Partying, partying, YEAH! *cough cough* Enjoy!

I laid there, drifting in and out of consciousness, for who knows how long.

That punch must've knocked my brain loose; I felt nauseous and dizzy and just bad.

My back was sore from lying on the ground, but I couldn't bring myself to move. What had just happened? Tsukishima hit me? I felt so confused.

And then my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I aimlessly groped for it. When I finally got a hold of it, I brought it up to my ear wincing as it was pressing against my bruised right cheek. I switched it to my other side and answered it.

"Roppi-chan~!"

Oh good lord, how I hate this man.

I let out a low growl before responding, "What the hell do you want, Izaya?"

I could hear his obnoxious laughter, "Why so serious, Roppi-nyan~?"

My eye twitched as I recognized the phrase from some stupid American movie or comic or whatever. He knows how one-liners like that irk me.

"Tell me what you want before I hang up!" I snapped.

"Waaaaaah! So mean. I was just calling to check up on you. Seeing as you've finally been acquainted with the fists of a Heiwajima. I know how much that hurts."

Wait, what? How could he know about that? It only happened a little while ago.

"What the hell, Izaya? How-"

"You underestimate me. I'm am one hell of an informant."

I take a deep breath to try and curb my annoyance, but then something occurs to me.

"You're behind this, aren't you?"

"Behind what, Roppi-chan?" I can hear the smirk in his voice. He knows exactly what I'm talking about.

"You set this up!" My fists were clenched in anger. I wanted to wring this bastard's neck.

"Eeeh? Why would I set up my own cousin?" The inflection in his voice said this was a sincere question.

"I don't know. Maybe you just want to see me in pain."

His voice came out a bit strained, "That's... That's not true."

There was a long pause.

"Explain this to me then."

Izaya sighed, "It was just an experiment. How would Tsukishima-kun act under a bit of pressure?"

"And the results?" I didn't bother asking why he knew about Tsukishima and why he was interested. It just wasn't worth it.

I could hear papers shuffling and some clicking that sounded like a computer mouse, "He surpassed my expectations. Looks like Shizu-chan isn't the only one who's unpredictable." The last part was mumbled like he was talking to himself.

"Well I got a punch to the face for your troubles." I was more than a little pissed. All of this was an experiment? A joke? The other guys laid out unconscious on the ground probably didn't find it very funny.

I could hear Izaya's frown when he spoke, "It was just a small miscalculation."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes," he insisted, "You should call Psyche."

It was my turn to frown, "No, thank you."

"Roppi-chan~" he whined.

"If you're such a good informant, why don't you tell me what everyone's hiding," I deadpanned.

"Ah! Roppi-chan? You're breaking up! Gotta go! Bye-bye-bee~"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Exactly what I expected to happen.

I let the arm holding my phone to drop and shut my eyes. I didn't quite feel like getting up yet.