"Ah, you're back! Really, I'm so worried! Are you okay?"
The woman really looked worried as she said that.
"Yeah. I'm okay. I was just shocked, that's all. It appears you're right. I'm sorry…"
Of course Izaya lied. He didn't believe that fact at all. He had after all guessed the right amount of money in his wallet. It'd be a hell of coincidence if it just happened to be right. Moreover, his cell phone was as he remembered it.
His face was as he remembered it.
The woman sighed as she let him in.
"That's what I thought… Your head was hit after all! Well, I guess the best way is to report to the police, or go to hospital to get your head checked, but…"
She looked deep into Izaya's red eyes; her face became unreadable for a split second.
"It's not good. The enemy will find you if you go to the police. Hospitals are not good either. Stay in the apartment for a while. I'll tell you when the right time comes."
Déjà vu.
Izaya felt as if he had said that before.
Well, he had said those kinds of words to so many people he had lost count, but he specifically remembered saying those words to someone over phone. His mind brought him back to the days when he helped a young man solved a mystery surrounding him.
"Right. Thanks."
Ah… I know this woman…
But still he couldn't name her.
"I'm sorry, I have to go now. Uhm, make yourself at home. And I'm not expecting anyone, so… God, I feel like an old lady! Haha, well then, see you later!"
And so, the woman left Izaya just like that. He had his eyes locked on the door for a while, his expression the same as the times when Namie went out early. That being said, he didn't know whether to feel happy or sad about it.
Earlier, for some reason his feet brought him back to the woman's apartment. Even though he had his office and apartment in mind, he didn't go there.
Truth to be told, he's a bit anxious.
He had after all accepted the fact that he's stranded in the future, and so he wondered if he come to his apartment would it still be his?
If he went to his office, would Namie still be there? Would the game board still left unchanged?
Would the head still in the office?
"… She must have taken it… right?"
If it's Namie, she'd take it without hesitation. She's probably now living large with her brother.
But, it's still a guess, and Izaya couldn't stand not knowing. He had to know about stuffs. Curiosity was what drove him to do things after all. He's like mad scientist whose subject was human.
His eyes found the woman's laptop, and after a second of contemplating, he decided to use it. Luckily, it wasn't locked. Soon after, he's logged in the Dollars' website, scanning the forum for any useful news. Mikado hadn't changed the website much, and so he's able to search quite easily.
Nothing was worth knowing.
In the forum, mostly the members only talk about their daily lives. Usually, Izaya would laugh at those posts, but he's in no mood for that. The usual chatroom was empty, but Izaya had a feeling that it was abandoned. Realizing that he couldn't find any news about Celty's head and Namie's whereabouts, Izaya tried to search for mythology.
There had got to be something that could bring him back to the past.
Izaya tried to fight the urge to bang his bandaged head to the wall when he couldn't find anything useful. The only known 'Master of Time' was Chronos, but he's supposedly had been killed by his offspring.
Time simply cannot be turned.
And yet, there he was in the future.
How to return?
He needed to ask someone, of course. But who'd have sufficient information at that age? Someone he knew how to contact, someone he knew would know about things… Someone who's reachable.
Shinra? True. He once said that he's not planning to move from his apartment ever, except if Celty wished it. But the chatroom was empty, and there wasn't a telephone in the apartment. Perhaps the woman thought that her cellphone would suffice?
So, he couldn't call him.
"Who'd… Ah…"
And then, it hit him. There was someone like that.
Orihara Izaya, Reborn!
Tsukumoya Shinichi : … Holy Moses…
Orihara Izaya : yo
Tsukumoya Shinichi : Apparently you somehow managed to use my associate's id, even though he's gone for ten years now. So, introduce yourself please.
Orihara Izaya : It's me. Cut the crap.
Orihara Izaya : I'm here to ask some things.
Tsukumoya Shinichi : Wait, Izaya? Is that really you?
Orihara Izaya : Yeah. Can I ask get information for free this time?
Tsukumoya Shinichi : Depends. Can you tell me where have you been? Oh, and if you made your friend do plastic surgery on someone to pose as you in your funeral because I have many people swearing that they saw you got cremated.
Tsukumoya Shinichi, informant extraordinaire.
No one knew who he was, how he looked, where he lived, and basically he's the epitome of mysteriousness. Izaya had made it his goal to find out about him, but so far the progress hadn't been good.
He's a hikkikomori (possibly), but for some odd reason he knew almost everything.
Izaya stared at the screen, unable to write anything for a good minute as what Shinichi wrote dawned to him.
Not three minutes had passed, and already he obtained the most shocking truth of all.
According to Shinichi, in the world of 2021, Orihara Izaya had died. He'd been cremated and his sisters had probably thought of barbeque as they watched his body turned into ashes. Then they probably sprinkled what's left of him to somewhere OTHER than family grave, did it just for laugh. And then, they'd probably bug Shizuo to let them meet the accursed idol of theirs.
