Spliced

Prolog: The Calm Before the Storm

It was a normal day for the fortissimo of Ikebukuro. He woke up and put another dent in his alarm clock, as usual. He ate breakfast and fought with his abused toaster, as usual. He followed Tom around the city and beat up assholes, as usual. He chased Izaya across the city with a lamp post, as usual. Then to finish off his perfectly normal day he got some takeout from Simon's and headed home to flick aimlessly through channels.

But that's where things started to get a little more twisted.

His cigarette fell to the floor; scattering ashes as it rolled away from the couch, momentarily forgotten as he stared at the T.V. in shock. Had the day been perhaps too normal? Like the calm before the storm? Should he have seen this coming? He knew he couldn't have but in a small part of his mind he couldn't help but blame himself.

Quickly he reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone, flicking open the screen and staring at the buttons; unable to bring himself to dial the number. This had to be a joke. Yeah, that was it, he'd call his brother and in that monotone voice he'd explain to him that it was just a publicity stunt to create hype around the new movie. His brother forgot to warn him was all...

The screen on his phone went dark in the soft evening light as it made an attempt to save it's battery. He'd told himself it was just a joke, but still he couldn't bring himself to dial the number and learn the truth. He wasn't sure what he would do if it wasn't a joke. He wasn't sure he wanted to know about his brother's kidnapping.

The truth wasn't going to wait for him though, and his phone flicked on with a brilliant blue light, scattering dots across his vision as it vibrated urgently. Shizuo blinked the dots out of his eyes before seeing the name on the screen and sighing in relief.

"Oh, Kasuka, thank god..." He began, flicking open his phone, but another voice interrupted him, a voice that was not his brother's.

"Shizuo Heiwajima, we have your brother and if you want him back alive I suggest you listen to what I have to say..."

~.~.~.

Across the city in Shinjuku another man was watching the same news cast with a completely different reaction.

"Phhh~ haha! Namie do you see this? Oh! This is good! This is way too good!" Izaya squirmed on the couch, trying to contain his hysterical laughter as Namie as went about her organizing completely; indifferent to the whole situation.

"Oh, I can just see the look on the brute's face now! He must be devastated with his poor baby brother kidnapped." Izaya chuckled some more before flicking off the T.V. and moving to get up off the couch.

Whoever had done this had some serious guts and deep ties. Kasuka Heiwajima was not an easy man to kidnap. Izaya knew, he'd tried. Not only did the man have twenty-four-hour security but it was hard to find a moment in which that brute wasn't watching over his shoulder. Not to mention it was dangerous; Izaya was sure Shizuo was tearing the city apart brick by brick right now looking for Kasuka, and god forgive the poor sucker he found him with. In fact, Izaya was surprised he hadn't received a visit from the brute himself; he imagined he was at the top of the suspect list.

Izaya walked up to the window behind his desk and looked down into the street at his adorable humans; half expecting to see that familiar blond head pushing through them. But alas, it didn't seem he was going to receive a visit from his favorite play-thing anytime soon. Perhaps Shizuo didn't even know? The info broker let out a small puff of laughter at that idea; Shizuo was probably busy picking on some poor thugs right now, completely unaware of his bothers kidnapping. Or maybe he couldn't even work his T.V.? Now that would be a riot.

Grin plastered across his face, Izaya walked up to his desk and flicked his computers on; just because he didn't instigate the kidnapping didn't mean he couldn't hold it over Shizu-chan's head. Besides, he couldn't exactly call himself the best info broker in Ikebukuro if he couldn't find the culprit of one, messily, kidnapping now could he?

~.~.~.

It wasn't until late that night that Tom finally heard from his long time friend and current employ. He'd been trying to get a hold of him for the past four hours, after he'd heard the news about Kasuka, but none of his texts were responded to and every time he called he only got a busy signal. So it was with great relief that he flicked open his pone to find Shizuo's number displayed on the screen.

"Shi-" he began but was quickly cut off by the other man.

"Tom I need to quit." Was all he said, shocking Tom to the bone. Shizuo's voice was gravelly and course, as though he'd just been yelling, and his breath was coming out long and shaky. If Tom didn't know better he'd say Shizuo was trying to hold back sobs.

"Shizuo if this is about you're brother..." He began again but was silenced by a growl from the other end.

