I do not own Durarara! If I did, Namie Yagiri would have been run over by a bus (no seriously, as much as I love that woman, people need to stop pairing her with Izaya. It makes no sense to me).

That said, on with the ANGST! Warning, this is over the top, and meant to make you cry. Otherwise known as, I am stressed out from work and needed an outlet.

On with the story.

It was a beautiful day. His birthday was coming up, and Ryugamine Mikado had already asked Simon if Russia Sushi could support a party of an unknown number of clients.

Simon said that when Mikado-kun had an approximate number, they would see about setting up a room and negotiating the price.

"Sure! I have a job with a gaming company and with a computer software company, so I've been helping design games and building better fire walls. Most of the money's going towards graduate school, but I still have some spending money from New Years!"

"That's very good, Mikado-kun. Have a nice day!" Simon waved him off, and Mikado was nearly skipping down the street. Masaomi and Anri-chan had agreed, Celty had said she might attend a private function, and Kishitani-san said if he had work off, he would drop by, and Shizuo-san agreed!

Although, that might have to do with delivering Kasuka-san's present on the day of the birthday, which Mikado strongly suspected was a recipe book.

His birthday was coming up, and many people had told him that birthdays were exciting things. That they were special days when the world revolved around you. Others said that it was a day when you could feel Death sneaking up on you, or that it didn't have to be your birthday for the day to be special.

Whichever it was, Mikado was looking forwards to a birthday spent with his best friends.

So what if he was skipping down the side walk and grinning like a loon? He was happy.

"Mi~ka~do~kun! What's got you so happy?"

"Orihara-san! Today's been awesome, that's all!" Oh great, not Orihara-san. The information broker looked mad, and while Mikado-kun doubted that the anger was aimed at him, Orihara-san wasn't the most stable person on a regular basis.

Like the Cell-phone incident.

"Oh? It has nothing to do with your upcoming birthday? I would like to attend."

"Huh? But when I called your office, the secretary said that you were booked when I could have the party."

"That was this morning. But I'd like to attend, regardless."

"Okay. We're meeting at Russia Sushi, my treat, at seven in the evening on March 21 to celebrate. You can come late if you need to."

Orihara-san grinned and waved as he walked away. "That's wonderful, Mikado-kun! I'll definitely be there!"

Mikado waved back until Orihara-san disappeared from his sight. Then he froze.

Shizuo-san was attending.

So was Orihara-san.

He couldn't let Russia Sushi get destroyed!

Spinning on his heels, Mikado raced back into Ikebukuro, all thoughts of going home and doing his homework gone from his head.

He needed to warn Shizuo-san! Maybe if he hosted the party outside of Ikebukuro, they wouldn't fight!


Mikado bowed before Shizuo-san, after gasping out what happened. He was waiting for Shizuo-san to react.

A vending machine landed just to his left. Mikado refrained from flinching away.

"What…did you just say?"

"I- invited Orihara-san as well. So maybe, if the party's not in Ikebukuro, we can all…"

"No."

Mikado risked peeking up at Shizuo-san. The man looked furious, and the bartender was looking at him.

"I refuse to go to a party with that flea. And if you insist, than we aren't friends anymore. Choose."

Mikado felt his stomach drop out. Shizuo-san barely had any friends, and Orihara-san didn't have any! If he stopped being friends with either of them, that would be very mean!

"I'll want your answer before the party. Now get out of my sight."

Mikado bowed and ran off.

Shizuo had thrown a vending machine at him.

Shizuo had told him they were done being friends if he didn't choose him.

Shizuo was angry with him.

Mikado ran all the way home and collapsed in a hyperventilating mess in his apartment. He pulled off his overheating clothes and stumbled into a cold shower. The shock to his body pulled him mostly out of his fit, but for the rest of the shower, he just curled up and sobbed.

That had hurt. Really hurt, to have been spurned for trying to include everyone. Mikado pulled into a ball and stayed there.

Someone was knocking at the door. Scrubbing himself off, Mikado turned off the water and dressed hurriedly. When he opened the door, there stood Saika. Her eyes were glowing faintly red.

When she saw his red eyes, she waved off her children to go about their business, and then held up the grocery bag.

"I heard you were crying?"

Mikado let her in.


"So, any ideas on how to fix this?" Anri-chan asked, digging into her quart of ice-cream. Mikado shook his head.

"I mean, it would be easy to text everyone a change in plans and accidentally forget to send Orihara-san one until after the party's over, but that would be mean." His own spoon dug into another quart.

