ATTENTION: This is the new Chapter! I just forgot to delete the previous Note before I update the new chapter! I deleted after I updated the new chap so it got messy! So I deleted both chaps and I re-uploaded the new chap, this one! ^_^
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Chapter 11
The Beginning of Calmness
December 29
Cecilia decided to not sleep the rest of the few hours left for the morning to officially start. Not until she knew that those two were out of Tokyo and the hell back to Yogsai-City. What a mess was all this case. They came and made a huge mess. They destroyed her peaceful life. She wished to never see them again. They could just stay in that city and rote along with all the idiots who liked that situation. She knew that unless the citizens there 'wake up' and start to want democracy the city wouldn't change. She remembered that dude Don who Alex talked about. He said that he started to preach about the city and how he wanted to take down the rulers. That kid was dreaming big. Dragon was the weakest of them all. There is no way he will succeed in taking down the rest of them.
"Nuh… There is no way… But it's not my business anymore..." she whistled throwing her head back to lay on the roof tiles of her house. It was freezing cold but she needed that cold to clear her head and bring herself back into the game. She had to think and put things in a line. Now that Dragon was out and all her business with Yogsai-City were basically closed, she had free time to start again and do things right this time. Starting with the man who was sleeping in her bed, right below her.
What was she going to do with him? Their relationship got out of hand the last days. Did they become from co-workers to lovers? Was that even possible between those two? What are they? No, the more proper question was, 'what she was doing'.
"That case really messed up more than one things…" She sighed heavily. Before she thought about Izaya she had to think about her first.
Those days she was totally out of character. She got emotional during her work. That was a huge 'no' for her. It was unacceptable. Well, thank god Izaya was there to bring her back to reality.
"That human lover did help me a lot. Now I should pay him back for that kind act of his, but..." He saved her ass before when he took her to his apartment. Then she saved his ass when she took him to his apartment, and now this. He did help her psychologically though. "… I will take it as a good gesture from a friend and won't bring it up at all. I thanked him already… right?" she giggled to her self. He was good for situations like this and he was really helpful with her recovery mode, so she had to keep him close.
She got up and let her eyes wonder at the scenery. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen until then. The red sun was licking the top of the buildings of Tokyo little by little giving the image of an orange sea. It was warming her heart and soul. How she wished her life would be as calm as that very moment. That would be heaven! Her life was heaven from the moment she set her foot in Ikebukuro. She found a job, she met new people, she made friends, she has her own house, on rent but still. She also knows her enemies, compared to Yogsai-City where she couldn't even trust her shadow.
But hours passed quickly and when the sun was up she decided to get down and contact Kotarou. She was absent for a few days from her job and now she may even be unemployed. She got at her bedroom's balcony and entered. Izaya was up and was reading something on his phone. He saw her enter from the balcony confused.
"Where were you?"
"At the roof?" She answered like it was the most natural thing in the world. Izaya should have seen this coming considering that fact that she liked heights. He didn't say anything about it but jumped to the next theme.
"Ne! Police just made an announcement about the destruction of the hotel where Dragon was staying. They say that they can't find the cause of the explosion but there is a high possibility that the tanks of gas in the basement may cause that explosion. What you think?"
"Either they are too stupid either there is a cover-up. What else do they say?"
" That none of the workers of the hotel were killed. How you will ask. Dragon apparently asked for all the workers to not bother to go and work at the hotel during his stay according to the owner of the hotel. He only left one worker at the reception."
"This is a normal thing to do. No one will bother them or will leak information outside and they also had one of the workers as a cover to the rest of the world." Cecilia said concerned.
"But she ended up alive and her statements are weird. According to her statement, she was there the whole time yet she didn't see anyone enter or leave the hotel. Then she got a call from the owner of her apartment informing her about an emergency at her apartment and by the time she came back to the hotel and the stores around it were all destroyed and burning. I find it weird."
"Why?" The girl asked with a faint smile.
"Because that worker saw me and Alex with his men entering the hotel. He even waved at her and she greeted us with a smile. Of course, she had no idea what was going on. And I bet that she also saw you and Shou. She just left a little after you arrived according to the times they give here. How could she just not remember?"
"Because I ordered her to." Cecilia answered and stuck her tongue out playfully. Izaya gave her a silent "oh" and she continued. "That is why my throat was hurting and I couldn't scream afterward. An order is straining my voice and I need a couple of days or even weeks to recover to give an order again. At some point I needed months. Now I am getting better, thank you for asking." she winked at him and proceed to exit the room. "The best thing we can do is to play it off and act like we have no idea about the whole situation. We must not give any evidence that we know anything about it. We are already enough exposed. And I know that they know that Dragon is dead. So there is a possibility of them coming for us..."
"Them?"
"Yes… What if they want revenge and Alex give us away?" She laughed and left the room letting Izaya dumbfounded but amused with her reactions. Again, this girl was the something else. Zero concerned about herself, yet she was worried sick about his and his sisters' lives. How could she be so careless?
"This is something rare coming from a human… now I wonder… Was I missing that much by ignoring monsters?"
"Yes? Kotarou? Yes…I am fine. I would like to ask about my current... position? Did he fire me?…. No? Why?…. You did? Oh my god, why? … Kotarou man, you are a real friend, I owe ya buddy! …. Yeah! Tomorrow I will be back! …. Thank you, man! See ya! Kisses to your family!"
Cecilia hanged up and threw herself on the couch. Her boss didn't fire her because Kotarou said that she was sick and that she took her sick days off. Luckily for her today was the last day and tomorrow she had to be back. She had to do something for Kotarou. He saved her ass big time! It wouldn't be pretty first thing to do during the new year to look for a new job.
