Author's Note: Now, when it's well past midnight, and I am still up on the computer when I am hit in the head with a freaking MALLOT by a plot bunny that keeps me up 'til seven AM, I know I must be addicted to writing and fanfiction!
Anywho, as the note proclaims above, this was just a random imaginary scenario I thought of, and how a certain incident Shizuo happens upon sets all the howling demons of hell free.
Durarara!/デュラララ! is not mine, all copyrights go to Ryohgo Narita, ASCII Media Works, and all those who are due proper credit.
Do not sue me; I have a good lawyer (runs into the other room: DAD!)
To Have the Guts
Heiwajima Shizuo was a strong man: freakishly strong. There was no doubt about that; who else on the streets of Ikebukuro could lift a well-stocked vending machine and be strong enough to fling it, singe-handedly, or be able to uproot a street light?
There was also no doubt that many an Ikebukuronese feared Shizuo's violent temper and would scatter like ants in the other direction at any mention of his presence. That being said, it was no surprise relatively few people were able to get close enough to him to be called his friends, which included his employer Tom, the underground doctor Shinra, and even the Headless Rider herself. His younger brother Kasuka was absolutely a given.
However, there was also another person who was able to approach Shizuo without the danger of needing to be within three feet of a hospital with a highly skilled staff, and her name was Takegari Sarah.
Shizuo had first met Sarah when they were in middle school; she was the daughter of a Japanese store manager and an American environmentalist, and had originally lived in South Dakota with her parents and older brother, Sam. When Sam was killed in a car crash, the family moved to Mr. Takegari's hometown of Ikebukuro in an attempt to move on from the tragedy and start over.
Now, what had first struck Shizuo as odd about Sarah, aside from her abnormal physical combination of wild dark red hair and jet-black eyes, was her willingness to approach and befriend him even though he knew she had seen him use a stop sign to send about a dozen thugs twice his size flying towards Osaka.
"Hey. Mind if I eat lunch with you?"
Since she had seemed tolerable enough, and hadn't done anything to send him into a blind rage, Shizuo allowed her to take the spot under the schoolyard tree next to him for that day, as well the next day, and the day after that. Around the sixteenth day she sat next to him, Shizuo asked her why she would want to be around him after seeing him send maybe a dozen hundred people through the clouds since the first day.
All she did was give a genuine smile and said, "My mom's a bit odd; she raised me to believe that there was no such thing as normal, and how to read people. That and I'm used to being around people who are different from what's considered "normal;" if you were where I lived in South Dakota instead of here, you wouldn't have to worry about fitting in."
Not that Shizuo did worry, but the thought itself was nice. There were too many nosy bastards in the world.
Sarah's open-minded nature earned her the rare position of "Shizuo's Friend," and with it came guaranteed safety from Shizuo's monstrous strength, a safety many of Shizuo's would-be victims would become painfully jealous of.
The two became close friends indeed; they begin to tell each other about their interests, their families, etc., though most of the talking was done on Sarah's part; she told Shizuo that she liked to write one-sentence stories and that she had a cat aptly named Jinx, and she was able to learn about Shizuo's childhood and about his younger brother, Kasuka, on her own without him talking much. Sarah eventually even told Shizuo of what happened to her brother as well as the hardship that came with coping with the loss, and Shizuo in turn told her about how he felt about his strength, and not being able to control it when he lost his temper. Sarah listened to every word he said with unwavering attention.
"Maybe you can't control it by yourself," she had said when he finished talking.
"What?"
"Maybe you can't control it by yourself," Sarah repeated. "It could be that you need someone else there to help stop you."
"How? Last time I checked, anyone who's ever tried to 'stop' me ended up in on the other side of town."
"Well, duh. Those guys were on the receiving end of your punch; maybe I could be behind you and try to hold your arm back or something."
"Oh, yeah; that sounds really effective…"
"Thanks, Mr. Sarcasm," Sarah bit back. "But, it will have to work for now, until I can think of something better."
Sarah was a girl of her word: after that conversation, if there was ever a time Shizuo was tempted to hurl a vending machine at the poor idiot who had angered him and Sarah was around, she would try anything from pulling at his shirt to trying to actually hold back his arm from delivering the final blow.
"Stop stop stop stop STOP! SHIZUO-KUN!" She'd cry out as the idiots, adults and kids alike were sent flying.
Needless to say, her numerous attempts always failed. What she would get out of it were pulled arm muscles, shortness of breath that lasted a good fifteen minutes, and shredded shoe soles from digging her heels into the asphalt. A skinny twelve-year-old girl could only muster so much strength.
"Sorry," Shizuo muttered after one incident left Sarah mourning for her favorite shoe, which was so shredded, there was literally no sole left. "I did warn you…"
"Shut up. You're paying for these."
Pay he did. Those were some damn expensive Converses.
Despite the shoe-shredding incident, Sarah remained a loyal friend, and she was damned determined to try and help Shizuo control his anger. She never quit, even after she once broke her arm trying to stop him from severely injuring a school bully. When Shizuo came to visit her in the hospital to apologize, she accepted it without a second thought and repeated that he couldn't help it. When he said nothing, she smiled.
"What is it?" he asked when she did.
"Ah, it's nothing," Sarah replied. "It just…when you're not angry, you remind me a lot of Sam."
Hearing Sarah say those words made Shizuo feel a lot better – and awful for Sarah.
They remained friends, and Sarah kept up her antics of "helping" Shizuo, well into high school. During that time, Shizuo saw Sarah as a down-to-earth, good friend. And, as some kind of reward from the Other Side for trying to help the quick-tempered Heiwajima, her parents had another child during their last year of middle school – a boy named Allan. Shizuo had never seen Sarah look so happy that week.
