Temporarily Untitled
By: Mints12
Just my contribution to the Izamika fandom.
Note: This is set post-Ketsu, roughly a year and a half after the finale. This has some spoilers for those who haven't watched the finale and might not have the gist of some Durarara! SH details.
For those who still want to read despite the spoiling (and if you are not sure what has happened since), here is a short run down: Mikado was hospitalized after getting stabbed by Nasujima and had to repeat second year. He is currently in the same year as Aoba (third year) and is the library club president. Anri graduated a year before Mikado and is currently dating him. Izaya survived and is currently living in the Kanto area. Due to his severe leg injuries and psychological trauma, it has become difficult to do a variety of leg movements, including walking correctly. He has been refusing physiotherapy.
Well then, onto chapter 1. Please enjoy.
That day, like any other, was filled with a dull ache. Izaya Orihara maneuvered on his wheelchair while having his legs crossed, a silly combination of unwavering pride and a harsh defeat. Fetching himself some coffee for a quiet Friday afternoon, a phone which rarely rang called out from his study.
"Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Orihara-san." A refreshing voice answered from the other side.
"Mikado-kun, it's been a long while." Deciding to leave all his bewilderment for after the phone call, Izaya gave no indication of being surprised.
"Indeed, it's been over a year since we last spoke."
"Of boats, shores and crazy ambitions, if I remember correctly." Izaya couldn't help it. Mikado was so much fun to poke at, like a Russian roulette where you had no idea what you'd get out of the risk.
"Of people with God complexes, too, Izaya." So it was a bullet.
"There you go again with your change of address."
"And you're as keen on noticing them as ever. I apologize for cutting the formalities short, I was wondering if you were currently available." Taking a sarcastic look around his empty house, Izaya smirked.
"Yes, I'm rather free today. Feel free to stop by."
"Wonderful, would you mind texting me your address then?" At that, Izaya decided to stop with the polite deceptions.
"Why, Mikado-kun, I'm sure you know that the background noises coming from your side of the phone give away the fact that you're already on a train here, that you already know where I am and that I can see you today." Surely, this would shake the kid up a bit.
"I apologize, Orihara-san. Though I wouldn't have taken such presumptuous actions have I not been aware of your idle predisposition." Mikado was on fire with his smart talk today, Izaya noted. Something must have been irritating him. Deciding to back out of this polite banter before Mikado got any worse, Izaya opted for a non-threatening response.
"I don't know whether I should feel honored that you have looked into my schedule or embarrassed at my lonesome lifestyle."
"Whatever your reaction to my vulgarity might be, I hope we can meet in an hour or so, if that's alright with you." Way to dismiss Izaya's attempt at acting coy. What was with Mikado's ability to swat away Izaya's pretenses? It was not at all pleasant.
"I'll have coffee ready."
"We both know only one of us drinks coffee, Orihara-san. Well then, I'll see you."
Izaya had little idea of what he was to make of this sudden rekindling of a weird relationship. Mikado was never a friend although he was the farthest from an enemy. Perhaps Mikado could be considered a protégé, what with his penchant for information technology and ambitious, if not a little cruel, visions. An ideal human? Humanity itself, the object of his infatuation? But that was all in the past. The current Mikado Ryugamine was both an absolutely boring existence and a curious contradiction. But outside of these vague concepts, what was Izaya to call his relationship with this third year high school boy?
Still, he couldn't just sit around and wait. First of all, maybe he needed to make tea because he couldn't be as petty as to not offer his guest a drink simply because of a couple sassy exchanges. Perhaps he needed to bring out the in-character rotating chair which he had no use for anymore and made no sense given the architecture of a traditional Japanese house. Dig up his signature parka from the closet and throw it on one of the outside coat hangers, too.
And then, when Izaya can just spot a young man's silhouette approaching his house, he will stand on his two feet, fold the wheel chair into his closet and wait for the doorbell to ring.
Mikado had no idea what he was doing. It was a normal day, with his normal club activities and normal classes and normal, tedious everything. So when a text arrived from Anri asking whether Mikado could make some time for a normal date, Mikado texted a quick excuse about meeting someone out of town and raked his brain trying to make that excuse into reality.
He certainly couldn't go meet up with Kida and Saki, they were overly involved in his relationship with Anri and would've sniffed Mikado's intentions a mile away. He couldn't visit his parents all of a sudden either. At this point, they were very sensitive to red flags in their son's behavior. Saving information for a rainy day proved to be useful as Mikado found himself on the earliest train out of town to see his (friend? acquaintance? manipulator?), Izaya Orihara.
But what could he really do there? It's not like he had a reason to speak to this man. He was no longer the leader of the Dollars, he held no position in the Blue Squares and he had little need for any information that Izaya Orihara might've had. Besides, with Orihara-san's current state, did he even have anything to offer?
