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Shizuo glanced towards his left and turned back to take another look. That couldn't be… could it?
He've heard of rumors of it. Well, her now, since he could put an image to the legendary Black Rider.
There was no mistaking her. The yellow helmet and the skin-tight suit that clung to her like second skin. The way shadows seemed to stretch out towards her, as if she was sucking them all in.
Yes, this was definitely the Black Rider.
The question was: Where was her bike? The trademark black bike that was said to neigh like a horse.
Shizuo stood still, an anchored stone in the rushing current of the crowd, watching the yellow helmet disappear before he made his decision.
Why not? It was just to satisfy his curiosity. It wasn't like he was going to… attack her.
He walked in the same direction and turned the corner.
The Black Rider was still there, ambling down the lane while all others seemed to ignore her. Did they not see the legend that everyone wanted to get a glimpse of?
Shizuo started down the street. The crowd made a little path, after noticing who he was, and made it easier for him to get through to the dark figure, who was now at the corner of the street.
She seemed to be waiting for something. That or she was a really slow walker and had trouble with directions.
The blonde walked at a constant pace and he was sure that he'd have to go past the rider and round back to follow her when the said rider turned the street at a slightly faster pace, intent on texting.
Who knew legends could text? If she was the actual headless rider, that is.
They turned to another street, this one a lot less crowded and the road were partly in construction. Shizuo hoped the woman didn't notice him yet. If she turned out to be an ordinary woman with some weird fetish (maybe not so normal then), well… it would be hard to explain why the monster of Ikebukuro was chasing a defenseless female.
Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, he was startled to see a black bike parked a little ahead of them. There were no other vehicles since the road was in construction.
Shizuo briefly wondered how she parked it there, seeing that the sides of the road were cut off. He startled, dropping his half-finished cigarette when the engine roared to life (and indeed, there was a brief telltale neigh mixed in there) and the bike sped down the sidewalk.
Despite the bulky size, it somehow managed to dodge all the citizens on it. The indestructible man still wasn't sure if others could see her, seeing as they were barely glancing at the vehicle weaving around them but they all seemed to unconsciously move away from it.
Shizuo broke into a run, mindless of whether the headless rider was real or whether she could hear him chasing. It wasn't a long chase.
No. The blonde had only a few steps after her when he could take no more. He was already falling into an inexplicable manhole that appeared in his path.
It was dark. Of course it would be dark. It wasn't as if he was falling through a well lit building, was it? But what surprised him was how deep the manhole was.
Really, what were they planning to do with a hole this deep in the middle of a road? Travel to China?
Shizuo was beginning to wonder if there really was a bottom to the seemingly endless hole and whether it really was possible to climb up when he softly landed on something.
A mattress?
No, it was one of those inflatable cushion things that they used on the movie sets when doing stunts.
Of course this would just be conveniently placed here to break my fall, Shizuo thought sarcastically.
He was distracted by the bright light on the sides.
Shizuo frowned.
Why was there a well lit room down here? It was tiled with marble, columns decorated with gold lining and red curtains but barely furnished and a table set with odd assortments.
There was cake, only a slice, and a… medicine bottle? Other trinkets such as key chains, hats (of all sotrts), carelessly tossed accessories that were tangled up with each other and… was that a mouse toy?
His observations were distracted when a female voiced cried, "Shizu-chan! Celty brought him back! He's finally here! Iz-"
The girl was quickly hushed by the other two, one more boyish (the blond) and the man with a hat. There was a fourth, long red-haired, who looked a bit older than all of his companions.
"Do I know you?" Shizuo asked, raising a brow. He noticed the manga books that the blond boy's bag held and a volume of the manga… with a blue headed boy with dopey eyes and a menacing taller guy, radiating off a red aura, in the girl's hands.
The oldest of the trio, the red haired, blinked in surprise. "You don't…," he trailed off, before a look of realization dawned onto his face, "Of course he wouldn't. They don't know it up there, do they?"
Shizuo wasn't quite sure if he was muttering to himself or it was addressed to the other three.
"Never mind, Shizuo-kun. I'm afraid that you'll have to eat the cake on the table, though."
What was that about strangers offering treats?
"Yes, yes. You better hurry, Shizuo-kun. The Jabberwocky's going to come," the other boy chimed in.
What in the world was a Jabberwocky?
"He's going to be so happy! His lo- mmhm mmhm-" the girl tried to speak, but was quickly stopped by two hands simultaneously covering her mouth. Shizuo wasn't quite sure if he wanted to know what she had to say, seeing that she currently had stars for eyes.
"I'm not eating cake just because some strangers told me so."
"You guys are all being rude to our guest. Not even introducing yourselves. And Erika. Not another word about it," the man with the hat chided all the others.
"Sorry. They just got excited, Shiz-. I mean, I'm Kadota. What's your name?" Kadota offered his hand towards the taller blond, trying to cover up the slip he made.
Shizuo frowned and didn't take the hand. Why does everyone here seem to know his name?
"I'm out of here. Some weird freaky shit is going on," he declared. "It's probably a dream," he added, half talking to himself.
"Shizuo-kun!" Kadota called after him. "I'm afraid they're right. You can't go that way. You can only go forward now. The gate Up is closed. You'll have to eat the cake."