By the time they entered Raira Academy, Sarah grown out her red hair until it reached her lower back, and although she remained skinny, adolescence had given her some fairly nice curves. Unfortunately, her newfound good looks attracted one too many a thug for Shizuo's preference, so anyone who had so much as given the redhead the wrong look would magically become airborne – at least for a few seconds before they needed an ambulance.
Shizuo seriously did not like it when someone with an X and Y chromosome* tried to become Sarah's "friend;" he had come to see the girl as his younger sister, even she was only a year younger than he was.
"You know, it would've been nice if I didn't have to pull a muscle on the first day of high school!" Sarah complained as she nursed her arm after one particular incident left it sore for the rest of the day.
"That punk was trying to mess with you," Shizuo simply stated.
"If there's someone trying to mess with me, you should trust me enough to let me handle it on my own. And you didn't have to break his jaw."
"Oh, really? So, I was supposed to ignore the fact that his hand was going for your ass?"
"On second thought, that pervert deserved to have his jaw broken."
Translation: she didn't even notice it happening.
Shizuo snorted triumphantly at his victory; it wasn't a common occurrence for him to win a verbal argument over Sarah. He didn't enjoy the win for very long, for he had noticed something different.
"Hey, what's with the shorts?"
"Oh, these?" Sarah gestured to the long shorts she wore under her school skirt. "Well, I don't any perverts lifting up my skirt to get a free show, so I'm wearing these underneath to make sure that doesn't happen. You know, I have no idea why Japanese school skirts are so short to begin with!"
"You look weird like that." Shizuo deadpanned.
"Shut up! You're not one to talk, Shizuo; you dyed your hair blond!"
"How's that weird?"
"I'm used to you having brown hair!" Sarah exclaimed. "So, you look weird with a new hair color!"
"Hey, Shizuo-kun!"
Shizuo and Sarah turned at the sound of the new voice; there stood a familiar smiling guy with brown hair, blue-grey eyes, and glasses.
"Shinra?"
"It's been a while!" Shinra greeted as he walked over to the two. "I almost didn't recognize you with that new hair color of yours! Oh, you're going to Raira, too? How have you been? Are you still able to lift trees out of the ground?"
This guys talks too much, Shizuo thought irritably while Sarah gave him a look that said, 'How does he know about you?' Shinra's attention shifted from his childhood friend to the pretty redhead standing next to him, and as usual of Shinra, he was one to jump to conclusions a bit too fast.
"Oh? Shizuo-kun! Did you actually get yourself a girlfriend? She's quite the looker – "
"She's not my girlfriend, idiot," Shizuo growled as he bopped Shinra on the head hard enough so that it would smart, while Sarah tried her best so that her face wouldn't match the color of her hair. "She's a friend from middle school."
"Just a friend, Shizuo-kun?" Shinra grinned suggestively.
"Shinra, I'm warning you…"
"I'm joking, I'm joking. Besides, you don't need to worry about me – I have my heart set on another woman." Shinra straightened himself out before bowing a bit to Sarah. "I'm Kishitani Shinra. I knew Shizuo from elementary school. It's nice to meet you."
Sarah bowed back. "I'm Takegari Sarah. It's nice to meet you, too."
Once formalities were taken care of, the three continued on their way to Raira. Shinra had no trouble striking up a conversation with Sarah (personally, Shizuo thought Shinra never had trouble coming up with a conversation with anyone), and he talked about how Shizuo possessed his unnatural strength even when he was a young child, and the injuries he would attain from it, and Shizuo had to bop him on the head again to shut him up. He also talked about his roommate, Celty Sturluson, and that she was the Headless Rider and a Dullahan. Shizuo and Sarah shared a questioning glance at that, almost not believing Shinra until they actually ran into the Headless Rider herself.
Shizuo didn't think much of Celty other than the strange vibe he got, but Sarah thought that it was impressive to meet someone like Celty. There were many stories of the supernatural that Sarah had remembered from her home in America, but to be able to meet one in the flesh was quite amazing.
The three went their separate ways once they finally got to Raira; unfortunately for Shizuo, that day would be the same day he would the ultimate displeasure of meeting the man who would be his archenemy for many years to come: Orihara Izaya.
"What happened?" Sarah cried out when she saw the condition Shizuo was in when she went over to his house to visit him. "Did you get into a fight when I wasn't around?"
"No, I got hit by a truck."
"You g – WHAT? Are you alright? How did that happen?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, and I was chasing a damned flea!" Shizuo growled.
Sarah gave him a blank, incredulous look. "You were chasing…a flea? Shizuo, I think you hit your pretty hard – "
"No, I wasn't chasing an actual flea! I was chasing a son of a bitch!" After snarling those words out, Shizuo got up and began pacing around his room, which was a usual habit of him losing his temper.
"So someone did piss you off – Shizuo, you shouldn't be moving around like that!"
"I'm fine!"
"Alright, be that way," Sarah muttered in an annoyed tone; she tries to help and he yells at her? She saw how it was. "Who was it? He must have been pretty fast if you had to chase him."
"He was some guy from Shinra's middle school; a louse named Izaya."
"Izaya? Orihara Izaya?"
Shizuo paused in his rampant pacing and looked at Sarah in surprise. "Yeah – how'd you know his full name?"
"Well, there's an Orihara Izaya in my homeroom, so – "
And the alarms were sounded.
