Daddy's Little Girl

[unicornhunter]

Erika panicked at first when Mamoru grabbed Izaya and the lead pipe scattered across the floor. But she turned back to her bag and dug out one of the two handguns. She had to work fast if she was going to actually fire these. When she had obtained them, she knew that they'd have to be for emergencies and that she'd only be able to use them once. The cops would get really suspicious if multiple instances of gun violence occurred in Ikebukuro. While there currently wasn't any way for the police to connect her to the gun theft, that didn't mean that they couldn't still learn that she now owed the two guns that Ran Izumii had somehow gotten his hands on once upon a time. She doubted even Ran knew where they went. Whether or not he cared at this point in time wasn't something she knew, nor did she care.

What she cared about was getting Izaya and herself out of this mess.

While Erika was dealing with the handgun, Mamoru had pricked his finger on his knife. He felt around for the handle, then grabbed it, lifted the knife high in the air, then plunged it into what he thought was Izaya's stomach. He tugged at the knife, tearing at Izaya's skin and muscle, and he moved the hand groping Izaya down some.

Izaya may not have been a girl, but he was going to pay for manipulating Erika and doing this to him. And Mamoru was going to do that any and every way he knew how.

[UndergroundGod]

His eyes were blurring for reasons he couldn't think about but he forced himself to keep his eyes open and he finally sunk his hand into his pocket just as he watched Mamoru grab for the knife and pull it back to stab him.

Izaya moved just in time, twisting slightly, grabbing Mamoru by the wrist. It didn't stop the blade from stabbing through his shirt, into his side, but it stopped it from plunging too deep and he'd twisted enough so that the man avoided his intestines, ripping them open and causing sepsis. He fought the urge to scream at the feeling of cold steel ripping through his flesh, fought the continuing urge to tear up as Mamoru's hand continued to rub him through his pants and the warm, wet feeling of his own blood began to soak through the shirt and stick to his skin.

Far from too soon, Izaya finally felt his fingers wrapping around his knife and without wasting another moment, he pulled it from his pocket, flicked it open and using the grip he had on Mamoru's wrist, sliced hard down the backs of the fingers that Mamoru had tightly wrapped around the handle of the knife, cutting through to the hard feeling of bone beneath the sharpened blade.

[unicornhunter]

Mamoru was too blind to see that he hadn't injured Izaya as much as he wished he had. It wasn't until he felt the blade of Izaya's flick knife cut across his knuckles did he know that Izaya was far from out of action. He screamed out in pain once more, the fresh wounds stinging.

It made him drop his knife, and the knife clattered to the floor.

Erika took that moment to kick Mamoru off of Izaya. She dug her heel into Mamoru's side - which just so happened to be the side with the broken ribs. Mamoru keeled over, hunching over in pain. Finally, it was enough pain to just have him lay there, in a semi-curled-up position. She panted hard, the gun pointed at him. Her body was shaking, and yet she held the gun still.

She debated whether or not she should make some kind of speech before killing him. Like Nina Fortner in Monster when she confronted that former cop who had killed her adopted parents. But she decided against it. That would imply that there'd be a way to have Mamoru see the error of his ways and feel guilt for what he had done.

No. He was never going to understand how she - or Izaya, or all those girls he had raped and murdered - felt. He was never going to understand how she had felt when he forced her to torture and kill those boys. He was never going to understand how she felt when Walker had not shown her any fear when she had him tied up, holding a hot poker in her hand, about to hit him with it. He wasn't going to understand how Walker had warmed her heart enough to make her believe that Walker could save her from that life. He was not going to understand how she hated him and wanted him to just not exist anymore. He wasn't going to understand how she had gone to Izaya for help when she heard he was out and about and raping and murdering once again. He wasn't going to understand how much this hurt.

He didn't understand anything, and he never would.

So she simply pulled the trigger.

[UndergroundGod]

After slicing across his fingers, Mamoru released the knife, yanked his hand back and the blade clattered to the floor. With nothing left in the wound to stopper it, the blood began to gush.

It was then that Erika approached and kicked Mamoru off of him and immediately, despite the pain of try to move, Izaya skittered backwards several feet until he found the wall and propped himself against him. His hand moved to cover the wound, applying pressure, as his legs curled up to his chest as his entire body shook. He looked over to see that Erika had a gun in hand, but saw nothing more as he buried his face against his arm, rested his arm against his knees, bit his lip to stifle the tears he felt in his eyes, though it hardly helped. He found himself fighting the urge to vomit again, not for the first time that day.