"Maybe I should invite him and his family to dinner?" She wondered when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and two younger girls appeared smiling before her.
"Good Morning!"
"Good Morning..."
The twins had woken up and came down for breakfast energized as ever. They were both ready for the new day and nothing would stop them from having fun. Cecilia felt really envious all of a sudden. More likely nostalgia rather jealously.
"Good morning girls! How was your sleep?"
"It was cool! Amazing! Sleeping in the same room as Kururi-nessan is amazing! Yay!" Mairu answered with a blast while kicking the air enthusiastically.
"How was your sleep?" Kururi asked Cecilia next.
"Half." Cecilia stuck her tongue out and walked to the kitchen to prepare them breakfast. The girls sat on the table and chatted when the conversation arrived at their brother.
"Brother Izaya is such a clumsy guy! He managed to get stubbed! How lame!" Mairu exclaimed and Kururi followed with "I think that they caught him off guard."
"I don't know girls." Cecilia answered to them.
"Huh? He hasn't told you what happened? But you two spend so much time in your bedroom!" Mairu's words were straight to the point. She was a slickly girl alright. Her words, just like her brother's, were like rocks.
Cecilia chuckled. "Oh, you sleepwalking now?"
"No, Mairu likes peeping on people." Kururi gave her sister away with no feelings. Mairu made a fake crying noise and hide her face embarrassed in her arms.
"Hahahaha I see. You really are your brother's siblings." Cecilia didn't really mind them. They were both adorable in their own way. She wouldn't expect anything less from the Orihara siblings, to be honest, so she wasn't surprised at all.
She ignored the rest of the conversation and continued cooking when Izaya came down and sat at the table with his sisters. The girls started to tease him non stop for his injuries and he just politely asked them to go home.
"Just go home already." he sighed defeated.
"And you, brother? What are you going to do?" Mairu gave him some nasty looks switching between him and Cecilia.
"He is going back to his house too because I have work tomorrow," Cecilia answered bluntly and placed four dishes, a plate with pancakes and crepes, along with honey, melted chocolate, syrup and shuttered biscuits, on the table. The three siblings stared amazed at the food on the table.
"Where did you find all those ingredients?" Izaya asked shocked. Last time he checked everyone was a huge mess to go shop for ingredients. Hell Cecilia was missing from her house most of the time, to his!
"I had storage some chocolate, biscuits. Now flour, eggs, milk, and butter are some things that every house should have at home… Plus I had gone shopping with the girls and Saya. Oh! You were upstairs, that is why you didn't know what we were doing."
The girl gave him a sympathetic look, following two sympathetic yet mocking expressions from his sisters. He pouted and looked elsewhere. The girls laughed and everyone started to eat in peace for the first time in days, which were like centuries for the siren.
She had to admit that this breakfast was one of the things that she wished could repeat again and again for the rest of her life. It was calm, happy, funny, with the warmth of a family. It made her remember when she was having breakfast with her family before school and how she would fight with her older siblings over food. Good times. She wouldn't change them for anything.
"Ne nee-san! What are you going to do during the change of the year?" Mairu snapped her out of her thoughts al of a sudden. Startled she managed to give an answer.
"Eh? Nothing? I really don't know. What about you?"
"We are going to go and see the fireworks at the docks of Tokyo! They say that this year they will be extra special!"
"Why?"
"Apparently the daughter of one of the members of Japan's high-class citizens is getting married during the change of year. So they will make the new year's celebration part of their wedding reception after the wedding." Izaya filled in with information.
"Oh, ~~ That sounds so romantic but also expensive. But he is a high class, so he is rich as hell. Why feel sorry for him?" Cecilia giggled along with Mairu.
"Fireworks are pretty." Kururi said in her monotone.
"They are indeed." Cecilia said dreamy and smiled warmly at the twins. Izaya caught that and decided to keep it in mind, just for future references.
Cecilia and Izaya were sitting outside the twin's complex looking at their window. They had just dropped them off. Cecilia offered them to change apartment cause of the events that occurred there but they declined her offer. Nevertheless, to make her feel better they said that if they start to feel too uncomfortable they will change apartment. Izaya was also in agreement to pay for anything his younger sisters would decide, yet she didn't want to let them live in that apartment.
"They are not going to change their mind even if we stay here for another five hours." Izaya whistled tired and turned around to leave. Cecilia knew that he was right but she still couldn't shake it off. It wasn't right for two kids to stay in the same place where a murder had occurred. Especially a murder they committed unaware of the situation they were in.
"You know that I am the one responsible for all this." She said with a hurt tone as she started to follow him. "I have to protect them somehow..."
"It was Alex's fault for bringing my family into all this mess. And it was Dragon's fault for suggesting such thing. You have nothing to care about."
"If I had just done my job right-"
"You did the best thing you could do. That ring means so much to us. It's one of the few things our parents left us. So be grateful that you never took it from us. It would be a shame, you being the first woman I would have to kill with my own two hands."
Izaya's tone was dark yet playful. Cecilia couldn't figure out if he was serious or just joking around. But who would joke about his family that way? From the other hand, she knew this camouflage quite well herself. You don't want to be sound serious and give to your enemy the space to talk back to you such like making fun of your opinions, yet you want him to think that you are dead crazy to joke about things like that.
"Plus my sisters are stronger than this. You told them that they didn't kill anyone right? Then that means that they only got attacked and managed to escape successfully. Nothing more and nothing less. So they will be fine. Trust me on this one. Humans tend to use lots of mechanisms to deal with awful events in their lives. Lies so convenient as to alternate the reality is one of them." He added and stopped walking having his back towards her. "This is where we split. I am thankful for your hospitality and I am looking forward to our conversation. I have a list of questions you know."
