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The notes of dazzlingly beautiful music lifted and fell in a cacophony of wonderous emotion as the tempo increased and decreased.

It wasn't often that something like a street performer or musician made Shizuo stop to really listen, especially if he was on a job with Tom, but he was already a bit early and had time to kill. He sat to listen. He'd heard of Tokyo Metro Building having a piano where any locals could come by and play whatever their hearts desired, but he just didn't expect to see it himself. He stood still, watching the back of the pianist move solemnly as if he was a part of the intrument himself with every note played.

He let himself be swayed by the music's soft tempo as it told its story. Wonder what it is, he knew it was a probably a classic since he'd definitely heard it before. But music not ever being something he had the patience to learn, from practicing to not breaking the instruments, really meant he didn't know much about it beyond that.

He wasn't at all curious beyond the beautiful melody to be honest, he just felt the music was filled with a solemn sorrow that could only be explained by the person playing. He heard this song before, but the timing was somehow different. Slower at the slow point, faster when it picked up, it almost seemed as if the piano was singing out all its pain and sorrows.

The song finished softly following its final crescendo, and he opened his eyes, following suit, clapping, along with the rest of the sparse crowd of people finally starting to gather with their morning coffees, rubbing their tired eyes as they made their way to work, half of them passing through hurriedly, while a few stragglers like him waited and listened intently. Now, at its end, receiving a moderate amount of applause, not for a lack of enthusiasm, but rather more for the earliness of the day and the general numbness that can sometimes hover over one's presence in morning.

None of this seemed to bother the hobbyist pianist as he stood from the platform and completed a dramatic bow with an absurd flourish of his hand. Shizuo found it unusual but was not too interested in anything more now that the impromptu concert had ended, especially as he saw Tom approach him, coffee in hand. That is, until... "Hey Tom-"

Tom smiled and walked up to him, before glancing over to where the performer must've now been descending. If he hadn't been looking at Tom, he might've missed the sharp intake of air as Tom's voice hitched and whatever he was going to say stuck in his throat, causing Shizuo to look back over in surprise.

That's when he saw him. The ad hoc performer stepping down from the stage and greeting a couple of business men with a smile and outstretched arms in a grand gesture of a greeting was none other than Orihara, Izaya. Maybe it was the smart red long sleeved dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and tucked into tailored black dress pants, very fitting and giving off a luxurious appearance on Izayas graceful physique, or the fact that he had only seen the back of him from the moment he arrived, but he had not noticed who he was until now.

His smile appearing strong and unbothered, even from as far away as they stood. Shizuo felt anger deep in his gut begin to boil into a rage at his mere presence.

"Shizuo, it's okay. We can get out of here, we're actually meeting Ms. Taira at a nearby restaurant if we want to head there now-"

Shizuo was fully aware this was likely not the original plan at all and just a weak attempt to distract him from his lifelong enemy who casually greeted and spoke with a couple of wealthy looking characters who gave off the appearance of not being completely above-board themselves. They were walking toward Shizuo, toward the exit, and although Izaya had not spotted him yet, he saw no reason to make his presence known. As annoying as it was to run into him here, this definitely wasn't a place he could lose his cool, he wouldn't do that to Tom. And anyway, as long as he kept out of Ikebukuro, he might not like it, but he supposed it wasn't really his business. He still ground his teeth in irritation.

He did feel himself snort in disgust at his earlier feeling that he felt while the song was being played, how someone like Izaya could play anything that beautiful seemed almost unbelievable to him if he hadn't seen it himself.

He could've turned and left, feeling that Tom was already urging him in that direction or he could've gone straight for him and lost it, as he normally would've if this was his side of town. Instead, he stayed still and watched him pass him, arms crossed, leaning his back against the pillar behind him in an absolutely terrifying and strange display of defiance. Turning the heads of a couple people next to them who gasped quietly and quickly created distance between them.

He knew the moment Izaya spotted him, his eyes following Izaya like a hawk, because in the middle of Izaya speaking to one of the men next to him, he had glanced over to his side of the room and their eyes met.

He could not hide his genuine shock or surprise, as well as a faint look of terror. It actually amused Shizuo to know that for once, he was the one being made to feel the discomfort of being watched and not him.

And uncomfortable he was.

As soon as their eyes met, Shizuo grinned rather intimidatingly and Izayas smile slid from his face, he slowed his pace for a moment before continuing his gait to match the others and glancing around quickly, expecting Shizuo to make a move, he had to guess. But Shizuo had no intention of doing so.

Instead, he stretched his arms above his head, and faced Tom, "Well, Tom, let's go meet your client"

"Huh-what- oh yes, let's-s go" Tom stumbled in both shock and confusion at having watched this unusual non-encounter occur. Izaya apparently wasn't the only one expecting a more drastic reaction, but Shizuo did not turn back to look at him.

—

Izaya was woken up early this morning, he wasn't sure by what, he didn't need to be awake for another hour but he didn't care. He sat up, his silk black sheets falling around his lap as he did. He stared from his bed out the window to his right admiring the dark, sleeping world below. There was some quiet peace in waking up before the rest of the world, peace he sorely needed after the week he had had. He clutched his face, nursing the side of his head that still ached from being bashed over the head. Shinra had told him to keep the bandages on for another day, but there was no way he could go out like this. He began to remove the outside layer of bandages, now crusty from stale, dried blood. It looked worse that it was, he confirmed with Shinra as much, and the only way to make yourself an even bigger target when you already are one, is to show weakness. And he's done plenty of that recently, he thought bitterly.

