"I don't get why you guys want to watch some stupid kid anime!"
"It's a Japanese classic, Saburo!"
The beanie clad man groaned, pressing his face further in his hand to drown out their arguing. It's too late for this shit… He wanted to snap, but kept it to himself. It had been a long day already, and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep. But, of course, I'm still stuck here because they need to be the first to buy this manga.
Saburo, irritation obvious, exclaimed,"It's a show about a cat. I don't get what is so exciting. Cats are dumb-"
Walker and Erika both released a horrified screech, to the point Kadota had to check his ears to make sure he wasn't bleeding. Erika jumped forward in her seat, pointing a finger in Saburo's face. "How dare you insult the innocent deity that is Chi!" Erika snapped.
"Chi's Sweet Home will one day be among the many items sent into space for aliens to discover, and only once they have seen it will they realize the true beauty of planet Earth!" Walker loyally continued.
Kadota finally had enough. "Oh my god," He grumbled,"Can you guys do anything other than argue! If not, I'm going to leave!"
The three turned to him, Erika and Walker looking affronted while Saburo simply looked relieved to have escaped the hole he dug himself. Erika then had the audacity to scoff. "Oh, you're going to leave, Dota-chin?" She sarcastically asked,"And what, may I ask, could be more exciting than this? Name five things!"
The man was about to name way more than five things, when he heard the familiar neighing sound. Unconsciously his eyes turned to watch her go. Seeing her ride around at night wasn't unusual… What was odd, however, was the sight of someone riding with her.
Kadota couldn't see their face, but he could see what they were wearing. A brown coat with tan fur on the edges. He only knew one person who wore such a coat.
"Is that… Izaya?" He exclaimed. His friends whipped around, eyes catching as much information as they could before Celty passed them.
Saburo was quick to ask. "But I thought Celty hated him? What are they doing? Where could they be going?"
"Well… We do have a car!" Erika pointed out,"Let's go find out!"
The brunette girl hopped into the van, along with Walker. Saburo, ever the more logical one, gave Kadota a questioning look.
Kadota, unable to hide his curiosity, simply nodded. He couldn't help it, he just had to know what would make a person like Celty hang out with a person like Izaya. It was something so unheard of that if he hadn't just seen it, he would have never believed it possible. He just had to know what was going on.
With his group all thinking around the same thing (though Erika's thoughts were much more dramatic), there was no argument as they began to follow the route the peculiar partners had taken.
It had taken around thirty minutes for the raven and dullahan to reach the location. Celty pulled to a stop about fifty feet away from where the phone claimed their destination was.
Izaya's eye scanned, taking in their surroundings. They were near Tokyo Bay, surrounded by warehouses. He couldn't help the scoff that escaped him. "Figures. They always use warehouses, don't they?" He muttered.
Celty inclined her helmet in agreement, pulling out her PDA and speedily typing out a message. [What's the plan?] She asked.
"Well, first I would like to see if we can sneak closer and see just what we're dealing with," Izaya answered,"If we go barreling in, something will go wrong."
The Dullahan nodded again, and Izaya climbed off Shooter. "I'll go ahead and check it out. I'll call you and keep you on the line though," He told her,"When I have everything together, then we can move forward."
Celty didn't like that at all. She shook her head, shoving the PDA in his face. [No, we go look together. That way we can protect each other.]
Although Izaya had only been friends with Celty for a little while, he knew her well enough to know that arguing was a lost cause. So he simply nodded, moving to walk away from the bike when he was jerked back by Celty's hand once more. "Ow!" He hissed,"What is it?!"
Celty, instead of speaking, grabbed Izaya's hand in hers. Something solid was placed in his palm, and she pushed it towards his chest. Izaya looked down, opening his hand, and gasping in surprise. In his hand was a tanto blade made of her shadows. His heart swelled, smiling towards her. "Thanks, Celty," He softly said.
