I know this chapter seems 100% unrelated to chapter 1, but bear with me...
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For what seemed like the millionth time that night, Shizuo's phone was ringing. Except that it wasn't really ringing so much as singing Tarako obnoxiously. Damn Shinra had programmed the horrific ringtone onto his phone as his idea of a joke, which wouldn't have been so bad if Shizuo had any idea how to set it back to its original tone. He held the small electronic irritation in one hand, contemplating just smashing the thing and buying a new one the next day. The only thing stopping him was the fact that he was expecting a call from Tom, and if he was any one thing, he was a loyal friend.
He glanced at the number - unknown - flashing across the lit up screen. If it wasn't one thing it was another... This particular number (or so he assumed was the same anonymous person) had been pestering him nonstop the last several hours. He had answered a few times, patience running thinner with each response. Silence had been the only retort, every time. He doubted this time would be any different, but if nothing else, answering it would stop that dreaded ringtone. One finger, shaky with anger, hit the answer button. "What?"
At first, there was nothing. Yet again. Static buzzed quietly in the background like silent laughter. Shizuo was just about to yell some obscenity into the receiver when a voice finally spoke. "Shizu-chan, is that how you answer the phone? So impolite."
"I...za...ya?" Of course it was him. Who else would it have been, after all? Shizuo fumed. "You've been calling me this whole time?" A red glow was beginning to appear on the bleached blonde's face as infuriation surged.
He could almost hear the dismay in the other boy's voice as Shizuo spoke. "Aren't you happy to hear from me?"
"Why...would that make me happy?"
"Don't be mean." Despite being physically separated from each other, Shizuo could just see Izaya's pout from the other line of the phone. It made him wish the two were closer to one another so he could punch that obnoxious expression right off the other boy's face.
At some point in the past, Shizuo had come up with a nickname for his adversary. While "flea" sounded trite to the common observer, it actually fit the little runt in more ways than just his diminutive stature. Izaya was a parasite. Biting and sucking the life out of everyone he came into contact with like some kind of deranged vampire. For the most part, his bites were mostly just an annoyance. A sharp prick that causes one to smack at their skin repeatedly in hopes of smashing the perpetrator. And I've tried, Izaya thought. Fleas are harder to smash than they look. But the problem with parasites is that, sometimes, they take you down. Enough tiny bites add up to a lot of missing blood, infected like poison. People who spent a lot of time with Izaya tended to eventually disappear.
"What the hell do you even want?" Shizuo asked, rubbing his temples slowly, eyes closed behind shaded glasses. The tension of the evening was beginning to become unbearable.
The voice on the other end took no time at all to reply, as if he had been waiting with baited breath to submit his invitation. "To have dinner with you, Shizu-chan. You haven't eaten yet?"
"Uh..." Shizuo's mouth was a perfect outline of confusion.
Without waiting for him to answer, Izaya continued. "Russian Sushi. You know the place. Be there at 9:00."
The phone went dead, the informant clearly having said everything he meant to say. Shizuo simply stared down at the cell, unable to even comprehend what was going on. What could he possibly want?
Several seconds went by before the phone lit up again and began cheerfully singing Tarako again. The name in the caller ID identified the individual as Tom Tanaka. Shizuo hit end without even answering. Tom could wait. This was worth checking out, if only for the chance to finally get Izaya alone and crush the little flea.