Shizuo's POV

Ruffling my bleached-blonde hair, I poured a generous amount of milk into a tall glass. I yawned, sleepily flipping on the TV to some morning news, but not long after I sat down, my phone began chirping.

I figured it was Tom texting me about another job, but to my surprise, it was Celty.

[Hey, can you come over for a second? It's kind of important.] the message read, [Sorry for the sudden request, but I have something to ask.]

Raising an eyebrow, I texted back, "Sure. Give me thirty minutes."

The response from her was prompt, but I couldn't help but wonder what this important thing was. Using that query as motivation, I quickly dressed myself in my normal bartender's uniform, downed my glass of milk, slipped on my shoes, and left.

-xxx-

"Hey, Shizuo!" the hyperactive underground doctor shouted gleefully, "As the people in Germany say, 'Lange nicht gesehen!"

I sucked in a breath, letting it all out in a deep, exasperated sigh, "…We're Japanese, idiot."

Keeping his bright composure, Shinra clasped his hands together, "Oh, I'm sorry – that's 'long time, no see.' I've been having a bit of a bilingual streak since my father recently married a foreigner – OW!"

I was slightly amused as I watched Shinra helplessly being punched in the gut by his headless wife. As he doubled over in pain, Celty irately typed out a message and shoved in his face.

[Will you shut up and let the guy in already?!]

Turning towards me, the dullahan bowed apologetically.

[I'm sorry, Shizuo – he's been more hyper than usual lately…]

"That's because my lovey-dove here wants to get married ourselves as soon as possib-OOMF!"

She struck his head down with the heel of her boot and motioned for me to follow her inside.

Chuckling, I sat down on the plushy couch with her and shrugged my shoulders.

"Alright, while your future husband is slowly dying a painful death, what was it that you needed to ask me?"

She seemed…hesitant, but slowly typed a message.

[Okay, this may seem crazy, maybe a little stupid for me to be concerned, but…]

The dullahan drifted off, and I looked at her expectantly.

"…But what? Is it bad?"

Her shoulders sank, but she finally finished her sentence.

[…I'm worried…about…Izaya.]

My eyes widened, and my fists, without meaning to, clenched tightly. I could feel millions of little veins wanting to burst apart at the mere syllables of the flea's name. However, I kept in mind that this was Celty I was talking to, and she still hadn't gotten to the meat of why she called me over.

With a rested, yet firm expression, I asked as calmly as I could, "…What about him?"

Celty seemed to sigh in relief that no furniture in their shared apartment wasn't flipped (yet, that is), and she resumed her typing.

[It's been about three or four weeks since I've last had a job from him…]

"So, is the flea trying not to pay you or something?" I roughly asked, somewhat frightening her with my rising tone and making her frantically type an explanation.

[No, no! Money's not the issue here! It's just that…my normal work schedule ranges from two to three night a week. Of course there are outliers to the estimate, but…four weeks?]

Processing the information, I almost felt Celty's sense of worry.

[Shizuo…I know you probably wouldn't care, but…I really think something has happened.]

"Well, that depends – that flea has more connections to social media than Mark Zuckerberg, so have you tried to contact him?"

[Yes, of course!] she typed excitedly, [So much so that I've exhausted every method of communication I could get my hands on]

"Yeah, even I've tried…" Shinra added, limping to sit down next to his headless wife, "You remember how Izaya had, what, five cellphones in high school? That number has to be tripled by now, so he should be more than easy to contact."

[Especially with us…]

I sighed, "Well…what do you want me to do about it? If the flea's gone, he's gone – maybe a vacation or something."

Shinra shook his head, "Not likely. That guy lives and breathes humans – he wouldn't leave a people-ridden place like Ikebukuro…willingly, that is…"

I raised an eyebrow, "What are you two getting at?"

Celty and Shinra glanced at each other, half worriedly, half anxious.

[Well…like I said, our concern may just be frivolous worry, but I have strong feeling that something really bad has happened to him.]

