This story is rated M for gore, blood, language, hinted character death.
Chapter I: Incineration
The wind blew with cold air, causing the tail of my jacket to flutter behind my back. The sky was beginning to paint in the colors of the dawning night. Yellow, red, orange, purple, and other tones laced the sky as yawning darkness began to approach. The metal bar I was sitting on occasionally shook when a car passed by. The day had been unusually calm and quiet, but utterly boring all the same. As of recently, very little had caught my attention. All the interesting sparks had started to fade away in this city, but I had the slightest feeling that this town would soon birth another interesting situation. Though I wouldn't have said it was a feeling but more of a knowing.
A car rushes from underneath the bridge which I'm perched on, followed by the wailing of police sirens. Less then a second later, those cop cars come from underneath the bridge as well. I spot a hint of yellow on each of the people sitting in the car the cops were apparently chasing. They were yellow scarves members; they had obviously done something to catch the attention of the law force. Though, it wasn't that unusual for members of color gangs to get into trouble with the law. The gangs had to proceed into hiding after the law had caught them by the throat, so any members of said gangs stupid enough to get into more trouble with the police force would have it hard. "Well, looks like they had gotten into another fight. At least, by my observation. The slight swaying of that car gives the impression that the drive has a wounded arm. My, luck must have not been on there side." I hum to vacant ears. Then with the slightest of movements, I jump off the bar I had been observing from. I leisurely stroll down the sidewalks of Ikebukuro, heading in the general direction in which the cars had headed. People lined the path, quietly murmuring about the recent commotion. However, I payed no heed to them.
A sound that struck me to be similar to a horses whine reaches my ears, causing my head to swerve in the direction it had come from. I witness a black blur speed down the street, but it was gone as soon as it turned onto another. "Not that way~" I sing behind my usual smirk, referring to the fact that the infamous 'headless rider' was likely searching for said head. Actually, I was certain of it. To bad she had yet to figure it out. No one ever had. The little known fact that I was the one pulling strings in this town.
I turn down the back of an alleyway, only to come upon Shizuo and the gang members I had recently been observing. "Hn, looks like the monster has yet again found a way to get in the way. How irritating." I think, noticing that the cops were no where around. The night's shadows swallow me, gracing me with enshrouding darkness that kept me from unwanted eyes as I examined the scene. The blonde haired man I knew all to well held one of the gang members by the collar of his shirt, his face showing obvious strain to keep from going into rage. "I-I thought you were someone else!" The latter chokes out as the formers clenched fist tightens. A yelp of pain erupts from the lips of the yellow scarves man. "And you think THAT is a better reason?" The ex-bartender snarls, continuing. "So you just go up to people and hit them from behind, like a fucking rat? Man, people like you really piss me off!" The yellow scarf coughs out something else unintelligible; which had obviously pushed Shizuo to rage, as he threw the man into another member to the left of the alleyway I stood. A small fight breaks out, but even with Shizuo unnumbered, his brute strength ends it within the duration of 30 seconds or so. After he is satisfied with the fact that they had had what they deserved, he turns his back on the scene, and proceeds to walk away. I take a step out of the shadows only to be bathed in the light of the quarter moon. As I do so, his hand latches onto the nearest object, which just so happens to be a parking meter. The metal bends under his grip. "I thought I smelled shit." He hisses with anger. "'Ello Shizu-chan." I purr, continuing forward as if to simply move past him. "I thought I told you, time and time again, to stay the hell out of Ikebukuro!" He growls through bared teeth. I stop, and a slight chuckle comes from my lips. