Yup, I have nothing to say! Happy reading~!

Moments after Izaya shut his own computer down, Celty logged on to hers in order to read the chatroom's log. It was her best attempt at relieving some of the stress that was threatening now to overwhelm her. Concern for the blonde who had appeared at their door the night before, and the secondary desire to check up on the rumors that may or may not have been spreading online.

Melancholic blue eyes fixed on his two friends – suspicious and a little frightened – that had been one of the many concerns that he had hesitantly mentioned to them. He'd apologized inordinately, bowed low and mumbled something about wanting to remain anonymous until he could be sure of a few things. His DNA, he'd explained at last, reluctantly – he wanted it analyzed, somehow, wanted to know that what he was now was "the same as the person I look like…"

"I know I shouldn't be here, but – Shinra, you're the only one I can ask. I can't do anything until I know."

Shinra had dared, then, to take a few uneasy steps toward this look-alike, to slowly extend a hand toward him and then to rest it on his snow-dampened shoulder. "Shizuo-kun, you're really… But that's impossible…" The blonde had been cremated after his assured death, of course, and his physical appearance a year later was only slightly different from that of the Heiwajima Shizuo that had once been so alive and real and natural. To Shinra, who despite all of his profoundly odd involvements was nonetheless a man of science, it had been a kick in the teeth of all reason and rationality.

And Shizuo – visible, tangible, not a ghost or an illusion but warm, apparently healthy flesh and blood – had responded with a lonely smile. "Call me Tsugaru," he'd said, and Shinra had been at a loss to do anything but numbly nod his compliance.

A foreigner… yukata… a little like Heiwajima Shizuo…

Celty leapt to her feet as she came across the few lines on the screen that had so shaken Izaya just moments before. Not even bothering to read past those statements of Mikado's, she rushed out of the room, found Shinra in the kitchen, and abruptly shoved her PDA in his face as he turned to greet her. Trouble, she wrote. There are already people talking about this.

Shinra blinked and sighed softly – altogether too calm, Celty thought, given that information like this could reach the ears of any number of dangerous or unbalanced people. Izaya, for one, and what about the reactions of normal humans to something so strange, so impossible?

"There's nothing we can do about it. Besides, people talk about you on the 'net all the time, and you don't see anyone panicking about that."

That was… true. When Celty appeared out in the open, of course, it wasn't uncommon for her to become the focal point of a certain amount of uproar. A lot of that, however, could be contributed to the things she got herself involved in. For Shizuo – no, Tsugaru…

That aura of tranquility he'd had about him… That, like his eye color, like the cool blue yukata that complimented it, was different from the man they'd all known before. Celty honestly couldn't imagine him in a fight.

But this wasn't just about keeping the peace. What about everyone else? His brother? And Izaya? You're the one who lied about him, before.

He had, in fact – "He's about the same, I guess. It took a few months, but he's back to his usual, manipulative self." – but that was supposed to have been merciful. Because, Shinra explained presently, "Shi – Tsugaru-kun had his own problems to worry about then. We're in luck, though; Orihara-kun just sent me a response a little bit ago."

The doctor paused, either waiting for Celty to prompt him to continue or simply too lost in thought to continue right away. Celty finally gave in to impatience and let her fingers skitter very briefly across the keypad of her PDA – And?

"Genetically, Tsugaru-kun and Heiwajima Shizuo-kun are one and the same. I don't understand it at all – I mean, part of a person's genes should include those that determine eye color, but – he's human, Celty. And what's more, he's perfectly healthy. Ther'es no sign anywhere of the disease that killed him..."

The sound of fabric rustling off to the side, and then a relieved sigh. "Thanks…" Celty and Shinra both turned to face the blonde, who had apparently been listening quietly from his place by the wall. His expressive eyes were just a little less melancholic now that at least one burden had been lifted from his shoulders. "Did Izaya… say anything? You didn't tell him, did you - about me?"

"Of – of course not, Ts-Tsugaru-kun. He didn't say anything, actually - just sent the records."

Noticing how Shinra stumbled again over his name, the blonde smiled apologetically. "Sorry to have you call me something like that. Sounds kinda stupid, doesn't it?" He didn't say anything about Izaya, but there was just a hint of disappointment in the way his shoulders sagged in response to Shinra's words.

But putting that aside, Celty typed, interrupting whatever the doctor had been about to say by extending an arm in front of him. What will you do now?

Tsugaru glanced down at the floor before looking back up at Celty. "I don't know. I mean, I guess I'd just get in the way if I hung around, and I know it doesn't make sense for me to be here, so… I should probably leave 'Bukuro first…"

"I don't know what gave you that idea," Shinra almost snapped. "You're not in the way, Tsugaru-kun. Celty and I are both glad to have you here. Yeah, it may be a bit hard to get used to, but who wouldn't be happy to have an old friend back?"

Tsugaru blinked, surprised, then made a fist with his right hand and stared down at it as a shadow of darker emotion crossed his face. "Shinra… Everyone's already moved on. That's how it's supposed to be. I don't… I mean, isn't it wrong for me to be here now?"

Celty knew what he meant, and she mostly agreed, but still she felt her emotions getting the better of her as those words echoed painfully about the trio. She also knew exactly what she wanted to say, then, to those words. She wanted to wrap her friend up in a hug and tell him that he was wanted, dammit, that things were better this way and that the loneliness wouldn't last.

Shinra beat her to it, though for once he didn't string so many words together right away. "Why don't you ask them if they think it's wrong?"

"Eh? But, that'd be the same… I can't just barge back into their lives like nothing ever happened!"

Shinra, hands on his hips and mouth turned down at the corners as if he meant to scold his friend, responded more gently to that than Tsugaru had expected. "I can think of at least one person out there who genuinely needs you. You can't honestly be telling me that you aren't grateful for another chance at life, right?"

Tsugaru nodded and smiled hesitantly. "No, I'm glad – it's just that I never had a huge place in this city, anyway. You said it's been a whole year, Shinra. I guess I'm scared of losing what few connections I had back then."

"Heiwajima Shizuo hasn't entirely disappeared yet, you know. Not from the 'net, and not from the minds of the huge number of people who knew you. You had a bigger place here than most people can boast of, Tsugaru-kun. You still have it. So take advantage of this rare chance!"

Tsugaru ducked his head, eyes wide and hand automatically going to the back of his head in an expression of what could only be called shyness. "So cliché," he muttered, but the darkness was gone again, replaced now with a tentative wonder.

"Think I'll head out," he added after a moment of warm silence. "And… is it okay if I come back tonight?"

Celty extended her PDA toward Tsugaru again as he moved toward the door. Try not to be too late for dinner. It was the best she could manage right then, because suddenly the blonde seemed to be in a hurry - to go places, to meet people and to talk to them instead of hiding in the shadows of buildings and fear. To make a real comeback.

He waved, swallowed his apprehension, and stepped past his friends into the bright, chilly morning. He didn't know it, but the sun that struck his eyes in that briefest of instants was, in fact, the same sun that temporarily blinded Orihara Izaya. And he, too, drew a hand up to his forehead to protect his vision from that radiant light.

The day had begun.