The girl also stopped a few steps away from him. She smiled warmly and nodded.
"Yep. Whenever you feel ready." she answered confidently. He only smirked and left running. A few seconds later a flying vending machine landed exactly where he was standing, stunning Cecilia.
"IIIIZZZAAAAYYYYAAAAAA!" Shizuo's angry voice was heard, not a few meters away and soon a blond hot bartender came running towards the direction the raven had just run off.
"Oh, my." Cecilia giggled relieved that at least something hadn't changed. She only hoped that her life would go back as it used to be the last months. Quiet, with friends and happiness.
December 30
Izaya was in deep thought as to what he was going to do from now and then. He wanted to start the experiment officially as it had good results previously but he didn't know if he should speak or not to Cecilia about it. Until now she didn't know about it and the results were incredible, so telling her will may cause lots of problems. It won't be natural, but did he really need something natural? What he wanted was something specific. He wanted to see the results on him. So he had to be natural, not Cecilia. If he wanted to see the results on her then she would need to be natural. Maybe if she knew his goal she would be a better help. She would be able to plan beforehand, without him knowing. With her being unpredictable and her on the wheel the results would be even better. Maybe this would be better. Maybe he had to tell her.
"Yosh…"
Now he had to find a way to do it right. He had to be careful with his every move. But to do that he had to know how he felt so he could pass it to the girl correctly. The only one who seemed to understand what was going on was Shinra. So he needed his advice. But he felt like something was missing. Like he was missing something really important. What could that be?
"Oh! Izaya! Welcome! Don't tell me that you got yourself stabbed again." Shinra exclaimed surprised to see Izaya so soon at his door.
"No no… I need to talk to you… about Cecilia…" Izaya said shyly and waited patiently for the doctor to invite him inside.
"Oh, this sounds serious. Yes, yes, come in!"
Shinra let his friend come in and closing the door behind him, he followed him to the living room. Celty was not home cause of work, and that made Izaya a little more comfortable to speak. Shinra placed two cups of tea on the table.
"So?"
"Well… I thought about your suggestion to speak to Cecilia about my experiment. If she knew about it, then she would be able to plan ahead and surprise me. After all the plan is me getting all these experiences, not her. But I need to find a way to do it right… so I need your advice here..."
Shinra smiled widely, thanking God for giving Izaya the light to think right for the first time in ages, and clapped his hands.
"Take her on a date!" he announced enthusiastically.
"A date?" Izaya asked confused. "Why?"
"Eh? Because… you know! You will ask something really important so you need to get to her good side. If you are serious about it, you need to have a serious approach too."
"I see… But I have ever been on a date before… I don't know what to do." Izaya throw unexpectedly making Shirna froze.
"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO TAKE A GIRL TO A DATE? You have been watching humans your whole life! Haven't you ever seen anyone go on a date!?"
Izaya didn't flinch and with a straight face, he answered, "I am not interested in the romantic relationships of humans. I am good with the words to make someone fall for me because I know what to say, but I never felt anything in particular. I find love irrational and boring. Also, a date is something between people who are in love. Me and Cecilia are not in love."
"Is there a small possibility of you two ever…?" Shinra asked just to make sure.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"At least from my side. I don't know from her side."
"You have to clear this up beforehand. You don't want any misunderstandings between you too." Shinra hinted.
"I will keep that in mind."
"Now back to the date… Well, it's not like it has to be a "date". You can simply ask her to go for a walk or somewhere nice… What does she like?" Shinra felt like he was indeed preparing Izaya for a date.
"She said she likes fireworks and she seemed interested in the fireworks during the New Year-"
"THAT'S IT! There! Take her there!" Shinra exclaimed enthusiastically.
"O-ok…"
Silence.
"I have to admit that even though I have thought about this case thoroughly I just feel like I miss something… I feel like I haven't thought of something..."
Shinra placed his pointer under his chin trying to think what could possibly be missing. Izaya did the same and a few minutes later Shinra found out what was that.
"You are afraid of being the puppet." The doctor announced like he was ready to give his diagnosis.
Izaya looked at him intrigued waiting for him to continue.
"This experiment will have you completely exposed. You will have no control over your emotions or your actions because your actions will be results of your emotional instability. And keep in mind that she is a manipulator herself, you will be playing the part of the human and she will be playing the part of 'Orihara Izaya' "
Orihara's eyes widened into the realization of what Shinra's words meant. "I will be completely in her mercy…" He whispered in shock. " That's it! That is what was missing! I always played with others behind their backs. I have never been in this place before… letting others play with me! I have never been played before! This experiment will make me the victim and her the leader if she knows what to do! "
Shinra only nodded in agreement as Izaya continued explaining to himself his new findings. "I don't know! I don't know… This is too complicated. I never thought of that. I am divided in two right now… I am excited from one side and I want to tell her because that way she will be more effective than just waiting around for her to do something, but from the other side, I am afraid of the unknown! I am gonna give her the complete control over me if she knows everything. Do you understand Shinra what that means?"
At that moment Shinra realized that he wasn't a good person and from now on he wouldn't be a good friend either. Because he wanted to see it. He wanted to see the master manipulator of humans, Orihara Izaya, being the puppet of another manipulator, who according to Saya was one of hell good manipulator. He wanted to see his friend suffer like the people he made suffer. He never thought of that before, but it seems that deep inside he had this hidden desire. The desire to see him get a sip of his own poison. Yes, he realized at that moment that he was an awful friend. And he wasn't regretting it.