Anri-chan kept to herself that Izaya had his own information network. The broker would now what was going on before Mikado did anything.

A few more ideas were tossed around. Finally, Anri-chan suggested contacting Masaomi for a few ideas, but Mikado shot that down.

"He'd be totally against Orihara-san attending. He hates him."

Anri-chan nodded, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.

"Well, if I come up with anything or any way to fix this, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Anri-chan."

Mikado asked if she needed to be walked back to Celty's place, and Anri-chan gave him a look. The look that said, 'anyone stupid enough to cross me should be worrying about themselves'.

Mikado laughed and wished her a safe journey.

That was when Anri-chan had the most brilliant idea.


Celty wondered why she was picking up her adopted daughter from the school, but didn't press for details.


That night, around ten, Setton-san and Saika-san logged in to a waiting Tanaka Taro-san. Kanra-chan had yet to join the chat.

Setton-san: Hey, how are the plans for the birthday party coming?

Saika-san: Horribly.

Tanaka Taro-san: PM guys.

[Tanaka Taro-san: It wouldn't be the first year I didn't celebrate my birthday. It would just be the first year I had friends and didn't celebrate with them.]

[Saika-san: You mean, the details related to more than having both Orihara-san and Shizuo-san attend?]

[Setton-san: What?]

[Tanaka Taro-san: I already tried to ask Shizuo-san. And I upset him.]

[Tanaka Taro-san: I want to apologize to him, to tell him I'm sorry. Because he hates violence, and it was my suggestion to hold the party outside Ikebukuro so that Orihara-san could attend. I was the reason he threw that vending machine. And now he's upset.]

Saika-san: Cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut him to bits cut him to pieces make him go make him be nice

[Saika-san: I can have him attend, and throw you the biggest party ever.]

Tanaka Taro-san: Saika, STOP! That just makes it meaningless! Even if you had the whole town celebrate, it wouldn't mean anything to me.

[Tanaka Taro-san: But thanks for the vote of confidence. I mean, Shizuo-san is really angry when he hates you. I made him do something he hates, I made him snap, and it's all my fault. He must be beating himself up because he lost his temper at all, even if it did concern Orihara-san.]

Setton-san: You don't know that. Chances are you're right, but you don't know that.

[Tanaka Taro-san: PM]

[Setton-san: Sorry.]

[Setton-san: But how do we get them to go to the same party and save your friendships with them?]

[Saika-san: We don't.]

[Tanaka Taro-san: Eh?]

Setton-san: Huh? What do you mean?

[Saika-san: You never made the reservations. I've booked you on one of the transfer programs. You're leaving this summer semester for a program on computers in England. If you do well, the credits transfer.]

Saika-san: Don't worry about money, I've got it covered.

[Saika-san: With your grades, the program is paid for you. You just have to give a presentation of about four to seven minutes when you get back.]

[Setton-san: You're suggesting that he run from the problem.]

[Saika-san: Tanaka is punishing himself for something he had no control over. I say we steal him away from those two. Make them realize that they can't make him the center of their fights.]

[Setton-san: Ah. That's your logic. I agree.]

[Tanaka Taro-san: Uhmm, what just happened?]

[Setton-san: Mikado, cancel all of your plans. You're leaving March 20 for a year in England.]

[Saika-san: A semester. Three months at the longest.]

[Setton-san: Saying it's for a year will send them both into a panic. Especially if we can't remember if it's America or England. Shinra's suggestion. He's known the two idiots the longest.]

[Saika-san: Agreed then. Mikado?]

[Tanaka Taro-san: I….]

Tanaka Taro-san: That would be a wonderful birthday present. Thank you.

Setton-san: Glad you liked it.

Saika-san: I'll send you the details later. Good night.

Kanra-san: What were you all PMing about? Some of you slipped out, but it made no sense.

Setton-san has logged out.

Tanaka Taro-san has logged out.

Saika-san has logged out.

Kanra-san:…..

Kanra-san: They all logged out without saying goodbye. How could they not see me?

Kanra-san has logged out.

There is no one left in the chat room.


When March 21 came around, Izaya was nearly jumping from impatience. All of his spies reported that Mikado-kun had yet to leave the house, and all of his friends, including Shizu-chan, were gathering at Russia Sushi.

This made no sense.

Mikado was too polite to just ignore him.

His cell phone vibrated. Snatching it up, Izaya nearly ripped the top off. Finally, an informant was reporting!

