Parents (Shizaya fanfiction)

Chapter 1

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It had started off a seemingly normal, peaceful late evening in Ikebukuro. The sun was just starting to set, leaving the sky a mix of soft reds and fading yellows. Small distant twinkles of stars barely visible to the naked eye. It was calm, peaceful-

-it was.

"IIIZZAAAYYYAAAAA!" A furious shout boomed down into the silence when it's owner caught sight of the so called flea. Two all too familiar beings ran through the parched streets, barely slinking around vehicles and innocent bystanders, as they clashed about for what seemed like the millionth time. The information broker, dashing- rather gracefully- from the one he called a monster threw back the occasional taunt to aggravate the other. Surprisingly little damage was being done to the surrounding area considering who these two were. Only a couple street signs uprooted and flung at the pursued, flying over his head or to the side not too hard to dodge for someone of his dexterity for the task. Because the chaser had such extreme strength, his aim was never exceedingly good with projectiles, especially when aimed at such fast moving targets.

The raven wasn't planning to get into a chase on this particular day. He shot around a near corner, an alley quite well hidden from the main road from which he came. Hoping the protozoan had missed him. He relaxed his shoulders only slightly before realizing he was wrong. Then that familiar face came into view, glaring daggers at him.
"Running away? That's just like you, flea," the blond jeered.
Izaya's usual smirk dropped into a scowl as the taller man slowly neared him. Moving to slip away, he almost did before a fist slammed beside his head, caging him in and successfully startling him; as much as he hated to admit.

Shit, he thought looking for a way to get out. No escape found. The brute was getting closer, probably planning on strangling him to death, or injuring him then leaving him to die in this filthy place. He pulled out his flick blade and held it in front of him, Maybe I could stab the brute and run, he thought, a sound catching his attention.

"Achoo!" A quiet noise came from around a narrow turn. Izaya's face defocused on the man before him, confused as to what his ears must've misinterpreted.

"What was that?", he unintentionally questioned, looking in the direction of the sound.

"What was what?" Shizuo asked, eyes narrowing and reluctantly following the other's.

A very small cough erupted from the space, and this time they both heard it. Izaya noticed the arm beside him loosen slightly, and took the opportunity to duck under it. Curiosity took hold and he found himself pocketing his knife and going to the noise instead of turning and ditching that godforsaken place.

"Hey!" The blond called, sounding a bit peeved. He wondered himself about it too. The informant reached her first, and was left practically bewildered. Before him on the rotten ground lay a very small child. She looked to be only around a year old, but was sickly thin. Her ribs were almost showing. She was curled, her knees near her chest as she lay on her side, shaking from the cold only wearing a hideous orange rag-of-a-shirt and a diaper. Only a small amount, but barely noticeable blood was also on the cement next to her.

What on earth happened here? The raven's mouth left agape, taking in the scene. He didn't know precisely why, but picking her up was the only logical thing his brain could do to react to this situation. He learned downward and gently lifted her, supporting her back. She was much too light. As he cradled this strange girl in his arms, anger and a strange sense of concern washed over him.

Why was she here? Alone. Who could have done this? Why? He asked himself, not quite noticing that Shizuo was now behind him, all anger gone from his gaze and in a state of even more confusion.

"Huh?" he asked, "what's going on?"

"I just found this baby here..." Izaya replied, looking down at the small infant in his arms then back up at the other man. As to why his enemy had decided to hold the child was far beyond him, but Shizuo found himself asking a very dumb question.

"Does she have a name?" He inquired.

"How should I know? Children don't come with name tags, Shizu-chan," the raven stated plainly.

"You know that's not what I meant!" He raised his voice slightly. The small girl shivered, capturing their attention. She was freezing, pale, and clearly malnourished. Izaya instinctively held her closer so she could soak in the heat he had to spare. She cuddled up to his chest and he felt her relax a bit more. She appeared too weak to even keep her own eyes open.

The door they had forgotten to notice swung open, revealing a poorly shaped man who was clearly very much intoxicated, and a smaller woman with a a half-empty bottle of some cheap brand rum loosely fitted in her hand. They had apparently heard the two men bickering outside. Heat and the burn of many foul stenches came from inside. A few other drunk people littered the room behind them, sprawled out on various items of poor-quality furniture. The man shouted at the pair in front of him, a somewhat-audible slur of words.

"Wha'er you doin' with ma' kid? Put 'er back down!" He pointed to the ground and crossed his arms, swaying a bit.

"That's not how you should treat your own child," Izaya snapped back, he was suddenly furious with this child's parents, who were most definitely the two at the door.

"Do ya wan' me to take 'er by force, bean sprout?" he gave a glare then suddenly laughed. "Actually, keep 'er if ya want, I don't care if ya kill 'er! Just a waste of time..." The drunken man spewed things aimlessly that nobody should ever say, it was sickening.

The woman chipped in, "Miya's just so useless, honestly, but I bet she'd grow up t' be worse if she got raised by people like you," she said smirking, leaning slouched on her ugly husband.

"Fine then, I bet she'd grow up a thousand times better with us than either of you ever!" He huffed, holding "Miya" tighter, grabbing Shizuo's wrist on the way, and walking back onto the now empty street.

Letting go and learning his back against the brick wall beside him, he clutched the infant tightly. He rarely acted on impulse like that, but just couldn't stand those filthy things. He for sure wasn't a fighter of justice, nor defender of the innocent, but seeing the way they treated this child was just so, so wrong.

Shizuo could do nothing but stare in awe. He never in a blue moon expected something like that from Izaya.

This is the same Izaya, isn't it? Then what on earth was that? He pondered, looking at the raven. His eyes fell to the girl. Miya was apparently her name.

"So, um. What now?" Shizuo finally asked.

"Um..." Izaya looked down at the sleeping child. She was in very poor condition. "I guess we'll have to take care of her for now... She doesn't look so good..."

"...." We?

"Hey, your place is pretty close, could we bring her back there?" Izaya questioned, seeing no other options.

"I... I guess?" he said, stating to lead in the direction of his apartment.The answer would be a definite no if this were any other situation, but he couldn't leave Miya. That'd be cruel.

And it seemed Izaya was somehow affected by this girl... It was almost funny how she cuddled up to his chest.

Shizuo was so very thankful there was no one out to see them as they walked. That wouldn't have gone over well.

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