Author's Comments:
NOTE: As of chapter 4, I've switched this story to first person. I'll be replacing chapter 1-3 with first-person versions in the next couple of weeks, hopefully. Most of what happens will stay the same, though there might be little changes here and there.
First of all, there is a high likelyhood this story won't be finished. I'm really bad at finishing stories. That said, I love this story so far and I really want to finish it.
No non-canon pairings in this, except for the IzayaXOC mentioned in the description.
So that's that. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1:
Usually Izaya managed to dodge the array of flying objects bound to be chucked in his direction whenever he visited Ikebukuro. This time, however, he ended up sprawled on the sidewalk, wondering if Shizuo had intentionally aimed the sharpest corner of today's vending machine at his stomach. He doubted it; Shizu-chan didn't put a lot of effort into his aim.
He gasped a few times, trying to get his breath back as he stood and faced the tall blond man marching in his direction. Shizuo looked rather smug at having landed a hit.
"Shizu-chan! I think your aim is improving." Izaya offered the blond a smirk. He mentally cataloged his injuries; scrapes to the side of his face, bruises, a slight headache, and a sprained right wrist. Well, he wasn't planning on fighting back with his flickblade today anyway. Things were getting interesting again, and he didn't want to waste time fighting Shizu-chan.
The screech of metal and the crumble of concrete drowned out Shizuo's mutters of "I'll kill you, Izaya..." and "get out of Ikebukuro!" for a few moments.
Five seconds later, the only options were to run or be impaled by a stop sign.
Well, time to run.
Setton-san has entered the chat.
Tanaka-Taro: Setton, good evening.
Bakyura: Good evening, Setton!
Setton: Good evening Byakura, Tanaka-Taro.
Setton: Have you heard about the train wreck yet?
Bakyura: A train wreck?
Tanaka-Taro: No, I haven't. When was it?
Setton: A couple of hours ago, around 4:00pm.
Setton: A shinkansen derailed just outside of Tokyo Station.
Tanaka-Taro: In Tokyo!
Bakyura: A shinkansen? Damn.
Tanaka-Taro: So that's why the streets were quiet on the walk home from school today.
Tanaka-Taro: Do they know what caused it yet?
Setton: No, but they don't think it was an accident.
Setton: You probably already know this, but the shinkansen has only had one derailment before, and even that was only because of an earchquake.
Setton: I gotta go; door bell.
Bakyura: Thanks for the news, Setton.
Setton: No problem. Be careful, you two.
Tanaka-Taro: Thanks, we will.
Setton-san has left the chat.
Celty closed out of the chat, then picked up her helmet and slipped it on as she went to the door.
Izaya was waiting on the other side.
She stood with the door half-open, a hand on the doorknob, and stared silently at the information dealer.
After several moments, Izaya sighed and raised an eyebrow. "Not that I mind the attention, but are you just going to stand there all night?"
The shadows coming out of her neck in place of her head billowed out for a moment in a sigh. She brought out her PDA, typed on it, and showed it to him. 'You're injured.'
"Obviously." He spread his jacket out wide, his hands in the pockets. "But I suppose you want to know why I'm injured. If you must know, I ran into Shizu-chan on the way here."
She held out the PDA again. 'And he managed to land a hit? That doesn't happen often.'
"More specifically, he landed a vending machine full of ramen on me, but the injuries aren't why I'm here." Izaya waved a hand, dismissing that topic. "Shizu-chan managed to catch me because I was distracted. The reason I was distracted just happens to be the same reason I am now standing on your doorstep. Can I come in?"
Celty hesitated a moment. She was probably one of the few people who could call Izaya their friend, if they felt like it, though she generally didn't. It wasn't a matter of proximity. Being around Izaya didn't increase someone's chances of becoming part of his game; everyone was already, no matter who they were or what they meant to him. That didn't stop her from feeling bitter about all the damage he'd done. As far as she was concerned, they were acquaintances who got along when they needed to. Apparently, now was one of those time.
She flashed her PDA at him as she turned and walked back toward the living room. 'Fine. Get in.'
She heard Izaya chuckle behind her as he stepped inside. She noted he didn't bother to remove his shoes.
'Close the door behind you.'
"Alright, alright," he held his hands up, then closed the door and returned his hands to their pockets. "Is Shinra here?"
She leaned against the wall at the end of the hallway as she typed out her response. "He's working late tonight." She pulled it back and typed out another sentence. "So why are you here?"
To her surprise, he got right to the point, "You've heard about the train wreck, I assume?"
'Yes.' She pulled off her helmet and set it on the side table next to the couch.
