Chapter Three
Mikado's cell phone rang. Groaning, he twisted to one side and groped for it. It took a few seconds longer then it should have, but when he got it, he sat up and flipped it open. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he muttered, "Uhh….hello?"
"Goood morniiinnng, Mikado!" a cheerful voice on the other side exclaimed.
It was Masaomi.
Mikado flopped back down on his right side and drew the covers up to his ear, "Good morning, Masaomi. What is it? It's nine in the morning….And it's a Sunday…"
On the other side he heard Masaomi clicking his tongue, "Tsk, tsk Mikado! You've been on the computer for too long again! No wonder you sound so sleepy!"
"Well…not everyone wakes up early in the morning like you do…" Mikado murmured. He still wasn't over the natural drug called getting up in the morning.
Masaomi laughed, "True, true. Anyway, I set up a date for the three of us to meet at 60 Story Street and do some stuff together!"
"Eh?!" Mikado bolted straight up, "Wh-wh-why?!"
"'Why'?" Masaomi sounded upset in his teasing way, "You don't want to spend time with your best friend and the beautifully adorable Anri?" In a mumbling tone he added, "I invited Ame too, but he said he was busy…"
Mikado blushed and shook his head wildly. Then he remembered that they were talking over the phone and said, "But! But….but…Why now?!"
"Why not? Tomorrow's school. Today's not. It's a perfect time!"
"Errr…" Mikado didn't even know what to say.
And Masaomi didn't wait for him to, "All righty then! Meet us at Sunshine around three!"
"Eh?!" Mikado yelled into the phone, "But that's…" He began to count on his fingers, "Uhh…one…two…three….four…five…six…seven…..Seven hours from now! Why'd you call me now?!"
Masaomi laughed, "Weell…Knowing you…You'd be worrying about every little thing that might happen during our date with Anri. Be grateful I'm giving you more time to!" And with that, he hung up.
Mikado stared at his cell phone, already wanting to die from embarrassment. He let it fall from his limp hand and sat there, frozen; then he scampered out of bed. He needed to figure out what to wear!
Five hours later….
Shizuo was leaning against a wall as he held up the cigarette box to his lips, and took one out with his mouth. He put the box back into his pocket and took out his lighter. Then he cupped his hand around the cigarette and lit it up. Shizuo took in a deep breath, removed it from his mouth, and blew out a puff of smoke. He put it back into its previous position as he pocketed the lighter.
He glanced over to one side and watched Tom-san collect money from some old man. Shizuo didn't think he needed to use force or that his temper would let loose this time around (it was usually more of the latter). He took out the cigarette from his mouth and blew out smoke again. As he was doing so, the cigarette was plucked out of his fingers.
Shizuo's eyes widened and he looked around to see who did it, ready to beat up the person responsible, "Fucking bas-" He cut himself off and blinked.
"Hiya!" Saku grinned. At the moment, she was dropping his cigarette onto the pavement and grinding it with the sole of her right boot. She continued in that happy-go-lucky voice, "You know…It's unhealthy to smoke. Lung cancer and second hand smoking and everything."
Shizuo glared at her, "Smoking is addictive."
"Then break out of it." was her reply of devastating logic.
"Why the hell would you care?"
"I just do."
Shizuo had deemed her as annoying. Not on the same level as Izaya, but still annoying enough to make him loose his temper, "You look familiar. Who the hell are you?"
She beamed at him, "Saku!"
Shizuo blinked, "Are you the girl that gave me that bottle of water?"
"Yep!"
"And now you're smashing my cigarette."
"Right again!"
Shizuo gnashed his teeth, "What the hell is wrong with you…?"
"I dunno!"
Shizuo stared at her for a good ten seconds, sighed; then reached into his back pocket for another cigarette. The box wasn't there.
Saku had that annoyingly cheerful beam on her face. She held up a cigarette box that looked a lot like Shizuo's (and it was) with a shake and asked, "Looking for this?"
"Wh-wha?! How'd you get that?!"
Saku winked and did a victory sign, "I may look like an adorable teenager…but I'm actually a pretty good pickpocket!" She rocked back on her heels, "You know…you're kinda dupable for an adult…It's pretty sad…."
Being that she was a girl who was fairly scrawny looking, Shizuo didn't want to hurt her (although the temptation to was fairly strong), so he decided to take matters calmly (understatement), "That's nice to know. Can you give me back my cigarette box now?" He held out his hand and twitched his fingers like he was beckoning a dog to come to him. This reminded him of that stupid dog that followed him one evening and backed away whenever he tried to pet it. Which only did little to improve his growing temper.
