The Fish, Waiting For Us.
Plop-shuffle, plop-shuffle.
If you had asked Orihara Izaya days before if he imagined that he'd be moving on crutches after a stupidly-fast hopping Shizu-chan carrying his coat full of supplies, he would have laughed in your face.
He wasn't laughing now, much less smiling, as he lowered himself to resorting to this manner of movement. At first, it had been quite awkward, though now he was beginning to adjust to the feeling and was slowly growing faster and more fluid. Quieter, as well. This, however, did attribute to the sweat dampening the back of his neck and the burning of his muscles.
Shizuo had almost disappeared behind the foliage, and Izaya exhaled in irritation as he brought himself to a stop. Even handicapped, Shizuo was a monster. "Would you try not to get yourself lost?" he called ahead.
The blond sighed and turned around, taking a few hops to make himself more visible to Izaya.
"Is it that fucking hard to keep up?"
"Would you like me to remind you of why I can't? Who would have thought that a rabbit-like Shizu-chan would be so fast." An eye-roll. "Look for a lake. I'll wait here."
"..." The rabbit comment only made Shizuo stare in annoyance, before breaking it off to turn around. Washing off all the blood and dirt would be nice. "Yeah, yeah, I get your memo." So began his second venture into this island.
Izaya set the crutches against the nearby pine and dropped down, rubbing his aching calf and thigh. He counted around fifteen uneventful minutes before the branches began to rustle as Shizuo appeared once more.
He leaned a hand against the wood, readjusting his hold on Izaya's coat-bag. "So, there's a lake not too far from here. It's about a mile off."
... A mile? "Good work, Shizu-chan~ I'll reward you with dog treats once we get back to Tokyo."
His fingers responded by digging into and tearing off a large chunk of wood, and the tree responded by falling over to the side with a thunderous clash. Shortly afterwards, terrified woodland critters skittered away.
Izaya clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Shizu-chan is provoking the wildlife. How cruel."
"If they knew you, they'd have mauled you by now, flea," Shizuo responded, once again controlling himself to try and not throw something big and sharp at Izaya.
A one-shouldered shrug as Izaya stood once more, gripping the crutches and moving over. Oddly enough, animals were never fond of me in the first place. "Lead the way."
Shizuo took his pace slower this time, to compensate for the whiny flea.
Nonetheless, Izaya lagged behind further and further and once again was close to losing sight of the other. He opened his mouth to complain when the omnipresent cacophony of insects grew much louder, and they broke into a clearing.
A lake spanning a football field stretched out in front of them, sunlight scintillating off the surface and turning it to glass. Every so often, a hawk would dip down to snatch a squirming fish in its talons, and deer would settle along the edge to lap away at the water. Ripples of fish would break the stillness. On the opposite side, a river trickled outwards, disappearing behind the circle of conifers.
Taking this opportunity to rest, Izaya dropped down to the lake's edge, washing off his arms before cupping a hand into the clear water to lift it up to his mouth. Smells clean. There aren't any dead animals either, so this should be fine.
He drank a couple handfuls before wiping the back of his mouth with his hand.
Perhaps to the dismay of Izaya, Shizuo had decided to bluntly state "I need a shower," while hopping over to the lake to sit down and drink.
...Watching the monster bathe? The informant's expression flickered into that of repulsion before he smoothly replied, "Don't drown yourself~"
There wasn't anything to exactly dry himself with, so Shizuo had wondered how he was going to start - there was also the problem of Izaya, since he didn't want him here in a mile radius.
"Don't tell me you're shy, Shizu~"
"I don't fucking want you to be here when I wash myself."
Izaya turned to the other, expression lit up in curiosity and mischievousness intermingled. "If it makes you feel any better, I won't peek."
Shizuo had absolutely no reason to trust that louse whatsoever, but, fine, the flea could do whatever at this point. He just wanted to get the blood and grime off of him.
Eventually, even with the uncooperative leg, he had managed to undress himself, dipping his fingers into the water with concentric circles fanning out. Warm, for once. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to wash himself completely, but wading into the lake, he began scooping up water to start sloughing off the blood and dirt.
You'd assume a guy without a leg wouldn't be able to be so damn sneaky, but Shizuo had no chance to react before his clothes were chucked into the water, landing in a plop several meters off to his side. "Whoops~"
Shizuo was in the middle of cleaning his chest when he heard the sound, which instantaneously grabbed all of his attention.
