-Bulletproof-

I apologize for the long delay. There were too many things I had to take care of first. Now, uhm, I must say that I'm not exactly satisfied with the way this chapter turned out... it ended up being a little too long and disjointed, but I didn't want to split it up into multiple parts, because if I did, it probably would have become too slow-paced and filler-like. Oh well. I'll just pretend it was intentional, to make up for my absence. Ah, also, happy Halloween.

Disclaimer: Nothing is owned by me.

It was mid-morning when he first woke up. He could hear faint sounds- a television, perhaps, and the scuffling noises that slippers made against hardwood flooring. Feeling terribly disoriented, he opened his eyes blearily, but found the room to be much too bright, and immediately squeezed them shut again. A surge of vertigo hit him, and he groaned, a coarse and rumbly buzz which startled him; it did not sound at all like a noise he could have made. There was an uncomfortable tightness in his chest, but every sensation almost seemed to flow into one another, and he stilled, focusing instead on the soft, liquidlike texture of the sheets below him.

"Oh, you're finally awake! I was starting to get worried, it really shouldn't have taken this long..." A voice that was too loud carried itself into the room. It continued in a systematic drone, of which only a few words were recognizable: "Stable... going to lower... dosage..."

He dared to open his eyes again, carefully squinting so as not to overload his senses; he could barely make out the figure of someone standing over him. Sluggishly, he attempted to sit up in order to get a better look, but even the slightest movement seemed to require a tremendous amount of effort, and he gave up quickly. His eyelids slid shut, plunging the world around him into a fluid darkness.

"Ah, it's all right, you can go back to sleep, you'll probably wake up again... Haha, that was a joke, don't worry!" There were some more shuffling sounds, and then the room was filled with white noise once more.

He drifted in and out of sleep easily, until finally, he awoke with a shudder; he had dreamt that he was falling. Having opened his eyes instinctively, his gaze swept across the room, and as things began to come into focus, he dazedly realized that he was lying in bed, and not tumbling through the air. The ceiling and walls were painted a dull orange by the sunset, and long shadows fell upon the crisp bedsheets he lay under. Gone was the peculiar fluidity that everything seemed to hold before, and he began to notice small discomforts all around- the clothes he was wearing felt rough to his hypersensitive skin, and his body seemed to ache all over. His throat was parched, and he attempted to clear it, but only succeeded in bringing about a violent fit of coughing. He heard a door open, and someone hurried to his side, gently aiding him into a sitting position, which was painstakingly difficult, as his muscles felt as if they were weighed down by lead.

"Here, drink this," A small glass was brought up to his lips, and he drank greedily; the water was possibly the best thing he had ever tasted, and he felt overwhelmingly disappointed when the glass had been emptied. "How are you feeling, Izaya-kun?"

After a brief moment of consideration, his gaze slid over to the person next to him, and he opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped, and frowned. He felt terrible, that much was obvious; what was more disconcerting, however, was that he could not remember what had happened to him. His eyes widened slightly as he realized something even more disturbing: he had no recollection of anything that had happened to him- nothing whatsoever. Where was he? Who was this person next to him? And most importantly of all, who was he?

"Izaya...?" The brunet cast a worried look at him, and he stared back, panic evident in his expression. "Are you all right? Do you feel nauseated? Dizzy? Feverish?"

"I can't remember," he croaked, his voice sounding scratchy and uneven, and he suppressed another cough.

"Oh. Um, well, you were shot, you see. Yes. But fortunately... um... Celty was nearby! So she saved you! Yes, it's all thanks to Celty, ahaha..."

"No," he shook his head ever so slightly.

"Yes, it's true! It's all true! Everything I am saying is true!"

He let out a weary huff of air. "I can't remember... anything."

"It's okay, because- wait, what?" Shinra froze mid-sentence. After inhaling a deep, slow breath, he said nervously, "Izaya-kun, that was a joke, right?"

"You keep calling me that," Izaya murmured quietly. "That's what my name is, right?"

"Ahaha, you are absolutely hilarious! Oh, gosh, Izaya, what would the world do without you?" He stopped to adjust his glasses. "Seriously though, tell me that was a joke."

Izaya pressed his lips into a thin line. "Do I look like I'm joking?" He shot a glare at the other man, who shook his head quickly, the colour draining from his face as he hastily retrieved a small notebook from the pocket of his coat and began flipping through its crisp pages. Although neat and perfectly spaced, the handwriting was completely illegible, and Izaya quickly gave up trying to read the doctor's notes. Shinra continued to look desperately through his records and re-examined readings on various devices, and though Izaya had a million questions rushing through his mind, he remained silent, unsure of where to begin even.

