silentsakura had a point...these chapters do need to be a wee bit longer. I'll try to go into as much detail as possible in this chapter and prolong it. On with the story~!
Longshot
Tsugaru stared at the pink clad man in awe. He knew from Shizuo that Izaya planned to help them with this predicament, but this. This was pure recklessness.
What had the raven done to himself? No matter how in touch with reality anyone was, once split apart the act of reassembly was no easy task. But this man had done it. Somehow he had figured out how to take himself apart. The blond stared directly into bright pink eyes, searching for any sign of Izaya. There were none. The man before him now was "Psyche" and that was all.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Psyche-san," Tsugaru said, bowing slightly. The hyper male clapped his hands together in glee.
"Tsu-chan, just call me Psyche. And don't be so unfamiliar with me, we're partners now!" he said happily, shoving himself in the blonde's arms. "I want you to think of me as your partner, Tsu-chan." The raven nuzzled his head against the taller man's neck, closing his eyes.
Tsugaru had a look of pure shock on his face. Yes, indeed the informant had gone too far if this personality had nothing to do with the original. He knew from Shizuo that Izaya was never one to let his guard down, especially not with a stranger. But here the smaller man was, his arms around Tsugaru's neck, his head nuzzled in the crook. The normally serene man couldn't help but hold the pink clad male closely in return.
"Tsu-chan? No one has ever called me that before" the blonde said quietly. The man in his arms giggled and relinquished his hold, looking up.
"I think it's cute! Don't you? Cute like Tsu-chan! You must have a cute name to match you!" he said innocently. Tsugaru felt his face heat up. Izaya's alternate personality just called him "cute". He looked down at the floor before speaking.
"I-I suppose it is rather..cute..." he admitted. "You want to be my partner? What do you mean by that?" Psyche looked at him like he was speaking Spanish.
"In therapy of course! I'm assigned to you! Iza-chan made it very clear that I am to help you, same as he is helping Shizu-Shizu. I may be different, but I am still created from Iza-chan. I know just as much about the mind as he does. So, he told me to get started tonight. I'm supposed to get your side of the story, or else I'll be in trouble with Iza-chan and everyone else. I don't want that, especially if Roppi gets mad. He's super scary." The bubbly raven said all of this very fast, barely pausing for breath between words.
Moving very quickly, using the same grace Izaya displayed, he sprinted to the suitcase and pulled out a new pink notebook and a pen. Clicking the pen, he looked up at Tsugaru with wide eyes.
"Tsu-chan, tell me how you came into existance! I think that's what Iza-chan wanted me to start with!" Psyche said. Tsugaru sat on the couch, patting the space beside him. The smaller man gave a "yay!" and rushed to his side, holding the notebook in his lap and resting against the blond's shoulder.
"Ah, that's an interesting story, Psyche. I'm glad you started with that. When Shizuo was younger, he began to have problems controlling his anger. I started out merely as his conscience. I would occasionally pop up and tell him off, but it would go straight through one ear and out the other. But, one day he went too far and hurt a woman he was trying to help. I took over for the first time later that night and observed how easy it was to simply take control. After that, he started interacting with me. There were times that he would ask for my advice, or even relinquish his hold on himself and let me take over. He thinks he's a nuisance to everyone, so he actually begs me to take over sometimes. I don't understand him really," Tsugaru explained. Psyche stopped writing.
"But that's so sad. Did he ever actually tell you he thought that, or are you just estimating?" the raven asked.
"No. He feels that way, I'm certain of it. He thinks of me as his better self. Sometimes I wish I had never taken over, for I'm not meant to exist this way. I want Shizuo to live his own life and forget about me," Tsugaru said softly.
"No! Don't you dare say that! I am so happy that you exist! If you didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now, and I'm having so much fun with you. Don't you like me? I like you, Tsu-chan! I wanna keep helping you." Psyche moved closer with every word he said, if that was possible. He was almost in the blond's lap.
"Of course I like you, Psyche. You're right, if I hadn't taken over that time then I wouldn't have met you. That would be horrible indeed," Tsugaru said earnestly.
There was something about this man that he liked. He knew all about Orihara, Izaya. Knew the dark traits the man possessed. This was obviously all of his innocence made into a separate person. He drew the calm man in, this warm person. He wrapped his arms around the small male's waist, and leaned their foreheads together, acting horribly familiar. Magenta eyes lit up at his words, and thin arms placed themselves back around his neck. Tsugaru relaxed into the position, as if it came naturally for him to hold someone so closely.
"So, we're partners, Tsu-chan? You really like me that much?" Psyche breathed in the blonde's ear as he spoke, sending chills up the taller man's spine.
"Ah, yes. We're whatever you want to be, Psyche. I do like you that much." he replied, nuzzling into the raven's shoulder. Much like a small child would, Psyche placed his lips on the blond's mop of hair, and gave him a gentle kiss.
"I like you more, Tsu-chan." The raven said mischievously. They sat together like that for what seemed like ages. Magenta stared into cerulean, and the two barely blinked for fear of missing one second of the other.
It was all very difficult to explain. They knew the original versions of themselves hated each other, but they knew that once their own eyes met, hatred became impossible. Tsugaru shifted uncomfortably.
"Um, Psyche? I need to move a bit. My legs appear to be asleep," Tsugaru said quietly. Psyche whined in response, and pushed himself closer to the tall man, shifting his weight so he pushed the man over. Tsugaru was now lying flat with his back against the couch. Psyche climbed on top of him and put his head against the blond's chest, listening to the steady heart beat speed up.