[Hey, what are friends for?] The Dullahan replied, before climbing off Shooter as well.
The two then began to creep towards the destination the phone had given them. In the sea of warehouses, there was a single, broken down one that had its flickering lights on. Some weeds sprouted out in random places, and the dirty windows showed that lights were on in the inside as well. Against the wall nearby, sure enough, was the broken purple van. This is the place. Izaya confirmed to himself.
Izaya turned his eye towards the front, and felt his heart speed up even more. He reached out, tapping Celty's shoulder. The Dullahan looked at him, then turned to where he was looking. In front of the broken down warehouse, there were dozens of expensive, foreign looking cars and boats.
[Are they…] Celty began, before backspacing. [Is it… An auction?]
"Unfortunately, I think that's the case," He whispered back. "So it seems that right now, most everyone is inside. We have to act fast before it's over."
Celty nodded, prepared to break open the doors. But, Izaya stopped her train of thought by saying,"I need you to boost me up I have to do something first."
The Dullahan was confused, but agreed. She lifted the raven up, allowing him to grab ahold of the side and climb up to a window, pressing against the cracked wall. He slid farther to the edge, looking for a perfect spot to do what he wanted to. He slowly peeked through the dirty glass, and saw exactly what he had been prepared to.
Sitting in chairs were many expensive looking men and even some women, staring at a man who was next to the tied up, gagged, and caged people. Women, children, and teenagers. Izaya felt anger swelling within him, but forced it back down.
Stay calm, stay calm. If you get angry, this won't work. He told himself, hand sliding into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He opened the camera, and began to take pictures of the people inside. After he felt he had gotten every angle he could, his phone returned to the safety of his pocket, and he began move towards a place where he could get down easily.
Celty had to admit, she hadn't thought of taking photos of the people inside. They won't be able to get away with anything now! She thought proudly, giving the raven a thumbs up as he began to slide back to the spot she had boosted him up to.
"Celty?" A familiar voice suddenly called, causing the Dullahan to whip around quickly. Coming around the corner was Kadota and his gang.
She quickly glanced back towards Izaya, whose wide red eye was staring down at the group in shock. She then turned back, quickly pulling out her PDA and typing as fast as they could.
"Oh! Celty and Iza-Iza are hanging out!" Erika squealed, making the others cringe at the volume. "So cool! So unexpected! Can we join! What are we doing?!"
Celty slammed her hand over the girl's mouth, showing them her PDA. [Can you all please keep it down? If someone hears us then we're dead.]
Kadota frowned at the words he read, and hesitantly asked,"What are you talking about? What's going on-"
"HEY! What the fuck do you think you're doing here?!" A voice yelled.
The group turned, and came face to face with a man wielding a very large gun. He narrowed his eyes, aiming at the group. "You aren't supposed to be here, nobody is!" He snarled.
Kadota's eyes widened. "Look, we don't want any trouble," He hesitantly said, raising his hands up in surrender.
The man's eyes narrowed even further, his frown growing deeper. "Oh really?" He questioned,"Then why are you here with the Black Biker? Ha! Here to destroy our organization? I'd like to see you try!"
Celty, out of the corner of her vision, saw Izaya sliding closer to them. His eye wasn't on them, however, it was on the man. Oh… I see. Celty slowly took a step forward, scaring the gun wielding man.
He practically scrambled back a few steps, right into Izaya's range. "I'm gonna kill ya' all right here, right now! You'll never cause our people trouble again! Nice try, but you're too late!"
Before he could say anything more, or even raise the gun further, Izaya threw himself from the ledge and on top of the man. The gun flew from his hands, and he frantically tried to struggle. Izaya, however, still had the upper hand, knocking the butt of the black blade he held into the man's head and sending him into unconsciousness.
Kadota felt his heart pounding against his ribcage. He hadn't even seen Izaya hiding on the ledge, and had not been prepared for him to tackle the man like that. That wasn't the strangest thing about the raven, however.
