Chapter two:
"All you're givin me is friction."
"Hey Shizu-chan."
Shizuo averted his gaze from the television to peer at Izaya. "What, flea?" He spoke around the noodles in his mouth before swallowing and repeating himself quietly.
The dark clad man sitting across from him appeared almost sheepish; his fingers briefly tightening on his cup of tea. The look was gone so fast that Shizuo felt he must have imagined it, replaced instead with a carefree grin and a laugh. "Don't forget to chew your food, ne Shizu-chan? Wouldn't want to choke to death seconds before New Year's. How tragic. I would have no one to celebrate with."
He rolled his eyes and tossed a noodle across the small table, hitting its target between the eyes. "Ah shut it. The countdown is starting."
"I just said that, weren't you listening, eh?" Izaya sat up straighter, eyes roaming towards the figure splayed out on Shizuo's couch. His lips quirked up as he said, "Heh, looks like she is going to miss it after all."
"Don't wake her," Shizuo murmured, counting down to midnight in his head. "She needs the sleep."
"Well that's no fun at all. It's her first New Years, we must celebrate-! Don't look at me in that tone of voice."
Midnight was announced with joyous enthusiasm over the television, its bright glow illuminating Shizuo's darkened apartment. Somewhere in the distance, a single bell could be heard. Shizuo turned away from the screen just in time to see Izaya look away from him. He raised an eyebrow, wondering why the flea hadn't been watching the countdown.
He reached over to punch his shoulder. "Happy New Year's… Izaya."
"That was a horrible New Year's present, Shizu-chan," Izaya whined, rubbing his aching shoulder.
-.-.-.-.-.-
With an all-consuming, numbing rage fueling his weakened body, Shizuo launched to his feet; intent on discovering just how far he could shove his foot up Izaya's ass. Clenched fists barreled towards his bedroom door, but froze mere inches from the wood. The squeak of worn out hinges had caught his attention. Expecting Celty to come drifting in and scold him for being out of bed, Shizuo planted his feet where he stood. She wasn't going to talk him out of this one.
Shizuo raised an eyebrow when she didn't walk through the now open door. He took a curious step forward and spoke up, "Uh, Celty?"
"IZAAAAYAAAAAA~!" A joyous cry that rivaled Shizuo's in volume erupted from directly in front of him, sending him stumbling backwards. Eyes wide and heart hammering, Shizuo dropped his gaze down. Hiding just behind the door stood a little girl; little being the key word.
He could only blink as the speck of a girl threw her hands up and sang out, "IZAAAYAAA~!"
"Why are you..?" Shizuo began, incredulous. "Are you copying me?"
Her dark eyes sparkled with absolute delight as she said, "Are you copyin' me?" Laughter spilled out after the words left her, bubbly and carefree.
His shock at seeing, and hearing, a young girl laughing it up and having a grand ol' time in his doorway was enough to stifle the all-encompassing anger from moments ago; much like throwing cold water on hot flames.
Pixie like features, partially hidden behind a mass of dark waves and an enormous wool cap, were pulled up into the sweetest of smiles. Every second that the toddler continued to smile up at Shizuo pushed him towards a whole new realm of confusion. She looked like she just came inside, too. Flakes of snow were still peppering her hair and matching coat. Said coat was really bugging him; the shear amount of fluff was nightmarish.
Shizuo stomped down the thought that this kid's eclectic fashion sense reminded him of the flea.
"...What the fuck?" He groaned out, putting a hand against his aching head. Blood was coating his palm, sticky and unpleasant.
The kid in front of him blinked and started to kick her little yellow sneakers against the carpet. "What the fuck?" She squeaked out, sounding very much like a mouse.
So she was copying him. Shizuo's lip twitched, unsure whether to be amused or bewildered.
"Hmph." Shaking his head slowly, Shizuo wished that any part of this morning would make sense. Damn it, he had just woken up and already he was fed up with the day.
Fucking flea. This was probably all his doing.