Shizuo ignored him then stopped. The hallway ended abruptly. There was no hole in the ceiling to climb back up. Even the inflatable stunt bag was gone.
There was no way anyone could've moved something that big without him noticing. Or close up the hole for that matter.
"How the hell do I go back then?" Shizuo growled, turning back to the group.
The blonde of the group looked up from his discussion with the girl. "We told you. You'd have to eat the cake and go through the door," he pointed towards the other end, where if Shizuo squinted, he could make out an outline of a wooden door that was out of place in the marble room. "Don't worry. It'll only make you small for a limited amount of time. You'll be back to normal on the other side."
Shizuo furrowed his brows. Make him small?
Shizuo've missed a fair amount of physic classes during high school but he was pretty sure that was impossible.
"Walker's right! Go on, take a bite," the girl, Erika, encouraged. Yes, because Shizuo was going to eat something just because some random girl said so. Especially if the thing was a cake that supposedly can make you smaller.
"You might as well. It's the only way to get out of this room. You can travel and meet the King. If you ask nicely, he might open the gate for you," Kadota said, though his eyes held something akin to humor.
"It's perfectly safe, if that's what you doubt. Here," the red-haired whose name hadn't been mentioned took a piece of the slice (and to Shizuo's dismay, it was the strawberry on top) before eating it.
Shizuo blinked as the man suddenly disappeared, clothes and all. Walker bend down, reaching for something on the floor.
"SEE? PERFECTLY SAFE!" a teeny voice came from Walker's open hands.
The blond man glanced down, astonished to see the figure that had just been full human sized. The size of the man was perfect for the tiny wooden door ahead.
"Sorry, you'll just have to go out that way and ask the King. You should be careful. The King's a… crafty one," the hat wearing man warned, already moving forward to take a bite of the cake. The other two quickly followed, Walker after putting the shrunken man down first.
Shizuo paused, reluctantly glancing at the quickly diminishing cake. He just had to meet this shitty King and ask him to send him back to his world, right? If he wouldn't, the blond could just beat him up and force him to open it. It would be easy and he'd be sent back to his own world.
Besides, who'd want to have him in their kingdom?
How very wrong he was.
The first thing he saw when he stepped outside was trees. Very, very tall trees with a barely visible path that he'd have to walk miles if he wanted to go forward a meter in this form.
Shizuo groaned, mentally picturing himself, spending years walking in the forest, never reaching the end, much less to the King's palace. His negative thoughts were interrupted by a tingling in his stomach that quickly spread to the rest of his body.
Slowly, his limbs started getting longer and bigger, his head inflating and torso enlarging before he became his original size. The trees now were all normal sized the path was much shorter.
A figure of black emerged from the shadows of the tree. It was her, the headless Black Rider.
'I've been waiting for you. We need to hurry. It's almost time for the Jabberwocky to come,' she texted out on the phone.
Of course she would. She was supposedly headless, wasn't she?
"What? Where are we going?" Seriously though, what's a Jabberwocky?
'To the King's castle. Let's go. It'll be fast travel with only the two of us… Ah! And my name's Celty. It was rude of me to not introduce myself.'
"Celty. And… two? What about…" Shizuo trailed off as he turned around. The group that he followed in was gone.
'We need to go. I have another delivery soon and I would rather like to cover some ground before leaving you,' Celty flashed him the screen before heading into the forest.
"Delivery?" Shizuo asked, already following her. He shrugged to himself when she didn't reply.
If she was going to lead him to the palace, who was he to complain? Besides she got him into this place. It's only fair that she got him out.
They walked in companionable silence, Shizuo taking deep drags from his cigarette while Celty routinely checked her phone for the time and speeding up her pace accordingly. They came towards a large boulder where Celty suddenly stopped.
'This is as far as I'm able to take you. I have another important delivery to make. You can just keep walking until you find the house of the Duke and the Duchess. They'll tell you directions to go to the castle,' Celty hurriedly typed, glancing off onto the side.
"Eh? You're not taking me to the castle?" Shizuo stubbed out his cancer stick.
'No. Just follow the path and you'll reach the house. I must bid you goodbye now.' Celty stepped off the path and into the forest, where she melted in with the shadows behind.
Shizuo stood, watching her until he couldn't make out the slight figure in the darkness. He stepped forward onto the path, alone with his thoughts.
It was a little while before he encountered another living soul. Three to be exact.
They came out from the forest, dripping wet.
"Hey! It's Shizuo-kun!" the blonde one cried out. Shizuo had stopped questioning how everyone here knew his name.
"Ah, you're right, Kida," the shorter black-haired boy remarked.
The girl beside them bowed. "Shizuo-kun, thank you for last time."
Shizuo was thoroughly confused about this 'last time'.
"Anri-chan! He's not going to know of it! They forget when they're in Up, remember?" Kida laughed.
"Oh! Sorry!" Anri bowed again. Her voice lacked any real emotion, though.
"Shizuo-kun, are you going to the King's castle?" the dark-haired asked.
"Yes. And you are?" Shizuo returned, raising his brow.
The boy flushed. "Mikado. Ryugamine Mikado."
