Disclaimer: I don't own anything all rights go to the rightful author.

Warning: Language, Violence, Gangs

Ikebukuro was a quiet city, well at least quieter that it had been in years.

It had been a year since the whole incident with the yellow scarves, slasher, and dollars. Most colour gangs weren't as active in Ikebukuro anymore and things became calmer in the city. The only active gang known was the dollars and they were known to keep the city in order.

"-ado. Mikado?"

Mikado snapped back into reality. He was sitting in his class room and his best friend was stand right in front of him waving his hands to get Mikado's attention.

"Hey, what's wrong? We're finally second years aren't you excited!" Kida said excitedly

Mikado wondered how they even survived the school year, but somehow they had and the summer come and went in a flash. He was both happy and sad that it had ended. He wanted to start over this year, begin again, and take the days one day at a time.

*Ring*

The bell rang and everyone took their seats. Kida and Mikado sat next to each other, while Anri sat in front of Mikado. During the summer Mikado and Anri hung out a lot, but both weren't sure if they were together; since Anri didn't want to force love onto Mikado and the raven haired boy was just too nice to tell her his feelings their relationship stayed as strictly friends.

"Hey, hey Mikado I think we have some new students." Kida said pointing at the door. Turning, the raven haired boy looked towards the door way, where a girl with short black hair stood. She was standing next to a boy with light brown hair, slightly taller than her but Kida couldn't see his face since he was turned away from them.

"Look, she's cute!" Kida said excitedly. Mikado let out a sigh, at his friends excitement; after Kida and Saki had come back from their little getaway they came to a resolve that they should move on. At first Kida wasn't sure how to react after everything they had gone through but Saki assured him that it was okay. They were kids back then and now it was time to move on. They still hung out and spent time together but just as friends.

"Do you think she has a boyfriend?" Kida asked. He never got his answer since the teacher walked towards the pair of new students and brought them into the class room. The class stopped what they were doing and focused their attention to the front.

"Class, today we have two new students that will be starting the school year with us" The teacher said while gesturing to the two. The girl smiled brightly at the class and introduced herself first.

"Hello, my name is Saya Minatsuki, nice to meet you" she said while bowing to the class.

The class then turned to the boy, he had light brown eyes that matched his hair, but unlike the girl he was expressionless. When he noticed everyone was staring at him he gave a quick smile and introduced himself.

"Oh, I'm Train Heartnet" he said while putting his hands in his pockets.

Few hours earlier

"Come on Train!" Saya yelled from the kitchen. Saya was cooking breakfast for everyone when Sven walked in.

"Mmhmm, smells good" he said sitting down at the table with the newspaper. Sven was dressed in a suit, his tie hanging loosely on his neck as he shuffled through the paper.

"Another interview today?" Saya asked as she flipped an egg on the stove.

"Yeah, hopefully this time the interviewer won't be so damn picky." He grumbled as he checked if there were other job openings in the paper. Sven knew it would be hard to pay the rent for the small apartment that barely fit the four of them and if he didn't get at good paying job, they would be in trouble. Both Saya and Train had agreed to pay for the everyday necessities and all the furniture to fill up the apartment.

For some reason the two teenagers had been able to get jobs in no time. Saya as a cashier at a bookstore nearby the apartment and Train as a shelf stocker at a convenience store.

The reason the four of them had been staying together was because Train had stopped working for Chronos about month ago. He, Saya, Eve and Train had moved to Ikebukuro to escape the organization. He and Eve had met Train on a mission the boy had been sent on, his target being Eve, but in the end he had let them both walk. Not too long after Sven had found both Train and Saya nearly dead and immediately got them to a safe place and tended to their injuries.

Sven hadn't been sure why he saved the two of them, but he did know he had been grateful that the black cat himself had spared Eve's life, the least he could do was save him.

When Train had finally came to his senses he was reluctant to tell Sven what had happen, much to the green haired man's annoyance, but after he realized Chrono's had tried to kill him, Train began to talk.

Train had attempted to leave the organization in favor of living a free life with Saya but they had shot him down. Told him it was foolish to think of a life like that and ultimately said that he didn't have the right to leave. Even if he did, he would never be able to live a normal life. To Chronos' surprise, Train had left and caused an up war within the numbers.

The last order that was given to them was to hunt down and capture, Black Cat.

And the order was almost fulfilled, but the battle against the other members had soon turned into a blood bath and both sides had soon realized that the only way out of the fight was to die. Train tried his best to keep himself and Saya alive but when they were half dead, he finally passed out. He barely recalled the words of what one of the members had said before he had gone unconscious.

"What are we going to do with the him now?"

"Let him die. We'll tell Chronos that we attempted to capture him in a fight but he was able to get away. If they find his body later on, they'll believe he must've died from the injuries and dispose of it."

"You don't want him to live?"

"Why should I? The precious Black Cat going rogue. They would do anything to get him back, but when it comes to members like us they could care less. We're easily replaceable. With him out-of-the-way, we'll be able to move up in the ranks. We'll set the new standard for Chronos and not have to worry about competing with someone like him."

When he replayed the memory in his mind he was hardly surprised. In Chronos there was a lot of competition and he realized that some of the members had been out for blood that day.

Either way Chronos thought he was dead, or at least the members would probably report him as being dead. It would settle things down for the time being and it had given him and the other three a means to escape to Ikebukuro, but eventually they wouldn't be able to find his body. And when they came up empty on the search they would be on the hunt again.

