Author's Note: This chapter has not been edited for any deleted contented or spelling problems when transferring from document to FF. FF tends to delete some words or sentences off at times which I have to replace- I havent yet checked this one for that lulz Late, I got exams next week, and need sleep =D I'll do it this weekend or something XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara! Or my family name will be Heiwajima.
~Fairyride~
Her bag zipped up with a click, and Kumiko slung it over her shoulders as she turned from the room and closed the door. She had overstayed her time limit.
She wasn't hurt or anything- Shizuo found her before those guys tried anything.
Celty had explained that Shizuo was up on the highway path as well, [Smoking his lungs away again, most likely], she had added. And then he saw her being hounded by those guys and passed out when he went to her; Shinra said it was due to exhaustion.
Hot damn, I'm so out of shape…I wasn't too bad in P.E class though…
Worry and frustration bit at her heart, thinking of the fact that Shizuo helped her again. He must be getting sick of her by now- she had heard of his temper before. And being a damsel in distress for him multiple times is surely something he did not appreciate.
Another sigh. She was becoming such a sigh whore. "I'll have to apologize to him if I see him…"
"Apologize to who?"
"Geh!" Kumiko jumped, heart leaping to her throat as she whirled around. Oh, just Shinra…
The events from last night are probably still haunting her, causing paranoia….though she was already paranoid in the first place.
The doctor noticed the bag across her shoulders and looked up at her. "You're leaving?"
"Y-yea…I already missed school today…I should get back and try to c-catch up on my work…" She noticed she stuttered less, around Shinra and Celty. Despite her initial amazement, shock, surprise, horror, fascination and just being mind-blown, she found that she didn't feel all that nervous or scared around Shinra and Celty. This is an amazing feat, considering Shinra's profession and Celty's…well, Celty is Celty.
The man smiled as he walked her to the door. "Alright then, Kumiko-chan. Don't strain yourself. You might have pulled on your muscles too hard yesterday, so don't overdo it."
Haha…if he knew what sort of worm she was, he would not bother to say that.
The girl bowed deeply to him in thanks. "Thank you for your h-help. And tell Celty-san t-thank you too, for her help and bringing me h-here."
She waved goodbye as the elevator arrived and stepped in. Shinra went back into his apartment whilst adjusting his glasses.
Kumiko trudged through the streets and all the way back to her home glumly. She could not stop thinking about the men chasing her last night to be honest.
It was so…abrupt, awkward and unreasonable. They just appeared out of nowhere! And it made her suspicious; but about what, she did not know exactly.
She just felt that something is weird about it.
Huh, probably cause I have never been in a situation like that before and people deem me worse than a lowly maggot most of the time…so I must have felt it weird I randomly caught the attention of illegal motorcyclists. How ass-licking special.
Sitting down on her bed, she scrolled through the contacts on her phone. They were the bare minimum. Her parents, the freshmen trio and a couple of other students whom she received their numbers from, but never actually called or been called on.
There really isn't anyone she could ask for homework help or notes. No one even knew where she lived. And she wasn't just going to call a classmate whom she's never talked to for the whole of last year and this year, asking for academic help.
It's just…weird, and strange. And she felt nervous as her finger hovered over the call button.
She's so socially awkward, it's not even funny.
'I'm a sad, sad case of a human being…' Kumiko grimaced, rolling over in the bed and sitting up. For one reason or another, her thoughts drifted towards Shizuo, the man in a bartender uniform. Drumming her fingers against the bed, she pondered whether she should go and find Shizuo and thank him…it made her anxious to know that he helped her once again and she did not thank him or anything. It's mainly because of his renowned short fuse that made her feel like this. It did not seem to be a great idea to gain favors from volatile powerful people, and NOT thank them. That's asking for trouble in the future. And it isn't like she has anything to do at the moment.
Changing into a pair of striped green shorts and a red hoodie, she stepped out of room, locking the door behind her as usual. Paranoia and security addiction does this to you.