His gaze shifted from Shinra, who was growing more pale by the moment, and wandered idly about the room, taking in his surroundings properly. Izaya noticed at once that although he was hooked up to what appeared to be professional quality medical equipment, he was quite obviously in someone's bedroom, and not a hospital. And, though the brunet beside him was dressed in a clean, white labcoat, there was nothing else professional about his appearance; he was even wearing a pair of slippers. Izaya felt as if he had awoken from a dream only to enter another, and had no way of telling whether he was truly awake or not. After all, what made one reality more likely than the other?

The sound of jangling keys startled the two of them out of their private thoughts, and a moment later, a woman dressed entirely in black- save for a brightly coloured and oddly shaped motorcycle helmet -entered carrying a bag full of groceries. She dropped the bag by the door, and swiftly made her way to Izaya's side, more or less ignoring Shinra entirely.

'Oh, thank goodness you're all right! We were both so worried!' She typed the words on her cellphone, and held the screen up for Izaya to read. He glanced up at the shaded visor of her helmet, but it was perfectly reflective, and he could not see her face at all, so he simply nodded blankly at her. 'I'm just going to put the groceries away. Tell me if you need anything!' He nodded again, and then she was gone.

"... Um, don't tell Celty that you have amnesia, okay?" The doctor whispered as soon as the door was closed, and Izaya glowered at him. "I'm sure this can be treated! Trust me!"

"It's not like I really have any other choice, do I-" Izaya's voice trailed off, and he stared, petrified, at something behind the other man. Shinra turned, and his heart sank in despair as he saw what Izaya had seen: Celty had taken off her helmet.

'I made some ceylon tea! Would you like some lemon or cream to go with it?' Celty tapped the message out with one hand as she carried the tray of teacups over to the bedside table. 'Izaya? Are you feeling okay?'

"W-what..." Izaya stammered, and Shinra was shaking his head wildly behind Celty, gesturing for Izaya not to say anything. He swallowed anxiously. Perhaps he really was dreaming. "Ah, um. I'm f-fine."

Celty took another step closer to him, and Izaya couldn't help but flinch; it was unsettling, to say the least, that this figure before him was missing a head, but the eerie wisps of black smoke that emanated from her neck were outright creepy. Upon seeing Izaya's odd reaction, Celty whirled around to face Shinra, who was looking away from the scene entirely, focusing his attention on his notebook instead. Celty tapped her foot expectantly, but Shinra was determinedly pretending not to have noticed. Suddenly, the shadows in the room all flared up at once, writhing and twisting like live flames; they almost looked as if they were going to leap off the walls and violently lash out at them. Izaya started, and covered his mouth with a hand to muffle a small gasp. Immediately, the shadows ceased to move, and Celty grabbed Shinra by his arm, dragging him outside of the room and slamming the door shut loudly. Snippets of a one-sided conversation came in through the door:

"It'll be okay! I'm pretty sure it's reversible, see, look at these numbers! ... Well, it's not like it's my fault that this happened... Aaaah, Celty, that hurts! Q-quit it! I'll apologize...! Noooo, don't-"

There was a dull thud, and Izaya winced. Moments later, they returned, and much to Izaya's surprise, Shinra did not look nearly as bad as he expected him to be. He supposed the doctor was just... prone to theatrics. Izaya's gaze shifted from Shinra to Celty, and he could not help but stare at her; Shinra cleared his throat with a quiet cough to regain his attention, and then announced, "Izaya, I am really, really, sorry for erasing your memory." Celty gave him a sharp nudge. "A-and I promise I'll help you recover in whatever ways I can!"

"You erased my memory?" Izaya narrowed his eyes at Shinra. So that was what he was referring to when he said 'reversible'. Shinra gave a barely noticeable nod. "... Why?"

"Well, it was a request from... a client." Shinra said uneasily, glancing at Celty to see whether or not his reply was acceptable. The dullahan was pacing back and forth anxiously, but didn't interrupt to correct him. He continued, "Although, I had no intention of wiping out your memory completely! It was... um... an accident?"

Izaya gave him a look of disbelief, and Celty seemed equally fed up as well, for she stopped her pacing, and Izaya could have sworn that the black mist about her neck grew several shades darker. Shinra raised his hands in defense. "Look on the bright side! You should eventually regain your past memories, and then everything will be normal again... it's just a matter of time!"

