Warning: Swearing

Hey, have you been pranked before?

Like, any type of prank. It could be anything, from a harmless whoopee cushion or an elaborate scheme set up by all your friends just to scare the living daylights out of you.

Yes? No?

Mostly likely right? Either way, pranks are all in good fun aren't they? One way or another, someone always gets a laugh out of it. Even if it is at someone else's expense.

Foiling another person's prank is also very fun too, you know. All that hard work and meticulous planning goes up in smoke. It's like pranking the prankster…with the failure of his own prank. Ah, the look of disappointment and annoyance on their face is just rich.

And it looks like I'm in luck! Because I might be in the position to pull that very feat. Wanna hear about it?

Today, a message on Dollars was sent out about the Awakusu-kai searching for Orihara Izaya for a sweet price.

The only weird part is the message was sent by one of Orihara Izaya's online handle. Isn't that weird?

So I paid close attention to the events that unfolded following that message.

Orihara Izaya was found shortly after, immediately chased and pursued by a bunch of gangs from Dollars. He managed to fight a group of twenty in a brawl, and showed a shocking amount of physical power too.

Huh? Wait…did that sound off to you too? It does, doesn't it? I agree. Since when has that guy had the balls to fight twenty thugs head on?

Just kidding! But seriously, it's not like Izaya to bring himself down to the levels of others and engage in a battle of fists don't you think? It's an unsightly display of brutish human emotion in physical brawls, according to him. It's also too similar to the way Heiwajima Shizuo fights, and everyone knows how he feels about him.

Ah, and that's the most curious thing. Heiwajima Shizuo is currently helping him. I know right? WHAT A TWIST! He's even taking him to get him patched up!

This is just so strange. It's as if Orihara Izaya has been replaced by a completely different person!

Huh? That would make sense… But that couldn't be possible could it? Well…actually it is possible, now that I think about it.

Like if you paid some guy to dress up like you and run around Ikebukuro. Masks, plastic surgery, anything is possible in this day and age. How much do you got to pay a guy to cut up his face and wear your own? Well there was that one girl, Harima Mika I believe, she did it for free, all for the sake of her love. Woah, I hope that's not the case here! That'd be gross.

Or perhaps this guy has been impersonating you without permission, and this whole this is a front to smoke him out without getting your own hands dirty. Also very possible, in my opinion.

I'm just spewing ideas here. Well? Am I close to figure out your prank…

Izaya?

Hey, you'll tell me right? Aren't we buds? I really want to know! Come on, I'll give you 300 yen!

Haha, whether you tell me or not is fine too, I'm just happy for the free entertainment!

Your good buddy,

Tsukumoya Shinichi

Izaya scowled at the email. Usually Tsukumoya lurked in his personal chatroom, he rarely made contact with him outside of that. But he sent him an email to get a hold of him directly. It was annoying, because Izaya was specifically avoiding him for the duration of this little affair. He enjoyed keeping that "all-knowing-omnipotent" bastard out of the loop from time to time. He was pretty close to figuring out what was going on, but also he was way off. And Izaya was pleased with that fact.

Yet, here was an email from him practically saying "Hey there! I don't buy it. I'm on to you~" that managed to spoil his mood anyway.

That annoying asshole. Izaya completely forgot that he knew his 'Nakura' online handle.

He was almost as annoying as that bigheaded brute.

Izaya bit down on his thumb hard at the thought of that other bastard who was also pissing him of at the moment.

Earlier, he received a message for Kida earlier stating that Shizuo 'saved him' from a large gang of thugs. And now Shizuo, Celty and his clone were moving together. At first Izaya was taken aback at this unexpected twist. Then another emotion, not too far from anger started bubbling up within him.

'Shizu-chan had one job. And of course he somehow found a way to mess that up too'

Shizuo never did what Izaya wanted him to do. Izaya expected that if Shizuo caught wind of his presence in Ikebukuro, he would hunt him down and kill him (or at least gravely injure him). Honestly, he couldn't care less if Shizuo was involved or not with this whole ordeal. As long as he didn't get in the way of his fun smoking out Shingen's pet project, and maybe getting him roughed around a bit before capturing him. Serves the doctor right for cloning him without permission.

