A/N: So, I know I said I would not update New Years Day. But I also recall saying I had a schedule, and, well, that just didn't work out as planned did it? I have my reasons, and I'll share them just so you know I'm not a procrastinating bum. So on the Wednesday I was supposed to update, there was a black-out. And for the next three days we had ridiculous winds where I live, causing me to be a bit nervous about going near the computer. So I did not update. On Christmas, I spend time with my family. And I was supposed to update that Sunday. I forget I like to play around with my new goodies after Christmas, though. So why didn't I updae Wednesday after that? Well, that actually was laziness on my part. Laziness and a brief case of writer's block. I was going to wait until it was properly Sunday, but...I figure I've made you guys wait long enough. So this is my apology chapter. You'll note it's longer than the others by a lot. You'll also note that things are really starting to kick-start. Mikado is going to go through his years slowly now. Chapters will be longer, there will be less year-time-skips. We've passed 'prologue' and gone into 'content'. So I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters and this one!

P.S. Yes, there's a smidgeon of romance in here. No, that does not mean that is the pairing. It may or may not be the pairing. Just warning you now.

Disclaimer: Durarara! belongs to its respective copyright owners.

They properly met for the first time during their winter break.

Though they had been talking online ever since they had found each other, they had not had time to actually meet at school. Kida always busied himself with something after school while Mikado went home to do homework, surf the internet and spend time with his family and friends. So when the winter break came up, freeing them of their school duties for a little while at least, Mikado had made the suggestion that they get together and catch up on each other's lives. Kida had immediately agreed.

They arranged to meet at the park where Mikado's life had started and where Kida told him he liked to go to think. Mikado had gotten there early, sitting on the rim of the fountain and looking at the kids running around the park, their parents keeping a close eye on them. Some of the Blue Squares colour gang members were sitting far off to the side, out of the way but watching to make sure no one threatening tried to take their territory from right under their noses. It was chilly out, so Mikado was wearing a thicker jacket than he normally would; in his pockets were some gloves just in case he needed them.

He didn't notice someone come up to him until a hand grabbed his shoulder. He jumped, slipping out of the hand and turning around quickly in an avoidance move Izaya-san had showed him during some of their walks together. He then looked at the person before him, staring at him uncertainly.

The boy was his age, with light coloured eyes and an easy smile. He had dark brown hair that fell into his eyes, and he wore a white sweater with a dark blue jacket over it and some jeans. Overall, he looked normal enough. Taking a closer look he recognized the tilt of the smile, the sharp flash of the eyes, and he knew then and there that this was Kida Masaomi, his best friend from the country.

"Kida-kun?"

"Haha, it is Mikado! You haven't changed a bit!" Kida grinned, placing his hands on his hips as he stood on the fountain rim. "Though I will say you're much faster at getting away from people. Where'd you learn to move like that?"

"A friend of mine," Mikado answered immediately, for some reason sensing he should not talk about Izaya-san with Kida-kun. There was a strange feeling in his gut telling him not to mention the older boy's name.

"Ah, Mikado doesn't trust me!" Kida-kun staggered off of the fountain, holding a hand to his chest. "Whatever will I do? My long lost friend won't even tell me who he knows? How am I to cope?"

"Yup, you're Kida-kun all right."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Kida-kun looked at him with a grin and an accusing stare, showing Mikado he wasn't actually angry. Taking this into account, Mikado simply shrugged and smiled at him innocently.

"It means you're still corny, and that you haven't changed a bit."

"Sure I have!" Kida-kun defended, walking over to Mikado and slinging an arm over his shoulders. They walked down the park sidewalk then at a leisurely pace, acting as if they always did this while inside Mikado was revelling in the fact that he was with his friend again after so long. "I mean, I'm much more attractive now, and I've gotten way popular! All the girls at school love me!"

"I heard you got hit by one of the girls last week for saying something inappropriate."

"Lies! All lies!"

Mikado raised an eyebrow sceptically, causing Kida-kun to grin. "All right, so maybe I did say something. She overreacted."