When he turned his head to face them, Kadota's eyes caught sight of the medical eyepatch that the raven was wearing. Then, instead of bragging or teasing them, he turned to Celty, and gave a thumbs up; To Kadota's surprise, Celty actually returned the gesture.
"Izaya…" He finally managed to croak,"You're working with Celty and.. and… You saved us?"
The raven seemed perplexed. "Why wouldn't I have? He was going to hurt you," Izaya easily answered.
This left the beanie clad man with more questions than answers, but he was smart enough to realize that there were more important things to ask about. "What's going on here?" He demanded.
[Izaya and I have been working together to track down some human traffickers. They're here right now, doing an auction] Celty explained. [Izaya took photos, but we don't know how to get in and save everyone.]
Kadota and Saburo nodded in understanding, while Erika screeched. "Ohh! Just like when Anteku broke in to save Kaneki from the- mmf!"
Celty's shadows quickly formed a sphere around the woman's head, cutting off her yells. [Shut up! We won't be able to come up with a plan if you blow our cover!]
Izaya, who seemed to be staring right at Celty, suddenly gasped. He slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand. "Wait!" He exclaimed,"I have an idea. But we'll need your help."
Kadota felt a smile crawl up his own face. You've changed, Izaya. I can already tell. He crossed his arms, calmly declaring,"Alright then, Izaya. What's the plan."
Red eye glowing with relief, Izaya quickly replied,"Alright, here's what we're going to do..."
"Sold! To Mr. Nyguen!"
The sharply dressed man smiled, looking towards the crying girl in the cage. "Ah, yes. Wonderful," He purred,"Although this may seem rude, mind if I take her now? It's a long boat ride back to home."
The auctioneer smiled. "Of course, sir. I'll grab her right now," He answered, voice oozing with politeness. He placed down the papers for a moment and grabbed his keys, moving to unlock the woman's cage.
All of a sudden, there was the shatter of glass, and black domes surrounded all the cages. The auctioneer's pin eyes widened, stumbling backwards. "What the fuck?!" He yelled.
A loud neighing echoed through the warehouse, before the glass farthest from the door shattered. A black motorcycle with two people on it landed right on top of the auctioneer, knocking him out cold.
The many criminals in the room instantly began to panic, running for the door. When the double doors were thrown open, however, they were greeted by a car door with an anime woman on it blocking the way.
"Going somewhere?" A muffled voice asked. The door slid open, revealing a blonde haired man with a fox-like smile. He turned on his lighter, putting the spray can behind it. A plume of fire flew into their faces, causing screams and yells. They scurried away in terror, only to once again screech to a stop in front of the motorcycle.
The woman on the front now had a scythe, and sliced it through the crowd. Several collapsed on the spot. The few who didn't, however, practically threw themselves at the two in a last ditch effort to escape.
The fur coat clad man now moved, his black Tanto slicing through clothing and skin. Then, the sting of the blade was replaced by punches and kicks.
With all the criminals on the ground, the group of six sighed in relief.
"That went much better than I had hoped," Izaya declared. "Looks like these people are new to the game."
Saburo tilted his head. "How would you know if they were or not?" He asked with suspicion.
Izaya shrugged, before replying,"These people work a lot like the yakuza or Awakusu-Kai. If they were experienced, they would have been smart enough to have security EVERYWHERE. Luckily for us, that wasn't the case."
Celty nodded in agreement, waving her hand and allowing the shadows around the captives to vanish. Instantly, the sounds of their cries became much more audible, and many began to scream.
Izaya's eye widened. "Whoa! Whoa! It's alright, we're here to help you!" He gently exclaimed, letting his black knife fall to the ground in a show of peace. Celty and Walker quickly dropped their items as well.
The girl nearest to them narrowed her eyes. "W-why should we believe you?" She fearfully questioned.
