Merry Christmas peoples! So the slowness of this chapter is because of my sister (Angel of the Shadows Fire) because of coordinating between our stories. Thanks for reading!

The beautiful dish that once contained an ice cream sundae now only had fudge sticking to the side of it. "Feeling better?" Tatsuko asked me as I took a long drink from my water glass. Why do people always ask questions when you are eating or drinking? Wouldn't it make more sense to wait? I shot Tatusko a glare around my glass of water.

After washing away the sugary coating inside of my mouth I set down the cold glass and answered, "Yes. I was starting to get a headache, I feel much better now."

Looking out the window of the cafe I wondered what Mikado, Masaomi and Anri were up to. "I heard you died." Tatsuko accusingly stated, cutting into my thoughts, her green eyes boring into me demanding an explanation.

Shrugging I looked back out the window, "I passed out while fighting and they thought something was wrong so before taking me to their leader the Blue Squares took me to Shinra. He told them I died from internal bleeding. Masaomi and I decided to get off the streets so there was no point in telling anyone that I was really alive." I looked back at her, but Tatsuko's face didn't betray any of her thoughts or feelings.

"But you didn't get off the streets. Vienna went after both of the gangs." It suddenly dawned on me just what Tatsuko wanted. She just wants to hear that I'm OK.

I smiled at her, "I feel better now than I have in a long time, I've been off the streets for six full months now." Is that good enough for you? Or is there more that you want from me? I held her gaze waiting patiently for her to change topics.

"That wasn't what I asked." She folded her arms showing that she would be unmovable on this topic.

"You didn't ask anything," I reminded her in a smartalecy tone, "you made a statement and dared me to deny it's truthfulness." I leaned back and folded my arms as well. We could have sat there glaring at each other forever, but I relented after only a few minutes. "Yes I stayed on the streets to mop up the mess, and that took about six months."

"Why didn't you leave it to someone else? Anyone else?" The concern on her face accused me of being too reckless but I reminded myself that she always tried to baby me.

I ended up shrugging, "Who? I figured I needed to clean up my own mess." I thought you would be proud of me learning to cover my tracks better and not leaving tons of chaos in my wake.

"Does that mean you plan to clean up again now that they are back?" Her green eyes held a sharp glint that could cut through diamonds.

"Yes." I made it clear that nothing she could say would change my mind. If I don't take care of this it will haunt me and Masaomi forever.

"What help are you getting?" She demanded. She chose not to argue with me, I thought in surprise. Her compliance through me off guard for a moment.

"I still have some contacts on the streets that will help me." Shifting uncomfortably in my seat I tried to collect my thoughts and steer the topic somewhere else. "So what was in the envelope you gave to Mr. Nasujima?"

She blinked a few times, "Not sure and its not important right now. Is Masaomi going to help this time?"

I cringed internally picking up on her harsh implication. 'Is Masaomi going to clean up after himself this time, or just cry in a corner like he did before?' She really doesn't understand the situation at all, none of this was his fault. "He doesn't know it was me the first time and I didn't plan on telling him this time." I lifted my chin daring her to question my judgment.

She looked confused, "Who does he think took on the gangs after you two got out?"

I shrugged again, "Don't know but I told him people were just spreading crazy rumors about Vienna and Ameko, which they were." Its always easier to tell the truth than to make up a lie. She eyed me suspiciously as if trying to figure out all the secrets I wasn't telling her.

"Are you really better?" she finally asked looking hopeful but trying to hide it.

I smiled, "Never been better." She looked relieved for a moment but then began to look at me critically, "Like you have any room to talk to me about taking care of myself. I notice that you cut the cast off that you were wearing at the Cuppycake the other day, what happened?"

Rolling her eyes she held out her arm for me too look at it, "My arm is fine, it was just time for me to take the cast off. It was from an injury I got months ago."

I didn't believe her story for a second, but I didn't have a right to criticize because I had cut off my cast too early in the past, "Well, really so long as I remember to eat I don't have any problems."

She nodded as if that was what she expected, "Do you think its a good idea to go back? It will probably make things worse again."

I ate some M&Ms out of my pocket, "Maybe, but then maybe I'm healed. I wouldn't know, but you could always ask Shinra."

Looking a little shocked she asked, "Did you let him finally figure out what is wrong?" For a second she looked proud but then disbelief colored her features.

