Notes: God it's ridiculous how much work I'm putting off to get this done. I think the reason I'm even writing so fast is because it's a good distraction from work. But it's hard to be worried because I actually managed to fly out despite the snow and am currently enjoying the hot weather here. And I've still managed to find time to write!

I hope you are all having great Christmas holidays like I am. I wanted to put this up for New Years, so it was special, but that failed.

Hope you like the chapter and please review!

Chapter Five

He couldn't say that he was really surprised to see his friend, 'The Headless Rider', waiting in front of Izaya's building when he came downstairs. He sighed, preparing himself for their conversation. Even after finding out the truth he didn't want to involve Celty or Shinra. If they tried to get involved, Nakamura would most likely never reveal where Izaya was. It didn't need to be said that the man probably didn't want anyone outside of Izaya or Shizuo to be involved in this situation.

She was holding her PDA, typing rapidly as she usually did. She looked up as he exited the building and thrust the PDA in his face.

[Namie called Shinra a few minutes ago to ask why you'd broken down Izaya's door, even when you knew he wasn't there.]

He frowned. Celty wouldn't have gotten here so quickly if she'd left just after Namie's call. He'd barely been in the apartment for five minutes:

"Why are you here?"

She typed quickly and he could tell that she was slightly tense.

[Shinra told me about your call. He was worried about Izaya, so I came to check on him.]

"Ah, right." He wasn't exactly sure what to do now. He was in a hurry – considering Izaya's situation it wasn't really a good idea to just stand around making idle chit chat – but he didn't want to just ignore Celty. She was his friend and Izaya's friend too. She deserved to know a little about the situation. But not enough that it would get any of them hurt.

[Shizuo, do you know what's wrong with Izaya? What are you hiding from us?]

He sighed, dropping his cigarette onto the ground. "Izaya's in trouble. He called me a while ago to ask for my help. He's being…held by some guy called Nakamura and the only way he can be released is if I deliver this" – he held up the briefcase – "to Nakamura as soon as possible. I kinda have a time limit."

She stared at him for a minute. Or at least, that's what the action would be if she'd had eyes. But he knew that she was shocked by his admission and he raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to ask. He wasn't going to bring up what she was obviously thinking.

[Why are you helping Izaya? I thought you hated him.]

"I do," he said hurriedly, though the words felt strange on his tongue. "I just…I'm not cruel, you know. I'm not just going to leave him to die."

She nodded in understanding and he smiled genuinely. Celty understood that he wasn't a monster, that he was a sincerely good person who had been unfortunately cursed with uncontrollable strength and a short temper. He liked that she saw him as a human and not as a monster.

Though strangely, knowing this fact didn't give him the soft warmth that he'd felt when Izaya had said those kind words. Maybe it was because Celty had always been his friend, whereas hearing his enemy say it made it more meaningful.

[Let me go with you. This Nakamura guy could be dangerous.]

"No. It's too risky to involve you-" he was cut off by Celty shaking her head fervently.

[I can take care of myself. You know that.]

He chuckled. Of course Celty could take care of herself. He had never doubted her capabilities for even a second. "It's not that. I'm just worried that if Nakamura finds out that I involved you in this, he'll be pissed off enough to…uh…kill Izaya." He'd wanted to say 'never tell me where Izaya's buried' but he had managed to stop himself. He still didn't want anyone to know the truth.

He could tell that his friend was still perplexed by his sudden compassion for Izaya. Sure, he had professed a wish to allow the flea to live, but to go to such lengths to actually help him was puzzling to her. He couldn't blame her for her reactions.

The rider nodded again and typed something into her PDA. Shizuo glanced around, grimacing when he couldn't spot a taxi in sight. The address Nakamura had given wasn't that far, but he didn't want to waste any time walking to the location. Especially if Izaya happened to be buried somewhere particularly far – that would be a problem.

He glanced at the PDA:

[Can I at least give you a ride there?]

