Kidnapping Gone Awry

[Deleted]

“Yuuhei, turn your shoulders a bit more.” “Lower your face.” “And for Christ sakes, smile naturally.”

Kasuka really hated smiling. Especially in front of the camera. It was a foreign twist of his mouth, his lips always resisting to tug back down again. Smiling felt fake, and ugly, quite the contrary to what a smile was supposed to mean. He hadn’t really smiled as a child, there hadn’t been much to smile about, really.

Sighing a little in frustration, Kasuka squinted up at the bright stage lighting, shifting in his chair to rearrange his pose. Rarely he was asked to do modelling work, today it was to advertise for some new men’s deodorant.

Adjusting the collar on his blouse, Kasuka looked at the ground, gritted his teeth together and looked back up at the camera with a glittering smile. Click click click. He kept that ridiculous smile in place for another ten minutes, until he was finally released.

Rubbing his sore jaw, Kasuka threw on his trench coat in the changing rooms. It was going on late afternoon. It was still light outside, but it was starting to get chilly. Grabbing his shoulder bag, he said his goodbyes to the front desk, double checked when his next appointment with his agent was, then was out the door and flicking out his phone.

At once, a swarm of people were literally on top of him. He’d forgotten to hide his face. “Yuuhei, can I have a photo with you!?” “Sign this for me!” “I’m your biggest fan!”

Suddenly, a car horn honked out.

Struggling through the crushing crowd, Kasuka tripped out onto the curb, ignoring the flailing hands from all sides. A jet black limo was parked a foot away, the window partly down and a hand was gesturing him to come forward.

For some. . strange reason. . Kasuka didn’t even pause to think it was dangerous. All he saw was a way out from his screaming fans, and was going to take it. Opening the back door, he fell inside. Gasping slightly, he glanced up through his fringe, spotting the person who had saved him. His thanks died in his throat. Oh shit.

[UndergroundGod]

It was an average day in Ikebukuro. Izaya’s morning had started out late, as usual. One of the greatest perks of being an information dealer was that most information worth having was generally created in the afternoon, or when it was dark outside, giving him blessedly late mornings.

Sure, the expression was that the early bird catches the worm, but what the hell was Izaya going to do with worms?

So he’d started out the morning with a quick lunch at Russia Sushi, meeting there with a certain business partner and arranging for an exchange of goods the following day through a few of Izaya’s other connections. After all, that was Izaya’s job, to introduce one… "entrepreneur" to another, arrange meetings, and make sure everything was done behind closed doors, and he was very good at his job.

As he was leaving the restaurant, both sated from his meal and from the deal he’d set up (as it was the only thing he’d had planned for the day), he heard Shizu’s voice hovering outside the doors, talking to Simon, and Izaya quickly ducked out of the restaurant and out of Shizuo’s sight. While he normally didn’t mind attracting Shizuo’s attention, avoiding flying street signs on a full stomach was just a hassle and Izaya would prefer to push their bout until later if possible, he’d stay tucked in the alley (looking casual, of course) until he heard Shizuo move out of range.

The fortunate thing about his position, though, was that he could overhear everything the blond was telling the Russian… and it seemed that Shizuo intended on visiting his younger brother later, after his commercial shoot.

A grin stretched across Izaya’s face. He’d just found something to fill up his empty afternoon.

The next few hours were spent plotting, discovering the location of the famous actor’s shoot, pinpointing where the man would be and when, and renting a limo.

Just as he planned, around late afternoon, the star exited the studio, being immediately swarmed by the fans who somehow heard an internet rumor about where Yuuhei would be that afternoon. Izaya signaled to the driver to honk, in order to attract Kasuka’s attention, and once he had it, he stuck his hand out the window to wave the younger man over.

When he was sure the actor was caught in his web, he slid to the opposite side of the limo to watch Kasuka’s reaction to just who had orchestrated his rescue.

As usual, the younger Heiwajima brother’s reaction was muted, but Izaya was skilled at reading people, and he could see the vague look of horror is Kasuka’s eyes.

