"I can't believe you met Hanejima Yuuhei in person and didn't bring me!" Maya complained, pouting.
"I told you, it wasn't the safest event, and as it was I almost missed it entirely. I couldn't have gotten you there in time" Anni explained in frustration, taking a bite of curry. She was reconsidering her decision to let Maya accompany her for her lunch break.
"So was he as handsome in person as he is on screen?" the excited girl continued.
"Even more so. But it's not like he's the most handsome in town" Anni said smugly.
"Oh really? Who do you think that title goes to then?" Maya pressed, ignoring her food in favor of answers.
"Take a wild guess."
"Hmmmm…" she considered, an evil grin slowly taking over her features. "Maaayybeeee… Izaya-san?" Maya drew out. Anni started choking on her rice while her friend laughed.
"How many times do I have to tell you to drop it? I hate him! I hate him to no end! Leave Izaya out of it!" Anni demanded before chugging down her water. Maya took the chance to actually eat some of the food she'd ordered. "Try again" the little blonde ordered as she put her glass back down.
"Do I have to be serious this time?"
"I don't care, so long as you leave the psycho out of it" Anni grumbled.
"Which one?" Maya asked between bites.
"What do you mean 'which one'? The obnoxious pest with a god-complex. What other psycho's are there?"
"The bottle-blond with temper issues, the little girl with too many secrets…"
"Oh come on…" Anni sighed, finishing her cury. "Lunch break's over in a few minutes, we need to head back."
"Coming" Maya sang, stuffing a bit more food in her face. The pair paid for their meal and headed back to the shop. Anni spotted Shizuo walking with Tom along the way and made sure to catch his eye and wave. "Now that you mention it…" Maya muttered as they both waved back and went on their way, "he's not half bad."
"What's that now?"
"Your scary friend is actually kinda handsome" Maya admitted.
"You're only just now noticing?" Anni laughed.
"Hey, it's not like he does much to advertise it with those glasses" she defended.
"Are you kidding? Have you ever seen him fight? It's almost purely advertisement!" Anni joked as they entered the shop, heading towards the back to get changed into uniform.
"No, I haven't really, because like every other sane human being, I try to stay AWAY when he gets mad. Seriously Anni, you have problems."
"Well, I've managed to hang around him this long, and I'm still perfectly fine. In fact, with how much he's saved my sorry ass, I'm better off for it" she explained, changing into her uniform top. With how accustomed she was to changing around her female coworker, Maya got a good view of the knot of bone still left from when she'd pulled a knife on the strongman months ago.
"I see" Maya said softly, giving it a moment to sink in before adding "So how's your clavicle?" Anni froze in surprise for a moment before roughly pulling her top straight and growling at her friend.
"Shut up."
-!DRRR!-
It didn't escape Maya's notice how Anni glowered at her for half of the remaining shift. The poor girl was delusional if she couldn't see Maya was trying to help her see reason. But Anni was also rather stubborn and prideful, so it would be hard to convince her she was wrong, and harder to get her to admit it. Maya would have to press the matter for quite awhile to get it through her head.
She'd managed to change and get out of the shop before the blonde, so she hung out by the door and waited. When Anni finally emerged, she was on her phone.
"... I'll just hang out here for a little bit… Ya, I'll see you soon" she said before snapping her phone shut and pocketing it. "Yo, I didn't think you'd wait for me."
"Was that your boyfriend?" Maya taunted. She just couldn't help herself. Instead of getting mad again, Anni sighed.
"No, that was my 'scary friend', as you seem to think of him. We're going to get some food before he walks me home" she explained.
"Really? That kinda sounds like something a boyfriend would do" Maya observed.
"Maybe" Anni rolled her eyes. "Though it's mostly habit by now. After being targeted multiple times it doesn't make sense to walk around alone at night anyway."
"Wait, what? You've been targeted?" Maya demanded in disbelief.
"Ya. Just about a week ago some creep with a grudge against Shizuo got ahold of my home address, and hung around in an alley to wait for me" Anni explained coolly, much to Maya's horror.
"Are you ok? What happened?" she demanded, grabbing the blonde's hands.