"It's not about him!" Shizuo cried angrily, "Well it is but...! Gah! I just can't come back to work Tom, it's better if you just forget about me!" With that dramatic statement the line went dead and no matter how many times Tom redialed it just went straight to voice mail.

~.~.~.

"Today fans around the world are morning the disappearance of the famous idol Yuuhei Hanejima." The T.V. blared at him from across the room but all he could see of it was the flickering blue light seeping through his blind fold.

"His disappearance was reported this morning when a neighbor found his door ajar and singes of a struggle with in." His breathing was quick and shallow as he tried not to gag on the rough material strung between his teeth. He tried chewing through it for the umpteenth time but his teeth weren't made for anything tougher then stake and his jaw still hurt from where it had been smashed into the floor the night before. Oh. how he wished he had his brother's ridiculous strength at that moment. Then he could just break the soft fabric binding his hands and feat and get out of this place; wherever this place was. If only Shizuo had been there the night before, then he wouldn't have even been in this mess. He felt anger building up in his chest but he screwed his eyes shut and forced it down. They were both grown men now and Shizuo had his own life to lead; he couldn't expect to have his brother there to hurtle a lamp post every time some crazed fan got too close.

"Police aren't releasing any further details at this time but they ask anyone with..." Kasuka heard sound of a door opening before the T.V. went silent, blue light still flickering before his eyes.

After a moment of silence a throaty chuckle filled the room causing Kasuka to with draw back further into the pile of silk pillows that surrounded him. "Your fans miss you Kasuka." The man's voice was mocking and cynical but Kasuka figured that was better then crazed and mindless. It made it seem less likely that rape was the motive for this kidnapping, though the bed beneath him was a rather negative indicator.

"Your brother misses you too. Won't you say hi?" Kasuka shot up at that; eyes straining to see through the darkness. If Shizuo was here it would only be a matter of seconds before he broke them both out. He felt the other man sit down on the bed and didn't resist as icy hands ran along his cheek, following the gag to where it was tided at the back of his neck and tugging it lose.

"Shi-" he rasped out before his sore, dry, throat sent him into a coughing fit. When he stopped he felt something hard and cold press against his bottom lip.

"Dink," his captor commanded gently, all the previous malice gone from his voice. Kasuka obeyed; greedily sucking down what he could only hope was water; feeling the ice cooled liquid burn his raw throat as it went down. When the cup was finally pulled away he started into another coughing fit; his mouth wasn't dry anymore but the new moisture stung his throat. He forced himself to a halt though when he heard the muffled sound of his brother's voice.

The bed creaked as his captor leaned across it, reaching for something at the other end. "Don't worry," His captor said, raising his voice as though he was trying to talk over something. "Your brothers perfectly fine Shizuo." The was a moment of silence when all Kasuka could hear was his brother's voice rambling on before his captor let out a sigh and the beep of a phone rang out, followed by a colorful string of curses.

"Shizuo?" Kasuka ask consciously and the swearing stopped, only to be replaced with a game of twenty questions.

"Kasuka? Are you alright? They didn't do anything to you did they? Where are you? Are they feeding you properly? Don't worry I'll get you out of there."

Kasuka took a moment to gage his answers before replying. His brothers concern was endearing but the panic that laced his voice did nothing for his own fear; he knew if he told Shizuo the whole story they'd just work each other into a panic. "I'm fine," it took all of his acting skills to speak in a reassuring voice, despite the uncertainty growing in his heart. "They're taking good care of me, but no, I don't know where I am." He paused for a moment taking comfort in the sound of his brother's breathing on the other end before making one, last, selfish request.

"Please hurry..." the words were spoken so softly, so lowly, that he wasn't sure Shizuo even heard them. It might be better if he hadn't, Kasuka knew that if his pain and fear ever became apparent to his brother he'd burn down the entire city looking for him. As much discomfort as he was in at the moment he didn't want his brother to get into anymore trouble then they were both already in.

There was another beep as the speaker phone was turned off and the man stood from the bed, walking towards the door. "There you heard it; straight from the man himself. Now we can get onto the real business..." The voice was downed out as the door clicked shut, leaving Kasuka alone with the flickering blue light of the television.

He sat in silence for awhile; letting his body relax back into the pillows as he tried to clear his head of all the horrible thoughts swimming through it. Then, slowly, Kasuka pulled his knees up to his chest and for the first time in years the idol began to cry. There were no eye drops this time, no special effects artist, no close up shots, just pure, heart wrenching, sobs.