HI EVERYONE!

I am terribly sorry for being so late! I had exams and again health problems! Yay me!

Let me thank you all for still being here and reading the story! It means a lot to me!

Also, let me thank Polaraidbear for favoring my story! It means a lot to me!

Also, let me thank SkyeAmber and Yamidori for following my story! It means a lot to me!

And let me thank Xellopon for both favoring and following my story!

Unfortunately, the chapter won't have the first year fluffiness like I promised.

I am terribly sorry. And I can't make any promises too for the future chapters. I have no idea how to continue XD So you will find out in the future chaps how it will go XD

This chap contains explanations of the whole plan that took place in the previous chaps. For any kind of questions you are free to pm me ^_^

Chapter 10

Clear – Part 2

December 28

Cecilia was looking outside the windows at the decorated trees across the street. She felt nostalgic. She wanted to decorate a Christmas tree but Christmas was over so it would be weird to just go and decorate one all of a sudden. So she was left checking the trees outside feeling empty and sad at the same time. But this sadness compared to her surprise when she found herself in Izaya's arms some time ago, was nothing. She tried to remember what happened last night but all she remembered was her eating something with bad taste and then being angry and sad. She remembers having overwhelming feelings of guilt, sadness and hopelessness. Then everything becomes cloudy and her memory fails her. She only hoped that she didn't cause any problem. She kept finding herself in his bed always after a blackout. What was she exactly doing, she couldn't understand. First, she blacks out before being found by Shou. She waked up in Izaya's bed. Then they finished their mission, Dragon is dead, she started drinking with Shou and spoke about things, the next morning she woke up in the same bed with Izaya. The next night she slept on the couch and last night she remembers eating being sad and then she woke up again in the same bed with Izaya, again in his arms. Now she started to fear him misunderstanding her. Right now that was the last thing that she wanted to face. She knew that Izaya was living and breathing for things like that, they were so much alike.

"Cecilia-san?" a male voice brought her out of her thoughts. She looked around her in a state of shock until she noticed Shinra at the other side of the room, next to the stairs. "Cecilia-san? Are you ok?"

"Eh? I am fine. Thank you… How did you come in?"

"The door was unlocked…. You don't seem ok..."

"No, I just lately tend to have some memory losses and I keep doing things I shouldn't do…" she said concerned and turned around to face him. "So... what brings you here?"

"Oh, I came to check up on all of you. You all became very good patients to me." he chuckled but he was cut by Cecelia's confused look.

"All of us?" she asked worried.

"You don't remember? Last night you had a breakdown. I was called to take care of Izaya. Apparently, his wound reopened. Then Alex took you upstairs and we brought Izaya upstairs and we left you to sleep together. So… how are you feeling?"

Cecilia blinked and smiled warmly at the doctor. "Thank you for your concern doctor, now I am feeling better already."

Shinra smiled back but he could tell that she was still shaken. He made a wild guess that it was because she was still remembering those who drove her to her breakdown.

"Um… Cecilia-san. Who saddened you last night? According to the twins, you seemed really distressed." Shinra asked his patient kindly. Cecilia was taken aback by his concern as she wasn't used to such kind treatment, but at the end, she answered him.

"It might sound stupid, but they got into my head… Alex's words..." her voice because serious and deep. Mostly annoyed and irritated.

"You mean him blaming you for everything?"

"Yes… stupid huh?" her tone changed to a cheerful one. The perfect actress.

"Nope. You have been under tremendous pressure those days so it was only natural to be influenced by the words of someone who lived everything. Don't let them get you." he shined her a smile.

"No doctor… I plan on not being a victim to them anymore. When I woke up I felt all better and I could think more clearly. I realized that now, when everything is over, I don't own them nothing, so acting like a victim is not the right thing to do. The job is over. Time to move on. Now I only need to get them 'help' me stay hidden. Who is at fault and who is not, it's not my main priority now. What is done is done. Everyone showed their real color. Time to get my life together, ne?" she gave him a totally innocent smile, scaring Shinra to the core of his heart. The doctor just nodded and proceed to the basement as fast as he could. As he was walking towards it, Cecilia was quiet, and the moment he placed his hand on the door's knob, she stopped him.

"How is Izaya? You said that his wound opened again. Did I caused that?"

Shinra tensed up with her question. He had seen her smile a few seconds ago and now he was too scared to answer. What if she gets angry or what if she breaks down again? He chose his words carefully to avoid any unnecessary conflict with anyone in the house. He ensured her that Izaya was better and that he was just careless while moving around. Nothing more. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to be convinced but she didn't argue more. She just bowed and let him continue his way to where Alex was.

Shinra happened to like Cecilia. She was a kind person and she had also come from a very troublesome city, such as Yogsai-City. He knew the struggle of getting out of there and beginning new. Saya was like that. He and Celty helped her a lot in the past, so he could only pity the girl. She had been through so much, and blaming her was the last thing that should happen to her. She, like everyone else from that city, wanted a better life. But he was glad that she decided to not let what is happening take her down.

"Get my life together… huh?" he murmured while coming down the stairs to check Alex. The redhead was sitting on his bed and was looking at his hands when Shinra came down to check him. His leg was all bruised caused of the pressure he applied last night to get Cecilia to her bedroom but luckily it started to get better quickly because Alex applied ice in time, which he got from the freezer during the night.

"That was a smart move." Shinra complimented him as he was getting his things into his bag to go see Izaya next.

"I only do smart moves for my self… I am very good at doing the wrong ones to my friends." he said bitterly.

"Are you talking about Cecilia-san?"

"Yes. Did you speak to her? Is she ok?" the patient's eye's lightened up under the faint light of the lamp above them.

"Yes. She seems better. It seems that you were the one who caused her breakdown. Why so much hate?"

And then Alex spoke and explained everything to the doctor. The plan from the beginning until the end, what they had agreed on and the final results. The situation wasn't a win-win one and neither a lose-lose one. It was a win-lose combined. Shinra was not surprised by anything he heard. He had seen enough in the past and those were perfectly normal for Yogsai-City.