"I'm not really ok yet, but I will be eventually. Shizuo showed up in time to knock the pervert into next month, so there was no real damage" Anni said smoothly, if softly. Maya's reaction was to pull her friend into a hug.
"Anniii" she whined quietly. "You never tell me anything important."
"I'm telling you now aren't I?" she said, her voice numb. Neither of them moved for a minute. Anni didn't return the hug, and Maya refused to let go.
"That's why you're not afraid of him, isn't it?" Maya observed. Anni muttered something under breath which Maya could barely make out as counting. "What?"
"Five" was her final answer. "Five times now that he's saved my sorry ass or taken care of me when I needed him. How could I fear him? He's most of the reason I've survived here this long" Anni explained. Maya released her and took a step back.
"I had no idea" she said sadly.
"That's because I'm too stupid and too stubborn to tell you the things that matter" Anni said, matching her friend's tone. "I'm sorry." Maya slapped her hands to her cheeks suddenly and made a show of being flabbergasted. "What?!" Anni fell a step back in surprise.
"The great and proud Annibel Hael actually apologized!" she announced as dramatically as she could.
"Maya! I got you to be serious for two solid minutes! It's a miracle!" the blonde chimed in return, mimicking the face slap.
"What're you two on about now?" Shizuo asked as he strolled up with a cigarette between his lips. Maya didn't quite know how to react to him anymore, so she grabbed Anni's arm.
"What are you-" the blonde asked as she was pushed towards the newest arrival. She stumbled along the way, and Shizuo needed to catch her, but that served Maya just fine.
"Take good care of her, she's terrible at taking care of herself" she pointed at the confused and now irritated bodyguard before turning on heel and storming off.
-!DRRR!-
"Ah, I can't wait to get home and slip into a food coma…" the contented girl walking beside him sighed.
"Maybe you'll stay asleep too" Shizuo added.
"It hasn't been that bad for the past two days. I've only been waking up once per night" Anni offered sheepishly, knowing that wasn't good enough. Before he could say anything, she started off on something else. "So how's your back?"
"What about it?" It was still incredibly sore, but it didn't restrict his movement at all, so he didn't care.
"Shizuo, you were mowed down by a several ton truck yesterday. I know you're nearly indestructible, but you're still human!" Anni ranted, making him stop.
"What was that?" he asked once she'd realized they weren't going to be walking anymore.
"I said you're still human" she asserted, looking at him like he was crazy. "Has your infamy gone to your head?"
"Maybe" he replied, starting to walk again. He couldn't remember the last time someone other than Anni worried about his safety, or had called him human. He'd gotten so used to people calling him a monster, or a beast, and being terrified of him.
"Don't let it" she ordered, matching his pace again.
"Sure" he agreed. They walked quietly for a little while, but neither of them cared anymore. They didn't need to fill the silence to be comfortable. "Oh, and thanks for the cake. It really helped" Shizuo remembered once her complex drifted into sight.
"Anytime" Anni said with a smile as they started climbing the stairs to her apartment. "I couldn't leave you to have a horrible day on your own-"
"-Or you couldn't live with yourself, right?" he finished.
"Exactly" Anni laughed as she stopped in front of her door to unlock it. As it started to swing open, Shizuo turned to leave, but Anni's hand on his arm stopped him. What did she want this time? He got his answer as she pulled him to face her and stood on her toes to reach around his neck. Shizuo quickly wrapped his arms around her back to keep her from running away immediately. "Thank you for walking with me again" she confided.
"Don't mention it. Sleep well" he ordered, releasing her so she could dance backwards to her doorway.
"I'll do my best. See you tomorrow" Anni bid, disappearing with a spin behind her closed door.
-!DRRR!-
"I'm sorry I'm late!" Anni chirped as she rushed to hop onto the barstool next to Shizuo.
"Ah, look who finally made it" Tom observed, giving her an endearing smile.
"It's good to see you again, Tom-san!" she greeted. Shizuo chose to ruffle her hair in place of a formal greeting. Both of the males already had food in front of them, so when Dennis came by she ordered something small. Anni had found very quickly that having a large meal before her training was a bad idea, and she preferred larger dinners anyway.
