"What an amusing girl," Izaya smirks. The glow of the computer monitor shines on his face, creating an eerie look. The sounds of clicking echoes through the large room. Izaya looks down at his wounded hand, blood dripping on his desk. A soft knock came on the door, averting Izaya's attention from his injury.
"Come on in, Shinra," He calls. The door pushes open to reveal the quirky doctor.
"Hi, Izaya," Shinra greets. He makes his way to Izaya and begins to inspect his hand. "I still don't see why you couldn't come to my apartment. It was quite a hassle leaving Celty." This makes Izaya chuckle.
"Creepy as always. I had some business to take care of real quick. I didn't really have the time."
"Is this your only wound?" The doctor asks, gently lifting Izaya's hand closer to his eyes.
"No. There is a bullet in my arm." Izaya lifts his arm that was clicking away at the computer. Shinra's eyes widened.
"How on Earth did you get these injuries, Izaya?" He asks. The hurt man just smiled.
"Our dear friend Hakari."
Hakari and Shinra were the only people that Izaya could actually call 'Friends'. He wasn't in to friends, but they both forced themselves on him.
"What did she do?" Shinra asks, motioning for Izaya to take his shirt off. Izaya lifts up on his shirt as Shinra starts to take tools out of a small bag he carried in. Izaya begins to recall the past events to Shinra.
"Hmm, do you think he'll show up?" Izaya asked the girl beside him. Hakari tugged on her hat, looking up at Izaya through her lashes.
"He said he would. He might not if you're with me, so perhaps you should sit this one out, Izaya," She says.
"How mean. I want to know about Solid Mask too." A knowing smile crept onto Izaya's face.
"I think you know more about it than me," Hakari smiles.
"Maybe so." The two walked in silence for a few minutes until they passed an old alley.
"What should we do? ," Karisawa Erika's voice echoed through. Izaya and Hakari stepped into the alley to see a familiar green van. Surrounded by the van were Erika, Yumasaki Walker, Dota-chin, and Togusa Saburo. In front of the van, an old man held a dog violently by its throat.
Hakari gasped. This caused everyone to turn their attention to the pair that just showed up.
"Hakari-san!" Erika exclaimed.
"What's going on?" She asked. She took a step closer, Izaya following.
"Step any closer and I'll choke it!" The old man shouted. The two stopped in their tracks.
"He keeps threatening to kill it. We can't get any closer to him," Kyohei explains, not taking his eyes off the old man.
"Is he senile?" Hakari asked. She looks at Izaya with a hopeless look.
"We think so," Walker added. Izaya sighed, taking a step further.
"I'm warning all of you!" The man yelled.
"Listen, killing the dog doesn't affect me in the slightest, but it does affect my friend here. You can kill the dog," Izaya stepped even closer, narrowing his eyes. "But that still won't stop me from coming closer."
The man's eyes widened. He threw the dog to the ground, causing it to yelp. Hakari gasped, running towards the pup. Out of the corner of his eye, Izaya saw the man pull out a shiny object from his pants.
In one quick movement, Izaya was at the side of the man, fighting for the gun. Somehow, the gun was fired. A sharp pain shot through Izaya's arm, but he ignored it. He pushed the man to the ground, snatching the gun. Izaya then walked up to him and started to jump on his back.
"That was very flashy of you~" He sings. "Maybe next time you should try using a knife! They're much more fun~" With that, Izaya stepped off the man and rejoined Hakari, throwing Kyohei the gun.
Kyohei barely caught it. He shoved the gun into his jacket, then he and Saburo grabbed the man, giving Izaya weird looks. They dragged him back to their van. Dota-chin nodded at Walker and Erika and let the two have their way with him. Hakari, who cradled the dog, grabbed Izaya's sleeve.
"Are you okay, Izaya?" She asked, her voice filled with concern.
"Don't think one of my humans can get the best of me," Izaya said, lifting his hand to pet the dog. It was a Doberman, he noticed. "He sure was a fun one." The puppy's head snapped up and bit Izaya's hand, squishing its sharp teeth in his flesh.
"No, Puppy!" Hakari cried, prying its teeth from Izaya. This caused Izaya to erupt in laughter. It fortunately let go, cuddling closer to Hakari. Its stare never left Izaya, growling lowly at him.
Izaya's hand throbbed. The alley had gone silent as everyone stared towards the two. Izaya smiled wickedly at Hakari.
"You always go for the monsterous ones, don't you?" Droplets of blood dripped from Izaya's wound, causing everyone to widen their eyes. "I have some business to take care of at my office. I'll see you and Mikado later. I also have something to confirm with him." With a single wave, Izaya skipped his way through the alley, laughing maniacally, occasionally muttering something about how fun humans are.
