Hello Guys! I am finally back at this fic after some rough times but nevermind that. I will try to post more regularly than before. Maybe I can put like a specific date when to post the fic. But let's leave that.
Here you go!
Let's begin!
"And...we are finished guys! Well done to everyone! From the helpers to the actors. And everyone give a huge thanks and applause to our protagonist in this film and famous actor Yuuhei Hanejima!"
Kasuka let the smile he was holding after they finished the film and bowed to everyone that clapped from him. He gave them his natural face and with a quick wave and a wink, he walked out of the studio towards the next one. He was filming a new series that showed the life of two people that hated each other but slowly they started to enjoy the company of each other.
Kasuka liked the idea and that's why he had joined that series. Usually, he chose to be in films rather series. But this series hid something that Kasuka was missing or perhaps he looked at it but he didn't see it. Luckily this was the last shot of the last episode of the first season. They would air it and if it got the green light, there would be a second season.
Kasuka wanted it to take the green light. He enjoyed this company of actors and how much the helpers care about them but the only drawback was the huge scenario. But the background and history of this series were surely too good for him to care about the scenario.
Kasuka ordered his coffee and walked towards one of the tables. He let a sigh he didn't know he was holding until now. He had many mixed feelings today. And he wasn't the only one that had noticed that. Many had noticed it and made Kasuka question if his unemotional face was gone.
Maybe he was affected by the events. The previous ones and new ones. His life was ok. It was normal as it was. He talked with Ruri, his mother, rehearsal, went out and talked with his brother. All normal. But the thing that maybe made Kasuka unease was the fact that his brother was acting strangely.
When the pictures had first appeared, Kasuka was...not surprised. He remembered a time when he had seen Shizuo and Izaya together. But he saw them after their detection was over. And by saw them he meant that they talked and then immediately after fought. Kasuka sometimes questioned their relationship. Why was it like this? Couldn't they stop those fights and become friends? Their personality was so similar. So why couldn't they just stop and be friends?
Kasuka never understood that. Anyway, he remembered a period when Shizuo stopped coming home with bandages and his anger was not showing anymore. But after the accident, all of those started again. Surprisingly for a short time.
After Shizuo had graduated, he had left home and found a place to live. After that Kasuka didn't remember even a light fight between his brother and Izaya. Only the typical Shizuo when he got mad easily in his clients. But not serious fights only a thing lifted in the sky. But after two years when Shizuo was fired by his last job as a bartender, he started yet again the same routine with Izaya.
Fighting.
And the photos weren't surprising Kasuka. They helped each other at homework and etcetera. The first one, Izaya helped Shizuo. The second one, Izaya was holding something behind him and Shizuo was surprised. A paper? His grades? Maybe that's why Shizuo was surprised.
The third one was Izaya and Shizuo on a bench...reading. Not a problem, nor something out of ordinary. But the fourth...was something that not even Kasuka could explain. What was there that made Izaya hold his brother?
By the way, Shizuo was ready to attack, ready to strike meant that something was there. Something bad, something evil. Something that serious that made both arch enemies cooperate to defeat it. But what?
That made Kasuka mind exploded like the topic of how his brother hadn't found yet this website. Kasuka was sure that when he found it not only Shizuo but also Izaya would end all of them. Kasuka sighed and drank some of his coffee. Kasuka was confused. Lost. He believed that he could predict his brother, knew what he would want and how to calm him. And yet Kasuka knew nothing of all those.
Still, like everyone in the city, he was also curious. What was there that made Izaya angry too? And to whom Izaya was talking? Did Shizuo know that person too? What was happening?
Unfortunately, Kasuka's confusion touched hights this morning. A new photo had been posted.
A more normal one but yet again questionable. This time it was Shizuo and Izaya talking to each other. The photo showed Shizuo's back and he was positioned like that that the viewer could see his face as he was looking Izaya. There was also his hand in the picture. It was like he was ready to give a punch but it lacked the strength because it wasn't one.
He was holding something in his hand too. Izaya was looking at Shizuo's eyes and had his mouth open. He was positioned so his front was shown to Shizuo and only his upper body was in the picture. He was also holding something but he was clenching it in his chest.
Izaya was holding a black envelope and on it was a symbol. Kasuka couldn't make it out and no one in the Dollars did too. It was like someone had blurred that out for no one to see it and yet again they wanted to show the picture. Both of them was in a place that no one could pinpoint but there was a guess that they were in a construction site. Because behind there was a gap that showed what was behind.
And that would be a false claim because anyone could say that it was a widow, but the rain in the background had another saying. As for the symbol everyone had jumped over it because everyone thought it was just the light that made it unreadable. They all were more interested in what place they were in and what they were talking about.
By the way, Shizuo's mouth was open wide and frowned and Izaya had an angry face too, showed that the topic that it was discussed was not nice. Maybe they were talking about the enemy they had. That's why Izaya had the envelope and he was clenching his dear life out of it to not lose it. But Shizuo didn't have any brushes or scratches that made Kasuka sure that it wasn't a fight that they were discussing.
But Shizuo was angry. His grimace showed that and Kasuka believed that Izaya was talking to Shizuo. Calming him? Reasoning with him? Kasuka didn't know himself but he was sure that nothing was passing by his brother's mind. And that made Izaya angry. In a degree of clenching the envelope.
As many had said, Izaya never clenched his work. He held them nice and needly. Meaning that indeed Izaya was angry. Why? Kasuka lifted his hat on that.