Now there was an idea…

"All right, I guess that would be fine. But park out of sight, yeah? I don't want Nakamura to see you and get mad."

- 0 –

- 0 -

The address was a medium-sized apartment building, maybe eight floors at the most. It was a modernized building, much like Izaya's apartment building, and clearly only meant for people with a lot of money. Shizuo wouldn't be able to afford this place in a million years and he knew it.

Celty stopped a few blocks away, not wanting to alert anyone to her presence. She had driven faster than ever, sensing Shizuo's urgency and after a few close calls they'd arrived without incident or accident, and most importantly without alerting the authorities.

He thanked Celty for driving him to the place and she tapped on her PDA:

[I'll wait here for you.]

She wouldn't change her mind even though he tried to convince her otherwise. Then again, he hadn't spent much time convincing her. Time was already being wasted and every time he thought of Izaya waiting in that coffin, clueless as to what was happening, he felt a surge of guilt for not being faster.

He hurriedly said goodbye to his friend and ran to the apartment, nearly bowling over a young teenage girl in his hurry. Then he flew up the stairs to the sixth floor, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. He stopped at apartment 613 – what he assumed was Nakamura's apartment or the apartment of someone he knew - and knocked on the door impatiently.

For a few seconds no one answered and he wondered whether in his rush he'd read the numbers wrong. He took out a cigarette, lit it and was about to reach into his pocket to take out the note when the door opened and a man in a suit glared down at him. The man was tall, at least two meters tall, and well built. Shizuo immediately tensed as if he sensed an attack and lifted up the briefcase slightly, either to protect it or use it as a weapon.

He could take this man, who was obviously a bodyguard, but he didn't want to waste time. Fortunately the man spoke before Shizuo drew the wrong conclusions and attacked:

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm Shizuo. I'm here to deliver the suitcase to Nakamura," he said, lifting up the case for the man to see. The man's eyes settled on the suitcase, then on his hair. He obviously recognized Shizuo and nodded, opening the door. Shizuo was surprised to see that even after identifying himself the man didn't seem to fear him in any way. Even some of the strongest people showed apprehension when they came face to face with Heiwajima Shizuo, with the exception of Simon and Izaya who wasn't so much strong as he was dangerous.

Shizuo entered the apartment slowly, still unsure of an attack. He braced himself when the bodyguard reached up-

Fuck, is he going to attack me?

-and plucked the cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Nakamura-sama doesn't like people smoking in his apartment," he said flatly. Shizuo clenched his fists but said nothing, walking straight to the sofa and seating himself down. "Don't touch anything and don't move anything. Nakamura-sama will be with you in a few minutes. He's busy taking a call." He left, most likely to go inform Nakamura of Shizuo's presence.

Meanwhile, Shizuo lit another cigarette and began smoking it, half because he needed one and half in defiance. "No smoking, my ass." Then he picked up his phone to make a quick call to Izaya, making sure that no one was in earshot.

Izaya picked up immediately:

"Shizu-chan? Where are you right now?"

"I'm at Nakamura's place, waiting for him. He's taking a call right now."

"Che, like hell he is. Probably just wants to make us squirm. I hope he hurries up – it's starting to get very unpleasant in here."

"Wasn't it unpleasant before?" Shizuo asked, slightly amused. From the way Izaya was talking, no one would have guessed he was in a coffin. He didn't seem to act like he was buried several feet underground with the possibility of suffocation looming over him. It was so like Izaya to pretend that he wasn't bothered, that this was all just a game to him and he was still in control.

"It's more so at this point, because my legs are getting cramped. I don't think this is fair, Shizu-chan. In my opinion you should be the one buried in this coffin while I deliver the suitcase to Nakamura."

Shizuo snorted. "As if you would have done anything like that, flea. Unlike me, you would have just let me die and celebrated having another nuisance out of your life." There was no bitterness attached to this statement, strangely enough. Maybe because he hoped Izaya would contradict him.

