Chapter 2
Shinjuku, March 2015
"You're playing a dangerous game, Izaya-kun."
Two hours later, Izaya was walking down the streets of Shinjuku in the direction of the station, his slim silhouette wrapped tightly in his warm, fur-trimmed coat. It was just the beginning of April, and the warm wind blew with the salty, ocean tang from the direction of Tokyo Bay. It was fresh, revitalizing, even in this corporate centre of the city. The raven smiled lightly as he felt the breeze tousle his hair.
Sun was shining bright, and he has been, once again, reminded of the day… how many years ago? Eight? Or was it nine already? No matter - the day he met Heiwajima Shizuo for the first time. It was warm and sunny back then, too; sakura petals were falling all around, like a snow. Izaya smiled to himself lightly and shook his head before making his lips twist into a smirk.
He really was losing focus recently.
The raven skipped all the way into the train, not too crowded now, once the morning rush hours ended and the afternoon ones haven't started yet. It was mostly quiet; even Izaya didn't pick up his phone in the train, turning it to silent; and only when he arrived at Ikebukuro did he pull out his phone once more and make a few more calls. Just as he had planned, Shizuo appeared where he shouldn't, and not really as he planned, one of the girls ended up with broken arm as a result. The raven sighed and rubbed his temples.
You're not making it easier for me Shizu-chan. Behave already .
Still, the main point was that Shizuo saved the two girls, more or less - a broken arm was a much better fate, after all, than being kidnapped and experimented on. And though Izaya knew Shizuo probably escaped from the place as soon as the ambulance and police appeared and the girls were safe, rumors will spread.
He will personally help them to.
It has become a routine by now, even if it happened about once, maybe twice each month. Suddenly, Shizuo Heiwajima would appear on site of one of Izaya's darker businesses taking place and interrupt, and then vanish before anyone could notice him; only to appear in Ikebukuro - and once, Shinjuku - a bit later and have a refreshing chase after the informant himself, yelling at him, accusing him of what he had just put an end to.
And today, it was human trafficking, no less. Shizuo will be pissed .
The raven felt himself sigh, and blinked a few times after realising he actually did that. Now, this wasn't like him at all. Was he feeling tired? No… it wasn't exactly it. Izaya frowned, and stopped in his tracks, his thoughts running as he found a sudden - and unnerving - shift in his thoughts which he could not understand. And Izaya was all about understanding people; this didn't feel good at all.
Was he really tired of executing his years-long plan? Or was it something else? Was it the kind of reluctance that appeared near the completion of one's long-time goal? Or was it - finally - certain reluctance preceding something Izaya himself had to consider a possibility… preceding death ?
Of course, he was afraid of dying. Playing cat and mouse with Shizuo always brought with itself the risk that he will not be quick or swift enough, and that will result in his own death, but knowing that was just an adrenaline shoot. Because he knew Shizuo will never win, not until his plan was ready. So… was he starting to fear the moment when he , Izaya, will have to be defeated?
The raven frowned, and chewed his lip. This wouldn't be good, if that was the case. He needed a clear mind, needed to be alert and ready even for that to happen if it would turn out to be the only way to achieve his goal. Shizuo already hated him with his whole heart; Izaya couldn't respond to that by doing anything half-heartedly, could he now.
"Get a grip, Izaya-kun." he muttered to himself, before smirking without much happiness in it when he heard a sudden, so familiar voice behind himself, ducking before his eyes even registered a segment of metal lockers flying right towards his head.
"I-ZA-YA-KUN…"
Izaya turned around and, with even wider smirk, pulled out his knife, not paying attention to the people desperately trying to get out of his way - and out of the way of the quickly-approaching, blond bartender.
"Shizu-chan." He purred, and waved his knife almost effortlessly. "Shall we dance?"
Ikebukuro, April 2006
Izaya managed not to fall asleep on mathematics lesson and considered this an achievement.
One week in, and he wondered if it wasn't a good idea to just skip first half of the school year. The curriculum went on terribly slowly, and what was even worse, most his classmates seemed to have troubles coping even with this speed, so there was no chance the teacher would go faster for just his sake. Izaya knew he was smart, but it still sometimes surprised him how slow other people could think, or how they couldn't understand the easiest things that were crystal-clear to him from the moment he saw them. It wasn't like it was something new, but he did hope high school will be at least a bit more demanding.
And so there he was, listening to the teacher with one ear and looking out of the window as his classmates struggled with problems he solved about half an hour ago. At the beginning, the teacher made the mistake of calling him out for not paying attention to class, but upon realising Izaya has already done everything, and done it perfectly, now left the boy alone, focusing on his less bright students.