"So all those things happened huh? I am amazed that they kept you alive, but they need you at the end… But why? Why all this hate? Why did you betray your best friend like that? I hate Izaya, but he is my best friend and I would never betray him. So why you?"

Alex just smirked and stared at the lamp above them.

"I never thought that I did something wrong. I only realized that last night. You know why? Because I always thought that Manipulator was something like a god. She couldn't die, she could order anyone she wanted around without moving a finger. She was known to everyone. But when she was out of the game cause of an injury I panicked. So I searched for the help of others. I never thought that she would fail at her job. She was a pro, right? But what I didn't see that she was also human. She had needs. She wasn't a robot without feelings. Yes, she rarely cried, at least in front of me, yes, she was strong and ambitious and yes she never spoke about her problems with anyone, but I had to know her better." his voice was cracking and the more he was speaking giving the impression to the doctor that he had really wished to go back in time and change everything.

"People tend to do that because they believe that showing their weak side is a sign of weakness and by being weak they are being a weight to others. But that doesn't give you the right to blame them for things that wasn't their fault." Shinra said strictly and started to climb the stairs slowly leaving the prisoner in his own thoughts. "At least, what you told me, tell them to her too. She has to hear them, especially from you." and with that, he left the basement and proceed to go find his friend on the upper floor. While he was climbing the stairs he heard the door opening and Shou entering the house.

"That idiot didn't lock again." Shou murmured and closing the door behind him and he left immediately to the basement where Alex was. Shinra ignored him but found out that the rest of the house was empty. No twins and no Cecilia. When he arrived upstairs he fell on them. All three of them. They were all dressed up heavily, and ready to go fight to the cold outside.

"Oh, doctor! You are going to Izaya?"

"Yes."

"Nice! We will be going shopping. See ya!" the older girl waved at him and all three of them left the house as he was entering Izaya's bedroom.

The said raven was sitting on his bed bored but in deep thought of the last night's events. Shinra dragged him out of his thoughts and started to check his wound.

"This wound… I wonder when it is going to heal. Izaya you should be more careful!" the doctor scolded his patient.

"Soon Shinra. Don't worry about it." he said without giving him any attention. Shinra just let it pass and continued to clean his wound.

"I met Cecilia on my way up here. She left for shopping. What happened last night?"

"Nothing crazy. She bombed me with questions, then kissed me and fell back to sleep. Ah, that kiss… Shinra… she looked at me with that angelic smile, and I felt my heart skip a beat. And her lips were so soft. This kind of emotions, I never felt them before! She is the best for my experiment! I am such a lucky man!" Izaya sang. Shinra was dumbfounded. Cecilia was in a state of shock and she was trying to understand what she had to do after all this, and Izaya was in the ninth cloud, happy that his experiment is going fine. Unbelievable.

"Shinra! That girl is unpredictable! At one time she is totally fine and then she breaks-down. Later she is better again and she suddenly kisses you without a reason. Do you know what kind of emotions all those are causing me? Anxiety, fast heartbeats, lust, happiness, sadness. I stood awake to just stare at her. All these things are new to me. I am experiencing what I have been observing my whole life, Shinra. I need her Shinra. I need her in my life. This is the best gift I could ever have!" Izaya shouted letting a jaw-dropped Shinra. It was at that moment, that Shinra realized, that his friend was out of his mind. No… he had no empathy for anyone other than himself… no… he didn't feel about his own self, or else he wouldn't be like he was now.

"Izaya… Cecilia-san is in a very weird emotional situation, so you must be careful with her." he tried to at least not hurt her. His idiot friend was too much of an idiot to understand why he feels what he feels.

"Don't worry… I will do anything to make her feel better. The better I make her, the more she would come back to me. That way I will keep her near me for as long as I want. My years of experience will be one of my strong guides on this one!"

"Manipulator-"

"Don't call me like that here." Cecilia stopped Shou kindly as they were walking down the street to the center of Ikebukuro. Shou, after he heard from Alex about Cecilia's breakdown, he rushed to find her. He called her and asked to meet immediately. She agreed and sometime later they were walking down the main streets of Ikebukuro.

"Yes, I am sorry. Cecilia is now. I apologize. Um, I heard from Alex that you had a breakdown last night. I got really worried and that is why I asked you to meet up. Are you ok? Do you need anything?"

Cecilia just gave him a small smile and shook her head. "No, I am ok now. Thank you for your concern, but I don't have any memory of last night to be bothered right now. So I will be fine. I believe that I was looking for a way to get my frustration out of my system. That is all." she said with no worries. Her tone was cheerful. Shou smirked relieved that she was better. "And you? Why were you in the house?" Cecilia asked him next.

"I came to speak to Alex. I am thinking of leaving soon and he has lots of info about the actual state of Yogsai-City. Plus I wanted to know more about that Don."

"Oh, I see… so you are going back? Both of you?" she pushed him. She had to make sure that both of them would be gone.

"Eh? Yes… I don't know… I mean… I guess… I will because I have to pay my respects to the families of my men too. Don't know what Alex will do…"

"And then?"

"And then… then I don't really know. I would like to learn more about that Don and maybe go against him? He sounds like a fishy dude. I don't believe that he will make Yogsai-City like she used to be."

"I see..." she said and silence followed their conversation. It was a little awkward walking between people without saying anything. Shou was for some reason anxious around her. He was feeling uncomfortable. He thought that the reason was that they hadn't been spoken casually like this for a very long time, after their break-up. Only professionally. Nothing more nothing less. And that right now was just killing him. He hadn't seen her for so long. Ηe thought that she was dead for so long. When he learned that she was still alive, he was puzzled. He didn't know how to deal with it. Then when he saw he in front of him he got angry and him playing the villain justified his actions. When that dude, Izaya, protected her got even more angry. But he cooled down after what happened to his men and decided that he would be civilian and professional. But at the rest of their meetings, she was talking about Izaya. That made him realize that she had moved on and that there wasn't a place for him in her heart. So he felt jealous of him and he was lowkey hating him for making her care about him so much. And that is and the reason he refused to see him or have anything to do with him. But he had to be professional so he kept everything to himself. But Izaya got her first.

