who do you think you are?

Let's be honest, nobody actually knows what info Izaya would be after. Pretty sure he just gets lucky most of the time.

Kumiko's eyes focused on the envelope as she peeled it open and pulled out the contents. It seemed that he was mostly interested in general, run-of-the-mill information about her father and the gang he ran. She was sure there were requests to know who all her father dealt with somewhere in its contents as well, but she didn't want to delve too far in the list just yet.

Instead, she tried to think over who this Shizu-chan person he spoke of was. A girlfriend, maybe? No, likely an ex if he wished poor things on the person. Shaking the thought aside, she lifted her gaze back to him.

"If my home has security that low, I suppose it would be best to move somewhere safer," she admitted after a moment. Especially since she was giving information to Izaya. If he had enemies, then they'd likely search for anybody he got information from.

Or he'd give information about her to the highest bidder.

"Where exactly do you suggest that I move to, then?"

very very true

"I have several apartments in Ikebukuro," Izaya told her, "not including the room among my offices here. One of my places in Shinjuku is unoccupied, but if you'd prefer, there are several more bases outside those prefectures." He shrugged a shoulder. "I have no preference regarding any of them, but they're useful to have around, if you'd like, all you'd have to do is keep it clean."

He watched her as he spoke, trying to gauge her comfort level around him. Of course her expected her to be uneasy, but different people dealt with it in different ways. She seemed to be more amenable currently, more open to his suggestions.

Kumiko silently thought about her options, unsure of which would be better. She wasn't sure whether Ikebukuro or Shinjuku were safe or which area would be safer. If she was going to accept this off, she might as well make sure that she got the best option that she could manage, right?

"Which of them is safest?" she asked after a few moments of mental debate. Her knowledge of other district was defined entirely by anything her father told her but he had never told her much about dangers. She assumed it was to keep her safe or to keep her focused. "Whichever option is safest, that's the one I'll go with."

Izaya considered her question for a moment.

"Ikebukuro has three main gangs," he started, "blue squares, yellow scarves, and the biggest one, dollars. The first two get into small scraps often, Dollars it's not a particularly good idea to mess with," he grinned, "naturally, smaller gangs pop up from time to time, but they get overwhelmed and beaten down fairly quick."

Izaya thought for another moment.

"Of course there's also Shizu-chan to still consider."

Kumiko had no idea who this Shizu-chan was still, but, with the thought of three gangs being in Ikebukuro, she knew the better option. "I'll stay in one in Shinjuku, in that case," she decided firmly, figuring that it was the safer option.

If the gangs had conflict, it'd be best to avoid Ikebukuro as much as possible in order to avoid becoming a casualty. Or, more so, to avoid having to worry about the gangs becoming a problem for her.

"Do you mind showing me where it is in Shinjuku I can stay?" Because, the sooner she knew that, the sooner she could move in and settle again.

Izaya gave a sly smile.

"You misunderstand me," he told the girl. "Ikebukuro is probably the safest place for you. With all the gang activity it's simple to hide in plain sight. People do tend to talk a lot when they think they've a gang behind them as well, after all. Ah, but you've not heard of Dollars? It's perhaps one of the most influential gangs to belong to, as long as you receive an invitation." Izaya tapped at his phone for a moment, "for when you next access your e-mail," he explained as he did so. "You'll meet some interesting people, but if you'd still rather Shinjuku, that's fine too."

Kumiko wasn't sure that the idea had much merit. But, she supposed that she could take into account that she didn't have many options. She sighed quietly and rubbed at her forehead as she thought because this was honestly much more than she expected to endure in the conversation.

It might be risky, but she forced herself to ask, "Which place is farthest from where you usually stay?" Because, that would be safer, wouldn't it? She'd be able to avoid coming across him constantly.

And, the further she was from him, the less likely it was that she'd have to deal with his enemies.

"Trying to stay away from me, in one of my own homes," Izaya lamented mournfully, clutching his chest. "But hm, probably the other side of Ikebukuro, I tend to stay as close to the prefecture border as I can, Shizu-chan is less than impressed when I'm in Ikebukuro," he grinned, "and sometimes a quick get away is preferable to a long chase."

Drawing a piece of note paper from his desk he scrawled down the address along with the passcode for the door.

"I dislike keys," he told her as he handed the paper over, "the code will change every two weeks or so, I'll set up an automated texting system, if you'd prefer. But do what you will," he shrugged, "move the furniture, paint the walls, I don't care as long as I can get that information."

"One of your own homes that you likely don't visit too often," Kumiko pointed out casually, as she was sure that the man likely preferred to stay in his usual home unless he had a reason to hide. But, he was mentioning that Shizu-chan again and she was still more than a little confused.

Even as she looked over the slip of paper, she couldn't help but to ask, "Who exactly is this Shizu-chan? An ex-girlfriend? I don't imagine you'd be the type to be a scorned ex-lover, but you say such cruel things about them that I'm beginning to wonder if there's something I'm misunderstanding."