It had only been a month since they moved and made their roots in Ikebukuro and since then, Train had been on the look out for Chronos but had thankfully come up empty. For now they would be able to live a peaceful life.

A new place, new city, new life.

Their new life consisted of he and Saya deciding to start attending high school; since they wanted to see what normal teenagers experienced. They didn't live that far from the school so it was an easy walk in the morning.

Train lazily got out of bed and got ready. After a quick shower he grabbed a bottle of milk and left with Saya and Eve. Eve had started school as well she was in her last year of middle school. Since the middle school was the same direction as their High school they would walk to school together.

Present time

"Okay class, make our new students feel welcome" the teacher said "Saya, you can take the seat next to the window over there" he said pointing to the desk. "And Train, you can sit next to Kida at the back" again pointing to the empty desk next to a blonde kid.

They both took their seats and class began. Train didn't pay attention when the teacher spoke and instead began to think about if his whole plan would work. Would he really be able to live a normal life as a teenager?

*Ring*

The bell finally rang and Train got up from his seat attempting to look around but was blocked by a blonde haired kid standing in front of him.

"Hey, welcome new kid. My name is Kida and this kid right here is Mikado" he said pulling Mikado out of his seat.

Train wasn't in the mood to talk but decided he should try to make friends. Most of the other kids were already sitting in large groups talking about what they did over the summer as they started to eat their lunches. He noticed that most people didn't really pay much attention to the two boys standing in front of him. Deciding that these boys would be a good group to keep a low profile he responded. "Nice to meet you"

"You too. Want to eat lunch with us?" the blonde asked. Looking around Train wondered where Saya was. He was hoping to find her first but upon scanning the classroom he came up empty. Too lazy to actually look for her he decided to take the boys offer "Sure"

He followed the boys until they reached the school roof. It was pretty sunny outside and the brunette noticed there was a pleasant wind that felt refreshing compared to the air inside.

"Ahh" he heard a sigh coming from the blonde as he stretched his arms up. "Man, it's a great day today" he said plopping down on the concrete ground along Mikado. Train soon followed their actions.

At first it was small talk about the Mikado and Kida's summer. Train told them he spent most of his summer helping set up his new apartment and working at his part-time job. He tried to ask the boys about their school year last year, curious about what it felt like being a student, but realized that the two seem highly uncomfortable about the subject.

"It was good." Kida said before biting into a beard that he had bought from a convenience store. Train sighed as he realized he had recalled the different products he was in charge of stocking, different types of beard being one of those. I guess I'm getting used to this city already. He thought.

"But, school is always boring isn't it?" The boy laughed as he continued to eat. " How do you like the city so far? Getting used to how big it is?"

"No, this city is pretty big" Train said "I got lost the first day I got here and it's pretty creepy at night"

Laughing slightly Kida responded "Yeah, it was the same for me. You'll get used to it, and the night always is pretty shady with gangs and Yakuzu"

Train noticed how Mikado tensed a bit as Kida said the last part.

"I know, pretty dangerous. But are there actually people who mess with teenagers like us?" he asked curious of what these boys would say. Not that he was looking for trouble, but it was always nice to know the type of people he should stand clear of.

"Well there's a few" Mikado said making Train surprised that the quiet, innocent looking boy responded. "The only person you should worry about is probably a bastard named Izaya Orihara. He's an informant broker but usually stays in Shinjuku. He's been underground for some time now though." Kida said probably finishing Mikado's thought.

"Izaya Orihara?" Train said the name again and wondered why the name sounded almost familiar or why the boys knew the name specifically "How do you guys know him? He doesn't really sound like the type of guy to hang around with."

"He's an old... acquaintance." Kida said looking to the side with an uninterested gaze. "We know each other, but I wouldn't call us pals or anything."

"Oh, interesting." Train said as he realized the topic was something the blonde boy rather not talk about. He slightly wondered if the boy had some bad history with the guy, but didn't comment on his observation.

"Orihara-san is... very interesting. He's made a lot of enemies for himself." Mikado said as he sipped on his juice.

"Enemies?" Train asked again wondering why these boy knew so much of a man who sounded like the complete opposite of the people the two of them would hang around. But then again, they were talking to an ex-assassin.

"He makes a living selling others secrets." Kida said. "Bound to make an enemy or two, right?"

"Yeah, I guess" the brunette finally shook his head.

"So, how long have you been here?" Mikado asked the brunette, changing the topic and Train though about his response, he had lived in Japan almost his whole life but considering he was working for Chronos he hadn't been able to really see what it feels like to visit anywhere.

"I was actually born in Japan, but since my parents traveled a lot I never really got to actually see what it's like" that sounded believable he thought, and it wasn't like he was lying he did travel a lot, just not for the reason they would think.

"Seriously!?" the blonde asked in disbelief. "Well we got to fix that" he watched as the boy took a sip from his juice box before continuing. "Are you busy today after school?"

Train wondered what the boy was planning, but thought that it wouldn't hurt to go along with him.

"No, not really. Why?" he asked. He watched as a grin soon graced the boys face.

"Well then, Train Heartnet, we're going to show you what Ikebukuro is all about" he said finishing up his lunch.

So what do you guys think? Should I continue? If so the next chapter will be the introduction of the 'dangerous' people in Ikebukuro and the main plot will begin.