Part 8 – Old Life
Despite his new and longer way to school, Mikado somehow managed to arrive at his usual time in front of the school building. Unfortunately for him, it was one of the rare occasions when his best friend Masaomi actually showed up early.
"Mi~ka~do!", he greeted his friend cheerily, a few other students turning at his loud voice. "Where do you come from? I passed your apartment on my way to school, and some strange people were just moving in…"
Mikado was quiet for a second. It didn't even take 24 hours for his old life to vanish completely.
"I-I..my parents came to visit..and I moved somewhere else…I-I'll tell you later!", Mikado quickly excused himself. He had no idea what to tell Masaomi, so that he wouldn't get suspicious. Well, at least he had something to do during class.
Suddenly, he caught Masaomi staring strangely at his neck. Why was he-…? The hickey! Mikado's hands quickly flew to his neck, covering the bruise; his cheeks flushing red at the thought of how he received it.
"T-That's just a little insect bite..! Uh..allergic reaction!", Mikado lied with a barely convincing smile. Kida raised an eyebrow at him, but suddenly he was staring at something else.
"Mikado…why are you wearing a ring..?"
Crap.
"I-I can explain it..! It's just..uh..a gift..? From…"
Kida raised one hand to motion Mikado to shut up.
"You needn't say anymore. I think I know what is going on here…"
Mikado swallowed hard. "Y-you..do..?"
Kida nodded; a serious expression on his face.
"The fact that you come from a completely different direction…the hickey..the ring. One does not need to be a genius to know what that means…even though I'd never imagine something like that would actually happen…"
"Masaomi, I-I can explain..-! It's not what you think- "
The blonde flung an arm around his shoulder grinning.
"You have a GIRLFRIEND~!", he exclaimed cheerily; half of the school turning at them.
xxx
When Mikado sat in class, he inwardly cursed his best friend's conspiracy theories and indiscretion; all along the other pupils send him disbelieving looks or glares, whispering to their friends.
"Ryuugamine's got a girlfriend? I doubt it!"
"He probably made that up again!"
"Maybe he tricked her into it?"
"Or she's ugly as hell!"
Mikado sighed. He was really grateful that Sonohara let him borrowa scarf to cover up the hickey on his neck. He had told her that it really was an insect bite, but because of Masaomi's big mouth, he'd prefer to cover it up to prevent people from spreading rumors. She didn't look very convinced and eyed the bruise suspiciously, but didn't comment on it and instead lend him, her scarf. Sometimes he was really glad that Anri was more the quiet type. After all, Masaomi made up for her quietness at least ten-fold…
Class started and the other students had to stop their gossip and bad-mouthing about him. From time to time, Mikado caught himself staring at the ring on his hand. He wondered if he could just take it off…after all, was there a law that married people had to wear their wedding rings all the time? He believed there wasn't. It would really do no harm if he wouldn't wear it in school…right? Hesitantly, he slipped the ring off his finger and put it in the pocket of his jacket. He immediately felt more relieved. Now it was almost like the old times; he was back in school, with his friends Sonohara and Masaomi and he could live his normal highschool life. A small smile formed on Mikado's lips.
Just like the old times. Nothing had changed.
Part 9 – You Look Sexy in an Apron
Wrong. How could he have been so foolish as to think he could just pretend nothing had changed? Mikado quickly hid behind Masaomi when the vending machine crashed down only a few feet next to them, the impact causing small parts of metal and glass shoot through the air like small projectiles. If Heiwajima Shizuo was here, and throwing obstacles like that, it could only mean one thing.
"IIIIIZAAAYAAAA-KUUUN…!"
He wasn't ready to meet him again! And not in front of his friends of top of that! Hurried, Mikado tugged at Masaomi's and Sonohara's sleeves, motioning them to keep moving, away from the scene.
Kida turned around; looking worried at seeing his panicked expression.
"Are you okay, Mikado? It's not the first time the two quarrel in front of our eyes, why are you so scared?"
Mikado just kept tugging on his friends arm. "Please Masaomi, let's just go!"