"Heiwajima-san has just left the establishment, and he's fighting Simon. They're yelling something- well, the Fortissimo is yelling something, and Simon's just deflecting him."

Izaya listened to the fight that could be heard over the cell.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WENT TO ENGLAND?"

No.

Ryugamine Mikado did not handle his problems by running away. He was the founder of Dollars. He wouldn't leave the group on their own.

Right?

The information broker felt the cold reality of his humans slipping away. Mikado-kun had started the Dollars in Middle School, back when he lived in Saitama. He could just as easily manage them a world away. Hell, with the time difference, he could even manage them better. What was the time difference again?

Orihara Izaya rested his head on the cool pane of glass window as he thought back.

Surely his favorite toy, a boy with impeccable manners, celebrating his eighteenth birthday, would not run from the information broker.

He had seen Celty headless. The boy was by no means a coward. So why?

"IF THAT DAMN FLEA HADN'T PUT HIM IN A POSITION TO CHOOSE HIM OR ME, HE'D STILL BE HERE!"

….oh. He wasn't running from Orihara-san. He was running from heartbreak.

"I didn't mean to throw that vending machine at him. I was going to apologize."

Wait. What?

Even though Shizu-chan was done yelling, the words still came clearly over the line. For Shizu-chan to attack Mikado was unforgivable. If he ever managed to kill the bartender, he wouldn't bother handing the body over to Kasuka for burial.

He'd dump him in a wasteland.

Izaya sat down on his chair, and proceeded to spin. He pulled the phone to his ear and told the informer to go home. Then he ended the call and kicked his feet out, using them to propel him faster in a circle.

Mikado had left Japan. For England. As small as the island was, that was still a bigger portion than Ikebukuro or Shinjuku. And as rare as Japanese males with blue eyes were, there were bound to be some.

Plus, the information intelligence forces over there might not take too kindly to a broker sniffing around. Not that he was international, but rumors did go around.

And a bullet to the back of his head would kill him, regardless.

Well, for the time being, it would kill him.

Izaya scowled and pulled his feet up to his chest, causing the chair to spin faster. Same rule as pulling the arms in.

When he stopped, he was in a murderous rage, and started typing on the computer.

The school would have records of where he went.

Two hours later, and Izaya recognized that whoever beefed up the security in the Raira Academy database certainly knew what they were doing. To crack the code, he would need a new computer and another three hours, tops.

After ordering a new computer to be delivered tonight, he checked the chat room.

Saika-san and Setton-san were online.

Kanra-chan: Okay, whose idea was it to send Mika-kun to England?

Saika-san: Yours.

Kanra-chan: I wanted to go to the birthday, nothing else!

Setton-san: Shizuo-san threatened to stop being friends if you attended.

Setton-san: So M-kun decided that there would be no party.

Setton-san: I do believe K-kun is on his way to murder you.

Saika-san: And I sent help.

Setton-san: I suggest you take the plane tickets and leave.

Saika-san: Soon.

Setton-san has logged out of the chat room.

Saika-san has logged out of the chat room.

Kanra-san has logged out of the chat room.

He barely had enough time to find the tickets in his mail slot from where Namie-san left them, grab his passport, some money, credit cards, check his cell phone and grab the charger, throw it all in a bag, and run down the emergency escape before the alarm was silenced before it went off in his office.

He heard the door swing open under a pro's hands and silently ran away, into the night.

Oh, how he loved humans.


Shizuo-san counted the money he had saved again and again. He had just enough for a round-way ticket, but not enough to actually stay in England and look for Mikado-kun.

He needed to apologize. Now. Not a year later. He couldn't live a year knowing his anger had got the better of him, and in the worst way possible.

His cell phone vibrated.

The text was from his brother.

I'm filming now, but there's an emergency fund I've set up for you only for emergencies. Much like this one. The confidential information is in your email.

Good luck.

-Kasuka

Shizuo sent back a quick 'Thank you' and opened his email. After withdrawing the necessary funds and obtaining his passport, he packed his bags.

Celty-san was waiting for him on her motorcycle.

[Airport, right?] she typed.

He nodded.

Somehow, he suspected that Celty had been in on the plot to help Mikado. Sure, he had only recently come to realize just how rude he had been to Mikado-kun, and a large part of it went to Tom-san for snapping him out of it.

But how he hated the flea!


Celty dropped Shizuo off at the airport and then drove off to pick up an antisocial freak from the train station.

Hey, Izaya couldn't run fifteen miles in the rain without catching a cold, alright? It wasn't like she stopped being mad at him for making the situation.


