Chapter 7: Chocolates For Everyone
Not soon after the fight ended, the information broker explained to Alex the salary he would receive, what time he was expected to be at office, what his jobs would mostly consist of (in other words, housework). Upon asking if he found the position agreeable, Alex agreed readily, and from then on, it was officially decided that he would become Izaya's new secretary. Feeling productive, Izaya took Alex around with him as a bodyguard, so he could snoop around the city without running into an annoying mess of trouble.
When Izaya stuck his hands in his pockets, he felt a few small rectangular boxes and realized that he still had the chocolates from yesterday. He hadn't given them all out yet. Unfortunately he hated sweets and processed foods; chocolate was no exception.
"Hey, Alex-kun," Izaya chirped, and glanced up at his new secretary bodyguard, "It's a day late but..." He grabbed a handful of the wrapped chocolate boxes, and shoved them into Alex's hands, "Happy Valentines Day!"
Alex blinked and flushed red, flustered at the action, "Wait, but I-"
Izaya wasn't listening. He was pleased that he had gotten rid of all that nasty brown stuff. Chocolate was unhealthy, fattening, and caused cavities, all of which Izaya wasn't particularly fond of. It was essential that he stayed in top condition in order to face Shizu-chan, otherwise he would die horribly (it pained him to admit). He even went as far as measuring his weight every time he finished taking a bath to make sure he wasn't becoming overweight or something.
He reached into his pocket to check his phone. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. He was getting hungry.
"I'm hungry~ why don't you head back first and make me something?" Izaya glanced back at Alex, who walked obediently behind him, "I'll go back in a few minutes... Make it delicious~"
"Okay," Alex nodded, saluting briefly before heading towards Izaya's apartment, every now and then turning back and staring at Izaya with his sky blue eyes, as if not wanting to leave.
Izaya rolled his eyes. What a dog.
As he strolled along the sidewalk, he contemplated on Ikebukuro's activities, and how he wanted them to play out. The scarf gangs had teamed up with each other, but slowly, their inability to get along was separating them more and more. They would most likely break up in the next couple of weeks, meaning that the unison was for naught, and that the people, or the self-proclaimed 'Dollars', would most likely start attacking again. The 'Dollars' ceased attack ever since the team-up, only inflicting harm on the scarf groups that dropped out. It almost seemed as if they wanted the gangs to stick together and slowly destroy themselves from the inside.
Come to think of it, there were some yellow scarves included in the team-up too...
Izaya grinned, wondering how his friend Masaomi Kida-kun was doing...
Had anyone contacted him~?
He had discarded his old phone, knowing that it was traceable by the yakuza, therefore if any of his old 'friends'/customers had contacted him it would've never gone through considering it was now just a bunch of ashes on his old burnt chess board. Watching it burst into flames as the match lit the oil was like watching an old part of him perish, but he knew he really hadn't changed at all. It was just burning an old memory away.
Plus it wasn't like he had lost the contacts at all. Oh no, those were too precious to discard. Izaya tapped his new phone and glanced at the contacts, finding everyone's numbers and contact information safely intact. That was good.
"IIIIIIIIIZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYAAAAAAAA-"
Izaya turned around, to find his least favorite bartender, most hated being of all time, pointing at him threateningly but cutting himself halfway as if he realized he made an error. He almost snorted in laughter. So the monster was learning from his mistakes eh~?
"H-hi...?" Izaya said innocently, eyes wide as if in wonder and surprise, "Are you pointing at me?"
Shizuo immediately retracted his hand and shoved them in his pockets, "Sorry, force of habit," he stated distastefully, thinking about how it was all the detestable flea's fault, before remembering who he was talking to; the girl who he had scared so badly yesterday. Feeling bad, he started to back away, while muttering, "sorry 'bout that,"
Under normal circumstances, Izaya would've just left it at that, not wanting to be under Shizu-chan's presence any longer than needed, but a brilliantly cruel plan slowly started to form in his mind. Something that would surely crack the trust that monster had in humanity, and enable Izaya to once again see the sufffering, sad and depressed face Shizu-chan had made the day he slammed the vending machine into the 'innocent little girl that was only minding her own business', Izaya-chan.
"Wait!" he cried out, reaching for Shizuo's sleeve to stop him from walking away, but he tripped on his own shoelace. He almost didn't believe it himself, that he was able to perform such a clumsy and stupid act, but he did.
Surprisingly, Shizu-chan had managed to catch him before he managed to give a painful salutations to the ground. Izaya sighed in relief that he managed not to get bruised or hurt, because the protozoan's punches was already enough to inflict unwanted pain unto him.
"Thanks," Izaya murmured, giving Shizuo a sheepish and happy grin, before rambling a bit like he had seen other girls do, "I-I don't usually trip myself, and that was a one time thing so don't go thinking I'm clumsy okay?"
"Ah..." Shizuo replied, a little surprised. The girl he had made cry was now smiling at him, completely fine with being touched by him. He was convinced that he would never see anyone he didn't quite know approach him without fear or anger again, ever since he had met Celty and the others. This girl knew his strength, she had seen him, so why was she smiling at him like he was a long-lost friend of some sort?
"Um," Izaya said quietly, feeling the awkwardness settle in. He quickly ran over what he was going to say, before brightly looking at him in the eyes and stating strongly, "I-I've read on internet how strong you are. I mean, to be able to lift a truck! That's pretty amazing. Everyone says that you're a scary person and that you should be avoided but... isn't that kind of lonely?"
Izaya's hands gripped the other's shoulders gently, still being supported by Shizuo's arms, and mentally grimaced. He was being held by the monster, and it was giving him goosebumps, but he continued, "Every since I met you yesterday, I know they're wrong. You scared me a lot, and I did cry because of that, but you said 'sorry'! And you looked so guilty when you walked away... so, don't feel sad! I know that you're actually really a kind person, so..."
He felt around his pockets for the last box of chocolate he had stored for just in case if he needed to generously donate it to one of his precious humans, and presented it to Shizuo, "I know it's a day late, but Happy Valentines Day! It may be a little melted, because I held onto it for so long, and uh..."
Izaya felt his face heating up as he spoke. This was the cheesiest and sappiest speech he had ever made, "I mean... I..." Then, he realized that he was still in that monster's embrace. Feeling disgusted, he gently pushed himself away and stood up, "I uh..."
Not knowing what other shit to spit out, he placed the box in Shizuo's hands and backed off, "Th-thankyougoodbyeseeyoulater?" he rambled, and ran off. After a while, much further from where he and Shizu-chan had bumped into each other, and on his way back to the apartment, he wondered if that exit was a little too sudden, or if his performance was effective enough. Whatever, he thought, because he already knew that he had caught the monster's attention.
But he didn't know just how much his speech had touched the monster's heart.
