So this is an already completed story that I am posting in 3 parts. It is my first attempt at Tokyo Ghoul and at writing a Tokyo Ghoul x Durarara crossover. This features Raijin Days Shinra and Izaya, so hopefully I didn't do too bad with them! This story focuses a lot more on the Durarara characters than the Tokyo Ghoul ones, so I apologize for that.
This chapter features a lot of vomiting, though this is where the vast majority of it occurs. If you are triggered by that, by reading about people eating, or by any of the warnings listed below in bold font, then this story might not be for you! I'll give you each chapter's warning when I post it, as well as the overarching story warnings as well. This is labeled as T because while it includes the things that are in the warnings, it is not terribly graphic.
Story Warnings: Vomiting, Blood, Gore, Cannibalism
Chapter Warnings: Vomiting
Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara! or Tokyo Ghoul
Eating Habits
Shinra always knew there was something off about Izaya's eating habits, but he never would have guessed that this would be the reason. Tokyo Ghoul AU
Meal 1: Back Alley "Strangers" (And Shinra's Cooking)
It's the sound of someone vomiting that draws Shinra to the dark alley just off of the apartment building where he lives. Logically, he should ignore it and continue on home – after all, there's the strong possibility that Celty's already home, and he can tell her about his lonely day away from her – but he's driven by curiosity. That, and a strong budding business sense, seeing as if it's a sick person, Shinra can always lure them back to the apartment, help them out, and then charge them through the nose for the equivalent of over-the-counter cough medicine. Sometimes being an innocent looking high school student is beneficial when conning people.
Stepping into the alley, the first thing Shinra notices is the corpse. It's torn apart savagely, like it had been attacked by a wild animal. Though he can tell the culprit wasn't a wild animal for two reasons: one being that he lives in the middle of a city, and wild animals are hard to come by, and two being that there are large chunks taken out of the body that look like a ghoul's handiwork. Shinra's gotten up close and personal a few times with wounds made by ghouls thanks to his father's work as an underground doctor, and his habit of allowing Shinra to assist in his work, and sometimes having his son do all the work.
He accidentally kicks a can that's lying in the alley, creating a metallic noise that echoes down the walls. The figure who had been vomiting snaps his attention over to the high schooler – they're propping themselves up on the wall with one hand, the other secured around their midsection. For a wild moment, Shinra thinks that he caught a ghoul in the middle of eating because the first thing he catches is reflective bloody red eyes in the dark shadows the person is hidden in. But, as his heartbeat steadies with disappointment, he notices that there's no black cornea to signal the kakugan of a ghoul, and Shinra recognizes the garnet – not blood red – eyes of the person vomiting their guts out.
"Wow, I never expected you to have such a weak stomach!" Shinra laughs, approaching the corpse and person with abandon. He's tempted to poke it, but that would be unsanitary when he doesn't have gloves on. "But then again, I guess some people just can't take corpses, especially when they're a ghoul's handiwork, huh Orihara-kun?"
Izaya scowls at Shinra, looking as if he wants to snap something at the other teen, before his body convulses and he's slapping a hand over his mouth and turning away. Shinra watches the whole thing with detached clinical disinterest. Izaya doesn't vomit again, though he gives a wet cough and wipes his mouth with his sleeve. Shinra turns away and resumes his examination of the corpse.
"Looks like this guy's been dead for a few days," He talks out loud, leaning over the body, careful not to touch it. Again, not only would it be unsanitary, but Shinra also doesn't want to accidentally implicate himself in this crime.
"What makes you say that?" Izaya asks disinterestedly, wobbling over to stand next to Shinra.
"He has maggots," Shinra points to the open wound on the corpse's shoulder, where there are flies buzzing, and fat maggots sluggishly moving through the meat. "And it looks like some are already starting to pupate – incubation period normally takes anywhere from four days to a week, so…"
"Gross." Izaya mutters when Shinra trails off, placing a hand back over his mouth like he might vomit again.
"If you're going to throw up again, can you not do it right next to me?" Shinra requests unabashedly, earning a glare from Izaya.
"I'm not going to throw up," Izaya denies, but he does shuffle a few steps back in the direction of his previous puddle of puke.
"Do you want to come back to my apartment?" Shinra asks after a few minutes, when he's had his fill of examining the corpse. Izaya is still hovering, and he looks pale, like he might collapse at any moment.
"I'm fine," Izaya raises an eyebrow as if he's uncertain as to why Shinra's offering. He obviously doesn't realize how bad he looks. "I should be getting home anyways."
"Come on," Shinra insists, not mentioning his insistence is because he doesn't want to have Izaya's collapsing as soon as he leaves on his conscious. Celty would never forgive him if he let someone collapse without making some sort of attempt at helping them, even if that person was Izaya. Not only that, but if he mentions how horrible Izaya looks to Izaya, it's a sure fire way to have him ditch Shinra. "Just come up and rinse your mouth out. My apartment's not that far away."
