Izaya walked through the streets of Ikebukuro, a grin set upon his face as he listened to the person he was speaking to on the phone. He tilted his head and then hopped onto a low wall; he then made a comment. "You should stick to your original plan; if you really want to control the city and the people around you, you shouldn't make it so obvious; people tend to get suspicious rather quickly." Izaya walked across the wall, balancing on the thin bricks, he couldn't remember when he had this much of an amusing conversation. "Me? Well now, I am an informant, so I'd be happy to provide you with some help regarding anything you might want to know." Izaya jumped off the wall and then chuckled at the next question. "Can you trust me?" he crossed the road and stopped beside a street corner.

"That all depends on the situation, because how I want things to play out will naturally affect your outcome." Izaya smirked when the person hesitated, so amusing. "I'll leave the trust to your instincts; but I'm sure that you've already guessed by now, I'm a valuable ally to have. Instead of asking if you can trust me, I would personally be asking how far I'm willing to go to keep doing that." Izaya laughed and then hung up the phone, sliding it back into his fur jacket. He then heard his other phone ring, he took it out from his other pocket and just as he was about to answer it, he heard a loud crash, then the sound of metal bending in the near distance. He turned and glanced over to where the sound echoed from, it seemed to be coming from across the street where he had just been standing.

Tom looked over at Shizuo, wondering what had gotten him so angry, his eyes darted over and widened. The cause of his friend's sudden rise of anger was right there, Izaya Orihara. He knew it was futile trying to get through to him, but he was damn well going to try. "Hey Shizuo, we're on a job, can't you kill him later?"

Shizuo growled, glaring deathly at the raven-haired man from his position. The stop sign bent in the middle from his firm grip when he tore it from the ground. Even from this distance, he could see Izaya smirk at him and Shizuo yelled loudly, "I'm going to wipe that smirk right off your face, flea!"

Tom cringed, well, so much for that, but – Tom tried to grab his arm. "Come on, seriously, let's go before you get into trouble. The city has only just recovered from your last encounter a week ago."

Izaya wiggled his fingers at the blond and then jumped onto a hydrant, perfectly balancing on one foot. Izaya called out, arms out wide, drawing attention to himself. "Shizu-chan! Don't wanna play today? I'm kind of bored over here!" Izaya placed his hands in his pockets, never once losing stamina.

Shizuo began to storm over to the informant, dragging the sign with him. "He's so dead!"

Tom reached out for him, even though Shizuo was already across the street by now. "Shizuo!"

Shizuo stopped just in front of Izaya, whom had jumped down from the hydrant, landing inches in front of him. Shizuo gritted out the raven's name as though it were an insult, "Izaya."

Izaya's smirk deepened. "Shizu-chan."

Shizuo's eyes narrowed. "What the fuck are you doing here flea?"

Izaya clicked his tongue, unfazed by Shizuo's death glare. "Working." Izaya sighed dramatically, spreading his arms out, as much as he could while his hands were still in his pockets. "Now I'm bored again!" Izaya then leaned forward, getting in Shizuo's face, hopping up onto a small bench; he always did hate being the slightly shorter one. Izaya's expression became darker and suddenly – "Entertain me!" with lightning speed, Izaya drew out his blade and swiped it across Shizuo's chest. Shizuo stumbled back in surprise, he then growled, his hold tightening around the sign still in his hand. Izaya laughed. "Don't tell me you weren't expecting that? I'm disappointed in you."

Shizuo's eyes widen in rage and he threw back his head. "Izaaaayaaaaa!" he took a step back and then swung the sign at him. Izaya was quick to react and he jumped on top of the sign and ran in the opposite direction. Shizuo spun around, the sign scraping across the ground. "Get back here!" Shizuo chased after him, bringing the dented sign along with him. Izaya jumped up over a bench and then rebounded as his feet touched down on another hydrant, smirking as he did so. Shizuo lowered the sign down with a grin, but seconds too late and he hit the red water supply with great force. Water gushed upwards, causing a few screams from bystanders and a momentary lapse of confusion as Shizuo tried to search for Izaya through the waves of water. Throwing the sign away, he ran through the flood, his hair was wet and already sticking to his face. Izaya was stood off to the side, standing on top of a large dumpster. Shizuo spotted him instantly, his eyes glared, it was as if the raven was just fucking waiting for him. "It's like you wanna die louse!"