She resolved herself to find Heiwajima Shizuo, thank him and apologize for all the trouble she put him through. "Yosh!" She patted her heart that was suddenly breaking out in sweat.
I'm going to do this! No backing out, Kumiko! I-It's just a short meet to say thank you and shit…no need to get all worked up…yea.
Finishing her pep talk, she jogged down the steps and out onto the streets of Ikebukuro, searching for the man who is strongest. If her friends from her hometown heard that, they'd laugh their heads off before brushing it off as a joke.
Kumiko and strongest does not go together in any sentence at all.
She was even nicknamed Wimpy-chan.
Looking high and low – mostly high, that man was tall- she searched for that noticeable mop of blonde hair that gleamed golden as the sun.
…Did she just say Shizuo's hair looked like the sun?
She must have been really shaken up.
But fuck, that man is hard to find despite his height, dress code and hair. He can really not be found if he did not want to b-
"Izayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
The recognizable bellow attracted Kumiko's attention to a street up ahead, where people were crowding and some edging away.
She saw Tom amongst the crowd of people, smoking his cig and deadpanning at the scene, whatever it was.
She ran up to him, though made sure to stay on the side where less people were crowded. "T-Tom-san!"
The man looked up, and his dull look sparked a hint of recognition. "Yo, uhhh…Kumiko-chan, was it?"
She nodded. "H-How did you-?" The man replied, knowing her question. Is she like, an elementary school book or something? Everyone seemed to know what she was thinking lately.
Or that was the vibe she got at least.
"Shizuo told me." He said with a shrug and a puff of his cig.
"I s-see." She shifted a bit, avoiding a couple who were beginning to edge away from the crowd where a lot of clamor is originating from.
"W-where is Shizuo-san, b-by any c-chance?" She finally asked, not noticing the man around although she is sure that was his voice previously.
A green trash can went flying up in the air, and Kumiko watched it with wide eyes.
Tom pointed his thumb to the crowd. "In there. Brawling it out with Izaya." He sighed and slapped his forehead. "He always does this." And then he looked back at her. "I thought you got attacked last night? I heard from Shizuo."
The crowd suddenly parted, and the man who had her at knife point busted through the people, smirk on his face though annoyance laced it as well. Both Tom and Kumiko saw him running in their direction.
Kumiko heard Shizuo bellow out from behind him. "IZAYA! GET BACK HERE! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
"As if. Oh, hi, babysitter-chan." Izaya darted past and Kumiko watched him run by in a daze, hand waving absentmindedly.
And then another flash of black and gold went by her, followed by a gust of wind and a bus sign.
"STOP RUNNING! YOU BASTARD!" Shizuo did not even register her presence, unlike Izaya. For some reason, she felt a pinch in her heart though she brushed it off.
"Huh." Tom took his cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it into the cigarette bowl on the trash can nearby. "In any case, if you want to speak with Shizuo, you're going to have to wait. It's really hard to stop him at this point."
He motioned for her to follow him and Kumiko was apprehensive at first but decided to go anyways. Shizuo is a nice person…from what's she's seen so far and not based on rumors. And if he sticks around this Tom person a lot, then he must surely be a good person as well…right?
I need to rack up my logic skills. It's worth dipshit.
Keeping up with the man though staying back a step or two –giving him personal space you know…it isn't because she was scared of him or anything, really- Kumiko timidly asked where they were going.
"Shizuo will probably lose Izaya soon and then he'll come and find me. I usually go get some food at this time and Shizuo knows this. I'm going to get some ramen at a restaurant I frequent, and drop Shizuo a message on his phone. He'll meet me there after he's done with his chase, and you can talk to him then." Tom told her idly.
"O-okay…" Silence reigned in between the two of them for most of the walk, and Kumiko fidgeted nervously- it was discomforting and awkward. Tom does not seem to notice or care though.
"U-ummm…"
"Hm?"
"How are y-you and Shizuo-san r-related?" She has been wondering about that for a bit. She always sees them together often but never knew the reason why. They don't look alike, and Shizuo is brothers with Kasuka so it is unlikely they are family.