Sure, he was shaken, but he was also angry at himself. After what had just happened to Erika, what fucking right did he have to be so upset? Why the fuck did he feel like bawling like a baby, and why the hell couldn’t he stop the tears he felt soaking into the sleeve of his shirt any more than he could stop the flow of blood slipping between his fingers?

There was a moment of silence before BANG—the sound of the unexpected gunshot in such close proximity made him jump and the noise made his ears ring. He was on the verge of hyperventilating, but he forced himself to slow down and take steady breaths in and out.

[unicornhunter]

Erika breathed hard as she watched the blood pool around Mamoru. He didn't move - didn't twitch, didn't gasp for breath, didn't tremble as he lay there dying. He was just . . . dead. And despite the pain she felt, despite how her body ached, and despite how she felt like puking all over again . . . she felt happy.

This alternate reality was finally finished. Done with. She was never going to have to deal with him ever again.

She felt . . . free.

She uncocked the gun, then went to put it and the pepper spray and the matches back in her bag. She then slung the bag over her shoulder and fixed herself up as best she could. Her clothes were torn, and there was no salvaging the underwear. She didn't want them anyway....

Erika went over to Izaya and put a hand on his shoulder. "People are bound to have heard that, so the cops will come looking around.... They can get rid of the body for us. C'mon, let's get out of here."

She didn't hold any of this against him. It was natural to be shaken up like this, considering the circumstances.... Though she was wondering if Izaya just hated being touched or . . . did something happen to him that was . . . similar to herself?

She wasn't going to think about it right then. And she certainly wasn't going to ask him at the moment, either. Right now they had to get out of there.

[UndergroundGod]

He focused on the sound of Erika moving around the room, used it as a distraction to keep himself from falling into the temptation that was beckoning him to just fall apart, just do it. You haven't fallen apart in years, Izaya, you never let yourself just feel, just go ahead, remember and cry and get it over with and maybe you'll be able to let go and just… maybe learn to be normal and have a real interaction with another human being for once in this miserable existence you call a life. Why don't you do that?

He shook it off. Now wasn't the time.

It took Erika's hand on his shoulder to realize that his knife was still in his hand, because his first reaction to the touch was to clench his fist around the knife and tense, though rationale quickly took over and reminded him that this was just Erika and that he had no need to be in attack mode around her.

She quickly reminded him that sticking around probably wouldn't be a good thing. Izaya didn't care very much as police could be paid off, though he'd prefer not to have to deal with that.

After swallowing hard, he forced himself to pull it together despite every instinct in his body screaming against it. Moving against the pain of the deep cut in his side, he used the wall heavily to pushing his shaking body to its feet, just breathing. He glanced vaguely at Mamoru, dead, the pool of blood slowly consuming the floor beneath his body, but then looked away and slipped the knife closed and back into his pocket.

Carefully, feeling unstable on his feet, he pushed himself away from the wall and headed towards the door, explaining in a soft voice, "Mairu's in the apartment downstairs."

[unicornhunter]

Erika nodded as she followed Izaya out of the apartment. She didn't bother with closing the apartment door behind them - what for? - and she avoided touching the hand rails, just in case the police decided to do fingerprint checks on them.

Izaya seemed really shook up.... She didn't blame him, though. She'd have to make it up to him. It was her fault all this happened to him and Mairu in the first place.

They reached the apartment on the first floor where Mairu was. Erika stepped into the apartment and walked over to her. She frowned as she saw that Mairu was still pretty out of it.... She put both hands on Mairu's shoulders. "Hey.... It's all over now. The bad man can't hurt you anymore. Your brother and I are gonna take you home, okay?"

She looked over at Izaya and gave him a grin, hoping that that would help brighten things up a bit. Mamoru was dead after all. He really couldn't hurt them anymore.

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya walked down the stairs carefully, knowing that he was slowly losing blood. It would probably be a good idea to go to Shinra's before going home. He knew the man would be more than able to patch up whatever needed patching, at least on his end. The stab wound would need stitches and if he didn't get patched up in the next twenty to thirty minutes, he'd probably be on the verge of bleeding to death.

And he'd like to take Mairu to him just to make sure that she would be alright too. He didn't want whatever sedative the man had used to have some long term detrimental effect that they didn't know about.

They entered the room and Erika, who was far more mobile than him at the moment, went to her, assuring her that things were okay, though Izaya was sure that if Mairu had been conscious, she'd have probably rolled her eyes at being addressed in such a childish way.

Erika grinned at him, but Izaya didn't have it in him to return the look. Instead his eyes turned towards the door and he said softly, "Shinra's first. Then home."

