Izaya's eyes narrowed as he read over the form Namie had handed to him not five minutes ago before fleeing with her purse. Her resignation, effective immediately. Now why would she go and do that? It wasn't like he hadn't been keeping tabs on her. As far as he knew, no other job offer had come up for her that was better than what he was offering.
Whatever. He put the form down and flicked the edge of the paper so it went flying off his desk and floated to the ground. He'd keep an eye on her, but she had the right to do whatever she pleased. He wasn't her keeper. All the same…
Izaya got up from his chair and moved over to his game board. He slid a Shogi piece around and moved a chess pawn to go with it. After looking over the board for a moment more, Izaya sat back down at his desk and turned to his computer, an indifferent look on his face. Hopefully something interesting was going on online. He needed something to occupy him.
Izaya slammed his fist down on the desk in anger. Let it be known that Izaya was very rarely ever truly angry. But this time… Namie had gone too far. Much too far. He knew what she'd done now. He began to pace his office, muttering under his breath every once in a while.
Namie had been offered a lot of money. Millions of yen. Possibly billions. The amount hardly mattered, though. Whatever it was, it had gotten her to resign from him, but not before taking some of his DNA. And apparently, she'd taken some of Shizuo's DNA as well. How she'd gotten it, Izaya had no idea. The point of the matter is, she'd gone into human experimentation.
This included cloning.
And Izaya had gotten wind that there were now clones of himself and Shizuo running amok. Apparently the company Namie now worked for had heard of both himself and Shizu-chan and wanted to make the best of each of them, probably to work for some government or what have you. Since Shizuo was so strong and Izaya so smart, it was no wonder that this had happened.
Izaya just wished he'd seen this coming.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. It didn't matter how he acted now- it wasn't like anyone could see him. He was alone. He needed to come up with a plan. He couldn't just have little mini-mes running around. That would be the end of him. Who knew what kind of trouble they would stir up?
The only viable plan of action that would be effective would be to tell someone. He couldn't just go in by himself- he'd get shot. Or escorted out. And hiring someone was more hassle than it was worth at this point. But who to tell? Who would take him seriously? Because let's face it, he did have a habit of crying wolf every once in a while.
Izaya turned to his windows, watching the city below him.
With a sigh, he pulled out his phone. No matter how much he didn't want to, it had to be done. He pressed his number one speed dial, thankful no one knew it was his number one.
"What do you want, flea? How do you even have this number?"
"Aww, Shizu-chan, is that really how you should react when someone calls up needing your help?" Izaya grinned despite himself.
"You… Need my help?" Shizuo began to laugh. "That's rich!"
"It's the truth." Izaya became serious. He filled Shizuo in on what was going on, hearing the tension escalate on the other line.
"Fine. Exactly where is this place?"
And things were set in to motion.
Eventually, Izaya hung up his phone, sliding it back into a jacket pocket and leaving his fingers curled around it. He watched the cars pass on the street below.
"It's been three months since her betrayal of me. I wonder how Shizu-chan is going to handle this." Izaya chuckled to himself, though he really didn't find his situation funny, and leaned his forehead against the glass.
This promised to be a blast, if nothing else.
Shizuo stood looking in to the room of beds. He'd gotten there a little late. All of the other clones had been moved already, but in their haste, they'd left this one. Apparently the company had gotten wind that Shizuo was coming.
The sound of footsteps coming towards him from down the hallway. Shizuo turned, lighting a cigarette simultaneously. It was only Celty. She'd been his ride here at her own insistence after what she'd learned he was going to do. He nodded to her in greeting and turned back to the clone, asleep on a bed in the center of the room. The other beds were all empty, their sheets rumpled and wrinkled. But not this one, because it's occupant was still there.
He looked exactly like Izaya. Shizuo would go so far as to say that he was a spitting image of the devious man. Except for one tiny little detail.
The clone was a child.
It's age couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen. Maybe even younger than that. It's sleeping face was soft, untroubled. Shizuo could only imagine what had gone on here. And he thought Izaya said it had only been three months, probably shorter than that, since they were able to make a successful clone. So why did this one look as old as it did?
That made his head hurt, as his thoughts just kept going around and around, and he couldn't find a solution. Why would someone want to clone him or Izaya anyways? He wasn't all that great. And neither was the flea. Actually, Izaya was probably way worse.
A phone was suddenly thrust in his face.
Do you think we should wake him up? Shizuo looked to Celty and then to the kid.