Izaya jumped off the dumpster when Shizuo began running after him again. He dodged the lamppost in front of him and then heard the breaking of metal again as Shizuo tore said post from the ground, Izaya chuckled and then quickly jumped to the side as it came crashing down toward him. It dented the ground on impact and Izaya took the chance to run across the street, avoiding the oncoming traffic that came at him, he jumped up over a car and onto the small roof of a shop. Shizuo mimicked his movements, though he almost did get hit by a car, he then pushed off the ground to continue the chase. Izaya smirked and jumped across to the next part of the roof when Shizuo caught up to him.

Izaya grabbed the supporting beam above him and looped around it, before jumping across to the next one. He ricocheted off as Shizuo tried to make a grab for his ankle, Izaya ran across part of the wall line before landing on the railing of a balcony with well-practiced balance. Shizuo jumped onto the balcony below Izaya, grabbing the supporting beams and rocking them back and forth until it begun to give way. Izaya stumbled a little and then jumped off the balcony, bouncing across sturdier railings until he made his way back down to safe ground. The above balcony crumpled down toward Shizuo, Izaya watched with an amused grin as plant pots smashed over his head. Shizuo growled, the balcony was getting dangerously heavier, he kept his hands up to try and stop the rest from crushing him. "Izaaaayaaaa!" the only choice he had left now, was to lob the entire thing.

Izaya's eyes widen when the rest of the balcony soon came hurdling toward him instead. "Such a brute." Izaya jumped backwards a good few paces, and the balcony crumpled as it hit the ground, waves of dust blew outwards, causing people - including Izaya - to shield their faces.

Shizuo stood still, breathing heavily as he stared at the mess the two had created. "Damn it."

When the dust settled, people stared at the wreckage, half wondering whether the raven-haired menace was crushed under it, because no one had seen him dodge. Shizuo was wondering the same thing, he couldn't see any sign of the other man; he sighed in relief, though a frown came upon his face, he hadn't really killed him, right? Shizuo shook his head, he should be fucking glad, so why wasn't he? "I'm not a killer." It wasn't true! Just then, two blades glinted in the sunlight, and he barely managed to dodge them in time, his reflexes caused him to topple over. Luckily, the stands below broke his fall, and he landed on top of a large bed of flowers that some poor old woman had spent her time setting up. She screamed when he crashed through, flowers sprung up from their pots, broken shards and soil, littered the ground around him. He glared up when he heard a chuckle, and soon, the light of the sun was blocked from his face when the shadow of his enemy loomed over him.

"Naw! Shizu-chan looks so pretty lying in a bed of flowers." Izaya plucked a large yellow rose from Shizuo's hair, he grinned and held the flower out toward him. "Peace offering?"

Shizuo glared daggers at the smirking informant, and just as he was about to stand up and punch the smirk off his face, Shizuo caught sight of something glinting within the flower. He realised, that the glare of light was coming from Izaya's switchblade, which was concealed within the flower. Shizuo grinned as he reached out and grabbed the flower, causing Izaya's smirk to falter. Shizuo gripped it firmly, his fingers splaying over the stem, and the concealed blade of the weapon. Blood began to drip to the floor between both of their fingers.

Izaya watched with surprise when Shizuo heaved himself up from the ruined stands. How did he know? The raven's eyes narrowed. "Let go, brute."

Shizuo grinned, feeling like he had gained the upper hand for once. "What's wrong flea, where'd that smug smirk go?"

Izaya tried to tug on the handle, but he knew that Shizuo's grip wouldn't let up, no matter how much the blade was cutting into his skin. He had no choice, he'd have to let go of the handle - there'd be no way of getting his switchblade back after though; but if he didn't, he'd risk getting his ass kicked. Izaya had underestimated him this time, and he cursed himself for being just that little bit overconfident. He knew he should have just escaped as soon as he saw Shizuo fall into the flower stand, yet seeing Shizuo lying in the mess of petals, looking impossibly peeved, Izaya couldn't resist the urge to tease him further.

