It was with supreme effort that Izaya managed to smile.
"Who can tell. Catch you later."
[Wait! You can't just dump all this on me and then just waltz away!]
"I suppose you'll tell Shinra about this. I'd rather you didn't but nothing I can do about it."
For the first time she could sense defeat in him. It disturbed her more than she thought it possible.
[I won't tell him.]
"Ah. So you say."
And just like this Izaya jumped to a fire stairway and disappeared into a building where she could not follow.

Hours of aimless wandering followed. He turned off his cell phone and did not toss it away because it simply did not cross his mind. Deeply ingrained habits sustained him tirelessly even as his steps strayed in wider routes, covering miles of concrete. His concentration was absent from the meandering streets around him. He slid through the city without it touching him.
Eventually he found himself in a bar. Night had descended and the neon lettering cast off a dirty glow in the dark. Izaya sat at the counter without even looking around and ordered the stiffest drink without even asking what it was or stealing as much as a glance at the bartender. He was not at all a drinker which was precisely why he was doing this now. An irrational need to go against how 'Izaya' would normally act possessed him. It was a way of externalizing his predicament.
"You sure about that?"
Surprise jostled him as he recognized the voice.
"I thought you had been fired from your bar tending job."
Behind counter Shizuo polished a glass and gave Izaya a long hard stare.
"I'm just helping out for the night, the regular guy got sick."
"Oh well. Can I have my drink now?"
Izaya took a kind of perverse pleasure in being served by his archenemy. It was something like poetic justice. And because 'Izaya' would probably never allow Shizuo to pour a drink, let alone an alcoholic one, Izaya decided to stay put.
"I don't think you'll like it but it's your call."
Something colorless was slid across the counter, Izaya sniffed it, wrinkled and grimaced as he sampled it. Sour and acid. His throat hurt and it was with difficulty that he kept his eyes from watering too much.
Shizuo wandered off to serve other costumers but all soon he was back.
"Do you have to stand right there? You're ruining my drink."
"How about I get you an orange juice-"
"How about you go to hell?"
Izaya snapped but caught himself immediately. He felt Shizuo's niceness as a personal insult of the most injurious kind.
"How's it going with the kitty?"
It was the last thing Izaya expected. So much so that it cut through his distress and had him swing into conversational mode.
"Pretty well. He's well behaved. I still have to take him to the vet to get his shots."
"Got a name for him yet?"
"Not yet. I am drawing a blank in that respect. Names are so definitive, I feel that if I give him one I'll be twisting his personality."
Izaya was aware of how odd he sounded so he settled for toying with the ice cubes crowding his glass. Opening up to Shizuo, of all people, made absolutely no sense but few things did in Izaya's life presently.
"No need to rush it."
"How about about calling him 'Cat'? The cat called 'Cat'. It's descriptive and straight to the point."
"Yeah but that's not very much like you. Being straight to the point."
"I thought you had a theory about my acting 'weird'?"
Izaya was suddenly curious to see how Shizuo perceived him.
"Not a theory, it's just the truth. It's not a bad thing either, I think."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. You don't seem as nasty. Anyone who likes little cats can't really be all that bad."
"Oh please, that's just silly."
But Izaya felt himself blush angrily. He took a sip and tried to swallow without letting it show how much he hated it. Somehow he felt slightly better, dealing with Shizuo forced Izaya not to lose face at all cost. The effort made him put aside his troubles for the time being. Almost as if Shizuo forced Izaya into practical awareness and in no position for wasting away in self-pity. At the same time it provided a very needed excuse not to consider the pressing decision yet to be taken.
"It's true."
"According to your logic you are an amazing person since you like your little brother's kitty."
"Yeah, I guess."