2 years later
Shizuo blinked, using his finger and thumb to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of all things he had to dream of that bastard. The memory wouldn't leave him and neither would the damn flea's words. Why was he called a flea? Because he had drained the remaining spirit Kasuka had left.
It had been two years since he had met the serial killer and had helped put him away. Two years of constant therapy sessions with his younger brother to put his parents minds at ease. But unlike him who could handle it, Kasuka was another story. Just like every other morning, his younger sibling had sneaked into his bed and was clutching his bed shirt like a life line, brow furrowed and occasionally making a small whimper.
Neither one of them had gone to the trial. Their parents had refused not letting them out of the house. The computer had been taken away back then too. The adults said that Izaya had been put away and wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. For him that was enough. Lock the bastard away and leave him to rot.
Taking a deep breath he knew it wouldn't do any good if Kasuka woke up to witness his temper so early in the morning. Right now he needed to be the responsible big brother. Gently reaching out his hand paused, gaze locking onto the scar on the back of the small hand. It was the same the other side. The knife had gone right through. There was a small crescent shaped scar by his right eye too.
Leaving his brother to sleep, Shizuo stepped into the shower, taking off his bed shirt. Along his chest right over his heart was a thin horizontal scar. The very first one to mark his body permanently had been the flea. It was a constant reminder of how close he had become to losing Kasuka.
"Shizuo! Kasuka! Come on, you two have school." Now that he was dressed, the teen hurried downstairs in case there was little milk left. A lot of things had changed in two years. For a start he was now seventeen. He was actually popular in class even though he could be mistaken for a delinquent.
Grabbing a dish he poured himself some cereal, reaching for the sugar. "Good morning, nii-san. You realize the box says sugar coated." Shrugging his shoulders, Shizuo covered it anyway, reaching for the milk.
"Its better this way." Kasuka sighed, staring at him blankly.
"Better for the dentist."
It wasn't long before their mother came to check on them. "How did you two sleep?" It was a question mainly directed at his brother.
"The same as usual." Kasuka wouldn't share how he felt with anyone.
"Remember you two, straight home after school. No it's Tuesday, isn't it?"
"Yeah. We have therapy after school." Shizuo sighed. He wasn't one to talk about his feelings either.
Their mother seemed uncomfortable. "Well, make sure you call to let us know where you are. If it gets too late your father can pick you up." Neither one of them said anything.
Knowing his own strength and what he could do, he could agree that he was indeed a monster. It was why he spent every waking moment holding back the demon of rage inside him. At least then he could go along with everyone being happy. Somehow he had become the protector of his class. The hero if you asked his classmates. It was that that made him popular and his locker full on valentines day.
Speaking of... Never would he have thought to fall for one of those fairytale romances. It just wasn't him. Kasuka sure, Kadota maybe and Shinra... well Shinra was Shinra. But it had happened. Less than a month ago he had met someone he could actually fall in love with.
That time it wasn't done deliberately. That time his body had moved by itself. A busy station and a girl who would have smashed her head wide open, if he hadn't caught her. Shizuo wasn't one to believe in fate...but yeah, it was fate. Especially since the girl was his classmate.
Chiyoko Wakahisa, a cute but clumsy girl with long dark hair that fell to her waist and dark chocolate eyes he could stare into forever. That was who he had saved and that was who had blushed bright crimson while asking him out under the famous tree, in view of the whole school.
If he had said no, he really would've been known as a monster. Not that it mattered, the girl had already captivated him, so of course he said yes. Because of who he was no one said anything bad about their relationship or acted out in jealousy.
As usual Kasuka was silent on their walk, minute seconds away from reaching for his sleeve. The bastard flea had damaged his baby brother and that he would never forgive. The two of them walked side by side ignoring everyone around them.
It didn't take them long to reach the gate. They were early so it didn't matter how long they took. "Nii-san, I'll see you after school." There was nothing he could do as his brother hurried off. Going in the opposite direction he knew everyone would already be in class. It had been lucky that way. To be put in the same class as his girlfriend and all his friends, it had been a great start to the year.
