Interesting.
It's the first thing that comes to his mind when the homeroom teacher calls up the next person to give their self-introduction.
The boy whose name was called rises to his feet and steps up right in front of the classroom with both hands in his pants pockets. Nobody calls him out on how he's wearing the uniform wrongly, or how his bangs seem to partially cover his auburn eyes – eyes that sweep across the entire classroom from left to right, before going back the way they first moved from. Then, with a blink, he directs his attention to the center, lips curling to a smile that's nearly indistinguishable from those actors in a Noh stage play.
Interesting, Kishitani Shinra thinks to himself again.
"My name is Orihara Izaya," says the raven-haired teen standing in front of the class. "My birthday falls on the fourth of May. My hobby is..."
°•○°•○°•○
"...'watching people of all occupations', isn't that what you said?"
"And how is that related to a Biology Club, exactly?"
To the question his classmate has posed him, Shinra beams as he gives the answer that he thinks Izaya would find most acceptable.
"Well, people are living things, too!"
Izaya's eyes widen slightly at that, seemingly fixating themselves onto Shinra for a split second before the bewilderment evident in Izaya's features vanishes as quickly as it appeared. His brows furrow as he shakes his head.
"Sorry, I'm still not interested."
Shinra rests the back of both of his palms against his waist and gives a thoughtful hum as he examines the brooding teen standing with the right side of his body facing him.
"That's too bad—"
Izaya's back straightens as he begins walking towards the entrance of the classroom, like he's been waiting for Shinra to say those words or something to their effect this entire time. Shinra grins again.
"—so I guess I'll just have to ask you again tomorrow!" he finishes.
The other boy's foot hangs mid-step before he sets it back down on the floor. He turns, but not fully; just enough for him to meet Shinra's eyes, and vice versa.
"Hang on, have you considered the possibility that I might give you the same answer tomorrow?"
"I thought you might, actually. It's not a big deal, I'll just ask again the day after."
"What if my answer remains the same?"
"That's easy, I'll just ask again the following day."
"And how long do you expect us to keep up this pattern before you decide to throw in the towel?"
"As long as it would take," Shinra assures his soon-to-be Biology Club co-founder. The corners of his lips curl in further. "And I'll have you know, I don't give up that easily."
Izaya nearly says something, most likely out of reflex. But as soon as he opens his mouth, he closes it again, swallowing whatever he has almost slipped out back down his throat. Then he looks away, busying himself with the plain, ashen grey flooring.
"...We'll see about that," he murmurs. And then almost immediately after, he's briskly walking away, leaving Shinra to stand by his lonesome right beside Izaya's desk and smile to himself.
°•○°•○°•○
Shinra holds true to his word; the moment he sees Izaya step foot into the classroom the next day, he promptly jumps to his feet and walks over to Izaya to ask him the exact same question. Izaya too, as it turns out, does not make lightly of his promise as he brushes Shinra off, not bothering to even stop and spare him a glance.
This happens again the following day, and the day after that, and the day after that. Each time it happens, it always begins with Shinra popping the question – the phrasing may differ, but the meaning remains unaltered – and it always ends with Izaya turning him down. By the time they enter into the third week of this ritual-like routine, however, the identity of the person who would eventually win this challenge becomes clear for all to see.
"I don't get it," Izaya mutters when Shinra comes running to him for the umpteenth time. "Why haven't you approached anyone else yet? Surely you'll have better luck finding someone who would want to set up a Biology Club with you if you ask around."
"Hmm, you may be right," Shinra admits after considering Izaya's words for a brief moment. "But it wouldn't be the kind of Biology Club I want. It would just have the pretty standard kind of club activities like raising plants and frog dissection workshops. Not that it's boring to have such activities, it's simply not what I'm looking for."
"So what do you want," Izaya asks, facing him directly, "out of this Biology Club of yours?"
"Expeditions," Shinra exclaims, spreading his arms wide, "into a world unseen and unknown by everyone."
"A Microbiology Club, then?"
"No, no, I'm referring to something else entirely. More along the lines of tsuchinoko hunting or oni catching."
"What are you, five? Anyway, that doesn't have anything to do with biology at all."
"Well those creatures are still living in a way, aren't they?"
Shinra takes pause to gaze straight into Izaya's eyes. Eyes that are not all too dissimilar from the likes of unpolished garnet.
"So I was thinking that, if it's with you, I'd be able to gain a deeper understanding of that world."
"...And why is that?" Izaya asks, his frown deepening. "Unlike you, I don't believe those things even exist."
"That may be true. But you seem like the observant sort, so you might be better at helping me find the creatures I'm talking about."
"Are you even listening to yourself?" Izaya says in a huff.
Ignoring that, Shinra continues, "So yeah, that's the kind of Biology Club I'm hoping to set up. What do you say? Are you keen on helping me now?"
"Shinra," Izaya says his name for the very first time since they met each other, his tone low and frigid as the dead of the winter solstice night in Hokkaido, "I have no interest in chasing after folklores and fairy tales."
"And I'm not asking you to be— Ahh wait, where are you going?"
"The library." Izaya's reply is curt and biting.
"But the library is in the other way? Izaya? Hey, Izaya, are you listening to me? Izaya?"
The brunet calls and calls, but the person whose first name he is likewise saying for the first time continues walking on in the direction opposite to the destination he has just mentioned. It doesn't take very long before Izaya disappears from the hallway as he turns to climb the flight of stairs, and it takes even less time for Shinra to shrug and return to class.
°•○°•○°•○
When he returns home and tells his housemate about his new friend quite possibly – actually very likely – blowing up on him, he receives a light bop on the head and the exasperated shaking of a headless neck directed at him.
[Even I know that you don't make friends by imposing on them like that.] She writes on her notepad, her kanji and hiragana looking as though it's been directly printed onto the paper. [And I'm sure you're aware of that, since you just admitted that you made him angry.]
"But Celty," Shinra whines as he rubs his head delicately with an affectionate smile on his face, "how else am I going to convince him to run the club with me?"
The Irish fairy tilts her "head" slightly, appearing to consider his words and think of how to phrase her response. When she's done ruminating, she stops tapping the back of her pencil against the smoke rising from her neck and proceeds with writing on the next page of the notepad fitted nicely in her palm.
[...You know, this new friend of yours has a point. Why is he the only one you keep bothering? And for things like hunting tsuchinokos and trying to catch an oni...]
"Ahaha, but doesn't that sound fun?"
Celty turns a few more pages. [It may be for you, but I honestly don't think the same can be said of your friend.]
"Hmm, you think so?" Shinra sits on that for a moment, his usual smile gone without a trace, replaced by an expression that can only be adequately described as neutral and possibly bordering apathetic. "But somehow I'm getting the feeling that the two of us may be more similar than we – even I – think. I mean, the first time I saw him..."
[A penny for your thoughts?] Celty offers when Shinra leaves the sentence unfinished for about half a minute.
The leathery material of the sofa twists and creases as he turns to face the Dullahan seated next to him, her confusion overtly spelled out in the plain sheet of darkness trailing from her neck. He flashes her a smile, and he can see her shoulders tensing slightly.
"I think I know just the thing to say to get him to join," he declares excitedly.
°•○°•○°•○
Shinra is the first of the two to reach class, as usual, and he quickly settles down and takes his seat, eyes glued to the front door of the classroom as he awaits Izaya's arrival. As time flows on by, the door has been opened and closed multiple times, yet not once has been by Izaya's own hands. Soon enough, the time comes when the door is opened and the person who steps in is their homeroom teacher, all suited up and wearing his favourite lemon yellow tie as he does everyday of the week.