Tom looked at her for a moment, seeming to realize something. "I just noticed you call Shizuo by his first name now? That's awfully quick." Red zoomed all the way up her face at that statement and Kumiko was so flustered that her stammering became worst. "I-It's n-not like t-that! S-Shizuo-san s-said to c-call him t-that s-so I-" Tom let out a mellow laugh, and Kumiko ducked her chin in to hide her cherry face.
"It's alright. You don't have to explain. It's just like Shizuo to have you call him by his first name. Not that Heiwajima is a bad family name, but it is so formal. Shizuo is just Shizuo- that's how I see it anyways." He dropped a hand on her head and ruffled it. "Besides, you're only a student- a senior, judging from your uniform last time, right?"
Blinking, the red subsided from her face as Kumiko nodded, oddly…disheartened?
Shaking her head, she tried to rid herself of her wayward emotions as they stepped into the ramen restaurant. Tom got them a table fit for four people, and he sat across from her as he typed up a message telling Shizuo where they were.
Tom ordered a tonkotsu, large sized while Kumiko only got herself a small mango pudding.
"Not hungry? It's on me." Tom said with raised brows as they said their orders to the waiter.
"N-No…it's alright. I-I don't want to i-intrude."
The man shook his head lightly, disagreeing before speaking. "I haven't told you how Shizuo and I are related, have I?"
Shaking her head negative to his rhetorical question, he continued. "I was his senior when we went to school together, although we went to different high schools later on. A lot of things happened, but mainly to him." He placed a hand on the table and leaned on it, palm supporting his chin. "Shizuo's yellow hair? I was the one who suggested it to him to dye it."
Surprise overcame Kumiko. Tom told Shizuo to dye it? She thought that Shizuo did it of his own accord, considering the….image that is projected of him by all the other people of the city.
"Why?" She was actually curious. Shizuo seemed like a man who took no orders from anyone and Tom…Tom, in his suit and all, seemed like a very docile person.
"He got into trouble once. I won't go into details, but I suggested to him to dye his hair to keep unwanted people away." Their conversation paused as the waiter dropped a steaming bowl of tonkotsu in front of Tom.
"I see…"
"Well, as you can see and probably heard, Shizuo has one hell of a temper." He split his chopsticks apart. "So that's a problem when it comes to work, and I saw him again one day and decided to hire him as a bodyguard for me, since I work as a debt collector."
Kumiko paled slightly. "D-debt collector?"
He nodded. "Yea, since we run into some really difficult people in that line of work. With Shizuo with me, I feel and am quite protected; usually we don't have to hurt anyone since Shizuo's reputation does the work for us." He slurped a gulp of his noodles.
Kumiko kept quiet. A debt collector and a bodyguard for a debt collector? There really isn't much good said about debt collectors so she was really starting to feel apprehensive at the revelation.
Tom seemed to notice her silence and anxiety and spoke calmly. "I know there isn't a lot of good stories about debt collectors, but in the end, we're just doing our job, you know?" She kept silent but nodded again.
"I personally don't care what other people say, but I know Shizuo- he doesn't like violence."
Kumiko's face must have been one of amazement and shock because Tom laughed. "Surprised? Yea, most people are when they hear that; if, they even hear that. Most don't listen and that pisses Shizuo off even more." A look of dismay passed over him. "I told Shizuo that he doesn't have to use violence if he doesn't want to when working for me, but most of the guys we encounter leaves us no choice, or they antagonize him. He just can't control himself."
Tom paused in eating his food as he looked at Kumiko. "You're scared of Shizuo, aren't you?"
Slightly taken aback by the sudden question, she slightly nodded her head. "Y-yea…a little. But..." Tom who was about to say something stopped and waited for the girl to continue. "Shizuo-san helped me, quite a few times now. S-so…I feel that he is a g-good person."