"Ne… Manipulator… I wanted you to know that I really got sad and when I heard about your death. And that I was really happy when I heard that you were still alive." he blurred out unsure of where this was going to go. He had only one chance and he took it. Cecilia only chuckled, as she found it ridiculous for him saying things like that, at that moment. She started to wonder where he was taking it. And if he was taking it where she was thinking he was, then it would get ugly.

"Yeah. Happy to get a job." she tried to make him stop.

"No. No. I… I really missed you. I really did. Our break up, I know, was ugly. It was really bad. I messed up and I acted like a complete idiot. And now I know it… I just had to lose you permanently to understand that." He didn't have anything to lose. He just wished that he could take her with him back or at least give their relationship one more chance. Cecilia, on the other hand, started to get irritated, but she had to hide it. She needed him to keep his mouth shut about her being alive. Plus her relationship with Shou was over, a long time ago, years ago actually. So him telling all those things, was useless. In all this commotion she never thought about their relationship. She faced him as a professional hitman. Nothing more, nothing less.

"And I just want to apologize for everything. If you could forgive me… and maybe give me a second chance… if you want..."

The girl didn't answer immediately. She was trying to get a decision. Should she start screaming at him or speak like a normal person. Now, she needed him, as he knew about her and he could also betray her any moment so she had to let him down slowly and make sure to not ever speak about it again.

"Shou. I appreciate your feelings, but me and you are over. Manipulator and Shou are over. Now I am Cecilia. Cecilia and Shou never existed as a couple but as to people who happen to have the same enemy and they worked together to finish him. That is all. That is how I see things now..." she smiled at him as kindly as she could and waited for his response. At the beginning, he looked pretty ok with it, but in seconds his aura got darker. The siren started to walk a few steps away from him to avoid any unnecessary body touch. But she knew that he was angry and that he didn't accept the rejection. So she braced herself for any incoming 'name'.

"Manipulator is dead right?"

"Yes, she is."

"And now, the one who is in love with Orihara Izaya, is Cecilia right?"

"I don't understand what are you talking about." she said confused. In love? What a joke!

"You are such a liar… you always were. Can't you just tell me that you love someone else instead of telling me lies like these?" He was laughing and he was hurt at the same time. Cecilia braced herself.

"Shou, are you on drugs?"

"No, I am still in love with you and you are playing with me. When I saw you I felt that spark that I used to have in me, but I was also angry. Angry because you never told me anything. And then I saw him protecting you, I lost it… And then you would be worried about him, and even share a recovery mode with him. You promised me that you would share your recovery modes only with me!" he grabbed her hand with force and dragged her towards him. "I endured it and endured it as you kept talking about him. And now you are telling me that your other persona is dead and you are not the one in love with him? Why are you lying to me again?" He grabbed her harder.

"Let me go, Shou! Get a hold of yourself! You are a professional hitman! This kind of act is unacceptable! And let go of me! It hurts!"

"I love you! I am telling you the truth! I said to myself that I should stay away from you so I didn't dare to come near while being here. I wouldn't even tell you all these…", he started at her and was faced with her horrified expression, "...but I got jealous when I heard that this bastard was there for you when you needed support…" he let go of her and his head dropped dramatically. She took her arms away from him and stood a couple of steps away from him. Her hand was in pain so she kept rubbing it to ease the pain.

"I lost my self there… arg… I am such an idiot..." he covered his head with his hands but Cecilia didn't react. She was used to this kind of acts from him. He didn't change at all, even after all those years. "I am sorry… it seems that it hit me where it hurt the most. I never cared about you like he did… of course you would fall for someone who would give you attention. You always did, after all."

'Here we go again.' the siren thought and rolled her eyes. His usual rant. He did it every time. He would just accuse her of not loving him enough because other were giving her more than he did, and his usual excuse? He can't give her more and that she was unsatisfied, ignorant and a bitch. But this time she wouldn't accept it.

"Shou. Manipulator is dead. Get over it. Manipulator is no longer here. Manipulator is someone who used to exist, used to love you, used to accept your lies and excuses. The only thing that connected us was Dragon. Dragon is dead. So Manipulator's jobs and career is over. Along with all the people that knows her. Including you. So stop your melodrama. It won't affect me anymore. It's over Shou!" she announced to him and she waited for his answer. She expected him to cry or scream or try to fight her. She was ready for everything but what happened wasn't what she expected. Laughter. Shou was laughing. He was actually laughing. She stood frozen in the middle of the street looking like an idiot at the man in front of her.

"Congratulations Manipulator!" he said in the middle of his laugh. "You passed!" he announced and opened his arms widely. The girl was lost. "Ah, I am sorry. Let me explain… Can you hear me?" Cecilia nodded shocked. "The truth is that I lied… what I just told you were all lies! I just wanted to check you! To see if you were ready to cut off completely with that city! And you did!"

He had a smile from ear to ear but the siren didn't. Although she understood why he acted liked that. His pride was hurt cause of the rejection, and when his blaming didn't work he took it as a joke to not lose face. How could she be with someone like him. Pathetic.

"You don't seem to believe me." he chuckled like a cute dog.

"…." Cecilia wanted to throw up but she tried to resist. She was close. "No… I will believe you one last time." she shattered and trembling from her anger. She hated him. Big time. She hoped he will end up dead in a dark alley or something.

"Hahaha... fair enough. I have to admit that I am a good actor. Hm… ok! Let me go this way. I am going to take Alex with me and we are going to go back to Yogsai-City and protect you from there. How does that sound?"

"Too good to be true, judging from what I have seen and been through the last days."

"Well, I believe that Alex will talk to you soon today. So my job is done for today! You can go home now! I won't see you again for a long time I guess… so I wish you a good life Manipulator. Goodbye!" he rushed and he left as fast as he could because he didn't want her to see his tears, which he was trying to hold back after his rejection. He knew he acted like a jerk but he had to make sure that he was 100% out of her mind… truth to told… he wanted to make sure that she was 100% out of his mind… but she wasn't. Even if her appearance changed, her character didn't.

