Even when he was on a job, Izaya couldn't help but watch as his lovely humans went about their day.
In the dark of the night, Izaya observed the many workers as they rubbed their sore shoulders and complained about their daily struggles. He couldn't stop the small chuckle that rose up in his chest.
Ah, my silly humans. Day after day you bemoan the same things without doing anything to change them. Constantly eating the cheese delicately placed in the mousetrap that is mundanity.
The informant broker remained where he was, hidden in the shadows of an alleyway as many large groups of people passed by his hiding spot on their way home. Only when the groups started to think in their size did he exit the small alley and make his way towards the bay.
His red eyes scanned the several boats and storage units scattered around him. My information said they would be here somewhere… He thought as he moved closer, keeping his movements as silent as possible.
To his shame, Izaya didn't know exactly what he was looking for. Shiki had told him that there were suspicious groups loitering around the bay that he didn't recognize. He suspected that they wanted to take over the area, which would be bad for Awakusu-kai's business.
With not much to go on, and little information from his sources, Izaya decided the best course of action would be to scout the area himself. He spent plenty of time around Awakusu-kai members, he knew how they acted when they were in their territory, so it would be easy to discern if a rival gang was secretly hiding in the area.
He shoved his hands into his coat pockets and made sure his hand held onto his switchblade as he walked. For a long while, he wandered without any notice of something that one in his profession would call 'out of the ordinary'.
As more of the warehouse lights began to shut off, he didn't have any luck. Other than the occasional grumpy worker, the bay seemed almost completely abandoned. He peeked into warehouses, listened against storage units, and walked as close to the ships as he possibly could without looking suspicious.
After over an hour passed, Izaya knew that he had stayed too long. If someone is here, they know I'm searching for them. I'll have to come back tomorrow. Perhaps it would be more beneficial if I hack into the security cameras. But they are placed in such obvious spots, I doubt anyone would be dumb enough to be caught on them…
He started to walk back towards the city as he pulled out his phone. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Shiki's number, and went to press the call button. But just before his thumb grazed against the green button, the feeling that something was wrong.
His phone was quickly replaced in his hand with his switchblade. He stopped and looked around him, but he saw nothing. Izaya was never the type to doubt his instincts, not after many close calls at dodging Shizuo's thrown projectiles. It was time to leave.
The informant broker turned and hurried towards the city. At the same time, there was the sound of metal scraping against the ground, and furious growl that echoed across the entire bay.
Expecting an attack, Izaya pulled out his switchblade and turned towards the noise. But instead of a gang member or Shizu-chan, he saw a giant dog charging straight towards him. He was caught off guard, which gave the creature enough time to spring towards him. Izaya barely had enough time to bring his arm up before those sharp teeth sunk into his flesh.
The creature's weight and the sudden burst of pain sent them to the ground as Izaya let out a screech of pain. The animal on top of him growled again and bit down harder as it started to shake its head furiously. He could feel his skin tear as the blood splattered on both of them.
Izaya gritted his teeth and forced himself to think through the pain. Using his free hand, he grabbed one of his hidden knives and quickly sliced it across the dog's face. With a yelp of pain the dog's grip finally broke. It stumbled backwards, trying to shake the blood out of its vision.
Go! Go now! Izaya thought as he scrambled to his feet. With a burst of speed, Izaya jumped on top of the nearby garbage container and used that as momentum to leap up and catch the edge of the roof.
A shock of pain up his arm stopped him from running any further. He chased onto the hard roof with a groan. He squeezed the wound with his hand and forced himself to ignore the wet squish of his own blood.
Below him, Izaya could hear the large dog barking furiously. It knew exactly where he was, but Izaya couldn't seem to move. It felt like fire was burning in his veins, and that was all he could focus on.
As the burning pain continued, Izaya heard the sound of voices that slowly became louder. If he had known it would only be Awakusu-kai, he would have shown himself. But with Shiki's request still fresh on his mind, Izaya stayed quiet.
"Look, look! There she is!" A shaky voice declared."Quickly! Grab her!"
