“You really knew him.” Shinra went on but Shizuo was not at all listening. When he interrupted it was to mutter to himself and to quote the dead, “I don’t think I knew him at all. After all there was never much in terms of communication between us.”
Shizuo did not know how he ended up in front of Izaya’s apartment. Perhaps it had something to do with Shinra’s conversation, perhaps it was because he half expected to find Izaya smiling on the other side of the door. Whatever reason it was Shizuo could not precisely recall walking all the way to Shinjuku yet here he was. He hardly hesitated before climbing the emergency stairwell and forcing the backdoor open. Dark silence reigned undisturbed. Shizuo held his breath as he tiptoed about the living room. He did not want to turn on the light but standing in darkness formerly inhabited by Izaya gave him a most uncomfortable feeling. Almost as if there was a cold breath whispering unintelligible words into his ear. Shizuo did turn on the light and looked around. Nothing seemed to have been moved or changed in Izaya’s now obsolete living quarters. Shizuo had been here before but at the time he paid no attention to his surroundings. He was presently scanning them with disquieting interest. Several book shelves spanned the width of a wall. Shizuo picked up a tome and random. Big words jumped at him from thickly packed pages. There were encyclopedias, collections of anthropology books, programming manuals, mythology compendiums, books on astrophysics and other fat books that Shizuo could not even begin to comprehend. He frowned at complicated diagrams and charts. Izaya was highly intelligent but Shizuo had never seen him studying not even when he was still a student. Shizuo tried to imagine Izaya quietly poring over all this wisdom and found it impossible to picture. Further inspection of the room showed that it was bare of any personal items. Shizuo moved to what proved to be the one bedroom. Half of it had been converted into a small chamber where computer monitors took up most of the available space, the rest being occupied by cables, printers, laptops and CPU units in several degrees of deconstruction. Shizuo was hardly surprised to find surveillance camera footage displaying the environs of the building and its accesses from several angles on a cluster of screens. He shivered, though. Izaya had surely passed many an hour here, sorting through his many sources and pulling strings. Shizuo had never truly understood just how it was that Izaya dealt with information but he knew that in his hands anything could be turned against you. Having suffered the brunt of Izaya’s insidious blackmail Shizuo recoiled in disgust at tactics that he suspected were way over his head. Above all that was what angered him the most. Shizuo was reluctant to stay here any longer. He knew that this was Izaya’s inner sanctuary where he had plotted, conspired and in a word been Orihara Izaya. He moved to the bedroom proper. It was for the most part nondescript except for the thick glass on the window that Shizuo suspected was bulletproof. He wondered how many people Izaya had taken to this bed and realized right away that he taken none whatsoever. For all his oddball flamboyance Izaya guarded his privacy to the point that he became a living enigma. And such a creature would not invite anyone into his territory, he operated better infiltrating that of others. Whatever Izaya’s sexual exploits might be they were carried out somewhere else. Shizuo shook his head to banish these considerations from his mind. It was in that spirit of stepping back from certain implications that Shizuo opted to do something as neutral as opening a closet. And suddenly there was a lump on his throat as he saw a whole row of similar jackets, all of them black and lined with white fluffy fur. For the first time in since this whole ordeal had started Shizuo felt undiluted sadness. He removed of the jackets from the rack and turned it over. It was so small and still it was a bit too large for its owner who liked to wear it loosely. Only now did Shizuo notice just how fragile Izaya was as far as physical strength went. It was an overdue realization that somehow bothered him.
Shinra went on but Shizuo was not at all listening. When he interrupted it was to mutter to himself and to quote the dead,
“I don’t think I knew him at all. After all there was never much in terms of communication between us.”
Shizuo did not know how he ended up in front of Izaya’s apartment. Perhaps it had something to do with Shinra’s conversation, perhaps it was because he half expected to find Izaya smiling on the other side of the door. Whatever reason it was Shizuo could not precisely recall walking all the way to Shinjuku yet here he was. He hardly hesitated before climbing the emergency stairwell and forcing the backdoor open.
Dark silence reigned undisturbed. Shizuo held his breath as he tiptoed about the living room. He did not want to turn on the light but standing in darkness formerly inhabited by Izaya gave him a most uncomfortable feeling. Almost as if there was a cold breath whispering unintelligible words into his ear. Shizuo did turn on the light and looked around. Nothing seemed to have been moved or changed in Izaya’s now obsolete living quarters. Shizuo had been here before but at the time he paid no attention to his surroundings. He was presently scanning them with disquieting interest.
Several book shelves spanned the width of a wall. Shizuo picked up a tome and random. Big words jumped at him from thickly packed pages. There were encyclopedias, collections of anthropology books, programming manuals, mythology compendiums, books on astrophysics and other fat books that Shizuo could not even begin to comprehend. He frowned at complicated diagrams and charts. Izaya was highly intelligent but Shizuo had never seen him studying not even when he was still a student. Shizuo tried to imagine Izaya quietly poring over all this wisdom and found it impossible to picture.
Further inspection of the room showed that it was bare of any personal items. Shizuo moved to what proved to be the one bedroom. Half of it had been converted into a small chamber where computer monitors took up most of the available space, the rest being occupied by cables, printers, laptops and CPU units in several degrees of deconstruction. Shizuo was hardly surprised to find surveillance camera footage displaying the environs of the building and its accesses from several angles on a cluster of screens. He shivered, though. Izaya had surely passed many an hour here, sorting through his many sources and pulling strings.
Shizuo had never truly understood just how it was that Izaya dealt with information but he knew that in his hands anything could be turned against you. Having suffered the brunt of Izaya’s insidious blackmail Shizuo recoiled in disgust at tactics that he suspected were way over his head. Above all that was what angered him the most. Shizuo was reluctant to stay here any longer. He knew that this was Izaya’s inner sanctuary where he had plotted, conspired and in a word been Orihara Izaya.
He moved to the bedroom proper. It was for the most part nondescript except for the thick glass on the window that Shizuo suspected was bulletproof. He wondered how many people Izaya had taken to this bed and realized right away that he taken none whatsoever. For all his oddball flamboyance Izaya guarded his privacy to the point that he became a living enigma. And such a creature would not invite anyone into his territory, he operated better infiltrating that of others. Whatever Izaya’s sexual exploits might be they were carried out somewhere else. Shizuo shook his head to banish these considerations from his mind.
It was in that spirit of stepping back from certain implications that Shizuo opted to do something as neutral as opening a closet. And suddenly there was a lump on his throat as he saw a whole row of similar jackets, all of them black and lined with white fluffy fur. For the first time in since this whole ordeal had started Shizuo felt undiluted sadness. He removed of the jackets from the rack and turned it over. It was so small and still it was a bit too large for its owner who liked to wear it loosely. Only now did Shizuo notice just how fragile Izaya was as far as physical strength went. It was an overdue realization that somehow bothered him.
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