Saku shook her head, "Nope."
Shizuo cringed slightly in irritation. He slowly brought up a fist as he growled, "Why you little….?!"
By now, Tom finished his business with the old man and turned his attention back to his bodyguard. He grinned, "Wow, Shizuo! You finally found yourself a girlfriend! It's about time!"
Shizuo and Saku stared at him. Tom stared back with a semi-shrug, "What? Aren't I right?"
Around the same time….
Celty sat in front of the television, watching the news. Shinra was just finishing washing the dishes. He wiped his hands with an unused dish towel, set it back on the counter, and took off his apron. He walked around the table to behind the couch. He sighed as he leaned on it, "I wonder why Izaya hasn't given you any transport jobs to do. All you've been doing these past two days is sleep, take a shower, chat on the internet, and watch TV."
Celty chose to ignore him. She began to type on her cell phone, [Isn't it strange?]
Shinra blinked as he peered over her shoulder, "Huh?"
[The Slasher struck again, but it only got four people.]
"What's so strange about that?"
[Well….there was nine in the group total. You would think that the Slasher would get to all of them.] Celty explained, [And listen to this: The victims along with those in the area reported of a person singing. The Slasher stopped when he heard it.]
Shinra blinked again, "Seriously?"
[Yes. They're talking about it now.]
Shinra glanced up at the television. At the moment, they were playing a recording someone had of the voice. It was as beautiful and innocent as an angel's:
{'….Istu kara konna ni raku ni
Jibun mamoru koto o oboeta no?'}
When it was over, a dreamy expression passed over Shinra's face, "It's so pret-Ouch!"
Celty jabbed Shinra in the gut. Shinra backed up a few steps and held the place she hit, "Sorry….Celty….but it's true….A voice like that…it….it could stop a war…." The dreamy look crossed his face again, "She sounded like a Siren…Ow!"
This time, Celty used her shadow in the shape of a hammer to bonk him on the head. She turned off the television and showed him her cell phone, [What kind of siren are you talking about?]
From his position on the floor holding his head he explained, "The one from Greek mythology…"
Celty brought her cell phone back to her and typed on it again. Then she returned it to its previous position, [It better be.] She turned back around with in inaudible sigh and thought, 'I hope that girl knows what she's doing…'
Shinra finally decided to get off of the floor, "Is something wrong, Celty?"
Celty waved a hand at Shinra, telling him with body language that nothing was wrong. She got up, typed on her cell phone briefly, and then showed it to Shinra, [Well! I'm going out.]
Shinra watched her walk out of the apartment, "Eh? Where are you going to? Did Izaya text you? Or did I make you jealous? If I did, I'm soo sorry, Celty!"
The door closed with a loud slam.
Two hours later…..
Mikado stood at the corner of 60 Story Street, looking for familiar faces in the ever flowing mob of people. At the moment, he was wearing a dark green jacket and navy blue jeans with dark green sneakers. Mikado shoved his hands in his pockets, already fretting despite the fact he was there for only two minutes. He scuffled his feet, wondering whether or not he should have been here in the first place. Unfortunately, if Mikado only remembered the purpose of cell phones, he would have simply called Masaomi up and have him tell Mikado where he was at.
As he stood there wrapped up in his misery, a finger prodded his shoulder none too gently. Mikado turned around to see who it was and found it to be:
"Kida-kun!"
Masaomi was standing behind him. He was wearing a dark red shirt with a white t-shirt underneath, black jeans, and sneakers. Masaomi placed a hand on Mikado's head and started to ruffle it with a grin, "Man! Talk about sorry! Why didn't you call me when you got here?"
Mikado blinked as a blush formed on his cheeks, "Uhh…I forgot…."
Masaomi sighed loudly and crossed his arms, grinning, "You hopeless child….You'd be lost without me in the big, wide city!" He spread his arms out as he said 'big, wide city'.
Mikado laughed sheepishly. Then he noticed something, "Umm…Where's Sonohara-san?"
"Oh…Anri? Right here." Masaomi jabbed his thumb behind him.
Mikado peered around Masaomi to find Anri standing behind him shyly. She wasn't wearing her uniform, of course, but a blue summer dress that reached mid-thigh, a light grey sweater, and black roman sandals. Mikado blushed at the sight of Anri wearing casual clothes.
"Umm…Good afternoon, Sonohara-san."
Anri smiled, "Good afternoon, Ryūugamine-kun."
