Izaya woke slowly, eyes opening and squinting against the onslaught of rain. The first thing he became aware of was the cold, hard concrete wall he was propped up against. He turned his head slowly and observed his surroundings, realizing he was in one of Ikebukuro's many alleyways. He knew the city by heart, and even through the fog of his mind, he instantly recognized the nearby street signs and billboards.

Rain pelted down in droves, but Izaya couldn't feel the drops. His skin had long since gone numb from the biting cold. Just how long had he been out there?

Wait... why was he out there?

This sudden question knocked Izaya out of his haze, and he sat up from his slumped position, eyes snapping fully open. Why was he out there? The raven scoured his memory, trying to recall the events that had led to him being left unconscious in an alleyway. He came up with...

Nothing.

Frustratingly, infuriatingly, nothing.

Izaya raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, screwing his eyes shut and trying to think past the continuous pounding of his head. He remembered being in his apartment, bored and annoyed that no one was in the chat rooms to entertain him. He had grabbed his usual jacket and decided to search Shinjuku for something to amuse him. The last thing he could recall was locking the door behind him as he left. After that, it was a blank.

Izaya could feel his breathing pick up and he tried to quell his rising panic in vain. He had left his apartment early in the morning. It was hard to tell when the sky was darkened with rain clouds, but it was obviously well past evening. That meant there were hours of his life that he couldn't remember. He was Izaya Orihara, he was supposed to know everything about peoples' lives, but he can't even remember the last few hours of his own life. That thought sparked the first tendrils of genuine fear he had felt in almost a decade.

Izaya tried to think through his increasing anxiety and decided his first move should be to get back to his apartment. There, he could try to sort this mess out and at least be out of this goddamn rain.

Face set in determination, Izaya forced himself up off the ground. He head spun at the sudden movement, and his left leg gave out from under him as a sudden sharp pain shot through his ankle. He slumped against the wall, using all of his strength to simply stay standing. He spent a few minutes breathing slowly until the ringing in his ears finally subsided and his head no longer swam in dizziness.

Izaya took stock of his situation. His entire body was numb from the cold, so he couldn't decipher any injuries other than a general dull ache. Good thing for small mercies. Izaya knew from the way he could only manage shallow breaths that one or more of his ribs must be broken, and that was not a pain he wanted to deal with all the way back to Shinjuku. It was going to suck when he got feeling back.

He pushed off of the wall, realizing after the initial shock of pain that his left ankle could support him well enough to make it home, though not without a limp. Izaya slowly forced his stiff legs to move, limping heavily out of the alleyway. His jacket was gone, so he was left in only his black t-shirt. He hugged himself in a vain attempt to conserve some warmth in the biting rain.

Not even a moment after he emerged from the alleyway did he hear the familiar roar of his name.

"Izaya!" came the infuriated yell from down the street.

Izaya sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, letting his arms drop back to his sides. That brute just had the worst timing. Not only was there no way he could outrun him in his condition, he was also missing his favorite switchblade. Damn.

He schooled his features into his usual smirk and turned towards Shizuo. "Ah, Shizu-chan! How great to see you."

Shizuo's glare intensified. "What the hell are you doing in Ikebukuro, goddamn flea?" he yelled over the din of the rain, looking around for a nearby projectile to throw.

Izaya's smile dropped a bit.

'If only I fucking knew'

Instead, Izaya replied, "I'm just enjoying this weather!"

Shizuo huffed in frustration when he realized there wasn't anything nearby that he could launch at the raven. He began stalking down the sidewalk towards him. "This weather is shit, stupid flea," he growled dangerously.

Izaya took a step backward, barely holding back a wince as his ankle threatened to give out again. "Oh, my dear protozoan, are you really that dense? I didn't say that the weather was nice. Something horrible can be enjoyed. For example, I find your monstrous tendencies very amusing to watch. In fact, you..."

Izaya trailed off as he saw a black van coming down the road towards them, driving slowly. He wracked his brain, trying to figure out why the van looked so goddamn familiar, but nothing came to mind. However, there was no denying the icy dread that settled in his bones when he saw that car, the adrenaline that flooded his system as every instinct he had screamed at him to run.

He glanced at Shizuo, who was giving him a weird look. "Oi, what the hell's your problem?!"

Izaya ignored him, looking back at the van that was steadily inching closer. His heart pounded, blood rushing loudly in his ears. His panic was totally illogical, right? But Izaya's instincts had saved him many times, and it didn't seem wise to start ignoring them now. The van was exuding danger, and Izaya decided that he wouldn't stick around to ponder the reason behind this.

Without another word to Shizuo, the raven turned and ran in the opposite direction of the van. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, masking any previous pain or weariness with the sheer need to get away. He pushed his legs as fast as they could go, squinting as rain stung his eyes.

"The fuck, flea?!" he heard Shizuo shout behind him, before his pounding footsteps indicated that he was chasing after him. Izaya didn't really care, though. His main concern was the sound of squealing tires on wet pavement as the black van floored it. The roar of the engine grew louder as the van gained speed and steadily approached the running pair.

