Izaya was staring absentmindedly at the ceiling of his apartment, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to sort out his thoughts. He had only been home for an hour, but he hadn't moved from the same spot.
He turned on his side to face away when Saika suddenly appeared kneeling next to the couch with its usual grin.
Curling up on the couch, Izaya closed his eyes and pressed his forehead into the cushioning on the back. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, especially Saika. In fact, he'd rather face Shizuo again than have to speak to the monster causing his pain.
"Someone's in a bad mood." Saika teased, leaning over Izaya's shoulder to try and get a look at his face.
Izaya's only response was a muffled groan.
Sitting back on its heels, Saika hummed lightly to himself for a moment. "You know, he was watching you sleep last night…" it said after a few moments.
"I believe we had a conversation a while back in which I told you not to lie to me." Izaya said into the back of the couch, refusing to meet Saika's gaze.
"Who says I'm lying?" Saika asked, "I mean it. He just sat there for nearly an hour. It was kind of creepy. At one point I actually wondered if maybe he was in love with you as well."
"…"
"Oh? Not going to deny it anymore, I see?"
Their conversation was cut short by a few light knocks on the door.
Izaya bolted upright on the couch, eyeing the door suspiciously. He wasn't expecting anyone today. He'd even told Namie not to come in.
Could it be…?
No, if it was him, he'd have knocked much harder… Or maybe even torn the door down again.
Cautiously, Izaya looked through the peephole in the door. Recognizing the man he saw from descriptions given to him in the past, Izaya opened the door with a light smile plastered over his face.
"Akabayashi-san! This is rather unexpected. Please, come in!" Izaya stepped to one side to allow the older man inside. "I apologize for the mess. I haven't been keeping up on my cleaning lately."
"Ah, nothing to worry about, Orihara-san," Akabayashi said with a smile, "Actually, that's part of the reason for my being here unannounced."
"What do you mean, Akabayashi-san?" Izaya asked, raising a brow.
"Shiki wanted Oi-chan to check up on you. He said you seemed off the last time he saw you, and he wanted Oi-chan to see how you're doing before you have a chance to clean up and hide anything that might tell us otherwise."
"I see… That does seem like something Shiki-san would do." Izaya said with a light chuckle, "Please, have a seat and I'll prepare some tea."
"Tea won't be necessary, Orihara-san," he said, raising his hand to stop Izaya, "I don't plan to intrude on you too long. Aside from checking up on you, I am also here to give you your next assignment."
"But first," Akabayashi continued after a short pause, "I have something more personal to ask you about."
"Oh?"
"I heard the details about the meeting with the Nakamura-kai. Shiki said you were the one to point out that the traitors had red eyes."
Izaya remained silent for a moment, unsure of where Akabayashi was going to take this conversation.
"Let me ask you this, Informant;" Akabayashi began, walking towards Izaya, "How much do you know about the Slasher?"
"That depends," Izaya said, walking over to his desk, "Is there anything specific you are referring to?"
"Alright, let's make this simple then," Akabayashi began as he leaned on his cane, "Does the name 'Saika' ring a bell?"
"You know about Saika?" Izaya asked hesitantly when the demon itself appeared next to him with a warning look in its eyes.
Akabayashi nodded before bringing his cane up to point at the scar over his eye. "How do you think I got this?"
There was a short pause in Izaya's movements as Akabayashi's words clicked in his head.
"I was in love with a woman by the name of Sonohara Sayaka," Akabayashi began, "As it turns out, she was possessed by a sword by the name of Saika, and long story short, that's how I lost my eye."
"That's interesting and all, Akabayashi-san, but why are you telling me this?"
"Well, I wasn't going to, but…" Smiling lightly, Akabayashi walked up to Izaya and bent down slightly so that they were face to face. "As soon as you opened the door I could feel it start to act up. Care to explain why that happened now when it's never happened before?"
Izaya stiffened, franticly trying to come up with a lie that would get him out of this situation, but nothing came to mind.