"You sure are strange, Izaya," Shinra comments. He was finishing up wrapping bandages around Izaya's arm
"You're one to talk," Izaya says, smiling thoughtfully. Shinra puts on one more layer and allows Izaya to put his shirt back on. The doctor then wraps Izaya's hand quickly. When finished, he stands up and carries away the tray that was harboring the bullet. After washing his hands, he wanders back to Izaya.
"So, what is this 'Solid Mask'?" Shinra asks. Izaya rests his head on his hand as he smirks at Shinra.
"Now, why would I tell you that?" He asks.
"Well, I did just patch you up. Free of charge, might I add," Shinra smirks back, taking a chair in front of his friend.
"Indeed you did. Solid Mask is a gang, somewhat."
"Somewhat?" Shinra makes a confused face. Izaya sighs softly, spinning slightly in his chair.
"Yes, somewhat. They aren't official. Only a select few know about them," Izaya explains. "This group is also the reason our dear Hakari left us." Shinra looks down, focusing on his hands.
"She's caught up in them?" Sadness laced through Shinra's voice.
"Not exactly. I can't tell you anymore about them without further payment." Izaya leans back in his chair, smiling at Shinra.
"I see. One more question, this time asking as a friend. Who is 'Mikado' and why does Hakari want to meet with him? Is he part of Solid Mask?"
"I'll answer part of that as a friend. He is not in Solid Mask. All you need to know is that he's a simple high school boy that Hakari has taken an interest in."
"ROMANTICALLY!? What about Shizuo? They are supposed to live happily ever after together! How could-" Izaya sighs, grabbing a near by chess piece and tossing it at Shinra's head, causing him to shut up.
"She's not interested in him romantically, so don't worry your weird, little head. And I've mentioned this many times, but please don't speak Shizu-chan's name in my office. It gives the place a bad smell. I'm sure Hakari is still head over heels for that monster."
Shinra handed the chess piece back to Izaya, rubbing the spot that was wounded. "That's good. Just yesterday she was telling me she wanted to show him America, so no way could her heart change. Especially after all these years of being in love with him."
"America?" Izaya asks, his interest peaked. "What was she doing there?"
"Hm?" Shinra had diverted his attention to a small toy sitting in the corner of Izaya's desk. "Oh, she said she had to get away, so she went to America. But, I'm not sure if that's true since you said she left because of this 'Solid Mask'." Izaya picks up the toy, handing it to Shinra. Shinra gratefully takes it and starts inspecting it up close.
"Interesting," Izaya smirks.
Shinra left a short while after his conversation with Izaya. When he got home, he heard Celty typing away at her computer.
"Oh Celty!" Shinra calls. He walks into the living room to see Celty sitting on the ground, her computer at the coffee table. He reads over her shoulder. "Chatrooms again?"
Yeah, Celty types on the send bar of the chatroom. She quickly erases it as the computer made a 'pop' sound, signaling that someone has entered the chat.
Kanra has entered the chatroom
Tarō Tanaka: Good evening, Kanra.
Setton: Hello.
Kanra: Hiii! What are you guys talking about?
Tarō Tanaka: Oh..we were just talking about something called "Solid Mask". Have you heard of it, Kanra?
Shinra gasps, causing Celty to turn to him.
What? she types to the doctor.
"It's just that..I was talking about Solid Mask with Izaya just awhile ago," He explains, sitting on the ground beside her. "It's some kind of gang." The two look back towards the chat.
Kanra: No, I havent!
Kanra: What is it?
Kanra: Sounds scaaaary!
Tarō Tanaka: Yeah...I'm not sure what it is.
Setton: Why are you asking about it?
Kanra: oooh! Does Setton know something about it?
Kanra: Setton is so scaary!
Setton: ...That's not it. I don't know anything about it.
Tarō Tanaka: I was just curious, Setton. Anyway, what's up with you today, Kanra?
Kanra: Nothing special. Have you guys heard?
Setton: Heard what?
Kanra: Something big is happening in 'Bukuro!
Tarō Tanaka: H-How big?
Setton: What do you mean?
Kanra: Better watch out!
Kanra has left the chatroom
Tarō Tanaka: That was strange.
Setton: Yes, it was. I have to go. Later.
Setton has left the chatroom.
What about Solid Mask did you find out? Celty asks Shinra. Shinra smiles nervously.
"You're not going to like this…"
I would just like to say that I'm very thankful for the reviews, favorites, and follows. It means a lot to me, so thank you very much. The reviews were all very nice, and I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this story. ^-^
If you see any mistakes, please go ahead and point them out. I promise to fix them ASAP.