"Nice hickey, Elvira." Namie's eyes dig into my neck almost as harshly as Shizuo's teeth did. I turn away from her and finish pouring my coffee.
"Wouldn't he be Elvira? He's the one who bit me." I point out, gesturing towards her with the remaining coffee. She shakes her head, gesturing at her still full cup. I put the coffeepot back onto its base that she brought over when she started working for me. I actually don't like coffee that much, but I'm not going to pass up on the caffeine. Not today.
"Please. If anyone's the mistress of darkness between you two, it's you." She drawls, and I smirk despite myself. "How did your dinner go?" She doesn't sound hopeful, but that's probably because she already knows. If my mother had succeeded in "talking some sense into me" I would hardly look the way I do right now.
"Incredibly awkward, per the norm. Thank you for that, by the way." I snarl at her. As usual, she's far from impressed.
"I thought it was something she should know." She tries to claim.
"Yeah, because my sex life is definitely something my mother needs to be involved in." I scoff, taking a long sip of coffee to sooth my nerves a bit. The caffeine set to work immediately, making my body feel a little less like a bag of wet cement.
"When the sex is more brutal than a beating, it is." She mutters this more to herself, but every whisper is a stage whisper with Namie. For her, there's no reason to make a pointed remark unless it can jab at the person right then and there. I press my lips together to keep my immediate fury to myself. Only when I feel calm enough do I respond to her.
"You have no idea what the sex is like, you've always just made assumptions." It's not the best line of defense, considering the evidence she has to go on. I've been fucking with Shizuo long before I hired her. But the very first time she was around to see me slink back from an encounter with him, she thought I'd been jumped by one of my less than savory clients.
"Kishitani-san is hardly a closed book." She drawls, and I see red for a moment.
"Does everyone I know just get together for tea and talk about my fucking business behind my back?" I growl.
"We usually group chat." She states bluntly. I throw my head back against the cabinets behind me. The satisfying thunk does a good job of replacing the crash of my cup hurtled towards her head. I don't want to waste a good cup, after all.
I wonder if Shizuo will clean up the shards of that cup he shattered last night. Maybe he'll forget about it until he steps on it sometime. I'm sure that would thrill him.
To be honest, I forgot all about it. Until this morning when I crept out of bed and found red hand prints all over my body. My waist, my back, under my fucking knee. I don't remember seeing his hand continue to bleed during our fucking last night, but I was a little distracted.
"Here. Shiki-san will be over soon for the information you put together. You should cover that." My head lulls forward to see the compact she's holding out to me. I didn't hear her get up. I need to keep myself together. Keep it sorted, like Shiki-san said.
"Thanks." I grumble, taking the compact and putting down my coffee to return upstairs to my bathroom. Great. Stairs. Just what I need. Why do I have so many stairs?
I send Namie out to pick up a few things while Shiki and I talk. Shiki already knows about her presence here- he likes to keep an eye on all the people he hires, even independent info brokers. But I still don't want the two of them to mix. I need to keep borders between Shiki and the rest of my life.
"You're certain?" He glances up at me from the file in his hands.
"100%, Shiki-san. I saw him with my own eyes. Right before the gentleman in question offered to cut them out for me." I explain with a soft smirk.
"I see. Thank you for this information." Shiki flips the folder closed and for the first time since he got here, he looks a little closer at me. I raise an eyebrow when he just continue to stare without speaking. "It's a little warm out to be wearing a jacket, isn't it?" I glance down at myself and then towards the windows lining the wall to my left. It does look bright and sunny outside. And to be honest, it's warm in here too. But some things are worth sweating for.
"I wouldn't know. I've been swamped with work all morning." I gesture airily towards my desk. His eyes flick over for only a second before returning to me. He hums, sounding less than convinced.
"I understand your mother came into town yesterday to see you. I hope everything's alright." He's fishing for information, and not being very subtle about it. I smile patiently, something I know he hates. He likes being patronized even less than Shizuo does.
"Perfectly alright, Shiki-san. Your concern for my well-being is touching though."
"I'm not concerned for your well-being." He immediately denies.
"Well, I didn't say where I was touched." I shrug easily. Shiki sighs through his nose, rising to his feet. I elect to remain sitting- and it's certainly not because of any lingering pain.
Shiki steps in front of me, holding my challenging gaze. Out of the corner of my eye I see his hand moving, but I don't react to it until I realize what he's reaching for. I grab his wrist a second too late to stop him from pushing the fur of my hood to the side.
Even with the foundation Namie offered me, the bruise Shizuo left was too dark to completely cover. In the end I had to put on my jacket to hide it. Who knows how much of the pale powder was rubbed off by my fur rubbing against my skin. Who knows how much he sees now as he studies me.
Evidently, he sees enough. "Touched, indeed." He rumbles, dropping his hand to return back to the seat he's designated as his own. "I had heard rumors. All baseless gossip started by otaku with too much time on their hands. How pleased they would be to find out that they're right after all."
