Bah. My first Durarara! fanfic. Probably end up being my -only- Durarara! fanfic. And don't tease—I know Kat's name is ridiculous and the name of the story is silly. I'm terrible at names and titles. So hush. =P Anyway, have fun reading, I guess!

Katana always told herself she didn't like hurting people. Humanity tortured, beat, killed, and starved each other enough without her adding to the mix. There were people she thought deserved to be tortured, beat, killed, and starved. Yet she didn't see how hurting them herself would make the world a better place. And at the same time...

"Excuse me," she called in the familiar and yet unfamiliar Japanese tongue. The three men wearing yellow scarves hailed to her call, looking at her with looks of skepticism and lewd delight. Katana wasn't stupid. She wasn't blind. Her senses were sharp, her instincts even sharper. She knew these men weren't trustworthy or safe, but she didn't know what it was like to feel humanity's fear. She objectively decided to ask anyone she came across, no matter who they were. That was the best way to go about it, she naturally thought, if you were careful to look at the big picture. And that's exactly what she had in mind. "Do you know a man named Izaya Orihara?"

"What's a babe like you," Katana's sunglasses slipped, momentarily revealing her glowing red eyes, but she quickly pushed them back in place. The man faltered, as if processing what he saw. Katana's fingers twitched, and he gave a small start before replaying like a recording. As if he'd been put on rewind, with the same sneering smirk and malignant brown eyes looking down his nose at her, "What's a babe like you doing out here, looking for a creep like him?"

The companion to his left snickered crudely, taking another step forward. She considered just standing there and staring back at him expectantly, but instead decided to mimic the reaction of any fearful girl; she took a step back, one hand raised to her chest as if to fend off advances. It was easier to just play the part than to throw them off. Her sunglasses stayed in place to shield her eyes from view, but she even went so far as to arrange her face in the same afraid expression she'd seen on other faces so many times. She watched humans closely, learning how to blend in with them. She observed them well. She liked to. Humans were so curious and delightful, even though they had their violent and immoral faults, especially in modern times. "Come on, baby, don't be like that. We're not so bad."

A black motorcycle streaked past in the distance. A flicker of awareness. Katana watched it streak by behind her glasses. The darkness blanketing the earth shuddered, shifting and vibrating only slightly, as if trying to reach out towards that motorcycle and be dragged along with it. A ripple in the black of night. Katana's skin was thrilled and tingling with the sensation. She would very much like to follow that creature on the bike, no more above the effect than the shadows around her.

The third man, the skinniest and yet the tallest of the three, grinned and strung his arm around her shoulders. Katana was glad they couldn't see her eyes, because the fearful look in her eyes had dropped. She just felt a deadened sense of disappointment. Was there no hope left for humanity? Were they all doomed to sink into barbaric immorality? These three men, they didn't have to be this way. How could they possibly want to act the way they were, to what they saw as a helpless, frightened woman? It was a shame and a severe let down to see humanity's worst instincts. But, some part of Katana loved it all the same. The good and the bad; they wouldn't be human if they didn't have their flaws. "Yeah, you don't need that creep. We can give you all the company you need."

The sound of a horse, unheard by the thugs' ears, reached Katana. Tendrils of what looked like shadows were racing towards the four of them. Katana watched the black things, a finger of pleasure running down her spine. They weren't shadows—they'd whisper to Katana if they were—but shadows were the best description Katana could come up with. And then, there was the horse itself, in the shape of a motorcycle. On it, the fabled Dullahan of Irish legends. Katana stood still; she had heard rumors that the Dullahan was in Ikebukuro, but she hadn't expected to see the headless rider in person. The darkness around her was alive with intense feeling at the Dullahan's proximity. It swirled around her, and Katana had to resist the urge to do the same. She felt what the shadows felt; a kinship and a clear ringing of awareness. The tire of the motorcycle collided with the back of the middle man's skull. He cried out, face hitting the ground. The tire turned according to the Dullahan's twisting, rubbing insult to injury. Then, she relented and set the tire on the ground. The man and his friends looked at the Dullahan proudly perched on her familiar, scythe already forming out of the shadows. The trio backed up, fear radiating off them in waves, then took off with screamed apologies. The Dullahan's shoulders moved, helmet bobbing as if she was laughing. Katana couldn't blame her; it was rather amusing. Then, the Dullahan seemed to remember Katana and typed something on her cell phone. Katana stared at the kanji. So long it had been since she had read kanji...

"I'm sorry. It's been a while since I've read Japanese writing. I can't remember how to read that," Katana told the Dullahan calmly. The Dullahan's shoulders slumped. Katana considered the Dullahan; without a head, the cell phone must be her only way of speaking. "But, I know how to read English, or maybe Irish, if your phone has a setting to let you translate it. Or even Russian. There are plenty of languages I do remember how to read."

The Dullahan perked, fiddling with her phone. A few minutes passed, then the Dullahan's hand jerked victoriously into the air. She held out the phone with the other, which read in English, "Are you okay?"

Katana smiled. The Dullahan was nice. It made Katana want to swirl around her like the darkness was all the more. "I'm fine. Thank you for saving me, but you didn't have to go to all the trouble. I could have handled it." Katana blinked, tilting her head. Even to her, that sounded rude. "I'm sorry if that sounded ungrateful. I really do appreciate what you did. It was very kind of you, and I know you didn't have to do what you did."

The phone next read, "Oh. No problem."

They seemed to stare at each other for a moment, then Katana asked, "Do you mind if I ask your name? And where your head is?"

The Dullahan gave a small start at the mention of her head. Then, she typed a response, "My name's Celty. I lost my head. How did you know I don't have it?"

Katana lifted and dropped her shoulders. "Well, I can tell you're a Dullahan. I heard rumors of one being in Ikebukuro, but other than that, I could just sort of... feel it." Katana frowned sympathetically at the woman on her familiar. "I'm sorry you lost your head. I'm sure you'll find it someday, though."

Katana's sunglasses slipped again, revealing just a glimpse of her ruby-colored eyes. A tilt of the helmet, as if the Dullahan would be cocking her head at Katana. If she had a head, that is. She was more cocking her helmet than imaginary head. Maybe, like the yellow-scarf thugs, she was trying to process what she saw. Or maybe Celty knew what she saw and had a run in with something else with similar eyes. Katana knew first-hand that there were more than plenty of creatures with eyes like hers. What the humans called supernatural beings often had red eyes—not always, but often enough, especially if they were more... malignant in nature to humanity. Of course, Katana didn't like violence, much less violence to the humanity she adored. But, she'd seen a few back where she had called home for a number of years, and they'd seen her. Katana had made sure to steer clear of those creatures; gaining their attention wasn't worth the hassle. It seemed the more dangerous they were, the more likely they were to have red eyes. Ah, but Katana was losing herself in thought. More fumbling with the keyboard letters. "What are you?"

Katana's lips curved into a brilliant smile. So, Celty had a run in with red-eyed beings before. Katana wasn't surprised; the Dullahan must be centuries old. "American." The Dullahan seemed to stare, expectant or annoyed. Katana couldn't tell which. "I'm sorry, but I don't really know what else to tell you. I know what you meant, but not even I can fully tell you that. It's just as much a mystery to me as anyone else. At most, I suspect I am the embodiment of shadows, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I have no memory of that part of my life."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't remember much of my past either since I lost my head." read the phone. Katana had a feeling she'd just won the Dullahan's sympathy with this mutual case of amnesia. Then Celty asked, "What's your name? Do you need help getting anywhere?"

Katana was starting to like this Dullahan named Celty more and more. She was proving to be very kind. "My Japanese name is Katana Butler. I have other names in other nations, but that is of little importance. Please, feel free to just call me Katana. Or, if you'd like, Butler works just as well. I have always had a fondness for butlers." Katana bowed, one hand folded over her heart, and the other arm folded behind her back. She raised her head to smile at Celty, and her sunglasses drooped again to reveal glimmering red eyes filled with good-will and cheer. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Celty. You're as charming as I pictured when I heard rumors about you being in Ikebukuro."

Celty's shoulders pulled together, one curled hand going towards where her head would be and the other, clutching the cell phone, to her chest. A gesture of delight. Celty typed a response. "You really think I'm charming?"

Katana laughed brightly, straightening her spine and pushing her glasses back over her eyes. She was really going to have to fix that; Katana wore the glasses to hide her eyes, but it was pointless if they weren't going to stay in place. She nodded to the Dullahan. "Of course, I do. You were so cool, flying in out of nowhere to save me. I love heroics. It reminds me of older days. People back then were so wonderful." Katana turned, throwing her arms out and raising her head to look at the dark sky. She reminisced. She was old enough to remember the times when people wore top hats and pocket watches and always dressed so nicely. A good time, regardless of whatever wars or conflicts the humans were having with one another. Her eyes closed and she took a deep, contented sigh. "They were so interesting and well-mannered and dignified. Even the beggars had a sort of aura of self-respect that you just don't see anymore. Everyone dressed in such charming outfits. You remind me of that time. You carry that same sort of natural dignity and respect. I guess even if you don't remember living through it, that sort of way of living isn't easy to shake." Katana dropped her hands. A frown spread across her face. She shook her head; she'd gotten carried away with meeting such a delightful creature. There was a reason she was in Japan, which, unfortunately, wasn't strictly to make friends with a Dullahan, and she needed to get her priorities back on track. So, with a smile, Katana turned around and faced the Dullahan. "Do you think you can give me directions to the park? I thought I saw one nearby here, and I was hoping I could see it tomorrow."

Katana glanced around at the abandoned factory. There were rusted freights covered in graffiti from head to toe everywhere. Katana wondered if this used to be where workers would load the freights outside with goods from inside the eerie-looking building. Several windows were smashed open in the warehouse, and the door had long since been ripped off its hinges. The ceiling looked as though it was caving in at certain spots, and there was a chill around it that screamed negativity and neglect. A few of the freights were open, any goods that might have been left in them when the company was abruptly closed down stolen long ago.

She pointed to the left, near the exit of the property. "I think it was in that direction, but I can't really remember. I've always been really horrible with directions."

Celty was typing away. Katana let her be for a while and hummed a tune she'd heard a mother singing to her crying child on the boat that sailed to Japan earlier that morning—Katana didn't care for flying much. She was used to going out on ships from a time when planes hadn't been invented and enjoyed it quite a lot. While the tune sounded endearing and full of love and affection out of the mother's mouth, Katana's rendition somehow lacked that charm. Even humming, Katana made the song sound creepy enough to induce goosebumps. It sounded like the sort of song a psychotic murderer would hum when calmly walking after the desperate hero in a movie, eyes wide and unhinged and lips curled in an unnatural grin... Katana swore it sounded much lovelier from the woman and envied the mother's sweet tones. The nicer Katana tried to make it, the creepier it seemed to become. Finally, Celty tapped Katana's shoulder. The awareness rippled stronger at the physical contact, and Katana could tell by the way Celty paused that her eyes had started to glow stronger. Katana blinked, shaking her head, and pushed her glasses well over her eyes. Celty held out the phone. Katana reread them a few times until she was sure she memorized it and beamed, "Thank you so much, Celty."

"Do you need me to give you a ride to where you're staying? I've got free time."

Katana tilted her head, humming thoughtfully. She glanced around. "Do you want to explore that thing with me?" Katana asked suddenly, pointing to the warehouse. She didn't really want to answer the Dullahan's question, nor have her leave quite so soon. "It could be fun, and I'd like to get to know you. You don't have to, of course." What could she say? She was drawn to the Dullahan by nature. The Dullahan manipulated what could only be her own shadows, and as more or less a shadow in human shape, Katana was charmed.

Celty's helmet turned to the warehouse. She seemed to consider it, then typed an answer. By her body language, Katana would say the message was supposed to sound cheery. "Sure. I'd like to get to know you better, too. Maybe I could help you remember something about what you are."

Katana beamed. "That would be something, wouldn't it?"

.

.

.

Katana had spent two full hours exploring the warehouse with Celty, asking each other questions about their pasts in attempts to jog some long-forgotten memories. Katana hadn't really expected to remember anything, so she wasn't surprised or disappointed when she didn't. Celty didn't remember anything, either, but she explained that was because her memories were in her head. At least she had a reason not to remember. Even though neither had a sudden realization of their pasts, Katana had thoroughly enjoyed the time she spent with Celty. By the end of the two hours, Katana and Celty were both reluctant to part ways, but Celty had a boyfriend expecting her to return home, and Katana needed to find shelter. So, after assuring Celty she didn't need a ride, Katana found one of the open freights and clambered in. Katana conjured a black blanket made out of shadows, and she made herself comfortable in the darkest corner of the freight. She wasn't nervous in the dark—hell, she was the dark. The shadows were comforting friends that whispered reassurances of her safety. If anyone came, they would alert her, conceal her, and, if things really called for it, protect her. That said, Katana wasn't a creature that really needed much sleep, so she mostly laid in the corner to rest and conserve her strength for the new day.

Now, in the early streaks of dawn, her sunglasses served to both shield her eyes from sight and from the sunlight that would grow brighter and intolerably brighter. She'd made her way to the park, getting lost only five times (something she was almost proud of) before finally finding it exactly according to Celty's excellent directions. Eventually, people had started poking their heads out from the safety of their dens and decided it was secure to venture out. Katana conjured a black fedora and set it on the ground. Once enough people had padded into the park, Katana danced in the middle of Japan's Higashi Ikebukuro Central Park. She never strayed too far from the hat. She wasn't really dancing for money—she had ulterior motives—but a little extra yen didn't hurt any either. But she wasn't just dancing alone. What was really earning her the money wasn't really just her enticing dance skills, but the shadows leaping off the ground to swirl around her in an expertly hypnotic fashion. She didn't need music to pull people in. Already, after just a few minutes of starting her dance, there was a crowd of people giving her a wide berth so they wouldn't get in the way. They watched, "oo"ing and "ahh"ing whenever the shadows sprang up from the ground like oversized flowers made of black liquid. The black tendrils wrapped around Katana's body, flowing with a fluidity that was unnatural to humans. When Katana moved her arms out, the shadows moved out past like a phantom, then the shadows would burst like fireworks and make images in the air. The onlookers seemed to particularly like that, and tossed more yen in her hat. Katana wrapped up her show once the sun had reached high in the sky and her sensitive ears picked up the sound of a horse. None of the humans around her seemed to hear it, but that didn't surprise Katana. Humans didn't seem to notice much. Things that were glaring and impossible to ignore were walked through or past like they didn't even exist by the humans.

She swooped up her fedora, the coins inside jingling and clanking together. She gave a bow. The shadows formed the shape of a human to mimic her, causing an excited flurry of gasps and exclamations from the onlookers. Katana cocked her head to the side when she looked up at her audience. "Regrettably, that will be all for today." Noises of disappointment. Katana had to smile. "Fear not, my companion," because it was easier and more theatrical to address the shadowy form beside her as a companion than explain the truth to humans who knew nothing of the supposed "supernatural", "and I will return in time." The shadow beside her melted back to the ground, returning to its natural home.

A flourish of questions. What was the figure beside her? Was she some sort of magician? If not, where did she learn that cool magic trick? Ikebukuro was truly the only place she could preform such a show. Katana guessed after seeing everything they had from headless bikers to practical supermen to gangs, nothing really surprised the humans anymore. Anywhere else and people would run screaming or call her a demon. Despite the human population of Ikebukuro showing nothing more than curiosity and confusion, Katana kept her sunglasses firmly in place over her eyes. She didn't trust the strangers around her not to run screaming. It was one thing to think her shadows were simple magic tricks. It was another to see red eyes. Katana had come up with a theory as to why humans were usually unnerved and afraid of her eyes. The more dangerous a creature of "supernatural" origins was, the more likely they were to have red eyes. Even though most humans didn't believe in what they called supernatural, there must have been a time were such beings and humans lived together and fought with each other for survival. Even with hundreds or probably thousands of years from then and modern day, humans maintained some of their ancestors' instincts. Red eyes generally meant evil—at least, evil in the sense that they would mean humans harm. Not all did—Katana was proof of that—but enough of the red-eyed beings did to generalize it. A sad but most likely true theory.

Instead of answering the questions thrown at her, Katana responded with a question of her own, lips pulled into a disarming smile, "Before I take my leave," she started, collecting the coins out of her shadowy hat. "I would like to know if anyone knows where I can find Izaya Orihara." No one spoke. Katana sighed, nodding to herself. If they did know, they were most likely too uncomfortable with risking the man's ire to tell her. "As I thought. Good day, my lovely things." She took another bow, straightened, and headed towards where she'd heard the horse neighing. It was easy to find Celty; all Katana had to do was let the shadows whisper to her and let the pull Celty seemed radiate direct her.

Before she could find Celty, however, a voice raised to make itself known.

"Oi! Bitch!" Katana stopped short, caught by surprise. Sure enough, the voice was directed towards her. A man with a yellow bandana around his forehead approached, flanked by three men with similar yellow articles of clothing. "We heard about what happened last night to our boys."

Katana sighed. Humans could be such prideful, stupid things. Since they couldn't and therefor wouldn't take on the headless rider, they would take it out on her—or try to at least? Ah, but not even their stupidity deterred Katana's fascination with them. It simply made her sympathetic. "I am quite sorry your friends had to be harmed, but I hardly see how it's my fault," she told the leader of the small group simply, spreading her hand out to emphasize her words. "I could hardly help that they would have harmed me and the headless rider just happened to come to my rescue."

"Yeah, well, the black rider isn't here now," sneered the man. Katana let him push her without complaint. "And someone's gonna pay for the shit that happened. Sucks to be you, doesn't it, bitch?" Well, if he kept on calling her a bitch, Katana was willing to bet he'd be paying for "the shit that happened" instead of her. Bitch was such a degrading term. Katana missed the days where wretch was probably the equivalent to modern time's "bitch".

He pushed her again. Her sunglasses clattered to the ground. Katana stooped to pick them up. Her fingers were inches away from them when a foot came crashing down on the sunglasses. Katana froze in place, as still as a statue, her eyes set on the crushed pieces of her glasses.

Katana's lips pulled into a frown.

"What's wrong, bitch? You so scared you can't even get back up? Here, let us help you." Hands grabbed both of her arms. A growl to make any canine proud rumbled out from the bottom of Katana's throat like thunder. The hands released her, and she heard startled exclamations.

"What the fuck! What are you, a dog?"

Katana slowly raised her eyes, setting them on the owner of the foot still stomped over her sunglasses. His eyes widened, and she could see two pinpricks of luminous red reflecting in his eyes. Katana slowly raised to her feet.

Celty jerked at the shrill, furious scream from nearby in the park. She jumped when, moments later, a body sailed by. The blond companion she'd been speaking—well, typing—to took a step back to avoid being hit. The thrown man hit the wall of the building across the street. He slid down the wall and hit the ground with a thud, groaning and crying out in pain. Celty looked around wildly to find the source of the commotion. She didn't have to look far. About thirty or so feet away, Katana was ramming the ball of her foot into a man's spine. Her eyes were wide and furious, her hair spinning around her as shadows swirled all about in all the excitement. There were two others on the ground, groaning. One was holding his head, the other was curled inwards to clutch his side.

Celty hurried over. She texted as she went, so when she placed a hand on Katana's shoulder, all she had to do was show the red eyed girl the screen. "Calm down. What happened?"

Katana relented at Celty's request. Her hands shoved themselves into her pockets. Her right squeezed the broken remains of her sunglasses that she'd picked up. The shards cut into her flesh, but the sharp pain was nothing she hadn't felt before. The hand on Katana sent a surge of awareness through Katana's body, and the anger had disappeared, going out like the flicker of a flame. She turned, staring back at Celty. Her eyes were still glowing; she could see her reflection in the Dullahan's helmet. Celty released Katana when she saw the red-eyed girl wasn't going to give any kind of struggle.

Katana's eyelids drooped, but the frown was gone, leaving an impassive expression to take dominance over her face. "He broke my sunglasses. They were irreplaceable. The friend who gifted them to me is dead now."

Celty paused. She turned her attention to her cell phone and started to type. Katana watched her, eyes flitting around at the stunned onlookers. A bizarre girl with red eyes and control over shadows and the black rider buddying up in broad daylight? What's more, the headless rider stopping this stranger from assaulting a couple of gangsters, and the stranger obeying as if it was like turning a switch? For a moment, Katana tried to imagine what that would be like if she was a normal human stumbling upon the situation. It made her head reel, realizing how much weirder her life was than she had ever considered it to be. Ah, but normality was overrated and an overused term to boot. Who was normal, really normal?

Another thing sent her head reeling: a lead pipe crashing into it. She staggered, thrown off guard. It was as Celty's dark matter wrapped around the beaten boy's arms and legs that Katana realized just how stupid some humans were.

"Now," Katana wiped at the single trickle of blood going down her forehead and along the edge of her eyebrow. She closed her eye to keep the blood out, and it started to trickle down her cheek. She was surprisingly calm for someone who had just lost her temper over a pair of sunglasses. She looked at the man while tendrils of shadows eagerly cleaning off the blood from her cheek, forehead, and fingers. The dark always took great pleasure in taking care of her, the dark's loved master. Katana cocked her head, going so far as to offer an amused smile, "what exactly did you have in mind to do after you did that?" She laughed lightly, shaking her head as the shadows lapped up a renewed trail of blood. The blood was in her hair, and the shadows blended as they seeped in to clean her.

The boy didn't answer, fearful eyes on the two inhuman creatures before him. Fear made people do strange things. Katana was glad she couldn't feel it. Beside her, Celty held up her phone urgently. "Are you okay?" the text read. "You need to see a doctor."

"I'm okay," Katana answered sweetly. This did nothing to ease the tense Dullahan. "I could see one if you want, though."

Celty nodded, clearly thinking this the wisest choice. She released the thug and, this time, he smartly hauled ass in the farthest direction. People were taking out phones, snapping pictures. Katana didn't necessarily care, but having her picture taken wasn't exactly something she wanted. Without order, the shadows—eager to please her, especially while injured—spread out to distort any pictures taken. Celty took Katana's arm, leading her through the crowd, which quickly spread a path for them. Katana stood awkwardly at the black rider's bike, waiting as Celty approached a blond haired man smoking a cigarette. She typed something, showed it to him, and he nodded.

"Alright, go do what you gotta do," he told her stoically. Celty nodded her helmet, waved, and turned around to return to her familiar and Katana.

Katana's eyes trained on him for a while longer. He stared back at her, head cocked as if wondering why the hell was she looking at him? She smiled; any friend of Celty's had to be interesting. He blinked and furrowed his eyebrows in what could have either been agitation or confusion. Celty fashioned a helmet for Katana out of her own black matter, and Katana was distantly comforted, reminded of the shadows that whispered such sweet nothings to her. Celty and Katana got on the bike. The sound of a horse neighing, and the two of them were speeding away. Instead of going to a hospital—though Katana had to wonder why she thought a headless Dullahan would take her to one of those—Celty took the girl to what Katana guessed had to be her home. Well, it didn't have to be Celty's home, but Katana assumed by how casually Celty approached it that it was. A man with glasses answered, cheering Celty's name cheerfully before realizing Celty had company. Katana took another guess and decided that he was probably Celty's boyfriend. Who said a Dullahan couldn't love, anyway?

"Who's your friend?"

Katana peered over the Dullahan's shoulder as she typed. "I met her last night. Some guy hit her. Can you check her?"

The man nodded, ushering the two inside. Katana sat, poised like the perfect specimen. She had never been too sure how to act around doctors, but this one seemed to radiate a comforting energy. He seemed so light and easy; it was hard for Katana not to like him. He introduced himself as he flicked a flashlight over her eye, something that truly made Katana want to scream—the light was so bright! His name was Shinra. He was, in fact, Celty's boyfriend who she lived with.

"Well, you don't seem hurt, expect for the cut. No concussions or serious blood loss. How hard did the guy hit you, anyway?"

Katana shrugged. She hadn't necessarily been worried. She wasn't human, after all, so human limitations didn't necessarily always apply to her. "Not that hard."

Celty disagreed. "Hard enough to dent a metal pipe!"

It was endearing, really, to see Celty concerned. True, it sounded justified, but Katana was so used to her resistance to injury that she'd forgotten most humans would probably be out cold, if not dead. So, Celty's concern seemed sweet to Katana, not reasonable.

"What?" Shinra blinked.

"I heal fast. Or, rather, it's harder to hurt me than most people but when they do, I heal pretty fast," Katana explained.

Shinra smiled, which took Katana by surprise. "You're not human, are you?" Then, he looked fascinated, leaning in with a hand thoughtfully wrapped around his chin as he examined her. It made Katana only a bit uncomfortable. Mostly, she was just taken aback. Humans rarely showed such acceptance to what they considered beyond nature. Much less did they look so delighted and eager to investigate. "You don't seem like you're one of Saika's children. I don't imagine Anri likes to use Saika's children much."

