SOO SORRYYY for late update! REALLY later, school's been kicking my butt with AP English and IB Film OTL Senior year can be a pain, who knew ddfbiudsbfsd OTL
The next day~
"...Do I want to know what happened?" Shinra's voice slowly broke Shizuo from his dream, allowing him to hazily gaze up at the warmingly-smiling doctor. He had paperwork in his hand and an extra jacket that might have actually been a blanket. He couldn't tell the difference, not when he was half asleep.
"Whaat?" He asked, groaning with a yawn. Shinra smiled even deeper, gazing over at who he'd guess was Izaya.
"Well, I'm assuming you didn't kill someone, Izaya doesn't look traumatized, but what happened to your chair...?"
Ohh, he completely forgot about the chair. In-fact, he didn't even remember pulling it up and sitting on it before falling asleep. Guess he did it unconsciously, he was known for doing that at times. "That guy was a complete jerk ass face." The doctor raised a questioning eyebrow at the combination of cuss-words he used, which was a victory to Shizuo. However, it wasn't until now that he realized his head was resting comfortably on a soft surface; a surface that kept rising and falling. Not only that, but he felt what he'd assume were fingers tangled in his blond hair.
No, he couldn't have possibly fallen asleep on Izaya, could he?! Oh no, oh no, he wanted to go dive in a barrel of acid. But he didn't dare move, fearing he'd awaken Izaya.
"Seems like you know what I'm talking about now," Shinra chuckled quietly as someone entered the room. Shizuo went on high alert, still not wanting to move. But when he saw it was only Celty, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"I thought you'd be that asshole," Shizuo smiled a bit. "Thanks for helping with him yesterday."
Celty nodded, holding up her phone, 'it was no problem at al-' he couldn't finish reading the message as Celty dropped her phone, her trembling hand remaining as it was. Shizuo was being prepared for anything, jumps, bombs, gunshots, anything. But as none came, he noticed Celty hadn't turned her head; she seemed to be looking straight at Izaya.
Scrambling to her phone she began typing. The blond could only make out a few words, like 'no, that can't be Izaya' and 'it's my fault.' But before Celty could show Shizuo the message, Shinra grabbed the phone out of her hands and threw it in his own pocket.
"S-sorry, have to talk to my darling, be back with you shortly," he nervously laughed, unable to hide that extreme-dark guilt this time. It was just like before, still eating him alive. Shizuo didn't even get to ask what she meant, but the two were gone and away from the window.
Dammit! What the hell was that about? It was technically the first time Celty was able to see him, only he and Shinra were allowed to see him. Had she recalled a memory, perhaps?
Slowly, Shizuo could feel Izaya beginning to stir from his sleep, his small-frail fingers grasping small pieces of his hair and giving them a gentle tug. The brute couldn't help but smile a bit, feeling the playfulness in Izaya's buried spirit. Though, he doubted the little raven knew what he was doing.
Shizuo waited until he heard a puzzled sound vibrate off the raven's throat before even daring to move at all. Slowly, he turned his head so he'd be staring into those wide-rusty-red eyes that stared into his mocha ones with shock. The blond was already imagining himself walking up to the roof and flinging himself off for this, for making Izaya feel uncomfortable.
But these thoughts left him as a blush appeared on Izaya's face, his eyes blinking as if he couldn't believe this was real. "E-ermm, a-are you comfortable?" Izaya shyly asked, though a small smile was unable to remain hidden. Shizuo could feel his own threatening to bleach his own skin, but never looked away from his adorable face.
"Y-yeah," he shyly responded, trying his best to hold back the blush that was resisting his resistance. It must've poked through, as Izaya giggled, GIGGLED slightly at his reaction. Dear god, it was the most beautiful sound he's ever heard! So light and airy, yet heart-ful and just heart-melting.
Oh no, oh no, he could feel his blush deepening, oh god, oh god.
This seemed to make Izaya giggle a bit more, moving his fingers through Shizuo's hair as if he was trying to pet him the same way Shizuo petted his hair. It only made Shizuo smile more, loving the fact that Izaya was the one touching him, which meant he was slowly, yet rapidly breaking his scarred-self.
"I forgot how beautiful your laugh was," Shizuo couldn't help but giggle himself, reaching over and petting Izaya. The raven immediately moved into the hand, letting his face contort in its adorable kitten mode, except that blush remained. Slowly, Izaya's fingers were lost again, numbly resting in the blond's hair comfortably. By now, Shizuo completely forgot about Celty's reaction, which was a good thing, for now. All he cared about right now was Izaya, and only Izaya.
"Shizu-chan," Izaya's small voice uttered, making him snap out of his thoughts and focusing on him.
