FINALE! Author's note at the ending.

Guest: Thanks for your first review owo!

Smile 9316: Awwww, sorry about Mako being mean to Izaya~ Continue reading for the ending :3

Izaya woke up to the dim sky. It was already reaching noon but the the dark clouds had covered away the bright sun. He might have to stay home since it was going to rain. He casually closed the pushed open the curtains, making sure the windows were closed.

As he came out from his morning shower, he spot a small corner of an enveloped peeking through his front door. Curious, he opened the door and saw a white envelope. A genuine dyed-black rose rested on top of it. Izaya immediately opened the envelope. There was only one sentence in the neatly folded letter.

'Sorry about yesterday, and I forgot to say goodbye.'

Izaya knew that she had a phone and could have texted him instead. Hitomi Hamako was a mysterious person so she might have wrote a letter to send a hint instead? And that fresh black rose indicated that it was placed there last night, though the rose itself meant that it might have been trying to tell him that this had something to do with Black Straw.

"Why was it a real rose then?" He asked himself.

Izaya pondered a while before wearing his jacket and heading into the streets of Ikebukuro. It had seemed to him the people on the streets had decreased and gotten more quiet. He had brought the letter with him and intended to look for Hamako for an explanation. The letter wasn't really big, so it neatly fitted in his hand.

Empty, was the word to describe Hamako's shop. It was vacant from some time now and Izaya thought he could see the dust starting to cloud on the tables. There were no longer any flowers in there and most furnitures were covered with cloths or wrappers. It was as if no one had ever been in the place before.

Izaya frowned, wondering what had happened to her. He was afraid, but as per usual, he would never admit it. He felt that her presence here would just erase all his fears immediately, as he feared many things, but it always end up being about her.

Walking back onto the street, he wondered why Shizuo hadn't found his presence yet. Izaya was sure that Shizuo seemed to be always a dog, always able to sniff out his position. He slowly made his way towards Suzume's shop, the girl he found always close to Shizuo and Hamako, not wanting to risk being found by Shizuo.

As he walked on, he continued to be alert, but yet no longer feeling the tense presence that had felt threatening and watching his movements. Izaya was quite certain that watchings were made by Hamako's underlings, so where had they gone to? Aren't they afraid that he would spill the secrets if he wasn't watched?

He had reached Suzume's shop in no time, but only finding it a bit better condition than Hamako's. It still had everything in it, everything still looked normal, except for the close sign that was displayed at the busiest time of the day. Why had both of their shops been closed?

Phone.

Izaya suddenly remembered that he had phone. He quickly speed dialed Hamako's phone number but all that came through was his extreme confusion and disappointment.

"Sorry, this number had not yet been registered."

Pressing another speed dial, he pressed the phone near his ear.

"Hello! This is Shinra speaking!"

Izaya didn't bother to tell him his name, trusting Shinra to at least look at the caller's ID before answering the phone. He quickly spilled his confusion and his need for Celty to help find her. Shinra immediately agree, since he was quite fond of the polite girl. He was rather interested in her feelings towards Izaya, wondering if Izaya would change because of her. His questions were answered now, as he listened to a worried young man.

"Celty is going right now," Shinra muffled his phone and shouted to Celty. "Darling be safe!"

It was drizzling by now. The soft patter of the raindrops seemed not to affect Izaya at all as said person continued to run through from street to street looking for a certain red scarf or sea blue eyes. As he sped across a shop, he heard that familiar tune that Hamako had loved to hum when she was feeling safe or peaceful. It was from the music box behind that shop window.

For a moment, Orihara Izaya could have sworn Hamako's eyes that seemed to glow reflected on the shop window. He spun around, only to have met his unknown disappointment of the day. There was no one there at all, much less a person with natural blue eyes. Most people that were living in this place had coloured contacts, but Izaya insists that Hamako's blue eyes were real and prettier.

The rain just gotten heavier and Izaya continued standing there, without any need of umbrella or shade, eyes staring at the empty space as rushing people tried to get shelter. Now that he was hallucinating, he finally was able to think about the events that had occurred today, starting
from the time he had woke up.

The genuine, fresh black rose had represented Hamako and her real feelings towards him.

The letter that was on his doorstep instead of texting him was for him to realise its seriousness.
That only sentence written in it, if Izaya had canceled some words, it would meant 'Sorry, goodbye.'

Izaya's eyes widen as he finally understood everything. This gang war, it was dangerous, she was walking straight into a suicide mission. Now that her sudden disappearance had actually happened so that she wouldn't worry him, his mind was suddenly cleared from all the fog. There was only one thing in his mind, which was 'find Hamako'.

Ding, ding, ding, ding... The sound of the grandfather clock from a nearby antique clock jolted his memory of the geography of Ikebukuro. Hamako was a kind-hearted soul, so most likely she would look for the most remote area to start the war. And the abandoned train track near the empty field had fit the category perfectly.

