The Price of Good Intentions

Summary:

On a whim, Izaya decides to offer his information to the authorities about a planned kidnap and ransom attempt, for a price of course. The intended victim is an ambassador's only daughter. The situation becomes dangerous fast when Izaya's intentions are revealed to the gang who hunt him down. Izaya is forced into hiding before he can sell the information. Desperate, the police turn to the only man they know who can possibly find him: Heiwajima Shizuo.

Rating: T (depending on whether the plot requires it, this may go up)
Pairings: Shizuo x Izaya (Shizaya/Izuo), Shinra x Celty
Warnings: Descriptions of violence, language, boyxboy, possibly incorrect use of honorifics (I'm so sorry but I hated the look of it without), angst probably, overuse of tildes '~'

Chapter one

The warm glow of sunset filtered into the immaculate apartment of one Orihara Izaya. Sunlight cast the cold furnishings in pinkish orange hues, almost making the place seem homely. Instead of admiring the natural beauty of a sky set ablaze by the dwindling light that signalled the end of the day, the occupant of this particular apartment was raking his gaze over several computer screens. A small frown marred the pale face as he concentrated on his various Internet lurking hotspots.

The Dollars had been pretty inactive lately so there was not much he could meddle in. There was no sign of anything otherworldly happening either aside from the occasional mentioning of the Black Rider, which was dreadfully uninteresting. The gangs weren't up to anything big either. With a sadistic grin, Izaya flexed his fingers and reached to his keyboard.

If I can't find something interesting, I may as well make something interesting. My humans would love a bit of variety~

Instead of typing furiously, he found himself hesitating. Even though he went through the motions, his usual gusto for causing chaos wasn't rising. In fact, Izaya felt like he couldn't really be bothered to stir up some drama. His clients were a little boring too but one request did pique his interest slightly.

He was asked to find information on the daughter of an ambassador. They wanted all the information Izaya could supply them with. Of course, he asked why. He was naturally curious so it was natural for him to ask. They refused to answer though which only made Izaya want to supply the information even more. Within a single day, Izaya had gained a whole folder of information and was rewarded with a more than satisfactory payment so Izaya left it at that.

Looking back on the encounter with the client, who was there on behalf of his boss, Izaya wanted to know the whys behind the request. Boredom didn't sit well with him so instead he looked deeper into the girl's family and decided to find out about the client whilst he was at it.

Finally satisfied, Izaya's fingers glided over the keyboard and he hummed to himself.

To say that Shizuo was in a bad mood was like saying that the Antarctic was cold. It may have been a good description, for an infant, but it grossly understated it. Shizuo was teetering on the edge of losing his temper completely. His usually quiet and calm manner was replaced by fidgeting and clenched muscles. Tom sensed this but he was powerless to stop the words that the debtor was babbling unflinchingly.

The man they were talking to had apparently wanted to become a famous chef but, as the world so often and cruelly does, he never got a break and his dreams were for nothing. They had called him for the return of the money three times already and he'd piled up a lot of interest. It was clear he wasn't smart with the money and didn't get the money back quick enough.

"Don't you guys have dreams? I borrowed the money so I could start a restaurant but-" the man pleaded at Tom.

"Shut up," Shizuo droned, eyebrow twitching. He removed his glasses and tucked them into his vest pocket.

"No! I couldn't be happy knowing that this is all I am! I just need some more time to pay it back."

"Are you deaf?" Shizuo growled, taking his cigarette from his lips and jabbing it towards the man.

"I just-"

After snapping the cigarette in his hand, Shizuo stomped on it before drawing his fist back.

"Aren't you afraid of things always staying the same? That you'll always be less than your best?" The man cried out desperately. Shizuo slammed his fist into the wall beside the man's head. The brick shattered outwards and a small crater was carved out around the point of impact.

"Some of us never had the luxury of that choice," Shizuo growled, his face inches from the debtor. "Do me a favour and pay up so I don't have to see your face again. I don't think I'd be able to keep it in one piece if we do meet in the future."