"I do know what it means, but isn't that what you actually want?"
"What do you mean by that?" "People are always exposed to unpredictable situations and that is what test them! You should do that too! Let yourself be tested! Until now you were preparing the tests for humans. So let someone else prepare the test for you."
Izaya was still unsure of this so Shinra decided to push it some more.
"Do you trust her first of all? Is she going to betray you?"
"I… I think that I can trust her… maybe..."
"See? So don't mind!" The doctor started. "I bet that if you share with her your concerns about it you will be fine! Just think about it that way! You are the female virgin on the bed and you are afraid of what is going on next. The only thing that you have to do is you to trust your male partner and see where he will take it. But you love and trust him with your life so you should not be afraid of that, right?"
Izaya stared at him, ready to throw up. Now he could understand how the poor female virgins were feeling. He felt relieved that he never had to be the one who would make them women. He was so relieved. Yet Shirna didn't stop there. The underground doctor was enjoying himself so much that he was throwing examples one after the other making Izaya be scared for life. He stopped talking when he received a chop on his head.
"Aouch! Ah! Celty! Welcome back!"
[What are you saying to him? He is ready to cry!] Celty typed annoyed.
"Ah, nothing!"
"You…" Izaya groaned.
"Ah, Izaya! You must also take into account that Cecilia is not a human."
"And?" Izaya's head was too foggy to see the problem.
"That means that you will have no idea how she will be acting and what kind of tests she will give you. You have been monitoring humans and the human behavior all your life after all! That means that even if you know how a human will react and the trust issues they have, you don't know about monsters and how they act." The underground doctor finished by posing jubilantly.
Izaya considered everything, the wrong way. He felt helpless and like his life was over. He felt like he would be a puppet for the rest of his life. That he would never ever be free to enjoy what he had built until now. That had only one result. His eyes widened, rolled back and he passed out cold. Celty was left speechless and Shinra started to laugh uncontrollably.
[What, what just happened? Is he dead? What is going on?]
"No, he is only shocked. He will be fine, let him be for now, and I will explain everything to you in a few moments." Shinra said and shined her a smile. The Dullahan only shook her helmet and left the information broker on the couch unconscious.
[For your information, monsters are not that different from humans when it comes to trust!]
"I know that… he doesn't." Shinra giggled evilly. Celty sat next to her fiance waiting for him to tell her everything. After the explanations, Celty felt zero pity towards the raven. She felt like karma was getting him back for the asshole that he was.
A few hours later Izaya came back to life once again. He looked around him only to realize that the sun was gone and that he was still at Shinra's. His head was still foggy though.
"Oh! You are awake!" Shirna announced.
Izaya only glared at him, still heavy from his slumber.
"You passed out cause of a shock," Shinra informed him kindly. He was enjoying himself and Izaya knew it. "Ah… now I remember… you are an awful friend you know?"
"I am, but I don't regret it. Here is some tea."
Izaya sat more properly and took the cup into his hands, but didn't dare to drink. He was trying to recall his conversation with Shinra before. Everything started to come back to his mind and horror started to take over once again. But this time he would not lose it. He would sit and think about it carefully.
"You said that Cecilia is not human so I won't know what she will do… That will have as a result me being at her mercy and in a worse situation than with a human..."
"I was joking. I just wanted to see you in despair. You didn't disappoint me. But continuing our previous conversation. What is more important here is her experience."
"Her being a professional manipulator?" Izaya questioned.
"Yes."
Izaya took a deep breath and let his back touch the back of the couch. Shinra was right. Cecilia being a pro herself. Well her name was 'Manipulator' to begin with, so she must have a name back in her city. Plus he could tell that she was a fearsome person to have as an enemy. That cause of the fear Alex, Shou, and Dragon had towards her. For them to come all the way out here and want to kill her that badly must have been fear along with personal business. He also knew a few things about Yogsai from Saya. For someone to survive there was a real struggle. One wrong move and you were as good as dead. So for Cecilia to manage to survive and make a name of herself meant that she wasn't just a nobody but in the top of the food chain of that city.
"She is terrifying… This is true. But..." He started unsure of his goal. Shinra bends forward interested to hear the rest. "… I am not scared of her..." He stared at Shinra with the most truthful expression he had even given to anyone. No, he wasn't scared. He wasn't feeling any kind of threat. Even if he had panicked previously to the point of passing out, now that he was calm. "Actually I am relieved that she is going to be the one." He felt like he could trust Cecilia. This woman was there for him and she never tried to play him dirty not even once. She was honest. He could trust an honest mon-
"Ne, isn't it weird?" Izaya asked cutting his train of thoughts.
"What?"
"The fact that I chose a monster for this? Or the fact that I am trusting a monster? Or the fact that I am trusting something that I don't know anything about?"
"What you know about Cecilia are enough for you to continue?"
"Yes."
'That was fast!' "Then there is no need for you to worry about something else. But you can always learn more about the person you are going to open your heart to."
Izaya smirked at the idea. It seems like he had to get used to it if the experiment was to come true. He had to get used to the nakedness of his heart and soul. Maybe he can use this opportunity to learn more about her in particular.
"I can't wait for it! And I have the perfect plan for our potential 'date'."
December 31
Cecilia returned home from her job exhausted. She threw her bag away and climbed the stairs. She was planning on going to see those fireworks herself as the twins suggested. That was one in a lifetime experience and she wouldn't be losing it.
She took a long and relaxing bath, dry her hair, dressed really warm because outside was freezing and she sat to do her make up. When she was ready to go she heard her doorbell. Curiously opened the door, always on check for any potential threat, but she didn't expect to see that person in front of her.