Izaya didn't answer with words. Instead, he took slow, careful steps over to her and pulled his phone out once more. "Here, you can call the police on my phone. While they're on their way, we'll unlock everything," The raven explained.
Her blue eyes widened, beginning to shine with tears at the sight of the phone. She quickly snatched it from him, and began to type in the number for the police. "Thank you… Thank you!" She sobbed.
Izaya flashed her a smile, while Kadota grabbed the keys from the auctioneer still squashed beneath the bike. The group quickly began to unlock the cages, leading the group out into the open.
Once they were free, many of them began to sob openly with relief. They were alive, they were safe. They were free.
Despite seeing all those happy faces, Izaya found that he wasn't. He still needed to find him. The one he had been sent to find in the first place.
He scanned the group of people, and found his heart skipping at the sight of a messy brown head of hair. He pulled the photo from his pocket. Yes… It's Hiro! I found him!
The little boy was sitting on the ground, sobbing openly with tears shining in his bright eyes. Seeing the misery in those little eyes sent Izaya's parental instincts into a frenzy. He moved over to the little boy, kneeling close by.
"Hiro?" He softly asked, causing the boy to jump. He whipped around to Izaya, nervously staring at him. Izaya gave a reassuring smile. "Hey, it's alright, Hiro. You're going to be home soon."
Hiro couldn't seem to hide his curiosity. "You know me?" He softly asked, his voice catching several times.
Izaya chuckled. "Well… I guess you could say that. But, it's more that I know your sister. Kimi," He answered, and instantly the child's eyes lit up. "She sent me to find you."
"Sissy sent you?" The little boy exclaimed,"She really really did?"
Izaya suddenly remembered what he had stuffed in his jacket, and reached into the large pocket. "She did," He answered,"And she gave me this. I was told it's yours?"
In his hand was the stuffed baby lion. Hiro gasped audibility and grabbed it from the raven. "Rory! It's Rory!" The four year old exclaimed.
Hiro started at the doll with wide eyes for several moments, and then lunged at Izaya. The raven grunted in surprise, his arms quickly wrapping around the child. He could feel the tears soaking through his clothes, but he didn't push the kid away.
Instead, he gently rubbed the little one's back, cooing gently. "It's okay, Hiro. You're safe, and you're going home. Everything is going to be okay," He whispered.
The raven's whispers were cut off when he felt someone tug on his jacket. Turning his red eye to the feeling, he saw a nervous little girl staring at him. She couldn't be older than three. When she saw Izaya looking at her, she turned her brown eyes to the ground, taking a nervous breath.
"W-will I be okay too?" She asked, seemingly forcing herself to look at the raven again.
Izaya gave another gentle smile. "Of course you will be, sweetheart. You'll all be," He promised.
The fear on her face vanished, replaced by relief and happiness. Then, she also moved forward and hugged the raven, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Izaya used one arm to hold Hiro, and wrapped his arm around the little girl. "Don't worry, we're all going to be okay."
The group watching the scene only could stare in shock, however no one was as awed as Kadota.
In all the years he had known Izaya, even in high school, nothing had changed the way the raven acted. He had always been cruel, sadistic, and enjoyed the pain of others. He never would have stopped the human traffickers, or comforted people. The change was practically giving him whiplash.
Izaya… He wondered. What amazing force in this world could have possibly helped you change your ways?
The group cleared out before the cops came, not looking to be questioned about what they were doing there or exactly how they had found the warehouse in the first place. Instead, they all quickly drove back to Shinra's apartment.
Once they were at the elevator, Izaya turned back to the group with a grateful smile on his face. "Thank you all so much!" He exclaimed,"I don't know how we could have stopped them all without your help."
"No problemo!" Erika answered,"It's always fun to beat the crap out of the bad guys! Just like a Shion I!"