Surprised at the answer, Tom smiled. "That's good. I told you all that because I didn't want you, or anymore people for that matter, to misunderstand Shizuo. He might probably beat me up for saying this or say that it is unnecessary, but I want people to know Shizuo." He picked his chopsticks back up again and frowned at the fact it has cooled a bit too much for his liking. "I know he's working for a debt collector like me, technically making him a debt collector as well- and there isn't anything good to be said about us, considering some of the things debt collectors do to people. And I won't blame you if you suddenly do not ever want to come into contact with us again." He clipped some noodles in between his chopsticks.
"But people like you, or rather, perhaps only people like you, are one of the only ones who can connect to Shizuo."
"E-eh?" Her cheeks became red again for the billionth time and she shot him a weird look.
Tom blinked and quickly put out. "Don't look at me like that!" He pushed his glasses up and sighed. "I can't explain it really well, but everyone is afraid of Shizuo, you know?"
Hearing that, Kumiko looked down in shame as well, knowing exactly what he meant. Before meeting him, all the rumors she heard of Shizuo terrified her. A raging beast, a violent thug who will not hesitate to beat you to an inch of your life and the list goes on.
And upon meeting him, and despite him helping her, a part of her is still afraid.
With so many who are fearful of him, Shizuo must be pretty….lonely.
Her heart sank at the thought, guilt and sympathy towards Shizuo tugging at her.
"Don't pity him." Tom said, looking back to his food. It seemed he caught her expression beforehand. "Shizuo hates that."
"S-sorry…"
Taking another bite, he smiled and shook his head. "Don't be. I just wanted you to know a bit more about him."
And Kumiko smiled at his words. He might not say it directly, but Kumiko can tell that he really cares for Shizuo. His conversation with her told her plenty of that, though he made it seem more like a casual convo about Shizuo's likes or dislikes, what he does and such.
And Kumiko thinks….no….feels, that Tom is telling her this one thing:
Don't back out on Shizuo.
Shizuo helped her out so many times and so much already. And Tom probably felt that with the frequency she met up with Shizuo this past couple of days, she might possibly keep this up instead, and not leave like everyone else.
Letting out a long breath, and steeling her mind, Kumiko silently told herself that she won't.
Her life is always normal and boring- because she never does anything to it, always staying in one space, torn between two things and never moving from where she stands.
This time, she decided, she will stick by Shizuo and not give into her fear of him and stay away.
It is the least that she can do for Shizuo- although she had a feeling that it won't be a good idea to tell that to the man. He might take it as pity. She did not know the man well, but she hopes with time, she will come to understand him more and possibly, hopefully, become someone who he can call a friend- someone like what Tom is to Shizuo.
And maybe her fear of him, dulled as they are now, will go away completely.
It will probably be hard, seeing how reserved Shizuo usually is but she will give it a try.
Shizuo-san is probably really misunderstood by people….I think. I mean, even I have been prejudiced and biased against him before meeting him…
And that thought made Kumiko wince, disgusted at her own prejudice. Especially after all that Tom has said.
Having resolved her decision, Kumiko asked Tom the most basic question to aid her in getting to know Shizuo.
"T-Tom-san…" He glanced at her, drinking his cup of tea. "W-what does Shizuo-san l-likes?"
Placing the cup on the table with a thud, Tom's eyes went upwards as he searched his memory. "Hmmm…he doesn't tell me much about himself, but I think he likes sweet food."
"….really?" Kumiko could not believe that.
"I believe so. Why don't you ask him for yourself? Here he is~!" Tom raised his hand as he flagged down Shizuo from the front entrance. Kumiko looked behind and found him instantly. It wasn't hard, considering his height and brilliant hair. "Oi, Shizuo, over here!" Tom called.
Raising a hand in silent greeting, Shizuo made his way over to the table. Before he arrived, Tom quickly leant over and whispered to her. "Oh, and be direct with him as much as possible."
Before she could question him about that, Shizuo reached the table. He regarded Kumiko with a bit of surprise. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he took a seat beside her, causing Kumiko to scoot over nervously to give him space. He needed a lot, considering his size and height. The girl looked over at Tom in slight disdain, for he sat with his arms spread out to either side- reason why Shizuo did not sit on that side.
He only shrugged.
