Eiji smirked as he stepped out onto the streets of Ikebukuro, wearing dark blue jeans and a short-sleeved hoodie, he had raven spiked hair. He turned to his three other siblings, arms outstretched and shouted, "Welcome to our new lives!" Hiruo and Jupei looked around the bustling city, it was unlike anything they were used to. Honestly, they didn't understand why Eiji had picked such a vibrant place, they were sure to stand out.

Hiruo wore deep brown combats and a sleeveless army shirt with black tipless gloves, he had jaw length brown hair that was jagged at the ends, covering over one eye.

Jupei wore white knee length shorts and a long-sleeved grey hoodie, he had light brown dreadlock hair that came passed his ears.

Mayu was the only female of the four, she had her hands in her khaki slacks as her eyes were wide with anticipation. Sporting a brown slightly torn shirt. The four were quadruplets, though you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at them.

"This is going to be the start of something amazing, I can feel it!"

Hirou shrugged, despite wearing an army get up style, he was the least likely to pick a fight with anyone. In fact, he was quiet and rarely expressed any emotion; or so it appeared to others. "Hope we don't get lost."

"We'll be fine Hirou, come on! This city's energy! I can feel it already, coursing through my fucking veins!" Eiji, he was their leader, protective of them, but was the only one out of the four that truly had no empathy.

Mayu blew a bubble with her gum and said, "We don't even have a home." She was the level-headed one out of the four. Sometimes, if Eiji got out of control, she'd be the only one able to talk him down. "What exactly are we supposed to do? We're seventeen, who the hell is going to listen or want to talk to us?"

"I'd be willing to bet a lot of people are talkative if approached the right way. I bet the people in the city are willing to provide us with a lot of stuff we'd wanna know about. I mean, who wouldn't be enthusiastic about their own city!"

Jupei placed his hands behind his head, he was Eiji's right-hand man. "Lead the way then, we can't exactly stand here all day."

Eiji looked around the city, grinning at how alive he felt, he could feel the mystical air around him, it was unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

Mayu popped another bubble and said, "So what do we do then?"

"Let's explore this place."

…

The four had been walking around the city of Ikebukuro for an hour, doing all they could to memorise the places, so they didn't get lost if ever separated. Hirou sighed and placed his hands in his pockets as he said, "Well so far, we've learned about zero info about anything."

Eiji replied, "Patience, it's a big city."

Mayu then spoke. "He's right though, if we want to learn anything about the city, we should split up."

The four stopped outside a small building known as sunshine city. Hirou nodded. "Seems like a promising idea to me."

"All right, this spot seems like a good place to meet up, so let's come back here in a few hours, 16:00, okay?" they nodded and then walk away. Eiji smirked and his hands curled into fists. "No more living in the gutters, this is our time now!" he began to laugh which quickly grew into hysterics. "This city will be mine!"

A few people slowed down as they turned to the boy laughing in the middle of the sidewalk. Eiji continued to smirk. "I can already feel this city's power, it's like a drug... It's filling every part of me, bursting through my every vein!" Eiji ran along the path, he lost all awareness and soon enough he was knocked off his feet. He grimaced a little, his elbows knocking against the side of the pavement. Whoa, what the hell? It felt like he'd literally just rammed into a wall. Eiji tilted his head up as he pushed himself up with his palms. Whoa, this guy is fricking tall!

Auburn eyes glared down at him. "Jesus, watch where the hell you're going!"

Eiji's eyes widened for a moment and then he grinned as he stood up. "Sorry about that, I guess I was just mesmerised by how amazing this city is, I'm new here." Eiji held out his hand. "I apologise."

The man - who appeared to be wearing a bartender uniform – snorted. "No harm done I guess, you're lucky I'm in somewhat of a good mood."

Eiji tilted his head with a lopsided smirk. "Aren't you normally then?"

There appeared to be a shorter man with him, who gave him a sympathetic look. "Just high tail in outta here kid, if you know what's good for you." He turned to the taller one and said, "Let's go Shizuo."

"Yeh, all right." Shizuo glared at him as he passed by and Eiji wiggled his fingers.

"Nice meeting you!" Eiji placed his hands in his pockets, he was taken aback by the strange presence of the man he'd bumped into. His size didn't match the solid build he had but looks could be deceiving. Shizuo. I might just have to learn more about you.

Mayu walked into a mall, her eyes shining with yearning, but she sighed, like she could really afford anything. She wasn't sure why she was here, but if she was going to gather some facts about the city, then she figured that kids around her age would probably be at the mall. She looked between the rows of shops until she came across two that looked close to her age, and - she didn't know the dress-codes of school uniforms, but they certainly stood out regardless. She looked at her watch, it was only two, she had plenty of time before she had to meet her brothers. She ran across the other side and stepped in front of them. The two stopped walking, Mayu looked at them, they were almost identical, both girls.

The one with glasses piped up first, hands on her hips. "Hey! We almost bumped into you, careful where you're walking, were you deliberately trying to get our attention or something? There's such a thing as calling out."

Mayu was awed by the girl's confidence - yet friendly nature.