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm on business as I was the other times I had come to Ikebukuro. So how about you be kind enough to let me go. Oh, and while your at it, perhaps become less monster like and become more like a normal human. That, or just die quietly away from me." Another step, and another groan of strain comes from the out of shape metal bar in Shizuo's hand. "But instead of wasting breath on you, I'll be proceeding on my way; Okay, Shizu-chan?" An audible snap is heard as the metal is torn from the ground by the mans hand. With his free hand, he grabs his sunglass and shoves them into his shirt pocket. "I have a compromise." He says as he turns around slowly. The flickerblade in my pocket presses against my palm as I grip it calmly. "And what would that be?" I grinned. A animal like smile made of pure anger is adorn on his lips, while my plastic smile is crafted from the simplest of amusement from said anger. "How about you just let me crush you like the flea you are!" As he roars this, the now imperfect piece of metal comes hurtling at, but due to my skills at parkour I easily avoid it. Swiftly I dodge down the way I had arrived from, knowing fully well that he would follow. As suspected, he hunts after me down the streets, grabbing anything within hand range to chuck at me. I turn down street after street until finally coming upon yet another familiar face. Two, in fact. Luckily, they have are backs to us; they don't notice me and Shizuo fast approaching. This is to my advantage. So without any warning, I come up beside the other blonde in front of me, pushing him towards Shizuo to gain some distance. Caught off guard, both fall to the ground, along with the black haired girl who's hand is gripped in the boys. "Thank you Masa-chan. Your being such a good friend, offering to hold off Shizu-chan for me.~" Laughing, I continue my way down the busy sidewalks. "Are you hurt, Saki-chan?" I hear Masaomi say as I was making my way off. "I'm fine." Is the response from Saki. Suddenly, I realize a shift in the wind followed by a noise I knew too well. Side stepping, I barely avoid the dented up stop sign that was aimed at me. But that is followed by a kick to my side. Yet to recover from the last attack attempt, it makes contact. My footing slips and I fall forward. Seconds later, I pulls myself up with ease. "I've always wanted to do that, you asshole! For all the shit you've done." Masaomi had been the one to kick me, I notice. He was obviously enraged. "Well, well; this is a surprise. Little Masaomi finally having the courage to strike out on his own for once. How interesting. Tell me, what caused you to have such an attitude change?" I jeer at him. This is followed by an attempted punch from him, but I smoothly dodge it. A vending machine comes flying my way, causing me to duck into yet another back alley. I rush towards the nearest set of stairs and advance up them. At the top I stop to examine the buildings beneath me, pin-pointing my route as I do so. Mapping it out in my head, I make my way down a ladder on the opposite side of the building. The two blonds chasing my me expect this, therefor another large object comes my way. Then another punch and another item. A cycle of repetitive attacks, and I continue to dodge them as my sprinting pace does not falter. Then, having come to a dead end, I turn around. My back presses against the cool metal of a container behind me. They stop, knowing that I wouldn't simply be corner without a trick up my sleeve. I raise a eyebrow in the slightest of confusion as I see two men I had yet to see the faces of come up behind Shizuo. They raise there make shift weapons as to attack the bodyguard, but notice that the mans who's face was contorted with rage had his full attention on me. Curious, the followed his gaze to me. "Hey, your that asshole that sold our leader that bad information!" One of the two men says, causing another devious smile to crawl its way across my lips. "Bad information?" I hum nonchalantly. "There is no such thing as 'bad information'. There is bad rumors, but information is fact. However, information can be misleading, yes. But I sold what I was paid for. What people may do with my data is what causes it to befall them. Its not the info itself that does so." Looking closely at the two, I recognize them as two of the yellow scarf members from before. The one to the left is bald; his skull covered with various tattoos. The other has scarlet red hair and didn't look to be a native of Japan. The red haired one is obviously not pleased with my answer, and rushes toward me; a rusty pipe raised. Using the silver knife in my own hand, I slide it across the material I am pressed against. The aluminum splits easily under the tip of the weapon I wield, causing strong smelling liquid to seep out of it. With my free hand, my hand grasps a small object as I retrieve it out of my pocket. The man who had just been running towards me stops with confusion as he sees the liquid pooling at his feet, along with everyone else. That includes my own. "What are you planning now, louse?" Shizuo steps forward, his fingers once again latching onto the nearest blunt object they could find. "Not-uh-uh," I flip open the packet clasped in between my digits, pulling from it a match. "You shouldn't make such rash decisions, Shizzy. Especially when all that lays between all of you and a fiery