Arc Two, Chapter Four
By the morning, Shizuo was gone without telling anyone. He needed to get to work and it sucked that he wasn't back in his apartment. Now he had to take a train all the way back to get to work. He needed to get straight home to check on his kitten. It was the first time he ever left her by herself before, and he felt sort of bad about that. He wasn't too much a fan of showing up for work late, either. Luckily, Tom didn't really mind, as long as they completed all the work.
Izaya woke up around noon the next day, and obviously the girls went at school. He was thankful that he didn't need to go there anymore. He brushed his teeth and had a shower like usual, but when he looked around his house, Shizuo was nowhere in sight. That disappointed him, until he realized that he had work.
At least he could walk around naked without a care. He prepared breakfast for himself, which was cereal. Possibly the most simple meal he'd ever make, since he didn't know how to cook. When Izaya finished eating, he called Shinra. Apparently he was one of his good friends but he hadn't heard from him since he lost his memories.
"It's a lot of work taking care of the flea," Shizuo told Tom and he pressed the cold coke can to his forehead. "He's even worse than before!" He snapped, scaring off people in the general area. Tom's eyes just watched at the scramble away from the blonde. "Even though it just might be easier to just tell him?" His boss questioned and watched Shizuo light a smoke.
"He didn't like me when I told him the first time, it won't change this time around. I'll be here on time tomorrow, I'm staying in my place," he waited for the light to change, and crossed the street to go home. "'Refuses to get close anyone in fear they will all betray him. Might have turned out differently...if that didn't happen." He sent a simple text to the raven. [When did you wake up? ~Shizuo.]
Izaya finally changed into clothes. It was too cold to walk around wet and naked with the A/C running on full blast. He sat back on his couch, watching TV, when he heard his phone beep. He looked at the screen and noticed it was a text from Shizuo. Instead of texting him back, he called him. "Oi, Shizu-chan! That was a pleasant surprise. You texted me at work? I'm flattered. To answer your question, I woke up around thirty minutes ago."
He continued, not giving Shizuo any time to respond. "Anyways, you don't have to worry about me. I am watching the news, you know, the channel you love. It's interesting." He proceeded to share a story he most likely didn't care for, until the door bell rang. "Hang on! A friend is here." Izaya left the phone on the couch and skipped to the door. The man looked the opposite, from the abhorrent expression on his face.
"Where the hell is my information, Izaya?"
Well, he surely doesn't waste any time. Izaya sweated from fear and lack of knowledge. He hated not knowing what he was talking about. It would have been easy if only he had his memories.
"You have the wrong door! There is no Izaya here-" Izaya sang, and the man only yelled at him. It wasn't like Shizuo's yells. Yes, Shizuo hated him but there was something there...something Izaya couldn't figure out. "Okay, okay. I am not sure; I misplaced the files," Izaya lied for obvious reasons. He didn't want the world to know he lost his memories, "but I can give you money if you paid me?" Izaya was desperate. The man reached out to grip Izaya by his shirt, but he stepped back. "Really, I'm loaded with money."
"I don't want your stupid money! You have caused me enough trouble over the years, and I am sick of your shit. So is everyone else you've conned, I'm sure."
Izaya raised his hands in the air. "Look, just give me some more time and I'll-"
"No!" The man pulled reached in his pocket for something, and Izaya panicked. He guessed it was a weapon.
"Don't, please! I'll give you anything you want, I'm not kidding-" He pleaded, which only made the man more pissed. "You're a liar! A fucking liar, and you've always been one. It's time you learn your place." He pulled out a gun and aimed it at Izaya. "I really don't want to do this, just give me the information. C'mon, Izaya. You don't really want to die, do you?"
Seeing a gun, up close and personal, was so sudden and surreal. With one wrong move, he could die. Izaya reached for the knife in his pocket, and stopped abruptly once he heard the man cock his gun. "Don't even try...I know you carry around knives, but in the end, you can't win against a gun. Get my the information or I swear to god..."
Shizuo stopped walking, hearing yelling on the other end. Fuck, someone was out for Izaya, he should have known! He would've thought Izaya was smart enough not to open the door. "Izaya!" He yelled, hoping he heard him. "Flea, pick up the phone!" He yelled again. The man holding the gun point blank looked over at the yelling from the phone. "Go pick it up, the yelling is annoying," and he watched Izaya with careful eyes as he moved to pick up the phone. Shizuo knew to talk when he heard uneven breath.