"Might as well. He's going to wake up sooner or later anyways." Shizuo shrugged and walked over to the bed. Tapping the boy on the shoulder, he said "Hey. Hey, kid, come on. Wake up."
The child's eyes opened slowly, focusing on the ceiling before darting to Shizuo. His irises were a soft pastel yellow. He sat up slowly, swinging his feet out of bed. He was wearing an oversized white shirt and white shorts as well. He seemed to ignore Shizuo's presence, as well as ignoring Celty when she stepped into the room. He ruffled his hair and stood up. Shizuo watched his progress suspiciously, wondering what was going on.
Finally, the kid turned to him. He studied Shizuo for what seemed like forever, and actually creeped Shizuo out a bit.
"What?" He said finally. "What the hell are you starin' at, kid?"
"… You're not Delic. Or Tsugaru, or Tsukishima. So who are you? I haven't seen you before. Where are they? What did you do with the others?" Shizuo had never seen a kid act so serious, or have such a murderous look on his face before.
Celty began tapping away at her phone while Shizuo tried to find the words to explain that he didn't know any of the people this kid was talking about. The Izaya look-alike turned to Celty, however, when she showed her phone to him. Shizuo read it over his shoulder.
We don't know any of the people you're talking about. They were moved out of this building before we got here. My name is Celty, and this is Shizuo. Do you have a name?
The boy looked from the phone to it's holder for a moment before answering.
"My name is Hibiya. But that's Prince Hibiya to you." Hibiya glared at Celty, as if daring her to contradict what he'd said. "And I suppose it's nice to meet you. Where did they all go?"
"We don't know, kid. We were hoping you could tell us." Shizuo growled.
Hibiya shook his head wordlessly. " I have no idea where they could have gone. But why would they leave me here?" He said the second sentence under his breath, as if he really didn't mean to say it in the first place.
Shizuo decided to pretend like he hadn't heard. Instead, he clapped a hand to Hibiya's shoulder and steered him out of the room. He had a feeling the cops were going to show up soon, and he knew that no one here was going to like what happened after that.
So, with some resistance from Hibiya (which was ignored) they all somehow got settled on Celty's bike. Celty drove, Hibiya sat behind her, and Shizuo behind him. Hibiya did not appreciate the seating arrangement and complained about it until Celty shut him up by accelerating the bike. Hibiya then saw why it was necessary for him to be in the center. There weren't any seatbelts, after all.
"Where should we take him?" Shizuo shouted over the roar of the wind.
Celty only shook her head and the bike went faster. Hibiya clung to Celty, his eyes shut tightly against the world. SHizuo pretended not to notice. He'd never seen that expression before. At least, not on Izaya's face. And while he knew that this kid obviously wasn't Izaya, he still looked like Izaya. Which was beyond weird, but Shizuo was getting used to it.
They entered the parking garage of Celty and Shinra's building, zooming right into the open elevator before coming to a sudden and complete stop. Hibiya slowly got off the bike, feeling queasy. He was glad when the smoky helmet around his head disappeared. It had been making him feel a little claustrophobic.
They took the elevator all the way up, Celty now the only one who remained on the bike. When the doors dinged open, Shizuo and Celty bother got out. Hibiya followed, although he was much more hesitant than his two companions. He hung back around the corner, watching Shizuo's and CElty's progress into the house. He was scared. Not that he'd ever admit it.
All of his friends, everything and everyone he knew were gone. And now he'd practically been kidnapped and transported to a brand new place. With people he didn't know. He could always put on a brave front, like he was supposed to, but how long could he keep that up?
And if they weren't here, where was everyone else? He wanted to be back with his friends. Even if some of them were a little nuts. Psyche, for example. Or Roppi.
"Kid, come on! Shinra wants to take a look at you." Shizuo called.
Reluctantly, Hibiya came out of his hiding place with a pout on his face. Not that he would ever actually call it a pout. He would call it a scowl. Because royalty does not pout. They scowl. Ergo, scowling.
He entered the living room, revealing himself to Celty and Shizuo, and a third man wearing a long white coat. Hibiya knew that coat. Well, not that coat specifically, but there had been many like it. He was so distracted by this man's clothes that the fact that Celty had taken off her helmet and had no head completely escaped him.
"Hey, I'm Shinra. Let me take a look at you." He seemed like a nice enough person, Hibiya thought suspiciously.
Hibiya hesitantly sat down at the couch indicated, watching SHinra's every move. He wondered what was so special about him to be looked at in the way Shinra was looking at him. It was creepy, as if he was a specimen on an examination table.
