Title: Things that change for better or for worse
Chapter 3: Other Changes 1
By: Sissy

Disclaimer: DRRR shall never belong to me otherwise there'd be more yaoi.
Warning: If you haven't made the counting, Izaya's 33ish. Russian is (inside parentheses).

Orihara Izaya walked along the path to Ikebukuro like normal. It had been a while since he came down this road for simple pleasure. The fact that he lived as an informant had never changed, nor would it for the remainder of his life, however short or long it may be. He seemed happy today for some reason. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it was 50% off day at Russia Sushi which meant he could get as much fatty tuna as he wanted, not that he was lacking in funds to buy it any other day.

"Ah, Iza-Iza spotted!" The cheerful voice pointed to him and he noticed Karisawa, now Yumasaki, Erika running towards him with all her might. "Nice to see you again! You've been traveling recently, right?" She asked once she stopped right in front of him. Though she had wanted to tackle him, she knew the man would just step out of the way easily.

"That's right. There was something I was looking for." Izaya replied with a cool smile without stopping and saw Erika syncing her stride with his.

"You say that but it was probably another dirty trick you were conducting, right? You're so shy Iza-Iza! There's no need for you to run away from Shizu-chan!" Erika grinned mischievously, trying to contain her excitement.

"Believe what you want. And? Where's the rest of your gang? I don't see Dotachin anywhere nor that lovable husband of yours." Izaya asked with a sly grin. In the course of the years, Erika had gotten married to her pair, something that seemed perfectly normal to the rest. Of course, a few were surprised to hear the initial news of their engagement, and even more so of the wedding, but everyone had, by now, completely gotten used to them.

"Yumacchi is off doing a delivery and both Dotachin and Togusacchi are accompanying him. I was supposed to go too, but Yumacchi doesn't think I should be exposed to the so-called insanity of that new job, even though I'm not that big yet." Erika grinned, rubbing her slightly bigger belly. After three years of marriage, she had finally begun to create a family.

"Congratulations again. Have you decided on a name?" He asked, directing her movements to the Russia Sushi but quickly spoke again once he noticed her grin widening. If he didn't speak up now, he'd be filled with useless information on possible baby names taken from the many series Erika and her partner loved to watch. "You want to eat here as well? I'll pay today."

"Oh, no. I was supposed to be going to Anri-chan's shop. I was going to ask her if she managed to find that cradle I asked for." Erika slightly drooled at the memory in her mind and ran off without another word. It seemed she was excited about the item in question she wanted for her baby.

With a soft sigh, Izaya walked into the Russia Sushi but stopped when he noticed something from the corner of his eye. Quickly looking back, he didn't find what he thought he saw and began to think. If that's who I think it was… Izaya couldn't stop himself from breaking out into a Cheshire grin. Even though he doubted his own eyes, he would still look into it. The prospect of his eyes telling the truth meant he now had a new source of fun.

… … …

"Chikage-san, let me rest…" Kida Masaomi dropped down to the floor with a tired look. He had been working since the previous night and had been doing cleaning well after closing time that suddenly being asked to help out his boss on more menial tasks utterly drained him.

"Come on, Kida! Only three more cases and you can go home!" Rokujou Chikage said with a grin while lifting up another case of drinks to bring to the store. No matter the occasion, it seemed as though his boss never ran out of energy or steam. The man was a walking chick magnet so that probably lifted his spirits somehow.

"You know I'm taking the day off after this, right? You work me to the bone, you slave driver." Masaomi tried joking around and took another case in his hands, following after Chikage very sluggishly. If he thought about his bed, he somehow felt better.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." Chikage smiled and passed him by to pick up the last case.

Sometimes, Masaomi hated his job. However, he sometimes loved it too. The man he called his boss was supposed to be a really strong guy, yet one way or another, the man had moved to Ikebukuro and opened up a host club. He bowed to no one so a lot of his customers, all females of course, loved to frequent his store.

"And we're done! Thanks Kida. You can go home now. I'll take care of the rest." Chikage said with a smile and returned to his office to work on additional things before hitting the sack as well. "Oh, and expect a nice bonus on Christmas."

"Thanks Boss." Masaomi grinned, glad to hear that last line, before changing and leaving the store. Bringing out his phone, he dialed the number of his lover. "Saki?" He called just as the other on the line answered. "I left the store just now. I'm going to sleep soon so call me when you get out of the nursery." With that, he said his goodbyes and hung up the phone.

While taking in the sun, Masaomi walked to the station. He really wanted to go home soon and sleep.

