A distinct chill had settled in the air by the time Izaya left Shinra's, and it was raining heavily. This, however, did nothing to diminish the chaos of Ikebukuro's streets. The human sea was as constant as ever, if not more turbulent as stony faced commuters fought to open their umbrellas against the tide of impatient flâneurs fighting towards shelter. Whilst most citizens of Tokyo saw rain as a necessary inconvenience, it was Izaya's favourite weather, and ironically one of the best times to observe people. It was easy to spend longer examining individuals when they were distracted by rainfall and the agitated crowds. Looking on the streets from above with the wind around him made Izaya feel positively godlike, the image of the people below holding umbrellas above their heads reminiscent of ants carrying leaves. There was truly nothing better than practising his favourite hobby to the heightened scent of cherry blossoms mingling with raindrops. The city seemed so much more vivid, his senses sharper to the aroma of food wafting from restaurants, smoke from exhaust pipes, people's misery…but he couldn't savour it, not today. Not when every miserable face he saw reflected his own. Today he'd never felt more human, and it both panicked and disgusted him.
The Awakusu-kai's office was only two blocks away from Izaya's current location, and he found himself slowing down unnecessarily, feeling the cold of the rain seeping through his clothing as he attempted to prolong the journey. A meeting with Shiki Haruya was about as appealing to Izaya as having a fight with Shizu-chan, which came number one on his list of the-most-unappealing-things-that-could-possibly-happen-this-afternoon. It'd been two and a half weeks since Izaya had last seen Shizuo, which was an awfully long time considering they usually fought three or four times a week. Even on the days where Izaya didn't see Shizuo, he still found himself thinking about him, whether this thought was facilitated by examining the chronically unhealthy state of Shizuo's bank balance or by reading Kasuka's personal email. Izaya knew that Shizuo didn't own a laptop - probably for fear of breaking it with his uncontrollable rage - but keeping an eye on Kasuka's schedule gave him an idea of Shizuo's whereabouts. Shizuo gravitated towards wherever Kasuka was filming, despite the fact that Kasuka's itinerary was too packed for more than a fifteen minute lunch break, let alone for a coffee (or milkshake) with his troublesome older brother.
Izaya knew that he spent more time trifling through Shizuo's online affairs than was healthy, however, this activity wasn't limited to Shizuo and Kasuka. Sometimes he hacked his sister's private chat room messages too. He wasn't sure why he did it, and had never thought it important to until Namie caught him in the act.
"Hahaha! I can't believe it!" Namie clutched her chest, tears welling in her eyes as she leant over the back of Izaya's desk chair. "You're actually lonely enough to hack your own sisters' email accounts!"
Izaya's face went completely blank for a fraction of a second before dark amusement took control of his features, red eyes and white teeth glinting dangerously as he fixed Namie with the type of smile that one might expect to see at the Oscars, when a musician had lost to another and was forced to publicly congratulate them.
"And I can't believe that my incredibly adept secretary would make such a ridiculous assumption! Well, I suppose that's why information digging ismycareer and not yours." He flapped his hand carelessly, as though dismissing Namie's 'joke', but the edge of bitterness showing through his mask said otherwise.
"Hacking accounts is necessary to obtain information, Namie, whether or not the accounts belong to family members. Loneliness has nothing to do with information".
Namie rolled her eyes and grinned sadistically. "It does if it's about hotpot parties."
Izaya smirked. It was so cute that Namie still thought that she could get to him. I mean, really, who would want to eat hotpot in the company of monsters, high school kids and an illegal doctor anyway?
He began to scan the screen, reasoning with himself that he needed to see if the twins were in any trouble that could impact him. He knew that the twins were mingling with Aoba, and that Aoba's position in the Blue Squares could affect the twin's safety if they weren't careful. Whilst Izaya was all for manipulating gangs, he didn't want to be held responsible for any damage inadvertently caused to his sisters by him pulling the strings.
[[Kyo]] Aoba asked me about Iza-nii in Biology class today.
{{San}} Oooh? Did you say anything to him?
{{San}} What was he asking?
