Sometimes it was nice to just have a lazy day off; Celty wished everyday could be this peaceful. Today she (attempted) made Shinra breakfast, watched some of her favorite TV shows, and was currently taking a ride through Ikebukuro. She had been thinking too much about stressful things (her missing head, memories, and the possibility aliens were real...). Today she just needed a break and some time to relax.
As she sped down the street on her motorcycle, Celty caught sight of Shizuo strolling along the sidewalk.
"I should stop and say hello. He seems in a good mood today too." Celty thought. As she drove back and came to a coast beside where Shizuo was, she suddenly noticed he was walking with a young woman beside him.
"Yo, Celty!" Shizuo called out to her; the girl beside him looked at Celty in mild surprise.
"Hey there, do you have the day off too?" Celty typed out a response. Shizuo nodded and put a hand lightly on the girl's shoulder.
"This is the girl Izaya's stalking; I told you about her right?" he asked casually. Chihiro lightly glared sideways at him, a bit offended at his careless tone.
Celty fingers began typing once more. "Oh yeah. How are you doing?" she turned the PDA in Chihiro's direction.
She smiled slightly. "Okay, I guess. He's stopped hiring people to fake kidnap me." she offered awkwardly. Celty nodded sympathetically and typed out another message.
"I hope I'm not interrupting your date." she replied. Chihiro shook her head quickly and blushed feeling kind of embarrassed. "Do we really look like a couple?" she wondered.
"It's not like that at all. We're just going to hang out at that café over there." Shizuo explained nonchalantly; still, Celty couldn't help notice how his ears turned pink at the tips.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't tease you like that." she typed out. "You guys are quite cute together though. " Celty finished; her shoulders shook slightly from silent laughter.
Shizuo frowned feeling a bit awkward; Chihiro giggled at his embarrassed expression. She forgot how cute he could be when he wasn't in a fit of rage.
"By the way, I love your helmet. It's so cute!" she commented.
"Thank you, a good friend gave it to me." she explained; Celty remembered how Shinra had presented the helmet to her excitedly and how he had sulked for days before she gave in and put it on. It grew on her.
"Shizuo has told me a lot about you; is it true you can make homemade ice cream?" Celty typed.
"I don't talk about her that much." Shizuo grumbled.
Chihiro laughed loudly. "Yeah, I can actually. It's not very hard, it just takes some time to get the right texture. Shizuo, don't be embarrassed. I'm glad you consider me a friend. I've told my friends all about you too." she smiled trying to assure and calm him down.
"Yeah, yeah." Shizuo mumbled; he looked pleased.
"Shizuo told me about you too Celty-san, not to mention what I've heard from the rumors that float around." Chihiro mentioned. "Is your bike really actually a horse?"
Celty nodded and was about to type another message before a small object came whizzing by and pierced Shizuo's shoulder.
"Huh?" Shizuo looked blankly at the bleeding wound; the blood began to stain his shirt. A knife blade was stabbed into his flesh. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Kasuka got me this shirt…" he growled lowly; his whole body shook in barely suppressed rage.
Chihiro and Celty looked all around trying to find the source of the attack. Suddenly, Chihiro felt herself being pulled back against someone; they had their arms wrapped around her waist tightly.
She sighed. "You just had to ruin his suit Izaya."
"Well, who goes around dressed in a bartender suit when they aren't actually a bartender?" he defended.
"Let her go." Shizuo ordered. "I don't want to kill her by mistake."
"Ooooh, scary death threats. Never heard those." Izaya said mockingly.
Shizuo grabbed at his collar, but Izaya dodged him with ease and leaped onto to a nearby building; he stuck out his tongue at Shizuo.
"He's worse than a child." Celty mused. "So much for that peaceful day."
Shizuo charged after Izaya. "Sorry!" he called to Chihiro and Celty over his shoulder, before turning to face Chihro seriously. "I'll meet you back here. I gotta take care of this bastard first!" he roared.
Izaya fluttered his fingers at her. "See you tonight! Pick up fatty tuna and some rolls on your way home!" he called over his shoulder before jumping to another building; Shizuo was right behind him with a yield sign.
Celty turned to Chihiro typing on her PDA. "I have to ask, why do you put up with Izaya?'" she couldn't understand what was going on between those two. Chihiro didn't even seem particularly disturbed by the situation; she seemed resigned, but she also didn't seem to be pushing Izaya away or doing much to get away from him, from what Shizuo had told her.
"Well, I can't really get rid of him in the first place." Chihiro confessed. "Also…" she tried to find the right words. "He's annoying, but it's not so bad having him around I guess." she conceded.
"Truthfully, I feel kind of bad for him."
Celty tilted her head confused. Personally, she found it Izaya's perpetual friendless state pitiful to an extent, but she could hardly say she felt bad that for the him; if anything she could only feel that perhaps it served him right.
"What I mean is," Chihiro continued. "I wouldn't have believed it myself, but I think deep down he's a bit lonely; he seems to hate Shizuo because he has friends and he doesn't. He envies Shizuo and I guess that why he doesn't like us hanging out." she frowned. "I'll never really understand it; he goes on and on about humanity and how much he loves it, but he has no friends, no people who can truly say they like him or care. I don't see how that couldn't make someone lonely, but I could be wrong I guess.
Celty began to type hesitantly. "I'm not sure if that's the only reason, at least from what I've heard."
Chihiro's eyebrows were raised in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.
Celty shook her head and waved off her inquiry. "It's nothing, really. I better be off, it was nice meeting you." Chihro was curious, but decided to just let the matter drop. She bowed politely and Celty rode off leaving her to continue her walk alone.
"I guess I'll meet up with Shizuo later on." Chihiro sighed and spotted a grocery store across the street. "I might as well just get the food now. Geez, who the hell does he think he is ordering me around like I'm his personal chef. He better pay me back this time..." she grumbled.
Celty rode past Shizuo and Izaya still in the middle of their dispute; she shook her head wearily. Some things never did change, but...some things did.
She didn't really see it at first but they weren't fighting the same way as they usually did.
"Huh. What is it about them today? Something seems off ..." Then it suddenly struck her. Celty was a bit taken aback at how Izaya was attacking just as much as he was dodging; he seemed to take every opportunity to try and stab or cut Shizuo anywhere he could.
Celty watched at a safe distance for some time, some what mesmerized. As impossible as it might seem, they were even more charged with hostility than usual. Shizuo was destroying nearly everything in sight with no thought of self control, Izaya was taking every small chance to draw blood. Celty couldn't help it as the image of two male deer fighting over a doe popped into her head.
She didn't want to tell Chihiro exactly what Shizuo had revealed about her situation; he had went into surprising detail about how for over a year her life had been invaded by Izaya. The constant contacting, the frequent drop ins (his primary work was in Shinjuku, so how did he manage to fine time to visit?), the dinners, the attention, as if he was...
"Oh dear God." Celty thought; a feeling of slight shock and dread filled her. She supposed it happens to everyone, at least once, but this was surreal,if she was right in her assumption. "I wonder why her of all people? I hope she'll be okay. I'll root for you Shizuo."
She sped away, for once grateful for having Shinra; at least compared to all the other men in this city, he was a bit more sane...