"I've never seen a perfect clone before. This is amazing!" Hibiya forced himself to sit still as his pulse and blood pressure were taken. He'd already been through this a dozen times at the facility- he just wanted to find his friends.
Shizuo's phone rang. He began talking on it with an annoyed air, and Hibiya only caught snippets of the conversation. Finally, Shinra was done collecting data, and Shizuo hung up the phone.
"Izaya says the other clones broke out of the van that was transporting them and are on the run. He says we should bring the kid to him and then look for the others."
Before he knew it, Hibiya was back on the bike, squished between Celty and Shizuo, heading to the business district. He wondered how they thought of him, being a clone. Did it really matter? And since when did he care what other people thought, anyways? Especially strangers.
They brought him to the office of a man who Hibiya felt was probably a total dick. Shizuo stayed outside.
"Ahhh, so this is one of my little mini-mes. Did they give you a name or a number? Not that it matters to me, because soon enough I'll be rid of you." Izaya ended with a sly lilt to his voice.
Hibiya's eyes narrowed, and he sized the other up. He'd been filled in on his identity on the ride up on the elevator, and of the fact that his man was his DNA-doner. So to speak.
"I am Prince Hibiya." He sniffed finally.
"Prince?" Izaya began to laugh.
"Don't patronize me." Hibiya took a seat on Izaya's office couch, crossing his arms over his chest. "I am going to be king of all humanity. In fact, I kind of already am."
Izaya stopped laughing, deciding to grin instead. He sat down across from the child on the other couch. Celty watched them watch each other for a long moment and was wondering if she should say something or leave until Izaya opened his mouth.
"I'd say we have a lot more in common than just looks." Izaya grinned.
"Perhaps." Hibiya hadn't missed the look in Izaya's eye, and he was intrigued by it.
Shizuo stepped into the room, clearly annoyed.
"What the hell is taking so long? They'll be gone by the time we get there!"
Hibiya, annoyed with the way his night was going, bit his own tongue hard enough to make his eyes water and tears pour down his cheeks. Hibiya knelt on the couch, turning around so Shizuo could see him. He sniffed and made his shoulders tremble as if he were crying. He blushed with shame- he couldn't believe he was reduced to this.
"Sh-Shizuo-sama, h-how could you?" He sobbed, looking down at his fingers curled around the cushions of the couch.
"How could I what?" Shizuo's angry face went slack. He hadn't even done anything, much less something to make the kid cry.
"For all I know, you're the one who- who took my friends. How am I supposed to believe you?"
Shizuo was at a loss. He rubbed the back of his head, unsure of what to do. He wasn't the one who'd taken Hibiya's friends, obviously, but the kid was crying, and it looked almost like a younger (and possibly more innocent) Izaya was the one crying. The actual Izaya, however, was sitting back with his fingers threaded together and a smirk on his face. Shizuo really needed a smoke.
"I'm sorry, kid. Ya happy now?" He grumbled.
"Yep." Hibiya brushed away his tears, now all sly grin and pleased demeanor.
"What the- you played me!" Shizuo's hands itched for something to throw, and Hibiya darted to Izaya's side, his fingers flitting over the other's shoulders as if prepared to shove Izaya in front of him should Shizuo decide to attack.
"I'll claim child abuse." He taunted, unable to help himself. Shizuo was so much easier to rile up than anyone Hibiya had ever known. Usually it was Hibiya himself getting riled up. This was, therefore, a refreshing change.
Shizuo stormed out of the room, dragging poor Celty along. Once he was sure they were gone, Hibiya sat back down in his original seat and scoffed at himself.
"That was humiliating. Perhaps tonight really is getting to me." He mumbled.
"That was absolutely marvelous! I've never seen Shizuo act like that! Oh, stop pouting, that was great! Izaya chuckled, leaning back on the couch and crossing one leg over the other.
"I don't pout. I scowl." Hibiya's pout became more pronounced.
"If that's a scowl, I'd like to see you angry." He snored sarcastically before leaning forward in his seat. "How about this- you teach me how to make Shizu-chan melt into a puddle of his own emotions, and I'll teach you how to scowl."
Hibiya leaned forward as well, his pout becoming a smirk.
"Five yen every time one of us gets it wrong?"
"Sure, why not?" Izaya asked rhetorically.
"Deal."
Blame my friend, who talked me into RPing as Hibiya on tumblr. (If any of you would like to check it out, it's .com, warning for the Hibiya/Delic-ness that is extremely explicit sometimes.) XD It was definetly one of the best desicions I've ever made.
So... Yes. ENJOY. X3