The next fifteen minutes were spent with Shizuo shaking the redhead vigorously by her shoulders and telling her in intricate detail why she should never go within fifty feet of Izaya (How, Shizuo? she had asked. He's in my homeroom, he's six feet away from me); another additional fifteen minutes of making her absolutely swear never to have any interaction with the louse whatsoever. Sarah finally headed home after that, with an annoyed look at the ice packs on both her shoulders; Shizuo headed over to Shinra's apartment, where he knew the flea was having his injuries treated by that idiot doctor-to-be.
For a while, things were normal, to say the least: Shizuo and Sarah would hang out, people would piss Shizuo off, and Sarah would risk more pulled muscles and shredded shoes trying to keep him from killing anyone. But, afterward, there would be a time for Shizuo and Sarah that was also a sort of time reserved for good friends and friends who were close enough to be siblings with any blood relation, be that time spent grabbing a snack at Russian Sushi, walking around their town of Ikebukuro, or just hanging out.
Also, it looked like Sarah had taken Shizuo's advice to heart; there was no mention of any trouble from Izaya. Another plus was that the unwanted attention Sarah was getting had significantly died down.
Unfortunately for Shizuo, that peaceful while only lasted for a couple of weeks: during their third week of school, while he, Sarah, and Shinra were eating lunch, Izaya appeared about forty-five feet too close to the group. Now, what was extremely bad about this situation was that Sarah was with them when Izaya showed up, and Shizuo's mental warning bell had started to go off.
"What's this? You're all eating without me?" Izaya said, pretending to sound upset, but it was obvious he was faking it, especially with that damned smirk glued onto his face.
"Flea, I am giving you one warning: fuck off before I kick your ass," Shizuo snarled.
"That's not very nice to curse, Shizu-chan, especially in front of a pretty lady," Izaya chided as his gaze shifted to the redhead, which caused the warning bell in Shizuo's mind to escalate into a full-scale alarm. "Wouldn't you agree?" he asked Sarah, while giving her a wink that Shizuo DID NOT miss.
Hell, no. HELL, NO, don't even try that crap on her IN FRONT of me, you son of a –
"Well, I hang around Shizuo a lot, so it doesn't really bother me, and he doesn't really curse that much," Sarah replied coolly.
What? Wait a minute – why is she talking back?
Although, on a second look, Shizuo realized that Sarah had replied back in a tone so steady and undeterred that Izaya blinked in surprise. It was a slight sign, but it was surprise; the flea's attempt to make Sarah blush like a love struck school girl with a wink had failed, and Shizuo felt a small spark of victory. Ha!
But the smirk returned. "You spend a lot of time with him, eh? So, an intelligent-looking girl like you must see how much of a protozoan-brained monster Shizu-chan is, so why hang out with him?"
Persistent bastard, wasn't he?
The insult prompted Shizuo to grasp the edge of their table, ready to fling it at the louse at a second's notice, but before he could have the chance, Sarah shot him a look that said, Release the table, and let me handle this before you break anything.
Shizuo was confused by the warning, but he backed down anyway, wanting to see how Sarah would handle this. She turned back to Izaya and said,
"Shizuo hasn't done anything to make me even think of him as a monster – as a matter of fact, he's the opposite of a monster – but, if you were to ask me, the real brute here would be the one who carries a knife around a school and lures people into the streets so that they get hit by a truck."
The way how she defended Shizuo and practically turned Izaya down flat at the same time was almost enough to make Shizuo do a double victory punch in the air – almost. He had to settle for a smirk of his own when he saw the look on Izaya's face; it was slight, but he could see the look of a haughty man whose pride has been damaged when Sarah called him out on his crap. It was absolutely priceless;even Shinra was biting his lip; trying not to smile.
That joy was quickly shattered when Izaya suddenly burst out laughing. That couldn't be good.
"Ohoho, that was unexpected!" Izaya gasped out after a few seconds. Then, he quickly straightened up and looked Sarah dead straight in the eyes. "But – it was well played; I like you."
WhatwhatwhatWHAT?
Now it was Sarah's turn to look surprised. Meanwhile, it was taking every fiber of Shizuo's being not to fling the table at Izaya and then proceed to severely damage his spinal column by breaking it like a toothpick (the incentive for said action was very tempting, though). It was one thing to call him, "Shizu-chan," it was another thing to constantly slice him up with that damned butter knife of his, but when the manipulative flea has the gall to say that he "liked" his friend/SISTER-FIGUREright in front of him, that was a whole new territory that almost guaranteed anyone who dared to enter certain death.
"You're Takegari Sarah from homeroom, am I right?" Izaya asked in a friendly (fake) tone while completely disregarding the dark aura emanating from Shizuo as he took the seat next to Sarah. She nodded while giving him a slight suspicious look.
"I'm Orihara Izaya; nice to meet you."
"Cut the crap, Izaya, and beat it," Shizuo growled threateningly. He did not, did not, like where this was going.
Much to his severe annoyance, Izaya continued to ignore him and kept talking with Sarah, as if she was the only person there. "So, Sarah-chan, you wouldn't happen to be seeing anyone right now, are you?"
THE HELL HE'S ASKING THAT QUESTION!
"No, I'm single," Sarah answered.
"Oh?" Red-brown eyes narrowed as Izaya leaned in a little closer (and Sarah moved back a little further). "Then, I guess then you won't mind me saying that you would be far better off without those capri pants under your skirt. Your legs look like they would be quite the sight – "
"THAT'S IT, YOU GODDAMNED LOUSE!"
