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Post by UndergroundGod on Dec 14, 2011 14:13:17 GMT -5
As she drew her diagrams, Izaya watched her, watching the lines she drew and following her pencil across the sheet of paper. He had to admit, her analysis was interesting at least. And that was saying something. Her hypothesis on the "story" of Ikebukuro was flawlessly analyzed, and had this been a novel or an anime, he would have agreed with her.
It wasn't though. This was real life and real life didn't always conform to such neat and tidy tropes; when it did, said tropes were normally more ironic than anything.
After she was finished talking, he leaned forward and lightly examined her diagram for a moment.
"There is something you've forgotten though," he pointed out. "Sure, I'll agree with you to a point. In the grand scheme of things, we're all connected. To family, friends, lovers, enemies, hell, even to random people we pass on the street. You and I are even connected to the people at the table across the room, even if in the most marginal way.
"But," he continued, "those lines you've drawn between everyone… they don't determine the nature of that relationship. Those lines don't depict the depth or the strength of those relationships. The line you drew between you and Yumasaki is visually no different than the line between you and Kida, but obviously the relationships aren't the same. Just saying there's a connection between two people doesn't mean that that connection is defined."
"You say that because we're meeting here that our stories are connected, which is true enough. But a meeting or a connection isn't definitive, so our connection doesn't have to conform to any other connect ion you have. We might not even talk again after all this is over. There's no logic behind saying that because we've met here, I have to divulge all my secrets to you, when the story may not call for that at all."
He grinned at her, putting his analysis into her words. "After all, I'm the anti-hero who likes to get heavily involved in things, so I show up to alter other people's stories all the time. I probably have hundreds, or maybe even thousands of those connections. If it were really necessary for me to tell my story to every person I had a connection with, or every person who thought they needed me… Well, I wouldn't have any secrets left, would I?"
And it was true, Izaya met so many people on a daily basis, he had so many connections and so many lives that he interfered with, and all that was hardly different from what he was doing with Erika now. If he had really been forced to tell his story to everyone he came in contact with, he wouldn't be much of an information broker.
Leaning forward against his hand again, he suddenly entertained an interesting question which he pondered for a moment before asking. The question (unlike how the words would normally imply a certain attitude) wasn't posed as a challenge, it wasn't confrontational at all… it was truly just filled with simple, childlike curiosity. "What make you think you're more special than anyone else I've come in contact with?"
He honestly wanted to know, as the way Erika thought about things was becoming more and more interesting to him.
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unicornhunter
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Post by unicornhunter on Dec 14, 2011 15:30:44 GMT -5
Erika blinked up at Izaya when he asked the question. She straightened up in her seat and stared at him for a moment. "Special?" She looked down at her diagram as though it held the answers to the question.
"Well. . . ." She took a moment longer to think about her answer, then spit the rest of it out. "Maybe I'm hoping our relationship will be like Sesshoumaru and Rin's in Inu Yasha. Unlikely, but surprisingly beneficiary for both parties. . . . You're the only person I've told any of this too. Walker doesn't know the details. He just knows that my father had been a bad person. . . . Kadota doesn't know. Togusa doesn't even know how I met Walker and Kadota. . . . You're the only one who knows it all. . . . Maybe I just don't want it to be one-sided, no matter what happens after this. . . ."
She sipped her tea. She honestly didn't think there was anything special about that.... And if she had to be totally out there, like Shizuo, in order to get Izaya to open up to her, then she had a better chance of keeping a snowball for a pet in the fiery pits of hell.
"That may sound kind of selfish, but I don't think it is, really. . . . I just want to return the favor is all. . . ."
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Post by UndergroundGod on Dec 16, 2011 19:09:26 GMT -5
His question seemed to stump her for a bit and he watched her think over her answer. He felt a touch of amusement as he observed her, watching the gears in her head slowly turn to figure out how she should answer.
Izaya liked watching people think and even more so when he was the one to inspire the thinking.