"Hey! Since we're all wet, why don't we do something to dry off?" the blond energetic boy proposed.
Shizuo turned to leave. It obviously didn't concern him.
"Hey! Where're you going? You're in this too, you know!"
Shizuo turned to the voice. "I'm not wet," he dryly stated.
"Doesn't matter. Fun's fun," Kida grinned.
"What do you propose that we do, Kida-kun?" Mikado hurriedly turned his friend's attention from the man.
"Hmm… I haven't thought of that."
"Why don't we have a… race?" Anri stated quietly from her spot.
"Yeah! A race! That'll dry us off!" Kida nodded. Shizuo failed to see the logic in that, seeing as the race would probably get them all sick and cold.
"Here's the rules. You all participate –"
Shizuo opened his mouth to protest. "Wha-"
"But you can your race when you want to. It's an individual race! Everyone wins when they leave!"
"That's not a race, then," Shizuo argued.
"Eh? But it is! It's an individual race. You win when you leave the race," Kida explained.
"So the first one to leave wins?"
"No, Shizuo-kun. What Kida means is that you win for yourself when you leave the race. You're… racing against yourself, in a sense. You win whenever you finish the race against yourself," Mikado elaborated.
Shizuo frowned. He supposed he understood the general idea of it. He could just call it quits and leave this race.
He might as well go along with it. He had time to kill anyway. Who knew how much longer he had to walk for the path to end?
They started the race without even forming an even line.
"Start!" Kida shouted, the sound echoing across the whole forest.
None of them actually started running. No, Kida ambled leisurely, slouched backwards and hands in his pockets. Mikado walked in better posture beside his friend, though it was at the same pace. Anri casted her eyes towards the ground uninterestedly and walked slightly slower.
Shizuo hanged at the back, observing the trio in front. They were drastically different people, one flashy, one logical and normal, he supposed; or at least what a typical high school student should be like. The girl was uncaring, uninterested and made no effort to have contact with the others (other than the two she was with) unless she was spoken to.
Someone's phone rang.
Mikado rummaged through his dry bag, fishing out a cell phone and hurriedly read the message.
"I'll be ending the race early then. I have to go," he snapped the phone shut and started off the path.
"Mikado!" Kida whined. "I'll come with you then! Anri-chan! Come with us!"
"Ah, yes. Okay," she timidly answered the loud boy.
"We're ending the race then! We all won. Remember, you can win whenever!" Kida shouted back at Shizuo, before running off after his friends.
"I guess I'll end the race and win, then," Shizuo muttered to himself.
"Oh, it's you," the woman across curled her lip in distaste.
"I don't think this is the house of the Duke and the Duchess, is it?" Shizuo sarcastically asked. He eyed the woman lounging as regally as a queen, despite the fact that she was resting on a long leaf and was currently injecting herself with syringes, one after another.
"No."
"So who are you?"
"Namie," she glanced up at him. "You better hurry up to King. He might cut my paycheck and then I can't buy my little brother all the things that he wants."
Shizuo raised a brow. Was she really going to buy things for her brother or buy drugs for herself?
"What do you do?" Shizuo couldn't resist.
Was she really a doctor? She's got the lab coat on but what kind of doctor do drugs?
"I'm the King's assistant." The way she said it with contempt clearly stated that she hated the job. "And I sell drugs and medicine. And I can give you plastic surgery if you like… or cigarettes," she said shortly, after noticing the packet of cigarettes sticking out of Shizuo's pocket.
"No thanks. Do I just keep walking on the path to reach the Duke and Duchess's house?"
She gave him an annoyed look that said she had better things to do than answer his question. "Yes."
Shizuo turned and walked ahead, abruptly ending their conversation. What kind of woman does drugs in the middle of a forest and can't even be nice enough to give directions?
Shizuo finally reached the outside of a two-story mansion with a well kept garden. The gate swung open with a touch. Shizuo stepped inside, despite having no one to welcome him.
"I told you someone was here, Kasuka-kun!" a cheery voice cried out in triumph. A man wearing a lab coat and glasses appeared.
" Who is it?" a monotone droll replied.
"Brother!" the owner of the monotone droll said with a lilt of his voice. Shizuo wasn't sure if that meant he was surprised.
"Come in, come in, Shizuo-kun," the man with the lab coat giggled to himself.
"Shinra-san," the other said, his tone slightly warning.
"All right, all right! I'll be taking my leave then, Kasuka-kun," the cheery man gave a dramatic bow before grinning and exiting the house. Shizuo watched him go, blinking in surprise when the man disappeared from his spot.
"Brother, come on in," Kasuka invited.
Why was he calling him 'brother'? Shizuo was pretty sure he didn't have a brother.
"I don't have a brother," the blond bluntly stated.
"You- you wouldn't remember, would you?" Kasuka shook his head.
"It doesn't really matter, I suppose. You'll get them back eventually."
"Get what back?"
"Your memories," Kasuka replied, elaborating no more. The discussion was cut short by the arrival of a woman, much like Anri. She had the same expressionless face and seemed to pass her eyes over him as if she wasn't really seeing him.
"Ah, it's Shizuo-san," she said, though her eyes were at Kasuka.
"Yes. Brother came back. Brother, meet Ruri Hijribe, my fiancé, soon-to-be Duchess."
