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ஜ Chapter 4: Family business ஜ
-Izaya´s point of view.-
It was odd. Helping someone- that guy, and why? Because of a feeling in his guts?
Izaya wasn´t sure whether relying on his instincts was something he should be proud of, since they were never that wrong, or ashamed because he refused to listen to reason. Logically speaking what Shizu-chan had said was true, and more so what Shiki-san had said.
Taking that guy was just as foolish as leaving wall Maria without any weapon.
And yet he couldn´t even bring himself to think he had made the wrong decision. Was he losing his edge? Becoming soft? Maybe, he didn´t know, fact was that he just got himself into quite the trouble.
Accepting a guy into the survey corps that couldn´t even run away from the titans- he was his problem now and considering how his superiors were already thinking he was offing off recruiters on their missions it certainly wouldn´t better their image of him.
He had never killed a person, but he couldn´t blame them for suspecting it when he was almost always the only one to return miraculously.
Stepping through the heavy wooden doors the raven entered a hall. It was fairly well lit and a couple other people were sitting behind desks, busily working on some pieces of paper. Approaching one of them a woman with brown long hair glared at him the second she spotted him.
"What do you want Izaya?" she asked annoyed, shoving a pile of papers into their destination a tad too rough for Izaya's taste, not that they were his.
"Why so angry Namie-san, you got promoted, didn´t you?" The raven cooed with a grin on his face as he reached the desk. Shoving his hands into his coat´s pockets he let himself sit down on a chair in front of the woman´s desk, crossing his legs.
"You think I don´t know it was you who was behind this?" the woman hissed, quite a like a snake would the raven supposed. He wondered, if Namie were a snake, would she be a poisonous one or rather one that pretended to be poisonous but wasn´t in reality? Coral snakes had that kind of impostors in their rows hadn´t they?
"And why would I do that?" The raven chirped happily- thinking about it if anything then he himself was probably an impostor among his fellow lieutenants.
"To get better information obviously," the woman snarled, finally putting whatever she was working on away to look at him properly.
"You know most people would be grateful, maybe even thanking me for something like this, but okay you are welcome~" the raven pointed out, adding a shrug to his word that only seemed to piss the woman off even more
"Skip the small talk, what do you want?"
"Heiwajima Shizuo," the raven answered promptly, faster than the secretary had expected obviously as she skipped through a folder next to her desk.
"Found another victim for your shitty games?" she questioned while looking up the name in her files.
"Maybe, maybe not," the raven grinned, showing her one of the ambiguous smiles she hated so much.
Stopping at a certain page the woman placed the folder onto her desk, the glaring picture of a certain blond caught Izaya's sight.
"So what do you want to know about him?" Namie asked, reading through the information she got on the man.
"His family register. Mother, father, siblings, possible children, wife and so on." Raising an eyebrow the woman went through the relatives list, didn´t bother to look at the raven himself though.
"Blackmailing again? Not that I care." she mumbled, couldn´t have sounded any more disinterested though. No wonder. If the woman cared about anyone then it was herself and her brother, apart from that everyone else could just go die. That´s just the kind of woman she had always been- not inconvenient he supposed.
"Talking about it, how is Seiji doing~?" the raven question, feeling bored as she was taking too long to his taste.
"I have to disappoint you, there isn't much data on Heiwajima Shizuo."
"Ignoring me?"
"He had no wife, nor kids. His parents died ages ago." Apparently she was. Leaning back in his chair the raven categorized the data he had been given. So no love interest- or at least no official one, well wouldn´t surprise him if that guy was still a virgin, considering his temper and strength.
He bet he had snapped some people in half before by accident.
Parents died ages ago, hm? That meant he had a pretty lonely childhood didn´t it? All alone in the wall, Izaya was surprised he survived considering how children weren´t treated too kindly by hungry old people. He doubted anyone took them in or shared what they had with them.
A home, food, safety- then again it was Shizu-chan he was thinking about, with his strength and level of temper he might as well have scared some people out of their own house and lived there.
