[Izaya's POV]

Please be safe, please be safe… Izaya thought to himself silently, running alongside Shizuo as they sped along towards the main streets of Ikebukuro. The informant had already called anyone he knew that might have a clue where they were staying; Simon, Shinra and Celty, Dota-chin, Erika, and even Kasuka just in case he might have caught sight of two girls matching their description. So far no one knew where they were staying or that they were even in this part of the city again.

The informant tried calling them one more time, phone getting to the fourth ring before there was finally an answer. "Erm.. Hello?" Mairu answered, voice soft as she picked up the phone from what Izaya expected was a nap. The casual way she answered made the worried brother relax a little. He held out a hand and grabbed Shizuo's arm, giving a tug as he spoke so they could slow to a stop.

"Mairu, where are you? Are you with Kururi?" he asked, trying his best not to sound panicked. If he did then they would only question him further, rather than answer all of his. Shizuo finally came to a stop with him and they moved to the edge of the sidewalk, the blond casting a glare at anyone who dared stare at them for too long.

"Kururi's in the bathroom, sorry. And we're in a hotel, duh! How did you know we were in town?" his little sister asked, the smile evident even through the phone receiver. Izaya came up with a half-lie.

"My neighbor said I got a package but someone took it away again. When she mentioned how you looked it couldn't have been anyone else." the informant fibbed, getting a look from his companion at the answer. Izaya just gave him a shrug and the blond went back to tapping his heel in impatience. "Anyways, you guys still have that package right? I kinda need it. Really, really need it actually." the ravenett went on, not bothering to ask if they'd opened it yet. If there had been any type of explosion then they wouldn't have been able to answer the phone, that of they would have questioned him about it themselves.

There was a pause on the other end of the line and Izaya worried that she was trying to open it. "Yeah, it's still here. Sorry bro, I'm kinda tired right now. We got a hotel room to ourselves this time and the TV they have at midnight is pretty good here~ Not a lot of porn, but they have cool movies." Mairu prattled on, for the first time in ages forcing a blush across the informant's face. So she still hasn't learned to keep her mouth shut. Great… I guess I'm proud she's growing up, though? Maybe? No, this is still weird..

"Okay, uh… Glad you like it then. What hotel are you staying in?" Izaya asked, glaring back at Shizuo when he seemed to be getting even more impatient than the ravenett was. Izaya even flipped him off when Shizuo tried to take his phone away, turning away from the blond as he got instructions to where they were staying. "Great, thanks. I'll be right over to pick it up." he replied, just about to hang up when he heard her shout-talking again. "What was that?"

"Why do you need it so bad? Did you buy a sex-toy or something?" Mairu asked, shameless as ever. Izaya face-palmed before he could just hear a door open in the background followed by a sigh. At least Kururi's there to lecture her for me.

"No, Mairu, it's nothing like that. It's.. stuff for work. I needed a couple new batteries for my laptops." Izaya continued to lie, frowning at himself before he got a bored sigh and confirmation that they'd be waiting for him. Let's hope she really bought that..

"Cya there, sis." he said in farewell, finally hanging up before calling a cab, thinking it would be much more helpful to them than trying to find out where their certain hotel was on their own.

"So? Are they alright? What the hell was that conversation about?" Shizuo demanded, speaking again now that it wouldn't be considered rude. I guess he does have some manners. Kasuka must have trained his dog well when little. Izaya grinned to himself at the thought and climbed into a cab with Shizuo right beside him, telling their driver the name of where they needed to go while ignoring the horrified look he gave at the two of them together, even worse crammed into a backseat side-by-side.

"Yeah, they're just fine. But we still need to hurry. Knowing them, no matter what I said, they would try to open my stuff just to tick me off. And the conversation was me trying to think of every way for me to not freak them out. Kururi can handle pressure and bad situations just fine, but Mairu... She isn't known for her emotional control or delicacy." the informant explained, glancing out the window and fingering the switch-blade in his pocket nervously. There were currently a multitude of cars in the street around them as their cab hurried along to it's destination, the driver probably not wanting his cab ripped in two by Shizuo, and Izaya thought that this was the only time that he wished there weren't so many people in this big city of theirs. If there were less, after all, that would mean a lot less trouble for them on the way there and considerably less traffic.

There was a tap on his shoulder and he looked over to see a surprisingly civil blond staring at him from behind his shades. "What?"

"Your sisters are gonna be fine." Shizuo said suddenly, making the informant stare at him in disbelief as a response, waiting patiently for him to explain himself. The debt collector seemed a little more irritated at his silence than anything, but continued. "You look like you actually give a damn about them, flea. If you manage to care about anyone then it would have to be someone else just as..." Shizuo paused, obviously looking for the right word - also the word that could actually sound like a positive, "clev... caut... knowl... Uggh! Just as fucking annoying and self-preservent as you are." the blond finally got out, looking like he was about to gag after almost giving the other a compliment.

The informant didn't know what to say at first, just giving him a thankful nod before looking ahead of them, calming down once they were in sight of the hotel. Just as they were about to step out, Izaya smirked. "As annoying as you think I am, Shizu-chan, you wanted to give me a compliment~ I shall take all of the original three in exchange for your lack of general vocabulary~" he announced, hopping onto the sidewalk and trotting into the hotel before Shizuo could squeeze his way out of the cab.

"I-za-ya-kuuun!"

Chapter 96!

Alright, so the babies are just fine~ For now.

Anyways, I really wanted to see if I could do Mairu's personality well before really going up to her and having a shit ton of dialogue, so the phone call being answered was my test.

Did I do her well or should I tone her down a bit? Maybe tone her up? I'm not even sure, I just know that her character is very open and kinda nosy and hyper, plus she's kinda pervy so even though she's in middle school (at this point in the story) I wouldn't put it passed her to watch porn already and know a few things.

It's actually creepily common for middle-schoolers to watch that shit now.. What is life coming to...

Lemme know what you think of Mairu's personality and tell me what you think of Shizuo's butchered attempt at a comforting conversation x3

I hope you all liked this chapter! Favorite, follow and review to see more!