Daddy's Little Girl

[unicornhunter]

Erika jerked her head up when Izaya said that. She had already known that her father would come looking for her, but she had never thought that he would go to Izaya....

She opened her mouth to speak, but Simon arrived with their food. She plastered a smile onto her face and thanked him for the food. She pretended that Simon didn't give Izaya a suspicious look as he asked her how everything was going so far, if she enjoyed her tea, etc., etc.... Erika played the part of being a contented patron very well. It may have been her first time faking it for Simon, but she was satisfied that she still had her lying skills.

She broke her chopsticks and helped herself to her meal, waiting for Simon to go back to his own business before asking Izaya her question.

Once Simon went out of earshot once again, she said, "What did you tell him?"

[UndergroundGod]

After the statement, Simon popped in, as he had expected, to deliver their food. Izaya wasn't sure how much of an appetite he had, but he hadn't eaten since early that morning, and it wasn't a good idea to skip meals. With the food in front of him, he began to eat and brushed of Simon's suspicious looks, instead allowing Erika to handle it.

The cheeriness of her smile was so authentic that Izaya almost bought it, and after a few moments of telling Simon they were fine, she finally managed to get the Russian to leave them alone.

Well, at least she asked a question he'd been expecting. It gave him some assurance that this whole thing hadn't thrown him completely off his game, which was a slight fear that was starting to niggle at the back of him mind. He hated feeling out of control, and the lack of control he had in terms of this case was wearying.

"I told him I didn't know you, but that I could find you," Izaya explained. He would have gone into more depth, but he thought she should understand his reasoning. She should know just why he hadn't admitted to their knowing one another, and why he had told the man he'd be able to find her. The opposite of either answer would have likely provoked Mamoru to attack him. "And I told him to meet me at my office tomorrow at noon."

[unicornhunter]

Erika nodded. That had been a good way to go about it.... "What do you plan to do?" She honestly had no idea how Izaya could get out of this. She knew what her father would be like if Izaya came to him empty-handed, even if it was for her sake and for her safety.

Her thoughts were starting to stray to her former plans, and her stomach tied itself into a knot, making it difficult for her to eat any more of her food. She really didn't want to do that to her friends, especially not Walker. But what else could she do?

She fidgeted a little and bit her lip a little harder.

"Izaya . . . if the police catch and imprison Dad . . . will they come and arrest me, too?"

[UndergroundGod]

He had figured the information might make her panic a little, or at least might cause her some anxiety. After all, knowing your murderous, incestuous, pedophile dad was after you was one thing… actually hearing about it happening in real time was another.

Izaya wasn't empty-handed in terms of ideas though. He'd come up with a number of plans, each holding as much potential as the next… but since it was Erika's father, he wanted to consult her and find out what she wanted to do about it. His mind, luckily, had been completely zapped of thought… but he was lacking in terms of decisiveness, and he wasn't sure which plan would best suit their needs.

Though first, he felt like he should address the police issue. "You shouldn't worry about that," he said solemnly. "I've been through the police records a hundred times. Your name isn't mentioned, and you're certainly not connected to any of the murders. The police have nothing to arrest you for. As far as they're concerned, you're just a victim."

She may have laughed at him when it came to analyzing her father… but Izaya would bet every cent he had that he had a better understanding of how the police worked than she did.

"Now, as for tomorrow…" he trailed off slightly, looking thoughtful as he tried to decide how he would pose his ideas, "I have a few options in mind for this, so hear me out. First option, I can call the cops. I'll have them arrive in plain clothes and wait in my office armed and ready for when your father shows up. Second option, we can set a trap for him of some sort. Since we know he'll be at the office, and what time he'll be there, we can set up something and take care of him when he gets there."

A devious smile moved back to his lips as he continued, "Now the third option is my personal favorite. You see, your father asked not only for home addresses and everything… but he wanted a list of all the men in your life. I'm pretty sure we both know what he plans on doing to anyone on the list I give him. What I could do is, when he shows up tomorrow, give him the information he asked for without a hitch," he held up a hand to keep her from protesting, "but the information would be a bit skewed. Instead of putting Walker or Dotachin on the top of the list… it would identify Shizuo Heiwajima as the love of your life, who you are currently living with."

