Mika Harima sat on the forest green comforter atop the cheap mattress in her hotel room. It had been three days since she and Seiji had left Ikebukuro and they were well away from the hectic town. Seiji had gone to pick up some food and supplies for the left first thing in the morning. Their destination was China. Normally Mika would be caught up in a fantasy of her and her beloved in the lush valleys of China, but Mika was not her usual self. Purple shadows lined the skin below her eyes and her eyes were constantly shifting. She was nervous. After having been unable to eat more than a handful of food a day and having restless nights filled with little sleep, she was beginning to feel weighed down. But every time she closed her eyes she saw those blue eyes and she would think of her plan and the consequences if Seiji found out. She eyed her bag in the corner next to the bed. It sat on the beige carpet innocently, but Mika was sure she felt it watching her. She reached for it and threw it on the bed. Ever so slowly, with trembling fingers, she unzipped it and reached to the bottom. She glanced at the door one last time, assuring it was locked, before grasping the large object and dragging it up. Carefully, like she was handling a newborn child, she set it on the bed, watching as it sunk ever so slightly into the comforter. Her hand edged toward the towel wrapping it and, after a slight hesitation, unwrapped it and pulled it off. When it came into view she leveled it with a bitter glare. At first she had been afraid and had avoided looking at it. It had been some kind of boogeyman in her eyes, some nightmarish thing that could harm her. But the fear had ebbed away as she took opportunities to look at it more and more. She hated it. She hated it so much. She reached a hand forward, halting right before touching it. The urge to grab a handful of the shiny hair and tear it out was almost overpowering.

In the end she withdrew her hand. Quickly rewrapping it, she shoved to the depths of her suitcase. She glared at the bag, cursing the thing in it. It wasn't fair that it should get Seiji's love instead of her.

That head. That stupid, stupid head.

DuuuRARARARARARARARARARARARR ARARARARARRRAARRAARARARARARA RARA(RAWR!)

To say that Kida could not get his old apartment back was a disappointment to the boy was a huge understatement. Luckily, Saki still had her apartment and the two were able to crash there. But Kida just didn't like it. It was nice enough (not some crappy one like Mikado had). Yet he wanted to be in his own place, and this place was no comparison. It would suffice though, and he didn't want to make Saki feel bad. It had a small kitchen, a wide, sunk in family room, one bathroom and a bedroom.

He wanted to see Mikado and Anri again. He had missed those too. While his relationship with Anri had been a bit strained (not to say his one with Mikado wasn't, he just considered theirs more unbreakable and steady), he wanted to see her again. The two were his two best friends. The reunion would have to wait until tomorrow, though. Saki was sound asleep, he didn't want to leave her alone on their first night back. He didn't know what he was afraid of exactly but it most likely had something to do with Izaya. As far as Kida knew, the bastard was still on vacation, but the snake had a way of always screwing up Kida's life.

Kida turned on his laptop and plopped onto opened it up.

DuuuRARARARARARARARARARARARR ARARARARARRRAARRAARARARARARA RARA(RAWR!)

"Ran Izumi…"

"Horada." The man replied, his voice neutral and devoid of any emotion.

"It's been a while since we've seen each other." The blonde drawled. An affirmative grunt was all he got in response.

Horada smirked smugly and stretched his arms before pulling his feet off the ground and dropping them on the coffee table.

"Ya know after you got thrown in the slammer the Blue Squares pretty much died off, but I managed to gather some up for one last go a bit ago." The blonde kept his gaze on Izumi who still had not given Horada a glance.

"And you failed and got thrown in jail." Izumi responded, tone neutral. Horada glared and opened his mouth to retort.

"H-"

"If you'd be so kind, get your feet off my coffee table." Horada jumped and snapped his head toward the doorway. Narrowed crimson orbs were locked on him. He gulped and quickly slid his feet off the table. He glanced at Izumi who was just staring at him. Horada suddenly felt very inferior, the presence and power of the two other figures in the room seemed to be waiting to swallow him up.

"That's better." A cheerful voice chirped. Horada heard the venomous undercurrent in the other man's tone and wrung his hands together. Maybe he should have stayed in prison.

DuuuRARARARARARARARARARARARR ARARARARARRRAARRAARARARARARA RARA(RAWR!)

Bakyuran: Izaya Orihara=world's biggest bastard. Nuff said.

Setton: Okay. That's pretty random

Kanra: That's mean Bakyuran-kun!

Saika: I think it's pretty accurate

Taro Tanaka: What brought this up?

Bakyuran: idk

Kanra: On a different note…is Masaomi back in town?

Setton: Not sure.

Taro Tanaka: same here but if u here anything let me know

Bakyuran: Yeah I think I heard he was

Kanra: Oh boy! Do you think he'll resurrect the Yellow Scarves?!

Saika: I highly doubt it

Bakyuran: U would encourage gangs.

Kanra: It was a plausible question

Taro Tanaka: The Yellow Scarves and The Dollars are gone. There's no more trouble

Setton: Taro is right. That would not be good if things started up again

Kanra: Ur absolutely right! Everyone should get along :)

FORGIVE MY LATENESS!

I am SO sorry this is late. School and sports and clubs and homework are just consuming my life right now. I'll update as soon as possible. (if I get a good number of reviews I'll get the next one up w/in a week. Promise! Or else I'll write any one-shot you guys ask!)

Hmm you know storylines…it's such an interesting thing. I'm actually finally getting around to the central conflict…well that's a matter of opinion. What I mean is the real conflict involving the city and gangs and shtuff is finally getting started. But of course there's the conflict with Shizuo and Izaya's feelings! And there's going to be the issue with Celty's head.. and I think I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm done babbling, promise!

Please, please review! It makes me so happy and helps to get my lazy butt in gear and sit down and write the next chapter! So post reviews! The more the merrier right!

P.S. I'm sure you could probably tell but I didn't proofread this. I had just enough time to type it up and publish it, so sorry about any and all mistakes!

P.S.S REVIEW!