Title: Things that change for better or for worse
Chapter 20: Unseen by Change 3
By: Sissy

Disclaimer: DRRR shall never belong to me otherwise there'd be more yaoi.
Warning: A few last things happen behind Mikado's back.

"Over here, Ruri-san." Saki spoke over the phone to the mother and waved to her. Ruri quickly hung up and headed over to the two girls. Anri was wondering why she had brought Ruka with her but the child grinned in her direction, as if reading her thoughts and she decided to keep the comment to herself.

"Where shall we go first?" The celebrity asked, making sure her son stayed in place.

"We'll look at some stores in this area then join Erika-san for lunch. She'll tour the rest of the shops with us." Saki explained and both females nodded, following her lead.

As the three exited the station, they went around each and every shop in the vicinity. They looked at clothes, goods and even electronic stores. All three were searching for gifts, but more importantly, a location. They asked salons, karaoke bars and other stores for advice where to hold the baby shower and for prices on that type of event. Around noon, Saki got a phone call from Erika.

"She says she'll join us at the café around the corner. Shall we go?" Saki asked the other two who nodded in response while Ruka tried to escape his mother's arms.

They passed by another store on the way before entering the meeting place. Quickly spotting Erika, all four joined her. Ruka managed to escape his mother's grasp and got on top of the seat where Erika was and rubbed the belly. He smiled and gave his usual roar, causing his mother to worry.

"No, no, Ruka-kun. It's not certain that the baby will be a girl. You can't claim it." Ruri took her son into her arms again as she sat down in front of Erika. "I'm so sorry, Yumasaki-san."

"Oh, call me Erika! And I'm flattered Ruka-chan but my baby will be twin boys!" Erika proudly stated, though she and Walker had decided to be surprised during birth rather than knowing beforehand. There was a small betting pool going on between Walker and her. "Oh, but if you still want them…" She grinned and Saki placed a hand on her mouth after sitting down. There was no need for the pregnant woman to get overexcited at the moment.

"Erika-san, we brought a map along today." Anri offered as she opened the map of the city in front of them. "If it's the official one, we've quite liked some places around this area."

"Oh, I know those shops." Erika mused happily, looking over the locations of the other shops the three toured beforehand. Saki and Ruri took the chance to call for a waitress so they could order something to eat for them all. "And for the unofficial one?"

"I'm not certain what type of plan you have so I don't know what I can offer." Anri replied calmly.

"I think a karaoke place could be nice. For both, I mean. It's a closed space." Saki offered with a small smile after she finished ordering.

"Wouldn't the damages be severe?" Ruri asked and proceeded to ask for food for both her and Ruka.

"We'll need to place one in first and get them drunk. Any suggestions who?" Erika grinned mischievously as she heard Anri place her order.

"I would say Mikado-kun. He looks the type to be surprisingly honest when drunk." Izaya popped in out of nowhere, effectively scaring them all. His Cheshire grin was wide and it felt like he wanted to sit down next to them. "Don't you think so?"

"You want to join this plan? Why, Iza-Iza? Jealous?" Erika grinned in return, eyeing accusingly.

"Very much so, Erika-san." Izaya replied and the three women didn't know if he was being honest but Erika enjoyed the response nonetheless. "Now, how about I help out?"

"No thanks." Erika quickly answered, surprising the two women of the same age. They had honestly thought that Erika would agree with that offer since it seemed like something she would enjoy. "If you join, I won't be able to stick to my script. You'll just blow it out of proportions. And besides, knowing you, you'd just try to hide Mikapuu away from us instead of helping."

Izaya tried to look innocent by shrugging his shoulders. "Well, since you don't think I'll be of help, I can't do much. But this shop has a big enough space for your party, I would say. And the prices are fair." Izaya made the suggestion by pointing to the location of one of the shops in the area the three women looked. With that, he made his exit gracefully.

"What do you think, Erika-san?" Anri asked cautiously, worried this might be a trap by Izaya.

"Actually, it's pretty close by and the area looks reasonable for us. Even if it's Iza-Iza's trap, it could be beneficial. So, how about we make use of it?" Erika grinned in response, wondering how to tackle whatever possible plan Izaya had.