'Time which he doesn't have. You're forgetting the reason Izaya was even in this mess to begin with; someone was after his life.' Celty pointed out, and Izaya blinked, glancing down at his bandaged chest. He had been so stunned by the loss of his memory that he had overlooked his physical injuries, and as soon as he'd taken a moment to think about the wound, it began to ache stubbornly again.

"Oh, right. You probably shouldn't go outside. Well, actually, it would be better if you went home." Shinra mused aloud, and received another elbow to his ribs."Ack-! Celty, now you're just being mean! B-but of course, you can stay as long as you like, Izaya-kun!" He quickly amended the comment before Celty could jab him again.

"I would go home, if I knew where I lived," Izaya mumbled sulkily, his eyes downcast as he leaned back against the thin pillow behind him. Shinra and Celty glanced at one another, each daring the other to give in to what was possibly the most adorably heart-wrenching expression they had ever seen on Izaya.

"... Aaahhhh, Izaya-kun, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!" Shinra wailed, falling to his knees and taking his glasses off to wipe away a tear. He gave a small sniffle, before outright bawling, and burying his face in Izaya's lap. Izaya was suddenly grateful that the blankets were quite thick, for the clothes he was wearing would certainly have not withstood the torrent of tears coming from the doctor. Although, now that he thought about it, Izaya noticed that his clothes were a size or two too small for him, and probably belonged to the other man to begin with.

"... Is he always like this?" Izaya mouthed silently at Celty.

'Unfortunately, yes. In all seriousness though, we don't know where you live either. You weren't exactly a very... trusting person.' Celty typed out, while Izaya patted Shinra on the head awkwardly. A few muffled sobs came from the brunet.

"Couldn't you call my relatives, or friends, or something?" Izaya suggested hopefully, and Celty paused to consider his words, but then shrugged.

'I don't exactly know how to get in touch with your sisters, and since you didn't have your phone on you when we found you, I guess you're out of luck. Actually, I'm a bit disturbed by how little we know about you, and we're probably your closest friends. Unless you've been keeping even more secrets from us.' Celty paused. She would not have been at all surprised if Izaya had a whole lifetime's worth of secrets locked away in that mind of his- a mind which he no longer had access to, she reminded herself. 'Well, anyway, like Shinra said, you can stay here for now. Everyone's already looking for the man responsible for this- ah, for shooting you, I mean.'

Izaya sighed quietly; there really was no other option than to wait. He glanced down at the weepy doctor, and then back up at the dullahan. Shinra and Celty. What strange people they were- and he wasn't quite sure the latter was even human. Izaya supposed that of all the situations an amnesiac could end up in, at least this one wasn't boring. In fact, it cheered him up a little, to think that he could just as well have had some vague form of accidental brain trauma- how dully tragic that would have been! But no, he was important enough that someone had actually paid for his memory to be wiped. How did memory erasure even work? It seemed rather... shady. Then again, the fact that he was obviously not hospitalized after being grievously wounded was quite sketchy as well. And on top of that, he had apparently been the target of an assassination attempt... Izaya hummed contemplatively. "Can I ask why there was someone out to kill me in the first place?"

'To be honest, If I had to guess, I'd say you probably messed with the wrong crowd and got in over your head,' Celty folded her arms across her chest. She decided not to mention Shizuo's involvement, as it really wasn't relevant to their immediate predicament, and it would have taken much too long to explain all of the details.

Blinking, Izaya considered Celty's words carefully. "Was I a criminal?" He inquired, and Celty noted with a mixture of amusement and exasperation that his tone sounded much more curious than concerned. Perhaps some things would never change.

'Hmm. Well, you were a self-proclaimed "information dealer", and I'm pretty sure your "business" didn't fall under the category of legal.' Celty shrugged. Izaya turned his head slightly to hide a small grin, and Celty looked at him questioningly. 'Something funny?'

"Ah, not really," Izaya said, falling back into a neutral expression as he examined a loose thread on the end of his sleeve with feigned interest. His lips twitched upwards involuntarily, though he did not give up trying to mask his smile as he murmured, "Well, I guess I'm glad that I was such an interesting person."

"You still are!" Shinra interjected, finally standing back up, and wiping his face with the sleeve of his coat. "I'll fix this! Just you wait! If you're not a hundred percent Orihara Izaya by the end of this week, I'll... I'll have to do something drastic!"

A week came and went too quickly. While Izaya was physically recovering quite quickly, he did not appear to be making any progress at all with his memory. Shinra had shown him their old high school yearbooks, claiming that his memory recovery could be jump-started by familiar images or events, but none of it seemed to click. He and Celty had both been remarkably tense when Izaya glanced over a photograph of Shizuo, but there was no noticeable reaction, and he thumbed through the rest of the pages without much interest.

