For those of you who follow the kinkmeme over on LJ, you may have seen this. In case you haven't, the prompt I took up was Shizuo/Mikado, with the kink being Mikado crying. Of course, that's not all there is, but that's just the prompt.

There will be: underaged sex, so if you don't like that, you can skip it.

Also: I have edited bits and pieces here and there from the version on LJ, so if you see that stuff has been changed, it is because this is the updated version. Nothing of great value to the plot was changed though.

Other than that: I don't own DRRR!

Ikebukuro was loud. Ikebukuro was bustling. Ikebukuro was lit-up. Ikebukuro was-

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!

-not quite on his mind.

Mikado tossed his bag onto the ground, watching the contents fly out and splay before him. Stepping over his homework and graded tests, he sunk on the wall, propping one foot up on his knee. Pulling up the Raira uniform pants, he let out a low hiss. He'd seen the red stain gathering throughout the last couple hours of school, but he hadn't anticipated just how bad it was.

The skin from his lower thigh to his ankle was raw, spotted with blood here and there where the grit from the track had rubbed in and ripped his skin off. He let his hand hover over the worst of the damage, where a section of skin longer than his index finger had been peeled away. Screwing his face up with concentration, he touched it as gently as he could. The immediate surge of pain brought tears to his eyes. He tried to blink them back, but they poured out regardless, and after such a terrible day, he couldn't bring himself to care anymore.

"Stupid PE," he ground out.

His least favorite class had always been PE. He always managed to get beat at everything, always tripping, or getting winded, or getting hit in the face. One time he'd done all three. Masaomi hadn't let him off the hook for that for weeks, constantly bringing it up, especially to girls.

A fresh wave of pain brought his face to his hands, covering his tear-streaked face, sobs visibly shaking his whole body. Masaomi was still out there. Somewhere. He wasn't in Ikebukuro at any rate, the loud, bustling, lit-up -

Hell

Masaomi wouldn't have laughed at him today. Even some of the crueler kids in his class, those that had taken to bullying the first years out of their money, hadn't uttered even a stray giggle. The teacher, notorious for screaming out words of encouragement (words short of bullying) had been silent, until Mikado had groaned and tried to stand. Anri hadn't let him, not until she rolled him onto his back and saw the damage.

The only thing she had said to him was, "Oh Ryuugamine-kun..."

He slammed his head into the heel of his hand over, and over again, snot mixing with tears, stinging the scraped skin along his palm. It'd been stupid, been something Masaomi would have done, not him. But he'd tried it anyways, taking a running start.

Who couldn't make it over hurdles anyways?

He sniffled. What a horrible day it'd been. First, tangling with a hurdle and losing, and then breaking down in a park? It wasn't like his puppy died or anything! Not that he'd had a puppy, but the point still stood. This wasn't something to be so upset over. He tried to quit the tremble of his lip, the tears still pitter-pattering down his face to land in his lap. He'd had worse days than this!

Oh, who was he kidding, no he hadn't.

He lifted his head, rubbing his eyes. They were swollen, for sure, and he was certain they were red too, to match the scratches littered on his body. He sighed, looking at the mess he'd created around him. He'd have to bend and clean it all up, and that was going to hurt, and why was everything so damn painful...

The crackle of paper alerted him. He blinked up at a PDA shoved into his face, reading the text through blurry eyes. "Celty-san?"

[Are you okay, Mikado?]

He turned away. "I'm okay," he lied. Was that his voice? He scrunched up his nose. It was all nasally.

Celty managed to get her PDA back in his face. "No, really I am." Her fingers pounded against the keys before shoving the PDA back at him again. "No, I didn't get mugged. Or raped. Or kidnapped by aliens."

Celty's fingers typed a short [That's good] then [So what's wrong?]

He felt a blush creep up his ears. "I kinda fell in gym." He gestured towards his leg, his pant leg having fallen down to hide it earlier. He peeled the fabric back, watching as Celty become more and more flustered (every time she got really emotional, her whole body started wriggling, and her shadow would sometimes curl about.)

[You need to get that cleaned up, Mikado! It could get infected. You may even need stitches!]

"That's what Sonohara-san told me..."

[She's right, you know.]

"I don't have the money right now." He flinched. After everything with Masaomi, he'd spent money he didn't have on comfort food. He'd avoided the nurse, despite Anri's gentle prodding, just in case he did need stitches and she sent him to the hospital. Oh god, those things would hurt too!

