Chapter 53: Cell-kun

"Shizuo!" Groggily blinking against the annoyance that were sunny morning rays slipping past the curtain, Shizuo groaned in absolute displeasure.

A glance to the side told him the time- 6am.

Why the hell was he awake?

Looking at the culprit in question he faced two innocent girls watching him like a visitor at a zoo.

"Shizuo!" Mairu called again and the blond groaned.

"God damnit what's with you and your brother always getting on my nerves first thing in the morning?"

Relief flashed across Kururi's expression, while Mairu offered nothing but a frown.

"Get up already! There is someone at the door."

At the-

Within a second Shizuo was wide awake.

Searching the siblings' faces for hints of a joke he looked at both respectively, but their expressions remained serious.

Bed sheets were cast aside and all need for pants discarded as Shizuo rushed towards the front door.

"Stay in the bedroom-" he ordered somewhere on his way and his face pressed itself against the door's spyhole.

The image he was presented with was awfully distorted and expanded in width- and yet he easily recognized the unannounced visitor.

A short moment of hesitation marked his eyes as they dipped into a frown.

How was she here? And why?

Was he supposed to open up?

Was this one of Izaya's plans?

An endless surge of possibilities came to mind, but they all were neglected at a simple solution.

Whatever it was that this woman wanted, there was no way she would be able to put up a fight.

If anything was off he would throw her out and take the siblings somewhere else.

And with that idea the door was unlocked - and the woman barged into the flat as if it were her own.

"Where is he?" she asked, fairly pissed as her heels clacked along the ground.

Shizuo found himself quite stupefied at the rude entry. Not only did she seem to pose no threat, she also seemed fairly offended. By what he had no idea-

"What are you talking about?" He found himself asking, waging that feigning innocence was probably the best option until he knew what she wanted but the flea's secretary shut him down quickly. "Don't play dumb, I know my boss better than you think." Her eyes were confident and her glare too real to be an act.

Izaya said no one knew about this apartment-

Why did she?

"How did you find this place?" It was a good start- he didn't relay anything of importance, right?

Knocking her coat off her shoulders she sighed with a hint of impatience.

"If there is a steady flow of money looking like a rent to a second flat showing up every month on every transaction summary you do check it out after a while you know."

Right- she was managing the flea's business- whatever exactly that was. "So when he was shot I knew he would end up here." She concluded and waited, for what Shizuo expected was a ceremoniously entrance by the flea. One that wasn't possible of course.

"He isn't here though. If you heard the news you should know he was caught."

Surprise flashed across her brown eyes and she quirked an eyebrow in disbelief.

"They really got him? I thought he used some sort of decoy." Rubbing her temples she sighed, "Gone without notice, and expecting me to do everything in his stead, you can tell him I expect twice my pay considering I am doing his goddamn job as well."

Shizuo felt quite lost as to what he was supposed to do.

Somehow despite not being responsible for the flea's god damn business he felt oddly attacked by his secretary's appearance. As if he should have foreseen her visit-

Izaya hadn't said anything about her so naturally he couldn't have done a thing in the first place. But the feeling was quite persistent and so he untensed at least a bit in the face of guilt.

"... thank you?" he said, sounding more like he was questioning the woman than actually thanking her though.

Curiosity had drawn the girls' attention and Shizuo's eyes trailed over to the bedroom where the two leaned over to glance at their unexpected visitor.

Recognizing the twins Nami nodded towards them.

"Those are his sisters, aren't they?" Almost immediately all guilt was forgotten as Shizuo's stance tensed.

"Depends," he started, "What do you want from them?" Izaya had asked him to protect them' and if there was nothing he could do for him in his cell then he would at least fulfill this request in full.

Looking back and forth between the girls and Shizuo Namie's demeanor suddenly changed. The annoyance in her eyes vanished and was replaced by a hard expression.

"... is he in trouble?"

The words sounded almost as unreal as the intention.

A bit perplexed Shizuo could do nothing but blink for a moment.

This woman wasn't asking to make fun of Izaya or worsen his situation.

In fact it seemed like she was concerned.

Arms still crossed she stood with tight lips as she waited for a response.