"Oh, Kida-kun…"

They spent their time together simply talking, learning what the other had done for the past years. Mikado held back a lot of information, like who exactly Celty was or who Heiwajima-san and Izaya-san were to him. Kida-kun would talk about the legends and people he'd learned about in the city, from the Black Rider to the monstrous Heiwajima Shizuo to the sly Orihara Izaya. If Kida-kun knew he spent his days with these people, was raised by some of these people, he wasn't sure how his friend would treat him. He enjoyed the comfortable atmosphere around them, enjoyed the familiarity and the ease in which Kida-kun spoke to him.

He did not want to lose that.

By the time it was getting dark, Mikado had received a text from Shinra asking if he was going to be home in time for dinner. "Ah, I have to get going, Kida-kun; I have dinner soon."

"Oh, all right," Kida-kun smiled, stepping back and folding his hands behind his back. "We'll have to meet up again sometime at school! Oh! What middle school are you going to go to?"

"The one in association with Raira Academy. I want to go to that high school when the time comes. You?"

"I'll be going to a different school, sad to say." Kida-kun smiled sadly, shrugging before he grinned. "We'll just have to hang out on holidays and free days! We could even meet up during our lunches!"

Mikado grinned glad that even though they were going to go to different middle schools, Kida-kun still wanted to spend time with him. Kida-kun then asked for Mikado's cell phone number and after an exchanging of numbers and a test to make sure they got the right ones on their respective phones, Mikado left Kida standing at the crosswalk.

When he reached the apartment, he saw an extra pair of shoes at the front that he recognized as Kasuka's. The older boy hadn't been to the apartment lately, so Mikado was instantly curious as to why he was there. Slipping off his shoes and putting his coat away into the closet, he walked into the apartment to the sitting room, where he saw Kasuka sitting on the couch, watching with a vague expression as Shinra and Celty (her helmet on) played a racing game.

The younger Heiwajima looked over at Mikado as he entered, and a slight tilt of the lips showed that he was happy to see his young friend. Mikado gave a tiny smile in return, moving to sit next to Kasuka.

"Hello Mikado-kun,"

"Hello Kasuka-san. What brings you here?"

"I have a play coming up in a couple of days, run by a theatre group that I've volunteered to work with during break. They'll give me the experience I need for anything concerning acting that I'd like to do in the future. I got a small role in the play they're producing." Mikado nodded, paying attention to Kasuka. He rarely spoke this much unless it was about theatre; he seemed to really enjoy it. After a moment of looking at the TV screen with the racing game, Kasuka looked back at Mikado and tilted his head to the side in thought. "I was wondering if you wanted to go."

"What's the play about?" Mikado asked, leaning his chin on his palm as he waited for his answer. Kasuka gave that tiny, barely-there smile, taking Mikado's interest as his positive answer, before he started to explain it.

An hour later, Kasuka went back home and Shinra made oden for dinner, as just like the day, the night had turned colder than it had been the past couple of days. "Winter must be upon us!" Shinra said with a smile, looking up to see Celty sitting with Mikado, helping him with some of his homework. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, turning back to pay attention to his cooking (as Mikado would've told him to do if he had been paying attention to Shinra…not paying attention).

"I wonder if any winter romances will happen?" he said to himself then, quietly so that the other two wouldn't hear him as he smiled.

He had a feeling something was going to happen.

Something did happen, but not exactly as Shinra had thought of it.

Instead of a romance or even something remotely pleasant, news spread like wildfire that the Blue Squares were beaten by a mysterious, new gang in Ikebukuro. Mikado had heard about the news when he was out Christmas shopping with Shinra and Kasuka, trying to figure out what to get Celty for the commercialized holiday.

"Did you hear about it?"

"About what?"

"About that gang fight just the other night! These guys just suddenly appeared and challenged the Blue Squares who usually hang around the park."

"No way!"

Mikado turned away from the little snow globe he had been looking at that had Tokyo Tower inside of it, paying more attention to the conversation two coworkers were having in the little odd-and-ends shop. They didn't seem to notice the young boy listening with rapt attention.

"It was so weird. My boyfriend saw it all. He said that they were all like, middle school kids or something. But that when the Blue Square guys just laughed them off one of them just punched the guy straight in the nose and sent him flying!"

"Now I really don't believe it. Middle school kids, beating up a bunch of big thugs like that?"

