Thoughts
"English"
*Sounds*
PDA
-!Frame change!-
If Anni hadn't had her earphones in, she might have heard the jingling of the knob on her new apartment door. If she had been watching TV, she might have seen them approach her as she lounged on the couch. If she hadn't been so tired after unpacking, she would have gone out to explore the new town more. Then she wouldn't have been caught, drawing, on the couch in her living room. By the time she noticed the intruders and stood, letting her drawing pad and pencil fall to the floor, it was too late. The stun gun hit her in the stomach, and she crumpled beside her art supplies. By the time she had enough wits about her to understand who had sent these men, and why, they had a foul smelling mask over her face. Her last thoughts as she faded from consciousness were dreading what she would wake to.
-!DRRR!-
She was numb. She could hardly feel her arms or legs. It was the familiar sounds of an engine and muted wind that told her where she was. Bright, victorious voices floated around her, unaware of their now conscious charge. She couldn't make sense of what they were saying though the haze of the lingering drug, but she knew they could only be her enemies. Taking stock of her position, she found her ankles were bound, and her mouth taped shut. Whoever was in charge of binding her was taking their time, laughing with his comrades as he unwound the duct tape that would undoubtedly be for her wrists. She struggled to think of something to do past the drug. Then she gleefully noticed the pressure against her hip. They hadn't found her knife. When the tape touched her hands she moved, opening her eyes and lashing out at her caretaker with her right hand while her left pulled the blade from her pocket.
"Shit!" the chubby blond yelled, her nails embedding themselves in his arm. "How is she awake!" he demanded, tearing her arm away. If he didn't expect her to wake up, he really didn't expect her knife to find his leg. "Little bitch!" he screamed, wrenching hard at the arm he'd captured. There was a pop, and her wrist hung the wrong way. The girl wondered mildly if the drug muting her thoughts was also muting the pain and then tried to swing her blade at the other passenger in the back seat.
"What the hell is going on back there?" the driver yelled. If he hadn't turned to look at the chaos behind him, he would have noticed how the van drifted, or the red light, or the single pedestrian crossing the street.
-!DRRR!-
Work hadn't been so bad today. Only one of the clients was stupid enough to give him stupid excuses and piss him off. Things had gone rather quickly, other than that damn deadbeat who'd forced him to get angry again, and he'd been let off earlier than usual, after having dinner with Tom-san. He was left to wander his city in peace, silently enjoying the streets of Ikebukuro. It was well past dark by the time he decided to head home, and most of the usual crowds had dissipated. He was strolling down a crosswalk when he was hit. He noticed only a split second before the impact that the van wasn't slowing, but it was enough time to plant his feet.
Tires screeched. His chest dented the hood. His feet tore into the asphalt, and his fingers dug into the bumper. The newly conjoined van-and-man cleared the intersection before coming to a complete halt. He looked up slowly to the two horrified men in the front seat, fury reverberating out of every pore.
"Why you…" he began, ripping the bumper from the van. "You could have killed me. You can't complain if I kill you then, right?"
"Heiwajima-" the passenger started, recognizing the danger. The driver didn't take that long, falling out of his door and scrambling to get away
"EH?" Shizuo yelled, closing the distance to his target in a few strides and sending him flying with his make-shift weapon.
Two doors of the van opened, releasing two equally terrified men, one of which was bleeding. The bloodied man didn't waste any time in stumbling away into an alley, while his friend wasn't so lucky. "P-please, Heiwajima-san, we didn't mean to hit you, it was just an acci-"
He didn't fly very far before crashing through a wall and into a building.
"There any more of you bastards in here?" Shizuo growled, stomping up to peer inside the open van. What he found startled him out of his rage. A young blonde woman sat in the back seat, or more leaned against it, glaring up at him through bleary blue eyes. Her mouth was taped shut, and her ankles tied together over the denim of her pants. She held a bloodied knife at him with her left hand, her right not looking fit to hold much of anything. "Hey" Shizuo said softer this time, putting the bumper down. "Are you alright?" Her only response was to slip forward a few inches, her head lolling dangerously. "Oi!" he cried louder as she completely tumbled over, nearly landing on her knife.