Sliding the door back, there was only a small group of students in. It was just like every other classroom. Black board and teacher's desk at the front, then five desks in five rows, each one had a number on, so it was easy when it came to re-arranging. Besides that his teacher had a memory like a sieve.
Shizuo had a seat by the window on the fourth row, the number on his desk was seventeen. Right in front of him at desk twelve was Chiyoko. Right at the front by the window at desk two was Shinra. His other friends Kadota, Karisawa and Walker sat along the back row, desks twenty six, twenty four and twenty three.
They were his group of friends, apart from that he got along with everyone in class, especially Tomoyuki Sanda who sat next to him at desk eighteen. For... odd reasons, his pencil was always breaking. The class rep was their stationary supply as well as their study guide for make up tests.
"Morning." Everyone was crowded around his desk.
"Good morning, Shizuo-kun." His now permanent frown twitched.
"Morning, Chiyoko." The girl blushed. Shizuo sighed noticing the looks he was getting.
"Why? Why do you get to flirt so openly first thing in the morning? My beloved pushed me away." Everyone groaned knowing where this was going.
"Shizu-Shizu! Did you watch it? Everyone else missed it." As did he. Erika Karisawa was the class otaku along with Yumasaki Walker.
"Sorry I missed it." The girl pouted clearly upset.
"I'm not having this. I want all of you to go home and watch it tonight." No one argued. Karisawa could tend to be a little unhinged when things didn't go her way.
The bell rang loud, everyone getting to their seats. Chiyoko looked back and smiled, making the both of them blush. The door slid open one by one his classmates filing in. "Get to your seats." The first thing he noticed were that seats thirteen and fourteen were empty. Mika if he remembered correctly was absent due to illness. Today was the first day that Seji wasn't in.
Along with those two the seat next to him was empty. The class rep with perfect attendance wasn't in. "Number two."
From the front he could hear Shinra's voice "Here." One by one their number was called.
"Number eighteen?" The teacher looked up staring at the empty space. "He's not in today?" Glancing around the classroom, everyone was shaking their heads.
Turning back, a dark shadow caught him eye. His gaze snapped to the window. It was mere seconds. Unsure of what he had seen he looked out of the window seeing the teen laying on the ground, limbs bent in a way that shouldn't have been possible.
Shizuo covered his mouth looking away. "Was that?" His classmates rushed to the window, looking down at the scene. In front of him his girlfriend was shaking. "No way! Tomoyuki." Hushed whispers went around the room.
"Get back to your seats!" The teacher left the room, leaving them all to wonder what had happened.
"Hey! He hasn't moved yet. Kishitani, will he be okay?" All eyes were on Shinra, the son of a doctor.
"Probably not. You can see the way his body is bent. Look the amount of blood there means he's bled out. Probably cracked his skull right open." One of the girls was staring out of the window tears rolling down her cheeks.
When the teacher returned he wasn't alone. Outside the class rep was surrounded by paramedics, lights flashing on the ambulance outside the school gates. "I've been told to send you all home. I want everyone in a single file." The girl at the window hadn't moved. "In your desk orders. Now."
In single file they left the classroom. If what Shinra had said was true then the teen wouldn't survive. His next concern was whether Kasuka had seen it or not. If the scene somehow triggered his panic attacks... Glancing down the line he could see every student looking confused. He couldn't see his girlfriend. Was she upset as well?
School was dismissed all of them led away from the scene. The other classes didn't know who it was that had fallen from the roof. Glancing up his gaze went to the roof. His stomach turned, hearing Izaya's cold laughter in his head. With a sigh he unwrapped a strawberry lolly. They didn't work much any more. Maybe he had been affected more than he had thought.
They walked in their usual group. Kadota, Karisawa and Walker in their own little group. Shinra was on his own talking non-stop about the love of his life and he was standing between Kasuka and Chiyoko. They were the only two that seemed to be affected by what had just happened. His girlfriend's hand was slipped into his right, while Kasuka held onto his sleeve on his left.
"Nii-san, that was your classmate, right?" Shizuo swallowed twirling the lolly.
