.

Chapter eight
Seventh Track II

The scene that has fallen upon him is finally taking a toll. Corpses continued to lie at his feet, drenched in a color resembling of red wine as its stench slowly made him felt the urge to puke. Regrets too plagued his mind; but most importantly, panic seized him at this very moment when the informant came to realize that he was surrounded.

Like a pack of dogs cornering a cat.

His breathing grew slightly heavy over time, the thumps against his chest began to ring loudly in his ears, reminding him of the clock's tick tocks within each heartbeat. This was far too much for his heavy heart and puzzled mind to take. The only thing he knew afterwards was the fact regarding him he getting framed. No doubt, this was definitely a set-up.

As much as he'd love to apprehend this situation, Izaya knew he had to get out of there. Fast. There was no time for running down the stairs. And he was certain this could leave the police at an advantage by calling recruitment on him, meaning that even if he had reached the first floor, he would be greeted by more cops. In this case, it seems that he would have to use the elevator and jump out a window from the second level. It didn't sound like a bad plan at all.

Then again, it is likely that they will somehow await for him to reach, and it was very unlikely that they would wait for him by the stairs.

Sweat began to prickle down at his forehead, his vermilion eyes surged through the barricade the police had built up. Izaya could take them down easily but with his current state, he knew all too well that it can put him at risk. Even a simple action such as a hand dipping down into his pocket caught their attention.

This action alone caused them to bring out their guns. Fast and swift, they aimed the weapons at him from different angles, the look in their eyes showed how wary they were of this man. Izaya noticed this, but did not say anything. If he was in their position, he'd understand why. After all, who would believe that this ordinary man had taken down this number of lives into his hands? There were about ten or more lifeless bodies sprawled over the ground.

"Put your hands up!"

Silence lingered in the atmosphere.

"I said put your hands up!"

The informant complied. A switchblade that had been in his pocket for some time had he quietly slipped it up in his sleeves, his attention solely focusing on the nervous men before him. Slowly, he retracted his hands from the pockets, opened palms to reassure them that he is not armed. This seemed to have put their guards' down, their hands dangled to the side and one of them began to approach after a given signal to capture him.

Heh. He smirked inwardly. Did they think that he'd ever let them catch him? Not even in a million of years.

Little did they know that they have walked right into his trap.

Izaya instantly delivered a kick to the man's head, its impact hard enough to force the man stumble and fall. The others were quick to react, but Izaya was quicker. As the man stumbled and fall, he drove one of the heels of his shoes on his back and used it as an object to give him a push through the air, and there the informant went, flying past over the barricade the police had put up before gracefully landing onto the ground and made for an escape.

"Oi, he's getting away-!"

Pulling triggers filled the room but the only thing that Izaya could think of was these policemen sure is a slow poke. They could not match his agility, Izaya knew that. The only advantage they had was their guns. Heading towards the elevator, he pressed the button, a TING! sound echoed as the brunet immediately walked in, slamming onto a button that brings him fifty-five floors down.

"He's there! Quick, before the elevator goes down!"

Before a bullet could even be aimed at him, he quickly swayed to hide his body by the side. The door finally slid closed before the cops had the chance to get through them. And when the door closed, he felt relieved behind the closed doors. Seems like the gods up there does exist and they decided to be on his side, he joked to himself. Alas however, he now has the time to himself to comprehend the dire of his current situation, a thing to do to kill time as he waited for the lift to reach his destination without getting anxious.

Now that he has the time... His eyes slightly narrowed.

How had this happened in the first place?

His thoughts flickered to the phone call he had earlier; the dots connected when everything began to make sense.

Could it be a sheer coincidence?

No, it couldn't be a coincidence. The police had arrived there right after he did. Why else would the stranger tell him to arrive at seven o'clock sharp? Well, unless their destination wasn't supposed to be at the top floor of Sunshine 60 Observatory building. But then again, now that he gave a thought, the caller never did specify.

Unless... They have predicted and planned this.

If that was the case, then who was the person responsible for this?

And what is their purpose? For revenge?

Nevertheless, Izaya felt like a fool for taking a part of their games. For the first time, he was thrown into an utter confusion. All these questions, they would only wind up bringing in more questions in the end. And at the same time, it reminded him back then when his father thought he was trying to pull a knife on his younger brother.

Izaya silently gritted his teeth.

The world... It is a really cruel place to live in.

Another TING!