Worst of all, Izaya quickly grew terribly, terribly bored. After he had regained enough strength to move about, he was constantly hovering from room to room, going through Shinra's things (but having enough respect for Celty not to touch any of her belongings) and fiddling with his medical equipment. Most of the time, Izaya put things back the way they had originally been, but he would occasionally leave a doodle or a message on the printout screen of a device. He considered his magnum opus thus far to be changing the setup screen of a new heart rate monitor to read 'Please take glasses off to continue', which had actually caused Shinra to remove his glasses, forcing him to squint at the tiny instructions on the screen for several minutes before he finally heard Izaya snickering quietly in the doorway, and realized what he was doing. On the third day, Shinra sat him down in the living room and shoved a game controller in his hand, determined to exact vengeance upon Izaya within the context of a 2-dimensional fighting game. It took all of three rounds for Izaya to scrape together a win, and after that, he simply could not be beaten, and Shinra lost round after devastating round the entire afternoon. Then, later that night, when Shinra had to leave the apartment to see a client, Izaya sneaked the gaming console out and beat all of the doctor's high scores.

Two days later, Shinra was on the verge of snapping. "Izaya has got to go!" he huffed, storming over to where Celty was busily typing away on her laptop.

'What? Are you still mad about the high score thing? I'm actually kind of impressed,' Celty typed absentmindedly, while scrolling through forums. There was more gossip about "Kanra-chan's" disappearance than she had expected; of course, she figured Izaya's online presence would be pretty widespread and influential, but she hadn't been anticipating nearly as huge of a reaction. It was all nonsense, wild speculations about having run off with a secret lover (and some claiming to be said secret lover), or having been kidnapped by human traffickers (and some claiming to be said human traffickers), or worst of all, having been abducted by aliens. Celty shivered.

"... and it took me the longest time to learn that combo- Are you even listening? Ceeeel-ty!" Shinra whined, and Celty turned to face him, exuding a huff of black smoke. "Orihara Izaya is ruining my life! He messes with my equipment when I'm not looking, and he eats my snacks, and I can't even beat him at my own video games! It's worse than that time we tried raising a cat!"

'You can't seriously be complaining about this. Whose fault is it that he's even lost his memory in the first place?' Celty scolded, and continued before Shinra could timidly accuse Shizuo, 'It's your fault, Shinra! I told you not to do it, but would you listen? No, you wouldn't.'

"B-but, Celty..." Shinra said, lower lip quivering. Celty gave him a stern look, but she did feel a little sorry for him; she knew that Shinra had done everything to the best of his abilities, and that he was not one to slip up so easily- it was awfully unlucky for Izaya to have been the victim of such a mistake, though. Shinra continued to gaze at her with misty eyes, and it was more distracting than Celty liked to admit. The dullahan eventually gave up on trying to get anything done, and got up from her chair to give Shinra a quick hug. He was cheered up immediately, and for a few moments, refused to let go, forcing Celty to give him a sharp poke in the stomach. Coughing, yet smiling a little, he pulled over an office chair and collapsed into it as Celty drew back and returned to her own seat.

'If he's really being such a nuisance, why don't you just tell him?' She suggested several minutes later, and Shinra blinked in surprise. 'That's what I thought. You always forget the most obvious solution. Now, shoo.'

Shinra grinned sheepishly, and quickly left to find Izaya, who must have somehow sensed what was coming, for he immediately dashed into the bathroom and proceeded to take the longest bath possible. Much to Celty's relief, however, Shinra chose to go to bed early, rather than return to her to complain some more. She was probably finding the situation more entertaining than she should, but it had honestly been so long since she'd seen Izaya act so... innocently. As troublesome as he was being (for Shinra alone, Celty noted with a fair amount of pride), it was still a far cry from the trouble he usually got himself into, and in some senses, it was a refreshing change.

A private message from Mikado popped up in the corner of her screen, and Celty paused her forum-surfing to answer.

Tanaka Taro: Hey, all the rumours and gossip aside, do you know what happened to um... Kanra?

Setton: Ah. I thought you might ask. Well, it's a bit of a long story...

Tanaka Taro: ! So you do know!

Setton: Haha. Yeah...

Tanaka Taro: Well?

Setton: Aah... Kanra-chan is... recovering from an injury.

Tanaka Taro: ... A serious injury?

Setton: Yes. But he'll be fine. I think.

Tanaka Taro: You can trust me, Celty-san.

Celty leaned back in her seat tiredly. She really didn't want to get Mikado involved in whatever it was that they were dealing with.

