The Black Hats and White Gloves charged at them from all sides. Even though they were sprinting at full speed, time seemed to slow to a standstill as adrenaline surged through Izaya like an electric shock. He had a choice to make. Celty could hold off a lot of them, but certainly not all of them. If he didn't run to protect Shiki, he was sure that Jin would kill him in a matter of minutes. However, if he left Shizuo unconscious and defenseless, he wasn't sure if he would make it out alive either. Besides, Izaya had only one working arm and he knew his reflexes were slower than usual because of his head injury. Thus, there was also a possibility that he wouldn't be able to save Shiki or Shizuo. While at least ten people swarmed Celty, Izaya noticed that two people were charging at him specifically. Akito and Aoi. His feet felt like they were glued to the ground. He gritted his teeth and readied the knife at his side. However, in a split second decision, he turned his attention toward Celty. Her back was facing him, her arms moving with her scythe and shadows to keep her attackers at bay. For one brief second, no one was attacking her and that was when Izaya yelled her name.

She turned toward him, light reflecting off of her motorcycle helmet. His eyes darted from Shizo to her. He didn't need to say anything. In one quick motion, she wrapped him up in a large shadow, shielding him. Izaya took a deep breath and smiled at her in thanks.

Akito and Aoi were only about thirty or so feet away from him. He turned on his heel and ran as fast as his legs would allow to Shiki, who was still kneeling on the ground. A third knife had been thrust into his right shoulder. It seemed that even though time was running out, Jin still wanted to torture him as long as he possibly could. Izaya winced.

Jin's back was turned toward Izaya. His mind raced. It would be easy to incapacitate him, but as soon as he did that, he knew that Akito and Aoi would be on him. He had to risk it though if Shiki had any hope of surviving. Despite the desperation Izaya was feeling, this moment struck him as almost funny. Even just a few days earlier, he never would have risked his life to save anyone else's, but there he was, doing all he could to save another person. Without hesitating, he drove the knife into Jin's back, just under one of his shoulder blades. Surprisingly, he didn't scream, but choked on a sharp intake of breath. A knife that had been clenched in his hand clattered to the ground and he went down with it. Izaya removed his own knife and Jin's blood began to spread out onto the floor, pooling around him in a slick, red puddle.

Shiki looked up at him with a glimmer of thanks in his eyes before his expression suddenly turned to one of fear. He was looking behind Izaya.

"Run, Shiki. Get out of here and get to Shinra's if you can," Izaya said urgently before spinning and facing Akito and Aoi head on.

Akito went around to his right, brandishing a long, metal pipe. Aoi darted around to his left, a katana clasped in her hands gleamed in the florescent lighting. There was no way he could defend himself from both attacks. He decided to defend against Akito, who was clearly aiming for his skull. The last thing he needed was another concussion. Aoi had been aiming for his legs. As he raised the knife to deflect the pipe, he prayed that she wouldn't cut him too deeply and braced for the stabbing pain that was sure to come. However, it did not. Instead, he heard the distinct sound of steel on steel.

Shiki hadn't run. Instead, he had taken a knife out of his left forearm and had managed to block Aoi's attack. Afterwards, the knife shot out of his hand and skidded across the floor. His arm had been too weak to hold it properly, and now his arm was bleeding. Heavily.

Before Izaya could yell at him, Akito brought down the pipe again. He managed to spin out of the way, but found himself in a corner. To his left, he heard Shiki groan in pain. He decided to slice at Akito, but his flailing, desperate motions were no match for his superior reflexes and strength. Akito slammed the pipe into Izaya's wrist, causing him to drop his own knife. The air grew quiet and hazy around them.

"So, this is it," Izaya whispered, pulse pounding in his ears.

"I suppose it is."

"Can I ask you something?"

Akito gave a non-committal shrug, but did not move to strike again.

"What did I do to you?"

The bandages on his face shifted in a way that made Izaya pretty sure that he was smiling.

"To me? Nothing at all," he dropped the pipe to his side, "Aoi's my girlfriend. I'm doing this for her, but," he paused, looking Izaya right in the eye, "I've grown to respect you."

"Huh?" Izaya couldn't stop the surprise from leaking into his voice.

"Don't get me wrong, I still hate you for what you did and I do plan on killing you, but I've realized that you and I are actually very similar people."

"How do you figure?"

"We're both driven by love, aren't we? Before I actually met you, I assumed that you were heartless and cared for no one, yet here you are risking your life for not only the man you love but," he paused looking over at Shiki who was doing his best to dodge Aoi's katana, "a friend? That's commendable, Information Broker."

"Uh, thanks?"

"However, it's not commendable enough." He raised the pipe again, but before he could strike, a darkness swept him and Aoi across the room into a large, concrete wall. After they crashed to the floor, the room grew silent. It took only a second for Izaya to realize that Celty had managed to knock out everyone else in the room. Before he could thank her, she transformed her motorcycle into a carriage with the wave of her hand and motioned for him to bring Shiki over.

She unwrapped Shizuo from the shadows and placed him on one of the seats. Izaya managed to help Shiki into the carriage. He had been cut a few more times by Aoi, and was bleeding more than he had been before. Once he sat, Izaya scooted in next to him and Celty tore out of the building, through the window she had crashed into. Outside, the carriage landed hard on the pavement and then sped away down the street toward Shinra's. Then, and only then did Izaya dare to breathe a sigh of relief.