"Get on the computer and go to youtube."
She paused half-way to the computer. 'Youtube?'
He gave her a dry look. "Yes, you know... that website with billions of videos that anyone with internet access knows about."
She ignored him and just went to the computer. He stepped in after her. Once the website had loaded, he leaned forward and typed 'Tokyo train wreck' into the search bar. Celty tried not to be irritated that he hadn't asked to touch her laptop.
He scrolled down a little, clicked on a video, then stood back. "Watch carefully."
Celty's shadows shifted uncomfortably as the video started. She didn't want to watch the wreck happen, hearing about it was bad enough, but Izaya wouldn't be showing it to her unless there was something important to see.
Luckily there was no sound, so she was spared the screams that must have been everywhere. She cringed as the train fell sixty feet from the elevated tracks, as people closest to it ran for their lives, as others stared in horror...
Then she stiffened. Not waiting for the video to finish, she dragged it back ten seconds and leaned in closer. Yes, she had seen it. Just before the train hit the ground, one of it's windows was smashed out. A blurred figure jumped out, then it was gone.
She played it again to be sure, then leaned back in her chair and stared at the screen.
"So? What do you think of that, dullahan?" Izaya asked after a moment. He was leaning against the desk now, arms crossed and looking a little amused, but he wasn't smirking. If anything, he looked honestly intrigued.
She gazed at him for a moment, then brought out her PDA. 'Why did you show me that?'
"Do I need to have a reason?" He brought his hands up to the sides in an exaggerated shrug. "Couldn't I just be showing it to you because I thought you might be interested?"
'Don't play dumb with me. You always have reasons.'
A bit of his usual smirk returned at that. "I showed it to you because I don't know what's going on, and I don't like not having all the information. I thought you might have some to share."
'And if I do? What makes you think I'll tell you?'
"It's an equal exchange of information, is it not? I show you the video, you tell me how someone jumped out of a falling train and vanished."
She paused. Her shadows shifted. 'What are you planning?' she asked.
"At this point? Nothing. I simply want to know because I want to know everything."
'That doesn't make me feel any better.'
She shook his head, as if disappointed, though he wasn't bothering to hide his grin. "You can't please everyone."
She hesitated for another moment, then gave in. She leaned toward the computer, brought up a blank word-processing document, then typed out, 'Fine. I can't be sure, since the video isn't the best quality, but whoever that was, I doubt they're human. Beings like me, fae, some of us can do something a bit like teleporting. I don't know the specifics of the technique though; it's not one of my specialties.' If she had her head, she might know more, but she was already uncomfortable enough telling him as much as she just had. She wasn't about to give him any incentive to ask her for more. Even if she was still looking for her head, she didn't want him to be the one helping her find it.
Izaya tilted his head to the side. "Interesting, very interesting..."
Her shadows puffed irritably. 'I thought you were only interested in humans.'
He laughed. "Because humans are interesting. At first glance they don't look like much, but if you look closer, they're more amazing than any magic-using non-human could ever be. But this non-human has managed to interest me, so I'm intrigued."
Celty turned her chair to face him and asked with her PDA, 'Is there anything else you need from me before you go?'
"Oh, Celty, so eager to have me gone, are you? I'm hurt. Devastated!" He clapped a hand to his heart and dropped his head. The dark bangs hanging over his face didn't quite obscure his amused smirk.
She crossed her arms. 'Be glad Shinra isn't here.'
"Oh, but I wish he was. Teasing you is so much more fun with him around." He chuckled for a moment, then his expression turned unusually serious. "Aren't you curious though? Why is there another faerie here?"
'I suppose I'm a little curious,' she said, a little reluctantly, then turned back to her computer to type. 'But even if I'm right about he or she not being human, they may not be a faerie either. There are other kinds of non-humans. It's more likely that this one is a kami.'
"A kami, eh? So they actually exist too?"
'Wouldn't you think so, seeing as you know a faerie and a girl who controls a demon sword?'
"Ah, but an informant never assumes. It'd be the same as feeding myself false information. Terrible for business, you know." He straightened and slipped his hands into their pockets again. "I can see you want me gone. I appreciate the information, Celty; things were getting boring around here."
Celty didn't want to think about what that might mean for Ikebukuro this time around.
Izaya walked out of the office, disappearing around the corner for a moment before he leaned back in and said, "I'll let you know what I find."
She stood and held out her PDA. 'Thanks, I appreciate it.' Then she typed something else. 'as long as I don't owe you anything for it, that is.'
He only chuckled at that.