"I've read a lot about this. The fantasies people feed themselves with will never cease to amaze me, but I didn't think it'd really happen. Although, in a city where a headless black rider exists—" Izaya paused for a moment and spared Shinra a glance, the corners of his lips curved into a lopsided grin, "—I suppose it's not entirely impossible."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Shizuo interrupted, somehow taking interest in Izaya's little speech.
"Well," Izaya exhaled a sigh, like it was so tedious to answer Shizuo's question, "…there's supposed to be this universe where you'll have words that your soulmate will say to you written on your skin. And the sentence will have its own deep meaning behind it, even the ones that seem like they're just nonsensical. But, of course—! These are merely imaginations. So I hope Shizu-chan won't think that there's someone out there for him, and get disappointed to know there's none! It's not like you have one on your arm, anyway. Hm. I wonder what mine holds for."
It was both fascinating and terrifying to see how fixated Izaya was on that 'soulmate tattoo' or so-he-claimed, and always, always touching it as though he was analysing each strokes of the character in order to understand it better.
If Shizuo was to go by the expression on Izaya's face alone, the usual smug look he came to despise so much had him wondering if Izaya had already found out the truth regarding the tattoo. Verbally, however, Izaya didn't mention anything about it. Whether it was to entertain his own thoughts by keeping it to himself, or he really had no clue—Shizuo didn't know.
"I think it means that you're a piece of shit."
There was a buzzing sound in Shizuo's ears, his brows furrowed and gaze catching the glint in Izaya's eyes when Shizuo uttered those words; pushing the tip of the pen a little too hard on his notebook which ended up with a hole in the book and a bent pen, but Shizuo couldn't care less about those. It wasn't the first that he'd done that, especially with his strength.
He was more interested in that odd change in Izaya's facial expression.
"Is Shizu-chan my soulmate?" Izaya blurted out.
"Ha? No fucking way."
Shizuo couldn't even fathom where Izaya managed to get that idea.
"You said the words," insisted Izaya, "See, 'You're a piece of shit'—"
"It was just a coincidence!"
"I'm not sure about that, Shizu-chan! It's quite accurate."
"Why the hell would I be your soulmate?"
.
The ink was something Shinra had invented on the request of Shizuo— well, unless Shinra had actually given him a normal permanent sharpie and claimed that he made it himself.
Shizuo didn't know, and it didn't really matter, as long as it was permanent.
It was a petty prank if he was to compare it to all the tricks Izaya had pulled on him, but as Shizuo always said, 'that pest is strangely so slick and skilled'. It was hard for him to even get close to affecting Izaya.
He could barely remember how he got this idea— it was Kasuka who'd suggested him to do this after hearing him complain about Izaya. To Shizuo, Izaya should have 'don't trust me' written on his forehead so people could finally stop listening to Izaya's bullshit, since they always ended up attacking Shizuo for what Izaya said.
Shizuo thought that it was a great idea, only he didn't take into account that Izaya was smart and too reliant on his senses to not be able to figure this out.
.
The sunlight was warm on his skin, and Izaya stirred awake when he felt something prodding his arm; his brows knitting in confusion but he ended up relaxing his posture and pretended to still be deep asleep after hearing a familiar voice cursed out, but he couldn't pinpoint it exactly since it was just a word. However, whoever that was, was seemingly afraid of Izaya waking up.
It must've been a marker that woke him up, Izaya concluded, from the rough feeling of the tip skimming over his arm.
"For... once…" he heard Shizuo's voice mutter (it was clear now who it was, Izaya couldn't believe he didn't realize sooner), the marker moving according to the words Shizuo said, even going as far as to make a twirl here and there to perhaps make it neater and more stylish.
Wait— No way—
If Izaya wasn't aware that Shizuo was there, he'd have burst into a bout of laughter; having figured out that his 'soulmate mark' wasn't real (he didn't really expect it to be since the words were spiteful, and it was odd how no one else had any, not even Shinra, who was much more in love than him) and it was Shizuo who'd written the words on him.
Shizuo never failed to amaze him.
How fascinating. Shizu-chan? I wouldn't have guessed.
It was so petty compared to Shizuo's usual way of displaying hatred, like breaking Izaya's arm on the rare days he managed to catch Izaya, or throwing vending machines everywhere, which was why Izaya didn't suspect Shizuo.
That, and the handwriting was a beautiful cursive.
"Done," Shizuo exhaled a sigh of relief.
Izaya kept his eyes shut, he could hear the pop of the cap slipping shut on the marker, and some more rustling. It was hard to not flash his usual smile back there, or wake up and instantly bombard Shizuo with his witty remarks, but he had to wait until Shizuo's presence was no longer there.
It'd be more interesting this way.
His heart was hammering with excitement from the newfound information.
"Let's see what Shizu-chan left us!"
Izaya sat up as soon as he heard the door clicked shut behind him, holding his arm up to have a clearer view of it, the new line written slightly below the first.
You're a piece of shit.
Shut up for once.
"Haha! What a childish thing to write! Oh? It's cursive again. I don't recall Shizu-chan's handwriting to be this elaborate. How many nights did you spend practicing this style of writing, I wonder?"
The light breeze felt cool blowing at the raven locks of his hair, a grin carved on his lips as he leaned against the railing; fingertips trailing the words written on his skin. A spot was a little smudged from running his thumb too much over it, but it was so fascinating he couldn't help but to touch it.
It didn't take long for a familiar bleached hair to come into sight, running away in a hurried manner.
"What'll it be next, Shizu-chan? I'm looking forward to it."