Again I shrugged, "He did a bunch of tests, but of course he was limited with the resources he had at home. I told him to do what he wanted to but not tell me the results and not to interfere with how I chose to live my life." Why does everyone care so much about finding out 'what's wrong'? I sighed and noticed that she did at the same time.

"When did you see Shinra last?" She sounded exhausted and a little frustrated. What? I didn't do anything wrong!

"About eight months ago, why?" I was still trying to puzzle out why she was suddenly so drained of energy.

She face palmed and started shaking her head, "We should go visit him. I'm sure he misses you more than anyone else."

I couldn't look at her, I know Shinra has probably missed me a lot but it isn't like I could just randomly drop by his place. I was off the streets for real at that point and he works for Yakuza and others like that. "Yah. . . probably. . ."

"You really should rely on him more, Shinra has always cared about you so much that its weird." She pointed out laughing to herself. I continued to watch the streets outside of the cafe, the only thing that stood out to me was the yellow, it wasn't all over but I saw enough of it to make me uneasy.

"I do rely on him." I looked back at her and somewhat angrily added, "Unlike someone else he actually is reliable."

She stiffened but her face remained smooth, "Yes well I did what I thought was best. Trust me it would have been worse if I had been here."

I shook my head, "Oh yah. I remember you telling me you would earn my trust by being there when I need you most. You heard a rumor I was dead and even that didn't bring you back so how am I supposed to trust or rely on you?"

"Don't trust me. That is something I should have said back when we first met, rely on us because we care about you but never fully trust any of us." She looked dead serious and it hurt to hear her say it.

"Don't worry, I don't trust anyone. That also means I can't fully rely on anyone though." The streets were a difficult place to grow up and every time I let someone else take care of me it ended badly. I learned a long time ago that I have to take care of myself, I can't trust people. The conversation died and I looked back out the window, always looking for potential threats and taking note of how much yellow was out there.

I counted the cash carefully to make sure they weren't withholding any of my pay and noting it was all there I put it carefully in my wallet. Another job well done now I could get some Reese's Pieces and hang out at Shinra and Cely's apartment until dinner time, that is if they let me in, for some reason more and more often they would tell me I couldn't come in or that I had to come back in a few hours. I nodded to the men I had left the drugs with and started to leave when a shrill screech sliced my thoughts to pieces. "Your name isn't even Hitomi!"

I whipped around to find the source of the noise when my eyes locked on the high school girl who had stopped me just a few days befor. I glanced over at the guys and noticed them eyeing me suspiciously, "I didn't lead her here, I don't even know this girl."

She came over and grabbed my arm, "You should be ashamed getting a little girl involved in this awful business." She snapped at the men there as she started dragging me off.

"Ignore her, I'll be back next week." I told them as I was pulled out of sight.

"No you won't Vienna. Why on earth are you delivering drugs for the Yakuza?" She demanded her emerald eyes boring holes in my face.

I squirmed out of her grasp but I couldn't go anywhere, she had pulled me into a dead end. "What's it to you?" I demanded folding my arms defensively, I stood slightly on the balls of my feet ready to run if the opportunity presented itself.

Her face was red most likely from anger, "Do you think this is what Celty and Shinra want for you?" She spat angrily giving the impression that she had wanted to say something else.

I winced hearing their names and deliberately unfolded my arms my hands balled into fists at my sides, "How is it any different than what Celty does? What other jobs can I do?" I demanded shaking with rage, "I need to be able to take care of myself. I need to get myself out of that orphanage and this time I am going to stand on my own!" Tears of rage blurred my vision but I refused to acknowledge they existed.

Tatsuko shook her head, "Why can't you let Shinra adopt you? He talks about you all the time, how you are his little girl. Just depend on us, we can take care of you." She took a step towards me and I jumped back as if I had been bitten by a snake.

"I've heard that before. I know better now, the only person I can trust to take care of me is myself. Not you, Shinra, Celty or those creeps that keep coming to the orphanage trying to adopt me." Tears dipped to the ground below me and I just watched them slowly darken the pavement, "So don't you dare try to stop me. I can and will take care of myself." I looked at her defiantly and made sure that I held her gaze, trust in anyone else was something I lost a long time ago.