"I'm not your brother," Shizuo repeated.
"…of course not," Kasuka acknowledged, tilting his head in a patronizing angle.
"I don't have time for this. You're the Duke? Tell me how to get to the castle," the blond angrily demanded.
"Yes, I am the Duke since you didn't want the title and left for Up after beating up the Namer."
Shizuo isn't sure if the other meant to say it angrily. "The Namer?"
"Shuji Niekawa, previously known as the Namer, as in someone who gives titles to people. I do hope you're keeping your anger in check, brother."
"Previously? Title?" Shizuo didn't need this shit. He needed directions to go to the castle. And for the dark haired man to stop calling him 'brother'.
"Previously. He got… disposed of after being beaten up half dead. By you. Now the King's the Namer," Kasuka paused to let Shizuo digest this information. His dark eyes scrutinized him.
"Titles are just titles. You've already escaped the 'Duke', though you'll gain an official title eventually."
Shizuo sighed. Because that explained so much. Ruri disappeared off to a side room sometime during their conversation.
"So, the directions to the castle?"
"Ah, yes. You'll have to walk for a while in the forest. Unfortunately, there's no path to follow. After you exit the house, walk right then take a left at the tree marked with 'X'. Keep walking until you see a tree filled with pink flowers and take a right. You should end up in front of a crystal clear lake surrounded by grey boulders. You'll have to wait for a while for the tide to go down. It should do so in… 30 minutes from now," Kasuka paused to take a breath and glanced at the clock.
"Walk on the path that appears when it's low tide. It'll last for about 10 minutes. After you reach the end, immediately take a left and then a right at the tree filled with the chattering of squirrels. There should be a path that starts from there to the Mad Hatter's house. You can take a rest there, though the Dormouse is extremely unfriendly. Afterwards, continue down the path until you reach the wall of the castle. Go around clockwise and you should see the gate somewhere that way."
Shizuo frowned. Take a right then a left, right, left? Or was it right? What were the landmarks again? He wanted to scream out in frustration.
"Ah, I think it'll be better if the Cheshire Cat led the way. At least until the lake. Then you can ask the Mad Hatter for more directions," the emotionless man suggested, noticing the vein on Shizuo's forehead. "He should be outside."
"Thanks." Shizuo nodded. He just had to find a cat, right?
"Hello, again! Where're you going? Oh wait. I forgot. To the King's castle!"
Shizuo felt his eye twitch at the voice that suddenly appeared from above the trees. He had just stepped out of the garden and he had to deal with another human being already? He was supposed to follow a cat!
"Yes. Do you know where the Cheshire Cat is?"
"Why! You're talking to him right now!" the voice giggled. A figure of white dropped down in front of him. "I prefer the Cheshire Surgeon though. The Namer really had bad taste in naming, you know."
Shizuo scowled. "You're not the Cat. The Cat's supposed to be a cat."
"Oh silly Shizuo-kun! Titles are just titles. I'm the Cheshire Cat, otherwise known as Shinra Kashitini," the bespectacled man finishes with a twirl.
"Whatever. You're supposed to lead me to the castle."
"The castle? Oh I think you misheard the Duke. You mean to the Mad Hatter's house?"
"No, the castle," Shizuo insisted.
"I never go to the castle. Not unless I'm called. And the King rarely calls me. He likes dropping in, you know, to see my lovely Celty!" Shinra continued like he wasn't interrupted.
"Just lead the way," the bartender-outfit-clad man growled.
Shinra started walking in a direction.
"Celty's wonderful! The Namer has terrible naming sense. She shouldn't be called the White Rabbit." Here, the man took a left. Shizuo tried to tune him out to no success.
"She even wears the cat helmet that I bought her. She's headless, you know. I didn't buy it because she didn't look fabulous without her head. No, she's absolutely stunning." The doctor rambled on. He kept walking. Shizuo followed.
"I just didn't want everyone to see her shadows. It should be private, reserved for only someone extremely close to her, like me! My point is, she should be called the Cheshire Cat's Wife. Or Girlfriend."
Shinra turned right in front of a pink filled tree. They walked a little more, Shizuo losing his patience a lot more.
"Ah! Here we are! I'm afraid that I can't go any further. Cats don't like water, you know," Shinra stopped at the lake.
"The path should come up any minute. Take a left until you can hear the chattering of those annoying squirrels. Take a right there and you should be able to see a path. Just follow the path to the Mad Hatter's house."
Shizuo nodded his thanks. Shinra disappeared, clinging onto a high branch of a nearby tree a few feet away.
Shizuo waited impatiently for this so-called path to appear. He was beginning to wonder if he should just swim across when the water level started receding. A strip of land could be seen, wet and slippery with moss.
Soon, the path was fully shown and the water lapped against the sides of it. Shizuo experimentally stepped onto the mud, wondering if it'll break.
It didn't.
Shizuo walked across like it was even ground, despite the land having unidentifiable pieces of… moss? fossils? fish? stuck in it.
He made it across, turning left at once when he stepped onto the ground.
Shizuo was sure that he'd been walking for more than 10 minutes when he heard chattering and little snaps of twigs. He glanced around, still walking ahead, hoping to spot the squirrel-filled tree and the path.
