Forsaken Solace

Chapter 2: Return

                                                                                            ~

                                                                                 Flashback

His body thrummed with tension as he made his way to the small of apartment. He was at his wits end, having searched for the brunet for weeks without turning up a thing. He'd threatened, stalked, and beaten person after person on his quest to find out where the men who'd taken Izaya were, to no avail. As such, he found himself making his way up the rickety steps of the place where one Mikado Ryugamine resided.

Honestly, Shizuo had been doing his best to avoid having to come to the Dollars leader for help. It wasn't that he didn't trust the teen, but... he didn't want to have to reveal Izaya's plight to anyone, to avoid humiliating or upsetting the man once he DID find him. Unfortunately, as the circumstances stood, he had no other choice. If this is what he had to do in order to get the traumatized man back, so be it.

Moments later, his hand hammered against the door, too impatient to try ringing the doorbell. Following a pause and a quiet "Coming!", the door swung open to reveal Anri Sonohara. He stared down at the young woman, who met his gaze calmly.

"Shizuo-san. May I help you?" she asked softly. The man grunted.

"I need to talk to Mikado. Is he here?" She affirmed his question with a nod before inviting him in. She walked over and sat beside her boyfriend, watching the pair a tad curiously. The older man shut the door behind him, slipping off his shoes and joining the couple. "Mikado, I... need your help."

Said man turned, expression knowing. "Is this about Izaya-san?" His guest tsked, giving him his answer. He went on, explaining, "I heard on forums that he seemed to have disappeared a few months ago, then that he was in the hospital. They said you were taking care of him, which... honestly surprised me a bit. You two are like cats and dogs."

"Are you done? If you know all that, then I figure you know he was taken again." Once the man nodded, he gritted his teeth. "Do you know who did it? Because I swear to God, if you do and haven't done anything about it, I'll beat the living hell out of you!"

Anri stood in front of Mikado, posed to draw Saika if needed. Her tone remained placid, though her expression grew more serious. "Shizuo-san, I understand that you're upset... but if you lay a hand on Mikado-kun, I won't hesitate in cutting you down." She stopped when she felt a touch at her elbow, looking over her shoulder to see her partner shake his head. She pulled back a tad reluctantly, though she kept her eyes on Shizuo in case he did attempt attacking the other.

Ryugamine raised his hands in surrender. "Unfortunately not. You're the only one who's gotten a look at them besides Izaya-san. I've been attempting to do reconnaissance, but thus far, I haven't found anything. I had actually drafted a few people to try and help me with this, to see if we could find some intel before I reached out to you." he reported.

Before Shizuo could reply, a chime sounded from his host's phone. Mikado quickly flipped it open and gazed at the message, replying back with the same speed. "It seems Masaomi may have found a lead. He said he's on his way to tell us in person." He looked up at Shizuo. "While we wait, would you like something to eat or drink, Shizuo-san?"

The blond shook his head as he pulled out a carton of cigarettes. He slipped one into his mouth, gripping it with his teeth, and asked, "Mind opening a window?"

                                                                                             ~

Masaomi walked in and casually greeted the others, though his dark eyes contrasted his demeanor. "Sup Mikado, Anri, Shizuo? Get a bit of info for ya."

His best friend nodded and smiled in return as Anri greeted him softly. Shizuo, on the other hand, crushed his cigarette when he looked at the blond teen. "What'd you find out? Get straight to the point. I don't want Izaya in those bastards' hands longer than we can help it."

Kida's face contorted into an expression of somber disturbance. "They call themselves the Karasu gang. They're based out of Shinjuku. They have a history of using... some rather fucked up means to get what they want, though they specialize in torture and revenge. All of them have pretty lengthy records... the shit they do is something they've been doing for a long time, way before they had issues with Izaya."

Shizuo clenched his fists, anger coursing through him. "Fucking bastards! Tell me you know where they are. I'll kill every single one of them." He growled. The adolescent sighed.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't. I sent some guys to check out their hideout and some other places they're known to... reuse, but nothing. Much as I hate to say it, these assholes are good. We're going to have to dig deeper if we want to figure out where they're keeping Izaya." he answered, watching Shizuo's reaction with a wary glint in his eyes.

As the Heiwajima's anger rose, he was kept from retorting by the sound of the bell ringing. Mikado quickly got to his feet, making it to the door in a few strides. "That'll be my other informants." he told the others. He then swung the door open.

The bodyguard exploded into a tirade. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING HERE?! THERE'S NO GODDAMNED WAY THEY'RE HELPING WITH THIS! THEY'RE PART OF THE FUCKING REASON IZAYA'S FUCKED UP IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Shinra cowered behind Celty, expression pained and frightened. "Sh-Sh-Shizuo, we-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" he bellowed, picking up the nearest blunt object, which happened to be Mikado's bed. His momentum was then stopped by tendrils of darkness wrapping around his body and immobilizing him. His eyes blazed as he turned his attention to Celty.

The dullahan didn't react, holding him in place with a hand before quickly typing. She held the screen to his face, locking his head in place and covering his mouth to force him to read what she'd written. "Please, we're trying to atone for what we've done. We want to help find Izaya as bad as you do."

At the glare he shot in response, she added more on. "I know you hate us for what happened. I get that. But, we're going to help."

Mikado then stepped up, facing Shizuo with a calm expression. "Shizuo-san, I know it's a lot to ask, but you really don't have many other options. They can help us find out more information, what with Shinra-san's connections and Celty's courier job and shadow abilities. If you want to find Izaya-san, you have to work with them. Otherwise, who knows how long it'll take to find him. Now, will you please put my bed back down and keep your temper in check? For Izaya-san?"

Brown eyes stared at the trio murderously, yet he assented with a slow nod. The spirit released him and he replaced the bed where it had been, gentle enough that he didn't break it. The room let out a collective sigh of relief. Shizuo ignored that in favor of spitting out.

"You can help... but I will NEVER forgive you for what you did. You can't atone for this. It follow you to your fucking graves." With that, he leaned against the wall furthest away from them and lit another cigarette. He took a drag and breathed out. "... So what's the plan?"

                                                                               Flashback End

Shizuo found himself waking up several hours later, blinking languidly as he took in his surroundings. He felt the bed shift beneath him, eyes moving up to the source. A chill went through him when he saw a familiar smirk and red eyes that danced with malicious amusement. The sound of a low chuckle met his ears. "My, seems like there's a monster sitting by my bed."