"She's here to see you." Tom answered for her and Kumiko flushed, cursing the man in her head. For all his cool-talk previously, he didn't have to outright tell him that.
"Me? What for?" Shizuo looked over at her. Rummaging her brain for words, she was given a momentary reprieve as her mango pudding arrived. She already forgot about it.
"W-well, I j-just…" She breathed in deep, keeping Tom's words in mind. She might not know what he meant by that, but it probably had something to do with her speech…it is one of her most obvious…problems. "I came here t-to apologize!"
Shizuo frowned, and though she tried her hardest not to, a slight tremble of nervousness crept up her spine. "What for?"
"W-well, y-you helped me so many t-times, and even y-yesterday and I f-felt that I was being a bother to y-you like that so…" she trailed off and poked at her pudding, concentrating on keeping her eyes glued to the yellow jelly.
Unseen by her, Shizuo and Tom shared a glance. Tom smiled and raised his hands in the universal sign of "I Don't Know" while Shizuo snorted and waved a waiter down.
"Don't apologize. There isn't anything wrong with helping someone out. And those guys yesterday pissed me off with all their noise. It's annoying." He said with a grunt.
Kumiko smiled wryly and looked at Tom who gave her a glance that said "I told you, that's Shizuo."
The waiter arrived, and a bead of sweat rolled down his temple when he saw who he was attending to. "W-what can I get for you, sir?"
Shizuo shoved a thumb in the direction of Kumiko's pudding. "One of those."
"Right away, sir!" He scampered off and Kumiko's jaws nearly fell open in disbelief.
Did…did THE Heiwajima Shizuo just order a mango pudding?
"Do you l-like to eat s-sweet stuffs?" She asked, awe evident in her voice.
Shizuo's brows furrowed, and he scratched his cheeks. "Yea." There isn't anything wrong with liking sweet stuffs. He can like what he damned well please.
She blinked a couple of times at his answer before smiling, a light pink tainting her cheeks for reasons unsure to her. Perhaps it is because she found that fact extremely appealing, cute and adorable? Especially for a guy like Shizuo?
Yep.
That thought is locked away for her own pleasure though, as Shizuo will probably ground her head into her pudding if she said it out loud for his ears.
"I see. I love them too." A smile tugged at her lips, and Kumiko did not even notice that she hadn't stuttered. It did not escape Shizuo or Tom's notice though, and the man pointed it out to her.
"Hey, you didn't stutter." Tom said, slightly surprised. Seriously, the few times he met the girl, she never not stuttered. Shizuo felt the same way as Tom, surprise crossing his features as well.
"E-eh? I-I d-didn't?"
"Ah…its back." The debt collector sighed.
Brushing his hair back, only to have them fall back over again, Shizuo took off his shades and tucked them into his vest. "You should speak like that more often. It sounds nicer than with all the stutter." He mentioned bluntly, and Kumiko winced internally.
This time she really felt the heat crossing across her skin. To know her flaw and having others point it out to her occasionally was bad enough, but to have someone indirectly tell you that you sounded retarded stuttering was just….painful and embarrassing.
"I-I'll try…" Kumiko muttered, the bit of vice that welled up within her fading away as she took into account the fact that this is Shizuo she is talking to. The man's blunt nature suited the way he carried himself.
Said man's fingers started drumming on the table, and telltale sign of his raising anger became apparent as his frown deepened, teeth gritting. "Why is the pudding taking so long? This is too slow. Agh, how annoying." He growled and Kumiko gulped, trying not to lean away from the man who is fit to explode anytime soon.
His boss waved a hand in the air lightly. "Just wait for a while more Shizuo. There are a lot of people today."
And the man did calm down, somewhat. His shoulders relaxed, although the frown remained.
With nervous fingers, Kumiko pushed her plate of untouched pudding to Shizuo. "You can have m-mine, Shizuo-san. I haven't e-eaten it yet or anything s-so it's still…clean." She finished lamely, staring at the plate of pudding as her face burned, feeling the eyes of both men on her.
