This is it guys! The big finale to the first arc! :D Ahh, It's amazing to have gotten this far! However, I have some bad news. Twinx is going through some tough times, and won't be able to help me write. HOWEVER, that does not mean we're gonna stop! Oh no! It just means that I'm going to have to take over the writing process. He's still gonna be helping me out a ton when I'm writing Shizuo, since he's not the character I normally write. But the writing style might change from here on out, since it's not a collaboration of our writing anymore. But he still gets half the credit for this story! He's still my partner after all! :3
The morning sun rose over the horizon, covering the city with a reddish hue. Not a single cloud was in the sapphire sky. The buildings cast long black shadows along the concrete, and the streets were filled with taxi's and cars as many residents drove to work. Walking fast along the streets, business men and high school students hurried to walk to their destinations, while all the local shops opened for the day.
Still sitting at his desk, Izaya typed away at his computer, fully absorbed in his business. Working diligently through the night, the informant scanned and scrolled through all his files, searching for leads and clues behind his greatest personal assignment.
With a tired yawn, Izaya sipped from his fourth cup of tea, blinking his heavy eyes as he clicked out of one internet window, and pulled up another. He set his now empty mug heavily onto a coaster as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
For someone as simple minded and brutish as Shizuo, his entire back story was filled with excitement, yet vague. The informant was easily able to get into Raira's school records, and filtered back six years until he found Shizuo's name among the files that were still stored deep within the Raijin files. He pulled up Shizuo's school transcript, contact information, and most importantly, his medical files.
Izaya remembered doing this in the past, when he was still a student at Raijin. However, his endeavors were simply to tease and torture Shizuo, and he never committed to memorizing his personal information. It was nostalgic to be reminded of their high school days, as he meticulously scanned, memorized, and copied all the information.
Just as he remembered, Shizuo wasn't an all star student. Izaya had a good laugh while looking at the grades again. Although, the blonde did manage to pass with a C+ average. However, his transcript did nothing to help him. Shizuo never attended college, and started working right out of high school while Izaya was abroad. But that didn't really surprise Izaya much either.
What did surprise him was the contact list. He had never bothered to take a glance at this, due to the fact he had already managed to get Shizuo's cell number. The blondes parents, both alive, were listed as the main sources of contact. Other than that, he had no other relatives. Izaya had called the number listed, but it was out of service. He traced Shizuo's parents in Shibuya, but didn't bother to call. For some reason, he didn't think they would help much. But at least he knew where the blonde's parents were if he ever needed to have leverage over Shizuo's head.
And the medical records were surprising as well. There was hardly any information in the school files, claiming that they were "confidential". All he could pull up were things he already knew. Shizuo's infirmary visits were always short. He was breaking less bones in high school, but had more cuts and knife wounds, thanks to yours truly.
After studying and researching Shizuo's school medical records - he had traced back to his primary school as well - he hacked the hospital records of the facility Shizuo attended most, and pulled up their files; reading more into depth about Shizuo's bizarre medical history.
Izaya was well aware of the multiple injuries Shizuo had in high school, especially with him fighting with the blonde on a daily basis. However, he was pleased to see that he wasn't the only one to cause Shizuo harm in the past. He was captivated at how Shizuo was even able to walk, with how many times he had broken his legs and arms. Let alone his spine, ribs, shoulder, collarbone and hips. He was like a walking crash dummy, which of course only made Izaya laugh more at the similarities.
The raven haired man continued to read in depth, learning that Shizuo's hospital visits as a child were always long and strenuous. However, as he grew older, his hospital stays grew shorter. His body was adapting to the numerous injuries and breaks, that his body was working in overdrive to heal him up. Izaya assumed all the strawberry milk Shizuo drank in high school, and most likely before then, was due to the fact that milk strengthens bones. It only made sense he would drink more during his bone breaking years.
He looked a little farther, and found a doctor's evaluation, describing Shizuo's strange abnormalities. Izaya eagerly read it with no hesitation.
As one would assume, the brain restricts one's power by shutting down the muscles to prevent serious injury when in pain. Shizuo doesn't have this ability, and is capable of using his full strength at will. In short: he has complete access to his adrenaline power, and no limitations, and only gets stronger each time he uses it.