Tanaka Taro: I'm guessing it wasn't an accidental injury.

Setton: ... Good guess.

Tanaka Taro: And you probably don't know the identity of the attacker?

Setton: You're two for two.

Tanaka Taro: Celty-san, let me help.

Setton: I don't think you want to get into this.

Tanaka Taro: I'm not a child! Plus, if Kanra is out of commission, where are you getting your info from?

Celty's fingers hovered above her keyboard. He actually had a point; they really had no clue where to start, and with the Dollars' sheer numbers, their information net would be expanded considerably. It couldn't possibly take long before someone turned something up, and something was much better than nothing.

Setton: Okay. Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Tanaka Taro: Yatta!~

Setton: Here's the rundown: he was shot in the back- the bullet pierced through his chest but he's recovering. Shizuo was there too, and was shot twice in the legs. No witnesses, and we can only speculate about the motives.

Tanaka Taro: Heiwajima-san!? ... A double hit?

Setton: That's what I thought at first too- but then, why just the legs?

Tanaka Taro: Ah, you're right... hmm, that's really suspicious...

Setton: Indeed...

Tanaka Taro: Should I make a global announcement on the forums about this?

Setton: I wouldn't do that just yet; after all, it's possible that they could be a member of the Dollars too.

Tanaka Taro: That's true... Well, I'll let you know if I find anything, then. Give Kanra my best wishes.

Setton: I will. Goodnight.

Tanaka Taro: 'Night!

-Tanaka Taro has left the chatroom-

Celty tapped out a light rhythm on the desk with her fingertips as she contemplated what to do next. She hadn't heard from Shizuo since that night, which was somewhat of a relief; it was looking more and more likely that Shizuo had really just been unfortunate enough to have been at the wrong place and time, but Celty refused to abandon her initial theory. There were just so many unanswered questions... A glance at the clock revealed that it was well past midnight, and she stretched languidly, setting her laptop to sleep mode and shuffling towards her bedroom, ready to turn in for the night. Izaya passed her in the hallway, and gave her a quick nod and a grin; Celty paused to acknowledge his greeting, and then stepped into her room for a moment, before turning on her heel and following him to the kitchen.

'Can't sleep?' She asked, as Izaya rifled through the fridge, eventually discovering a slice of a dessert roll that Shinra had hidden behind the milk carton; it was clearly intended to be saved for the next day.

"Mm, I guess not," Izaya said, shrugging slightly. He grabbed a fork and took a seat at the dining room table, stabbing at the roll halfheartedly, and just as Celty began to suspect he wasn't actually going to eat any of it, he took a tiny bite. Celty sat across from him, and watched idly as he began poking at the dessert again. "Ne, Celty-san, it's already been a whole week, and I haven't remembered anything yet..." Izaya began, and took a particularly fierce jab at the miserable cake, which was already barely recognizable as such. "How do I know you guys aren't just messing with me?"

Startled by the accusation, Celty quickly typed, 'We would never do that! I... I mean, you just have to trust us...'

Izaya peered at the screen, and gave an amused snort. "It's easy for you to say that, isn't it?"

'Izaya, I personally brought you here after you were injured-'

"Ah, and then after patching me up, your deranged roommate figured it would be okay to fuck with my head, since I was conveniently unconscious?" Izaya hissed maliciously, clasping his hands together in a mock gesture of adoration as he added, "I'm so glad I have friends like you two~!"

Celty stood up, the legs of her chair scraping against the floor loudly. She tapped out a message, and braced both her arms against the table as she flipped the phone around to show Izaya the screen, 'I seriously doubt you have anyone better.'

"... Celty-san, if I was such a terrible person, why did you save my life?" Izaya whispered, his eyes glinting.

Celty reached for her phone in a hurry to reply, 'When did I ever tell you that you were a terrible person?'

Izaya raised both eyebrows, and Celty belatedly realized that she had used the wrong choice of words entirely. She quickly amended, 'I couldn't just leave you! I know that there's no context for this, given your amnesia, but I have my reasons. That's all I'm going to say about it, whether you believe me or not.' The inky wisps around her were thick and tremulous. For a long time, Izaya merely stared at the screen, and when he finally looked back up at Celty, she was startled to see a cheerful smile across his lips.

"Okay, I guess you guys weren't lying after all~" Izaya said, while leaning back dangerously far in his chair. Celty stood motionless, stunned by the sudden shift in his mood and tone. Almost immediately, Izaya gave her a wide-eyed, innocent look of concern. "Was that a bit too much? Ah, sorry! I just had to make sure."

