A/N: To everyone who reads my other story Before The Past Repeats;
Do not panic!
I haven't given up on that story yet!
Due to a lack of inspiration I just haven't been able to write any new chapters.
But I will eventually.
Until then, I'll be working on this story, which I hope you will like just as much even if it's from a totally different series.
Thank you for your support.
Please read and review.
New Face in Ikebukuro
Chapter ONE
At an apartment complex in Ikebukuro there is an apartment occupied by two very odd people. They are odd because one is an underground doctor who treats the wounds of those who do not want attention-
And the other one has no head.
"Ha ha ha! Come on Celty, is that the best you can do?" Shinra asks his roommate without taking his eyes off the TV screen.
If Celty's hands were free she probably would have typed something along the lines of [SHUT UP SHINRA!] on her phone or jabbed him in his gut. But since she couldn't, she just tried even harder to defeat Shinra's game character, mashing the game controllers' buttons even harder as if that would make her attacks stronger.
Sadly, her efforts were in vain as Shinra's character eventually stood over hers, arms raised in victory while his controller did the same thing in real life.
"Ha ha! Victory is mine!" The young doctor cheered as he danced in place.
Turning to the Dullahan, who at the moment was slumped forward in defeat, he asks, "Wanna go again?"
Celty automatically perked up, pulled out her cell and typed, [Of course!] shoving the device in his face for emphasis.
Shinra smiles and is getting ready to start the game again when the phone rings. Pouting, the doctor gets up and answers the phone while Celty watches and listens from the couch.
Answering he says, "Moshi-moshi!...Ah, Izaya-kun! How are you?...Yes, I'm fine…..Yeah, she's right here."
The Dullahan's shoulders drop as if she's sighing as she gets up and walks to her room.
Shinra is too busy talking to notice her absence. "I'm sure she'd love to do it! Can you describe the target….Oh, you're sending an email." Sure enough, a 'ping' is heard from Shinra's computer. "Great! She'll be right on it!...Mm-hm. Okay! Bye Izaya-kun!" With that he hangs up.
Turning around, the doctor says, "Hey Celty, you have a-oh, I guess you heard." While he had been talking, Celty had gone and put on her helmet and was ready to ride. "Izaya-kun wants to go and pick up someone for him. You up for it?"
The helmet nods.
Beaming, Shinra exclaims as he walks to his computer, "Great! He's sent us the info in an email." Activating his email, Shinra finds the one in question and opens it. Inside is a picture and list of information about the target.
After reading it over, the doctor prints out the picture and hands it to Celty, who places inside of her jumpsuit.
"Izaya-kun says he wants the target delivered to his place in Shinjuku. They'll be getting off at Ikebukuro Station at 7:20 tonight. That's in half an hour so you better hurry."
Whipping out her phone, Celty types, [Got it. I'll be back soon.]
Smiling and waving as she walks out the door, Shinra shouts, "Good hunting! Buh-bye my love! Hurry back so I can beat you agai-NGH!" His proclamations are cut short by a shadowy smoke that has just barreled into his stomach.
It's work done; the smoke recoils back into the hands of its master as she closes the door, pushes her faithful steed to the elevator, and presses the button for the parking garage. When the doors open again in the garage, the Headless Rider rides out of the elevator, out of the garage, and into the dark night.
She flies down the highway and shoots off a ramp, landing on a street that will take her through the heart and soul of Ikebukuro, to her next job-
And to a world of trouble.
7:26, Ikebukuro Station
The 7:20 train finally arrives at the station, its doors opening to release a hoard of people pushing and shoving, with places to go and people to see.
Sticking out amongst the sea of gray forms is a girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, standing five foot three, and with slightly tanned skin.
She's wearing well-worn black sneakers with white soles and trim. Her pants are jeans with a wide black band going over her knee on each leg, with a black belt around her waist. She has a white tank top on under a faded blue short sleeve button-up shirt, that is a size too big and unbuttoned. On her back is a patched up backpack that has seen better days.
Atop her head is a mass of wild curly brown hair that she somehow contained into a ponytail. Nestled on top of her hair is a blue and white baseball cap.
The face of the girl is ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. The lips curve into an impish smile and the eyes dance around as they strive to take in everything before them. It is probably the eyes that are the strangest thing about this girl. They seem to be laughing with a childish delight and have a mischievous look about them. Oddest of all about them is that right one is blue and the left one is green.
Shinobu Sora stands off to one side of the station and takes in the scene before her with obvious excitement.
"So this is Ikebukuro, huh? Neat. Wonder what the rest looks like?" That said, Sora puts her hands in her pockets and climbs up a set of stairs that will take her to street level, taking the steps two at a time seemingly without effort.
Reaching the top of the steps and coming up near a three-way intersection, the strange girl stops and looks about her in wonder.
Clueless to the fact that she was being watched and that a wild night was about to begin.
Celty had been waiting down the street from the train's entrance next to her bike for ten minutes when a crowd began to spill out from its depths.
'The 7:20 finally arrived, huh?' She thinks to herself, 'It's about time.'
Scanning the crowd, Celty spots a girl in a baseball cap with a grin on her face leaving the entrance. Taking out the paper Shinra gave her, the Dullahan compares the two faces.
'The pictures a few years old and her hair is longer, but there's no doubt about,' She puts the paper away and hops on her bike, 'That's the girl.'
"Wow! Look at all the lights! Sugoi!" Sora says while turning around in a circle.
Coming to a stop facing the street, she puts her hands on her hips and nods to herself, "This place looks awesome! I've got a good feeling about this!"
As the girl approaches the sidewalk to continue her exploration, she pauses after hearing a noise that she didn't think she'd hear in a city.
'Huh? Was that a horse?' She thinks as the people around her suddenly come alive.
"Wah! It's one of the Dollars gang members!"
"The Black Bike of Ikebukuro!"
"Take a picture! Take a picture!"
'Black Bike? Dollars member? Huh?' Sora wonders as she turns to look.
Sure enough, coming down the street towards the station was a black motorcycle driven by a rider dressed up all in black, save for a weird cat-like yellow and blue helmet.
The strange tourist watches as the urban legend rides up and stops at the sidewalk right in front of her. The rider, who she realizes is a woman, gets off her bike and walks over to Sora. Reaching her, she pulls out a cell and types on it. When she's done she shows it to the girl.
[Shinobu Sora?]
'She knows me?' Sora thinks, automatically on guard but curious.
"That's me. Do I know you?" She asks the black rider, her head cocked.
More typing. [No. But someone wants to talk to you. Could you come with me, please?]
Smiling, Sora replies, "Thanks, but I'd rather not." Without any warning, the girl drops and rolls to the rider's left, gets back on her feet and charges through the crowd that gather to see an urban legend. Breaking out the group, she dashes across the street, around the corner, and out of sight.
'Damn it! Why can't they ever go quietly!' Celty curses as she places her cell phone into her pocket, hops onto Shooter and begins to chase down her quarry.
Glancing behind her at the sound of a horse's whinny, Sora is surprised to find that it was the rider's bike that was making those sounds.
'A bike that sounds like a horse, ridden by a person in black, who wants to take me to meet someone that I probably don't want to meet,' the girl muses as she turns back around. Suddenly she laughs out loud.
"Ha ha ha! Ikebukuro is interesting!"
That said; Sora refocuses on bobbing and weaving through the crowd, which is standing still as it watches this odd game of cat and mouse.
A/N: And there's the first chapter!
Sorry it's so short, but I really wanted to post something and this seemed like a good place to stop it.
Hope you liked it!
Please R&R!