The drive took hours. Izaya passed most of it talking with David, while Namie watched the scenery and cars go by while thinking mostly about Seiji. She knew by now how to tune Izaya's voice out, and that skill served her well as she fretted over the whereabouts and wellbeing of her beloved brother.
Seiji… she thought to herself with a quiet sigh as Izaya kept right on talking in the background. "...And so you see, he's been trying to kill me ever since. I'm really not sure what about me gets him so riled up, but I don't suppose I'll ever really have a chance to ask, since approaching him inevitably makes him come after me with a lamppost." He explained.
David chuckled from his seat up front. "That Shizuo sounds like a fun guy to have around if he's not tryin' to kill ya. I wish I'd run into him durin' my visit." He said.
Izaya grinned, but Namie could tell by the little waver in his tone that he wasn't particularly happy with the young man's answer. "You might think otherwise if you had met him. Shizu-chan is more a random force of destruction than a person." Izaya replied.
"Oh, I'm sure. I guess I've just always liked a little randomness and danger in my life. Keeps things interestin', yanno?" David said.
"You and I, we're two of a kind." Izaya said.
"Maybe so." David said agreeably. He raised a hand to point ahead of him as the car passed under a large sign. "Looks like we're finally hitting the city limits." He reported.
Namie shook herself from her thoughts as she sat up to get a look at where they were going. The forest had receded a while ago to be replaced by hints of urban sprawl, and now that they were finally nearing their destination it was becoming increasingly dense. It didn't impress her - it looked like just about any other sizeable city - but it was a relief to finally be onto the next step of the journey home.
"Looks like a lovely place." Izaya commented as his eyes flickered back and forth.
"It sure is." David said. "Where should I be droppin' you two off?"
"The airport would be best." Izaya said.
"Sounds like a plan to me." David replied agreeably as they continued down the freeway, now surrounded by considerably more cars than before. "Guess you two are goin' home then?"
"Yes. We're done with our trip now." Namie said firmly, glancing in Izaya's direction. He'd been enjoying himself far too much ever since they first became stranded.
Izaya caught her look and smiled at her with poisonous sweetness. "That we are. I'm sure Namie here is eager to get back to her family." He said.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "That I am." She agreed.
David was glancing at them in the rearview mirror again, though he had less time to do so with the rest of the traffic cloistered around him. "Why do I feel like there's some bad blood here I'm missin'?"
Namie put on a smile as she waved dismissively towards their inquisitive driver. "Izaya here is just a bit jealous that I actually have a loving family."
Izaya's smile never faltered. "And Namie doesn't quite understand what actually constitutes a 'loving' family." He said.
David frowned at their reflected images in his mirror. "You two are way too familiar to hate each other this much."
Namie crossed her arms with a huff. "On the contrary, my friend. I think we're far too familiar at this point not to hate one another." Izaya said.
David shook his head with the smallest hint of a good-natured smile. "If that's how you wanna see it, friend, I won't stop you. I just hope you two'll resolve whatever's splittin' you before you both end up killin' each other."
"Unlikely." Namie said coldly.
David said nothing as he focused on his driving, and a few minutes later the car slowed down as a set of larger buildings pulled into view. Namie caught sight of a plane disappearing into the distance overhead. "We're comin' up on the airport. Anyplace special you need to be dropped off, or are you good anywhere?" David asked.
Izaya shook his head. "Anywhere's fine. But can I ask you for one last favor before we part?"
David raised an eyebrow at his rearview mirror. "What's that?"
Izaya looked a little sheepish for once as he spoke. "Can you spare some change for a payphone?"
David laughed before nodding as he pulled the car to a stop at a curb. "I think your stories have earned you at least that much." He said, fumbling around with a bag up front before pulling out a couple coins and passing them to Izaya.
"Thank you very much." Izaya said as he pocketed them. "Is this our stop?" He said as he looked out the window.
David nodded. "Yeah. Building to your right'll lead you straight in, and I think you can figure the rest from there."
