Chapter one: Missing.
Izaya stared at his computer meekly; he eyes were drooping, and his posture slouched, but inwardly he was boiling. Seven hours. Seven hours he'd been looking for leads on the kidnapping and nothing! Nada! It seemed no one the whole world knew anything about it; as if the organization that had pulled it off (Because it would surely take more then one person) were a group of ghosts. The popular theory on the internet was that he was taken by some psycho fan, and well that was plausible it seemed highly unlikely. He'd picked up a few more details though, some pictures of the crime scene, a witness testimony about a group of non-descript men going into the building, and reports that the room had smelled of chloroform. Nothing at all he could work with.
Another thing bothering him was that he hadn't heard a peep out of Shizuo. No one had for that matter; it seemed, defying all expectations the man had refrained from going on a rampage through Ikebukuro. There was no way he didn't know by now, even if he hadn't heard it on the news someone must have told him; Celty, Shinra, anybody. Could the brute know more about the kidnapping then he had thought? Or maybe the kidnappers had done something to him too? Izaya frowned, scrapping the idea; he'd just seen Shizuo that afternoon, surely the kidnappers wouldn't be so bold as to strike again so soon.
With a yawn Izaya let his eyes wander over to the clock at the bottom of the screen, cursing when he saw the time. This was stupid, and he sure as hell wasn't going to lose anymore sleep over Shizuo's problems, so standing up he switched off his computers and went to bed. But even there sleep evaded him.
It was noon before Izaya finely rolled out of bed; still tried but he'd managed to get some shut eye. Still, even as he was slowly brought into consciousness, thoughts about the case started running through his head. He had to be missing something, some vital clue. With a sigh he pulled himself up right and reached for his phone. He needed to get to the bottom of this or he'd never sleep again.
Dialing the number of one of his contacts he held the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he started pulling on some pants, letting it ring. After a few seconds there was some crackling at the other end before a deep voice answered.
"Hello?"
Izaya abandoned his pants in favor of holding the phone correctly lest he do something stupid well the other man was on the line. "It's Nakura," he said, using one of his many pseudonyms, it wasn't really necessary but he didn't really want everyone to know what he was poking his nose into. "I want some information on the Heiwajima case."
There was a long pause at the other end before the man spoke again, "I don't have anymore info then what they broadcast yesterday; really strange business that is. Rumor has it that it was pulled off by some high end gang."
Izaya chewed his bottom lip, nothing but rumors; at least it was a place to start. He was about to hang up when another question popped into his head. "And Shizuo? The older Heiwajima? Has anyone heard from him since the broadcast yesterday?"
This time the response was immediate. "Yeah actually, everyone's been giving him a wide breath since he's expected to crack any minuet now, but he's been standing outside Sunshine 60 smoking like a chimney since six this morning."
Izaya frowned. Since six? That was along time to just be loitering around for no reason. "And he's still there?"
"I don't know. I could check if you want but..."
"No, that's fine." Izaya cut him off, "I'll go myself."
And so, ending the call Izaya went about his next challenge; getting on some pants.
~.~.~.
Shizuo sighed looking at his watch again for what felt like the hundredth time. They weren't due to meet until one but he'd been so obnoxious he'd been unable to just wait around at home. So forcing a bagel into his churning stomach he'd headed out to the designated meeting place. He hadn't slept the night before and his eyes felt heavy but his mind was wide awake.
It was so frustrating! Heaven knows what those creeps were doing to Kasuka well he sat around smoking. He was starting to wonder if the kidnappers had set the meeting at such a time just to rile him up.
"Shit..." He swore plunking down on the steps heavily and grabbing two fistfuls of blond hair. He was fairly sure at this point he'd inhaled more nicotine then oxygen but he still couldn't calm down. Then, as though god himself had declared war on Shizuo he found himself staring at a familiar pair of shoes. His eyes moved upward to a familiar pair of pants, then to that girly, furry, jacket before landing on that stupid, mocking, grin.