He listened patiently as she explained herself. So Izaya was the only one who knew, was he? Well, Izaya couldn't say he was completely surprised. It was more than a few people who were more comfortable opening up to someone who was relatively a stranger than it was to tell your friends your most personal, dark secrets. She could tell Izaya exactly what had happened to her because she didn't care what she thought of him, whereas telling Walker about her past could end tragically. He understood that much, of course.
But he didn't want her to think that he would so eagerly return her sharing session. Though she felt as though she might have benefitted something from telling Izaya about her past (which was how many people felt), Izaya… didn't. He didn't share that thinking. There was no gain for him in telling her about his family, his friends, his past. There was only vulnerability, which was something Izaya avoided at all costs.
"Hate to break it to you, but I don't plan on telling you anything," he said bluntly as he poked lightly at the last nigiri on his plate. "There's way more risk in giving you details than there is benefit. So unless you find a way to make this beneficial to me, you're out of luck."
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unicornhunter
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Post by unicornhunter on Dec 16, 2011 21:31:05 GMT -5
Erika pouted as meanly as she could manage it to be - which wasn't very much at all. Honestly, who heard of a mean pout? But that was very much beside the point. Benefit? As interesting as Izaya was, he couldn't be that special. And it wasn't as though she was asking for really dark secrets that could get him killed. And even if he did give her those, who said she would tell anyone? If Izaya didn't know how beneficial she could be to a guy like him, then it was his loss, and she was going to make him realize it all for himself!
She crossed her arms and twisted around in her seat, putting her chin up. "Fine, I don't wanna know your stupid secrets anyway."
She knew she was being contradictory and a bit of a baby, but she had every right to be, she thought. And even if she didn't, she was going to be, anyway, because why shouldn't she do what she wanted? The days of playing by someone else's rules were over. (Of course, her rules technically were the rules of the mangaka dictating her life, but that was a bit of metaphysics that actually did give her a headache.)
Simon popped back in, and she and he talked for a bit about the food before she asked for her half of the check.
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Post by UndergroundGod on Dec 18, 2011 21:02:07 GMT -5
He nearly laughed again when Erika's only reply was to pout at him, as if THAT would suddenly make him spill the beans concerning all his secrets. Unfortunately, she didn't stand a chance. Izaya had learned a lesson about opening up to people many years ago. He knew that it would only lead to trouble, both for him and for anyone he opened up to.
Because connecting to people lead him down any number of dangerous paths. Sure, it meant that information about him could leak out and be used against him… but someone could also use the people close to him and hurt them, which was just as troubling. No, no, Izaya was much better off as he was, independent, isolated. It ensured that he, and all the people around him, would be safe (as long as it was in his best interest to keep them safe).
The rest of the evening went by quickly. Simon brought them their individual bills, told them to come back and then left (though not before eying Izaya cautiously). After that, they went their separate ways with an agreement to catch up later on, when there were updates to be had.
Izaya went home that night feeling exhausted, paranoid and on high alert for anyone that might be following. He took an out of his way path towards home to discourage anyone spying on him, even though he knew he was very much alone.
That night, even though he was tired, he had trouble sleeping, knowing just who he would be facing the next day.
He went to the office early that day (early for him anyway) to actually put together a packet of information. Though nothing in the folder could actually lead Mamoru to Erika, most of it was close. Some names and addresses had been changed, though it was as though he'd created a fictional character based on Erika and just gave her a very paralleled and realistic history. Visually, there wouldn't be anything in the small packet to throw Mamoru off or make him think he was being betrayed. If he went to any of the addresses listed for employment, or called any of them, the employers would claim simply that Erika wasn't there.
And of course, Shizuo's name was at the top of the list of males in Erika's life.
Once everything was ready, Izaya did everything in his power to remain cool and collected as he waited for Mamoru to arrive.
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unicornhunter
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Post by unicornhunter on Dec 18, 2011 21:50:34 GMT -5
Erika paid for her part of the meal, said goodbye to Izaya, and then headed back home. She peeked into Walker's room and smiled when she saw him there, asleep, then went into the bathroom to freshen herself up before going to bed herself. If everything went as planned, she wouldn't have to worry about her father ever again.