Izaya watched Shizuo raise his fist toward him, he was about to let go of his blade to avoid the hit, when the sound of sirens caught his attention. Both looked down the street when the cops drew near. Izaya felt Shizuo's grip loosen due to the distraction and he gripped the handle to quickly yank his switchblade free. Shizuo hissed, he was about to take a swing at the raven again, but he stumbled forward when something hit the back of his head. Izaya blinked in confusion at first, and then chuckled; it was the owner of the flower shop, she had smacked Shizuo over the head with her broom. Izaya laughed loudly at Shizuo's attempts to hold her off, he had concluded that she had been the one to call the cops.

"You damn hooligan!" she shouted as though Shizuo was a troublesome teenager. "Look what you've done! It took me months to grow those beauties!"

Shizuo covered his head out of instinct, though he was trying to apologise. "Lady! I'm sorry - it was – unintentional - quit it - I'll pay for the damage!" as soon as Izaya's laughter reached his ears, his eyes narrowed. He turned and grabbed the broom with one hand, pulled it from the woman's grasp and snapped it in half. She stepped back; her anger faded when she stared at him in fear. Shizuo mumbled an apology before spinning around with half of the broom, fully intending on using the splintered end to sheer it through his nemesis. Shizuo gritted his teeth when he realised that Izaya was no longer there, he snapped the wood further and bellowed. "Izayaaaaaa!"

…...

Shizuo got back to his apartment, chucking his keys across the coffee table. He was still incredibly pissed off; he began to pace back and forth inside his living room. "Fucking flea! I'm going to kill him! just wait until I see that bastard again, he's going to eat fucking flowers when I smash his face into the dirt!" Shizuo smashed his fist down onto his coffee table, splitting the object in half, causing his keys to swish across the room. When his anger subsided, he then heard a ring coming from his back pocket. He pulled out his cell and then answered gruffly.

"What!" Shizuo sighed as his friend's voice at once came over the phone. "Sorry Tom, I didn't realise it was you. Yeh, yeh I know; is the boss mad? Well, could you tell him I'm sorry for me anyway? I appreciate the understanding. For some reason I didn't expect the asshole to be around today. I always say that don't I? Heh. Every time I see his damn face I wanna ram it into the nearest building. Well anyways, thanks for checking up on me. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Shizuo hung up. He was glad to have a friend like Tom, and damn lucky to have such an understanding boss too. Anyone else would have fired him by now. He sighed and moved off the couch, because now that his anger was gone, he was hungry.

….

Izaya entered his apartment with a skip, Namie stared over at him as he closed the door and walked toward his desk. "Causing chaos again?" she asked as she switched off the TV.

Izaya grinned over at her once he had sat down. "Whatever gave you the impression that I have?"

Namie pointed at the screen. "It's all people talk about when you and Heiwajima get into a fight."

Izaya shrugged and switched on his laptop. "They'll soon get bored of that within a couple of days, I didn't start the fight this time, actually, I almost never do."

Namie rolled her eyes. "You could just not go to Ikebukuro."

Izaya clicked his tongue. "As much as he likes to think so, Shizu-chan doesn't own the city, I go wherever I please, besides, a lot of my clients reside there."

Namie snorted. "What a coincidence."

The raven let out a small chuckle. "I thought that you didn't believe in coincidences."

She frowned at him and stood up from the couch. "Where you're concerned, "coincidences" just happen." She placed a file on his desk when she reached him and then said, "I have to make a phone call." Izaya glanced down at the folder and then raised an eyebrow.

"It's a job, I just haven't had time to read it properly yet."

Izaya huffed and then grinned, knowing his next statement would annoy her. "You can be a poor excuse of a secretary sometimes." She placed her hand on her hip, not as fazed by his comment as he would have liked.

"And you can be an obnoxious, irritating, weirdo; So, I guess we're both screwed." Namie then left the apartment.

Izaya shrugged and then picked up the file. "Let's see what we have then." He opened the first page, and then grinned. "It's been a while since I got this kind of request." At the top of the file, there was a photo of a girl, she looked around the age of ten. "A runaway hmmm? I wonder why she could possibly be running away." Izaya scanned over the information, until his eyes landed on a surname. "Washiba huh?" Izaya began to type quickly, his long fingers becoming a blur across the keyboard.