… … …

Masaomi stared at the item in his drawer with such intensity, he swore he was drilling a hole into it. Even Saki saw it whenever she put the clean clothes back in but she never said anything regarding it. With a sigh, Masaomi closed the drawer again. He had been about to head out to work when he turned back around to stare at it. Thoughts kept formulating in his mind. He was determined to see this through. Now if only Mikado would get his act together. He'd been waiting six years already to do this. He grumbled and closed the drawer before actually leaving this time.

… … …

"That smells so yummy!" Mairu said from the living room and Kururi agreed as both girls waited alongside Aoba. Mikado had taken over their kitchen, preparing from cookies to brownies to cakes without stopping.

When the first batch of cookies came out, Aoba brought them to the drooling twins, who quickly proceeded to munch on them. Their landlord returned to the kitchen to look for something to give them to drink as well. In his mouth was one of the cookies, which he carefully savored.

"You know, when I first heard Aoba-kun say you knew how to bake, I thought he was making it up! I never pegged you for a sugar maniac." Mairu said without hesitation and with a bright smile. "But I have to admit, this is really good!" She gave him a loud moan of pleasure and took another cookie to her mouth.

"Delightful." Kururi acknowledged with a bright smile as she finished her third cookie in a quick fashion that caused her cheeks to resemble a hamster's. Aoba sighed and shook his head as he came closer to the older twin.

"Swallow your food before putting more in, Kururi." He scolded her while cleaning the edges of her mouth of the melted chocolate. Mairu looked pleased by the action and so did Mikado, who noticed them from the open kitchen. Before Aoba could notice them staring, he saw Kururi gulp her food down and bring his face close for a kiss.

Mairu took the drinks from the tray in his other hand before he dropped them from shock and placed them on the table. She headed for the kitchen and tried to focus away from her adorable older twin and the scene she was causing. "So, why'd you start baking? I can imagine Anri-sempai baking but somehow, you don't strike me as a housewife."

"I don't think every housewife knows how to bake. That itself is pretty insulting to them Mairu-chan. Besides, you'd be surprised by how many men bake in America. There are plenty of shows dedicated to them." Mikado explained with a soft smile and offered her the spoon of raw brownie mixture, which Mairu took gladly.

"Yeah, but when I think about sweets I can only think of Shizuo-san and Vorona-san. Aw, I miss Vorona-san. I haven't gotten a report from her in a while." Mikado knew who Mairu was talking about but he never had a direct conversation with said woman so he had no idea what to say. "Oh, I managed to steal Vorona-san from Tom-san and Shizuo-san so she's been working for me and Kuru-nee for a while now. It's been a while since we placed her undercover though."

Mikado nodded understandingly but kept quiet and focused on the cooking. Mairu noticed there wasn't much else to talk about before she remembered about her unanswered question. "So, why'd you start baking?"

"Oh, right." Mikado sighed as he compared Mairu to her brother in his mind. Of course, he didn't say as much to her since it seemed pretty insulting. "It was actually to express my thanks to someone. And then I couldn't stop… And then…" Mairu watched as Mikado slowly lowered himself to the ground, bowl of mixture and another spoon in hand. She didn't know but Mikado was recalling the memories that shook his whole core.

"Sempai?" Both Aoba and Kururi came closer, a look of worry in their eyes.

"Okay?" Kururi asked and tried to whisper as close to him as possible. "Time limit?"

Mikado quickly got up and looked shocked at the older twin. His blush caused Aoba to feel confused while Mairu wondered what her sister had meant since she understood English. "You heard the whole conversation?" Mikado asked as he took a step back and saw the girl nod in response.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mairu asked, hating the fact that she was being left behind in the conversation. "Kuru-nee, tell me what you meant by 'time limit'!"

"Time limit? You mean the one you were given, sempai? Of that conversation you had over the phone that for some reason involved Shizuo-san?" Aoba laid bare all the facts he knew in one breath and got Mairu's attention, who now looked pissed because she really was being left behind. "He was after you that day too. The fact that he ignored Izaya-san for you is the most shocking to me."

Mairu looked around at their faces, her mind about ready to scream for some attention. "It's my fault this is happening. I should have gone to see him the first day I arrived. Why did I let it go for this long? I'm going to get killed at this rate…"

"Will someone please answer me?" Mairu yelled, banging her hands on the countertop.

"Baking helps me concentrate." Mikado simply said and only Aoba nodded in agreement to that statement. Kururi looked for the tray of abandoned cookies and the drinks, deciding to stay near the chef at the moment with Aoba. Mairu pouted and, against her wishes, waited with the others there as well.

To Be Continued…