Disclaimer: Maybe if I keep saying 'I own Durarara' it will become true one day…
Side Note: In this side story, Tsuki has a body unlike the current situation in the main story.
"Let's go outside"
Tsukishima's gaze snapped up from the book he was reading in surprise. "Roppi-san, please tell me that you're joking."
"I'm bored, there's nothing to do in here," Roppi shrugged, "you are too aren't you? That's the third time you read that book."
"But we're not allowed! Kishitani-sensei will be mad!" Tsuki looked visibly frantic at Roppi's dangerous trail of thought.
"It's that idiot's fault for leaving us alone here with nothing to do. Aren't you a little bit curious of what's outside?"
Tsukishima bit his lip. Yes, he was a little curious, but Shingen had promised them he'd take them outside when it was safe for them to do so. Tsuki was content to wait until then, but Roppi seemed to believe that it was his own way of saying that he'd never let them leave. Even so, the idea of leaving without Shingen's permission didn't sit right with him.
"I still think we shouldn't go. Why don't you wait for Kishitani-sensei to come back, we can ask him one more time?" he asked hopefully.
Roppi sighed in aggravation. Sometimes his blond companion's naivety was more of a problematic trait rather than an endearing one.
"Fine. You can say and ask him when he gets back, and you can catch up to me later."
He took a handful of Shingen's newly ordered scalpels from their box and pocketed them.
"Roppi-san! You can't go! What if someone sees you?"
Roppi casually hopped onto a table and unscrewed a ventilation grill positioned above. "That's why I'll be going through here."
"Please wait a minute! What if you get caught? What if you get hurt?"
"Shut up already. It'll be fine, I'm strong remember?"
Tsukishima silently watched his back. He knew Roppi was strong, 'Project Darwin' had made him that way with maximum power in mind. He tried not to think of all those times he's helplessly seen Roppi go through the most impossible simulations, yet still come out alive. Barely.
But he was still scared for him. Or was he scared of being left alone? He knew how much Roppi hated the laboratory, if he left would he ever come back?
When he pulled himself out of his thoughts he realized that Roppi had already disappeared through the narrow shaft. Tsukishima scrambled up onto the table and stuck his head through the open vent and called out in a hushed whisper, "Roppi-san? Roppi-san! Please come back!"
No reply came, so he tried again, a little louder, "Roppi-san! If you can hear me, say something!"
A distant echoed voice replied, "I can hear you, I'm just ignoring you. But if you don't keep it down, we'll get discovered."
Tsuki bit his lip, he really didn't want him to go, so he needed to stop him. Every time he tired something particularly rebellious, he'd use a tactic that always proved to be effective no matter how stubborn Roppi was. He didn't use it because he wanted to be manipulative, it's because it was the honest truth. And when Tsuki was honest with Roppi, he'd always come around.
"Roppi-san," he called out once more, "Please, don't leave me alone here. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here with me. I'm scared of being alone. So please….please don't go."
Silence followed his heartfelt declaration. Tsuki began to wonder if Roppi crawled too far to hear him, then he heard his friend's voice again.
"…ow"
"Roppi-san!? Are you alright? What happened?"
"Yeah, I'm…ow…arghh, I'm stuck."
"You're…stuck?"
"Yes…I can't get out" he reluctantly replied.
"Don't move! I'll come help you, hang on." Tsukishima pulled himself up into the vent with much difficulty and began crawling to the direction he heard Roppi's voice. He crawled around for a little while before reaching a split at the end of the crawlspace.
"Roppi-san? Where are you?" he called out not trusting his own sense of direction.
"This way" came his voice from the right.
Tsuki crawled as quickly as he could in the dark vent towards Roppi until he felt something soft brush against his fingers. Tsuki yelped and banged his head on the metal above his head. A slender hand grabbed the scarf around his neck, while another pressed against his mouth.
"Shh! Someone will hear you."
Tsuki blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and were able to make out Roppi's figure under him, very much safe and not trapped in any way.
"R-Roppi-san? Y-You're…I thought you were stuck!"
"Oh, that? I lied."
Tsukishima spluttered, "Why would you lie about that? I was worried!"
He felt Roppi shrug, "If I didn't, then you wouldn't have come."
Tsuki felt his cheeks go warm, "…Lying is bad Roppi-san."
"Abandoning your friends is worse." Roppi countered simply.
"Roppi-san…" Tsuki frowned. That would apply to him too wouldn't it? If he let Roppi go off alone, that's the same as abandoning him.
"…I'll come with you then." he mumbled back, his hand finding Roppi's still grasping his scarf, squeezing it comfortingly.
He felt Roppi stiffen, both of them realizing what compromising position they were in, Roppi quickly turned himself around and resumed crawling towards the other end of the crawlspace.