Katana's head lulled to the side. Who was Anri? Better yet, who was Saika? Someone like her, that he assumed could be her parent. She asked for clarification and had it explained; Saika was a demon sword currently in control of a schoolgirl they knew. The people who her sword cut became Saika's 'children' that listened to anything Anri said. Not necessarily only because they had to, but because they loved their mother and wanted to please her. Not unlike Katana's shadows in their willingness to obey her. The humans had red eyes when being controlled, as did Anri when she was exerting her power over them. That made sense, such a sword and its disciples would be dangerous. Demons almost always had red eyes, so why wouldn't a demon sword's possessed host? Who knew Ikebukuro was so crazy? It was a hotbed for the unusual. No wonder the man she was searching for was so smitten with it. "Oh, well, that makes sense." It did. Katana had heard and lived through crazier things. "As for your question, I don't quite know what I am. I can only remember the past two hundred years, more or less."

Shinra hummed, watching Katana play with a shadow that seemed to want extra attention. It slipped around Katana's arms, then dashed into the air to twirl and leave ghostly tendrils in its wake. Shinra spoke not long after the shadow was banished, "I don't think you're human at all. I think you're something else entirely. Maybe you're an actual demon. Or maybe," his eyes lit with excitement that made Katana want to laugh, "you're the offspring of a Dullahan and a human—" He spluttered, Celty's fist in his ribs.

Katana did laugh then. Meanwhile, her mind considered his first opinion. A demon? Was she a demon? There was something about the word that didn't sit right with Katana. The demons she had met were nasty things that destroyed everything in sight. If they were the smarter sort, it was worse. They used their intellect to wreak a much greater havoc on humanity. Some would possess humans. Others would flit unseen by human eyes through the world and pretend to be poltergeists. Demons were, as a rule, not the nicest of people. Maybe a demon sword was nice, but demons weren't. It wasn't in their nature to be. "You two are fun." But she could see she was starting to intrude, so she rose to her feet. She saluted Shinra, a gesture of respect or gratitude or appreciation. "Thank you, kind doctor, but I think I'll be making my leave. The day is still young, and there is much for me to see while I'm in Japan."

"Wait," beseeched Celty's phone. Katana did as told, watching Celty and Shinra. "Let me give you my phone number. That way, you can text me if you need help or want to hang out again."

The look of delight on Katana's face was a brilliant glow. She accepted the phone number gladly, in return allowing Celty to enter Katana's in her contact list. Cheerfully bidding the couple a goodbye, Katana closed the door behind her and left the building. The first thing she did was buy a new pair of sunglasses, keeping her head bent so her eyes wouldn't easily be seen. Next, Katana returned to the place she had decided to make her makeshift home. She pulled her duffel out of her freight. The shadows shielded her from sight as she swiftly changed out of her blue jeans and green jacket. She pulled on a pair of black pants and a white hoodie. She held up the jeans and jacket she'd discarded. Spontaneously, they caught fire and burned with unnatural speed. She wouldn't be wearing either again, in hopes that that alone would keep people from readily recognizing her as the girl that assaulted a man with shadows. Probably not, but she was hopeful. The darkness swallowed the flames, leaving the insides of the freight as dark to the outside world as ever. Katana sighed, padding over to the edge of the freight's opening. Guess finding Izaya is gonna take longer than I assumed, she thought dismally. She hopped out of the freight and shook her long mane of black hair. No point in wasting time. The day was, as she had said earlier, still young. Perhaps she could find someone who could tell her about Izaya Orihara before the sun set. Probably not, but she was hopeful.

.

.

.

The next two weeks went the same for Katana. She had no luck with asking around for Izaya. If they didn't recognize a girl with long hair and sunglasses asking for him as the one that supposedly "attacked" a guy, they insisted that some time ago he had gone underground. Mostly, people just ran away from anyone asking about Izaya Orihara, just to be on the safe side. Katana didn't understand the full extent of human fear, but it was starting to cause her more trouble than ever before. Humans were such frightened things. It reminded her of the deer she'd stalk in America; she never really had a reason for stalking them—she just liked to do it, it sated some predatory instinct and her desire to see the creatures in their natural habitat—and she never really showed any malicious intent, but the females in particular were so flighty. Even the softest of sighs had their ears at full attention, round eyes looking around wildly before springing away like a gun had gone off. It was like they could sense her, a dangerous predator on the prowl, even if she wasn't prowling. Whatever she was, she was meant to be dangerous. The reason why she had no fear, she had often speculated, was probably because her kind were at the top of the food chain and had no use for the emotion. Fear was an instinct to help keep you alive from someone or something more powerful than you, after all. Perhaps the younger ones of her kind felt fear, as it was more likely they were more vulnerable, but Katana couldn't say for sure if she couldn't remember being young herself. Hell, she didn't even know if there were others of her kind, or what her kind was. Ahh, but she was losing herself in thought again.

After a few more days of asking around for Izaya and searching for him, Katana decided to take a break. So, for another week, she spent her time sightseeing and only asking about Izaya once or twice a day. She was beginning to resign herself to the idea that nobody would be able to help her in her quest. Besides the warehouse, Katana had claimed the park as her territory. She liked to linger there; the air there seemed so much lighter than the rest of the polluted city. She'd eat there, people watch, dance with her shadows for an extra bit of yen, and sometimes sing. Soon enough, she was a known resident of the park, and sometimes people would stop to listen to her sing or watch her dance. No one approached her, too frightened of the memory of her attacking the man, but she didn't mind. It was enough that they weren't sending the police after her, and they allowed her to watch them. She didn't really need to interact with them, being near was enough.

Katana hummed, nibbling on the sushi she'd bought off the suggestion of a tall black Russian. She sipped on her soda, watching the birds twitter and the students linger after being released from school only moments ago. She watched a couple shyly flirt; the boy opened his mouth with his face beat red. Then, he seemed to lose his nerve and close it. The girl's face flashed with disappointment. She turned away and started to leave, brown-and-yellow hair bouncing after her. The boy called out to her, but she didn't stop. He sighed, muttered a curse, and left. To the right, a man seemed to be leaving his wife. She was pleading, persistently following him. She tripped and seized his arm as she begged him to stay with teary eyes. He gave her a disgusted snarl, ripped his arm out of her grasp, only to find his soon to be ex gripping his leg. When he snapped something at her and stormed away, she seemed to realize she was in public and rushed away, face covered by her hands.

Katana's hum began to rise to a song, and some of the students hanging out and adults casually relaxing turned to listen. She strode casually through the middle of the park, nearing the trash can to throw away the container where her food had once been. The day was cool and breezy with clouds filtering the sun's light. The shadows whispered reassuring information every now and then, allowing Katana to fully relax. She sang the song that had been stuck in her head all day, one of her favorite tunes. It was one of the only ones she could carry without distorting it and making it sound so impossibly creepy. Already, birds were gathering in the trees around her, hopping along the branches and twisting their heads inquisitively. A squirrel crept forward, sniffing at her foot. Yes, when Katana could actually carry a tune properly, that was when animals forgot their fears. It was the only time she could pet any of the flighty does she stalked. And as soon as she stopped singing, they all ran away like a spell had been broken. It was another aspect Katana suspected was actually because she was a predator by nature. It was morbidly fitting that she would have the ability to draw creatures in with a pretty melody and then kill them with her shadows before they even knew what was happening. Sort of like how a snake could paralyze a mouse with its eyes, except not so terrifying for the prey.

A particular group of three students were inching their way closer to her. They looked like they wanted to talk to her, but Katana didn't want to stop singing just yet. She recognized them. They tended to linger around whenever she was singing, but never approached. Katana had pointed them out to Celty once, and Celty had explained that she knew them. The girl of the trio was the Anri Shinra had told her about, the one possessed by a demon sword. Katana's shadows lifted to flit through the air with her, intertwining with her black locks playfully. They whispered, but she didn't listen to them. The students had stopped approaching her. Katana wondered why, but only for a moment. The rest of her song was forsaken by the very familiar, almost singsonged, "Butler-chan!"

She stopped singing. The shadows relayed the message they had been trying to get to her, confirming that the voice belonged to who she thought. She turned, catching a glance of the three students warily keeping their distance. Her attention was diverted to the man before her, a deceivingly charming smile clashing with his cold crimson eyes. His arms were open wide, as if she was expected to throw herself into his arms.

"I heard someone of your description was looking for me, but I had no idea what to expect." He sounded so innocent and playful. He was quite good at that, but he had never really mastered the art of making his eyes go along with the tone and expression.

Her red eyes took in the man before her, confirming that it was really him. After three weeks of searching, she'd finally found him. Or rather, he'd found her. Izaya Orihara.

She stared at him patiently, unsure of how she wanted to feel about seeing him. Even though she had been searching for him, Katana felt unprepared to find him standing before her, in black pants and a black jacket lined with fur that suited him so well. He impossibly looked just like she remembered, and she was sure she hadn't changed much either. She couldn't remember ever aging in the last two hundred years. She wasn't sure she did age. But then, how did she get to look the age she was now? From what she had seen of humans, they grew from tiny things. Did she grow from a tiny thing? How long had that taken, if two hundred years hadn't so much as put a dent in her young looks? Ahh, thoughts, how they liked to go astray.

"Speechless? Come on, Butler-chan," he said her name in that way of his. Like she was supposed to blush and feel special because it was a name only he was allowed to call her. "No 'hello'? A 'How are you?'? Nothing?"

She lulled her head to the side, taking note of the way his gaze was pointedly over her shoulder. She turned, just in time to get a knife to her shoulder. She bit back a swear, instead keeping perfectly silent. Red eyes met with a horde of men. The man tumbling back was, predictably, the one she fought with a few weeks back, when she'd first got off the ship that brought her to Japan. A little ways behind him was the other man that had confronted her the next day. Looks like they'd been nursing a grudge and finally worked up enough men to feel confident about retaliating.

Katana's eyes traveled down to the knife in her shoulder. "Well, that wasn't very nice..." she muttered with a lilting undertone, seizing the blade and tossing it back to the man. He caught it, looking a bit surprised.

"Shut up, bitch!" How original. "We found out about that magic trick of yours." Katana cocked her head. Magic trick? "That little informant you've been asking about," he nodded behind Katana, "told us all about it. Bet those red eyes of yours are just contacts too, huh? Well, your headless freak of a friend isn't around to save you this time, and I'm not falling for that cheap trick twice!" Oh, Izaya. Why wasn't Katana surprised he had something to do with this?

Behind her, Katana heard Izaya chuckle and flippantly comment, "Wow, Butler-chan, you sure do make enemies fast."

Katana ignored him, sunglasses securely in place as she looked at the men before her. "If you leave now, I promise to forget about the fact that this is three times that you've unfairly wished me some sort of harm."

Of course, Katana resignedly reflected, this was a pitifully doomed thing to request. She don't know why she even bothered. Still, she stood by what she always told herself: she didn't like hurting people. So, when they attacked her with various knives, she did little more than move so they didn't hit anything fatal. Let them work out their anger for a little while. Hurting them would do nothing but enrage them further, it seemed. Trying to appease their sensibilities seemed to be a lost cause as well. They were bent on their degrading ways, too far gone to even realize that it was degrading at all. Looking at it that way, Katana pitied them.

Pain was something she had long since gotten used to. Even when she'd just woken up and realized she didn't remember anything about her past, her body seemed adjusted to the torture she was forced to put up with—she had woken up in a prison cell, held captive by strange men with even stranger equipment. Maybe Katana had a rough life in the past, or maybe they had just tortured her long enough for her to withstand all sorts of pain. Maybe it was just in her nature to be more tolerant. In any case, she didn't flinch away from pain like humans did. It still hurt—she felt pain just as acutely as any human—but her body had stopped trying to protest the sensation.

Katana didn't see the point of violence, to be honest. She didn't see how hurting people helped anything. She wasn't a pacifist, but at times like these—with her lack of fear and her resilient stamina—she never fought back. In fact, she only moved when it was necessary to stay alive. She hoped that standing still and letting them work it out of their system would make them realize how foolish they were. As much as she loved humans, she occasionally resented their endless capacity for fear and stupidity. Sometimes, standing still worked. Most of the time, it didn't, but the ideal she had taken to so long ago always remained strong in her mind. If she could avoid violence, she would. Of course, sometimes she would get angry and forget about that little ideal, but for the most part she lived by that idea.

When her cuts were deep enough to cause a large amount of blood loss if left unchecked and Katana could tell that putting up with this for much longer would kill her, Katana finally took action. With a flick of her fingers, the group seemed to become momentarily confused. They halted, some staggering, and shook their heads or looked around with knitted brows. It wasn't enough to confuse them for long, but long enough for her to deal with them.

"Please," she sighed tiredly, suddenly feeling ancient. It was a weight she could feel down to her bones, and it made her wonder just how old she really was. "don't come near me again. I really don't like unfair fights."

She waved her hand, and shadows pounced on the humans, wrapping around their eyes. The group of six screamed, each clutching their faces. Some fell to their knees, others stumbled into each other and jerked back quickly. One man screamed for an imaginary man not to come closer. The rest began to talk of similar hallucinations. When the shadows lifted, each one dropped to the ground like flies, twitching and whimpering. They would from then on be too frightened of her to come near her again. Each nightmare she was feeding them was unique and personal, partly created from their subconscious minds. It was cause a trauma that would leave them horrified of so much as glancing at her. In a way, that was good, but it didn't mean she enjoyed doing it.

"Ooh, Butler-chan! You learned a new trick!" came Izaya's delighted exclaim.

Bleeding and aching, Katana turned to the man. She stared at him. "You told them I used some sort of trick that day I hit him in the park, didn't you?"

Izaya grinned at her, not too bothered with convincing her of his lie, "Me? Oh, Butler-chan, I would never! Granted, I did give them that impression, but whatever conclusion they came up with was completely their own. I'm surprised they even listened to me." Shadows swirled around Izaya's feet, ready to grab him, but he danced out of the way. "I see I've upset you." He looked too delighted to be sincerely apologetic. "I guess that means it's my cue to leave. It was nice seeing you again, Butler-chan." He purred her name in that way he always did before turning and prancing away. Katana sprinted after him, but the effort was hard after losing a decent amount of blood. Before she knew it, she was staggering to a halt a few feet away from the blond Katana vaguely remembered by association with Celty. She panted, vision blurring.

"Bastard," she wheezed. The blond seemed to be torn between staying and going after the informant. He didn't seem to want to just leave her there, but he clearly wanted to give chase. When Katana's legs gave way, he made up his mind and turned to her. Sunglasses dangling at the edge of her nose, she looked up at him. "I'm gonna kill him." She said it with a straight face. She didn't know whether or not she really meant it at the moment.

A grin, and Katana had the strangest feeling she'd just made a friend. "That makes two of us," he told her gruffly, heaving her off the ground as though she was no heavier than a feather. She blinked, startled by this. She hadn't been expecting to be swooped up. How strong was he, anyway? He acted like he was holding a kitten, not a grown woman. "Damn flea reached a new low, sending a bunch of idiots to attack a girl."

Katana was aware this was grumbled to himself, but she laughed airily anyway. "He's done worse."

"Yeah, well, you didn't just have to stand there and let those morons cut you, either," the blond snapped suddenly, temper rising. Katana had heard enough about him through texts from Celty to know he had a short temper.

"I know," she assured him. "But I don't like hurting people. Besides, I'm harder to kill than I look, and I'm not afraid of pain." She wasn't afraid of anything for that matter, but that wasn't the point she wanted to convey. She considered what she said. The words sounded a bit rude to her ears. Ungrateful. She grimaced and amended, "But I am sorry I let them do it, since you've ended up having to get your outfit bloody. You don't have to do this—just set me down and I'll manage. I let it happen, so it should be my problem to clean up, not yours."

His gaze met hers briefly, then he scoffed and glared at the path he was taking. "Tch. Yeah, right. Just shut up and let me take you to Shinra."

Katana laughed a bit. "Okay. But, I am sorry to inconvenience you." And she sincerely was. She didn't like the idea of causing someone else trouble because of something she could have easily avoided. It didn't sit right in her stomach.

He nodded. This seemed to ease him out of his temper. "Don't worry about it."

Nonetheless, while Shinra cleaned her gradually healing wounds and Celty demanded to know details of what happened from the blond—who Shinra called Shizuo, strange how the blond's name never came up during any of the texts from Celty—Katana decided that she would have to make it up to him.

As soon as the next day, Katana's wounds were already scabbed over. The least severe had already healed, the worst looked like particularly nasty cat scratches. At least her hands, face, and feet were unharmed. She could hide her injuries with her clothes and avoid being stared at.

Three days later, she found Shizuo where Celty said he'd be: at the park. Like her, he seemed to enjoy coming there during his off time. They never saw each other, Katana assumed, because he was on the opposite side of the park than the side she usually occupied. Humming a tune, she carried her gift and approached him. He looked up at the sound of her steps and watched her come nearer. She stopped in front of him. He cocked his head, asking warily, "Yeah?"

She held out the clothes, suddenly feeling shy. "Here, I got you these to replace the ones that my blood got on. I guessed your size, but if they don't fit, I can have them altered."

This seemed to genuinely take Shizuo by surprise. He stared at her, then the clothes. Suddenly, he seemed to realize she really was giving him the clothes. His hands curled around the bartender outfit identical to the one he had been wearing when he had carried her. She had described the clothes in great detail to the tailor, wanting to make sure it was the perfect replacement. Yes, she realized now that he seemed to have plenty bartender outfits. Creativity wasn't her goal, repaying a debt was.

"Thanks," he eventually muttered. He even smiled, not by much but enough to show he meant it. Then, a scowl stole across his face. He ran a hand through his hair. "Man, this sucks!" Katana blinked. "What's your name again?"

Katana laughed, taking a seat beside him on the bench. He removed his arm from the back of the bench, straightening his posture enough to be polite. "My name is Katana Butler. But, don't feel bad. I'm afraid I don't know your name, either. We've never formally met."

He loosened his muscles and relaxed his posture to a more comfortable one. "My name's Shizuo Heiwajima."

Katana grinned at him cheerfully. "A pleasure to meet you, Shizuo." He nodded, watching her. She quieted for a moment, and he didn't say anything either. Then, "So, why do you hate Izaya? I ask out of curiosity."

A snarl formed across the taller man's face, but it wasn't aimed at her. He seemed to be remembering something. "He just never sat right with me. I can't stand that smug, demented little bastard. Always messing with me, getting me jumped or framing me. Pompous little..." For a few more seconds, he grumbled under his breath. Then, he caught Katana giggling and asked a little sharply, "Why? What'd he do to you?"

Katana frowned, averting her eyes. She gripped the edge of the metal bench, swinging her legs out in front of her. "He more or less killed someone important to me. Of course, he wouldn't say that. He'd say that she wasn't able to handle the truth." Katana's nose wrinkled into a snarl, not unlike the one that had just crossed Shizuo's face. "Nothing to do with the fact that he told her in exactly the worst way on purpose. Made it sound awful. I found the text messages he sent her."

Shizuo and Katana spent the next two and a half hours thoroughly badmouthing a particular crimson-eyed informant. As the sun lowered and people cleared, Katana felt brave enough to take off her sunglasses. Her night vision was like no other, but she didn't like the way the glasses felt after wearing them all day. This changed the subject to her eyes for a few minutes, but Shizuo was friends with a headless woman, so a pair of red eyes didn't dazzle him for long. Then, it was talking for another hour and a half about miscellaneous things. How they met Celty, how Katana didn't remember anything beyond a couple centuries back, how he was impossibly strong, how she could control shadows (and all that went with that, such as being able to black out the last few seconds in a person's mind, being able to give people nightmares, hearing the shadows whisper to her, and so on) and—with some effort—fire, how he was a body guard, how she more or less danced in the park for her money. Then, their conversation somehow ended up back on Izaya. Shizuo worked himself into a full-blown rage, which effectively ended their mutual ranting.

"I hate that bastard! I'm gonna rip his damn head off if it's the last thing I do!" Shizuo howled, bench swinging wildly into anything in its path.

Shadows wrapped around the middle of the bench, reaching up from the ground like vines. The terrified mother of two stumbled backwards, face inches away from the bench. She gathered her children and scampered away. Undoubtedly, she would never be coming back to the park again. Sadly so, Katana realized the mother was one of the ones that usually sat and listened to Katana sing and once offered her something to eat. Oh well, at least she hadn't been hit with a bench. Positive thoughts were important things.

"Let go, damn it!"

Katana laughed anxiously. "Please calm down before you hurt someone and go to jail for murder. You almost hit that poor woman."

Shizuo blinked a few times, slowly climbing down from his rampage. He tossed the bench, and Katana's shadows swirled back to the ground, where they resumed their places as if they were utterly harmless. Shizuo looked at the shadows and grimaced. "Sorry."

Katana smiled at him brightly, waving her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I know what it's like to get that angry. Granted, I don't think I could tear a bench out of the ground when it's been cemented in, but," she hummed, her smile turning into a full grin, "I happen to think it's pretty cool that you can."

He stared, and then he stared some more. And then he questioned skeptically, as if questioning her sanity, "You do?"

"Yeah. I know who to call if I ever lock myself out of my house." Not that she had a house, but that was beside the point. She was trying to make that tense look on his face go away, not actually keep in mind that he could easily remedy lost keys.

To this, she was rewarded a slow, uncertain chuckle. Beaming, she hopped over to him and examined his wrists. "Wow, yanking that thing out of the ground didn't hurt you at all?" Shizuo shook his head, watching her closely as she boldly pushed up his sleeves to examine his arms. "Your muscles must be insanely strong not to tear from the strain."

She looked awed, and it made Shizuo both uncomfortable and pleased. "As a kid, I used to always break my bones or pull something, but after a while..."

"After a while, your body became stronger until it could handle whatever you threw at it," she finished for him, grinning at him so brightly that it dazzled the blond. He wasn't used to talking to strangers—certainly not so easily—much less somebody who was so nonchalant about his temper and his strength. How come she didn't run off at the first sign of him losing control? He ripped a bench out of the ground and started swinging it around, for God's sake. Certainly, she wasn't exactly normal, but it was still weird.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" he found himself asking. Well, shit...

But, she tilted her head, much like a curious puppy, and watched him. "Not at all." He stared until she continued. "I don't get scared. I think that's why Izaya likes to mess with me so much. He considers me human, even though I'm not."

"Nothing scares you?" he repeated.

"Nothing," she agreed with a slight shrug.

After ten minutes provoking scenarios that he was sure would sound scary, Shizuo gave up and offered to walk her home. After all, plenty of dark things happened in Ikebukuro at night. But, Katana simply smiled and shook her head.

"Thank you, but no," she told him sweetly as she turned and headed in the direction opposite his house. She lifted her hand, grinning at him over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" Shizuo blinked. Would she? Why? But he nodded, lifting his hand to wave back at her. Before she was out of hearing range, she added, "And make sure you drink lots of milk to keep your bones strong!"

Shizuo chuckled, stuffing his hands in his pockets, and headed towards his own house.

And saw her the next day he did. And the next after that, and two days after that, and so on. Before he knew it, it had been two full months and Shizuo and Katana were hanging out at least once every other day. Shizuo wasn't sure he'd call the way they hung out dates are not, but it certainly felt that way sometimes. He would take her sightseeing—Katana had visited Japan every once in a while over the years, but she had never cared to explore Ikebukuro before—and she would always wear something simple, yet pretty. If they weren't sightseeing or seeing a movie, something Katana had confessed to never doing before—at least, not since sound was added into the equation—they were sitting at the park or eating somewhere. A lot of the time, they would sit in the park and Katana would sing a quiet tune to draw out the birds and the occasional squirrel. Shizuo had never been so close to an animal, they always took off at the mere sight of him, yet whenever Katana sang, a bird would all but perch on his shoulder to hear better.

He mentioned this to Katana once when she was singing. She stopped, and the animals scattered like a gun had went off. "Yeah, they're afraid of me, too," she admitted, pulling her feet up on the bench and holding them together while her knees bent apart and bounced back and forth. She frowned, sighing. Shizuo regretted bringing it up. He knew what it was like to be looked at like a monster for something he couldn't help. "They can tell I'm different, I guess. But, I've got a theory about why they come out when I sing and why people stare." He motioned for her to continue. She flexed her fingers, and swirls of black fluttered between the five digits obediently. He watched the shadows; they never stopped peaking his interest. Sometimes, if Katana was hurt, he noticed that the black substance would almost seem to have its own consciousness, a mind full of adoration for Katana that would hop off the ground and linger protectively over the wound. "I'm not human. That's never really been a question or a problem for me." Shizuo nodded. He'd seen first-hand with a lot of squinting and effort how she could maneuver through the near pitch-black as though it was broad daylight. That was definitely not something any human could accomplish. At least, not your average human. "Singing naturally captivates your audience. I think whatever I am used to use that to lure in prey. And then, I guess I'm supposed to use my other abilities to kill what I'm hunting." She flicked her fingers, and the black shadow disappeared like a puff of black smoke. Katana hummed thoughtfully, still frowning in distaste. "I'm a predator by blood. Maybe Izaya's right about that much: it's in my nature to kill with a smile."

Shizuo's temper sparked at the mention of Izaya. "You're gonna listen to what that damn flea says?" he growled. Katana blinked at him, apparently surprised. "He's fucking with you. He wants you to believe it so he can watch you be miserable. He loves seeing everyone like that. Don't be an idiot." He didn't quite regret what he said, because he knew he was right, but he did hope she wouldn't storm off and never speak to him again.

