You, headless rider of Ikebukuro.

You, strongest man of Ikebukuro.

.. Such fascinating creatures.

I have been the puppetmaster of everyone and everything for as long as I can remember. That teacher did not appear by sheer chance at the Slasher's door, you know. Princesses and skilled murderers don't just pop out of the sewage system by themselves and do what they want to. Gang leaders mysteriously get the newest intelligence on their rivals not by purely coincidental "oh look, it fell from the skies".

I plant them there.

One by one. Like I'm growing a garden. A spoiled, twisted garden that when in full bloom, will unleash a wondrous chaos and rampage against the irony of this world.

But if my garden of brilliance was filled with exotic and rare almost-extinct species, you two would have long been uprooted, cleaned, soaked in chemicals to keep your colours forever and hung in gilded frames on my wall. For you two are that valuable.

When I least expect it, you turn yourselves from the action and stand by the sidelines while I had expected and anticipated you to be the main trailblazer. I can't trust my usual instinct when dealing with you two, because when I want you to march left, you fly upwards like a startled pigeon. When I want you to stay where you are, you burrow underneath my feet, pop out behind me and knock me down flat on the face. It's a simple twist, but you two make my garden of dull grays and greens so much more colourful.

Though to be honest (and I rarely ever am, ha ha), however true and however blatantly you can display your feelings, thoughts or actions to me, you aren't being honest to your inner voices.

They don't call me an information broker for nothing. I personally find it intriguing when both of Ikebukuro's finest legends spend time together gazing peacefully at the darkening skies as though they were young teenagers in a classic novella. You two don't even talk much, but even I can sense there's something in the air. Celty.. how strange of you. Was Shinra not satisfactory enough? Or was it that you felt the desire to be with a partner who understood only too well the restrictions and pains of being a monster. Speaking of which, the only time that the ex-bartender fails to 'smell' me is when he's with the headless rider. Though offended (I bathe regularly, thank you very much), it's only further proof of the budding feelings blooming between my two favorite flowers.

But they can take it easy, really. Until the day of reckoning comes, they can have their so-called peace and eat it.

Until that day..

.. we shall wait and see if they're meant to be each others' Queen and King.

^Izaya Orihara's point-of-view of Shizuo and Celty*

Thanks for reading(: The lovely reviews and the favs mean a lot to me. I was stumbling a little with the previous one, but it should be better now and continue as normal as it can (I fervently hope). Oh and, I hope I more or less captured at least a little bit of his personality in here.

*I'll add this from now on when the story goes a little out-of-point/ by a character.