Shizuo got food for himself and headed home. The rainy season had finally given in to more snow. It was winter after all. A light dusting of the white stuff had descended and temperatures had plunged to record lows. People were recommended to stay indoors.
Shutting his front door and setting his coat in the doorway, Shizuo took his shoes off and headed into the kitchen when a shadow moved in the living room.
"I see you are home. That is good. I would like to talk to you more."
That man from the other day was here. In his apartment! Shizuo put his food down and stiffened at the circumstance.
"I am truly sorry to be invading into your home, but I felt it necessary if we are to reach any type of… oh, je ne sais quoi… understanding? Yes, that seems correct. I would like for us to have a nice, short partnership."
Ignoring the warning adrenaline telling him to jump and attack the other, Shizuo sat down and glared at him. "What do you want?"
"You see! I knew we could act like reasonable adults this time!" He seemed alighted by the opportunity to speak.
"You're wasting my time."
"Ah, yes. I see. You are busy as well." The man shifted in his seat and looked at him quite seriously, "I would like for you to help me get into contact with Orihara Izaya. I would like to kill him and I would not force you to help me in any way, shape, or form… unless you wanted to, in the murdering of the informant."
Murder… Izaya?
"Why?"
"Why not?" The stranger laughed brightly, "the man has been a plague on society since he became an informant, possible longer. I have no real substantial records of his childhood. He has recently become a rather large problem. You see," folders appeared on the table as the man pulled out things from a briefcase, "I work for a large corporation that works in manufacturing various materials. Lately, we have been noticing that a large portion of our funds are going to an unknown overseas account. No one has been able to trace it yet, but we are sure that it is the same thing that has been occurring to other corporations in the area. We hired some help and they have been digging up information that it is the cause of an informant in the area. We believe that it is Orihara. He has all the computer capabilities and the knowledge to gain access. Not to mention, he holds rather large quantities of information on our businesses."
"Call the police." Shizuo pulled out a cigarette and the man nodded.
"We would, but you see… We don't have enough to actually get a warrant for arrest, let alone put him behind bars. He has to stop though; the companies are going to go into chaos if he doesn't."
"I hate violence. No."
"Shizuo-san! Uh…" The man paused, half standing. Slowly, cautiously, he sat down and sighed. "I help give over twenty billion people jobs in Japan. I invest in millions of jobs overseas and they fund into other jobs. If we run out of money then we will go bankrupt and people will starve to death."
Shizuo frowned, "…it wasn't Izaya."
"Hmm? Of course it was," the man opened a folder and started to point. "We have tracings to his accounts."
"Izaya would have no interest in doing something like this."
"…Do you know him that well?"
Glancing through the papers of deposit statements, Shizuo ignored him and almost sighed in relief as he found proof of the flea's innocence. "Here." He pointed. "I was with Izaya all week. He couldn't have made these deposits or sent any messages."
The stranger frowned, "are you quite sure-"
"He was watching television all day."
"Maybe you went to the bathroom and he-"
"He's been injured. He can't even walk right now."
The stranger paused and stared at him, "…can't…walk? What happened?"
"He was victim of a mugging," Shizuo lied, briefly wondering why he was doing all this. "He lost his voice too, so these phone calls that are listed couldn't have been made."
"I see…" A strange gleam appeared in the man's eyes as he put away the folders and smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Heiwajima. I cannot possibly thank you enough. I was so uncomfortable with the thought of killing the man and this… this information you've given me is a serious step in the right direction. My company will be relieved to know that it is someone else. Others, we can deal with by the method of the law, but Orihara… he is a difficult one. Too little information. I hope your friend gets better. It's a shame, we have such kind people in the world and yet muggings are still occurring."
Shaking hands, they both headed to the door.
"Again, sir, I wish your friend a speedy recovery. Thank you and good night." He walked out and Shizuo killed his cigarette in an ash tray.
"Friend."