'Oh... Um, It's fine. Goodnight, Izaya,' Celty replied eventually, and made her way back to her bedroom, hearing Izaya call out a cheerful goodnight behind her. There was a certain unease that lingered in her mind after that brief talk. It was unnerving to the dullahan that she couldn't tell when Izaya was acting, and when he was being genuine. She wondered if she ever really could; over the years, Celty had more or less seen Izaya play every role possible, and flawlessly at that. The immense popularity and influence he had gained as his online persona was a testament to how easily he could manipulate others, by pretending to be someone that he wasn't.

Though he claimed to have no recollection of his past, in a lot of ways, it seemed as though Izaya was already very much himself.

The slot of light beneath her door dimmed, and she could hear footsteps along the hallway. By then, it must have been late enough that one could call it early if they so chose to, but Celty did not fall asleep until much later. The next morning, the dullahan awoke to a horrified yell, and she dashed outside her bedroom without a second thought, only to find that it was just Shinra, who had discovered the pathetic state of his mangled dessert roll. Celty went back into her bedroom and shut the door before Shinra could follow her inside.

"He didn't even eat any of it!" Came the muted groan of despair from beyond the door.

'Please let me go back to sleep. Also, I saw him take one bite.' Celty opened the door a crack to show Shinra the cellphone screen, then promptly shut it again.

"You watched him murder my dessert? And you didn't do anything about it? How could you! Ceeeeeel-ty!"

Celty sighed, black trails of smoke looming over her like thunderclouds as she changed out of her sleeping clothes, knowing it would be impossible to get back to sleep. It was far too early in the day for this, and she took her time in the shower, not at all wanting to deal with Shinra's antics just yet. However, as she finally entered the kitchen, fully dressed and prepared for the worst, Celty immediately noticed that Shinra was no longer upset about his dessert. In fact, he didn't appear to be upset at all, and was talking quite animatedly to Izaya. Approaching the two of them sitting at the dining room table, she took one glance down at the plate between them and paused in bewilderment. Izaya was peeling apples, and was skillfully cutting the skin of each individual slice to look like a small rabbit.

"Celty! Look, aren't these cute? They're apple rabbits!" Shinra exclaimed, and Celty just stared. Shinra wilted a little. "You don't like them? I was going to ask Izaya to teach me how to cut them like that..."

'... Are you 10 years old?' Celty asked incredulously.

"Now now, Celty-san~!" Izaya laughed, and Celty shot him a suspicious look. He seemed much more relaxed than he had the night before, and generally a lot less distant and reserved. Celty inevitably concluded that he really had been worried that she and Shinra were scheming behind his back... Celty made a note to herself that perhaps she ought to have a talk with Izaya about trust issues one day.

As he finished cutting another apple into wedges, he explained blithely, "Shinra-kun was so upset over his cake roll that I actually felt a little bad about it, so I thought I should make it up to him somehow."

Shinra looked moved nearly to the point of tears by Izaya's confession, and Celty glanced from him to Izaya, who merely smiled at her. Just as she was about to leave them be, however, she noticed something peculiar. Hesitantly, she typed out, 'Izaya, where did you get that knife?'

"Hm? Oh, this? It was in a drawer, and... I thought it looked cool." Izaya replied, playing with the blade a bit by flicking it closed, then open, then closed again. "I made sure it was clean, though, if that's what you're worried about?"

"O-oh, I didn't even notice-" Shinra stuttered, when he realized what Celty was getting at. He pursed his lips, eyeing Izaya critically. "Hmm. You still haven't remembered anything?"

"What do you think?" Izaya retorted a bit snappishly, and Shinra cast an uneasy glance at Celty. The dullahan shrugged her shoulders, and they both looked apprehensively at Izaya, who gave a small huff of impatience. "Is there something I'm missing here?"

'Maybe it's just a coincidence, but that blade belonged to you, Izaya,' Celty finally explained, and Izaya seemed surprised by the comment. He looked to the flickblade, then back up at Celty, with hopeful eyes. She eventually caved. 'Um. I guess you can keep it.'

Izaya flashed her a wide grin, and went back to slicing apples. They had somehow lost their appeal to Shinra, who wandered off dejectedly after a short while, leaving Izaya with a plate of too many slices that were quickly browning. Bored, he began to cut the slices into little cubes and strips. So, this blade had belonged to him. This was actually quite a surprise, although it did fit quite nicely into the arch of his palm, so he supposed it was a practical thing to own. But, Izaya was more interested in the state he had found the weapon in: Shinra had left it in a cluttered drawer, as if he'd put it there in a hurry and then forgotten about it. And even more curiously, there was a residue of dried blood around where the blade met the handle. At first, Izaya had thought he had stumbled upon some dark secret of Shinra's- something he really, really shouldn't have seen. And as much as he knew he ought to simply put it back and pretend he had never seen it at all, he just couldn't.