"Damn you… Manipulator… Please forgive me… I promise I will forget about you..."

Cecilia from the other side was left dumbfounded and irritated. She wanted to kill him so badly.

"How dare you… Shou…" she murmured and started to walk around the city to find a high place to jump around. She needed to calm down before she goes home.

When Cecilia finally returned home she was faced with three angry faces. The twins' and Saya's. She had totally forgotten about them. They were out shopping, she even called Saya to join them. Then Shou called and she left them, but never came back.

She tried to apologize and offered to make them some food which they agreed on. The twins sat on the couches to watch some TV and Saya went to speak to Cecilia.

"Soo... what did you talk about? And how do you know him in the first place?"

"How did I know Shou? Well… it seems that you know that I am Manipulator… so telling you won't hurt me… Me and Shou used to be together."

"Eh? What? How? Why? When?" Saya had lost it. She never knew about it. When she met Manipulator back in Yogsai-City, she was single. And she never said anything about her knowing Shou. The Shou, the number one assassin.

"Unbelievable."

"You didn't have that info huh?" Cecilia chuckled.

"No, I-"

"Don't worry about it. You helped me enough, you and Boss. I bet that boss must have told you about me being Manipulator. And you kept it a secret too. So don't worry about it." she only smiled at her and focused again on her cooking. Saya knew that wasn't the case at all… but she chose to keep quiet for now.

"Is everything ok with Shou now? I mean is he going to help you? He seemed pretty helpful the other say."

"Well after acting like a complete asshole, he ended up promising that he will help me. So, I guess that he will. I really can't do anything about it to tell you the truth. So I will only hope. Aouch… fuck..." she cut her finger and it started to bleed so he put it under cold water and then in a bandage.

"Let me help you." Saya offered so they managed to finish lunch quickly. During their cooking, Cecilia snapped.

"Can you believe that he actually called me to tell me that he loves and me and that he wants us to be together again? Unbelievable! After all this time and all the things, he had done to me… that motherfucker!" She kept cooking angrily without noticing Saya's and the twins' faces staring at her. But Cecilia didn't continue so they went back to their jobs. When lunch was done, the four girls sat down to eat and as soon as they finished the twins ran to the couched to rest once again while watching TV. Saya stayed to wash the dishes and Cecilia decided to take some food to Izaya. She had to thank him for his help during her breakdown so she gathered all her courage and started to climb the stairs.

In the meantime, Saya heard someone hitting the door that was leading to the basement. She got up slowly and proceed to open the door. Alex was behind it and he was sweating.

"Can I use the bathroom? It's urgent!"

"Go on." she said as she walked to the side for him to come out. "At the end of the hallway." she pointed him the way and he vanished. She closed the door and waited for him to return. She was mad at him. She learned everything from the twins and she had murderous intentions. Once Alex returned she got ready to make him regret his very existence.

"I hope you are proud of yourself, Alex." she spat ironically to the boy. Alex stopped to face her and let his head drop with shame.

"No, I am not." he whispered.

Saya was caught by surprise. "And what do you plan on doing?"

"I am planning on apologizing to her. I must atone for my sins and I will do whatever it takes to protect her." He was honest, but Saya wasn't buying it. She knew that Cecilia and he had a long past but he betrayed her too easily. In Cecilia's place, she wouldn't trust him so easily with only a 'sorry'. Plus Manipulator was known for being zero sympathetic to traitors.

"You know that Manipulator won't be so sympathetic, right?" she asked him to cut off his wings of hope he probably had.

"I do. I am not expecting any forgiveness. Just a chance to help her."

"Aha..."

Alex bowed to her and walked past her. Saya followed him with her eyes at first, and when she saw that he wasn't going to the basement, he followed him with the rest of her body. She noticed that he was heading for the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"To find Manipulator. I have to talk to her."

"No, you can't talk to her now. Go later."

"Why?"

"Because she is busy now." Saya hissed annoyed making Alex take a step back scared. "Until she comes back, sit down to eat!" she pointed at the table behind her.

"This was so good! Thank you Lia-chan~" Izaya exclaimed happily when he finished his lunch and put his empty tray on the night table next to him. "So? Why did you come to see me?" he asked next. It was unusual for her to come. She hadn't come to see him all his time, so she must be needing something.

"Oh… yeah. Wanted to thank you for last night. Shinra told me that you helped me and you stayed with me during the night. I really appreciate it. Plus I wanted to apologize for causing you so much trouble. If I had just done my job right now everything would be fine and you wouldn't be sitting here." she bowed to show her respect to him. Izaya looked at her confused.

"Shinra told you? You don't remember anything from last night?" Cecilia just shook her head. "That explains a lot." he said skeptical. "Last night you were shaken because you thought that you were responsible for everything. You lost control and you broke down. Later you kept asking questions and I kept answering them for you. But I am going to tell you again. You are not at fault. I don't find you responsible for anything that happened to me. If it wasn't for you then maybe, I would be dead. This injury is nothing compared to the ones I had last year. So stop blaming your self about what happened. Is over. Everyone is safe. Ok?"

He tried to be as kind as he could. It hurt him greatly seeing her sad and now on the verge of crying. Also, he needed to learn how to control his feelings too. He realized that his feelings were going according to Cecilia's moods. Cecilia just gave him an unsure smile as she was standing as far as from him as possible trying to hold her tears back.

"Come here." he called her by extending his arm towards her. "It's ok." he continued. She stared at his hand and then back at him. At the end, she listened to him and sat next to him. He brushed her tears away and moved her head so she could face him.

'It hurts...' he could only think. He wanted to see the angelic smile she had given him last night once again.

"Ah, that hurts!" He made a sudden move and caught his heart in an attempt to stop her from being in pain. He bent and was making weird voices. Cecilia tried to find a way to make him feel better in her panic.

