Thank you, everyone, for sticking with this story to the end and reading it. Thank you for your support and your endless love. I am deeply grateful for every single one of you. As we come to the end here, I can't help but to apologize for not having concrete IzaMika scenes. They were originally part of the story (when Izaya's spending the night over at Mikado's office, things were supposed to have gotten steamy), but then ended up never being written.

With that, I present to you, the last chapter of Echoes of the Bluebird.

I don't own.

Warning: Character deaths, violence and gore, AU, OOCness, Yaoi, language, appearance of novel-only characters (Thus far: Aoba, Awakusu-kai, Akane, Awakusu Mikiya, Voronoa)

Recap: Izaya helped Mikado get his revenge… but at what price?

Five Years Later

Ikebukuro was a normal city, just like any other in the world. It had its problems with youth violence, late public transportation, and yakuza dealings. If there was anything that made Ikebukuro different from other cities, it was a sushi shop ran by two Russians. If there was anything else that made Ikebukuro different from other cities, it was that everyone who lived in this city feared two men.

"Goddamn it, you stupid flea!" came the usual shouts of a man in a bartending outfit. The said man uprooted the traffic light and swung it wildly at the other in front of him.

"What's wrong, Shizu-chan? Your aim has gotten worse in the last two days!" taunted the other man. The other man wore a black jacket with fur lining the edges. It was his most noticeable feature, minus the color of his eyes. It was colored red, just like blood.

"I told you to stop wearing that jacket!" came the roar.

The denizens of Ikebukuro shook their heads at their childish behavior. Ah. Just like clockwork. The two never seemed to stop. And as the people watched, a familiar black man stopped the fight. Simon of the Russian Sushi. The giant of a man pulled the two men apart as if they were still children and scolded them both. When he was done, he sent the two in different directions.

Such was the normal life in the city of Ikebukuro.

"I hate that damned flea!" Shizuo grumbled to his boss, Tom, and his coworker, Vorona.

"Hatred, check. Yet you run towards him whenever he shows up. Curious; it does not add up. Hatred implies aversion but you do not averse," Vorona spoke in her usual broken Japanese as she looked at the other two, waiting for an explanation.

"Ah, that's because they're childhood friends," Tom answered lightly.

"We're not friends! And of course I'll go where he shows up! Wherever he shows up, bad things happen." Shizuo kicked a loose pebble, watching as it flew off and dented a truck nearby. "Someone has to stop that guy from killing anymore people."

"Ahhhh! Who did this to my truck?!" Togusa exclaimed as he stared at his baby. There was a huge dent on the side, as if someone had tried to punch it.

"I think I saw Shizuo nearby earlier," Walker pointed out.

"Ohhhh! Are you going to challenge Shizuo to the death for your truck's honor?" Erika asked, looking a little too excited for Togusa's liking.

Both Walker's and Erika's eyes lit up at the thought. Then the two were off, sprouting anime nonsense that Togusa couldn't keep up with. Not that he was going to bother. He had more important thing to deal with. Like the fact that his truck was injured.

"You'd think that at least that kid would have some respect for us," Togusa grumbled as he gingerly touched the dent. "After all that we've done for them…"

"You know kids," Kadota answered easily with a calm smile. "They forget easily."

"Come on, Celty! We're going to be late!" Shinra shouted as he pulled the luggage out of the black motorbike.

The woman clad in all black quickly took out her cellphone and began to type.

"Ah, you know you don't have to. I told you. I can read you. And no, we didn't forget anything." Shinra motioned at one of the bags that they had. "I have no idea how we're going to get this past security, but yeah, I have your head right here."

Celty tilted her neck, and therefore the yellow kitty helmet on her head.

"We'll figure it out as we go," Shinra decided as he took her hand. "To be entirely honest, I don't really care where we go as long as it's with you."

From the way Celty squeezed his hand back, Shinra figured they would be just fine.

"Come in, young master! Shop at Russian Sushi!"

Kida laughed gently as he pulled Saki along behind him.

"You know, somehow, I thought that this place would have changed," Kida said as the two made their way through the city. Slowly, as if they were some kind of tourists. In a sense, they were. They hadn't been here for the last five years. Since the funeral, Kida had taken Saki and the two had just roamed the world, just as they had promised they would when they had been just kids and the war seemed like such a simple thing to win.

