Shizuo walked over to where Anri, Mikado, Masaomi, Izaya and Shindo were standing. His clenched fists held their position at his sides as he closed the distance between them all. Shizuo stood in front of Shindo, picked her up by the scruff of her cloak and bore his eyes into hers.
"You," He growled. "You're the one who shot me. You tried to kill me!"
Just then Shindo's side started to hurt again. She clenched her teeth and screwed her eyes shut in pain.
"I-Izaya's fault." She managed out. Shizuo's fist slightly unclenched as he looked the teen in the face.
"Wait," He said quietly. He looked over her facial features again. "You look like the kid Celty was chasing a few days ago. Like Shinra."
"Finally making connections huh Shizu-chan?" Izaya asked with a smile.
"Flea!" Shizuo frowned.
"Izaya's gun." Shindo said quietly. Shizuo looked to the girl then back to Izaya. His anger flared and He dropped Shindo to the ground, her body landing in a crumpled up heap. Izaya walked over to her and leaned down, patting her on the head.
"Thank you, Tora. It was nice having someone as stupid as you to do my bidding." Izaya said. He stood and looked to the glowering Shizuo in front of him. "Yes, it's my fault. I placed a hit on you, not that I wouldn't wanna do it myself. The Kyukyoku No Ju. A gun that's said to kill any and everything. Shizu-chan, you must be special."
Shizuo let out a yell of pure anger he bared his teeth and launched towards Izaya. The other male quickly moved out of the way and laughed as he took off down the street, the blonde hot on his heels. Anri, Mikado and Masaomi stared in awe for a moment before Anri remembered Shindo.
"Shindo, Shindo are you okay?" Anri asked as she lightly shook the other.
"I think he passed out." Mikado frowned.
"We have to take him to the hospital." Masaomi said, reaching down to grab one of Shindo's arms.
Masaomi and Mikado carried Shindo to the nearest hospital. Anri followed behind. She was going through Shindo's phone, looking to see if there were any contacts that had ICE next to them. She found one. Shinra Kishitani.
~X~
Shinra had been pacing around his living room. Shindo hadn't called, text or even given any hint as to where she might have been at all. It was late and it had been hours since the sun had set. Shinra had thought about calling her but worried that doing so might cause trouble for her.
"Oh, Celty! What if he's being kidnapped by a gang! I have to call him!" He went to dial her number on his cell phone but stopped. "But what if he is? Then I'll call him and they'll get mad and he'll have to deal with their anger and wrath!"
"Shinra I'm sure it's fine. She's probably just with her friends." Celty typed out on her phone.
"Right, right! Friends! Everything is okay right? So then I can call him!" Just as Shinra was about to hit the dial button to call Shindo's phone, his ringer went off. He jumped slightly and noticed that Shindo's name was on the incoming call screen. He smiled and hit the answer button.
"Oh Shindo! I'm so glad you called! I've been worried sick! Where are you, are you okay?" Shinra quickly asked.
"I'm sorry, this is Anri, I'm a friend of Shindo's." Said a girl on the other end of the line.
"Anri? I-is Shindo okay?" Shinra asked worriedly.
"Well, Shindo is in the hospital."
~X~
"What do you think Izaya meant by Shindo not being Shindo?" Masaomi asked his friends.
"He said Shindo's real name was Tora, right?" Mikado checked.
"Yeah," Masaomi answered. "And that he's really a girl."
"Then what about the uniform? She was wearing a guys uniform the whole time." Mikado through in.
"Who knows," Masaomi sighed. "We have to ask him, I mean, her, when she wakes up."
The waiting room doors burst open and in ran a man in a white medical coat and glasses. Behind him followed the headless rider.
"I'm looking for a Shindo Kishitani!" He yelled at the receptionist.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down." The woman said quietly.
"I'm sorry, just please tell me her room!" He said in a slightly lower voice.
Anri jumped up from her seat and ran over to him.
"Shinra?" She asked.