But, for some inexplicable reason, that idiot decided to help the clone instead of kill it like he's been attempting to do to him for the past 9 years. They've been at each other's throats since day one, and now of all times, he chooses to set his animosity aside.

It didn't make any sense. His double somehow managed to tame the beast, a feat that Izaya tried and failed at countless times in the past.

'It's as if Orihara Izaya has been replaced…'

He felt a morsel of burning anger coil up in the pit of his stomach again as Tsukumoya's words echoed in the back of his mind. He was really starting to dislike this double of his. Just the thought of an imposter, taking his place, speaking to people in his behalf, living in his shoes without his permission, it unsettled him.

Because who would know? Who could tell the difference?

That was it, no one would. He kept his humans at arm's length, he always wore masks, and he spoke in different voices. No one had truly known Izaya. It was his ultimate weapon, and his perfect defence.

And now, it was his greatest weakness that will potentially lead to his downfall.

For all anyone knew, this clone was another one of his 'faces'.

On the Dollar's forum, not a single question was raised if the man who was being chased was really Orihara Izaya. He had them all fooled. And worse, he managed to be as unpredictable as Shizuo. If those two end up working together...what would happen to him then?

He'd most likely be hunted down by the two of them (especially after all the grief he put them through).

Izaya scoffed. "Well then, just try it you brutes. I'll just have to cut the two of you down first."

"Is that your final decision Shiki?" A red haired man in a black suit and coloured shades spoke into his cellphone, leaning against a wall in an empty hallway. He balanced the handle of his cane on his finger and lightly swung it in front of him.

"Yes, stop searching for Orihara. It's getting too much attention from the other factions" Shiki answered.

"Are you sure? How do we know if that informant kid took something or not?"

"I have it on good authority that he did not. But I will speak with him as soon as I get a hold of him, but right now, we are making too much noise. The last thing we need is another group hearing about that thing. I've already talked to the boss about it. He agrees"

"Alright, if that's the final decision then I ain't got a problem with it." Akabayashi replied, "I'll tell the rest of the guys."

"Please do." He ended the call with a click.

Akabayashi expertly swung his cane around in a full circle before gripping it and pushing himself off the wall. He relayed the information to the rest of the Awakusu-kai members via text before sending a word out to his own subordinates to stop looking for the informant kid and return to headquarters. He pocketed his cellphone and whistled as he walked down the rest of the hallway.

He entered the common room to see Aozaki lazing on the couch. He walked over as quietly as possible. He nonchalantly kicked the sleeping man's feet making one of them to fall from its perch on the armrest. Aozaki snapped up from his sleeping position and looked around wildly in alarm. His eyes landed on Akabayshi and he snarled.

"The fuck man?"

"Did you get my text?"

Aozaki glared. He swung his other leg down moodily and straightened up in his seat.

"No, I didn't fucking get your text! I was sleeping moron!" He combed his fingers through his hair, messy from his nap. He was always a bit of a grouch when he woke up. Dealing with Akabayashi only soured his mood further.

"Well, now that you're awake, I'll just tell you directly. The search for Izaya was called off."

That got his attention. "What? Why? Did we find him?"

Akabayashi shook his head "We're letting him off the hook for now"

"What?! Why the hell are we letting that backstabbing rat go?"

"Boss's decision" he replied flatly.

Aozaki clenched his jaw then nodded. "…Alright then"

The 'Blue Demon' was one hundred percent loyal and had the upmost respect for their boss. His word was law to Aozaki, no ifs, ands or buts. He wouldn't even think twice about Orihara Izaya's situation afterwards unless the boss tells him to.

"Shouldn't you call back the men you sent out to go look for the informant kid?" Akabayashi inquired. "They'll be wasting their time out there."