"Oh I just, well I'm new - I mean, my brothers and I are new to the city. I was wondering if maybe you could tell me about it, since you're my age and all."

"Well you look a little older than us, how old are you exactly?"

"Seventeen."

"Seriously? Do you always just walk up to random teenage girls and ask about their hometown?" the girl laughed.

"You seemed approachable."

The shorter haired one spoke, she appeared to be wearing gym clothes, though not much, wasn't she worried about stares? "Even weirder."

"So, you're new and you're here with your brothers, are they weird like you? Do they approach random people too?"

Mayu suddenly felt scrutinized and interrogated. "My brothers are the same age. We moved here today; we're just trying to get acquainted."

"Same age, are you a triplet!?"

"Quadruplet."

The hyper one's eyes widened with excitement. "Wow! That's crazy! I've never met a quadruplet before! Cool." She held her hand out. "I'm Mairu Orihara. This is my twin sister Kururi. So, have you finished school already?"

"We don't go to school."

Mairu jumped. "Sweet! So what do you wanna know? We can tell you all sorts of weird stuff you wouldn't believe!"

Hirou stopped at a crossing, as he looked to his left, he saw a tall well-built man handing out flyers. "Come! Come eat at Russia sushi! It good food and cheap deals!" Hirou stepped closer to him, the man even had a Russian accent.

Russia Sushi? That seems kind of Cliché. The man looked down at him, he grinned happily and shoved a flyer in his face.

"It good food! Come and try!"

"Erm. Sorry, I don't have any money." The man continued to shout into the groups of people that walked by. "Hey, could you maybe give me some information about the city? I'm kind of new here."

The man looked down at him, tilting his head and tapped his chin. "Ikebukuro good city. Good people live here. Lots of interesting people, good friends."

That's it? "Anything else? Like who these interesting people might be?"

"Always good to see for yourself, learning is good for the soul! As is sushi!"

What does that even mean? Hirou waved a little and then skittered passed him. "Well that went well." He checked his watch, it was already 15:15 and he hadn't gotten anything, he hoped his siblings were having better luck then he was.

Jupei smiled as he leaned on the railings, the boy in front of him seemed keen on telling him about the city - or rather cities. There was just more than one interesting city, like the two had a strong connection to one another. Yet so far, a lot of the more bizarre stuff happened in Ikebukuro. He must have struck luck somewhere when he found this boy, he hadn't stopped talking since. He appeared to be wearing a school uniform, so the boy was young, maybe around 16. He also seemed goofy, like he lacked a lot of self-confidence, but Jupei had learned not to underestimate people like that.

"Honestly, you'd be amazed at what this city can offer a young guy like you, I was new just like you are now. It's the best place to be once you get used to it, I don't mind showing you around sometime, I can tell you more about stuff-"

Jupei held his hand up with a small chuckle. "Thanks, but I'll be fine. I can probably find my own way around now. You've been helpful, when I asked around earlier, not many were willing to tell me a lot like you did, so thanks."

The boy tensed, but then he smiled and said, "I'm Mikado by the way, Mikado Ryugamine... I don't really know all that much, just what I see on the surface."

Jupei smiled. "Now now, don't be modest, you were really helpful, my brothers and sister will be pretty grateful too."

"I can't believe you're new and you're a quadruplet, I don't think I've ever seen that before." Mikado began to panic again. "I'm not implying you're something to be watched or anything like that-"

Jupei gestured around the city. "You must be used to all this by now, so naturally when someone new or something, comes along, it's pretty exciting."

Mikado gave a nervous laugh. "Y-yeah... I guess so."

Jupei clapped a hand on his shoulder before walking passed him and said, "Well, see you around."

Mikado spun around suddenly. "Wait!"

Jupei turned to him. "Something else? You should start charging people, could make a little money with what you know."

Mikado reacted shyly to that statement, like he was generally flattered. "Like I said, I'm not that good, I'm just telling you what I've learned over the time that I've lived here. There's this guy who knows a whole bunch of things, he's a pretty sketchy guy when you first meet him. He's an information broker, he does this sort of thing for a living, you'd be amazed by how much he knows."

Jupei hooked his thumbs into the hem of his white shorts. "This guy got a name?"

"Oh, yeh, it's Izaya Orihara; he's always hanging around here, but your best bet is to look around Shinjuku first."

"I just might do that; well, gotta go, see you, Mikado."

"Right...see you."

Jupei turned away from the boy with a grin. Well that was easier than I thought, Eiji was right, this town was willing to give away its secrets to strangers.

Just as they agreed, the four met back up at 4pm outside sunshine city. Eiji was sat upon the high wall as he addressed his siblings. "So what have we learned, anything of interest?"

Mayu waved her hand dismissively. "Mine seems far-fetched if you ask me, I think I'll go last."

Hirou sighed and said, "I couldn't get a thing out of anyone, at least, nothing that was helpful. All I could get out of one guy was that there were a lot of interesting people around, and that the city was good. Also, apparently Russia sushi was the best place to eat." They raise an eyebrow at him. "Like I said, nothing helpful."

Eiji then turned to Jupei, who in return smirked and said, "I got the best stuff, so you go next."

