Title: Things that change for better or for worse
Chapter 10: Confronting the Change 2
By: Sissy

Disclaimer: DRRR shall never belong to me otherwise there'd be more yaoi.
Warning: More fast pacing! (And that at the end is not going to be a pairing!)

Making up an excuse to his professor, Mikado exited the room with Izaya. The two men walked silently as Mikado led Izaya away from the university grounds to a nearby park. Once there, Mikado confronted Izaya with a smile in place.

"How did you know I was back?" He calmly asked, wondering if the man had been keeping an eye out for his movements since he had left for America.

"Oh, by pure luck!" Izaya proclaimed with a grin. "Honestly, it was a pure coincidence but I put two and two together. After all, Anri-chan doesn't have too many close friends that she would pick up from the airport. Actually, there's only you. And after that, all I had to do was keep a close eye on her shop until, lo and behold! You appeared out of her shop. I must say, the years have done you a bit of good. Letting your hair grow a bit makes you look a bit more mature."

As Izaya laughed, Mikado held his tongue in check. The last thing he wanted to do was cause this man to do something to him that he did not need. It had happened a lot in the past. After all, his nightmare began not when he was in high school, but soon after he graduated.

"Don't involve others into this!"

"Thank you."

The memory lingered in his mind and caused his heart to ache.

"Are you thinking about someone, Mikado-kun?" Izaya's cold voice brought him back to the situation at hand. Then, at that very moment, his cell phone began to ring. Mikado didn't have to pick it up or look at it since he figured out who it probably could be. But he knew that picking it up at that moment would be dangerous. "Oh, I know who it is."

Mikado tried to remain normal but refused to break eye contact with the man in front of him. "Izaya-san, you have a lot of free time, don't you?" He decided to ignore his phone for the time being and try to finish his conversation with the informant.

"Of course I do! I manage my schedule well. You know, Mikado-kun, I think this city loves me. I was on a business trip last week and who do I see the first day I get back but you? Seriously, I think this city wants you two to make up. You broke his heart when you disappeared. He was depressed for weeks!" Izaya spoke cryptically but Mikado had already figured it out. However, something seemed odd to him.

"How would you know?" Mikado asked, trying hard not to sound like Izaya's words affected him.

"They say true enemies know each other inside and out, you know? I may not want to know but I'm the only who realized everything. That's why I went and told him you came back." Izaya revealed and Mikado paled at that. Looking shocked, he faced Izaya. "Don't look so surprised. I doubt that even if he had your number, he'd call it out of the blue so desperately. Of course, then again, this is Shizu-chan we're talking about so his patterns become random."

"How…? Why…?" Mikado was confused and his body began to tremble lightly.

"I wanted to see that face of yours, Mikado-kun. I was also hurt by you disappearing on me. Our business isn't over and I'm not about to let Shizu-chan get in the way of it." Izaya grinned as he got closer to Mikado. He was going to get closer to the younger man and make use of him again. After all, it didn't seem to Izaya like Mikado had changed at all. Just like he predicted to Simon.

However, as Izaya got closer, he noticed something odd. Mikado wasn't responding how he hoped. The younger man had stopped listening to him completely. His mind was sifting through the memories it contained.

"Look out!"

"Kyaaa!"

"Are you okay?"

"Get a transfusion!"

"Did he…feel the same way?"

The memory made Mikado stop breathing. His pulse rose and his arm burned from remembering. They were connected. Two memories overlapped in different ways. At that moment, he remembered the most important thing.

"Change me."

Izaya was on the floor before he knew what had happened. Looking up at the sky, he didn't see Mikado. The younger one was long gone now. At that moment, Izaya began to laugh.

"Awesome! Just awesome, Mikado-kun! You actually have changed, haven't you?" Any passerby decided Izaya was insane and walked around him in order not to be associated with him.

… … …

"Hey Shizuo. Good work today. You can go home now." Tanaka Tom smiled at his bodyguard. With the years, he had begun to grow a beard, which he himself called cool and hip.

"Alright. Good night." Shizuo replied with a nod and walked out of the office calmly. He knew his sempai had been irked by him making all those calls during work but Shizuo refused to give up. It was as if a switch had been flipped. Perhaps Ruri had been right about him being persistent like Kasuka?

In response to his frustration, Shizuo lit up a cigarette and began making his way to his apartment. He wanted to try the number again. But if after a whole day, the person in question wasn't answering, then the probability that they wanted nothing to do with him rose. It made him angry and depressed at the same time.

But he resigned to his fated and, despite knowing he wouldn't get an answer, tried once more to connect to the person he searched. As usual, the number was dialed with ease. He memorized it after all. Then came the low ring as one phone tried to connect with the other. Nothing happened after two rings that Shizuo was starting to think, once again, that it would not connect.

As he focused all his hearing on the sound coming from his phone, he was surprised when he heard another phone ringing in the distance. It scared him since the street was pretty crowded so hearing another phone cry out would have seemed normal. But this was Shizuo, Ikebukuro's one-man army, who normally ran on instinct.

Completely forgetting about the significance of the phone call he was making, Shizuo counted in his mind the microseconds it took for one ring in his ear to be followed by the one in his other ear. It was probably a coincidence. There's no way it could be him… Shizuo was adamant on it not being the truth, but his heart cried out for it to be so.

Then…came the glimpse of a person.

Almost as if he were possessed, Shizuo ran after that shadow. It was fast. As fast as Izaya normally was. No… Much faster. Who? He tried to keep up but both the person and the sound of the phone were long gone.

Not even his call went through.

… … …

Anri closed up for the day more than four hours ago. She was worried only slightly since the guest in her house had yet to come back. The students probably caught him. Anri told herself with a smile. As she prepared to search for a requested item, she heard a noise coming from the shop. Worried it might be a thief, she headed down, prepared to strike if necessary.

So it came as a shock when she saw Mikado next to one of her tables, holding it for support. "Ryugamine-kun?" She called out to him and came forward.

However, instead of answering her immediately, he grabbed hold of her in a tight embrace. Every cell in her body screamed and even her demon demanded blood but Anri quickly calmed it down. She noticed he reeked of sweat but since she could feel the sticky water touching her lightly, Anri figured something must have happened to her friend.

"Sorry…" Mikado began, "Just let me stay like this for a while." With a nod, Anri hugged him back. She hoped that alone would help him get better.

To Be Continued…