A tall, raven-haired man, with brown to red eyes, charming smile, long legs and a black heavy jacket was staring at her worryingly. Well, the worry left and was replaced with an 'aw' as soon as he took a better look. The girl blinked shocked at the hot guy who just popped at the front of her house.
"Hello handsome!" she said with a huge smile on her face. If it wasn't for the fireworks, she would have him in her bed asap. You just don't let men like that walk away, even after he passed the first test-drive with flying colors.
"Hey! I was calling you." He said with a little complaint.
Cecilia raised her left eyebrow amused. "Oh, I am sorry but I was upstairs honey. I didn't hear it. But why are you here? Is something wrong? You came all the way here after all..." She was pushing him to speak without letting him room for excuses.
"Ah, I was just passing by and I came to check on you." He lied.
"Oh~. How kind of you. Well as you can see I am fine."
"I can see that." He put more emphasis to 'that'. She was all dressed up and beautiful. He was amazed.
"Nice. Now… um… you better go because I have to leave too." If he didn't want to tell her why he was there, well, too bad. Right?
"Oh, wait. I came for one more reason."
'Bingo!' She thought victoriously. "Oh, you did?" He chuckled realizing that she drove him all the way to this point. "I came to pick you up and take you to a wedding."
"A wedding?"
"Yep." He put out two white folders with gold letters on them. She took one and opened it curiously.
"To the lucky guest..." she read. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Remember the wedding of the daughter of that high-class Japanese man? Well, he decided to have 100 lucky citizens go to the wedding of his daughter. And these are two of those 100 invitations."
"I am not gonna ask how you got your hands on them. But are they real?"
"Yes."
"So they won't throw us out?"
"Nope."
"I see. Well, it seems like I have to change clothes…" she stuck her tongue out. "But I happen to not have this kind of clothes with me here…" That was awkward. All her clothes were left back in Yogsai. She was still crying for them.
"I see… well, I happen to know a place..."
"You do? And it's open today?" She almost jumped on him. She loved shopping clothes for her job.
"Well, we can always ask." He shuttered surprised.
"Let me get my purse then." She said and hurried back inside.
A few moments later they found themselves on the street walking towards the station to take the train for the center of Tokyo. They waited for a few minutes and entered. Surprisingly the car was empty.
"Wow! Why is it empty? New Year's is around the corner! Everyone should have been outside celebrating." Cecilia commented as she wandered around the empty moving car. "I believe cause of the cold," Izaya answered while following her with his eyes.
She continued to walk around the car until she jumped on one of the polls of the train and started to climb it. Izaya raised his eyebrows impressed.
"I don't want to sound rude, but do you know how to pole dance?"
"Yep! Wanna see my moves?" She asked with a mischievous smile. Izaya stumbled and just nodded. She got down and took her phone out. She let a song play, took off her jacket and gloves and held the pole with her left arm. She kept her shoulders back, her head up and started to walk around the pole like a supermodel. After one turn, she stopped to a place where Izaya could see her body clearly and rolled her body engaging her entire upper and lower body to create a wave effect. Her body wave was slow and gave Izaya the time to enjoy every bit of her carves. He knew that she was doing it on purpose, yet the only thing he could do was to sit and enjoy. She moved behind the pole and locked her right leg, letting her body spin around the pole, extending her back and neck, eyes locked with Izaya's when she stopped right before him. She smiled and raised slowly, first her belly, following her chest, neck, and head. She took one more walk around the pole and proceed to grab it with both hands, into a split grip, lifted her legs into the air bending them at the knees behind her, letting her body spin around the pole. Because of her clothing, she couldn't do moves that needed her legs as a support on the pole, so she went with those who only needed her hands. After her carousel spin, she stepped down, replace her grip and pushed her body up, making her place her self upside down, with her legs wide open above her. Izaya's eyes widened in amazement as he didn't expect her to be at that level of pole dancing. But what took his breath away was her letting go and letting her body fall and stop only centimeters away from the floor. He thought that she really slipped. He felt his heart beating like crazy and a euphoria overtaking him, when she stepped down, dragging her upper body to raise once again. She spun around her self, dropped down to a split and posed in a playful way to mark the end of her show.
That last split sent Izaya to another world but he did manage to clap slowly as she pretended to bow happily in front of a huge crowd.
"Thank you! Thank you!" She giggled and ran to wear her jacket again.
She sat next to Izaya and waited for his opinion.
"So? What do you think?" She asked curiously and anxious about his opinion. Of course, she had in her mind that he may be disgusted by the fact that she knew how to pole dance and think of her being a whore, so she was ready for that kind of response too.
" May I ask where did you learn this?" He was feeling uncomfortable but he tried his best to look natural.
"Ah! Well, I used to work at a club! I started as a waitress, then I became an exotic dancer, aka a pole dancer and then I went to the bar." She may be smiled while she gave her answer but she was afraid. Afraid of his reaction. She had said it before. She wanted him in her life. He was making her life a little more interesting. She was considering him a friend. So her, speaking so lightly about things like that was dangerous. Here was Ikebukuro, not Yogsai-City. In Yogsai-City, at the part where she was living, it was a normal thing for someone to be a host or a dancer at clubs. Ikebukuro was in Tokyo and not one of the red districts. In Tokyo people can have normal jobs so choosing the kind of work-life she chose back in her city, was a part of a desperate situation giving you a bad name as a reward. So now what if he thinks that she is a whore or someone not worth his time. Did she say that she was prepared for any kind of response? Yes, she had been in that situation in the past. Not worth it.
