Title: Things that change for better or for worse
Chapter 16: Whereabouts of Change
By: Sissy

Disclaimer: DRRR shall never belong to me otherwise there'd be more yaoi.
Warning: More revelations? And this is why you shouldn't imitate Mikado.

"ANRI-CHAN!" Masaomi burst into the shop with a shocked look in his face. "Everybody out! OUT!" He booted the one customer in the shop while leaving Erika alone. "Though I'll service you at my shop if you wish, as an apology." Handing the card to the confused older woman, Masaomi slammed the door in her face.

"Kida-kun, that wasn't polite. And I don't like you doing such a thing in my store." Anri seemed a bit angry but Masaomi didn't care.

"That's not important right now!" And he said as much to his friend. "Saki just called me since she gave her number to that guy in case of emergency at the nursery but who cares about that part!" He wasn't making much sense and both females looked confused at him. "W-where's Mikado?"

"Mikapuu went out. Before noon I think. There was someplace he needed to go." Erika explained but it was simply what had happened two days prior that gave her knowledge.

"So he really isn't here?" Masaomi gave a deep sigh of sadness.

Tilting her head, Anri asked, "Did something happen?"

"Did it ever!" Masaomi exclaimed out loud with exasperation. "Mikado is in the hands of Yuuhei-san!"

Both women froze at that and only one knew the deeper meaning to it, even though Masaomi had no idea of it. "When did he call you?" Anri managed to ask; though knowing didn't mean she could just run off since there was no way she knew where to find Kasuka.

"Like half an hour ago! I mean, he said he found Mikado unconscious but how does he even know Mikado? Is he an esper too?" Masaomi wondered all the possibilities in his mind, not knowing how far from correct they were.

"It might be because of his brother…" Anri said softly but the two still heard her. Erika looked as confused as Masaomi, but much cuter despite being the older one.

"What does Heiwajima-san have to do with this?" Masaomi asked her and nearly jumped in surprise when Erika screamed. "Shizu-chan is…!" The woman was forced to close her mouth by both friends. "Anri-chan, just what's going on? What are you two hiding from me?"

"It's Shizuo-san. Yuuhei-san said he wanted to help. That might be why…" Anri spoke softly and Masaomi banged the counter with his fists.

"But what does it have to do with that guy?"

"It's who Mikapuu is running from!" Erika screamed with a squeal, enjoying every word of the conversation now. However, Masaomi still was confused.

With a long groan, he looked at Anri. "Okay, from the beginning. How about we share what we know?"

… … …

Everything felt fuzzy. His eyelids were heavy and he wondered where he was. "Ah, he's waking up." The voice seemed familiar but he couldn't place it.

"Mikado-kun, are you alright? Can you hear my voice?" This voice he definitely recognized.

"Kasuka-san?" He called out and first noticed Kasuka's face. "Where…?"

"My home. Are you alright now? You fainted earlier. I already called Kida-kun so he could warn your landlady that you were here." Kasuka explained and helped Mikado sit up. "I'd like to ask, since I'm just curious, what made you think you could run away from brother in that condition?"

With a startled look, Mikado glanced around the room. "Shizuo-san isn't here. We thought it best he left for the day." Ruri explained with a smile and brought her son for Mikado to see. "Nice to meet you, Ryugamine-kun. This is my son, Ruka and I'm Ruri."

"Ah, n-nice to meet you." Mikado felt embarrassed, watching how Ruka smiled in his direction, reminding him of someone else. He had to look away because of that. "A-anyways… I just forgot about it. I was thinking about something else."

"No, I understand. It's okay. But I would like to interrogate you on it." Kasuka was honest, not laughing at how Mikado seemed nervous about the topic. "Let's start with the hospital. You were donating, right? You must've just finished, otherwise you wouldn't have fainted like so. I'm just wondering, since when have you been doing such a thing?"

"Since I was in America. It's to remind myself of the promise I made with my sponsor." Mikado answered truthfully and felt Ruka tapping his leg, yet he couldn't face the boy.

"I won't ask you to start from the beginning, since I can tell it bothers you still. However, I'd like to know each step you took while you were in America and the reason for them." Kasuka felt so demanding that Mikado had no choice but to answer his questions.

… … …

"Shizuo, what are you doing here?" Kyohei found Shizuo right where he had been left when Mikado had fainted. He wasn't even allowed to help Kasuka take him to the apartment; Ruri took care of that.

"I'm thinking." Shizuo replied honestly, sounding a bit irked so Kyohei decided not to say something out of place.

"You want me to treat you to some food? It always helps me think." He suggested calmly so as not to sound offensive but Shizuo shook his head in response. "Then do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm pretty sure I shouldn't. It isn't something I can talk about with just anyone." Shizuo explained and returned to thinking but stopped to look at Kyohei when he heard the other sigh.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a wild guess. It has to do with Ryugamine, doesn't it?" The question was sudden and Shizuo stared in shock at Kyohei. It was obvious he wanted to ask how Kyohei found out but the former classmate sighed again. "Ever since Ryugamine came back, the rumors on you have been getting weirder than ever. And I remembered that they were the same around the time he left too. It wasn't that hard to piece the information together."

Shizuo groaned, irritated at himself for letting such a thing be known. It was bad enough that Izaya knew, and possibly Erika since she gave him Mikado's number, without counting anyone else he didn't know, but the fact was that more people were starting to catch on. That meant more people would be curious about things that didn't involve them and he would most likely blow a gasket soon.

"I'm not saying it so you can get angry with me. I'm just worried about both of you." Kyohei suddenly said, noticing how angry Shizuo was becoming. "I'm guessing you two had some fight and he ran away but since he's back now, you should try to fix things. And I mean without getting angry again." He was lecturing Shizuo without feeling afraid but that was simply Kyohei's thoughts on the matter.

"I know I should." Shizuo grabbed a cigarette and lit it up.

"Also," Kyohei spoke up before turning to leave. "I don't know since when, but I'm glad you made another friend. The result was a bit bad, but you had someone who understood you for a while. Anyways, just try your best."

Watching the smoke rise, Shizuo had a thought. Try my best how? All I've done is make him cry.

To Be Continued…