Namie came back into the apartment, she walked past Izaya and saw the already opened file on the desk, she glanced at him; his eyes were flicking across the monitors, completely tuned out to his surroundings. Namie smiled; sometimes, just sometimes, she admired his work ethic, despite his intentions most of the time, Izaya always put a hundred percent into his work. "That sure didn't take you long to start."

Izaya typed a message on one computer and browsed on another, then typed again on his third. "Multiple jobs are better, because you never know when they might link together."

Namie snorted at him, she couldn't help but think déjà vu. "Like your involvements with the yellow scarves and the dollars?"

Izaya chuckled. "Implying something there Namie?"

"Jobs only link when you force them to."

Izaya huffed a laugh. "You make it sound like I do that all the time~"

Izaya got up from his desk, looking at his phone and then walked over to his jacket that was hanging on the hook by the door.

Namie blinked at him. "Where are you going?"

"It's a little strange that the parents of the girl refused to contact the police, I think I'll go see for myself just why that is."

Namie shook her head, knowing what he intended to do. "Stick to the job they asked of you, you don't know this Washiba family; snooping around behind their backs is probably not a clever idea."

Izaya smirked as he pulled on his jacket. "Though forced as it might be - I appreciate your concern Namie, but one day you'll learn not to underestimate me. I don't, 'snoop' until I have all the facts."

"That so you can cover your own ass if you get caught?"

"I'm never caught Namie."

Namie sighed, why did she even bother trying? "Where exactly does your, 'lead' take you now?"

"Why so curious?"

Namie leaned back on her chair. "I am your secretary; don't you think I ought to know at least some of your ploys?" Izaya shrugged with a grin. Oh, how fucking helpful you are Izaya. She gave him an annoyed frown.

"I don't think the girl is the suspicious one, so I think I'll start with the parents."

"Why?"

"If nothing about the girl is suspicious, then it's something about them that they don't want found out."

"Which by the way, is why they came to you in the first place. Anyway, I only asked the location of your lead to help, I don't have much to do right now."

Izaya eyed her with suspicion, she was never quite this curious to know what he was up to - if ever. "I suppose you could talk to the tainted leader, ask them what kind of targets they had in mind."

Namie tensed upon hearing the name. "You mean they haven't told you yet?"

"They're a sloppy group, but they're a cautious one. What a stroke of luck that they have me to guide them." Izaya smirked.

"How long are you going to be?"

"Roughly an hour. The place isn't that far from here, three train stops and a cab ride, nothing right out of the way," Izaya tilted his head with a grin. "Does that satisfy your odd curiosity?"

Namie huffed and leaned on her palm. "Not really." Izaya laughed and then he was gone before she could say another word. "Shit."

…

Shizuo raised an eyebrow at his friend from across the table of the restaurant they were sat in. Tom was acting weird, he wasn't good at reading people, but he knew something was off. Tom laughed at his friend's suspicious expression and waved his hand. "Don't be like that, you know, you're always saying that you'd like to take a trip out of the city once in a while."

"Yeh, maybe; but it doesn't happen when we're working."

"Sometimes our clients skip town."

Shizuo frowned in thought. "Sure, but it's not like we ever go after them that far."

Tom shrugged. "Boss man must be desperate today."

"I just can't help thinking that something strange is going on."

The two exit the restaurant. "Like what?"

Shizuo looked up at the sky. "I don't know, feels like something's out of place all of a sudden."

Tom looked at him, waiting for him to continue, but upon realising he wasn't going to, he said, "Like with work?"

"Who knows really, though I get the feeling we're being led to a dead end, and usually when that happens, that bastard flea is involved."

Tom laughed then. "Boss doesn't associate with him, you know that, especially given your history."

Shizuo nodded; he glanced at his left hand for a moment. "I can't help feeling that something is missing, like I'm forgetting something important."

Tom smiled. "Really?"

Shizuo looked at him, his friend seemed to be looking at him with – hope? Shizuo laughed. "Don't mind me, it's my natural instincts, I guess."