He heard a second, deeper voice scoff. "Be quiet, idiot! You're the one that let her get out in the first place! If she got away, we'd be dead!"
"I didn't know she could break out of the cage! Why the hell do we use those if they can get out! It's stupid!" The shaky man demanded.
The deeper voice returned, with a sarcastic growl. "Oh gee, I wonder why. Why don't you ask the boss that? I'm sure he'd love to hear it."
The first man quickly shut up. The barking continued for a few more seconds before there was a whoosh of air, and a yelp of pain. Seconds later, with a thump, Tokyo Bay was silent once more.
Izaya couldn't help but be curious. He scooted closer to the edge and poked his head over the slightest bit. Below, he could see a muscular man dragging the dog by the chain around its neck. On the dog's side was a small dart, likely a tranquilizer. He was followed by the scrawny man, who looked around nervously.
From his hiding spot, Izaya watched as they disappeared into the darkness. He didn't know who they were, but it definitely wasn't Awakusu-kai. I'll have to let Shiki know he was right about the- Another sudden twinge of pain. Ugh… But first, I need to find someone who can fix this stupid dog bite.
It took Izaya much longer than he would have liked to get home from his trip to Tokyo Bay. With Shinra a half hour away, he had to resort to one of the underground doctors closer to him. Then, after a long and detailed call with Shiki, he was finally able to head home.
His mind was clouded by the painkillers, and even with the drugs in his system he still felt the occasional stab of pain. It had been a long, exhausting day. Without even bothering to change, Izaya flopped onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.
When he finally woke up, it was one in the afternoon. Much later than he usually woke up, but after yesterday's events he wasn't surprised. His body definitely needed the extra rest.
Blearily, Izaya made his way to the restroom to get ready for the day. First order of business, change these itchy bandages! He picked at the edge of his forearm bandages until they started to unravel. How am I supposed to play with Shizu-chan if my arm is messed up? That won't do!
As he pulled away the last of the bandages, Izaya froze in shock. Before he had gone to sleep, his arm had been a glarly mess of torn flesh and oozing blood around the deep bite wound. But as he looked down at where the bite had been, the only thing left was a scar.
It was a nasty looking scar, with a large chunk of his skin now scarred over, but the place where the bite first occurred was still very visible.
"What…?" Izaya whispered in disbelief. He tentatively pressed his fingers against the scar. It didn't hurt at all, somehow the wound had completely healed overnight.
He held his arm out and turned it around, using his fingers to nudge the scarred over skin. It seemed like he wasn't imagining it, the grizzly wound had magically fixed itself.
"Ugh, why did it have to become a scar?" Izaya muttered in distaste as he continued to poke the skin. Eventually he stopped, and shrugged. "Well, I suppose having a scar is better than dying of an infection or blood loss."
A suddenly healed injury wasn't even close to the weirdest thing Izaya had seen, which enabled him to shrug it off easier than he probably should have. He went on with his routine, and made sure that his long sleeves covered up the car completely. The last thing he needed was someone to notice it and get nosy.
He took the stairs two at a time, humming a cheerful tune as he tried to push aside the incident. Ignoring the irritated look Namie sent his way, the raven plopped into his computer chair and slid up to his several different computers. He tapped in his passwords, still humming away.
"Your singing is even worse than your personality," Namie calmly stated as she shuffled through her papers.
Izaya let out a cheerful laugh. "You should be grateful, Namie-san! Not everyone is lucky enough to hear the great Orihara Izaya hum, let along sing! Maybe one day you will too!"
Namie's face remained perfectly static as she turned to glance at him. "If it weren't for your paychecks, I would have sliced your vocal chords a long time ago."
With another laugh, Izaya returned to his work. The silence reigned over them, both too engrossed in their work: Namie with her filing, and Izaya with his hacking. Shiki had ordered him to search the cameras on Tokyo Bay and see what he could find. He ordered Izaya to stay away from the bay until they had gotten more information.
"Aww! Is Shiki-san worried about his favorite informant broker?" Izaya had teasingly asked the Awakusu-Kai boss.
Shiki had rolled his eyes, and grumbled something about 'paying Izaya too much' and how 'he couldn't get information if Izaya was dead' before sending the young man away with the promise of wired payment.