"So what kept you?" Shizuo asked.
"Maya needed to talk to me for a bit, that's all" she explained. "So how has today been going?"
"We've got a long list today" Tom answered. "I'll probably be keeping Shizuo with me until late" he apologized, patting his coworkers shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll be too busy to need him today anyway" Anni joked, resting her hand on his other shoulder.
"Huh?" the blond in question asked.
"It should still be light out when I finish my workout today, and after that I'll be kidnapping Maya and holding her hostage in my apartment for the night" she explained, her tone unwavering.
"Kidnapping?" Tom laughed. "You don't seem the type."
"Weeeell, it won't really be kidnapping, since she already agreed to it…" she admitted.
"Anni…" Shizuo chastised, earning a playful giggle. Anni's food finally arrived, so she happily dug in. "How'd you sleep last night?"
"Ah, well enough. I technically got enough sleep, even if it was a little broken up…" Anni explained with hesitation.
"Broken up?" Tom asked.
"I've been having nightmares lately, it's nothing to worry too much about though-" She was cut off by Shizuo's unhappy growl.
"I've had worse" Anni defended.
"I still don't like it" he grumbled. Tom took his opportunity to jump in and steer the conversation in a better direction.
"Have you ever tried lucid dreaming?"
"No, but I've heard of it. It's where you take control of your dreams, right?" Anni asked.
"Right. I've heard you can use it to change your bad dreams-" Tom started.
"Really? Do you know how to do it?" Anni asked excitedly, leaning forward to look around Shizuo.
"Ah, not really, I've never done it myself." Tom admitted. Anni's face fell. "But from what I've heard, the main point is to realize you're dreaming. Once you do that…"
"I see" she said, sullenly going back to her food.
"Is there a problem?" Tom asked.
"It's just that I've always had really detailed, vivid dreams. I can never tell if I'm dreaming or not" she explained.
"If your nightmares are that bad, you know you can always-" Shizuo started.
"I know" she interrupted quickly, turning a little red. "But I also want to be able to deal with them myself." Conversation died off as they turned back to their lunch.
-!DRRR!-
Anni leaned her head back against the wall. She was tired. Her sore legs demanded she sit, but it would be counterproductive to what she ultimately wanted. Even though staying on her feet wouldn't do much, it was a small step. She would have plenty of time to sit around and talk to Maya tonight anyway. The girl in question stepped out of the manga shop and looked around a moment before noticing Anni. A stuffed shoulder bag hung across her body.
"You ready to spill all of those tasty secrets?" she asked with an evil smirk.
"We'll see" Anni sighed. She started leading the way back to her apartment.
"I hope you're ready to face work tomorrow sleepy, because I'm not letting you rest until you tell me everything I want to know!" Maya proclaimed.
"I wasn't planning on sleeping anyway. I don't feel like torturing you" Anni countered.
"What do you mean?" Maya asked, her tone incredulous.
"Nothing much, don't worry about it" Anni waved her off.
"Oh come on, you promised you wouldn't just blow me off today!"
"So you want me to spill my guts in public? Don't be mean!" the blonde accused emphatically, holding her arms over her abdomen as if to keep her secrets safe. Her friend just huffed at her.
"What do you have planned to feed me?"
It wasn't after they'd gotten comfortable in Anni's living room and eaten her sub-par dinner that Maya started digging into her with questions.
"Why is it you put up with me?" she asked pensively.
"Is that really where you're going to start this interrogation?" Anni laughed.
"Yes, it is. We have plenty of time to get to the juicy topics." This time her malicious grin made Anni hesitant. At least this was going to start out easy.
"Even if I don't enjoy being abused and taunted and teased and tormented-"
"Get to the point."
"-I actually enjoy having you around. You're technically good for me. You keep me humble." Anni's explanation was cut short by Maya's exaggerated snort of laughter.
"You? Humble?"
"Imagine how bad I would be without you and Alex" the blonde joked.
"Oh god, the world might just crumble under the weight of your ego."
"My turn. Why do you put up with me if I'm so bad?" Anni pressed.