As soon as the door was shut behind him, the limo driver did as he was told and sped off through the crowd and away from the studio.

Izaya merely eyed Kasuka for a moment with a teasing grin, relaxed back against the seat, before greeting him innocently, “Hello, Kasuka~ As popular as ever, I see.”

[Deleted]

Taking his time, Kasuka rearranged himself on the leather seat, sitting up and brushing his hair out of his face. Keeping his eyes fixed on his lap until it was impossible to ignore Izaya’s presence any longer. Kasuka had been threatened, emotionally abused and shot at through a crowd of people, yet until now he had never been successfully kidnapped by someone. There had been a few close calls in the past, but normally they were averted at the last second by a swift blow to the back of their heads by a body guard.

Now it was his own stupidity that had landed him in the clutches of the insane Izaya. It could have been avoided if he’d gone out the back door to his own car, or worn something to cover his face, even to have someone else with him. This was retribution for wanting to get out of that studio as fast as possible.

Objectively speaking, Kasuka didn’t really hate Izaya like his brother. They weren’t exactly enemies, but they weren’t exactly friends either. Briefly, they had talked to one another during high school, and the impression Kasuka had gotten was that he was alright. Shizuo swore on his heart that he was nothing but a creep, and normal people certainly didn’t land others in jail. Although Izaya had done that to his brother, Kasuka had cared at the time, but not now. Some might call it forgiving. But it wasn’t really that. Kasuka was just indifferent to such things.

Izaya was nice when he wanted to be, but he was also incredibly cruel when he wanted to be. He was. . interesting. Kasuka didn’t really know why he did the things he did, apart from that he appeared to enjoy other peoples misery. Perhaps in some ways, they two of them were the same. In a completely contradicting manner, of course.

Glancing up, Kasuka curled one side of his hair behind his ears, a gesture to suggest he was nervous. Or bored. “Hello Izaya,” he politely greeted back. He wondered if he was going to explain what on earth he hoped to gain by kidnapping him. Then he just. . stared at his kidnapper. He hadn’t seen the man in quite a while, and he noticed he hadn’t changed much at all. He was still made of nothing, on the short side, and looked like a little kid. Outwardly and inwardly, Izaya still hadn’t grown up.

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya watched Kasuka casually, not staring, but obviously interested. He honestly hadn’t spent much time around the younger Heiwajima brother, mostly because he was so reserved, completely unlike his brother. The whole point of Izaya doing anything to anyone was to see their reactions. He loved people! He loved watched how many different emotions a face could portray, he loved reactivity. Whether it was horror, joy, fear, embarrassment, disgust, excitement… he didn’t care. Whatever complex portrait of emotions a human face wanted to show him, he would take it without complaint. One of his favorite pastimes was to determine exactly which emotions (because it was never just a single emotion, and that was something Izaya loved most of all) he saw in someone’s face and body language.

Kasuka… wasn’t like that though. There weren’t many people (at least no normal people) who were so incredibly impassive. He was really the complete opposite of his over reactive, loose cannon brother. Whereas Shizuo might start chucking street signs at the drop of a hat, Izaya could very well imagine a nuclear missile going off nearby and Kasuka not doing so much as flinching. Izaya supposed the brothers balanced each other out that way. After all, it was bad enough to have one Shizuo in the city (much less in a single building). Izaya could only imagine how hazardous it would be having two of him; no, Kasuka being the way he was was probably for the best.

Now that Izaya considered it, this could be interesting unto its own. Izaya had, after all, really only abducted Kasuka to annoy Shizuo. He wanted the man to try to meet his brother, only to discover that he was missing, just so that he would freak out. It was more of the same game that Izaya continued to play with Shizuo, simply because Shizuo always reacted so explosively. If the man would just calm down, it might not be so much fun for Izaya to tease him, but Izaya would never tell Shizuo that, and he sincerely hoped he’d never find out Izaya’s motives, or at least would never be able to do anything about them. Regardless, he had no ill-intent for the famous actor sitting with him in the back of the limo. He didn’t plan to harm a single hair on his head, he wasn’t holding him for ransom. Really, if Kasuka struggled to get away, Izaya probably wouldn’t even fight with him. All Izaya wanted to do was keep Kasuka around so that Shizuo would tear through the city looking for him for a few hours.