"Again, we appreciate your generosity." Namie said as Izaya opened the door and stepped out. She followed him out a moment later.
"Give Shizuo my regards, will you?" David called through the driver's side window as he pulled away.
"Will do." Izaya said with a barely-contained scowl as he watched the car disappear into the traffic.
Izaya sighed as he and Namie conferenced in a corner of the main lobby of the airport. "I'm going to call Shrina again and see about getting the tickets faxed over here." He said as he grabbed a payphone off a nearby wall and started depositing coins. "I can handle this, so you can go fantasize about Seiji or whatever for a few minutes."
Namie resettled her bag on her shoulder as she eyed Izaya critically. "You don't need me for anything?"
Izaya grinned at her as he punched in a few digits and set the phone against his ear. "Not unless there's paperwork. Just be back here in ten, unless you want to stay in Ireland."
Namie glared at him before turning and walking away in search of a bathroom. She glanced at a clock as she passed it by - they'd woken up in that cave yesterday evening, and now it was afternoon on the next day. She'd had exactly zero chances to relieve herself since this unwelcome adventure started, and she was perfectly happy to do so while Izaya handled the technical details.
She stepped out of a stall in the women's restroom a few minutes later feeling considerably more relaxed, and proceeded to wash her hands. It was surprisingly quiet for a public restroom, and it helped to remind her that this was the first time in almost 24 hours that she'd been away from Izaya.
During her normal routine he was annoying enough, but since their apparent kidnapping he'd dialed it up to eleven. Maybe it was boredom or maybe it was stress, but whatever the reason, he was driving her up the wall far more than usual. Childish, controlling, and obnoxious. She glowered at the sink as she reflected that Izaya was nothing at all like her Seiji.
She shut off the tap, looked up into the mirror in front of her, and froze. Was she smiling?
It faded quickly, but she still slapped herself for good measure. This trip was getting to her more than she'd thought. She took a deep breath to clear her head and shift her thoughts away from Izaya and back to Seiji. Then she turned and left the restroom, heading back to where Izaya had been before.
He was leaning against the wall and tapping one foot against the floor when she got there. He turned his head to look at her when she arrived. "You took your sweet time." He said.
"And yet you here you are, waiting anyways." Namie said with a knowing smile.
Izaya rolled his eyes. "You were just barely within my time limit." He handed a slip of paper to her as he pushed off the wall. "Here's your ticket. Hang onto it and let's go."
Twenty minutes later, the two of them tracked down their gate and sat down to wait. Namie opened her pack and pulled out a bottle of water, opening it and drinking down a third of its contents before capping it again. "I'll be glad to be home." She said with a dour expression.
Izaya leaned back in his seat. He looked tired; Namie had to admit that she was starting to feel worn out, too. They'd been moving nonstop for almost an entire day. "I'm sure all of Ikebukuro will rejoice to have you back." Izaya snarked, though by now the tiredness visible on his face had crept into his voice.
Good. Maybe he'd shut up now. "And I'm sure everyone will be delighted to have their resident terrorist-slash-information-broker-slash-troll back in town, too." She said as she blinked a little blearily at the sight of the slowly descending sun.
She caught Izaya smiling as he closed his eyes for a bit. "You always have an answer ready for me, Namie. It's pretty impressive, sometimes."
Namie smirked, though she knew he couldn't see it. "It's not all that hard to keep up with you."
"There it is again. If you weren't so despicable and single-minded about things, I might even like you." He said.
This wasn't getting her anywhere. She needed to stop giving him ammo. She forced herself not to reply as she settled in to wait, forcing herself not to fall asleep.
Mercifully, the wait wasn't very long, and soon they were called to board their plane. She nudged Izaya to rouse him from what looked like the beginnings of a good dream as she stood up. "Wake up." She snapped.
His eyes opened quickly. "Who said I was sleeping?" He said as his usual grin returned. He rose to his feet a moment later and stretched. "Let's get going, assistant." He said, stepping past her to lead the way.
