The moment Izaya realizes what he's just done, his eyes widen and he hastily backs away from the stunned blonde. It looks like Shizuo's about to say something when there's a knock on the front door, both of them turning to look towards it; at the same time, the door to the bathroom opens and the little girl comes back out, looking at the two of them curiously.

It takes a second knock for Shizuo to finally snap out if it, immediately moving to the door and opening it to reveal a short, chubby, mousy-looking woman who can't be much older than either of them. "U-um... hello..." She says nervously, pushing a pair of wide, circular glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "My name is Ito Sumiye... I-I'm the one that called you a little bit ago?"

"Yeah, sorry, I got - " He glances at Izaya, who is (conveniently) too busy inspecting his nails to notice. " - distracted. Come on in." He steps aside to let the woman enter.

"It's fine, um... thank you for inviting me over on s-such short notice. I didn't know what else to do..."

"Are you going to introduce us to your friend, Shizu-chan?" Izaya hadn't been expecting any company, especially considering the fact that the beast wouldn't even let Simon get involved; though he can't say he's not grateful for the interruption, her arrival allowing him to put off dealing with Shizuo for a little while longer.

"Oh, yeah. This is, uh..." She had just told him her name, but he's already managed to forget it.

"S-S-S-Sumiye. Ito Sumiye." She says, fidgeting with the small, simple gold band she was wearing on her ring finger. "I, um... I work for, the, um... the project. I'm a n-neuroscientist, and um..." She looks like she's about to cry - Izaya can't help but be sympathetic.

"There's no need to rush, Ito-san." He says, smiling reassuringly. "Take as much time as you need."

The longer the better...

Going over to her, the girl takes her hand and pulls her over to the futon, tugging on it until she sits down. She then goes into the kitchen and stands on her tip-toes, pulling a plastic cup out of Shizuo's cupboard and filling it with water before bringing it over to her.

"O-oh, thank you..." Grateful, Sumiye accepts the water and takes a few small sips.

Unlike Izaya or the girl, Shizuo is too impatient to wait. "She called while I was outside. Says she got my number from the lady I was supposed to meet earlier."

"I wasn't aware you were supposed to meet anyone."

"Yeah, well, now you are."

"H-her name is Amari Kiyoko." Sumiye tells them. "She's our h-head of ops here in Tokyo... she was just about to leave to go s-see you when Montgomery called and said he needed to meet with her immediately... that was at least four hours ago, and I haven't heard from her since. I'm worried Montgomery f-found out she was planning on m-meeting you and..." She falls silent, fidgeting even more intensely with the ring on her finger; while it could just be a nervous habit, Izaya gets the sense that there's more to her relationship with her boss than what's generally considered acceptable in a professional setting - or Japan.

Unless you're just projecting.

Reminding himself that second-guessing everything he thinks, does, or feels is just going to make things harder on him, he decides to just come right out and ask. "Is she the one who gave you that ring?"

Sumiye tenses up, which is all Izaya needs to confirm his suspicion; noticing her distress, the girl sits down next to her and rests her cheek against her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Ito-san... I'm not the type to adhere to societal conventions, and Shizu-chan is so dense that he probably has no idea what I'm talking about."

"Incorrect." Shizuo says, crossing his arms. "I know exactly what you're talking about, and I'm pretty sure it's none of your fucking business."

"If she doesn't want to answer me, she doesn't have to. I'm simply curious."

"Maybe you should keep your goddamn curiosity to yourself, then?"

"I-it's okay, really!" Sumiye pipes in, having no desire to be the cause of a fight. "You're Orihara Izaya, right? Kiyoko told me about you."

"Did she, now?"

"Montgomery told everyone that the reason he came to Japan was to aid in the retrieval of Subject Thirteen, but he hasn't had more than one conversation with Kiyoko since he got here, and she's the one he's supposed to talk strategy with. She started to get suspicious - and when Kiyoko gets suspicious, she gets motivated, so she d-did some snooping and found out that he's absolutely convinced that you're ps-ps-ps-psychic."

Izaya can't quite tell if she's stuttering this much because she has an actual speech impediment, or if it's just because she's that anxious; he decides that, ultimately, it doesn't matter... the syntax would be the same even if the words had flowed effortlessly from her lips. "I see... I don't suppose she happened to mention anything about him hiring someone to spy on me?"

"N-no, sorry..." She replies, shaking her head. "She didn't really tell me very much... I think she wanted to make sure I had p-plausible deniability."

Damn.

"Have you tried calling her?" He inquires.

She nods. "Texting, too... s-she hasn't replied to either."

"Hmm..." Considering the timing, it isn't at all impossible that Vincent had lured Kiyoko into a trap; which would be unfortunate, because she's the only lead he has towards discovering his stalker's identity.

