Title: Things that change for better or for worse
Chapter 11: The Face of Change
By: Sissy

Disclaimer: DRRR shall never belong to me otherwise there'd be more yaoi.
Warning: Weird Mikado and d!ckhole Izaya.


Mikado did not explain to Anri what had happened. He simply apologized and headed to bed, not even bothering to take a bath. Since there was not much she could do, Anri decided to leave Mikado to his own devices for the time being. She knew he would eventually tell her what happened when he did not feel forced into a corner. After all, the last thing she wanted was for him to disappear.

By the next early morning, Anri heard a shower. She figured it must've been Mikado and drifted back to sleep. Her alarm woke her up around seven, which was her usual time for getting up. As she headed into the kitchen, she saw breakfast prepared but no Mikado around. There was a note on the food as well.

"I left breakfast out for you for when you wake up. I might not be back by the time you're up. I see…" Anri smiled and sat down to eat. It was warm, on the borderline of cold, but still, it tasted good.

After she was done, Anri brushed her teeth and got ready for work. As she walked downstairs, she heard the shop doors opening and closing. Once she was down on the first floor, she saw Mikado in jogging clothes. This was the first time she had seen him in those clothes. She didn't even know Mikado jogged.

"Oh, good morning Sonohara-san!" Mikado greeted her normally with a flashing smile. He got closer and gave her a peck on the cheek, effectively freezing her in place. However, Mikado didn't even seem to notice and walked past her. "I'll be getting ready for work too so I'll see you when I come back down."

Shaking her head, Anri tried to stop the blush that threatened to overcome her face. That Mikado did not seem like the usual Mikado from before. It actually reminded her a little of when she had gone to pick him up. It was a very American-ish move of him. The only difference was that last time he actually noticed that he had done it. This time, it was as if the whole thing was a normal and daily occurrence to him.

She got flustered over it. Very flustered.

But she quickly got her bearings by giving herself a few light smacks to the face. Now she was awake and could put the whole thing in the back of her mind.

… … …

"Eh? Mikado? You sure?" Masaomi asked his lover with a curious look. He never doubted her words so it came as a surprise when she had mentioned something she had seen the previous night.

At the moment, Masaomi was helping out at the nursery where Saki worked but would probably not stay long as he needed a nap before waking up again later in the afternoon. But he loved the time he could spend with his lover, however long or short it may be.

"I thought it was odd, but I don't think I could mistake Ryugamine-kun. Still, his movements reminded me of Izaya-san." Saki explained but held back the detail about the other person she saw after her glance at Mikado's form the previous night. She figured it was odd but probably a just coincidence. There could've been a case of mistaken identity. But he wasn't screaming his lungs off…

"Mikado hasn't mentioned becoming a crazy person like Izaya-san. Then again, he really hasn't mentioned much about his time abroad. Now I'm curious." Making up his mind, Masaomi nodded to himself. "Alright, I'll go visit him a bit later. Let's see what he has to say."

Giving his girlfriend a light peck on the lips, he received cheers from the children in the nursery. Giving light bows in their directions, Masaomi extended his arms up high in celebration. After an hour, Masaomi said goodbye to Saki and the children before heading out to meet Mikado. It seemed like an interesting mystery for him to solve.

… … …

"Yo, Mikado!" Masaomi greeted his best friend like usual but stopped short when he noticed something completely odd. Well, he should've thought it odd the moment he caught a glimpse of said best friend, but now that he was closer, it was a whole new ball game.

"Ah, Masaomi! Well, I have to attend to this matter so please excuse me. I'll tutor you all another time, is that okay?" Mikado flashed a bright smile, completely uncharacteristic of him, to the flock of students surrounding him. It'd look like Mikado had his own harem but these were females and males around him.

Walking over to Masaomi, Mikado grabbed the other's wrist and started pulling him with him. Once they reached a different section of the university grounds, Mikado turned to Masaomi.

"So what's up? You're usually pretty busy so I can only assume something happened, right?" Mikado seemed extremely weird to Masaomi. It seemed as though Saki had been right. There was something odd about the person in front of him. The way he carried himself did remind Masaomi of Izaya, but his smiles and current personality seemed more like his own.

Since he figured teasing Mikado would probably not yield any results at the moment, Masaomi decided to ask, "You okay? Saki said she saw you running around like a madman last night."

"Oh, that? It was because I was stressed." Mikado answered with a bright smile but Masaomi had a hard time believing him. "Well, Izaya-san found me and reminded me of what I hoped to accomplish in America so I needed to cool off first."

"That makes no sense to me. But if you ever need an ear, you can talk to me. I do need to talk to you about something, but not now. I'll wait a bit first." Masaomi decided to drop the subject and waved goodbye to Mikado before running off. He needed sleep first.

As soon as Masaomi was gone, Mikado dropped the smile and took a more serious gaze. His eyes seemed cold and thoughtful. He quickly brought his right thumb to his mouth and bit hard on his nail. It's not enough. More… Until I can face him again. Part of the nail broke off and he walked back to his professor's office for a band aid without much of a care.

… … …

"Oh! If it isn't Iza-nii! How are you, you useless bag of a big brother to walk the earth? Are you still looking for a fight? Aoba-kun told us all about it. Really, you shouldn't tease my landlord so much. It'll come and bite you someday." Mairu laughed at her older brother once she opened the door.

"As usual, you only keep talking to yourself. Where is that landlord of yours? I'm hoping he'll have better luck in this little project of mine." Izaya replied with his usual smile while walking into the apartment as if he owned the place.

"What project are you talking about dear brother? Are you up to no-good again?" Mairu hid her chuckle behind her hand while following Izaya in.

"That's so mean. I'm actually doing someone a favor. I'm not entirely made of selfish emotions, you know." Izaya told her but Mairu had no intention of believing him.

"I call your bluff." Aoba said at the right time but not to Izaya. Looking up at the two who entered his living room, he quickly frowned towards the information broker.

At the moment, the three had been playing cards but now with Izaya, Aoba felt no wish to continue. The man soured anything he did after all. "Now, now. Don't look at me like that. I'm being the good guy here." Izaya spoke in his defense and took out a folded note he quickly left in front of Aoba. "For you. If you go there tomorrow, you might find yourself useful to someone and see something good."

Without expecting a reply, Izaya quickly turned around and left the apartment. Oh, he had so many things to do now. This is all the excitement you cause me Mikado-kun.

To Be Continued…