Tom sighed. He says that like it's a twenty-four-hour sickness bug. His phone rang suddenly, he answered and turned his back for a moment. His expression formed into a nervous smile. "Oh really? That's - okay, well not really - no we haven't even left yet - well, thanks for the heads up." Tom hung up, turning to Shizuo with a full smile.

"Something wrong?"

"Throw your suspicions to the wind my friend, it turns out one of our guys just made a mistake, our client didn't skip town after all."

Shizuo slammed his hand against the wall. "Damn! Can't they be a little more considerate! I mean we could have just gone all that way for nothing!" he kicked out at a two-way road sign.

Tom laughed nervously. "Let's head back to the office, better check with the boss, so we don't make the same mistake."

Shizuo breathed deeply to calm himself and then nodded.

…

Izaya stepped off the train, hands in his pockets as he exited the station onto Yamata street. He walked down the street for a couple of minutes and then called for a cab to take him to his destination. He thought back to his conversation with Namie, she seemed extremely curious suddenly, more so then usual. Normally she didn't like to involve herself in his motives, it was the very reason he'd hired her in the first place. Maybe he'd question her more about it later when he got home. He glanced up through the window, his brows furrowed in confusion when the cab suddenly stopped, and the driver turned to him. "This is your stop."

Izaya looked at the location, he pulled out his phone and stared at the picture, then back over at the building. it didn't match. "I think you've got the wrong place."

The cab driver looked at him and snorted. "I've been a cab driver for twenty years; I know my way around every damn street. This is the address you gave me, maybe you're the one who got it wrong." Izaya frowned, if there was one thing that annoyed him, it was the questioning of his skills, he never got it wrong. "So, are you getting out or what?"

Izaya paid the driver and then exited the cab anyway, he should take the time to look around while he was here. The cab rolled away and sped back down the street. Izaya stared up at the dark looking house, it really was in the middle of nowhere, how strange. Except for its gloomy appearance, the house wasn't half bad looking, as though it had only just recently been abandoned. Izaya looked at the photograph on his phone, studying it for a few seconds and then stared outward. The plants in the photo were the same ones that were beside the house, except now they were dead. "Just how old is this picture?" Izaya scrolled down from the photo, checking the date the picture was sent. "Two days ago?" Izaya looked at the house. "That can't be right."

Izaya walked toward the house with a frown, he was no botanist, but he was sure flowers couldn't die that quickly. "Maybe the Washiba family are smarter than I thought." He stepped onto the porch, for an abandoned building such as this one, the house was in decent shape, structure wise at least, which suggested that the family were house proud – up until they abandoned it.

Izaya reached up to knock on the door, he barely touched it and it creaked open, he then rolled his eyes. "Give me a break."

Izaya began to search around the house, starting from the top, finding what he expected from a family home. A double bed in one room with neatly folded sheets at the end, A dressing table off in the corner and a mirror on the wall. Izaya searched all the draws of the table, then, running his finger across the top, he scrunched his nose when gathered dust appeared. He brushed his hands off and then walked out of the room, down the corridor and into the next. "A lot of dust for two days ago." The next room had a single futon, a small chest of drawers and a lamp. Checking the drawers to find them empty, he was about to leave when he noticed that this door had a lock on it, the only room other than the bathroom that had one.

Izaya then moved to check downstairs, he began in the kitchen and then moved into the living room, searching through papers and checking in cupboards. Izaya was starting to get really agitated, there wasn't even a computer for fucksake! Which begged the question as to how his file was typed. Izaya frowned, it was true that his information on the house was correct, this was the family home of Washiba; but for some reason, his timing was off. Though as he thought about it more, someone was throwing him off the trail. The picture he'd received was sent to him by Satoshi, which was why he hadn't suspected. "I honestly didn't think he was the fooling type." Izaya knew when he was being played.

He frowned in thought as he left the house, this was the first time that he had come away empty handed when tracking information. He had planned on digging up some info on the parents, confronting them straight up was less obvious. Why did it seem as though someone had already done the snooping for him, or rather - before him?

