April 28, 2013
Along the road, towards the Kawagoe Highway
'...Whew... That was a pretty long afternoon... But it was definitely well-spent.'
Celty thought to herself, as she rode along the empty road on Shooter's back, who was currently in its usual motorbike form. It had been quite the eventful day, but at the moment, after saying her goodbyes to the Investigation Team and departing from Russia Sushi, Celty was thankful that she hadn't run into the traffic police since then, and that she could at least ride all the way home in peace today.
Shooter, who seemed to share her thoughts and sentiment, let out a pleased sound that was a mix of a trill and a neigh. Celty's shoulders shook slightly in silent laughter, before she eased and settled into her thoughts about more pressing matters.
'Well then, let's see... I should be thinking about what to say to Shinra and Izaya when I see them later, shouldn't I?'
She started slowing down a little.
'Hmm... Knowing Shinra, he probably already has an idea of what I'm hiding from him, so even if I don't really want to say it out directly, he understands, so... Izaya may actually be the more problematic one here.'
Celty resisted the urge to shake her "head".
'As usual,' she added as an afterthought.
As she cruised along the road, the air currents brushed against her entire frame, but she paid little attention to it. Dangling from one of the handles, the bag containing two sushi bento boxes swayed along with the motion.
'I know I promised Souji-kun and his friends that I would deal with this myself, but... To be honest, I really don't want to talk about something like this with that infuriating guy. He might deflect it and claim to not remember anything about that other realm, and I wouldn't know if he's being genuine about that... In the possible case he is, then wouldn't it sound like I...did something to his memory...?'
When the possibility flashed through her mind, Celty almost hung her "head" low before remembering that she was currently on the road – albeit a rather sparse one – and looked up, keeping her gaze to what was in front of her. Her mind, however, could not stop itself from repeating that last thought, over and over, accompanied by a mental imagery of herself typing away in front of the Investigation Team back at Russia Sushi, like a voice recording being played over a silent video clip.
Her fingers curled tighter around the handles of Shooter's motorbike form.
'It's not...entirely impossible, for me to have done that,' she ruminated. 'After all, knowing who...what...I really am now, I might really have done that to Izaya without meaning to. I might...have really...'
The Dullahan couldn't finish that sentence.
There was a certain tightness abounding in her chest, rising up to her throat, like an invisible rope wrapped around her neck with its other end tied to an imaginary stainless, metallic weight that even she could not lift in reality; and her stomach churned and twisted in a knot, even though she knew very well that it could not have possibly been functioning.
If that was how being choked or strangled felt like, Celty made a note to herself to strike that option off her list of threats she had considered pulling off on Izaya. Not that she wanted to stoop to that level in the first place just for getting honest answers out of him, but she thought she ought to be a little more forceful as a precaution nonetheless.
'...Well... There's always punching him,' she considered.
Shooter chose that moment to purr comfortingly. Celty tipped her neck down a little and sent a mental word of gratitude towards it, quickly lifting her hand from the handle and giving it two pats.
'...No use thinking about it like this,' she decided, the grappling sensation melting away. 'It'll be fine. Like Teddie-kun, I have people who are there to support me. And if there's anything I've learnt from those kids the past few weeks...'
Celty's grip on Shooter's handles tightened as she sped up, dashing forward towards the direction of the apartment she had called her and Shinra's home.
'It's that I...don't have to deal with my problems alone.'
At an apartment along the Kawagoe Highway
"So. What exactly have you been up to with my phone, Orihara-kun, for the entire time I've been speaking with Shizuo-kun? I hope you haven't been using it for your shady business dealings."
Izaya didn't turn to face him, but Shinra could imagine – and feel, even – the sly smirk on the informant's face.
"Funny you would say that, Underground Doctor-san. After all, hasn't this phone already been used for such purposes since the day you bought it?"
"I have a separate private line for that. You know that, don't pretend you don't. You've contacted me on that number before."