"Because I like messing with you. And… you're one of the few people who puts up with all my bullshit. I don't have to worry about what I say or chasing you off."
"You're so sweet. And here I thought you were going to say something nice about me…"
"Shut up you dipstick, I did say something nice. You're tolerant, and accepting of other people, despite being a proud, self-absorbed twerp."
"Thank you" Anni said, pulling her shoulders back and planting her hands on her hips to play the role of proud twerp. Maya laughed and swatted her knee.
"Now, tell me about Durarara" Maya ordered, reaching over and snatching up Anni's sketchbook.
"You really still remember the name?" Anni sighed. She was worried about this bit.
"Of course, I couldn't use it against you otherwise. What happened to the other sketch pad?" Maya asked as she flipped through the few pages Anni had filled.
"It got drenched" she answered simply. Taking a breath, Anni started talking. "Durarara is the name of a light novel, which was turned into a manga and an anime. I didn't make it up."
"Never heard of it. I tried to look it up too."
"That's because it's not from this universe" Anni said slowly.
"... So how would you know about it?" Maya asked seriously. Her host eyed her suspiciously.
"You believe me?"
"I love fantasy just as much as you do. And, honestly, it explains a lot" Maya explained earnestly.
"Well" Anni tugged for a moment on a bit of hair. She hadn't expected to get past that. "I know about it because I'm from that same universe."
"Seriously?" Maya asked incredulously. Anni nodded in return.
"Do you know anything about the multiverse theory?"
"Oh? That? It says that there are an infinite number of alternate realities, right?"
Anni nodded. "And because there are infinite different possibilities, every conceivable reality is possible. Because it's possible, it technically exists. There's only a problem of getting there. That includes the made up ones, like Durarara"she expanded.
"So this is all just a manga?"
"No, actually this world is more like the anime, but that's not the point. This is very real, I just come from a place where there's a pre-written history book especially about what goes on here, more or less."
"So how did you get here? I mean, travelling between realities can't be easy" Maya observed.
"It's not. There's no way I can tell you how we did it and live, but my brother and I found a way to connect the two universes. We created a link. Alex and I can go back and forth freely now."
"... Just the two of you?" Maya seemed disappointed. Anni nodded sadly.
"Just us. Our home rejects anything, and anyone, from this universe. It's a one-way street that way." Maya seemed to ponder that for a moment.
"Tell me about Durarara then, if it's exactly like this reality."
"For safety reasons I can't tell you much…" Anni took her sketchbook and flipped to a drawing she'd done a few days ago. The cast from season one lined up across the page. No other writing or embellishments distracted from the characters.
"What's unsafe about telling me?" Maya's tone lacked her usual teasing lilt as she examined the lineup.
"If knowing about what will happen causes you to say or do something, it could negatively impact the way things play out. I've been trying to keep my nose out of the events that guide the story, so it still follows the path I know about. If the events don't go down that road, what I know will be useless, and I won't have any way of fixing it. Everything could turn out terribly wrong because of me, and end badly, even if i try and make it better."
"You're more of a danger than I am then. You spend a lot of time around one of the people in the plot" Maya observed, pointing out Anni's rendering of Shizuo.
"And it constantly terrifies me" she confided. "But I haven't changed any of the major events so far…"
"Maybe this reality isn't so easily changed then" Maya theorized.
"What do you mean?"
"If you've lived here so long while being so close to one of the people who directly influences the story, maybe this universe compensates to stay how it should be. I don't think the butterfly effect applies in this situation" Maya suggested. Anni quietly though it over.
"Maybe. I don't want to test that though."
"You don't have to." Silence fell over the pair. Both of them were too caught up in their own thoughts to speak. Maya slowly started flipping through the few covered pages. Only two were related to Durarara. "So this is your great secret" she mused.
"Yup. I'm an alien from another universe who knows the future. And you had to go and trust me enough to believe me" Anni sighed, falling back and folding her hands behind her head.
"Only because you trusted me enough to tell me, finally" Maya laughed softly. "Hey, Anni" she said after a moment.
"Ya?"
"Thank you."
-A/N-
Edited by my dear friend Faded Phoenix