To Change A River's Course

Chapter 1

This tale starts on a normal day--or at least, as normal as you can get in Ikebukuro. The people and the sights were quite routine; Simon was passing out flyers to everyone that would stop long enough, and in the distance, if you listened closely enough, you could hear a deafening crash in the distance.

Raven was walking towards the courthouse for yet another criminal case when it happened.

"IIIIIIZZZZAAAAAAYYYYYAAAAAAA!!!!!" she heard someone yell as a vending machine flew past her. Raven dodged and looked behind her in momentary shock to see Shizuo Heiwajima standing about 30 feet behind her. Despite the warnings she had constantly gotten from her coworkers, it still came as a surprise to the young attorney to have something that large come up behind you and miss you by a mere 3 feet.

She looked ahead once again and saw the origin of Shizuo's anger standing at the end of the street: Izaya Orihara, the information broker. Raven had never met him before, but Crimson, a close friend and yet another coworker, had warned her to stay away from the information broker with the tacky hooker coat.

Soon she realized her current position as her eyes flicked between the two men. She was caught in the middle, between a fuming bartender that could throw vending machines and a broker that was clearly enjoying himself.

"What's wrong, Shizu-chan?" Izaya taunted in a smooth voice, snickering in mirth that was just barely contained.

"Don't call me that," Shizuo growled, gripping a stop sign like it was a nightstick. It was clear he was about to kick ass, whether it be Izaya or anyone in the way. Upon coming to this conclusion,

Raven backed off to the side and kept walking, past Izaya. He looked over at her, and she met his gaze calmly, despite his reputation.

Bemusement flickered across his expression, and he smirked at Raven's reaction. She nodded

once politely and focused her eyes ahead, intent on getting to the courthouse.

As Raven walked away, she heard a crash behind her and the continued roaring of Izaya's name. Involuntarily, her lips twitched into a slight smile.

On the way home from the case, the fight had stopped. Maybe someone split them apart, or

Izaya had managed to slip away..

Raven was lost in thought as she turned a corner and ran into a slim, masculine figure. She muttered a quick sorry, then looked up into his face and gasped.

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A/N: Hey! To start, thanks for reading. You're probably wondering why I called this an Alternate Universe. This story comes from a role play I did (ironically, it got me into anime too), and we changed up some things. Some things are altered drastically, but most are really minor.

See you at the next update! Also, the picture is Raven. :)