A/N: Wow, two chapters in one night. I just already had two chapters written, and I left a bit of a cliffhanger for this Izaya's plotline in chapter one. Enjoy.
My hands seemed to have taken on a sudden mind of their own, flying over the black and white keys of the piano without faltering once, playing a song I didn't even recognize, or have time to recognize. I played and played for what seemed like forever, and when I finally stopped, I felt tired and dizzy. I slowly stood, not wanting to fall over.
"Izaya! You shouldn't be putting so much energy into practice yet, you just got out of the hospital." Namie reprimanded, shaking her head disappointedly.
"Ah, don't worry, I'm alright." I laughed, sitting down on the couch to rest, "Besides, I spent half of yesterday sleeping anyways, I'm not in need of much more rest." I noticed my cell phone on the coffee table, and picked it up. This version of me must only have one. I guess he would only need one, not being an informant like I am. I turned the phone on, and scrolled through the folder of contacts. I paused, seeing a contact marked "Shizu-chan". The weird part about it was the contact photo, it was a slightly blurry photo of Shizu-chan, grinning at the camera and holding up his hand in a V sign. I'd never seen him smile like that before.. This was too peculiar for words. I closed the contacts, and opened the photo gallery, scrolling through pages and pages of photos. It was so unnatural, seeing all the photos of myself with other people, and I felt that warm, happy feeling in my chest again. I quickly closed my phone.
"Iza-nii? Are you okay?" Mairu questioned. I forgot they were still here.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." I sighed softly, combing through my hair with a free hand, "You two need to be at school." I tried to persuade them to leave, and surprisingly, it worked.
"Ahahaha, right, sorry Iza-nii!" Mairu chirped, and before she could open her mouth again, Kururi dragged her out the door.
"You can leave too, Namie, I'm fine." I sighed.
She crossed her arms before speaking, "I'm not leaving. You need someone here with you, damn idiot." She rolled her eyes, before walking to the other room, where she put the bag containing my medicine on the counter. "I'm going to make you some food."
"Ah, no need, I just ate." I shook my head at her.
"Ugh, fine. I'm going to clean up around the house, you always leave it such a mess." And with that, she left, proceeding to make her rounds around the house. I laughed half heartedly, and laid back on the couch. Planning to sleep through the rest of the day, I closed my eyes slowly.
When I woke up, no light shone through the massive windows of the apartment, aside from the city lights. Ah, I love the nighttime so much. I smiled, and got to my feet, running to the window and looking out. People still bustled about on the streets below, despite it being far, far past midnight. My smile spread into a grin, ah, how I love my humans! I pressed my nose against the glass and stared down, mesmerized by the movements of the swarms of humans below me on the ground. I pulled back, and spun around, forgetting all about being forced into this different world, until my phone rang. I sighed, and looked at the caller ID. Shinra.
"He-llo?" I asked, enunciating the word in a purposefully strange way.
"Izaya! Celty said you got let out of the hospital this morning, your housekeeper told her! How are you feeling?" Shinra answered me all too cheerfully.
"I'm fine, Shinra. I fell asleep as soon as I got home." I replied calmly.
"Oh, good! And I wanted to ask you something!"
"And what is that?"
"Well, we were already planning to do this, buuut, since you're out of the hospital, it can be a celebratory thing now too!"
"Yes, yes, but what in God's name is it?"
"We're having a hotpot party tomorrow, today I guess, since it's after midnight, me and Celty are, and we're inviting everyone, so of course we were going to invite you too! Do you want to come? It'll be fun!" Hearing this, I promptly dropped my phone, not caring when it clattered to the floor by my feet. I couldn't help it, tears pooled at the corners of my eyes, spilling out fast, and hard, heavy sobs making my body shake.
"Izaya? Izaya, are you okay? What's wrong? Hey, answer me!" Shinra's voice was faintly playing through the phone's speaker. I slumped down, falling to my knees, and picked up the phone, smiling as I spoke,
"Y-yes... I-I'd love t-to come..." The shaky smile began to feel more and more genuine, and I tried to stop crying, so he wouldn't worry.
"Great! H-hey, is something wrong? It sounds like you're crying." Shinra sounded worried.
"Ah... I-I'm okay, don't w-worry Shinra.." I tried to calm my shaking hands.
"If you say so.. I'll see you tomorrow- Today, sorry." He laughed.
