Izaya found himself purely happy and content, as he laid next to Shizuo. The blond looked so peaceful as he slept, and the young, raven corpse found himself smiling softly, placing a kiss upon his husband's forehead.
"I love you, Shizu-chan," Izaya whispered. He could feel it...someday, Shizuo would reciprocate. Izaya had already promised himself that he'd wait however long it took.
Shizuo moaned softly, and rolled over. A nightmare seemed to plague the blond. Izaya watched as Shizuo trembled, soft groans escaping every now and then. Definitely a nightmare.
"Izaya..." Shizuo softly spoke in his sleep. He groaned softly.
"Shhh..." Izaya murmured, brushing aside Shizuo's blond bangs. "It's okay, Shizu. It's just a nightmare."
Shizuo seemed to calm down slightly, however his breathing was still mildly erratic and shaky. Izaya held him close.
Shizuo whimpered quietly, but his trembling lessened. Izaya smiled, and then closed his eyes, nestling into Shizuo's warmth.
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"Where is that boy?" Shizuo's father demanded, pacing from one end of the sitting room to the next. The clouds above mercilessly rained down their icy tears, drenching Ikebukuro. Inside, the two families spoke of the disappearance of Kyohei's groom-to-be.
Well, for the most part. Shizuo's mother was fretting, Shizuo's father was pacing, muttering about his "irresponsible son". Kasuka, Shizuo's little brother, was looking out the window, silently whispering about his nii-san. The Kadota family remained quiet.
Kasuka cast his gaze upward, gazing at the ominous full moon that graced Ikebukuro on that fine night. The youngest Heiwajima had a momentary, fond recollection of his childhood. Him as a toddler, resting in his big brother's lap, giggling softly as they watched the giant moon bathe the nighttime world in its shine...
"Nii-san, look!" The four-year-old Kasuka giggled, as he watched the moon. He reached his tiny, toddler hands up, as if to touch it.
"Yeah," Shizuo had replied softly, voice weary with sleep. He hugged the boy close, smiling as his baby brother nestled into his arms. "Pretty, isn't it?"
"Uh-huh," Kasuka sleepily murmured, resting against his brother. Shizuo rubbed his back, smiling softly. The two brothers sat upon the plush pillow on the large windowsill, and looked at the mysterious, breathtaking moon for another silent moment, before Kasuka tiredly spoke, surprising Shizuo.
"Nii-san...do you believe someone is waiting for you?"
"What do you mean?" Shizuo inquired, pleasurably curious, a laugh in his words, as he met the lethargic eyes of his four-year-old brother.
Kasuka gave a sleepy, whimper-like sound as he rubbed his tired eyes, and inclined his head to meet his nii-san's golden-brown eyes that glittered in amusement. Shizuo rubbed his nose against Kasuka's smaller nose, and the younger boy clarified, tiredly.
"Do you think there is somebody waiting for you, waiting to love you for all eternity, the way Mummy loves Daddy?"
Shizuo processed his baby brother's inquiry, smiling softly as the moon shined down on him. The image would've been ethereal in appearance, for the moonlight made the pale-skinned boys appear to be angels.
"I hope so, Kasuka," Shizuo replied, longingly. "For I cannot wait to take them into my arms, and seal our bond with an everlasting vow of adoration."
"Mmm..." Kasuka gave a small content murmur, satisfied with the answer. The toddler was already drifting off into pleasant dreams.
Another moment of quiet, before Shizuo felt Kasuka's tiny hand wrap around his left pointer finger. Shizuo looked down, noticing their joined hands, and Kasuka tiredly spoke, a well-wishing meant for his brother, for eternity.
"I hope you find that person, nii-san."
"I hope so, too, Kasuka," Shizuo murmured, and brought his left hand up, to tenderly kiss the smaller hand wrapped around his pointer finger. The eldest of the Heiwajima brothers leaned back upon a pillow resting against the windowsill, and brought his baby brother up, to rest comfortably upon his chest.
The soft wind outside was the moon's lullaby, as Shizuo Heiwajima closed his eyes to rest.
᷈
Shizuo's eyes snapped open from his rest, his breathing heavy. Two strange dreams in one night. The mysterious woman...that mistress of shadows, and then a dream about a childhood memory with his cherished little brother, a memory Shizuo had almost forgotten, until it had come rushing back in a flood of detail. When he was young, Shizuo remembered, he'd always had a fantasy of marrying the person he truly loved: his soulmate, for lack of a better description. At the time of this growing fascination, he had still been at an age in which his parents deemed him to still be, technically, a child. Ten years old. It was when Shizuo had turned fifteen that his father had sat him down in a chair, and explained that, as the heir to a wealthy household, and therefore a boy of high status, it was unlikely for Shizuo to marry for love.
Not impossible, his father had clarified; upon seeing his son's downtrodden face, but unlikely.
His father had explained that, being of noble blood, Shizuo would most likely marry the daughter of another lord and lady—or son, his father had added, in a loving, compassionate manner. If Shizuo were to fall in love with his fiancée—wonderful! If not, either way, the marriage would still go on to ensure that the Heiwajima family name stayed strong.
The fifteen-year-old Shizuo had nodded in grim understanding, his dreams scattered like dust in the wind. He'd asked his father if he may be excused, and, once he was safely locked away in his room, Shizuo had curled up on his bed, face in a pillow, and cried. A year passed, and Shizuo had carefully stitched up his heart, making him desensitized to the idea of true love.
And now, Shizuo thought, finding himself toasty warm, nestled in the black-haired corpse's arms, he didn't really know what to think. Deep inside his heart, Shizuo could feel something reawakening deep within him, stirring and murmuring as it awoke from its deep, seemingly endless slumber. The feeling soon blossomed, an ominous; yet alluring flower, and Shizuo found himself soaked completely, inside and out, with a true, raw emotion he never thought he'd feel this deeply.
Perhaps...love?
Love for this—this repulsive corpse?!
'No!' Shizuo thought furiously, eyebrows furrowing in the intensity of the internally spoken words. 'I-I can't love him. I—'
The blond gazed upon his sleeping abductor for a moment, and, while this would be a most opportune time to escape, and maybe be able to return to his rightful groom, Shizuo couldn't bring himself to do it. Izaya looked so peaceful while sleeping.
"I—I can't do it," Shizuo whispered to himself, and, as if the very thought exhausted him; he curled up next to Izaya again.
"I don't know what I want, or what I'm gonna do," Shizuo whispered his decision...and never had Heiwajima Shizuo felt so conflicted in his life.