Halfway through the first lesson of the day, and Izaya still isn't here yet. The teacher's voice drones on in the back of Shinra's hearing while he resumes staring at the door every time the teacher turns to chalk down something on the blackboard. He does the same for the subsequent lessons and the book he has left open on his desk has absolutely nothing to do with school, but nobody seems to have paid him any heed.
The bell rings and the sounds of dragged chairs chorus throughout the entirety of Raijin Middle School. The students gravitate towards their respective peer groups, and begin to chatter among themselves, some deciding to stay behind in the classroom while others are quick to walk right out. Izaya's chair is the only one that remains untouched and unoccupied for the whole day.
Shinra gathers his stationery and takes his leave.
°•○°•○°•○
In the end, he doesn't even have to say anything.
"The Biology Club," Izaya initiates, and Shinra nearly leaps in his seat because it's been two days since he's seen his classmate or heard his classmate's voice, and weeks since he's seen his classmate wearing that smile of his. "I think I don't mind tagging along if you're okay with me being the Vice-President."
"...Really?" Shinra exclaims as he gets up. He can feel his lips pulling themselves wide and his eyes begin to tear. His chest gives a light flutter as he does the first thing that comes to his mind, which is to wrap his arms around Izaya and proceed to give him a big glomp. "Oh, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!"
"H-hey," Izaya bites out as he tries to push Shinra away, the oily smile already slipped off his face and replaced with a small, barely noticeable wince in its wake.
Shinra can only laugh jovially at that.
°•○°•○°•○
Contrary to Shinra's earlier promises and hopes for his club, their first activity doesn't have an inkling to do with tsuchinokos or onis. Instead, they are mainly responsible for raising plants, any species of their own choosing. Being amateurs in this aspect and not having much, if any, interest in botany in the first place, they agree to raise plants that require low maintenance on their part, and their club room soon becomes filled with potted carnivorous plants and cacti. It works out well for Shinra as he can always return home early to see his Celty, or he can also elect to take the opportunity to get to know Izaya better. He still has yet to confirm his hypothesis, but he has a feeling it won't take him very long now that Izaya is part of the Biology Club.
Especially when it's Izaya himself who makes it that much easier for Shinra to direct the conversation to where he wants it.
"So then, what if the corpse doesn't decompose?"
"...Huh?"
Shinra turns back to face Izaya with a grin.
"If, let's say, there's a corpse that doesn't decompose... And it can even move and communicate with you almost like any other person and if you happen to fall in love with it, would you consider that love normal? Where does one draw the line between normalcy and abnormality when it comes to love?"
"...Why are you asking me something like that?"
"Haha no real reason, I'm just interested in what you think."
"...Hm."
Izaya regards him with a vague sense of suspicion for a moment. Eventually, he averts his eyes and gives a nonchalant shrug.
"Well... I think humans should be free to love whomever they like."
"And what about the corpse? Would you say the same for the corpse if it happens to return those feelings?"
"Hah? Shouldn't the real question be whether that corpse is even capable of feeling in the first place?"
"Now that's just mean," Shinra huffs with a pout. "Of course it is."
Izaya looks at him warily. "And how would you know about that?"
"Of course I do. This is all just a hypothetical situation made up by me," Shinra lies automatically.
Izaya gives a little snort at that before sending a plastic smile in Shinra's way. "All the more reason for me to doubt the existence of that corpse's feelings."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shinra asks and then barks out a laugh, knowing exactly what Izaya had meant.
The corners of Izaya's lips curl in further. "Sounds like you already know it without me telling."
"I still want to hear it coming straight from you, though," Shinra is not ashamed to admit.
"...Fine," Izaya complies, a little bit too easily.
"So?" Shinra tilts his head, his jaw beginning to ache as he faces Izaya with a smile. "What is it?"
The smirk on Izaya's face seemingly dips a few shades darker by the second, seemingly spreading to the sclera of his eyes and even to the very air around him, like watching a viscous black oil spill creeping over the surface of the ocean.
And then, the venom vanishes.
"It means, Shinra," Izaya says with mock sweetness, "that you've been reading way too much manga."
Shinra doesn't deny that. But he doesn't affirm it, either.
°•○°•○°•○
The weeks fly by without much progress on Shinra's part. Sure, he's managed to have a couple more similar conversations with Izaya whenever he could – which was quite often, but somehow it's been dwindling of late – but in one way or another they all end up rather similarly.
At times Shinra faltered, even. Those times he wondered if his hunch had simply been just that: a hunch without any real basis. Those times he would favour the former of the two possible conclusions he anticipates from this observational study of which his rather peculiar classmate is the object of interest: either Izaya truly is like any other ordinary human being, or he's simply putting on an exceptionally convincing front that he is.
But at any other time, he was – and still is – certain that Izaya is anything but normal, and Shinra thinks he has a pretty good idea of where that abnormality lies. He just needs Izaya to let his guard down and slip, just once will be enough, and then he'll know if he has finally found the answer he has been searching for nearly his entire life.
Which is why, all things considered, he's taken completely and utterly aback when he not only gets what he has been waiting for – but he actually sees it happening right before him with his own two eyes.
"Hey, Orihara-kun!" Shinra gives his friend a cheerful greeting as he steps into the club room, feeling like he's dancing on clouds and being careful not to show it. "I came here to see if you need any help with preparing for the fair!"
"...If it's love advice you want again, I'm sorry to say but my answer to you will still be the same."
"Don't be like that, Orihara-kun. I'm really here to help lighten the burden of my pitiful Vice-President, for once."
Izaya casts him a piercing look, before letting out a brief and quiet sigh. Then it happens again, when he very casually and naturally looks over to his left shoulder and a sly smirk slides back in place.
"Well then, guess that'll be all for today," he says. There's a few moments of silence before Izaya speaks again, "Don't worry about it. Our President is like that. He seems to enjoy dropping in unannounced and pretending that he cares about the club when he actually doesn't."
"I appreciate the high praise, but can you stop talking about me as if I'm not here?" Shinra cuts in with a light chuckle as he walks closer towards Izaya.
"It's alright, I can handle this," Izaya continues talking regardless. "Well, I'll see you around, then," he bids his farewell with a wave of his hand.
"Hope to see you again soon," Shinra joins in, looking in the same direction.
It doesn't take very long after that for Izaya's smile to evaporate.
"Alright Shinra, spill. What is it you've 'hypothetically' fallen in love with this time? A flesh-eating creature of the undead? A fairy godmother that is well-versed in all sorts of curses? A shadow that has gained a life of its own and is seeking to suck your life force dry?"
Shinra blinks in surprise.
...Eh? Is that the kind of impression he gets from my descriptions of Celty?
"Haha, sounds like I'm not the only one who spends too much time reading manga." Shinra grins. "Anyway I'm not here for that this time. I was honest when I said I'm here to help."
"Yeah right," he hears Izaya mutter under his breath. "So what brings you here, really?" Izaya questions blandly as he picks up the spray bottle and attends to the plants along the shelf. "Didn't you say you have somewhere to be for the summer?"
"My family didn't seem keen on travelling out of town, so I decided to change plans."
"...Hm," Izaya makes a non-committal sound, giving each pot a little squirt. "That must've been disappointing."
Shinra thought so as well, at first. But after what transpired earlier, he's thinking very differently.
"It's not all bad," he says as his smile turns broader. "For all we know, this might be an opportunity for us to grow closer as friends!"
Izaya scoffs. "Who wants to be friends with you? Besides, I don't see how this is helping in any way. I'm just watering the plants."
"Well, it's more than that," Shinra replies. "After all, I got to see another side of you today."
"Hah? ...What do you mean by that?"
"I think you know as well as I do, Izaya. If you're not tired of pretending I haven't already noticed."
