With the meeting called to a close, people dissipated quickly. No one had approached her after the meeting, no introductions were made. She wasn't entirely offended by this; Mia knew that starting at a new place would be difficult. She would just have to prove her worth. Only two people remained in the office the boss and the young man with the dreadlocks. Sighing Mia sat back down on the edge of the desk. She wasn't entirely sure what she had just witnessed. A man she had never met before had just ripped a door from its hinges, gave her the biggest go to hell look, and nearly ran out of the office.
"Don't worry too much about it" Tom said extending his hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Tom. And that guy that just ran out of here is my partner Shizuo."
"Nice to meet you." Mia replied with quite the deflated tone. "Meetings always this lively?"
"You spend any amount of time in this town, everything is lively. Do you live here in Ikebukuro?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, I moved here about two months ago. Any tips for a newbie?" she half joked.
"Yeah tons, but I doubt you would have time for them all, I'm sure the boss would like to close up shop soon. All I'll tell you is there is a lot of sketchy stuff happening in town these days, so you've got to be careful." Tom said his tone completely serious. The ominous tone made chills go up her spine.
"Tom you keep talking like that you'll scare off my new transporter" the boss laughed bringing a calming sense to the room. "Shall we go?"
Shizuo stood down in the street outside the office, taking one long drag from his cigarette after another. He was so pissed with himself. This was a good gig. The one job he has been able to keep and there he goes screwing shit up. 'Why couldn't he just control himself' he thought. He was plagued by what he could do. Most people didn't want to be around him. He had hurt those he cared about in the past, and he couldn't forgive himself for that. Honestly the list of people that did tolerate him was very short, but he was grateful he had those people. And that damn girl! Who was she to get in the way of one of those people? Celty had done a lot for him, even if it was just listening to him vent. He couldn't let some girl get in the way of Celty's business. About that time Tom, the boss, and that damn girl arrived on the street, laughing about something.
"Hey Shizuo!" Tom yelled waving over the fuming man. Dropping his cigarette he snuffed it out with his shoe, before placing his hands in his pockets to walk over to the group.
"Hey boss sorry about the door. I'll get it fixed tomorrow." Shizuo said. His voice was much deeper than the girl had anticipated. And even though it was nearly midnight he still wore his blue sunglasses. She had to admit to herself that he was incredibly attractive, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he did look like someone she thought she knew. 'Someone famous maybe?' she thought.
"It's alright. But since you ran out, let me explain to you what I told the others." The boss said. Tom looked back and forth between everyone present. Silently hoping nothing happened. He didn't know how much more drama he could take.
"This young lady, Mia, will be transporting from now on. She will be in direct contact with everyone. She will be making pickups of payment and bringing them back to the office. From clients as well as collectors, this will make it easier for the collectors to get payments without having to worry about coming all the way to the office to make drop-offs. As well as other various tasks, you can contact her when you have a pickup. If she runs into problems while she is out she will report back, and we can proceed with more forceful persuasion." The boss explained. Tom thought it made perfect sense, while the Black Rider never defaulted on a job; the loan office was not her only clients. To have a transporter of their own would be great, especially with the new office opening. But he could sense the temper rising in the man to his right. He had known Shizuo his whole life and knew when he was about to go off.
"That's nice and all" Shizuo said through clenched teeth. "But I don't see the point. We have a perfectly good transporter. We don't need this runt coming in and messing shit up. She's unnecessary!" Mia couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't even know this guy and here he was bad mouthing her, and not only that, but to her new boss. Who was he to evaluate her necessity! Given the scene she had just witnessed she should have let it go, but her temper got the better of her.
"SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH!" She shouted at him. Wide eyed everyone in the group stared at the young woman in disbelief. Instantly Tom wished he had just called in sick today. Shizuo was in the girls face before anyone had a chance to move. Inches from her he could barely keep himself in check, he wondered how much trouble he would get in if he tossed the girl across the street.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" He threatened. In an instant Mia was on her tip toes to be eye to eye with the seething man. She couldn't exactly say what made her be so bold with him. By all accounts she was being a complete idiot. She distinctly remembered the conversation she had had with her informer. He had been very clear, 'stay away from Shizuo Heiwajima.' Yet here she was picking a fight.
"YOU HEARD ME BASTARD! How dare you insult me! In front of the boss no less! Who are you to evaluate my skill? You know nothing about Me." she yelled. Shizuo couldn't control himself. Quickly he grabbed hold of the girl's arms pinning them to her sides and lifted her off the ground. He wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, or even what he planned on doing with her. A crowd was quickly forming as bystanders watched in awe of the scene. In Ikebukuro seeing a Heiwajima fight was something you bragged about to your friends. Tom's words of warning and attempts to resolve the situation fell on deaf ears, as neither Shizuo nor Mia were listening.
It was all happening too fast. Mia didn't know what to do. She was being held in the air by someone that looked like he was about to kill her. She could only think of one thing. She had never had a problem with it working in the past, but those were normal guys. Shizuo was unlike anything she had ever seen. Breathing deep she placed her feet on Shizuo's chest and gave a very hard kick.
To everyone's surprise Shizuo lost his grip on the girl and staggered backward regaining his balance. Doing a backflip with the force of hitting him the girl landed on her feet and in a flash moved toward the stumbling man. She had to strike while he was off balance or she knew it would be completely ineffective. With all the force she could muster she kicked him hard in the side. Mia's foot made painful contact with Shizuo's ribs and kidney. To everyone's surprise Shizuo fell to the ground. Frantic chatter erupted throughout the crowd. 'Did this girl really just knock the Shizuo Heiwajima to the ground?' Tom glancing down at his friend couldn't believe what he was seeing. 'Who the hell was this girl?' he thought. Taking a deep breath Mia knew she had royally screwed up.
"Ummmm… See you on Monday boss!" She franticly said. Grabbing her discarded bag she took off running at speeds not entirely human. Just as fast as the scene had started it was over and the girl that started the whole thing was nowhere to be found. Tom stared after the girl. He started to realize why she was hired as a transporter. The boss also looked to where she had run off to.
"Fast little thing isn't she?" he said "part of the reason I hired her, apparently she has won awards for those legs of hers."
"I'm sorry sir, but that wasn't natural." Tom said.
"Can you really say that? Given that this town has the mysterious Black Rider and that guy next to you. These things don't even surprise me anymore. "
"SHE'S DEAD!" Shizuo yelled, finally standing back up. Gripping his side, pain shot through his upper body. "She is so dead!" It was a fact now. Shizuo didn't just dislike this girl, he loathed her. Adjusting his glasses he turned to leave muttering the entire time below his breath. The crowd continued to watch the scene but an air of courage was beginning to form. 'If a girl could take Shizuo down, anyone could. Maybe the stories everyone told were exaggerations.' His anger spiking again and he grabbed the nearest light post, pulling it completely from the ground he threw it in the air. Watching with a slight satisfaction as it crashed breaking the pavement. A cloud of dust filled the air and the spectators quickly disbursed. Shizuo continued to walk down the frantic street.
"Where you going man?" Tom yelled after him.
"Gotta see somebody. See you Monday Tom" Shizuo replied. Ikebukuro was getting absolutely crazier by the day.
AN: I finished this chapter faster than I had anticipated... depending on my course work next week I hope to post chapter 3 soon. Thanks again for reading! I plan to update on Fridays. Please feel free to message me or Review. Feedback is always appreciated.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, it is true I am quite poor, But I certainly own nothing related to Durarara!