It almost seemed funny. He and the flea had fought for so long that it seemed farfetched to consider one another anywhere close to friends, but…
It almost… felt like it was too weak a term.
Shizuo went into his kitchen and began to eat his dinner, thankful that it had been a short meeting so that his food hadn't gone bad.
~.~
"Izaya-kun! I am so sorry!" Shinra pouted from the computer chair nearby.
"I… hate you…." His voice, after several surgeries and many hours of hard therapy, was barely audible. It was extremely raspy as well. His career speaking over a phone was over.
"Hmm?" Shinra frowned and cocked his head, earning himself a well aimed can of cotton balls to the face. "OUCH! I SAID I WAS SORRY! AT LEAST YOU CAN WALK!"
True… Izaya was happy to have the strength to walk and the energy to survive for the day.
"Ah, now then. You should be about ready to head home. I will need you to take these pills for a few days. Be aware, I don't quite know the full side effects of them so you will have to come back if you feel anything out of the ordinar- OUCH! STOP THROWING THINGS AT ME!"
Izaya glared at him and grabbed a marker, writing on the wall. I AM NOT TAKING YOUR EXPERIMENTS!
"Izaya! MY WALL!" The doctor sighed before shaking his head, "They are weak dosages. I know exactly what they are supposed to do and the ingredients are no more dangerous than taking aspirin or cold medicine."
YOU DON'T KNOW FOR SURE THOUGH?
"Uh… With all things are risks, but for your voice, this should clear up all the rasping and hopefully help increase the strength of your voice box. It will take a while for you to get louder. You won't be yelling any time soon, that's for sure. That'll slow down the healing process." Shinra took his marker back and replaced it will the bottle of pills. "Call Celty and I if you need us."
Izaya walked out of the room and headed out, waving farewell to the dullahan and exiting to the street. He pulled up his hood and traversed the streets, feigning from the views of his beloved humans. He was not at his prime for once. This weakness of his… His voice being gone; it was hazardous.
"Izaya…"
He froze as he heard his name echoed in that voice…
The other informant.
The man was sharpening an object and walking closer. Continuing to walk, Izaya reached into his pocket for the knife he had pilfered from the doctor. It wasn't his sweet switchblade, but it was better than nothing.
"I heard that someone lost his voice…"
Damn, Shinra had a mouth.
Smirking, Izaya looked back and forced his voice to be as loud as possible, "Hate to break it to you, but I'm feeling quite peachy!" His signature smile set itself into place even as his throat burned. It was going to be a while before he spoke again.
"Really? You seemed distracted…"
Jumping up a fence in the alleyway, Izaya waved gleefully before making a run for it. His legs burned a thousand different types of pain before he escaped from notice. He panted and felt his body giving in to the aches and soreness of strenuous activity. He couldn't go home. They knew where he lived. He couldn't speak. He could only do so much actual activity…
No.
It's the only option. If there was any other way-
It was not going to happen.
Just a few nights, it won't be so bad. It'll be like a little vacation. Take your laptop and new cell phone, kick back on the couch, watch some more mindless television-
NO! NO! NO!
He was not going to go to Shizu-chan's place! It was not going to happen! He would rather risk being caught again. He would rather be dumped into the bay again. He would rather…
An hour later and Izaya was pounding on the apartment door.
"Hello- Flea?" The debt collector stood frowning in his doorway.
Izaya pulled out his phone and took a leaf out of Celty's book, using his phone as a voice.
[I still can't talk and I can't run so I need to stay with someone.]
"What about-" Izaya quickly typed up a response.
[No one else can have me stay with them.]
Shizuo looked at him a minute before grinning, shaking his head as if it were some pathetic excuse. "Fine, get in here. I was about to watch another episode of that crime show on television anyway."
Oh joy, Izaya thought as he picked up his bags and walked in, quality time with Shizzy-chan! Kill me now!
~.~
A/N: And again I double update just for you guys. XD