Then again, it wouldn't surprise her if she really was misunderstanding. Izaya was definitely difficult to read and understand, after all.

An ex-girlfriend.

Izaya blinked, astounded for a moment, before breaking into peals of genuine laughter.

"Ah, no," he told Kumiko as he got himself back under control, "you've never heard of the brute? Honestly, it's rather refreshing."

Izaya shook his computer mouse to awaken the screen, and started typing.

"Shizu-chan is a monster, although some do refer to him as a man, he makes quite the mark on Ikebukuro, it often ends up on the net, and- ah, here we go, one of my favourites."

He opened up a short youtube video someone had uploaded from their mobile, one of Shizuo's rampages with Izaya only just in the background. He spun the screen to face Kumiko, and shifted himself so he could watch too.

Hearing the man burst into genuine laughter caused Kumiko to freeze for a moment. She watched him silently, wondering what he found so amusing but listened when he began to explain.

Well... that didn't entirely rule out the ex theory. Or the two could just be rivals.

When he showed her the video, she watched intently, though she caught sight of Izaya's familiar parka and she furrowed her brows. "Did you cause him to go on that rampage?" she asked before she risked a glance at him.

She wouldn't put it past him, she realized.

"Are you sure he's the monster, Izaya?"

Izaya's eyes narrowed abruptly, and he reached out to turn the screen away, turning it off a little too forcefully.

"Of course he's the monster," he all but spat, "who else could pull a street lamp from the ground? Who else could get hit by a truck and act as if it were nothing?"

He shoved his chair back as he stood, walking away from his desk and the girl, turning his back to them as he frowned out the window.

"You should probably get started on that move now, hn?"

Another genuine reaction? Kumiko was mildly surprised but she stared at him for a moment before she moved to stand up. "He may be a monster due to his strength and endurance, but there are some people who are monsters because of their personalities," she told him, a little too casually.

She didn't plan on sticking around, though. When he mentioned the move, she was pretty quick to turn to head out of the office. She did pause at the door to say, "Maybe you should keep that in mind, Izaya."

And she didn't stick around after that; instead, she left as quickly as she could manage to, exiting the office and the building, then searched for a cab.

Izaya sneered at Kumiko's parting comment, but refused to turn and watch her leave. He watched, instead, when she walked out onto the street in search for a taxi.

What did she know, anyway? Shizuo attacked him on sight, and it was no secret that he wanted to kill Izaya. Of course, the feeling was mutual, but that hardly justified him being called a monster.

He turned back to his desk, sinking down into his chair once more and bringing his hands up to scrub at his face.

Shizuo was doing it again, he thought, gaining allies within people who'd never even met him. It was sickening, the monster's power truly knew no bounds.

[I am going off the last bit of this because I cannot recall the reason if there ever was any in the anime ._.]

[I'm pretty sure that's the gist of it. Shizuo seriously took one look at Izaya, decided immediately that he didn't like him, and attacked.]

Kumiko had gone ahead to move into the apartment the first chance she got. It was a little more difficult to settle into than it had been at her first home but that could just be because it was Izaya's home - regardless of whether he spent any amount of time there or not.

She hadn't bothered to change anything, because, despite that Izaya had given her the permission to, it wasn't her home. Whether Izaya was letting her stay there or not, it wasn't hers and she couldn't bring herself to personalize an apartment that she probably wouldn't live in for too long.

Despite all of that, she had gone ahead to write down the answers to the questions that Izaya was requesting. She'd provided what information that she could and she had waited for him to come retrieve it.

It'd been a few days since then, though, and she was tired of waiting. That was why she went back to his office and found herself knocking at his door.

Namie was working today, and buzzed open the door when Izaya waved a hand at her.

He was sitting on one of his sofa's this time, studying his chessboard and debating which pieces should be encouraged to move and to where.

"You have my information?" he asked, barely glancing in Kumiko's direction before turning back to his game.

Kumiko only sighed as she set the file down and eyed the game he was playing. She recognized some of the pieces but she knew that they didn't belong together.

"I've been waiting for you to come get it but I guess it wasn't as important as you pretended it was," she said casually. Of course, he hadn't said it was important, but he had seemed curious enough about it.

And she was curious about this weird game. "What are you doing?"

(Oops, double post, sorry)

"It is important," Izaya said idly, eyeing the board. "I'd have no use for you otherwise. But I do have other things to attend to at times, my presence is often in demand." he reached out and pulled the envelope over, holding it open to glance through the contents. "Besides, I was wondering if you're return on your own."

He set the envelope down, satisfied for the moment, he'd read through it properly later.

"It's checkers," he moved a piece one square. "With a few extra pieces." Izaya finally looked up at Kumiko, "was there anything you needed?"

"It looks like a game that a psychopath would come up with," Kumiko told him, though she paused and stared at him for a moment. "Actually, that explains a lot."

She wasn't sure how to answer his question. Of course, she didn't need anything, but it almost seemed like he wanted her to leave. Which, she supposed was expected, considering their last conversation.

"No, not really. I guess I should just take my leave while I can."