Disclaimer: I don't own Duarara!
A/N There is Latin in this chapter and many more after it. I put the Latin in the quotations and the italicized words after it is what I typed into the translator. The only instance in this chapter is during the chat, Celty and Katsuki/Mitsu (whichever you prefer) translated it immediately after.
Chapter II
Kanra: I heard that Shizuo Heiwajima actually hit a girl a couple of days ago. How Terrible!
I smiled at the screen of my laptop; Izaya didn't waste time any spilling this information. I grabbed my coffee from the table beside me and waited to see if anyone else was going to answer, or if I was going to have to put on an act to fool everyone but the one who had just spoken that I wasn't Mitsu, but someone who was extremely skeptical with the information she hears from the streets.
It amazed me how gullible people were, most times they ask an informant, or someone known to be in-tuned with the rumors of the streets and the hang onto every word like it was handed to them by the hand of God. Another point I feel the need to bring up as well, I never understood why it took months for Mikado Ryugamine to figure out that Izaya was Kanra and that Celty was Setton, well that one I could, only handful of people knew the Headless Rider personally. Celty was actually quick on this, but she couldn't decipher the lies from the truth sometimes. It was like the kid that sent me the e-mail the other night, he probably…no, he did put the false information in his project and turned it in, when he gets an F, he'll spread the word that I am a liar. I however will use the Dollars to my advantage yet again and dispel the lies, simple.
Taro Tanaka: Really? What happened? Is she alright?
"I'm fine," I said to myself as I started typing the truth, knowing Izaya was going to screw it up somehow. This would slightly annoy him, probably cause him to bother me by coming over ruining my very boring "vacation". I bit the inside of my lip thinking about the possibility of that actually happening, but I frowned at the inevitable of my own annoyance toward the other informant.
Hanna: I heard Izaya was there too, pushed Shizuo over the edge and stood in front of the girl as the blond haired demon threw a car at him. He of course dodged. Soon afterwards she let out a stream of curse words, so I think she was fine….I hope. You can never tell, anyone know where she went afterwards?
I could almost see Izaya's smirk, and I was sure it mirrored my own. Sure I was giving away more than I wanted, but I was trying to hint toward others that I was who I was, granted at the moment only Celty and Izaya knew the online alias I had with the Dollars, I wanted word to get around that I, Hanna, was in fact Mitsu, if that happened then people would be coming to me for the services Izaya charges for, it would push him, past annoyance and into the world of the pissed. I would be the first to know this, my secrets would be the first to be leaked, but Mitsu had a clean record, I was positive he didn't know that I was also Katsuki. I laughed at the idea of Izaya pissed, I would be so dead in my condition, but I'd still pull out my switchblade and try to catch all those annoying flick blades that he hid on his person.
I reached over and grabbed the black handle of my knife, inspecting the golden dragon painted on the right side of the casing. I pushed the button and let the long thin blade flip out. There was a black line pained on the reflective blade, the edge slightly serrated edge. I've never used this one to kill, or even harm anyone. Only had this one for a week, and three of the seven days I've had it I've been under house arrest.
Saika: If anyone sees her, give her my wishes for a good recovery.
Taro Tanaka: Mine too.
Setton: Throw mine in there as well, Shizuo by rumor doesn't like hitting women. I wonder how he took his accident.
I tilted my head at Celty's response, I checked my white phone and frowned, still nothing. Shinra had checked in on me a couple of times, making sure I was following his orders, and Celty came by just in case I was lying, and to see if I had gotten anywhere, and I hadn't I still had no clue who this other Dullahan was. After a lot of hacking on my smaller almost pocket sized netbook I figured out a general area where she was staying, she was pretty good at covering her tracks, using the darkness around her. I figured I'd try again that night, hopefully I could narrow down her location even more, I would stay up a little later than normal if I had too.