But, of course, she didn't. No matter what he did that made him wait for her to take off and never come back, she never followed through with his expectations. Instead, she smiled at him. "I know," she assured him, sounding as cheerful as ever—pleased, even. Shizuo stared, not quite capable of wrapping his mind around the woman before him. He'd be pissed if someone said something like that to him. Why wasn't she? "But it's plausible that my ancestors used to be like that, in any case. Just like dogs came from wolves. If you look at it vaguely, it makes sense."

Shizuo nodded. "Right. You're a dog." The words just sort of slipped out.

Katana scoffed, her lips pulling back to form that grin of hers. "Bullshit. I'm a well-mannered wolf." Shizuo chuckled, relieved she didn't take his words the wrong way.

Their peaceful moment was interrupted by a schoolgirl with glasses. The girl came running up to them, stopping a few feet away and leaning her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Katana blinked, trying to place the face. It took her a moment, but she remembered. The Anri girl Shinra and Celty had told her about. "Butler-san!" Katana didn't know how she figured out Katana's name, but she supposed it didn't really matter either. "You have to help! My friends—they're being attacked by..." She faltered, meeting Katana's gaze. Then, she looked almost apologetic, "by shadows."

By the way Shizuo and the girl stared at her, Katana probably looked as startled as she felt. "That's impossible."

"They are," Anri insisted. "Please, help—I've tried cutting him with my blade," either Anri found the matter too important to consider the fact that Katana might not know about her demon sword or she assumed Katana already knew, "but he won't stop. I think—I think he's going to kill my friends, Butler-san. Please, help!"

Katana rose to her feet. "Of course, I'll help, child." She would have helped if Anri had come to her even if it wasn't shadows causing trouble, but she didn't waste time explaining that. Besides, with the matter of shadows involved, her interest was piqued. She glanced at Shizuo, who had gotten to his feet when Katana did. "You're coming too?" He snorted and deemed that answer enough. Katana resisted the urge to smile and nodded instead. They followed Anri down several blocks. Katana's skin started to tingle, alerting her that something was near. A growl rumbled from the bottom of her throat. She swiped off her sunglasses—the sun was setting anyway—and picked up her pace. She no longer needed Anri's guidance to find the place; the pull was overwhelming, ten times stronger than anything Katana had felt with Celty. The closer she got, the stronger it was. It was almost too much to bear. She had no control over her feet; they moved on their own free will. The shadows leaped off the ground as she passed them, darting after her and whispering incoherently but obviously excited. Katana rounded the corner, and there he was, perched on top of a car with his hands between his knees to grip the edge of the car's roof. His red eyes were wide and glowing, pupils tiny pinpricks. He was pale and looked something like a cat. His hair was an inky black to match hers and cut in a choppy, shaggy mess around his face. He was thin and lanky, made up of attractive angles. He was staring back at her. Katana barely even acknowledged the wreckage done to the street—overturned cars, trashcans lit on fire, windows shattered, two people laying dead in the street—but did notice the Anri girl's two friends pressed up against an empty building. Shadows were frozen in place, in mid-strike. The two boys quickly stumbled away. The shadows turned towards Katana, as if the ends floating in the air were their heads. Katana stared, stuck in place. There was something... insanely familiar about the man. She was wracking her brain to remember, but came up with nothing.

"Ah, so the Butler is alive," the creature's voice was a delicate purr. He kneaded his fingertips into the metal he was holding on to. He smiled, revealing perfectly white teeth. "I don't know whether to be happy or sad for you."

"Who are you?" Katana was breathless, but not just because of the run. Her blood was pumping and tingling, her skin alive with energy, as if she'd just been given a jolt of electricity. The air was thick with power and energy, rippling and overflowing with it. It was... overstimulating.

This seemed to catch the creature's interest. He hopped off the car with preternatural grace, just like a cat. He cocked his head, all eyes for Katana and nothing else. He prowled closer, but not too close. Shizuo and Anri came to a halt a ways behind Katana. The man didn't even appear to notice, far too interested in looking Katana up and down. "You are the Butler, I am the Master," he explained, motioning to her and then to himself in one sweeping gesture. He smiled, and it was genuine and friendly. "We have many names in many places. I believe many countries know me as Kai Master."

Katana blinked several times, reaching out as a wave of dizziness hit her. Shadows leaped up to create a sort of pole for her to grab. She shook her head and looked at the man before her. She... knew she knew him. But from where? How? What was he to her? It was so close, yet just out of her reach. It was so frustrating and elusive. "Do I..." She scrunched her face in concentration and confusion. "Do I know you?"

A look of sadness. "Ah, so it is true. There had been rumors..." She asked him to be clearer. He stepped closer, but kept a distance, as if he didn't trust himself to get too close. "It saddens me to see Butler has forgotten herself."

Katana braved walking closer to him. He stiffened, eyes locked on her. He seemed to have stopped breathing, but he showed no signs of hostility, and the shadows around them whispered no threats. Katana raised her hand, touching his cheek, just below his eye. He swallowed. "What... are you? What are we?" she asked.

She lowered her hand and took a step back. He let out a relieved breath and seemed to relax. Then, Kai's face screwed up as he tried to put together a proper answer. "We are we." He struggled to clarify when Katana just stared at him. He waved his hands, as if to emphasize and clarify his point. "We... are what we are. Embodiments, symbols, guides... Manifestations..."

That word made her look at him. "Manifestations of the dark?"

He looked relieved and nodded. "Yes, though that is a simplification. We have no name, no term. We are... we. We just are. Existence, being. We exist as long as the night does. That is as simple as it can be put."

Katana was silent for a moment, wondering at this. It all felt so familiar, and yet... She stored her thoughts for later processing and cocked her head at him. A frown pulled across her lips. "Why have you done this?" She motioned around them. "You mean no harm, the shadows around you are distressed, strained, but not violent. What could have possibly made you...?"

His smile was sad. He lifted a hand, hesitated, then touched her shoulder. Kai stared back at Katana imploringly. "Understand. Remember me. Remember what happened to us."

Katana's lips pulled downwards. "I can't."

He looked distressed then, taking a few steps away from her. "I am happy to know you are alive, but I am so sorry to see you, Butler." Katana cocked her head. He spread his hands. His eyes began to glow. "You remember when you escaped from that prison two hundred or so years ago, yes? Surely, you could not forget that place." Katana cringed at the mention of the prison. The look in his sharp eyes was understanding. "Yes, I see you do. You remember the things they would do, then." She nodded. His eyes glowed brighter. He looked like he was struggling with himself. "I... I am sorry, for what it is worth. I never wanted to harm Butler. But... even I cannot..." A growl rose up Kai's throat. The hairs on the back of Katana's neck rose, and she found herself automatically growling back. The shadows were restless, and there was a certain... malignant taste in the air. "I cannot stop myself."

He lurched forward. Shadows formed sharp talons along his fingers, and his fingers aimed themselves for Katana's throat. A startled burst of fire formed a wall between them. That gave Katana enough time to leap backwards. Shadows formed floating steps, and she perched on top of one flickering street lamp. She hadn't anticipated him being able to turn the shadows that formed her steps against her, and the shadows pierced her shoulder like a white-hot blade.

A surge of energy, a smash of awareness, and Katana's hair swirled in an imaginary wind for just a moment. For one moment, just one antagonizing moment, she could remember everything. Faces, names, words, actions, feelings, time. And then it was gone, leaving her gasping and feeling as ancient as the Earth. But she did clutch on to one thing: Kai. She locked eyes with him, breathless. To see his internal struggle with himself suddenly became ten times more meaningful. And painful. He jumped on top of a car to avoid Shizuo's punch and curled his fingers into tight fists. His hands moved forward, then back to his body, then back out again like a compulsion. Katana had to struggle to think past the sudden and overwhelming urge to cry at the sight of him. He no longer looked like some graceful feline. He looked disheveled and torn and in physical pain.

"Shizuo, don't," Katana called. Shizuo paused, trash can in hand, and looked at her incredulously. Katana dropped from the street lamp, landing on top of an overturned car. It rocked back and forth with her landing, and there was the sound of metal bending and broken glass breaking some more. Blood dribbled out from the wound to her shoulder. It didn't seem to want to heal as quickly as her injuries usually did. The shadows lingered in the air, swirling anxiously, uncertain. Obedient to both, but loving both and not wanting to do harm to either. What a horrible spot Katana and Kai were putting the shadows in. "Master doesn't want to hurt me, right?" Katana's eyes were on Kai.

A look similar to relief flooded Kai's tortured face. He nodded, hugging himself. "I don't want—we are the same. The same side."

"What's up with all this butler and master crap?" Shizuo growled, looking frustrated. He sent his piercing gaze on Katana. "You supposed to be his lackey or something?"

But Katana shook her head, a small smile curving her lips. "No, not at all. They are our names. Kat, Katana, Katya—those are names I have created or picked up over time—but Butler is my real name. We are equals." She furrowed her eyebrows, waving her hands as she tried to explain. "There are no superiors. Equals is not even the proper term. We are... We are of the same." She truly didn't know how to put it any better, but knew that her words wouldn't offer the clarity and understanding she was trying to convey.

"You remember?" A hopeful lilt.

Katana shook her head. "For a moment, I could recall everything." A frown. "But now, I can only remember you, my friend, Master. And a sense of time. So much time." The ages she had seen, but could not remember, were a physical weight. They dragged at her bones, bones that would have been turned to dust long ago if they had been of the human sort, and pressed heavy bags under her eyes. Two hundred full years had been one year in comparison.

Tears shined in Kai's eyes. He covered his gaze with a hand. "Butler. Please, forgive me. It is—I cannot disobey."

"The ones that imprisoned us?" It was the most detailed she could make the question. She did not know who had imprisoned her when she woke without her memories, why they imprisoned her, how long, or how at all. She had no clear memory of Kai being in the prison with her, but it felt right when she asked the question to include him.

He nodded. "They have not broken my spirit, but they have broken my body." Kai looked at her with soulful eyes. "I will try to hide you from them as long as I can—I have to go." Even as he said the words, a shadow lashed out and pierced Katana's thigh. Kai made a choked, strangled noise in his throat and took one step forward, then several back. "I will try to protect you. Even from myself." The shadows swirled around him before flattening out like a tablecloth, and he was gone.

"Wait!" Too late. Katana's face screwed up. She pressed her hand against her bleeding shoulder, limping forward. Her face screwed up some more, this time twisting in a pained snarl. She raised her injured leg off the ground by an inch or two, shuddering at the pain. It was good to know that the shadows messed with her body's ability to heal. She'd keep it in mind for future references, but hoped she wouldn't have to remember. She could hope, right?

The abrupt disappearance of all that rippling, surging energy left Katana staggering and feeling inexplicably exhausted. She panted like a dog, swaying and using a crushed car to keep her balance. She straightened, forcing her eyes to stay open. Did she really feel like this all the time? How could she stand it? When he'd been so close, she felt a thousand times better. It was like being charged with the most delightful electricity, then suddenly cut off from it. Crashing down from a wonderful high for the first time. Her head turned to look at the humans staring at her. Her focus zoned in on the two younger boys. She limped towards them. They stood still. She leaned in, using the hand that wasn't covered in her blood to tilt the brunette's head. After a moment of scrutiny, she leaned back and sighed.

"Neither of you look hurt. Are either of you in any pain?"

The blond shook his head. "Nah, that dude didn't actually hurt us. He was, like, trying really hard to stop himself or something."

The brunette nodded in agreement. "He looked like he didn't really want to hurt those poor people." The boy nodded to the man and woman in the street, getting up and moaning or sobbing. So they weren't dead. Katana was relieved. Her attention diverted back to the brunette when he continued, "Any time he started to get violent, he'd suddenly stop and start arguing with himself." A pained look crossed Katana's face. The brunette watched her with observant brown eyes. "He was a friend of yours, wasn't he, Butler-san?"

Again, it was a mystery how a teenager who had never before talked to her knew her name, but Katana couldn't find that she really cared. Katana just nodded, lifting her eyes to look at the sky. "He and I... the word siblings is the closest comparison, but it isn't accurate."

"What d'ya mean?" asked the blond.

Katana closed her eyes. "We are the same. The phrase 'cut from the same clothe' is more fitting than words can explain." With her energy drained, she had a suspicion she looked as old as she felt. Not physically aged, but somehow old. Katana had seen the same sort of look on one of the older and more intelligent beasts she had run across a hundred or so years ago. He had looked as ancient as time, yet could pass for no older than thirty. He had been a nice man, and they had had tea together until his unfortunate demise at the hands of a demon. She was sure she looked as he had when he'd gifted her a few tales from his youth. Katana wiped her clean hand across her face, her bloodied one pressing against her bleeding shoulder. "I cannot remember it, but I can feel that we have always been at each others side. I remember him only vaguely, but it is enough. What has happened to him is a wound in itself, a pain that can't bleed..." She trailed off, staring distantly at the space in front of her. The urge to cry was back again. The memories of Kai were so close to the surface, she could taste them on her tongue. Yet, the most she could recall were brief flashes, mostly of his face or hands, lips stretched back in a hearty laugh and eyes glimmering or fingers curling around everyday objects. Things that had apparently caught Katana's eye when they had happened and left an imprint in her mind, but nothing of importance. Nothing of substance. It was... frustrating.

"Come on," Shizuo grunted, and Katana blinked. She'd almost forgotten he was there. He placed a hand on her good shoulder. "You need to get your injuries looked at."

Katana simply nodded, too tired to argue. She waved her hand and the shadows lifted into the air. They wavered, taking the distant shape of a horse, then dropped back to the ground. Katana took a step forward. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. Her hands curled into fists against the ground. Tears welled in her eyes, and her teeth grit together. She blinked the tears away for the time being. When the Anri girl put her hand on Katana's back, Katana jerked, and the girl flinched back. A ring of fire surrounded Katana, effectively getting the point across that she didn't want to be touched.

"What's wrong, Katana?" asked Shizuo.

"I have watched every friend I have ever made grow old and die for the last two hundred years." Her voice sounded harsh, but she would rather sound harsh than vulnerable. The flames went out; she didn't have enough energy or concentration to keep them going. Still, no one tried to touch her again. "I have been perpetually alone for over two hundred years, forced to stay away from those who would label me a monster or demon and forced to lose the ones that accepted me in the blink of an eye. I have witnessed countless wars and human suffering at the hands of one another. I have been hanged and burned at stakes because humans feared what I was." Then, the anger left her face, replaced with a crushing sense of melancholy. She looked down at her hands. Her voice softened to a raspy croak. "But this is the first time I have ever hated any part of humanity. Humans have taken my friend, my Master, and mutilated his will to bend it to their own. The horror of it is—is too great. My friend, I suspect the only one I had for centuries..." Her voice was trailing off. Against her will, her eyes closed, and she was out.

.

She was moving, but her body was perfectly still. Katana kept her eyes closed, trying to gather her senses together. Her right shoulder and left thigh were aching horribly, but not as badly as before. She didn't seem to be in any other pain. It took her only a moment to realize she was being carried by—if the flat chest was any indication—a man. His grip with firm, but not painful, so Katana didn't squirm away and jump to her defenses just yet. Her legs were dangling over one of his arms at the knees. Her left hand was folded over her stomach. Her right was... tangled in hair? Katana resisted the urge to pull her hand free. If she pulled her hand out of his hair now, he'd know she was up and alert, and she still hadn't decided whether he was a friend or enemy. She chanced cracking her eyes opened. Blond hair was the first thing she noticed, then a familiar bartender suit. Katana opened her eyes all the way and slid her fingers out of his hair. He looked down at her and stopped walking once he saw she was awake. Red eyes stared back at yellow eyes.

"So..." Katana's voice was quiet, but solid.

Shizuo resumed his walk. "I brought you to Shinra and Celty's. Shinra wrapped your injuries, but said even with your wounds healing slower than normal, you probably wouldn't need stitches." Katana nodded. She would hate stitches, anyway, and probably end up pulling them out on purpose and on accident. "I don't know where you live, so I figured I would take you to my house until you woke up." Katana didn't say anything. She didn't want to say anything. Shizuo glanced at her. "I can bring you to your house if you want, now that you're awake."

Katana's fingers stilled, and she realized then that they had moved back up to fiddle with his hair. She didn't move them this time; if she wanted to play with his hair and he wasn't complaining, neither was she. She was tempted to just shake her head—she really didn't seem to want to talk. The will to form words was difficult to find, but she knew Shizuo would probably want more, like an explanation. "No. I don't..." She faltered. She wanted his company. She didn't want him to leave. Besides, she didn't want him to find out she lived in a freight. "I don't want to be alone."

Shizuo's yellow eyes darted down to hers. A lick of dry humor entered his voice, "Scared?"

"No." Katana shut her eyes, squeezing them and trying to forget the way Kai had looked at her before he disappeared. She had enough vague memories of his face to recognize just how different he had been. The past two hundred years had not been kind to him, it seemed. Katana really didn't want to think of what he had been through for two hundred years. "Disturbed. Depressed. Hurt. Lonely..." The word lingered in the air for a long moment. Her fingers absentmindedly ran themselves through his blond locks. She swallowed and forced more words out, soft and certain, "But I am not scared."

Shizuo nodded and said nothing. He allowed her to spend the rest of the walk toying with his hair. It was a pleasant habit she was grateful he let her have, at least for the time being. She wanted comfort, and in its small way, messing with his hair was just that. He roughly kicked open the door to what Katana assumed was his house and strolled in. Katana stared at him. He shrugged and dismissed, "Not like anyone's going to rob my house anyway."

Katana laughed, quiet and soft. It felt good to laugh a little. Shizuo set her down on the couch, and Katana refrained from expressing the pain that shot up her leg and shoulder. Shizuo stood beside the couch for a moment, looking awkward, then disappeared into a different room. Katana took a second before she shifted into a sitting position. Not long after her triumph, Shizuo returned with two clear glass cups. Katana looked at the liquid inside and started to laugh.

"What?" He sat down beside her, glasses still held in his hands.

"I love how cute you are," she admitted. He became very still and stared at her. If she looked, she could have detected a bit of color on his face. Instead, she accepted one of the glass of milk and downed it in one go. Drinking something made her muscles feel better. Katana sighed, set the empty glass down on the coffee table's coaster, and rested her head against his shoulder. His muscles were tensed underneath her touch, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care. Yet again, her fingers found themselves deep in his blond hair, combing through the light locks. There was a particularly strong want—the lonely, frustrated, and crushed feelings wanted some sort of outlet—but Katana resisted. Somehow, to act on her want for the first time under such circumstances just felt... wrong.

So instead she withdrew her hand. Shizuo opened her eyes, making Katana realize he'd closed them. She shifted so the side of her head was leaning against his arm instead of his shoulder. After a prolonged silence, Shizuo downed his glass of milk, but neither of them said a word. They sat in silence for a while, listening to the sound of the other breathing. Katana closed her eyes, feeling the sagging weight of depression and pain that made the want to alleviate it all the stronger. She didn't dare move, sitting perfectly still against him, not giving herself the chance to cave in and inappropriately use her companion. She focused on the feelings she wanted to avoid.

"Someone tortured me two hundred years ago," she admitted, breaking the silence with what sounded like an alarming and dramatic proclamation. Shizuo gave a jolt of surprise, head whipping to look at her. She kept her eyes closed. "It was when I lost my memory, and I think the pain was too much for me to bear, so I tried to forget it, but ended up forgetting everything else instead. I'm not sure, that's just a theory I have. One day, I just woke up in a prison cell and realized I couldn't remember the day before. All I knew was that I was in a bad place. I was shackled to a wall, and I was covered in all these injuries. I spent hours trying to remember how I got there, what I did to deserve it, what crime I must have committed, but I couldn't. I could only remember little things, like my name, that I wasn't human and could manipulate shadows, how to talk, stuff like that. I don't know how long I was in that cell before I lost my memories, but I think it must have been a long time."

Shizuo's body was tense and radiating a sudden heat. Katana knew she probably shouldn't be telling him about something that happened two hundred years ago, but she found she couldn't quite stop herself now that she started. Part of her didn't want to stop; she wanted to get it all out and tell someone, anyone, at long last.

"They did all kinds of things to me. Whips, blades, punching, kicking, starving. I don't know what they wanted—they would make me drink these bottles and everything would get so confusing and my body would become so weak. Sometimes, they would take me out of my cell and strap me to a table. They would electrocute me—something I didn't even know was possible at the time. They would take these very... weird tools out and sort of... experiment on me. After I got out, I had never seen anything like those tools. They looked like something that should have been from today's times, but even then, they were strange and had a sort of ancient feel to them. They would electrocute me until the shadows tried to protect me. Then, they would use their tools and grab the shadows. I don't know how they managed it, but they would stuff them into jars.

"What you have to understand is that for a long time, I have suspected I am, to say simply, the embodiment of the dark. The shadows don't just bend to my will. They are part of me, extensions of my body, like hair or arms that have minds of their own. They can relay information to me from what they have seen, like eyes. I can even feel when someone steps on them. To have them ripped away from me..." She had to swallow and talk around a lump that had formed in her throat, "It was unnatural and—an intense agony that nothing could ever compare to. Pain beyond human comprehension. It left me feeling crippled and—and incomplete for a long time afterwords.

"Once they got what they wanted, they threw me back in my cell and continued the human torture. They wanted to know something from me, but I can't remember what exactly they wanted. The memories are so confusing from those bottles they forced me to drink. But after a while, whatever was in those bottles stopped having the same effect. I was starting to build a tolerance, but it took time before I was able to think clearly. And then, before I really knew what was going on, the door opened and I knew they were going to take me back to that table and take my shadows from me. I—I felt this overwhelming hatred, a need to get out, to get away from that room and never go near it again. I wasn't going to let them take me in there. I killed the man that came in the room and the shadows broke the chains. I ran and killed anyone I saw. I didn't really mean to do it at the time, but I was running on fumes and just running head-first into god-knows-what with no strong idea on how to fully control my abilities. The shadows reacted to my basic emotions for a long time after that, and especially right then. They killed everyone in sight, because at the time I was sure everyone there meant me harm. I got out and ran until I couldn't go any further. After that, I never saw those people again—I thought maybe I killed all of them or they got what they needed from me and didn't think it worth the time or the men.

"But now... They've been searching for me this entire time, using Kai. If I... If I had known Master was there or remembered him, I wouldn't have just... ran. I wouldn't have abandoned him. For two hundred years, I forgot him. He is just as much part of me as the shadows are. Brother isn't strong enough to describe him. He is—he is my other half. We are made up of the same material, part of the same darkness, just in different bodies. We are so much more than family, but family is the closest human term I can think of.

"To suddenly remember him, to suddenly see him in so much pain and doing things he doesn't want to at the command of the people that tortured me—undoubtedly tortured him too." Tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them away. "If I had only remembered him, I would have gone back, I would have saved him. He's the only family I remember—the only family I have. They've made him a slave, and they want to do the same to me. Kai doesn't deserve that. To be cut up and experimented on and turned into some mindless puppet... I failed him as a friend and as a sister." Her words turned into a despairing whimper. She refused to cry.

"I hope they come looking for you again," Shizuo started in a growl, his voice gradually rising. He stood and chucked the empty glass in his hand at the wall. It shattered into tiny pieces in a small explosion. He grabbed the coffee table, and it went twirling through the air next. "Because when they do, I'm gonna kill those damned bastards!"

"Shizuo," Katana whimpered. She wrapped her arms around his when he went to storm outside and pulled him back. He struggled, and the effort it took to keep the superman from leaving or dragging her with him made her give a pained whine. "Please, Shizuo. Please, don't get mad right now. I—I need you to be calm or—or I'll..." Her words broke off, the dam she'd been trying to keep up was breaking, and she couldn't even try to fix it. She wrapped her arms around his waist blindly, and buried her face into his chest. The sobs made her shudder and tremble, loud and racking her body. After a moment, she felt him put a hand on her back. Good. That was what she needed, to be comforted. The guilt and sadness and pain of knowing that somewhere Kai was at the mercy of the very men that had tortured her and ripped shadows away from her was crushing her. Katana never cried, much like she never really felt a pain she couldn't swallow, but today was a special day. "He's out there, being tortured, Shizuo! He's been a slave for two hundred years—and I didn't even remember him! I didn't even know he existed! I can't stand it!" She repeated sporadic pieces of those words through fits of tears. Some part of her was aware that Shizuo didn't exactly know what to do with her or how to make her stop crying, but having him simply rub her back and awkwardly tell her "We'll find him and fix everything. It'll be okay. Please stop crying. Just... please stop crying." made a world of difference.

When she calmed down, Shizuo carried her up to his bed while she sniffled and rubbed away her tears. He laid her down, put the covers over her, then marched out of the room. She curled around his pillow, inhaling his scent while she listened to him slam the door and go on a rampage outside.

"At least he had enough sense not to destroy his living room..." Katana muttered. Fresh tears emerged, the remains of what she'd cried out, while a bubble of quiet laughter filled the room. She sniffled, shadows creeping forward to wipe her face clean, and pulled out her cell phone. Katana dialed a number she hadn't used in quite a long time. While it rang, she let her phone rest on top of the side of her face and hugged the pillow with both arms. A familiar voice answered the phone, speaking in a language that was vaguely familiar.

"I need a favor, Boris," she croaked out in Russian. "I'll owe you one if you can do this for me."