"Oopsie, you've caught me, then. Not that I was planning on denying it, anyway."
"Izaya..." Shinra let the name slip, muttered with a warning tone.
With a chuckle Izaya raised said device up and nonchalantly tossed it back to its rightful owner. Shinra caught it in a fumble, unable to contain a surprised yelp while doing so, before turning to his current patient with both hands against his waist.
By that point the informant couldn't help bursting into laughter.
"Goodness, you sure do seem angry! What, did that beast's horrible temper rub off on you? Or are you picking that attitude up from my dear secretary? Hm or maybe it's from living with Celty, who hates my guts."
"Neither. It's all me." Shinra huffed. With his eyes fixed on the screen as he checked for missed calls or messages, as well as making sure there wasn't anything strange done to his phone, he continued, "Honestly Izaya, I normally don't care about what you do on a regular basis, but I've been waiting for Celty's reply all day and then you go and take my phone away. Of course I'm mad."
"Well then, since you already knew I took your phone, why didn't you come and claim it back earlier? Why did you wait until Shizu-chan left? I'm not exactly fond of admitting it, but in my current situation I wouldn't have been able to fight back if you asked Shizu-chan to take your phone back by force. In other words you could've gotten it back much earlier. But you didn't," Izaya challenged, his smile broadened and his eyes glinting like an owl's at night when it caught sight of its prey.
Shinra, however, knew better than to fall for that. "Is that what you stole my phone for? To see what I would do?"
Izaya shrugged. "Partly that, and partly because I was bored and needed something to kill time with."
"Mm-hm, and partly because you also needed it to find out all the details of anything that's happened while you were away, right? You're curious if your absence has left any sort of impact on the city, aren't you?" Shinra replied, raising the pitch of his voice to sound pleasant and cheery.
"Of course," Izaya chirped. "I had to know if my humans took any action that I missed while I was gone. I was away for two weeks, after all. There's a lot of interesting things that might've happened in that amount of time."
"That's not what I meant, and I think you're deliberately dodging it, so I won't say any more. But," Shinra added, placing extra emphasis on the word, "if I find out that you've done something stupid, even by your standards, I won't let it slide so easily. I need to exercise my rightful role as your friend, after all. If I know you're up to something that's going to endanger your life and not do anything about it, everyone's gonna be mad at me, especially my darling who's expecting that much of me."
"Yes yes, you go do that," Izaya replied flippantly, waving it off like he was swatting a fly, but doing it with such grace and style that could only be distinct to him. "However, if that's the case, then I should probably ask you to clarify what you would consider to be stupid, shouldn't I? To avoid that kind of situation, I mean."
"Ahaha, you hate my nagging that much? Well, even if you do, I'll just keep pestering you until you admit defeat – but, then again, between the two of us I might be the first to give up," Shinra said with a bright, sunny smile.
The corners of Izaya's lips curled further. "I don't know about that. You're persistent enough to spare no efforts in courting a Dullahan for twenty years. Though that's a display of your strength and determination as a human, so it might not be a bad idea to test it out."
Realising that he might've had just created unnecessary trouble for himself, Shinra tried to divert Izaya's attention. "...Back to the topic, though, I already answered your question earlier. Do you really need me to repeat and lay it out so bluntly?"
"Yes, because I don't see the difference between what I'm already doing on a regular basis and what you've just described," the informant answered candidly, the cheek and serious jest – oxymoron it was, but with Izaya somehow contrasting statements like that melded together perfectly – evident in his crystal clear voice.
However Shinra momentarily could not think of a reply that was both appropriate in its tone as well as its content. He had known Izaya was fully aware of his own actions and the possible consequences that could follow, and that Izaya had in no way misunderstood or failed to capture the meaning behind Shinra's earlier warnings. He knew that even with a warning coming personally from him, Izaya, the daredevil he was, would still not heed it if it hindered his plans. Yet, if the right conditions were met, Izaya might actually listen for once and hold himself back – or, more precisely, deliberately give himself that sort of handicap if he felt that it might lead to a more interesting outcome.