Eiji snorted. "Within the first ten minutes, I came across a guy, but this guy wasn't normal, I mean, he was human sure; but this guy, there was just something about him, something that screamed total strength. It was almost scary, I bumped into him and it was like honestly running into a wall. He seemed like the type to get mad pretty quickly too," Eiji smirked. "Lucky me that apparently I caught him on a good day."

Mayu rolled her eyes. "Sounds like this guy is as far-fetched as what I discovered."

"I thought you might say that, so I asked around a little, not many people were willing to talk about him, they got this feared look in their eye...it was almost as if it was forbidden to talk about him. All I could get was a name - Shizuo Heiwajima."

Hirou then clicked his tongue. "That's not helpful at all."

Eiji frowned at him. "Well, at least I found something." Hirou folded his arms in a sulk, but his face remained passive. The spikey teen then turned back to his right-hand man. "Jupei?"

Jupei chuckled and shook his head. "Nope, Mayu first."

Mayu placed her hands on her hips. "I said I wanted to go last!"

"Tough."

Mayu sighed frustratingly. "Fine asshole. I met these twins-"

Eiji's eyes became excited. "Female twins? Hot?"

Mayu rolled her eyes. "Young female twins, maybe around fifteen. Anyway, they told me that there's some kinda urban legend that's famous around here. It's called the headless rider, the abnormal part is, they were really convincing that the thing was real. It rides around on a bike, only it's not a bike, it's a headless horse disguised as a bike. It's known as a Dullahan."

Hirou frowned in thought. "Dullahan? Isn't that a fairy-tale?"

Mayu shrugged. "I said it was far-fetched, but I'm telling you, they were very believable, I think they might even be friends with it - I also got the impression the Dullahan is a female. If needed, they'd be approachable, they were willing to tell me a lot, so I got their names too, Mairu and Kururi Orihara."

Jupei began to laugh, they turn to look at him, Eiji leaned over - his hands resting over his knees. "Okay hotshot, time to spill your info."

Jupei continued to chuckle. "I honestly didn't expect what I learned to be so connected to yours, just wait until you hear this-"

"So tell us already." Mayu huffed in annoyance.

"At first, like Hirou, I wasn't able to get a lot out of anyone. Then I met this high school kid, he explained that he knew what it was like to be new, you wouldn't believe the stuff he was willing to tell me. He told me not to get on the bad side of - nor to piss off-" Jupei pointed at Eiji. "Shizuo Heiwajima, the guy is seriously fucking nuts, like crazy strong. Then, he explained about the-" he pointed to Mayu. "Headless rider, the legend of all legends, a Dullahan with amazing abilities, rides around on a bike." Jupei could tell he had their attention just by their gaping faces, so he continued. "There's another strong guy who hangs around-" he then pointed at Hirou. "Russia sushi-"

"Whoa! I met that guy! He was huge!"

"He can stop that Shizuo guy's punches too, or so I've heard. He mentioned a few other strangely odd people around, like this group of people that drive around in a van, they've done some crazy stunts before. he mentioned a few gangs that hung around - oh by the way - there's another city called Shinjuku, this one and that one happen to be connected to one another, not just in the literal sense either; anyway, if all the stuff that happen - or will happen – it happens in these two cities. The gangs I mentioned are known as colour gangs; the yellow scarves - there use to be a gang known as the blue squares, but apparently, they've disbanded. There's also another gang - the most resourceful and probably most dangerous – and they're known as The Dollars, and they're a great deal in numbers. This gang has no colour, so no one could tell who's a dollar and who's not. I'd be willing to bet though, that most of whom we come across, are in the dollars. Like that Shizuo guy; Mikado for sure, and those two twins, maybe even that Russian guy."

They stared in awe at the information being provided by Jupei, who the hell was this Mikado kid? Whoever he was, didn't have no qualms in supplying what they wanted to know, no matter what it was. Eiji then spoke. "So this Mikado kid could be reliable, and if he is in that Dollar's gang, even better."

"Though it might have sounded like he told me a lot of stuff, he was careful about his detail. At first I thought the same as you, naïve; but he stepped carefully around specific detail, like whatever he told me, had more to it then what he was letting on; details on the surface, rather than the depths."

Eiji smirked. "Maybe he's the type that can be persuaded?"

Jupei shrugged. "He admitted that he wasn't the best person to come to for knowledge. That brings me to one other important person that we should keep in mind, which - come to think of it - might have a relation to the twins you met Mayu. This guy is a famous information broker, Mikado said that he'd be the one to go to for everything that we'd wanna know about. Izaya Orihara."

Eiji jumped down off the wall, laughing as he clapped a hand over Jupei's shoulder. "Well, you my dear brother, are officially our info broker. You picked a great kid there; stupid kid, but great."

Jupei placed his hands in his pockets. "He did freak a little, like he realised too late that he'd probably told me too much."

Eiji laughed again. "Not our problem."

"So," Hirou began, "we learned a lot in such a short amount of time, now what do we do with it?"

"I think, it's about time we were in control now." Eiji's smirk darkened. "We've been looked down upon and ridiculed long enough. Starting from now, we will be the ones that are feared, we will be what those people talk about on the streets, it's about time this city had something new to talk about."