"It's true! My boyfriend videotaped it and sent it to my cell phone! Here, I'll show you."

One of the girls fiddled with her vest for a moment before showing her phone to her co-worker and apparent friend, playing a video down to the lowest volume. Yet though Mikado could neither hear nor see the video, he knew what the girl was saying was true from the other girl's surprised gasp.

"That's insane! Do you know what they're calling themselves?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's got to be a new Colour Gang. After all, no one else would be stupid enough to challenge the Blue Squares. Everyone else got destroyed within the last few years by their strength."

"My boyfriend didn't give me a name."

"Excuse me, but may I give you lovely ladies some information?"

Mikado jumped at the same time the two girls did, all three looking to see Izaya-san standing there with a vicious smile on his face. Mikado frowned a bit at the expression, knowing it looked completely at ease and relaxed right now. That's what made it unnerving. No one should be that happy when talking about a possible new, powerful gang in Ikebukuro.

"The gang you speak of is a brand-new gang, just formed over the last week or so. The leader, I hear, is a charismatic man. They called themselves the Yellow Scarves."

Izaya-san then looked up to stare straight at Mikado, his smile sharpening a slight bit. "It seems as though the Blue Squares finally have some worthy competition, ne?"

And with that, as predictable as it was of him, Izaya-san left with a light wave and a 'bye bye!', leaving the girls in awe and Mikado feeling like the last thing that was said was directly said to him. He knew that Izaya-san had commented before that the Blue Squares needed a little opposition, but he didn't get the feeling that the Yellow Scarves were made by him. Sure, he was charismatic, but he was also not in middle school.

He turned back to the snow globe, noticing for the first time that Shinra was talking and that Kasuka was looking at him with what one could probably call a worried expression. He shrugged off the younger Heiwajima's concern and instead turned his attention back to Shinra, who was explaining that Celty was extremely fond of things like teddy bears and flowers, even if she never did admit it. All the while his mind was still on the conversation the girls and Izaya-san had had, wondering what the puzzle pieces Izaya-san had obviously given him meant.

Christmas was loud, as if making up for the fact that his birthday had been quiet. Heiwajima-san, Kasuka, and Izaya-san had all been invited (by Shinra), which meant that Mikado would sit by the sides with Celty and Kasuka, watching as Heiwajima-san and Izaya-san chased each other around the apartment with Shinra laughing on the sidelines.

Mikado had gotten a few manga he had been looking at from Kasuka, a new hard drive for his computer from Shinra, a camera from Shingen (who had mailed his gifts from America, the place he was at currently, a week before), a scarf from Heiwajima-san (Kasuka admitted that he had picked the scarf after the gifts were opened) and a book on other Irish fairytales from Celty. From Izaya-san he had gotten, strangely, a knife.

"Everyone should have one," Izaya-san had explained when Mikado had looked at him in confusion. "Now you have a cell phone, a computer, and a knife! You are thoroughly prepared for anything Ikebukuro throws at you." He had then promised to show Mikado had to properly use the knife before the contents of the freezer were thrown at him, courtesy of Heiwajima-san who had lost his temper for the fifth time that night due solely to Izaya-san's voice.

It was while Mikado and Kasuka were setting up the table for dinner that the strangest thing in Mikado's young life had happened to him.

Now, one might think that with the life Mikado had lived so far, nothing would be strange. After all, his adoptive mother was a Dullahan missing her head, his adoptive brother was training to be something of an evil scientist, and one of his friends had monstrous strength while a friend that was more mentor than friend was a highly intelligent somewhat evil teenager. In fact, the only normal people in Mikado's life were Kida-kun and Kasuka, and even they had their quirks about them.

Yet this was the strangest thing to have ever happened to him. This was new and weird and alien, and he wasn't sure what exactly to make of it.

That was because, when he had turned to Kasuka to ask him to pass the plates, the slightly older boy had, in turn, bent down and pressed his lips against Mikado's.

Mikado stood there in shock, blue eyes wide and mouth opened slightly as Kasuka looked back at him with that usual vague expression that barely showed what he was feeling half the time, let alone what he was thinking. Just as he was getting his wits about him again, Kasuka pointed up to the ceiling and Mikado looked up to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging there innocently, unnoticed to the eleven-year-old until that moment.