Moving away, Shizuo walked on and Tom hurried to catch up with him. Tom placed a hand on Shizuo's shoulder and smiled calmly at the blond. "Perhaps we should call it a day, Shizuo-san."

Shizuo shook his head. "No, we still have work to do." He pulled a cigarette from the packet and placed it between his lips before fumbling with his lighter and successfully lighting the stick. The noxious fumes made their home in his lungs briefly before being evicted by an agitated exhale.

Sometimes, Shizuo thought to himself, humans could really annoy him.

"How I love humans! Let it be known, by every boy and girl, this great truth!" Izaya spun around on his chair, laughing like a madman.

"Are you completely certain you don't want me to examine that brain of yours?" Namie sighed, looking at his desk. "Anyway, why are you bothering to chase this case up? I thought you didn't really bother much with these kinds of requests." She indicated the files on his desk with a jab towards them with the files in her own hand.

"Oh but Namie, I have to wonder why they would even attempt to kidnap such a high-profile victim." Izaya smirked, returning to his work.

"They're completely unremarkable. There's no big source of funds at their disposal so they really don't have much power." Namie pointed a small stack of papers at the man, walking around to stand before Izaya at the other side of his desk.

"And that is what is so remarkable! You see these two men?" Izaya pulled up two photo-printouts in one hand and fanned them for Namie's perusal. "They're basically only a little bit more skilful than your average gang leaders. They're after a lot of money and quickly and it seems they want to take on the big fish in this lake. My guess is they want to challenge Shiki-san and put him out of business. It just reeks of a personal vendetta! You know how much I love those."

Namie rolled her eyes. "I thought meddling with people with guns would get tiresome after the number of times you've done it."

"Hmm true, but I think you're missing the point. I've never seen anyone so foolish as to take on Shiki-san that isn't part of a significant gang. They're lacking in numbers but with this target they'll find a lot of interest from the wannabes of the underground. It's all or nothing if they achieve this task."

"I don't like that look on your face."

Izaya grinned over his shoulder impishly. "You don't like any look on my face; you assume I'm always up to no good."

"And I would be correct."

"Your words cut me to the quick." Izaya pretended to look hurt but convinced neither of the people in the room. "I was just thinking about making things a bit more… challenging."

'[Subject: (None)

'[Wouldn't it be a shame if I accidentally leaked your little plan to the police? Be careful whom you decide to trust because humans can be notoriously greedy.]'

The black characters on the screen were etched into the white background of the e-mail.

An incredulous pair of eyes read each one with increasing anger. He was so close to starting his plan, to starting his vengeance, that these few words were an insult. He was going to take down the notorious Shiki, cut down the giant and steal his throne.

What kind of insolent fool dared to expose his plans? What kind of moron would just let the police come charging into the underground with all the grace of a herd of scared beasts?

All the subtle strings of power would be torn, tangled and utterly fucked up beyond anything anyone could predict. Clearly whoever sent this had no idea what they were doing. They were going to make mistakes; he'll be able to find them.

"What the fuck is this?"

"Boss?" A smaller bespectacled man looked up from his laptop at the other end of the room at the angered boss's chair. A scarred hand turned his computer screen around and the smaller man stood up daintily and silently stepped forwards to read the screen.

"What is the meaning of this?" The rough voice demanded an answer.

"I-It's a threat, boss?"

"I can see that! What kind of moron would sent such a thing?"

The bespectacled man leaned closer to the screen and murmured the words as he read them. "It doesn't seem like someone inexperienced. The e-mail is anonymous but I have a suspicion that not even I would be able to trace it. Something seems odd about how he phrased it to me…"

"What kind of idiot would want the police meddling in something like this?"

The bespectacled man looked at the e-mail for another long moment before looking towards his boss.

