A/N:

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Chp. 2

Partners

Who killed Nīsan?

-Click –

"…"

"… About time you got here…"

" Who is…?"

"Hm…?"

"Your new victim?"

"None of your concern…."

"How long do you plan on keeping-?"

"For as long as I want..."

"-Just proves how lonely you are without any friends."

"Say, how is your brother doing with his girlfriend? I hear that- Oh good morning Mel-chan~!"

I sat up from a couch that was unfamiliar to me; I looked around the room and began to recall where I was exactly. Next thing I looked at was the lady wearing a green turtleneck sweater standing next to Izaya's desk; her arms were folded over her chest.

"Just sign the paper already." She spoke in a harsh tone.

"Of course," Izaya replied while scribbling on a paper, "But don't worry Namie-chan, I haven't replaced you yet, so don't be sad." He gave her childish grin as he handed her the paper.

The lady, Namie-chan, grabbed the paper then looked back at me for a brief moment; her eyes were cold and looked angry, before making her way to the exit.

"See you~" Izaya waved after her then looked at me once the door closed. "Sleep well?"

I looked down at my body, seeing that I was still dressed in the same clothing as yesterday, but my shoes weren't on my feet anymore. My eyes returned to Izaya's smiling face and I placed my feet on the floor so I could stand. "What time is it?" Not wanting to think about where my shoes went just yet.

Izaya sighed and looked over at his computer and began to type. "Around five in the morning," He replied, eyes fixed on the screen, "you slept for quite a long time." He didn't even try to hide his bored expression.

I rubbed my eyes and walked over to his desk, "Who was that lady?"

Izaya gave a fake laugh, "that lady is known as Namie, she's my secretary." He lifted a hand over his mouth and yawned.

"You didn't sleep?"

"No." Izaya sighed, "I was here researching a few things."

"It's bad to sit in one place for too long."

Izaya looked over at me; a large grin formed on his face, "Aww is Mel-chan concerned for my health?"

"No." I huffed and changed my stance so that it looked like I was focused on the computer now, "what were you researching?" To change the subject of course.

Izaya caught the hint of what I was doing, and decided to let the change happen. "A few things and your deceased brother," He looked at the screen and pulled up a window, "It says that he died in a car crash and that his body was cremated as requested by his family." Izaya leaned the side of his head against his hand as he scrolled down with the other. "Koizumi Léon, age seventeen, died in a devastating car crash on the day of November twenty-sixth, nine pm during a heavy rain-storm. Blah, blah, blah, when paramedics arrived, they insisted that he died on impact. The other driver was also killed." Izaya looked at me again, "He was killed in a car crash." He looked completely uninterested.

I shook my head, "no he wasn't." I pressed on, "He was involved with bad people; that was a cover-up so that the people responsible wouldn't get caught." My brows were furrowed with frustration. "He told our family that he moved here to get a better education but I overheard him talking to his friends on the phone about starting a gang."

Izaya only stared at me as I continued.

"He also attended Raira Academy." I held Izaya's gaze.

"Koizumi Léon doesn't ring a bell." He didn't even sound convincing.

I crossed my arms, "I thought you knew everything about this city, which would also mean the people." I looked passed the young man and out of the window seeing all the lights from the buildings contrast with the dark morning sky. "You're wasting my time." I concluded and turned to retrieve my bag which was set by the couch.

Izaya let out a laugh as he watched me search the floor for my shoes, "Are you planning on leaving?"

I ignored his question, "Where are my shoes?" My eyes scanned the floor and I finally caught sight of one under the coffee table and the other next to one of the couches. I could feel Izaya's stare as I started to put my shoes on; knowing that he was mocking me even without having to say a single word. "Thanks for letting me stay the night." I decided to speak in order to break the tension that I was feeling.

"What are you going to do hm?" Was his reply.

I looked over at him as I stood, knowing that he knew something, but he wasn't going to tell me anything… "I'm going to look for better information… Maybe from other gang members if I can find them." I let my gaze wander over to the door and I grasped the handle of my suitcase. "I mean, if anyone knows about past gang-related activities, the best people to go to are those who may have been involved hm?" I made my way over to the door and didn't bother looking back at the odd man. I knew that my idea sounded stupid, and indeed it was very stupid and dangerous but it was necessary… I heard Izaya get up from his chair and I felt a victorious smile creep over my lips. Was he so full of pride that merely suggesting that someone else's' information was better than his would make him react in such a way? I hoped so.

