Into the void
Mikado jumped guiltily when his phone rang. A shrill chime that had been linked to urgent calls. Few people had the number and one of those was Izaya. Not urgent enough though that he couldn't quickly pull on his clothes once again becoming Kanra. If Izaya knew what he had been doing there would be trouble that he didn't even think Shizuo would be able to get him out of.
With the last piece on Kanra reached for the phone seeing that it was indeed Izaya. "Hello?"
"What did I tell you about answering this one quicker?"
"Sorry Izaya-nii. I was in the bathroom." Rubbing her tear stained cheeks she tried not to burst into a fresh flood. "What's wrong?"
"I have something I need you to look into. I'm currently busy here. They aren't allowing any electrical devices so I'm not going to be able to contact you for a while."
Kanra sat up bolt right deducing that Izaya was in the hospital. "Are you hurt?"
"No. I need you to find out everything you can that happened to Shizu-chan this past month. Don't let him find out, ne?"
"You've spoken to him?"
"A little. Be careful."
"I will. Love you." Ending the call Kanra ran from the bedroom to her computer. If it wasn't Izaya in hospital then it would be Shizuo. Something had happened and it was her job to find out what.
x-x-x
"I will. Love you."
"Love you too." Izaya sighed turning his phone off. Turning around he made his way back through double doors. Shinra would have been an easier solution. Instead Tom had called an ambulance.
At least with Kanra looking into Shizuo he could stay to watch over the protozoan. Back in the room he could see Tom sitting beside the bed holding the blonde's hand. Izaya opened the door a little more harshly than normal drawing the man's attention. The hand didn't move. "What were you talking about at the café?" He questioned seeing as Tom was the last one to see him.
"We were talking about work. I told him I was taking holiday so he didn't need to work for that period. I thought he'd be happy he got to spend more time looking after things. Instead he looked horrified."
Izaya sat cross legged on the end of the bed staring at his lover and the steadily beeping machine next to him. The doctors hadn't done much from what he could see. There had been no need for resuscitation since the blonde was breathing. It was as if the protozoan was simply sleeping.
"Things aren't good between the two of you?" Tom asked prying into his business. "Shizuo looked even worse after you arrived."
Izaya shot the man a glare. "Everything was fine between us."
"That's good. I want to see Shizuo happy."
"I bet." Izaya muttered. "Where is Shinra?" No one was coming to see them to tell him what was going on. Reaching over he smacked the older man's hand away putting an end to his irritation.
x-x-x
Kanra had a board. Much like Izaya had boards but hers was a big white one used for larger information. In the centre was a recently taken photo. There were only three categories. Herself, Izaya, Kasuka and other.
Along the bottom Kanra drew a time line from one end of the board to the other. The first week could be crossed off since Izaya had been on red alert not allowing them to leave each other's side. That left three weeks.
Kanra sighed highlighting the last three days. Those had been the days Shizuo hadn't been home at all. Shinra had confirmed with Izaya that the blonde had stayed at theirs during the time.
That still left an overwhelming gap. It didn't help that she had nothing to go on. Izaya had been vague in his task and now she had no way to contact him. With a soft gasp her tinted eyes fell to the mat where a silver key lay mocking her for her oversight. Now with the key in hand she could see the metal had been bent and re-shaped under a strong force. Something Izaya couldn't accomplish. The key was Shizuo's.
That meant that the blonde had returned to the apartment and then left again without bothering to say hello. Unless something was wrong. Kanra squeezed the key in her fist. Shizuo was the one in hospital. So then what had happened to him?
x-x-x
"What have you got?" Izaya asked standing right outside the hospital.
"What am I looking for?" Kanra answered sounding irritable. "The first week we can cross off since he was with us. The last three days are the most suspicious since he didn't come home at all. Izaya-nii, Shizuo was at the apartment this morning. He left his key behind."
Izaya closed his eyes breathing slowly to keep himself in check. That left them with three whole weeks. "Shizu-chan is unconscious. The doctors don't know why. I'm waiting for Shinra to turn up."
"What? What happened?"