"Okay, go on," the raven hummed, getting more and more interested by the second, he wondered what kind of life a man like Shizu-chan had lead so far.
"It seems his younger brother, Heiwajima Kasuka, is the only one left of his family."
Oh?
"He has a brother?" What a surprise. That gave the whole story another big twist. What would his brother be like? The younger one even- maybe he possessed the same strength? Or maybe he was even more of a monster? Perhaps he wasn´t as short tempered as the brute- there was no way two personalities like this wouldn´t have clashed in a deadly fight at least once while they grew up.
Nodding to himself the raven noted that the guy had to be fairly calm.
"That´s strange." Raising his glance to Namie he rose an eyebrow questioningly.
"What is?"
Pulling out another list from a second folder she let her eyes scan over them.
"I wanted to check where they live, since that´s obviously what you want to know next," the woman said, earning an appreciated nod from the raven.
"You know me too well, and?"
"Well, according to the inhabitants list," the woman mumbled, comparing the two pieces of paper, "only Heiwajima Shizuo exists. Must be some sort of error."
A brother that was in the family register but not in the inhabitants? That was certainly strange. Except-
"Maybe he died recently?" Izaya voiced, knowing it was the only possible conclusion. Especially considering where the man came from.
Wall Maria. He hadn´t forgotten that. Titans having invaded the entire area it was highly likely that Shizu-chan´s brother found his death during the invasion.
"That´s probably it. They didn´t get to update the information yet I guess. No wonder with all these new deaths incoming." Namie pointed out, making it a point to look at Izaya with a half assed glare while saying the words.
"Oh, from my trip?" the raven question, concluding that she was talking about his report of all the people that died again. Wasn´t like it was his fault.
"Stop grinning you sick bastard." He wasn´t even but what did it matter.
Getting up from his chair the raven waved at the woman as he walked away.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks for the info." There were more interesting things to think about at the moment.
So his brother died. What a shame, the blond monster was all alone then wasn´t he? It sure would have been fun to use him as one of his pawns. A threat here, a reward there, a monster with this kind of strength would have been perfect to use.
But with no blood related relatives left anymore, who was he kidding? That man didn´t seem like he was going to act according to anyone´s wishes if he wasn´t being forced to.
So who was he fighting against titan´s for? What reason could he possibly have? A friend? He didn´t strike him as a person that would even bother to get close to anyone. Then again this brute had surprised him since the second he first laid eyes upon him.
Wandering around the city the raven let the sun shine on his face. The people around him were pausing in their steps at times. Some of them were obviously staring at him, others were hiding whispering to others, and more of them were sending him a glare.
He knew his reputation here were well enough.
The kids and some of the teenagers and young adults viewed him as the prodigy he was, always surviving, having killed more titans than anyone had ever seen- and then there were the older ones. Reaching from age thirty till they looked like they better reserved a coffin soon.
They called him a death reaper. Going on a mission with him was suicide they said. He couldn´t blame them- to these people he was the messenger that would tell them that their sons died. Their daughters, their husbands and wifes.
No matter where he was, outside the walls or inside, he always had to be cautious. There was no saying when one of them would flip out, have a momentarily slip of sanity and start attacking him out of nowhere. Wouldn´t be the first time and definitely not the last.
It was when he glanced at two men in a small alley that he paused in his steps, something entirely else having caught his attention.
A blond mob of hair was tip toeing his way through his humans, wandering towards the hospital.
It took a second glance, being taken from the top of a box, for Izaya to actually note that it was Shizu-chan. Was he on his way to get his forehead fixed?
Definitely wouldn´t be the worst move he guessed. Maybe they could get his temper fixed as well, but then again that was highly doubtful.
Getting down from the wooden object the raven merged with the crowd of humans, and with cautious steps followed the blond.
He didn´t really know what he was expecting- just the fact that he was following that man seemed hilarious and he begged the guy wouldn´t notice him. Then again, when had anyone ever noticed him lurking in shadows?