And then Orihara Izaya appeared, jumping right in front of them. Facing the blond brute he laughed maniacally, skipping away backwards. He was only there for a few seconds, but when he realized the trio's presence, he turned to them, looked Mikado deep in the eyes and blew him a kiss; a second later he was gone, dodging the next vending machine flung at him.
The three of them stood there, staring in shock at the point where Orihara Izaya had been.
"Did he just…blow us a kiss..?", Masaomi asked confused.
Anri just shrugged her shoulders quietly.
Mikado didn't say anything; instead tried his best to fight down the crimson blush that had formed on his face. Luckily, his friends were busy watching Heiwajima Shizuo run furiously after the maniac Informant, demolishing half of Ikebukuro. Seriously, couldn't the raven just ONCE listen to the blond brute and STAY THE HELL OUT OF IKEBUKURO? Mikado sighed. That much is different about his normal old life.
xxx
"See you tomorrow…" the bespectacled brunette girl said quietly as she bowed to the two of them and then parted on her way home.
"See you tomorrow~!" Kida shouted after her, waving. He turned back to Mikado, patting his shoulder.
"I think I'm off then too~ See ya tomorrow! And tell me how it went with your girlfriend~" he laughed, then rushed off too.
Mikado stood there, unsure of what to do. He didn't want to return back home, but it appeared that he had no choice. Sighing, he went to the train station and boarded the Shikansen to Shinjuku. During the ride, he stared quietly out of the window. There weren't many people aboard the train and no one paid attention to him.
Once he arrived at the apartment, he was just about to ring the bell, when he remembered the key Izaya had given to him. Feeling slightly uneasy, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.
"Tadaima..", he murmured quietly, while taking off his shoes. No response. Apparently, the informant wasn't home yet. Feeling hungry, Mikado stepped into the kitchen and decided to take a look around. There was fresh food in the fridge, but the kitchen looked as if it had never been used before, except maybe for making tea. In one drawer he found a box labeled 'Namie's Stuff'. He wondered who this Namie was..? Curiously, he opened the box. A container that obviously contained rat poison (Mikado recognized it because of its particular shape; after all he had used rat poison very frequently in his old apartment) had written 'Sugar' with black marker on it. Mikado decided to put the box back in place immediately. He had to keep in mind to never accept food in Izaya's house he didn't see get prepared or made himself.
If the informant wasn't home, he could also cook something. After all it had been ages since he last got the chance to cook in a real kitchen (his old kitchen only contained a sink and a microwave); and he really enjoyed cooking. He decided to cook a simple curry, because the ingredients he found didn't suffice for any other meals. Putting on an apron to not ruin his school uniform, he got started.
He was just doing the last bit of seasoning, when he heard the front door open.
"Hey, Mikado-chan, are you home?" the Informant called into the apartment.
Jumping slightly in shock, Mikado dropped the soup ladle he had been holding, it crashed down on the floor with a loud metallic 'clonk'. This caught the raven's attention and he stepped into the kitchen.
"Ah, there you are~" the informant's gaze fell upon the food cooking on the stove, then upon Mikado, who was backing away from the man, a scared expression on his face.
"You cooked..?"
Mikado squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to get scolded or sliced with the man's flickblade.
"I-I'm sorry..!", he stuttered.
The informant looked at him confused. "Why are you apologizing?"
The raven stepped up to him and wrapped his arms around the teens waist.
"Ah~ My lovely wife cooking for me makes me feel like the happiest man on earth~", he chimed, then he lifted Mikado up and twirled him around like a small child.
"I-Izaya-san..! P-Put me down, please..!", Mikado yelped in surprise.
Izaya put Mikado back down on his feet, but still held unto him closely.
"You look so sexy in an apron, Mikado-chan~", he whispered, tilting the boy's chin up.
"But I think you'd look even better wearing nothing except an apron…~"
Mikado flushed beet red at that comment and tried his best to shove the Informant away, who once again tried to kiss him. Seriously, why did everything he did lead to him getting molested?!
He really started to think that his husband was a pervert.