Izaya's finger twitches at that before it stiffens, the plunger remaining depressed without producing another aerosol. The raven himself has lapsed into silence, and his expression appears to be unchanged, just as blank and devoid of emotion as it has been since the start of this conversation – since the start of any kind of conversation Shinra has had with him, really – but when Izaya sets the spray bottle down and finally turns to face him for once, Shinra is certain he isn't imagining the storm brewing in those auburn eyes that are unusually fixated on him when they normally appear to be gazing at anywhere but the present.
"...What, exactly, are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you," Shinra answers, shifting to a more serious tone in response to Izaya's reaction. "I'm talking about what you can do. I'm talking about just now."
"You're not making any sense."
"Izaya," says Shinra, "who were you talking to before I came in earlier?"
"Hah? You just saw him, didn't you? It was—"
"I didn't see anyone else, Izaya," Shinra tells him truthfully. "I only saw you."
Izaya becomes speechless after that. Whatever he had been intending to say, he swallows it back down, drawing in a sharp breath as his eyes slowly, and gradually, widen. Then, almost as quickly as a flash of lightning, they revert to their usual state before closing themselves shut. Shinra sees rather than hears Izaya letting out the breath he's been holding as his shoulders tremble slightly while the rest of his body appears frozen in place.
Shinra steps in closer to shorten the distance between them and stretches out his arm. "Izaya—"
Eyes with the appearance of dried blood and rust snap open, and very quickly Shinra finds himself at the receiving end of a glare so intense he almost mistakes Izaya as his closest and only friend from elementary school. Only, probably, about ten times worse, as Shinra will soon find out.
"What," comes a harsh, drawn out whisper. "What do you want to say now?"
Shinra slowly withdraws his outstretched hand.
"I..." he tries to begin, but for some reason his throat closes in on itself and he can't untangle it.
"Are you going to tell me one of your imaginary love stories again? About some abomination you claim to love so much having feelings or what not? Or, what, was that all just a fancy tale you fabricated as an excuse to talk to me?"
"That's not—"
"And all that big talk about tsuchinoko hunting or whatever it was you said? Some expedition into another world or something? That was another one of your tactics, wasn't it? To persuade me into helping you set up this club of yours?"
"Iza—"
"I should've known," Izaya cuts him off, shaking his head. His voice has gone eerily quieter, all of a sudden. Like he's mumbling to himself and addressing Shinra at the same time. "When you asked me to help set up this club, I wondered why you would ask me and not anybody else... But now I understand."
"Can you at least hear me out first before you jump to your own conclusions and get mad at me?"
Izaya doesn't make any verbal response to that, but he does begin glowering at Shinra to such an extent that it almost feels like the room has gone subzero simply by looking at him.
"Mad?" Izaya spits out flatly. "I'm not mad."
"Who are you trying to bluff?" Shinra harrumphs, placing both hands on his waist.
Izaya's eyes narrow to slits as he swipes the spray bottle of the shelf and marches towards Shinra.
"You said you wanted to help? Here."
He shoves the bottle into Shinra's chest and lets it go. Shinra flails as he catches it out of instinct.
"Have fun watering your 'talking' plants."
And with that, Izaya is out of the door before Shinra can think about pulling him back. By the time Shinra tosses the bottle aside and dashes out of the room, Izaya is already nowhere in sight, and when Shinra tries to give him a call, he only receives a beeping tone in response.
°•○°•○°•○
When he dials Izaya's number again and fails to get any answer, Shinra decides to leave him a quick message before calling it a day. He returns to the Biology Club room to pick up the spray bottle that he has thrown to the floor and set it neatly in front one of the rows of potted plants that he and Izaya had spent arranging together, back when the club could be considered a neonate. Ordinarily that would have him smiling with mild fondness at the memory, but today seems to be an exception, somehow.
Of course, there can be no such exceptions when it comes to the love of his life.
"Ehh Celty~? What are you doing here in my school?" Shinra's eyes begin to twinkle. "Could it be...that you miss me?"
[Why would I miss you when I only just saw you this morning...?]
"Because you love me!" Shinra exclaims, raising both of his arms in the air.
[Keep your delusions to yourself.] Celty writes. Then she flips to the next page in her handy notebook. [Putting that aside... Are you alright?]
"Eh?" Shinra lowers his arms. "Why would I not be? Especially when you're here?"
[I was in the area when I sensed something...malicious. I traced it to your school and then I remembered that you told me you would be going there, so I came over to see if you're okay.]
"Ah, Celty, you do care for me after all~!"
[Part of the deal with your father in arranging for me to come here was that I would look after you.] Celty attempts to clarify her stance. [Anyway, since you appear to be fine, I guess I can take my leave now.]
"Ehh? Already? ...Can you at least send me home?"
So that I can spend more time with you and lie on your back and cling onto you and—
Celty shakes her "head".
[Sorry, I have somewhere I need to be. You can make it home by yourself by now, can't you?]
"Sure I can, but..." Shinra pauses as he tries to think of a logical excuse. "But didn't you just say there's something malicious around here? In that case, it's not too safe for me to be left alone, right?"
Celty considers this for a moment, placing a thoughtful finger against the chin of her bright yellow helmet. Eventually she flips to a new blank page – Dad seriously needs to get her a phone, Shinra thinks – and begins penning her thoughts down.
[Well... You're not exactly wrong—]
"So I can get a lift?!"
[Wait, let me finish. And stop peeking when I'm writing.] Celty's shoulders sink as she has to turn to another page. [As I was about to say, yes, the school doesn't seem to be safe right now. But it's not like the malice is directed specifically at you or anything like that, so it should be alright as long as you don't remain within the school compounds.]
"Oh... I see," Shinra concedes, deflating.
Celty seems to have noticed this, but she doesn't make any offer to cheer him up.
[Alright, I should get going. I'll see you back in the apartment tonight.]
"Mm... See you," Shinra says, sending her off with a listless wave of his hand. Celty doesn't look back as she rides off with Shooter into the distance. "...And there she goes."
Heaving a sigh, Shinra drags his feet along as he begins heading towards the nearest bus stop.
Celty... She must've gone off to search for her head, right? After all, that's the only thing that's constantly on her mind. The only reason she would be out and about is for her head, anyways...
The search for her head – in other words, the search for a Dullahan's head. A head belonging to an otherworldly, ethereal being, normally invisible to the human eye – or so Shinra had thought.
Before meeting the person named Orihara Izaya, that is.
°•○°•○°•○
Celty Sturluson is not a human being.
She is a Dullahan, a member of the Unseelie fairfolk from Irish mythology. She is a headless being that is apparently equivalent to the Grim Reaper itself, her duties involving her travelling across the whole of Ireland as she searches for people who are soon to die on her headless chariot. She is said to possess a whip made from the bones of the human spine, and would splash blood across the entrances of households from which she is soon to collect a human soul from. According to legend, if she were to cry out the name of a particular person, that person would collapse and die on the spot.
That, is the supposedly terrifying creature that is Celty Sturluson.
A creature whom Shinra has sworn to love and hold dear and never let go.
A creature from another world altogether.
°•○°•○°•○
Their paths were not meant to cross, she had told him once.
[The place I'm from exists alongside yours. Normally, people like you shouldn't be able to see me, unless you have enough of what we call 'spiritual power'. It's only because I've lost my head that you can see and communicate with me right now.]
"And why is that?" a young Shinra had asked.
[Because my head is the source of my power.]
And with her spiritual power at its current depleted state, an existence such as Celty's has been forcibly exposed to the human world. Not only that, Celty had also once told him that her head contains most of her memories and knowledge about the world she originated from. With her head gone and severed from her body, Celty is not only left nearly powerless and visible for all of mankind to stare at, she has also lost her former identity and status, as well as any connection that she had had with the place she called her home.