But- like this, walking to the hospital, maybe he would find something out about this ridiculous strength of his. Maybe he was an experiment of the doctors? A human that got titan blood injected to strengthen him or something like that?
It sounded fairly unrealistic, but hey, Shizu-chan´s strength was something he couldn´t explain nor reason with it wasn´t that farfetched either. And knowing just who was in charge of examining these gross creatures he wouldn´t put it beyond the crazy guy to actually try this sort of thing. Just the aspect of Shinra setting eyes upon the blond´s strength would set him into his crazy doctor mode.
Doors swinging shut behind his newest interest the raven stopped for a moment.
Taking his rings off and on the raven counted to 30 in his mind. If he showed up in the hospital right after the blond he might just risk running into him without getting any information.
Twisting and glancing the raven hummed in time with his counting.
Twist, twist, 25.
Twist, twist 26.
Twist, twist 27.
Deeming the waiting time had been long enough the raven took up his steps again and stepped into the building.
White in white humans were running around in their fashionable doctor suits, talking, yelling, treating patients and saving or not saving lives.
Letting his eyes travel around the scene the raven noted that the blond had already left to wherever. He approached the counter, a small girl busily handling some pieces of paper as she scribbled something down on them.
"What did the blond man that just came want?" not being bothered to even look at the man, the girl keep sorting her documents.
"I´m sorry I can´t just-" but then she did decide to glance up and stopped halfway. "Oh, captain Orihara!" Sometimes it came in handy to be of a higher rank than all the other humans.
Call it handy, call it devious, Izaya had been visiting the hospital more than once to gather information, "check up" on recruiters that survived but got gravely injured- to put it simple, he was known well enough around here to have permission for pretty much anything.
"So what about the blond guy?" he repeated impatient. Quickly glancing at a piece of paper next to her the girl looked at what seemed to be an attendance list.
"He was Heiwajima Shizuo-san, came for a weekly visit," she informed quickly, flashing him a smile that seemed to spell out how much she had the hots for him.
Well not that Izaya minded, that sort of thing could only come in handy as well.
A visit though? Weekly even?
"Name of the patient?" The man asked, wondering if maybe this was the friend he had been assuming the blond was joining the survey corps for.
The name however made him throw that theory out of the window.
"Hanejima Kasuka."
Kasuka? And that last name-
"Hanejima? Not Heiwajima?" he asked again, figuring that the girl must have read the name wrong, but no, looking at it again she shook her head.
"Uh, no sir, Hanejima is the name."
...
Coincidence? Izaya didn´t think so. The guy that was in this hospital, it was Shizuo´s brother.
"Which room?"
"44."
-Shizuo´s point of view.-
With a soft creak the small wooden door opened. A small room was behind it, walls all white, an open window was opposite to Shizuo and a bed next to it.
A brown haired male was resting on the bed. His eyes were closed. A mask was attached to his mouth and nose and some tubes were connected to his arm´s veins.
"Hey Kasuka," the blond greeted warm, closing the door behind him as he pulled a chair next to the bed closer.
The sound was pretty loud, the chair´s legs screeching along the wooden floor, but the brunette didn´t flinch.
Shizuo still couldn´t believe that Kasuka might never be waking up again.
"I have some good news you know, I actually got into the survey corps," Shizuo started, informing his brother of what had happened. He knew he was asleep, but thinking that maybe Kasuka heard him while talking was something he liked to firmly believe.
"I know you always said how stupid the guys are that go out there and that it´s impossible to fight titans, but hey, I already beat one with a tree, so the others won´t be too much trouble I guess." Letting his hands trail along the white blanket that was sprawled across the man, he paused for a moment.
"I almost fucked up you know." Almost was quite the underestimation there.
"I couldn´t handle the maneuver gear, you know, that thing they use to fly around like birds between buildings." Reaching for his neck the blond awkwardly ruffled through his hair. "I still can´t handle it actually."
It was embarrassing to admit that much. He had seen how everyone had handled it and yet he was the only one that didn´t.