When Shizuo and Izaya realized that they had the seats next to each other, the air turned tense for a moment.

Then Izaya relaxes his shoulders.

"I do believe why we are here is for something, or someone, greater than us, no?"

Shizuo nodded, and sunk into the window seat.

Izaya conveniently forgot to mention that once a plane takes off, you can sit wherever you want to in your section. Of course, that might be only Delta flights or just privileged, nearly empty flights where if the kid wanted to sit away from the parents, they could.

Izaya reigned in his wandering mind. He was going to work things out. He was going to spend a semester or a year in England with Ryugamini Mikado as an apology for ruining the kids birthday.

Heavens knew his sisters liked to crash his birthday. Shouldn't he be getting drunk on the day they were born? Rambling thoughts again.

The flight to England could take eight hours. Then they would still have to find Mikado-kun. But first things first.

"Neh, Shizuo-ku-ku-kuro, do you have any idea how we'll find him?"

Shizuo seethed as Izaya by-passed 'chan' for another meaningless term of endearment.

But he did try to say 'kun'. Saying 'black' just made no sense.

Well, aside from the bartender suit.

"I have no idea. I just figured even with my rusty English, I could just start asking for him."

"Actually, wouldn't a picture of him help?"

Shizuo went quiet for a moment.

"Don't laugh."

Then he pulled out his cell phone and started going through his pictures.

Izaya was not jealous. At all. The stewardess forgetting to give Shizuo his drink directly to him and resulting in Izaya gulping it down was not petty in the least. At all. And Shizuo calling him out on always being a child did not instigate them being threatened with separation from the motherly stewardess was just a coincidence. Totally.

They could so be mature adults and find the one boy who ran to the other side of the globe to avoid them and their fights.

Right.

They were so screwed.


Somehow at the end of eight hours, a compromise, not a truce, was reached between them. Izaya would continue to hate Shizuo, but allowing the hate to interfere with the search for Mikado would result in him going back to Japan to face Saika-san's wrath.

And unlike Shizuo, he did not have magical gloves that blades couldn't cut.

Of course, Celty-san might accidentally transport him in one of her spheres to the bottom of the ocean or something.

Shizuo would refrain from destroying public property until they found Mikado.

So when they stepped off the airplane to see a chauffeur waiting for them, both of them were slightly surprised. Izaya was alarmed.

He could remember a night back in Russia when he watched a movie about flying ships and world destroyers, and some fish had yelled 'It's a trap!'.

This definitely felt eerie.

Shizuo, on the other hand, walked right into the car, and dragged him along. Oh right. Shizuo was with him. If nothing else, he could drop a building on the enemy.

They were dropped off at a pub that turned out to have an apartment over it. They were already booked on one of the flats. The agency's name was Kishitani.

The feeling that they were being played continued to mount in Izaya's stomach, nearly giving him cramps.

He still forced himself to drink some ginger ale and go out with Shizuo to look for Mikado-kun. After they stopped by a cyber café and printed out a picture of the boy.


Coming back after their third day of searching to Mikado-kun cooking dinner for them was not what they were expecting.

Both men stared at the eighteen year old puttering around in the kitchen, who finally glanced at them.

"Go ahead and sit. It'll be done soon."

…..how anti-climatic.

Izaya went straight to the bathroom and washed his hands before he cut back through the narrow hallway and into the dining room.

Shizuo was still standing the doorway trying to get the apology out of his throat and off of his lips.

What he wound up blurting out as Izaya sat in his chair wasn't exactly an apology.

"I overreacted!"

Izaya knew that a lot of people would be wondering what he was talking about, but then again, there was only one defining moment when Shizuo-tan had upset Mikado.

"Go wash your hands and sit down, Shizuo-san. We can talk over dinner."

Shizuo walked into the bathroom, washed his hands, and sat down.

Izaya wondered if, while he ran on autopilot, Shizuo noticed the steam coming out of his ears from trying to figure out why Mikado was so calm. Certainly tossing a vending machine was a big deal, even if Mikado was downplaying the effect after nearly two weeks? What if he was being nonchalant in regard to their feelings?

Izaya wished he could spin in his chair to distract himself from theorizing what was going on in Shizuo's head.

Mikado came over and serves them fried rice with slices of cantaloupe on the side. He poured milk for Shizuo and coffee for Izaya. He himself drank water.

Alarm bells that warned Izaya of poisoning were told to shut up, except less delicately in the safety of his own mind.