Izaya's fingers clicked on the keys as he worked his way into the bay's camera system. He found himself running into difficulties more than he usually would. Izaya had hacked plenty of systems from several different locations, why was this one giving him so much trouble?
He thought back to the two men he had spied on the day before. The scrawny man had obviously been on edge, and the muscular man mentioned a boss. Hmm… It seems like someone really wants to hide something!
When he finally got through, he focused completely on finding any footage that would help Shiki in his attempts to remove them. To Izaya's dismay, he hit a brick wall quicker than he would have expected.
The only footage on the cameras was video from the current day. Any other footage, even from the cameras at the very front of the bay, was gone. With a frown of frustration, Izaya decided to try and search for any other security cameras that might have caught something in the area.
In such a focused state, Izaya barely noticed that Namie shoved a plate of breakfast in front of him. He multitasked, typing with one hand and eating with another. He kept up this routine until there was a sudden stab of pain from his lip. He stopped his typing with a wince, and brought his fingers up to touch where the feeling came from.
When he pulled his hand back, there was a smudge of blood on his finger. "Huh?" He pushed his chair away and moved back towards the bathroom, ignoring Namie's inquisitive gaze as he went.
In the mirror, Izaya noticed a small cut on his lip. Did I bite my lip that hard? He wondered, opening his mouth the slightest bit. He noticed right away that there was something different.
His canines were longer, and much sharper. When he pressed his finger against one, he felt the stinging pain of the small wound. When he looked down at his finger, he saw the small drop of blood.
Why is this happening to me?! He wanted to snap, barely managing to restrain himself. His hand slowly moved down, scratching at the scar that was hidden underneath his clothing. Could it because of… That?
Izaya quickly dismissed such an idea. No, no way. I'm overthinking things. He told himself. It's probably the painkillers that the underground doctor gave me, I knew I should have just gone straight to Shinra… I guess I'll just have to hope they wear off soon.
Satisfied with his explanation, Izaya cleaned the blood away and went back downstairs. He continued his work for the rest of the day without issue. He managed to ignore the foreign feeling of the sharp canines by telling himself that everything would be fine, nothing was wrong.
It would go away eventually.
For six, long days, Izaya kept telling himself those same words. But no matter how much he repeated them, nothing happened. In fact, things only seemed to get more confusing.
The day after Izaya's canines had become sharper, he woke up to a painful headache. Every noise felt amplified, and it felt like he could hear everything happening around him. Even from upstairs, he could hear when Namie shifted even the slightest bit. It was so disorienting that he couldn't get out of bed all day.
The day after that, his headache was easier to manage, but something else had taken its place. It was as if his nose was suddenly much sharper. He could tell where Namie had come from and what ingredients she had brought to make them both dinner before she even pulled them out of her bag.
He considered going to see Shinra after his meeting with Shiki, but being outside was almost torture. There were so many sounds, it brought his headache back almost right away. So, he elected to stay home and get some work done.
On the sixth day after his escapade to Tokyo Bay, Shiki arrived at his apartment to discuss matters. Izaya quickly gave Namie a list of completely random and tedious errands to get her out of the apartment. (Shiki knew who she was, and obviously didn't trust her to hear what they talked about.)
He explained his lack of information to the man, including the security cameras. As he spoke, Shiki's expression got much more annoyed.
"Why didn't you report this to me sooner?" He demanded.
"I wanted to triple check, Shiki-san. Every day after that I would check again, to see if I was wrong in suspecting foul-play. But I wasn't. Everyday the footage from the day before was gone." Izaya smoothly answered. "Someone is definitely hiding something."
Shiki's frown deepened, which Izaya didn't think was possible. "Agreed. But that still doesn't answer how we get around this issue. I've sent men to the bay every day, but none of them saw anything out of the ordinary. No rival gangs, no suspicious characters, and no dogs."
Izaya's carefully constructed facade almost broke at the mention of the dog, a reminder of all the strange and confusing things that had been occurring since he got that damn bite. He pushed the thought of the dog away, he was in the middle of work.