grave... is this match I hold here." I wave the wooden piece around. The ex-bartender stops in his place, his face twisted with irritation. Masaomi then decides to step forward. "I don't believe you would do that." He says. "Why wouldn't I? I'm not the type to bluff." I insisted. I twirl the match in my fingers. "Because it would kill you as well, seeing as most of the gasoline is on you. And I know your not fond of the idea of dying. That would stop you from the one thing you love, which is tormenting others with your sick games." He states matter-of-factly. I shrug and respond. "You are right. I would prefer to stay alive as long as I can. Of course not for the reasons you stated. But as long as I take Shizu-chan down with me..." I trail off, striking the match. Fire hungrily devours the top part of it, embers licking the wood as it does. I move my free hand underneath the burning object, making sure no ashes light the gasoline. A mixture of shock, anger, and what I presume to be fears enters there eyes. "No need to go to such drastic measures." The bald yellow scarf members laughs uneasily. "Your right, there isn't. And so long as I get what I want, nothing will happen." I respond. Masaomi takes another step towards me. "I still don't believe you, Izaya. Your bluffing." This brings a chuckle to my lips. "You seem very confident, but do you really want to test if I'm bluffing?" This time, Masaomi walks close enough to try and land a punch. Stepping to the side, I let the match slide further from my grip. It is dangerously close to falling. "Okay, we believe you." The bald man pipes up. I catch the wooden part of the match; mid-fall, having been released only a millisecond before. "I'm glad we are seeing eye to eye." Straightening up, I lean against the gasoline tank. I kept my hand as far from it as possible. "Just let me go so I may go on with my business." I say simply. The red haired man narrows his eyes in suspicion. "And how can we trust you?" He barks, in which I react to with a shrug. "There is no way to make you trust my word. But its either you do as I wish, or this will be where you die. Your choice." He looks at the others scarves member with a quizzical look. The latter shakes his head, as unsure as the first. Shizuo is the one to walk forward. He gets so close we are practically nose to nose. Still, my grin does not waver. "You always have some dirty trick up your sleeve, don't you? And usually I wouldn't pass up a chance to rid the word of you, but since you've dragged others into your suicidal plan- I have to agree to your terms, you fucking flea." He growls through grated teeth. "Just let the others go. We'll finish this fight ourselves." Killing intent is written all over him; from the death glare pouring from his amber eyes to his body which literally shook with red fury. "That wasn't the deal, monster. You either stand aside or...I'll let your own protozoic brain figure that one out. I'll give you forty-five seconds to decide, before we play this my way."
Seconds go by before Masaomi speaks to tell of there conclusion. "Fine, we will agree. But if I see you again, I swear I'll get revenge for all the horrible things you've done." With that, he turns to leave the area. Saki is waiting nearby for him. I grin triumphantly, walking past Shizuo and the scarves members. Then, I stop. I turn my head up, my eyes looking towards the sky. "How unexpected." I hum nonchalantly, "This is slightly different then even I expected. Quite disappointing, actually." I say without turning, wearing a mask of indifference. "What was that, flea? Your the one who planned this fucking thing!" Shizuo sneered viciously. Ignoring the hate-laced question, I continue. "But I got the information I required, so I guess it's not a total loss. So to be kind, I'll give you a head start." Masaomi stops on his way, hearing what I had said. He was just as curious and confused as the others around me. "I lied." I laugh, dropping the match and sprinting from the scene. I turn my head slightly to watch them follow suite before returning my focus to ahead of me. The familiar sound of crackling fire reaches me ears, only seconds later to be followed by the explosion. After that is the ringing silence. The warmth I knew to well as fire engulfs me. I have to suppress my laugh in order to not choke on ashes and smoke. I had sprinted a total of a block or more when I turned once more to look at the figures behind me. Two of the five had left the scene, though due to the smoke obscuring my vision I could not see exactly who had left. I had just swiveled my head back to looking ahead when I feel a extremely strong column of air hit across my throat. Ignoring it, I continue for a few more seconds before the feeling of warm liquid runs down the front of my torso. Then comes instantaneous pain, and I fall forward into the cold, grey concrete.