Mitigate

Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara…or Shizuo. TT^TT
Comments: Okay, now with this chapter, I have NO CLUE how I want this to go. Seriously, this whole chapter will be improvised because I couldn't make my mind up between two scenarios so I went with both, and well, neither….Whatever, this chapter might be a little off, so that's the reason. I know, I'm not a good author. But oh wells. *shrugs* Also, ah my gawd, 10 chapters?~

Chapter 10:

I walked down the street, staring at the pavement as I walked around Sunshine 60 on my day off. It was Sunday, after all. My shoulder was still aching (even though the incident had been three days prior) and it hurt to move it, so Ojii-san let me take a day off to rest.

I sighed as I stopped on the corner. I glanced around at the packed streets. People were cramped together like sardines, walking in unison, all flowing in the same direction. I leaned against a lamp-post. I felt my lips curl up as I leaned my head against it, sighing.

I stared down at my feet, which were clad in my favourite and most worn out brown boots that had been a gift from my sister. I shuffled them slightly before pushing away from the post and brushing down my brown skirt and pulling up the strap of my cream ruffled blouse. I turned to continue walking down the road, occasionally squeezing past people or pausing to lean against one of the buildings again.

I sighed and made my way to the park again. I came here a lot, I realised recently. It was a place where I could think clearly about what I needed to do. I sat down by the fountain again, pausing to make sure my skirt covered my knees, before turning to stare at the rippling water. My reflection stared back at me, and I frowned at myself. What was I doing with myself?

I sighed to myself before turning so that I could face the fountain fully and lean on my left hand whilst playing with the floating leaves in the water with my right. I stared at the petals afloat the surface, changing directions rapidly as water pelted their surfaces. I felt myself sigh again as I poked a petal. It was still early, and I glanced at my wristwatch to see it was still quarter to one. I groaned. What to do, what to do...

Maybe I would have been more productive if I had gone to work...At least I would've gotten paid.

I tilted my head back and stared up at the clouds passing over head, squinting as the sun shone from in between them. I couldn't believe I had absolutely nothing to do. I jumped as something vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled out my thin lime green phone. I had received a text from an unknown number. I blinked and opened the text. It said, "Do you want to be in the Dollars?" I stared at the text. Dollars. The gang that was apparently "clearly colourless". I stared at the small screen.

"Is this a joke...?" The longer I stared at the message, the more I felt the urge to say yes, for the hell of it. I tilted my head and stared at the flowing water. What harm could it do? I quickly typed up a reply and sent it before I could change my mind.

I frowned and stared at the fountain a moment longer before standing up. "This city is making me more and more reckless..." I brushed down my skirt again and stepped away from the fountain, heading home.

Four hours later, I was in a similar situation. I was lying on my sofa, staring blankly at the wall, waiting for something to do. I felt so bored! I had barely done anything for the past 4 hours other than chores, which, needless to say, were also very boring.

I twitched when I heard a series of firm knocks on the door. Whilst I was excited at the prospect of something to do, I was far too comfortable. When the knocking sounded again, I sighed and swung my legs of the side before pushing myself to sit up. I dragged myself over to the door, noting that my strap was hanging off my shoulder, but I couldn't be bothered to fix it. I grabbed the handle and inched the door open, peering curiously through the gap.

I felt my lips tilt up at the familiar "yo", staring up at the blonde figure. I quickly shut the door and pulled the chain out before yanking it fully open.

"Hey there." I smiled at him as he leaned against the doorframe, a small smirk curving his lips and his glasses balanced on the tip of his nose. I stepped to the side and beckoned him in, watching as he pushed himself off the doorframe and stepped inside, taking his shoes off.

I shut the door gently and stepped up onto the pale, creaky floorboards. I led him over to the cream sofa, noting he glanced around the small apartment. I stepped over to a white counter and leaned against it as he turned to look around the apartment.

"So what's up?" He paused and looked at me over his shoulder, before holding up his hand. It wouldn't have caught my attention so, if it hadn't been for the pen protruding from his hand. I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at him.

