Although it really was faster than running, taking public transportation gave the illusion that he wasn't going fast enough. His mind made him feel as if he should be moving right now. He should be running as fast as he could. However, the rational side of his brain reminded him that he already was traveling much faster than he could run.

It was funny how that worked.

Yet Izaya's thoughts didn't linger on the idea for long. He was focused on getting to Shinra's as quickly as possible.

Once the next stop for Ikebukuro approached, Izaya stood by the doors, anticipating their opening. He felt the train begin to slow, his muscles growing increasingly tense as it slowed.

The doors seemed to take hours to open and once they finally did, Izaya had to push his way past the people that had gathered at the door along with him. He broke into a run the instant he found a clear path.

If he could just get to Shinra's…

If he could just see Shizuo for himself…

Shizuo…

…~-~…

Knock knock knock

Izaya knocked harshly on the door, trying to catch his breath. When he didn't hear anything on the other side, he knocked again.

Knock knock knock

"Coming!" He heard Shinra call from inside.

When the door opened to reveal a slightly confused Shinra, Izaya pushed his way inside, heading directly towards the spare room he knew Shinra always kept patients.

"Izaya!" Shinra said a bit too cheerfully, "Why are you out of breath? Did you run all the way here?"

Izaya opened the door to the spare room, freezing on the spot when he found it was empty. Spinning on his heels, Izaya grabbed Shinra by his stupid white lab coat and pulled him close.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"You mean Shizuo?" Shinra asked, "He's on the couch."

Izaya shoved Shinra aside bursting through the door that divided the hallway from the living area.

He stopped in his tracks at what he saw.

Izaya could only stare, unsure of exactly what he was seeing.

"Ahh, Izaya, I didn't think you'd run all the way here!" Shinra began, "Why don't you sit down!"

Without a word, Izaya turned around, pulled his arm back, and delivered a solid punch to Shinra's face. The force didn't knock him over, but his glasses clattered to the floor.

Because what he saw when he entered the room was Shizuo. Shizuo sitting on the couch and talking to Celty—completely fine other than a few bandages across his left shoulder near his neck.

"Izaya?" Shizuo questioned, standing up from the couch, "What are you doing here?"

Izaya's eyes darted back and forth between Shizuo and Shinra. He couldn't answer Shizuo's question.

"He's here because I told him you were hurt," Shinra finally spoke up.

"What? Really?"

Izaya didn't know what he was feeling when Shizuo seemed to light up upon hearing that.

"Yep," Shinra continued, "And from the looks of it he ran all the way here!"

"Shinra," Izaya said warningly, "Shut up."

"He was out of breath and everything! He ran all the way here to make sure you weren't hurt, right Izaya?"

A primal rage filled Izaya the more Shinra spoke until he finally snapped, shoving the doctor against the wall and pinning him there.

"I wasn't lying on the phone you know," Shinra continued, unfazed by Izaya's anger, "This person really did have better aim. They almost hit his spine! Now that would have been a bit of a mess! Although they were probably aiming for his head... I might have exaggerated the severity of the injury for someone like Shizuo though."

"Izaya…?" Shizuo questioned, taking a step towards him.

"Tch." Izaya roughly released Shinra and spun around, ignoring Shizuo's attempts to get a response from him.

Without another word, Izaya stormed out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

The room was filled with abrupt silence before Shizuo finally spoke up. "Shinra, what did you tell him?"

"I just made things sound a little worse than they really were." Shinra said with a shrug, "I was curious to see what he would do. But it's clear to me now."

"What's clear?" Shizuo pressed when Shinra didn't continue.

"Izaya called me a couple days ago. It seems that he likes you, Shizuo."

Shizuo stood stunned, unsure of how he should react to this news. He wanted to be happy, but he couldn't be sure. Izaya was acting very strange lately.

"Izaya doesn't understand emotions like love." Shinra continued, "He truly doesn't understand what he is feeling and that's why he keeps getting angry. He probably is in love with you, really. It's just a matter of him finally realizing it." Shinra paused, looking Shizuo over once, not missing the glimmer of surprise in his eyes, "But anyway, you should probably go after him. I mean, whoever shot you is still out there, right?"

Those last words seemed to slap him across the face. Instantly he threw on the clean shirt Shinra had let him borrow and rushed to the door.

"Do be careful, Shizuo," Shinra called after him as he began pouring himself a cup of tea, "Izaya is a bit unstable right now. Also don't rip the stitches I just gave you!" he added as Shizuo headed out the door.

…~-~…

Izaya's heart pounded in his chest. All he could hear was the rush of blood as he fled the apartment. Shinra had made him look like a complete idiot, running in expecting to see Shizuo in some horrible condition.