Jupei leaned against the wall. "I'm on board with that, but even with what we've learned, I don't think we're going to get far, just the four of us. If those people that I mentioned are all connected to one another, including others around them, we don't wanna go messing with them - at least not right now."

Eiji grinned as he placed each of his hands on Jupei and Hirou's shoulder. "That I understand, so I think if we want to gain some respect, we're going to need a lot more manpower."

Hirou raised an eyebrow and said, "You mean like - our own gang or something?"

Eiji's expression turned sour. "I don't like that reference, I think gangs are outdated, there's too many of them. I prefer the term group myself, we're just a group of individuals working our way up the ladder."

"No," Mayu exclaimed, "we're four people, and what are they joining us for exactly?" She could tell Eiji was serious, he believed they could pull off something like that; from the minute they stepped onto the streets of Ikebukuro, things had already started to change.

Eiji's smirk widened. "Control. We'll get more people to aid us, we'll be unstoppable."

"Sounds like a gang to me," Hirou muttered under his breath.

Eiji glared at him. "We're not a gang!"

Hirou shrugged. "Whatever, it's your idea, I'll follow anyway."

The girl nodded. "Me too; just try not to get too excited, we don't know what these well-known people are really capable of."

Eiji laughed. "It's not them I want, I want to bring those down; no, what we need, is people that are not so well-known, people like, us."

Jupei laughed sardonically. "You mean, lowlifes with nothing else to lose?"

Eiji shoved him backwards but grinned. "No need to be so blunt. I want to learn more about the headless rider, this Heiwajima guy, and Izaya Orihara. Those three stand out the most to me, the more we know about them, the less trouble we can avoid - at least for now."

Mayu nodded and placed her hands in her pockets. "I'll find those twins again, if they're a definite relation, they might be just as excited to talk about him as they were with the headless rider."

Eiji turned to Jupei. "Think you can get anything else out of that boy?"

Jupei shook his head. "Probably not, I get the feeling that's about all he's willing to say, we don't wanna push it, it might look a bit suspicious."

"We should also "acquire" some phones; doesn't have to be fancy technology, just basics, internet would be good though."

"By acquire, you mean..." Eiji tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Right, just making sure."

"The law-abiding motives we ever had are long gone, we're going to do whatever it takes to get ourselves to where we want to be. Hirou, since you're useless with conversation, you can look for a place to hide, something big, relatively comfortable, just try keeping in mind that it will have to suffice as our home."

Hirou nodded. "Though I resent the useless remark, sounds like it'll be more plausible then whatever you guys wanna do."

Mayu snorted and then turned to Eiji. "Shouldn't getting a place to stay be our first priority?"

Jupei held his finger up and said, "Actually, getting phones is more important, if Hirou finds a place to stay, how's he supposed to let us know?"

Eiji threw his hands up in frustration. "All right! phones first. We better stop acting like amateurs, otherwise no one will take us seriously, and that I will not stand for."

Mayu looked among the crowds. "I think we're going to need more than just phones. If we really are throwing honesty, morality and all that other good for nothing garbage to the wind. We also need money. There's a lot of selective people around, there's plenty of daylight left and pickpocketing is something we all know how to do."

Eiji smirked and placed his arm around his sister. "Your level cute head is something to be worshipped Mayu."

Mayu rolled her eyes, shrugging his arm off. "You always forget basic survival tactics when you set your sights on something."

"Lucky for me that you're here, I can always count on you." Eiji clapped his hands together. "Okay, new priority. Jupei and I will get the phones; Mayu, you and Hirou grab whatever cash you can get your sneaky little hands on. Be careful about those you pick from, we don't want any attention on us just yet, especially the cops, got it?"

Jupei sighed. "We know how to get the goods man."

For the length of daylight that the four had left, they began targeting vulnerable looking people. The occasional, 'So sorry about that'stammer as they intentionally bumped into people. It wasn't long before they had swept the crowds and swiped from them what they needed.

Just after the sun began to set, the four grouped together back at their starting point, satisfaction clear across their faces. "Time to reveal the prizes," Eiji said. They hid behind a wall, knelt in a circle. They began to empty their pockets; cash, watches, cards, two expensive looking rings and – four phones. "Brothers-" Mayu glared at him. "and sister." Eiji smirked darkly. "We're going to take this city."

...

Within a week, the group of four had already mapped out the city of Ikebukuro, they'd gotten a comfortable home inside an old factory. They now had a good supply of food and, money to buy other necessities with. Mayu placed a box of dried food in a corner of the factory. "This place still gives me the creeps." She then took a Granola bar out of the said box.

Eiji rolled his eyes from where he was sat on the top of the railings. "Is that all you're going to say?"

Mayu took a bite of the bar and stuck her middle finger up at her brother and then walked over to stand below him. "We know now that this was where those other gangs use to hang out, feels like we're setting camp on a burial ground or something."

Eiji snorted. "Pretty sure no one died here Mayu, no need for dramatics."

Mayu glared at him. "It's creepy."