When Celty explained it like that, then of course it's perfectly understandable why she has been so desperately searching for her missing head, which she claims to be in some place in Ikebukuro.
And of course, when she explained it like that, then all the more Shinra doesn't want Celty to ever find her head.
If she finds it, and reunites with her lost power and memories... She will disappear. For good. And there's nothing I'd be able to do to bring her back to my side.
Unless I—
Unless I can find a way to enter her world, instead.
So that if the day Celty finds her head ever comes, I would still be able to see her. To talk to her, to hold and touch her...
The question is... How?
So ever since the day that such a plan formulated in Shinra's mind, he dug into everything he can find about the "other world" that Celty is said to have hailed from, and everything he can find about what she calls "spiritual power". He searched high and low, read through even the vaguest of texts or recounts of people who claimed that they had visited this seemingly fantastical realm, and looked for ways that would allow him to cultivate his own spiritual power. Alas, after three long years of searching and searching for the answer, Shinra had been unable to find one.
Until the day he officially started middle school.
That day, what he believed – and still does – to be his answer came in the form of a raven-haired teen whose hobby involves people-watching.
°•○°•○°•○
Shinra's mind drifts back to the topic of Izaya again, and he can't help but mentally replay the moments of his classmate's bitter outburst and abysmal attempt of covering it up over and over. Then he thinks back to all the times they talked about Shinra's love troubles – which are anything but a lie, but Izaya obviously sees differently – and to the time he first met Izaya and tried to persuade him to help set up the Biology Club, and he wonders what has gone wrong.
Probably everything, his mind supplies. After all I keep provoking him, even though I know it would upset him. No wonder he's mad at me.
A memory of Izaya's dark, frosty expression surfaces in his head, giving a look that seemed to be trying to burn holes through every inch of Shinra's body right up until he left the Biology Club room. Though to be more precise, Izaya had disappeared by the time Shinra opened the door again and looked both ways down the empty hallway, so there was no way of telling if Izaya still had that glower on his face after having said his piece and walked away.
When Shinra remembers this, he slowly comes to a halt.
Wait...
He turns around, casting a gaze upon the main school building of Raijin Middle School.
Could it be...? That Orihara-kun is still...?
...If so, then that means...
His mind need not supply more than one word 'malicious' before Shinra breaks into a run, heading back towards the school.
This must be my chance...! he thinks elatedly to himself, the corners of his lips curling.
°•○°•○°•○
"Orihara-kuuuuuun! Are you still here?" Shinra calls out once he steps foot into the Biology Club room for the second time that day. When he doesn't get any response, he takes a few more steps in, looking all around him. "Orihara-kun?"
No response still.
Shinra paces throughout the room until he returns to the shelf of pots again. His eyes land on the spray bottle which has remained untouched since his leaving the room earlier and gives a disappointed sigh and a groan.
"Where else can he be...? I've already looked everywhere," he mumbles to himself.
Well, everywhere except—
"Eh... Kishitani?"
Shinra nearly jolts in his skin, whirling on his feet in the direction of the door, which he has left open when he entered the club room. Once he realises who it is that has called out to him, he relaxes and can't help but laugh as he scratches the back of his head.
"Oh it's just you, Nakura-kun. What are you doing here? Did you come to see how the plants are doing?"
The other boy fidgets as his face pulls into a frown. "No... I'm here to look for someone else, but it looks like he's not around..."
"Hmm? Do you mean Orihara-kun?"
"Y...yeah," Nakura replies, his answer sounding awfully forced for some reason. The eye above his mole gives a twitch.
Shinra hums thoughtfully, but doesn't pay particular attention to it, inwardly brushing it off as a possible sign of misplaced displeasure. Though he doesn't know why Nakura is looking for Izaya and what relationship the two of them have, he does at least know enough about Izaya to understand that he doesn't exactly get along swimmingly with other people and can even rub them in the wrong way at times. Sometimes the hostility extends to Shinra himself. Shinra can't say he doesn't understand why, though he does wish they'd stop doing that since he's not the one to be held responsible for every single thing Izaya says or does.
That honour goes to the things he sees, Shinra had always been wanting to say to them.
Externally, Shinra beams. "Well, what a coincidence. I've been looking for him too. I tried giving him a call but he wouldn't pick up."
"...Really?"
"Yup. Two times, in fact," Shinra feels the need to point out.
Nakura seems disinterested in what he's saying though, with the way his half-lidded eyes keep darting back and forth as if Izaya is about to turn up any second. Shinra doesn't mind it, however; after all, he doesn't particularly care about why Nakura has come all the way to school just to look for Izaya when it's the summer holidays.
Shinra shrugs. "So I'm sorry to say, but you've wasted your time by coming to the club room. For all we know, Orihara-kun might've even left school already."
"...No."
"Hmm?"
Nakura's fingers clench to form a tight fist. "No... He's still here. I just know it."
"Oh? And what makes you so sure?" Shinra questions, tilting his head to the side. When Nakura doesn't respond and simply hangs his head low and begins to shudder, the brunet says without any emotional investment, "Hey, Nakura-kun? What's wrong? Are you feeling alright?"
"...Just peachy," the other boy growls lowly.
"You certainly don't look peachy enough," Shinra tries to joke, which is the first thing he can think of saying in response. Nakura seems less than amused and puts on a horribly wry smile. Shinra skips up towards him. "Well, since you're so sure, how about we go look for him together?"
That has Nakura looking straight at him, his eyes dull and hollow. "You okay with that, Kishitani? I mean, you don't have anywhere else you need to be?"
"Nope!" Shinra exclaims cheerfully. "In fact I came here to look for Izaya, just like you!"
"I...see. Is that so..." Nakura murmurs. "Well, it'd be a big help. Thanks, Kishitani."
"No problem, Nakura-kun!"
Nakura steps aside, so Shinra takes it as his cue to lead the way. As they leave the room together, Nakura makes sure that he's walking behind Shinra, which Shinra doesn't question because Nakura makes his intention clear rather quickly.
"So do you have any idea where else Orihara might be? Since you're...pretty close to him and all..."
"To be frank with you, I've already looked everywhere he's normally found at," Shinra informs him. "There aren't that many places Izaya would go during his spare time, now that I think about it. He's usually either in class for lessons, or on the rooftop during recess. And after school he'd be at the club room, even if it's not the day for our regular club activity. Then again, it's not like the school has many places to loiter or hang around in the first place, so I guess that's about everywhere."
"What about the library?" Nakura meekly suggests.
Shinra waves it off with a laugh. "Not a chance. Everytime he says he's going there, he always ends up walking in the opposite direction. I never find him there anyway."
Nakura makes a non-committal grunt. "Then where could he have gone to...? It's not like there's anywhere else," he mutters under his breath. It doesn't go unnoticed by Shinra, however.
So upon hearing that, Shinra stops in his tracks and turns to face the other student directly. Nakura nearly crashes into him.
"Wha—?! Don't scare me like that, Kishitani. I could've knocked you down if I hadn't noticed in time," Nakura sighs heavily.
"You know, Nakura-kun," Shinra says slowly, "you make it sound as if Orihara-kun is definitely still in school. But how do you know that if you haven't even seen him around today?"
"...He asked me to meet him here," Nakura answers after folding his arms, his feet shuffling.
"That's a lie, isn't it?" Shinra points out bluntly. "If Orihara-kun really had done that, he would've told you the exact venue, too. He's not the kind of person who would leave out such details. Unless he means to trick you."
"All the more he'd have to be around, right? To watch me run all over the school just to go looking for him?"
Shinra shakes his head. "You're a pretty bad liar, Nakura-kun. I mean, if you already knew that, why would you even be here at all?"
For a split second, a shadow seems to cast over Nakura's already gloomy, lifeless eyes. "What's your point, Kishitani?"