I halted when his hand pressed against the door above my head and he hovered over me. "You aren't serious." He spoke as if he had truly called my bluff, but I looked up at him with the best poker face I could conjure.

"You think that I see all of this as a big joke?" Letting an offended tone coat my words.

"You really think you can just walk around these streets and go up to a gang member to ask a few of your silly questions without any trouble?" He sounded as if he were making fun of my made-up plan, which was fine.

I looked up at his hand and frowned slightly, "What else am I supposed to do?" It was working. "You're not going to help me, so who else will?" I looked at his smiling face and tried not to grimace at the sight; seeing someone in need of help somehow amused this man in a sickening way.

For a moment I thought he was going to say something useful, but instead he pushed himself away and he slowly walked back over to his desk, "Looks like you are on your own with that one, Mel-chan." He fell into his chair and let it spin slowly.

I felt a wave of disappointment come over my body as the realization hit me; he did call my bluff. "I suppose you're right." I stood there and watched him for a moment before deciding to give in. He won this round. "I need your help." I could feel my dignity just drain away when those words came out of my mouth and Izaya stopped spinning in his chair to look at me.

"You don't say!" In the most sarcastic way possible, he rolled his eyes to the side as if giving some serious thought to my plea. "I don't know if I even have the time…" His eyes landed back on me, "what are you willing to do in exchange for my assistance?"

I frowned, considering possible bribes, but nothing seemed suitable enough to satisfy this man. "What would you suggest?"

"Considering that I do get paid for my services…Money is an option…" He began to tap his fingers against each other. "But we both know that you do not have much money, which brings me to this; if you were actually planning on leaving, let's say that you did find someone else to get information from, they will want money or they would just direct you back to me since I am the best there is after all." He stood and turned to face the window. "But again, we both know that you do not have much money and therefore I will propose a deal."

I kept my eyes on him; I could feel my mind reeling with the decisions that I would have to make if I were truly planning on ditching Izaya to find another source for information.

Leave now, find someone else, give up my money, and find out the possible truth? What if the person I find only gets me as far as the news articles and expects me to pay? If I leave now and not find anyone, I'll end up spending my money on more hotels and I wouldn't be able to get back home nor would I have any answers. If I stick with Izaya then I might have a better chance but… What does he expect me to do?

My eyes were fixed on Izaya's face now; he had turned to face me as if he were watching my thoughts like a movie playing in my head. "What do you propose?"

"It's simple really; you do something for me, I do something for you. Like a partnership; that's fair, right?"

"Depends on what you want me to do." I replied while narrowing my eyes, "My requests are simple questions and information, so in return your requests need to be just as simple."

"Woah now Mel-chan, you're not the one calling the shots here." He stepped towards me, the unsettling smile on his face yet again. "You're the one more in need of my services than I am of yours." He stopped when he was about a foot in front of me, "You will do as I ask, and in the meantime I'll let you know what you want to know." He paused for a moment and snapped his fingers, "in fact, if I find someone who knows a lot, I'll let you go to them yourself to hear any new information with your very own ears. How does that sound?"

I bit my lip, feeling as if I had no other decent option to choose the imaginary list of equally good proposes to consider. "That sounds… Fine, but I don't want to be sent to random places by myself." I replied and crossed my arms, "Well, any place that involves learning things about my brother… It could be dangerous… I mean you said so yourself that I was too weak to do anything when it comes to fighting off enemies."

Izaya laughed and tapped the side of my face softly, "no worries Mel-chan, you really think that I would send you somewhere dangerous?" He then wrapped an arm around my shoulder and led me over to the window. "But if you insist, I'll go with you if I'm not too busy…" He then pointed downwards at the people below, "for all we know, one of those people right below us could be your brother's murderer." He squeezed my shoulder, "isn't it exciting?"

I swallowed dryly but also stared down at the movements below; he was right about that, it could be anyone, even one of the many people who pass by this building every day. Someone in the city had my brother's blood on their hands and now that I felt closer to finding out whom, I was starting to care less about the terms and conditions of this proposal that Izaya had made for me.

