Deannoned for this request in the drrrkink lj page:

"In some weird way what if Mikado was the one that was older and was the informant while Izaya (Shizuo and Shinra) is still in school? Anri as his secretary would be fun and Kida still as the leader of the Yellows would be great. (Both also older) Would like for Izaya to still TOP in this one, it'd just be funny to see a flustered older Mikado."

This has been edited from the lj version for whatever reasons. Please enjoy!

I do not own.

Warning: AU, OOCness due to the background change, eventual yaoi, appearance of novel-only characters (later)

The subway station of Ikebukuro was always busy. There were many people who traveled to different cities to work as well as many people coming and leaving to the city for their own personal reasons. So to see a teenager leaning against a pillar with a duffel bag at his feet wasn't anything out of place.

This teen was, for the most part, average looking. He had short black hair that spiked every which direction. He was adorned in all black except for his shirt, which was colored red. In one hand, he had his cellphone out and was glaring intensely at the screen. His lips were pulled into a humorless smirk, and anyone walking by could easily tell that he was annoyed. Complete with crossed legs, he looked like the poster child for the average angsty teenager.

If there was a single thing that made him stand out, it was the color of his eyes. It was colored red, just like his shirt, just like blood.

"Ah," the teen spoke to no one. "When's he getting here? I'm so bored."

He glanced around. Everyone walked by him without a care in the world. It was no one's business why he was here, and likewise, it was none of his business as to why they were here. Despite that, he was sorely tempted to talk to someone, just to see their reaction. Just to be out of norm.

"Normality is so boring," he mumbled to himself.

"Ah Izaya! So sorry I was late!" came the voice of the person the teen had been waiting for. The person didn't sound sorry at all.

The owner of the voice had a bright cheerful smile. With his square glasses and his boyish features, he looked like a typical school boy nerd. To top it all off, the boy was wearing a long white doctor's coat, almost as if he had rushed over from a science lab. And knowing this boy as well as the teen did, he wouldn't be surprised if he had ran out after a science experiment.

The boy made his way towards the angsty teen, better known as Izaya. The red-eyed teen gave his friend a stern glare.

"It couldn't be helped! Celty wanted to finish watching the TV special!" the nerdy boy protested. "Besides, it's not like you don't know your way around Ikebukuro anyways!"

It was true enough accusation. Izaya had been born in Ikebukuro. However, right before he could start elementary school, he had been sent away to a school in a faraway countryside town. At first, Izaya had been fine with the change in scenery. Unfortunately, this feeling of tranquility didn't last for very long. Soon enough, he had been itching to return to the city, any city, as long as he could get out of the boring town. Unlucky for him, he had to wait until high school. But the fact was that he was out of that silly town.

And back in Ikebukuro.

"How can you say such cold-hearted thing, Shinra? And leave me to fend for myself in a foreign place?" Izaya whined. "Even after I picked you, of all my friends, to stay with?"

"That's because Izaya is really unpopular and has absolutely no friends!" Shinra said with a bright smile. He then motioned for the teen to follow him as he led the way out of the subway station.

When Izaya had told his parents that he wished to return to Ikebukuro back in elementary school, his parents laughed at him. When he tried again in middle school, his parents made the sound that old grannies make when they thought that their grandchild was being nonsensical yet cute. At the end of middle school, Izaya gave up asking and just flat out told them he was coming.

They agreed on one condition: Izaya had to find a place to live for himself.

Tch. Parents! You try to assassinate them once almost ten years ago and they treat you like the scum of the earth!

So here Izaya was, stuck with Shinra until he could start providing for himself. This wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that… well, Shinra wasn't exactly normal either.

"Celty my love! Did you wait long for us?" Shinra asked as he ran towards his… well… Izaya was never too sure how to describe the person in relation to Shinra.

