The Distance A Raindrop Falls
By: AtomicKokoro
Storyline
Set five years after the end of Durarara. Peace seem to have finally fallen in their lives, but one wrong word brings everyone back together for one last round of war.
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Before You Read
A lot actually happened last chapter.
I'll be honest with you. I have NO idea what I'm doing. I have no idea what any character is thinking in this fanfic. I really hope this all just makes sense in the end.
On with the story.
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Chapter 12
Hidden And In Hiding
Somewhere in Ikebukuro, Toshima
December 22, 2015, 5:43 PM
When Mikado finally came to, he wasn't sure where he was. It took him a moment to wake up and lean up. He was laying on a leather couch. Black... He looked up and around before realizing where he was.
"You're awake."
Mikado jumped up and turned at the voice. "Izaya," he gasped.
Izaya was holding a tray of tea with some biscuits. He seemed to have fancied a British sort of meal that day. "Yeah," he said. He walked over to Mikado and sat on the other couch that was on a ninety-degree angle from Mikado's couch. He set the tray down between both of them and offered Mikado a cup.
Mikado took the cub and filled it with tea, adding a few sugar cubes and stirring it to his liking. Izaya also did so. "How did you find me?" Mikado asked, staring at his tea cup.
"I knew where Akako was," he said. "I assumed you had gone to see him. That, and the little show you and Aoba put on was on the news." Mikado flushed a bit and sipped his tea. "What do you plan to do now?"
Mikado looked up at Izaya. "What do you mean?"
"You're best friend and your girlfriend is being hunted," he continued. "by your own gang. They don't trust you anymore. They think you are the one who issued the order."
"They can handle themselves," Mikado said, trying to convince himself more than Izaya. "I know they can."
Izaya took a bite of a biscuit and leaned back. "A little blind faith," he said quietly. "can go a long way. But a little blind ignorance can really ruin your day."
Mikado laughed loudly. "Since when did you talk in rhymes!"
Izaya smirked a bit and chuckled. "A little something a friend told me," he said quietly.
"A friend?" Mikado echoed. "Since when did you have friends?"
Izaya opened his mouth, then hesitated. His smirk disappeared and he leaned forward onto his knees. "Mikado, there is something I think you should know," he said. "I've wanted to tell you this for five years, but I thought you had already figured it out. But you haven't."
Mikado blinked. "What do you mean?"
Izaya hesitated and stood up. He walked towards the window. Mikado stayed put. "I'm sure the name...Shinra Kishitani is familiar to you, right?"
Mikado flinched at the name. "Yeah," he said. "He died during the War five years ago, didn't he?"
Izaya nodded and stared out the window. "Shinra...by human standards...was my friend."
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Somewhere in the Allies of Ikebukuro, Toshima
December 22, 2015, 8:43 PM
Masaomi had been hiding in the alleyway for almost twelve hours. The night was getting colder and he hadn't prepared for a cold night outside. He was hungry and tired. He couldn't go home without risking being attacked by the Dollars. He couldn't go onto the streets in the open.
He huddled close to himself, staring at his phone. He wanted to text Saki, but if she came looking for him, she might find herself in trouble with the Dollars. The Blue Squares would recognize her. Maybe Mikado would show some mercy on her.
"Oh, God," he croaked. He didn't want to think about any of that. He was probably going to die before Christmas. He should have stayed longer to watch Saki. He should have talked to Mikado before the Second War. He should have asked Kyohei to meet up with him again at some point or another.
But there was only one place Masaomi could think of that might provide any sort of warmth for him to stay for the night.
He stood up and disappeared into the darkness, heading for the docks.
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Kyohei's Apartment; Ikebukuro, Toshima
December 22, 2015, 8:59 PM
Kyohei hid Anri in his apartment, thinking it was the last place anyone would look for her. And it was, but a few Dollars stopped by so now and again to see what he was up to, if he had seen anything, what he was planning.
Kyohei told them he was done with the Gang Wars and was planning to simply stay in for the night. The people who stopped by respected this and disappeared without a word, without a suspicion. Then he and Anri would continue talking.
"Just stay here for a while," he said. "until tomorrow, at least."
"What about Masaomi?" she asked, worried. She had a tea in her hands to calm her nerves but she was scared beyond belief. Having most of Central Tokyo looking for her, and even her boyfriend was looking to kill her. "Where is he?"
