Kadota was somewhat intimidated without quite understanding why.
"Because you keep tabs on people?"
"Because I make it my business to know."
"I should've seen that coming."
"You live and learn."
It just so happened that this was Kadota's plan to start with.
That night Izaya waited until traffic had ebbed away to visit one of his favorite intersections. He skipped on a zebra crossing, stepping only on the uneven white stripes, arms swinging by his side as makeshift wings.
Izaya was supremely happy. Normally he had to cultivate this feeling, a rarefied emotion but at this moment as he made his way between the neon flooded borders of the pavements, he experienced a purer form of happiness. One that did not require an effort but seemed to flow to him naturally.
He arrived at the opposing pavement only to turn around immediately and retreat in the same manner, skipping merrily. Opportunities for delving into the heart of humanity would always abound but a chance for connecting more personally was an absolute novelty to Izaya. He repeated the route until his sense of numerological harmony was satisfied and took a deep breath of night air.
The traffic lights turned when they should, green, red, green, red. Izaya's thought took a turn for the lofty: the secret order of the world revealed to him alone. Intellectual joy mingled with something warmer and more difficult to define. Izaya was tempted to give Shizuo a call and rile him but decided against it. Things were too perfect to bother.
Back in his apartment Izaya spun a few times on his swivel chair before preparing for sleep. Which meant checking if every object was in its proper place in the bedroom. Not that he ever misplaced anything but it gave him a deep sense of relief to confirm that order was maintained as he saw fit.
He drifted asleep just as he reached 984, like many other he ran numbers through his mind to ease it into slumber. Except Izaya skipped prime numbers. At 982 he fleetingly thought of Kadota and his smile lingered in his sleep.
True to his word Izaya texted Kadota an address. Kadota was not familiar with the place and he became more than a bit apprehensive as he arrived at a narrow backstreet near the river. The neighborhood was nondescript if not from the nearly completed skeleton of Sky Tree dominating the horizon with its imposing vertical presence.
"Hi there, Dotachin. This way."
Izaya stepped from an alley and led the way.
"Where are we going?"
"Don't worry, it isn't a shady place at all. It is a hundred per cent legit."
"Right."
And yet Kadota was sure that Izaya had picked an unfamiliar part of town to make him uncomfortable. It succeeded, too.
"Here we are."
Here just so happened to be a very discreet door that opened to a steep flight of stairs descending into dimness. Just when Kadota's suspicious were reaching a critical level Izaya swung another door and they found themselves in a large room filled with tables, subdued voices and a large crowd intent on many a board on which pieces were thoughtfully moved.
"It's a bit out of the way but all the best players assemble here."
Kadota noticed that the majority of people were old men one of which now approached him.
"Long time no see, Izaya-kun."
"Hi there."
"You brought a friend? How unusual."
"Something like that. Don't mind us, we'll just be watching."
Kadora watched in growing surprise as Izaya was greeted by others.
"You're pretty popular by the looks of it."
"And that doesn't go with the idea you have of me? I'm something of a regular here."
Izaya perched himself on the highest tier of a gallery that ran around the entire perimeter.
"Didn't think you'd be into this kind of place."
"It may look rather dingy but these people take the game seriously. Can't you feel it by looking at them? Between them they have centuries of experience of shogi.To waste the accumulated knowhow of prior generations is not profitable."
"Right…I see your point. So, how am I expected to learn how to play?"
Izaya smiled and folded his arms.
"This time we are doing things a bit differently. I already taught you the rules to go and as fun as it might have been it was hardly challenging. Observe, observe and observe. From that extract the rules of the game."
