Durarara! belongs to Ryohgo Narita.
"So let me get this straight,"
Shizuo set his glass of milk onto the table as he watched Shinra and Celty from across the room.
"There are rumors going around Ikebukuro about myself and the flea, you said. What kind of rumors?"
"Well…" Shinra put a finger up to push his glasses back into place. He still seemed unsure of himself as he lifted his head closer to where Celty's head would be, as if to whisper into her ear.
"Should I really tell him? This is something we should probably keep to ourselves, right?" If Celty had her head, she would be looking down as if uncertain herself. She began to type something onto her phone and showed it to Shinra.
"-I know how you feel. But, we wouldn't want him finding out later on.-"
Shinra gave her a questionable look. Celty quickly clarified her intentions and revealed her phone.
"-What I mean is, what if he's caught off-guard with questions? It's best to tell him now, so he knows what to expect later.-"
"Ah…understood." Shinra turned to face his friend again, keeping himself as serious as he could. Although, inside he was reluctant as to what he was about to do.
"People have been saying…that you and Izaya…well, how do I put this as mildly as possible…"
Shizuo took a gulp of milk and placed his elbow on the table, resting his head on his hand.
"…Yeah? What are they saying?" He kept his attention on the milk and watched the contents from where he had recently drank slide down the glass.
"They think that you and Izaya have been faking all of this fighting, and Izaya's been paying you, all for information." Shinra blurted out quickly, each word still clear.
There was a short silence.
"Hmm, really? Why would they?"
"Because they said that you pretend to fight to give off the illusion that you two aren't working together. They say that Izaya gets information from you from the people you collect debt from…"
Another short silence.
"Well, that's definitely not true." The bodyguard responded indifferently.
"-Shizuo? You seem quite calm about this.-" Celty had walked over to show her phone to him.
"I'm surprised you aren't reacting strongly to this, Shizuo. After all, I've mentioned Izaya several times now and you haven't done anything but drink your milk…" Shinra was next to Celty and staring at the blonde out of curiosity.
"Yeah well, it's not like he's in the room." He took another sip of milk and looked ahead at the wall. "He's back home, probably."
"…Shizuo?"
He didn't look at Shinra. "Hmm?"
"You're speaking quite…casually of him."
"So? Do you want me to blow up in front of you or can't you just appreciate this sort of response instead?"
Shinra flinched. "I-It's not that we don't appreciate it, we're just surprised. You don't even seem phased by all of this speaking of hi-"
"Just drop it, Shinra. I don't really feel like talking about it."
"-We're sorry, Shizuo. We aren't trying to anger you or anything. It's just that this is a bit unexpected.-"
Shizuo sighed out of irritation and nodded towards Celty.
"-But anyway, what are you going to do about what people have been saying?-"
"Nothing. It's just a rumor, and it's not like it's going to have an effect on either one of us. If anyone bothers me about it, I'll hit them." He grinned. "Thanks for telling me, anyway."
"…Shizuo?" Shinra stared at him for what seemed like an eternity before he scratched his head.
"What?"
"Did…did something happen recently or wh-"
"Shinra, it's nothing to worry about." Shizuo kept an angry grin directed the doctor's way. Celty seemed flustered and typed something up quickly.
"-Well, we'll be going now. Thank you for listening, Shizuo. Take care and we'll see you later.-" She grabbed Shinra by the back of his coat and pulled him out of Shizuo's apartment.
After the door shut, Shizuo put his glass in the sink and sighed.
"What's with them…"
He walked back to his couch and felt his phone vibrate before he could sit down. Grunting quickly, he took it out and stared at the name on the screen.
"Huh? Oh."
He flipped open his phone and put it up to his ear.
"Hey."
He walked around the room and grabbed the pack of cigarettes off of his side table, taking a key out of his pocket.
"Yeah, I'll be right over."
Shizuo clicked off the light switch and locked his door.
In another city, a certain man grinned as he set his phone down on his desk and sat in his chair, sighing lightly. He spun around, trying to calm himself.
It's only Shizu-chan…
No…
It's because it's Shizu-chan…
Crimson eyes glinted as they watched their owner's fingers click the mouse of the computer continuously, scanning the Dollar's website for anything interesting. Much to his disappointment, the informant found nothing that intrigued him in the slightest. More boring chats about the city and it's typical life.