"I don't know what you're referring to, but a bruise means nothing." I mutter fiercely.
"Perhaps not. But it's far from the first bruise I've seen on you. And given the fact that you're too quick for most to land a hit on, I had to wonder just where they were coming from. I made a few inquiries, and the rest was common sense." He doesn't seem bothered. If anything, he just sounds intrigued.
"Why is it any of your concern anyway?"
"You're too valuable of an asset for me to overlook any aspect of your life, Orihara-kun. The things you know, both about my dealing and the dealing of my rivals, are too dangerous for me to just assume you're of sound body and mind at all times." He explains casually.
"You could ask." I snap. He looks at me like I'm the most simple person he knows.
"What I can't figure out is why your…lover never has bruises of his own. You're a passionate boy, Orihara-kun. Don't tell me you actually submit to someone. Even if it is Shizuo Heiwajima." I feel vaguely paralyzed, unable to say or do anything but glare at him.
Not that he really wants an answer anyway. His words, as always, are perfectly tailored. And right now he just wants me to know that he knows. And no amount of denying it will help.
Shiki stands again, tapping his pointer finger on the file at his side. "This will of course stay between us. There's no price high enough to replace your worth for the Awakusu-Kai." He wanders over to Namie's desk, pulling out an envelope from his pocket and tucking it under her laptop.
"What is that?" I whisper, unable to make my voice louder while still keeping it appropriately angry.
"Instructions. For your keeper." He drawls. "I meant what I said, Orihara-kun. You can do whatever you like with your life, who am I to judge. But the moment it begins to interfere with your work, I will not be so complacent."
Shiki holds my eyes for a long moment until he's apparently satisfied that he's gotten his message across. Then he turns and makes his way to the door.
"Shiki-san." He pauses, his hand on the doorknob, to glance over his shoulder at me. "How did you know it was Shizu-chan?"
Again that look. Like I'm nothing more than a dumb toddler parading as one of the most dangerous men in Ikebukuro. It ruffles me enough that some of the irritating panic he's inspired in me fades away. I'm able to meet his gaze with more fire, which in turn softens his face to something more pitying.
"Who else could it be, Izaya?"
"Eww, it's so big!" I cringe away from a pointy finger digging into the bruise on my neck. Mairu grins at the icy glare I send her way, jumping around me restlessly to try to spy the bruise better.
"Iza-nii, are you okay?" Kururi coos in her soft voice, trailing just a few steps behind her twin and me.
"Come on Ruri, don't you think a man who gets laid as often as Iza-nii would be totally okay with one hickey." I pinch the bridge of my nose, frustration building more the longer we walk. Thank god most of this neighborhood is never home to overhear her shrill voice. Small miracles.
"Can't you shut up for even a minute?" I sigh, and Mairu laughs wickedly like it's answer enough. "Why do you need me here for this anyway?"
"Kyouko-san said we should bring you." Mairu shrugs. She's already moved on from my hickey- thankfully- and is now chattering obsessively about Shizuo's brother. I roll my eyes so hard it makes my headache worse.
How does Shizuo tolerate these little shits. Maybe it comes from years of dealing with me. That would make sense.
"Just in time, Iza-chan. I was starting to think you weren't going to get here before my cab." Kyouko is standing at the end of the driveway of our childhood home. When Mairu and Kururi round the corner behind me they light up, and so does Kyouko. Watching them hug and coo over each other is almost too sickening to bare.
Normally when Kyouko is in town she has the brats stay here at the house with her. But this time she came in the middle of the school week, and having the girls commute from here on the days she was in town would render their dorm in Ikebukuro pretty useless. Needless to say, they've been insufferable about it. They insisted she take a late flight out so they could at least see her today before she left.
"Do you really have to go already? You could stay longer, you know." Mairu pouts. She plops down on the wall lining our yard, Kururi joining her so they can tag team their Bambi eyes.
"Yes, unfortunately I do. I only had a few days I could spare." She states firmly, petting her daughters hair. She glances at me and gestures me forward.
"It's not fair. You're only here for three days and Iza-nii was the only one who got to see you." Mairu whines, turning her misplaced irritation on me.
"I had appointments to attend to while I was in town." Kyouko explains patiently. I don't understand how she can be so patient with them. I roll my eyes again and Kyouko smiles fondly at me. She rubs her thumb against my cheek, and I most certainly do not lean into it.
"You made time for Iza-nii." Mairu's mutter is similar to Namie's. It has all the pretense of a whisper, but none of the secrecy.
"Iza-nii needed to see me. We had business to discuss, just like my clients." Mairu rolls her eyes now, making even Kururi sigh at her belligerence.
"When will you be back?" Kururi asks to try to distract her sister.