She slept a lot more soundly than she had ever since the murders were reported.
******
Hee hee hee hee hee! He'd be getting his daughter back today, yes he would! Hee hee hee hee hee! He was pretty much skipping towards Izaya's office, giddy as his victims usually were before they met him. He reached Izaya's office door and knocked, letting his knuckles create a chipper rhythm, like one of those songs children made up when they played. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.
While physically he didn't have much in common with his daughter, his current behavior very much resembled how Erika behaved when she was excited over a new manga or anime or some yaoi.
And he had the disturbingly happy giggle to match.
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Post by UndergroundGod on Dec 23, 2011 16:28:17 GMT -5
Not too long after noon, the knock Izaya had been expecting came and he stiffened in his seat. Namie, who had been sorting through some books in the upper level of the office looked down at him; there seemed to be a question in her eyes, as if she could see Izaya's tension at the sound of the knock, and was questioning what could possibly ruffle his feathers.
She hadn't met Mamoru the day before though. If she had, there would be nothing to question.
He returned her curious gaze with a pointed one, looking from her to the door, silently telling her to get it.
Her eyes rolled, but she set down the books in her hands and went to get the door, opening it without apprehension, as she had no clue who was on the other side. Even from across the room, Izaya could see the way the muscles in her back reactively tensed as the sigh of the man in the doorway. The woman welcomed the man inside in a monotone voice and then stepped back from the door to allow him in.
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unicornhunter
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Post by unicornhunter on Dec 23, 2011 19:06:36 GMT -5
Mamoru grinned widely as the door opened, though he was a little surprised that there was a young woman standing on the other side. He looked over her longer than was necessary, then decided that no, there was no way this woman could be Erika. Erika had taken after her mother, and this woman didn't look anything like her. Mamoru knew that Erika would've grown up to look a lot like that saucy seventeen-year-old he had knocked up all those years ago. His skin prickled at the thought of someone knocking up Erika and touching her like he had touched her mother and strangling her like he had with her mother and leaving her dead in the trash in the alleyway like he had her mother....
He continued to grin and skip his way into the office and made a bee-line for Izaya's desk. He flopped onto the couch, grinning like the madman that he was.
"So where is she?"
He stared at Izaya hungrily, as though he was a piece of meat that had a precious artifact buried within it. Though he actually didn't have any intentions of harming Izaya - yet - it was the same look he had always given his victims before and while he raped and murdered them.
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Post by UndergroundGod on Jan 8, 2012 0:20:31 GMT -5
Once Mamoru has passed Namie, she looked over at Izaya with a sort of disbelieving look that Izaya had no trouble interpreting. Of all the people that had come to Izaya's office… Mamoru was by far the most disconcerting client Izaya had ever had. It was only because of Izaya's long term exposure to Namie that he could see the repulsion written on her features, though Izaya could hardly blame her for that. He'd have the same look on his own face if he didn't have such great self-control.
As Mamoru sat on the couch, Izaya made a mental note to burn it later.
He gathered the sheets of paper on his desk, shuffling them together into a neat stack and sliding them into a manila folder.
"Ah, not so fast," he teased softly, leaning forward against his desk with a soft smile, "I have to make sure I'm going to have some sort of compensation first, you know."
He leaned back in his chair thoughtfully to throw out a price and justify it. If needed, he'd be willing to haggle, since he wasn't sure how much money a psychotic escapee would keep on his person, and he wasn't looking to start any sort of trouble with this man. "Now, the information wasn't exactly hidden or anything, so it didn't take too much time, though with the urgency on the deal, I had to make room in my schedule to look it up. A hundred dollars should be reasonable."
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unicornhunter
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Post by unicornhunter on Jan 8, 2012 0:56:16 GMT -5
Mamoru frowned at the mention of the money, but he dug through his pockets nonetheless. He put the money on the coffee table as he dug it out. Fifty from the ganguro girl he had killed the other night, a few fives from a variety of girls he had run into at what used to be Erika's favorite coffee shop, and a twenty from that girl in cosplay.
"I don't have a hundred on me.... But would this do?"