[[Kyo]] He was asking if I knew anything about Iza-nii's connection to Ryuugamine Mikado, but I don't know who he is so I said no.
{{San}} Iza-nii knows so many people!
{{San}} But he hasn't been around for a while… we haven't seen him for a month, right?
[[Kyo]] I think it's been that long. Shizuo-san said that he hasn't seen him around much lately either.
{{San}} Haha, and we know he never passes on the opportunity to see Shizuo-san ;)
[[Kyo]] ...Do you think he's okay? Maybe he's sick.
{{San}} I hope so! Then we can bring his dead body to Shizuo-san and meet Hanejima Yuuhei :D Shizuo-san would be so happy he'd let us meet with Yuuhei-chan as much as we wanted!
Izaya read the words a few times before slamming his screen shut with a bitter laugh. He laughed and laughed all the way to his room, his eyes tearing up he was laughing so hard.
[[Kyo]] Yes...but still, something isn't right.
[[Kyo]] I'm worried.
Izaya shook his head, struggling to wipe the memory from his mind. He was glad that there were no lamp posts around, or he might have become as bestial as Shizuo and started taking his anger out on an inanimate object.
He'd arrived at the Awakusu-kai base on autopilot. After announcing his arrival over the intercom, he was ushered through the main office door to a black leather sofa in a highly polished room by two security guards. Shiki was already sat on the sofa opposite with a pot of tea, waiting. Security guard one made to take Izaya's coat, but Izaya immediately raised a hand to say no. The wet fur brushing against his neck wasn't a particularly pleasant feeling, but he didn't like the thought of being one pocket knife down - and attempting to extract it from his coat whilst handing it over to the guard would be too risky an endeavour.
"Informant-san, how nice of you to join us." Shiki gestured towards one of the security guards, who immediately left the room in search of a towel for Izaya's hair.
"Apologies for my late arrival, Shiki-san. What can I do for you today?" Izaya took a seat on the sofa, crossing one leg over the other and resting his hands on his lap in a dignified position indicative of calm and control - the complete contrary to the raging thoughts in periphery of his mind.
"I do not condone lateness, Informant-san. I don't expect it to happen again."
"Of course not, Shiki-san."
Shiki nodded curtly, taking the towel from the security guard and handing it to Izaya.
"Why don't you let Hyuuga-san here take your coat Informant-san? You're getting the couch wet."
"Well, if I must be honest, I'm a little chilly."
Izaya smiled lightly, pulling his coat more tightly around himself as if to emphasize his point. Shiki's eyes glittered as they met Izaya's dead on. An analytical person by nature, Shiki was similarly talented at observing human behaviour and using it to his own benefit. He knew where to put his knife, and where to dig it in. Perhaps this was the reason that Izaya had been so drawn to him in his younger days. There was no denying that Izaya had learnt a lot from Shiki, or that his behaviour had been influenced by Shiki's - but whilst Shiki took a quiet, collected interest in things, Izaya's was fervid and dangerously excessive. It was this fixational, intense aspect of his personality that made Orihara Izaya stand apart from others - for he was willing to endanger both himself and others to indulge in his objects of obsession.
There were lots of things in and about Orihara Izaya's life that 'normal' people would find shocking. Not only shocking, but unconventional enough to leave them horrified, disturbed and terror stricken. The alive but preserved head concealed on his bookshelf would be one of them, as would the fact that the head belonged to the 'girlfriend' of his unwitting best friend. His rather impressive collection of meticulously polished knives, and a thick book on psychological torture methods nestled in the same drawer were also symptomatic of his moral deviance. Izaya was also the only person in Ikebukuro who, instead of avoiding Heiwajima Shizuo as if his life depended on it, actively sought him out, which - alongside the elevated prognosis of mortal danger - spurred him to carry four pocket knives with him at all times.
"Hmpfh! I knew that you were obsessed with knives, but is your bond with them really that impenetrable?"
