Kyandi: Hey guys we're back!
Kokoro: And we have the new chapter.
Kyandi: I came up with the best idea but you're all going to have to wait to find out what it is.
Kokoro: Yep. And before we can post another chapter, we'd like to see more reviews.
Kyandi: Right. I feel like no one's reading when I don't get reviews, good or bad.
Kokoro: So review and enjoy!
Kyandi: I do not own Durarara!
Chapter 4 Secrets Don't Make Friends
"Bread, milk, eggs…" Kokoro ran over her mental shopping list, checking that she had gotten everything she had intended to buy. She looked over the prices on loafs of bread before picking up one and putting it in her basket.
She eyed the contents of her basket going over the list once more to see if she had everything. Content that she had, she checked out and happily stepped back outside. It was a nice day, making her happy that today was her day off.
Kokoro looked up at the clear blue sky and sighed. A nice bright day out. It made her feel like packing a picnic and heading out to the park for the afternoon. That would be a great way to spend the afternoon. Out and away from home.
Kokoro giggled to herself as she thought about it. Suddenly a vending machine went flying across the sky in the distance, spilling sodas as it went. Kokoro followed its progress until it vanished from sight. She blinked for a moment.
"Heiwajima-san?" she voiced before turning towards the direction that the vending machine had come from, curious. Of course it was Shizuo. Who else would be throwing vending machines across the city like rag dolls.
She was pretty sure, after having witnessed Simon interfering with one of Shizuo's fights, that Simon could do it too, but she was also pretty sure it wasn't Simon. Simon didn't like fighting as it was so it was safe to say it wasn't him.
She soon found herself in a back alley where Tom was watching Shizuo beat the crap out of a group of men. Tom dragged a hand down his face, a tired look contorting his features. "Morning Tanaka-san." Kokoro greeted as she walked up to the man.
Tom looked down at her in surprise. "Oh, hello Kokoro." He greeted. "Let me guess….he got annoyed?" Kokoro guessed looking at Shizuo. "Yeah." Tom replied with a sigh. Kokoro watched a man go flying across the alley.
"How long will this last?" she asked wincing as another man hit the pavement. "He'll snap out of it in a minute." Tom told her as the two watched a dumpster go rocketing across the alley to slam into a brick wall.
"Mind if I ask who they are?" Kokoro asked. "Some gang members." Tom replied. Both winced as Shizuo ripped up a street sign and throw it at another man, the thing speeding past them. "I see." Kokoro remarked idly.
She watched Shizuo as he fought the men. She couldn't really call it a fight seeing how it was too one sided. A shiver coursed down her spine as she watched Shizuo's display of inhuman strength and her heart beat sped up, now thundering in her chest. The shiver made goosebumps stand up on her skin.
In front of her Shizuo raised a street sign to hit a man. Kokoro's eyes went wide. At that range he could possibly kill the other man. She shoved her bags at Tom and bolted forward, catching hold of Shizuo's arm.
Instead of stopping or even noticing her, he pulled her off her feet with the strength of his arm as he swung the sign back. Kokoro held on tight, another shiver running down her spine when she felt the muscles under her fingers move.
"Heiwajima-san, stop!" she exclaimed reached out to poke his cheek. As if hitting a switch, Shizuo froze, Kokoro still hanging in the air from his arm. Shizuo looked at his arm as if finally realizing she had a hold of him.
He stared at her as the man he was about to hit, scrambled away and took off running. "Kokoro?" Shizuo asked, surprise written on his face as he looked at the teenage girl. "Hi, Heiwajima-san!" she greeted with a big smile.
"What are you doing?" Shizuo asked her still peering under his arm at her. "Uh…just hanging around, I guess." She replied sheepishly with a smile to match. It was clearly meant to be a joke but Shizuo was too intent on staring at her to realize this.
He was trying to figure out where she had come from. He hadn't notice her arrive, nor had he even noticed her grabbing his arm. He had no idea she was there until she poked him in the cheek. And now she was suddenly hanging from his arm, like a monkey.
"Uh…Heiwajima-san." Kokoro's voice snapped Shizuo out of his thoughts. He raised an eyebrow in question. "Could you set me down now?" Kokoro asked wiggling her legs to show he still held her two feet off the ground.
"Oh…right." Shizou said lowering his arm until the girl was back on her feet once more. "Thank you!" she told him, pulling down at the front of her sleeveless turtle neck top to straighten it out as another shiver shook her frame.
Shizuo eyed her. He wanted to ask why she was shivering. There was no fear in her eyes or on her face, so it couldn't be from that. And she had already basically said she wasn't scared of him. And it wasn't cold out.