Even if Kasuka did escape, it was nearly as interesting to imagine how Shizuo would react to even hearing that Izaya had attempted to abduct his brother—no, even hearing that Izaya had talked to Kasuka was probably some dire offence.

But while his efforts so far had all been in an effort to torment Shizuo, sitting in the back of the cab, he suddenly saw the opportunity for this to become even more interesting.

It took a while for the younger man to reply but once he had, Izaya grinned at him, deciding to carry on the casual conversation for as long as Kasuka was willing to. “So, it’s been a while. What have you been up to?”

[Deleted]

Kasuka stared at Izaya in mild bewilderment. What a silly question to ask. “But you already know. Don’t you.”

Every man and his dog knew about Yuuhei. One just had to flick open a magazine, turn on the television, or browse the Internet, his entire life was exposed for the world to see. But Kasuka wasn’t talking about that. Kasuka knew. Izaya’s. . . hobby. . if you will, was to find out about everything. He just needed to know. Simply a brilliant human mind who was incredibly bored, wasting his talents on toying with others. Kasuka was willing to bet Izaya knew more things about him than he knew himself. It probably hadn’t gotten to the stage of finding out his car had been bugged. . but he wouldn’t be surprised if it had been.

It wasn’t quite a glare, Kasuka’s facial structure didn’t allow for such foreign expressions, but his black eyes had deepened, sharpening on Izaya’s face, becoming harder in mild irritation. Kasuka was no fool. He wasn’t like his brother, who only saw at face value and wasn’t quite perceptive enough to see beyond the fence, and didn’t appreciate being treated as such.
Crossing his legs and leaning back, his casual actions and levelled answered gave the appearance that he was more in control than his kidnapper.

Breaking eye contact, Kasuka glanced out the window, slightly tinted and obscuring the world outside. Izaya liked to see how people reacted. Well, he was in for a world of disappointment. He had already surmised that he had only been. . ‘kidnapped’. .in the hopes of getting a rise out of Shizuo. Although by the time Shizuo learnt of his brothers vanishing- which could take a few hours- then the time it took for Shizuo to even find them- another few hours wasted- Izaya would have to put up with the younger brothers unresponsive reactions and truthfully. . Kasuka doubted Izaya had the mentality nor patience to put up with that for very long.

Unless of course. . Izaya was planning to play a new game of trying to break his ice sculpture continence.

Leaning an elbow on the car window still and resting his face against an up turned palm, he was certainly interested to see how long Izaya could hold out when he realised Kasuka wouldn’t rise to any of his bait. Would he pout and throw a tantrum? Well, that was something Kasuka wanted to stick around for and see.

[UndergroundGod]

The grin on his lips stretched wider at Kasuka’s reply, his eyes were locked with the younger male’s as the man seemed for a moment surprised, before his gaze hardened.

Izaya knew that a person’s eyes were often the best depiction of the way a person was truly feeling, but in this case, it seemed to be his only window into Kasuka’s soul, the only real indication Izaya had that there was a flesh and blood person beneath that stoic face. Well, that was good to know; Izaya would continue to watch those dark eyes of his and take note of anything he was able to find. Even after Kasuka turned his head, Izaya watched his face closely.

“Well, you’re light years faster than your brother, at least,” he said offhandedly.

Honestly, this was probably one of his more… haphazard plans. He had only devoted a few hours towards this, just long enough to figure out where Kasuka was, arrange the limo, and figure out where to hold him until Shizuo came bursting down the door.

The limo, with windows so tinted that even from the inside, it was difficult to see out, was taking them to a rather run down area of town that just wouldn’t be safe for someone as timid looking as Kasuka, an area of town that Izaya had ensured the man wouldn’t be familiar with, thus squelching the desire to try to make a run for it once the limo stopped. It was by no means a fool proof plan… but Kasuka, unlike his brother, was by no means a fool. Surely, Izaya knew, Kasuka probably already realized what this was about, and had realized that Izaya was just going out of his way to be a nuisance. If he realized that, he also realized that Izaya wasn’t going to hurt him (or would go out of his way not to see him hurt) and would release him as soon as Shizuo was barreling through the city to find him.