But he was one hundred percent he was angry at what Shizuo was doing. Izaya was looking in his eyes. What was that important and worthy to "destroy" his envelope?
But Kasuka knew why.
He knew what Shizuo have done. And that's what it was bothering him so much. What made him question the photo, Shizuo, his knowledge, and his eyes. That made him rethink and try to understand what was happening.
Shizuo's hand.
Everyone in Dollars had seen the thing that Shizuo was holding but they had let slit because the have thought it was a piece of jewellery. So, they all got more focused in the place rather what it was showing. And what Shizuo held in his hand made Kasuka shivered.
Shizuo was holding a necklace. He had wrapped around his wrist and it was shown like a bracelet. But the symbol of it was shown clearly in the picture. Kasuka looked at it and looked and looked. He then looked at his neck.
He was wearing the same necklace with the same symbol. That made Kasuka shivered more. That necklace was passed from Heiwajima to Heiwajima for generations. To mother to son and later the son gave it to his other half. His soulmate. And yet again the same circle.
So when both his brother and he inherited their necklaces from their mother, who managed to make two because she wanted both of them to carry the tradition, they both treasured it until they found the person that made them who they are.
And when both of them found their other, then they would continue the tradition. They would give the symbol to their other. It was like a proposal thing. That when a Heiwajima gave that necklace to their other, then that person was the only one they wanted to spend their life with.
If the person accepted the necklace then they would be together. If not, then the Heiwajima found another person one that would accept the necklace and wear it. Kasuka touched his and let his eyes closed.
He always wondered how was that feeling. It wasn't just a usual ring but it was a part of himself as a Heiwajima giving to someone else. Something that he treasured for years and then gave it to his other.
A really nice and warm feeling, he hoped and always dreamed to be. But he must find the one to give it to first. And until then he could wait.
So when Kauka caught with his eyes what Shizuo was holding in his hand, he was literally speechless. He didn't know what to think. Was Shizuo giving his symbol to Izaya? And why was he clenching it in his hands? And why both of them were angry?
Shizuo never let out his symbol. He always wore it in his neck and never took it off. So that photo was just too much for Kasuka. He couldn't believe anything in it. Noone could apparently but the photo was already checked.
He clenched his symbol and drank his coffee. He just needed to ask Shizuo about his symbol to see if it was real. If he had given it away. But if he still had it? Then what?
Had Izaya turned him down or had he never given it to him? Shizuo could have picked it for the ground because Izaya had cut it and then there was their usual fight. Then how would Kasuka ask it?
Maybe he needed to start that discussion from something else. But what? What would catch Shizuo's attention for their symbol without Kasuka getting discovered?
"Kasuka!" Someone shouted his name.
A familiar voice too actually.
"Kasuka, there you are." Ruri came closer to him and continued. "What are you doing? I thought you would come and see me rehearsal my concert."
Kasuka nodded. "I do remember. But I remember that it would start in 12 minutes."
Ruri smiled. "Yes. But you have said that you would come by and rehearsal your lines first."
Kasuka looked at her and nodded. "...Yes. I have said that. Sorry, Ruri. I didn't remember. I was...thinking."
Ruri frowned and sighed. "Your brother, isn't it? I saw the photo."
Kasuka touched yet again his symbol and nodded.
Ruri looked at Kasuka, put her hand on his shoulder and she said. "Don't be down. Come on. I know that there is some logical explanation behind it. Like it was raining, right? Maybe both of them are grumpy that they need to share the same roof to cover from it."
Kasuka thought about it and that made him feel somewhat relieved. But yet again something was off.
"See I told you! I know you feel relieved. Now come. I manage to slip in Donch. We can rehearsal in my room and play with him." Ruri said and grabbed Kasuka's hand.
Kasuka was confused. But from how Ruri had read his unemotional face. She had managed to recognize some emotions some weeks ago. That made Kasuka happy that someone else could read him too.
He touched his symbol and looked at Ruri.
...Maybe.
-xxx-
"I am not sure it is wise to call him so soon. He might use your information to cause chaos. Maybe he has already done that."
" Yes, but his is the only trick I can use. I can't think of anything else. If I am looking for something, he is the best in finding it so..."
"But he is dangerous! Unpredictable and also I don't think you need to use him so soon. It is really early to make assumptions..."
The sound of a hand hitting the table was echoed in the small bar.
"WHAT ASSUMPTIONS? You saw her too! You talked to her too! She was there! Or I think she was... She was..." The last sentence was dragged and almost silent.
The man sat again on the small sofa and touched his head. He sighed and touched the back of the sofa with his back.
Finally, after some time, the man talked.
"I...I am sorry. I just can't believe it, Anri. Neither do you, am I right?" Akabayashi asked and looked at Anri.
"...no. It isn't possible."
Akabayashi smiled and looked up in the ceiling. "That's enough. That's why I asked him. That's why I call him. Not just a mere informant but a skilled one. If anyone could find what we saw that day, it is Izaya. If that thing we saw was true."
Now it was Anri that hit the table.
"NO! It is NOT!"
Akabayashi let her calm down while he started sipping his wine, thinking. Two days ago. It was just two days. Two days when he had last seen what he believed impossible.
Sayaka.
-xxx-
"...Sayaka?"
Akabayashi whispered the name that he thought he would never say again. It wasn't true, was it? It was Sayaka in front of him.
Alive.
She smiled. She had that innocent smile. So pure. So beautiful. It was like she was never been killed. Like she was kept in a house and she was preserved like the day Akabayashi had last seen her. Beautiful.
