Cat Fancy
Chapter 4
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When Celty arrived at the complex that she shared with the eccentric underground doctor, they both got off the horse disguised as a motorcycle and made their way up to the apartment. Shinra was minding his own when the two came in and he smiled. "Hello, Izaya."
"Don't "hello Izaya" me. Now let's get this blood sample so I can leave. I'm gonna make use of this little infliction you gave me but I still want it gone before it causes trouble for me that I don't want to deal with." he spoke as he moved over to the other. "Ok, ok. Don't bite my head off. I got everything set up in the living room. Come with me." Izaya obediently followed the other into the living room where simple little things were set up. Shinra pulled a needle off the table and nodded for Izaya to take a seat on the couch. He did so, removing his parka and rolled up a black sleeve so that Shinra could get his blood sample. He conducted the procedure, taking a little blood before placing a dot bandage on the spot while he cleaned up. "So how long exactly will this take?" he asked.
"Maybe a week or two. I'll have to do some very extensive work to make sure that the antidote won't either kill you or make the effects permanent." Shinra replied and Izaya groaned before nodding, rolling his sleeve back down and grabbed his parka. "Fine but I better see good results." he spoke as he left the apartment. Celty walked into the room after Izaya left and pulled out her PDA, typing something before showing it to Shinra.
[Do you really think you can find a cure?]
"Of course, Celty. I'm not the best underground doctor for nothing. I just hope he doesn't kill me before I can give it to him."
[For your sake, I hope so too.]
"Oh Celty~ To know you care makes me so...urk! Celty...your elbow..."
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Izaya sighed as he entered his apartment and uncovered his ears, sighing in relief as they finally had a chance to move. "I better not get used to these any time soon." he muttered as he went to get himself a quick shower before heading to his work desk and sat down. He had work to do and he won't let little cat appendages get in the way of an honest living. And then there was tomorrow and his newfound teasing to his worst enemy. He smirked a little at the thought of the torment he could cause the debt collector with his cat features. "Great, I might like these things more than I want to think now." he muttered as fingers flew across the keyboard as he pulled up info and placed them into their proper places. He worked on that into the wee hours of the morning before finally shutting down and headed to bed for the night.
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The next morning, Izaya woke, rubbing his eyes before instinct followed and his licked his hand in attempts to clean his face and ears. When he realized this, he grumbled and went to stand, heading into the bathroom to clean up properlyand get ready for the day ahead.
In Ikebukuro, Shizuo was the same, having already got dressed and had his daily glass of milk before heading out to meet up with Tom. "I'm surprised at the lack of damage I didn't see yesterday. What happened?" Tom asked. "Don't wanna talk about it. I just hope I don't see that flea at all today."
"You know he will show just to spite you."
"That's what I don't want to think about either."
Tom shrugged as the two went about their way and did their job. At the same time, Izaya was out, handing over his next batch of info to his clientele and was given the money for the effort. "Thank you." The man spoke quietly before looking to him. "Hey, you looking for something even more discreet than the information business?" he asked and Izaya gave him a glance through hooded eyes. "Mmm, and what would that be?"
"An underground entertainment ring of sorts. I've heard of your spectacular abilities dealing with the monster of Ikebukuro when it comes to avoiding all of his attacks. We could use a man like you in our..."
"Underground fighting ring, huh? Well I would gladly take up on such an offer but I have much to do up on the surface." he said as he began to walk off. "But you could make so much more fighting." The man spoke again as he followed the other. "I like to keep my pristine complexion. Can't have this pretty face be marred by discolored bruises and deep cuts by such unruly beasts that do what they will in those fight rings."
"You say that and yet can dodge flawlessly from attacks from the monster of Ikebukuro."
"He's a different matter entirely. He's such a reckless man and I know him for years that reading his every little move is like reading a simplistic novel written by a ten year old child." he spoke as he continued walking off. "But alas, people such as you are the kind that doesn't give up potential when they see it. So therefore I issue a challenge to you. If you desire to have me join, then you must pursue me. No calling up for more info for that would make the game much too easy for a man of my caliber and this cat wants the chase to be entertaining. You can find me everywhere and nowhere. It all depends if your eyes are sharp and your mind crafty to match my own. Only then will I agree to such a request." he said, smirking as he turned back to the man before leaping up, landing gracefully on a nearby awning. He missed the hood of his parka falling from his head, revealing the black cat ears that near blended in with his hair which surprised the other man that the challenge was issued to.
"Now hop to it. This cat won't be waiting long for the dog to catch him." he spoke before flipping onto the roof and was out of sight. The man was still baffled but then the wheels in his head began to turn. "So, the famous informant is now a cat, huh? Tickets would sell for thousands to see his cat like grace influenced by the genetics of a cat." The man spoke and then smirked. "He's not the only crafty one in this city." he murmured before walking off with his info consisting of all his enemy fighters, their weaknesses and what to watch out for in a fight with them.
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Izaya cursed as he covered his head when he arrived at Sunshine 60. 'Damn it all, my cat snark got the best of me and now I'm sure that dastardly man saw my ears, nya. How unfortunate but he won't be able to capture me so easily even with a stunt like myself to make his little fight ring explode.' he thought to himself before looking down from his perch to see if anyone of interest was walking about. It was a Saturday which meant a lot of high schoolers will be frequenting the area and it has been a while since he talked to the little leader of the Dollars face to face since their first meeting. He glanced down and sharp eyes caught onto the familiar black head of hair of the younger boy and grinned happily as he leapt down to make himself known.