"That's not true. If I wanted to kill you I would have preferred to see you run over by a bus. It's no fun if I can't be there to witness it, ne, Shizu-chan?"

They were talking as if they were old friends, as if they bantered playfully on a regular basis. The topic of their conversation may have seemed disturbing to an outsider, but for the two of them it was perfectly natural. The only difference was that there was no hatred underlining their voices. Shizuo was having fun.

"Hey, flea, you owe me one now, right?"

"…what do you mean?"

"Well, I'm pretty much saving your life here, aren't I? So I think that you owe me a little something in return."

"Shizu-chan, how naughty. I never realized you felt that way-" Izaya began teasingly and Shizuo flushed, his mind suddenly bombarded with uncomfortable images.

"That's not what I mean!" he interrupted quickly, embarrassed. Izaya laughed and he smothered a grin, though he refused to show the other that he was also amused. "I want you to stop deliberately trying to piss me off and make me hurt people. That's all. No more sending gang members after me, no more randomly attacking me and stuff like that. I want you to promise."

Izaya, who was recovering from his small laughing fit, answered: "Heh, well if that's what you want, then that's what you'll get."

"Seriously?"

"As long as you stop trying to kill me whenever you see me. I think it's only fair."

"Fine," Shizuo agreed reluctantly. He didn't want to admit it, but the adrenaline-filled chases where he tried to destroy Izaya were a strange form of entertainment. Sure, they pissed him off to no end, but they were a good way of blowing off steam. Now he'd have to find some other violent outlet to let go of his anger. "It's a deal."

The door to the room where the bodyguard had disappeared into opened and Shizuo quickly muttered a good-bye to Izaya, hanging up the phone and stuffing it into his pocket quickly. It wasn't quick enough and he noticed a smirk on Nakamura's face:

"Ah, Heiwajima-san. I assume that was Orihara-san on the other end of the line." His voice was smug and Shizuo wanted to punch the man in the face. He settled on gripping his knees as hard as possible, feeling his nails digging into his skin. "How is the informant? Feeling any regret for his actions yet?"

Shizuo didn't answer, gritting his teeth.

"The one flaw in my plan was that I wasn't able to observe Izaya in his suffering. But perhaps it's more fun to let my imagination run wild," Nakamura said thoughtfully, speaking more to himself than to Shizuo.

"Look, can we get on with this?" Shizuo snarled.

"My, my, we're in a hurry, aren't we? I'm surprised, Heiwajima-san. I expected you to leave the informant to perish. I assumed that you were enemies."

"We are," he corrected hurriedly. "But I'm not a monster, unlike you. I don't see the fun in letting Izaya suffocate several feet underground while I sit back doing nothing." He pushed the suitcase roughly towards the man, wanting to get this done. Nakamura was acting without a sense of urgency, as if his captive weren't running out of time. As if he weren't holding another human being's life in the palm of his hand. It pissed Shizuo off something fierce and it took all of his effort not to reach over and beat the living daylights out of the man. "Where did you bury Izaya?"

Nakamura stared at the suitcase for a long time, his expression unreadable. Slowly he reached out and opened the case, revealing the money tied in neat bundles. He reached out and picked up a bundle, still silent.

Shizuo felt a strange sensation growing in his stomach – a very unpleasant sensation. He wasn't sure whether Nakamura's silence or his blank face caused the feeling.

He repeated the question:

"Nakamura-san. Where did you bury Izaya?"

"I have to admit, Heiwajima-san…I foresaw the small possibility that you helped Izaya. But to me, it really didn't matter whether you delivered the suitcase or not," Nakamura said, frowning slightly. His voice was distant, his thoughts obviously far away.

"What do you mean?" Shizuo asked slowly. The former drug dealer looked up, a light smirk on his face.

"What I mean is that I never intended to let Izaya go. I will take this secret to the grave with me, excuse the pun." He laughed lightly. "You should leave now, and forget this ever happened. You'll never find him."

And Shizuo's entire world exploded in red.