They filed into the plane in silence with the rest of the passengers. She wasn't even surprised when they ended up sitting next to each other; no doubt Izaya had managed to engineer that to annoy her as well. She simply took a deep breath as she leaned back in a much more comfortable seat than before and reflected that now, she might actually be able to get some sleep.
She listened silently to the engines powering up as the plane began to taxi, and a few minutes later, the plane was in the air and ascending steadily. She breathed a sigh of relief as she mentally bade goodbye to her temporary prison.
She was about to settle in to try and get some sleep for herself when Izaya's voice got her attention. For once, it didn't have that annoying superior note to it that it often had. "Hey, Namie?"
She blinked and turned her head to face him. "Hm?"
He was staring out the window as the plane ascended above the clouds. He didn't say anything for a long minute, and she almost began to wonder if she'd simply imagined his voice. She was about to turn away and dismiss it as such when he spoke again. "I was afraid."
Namie didn't quite understand what he was talking about. It didn't help that she was tired. "What are you talking about?" She said wearily.
She saw him smile faintly. It was a little like the grin he often wore, but it was bitter, like it tended to get when he talked about Shinra or Shizuo. "Back when we first woke up in Ireland. I didn't know what was going on and I didn't have any control over the situation. It frightened me." He explained.
Namie frowned at him. "Well, yeah. I told you as much back then, didn't I? You denied it at the time." She smiled slightly with confusion as she tried to parse his meaning. "What's this all about?"
Izaya briefly glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. He quickly redirected it back to the view out the window. "Arguing with you - about stupid shit like Seiji, or where to go, or whose fault it was - it helped to keep me calm. It was familiar when I was dealing with something unfamiliar." He sighed and shut the window before leaning back and closing his eyes with that same grin plastered on his face. "I guess what I'm saying is, thanks."
Namie's smile faded as she stared at him. This was not the Izaya she was used to. "You're welcome?" She said uncertainly.
She heard Izaya let out a breath that might've been laughter. "Just forget about it."
With that, he went silent, and she couldn't think of what to say. She stared at him until she saw his breathing slow, and she knew then that he'd fallen asleep. She kept watching for a minute, and realized that he really hadn't been sleeping back when they'd been waiting.
Back then he'd still been waiting. He'd looked unaware, but he'd been ready to react the moment she spoke. Now… he looked vulnerable. The smile on his face had faded to be replaced with an almost troubled look. She felt a little bad for him.
Then she set those thoughts aside as she felt another wave of drowsiness roll over her. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The plane had stopped climbing and was flying steady. It was the perfect time to sleep.
She drifted off thinking about Seiji, and dullahans, and stolen horses - and wondering which version of Izaya Orihara was the real one.
Namie's dreams were surprisingly pleasant, but they passed by in a blur that left little time for interpretation. It didn't feel like much time had passed when she woke up, but she felt considerably refreshed.
She had to wonder where she'd gotten the pillow from, though. As she opened her eyes, she quickly realized it was not a pillow. As warm and comfy as it had apparently been to her sleeping self, in waking she wanted to be as far from it as possible.
She grunted as she pulled her head up and off of Izaya's shoulder, straightening up and immediately checking to see if he was awake. She felt her heart sink as she realized he was grinning at her with eyes open. "Looks like you slept well." He noted.
She glared at him. "Why didn't you wake me?" She snapped.
Izaya's grin grew a touch wider. "You just looked so comfortable." He said.
She hated the way her cheeks burned as she looked away and huffed an irritated breath. "How long have we been flying?" She asked, eager to change the subject.
Izaya shrugged. "I haven't been keeping track. I only woke up a few minutes before you." He opened the window and peered out at the clouds passing by below them. "We're probably most of the way there." He speculated.
Namie nodded as she felt herself calming down, recovering the neutral state she always gravitated to. "Great." She said with muted enthusiasm. "What are we doing when we get there? Is someone picking us up?"
Izaya's smile faded slightly. "I don't think so…?"
Namie turned to glare at him again. "You don't know? We're just going to be stuck at the airport?" She asked incredulously.