She moved the steps that Akabayashi backed away and smiled again while she touched her hair.
"...Mizuki. It is been too long. You look so handsome like not even a day had passed away."
Akabayashi still with his mouth open he backed several feet away.
"Why you try to leave? I am here. Why are you leaving? We can fix the past." She said while still maintained the exact meters that keep them apart.
Akabayashi shook his head and try to concentrate. This...this whole thing wasn't real. It was...not. The scar! Yes, the scar at his arm. The one that Kida had caused. The blood loss must be fucking with his head. That person in front of him was someone else.
But no one else knew his name. Only his last.
He was too preoccupied with his thinking and keeping his breathing steady when finally Sayaka moved. She came closer to Akabayashi and touched his cheek. Akabayashi just stood and looked at her. She was...so her. So Sayaka. It was her!
Wasnt it?
"See Mizuki. I am here. Only for you. We can fix everything and move on." She seductively said and Akabayashi looked her deep in the eyes.
It is a dream. She was dead. He knew that even though his heart always denied it. She was dead. But she was here. Maybe he was dying from the blood loss and she came to take him. But then why his eye burned when Sayaka wasn't anymore the admin of Saika.
Before Sayaka did anything, Akabayashi moved her hand and stepped away from her. She looked at him like she was betrayed and she whispered.
"Why? Mizuki, why? I am here now..."
"NO!" He literally screamed at her. "You are NOT HERE. YOU ARE DEAD!"
Sayaka just looked at him and smiled.
"Your mind is planning tricks with you again. Just here let me..." She started saying and with a really fast movement pulled a Saika and went to cut him.
Akabayashi being lost didn't see it coming and the only thing he did was to avoid it but the katana cut his shirt. Not his flesh. Good. Is she truly Sayaka? That thought again got Akabayashi distracted that he didn't see her move behind him. The only thing that made him understand that he was about to get cut was the sound of a katana.
But it never came.
He turned to see Anri holding Sayaka in distance with her katana and both women fought for domination. But Anri moved her katana and made Sayaka move back slightly. That created an opportunity for Anri and she took it but moving Sayaka's sword down and then she kicked Sayaka's hands. Sayaka made a sound that was inhuman and moved back.
"Why, Anri?" Sayaka said with her hand touching her other hand.
She sounded hurt. She sounded betrayed. She sounded so much like her. So much.
Anri stood her ground and didn't back down when Akabayashi shouted her name. She knew what was in front of her was not what she always wanted to touch. Feel. Had in her life. And by Saika's betrayal and the feeling of death slowly rising to the top of its thoughts, she was confident...no...she KNEW that that person in front of her wasn't her mother.
"Stop." She simply said in the deepest voice she could use and moved Saika in front of her, making it shine.
Sayaka, on the other hand, hadn't stopped looking at her with those hurt eyes. The eyes that didn't shut her mother. Her mother was confident even when she took her own life in front of her. But the way she acted, the way she moved and the way Saika continue saying betrayal made her sick.
Akabayashi was taken back by how deep Anri's voice was. She sounded serious. She sounded...hurt. Like him.
Sayaka moved back and pulled out another Saika again. She looked at it with that smile she always used when she looked at Akabayashi. Akabayashi couldn't move, couldn't concentrate. He felt someone hitting him and then he felt someone moving him around. His mind was blank and his heart had broken into pieces. He felt betrayed. He knew that Sayaka was dead but she must have faked her death. And why she showed herself now. Why now? And why not saying anything to him? They loved each other after all.
Didn't they?
Suddenly, a slap made him return back at the reality he wished to just stop existing and looked at the source of the slap. Anri?
Anri looked at him relieved when he moved his hand on his cheek where Anri's hand slapped him and at the speed of sound she moved her Saika behind her and kicked what had attacked her. Sayaka yelped when she impacted with the ground but stood up quickly attempting another attack. Anri moved again and both of the women fought for dominance once again.
"Why, my dear Anri? I am finally here. Why don't you accept me?" Sayaka asked and continued her attacks towards her daughter.
Anri stayed quiet. Probably because she tried to be strong for both Akabayashi and her. Because if she answered the question, talked to Sayaka she would break. She would lose herself. And she needed to fight for both of them. She needed to be strong and save them both.
She didn't want to answer. Because if she did...
...her mother will disappear.
"Anri, my love. Stop attacking me. Let me love you. Like Saika loves us both as much as all her people she invaded. Let me love you. Let us love you. Love me. Love me." Sayaka continued steadily but started screaming at the end while Anri started crying but never stopped her attacks.
Anri felt nothing anymore. Nothing. Only Saika guided her but at some point, she stopped hearing its thoughts. No..that wasn't...she isn't...
"YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER!!" Finally, Anri yelled at her finally broken and moved back stopping her attacks but had Saika still at bay for her to use.
Sayaka stopped too and moved back looking at her. She smiled and closed her eyes. When she opened them they were redder.
"My love. Stop disobeying your heart and just follow it. I am here finally. We can change the future now. Let me touch you. Let me see my daughter." She said and walked forward.
Anri closed her eyes and slowly let Saika down. She didn't hear it anymore. Maybe because the original Saika was here. Maybe because she finally was at peace. She wasn't alone anymore. Her mother was here.
...
Wasnt she?