"Fine," He sighs, because he knows Shinra won't give up until he gets his way. "I guess I'll come up for a few minutes."
The notice is blaring itself across the TV just as Izaya is heading to put his shoes back on to head home.
"The CCG has put the area under lockdown, huh?" Shinra isn't as annoyed by it as Izaya looks. "I wonder if they found the corpse that you did." Really, he isn't bothered in the slightest, grinning at Izaya like an idiot.
"They must think the ghoul is still in the area if they put us under lockdown," He continues as Izaya removes the shoe he just put on and returns to the living room area.
"Either that or they're currently chasing a ghoul down or think one's in the area," Izaya drops down on the couch while Shinra goes and prattles around in the kitchen.
"Regardless, it looks like you're stuck here until they end the lockdown." Something clatters in the kitchen. "I hope you're not allergic to anything, because I'm making dinner. It's nothing like my darling Celty makes of course, but it shouldn't poison you. Not that I'd be bothered if it did, of course."
"You don't need to put yourself out of your way," Izaya tells him after a beat, when Shinra's words fully process. "I'm not really hungry. Anything you make I probably won't eat anyway."
"What?" Shinra's head pops out of the kitchen to gape at Izaya. "You're joking, right? You didn't eat lunch today and you threw up earlier! You should be starving by now."
"I'm not hungry," Izaya repeats firmly, and Shinra stares at him for a moment, studying his friend with a scrutinizing look.
"Don't care," Shinra announces as he disappears back into the kitchen. "You need to eat more so you're eating whether you want to or not!"
"As if!" Izaya retorts futilely, because Shinra inevitably hands him a bowl of food and chopsticks when he's done cooking.
"You need to eat more," Shinra's obviously not done lecturing him as he drops on the couch with a bowl of his own. "You're practically skin and bones!" He fixes Izaya with another of those stares of his, tilting his head to the side. "Are you sure you're getting enough to eat at home?"
"I'm assuming if I eat I'll be spared the lecture?" Izaya interrupts dryly, not really wanting to listen to Shinra's speculations and accusations of what his home-life must be like.
"Sure," Shinra shrugs. "For now, at least." That's probably the best he's going to get, and it's with resignation that Izaya takes the chopsticks he was given and starts to pick at the food.
It's slow work eating the entire bowl that Izaya knows Shinra overfilled on purpose, but he also knows that Shinra won't let him live it down if he doesn't eat everything in it. He fights through every bite of the meal, fully knowing that he's going to regret it later. Ah, the things he does…
"Happy?" Izaya snarks, showing the empty bowl to Shinra when he finally finishes. Covering a nauseated belch with his free hand, he hides his grimace with it as well when he does his best to force down the bile cresting up his throat.
"Wow, I didn't think you'd actually eat it all!" Jerk. Of course he was going to eat it all; he would've pitched a fit if Izaya hadn't.
"Well, I did," Izaya manages to get out over the lump in his throat, swallowing hard to try and overcome the nausea. "Any idea when the CCG is going to end the lockdown?" Because he'd really rather leave Shinra's before he puked again – if he did, it would be hard to explain.
"What, not enjoying my company?" Shinra pouts. "And here I was going to offer to help you with your biology homework!"
"Not particularly, and I don't need your help," Izaya isn't fazed. "And are you going to answer me? Where I live the CCG doesn't do lockdowns, and I haven't been caught in one before." At least, not one where he hasn't been able to escape from before, but he isn't about to tell Shinra that…
"Well, you could always leave now, but that would probably get you pegged as a ghoul or a ghoul sympathizer," Shinra offers unsympathetically. "Otherwise, you should just expect to stay until morning. They only end the lockdown when they catch the ghoul they're chasing, and if they don't they keep the lockdown in place until morning – usually dawn. Why?"
"Obviously, because my sisters are home alone," Izaya responds with a half-truth to keep Shinra appeased. "My parents are away on a business trip, and I'm supposed to be watching them." He pins a glare on Shinra. "And I would be, if someone hadn't gotten me caught in a ghoul-lockdown."
"Geez, sorry!" Shinra apologizes only half-sincere. "You didn't mention that!"
"And if I had, would you have let me go home?"
"Ah, probably?" Shinra replies after a beat, before shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows, it's in the past! Anyways, can't you just call a neighbor and have them check in on your sisters or something?"
"Yeah," Izaya sighs, pulling out his phone, flicking through the contacts. "Call a neighbor or something." He lands on the number he's looking for, and presses the button to connect the call.
"Iza-nii! Where are you!" Mairu's voice bounces through the line almost immediately.
"A friend's place," Izaya responds, and ignores Shinra beside him. "Look, I got caught in a ghoul lockdown, and I'm not going to be home. You guys are on your own."