"Yeah?" Slowly, one of his eyes opened a slit, his smile unwavering.
"Thanks for protecting me from him." All the color drained from Shizuo's face. The word 'him' tossed around his mind like a pinball machine. Him. Him. Him. There was only one person he could possibly be referring to with that, but he just couldn't believe it.
Well, he could, that psychiatrist gave him the living creeps, but that being his kidnapper? Could it have been?
"Wait, was that the old councilor?!" Shizuo exclaimed, jumping up along with his heart. Izaya seemed to tense up at the mention of him, so the blond continued his soothing massage to calm him down a bit.
"N-no," Izaya sniffled, clenching his blankets. "H-he was scary, I didn't like him." Shizuo knew that was only half the truth, and that the little raven was hiding something else, but he didn't get the time to clarify as the door opened again, Celty, Shinra, the manager, and a nurse walking in, rolling a wheel-chair in.
"Morning you two," the manager smiled, being sure to stay as far away as possible. He didn't seem to be afraid of Shizuo, that he could tell, but he was considerate of Izaya and his fear of people; the blond really respected him for it. "Ready to be relieved from here Mr. Orihara?" And that only made Shizuo love him more.
Izaya looked over at Shizuo, seeing the small smile plastered on his lips before nodding. So Shizuo's hunches were right, Izaya looked at him before assessing a question. Oh god, he could feel that blush from earlier trying to resurface.
"For your safety, we also set up a decoy," the manager smiled.
A decoy? A decoy for what, Izaya? "What do you mean?"
"Ever since last night, there have been a few guys here that I must say seem questionable." Shizuo could feel Izaya's hand creep over to his, grasping it as it did last night. The blond quickly clenched his hand back, giving it that gentle, reassuring squeeze.
"So, with the cooperation of my nephew, he'll act as a decoy, and leave first. Once they take their leave, we'll wheel Izaya out on a gurney and into Shinra's car." Shizuo was completely shocked by their planning, and nearly wanted to shake this guy's hand. He was being extra cautious, trying to help protect Izaya with everything he had.
"Your nephew," Izaya began, his voice sounding worried. "He won't get hurt, will he?" The manager seemed to smile at Izaya's worry, and winked at Shizuo. Shizuo knew the manager was proud of him, being able to make Izaya feel a little comfortable now.
"Oh, trust me, I have some of my best private cops traveling with him. He'll be just fine, don't you worry." Izaya couldn't help but give a small smile, gripping Shizuo's hand a bit more. "Now, we ready to get this plan started?"
It was twelve in the afternoon by the time the manager's nephew arrived and they were able to clear the Izaya's hallway for his 'big release'. Thankfully they were able to use the excuse that he feared people at the moment to get everyone off.
"Okay, you ready nephew?" The manager asked as the nurse finished tucking the blanket around his body in the wheel chair. His nephew was around the same size as Izaya, in both height and weight. Shizuo had to admit, it was a pretty good match. They even bought a black wig and styled it to look like Izaya's hair, the outcome was really shocking.
The nephew nodded, giving a thumps up at the real Izaya, who was sitting up on the edge of his bed, feet dangling off. Of course, Shizuo was at his side, just in case he fell.
"Thank you, really," Izaya shyly spoke, squeezing Shizuo's hand slightly.
"It's no problem, it's the least I can do to help," the nephew smiled.
"Now remember to keep your head low the whole time, don't look up no matter what you hear or what someone says, okay?" The nephew just nodded, doing what he was told. The manager looked up at everyone, giving him one last smile.
"Tell Kadota not to meet back at Shinra's house until tonight, when he's sure he's lost them."
"Will do." They changed the plans slightly, having the driver be 'Shinra', when it was really just Kadota driving. His van gang were actually participating in this, even lending their van to the cause. One thing was for sure, they wouldn't let anyone touch their car.
"I wish you guys luck," the manager waved before leaving the room, wheeling out the fake Izaya. Shinra watched through the window until they had disappeared in the elevator before they started their own plan.
"Okay, we better start with our end," Shinra rushed over to the gurney, throwing the white blanket off to reveal the nicely patted bottom. "The manager made sure it was as soft as a bed, but appear to be just another plain-old gurney." Izaya stared at it a bit nervously. Shizuo knew he was excited, but also scared of what might happen. Then again, who wouldn't be? If his kidnapper had friends, as he figured out by Izaya's warnings, he wouldn't be surprised if one of them was shot. But that wasn't going to happen, the only person they'd shoot was him; Shizuo. No one was dieing today.
