HΣIШΔ

woes and friendly conversation

walking around the city, i make sure to avoid anything that remotely relates to shizuo, or tom, or really anything that can give me away. once i saw the email from the school saying that i'd missed a day of school, i smirk, then delete it and make sure that my big brother would never find out about it.

'hm. i wonder how everything's going with that monster. not very well, i assume, considering no one is actually able to kill him. maybe shizu-nii would stand a chance, but not much. i wonder how vorona is, since it's been so long since i've talked to her...'

lost in thought, i bump into someone, snapping my head up sharply to glare at them, when i see mikado staring at me.

"ah, i'm sorry! i didn't mean to run into you- mako? i thought you left the city!" he exclaims, eyes wide at the sight of me.

"shut the fuck up, mikado. i don't need word getting around that i'm back. also, the hell happened to your face? you look like you got the shit beaten outta you," i ask, but he just smiles weirdly, putting me off.

"ah, i just had a nasty fall down the stairs, nothing to worry about. how've you been? it's been quite a while since we last talked."

i raise an eyebrow, easily catching onto how he was definitely lying to me.

"okay, i know you're trying to bullshit me, but i'm going to ignore it because i'm not in the mood for this gang shit going on around here. i've been alright, kinda glad nothing's really gone down by my new place. i know this place has really gone to shit lately, though." mikado chuckles, nodding in agreement, but doesn't comment further.

"would you like to get some food with me? i know it's still kind of early, but i'd like to catch up?" he asks, but i decline and we separate, going our different ways.

"somethin's up, i know it. the bastard is starting to act almost as unpredictable and weird as izaya, and that's sayin something..." i mutter, continuing to walk.

i spot a familiar van, smiling slightly as i hear the shouting coming from within, but move on and just walk around aimlessly.

that is, until i run into the headless rider.

———

celty had had no idea the young girl was back in the city. if she had, it would've been because shizuo would be telling her and shinra.

well, more like ranting about his younger sister to them.

honestly, she shouldn't be surprised. she had a feeling as soon as she found out izaya was stabbed, that mako would make an appearance in some way, either digitally or in person.

quickly typing on her pda, the dullahan shows it to the young girl frantically, leaving her to roll her eyes before reading it.

"'what are you doing back here!? you know your brother is going to kill you if he finds out you're here! especially if it's to visit that idiot!' yeah, yeah, celty, i know. why do you think i dyed my hair? i'm also smart enough to avoid places he's usually in around this time of day." the dullahan would groan if she could, but she just asks mako another question.

"'how long are you planning on being in the city?' i was actually only planning to stay for yesterday and today, considering i'd rather not push my luck on shizu-nii finding out i'm here. i only came to check up on the dumbass and the city, and i'll be leaving tomorrow, so you don't have to worry about my brother actually killing me like we all knew he eventually will."

celty nods, her shoulders shaking a little to show she was laughing, and mako smiles at her much older friend.

"i wish i could stay, though. i don't wanna go back to that god awful place."

looking as if she was sighing, celty places a comforting hand on mako's shoulder, not needing her pda to convey what she meant to the girl. rolling her eyes, she says, "yeah, i get it. i have to, or else big brother really will end up murdering me. i'll catch you later, celty. please don't tell anyone you saw me, and give shinra a hug for me, alright?"

nodding, the dullahan gets ready to speed off once again, but mako pats shooter in friendly acknowledgement, causing the familiar to rev its engine, and they speed off. sighing, she struts off again, making her way back to izaya's place, where she easily gets in, and heads up to the guest room she'd stayed in the night before.

she hadn't brought much in the first place, but there were snacks she'd gotten at a convenience store earlier that day, and she was eager to pack them with the rest of her stuff before izaya got back and tried to steal her snacks like usual.

'ya know, it's really fucking weird for someone my age to be friends with izaya, who's, like, fucking 24 years old. people would call him a pedophile if they didn't know that he's honestly just batshit crazy and only wanted to befriend me because i'm the younger sister of his rival, which just pisses off said rival. he's really fucked up'

"why do i put up with his dumbass, again?" she rhetorically asks, seriously not expecting for anyone to answer, but she really should've known that he'd be there to do so.

"because you love me, ma-chan. also, i'm your best friend and humble mentor. why wouldn't you love me?" he cheerfully says from behind her, making her turn around in exasperation.

"awe, is my little apprentice getting ready to leave already? that's sad, i thought you cared about me," the grown man pouts, earning a glare and middle finger shot his way, but just continues to smirk.

"did shizu-chan find out you were back at all?"

"no, but i ran into celty and mikado. separately. also, what the fuck is up with him? he's off, and acting a lot like you. it's really freaky, and i'd rather not have two manipulative assholes in this city to deal with when i get back," she asks, leaving him to chuckle, but he ultimately shrugs.

"i don't really know, but it has to do with the blue squares, the dollars, that one aoba boy, and his other friends i think. hey, don't give me that look, i haven't paid much attention to the dollars or the other color gangs lately. i was busy getting, you know, stabbed?"

mako sighs, nodding, but pushes the man out of the room and flops onto the unnaturally nice bed.

"i just wanna come home and stay here. i don't wanna go back..."

[]

i acknowledge that this chapter sucks. sorry ig