While Sarah was frozen in shock from Izaya's comment and turning a deep red, Shizuo snatched up the opportunity to finally throw his table at Izaya (which Izaya unfortunately dodged). The blond then proceeded to hound Izaya out of the school until he was about thirty blocks away from where Sarah had originally been.
That accident (as Shizuo referred to it) was unfortunately the first of many; throughout their four years at Raira, Izaya would take any chance he could to get close to Sarah without Shizuo being around, and Shizuo would take every opportunity he saw Izaya with Sarah as the one-in-a-million chance to kill him, by any means necessary.
"Izaya, I swear to God, if you don't leave Sarah alone – " Shizuo threatened as he readied to launch a locker.
"Why do you care, Shizu-chan? You know, there is the possibility that Sarah-chan might like me back."
"The hell she would! She's not interested in a roach like you!"
"So, she does talk about me!" Izaya grinned cheekily.
"IZAYAAA!" Oops, here come two lockers.
Both Shizuo and Sarah knew that Izaya was just looking to tease her or get a rise out of Shizuo by harassing her, as revenge for their first meeting, much to Sarah's displeasure. Once he showed up in her peripheral vision, it was hard to get him out of it unless there were flying projectiles by an angry blond teenager were involved. At one point, things got worse: random street thugs started to attack Shizuo, even though he had not done anything against them. He would come out of it in one piece, of course, but it became a daily occurrence, and Sarah couldn't do anything to stop him because there was the real threat she could get badly hurt.
"I wish I never opened my big mouth," Sarah grumbled one day in their sophomore year as she and Shizuo were walking home. "The guy's a nut-job!"
"Hey, I warned you not to interact with him," Shizuo muttered back.
"Yeah, thanks."
Needless to say, it was not a very good four years for the Heiwajima-Takegari duo. As it turned out, right before graduation, Shizuo found out that it was Izaya who pulled the strings behind the random gang attacks. For possibly the thousandth time since they met, Shizuo drove Izaya out of the school.
After graduation, everyone sort of went their own way: Shinra began his "career" as an underground doctor, and Izaya became involved with a yakuza group as an information broker. Sarah got to work on opening her own inn; one that she said was best suited for Ikebukuro.
"This is a city where people come and go almost daily," Sarah had explained to him at one point when he and Shinra were helping her move the large boxes in (although it was forceful on Shinra's part; the doctor wouldn't leave his apartment until Sarah threatened to tell Celty exactly who was responsible for all the towels disappearing whenever she showered). "There going to need some help so that they can keep going on their way, or so that they can get started."
"Why open an inn?" Shizuo asked curiously.
Sarah set down a medium sized box and was a silently thinking about it before answering, "Honestly – I don't really see myself as working as anything else. Maybe it's because I'm able to read people and I'm able to get along with them, but I can't say for sure."
Shizuo shrugged at her answer; it made sense enough.
"Sarah, where did you get the money to open this place?" Shinra asked as he sat down on one of the larger boxes for a break; why is Sarah such a slave-driver?, he muttered to himself.
"Actually, I was having a hard time finding an investor when this business executive called me, saying that he was interested in investing in the inn," Sarah replied. "He gave me more than enough money not only to build it, but to actually get it running. What's weird is that when I asked him about meeting him again to talk about how I was going to pay it back, he said not to worry about it."
"He did?" Shizuo questioned. Something smelled fishy; no business executive was that generous.
"Yeah," Sarah nodded, half of her thinking back to that strange "business transaction." "In fact, he said he was doing it to return a favor to someone he knew. Must've been a pretty big favor."
The smell just got fishier.
"Who was this guy?" Shinra piped up. Sarah bit her lip as she struggled to remember the name.
"Ah, it was Shaku…or was it Shuki – Shiki! That was the name!"
"Shiki?" Shinra yelped, startled. Sarah cast him a surprised look.
"Yeah – you know 'im, Shinra?"
"Ah…" Shinra cast a nervous glance from Sarah to Shizuo before giving a quick, "Not really, just heard of him, nothing special, nice work on the investment, Sarah," before hurrying to pick up another box and darting into another room.
"Well, that was weird," Sarah contemplated after a while. "Even Shinra doesn't act that jumpy."
"Yeah," Shizuo replied, even though he wasn't really paying attention to what Sarah was saying. The redhead just shrugged her shoulders and went on to arrange some books.
Something reeked. Shizuo would've gone and demanded Shinra more about this Shiki person before Sarah yelled at him to keep bringing in boxes.
The inn itself was more like a harbor from the hectic bustle of the city than an inn; it was a combination of a rest stop where people could sit for a while and maybe get something to eat and a convenient store that sold everything from batteries to sandwiches to duffle bags; as an inn, the small building that Sarah had bought had only three spare rooms upstairs that she converted into double bedrooms for anyone to needed a place to rest. The "store" attracted a good-sized crowd, and even Kadota's gang was known to spend a night every now and then. The store itself and the effort Sarah had put into it earned her the title, "Ikebukuro's Innkeeper," for not only did she own the small building, but she also managed it.
When she finally finished setting the place up, Sarah had a red neon sign that read, "Sam's Place" positioned right on top of the door.
Meanwhile, Shizuo was having a hard time holding down a job due to his violent temper; he took jobs as a restaurant cashier, car washer, (embarrassing as it was to admit it) a stage actor, and a bartender. He would keep going from job to job, but he and Sarah still kept in close contact, and in fact she would help him find jobs by handing him a free copy of the classified ads with job hiring's she had circled.
"Just try not to lose your job again," she would say every time she gave him one. "There are not always going to be openings."