"You were closer than Shinra's. Have you got some band-aids?"

I felt my jaw drop. "Shizuo!" Ignoring his remotely surprised face, I walked over and gently nudged him towards the couch, before turning my attention to whatever was stabbing my leg. There were two more pens, one stuck in each leg. I felt a small shriek escape me before I pushed Shizuo – more firmly this time – towards the sofa. He took the hint and sat down, fairly relaxed. I stared at him for a moment, before rushing to the olive green bathroom to grab the first-aid kit and a few towels. I left them on the table before going back to the bathroom and filling a small bucket with warm water, which I then took back to the room a placed on the coffee table.

I knew I wasn't an expert when it came to stab wounds, and I was by no means a doctor, but I was always the one to patch up my clumsy sister when she burnt herself or accidently cut herself, so I had some experience.

I sat on the edge of the table in front of Shizuo and pulled the small white box down to the floor, before taking his hand gently, holding at chest level. I pulled out a pair of green gloves from the kit and stared down at the pen, biting my lip. I had never dealt with pen wounds before, but I had a basic idea of how to deal with it.

I grabbed one of the towels I had brought with me and dropped it in the bucket of water. I let it sink and pulled another one on my skirt, spreading it so it covered my lap. I pulled on the pen, trying to ignore the blood slowly dripping on my lap. I slid out smoothly, and I immediately applied pressure to his wrist. I glanced up at him and noticed he had his head tilted back and was staring up at the ceiling, no pain apparent on his face.

Still holding his wrist tightly, I quickly grabbed the cloth in the bucket and squeezed it against the side of the bucket. I quickly ran the corner of it along his hand, gently wiping away the blood. I then pulled out the antiseptic and a bag of cotton wool. I opened the cap and placed a piece of cotton wool on my lap, before pouring some of the contents of the bottle out. I picked up the now soaked cotton wool piece and wiped it over the wound, watching Shizuo's reaction out of the corner of my eye. He didn't even flinch.

I turned back to the wound, wiping around it and gently dabbing the slowly reddening wool on the hole. I shifted as the silence began to press on me. "H-How did this happen...?" I felt him glance at me, but I kept my head bent over his hand.

"I was with Celty, when she started chasing some girl. There was some high school kid with her and he stabbed me with these pens before I sorted him out." I grimaced. "Sorted him out" made it sound like he killed the poor kid. But more than that, I felt something else swell up in my chest. This was something that had been happening to me ever since the incident a few days ago. It was a strange mixture of worry, fear and anger. I set the now red cotton wool back down on the towel, which was slowly getting redder and redder.

I leaned down and rummaged through the small box by my feet, searching for a gauze pad. I pulled one out a placed it over the wound before pulling out a roll of bandages. That feeling was building up in my chest, growing steadily stronger and stronger. I tried to ignore it when my vision got blurry, but I couldn't do anything when the water dripped away from me. I watched as it splattered on Shizuo's hand. I swallowed and tried to blink what remained away, focussing on bandaging his hand.

My vision was getting more and more blurred, but I refused to make a sound as I wrapped the elastic material around his hand slowly. The tears continued to drip, on his fingers and parts of the bandage, and his hand would occasionally twitch when they did. I paused for a minute to wipe m eyes, remotely surprised at how wet my hand felt when I pulled it away.

"Oi, why are you crying?" I felt his arm shift slightly as I continued with the bandage. I swallowed thickly, still refusing to look at him.

"Because you're an idiot." I muttered quietly to myself. I heard him give a curious "Hm?" in return. "People who call others idiots are usually idiots themselves, but I'm an idiot anyway, so I'll say it again." I looked up at him then...Or rather, glared at him. I still don't know why I got so angry at him. I just couldn't help but shout at him then. "You idiot! You have to take better care of yourself!" After I said that, I felt my energy drain away, and I shook my head before tying the bandage in a knot and moving to the floor to do the same treatment on his legs.