Honestly, it was brilliant. Just like Shizuo had accidentally taken care of Takashi for him… he could take care of Mamoru, too. Even if Mamoru wasn't the coward that Izaya thought he was, no man could take down Shizuo. Not with drugs, ropes, bullets, or even a pack of friends. Shizuo Heiwajima was pretty much invincible.

And the best part was… Mamoru would have no way of knowing it. Hospital policies kept patients (especially the ones as mentally unsound as Mamoru) from hearing about the outside world. Shizuo had only achieved his star status in the past few years or so, after Mamoru had been put away, and since Shizuo hadn't done anything too insane in the past weeks, there was no recent talk about him. Mamoru wouldn't know what he was being sent into, and even if he somehow knew about Shizuo, it wouldn't change the fact that Mamoru needed to go after him for "touching" Erika and it didn't change the fact that Shizuo was invincible.

Besides, even if Mamoru did somehow manage to accomplish his task… well that just meant a different one of Izaya's problems was solved, right?

And below Shizuo on the list, would be Simon, and below Simon would be the mysterious black biker…

The list of potentials went on and on in a place like Ikebukuro. There was no way Mamoru could survive with a must kill attitude towards a bunch of people who simply refused to die.

He shrugged, though. He did like his last option the best (mostly because it required him to get his hands the least dirty), but he would leave it up to Erika to decide in the end. "What do you think?"

[unicornhunter]

Erika had very little dealings with the police, despite all the illegal activity she had been involved in over the years, what with her father and being part of the Blue Squares back when Kadota was still a part of them. So she was going to trust Izaya's judgement in this case. After all, he had managed not to get arrested in all this time, right? And he was awfully well-known, even by those who weren't involved in criminal activity. A lot like Shizuo.

She listened attentively as Izaya listed off the ideas he had for what they should do about Mamoru. When he mentioned just giving her father the information that he wanted, Erika leaned forward, about to object - probably louder than she would've meant to - but Izaya held up his hand and explained himself before she had the opportunity to open her mouth. She relaxed a little. Giving him fake information to get him to infuriate Shizuo Heiwajima? She took a bite of her food, mulling that idea over. She didn't really like the idea of having the police get to her father. Not because she cared what they would do to him, but because part of her was worried that he'd go to jail, be put on trial, and then be back onto the streets if he somehow got a really good lawyer.

"I like the third idea...." Erika admitted. "But how do we make sure he doesn't find out you pulled a fast one on him?" She didn't want Izaya to get hurt - or worse - because he tried to help her. And even after all these years, she could never tell if her father was a criminal mastermind or just really lucky. As much as she knew Shizuo reacted to everything without much thought or foresight, she didn't know how likely it was that he would tell Mamoru the truth and if her father would believe it and go after Izaya for lying to him.... "I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

[UndergroundGod]

Obviously, a man in Izaya's position wouldn't be too fond of getting police involved either, so he subconsciously agreed with Erika there. He had so many illegal dealings that, despite his ability to pay off police officers effectively, he preferred to have as little contact with them as possible; having one wait in his office for Mamoru could hardly be considered minimal contact. Besides that, if the hospital was covering up Mamoru's escape, who knew if the police were even aware of it? That meant that Izaya would have to not only convince them to hideout at his office… but he'd have to convince them that Mamoru was back on the streets in the first place, which was even more inconvenient.

As for the second option… while he was fairly sure he could take the man (if Izaya could outrun and occasionally injure Shizuo, the strongest man in Ikebukuro, and probably all of Tokyo, he was certain he could outfight a forty-some year old crazy man with no superhuman abilities besides being excessively creepy), he didn't even like the idea of risking it. Other than where Shizuo was involved, Izaya was more of a hands off sort of guy. He'd rather set up a trap for someone and let someone else do his dirty work than have to get personally involved.

Which was why he just loved the idea of sending Mamoru after Shizuo. It really just tickled him to coerce Shizuo into helping him, when the man would have absolutely no idea that he was doing it.