It was only until he was directly underneath the tree, the chattering above pissing him off to no end and he was just this close to uprooting the tree and hurling it across the kingdom that he spotted a tiny party of the trail far northwest.
He marched towards it, muttering curses for the wildlife in the area. How much farther was he supposed to walk? Don't they have cars or buses here?
He was relieved but also slightly wary when he saw the red-haired man coming his way.
"Shizuo-kun! You're back. I hope you didn't cause trouble in Up," the dread-locked man scolded.
Why does everyone here seem to know him?
"Ah, no? Who're you?" Shizuo replied, trying to be as polite as possible.
"Wha- oh yes. The memory loss. I'm Tom. Tom Tanaka," the man smiled, offering his hand.
Shizuo made sure to not crush the other's hand. Tom smile widened when he saw that the blonde was restraining himself.
"Are you headed to the castle?" the red haired asked.
"Yes. Is the Mad Hatter's house far from here?" The blonde took out a cigarette, offering one to Tom. The other declined.
"Not far at all. You just gotta walk a little farther and you'll be there."
Shizuo nodded.
"Well, I must go, if I want to cross the lake. There are only a few more minutes before it rises again."
"Build a bridge then," Shizuo muttered under his breath.
Tom laughed, resuming his journey. He turned back. "By the way, I never officially accepted your resignation. Although you weren't also titled 'Debt Collector'."
"Huh?"
"Just a little something to think about, if King doesn't get his way with you."
Then he was gone, leaving Shizuo with a confused thoughts and a burning cigarette.
It was true. He only had to walk a few more minutes before he spied the smoking chimney of the Mad Hatter's house.
He took in the scene. A boy and a girl, obviously a couple having tea on one end of the table while a large dark-skinned man prepared sushi and set up a little shop with the sign 'Wednesdays – 25% discount' on the other.
The boy looked up with cold eyes when Shizuo rapped his knuckles against the gate. The girl giggled and tried to win his attention again, which she did so with ease. She went on feeding cake to him.
The large man called out in another language. French? German? Russian?
"Shizuo-kun! You no fight today! Hope you no fight in Up!" his large voice boomed across the garden.
Taking it as an invitation, Shizuo easily swung open the gate and stepped inside.
"You having sushi today? Sushi good. Sushi very good!" the man asked. The label on his outfit said 'Simon'.
"Uh, yeah. Sure, Simon," Shizuo hesitantly answered. What was with this guy and his obsession with sushi?
"Are you the Mad Hatter?"
Simon laughed a booming laugh, pausing in his selecting of sushi (Shizuo noted that it was mostly the sweet egg rolls).
"No, no. That's Mad Hatter," he said, nodding towards the pair. Shizuo isn't which he was talking about.
"And boy's the Dormouse. I'm the March Hare," Simon paused briefly. "Namer's weird. He names us weird."
"Right." The others said he needed to ask the Mad Hatter, right?
He approached the girl with a scar on her neck.
"You're the Mad Hatter, right? I need directions to go to the castle." Shizuo went straight to the point.
The boy glared. "Who're you? Why are you getting between our love?"
"Oh, Seji-kun! You're so funny!" the girl airily said, ignoring Shizuo's question.
"He's getting between our love. He should leave, or better yet, go die," the Dormouse spat in discuss.
The girl giggled again, clinging onto the Seji's arm even more, if that was possible.
"WHY YOU -!"
Shizuo was fed up. He was fed up with the attitude of the guy, the giggles of the girl. He was fed up with this whole kingdom and the fact that it was just taking so fucking long to go to some King's castle. He was fed up with everyone knowing him and here, the couple was ignoring him and they just couldn't even answer one fucking question.
He drew his hand back to punch something. Anything.
"Stop, Shizuo-kun! Violence bad! Eat sushi! Sushi good!" Simon insisted, grabbing his hand pretty fast for a guy who had been busy putting sushi in a box just a second ago.
"I tell directions if want," he offered.
"Fine. You tell me how to get to this shitty King's castle, then," Shizuo snapped.
"Oh! Very easy! Go down path and left at crossroads! And go straight, even if many crossroads ahead!"
"Oh." Shizuo blinked. "Okay then. I'll be taking my leave."
"Oh, wait! Sushi good! You take sushi with you. No hungry," Simon smiled, offering the sushi box.
"Ah, I haven't got any money." Shizuo wasn't even sure what currency they used here.
"No worries! Celebrate return! Free sushi!" Simon grinned, insisting on the box.
"Yeah, yeah. Okay then," the blond took the box. "Take a left at the first crossroads and just keep going straight, right?"
The March Hare nodded.
The blond had taken a left and was nearing another set of crossroads when he heard voices. Two female voices.
The owners appeared, both high school females and almost identical. They both wore identical, albeit different colors, long hoodies with cat ears on it, one dropping and the other sticking up.
"Ah! It's Shizuo-chan! Look! He's finally back, Kururi!" the one with the yellow hoodie and glasses exclaimed excitedly to the other.
"Indeed…(Indeed he is.) Iza-nii… (Iza-nii should be happy.)," the other muttered.
Shizuo frowned. Of all the different types of people he had to deal with, high school girls? Really?
