said.

-"So what? Wanna surrender suddenly?" She narrowed her eyes.

-"No..." The informant took a deep breath and began to talk louder. - " Release Sanohara Anri and I'll give you the thing you want!!"

Shizuo and Hayato stopped in their tracks and whipped their heads in Izaya's direction.

-"I don't think that a guy like you may have something useful to give us." Hayato spats.

As Izaya was about to retort, the door bursted open with Kadota's group being held in hostage. The tall muscular black haired man who almost had the same strength as Shizuo was holding Vorona by the throat . Izaya's eyes twitched as he saw a gun being pressed against Kine's back.

Shizuo growled. His vision began to go red. That was not possible. - "Let go of them you bastard!!! " The debt collector roared, he was about to dash in their direction but a man pressed a gun on Kadota's temple, it made the blond stop.

-"Okay okay let's calm down!" Izaya raised his hands in surrender with a plastic smile. The situation was getting dangerous, he should act faster.

-"Stay put or I'll fire!" The man pressed the gun harder on Kadota's temple.

-"Dotachin!" Erika panicked but her hands were held by her back.

-"You_! " Shizuo yelled.

-"I have Psyche's saber." Izaya stated. And everyone's gaze were on him.

Hayato and Akane's eyes widened.

-" What?" The black haired girl inquired.

-"I have Psyche's saber." Izaya repeated.

-"That's not possible." Hayato sneered. But the unexpected happened as Izaya's eyes glowered pink and a sword emerged from his palm.

Kadota and the others eyes went wide while Shizuo's jaw hit the floor. Since when was there something like that in the flea?!

-" Iza-Iza is like Anri-chan?!" Erika gasped.

-" He had something like Saika all along?" Walker inquired.

-"Just release everyone and it'll be yours." The flea was holding the sword in front of him. The aura around him changed, as if it wasn't the same Izaya anymore . Now, Shizuo was troubled not knowing what to think.

-"Impossible..." Akane whispered and clicked her tongue. "Understood." She did a swift mouvement with her hand and the men lowered their gun.

-"But just for your information, it's not possible to extract Psyche from me, so you'll need to bring me along with you." The informant smirked.

-"What ?! You'll just go on their side?! Was that your plan all along?!" Shizuo thundered.

-"What did you think Shizu-chan? I told you that I wasn't your ally either." The raven rolled his eyes. - "Bring Anri and the others here."

Akane mumbled something into her earpiece and Anri and Mikado's team appeared through a cloud of shadows.

-"Izaya?" Manami was surprised to see that everyone was gathered in the same room. Izaya was holding a saber and his eyes were pink? What the hell? She always knew that the raven was weird but not in that sense.

-"Iza-ni..." Mairu mumbled. Something was not right here. The tension in the room became heavier. She had a strange feeling in her gut.

-"Let's proceed with the exchange." Akane nodded her head to her men and they all released the hostages. Mikado immediately hugged Anri and the others sighed in relief. They all went beside Shizuo in case those men decide to capture them again.

-"Are you okay?" Shizuo asked his kohai.

-"I'm fine." Vorona answered.

Izaya approached Akane with his usual unnerving smirk. - "I think that the deal is sealed then."

-"Izaya, what is the meaning of this?!" Manami inquired, there was a hint of concern in her voice.

Orihara Izaya... Do he really think that he can command us around? He gritted his teeth in irritation. -"I can't believe it. Do you think that we will just do as you please?!" Hayato yelled. He threw a sword enveloped by shadow in Kadota's direction. It was so fast that Shizuo didn't have time to react.

-"Hayato!" Akane tried to stop her brother but it was too late.

Everything happened in slow motion. Izaya jumped in front of the sword and everything went dark.

-

"... Izaya !"

"... Oi flea!"

"... Hold on!"

"There's too much blood!"

"Iza-ni!!"

The bringing in his head couldn't stop. Everything hurt. He couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. That familiar sensation... Was he dying?