"Shizu-chan, you're bleeding."
"Fuck you."
"Well, you're as suave as always."
It took a large amount of self control for Shizuo not to turn around and knock the flea on his ass. Mostly because he just used the word suave. Did he think that made him sound sophisticated? Because it didn't. It was just annoying. It made Shizuo want to kill something innocent.
But Shizuo was tired. He spent the day dealing with petty thieves and multiple stab wounds. He could not deal with Izaya Orihara's antics that night. He quickened his pace and began to storm away.
"You know you're going to bleed out if you don't get stitches, right?" Izaya called after him.
Shizuo froze in his place and his scowl somehow grew even more dour than it already had been. He turned around and headed in the opposite direction. Izaya erupted into giggles. Shizuo made sure to shove him with his shoulder on his way past.
Izaya kept trailing behind him, Shizuo just tried to zone him out. He distracted himself with thoughts of how salty Shinra would be from his alone time with Celty getting interrupted -again. Shizuo always found that simultaneously amusing and annoying. He snickered to himself.
"Do you know why I hate you, Shizu-chan?"
Shizuo swore he felt his brain plop back into his head -and that he heard it groan when it realised where it was.
"I really don't care. Go away."
"Such a typical Shizuo Heiwajima answer." Izaya said, laughing and clapping his hands. "You have no idea why you do half the things you do. You just throw punches like a bully on a play ground. Do you even know why you hate me?"
Shizuo turned to face him. "I hate you because you're annoying, you wear that tacky jacket everywhere, and you hurt people for no reason. Are you satisfied?"
"Not even close" Izaya chuckled. Shizuo groaned and walked off. He groaned some more when he heard Izaya's footsteps behind him.
"Aren't you even a little curious, though?" Izaya went on. "I'll tell you, y'know? If you ask nicely."
"You're a migraine" Shizuo grunted, lighting a cigarette. Izaya waved a hand in front of his nose.
"Ugh Shizu-chan, such a filthy habit."
"Well if you find it so repulsive why don't you just leave me alone?"
Izaya shrugged. "Okay."
Shizuo breathed a sigh of relief, but it was half-hearted. He knew Izaya didn't just let things go like that.
"But you have to promise to meet me after you've seen Shinra. I'll be at the sushi bar." Izaya stated.
"The fuck I will" Shizuo snorted.
"If you come then I'll leave you alone for the rest of the month."
"You've got twenty minutes."
Shizuo heard, rather than saw Izaya snicker and skip away. Shizuo called after him, not even knowing if he was still there.
"Why do you even want me to come?" Shizuo asked.
He felt Izaya's mouth contort into a grin.
"I need some form of nightly entertainment, don't I Shizu-chan?"
When Shizuo turned to reply, Izaya was gone.
. . .
Shizuo didn't know what he was doing there.
He wasn't stupid; he knew Izaya was probably setting him up. Even if he wasn't Shizuo could not deal with both stab wounds and Izaya Orihara in the same night. So why did he go? Izaya's offer had been more than appealing, but it was probably an empty promise. He certainly wasn't there for the sushi. None of his actions were making sense, but just going home wouldn't sit right with Shizuo. There had been a Izaya that night that seemed different; like he was trying to get something important across. Something big.
But then who knows? It could have just been the sparkle of the city lights making his eyes seem marginally less dead.
"Sorry I'm late" a voice came from behind him. "Well, that's not true. You're always funnier when you've been made to wait for something."
Shizuo surprised himself with a growl. After growling at Izaya so often it had just become a reflex. Izaya sat down across from him and slapped on his signature smirk. Shizuo felt the energy in the room change. Some people began to shuffle out of the room, while others just gawked dumbly. No one had ever seen Shizuo and Izaya just sit down and talk. They were all waiting for something to explode.
So was Shizuo.
Izaya picked up a menu and began to idly flip through it.