"Flea, stall him for thirty minutes," he ordered. "You have a file cabinet, everything is in there. I'm not sure if you have what he's looking for, but you probably have it. If it's not in there, then it's on your computer. Namie told me you finished everything before you lost your memories." The ex-bartender listened, feeling bad for leaving him. "Izaya, I won't let him hurt you, I promise." He hung up and started running towards the subway. He couldn't waste any more time. These people Izaya got himself involved with, they'd kill him without a second thought.
Izaya listened to Shizuo on the other line, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. He didn't want to say anything, in fear that the man would pick up on something. He listened intently, his eyes following where Shizuo said his file cabinet was. Izaya would've laughed at the nickname, if his life wasn't in danger. "Bear with me," he started, hoping that he wouldn't shoot, "your files might be in my file cabinet. The files might be in my computer as well. I can run a system scan, which allows me to access files, even ones that I have deleted."
He lied through his teeth, having no idea what he was talking about. He just hoped the man would believe him. Izaya searched for his keys with shaky hands, and tried keys at random. The second one worked. "I am almost positive they are in here...What is the file name?" The man reluctantly told him the name, and Izaya searched every single file, not finding it. "I don't like the expression on your face." The man grimaced. "It's in my computer!" Izaya stammered. "I remember now." Shizuo better arrive soon. The male grabbed Izaya's hair and made him sit down at the computer desk. Izaya tried desperately to find the file he was looking for on his computer. His breath hitched in his throat, seeing a gun inches near his face.
"I'm getting impatient with you, Izaya!" The man finally snapped, firing off a shot, the bullet grazing Izaya's cheek and hitting the wall behind him. Izaya yelped at the quick pain, clutching the wound, trying desperately not to show weakness. It was not easy, with the blood running down his face. It wasn't a serious cut, but it burned like hell. The man laughed a little, "you can't get out of this one."
Shizuo looked at his cell phone; fifteen minutes had passed. He would beat whoever had the balls to threaten Izaya. How did the guy even get passed the front gate? For the price of Izaya's rent, security must have been strong because they knew people would be out for their money. The train jerked to a stop and Shizuo ran off, pushing people out-of-the-way. He took the fastest way possible to make it to Izaya's, which was by taxi.
He noticed the guard in the lobby, knocked out with sleeping gas. He ran up the stairs, as it would take too fucking long for the elevator. All that running after the flea did him some good, doubt he'd be able to do this if he didn't do that daily. He sprinted towards the top floor, hearing yelling. He was going to bust the door open, but stopped, hearing a gun shot.
Izaya heard a knock on the other side of the door, doubting it was Shizuo behind it. The man turned to it with clenched teeth. He expected the blonde to break down the door or idiotically threaten the man. "I found it!" Izaya exclaimed and pulled up a random file. He still grasped the gushing cut with his other hand. The man leaned over to look at the screen, and that was when Izaya took the opportunity to stab his shoulder with his switchblade.
It caused him to drop the gun and scream out in pain. Izaya bolt to the door, opening it frantically. He almost cried when he saw Shizuo standing there, if only he wasn't terrified or in pain. He just wanted to leave, and didn't care about his loft or his files. Izaya pulled on Shizuo's arm. "Now is not the time to play hero, Shizu-chan! Lets go." He urged.
"Just run!" Shizuo snapped and was given this confused look. "He's after you! If he chases after you, he'll hurt whoever gets in the way! At least if I kept him here, he can't hurt anyone." Izaya wasn't budging, holding him with shaky hands. "Flea!" He yelled, snapping the man out of his daze. "Fuck, you're not going to move unless I come with you."
Shizuo quickly slammed the door shut and blocked the door with a chair under the handle. He grabbed Izaya's hand and dragged him in an elevator. "Won't hold him for long, but it'll do for now." Luckily they got in before the guy busted the door down. His golden eyes looked over to Izaya, watching his shaking body. He reached a hand out, gently touching the cut on the flea's face. "I'm sorry," he told him, "wouldn't have happened if I didn't leave you by yourself."