"I could send someone to watch at night, but they're already slipping around the usual guards. They'll probably notice a change…" Shiki thought aloud before taking a long drag of his cigarette.
Izaya's suddenly sensitive nose scrunched up in distaste from the smell, but he didn't dare ask Shiki to put it out. Instead, he forced himself to think about the sit. "Well… I know I can hack them. They may be taking many precautions, but it might be possibly for me to set up a system that sends any removed footage to a server that only I can access."
Shaking the ash of his cigarette into the ashtray, Shiki turned his hard gaze up to Izaya. "How confident are you that such a system would work?"
Izaya let his normal sly grin appear on his face. "I'm one of the best, Shiki-san! I have the utmost confidence. After all, they may be using a system like that already!"
"You're right…" Shiki dropped the now unlit cigarette into the ashtray. "It would make sense. If they're as cautious as they seem, they wouldn't just delete the footage."
The informant broker gave a firm nod. "Exactly. If I can set up my own server connected to the cameras, I can save the footage too. Who knows, I might be able to find the older footage too."
His boss hummed thoughtfully. He was quiet for a long while, considering what Izaya had explained.
The man slowly got to his feet and smoothed out any wrinkles in his suit. "Your idea could work. Put any other jobs I've given you aside, I want your full attention on this starting right now."
"Sir, yes sir!" Izaya cheerfully said with a mock salute. "I'll have to buy a few things beforehand, but after that we'll be in business!"
Shiki huffed again, motioning to his guards as he turned to leave. "I'll wire your payment later. Let me know how much what you ordered costs, I'll compensate you. Have a good evening, Izaya."
"You as well, Shiki-san," Izaya politely called back as the gang leader and his silent companions departed. The sound of the security lock being the cue for Izaya to finally relax after hours of work.
He left the expensive couch and stood in front of the windows. He let out a happy sigh at the city below him. He always loved the view from his apartment, but it looked even more beautiful as the sky started to darken and the bright full moon began to rise.
Many of his lovely humans would be heading home, allowing the strange and exciting night life to roam free. Oh, how he missed seeing it after being cooped up for almost a whole week.
"I'll order the stuff I need, and then maybe I can go out for a walk! I've missed walking amongst my humans!" Izaya smiled at the idea, encouraged once again.
But he never made it to his computers. Just as he turned around, his body was suddenly hit with an explosion of pain. His vision swirled and he stumbled forward, crashing against the desk.
He heard the sound of something shattering against the ground as he swayed away from his workspace. He didn't get far before his legs gave out from underneath him, which sent him to the cold floor with a loud cry.
The throbbing pain was quickly replaced by something even worse. To Izaya, it felt like molten lava was burning all of his veins. His body curled in on itself as he tried desperately to find a way to make the burning stop.
He couldn't move his limbs, he couldn't even scream as the black spots covered his vision. He felt the burning feeling in his muscles until his body finally gave out and fell into blissful unconsciousness.
When awareness finally returned to Izaya, he felt like he had just woken up with a hangover. He felt nauseous, his headache worse than ever before. But the burning feeling had finally ceased.
He groaned as he forced his eyes open. He was still on the floor, with a computer monitor and shattered glass only a few feet away.
What the hell just happened? He wondered. It doesn't make sense… other than the headache I felt fine. Something is seriously wrong. I need to go to Shinra, now.
Izaya put his hands in front of him to stand up, but the sight below him made him freeze. Are those… paws?!
There was no mistaking it, he could see what looked like black furred paws that seemed to belong to a dog. He tried to use his own hand to push them away, disgusted by the thought of even being near a dog… But the paws mimicked his own movements.
Izaya's heart skipped a beat as he tried again, but they copied him again. What?! With a yelp, the informant broker stumbled backwards to try and get away. The black furred paws followed him no matter how hard he tried. No, no… no way, no way!
His heart beat against his chest, gasping for air as his eyes turned to look in the window. His reflection gazed back at him, but instead of a pale skinned informant broker, Izaya saw a large, black dog. No, no that's not a dog… That's a wolf…
And that wolf… Is me?!