"Who the hell- Er, Who are you, anyway, kid?" He asked as gently as he could.
When he got no response he took a step to the side, trying to peer past her into the apartment. Now that he was paying attention, he swore that he could hear more people talking- arguing actually. He wiped blood away from his eyes before turning his attention down to the… toddler that had grown silent as a grave. Dark eyes wide with fright and shimmering with tears were staring at Shizuo's blood soaked hand.
Shit, he must have scared her.
"Hey, kiddo, how about you tell me your name?" Shizuo made a conscious effort to speak softer, but his pain was showing in his voice. It was beginning to get harder to concentrate, but he didn't want the kid to be scared of him. He was not the monster or beast that so many proclaimed him to be.
"How about it?" He kneeled down in front of her, smiling. "I'm Shizuo, what's your name?"
Her eyes watched horror stricken, as blood dripped with ease from Shizuo's fingers.
Tears spilled down onto pink cheeks as she let out a distraught scream. Shizuo cursed himself and jumped up to go get Celty but a wave of dizziness struck him, effectively introducing his face to the carpet.
Red and black spots filled his vision.
He let out another string of curses and tried to right himself, pausing on his knees when several figures stormed into the room. With his vision momentarily obscured all he could do was listen as a familiar voice cooed soothing words to the hysterical girl.
Gloved hands, thick from heavy wool, pressed against Shizuo's cheek. "Shizuo? Hey, we need to get you back into bed! You're recreating a horror flick on your bedroom floor. Seriously, Celty, look at all this blood! It's a good thing you texted me, my dear."
"Shinra," Shizuo sighed, relieved, and accepted the hands guiding him to his feet. "Can't you see the kid is pissed off enough without you chatting her up about blood and creepy shit? Just patch me up already."
Shinra merely laughed and pushed him towards the bed, "Oh, she'll live! You on the other hand~"
Shizuo blinked away the spots in his vision as he stumbled back into bed, the cool tendrils of Celty's smoke guiding him far more gently than Shinra had been. Around Shinra's chatting he could hear footsteps leaving the room, the toddler's whimpers following them out. Ruling out Shinra and Celty, who were obviously preoccupied with him, Shizuo assumed one of her parents had taken her out of the room.
"So how did you get shot, anyway?"
He could only stare as Shinra dropped down next to him, too surprised by the information to respond properly.
"You don't remember? Interesting~ Celty mentioned that she found you unconscious in bed. The bullet must have just torn against your skull. " Shinra mused, already examining the wound on his head. Shizuo could only grunt before expert fingers were poking and prodding at his head, earning a sharp hiss in protest. "It's deeper than a graze, that's for sure. Certainly not a penetrating shot. Too bad, I would have loved to try brain surgery on you."
He would have chastised his friend for having too much fun at his expense, but somehow Shinra sounded considerably less chipper than usual. There was a low undertone to his voice that hadn't been there before.
"It didn't… Nick anything important, did it?" Shizuo asked, eyeing Shinra.
"Well, it doesn't seem to have penetrated your skull, like I said. The skull itself could be fractured, though." Shinra accepted a spare towel from Celty, who was attempting to wipe some of the blood off of Shizuo's face and neck. The young doctor dipped his head down to smile at her, but his attempts at being noticed fell short.
Shinra waved him off when he raised an eyebrow at him. "You obviously lost a lot of blood… That's my main concern right now. Just… lemme get these stitches in, and then I'll pump you full of some fresh blood and nutrients! Fun, right? Well, more fun than being shot."
"It was that damn flea." Shizuo growled out. "Another one of his fucked up schemes I'm sure. Freak even messed with my phone. See?" He dropped his cell phone off into Celty's hands the moment she sat on the bed beside him.
She stared at him for several moments before turning her smokey gaze down to the phone.
On his other side, Shinra's hands froze for the briefest moment, before jumping right back into his work stitching up the oozing gash in his skull. "Heh, what do you mean? Sure you guys still fight from time to time, but I thought things were looking up!"