The person waiting for them was without a doubt a woman. She wore black skin-tight clothing, probably for aerodynamic reasons, and a yellow kitty-eared motorcycle helmet. She stood next to an all-black motorcycle that had a side-seat attached to it. Although she appeared normal enough, Izaya knew she was anything but. Years of being Shinra's friend had thought him that there were very few normal humans in this world that can hold that creep's attention.

"You remember Izaya, right?" Shinra asked pointing at his friend. He then pointed at Celty. "And I doubt you need any introduction, Izaya. Now let's go home!"

The woman took out her PDA. With it, she wrote, "It's been a long time. Have you been well?"

Izaya grinned. "Ora? I feel so touched! The legendary Black Bike has taken interest in my health!"

That was correct. Despite looking normal, this woman was actually the urban legend of Ikebukuro: the Black Bike. Why she was living with someone like Shinra was never explained to Izaya, but the teen had some guesses. It probably had to do with Shinra's father, Shingen, who worked for Nebula. Well, whatever the reason, it really wasn't Izaya's business. Besides, what would the teen do with the knowledge? Sell it to random people? The thought was so laughable that it wasn't even funny anymore. First of all, that would be a rude way to pay back for Celty and Shinra's hospitality. Secondly and lastly, it wasn't like anyone would buy information from a high-school freshmen. Something about no reliability or what not.

"Celty, you don't have to pretend to be nice to this guy," Shinra said with a pout. He pulled her towards the motorcycle. "He's nothing but an eyesore!"

"I protest! I'm rather well-loved back in the small town, thank you very much!"

Shinra gave him a look that said that he didn't believe it at all. Izaya pouted. "Why is everyone so mean to me?"

Celty shook her head and held up her PDA. "Please stop causing a ruckus. Let's get going."

Izaya sat in the side car with his duffel bag. By his side, Celty drove with Shinra clinging tightly to her back. The red-eyed teen looked around at the city scape that they passed by. It had been nearly ten years since he was last in this city, and already everything looked so different. Different shops, different office buildings, even different parking spaces all seemed to have filled up his memory of the city. All the searches on the internet did not do justice to actually coming back to his home.

As they passed, certain groups of people caught his attention. Few people were wearing the color yellow somewhere on their persons, and another group wore blue, almost like…

"Color gangs?"

"Ah? So you've noticed? Yeah. I was hoping you wouldn't notice and they'll kill you off, but I suppose I'll have no such luck," Shinra said with a sigh. He pointed towards the group with the yellow clothing. "They're known as the Yellow Scarves. They're led by Kida Masaomi." Then he pointed towards those with blue clothing. "Those over there are the Blue Squares. They're the natural enemies of the Yellow Scarves. I believe the new leader is… Kuronuma Aoba? Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Blue Squares? Wasn't Izumi Ran the leader of it a while back?" The teen found himself tensing. There were holes in his information? If there was one of the few things that he proudly claimed as his talent, it was information gathering. Whether it be for a school project or for personal interests, he always loved research. So when he realized that he was going to return to Ikebukuro, he did his share of the research as well.

"You're so behind times! I thought you were using the internet to keep track of everything? Izumi-san got arrested a while back… Uh… Let's see… He was believed to have caused explosion at the Yagiri Pharmacy."

"Ah, I remember now," Izaya said, tension slowly dissipating. "The explosion was so bad the pharmacy had to close afterwards, right?"

"That's the right one."

Izaya hummed softly under his breath. So there were still missing information in his research. He couldn't fight the smirk that claimed his lips. "So Shinra, is there anything else I should know about Ikebukuro?"

The bespectacled boy looked thoughtful at that. "You are crazy in your own right, so you probably know most of the gossip there is to know about Ikebukuro like the Slasher's Return or whatever. But if there's any warning that I can give, it would probably be… 'Stay clear of Ryugamine Mikado.'"

The red-eyed teen furrowed his eyebrow. "That's one hell of a name," he muttered to himself.

"… Or you'll end up as his play thing."