This may seem really soon to already be putting up my third chapter, but I've been working on this lil fic even before I joined the site. I actually have up to chapter 7 on my computer. I have to look over them though, before I put them up. I have this terrible perfectionist mentality -.-" So, I made sure Chapter 3 looked right and uploaded it. There was going to be a Kida chapter sooner or later. He is one of my favorite characters after all~

Keep reading, awesome readers! And review if you can. Here's my little youtube saying - 'I feed off your loving comments. Om nom nom.' ^.^


Ch 3: The Lion's Den (Masaomi)

He was always on the phone. The annoying beeping sounds got crazier at night, and it kept her up sometimes. She never mentioned it to him though. She didn't want him to think that it was bothering her, because that chatroom was his only connection to the life he had once lived. It comforted him, and she didn't want to take that away.

He was sitting on the couch, watching the Tokyo news. Something seemed to be bothering him today. Saki sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Masaomi?"

"Hm?"

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he lied. He was always like that. If something was bugging him, he kept it to himself.

"Don't lie. I know you. You're upset."

She turned to the TV. It was talking about the huge section of Ikebukuro that had been barricaded off due to a murder case that they believed to be connected to other recent crimes throughout Tokyo. They didn't reveal much, but they did mention what area had been blocked off.

"By Sunshine…" he muttered. She looked at him again, to see him frowning.

That's minutes away from Mikado's apartment, he thought. He had a bad feeling. Without thinking, he dug in his pocket and brought out his phone. Saki watched him sign into the chat.

(No one is online)

His frown deepened. He knew who everyone was on the chat now. Mikado, Celty, and Izaya were all gone. That normally didn't happen. He switched over to the Dollars website, which he had joined after he left Tokyo. He had asked Mikado to give him the password. It was just another way to stay connected for him. The forum pretty much covered everything that happened in Ikebukuro. He scrolled through the posts, skimming over the newest ones and going back to the older ones.

Then he saw the posts about Shizuo. He read through it and stopped once he saw Mikado's one post.

"Where did it happen?"

He disappeared from the rest of the conversation. From that night to this morning, Mikado had not posted one thing. It had only been one-and-a-half days, so he knew he shouldn't be worried. It was strange though. Last night, he never saw the words, (Taro Tanaka has come online).

"He's probably been busy," Saki said. Kida had forgotten she was there. "It's only been a day, right? So don't worry."

"Sure…" he said. He hoped she was right. The sound of the TV throbbed in his ears. He heard the Black Rider mentioned. They said that she had appeared and scared some tourists with her shadows. One of those tourists had already been attacked in one of the incidents in the other parts of Tokyo. He could tell a lie when he heard one, and he knew instantly that it wasn't the whole truth. The police were hiding things from the public like always.

What was it? What really happened? Why do I have this bad feeling?

"Stop worrying about it. It makes me sad to see your face like that," Saki said. "Just come back to reality. We're here, and we're living a great life. We shouldn't be letting spooky stories on the news freak us out. All that matters is that we're here and we're happy." She kissed him, trying to snap him out of it. While she did, she slid the remote out of his hand and switched the TV off. The silence afterwards was calming.

Saki continued to comfort him, continued to tell him that everything was alright, but everyday he got tenser. It had been a week now and he had not heard anything from Mikado or Celty. The chatroom wasn't as fun to be in when it was just Izaya. Once Izaya got wind of his concern for Mikado, he began to mess with him and taunt him with all these horrible possibilities. Typical Izaya. He loved to mess with people's feelings and draw out their pain. Kida began to log on just to check for Celty or Mikado and then log off when Izaya signed in.

He knew that Izaya probably knew what was going on. He always knew. Even when Kida tried to get information out of him, he wouldn't mention much. The Tokyo news channel still buzzed with the recent occurrences, but they only revealed very tiny bits of information. The police had their knowledge locked up tight. Even the channels began to question the police's strange behavior, though they didn't delve any further.

After a couple more days, the chat went silent again.

(No one is online.)

(No one is online.)

