Blinded

Chapter 23: Bouquet

"Heiwajima-san,"

Shizuo opened his eyes groggily, feeling rather disturbed and moody because someone had just woken him up from his tireless slumber. He had had enough time trying to adjust himself on the hospital's waiting seat, uncomfortable; he had grunted, but there's really nothing he could do considering Izaya was still under observations.

"...yeah..?"
Was the only small reply he made as he covered his own mouth and yawned. What time is it? he wondered and glanced at the nearby clock; 2: 23 a.m.

"The doctor wants to see you,"

What kind of a doctor would want to see his patient at this kind of time? Well, he's not exactly a patient, but well...

"Is something wrong?"

Nevertheless he reluctantly got up and straightened himself on the seat.

"He's just gonna talk to you about the progressions of Orihara-san,"

"Oh, alright. I'll be there in a sec,"

Deliberately he got up and walked towards the nearby restroom. The nurse finally let out a sigh of relief, glad that he didn't stir the blond up into anger despite her waking him up in the middle of the night. She knew about the rumors of the man spreading around like wildfire, yet never had she thought of meeting him here, in her workplace; a hospital moreover.

She then walked back to the room where her superior was in.

"So," 

The doctor began when Shizuo had just stepped inside the room, his vision and facial expressions now better after washing his face. Even so he felt uneasy with the faces staring at him as if he'd just done something wrong.

"Have a seat, Heiwajima-san,"

Shizuo took a seat next to a man, redhead and dressed in dark colored clothes. He knew he recognized the man from somewhere, but wasn't quite sure. The doctor in front of him sat snugly in his seat, hand holding a piece of paper. He frowned, what is this all about? There couldn't be anything happening again, right?

And why is this man here at this kind of time? He glanced to his side, seeing the man smile at him as a greet, which he in turn replied with a deeper frown. His eyebrows furrowing despite his current awakened state.

"So, where were we?" The doctor stopped before continuing, "Right, Orihara-san's condition. His brainwaves were doing fine so far, but his heartbeat was too slow. Though don't worry, I believed he would wake up anytime soon,"

"Then...what's next?"

Shizuo asked, his confusion worsened when the doctor didn't even bother to explain why the man next to him was here. Is he one of Izaya's evil deeds' clients? That flea...there's always gonna be people tailing him behind;

"Well, he's doing fine so far, but this man next to you, Akabayashi-san had something to talk to you about. It seemed he knew something about Orihara-san's past memories,"

Aka...Akabaya-

Akabayashi? The blond turned to deliver a look of confusion to the man; his name sounded too familiar but where? Just where?!

"Greetings, young man,"

Akabayashi replied his glare with a smile before continuing,

"There's something you need to know about the informant, but we're not gonna discuss it here. Let's do it outside, you seemed like you're craving for a smoke,"

Oh yes, his fingers now itching to reach for the cigarettes in his pocket so he agreed and followed him outside, leaving the doctor alone.

As soon as they reached outside, Shizuo immediately lit up a cigarette, inhaling it deeply before finally looking at the elder male in front of him. Akabayashi didn't smoke though, just observing the blond.

Only after a few minutes did they decide to proceed.

"So...uhm, Aka..."

"Akabayashi,"

"Right, Akabayashi-san. What is it about?" Shizuo cursed himself for always having troubles in memorizing one's name. Clearly memorizing things isn't his strength; he preferred things physically, unlike the selfish flea whose always doing his mind games to manipulate humans.

"You see, Orihara-kun happened to be an acquaintance of my superior, so I'm visiting him on his behalf,"

"You're not gonna tell me that you're doing something bad to the flea, right?"

The man laughed at his quick response, slightly amused but still rather intimidated by the glare of the fortissimo of Ikebukuro standing right in front of him;

"No, young man. No worries. I just want to ask you a few questions,"

"...go on,"

"When did this start?"

"The flea?"

"Orihara-kun, yes,"

"Oh..." Shizuo tried to recall the days he took him here; it's been more than two weeks, perhaps.

"Two weeks?"

"Yeah," He nodded in reply, "Why do you ask?"

No wonder Shiki didn't question his leave at all...the period given was three weeks.

"Did you know what happened?"

"Well," He scratched the back of his head, "Not really. He had amnesia, as the doctor told you, I assumed,"

"I see..." The redheaded smiled before thanking him. They shook hands together before Akabayashi asked for his leave.

"Akabayashi-san,"

He turned around to look at him again,

"Was Akane related to you?" 

Shizuo asked, his memories of the little girl resurfacing in his train of thoughts. He had remembered how their encounter begun; she had tried to murder the blond once, but after knowing Izaya was the one poisoning her mind, she decided to stay with the ex-bartender.

Akabayashi smiled,

"Why do you ask?"

"Just remembered something," He mumbled.

"Well, you could say I'm her uncle,"

Okay this chapter is crappy //sobs// sorry! I wanna write something but had no motivations :'D

Anyway, despite their encounter, could someone refresh my memories about Akane's encounter with Shizuo? Did he actually know that the girl was the daughter of a famous yakuza leader? I didn't think he knew about this...considering Shizuo was the "I don't care who you are" type.
And yeah, sorry to those who hadn't watched the 2nd season...this is some sort of spoilers ;w;

Also, I want to write a new fanfic soon, perhaps Raijin Shizaya? //cheers// RAIJIN SHIZAYA IS HELLA HOT IF YOU'D ASK ME AAAAAA
I kinda enjoyed seeing the four of them (Shinra, Kadota, Izaya and Shizuo) together as a group tho, it's realllyyyyyyyy cute xD 

Whatever it is, thanks for reading!