Shizuo was dumbfounded. Izaya's secretary was pale, as if she could barely stand. As if she was about to faint. And then, there was Izaya, cast on his hand, and suitcase in the other.

"You couldn't have picked a worse time, really," Izaya said and tried to walk by, but Shizuo stopped him.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"I missed the part where that's your business."

And Shizuo had nothing to say to that. Why was he interested, after all? They were enemies. They hated each other. Izaya was like a demon from hell, constantly ruining his life. And yet, Shizuo didn't want to be a monster, like the flea always called him. He wanted to be normal, he'd gladly give up his strength if it meant blending in. He always tried to be calm, to help people, not to harm them. But seeing Izaya's cast only made him feel like he was right about him.

Shizuo had grown tired of fighting. He'd always think of himself as Hercules, who was fighting Cerberus. But he was done.

"So? Will you let me pass?" Izaya's voice stopped his trail of thought.

Shizuo looked at him and said the first thing that came to his mind, "What if Hercules refused to fight Cerberus?"

Both Izaya and his secretary looked at him like he was insane.

"I-I mean, I'm not here to fight!"

And Izaya burst out laughing, "I must admit, not only is this comparison silly, but it's also oddly accurate."

Deep down, he always knew Shizuo wasn't a monster. But he had to make sense of his Vision somehow. Why would Shizuo kill him if he wasn't a monster? What if he…? No. No, no, no. He was just protecting himself. He was trying to survive. He wasn't the Cerberus here. Or was he? He didn't know anything anymore. And he had to know, he always had to know.

"But if not to fight, why are you here?"

Shizuo was visibly embarrassed. His cheeks were red, and he was looking at anything but Izaya or Namie. Izaya almost felt like chuckling.

"I wanted to… I don't know, I felt bad about breaking your wrist. And I thought… what if instead of fighting all the time we could just… talk? About what's bothering us? Wouldn't it be easier if we were friends?"

Izaya was speechless. And yet, he spoke. It was as if his lips were moving on their own, he couldn't control them nor stop them.

"You want to be friends with me? Shizu-chan, are you out of your mind? Do you remember what I've done to you? I cannot comprehend it, I just can't."

"Forgiveness brings peace. Shinra always said that to me. I was like, dude you realize that the flea ruined my life? And he was like, you probably ruined his as well. I don't know your reasons, Izaya, for what you've done. But I'm willing to find out."

Izaya looked down at the floor. He could see his vision becoming blurry so he shook his head and smiled widely, "Too bad, Shizu-chan," but why? "you're too late." but for what?

Shizuo looked at him, shocked, not understanding. And Izaya picked up his bag again and walked out.

"Izaya!" Namie yelled desperately and ran after him. "Shizuo, stop him!"

But Shizuo couldn't move. Izaya was just behind him, he could reach out and grab him, he could catch him. So why couldn't he?

Was it this broken smile he showed him? Was it his childish pride?

"Shizuo!" Namie continued to run in her high heels, yelling.

Ah, fuck it.

He turned around quickly reaching out to stop the flea, but… as his fingers gently touched the rough surface of Izaya's cast, he froze. He's done that. Izaya always provoked him, yeah, but it was him who gripped that hand so hard it snapped. He had to let go if he wanted to protect the flea.

Namie ran up to him just as Izaya disappeared behind a corner.

"You let him go," she muttered, visibly shaken.

"Sorry," was all he could say. She fell to the floor. He left.

"Orihara-San, I'm terribly sorry, but I cannot get you on this plane."

"What do you mean you can't?" Izaya almost raised his voice, and for a brief moment, he wondered if the man noticed how on edge he was.

"All seats are taken," he said, but his eyes showed uncertainty.

"I can pay like a hundred times the price." Izaya smirked as the man's eyes lit up, "You can have all this money for yourself, or you can let me talk to someone there. I'm sure at least one person isn't in a rush."

"Y-yes, but he- I mean, that would be illegal."

Izaya laughed, "As if you care if that's illegal. Who's 'he'?"

"That's- I don't know who you're talking about."

"Then what's up with your sweaty forehead?" Izaya raised an eyebrow, "C'mon, talk or you'll lose a finger."

The man sighed and whispered: "We were given an instruction not to let Izaya Orihara get on a plane. That's it."

"By whom?" he asked, but deep down he knew the answer. He became blinded by this crippling frustration, clouding his judgment and vision.

