Izaya opened his eyes.
"I get it," Izaya said to the face full of bemusement. "No. Don't ask."
"I didn't even say anything."
"Your expression is practically screaming it – 'what did you do this time?'"
"Well you can't blame me," Shinra said leisurely as Izaya raised himself up.
"I let you go off to Shizuo, Celty comes back and tells me you're acting weird. I only get to spend a little time with my beloved before my door is broken in and Shizuo comes in, throws you like a sack of potatoes, and yells about 'the flea going bonkers' and that I better cure you this time before stomping off. Oh by the way you're paying for my door."
"Why me? It's not my fault Shizu-chan overreacted."
"Haha. What did you do to him?"
"Something surprising. By the way where's Celty?"
"She went after Shizuo, of course!" Shinra lamented, throwing his hands up into the air with a beseeching gaze. "This is all your fault, Izaya! When Celty came back I thought for once you were doing a good deed, but no, you just had to do something again didn't you?"
"Hey," Izaya defended himself, "I didn't think he'd punch me. Well, I knew he would do something, but I didn't see it coming."
"You didn't see it coming? Alright just what exactly did you do?"
"Who knows?" Izaya's smirk was a pain-filled one even as he threw his arm over the back of the couch, wincing. "My information is costly, you know."
Shinra just smiled at him. Izaya closed his eyes, and spoke aloud.
"Orihara Izaya is in a rare state of…indecision. So, whatever words he says in the next minute is not from him but him ten years ago, to his friend whom he met then."
"Hm? Alright…Izaya-kun."
Izaya smiled wryly.
"Hey Shinra."
"What is it?"
"I discovered I can see lies."
"See lies?"
"Yeah."
"How does that work? Do you see lies floating around?" Shinra swatted at the air near him, smiling widely. "What do they look like? Is that why you've been acting so strangely…Orihara-kun?"
"I see numbers," Izaya opened his eyes.
"There's a number above every human's head. That number represents the number of lies someone has told in his or her lifetime."
"A number huh. What's mine, Orihara-kun?"
"1000."
"Are you serious?! 1000?! That's pretty high! And I thought I was an honest man!"
"You are honest, you've probably only lied to Celty right? Yours is a really low number, Shinra. The average is around 40 000. Most adults have over 50 000, maybe even 60 000 if they're particularly dishonest."
"…That must be tough. What's your number, Izaya?"
"I can't see my own number."
Really," Shinra leaned back, placing his chin on his hand. "But I'm surprised. Is this the reason why you've been acting strangely? I thought this was a power you would have loved to have! Is it a result from that accident?"
"Maybe," said Izaya, "Oh it was wonderful at first, and oh so useful. I loved it. It made human observation even more enjoyable!"
"But then it got boring. It's no fun if I know it's a lie. It spoils the game. It's no fun if I know what kind of person the human is." The information broker spoke. "I can't have my expectations surpassed."
"Everywhere I go, that's all I see. Numbers. Numbers only I can see, and I can't even see my own. It's like I'm not even human."
"I hate it," Izaya pushed his hair away from his forehead. "I hate it, Shinra. It's annoying. I can't observe my humans like I used to do. These numbers get in the way. And I don't know what to do to make them go away."
Well," Shinra said, "I suppose, Orihara-kun, if you were a different guy, you would be really depressed. I mean, people lie, that's a fact of life. But to see and know just how much people lie, how dishonest people really are, that's got to be hard."
"But fortunately, you're not that soft-hearted, right? So it's totally fine! Well, you seem to be upset that it ruins your game with your humans but I think if the power really had to be given, you'd be the best person to receive it. After all, if it were anyone else, well, they would definitely be worse off than you."
"Such a comfort you are, Shinra." Izaya said. "But then again, my friend doesn't care for humans at all, right?"
He stood up from the couch, brushing himself off and styling his hair back into place.
When he looked up, his usual smirk was back on his face again. His posture was relaxed, his hands inserted comfortably into his pockets.
Yet Shinra didn't miss the tiredness in his eyes.
"Ah, that was a nice nap. Well thanks for the treatment Shinra, guess I'll be going now."
Shinra followed the man with his gaze for a while, before he smiled.
"Hey Izaya. What's Shizuo's number?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh come on. I'm really curious! Seeing Shizuo is so honest, if mine is 1000 what could his be?"
"Oh I don't know, Shizu-chan isn't human you know."
"So he doesn't have a number?"
"I wish."
"Seeing as you were so surprised at Shizuo's number you didn't see the bench coming," Shinra mused, "It must be something really surprising right? You didn't react that way when you saw my number, so it must be lower than mine."
"Nothing."
"What?"
"Nothing." Izaya said. "That's his number."
"Nothing? You mean?"
"His number is 0." Izaya glanced back at the shocked expression on Shinra's face.
"Heiwajima Shizuo has never lied in his life."
"And he's probably the only human who has never told a lie," Izaya turned back with a dry smirk. "…If he were human, that is. Ahhh….it really pisses me off."
"Ha…ahaha…I didn't see that one coming. And he told me I was blunt!"
"You asked." Izaya smiled wryly and walked off, raising a hand. "See you, Shinra."
