It was just past midnight when Shizuo found himself standing at the door of the man he despised. Feeling rather awkward, he wasn't sure whether he should call the phone of the man inside, or just knock.
But why was he here, of all places? And at such a late hour?
The truth was that he had spent the past eight hours debating whether or not to show up at this very door.
And he wouldn't have even considered being here in the first place if it hadn't been for a certain object that had been given to him earlier that day.
…~Ten hours ago~...
Tom and Shizuo stood dumbstruck at the cash being held out by the man before them. Granted, he hadn't owed much, but it was still strange to see someone who actually had the money when they came knocking.
"It's all here," the man said proudly.
Tom hesitantly took the money and began counting to confirm that for once, his job really was that easy, when the man spoke up again.
"Truthfully I didn't have the money before and wasn't sure what I would do when someone came to collect the debt, but some guy showed up at just the right time."
Tom and Shizuo both raised a brow at this statement, waiting for the man to continue his story.
"He gave me the money for free as long as I agreed to pass something on to you. Well, you specifically," he continued, pointing to Shizuo as he spoke, "You're Heiwajima Shizuo, right?"
"...I am…?" Shizuo replied.
"Here," the man said, holding out a small paper envelope, "I guess you're supposed to have this. I have no idea what it is. He said not to break the seal before giving it to you."
Wordlessly, Shizuo took the envelope. He tore open one end and tipped the contents into his hand.
A single, unmarked DVD slid into his grasp.
"What the hell is this?" he asked, turning the disc in his hands to inspect it.
The man only shrugged. "Like I said, I have no idea. That person just told me to deliver it to you when you came to collect the debt and he would pay it for me. That's all I know."
"Who was this person?" Tom questioned, finally back to reality after his astonishment over an easy job.
"He didn't give me his name. That was really suspicious honestly… But he gave me his word that I would never see or hear from him again if I did what he asked. He seemed like the type to stick by his word. That's all I owe you, right?"
"Y-yeah, that's all of it," Tom replied, "Well, I guess we'll be going… Shizuo everything okay?"
"Huh?" Shizuo finally looked up from the DVD in his hands to acknowledge Tom's question. "Yeah, I guess I'll just… hold on to this then…"
…~-~...
He should have smashed it. Burned it. Crumpled it to pieces and thrown it into Tokyo bay. He never should have watched it.
When he popped the DVD into the DVD player his eyes were instantly met with something he knew he was never supposed to see.
It took him a moment to realize what he was seeing.
It was a dimly lit room. There was a small, too thin man kneeling on the floor with his back to the camera, his arms stretched out to either side and tied to the frame of a bed in front of him.
Shizuo knew nothing he was about to see was good, but his curiosity kept him from turning it off.
A man was speaking. He seemed to have turned the camera on while in mid conversation, however the man kneeling on the floor didn't seem to be aware he was being filmed.
"-haven't been listening very well. I told you from the beginning you must follow orders or else you will regret it. I think it's time to show you what that kind of regret feels like, Izaya."
Shizuo's jaw dropped.
Izaya?!
The flea must be into some sick shit. Or he just sent this to mess with him. It very well could have been Izaya who gave this DVD to that guy from earlier.
*CRACK*
A noise startled both Shizuo and the Izaya in the video. When the camera focused better, he could see a whip in the hand of the man who had been speaking.
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
Twice more the cracking of the whip pierced Shizuo's ears.
Until finally, the fourth CRACK was joined by a scream. It was Izaya's voice screaming. Bright red began pouring from the fresh wound across his back.
It was then that Shizuo realized the truth.
Izaya was in this against his will.
Shizuo's eyes glanced around the screen until they stopped on the bottom right corner. The date of the video was displayed there.
This video was recorded seven years ago.
Another CRACK followed by a scream brought Shizuo's attention back to the video. There was blood pouring down Izaya's back now.
A grimace spread over Shizuo's face. He wanted to turn it off, but he was frozen on the spot. Shizuo became nauseous when he heard Izaya's voice begging for it to stop.