The bell sounded once more, much to Izaya's surprise. As he looked up, he noticed that the lift had stopped at the twenty-fifth floor. Just twenty more floors till his destination has reached. The doors to the elevator slid open, revealing a mysterious cloaked figure. Whether the person was a male or female, it was slightly impossible for him to tell given the amount of wrappings worn. Izaya watched as he entered, his anxiety feeding him incredulous ideas that he might be a cop.

After what seemed like a several decades, the elevator finally stopped, its bell notifying him of his arrival. By the time the doors opened, Izaya hurriedly ran out and turned a corner, sparing no glance at the man as soon as he left.

The only thing that matters right now is his success in escaping the place.

No one was following him. That was the raven thought, a little doubt lingered in his mind that there may be someone watching him secretly. So, it couldn't be helped if he looked back for a few more couple of times, even if no one was there. His little running ceased when a window was

There was no turning back now. Both hands latched onto the open window, his slender frame slipped through and with a harsh kick, he sent the window closed. The young man flipped and rolled onto the surface of another building, the friction had scraped his knees, and after putting a massive amount of energy to use today, he panted for few good seconds. The once tallest building of Asia stood in his sight, glowering dangerously upon him, as if it was mocking him with its massive size compared to his.

An alarm of sirens reached to his ears, snapping the raven out of his trance. Curiosity took over him as he walked closer to the edge where he could see the scene going on. The ambulances has arrived, and there were few police cars parking outside the building. He watched intently if not for a second, a small voice inside said to him quietly, it's time to go. Just like that, he disappeared from the scene.

...

CREAK— SLAM!

A sigh rolled off his tongue as Izaya quietly slipped his shoes off, a glance thrown at the clock that hung on the wall. It was nearly midnight; and he had came home tired, now having the urge to sleep in his comfy be. As he entered the living room however, he didn't expect his secretary on the couch with papers in hand. "Where have you been?" The resentful, silent atmosphere curtly broken off by a question.

Izaya, on the other hand, went to plop against the couch beside her, grinning as if nothing ever happened. "Eh? If this isn't rare? Namie is worried about me? Don't tell me that Namie finally gotten over her brother and fell for me instead?" He teased in a mocking tone, bringing up his legs to place them over Namie's lap.

He watched as Namie rolled her eyes slightly at this point, her hands reached to shove the male's legs off of her before moving away further. "You still have yet to answer my question. Where have you been?"

"And you are concern because?"

"You haven't given me my paycheck."

"Is that why you're waiting for me to come back?" Izaya chuckled, "That was expected from you. They're in the drawer. By the way, if you'd be so kind, could you please fetch me some coffee?"

Rolling to his side, he reached for the remote control on the table, his fingers lazily working over to switch on the television as his secretary headed off with a visibly irritated face. Ah, how fun it was to poke fun at her. Izaya thought, flipping through the channels with dull interest, trying to find something that would at least spark his interest and ease his fatigue.

Just as he switched to next channel however.

"— fourteen people were murdered in Tokyo's tallest building, the Sunshine 60 Observatory. The culprit is said to be last seen fleeing from the scene after."

There it is. The news regarding the incident earlier. "Ah, now look. It's all over the news now." Izaya commented aloud before sitting up, curiosity glinted in his eyes as he watched; which was odd since ordinary people would fret over, worrying that their face would end up in the television. Not that he was not worried, but it happened before.

"What's all over the news?"

"A massacre." He slowly started, ignoring the stare from Namie when she returned with his coffee in hand. "It turns out that the meeting I'm supposed to have with a client was some kind of a trap."

"A trap? Does this trap happen to be the massacre?" Namie bent over, not so gently placing the cup on the coffee table.

"Oh, Namie. You really are catching up fast, I see." Izaya teasingly taunted once more, "I'll let you know what. This isn't the first time. I faced the same case like this before."

"Tch." She scoffed, standing upright before moving hands placed on her hips. "Well, you probably deserved it."

"Probably. But anyway, this case is different but it somehow has the same concept. Rumors had it that I'm involved in a criminal case back then, and when it reached to the police, they set out to search for me. I didn't want a nuisance to get on my back while I'm busy doing things so, I placed Shizuo at fault. I can't say that I regretted it in the very least."

"Karma got to you, huh?"

"Well, unlike last time. They saw me there with their own eyes earlier and it's unlikely for them to believe me if I decided to turn up and tell them that I'm not the one responsible."

