Author Note:
I kinda made this story on a whim and haven't seen Durarara in forever (Or season 2 for that matter), so please excuse any inconsistencies.
English is not my first language, so if you find any grammar or spelling mistakes that were missed please do tell me.
The beginning of the story takes place before Ryuugamine Mikado moves to Ikebukuro.
I don't fully understand how this site works yet, so can someone tell me how to add pictures? Or links?

*Jingle*

[Ikebukuro, Tokyo.]

Tonight the lone figure of a young woman slips through the shadows of this lively city as its citizens walk along the streets, minding their own business. No one seems to be aware of the watchful eyes glancing their way. Observing them, dismissing them. The only thing alerting one to her presence is the sound of a bell, from seemingly nowhere, as she moves. To most who frequent Ikebukuro, hearing the sound of this bell is no longer strange or alarming, but sometimes it will still startle those unfamiliar with the area. As the elusive figure swiftly jumps to another rooftop, a panicked voice echoes from down below: "Dude, did you hear that?!" Followed by another voice, clearly not impressed: "Huh? Hear what?" "That sound just now! It was like a chime." "What, you mean like that one urban legend? Give it up man, you're not scaring me." "But I swear I heard it..." "I mean bro, last time you also swore you'd seen the Headless Rider." "But I did!" "Yeah, yeah sure you did, man."

Having briefly glanced towards them, the young woman moves on. Such exchanges between those not from here were not all that uncommon after all. The conversation would always quickly move on to the next topic anyway. She moves from one building to another and comes to a halt on top of the roof of one of the tall ones. After taking a look around to make sure she's at the right place, she takes a moment to look down on the streets below. From the way her eyes are scanning around the area, it's as if she's looking for something. While she's peering down, the city lights softly illuminate the young woman's figure. Her black gakuran jacket, worn over a white, sleeveless shirt, flutters in the gentle night breeze. Both were much too big for her and should be way too cold in the night winds, but she didn't show the slightest sign of feeling bothered. The camo pants and army boots she wore underneath seemed to fit her size better. Though it was a weird combination of clothes, she somehow managed to make it work and not stand out too much. Her long, dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, tied by a string with one bell on either side that jingled softly in the wind. A gust of wind blows her hair out of her face and the light hits her eyes. Revealing two gold colored irises, that almost seemed to glow and reflect the light directed at them.

Nekomiya Rin.

That is the name this young woman goes by. A name unbeknown to most, except for those few who are closest to her. Suddenly a male voice, from somewhere and seemingly nowhere, called out to her: "Rin,". Alerted to the new presence Rin stands back up straight and turns around to look at the empty space behind her. "is it not possible for you to cease frightening the normal humans?" The girl sighs, clearly used to being talked to from nowhere, and answers: "I try not to, but they're just too many." Though she doesn't speak with many words, the new arrival doesn't seem to mind as he just continues: "Well, at any rate, how did things fare for you?" Rin shakes her head. "Nothing. And Kurou?" After returning the question, a small shadow appeared next to hers. Knowing full well what was happening, Rin waits patiently for an answer as the silhouette of a slender black cat emerged from its depths and hops onto her shoulder. At first glance its appearance was that of a normal cat, but somehow it was also a little ghostly. As if the cat you saw was not really there, but just a mirage. The only thing that made him noticable was the bright-red collar with a bell he was wearing. A collar that for some reason had made no sound when the cat, Kurou, had jumped unto Rin's shoulder.

"No such luck, I'm afraid." Kurou answered with regret in his voice. The young woman's eyes narrowed sorrowfully as she let her gaze wander over the cityscape. "Byakuya…" She muttered, "Where are you...?" A few moments of silence pass, before Kurou bunts his head against Rin's cheek and speaks up again. "Rin, let us retreat home for now. I am aware that you can take a lot more than other humans, but you look fatigued. You should take some rest" "...Yes…" Heaving a heavy sigh, knowing Kurou was right, Rin turned around once more and said: "Thank you for today." Even though there was no one there. Despite the lack of response, Rin reached into her pocket and threw something on the ground. "Your reward." No sooner had she finished speaking or the sound of flapping of wings could be heart. Which was quickly followed by loud cries and other noises as the Rin and Kurou -mostly Rin- made their way down to the streets below. Leaving only a group of crows and pigeons to peck away at a few berries and some bread on the rooftop they had just been on.

Once back on the ground and after making sure no one was paying attention, Rin walked into the nearest alleyway. Anyone who lived in the area would tell you it was nothing more than an ordinary back street just like any other: A straight line from A to B. One way in, one way out. There really was nothing special about it, but once she was in the middle of the small passage Rin took a turn to the right. A turn that was not supposed be there. As she kept walking her surroundings turned dark. There were no more walls of buildings next to her, not even the sun was shining in from above. Except for the light coming from the entrance, only an illuminated path surrounded by mist lit up in the pitch blackness around her. Leaving a trail behind her, the path took form under Rin's feet with no apparent destination in sight. Despite that Rin seemed to know where she was going. She just kept walking as the path formed bit by bit in front of her, before finally catching sight of a small shrine.

It didn't take Rin long before she arrived at the shrine. The structure was quite small, just a little bigger than Kurou, and lit up the same way the path leading up to it did. The path which had ended and had been replaced by a small clearing that surrounded the shrine. Compared to the city just outside, this place looked completely different. It was almost as if it was a different place entirely. Once she had walked up to the shrine, Kurou jumped off of Rin's shoulder and moved towards the small shrine. Then simply disappeared from sight. Seemingly unbothered by her companion vanishing into thin air, Rin let out a yawn and sat down on the ground. That for some reason was totally clean and free of any dirt. Then, after taking a moment to enjoy the warmth that radiated from the shrine, the young woman laid down, curled up a little and closed her eyes. Ready to drift off into sleep.