Izaya didn't look too upset about it. "I'm not going to convince Celty to pick us up without a lot of cash ready to go, and I don't think anyone else in Ikebukuro is too keen on seeing us again. We didn't exactly have a lot of options."
"Ugh…" Namie groaned as she closed her eyes and set her face in her hands. "Really, I don't know why I had to be kidnapped along with you."
"That reminds me," Izaya said, "We still don't know how that happened in the first place. I still can't remember what happened and we haven't seen any trace of who did this to us." The carefree tone had vanished from his voice, to be replaced by the cooler analytical one he used on rare occasions.
Namie shrugged. "There's plenty of drugs that could interfere with short-term memory. That probably accounts for our faulty recollection." She explained.
Izaya frowned out the window. "I mean, sure, that makes sense, but the rest of this doesn't. Why ship us out to Ireland? That's a lot more expensive than just killing us or locking us up in a warehouse." He looked genuinely perplexed as he turned to her. "I could understand if they took us somewhere far away to get something out of us, but nobody's even tried to stop us from going home so far."
Namie frowned back at him as she considered and found no real answers. "It does seem remarkably elaborate for no obvious payoff." She admitted.
Izaya's brows furrowed as he rubbed at his chin with one hand. "All this has got me worried about what we'll find when we get back to Ikebukuro. Shinra seemed to be doing fine, but…"
Namie flinched as her thoughts immediately went to Seiji. "Everything will be as we left it, or else." She hissed.
Izaya eyed her. "Seiji again?" He sighed.
For once, he didn't seem to be teasing her, and it ended up making her curious instead of upset. "You've been nagging me about Seiji since we first ended up in Ireland. What gives?" She asked him.
Izaya stared at her for several moments as he apparently thought it over before replying. "I don't know. I guess it's just, back in Ikebukuro I could kind of understand you obsessing over him - you didn't have much to do otherwise. But we've been in a potentially life-threatening situation for the last day or so and you're still thinking about him?"
She tilted her head to one side as she gave him a bemused smirk. The look he was giving her… "Don't tell me you're disappointed?" She said. "Were you hoping I'd be worrying about you?" She said, ready to laugh at the thought.
Izaya kept on frowning. "I was hoping you'd be worrying about yourself." He said.
Her smile faded. "But I was worrying about myself." She said. She'd gotten out of there unscathed, hadn't she?
One corner of Izaya's lips flickered upwards. "Are you sure about that? If you remember, I practically had to drag you through most of Ireland." He started listing things off on his fingers. "Who got up and led us out of the cave? Who spotted the Dullahan first? Who called home for help? Who stole a horse to get us home faster, and which of us was the one to eventually get us to the airport?"
Namie opened her mouth to reply, then closed it when she realized she didn't have a good answer. Izaya had been doing most of the work since they'd first become lost. It was a little disconcerting to realize it. She looked away from him as she brooded. "You may have a point." She admitted.
"I'm starting to think you'd have never gotten out of Ireland if you'd woken up in that cave alone." Izaya mused.
"No, I would've…" She protested, but it lacked conviction. She sat back in her seat and stared at the one in front of her as she mulled it all over.
Izaya seemed satisfied, and quieted down. Namie's frown grew deeper as she considered the problem. Had she really been so distracted by Seiji? The whole trip across Ireland mostly seemed to her to be a blur of arguments with Izaya and worries about her brother.
She hated to admit it, but her obsession was starting to frighten her.
Izaya was back to his usual self when they landed and disembarked. "Ahhh, it's great to be back in Tokyo." He said with a grandiose tone to his voice as he took in the skyline in the distance. "I can finally get back to business." He said. He almost sounded like he was returning home to a lost love.
Namie frowned as she looked out at the metropolis, standing beside Izaya. She'd set aside her brooding for now, but she still felt considerably more sober than she had when they'd first taken flight. "Great. Now we need to actually get into the city." She said.