Kyohei was hesitant to reply, but he gave the truth of his mind. "I don't think he'll live through tonight," he said. "Not without a place to hide or any weapons or any allies to watch his back."
Anri was visibly upset. Kyohei didn't doubt it for a moment. "Tomorrow, I'll take you to the docks. We'll leave on a boat across Tokyo Bay and even go as far as leaving Japan. We have to get you to safety, Anri."
She didn't want to leave. It was obvious. She wanted to stay and fight. She had the Saika Children. "I can do this," she said. "I'll convince Mikado to call off the Dollars and make him realize what he is doing."
"Anri," Kyohei objected, but Anri didn't listen. She stood up and shook her head.
"Tomorrow, I will contact Mikado and find answers. That's what I'll do." With that, she laid on the cot Kyohei left out for her to use, rolled over, and tried to sleep.
She's changed a lot, Kyohei thought to himself. She might have changed more than anyone else.
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Izaya's Apartment; Ikebukuro, Toshima
December 22, 2015, 5:46 PM
"You were friends with Shinra?" Mikado echoed, sounded surprised.
Izaya nodded. "By human standards. I simply loved him a little more than anyone else. That was all. ...I think." Mikado carefully noted the "I think" in Izaya speech but let him continue. "During the First War, I remember I was the one who started it all. I pulled the strings. I wanted Celty to be there and for you and Masaomi to fight each other. That was how big the First War was going to be. A war I could win, so I could go to Valhalla when I died down in battle.
"I did take into account that Celty was indeed Shinra's wife and I knew that if Celty took me to Valhalla, he would lose his place in the world and feel nothing was left for him. I tried to ignore it, but it always came back to me. I always ignored it.
"Finally, on the day of the First War, while I was standing over the building, an old...enemy of mine followed me to the top of the highest building. He threatened me with a gun. He wanted revenge for my revenge. My revenge on what he had done to Shinra."
Izaya's voice darkened. Mikado wanted to ask but with the way Izaya was looking out the window, how he was talking, the words he chose, he didn't want to trigger Izaya. It was almost as though Izaya had gone from the brick wall to glass; fragile, see-through, and obvious.
"He said he had enough of me," Izaya continued. "He said that was the day I was going to die, by his hand. But I didn't really want to die by his hand. I wanted to die down in the War so Celty would take me to Valhalla, but then he came. Shinra appeared. And he knew what was going to happen..."
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The Former Yellow Scarves Hideout; Ikebukuro, Toshima
December 22, 2015, 9:03 PM
Getting there was hard. He was quiet, stealthy, and timed his jumps perfectly. Now, he was in the clear.
Masaomi stood by the iced rivers, peering into it's surface like he did once before in the summer when the water was water. He almost saw his younger reflection staring back, asking, "What have you done? Wasn't the First War enough for you?"
"I didn't do this," he snapped back. "I only wanted to protect these people!"
He stopped instantly. He was staring at his current reflection, his sixteen-year-old version gone in the ripples of the wind and snow. He had been talking to himself. There was no one there besides him.
He sighed and turned to the warehouse. It was dark, the sky cloudy with pollution. The snow had blanketed everything around the docks. He was freezing. And hungry. And tired. He wanted to rest now.
So, he tried to open the warehouse, but the doors were frozen shut. He tried to pull them as hard as they could but they wouldn't budge. There was only one other way inside and that was a side door by where the couch had been.
Masaomi huddled the coat around him tighter and walked around to the back until he saw the door. It had been opened recently. Tracks in the snow lead him to believe that. He was unsure if he should go through with it, but with the night growing colder and the wind harsher, he would sure he could take out whoever was in there.
Carefully, he opened the door. It needed some force but it opened eventually. He peered in and looked around, closing the door gently behind him. There was no one inside. He took a few steps in and scanned the area below the stand.
Nothing. There was no one.
Then, someone murmured something sleepily. Masaomi whipped around, afraid someone had seen him.
And he gasped.
Lying on the couch, her arms around herself to keep her warm, was Saki Mikajima.
Masaomi held back a sob and he slowly walked to her, dropping to his knees before the couch. He was shaky in disbelief and joy. He tried to keep himself slow and gentle. He didn't want to wake her. He reached up and brushed some hair from her face.
She mumbled something incoherent, but Masaomi didn't care. He rested his head against the arm of the couch and crossed his arms to keep himself warm.
He fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
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Izaya's Apartment; Ikebukuro, Toshima
December 22, 2015, 5:49 PM
Mikado leaned forward, nibbling on another biscuit as Izaya continued to stare out his window. "He told Nakura to stop and to let it go, but Nakura was too angry to simply let things be." He shook his head. "Shinra must have thought I was his friend, too. I never actually thought that I was so close to him because he never really seemed to care that much about me. I simply thought he was only for Celty and that was what I was left with.
"But I found out that wasn't true. He walked carefully between Nakura and I. Nakura threatened that if Shinra took another step closer, he would shoot me, so he stopped. He said, 'There is no point in revenge now. Just accept things as they are and move on. That's how life goes.' I didn't think I'd ever hear him say something like that, but that was what he said.
"I think that was the last thing he said. I don't remember. Because Nakura yelled that his life had fallen apart because of me. He was about to pull the trigger, but... I don't know. All human say it 'happened so fast' that they couldn't react in time to save someone they lost, but I swear to you it was all in slow motion.
"Shinra suddenly started running and Nakura was startled by the action so he...he shot him. I remember that I blinked because I honestly thought Nakura was going to shoot me which was strange because I knew that, in his state of mind, he would shoot the first thing that moved.
"When I realized I hadn't been shot, I turned to see if Shinra was okay, but he had been shot in the stomach. He looked up at me and I met his eyes and he just...fell. I tried to catch him, and I barely caught his fingers but he slipped right through me and...fell."
Mikado was silent as Izaya told his story. "I guess you never really know what it's like to be in a situation like that until it happens to you, huh," Izaya whispered. He turned back to Mikado. "My point is that you can't keep going on with your own goals when you know you could lose something precious. I want to know why you continued going through with this Second War, even though you knew that Anri and Masaomi's lives were going to be on the line."
How did Izaya know that? More importantly, why did he go through with the War if he knew that Anri and Masaomi might die? Mikado said nothing for a moment, before saying, "Well, why didn't you stop the War if you knew that something might happen to Shinra?"
Izaya bit his lip and Mikado instantly knew both he and Izaya had the same answer to the same question.
Because they wanted something in the end.
Izaya wanted some form of immortality and Mikado wanted the thrill, the adventure of being someone he never thought he could be.
And they both realized they had made a terrible mistake.
And they both knew they had to fix it.
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Aoba's Apartment; Ikebukuro, Toshima
December 23, 2015, 2:17 AM
Aoba had heard no news about Mikado, Anri, or Masaomi. They had all gone into hiding and they probably wouldn't come out for a long time.
Aoba smirked. He finally had the power he needed. He just needed to manipulate Shuhan into doing what he wanted him to do. "I'm curious," Shuhan said through the phone. "Why did you let Ryūgamine go if you said he could lure out Sonohara."
There was a bit of a silence, then Aoba tilted his head. "Ryūgamine and Sonohara won't be meeting each other very soon, not with their heads wanted on a silver plate."
"But that doesn't change that we could have just brought out Sonohara and killed her to eliminate the Saika."
"We don't know that for sure." Aoba glanced at the computer screen in the dark room. It was in the dark colors of the Dollar's forum. "The Saika is a strange blade and the ones who knew best about it were Orihara, Kishitani, and Sturluson, but it will be almost impossible to reach any of them. And, even if we do contact Orihara, there is no way that he will give us the correct information."
"And the Yellow Scarves?"
"They are all dead," Aoba snapped. "Kida won't come out. He has no one to fight with anymore. He'll leave the country the next chance he gets, if he doesn't starve to death on the streets first."
Shuhan was unconvinced. "And you say they won't bother us again?"
"The Yellow Scarves? No. But the Saika might still prove a problem."
Again, Shuhan was furious. "Why didn't you use Ryūgamine then to get Sonohara?"
"There would be no point!" Aoba snapped back. "Sonohara comes in with an army of Saika and runs away Ryūgamine. At least this way they aren't together to get at us."
There was a silence. "I trust you know what you are doing, Kuronuma," he said cautiously. "You, after all, may have more experience in Gangs than any of us."
Aoba smirked. And that was what he needed to hear.
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After Notes
More chapters... I'm sick, by the way. I have been for the last two chapters. I just forgot to state it cause I'm so. Damn. Tired.
So, make me get better soon and review? No? Okay.
Love it? Hate it? Wanna read it again? Let me know! The review button is right there!