"I'm saying, you're the one who's seeking Izaya out. Not the other way around. I daresay that the reason neither of us has found him yet is because he's deliberately avoiding us. I can understand why, in my case – but for you? To be honest I barely see you around Izaya... In fact, I barely see you around at all. But Izaya said he recruited you as one of our club members, so I'd have to trust him when he says you're a student here, right?"
The shadow makes its return. And it remains fixed in place this time, as Nakura's frown deepens until it looks like the bridge of his nose is wrinkling. "What the hell are you even talking about?"
Shinra continues, unperturbed, folding his hands behind his back, "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Izaya didn't already do his homework before getting you on board. Which is why I have to admit, to be able to get past him, you'd have to be pretty good, Nakura-kun. Or – is that even your real name?"
There's a snap sound – like the sound of bones twisting and cracking – and a sneer on Nakura's face and someone calling his name—
"—Shinra!"
—before Shinra's world blurs and spins as excruciating pain of an unknown origin blossoms from the right side of his body. Black begins clouding the edges of his vision as his feet stumble on their own accord like trying to walk and maintaining balance with his shoelaces crossed over and tied to a second entity's foot, and before he can verbally make light of his sudden unexplained vertigo he sinks into a soothing darkness.
°•○°•○°•○
By the time Shinra feels his vision clearing and regains his grasp of the situation, he understands quickly enough that something must have happened without being conscious for it because there's no other way to explain why he's currently lying on the ground with books scattered all around him, his glasses askew and the right side of his uniform dyed a brownish shade of maroon.
And also because there's no other way to explain why Izaya is sitting right across him with his back against a bookshelf with his knees drawn up to his chest, giving him a stare so blank Shinra might as well be returning the gaze to a statue made in Izaya's likeness rather than Izaya himself.
Laughter bubbles up in Shinra's chest before travelling to his throat and eventually out of his parched lips.
"So you weren't kidding...all this time...when you said you were going to, ah, the library..." Shinra heaves out, resting one hand on his bandaged side. It feels like a nail has just driven through it, and every word he speaks – as is every breath he catches – is like a needle poking into the same spot over and over.
Izaya barely blinks, barely even moves a muscle. But some part of Shinra can feel rather than see that the way Izaya is looking at him has changed, a flicker of an emotion that he's certain Izaya has kept buried deep within himself since long before the two of them have even met waddling its way to the surface of once unpolished garnet eyes.
Then, Izaya draws in a slow, gradual breath.
"...I prefer taking the long way," he admits, his voice quiet and monotonous.
"Haha... I...realised." Shinra tries to make his grin wider. "So then...all this time...?"
"When you couldn't find me?" Izaya finishes the question for him. He waits until Shinra gives a nod before answering, nearly mechanically, "I was always in the computer room. You just never bothered looking that far."
Shinra laughs again, and it comes out weaker than he means it to be. "I guess...you're right about that." After all, the computer room is located far behind the streams of bookshelves. So obscure a location that not many people are even aware of its existence.
Which suits Orihara-kun's needs perfectly.
That brings Shinra to his next question, in a series of questions that his mind is currently saturated with.
"Hey... Orihara-kun," he calls out, softly. "After what happened...in the Biology Club room... How did you disappear so...so quickly?"
Izaya's brow inadvertently twitches as he averts his eyes. He draws his knees closer to his chest and doesn't give any reply. Shinra smiles at that, the answer as clear as his feelings for Celty.
"It's okay... I think I know now. It was Nakura-kun...or whatever his real name is. Right?"
Izaya remains silent for a moment, keeping his listless auburn eyes on the cover of one of the books laid sprawled all over the floor.
Then, he murmurs, "It realised I found out, after you told me that you didn't see..." With a pause, he shakes his head and then redirects his gaze at Shinra, one corner of his lips curling up to form a wry smile. "Never mind that now. We should be getting you to the hospital first. That wound of yours seems pretty de—"
"Izaya," Shinra cuts him off, saying it with as much force and emphasis as he can muster at the moment. Izaya recoils, the smile completely wiped off his face, but doesn't resume speaking, only the staring. Shinra shifts to meet his eyes, ignoring the pins and needles striking his offended side. "Izaya," he says again, "don't...stop. I...want to know."
"...Shinra."
"I want to know," Shinra repeats, almost pleading. "If you won't tell me... I won't agree to going to the hospital."
Izaya doesn't respond at first, but when he does he lets out a dry chuckle. "I don't think you have much of a choice."
"Huh...?"
"...Ah, seems like they've finally arrived," Izaya says, turning to where the nearest window can be seen when the sound of a siren can be heard coming from a distance.
Shinra's eyes widen. His breathing hastens, which only serves to make the pain spike and his heart skipping a beat in response, creating a vicious physiological cycle that he tries to keep under control by evening out his breathing.
"Izaya... You didn't..."
"I did," his classmate tells him blandly as he stands up, keeping his eyes glued to the window. "So when they ask you about it later, can you tell them...that I did that to you?"
"Eh...? But...it wasn't..."
"Do you see anybody else around who could've done that to you?" Izaya points out as he turns to face him with a wistful smile, the both of them knowing fully well by now what a loaded question that was.
Shinra, feeling indignant, suggests instead, "I can...always say that I did it to myself. That's...what really happened, anyway."
Shinra understands this fact more than anybody else. From the very beginning, from the moment he asked Izaya to help him co-found the Biology Club, or to be even more precise, from the very moment he decided to pursue the seemingly impossible – he has known since then that should anything happen to him in the course of him chasing after his dream, his ideal world, the responsibility should lie with him and him alone. Neither Celty nor Izaya has said anything to him to coerce him into doing anything he hasn't already wanted for himself, and this incident should be no exception.
The problem, he realises now, is that Izaya doesn't know.
He doesn't know why Shinra approached him, doesn't know why Shinra decided to return to school to look for him, doesn't know why Shinra did the things he did, does the things he does, and will do the things he eventually decides to do. He's as much of an enigma to Izaya as Izaya is to him, and that, he supposes, is why they got themselves into this mess in the first place.
And so Izaya, remaining blissfully unaware of Shinra's true motivations and intentions, frowns at Shinra's suggestion.
"But that's not what happened at all."
"And how is your...version of the story any different?" Shinra points out. The siren has stopped growing louder, and footsteps can be heard racing up the stairs. Izaya simply sends a smile in his way, exuding so much self-assurance and fearlessness on the surface that Shinra feels his gut flip just by seeing it.
The doors to the library burst open and hushed murmurs and footsteps come rushing in, and before Shinra can protest, he finds himself gently lifted off the bloodstained floor and carried out on a stretcher, leaving the library and Izaya behind him.
°•○°•○°•○
The school is in a state of silent uproar and bewilderment when word about Shinra blatantly and proudly asking Izaya to spend the lunch break together spreads like wildfire. Shinra doesn't blame them for it; after all, in their eyes Izaya is supposed to be the Vice-President of the Biology Club who stabbed the President in the heat of the moment while they were having an argument over some club matters. The false specifics that Izaya gave in his statement had been that Shinra disagreed with the way he handled the member recruitment procedure for the club, and Izaya mistook it as Shinra abusing his authority as the club president. As the argument escalated Izaya brought out a knife which he claimed to carry around for personal security reasons with the intention to threaten Shinra, but ended up accidentally stabbing Shinra instead.
When Shinra first heard that story from the police when they visited him at the hospital to record his statement, he laughed until his wound had to be stitched all over again. Understandably, he had received rather wary looks from the cops that day.
After being discharged and receiving the clearance to return home, the first thing he did was to recount the whole fabricated tale to Celty, and when he was done he found himself bursting out in laughter again. Celty didn't talk to him for the rest of the day, and the story became much less entertaining ever since.