"Whatever; it's spacious and no one has bothered us yet, so quit complaining."

"Not to deliberately change the subject or anything, but what are we going to use the money we stole for? We can just steal everything, so why do we really need it?"

"For important things Mayu, not everything is easy to steal. Until we gather more people for our cause, things will be hard."

Mayu huffed. "We don't have a cause; taking over the city and becoming a gang is not a cause."

Eiji smashed his fist against the panelling. "We're not a gang!" he gritted his teeth at her, and she glared up at him and waved her hand dismissively.

"Whatever."

Eiji calmed himself and then stood up and jumped over the railing, landing beside her. "Did you find the twins again?"

"Yes actually. They go to a high school in Ikebukuro, Raira Academy."

Eiji blinked at her. "I didn't ask you to stalk them, geez."

Mayu rolled her eyes. "I didn't stalk them. I ran into them this morning, they told me what school they went to and told me to meet them there."

"And?"

Mayu shrugged. "Jupei was right, that broker guy is a relation, he's their brother. He's around twenty something – twenty-four I think."

Eiji chuckled. "That's not useful information Mayu."

"Shut up. Does it matter anyway?" Mayu placed a hand on her hip. "While you're griping on at me, what did you do today?"

Eiji smirked. "Browsed the internet."

Mayu snorted. "For what exactly, ways to control a city for beginners? Somehow I don't think there's a guide for that."

Eiji folded his arms. "You'll see, I'll show you once the other two get back."

"Where exactly have they gone anyway?"

"Probably rubber necking or something."

Mayu sat down on the low wall, scrunching up the wrapper in her hand. "I get the feeling we're not going to learn much more."

"I agree with you, I think we'd be more likely to learn more from those less fortunate."

Mayu rolled her eyes. "Not this again."

"Just wait, it'll all come together, you'll see."

"When I see more people in the group, then I'll believe you."

"You don't believe that people can be easily manipulated?"

Mayu shrugged and then tapped her chin in thought. "It's probably possible, depends how confident the one doing the manipulating is."

Eiji grinned darkly. "I think I can be very manipulative." Eiji then pulled out a gun from his jacket, it was a handgun, 9mm Beretta to be precise. Mayu's eyes widened and she ran over to him.

"Where the fuck did you get that?" for a moment, fear flooded through her, things were escalating a lot faster than she originally thought they would. It had only been a week and so far, they'd gotten a good supply of food, money, a place to live; now they even had a weapon for which to defend themselves.

"Remember when I said that we'll use the money for important things?" Eiji looked at the weapon. "I think this might count as something important, don't you?" he looked at her shocked face. "Getting too much for you?"

Mayu chewed her lip and then she shook her head. "I just didn't expect this, where did you get that?"

"Not from a shop, obviously."

Mayu snorted. "So you've got a dealer now?"

Eiji laughed. "No no, it's not like that; if you look in the right places, you can buy anything for a fair price."

"Are we talking about a black market?"

"Exactly, amazing what browsing the internet can do, and you thought I was just being lazy."

Mayu calmed herself, in a way, having a weapon, she felt a lot safer. She then smiled. "I'm rather impressed." Her smile turned into a grin. "I bet there's probably not even any bullets in that thi-" an echoing shot rang out, Mayu stiffened and then looked to her left, smoke puffed out from a marred part of the ground. She spun around and glared at him. "You fucking idiot! You scared the crap out of me!"

Eiji burst into laughter. "You should have seen your face!" he laughed harder as he clapped her on the shoulder, he calmed himself and then tightened his hold.

Mayu remained passive, but part of her was afraid, there was no going back now. "Big deal, you can shoot the ground. At least you've proved that you can use it."

"Worried that I might not be able to shoot an actual human being?"

Mayu tensed, she knew what Eiji could be capable of. More like the exact opposite.

Eiji chuckled. "I'm sure it won't come to that, relax, it's more for reassurance then anything."

The two turn their attention from one another when the door to their hide out creaked open. Jupei held his hands out when Mayu jumped. "Just us."

Eiji chuckled again. "She's just a little jumpy because of this." He then showed them the weapon.

Jupei ran into the factory with excited eyes. "Whoa! Sweet, how'd you get that?"

Hirou shut the door and then moved over to the others. "So we're gonna just shoot our way through the city or what? Threaten people into joining us?"

Eiji grinned. "Not in the literal sense."

"So then what?"

"If you want to be in control, you've gotta make it look like you're not to be messed with."

"So we are threatening them."

"No, but we'll make them think that at least, they'll see we're not just punks."

Jupei jumped up and pumped his fist in the air. "So fucking sweet!"

Eiji grinned and looked over at Mayu. "Looks like you're the only one with the problem."

Mayu punched him in the arm. "Shut up. I'm on board alright, I was just surprised, that's all."

…...

Izaya stopped typing and glanced at his phone, checking the ID, he grinned when he answered. "Mairu, using your phone during school hours?"

Mairu rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah. Don't give me the pep talk of school rules. You broke them all the time."

Izaya chuckled. "What do you want? I am busy you know."

"Shut up already, let me talk."

Izaya snorted. "Since you asked so nicely..."