When she got off the phone, there were still sounds of mayhem coming from outside. Somehow comforted by the knowledge that Shizuo was the one out there causing all the destruction, Katana closed her eyes. She felt sleep near at hand, and exhaustion washed over her again. She fell asleep, dreaming up nightmares of the night Kai and her were captured by the humans. When she would wake up in the middle of the night, she wouldn't remember it, but she'd feel the lingering feelings.

In the morning, Katana was feeling a bit better. The pain in her thigh and shoulder was a bit more manageable. Thus, Katana could brave the horrors of walking downstairs. She saw Shizuo had, indeed, eventually stopped throwing a tantrum and came back inside. By the looks of it, he had then collapsed onto the couch without bothering to change clothes. Katana limped over and peered out the blinds. She was startled by what she saw. It looked like a tornado had ran up and down the street. There was a horde of signs ripped out of the ground and piercing the road, crumpled at the middle from where Shizuo had grabbed them. The ground was split in places were Katana vaguely remembered a street lamp and mailbox being. A smorgasbord of insanely heavy objects were tossed around like litter. Ah, she found the street lamp at the end of the street, crumpled against a fortunately vacant building. And there was the mailbox, about ten feet away from the lamp. How was it possible that he'd never been arrested for destruction of public property? The police all but turned their backs in order to pretend like he didn't cause trouble. Was it that they were scared of making him angry and had given up long ago? The funds for replacing all the things he destroyed must be extraordinary.

What perplexed her further was that he had done all of this for her. Had he really gotten that mad over what she'd told him? She turned and looked at the deceptively innocent-looking blond, fast asleep on the couch. He looked remarkably harmless in his sleep, twitching his hands and feet and face every now and then like a dreaming puppy. The couch didn't look like a very comfortable place to sleep, which made a finger of guilt run down Katana's spine. To make amends, she swept up the broken glass from last night, set the table—luckily unharmed, if you overlooked a few chips and scratches on the surface—back in its proper place, and crept silently into the kitchen. There, she began to fix the typical breakfasts she usually made back in America: pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and a bowl of cereal. She offered his plate a hefty amount of it all, convinced he had used up quite a lot of energy last night, and had just settled on a lonely bowl of cereal for herself when Shizuo came staggering sleepily into the kitchen. She smiled sheepishly, pouring milk into an empty glass and setting it beside his plate. He pulled out the chair to sit, mumbling his thanks. She waved away his appreciation; she was the one who should be thanking him.

"Recovered already?" he asked, almost sounding disappointed. Katana brightened. Hearing his tone made her feel better. Well, she thought, if he doesn't mind me sticking around, who am I to turn down the luxury of having a real roof over my head, if only for a while?

"Not at all," she told him while he swallowed a mouthful of pancake. "It will probably take me a few days to fully recover. I feel good enough to walk around, but even then," she laughed, grimacing as she rubbed the back of her neck, "it probably shouldn't be for very long, my leg the way it is."

He sipped his milk slowly before almost reluctantly offering, "If you rather recover in your own house, I could take you there... If you wanted."

To this, Katana averted her eyes. Her lips twitched into a nervous grin. Shit, she thought. How was she supposed to explain herself now without telling him she didn't have a house? The excuse that she didn't want to be alone could only be stretched so far, and she had probably already stretched it as far as was allowed.

"No, if you don't mind—I think I'd prefer staying here until I'm better," she offered lamely. She could hope against hope that this would be enough to placate him, couldn't she?

"Not that I mind you staying," Of course, he'd need an explanation, " but why don't you want me to see where you live?" And worse, "Do you... not trust me?"

Katana gaped at him. She was horrified. That was what he thought? "Of course, I trust you!" she assured, adamant. "I trust you more than anyone I've ever met in my life!"

Shizuo blinked in surprise. A smile began to steal across his face, but it was quickly replaced with a frown. His eyebrows furrowed, and he asked, "Then why do you never want me to see where you live?"

"Uh..." She glanced around, avoiding his gaze. "No particular reason..." For the time being, she was saved from further interrogation by her phone. It rang loudly, vibrating in her pocket angrily and demanding attention. Katana all but jumped at the chance to escape, snatching her phone off the table and flipping it open. She offered Shizuo's frustrated look a guilty grin, pushing her chair back and slipping out of the room. Katana cocked her head at the familiar Russian voice as it spoke, beaming by the time she got the entire message. "Really? You found it? Oh, Boris, you are a God amongst men!" Katana declared in Russian. It was one of her favorite languages, so she kept up with it even if she hadn't been to Russia in years, which made picking it back up easy.

There was a rough, cool chuckle on the other end. "And don't you forget it, Katya. Where in Ikebukuro did you say you were? Naida and I want to perhaps come visit our good friend."

Katana laughed meekly. "Ah..." She glanced around, then at her feet. "Why don't you and Naida take a few days to sight-see without me? I'm not really staying anywhere in Ikebukuro right now..."

Boris laughed roughly again. Shizuo padded into the living room. He collapsed onto the couch, tilting his head back to stare at her. Well, at least he wasn't going to try hiding the fact that he came in to listen in on her conversation. Even if she wasn't speaking Japanese. Boris spoke, but Katana held Shizuo's gaze, "In a predicament again, eh, Katya? We help you if you like. Free of charge for our good friend."

"No, no," Katana scratched her cheek, breaking away from Shizuo's intent staring. Katana tried not to squirm under his gaze, but it was difficult. He wasn't even blinking, and had turned to rest his chin on the armchair. His eyes were practically burning holes in her face. Katana laughed, and it sounded a little anxious. She tugged on the hem of her shirt by nervous habit. "That's not the sort of predicament I'm in this time, Boris. You have fun with Naida, I'll call you when I'm free."

"Aha, you have boyfriend."

Katana's eyes widened. She felt her face turning red. "W-what?"

Boris laughed louder, calling to Naida to tell her the assumed news. There was a gleeful squeal of delight in the background, along with some exclamations that Katana was going to pretend she didn't hear. Naida was quite the nymphomaniac. It wasn't really surprising why Boris liked her, if you looked at it that way. "You have fun on honeymoon! We'll sight-see until you're done celebrating."

Katana started to protest, to clarify Boris's misunderstanding, but Boris had already hung up. Katana sighed, shoulders slumping. She closed the phone and rubbed her eyes. "This is why I never call you for help, Boris. You put me in such a good mood, then destroy it as quick as you build it..."

"What was that all about?" Shizuo asked.

Katana looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights. Her face turned even darker as she realized exactly what Boris would say if he realized Katana was, in fact, at a man's house. "Nothing," she insisted quickly. She turned away, making her way back to the kitchen, "Just a friend of mine making up completely absurd stories to amuse himself." Shizuo had eaten her cereal. Katana wasn't bothered—it would have gotten soggy anyway—and made herself a new bowl. Shizuo followed her back into the kitchen, sitting down across from her. Katana said nothing to break the silence, keeping her head down and pushing around her breakfast. Shizuo was still staring at her—she could just feel it—and it was doing nothing to help her relax.

What did help was what he asked her, "Are you homeless?"

Katana stared at Shizuo with big, guilty red eyes that were undoubtedly answer enough. She hadn't expected him to figure it out so quickly. "What?" How in the world had he figured it out so fast?

Shizuo kept his chin rested on his palms as he said in perfect Russian, "You aren't staying anywhere in Ikebukuro right now."

Well... that sucked. Katana avoided his gaze. "I didn't know you spoke Russian..." she mumbled.

Shizuo sighed, closing his eyes. He stood up, pushing in his chair. "You should have said something if you didn't have a place to stay," he snapped. He didn't seem to be furious, so no rampaging, but he was angry enough to glare at her. "You can stay here."

"But," she protested, "I don't want to impose or—"

She shut up right away when he gave her a murderous look. His grip on the back of his chair was tight enough to make it crack. "You're staying here until you decide to move into your own house." He all but barked it at her. "And if you do move out, I'm going there to make sure it's real."

Katana sighed. Just another thing she owed this man... How was she ever supposed to repay him for this favor? "Okay, okay. But, you should sleep in your own bed. I don't need as much sleep as humans," she added hastily, encase he wanted to argue about that as well, "so I'll be fine on the couch."

Shizuo opened his mouth, then closed it. He stared her down for a long heartbeat. "Fine. As long as that means you're not going to go back to sleeping God knows where."

Katana smiled until he was gone; he had work to attend to. When the door shut behind him, she exhaled and slumped over the table, pushing aside the cereal. Her phone buzzed, and she flipped it open to read the text Boris had, as promised, sent her. The bright letters forming the address burned her eyes at such close proximity—especially with eyes meant for darkness—but she didn't look away, masochist she was.

"Boris," she groaned at the phone. "Why do you always have to give me such good results, then give me a mess to balance it out?"

A week and a half later, Katana was as good as new, though it took longer than she had predicted. Before Shizuo had considered her in good enough shape to venture out of the house, she had went out and fetched her duffel bag on her own. She did so because she really didn't want Shizuo to have to get it and see where she had spent a few months living. He would throw a tantrum, she had reasoned, even though she had no qualms with it. This outing was what he blamed on what she called a slow recovery. And it proved to be a pointless gesture, because when she returned, Shizuo threw a tantrum anyway. He had been furious with her for risking getting hurt worse than she already was.

So, Katana had calmed him down by running her hands through his hair. She'd discovered it worked like a charm every time, making him gradually climb down from his temper tantrums so long as she persistently kept at it. She'd figured this out during the first few days of moving in. Other than that, Katana had discovered a hug calmed him down, but she only tried hugging him once. It had been the day after she went to go get her things from the warehouse. They'd sat down to watch a martial arts movie together. During a commercial, a critic was interviewed by a hostess. The critic had taken a view most of the Japanese population didn't agree with, especially Shizuo. After listening to the critic bash Shizuo's little brother for no longer than seven seconds, Shizuo had thrown the television across the house. Because her leg was sore from walking all the way to the warehouse, Katana couldn't bear to stand. Instead, she impulsively hugged him from where she sat. He'd stopped moving altogether, panting and tense under her grip. Then, he'd leveled his temper out enough to return the embrace. Katana suspected the sudden gesture had mostly startled him, and she doubted that it would work again.

After assuring Shizuo she was, in fact, perfectly healthy again, she went out to visit her friends. Boris and Naida had called earlier that day, and she had to swear she hadn't forgotten about them before Boris agreed not to track her down. Just outside the restaurant they'd agreed to meet at, Katana spotted her Russian companions talking to Simon. Boris noticed her first. "Katya," he greeted warmly. He threw his arms around her, kissing her cheeks. Katana patted his back, kissing both his cheeks in return. Katana withdrew, only to be tackled by an eager Naida. Unlike Boris, Naida was quite short, but they both shared the same pale complexion. Where Boris' neat, short black hair, Naida's hair was long and unruly with random spikes and a single braid running down one side of her head. They shared red-gold eyes, and even though they weren't related, they looked eerily similar.

"Oh, Kitty! I missed you, my Kitty!" Naida gushed, rubbing her face against Katana's chest in that awful and intimate way of hers. People around gave a berth around the three, whispering to each other as they witnessed Katana be violated. Simon was the only one that lingered, appearing to not even notice as he tried to reel in more customers.

"Boris, please!" Katana groaned. This was definitely not the way she had wanted to be 'reunited' with the people she begrudgingly called 'friends' for some years.

"Naida!" Boris snapped, his growling voice quickly making Naida's head snap up. He spoke in easy Russian as he reprimanded his wife, "We are not at home! Katya doesn't like you doing that in public!"

Katana took a step back when Naida released her, darkly grumbling, "I don't like it when you do it, period."

Naida wailed like a spoiled child, "But, Boris!" Her accent was just as heavy and obvious as Boris's, "Your sister doesn't mind when I do it to her in public! She even lets me grab them!"

Katana's fingers twitched, suddenly wanting to strangle the girl. As much as she adored Naida and Boris as humans—watching them was, admittedly, quite fascinating—she didn't like being part of their antics. Or have their attention drawn to her at all, really. No, she definitely liked watching them more than associating with them. "I can't believe you two are really married. You're both just... so beyond fucked up."

"Oh, yes!" Boris turned to Katana. "We congratulate our successful honeymoon! It was very... exciting, yes?"

Katana wiped a hand over her face. "And I've suddenly remembered why I refused to let Shizuo tag along," she muttered to herself. "I'm not married, Boris, and I don't have a boyfriend."

"Lovers, then?" Boris' lips stretched back into a delighted grin. Naida giggled. "Katya, you nymph! And you say you were old fashioned!"

"Boris!" Katana all but threw her hands in the air. This was all too embarrassing. At least, she told herself, at least she didn't let Shizuo tag along. He'd have lost his temper at hello. "Please! shut up!"

Boris laughed vibrantly, wringing his arms around Katana's neck affectionately. "No need to be embarrassed, Katya. It is natural to have such urges and to give in to roughly—"

"I am fully capable of giving you nightmares for the rest of your life," Katana hissed threateningly. Her good mood was gone in an instant, a new record for her talks with Boris. Teasing her about her sex life was something she did not tolerate. Boris chuckled, but pointedly let go of the girl. Katana sighed, rubbing the back of her head. Silence fell over the group for only a moment.

"So, when we meet boyfriend?" Naida asked hopefully. She cried out, clawing at her face, as shadows engulfed her head. As she staggered back and fell to the ground, Boris and Katana could hear her laughter, which was muffled beneath the smothering shadows.

Katana remembered quite vividly why she hadn't taken their offer to move to Russia with them a few years back. She could only handle associating with that particular couple for a very short amount of time. She could watch them for hours, true, but only when they didn't know she was there. When they left her alone and didn't talk about her, Katana found them to be very hilarious people. Their useful tracking abilities and connections only just barely made their eccentric personalities and immoral behavior tolerable when directed her way. And with her plans to spend time with Shizuo after this, Katana wanted to leave all the more.

"What do you want, Boris?" Katana asked tiredly. He started to open his mouth, but she pointed at his face accusingly. "And don't tell me you just came to see your good friend, because all your good friends are whores. And do I look like a whore to you?" Though her sunglasses covered her eyes, it was easy to tell by her tone and scowl that she was in no mood to joke around.

Naida laughed, face free once more, and foolishly used her freedom to pounce on Katana's back. There, she dangled off the taller girl like a child. Katana staggered, but somehow managed to keep her balance. "You could be, if you want. No problem, we share Boris. I can share."

"Boris..." Because, ultimately, Naida's actions were his fault. Naida was devoted to Boris and did whatever he told her to, and he clearly had not given her the standard restrictions on her behavior towards Katana. "You really don't want to see what I'll do if your wife asks me to partake in a threesome again."

Boris sighed. "Naida," he growled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He asked her shortly in Russian, "Do you want to go to the hospital? Again?"

Naida frowned, replying in haughty Russian while hopping off Katana, "Maybe Kitty should get a sense of humor and I wouldn't have to go to the hospital for simple questions." She moved to her husband's side. Her arms crossed, and a pout appeared on her face as she turned away to observe the tourists and natives.

Boris clapped his hands together. "Many apologies. Naida has been very moody ever since I made her stop bringing home male prostitutes." Somehow, Katana wasn't surprised. "Okay," Boris said boldly, "You want talk about business? Join us for Russian sushi."

Inside, Simon served them plates of the strangest sushi Katana had seen yet. When he returned to advertising the restaurant, Boris propped his chin on his hands. His eyes glimmered at Katana eagerly.

"What do you want? I have plans after this," Katana voiced shortly.

"We are starting business in Japan."

Katana pushed her sunglasses further up her nose with one hand and picked up one of the strange food items with the fingers of her other hand. She started to inspect it with interest. "Underground business, naturally." Boris confirmed this with a nod from the edge of her vision. She tested the sushi with an experimental lick and shuddered at the unexpected taste. "Supplying things to whoever pays the highest, I suspect. I also suspect you are starting up business here because I am here. It's too coincidental otherwise, and coincidence can only be stretched so far." Boris nodded again. Katana dropped the sushi in her mouth, then picked up another with her fingers, chopsticks laying dejectedly beside her food. "So, what does your business have to do with me?" She had an idea, but wanted to hear him say it.

"We will pay you handsomely, but of course," Boris started convincingly. "You will be supplied all necessary equipment. Sometimes, you may even keep them. We let you know if you keep them or give them back, naturally."

Katana sighed, resting her cheek on her fist as she played with pieces of sushi. She had no recollection of a mother ever telling her not to play with her food, so she found it fair game. "So, you want me to be the one who carries out your dirty work, basically." A transporter. Like what Celty did. It piqued Katana's interest.

"We will plan everything out. You will be perfectly safe."

Katana's lips curled into a smile. She watched Boris' anxious expression idly for a moment. "Don't tell me that. That's a load of shit, and we both know it. No matter how well planned, things could always fall apart." Boris frowned, but he waited patiently. When Naida started to open her mouth, Boris shoved sushi into it to effectively silence her. Katana hummed thoughtfully, lips stretching into a broader smile. "But, life is a risk every day. Money and jobs are strangely hard to come by when you look the way I do, and, as hard as it is for me to admit, I sort of like you two..." She scrutinized the pair and wrinkled her nose in mock displeasure. "For some reason."

"So you take job?" Naida asked excitedly, perking up considerably.

Katana leaned back in her seat, stretching her legs. "Mmm..." She tilted her head from side to side as she pretended to think about it. "You two have helped me out a lot over the yeas..." She reasoned, voice lilting thoughtfully. "And I'm positive any human you two picked as a second choice for the job wouldn't be able to handle all your tasks. Not to mention they would undoubtedly turn you both over to the cops in a heartbeat if they were caught." She grinned wickedly. "And as tempting as it is to watch you two get thrown in jail and escape like a regular Bonnie and Clyde, I think I'll have use for you two at some point." She grinned a little. "So, why not? It's not like my life is exciting enough as it is. But, accepting the job counts as payment for that favor I asked of you however many days ago, alright?"

Boris nodded, eagerly agreeing to her demands. Naida let out an excited squeal, leaping up and crossing the table to embrace Katana. Katana's face was smashed into Naida's chest, and Naida all but rubbed them against Katana. Katana squirmed, unwilling to use force because she often ended up hurting people that way.

"Naida!" Boris scolded. Naida giggled, hurrying back to Boris's side before Katana could grab hold of her.

"And she has to stop doing shit like that to me," Katana hissed, slapping her palm down on the table hard enough to make the couple next to them jump. "If she does anything like it one more time, I'm smothering her."

Simon was there in a heartbeat, placing a new tray of food down while pushing Katana back into her seat with a large, rough hand. His smile was a warning for Katana to behave.

"Violence bad, Kat," he told her in that cheerful voice of his. "Here, eat more and be happy. You're scaring away customers."

Katana glanced around, then craned her head up to look at Simon. "Sorry, Simon."

"All is good," he assured her, repeating one last time before he left, "Eat and be happy. Sushi good!"

Boris watched the tall, black Russian leave with a grin. "He is an interesting man, that Simon."

Katana ate a few more pieces of sushi before pushing back her chair and dismissing, "Yeah, well, as fun as this has been, if I stick around you two much longer, I'll drive myself insane and end up having to fight off Simon to get to you two. So, it's been fun, call me when you need me to start work." Boris and Naida offered cheerful goodbyes, Katana raised a hand to wave back without turning around.

As promised, Katana met up with Shizuo. They spent the rest of their day at the movie theater, watching the new martial arts themed movie, and then picked it to pieces at home over dinner. While putting away dishes, Katana decided that, overall, it had turned out to be a pretty good day.

"You know," she voiced, drying off a dish that Shizuo had just washed. He glanced at her, muscles relaxed and looking at ease. Katana hummed thoughtfully. "Back when I had just met Boris and Naida, I had just lost one of my best friends. He had been a ten year old when we first met, and I'd watched him grow up to a respectable ninety-three year old man with a loving wife and one daughter who found a good husband and gave my friend adorable grandchildren." She had Shizuo's full attention now, but stared down at the plate she was wiping down with a cloth, even though it was perfectly dry by now. Her reflection was dull and hard to make out, but still there on the center of the plate. "After he died, I went through this... phase. It happened a few times over the years, whenever I became particularly attached to a human and watched them grow old and die while I appeared to stay as young as ever. I wasn't the most concerned and caring person in the world after he died. I didn't want to get attached to anyone worth getting attached to. Not to say Naida and Boris aren't worth it. They are, but not in the same way. If they died, I would be sad for them, but I wouldn't be as effected as I was by James's death. They are friends, but James was like family. But, anyway," she shook her head, getting her mind back on track.

"I didn't want to get attached to anyone, because I was still very aware that I would most likely have to watch them die, like everyone else I've ever made friends with. I didn't really care as much what happened to me or what crowd I kept. I let people see me use my shadows during fights, glad they'd think I was a monster and stay away from me. Boris and Naida were the only ones at the time that didn't think I was scary. They accepted me for who and what I was, like I wasn't anything different from them, and I guess at the time, even though I didn't want to see anyone I liked die again, I enjoyed that about them. Eventually, I met other people and started to cheer up, like I've always done. I sort of drifted away from Boris and Naida—I only really contact them now when I need a favor and have the money to back it."

Then, she frowned, staring down at the plate with hard, concentrated eyes. "But now, I have people like you in my life. I care for you so much more than I cared for James or any of the others. Seeing Naida and Boris today made me remember James, how I reacted to his death... and I start to think about what life would be like if you died." She paused, swallowing over a lump that raised up her throat. She blinked a few times. "I think if you die before someone finally manages to kill me off..." This had been something she had actually considered a lot since making friends with Shizuo and Shinra and Celty. It was just the first time she had been bothered to say it out loud, make it real and final. "If you die before me, I think it will be my time. I can't handle watching any more of my friends die while I look the same as the day I met them—watching you die while I stay the same, like some statue constantly observing and never making any progress or growth of my own. It will give me peace to die and go to the Beyond, where all of my friends will be, where you will be."

Silence fell between them. Katana stared pensively down at the plate, resting it against the edge of the sink. She thought of all the friends she had watched go by. All of the families she knew to this day, the stories she would tell the great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of her deceased friends to keep their memories alive and their blood line connected. She thought of how old she felt, especially after meeting Kai again. It was an age she could feel in her bones, despite the fact that she couldn't consciously recall the exact age. One can only live for so long before you just feel that the end is near. Luckily for her, she would be able to accept that end and take it peacefully—unless someone killed her before she did so herself, that is. It gave her a sense of closure to think that she would have an end, that she would give herself an ending someday. It felt right to make it depending on Shizuo's own death. As long as he lived, so would she. The decision was like a hum throughout her bones, pleased and satisfied and confirming that it was the right one.

"Kat." Katana tilted her head to Shizuo. Shizuo stood next to her at the sink, body turned towards her, and eyes intent on her. He raised his hand, pulling off her sunglasses. Katana felt strangely naked without them; she was always wearing them. Years of being stared at or ran away from because of her eyes had made her feel almost self-conscious about them. Shizuo set the sunglasses on the counter. His other hand raised, palm pressing against her cheek and fingers weaving in and out of locks of her black hair. Katana didn't dare move when Shizuo started to lean in. He hesitated, yellow eyes staring directly back at hers. Then, his eyes closed, and he kissed her.

Katana very clumsily pushed the plate she was holding on the counter, knocking her sunglasses to the floor; she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around Shizuo's neck and eagerly pulled him closer. His grip on her hair tightened, his other hand snaking around her back to press her against his chest. When they parted, Katana rested her forehead against his shoulder and giggled. She couldn't stop herself, she just felt too impossibly good. She had wanted to do that since a few weeks after they met. To finally do so was a very happy moment indeed.

"So, that was okay?" was Shizuo's wary question.

Katana giggled more, pressing her lips against the side of his neck. His jugular was pounding beneath her touch. "More than okay."

.

.

.

Things changed and stayed perfectly the same. Shizuo and Katana's relationship was easier than ever, full of the same natural conversation and time spent together, with the addition of kisses and, eventually, sleeping in the same bed. Katana became happier and happier. Before long, it became perfectly natural to see Shizuo and Katana out together practically all the time, except for when worked called. Work for Katana was not at all unlike Celty's range of work, the only exception being Katana's were consistently restricted to Boris and Naida. Whenever their assignments met up along the way, they would work together until it was mutually beneficial for them both. If that wasn't possible, they would both quit the assignment. The only exception was if one of them particularly needed the money. Shizuo still had his rampages, but the smaller things didn't set him off as much anymore. If Katana felt the need to stop him (though she often let him work it out of his system), it was easy for her to calm him down. She would cover his eyes from behind and whisper certain sweet words in his ear over and over again until they sunk in. It was easy to get lost in this new life she had discovered, to revel in each ounce of happiness she had never before experienced so often. It wasn't until Boris casually asked what she ever did with the address he got for her that she even remembered getting it.

Streaking down the road on the red motorcycle Boris had given her as a reward for her hard work (Katana admittedly had voiced her want of a bike for some time, though she never remembered mentioning it to Boris), Katana weaved in and out of tight spaces between cars, who occasionally honked at her when she pulled too daring a move for their comfort. She eventually veered off the highway when she saw a familiar blot of yellow leaving the area Shizuo had told her he'd be working at earlier that morning. Her bike stopped abruptly alongside the twosome walking on the sidewalk. They turned to stare at her as the black helmet disappeared with a puff of smoke.

"Can he have the rest of the night off?" Katana asked Tom directly.