Still, he has to hand it to Izaya for crafting up such a fantastic tale. It's far from the actual truth – which Shinra himself is not privy to – but it's not a complete lie either, and he wonders how much more of these little half-baked stories Izaya has had to tell to explain off any unusual phenomena involving him.
He tries not to dwell too much on whether Izaya has had anybody to tell those stories to in the first place, because that would complicate things unnecessarily and Shinra doesn't particularly care for things like that. Besides, there's still the whole matter about Nakura that they have yet to settle between themselves, and Shinra's not about to let Izaya off that easily.
Which is why, when school reopens for the remainder of the term, he walks up to Izaya's desk and invites him to the rooftop for lunch, sending the rest of Raijin Middle School into a frenzy.
"I'm not exactly hungry..." Izaya tries to brush him off.
"You're kidding," Shinra replies, blinking. "You look like you're about to pass out from hunger at any second."
It's an exaggeration, he knows, but Izaya does look paler than usual today for some reason. Or maybe it's because they haven't met up for the whole of the summer holidays since the incident, so he might've forgotten whether Izaya has always looked this white or if it's just a trick of the light.
Izaya looks at him rather pointedly. "Look," he sighs, flipping the book that's open on his desk shut, "if this is about the club..."
The students who happen to be nearest to them flinch and begin to back away slowly. Shinra grins.
"It's not," he says, a convenient lie for the situation. The students seem to visibly relax at that, but only slightly. They go about doing their work again while occasionally stealing a glance at the infamous President and Vice-President of Raijin's first Biology Club. "I just want to catch up with you. Nothing about the club, I promise."
It doesn't stop Izaya from looking at him any less suspiciously, however. While still maintaining his guard, so strong and repulsive that Shinra can practically feel the push in the air, Izaya gets up from his seat.
"Can it at least wait a little? I need to head to the library for a bit."
"Oh sure! Can I go with you?"
Again, that gets a couple of their classmates looking up and throwing them a few expectant glances. Izaya doesn't pay them any heed – yet another abnormality coming from him today; normally Orihara-kun would've derived so much pleasure from observing their reactions that he should've at least smirked a little by now – and simply tosses Shinra a nonchalant shrug.
"Do whatever you like," he tells Shinra as he picks his book up.
Or, at least, makes an attempt to.
"Eh— Orihara-kun?!"
Shinra exclaims at the top of his voice when, instead of grabbing for the book, Izaya slumps forward and grips the side of the table, as if he has just slipped on something on the floor and the desk was the first nearest available thing he could reach for support to break his fall.
"A-are you alright?" Shinra asks as he challenges the invisible wall that Izaya has erected between them by stepping closer and resting a hand on his classmate's shoulder.
"...I'm fine," Izaya replies tersely, his voice sounding strained.
"You don't look fine," Shinra exposes him like he always finds himself doing. "You need to head to the nurse's office straight away."
Izaya takes a quiet, shuddering breath, turning his head in Shinra's direction. The light in his eyes appears to flicker like a candlelight in the wind, fading in and out at such a rapid succession that it doesn't seem like Izaya is even looking at him anymore.
"...I assure you, I'm perfectly fine," Izaya asserts himself. He tries to brush Shinra's hand away and straighten himself, but only manages to get as far as standing upright again while his fingers remain on the side of the table. Even then, he still flashes Shinra a crooked smile. "See?"
Shinra shakes his head. "No, all I see is you on the verge of collapsing. Seriously, Orihara-kun, stop trying so hard. I don't want you overexerting yourself and fainting on me now, I won't be able to carry you all the way to the—"
Izaya's body slides towards the ground with a thud. A few gasps and yelps can be heard coming from all corners of the classroom, before evolving into mumbling and chattering.
"—nurse's office. All by myself," Shinra finishes with an even tone, as if he hasn't just witnessed someone passing out right in front of him.
°•○°•○°•○
"It's one of those plants in the Biology Room. I've been trying to warn him all this time," a disgruntled snort, "but you know how that turned out."
"Ohh, is that why you went to all the trouble to become a member of the club? So that you can protect him?"
"Heh. Hardly. A human with his kind of power is difficult to come by. We consider people like him to be one of the finest delicacies our kind can ever have the luxury of tasting. In other words that plant is competing with me, and I'm not about to hand over such a delectable prey so easily."
"A prey that you haven't already eaten by now?"
Folding of arms. "Sh-shut up. I'll have you know, Orihara's one of the most slippery humans I've ever met."
"Hmm. But don't all humans sleep at some point?"
"You mean to suggest attacking him in his sleep?" The figure shakes his head. "I can't."
"Why not? It's when he's at his most vulnerable, right?"
"On the contrary. His power is at its greatest when he's asleep. None of us can go near him when he's in that state."
"Eh? But wouldn't that make him all the more vulnerable? I mean, the reason why you spirits find Orihara-kun so delicious is because of his power, right?"
"Ugh you don't get it. It's not the degree of power that this guy has that draws us, it's the nature of the power itself. But if it gets too powerful, like it does when he's asleep, we'd be disturbing him if we go too close. If we're not careful with how much our presence is affecting him, we might even get obliterated. Most of us can't take a risk like that."
Shinra laughs out of pure amusement. "Oh wow, Orihara-kun's that powerful, huh?"
"...You're weird. You know that, Kishitani?"
"I've been told," Shinra says, beaming. "So, do you think you can tell me more about this fascinating power of his, Nakura-kun? Or... Wait, is that your real name? I don't think I ever got an answer..."
The boy sporting shoulder-length brown hair gives a tired sigh, his black wings furling even closer to his body as if it hasn't already folded tightly enough.
"You're right, it's not. But I can't tell you what my true name is. That would spell all sorts of trouble that I'd like to stay the hell away from."
"Aw, that's too bad. I was thinking it might be rude to keep referring to you by a name that isn't even your real one, but I guess the spirit world goes by different rules and social formalities than the human world does." Shinra gives an indifferent shrug. "Anyway, let's go back to the topic about Orihara-kun, shall we?"
"Can we not?" Nakura groans, his lips pulling to a thin line. "It's not like I made myself appear to you just so that we can chitchat about the guy who spent all summer chasing me down and trying to freakin' exorcise me."
"Orihara-kun did what?" Shinra asks, his eyes sparkling.
"Exorcism, Kishitani, exorcism. I'm pretty sure that was his first time trying, too, which made it hurt even more," Nakura sneers, running one of his claws through his hair. "And it's no thanks to you, so I guess we're even."
"No thanks to me? Why? What did I do?"
"You... You don't even know?" Nakura's feathers ruffle as he cringes. He seems to be swearing beneath his breath before he adds, "It's... It's nothing important."
"Come on, tell me?"
"I said, it's nothing important. Honestly, you're too curious for your own good, Kishitani. You should be lucky I didn't intend to kill you that day. If it had been some other spirit, you might not have been as fortunate." Nakura spreads his wings and picks up his wooden spear lying by the doorway. "Anyway I'm done here. Just remember to help me get rid of that plant before it sucks up any more of Orihara's energy. If you can't, then at least figure out a way to stop him from going over to water the plants for the time being. It should be fine once he starts seeing it wither."
"Ahh wait, please," Shinra exclaims when Nakura leaps into the air, his body already beginning to fade away. "Before you go, can you at least tell me if there's any way for other people to develop the same ability as Orihara-kun does? It'll really mean a lot to me if you do."
If Nakura is raising a brow at his request, Shinra is unable to see it because of the paper mask tied around the upper half of the spirit's face.
"And why, exactly, do you want to know?"
"I need to know," Shinra corrects him but doesn't expound beyond that. "I need to."