"I see." He only answered and she felt something breaking inside her. She looked at him, almost in tears and started to move him back and forth.
"I see? Only that? Don't you feel anything? Weird? Disgusted? Something?"
Izaya stared down at her confused. He clearly didn't feel any of the things she said. He was actually feeling weird, but another kind of weird. He got a little excited so right now what he needed was peace and quiet, and having Cecilia right next to him looking so cute and helpless wasn't helping. Shinra said that he would have to open himself, but this was too much. He felt like he dived too deep in his first try and he was drawing. Fast. So he had to do something about it in the future.
"Wh-why would I feel anything like-like that?" He asked trying to sound as comfortable as he could. He wasn't completely dense. He knew some basic things that he bet either human either a monster, the same thing would occur. A man seeing such an attractive woman dancing so seductively cause reactions. A woman seeing a man having an erection either would scream and start hitting him either will ask to have sex with him, if he was her boyfriend. The second thing was a dream every man has, an actual illusion to be exact, so the first is the surest thing to happen. He moved a little further from her to avoid any big scene. She from the other side felt heartbroken. She thought that he was rejecting her.
"You are disgusted right?" She asked painfully. "You even shuttered."
"No… that is not right..."
"Then why are you so far away from me?" She asked again pointing at the long distance between them. Izaya had gone to the other side of the car without noticing.
"That is because…"
"Because?" She was pushing him hard. He had to answer her. She was too damn cute.
"Arg… don't get mad at me!"
"Eh?"
"I… your dance… um..." He pointed down to his private parts with his eyes. His face was all red and he was unable to face the girl. He was proud of him being able to control himself and his sexual urges, and this was one of the most humiliating moments in his life. But he was a man and a man has to take it like a man. Cecilia followed his eyes and a few seconds later she understood what he meant. She brought her hands to cover her face and Izaya braced himself. The only thing he heard though, was her laugh.
"Oh my god. I am terribly sorry! Hahahaha… I didn't mean to cause you such a reaction. I didn't expect you to be so sensitive. But again I am hot! It was a given!"
"I am not sensitive! I just got off guard! I didn't expect you to be so experienced! That is all!" He desperately tried to save the little pride it was left.
"Oh! Well! Don't worry about it! You can take your time! Don't mind me!" She smiled at him happily. She was actually thankful for that being the reason for his actions. She was really thankful. She was that thankful that even if he was to take her to a dumpster she would be still smiling.
And she kept smiling until they arrived at the center of Tokyo. Izaya had managed to calm down, made Cecilia promise to forget about it and now they were ready to go. Izaya led the way to the store and Cecilia locked their arms like an elderly couple.
"So, how come you want to go to the wedding?" Cecilia started the conversation.
"Well, I thought that it would be a good thing to do to take our minds from the whole situation from Dragon. Staying home is not healthy."
Cecilia thought that this was a way of them relaxing and talking about what had accrued the previous days.
"That is a very thoughtful thing to do... I am so happy to have a friend like you. But maybe you also want to talk about things. But it's fine by me either way." She said dreamy and rested her head on his shoulder, bringing her body closer to his. He didn't answer, only smirked and kept leading the way in silence. They enjoyed each other's company better in silence. They indeed needed some peace and quiet. The last days were stressful.
Cecilia wanted to spend some time with a friend but his scent was too addictive to let him go so she chose to enjoy it instead. Izaya was trying to think when would be the perfect timing for him to talk to her about his experiment. Should he first wait until they talk about the elephant in the room or beforehand?
He looked down at her on his side. She had hugged his arm completely and she was closer than before. He didn't mind it. Anything that this girl was doing to him, he didn't mind at all. What she was doing was one more justification for his decision to have her be the mastermind of his experiment. But the irony was huge from his part. He was playing with humans all along and none of them managed to do a simple thing as causing him this much distress or even an erection in public. He felt betrayed by his humans failing like that. After all those years of him being faithful to them, maybe it was time for him to turn his looks towards someone else.
A few minutes later they stopped in front of an old store which wasn't in use for years, judging from its front. The raven looked around when he spotted a somehow newer part of the very old door and he knocked it three times. A few seconds later a female voice was heard asking for the password. Izaya gave the password and the door opened letting both of them enter.
They found themselves in a chamber with a female right in front of them. The girl was a cute black haired girl, dressed in traditional Japanese clothes. Unfortunately, cause of the low light the colors and the decoration of her clothes couldn't be seen, something that disappointed Cecilia greatly. She loved traditional Japanese clothes.
"Oh, my! Orihara-san! Long time no see! What can we do for you today?" The girl jumped happily towards the man, scaring Cecilia away.
"We would like to attend a high-class wedding. Do you have anything to show us?" His voice was smooth and charming. A perfect gentleman, Cecilia thought, or rather the perfect bait.
"For you anything! Follow me!" The girl took the lamp that was lightening the chamber and led the way to a more lighten room full of clothes, shoes, hats, jackets, jewelry and more. It was like heaven. Cecilia let her stare wonder around without listening to the rest of the conversation between Izaya and the young girl. She looked with her mouth half open from the amazement. It was the first time she had ever seen a store so big. In Yogsai-City she would avoid stores with too many consumers, which was limiting her options greatly. She would have to borrow clothes if not able to ask from a modiste to make clothes specifically for her. Which was a little too expensive. Yet she wouldn't let a chance for shopping go away. Never!
"So we have long dresses, princes like dresses, short, sexy, slutty, more sophisticated ones... What do you have in mind?"
"Hm… Lia? What do you prefer? Lia?" Izaya called the siren who was still daydreaming. "Lia~"
"Eh? Did you say something?"
