[ON HIATUS] The Broker (Izaya X Reader)

11 To Avenge

[I'M SORRY FOR TAKING FOREVER! UHM... Updates will still be pretty slow since I've found myself really busy with other stuff, but as of now... While it's Izaya's birthday...

Season 2 of this book: START!]

Three days have passed since Taichi's death. I was basically bedridden, and absent from work, but Yamada-kun explained the circumstances to our boss--including the fact that my ankle was sprained. My eyelids were heavy upon each approaching morning because I never cared to wash my face whatsoever after my crying fits. So I awoke with swollen, red eyes everyday. But considering what I went through, this was hardly even a problem. I estimated that, with my ankle almost finished healing, I'd be up and running by tomorrow.

Thoughts of Taichi threatened to resurface, but I pushed them back as much as I could. To avenge and to have revenge; this is what I decided to think about. My plan was to simply invest my time into catching whoever the hell was fucking with me. I tore my eyes away from the ring on my finger, brushing through my (-Hair Length, Hair Color-) hair with my fingers and somehow came to the conclusion that I needed a shower.

As the water from the shower head rained down my back, I allowed myself to possess the idea that my worries were being rinsed away like simple litttle soap bubbles. That's bullshit, I thought rationally. Even worse, I'm just barely mobile due to my sprained ankle, so fieldwork wasn't an option this time. Of course, I could move, but that'd jeopardize faster healing. If I wanted answers, I'd have to obtain them from within the confines of my room. Shit sucks, my rational thinking declared once more.

I threw on a clean pair of pyjamas and flopped onto my bed, avoiding landing roughly on my leg, and brought out my trusty laptop. My fingers instinctively tapped into the Dollars website, and sure enough, the news board was riddled with Taichi's death--rightfully blamed on the Taggers. I scrolled through each post lazily, not reading a single word that wouldn't be of use to me. Yamada-kun was mentioned, but I, having fled the scene prematurely, was not.

I begrudgingly learned from the text that Taichi's body was found with the gunshot wound, a cut across his left cheek, and the missing tongue of the previous victim stuffed into his mouth; obviously a morbid tease directed at me. It also meant that there was a moment in which his body was left alone long enough for someone to sneak in and plant it. Yamada-kun should have been there, but I didn't blame him--after all, he probably stepped out of the auditorium after I left. It would be pretty unnerving to have to wait for the police right beside a dead body; especially considering the fact that he even passed out during the night's events.

Due to the location of the crime, people were speculating that someone with ample control over the school was responsible for the murder. Otherwise, how would they have had such easy access to the auditorium? It was just a speculation, but it was worth taking note of.

Suddenly, someone knocked on my door. I mentally complained, wondering why I constantly got visitors despite staying at a hotel. But, after hearing the chattering from the other side of the door, I opened it up without a second thought.

Erika, Walker, and Doppo-kun grinned from behind the doorframe. In moments, I had urged them in and sat on the bed again, accompanied by Erika, as Doppo-kun and Walker sat around the small coffee table. We exchanged greetings somewhere among the exclamations and commotion.

"Do you guys know each other?" I asked, wondering why Doppo-kun was with them.

"AH-AHHH! About that--!" Erika yelped, leaning forward. "(-First Name-)-chan! I didn't know that you knew Izaya-san!"

"E-eh...?"

Erika sympathetically informed me, "He told us you weren't doing so great..."

"Then he told us which hotel you were staying in," Walker continued.