His fist collided with a nearby wall. Rage still rushed through his body despite his attempts to calm himself down. He pressed his forehead against the wall which was still damp from the rain. Izaya let the cool brick sooth his aching head while he focused on his breathing. Gradually, the rushing sound in his head died down and his heart beat slowed to a more normal pace. With one final deep breath, Izaya straightened up and continued walking home.

Mind focused solely on getting home and having a hot cup of tea, Izaya didn't hear the quiet footsteps behind him until they were too close. For a brief moment, he thought it was Shizuo following him; however, before he could turn around, he was shoved to the ground with enough force to leave him breathless and stunned for a moment.

The cold metal against the back of his head accompanied by a soft click was enough to let Izaya know what was happening.

"Stand up," a cold voice said from behind him.

"Hayashi-san," Izaya spat in recognition of the voice of one of the men who had attacked him.

"Shut up. I know you're the one who got my partners in trouble with the Awakusu-kai," Hayashi said, venom dripping in his words, "Put your hands where I can see them," he demanded.

Izaya followed orders, placing his hands on the back of his head. His breathing began to quicken when he was told to walk into the nearby alley, although he slipped on an exterior mask of calm obedience. He turned around to face his attacker, his back against the wall of the alley. Every one of his muscles was tense, ready to defend himself when the opportunity presented itself.

"Keep your hands up!" Hayashi demanded when one of Izaya's hands began to slowly make its way towards his pocket.

Reluctantly, Izaya held both of his hands up in front of him.

"On your knees."

Izaya hesitated, knowing exactly what Hayashi was after. If he didn't find a way out of this, it was likely that Hayashi would kill him once he got what he wanted.

"NOW!"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Izaya maintained confidence in his stance even as he slowly fell to his knees.

"Good boy," Hayashi purred, the sound of it making Izaya feel sick, "Now then, where did we leave off last time, hmm?"

Izaya's stomach flipped, threatening to empty itself as he continued to wait for an opportunity to escape. He would have to disarm Hayashi somehow if he wanted to get away with his life.

Eyes focused on every one of Hayashi's movements, he waited. When Hayashi began to shift his focus to unbuttoning his pants with one hand, Izaya decided it was now or never.

Fear coursed through him when he made the decision to act. With as much force as he could muster, Izaya grabbed hold of Hayashi's right wrist, pushing his arm so that the gun was now pointing at the wall rather than at his head. The sudden force caused Hayashi to stumble slightly so that his back was now facing Izaya. In the same instant, Izaya quickly gripped Hayashi's other wrist and pulled it behind his back while simultaneously kicking Hayashi's legs out from under him.

They both crashed to the ground, Izaya on top of his attacker. He knew he only had a split second to get the gun out of Hayashi's hands, so while he was still stunned from his head smacking into the ground, Izaya let go of his left wrist so that he could bring his left elbow crashing down onto Hayashi's arm. The sudden shock of pain caused his grip on the weapon to loosen enough for Izaya to pull it from his grasp. He then quickly leapt off of Hayashi and out of his reach so that his back was to the opening of the alley—his escape route.

"Fuck," Hayashi hissed when realization of what had just happened hit him.

Izaya wasted no time unloading the gun and letting the bullets fall to the ground. He threw the weapon over his shoulder to completely eliminate the threat.

It took him a moment to realize that something was off. He didn't hear the gun hit the ground. It was decently heavy and should have made a sound when he threw it. Izaya assumed the worst when he spun around only to come face to face with none other than Shizuo who had caught the gun the moment he'd thrown it.

"You almost hit me in the face with that, Flea," Shizuo said with a grin, dropping the gun on the ground.

"Shizu-chan…" Izaya whispered in shock. He had been expecting to see that Hayashi had brought back-up, but seeing Shizuo here instead was a huge relief—even if he was still angry with him and Shinra.

"Y-YOU-!" Hayashi bellowed, pulling himself off the ground.

"Izaya, get behind me," Shizuo said, stepping forward.

Izaya followed Shizuo's instructions, taking advantage of his silent offer to take care of things here. A small smile tugged at his lips when Shizuo landed a solid punch to Hayashi's face, knocking him against the back wall of the alley.

"Shizu-chan," Izaya called from the alley entrance, "Can you tie him up for me?"

"With what?" Shizuo asked.

"Anything."

Nodding, Shizuo tore a piece of iron railing from the fire escape in the back of the alleyway.

Relief filled Izaya as he watched Shizuo wrap one solid iron rod around the man's wrists and another around his legs. He wasn't going anywhere.

Izaya sent a quick text with their current location to Shiki, informing him that Hayashi Ryoichi could be found there. The moment he pressed send, Izaya took one last look at Shizuo who was finishing up tightening the bars around Hayashi's legs.

Slipping his phone back in his pocket Izaya ran.

While he was glad for the assistance, he still didn't feel like facing Shizuo just yet.

So instead of sticking around for a conversation, he ran.

Just like he always had done in the past.