The false reaction of Izaya's did not help anything.
Shizuo stared at the wet pile of clothes, floating on the surface by the curious guppies that picked at the fabric.
He was at his boiling point; yes, he could still wear the clothes with no problem, and he'd wait out the drying, but that still didn't prevent…
"IIIIZAAYAAAAA!" His voice tremored across half of the island and stimulated a flock of birds into flight.
The man in question lifted his hands away from cupping his ears to wave at the other, and with a completely unapologetic grin, called out, "My bad~" In the process of that, Izaya had turned to look at the other.
Shizuo stood there, clenching a fist towards Izaya, naked. He grit his teeth and glared angrily at him. "Fucking flea," he growled.
Quite evidently, there was something entirely different between seeing Shizuo in his standard bartender suit and seeing him like that, with rivulets of water trailing down his bare chest and now-clean bleached hair hanging in his eyes. The water blurred everything below hip-height, but seeing that much was more than enough. Izaya couldn't suppress the odd, unplaced feeling - one he settled for calling something akin to disgust.
Except that didn't feel quite right.
Shizuo's gaze slowly turned from angry to confused.
"What… what the fuck are-QUIT FUCKIN' LOOKIN' AT ME LIKE THAT!"
Izaya blinked like he had been snapped out of his reverie. "... I'm observing a monster in its natural habitat. You can't fault me for that."
The gibe lacked the usual bite, and Izaya ended up looking away after than, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You were starin' at me like you were… fuck, I don't want to finish that sentence." Shizuo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, before turning around and hopping to save his clothes from sleeping with the fishes.
Uncomfortable warmth had permeated Izaya's stomach, and he abruptly snapped out, "No, I wasn't. I told you; I'm merely curious."
I really hope you're telling the truth, flea. But Shizuo had his doubts. Izaya wasn't the most sane of a person, so perhaps…
Stop fuckin' thinking about it, he told himself, as he grabbed his clothes and lifted them up to examine them. They were soaked.
A vein throbbed on his forehead, and he rolled the clothes into a ball.
Which he then promptly turned around and threw at Izaya's face like he was the pitcher in a baseball game.
Considering the inner turmoil Izaya was experiencing right now, he didn't have a chance to duck before a sopping wet wad of clothes smacked into his head, sending him sprawling onto his side like he'd been hit by a cannonball.
The pain was enough to snap him out of whatever was happening, and he whipped around to face the other in all of his naked glory. He picked the underwear from the assorted pile between two pinched fingers and held it away from him at an arm's length. "Shizu-chan is a pervert, throwing this at me like that."
Shizuo stared at Izaya like he was holding something back, something he wanted to say. He really, really wanted to say it. In fact, the urge to say it was so great he grinned and snorted in laughter, moving over to the deeper part of the lake to clean the rest of himself.
Eh? Why isn't he getting angry? "You even look scary when you laugh. No wonder people don't last that long around you; you're a walking human repellent in every way possible."
Shizuo bit his lip to prevent further laughter, and coughed several times. "I dunno, flea. Maybe you wanted it, from how you were starin' at me." Even if his conspiracy theory was right - which he really hoped he was wrong about - the humor in the thought outweighed the dread.
Izaya responded by innocently throwing the boxers into the forest as far as he could, out of sight. "Go ahead and fetch, brute."
"Later. At least it'll give me a reason to not be here when you clean yourself." Speaking of, Shizuo was done, now simply standing in the middle of the lake.
Izaya rolled his eyes, looking away. "Then at least it served its purpose. I don't want perverted Shizu-chan being here either when I bathe."
At least there was one thing they could agree on.
Shizuo hopped over to the other side of the like where Izaya was, and grabbed the clothes next to him. "Your turn."
Keeping his gaze firmly fixed away, Izaya began to peel off his clothes right in front of the other - he was in no way or form shy.
But Shizuo quickly made pace to not look at Izaya and hobbled past him into the forest, to find wherever the hell he threw his boxers.
Izaya began to scrub away the blood clinging to his pants.
For some reason, Izaya couldn't help but feel mild disappointment at not having the chance to observe the other's reaction, perhaps torturing the other just a little bit. It made him think of how, throughout Shizuo's life, he hadn't really ever indulged in anything of that sort, so this was something Izaya didn't know at all about him. Completely uncharted territory. He thought back of their conversation on the stairway.