Izaya nearly laughed as Erika agreed with option number three, though not without voicing some attached concerns.

"I figure that if he came to me, he trusts me enough to give him correct information. He doesn’t know that I have any reason to deceive him, so we should be fine," he explained coolly. "And I don't think we have to worry about Shizuo explaining anything beyond maybe saying, 'I have no idea what you're talking about!' before bashing him over the head with something heavy. He's the 'shoot first, don't bother asking questions at all' type, after all."

[unicornhunter]

Erika sighed in relief that that. He was right. Shizuo really wasn't the type to bother explaining situations. Maybe this could actually work.... Maybe she didn't have to do to Walker what she thought she was going to do.

She started giggling for no good reason. She couldn't really help it; the whole situation was just causing her a lot of stress, and with her tears being all dried up, laughing was the only release she really had right then.

She flashed Izaya a grin. "Don't worry, I'm not laughing at you. Just . . . I'm imagining Shizuo throwing his signature vending machine at Daddy." She gigged a little more, which eventually turned into outright laughter. She calmed down after not too long, but she was still smiling a little.

[UndergroundGod]

When Erika began to laugh, Izaya was slightly irked at first. He was afraid that she was mocking him again, laughing at him in the same way she had laughed this morning. He had hoped that his showing up late had taught her a lesson of some sort, but now, even after she had seemingly agreed with him about which action to take, she was suddenly laughing in his face…

But then she explained the reasoning behind her laughter and he was suddenly ready to return the sentiment. He'd love to be there to see that firsthand, Shizuo hurling a vending machine at Mamoru's creepy face, or whacking him in the gut with a stop sign and sending him flying. It would certainly be priceless to see.

Though, thinking on it again, Izaya would distinctly prefer spending as little time as humanly possible in Mamoru's presence, so it's probably be better for him to be far, far away and just imagine the scene.

"That would be absolutely beautiful," he replied with a grin. He ate a piece of the fatty tuna nigiri from his plate, munching on it thoughtfully as he daydreamed about that creepy face of Mamoru's being twisted with surprise and pain when Shizuo punted him with something heavy and probably made of metal (if he didn't just use his fists). He found the daydream… almost therapeutic.

[unicornhunter]

Erika giggled some more, then continued eating, much happier than she had been earlier. Maybe everything was going to go all right after all!

"If it goes well, I'll have to give you and Shizu-chan a big thank-you gift!"

She took out her notebook again and flipped the pages until she found a blank page.

"Is there anything specific you want? I may not be able to afford much, but I did really well selling trinkets the other day. That could cover something for you and maybe a slice of cake for Shizu-chan. He does like cake, right? I saw him walking from the bakery with a box of cake once, and he looked a lot happier than he usually does! When I guess isn't saying much." Erika pouted all of a sudden, her thoughts going all over the place again, as they usually did. "Now that I think of it, I barely know anything about you, aside from the fact that you like Shizu-chan and went to school with Dotachin. Oh, and that you apparently like to eat fatty tuna." She pointed at Izaya's plate when she said that. "So I wouldn't know what to get you if I didn't ask. Which I have, but maybe that's not the point right now.... Maybe this is the part of the anime where you tell me your backstory too!"

Erika looked at Izaya with big, bright eyes, as though she didn't have a care in the world.

[UndergroundGod]

Erika seemed to be thoroughly brightening. Izaya did think of her as a rather chipper individual (at least she had always seemed so when he talked to Dotachin), so the smile was quite natural on her face. Izaya supposed with a past like hers it was either learn how to put on a brave face and smile… or jump off the nearest building. If she hadn't done the latter yet, chances were she's become very good at finding solace in the little things, even something as little as the possibility that her father might get his ass completely handed to him by Shizuo.

With her more cheerful mood came a sudden onslaught of speech that Izaya hadn't really been prepared for, including the offer of a gift of some sort… though she didn't stop after her question, she kept right on talking, while Izaya had to listen attentively to keep up with her.

Izaya was aware of Shizuo's fondness for sweets; he'd discovered it in high school one time, while they had happened upon each other at Shinra's place. So the knowledge was merely coincidental, not anything Izaya had actively tried to find out.