Whoever contacted Namie about their missing daughter was sending him on a wild goose chase, someone wanted him out of town today. Izaya sighed irritably, stepping off the porch and onto smooth path, he pulled out his phone to call for a cab. There was one more place within the area that he could check, after all, the house wasn't the only lead he had to go on.

Then suddenly, he heard a shout -

"Bastard!" he turned around in mild surprise, rather impressed, he had no idea anyone was even here.

Izaya placed his phone back in his jacket, retrieving his knife at the same time, but concealing it within his sleeve. "Some kind of problem?" a small grin appeared on his face; he wasn't going to leave empty handed after all. "I take it you are part of the Washiba family?"

It was a male, mid-thirties, short black hair; his clothes were worn and shaggy looking, but Izaya could tell the clothing were a suit. "You know damn well I am!"

Izaya raised an eyebrow. "Actually it was more of a hunch really, I've not seen you before today."

The man stepped closer and Izaya became guarded. "Don't fuck with me! You're the reason my life fell apart! You ruined mine and my wife's career!"

Izaya narrowed his eyes, now he was really confused. He was sure he'd never seen this guy before until now, he most certainly hadn't been to this building, and if this guy really was with the Washiba family, then he hadn't met the guy's wife either. "I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is-"

The man gritted his teeth. "Izaya Orihara, right?"

Izaya tensed, so a lot of people knew of him, it was normal, he supposed. But somewhere out here? In this small district? It seemed less likely. "So you know of me, I have a good recollection of those I do business with, and I have no idea who you are."

"You can play dumb all you want, but it's not going to stop me from cutting you into shreds!" The man lunged over at him, the sharp kitchen knife poised in his hands.

"Seriously? So violent!" Izaya grinned at him and jumped backwards. "I get the feeling you have no real skill, just an angry amateur." Though it was usually best not to always antagonise someone with a knife, but Izaya often found that people like this guy attacked blindly when taunted. Izaya dodged, stepping sideways, flicking his blade out. The guy slashed at him but Izaya was much quicker, he flipped over on his hands and blocked the knife with his own as he came down toward him. "You have no idea who you're messing with."

"Don't talk to me like you have no idea who I am!"

Izaya was starting to think the guy was telling the truth, he sounded so damn sure. Other than the fact that he was part of the missing girl's family, Izaya still couldn't place him, he really didn't know. He jumped back when the knife came at his throat, Izaya dug his heel into the ground and slashed his blade - a clean cut across the man's chest, he then swung the handle and – thwonk! Izaya hit him on the side of the head and the man fell backwards, skidding across the ground. Izaya let out an almost relieved breath and pocketed his knife. He then pulled his phone out as it rang. "Orihara." Izaya huffed. "Namie. Not all the facts about the client was true." Izaya listened for any sign of nervousness in the tone of her voice. "You expect me to believe that the file you gave me was forgotten about?" Namie was deceitful sure, but she wasn't incompetent. Even a job as small as this, she wouldn't have forgotten to tell him about. Though there had been a lot of jobs lately, and he'd been remotely busy dealing with Tainted. It would explain why the house didn't match the picture. "Even if that was the case, you could have said something before I came all the way out here. But you're not without flaws, I'm sure you did this to get back at me for some reason or another. Though getting my throat slashed was a bit much. Hmmm? No, I didn't - but someone didn't want me here, he knew who I was, but I've never seen him before. I honestly started to think you sent me out here to get murdered." Izaya smirked. "Of course, if you really wanted me dead, I know you enough that you'd have done it with your own two hands." Izaya looked over at the now unconscious man and then walked away. "I'm heading back now; I think I've had enough excitement for one day. Oh, and Namie? If you really decide to kill me one day, you would be wise to off me in my sleep." Izaya laughed and hung up, only wishing he could have seen her face.

He called for a cab and was soon on his way back to the train station. Something about this whole situation was wrong, who the hell was that guy? And why did he get the feeling something was missing? He felt out of sorts suddenly. Izaya frowned, he didn't like not knowing something, it was his job to know everything.

Izaya entered the train station as his phone bleeped. He received a message. The box was blank. He scrolled down and soon his eyes widened. What the hell?