"No, I'll already lose two fingers for what I've said."

Izaya scoffed and walked away with a nod. He sat down on a bench just outside the airport, drinking hot coffee and wondering what now. If he couldn't run away on a plane, the ships were probably off-limits, too. So there was no way for him to get out of Japan. What could he do, then? Take a train somewhere? No, too long of a journey, they would catch him. So was he really destined to be killed by Shizu-chan? Couldn't he change that?

He closed his eyes and reached out to his Vision. He saw smoke and felt the heat. It was burning. And then, there was a silhouette, walking towards him through the smoke. With each step, the silhouette became clearer. It was Shizuo Heiwajima, reaching out towards him as if to choke him. End him. And then, he saw his own hand twitch and raise in self-defense. And then, it all faded to black.

He has seen the scene countless times. It seemed that nothing he did could change it.

"Orihara-kun," he heard and opened his eyes slowly only to be greeted by a red-haired, scarred old man.

"Akabayashi," he nodded, "To be honest, I expected Shiki to come himself."

The man smirked, "You overestimate yourself, kid."

"It seems so, yeah," he smirked as well, sipping on his coffee.

"He wants to see you, though. So move your ass."

Izaya obediently stood up and asked, "Care to carry my suitcase?"

"Get your ass over here and take the goddamned suitcase, Mizuki," Akabayashi said after a sigh and sure enough, one of the people surrounding them walked over and did as asked.

"After you," Akabayashi said, and Izaya took one last sip of his coffee, before spilling it all over the man. He screamed, touching his burnt face as Izaya whipped out his switchblade and attacked Mizuki from behind. Taking advantage of the commotion he grabbed his stuff and ran.

"Get him, you dumb fucks!" he heard Akabayashi, but he was almost halfway through the parking lot.

He smiled. Once he gets out of the open space he will blend in, hide, and then think his escape through. In a rush, he didn't take the yakuza into consideration, but he was smart, he'd think of something. He just had to get out of the parking lot-

There was a car in front of him. It happened so suddenly he barely had time to react. The window opened slowly. And inch by inch, Shiki's face came into view.

"You heading somewhere, Orihara?" he asked, casually lighting up his cigarette.

Izaya jumped only to find himself hitting the car, instead of getting on top of it. Was it his suitcase that brought him down? Or was it Shiki's hand that grabbed his leg? For a moment, he didn't know. And then, there were hands on him, many of them, putting him inside the car.

"So, enlighten me, for I have no idea," Shiki spoke, "How does someone as smart as yourself end up doing something so foolish?"

Izaya took his time fixing his clothes before he looked at his employer and said: "And you? I thought you knew this is no way to do business with me."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I deserve some respect after all I've done for you, don't you think?"

"But of course. Have I ever shown you anything but respect?"

Izaya smirked, "Then what is this? Are you trying to scare me like one of your… goons?" he reached out and stole Shiki's cigarette, took a puff, and asked: "Am I gonna lose a finger?"

The man laughed, "No, Orihara, you are not going to lose a finger." He took his cigarette back and smiled, "But you do need to be reminded of your place, it seems."

"And here I thought you were smarter than that."

Shiki snorted but didn't bother responding.

"So why are we driving to Shinra?"

"Oh, so you noticed." Shiki glanced at Izaya with a playful smile.

"Yeah, he lives right there," he pointed.

"Well, you see, Orihara," his employer paused to take a puff, "Akabayashi came by to see you earlier." he spoke slowly, calmly, "Your secretary told him you were on vacation."

"Yeah? What's wrong with that?"

"Oh, nothing at all. Except it was a lie, was it not? You were running away."

"What gave you that idea?"

"You must know you are not our only information source."

"So?"

Shiki looked at his almost burnt-out cigarette for a moment too long.

"So a man comes by, you leave your apartment with him. Then, you come back, pack up and leave again in a rush. Doesn't it sound like running away? But tell me, Orihara, why would you run from Shizuo Heiwajima of all people?"

"Oh, classifying him as a person is a big overestimation."

Shiki snorted, "I'm glad you admitted it."

Izaya gulped down, realizing his mistake.

"Now," Shiki continued, "Yagiri refused to say where you were. Silly, right? And yet- now that's unexpected…"

By the time Shiki finished the sentence, Izaya had already jumped out of the car and ran to Shinra's place.

It was all his fault. She was wounded because of his stupidity. Because of his selfish fear. So he ran.