If you're weird like me and associate songs with stories and characters, the song "Sweet Revenge" by Krypteria is one that fits the vibe of the next couple chapters.
…~-~...
Izaya stared at Shizuo's pale face, the heart monitor and oxygen tank filling the silence in the room. Izaya bit his lip and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. A pit of guilt settled in his stomach seeing Shizuo in this state. After all, Izaya had been the one to ask Shizuo to be his bodyguard in the first place. And now he was hurt.
Izaya took a slow breath through the pain in his chest. Jiro was going to pay for this. He would make sure of it.
His hands shook as he stepped closer, stuck somewhere between rage and fear. He couldn't let Shizuo get hurt again. Not for his sake. He refused to run and hide anymore. Jiro was injured and it was time Izaya took that opportunity to finally end this for good.
"I love you," Izaya whispered, reaching for Shizuo's hand and lightly squeezing it in his own.
Izaya leaned down to place a light kiss on Shizuo's forehead. A combination of fury, apprehension, and grief continued to swirl in his mind as he silently slipped out into the hallway and out the front door. He did what he could to shove away any doubts and anxiety for now, focusing instead on his plan.
Izaya navigated his way back to Shizuo's apartment, stepping inside still on high alert. After searching the place to be safe, Izaya began preparing. He got dressed in clean clothes, throwing on his trademark jacket and grabbing his spare knife. With a slow, deep breath–thankfully the meds Shinra gave him finally kicked in–he was ready.
First, he contacted Sonohara. Before he could move forward he needed to make sure she would comply with the role he'd come up with for her. After providing the details and assuring her she would barely need to be involved, she agreed on the previously agreed terms that he would leave her, Mikado, and Masaomi alone.
Next was Akabayashi. Organizing the involvement of the Awakusu-kai took a bit more finesse. He passed on the necessary information, leaving out the involvement of Anri and Saika. He didn't need Akabayashi coming after him for that.
By the time he confirmed the Awakusu-kai were in on his plan Izaya got a message from Anri that she had done her part. Whether or not it would work was still slightly questionable but with everything else in place Izaya wasted no time finding out.
He dialed the number for Matsui Minato, one of the two men Anri had cut with Saika. Her role had been simple. She gave orders to Minato and Yuito: Do what Orihara Izaya tells you to do.
It was time to test how well the orders worked. Matsui answered the call on the second ring.
"Matsui Minato? This is Orihara Izaya speaking."
There was a pause.
"Mother says you have orders?"
Izaya grinned.
…~-~...
Shizuo blinked a few times, his vision slightly blurry as he attempted to recall where he was. Seconds later, Shinra was in his face and everything came rushing back. He sat up fast–apparently too fast judging by how dizzy he felt. It was then that he noticed the oxygen mask on his face.
"Don't take that off just yet," Shinra said as he reached for the mask.
"Where's Izaya? Is he okay?" He asked, his throat feeling extremely dry.
Shinra smiled softly as he sat in a chair next to the bed. "That's the first thing you want to know? He's roughed up a bit, but otherwise not hurt too bad. As for where he is, I can't answer that."
"What?! Why not?!"
"He snuck out not too long ago," Shinra shrugged, "Don't worry, Celty has already left to find him."
Thoughts swirled around in his head. Snuck out? Why would he do something so careless? He shouldn't be out alone, Jiro is still out there somewhere–!
He felt groggy as he tried to piece together information. He remembered he'd been shot. He remembered Izaya screaming…
Suddenly something else popped into Shizuo's head. He remembered something Izaya had once said and everything clicked into place:
"I'll try to work out another way, but if he hurts you he's dead."
"I have to go," Shizuo said, sitting up and pulling the sheets off himself, "It's too dangerous for him to be out there alone."
"Woah, woah, just sit for a minute," Shinra said, putting his hands up to try and block Shizuo from standing, "Like I said, Celty is already going after him. She will bring him back. You on the other hand need to rest. You had a collapsed lung from the bullet. It's going to take some time before you can breathe properly on your own."
"You don't understand, the guy that's after him–"
"–Raped and tortured him?" Shinra interrupted, "Yeah, we figured that part out already."
Shizuo stared for a moment, processing that Shinra had actually just said that. "He was so scared, Shinra." he said quietly, tears filling his eyes.
"I know. And he will be even more scared if you hurt yourself by mindlessly running through the streets trying to find him. You lost a lot of blood and almost suffocated. He's worried about you too. Just let Celty take it from here."
Shizuo clenched his fists, but ultimately decided to listen to Shinra. "You said he was okay when he was here?"
Shinra nodded. "His ribs are bruised, possibly slightly fractured in places but nothing life threatening."
"Physically, maybe… But I'm more concerned about his mental state."