Mikado proclaimed "Itadakimasu!" and waited for the other two to follow before devouring his share.

"So, uhm, what classes are you taking, Mikado-kun?" Izaya was surprised at what came out of his mouth. He was supposed to be telling him how Masaomi chased him out of his own work, not pretending 'happy family' as though he never brought Mikado close to tears.

Making Mikado actually cry was something he squashed for the moment. Shizuo had no qualms with murdering him if Mikado asked to never see Izaya again.

"Ah, just a computer class and a few English classes, such as World History. The credits can transfer if I manage them right."

"Ah, that's nice." Now it was Shizuo's turn to put his foot in his mouth.

Without thinking, both men glanced at each other for help with handling Mikado's sudden appearance.

They both paled as they realized what they did and dug into their dinner.

"This is good, Mikado-kun." Izaya complimented when he realized that he was shoveling the tasty food down his throat without savoring it. Damn awkward situations. Where was his suave nature?

"Hmmm? There's no soy sauce."

Izaya strongly resisted the urge to stab Shizuo with his chopsticks for complaining about the lack of a condiment. The food was good, damn him!

"Ah, I left it on the counter. I remembered that you liked yours with soy sauce, but I must have forgotten in the preparation to actually put it on the table." Mikado stood up and went into the adjoining kitchen.

He disappeared from their view for exactly 4.2 seconds before reappearing with a bottle with a dark red cap on it. "The markets here are a bit odd, but I was able to find everything that I needed. I got the low sodium one, just like you liked."

Izaya was sweating bullets.

Mikado knew a lot about them. He remembered little details about them. His coffee had even been served the way he liked it, and he hadn't noticed because Namie always prepared his coffee.

How did Mikado know that?

This…this was…

"This is absurd." Izaya bluntly stated as Shizuo set the soy sauce back on the table. "You run away instead of telling me that I hurt you. We chase you around the world, and here you are, acting like nothing happened. For your own sake, at least slap one of us for making you sad!"

Mikado gave Izaya a blank stare.

Izaya huffed as he struggled to regain his composure. When did his sadistic nature fly out the window on a one-way trip to Cairo, again?

"Don't you understand, Izaya? This is his way of slapping us in the face." Shizuo continued to eat his share of the fried rice.

Wondering what the hell kind of drug Mikado slipped Shizuo, Izaya sat back down and resumed eating.

The food left a bitter taste in his mouth. Rather than choke or cough up the bite, Izaya drank his coffee. Then he went back to eating his fried rice.

His mind was racing.


Shizuo continued to eat the food, noticing how the various egg, green peas, carrot, and rice brought sharp flavors together in a smoky confusion. The cantaloupe was cold and sweet, and Mikado hadn't opposed to him eating the cantaloupe with the fried rice.

The contrast was odd.

When Shizuo downed a good half of his milk, Mikado calmly pulled a jug of milk out of an ice box by his feet and refilled it.

"How has your stay in England been so far?"

….could he be anymore obvious?

"I've been great, Shizuo-san. Everyone in my class is nice to me, and the teachers are especially helpful. I love the views that western culture gives on their life. They take the standpoint that the individual is- not that the individual is more important than society and the well-being of others, but that to function well, the individual should be cared for first."

Shizuo nodded and swiped another piece of cantaloupe.

"I see. I…I want you to accept my apology. It wasn't your fault that I threw that vending machine. It wasn't your fault that I was violent. I hate violence. I just wanted you…to know that I'm sorry."

Izaya faltered while sneaking a piece of cantaloupe, but the other two ignored him. Izaya pulled a face at the sticky sweet fruit, but swallowed it anyway.

"Shizuo…I'm sorry. I doubted your friendship with me because I suggested you get along with Izaya for my sake. That was selfish of me, and I never should have-"

Two fists slamming on the table stopped Mikado before cerimone and honey-brown eyes fell onto his blue eyes.

Mikado felt a chill run down his spine.

"Don't. Ever. Blame yourself. Again." Both men growled at him.

Silence fell. Mikado thought about how the two actually did chase after him. Celty never pointed them to him. In fact, Mikado found out where they were staying when he realized that they were in town. Taking the Underground Rail to school would be a problem, but he could cancel his housing lease and stay with them for the semester.

"Okay. And, I was thinking…can I live with you two? The housing lease I have right now is weird, and my neighbors 'kinda' scare me."

Izaya and Shizuo agree without a second thought.

The next morning, Scotland Yard receives notice of a child molester living next to a blue-eyed Asian male who's moving out to live with his 'cousins'.