Gently, he squeezed Izaya's hand, soothing his fingers through the side of Izaya's hair. "Ready?" The raven looked over at him, cautiously leaning against his arm. Shizuo was a bit shocked at first, and so was Shinra. This was the closest Izaya's been to him, with the exception of the awkward hug.
"Y-yeah," he replied, though didn't seem to want to lean-away from Shizuo's side. "You're warm...I love Shizu-chan's warmth." It wasn't until now did the brute feel Izaya's trembles. He was really scared. God-dammit, the blond wanted to take his fears away, guarantee him everything was going to be alright, but he knew Izaya wouldn't listen full-heartidly. He was acting as if this was the last time he'd feel Shizuo's warmth; his body against his.
"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, understand?" Shizuo sternly said, carefully gripping Izaya's shoulders and pulling him arms-length away. Izaya seemed to tremble even more at the action, but the fight to not scream was present in his rusty eyes. "I swear on my life."
Izaya's eyes swam in his, as his trembling was slowly stopping. "B-but I don't want you to leave me... I don't want you to get hurt, I don't want anyone getting hurt," he sobbed, bringing his small fingers up to his eyes to hide his face. It killed Shizuo seeing Izaya like this, he just wanted to see him laughing, giggling like earlier.
"Don't worry, we know how to take care of ourselves," he giggled, unable to hold back his old habits, and gently kissing Izaya's forehead. The raven seemed to freeze at the action, hands slowly sliding off his face. "We'll be alright." Izaya stared into his mocha eyes, face soft with the faint memory of their old selves, and Shizuo's comforting methods. He could see it playing through his soul, as his trembling came to a complete stop.
"O-okay, Shizu-chan," he smiled. Shizuo then helped him slide off the bed and help him walk towards the gurney. His balance was wobbly, his feet shaking at the applied weight. Though, the wounds had completely sealed up, they were still present. Most on his face had begun to fade away, but his arms had the killer spots. Good thing they gave Izaya a light-long-sleeve white shirt, unless he'd probably cry seeing those scars on his arms.
Carefully, Shizuo helped Izaya onto the gurney, gently tucking him in. He gave Izaya one last smile before folding the blanket on the top of his head. They were taking Izaya out the back-way, as if he had passed away. Celty took the liberty of making her horse form into a funeral car, to make this more believable if there were any spys. Shizuo was actually dressed all in black, along with Shinra, as if they were the drivers and care-takers of the body. They weren't going to mess up; not this time.
They managed to make their way off Izaya's floor and rolled the body through the ground floor. Many people went silent at the sight, some even taking their hats off and bowing. They could see some of the suspicious guys, that the manager mentioned earlier, but they didn't even seem to suspect them as they rolled by; they were too concentrated on the crowd that was surrounding the van gang as they loaded 'Izaya' in the back.
No one stopped them as they went through the back doors, seeing Celty and her horse Shooter waiting for them. Carefully, Shizuo lifted the gurney in the back of the funeral car and closed the doors. It was hard for him not to run into the car so he could reassure Izaya that he was there.
Both of them slipped into their seats, Shinra driving, and went on their way. When they were sure they were away from the hospital and Celty confirmed they weren't being followed, they pulled into a alley when there were hardly any cars. Shooter then formed into a large van, though different from Kadota's gang van. It had just enough room for Izaya's gurney to be stored, and a seat back there for Shizuo.
"Finally," the blond sighed, climbing to the back and taking the seat. Celty then took the front-passenger seat, and they were off again. Unfortunately for the blond, he couldn't take the blanket off the Izaya's head, with fears of someone seeing through the windows. So he whispered to Izaya, telling him to hang-on a little bit longer.
Fifteen minutes later, they finally pulled into Shinra's parking garage, and waiting for the door to close all the way before stepping out. Shizuo then wasted no time pulling the blanket off Izaya, smiling down at the half-asleep raven.
"Well, we made it!" He sighed, running his fingers through Izaya's hair. "And with no disturbances." Izaya couldn't help but smile, leaning into the hand.
"Thanks, everyone," he softly spoke, his hand gently reaching up an touching Shizuo's arm. "Shizu-chan's still warm, it's not a dream, it's not a dream." Oh god, that nearly broke the blond's heart. He probably had so many dreams during those ten years of someone saving him, but it just never happened. Without even realizing it, he scooped Izaya up and out of the gurney, cradling him close to his chest. Izaya's eyes went wide in fear at first, his body going stiff. Shizuo immediately mentally punched himself in the face, laying a soft kiss on his forehead.
"It's okay, it's just me," he soothed, nuzzling his nose in that raven-silk in attempt to 'pet' him, like he always did. At least it seemed to do something, as Izaya began calming down a bit. "I want you to feel my warmth, to know that I'm real, and that this is real."