… … …

Once Izaya walked back into the Russia Sushi, he saw one of the people he seriously didn't want to see that day. With a sigh, he ordered his food from the owner and sat down across from the younger man with a forced smile.

"Hello Aoba-kun." Izaya greeted his Raira kouhai and saw the look of disgust the boy gave him. Still, the younger continued to chew his food and swallowed before replying.

"Good day Izaya-san." Kuronuma Aoba forced himself to greet his sempai. For nearly six years now, both men have had a strained relationship. It all started after their shared pawn had left the country. From then on, Aoba decided to pursue a different career and somehow found himself the disciple of a certain underground doctor. "Shinra-sensei sent me some snacks. He asked me to send them to you sometime since he's worried you're not taking care of yourself."

"Oh? Then he and Celty are having a love-filled blast? Have they finally settled down or are they still touring Europe?" Izaya laughed while completely ignoring that line about how he didn't take care of himself. "Thanks Simon." He turned for a second to thank the man for the sushi.

"I heard that they were touring Russia this year. Simon got all excited earlier and was bugging me for their number so he can tell them what spots to visit." Aoba explained while continuing to eat his food. He just hoped to finish and leave. But given that it was Izaya in front of him, the man would surely find some way to keep him there.

He was right. "By the way, you knew I left for a while, so why is that you haven't asked me how my trip went? I thought Shinra asked you to look out for me whenever you could." Though he had originally decided to ignore the earlier comment, Izaya now used it to make fun of Aoba.

"I already know it went well. If it didn't, you'd be on my slab getting treatment or you'd be looking for Heiwajima-san to feel better. I think that after all these years you'd know how predictable you can be to others." Aoba replied bluntly, finishing another piece of sushi.

"The fact that you're so used to me leaves me wondering," At these first words, Aoba twitched for a second. Somehow, he knew that whatever Izaya would say was going to affect him somehow. "Don't you miss Mikado-kun these days? It's been six years by now."

"What's your point Izaya-san? Honestly, you and I both lost the same thing. And I say the same thing because I know we both thought of him as the same type of human; a pawn. The only difference is that I actually gave a crap about Mikado-sempai. Is that what you'd like me to say? I won't deny it either. I cared about sempai. At the very least, more than you did." Aoba said with a hostile look and stood up quickly. "I'll hand the snacks some other time." Without another word, Aoba stormed out of the building after he paid for his food.

Though his plan had been to say his thoughts and leave, hoping Izaya would simply leave him be, Aoba didn't know what the man thought of his words. And he didn't know what the man's reaction had been to them. But it wasn't like he wanted to stick around to find out. He already knew that hanging around Izaya always proved itself to be an annoyance.

"Oh, well. I was just wondering since I think he might be back. Anri-chan's so-called old friend is most likely him. Now, I wonder if I can find out this time why he left in the first place?" Izaya mused to himself with a grin, hoping to have his long awaited fun. After all, since the time the person in question had left, everything had gotten blander and much like it had been in the past.

Not like Izaya was bored. No matter how much time passed, he simply loved humans and would always try to understand them better, but the person in question always had his uses. And what excited Izaya the most was remembering the one thing he had noticed that no one else seemed to have realized. Will he get angry if he finds out? Once more, Izaya was excited.

"(What are you planning on now?)" Before Izaya's thoughts could bloom a plan, Simon Brezhnev, sat down in front of Izaya. The only times he spoke in Russian to Izaya were when he was serious enough to get in his way. None of the times he stopped his fights would he ever speak in his native language.

"(What makes you think I'm planning on something? Just because I think Mikado-kun is back doesn't mean I'm going to bother him. In fact, I'm only hoping to welcome him back with open arms.)" Izaya gestured his line by spreading his arms wide before setting them back again on the table to eat. "(Don't you want to hold a welcome party too?)"

"(I don't think you should meddle in others affairs, though I know you won't listen. I know you're just lonely. That boy has left you. He's grown up so he's bored of having you play around with him. You should really respect his decision.)" Simon lectured Izaya as if he knew everything, but he was simply just trying to make Izaya realize that messing around with people, or rather humans, some more in particular than others, would leave him with a pretty bad burn.

"(But I just love humans, Simon. And besides, you don't know whether or not he's grown. I'm pretty sure that kid's still the same as always.)" Izaya grinned and stood up to leave. "Besides, if he has changed, I still want to see how much."

With that, Izaya left to conduct more business. Because business never changed; at least his never did.

To Be Continued…