Izaya had made it out of the brothel in one piece. By the time he had sprinted through the heavy doors, he'd even managed to pull on his clothes. He had been sure the beast would come tearing through the streets after him at any moment. He had laughed, high on exhilaration as adrenaline had pumped through his sated body, tingling across his skin. He'd found the closest fire escape and nimbly leaped toward the rooftops. Once the wind had been in his hair and the city beneath him, Izaya had felt complete—fully, entirely, and wholly complete in a way that he never had been before. He'd had the wild thought that this, what they'd just done and the thrill afterward, had been what he and Shizuo had been heading for all along. He'd seen it then, that it was an unexpected level in the game they'd been playing. The possibilities had seemed endless as his mind rushed through all the new ways he could play with Shizuo, on and off the streets of Ikebukuro. It had such beautiful, perfect symmetry, that he, who stood above humans, and Shizu, the beast below, would meet in the middle. It was even more fitting that the beast would be chained, ready for Izaya. So, he had giggled and clapped his hands in glee as he sped back toward his apartment, wondering how long it would take Shizuo to catch up.
As it turned out, it would take quite awhile.
Izaya waited and planned. Shizuo did not come ripping through his door, barreling into his home with eyes ablaze and fists clenched. He did not come that night, nor did he come the next day.
It was perplexing, but that just made it even more fun. An unexpected reaction from Shizuo? Izaya hadn't gotten one of those since he'd first discovered the beast. So, Izaya waited some more, and he planned some more, setting out the game board to his liking. With just a little nudging of pieces in the right direction, he discovered the source of the brothel's specialty chains, and he ordered some for himself. He discovered the name of the brothel's proprietor, then he discovered the weaknesses of the brothel's proprietor, then he arranged for the brothel's proprietor to be very thoroughly blackmailed into never, even letting anyone provide for Heiwajima Shizuo's needs again. He secured access to employee files and client bookings, tracked down the handful whose names had appeared beside "Heiwajima—Room 12," and conducted some very in-depth and enlightening interviews. The proprietor was cowed, the chains were installed, and new information danced around Izaya's head, but, still, Shizuo did not come to visit.
Days later, Izaya was left to spin idly in his chair, ignoring his work entirely. He'd sent Namie home for the week, not wanting her to distract him, so his apartment was empty. The board was set and ready, but Izaya had so much more he wanted to know. He couldn't just wait.
What had Shizuo done after Izaya had left? Had he pulled the chains out of the wall in anger? Had he been rendered immobile by shock? Had he had to wait for some employee to come unchain him, just lie there with the memory of Izaya's body all over him? Had he run home, embarrassed and angry enough to take out his rage on everyone who so much as walked in his path? Would there be fewer available beds in hospital because of it? Because of Izaya? There were just so many possibilities of what might have happened, what could happen, and what Izaya could make happen.
Izaya spun himself back to face his computer and began pulling up windows. He was tired of just waiting around for Shizuo, and it was time to satisfy his curiosity.
A few minutes later and with embarrassing ease, he tapped into the brothel's security network. It was quite pitiful really, considering that it was renowned for its discretion. There were only cameras in the halls, of course, but they gave Izaya something to start with. He sped through the files until he found the right hall on the right day. First, he saw himself tear out of the room at top-speeds. Izaya frowned. He didn't want to look at himself. He sped through. Soon, he saw an employee approach the door, but they hesitated as they stood outside. They approached the door, but just as they were about to turn the knob, they suddenly jumped and drew back. Izaya wished the footage had audio. After a few seconds, they ran away. A few minutes more, and the door flew open regardless. Shizuo stalked out, fully clothed. His head was bent low and his body was hunched over. His hands hung by his sides, empty and unclenched—not a position Izaya often saw them in. Izaya watched the blond head disappear around the corner, then pulled up the next camera, then the next, following Shizuo all the way through the twisting halls and out the entrance. He never looked up, not once.
It wasn't quite right. It was odd and wrong. Shizuo's hunched frame looked smaller, less imposing, less monstrous. He looked like a perfectly normal, ordinary in every way human, making their way through life in a state of abject misery. But Shizuo wasn't one of his humans, was he?
Izaya sped back to the original camera footage and watched until more employees entered the empty room Shizuo had abandoned. After awhile, a few more people entered the room, but they were dressed in overalls and carried tools, unlike the first group that had been well-dressed in business attire. Izaya sped through a few hours, watching as the workers removed bits and pieces from the room: twisted metal, broken pieces of plaster, splintered wood.
Izaya smiled. This made much more sense. Such a beast, he thought, rampaging as usual.