"Lost my phone" he said simply, like it didn't even matter. And it really didn't to him, he was an old school kind of guy, he didn't find value in technology at all. "I lost it a while ago. It's got to be here somewhere."

Akabayashi was the polar opposite from him, he treated his phone like it was his child. The thought of anyone neglecting their cellphone like that was downright offensive. "You oughta take care of your cell, it's important you know."

"Ah shaddup, I don't need that piece of crappy plastic anyway, I'll just get another one if I need it" he growled, getting visibly irritated from talking to him for an extended period of time.

Akabayashi sighed. "How are you going to contact your men then?"

"Huh? Y'say something ya bastard?!"

"Nah, nothing. Forget it."

"I got a text from Aozaki-dono, he says there are new orders to get rid of Orihara Izaya."

He got funny looks from the rest of the group. "He texted you, Captain? Aozaki-dono did?"

The first man, Yoshiro Ken shrugged "Maybe Akabayashi-dono sent it for him, but this is definitely his number"

Another man nodded "Alright then, I guess… it's kill on sight now."

The men looked at each other uneasily, their particular faction tended to avoid excessive violence when dealing with civilians. Whatever secret Orihara stole, the higher-ups weren't too happy about it, if they were willing to break that rule. Izaya got away with a lot of things with their group in the past. It was common knowledge amongst the members that the superiors favoured him. He was a very useful guy, with even more useful information, whatever he did was overlooked, because he was more valuable than his actions was a threat. But this time, he must've crossed the line.

Ken clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, "Alright, alright. We do this discretely, you hear? Not in public, and we don't involve bystanders. Best case scenario, we manage to take him back to the HQ and the boss can off him there, but if we're left with no other choice, we will end him on the spot. Got it? Good. Let's move out."

They set off to carry out their new orders. One man jogged up to rejoin the group of men from a quick smoke break.

"Hey, Newbie! Hurry up, we're going!" one of them called out.

"Right, coming!" said the man as he picked up his pace, quickly concealing a cellphone into his pocket before any of the other men saw or recognized it.

When you think of the events that happen within a day, do you wonder how much is fate? How much is planned?

I can't help but to think this when so many little coincidences line up so perfectly and make one huge incident.

Well that's life isn't it?

Everyone has a role in this world. No matter how small or insignificant it may be.

Maybe I should put it into perspective for you. Imagine how today's events would have been if certain things happened differently.

If Ryuugamine Mikaido decided to hang out with his well-endowed female friend today.

If Saburo Togusa didn't fill his van with a full tank this morning.

If Heiwajima Shizuo forgot to charge his phone, or left it on silent for the afternoon.

If Aozaki was more careful about where he left his phone.

If Kishitani Shinra had been writing in his journal like he usually does, instead of letting his thoughts wander and getting no work done.

If chat handle "Rabisan" didn't disclose a certain black-haired man's location during the initial announcement of Orihara Izaya's bounty.

What would have happened do you think?

I'd imagine that if his location wasn't posted immediately, that certain black-haired man would've gone off to look for a place to eat, perhaps a small cheap sushi restaurant with an overly welcoming Russian chef. Maybe he might have managed to put all the expenses on "his tab", seeing that he didn't have any money on himself. And then, maybe since he was out of sight and wasn't discovered right away, there wouldn't have been quite as much of an uproar. That Russian chef may have even offered him shelter after receiving the notification from Dollars, until the commotion died down.

But that didn't happen. He was spotted, and chased. And probably weak from not eating all day.

If Kishitani Shinra had been writing instead of worrying about his father's strange behaviour, by the time Shiki arrived for information, he wouldn't have made the connection between his father's anxiousness, Nebula's truck and Izaya. Maybe if that connection wasn't made, Shiki would have left without running into Shingen himself. And he would still be looking for Izaya, maybe even begin to distrust him a little.