[Shizuo, I don't think there is anything wrong with your phone. Are you sure? What do you think he messed with? I don't see anything out of the ordinary. . .] Celty held up her phone, shoulders tensed.
"That ingrate is up to something, I know it!" He gritted his teeth, "Look… Just look at the date and try to tell me he isn't screwing with me." On the inside, he was cursing Izaya with every thought. This was why he hated him. Around every corner he was causing trouble, always dragging Shizuo into the mess. If he didn't hate him, this would hurt a hell of a lot more.
He just had to hate him.
Shinra leaned over Shizuo to join Celty, who tensed up at his nearness, in inspecting the phone. He watched them, wondering if the tension between them was only his imagination. Another oddity to tack onto this messed up day. He would put a tack in that one and ask Celty about it later.
"Uh, I don't see anything..." Shinra pursed his lips.
"What are we looking at, ne? Shizu-chan doesn't have anything worth looking at on here, I've checked."
All three of them turned to stare at Izaya. With everyone's attention preoccupied, the informant had walked into the room unnoticed. That is, until he dropped down onto the bed beside Celty and started peering at the phone. The strangest thing hit Shizuo just then, even stranger than waking up with a bullet wound and a messed up calendar. Because as fucked up and weird as those things still were, not being furious at the sight of his longtime enemy clearly topped the list. The irritating vibe he got from the informant was still the same as ever, but his body wasn't tensing up at the sight of that coat. Those eyes weren't causing him to grit his teeth.
It wasn't even anger that was making his pulse go insane.
The conflict of the century was warring inside him; on one hand his head was calling for the flea's head on a stick, but there was something else conflicting that hate. Something that warmed pleasantly from his presence. His body was reacting to the flea in ways it had never dared before, and his mind could do nothing to stop it.
This was bad. He had to hate Izaya, so he would find an excuse to do so.
Shizuo sniffed the air, eyes narrowing dangerously.
Weirder yet, the usual odor that always permeated Izaya's being was gone. Instead, it was replaced with the scent of baby powder.
Izaya lifted his head to look at Shizuo, meeting his gaze evenly. There was no fear there, no concern for his own safety. For some reason he didn't seem to even be considering the idea that Shizuo might attack him or throw him out the nearest window.
The informant tilted his head, oblivious to Shizuo's conflict, and smirked, "Eh? Do I have something on my face?"
Shizuo studied him, taking in the untidiness of his hair, the wrinkled clothing, and found his excuse. "This is all a part of your game isn't it, flea? Disguising your scent, messing up your clothes, acting all calm. Tch. It's all a trick to catch me off guard, isn't that right? So you can finish the job." He motioned towards the wound Shinra was stitching.
"No, you are too much of a fucking coward for that. You'd probably get some other poor bastard to do your dirty work." He frowned at Izaya, ignoring the stunned looks his two other companions were giving him. Briefly, he wondered why they were surprised, but he had to admit that something was different in this fight. For it was unusually hard to raise his voice against the flea.
Izaya's smirk was gone.
"Stop fighting!" A tiny voice squeaked out, choked with emotion.
Shizuo kept his gaze narrowed on Izaya while the informant twisted his body away to face the whimpering voice in the doorway. "Ah, Dora-chan..." Izaya chirped, seemingly ignoring Shizuo. "Don't worry, Shizu-chan and I are just playing. But I think I've had enough playing for one day. Why don't you go put your shoes back on, ne? I'll be right out."
Shizuo spared a glance at the child, immediately feeling his anger dip at the sight of her.
The child blinked several times and her nose scrunched up. The room was silent while she seemed to consider her options. Pink socked feet kicked at the carpet for several breathes before she let out a desperate whine and spun around to stomp out of the room. He watched her go, suspicion beginning to build his anger back up.