"Your face makes me sick." Shizuo stated blandly, too tired and distracted for his usual show of chasing the other man around the city. If Izaya had appeared a few hours ago making an attempt on his life would have been an almost welcome distraction but, as it was he was due to be picked up any minuet now and he couldn't risk missing his brothers captors to chase the stupid flea down the street.
"Oh Shizu-chan I'm hurt!" Izaya whined stepping back a few paces; expecting Shizuo to fallow. When he didn't Izaya continued his mocking, wondering how much poking it would take to get the man away from his roost of the last several hours. "And here I was coming to express my deep concern over the disappearance of my favorite monster's little, baby, brother."
This got Shizuo's attention but he still didn't move from where he was seated. Instead he tried to kill Izaya with his stare. The informant felt a shiver run down his back at the positively wilting look Shizuo gave him. This wasn't Shizuo's usual rage induced glare; this was malice of the deepest kind, the look a man gave someone only when their entire world had been ripped out from under their feat. It wasn't anger that tinged Shizuo's features today, but desperation. "What do you know about it flea?" Izaya barely even caught the words they were spoken so lowly.
"N-nothing at all~" It took a moment for Izaya to pull his eyes away from Shizuo's but when he did he returned to his usual mocking voice; dancing around until he was standing behind the other man, trying not to let on that he'd been effected by Shizuo's stare.
"I wonder where he is right now. Being molested by some crazy fan? Or maybe he's already at the bottom of Tokyo bay." Izaya knew he was going way over the line and was surprised when a few seconds later his head was still on his shoulders. Shizuo hadn't moved; the only sine that he'd been effected by Izaya's words at all being the concrete cracking beneath his fists.
Izaya hopped up to sit on the rail, watching Shizuo curiously. If he hadn't been thrown into a rage yet he must be waiting for something really important, but he couldn't know that much about his brother's kidnapping or else he wouldn't have ask Izaya about it. Maybe he was waiting for someone who did know? Izaya just had to hear this conversation.
"Oh, so tame today." Izaya pointed out, noticing Shizuo relaxing slightly now that they were off the topic of his brother. "Who are you waiting for? Your girlfriend?" He followed the question with a mocking laugh. "No, no, silly me; no one would ever love a monster like you."
Shizuo was shaking with anger as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette; snapping the first one in half and being forced to retrieve another. "It's... None of your business louse... so just... buzz off." He spat in between long drags of his cigarette.
Izaya cocked an eye brow; he'd seen Shizuo smoke before but never well talking to him. Usually the man was in to much of a rage for that. In fact this was the longest conversation they'd shared in quite some time. He shrugged at Shizuo's comment, he'd find out who he was waiting for soon enough. A few more minutes passed like that; Shizuo trying to asphyxiate himself on cigarette smoke and Izaya just watching patiently for the moment of truth.
A black car with tinted windows pulled up in front of Shizuo and out stepped a man who look as though he'd been pulled straight out of a James Bond movie. His sunglasses flashed in the afternoon light as he pulled the rear door open revealing another man who could have very well been his twin.
"Shizuo Heiwajima." He said in an expectant voice, and an understanding seemed to pass between the two men. Snuffing out his cigarette Shizuo stood and headed towards the car and in an automatic reaction Izaya stood and took a step forward as well, but the man holding the door turned his head towards him and brushed a hand over his breast pocket causing Izaya to notice the lump hidden there. The message was clear; take another step and get a bullet through your brain.
Izaya froze and simply watched as the man shut the door behind Shizuo before slipping back into the passenger seat. The car idled for a moment but Izaya couldn't see anything but the barest outline through the tinted windows. Then just before the car began pulling away Izaya watched wide eyed as a familiar blond head pressed against the window before sliding down; an action Izaya could only guess was caused by the ex-bartender going unconscious. Quickly, as the car moved away Izaya whipped out his phone and snapped a few pictures of the retreating license plate. They were blurred and small but it was nothing some image editing software couldn't fix.
Izaya watched the car retreat and wondered for a moment if he shouldn't grab a taxi and tail it, but he scrapped the idea; it looked like it would be dangerous to follow Shizuo with out getting some information first.
He shook his head staring at the blurry images on his phone; what in the world had Shizuo gotten himself mixed up in now?