"Yes?" He said, worry dripping form his voice.
"I'm Anri, I called you from Shindo's phone." She held out the other teens phone and Shinra took it.
"Oh thank you so much! What happened?"
"I'm not sure, Shindo is being taken care of though. They took her to get a scan and that's all we know."
"I see, so you guys haven't seen her since then?"
"No,"
"Alright,"
"Do you need anything else?" The receptionist asked, slightly annoyed.
"No, thank you."
Shinra and Celty followed Anri over to her friends where they all took a seat. Masaomi leaned over Mikado so he could talk to both his friends.
"Should we tell them about Izaya and Shizuo?" He whispered.
"Shindo should tell them." Anri whispered back.
"What if she doesn't remember?" Mikado asked. Masaomi looked up at him from where he had been leaning down.
"Then we'll tell them what we know. But we have to let Shindo go first." Masaomi said. Anri and Mikado nodded in agreement. Masaomi sat up and leaned his head back.
"I'm sorry, Mikado." He said suddenly.
"About what?" Mikado asked.
"About all this. It's nothing but trouble."
"Masaomi, it's alright. I wanted a change of pace remember?" Mikado smiled. "This is very different from the life I was living."
Masaomi smiled and leaned his head on his friends shoulder, closing his eyes.
"I'm so tired." He mumbled out. Mikado gave him a sad smile and nodded. He understood. He didn't need physical rest. He needed mental rest. The life they were living was difficult and one that a teenager shouldn't have to deal with. The fact that he and his friend still had a lot of work to do after all of this would be said and done with was tiring on it's own. All the gangs would be worked up and try to attack the rest of the Black Shadows.
Anri looked over and gave Mikado a reassuring smile. She placed her head on the teens other shoulder and held his hand. There was no time to be awkward. Not now. It wasn't because there was no time. It was because the time was serious. These weren't signs of love but signs of seeking comfort.
Masaomi was internally beating himself up. He was suppose to be the strong one. The one Mikado would lean his head on and ask for a break but no, it was the other way around.
Shinra was sitting across from them, his head hanging low with his shoulders resting on his legs. Celty placed a hand on his back and rubbed small circles.
An hour had passed before someone finally came out and said they could go into Shindo's room. Shinra and Celty went first and Mikado, Masaomi and Anri followed behind. When they entered the room, Shindo was staring at the ceiling. The beeping monitors filled the room with noise as everyone stood in different spots of the room. Celty and Shinra stood at the sides of the bed.
"Shindo, what happened?" Shinra asked her.
"I'm not Shindo." She stated.
"What?" Shindo asked dumbly.
"My name isn't Shindo. It's Tora."
"What do you mean? What're you talking about?"
"There's something I have to tell you. All of you." Shindo frowned. The room grew tense and the only noises to be heard were the beeps of monitors.
"My name is Tora Matsuda. I ran away from home when I was younger and ended up meeting a man named Shingen Kishitani. He took me in and changed my name to Shindo Kishitani. The only reason he took me in was because I told him my story. But I was never one to stay. I ran away again but every time I tried to steal I got caught, like something was holding me back from doing my best. Shingen was always there to bail me out. But it was always like that. People were getting tired of me. Shingen was tired of me. He couldn't stand to lose me though. I helped him with his expeirements and research. I was just an asset. He didn't wanna deal with me anymore so he put me on a plane to Ikebukuro and told me to stay with Shinra. As long as he knew I was around I guys it was okay."
"What's you story?" Shinra asked her.
"I ran away."
"That's it?"
"Basically, I said my parents were fighting and I couldn't stay at home anymore. I couldn't stand that noise. All the yelling."
"You ran away, and made it Japan." Masaomi suddenly said.
"Yeah, I've made it pretty far." Shindo sighed.
"What about your family?" Mikado asked.
"I don't care."
"But they must be worried." Anri said. "Don't you wanna go back?"
"I do, more than anything. But knowing that they'd be mad or something just, annoys me. I don't wanna have to listen to them. Besides, I know it'll only end in them arguing again."