"I'll accept you proposal."

Izaya looked down at me then used his other hand to turn my body around so that we faced each other. "Then it is a deal." He took my hand in one of his and shook it once, "We are partners now."

As we held each others' gaze, another question popped into my head now that the decision was made. "How long do you suppose it will take?" I let go of his hand and watched as he looked back out of the window.

"Days, months, who knows?"

I folded my arms again and also looked out of the window, "Well that's not helpful."

"Old details that you are asking for is going to take a while to dig up."

"I'm aware."

Izaya looked at me with knowing eyes, "You want a place to stay." Speaking like he was telling me what I wanted, "You are a very needy girl, Mel-chan."

I kept my eyes on the buildings, "I didn't even ask."

"You didn't need to." He scoffed.

I cast a glance his way, not wanting to, but I decided that I might as well just do it. Most of my pride was gone anyway from asking for help, so I may as well just throw the rest of it in the hands of this man. "So can I?"

Izaya's sudden laughter caught me by surprise and I looked at him not really sure how I could decipher this sort of reaction. At least he wasn't staring back at me with a look of disdain; instead he laughed, which still made me feel silly for even asking.

Once he had calmed down, he finally replied. "You are so predictable it's pathetic." He was very blunt and rude. There was no question behind the attitude Namie had while she was around him.

My brows furrowed, but despite his crude response, I gave a small grin. "I'll take that as a yes then." Turning on my heel, I nonchalantly strolled over to the couch and sat down before kicking off my shoes. My sit didn't last long though, I stood up again and grabbed by suitcase and unzipped it before looking at the beaming man still standing by the window. "Say, where's your bathroom? I could use a shower."

Izaya strode across the room and stopped next to the couch, sporting a cat-like grin until he leaned against it, pinching his nose with one hand. "Indeed you could." Giving a scowl as if to exaggerate my imaginary stench I was giving off, "It's through there and to the right." He pointed me in the direction of the kitchen. "After you're done, be a doll and clean up whatever dirt you get in there."

I snatched some toiletries and a new set of clothes from my suitcase before attempting vivacious smile, "I'll be happy to." Then made way to my destination, feeling his stare follow me until I entered the kitchen.

When I finally found the bathroom, I closed the door and flipped on the light only to examine the room quickly before turning my attention to my own reflection. I wasn't from this country, if it wasn't obvious enough from my pale skin, and light blue colored eyes. The only qualities about me that seemed more common here was my small stature, and dark brown wavy tresses that reached the small of my back. Usually, I would put my hair up, only leaving my bangs down and to the side; I didn't have much time to do that before I left for this city, so now it will be a pain to brush all the tangles that formed from how much I moved around during the trip.

After the shower, I tied up my hair and dressed in the fresh clothes that were best for this time of the year; it was November, and soon it would be the sixth anniversary of my brother's death. Since Tokyo was farther north than my home town, I knew that it would be colder here during this time; I could even feel it when I had arrived.

When I found my way back to the front room, Izaya was putting on his fur-trimmed jacket. "Going somewhere?"

He only gave me a glance before grabbing his phone from the desk and flipped it open. "How observant of you."

I frowned for a moment before snatching my shoes and pulled them on quickly before grabbing my own jacket off the couch.

A quaint expression crossed Izaya's face when he saw me buttoning up my jacket, but instead of a smart-ass comment as expected, he just gave a suspicious smile and walked toward the door so I followed suit.

"So where are we going?" I decided to ask as the door closed behind me.

"You'll see."

I didn't even bother to push the subject; instead I kept my mind occupied by looking around the hallway as we walked, watching all the doors as we passed them. "Do you ever talk to your neighbors?"

"Nah. They bore me."

Our first stop was a small café down the street; Izaya ordered some food and insisted that I should eat since I would need the energy for the amount of walking he was planning on doing today. I didn't argue with him; the smell inside the building had my stomach growling thanks to my careless ability to forget about the necessary consumption of food. I hadn't eaten since… The night before last?

As we ate, I noticed how he didn't eat much of his food and instead drank the coffee which was served black; I guessed that he didn't like the sweetness of the muffins he had ordered because I had only seen him take one bite. What a waste.