Shizuo had definitely expected a lot, but definitely not concern.

"... you heard the news, no? You know what they are accusing him of." He tried with caution. After all, no one was allowed to know that Izaya actually was an incubus.

But Namie didn't even bat an eyelid at the topic of Izaya's potential genes.

"No human has such a shit personality. I had a hunch something was off from the start," she shrugged, but caught the flash of surprise and quickly corrected herself, "Don't get me wrong, we share nothing but a work relationship." She laughed, "God beware that I would sacrifice my time off for that bastard."

It was funny, but despite her words being as harsh as she could choose them to be all Shizuo heard was actual worry.

"Doesn't sound like that if you ask me," he blurted out and obviously struck a nerve as Namie clicked her tongue.

"So?" she quickly hurried on, pressing the matter, "When will he be back?"

Having noticed her attitude towards Izaya, the twins had chosen to join Shizuo and stepped into the living room as well.

A worried glance was cast towards Shizuo and somehow that made the blond's confidence surge.

"By the end of the week," he announced, and the resolve in his voice showed.

"You sound awfully confident about that. Hasn't he been locked up?" Namie asked, but honestly? No argument she brought about would have shaken Shizuo's words.

Because it was easy as that wasn't it?

He was going to get the flea out of there, either by his choice or force.

"They better let him go or I will make it that way."

Blinking shortly Namie glanced towards the twins, obviously judging the blond's sanity and whether he was to be taken for full.

But the two only reflected the mood and grinned. "And we will help!"

Shaking her head Namie snorted, "I want no part of this," she quickly announced and moved to the front door. A slight pause kept her hand on the doorknob and she smiled. "If anything is up you know where to find me. Workwise only, of course."

The door creaked, and with that the woman disappeared without further adue.

The visit had been as much unexpected as it had been quick.

Standing there for a moment the siblings looked at each other, then back at Shizuo.

"Gentle." Kururi announced, assessing Izaya's secretary in her usual short fashion.

"I like her." Mairu agreed, and Shizuo snorted.

"Yeah, me too." Despite her character and choice of words it had been quite clear that she was indeed offering her help in case there was anything she could do for the flea.

It caused Shizuo to smile and realize for a moment that the flea had a really weird way of forming relationships. But he still had them.

The trustworthy kind.

But his thoughts quickly trailed back to the prison and his expression narrowed. The possibility of Izaya suffering yet another fucked up scheme from the police made his guts churn.

And somehow he found himself remembering what he had just told Namie.

Izaya would get out of prison at the end of the week.

Unreasonable confidence radiated from somewhere in his chest and Shizuo looked at a calendar, conveniently put in a cupboard in the living room.

A pen was grabbed and the object taken as he placed it on the table.

Marking the days accordingly he circled those Izaya was held hostage and crossed the one that he was going to be released.

Because that was the day.

If the police didn't let him go then Shizuo would make them.

"That's when Izaya will come back, right?" Mairu asked and Shizuo found himself answering with brimming confidence.

"Exactly."

Izaya was unknowingly mirroring the blond's actions in a way. Having been handed a piece of paper and a pencil to at least pass a bit of time he was sitting at his own table inside his cell, drawing a set of a few days.

But having taken not longer than a minute to do so he found himself quiet bored sooner than he liked too.

And so his eyes had trailed to the side and his hands moved.

Stroke after stroke crossed the paper and he realized pleased that he was quite talented.

"Okay, more to the right, door-kun. I really need you in the best light," he announced loudly, while glancing towards the bars at the entrance of his cell.

He had started drawing exactly that. His cell.

With perspective and everything. He even added the various cracks in the ceiling and the dirt on the ground.

Moving his fingers to a rectangle he looked past it as if he were measuring the size.

The rods of his cell didn't move despite being told to, of course and Izaya got up from his desk with a sigh.

"You know I will have to fire you if you don't get your act together," he announced, but the door remained quiet nonetheless.

"Director. We need a replacement." Izaya called to the side, as if anyone would be here to hear him.

The other prisoners having been held in these cells had been moved to either actual prison or been released, so right now he was pretty much alone in this entire compartment.

Casting a bored glanced towards the cell once more he hummed, "Oh, now you grovel?" he sneered, "Too late if you ask me."