“Really, though, what’s it like being a movie star? How does it feel to know that you’re adored by millions of women all over Japan?” Izaya asked. The question was posed in an interested tone that was so over the top that it was clearly faux.

[Deleted]

Inwardly sighing at the second, equally idiotic, question being thrown his way, Kasuka swung his gaze back round, lips twitching slightly. A second later, his mouth formed into a gorgeous smile, one that was well known to make girls- no doubt men too- squeal at their television set. The smile, of course, didn’t reach his eyes. In fact it hardly reached his nose. It was a real as Candy Mountain was.

“I love my job, it’s been such a great experience and I’ve done so many things that I never thought I would do in my life. I have all my wonderful fans to thank for supporting me through it and keeping me going. Thankyou for asking, Interviewer-san,” Kasuka positively glittered at Izaya. The speech was well rehearsed, considering he spewed it at every microphone wearing suit ever who had asked the same question.

And just as suddenly as the smile and animated gestures had come on, a shutter fell back down. Dark eyes closing off, lips pursing back into a pout. Gracefully his arms folded across his chest and he surveyed Izaya with vague interested. Maybe that had been a bit childish of him, reacting like that. Then again, ask a stupid question. .

It wasn’t like Kasuka was having fun annoying the man. He wasn’t sure if that was even possible. This was just. . interesting. Something new in his normal, daily routine.

“You’re not taking this kidnapping very seriously, are you Izaya?” Kasuka asked quietly, pulling his hands away from himself and revealing the mobile phone he had grabbed from his pocket. Flicking it open, he pressed the speed dial for the emergency services. If Izaya had any brains in that fat head of his, he would have searched Kasuka as soon as he’d fallen into the car.

A female voice buzzed inquiringly down the line. “Oh hello,” his fake, actor voice was back in place. This time it wasn’t put on for amusing Izaya. Kasuka had gotten into a habit of defensively answering phone calls in a naive, happy voice for years now. “I suspect I won’t be talking for much longer, because my kidnapper is about two seconds away from destroying this cellphone-”

[UndergroundGod]

Watching Kasuka was just… intriguing. Izaya couldn’t get over it. He had to watch closely for even the subtlest of changes in order to even have a hint at what the younger man was thinking.

Kasuka suddenly took on a very campy persona and Izaya just wanted to laugh. He’d seen that face before in front of cameras, on TV specials and in internet interviews. It was ridiculous and unnatural. Any idiot could see that Kasuka’s eyes remained lifeless and unchanged, and even children would be disturbed by the difference between the top and bottom halves of Kasuka’s face. Real smiles didn’t work like that.

And the fact that Kasuka would give him such an exaggerated response to his question… that alone was comical. It was actually quite immature of the man, almost childish, and Izaya didn’t think he’d seen that side of him before.

It was true he wasn’t taking this seriously. For Izaya, this was just a blip on the radar, a disturbance in the airwaves. It was just a way to break the monotony of his day to day life. Izaya was constantly in search of excitement and interaction… but the more exciting things that Izaya found, the more exciting something needed to be to spark Izaya’s attention. He was only doing this to keep himself amused and if this ended, it ended. He was looking for a ransom or anything like that. He wasn’t even really trying to keep Kasuka. If the man left, he left.

He observed with interest as Kasuka flipped out his phone. Izaya didn’t care who Kasuka was calling. Even if it was the police and they didn’t buy his story (with the backing of video evidence), there were few people in the world that couldn’t be paid to keep quiet with the sort of money Izaya had. He had no fear whatsoever and his face remained molded in a comfortable grin.

Finally, after it seemed like Kasuka was done with his silly game, Izaya spoke.