Suddenly, a patch of blond hair on the soccer field behind the school caught his eye, and Izaya stopped paying attention to the class altogether. Yes, there he was; the blond guy, Heiwajima Shizuo, running in what he noticed were the tiniest bit too small and rather old gym clothes. His uniform was also worn out, wasn't it? Shinra didn't tell him if Shizuo's family was well off or not, but it seemed they weren't quite rich enough to let their son have new school clothing every year. Izaya, after all, kept his own uniform from middle school just because it was much more expensive, and of better quality than these of Raijin academy. Most students here came to Raijin high school from Raijin's middle school, as the two were joined, so it wasn't that strange some of them kept the old, middle school uniforms, even if they were a bit worn out.
He smiled lightly, a rare, genuine smile, when he noticed Shizuo easily outrun all of his classmates. There wasn't much technique to his running, but he was quite fast - Izaya decided that they could have quite a thrilling game of tag together, what with the blond's raw speed and Izaya's skill in parkour.
And once the blond finished the line, the raven's eyes widened slightly, and his smile brightened into an excited smirk once more. Because Shizuo lost the grin he wore when the teacher congratulated him, and frowned, looking up in his direction. Their eyes met, and Izaya couldn't help a shiver running down his spine.
Just what kind of person was this guy? Being able to sense someone looking at him like that… he really was interesting.
Of course, by now, Izaya had all kinds of information on Shizuo. From Shinra, he found out about the blond's abnormal strength; from eavesdropping on some girls from Shizuo's neighbourhood, he learnt the blond was actually very sweet and kind, even if intimidating. From another eavesdropping, this time on some delinquents behind the school, he learnt how it happened that Shizuo dyed his hair, and what was the meaning of the uncommon colour. From all that, he deduced a picture of a guy with special ability, but scared of himself, and keeping everyone at a distance not to hurt them. Quite the opposite of himself, huh…
"Orihara-kun, please pay attention. I asked you two times already."
The raven's head whipped back to look at the teacher, and he apologised in a slightly bored tone, before giving a perfect answer to the question previously asked. And then, Izaya turned his eyes back to the window… but the blond boy in slightly too short for him gym clothes was already gone, off to cloakroom. Izaya bit his lip, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
No, it was still not enough… he wanted to know more of Shizuo Heiwajima. He wanted to know much, much more.
Chatroom, March 2015
– There is nobody in the chatroom –
– Psyche logged in –
– Tsugaru logged in –
Tsugaru: yo psyche
Psyche: Hello, Tsugaru-san!
Psyche: How are you today?
Tsugaru: im okay now
Psyche: Oh? Did something happen?
Tsugaru: well there is this guy i kinda dont like
Tsugaru: we met up today by accident
Tsugaru: tho i think he just appeared to piss me off
Tsugaru: anyway we ended up having a fight
Tsugaru: and i actually managed to land a hit on him so it wasnt a bad day
Psyche: Eh, Tsugaru-san's scary! (((╹д╹;)))
Tsugaru: no no no it wasnt like that!
Tsugaru: i mean
Tsugaru: i didnt get into the fight on purpose
Tsugaru: and nobody really got hurt
Tsugaru: it really wasnt anything scary i promise!
Psyche: Haha, it's okay. I know Tsugaru-san's too nice to really be scary (^w^)
Tsugaru: ...thanks
Tsugaru: hey psyche are you alright?
Psyche: Hm? Yes, I'm okay, why?
Tsugaru: well you write kinda slow today
Tsugaru: normally you write like three lines while i write one
Tsugaru: and that while using big letters and emoji and whatnot
Psyche: Wow, Tsugaru-san's really smart! Or maybe you're paying this much attention to me? Aw, aw, is Tsugaru-san secretly in love with me?! Aw, Tsugaru-san, please stop or I'll blush (n˘v˘•)¬
Tsugaru: psyche come on
Tsugaru: youre evading the question
Tsugaru: are you sure youre okay?
Psyche: I'm alright. Really. I just caught a little cold yesterday, that's why I'm probably writing slowly.
Tsugaru: you sure?
Psyche: Sure. Promise. Tsugaru-san is really cute for worrying, though.
Tsugaru: ...imnot
Tsugaru: cute
Psyche: Awwwww, Tsugaru-san really is, though. Hey, hey, Tsugaru-san, you know? Tsugaru-san is my bestest friend, even though we only know each other in here.
Psyche: ...you know?
Psyche: ...Tsugaru-san?
Tsugaru: sorry you just surprised me
Tsugaru: um
Tsugaru: thank you
Tsugaru: you really made me happy
Tsugaru: like really
Tsugaru: youre a great friend to me too psyche
Tsugaru: now log out and go sleep ok
Tsugaru: take care of yourself
Psyche: Okay, Tsugaru-san.
Psyche: Talk to you tomorrow.
Tsugaru: yeah
– Psyche logged out –
– Tsugaru logged out –
– There is nobody in the chatroom –
– There is nobody in the chatroom –
– There is nobody in the chatroom –