"I…" Izaya tried to back away only to be stopped as Akabayashi rested his cane over Izaya's shoulder with the handle holding his still by the back of his neck. "That information is confidential, Akabayashi-sa—Ah!"
Izaya stumbled forward when Akabayashi grabbed hold of his ear and sharply tugged it towards himself. He leaned in close and spoke quietly as he looked Izaya in the eyes with his one good eye.
"Listen to me, kid," he began, "if you're as smart as I know you are, you'll know not to lie to me about this. Now tell me, have you had some form of contact with Saika?"
In his peripheral vision, Izaya caught a glimpse of Saika standing behind Akabayashi. The red warning glow of Saika's eyes perfectly matching the red of Akabayashi's shirt. Izaya quickly decided who the bigger threat was at the moment as he chose his words carefully.
"I was not slashed, if that's what you mean, but…" Izaya spared a millisecond glance into Saika's eyes before shifting back to Akabayashi's. "Yes. I have had contact with Saika."
The painful tugging on his ear ended abruptly as Akabayashi released him.
"That's all I wanted to hear." he said, resting his cane over his own shoulder.
"'That's all'?" Izaya repeated, taken aback for a moment as he checked to make sure his ear was still attached to his head. It was.
"I'm not going to pry into your personal life," he began with a shrug, "but knowing what Saika can do, I wanted to warn you to be careful. You are still very useful to the Awakusu-kai."
"Don't worry, I'm fully aware of that." Izaya said with a light smile.
Looking past Akabayashi, Izaya looked to see what Saika was up to only to find it had already disappeared. He chose to ignore it for now in favor of continuing the conversation.
"So if that's all you have to say about Saika, then let's move on, shall we?" Izaya suggested.
"Ah, right," Akabayashi snapped his fingers as if he had just remembered why he'd been there. "The Awakusu-kai has noticed some strange movements within certain branches of Meidei group. We'd like you to look into this and give a detailed report on what they've been up to whether it's suspicious or not. There's not really a deadline; however, Shiki said he would like you to contact him every time you find something new on the topic."
"Sounds simple enough."
"Let's hope it is." Akabayashi stated, "If something is wrong this time, I can't guarantee Shiki will be so forgiving. You got lucky I hope you know."
"My information wasn't wrong," Izaya said quietly, "I just wasn't as thorough as I should have been. But I know I was lucky. I'll be much more careful this time."
"Good. And I suggest you pull yourself together. This place is a mess. But Oi-chan will tell Shiki everything is in perfect order as long as you make sure nothing goes wrong this time. Got that?"
"I will. Thank you, Akabayashi-san."
Akabayashi left with a quick nod in reply.
Almost immediately after his leaving, Saika appeared directly in front of Izaya's face, its eyes glowing brighter than ever.
"I thought you would have known better than to tell him about me." it said sternly.
"I didn't tell him everything, and I wasn't going to, so calm down." Izaya responded, holding his hands up as if to surrender.
"No. I'm sick of you dropping hints to everyone. No one can help you, so stop trying to find someone. You need to learn your place."
"I need to know my place?" Izaya blurted out, "No, I think you do! Besides," Izaya's next words were mumbled, more meant to be heard only by himself, "Shizu-chan could help me."
"What did you just say?" Saika yelled, causing a sudden stabbing pain to fill Izaya's head. "Don't even think about going to him for help!"
"Y-you're afraid of him, aren't you…?" Izaya said through gritted teeth as his head began to feel as if it was being torn in two.
"You just don't understand, do you? There is no way for you to stop me. I'm still getting stronger every day."
Izaya lifted his head up just in time to see one of his kitchen knives floating above Saika's hand.
"You won't do it." Izaya stated, "You still need me."
"Who says I was going to kill you?"
His eyes widened when the blade flew towards him. Out of reflex, he tried to shield his torso and face with his arms only to feel pain tear down his arm as the bloodied knife clattered to the floor.