"Hisako-san from here will take you to choose a dress for tonight."
"Oh! Thank you very much!" Cecilia hurried and bowed respectfully to the young girl. Hisako just smiled at her and asked her to follow her.
"Orihara-san, my brother will take you for your clothes," Hisako added as she disappeared with Cecilia away.
She took her to the other part of the room and started to show her dresses one after the other. Cecilia was feeling like she was in a dream and she was begging God to not wake her up. Her excitement became even bigger when she heard that she could try them on, so she started to try one by one the ones that caught her eye. She was quick, cause of her previous lifestyle, and she would go in and out in seconds, check her self in the mirror, grab another dress and repeat.
"Ne, do you operate this shop in daylight? Or is it underground?" She asked while checking the 15th dress in the mirror.
"Underground. Here I dress anyone for anything. You can find anything." Hisako answered with a warm smile.
"Nice… do you mind having me as one of your clients? I am an information broker as Iza-chan, but I tend to lure men instead, so my wardrobe is very important. Unfortunately and all my clothes are destroyed. So I would like to have a new wardrobe."
"I would be glad to have you."
Cecilia spanned around herself one last time and grabbed the next dress. On her way out she kept making more questions.
"Say… how did you meet with Iza-chan?" She called intentionally Izaya with a nickname, so she could show to the female that she had a close relationship with Izaya, so it would be easier for her to speak about him.
"Are you two in a relationship?" The girl asked carefully. Cecilia smirked victoriously.
"Something like this. We work together lately and so we hang out a lot. His stories from his previous clients are amazing and interesting! So I was interested in listening to yours as well!" She stacked her tongue out and went to change again.
"Ah… Mr. Orihara helped us greatly to get my brother out of jail. It was a miracle that we fell on him. My brother was innocent but we couldn't prove it! Mr. Orihara's information saved us. We are extremely thankful to him. But we were poor and we couldn't pay for his services so instead, we exchanged services. He would get my brother out and I would provide him with clothes whenever he wants to."
"I see. You got yourself a good deal there because he is not the person who will go for shopping often."
"Ahaha that is true." Hisako agreed and helped Cecilia fix the new dress she was trying on.
A few dresses later she found the one she liked the most. A long dark blue dress, with a side opening and with long sleeves and neck from dark blue tulle.
"Oh! This is so good on you! Let us find some shoes, coat, jewelry, and makeup!" Hisako cried relieved that her client finally found a dress and dragged her to the other side of the store. They found a long black and warm cloak, along with black gloves, and black pantyhose. They chose some silver jewelry such as a long necklace, bracelet, and earrings, and they proceed to makeup and hair.
In the meantime, Izaya had found a black smoking, black shoes, long black coat, a white shirt for the inside, heavy cologne and was now sitting with Hisako's brother talking about his life after prison. To be honest, he wasn't really interested, but he had to kill some time until Cecilia was ready.
It was 10 o'clock when he saw Cecilia with Hisako following her. His jaw dropped. She was looking stunning. He couldn't describe it, but she was something that he would like to look at the rest of the night. Just that. Just staring at her. It was crazy.
"So? What do you think?" She asked him as she spanned to show off her clothes.
"You have a very good ahem taste." Izaya tried to keep his cool.
"Thank you…?" She was puzzled at him. His comment was a weird one. Even Hisako looked at him surprised by his response. He looked around him and felt the silent judgment Hisako and her brother were giving him. Cecilia was confused. He then understood that this statement was weird so he attempted to it embarrassed.
"I mean, you look amazing! They suit you well."
"Oh! Thank you! You are handsome yourself!" Cecilia smiled and winked at him happily. He only blushed a little and turned to Hisako who was approving his sayings.
"So…um… Send our clothes to my house, as usual. Shall we go? We will be late."
"E? What about the payment?" Cecilia panicked.
"Don't worry! It's on us tonight!" Hisako explained.
"Eh? Are you sure?"
"Yes! Please have fun!"
And with that, they said their goodbyes and proceed to walk to the church. Cecilia hanged on Izaya's arm once more. Izaya realized that the warmness he was feeling during their previous walk was something that he missed. The warmth and care he was receiving from the girl was something that he missed. Just until now he had experienced a bunch of emotions, he wondered what else he could experience… what else he was missing or ignoring his whole life. What else his humans were unable to make him experience. But why he was unable to experience this kind of emotions? What were their humans lacking? What is his fault? Their fault? He couldn't decide.
He looked up to the sky, like asking from God to give him an answer, but he wasn't believing in God, so no answer from him. He smiled to himself and kept walking lightheaded.
"Ne Lia-chan? Now that we are going to a wedding, let me ask you! Do you believe in real love?"
This was a theme reliable to the night after all and it would be a good chit chat to kill time. He wished he could see her expression because she was taking her time to answer.
"I do believe in true love. I believe that everyone will find someone to love them at some point in their lives… regardless. The problem is, once you find it, you will need to keep it too. I have seen people believing that just because they are each other's true love they can act however they want, but it doesn't go like that. This way you destroy your relationship..."
She grabbed Izaya's arm a little harder than before. Izaya felt her tension. He immediately regretted his question. It occurred to him that he never regretted his sayings, but now he did. He actually felt bad for making her react like that.