"That's what I'm counting on you to find out. One of us needs to stay here. There's no point switching our positions. I need you as an informant right now. Can you do that?"
"Yes. I'm looking for anything out of the ordinary or strange behaviour?"
Izaya smiled proud of his lover. "Yes. Tanaka-san mentioned he told Shizu-chan he was going on holiday and the protozoan looked upset. I'm going to get a better time line from him. Contact Celty see if she knows anything."
"Okay. Keep me updated, Izaya-nii."
"I'll call you when I can." Ending the call Izaya retraced his steps seeing that Tom was still watching over the blonde. "How is he?"
"No change. Do you think this is my fault?"
Izaya shrugged taking his place on the bed. "I don't know. Kanra and I are putting together a time line. How has Shizu-chan been the past three weeks?"
"The same as usual. It wasn't until he started missing work three days ago. Today he seemed on edge...scared."
"Scared? Of what?" Izaya asked incredulously. The blonde didn't get scared. Guns and knives no longer fazed him. The only thing that did was..."Rejection. Shizu-chan looked like he had been rejected. Didn't he?"
Tom looked at him shocked. "...yeah. He did. It was the same as when we were teenagers."
Izaya got up pacing back and forth. The blonde had been acting strange for the past three days choosing to stay with Kasuka. Judging by what Shinra had said things hadn't been going well. Kanra had said their lover had returned to the apartment and left almost immediately. That would have been whilst the two of them were having fun.
If there were no physical wounds which he had already checked then that meant there was something seriously wrong inside of his lover's body or that it was psychological. "Izaya! Sorry I'm late. Celty wanted to come too but I told her to stay. Can't let Kasuka out on his own."
Izaya closed the door leaning back against it his head covering the small sheet of glass. "No one has been to see him yet. What's wrong with the protozoan?"
x-x-x
Kanra slumped in the chair looking at the board. Nothing suggested anything abnormal happening during the three weeks except for the past three days. The days that their lover spent with Kasuka.
If anything had happened Shinra and Celty would have contacted them. They cared about Shizuo. Unless they didn't know about it. Closing her eyes Kanra drummed her fingers on the desk trying to make some headway on what was going on.
"Shizuo! Are you okay? You look..."
"Go ahead and say it. I look like a monster."
"No, I meant you look tired. Did something happen?"
"Nothing much. Had drinks with Kasuka. Kanra, I'm going to lay down. Tell the flea not to bother me."
Kanra's eyes snapped open. Not three days. The beginning of the last week. Shizuo had looked haggard as if something had upset him. Swiping up her phone she dialled Shinra waiting for an answer before realising that the illegal doctor would be at the hospital.
With a sigh she cut the call taking her next best option-Celty. The message was pinged back almost immediately. I was out that day to get the shopping. We didn't have any sugar or milk. Shinra said he wanted to try something.
Kanra read over the reply. Shizuo has said he had drinks. Without milk and sugar? Not likely. Staring at the board her eyes narrowed. She was missing something.
x-x-x
"Well?" Izaya asked arms folded. They still hadn't been disturbed. No one had come to check on the blonde. They either didn't care or didn't see him as an emergency. Sad really.
"I'm going as quickly as I can. Everything seems to be in order. There's no outside interference or any symptoms to suggest anything wrong. Physically there's nothing wrong. Shizuo's heart rate and his other stats are stable." Shinra told him what he had already figured out.
"It's a breakdown then?"
"That's what it looks like. I was worried about him leaving my apartment. Shizuo was adamant that Kasuka hated him. I'll run some more tests but until he wakes up we won't see the extent of the damage."
"Helpful." Izaya scowled rolling his eyes. "When will he wake up?"
"That I don't know. Huh?" Izaya followed Shinra's gaze. "Shizuo's heart rate just spiked. Has he taken anything?"
"I don't know. He was with you for the past three days! I knew something like this would happen. Wake him up."
"Izaya, I can't-"
"Fix him, Shinra." Izaya left the room hating how fragile the blonde looked in the bed and hating himself for being unable to face it. He should have kept a closer eye on him. The problem was the brute's stubbornness.