But before Sayaka touched Anri, something was cut in the air and Anri opened her eyes. Akabayashi had used a knife (she didn't know where he found it) and had impaled Sayaka at the shoulder. Her eyes were opened but never a scream reached her mouth. She instead used her Saika which was at her hands and attacked Akabayashi. But unsuccessful because she only touched air. Akabayashi had dodged her attack.
Akabayashi immediately attacked her again with a cane and Sayaka had dodged it with her Saika.
"Stop Mizuki. Why?" Sayaka cried while Akabayashi attacked constantly.
Akabayashi looked at her with broken eyes but confident face.
"You are...you are...NOT HER!" He screamed and attacked her.
Sayaka dodged successfully all of the attacks. But what made her surprised was that when she had finally a chance to cut Akabayashi again, she felt a presence to come closer to her. She moved her Saika and blocked the others attack. Anri's.
Both of them attacked Sayaka making her lose her ground. She dodged and dodged but when she attacked she gained nothing. She knew she had lost so she did what she needed to do. She found an opening and used her hand. She held it in front of Anri and Akabayashi and both started screaming with pain.
Both of them started feeling once again that pain they felt when they were close to Izaya. It was stronger than before. But when it faded and they started to look around they were met only with an empty alley.
-xxx-
Both of them looked at the door. Nothing had come yet.
"It is a sick game to play. You know you are falling in a trap if you try to talk to him." Anri said louder than before.
Akabayashi looked at her. She looked stronger than before, more herself. But her eyes said another thing. She was hurt, she was confused. She also wanted answers but never moved to take them when they were dangerous to reach. Akabayashi, on the other hand, was the opposite.
As Anri said it was a dangerous game to play. Izaya was clever. More clever than everyone thought of. But still when he was useful Akabayashi needed to use all his cards. Even Izaya and he would play that card. That game. Even if that game was already lost before it even began.
"Anri-chan...I know. I know how you feel. Both of us are lost. Hurt. Fuck, even broken. At loss of words. But both of us know that what we saw was not her. It was something resembling her. And yet my heart and yours say the opposite. My eye and your Saika said that it was something close to death. If it meant that then, it was right. Sayaka is dead. But why she was here. In front of us. What was that thing?"
"Yet again, Saika didn't only say that. It also said that it felt betrayal. Maybe mother did something that Saika didn't accept. Something...not right."
Akabayashi hit the table.
"That's bullshit..." He said but stopped.
He felt that too when he was closed to her but...that feeling...he didn't believe it. Why did he feel betrayal? Why Saika felt that? And stronger than before. But it was also Saika that wanted to meet that thing again. He was confused by its actions. Yet Saika didn't give a clear answer as always.
Anri looked at her unfinished juice. Lost in her thoughts. But after a while, she opened her mouth.
"The thing that bothers me though...is that... You said that you felt it! And yet you made an appointment with him even though it hurt to look at."
"...what do you mean?" He asked curiously.
She looked down at the table again but talked in a clear voice.
"The...aura."
Akabayashi looked at her and finally understood. Izaya's aura. When he had first met him it was as everyone's else. Red but his heart was blue because it was closed. To never be opened. And if it ever opened, it would open by breaking into pieces. But his heart was already broken, Akabayashi could tell. As well as Anri. It was broken but it was close so tight so he could move on. To live.
Yet now that aura was black. Evil. Deadly. So much that Saika despised that aura. An aura that was made by a human that made Saika hate it. That made him worry. Sick. It was not normal. It was dangerous. Yet even though Saika didn't want it, it was at the same time interested in meeting it. To love it or destroy it was another question. But unsolvable.
For now.
"You are afraid...of that aura." Anri said.
Akabayashi didn't answer at first but after a while he did.
"Yes...but we must face the dangerous. And if that dangerous can give us answers then we must welcome it."
Anri finally looked at him. Her eyes were still broken and cautious but they shined.
"Then I shall face it, too. Better with someone else than alone." She said and started lightly crying.
"Hahaha, I agree, Anri-chan! Let's face it together."
Then both of them finally smiled after so much pain. They will face anything now even the thing that they knew it would be a difficult fight.
After a while, they finally felt it. That aura. But...it wasn't...it wasn't black. It was that aura that both had felt when close to Izaya.
They turned and looked at the door and saw who they were waiting for so long. Izaya stood at the door looking around and when he found who he wanted to meet his smirk became larger. He walked towards the room they were both in.
No. No! He felt that aura! That was the aura that Izaya HAD. Why he had it again? His aura was now black. That couldn't happen! It was impossible!
While Izaya was approaching them that aura was becoming stronger and stronger. His past aura was all over his body. No longer black. No longer death. Only love from Saika.
It was him. It was Izaya.
Izaya went in and closed the door behind him. Then he finally sat at one side of the table and looked at both of them.
"I hope I didn't lose anything special. Both of you looked SO relaxed before I came." Izaya said with that childish voice and supported his face at his hands.
His aura...his aura was back! How? It was the aura that Akabayashi always felt when he was with him. When he talked at him...but something had changed. Akabayashi shook his head to leave his thoughts at bay and played the game that was set in front of him.
"Well, when you are around people that hate you it is obvious that no one is relaxed. Yet you are wrong. I am relaxed." He said with confidence and sip some of his wine.
Izaya smirked at him and looked at Anri. Anri must have done what Akabayashi had done and returned to reality ready to play the game.
"So?" Akabayashi asked after a while.
"...so?~" Izaya asked playfully.
The game began.
"... I want some information."
Izaya looked at him. Observed him.
"Ah~ Something must be impossible to find to ask information ne~" Izaya purred.