When he looked down to ask Kasuka why he had followed through with the silly tradition, the other boy was already gone and the table was set, plates and everything.

Ryuugamine Mikado was not sure what to make of this sudden development.

Mikado had excused himself during the Christmas movie to stand out on the balcony and get some fresh air, still slightly jumbled from the event from earlier. He had pulled on a coat and some slippers, leaning against the metal bar of the railing as he stared up at the stars above him, watching the blinking red lights of a plane that he knew hundreds of children looking out their windows that night thought was Rudolph from Santa's sled. Though Mikado himself did not believe in the story of a large man carrying presents for children across the world, he thought that the idea was nice. It was why he hadn't told any of his classmates who still believed in him that it was all fake.

After all, who was he to know if Santa Claus didn't really exist? He was sure Celty wasn't supposed to exist either, but there she was.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the door opened, and he turned to see Kasuka stepping out onto the balcony, a warm jacket and slippers on his feet. He watched as he closed the door quietly before making his way to Mikado's side, looking out over the dark city landscape, eyes captured by the glowing lights of Ikebukuro. "…It's nice outside."

"Yeah,"

They fell quiet after that, both looking in their respective directions; Mikado up, Kasuka down. Finally, Mikado looked over to Kasuka and asked what he had wanted to earlier before Kasuka had disappeared.

"Why did you kiss me?"

Kasuka looked back at him, giving him a contemplating stare, before he shrugged a shoulder and looked back out at the city.

"The mistletoe."

"That's a weak excuse. You don't have to kiss someone under the mistletoe." Mikado narrowed his eyes slightly at his friend, sensing the older boy didn't want to tell him something. "Why did you really kiss me? Please don't lie, Kasuka-san. That would be insulting my intelligence."

"And you're a very smart boy," Kasuka said gently then, looking over at him with that tiny, there-but-not-really smile he often gave to Mikado or his brother. Mikado could not recall a time he had ever seen that smile aimed for anyone other than Heiwajima-san or himself. "I'm sure you can figure it out if you think about it for a moment."

Mikado frowned at the vague answer, so much like the vague boy, before he turned to look at the sky again. It only took him a moment to realize what Kasuka was saying.

"Do you like me, Kasuka-san?"

"Yes," Mikado jumped at the quickness of his answer, looking over at him again to see Kasuka giving him that strangely intense look he sometimes got. He had received it the first time they had met, and then only a handful of times afterwards. He had never understood it then. He was older now, though. He understood it now.

"Why?"

"Mikado-kun is incredibly smart, and very pure," Kasuka said then, looking back up at the sky. "Quiet, but you'll talk to people if you have something to say. There's a loneliness in your eyes that speaks of a past pain or loss." He paused then, looking back at Mikado. "Mikado-kun is broken. It makes you pure; it makes you perfect, because you're not perfect. You've been damaged by something, and that makes you who you are." He sighed then, looking away.

"I admire you very much. You're strong for someone so young. I've always seen you as strong. Shinra-san and Niisan agree with me that you're a strong person. Maybe not physically, but emotionally." He tucked some hair behind his ear then, looking back out over the city. "I'm not expecting anything from you, Mikado-kun. I know you're only eleven, almost twelve. I know that you probably don't care to have a relationship right now. I can wait." He turned to look at Mikado then, smiling again that little smile. Mikado suddenly understood why he was able to see it along with Heiwajima-san.

"I'll wait for your answer for however long you need to think about it. I'm a very patient person."

"You'd have to be, to be able to handle Heiwajima-san."

Kasuka gave a soft huff then, one Mikado recognized as a laugh, and the older boy ruffled his hair as he had the first day they met before turning back to the apartment. "Shall we go in? I think they're going to start worrying soon. Either that, or Niisan will try and kill Izaya-san again."

"Right," Mikado nodded, following the older boy back into the apartment. His mind felt much clearer.

The New Year happened without event, as it was just a small family thing. After that, school had begun again and Mikado had busied himself with his studies as he always had, with the addition of learning more about the Yellow Scarves and learning how to fight with Izaya-san.