"And?" Namie looked down at him with curiosity, now blocking the television from his sight, causing the informant to snap his head up at her. "What are you going to do now? Blame it on Shizuo again like how this person did?" Izaya stared at her, eventually breaking the eye contact as he waved her off. "Maybe."

"By the way, can you make me some food? I didn't manage to eat just now.~"

"I've already done enough. Go make it yourself."

Namie spared him not another glance, scoffing for one last time then ambled off, having more important things to do in mind rather than talking with her employer. The raven could only chuckle, closing his eyes for a moment before plopping back against the couch. "But you know... This is really weird. This person... Whoever he is... He's planning something." His face deadpanned as his eyes stared up at the ceiling. "Whatever it is, I don't like it."

Few seconds gone by; and those good seconds turned into minutes. Izaya spent his time lying on the couch, taking a good night nap. It might be the bad thing to do as of now, because of the situation he gotten himself into but he figured that it was also for the best if he had a long day tomorrow. Then out of the blue, a ring vibrated throughout the apartment, catching the Orihara slightly off guard.

He sat up, tossing a wary glance at the phone on his office desk. Pushing himself off the couch, he drowsily made his way through for the phone and picked it up, reading the number first before he answered it.

000-000-0000.

It was the same number once again. Izaya at first felt reluctant in picking up the call, but his thirst for answers quenched against his repression. Damn it, did it have to be now out of all days? Without a further ado, he lets his thumb hover over the answer button. The phone had rang for few seconds but to him, it felt like years. With some courage gathered later on, he eventually hit the button, slowly bringing the phone up to his ears. "Hello?"

"Finally, you answered! I nearly thought you were dead. But anyway, did you like the gift?"

Izaya flinched at the familiar tone of the voice. Bastard. He planned all of this, didn't he? "Hm, I don't know. I found your gift too absurd for my taste." He wittily replied.

"Aw, and I thought you liked it."

It's official. Izaya now holds a bad impression and a grudge against this stranger. "Perhaps if you were there as well. Are you sure you gave me the right location?" He scowled even if the man could not see it through the phone.

A chuckle sounded from the other line, sending the chills down his spine.

"Izaya-san. I don't recall telling you the place specifically. All I said was the Sunshine 60 Observatory. Either that meant the top floor or the building itself which literally meant it could be anywhere. I wasn't expecting you to take the fall, but you did by winding up taking the top floor when it could have been at anywhere else. You're pretty much at the right spot though."

"... How cruel. The next time you're going to do this again, sir, I request you to be there as well."

"Ah, ah, already mad at me? Ne, it's not my fault that you walked into that place. But at least, you escaped, right? You used the elevator then jumped from a window to escape, right?" He could feel it. The grin widening on this stranger's face. There was no doubt, this stranger was mocking him; and how he knew that Izaya had escaped, he also would like to know. But it didn't take long until his mind shifted to the figure back then, the mysterious cloaked figure entering the elevator he was in.

"The man in the lift earlier... It was you."

"And I'm a bit hurt that you didn't greet me back then."

And this statement alone had confirmed his suspicions. The intuition that told him that there was someone watching him earlier- it was right from the start. He should have stopped there. He should have taken the man down and asked what are his purposes. "What do you want?"

"Ne, do you really want to know?"

No answer was given as soon as that was asked, uncertainty filling him up. "... Who are you?"

"So much for being the most reliable informant. You know who I am, Izaya-san. Since you're an informant, I think I'll leave it up to you to figure out, ne? But most importantly, I think you should be more worried about your safety."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ne, are you watching the news right now?"

"The news..."

He turned his attention to the television almost immediately, forgetting that he had left the news channel on. And when he did, he felt surprised. But he shouldn't be surprised. He shouldn't be surprised at all. So, why was he surprised now? No, it wasn't for the fact that his picture had appeared in the television screen but it was the writing of ¥10,000,000 beneath it.

"—The man who is suspected for the killings is Orihara Izaya. A ten million yen reward would be given to whoever caught the suspect..."

"Izaya. I wish you good luck." A faint voice told over the screen,the line going dead shortly afterwards. A ten million yen reward. He understood what was happening now, and when he did, he lets his hand fall to his side, the phone slipped from his grip.

Ah, he really should have seen this coming.

That one day, his refuge would soon come to an end and someone successfully managed to play him out as he felt completely exposed to the stranger on the other line.

He slowly clenched his fist, hard enough to draw out blood. Never had he felt this way before. Never had he feel so frustrated in his life. Whatever happened to him being a god among humans? Was this... how it felt like to be used? "Namie. You're off for a month." But in the end, he wore a smile. The very same smile he had always wore; regardless, no one ever knew what lies behind his smiles.