Mairu stomped her foot in frustration. "Shut up. Anyway, I met this girl last week, she said she was new to the city, so I told her some good places to go and told her about the headless rider, you know, cause she's a legend and all that."

Izaya then frowned. "Mairu, what did you do?"

Mairu's mouth opened in surprise and then she pouted. "Why do you assume I done something?"

"Because you're stalling, what did you do?"

Kururi looked at her sister, she then took the phone off her. "She's telling the truth."

Izaya leaned back against his chair. "Kururi, that's not very convincing coming from you, you're obligated to take her side."

"Shut up." Izaya rolled his eyes, wondering how many times they were going to tell him to shut up. "We ran into her again yesterday, outside the school and she started asking about you."

Izaya was intrigued now, especially when something involved him directly. "And?"

"She asked where to find you."

Mairu then snatched the phone back. "She was kind of weird! Of course, I didn't tell her anything, except that we were brother and sister; though I don't think I needed to, she seemed like she already knew the answers. I think she was just expecting me to elaborate."

Izaya opened a new tab on his computer. "Did she tell you why she was looking for me, or how she even knows about me in the first place?"

"She didn't say."

"Did you get anything about her?"

Kururi snatched the phone back again. "Her name is Mayu, she's seventeen and she's a quadruplet."

Izaya began searching through a few articles, looking up records of people going by the name of Mayu and adding quadruplets to the search bar. "Anything else?"

"We know she doesn't go to school; I don't think she's been here that long either."

"Did you get her last name?"

"I couldn't keep her talking that long, she reminded me of you a little."

Mairu pressed her face against her sister's. "She's untrustworthy if you ask me."

Izaya chuckled at the statement. "Doesn't say much about me then."

"Yeah well, we know you. Besides, we like you now."

Izaya shook his head with a smile. "That's good to know."

"I suppose you're gonna do whatever it is you do to get everything on this girl now, right?"

Izaya shrugged and huffed a laugh. "I don't think it's anything to worry that much about."

Mairu frowned. "You liar!" the phone then cut off, Mairu blinked. "Did he just-"

Kururi nodded. "He hung up."

Mairu stomped her foot again. "That ungrateful - I'm going to punch him right in the face when I next see him!"

"No you won't." Kururi walked away and Mairu stomped after her.

"Oh yes I will! You shouldn't ever hang up on your little sister! Especially when she's trying to warn you that a creepy girl is asking about you!" Mairu panted angrily, Kururi turned around and then kissed her on the lips. Mairu breathed out calmly and then smiled. "I feel better now."

"Good. I'm sure Izaya is right, she probably isn't anyone to worry about."

"Not that his stupid big head would worry anyway! He's probably excited that he gets to stalk someone new."

Kururi continued to walk through the empty corridor back to their classroom. "You were worried about him."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

….

Izaya stopped his search and leaned back, linking his fingers in thought. "How did such a newbie know my name, no one moves to a new city and instantly knows everything. Kida was the one that told-" Izaya grinned. "Mikado. So nice of him to brag about me." He grabbed his phone and scrolled through his contacts. Izaya waited until the stuttering voice of Mikado came through the phone.

{H-hello? This is kind of a bad time-}

"Make time." Izaya gritted his teeth, he was trying hard not to sound pissed, but, well, he was. He knew that as soon as he spoke, Mikado would know who it was.

{Oh. Orihara-san, I'm kind of on my way to my next class.}

"We need to have a little talk."

{But-}

"Now." Izaya took a breath and calmed himself. "I won't keep you; I just want to pick your brain about something."

{O-okay...}

"I think you know what this is about don't you?"

{I don't know-}

"Has anyone approached you recently, someone that you might have told a bunch of things to?"

There was silence for a moment, and then – {Last week, there was this guy, I guess a couple of years older than me, he said he was new to the city. I just gave him some advice and stuff; I might have told him about Celty too - not in any detail! Just the legendary part...}

Izaya drummed his fingers against his desk. Not what I'm fishing for. "Anything else?"

{I told him to stay away from Shizuo Heiwajima, and not to piss him off.}

Izaya clicked his tongue and then chuckled. "Good advice."

{Yeah...}

Nope, the boy wasn't going to talk. Izaya huffed. "I'm going to get to the point here, I know you told him about me."

{I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking, I didn't realise until I said it, that you might not want someone telling another person about you. He just seemed to want to know a lot, I just - well, you were kind of the first person I thought of and things slipped out.}

Izaya rolled his eyes. "He's a quadruplet, did you know that?"

{Yes…he told me.}

"Information - despite how little - can go a long way. The sister of the group approached my sisters too, asking other info about me."

{I didn't tell him anything about them! I swear!}

"She found them on her own, but once you bragged to the brother about me, well...naturally they connected us."

{Oh, I didn't realise this would cause a problem; he threw me off with his outburst of questions. I know what's it like to be new, I was just-}

Izaya grinned. "Mimicking a certain young other teen that we both know? perhaps your time to act like the big shot?"

{No! I mean...}

"You should really learn who to trust. Masaomi already knew you, therefore, the trust. Do you make a habit of telling complete strangers?"