Izaya grinned at her. "That's true." He admitted, as the two of them watched cars coming and going, picking up and dropping off travelers. "It's a shame we don't have any money, or this problem would be solved already."
"Come on. Let's get off the concourse." She said, turning and starting to follow the sidewalk out of the pickup area.
Izaya blinked at her for a moment before following her. "Do you have an idea in mind?" He said. She could hear the smile in his voice as she led the way for once.
"A few." She said as she surveyed the area around them. She glanced back at him over her shoulder. "Do you know how to hotwire a car?"
Izaya's eyes widened, and the grin she'd predicted grew wider as he caught up to her. "I'm a bit out of practice, but I'd be willing to give it a shot. It sounds a lot more fun than hitchhiking again."
"Good." Namie said flatly as she led them into the nearest parking lot. "Let's look for something easy."
The two of them strolled through the parking lot, eyeing up cars and avoiding passers-by. She wasn't personally familiar with the process of carjacking; and so she left the job of scouting to Izaya, whose eyes were narrowed in thought as he scoured the surrounding vehicles. Namie settled for putting together a mental map of the area and where they'd need to go to get home.
Izaya still hadn't said anything when Namie found herself distracted by something familiar. A little black sedan was parked at the end of a row of cars, slightly displaced from the others. Her steps quickened as she moved away from Izaya's side to get a closer look.
"Namie?" He said curiously as he realized she'd hurried off, turning to follow her.
She almost couldn't believe it. But as she looked it over, and glanced at the license plate, she couldn't deny the truth of it. "This is my car." She said.
Izaya's steps slowed as he drew nearer. "Excuse me?" He said, disbelief evident in his tone.
She scowled as she grabbed a ticket off the windshield and crumpled it up in her fingers before pocketing it. "Someone left my car here. Why did someone leave my car here?" She asked of nobody in particular. She checked the door. It was unlocked, and it swung open with ease.
Izaya scratched his head as he peered into the interior with her. It looked untouched. "I… don't know." He admitted. "Maybe they drove us here in it? Why would they use your car, though? And why wouldn't they take it with them once they were done?"
"It doesn't make any sense." Namie mumbled as she set one hand on the roof and stared at it. "I don't have my keys." She said, before a thought occurred to her. Nothing else so far had made sense; maybe the coincidences would just keep happening. She slid into the driver's seat and began rifling through everything she could reach.
Izaya stared after her. "Are you serious…?" He said as she pulled something out of the glove compartment.
The key glinted in the early afternoon sunlight as she held it between two fingers. "This is getting weird." She said with a frown.
Izaya was in the seat next to her before she could protest. "Well, I'm not complaining." He said, his grin back in full force.
She turned to look at him, still having a hard time processing all of this. "This doesn't upset you? I feel like we're being set up. What if there's a bomb in the car?" She asked.
Izaya eyed her, his smile staying steady. "I think it's a bit late to ask that." He said. "Why don't we get out of here?"
Namie stared at the key in her hand for several seconds more before turning the car on. The engine rumbled to life without any issue. She took a deep breath as she glanced over her shoulder at the space behind the car.
Normally, at a time like this, she'd comfort herself with thoughts of Seiji. At the moment, however, those thoughts just made her more anxious. She clutched at the wheel as she turned her attention back to Izaya, who was giving her a critical look. "Are you going to be okay?" He said.
The expectant look in his eyes seemed to galvanize her. She wasn't going to break down in front of Izaya Orihara. She was stronger than that. "I'll be fine." She said, schooling her worries into the back of her mind before carefully pulling out of the parking space and beginning to steer her way out of the parking lot.
Izaya lounged casually in his seat as they pulled out onto the road with no incident. "See? Nothing to worry about. We can figure out the details once we're back home." He said. She briefly caught an approving look from him. She wasn't sure how to feel about it.
"Nothing to worry about for now." She retorted as she merged onto the freeway and started heading for Ikebukuro.
"For now." Izaya admitted, though he never once stopped smiling.
As they drew closer and closer to home, Namie bit back worries about what would be waiting for them there.