I was intrigued with her, didn't know where she came from, or why she was here. I assumed that although Dullahans were Irish in origin, they spread themselves around the planet, that would explain how Celty got here, or more accurately her head. She never asked me about her head, and I never talked about it myself, that didn't change the fact I knew who had it and what he planned to do with it. It was the reason there was a big war six months ago, the infamous Dollars, Yellow Scarves, Slasher conflict. Izaya wanted to see if Celty was a different mythological being, one that went to heaven once reunited with her head. This was shot was lost now with the new Dullahan though, she had her head, I saw it.
Kanra: Come-on you guys, if all she did was cuss a couple of times then I bet she's up and walking already :D
Kanra: And besides there is another group showing it's face around here the past couple of days. Have to say, I love their creativity~
Hanna: Who are they?
Kanra: Even Hanna doesn't know? That's a shocker. They call themselves "In Finem"
Setton: The End?
Hanna: Yeah, you're right Setton. They call themselvesThe End…it's Latin, strange, who knew gangs were capable of using a dead language. Guess some of them actually went to college, or spent the time to get a better education than barely passing high school
That name, I chuckled at the memories In Finem had. I hadn't seen them in ten years. I remember how they caused havoc in my small town, it was also my first gig as an informant. I remembered the joy, rush of the single emotion of joy. I remembered the face of their leader when it all came together. I already started plotting their story in Ikebukuro as my laptop beeped at me in annoyance. I looked back at the screen. I saw a private chat invite from Mikado, or Taro Tanaka. I accepted it.
Hanna: Yes?
Taro Tanaka: I am looking for someone…for information about a friend. I don't trust Izaya.
Hanna: I don't either…I heard there is one that likes to hang-out near Russia Sushi. Don't know if it's reliable but it wouldn't hurt to try. Her name is Mitsu, and she changed how she looks from day to day, so I can't tell you much on appearance.
Hanna: By rumor though she has auburn hair and grey eyes, I guess even in Ikebukuro that combination stands out in the slightest. She goes to the sushi joint a lot, just tell Simon that you're there to see her.
Taro Tanaka: Thank-you
I closed the window and saw that everyone had left, all but Izaya. I turned my head to the side as I read the reasons. Celty had an errand to run, meaning she was probably on her way over, she normally came around mid-afternoon. Saika, or Anri Sonohara, had homework, that was believable but from experience I knew she was out gathering information on this "new" gang, she didn't want a repeat of what happened now did she?
Kanra: And now, I must leave, I too have a errand I must run.
Kanra has left the Chat
Hanna: I'm leaving too, it's about dinner time.
I closed the lid of my laptop and closed my switchblade, putting it back on the light tan end table near the head of my blue covered bed. I stood up and hobbled, now limping heavily on the knee opposite of my injured one to the kitchen to throw a pot of ramen on the stove. I hear my phone express itself, letting me know that someone wanted to talk to me, I was beginning to feel popular. I laughed at this idea, an informant popular? I looked at the text, it's from Shizuo. Opened the message and scratched my head. I never thought of the blond as a monster, misunderstood sure, but the only monster in the city was Izaya, I was close, on the line literally but it almost bugged me that he thought this way. "It's almost been three days, you alright?" I smiled, a small one, but a smile nonetheless, as I turned the stove on. "Yeah, Shinra said to stay home, should be out tomorrow, thank god!" I replied.
My head shot toward the door as there was a light knock. I tilted my head as the person on the other side didn't just walk in, anyone who knew I was here just got in the habit of just walking in these past few days. "It's open!" I yelled, my brow furrowed in confusion, something I'm not used to feeling. I heard my door slowly swing open and shoes clicking on the hardwood as the person walked in and took their shoes off. My apartment wasn't that messy, but it wasn't the neatest, there was only so much you could do with a broken knee and a constant need for entertainment. I never cleaned much to begin with.
The off white walls came to be seen as a canvas, my thoughts were spattered on the walls ,not literally. I started at them in deep thought, that's the main reason they were bare. I had random pieces of paper scattered, all of them blank in case I needed to write my thoughts down. A purple lighter was near the sink so I could burn these thoughts so nobody could see them.