"No, actually, he kind of reminded me of you a little."

Izaya laughed. "That wasn't enough of a clue not to trust him?" Though come to think of it, that's what my sisters said about that girl. "I'll leave you alone, I just wanted to clear that up."

"Orihara-san?"

"Izaya."

"Oh right. Izaya?"

"What is it?"

"I'm really sorry."

Izaya chuckled. "Don't lose sleep over it, I'll deal with it all right?"

"O-okay..."

Izaya hung up and went back to his search, something was stirring. Izaya couldn't help but feel irritated; it was funny, because back before he and Shizuo became an item, he would have been all over this; now, now he was just annoyed. "Those little fools have no idea what they're getting into." Izaya began to search the message board on The Dollars website, he scrolled through the posts.

'My wallet was stolen! Can you believe this?'

'I lost my watch, does anyone know about a missing watch?'

'I still can't find my phone; it's been a week.'

'Oh my god, I lost my cell phone too! How freaky.'

'Me too!'

'Sounds like a serial thief is around.'

Judging from the locations of the posts, they all appeared to be around Ikebukuro.

"Well that confirms how much of an amateur they are."

Shizuo then came into the apartment with a brown bag in his hand, toeing off his shoes by the door. "I brought dinner, Chinese style, if that's okay."

"Fine." Izaya stood up from the chair and walked over to him. "I don't suppose you've come across any suspicious looking people lately."

Shizuo snorted as they entered the kitchen, he put the food on the table. "Define suspicious, you know I think that most people are."

Izaya chuckled. "All right, I guess I knew that; perhaps sketchy, still in their teens. The kind that you might not like when you've just met them."

Shizuo brought two plates over to the table and then grinned at the raven. "You mean like when I first met you?"

Izaya pouted and then sat at the table. "If you want."

Shizuo laughed and then sat opposite as he took out the boxes from the bag. "Now that you mention it, there was this one kid, he bumped into me last week, I was pissed off and told him to look where he was going. He wasn't all that fazed, but then again he did catch me in somewhat of a good mood."

Izaya grinned at him. "That is rare."

Shizuo glared at him. "Anyway, I didn't like him, he seemed - as you put it - sketchy and kind of cocky. Actually-"

Izaya frowned. "Don't you dare."

Shizuo blinked at him. "What? I was going to say he reminded me of you."

Izaya sighed and tipped some rice onto his plate. "I thought as much, everyone keeps saying that."

Shizuo took a fork full of chicken and ate it before then asking, "Whose everyone? This kid flaunting around acting like your double or something? Because I can barely handle one of you." Izaya huffed and then explained the connections that he'd been able to piece together. "So because that high school kid ran his mouth off, they're now asking around about you?"

Though Izaya shrugged, he began to get a strange feeling, he knew he shouldn't underestimate these new kids. "Seems like it."

Shizuo narrowed his eyes. "They're just damn punks, but I thought it was normal, for your line of work."

"It is, but they haven't been in this city for that long, and they don't strike me as the type that would need information-"

Shizuo knew what Izaya was getting at, because he too felt the same vibes. "Unless they were up to something?"

Izaya smiled. "They just don't know what they're getting into yet."

"The kid who bumped into me, he never mentioned you."

"I figured as much, since you'd have knocked him into next week."

Shizuo smirked. "Probably."

Izaya picked a prawn out of the box and chuckled as he leaned over and Shizuo took it from his fingers. "I'm not the only one they're asking about, you must have made quite the impression on him that day, they want to know more about you too."

"Why?" Shizuo then took a spring roll from the small bag and held it between his teeth, waiting for Izaya to take the other end. The raven raised an eyebrow, looking at it with a tilt of his head.

"You're serious?"

Shizuo nodded with a half grin. Izaya shrugged and then leaned forward to bite the other end, they met in the middle and Shizuo kissed him. Izaya shook his head with amusement, the blond seemed playful today. "Social media I suppose, a lot of people probably upload all kinds of videos of you."

Shizuo clenched his fists. "I'm not a damn freak show."

Izaya covered Shizuo's hand with his own. "Humans Shizu-chan, they think everything unusual is a show, it's all for lol's."

"Bastards."

"If they are trying to plan something, then you can guarantee it won't be long before one of them asks for my help."

…...

The four siblings had quickly discovered that those desperate enough were willing to do anything to gain some respect back. A few had been knocked down in the recent couple of years and made to live life poorly. Others used to be part of organizations of the underground and had found themselves soon without any power left at all. These types of people had no emotional attachments and portrayed no remorse, it was exactly the type of people the four were hoping for. Having no real idea what they really wanted still from their growing group, because they had the resources and the manpower, but still no motives or ideas.

All they knew, was that they wanted to make people pay for ever treating them like nobody's, the others in their group wanted the same thing. There were several suggestions to seek out the information broker's help, Izaya Orihara was well-known amongst them. They'd also learned that some of them held serious grudges toward him too and didn't hesitate to share their equal hate toward Shizuo either. Unfortunately for them though, if they wanted to get further, Izaya was their best shot. Though nowadays, he had become choosy with his clients, and didn't interfere with anyone's lives as much as before.