“Kidnapping?” Izaya asked aloud, sounding a bit offended and frowning at Kasuka. His face and words were sincere—at least sincere enough for anyone watching the closed circuit security cameras inside the limo. “Who said anything about kidnapping? You’re the one that got into my car to escape from your crazy fans. You haven’t even asked me to stop and let you out. I don’t have a weapon, I haven’t restrained you, and I didn’t take your cell phone. If this is really a kidnapping, it isn’t a very good one.”

[Deleted]

Somewhere along the line, there had been a miscommunication.

The irritable snap of the cell phone closing cut the nasty silence. “Then what is the point?” he wanted to know, because now the game was growing sour. “This childish game you continue to pursue with niisan is pathetic, it-”

Oh. Oh hold on.

Kasuka rubbed his thumb across his bottom lip, cocking his head slightly as he suddenly stopped midsentence. One of the main problems Shizuo had was that he could never catch Izaya. Well here he was and. . mm.
Izaya’s prolonged existence had been the irritable thorn in his brother’s side for half his life. And in retrospect, also an annoying thorn in Kasuka’s side. The problem was right before him, and all he had to do was get rid of said problem. He hadn’t really done much for his brother over the years, so this would be over due repayment.

It wasn’t like Kasuka had a dark side. . per say. The cold logic just made sense. He loved his brother more than anyone, would do anything for him. Shizuo wanted Izaya dead- so. Okay then.

Right. With that worked out in his head, Kasuka reached across and casually locked the car doors. “You said you’re unarmed? I guess you really didn’t take this seriously after all,” the tinted glass separating them from the driver was thick, sound proof, like it was meant to be. By the car motions, it felt like they had hit the highway. There wouldn’t be any places for them to pull over for at least ten minutes, give or take the traffic surges.

There was no cold smirk, no sudden spark in his lifeless eyes. Just blankness. He stood- or rather his head knocked the roof of the car so it was more hunched than upright, and crossed the small space in a soundless lunge. His strong hands planned to close around Izaya’s throat, trapping it in a merciless crush. Kasuka was hardly the fragile flower that his appearance suggested. After all, he was a Heiwajima too.

[UndergroundGod]

Okay, so he wasn’t being completely honest, but really… was he ever? It wasn’t a kidnapping in the strictest sense, that much was true. If Kasuka had just asked Izaya to pull the limo over and let him out, Izaya would have—hell, if Kasuka had asked him to deliver him at Shizuo’s front door, Izaya would have been all too happy to do it. In fact, that idea really amused him. Shizuo wouldn’t know what to do if Izaya delivered Kasuka to him after saving him from a mob of fans, and being torn between the ever persistent desire to kill him and the sudden need to thank him would only make that caveman rage harder at Izaya.

Either way, just being in contact with Kasuka would annoy Shizuo to no end, so Izaya’s plan had been more or less completed as soon as Kasuka stepped into his limousine. Everything else he was just playing by ear.

And, of course, Izaya wasn’t being honest about being unarmed—but he never considered himself truly “armed,” despite the flickblade he toted in his pocket at all times. That was no more or less a weapon than his fists were, than his feet were. It wasn’t a weapon so much as it was a part of him, and the trusty blade was where it belonged, pressing softly against his hip.

Really, though, while Izaya had made light plans to return Kasuka to a separate office of his across the town, and keep him there (intending on serving him food and drink, but by no means would Izaya prevent him from leaving if the younger man really wanted too), he didn’t really care what happened.

That didn’t mean he’d let the situation get out of his control though, and just because they were “trapped” in a limo together didn’t mean that Izaya’s reflexes weren’t as quick as ever. Just because he had no intentions of hurting the younger Heiwajima brother didn’t mean he was going to let the boy hurt him.

Movement wasn’t exactly easy and uninhibited in the backseat area of a limo, so as soon as Izaya saw Kasuka moving towards him, from his relaxed position against the seat of the cab, he raised his leg. The bottom of his boot was aimed in Kasuka’s direction, parallel and level with Kasuka’s face. It wasn’t a kick, just a defensive move to prevent the man’s hands from reaching his throat, as it seemed they wanted to do. If Kasuka was really coming for him, he’d basically faceplant the sole of his shoe.