But Izaya wasn't mad at that. Really, the thought even managed to make him smile a bit.
Even so…
…
"Damn…"
Walking down the street, the woman wearing white turtleneck sighed.
She wondered if her trap worked. She had planted a bug on her own laptop which would allow her to see the records of all he did. Of course it's not really necessary, but she figured it's best to have precaution in case the man deleted the log.
And she really needed to know.
"He's really… him, isn't it?"
"…Izaya-san."
'Hate, Orihara Izaya… must cut… must kill…'
Inside her heart, a faint sound echoed endlessly. She took a deep breath and breathed out, trying to calm herself down.
"You can't do that. We need him. I know we shouldn't trust him, but we really need him in this."
'Hate… love… love…'
"Yes, it's all for our love…"
"As usual, you speak with yourself. Kinda freaky, you know, Senpai."
When she realized it, she had already walked side by side with a man who looked like he's in his early twenties. He was smiling from ear to ear as he played with his cellphone.
"… Aoba-kun."
"That man is now in your apartment, isn't it? How cruel of you not telling me this. Now I have concussion after meeting a certain brute, you know?"
The woman giggled.
"I was just about to call you. Do you want to see him? This child inside me really think it's Orihara Izaya."
"Senpai, you're not pregnant, are you? There's no child inside you. But, yes. I think I'll take that offer. Under the mat, right? Your key."
"It's not locked."
The man called Aoba waved his hand as he walked away, signing that he heard her. As the woman watched him walk away, she tried to imagine how Izaya would react.
Kuronuma Aoba, Dollars' informant. That being said, his main job was to collect information for Dollars members, even though on the cover he's an employee of a private company. His information usually used by gang members though. He's often found in Ikebukuro, watching over the members he 'helped'. Even though he looked so young, actually he's already in his mid-twenties. Of course, some would say that he's still young nevertheless.
The woman had heard in the past that Aoba resembled Izaya, and she agreed with whoever said that. The resemblance was uncanny.
'Cut… cut… hate…'
Her child hated him all the same.
"Calm down… he's here to help. Rather, I'll use him to help us. So calm down…"
'Love… love… love…'
"Yes… Just say the words of love… Don't worry. When it's done, you can cut whoever you want… Yes, just as soon as we're reunited with our love… "
"I promise you, Saika…"
Kuronuma Aoba walked with steps so light, he could be skipping. He hummed a random song as he walked, his hands on the pocket of his jacket. Looking at his seemingly happy face, one could be excused for not able to guess his age.
He looked back after few steps, his smile turned into a grin when he found the woman he just talked to turned in a corner.
"Well, he's not in that direction… Still, good luck, Senpai."
No one could hear him, but then again he wasn't saying that to be heard.
He knew what the woman's going to do. She had told him what she wished, after all. Even so, Aoba admitted that he couldn't help her. He knew for a fact that the person she's looking for was not in Ikebukuro, and she had heard that too, but still she kept looking anyway.
Whatever…
Aoba turned around and started walking again. Not five minutes passed and he's arrived in his employee's apartment. Although she said it wasn't locked, he shrugged and knocked anyway.
No one answered.
He tried again, and again, and after the third time he decided to enter despite the lack of answer.
What he opened the door, he found a man standing by the door, his hand was holding the handle. Aoba blinked in surprise before looked up to see his face. That man was a bit taller than him, but the difference was not much.
'Bandaged head… red eyes.'
The man smirked at him. Even so, Aoba could imagine seeing his vein popped.
"So noisy. Sorry, but the owner didn't say anything about guest, and I'm busy. So then, bye bee."
He couldn't react fast enough. The man slammed the door shut and a faint click could be heard. Then he realized what had happened. He flipped the mat under his feet, and there wasn't any key.
That man had somehow found it, the key to the apartment. How he knew, Aoba had no idea. Although people normally hid their spare keys under mat or pot, most wouldn't have spare at all. Rather, guests shouldn't look for the host's spare keys!
He knocked the door once more, this time with more force than before.
The man opened the door once more, but before Aoba could say anything he stepped out from the apartment and pointed his blade at Aoba.
Needless to say, Aoba was freaked out.
"I told you I am busy. Now scram."
Aoba swallowed the lump that had formed on his throat, and braced himself for just about everything as he opened his mouth and called out the man's name.
"… Izaya… san?"
I suppose everyone know Shinichi, yes? This chapt has absolutely nothing except clues as to what's going on in that world. Well, just a tiny bit anyway.
And Izaya meet Aoba…
And he called someone… brute? Now where have I heard that before?
And there's Saika?
Haha, well I just write what I imagine anyway…
Speaking of imagine, I still feel uncomfortable with the synopsis... Hm...