"Impossible is a strong word for even for you. I want a second opinion on a matter that is really serious."
"Ah~ Then..." Izaya started and stood up from his chair. "I am broken, I must say Akabayashi-san for not being your number one but since you have information..."
"Stop." Anri whispered in a murderous tone, had stood up and had put Saika behind Izaya's back.
Izaya turned his face and just smirked at her. He just walked forward and put his arms in the air like he was giving himself in the police.
"Ah~ Anri-chan is even using Saika. As I recall you hate using it...then why in that measure? It must be something really serious. But Akabayashi-san say that he has his information ne~?"
Akabayashi looked at him. Still, unfazed Izaya moved towards Anri letting Saika touch his shirt but not cutting it open. He was enjoying himself.
"Ne~ Anri-chan if Saika didn't respond to your calls you would simply follow?" Izaya asked Anri.
Anri held Izaya's stare. "O-of course."
"Ah~ Very well. Would you let it attack people you care?"
"I-if necessary. If it is important to Saika then yes."
"Even people, you love?" Izaya said and smirked at Anri. But that smirk wasn't directed to her. It was at Akabayashi.
Why?
Anri slightly jumped at that and looked at him and with a steady voice she answered. "...yes."
Izaya clapped his hands and smiled at her. His kind of smile. He then opened his eyes and asked.
"Even people, you hate?"
"Yes."
"If they were infected?"
Anri taken back she looked at him. "What do you mean?"
But Izaya didn't answer her question, showing that he wouldn't say anything until she said something.
"Y-yes." Anri finally said and Izaya nodded.
"To kill?"
Anri finally backed off and looked at Izaya. He used another tone in the word kill but his mask hadn't changed. He observed her and every word she said. Anri knew that he would use them against her. She looked at Saika and felt it lightly vibrate. She had her answer.
"If it is necessary, I would let it do it. If not, I would stop it from doing it."
Izaya looked at her and he lightly let his face go down. He started laughing and looked at her again.
"Ah~ Very well. Bravo." He said and clapped his hands like Anri was his student and she had done well in a test.
"Don't get me wrong Anri-chan. Humans think that way. Yet even the holder of Saika would do the same. Monsters and humans are alike. Yet no."
He turned his back at Anri and Akabayashi.
"What are you saying?" Finally, Akabayashi asked breaking the silence.
Izaya had brought out his knife and played with it without moving from his position.
"Humans and monsters. They are the same yet different from each other. Feelings. Words. Passion. Actions." Izaya simply answered.
"E-even Shizuo-san?" Anri asked and immediately regretted her question.
She was just so influenced by the photos and her mind was constantly making questions and took no answers back. The photos were always in her mind and because of that the words just flew off. She regretted it because mentioning either Izaya or Shizuo in front of the other bad things bound to happen.
She waited for a laugh or a catchy comeback but Izaya stood there. He had stopped moving his knife and just held it in his hand. He had simply moved his head slightly to the side so he could listen to her but his face wasn't shown.
Minuted past and yet no answer or a word was parted. Anri started to feel uncomfortable and Akabayashi impatient.
But a cutting sound made everyone stop thinking and Anri looked at the knife that was shoot and had made its position near her head and on the wall behind her.
"Questions that need not to be answered are better forgotten. Even monsters like THAT monster know that. Yet a god doesn't follow." Izaya whispered dangerously low.
Anri just looked at the knife next to her and didn't say anything. Bad things were bound to happen. Even though she knew she followed that road. She had lost the game long ago with Izaya.
"Humans can get offended. Is that what you are feeling Izaya?" Akabayashi finally started playing with him.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw that knife so close in Anri and he knew that if it wasn't for the tone that Izaya used or his self-control, he would kill Izaya right there.
Izaya finally laughed but that laugh was similar to that tone he used. Dangerous.
"A god can feel anything, become anything. Humans feel anything..."
"So you are saying that you felt offended because..."
"...and hate it." Izaya continued like Akabayashi hadn't talked at all.
Akabayashi stopped at his tracks and listened to Izaya.
"Hate it. Just hate it. Hate. That's why I love humans. So predictable. So easy to read. So easy to change emotions and thoughts. Right Akabayashi-san?" Izaya asked and turned towards him.
His mask was still in place. That face was still there. His eyes were empty making them not easy to read. His trademark smirk was still on place and his usual tone had returned.
"What do you mean?" Akabayashi asked not able to read Izaya and had stood up and had walked towards Anri and Izaya.
"The information you want is towards a person you care and both of you love."
Anri and Akabayashi flinched at what Izaya said and he closed his eyes and smiled at them.
"Ah~ I was correct."
"What do you mean you leech? Of course, you knew it." Akabayashi barked at him yet Izaya shook his head.
"Maybe~ Of course, you lied Akabayashi to make me curious or maybe taken aback but Anri-chan's reaction is what told me what you both seek." Izaya said and pulled out an envelope from his jacket.
"So you knew, you bastard, what we were after. Why you give it to us after all this and just move on?" Akabayashi barked at him and eyed the envelope.
"Ne~ Akabayashi-san. Not everything is so easy given or taken."
"How you know?" Anri finally talked.
Both men looked at her.
"Hm?" Izaya murmured.
"How do you know that we were after her? How do you know it?"
Izaya smirked at her. "Because I am THE informant broker after all!"
"Bullshit! Anri is right. How do you know we were after her? It is impossible!" Akabayashi shouted at him.