"Izaya? Should I call Shinra? Are you in lots of pain? Can you wait until he comes here?"

She questioned in a rush and tried to leave to go call Shinra. But Izaya had other plans. He caught her hand and he pushed her gently on the bed. He climbed on top of her and started to tickle her. The siren didn't have time to understand what was going on but she burst out laughing uncontrollably. He was tickling her mainly at her tummy and her sides. She was responding quite satisfactory for Izaya's tastes. When she couldn't breath anymore from her laughter Izaya put an end to her misery. She tried to catch her breath and let her heart and lungs to rest.

"Feeling any better?" Izaya asked her as he was looking at her from above.

"I… thought I would die..." she cried and smacked his arm pouting. He only chuckled and kissed her forehead.

"At least you stopped feeling guilty for a while."

"I did… because I was thinking about my life here! But thank you… I really needed that…" she smiled at him with the same angelic smile she had last night and he felt his heart melt. He cupped her cheeks with his right hand and took her hair away from her face with his left hand.

"Lia..." he spoke seductively. He wanted her. He wanted to have her in his arms again. He wanted to feel her lips on his again. Last night's events just couldn't leave his mind. All those things that he had experienced until now were because of her. He had to keep her next to him, no matter what, and he would do anything. He looked at her hungrily from her sparkling blue eyes to her chubby lips, well-lined chin, long white neck, rich chest, slim waist when his eyes fell on her arm, which she extended to cup his own cheek and spotted black spots on them. He immediately felt anger and the urge to kill.

"Lia, who did this to you?" he asked angrily as he got hold if her arm as carefully as he could. She didn't have that marks on her last night. They looked like fingers, so he knew that it was human-made. Someone grabbed her hand with so much force that his fingertips were typed on her skin. He wanted to kill him. He didn't know why all this anger, but he didn't care. He felt like someone had hurt him too.

The siren beneath him looked at where Izaya was referring to. It was the hand Shou had grabbed earlier. It made a bruise. She never noticed.

'That motherfucker' she cursed and eyed Izaya who had a dark aura surrounding him. She didn't understand the reason for his sudden change of mood. Her being mad was normal as she had a relationship with him. Izaya why?

"I met with Shou, and he happened to get angry so he become a little aggressive. But he will do his job. Why?" she said and Izaya's blood started to bold. Shou. That dude who kicked her while she was unconscious and caused her those tremendous injuries. That dude who suddenly changed, he became a good guy and helped them fight against Dragon. That dude never stopped hurting her.

"That sorry excuse of a man, did this to you?" he snapped, ignoring her question and his stare became hard and cold.

"Yes he is. I couldn't put it better… But Izaya…Relax. I am fine. Don't get that angry!" she tried to calm him down. She really didn't give a fuck about Shou. He and Alex would be out of town soon so she won't be seeing them for a long time. No, she didn't want to see them again. She didn't even want to talk about them! She only cared about the people in her current time of life.

"Are you sure? Don't you want me to pay him a visit?" he asked one more time.

"Yes. They will leave soon, so don't bring them up right now. Alex caused me all this thing that I just can't get out of my head, and Shou told me some very creepy and crazy shit earlier… those two are better off…" she said and she lost her smile once again. "Can we stop talking about them? They managed to ruin my good mood now..." she complained and tried to get up. Izaya was still angry with Shou, but he decided it would be better to fix her mood than insisting to talk about those two. Right now his mind was telling him that this was the perfect chance to keep her close, and his heart to make her forget and make her feel better. And that is what he promised he will do. He pushed her gently back to the bed, took her hurt arm and brought it close to his mouth. He moved slowly her sleeve up to see her bruise better and gave it a light kiss. Cecilia watched him with a light shade of red on her cheeks.

"I am sorry for making you remember them. Will you forgive me?" he continued seductively. "I will make up for it... I promise… I will make you forget about them…" he continued with his low husky voice sending chills down her spine. He had to keep her close to him, he needed her… so badly… When she wasn't responding, he continued with little butterfly kisses on her arm. "So?" he asked and his kissed were going higher. "Will you forgive me?" His kisses were now on her shoulder above her shirt. "Lia~" He kissed her cheek and stared into her eyes. He only needed her permission and he promised that he would make her forget everything about them.

He was only millimeters away from her face and he was waiting patiently for her response. Cecilia didn't want to remember anything about what happened, she didn't want to remember Alex's words or Shou's words. She only wanted to have her mind blank and stop thinking.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

One look and a nod from her gave the green light for him to lean over and taste her lips once more. He was hungry for more and at the same time he wanted to make sure that she was captive and totally depended on him. The first kiss was gentle and only a touch of their lips. Izaya didn't want to attack her immediately but tease her to make her beg for it. So the kisses were slow, climbing the stages to french kisses one step at a time. He kissed her lips, her nose, her forehead, her eyes, and her lips again repeatedly.

"What about your wound?"
"Don't mind. I will take responsibility for it. You just enjoy it."

She chuckled between their kisses and he smiled with her as he went back to business. He found his way to her neck and proceed to lick her vertically upwards, causing her to giggle.

"You like it?"

"It's ticklish." she gave up and started to laugh when he licked her one last time. "I am sorry..." she apologized and he smiled at her. He liked her laugh, it was addictive. His heart was pounding happily seeing her smile again. He cupped her cheek and kissed her one more time. But this time he went all out and licked his way inside her mouth. She let him enter her mouth gladly and enjoyed his every movement and lick. The kiss was wet and sloppy. Cecilia wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him closer making the kiss deeper and louder. They would part occasionally to breath but they would return to their kiss once again.

Izaya's hands traveled down her sides to her tights and tried to position himself between her legs. Once he successfully replaced himself, he started to rub her tights as she wrapped them around him. She found her way to his pajamas and tried to unbutton his top. Izaya followed her example and broke the kiss to unbutton her shirt, only to face her black bra.

"Black suits you so well."

"Thank you."

He stood unmoved to admire her body from above. He couldn't have enough of it.

"You stare again." she complained and got up to hug him.

