I want to apologize, not only for the lateness but also because I had no time to review the chapter so it is probably full of grammar errors *screams internally*
I hope you find interesting, and I hope it is confusing as hell xD But still, there were things I didn't know how to express at all, so if you think something is not clear at all please ask me about it.
Enjoy~
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~*IZAYA'S POV*~
It was a cloudy day in Ikebukuro.
The air felt dry, "static"
It was like everyone in the streets was affected by it
Everyone walked slower
Everyone's eyes looked more shadowy
Everyone's face looked more tired.
Izaya was much aware of that
Usually he would have been somewhere in a crowded bar, in a crowded zone, drinking a black coffee and observing - pleased of course - the characteristic behavior of people in this particular weather
Like a happy child in a zoo.
But today his attention was drew by the strange occurrences of the day.
Apart from the episode with Namie, and the one with Dotachin, he had also just passed an unusual scene.
It wasn't unusual because of its development, but because of the its protagonists
In fact, there was just a random giant, black man, wearing black glasses and black suit, throwing a random thug outside of a random dirty joint
Normal routine.
What took the attention of the great informant of Shinjuku, was instead the dreadlocked man on the background.
Tom Tanaka, was in fact supervising the scene, leaning against a wall and… smoking?
To his side there was another giant man, wearing the same suit of the black man. He was blonde, but not the blonde you'd expect to see together with the debt collector.
Also, Tom looked different from how Izaya reminded him
He seemed somehow "more dangerous"
Almost nasty.
Izaya was almost surprised.
Almost.
Just a bit.
Well, last time he had checked, Shizu-chan was Tom's bodyguard, not two gorillas around Simon's size.
That's so cliché Tom-san, at least the monster was more original
Then he had walked past the scene, a smile back on his lips
And so had done his follower.
Yes, he was followed
He had spent the last 30 minutes observing the man from the reflecting surfaces he had found around the city, trying to make out the man's features
Without the guy noticing of course.
He couldn't see him clearly because he had a hood shadowing his face
His clothes were plain: black jacket, black pants, black shoes…
But he was clearly an amateur, because he wasn't hiding his presence at all
He could as well have shouted at Izaya that he was following him
Still, Izaya wanted to see his face before reaching Shizuo's apartment
Shizu-chan's apartment ah?
He had never been at Shizuo's before.
It wasn't like he was afraid or anything, no
It was some kind of unspoken agreement
Surely Shizuo often made his way to Izaya's apartment, destroying part of his furniture and picking random fights with the raven, but it was different.
Izaya wasn't the kind of person that went to someone's home to visit, neither knocking on the door nor knocking the door down.
And it wasn't only because he had no friends
Ok, maybe it was mainly because he had no friends, but also because he had other… "manners"
First of all, he rarely even entered someone else's house, he was more a rooftop person.
You know, the "looking down on the street and judging people" kind
But when he did… let's say they usually didn't know they had a guest.
Pretty shady, eh?
It's not like I'm a thief or a ninja, not at all!
I'm just a normal civilian~
It's just my personal style of visiting people!
You can learn a lot of things from people's belongings, especially from the ones they usually don't show~
So why didn't I ever seep Shizu-chan's place?
Since he is a monster, his flat surely is filthy and smelly, and I don't want to enter such a place!
Also, he always finds me before I reach his apartment.
I can mainly move on rooftops and don't get caught, but when I reach that district he always finds me
Just like a good watchdog.
Could I slip in his flat while he's sleeping and murder him in his slumber? Of course I could~
But it wouldn't be any fun, would it?
Checking once again on his follower, he noticed he was gone.
Maybe he finally realized I had already noticed him but well… I've the feeling I'll have another occasion to get acquainted with you~
So, let's reach our host!
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Izaya was standing in the middle of the street
His hands in his pockets, his expression plan, his attention to the third floor of the building he was standing out of
The scene in front of his eyes looked somehow surreal
He was in a normal residential area in Ikebukuro
There were residential building at his left, at his right, even behind him
Normal buildings, in which families, group of students or lone employees would normally live in
But that particular building, the one where he knew Shizuo lived in… well it looked like it was about to collapse.
To say it was suspicious, it was an euphemism.
Making his way in the alley nearby, Izaya climbed easily up, where he knew it was located Shizuo's apartment
Or better, where it should have been Shizuo's apartment.
But the instant Izaya reached its window, he knew it wasn't the case
He cautiously opened the above-mentioned window and entered the flat.
Stealthy.
Izaya was elegant, "light", in whatever he did
If someone observed him, he would have thought that he resembled a feline
So he could easily enter the apartment without make any noise, and without break the window
But he knew for sure that that window was far too fragile for Shizuo.