Getting a practitioner's license to be a consultant for Scotland Yard in murder cases was not how Izaya thought he would spend his summer. But the identity was valid, part of his job as an information broker was to have a license as a detective, not that he helped the Japanese Police all the time.

Shizuo knew how to help in a bar, and got a job behind the bar downstairs, helping out with the rent. He picked up English in a very short time, moving from phonetics on to actually talking without an accent. That, the blond hair, the way he dressed, and the sun glasses meant the first guy he punched out of the bar for racial slurs against Izaya and Mikado had the police disbelieving any account that Shizuo assaulted the man.

Shizuo attested to slugging the man when he became rowdy and assaulted his 'family'.

The police attested that there was only one punch on the drunkard.

The judge ruled that Shizuo was not the reason the drunkards cheek and collar bone were shattered, and warned Shizuo to read up on legit ways of handling drunkards on the premises.

Mikado hid the electronic footprints.

Izaya made sure that a certain street camera never had evidence of the guy flying out of the bar's doorway.


When the summer was up, the credits transferred back to Raira Academy, and so did Izaya, Shizuo, and Mikado. They decided to air mail their belongings this time to Izaya's luxurious apartment, which always felt a little empty sometimes.

But Izaya insisted on a safe apartment where he could meet up with the other two away from the trivial means of the world. Somewhere bullet proof and inconspicuous, where they all had easy access, but couldn't be easily followed.

Shizuo went back to work as Tom-san's bodyguard muttering about how crazy his family was. He handed Mikado Kasuka's gift once they were back in Ikebukuro. In the rush to find Mikado-kun, he never doubted that the kid would be returning with them.

Mikado resumed school with a major presentation in his first week. The presentation met the guidelines just fine, but Mikado asked if he could put on a bigger production if the students wanted to see it.

Giving a two-hour lecture on how a trip to England could benefit their education was a lot of fun.


Izaya and Shizuo still fight, but nowhere near on a destructive level as before. Mostly Shizuo just chases Izaya around, and when he threatened to have Izaya 'sleep on the couch', well, perhaps he shouldn't have said that near Erika.

But the biggest shock the city received was when Mikado calmly walked up to both of them and informed them that the couch would be for both of them if he was ignored on his very merry un-birthday with his friends.

Well, the party was a lot of fun, once Masaomi snapped out of his shock.

…Omake

Celty and Anri-chan stood over a building.

"Have you ever heard that 'the walls have ears'?"

Celty nodded.

Producing Saika, Anri-chan knelt and buried the sword into the rooftop. Celty waited until Anri-chan sat onto the bike, looking exhausted.

"They'll be okay now. The building will keep out any malicious intents from harming Mikado-kun's family."

With a nod, Celty secured her adopted daughter to the bike and left for home.

Izaya twitched the curtain back into place after the Black Rider had left. To him, the walls seemed to sing with a content hum in the warm light, a deck of Uno cards spilled over the table top.

"Izaya? Don't you want some popcorn?"

"Ah, I'll be right there Mikado-kun. Shizou-ku-ku-kuru back with the movie yet?"

"He just texted me that he left the store."

Izaya nodded, putting the cards away.

They were safe in their home…..but what about when they were outside? Izaya set the deck in the cabinet with the rest of the games.

He needed to hurry and collect a hundred of a hundred thousand souls, to inflict pain and knowledge, to love all humans.

He could protect his family better as a demon, after all.

A/N: This just started wandering around on it's on, and I can't find the leash. Originally, it was just the chat room of Mikado explaining how his birthday was ruined by Izaya asking to attend and Shizuo refusing to contemplate attending as well. But, it turned out like this in the end. Or is it that I'm just too stressed to actually write something decent, because I just fail at capturing Izaya's insane essence. I want him to be a cute, cuddly kid. With, you know, a switchblade hidden up his arm.

Oh, yeah. That trip to Cairo. I fail at writing Izaya. I mean, I can describe him well enough, but I keep wanting to turn him into a giant goo of huggles. Maybe I should throw on a vampire label to get him more in character.

Inspiration for the next fanfic, making Izaya a vampire and Mikado the lonesome boy he found. I wonder if Shizuo is a Vampire or a Vampire Hunter in that fanfic? Excuse me, I need to go brain storm.

Oh yeah, that last line. There's a myth that if you kill a hundred demons, you become one yourself. And given all the insanity that happens in Durarara!, well, why not spin that on its' head and throw it at Orihara-san?