#the saga of izaya and his cats continues

[orihara-infobroker]

35 for the prompts~

“I know it’s 3 in the morning but I can’t find my cat.”

Izaya knew something was wrong the moment he stepped in the door. His coat closet was wide open, several jackets on the floor. There were footprints on his tile floor. He continued into the apartment, knife sliding into his hand casually. The living room was untouched but his desk had been rummaged through. Nothing appeared to be missing, however, and the shelves of files were completely untouched. He tilted his head to the side, brows coming together into a frown. The first thing he would think someone would break in for would be his information.

He turned away from the desk and continued toward the stairs, hearing the telltale scratching of a cat trapped behind a door. He followed the sound to the bathroom, opening the door to have Tsuki burst out as soon as there was space enough for him to flee entrapment. Assumably the infiltrator had locked him in there but then, where was Haru? He backtracked, checking the spare room and his bedroom but there was no sign of either the iriamote or the infiltrator. The bedroom had been tossed but, once again, nothing appeared to be missing.

He went to the kitchen and did the one sure thing that would summon his cats; he opened a can of cat food. Tsuki came but still no sign of Haru. Could the iriomote have gotten out when they broke in? No, that felt unlikely since neither of the cats was inclined to run for the door and it stood to reason that they expected cats since they locked Tsuki up. He moved to his computer, pulling up the camera feed as he pulled out his phone. He chewed on his bottom lip as he waited for the line to connect.

“Izaya…” Shiki’s voice answered.

“I know it’s three in the morning but I can’t find my cat.” Izaya blurted out. There was an awkwardly long silence. “My apartment was broken into. Haru’s missing.” He added into the silence.

“Could he have gotten out?” Was Shiki’s tired response.

“He didn’t get out. I’m looking at the camera feed now. They took him.”

“Who is they?”

“I’m not sure. It looks like they knew where the cameras were so there are no face shots. Two people, male I think. Dark clothes, hoods and all that. You had a list, right?”

“What?”

“Of buyers interested in him.”

“Yes, but that was months ago,” Shiki replied and Izaya could hear the flick of a lighter. A pause as the executive took that first breath of smoke. “These were potential clients, I doubt they would stoop to catnapping. I doubt they would even know you had him, anyway. It wasn’t like I was going to tell them that my partner decided to keep the damn cat.”

“Well, maybe they hired someone to steal him,” Izaya replied. “If they’re willing to pay you to acquire him, I doubt they would shy from hiring someone else.”

“So you’re going to what, question a bunch of old, rich guys at three AM? How did the catnappers get away?”

“A van. I only got a partial on the plate though. Running it now.”

“Better lead than the clients.” Shiki pointed out. “When did they break in?”

“Around midnight but it looks like the van was parked there for a while. They must have been waiting for me to leave. I think I have a hit. The partial and the model of the van matches one Omori Shotaro. He has an apartment in West Ikebukuro.”

“Address?”

“3 Chome-16-13 Ikebukuro.”

“All right, I’ll meet you there.” The executive hung up before Izaya could say anything else.

Izaya was out the door shortly after, heading for the apartment building. Shiki had beat him there and was leaning against his car, smoking and looking like he’d come from work, not home. Izaya eyed him with amusement as he approached.

“All dressed up just for me?”

Shiki arched a brow. “Quality part of town. Bet these guys are nothing but small time delinquents. Is that the van?”

“Looks like it. Shall we pay them a visit? Rescue poor baby Haru?”

“Baby? Your cat is larger than some small dogs. He is definitely not a baby.” Shiki followed as Izaya headed up the steps to the second level apartments, stopping in front of the door and knocking.

“That was quick.” He heard a male voice approach the door. A young man opened the door and, upon seeing Izaya’s grinning face, immediately tried to close it but Shiki stepped forward and planted his foot against the door, shoving it open. The man stumbled back in surprise. “Shit.Ohshit. How the hell did you find us?” He babbled in surprise.

“Well, frankly, you’re not bright. Your methods are subpar. Honestly, you couldn’t even hide your license plate from the cameras?” Izaya responded derisively, sneering at the man as he stepped into the apartment.

“Hey, Shotaro, what’s going on?” Another voice called from inside. Shotaro stumbled backward as Izaya moved forward, into the living room. Izaya’s gaze shifted from Shotaro to his partner in crime who, to his delight, had quite a set of scratches on his face and arms. He appeared to be in the middle of disinfecting them.

“Look, Shiki, Haru did a number on his captor.”

Shiki snorted at the sight. “Hellcat, just like his owner.”

“Where is my precious kitten?” He asked, scanning the small room until his eyes settled on a cat carrier sitting on a chair from which a low growling could be heard. He began to walk toward the cat grinning.

“Fuck that shit!” Shotaro spoke up. “That cat’s our cash cow! The client’s already on the way to pick him up!” He tried to grab Izaya but the raven merely sidestepped him while Shiki stepped closer, grabbing Shotaro by the back of his neck, pulling the young man’s head down while he brought his knee up. There was a satisfying crunch followed by a wail of pain as Shotaro slumped to the floor, lifting his hands to his very broken nose.

“Couple of punks with no understanding of just whose cat they stole,” Shiki commented, taking a drag of his cigarette as he turned his gaze to the other young man whose eyes were as round as saucers. “Messing with family, no less.”

“F-family?” Shotaro stuttered, staring at Shiki with confusion. “It’s a fucking cat, dude.” Shiki’s gaze shifted back and he leaned down, grabbing Shotaro’s hair and dragging his head back.

“You saying cats can’t be family, kid?”

“N-no, sir!” Shotaro stuttered, cringing.

Izaya was opening the cat carrier at this point, coaxing the very angry iriomote out. The cat peered out at Izaya, spotted Shiki and bolted straight to him, making a rather impressive leap onto the executive’s shoulders. Shiki grimaced as Haru dug claws in, thankful for his suit jacket. He let go of Shotaro, shoving the young man away as the cat growled.

“Look, Shiki, Haru missed you,” Izaya observed as he walked over to give the iriomote an affectionate chin-scritch.

“Yes. Great. Are we done here?” Shiki replied with a sigh.

“I’m good. Unless you want to break the other guy’s nose too?” Izaya asked hopefully, earning a flat look from Shiki. “No? Well, I suppose those scratches are punishment enough.” He ceded, heading for the door. Shiki dropped his cigarette, grinding it out on the floor, giving the young men one last cold glare before following Izaya. As they walked toward Shiki’s car, Izaya glanced at the executive with a grin. “Family, Haruya?” He teased.

“Are you going to deny it?” Shiki asked with an arched brow. “You spoil them rotten and treat them better than your own sisters.”

“Oh no, I was just thinking that maybe you think of them as family.” He replied with a smirk, his eyes drifting to Haru who was quite content to lounge on Shiki’s shoulders as they walked. “In fact, I wonder if I should be jealous of how much my cats seem to like you.”

Shiki snorted in amusement. “Jealous of a cat, Izaya? Don’t worry, you’ll always be my favourite stray.”

“How sweet,” Izaya replied as he carefully lifted the iriomote off Shiki’s shoulders and slid into the passenger seat. “Don’t worry Haru. He loves you too. He came all the way out here to rescue you after all.”

Shiki rolled his eyes at the raven as he closed the car door. “Three in the morning for a damn cat.” He muttered as he walked over to the driver side.