*Jingle*

Not a second had passed before the sound of a bell made Rin open her eyes again. She recognised it as being neither hers nor Kurou's, which meant... "A customer is it?" Kurou enquired as he appeared from the depths of the shrine. It didn't seem like he was expecting an answer as he didn't say anything while Rin silently got back up and dusted herself off. Looking towards the only entrance, they saw the familiar grey figure of another feline appear. A young man, looking around quite bewildered, was following close behind. It seems the customer this time was not a regular.

"Welcome back Gin." Kurou greeted. The grey cat gave a curt meow in response as it sat itself down next to Rin. "Hello stranger." Rin said as she approached the young man, who looked a little lost and confused at what was going on. He had missed Kurou the talking cat show of his cat talking skills, but eyed Rin doubtfully nonetheless as she started speaking to him. "Why are you here?" Receiving no answer Rin tilted her head. "Are you a customer?" When the young man stays silent, she turns to the grey cat and gives him a questioning look. To which he gives a apologetic meow in return. Rin can basically see him shrug his shoulders -if cats could shrug their shoulders-. Mentally rolling her eyes, she turns back to the person in front of her. Before she can think of what to do with him he decides to speak up, "Is it true..." and quickly trails off. Rin can sense he feels doubtful about the whole situation, so she decides to be patient and wait a little longer. This seems to give the stranger enough time to calm his nerves. And although his expression betrays that he feels stupid for asking, he finally finished speaking: "Is it true that you're... the Cat Shrine Maiden? Or Master of the Cat Shrine?"

'The Cat Shrine Maiden' and 'Master of the Cat Shrine'

Rin takes a moment to think. Both are names she knows very well and although they're not names she choose herself, people had started calling her that before she knew it. Which meant that, since he was adressing her that way, the person before her was indeed looking for her. Feeling no particular dislike towards the nickname, she decides to listen and go along with the conversation for now. "Yes. Do you need something?" After hearing a positive answer the man seems to have calmed down some more and regained his composure. "I see." Although his expression tells Rin that he's anything but convinced, it looks like he's willing to try his luck. Which is fine by her. "Then I would like to hire your services." He tells her. "What for?" The curt answer he gets surprises him, but he hesitantly continues after looking at the young woman's calm expression. "I-I need you to find something for me. There's something I've lost and I hear you can find anything... Ma'am" He quickly adds at the end. He's well informed for someone who had not met her before, Rin thought to herself. "Depends. I need a connection." she explains. "A connection?" The stranger repeats for confirmation. "Yes. A scent, photo or piece of it. A connection."

It takes him a moment, but after a few seconds the young man seems to have understood what she meant and reaches into the pocket of his jacket. "Is this what you mean?" He holds something out the her. Rin lowers her gaze to look at it. In his hands is what appears to be an old photograph. She gently takes it from him and lets her eyes scan the picture. "Good." She confirms. "You want this?" He nodded as she pointed to the picture. "I'll have to keep this until I find it, alright?" "Oh, yes by all means. That's not a problem." With that Rin carefully put the picture in one of her pockets and focused her attention back on the young man. "What will be your offer?" "Offer?" He repeated, a little caught of guard. "It's not for free." "Oh no, of course I didn't expect it to be." He laughs, but quickly asks in a more serious, worried tone: "So... what is your price?" The young man feels a light shiver go down his spine as three pairs of golden eyes look his way, glinting in the light. For some reason the mist around them seemed thicker and suddenly he gets the feeling like he wasn't in the world of mortals anymore. Ignoring the stranger's inner turmoil, Rin simply replies as she smiled softly:

"What is it worth to you?"

A few minutes later, after working out most of the details, Rin hands the young man a white omamori. Though at first glance it has a simple design, one good look at it reveals that it's made from some kind of high-class material. A single bell is attached to it. The man raises an eyebrow when no sound comes out when he tries to shake it. Then proceeds to stare at it in confusion for a few seconds before asking: "What's this for?" "An omamori. Now I can find you if I need to." "I see..." Rin takes out and shows the stranger -now customer- the picture she received from him. "Will come to you when I find it." Although she can still see the doubt in his eyes, the young man bows politely nevertheless, "Thank you" and excuses himself. Led back outside by the same grey cat that had brought him in. "I suppose sleep will have to wait." "Nn." Kurou, who had been keeping silent as to not alarm the new customer, jumps back unto Rin's shoulder. "Let us see if we can find anything, shall we?" She nods, stretches and walks away into the night streets.

Out of a one way alleyway.

Characters introduced in this chapter (No spoilers):

Nekomiya Rin (猫宮 鈴) (Seen in the cover picture):
A young woman in her twenties of few words. Known to most as one of Ikebukuro's urban legends that could even rival the Headless Rider: the Cat Shrine Maiden/Master of the Cat Shrine. Her name roughly means "Catshrine Bell", it's a name she was given rather than born with.

Kurou (クロウ) (Seen in the cover picture):
A mysterious black cat capable of speech. Never strays too far from Rin's side. The name 'Kurou' is more of a nickname than his real name, given to him by Rin when she was a child. It comes from the word for "black" but could also be read as Claw.

Byakuya (白夜):
Currently missing. Rin and Kurou are searching for them. Their name litteraly means "White night" and comes from the Japanese word for midnight sun, where the sun does not set below the horizon.

Gin (銀):
One of Rin and Kurou's many friends. His name was given to him by Rin and means "grey".