"Yeah. He was the one I was telling you about. He would always bring in enough stationary for everyone. He was more of a teacher than our actual one." They all fell into silence. Shizuo hoped Tomoyuki made a full recovery, the teen had done a lot for him.
"Well then. We have the rest of the day off. What should we do?" Shinra was looking excited, no doubt wanting to rush home to the amnesiac Celty.
"For a start all of you are going home right now to watch the new episode." Karisawa clenched her fists, before squealing loudly. "You'll never guess what happens...ah! Spoilers. But I want to tell you."
Kadota smiled in apology. "Okay, we'll go and watch it first. Then lets meet up at the fountain in two hours?" All of them nodded in agreement.
"Shizuo-kun, see you soon." They lived in different directions.
"Yeah, see you." It wasn't good to leave her alone but right now he had to get Kasuka home. They would see each other in a bit any way.
The next to leave were the two otakus, Karisawa dragging them into the nearest shop to check out the new manga. "I'll let you borrow any new volumes." They were gone in seconds, a quiet Walker trying to catch up.
"I guess I should check on them." Shinra was still talking to himself. "Shizuo, I'm sure Tomoyuki is fine." Shizuo watched Kadota run into the store.
"We're back." Neither one of his parents were in the house, both of them at work. "Kasuka, are you okay?" His brother hadn't uttered a word.
"Fine, nii-san. I'm going to my room." Where he would probably stay all day until his therapy appointment.
Shizuo sighed, kicking his shoes off. Trudging upstairs he heard Kasuka's door slam. Going into his own room, the door was kept open in case anything happened. The computer was now in his room. Pressing the button he waited for it to load, shrugging off his light blue blazer.
Once the computer had finished loading, the teen opened a web page accessing his favourites. One of his favourite sites popped up. Finding the episode link, he sat back in the chair waiting for it to load. "Fuck. Why is this so slow?" It took two hours to watch a half an hour episode. Karisawa would know if they had seen it or not.
Shizuo growled irritably seeing a small red line, the video buffering. Throwing the lolly stick away, the screen flickered momentarily. "What the hell?" Moving the mouse, the cursor remained where it was. Had he managed to break yet another device?
Coffee eyes widened the little white cursor moving by itself. He could do nothing but watch as it went through the programs opening a document. Shizuo stared at the blank white document. A small smiley face appearing. Then a black cat with a sort of Cheshire grin. Over and over the same picture pattern appeared. Was it some sort of virus? His stomach dropped as the font size was changed. SHI by now he was getting chills yet something compelled him to keep watching. ZU- It couldn't be. There was only one bastard... CHAN.
Shizuo rolled the chair back wanting to run from the room. The same word was typed over and over again in red. SHIZU-CHAN. SHIZU-CHAN. SHIZU-CHAN. SHIZU-CHAN. It was as if his computer was cursed. There was one last smiley face that sent a shudder through him before a new web page was opened. This video loaded immediately, his hand quickly slamming the door shut.
Breaking News scrolled across the bottom of the screen, showing a picture of a white building. The cursor moved again, turning the sound up all the way, the report blaring through the small speakers. "We are live outside the mental institution, known for holding some of the most deranged criminals. We have yet to hear from the directors just how they managed to let one of the most dangerous serial killers escape."
An image flashed up of the same bastard teen he had met two years ago. "Izaya Orihara,a teenage boy who was the culprit for twelve murders and maybe more to be uncovered. The very teen who was said to be a demon and was judged as completely insane and delusional. The teen is highly dangerous and should not be approached at any cost. If you see this boy don't be fooled and report it to the nearest authority. We advise you not to stay out late.
The woman smiled as she finished reading the auto cue. "That's all for from me and now onto the weather." Shizuo stared at the screen from where he was sitting on the floor, his mouth agape in shock. "...No." Izaya Orihara was loose. The bastard flea that hurt his brother was roaming around. The cursor was moving again, back to the page covered in his name. His head fell into his hands as he read the new typing.
I told you they couldn't hold me. See you soon, Shizu-chan.