And then he had devised a plan to gauge Shinra's reaction to seeing the knife. Of course, Izaya hadn't really expected Shinra to be so impressed by a couple of apple slices, but at least Celty had been more observant. How peculiar, for it to have ended up being his own possession! Izaya hummed a little tune to himself as he continued to methodically cut the cubes into smaller cubes, and the strips into thinner strips. He wondered whose blood it had been, on the blade. Was it his own? It was more likely to be someone else's. But the rusty residue of blood had stained the very edges of the handle, which meant it hadn't just been a shallow cut. Had he... killed somebody?

The blade suddenly slipped in his hand, which he hadn't noticed was trembling, and drew a thin line of red across his fingers as it clattered to the table. A few drops of blood fell onto the plate, and Izaya blinked in surprise before quickly walking over to the sink to run his hand under the tap. The cool, running water made the cut sting a bit, and he carefully dried his hands with a napkin, his mind still mulling over the mystery of the bloody blade. It didn't actually bother him that he may or may not have killed someone; it was even a little exciting. He wondered if that should bother him. It didn't. Sighing quietly, Izaya picked up the plate of brownish apple bits and brushed them into the trashbin, rinsing the plate off and leaving it on the counter. With nothing to do, he wandered over to the sofa and draped himself across it, flipping through television channels idly with the volume muted.

He wished he could remember something about himself- anything at all. Occasionally, he would catch Shinra or Celty giving him a long, considering look, and he suspected it was because he had done something that he would have done in the past. It was rather depressing that he did not make any of the same connections. Shinra had been particularly hopeful when they had looked through the yearbooks together, but there wasn't a single face or scene that Izaya had recognized, save for his own. Izaya had scrutinized the small, low-resolution photographs of his younger self, and desperately wondered what kind of life he had lived. There was a strange hollow feeling about not knowing one's own identity. There was nothing to associate with, no feelings of belonging or of want. Certainly, Shinra and Celty had been kind enough to him; frankly, he had been surprised that Shinra was putting up with all his dumb practical jokes. The doctor probably felt guilty, Izaya decided, and he ought to feel that way. Nevermind the morally questionable act of manipulating someone's memory- didn't he claim to be Izaya's friend? It was all rather paradoxical...

It wasn't until Celty nudged him in the shoulder that Izaya realized he had dozed off. Startled, he sat up too quickly, and grimaced when it made his chest ache sharply; his wound had mostly healed, but he still had to take care not to stretch or move around too much.

'Ah, sorry! I wasn't sure if you were actually asleep. Lunch is ready.' Celty apologized quickly, and Izaya nodded. 'It's just some take-out sushi, I hope that's okay.'

"S'fine," Izaya murmured, still a little disoriented from having been woken up. He wandered over to the wooden dining table, where Shinra was already seated.

"I saw on a newsfeed that gang activity has been up lately, especially in Ikebukuro." Shinra said between mouthfuls of rice, and when no one replied, he clarified, "It ties in with. You know. All this."

'Perhaps we should ask Shizuo if he's seen anything suspicious lately.' Celty tilted the screen away from Izaya, who only rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Celty-san, don't you think I should know about whatever it is that you're not telling me? It does seem to concern my life, and, you know, I thought you might like to preserve that a little longer." Izaya remarked coldly, and Celty winced.

"It's not really about you, Izaya," Shinra interjected, and Izaya raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, okay, it sort of is. But it mostly isn't!"

"I'd prefer to have the whole picture, whether it's really relevant to me or not." Izaya said, as he and Shinra simultaneously reached their chopsticks for the same piece of sushi. He glared darkly at Shinra, who blinked down at the piece, then back up at Izaya, and grinned. "What are you smiling about?"

"Ah, nothing, you can have that piece." Shinra chimed, picking up another piece and covering it in a gratuitous amount of soy sauce. He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face, and Celty wanted to smack him; it had been Shinra's idea specifically, to bait Izaya with ootoro as a final test... which Celty had thought was just plain ridiculous. Exactly a week had passed, and though Izaya had not recovered any of his memories per se, they both had to admit that at the very least, he only tended to act more and more like his former self. The event with the knife that morning had felt so familiar that it had even surprised Shinra, and in a stroke of genius (as Shinra would later claim to have had), he had instructed Celty to order takeout from Russia Sushi, but to only purchase one piece of ootoro.