Anri was right. How would Izaya find information on a person that he didn't know or being told to? And...and...on a dead person...
Izaya smirked and help his envelope close to his face.
"Humans. Typical, ne~" Izaya simply said and gave his envelope.
Akabayashi took it and opened it immediately and looked at it as well as Anri.
...
...
..no.
It was impossible.
"No!" Anri also said but aloud.
"That's is wrong!" Akabayashi said and held harder that paper
"Oh~" Izaya simply said and smirked.
He was playing a game. He was still playing it!
"Sayaka is...it can't." Akabayashi whispered and looked at the paper.
"Yep. Dead."
"It cant be I saw her. We saw her." Akabayashi shouted at him and Izaya titled his head at the side.
"Oh~"
Akabayashi grabbed Izaya by his t-shirt and held him close to his face.
"Stop playing! It is impossible!"
"So then your heart is playing, too?" Izaya touched Akabayashi at the area where the heart was and Akabayashi let him.
He held his hand directly above his heart and stopped.
"Broken, isn't it? Don't deny it. It is. Because you play dumb towards it doesn't mean the feeling is wrong. Even Saika," Izaya said and closed the space he had with Anri and looked at her eyes "is feeling different."
"And how you know that?" Anri shouted at him but stopped when Izaya stared at her.
"Oh~ I can't. Yet did Saika try to kill what it was in front of it?"
"Yes..it did.."
"Oh, did it cut it?"
"...no."
"Did it try?"
"Yes!"
"Then tell me, oh mighty god, why didn't it?"
"Because it was another Saika!"
"Then..." Izaya moved back but held his stare with Anri "could you feel it?"
Anri stopped. She couldn't... It wasn't THE Saika she felt but another type of Saika. Close for her to feel but not understand. Something above her and something stronger than her. She couldn't answer that question.
Izaya smirked.
"Ah~ Then Akabayashi-san. Was that Sayaka?"
Akabayashi looked at Izaya and stared at him. Finally, he answered.
"...yes."
"... Let's try again. Was that Sayaka?"
"No!"
"Why?" Izaya asked and lowered his smirk but still, he had it on.
"It was yes and no. She was her and yet not her. I know that my mind says it is her but not my heart."
"Yet a Saika. So the thing you saw must be a Saika. A different Saika but has the appearance of the past Saika. You heard the cuttings. It acts like a Saika. A different mother." Izaya smirked again.
His reasoning was right. Yet why both of Anri's and Akabayashi's heart hurt?
"No." Anri whispered and looked down.
"That...thing I saw...we saw was not a Saika. It had a katana. It didn't do what Saika can do to us."
"Yes..." Akabayashi continued "It acted like one. But it wasn't one. I felt different around it. I felt betrayal and yet it didn't act like Sayaka. She always fought with thousands of Saikas all over her body. But it didn't feel like Saika. You are right. It felt like...death."
Both of them didn't notice when Izaya had dropped his smirk and was also in deep thought. His face had darkened and he grimaced. He tsked and before both of them look at him, he had put back his smirk.
"Ne~ Then my job here is done. Akabayashi-san I will be waiting my payment." He simply said and turned around ready to leave but Akabayashi stopped him.
"Aren't you curious informant?" He asked finally feeling himself again.
He felt betrayed still. But a feeling that held him down was lifted from him and could continue what he needed to do. Now he needed to win the game.
Izaya didn't say anything giving Akabayashi the opportunity to talk.
"That thing could destroy your humans. It is stronger than Saika itself. Rather than use them to achieve what it wants, it can destroy them. You are curious to find that source yet you stay put. Both you and I know that you don't believe your words yet you say them aloud to achieve something. Oh, and I wonder why." Akabayashi purred the last sentences and waited for Izaya's answer.
Akabayashi knew that whatever that thing made the informant curious. To find it. Yet he didn't do anything. It was like he brushed it off. Didn't he want to find it? Didn't he want to know it? Then why he just decided to forget about it and gave it another name.
Another purpose.
Izaya looked down. Specifically at his hand. Akabayashi knew that he still had his smirk on even if Izaya didn't face him.
"Maybe~"
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe I want to find it. Maybe I had found it. I had accepted it to this society towards my beloved humans. If it changes positions then I will strike as Izaya. Doesn't? Then I will play with it. Maybe that thing is more human than you think. Maybe not. I will play with it if it feats my plans." Izaya lightly laughed and looked at Akabayashi with his trademark smirk.
"Yet the one disguising that thing as empty words will fall with it'" Izaya said and held Akabayashi's stare
Then Izaya turned and left.
Roua mat.
-xxx-
Anri, after Izaya had left, had talked with Akabayashi and both agreed that that thing was not her mother and something that acted like her. Her heart was broken after all this. She was exhausted mentally. Yet even though she knew what she would fight with, her heart was troubled.
Maybe she wanted that thing to be her mother. That would change everything. Yet she was relieved. Anri loved her mother but she was better dead. Not because Anri wanted it but because she knew that everything would be a lie. All her life would be a lie. She was ok...
Anri was confused.
Still, she wasn't alone. She had her friends. Not only Saika to follow her but friends that trusted her and she also did too. She adapted to that. And she was getting better at it.
After both of them left the bar, Anri went on the date she had with her friends. After all this anxiety, fear and relief she was exhausted. And being with her friends that calmed her, made her mind stop thinking and just let everything flow at its course. Laughing and blushing was the main thing on this friendly date. She was ok with it. She was used to it. She enjoyed...