It was nearing evening when they pulled up in front of the building where Izaya's offices were located, and where both he and his assistant lived most of the time. It looked about the same as ever, and Izaya was getting out of the car almost before it had come to a full stop. Namie turned off the engine and pocketed the keys before getting out as well.
They were really back in Ikebukuro. It had been maybe a day and a half since this adventure started, but it felt like she'd been away for a lifetime. She reveled in it for a moment before following Izaya into the building and hoping for the best.
Izaya leaned on the front desk as he called to the man on duty there. "Hey."
The man adjusted his spectacles before turning in his seat to face him. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah. I live here, but I lost my keys. Are you able to give me a new set?" Izaya replied.
The man frowned before turning to his computer. "Your name?"
"Izaya Orihara." Izaya replied. The man typed on the keyboard for a second before turning to Izaya.
"Do you have ID?" He said.
Izaya grimaced. "No. I lost that too."
The man sighed before shaking his head. "It's just as well. Your lease ran out a week ago. You don't actually own anything in this building anymore."
Izaya blinked as he stared at the man. "My lease ran out?"
The man nodded seriously. "Yeah. Says here we gave you a couple opportunities to pay it and you never did. We revoked it last week, and you apparently had nothing to say about it."
Izaya shivered. Namie wondered what was going through his head at that moment. "What did you do with the things I had in my office and my apartment?" He said, audibly forcing himself to keep his voice steady.
"I'm pretty sure they were impounded. You'd have to take it up with the building superintendent." The man said, turning to his computer. "You'll need ID, though."
Izaya pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers and closed his eyes. "And there's nothing you can do." He said.
"I'm afraid not, sir." The man said. "You'll just have to renew your ID at a government office and come back. Your things will be waiting for you until then." He explained.
Izaya turned to Namie as he stepped away from the desk. "I don't suppose you missed a set of keys or an ID when you were checking your pockets the first time?" He said quietly.
She shook her head. "Of course not. They took everything, same as you."
"This… complicates things." Izaya said. "Let's go back to the car."
The man at the desk watched them go until the doors shut behind them. Izaya got in first, followed by Namie taking the driver's seat. She frowned as she took in the expression on his face. She hadn't really seen him look defeated before. "We'll just have to renew your ID." She said.
He turned to her with a frown that mirrored her own. "Yeah, but what about you? If you go to a city office and identify yourself, you're not going to fare so well." He said.
Namie felt her face grow a little pale as she considered that. Her employment with Izaya had been the main thing keeping her safe from the police. She was perhaps in an even greater bind than he. "We should still renew your ID, at least." She said after a minute.
Izaya sighed. "We'll do that eventually. I don't really care that much about the shit I had kicking around the office, except maybe Celty's head. God only knows what the guys who had to clean that place out did with it. But based on the reaction by the guy at the desk, there hasn't been too much fuss."
Namie stared out at the darkening streets ahead of her as she considered. "We need a plan of action. We're on borrowed time, here."
Izaya eyed her. "Well, you're the driver, for better or worse." He paused for a moment before adding, "If it's still nagging at you, we could visit Seiji's place."
Namie considered it. Part of her still badly wanted to see Seiji - to know he was safe, to hold him, to have his attention, even if just for a little while. But another part of her was growing increasingly wary of that attachment. She was surprised at how much it changed her view of things. "Not yet." She said.
Izaya raised an eyebrow at her. She carefully avoided meeting his eyes. "Well… We could always ask Shinra for help. Again." He said. He didn't sound enthusiastic about it.
"How are you going to pay him back for the plane tickets?" She asked him.
Izaya scowled. "I don't know. Things are a lot shakier for me now than I'm used to."
Namie found herself smiling wistfully as she stared at the wheel in front of her. "And here I almost used to think you were infallible."
She heard Izaya laugh softly. The mood in the car lightened a bit at the sound, and she turned to look at him again as he replied, "Now that is the worst lie you've ever told me."