'Romantic love is merely a term used to delude oneself into thinking infatuation meant something more than the instinct to reproduce. Though love does exist.'
Which had been followed by, 'Whatever your version of that is, it's called a trip to the fucking psychologist.'
'Shizu-chan really is a virgin.'
A blush, coinciding with a gruff, 'Shut up.'
And then, the informant's statement, 'I imagine you like the big-sister type, ne~?'
Disgruntled with where this train of thought was taking him, he laid the partially damp fabric out and scooted into the lake. The deeper he grew, the more the water buoyancy allowed him to straighten to his full height, and for a moment, he felt satisfied with being able to stand on his own. He made sure to keep his chest's bandages dry, yet he clearly couldn't avoid getting his amputated leg wet.
I hadn't accounted for this at all.
Methodically, he washed off the blood and grime, humming to himself.
Oh, how I hate you, Shizu-chan.
Meanwhile, Shizuo had ventured a fair ways into the forest before he caught sight of his underwear stuck at the upper branches of a spruce like a twisted version of a flag.
How the fuck did he throw it that far when he's so weak?
"Tsk. This is so annoying," he muttered to himself, stifling a sudden cough by covering his mouth and hopped up next to the tree. His fingers twitched in memory of holding a cigarette between them, and yet, there was nothing he could do to relieve himself of the irritation and desire, but at the very least, the omnipresent headache took a backseat. Annoying.
Setting the rest of his clothes onto the ground, he took a step back and braced his leg for a high jump, which sent him soaring into the air, above the forest.
Shit, I overdid it. He caught sight of a vibrant cluster of color to the side, a couple miles away from the lake. Huh. That's useful.
At any rate, if he didn't prevent his fall, he'd probably create a mini-earthquake and scare off practically the entire populace of the forest. So as he fell, a hand grabbed onto the top of the tree and his shoulder slammed onto the side, bark tearing off and falling onto the floor.
He grabbed his boxers and slung them over his shoulder, as he began the climb down to the ground.
It seems several chattering chipmunks and tittering bush-shrikes had gathered as an audience in the neighboring branches.
Shizuo hopped off and turned around to face the rodents and birds.
The fuck…? He raised an eyebrow and grabbed the rest of his clothes, dumping the boxers with a movement of his shoulder.
They stared at him.
He stared back.
A lumbering badger appeared off the side, looking up at Shizuo as well.
"Uh…" His eyes darted over to the badger. As strange as this was, he found it to be cute. Though he wasn't sure if leaving right now was the best thing to do or not.
"Go. Shoo." He nudged his shoulder towards the forest.
But they didn't comply.
If anything, more critters appeared - two hedgehogs, several mice, a family of possums, all of which gazing expectantly at Shizuo.
The badger seemed to be the most adventurous, nudging closer to Shizuo in a mixture of inquisitiveness and wariness.
Shizuo's curious frown broke into a smile, and he tried as best as he could to lean in and pet the badger.
The animal backed away slightly before sniffing his fingers, then leaning into the touch. Its striped fur was coarse, yet it seemed to be enjoying the feeling of being stroked.
Shizuo pet it for a few seconds more, and finally stood up, turned around, and began his trip back to the lake.
He didn't mind all the critters following him, but he wondered what Izaya would say to all of this.
The raven had consented to sitting at the lake's edge, wearing his underwear and nothing more.
He had two long sticks next to him, one of which had been sharpened to a point in a spear and the other yet to have been whittled away at. His face was tilted skyward, expression contemplative, and so he found himself staring at the pale sky with soft, billowing clouds.
He started when the brush began to rustle, and out came a still very nude Shizu-chan, with a band of animals gathered behind him like an army of critters.
The sight was so ridiculous that Izaya burst into unrestrained laughter. "Well, what do we have here~?"
"They followed me," Shizuo stated bluntly.
"Clearly. Shizu-chan finally found friends of the same kind and mental capacity as him, ne?"
Shizuo shrugged. "You don't like animals?"
"Yes, just as much as they don't like me." Dogs especially.
"Never would've thought." Shizuo replied, dripping with sarcasm.
"I'm not interested in anything lacking emotional depth," Izaya retorted.
The hell's his problem? Shizuo rolled his eyes, deciding not to reply to that. "Well, I'll let my clothes dry for a while before we get going again."