He was not exactly sure why Izaya-san wanted him to know how to use a knife as an offensive and defensive weapon, but he did not ask the older teen as he knew Izaya-san would not tell him the whole truth. Izaya-san was like that; though he knew all sorts of things, you earned that information through a sort of system, like a shop. You paid for the information. Mikado did not want to actually pay for anything, so often more than not when he asked Izaya-san anything he got half truths that he had to figure out on his own. He didn't mind it, though. He found the challenge of finding the truth in the lie to be enjoyable, like he found the challenge in his advanced math classes to be enjoyable.

The Yellow Scarves, however, eluded him and that bothered him more than anything. He could not learn anything from the people on the streets, and he was too wary to actually ask a member of a Colour Gang if they knew anything. He might be learning how to use a knife, but that did not mean that Mikado wanted to have to use it against someone. He was very anti-violent, most likely because of his own past. When Izaya-san learned of his unease towards actually hurting someone, he found it oddly amusing.

"Mikado-kun, you're so strange! You want to know about a Colour Gang, but you don't want to actually ask anyone in a Colour Gang because you're afraid to get hurt?" Izaya-san shook his head, looking at Mikado as they stood in an abandoned parking lot opposite of each other. Mikado was holding his knife with the reluctance he always did, Izaya-san holding his with an eerie ease. "If you're going to ask about dangerous things, you have to be ready to be put into danger."

"But that seems foolish. Why go into danger when you can figure out other ways to find out dangerous information? Research does not always have to be hands-on."

"You're very book smart. I think it's time you start being real-life smart, too." Izaya-san smiled then, that smile that always unnerved Mikado slightly, before he lunged forward in that snake-like way of his. Mikado watched with calculating eyes, thinking of all the possible movements Izaya-san could do in the short distance between them.

He thought of their little 'skirmishes' as a game of chess, or checkers, or even Go. He wanted to try and get into his opponent's brain, to try and figure out how they would move before they actually moved. Though very 'book smart', as Izaya-san called it, he knew it was effective as, when Izaya-san decided to feint to the left and then swing his knife in a backhand style towards his right side, Mikado moved accordingly and blocked in time to push him back. He jumped back a few times, putting distance back between them and Izaya-san grinned, standing up and looking at him with narrowed eyes. "You think of everything like a puzzle," he said then, cocking his head to the side. "You would be a general, or some sort of commander. You would make all the plans, think of everything, and then send others into the field while staying safe on your horse."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Mikado asked with a curious head tilt of his own and a quick smile. "I like staying safe. I don't want to be hurt if I can't help it." He then looked at his knife for a brief second: the sharp edge, the glint of metal, the feel of the handle in his hands, all shiny and polished and still very new. "Izaya-san would be like a spy."

"A spy?"

"You put yourself right into the danger, but you act like you belong in it. You would pretend to be a part of the danger, to blend in as if you were always there."

"Perhaps," Izaya-san smiled. "I think Mikado-kun is judging me much too easily. There are many layers to a person."

"Like a puzzle?"

"Maybe. But I don't think people can be so easily solved after a moment of thought. We're much more complex than puzzles. We're like…illogical abstract art. Like those cubes you see where the structure doesn't make sense, or those large canvases with huge, bold stripes of red and black. The meaning is lost to the viewer, but there's a meaning behind it. People have a meaning behind their existence, too. Though no one knows the meaning of a single person, as it's been lost in the many complex layers that make up a human."

"Then you believe there's an artist, like a God, who creates humans for a greater purpose, and then doesn't explain the greater purpose?"

"I don't know about Gods," Izaya-san said with a grin. "I'm not too sure about higher powers, Heaven or Hell. I don't like thinking too much about what happens after death, because that's selfish, isn't it?" Mikado looked at him in confusion, wondering what he meant. "I mean, if you're dying, or you want to die, you want to die. You want to stop existing. Those who think of a Heaven, or of a purgatory, or even of 'what happens after death' are too concerned with their existence. They want to make sure they stay existing, and that's not the point of death. Death is to stop existing. Other things after death exist, but you don't."

"Izaya-san, you sound like you've thought of this very much."