"Lockdown… all right…?" Kururi's voice comes from the line, telling Izaya that either the phone's on speaker, or the twins are pressed against the phone, sharing it.
"I'm fine," Izaya iterates, "Just stuck at a friend's place. I'll be back in the morning. There's food in the fridge if you get hungry. If you run into a problem, the numbers are on the fridge. You know how to use the phone. Bye."
He hangs up before either of the twins can yell at him, contemplating calling someone else to check in on the twins as well.
"Maa, you really are horrible, aren't you?" Shinra accuses Izaya as he pulls his school work out of his bag.
"What? You said call a neighbor or something." Izaya shrugs, settling himself better on Shinra's couch to watch the news. Who knew, maybe they'd lift the lockdown soon and he could be on his way. "I did 'or something'."
"Yeah, but I didn't mean call your sisters and leave them on their own! What are they, five?"
"Yeah, and they'll be fine." Izaya brushes Shinra off. Shinra sighs, but doesn't push the topic further.
Scant hours later, after they've both gone to bed – Shinra in his room, with Izaya insisting to take the couch – Shinra finds himself waking up to a feeling of déjà vu. He can hear the sounds of someone vomiting in the bathroom, and given the fact that Celty doesn't have a head as well as her not being home, along with his father – unless either of them slipped in after he and Izaya went to bed, but it's doubtful –, it leaves only one culprit. Making his way down the hall, the bathroom light isn't on, but he can still hear the pitiful sounds of Izaya's retching.
"What's wrong Izaya?" Shinra asks with a yawn, flipping the light in the bathroom on without regard for the other teen. He doesn't ask if Izaya's okay, because it's a dumb question seeing as he's throwing up. Still, asking what's wrong can be construed as a dumb question too, seeing as it's blatantly obvious what's wrong, but Shinra's aiming more towards a 'why' with his question. Flu, food poisoning, nightmares… The possibilities are endless as to why Izaya's sick enough to throw up.
He sees Izaya's back twitch at the sound of his voice and the light, but Shinra's quick to dismiss it. It's more than likely just because he's embarrassed at having Shinra see him like this. Izaya's always been prideful to a point where he doesn't like anyone seeing him in a moment of weakness, and this definitely counts as one.
"Hey, come on Izaya, I can't help you if you don't answer me," Shinra cajoles when Izaya doesn't answer. "What is it? An upset stomach? Headache? Do you feel lightheaded?"
"Go 'way," Is the heaved response, Izaya lurching over the toilet with a sick belch. From Shinra's placement at the door, he can see the tremors running down Izaya's body and the faint sheen of sweat running down his temple. A fever maybe?
Shinra goes to take a step towards Izaya, but when his gaze passes down the floor he narrowly misses stepping in a puddle of vomit. Apparently Izaya didn't make it to the bathroom quite in time when the first wave of nausea hit him.
"Disgusting," Shinra mutters without the appropriate amount of disgust in his voice to match his words. As he kneels down to examine the vomit puddle – because it's obviously going to be more help at this point than Izaya – he would almost swear that he sees Izaya's back stiffen. Huh. Odd.
"I'll clean that up," Izaya's words are strained, a mix of worry, nerves, and embarrassment. Shinra wonders why that is; a bad home life, maybe? Maybe his parents always get mad at him at home when he is sick and makes him clean up his own messes. Who knows!
"I'm not going to make you do that," Shinra reaches over to open a drawer at the sink, pulling out a pair of latex gloves from the box in it. "I'm not so mean as to make a sick person clean up their own puke." He snaps the gloves on and reaches down to poke at the contents of Izaya's vomit.
He can make out the clear shapes of the chicken that was part of dinner, as well as the different vegetables he had included. Rice, along with the weird cookies Celty had baked the other day that Shinra had forced on his friend before bed; it seemed at first glance that Izaya was probably suffering from a cut-and-dry case of either an upset stomach or food poisoning. Either is a possibility because while he will never admit to his beloved's face, Celty's cooking does need some work, though Shinra doesn't regret forcing the cookies on Izaya.
That is, it's almost a cut-and-dry case. The longer Shinra stares at the vomit, the more certain details sink in. Something that all the food items have in common.
"That's weird," Shinra announces out loud because he has a suspicion, one that only Izaya can confirm. Watching from the corner of his eye, Shinra can see Izaya freeze mid-heave. "Why's your food not digested, Orihara-kun?"
Okay, so it's not the whole truth; parts of the food are digested, but not well enough to signal hours of digestive work. The degree of digestion that Izaya's vomit demonstrates is as if Izaya just binged on these items not even a half hour prior to vomiting them back up. There's only one explanation as to why this sort of thing would occur.
And the human finger bone that Shinra finds in Izaya's vomit is the noose.
"Are you, perhaps, a ghoul, Izaya?"
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