"Good afternoon Mistu-chan!" sang Izaya as he paraded into my kitchen. I hid my phone nonchalantly under a towel and looked at him, an emotionless scowl placed on teenaged looking face. I looked like I was sixteen, maybe. I was actually not much younger than Izaya himself.
"Izaya," was all I said in response. I turned back to the cooking food, letting my mind wonder on the possibilities that just opened up, the new people under another person's influence. That person would be under stress if left alone, and stress impairs judgment. That's how I made this gang fall the first time, and I had every intention to let that happen again, though it would be boring. I hate being a repeat, I would end up being either a nuisance, or a very valuable member of the gang, either way if I could get in again it'd be easier to come up with a new strategy to make this gang fall, depending on their intentions.
They were challenging the Dollars there was no doubt in my mind about that, but why? The Dollars were relatively quiet, only a few people stepped out of line challenging the other smaller random gangs that still roamed the streets. Being the idiots they were, they often got their asses handed to them in a fight with no proper leadership within that assembly of morons from their leader. I did put some input in this issue, but it wasn't very helpful, just made it to where those little uprisings were less common because my advice well to be honest was the opposite of advice.
"Hoc usque nunc fuistis?" asked the informant. So this is what you've been doing? His voice was careful, curious even. I figured there was no hiding it, I had a broken knee, what else could I be doing?I didn't even look at the informant.
"Sic," I replied nodding without missing a beat, freezing as I realized we were speaking in Latin. "Damn." I turned toward the bastard and looked at his amused face, sure I also found out that he knew Latin, but by doing so I let him know that I did too. I of course already knew this, but I hated how I wasn't following my own advice and just give simple responses to him. I had to taunt him though, it was fun and I knew it annoyed him slightly.
"So you do know Latin. My my Mistu-chan you are full of surprises." He leaned on my table, his hand laying gracefully on his face as he watched me. I said nothing else, still mad at him from being under house arrest for the past couple of days. I limped over, hiding my white phone within the elastic of my pajamas, loose fitting sweat pants, and hid it within the drawer of the table near my bed, with many other discarded phones.
"Yea, I do know Latin," I replied finally. "But you also know Russian, English, all the romantic languages; French, Spanish, and Italian. Let's not forget German, and the most commonly spoken Japanese."
I poured my ramen into a bowel and picked up some chop sticks and walked over to the table, happy to get off of my knee. There was another knock as the door opened. Celty walked in. I waved unenthusiastically at the Headless Rider as Izaya smirked. Mitsu, I didn't know you already had company,typed the Dullahan. I frowned and looked at the raven haired annoyance. I requested that my alias be used when people who had no business knowing who I really was were around. Izaya was the main reason for this.
"I wasn't informed on the matter myself." Celty walked over and sat in the chair to my right. Izaya watched me intently, as I took a bite of the small meal in front of me, meeting his gaze and was glad he picked the chair in front of a blank wall, if I really had to think I could just imagine the words behind him and figure out a quirky response that way.
"So, what have you heard about In Finem?" I asked confident in my ability to read in-between the lines of Izaya's speech. I took another bite of my small meal and studied Izaya's all knowing smirk, returning it with one of my own.
"Ah I forgot, you're under house arrest, that's really a disappointment, I have fun trying to get ahead of you. This isn't fair, is it Mitsu-chan?"
"Answer the question Izaya," I said my voice tough. I shook my head at the notion that I was asking my competition for information. This was like asking a computer geek to fix your computer when you were one too. It was like asking a plumber to fix your leaky faucet when that was also your profession. It was like asking someone else to paint you a masterpiece that duplicated one that you've already painted. It seemed irrational, tedious, but I needed to know, I was bored out of my mind, Celty was the only one that was keeping me in the boring hell that was me cooped up in my apartment.