One night after that week had passed, Kida called Mikado. There was no answer. The phone rang until it couldn't ring any more and then went to voicemail. He sat on his bed with the phone in his hands, looking blankly at the carpet. Saki came in after a moment and stood in front of him.

"Masaomi, I don't like seeing you like this. If it's bugging you so much, why don't you just go back?" she asked.

"You know I can't," he said.

"And why not?"

"Horoda and his group all got busted, but there's still people there I want to avoid," he said.

"Like Izaya?" It wasn't a question, more of a statement. She already knew the answer.

"Izaya is always causing bad things to happen. He's always planning something evil, something that ruins people's lives and causes struggles. As long as he's alive and in Ikebukuro, that place won't be safe for either of us."

He didn't tell Saki about his other concern. If Saki went back with him to Ikebukuro, she might be caught up in Izaya's influence again. Her devotion to him was so strong back then. Of course it had gotten better now, but there was always that chance that he would put her under his spell again. She would become his pawn again. Everyone that stepped onto the scene of Izaya's games were under his control, even him. He was afraid, plain and simple.

"You're running away again," she said. Those words shocked him, shot right through him like a jolt of electricity. She knew how much those words could upset him but she said it anyway.

Her eyes met his, unwavering and serious. That flat stare shattered his anger. "No… I'm not," he whispered.

"Even if it causes you pain, you still run and hide. I don't understand it. If you're afraid for your friend, you should go and check if he's okay. It won't leave you alone until you go, so why wait?" Her voice had lost its cold edge, going back to the voice of reason he knew.

He glanced at his phone, which was open to the chatroom on the end table. He saw Izaya's orange text, trying to get his attention. He flipped the phone shut. "You're right. I might as well get this over with, huh?"

"That's the spirit," she said with a smile. "I'll stay here… that's what you want, right?"

"Promise me you'll stay safe. Don't draw attention to yourself when I'm not around."

"Just shut up and stop worrying. Hurry up and do whatever you have to do so you can get back to me," she said. She hugged him tightly. "Now let me tell you. Be safe. I love you."

"I love you too."

That night Masaomi Kida boarded a plane headed for Ikebukuro. It had been a long time since he had last been there. He had changed a lot, so maybe the city had changed a lot too. He wondered how everyone was doing, like Kadota, Saburo, and the two with the anime obsession, Walker and Erika. He wondered how the Black Rider was. He had heard some scary stuff about her on the news, but Saki had turned off the TV before he could hear more. No matter what the news said about her, it was all lies - he knew that the real Black Rider was a good person.

He thought about what Raira might be like now. It was something that hardly ever changed over the years, so it would probably be the same. The school he was going to now was like a whole different world. He lived in the country now, where gang wars and rushed city life seemed like a dream. It reminded him of the world he lived in before he transferred to Tokyo; that little town that he and Mikado grew up in together. Tokyo had been okay in his time there, for the most part. Now he was satisfied with the countryside world, where rice patches, fields, and wilderness stretched for miles, unbroken except for small towns.

Now he was headed back to the lion's den, where Izaya Orihara cleverly controlled the city in his invisible ways. No one expected that every small crime, every strange coincidence and chance, was influenced by one man. Only a few people had a chance to look straight into the heart of the city. Only a few were able to see the dots connecting around him. Kida, Mikado, Anri, and Celty had all seen Izaya in the center of the web, controlling the threads of everyone's lives like a puppeteer. Once Kida arrived in Ikebukuro, he would be caught up in the web too. Everything that happened to him there would probably be Izaya weaving him into the morbid story of his creation.

He suddenly felt very tired. It was like those thoughts were sucking the life out of him. He leaned his head back against the headrest of the seat. After moments of drifting thoughts and shadows of dreams, he fell into true sleep. His rest was dreamless.


So there you have it! Masaomi's return. There was no way I was going to leave him in the middle of nowhere and not put him back in Ikebukuro. I thought it would be fitting that worrying about Mikado would make him come back. However, things are not going to turn out all peachy when he comes back~

Next chapter will be from Celty's POV. You'll finally get to know what really happened that night with Mikado. Now aren't you excited.

Psyche, out!