Kadota rolled his eyes at the statement, and casually replied,"It's no trouble at all,especially now that they're all safe"
Izaya and Celty nodded in agreement, and suddenly Kadota couldn't help himself. "But… Izaya," He continued,"I don't understand. A couple months ago, you wouldn't have even batted an eye at the whole situation. You wouldn't have cared. I just have to ask, what changed you?"
Izaya didn't seem surprised by the question, in fact he seemed to have been expecting it. A happy glow entered his eye, as he softly asked,"Would you like to see?"
Kadota eagerly nodded his head, as did the others. With butterflies flowing in their stomach, they followed the Dullahan and raven into the apartment.
As soon as they door was opened, Kadota heard it. A soft babbling in a tiny voice. They exited into the living room into a scene he hadn't been prepared for.
An exhausted looking Shinra was sitting on the couch, and in his lap was the source of the babbles; A little baby with messy black hair and bright blue eyes.
Shinra smiled in what seemed like relief when he saw them. "Hey, Haru, look who's back!" He cheerfully exclaimed.
Haru- as he seemed to be named -turned to face them. His blue eyes instantly stopped at the sight of Izaya, and an excited squeal escaped him. "Dada! Dada!" He yelled, reaching his little hands out for the raven.
The happiness instantly seemed to come over the raven, quickly moving over to the child. He lifted him off Shinra, softly saying,"There's my boy!"
Kadota's heart froze, suddenly realizing the implication of such words. His wide brown eyes looked between the two, the group behind him catching on as well.
Izaya turned back to the group, showing the child more. Haru, now buried into Izaya's shoulder, watched them curiously from one blue eye.
"Everyone, this is my adopted son Haru," Izaya introduced.
"Dada!" Haru supplied helpfully, making Izaya smile at the child again.
"Yes, that would be me," The raven answered softly, seeming to glow with pride.
Kadota, although he should have probably been more confused, didn't feel a need for an explanation. He could see the devotion Izaya held for the child, and how much love the child held for his father.
For the first time ever, Kadota felt happy to know Orihara Izaya.
After about an hour of chilling and introducing Haru, Kadota and his gang left. Celty went to carry the exhausted Shinra to bed, while Izaya rocked his own little one to sleep with one arm, his other typing quickly on one of the spare phones he had brought with him. With a few button pushes, all the photos he had taken were sent to the police.
As soon as they were delivered, Izaya tossed the phone into the trash can outside the apartment. "There we go," He whispered,"I'd like to see those cockroaches get away from prosecution with evidence like that."
Izaya absently ran a hand through Haru's hair as he moved the child back into his crib, smiling even wider. He probably would have stayed like that forever, if his personal phone hadn't started to ring.
Turning his attention to the phone, he checked the caller ID before answering. It was Kimi. Quickly, the raven opened up the phone and said,"Hello?"
"I-I… You saved him. You really did," She whispered through the phone, her voice trembling with every word.
Izaya released an affirmative noise. "Of course I did, I promised I would," He easily answered.
Kimi sniffed on the other line, and quickly continued,"I know, I know. I just… I…. Thank you. So much. I haven't seen my family this happy in so long, I haven't been this happy in so long. How can I ever repay you?"
"You don't have to. It was the least I could do," Izaya answered easily,"All I want you to do is spend time with your family."
"Yes, you're right," Kimi agreed,"But the opportunity to spend time with them wouldn't have been possible without you. You really are an angel."
Kimi then hung up, leaving Izaya with a strange emotion in his chest. Me? An angel? He wondered, seeing the irony in such a description. He never, in his wildest dreams, would have imagined someone calling him that.
A soft smile climbed onto his face even so, looking towards Haru once more. He ran his thumb across the little cheek, causing the child to lean further into the touch.
An angel… Izaya thought again. I never thought someone would think of me as one..
But then again... He interjected while looking down at his son. It's hard to stay in the darkness after you've finally found a light.
Izaya knew it already. Haru was his light, and the raven never wanted to go back to the darkness.