"Good…I'm glad I mean. It'd be a disaster if I went alone. I don't know what I would do if I ran into a human outside."
Tsuki laughed. He understood that he was the more social one between the two of them. Roppi had developed a hate for humans that Tsuki never did. So what was he planning on doing outdoors with his level of discomfort of others?
"Well, as long as you don't suddenly attack anyone, you'll be fine."
Roppi snorted, "I'll try not to."
The two of them found their way outside before long. Since a certain blond kept getting lost it took a little longer than it should've. On the bright side, Tsukishima had stopped to stare through one vent that turned out to lead outdoors. Roppi was quick to smash through it (to Tsuki's horror) and they both slipped out of the building.
Unfortunately, they were both caught sneaking near the gates by a security guard shortly after and thrown off the premises after being identified as intruders. Actually, that was rather fortunate in their case, since they were more interested in getting out, rather than in.
"Stop whimpering. We got out in one piece didn't we?"
Tsukishima pouted, "But we got scolded…"
Roppi sighed, 'He gets upset about the most useless things.'
"Aren't you supposed to be the positive one? We're outside, Tsuki. Outside."
Tsukishima looked around, now that they've been walking for a while, they've reached a quiet street. There were a few shops opening up for the day, one confectionary was already baking treats and the sweet smell wafted out of the store. At the other side of the road, there was what looked like a large park.
Tsuki's eyes lit up.
"Roppi-san…can we go there?" he asked timidly, pointing to the park across the street.
Roppi glanced over to where Tsuki indicated. "Hmm, sure. It'd be nice to look at nature rather than man-made things for once."
The two of them made their way to the park and walked down the cobblestone path. It looked bigger when they saw it from across the street, but Tsuki enjoyed it nonetheless. He excitedly pointed out different plants and animals excitedly. Roppi was just as amazed at seeing these things for the first time as well, but he wasn't nearly as vocal about it as his partner.
"Roppi-san, Roppi-san! Look, there's a cat! A cat!"
Roppi covered his mouth, trying to supress the laughter bubbling in his chest. Tsuki sounded like just like a child. He was glad that he was having fun, he was worried that Tsuki wouldn't since he all but forced him to come along. There were plenty of things that interested Tsuki outside here, heck a falling cherry blossom pedal excited him.
Roppi stared off at the street where more people were walking, hoping to catch sight of something a little more extraordinary, 'Now if I could find the things that interest me…'
"Roppi-san? What's wrong?" Tsuki asked finally turning away from the cat that he charmed to allow him to pet it.
"Just wondering if we would be able to see those Ikebukuro Legends."
Tsuki bit his lip, "You mean Heiwajima Shizuo right? I don't think you should go looking for him…"
"Why?" Roppi asked incredulously, Tsukishima knew how much he wanted to meet him.
"Your donor Orihara Izaya is his sworn enemy right? Kishitani-sensei even said we look like our donors. What if he mistakes you for him and hurts you?"
Roppi kicked a leaf, "Even so, I want to meet him. I can take care of myself remember? Even if he gets angry, that just means we get to see his super strength. You'd want to see it too right? You're a fan too, aren't you? Isn't that why you dyed your hair blonde? To look like him?"
Tsuki bristled, "It's not like that! I…thought it would look cool."
He didn't mention that he hoped Roppi would pay more attention to him if he looked more like his idol. When Roppi talked about Heiwajima Shizuo his eyes lit up, he told Tsuki everything his chat friends told him about the Ikebukuro legend. He told him he wanted to meet that amazingly strong blond beast in a bartender suit one day. So he decided to grant that wish to him. Since Shingen had created his body from Heiwajima Shizuo's stem cells, he was sure he resembled him quite a bit, the doctor even vouched for that. Which is why he wanted to look as close as possible to the real one, to make Roppi happy and maybe garner more of his interest. He ended up asking Shingen for some hair dye, and the man brought it to him chucking after hearing his reasoning.
But when Roppi saw his hair, all he did was stifle an amused laugh.
Tsuki sighed, he knew he was hopeless. Especially when it came to Roppi.
A gentle stroke against his blond locks pulled him out of his musings.
Tsuki blinked in confusion, his cheeks fired up as they usually did when Roppi showed him gentle affection.
"W-W-What is it?"
Roppi smiled softly in response, "I like this colour on you. It suits you."
Right then and there, Tsuki vowed to dye his hair until the day he died.
Now in even brighter spirits, the two of them continued to walk in the park at a leisurely pace, enjoying the outdoors as much as they could.
[Author's Note:] Alright, I need to do a part 2 to this one. I freaking love Tsuki, I want to write more of him! It's probably because I don't get a chance to write him the other story yet (cough*technically*cough). Speaking of which, new chapter for Being Human should be posted for Valentine's Day! Hopefully ^^;;
Until Next Time,
SNU