Once she was out of earshot, he snapped his gaze back to Izaya and growled out, "Where did you get the kid from, flea? Kidnapping. That's a new low for you, but I can't say I'm surprised." The informant lifted his head to stare at him, eyes torn apart with distain, but still he said nothing. This silent flea was really beginning to unnerve him.
[Shizuo. . . ] Celty grabbed his arm, but he ignored her. [Shizuo. . ! Listen to us for a minute. Something is clearly wrong!]
"Yeah, wrong with him!" Shizuo snapped.
Shinra chose this moment to harshly jab another stitch into Shizuo's skull, making him wince. "Izaya don't listen to him. The Talkers were most likely the ones who attacked him, we all know that." The informant scrutinized Shinra before dropping an apathetic gaze to Shizuo's neck; drops of blood were making eerie lines down. His lips tightened into a hard line.
Celty clapped her hands together, [Exactly! They have been after you for ages, Izaya! It's not surprising they went after Shizuo this time. . . ]
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Shizuo barked.
Shinra's eyes lit up, "Oh Celty you spoke to me! Well, not directly but its good enough for me!" The leather clad woman just crossed her arms, making the doctor wilt like an old flower. Regardless, there was a noticeable pep to his step now.
The bed shifted, and Shizuo turned to watch as Izaya got to his feet. With every step the man took towards the door, the more his own chest tightened.
Celty jumped to her feet right after him, making Izaya pause right at the threshold. [Izaya don't go. . . It's got to have something to do with being him shot in the head! Maybe something got hit. . . Right, Shinra?] Shizuo strained to sit forward so he could read her message as well, but it only exasperated him.
"I'm fine." He grumbled.
His protest fell on deaf ears, however. Shinra hummed, running a substance across the stitches he placed. "Yeah you can't go home yet, Izaya. I have our apartment key, so you're stuck here~" He teased, but a look from Shizuo made him flinch, "O-oh right, the shot! Well, the bullet didn't go through bone. I'd say it's more likely the fractured skull is impacting his memory in some way, perhaps other functions as well. He's not bleeding from his ears or nose, so that's a good sign. His brain is most likely bruised or swollen because of the fracture."
"You think I'm what, brain damaged?"
Shinra started pressing his fingers into Shizuo's arm as he spoke, searching for a vein. "Technically, sure. It's serious, but the skull tends to do its own healing. I'll give you some good painkillers and you'll be good to go. Just don't exert yourself, Shizuo.
[I'll keep an eye on him,] Celty turned away from Izaya to show them the message.
"There we go, team effort!"
"I don't need a babysitter." Shizuo pressed his hand against his eyes. It was a lot to take in all at once. Brain damage was never something he had ever considered a possibility for him, but maybe it just proved how human he really was.
[If I didn't watch over you, you would keep trying to fight with Izaya.] Celty's phone was close enough when he opened his eyes that his breathe fogged up the screen. [You obviously don't remember a lot of things right now, and I don't either of you to say more things you'll regret later. Trust me, ok?]
Shizuo wondered why she was pushing that point so much, but if he really was forgetting some key elements then it was likely best to trust her judgement. She had never let him down before, so he simply nodded.
"Well… Even if I do have swelling or a fracture, or whatever the hell you said Shinra, I still think he is responsible for causing it! I'm actually injured, are you happy now, louse?" He glared at the informant's back, fists clenched from holding himself back.
Izaya stuffed his hands into his pockets and shifted his stance, still facing out into the apartment. His mumbled words were so listless that Shizuo barely heard them. "I wish I didn't remember what being happy felt like." With that, he strode out without bothering to look back at any of them.
-.-.-.-.-.-
Seconds later found Izaya paused just outside Shizuo's apartment building, hood pulled up to protect his ears from the cold. Bundled up in his arms was a sniffling child, her mess of long hair tickling his neck. He brushed her hair back, fingers shaking as he whispered, "Happy New Year's, Shizu-chan." The whipping winds seemed to blow away his words, never to be heard by their intended party.