"You are marvelous. Let me enjoy you some more." he whispered into her ear as he made her sit on his lap and they both took off each other's shirts. He hugged her and tried to undone her bra. He succeeded and helped her take it off.

"I wonder how many bras did you take off in your life to be that quick." she teased him and bite his ear playfully making him moan.

"A lot… is that a problem?"

"Nope." she gave him a peck on his cheek and started at his reddish eyes.

Then the door opened and Alex entered with Saya running after him.

"I told you to wait damn it!"

"I waited enough! Manipulator I came to-" The poor redhead didn't manage to finish his sentence and he was showered with cold sweat. Cecilia covered her boobs by hugging Izaya, basically squeezing them on him and Alex covered his eyes in a desperate attempt to not be rude.

"Didn't you learn how to knock doors before entering?" Manipulator hissed at her ex-best friend.

"I am sorry but didn't you learn to not return favors using sex?" he snapped back more embarrassed with her actions, than the fact that he saw her naked. Well, half naked.

"She is not giving me sex in return for anything, I am just trying to relieve her from the stress you and your friends caused her. Is that a problem?" Izaya asked ironically to irritate Alex. The redhead uncovered his eyes and looked at Izaya who was helping Cecilia put back her clothes.

"So what do you want?" Cecilia asked coldly and completely turned off by Alex's accusations. Were they really friends in the past? How?

"I want to talk to you."

"In my office." she answered irritated. All she wanted was to relax for some time and then go again in attack. Lady luck wasn't with her. But she also wanted to get over with it, so she agreed on speaking with him.

On their way out Saya had to comment.

"With Izaya? Again? Are you for real?"

"Shut up!" Cecilia hissed and closed the door behind her. Now Izaya and Saya were together behind the office's closed door trying to hear what they were saying inside.

"So… what do you want?" Cecilia asked first.

"I want to apologize for my actions and sayings. What happened to you yesterday was clearly my fault."

"What you said was the truth." the girl simply stated.

Alex sighed and buried his head between his legs.

"The last two days I was talking with Shou about the whole mission and what was my thesis in it. You know that I was working for Dragon for years. Then you got 'eliminated' and I panicked. I followed Don and when he learned that I was Dragon's right hand he asked me to help him take him down. I accepted immediately. As a reward, I would take Dragon's place in controlling the city. Dumb. I realized that. Shou and all the things that happened helped me realize that. I never liked hurting people, you know it after all. So my plan was to send you away from that city with the help of Dragon, you would take the ring from Orihara, send it back, I would kill Dragon that way and with the power of the ring I would rule the city and protect her. But everything failed and now I know why.

"I never thought that you would fail a mission. No. I was sure that you would do the mission. So when we first met and saw your ignorance I lost it somehow. You were rude and cold. But I was in the wrong. I was the one who didn't understand you and I was the one who thought that you were lying. So I told to Shou that you were lying, even when I knew that I wasn't doing the right thing.

And now I realized that if I had just spoken to you before you left the city, now nothing from all these would have happened. You didn't know as I didn't know what would happen once I started the plan. I was oblivious and blinded by a fake promise. I know that if I had spoken to you sooner then you would agree with helping me. That was the bigger error from my side." Alex stopped and smirked to himself. He felt like a huge idiot. No… he was a huge idiot.

"Would you mind telling me now the truth and what steps you took. I need to know who knows and what about me." Cecilia asked a little after Alex's story. She really didn't care about his melodrama. Only about facts and her safety. She had enough with their ups and downs.

Alex nodded.

"After you left I was just waiting. But then Don started to push, so I pushed Dragon too. Dragon got paranoid because he was losing men and power every day and he asked me to find a professional hitter to find you and kill you if you failed your mission. So I found Shou who had a relationship with you in the past. I know that it was a dark time then, but I bet on that. I told him about the plan from the beginning. How you were unable to work, how Dragon helped you stage your death, about your change of appearance by giving him a photo of you, the new plan of simply finding you. He was cool with it. Then, when we arrived, Dragon booked the whole hotel for him and his men. I came to find you and then because I was angry with you I said to Shou that you were lying. Then they found Orihara and you and brought you to the Blue Squares hideout. I believed that everything would be over. They would take the ring from Orihara, throw you out and end of story. But apparently, Dragon had other plans. Dragon wanted everyone that had to do with the ring dead. So he ordered the killing of his men, along with Shou's men. I found it weird as he had only a few men to protect him, to begin with, and Shou's men were neutral and were just doing their job. They had no place in the whole plan after all. And that is why I saved Shou and anyone who could be saved. Shou's brother found us and he took care of us. I returned to Dragon but he knew that Shou and you were still alive. Then It was when I realized that I had to act, so I decided to have you and Shou and Orihara in the game to take out Dragon. I was so close but Don contacted me and asked me to hurry. That is why everything happened so fast. I learned from Aoba that the ring was held by the twins so I made him suggest them that it would be better for them to give the ring to you. That way they would be out of danger. They gave it to Orihara and I was ready to go. But Dragon had ordered the death of the twins and you too and I learned it just before I found Orihara. The only thing I could do was to tell him and have him act, which he did. You were safe and the twins too. About Shou, I was the one who asked to burn the house, as an attempt to inform him that things got worse. But when I finally got the ring in my hands, when I was in front of Dragon I realized that I was so close to my dream. I lost it. I killed Dragon, I injured Orihara and I waited for you and Shou to come at me. I had everything ready but then it was when nothing worked. I could use your powers to get the ring stronger but I failed. So I hated you. I started to blame you for everything. I lied and hurt you. I am sorry. But please don't forgive me. I don't deserve your forgiveness. Power made me a person that I never wanted to be. I became a monster, I killed people and I betrayed my only friend."

His speech was indeed moving but Cecilia didn't feel sorry for him. She couldn't feel sorry for him. It turned out it was his fault, to begin with, and she stood at that side of the story. He was at fault, not her. She was fine and he didn't hate him either. She was acknowledging the facts. Nothing more. What mattered more to her was her safety.