The sudden sound of a door opening somewhere to the right startled Izaya shortly. Quick and quiet he retracted to his desk and sat down as if he had never done or said anything at all.

It didn't take long for Vincent to arrive at his cell, and even less of a time to earn a superior glare.

"Your lunch," he started, gesturing to the meal that had been brought to Izaya earlier. It was sitting on top of his desk, shoved to the far right corner as Izaya hadn't even wasted a glance into its direction.

Looking up from his drawing Izaya feigned innocence as he smiled. "What about it?"

"Not hungry?" Vincent asked, and Izaya shrugged.

"Not really."

As if he was going to touch any kind of food again after what the bastard did to his last-

A quick sneer drew to Vincent's expression and he adjusted his cap. "Don't tell me the last meal wasn't to your tastes?"

Izaya snorted, "Sorry but it tasted like shit. I would prefer dining again once I'm out of here."

Izaya expected annoyance to spread across Vincent's expression. After all that sick bastard was probably just waiting for a chance to drug him again.

Yet he remained awfully calm.

"Three days without food? Makes you seem suspicious, you know," Vincent argued, but Izaya had already seen that coming.

"Or picky."

A light pause following in which Izaya felt quite victorious as he had obviously rendered his dear officer speechless.

Well, what was he supposed to say?

Even imprisoned, they had no rights to just shove that food down Izaya's throat.

A short glance was cast to the ceiling, which contained a small camera flickering on and about every few minutes.

No matter what kind of sadistic bastard this guy was, even he had to adjust to the law as long as he was being watched.

Suppressing a sigh, Vincent looked around. It seemed he hadn't quite realized they were entirely alone and his brows furrowed lightly.

"Is there any reason you are talking to yourself?" he asked, and Izaya laughed.

"What, looking for an accomplice?"

A bit perplexed, yet oddly amused, Vincent crossed his arms. "You tell me."

A cheshire grin drew across Izaya's face and suddenly he moved- right into Vincent's direction.

"I have one actually," he cooed, "Look, he is standing right next to you." It was obviously a bluff, a joke, and yet Izaya couldn't help but feel smarter than this guy could ever hope to be as Vincent briefly glances across his shoulder.

There was of course no one there and his expression took on one of what almost looked like annoyance.

"Where?" he asked, feigning amusement, and Izaya grinned before stepping back to throw his arms into the air.

"Dear Cell-kun of course~!" he announced, and pointed towards the sketch the had been drawing.

A flabbergasted moment of searching for actual common sense wailed as Vincent looked at the drawing, back at Izaya and then to the rods.

"You are talking to the cell?" he asked, and Izaya confirmed.

"They serve a better conversation than you do at least."

Vincent snorted, albeit almost seemed a bit offended as he backed off the cell.

"Forgive me, I heard you were nuts but I didn't think it would be this bad." And with that he retracted. Steps resounded in the corridor and he was already out of sight when Izaya head him speak his last words. "Enjoy your time with Cell-kun as long as you can."

And somehow those words held more to them than Izaya liked.

They served a taunt. Of course they did, Vincent wanted to get back at him for being a little shit. But something about the way he had worded his thoughts pulled at the wrong strings in Izaya's mind.

Mairu and Kururi came to mind shortly- but as quick as they did another person popped up just as vividly and Izaya relaxed.

Letting himself sit on his bed he took a deep sigh.

Right now there was nothing else for him to do than to pass time, and so he jumped back to his feet.

Hands were clapped and a smile stuck to his face as he glanced towards the cell's door.

"I decided to give you another chance cell-kun. You acted profoundly with that officer present. Not a single emotion slipped on your face, that is quite admirable and deserves a second chance," he announced, and with that he flung himself into his chair.

Shizuo was with them.

He was going to protect them with everything he had and that was a lot.

Two more days. Or three, he wasn't quite sure either. But they were bound to let him go sooner or later.

to be continued~

xD I dunno why but I really wanted to show a bit of Izaya's batshit side today hahaha Has been a while since I made him act out some bullshittery xDDDD Also I think this is the first time I am writing Namie as nice as I did in this chapter xDDD