A/N: Hi! Sorry it took me longer than usual to update. Here's another semi-short chapter.
I'm thinking that this will be a pretty long fanfiction overall, so I want to break it up as much as possible.

As usual, enjoy, and thanks for reading! :)

Sometimes, Izaya felt as though he was in a nature documentary when he was being chased by Shizuo. He pictured himself as an innocent rodent being pursued by a wild, primal beast. In his mind, the camera would pan from him to Shizuo while some middle-aged man narrated their actions.

Here, we see a monster in its natural habitat.

Shizuo ripped up a lamppost from the ground, as dozens of citizens looked on in frightened awe.

The monster is incredibly violent, and volatile. He lacks intelligence, but makes up for it in brute strength.

Shizuo chucked the lamppost at Izaya, who managed to dodge it by turning a corner.

For some reason, the monster enjoys hunting innocent prey out of anger, or perhaps jealousy, rather than necessity.

Shizuo turned the corner. He was quickly gaining on Izaya.

This monster is a persistent being. Watch him go! He appears to outmatch his prey.

Izaya abruptly spun around on his heel.

However, the prey has developed numerous adaptations in order to deal with the dangerous beast.

Izaya removed three throwing knives from his right jacket pocket and flung them at the quickly advancing Shizuo. He avoided two of them, but one struck him just under his left eye.

The prey is well versed in sharp objects, and is far more intelligent than his pursuer.

The knives only slowed Shizuo down a little, but it was enough to allow Izaya to make it to the end of the street and turn another corner.

The prey—

All of a sudden, something caught the eye of the smug information broker, and he stopped for a moment. There was a mark on a building across the street; a black line under a white circle. He switched direction and ran toward it.

This move perplexed Shizuo, but he followed him, and narrowly avoided being hit by a car.

Izaya took out his phone and snapped a quick picture of the graffiti. For a split second, he forgot he was being chased. That was unusual. It was almost like he was entranced; entranced by the unknown workings and organizations of this town.

A sharp pain in his shoulder brought him back to reality.

Shizuo had thrown a bench at him, and he had sidestepped a split second too late. It almost knocked him over, but he managed to keep his balance and escape down another side street.

Stupid monster, he thought as he ran, clutching his left shoulder with his right hand. Instantly, he realized he had made a mistake. He hadn't turned into a side street, but into an alleyway, surrounded by very tall walls on all sides. He was cornered.

"It looks like this is it for you, doesn't it, Izaya?" Shizuo asked in a gruff, mocking tone.

This is bad, he thought. He couldn't climb over the walls, especially with his injured shoulder. He could try to run past Shizuo, but he didn't think he'd be able to make it.

"What makes you say that, Shizu-chan? There's no way I'd be killed by such a brainless monster," he replied, trying to remain as composed as possible.

"It seems you're the brainless one, flea. Why'd you stop so suddenly back there?" Shizuo asked, and forcefully pushed him against a wall.

Izaya's shoulder was on fire. An involuntary gasp escaped from his throat.

"That's none of your business Shizu-chan."

Shizuo drew back a fist and punched him right in the shoulder. He howled, and pathetically slumped to the ground.

"This isn't like you," said Shizuo in an almost disappointed tone.

Izaya let out a short laugh and then sighed. Maybe this really is the end of me, he thought.

All of a sudden, something else caught the faux-bartender's attention, and he turned his head to the left. There was something on the ground and above it was a white circle with "WG" scrawled in the middle. Izaya couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before.

The curiosity got the best of Shizuo and he went over to take a closer look at whatever was lying on the ground. It looked like a lumpy, rolled up carpet. When he got closer, he stopped suddenly and squatted, straining his eyes at the dark figure below. When he figured out what it was, he gritted his teeth.

Sticking out of the carpet was a pale, bloodied foot.