The current situation did not seem to be leaning towards the latter in the least.
So Shinra, considering all of that, gave a thoughtful hum and then responded, "Well. At least you admit that what you've been doing, and what you intend to do from now on, is actually pretty idiotic."
"I was only intending to humour you by playing along. But in all seriousness, Shinra, is it really that thoughtless of a thing to do? If you regard the act of putting oneself's own life on the line for an actual purpose as stupid, then Souji-kun's cute little Investigation Team is made up of a bunch of idiots. Now, is that something you would say straight in their faces?"
"Don't try to distract me with an argument like that, Izaya. Souji-kun and his team are fighting and risking their lives for a noble purpose. You, on the other hand, would do it only in your own interests, and only if you're certain you have a chance of living at the end."
"Then that doesn't make it mindless anymore."
"It is when you run straight into danger and expect to come out safe every single—"
The sound of the front gates opening and closing and the living room door being slammed open interrupted the exchange between the two men. Of the two, Shinra was the quickest in switching his tone and facial expression as he twirled and gazed in the direction of the living room with widened eyes that were twinkling with anticipation and euphoria as the shadowy figure strode across the room in a swift march.
"Ahhhh, Celty~ My precious darling, you've retur—guh?!"
Shinra choked when his beloved brushed off his embracing gesture and shoved him aside. Then, before either man present in the room could react, the Dullahan raised her hand up high before bringing it down in a flash to strike Izaya right across his cheek.
For what felt like an eternity, Shinra could only stare wide-eyed with a slightly gaping mouth as Izaya blinked slowly, a rare stunned expression evident in his features before it vanished, replaced by a smirk as he faced Celty directly.
"My, Courier, you sure do hit hard," he chuckled, giving his now reddened cheek a light rub as if to prove his point.
The Dullahan tapped quickly on the screen of her PDA.
[You're lucky I only gave you a slap. I was trying to decide between punching or strangling you on the way here.]
"Well then, I suppose I should be considering myself rather fortunate in that regard."
[...As expected, you're not even questioning why I did that. Since there's no doubt what I would slap you for.]
"Admittedly I can think of many possible things that you would slap me for, so you're not entirely wrong. So what would it be? My earlier attempt at stirring up some discord between my adorable kouhai from Raira? All those times I tried to frame Shizu-chan or land him in trouble? Making you run those 'delivery errands' for me? Take your pick."
[Ugh, you're so—!] Celty cut herself off, rapidly shaking her "head" as she erased the message and continued to type, literally fuming as tendrils of smoke started to leak out from the gaps between her neck and her helmet. [I want to at least give you another chance and to try and look at you in a different, more positive light but you're making it impossible for me to do so!]
"Oh? Now that's something interesting you just said. Haven't you always disliked me?"
[...I promised them I'd try.] Celty replied. [But the details aren't for you to know right now. Not until I have a...talk with Shinra, first.]
"Hmm...?" the informant could only hum while the Headless Rider immediately turned and grabbed Shinra by the wrist, surprising the underground doctor out of his stupor.
"Eh? Wait, Celty? Why did you just slap Orihara-kun like that? No wait, why is that the first thing you did once coming home?"
[We need to talk.]
"Huh? Oh, sure! Shall we do it while snuggled up together in bed—gwuh! P-point taken... L-living room then..."
[No. Not the living room.]
"H-huh...?" Shinra gasped, rubbing his stomach.
The Dullahan gave a split-second glance at the informant lying in bed before typing.
[It's better if we head to the study instead.]
At the same time, somewhere in Sunshine City
The first thing that went through his mind, as well as everyone else's he was sure, was that the room – Souji called it that; the others begged to differ, it looked more like a banquet hall, if he had to be honest – could use something other than blue as part of the palette for its decor.
No, scratch that, it needed something other than blue, because the whole place was practically soaked in it. Even right down to the glowy door that was supposed to be invisible for people like him—
"Yo-chan can see it too, right?"