Shizuo frowned. "We still have a lot of places to go, Kat," he pointed out. "What's wrong?"

She was stark, "I found the place where I was tortured two centuries ago. I can go alone if you—"

"I'm going with you. Just give me a second." Shizuo turned to Tom, but Tom smiled and help up his hand.

He shook his head knowingly. "Go ahead and take the rest of the day off. We'll give the rest of these guys twenty-four hours to collect the money they owe."

Shizuo clasped his friend's shoulder, muttering, "Thanks, man." before hopping on the back of Katana's bike. He accepted the helmet she made out of shadows. She fashioned one for herself and, just like that, was racing off. After giving the address to Celty, Katana had been given a detailed list of directions, which she reread more than enough times to ensure she didn't get lost. The drive would take about three hours. Just above the howl of the wind, Katana could hear Shizuo muttering "Kill" under his breath. Just like when Celty told Katana about the Slasher incident a year or two back. It nearly made her laugh. During the drive, Shizuo alternated between holding the back of the bike like he traditionally did whenever riding with Celty and wrapping his arms comfortably around Katana's stomach when that grew tiresome.

When they arrived, Katana knew right away Shizuo's concentrated will to kill was wasted. The building hadn't changed much over the years, except for becoming increasingly debilitated. It must have had some upkeep or it probably would have collapsed over time, but it looked uncared for for the most par. The outside of the building was aged and had little cracks in places. There were layers upon layers of dust on the windows, and the air had a musty, stale smell. But, most tellingly, the shadows along the walls came to life at her proximity and whispered the building's emptiness to her. Years, the shadows reported nothing other than a cleaner coming in once every three years by demand of the authorities. Beyond that, the shadows could remember nothing. Whoever used to inhabit this place was long gone. Probably not long after she escaped, Katana assumed, on the fear that she might report them to the human authorities.

"I didn't know the place they kept you was in Japan," Shizuo muttered darkly, towering over her like a a protective shadow.

Katana blinked. "Oh, yeah. They kept me here. This place used to be a prison." She wasn't quite sure how she ever knew that, but she knew ever since she escaped that it had been a prison once. "I left Japan as soon as I could slip onto a ship unseen. I didn't care where I went, as long as it was away from here. After a while of going from country to country, though, I started to miss Japan. Something kept pulling me back here." She reflected on this, darkly realizing, "It was probably because this was where Master was. Subconsciously, I must have known I left him in Japan." She shook her head. "Then, after coming back to visit every year, I inevitably met Izaya—"

"Don't," Shizuo hissed, "mention that bastard's name now."

Katana smiled weakly, patting his arm. "I'm sorry. But, it looks like they've cleared out of here for good. Decades ago, at the very least. It's shocking the building is even still standing." She weaved her fingers between his. "Let's play detective on the off-chance they left something behind, shall we?"

Shizuo was quiet and brooding the entire time they searched the old, rickety building. There were empty cells with old fashion bars. The bars were rusted and on a few cells, one or two bars had mysteriously disappeared. It looked like something out of one of the movies she'd watched with Shizuo. Katana was constantly reminded of just how surprising it was that the building hadn't collapsed over the years. Whenever she saw dried bloodstains on the walls or floor, she'd grimace and remember how it was she that had killed the humans that bled out. She didn't regret it, but she didn't particularly enjoy remembering it. Shizuo hovered abnormally close the entire time they searched the place. He practically towered over her, hands routinely gripping her shoulders—as if to ensure she didn't get snatched away. Whenever a rat or cockroach had the misfortune to be too noisy too abruptly, Shizuo would rip doors or prison bars or chairs from their rightful places and chuck them across the room.

After punching his fist through a wall in order to thoroughly terrify the rodent scurrying about inside it, Kat turned and placed her hands on Shizuo's chest. His breathing was hard, but after a quick scan around the room, his eyes set on her with an alarming intensity. "Calm down," said Katana. She stood on her toes to kiss him. Her hands traveled upwards to run through his blond locks. Her fingertips messaged small circled into his scalp. As hoped, Shizuo began to relax into her touch. When she pulled away, his eyelids were drooped as he looked at her, as though he were in a sort of daze. Katana smiled. It never failed to amuse her by how easily a simple head message could lull him into a state of bliss. He was like a dog. A cute, protective dog. "The shadows in this place are still mine. I'll know if anyone comes near us." He looked like he was trying to pull himself out of his daze, to drag that protective, jumpy anger back to the surface. She sunk her fingers deeper into his hair, messaging broader circles with more pressure. He leaned back, into her touch. "We're alone," she soothed. "No one's going to take me. And even if they tried, you'd have a warning and would be perfectly prepared to rip off their heads." Shizuo stared back at her quietly. She smiled, leaning into him slightly. "I'll tell you if someone comes within twenty feet of the building. Until I do, relax. I'm safe; you're here. The rats haven't done anything to deserve being scared to death."

Finally, Shizuo gave a conceding nod of his head. His eyes closed to thoroughly enjoy the message. When he seemed completely at ease, she tilted his head towards her and shared another kiss. Her hands slid out of his hair, patting his chest. She pulled back and smiled. "Promise not to try to kill any more rodents? I'm quite fond of the little things."

Shizuo grunted, but weaved his fingers through hers. Keeping a firm grip on her hand and entering the rooms first seemed to help keep him calm, so she let him lead her around without complaint. Up a floor, the rooms proved to be just as empty and abandoned as the rest. They skipped over most of the rooms with just a glance through the windows, but Katana stopped at the last door in the hallway. She didn't budge when Shizuo glanced at her in concern. Her red eyes were bright and had a soft, luminous effect about them. Her hair seemed to bristle, spreading out around her in a subtle manner, as if there was a trace of electricity in the air. A growl rose up her throat. Her grip on Shizuo's hand doubled unconsciously, her free hand curling into a fist and then releasing, as if to slash her fingernails at an invisible enemy like they were claws. Her eyes were set on the door, unwavering and wide with intensity.

"What is it?" He was answered with another low rumble. Shizuo glanced at the door, then back at Katana. "We don't have to go in there."

He started to pull her away, but stopped when she resisted. "That's the room they took me to," she started, but her continuation took some time, as if she had to remember how to speak, "when they ripped my shadows apart."

Shizuo started to repeat him, "We don't have to—"

But Kat pushed open the door and all but pushing him inside in front of her. Her growl was a constant, quiet thunder, her eyes darting all around the room. Unlike the rest of the rooms, there were still some signs of what used to happen in this one. Also unlike the other rooms, this room looked somehow... out of place. The material was just as dated and worn from age as the rest, but its design was different, like a plain room someone would see in modern times. The walls were bare, save for a few shelves where jars of aged blood and what looked like watered down tar. In the center of the room was a long, metal slab built into the flooring. A lamp was stood next to it, the old-looking light bulb craned to dangle over the table. Off in the corner, there was a board attached to the wall with dials that read what seemed to be different levels of electricity. A broken red light was installed beside it, possibly to alert the scientists to something going awry or lethal amounts of voltage. A tray full of scalpels and hammers and tubes was on the side of the metal table, opposite from the lamp.

"This is where they electrocuted me," Katana muttered in a quiet voice, approaching the slab. "Where they shined what I thought was a tiny sun in my eyes, forcing my eyes to stay open..." The memories of two hundred years ago flooded Katana's mind, filling every nerve with the sensation of everything she felt those long years ago.

"I didn't think this sort of stuff was possible back then," said Shizuo, motioning towards the board full of dials, then looking towards the lamp. "Light bulbs existed back then?"

Katana shook her head, scowling. "No. Light bulbs weren't invented until eighty or so years later, by Edison. I'd never seen anything like that lamp before. I was... mystified. I despised it, the little sun they used to torture me... Whoever these people where, they had things I had never seen, did things I didn't know where possible. I don't see that... claw thing they had with them." She glared at the table. "Not surprising. They probably kept it to use on Kai and his shadows."

Shizuo simply nodded. Either his interest was piqued enough or he took her for her word when she said she'd tell him if there was anyone else—in any case, he let go of her hand and ventured over to the row of dials. Kat stayed where she was, staring at the table. So many memories. They still haunted her in her sleep from time to time. Before Kat really thought about it, she laid herself flat on the metal table. Her fingers spread out over the surface, and her large red eyes stared up at a bulb that would never again burn her retinas and leave her blind for hours at a time. She was very still for a moment. It was all too easy for her to envision a scientist—a mask over his mouth and matching hairnet to keep his hair out of way, dark eyes, gloved hands—holding up a scalpel and closing in the distance between her flesh and that blade... There was a lot of pain from over at least a month, concentrated back into one memory.

"Katana?"

Katana cradled her head between her hands, head tilted back. She realized the strangled whine noise was coming from her and stopped herself. Shizuo pulled her off the table, setting her back on her feet.

"Kat," he murmured, pulling her closer, "you shouldn't be here. This was a bad idea."

She shook her head. "I'm fine," she protested. "I'm fine. Any pain I felt in here is nothing compared to what Kai must be going through." She frowned, remembering this fact only as she said the words. She turned, looking at the jars on the shelf. With some concentration, the would caught fire and the jars shattered against the ground. Old blood and the watery-looking black substance oozed out across the ground. Katana's eyes trained on the black matter. A sick feeling set in Katana's stomach as it became clear that the matter was more or less the shadows that had failed experimentation. She was staring at dead extensions of herself. Dead pieces of herself that she would never be able to get back. In a way, she was staring at corpses. The dark wasn't supposed to be able to truly die.

What she was staring at was unnatural. Humans liked to call anything they didn't believe was possible unnatural, but they did nothing but diminish the meaning of the word. These shadowy corpses—they were the true meaning of the word. The truly unnatural had a stench that even humans wrinkled their nose at and clawed to get away from. They were things that shouldn't be. Nature didn't like being defied and rejected anything that existed outside Her plans. All things that were part of nature rejected it—whether they wanted to or not, it was hardwired in their genetic makeup.

The corpses, sliding lifelessly in all directions like liquid, wreaked. Nature rejected its very existence, and thus, its very essence was repulsive. Wherever the corpses oozed, whatever they touched, would be forever stained, contaminated. It was like a disease given physical mass, reaching out and permanently infecting anything around it. A disease without a cure.

To see something truly against the laws of nature, something that shouldn't have ever been possible, to comprehend that what she was staring at wasn't possible... It left a sick, unclean feeling at her core that words could not properly describe. Worse, these remains were part of her.

Bile rose in her throat. She gagged, finding a corner to empty her stomach in. Shizuo placed a hand on her back, rubbing it and pulling her hair out of her face. She shuddered once she could throw up no more. A low whine rose up her throat. She wiped her mouth and turned back to the watery shadows. Tears welled in her eyes and slid down her face. The remains caught fire, burning away what was left of the shadows that had been stripped away from her.

"This..." Her voice was weak and trembled. "This should have never been able to happen." She could do no better than to speak just above a whisper, spreading her hands towards the shadows. "Pieces of me, murdered. I... Why did this happen?" Her words broke. Shizuo wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "This is unnatural. The dark is not meant to be torn apart and bound to any one will. We—I... We should know no master. We should never be able to die. How did this happen?"

She closed her eyes, accepting Shizuo's silent company as comfort. He was still hopeless when it came to her crying—for good reason, since she'd only cried in front of him twice now—but she appreciated his nearness. Once the fire went out, she felt better. Her tears had dried up quickly after that. She headed for the exit, locking her fingers between Shizuo's to gently pull him along. The room behind them erupted into flames. For his part, Shizuo said nothing about it, even offered her hand a reassuring squeeze.

There was only one place she wanted to see before she was done with the building for good. Clearly, there would be nothing to help them out, but Katana felt compelled. Even after two hundred years, she knew the path by memory. A few turns, descending back downstairs, and to the very last cell at the end of the corridor The bars to this cell were all gone, one lonely bar left abandoned on the ground next to a pair of shackles rusted beyond repair. She released Shizuo's hand and strode forward. Crouched in front of the shackles, she picked up one. There was a long cut down one side, from where the shadows had freed her all those years ago. She gave a rough jerk and the chain snapped where the metal was weakest. The shadows cut as close to the shackle as possible, and the remaining chain clattered to the ground. She placed the shackle around her left wrist, and shadows filled the small gap to keep it in place.

To Shizuo's silent staring, she lifted and dropped her shoulders. "To remind myself that while I can do as I want now, I'm not free yet... and I won't be until Kai is." Shizuo tilted his head. Katana sighed, wrapping her arms around his stomach and rested her head against his chest. "I was so distracted by how happy I am that I forgot I'd gotten the address to this place. I don't want to forget about freeing Kai and getting revenge until Kai's free and I've gotten revenge. I don't want to forget until it's all over with."

Shizuo stroked her hair. "Then let's kill these bastards as quick as possible."

Kat nodded, and together they exited the building. Katana stopped, turning around. Shizuo followed her example. Her hands rose. She concentrated. A brief moment went by with nothing happening. Then, a flame appeared, flickering out from one of the broken windows. Katana kept it up until the building's flame could be seen from some distance. Exhausted at the strain, Katana slumped against Shizuo, who steadied her with a hand. She fished out her keys and placed them in Shizuo's hands. "I think you should drive," she muttered. "I think it's going to be one of those nights that I actually sleep."

Shizuo chuckled. She smiled, settling in behind him on the bike. She was glad he'd been interested enough in learning how to drive a bike once she'd gotten one. It made the ride back so much simpler.

.

.

.

It was one of those seldom occasions when Shizuo was called away to work but Katana had the day off. She found herself at the park, in the good mood she had been in all week since burning that prison. Shizuo in particular had benefited from her good mood, showered with more affection than usual and finding Kat had done things like make him breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Now, it was the park's turn to benefit, filled with a constantly evolving tune that attracted the wildlife (mostly birds and squirrels, but a dog got loose from its leash to trot over and cats were mewling and purring all around) and the people who appreciated the music (a few teenagers, mothers with young children, the elderly). The park had an easy, nice air, and no one seemed to mind each other as much as usual.

"Well, well, Butler-chan," purred a voice below her. Kat lowered her voice, now mostly mumbling the lyrics to herself. Her gaze lowered to the man perched beneath the tree she had scaled. To keep her sunglasses from falling, she pressed a finger against the middle of them and pushed them securely against the bridge of her nose. She swung her legs, watching Izaya grin up at her, a hand pressed against the trunk of the tree. "You're a hard girl to find."

To this, she stopped singing and dropped down from the branch she was dangling on. She patted off her jeans and white jacket. "I'm perfectly easy to find," she corrected with a shrug, "You just haven't been able come near me without Shizuo throwing a car at you."

A cat, probably in between the kitten and teenage stage, mewled and rubbed itself against Kat's leg. She looked down at it fondly; cats normally never came anywhere near her. It was a fluffy yellow-white color that reminded her of Shizuo's hair. A big smile spread across Katana's face.

"Yes," a brief look of irritation crossed Izaya's face, covered with disdain. Then, that insufferable grin that was entirely too cheerful and sweet for his words, "you should really control that animal better, Butler-chan."

Kat kicked him in the shin. He let her, laughing. With a roll of her eyes, Katana scooped the feline into her arms. It purred, rubbings its head against her chin, but hissed and spat, fur doubling in size, when it spotted Izaya. Kat started to giggle, holding the cat up into the air. It's yellow eyes found hers and it mewed sweetly, purring. Katana mimicked the sound of its purr, grinning at it.

"What do you want, Izaya?" She set the kitten back down and met his gaze.

He offered his hand. "Just a dance," he assured her, adding in a light, taunting tone, "for old time's sake."

Katana stared at his hand for a while, but he didn't retract it. Then, with a wary glance around, she accepted it. He pulled her close, and they began a Waltz. Katana hummed a fitting tune, letting him lead her as they flew across the park with grace and skill. She closed her eyes; she had forgotten how much she loved dancing with him. He was quite an accomplished dancer. Then again, he excelled in anything he set his mind to, so that shouldn't have ever surprised her.

"You should tell Shizu-chan about us," Izaya murmured, voice thick with a tone that suggested he found the very subject of Shizuo amusing and not to be taken seriously.

Katana opened her eyes slowly. "There is no us anymore," she corrected flatly. Her head cocked to the side. "I'm not sure there really ever was, to be honest. I was really just using you."

His smile was too amused to pull off the hurt look he was aiming for. "Oh, Butler-chan, I'm hurt!" They changed direction suddenly, but Katana kept up with his pace expertly. "Did those visits truly mean nothing to you?"

"And when you convinced Ami to kill herself, did what she meant to me mean nothing to you?" she replied, keeping most of the emotion out of her voice. Still, the question that followed it was sharper than she wanted it to be, "Or is that why you told her I wasn't human? Because I cared for her and was going to stay in America on her request?"

Izaya laughed, looking completely at ease, joyful even. "Oh, Butler-chan, you're just as human as everyone else. I did what I did out of love." It was hard for Kat not to snort. "Love for humanity, love for our relationship." Her back hit a tree, and Izaya pinned her there. His crimson-brown eyes glimmered back at hers through her sunglasses. "The fact that little Ami couldn't handle the fact that you were so special was beyond my control. You should thank me, really."

Katana's brows raised. "Oh, really? Why should I do that?"

"Because I proved that I'm the only one that really loves you." She opened her mouth to clarify that he didn't love any one person, but he pressed on, "So, you should use me. As much as you want, as often as you want. Please." The word was a suggestive growl.

Before she could stop him, he covered her mouth with his. Her eyes widened, and by the time she registered she should try to claw his throat out, Izaya had already leaped back. He beamed at her, eyes glittering with a sort of mirth that promised trouble and torment for everyone else around.

"Now that I think about it, you shouldn't tell Shizu-chan about us," Izaya called, a little louder than necessary. There was a familiar rip of metal being torn out of cement. Kat's heart sank. Her head turned, confirming that she was now living a nightmare. Shizuo stood there, a Do Not Enter sign in hand and a murderous look on his face. "Well, I've got to run, but—"

Kat cut Izaya off with a furious scream, lunging at the bastard who seemed hellbent on ruining her life. For this, she was going to kill him. "I'm going to fucking kill you!" Her voice was loud and shrill, voice aching already. Izaya laughed, leaping out of her way just before her fingers could curl around his neck.

"Well, this is surprising!" But he looked no less delighted. "I didn't know it was so easy to set you off, Butler-chan! I think Shizu-chan's been rubbing off on you!"

Shadows leaped high into the air before plummeting towards Izaya. Izaya danced out of the way, only to barely miss the traffic sign hitting his skull. Izaya's jacket caught fire. He threw it off, scowling. "Come now, Butler-chan, that's not very nice."

He ducked just in time to miss Kat's fist colliding with his head. He pulled out his flick-blade and drove it into her shoulder. She snarled, fingers curling around his throat. They collapsed to the ground. She tightened her grip on his throat. He kept on smiling. That stupid, despicable smile!

When it felt like a truck hit her, she realized what he was smiling about. She rolled, sunglasses flying across the park. She lay where she stopped for a long moment. Her eyes watched Izaya flip to his feet and dart away, Shizuo in hot pursuit.

It took her a minute to register what had happened and what it implied. Shizuo had hit her. He'd purposely hit her with a bench, even though she could have easily strangled Izaya and ended his existence once and for all. She could have understood if he'd hit her in the attempt to his Izaya, but he hadn't even been aiming for Orihara.

It was a long time before Katana moved. She lay where she was while the sun started to sink. Everyone around knew of her reputation—it was hard not to with how she manipulated shadows in public all the time—and didn't dare call for help, in fear of somehow raising her ire. Her mind was blank, numb with shock. People stared, whispering to each other uncertainly. She ignored them, feeling her broken rib. It was a testament to her body's resilience that that was all she got. Surely, a hit like that would have killed any human but Shizuo. He could have hit Izaya too, but he aimed it specifically at her. That fact swirled over and over in her mind. It was like a broken record, distracting all other thoughts.

Finally, she got to her feet. She needed to move. If she moved, maybe her brain would start working again and understand what just happened. It was all at once, so sudden, and she just couldn't understand. She had been in such a good mood before, and in the blink of an eye it was like being transported to a nightmare. Walking helped after a while. The wheels started to turn, thoughts started to creep in and gain speed. The horror of what just happened really hit her then. What Shizuo must have seen and why he was angry, but even more pressing was the fact that he hit her. Broken rib, she could deal with. No problem. Yet, she imagined what he must have been thinking to do it. The intent had to be there. He had to want to hit her. The clarity of that hit her like a hot knife, cutting into her skin. That hurt more than anything else. If it had been an accident, no problem. But, it hadn't been an accident. Kat ventured into the road, not concerned with traffic that screeched to a stop and blared their horns. Her mind kept racing, trying to figure out how to view what happened in a light that wasn't so terrible. She couldn't come up with any ideas. The sinking feeling that, somehow, her relationship with Shizuo might have just crumbled all around her, made her want to be sick. A loud, low horn blared through the air, interrupted her train of thought with its proximity.

Had she compared being hit by a bench to being hit by a truck? How Fate liked to correct her little misunderstandings.

The eighteen wheeler screeched to a stop, her body rolling several feet ahead of it. She finally stopped, after what felt like hours. Her arms lay out on either side of her. Her eyes stared blankly at the sky. She didn't want to care anymore. She just wanted to lay there and stare at the setting sun for the rest of her life. Some part of her was insisting she had lost Shizuo.

Tears pricked her eyes, but she couldn't bring her expression to fit them. She continued to stare into the sun, glad that it at least wasn't blindingly bright anymore. She was in such pain, much more than being hit by a bench. She hurt all over, feeling like... well, like she'd been hit by a truck. And that wasn't even the worst of it. Again, her brain whispered to her "Shizuo hit me with a bench. On purpose." God, was it even possible to hurt so much? "I hate my life..." At the moment, it was the only thing she could think to say.

The man in the truck ran out, crying, "Hey! Lady, are you still alive?" She turned her head towards him, unable to find the will to speak. "What where you thinking, running out into the middle of the road like that!" He sounded horrified, worried, scared out of his wits at what he'd accidentally done. At least somebody had done it on accident... "You could have been killed!"

"I don't care." There. Words. That was a start. Now, up, do more. Can't just lay around and mope in traffic. She slowly began to push herself to her feet. There. Three more ribs broken, along with her entire right arm all the way up to her shoulder. And that was just broken bones. The man looked positively shocked that she could get to her feet so easily. He staggered back, frightened when he caught sight of her sullen red eyes.

"Wh-what are you?"

She stared at him until he backed away, back into his truck. She had only just managed to limp out of his way before the eighteen wheeler barreled by at top speed. For a few hours, she wandered, aimlessly trying to find Celty and Shinra's apartment. Needless to say, she was hopelessly lost. The pain intensified with each movement, but she ignored it. She would be healed by tomorrow. When she found herself walking with the sky dark, she finally noticed the same yellow-white kitten following her. It mewed concerns to her, rubbing its body sweetly against her leg. Kat stared it down for a moment. How long had it been following her? Surely not the entire time... It stared up at her, growing frustrated that she wouldn't pick it up no matter how hard it tried. Eventually, its claws seized her pants leg and it began to climb itself up, just as unconcerned with the little cuts it made up her leg as Katana was. When it found itself perched on her shoulder, it clung there as she walked and stayed quiet. Kat didn't try to make it leave, nor did she pet it. She just let it be and kept on walking pointlessly for a few more hours. Occasionally, claws would cut through her skin when the cat started to slip, but it would straighten itself out and let go.

Eventually, her feet found their way up to Celty and Shinra's apartment. She stared at the door, trying to find her enthusiasm to knock but being unable to. What if Shizuo was in there, being tended to cuts from Izaya's flick-blade? What if he flipped out upon seeing her and destroyed Shinra's apartment? So, for ten full minutes, Katana found herself just standing in front of the door and staring at it. Eventually, tears started up again. She couldn't stop them and didn't try. Her left arm raised, knuckles rapping softly against the wood. It was a soft sound, but a few seconds later, Celty opened the door. She jumped at the sight of Katana, beat up, bleeding, and crying at the doorstep with a kitten on her shoulder. Then, she ushered Kat in and ran to fetch Shinra. Kat sat on the couch when directed to, moved when Shinra asked her to, but didn't say a word and couldn't stop crying.

"Izaya was here earlier," Shinra commented, leaning back but remaining knelt in front of her. Katana didn't care for hearing about Izaya, so she said nothing. "He was pretty banged up, too." She didn't want to hear it. "He didn't tell us what happened, just that it was another fight with Shizuo." Why was he telling her this? "Did Shizuo do this to you too, Kat?" Oh... That's why.

Celty's phone was thrust in Shinra's face. Kat could still read it from the angle. "Don't be absurd, Shinra! Shizuo loves Kat. He wouldn't hurt her." The first noise Kat made since coming to their home was a sob. Her shoulders jerked, sending sharp ripples of pain, and she started to cry harder than ever. Celty jumped, typing quickly, "Kat, what's wrong?"

"He hit me with a bench," Kat wailed, wrapping her arms around Celty's stomach despite the horrible pain. She sobbed like she had after seeing Kai. "He aimed right at me! I was choking Izaya, but he didn't even—didn't even hit him! Just me! Celty, he hates me!" The kitten on her shoulder began to wail with her, distressed by Kat's rush of emotions. "I can't stand the thought of living in a world with a Shizuo that hates me! I'd rather—I'd rather die!"