"I like thinking about it. It's fascinating." Izaya-san smiled, looking up at the sky as if he were reading answers in the clouds. Mikado looked up as well, wondering if he would see anything he hadn't before. "But it's not the concept of death that I find interesting. It's other peoples' opinions on it. I like hearing what other people think. I like hearing what others wonder about, or question, or think that they know." He laughed then, and Mikado shuddered a bit, looking at Izaya-san as he held his arms out around him, as if spreading some imaginary wings like a fallen angel. "Do you want to know why, Mikado-kun? Why I care so much about what other people think?"

"Why?"

"It's simple, really," Izaya-san said, leaning his head back further. He looked like he would be praising a God or embracing something mystic if it weren't for the fact that they were in an abandoned parking lot. "I love humans."

Mikado stared at him for a moment, watching as he grinned and spun in a circle slowly for a moment. He then shook his head, sighing inaudibly.

"You're so weird, Izaya-san."

He had thought of the perfect solution to his lack of information gathering during gym.

Mikado had had to sit out because he'd managed to twist his ankle the day before (avoiding Izaya-san's very realistic attack against him. He swore sometimes Izaya-san was actually trying to kill him) and so he had been forced to watch his classmates as they played volleyball. He had been watching them, listening to everything going on in the gymnasium. The acoustics in the gymnasium were some of the best within the entire school, and so he could hear everything. He heard the calls of teammates as they yelled 'Mine!' 'Over here!' 'Spike it!' 'Get that!'; he listened as students milling around him spoke about what they did on the weekend, who was dating who, what was happening in a different district of Tokyo. It kind of reminded him of the internet.

And that's when he remembered his little friend the internet.

Schools were like little packets in a vast world of information. It collected information quickly and spread out information like downloads and torrents. Rumours spread like viruses, poisoning the system and causing people to react funny towards another, sort of like a computer seizing to work properly. Classrooms, the gym, lunch, they were all like chat rooms; chances for people to gather and share what they had heard throughout the day or the week, to hear others' opinions and learn different stories they had yet to hear or to clarify rumours as true or false.

What if he were to create a group, or an organization like a school, to collect information? Sort of like a Colour Gang, but online?

He thought about it for a long time after the initial thought, wondering how it would work out. There would be certain rules, like in any vast chat room or in schools; rules everyone inherently knew and didn't break because they couldn't be bothered. Like not being insulting towards each other, or not to spread spam, or to not try and get internet sex out of chatters.

If he were to control that, then it would have to be some sort of group people were invited to, but he didn't want to limit it that much. He wanted vast areas of information. So he could send out a specific amount of invitations, and then hope for the best. He didn't think he'd be able to do this alone, though. There'd have to be a group of people, kind of like administrators.

"But I wouldn't want it to seem like someone's in complete control and giving orders," he muttered, frowning as he looked down at his Math equations sheet. He scanned the questions and answered a few quickly so the teacher thought he was working. "To get information, there needs to be certain bounds, yes…but it can't be completely controlled. Information cannot be controlled that easily; it'll just simply slip through cracks you're unable to prevent." He scratched his forehead with the eraser of his mechanical pencil.

"A Colour Gang…without rules or restrictions, maybe? I'd be putting a lot of trust into the people that join it, but…maybe that's how it should be done. Maybe that's best. Rules are easy to ignore if you don't like them." This was easy to tell from the length of skirts on some girls who had not liked the knee-length restriction. It wasn't like you could completely control how a student dressed if fifty others along with her are dressed the same. But without any rules or restrictions? He thought about that for a moment, wondering how that would work.

"I suppose…if I were to give the basic rules of 'be courteous to one another, no spam, and no inappropriate behaviour', I could just…leave it. Let it grow on its own. Like a community or something. Communities are always given their own general rules, and then they're just left alone. Same with schools. Same with online communities. It'd be a community, a 'Colour Gang', but it wouldn't be a conventional one. Colour Gangs are much stricter, and they have a recognizable leader. No one should know who the leader of this is. It should just be…kind of there. Just a melting pot of information with everyone adding things in." He paused, rubbing his eyes before standing up when the call was given. The class bowed the teacher out, before collecting their things as it was the end of the school day.