Slowly, Mairu made an effort to rouse herself, sitting up a bit more and trying to brace herself against the corner to stand, though it seemed she was unable to follow through with the action, still too weakened by the drug to accomplish it, though Erika seemed willing to help.

Together, the three of them shuffled away from the dreary apartment building.

Izaya knew that Shinra's was a good mile or two from where they were though and thinking that their ragtag group could make the trip undetected and easily was inane—he probably bleed to death just from the effort of trying to walk there. As soon as he spotted a cab, he flagged it down and handed the man a good amount of upfront money as they shuffled into the back seat.

Once seated and the cabbie had an address, Izaya flipped out his phone and dialed Shinra's number, he explained to his friend that they were in need of some existence. At first, Shinra began to ask him questions, but before Izaya could interrupt him, Shinra stopped himself and said with exasperation that he should know better than to ask so much. With a sigh, the man told them to come on over, and Izaya thanked him.

To be honest, Izaya wasn't sure if Erika would want to join them, if she would want to be examined or not, though if she wanted, Shinra and Celty would probably be more than happy to let her take a hot shower and offer her a change of clothing of some sort. Izaya would sympathize with such a need, though he would also understand if she didn't want to be looked over. A few blocks before they pulled up outside Shinra's, he looked over at Erika, "Did you want to come up with us? I understand if you just want to go home and rest."

[unicornhunter]

Erika helped Mairu get to her feet, get out of the apartment, and into the cab. He pulled her hat down to help hide her face from the cabbie - she just didn't want anyone to recognize her just in case the police made the connection.... When she was sure that Mairu would be able to survive the cab ride, she looked out the car window at the passing people and cars and buildings.... Ikebukuro was moving along just like nothing had happened. And it would continue to move along and go about its own business tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.... It won't give a care in the world that it had a serial rapist and killer running around its roads and alleyways, and it won't care that said rapist and killer was now dead in an abandoned apartment. It didn't affect their lives. And Erika was glad for that. It would never affect their lives, not any more....

When Izaya spoke to her, she turned to look at him, then gave it some thought. She then smiled at Izaya. "It's probably a good idea to get checked out by Shinra. There's no telling what Da- Mamoru picked up in between escaping the hospital and just now."

No. She was never calling that monster her father ever again.

She didn't have to anymore.

"I wouldn't want to give anything nasty to Yumacchi, after all."

[UndergroundGod]

He nodded vaguely in reply to Erika, understanding where she was coming from. And though Shinra wasn't the first person Izaya thought of when it came to discretion… he knew that the man was a professional when it came to being a doctor and that they could trust him to not ask too many questions. The questions he did ask, they could trust that he would keep confidential.

It was only a moment more before the cab driver stopped in front of Shinra's apartment complex. Izaya thanked the driver and paid him the rest of his fair and then some and told him they were never there. Together, the three of them lumbered into the building and into the elevator, taking it up to Shinra's apartment. By the time they arrived at the door, Izaya was feeling lightheaded, but he was relieved that they at least made it.

Shinra answered shortly after the first knock. He gave Izaya an exasperated look as his eyes immediately fell to the blood that had soaked through his shirt and started seeping down the side of his pants, exclaiming, "Ah! What have you done now!"

Izaya gave him a sheepish grin and without hesitation, Shinra beckoned them inside. He laid a towel down on the couch, told Izaya to sit and take off his shirt while he went to grab his emergency kit, meanwhile telling Erika and Mairu to take a seat.

It took the man all of five minutes to sop up the blood, clean the wound, numb it, then suture and bandage it, all the while tsking and tuting like a mother hen at Izaya for whatever he had gotten himself into.

When he was finally finished, Izaya took a slow, steady breath. He finally felt some sense of relief, a sort of closure. The stress of the day was over and he finally felt like he could relax a little, sinking back against the couch as Shinra called for Celty and asked her to put on some hot water for tea.

Seeming to move down the line, Shinra asked what was wrong with the others, and Izaya told him that Mairu had been drugged with something. Shinra checked her pupils, hit a few reflexes and told him that she should be okay in an hour or so, and the drug would wear off.

When his eyes went to Erika however, he seemed to know immediately better than to question her in front of everyone. Call it empathy or doctor's intuition, but he offered her a small smile and stood, waving for her to come back to Celty's bedroom. Once there, he closed the door behind them and asked her softly, "So what can I do for you?"

[unicornhunter]

She was glad that Mairu would be okay, and Izaya looked like he'd probably be back to normal within a few days. She was glad for that - she didn't know what she'd do if either of them were permanently hurt.