The nurses ran past him finally doing their jobs and taking care of their patient. Izaya hurried outside switching on his phone. Kanra would be upset with the sudden change but there was nothing he could do about it.
"Izaya-nii, I found something!"
Izaya held the phone away from his ear. "Speak quietly, Kanra." The informant grumbled rubbing at his ear.
"Sorry. I went back to the beginning of the week and Celty said she wasn't there because she didn't have milk and sugar. Shizuo said he had drinks with Kasuka."
"So? They waited until Celty got back. How does this help?"
"Because I checked the CCTV of the cafés close to Shinra's apartment. Shizuo was there at one of them with Kasuka."
"What was that?" Izaya's voice dropped sounding icy. "Are you sure?"
"It's definitely them. There's something else. Shizuo left his seat to order once. It looks like the waitress gave Kasuka something. It could be sugar-"
"Or it could be something bad. What happened to it?"
"S-Some of it was poured into Shizuo's drink. The rest went into Kasuka's pocket."
Izaya laughed bitterly at the pure stupidity of his humans. "Kasuka-kun drugged his brother. Good work, Kanra. I'll be leaving the hospital soon."
"Izaya-nii, will Shizuo be okay?" Izaya could hear the undisguised worry in her voice.
"Should be. Shinra is here and we know that he was drugged. It should speed up the process. See you when I get back."
Izaya's expression was dark ending the call. Turning back to the hospital he wasn't surprised seeing Shinra standing in the reception. "They kicked me out. I shouldn't be doing tests on their patient. Why didn't you call me first?"
"Blame Shizu-chan's boss. Why didn't you tell me you allowed Kasuka-kun out of the apartment?" Izaya asked masking his anger.
"Because Shizuo was with him. It wasn't like he was on his own."
"Except that Kasuka-kun slipped him something. I hope you got a blood sample." Shinra deflated pulling a couple of vials from his lab coat. For his own personal experiments Izaya supposed. "Run a tox screen or whatever you do."
"Where are you going?" Shinra caught the sleeve of his jacket.
"To get some answers from Kasuka-kun." Izaya gave a sickly grin smoothing his thumb over the switchblade.
"What about Shizuo?"
"His boss is watching over him. I won't be long." Izaya skipped from the hospital hailing the nearest cab. If he said he hated the idea of roughing the actor up a little- he'd be lying. All that mattered was finding out just what Kasuka had given the blonde.
x-x-x
Kanra slumped spinning idly in the chair. She felt useless stuck inside the apartment. Her part was over leaving her to wonder what her lover had been drugged with.
The waiting was painful staring at her phone. Izaya wasn't calling. That meant the informant was in the hospital still watching over Shizuo. As soon as the blonde woke up then she would be the second to know.
Head in her hands Kanra clenched her fists in distress. She didn't understand humans as well as Izaya but she knew how desperate Kasuka must have been to spike his own brother.
Since the beginning Shizuo had been there for his brother and now his brother had betrayed the blonde just as Masaomi had her and Mikado. Did Izaya realise what was happening? That their loved ones were turning against them. The town was turning against them.
Kanra gasped wrapping her arms around her shivering body. She could feel everything closing in on her. A heavy weight crushing down on her shoulders. "Shizuo." Kanra whispered. This time Shizuo wouldn't be rushing straight for her.
Her hopes raised hearing the knock on the door. "Izaya-nii!" She called in relief running over to open the door. "How is Shi-" Not Izaya. Kanra realised too late staring at the couple in front of her. "Uh...Can I help you?" Mikado's parents. Not a client. Not Shiki. She had opened the door to Mikado's parents.
"Oh! Its you. You're the girl from before." Mikado's mother smiled sadly. "We're looking for Orihara Izaya. We were told that he's the best one to contact. Are you an informant too?" Kanra blinked numbly feeling everything inside her come undone. "Are you okay?"
"M-R- Orihara Kanra. That's my name. I'm Izaya's l-sister. My... brother isn't here right now."
"Well that's okay. Perhaps you can help us." Mikado's mother smiled stepping past her into the apartment. Kanra was left standing at the doorway numb. Her phone was on the desk and both of her lovers weren't at her side.