Izaya took a sharp turn down the next alleyway, mentally mapping an escape route to shake the van off his tail. He sprinted through the long alley until he reached the parallel street, not slowing his pace as he approached the road. However, he didn't anticipate how quickly the van would be able to maneuver, and he was already in the middle of the street when he realized the van had caught up and was coming at him at full speed.

With barely time to think, Izaya threw himself forward, diving to the side of the road headfirst in a desperate attempt to evade the van. He almost made it, but the van managed to clip his right ankle as he dodged, sending a white hot flash of pain up his leg and sending him flying sideways. He hit the asphalt hard, rolling a few times before coming to a stop. He thought he heard Shizuo yell something over the rain, but it was drowned out by the sound of the van skidding to a stop at the end of the road.

Izaya pushed himself up and tried to continue his frantic escape. However, as soon as he stood, his right ankle buckled, sending him sprawling back down to the wet pavement. He could swear he had felt the bones in his ankle shift as he had stood, and his world was whited out in pain for a moment. He heard the van's tires screeching as it accelerated towards him again. Izaya's eyes widened as he realized that this was it. No amount of adrenaline would allow him to run on a broken ankle.

The van was approaching at full speed, aimed right for where he was lying on the side of the road. Suddenly, just as Izaya was accepting his fate, he was scooped up by a pair of strong arms, being held bridal style. Izaya's heart stopped as the car sped past them, missing by mere inches. He looked up at Shizuo in utter confusion, but he didn't have time to say anything before Shizuo began running with him in his arms. Izaya braced his arms tightly around Shizuo's neck as he was jostled violently by the brute's quick pace.

The sound of the van's engine revving could be heard over the rain, and it was quickly approaching again. Even Shizuo couldn't outrun a car, especially carrying Izaya.

"Turn at this next alley!" Izaya yelled.

Shizuo's eyes narrowed. "That didn't work out so well for you last time, did it?!" he yelled back angrily.

"Just, trust me!" Izaya implored, pulse racing as he heard the sound of the van's engine get steadily louder.

Shizuo growled but did as the raven said, taking a sharp turn at the next alley.

"Go through this door on the right!" Izaya yelled.

Surprisingly, Shizuo complied without an angry retort, and he managed to open the steel door without ripping it off of its hinges. He shut the door quickly behind them, locking it immediately. Shizuo stood with Izaya in his arms, the only sound in the room being their harsh breathing and the faint pattering of rain that could be heard from outside.

"Wha-" Shizuo started to question, before Izaya slapped a hand over his mouth. Shizuo's eyes narrowed, but Izaya gave him a sincere look instead of his usual teasing smirk, and that was enough surprise to shut the brute up.

After a tense minute or two, there was the sound of two sets of pounding footsteps running by outside. "Where the fuck are they?" a gruff voice spat angrily. Izaya stopped breathing, hoping that they wouldn't decide to check this room.

His partner sighed heavily. "They must have slipped by us on the street somehow. Come on, let's go keep looking. They couldn't have gotten far."

The footsteps eventually faded away, but it took another minute or two for Izaya to feel safe letting out the breath he had been holding. With the immediate danger gone, Izaya became fully aware of his exhaustion and the pain wracking his body. He also became fully aware of the fact that Shizuo was still holding him and that he had the material of the brute's shirt fisted tightly in his hands.

Izaya quickly let go as if he had been burned. Shizuo snorted, shaking his head before setting Izaya down on the floor. The room was average-sized with a single light switch by the door. Shizuo flipped it on and observed their surroundings.

"Where the hell are we?" he asked.

Izaya sighed. "I used to run a gambling ring in here before it got too boring. Gambling addicts are way too predictable." Izaya slowly pushed himself up, using the wall as support and putting all of his weight on his left ankle. His ribs were screaming, poking into his lungs with every deep breath he tried to take. His body was still too numb for him to process any other injuries, and he was shivering violently. He clenched his jaw to stop his teeth from chattering. He needed to get back to Shinjuku. "Well, Shizu-chan, it's been fun, but I have more important things to attend to."

Shizuo narrowed his eyes. "You aren't seriously trying to brush this off? How stupid do you think I am? And who the hell were those guys?"

"I've told you many times, brute. I think you are extremely stupid," Izaya purred with a smirk. He knew that if he got Shizuo mad enough, he would derail his line of questioning.

Shizuo's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to kill you, fucking flea," he growled, hands clenching into fists.

Izaya's smirk widened. "You say that, but it would be much more convincing if you hadn't just saved my life."

Shizuo paused for a moment before he scoffed. "Only because I'm going to be the one that kills you."

Izaya tried to respond, but the pounding in his head was steadily increasing, and it felt like someone was stabbing him in the temple. The room was spinning, and his vision was beginning to blur. He thought he heard Shizuo say something, but his words were muffled, as if Izaya were underwater. The last thing he felt before awareness left him altogether was a pair of strong arms stopping his descent to the ground.