The café back home served similar foods, only they tasted better there because they were fresh and homemade rather than whatever this was. Precooked? I wasn't really sure. The older lady there would often give me free pastries after my brother died, she felt sorry for me obviously.

"-Don't you think Mel-chan?"

I looked at Izaya; had he been talking this whole time? I stared at him for a moment watching how his smile disappeared and he looked annoyed. "Huh?" Maybe I should have just responded with a yes or no, that way he would stop giving me that scary look. "I-I mean yeah." I looked down at my food and began picking at it with a fork in order to avoid his gaze.

The sound of Izaya standing made me look to see what he was doing; he set some bills on the table and gave a closed-eye type smile. "Let's go Mel-chan~"

I slid out of the booth and stood up getting ready to follow after him but stopped to look at the people for a moment. There were a few girls in a nearby booth watching Izaya, whispering hastily, while across the room there were two men who didn't take their eyes off of him and they looked really angry… The atmosphere felt tense in here.

"C'mon Mel-chan~" Izaya called from the door so I trotted after him feeling everyone's eyes like daggers in my back as I exited the building.

"People were staring at you in there." I informed once I caught up to him; he had already begun walking down the street, swinging his arms as he did so.

Izaya only laughed, "Well I've always been told to have good looks."

I felt the corner of my lip twitch. Is that so? I wondered then frowned, "They weren't looking at you that way." He didn't reply so I decided to drop the subject and instead looked up at the buildings as we continued to walk.

Back at home, there weren't any tall buildings like this, nor were there so many people out during this time in the morning; the only people who woke up this early were the fishermen and shop keepers. I would often wake up early as well and sit down by the beach to watch the sunrise; no one knew that I did this, it was actually one of the few times I could be alone even though I wasn't far from the house or anyone I knew. There was a time when I was found sitting on the beach by my step-father; he was so angry at me and I didn't even know why, nor did I even know why I was drenched in salty water with mud under my fingernails either.

"So, what are you planning to do after we find the person responsible for killing your brother?" Izaya looked down at me; I was sitting on a bench because my feet were in pain from all that walking. We were in a park with a water fountain in the center and the amount of people around had increased as the sun climbed higher in the sky; it was warmer out but there was still a cold breeze that sent chills through my body from time to time.

"I'm still debating." I replied, "I'm upset about what that person has done to my family and my brother… But also I want to let others know that I wasn't wrong; that person should go to jail for their crime." I was sure that my reply was reasonable, but the way Izaya laughed made me feel like there was something wrong with my two options.

"If taking the one responsible to the police wasn't possible, what would you do to them then?" Izaya hadn't stopped moving since we had arrived. He was pacing back and forth then spun on his heel to face me.

"Why wouldn't the authorities be an option?" I questioned.

Izaya shrugged, his hands were in his jacket pockets, "well the case is almost six years old, and it's closed after all… They might not even believe your claims since all the evidence has been most likely washed away and locked up."

I considered his response for a moment then looked off at the water spewing up in the air from the fountain. "I guess… I would seek vengeance." I then met his gaze.

"Oh?" He positioned himself so that he was standing in front of me and he placed his hands on my shoulders. "Now how would you go about doing that, hm?"

I shrugged, "how do you think I should do it?" I then quickly added; "not saying that I will do it." Averting my gaze so that I wouldn't have to feel intimidated by his merciless stare.

Izaya stood up straight and gave the expression that looked like he was actually thinking about a good way to ensure that his answer was a good one. "If you seek vengeance through death, then I suggest, especially for you, a gun." He took a step back and pressed index fingers to thumbs as if to be picturing me in a frame made by his hands. "Since you're so small and weak, I'm sure that you wouldn't be able to take the enemy down with just your bare hands or even with a blade of some sort." He sighed happily and put his hands down. "Unless you have some hidden ability to fight that I don't know about… Yet."

I watched him as he had spoken, "But that's only if the police aren't willing to do anything…"

"I'm pretty sure they won't even consider your theories." He placed his hands back into his pockets and turned around to start walking again, "I mean, your parents didn't even believe you so…" He looked over his shoulder to look at my blank expression. "I guess we will just have to wait and see."