Then she admitted to something Izaya already knew—that she knew very little about him. After all, they hadn't interacted much before this… a familiar greeting here or there, but that was about it. Izaya had probably learned more about Erika in the past few hours than he could learn about more people in weeks. Izaya hadn't returned the open invitation into his life story though, and he didn't really plan on doing it. No one knew his whole story, after all.

As far as he was concerned, no one needed to.

She began ticking off the few things she did know about him, though, and the first thing on her list was… that he liked Shizuo. He nearly reacted at that, and perhaps would have, had it been a final thought and not just a random data point in the middle of her speech. He would have told her no, he didn't like Shizuo. He absolutely hated him, and that was that, but he was absolved of the defense when she kept on speaking.

Izaya would be perplexed if she thought her prediction was accurate. This wasn't an anime, after all, and he had no obligation to tell her a damn thing.

"There's nothing to tell," he lied casually, waving her off. "And you don't need to bother with presents. I don't want anything, and you'd just end up confusing Shizu-chan's poor tiny brain. And when Shizu gets confused, he starts throwing things."

[unicornhunter]

Erika pouted, both at the refusal of gifts and the refusal to tell her anything.... But she had to admit - what Kadota had told her about Shizuo in high school, the bodyguard probably would just throw things, since that's what he did when he was angry or frustrated, and being confused could make one easily frustrated. She knew it made her frustrated....

But what was frustrating her right then was Izaya's unwillingness to follow the natural laws of anime/manga. While real life wasn't exactly like an anime or a manga, anime and manga took things from real life and made them spectacular. And Ikebukuro was already spectacular, so it made sense for Ikebukuro - and its inhabitants - to behave as though they're in an anime or manga. Maybe Izaya thought he was exempt to those rules because he really lives in Shinjuku? But that was silly. He spent enough time in Ikebukuro to pretty much be considered a citizen of the town. So the same rules still applied.

Whether or not Izaya realized it yet or not, it now became Erika's mission to get Izaya to open up to her somehow.

"That's bullshit, Iza-Iza. Everyone comes from somewhere, thus everyone has a backstory. And I don't think an information broker would have any old regular past. Something had to have happened to lead you down the road of info hunting and associating so closely to crime. Dotachin says you were in pretty deep in crime for a high school student - but Dotachin wasn't exactly a clean slate, either, right? But Dotachin doesn't guard his secrets nearly as well as you do. Of course, that could be because you're an information broker and know how information can be used against you. But maybe that's the excuse you use. Maybe the real reason is that something really bad happened and you just don't want to talk about it. But that's not really healthy. If you do that, then you'll just end up spilling your guts to someone who you don't actually trust with any of that information.... That's what has us here at this table in Russia Sushi, after all. Whether you deny that the tropes and clichés of anime apply to our lives or not, you can't avoid a trap like that from happening. Nope, not even you, the grand puppet master of all that goes on in Ikebukuro."

She looked at him curiously, tilting her head to the side, her chin in her palm as though she was watching an intriguing film. "You don't have to start out with all the heavy stuff, though. Do you have any siblings? What do your parents do? Do you have parents? Living, I mean, or parents you're on good terms with. Everyone had parents at some point, clearly. Do you have any friends? How did you become an information broker? You can tell me stuff like that, can't you?"

[UndergroundGod]

She called bullshit on his lie almost instantly, though really it couldn't have been more obvious. Someone didn't get to Izaya's position, wealthy, devious, constantly avoiding death threats (and dishing out a few of his own), blackmailing, and regular dealings with the Yakuza, without some sort of back story. In fact, most people couldn't get to that position without the sort of back story that was usually the basis for some epic movie. He was sure if he sold his story to some producer, they could probably make a pretty awesome blockbuster about it.

He had expected his words to be a transparent lie. What he hadn't expected was for her to call him out on it.

Most people would have let it drop at that, knowing it meant he wasn't going to tell them anything. Apparently, Erika was not most people and she began talking again, another continuous train of thought that he had no power over, and so, was stuck along for the ride.