Masaomi slung an arm around both of their shoulders, "Weell…..What should we do first?"
"…Kida-kun…?" began Mikado.
Masaomi glanced at him, "Yeah?"
"Err…What did Kagayaku-san say he had to do?"
Masaomi shrugged and said lightheartedly, "I don't know. He didn't tell me. All he said was that he was busy, he was sorry, and maybe some other time. Apparently, he has better things to do during the weekends than meet up with acquaintances." He sighed, "So sad, so sad indeed."
Mikado nodded slowly, "Ohh…"
It was quiet between the three friends for a few minutes. But then it was quickly disrupted by Masaomi's war cry of: "Let's hit on chicks!"
Both Anri and Mikado blushed.
"Eh?!" Mikado exclaimed, "Why do you always have to say that at the least expected moment?!"
"Because it's what I do best!" was Masaomi's cheerfully simple reply.
"A-and Anri's a girl!" spluttered Mikado.
Masaomi shrugged, "Sooo? She's the shy type too." He did the may-the-force-be-with-you fist, "I'll teach you two how to pick up people!" Then he threw his hands up in the air and said before returning his arms back onto their shoulders, "You two will be pros at it once I'm finished!"
Anri blushed again while Mikado protested, "Uhh…Uhh…Can't we just go watch a movie instead?! There's-there's a new one out by that Yuuhei actor person…!"
Masaomi blinked; then grinned, "Sure. That'll work too. We'll this try again later!" He removed his arms from his two friends and walked faster, pointing his finger into the air, "Launch! Let's go! To Sunshine Cinema!"
"Kida-kun! Wait up!" Mikado yelled as he and Anri ran after him.
Four hours later….
-Kanra has logged onto chat-
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: Hey!
KANRA: hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
USAGI RINGO: Stop spamming.
KANRA: *ignore* Hey!
SETTON: What's wrong with you?
KANRA: Have you guys watched today's news?
SETTON: Yes.
USAGI RINGO: No.
TARO TANAKA: Me either.
TARO TANAKA: I was out watching some movies with some friends of mine.
TARO TANAKA: What did they say?
SETTON: It was about last night's Slasher attack.
USAGI RINGO: What about it?
KANRA: Yeah!
KANRA: They were talking about an 'angelic voice heroine', or something like that.
TARO TANAKA: Really?
USAGI RINGO: Bullshit.
KANRA: *gasp* Language, Usa-chan, language!
Usagi Ringo Bullshit.
KANRA: *pout* What have I done to you?
USAGI RINGO: Bullshit.
KANRA: Stop spamming rude words!
SETTON: Why are you two always on opposite ends?
KANRA: Yeah, Usa-chan!
KANRA: Why do you hate me so much?! TT3TT
USAGI RINGO: No legit reason.
KANRA: TT^TT
KANRA: So cruel….
TARO TANAKA: So what about the 'angelic voice heroine'?
KANRA: Oh, yeah…
KANRA: Witnesses say that when they heard the voice, time seemed to stop and the Slasher even stopped attacking!
KANRA: But even though they didn't harm the woman that they were about to mug, and the fact that almost half of them were wounded, the Yellow Scarves still got arrested.
USAGI RINGO: Bullshit.
USAGI RINGO: The Slasher stops attacking due to pretty voice part.
KANRA:
SETTON: To be honest…
SETTON: when I heard the voice recording, I was entranced.
SETTON: It was very beautiful.
USAGI RINGO: I see.
KANRA: No fair!
KANRA: Setty-kun gets an 'I see' while whatever I say gets a 'bullshit'!
USAGI RINGO: Damn right.
KANRA: TT-TT
SETTON: Since when am I 'Setty-kun'?
TARO TANAKA: So basically, some person was around the area started singing and their voice was so beautiful that the Slasher just stopped attacking.
KANRA: Yep!
USAGI RINGO: Bullshit.
KANRA: TT_TT
TARO TANAKA: No offense Kanra-san, but I agree with Usagi-san.
TARO TANAKA: Just not exactly in those words.
SETTON: What?
SETTON: Bullshit?
TARO TANAKA: …
TARO TANAKA: Yes.
KANRA: 3
KANRA: Fine.
KANRA: If you don't believe me…
KANRA: Here's the link:
KANRA: blog/angelic%voice%stops%slasher%attack
TARO TANAKA: All right.
TARO TANAKA: I'll check it out.
SETTON: I just realized something.
USAGI RINGO: ?
KANRA: ?
SETTON: We use the word 'attack' too much.
USAGI RINGO: True.