"Hey, my door! The money for my door! Remember to include it in the payment!" Shinra called after him, waving his hands wildly, "You pissed Shizuo off so it's your fault!"
"While I would accept that accusation any other time, I wasn't planning to," Izaya said, a petulant tone in his voice.
"I was just trying to get him to lie, that's all."
He was out of the door before Shinra could respond, walking as his mind was occupied with thoughts.
- Ahh…it really pisses me off.
Izaya's fist clenched.
- Just you wait, Shizu-chan.
His lips curled at the edges, as his eyes glinted with malevolence shadowed with frustration.
- That number…
- That number which shouldn't even exist –
I won't allow you to have it.
…
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Tens of thousands until it becomes half of hundred thousand.
They're big numbers.
How can humans lie until they reach their number?
It's simple.
Because once you lie, you can't stop.
Once you tell a lie, you realize what lying is.
You realize not telling the truth is not that bad.
Why? It doesn't harm anyone. Whether it's a kid lying to his mother that he did his homework, or a teenage boy lying that he has a girlfriend when he actually doesn't.
After all, it's not as if it would actually affect anyone. Say that kid didn't lie, and told the truth. He would probably be scolded by his mother. Or that teenage boy said that he was single. He would be laughed at by his friends who have girlfriends.
That's right. Compare that with the situation of lying. The kid wouldn't be scolded, the teenage boy wouldn't be scorned. And it's not as if the lie would come back to them in a bad way. If they're careful that is.
Isn't it awfully convenient?
Lies make humans feel more comfortable about themselves, it lets them avoid what they don't want to see.
It protects them from feeling what they don't want to feel.
Everyone lies. It's an unsaid truth. Of course, lying is considered bad, but everyone does it. They just don't speak of it.
Why? Because humans live in a society. And in society, there's social interaction.
It's not as if it's intentional. In trying to discover themselves, humans inevitably tell lies. They may think they're this kind of person, but they're not. That's also considered lying, isn't it?
After all, what kind of human completely accepts the person he is, and can hold onto that resolution while interacting with people under the judgement of society?
Of course, there's me, but I'm different. And that's why I lie. I don't deny my natural inclination to lie, so why not push it further? Why not use it to manipulate my lovely humans and make them tell the lies they try so hard to deny?
I know I'm a horrible person. I'm alright with that really. That's why, it amuses me. My lovely humans are right when they call me a horrible person.
But because I'm a horrible person, I can see. I can see my humans' dark side. Because I'm such a horrible person, I can recognize what humans can't even recognize in themselves, what they refuse to acknowledge. And one of those things, is their natural tendency to lie.
It's beautiful.
That's why I'll embrace it. I'll embrace it all! I'll embrace all those lovely lies my humans tell –
Without those numbers.
I don't like them. Those numbers.
They annoy me.
They ruin my fun.
I don't need to know how many lies a human has told in their lifetime.
I don't need to know the kind of person a human is before I can even assess them.
I don't need that information. I don't need that information at all.
I'm an information broker. I can get all that information myself. I can get information even more useful than such useless information.
But because of those numbers, because those numbers are there, I can't do my job.
I can't be an information broker.
It isn't fun this way.
I love information. But I don't like having too much information. Especially unnecessary information.
It takes the thrill out of the game.
It's boring when I know everything.
And it's all his fault.
Because of that accident, I have this ability which I really could do without.
And perhaps I should be thankful I'm alive, but I can't be bothered to think that way.
Not with this annoyance in my life, that makes my job utterly boring.
As unpredictable as that monster who is to blame.
…How?
How is it even possible for someone to have never told a single lie?
Shizu-chan was isolated in high school, I made sure of that, so he went without social interaction.
But what about before that? Didn't he talk to people at all? Before he became a monster, did he never care what people thought of him?
Theoretically, it's possible. Because lies accumulate after just a single one, if a person never tells the first lie, they can go without telling a lie their entire life.
If they don't know how to lie, if they don't know what lying is, it's possible for them to continue not to lie.
But he knows. He knows what lying is, and yet he has never told a single lie.
He has always thought of nothing but telling the truth.
Lying is not even a possibility to him.
Then, from the moment he gained awareness of himself, at that very young age, he had already accepted himself.
He would have no need to lie about the kind of person he is because he has already accepted the kind of person he is.
…Even adults don't accept themselves.
People don't completely accept themselves until they reach a certain age where they're satisfied enough to accept their life and the person they are.
Just…
Just what kind of monster are you…
…Heiwajima Shizuo?
...
...
I'm back from my exams, but still in pain. Apparently I have a jaw disorder and the wisdom tooth operation had exerted trauma on it, dislocating and relocating the jaw during the operation which is why it still hurts weeks after the operation and I still can't eat properly without pain. Eventually I'll have to go for surgery to relocate my jaw.
But I have decided on the progress of my stories, posted in my profile. I need to go for dental appointments again, so I need time to write. I should be able to update the story I want to complete next week. Twice, if I'm lucky enough since it's been on my mind for some time.
Thank you for the supportive reviews. They cheered me up during exams when I was in pain and stressed. I just can't believe a simple wisdom tooth operation has caused me so many unforseen problems, from all the way before exams to after.