While most of what she said was just pointing out the obvious (that regular people don't just become information brokers), Izaya had to give her some credit for insight. Part of the reason he kept his mouth shut was because he knew any piece of information could be used against someone, if that information was just handed over to the right person. Obviously, the less information about himself that anyone knew, the less the chance that someone could take advantage of him. He knew this, as he had used privately disclosed information to blackmail tons of people, and he had no intentions of getting stuck in such a situation. Not talking really wasn't only an excuse.

She guessed that something bad happened, and she was right that Izaya didn't want to talk about it. Who would, after all? However, many people had bad things happen to them, so it wasn't as if she had a high chance of being wrong by saying that; at least, he wouldn't be awarding her any "Psychic Detective" medals for the prediction.

Where she was dead wrong was that Izaya had no plans on spilling his guts, to anyone. Much less to someone he didn't trust. There would never be a need or a time for him to be that… sentimental, that foolish, or whatever the term may be. Whatever that was, Shiki had broken him of such things a long time ago. Izaya knew suite well that he had no one to rely on but himself.

Besides, Erika seemed to forget that she had done nothing to earn his trust yet either.

Regardless of the thoughts that ran through his head, his smile remained easy and neutral. He, too, had learned to be quite good at pretending.

"I can," Izaya replied, because it was true. He could tell her anything and everything she asked him for. He could tell her about his parents and his sisters, and he could tell her about Shiki and his path to becoming an information broker. He was physically able to tell her each and every detail of her life if he actually wanted to… the problem was that he just didn't want to; there wasn't any reason to. He finished his sentence flippantly, "But I won't."

Leaning his elbow against the table and his face against his hand, he continued with a distant smile, explaining himself. "None of those things matter. You knowing more about me, me knowing more about you, it's all useless in the long run. What If I told you that I have thirty siblings, or that my parents are international spies? What if I said that I got into this job after seeing an ad in the paper? What would it achieve? What difference does it really make?"

[unicornhunter]

Erika pouted when Izaya denied giving her any information whatsoever. She even went as far as to stick her tongue out at him.

But then he continued. What would it achieve? What difference did it really make?

She furrowed her eyebrows, leaned back in her seat, and crossed her arms.

"Of course it makes a difference. Everything about you makes you who you are, and who you are dictates how your story plays out. If it was any different from how it is exactly right now, you wouldn't be you. You would be someone else. And you would be doing different things, and thus have a different story. In other words, you wouldn't be Izaya Orihara. If you weren't exactly as you are now, you would be someone else. You may have the same name and have the same face, but you wouldn't be you. You'd still be someone else...."

Erika sighed as the feeling of dejá vu. "You sound a lot like Nakura. I guess that means there's no point in arguing with you, then," she said as she set her chopsticks down on her plate.

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya was a bit surprised to find that she actually stuck her tongue out at him, raising his eyebrow a bit.

However, it seemed she misunderstood him. Izaya hadn't been trying to say that their own story wasn't important to them. No, no, it was most certainly the opposite. Someone's story was ridiculously important to themselves. People actually went out of their way to make themselves feel like the main character in their lives. They made themselves martyrs, turned their small misfortunes into epic tragedies, all for the attention, the spotlight, or just their personal sense of narcissism that needed to be fulfilled.

Hell, anyone who thought someone else was the main character in their own life… well, those were the sort of people who didn't need online suicide pacts or internet forums. All they wanted was a sturdy length of rope and a chair.

How depressing was it to actually believe that your life revolved around someone other than you?

But no, Izaya knew that who he was today was the summation of all the events in his life. What he had been saying was that who he was ultimately didn't matter to Erika, or to anyone else on the planet. He could have one sibling or six, and in the end, how would that affect Erika? How would the world be any different because he'd shared some stupid detail of his life with another person?

Then she mentioned Nakura, and it sparked Izaya's interests vaguely. Nakura had been one of the online handles he'd used a few months back on one of the suicide forums he went to. He could hardly consider it an uncommon name, though, and the internet was a big place, so it might have been mere coincidence.