"You can lay them out next to mine." With Shizuo being his diversion away from his thoughts, Izaya picked up the second stick and knife to begin whittling the edge into a point, flakes of wood catching in his hair. Once that was done, he turned around and tossed it to Shizuo with a grin. "We're going fishing~"
To be fair, that was an actually good idea that Izaya proposed for the first time in forever. He grabbed the spear and hopped over to a rock to set down his clothes. "Works for me."
Izaya held his own and began wading into the water, his back to Shizuo. "And geez, I know your clothes are wet, but at least put some underwear on. No one wants to see that much of you."
Shizuo grumbled, "Yeah, yeah," before complying.
"Why don't you start, ne?" A sly smile was directed at the other as Izaya stopped when the water was just below hip-height, balancing. I wonder how gloriously Shizu-chan will fail. You can't spear fish with sheer strength, you know.
"Are there even fish big enough for this thing?" He asked, pointing at the sharp bit of the spear.
"Carp, bass, trout, perch, et cetera. Haven't you went fishing before?" Izaya gestured grandly at the water, where the multicolored forms of fish flitted by.
"No." Shizuo stared at the water and gripped his spear.
"Well, neither have I. The technique is basic enough, though."
"Do I just stay here or go inside the water…?" He asked inquisitively.
Izaya rolled his eyes, as if the other said something silly. "Stupid Shizu-chan, you're not going to catch anything big if you fish in water that shallow. Come here."
If a person only utilized ten percent of their brain, then the other ninety percent right now was used as to prevent Shizuo from punching the flea in the face.
But he did consent, leaving his forest friends at the shore and hopping over close to Izaya, despite how uncomfortable he felt doing so.
With spear in hand, he thrusted it into the water in hopes that he could pierce one or two fish. Or plenty. Pure force could be used as extra speed, but he hoped he didn't practically obliterate any fish he speared.
Evidently, Izaya's curiosity was piqued. "What are you doing?"
Shizuo responded as he jabbed it again towards a bass. "What do you think?"
"Failing spectacularly, is what I think."
Some wood chipped off the spear when Shizuo's thumb dug into it as a subtle change in mood.
He wasn't getting anywhere with the multiple times he's tried so far, and he was close to just jumping in and trying to catch fish with his bare hands - which was probably an even worse idea.
"So, you got anything fuckin' better?"
"Of course~ Let me show you how it's done." Izaya's expression was a little too self-satisfied now as his gaze flitted around over the water. "Pay attention. This is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be taught by one such as myself~"
"I wouldn't miss it for the life of me, flea," Shizuo replied sarcastically, looking at the other.
Without fabric to make him appear larger, Izaya really was skinny. Narrow chest, small waist, slim bird-like shoulders, and boxers hanging lowly on slight hips. The lack of nutrition didn't help either. His ribs jutted out from in between the bandages, the hollow of his curving collarbone made even more prominent, his cheekbones high and delicately bowed.
It was almost feminine.
"What the actual fuck do you eat home, louse?" Shizuo asked in slight surprise and amazement.
"As much as I'd like to entertain you, Shizu-chan, I'm catching our food, so hush." Izaya's expression was a picture of concentration, the tip of his tongue poking out from in between his lips, arms tense. His rustic eyes shifted around, following the dark forms moving about in the water. Abruptly, he grinned.
His movement was a blur, too fast to be caught by the eye, and moments later, Izaya was holding up the spear smugly with a wiggling trout impaled to the point. "You don't have to strike for where the fish is; you strike for where it will be. All it takes is observational skills. Each fish has a pretty distinct behavior, so once you learn it, you'll be able to predict what it will do next quite accurately."
Shizuo absent-mindedly nodded.
Izaya waded towards the other, leaning against the butt of his spear to stand next to Shizuo. He pointed out a perch, tracing its actions. After a couple of minutes, he inquired, "Notice the pattern?"
He nodded again. "Yeah."
"Perfect~ Have a go at it."
Shizuo prepared himself and… thrust! He missed, but he was closer this time around, so progress was made.
Izaya lightly touched the other's arm to get his attention. "You're too early. Don't be impatient, Shizu-chan. Stay calm, collected, focused - think of nothing but the spear in your hand and the fish in the water." Izaya made a grabbing gesture with his hand, pulling a fist towards himself. "When you see the opportunity, seize it. Go ahead and try again."
Shizuo nodded once again and uttered a quiet "Thanks," focusing on the fish moving and the grip on his spear.
His eyes set on the perch, and he tracked the movements of it, readjusting his spear ever so slightly until…
JAB!