Mikado was animatedly talking with Kida as they were heading into the large arcade of the Sunshine 60 district. Anri was a few steps behind, having been invited by the fair blond to enjoy herself instead of staying in her lonely apartment, but she wisely stayed a few steps behind as the two boys talked about the new arcade game that they just installed.
Saika hummed within her before giving a sharp warning of the arrival of their unpleasant enemy that she hated all the more and looked up, the glare of her glasses almost hiding the sight of a dark coat jumping down from the building. "Umm...Mikado-kun...Kida-kun..." she called softly but it was loud enough for both to catch and turn their attention to her. "What's wrong, Sonohara-san?" Mikado asked in concern before the two jumped when Izaya landed before them. The three teens froze as they waited for the other to make a move.
Soon the other chuckled as he stood, not even the slightest twitch of pain appearing on his face from his jump. Mikado looked up and back to Izaya, just wondering where the hell the other jumped from to warrant no pain whatsoever. He knew the other was an experience parkour master but even so, jumping from any height that could snap someone's leg shouldn't be possible to do and be fine afterward.
"And how are my wonderful little people today?" he asked with a cheerful lilt in his tone which Kida easily brushed off. "We were about to enjoy a day at the arcade until you showed up." he muttered and Izaya laughed softly. Anri was still silent as his attention was focused on the two before him but then Saika began to speak once more. /Something...something is off about him this time.../ she whispered, a haunting tone within the depths of Anri's mind that she had steady grown used to over the years. 'Like what?' she thought back to the sword resting in her body./Something has been...transformed in him.../Anri glanced over to the other as he continued to talk, his attention on Mikado more than Kida. She then realized the other had his hood pulled up, something that no one saw often.
She blinked and ever so tempted to remove it just to see what was up with Izaya but wisely kept her hands where they were despite Saika trying to egg her on to remove the hood. But it seems her eager thoughts of what was hiding underneath his hood was gonna be revealed to someone else as Izaya steered Mikado into the arcade, much to the protest of Kida who ranted and raved about pushy informants ruining their only day out of school.
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"Hey, wait a sec! Where are we going?!" Mikado asked hurriedly as he was dragged further from his friends. "Just somewhere and then nowhere. I feel as if my little infliction I can reveal to you while that idiot doctor works on a cure for me." he murmured. "Besides, I know one secret of yours so why not share one of mine for once." Mikado blinked as they were moved into a quiet corner of the arcade and Izaya released the other's shoulder so that Mikado could turn around. "What's going on?" he asked, knowing better than to dig himself deeper since Kida always told him time and again to never mess around with Izaya. "What I'm going to reveal to you might be shocking but as I said that idiot doctor is working on a cure for me since he was the one that made this happen." he spoke as he reached up, pulling the hood of his parka off and Mikado blinked in surprise as he watched the black cat ears twitch on his head.
"I know I might regret asking but what exactly happened?"
"That idiot Shinra called me to try another one of his concoctions and had me end up with this as well as a tail and the longer I'm in it, the more cat-like I feel that I'm going to become." he explained and Mikado gave a slight nod. "Ok...I can see what you mean...and yet you still roam out here in daylight. Aren't people other than Heiwajima-san out for you?"
"There are but if I haven't been caught yet, what makes you think they would have the chance now?" Izaya said with a chuckle. "I only show this to you because in the event that someone tries to stake out my usual haunts, I would need a place to stay for a few hours or so." Mikado nodded before everything began to click and he squawked. "W-wait! I can't do this! What if I get involved?! I don't want to get involved!"
"Oh Mikado-kun...do you really think I don't know just how crafty you can be? As I always say, I can be everywhere and then nowhere. Do you think that I haven't seen your little escapades before, especially with the first ever citywide Dollars meeting?" he questioned with a smirk and Mikado was speechless at that. "So, can this kitten trust the noble Dollars leader to keep him housed should things get awry?" Mikado sighed and hoped that Masaomi never finds out as he gave a nod and Izaya nodded back. "Good. Glad we could make these terms without any issues." he said with a grin as he went to put the hood back on.
"Wait!"
Izaya looked down to Mikado who moved over to him. "I think I might have enough regrets but let me just do one thing." he spoke and the older man looked to the boy with skepticism. "Fine. What is it?" Mikado moved a bit closer and raised a hand, resting it on Izaya's head and began to gently pet the other. It was a very hard thing to resist and before he knew it, he was purring softly, tail swaying behind him as Mikado petted his head. Mikado would've chuckled but that would probably ruining his little bit of fun with the usually serious man. He gave a tiny scratch behind one ear before stepping back. "Alright, I'm done. Hopefully you get that fix before someone else finds out." Mikado spoke.
"Ah, Mikado-kun, your concern touches me but I'm much too secretive to let this get out into the open. You just keep your mouth shut too if you want to avoid being caught up deep in this as well." he said, stuffing his tail back into his parka and pulled the hood over his head as a miffed yell from Kida finally alerted that Mikado better meet up back with his friends. Izaya shooed him off before moving to take the back entrance out and once he was back onto the main street, senses went haywire as he ducked a swinging yield sign that was aimed for his head.
"And look who decides to show himself." he purred as he turned. "Dear, Shizu-chan~ Think you can really handle another round with me with the advantage I have over you?"
"You'll be a dead man before you can even try." Shizuo snarled as he readied the sign once more and Izaya could only chuckle as they prepared for another wonderful game of cat and dog.