But no matter. At least for now, he will stop by a supermarket for some polite presents and walk up to that house in a youthful fashion. He will curl his fingers around his bag in that hesitant manner and look up from under his eyelashes like the day they first met. And then, just before ringing that doorbell, he will put away his glasses.
"Mikado-kun, it's been so long." Mikado decided not to comment on Orihara-san standing.
"Orihara-san, thank you for having me." Izaya thought twice about asking about the missing glasses.
"Don't mention it. Come inside." Mikado followed Izaya's lead, taking his shoes off and walking towards what seemed like a living room. Sitting down on one of the cushions by a low table, Mikado spotted a tall revolving chair. How out of place…
"I made oolong tea." Orihara-san came into the living room. Setting Mikado's cup at the low table, Orihara-san took his seat on the revolving chair. So that's what that was about.
"Thank you."
"So what brings you here?" Izaya sipped on his reheated coffee.
"I wanted to get out of the city and I thought I should visit you while I was at it." Mikado thought it futile to pretend that he came to visit out of sheer concern for someone who he could barely call an acquaintance.
Finding himself a little disappointed, for no apparent reason, Izaya stopped resisting the urge to mock his guest, just a little, "Oh my, I hope there isn't any trouble in paradise."
"And what paradise would you be referring to, Orihara-san?" Mikado felt almost insulted. What paradise existed in his tedious day to day?
"The one full of books, of course. Or maybe the one with downcast eyes and a lovely figure." Izaya knew neither of these things was really paradise in Mikado's sense, he just wanted to hear Mikado reject his current state and bemoan the lost adventures of their past together.
"Now I'm the one with conflicting emotions regarding your insights to my life." One of these conflicting emotions was misattributed frustration but Mikado wouldn't mention that.
"I am an information broker, Mikado-kun. I can't help looking into people's lives. I guess you could call it an occupational hazard."
Occupational hazard? Bull shit, this man just liked messing with people. But Orihara-san wasn't the only one with information that could make others' blood boil, "I always thought occupational hazards were more of the physical type."
Izaya wasn't about to let that comment at his current disability slide, "I guess we both know a bit of physical occupational hazards."
"Aside from some scaring, there really aren't any remnants of the past anymore. Not for me, at least." If that wasn't shade, Izaya didn't know what was.
"Then I guess you assume the past has marked me, Mikado-kun." Let's see how far Mikado is ready to compromise his polite and sensitive nature to win this petty banter.
"I wonder whether your being here is one of those marks." Go big or go home, huh?
Obviously hitting the bull's eye, the room was set in silence. Mikado decided this was an appropriate Segway to the next step of his plan.
"I was actually curious about what Orihara-san has been up to here. I came from a small town, but whether it's due to my lack of ability or the resistance presented in such a setting, I failed to make much of it. Surely, Orihara-san has had a different experience." Then, Mikado stood up, slowly walking towards a full bag of groceries Izaya has chosen to overlook upon his guest's arrival. Picking the bag up, Mikado found his way to Izaya's kitchen, "I thought we could discuss this further over dinner."
The meal was a pleasant affair. Conversation flowed from one topic to another, from acquaintances to small town occurrences, to the changes that Ikebukuro has experienced while both of them have withdrawn from the urban battle field. How long has it been since Izaya has had a meal with someone and not a Dullahan head? How long has it been since Izaya has talked to someone who not only didn't hate him, but found his company desirable?
But Izaya could not shake off that weird feeling that Mikado was a little too reluctant to leave. Buying the groceries? Cooking dinner? Offering to wash the dishes? What was Mikado avoiding in the big town that drove him to cling to Izaya's presence? Perhaps Mikado was finally desperate and bored enough to do something about his predicament. Very, extremely interesting, especially in contrast with Izaya's monotone life.
But Izaya's legs were starting to get tired despite having sat through most of the visit. He needed to say goodbye to his unexpected guest and get himself some rest. So what to do… Say goodbye to spare his aching legs and paranoid nature or to continue to humor his guest to satisfy his curiosity and need for company? But the ache…
"Mikado-kun, it is getting rather late." Izaya stated, coming to Mikado's side at the sink. Mikado, on the other hand, paid no mind to that comment, choosing to focus on the dishes, "If you don't want to miss the next train, I suggest…" and then Izaya felt wet hands on his face and soft lips on his own. Mikado, in true youthful fashion, had his eyes closed for a moment before slowly drawing back. And then, while drowning Izaya in his blue eyes, Mikado spoke.
"Orihara-san. I had such a long, tedious, mundane day. Do you think you can help me end it with a bang?"
With that, Izaya Orihara found himself in a confused state between insane arousal and uncontrollable laughter. How could one proposition sex with a pun and still make it sexy?