As Shizuo raised his spear from the water, the result was a perfectly pierced fish.
Izaya grinned, delighted. "So he can be taught. I make a pretty great teacher, ne?"
Shizuo was somewhat grateful that during those precious seconds, Izaya wasn't going at his nerves like a cheese grater and was instead actually attempting to help him in something.
But he's still a fucking flea.
"I'm surprised you actually helped me," he responded, setting the blunt end of the spear onto the floor and examining the perch.
Izaya began to head back to the shore, waving a hand back at Shizuo. "Well~ I'm getting bored, so I decided to leave this to you. It would be a bother if you failed to catch anything and we starved to death."
Shizuo hadn't realized how hungry he was. The raw fish looked very appealing to him, but he swallowed dry and resisted the temptation. "I'll catch a few dozen."
A laugh was let out at that. "I'm sure you will. By the way, you can use the focusing technique to get a handle on your volatile anger. Whenever you feel control slipping, focus on something completely different, and think only of tha-" Izaya made something like a muffled choking sound in the back of his throat as he recalled who he was giving this advice to. "Never mind. Spearing fish has nothing to do with your anger issues."
"Uh…" He took off the perch. "... Thank...s…?" he said with great hesitance and hopped over to grab his shirt, which he laid out and put the now-dead fish onto.
Izaya waved it away dismissively, depositing his own fish next to Shizuo's. "I could be lying, Shizu-chan, or using this as a way to hurt you later on. Don't thank me."
That made Shizuo irritated again. How exactly would that come to use in the future to hurt him? Izaya's full of shit twenty-four seven.
He sighed and hobbled over back to the lake. "Then get some rest," he said, as his eyes set on another fish amongst many.
Izaya shook his head to himself minutely, as if clearing something, and the waiting animals gave him a wide berth as he set to building a fire.
The air had filled with the pleasing aroma of grilled fish and crackling of fire. The sky had darkened considerably in an array of reds and purples as the moon chased down the sun.
Izaya handed Shizuo a skewer of fish and took one for himself.
Everything was all good and well until Izaya decided to trill intentionally off-key, using his skewer as a microphone:
"A round ball, color of green.
It's glossy like a piccolo-"
Shizuo stopped nibbling on the grilled bass and lifted his head to meet Izaya's taunting gaze. "Why are you singing a song about…" And Shizuo realized why exactly he was singing what he was.
"-on top of shaomai or curry.
Kids don't like it so,
Gonna go get a refund-"
Shizuo pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "I can't fucking believe this…"
"FISH, FISH, FISH! - FISH~
IF YOU EAT FISH,
YOUR HEAD, YOUR HEAD, YOUR HEAD,
YOUR HEAD WILL BECOME SMARTER!"
Shizuo opened his eyes and twitched a smile, before he broke out into quickly subsiding laughter as his mouth parted to belch out his own lyrics:
"FISH, FISH, FISH!
IF YOU EAT FISH,
YOUR BODY, YOUR BODY, YOUR BODY,
YOUR BODY WILL GET BETTER!"
Izaya's expression flicked in surprise before he yelled out the remainder:
"Now ... together …!"
The two joined in a chorus.
"LET'S EAT FISH!"
THE FISH IS …
WAITING FOR US!"
"HEEEEEY!"
"HEEEEEY!"
Izaya promptly collapsed onto his back in laughter, grasping his sides.
And Shizuo was barely able to restrain himself, nearly falling off his rock in the process.
In between breaths, Izaya gasped, "Shizu-chan…! Who knew -" Wheeze. " - you had it in you - " Pant. " - to have fun?"
Shizuo's laughter only subsided a little as he coughed, attempting to get his own opinion in as well.
"I can say the same -" Breath. "- about you, Izaya!"
Izaya sat up at that, sobering enough to speak properly, "Come on~ I was always pretty fun." He had the widest grin on his face, and for once it wasn't a biting smirk but one of genuine amusement. His eyes on the other hand had darkened ever so slightly. Laugh while you still can, Shizu-chan~
Thankfully, Shizuo had mostly recovered from his fit of laughter, and responded, "I have… no idea… why we did that, or how, but I don't think I regret it."
"Well~" Izaya finally took a bite into the fish, now cold after their impromptu duet. "I originally did it to annoy you, but it seems it had quite the opposite effect. You really are unpredictable."