"What, like…dead bad?"

[It is a possibility…]

We sat in silence for a minute, allowing my head to swallow in what was just presented to me. It was widely known that Izaya and I hated each other with a burning passion, but this was really strange behavior for him. The more I thought about it, the more I remember how long it's been since our last violent encounter.

"That…does bring something to mind…" I started slowly, trying to let that day come back to me.

[What? Have you seen him?]

"Let's see…" I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Last time I saw him was…yeah, about a month ago. I saw his snarky ass running through 'Bukuro – nothing really different about that – and he and I got into a fight…"

"Also not that different~" Shinra chirped.

"Hmm…I feel like there was…something else," I tried to explain, thumping my fist against my skull.

[Did he say anything unusual?] Celty typed, [Do anything unusual after that?]

I bit my lip, but suddenly it hit me.

"Oh, well…" I trailed off, "Then again, this may not be of much significance, but when he was trying to run away, he bumped into this man. I didn't know who it was, and from what I could tell, I don't think he did either."

"Did he say anything weird? Shinra pressed on, but I shook my head.

"No…but it was strange. I was blinded by my own rage, but I saw that they exchanged some words, and when the man left, the flea looked as if he was in a daze."

Celty processed the new information, typing out a response.

[Anything else?]

"Eh, kinda," I shrugged, "I grabbed 'em by the collar and yelled in his face, but all of a sudden, it's like every snarky inch of his body was just…drained. All he said was 'let go' in a cool and calm voice, but when I did, he just walked off like he didn't even know me."

[Okay, then it has something to do with that man.] the dullahan concluded, [I'm with you, Shizuo – it may not sound significant, but there's something telling me that we mustn't overlook it.]

"Celty's right," Shinra nodded, "So in that case, do you remember what this guy looked like?"

"Um…not particularly," I answered, "I have to admit, he was pretty tall and maybe even a bit bulky, but also kind of a average. Dark hair, I know, but I didn't get a good look at his face."

The couple nodded in confirmation, which brought me to another question.

"Wait…so why exactly did you bring me here?"

[Well, that's another thing.] she replied, slightly amused, [We were wondering if you could dig up some dirt on his whereabouts.]

I scoffed, "Ugh…now it comes out…"

"Oh come on, Shizuo!" Shinra whined, "Izaya's our friend!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"Uh, er, I mean, um, 'our' as in 'Celty and I'! Hehehehe! But still, don't you have a teeny-tiny soft spot for the guy?"

"Hell NO," I snorted, "With the line of work he's in, it's no wonder someone would want to come after him."

[Says the one who beats up debtors for a living…]

"Whatever – the point is that flea is NOT my responsibility."

"We're not asking you to do a bunch of detective work!" Shinra exclaimed, "If you just happen to hear something, then it would help if you let us know so we can figure this out."

"But Celty, you have more access to this city than anyone else – how come you haven't come up with anything yet?"

[It's kinda hard to get information out of people when you're a local "celebrity"…]

I ruffled my hair, "Ah…right."

[Granted, people are most likely going to be too scared to talk to me, so it's like Shinra said – if you hear anything, just call.]

"Easy enough, I guess," I sighed, "But where would I even go to 'pick up' any information at all?"

"Well, that's easy enough, too!" Shinra replied giddily, hopping up from the couch, "You can't find something on the floor when it's over your head!"

I stared at him in confusion, but he laughed.

"To find a clue on an informant, one of the few people that regularly keeps in contact with him is his boss!"

"Wait, you're not talking about…?"

"Yep!" the underground doctor smiled brightly despite the fact that he was talking about the notable Awakusu-Kai, "Our dear friend Shiki, of course!"

-xxx-

So, so sorry for the long wait! It was a mixture of somewhat writer's block, somewhat academic priorities, somewhat social issues and whatnot, but in any case, I'm still alive, guys! ^.^ Today I had some time and thought it would be great to work on this a bit more. This story's not going anywhere, so please bear with me and my crazy schedule, and please review!