By the time it finally seemed like it was over, Shizuo's mouth was dry.
He watched in horror as the man set the whip down and walked over to where Izaya sat, crumpled, bleeding, and crying.
The man unzipped his pants and gripped Izaya by his hair, pulling him up.
"Now suck it," he said, and the screen went black.
Brown, horror struck eyes stared at the blank screen while his brain struggled to process what he had just seen.
He remained like that for an hour before he finally understood.
That man.
That man in the video must be the one. The one that Izaya is so desperate for protection from.
"Damn it…" Shizuo whispered to himself. It had been a week since he and Izaya had last spoken. If he was right in thinking that the man in the video was the reason Izaya was asking for help…
"You should have thought of that before making so many enemies. You probably deserve whatever this guy is gonna do to you."
Holding his head in his hands, Shizuo concluded that no one really deserves what he just witnessed. He had to admit that not even Izaya deserved that kind of treatment. And if that man was freely walking the streets right now…
Shizuo suppressed a shudder. If he could do that to Izaya, how many other people could he hurt?
He had to find out the truth of this video. Who was that man and where was he now? Who wanted him to see this video and why? There was only one way he could know for sure.
And that was what brought him to Izaya's door just after midnight.
He needed answers because he couldn't sleep with Izaya's screams echoing in his head.
Knocking once more, Shizuo listened for any sign of movement. What he heard was a loud thump followed by a crash that sounded like something breaking.
For reasons Shizuo could not fathom, a jolt of fear shot through him.
Am I too late? Is Izaya in trouble?
He didn't spend hours contemplating whether or not to show up here just to find Izaya already missing or dead.
Without thinking of the consequences, Shizuo slammed against the door hard enough to break the latch, but something stopped the door from swinging open. Carefully, he pushed on the door, realizing there was a piece of furniture blocking the door. When he finally was able to poke his head inside, he saw that it was a bookshelf.
Looking up to scan the room, Shizuo's gaze was quickly met with the glint of metal aimed directly at him.
After a few moments, Shizuo was finally able to process what he was seeing. There was a gun pointed at him. The gun was held by Izaya himself who was half kneeling on the staircase across the room. But even from that distance, Shizuo could see that Izaya's hands were shaking.
Their eyes locked for a few seconds until finally, Izaya's grip on the gun slackened and he lowered the weapon only slightly. It seemed he was still considering using it.
"What are you doing here?" Izaya spat.
It was then that Shizuo noticed how terrible Izaya looked. It had been a while since he had last seen Izaya face to face. He was unnaturally thin and pale. When Shizuo finally looked Izaya in the eyes, he could see that even they looked different. Izaya's eyes were lacking their usual brightness. Instead they looked tired and empty.
The difference made him feel uncomfortable.
Like this person in front of him wasn't really Orihara Izaya at all.
"What was that bang?" Shizuo replied to Izaya's question with another because truthfully he wasn't sure how to answer the question at hand.
"I tripped," Izaya said expressionlessly, "And I dropped my tea." He gestured to the floor where a teacup lay in pieces. "Now answer my question."
"Can I come in…? I don't want to talk to you through the door like this."
"Fine. You've already broken the door anyway."
"Oh, yeah…" Shizuo looked up and down at the door, "Sorry," he said, slipping through the space between the wall and bookshelf.
When Shizuo was finally inside, he replaced the door the best that he could. It wasn't too bad. It was still on the hinges thanks to the bookshelf holding it in place.
Spinning around, Shizuo found Izaya was already on his feet, picking up the broken pieces of his teacup with his right hand, the gun still held in his left.
"You can put that away," Shizuo said, gesturing to the gun, "I… I'm not here for a fight."
"So what are you here for, then?" Izaya said, anger clearly showing in his expression now, "It'd better be good because now I won't be able to lock the door tonight thanks to you."
"Izaya…" Shizuo said quietly, looking the smaller man up and down, "You're shaking."