"What do you want? I don't know about you, but I always find that everything Simon cooks tastes the same" he mused.
"Why did you ask me here, Izaya?"
He looked up from his menu and the glint that petrified the entire population of Ikebukuro appeared in his eyes.
"I already told you. I'm bored."
"Don't waste my time, Izaya. Cut the bullshit."
Izaya threw his head back and laughed. Shizuo felt his fingernails make dents in the bottom of the table.
"What else would you be doing? Beating up a tree because it's taller than you?" Izaya giggled. Shizuo just looked at him. "Okay, Okay… starting now I'm serious. What was the question, again?"
"You heard me."
"Oh right, you wanted to know why I asked you here!" he said, snapping his fingers like it had just come back to him. "Didn't you want to know why I despise you?"
"Not particularly."
"Well," he went on "the reason is you are a dog."
"You called me here just to tell me I'm a dog? Couldn't you have done this over the phone?" Shizuo was having trouble not flipping the table. This was all too stupid. He wondered why he was still here.
"No, I mean that in a literal sense." Izaya explained. "You're like an animal. So stupid. Driven on instinct and nothing else. I'm on a higher level than all of you. My mind is superior. That's why I'm in control here."
Well, that made it clear. It showed Shizuo all the reasons he was there and all the reasons he should never have come. It was pointless thinking there was anything more to Izaya than what met the eye. Shizuo got out of his seat and headed out into the street.
He could feel Izaya lingering behind him, struggling to keep up. Izaya let out a laugh.
"You're just proving me right! Storming out all because I said something you didn't like! Ha!"
"No" Shizuo whirled around to face him. Izaya stumbled backwards a little bit, but quickly regained his composure. "No, I liked what you said."
"Is that right?" Izaya scoffed, raising his eyebrows.
"It was mostly true. I'm very impulsive and not too clever. But at least I can feel. You think being smart means you own people? You're the real animal." Shizuo spat his words with such ferocity that his jaw hurt. Talking seemed to exert more energy than throwing punches ever had. Izaya's glib expression was still in place, but something travelled over his eyes that told Shizuo his words had struck a chord.
"You're saying I don't have feelings?" Izaya asked, his tone somehow sounding both mocking and shaky.
"I'm saying that all you know how to do is hurt people. You'll never know what it is to love or be loved. That scares you, doesn't it? That's why you wanted me to come and listen to you gloat. You're lonely. It's honestly pathetic."
That wiped Izaya's slimy facade right of his face. Watching his face fall was like watching a mountain crumble. Shizuo turned to leave, but Izaya gripped his wrist.
"Take that back."
"Or what?"
"Or I kill you and everyone you've ever met."
"And then you'll really be alone."
The next thing he knew he felt cold steel against his throat. Looks like Izaya had finally decided to bring his knife into. He was hyperventilating against against Shizuo. Shizuo could feel his ribs poking in and out. His eyes were wide and crazed. Shizuo honestly thought he might stab him. Shizuo closed his eyes.
Then there was a sound of metal clattering to the ground and Izaya's lips were against Shizuo's. It all happened so fast. Shizuo didn't have time to process it, but upon later reflection he would come to realise that the kiss felt like a threat. Love me or I'll rip you to pieces.
He shoved Izaya off him almost immediately. He flopped to the ground. Shizuo didn't think he'd ever seen him look so… pathetic. He even had a few tears escape his eyes. It was sobering and discomforting to watch. Shizuo did the only thing he could think of: he walked away.
"Don't you walk away!" Izaya screamed. "You're mine! Don't you leave!"
Shizuo forced himself to walk faster. Once he was around the corner he kicked the first thing he came into contact with -and then he couldn't stop. It was like a muscle spasm. His leg kept on swinging and swinging into the side of a building. He was sure he would kick it till the entire building turned to dust. He didn't know what he was doing or why. All he knew was that Izaya Orihara was a fucking tragedy who would kill them all.