[That's fine. I can get Shinra to patch you up for free.]

"He'd do that?"

[If he won't, I'll make him.]

For the first time all day, Mikado laughed. "Thanks Celty-san."

The cat-eared helmet melted from his head as Celty parked her motorcycle. Kicking the kickstand out, her PDA glided out from her black catsuit, her shadows allowing her to type faster than any human, even Mikado. If he tried to type that fast, his fingers would die a painful death. They twitched.

[Did the bandage stay in place?]

"Huh? Oh yes. Thank you." On reflex, he looked down, though he couldn't see anything. Along with the helmet, Celty had wrapped his leg tight with a portion of her shadows, saying that letting it stay exposed would bring nothing but more grief. The pressure hurt, but the buffeting wind would have hurt more, he guessed. He fidgeted with the strap of his messenger bag, opening his mouth to add on to his gratefulness, but someone else broke in.

"SHIIIINRA-KUN!"

Mikado and Celty exchanged looks (as close as Celty could anyways) - then they simultaneously ran for the door, Celty reaching it first. She threw it open, abruptly stopping as soon as she entered the landing. Mikado tried to pause, but skidded into her, slamming into her back. He bounced, falling to the floor. His scratched palms practically screamed at him, throbbing. He lifted them up, blowing on them to stem the pain. Wincing, one eye open, he located Celty, Shinra and then...

Oh crap, was that Heiwajima Shizuo?

"Shizuo! Drop the fridge! You're scaring my beloved Celty."

Mikado stood up, scratched palms be damned. The last time Mikado had seen Shizuo he'd been punching the lights out of some poor man who'd managed to piss him off. The guy had flown into a sky-scraper.

All the way to the roof, if Kanra-san's information was reliable.

Celty typed out a message, then shoved the PDA into the blonde's face. Temple twitching, breath erratic, he nodded shortly, then with agility most humans weren't capable of, set the fridge down, scowl still intact.

"You could have killed me, Shizuo. Or worse, you could have harmed my lo-"

An elbow shot to the gut silenced the doctor. He gaped, then smiled wide. "-love."

If Celty were capable of expressions, Mikado had the hunch that she would be scowling just as deeply as Shizuo. While the fridge was on the floor again, he was still no less intimating. He was tall, much taller than Mikado, and he'd seen first-hand what he could do when irate. Mikado couldn't even run the full track without getting a little weak at the knees. He was a little jealous. Not enough to want his temper, however.

Celty must have asked Shizuo a question, because between scowls, he pointed a finger at Shinra and said, "He tried to dissect me, the sick freak!"

"Oh Celty, I would never! I just wanted to get a little bit of his blood, so I pricked him wi-"

"-He jabbed a needle in my ass!"

Mikado watched the two grown men argue, Celty flailing between them, trying and failing to get them to read her screen. An image of another trio, two boys and one girl, the two boys wrestling while the girl watched, flitted in his mind. He laughed, a melancholic edge to it. All three turned towards him, even Shizuo, mid-step in strangling Shinra, if the outstretched hands were any indication.

"What is Mikado-kun doing here?"

"Oh, uh, Celty said you could fix up, m-my leg."

Shinra frowned and stepped closer to him. "What part of your leg? What's wrong?"

"Celty-san said I'd probably need stitches because I- eek!"

Shinra chuckled as his hands were battered away. The doctor merely kept his hold on the boy's pants, Celty's shadow peeking out just the barest bit. He prodded at it with an inquisitive finger. "Looks like you're going to have to wait, Shizuo. Mikado-kun comes first!"

Mikado winced as he caught sight of the blonde edging towards the fridge again. Really, he was already getting stitches, what else could go wrong?

"You're going to have to take off your pants, Mikado-kun."

Just got worse.

"W-what?" All three adults in the room stared at him, surprised at the volume of his voice. He gulped, hating the way his knees started to shake. Shizuo was a lot scarier without his sunglasses and bartender uniform, especially when his eyebrows were lowered and a muscle near his mouth twitched. Mikado cleared his throat, squeaking out, "Why?"

"Your pants are going to get in the way." Shinra adjusted his glasses, stepping closer to him. "Don't worry, no one will take any pictures!"

Mikado hung his head. Pictures hadn't even entered his mind. "Do I really have to?" he mumbled.