I watched Izaya's walking figure so I stood and followed, not bothering to catch up just yet. He knows this place better than I did anyway, so of course he would know if the cops would be willing to help or not when the time arrived… My gaze dropped to the ground to watch my own feet take steps; so maybe I would just have to take this into my own hands but… If I did manage to find the killer, and kill them, how would I be able to prove that I was right all along? Would I even be able to pull the trigger on someone? I began to feel frustrated by this whole thing, but I didn't want to give up. Not yet.

I stopped moving when I felt a hand on top of my head; Izaya patted me a bit roughly, "If you over think about this, you might just end up quitting." If not for the unpleasant smile on his face, and taunting voice, it would have seemed like he was reassuring me of my doubts.

"I'm not going to give up on this." I replied quickly, "even if it boils down to having to… Kill someone." I said that last part quietly.

Izaya laughed and ruffled my bangs, "You can be quite interesting..." He then began to walk backwards; "Sometimes~" He pointed at me as if his hand were a gun then brought it back up towards his face.

Interesting? I only followed after him while fixing my bangs and caught up quickly so that I wouldn't lose him in the slowly disappearing crowds of people as they passed by or crossed the street. I was glad that he had stopped walking for a moment, "You know what? You're not too-" But before I could finish speaking, I noticed how his eyes glanced to the side and a wide smile played on his lips.

The next thing I knew, Izaya pushed me out of his way and stepped in my place as I fell to the ground; a loud crash sounded shortly after. I opened my eyes, about to protest against his reasons for pushing me to the ground but stopped when I saw a large mess of metal and broken sidewalk right where he was just standing.

"I-Z-A-Y-A-KUUUN!"

A loud voice thundered just a few meters down the sidewalk but I couldn't take my eyes off of the object that was crushed into the ground. I felt like a boulder that was super-glued to the sidewalk, and I could barely move my head to look at the person who had yelled Izaya's name. I watched the man approach, hands balled into fists, a bartender type outfit, messy blonde hair, and a very, very angry expression on his face behind a pair of bluish-purple shades.

"Oh Shizu-chan, it has been a while~" Izaya seemed happy to see this man as if it were some sort of joke.

The blonde guy, Shizu-chan, stomped his way toward Izaya. "I told you not to show your face around here flea!" Everything about this man began to scare me, but nothing about his attitude could match up with what he did next. He wrapped his hands around a nearby street sign; the metal pole crumbled beneath his grip and he pulled it from the sidewalk as if it was just a flower being plucked from the soft dirt.

At that very moment when my eyes witnessed this event, I felt my body get up on its own and my heart rate accelerated like never before. My instincts were screaming at me to get out of there, and that's what I planned on doing… But I didn't want to leave the only person willing to help me here.

I looked over at Izaya, "W-we should go…" I then looked over at the angry man, seeing how his shades had slid further down his nose so that is eyes were perfectly visible and looking straight at me. When our eyes met, I felt my heart plummet down into the pit of my stomach and there was nothing holding me back from running the other direction any longer.

I was gone.

All I could think about was the fact that I did not want that man throwing stuff at me, or looking at me like that ever again at all whatsoever! I turned a few corners and even ran across a few streets before slowing down and leaned forward slightly, letting out heavy breaths from the horror filled run I just ran. After a few seconds, I looked over my shoulder only to see clouds of dust and loud crashes about half a mile back. I then looked forward to see that innocent bystanders had stopped walking to also watch the commotion back there. Most of them seemed unsurprised by the event which seemed completely unusual to me.

Suddenly a hand grabbed my wrist and I was being pulled into a full on sprint again. I looked up at the person pulling me; it was Izaya, who had somehow managed to escape the wrath of that street sign wielding monster back there. He pulled me around more corners and across more streets; he weaved me through crowds of unsuspecting people before we came to a stop in front of an alleyway.

Before I could even try to say anything, Izaya pulled me into the small alley and pushed me against the wall while pressing himself to the other.

"Ow!" I felt the clip holding my hair break when my head hit the wall; I reached to grab it, but the plastic piece of crap crumbled and fell apart in my hand, leaving my hair to fall over my shoulders. "Who was that guy?" I whispered through heavy breaths.

"No one important." Izaya replied quietly, also breathing a bit heavy.