Shizuo shrugged, his grin not fading away just yet. "I knew the song for a while, Izaya, I just didn't think another person knew it."
Izaya hummed the tune under his breath as he continued to eat. He opened his mouth to speak, but all at once, his downright giddy expression dropped. Beyond Shizuo, animals frantically scampered out of the line of woods, leaping past them. A wall of mist permeated the forest, and even from here, the acidic tang invaded his nostrils. The hair on the back of his neck rose up.
Almost immediately, Izaya reacted by dropping the makeshift skewer and gathering their things.
Shizuo raised his head in surprise and lifted an eyebrow. "Huh?"
Izaya shoved the bundled up coat to the other's chest and reached for his crutches, pulling himself up. His jaw was tense as panic pressed down in the back of his mind - I'm not fast enough. I won't make it. "Unless you want to suffocate, move."
Shizuo didn't exactly object and grabbed the coat. "What…?" He asked, as he stood up. "What're you going on about?"
"Look behind you, brute."
Shizuo did, and what he saw made him widen his eyes in shock, quickly turning his head back around. "Fuck. Fuck, fuck." The fog was fast encroaching.
Izaya was already moving at a fairly fast pace, not waiting for the other. Blood and adrenaline hummed in his ears, as well as an emotion he wasn't at all familiar with - fear.
Shizuo quickly caught up.
"You need to be carried, or else you're gonna fucking die, Izaya. It's faster than you are." Shizuo had tried to keep his voice as controlled as possible, but the cracks of panic shone through.
The other's statement made Izaya's grip on the crutches falter, and he stumbled, catching himself right before he could fall. He glanced over his shoulder at the wisps surrounding their campfire, snuffing out the flame and instantly turning the accumulated fish to a blistery char.
If Izaya was too slow, he was going to suffer the very same fate.
"...Fine."
Shizuo lifted up the coat and bit on the knot with enough force to keep it on, and quickly wrapped his arms around Izaya to carry him fireman-style. The informant barely managed to keep his grip on the crutches, and the view he was offered now only made the lump in his throat grow.
He dug his nails into the wood, eyes forcing downward.
Relying on the beast to save my life. Again.
… how pathetic.
Shizuo's eyes were set forward - in the darkness of night, he was careful not to lose his balance. Yet with Izaya on his back, hopping on one leg, and being afraid that one mistake would cost both of their lives, his mind settled on one thought, as he navigated through the forestry, jumping over trees if necessary.
Don't trip. Don't trip. Don't trip.
Izaya could notice ragged breathing from Shizuo, and if he had the right angle, would notice beads of sweat trailing down his forehead.
Izaya's forearms tightened over the other, and he whispered, both to himself and to Shizuo, "Stay calm. We're not going to die." We still have unfinished business.
Shizuo responded with silence as adrenaline pumped through his veins, each hop sending them a meter, two, three into the air.
He didn't know how much time had passed when he broke into a clearing, and through the muddled thoughts, recalled it from his escapade after his underwear. From next to him, Izaya muttered, "It stopped."
Shizuo continued hopping around. "I can't stop. Momentum."
"Not you. The mist is gone."
"Did you fucking pay attention to physics class? If I try to stop, I'm probably going to bust your fuckin' ribs."
Izaya inhaled to compose himself, and as he craned his neck to look at the other, realized where they were.
Rows of empty stalls shield by awnings lined a path lit up by paper lanterns. Elaborate kabuki masks sat at display, the sizzling sound and aroma of a street vendor's food in the fryer permeated the emptiness, and massive obnoxious signs detailed both games and prices invaded his vision. Faintly, he could hear the clink of a shrine maiden's chimes, carried by the night wind.
"Slow down."
"I CAN'T!"
"Well then, not to alarm you or anything, but you're going to slam into those stalls."
In the span of a second, Shizuo did several things.
He dropped the coat, let go of Izaya, turned around in the middle of the air, proceeded to grab Izaya in the same way he did back at the truck, and decided that gravity was going to do the rest.
Shizuo's back slammed through wood. He bounced once and skidded across the floor for several meters, wearing a deep groove into the ground before eventually coming to a stop.
Shizuo took a deep breath.
"You happy now?"
Considering Izaya's face was now forcefully buried into Shizuo's chest, he mumbled out a muffled, "Yes," hands knotted around the other's decimated shirt.
As if on cue, fireworks launched into the sky, exploding in a beautiful shower of iridescent sparks.