I Want To Protect You
As usual, Izaya does something to piss Shizuo off and is now being chased by the blonde. Shizuo tears the city apart in his attempts to hit Izaya. A truck turns the corner. Izaya doesn't notice nor is he paying attention to where he is going, hopping around with his entire focus on Shizuo, and jumps in the vehicle's path. Shizuo's eyes widen and he pushes himself harder. The truck honks its horn and Izaya turns to it in surprise.
Izaya can't get away in time and stares at the quickly approaching truck in horror. At the last second, strong arms wrap around him and spin him around, shielding him with his body. The truck crashes to a stop against Shizuo's back. The blonde cries out as the torn metal claws at his back. Izaya turns to him in shock, the truck driver stumbling out of it in a panic. Izaya is terrified when he sees the normally invincible Shizuo covered in blood with a pained expression.
"Shizu...chan?" Izaya whispers.
"Heh. Stupid Flea... you should be more careful." Shizuo struggles out.
"Shizu-chan." Izaya whines.
"Izaya... you idiot..." Shizuo whispers.
Izaya steps closer to him to help him but then Shizuo collapses. He reaches out and catches him, losing his footing and landing on his ass with him in his arms. Izaya feels sick when he sees the condition of his back or rather how it is hidden under a thick layer of block. He takes off his jacket and presses it onto his back, trying to stop the bleeding. He pulls out his cell and calls Shinra in a panic.
"I-It's Shizuo." Izaya says. "Oh god, you have to save him Shinra!"
"Shizuo's hurt? What happened?" Shinra asks. "Huh? Celty, what-oh! Where are you?"
"I..." Izaya couldn't answer.
"Never mind, we'll just follow the path of destruction." Shinra says, noting his state of shock. "Snap out of it, Izaya. You can't fall into shock right now, you're the one who has to keep Shizuo alive until I get there."
"Why...?" Izaya feels a tear fall down his cheek, ignoring Shinra. "Why did you save me?"
Shizuo groans as he slowly opens his eyes. He immediately recognizes that he's in Shinra's place. He brings a hand to his pounding head and sees bandage on it. He blinks at it before remembering the accident. When he feels something tickling his other arm he looks over and realizes it is Izaya's hair. His eyes widen in surprise at seeing him here. Sitting on the floor, Izaya is sleeping with his head on Shizuo's bed.
"Oh, you're awake." Shinra says. "It's about time."
"Shinra... what happened?" Shizuo asks.
"After you passed out?" Shinra asks. "Well, Izaya called me, practically having a mental breakdown and said I have to save you... and such. Anyway, Celty and I came down and after stabilizing you as well as can be I took you back here and then..."
Shizuo tunes him out as he starts getting really technical about stitching him up with that fucking glint in his eye. He is cut off by Celty excitedly pushing past Shinra as she realizes Shizuo is awake. Being careful not to jostle the raven at his side, she leans over him and hugs him in relief. She quickly types something into her phone and shoves it into his face.
Are you okay?! What happened? Izaya couldn't tell us anything!
Shinra elaborated on Celty's last comment before Shizuo could do anymore than look confused.
"Izaya was in a state of shock when we got there, the truck driver must have run off in fear of going to prison when he saw your condition, and Izaya hasn't properly dealt with what happened yet." Shinra explains. "We've managed to gather that you saved him but if we ask about it, he seems to relapse and gets this tortured look on his face. We... well Celty, thought it best to wait for you to wake up to get answers."
"The Flea's been worried?" Shizuo asks, ignoring their questions.
"Yes. He's been by your side the entire time." Shinra says. "I've never seen him like this. He's been really scared. He's been like a zombie as of late, the only emotions he'll express are anxiety and concern. This is the first time he's slept all week."
"I've been out a week?!" Shizuo exclaims, shooting a worried look at Izaya afterwards.
Izaya's face twitches and he shuffles around a bit before settling back down.
"It surprises me too." Shinra smiles.
Never mind that! Tell us what happened!
"Er...well, I was chasing the Flea around like usual." Shizuo says. "Then that truck turned the corner and Izaya wasn't paying attention and jumped out in front of it. He couldn't get out of the way and froze up so I got in the way. That's all."
"...Wow, Shizuo, you really down played that." Shinra stares. "Well, alright. Try not to push it alright, you're still healing."