But that didn't happen. Shinra had been thinking about his father before Shiki arrived, which allowed him to conveniently piece together the situation. As a result, Shiki stayed to hear Shingen's side of the story, and was somewhat relieved of the little doubt that was beginning to build up in the back of his mind regarding Izaya's trustworthiness.

If Shizuo's phone was off, he wouldn't have received the messages that described where Izaya was. He would have spent the rest of his day off with his friend the Black Rider. And elsewhere, that man would have been chased and eventually caught.

But that didn't happen. Shizuo received the message, and immediately set out to search for Izaya. He found him, and for some reason, he decided to help him along with the Black Rider.

If Aozaki had been diligent about where he kept his phone, it wouldn't have been stolen by that new recruit, who seems to have an agenda of his own.

But that didn't happen. His phone was stolen, and used to trick his subordinates with a fake order. And they were heading to Izaya's location at this moment with the intent to kill.

If Kadota's group had to stop and fill gas, they would be a little too late to the upcoming 'festivities'. Izaya's group might have already encountered the yakuza group. Whether they fought or fled, it wouldn't matter to Kadota's group, they'd be too late to do anything about it anyway.

But that didn't happen. They're van is headed to Izaya's location, maybe too late to the fight, but definitely on time to lend a hand.

And the same for Ryuugamine Mikaido, if he was with a friend, he may have decided to monitor the situation through his phone.

But that didn't happen, instead, he is heading there himself. Heading to where the Black Rider, Orihara Izaya, Heiwajima Shizuo, and (secretly tailing the group) Masomi Kida were.

To think, if any of these things were altered, this story would have taken a completely different route, you see. But as it is now, everything has happened the way it happened.

The set is ready, the actors are in place, and the camera is rolling.

I'm excited for how this story unfolds from here, and I hope the climactic battle does nothing but satisfy.

And one thing is for sure, there will be blood.

I've got my popcorn all nice and heated.

Lights, camera, ACTION!

-Excerpt from Tsukumoya Shinichi's Unpublished Observational Journal

For the most part of the walk, the trio was silent. Roppi would steal glances at the other two, but mostly kept to himself. Celty walked her motorbike while checking and posting on the Dollar website with one hand.

It seems that after hearing about how 'Izaya' defeated a gang of eleven guys single-handedly, several others were dissuaded from chasing him. After discovering Heiwajima Shizuo had teamed up with him as well, the majority of the people gave up altogether. But the idea that Shizuo was helping Izaya caused another online uproar (one that wouldn't cause as much problems as the first). This one consisted of one of skepticism, disbelief, fear for the fate of the city, and a few choruses of "YES! FINALLY!"

All in all, the likelihood of any other groups engaging with them at this point was slim.

As for Shizuo, he was frowning the whole time. He was deep in thought, or maybe he was shutting himself inside his head so he could mentally distance himself from the fact that he was walking next to his sworn enemy.

"Why'd you decide to help me?"

The whole group, even the speaker himself, flinched at the sudden verbal query. Roppi snapped his mouth closed. He didn't intend to voice his question out loud. He was just asking for trouble now.

"What? You got a problem?" Shizuo growled.

"Er..no, I mean, I don't you hate- well, me?" he asked "I just don't understand why you would you go through all this trouble to help me"

"I thought I told you not to get the wrong idea" Shizuo snapped "Clean out your ears and listen carefully flea. This is a favour. After Shinra fixes you up, I fully expect you to get your scrawny ass out of Ikebukuro in return, got it? I'll take that payback by force if I have to."

Roppi still looked confused "That doesn't answer my question...why would you go through all that trouble when you could just beat me up?"

Shizuo stopped walking and pinned a hard glare at the shorter boy. The boy in question shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, but stood his ground.

Celty sighed. This would not end well. She readied herself to jump in to stop the inevitable fight at any time.

"You're freakin' annoying when you talk, did I ever mention that?" said the ever irritated debt collector.

Roppi tugged his jacket closer to himself, "I'm just trying to make sense of all of this" he muttered.