"Manipulator." Alex was heard again making her turn her attention back to him. "I will go back and I will hide everything. I will continue with the plan because I know that if I back down now they will find it suspicious. I will fight from the inside and I will protect you and the city… so I will do whatever you tell me."

The manipulator continued to stay silent but took his words into consideration. She sat a little better in her chair. "How do I know that you won't betray me, again." putting emphasis on her last word to make it clear to Alex that she won't accept something like that again.

"That is a difficult thing. I know. But as a guarantee, you have the lives of my family. And I will go back with Shou. He is a trustworthy person, isn't he?"

"I don't know. It depends on his job and his mood. He can easily go against me anytime. The more people know that I am alive, the bigger the danger. My problem, of course, would be done with if I could order you both to forget about you seeing me, or knowing that I am alive, but right now I can't… I am still recovering."

"I-I see..."

Silence once again.

"Shou told me that he will take you tomorrow morning with him. I advice you to go and call him."

"That is good news. But he was angry with the whole situation. I hope that he still thinks the same."

"He told me so." she added.

"I see… so I will get going now… I guess?" he got up and walked towards the door, but he stopped before opening. "Manipulator… we have been friends for years. We have been through some tough situations together and I appreciate that you are still allowing me to stay in your house and keeping me alive after the things I made you go through. Basically, I am the one who ruined the calmness of your now life. I was a horrible friend and I deserve everything that will happen to me from now on. But I would like to keep in touch and give you info about the city's issues. Of course, if you are interested. My phone number is this one.", he came back to the desk, wrote a number on a piece of paper and handed it to her, "The line is made like that so there is no way someone to know your location. So if you ever want to learn anything… just give me a call..." he smiled sadly at her and proceed to leave the room. Cecilia who was silent the whole time stopped him. She had to make sure that he was on her side, no matter what.

"Alex. I do appreciate what you did for me until now. I will forgive you for what you did to me, but no for what you did to the rest who got involved in this without a reason. You found me a way to get out and kept quiet about me." 'I should have expected that something was fishy. It was too good to be true after all.' "And at the end, you took care of Dragon, which needed guts. Thank you for that. I will give you one more chance… and I will keep in touch just to know if anyone else comes to find me. But! I don't want to you or Shou here, in this city, ever again! Keep that in mind." She smiled a little and Alex bowed with tears in his eyes and then left the room leaving Cecilia alone in the study.

On his way to the stairs, he fell on Izaya and Saya who barely managed to step away from the door before opening.

"Orihara-san."

"Alex."

"Saya-san"

"Alex."

"I will be taking my leave tomorrow. It was good meeting you and I am terribly sorry for everything. We won't ever see each other again. Saya-san, would you mind helping me contact Shou?"

"Yes. This way..." she showed the way down to the phone leaving alone Izaya. Izaya didn't lose time and entered the study himself. Cecilia was still sitting in her chair behind her desk and her head was buried in her hands. Alex's phone number was already in one of the drawers.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired… and really unconcerned of what I heard. Huh… I have to admit that I am a very good actress. I even thanked him for doing what he was supposed to do! I did so many things for him and he had only one job. But I need him. He will be inside all this chaos and I will know when I will be in danger. But what he did to me and how he made me act… I won't ever forget it… I forgive, but I never forget…." she stopped talking and pressed her temples to calm her down. "At least they are leaving… So everything will be over soon..."

She was cold, heartless and indeed an actress. He heard her thanking Alex, and her tone was warm and forgiving. But he didn't expect her to have this change of attitude so fast. Now he was interested in her more than before. Now he wanted to know more about her and her past. He wanted to know why she was so cold, what makes her act cold and what makes her act like a caring friend. He wanted to know everything.

"Izaya… Let me be clear about this. The only guilt I feel about this whole commotion is about the problems I caused to you and your sisters. Your one sister killed two men that night, you know."

"She did what?" Izaya blinked surprised.

"She killed the two men who went to get her and her sister. Mairu did it. Do you know about those men?"

"Yes… I asked Shinra to go and find you and them when Alex told me that you were in danger."

"You did? Thank you… Well… we covered it up and we told to your sister, Mairu, that she didn't kill them and we will keep it like this. I think that you should know..." Her expression had softened up and now she was kind.

"I see..." Izaya noticed her change of attitude again. I was so natural. He loved it.

"Once they are gone, I will tell you everything that you need to know. From then and on, you will decide what we are going to do."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the whole meeting between us was because of the ring, which I have to return it to you, and Dragon. We got the ring back and Dragon is dead. So my job is over. Now you have to think if you want to still stay in contact with me or not. No hard feelings involved of course and it will be like we never met if we stop any kind of contact."

"I think that you are in a rush. Why?"
"Because I believe that things from now and on will be worse. That is what I got from Alex's speech and my talk with Shou. They can't be trusted… not anymore. So I can't guarantee the safety of anyone involved with me. But once you know more, you will understand."

"I see… then I will be waiting for you."

December 29

It was past midnight and Alex was awake. He couldn't sleep. He was anxious about the trip back to Yogsai-City. He and Shou managed to find a mutual understanding of their future goals and works so they could continue with the trip. Now he was sitting on a bench in the garden of the house inside the snow with a packet of cigarets in one hand and a lighter in the other. He was clothed well and waiting patiently for time to pass. Luckily for him, Cecilia left the key to the basement's door for him so he could leave whenever he wanted to. He was watching the smoke of his cigarets travel towards the sky like he was magnetized by it when he noticed a figure on the balcony. He looked better and he realized that the figure belonged to a male. The only male on the second floor could only be Izaya. So he got up and called him. Izaya turned towards him and waved. Then Alex asked him to come down. Izaya agreed and a few minutes later he was sitting along with Alex on the same bench.

"So? What did you want to talk to me about?"

Alex stared at the white sky above them and took one more smoke before speaking.

"You heard everything, huh?"

Izaya understood that he was talking about his conversation with Cecilia. "Yes."

"I see… Then you know that I wasn't the one responsible for your sisters..."