It was again silent after that. I occasionally let out a little sniff or a hiccup, but there was no more talking. I didn't look at him either, focussing on fixing his legs as well as I could (and, obviously, trying to hide that same, stupid blush). When I finished both legs, it was roughly seven-thirty. Two hours had passed since he had come.

I pulled off my gloves and set about cleaning the mess of bloody towels, cotton wool and bandages that covered the coffee table and the floor surrounding Shizuo. When I finished with that, I put the first-aid box back where I found it, feeling slightly guilty about what I had said to Shizuo. I scratched the side of my face as I nervously stepped back into the room. When I looked up Shizuo was already standing up and stretching. I glanced towards the kitchen and noticed a few leftover slices of the chocolate cake I had brought a few days ago.

I glanced at Shizuo before quickly walking over to it. I pulled the plate towards me and took the bowl covering the top off. I placed it to the side and reached up to pull some plates out of the wooden cupboard above my head. I quickly pulled out two forks and transferred the slices onto the plates. I picked them up and turned to Shizuo, anxiously looking around the apartment.

"U-Um...you should...probably eat something sweet...after losing that much blood..." I trailed off uncertainly, offering him one plate. I had no doubt he noticed how nervous I was. Nonetheless, he took the plate from my hand, his fingers slightly grazing mine as he did so. To hide the blush that was slowly reddening my cheeks I turned towards the fridge and yanked it open, almost dropping my plate in the process. "What do you want to drink? I usually like milk with cake...What about you?" I glanced at him over my shoulder, and froze in surprise.

For starters, he was closer. Whilst I'd moved around to the fridge, he'd moved around to the kitchen side of the counter and was now leaning against it. What really got me, was the fork sticking out of his mouth. I can't explain it. It wasn't that he was holding it in a strange way. It was just that it looked so...cute.

And I knew I was crazy when I used that word to describe Shizuo, of all people.

I turned around and grabbed two glass bottles of milk with my free hand, feeling the blush increase again. I straightened up, and nudged the door shut with my foot. Turning around, I held out a bottle for Shizuo to take. I placed my plate on the counter again before pulling open the lid of the bottle. I glanced at Shizuo to see him pull the lid off with his teeth. I smiled wryly, holding out my hand for him to drop it in. When he did, I opened one of the lower cupboards and threw them in the small bin that sat inside.

I leaned against the counter opposite him, watching as he drank half the bottle in one go. He must really like milk. I felt myself smile again at that thought, but blinking as I heard a strange buzzing sound come from the window. I put my drink down and walked over to the window, seeing my phone's small screen flashing white. I picked it up and flicked it open, reading the text that appeared on the screen.

It was the same number as the one earlier, about the Dollars. There was a website, a password and the penname I had sent in the reply. How strange... I stared at the screen a little longer, walking over to the kitchen. I took my place leaning against the counter again and flipped the phone shut, sighing.

"Hey Shizuo..." I heard him give a grunt as he took another gulp of milk. I pulled myself up to sit on the counter, wincing slightly as my shoulder burned dully. I picked up my plate and took a bite of the cake. I paused with the spoon still in my mouth, frowning as I did so. "Do you know anything about the Dollars?"

He paused with the fork halfway to his mouth. "The Dollars?" He stared at me, but I shook my head.

"No, it doesn't matter." I smiled at him and took another bite before taking a swing of milk.

Somehow, I had a feeling I was going to regret joining.

~ Chapter Word Count: 2505

End Comments: Pffft...the stitching and such, I had no idea what I was writing. This is pretty much what I learned from games and such ('course, I checked it on the web, but there was nothing about pen wounds... .). So...yeah...I don't like it...

Anyway~! I pretty much hate this chapter. There are some parts I like. For example, the idiot part - which I just couldn't resist doing.u ... I honestly have nothing more to say about this chapter...Except...HOLY SNAP! OVER 2000 WORDS? *faints*

...Hope someone liked it more than I did? (PS. I REALLY don't like this chapter...) ~