Shinra peered at Izaya over his glasses, his eyes glinting as he said, "It's your favourite, right?"

Izaya blinked. He supposed, if he had to choose a favourite, it would be ootoro... "Ootoro is everyone's favourite," Izaya countered, huffing in irritation as he placed the piece onto his own plate. Shinra grinned even more widely. "And don't change the topic! What are you two hiding from me? It's obviously about the hitman who was after me, or at least about the night I was shot, so I think I deserve to know."

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, before anyone could speak another word, there was a heavy knock at the door; Celty automatically volunteered to answer it, since she didn't actually need to eat, and was quickly getting tired of Shinra's smug expression. Izaya glared daggers at Shinra from across the table, willing him to say something, but the doctor remained happily silent, still much too pleased with having had his prediction validated, and continuing his meal without so much as a glance at Izaya. A ragged groan interrupted their one-sided stare-down, and they both turned to face the hallway.

There were many thoughts going through Izaya's head when his gaze fell upon the blood-drenched man standing beside Celty, but none of them rang out so clearly as a single word did: run. Izaya found himself jumping to his feet instinctively, but in a moment of confusion, had hesitated too long, and before he could take a single step, he found himself being hoisted into the air. From such an angle, he could quite clearly see over the sunglasses the blond was wearing, and Izaya found himself staring into a pair of coffee-coloured eyes that gleamed with an intensity he didn't think was humanly possible. He recognized those eyes; he had seen them somewhere before, and that thought alone was enough to send an electrifying thrill of excitement down Izaya's spine.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Shizuo demanded, giving Izaya a brief, rough shake. Izaya knew that what he should be feeling was fear, but a small grin came to his lips instead. Shizuo scowled fiercely at him, "This was your fault, wasn't it?!"

Izaya dared to glance downwards briefly, and saw that the blond was wounded rather badly and was bleeding from his side, back, and shoulder. It was a wonder how he was even able to stand, let alone lift Izaya up with a single arm. Izaya managed to give a little shrug, despite the uncomfortable position he was in.

"Shizuo! Wait, I can explain! It wasn't Izaya!" Shinra yelped, waving frantically at Celty to do something. Celty, in turn, waved frantically at Shizuo to put Izaya down.

"He's right, it wasn't." Izaya added rather unhelpfully, and Shizuo looked as if he wanted to tear Izaya to pieces, but miraculously, dropped him back into his seat and stalked over to the sofa instead. Izaya felt his heart pounding hard against his chest, and peered giddily at the trio from his seat in the dining room. Shinra was quietly muttering something to Shizuo while dressing his wounds, and Celty would occasionally interrupt with a flash of her phone. Everything Shizuo said was, of course, in an audible and very angry growl:

"... No, I wasn't really paying attention, and the next thing I knew, I'd been shot... Yes, in broad daylight, does it look like night to you right now? Now tell me why the hell the flea's here in your apartment... Are you kidding me? How the fuck could you mess something like that up?! And, how do you know he's not just faking it? ... I can't fucking believe this. Shinra. Do you have a deathwish or something? ... No, I did not ask for this! Don't you fucking pin this on me!"

Their conversation continued on for some time, and Izaya could see Shinra cringe visibly several times whenever Shizuo threatened to kill him; he realized after a few moments that as enraged as Shizuo appeared to sound, they were mostly empty threats. At last, Shinra appeared to be finished with treating Shizuo's wounds, and quickly ran off to the bathroom to wash his hands and sterilize his tools for the next twenty minutes or so. In the meantime, Shizuo lit up a cigarette, not bothering to go outside solely to spite the doctor, whom they could all tell was outright avoiding him.

The room was thick with tension, and Celty cast a quick glance over at Izaya, who waved merrily at her in return, causing her to sigh black fog. Izaya smothered a grin, still coming down from the adrenaline rush. A vague feeling of familiarity that permeated the scene, and Izaya's mind was racing to figure out why; he briefly recalled seeing a few photographs of the blond from Shinra's yearbooks- but they hadn't struck him as being remarkable in any way, at the time. Frowning, he discreetly peered over the back of his seat at the two of them once more. Shizuo had removed his cobalt-tinted sunglasses, and was speaking to Celty in a low tone, when he noticed Izaya watching them, and abruptly paused to shoot him a look of pure loathing; it was then that Izaya realized, with a mixture of eager anticipation and awe, that it was not Shizuo's eyes that had seemed familiar to him, but rather, the unrivalled fury which they contained.