Erika had thought that she would be too tired to feel nervous about talking to Shinra. But once he had closed the bedroom door, a whole bundle of nerves landed in her lap, and she couldn't seem to shake them off her. She forced a smile, though, and a little, nervous laugh.

"W-well.... I - I had to let something happen to me that I didn't want to happen in order to help Izaya save Mairu and . . . I - I need some tests for STDs run.... If that's something you can do for me...."

Suddenly she felt like she couldn't look at Shinra - or anyone else for that matter.

[UndergroundGod]

Shinra frowned a little his eyes softening as he looked at Erika. He'd feared something like that, and he suddenly wondered if it had been Izaya's fault. After all, he hadn't known Erika to get wrapped up in anything that serious…

To be fair, he only knew Erika through Kadota and it wasn't as though Shinra had spent a ton of time around her (she had been at the hot pot party he'd thrown a few months ago) and certainly not any one on one time. He did however know that she was a sweet, cheerful girl, and he'd heard a while back that they more or less shared the same opinion of how Izaya and Shizuo felt about one another (or at least how they should feel about one another).

It wasn't Shinra's job to figure out whose fault this was, though, only his job to correct the situation. Unfortunately…

He offered her a sympathetic look. "Well, taking blood and running tests is something I can do for you…" he said, "but unfortunately it wouldn't do any good to take blood right now. Even if you did catch something, your body needs time to develop antibodies to the infection, as that's what the tests are designed to find. Bacterial infections like chlamydia or gonorrhea need three or four days before detection, something like syphilis or herpes needs at least two weeks, and we wouldn't be able to accurately test for HIV or at least a month."

He exhaled softly, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her shoulder lightly, as he wasn't sure if the comfort would be appreciated. "I'd still like to offer to help, but we should probably wait at least two weeks until we take blood, if you want to be sure we catch anything."

[unicornhunter]

Erika listened to Shinra, and she frowned a little as he spoke. She hadn't known that.... And it made her a more than a little nervous. How was she going to continue hiding this from Walker at this rate . . . ? But she'd have to try; she wasn't going to burden Walker or anyone else with this.

"Okay.... I can come by again in a month, just so we can test for everything." Best to get it all out of the way all at once. "And - please don't tell Dotachin or anyone else I'm getting this.... I know you're a doctor and that it's part of your job, patient confidentiality and all that, but I know that you're Dotachin's friend, too.... I just don't want them to get upset over things they can't help with...."

She bit her lower lip. She didn't like keeping secrets from them, but what else could she do? She just didn't want them to get upset or . . . or start feeling sorry for her. . . .

[UndergroundGod]

And finally Shinra couldn't resist the urge anymore. He raised his hand and placed it very gently on Erika's shoulder, offering her a comforting smile. He didn't know exactly what had happened (though he could guess) and he didn't know when (but judging by the freshness of Izaya's wounds, very recently), but Shinra knew that Izaya was hardly the most… comforting of people and he probably hadn't offered her any apologies or sympathies or comradery, so Shinra couldn't help but feel like he should offer her some sort of support in all this.

"Of course, don't worry about it," he reassured her, "I've doctored some of the most secretive people in Ikebukuro. If I didn't know how to keep my mouth shut when I needed to, I'd be dead already."

He didn't want to tell her that for an HIV test to be really accurate, it was better to wait two-three months, and even then the disease might not make itself known for up to six months… He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

His hand went back to his side as he continued, "I'll make a note to see you in a month then. Meanwhile, if you have any flu-like symptoms like fever, achiness, fatigue, or a rash, or if you have any pain or discomfort, give me a call and we might set something up sooner."

Though Shinra's worth as a doctor was hardly judged by his bedside manner, he did like to consider himself warm and friendly when he needed to be.

[unicornhunter]

Erika nodded. "All right. I'll do that if anything happens." She forced a smile. She didn't like the idea of having to wait so long.... But what choice did she have? "Thank you for your help." She and Shinra settled on an exact date and time for the tests, Erika jotting it down in her pocket calendar. Since their business was done, they left the room and returned to Izaya and Mairu. Mairu seemed to be waking up more, and she was glad for that.

Erika walked back over to sit next to Mairu. She brought her hand up and brushed some of her bangs out of her face. "I'm glad you're going to be okay. I'm really sorry that you got wrapped up in this, Mairu-chan.... Everything is gonna be fine now." Erika glanced over at Izaya. She managed a small smile. "Right, Izayan?"