"Yeah, yeah." Shizuo brushes him off.
"You don't want to worry Izaya more do you?" Shinra teases.
Shizuo twitches and looks down at him. He slips a hand into his hair and then scowls at Shinra. Shinra smiles knowingly at him but then Celty makes a weird gesture, confusing them, and grabs Shinra's hand and drags him out of the room. She waves bye to Shizuo and Shinra also says bye while laughing. The door to the room closes abruptly and Shizuo is left blinking at it in confusion.
He sighs and shakes his head. Then he looks at Izaya again and combs his hair. Izaya's strained expression slowly fades away and relaxes. On the other hand, Shizuo stares at him with worry as he thinks about how little sleep he's gotten and the state he has been in. As soon as he tries to pull his hand away though, that sad look contorts Izaya's face again.
"Nnh, Shizu..." Izaya mumbles.
Shizuo blinks in surprise, especially when Izaya's hand reaches out and lightly grabs his wrist. Then his eyes soften and he makes a quiet exasperated sound and ruffles his hair. He slowly pushes himself into a sitting position and then groans and grabs his side.
"Ugh, hurts." He mutters, wincing.
Then he gets off the bed, clad in only pants, and crouches down next to Izaya. He gathers him into his arms and places him onto the bed. Then he crawls in next to him. Laying on his side, he pulls Izaya onto his side too and cuddles him to his chest. Izaya sighs softly and nuzzles his chest. Shizuo smiles at him as he pulls the blanket over them and nuzzles his hair.
Meanwhile, with Celty and Shinra...
Look, look! Don't they look so cute together?!
Shinra makes a small nervous laugh as the phone is thrust in his face and nods compliently. He glances at the monitor to Shizuo's room again and smiles a little. Celty sits close to him, rather giddy as she is entirely focused on the screen. Shinra smiles at her and is content to just watch her, only looking at the screen when she freaks out about something.
Izaya's wakes up, still half-asleep. His mind only processes that he feels really comfortable and warm, and that it is coming from something in front of him, and snuggles closer to the warmth. He almost falls back asleep afterwards but he manages to process that the warmth is from a body wrapped around him.
His eyes snap open and are instantly met with a broad, bandaged chest. He looks up to see Shizuo's peacefully sleeping face and blushes. He presses into his chest more before remembering that he was on the floor when he fell asleep and not in his bed. He jerks into a sitting position and lightly shakes Shizuo, a sudden hope filling his chest. Shizuo must have woken up.
"Shizu-chan, Shizu-chan." Izaya repeats his nickname for him as he tries to wake him up.
"Ngh, sleepy. Go away." Shizuo mumbles still half-asleep and tries to go back to sleep.
"Ah, hah hah, Shizu-chan..." Izaya says in relief, tears filling his eyes. "You're okay... You're okay."
Registering the emotional tone, it wakes him up and he rubs his eyes before looking up at Izaya. Seeing his tearful expression, he immediately starts to panic.
"Izaya? What's wrong?" Shizuo asks.
He quickly sits up, ignoring the pain, and fusses over the raven. Izaya just laughs a little and leans into his chest. Not understanding what is going on, Shizuo wraps his arms around Izaya tightly. He hesitates for a moment before pulling him into his lap and caressing his hair. Izaya jumps before curling into him and burying his nose in his neck.
"I'm here now so... so you'll be okay." Shizuo says soothing.
"Shizu-chan is okay. I'm so relieved." Izaya mumbles.
"You damn louse. You should know I won't die so easily." Shizuo scolds.
"Shizu-chan is so mean. I was so worried." Izaya says weakly, trying to act normal again.
"...Izaya. There's nothing for you to worry about now." Shizuo whispers and tightens his hold on him.
Izaya is surprised by his response. He didn't expect Shizuo to care so much. Taking into account that he saved his life that seems pretty stupid but Izaya honestly doesn't understand why Shizuo did that. He closes his eyes and wraps his arms around Shizuo's neck. Making soft sniffling noises, he tries to compose himself but he can't seem to do it. There's just one question that won't leave his head and the answer is sure not to help the matter but he knows he won't be able to sort things out in his head until he gets the answer.
"Why did you do it?" Izaya whispers. "Why did you do something so stupid?"
