Sorry, no reply today :( life is hectic and I'm being nice saying the word "hectic". But I do read your comments! They drift me to happiness~. Thank you!

A meaning you would like to have in mind:

Psyche: means human soul, the human spirit or soul and the human mind as the center of thought and behavior. Is also the wife of Cupid but that doesn't really matter…

•Dimension•

1:24 p.m.

Light clouds were passing through the blue sky.

"Awww, stop!" he complained. "Shizu-chan!" Izaya was upset.

Shizuo, who was being complained to, promptly ignored the other striding ahead.

"Seriously, it's no fun when you act like this! No fun!" Izaya barely stopped the urge to stomp the ground in disappointment.

Shizuo walked ahead silently, his cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. Though he was looking ahead, he could still see Izaya walking behind him on his left side. Shizuo was using this silent treatment because one, Izaya had kicked him before, and second, the raven-haired man deserved it. After all, he didn't keep his word when he said he would call Shizuo three days ago.

So, in a few words, it was a little tantrum made by Shizuo for Izaya. Besides, it was funny to see Izaya mad, Shizuo thought.

Izaya was really upset. Shizuo had never ignored him before. Never. It was a little shocking that he was being ignored despite all the things he'd been saying to catch Shizuo's attention during their walk.

He did not like it. Not at all. Well, he did like to have his personal space from outsiders but… but… when it came to Shizuo's, he really-

"Oof!" Izaya couldn't end the process of his thoughts. While he walked (absentmindedly) behind Shizuo, he didn't notice the blond stopping in his tracks, and in consequence he bumped into Shizuo's back.

Shizuo turned around, bending down to Izaya's eye-level.

Too close.

"Buy me lunch," Shizuo said, looking into his eyes.

"Hah?" Izaya asked, backing away lightly.

Shizuo grabbed Izaya's shoulders, looking straight into his eyes. "Lunch."

Izaya felt his tummy fill with butterflies "…Yes…?" He wasn't sure about anything anymore.

"OK," Shizuo said, turning Izaya around. "Over there," Shizuo said, pushing Izaya to walk in the opposite direction. Izaya had many question marks above his head. Shizuo ushered the smaller to walk faster.

Shizuo didn't want Izaya to notice Kadota behind them.

However, Kadota did see Shizuo pushing Izaya gently. "…Jesus Christ…" he said.

•••••

1:37 p.m.

Izaya had his right elbow on the table in front of him, cheek resting on his palm, watching people pass by the window. Shizuo, who was at the register, was mesmerizing his eyes with the sight displayed before him. That simple pose was dazzling. Shizuo snapped out of his stupor when his order arrived. Like the ex-waiter he was, Shizuo moved easily through the crowd holding two trays. He reached their table and set the food in front of Izaya after he sat.

Izaya was still resting his cheek on his palm, but instead of observing the flow of the crowd outside, his red eyes fixed on Shizuo.

Faking ignorance, Shizuo began to eat. Izaya was still looking at him with a twinkle of amusement as the time passed. With a small snicker, Izaya grabbed one of his napkins; he folded it two times, making a small square. Shizuo chewed slowly, watching with mild confusion at the annoying little thing. Izaya stretched his right arm across the table to Shizuo's face; he wiped mayonnaise from Shizuo's chin.

Izaya laughed hard at Shizuo's red face.

Nobody was watching them. And if they were it didn't matter, because in those instants no-one else existed.

The only thing that mattered was each other's company.

•••••

1:51 p.m.

"Don't you think the forecast has been strange lately? The weather has been fluctuating, changing erratically. It seems as if someone was controlling it. It seems that is going to rain again. What do you think? There is a force even greater within the realm of our reality? Or is it a clear scam told by people who are too afraid of the reality, that there's no more than this? Tricky, isn't it?" Izaya asked, while both of his arms rested on the table, his eyes roaming outside the window.

"Hrm," Shizuo said, before slurping from his soda.

They had finished their meals and were talking about trivial things. Well mostly, Izaya talked and Shizuo replied with small comments, nods or grunts.

It was such a peaceful day.

•••••

3:16 p.m.

The licks were not long, but delicate. A pink tongue appeared and disappeared from Shizuo's view. Seriously, why did this keep happening to him? Every single move Izaya made set Shizuo under a spell.

Everything he made was graceful.

-How messed up in the head he must have been to think that way, the old version of Shizuo could have said.

Izaya glanced at Shizuo and pointed at his hand. "It's melting." Izaya went back to eating his ice-cream.

"Huh?" Shizuo looked at his palm.

Delicious melted ice dripped from his skin to the ground.

Izaya glanced disapprovingly at Shizuo and handed him his only napkin. Soon after Shizuo's hand was clean and Izaya had eaten, the raven-haired man stood and walked away from the bench they were sitting on.