It wouldn't have stood even his presence.
That's why, even before entering the apartment Izaya knew it wasn't Shizuo's place.
One
Two
Three
Four.
The number of little hops that took Izaya to reach the other side wall of the flat.
A single twirl and he was observing his surroundings.
The air was heavy, like in a place where no one opened windows or doors since months before
The clouds, as well as the curtain of dust covering the windows, made the light result in a faint cold-white luminescence.
It took a moment to adjust to the darkness, only to find out that inside the place there were nothing at all. It was a single room, and a little lobby… if you can call lobby a one meter for 40 centimeters big rectangle of floor.
Inside the room there was absolutely nothing. Not even a single piece of furniture.
The only one thing that was worth mentioning were the writing on the walls, probably made by some little punks that had nothing better to do.
One in particular was bigger than the other ones:
"WHAT'S REAL"
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On his way back to Shinjuku, Izaya noticed he was followed yet again, and it looked like his stalker was the same one as before
Has he been there all this time?
Was he hiding somewhere and I didn't notice?
He smiled to himself
Maybe he's not the amateur I took him for
A couple of blocks later Izaya suddenly turned left to go into an alley
He knew it was a deadend
If the man was following him to overpower him at the right moment, it would have been the perfect place, and Izaya was sure enough it was the case
The footsteps behind himself confirmed that the man was indeed still following him
A grin spread on his face
"So, to what do I owe the honor of your visit, mister Stalker~?"
No reply
Uhm…. Odd
"No talking, uh? Gue-"
…
No one
There was no one inside the alley
Izaya examined his surroundings
Slowly
But no, there was nobody there
He had clearly heard footsteps other than his but it looked like there was no one besides him.
A bit disappointed and confused, the raven made him way out of the alley.
Right out of it he ran into- or better, got ran over by a familiar little boy.
Mikado Ryuugamine
Eyes wide open, the head of the Dollars looked at him like he was a ghost
He looked… scared
But in a blink of an eye he was back to his normal self
His normal awkward self, but still himself.
Izaya smiled friendly to the boy
"Hello Ryuugamine-kun, what a nice meeting!"
"Uh O-Orihara-san-" he was visibly struggling to talk normally, but he kept looking round
"Don't worry, Shizu-chan isn't going to-" then he stopped.
"Shizu-chan..?"
As expected, he doesn't remember him either.
"Is there something wrong Ryuugamine-kun? You look awful! If you need-"
"I'M SORRY" Mikado almost screamed, causing the few people around them to look their way
His eyes wide opened yet again
It seemed like he had remembered something
"I'm sorry Orihara-san" he repeated, with a quieter voice "I'm in a hurry, I'll talk to you next time… Excuse me!"
And just like that he ran away.
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On the way back to his apartment in Shinjuku, Izaya was thinking about the odd morning in Ikebukuro.
He could be disappointed, because he hadn't found out anything at all about Shizuo or about his stalker, or because of the way Mikado had shoved him off.
But he wasn't.
He could feel it
There was something moving
Something was going to happen, something big
And he just couldn't wait.
He was so excited he just couldn't help it.
So Izaya was smiling and happily walking to his home, to check on the internet and on his informers when he heard it
A familiar voice
A single word
A single name
"Izaya"
His heart-beat sped up
His muscles stiffened
His blood felt hotter
He knew that sensation
The addicting taste of the incoming fight
He turned around.
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Back then, he had no idea how much he was wrong.
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-LUINIIL HAS ENTERED THE CHAT-
{ Well... here we are}
{YES I CUTTED IT RIGHT THERE XD}
{Please don't hate meee}
-SHIZUO HAS ENTERED THE CHAT-
{Btw it was another boring chapter, but necessary, I'm missing writing gags and hot parts ._. I hope I can get to that soon enough}
-IZAYA HAS ENTERED THE CHAT-
「Wait, what's the hot parts thing? What are you talking about?」
≪Shizu-chan's so innocent, isn't he?≫
「Shut the fuck up.」
≪There are some ladies reading, don't you know? Please, watch your writing Shizu-chan≫
「Shut up.」
≪So simple minded~≫
≪By the way… ≫
≪It's *cut not cutted Lu-chan≫
{Oh my you're right D: I hope I didn't make too many errors like this one ._. }
≪I CANNOT WAIT ≫
≪I CANNOT WAIT ≫
≪I CANNOT WAIT ≫
≪I WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!≫
「I have a bad feeling about this. You'll regret it. Not that I care anyway.」
{My, my~ Stop that you two! Wait, and you'll see what's going on!}
{See you all next time!}