Still, he couldn't shake the image of Shizuo's slumped shoulders and empty hands. He couldn't forget how his eyes had looked with Izaya had uncovered them, or how his body had trembled under Izaya's touch. His monster certainly was having interesting reactions these days. Perhaps Izaya needed to experiment with him a bit more?
So, he headed for Ikebukuro, stopping only to acquire a few essential pieces for his game. He idly monitored online chatter on the area, looking for any clues to Shizuo's exact whereabouts, but he didn't look into the matter too deeply.
Once he crossed over into what Shizuo seemed to think was his territory, Izaya began to skip merrily along. He felt positively energized with anticipation and curiosity.
He skipped, then he hopped, then he walked, all while thinking about what Shizuo might do when he found him. He could just throw a stop sign or vending machine at him as usual, but would he blush while doing it? Would he waiver? Izaya briefly imagined the scene: locking eyes across the street as the sunset glittered off nearby buildings, Shizuo instinctively ripping up the nearest piece of municipal property in rage, pausing as the memories played out, causing a flush to spread across his face that would match the rosy glow of the sinking sun—but then what? Would he turn and run away, unable to face him? Would he come at Izaya with new levels of fury, foregoing the makeshift weapon in favor of trying to get his hands on him? Would onlookers gape? Would they guess? Izaya's eyes glittered as his mind brought each scenario to life—Tom's shocked expression, Erika's excited interpretations, Kadota's thoughtful glances. What fun it would be!
Izaya could hardly wait.
When he finally found Shizuo, it wasn't quite like he'd imagined it. Instead of exchanging significant glares across the street before engaging, he practically stumbled upon him as he sat on a park bench, smoking a cigarette as he stared intensely at the ground.
Izaya froze mid-hop and had to spin on his heel to face the familiar blond head. He skipped forward so that he was only a few feet in front of him, then leaned down, waiting.
At first, nothing happened, but, after a moment, Shizuo finally addressed him.
"I know you're there, flea. Leave me alone, will you?" he said as he continued to stare at the ground.
"Oh, Shizu-chan, you must know better than that. Haven't I given you enough time?" Izaya asked, teasing and he broke into a grin, "and besides, you seemed to enjoy my presence the last time we met."
"Go away," Shizuo repeated. Izaya saw his fingers clench around his cigarette.
Feeling particularly bold, Izaya dared to reach out to lightly stroke the side of Shizuo's face with a finger. He didn't get very far before the blond swatted him away, making Izaya stumble to regain his balance. Still, Shizuo didn't look up.
"Aw, now I see why they have to keep you locked up in all those chains. You really don't know how to play nice, do you?"
Shizuo abruptly bent his cigarette in half, dropped it to the ground, and stood up, momentarily towering over Izaya as he remained bent over. From his lower perspective, he could briefly see Shizuo's face. His eyes were clenched tightly shut as he bared his teeth to warn Izaya once more.
"Go away, Izaya," he growled out slowly.
Izaya knew he was treading into dangerous territory, but that was hardly going to stop him. Instead of backing off, reached his hand into his pocket, and straightened up, making more room between them.
He put on his best smile, waggled his finger at Shizuo, and said, "Tut, tut, Shizu-chan, that's not very nice at all."
Izaya hadn't noticed before, how much fun it was to watch as Shizuo's muscles tightened and clenched up his arm as he grew angrier.
He ignored his body's instinctive desire to jump back or run away, and, instead, he lined up for his final move and stepped into the space right in front of Shizuo. They were only inches away now.
He stood up on his tiptoes and pulled his hand out of his pocket, bringing with it one of the items he'd picked up on his way. It was a metal collar, lined with red velvet. He draped it loosely around Shizuo's neck.
As he did, he leaned close to whisper into Shizuo's ear, "I guess you still need to be kept on a short leash, don't you?"
As the velvet and metal touched his bare neck and Izaya's breath blew against his ear, Shizuo froze. Izaya had never seen him so still. It was entirely, delightfully new.
He smirked as he stepped back a few paces, out of reach.
He paused and watched as Shizuo came back to himself, breath by breath. Slowly, the blond reached up to his neck and with quaking hands he seized the collar that lay on his neck. Finally, he looked up at Izaya, rage glinting in his eyes, an angry pulse throbbing through his veins.
Izaya giggled as he sprang away from the first swipe and prepared to start the chase. This will be fun, he thought, leaping onto a parked car and using it as a stepping stone toward a nearby building. Shizuo was coming after him with all of his renewed rage, but, even as he swung signs, threw trash cans, destroyed property, and promised death, Izaya's mind caught on one tiny, itty-bitty, but oh so important detail—the collar hadn't been thrown or destroyed. It was perfectly safe because Shizuo had tucked it safely into his pocket.
