A/N: Sorry that this took a bit longer to update than usual! I tried to upload it yesterday, but the site was having some issues.
Thank you, and enjoy!
After Izaya staggered to Shinra's office, he was guided into a smaller office where Shizuo was waiting for him. He sat behind an old wooden desk, which was bare except for a few papers that had carelessly been strewn off to the left side, most likely by Shizuo himself. Another chair, seemingly constructed out of rusty metal and green plastic, sat unoccupied on the other side of the desk. Izaya took a seat and frowned at the man in front of him. Shizuo was wearing his usual bartender getup, and had his arms crossed over his chest. He looked just as unhappy as Izaya felt. He suspected that they were both thinking the same thing: Why do I have to talk to such an idiot?
Izaya also noticed that Shizuo was a bit disheveled. There was a scratch that ran across his left cheekbone, his bowtie was askew, and a white bandage encircled the knuckles on his right hand. He immediately became torn between three feelings that had appeared, uninvited, in his mind: anger, because of his current situation, curiosity, because of Shizuo's appearance, and something else that he couldn't quite figure out. After an uncomfortable, awkward silence, Izaya decided to speak:
"So? What could a monster, such as yourself, want with me?"
"You're not even going to thank me for saving your worthless life?"
Izaya watched as Shizuo's mouth pulled back in a grimace. He knew that getting Shizuo angry wouldn't solve anything. In fact, it would probably just result in the destruction of the tiny office, and cause Shinra to become enraged, which would result in him most likely preventing Izaya from seeing the girl. He couldn't have that.
"Why did you do it, anyway?"
Shizuo didn't respond right away, and closed his eyes, seemingly, in thought, although Izaya doubted that he had the ability to actually do that. After the silence continued longer than was natural, Izaya decided to ask a different question.
"Why did you go to my apartment?"
"I was attacked, just a few hours ago. I figured you might know who was behind it. I figured that you were behind it. When I saw you were injured, I called Celty. After all, you couldn't have answered my questions if you had died."
"What brilliant reasoning skills, Shizu-chan!"
"Insult my intelligence all you want," Shizuo paused, and looked Izaya straight in the eye, "it won't change the fact that we clearly have a problem on our hands."
Izaya pressed his mouth into a hard line. He wouldn't admit it, but he was slightly taken aback at Shizuo's suddenly serious tone of voice. He was his enemy; his monstrous enemy that couldn't control his emotions or volatile personality. Everything always turned into a fight with him. It was just the way he was. He wasn't human, after all. However, he thought, maybe he's become rather good at imitating humanity.
"Alright then," Izaya sighed, "if you're willing to look past our hatred for one another, I suppose I can, as well."
Shizuo gritted his teeth, but remained silent.
"Let's start with what happened to you. You said you were attacked, and suspect that I'm the one behind it."
"When it happened, I did think that. I thought that maybe you had decided to try and finish me off because of what happened earlier…"
"You don't think that I'm behind it anymore?"
"No. I have a feeling that your attackers and my own are connected somehow. We were attacked at the same time, and that's too strong of a coincidence to ignore."
"You said, 'attackers,' but I was only attacked by one person. What did your attackers look like? How many of them were there?"
Shizuo brought up a hand to his chin, and averted his eyes upward. A small wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows, and his foot, which he had been tapping against the floor, was now motionless. It occurred to Izaya that this was the calmest he had ever seen Shizuo. It occurred to him that this was the first time he had ever seen the monster think instead of act. Again, a curious feeling emerged in his mind, but before he could analyze it, Shizuo spoke again.
"There were three. They were dressed completely in white, except for their hair. All of them had dark hair, and were wearing white gloves. None of them were strong enough to actually beat me, but they did get a few good punches in."
"Did they talk to you at all? Give you their names?"
Shizuo shook his head.
At that very moment the door behind Izaya swung open to reveal Shinra. Dark circles were forming under his eyes, but a grin was plastered across his face, all the same.
"Sorry to interrupt, but the girl says she's willing to speak to you both now."
Both Izaya and Shizuo stood up hastily, in unison, and followed Shinra out of the room and down the hall. After a moment, he stopped in front of a door and turned to face them.
"Look, she isn't in great shape or anything, but she was kind enough to agree to answer your questions. Don't press her too hard," he put his hand on the doorknob, "I've asked Celty to stay in there, so don't try anything funny."
The last few words were clearly meant for Izaya, who Shinra had been glaring at the whole time. Even after all these years, thought Izaya, he still doesn't trust me.
Shinra opened to door to reveal a room identical to the one Izaya had been in less than an hour prior. Sure enough, Celty was sitting at the girl's bedside, hands placed neatly in her lap. The girl herself was laying down, but was propped up slightly on the two pillows behind her head. An IV stood to her left, and a few bilking and beeping monitors stood to her right. Her skin was pale. Her eyes were closed. However, even Izaya could tell that she looked much better than she had just mere hours before. He watched as the blankets rose and fell with every slow, steady breath she took.
"Miss Sugiyama? Are you awake?" Asked Shinra
"Yes," replied a quiet voice.
"I've brought the two men who wish to speak with you. Is now still a good time?"
"Yes," she replied, with a slightly stronger voice. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared Shizuo and Izaya with caution.
Shinra left the room, and Celty pulled up two chairs so that Izaya and Shizuo could sit at her bedside. Izaya knew that this was smart, as they would appear less threatening sitting down. In addition, there was also a very real possibility that she had heard about them before, and if she had, that would certainly only frighten her further.
"Miss Sugiyama, is it? It's very nice to meet you," Izaya smiled his most comforting smile, "I'm Izaya Orihara."
He knew that it was of the utmost importance that humans feel comfortable when talking to someone new. Especially, when it was someone who they were already wary of. He had used this tactic countless times, and it almost always made people trust him. Of course, Izaya knew this was incredibly foolish of them, but it also made him happy. It was just another trait that made him love his precious humans even more.
Her expression changed. The corners of her mouth wearily shifted upward into a smile. Izaya could see that she no longer felt nervous, but safe. Her eyes shifted from Izaya's to Shizuo's.
"Uh, Shizuo Heiwajima. Nice to meet you."
"Tamayo Sugiyama," she replied, "I'm told you were the people who found me in the alleyway. I can't tell you how grateful I am."
"Don't mention it at all, Miss Sugiyama! We're just so happy that you're okay."
Izaya could see Shizuo squirm in the seat next to him. He knew how this game worked, after all. As much as it clearly pained him to do so, he appeared to be going along with what Izaya was saying. Izaya couldn't help but notice how easily they had slipped into this team of theirs. As enemies, they certainly knew a lot about each other, as strange as that seemed.
"Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself? Do you happen to know who it was that hurt you? Don't strain yourself, of course!"
"It's no trouble, she replied, the weary smile never leaving her face, "I'll tell you all I know."
She took a breath, and shut her eyes for a moment before beginning her story:
"It all started when my half-brother joined the Awakusu…"