"I know," he'd reply back. "Thanks a lot, though." Unfortunately, Shizuo still ended up losing the jobs.
Things finally turned for the better after Izaya framed Shizuo for his crime and disappeared from Ikebukuro. Thanks to their middle school sempai, Tanaka Tom, Shizuo was able to get a job, and keep it, as a debt collector/bodyguard. Also, the flea was no longer around to bother Sarah, which Shizuo was especially glad about. Now, whenever he talked to her, there wasn't that trace of worry in her voice.
She didn't have anything to worry about, honestly; her "inn" wasn't skyrocketing in profit, but it attracted enough customers (one reason could be that she brought her pet parrot, Mikio, with her to stand on his perch by the door; every time a person walked in the parrot would squawk, "Welcome! Don't steal anything! I see you!), to pay a bit more than enough money so that she could keep her own roof over her head and food on her table for herself, and sometimes for her younger brother Allan whenever their parents were on one of their business trips.
Shizuo had first met Allan while he was still a baby; during that time, Allan was going through what Sarah referred to as the "Hair-Pulling Phase," so for his and Shizuo's sake, the blond also made sure to stay well out of Allan's hair-grasping range. By the time Shizuo and Sarah had established their jobs, Allan was an eight-year-old kid in elementary school, and one thing that Shizuo liked about the kid was that he didn't see the debt collector as an angry monster that would send people to the hospital and vending machines and trashcans to an early junkyard grave; instead, Allan honestly thought that Shizuo was some kind of superhero with the trademark superhuman strength.
"Have you ever stopped a bank robbery, Shizuo-niichan?" Allan blurted out when he was visiting Sarah one day.
"Nope," Shizuo chuckled. "I haven't done anything major like that."
"But you must have! You have super strength like Mega Man! I bet you could beat any bad guy who tried to mess with you!"
"He can, and he has," Sarah declared as she reemerged from the kitchen with two mugs, one filled with coffee and the other with tea; she was now twenty-two, but she looks a bit younger.
"Hey, Shizuo-niichan! How come you always wear those bartender outfits?"
Shizuo was about to answer before Sarah gave Allan a look that was especially reserved for elder sisters who also provide care for their younger siblings.
"Excuse me, Kiddo, didn't you finish your history homework yet?"
"…Yes," Allan replied after a moment too long. Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"Right; why don't you go finish it and then you and I can head out to the store?"
"Aww, Neechan! Can't I spend more time with Shizuo-niichan?" Allan pleaded as he grasped onto the table, as if that would save him from his terrible task.
"No, he's gotta work today. C'mon, get to it." Sarah snapped her fingers to finalize her point.
"Fine," the boy sighed as he slumped down from the chair and headed to his room. "See ya, Shizuo-niichan."
Shizuo gave the kid a smile and a small wave. Once Sarah had made absolutely sure that Allan was doing his homework and not reading comics, she joined Shizuo at the table.
"To be honest, Shizuo, I think it's cute the way Allan looks up to you," Sarah commented. "He doesn't have an older brother, and you're the closest he has to actually having one."
It was true; with Sam gone, Allan would never get to know his older brother; he might not be able to visit his grave in South Dakota.
"Yeah; it's alright, he's a good kid."
"Thanks, when he's not biting at my calf to go see one of those street magicians that perform every night." Sarah muttered aloud as she thought back to one particular incident. "The kid can be a brat when he's stuck inside for too long."
Shizuo chuckled at the mental image.
"By the way, how's Kasuka doing? Have you seen him recently – in person?"
Shizuo remained silent for a few moments before answering. "No, he's been pretty busy. Besides…I think he might be mad at me."
"Why on Earth would Kasuka be mad at you?" Sarah asked in a patient tone.
There was a shorter moment of silence. "Because I lost my job as a bartender…, even though I promised him I would do my best."
Sarah sighed, sounding slightly annoyed. She placed her mug on the table before explaining her action, "Shizuo, that was in the past; you work with Tom-san now. Besides, what was different that time was that it wasn't your fault you lost your job."
Irritation began to take a slow course through Shizuo as he gripped the mug a bit tighter. "I know," he grumbled. "It was that lowlife louse's fault. If I ever see that bast – "
A sharp whack on the forehead halted Shizuo dead in his tracks.
"Please remember that there is an impressionable eight-year-old down the hall," Sarah stated in a clipped curt tone. Sometimes, Shizuo wondered if she took what she called "sister-ing" a bit too seriously.
"Sorry…"
"Even though he's now in Shinjuku, Izaya still makes you upset. Forget about him, and don't think that Kasuka would be mad at you for something that was that jerk's fault."
Shizuo decided to follow Sarah's advice. As it turned out, Shizuo saw Kasuka while he was out working with Tom about a week later. They were too far away to say anything, but when he saw the slight nod Kasuka gave, that said enough.
Despite the usual rampages he had against those idiots who owed debt, there was still peace, at least when it came to their personal lives. During that peace, a routine had established itself, during most of the week, Shizuo would help Tom collect debt (or at least try and then send the debt-owing poor souls flying) while Sarah managed her inn and occasionally cared for her brother when their parents' occasional, but brief, business trips came around the corner. Then, usually when the weekend was approaching, Shizuo would visit Sarah and Allan and they would just spend time together. They would often walk around their town and see if anything looked interesting to do, though it was usually watching street performers and snacking on sushi, courtesy of Simon. Then, they would head back to Sarah's apartment, Allan would go and watch TV while the adults sat and just talked like the friends they were, even if Shizuo didn't talk that much. When Shizuo thought about Sarah, and eventually Allan, it was as if those two were actually a part of his family; the family that knew and accepted him for who he was, not what he could do.