"Have you met your brother yet? Of course you have! You probably passed him on the way here! Do you think you can get us first class tickets to his next show?" the first one excitedly chattered away.
"Show? Brother?" Oh right. They meant the Duke, Kasuka. He was an actor?
"Looks like it is true, Kururi. They do forget about us when they go to Up," she said dejectedly to the Kururi. The other nodded, snapping back to attention from when she was spacing out.
"Iza-nii… (Iza-nii won't be happy) Mairu," Kururi said, staring at Shizuo.
"Look, brats. I have to go to the castle. I need to go back so mind moving out of my way?" Shizuo said, already pushing past the two.
"Oh, Iza-nii would be so disappointed. If you can't even remember Iza-nii, I suppose our deal is off?" Mairu giggled. The girls followed him, going back the way they came.
"Who the fuck is Iza-nii?" Shizuo growled.
"Iza-nii… (Iza-nii is the King.) …don't? (You don't remember?)," Kururi said incoherently.
"What did she say?" the blond asked Mairu for translation.
Mairu sighed. "Shizuo-chan used to be so much more understanding. She said, 'Iza-nii's the King. You don't remember?'"
Yes, because everyone could just understand full sentences by hearing a word or two.
"Whatever. This guy is the one I need to see, right?" Shizuo marched down the path in long strides. The girls jogged to match his pace.
Kururi smiled slightly. Mairu giggled into her sleeve. "Yes, definitely. Iza-nii's the one you need to see."
Shizuo frowned at their reaction. What was so funny? Well, never mind. He was going the right way and that was all that matters.
"Tickets… (We better hurry to get tickets.) Help… (We won't get any help from, Shizuo-chan.)"
"Ah! That's right!" Mairu nodded, already waving goodbye to Shizuo. "If you ever change your mind about getting us special tickets and meeting your brother, we'll gladly give you Iza-nii all tied up!"
She giggled and ran all the way back, followed closely by her twin sister.
Shizuo frowned. Why did he need the King all tied up?
It was a while before he finally reached the grey walls of the castle. However, there was no door. Which way did the March Hare say it was? Clockwise or counter-clockwise?
It didn't matter, he supposed. If he kept moving, following the walls, he'd eventually get to the gates. If not, he could just climb up the walls.
Picking right, he started walking. Shizuo lit up a cigarette, taking his time. It was only when he almost finished the stick that he reached the red and golden doors of the castle.
He knocked, rapping his knuckles sharply against the giant doors. He doubted anyone could hear it on the other side, though.
After a while, he pushed the doors open, revealing a similarly red and gold decorated throne room. The glass ceiling unnecessary arched high above, the sky visible and sun shined down into the room.
"Shizu-chan!" a surprised cry came from the throne in the distance.
Shizuo steps were muffled by the crimson carpet slicing through the white marble floor. As he got closer, he saw that the voice came from a slight figure draped across the throne, twirling a switchblade in his hands. His crown was hanging from one of the protruding decorations from the back of the chair (what were they called? Raisins? Resins?) and the small scepter was leaning against the side of the chair.
The man himself was dark-haired, pale with rather feminine mischievous features and red-brown eyes. He wore a tight black pants and even tighter blood red shirt, complete with a rather informal (and inappropriate for a king) fur-trimmed jacket that Shizuo would expect to see in the streets, on unmoral women in bars.
The King sat up properly, staring at him like he was unreal. "Shizu-chan?" he repeated.
What was up with the nickname? Pissing him off.
"Are you the King of this shitty land?" Shizuo growled.
"Ahahaha! You're here! Did you come back because you missed me?" the other ignored his question.
"Miss you?" Shizuo asked. What connection did he exactly have with this land?
"No, I need you to open the gate thing to go back up to my world," he continued.
The King froze. "No. Your world is here, not Up. I'm not letting you leave again."
"What the fuck did you say? I'm leaving this weird-ass land. Just open the damn portal," Shizuo demanded.
"No. You're not leaving. The last time was a mistake and you only got away because of the last Alice," the dark-haired said firmly.
Their conversation was interrupted by Shinra appearing at the gate.
"Izaya-kun! Is Celty here?" he cheerfully asked. "Oh. Sorry, am I interrupting something?"
"I haven't seen the dullahan," Izaya smoothly answered, ignoring the heated look from the blond.
"Who the fuck is Alice? I just need to go back. You'll be rid of me from this land," Shizuo tried to persuade the King.
Izaya laughed. "I don't want to be rid of you, though."
Who'd want a destructive man with a short temper? He'd just end up destroying the whole kingdom. Shizuo voiced his opinion.
"You think I don't know that?" Izaya narrowed his eyes.
Then why was he still not letting him go?
"You're originally from here, though you may not remember it. You're from the Land of Hearts, destined to be the Duke. Of course, since Shizu-chan's unpredictable and defied Fate, the title goes to your brother," the King of Hearts continued.
"I'm not letting you go. You're staying back where you belong."
"I don't belong in this… Land of Hearts. I belong up there, where all the normal people are."
"Ahahaha! That's rich coming from you," Izaya said through his giggles. "You're not normal, Shizu-chan. I thought you should've figured out by now. You don't belong in the 'normal' world."