"But since you left, maybe it's stopped." Shinra suggested.
"Maybe they got a divorce already. I'm sure their arguing got worse after I left. They started blaming themselves and eventually it fell apart all together." Shindo frowned.
"Do you think it'd be better to go home now?" Mikaod asked.
"No," Shindo said, shaking her head. "Then I'd have to deal with being with one parent, then traded away to the other. I'm not an object and I wont be treated like one. Besides, since I'm missing it'd just be a pain to deal with. It'd be another trip to court."
"I can't believe it." Shinra said in disbelief. "It was all just a lie.""I'm sorry." Shindo sighed.
"No, it's not your fault. Shingen. He sent you here and made you live a life that wasn't yours." Shinra frowned.
"There's something else," Shindo started. "I'm the leader of the Black shadows. Well, was."
"Was?" Shinra asked.
"They over through me. Right now they're probably planning destruction on the town. I've created monsters." Shindo visibly cringed at the word monsters.
"Or not," Izaya smiled as he entered the room.
"Izaya!" Shindo exclaimed.
"Get out of here!" Masaomi lowly.
"The Black Shadows are disbanding." Izaya informed.
"What do you mean?" Shindo asked.
"When they over through you they planned on killing you and ending the gang right then and there. A lot of the members didn't like being in the gang. They didn't like the violence."
"But, they were the ones causing it. It didn't start out this way."
"Oh and the Slasher." Izaya said as he turned to leave. "It's gone. Wont be back for a while I can assure you." He smiled and looked at Anri who looked to the floor.
"Oh, and Shizu-chan is perfectly fine. Right Shinra?" Izaya asked. He waited for the others nod of agreement then left. Masaomi then leaned over to Anri.
"Why did you send out the slasher anyways?" he asked her.
"I was trying to see if anyone knew who the Black Shadow leader was but it was harder than I thought. I couldn't just openly ask people. Then some of them went and attacked people that they knew were members. I stopped it though before it could get any worse." Anri explained.
"I'm sorry." Shindo mumbled. "I'm sorry I caused all of this to happen."
"Shindo, uh Tora, It's alright." Shinra comforted.
"Yeah, everything is okay." Celty typed out.
"I'm going home." Shindo then said. "Back to the United States."
"Are you gonna go back to your family?" Masaomi asked.
"I don't know. But it's best I leave here." She said.
"I'll get you a plane ticket for a couple days from now." Shinra informed.
"Thanks."
~X~
Shindo, who was now going by Tora again, only had to stay in the hospital for half a day. She was able to leave the morning following her check in in to the hospital.
Shinra had called his father and gotten him to tell the truth, which didn't differ much from the story Tora had told him.
Everyone was now at the airport, seeing Tora off. She was leaving Ikebukuro and trading it for Independence, Missouri. She claimed she wanted to see how her parents were doing and that the city life was something she wasn't use to. She rather be somewhere she was familiar with, somewhere she grew up.
Anri, Mikado, Masaomi, Shinra and Celty all stood by in the waiting area and watched as Tora entered the boarding lane and got onto the airplane. They had said their goodbyes and even shed a few tears but Tora made a promise that she would never forget them and that she'd keep in touch.
Tora took her seat on the plane and looked out her window to see the airport. She gave a small smile and pulled out her phone to turn it off. She noticed the screen was lit up and it said she had a new message she realized she must not have noticed when the phone went off and went ahead and read the text.
It was fun following you around, puppet. See you soon. -Izaya.
Author's notes: Oh, what a lovely ending! All's well that ends well. So, that's that and I thank everyone who stuck around from the very beginning! I once again apologize for forgetting I had even started this fic but I hope everyone enjoyed it!
I also apologize for updating this last chapter about two or three weeks over due! Heh heh ^^'
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please review, comment, follow, stalk or do whatever it is you do!
Super thanks to those who read, review, follow, favorite and do all that awesome stuff!