Yosuke fidgeted for the umpteenth time since arriving at the Velvet Room, and was nudged in his side for the umpteenth time after that.
"Stop that already," Chie reprimanded, her voice barely above a harsh whisper while Souji was still exchanging pleasantries and filling in what had been happening with a man with an impossibly long nose and the blonde lady in blue whom he recognised as Margaret. "You've been acting all antsy since we came here, and every time we ask why you just brush it off. I don't know about the rest but it's starting to get on my nerves."
"Well I can't help it, alright? This place is giving me the creeps," Yosuke shot back, trying not to raise his voice lest Souji could hear. He couldn't avoid letting the others, who were silently standing around him, from listening, however.
"How so?" Yukiko asked, her expression and tone in a blend of demure curiosity and blank confusion at the same time. Yosuke was pretty sure he wasn't imagining Satonaka starting to get a little more nervous than she should at that.
"Um, it's... Well, there's a piano playing along with a voice in the background, I guess...?" Yosuke offered.
"You mean the blind guy and the singing lady over there? Didn't Senpai just introduce 'em to us a while ago?" said Kanji, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the aforementioned Velvet Room residents.
"They kinda add to the creepy mood," Yosuke replied, shaking his head. "Look, I'll... I'll explain later."
"That's what you said on the chatroom this morning," Chie pointed out, eyeing the brunet doubtfully.
"Hey, not my fault we reached Shinra-sensei's place earlier than we expected. I was planning on telling you guys from the start, I swear. But I can't really do that right now, since we're all a little busy here."
"Sorry I kept you all waiting," a firm, but quiet, voice cut in. With a mildly apologetic look on his face, Souji continued, taking a few steps closer to his friends, completely oblivious to his interrupting their whispered conversation, "I took longer than I thought I needed, but Igor-san and Margaret-san told me something that I think you all ought to know more about."
With a glance that informed Yosuke that whatever they had been discussing wasn't over yet and then quickly wiping it off Chie, as did everyone else, turned to Souji's direction. "Ah, don't worry about it, Seta-kun," she assured. "So... What's this thing that's so important that all of us has to know?"
Their leader was silent for a moment as he met their eyes, prompting Yosuke to think that perhaps his partner wasn't as ignorant as he initially hoped and was actually waiting for somebody to spill the beans, but his concerns were laid to rest when Souji looked over his shoulder and at the long-nosed man and blonde woman in the middle of the blue banquet hall, before turning back to face them again. A rather grave expression settled on Souji's features, making them coarser and harder than they normally appeared; Yosuke mused how reminiscent it was of Dojima himself when he had his detective game face on, particularly the time his partner's uncle detained him at the station the night that warning letter came to the older man's attention.
Gulping, Yosuke let his arms which were crossed over his chest fall to his sides, and took a step forward. "It's bad news, isn't it?"
Souji's sigh alone was sufficient in confirming his suspicions. "It's not exactly that bad now. But..." A pause. "It could...potentially become a lot worse, very quickly, if we don't do anything about it soon."
Upon noticing the dampened atmosphere and Yosuke's very visible wince, however, the silver-haired adolescent wasted no time in elaborating, "Igor-san and Margaret-san didn't say so, though. I don't think they're allowed to tell me something that directly. Right now I'm just trying to make a best guess, but even still I believe it's something you all should be aware of, too."
"But before I get into that, there's something else you need to know. It's related to what I want to talk about. And... It's the reason I brought you all here in the first place."
And that was what Souji did, giving a detailed yet brief explanation for what the blue banquet hall was for, the contract he signed with Igor, how it had helped him all these years starting from the time he first moved to Inaba – of special note was how vital it was in helping him defeat Izanami back then – and that even Marie was connected to this place, and more.
