Starter

(Future)
It was as if every light nearby, natural and man-made, had been eclipsed into total darkness like a satellite that had crashed into the ground. At least this was how it might have seemed from Graham Specter's point of view as he came to.
He heard a commotion of fast talking Japanese voices around him barely able to make out a word here and there. In the few or so weeks he had been in this small but astounding country he was learning to understood and, to a lesser extent, speak the language at a fairly astounding rate all things considered but he wasn't exactly what you would call fluent in the language yet.
A pained gasp came from the male's mouth who felt as if his chest and lungs had been crushed severely. He could hear the voice of a Japanese male speaking in slightly broken English who although he seemed to be shouting nearby also sounded far away "We're getting you out! Ambulance will take you to hospital!"
So I guess they heard me Graham thought as he moaned in acknowledgment not exactly feeling up to saying any words at the moment.. a true rarity if their ever was one. He certainly knew enough about the Japanese language to hear the sound of them counting to three. 
On 'San' Graham felt a bit of pained relief as the object he had been trapped under was moved up, with the sudden change of light from dark and the fact that it was too painful for him to move his arms to shield his eyes he squinted as he tried to adjust his vision. He felt himself being lifted up and something being put on his mouth, some sort of oxygen mask?
In the near distance thick clouds of black smoke obscured a small but noticeable section of the sky, following the trail with his eyes he was barely able to make out that it came from a semi.. a semi that he had been in and was now a smoldering wreck basically. How the hell did I get thrown so far from that
Soon enough he could only see white solid metal above him and that's when he figured he had been loaded into the back of an ambulance he began to think about the events that had lead up to this one. As he heard the sound of the two large doors close in front of him he closed his eyes and faded into unconsciousness..
*****
(Past/Current)
A circus of many colored lights and the sound of upbeat although slightly creaky fast-paced organ music filled the air, and in some ways Graham's ears, who was trying to figure out why Ladd had told him to wait here at a carnival of all places. Wasn't exactly a quiet and discreet place but perhaps that was the point.. talking to someone in a crowded place was less likely to arise suspicion from authority figures (and Graham was certainly on a 'watch' list when it came to the authorities and he knew it quite well) and the noises of the music, games, and the excited attendees in general were a pretty sure shot at helping to mask the sounds of the conversation he would be having with Ladd.
"Mr. Specter.." Huh? That didn't exactly sound like Ladd.. he turned around to face someone who was most certainly not Ladd Russo. Seeing the disappointment that clouded the blond's face the other male spoke again, "Sorry but, Mr. Russo could not make it this time, he had important.. business to attend to. He sends his regards and well wishes though."
A small sigh came from Graham who was trying not to make the fact that he actually seemed a bit emotionally crushed by this. "Alright what do you have for me? Let's hurry it along I wanted to try my hand at the strongman game. "
The other unidentified male not exactly looking like he particularly cared if he was keeping Graham or not pulled out a photo from his pocket showing it to the blond who stared at it and a small smirk formed on his lips "He looks like my type, is Ladd trying to set me up on a date? Ooh, what a nice coat too!"
"His name is Izaya Orihara. Ladd wants you to take care of him.." the other male explained sounding unmoved and unamused by the blond.
The blond sighed and groaned scratching one of his ears a bit with the monkey wrench "Man, when you say he wants this guy taken care of I know you don't mean to pamper him.. what a 
shame. He really is quite.. haha well in any case, that's quite the biblical name he has 
going on there. Isiah, huh? So he's like some sort of Jewish Japanese guy than? That reminds me of why I live in the district of New York City that I moved to recently.. the bagels, those fucking delicious bagels. Even the bagel shops that could be considered low tier by standards of that area would be considered pretty high tier in other places of the world. I like to try a different kind of every time although I've kind of always had a special place in my heart for the ones with poppy seeds. And when my sweet tooth is calling out naturally I go for the cinnamon rai.."
"Not that kind of 'Isiah'. Izaya. I-z-a-y-a. Your flight parts early tomorrow here is your ticket to Tokyo." the other male said cutting the rambling Graham off as he handed the blond said ticket before handing him a folded bit of paper as well "Mr. Russo has also paid for quite a nice hotel suite for you to reside in while you're over there. That paper explains where the hotel is and what floor it's on. All you have to do is identify yourself at the desk and you should get your key. Good day, Mr. Specter."
Graham nodded pocketing the paper and the ticket as the other male departed. He had himself a little bit of fun at the carnival before deciding it was time to go back home and turn in for the night.
*****
"... and that's my advice for having an extra cool side of the pillow to sleep on. Pretty spanking nice, right?" Graham waited for an answer but no reply, he turned and just as he should have figured: the passenger next to him had fallen asleep. Did I bore him to sleep? ... Nah. Probably just had a hectic morning and needs his beauty sleep. He peered out the window he could only see ocean which meant they weren't quite there yet. He picked up the magazine in front of him and began glancing through it.. soon enough, for the first time in his life, he would be in the Land of the Rising Sun..