They were still walking, and she was still uncomfortable. She didn't expect a question like this to throw her off like that. Maybe love was a theme that wasn't still standing well for her. She had mix feelings about real love. She knew that everyone would find real love, but she also knew that she would never find that love herself. She had committed too many sins for her to be accepted by a normal person. Not only that… she doesn't regret any of them… and even if she ever regretted something, she doesn't remember it anymore… And that is something that a normal person would never accept. If she was remorseful there was a chance… people tend to believe in second chances, ironically… She is fine with whatever she did and now she wants a different life, but if she has to go back to her old persona she would. She definitely would. So she knew that even if she was ever to find her true love, that love wouldn't accept her. Thus she wouldn't be able to keep him even by default. Love is strong, but not strong enough to make people surpass their limits and be ok with this for a long time.
She let go of Izaya's arm and continued to walk along with him. Izaya looked at her back puzzled. He didn't know what to do. She was obviously upset. He started to become nervous. He was feeling guilty because he knew that it was his question who made her uncomfortable. This guilt was new to him. He was feeling bad and now he was trying to find a way to fix it. He started to panic when Cecilia spoke again.
"Um… Where are we? I am sorry, I got into my thoughts…"
Izaya looked at her like he just surfaced from the deep sea and was able to breathe for the first time. He couldn't focus his thoughts to speak properly. Hell, he couldn't understand what she was talking about.
"Izaya? Is everything ok? You are pale!" She hurried to his side, cupped his cheeks and brought his forehead closer to touch with hers, so she could check his temperature. Izaya was caught off guard and froze. "No, you are fine."
Izaya managed to comprehend the situation and gave her a reassuring smile. He looked around him and noticed that they were into a dark alley. 'Perfect place to bring a girl. Well done, me!' he thought and took her hands in his. He was a little disappointed that she was wearing gloves because he couldn't feel her warmth. He wanted to feel her warm hands on his cold skin. He wanted to feel that care she was giving him. He wanted everything from her. He moved their hands between them, smiled at her and place a kiss on her forehead. She blushed but didn't take her eyes from his.
"Everything is perfect! Shall we run to the church? We will be late!"
She nodded smiling and Izaya took her from her hand to drag her out of the alley to one of the main streets of Tokyo. He was excited. Excited to talk to her about his experiment. Excited that he chose her from all people. Excited that she smiled back at him. That smile filled him with warmness and happiness and the guilty feeling he had, was now long gone. His reactions towards her were amazing and unbelievably realistic. He knew that this experiment would be one of a kind. Only if she says yes.
"I wonder if there is going to be any kind of drama!" Cecilia asked while they were running towards the church. Izaya gave her a questionable look. "I mean, what if someone walks into the church and asks for the wedding to stop and then either the bride either the groom run away!"
Izaya chuckled to her wild imagination. "I like the way you are thinking! So now we will have to see it ourselves!" he announced with a cheeky smile as he opened wide his arms to present the church behind him.
The Church was tall, white with a huge cross at the edge of her roof and a huge gold bell under the cross. People from all over Japan had gathered outside the church just to see the bride and the groom. The invitations were for the reception after the wedding. Also, only the relatives of the two who were getting married were allowed inside the church so the rest of the guests were outside, in the cold, waiting for them to finish.
Izaya and Cecilia managed to stand somewhere, close at the red carpet in front of the door of the church and all the way to a white limo. They waited there for at least an hour. During this hour they were talking about the guest around them and were guessing what was their jobs, lives or characteristics. Izaya thought that this way Cecilia would take her mind away from the "love discussion" they previously had.
"That girl in pink." Izaya pointed.
"Hm… she is a simple common girl, who loves fairy tails and this one is like it got out of one. She is not well economically, judging of the dress. It's old-fashioned. Plus she has little makeup on for her age. She must be at least in high school. She doesn't have a boyfriend and she waits for her prince charming…. Now you. This dude with the blue tie."
"He is in college. His hairstyle screams ' I am a fuck boy'. He likes to drink and he has zero ideas of how to treat a lady. His girlfriend must have a lot of side chicks to go after. I pity her. He came here only to get a girlfriend for the week."
"Week?"
"He doesn't seem like a guy who a girl would stay for more than a week."
"That is correct."
"I am amazed. You know so much about humans." Izaya praised his date.
"Back in my hometown, I used to sit at a place and watch people fight. When you are fighting you are getting angry and want to expose the other party. So guess what kind of info I was getting. Good times."
Suddenly the doors of the church opened wide and everyone looked there waiting for the new couple to appear. The moment they put their foot outside the church cheers and cried filled the air. Flowers, rice, stuff animals started to fly towards the couple as they were passing in front of the crowd waving at their fans. Cecilia had glued her eyes to the dress of the bride. It was white, long with flowers sewed at hand, tule, bows, and a long tail following. She noticed how happy the couple was and how tough was the lock of their hands between them. They say that the stronger the bond the stronger the wedding. She was happy for them. She was happy for anyone who was making their dreams come true. She was happy for anyone was happy himself.
"They are so happy," she commented when they got into the limo. Izaya didn't say anything. He was considering the whole thing a stupidity, to begin with, but he didn't say anything just to keep her mood happy. He did saddened her previously that night.
Ladies and gentlemen! Those who have invitations for the wedding's reception please step into the limos that will follow, to take you to the wedding revenue. For the rest. Thank you very much for your attendance. I wish you a happy new year!"
A male voice was heard and Izaya with Cecilia proceed to step into one of the luxurious limos, which were waiting for them, to take them to the revenue.
"Time to eat something… I am starving…" Cecilia complained when the car started."Do you think that they will have an 'all you can eat' buffet?"
Izaya chuckled with her simplicity. This night would be a long one. He could feel it and be excited about it. What else could he possibly experience?
And that was it, everybody!
I hope that it had some flaffyness!
But the new year's adventures will continue to the next chapter too! ;)
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See ya Next chapter! ^_^