Notes: This story follows events after volume 10 of the novels. However, volume 10 was also the latest book to come out at the time, so if newer books derail this, I apologize. Ratings may change with later chapters.
Splitting pain was all he could feel as his body was hurled mercilessly into the grimy, back alley pavement. There was a loud crack as he hit, followed by a searing heat that run up his left arm, which made him wonder if the blow had managed to break it. He didn't have time to think though, because his assailant quickly grabbed him by his neck, choking out any of the air he had hoped to breathe. But why was he being attacked? And just who was attacking him? The battered man could think of quite a few people who wished for his demise. One of which he was rather amused with, but how he had overlooked noticing something this powerful roaming about the streets of Ikebukuro?
Izaya Orihara may not have been the toughest man in Ikebukuro, but he was by far the mastermind behind it. Whether people realized it or not, some portion of their lives were probably controlled by this black haired and black clothed man. Not to say that this intervention was particularly welcome by anyone, especially when Izaya's presence prompted fits of rage within the real strongest man of Ikebukuro, resulting in thousands of yen in damage for each city visit, but no one could deny that Izaya had influenced their lives in one way or another. Be it a part of his scheming, or one of his and Shizuo's flamboyant dances of destruction, Izaya left an impact wherever he went.
But Shizuo's infinite rage didn't last. On this very day, the last of the rage that made the very man Izaya knew as "Shizu-Chan", had been quelled. Put out like the flame of a candle. Tamed by a girl he had only recently met, known as Veronica. Izaya knew there was no intimate relationship between the two, he wasn't Ikebukuro's greatest informant for nothing, but the fact that Shizuo's personality had changed so completely, in such a short amount of time, tore at something in his chest. When Shizuo had been able to stand there calmly and dismiss Izaya, the black-clad informant had felt like a part of his rational mind had left him. Maybe that's why Izaya had bolted the way he did. Running with no destination into a back alley where he had been unprepared to meet two people who wanted to see his demise.
Feeling himself beginning to lose consciousness from the lack of oxygen, Izaya noticed another person in the shadows of his current assailant. Night had already fallen quite some time ago, so the darkness made it impossible for Izaya to make out this newcomer's features. Izaya had already identified the person assaulting him to be Slon, one of Saika's rogue children, but this other person he was having difficulty making out due to the poor lighting of the alleyway.
"What are you doing?" The shadow-cloaked stranger questioned. "I thought I told you to finish him off."
Izaya had a small revelation where he realized that the man in shadows was Kujira, a high ranking police officer who tended to bend the law to his own will, but before Izaya could fully process this information, Slon hurled him by the neck into the brick building behind him. There was a sickening crack, and Izaya's consciousness almost immediately faded from the brutal impact.
~~~
An earsplitting noise was the only thing Izaya's sleep addled mind could distinguish as he slowly drifted into the land of consciousness.
Opening his eyes further, Izaya realized that the bleary lights before him were the digits of his alarm clock reading 7:00am, and that the blaring sound he heard was his alarm clock demanding that he drag himself out of bed.
Slamming his hand down onto his clock and silencing it mid-beep, Izaya rolled onto his stomach before slowing attempting to get out of bed. He felt nauseous, and as he swung his legs over the edge, he realized that he was still wearing his school uniform from the day before.
I'm wearing my uniform? Izaya asked to himself as he lazily shuffled over to his bedroom closet to pick out a new set of school clothes. Was I that tired last night? I don't remember at all. Indeed, Izaya was still wearing his black and red Raida uniform, and a pressing at the back of his mind was urgently trying to remind him of something. It felt important, but what could it be? Izaya tried desperately to remember, but no answers came to his foggy conscious. He decided to put the thought away for later. It couldn't be that important.
However, something else was bothering Izaya. It felt like he had...lost something. Something terribly important. And its absence tore at him greatly. But try as he might, he hadn't the faintest idea of what that 'something' could be. Izaya wasn't exactly the type of individual to covet objects, though he did collect knives in secret. He wasn't the type of person to make friends either, so he doubted that could be the cause.
Walking over to his work desk, he opened the top drawer and pulled out a regular school notebook. The notebook was blank, both inside and out, though in between the pages, he had folded over and taped together a makeshift pouch, where had stashed a key. Taking out the key, he walked over to his closet and pulled out a box that was stashed in the top, back corner, out of view. Opening it with the key, he found that all of his knives were perfectly intact. Untouched. If that was the case, the lost something must have been a person. But how could that be so?
Did Shinra and I have a fight? Izaya thought to himself. No. He could recall no former spat with the doctor-in-training. Then again, his morning grogginess was making it very difficult to remember for the time being. He decided that he would ask Shinra about the topic later, given the chance.
Putting his knives away and hiding the key again, it crossed Izaya's mind that such a setup wasn't really necessary. He could pretty much keep whatever items he wanted in his room, as his parents were never home anyhow. Yet the setup seemed like second nature to him. Like his body was trained to try and hide anything of value.