Izaya stared at the image, frozen in place, barely paying attention to the people bustling around him. What's going on? Why is - he didn't even know how to finish that thought. What he was seeing in the image couldn't be real, surely not, it was impossible. Someone was messing with him. There in the image, was him, and the same guy who had attacked him at the house just a moment ago. They seemed to be conversing in what looked like, a café? Maybe. But how was that possible? He'd only just fricking met the guy! Izaya searched the rest of the message, trying to find any clue as to who had sent it and when this picture was supposedly taken.

The ID was anonymous, obviously, that gave him reason to believe it was someone that he probably, did know. But there was no authentic way to tell when the picture was taken. He zoomed in on the image, maybe he could tell which café they were at by the objects in the background. There was a large picture on the wall beside them, which didn't really give anything familiar away. The tables looked small and appeared to be a light pine wood. He tried to think about such a place, he'd been to a lot of cafés, but the more he zoomed in, the more the image blurred. Something caught his attention though as he zoomed back out again, there on the right side - it wasn't much - but he could just make out someone else with him, standing just behind him where he sat. Unfortunately, whoever it was, seemed to be standing just out of view of the image, he could only see a shadowed figure, and, if he zoomed in again, a person's leg.

Well that was a hell of a lot of help. He wondered if the person was Namie, she would be the only one he'd have to go with him. Though normally he would prefer doing his job solo when meeting with clients personally. If the image really was true, then the guy was right, he had seen Izaya before.

…...

Izaya got off the train and headed back out into his familiar city. He needed to figure this out, now. He was getting a headache just thinking about it. The background of the image itself wasn't clear, he checked the large picture frame again that was on the wall beside them. That wasn't overly helpful either, considering all that it consisted of was a portrait of fruit. Which, ironically enough, had the word fruit across the bottom - wait. Izaya stopped walking, if he remembered correctly, the café wasn't all that big and it only had one level with open faced windows. He had been there before, though he preferred cafés that overlooked the city, rather than being on lower ground. It was most likely the reason he didn't particularly remember it. In fact, if memory serves, the place was near Shinjuku and close to the station he was currently standing outside of, around Shibuya-Ku. Izaya made his way down the street, in some ways, he preferred making his appearance in public at night, it was easier to blend into the crowd. But since he was already here, he may as well follow his curiosity, after all, he'd already wasted his time today on pointless trips anyway.

Soon enough, he was stood outside the now familiar café, in the middle of the day, far too out in the open. He was slightly grateful however, that the café was in his own city, rather than in Ikebukuro. Verve. That was the name of the place, it really was small, at least compared to the others he often went to. Hopefully though, because of its size, those who worked there, would be more likely to remember him. He entered the café, thankful it wasn't too busy now, he received a few recognition stares, which he chose to ignore for now. The woman serving behind the counter smiled his way as he approached the counter. "What can I get for you today sir?"

Izaya smiled politely, he was not without his charm after all, he knew exactly how to get what he wanted. He wasn't going to deny it, even if it did sound vein, but he knew he was good looking - he could always use that to his advantage, especially toward women, despite being attracted to the opposite sex. "Actually, I'm in need of some help, I was wondering if you could be of assistance, miss-" Izaya glanced down at her name tag, then locked eyes with her. "Kawasuka."

The woman smiled brightly at him. "How can I help? Did you lose something?"

Izaya chuckled lightly. "Not exactly, I was just wondering whether you might have seen me in here with someone not too long ago?" Izaya would rather not show her the picture if he could help it. "I know you must get a lot of customers, but I was rather hoping that I was someone that would easily be remembered." Izaya smiled at her with a wink.

She seemed like she was thinking about his question carefully, tilting her head and tapping her chin. "Hmmm…." she looked at him, she was studying him, and Izaya wasn't sure whether he should feel offended or embarrassed, given his bold description of himself. "I've not worked here that long; I don't know all the regulars well enough yet."

Izaya gave her a reassuring smile. "I wouldn't worry too much, I don't come here often myself. Would there be someone I could talk to that works here daily?"

She smiled and giggled a little. "Sure; just to let you know, I would have definitely remembered your face, even if you only came in here once."

Izaya returned the smile. "Appreciate that." He gave her another wink as he slipped a couple of notes in the tip box.