She let herself smile at him for a moment before turning back to the wheel and starting the car again. "So. Shinra's place?" She said.
"It's a worth a shot." Izaya said.
The engine purred as Namie pulled out into the street again. She felt a little better now that they were in motion again. "Agreed."
It was fully dark out when they reached Shinra's apartment building. Namie parked in the first spot she could find and hurried inside with Izaya in tow. Nobody was at the front desk when they went in, and she was thankful for that as they got into the elevator undisturbed. Izaya punched a button, and the doors closed as they began to ascend.
"Well, this is going to be uncomfortable." Izaya said.
"Don't worry. Everything is uncomfortable with you around." Namie replied.
"You always know how to make me feel better." Izaya said, smirking as the doors opened to admit them into the hallway on Shinra's floor. The two of them strolled to the end of the hall, and Izaya knocked on the door there.
Most of a minute passed before they heard footsteps on the other side. The door opened, and Shinra peeked out through the opening, his hair a mess. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the two of them. "Izaya? Namie?" He said, confused.
"May we come in?" Namie asked as politely as she could.
Shinra frowned. "I don't know. You two tend to be trouble for me. Are you hurt, or something?"
Izaya shook his head. "Not hurt, but we're in a bad spot. We don't have anywhere else to go right now." He fixed Shinra with a serious look. "You're pretty much our only option here."
Shinra blinked several times before sighing. "Okay, fine. Come in." He said before opening the door wider to admit them. Namie led the way, with Izaya following a moment later, and Shinra shut the door behind them as they filed into the living room. Shinra crossed his arms over his chest as he eyed them warily. "Tell me what this is about."
Izaya glanced at Namie. "Do you…?" He trailed off, pointing vaguely at her.
Namie flashed a glare at him before turning to Shinra. "As you might know, we were kidnapped and taken to Ireland."
Shinra nodded. "Yeah, I heard about as much from Izaya the two times he called me. What's the issue now, though?"
Namie stared at the floor as she continued. "We came back to discover that they've taken basically everything from us. We don't have ID, money, our phones, keys, or anything else like that. We were lucky just to get my car back. And apparently, Izaya's rent on his apartment and office ran out." She sighed as she admitted, "We have nowhere to go."
Shinra looked back and forth between the two of them as he processed that. Before he could say anything, a tall dark figure strode into the room from one of the adjacent bedrooms. Black wisps of smoke trailed from the stump of her neck as she froze in the middle of the room, before taking a few steps closer and holding up a phone with something typed on the screen.
What's going on? Namie read off of it. "Izaya and his assistant showed up a minute ago saying they've been robbed of, well… everything they own, I guess." Shinra explained.
The headless dullahan typed out a few more lines on her phone before presenting it to them again. Are you planning to help them?
Shinra frowned as he looked back and forth between the various people standing in front of him once again. "I don't know. You guys seem to be in the middle of some really strange stuff right now. I don't know if I want to risk Celty getting hurt by it." He said, glancing at the dark fae girl beside him.
Both she and Shinra turned and seemed to regard Namie and Izaya expectantly. "Please?" Namie said.
Izaya surprised her as he bowed his head to Shinra. "I know I already owe you here, but I promise I will do my best not to let this situation splash into your life. I can't do anything about it if I'm out on the streets, though."
Shinra still looked skeptical. Celty typed something else on her phone. Can it really hurt? They all read.
"Celty…" Shinra said, as if to protest.
I doubt they'll be staying long, was Celty's reply.
Shinra groaned. "Fine. You can use the guest room for tonight. If this comes back to bite me in the ass, or hurt Celty, I'm going to make you regret it. Got it, Izaya?" He said, fixing the young man in question with an intense glare.
Izaya grinned and nodded. "I read you loud and clear, old friend." He said. "Mind if we borrow a computer for now, though?"
Shinra waved a hand dismissively as he started heading back towards his bedroom, taking Celty's hand in his as he went. "Whatever. Just don't make a mess." He said grouchily. The door slammed shut behind him a second later, leaving Izaya and Namie alone in the living room.