Shinra cried out, distracting them from their brief argument. "Celty! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
Shizuo and Izaya glanced over to the entrance.
"Eh? But I missed you! I just had to find you," Shinra said, in response to whatever text that Celty typed.
The woman noticed the blond in the throne room. She hurried over.
'So you made it here safely?'
"Ah, yes. Thanks for your help," Shizuo politely replied, despite the fact that he was angry just a moment ago.
"Shizu-chan's staying here and that's final!" Izaya pouts and would've stomped his feet like a child if he'd been standing up.
"Like hell I am!" Shizuo roared across the room to the other.
"Shinra, Celty. Explain to this protozoan why he needs to stay here," Izaya implored the other two.
"Oh, that's easy! It's 'cause Izaya-kun here has been ch-" Shinra's rambling was halted by a warning look from the King.
'I'm afraid the King's right. You'll have to stay here,' Celty apologetically typed the text.
"No, I'm not. I'm not originally from this land. I don't have to stay here."
'That's where you're wrong. You are from this land, though. You just left and forgot. You were originally raised here and were destined to be the Duke."
"How did I get up to my world, then?" Shizuo argued.
"After refusing to be titled and beating up the Namer, you went after the 34th Alice and left when Izaya opened the gate to send her back."
"Alice?"
"And we don't have an Alice now so you can't use that tactic anymore," Izaya grinned.
"Well, technically, Shizuo-kun could be the 35th Alice. After all, he came from Up and believes he's from there," the doctor pointed out.
"Rule 78states that no one from the Land of Hearts can be Alice," the King countered.
"And Rule 94 also states that no one in this kingdom can defeat the Jabberwocky, except for Alice. But that's not what you're going to do, are you?" Namie came into the scene, arriving with a briefcase.
"Rules are meant to be broken, Namie," Izaya flippantly said.
"And that also means that Shizuo-kun can be Alice, if we're going with your logic," Shinra interjected into the conversation.
Shizuo was lost. Alice? Jabberwocky?
"Shizu-chan's Shizu-chan. He's not going to be Alice." The King dared anyone to challenge him.
Shizuo snorted. "Of course I'm not going to be this 'Alice'. I'm a man, you know. Alice's a girl."
Izaya laughed that annoying laugh of his. "Shizu-chan really doesn't remember. We'll have to change that. Alice is just a title. I distinctly remember the 16th Alice being male and the 10th Alice was a mere boy. You chased the 5th Alice out, after he became too annoying."
"You almost killed my brother in the process of hunting down the 28th Alice after he took your brother's sunglasses," Namie coldly remarked.
"Remember the time he tried to capture a boar and ended up almost punching the 23rd Alice to the ground? Poor girl, I don't think she'll ever get over that experience," Shinra grinned at the memory.
'The point is, Shizuo-kun. You are from here. And the King… everyone wants you to stay,' Celty summarized.
Shizuo opened his mouth but was distracted by the storming of the crowd that rushed through into the door. Simon's shout of 'Buy sushi!' could be heard over the chatter. The front of the crowd was the twin girls and the trio of high-schoolers that challenged him to a race.
"Ah! Shizu-chan's finally reunited with Iza-Iza!" Erika shouted from the sides, before being hushed violently by Kadota and Walker. The red haired man that was with them jogged alongside Tom at a slower pace.
There were animals too, coming in with a battering of noises.
"SHUT UP!" Izaya commanded. The noise died down and the group stopped. "We're trying to have a conversation here."
Shizuo craned his neck to see the Duke and soon-to-be Duchess calmly exiting their carriage and striding inside the room. The others made room for them.
"Ah, it's that time again, is it? The Jabberwocky's come," Izaya commented in a calm tone.
"Jabberwocky?" Shizuo asked. He wondered if the crowd would be mad if he beat up their King right there. He needed to go back, damn it.
"Yes, the Jabberwocky. A terrible monster that terrorizes the kingdom every… I'd say few months?" Shinra explained.
"You'll see, Shizu-chan. We can watch the show from there," Izaya pointed up towards the ceiling. Shizuo could hear the distant roaring of something… a dragon?
"You all don't sound scared."
'It's safe here. That's why everyone came in,' Celty typed.
"Safe?"
"Magic, Shizu-chan. Magic." Goddammit. Did the guy ever shut up?
"All the Alices tried to kill or vanish the Jabberwocky. The ones with the devil's luck go back never meeting the monster. The lucky ones meet the Jabberwocky and go back home scarred. The unlucky ones never make it back," Izaya said, with a twisted smile.
"So what? You let all of these strangers try their luck and send them back if the fail?" Shizuo demanded, outraged at the lack of morals the kingdom had.
"You know, you could do the deed in their steed, if you're so against that. You could fight against the Jabberwocky. You might be strong enough," Izaya proposed.
Shizuo frowned. He could be using his strength for something good here. He'll have a purpose, instead of trying to find a job in the normal world.
"Look at all the people you'll be helping, Shizu-chan. You could be the Knave of Hearts. I'll bestow that title on you. You'll be a hero to everyone here," the King of Hearts said lowly, not unlike a devil whispering on the blond's shoulder.