With a foot lifted up, he stomped against the phone for a couple of times, leaving the screen cracked.

Silence.

... What should he do now?

He then turned to his other phones laid out on the table, blankly staring at them as his mind drifted off to a certain underground doctor and a dullahan.

...

At the same time, somewhere among the citizens of Ikebukuro...

In a cabin where it is not too small nor too big, everything was arranged in an organized manner. Every single thing, even boxes under shelf was not covered by a speck of dust, scent of musky lavender filled the room acquainted by the sounds of an air conditioner turned on. Most people would want a larger place to live in but to him, he was perfectly content with the size. As long as he found a quiet place to settle in for his self, there was no problem.

"Not bad."

Another young man in his twenties muttered to himself as he skimmed through the messages posted on the Dollars forum. This young man was no more ordinary than other humans. But he liked to think that he was different. He liked to think that because of his derived innocent appearance, people would think that he's harmless. Ah, if only they knew how wrong they were. Due to his childish-like appearance, people doubted what he was capable of. That was fine however, as he only took it as an advantage.

It was because of that, he was a manipulative man.

"... Though I do find it quite a bit disappointing that you managed to get away with not even a scratch after you walked into a trap. That's impressive." He continued talking to himself, a twinkle was seen in his glossy magenta eyes as he kept reading the texts. On his phone screen was the Dollars dashboard, the forum endlessly popping up with messages regarding the news. And this was all the man needed as proof that he succeeded in his plans.

"You may have escaped from the police's clutches but even you know that this is not the end... But it was expected of you, really. Who knew that you would fell for the trick?"

Not even batting an eye, he locked the screen, his head tilted upwards to stare at the plain ceiling. Inside his mind, no one could read what his thoughts were. Little did they know they were filled with vicious thoughts, and sometimes memories that are often reminisced and played over repeatedly in his head.

"Ah, Izaya. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into." The young man chuckled. "You made a wrong move, and now all the tables would soon be turned against you, indulging you whole. But that's okay."

Tossing his phone onto the bed behind him, he lets his figure slumped. His gaze suddenly shot up to the picture of a man in a fur-trimmed jacket stuck to the wall with a thumbtack.

"It's not like you knew that you've been played from the very start. Right? But it's not like you've suspected me from the start either." And next to the picture was a frame, and inside the frame was an image that displayed two brunets when they were children; one red-eyed and one pink-eyed, their arms latching over each other as their best grins were worn. Or not so best, the young man thought to himself.

"... You probably won't even think that your beloved brother was behind this. Only because he looks too innocent and loves you too much to do this. Aren't I right?"

"But ah, that's where you are wrong. And that is why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and its summary." A smile began to broke out from his lips.

"... Ne, Iza-nii."

A dart was picked up from the side where he sat.

"I think it's time for you to learn the harsh truth."

Then the dart was shot, marking the spot of a picture where the victim of his play's forehead was.

...

[ Seventh track. ]

Rustle. Rustle.

Thump.

Sigh.

... Who would have thought it would come to this? Recalling a few days back then, I remembered how this all started. No, actually, it started since the very beginning. I should have seen it coming. But I suppose things have gotten worse after I received a phone call. Without even looking at the number, I simply pressed the button and answered the caller ID's number.

I expected it to be my client, but it was not at all. The voice that rang through the other side of the phone call, it sounded vaguely familiar. The only thing is, I wasn't able to tell who they were. The voice didn't sound deep. It didn't sound too high pitched either, but it was definitely a man. The voice clearly told me through the call, meet me at Sunshine 60 Observatory. They didn't say specify whether the building itself or the floor, so I admit that I took a wild guess and assumed it was the top floor.

Maybe it was my mistake, perhaps I have went to the wrong floor.

Ah, who am I kidding? I wished it was easier to convince myself with these lies.

In the end, it wasn't the wrong floor at all. Someone out there definitely is trying to get rid of me. And what I am going to do now is unravel the truth and expose the mastermind behind all of this.

—–— CLICK!

[ End of seventh track. ]

Author's note: Hm, I wonder who this mastermind is. ;) I tried to be more descriptive this time. I hope you all would like it. One question for you all, what is it do you like about this story? I mean, I found it quite surprising that I managed to get this far. I was very sure that this story wouldn't get this far.

Also, I changed the summary that made no sense whatsoever, lmao.