He laughed humorously to himself and let him fall back onto the coolness of his sheets, stretching both his arms out wide and feeling the cool touch of fabric against his skin. Smooth. He slowly moved his hands down his body in a rare allowance of self indulgence. He felt down his torso, across his thighs and over his slowly arousing erection. He let his head fall to the side and bit the pillow, feeling the soft fabric swirl against his teeth as he grinded them into it. He slowly pumped himself and thought of his wonderful plan falling into place. What it'd feel like to finally win, to finally be the last victor. Shizu-chans devastated face floated into view before he pushed that image away, but to his disturbance, it always succeeded in getting him the hardest. Now hard as a rock he proceed to move his hand along with the rhythm playing in his mind, in tune with the distant, faint sounds of the city below. His loft apartment would not typically allow for sounds of the city, being as far from the ground as it was, but Izaya had installed several surveillance cameras around the premises leading up to his actual apartment and enjoyed leaving the volume on for the one closest to the buildings entrance. Something about it gave him a sense of calm, hearing the sounds of weather, the street and of any individuals coming and going at odd hours of the night.

These weren't very necessary for his safety, no, he had other security measures in place for that, and they were also not allowed by apartment management. That is, they were unaware he had installed them in the first place. But if they eventually found them and removed them he would not mind too much, as they were really just backup precaution, and if he was being honest, they were mostly just there to soothe his nerves to hear the relaxing sounds of the city and keep tabs on the comings and goings in the building occasionally.

He moaned into his hands allowing his mind to wander to places it had not been in awhile. It had been so long since he touched himself, that he almost felt weak once he finally finished and lie there in satiation. He quickly grabbed a tissue from the bed stand to clean himself up and left his bed, walking to stand in front of his full length mirror in the master bathroom. He made a face as he noticed the deep-set dark circles under his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair, cringing at the slightly greasy feel. He walked to his walk in shower turning on the the rainfall shower head and watching it fall, steam eventually rising up before he stepped under the flow of water.

—

Shizuo frowned to himself, staring a bit too long at the woman in front of him, telling him one sob story after another. Normally he would've gotten irritated by now, but he wasn't actually listening.

Izaya had looked so different then he typically did in Ikebukuro. Not in the conversation with the men he had left with, no, he was sure that was most definitely part of one of his nefarious plans, but when he was playing that song. He never knew Izaya could play piano, and that wasn't really what interested him. What had been consuming him was the way, he had looked and the way the song had sounded as he played.

He may have only seen him from the back but the way he moved almost as being driven by what he was playing would not leave Shizuos mind, it was extremely frustrating at best, distracting at the very least. He wondered what it was about seeing him there that shocked him so much, it was near where his office was in Shinjuku anyways, this much he knew, but he had never expected to notice anything nice or beautiful come from the hands of Izaya. He closed his eyes tightly and growled out loud, stop thinking about it!

At the sound of a scared yelp, he realized quickly that he had crunched the door frame, and the woman in front of him jumped back in surprise when splintered wood broke off in his hand.

"Okay okay! I'm sorry, let me just see if I have half of it today. I-I should be able to get the rest to you next time, Tom, is that okay?"

Shizuo looked at splinter piece of wood in his hand and then threw it on the ground in frustration causing the lady to expedite her steps in finding money that hadn't existed a moment before. Shizuo stepped back with a nod from Tom and stomped off, leaving the building and putting some space between him and the front door. There he waited for Tom to leave as well.

It took longer than expected but then eventually he straightened as Tom appeared. "Hey"

"Hey buddy," Tom looked like he was selecting his words carefully, "Are you doing alright?"

Shizuo just looked at him for a few seconds before, "…yeah" he sighed

Tom looked like he wanted to say something else but rethought it and instead, "We're almost done for the day if you want to take off a bit early"

Shizuo looked up, "wait, you sure? Don't we have two more people to speak with?"

Tom waved his hand dismissively, "Yeah yeah, but trust me, these guys are both rarely difficult. I doubt either one of them will give me trouble today"

Shizuo paused, he normally would've fought harder but he could really use a break, "Well, if you're sure-"

"Oh definitely," Tom encouraged, seeming a bit relieved, "Make sure to take some time for yourself today and relax. I know just as well how tough this job can be sometimes" he said, although they both knew that was not what had Shizuo irked today. Shizuo wondered if Tom refused to speak plainly to him about it for fear of pissing him off further. Part of him felt relieved for it, and the other half felt guilty, always a nuisance to the people around me. He scowled, before realizing Tom was still looking at him uneasily. He straightened and put his sunglasses back on, pushing them up his nose, "Okay...well then, I'll be off." He paused and glanced back at Tom, "But give me a call if you need anything. I mean it"

"Of course!" Tom smiled instantly, a relaxed smile. He must've been stressed with Shizuos high strung behavior since earlier this morning. Shizuo sighed as he departed, always such a nuisance.

—

Let me know how you like this one, I have more ideas :)