He talked about his Wild Card ability, more than when he first introduced it back when the others asked, but when he encroached upon this certain topic he did so with a certain degree of hesitation. It was subtle, even for Souji, but it was as clear as the Velvet Room was blue in Yosuke's eyes, and it wasn't until Souji mentioned the importance of bonds that he understood why his partner never really talked about this at such great lengths before.
So Yosuke saw fit to speak up, acting as the rest of the team's voice, "Don't worry, Partner. We won't get the wrong idea about things like that. I mean, we're friends, right? We've been through so much – you seriously think we can't tell if the friendship we have isn't genuine? Besides, if it wasn't, then your Wild Card wouldn't have been able to develop the way it did, yeah?"
"He's right," Yukiko affirmed. "And don't forget, you've given us so much, too. We've all been able to face our weaknesses and grow because of you. So... Don't go thinking about whether it had been selfish on your part. You have been anything but."
At their words, as well as the warm smiles that everyone else was sporting – proof that they, too, shared the same sentiment – Souji couldn't help but allow himself a small smile.
"Thank you," he said, making sure to look at everybody in the eye at least once. "It means a lot to me."
"Hey, no problem. That's what friends are for," Yosuke replied, throwing his partner a wink, glad to have been able to raise the issue and solve it at the same time just like that. The bright look on his face, however, faded just as quickly. "Oh right sorry, I cut you off, didn't I? Don't, well, don't let what just happened get in the way of that."
"No, it's... Actually, if I'm not wrong, it might be related."
That only served to elicit an even greater degree of attention from the rest of the team. "Is that why you suddenly brought this up, Senpai?" Rise asked.
Souji gave her a clean, curt nod. Then, he stole a glance in Igor and Margaret's direction, before gesturing to the platform they were standing on.
"The Velvet Room I frequented before... It didn't look anything like this."
The Investigation Team members shared similar looks of confusion at the statement, but nobody let out a word until Souji did.
"It used to be the interior of a limousine," he elaborated. Which was an overstatement, Yosuke mused, since Souji's explanations were usually so short and to-the-point yet, strangely, vague all at once. The most glaring exception would have been when he talked about his Wild Card ability earlier, and even that had its cryptic moments. "Apparently, that's not all it's been."
Naoto seemed to have caught his drift. "So it has taken other forms prior to your patronage?" She had phrased it like a question, but her tone indicated otherwise.
"It sounded that way. Igor-san and Margaret-san once told me that the Velvet Room appears differently to different people. Changing to reflect their personalities."
"...But right now, we're all in here, and we're all seeing the same thing. ...Right?" Chie struggled to keep the pitch of her voice from raising as she realised the rather terrifying implications of what their leader just said. "P-please don't tell me that I'm just imagining all those other people here. A-and the voice that's been s-singing all this while."
Yosuke decided to tread the dangerous waters that was better known to him as the risk of getting kicked in the nads by one unnerved Satonaka Chie. "Huh? I don't see or hear anything, Satonaka. You sure it's not just you?"
"I told you not to tell me!" Chie squawked out of reflex, before she caught herself and turned to Yosuke with a sharp heel and an accusing glare. "Wait... You were just trying to scare me, weren't you Hanamura? I thought you were the one who first said that this place creeps you out."
"Oh cra— Uh, uh, I mean, um." A quick glance at his surroundings told Yosuke that nobody intended to save him from this one. In particular Souji even seemed a tad bit amused and curious about Yosuke's impression of the Velvet Room. Some partner. "Uh, whoops?"
Chie responded with a very firm and unhesitant stomp on his foot. Which he would admit that he deserved, since it was undoubtedly the better alternative to the outcome he had been expecting. Still, the sensation – which Yosuke could only describe as feeling like a brick made of tenfold steel had just crushed his toes – was far from pleasant, and he spent the next few minutes with his back hunched over as he grasped his leg, his afflicted foot throbbing along with the pulse of his heart. He could only hope Satonaka didn't break anything for real; the fact that he didn't hear anything crack the moment her foot stepped on his set him at ease in that regard.