If it didn't, he would simply resort to more drastic measures....
Perhaps if he squinted . . . maybe. Izaya Orihara certainly wasn't a muscular individual, so perhaps he would be able to overlook the glaring imperfections if it meant he'd get the information despite not having enough money. . . .
Now he was starting to wonder - would Orihara squeal like a pig, begging to be let go? Or would he find a way to struggle against him, like the ganguro girl? He had used up the last of his chloroform on that girl, so if that was indeed the case, he might have a bit of a problem. And then there was the assistant.... She was a bit old for his comfort, but if he could do it to Orihara, he didn't really have any qualms with doing it to her.
It took him a moment to remind himself that that was a last resort. Besides, he'd much rather not sully himself by touching anyone belonging to the perverse filth known as the male gender.
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Post by UndergroundGod on Jan 8, 2012 17:37:54 GMT -5
He had to justify setting the price low to begin with (though, Izaya supposed, Mamoru probably didn't have any sort of reference as to how much information retrieval cost, so he had some wiggle room to begin with), but he expected Mamoru not having enough money. Izaya anticipated that the money he had was likely stolen from his most recent victims, which Izaya would feel bad about if he thought there was anything he could have done to stop it.
As Mamoru threw a few crumpled bills out onto the table near him, Izaya got up and approached him, to take the bills off the counter and count. A three twenties, a ten, three fives… $85 in total, which wasn't the price he set, but it was close.
Internally, he was relieved that Mamoru's amount was close to the amount he'd requested. After all, a true information broker wouldn't be willing to just give up information at such a low rate and Izaya had honestly denied people information when they couldn't pay the price he'd asked. It was simply a matter of business, and if Mamoru had only had a few dollars to give him, Izaya would have HAD to turn him away, just in order to seem legit. After all, if Izaya only took five or ten dollars, how accurate or worthy could the information be?
Izaya needed to avoid that perception, so he was glad that Mamoru had a good chunk of change on him. But to be seemingly relieved that Mamoru could afford that cheap price wouldn't turn out very well, so to show his slight dissatisfaction with Mamoru's counter offer, he counted through the bills with a slight grimace, asking, "This is really all you have?"
He didn't wait for an answer though, sighing heavily, and waving him off, "Fine, fine. Namie!"
More than anything though, he was relieved that he could avoid the consequences of what trying to turn Mamoru away might do. He saw the look on Mamoru's face as he was grabbing the money… and he'd had to suppress a shudder of terror at just what that look meant for him.
The secretary frowned at him, came over, and he shoved the slightly damp bills into her hand. A look of disgust passed over her face, but she took them off to the hidden safe on the upper level of the office.
Izaya crossed back to his desk to grab the folder with Mamoru's forged information, and flipped through it one more time, before handing the folder over to the man.
"On top there is her current address. Seems she's staying with some guy in Ikebukuro. They work afternoon-evening shifts around town, so they're normally home late, it seems. Beneath that is a list of the twenty or so male names I found linked to her normal routine."
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unicornhunter
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Post by unicornhunter on Jan 8, 2012 19:33:58 GMT -5
Mamoru twitched a little when Izaya made a face at the amount of money, but soon a twisted grin wormed its way onto his face as Izaya pushed the papers toward him. He snatched them up, almost tearing them in his haste to read them.
His hands shook in anticipation as his eyes scanned over the information. He - he was so close to finally rejoining with his good little girl.... Sure, she shouldn't be in contact with any of these big, mean brutes, but what with her being all by her lonesome, he couldn't really blame her for that.... Perhaps one of these protozoans was the little brat that set their home on fire in the first place.... Maybe . . . maybe it was this brute. Right . . . there. . . .
Mamoru pressed his finger on the name in question.
To Mamoru's eyes, he looked mean and up to no good and certainly wasn't any good for his precious little girl. Oh, his poor darling, how did she get mixed up with a disgusting piece of vermin like that? (Though he didn't like the look of that tall, strong-armed black man, either....)