He turned on his heels and sprinted towards said area. His worry had increased ten folds, his hands gripping slightly tightly on the letter that was soaked wet. He still hadn't heard anything from Celty and it wasn't helping him at all. With great efforts, he reached the train track in time.

Hamako and her whole gang was there, and on her opposite was the Silence. Her long brown hair was let loose from a ponytail, swinging wildly from the wind with her red scarf, her sea blue eyes no longer as warm as he first met her as Akairo, as it was now cold stare. Izaya hated this side of her, Hamako had deserved to have a happy face, and to never worry about anything.

"Mako-chan?" Somehow he still managed to say her nickname.

Hamako turned around and looked at her caller. She flashed a smile at him, though he had found traces of bitterness hiding in it. He ran up to her and she had actually bear-hugged him, in front of her opponents and her allies though no one was in the mood to look shock.

"Let's go home." Izaya said softly as his body was still bent down hugging her.

Hamako shook her head as she tiptoed to his ears and whispered softly.

"I... only wanted to see you one last time. You know, the question you asked me long ago, my answer is yes."

"Mano? I-I love you! D-Do you love me?"

"Mmm... this question, I'll tell you later, Izaya." Amano smiled sweetly.

"Not fair." Izaya frowned but he didn't mind, as long she hadn't reject him, he still had a chance.

As soon as she said it, she pushed him hard enough for him to be thrown across the track. She double checked him to be fine before calling out loud for Shizuo and Celty. Both of them emerged suddenly behind him and placed each of their arms into Izaya's as he tried to get back to her.

She smiled one last time before turning over to her opponents. She slowly retrieved a gun, a weapon she hated all her life, and clicked off the safety trigger. She coldly looked at Silence and blinked as slowly as she could.

Bang. Bang bang.

Shizuo covered Izaya's ears while Celty covered Izaya's eyes. For once, Shizuo had actually felt sympathy for that flea. No one had deserved to watch the person they loved getting hurt and dying. Not even Orihara Izaya who had done many evil deeds. Shizuo had accepted to do Hamako a favour and he would fulfil his promise. Izaya screamed and scratched, trying to get back to the empty field. Back to Hamako and protect her from everything around her.

Yet he couldn't fight the strength of Shizuo and Celty and was helplessly dragged back to Shinra's place. As they left the scene, Shizuo and Celty couldn't bare to look at the ongoing war at all. They didn't talk at all, only dragging a now too quiet Izaya to the couch. Suzume turned towards the sudden heavy weight on the couch and knew what had happened at once.

For days, Izaya had just stared towards the white ceiling, making no move to leave Shinra's house, only moving when he needed to eat or drink. Shinra and Celty both took care of him while Shizuo had actually occasionally came to visit him. All three knew that pained feeling if their loved ones were supposedly dead as there was no news about Hamako at all.

There was only one thing, that was the Black Straw had won yet the death count was an unbelieving amount. They hadn't knew who had passed on as the members quietly did their jobs to tell only the deceased's family members of their deaths. They then deduced that Hamako had died, since even after half a year, no one came to find them anymore.

Izaya, to Shinra's eyes, seemed to be coping fine. Though he had no idea to what extend, but he still reminded time to time to Izaya that he was here as a friend and was a shoulder to lean on anytime. Shinra, despite his tendency to be oblivious, knew that his friend was having a hard time now.

A year later, Izaya was again visiting that empty grave. He had as usual, brought those fresh black roses in threes and placed them in front of the white marble grave. On it was engraved 'In the precious memory of Hitomi Hamako. 23rd of August 1989 - 15th of October 2012'.

"Hey Mano... I miss you so." Izaya whispered, looking at the white, spotless grave. The dry leaves rustled and he made note to rake the leaves afterwards. He promised himself that he would keep the compound and the grave to remain the safe even after a long time. It was the most thing that he could have done for her.

Orihara Izaya still didn't change much, except that he was more softer towards the people who considered as friends, like Shinra and Celty. Shizuo and him was still fighting as usual, but Izaya noticed that Shizuo had actually gone slacker on him these days. Izaya would actually keep a flower pot of black roses in his apartment, and was taking good care of it. It served as a reminder to his Tateyama Amano, his Hitomi Hamako.

"I didn't know you miss me." A gentle voice sounded behind him and he turned around as soon as the familiar voice sounded.

Amano was standing there with Riku. Nothing had changed to her except for a light pink scar on her arm. Riku instead, had an eyepatch over his left eye and seemed to be holding a walking stick. Otherwise, Amano looked the same, still looking like the gentle and cheerful she used to be before becoming Hitomi Hamako.

"I'm home."

Fin.

So guys… and girls~ How's the ending? Since this is the last chapter of Transparent Answer, why don't leave a review about the ending?~ C'mon folks, review about your opinion of the ending… This is basically a first story with chapters that I actually enjoyed writing so much and finished it! So once again, review and um… maybe favourite it?