Namie turned to Izaya with a quizzical expression on her face. "What are you going to use the computer for?"
"To check our bank accounts." Izaya said as he headed over to one of the monitors Shinra had strewn about his home. It lit up as he pressed a button, and his fingers rattled away at the keyboard a moment later.
Namie strolled up behind him to peer over his shoulder as he worked. "Not a bad idea." She admitted as she watched.
Eventually, he reached his bank's website. "Look away." He commanded her.
"Or what?" She said.
"Or you won't be getting that bonus I promised you." He retorted.
Namie smiled to herself as she averted her eyes. "Fine."
The keys rattled under Izaya's fingertips once more before he swore under his breath. Namie turned back to look at the screen. "I can't believe how thorough these guys were." He said.
Namie shook her head. "They took all the money in your account?" She asked.
"Every cent." He said as he signed himself out. "This is unbelievable."
"Let me check mine." She said, nudging his shoulder to urge him out of the chair. He stood up reluctantly a moment later, and she sat down and went through the same rhythm he had a minute ago.
The balance she returned a minute later was not zero, but still she frowned. "This is way less than I remember having last time I checked." She said.
Izaya sighed from behind her. "It's better than nothing. Though, then again, maybe not, without a bank card."
Namie brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face before she closed the page and turned around in her seat to face Izaya. "So we're stuck. Again."
Izaya smirked, though it was faint. "We're not totally out of options. We'll renew my ID soon, and in the meantime we can try to investigate this bizarre situation. Maybe once we figure out who did this, we can start recuperating our losses." His smile grew just a bit more certain. "And at least we're not sleeping in the car tonight."
Namie flinched as a thought occurred to her. "We have to share a room, don't we?" She said, her face falling as she considered the prospect.
"There's always the couch." Izaya said with a hint of mocking in his tone as he gestured to it. She had a feeling he wasn't offering to use it himself.
She seriously considered it. Then she stood up and headed for the guest bedroom. "Screw it."
Izaya followed her, shutting the door behind them afterwards. Namie took off her shoes before gracelessly flinging herself onto the bed with a sigh of relief. Izaya sat down on the other side of the bed as he watched her with an amused look. "Comfortable?" He asked.
She turned her head slightly to give him a flat look. "About as comfortable as I can be with you here." She said.
"I'll choose to take that as a compliment." Izaya said, before hauling himself the rest of the way onto the bed and turning to face her, crossing his legs as he eyed her up and down. "That does bring to mind a question I've been meaning to ask, though."
Namie narrowed her eyes at him as he got comfortable. "And what question is that?"
"Why are you still following me around?" He asked.
She blinked several times. "What do you mean?"
"You have a car now, and the only set of keys to it. You're back in Ikebukuro, and I don't exactly have the means to protect or employ you anymore. You do realize you could've left me the moment you got back here, right?" He said, smiling innocently.
Namie felt a little cold. She could've ditched him at any time. She almost cursed herself for her short-sightedness. "...I'll admit, that was a small oversight on my part. But why bring it up? I really could leave you whenever I want. You're doing yourself a disservice by mentioning it." She said, sitting up as she eyed him critically.
Izaya's smile was unwavering. "I guess I'm helpless to my own curiosity. As far as I know, Namie, you hate me. So I can't really understand why you're still here." He said.
Namie's eyes left his as she considered the question. It was a valid one, really. Up until now she was fairly certain she'd have given anything to be away from him. Why was she still here? Eventually, she came to an answer, though it didn't seem complete. "I don't hate you." She said. "I just find you intensely annoying on a frequent basis." She explained.
Izaya's smile grew, and after a moment he started laughing. Namie's frown quickly turned into a glare as he cackled to himself for most of a minute before calming down. "Coming from you, that's monumental." He said eventually.
She gave him an unamused look, before grabbing and tossing a pillow at him. "To hell with you, Izaya Orihara."
Izaya chuckled again as it bounced off him. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not going there for a long time."