"Fine, fine. It'll make a more enjoyable game if the two of us know the same material. In Finem, as far as I know they're just as invisible as the Dollars, they meet near the old abandoned warehouse that the Yellow Scarves met. Oh this is so much fun Mistu-chan! I also heard they're planning on declaring war on the Dollars!" I nodded slowly and finished eating my dinner. So I was right, though the declaration wasn't public yet, it probably was going to happen tomorrow if the leader, whoever that person was, was eager to make a name for his, or herself. Most people wanted to be famous; infamous was close enough for some people.
"They must have a leader, and you have a name no?" Izaya sighed and threw back his raven hair as I stood up and limped into the kitchen and threw my bowl in the sink. Celty was typing on her phone.
Are you sure you want to get involved now? You're still injured.I merely shrugged and pressed Izaya on the name. My injury was the least of my concerns; my major one was getting behind. Injuries heal, but information constantly changes.
"Maximus. Don't try to look for him in the system, I tried." I clicked my tongue and nodded. It was about time he showed his face again. I let out a small chuckle as I crossed my arms on the table and let my bangs cover my eyes.
"Primus Maximus, I've heard of him. He founded the gang about a decade ago," I said at last smirking at Izaya. "You said you wanted us on the same page, and now we're close enough. You held back some info, I held back mine." I leaned back crossed my arms on my chest as the information broker chuckled, but nodded in agreement. He stood up an announced his leave. I waited until I was sure he wasn't listening before I said anything else. "He is also known as Hisaro Ichihoshi. " I limped back into my bed and lift the lid of my laptop, letting Celty help me back in bed.
So, you're just going to go along with this game aren't you? There's nothing can do about it I suppose, just be careful. I nodded and started hacking through city files, looking for the name of an old friend.
"I will. Tomorrow I'll be around Russia Sushi talking to Mikado, afterwards I want to go Dullahan hunting, and with my knee Shinra's going to yell at me if I walked the distance. Mind giving me a lift? I think I have finally figured out the area she's staying in, I still need to do a little more searching." Celty nodded and looked over my shoulder as I found what I was looking for. I reached over for my black phone and put his number, e-mail and address into my phone. I then surfed the web on the few details listed, old robberies and the fact he got busted for drugs. I pulled out my white cell as it started ringing. I smirked as I answered it and put it on speaker. I see you've immersed yourself, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Katsuki. I smiled shyly and nodded "Hello?" I asked in a sing-song voice.
"It's Tom," I was taken back, the caller ID said it was Shizuo's phone…what happened this time?
"And I'm Katsuki, now we have that covered, what the hell happened?" I typed at the keyboard, finding the police file on the leader of this new gang. I thought about pulling up a view of the street by backing the street cameras, but I decided I probably wouldn't see anything. I did hack the cell signal and found where they were.
"Izaya showed up, I don't think I need to explain more. He's going on about you and him collaborating, I just wanted to get the facts straight." I shook my head at the informant's habit of leaking the information he wasn't afraid to share with the world. I managed to annoy him, I guess that was a hollow victory in itself.
"Mmhm, how did you get Shizuo's phone Tom?" I asked biting my lip, and the gruesome details of the aggravated robbery Hisaro had done. Pictures of blood everywhere, and a picture of a little girl in bandages. Normally I would be trembling, but I was used to things like this. Pictures like this were common in Ikebukuro, all over the news and the internet also kept the images floating around. What boiled my blood slightly was the fact the girl was only five, and she looked to have been close to death. The bastard got out of an attempted murder charge though.
"Uh….he got hit with a truck again." I looked at the phone in disbelief. I thought he'd wait longer to use that trick again, does Shizuo ever learn? I paused looked at the ceiling, when Izaya was around all rational thought was gone within the blond's head. I found their location, not too far from my apartment, must've been too distracted to hear the car hit him.