The security guards immediately looked on edge, clearly alarmed that their body search had not found any weapons (even if the individual that they were searching was Orihara Izaya), but Shiki only signalled for them to move closer to the door. The guards acquiesced, and from Izaya's position, you couldn't see their location unless you turned your body around completely.
"Well then Informant-san, where was I?"
Shiki frowned, clearly distracted by Izaya's bedraggled appearance.
"You can take your coat off and put it on the sofa beside you if you prefer - wearing it when it's that damp can't be comfortable."
Izaya sighed, seeing that Shiki was going to keep pestering about it, and lacking the energy to argue with him every time. He slid the coat off his shoulders and placed it neatly on the seat beside him, moving forwards slightly to do so, and not resuming his previous position until he realized that he looked as though he was about to take off any second. His expression did not falter as he settled back, watching with disinterest as Shiki's eyes roved over his body, drinking in his slight shoulders and pronounced clavicles.
"I should have known your request had nothing to do with my comfort."
Shiki ignored him, taking a sip of his tea leisurely.
"You've lost weight, Informant-san. I hope you've been looking after yourself properly?"
Izaya snorted. "I'm as healthy as ever, Shiki-san, now can we please get to the topic in hand?"
"As you wish. Well then, there's a particular case that I would like to assign to you today. It seems that there have been disappearances of several high-school girls from around the area, and other girls of a similar age who are outside of the education system. We suspect that their disappearances are related to the formation of a new, shall we say, 'exclusive' club called Amphisbaena."
"Amphisbaena?" Of course, Izaya knew the name, having founded the group himself, but he refused to reveal his association.
"Have you heard of it before?"
"I think I have - correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't they the gambling group that became quite prominent years ago?"
"Hmm, I believe so. However, from the information that we have, the gambling aspect is now just a guise. We have reason to believe that the group are involved in human trafficking, and that the missing girls are being sexually exploited for commercial gain. In short, that they have been forced into prostitution by Amphisbaena. Your task is to find out the truth, and report back in no more than a week."
"Understood." Izaya stood up and turned to leave, but Shiki's voice stopped him.
"Ah, Informant-san, do you know anything about the leader's or leader of Amphisbaena from when they initially rose to prominence?" Shiki paused, standing and moving closer towards Izaya.
"Rumour has it that it was formed by a middle-schooler at Raijin Academy. Interestingly, at about the time that you were in middle-school."
Izaya swallowed carefully, turning to face Shiki-san again.
"I don't know anything about it."
"Hmm, but you do know, Informant-san, that if you aren't careful some of the things that you get yourself involved in might come back to bite you." Shiki's hand closed around Izaya's shoulder, detaining him there awkwardly. He brought his lips closer to Izaya's ear, his hot breath brushing over it as he whispered: "Why don't you stay here for the night? You haven't for a while…"
Izaya pulled away from Shiki and collected his coat, smiling as he left.
"For exactly the reason that you just gave, Shiki-san."
[You look pleased with yourself, Shinra.]
"Ahh, Celty, my darling! I am pleased with myself, and even more pleased now that you're home!" Shinra rushed to embrace Celty, grinning with the sort of manic euphoria that would make people think he'd been consuming large amounts of his own morphine.
[What happened?]
"Nothing much, Orihara-san just came over to ask for some sleeping medication, and I got one-up on him for once."
[That's unusual...]
"Celty!" Shinra whined, pulling at her arms "That's so mean!"
[I just saw him myself now. He didn't even notice me.]
"Huh? Orihara-san didn't notice the Black Rider?! Well, I guess it's less work for you."
[He didn't look so good. You said he came for sleeping pills?]
"Yeah, but I didn't give them to him - who knows what he's going to do with them."
[He hasn't been in Ikebukuro for a while. Maybe there really is something wrong with him?]
"Hmpfh. Well, it's been a lot more peaceful without him - and I haven't had to patch him or Shizuo up every few days."
[Did you ask him why he hasn't been here?]
"No, and he probably wouldn't tell the truth anyway. I couldn't have got anything out of him, he was only focused on getting those tablets."
[I think there really is something wrong...maybe you've been a little harsh on him?]
{{San}} Maybe you're right...