Although, one particular incident Shizuo happened to remember one night while they were out was when he, Sarah, and Tom were having a conversation, Allan was watching a commercial featuring a movie Kasuka had a role in. Mikio the parrot saw Kasuka on the screen and squawked at the top of his lungs, "Hanejima Yuuhei sucks! Hanejima Yuuhei sucks!"
Stupid parrot that overheard some idiot say that or not, Shizuo saw red as he lifted a heavy vase Sarah happened to own and was just about to pitch it to the terrified bird when Sarah dashed in front of him with a dry mop, of all things, and said in a vicious tone that if Shizuo proceeded to turn Mikio into a feather-pancake, she would never sell him any of the cigarettes she had at her store ever again. The advantage Sarah had during that skirmish was that, since she and Shizuo were great friends, she would sell him some pretty good cigarettes at half-price. Shizuo decided to let the overly colored chicken live, as well as the vase.
Allan on the other hand had thought it was "awesome" to see Shizuo's super strength in action, and he mentioned to the blond later on that he never liked the parrot, either.
With that incident behind them, Shizuo thought it was pretty funny that he had been so worked that he was about to kill a parrot that didn't know when to shut its beak about it heard. He snickered at the memory, earning him a surprised look from Sarah.
"What's so funny?"
"Ah, nothing."
Sarah glanced at her watch. "Oh, I've gotta get back to the store and help Aki close up. See you, Shizuo!"
"Later."
"Bye, Shizuo-niichan!"
Shizuo went on to walk around Ikebukuro by himself, it had actually been a pretty good day: most of the people who owed money decided to pay it back, earlier that night he had run into Celty, who was always a welcome friend to talk with, and he had had a nice time with Sarah and Allan watching random street performers. He thought that, for once, things were really going to be peaceful and stayed peaceful.
As he was thinking just that, Shizuo glanced upward and those thoughts of peace shattered in a second.
Izaya was smirking down at him.
"This is Takegari Sarah."
"Sarah! Sarah, where are you?"
"Shizuo? What's wrong – "
"Just tell me where you are!"
"A-Allan and I are in front of the store – " (Damn it, Allan's with her, too?). " – We were just locking up – Shizuo, what's going on?"
Shizuo took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. "Sarah, listen to me: go back inside the store, lock yourself and Allan in, and wait for me to come get you – "
"No, Shizuo! Not until you tell me what's happen – "
"It's Izaya. He's back."
"…What?"
"I just saw him for a second, but I know it was him."
"I don't believe this," Sarah half-whispered.
"You and Allan just wait there, and I'll take you guys home, and don't go outside by yourself!"
"Right."
"Ok! I'm on my way over!"
Izaya had never done anything to threaten Sarah before, but Shizuo wasn't going to assume he would never try. The fact that he had connections to the yakuza, and that he toyed with people for his own sick amusement was enough to put the debt collector on high alert if he ever came near Sarah or Allan.
It wasn't that Sarah couldn't take care of herself; she lived independently on her own most of the time, and she had learned a few moves from Shizuo when they were in high school, but she couldn't take on Izaya by herself. Sarah's ability to read a person, which was better than others who shared her trait, came with a bad habit: she wasn't afraid to call people on their crap, and pull back the drapes and show them as who they truly were. While that trait had earned the Innkeeper respect among those who knew her and of her, there were those whose attention she would have been better off not catching, and the only reason they hadn't tried anything was because they were afraid of invoking the beast of Ikebukuro to their doorstep.
Except for Izaya.
After the information broker returned to Ikebukuro, Shizuo always kept an eye out for Izaya; if he so much as saw a bit of his fur-trimmed jacket, he would have a trash can or vending machine at the ready. So far, it seemed like he left Sarah alone, but that didn't stop him from trying to kick his ass every time he saw the flea. Sarah would often tell him not to bother with Izaya, and not to give him any reason to retaliate, but that didn't stop the blond. His hatred towards Izaya wouldn't allow him to rest.
That anger and hate escalated when one day, when he went to see Sarah, she had been working in and around the inn as if she had a thorn in her side. After multiple attempts to get her to talk, and Sarah angrily stacking boxes of inventory and throwing file folders onto her office shelves (she even kicked a box of back-packs into one corner that nearly knocked Mikio's perch over, causing the parrot to squawk and flap his wings in alarm), she reluctantly admitted that Izaya had shown up the night before as she was closing down shop.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY, SARAH!"
"Shizuo, calm down!" Sarah yelled as she stood her ground between the raging debt collector and the door. "He's not worth it!"
"No, no, no! That fucking lowlife of a flea ambushed you while you were closing, at night, and you were by yourself! HE'S A DEAD LOUSE CRAWLING!"
"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you in the first place!"
"Why?" Shizuo demanded. "Why are you sticking up for that flea?"
"I'm not sticking up for him!" Sarah denied. "Shizuo, it doesn't matter how many times you drive him away, he's just going to keep coming back! Even if you stand outside the store everyday, he's not going to give up!"
"It doesn't matter how persistent he is, because the second I find him, HE'S SIX FEET UNDER!"
"NO – no, Shizuo!" Sarah bellowed as she mustered all the strength she could to push Shizuo back from leaving the store, even though she was failing miserably; instead, as Shizuo was moving forward, he was pushing her backwards, shredding the soles of her sandals in the process. "I thought we were done with destroying my shoes!"