"Ah! Fuck!" Izaya cursed as he gripped his left forearm which was bleeding heavily. Shooting a glare at Saika who was also cradling its own arm to its chest (though it wasn't bleeding), Izaya quickly ran into the bathroom where he kept his first aid kit.
The cut was quite deep. He bit his lip, realizing that it was deep enough to require stitches. He stepped out to get his phone from his desk only to find that Saika already held the device out of his reach.
"You're not calling Shinra, or anyone else right now. Deal with your own pain for once."
"Saika, I…" Izaya swallowed hard, "I need stitches for this. It's bleeding too much."
"You're going to have to figure something else out. I'm not letting you off this easy."
"Damn it, Saika!" he yelled as he began pulling open one of his desk drawers where he kept a small sewing kit. He'd never really used the thing, but if Saika wasn't giving him any options, then he'd have to stitch the wound himself.
Ignoring the fact that he was getting blood everywhere, Izaya went back into the bathroom where he began sterilizing the needle along with the cut itself. He hissed when the disinfectant touched the wound, causing the pain to grow worse.
After much difficulty, Izaya managed to thread the needle, but by the time he brought it to the wound, his hands were shaking violently. He tried to hold them still so that he could get it over with, but as the time passed, they only shook more.
His bathroom was now covered in his own blood as it continued to drip from his arm. Taking a few slow deep breaths, Izaya tried to calm himself enough to focus on keeping his hand steady while Saika stood in the doorway.
"You really are insane." Saika teased.
"Be quiet. I'm trying to focus here." Izaya breathed.
Once his hand was a bit steadier, he began pushing the needle through his skin, and carefully began stitching the cut. The edges of the wound were already numb enough that it didn't hurt as much as he'd expected.
After finally finishing the stitches, cleaning the wound one more time, and wrapping a bandage around his forearm, Izaya took a moment to rest. He was feeling a bit dizzy, not to mention nauseous, but other than that, he felt okay.
He stood up slowly, leaning on the edge of the sink to keep himself balanced while he began washing the blood from his hands. Saika stepped to the side as he approached the door, and headed for the kitchen where he poured himself a glass of orange juice.
When he was finished, he grabbed some of his cleaning supplies and began cleaning the blood that had dripped on the floor and all over the bathroom. Once he had cleaned everything up, he picked up the knife. There was a small amount of blood on it as well.
Izaya stood to bring the knife back to the kitchen when he suddenly felt Saika's presence flood his senses.
It was angry.
And that anger made it stronger. Strong enough that Izaya could feel it start to take over his mind.
"Stop it now, Saika." Izaya commanded.
"Or what?"
He didn't have an answer for that. Instead, he tried his best to block Saika with sheer willpower. And when that didn't seem to be enough, Izaya switched strategies. Saika had left his phone on his desk. If he could grab it and call someone for help…
If he could call Shizuo…
Screw the note he'd left for Shizuo this morning. He needed the man's help.
It was then that Izaya noticed Saika's hold over him begin to diminish. Without a second thought, Izaya seized the opportunity to grab his phone and head out the door, pulling his coat on as he went.
He winced as he stretched his wounded arm too much, but the pain didn't matter to him.
He couldn't face Saika alone. He needed someone to help him.
And not just anyone.
He needed Shizuo.
…~-~…
Ehem. Needles. I hate them. I was cringing while writing this scene. XD
Okay so, this was my first time writing for Akabayashi, so I hope I did okay… For those of you who don't know, Akabayashi often refers to himself as "Oi-chan", and he really was slashed by Anri's mother, Sayaka. So there's that…
Oh, one more thing. I'm changing the rating on this now from T to M because I have officially begun writing smut for this fic. :P Sorry to those of you who might not be into smut so much, but I assure you all, it is actually a necessary scene for this fic that I have been wanting to write, and I hope you will enjoy regardless. :D