He scrolled down the chat room, looking for anything…anything at all that might supply some sort of information, or at least enjoyment.
"Hmm…I see that some people haven't been on in a couple of days…"
He signed on as Kanra and typed up a message, pressing enter and leaning back in his chair to wait for a reply.
-Kanra has signed on-
Kanra: What's up everyone?
Setton: Hey Kanra.
Tanaka Taro: Hi there!
Saika: Evening.
Kanra: Sorry, I've been gone for a while. Anything new happening around here?
Setton: Not much actually. Things have been surprisingly calm...
Kanra: Are you serious? How's that?
Setton: Well…we were just talking about how the city has been quiet lately. There's literally nothing going on. It's just…boring.
Tanaka Taro: Boring? I'd say it's kind of nice having a quiet city for a change. You know how things typically are…
Setton: You're right. Not even much gang activity lately from what I've heard. Do you know anything about that, Kanra?
Fingers hovered delicately over the keyboard as Izaya thought carefully on his next words. Should he mention the recent seemingly tamed behavior between himself and Shizuo? That had to be something on practically everyone's mind, right? But no one said anything about it, even though it was slightly implied by Mikado Ryuugamine.
Kanra: Well, I wouldn't know.
What kind of answer was that? Celty and Mikado knew that he was Kanra, after all.
He quickly attempted to redeem himself.
Kanra: Perhaps there has been something hidden from everyone in the city that resulted in lowered gang activity rates…or maybe they simply are taking breaks. Even the possibility is that most of the color gangs have broken up.
Saika: Yeah, that might be it…
Tanaka Taro: Do you really think so? I might have to agree with you on that one.
Setton: Seems plausible.
-Setton has requested private chat with you-
Setton: Izaya, what's really going on? You know that we aren't talking about 'gangs'. Everyone in the city knows that something is off.
…
Setton: You're heard the rumor, haven't you?
Kanra: Regarding what, may I ask?
Setton: About you and Shizuo.
Kanra: If it's anything about our fights, I can assure you that the protozoan never fails to enlighten me.
Setton: Obviously, you haven't heard it.
Setton: Okay, there was this rumor about how you were supposedly paying Shizuo to fake these fights, in order to get information from his clients. Knowing you, I highly doubt it to be true.
Setton: I'm just surprised that you of all people didn't know.
Izaya reread the sentence and felt a smile creep upon his face. So, someone was starting rumors to make a joke out of him and Shizuo? That wasn't very kind of them. He'd have to look more into this.
Kanra: Well, I do have to get my information from somewhere, Celty. I'll be sure to find out who started this falsehood. Unless you know…?
Setton: I don't. Sorry.
The informant suddenly found himself frowning.
Setton: Shinra was the first to find out, but it was leaked to him by an email. I have the email address it was sent from though, if that helps you.
The smile returned. Thank you Celty!
Kanra: That would be much appreciated.
Kanra: I don't need such lies spewed throughout Ikebukuro about me and the protozoan.
Setton: Don't try to hide the truth, Izaya.
He blinked.
Kanra: Truth? What exactly are you implying?
Setton: It seems as if you finally did something right for once.
What was that headless fairy going on about?
Kanra: I still don't understand what you're referring to.
Setton: Don't deny when I say this.
Setton: Things between you and Shizuo aren't the same as they used to be.
A minute passed before Izaya decided to respond, ignoring her realization completely.
Kanra: Please be sure to send me the information as soon as possible.
That was when a loud knock was heard on Izaya's door.
-Kanra has signed off-
The brunette spun out of his chair and walked quickly to the door, feeling like a smiling idiot as he tried to maintain a decent facial expression. He knew that his success was probably most likely a failure, so he shook his head, hoping to calm himself down. After a few more deep breaths, he opened the door.
Wow...Sorry for the late update!
I just started school and I've been working on cosplay...drawings...homework...and life in general.
(Excuses...more excuses...I'll just...shut up now.)
I hope that this chapter was satisfactory, at the very least. ^^
As long as I do not encounter any more writer blocks, you should be getting another update soon!~
Thank you for reading, and please comment!~