"I'll keep my schedule clear for December so we can celebrate Christmas together this year. I promise." Just like she promised last year. And the year before. The only thing that would be more of a shock than Kyouko actually being in town for Christmas would be if she got my father to be there too.
But the brats look so excited by the prospect that I decide to keep that to myself. I look away, watching the wind play with our neighbors trees. Kyouko keeps watching me, before suddenly patting her pockets with a look of dramatic surprise pasted on her face.
"Girls, I think I left my phone in my room. Would you mind terribly getting it for me?" She asks so sweetly that the twins are scrambling up to run after each other into the house before she can finish speaking.
"I'll make sure they wipe all that brown off their nose when they get home." I mutter bitterly when they're inside.
"They are home. So are you." She reminds me. I pretend to ignore her. "Izaya, you have been thinking about what I said, haven't you?"
"Yes." And I have. I've been thinking about how impossible it would be for me to stop seeing Shizuo. Even if everyone around me thinks I'm using him to hurt myself.
Kyouko sighs and presses her palm to my cheek again. "I know you don't believe me, but there are people who genuinely care about you, Izaya. Your family, your friends."
"They're hardly friends, Kyouko-san. And we're hardly a family." Her nails prick at my hairline for only a second, and she drops her hand like she's fighting the urge to slap me.
"And yet, for all your cruelties and attempts to ward us off, we still care." She claims. I look down, feeling even lesser than usual. And that's saying something.
"I know." She doesn't believe me, I can see it in the way her eyes narrow. "I do know. I just wish you didn't." Now her eyes soften.
"I know, Iza-chan." She sighs, looking like she wants to reach out to me again. But Mairu and Kururi come crashing out of the house with her phone extended like a prize and Kyouko is back to her loving mother routine.
She showers the girls with hugs and kisses and attention right up until she gets into the cab. Even then she rolls down the window to continue blowing kisses and affection back towards them. And they eat it all up.
When her cab fades out of sight, the girls stand there staring blankly in the direction she left. And when they turn back towards me so we can head back to Ikebukuro, their eyes are wet. I frown and turn on my heel, satisfied to hear that they immediately follow. I'm glad I won't have to actually say anything to them.
At some point Mairu starts talking about Kasuka again, luring Kururi into the conversation every now and then. By the time we're walking up to their dorm building, everything feels about the same as it did when I got here to pick them up.
"Do you have groceries?" I ask gruffly, not sure what else to say.
"We just went shopping yesterday." Kururi nods.
"Do you have enough groceries? You're skinnier than normal." Mairu points out, poking at my stomach. I swat her hand away and she smiles, like she's some devious mastermind. It spurs a small smile of my own.
"Stay out of trouble. I'm not coming to any more teacher conferences." I grouse. They both giggle now.
"Iza-nii is no fun." Kururi pouts, but it's all for appearances.
"Yeah, and it's not like Iza-nii is going to stay out of trouble. Why should we?" Mairu stamps her little foot, but it too is no more than showmanship.
"I get paid to be in trouble. When you start providing for yourself with your little pranks, then I'll stop bossing you around." I tell them dryly.
"It's a deal!" Mairu shouts and turns to run inside like she's afraid I'm going to take my words back. Kururi lingers to wave goodbye to me before following after her twin. I watch them get inside and continue to linger until I see the lights of their dorm click on. Only then do I walk away.
Ikebukuro is a city that hardly sleeps. Even the residential areas are buzzing with people returning from work or going out to shop or to meet friends. When I get to Sunshine City, the crowds are dense and lively- and it's only Thursday.
I idly think about getting Russia Sushi to take home while I'm here, but I end up taking a side street to avoid it. I run into people I know far too often there. Of course, avoiding poplar destinations doesn't automatically mean I'm in the clear.
The disembodied whinny of Celty's familiar draws my eyes as she comes up behind me. She spots me too and before I can give her a friendly wave to send her on her way, she draws to a stop beside me.
"Transporter, how lucky running into you here." I give her a dashing smile that I'm sure would earn me a glower if she had her head. She whips out her phone, typing quickly before holding it out to me.
'Are you okay? Shinra said your mother came into town.'
"Did he now? How kind of him to spread my business around like it might not be personal." I chirp with a grin. She pulls her arm back, looking ready to defend him, or herself. "Relax, I know it's just Shinra's way. He doesn't keep secrets unless they're his own- and especially not from you." Now her arms pulls back for a different reason. Surprise I think.
'So are you okay?'
"Perfectly peachy, my dear associate." Her empty helmet cocks to the side, eyeing me carefully with no eyes.
'That's not what Shinra says.'
"Well then, it sounds like you should be asking Shinra about my well being, if you're not going to believe me." I turn to walk away, happy when she doesn't follow after me. I don't think I can handle a well meaning Dullahan right now.
More importantly, I don't think she could handle me if I snapped. And I still need her and Shinra. It wouldn't do to isolate them this early in the game.