Maybe Saika let her relax for a while. And that made Anri smile.
Anri could escape for a while. She was glad.
After they left the cafeteria that they used to go, the quartet walked around Ikebukuro. While Mikado and Kida battled on something that she didn't understand, Saki switched her attention at her.
"You feel relaxed today. How so?" Saki asked happily, lightly laughing at the boys' behavior in front of them.
"I...I just feel relaxed." Anri typically told her.
It wasn't a lie but her thoughts were a mess and until she could sit down and fix them, she could relax. Saki looked at her and smirked. She got the memo and lightly jogged towards the boys letting Anri at her thoughts. Well, typical speaking.
She would stay and think for as long she wanted later. Now she wanted to talk, act, to do anything. So she also lightly jogged and followed the boys.
"Yet, I see nothing coming for you, mighty guy." Kida said at Mikado and punched him at the shoulder.
Mikado held the place that Kida had punched and murmuring an 'ouch' he also hit Kida. Then both started hitting each other. But Saki was faster than both of them and hit them both at the head.
"Stupid boys. Stop. We are here to celebrate not to anything else." Saki joked and Kida and Mikado held their heads.
"Ouch. Yet you hit me harder than Mikado, my angel." Kida said at her with his usual smile at place.
"Yes, Saki-chan. I admitted I hit him hard at first but I withheld the others hits." Mikado said and blushed, looking at Saki.
Saki hmphed and smirked again.
"Ok then. But no more fighting even if it is jokingly. Kida still recovers from the stab, ok."
Kida walked towards her and hugged her.
"Ah~ You love me so much Saki. What I would do without you?"
Saki smiled and laughed at the hug. "Prayers."
"Oh, and why is that?" Kida asked mockingly at her.
"So you one day find the perfect girl."
"And who that be? The only girl I see is my perfect girlfriend." Kida said and laughed as well as Saki.
Mikado and Anri smiled at them. They were so happy together. Anri was glad that they were again together. And she was glad that Kida was ok. After the stabbing both her and Mikado had found him probably each for another reason but at the time they tried to help him. And they did.
And that stab was the followers of that thing. That thing had stabbed Kida and yet she didn't feel any mark or aura of that thing in Kida. It was like it had never stabbed him before. At least if another Saika had stabbed other people, Anri could feel them. Yet she couldn't with Kida.
"Everything ok Anri-chan?" Someone asked and Anri returned back to reality.
Mikado was near her and his face showed concern yet something else that Anri couldn't see. When both looked at each other eyes, both turned their glances elsewhere blushing.
"I-I am alright." Anri said fastly and both turned and looked at each other and laughed.
"Oi, lovebirds let's keep moving on!" Kida said and laughed when Mikado panicked and talked at him.
Anri smiled and walked with her friends whenever their feet got them.
But why she didn't feel right?
-xxx-
That's why!
Well, it wasn't peculiar to see HIM around here but why was he here. Did he have a job? By the way, he was holding something in his hands must be the case. Yet the whole picture of him being there, relaxed didn't fit with Anri's case.
Her friends and she were behind a wall looking at the man in front of them. After walking for some time they thought it was a good idea to walk towards the park and sit there for a while. Yet when they arrived there, they saw someone that no one wanted to see. Anri didn't want to see him for another year.
Izaya was sitting at the edge of the fountain that was accompanied at the park and was holding something on his hands. Probably an envelope by the size of it. So he must be here for a job. The way he looked around, observing the people that passed was a reason that she wanted to go there and stab him to death. Yet the way he observed the people wasn't the way he usually looked at them.
It was strange and Anri couldn't explain how she knew that. It just looked different. Or maybe she started seeing Izaya different after all these photos.
"Isn't Izaya-kun kinda different?" Mikado suddenly asked and made Anri realised that she wasn't the only that had noticed that.
"...yes yet I don't know how to explain it." Kida continued and looked at Izaya.
"The way he is holding that envelope isn't like the recent picture?" Saki asked and all of them agreed.
In this case, he was holding it extra careful. Like his life depended on it. Yet in the photo, he didn't care about it and was like he wanted to dispose of that envelope. And that symbol on that envelope was what made Anri curious. It must have been erased for a reason. Yet the admin didn't say anything.
Izaya had taken his phone out and was now typing on it. That phone was not like the phones that Izaya used. It had buttons on it. He typed and typed. Then he stopped and yet again looked around.
"Ohoho, it looks like his date didn't come." Kida laughed and Anri agreed.
It looks like the person that needed that information wouldn't appear. Yet Izaya didn't look angry or disappointed. He was more cautious than before. Suddenly he looked at the phone again and picked it up. He started talking.
"Ah, that phone."
"Yes, you are right."
Saki and Kida talked, yet Anri didn't see anything out of ordinary. It was a phone that Izaya used yet why both looked fascinated by it? Wasn't because it had buttons?
Normally she would just leave Izaya be but being in the spotlight lately after all these photos made Anri question him. Or she was just confused.
Now that he was talking at the phone his trademark smirk was gone and at its place was a line. He was serious. It was so...not Izaya-like. It was...something that Anri couldn't comprehend.
Neither did her friends. All of them were looking at Izaya with open mouths.
"That's...wow. So different." Mikado said taken aback by Izaya.
"Duh. What is happening? Why he acts like that?" Saki asked.
"I don't know. Maybe because the conversation doesn't go his way." Kida said and Anri looked at him.
