Winds of change

Backtrack

Izaya Orihara stumbled against the wall of a dingy alleyway in Tokyo, Ikebukuro.

He had underestimated them.

Six, he'd managed to count, had chased him, but it only took one of them to bring him down. It was a mystery to Izaya whether it was intentional to let him live; perhaps they thought he would bleed to death.

It was rare for Izaya to receive such a severe injury, and for the first time in his life, Izaya didn't know what to do. Who could he turn to? He had made a lot of enemies, and most people wanted him dead.

For a powerful information broker such as himself, connections were only good for the job, not when your life was in danger, and Izaya struggled to understand his decision to avoid true friendship.

The knife he'd been stabbed with was his own trusty switchblade he always carried. They had been careful not to touch the weapon, so their fingerprints wouldn't be found even if the police were involved.

Izaya kept hidden in the alleyway for fear of anyone noticing him, body shaking as he leaned against the wall, trying to think of someone who would help him. Izaya loved humans, but the feeling wasn't mutual, and up until now, he didn't mind.

No one would ever understand him, except... Shinra!

Suppressing a groan of pain, Izaya shifted to grab his phone from his jacket, looking to check his injury, noting the blade was still buried in his abdomen before gently tugging at the handle. A wave of agony flooded through him, and he thought he might blackout. "...Dammit..."

Izaya shook his head, flipped open his phone, and scrolled down the list of names.

The phone rang a few times before someone finally picked up, and with a grit of his teeth and a choke of pain, Izaya managed to utter his friend's name. "Shinra..."

Two days ago.

Izaya skipped down the sidewalk, taking a swing around one of the columns of his apartment building. Today was a good day. The sushi he loved so much had a half-price sale, and it wasn't often he got to have it because the sushi bar was in Ikebukuro, and he nearly always ran into Shizuo there. The brute, one of the many names Izaya used to describe him, had forbidden him from the city, chasing him down the moment he saw him, and whenever Shizuo chased him, he would lose the food, so, for once, he was happy to get it.

A man stood on the corner of Izaya's apartment building, wearing a trench coat and baggy underclothes, with a beard and a cigar between his left fingers, and Izaya couldn't help but think about how cliché the scene looked. When the man spotted Izaya, clearly nervous, wearing a crooked smile, he soon came to attention. Izaya grinned. "Ah, Boku," he greeted when he stopped in front of him. "I was just thinking about the information you wanted me to acquire." He wasn't thinking about anything except for the sushi in his hands. Izaya turned into the doorway and calmly typed in the code to the building. When the door buzzed, Izaya pushed it open and stepped to one side, holding the door open for his client. "It's ready upstairs waiting, shall we?" Boku nodded and followed the informant up to the large apartment.

Izaya opened the door, placed his sushi bag on the side table, and hung his jacket on the hook. "You know, I probably could have charged you more for the information you requested," the raven said. "But since you've become quite the regular client, I thought I'd cut you a deal."

Boku smiled brightly. "Thanks, you're the best."

"I know," Izaya grinned.

"What the hell took you so long!" Izaya cringed when the loud voice of his secretary greeted him but noticed she wasn't alone and became surprised. Boku looked around in worry and felt even more nervous now that he and Izaya weren't alone.