-!DRRR!-
He had what he wanted now. He only had to wait for her to tell him everything. Izaya glowered at her with the mocking, know-it-all smile, holding his switchblade to her throat. "Come on Anni-chan" he coaxed, his sickly sweet words echoing through his office. "It would be sooo much easier for you if you just cooperate." She tried to fight back, to slap his hand away, to punch him in the face, to run, but she couldn't move. She couldn't do anything but stare up in terror and defiance. "Ah, oh well then" Izaya sighed, backing away. Anni was happy to have his knife away from her throat, but knew only something worse could follow. It was then that she noticed she wasn't alone with Izaya. Someone was kneeling in front of her, with dirty blond hair and bright gray eyes that always seemed alive with intelligence. Now, however, they were alive with anger. He glared up at Izaya, bound and gagged, his arms tied behind his back. Izaya grabbed his hair and held his head back, so he was forced to stare at Anni. "Maybe another of these precious humans can convince you to talk" Izaya mused, pressing his blade against the unguarded throat. NO! She wanted to scream. Alex! Terror flickered across Alex's eyes, but there was nothing she could do as Izaya grinned. Nothing she could do as he opened her brother's throat.
-!DRRR!-
Both Shinra and Shizuo jumped at the scream that ripped from the room only a few feet away. Shizuo was the first to tear the sliding bedroom door open and unveil the frantic girl within. She was breathing hard, haphazardly scooching back to lean against the opposite wall. "What's going on?" Shizuo demanded loudly.
"Oi, oi! She probably just had a nightmare, just leave it to me, ok? I'll take care of her" Shinra said soothingly, slipping past and into the room.
"Ya, fine. I'll go wait on the couch then." The bodyguard sighed, leaving the doorway to plop grouchily into his former spot. Shinra turned back to the girl, who was waiting quietly and more calmly against the wall. She was obviously of American or European descent, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore American style clothing that was loose on her rather thin frame, without any makeup or styling to her hair. It didn't seem like she needed or wanted anything to make her look better though.
"How are you feeling?" he asked kindly as he approached.
"Oh, ah…" Anni responded, seeming surprised by the question. She looked herself over before answering. "I feel fine, though my wrist is a little sore" she said, taking note of the black brace on her right arm.
"That's good. Do you think you can stand?" She only nodded before slowly getting to her feet. "What's your name?" Shinra pushed on, guiding her into the living room.
"Hael Annibel" she answered, loud enough for both men to hear. "You can call me Anni though"
"Ah, that's a pretty name! I'm Kishitani Shinra. The brute on the couch there is Heiwajima Shizuo-"
"Oi, do you wanna piss me off?" Shizuo threatened, leaning forward.
"No, no! Nothing of the sort" Shinra smiled, holding his hands up, palms out.
"How did I get here?" Anni interrupted.
"I carried you here to get your hand looked at. It didn't feel right to leave you unconscious like that" Shizuo answered calmly.
"Where did you find me?" the little blonde asked, rubbing her new brace absently
"You were in the back of a van that tried to run me over" he replied. Anni slowly smiled and seemed to laugh to herself.
"Thank you. You saved me. My memory is fuzzy, but I don't think I would have gotten away without your help"
"Sure" was all Shizuo was able to muster.
"Shinra-san, how much do I owe you?" Anni asked, holding up her offending arm. Shinra just smiled and waved her off.
"Nothing for right now, I can't very well charge you for a simple brace, can I?"
"Thank you very much, Shinra-san" Anni sighed, visibly relieved.
"But you have to go home now, I WILL start charging you if you stay the night" the doctor threatened half-heartedly, earning an eager nod in return.