But no, not wanted, that wasn’t the word for it. Kasuka didn’t want to choke him. “Want” implied that Kasuka had some yearning to do it, which simply wasn’t true. For instance, Shizuo WANTED to choke Izaya. Kasuka… was just going to do it. There was no desire or passion to it, he’d simply intended to do it. Had Izaya only been paying attention to the actor’s facial expressions, he never would have seen an attack coming… though with that somber look in those dark eyes, Izaya didn’t doubt that Kasuka was capable of many, many things. He was probably capable of doing anything Izaya did and could do so without flinching, which said quite a bit about the man before him.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Izaya scolded a bit, the grin having never left his face. In fact, the look was just growing more and more interested. “Not so fast. Is that any way to treat someone who just saved you from a mob of screaming girls?”

[Deleted]

He wound up grabbing the foot instead, to stop himself bumping into it. Although Kasuka landed on his knees he still managed to do it with the grace of a well choreographed performance, instead of a clumsy stumble which nearly anyone else in his place would have pulled off. He didn’t utter a noise, even though the landing had been more than a little painful, face not even registering the jolt. He squeezed Izaya’s boney ankle, testing it, for a moment wondering if he could snap it in half. Then deciding that since he didn’t really know the mechanics behind breaking a foot with his bare hands, it was perhaps a bad idea to try it.

Just so he could see the man’s face again, Kasuka bent Izaya’s leg, then put his foot back on the ground. It was impossible to tell if he was less hostile than before. The foot wasn’t let go of. “Why did you stop me?” he asked, as if stopping a person hurting another was a strange thing to do. Considering with what Izaya did, it was like he wanted to be killed. He flirted that thin line so much; it was surprising that he hadn’t just accepted it by now.

As his hands grew bored, he idly fiddled with the hem of Izaya’s pant leg, lowering his gaze to his kneecaps, out of his peripheral vision noticing one of the limo’s belt straps. A whimsical scenario of yanking the strap to its full extent and crushing Izaya’s wind pipe with it played out in his mind, as it was literally the only lethal object in the vehicle. He waved it away soon after. Izaya’s reflexes were much greater than his own, even with the physical demand of an actor and stunt work he still wouldn’t be able to rival it. Maybe he was stronger, he was larger than him but not by much, though strength wouldn’t do much if he couldn’t catch the little ferret.

“Killing people seems like more trouble than fiction makes it out to be,” Kasuka sighed a little, as if he’d just been denied his favourite pudding. “Especially when you’re not going to cooperate with me.”

Yes. There was a hint of dry satire laced between that.

“Saving me? . . .I guess I could show my appreciation when we get to wherever it is you’re taking me.”

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya just watched the man carefully. His foot was in his grasp now, but ankles were generally a bit less delicate than throats, and Izaya was confident in his ability to shake Kasuka off if he needed. If nothing else, Izaya could kick with his other leg to get Kasuka off. He didn’t really fear for his ankle’s safety, even as Kasuka seemed to squeeze it a bit, as if testing its strength.

Because he didn’t sense another attack coming, he allowed Kasuka to move his foot back down to the floor of the car.

For a brief second, Izaya was tempted to answer Kasuka’s question. The younger man seemed to be legitimately curious as to why Izaya didn’t want Kasuka to kill him and Izaya found he’d be all too happy to satisfy his curiosity. After all, if Kasuka really didn’t know the answer, it only seemed right to inform him, especially because it seemed like such an odd thing to be curious about.

After all, how many people actually wanted to die? Of all the people he’d made fake suicide pacts with over the internet, not a one of them had actually wanted to die, or at least they hadn’t been ready for it. Was it really so odd for Izaya to share the sentiment?

Izaya’s eyes watched Kasuka as he fiddled with his pant leg, curious as to what he was doing. The man’s eyes seemed to drift and Izaya remained ever alert. If Kasuka moved suddenly, if it looked like he was going to lunge again, Izaya would be ready for it, though it seemed as though the man’s murderous intentions had been extinguished for the moment.