Shizuo's life meant more to Izaya; he didn't care if something happened to himself. Once inside the elevator, Izaya slumped against the wall. He hissed at the sensation of Shizuo's touch on his cut. "There's no need to be sorry, you were at work, and you can't predict the future. Besides, you can't always protect me." Izaya sighed. "I'm okay!" He blatantly lied.
"No you're not," Shizuo retorted. "If you were fine, you wouldn't be shaking like a dog that's been sitting out in the rain," he snapped. He hated watching Izaya shake. The blonde reached his hand out, grabbing Izaya's wrist. He pulled him towards him, wrapping his strong arms around Izaya's smaller frame. "You're safe for the time being, but you know, it's alright to be scared." He looked over, hearing the door open and he walked out. The flea was right behind him, as he held on to his wrist. "We have to tell the twins not to come here."
The blonde looked back to Izaya, a traumatic look on the raven's face. He couldn't blame him. On top of his amnesia, he met a man who tried to kill him. It was lunch time for the girls, so he hoped they weren't out somewhere. He continued to walk, the school was only a block or so away. He turned and crossed the street, seeing the twins walk towards them. "You're their brother, you tell them the fucked news."
"As if they can't tell by my 'fucked' face." Mairu and Kururi glanced up to find Izaya with a gash on his face, and they gaped at him. "Do you like the new addition to my scars?" Izaya pretended to be happy. Mairu frowned. "That's fake, isn't it?" Kururi nodded her head. "Not funny."
Izaya shook his head no. "It is very real and you girls need to get out of here." He called Shinra with Shizuo's cell phone, telling him that Mairu and Kururi needed to stay at his house for safety reasons. The doctor understood and agreed. "You'll be staying with Shinra for a while. Celty will pick you up here. Someone is after me so who knows if you're safe or not."
The blonde waited for Izaya to finish talking to his sisters. By the time he finished, the smaller man walked over to him and dragged him across the street, his sisters following. "Eh?" He questioned and looked down when he heard one of the girls say they were going to a café. "Oh, okay." He didn't mind the flea holding his hand. In fact, he liked it. After eating, Shizuo bought himself a cake to bring back to his apartment. "Flea, you're coming back to my apartment."
Izaya was going to protest, but ended up going when Shizuo grabbed his wrist and forced him to follow. The raven felt safe around Shizuo, but the problem was he had to go to work. He would feel much safer in Shinra's house. The ex-bartender stood on the train, looking over when Izaya asked him a question about the cake. "Yeah, I have a bit of a sweet tooth. It's why you stuck with calling me Shizu-chan...aside from calling me the fucked up nickname to piss me off." His golden eyes looked down into his crimson eyes.
"Look, all we can do is call the cops and tell them who attacked you." After the long train ride, they finally got off and headed over to Shizuo's apartment. The blonde opened the door, seeing a can of cat food already on the floor. "Guess Tom took care of her. Izaya, go the bathroom, I'll clean the wound on your face." He watched Izaya walk to the bathroom and saw the man wash off the cut.
The blonde placed the cake in the fridge. He walked in the bathroom and grabbed a first aid kit from under sink. Shizuo set out the supplies, and dabbed the cleaning solution on a cotton ball. He cleaned Izaya's wound, hearing the man hiss before putting healing cream on it and a bandage over it. "To be honest, you're safer here, anyway. No one would guess you are here, plus someone would be a dumb ass to break into my place." He sighed deeply when Izaya wasn't paying much attention to him. He leaved, but came back with the cute kitten and set her on Izaya's lap. "Can't stay mad if you have a cute creature to play with."
His cut felt ten times better after Shizuo finished with it. Izaya only looked at the ground because Shizuo's face was too close for comfort. He thought his loft was secure, too. A couple hours ago, he had a gun pointed at his face. The memory had him shaking again. He looked down at the white kitten on his lap. "You're easily impressed, you know."
Shizuo's eye twitched, "you're trying to piss off the guy that saved your ass?" He took the kitten back and sat on the couch, waiting for Izaya to come out of the bathroom. He scratched the kitten under her chin, "he'll pet you, I have no doubt in my mind. Not even the flea can resist cute animals," he laid down, the kitten curling up on his chest to sleep.