Concern flashed across Shinra's expression for a moment. "Me too. The two of you… forgive me if I'm reading into this wrong but… are you two dating?"
"Y-yeah," Shizuo admitted sheepishly.
"In that case I really think you should stay out of danger for now. Izaya is pretty unstable right now and his emotional state is questionable on a good day. If this guy's aim was to kill you and you rush out there and he tries to finish the job, Izaya may actually lose his mind. I don't want to know what Izaya is capable of when he's lost everything."
"I can't just sit here while he goes looking for trouble. He's still not fully recovered from when I…" Shizuo trailed off, looking at his hands.
"I understand if you're feeling guilty, but please let Celty handle this. If she can't convince him to come back she can at least drag him back by force if needed."
As much as Shizuo couldn't stand sitting around, he had to admit Shinra was right. For now, he had to trust that Celty would find him and keep him safe. She was definitely strong enough to protect him, as long as she found him before he got hurt.
…~-~...
"[Where are you?]"
"[Izaya, please.]"
"[We're just worried about you.]"
"[Izaya I just want to help!]"
Celty had been scouring the area looking for any sign of Izaya but so far hadn't found any leads. Her best hope of finding him was for him to respond to her texts. She only hoped she could find him before he got hurt.
Truth be told, Celty Sturluson was livid. Anri had nearly been kidnapped because of this man and her best friend had nearly been killed. And Izaya… while she didn't necessarily consider him her friend she knew him well enough to know it took a lot to scare him. He'd barely reacted when he found out what she was and saw her without a helmet. But seeing that expression of fear and pain on his face earlier that evening had distrubed her.
This man, Jiro, was a true monster. She wanted him gone.
Her phone finally chimed with a text.
"[Shizuo's apartment.]"
"[Stay there. I'm on my way.]"
Shooter neighed in protest as she spun around too quickly, speeding off as she hoped Izaya wasn't trying to throw her off his trail. When she arrived, her shoulders sagged with relief when she found Izaya, looking at his phone and leaning against a wall outside Shizuo's apartment building. His face was devoid of any discernible emotion as he acknowledged her presence with a glance.
"[Why did you leave like that?]" She asked, approaching him.
"I'm putting an end to this," he said flatly. She still was having a difficult time deciphering his emotion. He seemed far too calm compared to earlier that evening.
"[What are you going to do, exactly?]"
"Sonohara passed the reins of the two cut by Saika over to me," he explained, "Right now they're following orders to bring Jiro to a secluded location where he and I can have a little chat. I have a few ideas in mind for what I would like to do, but I will decide that in the moment. But any way this goes, it will be over."
"[Let me help.]" Celty insisted.
Izaya looked at her questioningly. "Are you planning to try and stop me?"
"[No. This guy is clearly dangerous not just to my friends but to the general population. I'll be honest while I'm not usually the type to let someone get killed, at this point I admit I'm angry too and I'm not exactly feeling like he should be protected from your wrath. I am willing to let you do what you feel necessary, but I will be here to back you up if you need it.]"
"Thank you," Izaya said, a bit of relief detectable in his tone, "I think I know how you can help."
…~-~...
"She found him," Shinra said, quickly relaying the message from Celty to Shizuo the moment it was received.
Shizuo gave a sigh of relief, coughing slightly as he did. Shinra however seemed concerned as he continued to look at his phone.
"Damn it," He frowned, "She's not bringing him back yet…"
"What? Why not?"
"Izaya… said he has a plan" Shinra explained, "Celty says she agreed to help."
"Fuck… I knew he wasn't going to let this go," Shizuo grumbled, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
Shinra nodded in agreement. "I thought so too. He made the life of an old classmate of ours a living hell for hurting me, and that had been an accident. I can only imagine what he would do for you. I can't believe he managed to convince Celty to join him though…"
Shizuo clenched his fists. "I don't know how, but he's going to kill him. Or at least he's going to try."
"Do you think he could?" Shinra asked, biting his lip as he typed a response to Celty.
"I'm not sure," Shizuo said, "I don't want him to put himself in danger like that though."
"I bet I could convince Celty to give us their location," Shinra said with a half-smile.
"I thought you wanted me to rest?" Shizuo questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"I do, but if Celty isn't bringing him right back then I know you're going to go anyway and I physically can't stop you even in your current state. Like I said before, I don't want you wandering around out there. I'd rather you go directly to them. Besides, you helped me get Celty back when she was going to leave. Helping you with Izaya is the least I can do."
Shizuo smiled, pulling the oxygen mask off as he slowly rose to his feet. "Thanks."
"Just promise me you'll let Celty do the heavy lifting?" Shinra said, helping Shizuo stand, "Your lung could collapse again if you aren't careful. And please come right back here so I can make sure you two don't end up hurting yourselves more!"
"Deal," Shizuo said with a nod.