A moment went by before Shizuo huffed, pushed the plate back towards her and leaned back in his seat with arms crossed. "It's fine. I'll wait. You can eat yours first."
Their eyes made contact, and only now did Kumiko notice what a beautiful shade of brown they were. They are always hidden behind his shades and she's never gotten to see them without it until now.
Powerful and magnetic are the two words that she would use to describe them.
If eyes are windows to the soul, then Kumiko understood why his molten brown has such a powerful gaze to them. As to why they are magnetic….
She did not understand, but she felt it- this lure, this pull, as she looked into his eyes directly and properly.
When his brows furrowed again and his voice drifted into her ear, reality smacked Kumiko in the face. "Is there something on my face?"
At any other time, she might have giggled at the fact that Heiwajima Shizuo, the strongest man in Ikebukuro, would ask that question of vanity, as innocent as it meant, coming from him. But at the moment, she could only shake her head fervently as her skin burned with the fire of seven suns, staring with morbid concentration at her pudding plate. She saw Tom shoot her an amused glance out of the corner of her eye.
Her faced heated even more and she stabbed her spoon into the pudding.
Last chapter had a significant decrease in reviews orz I suppose it was a pretty weak chapter haha...aiyah OTL
Please check out the poll on my profile page and vote whether you wish for Shizuo or Izaya to be the lucky/unlucky guy in this story~ By deciding early, I hope not to dig a grave for myself by leaning too far to one side XD But I THINK I may have come up with a plot somewhat for Izaya. There'll probably be breaks in between building Shizuo's relationship and Izaya's relationship with Kumiko; can't do the both of them simultaneously after all- they'll focus on tearing each other apart first =.= You dont have to vote now though- you can wait to make your decision and see who you like more =] the poll will be open for awhile.
And I butchered Tom, I know. But there isn't much on him, and this is my own interpretation of Tom (and also for me to move the plot along lol)- I think Tom really cares for Shizuo, you know, and Shizuo cares for him too ^_^ In a non-yaoi way haha I always felt they have this best buddy/ brotherly type of relationship lol I feel that Tom would be one of those persons who although does not outwardly go all their way to help out Shizuo in such matters, but he will privately, with people whom he feels he can trust, reflect and confide in them about Shizuo. I'm such a cheesy person.And Kumiko "feels" a lot doesn't she? All OC needs some special thing about them, and Kumiko's will probably be her innate ability to understand and quickly connect to what others are feeling- ironic because she can't connect to her own. Lol Contradiction much? Yes, that's what she is =D
I have also created a community called Romance In Ikebukuro for DRRR fics with OC. If you have any or see any not listed there, feel free to tell me or sign up as a staff =] Also, I created a forum of the same name where the basis for brainstorming thing I mentioned can be discussed there. I currently have 2 who have successfully gotten on google talk, and will be brainstorming with them soon enough. Another I will prolly be doing through forum posting or PM as she cant use online chat. If there is anyone else who would like to become brainstorm friends, feel free to contact me/leave a message ^_^ It doesnt have to be abt DRRR always, just that now I am highly interested in DRRR so...yea XD
Psychotic Tendency- well, we want to begin the brainstorming thing with all the people available/that we can gather soon, so it'll be great if you can hop on board asap XD just log into FF and drop me a PM =] And I also hope for Kumiko's character to grow as the story progresses, so hopefully the cowardly her wont last forever- this is abt her character growth as much as her relationship with Shizuo and Izaya =D
Myriad- ooh haha I didntnotice they were for the same chapters; I thought it was for another since there was another anonymous review around the same time of your nameless review haha...I think XD I'm confusing myself lol
ToonyTwilight- thank you~!
NSRForevermore- Hmmm~ perhaps not mentally scar Kumiko directly...lol we'll see how it turns out XD I'm still turning and twisting different scenarios that can play out so it isnt set in stone, but Izaya will...well, lets just see XD Dont wanna talk to much about it haha SPOILERS! lol
Phoenix- haha Izaya's an awesome creeper though XD He's adorable in his own Izaya-way XXD