Looking at his bedside clock and seeing that the time was now 7:23, he decided it was best that he get ready for school, and sort out his sudden mental issues regarding feelings of absence later.
After showering, getting dressed, and stepping into the kitchen, Izaya noticed that the house felt vacant. Was it always this way? His parents weren't home, but then again, they never were. They were always off overseas and he was left in charge of… the house. Yes. His parents had left him in charge of the house. Not to mention all of his own schooling. But something else felt like it was missing too. He just couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He wasn't extremely hungry this morning, not that he ever was, so he just grabbed a piece of toast and headed out the door to school.
Arriving at Raida, nothing felt out of place either, which only continued to escalate his growing tension, and did not help with his concentration on schoolwork, not that he needed it. But he ultimately ended up wracking his brain for the previous week's activities, trying to find the one straw out of place. The one flaw. But what could it be? If anything, his week had been rather tame. A couple of card game gambles for extra pocket cash during lunch, but that was about it.
Seeing a familiar tuft of brown hair a few paces ahead of him, he reached to grab onto the shoulders of the familiar man who might be able to provide him with some answer.
"Hello, Shinra-kun! Positively lovely weather isn't it? Did you enjoy last night? I certainly did." To which he slung his arm tighter around the brunette, hugging him closer and pressed their cheeks together with a maniacally coy grin.
If Shinra had been drinking anything, he would have choked. And he could only reflexively push Izaya away as he caught his bearings, smoothing out his uniform. "What the hell, Izaya!?" He managed to half sputter and half smile. "Please don't tell me you've started some new gig and already promised my attendance. Like I've said a thousand times, I get no thrills from your...endeavors." His hands gesturing vaguely at Izaya's form.
To which the other could only suppress a snort, a sly grin enveloping his features. "Oh, I know. You're an honest man to the core, training in medicine to tend to and patch up the most rotten of thugs to maintain our country's healthy human ecosystem. A saint if there ever was one."
Shinra's expression soured. "You know that I don't entirely have a choice in how I practice," he explained. "I have reasons for what I do, and my end goal can't exactly be achieved with traditional schooling or employment. You of all people know that." He sighed. "What is it that you truly came to talk about?"
The hair at the back of Izaya's neck bristled slightly at potentially being caught prior to his own reveal, but he didn't let it show. "I was just curious as to what you thought of my latest gig?" he asked, trying not to show any extra show whatsoever.
"Which one?" Shinra rolled his eyes. "The one where you turned the student council into a secret Mahjong gambling room during lunch, or the one where you miraculously convinced the after school baseball club to switch places with the kendo club for a day, on the bet to have the losers siphon half of their club funds to the others, based on who outperforms one another?"
Izaya couldn't suppress his small laugh at the memory of how pissed the baseball team had been at having to donate half of its yearly funds to the kendo club. And the excuses that they now continually had to make to explain the missing money. What a glorious show it had been, and would continue to provide Izaya with entertainment either until the end of the school year, or until the club picked a scapegoat for who to blame in order to keep their team afloat. The poor kid would probably get expelled, not that he cared.
"No," he finally brought himself to solemnly say. "I was thinking of something a little more recent?"
"More recent?" Shinra balked. "You only started the Mahjong thing like, what, a week ago? What have you started in that short time span? Don't tell me you're bored already?" Disappointment and worry crossed Shinra's features. While he used to Izaya's schemes and general recklessness, another major plan to disrupt school life this early was fast even for him.
"Mmm...I guess not," Izaya sighed defeated.
"No, you did. You started it last Tuesday? Six days ago?" Worry was really beginning to show on Shinra's face now.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean that." Izaya corrected. "You know what, nevermind. My head has been killing me this morning. I think the rain last night gave me a headache." He winced at the small throb that hadn't dissipated since that morning. The fogginess still persisted somewhat since he awoke, and he internally scolded himself for not having made coffee before heading out.
"What rain?" Shinra asked, confusion only continuing to grow on his face. "It was clear last night."
Surprise once again flashed across Izaya's features. That's...weird. He could have sworn he remembered it raining the night before. However, when he tried to think back to the previous night's events, he found the evening to be hazy. Had he just gone to bed when he'd gotten home? He could barely remember a thing. Heck, did he even eat?
His look of distress must worried Shinra further, so the brunette decided to hastily change topics. "So hey, did you hear we're getting a new transfer student today?" The tactic worked, and Izaya quickly dropped his ruminating as his head once more snapped to focus to hear Shinra out. "Rumor was he was expelled from his previous school. I don't know all the details, but it was something about starting fights. I guess he must be a real hothead. Poor luck winding up here where you can mess with him, huh?"
Izaya's expression lit up with total glee. A transfer student mid-semester? One without any social connections and with an established history of violence? The ideas for entertaining turmoil Izaya could cause this new, unwitting subject to bring about churned rapidly in his mind.
Shinra on the other hand could only bring himself to roll his eyes. He wasn't thrilled at the idea of hazing a brand new student, but at least Izaya was acting like his old self again.
"Just don't give him too much trouble, okay?"