"D-don't mind me," Yosuke croaked while attempting to wave it off. "Just...carry on 'splaining."
Souji at least managed to look a little bit guilty when he agreed to do so. "Right. As Satonaka said, all of us here are looking at the same Velvet Room. And according to Igor-san, this is the Velvet Room's true form. It's sparser and a lot simpler in terms of its design compared to what I'm used to seeing...because it's supposed to reflect its role as the guide to the human subconscious."
"But...why would the Velvet Room change?" Yukiko asked. "Is it because there are more of us here, compared to when you're visiting it alone, so it changed to a more general form to reflect that?"
It was the most logical conclusion to arrive at, and Souji admitted so, but eventually he shook his head. "I would've thought the same, Amagi. But just a few weeks ago, I came across the Velvet Room, in Raira University, and it looked just like it does now back then."
"So it's got nothing to do with the number of people visiting, then," Kanji noted.
"It doesn't look that way," Souji concurred. Then, while looking at Teddie, he continued saying, "Even when I happened to find Teddie in the Velvet Room at the same time once, the Velvet Room remained just as I had recognised. That makes it even more unlikely for the form of the Velvet Room to be influenced by the number of people visiting it."
"Wait... You mean that blue room that Teddie said he'd been in that time he went missing...?" Rise trailed off, leaving the answer to the question she had just brought up – an answer that was surely in the minds of everybody by now – hanging.
Teddie looked like he nearly tripped over himself despite not having moved a single step from where he was, his jaw dropping. "So that's what that place was! I thought that was just a funny dream I shared with Sensei!"
"Well... You're not too far off. I subconsciously visit the Velvet Room when I'm asleep, from time to time," Souji admitted.
"Hmm... If Seta-kun and Teddie saw the same thing, plus the Velvet Room changing even when it was just Seta-kun alone, then it does kinda prove that it has nothing to do with the number of people visiting it," Chie spoke. "Huh, but then... Why else would it change?"
"That's the thing I needed you all to know about it." Souji took pause, before continuing, "I have a theory. And though Igor-san and Margaret-san said they can't confirm if I'm right, I can't think of anything else that makes more sense than that. And honestly, I don't like the sound of it."
"I think… The Wild Card isn't as rare as we thought."
Inside Shinra's study
"...Hmm... I see. So that's what really happened," Shinra said, sighing to himself as he folded his arms and leaned back into the support of his chair by his desk where his personal laptop used to occupy.
Slowly folding said laptop down and sitting just right in front of him, Celty gave a silent nod, the trail of smoke swimming above her neck faltering slightly as regret and guilt began to pool at her gut, both for being so candid to Shinra about the – rather pathetic, she would say – condition she had found Izaya in at the Sea of Unconscious, and for revealing what she believed her true identity was now to be, shifting this heavy a burden onto him.
Concerning the former matter, there was no doubt that Izaya would be more than displeased if he found out that she saw him like that. Shinra knowing wouldn't rattle him a bit, but for her to have seen him in that state would almost certainly change something about their current relationship. Not that Celty particularly cared, or rather, should have cared; it didn't change her impression of him as one of the worst human beings she had ever come across, but seeing anybody like that would've stirred at least some degree of pity within them, even if it was Izaya. And that was before taking into account whatever she might have accidentally done to his memories. And now that Shinra knew all about that, Celty was certain he would bring this up with the informant, and she didn't quite want to be present for that if she had a say in the matter.
And then, concerning the latter—
Shinra interrupted her train of thoughts with yet another sigh, but when Celty looked up, she could see a warm and contented smile forming on Shinra's face. "So that's what really happened," he repeated, with a gentler tone than before.
Celty could only tilt her "head" to the side and was about to open up the laptop again before she felt herself being pulled into a sudden embrace.
Her fingers moved as quickly as the words flashed in her mind. [Shi-Shi-Shinra what—]
"Thank you, Celty."
'...Huh?'