"Don't bother trying so hard with him Kawasuka," another female voice was heard off to the side, Izaya and the girl turned their attention to her. She was a taller woman with her deep brown hair tied back, wearing a skirt suit, her apron covering her waist. "He doesn't bat for your team."

Izaya grinned at her. "You're good." Though he was having a tough time recognising her, why was that happening today? He didn't have an eidetic memory, but he thought he at least had a good one, he was positive he could remember most people's faces. "Maybe you can answer my question then." The younger girl beside them slumped, but she smiled at him and then continued serving other customers. Izaya stepped to the side with the brunette, leaning on the counter. "Did I happen to come in here not too long ago, perhaps meeting with someone?"

"That's a bit of an odd question, then again, you were kind of weird the last time we met."

Izaya chuckled. "I'm just going to take that as a compliment."

"Suit yourself. Anyway, to answer your question, yes - it did look like you were having a meeting. I don't really like to know my customers business; but the guy was a bag of nerves if I'm honest. It was kind of fun to watch really, you were as cool as a cucumber; the guy was pretty sceptical about whatever he was telling you."

Sounded like him, he was starting to question himself, since he really didn't remember talking to the guy she was describing. He then remembered the - just about - visible figure standing behind him in the photo. "Was there anyone else accompanying us that day?" he was sure by now she must be thinking he was crazy, he smiled and then shrugged. "My memory is a little fuzzy at the moment, celebrated a friend's engagement." Well, only a small fraction of that was true. Shinra, his only friend, was engaged, but he didn't give a tiniest damn, certainly not enough to celebrate. The other lie was that he had no interest in consuming any kind of alcohol.

"I imagine the person accompanying you. What happened, you lose him or something?" When she noticed his surprise, she elaborated. "The one accompanying you, he had a ring on, so was he the one's engagement you were celebrating?"

Huh. Damn, even his lies were good, but did that mean Shinra was there? Shinra was the only one that was engaged out of those he knew - which he knew of. But he could have sworn that Shinra didn't wear a ring to signify he was engaged. He certainly didn't think Celty would either, but he hadn't seen them in a while so... "What was he wearing?"

She laughed. "Man, you really don't remember do you. Must have been some night." She gave him a sympathetic smile, Izaya cringed inwardly, he was starting to worry that he really had gotten drunk. "I've been there, so I feel kind of sorry for you. Though I don't recall getting so plastered that it effected my memory, this bad. Since the last time I saw you in here was months ago."

Months ago? How is that possible? He was quite sure the shock was showing on his face now.

"You've gotta take me on a night out sometime, it must have been wild! Anyway, your friend that you were with - looked like he'd just come from work or something - because he was wearing this kind of bartender uniform."

Izaya's eyes widen and he simply froze. Bartender? Izaya lost his ability to speak, surely, she wasn't talking about - it couldn't be!

"Your friend looked like he wanted to kill the guy in front of him. He looked pretty strong too; also, he was pretty protective of you, since he would barely leave your side, it was kind of cute."

What the fuck?

The woman laughed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd have said the one he was getting married to was you."

Izaya paled considerably, he almost passed out, he wanted to throw up, just the thought of him and Shizuo even – and him protecting him? That was the funniest thing he had ever heard! Izaya discreetly held onto the countertop and feigned a grin before gritting out, "He fucking wishes." Izaya recovered and then smiled at her. "You've helped a lot, thank you, I'll be going now."

"Sure, glad I could help - I guess." She watched him walk away, she couldn't tell why, but he seemed different to the man that had come into the café before. She shrugged it off and then smiled as a customer approached her.

Izaya frowned as he made his way back down the street, heading back to his apartment. There was no way in hell that Shizuo was with him! It wasn't possible! She had to have been mistaken. Izaya grinned. After all, Shizu-chan is only a monster, I doubt anyone could love him enough to marry him, or even love him at all. If that is the case though, then I truly pity them.

The words that she said before he left rang in his head, Izaya shuddered. She was clearly insane. That's what Izaya was going to put her absurd observations down to, and her lack of memory. Not that he was one to talk right now, but she was wrong about one thing, Shizuo was not with him that day, it just wouldn't happen!

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