"Some shitty guy appeared and- well I probably shouldn´t call him shitty since he saved my ass." Leaning back in his chair the blond let his thoughts trail back to that moment. How he had stood up for him.
"He said I should be prepared to get killed. I will pull through." The feeling he had felt when he thought it was over, when he thought they were really going to stop keeping Kasuka alive, it was something he never wanted to experience ever again.
"They are going to keep watching over you now, just as promised," the blond smiled, leaning forward to brush a strain of hair out of his unconscious brother´s face. Blinking he halted.
"Ah but you don´t need to worry about me," he added quickly, figuring that if Kasuka really could hear him, he would probably be worrying him, like always.
...
Grass was softly moving in the wind. The sun was still gleaming down, but somehow Izaya couldn´t help but feel cold.
His eyes were unfocused, just gliding along the garden behind the hospital as he was more concentrated on what he was hearing.
The open window´s curtain next to him waved softly as well.
"I might suck at that gear stuff, but you know I can take care of myself." The words reached his ears in a manner so calm if he hadn´t seen that it was indeed Shizu-chan who had entered the room behind him he wouldn´t have believed it.
Leaning away from the wall, the raven uncrossed his arms.
He had heard enough.
- Izaya´s point of view. Ten minutes before.-
This-
"And these are all of Hanejima-san´s medical records?" Again the girl nodded, almost looking like she wanted to be praised. But the raven wasn´t even in the mood to do that much.
Looking at what he held here in his fingers- he wasn´t a doctor, but just in case he had gained himself enough medical knowledge to know how bad his condition was.
"I have one more question if I may, who is paying for this patient´s stay?" blinking the girl resumed looking through files as the raven handed the records back.
"I´m sorry uhm..." the girl mumbled flustered as she skimmed through some pages. "I don´t know, there seems to be nothing in the records about any payments."
Just as he suspected.
"But it´s not Heiwajima right?" Again the girl looked at the list, this time more confident as she answered.
"No sir, he is just visiting every other day."
"... I see."
-Izaya´s point of view. Present.-
... he must have a deal.
From what he had read in the files Kasuka needed a kind of treatment barely anyone could possible afford inside Wall Rose. Maybe inside Wall Sheena, but even there it would be highly unlikely.
Shizu-chan´s brother was in coma- had been for a while now, and looking at his medical records he doubted he was ever going to wake up from it again.
And from what he had just heard-...
Shizu-chan had made a deal. Possibly after someone saw his show of strength- maybe even because of the rumors that he killed a titan with a tree.
With someone- maybe even Shiki, or someone else?
Anyway there had to be something going on behind the scenes, something along the line of, if you join the survey corps and survive and kill titans for us we will keep your brother alive. Something like this he suspected.
It would explain the brute´s behavior on the training ground as well.
He had no other choice. If he didn´t join them it would mean his brother's death- Consequently if his brother woke up he could stop taking part in the survey corps.
It was a cruel deal considering the blond was fighting for someone who was basically already dead. And yet it just proved how much the brute was able to care about someone.
Izaya... was impressed to say the least.
"So this is your reason, isn´t it Shizu-chan?"
It was hilarious how different and yet similar their situations seemed to be. His strength and temper had made him want to mess bad with the man, but now somehow he didn´t really feel like causing him actual trouble anymore.
To be continued~
C: Being in a comatose state, well sue me but it suits that emotionless brother doesn´t it? X'DD It´s not like he would show more expressions alive lmao x'DD
Guest 2: xDD ahhaha daww you like this don´t you? C': makes me so happy xD this is my new lil baby story xD Yup, or we could call it his "instinct" which would totally tick Izaya off xDDD Lol he is just feeling Shizuo is a genuine guy I think C: and not stupid either xD apart from that it´s that Izaya already suspected the blond had something driving him that wasn´t as simple as hate, revenge or glory C:
Well then, next update will be following on 29th April~! *0*0*0* xD sorry I´m late updating xDDD