"Yes. But I don't really care." Izaya said and looked at the white sky too. Alex didn't find surprising at all. After all, he had the same attitude and when they met.

"You are so different from what I imagined you would be. Hell, the whole situation is different from the one I imagined it would be. Ironic huh?" he chuckled at his own comments and continued. "I want to make sure that Manipulator is in good hands. Are your hands good enough to keep her safe?" he asked, impressing Izaya. The raven shook his head after surpassing his shock and stared at him hard.

"I really don't want to hear that from you. You were her best friend and you betrayed her like that. I don't even know her that well and yet I protected her better than you or her ex, Shou. So I don't see how this is making you capable of asking me such a thing. I find it ironic that you still care about her. You and your friend Shou are despicable. Both of you claim that you care about her yet you cause her to break-down and hurt her physically and emotionally."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that your friend Shou, expect from the fact of him hitting her while being unconscious and helpless, breaking countless bones in her body, he bruised her arms today. And you caused her breakdown after betraying her. Is that how you care about her? You fought together for fuck's sake against Dragon, she let you stay in her house, she fed you and you are treating her like that? Unbelievable!"

A hideous expression appeared on Alex's face. He was visibly upset and disgusted. He immediately tried to apologize and make Izaya change his opinion for him.

A small evil smile haunted Izaya's face. He only said that he would be all heart out with Lia, not with the rest of her friends. He didn't care about them. To him, they were all humans ready to be manipulated.

Alex was dumbfounded, but he knew very well how right Izaya was. So he didn't deny anything and didn't give excuses.

"You are right, and whatever I say, won't change the past. But Shou used to love Cecilia… why would he go that far?" he questioned him. Izaya's aura darkened as invertible anger started to take over him. He was furious. "He loved her? What a joke. This is not how you love someone." he groaned. Izaya had a strong belief in what real love was and he believed that himself would never be able to love someone truly. So he chose to love humanity instead. His father was his role model of what real love was. His father would never act towards his mother like Shou did to Cecilia. He knew that this wasn't love. It was hurt pride. And now everything could be explained. Now he knew why Shou, even if he tried to kill Cecilia, he had that sudden change of heart and decided to ask the help of his enemy even if he could do it himself without having her involved.

"He did everything on purpose. He didn't love her. He was just jealous and was afraid of losing her." Izaya continued in a dark and husky voice. Alex flinched. "I found it weird when Lia told me that Shou wanted to help her kill Dragon when you all could kill him on your own. He did it on purpose. He wanted to show her that he cared for her. He got jealous. He knew that he couldn't have her… ts, and he calls himself a man? If he truly loved her then he wouldn't allow her involvement in the first place. "

Izaya barked back irritated to the bone. He turned to Alex and glared at him. "I don't care what is your relationship with Lia, but you better stay the fuck away from her from now and on. You and Shou. She may have forgiven you, but she is not an idiot." he hissed and got up to leave.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Before you go, I want to know something..."

"Say it."

"I want to know why the ring never worked."

"Because that ring is a ring of love. For it to work, you need the power of love. Something that none of us have. So it was useless from the beginning."

"Then why did you-?"

"Because is a family memento and it's fun playing with humans! Good night. Hope to never see each other..."

And with those last words, Izaya left him alone and proceed towards the house. His mind was full of angry thoughts and good memories. He was remembering his parents and how happy they were. His father was a fine example of a man who loved and respected his wife. He was always admiring him when he was a kid. He thought of him as the perfect role model. He would never hit a woman, he was always be kind to everyone. He loved his son without caring about his weird hobby of watching people and noting their hobbies and tastes. Too bad he didn't take after him. At the end, he became nothing like his father.

He crawled under the sheets and took Cecilia in his arms, noticing that she immediately reacted to his touch. He smiled at himself and closed his eyes trying to forget about his father. That resulted in bringing Cecilia closer to him and wanting to stay like this for the rest of the night.

Cecilia had woken up early on her own and instead of getting up she stared at the sleeping raven next to her. She had a warm smile on her face as she was watching him breathe slowly and looking so innocent. A little tired though. He had his arms around her protectively making her feel secure, something she needed to feel these days.

She was thankful for having him near her and him not betraying her at the end too.

Then it was when she heard a soft knock on her door. She got up and quickly opened the door, trying to not wake up the sleeping raven. It was Alex. She left with him, closing the door behind her and she followed him all the way down to the kitchen.

"So, you are leaving?"

"Yes. I have everything done. I will go to Shou's brother to find Shou and leave." Alex gave her a thumbs up. She went with him until the door of the house when he stopped.

"Manipulator? May I ask you a question?" he asked her all of a sudden.

"Yes."

"Do you love Yogsai-City?"

"Hm… I would say yes. That city was like a dream that became a nightmare. So I stayed there hoping that the nightmare would go away. And I fought for that. But once they beat me, I was unable to continue fighting so I decided that it was time for me to go. Of course, if there is hope once again I will gladly fight for that dream to come back… but why are you asking me? Do you plan on-?"

"No… nothing like that… I am officially over with things like that… hahaha..." he smiled and he hugged her tightly. "I hope that one day we will be friends again… and please be safe… me and Shou will take care of everything… Izaya will also take care of you here… so this is farewell..." he let go of her, "...live your life Manipulator! And good luck with Orihara-san!" he waved at her while winking nastily and left the house.

She followed him all the way to the street with an awkward smile on her face. She waited until she couldn't see him on the street anymore and returned to the house. She closed the door behind her and took a deep breath.

"I have a bad feeling that this isn't going to end well..."

And that was the end of the first arc… somehow… I mean it will be officially over next chapter, which will contain and the start of the next one with the explanations needed for Cecilia's past. Well, at least most of them. :P

The chap ended up bigger than I thought, but I really didn't want to make into two chapters…

I just wanted to end this arc. XD

Thank you for reading the story!

Thank you for still supporting me!

And I would like your opinion on the length of the chaps… are they too big? Do they have too much info?

See ya next chapter!