"Bye..." I smiled, and ended the call, before shakily getting to my feet. I slowly padded across the apartment to the bathroom, and stopped in front of the mirror, sighing at my reflection. I brushed my bangs out of my eyes, wishing they weren't so long in this body. "I guess Shinra inviting me to his little party is one good thing to come out of this." I smiled at my reflection, combing through my matted hair with my fingers, "Ah.. I've never been invited to a hotpot party before, this'll be fun.. And it's being held in my honour, at least partially~.." I tapped my cheek with my fingers gently. I slowly pulled off my coat, then my black v-neck, then my shoes, then my skinny jeans, and finally, my underwear. I slowly walked over to the bathtub, and turned on the water, waiting patiently for the large tub to fill up. I slowly slid down into the water, sighing in relief when the water made contact with my skin. I sighed softly again, and gently unwrapped the now slightly damp bandages on my arms. I trailed my fingers gently along the cuts, humming tunelessly. "Ah... I'm so happy.." I breathed out slowly, running my fingers through my hair, laying back in the water, a content smile on my face. "Huh...? I just... said... said something..." I murmured. My head felt fuzzy, I couldn't remember what I said, but I felt my chest burning with that happy warmth, which began to spread all over my body. I gently wrapped my arms around my body, a small smile forming on my lips. Ah, I feel so happy, it's so nice, I want to cry. I felt hot tears spilling down my cheeks before I knew it. I smiled just the slightest bit more. I feel so warm and happy..
Suddenly, I jumped awake, the now cold bathwater sloshing in the tub around me, morning sunlight streaming in through a window. I sighed dramatically, and heaved myself out of the tub, draining it and pulling on a bathrobe, before promptly filling the tub up again.
"Well, I didn't clean myself.." I sighed, and walked to the kitchen to make myself some coffee. A note sat on the kitchen counter. "Izaya, I came to check on you, but your bedroom door was locked, so I assumed you were sleeping. I went to buy your groceries, I'll be back in a bit - Namie" The note read. I smiled at it as I made my coffee, before heading back to the bathroom, and calmly shrugging off my bathrobe. I sat down in the bathtub, sipping my coffee, a relaxed smile crossing my face. I set the coffee mug down once it was empty, and proceeded to clean myself meticulously. After around an hour, I heaved myself out of the tub again, and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around my waist and walking to my room. I dramatically threw open the closet doors, and sighed when I realized, this version of me may have a similar fashion sense to my own, but certainly not identical. I reluctantly grabbed black skinny jeans, a red shirt, and a black leather jacket, and got dressed. I looked like I did in high school. Shame. I ran a hand through my still damp hair, pausing when I heard a 'ding' from my cell phone. I picked it up, seeing a text from Shinra. 'we're still on for the hotpot party tnight right? you're not ditching are you?' I smiled at Shinra's text, before remembering it wasn't a joke. Right. My smile weakened, and I quickly replied with 'Oh, of course. I guess I'll see you then, then.' I looked up from my phone, hearing a knock at the door of my room.
"Izaya? It's me, it's Namie, I'm back. I brought you lunch, and groceries." Ah, so she's back.
"O-oh, thank you, I'll be right out." I hesitated when I heard my voice. It sounded.. Different, more quiet. I shook it off with a sigh, and left my room.
"Izaya, are you really feeling alright? You look like a wreck." Namie looked up from the bags of groceries she was unloading.
"I-I'm fine, I promise I am.. I fell asleep in the bath last night.." I seemed to have developed a minor stutter. Lovely.
"Ugh, you're such an idiot! You really can fall asleep anywhere, can't you.." She shook her head in disapproval.
"I-I'm sorry." I sighed softly, shoving my hands into my pockets, looking down at my feet.
"Whatever, you need to get some food in your system, you're skinny enough as it is." Namie scoffed, "You look half your age already, we don't need you looking sickly too."
"Okay, thanks..." I lifted my hand in a gentle thanks, before pulling myself up onto a barstool to watch her cook.
"Ugh, it's just me doing my job. You don't have to be so gracious all the time, Izaya."
"Oh? I'm... I'm gracious?"
"Of course you are. You're always stuttering apologies when you forget to eat or pass out while you're practicing or get yourself hurt." She rolled her eyes, "Honestly, Izaya, I swear you forget about the most obvious things..."