She kept on hysterically relaying what happened through fits of tears even after Celty left, curling up on the couch and hugging her knees to her. If she wasn't so upset, she'd feel sorry for Shinra, who was left to try comforting her and a hysterical kitten.

.

.

.

Celty found Shizuo walking towards his house. He looked up at the sound of approach. She didn't slow when he started to open his mouth. Instead, she rammed her familiar into his chest, jumped off, and shoved her cell phone in his face.

"You hit her with a bench?"

Shizuo blinked a few times before he realized what Celty was talking about. He glared at the Dullahan, pushing the cell phone out of his face as he snapped back, "She kissed Izaya!"

The phone was back in his face in record-breaking time. "I don't care if she kissed Shinra! She hasn't stopped crying since she got to our apartment! She thinks you hate her!"

Shizuo was quiet for a moment, pushing himself back to his feet. He shoved his hands in his pockets and growled lowly, "Yeah, well, maybe I do. Anyone who could have dated a bastard like Izaya—"

Celty cut him off with a punch. "The past doesn't matter!" And she was speaking—typing—from experience. "All that should matter is that she wants to be with you now!" Before Shizuo could more than a few spluttered, angry words in, Celty had already typed more. "She's been saying she'd rather die than have you hate her! Does that mean nothing to you?"

Without waiting to hear an answer, Celty wheeled around, jumped on her motorcycle, and zoomed off, still furious with the blond. What did the past matter? Shinra had made her realize that it didn't. All that mattered was the present, making new memories. Izaya was the sort of person who would try to ruin anything good, and Shizuo knew that better than anyone, so why didn't he realize that he was doing exactly what Izaya wanted now?

As much as she liked Shizuo, she was fully confident that all that violent testosterone had turned him into one major idiot.

.

Shizuo didn't come looking for Kat. Kat didn't leave Shinra's and Celty's for days, even though her bones mended and bruises disappeared by the end of the next day. The couple didn't mind her staying, and Celty had quickly fallen in love with the feline who refused to leave Kat's side. Kat would sit on the couch, knees pulled to her chest, and quietly watch Celty manipulate her own shadowy substance for the kitten to play with. After a day or two, Kat even started to join in, forming a hand out of her shadows to grab the kitten when it was busy with the wispy smoke coming out of Celty's neck. For a kitten, it was ferociously brave and full of endless energy.

"What are you going to name him?" Shinra asked on Katana's third day with the couple. He gave Katana a cup of coffee and sat down beside her on the couch, watching like a smitten boyfriend as Celty crawled towards the feline, which was preoccupied with attacking Kat's toes.

Kat considered this carefully. "Shi-chan." The said kitten leaped a foot into the air, doubling in size when Celty grabbed him from behind. He hissed and spat, darting around the coffee table to pounce on Celty's back. Celty's shoulders bobbed, and Kat could tell the Dullahan was laughing.

Shinra blinked, undoubtedly able to tell where she had thought up the name. It wasn't all that hard to see, considering its fur looked just like Shizuo's hair and "Shi" was the first part of his name. But, Shinra smiled and simply said, "A fitting name." And that was why Katana considered Shinra one of her best friends.

It was quiet for a while longer. Then, "I decided I should go talk to Shizuo tomorrow."

Celty sat up, Shi clambering onto her shoulder. Shinra looked at Kat curiously. He offered a response after only a short pause, "Good. I hope you two can work things out."

Celty grabbed her phone off the coffee table and typed, "If he gets angry again, let me know and I'll run him over with my bike again."

This provoked a small laugh. Katana smiled as she said, "You really are charming, Celty."

The day passed quicker than Kat wanted it to once she declared her decision. Before she knew it, she and Shi-chan were back in the house she hadn't dared to come near for the past four days. It was empty. Kat didn't know whether to be grateful for this or distraught. While she tried to work out which one it was she felt, she sat on the couch and let Shi-chan play with her long black hair. Eventually Shi lost interest and started attacking her toes, so she wiggled them absentmindedly and stared at the ceiling. Would Shizuo tell her to leave? Would he start throwing things at her? Would he want to talk things out? Would he even come home, or did he find it filled with too many bad memories now?

But, after a few hours, Kat heard the familiar scrape of the key being inserted into the lock. Shi, who was so out of it he didn't even so much as twitch, remained curled in a ball on the center of the coffee table. Kat rose quietly to her feet, unsure of herself and what to do, what to say, what to feel.

Shizuo dropped the grocery bag in his hand once he saw Kat standing awkwardly beside the couch. Kat bit her lip, averting her eyes. She was anxious; if things didn't work out, she didn't know what she would do. But it definitely wouldn't be pretty or dignified—she was thinking along the lines of crying and begging and having to be literally dragged out of the house. That type of self-deprecation wasn't her style, but she was desperate to keep him. Suddenly, she thought of that wife making a fool of herself in front of everyone at the park when her husband left her, all those months ago... She wondered if Izaya caused that break up, too.

But, as she opened her mouth and tried to think of what to say, Shizuo surprised her. He closed the distance between them and kissed her angrily, violently. He heaved her off the ground, slamming her back against the wall. Her legs wrapped around his middle, hands sinking into his blond locks. She kissed him back, needing to match and even overpower his need. She gasped for air when they parted, he panted. Their faces were only inches apart. His yellow eyes bore back into hers. Out of the blue, she remembered for the first time that she'd lost her sunglasses when he'd hit her. That thought was quickly thrown out of her head and labeled just as unimportant as the fact that he had hit her.

"I had flings with Izaya off and on when I visited Japan," she told him between kisses. His grip on her thighs tightened, and she was sure there would be bruises, but he didn't stop kissing her. When she had enough room and enough air to speak, she did, "It was nothing special. I was just using him to get information for Boris. He slept with me because he was bored and got information from Boris. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to lose you."

"I'm better than him." The statement was a low growl against her throat, where his lips were pressed. A dangerous, commanding statement. One she better respond to properly.

She pulled on fistfuls of his hair. "In every way imaginable." He pressed her into the wall even harder. She felt like she was being compressed, and the wall gave the tiniest of cracks; a testament to how strong he was even when he was holding back. "God, in every way, Shizuo."

That was all he needed to hear to rip her off the wall and carry her upstairs.

Shi opened his eyes, looking upstairs at the sound of a crash, perhaps a lamp or vase being carelessly knocked into by someone preoccupied with more important things. He was a smart enough cat to know better than to venture upstairs into the bedroom. Instead, he closed his yellow eyes and went back to sleep.

.

.

.

"You want old boyfriend's address, yes?" Naida asked, eyes becoming as round as saucers in that excited way of hers when she knew the answer to something she found interesting.

Kat folded her arms under her chest and nodded reluctantly. Boris smirked, resting his fingers across his face as he leaned forward in his chair. Naida was strewn lewdly across his lap, so she wrapped her arms around his neck to ensure she didn't fall. Katana was in Boris' office, which was more or less a harem. His concubines—handpicked by Naida—were either sleeping next to one another or smoking some sort of drug that Kat didn't want to know about. Kat wrinkled her nose; this was the sort of company she kept years back? Sure, she never joined in, but it was still disconcerting to imagine herself even sticking around such people for hours at a time. Granted, she still considered Boris and Naida friends. Just... not the sort she'd willingly spend hours with. At least, not anymore.

"I have address," Boris told her, pulling out a piece of paper. "It was very hard to get, Katya. What will you give for it?"

Kat's eyes darkened as she stared at the paper. Naida gasped and asked, "You back with new boyfriend, yes?" Naida's eyes flicked over Kat's shoulder, where Shizuo stood a far ways back at the doorway. Kat gave a small nod, sure she didn't want to hear why Naida was asking. "He is very strong, no? How is sex?"

Katana glared at Naida, then shifted her gaze to Boris. But Boris grinned and motioned for her to answer the question. A growl rose up Katana's throat—like hell she was going to give those two perverts the satisfaction! Boris chuckled, waving the paper tauntingly out of Kat's reach. Answer the question and get the paper, or keep her dignity and spend months finding out the address on her own? She was ready to storm away, but forced herself to instead spit out, "Rougher than anything either one of you could ever manage."

Naida burst into giggles, demanding, "Proof! Show proof!"

Katana reached for the paper, fully intending to ignore Naida, but Boris withdrew it. He grinned, just as entertained as Naida. The shadow taking the form of Katana's body on the floor shuddered, ready to leap up and attack. Eyes set for another brief moment on the paper, Kat turned around. Never before had she allowed herself to be so degraded. She pulled up her shirt until all of her back was exposed. She was careful to keep her eyes cast away from Shizuo's. Naida gave a soft intake of air. The bruise was purple at the center with angry red splotches and brown around the edges, and it covered all of Kat's back. It kept on going down past her pants, but she refused to go that far. And she wasn't even about to pull Shizuo in closer to show the healing bites on his shoulders. If this wasn't good enough, that's where she drew the line.

"So?" Boris snorted. "I have done worse to Naida."

Kat looked over her shoulder, glaring at Boris, both disgusted and embarrassed. "We haven't had sex in a week." Boris' eyes grew round in new-found appreciation for the bruising on Kat's skin. Kat's body, which recovered from even the worst bruising in a day at most, still recovering from bruises? She could practically see him envisioning what it must have looked like fresh. Naida gave a very shrill, very loud squeal of pure delight. A few of Boris's mistresses looked around in dazed curiosity. Naida hopped over the desk, knocking down a box of cigars and empty bottles. Her fingers ran down Kat's bruises. When Kat growled, Naida giggled, dancing back to Boris' lap. There, she buried her face in his neck and spoke in rushed, excited Russian.

Kat's nose wrinkled in disgust as she processed what Naida was crooning to Boris. Kat yanked down her shirt and ripped the paper out of Boris' hand. Boris didn't seem to mind; he was far too preoccupied with what Naida was muttering to him. Kat wheeled around and stomped towards Shizuo, who had already opened the door impatiently.

"Oi, Superman," Boris drawled, making the irritated duo stop. "Don't break my transport. Go easy on her, yes?"

Shizuo scowled. "I did," he spat back. Naida gave another shrill squeal and burst into hysterical giggles.

Kat tugged on Shizuo's arm, turning him around and leading him out of the room. The door slammed behind them. The couple said nothing for a while once they were outside. Finally, Kat opened the folded slip of paper and read the address. A few seconds were spent trying to imagine the path they would have to take. She shoved the paper towards Shizuo. "It's hopeless. I'll get us lost in seconds."

Shizuo lit his cigarette while reading the address. There was another moment of silence between them before he casually asked, "So, why haven't we had sex in a week, anyway?"

Kat relented and allowed an amused smile to spread across her face. "Because your boss and my boss seem to like arranging our schedules so one of us is working when the other isn't."

Shizuo nodded, muttering, "I'm going to have to have a talk with Tom about that..."

Kat laughed, slipping her hand in his. She was very pleased to see that things had gone back to normal between them. After their passionate reunion, Kat and Shizuo had agreed to forget all about the fact that she had dated Izaya Orihara and that Shizuo had hit her with a bench. Perhaps hearing about how she had been hit by a truck also made him a bit more sympathetic, but all the same he was also willing to forgive that she never mentioned dating Izaya before being forced to. Either way, their relationship was back on track, and they had decided to pay Izaya a visit.

"Shi-chan." The kitten hiding behind the trashcan darted forward at the call of his name. He lunged, clawing his way up Kat's leg until she picked him up and allowed him to perch on her shoulder. She glanced at Shizuo. He pointedly started leading the way to Izaya's home. "You still won't let him sleep inside, Shizuo? Even though he's so sweet?"

"He doesn't sleep inside because he's not your damn cat," Shizuo told her shortly. "He's a stray, and he's staying a stray."

Kat frowned ruefully. "He hates Izaya," she told Shizuo hopefully. "And he likes you, too."

As if to back up her words, Shi-chan crept across the back of Kat's neck and began to paw sweetly at Shizuo's shoulders. A purr filled the air, and Shi-chan meowed in an oh-so-loving way, trying to get Shizuo's attention.

Shizuo tensed his shoulders, taking a step away from Kat. His hand let go of hers. "No."

Kat's eyes fell to the ground, her shoulders slumping. "But I like cats..." she mumbled, sulking, "and they never like me..."

On that depressing note, silence blanketed the couple. Kat set Shi on the ground, staring at him sadly as he gazed up at her, trotting along. Her hand found Shizuo's, but she couldn't bring herself to look up and start a new conversation.

Eventually, Shizuo startled her by offering a frustrated growl and snapping, "Fine! We can keep the stupid cat! Now will you stop looking so damn sad?"

Kat's eyes widened, looking up at Shizuo in surprise. Then, a broad, happy smile stretched across her face. "Really?" she asked, hardly daring to believe what she heard. "Really, Shizuo?"

"He better learn how to go to the bathroom outside, because I'm not getting a litter box," Shizuo told her sternly.

Kat couldn't contain her excitement, she threw her arms around Shizuo, squeezing him to her. "Thank you, Shizuo!"

His muscles relaxed, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, chuckling quietly in her ear. People passed by the couple, and Kat could vaguely hear them questioning if that was really the Shizuo Heiwajima, the angry brute who destroyed everything in sight. She didn't care, too thrilled that she wouldn't have to cast the kitten away.

Pulling away, she turned to the kitten and scooped him into her arms. He purred contently, licking her chin before nuzzling her neck. Kat beamed at Shizuo, beside herself with good-will and cheer. Shizuo frowned, his face and ears turned a light shade of pink as he muttered, "Did you really have to name him Shi-chan?"

Kat didn't bother to pretend like she didn't know what he was talking about. She held the kitten beside his head. "But he looks just like you, Shizuo! He acts like you, too! When he gets angry about something, he shreds everything in sight." She giggled at the sour look that crossed the blond's face. Her fingers found his, and they resumed walking by Shizuo's lead. Kat sobered somewhat, humming as a thought occurred to her. "You know, Shizuo, if you don't like cats, I can always give him to Celty. That way, I can still see him and Celty can play with him all she wants." She grinned, unprotected red eyes glimmering. Mysteriously, the sunglasses she bought kept on disappearing; she wasn't sure whether to blame this on Shi-chan or his namesake. "I just didn't want to have to put him back on the streets. The dogs aren't nice, and I hate to think I'd be leaving him to fend them off on his own. But, Shinra would let Celty have anything she wanted, I bet, and she definitely likes Shi-chan. So, you really don't have to let me have him just to make me happy. I would be just as fine seeing him at Celty's, so—"

"Kat." Kat closed her mouth, looking up at Shizuo. He smiled. "Don't give him to Celty, and don't think you have to give him up for me. As long as there's no litter box, I really don't care."

Again, Kat's heart was warmed. She let it show on her face, and a content purr rose from her throat to mimic Shi's. This piqued Shizuo's interest. "Is that how you got your nickname?" he taunted.

Kat shook her head. "Nope. I'm just great at mimicking the sounds of animals, thank you very much. And Kat is my international name, really. In Russia, I'm Katya Butler. In America, I'm Katrice Butler. Here, Katana Butler. In Germany, Katarine Butler. In Ireland..."

And for the rest of the walk, Shizuo would think of countries and quiz her on what people called her by there. If she hadn't been there or didn't have a specific name, Shizuo would offer absurd-sounding names that made Kat snicker, though he genuinely didn't see what was so funny. By the time they reached the deceptively normal-looking building, it took Kat a while to control herself after a particularly ridiculous name for visiting Switzerland.

"Okay, Shi-chan," Kat set the kitten on the ground. "You stay here, understand?" The kitten's yellow eyes flashed to the electric door, then back to Kat. He mewed. Kat crouched, pressing her finger between his eyes. His eyes crossed trying to see her finger. "You'll be in charge of guarding the place for us, okay? Feel free to attack Izaya on sight, okay?"

Shizuo was finishing off his cigarette. "I doubt he knows what you're say..." Shizuo trailed off when the kitten turned towards the sound of footsteps. At once, he puffed to twice his size and charged. Izaya's eyebrows shot up as the cat attached itself to the sleeve of his traditional black jacket lined with fur. Shizuo caught Kat's smug grin and stomped out the bud of his cigarette. "Alright, so maybe having him around won't be that bad," he relented. Katana giggled.

"I believe this is yours," Izaya told Kat sourly, holding the yellow-white kitten out by the scruff of his neck. The feline twisted, hissing and spitting and digging his claws into whatever he could.

Kat accepted the feline, scratching his ears and muttering, "It's okay, Shi-chan. Calm down, darling." It didn't take long for Kat to ease the cat into a state of bliss, scratching his ears and messaging his scalp. Shi purred, turning something not quite solid but not quite liquid, and closing his eyes contently. Funny how easy it was to compare him to his namesake. Shizuo had pretty much the same reaction to her head messages.

"Shi-chan?" Izaya repeated with a scoff. "That's so disgustingly sweet of you, Butler-chan."

Kat responded before Shizuo could throw something, "It must be quite the blow to your ego to know a kitten could take you."

"If I wanted to, I could have killed that precious Shi-chan of yours in a second," Izaya purred. "But, I didn't, because I don't like seeing you cry, Butler-chan." His crimson eyes turned to Shizuo. His grin was mocking. "Can you say the same, Shizu-chan?"

Kat stepped in front of Shizuo as soon as Shizuo started to take a step towards the nearby lamp post. She smiled, depositing Shi-chan into his arms. "Why don't you take Shi and go for a walk?" she suggested with a sweet smile. Shizuo glared her down. She pat his arm. "Don't worry. You'll be close enough to hear me screaming and setting things on fire. But, we need to keep in mind why we're here, and I don't think you can tolerate Izaya long enough for that." She frowned, cocking her head. "Sorry, but it's true, isn't it? You're very honest with your feelings, which is a quality I like, but it won't help right now."

He sighed, grumbling as he turned and stalked away. Shi pounced on his shoulder, looking at Kat. When Izaya stepped beside Kat and put his arm around her shoulders, Shi-chan hissed.

"Don't worry, Shizu-chan, I'll make sure to take good care of her while you're out of the picture."

When Shizuo turned the corner, Izaya and Kat heard the familiar scream of metal as a street sign was yanked out of the ground and thrown into other solid objects. Kat turned her head to Izaya. She offered a smile, holding out her hand. "Care to dance, Izaya?"

Looking more amused than curious, Izaya took her hand and they started a slow waltz. Kat hummed unfitting music. Izaya seemed to be enjoying himself. It was easy for Kat to forget the present and remember the things she had actually liked about Izaya. His quirks, his odd little mannerisms, the fact that he, like her, loved humans.

"We're not all that different, you and I," Izaya told her, as if reading her mind. That was likely, in a sense. He was very good at predicting and judging what people would do and think.

Kat smiled. Despite everything he was and everything he did and that she occasionally wanted to kill him, she didn't hate Izaya. He might cause a lot of trouble and everyone who met him rightly hated him, but he was still human. She had initially come back to Japan to kill Izaya on principle, not really for revenge or personal feelings of hatred. It was only fair that Ami see justice, Katana had decided, and Izaya—though he had no legal guilt—was essentially her murderer. But, with things taking the turn they were, Katana decided that she would have him seek atonement instead. So, if he helped her with her question, she wouldn't try to kill him. It seemed like the fair thing to do. "Except that you like to torment humanity and watching the way they react while I like to help them and see them act at their best," she agreed. Izaya grinned.

Izaya rested his forehead on her shoulder, pushing her against the wall to the apartment building he lived in. "You're my better half, Butler-chan," he cooed. His grip on her wrists tightened, and he looked up at her with glimmering crimson eyes. "That's why you should love me too."

Kat smiled at the way he attempted to look like a pleading puppy; it would work so much better if he wasn't smiling. "I do love you, Izaya," she assured him, running her fingers through his hair as he leaned his weight into her. "I love you just as much as I love everyone else in the world. The only one I love more is Shizuo." She closed her eyes, smiling warmly. "I wonder, sometimes, that if we were destined to be opposites. You hate him most in the world, yet I can't love anyone more."

Izaya pulled away, hands in his jacket pockets and pulling the unzipped halves apart. He sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I just didn't see that coming, Butler-chan," he lamented. "If I had known you would fall for Shizu-chan, I would never have driven you back to Japan."

Kat laughed softly. She hooked her fingertip under Izaya's chin and tilted his head upwards. He watched her. "I would have found that much sweeter if you hadn't used Ami to drive me back. Honestly, Izaya, if you just wanted to see me again, you could have done it in a way that wouldn't make me want to kill you." But, she knew precisely that that wasn't the way Izaya worked. He wanted to toy with her, put her in a miserable situation and see how she reacted. To him, she was human, after all. She was just one of the humans he took a special interest in. He 'loved their relationship' as he had so stated on a few occasions.

"You really would have killed me, Butler-chan?" Izaya propped, feigning hurt.

Kat hummed thoughtfully. "If I thought it would do Ami's death justice." She shrugged. "But, I found Shizuo before we could get that far, and you tried to ruin our relationship." Kat frowned at him. "I really would have killed you then, Izaya, out of pure anger alone. No justifications, no logic, just emotion. You should thank Shizuo for hitting me, actually." She pressed her palm against his cheek. Her thumb rubbed across the skin just under his eye. He closed the eye when her thumb began to trace under his eyebrow. "I'm glad he did; I would have regretted killing you later. I don't like hurting people. And if I were to kill you for Ami, I would want to kill you with that intention in mind."

"How touching, Butler-chan! I didn't know you cared so much!"

Kat laughed lightly, withdrawing her hand. "Even though you do a lot of things I don't like, I still want you to be happy like everyone else in the world." She was ready to leave, but she hadn't even brought up the subject Shizuo and her had tracked down Izaya for. "But, as for why I'm here..."

Izaya's eyes lit with cheer. "Oh, yes, do tell me why you're here. The anticipation is killing me."

Katana stared at him for a moment. He knew why she was here, and he loved it. He had no want for her to ever love him, nor did he even really love her. What he loved was how their relationship had worked in the past, and he didn't seem too keen on letting that working relationship go. "Izaya, you must be a masochist."

His eyes brightened even further. "Say it, Butler-chan. I want to hear it."

Katana blinked. "Why do you want to hear that I'm here to simply get information out of you?" It was one of the things she both understood and couldn't possibly fathom.

He was lit with dark glee. "Because, Butler-chan, I'm dying to be used by you," he told her happily, stepping closer to her. If she hadn't stayed leaning against the building wall, she would have taken a step back. He was invading the unspoken bubble of privacy everyone had. "I thrive on it. I can't get enough. Even if you aren't pretending to be in love," Katana found it both interesting and amusing that he didn't make that statement a "Even if we aren't pretending". Then again, she reasoned, he had never made any pretense of being in love with her. Or even believing her when she pretended. He'd always known what she really wanted. Katana had always found it bizarre that he seemed to love nothing more than the real purpose to their relationship, "I can't imagine a more wonderful relationship."

"You sure do have a strange way of getting your kicks, Izaya," she pointed out, eyebrows raised. He just smiled, waiting. She sighed. "Well, to each their own, I suppose. Now, if you're so eager to give me what I want," she grimaced, feeling a bit... wrong. Somehow, it didn't seem right to so bluntly use someone, even if they were more than willing, "I would very much like for you to tell me what you know about the people hunting me down. And don't," she added irritably, "pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. You know everything going on in this city."

Izaya considered her for a moment. Then, he sighed ruefully. "Come on, Butler-chan. You can do better than that."

She refrained from groaning in frustration. Instead, she grabbed hold of his shirt, pulling him closer. His eyes at once focused on hers, lit with delight. In the small space between them, she growled, "If you don't tell me, I'll kill you for Ami's suicide."

He laughed, pulling away. She let him go. "Now that's more like it, Butler-chan!"

Once Izaya had told her everything he knew, Kat smiled warmly and pat his shoulders. "Thank you, Izaya. And, as a form of my appreciation, I'll tell Shizuo you ran off somewhere."

"Oh, Butler-chan, I'm so touched!" He laughed, adding when she turned her back to him, "You might also want to consider having more sex with him. All that pent up frustration will make him more violent."

"Already planned on it," Kat snapped back irritably. Izaya giggled, disappearing into his home. Kat rounded the corner and grinned at the sight of Shizuo sitting on a bench, a street sign held aloft in hand. Shi-chan was curled on his lap, and Shizuo was scratching the kitten's cheek absentmindedly. "I found out how useful not trying to kill Izaya is," she hummed, scooping Shi up so she could take his place on Shizuo's lap. Shizuo scowled at her moodily. He still didn't like any insinuations that Katana got along with Izaya. Perhaps a part of him felt insecure. To make him feel better, she added sweetly, "Not by much, don't worry." His muscles relaxed, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Basically, he told me numerous places they've been rumored to be—I'm sure he knows which place is their real location, but," she sighed, "that's too much to ask for. They use Kai to search for me, because we automatically try to find each other. It's in our nature as," she couldn't come up for a better word, so she settled for the simple, "siblings. It's not proving to be very effective so far because Master isn't stupid. He doesn't want me found. Still, Izaya said I shouldn't expect him to be able to stay away for much longer. Whoever these people are, they're getting better control over Kai. Apparently, at first he refused to even leave the building under direct orders. Over time, he's been losing more and more of his will-power. So, before Kai tells them he saw me or comes to see me again, we should probably start looking for these people."