"Few things have changed," Saki pointed out, motioning to the color gangs. "There are more colors."

"Well, there's no more monopoly on color gangs," Kida agreed. He glanced at the colorful street with a wistful smile. "But you know, it wasn't all that bad. Sitting at the top throne…"

"Do you miss it?"

Kida contemplated that. "I lost my best friend over it, Saki. I don't think I'm supposed to miss it."

But I do miss the good old days…

"And…. Finished!" Akane declared proudly as she adjusted the ribbon on Anri's hair. "You are now fit to be a princess!"

"Akane-sama, I don't think the color pink suits me," Anri mumbled, unable to meet her boss's eyes due to embarrassment.

"Don't be silly!" Akane said with a laugh. "You're pretty no matter what color you have on!"

"Akane-sama! There are some thugs on our territory." The man known as the Red Demon of the Awakusu-kai motioned at the princess and her guard. "It isn't anything big, but I thought you would like a chance to deal with it yourself."

The young girl smirked. "Of course. I told you Aka-ji. I'm going to rebuild the Awakusu-kai from the inside. This kind of thing is exactly something I need to deal with. Let's go, Anri."

Her guard drew forth the katana blade with her one arm. "Of course, Akane-sama."

Akabayashi smiled as the two ran. When Akane had returned home after the death of the informant, the entirety of the Awakusu-kai had been concerned. But look at her now. She had decided that she would take on the family name and reform the yakuza group. Ah, it appeared that youth sure was a wonderful thing.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Izaya continued to grin as he stared down the other man. "You heard me. Your darling brother has been released from prison due to good behavior."

"Hah! Ran? Good behavior?" Aoba chuckled at that, but the glint of danger in his eyes did not go away. "Shit. Looks like we're actually going to be busy."

"How hurtful. We're always very busy, you know!"

"Looking into the Nebula is a dead end. We won't be able to profit from that."

Izaya shrugged. "Namie-san said that the Nebula is related to the Yagiris. You are welcomed to drop it, but let's be honest. You weren't he one that Mikado handpicked to take up his empire."

"You're still a greenhorn," Aoba growled. "I heard that Simon had to break yet another fight between you and Shizuo."

"Oya, oya. You still have time to look into rumors about me?"

"If you have the time to mock me, go get me a drink."

"I'm the boss informant, you know," Izaya complained. But he compiled with the request. It wasn't like Aoba was going to last very long. At least, not with Izumii Ran free on the streets. Soon enough, this seat of power would all be Izaya's. Just as Mikado had wanted it.

"When you yank me down from this throne, I'll concede defeat. Until then, get me my drink."

Izaya stretched beside the vending machine, waiting for the drink he picked to come out. Aoba hated green tea, so the young informant had picked that just to spite him.

To think that it had already been five years since that night…

He still couldn't remember the details of what happened after Mikado fell. All he remembered was the blur of the afterwards. The funeral, the reading of the will, the fallout of the group… He remembered walking into Mikado's office, the key to the place in his hand. When Aoba declared he was ready, this entire place, Mikado's old job, would all be Izaya's.

Hey Mikado. Life is normal as always. Things happen here and there that pops out more than usual, but for the most part, life is a pretty calm stream of river. Not much has changed. But certainly, you would find merit in watching all of this. You've always found observation important.

The vending machine clicked, letting him know that the drink was ready.

We're doing fine, by the way. We're just…

His thoughts trailed off at the flash of the familiar jacket. For a brief second, he thought he saw the serene smile. That stupid smile of that one person that he had been longing for for the last five years. The person paused, almost as if he was going to speak to Izaya, but then seemed to have changed his mind.

Then he was gone.

Izaya stared after the person for a second before his brain rebooted. He didn't care how stupid this was. How foolish. He didn't care that logically speaking, this made no sense. He saw that man fall. He was at that man's funeral. He sat there, he listened to everyone speak. There was no way that it could be that man. Hell, even if it was, it had been five years! There was just no way!

But you see… Even after five years, that surge of excitement, the rush of hope, the swelling of love didn't change. There was just one person in the entire world that could make Izaya feel like this. Just one.

Izaya ran.

"Mikado!"