Putting his things meticulously into his bag, he wondered what colour his 'Colour Gang' could be. He paused in putting away the last of his textbooks, thinking back over his own musings. "…If the leader shouldn't be recognizable…then neither should the colour. It should just be there, should just exist without anything holding it. A Colour Gang without a colour." He smiled at the oddity of it, his smile turning into a grin as his idea started to root into his mind, feeding off of his thoughts like some sort of welcomed growth.

"I like it."

When Mikado got online that night, he went onto a chat room he had become fond of. On it were people he had become close internet friends with, all of them friendly and easy to talk to. Once greetings were over, he proposed the idea of a colourless Colour Gang.

Genki: A /colourless/ Colour Gang? What kind of organization would this be, Tanaka-kun?

Tanaka Taro: It wouldn't /really/ be like a Colour Gang. It would just be like, a chat room or something. Some place where information can be shared with everyone. Schools, offices, super markets all have people sharing information. But if it's online, and if it's open to everyone, then information from everywhere can gather.

Mei Ling: Would it just be a site for information, though? That's limited.

Mikado frowned, wondering why he hadn't thought of that.

Tanaka Taro: Well…I guess it could be a site for anything. Information, just chatting, whatever you want it to be. It'd be an organization without rules or restrictions. It'd be really free. You could do whatever you wanted, and not fear consequences. There are general rules, like there is on here, but after that it's everyone's game.

Genki: So it's not really anything. It's like a neat club that doesn't do the meetings.

Tanaka Taro: …yeah, I guess. Is it not a good idea?

No one spoke for a while, and Mikado was afraid that his idea to get information and have a little fun at the same time would be shot down. He had thought so much on this, had seen all the ups it could bring! He could learn about things with this that he couldn't from just his select group of friends! But if no one else wanted to help him, how could he make it work? He couldn't do this alone. And he definitely did not want to ask Shinra or Izaya-san to help. Maybe Celty, but she seemed busy as it was. He wanted this to work, almost needed it to work. He wanted information so much, but he didn't want to risk his own neck to get it.

Nakura: I think it sounds like a fun idea! I mean, Colour Gangs are cool, right? But you don't want to actually associate yourself with a gang with a colour, as then you could be in danger! Other gangs could attack you! But if you were going to be in a Colour Gang /without/ a colour, then you wouldn't have to wear a colour! You could just act like you always do, but at the same time you can tell people you're in a Colour Gang! A Colour Gang gives you a certain amount of protection, and if /anyone/ can join this gang, no one outside of the gang will know who is in it and who isn't in it. People would be hesitant to hurt someone if they don't know where or who their allies are.

Mikado smiled as he read what Nakura-san had to say, glad someone was seeing what he meant. It was like they had discussed this together, but he knew that wasn't it. Nakura-san was always smart, though.

Nakura: Also, if it's without rules or restrictions, even people who frown on the Colour Gangs wouldn't find anything wrong with it. Most Colour Gangs with rules have certain expectations. They need to protect their territory and fight off their rivals. But a Colour Gang without rules wouldn't have these expectations. And since there wouldn't be any real meetings, no one's life has to be disrupted. It's actually perfect for anyone who wants to do something interesting but not twist their entire life to do it.

Genki: So it'd be like for lazy people like us!

Nakura: Aww, Genki-chan, are you saying we're lazy? Mean~!

Mikado couldn't help but laugh then. Nakura-san was smart, but at the same time he was awfully foolish.

Nakura: So, Tanaka-kun, what would we call this colourless Colour Gang? And how would we invite people into it?

Relieved that he didn't have to worry about a flat rejection Mikado started to ponder these questions with his friends, everyone giving an idea or a thought towards this little 'project'. He knew that even though he had originally started the idea based on a selfish wish, – a desire for information without putting himself into the line of fire – the idea for his colourless Colour Gang was going to end up being something more. He didn't mind that, as they spoke more on it, it wasn't turning out exactly like he had planned. It would still serve the purpose he wanted it for, but at the same time it would be more appealing to everyone and not just people like him.

That, he thought, was something special.

Life continued on.

Mikado, after a long few nights talking to his friends on the forum, created a webpage for the colourless Colour Gang 'Dollars'. Nakura-san had thought of the name from the sound that some people used when they weren't particularly doing anything: 'dora-dora'. This sounded like the English word 'Dollars', and so instead of calling it something odd like 'dora-dora', they decided to use the English word. They, as the creators, would know exactly what the name meant. Others who would join would have to try and figure it out.