“Yeah,” Izaya agreed with a grin, “nothing’s quite as easy or as glamorous as it seems in the movies. And victims rarely ever cooperate.”

Though if you pulled just the right strings, it didn’t matter how much someone struggled, as they would tumble right into whatever trap you had laid out for them.

It seemed as though whatever Kauska had in mind, he wasn’t done with, and Izaya was positively enraptured by the man’s behavior. He certainly had nothing better to do than to… entertain the man for as long as he had no intentions of trying to get away.

“Go on and sit down, get comfortable. We should be there shortly.”

[Deleted]

Now that. . formalities. . were out of the way, Kasuka scooted himself up onto the balls of his feet, lightly resting one hand on Izaya’s knee so he wouldn't be thrown off centre by the limo’s rolling movements, “You’re a strange man.”

Which seemed a bit rich coming out of his mouth. Folding himself back into the seat opposite him, Kasuka crossed his legs before settling his gaze on the tinted windows, not saying a word more until they arrived

_{(( yes this is all you get, now hurry up and make us arrive so I have something to post next time >:l ))}

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya smirked to himself at Kasuka’s comment. Strange indeed. It seemed very much to Izaya that ‘strange’ was a proper word to describe more than just himself. The more and more he saw of Kasuka, the more he couldn’t help but be intrigued by the man’s behavior.

He watched the man take the seat across from him and then settled back in his own seat. Of course, he kept an eye on Kasuka as they continued to their destination. He was aware that Kasuka could attack him again, unprovoked and out of the blue, so Izaya wasn’t one to let his guard down, regardless of whether he appeared as such.

After another ten minutes or so, the limousine finally slowed down and stopped and there was a soft rap on the window separating them from the driver.

Immediately, Izaya was up out of his seat and out the door. In one fluid motion, he flung open the door of the limousine, standing outside and holding it open for the man to follow him.

The limousine was stopped outside a tall office building, at least fifteen stories, though it was quite obviously abandoned, and had been for some time. A few of the windows were boarded up and most of the first two floors were covered with graffiti and gang signs. It was surrounded on either side by more obviously abandoned buildings, more graffiti, and at the end of the block a shady looking character appeared to be involved in a financial transaction with some man who was obviously shaking and scratching and looking antsy.

Izaya had that same, unaffected grin on his face as he waited for Kasuka to climb out of the limo.

[Deleted]

As they pulled up to the curb, kasuka useless peered out the tinted windows to see where they were. Human reflex. Vaguely, he could make out the shadow forms of buildings and the horizon line.

He hardly had time to blink before Izaya was up and moving, leaping from the vehicle and holding the door open like a perfect gentleman.
He knew the man was quick, countless times he had glanced out his classroom window to see his brother and Izaya at it- Izayay laughing like a lunatic and bouncing around like a bunny as his brother uprooted a power box, or flood light post, whatever at hand, to hurtle his way- had witnessed it fifteen minutes ago when he had been around to attack him. He knew this, yet it was still rather impressive.

Izaya was like a black panther. Agile and lethal. He gazed up into that crafty face, and for a moment, mentally pictured him with rounded ears and slinking black tail. Weird. “Thankyou,” Kasuka said automatically, and as he slid from the limousine, he lifted a hand to shade his eyes from the sudden glare of strong sun light. . .

Kasuka he had no idea where they were.

Even as a child, he had hardly known much of Ikebukuro. The neighbouring streets around his house, the way to his school and the main hub of the city where you used to go to drama school, that was his limited knowledge of the cities layout.

He looked up and down the deserted road, noticing the littered pavements, the cobwebs and obviously unloved buildings all around them. Craning his neck upwards, he took in the office building, deducting this was their final destination. After he was done looking around and confirming he was totally lost, Kasuka looked back at Izaya. Now would have been the time to try escaping. Although it seemed a little pointless to try. He was bigger than Izaya, but height and leg length didn’t seem to matter, as Shizuo was taller than the both of them, yet Izaya could still out run him.

“Are we going in?”