"You're an idiot." Namie sighs, turning to him. Her eyes were cold again, all forms of previous amusement gone.
"Why am I an idiot?" Shizuo asks, frowning. 'Didn't she just hear me explain what happened?'
Shizuo was seriously sick of talking to people about Izaya at this point. He's wet and cold he just wants to get this shitty day over with. He's tired, exhaustion pulling at his core and demanding he go home and sleep. The feeling is like someone calling to him, but from so far away he isn't sure if it's real or just his imagination.
"You fought with Kyouhei." Namie replies, rolling her eyes like the answer is painfully obvious. To her it probably was.
"Okay. So?"
"So, now he thinks you like Izaya. Or that you like his body, at least." She chuckles.
"I do not-!" Shizuo started, anger bursting in his chest at the accusation.
"I know you don't." She snaps, quick to cut him off. "But now he thinks you do, meaning he's not going to be very friendly towards you."
"...Oh." Shizuo said, trying to sound like he understood. He didn't understand.
"Uh-huh. Why don't you try eating with the jocks tomorrow."
"Why?" Shizuo asks, confused.
"You look like a jock." She replies, shoulders hitching up in a shrug. Shizuo just stares at her, lost. When, after a few moments, he just continues to stare blankly at her, she sighes and decides to elaborate some. "You can't eat with us tomorrow."
"Why not?" He demands, frowning now. It doesn't faze her.
"You really are the dumb jock type, huh?" Namie snaps, and she's glaring at him now. 'How the hell am I the one pissing everyone else off ?' He glares back not saying anything and ignoring the insult. No matter how much it pissed him off, he wasn't going to be mean to a girl. He knew better.
"Kadota-kun doesn't like you. And frankly, I don't care one way or the other. Now maybe if Izaya liked you then you would be okay but oh, that's right! You pissed him off didn't you? That red hand mark on your cheek is proof enough of that." Namie snarks. Shizuo was seriously getting kind of sick of her attitude but, shit, she had a point. Why the hell was she even here though? Honestly, he doesn't remember her ever being at his high school. How come she was so close to Izaya and Kyouhei? Not that he cared who was close to the pest.
"I didn't mean to make him mad. Or Kadota-kun. It was an accident." He says, trying not to let the anger or hurt into his voice though he has a feeling he's failed. 'Shitty flea…This is all his fault!' He thought, trying to convince himself of that and shift the blame, but it didn't feel true. He wasn't really going to have to go through this new reality with no friends, was he?
"I know, but it seems like it's already too late. Go make some other friends tomorrow, this was only the first day after all. Or, be alone. I really don't care." And with that she was walking away, long hair billowing out at her abrupt turn.
'Whatever.' Shizuo thinks. 'It doesn't matter, I don't care.' But he feels numb. It was stupid to feel upset over something like this, but that didn't make the feeling go away.
He goes home. He tries to eat his dinner despite not feeling hungry at all. He gives short answers about his day and says no when his mother asks if he's made any friends-doesn't even tell her he tried. He watches a movie with Kasuka, seeing as he has very little homework. It's nice, he hasn't seen his brother in awhile back in his time and he's happy that at least one good thing has come of this weird timeline change. He tries to ignore how tired he feels, and the ache in his chest isn't helping.
Still, as the movie goes on he can't seem to pay much attention. His chest is heavy and he's seen this film before anyway. It's Cute Warrior Sargent Space R, The Movie. Sargent Space is crying over something onscreen and though the scene is silly and cheesy, it makes Shizuo feel worse.
He feel alone. Abandoned by two people he thought he could rely on, a stranger he didn't know, and even by his enemy. 'Stop being a wuss.' He berates himself, but the crushed feeling only grows as Sargent Space's friends swoop in to comfort the sad warrior. It's too much for how tired and distressed he feels, so he gets up. Making an excuse about being tired and wanting to use the bath, Kasuka nods in understanding and Shizuo rushes off. Kasuka is as accepting as always, at least that hasn't changed.
Once he's clean and dry and in his old bed, he falls asleep fast. His sleep is peaceful, thankfully. Shizuo finds himself dreaming of red eyes and the same man from earlier in the day. Celty is there like last time, but she leaves them alone so it's like the two of them, hovering at the edges.
It feels like it's just Shizuo, the man, and darkness. It's a nice combination, and they're dancing this time. The man is singing to him in a low melody, something sweet about a chase and broken hearts. The words are dark but the tone is comforting, and they kiss as the man sings the last words, voice dying out on the final note like a single piano key being held down. He thinks the man murmurs something to him. Come back to me.