Shizuo's eyes flickered to a bruise on his cheek. "I don't beat on injured people"

"…Some people think it's smarter to kick their opponents why they are down."

"I'm not like that" he said sternly, "I keep telling you, I hate violence. If guys like you didn't piss me off all the time…" he trailed off as he continued walking.

Roppi lips quirked in amusement. It was funny to hear that the man who rips fences from the ground and uses it to bowl over thugs, would hate violence.

People were strange, they're logic was hard to follow, and very random at times. His human psychology textbook didn't do the human mind justice.

"Either way, thank you for the help. I'd imagine it's not easy to help out a guy who pisses you off."

Shizuo glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and shrugged, "It's what a decent human would do."

"A decent human?" Roppi questioned disbelievingly. He sincerely doubted that such thing existed.

Shizuo interpreted his sarcasm a different way. "What? You think a monster like me couldn't do something like that?"

"A monster like you..." Roppi chuckled, to which Shizuo bristled angrily, "No, monster or not…I think you are probably the only decent person I've met today. And you too." Roppi called out over his shoulder, addressing Celty. Who jerked in surprise and nodded sheepishly for getting caught eavesdropping.

Shizuo's anger melted away and he was left with confusion again. It was hard to keep up with this unexpectedly polite version of the flea. He was too use to the insults the taunts and the overall annoyance that Izaya always had going on. This friendliness was an act. It must be. He would have called him out on his bullshit, but he couldn't detect anything other than sincerity in Izaya's voice. It was unsettling. Though he had been duped countless times in the past, Shizuo wouldn't drop his guard around him so easily.

As they reached a main road, Celty scan the road for oncoming traffic, there were only a few cars driving at this hour. She folded her arms in deliberation. She nodded as she came to a conclusion before she flipped out her PDA.

[The walk is too far to our place, especially since we're traveling with one injured person. How about we take my bike the rest of the way?]

Roppi tilted his head slightly and surveyed the bike in consideration. "Will we all fit?"

Celty nodded. [Shooter can make a sidecar for himself]

"Who-?"

"Orihara Izaya" a voice called out, cutting through their conversation.

The group paused and they found themselves facing a group of twenty sharply dressed men. They looked very out of place amongst the rest of the people in the streets. Some bystanders also noticed the men's appearance and immediately fled.

"We have some business with you" the man, Ken, continued as he pulled out a gun. "If you would come with us, that would be great. We sort of have a rule to not execute in public."

[Author's Note] Halfway through the last scene I was like…are they going to walk all the way there? Celty could drive them for god's sake!

Hello again, it's been a while. What happened to weekly updates you ask? School happened. Che -_-

Well, here comes the big fight and final fight scene of this arc. Shizuo/Roppi/Celty versus the Yakuza. Or at least a portion of them that didn't know the search was called off. I had to stop the confrontation scene here because the chapter would have been waaaay to long if included the fight.

There are a few new characters introduced in this chapter, three from the novels (Tsukumoya, Aozaki, and Akabashi) and one original character (Yoshiro Ken) that has no real significant value to the story (as far as I've planned at least).

Ken is just a name I gave the second in command of Aozaki's subordinates. I didn't want to keep calling people subordinate one and two, so I gave him a name. No significance to the story, but I'll give him a little characterization right here for the lulz. He's got black hair, wears glasses, and he's really good with guns. He's a quick thinker and takes charge whenever the group needs direction. He is 100% loyal to Aozaki and the boss.

Akabayashi and Aozaki are from the Awakusu-kai. They are rivals and there are polar opposites from each other. They are known as the Red Demon and Blue Demon respectively. Tsukumoya's identity is a mystery, he states in the novel that 'he would tell us who he is, but it would shock us too much'. He is also an informant like Izaya, who hates his guts. All three of these guys have DRRR! Wiki pages, if you haven't heard of them, you can read up on them if you like.

I didn't get to edit as thoroughly as I wanted to, but if you have any feedback or caught any errors, let me know by dropping a review.

Until next time,

SNU