"And here you are asking me about me collaborating with the flea, which I'm not in my eyes. Should you be calling Shinra I'm sure he has his number in there too." I looked at the phone giving it an Izaya smirk, all knowing, and had the arrogant air around it. I heard Shizuo grunt on the other end, cussing as he found out that the bastard ran off. "Don't worry Celty's on her way." I reached for my other phone and sent Celty a message, letting them know where they were, I sighed to myself laughing at the situation. This was going to be a fun time, I could tell already.
I hung up and laid back, thinking about calling my old friend or I called him a friend, he absolutely hated my guts, hated that I knew everything. I was fine with this notion, I felt like I did know everything, and knowledge is power in the eyes of some people. People however overlook the detail that it's how one uses their knowledge. Izaya used it to manipulate people, I used it to help them clean up their mess caused by Izaya. It wasn't as rewarding in the department of my need to play games with the endless idiots that roamed the streets, but those idiots were normally in gangs that were hard to control, thus I swoop in and save the day, making it seem like the leader is in control. I didn't do so with Masaomi Kida, just helped the guy who tried to kill him, I helped him stay hidden. It was cruel, Masaomi was actually one of the few people that I actually cared for in this abundant city. I did help save his ass all the same, tipping off Kadota and his gang who alerted other people. I stuck a knife in the upriser when it was all over, telling him that I only wanted this to hurry up and boil over, he didn't die. He hated me now, and was probably going to join In Finem now.
I scrolled down another police report as a knock was heard at my door. "It's open," I yelled not looking up and noted the location, small department store, that my new target robbed, and the dealers that he sold and bought drugs under. I looked up as Tom walked in, looking around confused. "Celty send you?" I asked dismissively. He nodded slowly. "Izaya run his mouth about In Finem?" Another nod was given. I sighed and closed all my windows and stopped all my hacking programs and looked at the debt collector. "Go into the kitchen and bring me a chocolate bar, I like sugar when I think. I am actually going to be giving you the definite info, but what's going on upstairs is something totally different." I was thrown a Hersey's milk chocolate bar as I threw my legs over the bed and limped over to the table, grabbing a piece of paper and started scribbling on it.
"Izaya said they were new, but I figured I'd go ahead and come to you, in case I have to deal with one of their members," he said sitting opposite of me as I broke off a piece of the chocolate. I offered him a piece as I continued writing on the piece of paper. He took it and watched me intently. I scratched my head and turned the paper and let him read what I had written on the page. The ink said what I didn't tell Izaya, he probably bugged the place, not turning on the bug until he got to his place. He probably knew Hisaro's name now, but he was going to know eventually. It listed the history of the gang, how it was founded, as a club and because of me I made it into a gang. I was surprised it followed me to Ikebukuro.
"Basically, so far it's a gang like the Dollars, we haven't been able to distinguish a member from a civilian. When I say we I mean Izaya, I've been stuck here. But that's all I know, excluding details like address and phone number and e-mail. Primus Maximus is a name we'll all know before tomorrow's over though," I said as I laid back and finished the last of my candy, itching to go outside. I stood up and grabbed the piece of paper, grabbing the lighter and burning a corner of the page before laying it in the sink, turning on the water when there was an excessive amount of smoke. I picked up one of the dry areas and began burning the page again. I lifted my head momentarily as Tom showed himself out, there was going to be a day when he actually trusted me, might not be anytime soon, but there will be a day.
So I know this was a little boring (to me at least) but it was one of those needed chapters to get the ball rolling on another branch in the plot. So, I hoped you enjoyed the new information given, because that's about all this chapter did in terms of plot.
Now for my responses to the reviews :3
Bree Renee: Your review made my tummy leap in happiness. I'm glad you think that of my story after one chapter. I hope the rest meet your expectations
Amara-nii Chan: I'm glad you love it :D and I hope you didn't have to wait too long, I'm on Spring Break so Chapter three, if I get off my lazy butt and edit will be up hopefully by Wednesday, I edit each chapter like three times, twice to make sure I'm happy with what I have written and once for the grammar. I have up to chapter 18 or 19 written.