He can't hear it, but something in his heart knows.
And then the man is gone as his mother knocks on his door and begins to pull him to the day in this continued, distorted reality he's found himself in. There's a short series of beeps as he opens his eyes and comes from between the haze of asleep and awareness but they stop once he concentrates. 'Odd.' He didn't set any alarm...
In the end, he thinks nothing of it. He hums, trying to match the song he heard in his dream. Trying to remember the lyrics. He couldn't place hem from any song he knew, and all he could remember was something about lovers fighting and staying apart because it was better that way.
Shizuo brushes his teeth, brushes his hair, dons a clean uniform, and gathers his lunch and school things quietly. He says nothing to Kasuka on the walk, not even noticing his brother when kasuka shoots him a worried glance. He doesn't think about finding Celty. He doesn't consider talking to Shinra. He should, really, but he's too absorbed in trying to properly remember his dream. 'It just feels so important...' He thinks.
He walks through the school gates, early, and it's nice that no punks immediately attack him. It seems his rep isn't bad yet. Soon he's in homeroom, setting his bag down when someone tackles him with a yell of "Shizu-chan!" He jumps, startled, and the hands slide down off his shoulders as Izaya slides around to hide behind him. He laugh in delight when Namie stomps over, yelling heatedly.
"Give it back or I'll murder you." She hisses, cheeks just the slightest bit pink.
"Noooo! Shizu-chan, save me from the scary lady~" He pleads teasingly, and Namie glares harder. Shizuo is tense, worried about the consequences of Namie's anger. He looks at her, though, and on closer inspection finds her eyes are softer than he previously thought. She's almost smiling now, too. 'Are they...are they just being playful?' Shizuo wonders, surprised.
"Give it back. Right now!" Namie yells.
"Give what back?" Shizuo asks.
"Uwaa, I have no idea what you mean Namie-chan!" Izaya purrs. She growls, lunging teasingly for him and he laughs, dancing in a circle around Shizuo like he was some kind of maypole. "Unless you mean this?" He smirks, holding up a pair of woman's gym shorts. Well, if you could call them that, seeing how high cut they were…
"I told you to stop going through my things!" Namie hisses, but her brown eyes are bright.
"I kind of like it though!" Izaya chirps, turning to Shizuo and holding the shorts at waist length. "What do you think Shizu-chan, wouldn't they look good on me?" He asks. Namie is clearly trying not to laugh, crossing her arms and huffing. Shizuo doesn't reply, too startled. 'Isn't he mad about yesterday? Random ass pest!'
"With your chicken legs? Yeah right." Namie replies instead, and Izaya lets out a dramatic cry of despair. He drops the shorts to place a hand to his forehead and pretend to sway. Namie takes the opportunity to snatch the shorts up with a small "hmmph." She shoves them back in her bag, cheeks pink and trying not to laugh at Izaya's wails of betrayal.
"Oh Namie-chan you wound me so! Chicken legs…That's not true, right Shizu-chan?" Izaya asks, falling back against Shizuo with a pout. Shizuo's first instinct is, of course, to push Izaya away but when the red eyed teen tilts his head back to grin at him something stops him. 'I'm not who you may believe me to be...' The words float to him, bits of the song from his dream resurfacing, something about the red of Izaya's eyes triggering it. 'And you're not my enemy.'Coos the phantom voice.
'This isn't my enemy.' He thinks, startled by this new revelation. 'This is just a boy who's having fun and… including me. He's including me in his fun and he doesn't know anything about our hatred.' Shizuo thinks. It's odd to even try and consider Izaya innocent in any aspect, and while there's no telling what this Izaya is capable of or if he's any different from the Izaya that Shizuo knows, he can't hate someone for something they're unaware of. As much as he wants to hang onto that last scrap of familiarity in an unfamiliar world, he has to let go.
'Besides, Izaya doesn't seem to hate me. He doesn't know I'm a monster, to him I'm normal...' Why should Shizuo allow himself to be isolated when someone apparently likes him enough to joke around with him, to include him, even if it is his enemy. 'That's in another world.' He makes up his mind then, and grins down at Izaya who's been frowning at him during his long silence.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak poultry ." He replies, finally. Izaya gasps and Namie actually laughs, hand coming to her mouth to try and protect her stoic character. Shizuo feels almost high for a moment with how happy he is, and he knows he can get through this. And it looks like now that he won't be alone after all...