"Are you sick?" he asked. Kokoro blinked in surprise. "No. Why?" she asked in reply. "You're shivering." He told her. Kokoro's cheeks turned a bright pink. "Oh…that…its nothing really!" she told him with a smile.
Shizuo got the feeling she was hiding something from him. But he didn't really want to press it. "What are you doing here, then?" he asked. He had completely forgotten about the street sign in his hand. "I was out grocery shopping, for my dinner." She replied before remembering that she had shoved her bags at Tom.
"Ah!" Kokoro turned to Tom. "Forget these?" Tom asked holding up the bags. "Thank you Tanaka-san!" she said taking the bags back. Shizuo watched her still trying to figure out why she had stepped in like that, along with many other things.
Finally he decided he was better of just asking her. "Why did you grab my arm?" Shizuo asked. Kokoro looked up at him. Why had she? She really had just acted on impulse. That and she couldn't stand her own reaction to seeing his strength up close like that, but she wasn't going to tell him that.
"I…don't honestly know." She replied with a shrug. "I guess cause I don't like seeing you annoyed." She added. Slowly she watched Shizuo's cheeks dust a light pink. Shizuo cleared his throat and turned his face away from her as she blinked in confusion.
"Did I say something?" Kokoro asked Tom. Tom just shook his head. "Forget about it." Shizuo told her. Kokoro shrugged it off easily, not usually one to pry where people didn't want her to pry. Well…usually she wasn't.
"So you don't have to work today?" Tom asked. "I'm off today. No jobs at all." She replied with a happy grin. Shizuo frowned. How many jobs did this girl work? Tom raised an eyebrow. "You have more then one job?" Tom asked.
"Yep. Two. Thought if I become pressed for money, I'll take on another one. But that's rare. I do good with just the job at Russia Sushi, but it never hurts to have a little extra money in my pockets. Never know when I might need it." She replied with a shrug.
"And school? You're what, sixteen?" Tom asked. Kokoro laughed. "Seventeen and I graduated a year early. No school. I'm taking online college courses for graphic design." Kokoro told them. "An artist?" Tom asked seemingly surprised.
Kokoro rubbed the back of her neck. "Why does everyone seem so surprised?" she asked. Shizuo hadn't taken the girl as the artist type either but that was just because she seemed more like the sports type then someone who sat in front of a canvas all day.
"Anyway I better get going before my frozen items ruin." She added hefting her bags up. Tom nodded stepping aside to let her pass him. "Have a nice day! Try to remain calm, Heiwajima-san." Kokoro called over her shoulder.
Shizuo cleared his throat as his cheeks turned a light pink at the girl's concern and smile. This only made Kokoro hide a small laugh. She gave the two men a wave over her shoulder before she took off once more.
She felt stupid. Really stupid. Shizuo had noticed her embarrassing reaction to his display of strength. It wasn't that she was scared. Heavens no! No that just wasn't the case. It was just…..a complex that she preferred to act like it didn't exist, though sometimes that just wasn't enough. But that was all she could do.
If Shizuo knew why she shivered, why her heart beat quickened, at the sight of that inhuman strength, she was afraid he would look at her in disgust….as everyone did when they found out. "That was too close to blowing cover." She remarked to herself with a sigh.
"Next time I'm back-peddleing as fast as I possibly can. At least until I have a little more control on this whole condition." She remarked to herself with another sigh. She felt like she had sighed a lot in the last five minutes.
She didn't want Shizuo to find out about her…condition. He was so nice and sweet to her that she couldn't take the disgust she was sure to get from him if he found out about it. Everyone gave her looks like that when they found out.
It wasn't like it was her choice to be like this. She had little to no control over it and yet people treated her like it was her choice. It wasn't her lifestyle. It was a condition that she didn't seem able to cure. And she would if she had the chance.
But that left her in a bit of a pinch. People who knew judged her before they ever got to know her. It wasn't why she wasn't quick to judge others. She knew how bad someone's false judgments could hurt a person.
She would keep this condition to herself, never tell another living soul as long as she lived. Not even Shizuo or Tom. Not ever. Then again, as her mother always said when she was little….secrets don't make friends. Kokoro whimpered to herself. "I'm so screwed."
END
Kyandi: Sorry its short!
Kokoro: This is just like a little filler chapter between now and what we have planned.
Kyandi: I'm sure you'll all enjoy the next few chapters.
Kokoro: But remember, we won't update unless we get reviews!
Kyandi: Right! So true. How are we, the writer, suppose to know you like it if you don't tell us?
Kokoro: Sadly we are not mind readers.
Kyandi: Right, so enjoy and review.
Kokoro: And we'll be back soon!
Kyandi: Bye bye!