Once the webpage was made, he shared the password with his friends, who then started to anonymously send out texts and e-mails to others in the city of Ikebukuro. Mikado watched as, day by day, someone new would accept the invitation and log into the website to see their name on the list along with other, anonymous people. The forums were slowly filled up with people first exclaiming their amazement at the fact that such a site existed, to people starting to talk to one another. Some people talked about their everyday life, sharing their boring stories along with others. Some looked for people to talk to, as they couldn't talk to anyone else where they were. Others still shared rumours and whispers they'd heard at work, or on the street, or in the classroom. Lots of people were curious as to the purpose behind Dollars, but slowly they realized that the purpose was whatever they wanted it to be.

Mikado thought it was kind of similar to that conversation he had had with Izaya-san, how people were complicated things with layers, their purpose lost within the layers. Dollars' purpose was lost within the layers members created for it. Like art, or people, it had a purpose unique to every member. Some saw it as a clubhouse where they could talk to friends. Some people used it like a forum, just to talk and share stories. Others still used it as a kind of meeting place so that they could plan things out with others who had similar interests.

He watched it morph. He watched it change. He watched it slowly become something bigger and better than he had originally envisioned. And he was glad that he had created it, as it seemed to be something everyone enjoyed.

Outside of the internet, nothing really changed. The mysterious Yellow Scarves continued to gain power, Izaya-san continued to teach Mikado how to use his knife, and he still did his homework and spent time with family and friends. His grades were still the top of the class, he still heard stories about Kida-kun's silly antics, and he still went online every day to see what was going on in the world outside of his world. His twelfth birthday passed with little fanfare, Celty giving him a new, better cell phone and Shinra giving him a new computer screen, as his old one was out-of-date.

Summer passed them quickly, Dollars growing by the day. Slowly information outside of Heiwajima-san's strange strength and the mysteriousness of Celty and her bike turned to information about the strange Yellow Scarves. Who were they? Had anyone heard anything about them? Why did they form? Who was the leader? Mikado kept close tabs on these conversations while spending time with Kida-kun, finding a part-time job at the bookstore he and Shinra often frequented and preparing himself for his entrance to middle school.

The testing itself he had done near the end of the year had been simple, in his mind, and so he had been easily accepted into the middle school of his choice. The uniform that the school used was similar to Raira Academy's, except it was a dark green instead of a light blue. Mikado found that he did not mind the fact that he still had a uniform. Kida-kun had commented that he had wanted to go to a public middle school because he wouldn't have to wear a uniform then, as he hated uniforms. Mikado found uniforms to be comforting; they gave you a sense of pride in your school, but also made it so people did not stress over what they would wear to school. Everyone wore the same thing.

It was near the end of summer when something other than the Yellow Scarves took over the forum and the news on TV.

Mikado was eating breakfast when Celty suddenly came into the sitting room, which was connected to the kitchen, and turned on the TV to the news station. At first ignoring his adoptive mother's strange behaviour, he turned back to the television when he heard what the reporter was saying.

"…apparently the work of robbers, the only one to survive the terrible massacre was the 11-year-old daughter, Sonohara Anri. Somehow the girl had been unseen by the assailant, leaving her to be the only witness. However, she claims to have not seen anything. Doctors suspect post-traumatic shock while some speculate that the girl had known the murderer. Whatever the reason, there is now a dangerous person in the city. People are asked to stay inside after 6 o'clock in the evening and under no circumstances are they to leave the safety of their homes until the perpetrator is caught. If anyone sees anything or anybody suspicious, they are asked to call the police station so that the authorities can look into it. Do not, under any circumstances, go look into the suspicious thing or person yourself as it could be dangerous. In other news…"

Mikado watched at the pictures of the crime scene, filled with blood and two dead bodies, left the television. Celty turned off the news as the man started to talk about something to do with the weather, turning to look in Mikado's direction.

He wondered if she was worried he would revert to his own history with violence in the home. He wondered if she was worried he was going to have some sort of episode or violent shock.

He smiled to reassure her.

"Scary, isn't it Celty-san? Please be careful when you go out tonight."