TARO TANAKA: I just finished listening to the clip.
KANRA: Really?
USAGI RINGO: That was fast…
SETTON: What did you think?
TARO TANAKA: ….
TARO TANAKA: I believe you two.
KANRA: XP
KANRA: Told ya.
KANRA: Hey…
USAGI RINGO: You use that interjection too much.
KANRA: *ignore* Have you noticed that the Slasher only goes after Yellow Scarves and Dollars?
KANRA: This might result in an all out war!
USAGI RINGO: Bullshit.
USAGI RINGO: Go find yourself a hole to die in.
KANRA: D;
KANRA: I should block you from this chatroom.
KANRA: The urge to do it is pretty strong.
USAGI RINGO: Don't bother.
KANRA: ?
USAGI RINGO: I'm leaving anyways.
KANRA: Really?!
USAGI RINGO: Chat with you guys later.
SETTON: Bye Usagi-chan.
TARO TANAKA: Good night.
KANRA: Good riddance.
USAGI RINGO: ….
KANRA: 3
USAGI RINGO: /3
KANRA: -_-
USAGI RINGO: ;P
SETTON: ….
KANRA: 3
USAGI RINGO: …
-Usagi Ringo has logged out of chat-
TARO TANAKA: What was the point of that?
TARO TANAKA: All those faces and hearts and broken ones?
KANRA: I dunno.
KANRA: It was fun though.
TARO TANAKA: …Okay…
SETTON: I agree with Usagi-chan.
KANRA: With what?
SETTON: How did you get this idea of a war in the first place?
KANRA: Isn't it obvious?
SETTON: No.
SETTON: It isn't.
TARO TANAKA: I really want to know why Kanra-san has the idea that a war is going to happen but…
TARO TANAKA: I have to go.
TARO TANAKA: You know…tomorrow being Monday and everything.
SETTON: Good night.
KANRA: Nighty night! 3
-Taro Tanaka has logged out of chat-
SETTON: I might as well go as well.
KANRA: Why?!
KANRA: You don't like the idea of chatting with just me?!
KANRA: How offensive!
SETTON: You didn't let me finish.
SETTON: My phone is running out of battery.
KANRA: Oh.
SETTON: Bye.
-Setton has logged out of chat-
KANRA: Why is it that it's always me that ends up alone in the chatroom?
KANRA: -3-
-Kanra has logged out of the chat-
Ten minutes later….
Celty was driving down the freeway when something ahead of her caught her eye. It was a head of bleached blond hair and a bartender suit. Shizuo.
As Celty neared, she slowed down and stopped beside him. He was muttering under his breath and didn't seem to notice her. He was repeating a word over and over again (it was most likely kill). She took out her cell phone. There was only less than a third of battery left. She shrugged and typed, [Is something wrong?]
Shizuo finally looked up from his mutterings full of murder intent and said, "Oh. Hi, Celty."
[What is it?] Celty asked.
Shizuo glanced up to one side and growled, "I just ran into someone today who was just as annoying as that stupid flea."
Celty tilted her head, [Really? I find that hard to believe.]
"Well. You better 'cuz it's true." Shizuo informed her, "That girl stole my cigarette box and still hasn't given it back to me yet." He started to gnash his teeth, "I followed her almost all over 'bukuro and I couldn't catch her once…"
Celty cringed slightly and looked away from Shizuo. She typed on her cell phone and showed it to him, [Err…What did the girl look like?]
Shizuo scrunched his face up in thought for a few seconds, then answered, "Let's see….uhh…black hair with a mauve tint….pale green eyes….looked around sixteen or something….very girly….and about so high." He held up his hand near his neck and stared at her, "What? Is it someone you know?"
Celty quickly shook her head, [No. I was just wondering.]
"Why were you wondering?" Shizuo asked.
Celty flapped a hand at him, brushing the matter off, [No reason. Just curious.] She was about to type some more, but paused for three seconds, then continued, [So what happened? In more detail?]
Shizuo rammed his fists into his pockets, "I was smoking. Then she plucked the cigarette out of my fingers and smashed it on the ground. Said it was bad to smoke. Hell, I know that already! Anyway, next thing I knew she had my cigarette box and Tom thought she was my girlfriend somehow. I asked for it back. She wouldn't give it to me. I didn't want a reputation that said I hit girls so I asked for it again. That's when she ran off suddenly. I followed her until now. Lost her about fifteen minutes ago. She still has my cigarette box…" Then the stream of kill followed.
Celty covered her eyes with her hand, [I'm sorry.]