Nakura sighs. "Human," he says, his voice already sounding as distant as Orihara-kun's eyes do whenever Shinra sees him, "you should be satisfied with what you already have in this world. Don't do something you'll learn to regret."
"That's not what I want to hear," Shinra cries out, but doesn't manage to finish before Nakura disappears from his sight, leaving him alone in the infirmary with Izaya lying unconscious on one of the beds.
°•○°•○°•○
"Are you sure about this?"
"Sure I'm sure," Shinra replies, grinning. "If we do this, there's a chance we can salvage the club's reputation. Then we'd be able to get more members to join!"
Izaya scoffs, keeping both of his hands in his pockets. "Someone's optimistic."
"Well, one of us has to. Especially since now my life has double the amount of black, and your half of that black is so horribly gloomy. Ah but don't get the wrong idea, I'm not saying I'm the white to your black, just that I think it needs to strike a balance somewhere and I don't mind being that balance."
"I seriously have no idea what you're talking about."
Shinra simply shrugs at that. "I never really expected you to. At least, not right now."
"...?"
"Anyway putting that aside, are you really going to just stand there and do nothing? Can't you at least pretend to help with the decoration to show other people that we agreed on this together?"
"You actually care about what other people think?" Izaya retorts, but steps closer to the table and straightens the tablecloth anyway.
"I'll admit, I usually don't. But this is an exception. I really want this club to grow to be what I envisioned it to be," Shinra replies as-a-matter-of-factly as he positions the board against the legs of the table. The board reads "Raijin Biology Club" and has small cartoonish images of potted plants, birds and lizards that bear an uncanny resemblance to tsuchinokos pasted all over.
Izaya doesn't comment on Shinra's sense of decoration. Instead, he prepares two stools at opposite ends of their allocated space in the sports hall and waits until Shinra is finished and satisfied with the board before stepping up on one of the stools.
"...I see you're still hung up over that," Izaya says nonchalantly, handing Shinra his end of the banner which has been decorated in the same manner as the board.
"Of course I am. It's always been my dream for this club," Shinra responds as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, receiving the banner. They hang it up and straighten it before stepping down, with Izaya sliding both hands in his pockets again while Shinra steps further back to admire their work. Then he nods firmly. "Okay. We're all set!"
"So... Now we wait?"
"Now we wait," Shinra affirms.
Izaya takes that as his cue to pull up the chair at their exhibition table and take his seat. Shinra follows suit, and rests both elbows on the table as he sets his chin against his hands. They don't have to wait very long before their first guest arrives.
"Ahh Kishitani-kun, Orihara-kun."
The two boys whose last names have just been called out rise to their feet.
"Oh. Sensei," Izaya acknowledges with a bow, smiling very pleasantly. "Are you here to see how we're doing?"
"Indeed I am," their homeroom teacher answers, returning Izaya's smile with his own, genuine one. "And I'm glad to see that the two of you have settled your differences and are working well with each other. That sets me at ease."
"Yes, it has been such a delightful experience, cooperating with Kishitani-kun," Izaya responds, lips curling in further but never seeming to reach his eyes. "Thank you for your concern, Sensei."
"What do you think of our chosen exhibit for the fair, Sensei?" Shinra interrupts before his and Izaya's homeroom teacher can reply. He gestures towards the pot right in front of them on the table. "Orihara-kun and I worked really hard on it."
The older man gives a nod of approval. "Yes, I can see that," he replies, weaving gentleness into his features. "It's sprouting beautifully."
Izaya's body goes turgid as his smile freezes in place. "It is," he says, after a momentary lapse of silence that goes unnoticed by their teacher who is too busy admiring their budding piece of work.
"Thank you for the compliment, Sensei," Shinra adds.
"Oh no, don't thank me for that. After all, the two of you earn it." Folding his arms behind his back, the man adds, "Well, I must be going. There are a couple of other clubs' booths that I need to check up on as well, before we can open for the fair."
"We understand." Shinra gives a bow. "Thank you for your time."
Izaya does the same, and they both wait until their teacher has gone to the booth next to them before they straighten their backs, Shinra turning to face Izaya while Izaya keeps his eyes to the front. The grin on Shinra is knowing and expectant, and laughter escapes his lips before he can stop himself.
"Isn't that great, Orihara-kun? Sensei seems to like the plant you raised."
"...Right," Izaya replies dryly, quietly. "The plant I raised."
Their homeroom teacher hasn't turned back or flashed them any strange looks yet, instead being too deeply engrossed in his conversation with the students in charge of the booth next to theirs, and they wait until he is done and has gone a little further away before Izaya finally regards Shinra directly. His brows are creased and his expression, darkened with a frigidity not too dissimilar from how he had been like on that day in the Biology Room, seven months back.
"Really, Shinra?" he murmurs hotly, his tone low and clipped. "A sprouting plant?"
"Why not?" Shinra questions, his smile wide and innocent. "Doesn't it look cute?"
"Not in the least," Izaya retorts.
"In your eyes, perhaps," Shinra replies, "but not in mine."
Izaya's withering gaze lingers on him for a moment stretched out by cold, seething silence. The atmosphere surrounding them thickens with each passing second, until it almost feels as though it has created a separate space just for the two of them. But Shinra knows better that he has yet to even come close to encroaching upon where Izaya is standing, and that the same can probably be said of Izaya himself ironically enough. Whether Izaya is aware of this is another story altogether, one that Shinra isn't as invested in at the present.
Finally, Izaya speaks, "You knew...from the very beginning."
Shinra blinks before laughing sheepishly. "Well... I wouldn't give myself that much credit. I only had a hunch that was subsequently proven to be true."
"Was it...?" Izaya stops, then shakes his head. "Never mind, it's not—"
"And don't say this is not important." Now it's Shinra's turn for his words to become heated, a stark contrast to his usual sunny disposition. "It may not be to you, but it is to me."
"...I was about to say that it's not possible for you to have known about the plant," Izaya finishes his intended sentence, looking slightly unimpressed.
"Oh," is all Shinra can say, for once dumbfounded by his own doing. "Eh? Wait, so then... You knew all along?"
A grimace flashes across Izaya's features. "I had a hunch," he admits, borrowing some familiar words but using them in a different context. Not that he realises it, but Shinra does, and that's all that really matters, for now.
It's also the closest to a confession he'll ever get about this matter, because Izaya simply sits back down and turns his attention to the other people present in the hall when Shinra continues probing mercilessly, his own slip-up already long forgotten and lost in the one-sided conversation.
°•○°•○°•○
By the time the event draws to a close, Izaya very promptly and roughly swipes away the potted plant with both hands. Whatever protest Shinra has against what Izaya is planning dies in his throat, having already seen this coming when he chose that particular plant as their exhibit for the fair.
Instead, his curiosity is piqued by something else. Something he suspected when their homeroom teacher took a look at the pot and described the sprouting as beautiful, something he later confirmed to be true when some of the people who dropped by their booth expressed their kind wishes for the plant to grow up splendidly. Shinra noted Izaya's reactions each and every time, and thought about how Izaya is like on a regular basis. Then he recalled the conversation he had with Nakura and carefully considered his parting words about the plant, and now he thinks he's beginning to understand the true nature of Izaya's ability that has the spirits enthralled and horrified at the same time.
"Hey, Orihara-kun," Shinra calls out to his Vice-President after he stands to pick up the board in order to begin packing up. "Will you change your mind if I were to remind you that it's still not the poor plant's time yet?"
It doesn't.
And he knows this because Izaya swiftly tosses him a glare, as if daring him to say any more, before turning on his heel and taking his leave.
Shinra chuckles gleefully as he watches Izaya walking further and further away from him.