"Stupid Flea, don't tell me saving your life was stupid." Shizuo says. "Unlike me, you wouldn't have survived something like that."
"Shouldn't that make Shizu-chan happy? Shizu-chan has been trying to kill me for so long."
"Damn it, I wasn't actually trying to kill you. My aim isn't that off."
"I really don't understand Shizu-chan at all."
"Che. Well, what about you then? You always swing that knife at me."
"I'm not..."
"Trying to kill me? Isn't it pretty straight forward then? You should be able to understand my feelings too."
"Shizu-chan..." Izaya looks up at him.
Shizuo stares at him for a minute and then cups his cheek and leans in. Izaya blushes and closes his eyes. Shizuo closes his eyes too as he leans in the rest of the way and kisses him. He presses his lips softly against Izaya's and caresses his cheek. The moment is abruptly ruined by an ear piercing scream. The two's eyes snap open with an annoyed sound, recognizing that voice.
"Erika? What is she... No. Shinra!" Shizuo yells, knowing about Erika's shipping them.
He slips away from Izaya and runs out of the room. Shinra is cowering behind Celty and in the background, he can see a giddy Erika jumping up and down. He tries to get past Celty to Shinra while Izaya is left alone on the bed. He blinks a couple of times and then smirks a little. He lies on the bed and waits for Shizuo's little rampage to end.
A few minutes later, Shizuo comes storming into the room. Izaya looks over at his grumpy boyfriend. He has a feeling of satisfaction as he thinks his boyfriend. Shizuo grabs his hand and starts dragging him out of bed. Izaya allows him to drag him off and Shinra can't help but notice how ridiculously pleased he looks right now.
"W-Wait, Shizuo! You really-Eep!" Shinra jumps back behind Celty at the murderous look sent his way.
"You were spying on us!" Shizuo glares. "We're leaving."
Shinra can only nod at him. An elevator door is opened and Izaya is roughly pulled in with him. He wraps his arms around Shizuo's neck and looks back at the three of them with a smug look as the doors close. Erika's squeal is the only thing that can be heard. Shizuo grumbles darkly as he pulls Izaya down the streets back to his appartment. Izaya skips happily next to him.
Not surprisingly, Izaya is the only person comfortable being near Shizuo in his current mood. The people make room for them, well Shizuo and Izaya by default. They stare at Shizuo with a mix of fear because of his murderous aura and shock since they have never seen Izaya and him together unless Shizuo is trying to kill him. It is unheard of for the two of them to be like this together.
"Calm down, Shizu-chan. It's over now." Izaya says.
"Shut up, Flea. They...!" Shizuo growls.
"What? Are you saying that I'm not worth calming down?" Izaya pouts.
"What? No..." Shizuo twitches, instantly calming down somewhat.
"Heehee, Shizu-chan must really like me to calm down like this for me!" Izaya teases.
Shizuo's eyes widen as he blushes and he looks away with a scowl. Izaya continues to coo at him. Then he suddenly jumps onto his shoulders, sitting on them. Shizuo grunts in surprise and grumbles as he continues walking. Izaya smiles happily with his hands in his hair. Shizuo shoves his hands into his pockets and shows no signs of the added weight affecting him at all, expected of someone with a strength like Shizuo's. However, the bystanders have an end of the world expression on their faces. Izaya finds them amusing while Shizuo ignores them, not caring for them.
"Shizu-chan is okay with me on him, right?" Izaya asks.
"Huh? What's with you Flea?" Shizuo asks. "You know full well I would throw you off if I cared."
"No, I mean is Shizu-chan okay? It's not... hard on Shizu-chan's back?"
"...Yeah, I'm fine. I thought I told you not to worry anymore Flea."
"Of course I am going to worry about Shizu-chan! You're important to me!"
"Fucking louse... Then I expect you to play doctor until I'm all better."
"Ah, Shizu-chan has such a naughty mind and when he's injured too!"
"N-Naughty? Don't twist my words around, you damn Flea!"
"Shizu-chan is so cute!"
"Shut up, Flea."
"Ne, ne, does Shizu-chan think I'm cute too? I am right? Say I'm cute!"
"...You're cute." Shizuo mumbles.
Izaya giggles and it continues like this the whole way home.