The way he started pacing in front of the fountain and not jumped-walking but rather stepping, put Anri at the edge. Something was happening in the city. Something that not even Izaya could comprehend. Or control by the way he talked earlier with her and Akabayashi.
Izaya suddenly stopped and closed his phone. He turned at the fountain and looked down. Not inside the fountain but at something else. The envelope? No, he was still holding it by the way his other arm was bent and stretched. Maybe, at his hand? Like he had done at the bar?
Why was he looking so much at that hand? Did he look at his rings? Did he see something? After a while, his hand returned by his side and was clenched. Izaya started looking forward probably at nothing since he stayed at place not moving. He was unfazed by all the glances that were sent at him, probably because he was used to them.
"Ah~ Someone will not come." Saki smirked and Anri looked at her.
"How you know that Saki-chan?" Anri finally asked her
Saki looked at her and smirked.
"Well, he is holding an envelope. So it must be a job. The way he typed must be to ask the reason why he is stood up. And by the end of the phone call, he looked angry. So..."
Anri observed her for a while. She then asked her.
"Why you say something you don't believe? Is it because of denial?"
Saki looked at her shocked. She finally smirked.
"Maybe~" She simply said with a mysterious tone that Anri didn't comprehend.
She looked at her but stopped after a while. Maybe she was right. Maybe she was lying. Maybe she was both. She would never know. But right now it didn't matter. She looked at the boys and after a shared stare, they nodded.
"Well, since nothing exciting is happening shall we go?" Kida said and looked at them
All of them agreed. They started walking when suddenly something stopped froze Anri. An aura. That aura. She knew it. It was that black aura. Anri held her head. She started breathing heavily and she felt someone holding her up. After a while, she looked up and saw her friends over her trying to talk to her but no words were heard by Anri. After a while, they asked if she was ok she shook her head (finally she had understood what they were asking her) and tried to downsize Saika's voice. The betrayal phrase was back but not the feeling of...death. She tried to pinpoint where that aura was but couldn't find it. Then it finally hit her.
She looked towards Izaya. Izaya... was looking towards her position. And by the way, his eyes got from curious to cautious, Anri understood what he was doing. He was coming towards them.
She started to panic. The aura grew stronger and stronger at every step Izaya did towards them. Why? Why that aura was back? Just this morning she had felt Izaya's aura and it was colored with blue and red. Why had it turned into black? Was it because of that call? Did that change so much Izaya's aura? No...it couldn't be.
It must be something else. It should be something else but Anri's mind was focused more on the pain. The black aura blinded her. It was stronger than before. More determined.
She needed to stop Izaya from coming closer or else she would lose control. She would try to cut again since that betrayal was back. She looked at him coming closer. He didn't hold the envelope anymore meaning that he had put it inside his coat. Yet his face had turned dangerous almost unemotional. He was really not in the mood for anything and the way he moved caused Anri to back off in one of her friend's body. Mikado to be exact.
Mikado looked at her and the blush that had been build up disappeared when he saw Izaya coming closer. He held her and backed both of them behind the wall. But before they decided to run away, a sound stopped them. They all saw something blasting off in the sky.
It was a vending machine. It was the fortissimo's work. Yet that vending machine was so far away and it wasn't directed at Izaya as it was usually directed. Everyone observed as the vending machine went down but the quartet didn't pay so much attention to it but rather Izaya.
Izaya had turned and had looked at it too yet the way he stood showed that he was...surprised seeing it. Why? Why was he surprised at that? There was something that made it different than before? Anri couldn't tell but she knew that everything she saw in front of her wasn't right.
And she could feel something coming.
Suddenly Izaya turned towards their direction, surprised and without realizing he started running. At them. Towards them.
Finally, Izaya reached them and looked at them as well the team did too. Both parties were surprised seeing each other yet that surprise stopped when Izaya moved back and pulled out his hand from his pocket.
A cutting sound echoed at Anri's ears and her heart skipped a beat. She slowly turned her head back. She was afraid yet angry. And she saw...
Izaya had aimed Kida. But Izaya had lost his target since the knife had impaled Kida's hoodie and had pushed him back at the wall far behind everyone. Izaya had managed to not only impale Kida's hoodie but also put that knife inside the wall. Like Izaya wanted to make Kida move behind. Away from here.
She looked at Kida's face. No, at his eyes. They were at shocked not by the way Izaya had just aimed him to kill him but rather what he saw in front of him. So Anri followed Kida's eyesight and...
Anri froze.
In Kida's previous position there was a katana that had impaled the ground and the one that held it was someone that Anri couldn't recognize. They were covered by a black matter since it let smoke in the air. Yet their eyes were red.
Their eyes met and Anri knew that she had felt that eyes before. Had seen them before. She knew them and recognize them.
The person then withdrew their katana from the ground and looked at it and then at Kida. Anri looked at Kida.
That's what Izaya had done. He had thrown the knife because he knew that the force would make Kida move away from the katana's cut. He had protected Kida.
Why?
Then that person moved the katana and launched towards Anri. Anri didn't felt Saika reacting and she closed her eyes waiting for the cut. Yet it never came.
She opened her eyes and looked up from where she had crouched. Izaya was in front of her and had deflected that person's katana and now he was holding it with his knife making sparks appear.
Yet nothing surprised her more than Izaya's clear and almost demanding order.
"Run!"
So, who is that person that looks like Sayaka? Who is the one that tried to kill Kida and why Izaya saved him and Anri?
And how much Izaya knows?
See you again in the next chapter!