He should have been happy that she dropped the subject, but Izaya hated being misunderstood, so he found the need to clarify unbearable.

"That's not what I meant though," he told her, leaning back in the booth. "Of course my story is important to me, just like your story is important to you. What I meant is that what's important to us isn't always important to other people. If I told you things about me, it wouldn't actually matter at all, so there's simply no point in it beyond petty social interactions, which are fairly pointless to begin with."

What he failed to mention was the thought that, even when people did open up to others, the chances that you would get hurt by it far exceeded the chance that something good would come of it.

[unicornhunter]

Erika was still pouting as Izaya attempted to explain himself. "But why wouldn't your story matter to my story? All stories are interrelated. There's no such thing as a story that doesn't have multiple characters influencing it. Not even stories like Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." No, even that had other characters influencing bits of the story outside of what the book actually tells the reader. Even if you never even see the faces of those people."

She pushed her plate and cup out of the way and tore out a page in her notebook. She spread it out on the table and took her pen to it.

"Look - here's you." She wrote down his name. "Shizuo Heiwajima, Simon, Dotachin, Walker, Togusa, me," she continued to write down the names of those she mentioned on the page. "Kida-kun, Mikapuu, Anri-chan, Saki, and anyone else you can think of." She scribbled the rest of the page around them with her pen, labeling it "Unknown People-kun." She then drew lines from each of the names she had jotted down to the black squiggles surrounding them. "Now, just because I don't know who they are doesn't mean they don't exist or have their own stories. In some way or another, they influence your story. Thus, they somehow matter to your story. Especially if you're not the main character. And you're able to tell if you're the main character depending on what your relationships to others are. Take me for example."

Erika wrote down her father's name and drew a line in between her name and her father's. "From the moment I was born to the day our house burned down, I was in my father's shadow. I was his supporting character. Then," she drew a line from her name to Walker's. "I met Yumacchi, and I became a supporting character to him. But in a way, he was his own supporting character. We became "those two guys" without even having a main character. But then we met Dotachin," she drew two lines from her and Walker's name to Kadota's. "Dotachin became our main character. But we're far from being the center of the goings-on in Ikebukuro."

Erika then drew a circle around her, Walker, Kadota, and Togusa's names on the page. "Dotachin may be our main character, but he isn't Ikebukuro's main character. So Yumacchi, Dotachin, Subaru, and I are all supporting characters to Ikebukuro's main character."

She frowned as she examined her piece of paper.

"Unfortunately, I haven't figured out who that is. Everything has been delving into deeper shit ever since Kida-kun entered high school, but I'm not so sure it's Kida-kun. He did bring his friends Mikapuu and Anri-chan into things, so maybe Kida-kun is a supporting character all on his own. But what I do know is that Dotachin has gone out of his way to not only help Kida-kun, but to help Mikapuu and Anri-chan out. So I'm betting the main character has to be one of them." She circled Mikado's, Anri's, and Kida's names, then drew a line between it and the Otaku Gang's circle.

"But then there's you and Shizu-chan. You like to get yourself heavily involved in things. So while one of these three is the main character, you," she circled his name, "make yourself into what I'm going to call the anti-hero for now. You're not the main character and not really a good guy, but you work by your own rules and your own ethics. If people knew what those ethics were, they would be able to predict what you'd do. But you keep that a secret. So you become the most interesting character in the story, despite being a supporting character to the main character, who is still a mystery."

She then circled Shizuo's name. "Shizu-chan, on the other hand, becomes equally interesting because of his inhuman strength and his relationship to you and how he accidentally gets caught up in so many of the goings-on that's focused around the rest of us." She circled the three circles belonging to the Raira students, the Otaku gang, and Izaya, then drew a line between it and Shizuo's name.

"So, even though we all have our individual stories, our stories depend on the main character. Anything else is really a side story arc that won't have much influence on the major plot, but can still be a fan favorite."

She looked up at Izaya.

"In other words, we wouldn't be sitting here right now if our stories didn't somehow matter to each other. We've reached a point in our character development where we need each other. This wouldn't have happened otherwise."

She handed him the piece of paper. "See?"