"Oh, I do...?"
"Yes! What's wrong with you today?"
"Oh, I dunno..." I ran a hand through my hair. Maybe the fact that this isn't my world, has something to do with it, by chance? "Say, Namie, would you mind telling me what I'm like normally?"
"If you want me to.. Strange man... Um... You're usually sort of a crybaby, dramatic, a little immature, you have zero concern for your own health, you take your job really seriously. Seriously, one time I found you sleeping facedown on the piano, and when I woke you up, you told me you hadn't eaten since I showed up to check on you last, which was two days before that. Honestly, you're so stupid.."
"Ah... I see..." I nodded, this me was really nothing like me. Aside from maybe the devotion to his job, nothing whatsoever matched up. Ugh, I want to go back to the right world. I stared at the ground, I just want to go home, I wanna go home! I shook my head, no, get it together Izaya, don't lose it, you've only been here a few days, if you lose it now, you won't be able to get yourself back.
"Izaya? Are you okay over there? Iza- Oh my god, are you crying?"
"H-huh...?" I looked up when Namie's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"You're acting seriously weird today! First you ask what you're normally like, now you're just randomly crying! I'm worried about you-" She suddenly stopped, her eyes locking with the untouched medicine on the kitchen counter. "You haven't taken your medication, have you, Izaya?"
I rubbed tears from my eyes, looking up at her, "A-ah..? Namie, o-of course I have... Why wouldn't I be taking it..?" I smiled sadly.
"I swear to god... You always lie to me. You're such an idiot..." She shook her head, and motioned to me to come closer. I slowly walked up to her, halting when I suddenly felt an warm pair of arms around my body.
"A-ah? S-so, you do have a soul, eh Namie..." I reluctantly rested my head on her shoulder.
"God, Izaya... Are you stupid? Did you forget to take your medicine, or did you not take it on purpose? Either way, you're such an idiot..."
"O-oh... I just don't need to take it, okay...?" Suddenly, I found the bottle of pills shoved into my hand. "H-honestly Namie, you worry too much..." For her, she really is worrying far too much. It's a bit alarming really.. I'm slightly scared of her.
"Of course you do! You can't just NOT take them." She shook her head, "I'm going to make us lunch, promise me you'll start taking your medication?" She took on a caring tone, like that of a doting older sister. I suppose she is an older sister, but I've never seen her like this.
"Sure... Sure Namie, I'll take them..."
"Thank you. Now, I'll make us some lunch." I nodded my thanks to her, rolling the bottle of pills in my hand, calmly reading through every side effect and drug fact. It was a little blurry. Strange. I sighed, I guess this version of me isn't the faultless god that I am.
"Glasses."
"Eh? What on earth are you talking about, Izaya? What's wr- Ah. Your glasses are on the piano, in the red plastic case with a silver fastener." Namie seemed to understand something about my simple realization.
"Ah, thank you.." I stood, walking over to the piano. Sure enough, there were the glasses. A bit big for my tastes, and when I put them on, they sat crooked on my face.
"Lunch is ready."
"Th-thank you." I nodded, and walked into the kitchen, pulling myself back up onto my seat. On the kitchen counter in front of me, sat a simple bowl of rice, served in tea, with some kind of dried fish on top of it. I smiled a thanks, and started eating.
"Are you going to that party that Kishitani-san invited you to?"
"Yes, yes... It's tonight. I'm sure you're more than welcome if you want to come, Namie." I smiled just the slightest bit. I paused mid bite of food, that warm, happy feeling coursing through my body. It tasted amazing, much better than what the ordinary Namie would cook for me. "A-ah.. Thank you for the food.." I murmured, quickly swallowing and flashing her a fully fledged smile for once. The steam from the still hot food made my glasses fog up, so I slipped them off, setting them on the counter next to my food.
"I say this every day, but I'm just doing my job, really." She rolled her eyes.
"I know." I made myself jump with the return of my firmer tone of voice, "Anyways, I'm going to be off now. I'll see you when I return from Shinra's little get together~" I gave a nonchalant wave, calmly leaving the apartment, more than a little relieved to see my ordinary demeanor coming back for the time being.
This ought to be a fun little excursion, a nice change from trying to find out how to get home to my world.
A/N: I hope nobody minds the subtle on/off IzaNamie tension, haha. I can't resist, it just works.