"S-Someone who clearly wants to make a huge mess of things." At saying that, he jolted with realisation. "A-Ah that reminds me, I took the liberty of asking around about Orihara-san when you told me you'd be getting information from him. I found out some interesting things and I've compiled them into this report." He stood and went back to his laptop and quickly searched for what he was looking for. "T-There it is."

A small beep sounded from the boss's computer and he looked at the new e-mail before opening the attachment. The bespectacled man watched for a moment as his boss read.

"You think he is the culprit?" the boss asked, turning to look at him.

"Q-Quite confident of it. From what I've heard, he's a twisted guy who claims to 'love all humans' and seems to find enjoyment in interfering in people's lives."

Silence, and then…

"…'Humans' eh? I think you may be onto something."

"Ne, Namie-san~?" Izaya's lilting voice rang out through the room. "I want to pick your brain for a moment."

"What?" The woman sighed. "Don't let it drag out too long, I want to get home since Seiji-kun will be there soon."

"I've been thinking about these would-be kidnappers for a while now but I wanted an outside opinion on the best way to really make these gangsters squirm. I've been contemplating informing Shiki-san about them but I had another idea to get the police involved. Have you got any suggestions?"

She stood there and looked at him with a blank but stern expression. "This again? The only opinion you listen to is your own."

"Aw, Namie-chan~ Please?" Izaya looked at her with wide and, on any other person, innocent eyes.

Sighing, she relented. "Why would you want to involve the police? You know how messy they make things."

"That's very true, I'm glad you asked that. What do small-time gangsters fear the most?"

"Getting caught."

"Exactly, they don't have connections like Shiki-san and they certainly can't persuade other gangsters to take the fall for them. So if I were to inform the police, as is my job as an informant, it would be interesting to see just how much they will offer to protect their precious daughter of an ambassador. I could play the hero~ Imagine that!" Izaya laughed.

"You are not a hero, a greedy slimy rat perhaps."

Izaya pouted childishly. "If I didn't know better, Namie-chan, I would think you didn't like me very much~"

"You're cutting into my time. I'll be late."

"Alright, run home to your little brother Stalker-chan~"

Namie clicked her tongue in annoyance and gathered her coat and bag, leaving abruptly. Alone in his apartment, Izaya span around on his chair with a smug look on his face.

"I wonder if they would idolise me if I become the hero."

With a sly grin on his face he set up his untraceable e-mail account and started composing his message. Once finished, he closed it down and got up out of his seat and wandered to the window looking over the view once more.

"I wish I could see you squirm my lovely human," he sighed wistfully and touched the window frame. "It'll be fun to play with you soon though. I wonder how you'll react or if you'll realise that I'm the one doing this. It doesn't matter either way, I'm going to be there to watch you."

A sudden chill ran up the length of Shizuo's spine and he shivered. Tom looked at him curiously.

"Is something the matter?" Tom asked as they turned the corner around the park.

Teenagers were sat around on the benches laughing together unconcernedly and Shizuo looked around at them wondering what the strange feeling was.

"Probably nothing," Shizuo grunted, "feels like something troublesome though."

"You're right, it's probably nothing." Tom smiled. "We've got a few more on the list for today but I don't expect much trouble from them at all."

"Yeah, I'll stick with you just in case." He nodded as he extinguished his burnt down cigarette.

That day had been mercifully peaceful after the chef incident. That wannabe chef's words had gotten to him though and he'd been thinking about it a lot. Che, who cares? I can't keep any other kind of job. If I let assholes like him get to me, I'm useless.

But the calmness now unsettled him. Looking up at the sky, turning pink with the lateness of the hour, he noticed not a single cloud.

Strange, I feel a storm coming.

Noticing his friend's thoughtful expression, Tom spoke up. "Thanks Shizuo and hey, don't listen to that guy. You're doing great."

A little surprised by Tom's words, he looked at him. "Hmm, you think so? …That's nice."

And that concludes the first chapter of a slow updating story. I do apologise but, between life and depression, updates will be sluggish. I cannot promise an update schedule since I'll only break it. So far I have three chapters written and the whole plot planned out.