Haze

The summer air was heavy with humidity and soft-spoken whispers. Yes, of course, Ikebukuro's ringleaders, Heiwajima Shizuo and Orihara Izaya, were at it once again.

"You stupid flea, didn't I tell you to never show your ugly face in Ikebukuro again?!" the employed bodyguard roared, startling a few onlookers.

"Now, now, Shizu-chan, is that any way to talk to a mere pedestrian?" the sly informant cooed, his voice as slippery as silk, just as always.

"Tch, 'mere pedestrian' my foot! Get the Hell out of Ikebukuro, before I punch you into the next district!"

"I'd very much like to see you try, Shizu-chan."

Like the kindling of dynamite, a spark was sent through Shizuo's veins, rage burning deep within his core. "How many times," there was a distinct pause, "have I told you," the metallic crunch of a stop sign's pole bending echoed throughout the proximity, "to stop calling me Shizu-chan!?"

The information broker didn't even flinch, only shifted his footing, when the uprooted street sign came whirling his way. "Ne, Shizu-chan, was that supposed to hit me? Your accuracy is just downright awful!"

"Shut up!"

And so it began: the chase of the day, the chase of the year, the chase of the century. Izaya had a large lead on Shizuo, taking a risky moment or two every now and again to toss back a few snide remarks, also greeting the bodyguard with a handful of switchblade knives at the ready. "Sure is hot today, isn't it, Shizu-chan?" Izaya called back, realizing that this was as casual as any of their conversations would ever get.

"What the Hell does that have to do with anything?!" Shizuo panted, desperately running after his target.

"It would be a shame if one of us were to pass out. Heat exhaustion is a pretty scary thing!"

Though he hated to admit it, Izaya had somewhat of a point. The temperature was topping the record charts at a brutal thirty-five degrees Celsius, and the pounding sensation in Shizuo's head had ultimately caused his fast pace to slow quite considerably.

Turning back now that he noticed the booming sound of Shizuo's footsteps seemed to be getting far more distant, Izaya was almost elated with what he had saw. "What is this, Shizu-chan? Tired already? How boring!"

A couple sharp turns, three or four more just-missed knives, and the informant was out of sight, but most certainly not out of mind. 'That stupid flea…' Shizuo thought to himself, leaning up against the brick-walled building that he was closest to. 'I'll definitely kill him when it's not so freaking hot…'

Giggling to himself and only himself, Izaya's quick step had morphed into what seemed to be a sun-drunken skip. "Shizu-chan is such an idiot," he laughed, earning strange stares from passerby citizens. Beads of sweat were gathered at his ebony hairline, a few strays sauntering down the sides of his face like skin tears. For now, there were two things that both Shizuo and Izaya could agree on. Both wanted the other dead, that was for sure, but it could wait until they got something to drink.


Hello! Chappy here! :D

Gahhh! I'm so sorry that this took forever to publish. I just didn't really have any idea what I wanted to do for the theme "haze". Like, I kept thinking about ideas, but none just seemed to fit very well. So finally, I came up with this! I hope you guys like it. :D

This was supposed to be Day 5 of the drabble challenge, but I am just messing up left and right on keeping up with it. XD Still, I will continue to keep posting until I have completed all thirty themes! (:

- Chappy