Eiji stood at a lamppost of a street corner, the feel of the gun tucked within his jacket kept him calm. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he almost jumped, turning to his left, no one was there, that was when he heard a voice to his right. "I'm impressed that you found me so quickly. I had expected your call, though I don't know how you got my number."

Eiji looked up at the man, he wasn't what Eiji expected, but he didn't know if that was a good thing or not. "Izaya Orihara, I'm glad we could finally meet." Eiji lifted his hand up. "I'm-"

Izaya turned to him, half smirking. "Eiji Monaki. Age seventeen, one of four siblings. Quadruplets. Hirou, Jupei and a sister Mayu. Orphaned at the age of four in a small town just outside of Hinode, never been in any type of care. Now you've come to Ikebukuro to seek out retribution, or possibly revenge against humanity. Tell me-" Izaya placed his hand against the lamppost, leaning into the other's face. "Am I close?"

Eiji froze. What the hell?

"You might think you're some kind of hot shot now, like you've got this city all figured out?" Izaya chuckled. "You have no idea what you're getting into, you are an amateur, this little tainted group of yours won't get you far. I know exactly why you sought out my help, you were hoping that I would help you take control of the city. You're just a rookie, a pawn on the chess board." Izaya laughed. "I am someone that you don't want to entangle with. I'd have thought people would have told you that; in fact, does Mikado Ryugamine sound familiar?"

Eiji was shaking now, no one, no one had ever struck this much fear into him before. Maybe fear was the wrong word, but he certainly felt chills run up his spine. How could he know so much?

"If you continue to pursue your plans, I cannot be sure of my own actions." Izaya grinned darkly and then walked away.

Eiji was left staring after him, he tried to shake off the shock, he'd never been so disturbed, he couldn't even move his legs.

By the time he got back to the hideout, he was furious. How dare he threaten me! How dare he insinuate that me and my siblings are amateurs! How could he talk about us like that, damn it!

The three siblings turn to him when he appeared at the factory, from his facial expression, they knew it wasn't good news. Mayu was the first to speak, "I take it he's not going to help us?"

Jupei flinched slightly as Eiji narrowed his eyes up at them. "What the hell happened? You look really pissed off."

Eiji stood on the top level of the building, looking down on his forming group. "We're not going to be taken lightly anymore! No more feeling weak! We're going to take this city! We're going to take control! We'll make everyone pay for ever treating us like worthless tools." Eiji clenched his fist when he muttered his next words. "We're going to start with you Izaya."

…...

Eiji smirked as he hung up the phone and addressed the group. "Looks like we're going to gain some help quicker than we thought."

Mayu frowned in confusion. "From the same person who refused to help us in the first place?"

"Exactly."

Hirou held his hand up. "Remind me how we're doing that again."

Jupei approached his brother and said, "I know you've got some guy telling you a lot of stuff. When are you going to tell us who your source is? If it's not Izaya, then who is it? Who got hold of the Crimson drug for us anyway?"

Eiji grinned. "All you need to know is that we're finally going to push back. He assured me that we'd need Izaya, the old Izaya."

"Are we even sure this is going to work? Why do we have to fucking mess with Shizuo too?"

"Because, he said that if we want to get Izaya on our side, Shizuo would need to be out of the way too. I don't think anyone here has a problem with that, right!?"

The group of people cheered out, yelling with some bursts of anger. "Allow me to go over the plan with you. Shizuo often goes to a certain bar after work; Mayu, that'll be where you can discreetly get him, slip the drug in his drink and leave quickly. Hirou will go with you, along with someone else, I don't care who. Wait around the corner, according to my guy, Shizuo has been shot before. we need to help the drug along a bit, so by the time he wakes up, that'll be the last thing he remembers."

"Is getting shot the first time, so like, just over a year of memory wiped?"

"It's perfect. As for Izaya, he was stabbed by a guy whom he gave some information to and it really didn't go well. That was about a year ago too. Gok is in prison but was very willing to give his part of information over if it meant that Izaya would suffer. I'll be dealing with him, along with you, he won't be a problem, since he'll be drugged out of his mind, so he should be easy enough to beat."

Mayu then replied with, "How the hell are you going to convince him to meet with you again?"

Eiji shook his head. "That'd be too suspicious; according to my guy, he's going to meet with someone at a high-rise café in Shinjuku."

"You really have got this all figured out."

Eiji smirked and thrust his fist in the air. "Time to fuck shit up!"

…...

Jupei and Eiji were on their way back to the factory, the brunet was beginning to have severe doubts. "This had better work, otherwise, we could have some serious trouble coming our way." He rubbed his knuckles, it wasn't like he hadn't been in fights before, but he hadn't expected to full on beat the crap out of someone. "Don't you think we went a little over-board? I mean, what if he fucking dies, what then?"

"He won't, he's a survivor, he'll live."

"I hope you're right." Jupei then sighed. "What about Shizuo, what if the drug doesn't work on him? he'll come after us without hesitation when he finds out what we did."

"Neither of them will remember a thing, and Ikebukuro and Shinjuku won't know what hit em."

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