"Where's the first place?" Shizuo asked in a low voice.

Kat smiled, but shook her head. "No," to his nonplussed scowl, she went on to say, "we'll start looking for them soon, but first, we have something to take care of, don't we?" Shizuo blinked at her, as lost as ever. He stared until she sighed and kissed his throat. "Something we haven't done in a week?"

She laughed when Shizuo hoisted her into his arms, pleased to see he had caught on. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her in the direction of their home, Shi contently curled on her stomach.

"I love you, Shizuo." Kat sighed contently. "More than anyone or anything in the world."

Shizuo pulled her closer. "The feeling's mutual."

Kat was warmed, closing her eyes and rested her head against his chest.

.

.

.

"You know, for a guy in high school, you're a pretty good dancer. It's so unusual to see people your age dancing like proper gentlemen."

"Well, you gotta know how to impress the ladies." He winked back at her. "If you ever dump Shizuo-san, I'll be willing to offer you a shoulder to cry on."

Kat laughed, letting the blond twirl her. For the past few days, she had found herself getting to know the trio she often saw watching her while she sang. They had been the ones who had been attacked by Kai. They had mentioned seeing her dance with Izaya, and ever since they had taken up dancing with her or letting her teach them how to "properly" dance. She had been left to make friends with high school kids because Shizuo was either busy at work or busy investigating the places Izaya had mentioned. Kat had been angry for a while, since Shizuo refused to let her tag along in the off-chance that one of the places really was where her pursuers resided. Eventually, she got over it, because she knew he just wanted to keep her safe, especially if it was information coming from Izaya. Given how difficult it was for Shizuo to accept any form of help from Izaya, Kat was quick to forgive, as long as he swore not to charge in and kill everyone without her if he did find their new hideout. So, she had taken to visiting at the park when Celty was busy, and eventually, the trio had finally introduced themselves to Kat.

"Hey," a voice growled to their left, "I heard that, runt."

Kat erupted into new giggles, highly amused with the way Masaomi blanched and stopped touching her at once. Shi-chan gave way to excited mewling, ripping himself out of Anri's arms (he had taken quite a liking to Anri) so he could clamber up Shizuo's leg. He rubbed his face against Shizuo's cheek once finding a place on the blond's shoulder. Shizuo roughly ruffled the cat's head, motivating Shi to playfully claw and bite Shizuo's fingers.

"Don't worry about Shizuo, Omi-kun," Kat told the sandy blond cheerfully, patting his shoulder. "He knows you were joking." Shizuo raised his eyebrows, lips pulled into a small, skeptical frown. Kat scratched her cheek, grinning sheepishly. "Or, at least, he knows you were joking now... Really, Shizou, lighten up. Like anyone would dare try to seriously hit on me. If not because you'd kill them, then because I'd give them nightmares for the rest of their life." Kat realized the look Masaomi was giving her and laughed, quickly offering, "Not that I'd do that to you, Omi-kun. You're too cute; I'd feel bad."

There was a growl. Masaomi started inching back, waving his hands frantically, "O-oh, Kat-chan, you're too kind! Really! You shouldn't say stuff like that in front of your boyfriend, who you love so much. He might get the wrong idea. And hurt someone."

Kat grinned. "I know." She shrugged. "It's fun watching him get jealous—I'm just kidding," Kat singsonged when Shizuo lifted her off the ground by the back of her shirt. She laughed, not at all intimidated. Undeterred with being held in the air, she turned her head to look at Mikado. A happy grin spread across her face. "So, Mika-kun, can I join the Dollars?" Mikado's eyes widened, mouth flapping open. Kat laughed brightly at his expression. "Izaya Orihara and I are alike in some ways—oh, don't make that noise at me, Shizuo, we are," Shizuo had offered a revolted snarl in protest. "We both love humanity—though I'm not insane about it—and we both are excellent at getting information. So, don't look so surprised. I know more about this city than most people who have lived here their entire lives. Of course I know you made the Dollars. And I want to join. Can I?" She stared at him in wide-eyed hope, for all the world innocent and pleading.

"I don't know—"

"Pleaaaase?" Kat widened her glossy eyes further, giving her the resemblance of a doe, and offered him her best, most pitiful look. It worked like a charm, for Mikado slumped his shoulders and nodded. Kat clapped her hands together, delighted. "Yay! I'm part of a gang! I'm gonna get in gang fights and tell people not to mess with the Dollars! Jeez, Mika-kun, I'm joking." She was set back on her feet, and rolled her eyes. "Why doesn't anyone have a sense of humor? In America, you can't take anybody seriously. I love how ridiculous everybody is, even when they're arguing about nuclear weapons and getting kids to exorcise."

Anri smiled, asking, "Do you like it in America, Kat-san?"

"It's so much fun there!" Kat exclaimed, throwing her arms out on either side of her for emphasis. Her eyes were with with excitement instead of pleading now. "There are so many interesting people! I could watch Americans in the big cities forever. They're so fascinating."

"You ready to go?" Shizuo asked bluntly, lighting a cigarette.

Kat turned to the trio, as bright and cheerful as ever. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow," she offered, kissing Mikado and Masaomi on their foreheads before pulling Anri into a friendly embrace. She kissed the girl on the cheek, adding, "And don't be afraid to call me if you see the Master again. I've been on the lookout for him."

"We'll let you know," Masaomi assured her.

She waved goodbye over her shoulder before turning around and taking Shizuo's hand. "I take it by how you're not covered in blood and injuries, there wasn't anybody at that place either," Kat guessed, unsure if she was glad or disappointed. Surely, she wanted to find them, but she didn't like the idea of Shizuo going off on his own to find them. With his temper, he'd charge in and try to kill them all on his own, even if he promised to wait until she was there. An unpleasant feeling she couldn't quite put a name to eased down her spine at the idea of what would happen if he were to get killed in the process. She squeezed his hand tighter, just to assure herself he was alright.

"No," Shizuo muttered bitterly. "I swear, if that damn rat lied to us..."

"If he did, we know where he lives," Kat soothed, adding simply, "I would imagine he'd crack under a bit of torture."

She actually didn't believe that at all, but it helped Shizuo's mood lighten as she had hoped. He grinned at the idea, his eyes meeting hers over Shi's tall, dignified posture. Kat couldn't help but grin back. True, she didn't hate Izaya, but after the things he had put her through—namely more or less killing her friend and trying to turn Shizuo against her—she didn't have much of a problem saying such things. She might not be particularly fond of violence, but if it served a real purpose, she wasn't particularly against it. As for torturing a person... Kat had been tortured first-hand. She could numb herself to the idea of putting someone through that, if it was necessary. Survival was a cruel thing, and Kat was particularly great at surviving.

"Want to get something to eat before you have to go to work?" Shizuo offered offhandedly.

A grin wormed itself across her face. "Know a place where they let in cats?"

.

Katana raised her head slowly, shuddering at the way the entire world spun. She felt like she was going to be sick. When she tried to move her hands to wipe her face and rub her temples, she heard the clink of moving chains and felt the pull of shackles around her wrist. She squeezed her eyes shut and didn't need to look to know she was restrained in the same way she had been two hundred years ago. She tried to instead focus on how she ended up in this situation. She remembered being at the park with her teenager friends. She'd just taught Mikado how to Waltz... And then the shadows had risen up on their own accord, wrapping around her like rope. They whispered sad apologies upon refusing to listen to her commands. Footsteps. Master, looking miserable and worse than ever, had touched her cheek, tilting her head to look at her. "I'm sorry, Butler," he'd whispered. Behind him, men in suits with guns and all looking stoic and brutal. Izaya standing a little ways behind them, grinning at her in that malicious way of his. "I... I couldn't stop myself," Master had mumbled.

She'd struggled, but hadn't been able to get away. A man had covered her mouth with a rag, had to do so for several minutes before her muscles started to weaken and they hauled her into a van. The last thing she'd seen before the door slammed shut, Shizuo tearing a lamp post out of the ground and charging. Then, nothing. It was easy to conclude that Shizuo's attempts had failed.

"Ah, so she awakens at last." Katana's nose wrinkled, a growl rising up her chest on its own accord at the voice. She remembered that voice, vaguely, from two centuries ago. He laughed. Her growling turned into a thunderous sound, and she yanked her arms against her chains. She raised her head to glare at him, eyes luminous in the dimly lit room, and bared her teeth. "Such spirit! And to think, we had thought you were broken two centuries ago. Silly of us," the man snorted, "you were just recovering your strength. Well, we'll be taking measures to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Katana's wrists yanked against the shackles again. The man was standing in the shadows at the opposite end of the room, but she could still make him out. Those dark eyes—she hadn't forgotten them for a second since escaping. Beside him and his smug smirk, a camera was set on a tripod, a little red light letting Katana know it was on and recording. For what, she didn't know and didn't quite care. All along the walls, men, evidently there as protection encase she got loose. At least they didn't have guns. She couldn't stand guns. Knives and clubs she could deal with. She didn't see Kai anywhere in sight.

"I'm going to rip your spine out and keep it as a trophy once I'm out of here," she snarled. "You think you can control me and keep me contained?" She laughed darkly. "I'll make you understand why people should fear the dark."

"Ooh." She snarled at the tone of delight in his voice. "I will enjoy breaking you. Do you want to know how I beat that brother of yours into submission?"

Again, Katana jerked against her chains, at once furious. "Shut the fuck up!"

"Yes, he was quite brave. Showed no signs of breaking, screaming and cursing horrific deaths upon us once he finally got free—just like you for the longest, up until a few weeks short of your escape."

"Shut up!" Katana's voice was rising. The chains gave shrill, small groans of protest. A man took a precautionary step closer, knife in hand.

"But, when we told him you'd escaped without him—abandoned him. Left him to die or worse, if you will..." Katana stopped struggling suddenly, eyes widening in horror. The man chuckled at the reaction. "Well, he just gave up completely. He was heartbroken. His own sister had tossed him to the wolves. It was easy to break his spirit then." Katana gave a wordless, angry scream, thrashing against her restraints. She wanted so very badly to be free and destroying the man before her. The shadows weren't responding to her silent calls, and she couldn't conjure any fires. The man hadn't been bluffing; they'd created something new to make sure she didn't escape through her various talents. It only infuriated her further. She despised being helpless. The strain of the shackles against her wrists had long since cut into her skin, but she didn't notice. "And would you like to know something else?"

"I would like to know the names of your children so I can rip apart the little devil spawns!" she shrieked.

The man simply chuckled at her threat. "Sadly, my wife died little over two hundred years ago without giving me any sons or, Lord forbid, daughters," he didn't sound all that sad about it. He sounded pleased, if anything. "Now, as to my little surprise."

"Save it, I don't want to hear it," she growled.

"Oh, but I know." He paused, maybe for dramatic effect, maybe to wait for her to stop yanking against the chains. "Do you know why this camera is here?" Katana stilled, red eyes narrowing as she flicked them from the man to the said camera. The man grinned. "You're being streamed straight to every television and screen in Ikebukuro, by request of the delightful little informant that told us where you were hiding." Katana's eyes widened. Shizuo... As if he'd read her mind, the man continued, "Do you think your little boyfriend is watching, crying his eyes out and whining about how helpless he feels?"

Through her mounting rage, Katana had to laugh. Her laughter grew louder and harder, and she doubled over as best she could in her kneeling position, hair hanging as her shoulders jerked.

This made the man pause, and he sounded angry when he asked, "And what's so funny, Butler?"

Katana cocked her head back and laughed at the ceiling. "You think he's crying?" she giggled, raising to her feet. The shackled groaned more than ever, cutting into her skin enough to send trails of blood down to her fingertips. "You think Shizuo Heiwajima is crying? Clearly, you haven't done your homework. I don't know how you've survived the last two hundred years, human," She grinned, so furious about everything that it felt ridiculous, "but I can assure you, you won't live to see the next century because of this. Either I will kill you," her eyes lit to a glowing shade of red at the pleasure of that thought, "or my so-called helpless boyfriend will." A purr rose up her throat, making her dark laugh sound thicker. She very nearly didn't sound completely human. Imagine that!

The man snorted. "We'll be keeping you well drugged, so that's not going to happen. And as for your boyfriend, I'll just have him killed so—"

He made a noise of alarm as Katana gave a particularly savage yank and the chains finally snapped in half. She snarled, charging at the man closest to her. She slapped away the blade in his hand, grabbed hold of his shirt, and thrust his head against the wall. Blood smeared on the stone wall when his body slid to the ground. A club hit the back of Katana's skull, but she simply whirled around and grabbed the man's throat. She squeezed until there was a sick squelch, then threw him into another bodyguard. A knife slid into her arm, but she just yanked it out and wielded it as her own. She slashed the man's throat that had stabbed her. Blood sprayed over her. She laughed, hoarse and wild sounding, nearly delirious with adrenaline. She charged at another guard. She drove the knife into his chest, sending him crashing to the ground with her on top of him. She yanked out the knife and threw it with precision at the man by the camera. He cried out in pain, gripping his knee. Katana scowled for a moment; she'd been aiming for his throat. Then, she bounced back to her feet, avoiding the club that instead crashed into the dying man's stomach. She whirled, hitting a man in the head with her heel. She laughed again, dancing out of the way of two more.

"Come on!" she barked, evading a man and twisting his arm behind his back. She used him as a shield for the blade that was aimed for her shoulder. "I was born to do this! Can you say the same, little humans? I am a true predator—and you are all so weak!" She laughed, smashing another head into the wall. More men were piling in. It felt good, fighting. The adrenaline rush was exhilarating, her blood pumping. It was in her nature to enjoy fighting. She didn't like senseless violence, but she did enjoy the violence when it served a purpose. To kill those that were a threat to her was also a sadistic pleasure, part of her programming to help ensure her own survival. She was enjoying herself quite a lot.

When the man in charge shouted for backup and Kai walked in, however, her fun ended. The bodyguards, on the man's order, backed away from Katana. Kai looked at her, miserable and struggling to stay put. His presence, though, was like an electric charge. Her entire body was tingling with energy, every cell on her body ten times more aware and alert. She felt better, and knew she must have the same effect on Kai. So... how bad was he when she wasn't around? The thought was too disturbing to consider.

"Kai," she breathed.

"I'm sorry, Kat," he mumbled, taking a step closer. "I don't want to do this, but... but maybe you can escape again. I.."

"I'm sorry," Katana whimpered suddenly, rushing because she had to say it. She had to explain as soon as possible. "I lost my memory before I escaped. I couldn't remember anything but what I needed to survive. If I had remembered you, Kai, I would have never—"

Kai smiled, taking a begrudging step closer. "It's okay. I never held it against you. I thought, well, if I gave them something to work with, maybe they wouldn't go after you. I was wrong. Please, kill me while I can still resist." Katana looked at him, eyes round with pain. "Please, sister."

She shook her head. "I can't."

Kai squeezed his eyes shut. The man in control of him growled, "What are you waiting for, Master? Restrain her."

Kai shook his head. "No," he ground the word out between his teeth. "I won't force her to become some puppet."

"You will do as your told!"

"No!" Kai's voice rose. The shadows shuddered all around him. Katana felt that lovely pull heighten, and for a moment she could hear the excited whispers of the shadows. But they were quieted by whatever drug they'd given her while she was unconscious, and then the second had passed and there was nothing but the deafening silence again. "I won't! As long as I am able, I will fight to keep what little dignity and honor I have left! I will not be the one to destroy my sister as you have destroyed me!"

"I won't fight you, Kai," Katana told him, dropping her arms to her side. She bowed her head, staring at the ground. Anywhere but at that camera, because she knew Shizuo would be furious with her. But, she had to do this. She couldn't—wouldn't—leave her brother ever again. "And I won't abandon you twice. Either we both leave here or neither of us do."

"Restrain them both!" barked the man to his bodyguards. The guards approached wearily. One hit Katana's back with a club, shoving her to her knees with his free hand. She didn't resist, staring up at her brother remorsefully. He was soon brought down to his knees as well, handcuffs put around his wrists to match Katana's. The man limped forward, knife still in his leg, and produced a needle from his white coat. He stuck Kai with it, and the shadows around him shuddered and rose up, then collapsed with a silent wail only Katana and Kai could hear. And then, the silence was back. Katana couldn't stand it. She was so used to hearing the shadows whisper to her; having them muted was like suddenly discovering you couldn't see out of one eye. It was disconcerting and horrible. Kai squeezed his eyes shut when the needle was ripped out of his arm. The man growled, his anger clear, "You will be punished for this, Butler. Two centuries have gone by with Master struggling to resist, but he has always submitted. You show up and suddenly he starts rebelling again. Yes, you will be punished for this."

Katana lifted her eyes to him, red eyes hard and impassive. "I am going to enjoy every second of tearing you apart once we're free, Doctor. I will make sure every curse my brother put on you is carried out with thorough efficiency." She held her head high, glaring defiantly back at him. "You will regret the day you tried to collar your betters."

He slapped her with the back of his hand. "That sense of dignity and superiority will be gone soon, I assure you. Soon enough, that regal pretense will be stripped away and you will be a barbaric demon, just like your brother."

She spat blood on his lab coat. "You can try all you like, Doctor."

He slapped her again. She laughed, grinning back up at him. Her red eyes were luminous. He snarled down at her. "Someone cut the camera! We've carried out our side of the deal with the damned informant."

Kai glanced over at Katana while a man fumbled with the camera. "I'm sorry, Kat."

She leaned over so her shoulder could press against his. He nuzzled the side of her head affectionately. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry too, Kai." If nothing else, at least she had Kai with her now. That was a comfort. She was in Hell, but at least she had her brother.

"Oh, for God's sake!" snarled the doctor. "I'll do it!" And he stomped over to the camera.

.

.

.

The camera was on again. That was a fact that irritated Katana to no end. She tilted her head, staring at the camera, silently willing it to burst into flames. Then, her eyes lifted to the bodyguard that had brought it in. He spared her and Kai no second glance and hastily made his way out, as if just being in the same room would somehow get him killed. It made Kat grin.

Kai stirred, looking over at her. "What's so funny?"

Katana lifted her eyes to him. He smiled curiously back at her. He looked tired, sore, like Hell, but he could still smile. It was something. She probably looked exactly the same as he did. "The guards are terrified of us, despite all the Doctor's and Midget's reassurances."

Kai's amused laugh was soft, but warm and genuine. They lapsed into silence for a minute or two. Kai was covered in bruises and cuts all over. His clothes were covered in dried blood and torn in certain places. He had a burn or two here and there. Katana was in no better condition. She was sore all over, but it was an ache she could ignore. Already, the injuries were healing. She was starving, which was more distracting than the pain, but she refused to complain or beg or show any signs of distress. She was a stubborn thing, and her dignity and honor mattered a great deal to her. Kai was the same way, suffering beatings and starvation in utter silence. When they spoke, it was only to each other and they kept the conversations relatively lighthearted. Neither of them complained or showed any anxiety about their situation, at least. Kai had shared countless stories of the past with Katana during the countless hours they were left alone. Katana had, upon his questioning, told him all about her time since escaping the Doctor's clutches. He had smiled the entire time she talked about Shizuo. Though the situation was less than ideal, Katana found herself happy to be near Kai again. It gave her a sense of completion to have him at her side, talking and interacting with her. Now, all they needed to do was kill the Doctor and his partner—whom Kai had long since dubbed Midget—before they figured out a way to completely control the two of them. Then, they'd find Shizuo, and Katana would be as happy as was realistically possible.

"Hey, Kai?" Kai looked up at Katana, silently motioning for her to speak. "How is it Doctor and Midget have survived for as long as they have? They're human, aren't they?"

Kai opened his mouth and made an "ah" sound. He sighed, going to run a hand through his hair and grimacing when his shackles didn't allow his arm to raise that far. He settled on keeping his hands in his lap and shaking his hair out of his face. "Well, that's partly why they want us so bad," he explained. Katana was quiet, patiently waiting for him to go on. He did, "We have the ability to extend a human's lifespan to match our own, their aging process stopped from the moment we offer them this gift and their health strengthened considerably."

"Immortal, in other words," Kat clarified.

Kai nodded. "Basically, except they are still as physically frail as humans generally are." Kat's lips twitched upwards at the "generally" part. He'd been particularly impressed when Katana explained Shizuo's unusual physical traits. "They can still be killed, while we are virtually impossible to kill. At least, no human act or disease can kill us. Only we can kill ourselves, and that would take some effort, I think." Katana nodded; she'd suspected this since the loss of her memory, but it was nice to have confirmation. "We can extend human life because we're naturally attracted to humans. We pick a, er—well, mate is such a primitive term and lover is so suggestive," Kat laughed at his discomfort. He smiled. "We pick a... husband or wife, shall we say, and keep them with us as long as they desire it."

Kat cocked her head at this, curiosity burning in her. "Did we ever have any said husband or wife?"

She regretted asking as soon as she saw the pained look on Kai's face. "You never took a romantic interest in any humans—Well, let me clarify, you did take various interests, but nothing that ever lasted long enough to justify offering them a permanent place at your side." Katana hummed; that seemed like her. She'd had a few flings with humans in the past two hundred years, but nothing that ever lasted for very long. Shizuo was the first permanent relationship that she could remember. She had a feeling he was the first permanent relationship she'd ever had. Kai spoke again, so Katana gave him her full attention. His words were slow, painful, "I... had a wife. Her name was Afton, and she was a beautiful woman that had no capacity for being mean or hateful." Katana frowned; she had a feeling she knew where this was heading. "She adored you, she adored us both. You were her best friend, and you often liked to take her out to numerous places, shower her with gifts, and treat her like a younger sister." A wistful smile crossed Kai's face. "She stayed with us for three hundred years, and never tired of me. I loved her more than anyone I have ever met. And by my love for her, you loved her as well."

Katana cocked her head. "What do you mean?" She had an idea, but... she wanted to hear him explain himself.

He inclined his head to nod to her. "We are one and the same. The only difference between us is our physical forms and independent minds. Two cuts of the same cloth, if you like. We are connected to one another, tied together. We are drawn to any beings similar to us, but drawn most to each other. That is why you have always routinely returned to Japan, and why I have longed to go to various countries over the past years. In part, we pick up on each others' feelings. It's not as strong with distance of any sort between us, but it is there. Because my love for Afton was—is—so strong, you couldn't help but adore her as well. Granted, your love was in a different manner than my own," he smiled. Katana snorted her amusement, "but it was in part because of my own feelings."

"What happened to Afton?" Katana's prodding was gentle.

Kai heaved a heavy sigh, frowning at Katana sadly. "When we offer immortality to humans, we take a piece of our shadows and turn it into a drink for the human. It is something they must drink every year, or they will revert back to their human lifespans. Afton was just about to need to drink again when they captured us. Without it, she... perished."

Katana attempted to reach across and touch his shoulder, but the resistance reminded her that she was shackled. She gave an annoyed exhale and dropped her hand. A small moment of silence fell between them. Then, "So, the Doctor and Midget have been... using you for all these years?"

Kai nodded. "They hadn't quite figured out how to use our shadows before you escaped—neither of us were very helpful in that area—but they knew the shadows must be taken away from us. Their... demonic tools," he wrinkled his nose, and Katana felt a similar disgust as she visualized that metallic claw, "made the process painful, tearing in ways shadows were not meant to. What we offer is a gift and an honor, and should only work when offered willingly. They tore their hair out, trying to figure it out themselves and trying to beat out an answer from us." Kai's smile wasn't very friendly. "They have used dark magic to tear our gift from us and use it for their own greed. They have used even darker magics to try to collar us like disobedient dogs. They want to control us so we will give immortality to them willingly—it's much more effective that way—and, eventually, to do their dirty work. We are very resilient bodyguards and effective weapons, you see."

"I see," she agreed. Katana's eyes looked past the camera, to the closed door. When she spoke, her voice was flat and matter-of-fact, "They will die soon enough."

Kai gave a warmed purr, a smile curving across his lips. "Yes, they will."

The two of them looked at each other and, inexplicably, started to laugh. It hurt her ribs to laugh, but it felt good to laugh all the same. It was like a small relief from the heavy tightness in her chest. She tilted her head back, resting it against the stone wall, and held her side with an arm. When their fit died down, they were silent, listening for the sounds of someone approaching the room.

"Hey, Kat," Katana turned her head to Kai, "didn't you say your employers were, like, top-notch investigators that could find out anything they set their minds to?"

Katana's lips curved upwards in amusement. "I did."

He snorted. "Then what's taking them so long to find us?"

Katana laughed outright. "I dunno." She turned her head to the camera. "What's taking so long, Boris? You disappoint me. I'm ashamed to call you my boss!"

Katana and Kai were still laughing when guards came in and started the usual evening beating. It looked like they had decided to broadcast it. Katana had a feeling that was Izaya's doing—he'd love to use it to get to Shizuo.

.

.

.

Kai and Katana had had enough of waiting for help to come, so they had thrown caution to the wind and took matters into their own hands. It had taken some time to wear down the shackles and find weak spots—the Doctor and his short partner in crime had gotten stronger metal after Kat had broken her first pair—and the cuts had been quite painful, but the metal had eventually given in. It was disconcerting to run down the hallways, unable to hear the shadows whispering to her, but Katana had pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Hopefully, the fact that guards routinely came in to give the siblings shots meant the drugs wouldn't permanently cut her off from manipulating shadows.