This fact saddened Izaya; Shizuo didn't seem to be a complete monster. In a sense, Izaya would have been happier not knowing what made Shizuo such a beast. Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes with the hell of his palm, He riffled through the information to focus on Shizuo's internal structure.
Shizuo's only fault in his respiratory system was when he was nine years old and a broken rib had punctured his lung. The hole has been a weak point ever since, but was not believed to cause any future damage. Of course, the doctor's back then didn't assume Shizuo would start smoking. Whether or not a post punctured lung combined with smoking would increase chances of illness was beyond Izaya.
Not only was that, but Shizuo hardly got sick from natural causes. He had a strong immune system, and never caught colds or the flu except in his very early ages of elementary school.
Growing tired of rereading the same information about his enemy, Izaya started googling about different respiratory diseases and infections, and searching up Shizuo's obvious symptoms: the change in mood, the fatigue, and of course the coughing.
He rubbed his eyes and glanced out the window, scowling a bit. He had spent the entire night researching about Shizu-chan of all people. He was slightly disgusted with himself.
"Might as well roll with it." he sighs as he logs onto the dollars chat on his second computer, lurking quietly as he reads the conversation. The room was empty due to the early morning, but the people logged on seemed lively enough. He narrowed his eyes and clucked his tongue with distaste as the current gossip had nothing to do with the blonde. Wanting answers, he slipped into the conversation.
[Hello everyone!~]
"Hey Kanra"
/Hii there! :')/
{Hello.}
(sup?)
Izaya grinned and quickly typed his response, not bothering to greet the others in the chatroom.
[Sooooo, has anyone heard about that one bartender?]
/Bartender? You mean Heiwajima Shizuo?/
(Isn't he like that guy people say is the strongest man in Ikebukuro?))
[Yeah, I've heard he's coming down with an illness. I wonder if it'll make him less strong.]
"Now that you mention it…I saw him coughing a lot a few days ago! My friend said he looked like he had bronchitis or something!"
{No no, it's gotta be something bigger than that to take Shizuo down!}
/Like what?/
{It's gotta be something huge. Something that medication can't fix, you know?}
[Interesting…]
Izaya erased his previous searches, and stopped looking for colds, infections, and viruses. He narrowed his search down for more serious illnesses. Things that can't be cured easily.
He glanced back over toward the chatroom.
/Allergies?/
(No way, that can be fixed.)
/Not fixed! Just…helped./
(No no, it's gotta be like…diabetes!)
"Diabetes? What the heck man, that has nothing to do with this!"
[I don't think any of those would make him unable to chase that other guy all around.]
{Orihara Izaya?}
/Yeah, that's the guy! The one with all the fur right?/
"What a fag."
Izaya's pride was somewhat chipped at with the comment.
[Gasp! How rude of you!~]
"not my fault he's got all that fur"
/Oh shut up!/
{Kanra's got a point though.}
(Oh?)
{Yeah. Like…if he just had some cold, he could just take some medication and get better.}
Ahh, that's right. The medication. Izaya had forgotten to look that up. He swiveled in his chair, focusing on hacking into the records of the pharmacy Shizuo went to. He quickly pulled up his medication receipt. So Shinra gave him some pills for respiratory infection and….depression?
{Yeah. I mean, what's the one thing that can take us all down?}
Izaya felt his throat tighten slightly. If the brute was depressed, there would be a lower chance at getting on his nerves. He printed out a copy of the receipt and the doctor's note.
/Uh…/
"No idea"
The informant went back through his history, and started printing off all the pages of Shizuo's history, pulling out a new file to place in his locked filing case. He titled in large black letters, SHIZU-CHAN.
{Isn't it obvious? I mean he smokes so much.}
(Spit it out man!)
{It's gotta be…}
Izaya shoved all his research into the folder and stowed it into his cabinet, locking it tightly before turning back toward the computer to close out of the medical tabs. He stared hard at the computer screen, feeling his stomach lurch as a astonished grin formed, his exhausted red eyes wide with wonder.
"No way…"
{Cancer.}