Chapter 11: Little Child

Shiki-san had once told him, that he was like a little child. Izaya was like a little child that enjoyed catching butterflies and prying their wings apart to watch how they would react. A cruel innocence, some twisted logic. Izaya didn't like how grotesque Shiki-san's description of him was, but he didn't deny it.

Izaya flipped through his cards, once again assigning positions for every person he knew.

"Let's see... the Jack and the Ace... let's make that them..." he murmured happily, letting the two cards flutter and fall to the ground.

"How about the queen can be her..." Another card down.

"The king... haha, more like the Jack. Let's make them Ace and Two instead."

"And that means this one can be Shizu-chan again~!" He held the king high to the sky, but frowned, "I haven't included Shizu-chan thoroughly enough yet... I should work on that." He threw it to aside, and continued to sort through his cards.

"Izaya-san," Alex called hesitantly, coat on and seeming very snug under the layers, "It's time for me to go now..."

"Yep. See you tomorrow~" Izaya hummed, and let another card fall to the ground.

"...Should I stay and clean up the cards for you?"

"Haha, so sweet~! It's fine I got it~"

"Alright, see you tomorrow Izaya-san," Alex breathed, and gently saluted before closing the door quietly behind him.

Izaya stared at the closed door for a while, before sighing and harshly kicking the fallen Jack away, "Jack doesn't quite fit him either. I guess I'll have to use my other game pieces."

For the rest of the day, he spent his time playing with cards, giving roles to his little playthings.

"What a shame~ I don't have enough players," Izaya sighed, and threw all the cards in the air like confetti, "I'll have to get more to make the game more fun~!"

He stood up and glanced down at the city of Shinjuku busy operating at night, and wondered if it was too late to go out and take a walk. Maybe he would be able to have a little more fun before he retired to bed. He jumped up from his seat and stepped over the fallen cards, scattered all over the ground like leaves of a tree. Izaya would clean it up later (or not), but whatever it was, he had to go while the night was young.

Wearing his favorite black coat, he wandered around the streets, eyes open for any activity. Breathing in a deep breath of air, he looked up to the sky and found the moon to be nice and full. Bright too. He stared at it for a moment, before breaking out of his trance and moving on. The night lights were turned on, illuminating the city in a dramatically dark aura, while he watched the cars zoom by with headlights turned on bright.

He listened carefully to the sounds of the city, and jumped over the cracks of the sidewalk, feeling quite content. The game was almost set. He had to just get enough players, and then place them in position. He busily thought up a few players that could partake in his fun time, before he heard something quite out of place. A whinny?

Ah, of course.

So she had come.

The screeching of a horse brought him back to reality, as he felt someone-something stop right behind him. He smiled happily, and turned around to greet the dullahan, who was staring straight at him apprehensively- or would've been if she had a head.

"Hey Celty-san~ long time no see~?" Izaya stood still, and grinned like he had reunited with a long lost friend, "How's it going with Shinra-kun?"

The dullahan paused for a moment and tilted her helmet to a side, as if a little puzzled. She ejected her PDA out of her sleeve made entirely of shadows, and quickly tapped a few words onto the screen. Izaya leaned forwards to read what she had written, before she held it up for him to see.

[We're doing fine, thank you.]

"That's good~!" Izaya chuckled, and leaned back onto the handrails, "Is there something you want from me? You obviously wouldn't be here if there wasn't~"

The dullahan once again 'stared' straight at him, and more hesitantly this time, began to tap out another message.

[You haven't called me for a job for a few months... I'm a little worried.]

After reading, Izaya couldn't help but laugh out loud, before he gestured Celty to follow him. She grabbed her horse-turned-motorbike's handles and began to direct the motorbike forwards, following Izaya's lead.

"Now here's a question," he said cheerfully, and tapped his cheek as if pondering on something, "Is it my well being, or is it what I may or may not be planning that you're worried about?"

She stopped and stood still, but Izaya could easily tell by the body language Celty had adapted to using after she had fewer means of communication (without her head), that she felt a little guilty. Izaya knew the answer to his question, he didn't even need to think about it. Of course the dullahan was worried he was planning something, because he was already so detested, no one would come visit him if he wasn't busy scheming away (as sad as it may be). His sisters still came every now and then though, just to make fun of him or pull some mean prank on him that he so totally didn't deserve (he still mourned for his white coat-turned-pink to this day).

"Ah, you don't need to answer that," Izaya smiled, when he noticed the dullahan slowly reach for her PDA again, "I already know the answer to that question anyways."

She nodded and continued to lead her motorbike horse forward, a bit hesitantly this time though.

"Well, I can tell you now that I haven't caused anything huge (as of yet)," Izaya informed, putting his hands in his pockets and bouncing over once sidewalk block to the next, "I can assure you that nothing will happen to Shinra-kun (maybe), so don't worry~!"

Celty looked at him apprehensively, and crossed her arms as if in great doubt of his words. She had the right to. Izaya rarely spoke the complete truth and always seemed to have some evil intention underneath all his actions and words. She still had trouble forgetting what he had involved Kida-kun, Mikado-kun and Anri-chan involved in, and she still wasn't sure what he had gained from causing all that turmoil other than amusement. Or was that all he needed...?

"Fine, I know I can't promise that," He gave in reluctantly, saying slowly and surely, "I don't intend to cause harm to anyone. I wouldn't ever want to cause harm to anyone. After all, they're all my precious humans... except for Shizu-chan that is... oh, but I'll make you an exception. You can be my best friend next to Shinra-kun~!"

She stayed quiet (as if she could make any noise without a mouth), and she slumped just slightly as if she was frowning. She didn't quite want to become close buddies with the seemingly insane information broker.

Misinterpreting (or most likely not) Celty's thoughts and intentions, he laughed and said, "Too bad Celty, but Shinra-kun is my best friend even if you're really amazing~ be glad you're one of my few real friends~!"

Celty's shoulders relaxed and she seemed to lean forwards a bit, as if she was sighing.

"You're funny Celty-san~" Izaya giggled, and suddenly ceased walking, causing her to almost bump into him at his immediate stop. She stared at Izaya curiously, wanting to know what made him stop when she saw his face soften. He spoke gentler than she had ever heard him speak, "It's getting kind of late huh?"

Celty glanced up at the sky and saw the full moon at it's brightest, the rays of the sun reflecting off the white surface to create an eerie silver glow. She held out her PDA, which glowed too, radiating a yellow-green color, [Yeah...]

The two stood under the full moon, for the rest of the night contemplating on two completely different matters.