"Thank you, for being so honest with me." Celty felt Shinra's arms tighten around her upper torso. With a chuckle, he continued, "I had a feeling you'd finally decide to confide in me, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. I guess that's another thing I have to thank Souji-kun and his friends for, huh?"
'...Shinra...'
"I love you, Celty," he whispered. "No matter who you were, or who you are now, or who you will be in the future, or who you're afraid of becoming – you'll always be the Celty I said those words to."
The shadow bleeding from the Dullahan's severed neck trembled as she brought her arms up and wrapped them around Shinra, returning her beloved's embrace. Then, she rested where her chin would've been on his shoulder, letting her shadows brush against it.
'I...don't want to leave,' said Celty's mind. 'I want to be like this... I want this moment to last forever.'
"I know," Shinra replied, bringing Celty even closer to him, until she could feel the thumping of his heart as if it were her own. "So do I."
'But if I stay...'
"You will," he corrected.
Celty froze for a moment before her fingers curled into fists as she tried to melt away from Shinra's hold. 'I can't,' she said. 'It... She...won't let me.'
Shinra laughed weakly at that, in spite of the atmosphere surrounding the situation. "I was afraid you'd say that," he admitted. "It's one thing to have suspected that possibility. ...It's another to hear it from you personally."
'...Shinra...'
"That's why, all the more..." Celty felt Shinra's fingers digging into her makeshift clothes created from the shadows she was able to manipulate as simple and naturally as breathing was for humans, and was reminded once again of the harsh reality of her true heritage. "All the more... I don't want to let you go."
'...! Don't be ridiculous!' Celty protested mentally, trying again to break free from her beloved's embrace. 'Do you know what's at stake if I continue staying here? Are you going to pretend that this won't change things? We can't be selfish and just concern ourselves with our relationship, Shinra. Teddie-kun's fears... They might actually come true!'
"But look at where Teddie-kun is now!" Shinra responded, the anxiety and worry that he had once harboured in his heart and was being reawakened gushing into his voice, along with an array of hope, desire, and – most importantly – love. "Didn't he believe the same of himself once? That's why he left, didn't he? But his friends managed to bring him back, and his fears never became reality, right?"
'I'm not like Teddie-kun, Shinra...! It might've been okay for him, but not for me!'
"We won't know unless we try," Shinra said firmly.
'...Will you still be saying that if I reconnect with my head and look at you and not know who you are anymore?'
"Haha. You're actually going to ask me that when you already know the answer?"
The next moment they shared together was spent in silence from both parties, until Celty broke it as her shoulders shook while she finally leaned forward. 'You really are an idiot,' she said. 'Aren't you scared? I might forget about you. I might forget about everyone I met and everything I did here. Everything my current self treasures... I might forget it all, and even destroy it. Even then... You'll still try to get me to stay?'
The only answer to the Dullahan's question was her beloved's warm smile.
And that was all the answer she needed.
A/N: ...I am so sorry for not updating in so long. I hit a terrible writer's block - much worse than the one I usually have - and just...couldn't gather the motivation to write. I'm slowly trying to pick up the pace, but I can't promise my usual monthly updates at the moment. I'll try my best, however. And do rest assured - even if it may take months or years for me to update, I won't abandon this fic. I do have a spinoff/sequel planned that I'm really keen on working on, after all!
So... About this chapter. Not much going on - the Walk on the Diagonal chapters are meant to be exposition and setting up - but next chapter onwards we'll be getting to the meat of this arc. The main big hints revealed in this chapter would be that there's another Wild Card user and a bit more detail into what happened with Celty and Izaya in the Sea of Unconsciousness, as well as Celty's true identity aside from being a Dullahan. Have fun guessing who's the other Wild Card in this story! ;)
And lastly, thank you all so much for your support for this fic. I'm sorry it's taken so long. I'm still working on that writer's block by working on another fic first *hint hint* and I think it's making progress, so hopefully I can get back into the general rhythm and habit of writing again.