Kai and Katana, on a silent agreement, weren't looking for an exit. They ran aimlessly, killing any and all of the guards they passed. The building was large, but it didn't take long to find the Doctor and Midget.

Doctor had cast aside his usual coat, but Midget was still dressed finely in a suit. Kai went for the shorter evil, Katana took out the two bodyguards at the door. After the bodyguards were dead, the turned to Doctor. Doctor raised a gun, eyes round with fear.

She smiled at him, slow and purposeful. Her shoulder jerked when he shot it, but she prowled forward undeterred. He shot her again, hitting her heart that time. She raised her eyebrows. He really needed to get stronger bullets. These were no better than the ammunition from older days, when duels were acceptable. With all his fancy technology, one would have thought he'd update his guns! Doctor shot her again and again, and by the time she was close enough to press the barrel of his gun against her forehead, the gun was out of ammo.

"Now, what was it I said about fulfilling all of those nasty curses Master put on you?" she purred.

"Master! Stop her! I command you to kill Butler!"

Kai grit his teeth, but remained towering over the shorter man's corpse. "No," he growled. "I will not." Then he smiled, "Your magic isn't as strong without your accomplice, is it? He was the better sorcerer, wasn't he?" Kai's tone was delightfully mocking, "You were the one who made up the idea, but he was the one who could really make it happen, am I right?"

"No, please!" Doctor gasped, backing himself into the desk. Kai and Katana had found them in their shared study. "It was—it was all his idea! All of it!"

"We don't care," Katana singsonged. She grabbed his hand. "Now, let's see. How about we start with snapping each one of these preciously breakable fingers, hmm?"

Kai loped towards her and Doctor, grinning maliciously. "That sounds like a perfect idea, Butler."

"Why, thank you, Master."

.

Katana and Kai, both covered in blood from various guards, Doctor, and then more guards on the way out, were stopped in the lobby of the building by a surprising sight. Katana stared, then started to laugh. Kai joined her after a moment to watch one terrified guard get thrown across the room. They were still leaning on each other for support, but had enough energy to laugh. That was a good sign.

"Well, damn," laughed Kat. "I almost feel bad for our terrible timing. They would have been able to swoop in and save the day if we'd waited a few more hours."

"Funny how things work out for us, isn't it?" Kai agreed with a giggle.

Shizuo, in the middle of interrogating the guards charged with patrolling the front, hadn't yet noticed Kai and Katana. Boris and Naida, guns out and more strapped to holsters, looked amused as they watched Shizuo shake a guard, then mercilessly toss him across the room. Celty was the first to notice Kat and Kai. She raced over, cell phone instantly all but thrown in Katana's face.

"Are you alright?"

Katana smiled. She was exhausted beyond measure, aching all over, and starving, but she decided that, yes, she was alright. "I could go for a bath and a buffet, but otherwise, yeah, I'm fine."

Kai let out a purr as he exclaimed, "Oh, I second that. A bath and buffet sounds like absolute heaven."

The two of them laughed, so relieved to finally be free. It felt like a dream, too easy and certainly too good to be true.

Shizuo finally looked around at the sound of laughter. His eyes widened. "Kat!" he cried, heading straight for her. Celty stepped out of the way. Katana went to hug Shizuo, but hesitated. He noticed and frowned at her, stopping short of sweeping her off the ground. "What?"

She smiled at him sheepishly. "I don't want to ruin your clothes. I'm all bloody..." Shizuo glared at her. She held up her hands in defense. "What? Those are clothes from your brother. I don't want to—Oh. Well, fine. Ruin your clothes, then." He had grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight hug. Katana laughed softly, closing her eyes.

"I see this is Shizuo," Kai commented, a purr in the back of his throat.

Shizuo turned his head towards Kai. Katana opened her eyes and lifted her head as well. "How'd you know?"

Kai snorted. "Well, for one, you said he was strong and I just saw a man get thrown across the room. And two, the second I saw him, I automatically got this good feeling. I don't even know him and I adore him. I'd say that's your fault."

Katana couldn't stop grinning. "Right." Then, she looked back up at Shizuo. "I really don't want to ruin your clothes, Shizuo."

"Shut up," he grunted, tightening his grip. "I do."

Katana sighed, resting her cheek on his chest for a short moment. "I missed you," she mumbled and nuzzled the side of his head with her face.

He let out a shaky sigh, and she was certain his hug would break a rib if he didn't let up. "I missed you too."

Naida ruined the moment by complaining loudly, "So, this mean no shooting? No violence?"

Katana managed to squirm out of Shizuo's grip. His hand found hers. She was reluctant to hold his hand because hers was covered in blood, but he had her fingers trapped in an iron grip that would probably end up bruising later. Katana rolled her eyes at Naida and Boris, both of whom looked sorely disappointed, but smiled. "So sorry, but my dear brother and I decided to kill off most of everyone already. At least, everybody in that direction," she waved vaguely to the right, "If you two want to go up and take care of anyone we missed, feel free," Katana shrugged, wincing at the pain that erupted from doing so. Bullets may not kill her, but that didn't mean they didn't hurt like a bitch. She was going to have to go to Shinra to get them removed from her flesh. "Once I'm up to it, I plan on coming back and burning this place down, anyway."

"I second that," Kai repeated, scowling. "So many awful memories here. So much pain..."

Naida let out a pleased squeal, tugging on Boris's wrist. "Come! Let's play with leftovers."

Katana grimaced at their enthusiasm. "If I wasn't aware they don't kill people as a general rule, I'd be disturbed at my choice of friends..." She paused. "Wait, they already disturb me, so there goes that."

Kai laughed. Katana grinned at him. Celty held up her phone for Katana to read. "Come on. Shinra's waiting for us. You two need to be looked at."

"Shinra?" Kai paused, screwing up his face as he recalled his memory. "Oh! Right, he's the doctor who likes the Dullahan—Celty, yes?" Celty nodded her helmet. Kai held out his hand, smiling. "It's an absolute pleasure to meet you. Kat's told me a lot about you and all her other friends."

.

Katana and Kai had taken turns cleaning themselves off in Shinra and Celty's shower. Kai went first, since Shinra insisted the bullets had to come out before the wounds closed themselves up. When Kai came back out, dressed in some of the clothes Shinra let him borrow (which were a little too big on him, as he was a bit smaller in build than Shinra), he found Katana in her bra and pants. She was cringing, gripping Shizuo's hand, as Shinra extracted the last bullet, which happened to be the one directly over her heart.

"It's really actually quite amazing," Shinra voiced. "These bullets should have gone straight through your bones without a problem, but your bones must be ten times stronger than human bones. To actually break them must take..."

"Getting hit by a truck?" Katana suggested dryly. Shinra looked at her sheepishly. She smiled. "Yeah, funnily enough, I figured that out."

Kai laughed, rubbing the white tower over his messy black hair. "That is a story I must hear," he voiced, amused. "But, if you are free of bullets, the shower so graciously offered to us is all yours, Kitty Kat."

Katana checked herself for more bullet holes Shinra might have overlooked. When she found none, she glanced at the man for confirmation. He smiled kindly. "You're free to take a shower, I've got all the bullets and, knowing your body's resiliency, you'll be fine without my aid."

Katana dipped her head appreciatively. "Thank you, fair doctor. I like you much more than the other doctor I knew." She grinned. "Coincidentally, he's dead." Kai let out a bark of dark, delighted laughter and nodded.

Shinra laughed lightly. "Well, I hope that doesn't mean I'm next," he joked.

Katana rose, not bothering to put on her shirt when she'd just remove it a few minutes later. "Perish the thought, dear doctor!" She smiled brightly. "Celty would be very upset with me if I killed you... and I would be upset with myself, as well. I'm rather fond of you, I've decided"

She stretched her arms above her head. "I hope after a nice shower, we'll be getting something to eat?" She looked at Shizuo hopefully. He nodded. At least he'd calmed down from when he saw the extent of her injuries. "And I would hope Kai could come with us? I'm sure he must be very hungry as well."

"Do you really have to ask?" Shizuo scoffed. She beamed, then bent to kiss his cheek. He closed his eyes, leaning against her touch, so she the kiss linger, though she'd initially planned on it being a brief one. Then, he turned his head and kissed her lips, short and loving. "Go take a shower," he told her. She laughed, nodding and saluted him before sauntering away.

After a wonderfully hot shower, Katana changed into some of Shinra's clothes (since Celty made her own clothing) and padded out of the bathroom. The clothes were too big for her, since she had roughly the same build and height as Kai, but she'd rolled the leggings up so she wouldn't trip and the shirt was short sleeved.

In the living room, Shinra, Celty, and Shizuo were sitting on the couch. Kai was taking a great delight in playing with Shi-chan, who had evidently been staying with Celty and Shinra. Katana assumed this would be because Shizuo was too upset about her abduction to take care of the kitten for the past three weeks. Not that she was being cocky or anything, just logical.

To her delighted surprise, someone had called in Chinese food, and there were generous amounts for Kai and Katana. Her stomach grumbled its want, and Katana made her way over to the group. "I cherish whoever it was that called in Chinese," she declared, plopping down next to Kai. Shi-chan began to mewl nonstop at the sight of Katana, hopping into her lap and purring loudly. Katana smiled, scratching behind the feline's ear.

"That was Celty's idea," Shinra explained.

Katana spread her hands out in Celty's direction. "I cherish you, Celty!"

Kai grabbed one of the boxes, breaking his chopsticks apart. "Seconded," he rumbled, swallowing a mouthful of noodles. "Oh, so cherished."

After downing an entire boxful of food, Katana slowed down long enough to talk. "So, Kai," He swallowed too much food and blinked several times as his eyes watered. She took a moment to snicker childishly at him. He stuck his tongue out at her. It really was like finding the other half of her soul. Or some such nonsense. "What are you going to do now?"

He shrugged. "Well, I know I'm going to go wherever you go. It's not in our nature to be able to tolerate being separated for long, and it's what we did before all of this kidnap and slavery rubbish."

"What did we do before all of that rubbish?" Katana questioned curiously.

Kai hummed, thinking it over. "Mostly, we traveled the world, made up various games to pass time, got bored and involved ourselves in human politics for fun, picked up hobbies, made friends with humans, and people-watched." He took a long, greedy sip of his water. "When there were wars, we'd become mercenaries and fight for the side we supported." He peered at her curiously. "Why, you plan on picking up where we left off? We'd just came to explore Japan for the fifth time and reacquaint ourselves with the people there."

"Hmm. I think I'm going to stay in Ikebukuro for a while," she voiced, looking purposefully up at Shizuo. Shizuo smiled. "I like the people here."

Kai laughed and nodded his head. "Understandable. Then, I'll stay here with you."

"But I live with Shizuo," she pointed out.

Her male counterpart shrugged. "If living with you two is unacceptable... Well, then I'll buy my own place. Or buy a place so big Shizuo wouldn't mind moving in with us, because it'd be big enough to pretend you two lived alone..." He looked at Shizuo innocently. Shizuo just raised his eyebrows, frowning.

Katana's eyebrows rose. "With what money?" By the way Kai just laughed at her, she suspected her question was somehow absurd. "What?"

"How do you think we got by for all the years before you lost your memory?"

Katana was feeling distinctly foolish, and turned a light shade of pink. "I dunno. Natural charm and a pretty smile?"

Kai snickered at her for a moment longer. "Centuries upon centuries ago, we started to invest our money wisely. Even though we haven't kept up with it for two hundred years, we still have plenty to last us a few more absurdly expensive human lifespans. And it's both of ours, dear sister. We have always shared it equally."

"Oh." Katana was pleasantly surprised. "That's... good to know." She frowned, then. "I really wish I had all my memories. I feel like there are so many things I'm not remembering. Important things."

Kai pat her shoulder, smiling warmly. "Don't worry, I'm here to remind you if anything important comes up," he assured. "We never parted since our birth."

Katana finished off her second box and raised her eyebrows. She was distinctly aware the others were letting them talk, and was grateful that they were refraining from interrupting. "And now that you mention birth..."

"Ah, yes." Her brother nodded. "We weren't born in the human sense. We were never tiny, defenseless babies." Katana cocked her head and eyed her brother with interest. "We can control fire, yes? Well, not right now, but normally, we can. That is because we were born into the world with the death of the man who embodied fire."

"That would make for one lousy metaphor," Katana snorted. "'With the light extinguished, darkness was born.'"

The two of them giggled derisively for a moment. "Yes, well, lousy metaphors aside, it's how we came to be. His energy split in two, and he created a daughter and son just hours before his death. He was our father, of sorts. He had wanted children since as long as he existed—and how he came to exist, I do not know—but the effort ultimately ended his life. As he said, he was ready to rest for eternity. We spent our first hours with him, giving him comfort and company as he faded from this realm and went on to the next."

"So, we were born looking as we do now," Katana clarified. That was not what she had expected. "And we are the only ones of our kind."

Kai nodded. "Yes. He created us to represent shadows and darkness, but some of his abilities were inevitably transferred. We won't age, we cannot die from disease—though we can suffer through things like the plague and common colds," Katana made a face. He offered a similar look of displeasure, "and no human means can kill us. We don't need much sleep most of the time, but resting is wise. Ahhh," he scratched his cheek, searching for more facts of their shared nature, "our senses are generally better than humans..."

"Singing attracts animals, yes?" Katana asked.

"Ah, yes," answered Kai. "Once, a man compared that talent to a metaphor for the way darkness is seductive. He was a lousy poet and even worse at trying to gain your interest, but it was comical to see him try at the time."

Katana snorted. "I doubt I appreciated it."

Kai grinned boyishly. "You didn't. You threatened to eat his mother—oh, you were in such a terrible mood that night, though I can't recall why. Your bad moods have always been so frightening—at least, that's what the Afton would say."

The mention of his deceased lover made Katana's mood fall. "Perhaps... perhaps you were wrong, and she didn't have to drink every year. How can you know for certain—there are no others like us to tell you that is must be so..."

Kai shook his head. "It just... always felt that way. Please, do not try to make me hopeful. It is hard enough to accept she is gone without hoping and looking and being proven right."

Katana sighed. "It's very frustrating to not remember her."

Kai hummed. Then, he clapped his hands together and smiled brightly. "But, enough sadness! We're celebrating our victory! Happy times deserve happy faces. New topic, please."

There was a moment's pause. Then, Katana exclaimed, "Oh!" and made Kai and Celty jump. Shi-chan gave a meow of protest and curled in a tighter ball in Katana's lat. "I forgot to tell you while we were chained up," she grinned broadly at her sibling, who looked back at her curiously, "I'm part of a gang!"

Kai raised his eyebrows, looking amused. He glanced at their company for confirmation. Shizuo rolled his eyes.

"We all are," Shinra admitted. "It's not your typical gang, though. It's a group called the Dollars, they try to help people and do good things."

Celty held up her phone for Kai and Katana to read. "The Dollars actually made a lot of progress on tracking you down after you were abducted."

Katana blinked in surprise. "Oh? And here I was about to let Boris and Naida take all the credit."

"Well, they did most of the work on figuring out where you two were," Shinra admitted. He made a face, "They came over a few times to use our computer—apparently, theirs was attacked by a virus from some other operation of theirs," Katana snorted; she believed that entirely, "and all their systems went down for several days."

"Mikado kept on blogging about you on the Dollars website, asking people to post any new leads," typed Celty. "What Boris and Naida couldn't figure out, he did."

Katana was warmed. "Aww, I'm going to have to hug him the next time I see him. He's such a sweet gang leader."

Kai chuckled. "Mikado... isn't that one of the friends you told me about. He's a gang leader and he's in high school? Jeez, what's wrong with humans these days?" Kai sighed dramatically, slumping his shoulders and shaking his head. "Four centuries ago, people wouldn't join the equivalent to a gang if their lives depended on it. Their honor was worth dying for. Where did all of that self-respect go?"

"Right?" Katana agreed, throwing up a hand. "It's absurd! People these days have lost all their dignity. Even in the eighteen hundreds, they were still respectable. Even the beggars. They'd beg, sure, but they still had more dignity than a lot of humans nowadays!"

"Oh, those poor things," Kai sighed, placing a hand on his chest. "We would take in beggars whenever we came across them, you know. We'd give them a place to stay for a few days until they could get back on their feet. They were so grateful they didn't even try to rob us most of the time."

Katana cocked her head, leaning back on her hands. "And if they did try?"

Kai shrugged. "What are material things, really?"

A pleased purr rose up Katana's throat. "Ah, yes, that does sound like me. Us, I suppose is more accurate, isn't it?"

Roughly two hours later, all the food had been eaten, and Shizuo and Katana were saying their goodbyes. Shi-chan and Kai were being allowed to stay the night in Shinra and Celty's apartment. Celty and Kai, none too surprisingly, were proving to quickly become friends. Shi-chan had protested at the sight of Shizuo and Kat nearing the door without him. Katana had sweetly asked him to watch over Kai, however, and the cat had given a resigned sniff before crawling over to the said boy. You'd even think he understood what Katana had said.

At home, Katana stole some clothes of Shizuo's that he rarely wore anymore. The shirt was even bigger on Kat than Shinra's had been, but Kat wasn't complaining. It was a plain white button up shirt, and Katana thought she might have heard Shizuo muttering once that it was from when he worked as a bartender, before his brother gave him the clothes he wore now. She rolled up the sleeves until her fingertips were showing and pulled on a pair of her own red shorts. The shirt was so long on her that only a thin line of her shorts were visible when she lifted her arms above her head. She left the bathroom and all but collapsed onto the bed. She grabbed hold of one of the pillows and hugged it to her. She buried her nose in it and inhaled. Everything around her smelled like Shizuo, which was endlessly comforting. For the first time in weeks, she felt safe. Her muscles finally started to relax, uncoiling from endless days of being tightly wound up. The stress of what happened could finally sink in completely. Kat hugged the pillow closer, curling into a fetal position around it. Shizuo's footsteps sounded from downstairs. When he'd realized he'd let the dishes pile up throughout the time Kat had been gone, he'd muttered a curse and gone to wash them. Undoubtedly, because he was aware Kat would probably getting up before him and doing it—even if he told her not to. The door opened. Shizuo's footsteps paused as the sight of Kat sunk in.

"Are you... alright?" Shizuo sounded uncertain, and she didn't blame him. He was terrible at comforting people. "I mean..." He trailed off, offering a frustrated growl and running a hand through his hair.

Katana opened an eye to look at him from where she lay. "I'll be fine. It just... feels strange to be somewhere safe. I keep on waiting for someone to barge in and try to kill me."

Shizuo came closer to the bed. His expression was hard, angry. "They can try all they like. I'll tear off their heads before they can even touch you."

"I know," Katana was warmed and smiled to show it. "Being able to smell you and hear you and see you helps. Having you close helps. Very much."

Shizuo softened. He placed a knee on the bed, kicking off his shoes, and crawled over to her. He tugged the pillow out of her hands, and she readily let him. He laid down on his side in front of her, and wrapped his arms around her. She reached out with her hands and fiddled absentmindedly with his vest, relaxing at being able to touch him.

"I'm..." he swallowed a frustrated growl and tightened his grip around her. "I'm sorry," he finally grumbled out.

She looked up at him, sincerely confused. "For what?"

He lifted his eyes and glared above her head. "For not being able to stop them from taking you."

Oh. She hadn't expected that. "Oh, Shizuo, it's okay. I'm glad you weren't able to get to me. If you had, they would have shot and killed you. If that happened, I definitely wouldn't have had the strength or the will to fight them off when they tried to make me a mindless slave." Her eyelids drooped. "Besides, everything worked out. Pain is pain—To be honest, it was a lot worse the first time around, because this time they were already able to perpetually extend their lifespans, so they didn't need to take any shadows."

"Still..."

"Hush. I'm safe. I'm not a slave, my injuries will be healed by morning, Master and I are both free, and I'm not traumatized. I'm still a little jumpy, but I'll be fine by the time my injuries have healed and I can manipulate shadows again." She rested her forehead against his chest, lightly kneading his vest with her fingertips. "I'm relieved this is all over. I have Kai, and I have you. If I weren't so tired, I wouldn't possibly know what to do with all this happiness. Tomorrow," she laughed a little, "I will be thoroughly confused on what to possibly do with myself, I assure you."

She was rewarded with a small chuckle. They lapsed into silence. Katana felt blissfully warm in his embrace, her stress melting away with the security of his protection.

As the quiet between them stretched on, Katana found herself marveling at the man before her. This was a man who was prone to violent outbursts. He converted his frustration and irritation and nerves into anger and lashed out unexpectedly. He was bent on killing a man he had disliked from the second they met. He wasn't one typically big on words, and if it wasn't for Tom, he'd undoubtedly never keep a job.

Yet, Katana adored him.

He was a loyal man. He wanted a peaceful life, which wasn't too much to ask for, and got angry when Izaya got in the way of that life. He was got angry when he was embarrassed as a defense to hide the fact that he was a little shy. He was shy because his temper scared women away and left him with little to no experience with them. He loved his brother and was insanely nervous when it came to disappointing him. He was, in his own way, protective over his friends and family. Shizuo was a good man, with good heart and good character—temper set aside. And what was an anger problem to Katana? His extraordinary strength was nothing she couldn't handle.

Yes, Katana adored him. She loved him.

Perhaps it was only right that she did. She certainly couldn't see a normal human woman being able to handle Shizuo's violent outbursts or towering temper. And he so did deserve to be loved by someone. Katana was not without her own problems, either. Not very many humans were willing to see past the fact that she, herself, was not human. She decided that she was just lucky Shizuo loved her back, because she certainly would have loved him either way.

"You know," she started in a soft voice; the content silence seemed to demand quieter words, "I am so very lucky to have you, Shizuo."

Shizuo shifted slightly, tilting his head to look down at her as she tilted hers to look up at him. Shizuo watched her, silently waiting to see if there was an elaboration to that. There wasn't.

"I still can't see why you stay sometimes," Shizuo admitted. He avoided her gaze, frowning again. "Women have always avoided me. And why shouldn't they? It's my own faults that scare them off."

Katana frowned at him. He was perfect to her, and she wished he could see that. "Hush, love. I love you and all of your faults. You are perfect. I fear nothing, least of all you, so I doubt you will be scaring me off any time soon." She raised a hand to run her fingers through his blond locks. "I will stay until you cast me away, and even then I believe I would beg and plead for you to change your mind. Oh, how easily I would throw aside my dignity if it meant changing your mind." She sighed, closing her eyes.

"I'd never cast you away," he assured her.

Her eyes opened, a smile spreading across her face. She pulled his head down, reaching up, and they shared a kiss. "Then I will never leave you," she told him. "This, I promise."

He kissed her again before the two of them returned to their sociable silence. It didn't last long before Katana blurted out, "Jesus, I love your brother." Shizuo tensed, as he always did when someone mentioned his brother. She looked up and caught sight of his wide eyed, alarmed expression. She laughed, quickly amending, "I mean, you just look so handsome in this outfit. I love him for giving the clothes to you, even if I do have a habit of getting blood on them." She grimaced at the patches of dried blood staining parts of his vest and sleeves. "I'm sorry about that."

"Oh," Shizuo started to relax. "You really like these clothes?"

Katana beamed up at him. "Absolutely. I have always found such refined clothing attractive. The nineteenth century was a very happy time for me." She pat his vest. "It's really such a shame that men don't dress up like they used to unless it's a special occasion. But, at the same time, it just means I get to thoroughly appreciate how dazzling you look every day."

Shizuo grinned back at her. "Lucky me."

Katana laughed. "But you know what is so much more attractive on you, love?" He made an inquisitive noise. "Your sleeping attire."

Shizuo offered an amused snort, relinquishing his grip around her to sit up. She watched him get off the bed and start to undo the buttons on his vest. "You mean boxers?"

Katana stared at him, unabashed. "Why, yes. Yes, I do."

Once he'd stripped down to his boxers, he climbed back into the bed. She greedily wrapped her arms around his torso, pressing her cheek against his bare chest. He ran his fingers through her long black hair.

She loved this man. He was perfect. His faults, all of them, just seemed to make him all the more perfect. She loved every little thing about him, even the things that sometimes made her mad. She would kill for him—all he need do was ask. She would die for him in a heartbeat. Whether or not he accepted her offer to extend his lifespan (because she knew from the second Kai mentioned it that she would offer it to Shizuo) she would live the rest of his life by his side. When and if he died, she would follow shortly after him. And then, in the Beyond (afterlife, heaven, whatever it was called) they would exist together for the rest of eternity. She would be damned if she let anything get in the way of that happening. She would be damned if she let anything get in the way of being with Shizuo.

Katana closed her eyes and went to sleep, feeling exhausted, but safer and warmer than she had in days.

.

.

The End

Woooow! I finally finished something! Amazing! Tell me your thoughts about this, okay? I admit, I'm a bit nervous. I think a lot of parts were lame and stupid and cliché. But! If you agree, tell me so. I need constructive criticism. Did I get Shizuo and the other characters down right? I hope I didn't fuck up Izaya too badly. Let me know if I did. =)

I think I left off nicely enough. Meaning, I don't -have- to continue, but I've left it open enough that I can if I want.

There may or may not be a sequel. We'll see if I ever feel like writing it out. Ha ha. Thanks for reading!