The next day (following a night of being chased around Ikebukuro, wind blowing through his hair as as he and Shizuo created havoc and mayhem through the streets), Izaya lounged by his bed, lazily twirling one of the new chains that hung above him with one hand while he browsed through chat rooms with the other.
Messages were coming in fast succession:
[Did you see that Shizuo and Izaya last night! It was crazy! I almost got killed! It's good to see Shizuo back to his usual self though. I was worried about him!]
[Aww, so sweet, chaos returns to the streets of Ikebukuro after its resident man of legendary strength takes the week off to brood, forlornly!]
[Ohh! He just needed his Izaya to give him his spark back! I knew it!]
The chats went on and on like that for quite some time as residents took the chance to express their worries about Shizuo and excitement that he was back to his usual self. He'd been avoiding people's eyes all week and spending most of his time smoking on a park bench when he wasn't trailing after Tom for work. A couple of dumb kids had followed him around trying to pick a fight, but he'd only shove them aside if they got in his way, leaving them to stand bewildered as he passed rather than terrified as they were launched into the stratosphere.
It was fascinating, of course—what was Shizuo doing? Contemplating? Brooding? It would be interesting to know more, but Izaya had some other games to play, and it looked like Shizuo was going to need a little more motivation.
A few hours later, Izaya was once again roaming the streets of Ikebukuro, thinking about how he might approach Shizuo this time. Would they resume their chase with the exchange of thrown blades and street signs? Would Izaya be able to make him bleed first, so that his blood would mark their path around the city? A part of him wondered if Shizuo would simply turn away from him, ignore him like he'd been ignoring everyone all week.
After some mostly fruitless wandering (only mostly because, at the very least, he'd managed to cause a fight between two friends and convince a girl that her boyfriend was cheating on her while he meandered), Izaya finally found Shizuo on a relatively secluded park bench, again staring at the ground as he chain smoked a pack of cigarettes. It was unusual that Izaya have so many opportunities to simply watch him without stirring up a reaction with his mere presence. He looked so normal, just sitting and smoking as his blond hair shone brightly in the sun and ruffled in the breeze. His long, lean legs were bent, causing the fabric of his pants to pull against his thighs. Izaya couldn't stand it. It's not right for a beast to take the form of a human, he thought to himself. He'd have to correct it immediately.
Rather than approach slowly, Izaya leaped forward and launched himself at Shizuo, deftly landing to straddle his lap. As he did, the cigarette tumbled to the ground as Shizuo startled looked up and directly into Izaya's red eyes.
"Hey, Shizu-chan, do you remember this?" he asked brightly.
Shizuo just stared, wide-eyed as his face lit up with a red blush.
"Aw, don't look so scared! I know you love it," Izaya said. To emphasize his point, he ground down against Shizuo's crouch and shimmied his hips a bit.
Shizuo inhaled sharply and his hands moved to grip Izaya's hips, squeezing tight. They didn't try to move him or hold him in place though—it felt more like they were holding on for support as Izaya felt Shizuo harden beneath him.
"Naughty Shizu-chan!" Izaya scolded as he dropped his own hands down to pull on Shizuo's wrists. Surprisingly, the man of legendary strength acquiesced and allowed Izaya to push each arm against the bench.
"Now, that's much better, isn't?"
Izaya ground down again and continued to stare deeply into Shizuo's eyes, which began to look glazed as he continued his movement. His head soon tilted back, baring his pale throat to Izaya.
Izaya laughed, stopped his teasing motions, and abruptly let go of Shizuo's arms so that he could clap in delight.
"You really are just like a beast! Does this mean you're submitting to me?"
Shizuo's head snapped forward and his refocused into a glare as he opened his mouth, no doubt to issue some threat against Izaya's life.
Quickly, Izaya reached into his pocket and pulled out another gift he'd picked up. He stretched the black cloth between his hands and placed it over Shizuo's eyes, leaning close as he did.
"Oh? Is that really how you feel?" Izaya whispered into his ear as he ground into Shizuo's crotch one final time before releasing the cloth and pushing himself backwards off of Shizuo's lap.
He sat there for a moment, just long enough for the silky black material to flutter gently into his lap. Then, he sprung into motion and and leaped for Izaya, starting the chase anew, promising more death and more destruction and, for Izaya, more fun.
And, again, Izaya's clever red eyes caught the one little detail he needed to know that this game was getting more and more interesting everyday because, again, Shizuo shoved Izaya's gift safely into his pocket.