Tatsuko held my gaze and nodded as if she finally understood, "Fine. I just want you to know you can come to me for anything. I can't prove it to you but I hope one day I can earn your trust." She turned away from me and started walking, "If you want to find me just let Shinra and Celty know." She suddenly stopped and turned back, "By the way, there is someone I think you should meet. I won't make you follow me but if you would like to meet my friend Shizuo then please follow me." My eyes went wide at the name Tatsuko had just used so casually. I silently followed, still ready to run at a seconds notice, hoping that she had really meant Shizuo Heiwajima.

Leaving the cafe I was distracted when I heard my name, "Vienna is going to come back for the Yellow Scarves just like she did a few months ago." A girl was telling her friend.

"No way I heard she was running a mafia over in Italy." Tatsuko's eyes lit up when she heard them and a grin spread across her face. My eyes widened as she walked over to the gaggle of girls on the street.

Before I could stop her she started speaking to them, "Are you guys talking about Vienna?" I started pulling her away apologising but she stood still as a marble statue. "I heard she's really over a hundred years old but she got plastic surgery so she would always look like a teenager." She stared them down as if daring anyone in the group to doubt her.

Some guy who was probably only there because his girlfriend was in the group shook his head, "No way, I heard Vienna was a name that gets passed down along a line of spies."

"You mean gangsters" the girl next to him, probably his girlfriend, corrected.

Tatsuko looked slightly disappointed for a second but then nodded, "Yah apparently Ameko of the Yellow Scarves was going to be the next one, but I'm talking about the current Vienna. She's really over a hundred."

I knew I had a dumbfounded expression on my face but I couldn't get rid of it as I watched Tatsuko spread rumors about me, in front of me. I shook my head as belief spread across the faces of Tatsuko's audience, "Sorry for disturbing you all." I yanked on Tatsuko's arm and this time she moved. Dragging her down the street I tried to sort out my thoughts. "Are you the one who keeps spreading all of those rumors about me?"

She pulled away and rubbed where I had been holding as if I had hurt her, "Of course not all of them are mine, but you swindling Belgium out of all of its money was me." She beamed with pride about her rumor as if she had done the greatest thing in the world and she expected me to agree.

"Why would you do that?" I rubbed my temples again in frustration, So it was Tatsuko, probably Izaya as well, spreading stories about me.

"Why did you start rumors yourself?" she countered, "And don't give me that lie about how it was a safety measure. You had already killed off Vienna by the time we met, but you were still spreading rumors about her."

I felt a cold shiver run down my spine and I stared down at the gray pavement below me. "I didn't really start many, mostly I didn't stop the rumors that other people started." I looked up to meet her green eyes with an icy cold stare, "It doesn't really matter why I did it." I was angry for no good reason, I just didn't have an answer to her question. Why did I do it? It was frustrating not knowing, not understanding my own actions, all I knew was that I had felt it was important at the time.

A look of understanding flashed across Tatsuko's face, but before I could say anything about it she started to walk again, "Come on. We're going to see Shinra."

My eyes suddenly darted around as I realized I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings. I didn't notice anyone who looked threatening but I did see more yellow than I liked to. "I don't think I am ready to face him yet. . ." scurried to catch up with Tatsuko but now I was more focused on the people in the crowd, making sure I didn't know any of them.

Tatsuko suddenly yanked on my arm and the faces that I had been looking at in the crowd suddenly blurred. I was unable to establish if I knew some of the people that had been looking at us. "I can't believe how heartless you are to have not seen him in all this time, you know that Shinra loves you like a father." Her words stabbed at me and I let her drag me through the streets to Shinra and Celty's apartment.

Finally outside the door she stopped for a moment and hugged me, "I guess I will be seeing you around." With a maniacal chuckle she opened the door and called in, "I've brought your baby home!" and then shoved me in. She grinned down at me wickedly and winked before shutting the door.

"Vienna!?" I heard Shinra's frantic footsteps as I tried to pick myself up off the floor. I had only just barely gained my feet when Shinra pulled me into a tight hug burying my face in his chest. "Don't disappear ever again! I might die from worry!"

"I've missed you too," I managed to say even though it was muffled by Shinra's too tight hug, "But if you keep squeezing me like that I will suffocate and die." The awkward man in a lab coat let go of me suddenly and I collapsed to the ground again. He looked at me appraisingly and smiled, "Lets get you some food."