"I'm telling you ONE LAST time, Sarah: Get. Out. Of. The WAY!"
"And I said NO!" Sarah yelled stubbornly as she was able to push Shizuo back – an inch. "I'm not going to let you be arrested for murder!"
"I won't be arrested if I make it look like he was hit by a truck!"
"Enough!" Sarah shouted with such force that Shizuo took a step back. Sarah then took a deep breath before continuing. "Enough! I don't care how angry Izaya makes you, Shizuo; killing him is not worth being sentenced to death! And I am not going to let you get yourself fired from your job because of you hunting him down."
"But what if he comes back tonight? What are going you to do, then?"
"It's like I told you when we were in high school: you have to let me handle it. I can't keep leaning on you as if you're some sort of Anti-Izaya Guard."
Shizuo said nothing.
"Now, promise me you won't go looking for Izaya the second I let you out of this store, and that you'll let me handle this on my own." Sarah demanded.
"Sarah – "
"Promise me!"
"…Okay. But you got to be careful around that bastard! He can take advantage of people without them noticing."
Sarah gave him an assuring smile. "I'll be alright. You don't need to worry."
With that, Shizuo left the store with a new pack of cigarettes and met up with Tom soon after. The two went about their business, collecting debt, with Shizuo pummeling the hell out of anyone who was dumb enough to think that some half-assed story will get them out of paying their debt. It was only after he and Tom separated that Shizuo accidently ran into Izaya as he was coming out of a café.
Well, Ikebukuro knows the rest of that story, and it ended with Izaya fleeing from Shizuo's rampage. Again.
In the months that followed, Sarah's mood remained sour during the first week after the argument that took place between her and Shizuo, and he already knew why. Every time he asked if everything was going okay, she would force a smile and say, "I'll work it out; don't worry." Shizuo wanted more than anything to stomp over to the store around closing time and aim every single item inside at Izaya's vital organs, but he promised Sarah that he wouldn't interfere. Thankfully, her attitude improved not long afterwards, and every time he would go to meet up with her and Allan, she seemed to be in a good mood; perhaps Izaya decided to not bother her so much, but that was wishful thinking.
Probably.
During that time, he had been shot in the side and leg by a bunch of idiots from the Yellow Scarves, much to Sarah's worry when she heard about it. But, it was no major dilemma; Shizuo got his sweet revenge on his shooters when he took a highway sign and used it to slice off the top of the car. The police took care of that incident, and Shizuo was able to heal from his wounds nicely.
"That's amazing, Shizuo-niichan!" Allan shouted out when he heard the story. "Didn't it hurt when you were shot?"
"Ah, a little, but Shinra took care of it," Shizuo told the hyperactive child. How many sweets did this kid have today?
"THAT IS SO COOL! Hey! Do you think if I can get super strength like you, so that if I was shot, I would be okay, too?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Sarah roared from where she was stacking cups. Shizuo flinched from the sudden onslaught and Allan ducked under one of the tables.
More time passed, and whenever Shizuo and Izaya crossed paths, flick-blades were drawn and vending machines and street signs were sent flying.
"GO THE HELL BACK TO SHINJUKU AND ROT THERE, IZAYA!" Shizuo roared as he flung another trash can one night when he once again found Izaya.
"Don't think so!" Izaya sang as he just stepped to the side and the trash can obliterated a wire fence instead. "There's so much to do it in this city! And there're so many different humans to observe, as well! Of course, I'd be happy if you would just have a heart attack and drop dead, Shizu-chan!"
"YOU DROP DEAD, FLEA!"
"Don't think I'll do that, either!" Izaya shouted as he dodged a street sign and jumped on top of railing. Suddenly, Izaya's playful attitude changed into something more serious: he stuck his hands in his pockets and balanced himself on the railing before straightening up, but his eyes were closed and his cocky smirk remained in place. "Besides, it'd be sad if I were to kick the bucket now."
Shizuo halted his next vending machine attack in surprise. What was with that tone?
After he said that, Izaya opened his eyes and focused them on Shizuo with a look that gave the impression that he knew something the fortissimo of Ikebukuro didn't; something important. His next sentence matched that look, message and tone, "Especially now, when I have someone I'm too interested in to walk away from. Someone who's not so much like humans – and is more like me, so she's perfect."
What the hell?
"What does that mean, louse?" Shizuo snarled. "You found some bitch who's as insane as you are?"
"That was mean, Shizu-chan, considering who you're talking about!" Izaya cajoled as he walked along the railing like he was on a trapeze, his arms outward to balance himself. "Besides, it's for me to know and you to find out; that is if you can find out, considering you have the brain of a prokaryote*."
"You bastard…"
"Well, see you, Shizu-chan! I've got a date to get to!"
"OI!"
Before Shizuo could do anything, Izaya leapt off the railing and vanished behind the concrete wall, and he was already gone by the time Shizuo got to the other side.
"IIIIIIIZAAAAAAAYAAAAAAA!"
Five minutes later, Shizuo was grumblingly making his way to Sarah's inn. He didn't like the cryptic messages Izaya had left him with; it was almost as if he knew Shizuo wouldn't like what it was if he found out. What the hell did he meant when he said that there was someone the flea found too interesting to walk away from? And what did he mean when Shizuo had insulted said mystery woman, saying considering who she was?
On top of all that, what did Izaya mean when he said his new interest wasn't like humans? Was she heartless? Did she have some trait that detached her from humanity? Or was she somehow inhuman? Granted, Shinra was crazy enough to fall in love with a woman who had no head, and Izaya was definitely off his rocker. Was he maybe crazy in that aspect, too?