"You're even more interesting than I thought, Izaya," he mutters to himself, before lowering his gaze to the club's name board resting in his hands. The edges of his eyes soften as he traces a thumb over his amateurish, laminated drawing of a venus flytrap pasted on the upper right corner of the board, the smile on his face turning small and sardonic.
Perhaps a bit too interesting, he thinks with a tinge of regret swelling up in his chest as he reaches for the right side of his abdomen and gives it a tight squeeze.
A/N: Oh hey look, another long oneshot. XD
This story is, and is not, part of the same 'verse as my other Izaya-is-not-exactly-normal fic, titled Phantasm. The basic setting is the same - I've also kept the nature of Izaya's sight the same for both of these fics; my intention with this story is to actually drop more hints about it without revealing too much - but the timeline and events that take place are different. Phantasm focuses a bit more on Izaya's life through the years while coping *coughdenyingcough* with an ability he would very much rather do without, while this story takes place in a "parallel world" of sorts where Shinra takes a bit more interest in Izaya in their middle school days. In fact, in Phantasm's timeline, the stabbing incident takes place just as it does in the DRRR source material, though Nakura is still a spirit taking human form there and Izaya doesn't find out until much later. Here, things play out very differently, all because of Shinra's decision to return to the school during the summer holidays; he doesn't do that in Phantasm's timeline. Because of these differences, I decided to post Magnet as its own fic instead of as a new chapter to Phantasm, and made the two of them part of a series (on AO3) since they're still related somewhat.
As with Phantasm, a lot of things were left unclear because they're for you to figure out or imagine on your own haha In particular, the incident with Nakura is still left a secret, even for Shinra himself. Only Izaya and Nakura know what really happened, and they both won't talk about it for different reasons, so...no luck there XD Also, about the plant... It looks like a subplot that came out of nowhere, but it is actually the main plot XD To be more specific, it's a symbol of the main plot points for this fic, namely the nature of Izaya's spiritual power, and Shinra and Izaya's relationship. Admittedly it is very, very vague, and the connection is hard to make, so I'll explain a bit here:
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(Note: If you don't want to be spoiled about the explanation, please skip over the next few paragraphs.)
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Izaya, like Natsume from Natsume Yuujinchou, has the power to see spirits. However, he can't physically hurt spirits like Natsume does when he punches them. As Nakura explained, the key thing to note about Izaya's power lies less in the extent and depth of his power and more in the nature of it; this is what sets Izaya's ability different from Natsume, or how spiritual power works in Natsume Yuujinchou. Izaya's powerful not because he has an abundance of spiritual power, but because of having that kind of power in and by itself. He has the power to see, and the things he sees aren't limited to spirits alone.
Izaya's gift or curse, depending on how one looks at it, is to see through the fabrics of time and space itself. Being able to see through space is how he can see spirits, as they normally live in another "world"; being able to see through time is why Shinra keeps describing Izaya's eyes as "distant" and why Izaya never seems to be living in the "present". It's an unconscious kind of power, which is why it reaches its peak when he's asleep; his visions appear in the form of his dreams and nightmares, like in Phantasm. Since it's a passive ability, he can't shut it off when he's awake either. This actually isn't as bad as it sounds, because he can resist it when he's awake - the problem is that he's in so much denial about having such an ability that he just lets it happen. So that, once it passes, he can just shrug it off and pretend it doesn't affect him. Because resisting it means acknowledging it, he doesn't even make a conscious attempt to control it. It's like how Shinra describes his love for humanity in Vol13 of the novels: he doesn't accept or deny it - he avoids it completely, which is how he's able to seemingly accept and love everything that happens like a windsock.
But of course, Izaya is still human, and so there are limits to his pretense. Which is why he's such an angsty, brooding teen in this fic XD and why he does have his moments where he slips up and nearly admits to having his ability.
...Actually, if you have also happened to read another fic of mine called Network: If I were to give Izaya a superpower there, it would be this. But because I've already given Izaya such an ability in Phantasm - and now Magnet as well - I made him superpower-less in Network's setting, for the sake of fairness. And it works out well in that setting too, anyway.
Well, back to this story - so now that I've revealed Izaya's ability, I'll leave it up to your imagination about what he saw instead of a sprouting plant, though I suppose Shinra has already revealed the answer in the last scene ahaha
As for how the plant acts as a symbol for Shinra and Izaya's relationship... Think in terms of why Shinra chose Izaya as the co-founder of the Biology Club, and what he wanted his ideal Biology Club to be like. Think in terms of why the plant is sprouting, and Shinra's, well, interest in Izaya. If I have to sum it up, it would be: The plant means a lot to the both of them for different yet similar reasons, the same reasons why they're drawn to each other and yet still keep each other at arm's length. I'll now leave that open to your own interpretation.
Edit (1/11/16): I was inspired by Natsume Yuujinchou for this ability as well. I've always wondered about the dreams that Natsume has and how they usually involve significant memories of the various spirits he happens to be dreaming of. One particular dream that really stands out to me is the one where one spirit insisted that he was Reiko and then he seemingly transformed into Reiko right before waking up. Also, even in his waking state, if Natsume is too close to a spirit, the spirit's memories may flow into him and overwhelm him too. However, if I remember correctly, we're never explicitly told why this happens, and so I've always chalked it up to a couple of reasons like Natsume being sensitive/susceptible to the spiritual energy of the spirits, or Natsume is just that powerful. I think it's also implied or mentioned somewhere that the same happens for Nyanko-sensei, whenever Natsume dreams of his past in his sleep. And *spoilers for the manga* Tanuma had a dream of a similar nature too, so it's probably a spiritual thing that anybody can experience as long as they have spiritual power *end spoilers*.
TLDR; I used that as a basis and turned it into Izaya's main ability, with the addition of the ability to look into the future. In fact, most of the time, it's visions of the future that Izaya gets rather than images of the past. The reason why it's a spiritual ability is because he can't look into the past or future of ordinary humans; he can only do that for spirits, or for people with spiritual power such as himself. Basically, he's like the - and I emphasise the - psychic for spiritual matters. It also doesn't help that he's Supernaturally Delicious because of it and that he literally has no control over it. It's one of the worst kinds of powers for someone like him who's only interested in human beings - which is why I love exploring this setting lol.
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(End explanation)
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On Shinra and Izaya's relationship: you're free to interpret it however you like. It can be mutual friendship, or one-sided romantic feelings, or mutual romantic feelings - there is no right or wrong answer. Of course, as the author, I had my own intentions when deciding how to write it, but the fun thing about this setting/series is to let readers fill in the blanks for themselves. After all, it all depends on how you see things ;)
Also not forgetting Celty! Although Izaya is the main character for this series, Celty is still related to his and Shinra's characters just like she is in the DRRR source material. She's still Shinra's everything, and she's still the reason why Shinra turned out the way he did, and she's still the reason why Shinra even approached Izaya at all. It's just that, with the ability I gave Izaya in this setting, Shinra and Izaya have a different sort of relationship here, and it develops very differently from the original DRRR 'verse, which also affects how Izaya and Shinra develop as characters. But it doesn't change Celty's overall role :)
To end off, I decided to write up this fic because Natsume Yuujinchou Go sort of inspired me again, and also because the "Izaya seeing spirits" setting is one of my earliest DRRR fic ideas, even before my PersonaxDRRR longfic, so I love revisiting it and writing more about it. Also, it's Halloween. Not that the story has anything to do with Halloween, however - but hey, spirits are still involved XD
And also, sorry for any OOC-ness, especially for Izaya. But he does have a good reason for coming off as so dark and gloomy in here, ahaha... (By the way. The part when he talked about flesh-eating creatures and shadows and stuff? He's come across all of those before. And when he was absent from school for a few days? ...Let's just say he was very lucky to have gotten away alive. Very lucky.)
Thank you for reading! :D