"So . . . Erika lives with this man. . . . Shizuo Heiwajima? And I can find him anywhere in Ikebukuro during the evenings because he works as a debt collector?" Mamoru remembered those - he hated it when they'd come knocking on his door and threatening to kick him and sweet little Erika out if he couldn't pay the rent - but he soon made sure they had other things to preoccupy themselves with.
Well, this debt collector would have plenty of things to deal with once Mamoru ran into him.
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Post by UndergroundGod on Jan 8, 2012 20:14:32 GMT -5
Mamoru practically snatched the folder from his hands, which, ultimately, didn't surprise Izaya. He watched the man tentatively as he tore through the papers in the folders and eyes them ravenously. Jesus, he was frightening. Izaya was thankful that their business together was almost over. All he had to do now was confirm anything the man asked and shuffle him out of here to tear off in Shizuo's direction. Hopefully, some time tonight, Mamoru would confront Shizuo, and Shizuo would take care of his problem, just like he had with that perverted teacher.
Then Izaya could go back to his normal life and not have to worry about this asshole ever again, and god, what a relief that would be. He couldn't wait to not have to think about this creeper again, he couldn't wait to just… go back to being left alone (as alone as he ever was). He couldn't wait to go back to not thinking about the terrible things that this case made him think about.
He nodded in response to Mamoru's question, then added, "That's what it says."
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unicornhunter
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Post by unicornhunter on Jan 8, 2012 20:53:06 GMT -5
Mamoru's grin widened, and he stood up suddenly, a newly awakened spring in his step. He folded up the list and pocketed it. He knew exactly what he needed to do now. He more or less skipped his way out of the office, too preoccupied with thoughts of finally rejoining with his daughter.
First he'd break this man's bones, then shove a white-hot iron rod right up his -
Oh, where had his manners gone?
He turned around at the last second, just as he was about to go through the office door.
"Thank you for your time, Izaya Orihara." He giggled in a way that was disturbingly similar to how Erika giggled over yaoi pairings and left.
****
Erika covered her mouth with her sleeve, sneezing loudly. She made a rather adorable "bleh" noise, assessing whether or not any water damage happened to the manga she was reading. No, it looked all right. She wiped her sleeve off on her skirt and continued reading. She'd give it about thirty more minutes before she called Izaya to see if it was okay for her to drop by and see how things went with her father....
****
That day, Mamoru did not prey on a single girl. He pickpocketed and rooted around for dropped wallets or change, and once he gathered the money for it, he went back to where his source for chloroform and other date-rape substances was and replenished his supply. He also invested in a knife and hid it in his coat as he continued on his way.
He camped out in the park - letting only his eyes stray to the small children coming and going.
The park was the best located place to spot a wanderer, so either he'd see this Shizuo Heiwajima first or he'd run into Erika. Erika.... He took out the new photo he had of her. She had certainly grown up a lot. Oh, how lonely and frightened she must be without her daddy to look after her.... He sighed dramatically and hugged the picture to his chest. Don't worry, darling, Daddy's here to save you now. And we can continue playing house forever and ever....
****
Erika took out her phone as she locked the door to her and Walker's apartment, and she dialed Izaya's phone number as she began to head for the streets. "Hey, Izayan, it's Erika. I'm coming over to your office to talk about how it went. He is out and searching for Ikebukuro's Strongest, right?"
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Post by tossingtrashcans on Jan 10, 2012 0:04:23 GMT -5
Shizuo waved to Tom as he watched his boss walk out of sight. He then turned and headed in the other direction. He quickly lit up a smoke and exhaled as he walked, thinking about his day. Today had been just like any other day thus far. Beat people up, throw people around... all in a days work. Not like his work was hard, he enjoyed it... most of the time.
Today he'd have to head home a little differently. He was low on milk for the following morning.
Shizuo tossed his cigarette bud into the bin as he turned and walked into the park. This way was shorter. Little darker, but none the less it was shorter.
He was about half way through the park when he heard something. All of his senses peeked at that moment. Surely it was Izaya, no. Izaya was the type to be home and comfortable by this time.
After a moment he stopped and looked around, wondering who... or what was there. Not like he couldn't handle it.
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