Suddenly, Sumiye jolts, the faint sound of buzzing coming from her pocket; she fumbles for her phone, almost dropping it before she actually manages to look at the Caller ID. "It's h-her!" She exclaims, immediately answering it. "H-hello? Kiyoko?"

Unless it's not... Izaya can't help but think; thankfully, a sigh of relief from the frantic woman told him that he was wrong.

"Oh, gosh, you had me so worried, I - what, what is it?" There's a pause as she listens to the person on the other line, her brow furrowing. "At you-know-who's... why?" She asks, glancing at Shizuo. After another pause, she frowns and looks over at Izaya. "Does that mean he's given up on Subject Thirteen already? It hasn't even been a week!" Another pause. "Wait, which rumor? I've heard a few."

The mention of a rumor catches Izaya's attention; he perks up, straining to try and hear the other side of the conversation. After a second or so, his head starts to ache... and that's when he hears her, the other woman's words clear as day.

"...never had a girlfriend. I'm telling you, Sumi, it's like he's obsessed; I'm really starting to think his interest is more than professional, and he does not come off as the type to accept 'no' for an answer."

Izaya's almost entirely certain they're talking about Vincent. He's also entirely certain that he shouldn't be able to hear enough to pick up on that, but he pushes the thought to the back of his mind - he could worry about it later.

"That reminds me, Orihara-san wanted to know if he's hired anyone to watch him."

"He definitely has, I just haven't been able to figure out who. Sumi, I'm being summoned - pick up something to eat on your way back, I'm starving and it'll give you an excuse if he decides to ask where you were. See you soon, love."

"See you soon..." Sumiye echoes, hanging up and taking a deep, shaky breath before turning her attention back to the two men. "I have to go - h-he wants to talk to me."

"Who, Vincent?" Shizuo asks, needing clarification.

"Yes. If I don't go back now, it'll be suspicious, s-so... uh... t-thanks again for having me." She bows awkwardly and shows herself out.

Shizuo frowns and scratches his head. "What was that about?"

Me, unfortunately...

Izaya yawns, feeling even more taxed than before. There's no way he's going to be able to get any sleep tonight; if the nightmares don't keep him awake, the situation certainly will... especially considering he's going to have to sleep in his outside clothes on a bare floor in the same room as the walking, talking bane of his existence.

Feeling a tug on his sleeve, he looks down to see the girl staring up at him. "You know, we really need to think of something to call you." He says. "'Subject Thirteen' is too conspicuous, and 'the girl' just isn't going to cut it."

She simply blinks.

"If you don't give me any suggestions, I'm just going to make one up."

Blink.

"Alright, then from now on, your name is Magnolia. Do you have a problem with that?"

She appears to think for a minute, then shakes her head.

"Magnolia it is! And, since Shizu-chan most likely won't be able to pronounce it, he can call you 'Maki' for short."

Shizuo, having opened his mouth to argue for that exact reason, shuts it without saying a word.

"Now, Magnolia... is there something you need from me?"

She shakes her head and points to the futon.

"What? What about it?"

She answers by tugging harder on his sleeve, until he sighs and allows her to pull him over to the mattress. She then grabs a pillow and two of the blankets off of it and takes them both into the kitchen, folding one in half and laying it on the ground before plopping down on it and wrapping herself in the other one like a cocoon. After a few minutes, he hears what sounds like soft snores coming from her direction; he's about eighty-percent certain they're fake, but he's not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "It seems Magnolia wants me to take the futon." He says, the gesture making him feel a little less stressed. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to respect her wishes?"

"Well, it's my fucking futon, and if she ain't gonna use it, I am."

"So that's a no, then."

Damn it...

He'd been starting to get his hopes up.

"Did I say it was a no?"

"...Did it not?"

"All I said was that if she wasn't gonna use it, I was. Whether you do too depends on you." He goes over to his pile of clean laundry and starts to dig through it.

"You can't seriously be suggesting we share?" Izaya asks, incredulous.

"If you don't like it, the floor's still an option." He tosses a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants onto the futon. "Here."

"What's this for?"

"I figured you'd probably wanna change into something more comfortable, and I don't think any of her stuff's gonna fit." He straightens up, unbuckling his pants - the moment Izaya realizes he's not going to bother going into the bathroom to change, his face turns red and he hastily turns to enter it himself, his heart thumping in his chest as he shuts the door behind him.

What is wrong with me?

Taking a moment to calm down, he turns on the faucet in the tub and strips out of his clothes. He's always found it easier to think when he's taking a bath - and maybe (if he's lucky), by the time he comes back out, Shizuo will already be asleep.