"That doesn't make sense." I breathed and looked toward the exit completely confused; what just happened?

"Shhh." Izaya hushed me and I wanted to give him a glare but it was too dark to see that stupid smile that was always plastered on his face. I held my tongue and closed my eyes, trying to calm my breaths while my mind continued to race.

I just couldn't understand why that man tried to attack us randomly and how in the world he had managed to pull that street sign out of solid concrete like that! As scared as I was during that moment, and even now, I began to wonder how any of that was even possible. Despite the fear I felt, I also began to feel amazed by it. That was certainly the power of superman that this Shizu-chan possessed! The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to ask questions about it but I kept my mouth shut for now. It was obvious that Izaya wasn't going to tell me much about that man and that I needed to be quiet for the sake of staying hidden.

I let the noises of the city fill in the silence between us while I continued to think about what had just happened. The only thing I concluded was the fact that the super strength filled man obviously had a problem with Izaya and that this wouldn't be the only time that something like this would happen.

After a good five minutes or so, my eyes opened, completely adjusted to the darkness and I could see Izaya move toward to exit. So, assuming that it was safe, I decided to speak as I followed. "I'm starting to think that you're not a good person to be around." I said while looking at Izaya; my breathing finally began to calm.

The grinning man laughed and looked back at me. "You're just now beginning to feel that way?"

"Why did that guy attack you?" I decided to ask.

Izaya looked off into the crowd, still grinning like a mad man. "I don't know." He replied playfully, "We've always hated each other from the start."

I watched him then sighed, that was all he was going to tell me from that subject. "Then how was he able to do what he did?" I wrapped my hands around my loose hair and pulled it over one shoulder to ensure that it wouldn't become tangled.

"Well, it's some sort of superhuman strength that he was born with," He moved one hand to the rhythm of his words, "I never really ask for the details though… You ask too many unnecessary questions…We should be heading back now." He beckoned me to follow.

I stayed still, "Didn't you have other things to do here though?"

Izaya was walking and didn't even look back at me and he sighed impatiently, "Shizu-chan will be storming around the city for a while, so unless you want to meet him again, I suggest that we go somewhere safe. At least until tomorrow, he shouldn't be looking for me by then."

That comment was more than enough to send me after him, but as I followed, I could feel my feet throbbing, and I noticed that all this action had little to no affect on Izaya as far as being sore or tired. Seeing how calmly he dealt with Shizu-chan, he was probably used to dodging flying objects and running around the city away from that man in order to avoid being killed.

Once we had arrived back to the apartment, I couldn't help but become curious yet again; not about Shizu-chan or why there was so much hate between them, but the sight of the room had me thinking about our proposal. It wasn't clarified, so I began to wonder what was expected of me here.

For a moment when I walked inside the room, I was going to ask for an explanation but for some reason I felt like I didn't want to know… There was something off about the way Izaya was looking at me after he had walked over to his desk and fell into his chair as if he were about to tell me something. Again, I stood awkwardly in the room and returned his gaze. Who was going to speak first? I could feel the pressure of his stare beat me down to the point of looking away and my feet took me to the couch so I could sit on its arm. The weight off my feet felt heavenly.

"What?" I looked at him again and began playing with my hair, seeing how he didn't remove his eyes from my face.

"I was thinking…"

I leaned back and looked at the ceiling and faked a gasp, "Oh no."

"You were going to say something before Shizu-chan rudely interrupted."

"Oh?"

I didn't bother to look over at him as I tried to recall the moment before I entered "fearing for my life"mode. I frowned a bit as I remembered; it had to do with telling this impolite man that he wasn't always that bad of a person after figuring that the word interesting was a compliment in his mental dictionary. Considering the way he treated me after Shizu-chan interrupted us, I decided that saying what I was going to was something that Izaya did not deserve.

"I don't remember." I lied before standing and traipsed my way out of the room.

Not too much to say about this chapter; it was fun though, I love writing Shizzy's parts, but yeah, his time in this chapter was short haha! XD But scary enough to make Mel-chan fear for her life~ But hey, how would you react if some man like Shizuo threw large things toward you and pulled street signs from the ground huh?

Any who, thanks for reading! Remember to review and let me know what you're thinking!

Until next time!