Whatever the flea meant, Shizuo hoped that maybe his sister-figure could help clear up some of the details; she might have known something, considering she had been a major reluctant target of Izaya's attention and Shizuo didn't need a wacked-out witch on the flea's side who wouldn't hesitate to have him run over by a bus.
As Shizuo turned the corner, he could see the sign adorned Sam's Place and the light breaking through the glass door. Good; it looked like Ikebukuro's Innkeeper was still at her post, and hopefully (the blond grudgingly thought), Izaya still visited her, too; that way the blond could corner the flea and demand him to explain what the hell he meant earlier, especially if it was a part of some devious plot that involved Shizuo mysteriously disappearing from the city.
But when Shizuo stepped into the inn-store and walked into the area where Sarah had set up the tables, he froze at what he saw, and what he saw made him freeze in pure, blazing, absolute, murderous fury.
It was Takegari Sarah…
With her thin body trapped by fur-trimmed, black jacket sleeve-covered arms being snaked around her form –
– Being kissed by Orihara Izaya.
"WHAT THE HELL?"
The sudden roar caused the two to break apart and look to where it had originate from in surprise; when she saw who it was, Sarah's face visibly paled while Izaya simply smirked (that damned, cocky, annoying, irritating, I-kissed-your-best-friend SMIRK).
"Shizuo…" Sarah half-whispered, horrified. There was no way she was going to calm him down.
"Oh, Shizu-chan!" Izaya greeted, not releasing his hold on Sarah (the girl looked like she was trapped). "I didn't think you were going to be stop by!"
"You…you…why are you – "
"Well, as I said from our last meeting, I did have a date to get to!"
That sentence had Shizuo seeing not just red, but all the lovely colors of Hell's Inferno, from blistering yellow to scorching crimson, as he marched over to the two, yanked the terrified redhead away from the demon, then reached for the nearest table and uprooted it from the tiled floor and lifted it over his head.
"Shizuo!" Sarah cried out.
"So…" Shizuo growled. "THIS IS WHAT YOU MEANT, YOU MANIPULATIVE, LYING BASTARD!"
He flung the table at Izaya with all his might.
Of course, it did no good, because Izaya had the reflexes of a freaking cheetah.
As he grabbed whatever he could to use to slaughter Izaya and ignored Sarah's desperate shouts for them to stop, Shizuo could see the scenario playing in his head: Izaya had pulled some strings in the yakuza to have Sarah's family threatened at gun point; that way, he could blackmail her to doing whatever it was he wanted.
And this roach had the guts to say to him that she wasn't like humans!
HE was the inhuman one!
"YOU SICK MONSTER!"
"Why are you so angry, Shizu-chan? I was just showing my girlfriend how much I love her."
"AS IF, YOU LYING RODENT!" Shizuo shouted as he threw a hammer at Izaya's jugular (they were in a store, after all), which he unfortunately avoided. "Who was it from her family did you have the Awakusu take hostage, huh? HER KID BROTHER? HER PARENTS?"
"What are you talking about, Shizu-cha – "
"THERE IS NO WAY SARAH WOULD'VE HAVE GOTTEN WITHIN FORTY FEET OF YOU UNLESS YOU DID SOMETHING TO BLACKMAIL HER, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!"
As Shizuo grabbed a chair and was about to send Izaya into next year, Sarah suddenly darted in between them, using one hand to push Izaya back and the other to somehow guard against the oncoming weapon. Shizuo realized who he was about to severely injure just in time to hold back his attack, the hard iron of the chair leg coming within only an inch of Sarah's head before stopping.
"Nice move," Izaya said calmly, smile absent, as his (red) eyes were glinting dangerously at Shizuo.
"Move aside, Sarah," Shizuo heaved. "And I swear to God, I'll get whoever it is this bastard's taken hostage back."
"No!" Sarah cried out, rendering Shizuo speechless. "No, Shizuo, it's not like that! He didn't have anyone kidnapped!"
After a few seconds of silence, and Shizuo finding his voice and trying to figure out an alternative why Sarah was protecting Izaya, he finally spoke.
"Then – why are you – "
Sarah shifted her gaze to the floor while she bit her lip. Shizuo stood, with the chair lifted away from the redhead, as he waited for her to speak. Finally, after an agonizing silence, she replied,
"Because…he's…the same as me."
"What?"
"I can't let you kill him."
"Why not?" Shizuo demanded. None of this was making sense! "He's been nothing but trouble to us since the day we met him!"
"You're not getting it, are you, Shizu-chan?" Izaya spoke up, with his cocky smile back in place. "And Sarah-chan's trying so hard to be nice…"
"The hell…?" Shizuo half-shouted, trying his anger back on to Izaya.
"Why don't you take a look at her right hand? On her ring finger, specifically."
Izaya's smile widened a bit more when he said that sentence, and Shizuo found out why when he did look.
Down went the chair as a familiar (damned) silver ring glimmered on Sarah's right ring finger*.
Well, at least he didn't have to worry about her having him being run down by a bus.
END
Well, that was a random story! X3. I guess I just thought about what would happen if Izaya was interested in a friend of Shizuo's, and what chaos would ensue! Heeheehee
Review if you want another one-shot on what happened between Izaya and Sarah to get to this point!
*(1) Males have an XY chromosome; Females have an XX chromosome
*(2) A prokaryote is single-celled organism with no nucleus, just genetic material.
*(3) In Japan, couples would often wear matching rings on their right hand, to show that they are in a relationship with someone.