"I can walk you home if you like." Shizuo offered, standing. "It's late and you could still wander into more trouble"
"Ah, yes please! I don't think I would be able to find my way home anyway, I've only been in Ikebukuro two days now" Anni admitted, walking to the door and waving goodbye to the yawning doctor.
It wasn't until they were on the street outside the apartment complex that Shizuo asked "Where do ya live anyway?" He seemed rather surprised by her hesitant explanation. "Oh, that's my complex. Are you the person who moved in on the second floor?"
"Ya, number 203" Anni responded with a smile.
The walk was silent for the most part, broken only by small questions of "how is the city", and "how are you settling in", all of which quickly faded back into silence once answered. It wasn't until they got to the second floor that the silence became strained, however. It wasn't until Anni slowly brushed past the hanging door into her apartment that the silence became mournful. It was as she overlooked the remains of her living room that the silence became dangerous. "Damn bastards" Shizuo growled from the doorway. Everything that could have been harmed was. Anything that had once been in the little kitchen was open, and all over the living room. The sketchpad that she had abandoned was no more, its pieces scattered all over any visible surface. The couch was cut up. The TV was cracked. The coffee table was split down the middle, its halves leaning on two different walls. Anni quietly leaned down to pick up a frame that had once resided in her bedroom. Shards of glass fell away from the picture of her and her brother, her riding on his shoulders, both of them in swim gear, soaking wet, and grinning like idiots.
"I know who did this" she said quietly.
"Tell me his name" Shizuo ordered cooly, stalking closer to hear her better.
"He arranged for me to be kidnapped, and when he didn't get what he wanted, he decided to make sure I couldn't come home" Anni explained, half to herself, her voice starting to strain with emotion.
"Just tell me who he is. I'll do to him what he did to this place" Shizuo demanded, stopping a few feet away. Anni closed her eyes.
"Orihara Izaya" she breathed. She didn't need to see the clench of his fists, or his murderous glare. She could feel the aura of violence radiating from him already. There was a quiet shuffling.
"Here" he said curtly, through gritted teeth. She opened her eyes to find him offering her a key, holding it gingerly between two fingers. He dropped it in her hand, as if glad to be rid of it. "Room 510. Make yourself at home. I'm gonna go tear that worthless flea limb from limb" he growled, turning to stalk out. Anni smiled grimly after his departure, cursing herself.
-!DRRR!-
Shizuo returned, tired from his late night chase, to find his door left unlocked for him. He let himself in to the sound of fabric being torn. Anni sat on his couch, sadly examining her newly made pair of shorts. "Oh, welcome home Shizuo-san" she sighed, going back to picking through what little she had tried to salvage. It was strange to have someone around to welcome him home.
"I'm sorry" Shizuo said softly, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "I couldn't catch the flea."
"Don't be. You probably made his day a little worse, and that's all I could ask for" Anni said sadly, gathering up everything that had been deemed unsalvageable, which made up most of the things scattered around the couch, and making her way to the trash. Once her arms were empty, she fished something out of her pocket and handed it to its proper owner. "Here's your key back. Thanks for letting me in." He finished his cigarette wordlessly and snuffed out the butt in a nearby ashtray. By that time, Anni had arranged a small pile that included a few pieces of clothing, a bottle of shampoo, the picture of her and her brother, minus the frame, and a hairbrush.
"You look exhausted. Go get some sleep. My room's the door on the left" Shizuo explained curtly, sitting down on the couch. It took a moment for Anni to gather herself enough to respond, and her response was to try and push him off the couch.
"No, I'm not taking your bed from you! I'm fine with staying for tonight, but only if I-". She was cut off by a glare from the man she couldn't get to budge.
"Just freaking go to bed" he grumbled, stretching out to take up all of the couch, and turning away from her. Any further argument would probably only piss him off. Anni shook her head and kicked herself for even trying, before taking her meager pile of belongings and trudging to Shizuo's room.
-A/N-
Edited by my dear friends Alondor Fridwein and Faded Phoenix