"I wanna stay like this with Tsu-chan" Psyche whispered sullenly. "If you had never existed, Iza-chan would've never set me free, and we couldn't be like this at all." Tsugaru noted the slight pout in the raven's voice, and chuckled. He started running his hands through ebony locks, and let his nails scrape the scalp gently in a petting motion. To his surprise, Psyche purred and leaned into the touch.
"Mmmm, Tsu-chan. Keep doing that," the raven said in his breathy voice. The blond complied, and repeated his actions over and over, each time listening intently as the small man made little noises. Eventually, the motions became too much for Psyche, and he found himself lulling off to sleep. He unconsciously buried his face into Tsugaru's chest, breathing deeply at the calm man's scent. He finally let go of his grip on the waking world. He was closely followed by the blond as they both fell asleep. All forms of therapy were forgotten for the two that day.
The first thing Izaya noticed as he opened his eyes was that the sun was barely up. He didn't remember closing his eyes, or much of anything from the night before.
Apparently he had fallen asleep in his living room all night again. He knew he wasn't in his bed. He noted that his couch wasn't as soft as usual, but it was still comfortable. Then he noted that his couch was moving.
Pulling his head back in shock, he looked up at the sleeping face of Shizuo. The blond had his arms around the raven, his right hand buried in dark tresses of the smaller man's hair. Izaya found himself gazing in wonder at the brute's sleeping face. He raised his hand and ran it along Shizuo's cheek. There was a small "nnn" from the larger man, and he leaned his head into the delicate touch. Izaya's eyes widened, and he snapped his hand back like it was burned.
Gently, he unraveled himself from the brute, and pulled his body off the couch. Stretching leisurely, he dug his hands into the pocket of the white coat, and pulled out the pink notepad. He flipped through the sloppy handwriting that belonged to Psyche, and frowned at how easily Tsugaru had said it was to take over Shizuo's body. He began to gather his things and head for the door when he heard a voice.
"No, don't leave him! I wanna stay here with Tsu-chan!" the childish voice of Psyche shouted in his head. Izaya frowned.
"There's no need to stay here with him when we're done for the day. It's time to leave," he hissed in the semi-darkness.
"Uwah! but that's not faaaaiiiirrrr!" the voice shouted loudly again.
"Shut up!" Izaya snarled. "I am in charge of this entire operation, and it's time for you to go back where you came from!" To his relief, the voice silenced itself. It was just him alone with his own thoughts.
He sighed, grateful that he was able to find his way back to his original self. Though it was harder than he thought, it was still simple enough considering how hard Shizuo had said it would be. He tried to remember any shred of the conversation with the sleeping blond. He couldn't. He guessed it had gone well, if Psyche already had an attachment to the male.
"Good, good, good," he whispered to himself as the apartment began to be covered in specks of light from the rising sun. "All going as planned."
"The hell it is!" A gruff voice snarled from the couch. Shizuo had his eyes open, and he snapped up to face the raven man. "What did you do?" Izaya raised a brow.
"Whatever do you mean, Shizu-chan? I seem to have fallen asleep here and I was trying to leave before you woke up. It seems as though that has been foiled though." Shizuo pulled his lips away from his teeth, turning his face into the epitome of rage, as he rose from the couch.
"You split yourself apart? After all I told you about the trouble I've had, you did it anyway? That's fucking crazy! What were you thinking?" he was directly in front of the smaller man, towering over him. Izaya smirked.
"Now, now, Shizu-chan. You never questioned my methods before we began. I am more than capable of handling this on my own, thank you." There was a growl of pure rage from the blond as he lifted Izaya by the front of his shirt, actually lifting his feet off the ground.
"Fuck that! You can't control this! You've gone too far this time, you damned louse! You need to end this now before it gets out of hand," Shizuo said. Izaya was simply unfazed by all of Shizuo's warnings.
"If you're done, I need to be on my way. Surely you can see the benefits of the situation! Four of you, four of me. We all help each other and be done with this all sooner, ne? We can do months of work in weeks! I assure you I am in complete control," he said calmly. The brute remained unconvinced.
"Then who were you just talking to?" Shizuo barked. "Just now, before you knew I was awake. Who were you bitching at to shut up, huh? If they're already taking over you and talking to you all the time then it's only a matter of time before you drive yourself crazy! It took me months to have my disorder progress that far, and you've done it in a single day!" Izaya still had that damn expression on his face like he was humoring a small child. He laughed gently, and removed the hands of the brute from his shirt before he continued to gather his belongings.
"I have clients early today, but I am free tonight again. We need to do another session. I think we need to continue the order in which yours fabricated, and have Delic come out later tonight." He turned to face the flustered Shizuo, who looked like he had so much more he wanted to say. Izaya sighed.
Walking up to the tall man, he brushed his lips against the blond's ear, whispering seductively.
"Ne, Shizu-chan. I'm a big boy, don't worry about me. I've put myself through worse. Pain feels a little good sometimes~."
Shizuo whispered back into the raven's ear, his lips ghosting the lobe.
"Flea...don't drive yourself crazy for me," his voice was so full of turmoil that it angered the informant.
How dare Shizuo become depressed at the thought of him hurting himself? The brute should like the idea! He nipped at the bodyguard's lobe in return, scraping his teeth across the sensitive skin as he gave the ear its deserved punishment.
"I'll see you later tonight, Shizu-chan." He licked the top of Shizuo's ear as he pulled away, noting how the tall man shivered. He saw the slight disappointed look on the brute's face as he turned to leave. He laughed as he walked down the now brightly lit streets of Ikebukuro.
"Always so interesting, Shizu-chan. You never cease to surprise me." Izaya broke out into a skip, going back to Shinjuku as he thought about the list of things he had to do.