Shinra laughed. "You really have to. But don't worry Mikado-kun, I'll patch you up like new."

Mikado gave a shaky smile, letting the doctor steer him towards an open door he hadn't noticed before. "Shizuo, don't touch my precious Celty!"

For his troubles, he got a pillow launched at his head. Mikado was just glad that Shizuo hadn't found anything to throw.

"Sit down over there," Shinra instructed, pointing to a long, low, padded table in the middle of the room. Mikado sat on the edge, looping his messenger bag up and over his shoulders, to rest at his side. The room was smaller than the others he'd seen in the apartment, but the floor-to-ceiling cabinets and the wheely chair Shinra had plopped himself into may have been the cause of that.

Mikado had only met Shinra once before, in the park. Celty had stopped him and Anri on their way home to ask them how they were. The bubbly doctor had burst into the conversation, earning a subtle jab from the Dullahan and more than a few curious looks from the teenagers. Mikado really only remembered the incident because Shinra had insisted on calling him "Mikado-kun" from the start, even clinging to him at one point and screaming to Celty that he wanted a child like him.

"You don't have to be afraid of Shizuo, Mikado-kun."

Mikado wanted to wipe the knowing look off of Shinra's face. He wouldn't, of course, so he blushed. "I don't mean to be..."

"He's a nice guy. Even with the temper." Shinra put on gloves. "Okay, take off your pants."

Sounds like one of those pick-up lines from Masaomi. Mikado did as told, blushing even harder as first his shoes were toed off, then his belt removed, then finally his pants hit the floor in a puddle of blue cloth. He scuttled back to the safety of the table, grabbing his bag and throwing it on top of his lap.

"So cute!" Shinra reached out and pinched both the boy's cheeks, squealing. "If Celty and I can't have children, we're adopting you, Mikado-kun!"

He chose not to comment. While Shinra called out to Celty to remove her shadow, he tried to force his blush down. He thanked whatever forces that be that Shizuo and Celty stayed in the other room, even as Celty's shadow detached from his leg and zoomed through the crack between the floor and the door. He didn't think he could look at Celty in the...look at her again, at any rate. And Shizuo was a whole other problem!

Shinra started examining him, running his fingers as light as the brush of butterfly wings against Mikado's skin. "I don't think you need stitches, luckily, but you are going to have to keep your leg bandaged up for a while. I suggest you don't participate in gym tomorrow."

Mikado groaned. "Sonohara-san will be all by herself then."

Shinra wheeled over to one of the cabinets, opening it up. Shoving his head in, he said, "She'll be fine by herself. You should worry more about yourself, Mikado-kun."

"What do you mean?"

Shinra uttered a soft, "Aha!" then pulled out from the depths of the cabinet. He wheeled back to the table, cotton swabs and disinfectant in hand. "Celty tells me that you've been acting recklessly since your friend left. I know it must be hard, but you can't let it get to you. He'll come back."

Mikado stared at the one section of blank wall. "Yeah..."

"You've known Kida-kun for a while?"

Not Masaomi-kun? He nodded. "We grew up together," he offered. He kept staring at the wall.

"I've known Shizuo since primary school."

Mikado cringed as Shinra dabbed the disinfectant on. Despite his reservations, he just had to ask. "Was he always that strong?"

"Hm? Oh yes. But his body couldn't always handle it. He used to break bones on a weekly basis!" Shinra pulled back, squinting his eyes. "That looks good." He leaned in closer, swabbing Mikado's knee. He was so close, Mikado felt his breath fan across his wound. "He doesn't anymore, though his temper is still as short as it was then. Especially where Izaya is concerned."

"You're friends with Orihara-san too?" How could that work? Shizuo and Izaya hated each other!

"I'm the one that introduced them."

No wonder they hate each other. Mikado bit his lip, holding in his laughter. Thankfully, Shinra went back to the cabinet and didn't see him. The image of the trio as kids, Izaya and Shizuo bickering, and Shinra screaming out his approval was way funnier than it should have been.

Shinra patted his leg when he was finished. "Just make sure to change the bandages every day and keep the wounds clean."

"I will." He scrambled up, knocking his bag over. Blushing, he bowed down, with a rushed, "Thank you!"

"You should probably pull up your pants before you bow," Shinra offered, laughing. He kept his hands to himself for once, though Mikado could see them twitch in the man's lap.

Mikado did what he did best - blush.