Fear of Falling (Izaya Orihara)

Chapter 20: Sushi

"Hello, girl! You look sad. Come have sushi at Russia Sushi. Will cheer you up."

Somehow I'd ended up wandering an area of Ikebukuro I was less familiar with and was now walking past a sushi shop. The guy talking to me was a foreigner with a large frame that would surely intimidate most people. But his smile seemed kind and I was certain he wasn't doing anything sketchy.

I stopped and thought about it a bit. Maybe some time alone was what I needed. And what harm could some sushi do? It wasn't like Izaya had treated me to dinner, so I was pretty hungry.

"Ok, sure." I said. The man seemed very excited. "Wonderful!" He exclaimed, walking me into the restaurant.

The man behind the counter greeted me. "Hello. Take a seat anywhere you'd like."

"Ok." I said, feeling a little lost. The restaurant was mostly empty with the exception of 3 tables. No one in the shop was familiar. Or so I thought.

"Haru? What are you doing here?"

I turned and noticed Shizuo and Tom sitting at a private table behind a curtain.

"Oh! Shizuo!" I exclaimed.

"Come sit with us." Shizuo held the curtain aside so I could enter the room. Tom was seated at the table. He greeted me with a wave.

"We just finished for the day and decided to get sushi." Tom explained while Shizuo told the person behind the counter that I was joining them.

"What are you doing here?" Shizuo asked, returning to the room.

I didn't know what to say. "Well... uh..."

Before I could answer, Shizuo stood up, put his hands on my shoulders, and turned me to face him squarely. He looked me up and down with a strange frown on his face.

"W-What are you doing?" I asked, slightly nervous.

"You smell like that flea. I thought I smelled him, so I looked outside just to make sure." Shizuo said.

Oh so that's how he knew I was here. Shizuo's sense of smell is super strong.

"And I also smell... fish?" Shizuo added with a more confused tone.

"I mean, you are in a sushi place, sooo..." My lame excuse trailed off into silence.

Shizuo ignored me. "You were with him today, weren't you."

Even without Shizuo specifying, I knew he was talking about Izaya. "U-um yeah." I fidgeted.

"Why?" Shizuo demanded.

Oh no. If Shizuo knew we were kind of on a date today he'd flip! He'd kill me for sure. No, he'd kill Izaya! ...Well I don't mind the second part so much, but I'd like to be alive.

"I had to get my phone back." I said. It wasn't a lie.

"What do you mean? I thought you said you lost it... Wait, did that flea steal your phone?" Shizuo growled.

Oh yeah. I hadn't told him Izaya stole my phone. I thought Shizuo would start a fight if he knew what happened, so it was better for all of us to avoid that. Especially if it meant Shizuo going on an angry rampage to find Izaya. That never ended well. And that would be exactly what Izaya would want.

I nodded. "Izaya stole it, but I got it back without any trouble. It's no big deal, really. I just had to talk with him and he gave it back. Nothing else happened."

Tom raised an eyebrow at this, but kept quiet as he normally did in these kinds of situations. Shizuo didn't seem to pick up on my nervousness. Instead he took a breath, cracked his knuckles, and said "I'll kill that bastard."