Shizuo looked around. There were a majority of hopeful gazes, though some were uncaring as the Jabberwocky attacking was a regular occurrence. He'll be helping them, instead of causing destruction.
"Stay here, brother. Stay with us," Kasuka tried to convince the blond. There was a chorus of voices that was mostly persuasions (a shout of 'Sushi!' and 'True love!' could be heard).
"Fine. I'll stay and leave after I kill the Jabberwocky," Shizuo relented.
"Great! I,Izaya, also known as the King of Hearts and the Namer, officially title you the Knave of Hearts, the soon-to-be slayer of the Jabberwocky," Izaya placed a hand on Shizuo's shoulder.
There was a brief formal silence.
The crowd cheered, finally having a savior.
"Does he even know that you can't leave once you have a title? That's not Alice, that is," Shinra snickered.
Shizuo growled.
The Jabbewocky could wait. He had a stupid, idiotic, sneaky King to kill and force him to take off the title.
Things have, of course, changed when Rio, the 35th (36th if you counted Shizuo as the 35th Alice) Alice came into the land.
Izaya studied the board in front of him, lounging on the sofa in the drawing room. The fire cozily crackled in the fireplace.
He smirked as he read the note.
'Iza-nii.
The new girl is so boring! And she can't even make up her mind! First she tries to 'kill' herself by putting herself in the path of a crocodile. But then she jumps out of the way at the last minute!
We even offered to kill her! She refused. I though she wanted to be dead…
Mairu and Kururi
P.S. Kururi also says that she's unexciting. We should do something fun.
He looked up when the door closed and footsteps came closer.
Shizuo stood, in his bartending outfit (he refused to wear the ridiculous armor that Izaya tried to force him to wear. They got the suit tailored so there were extra outfits for the Knave of Hearts.) and smelt slightly of smoke.
Izaya leaned up to peck him on the other on the lips.
"Shizu-chan, what do you think about a promotion? I do think you'll be great as the Queen of Hearts," Izaya smirked.
Shizuo raised a brow. "I'm not being a queen."
Izaya pouted. "But…"
Shizuo scowled at him.
"Fine. What about King of Hearts?"
"I thought you were the King."
"Yes, yes, but we can always change it, ne? Izaya Orihara, Queen of Hearts. Interesting."
"Do I have to do anything as King?" Shizuo sat, pushing off Izaya's legs. Izaya stayed in the awkward position with half his body hanging off, instead of sitting up.
"Lazy ass. Depends. If you want to, I suppose. After we got the Jabberwocky, I don't really think there's anything to be done."
"Peace. That's nice."
Izaya frowned. "That's boring."
Shizuo didn't comment.
"Well, to become King, I think you'll have to something worthy," Izaya grinned. "And as current King, I'll have to give you a mission."
"What kind of mission?" Shizuo frowned. "I'm not going beg the Gryphon to make eggs for you. Or become the Namer."
"No, no. I'll still be the Namer. And his eggs tasted horrible." Izaya made a face.
"Why don't we have fun with the new Alice? We should unleash the Jabberwocky."
"I'm not going to go defeat the Jabberwocky again. I've done over a dozen times because you keep unlocking its chains for 'fun'," Shizuo glared at the other man.
"I'm only trying to keep the fun. It was entertaining to watch the Jabberwocky terrorize the kingdom every few months, you know."
"We're not unleashing the Jabberwocky," the blond said firmly.
"Fine. Then you can lead the Jabberwocky to the Alice. The thing's already scared of you and does everything you say, anyway," Izaya suggested, sitting up to look straight at Shizuo's eyes.
Shizuo frowned. "I don't get it."
"It means that we're playing chess from the black side," Izaya smiled, reaching out to take a white queen with a black knight.
"Whatever. I just gotta scare her back to Up, right?"
"If you want to think that way, sure."
It's certainly better when Shizu-chan came around to our ways, Izaya thought. Just wait, Rio-chan. You'll be the first new Alice.
Welcome to the Wonderland.
I'm finally finished with this one-shot! I know this is not very Shizaya... themed? but happy late birthday, Izaya!
This took quite long to write, about... 3 or 4 days because I think I started this on Thursday. A lot of work was due on Friday so I had to do schoolwork but good news: I'm on break!
I actually don't really know the Alice in Wonderland story that well. I suppose this is kind of like a back story of how the Red Queen is the antagonist against Alice/Rio and how she/Izaya has the Jabberwocky. Also how Shizuo/Knave of Hearts is with the Queen of Hearts.
This is loosely based from the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland but I also used the original story for background research (Wikipedia). I hope the character characterizing wasn't too hard to understand. I'm not actually quite sure which character Tom is, because frankly, I actually forgot about him until half the story was written. Maybe he's the Mock Turtle?
The manga that Walker and Erika has is Kuroko no Basket. I just started reading it. I don't actually know what their cover looks like but I imagine it's something like that.
Simon is quite fun to write, aside from me trying to refrain from writing all his dialogue with correct grammar.
I think that's all what I wanted to say. If you have any questions because any part of this was confusing, or why I casted the characters as such, feel free to ask me. I'll try to explain as best as I can, without messing up which character's which.
Thanks for reading! Hoped you liked it!