Shizuo, without asking, followed him.

Izaya, without showing it, waited for him.

Without words they talked.

•••••

5:43 p.m.

It was a long walk. More like a planned rove through streets and alleys. They barely talked and when they did, something was off. Something was misplaced. Something infested their voices. A delicious poison dizzied their senses. It pleased them and annoyed them. An ambivalent equivalence summed up in their hearts.

What am I doing?

What did I plan to do?

Why am I doing this with him?

Strangely, both were thinking the same things. Unanswered questions surfaced again and again. Many questions were seeking answers. But none of them asked. Neither of them wanted to know, or, both were too afraid, affronted with the possibilities of the answers.

However, wasn't it worth it to try?

Was it?

Shizuo halted.

Izaya, after a few seconds, stopped too, turning around lightly.

They stared at each other for some time while dark clouds enshrouded the city, slowly taking the light away.

The first drops of rain fell upon the city.

Izaya faced up. He suddenly felt a nostalgic feeling. As if he had experienced it before. Something like a sad memory.

Izaya didn't notice when Shizuo walked to him. Not until his face hovered over him. Like a reflex, Izaya tried to move away, but Shizuo grasped his upper arm.

"Why do you…?" Shizuo tried to ask. "Why do I…?" His face was troubled.

Izaya just stared at him, with a strange feeling. He definitively wanted to flee from there, because he knew the pounding in his heart was Shizuo's fault, and maybe if he got away from Shizuo it would stop. Yet, he wanted to stay. He really didn't want to go. He didn't want to stay away from the blond.

"Explain," Izaya finally said. Though, he wasn't so sure if the word was solely meant for Shizuo.

Shizuo grabbed both of Izaya's arms, pulling him closer; he lowered his face, nose brushing Izaya's.

Rain still fell, soaking them with chilly water.

"Why do I want to do this?"

They kissed.

•••••

11:52 p.m.

The door cracked open. A shadow walked in, passing through the dim room. The shadow went to the second floor. A pair of yellow eyes gazed intently at the newcomer. It began to undress. The shadow climbed over the bed, crawling on the bedclothes until he was on top of the sleeping person, owner of the room.

The shadow turned on the lights of the lamp placed on the nightstand.

Izaya stirred, covering his eyes with a hand, grumbling.

Tsugaru grinned and grasped Izaya's hand; he lifted it to his eye level and waited for Izaya to look at him. Drowsy red eyes stared. Tsugaru kissed his palm, enjoying how confused Izaya was.

Tsugaru kissed Izaya's hand sweetly, covering the back of it with his much larger hand.

He trailed butterfly kisses along the skin of his forearm as he bent his body over Izaya, finally kissing his cheek tenderly.

"Wait, what… shit, what're you doin'?" Izaya fought his sleepiness.

Tsugaru grinned, kissing Izaya dearly. "I am a low scumbag who takes advantage of your weakness, Orihara-san, yes I am… Well, if I need to be a scumbag to be able to do this to you, then I shall be the greatest scumbag ever!"

Izaya stared silently.

Tsugaru resumed his work, kissing his cheek again. He trailed his lips to the corner of Izaya's mouth. Tsugaru stopped abruptly and kissed Izaya's forehead instead.

"Why are you doing this?" Izaya said, pushing him off.

"Because I want to-" Tsugaru said, trying to kiss him again.

Izaya stopped Tsugaru's talking in an even tone. "No, why are you doing this to me…?"

"…That-"

"I know…" Izaya interrupted him. "No, I don't know for who this is meant… I just know that this isn't for me…" Izaya stared at him calmly. "It's always been like this since the first time I met you. You were looking for someone else in me… you are looking for someone else in me…"

Tsugaru was temporally speechless. "…I, also like this about you," Tsugaru smiled. "You are smart, sharp… and surprisingly blunt when half-asleep."

There was sadness in his tone.

"…I'm tired… lemme sleep… isn't like you're going to answer me anyway…"

"He he, you sweetie. You don't want to force me to tell you. You're so nice. Indeed, indeed, as soft as a marshmallow." Izaya attempted to glare and Tsugaru remembered something. "By the way, did you have fun on your date?" Tsugaru teased.

"What?"

"Your date with Heiwajima-san."

"…'Thanks meal'…" Izaya corrected.

"Of course it was that. How was it?" Tsugaru turned the lights off and kissed Izaya's cheek one last time.

"…Fine…" Izaya answered, hugging a pillow and nuzzling his face in it.

"…Mm? What happened? Is there a thread of indisposition in your voice?" Tsugaru asked while he hugged Izaya from behind, pressing him against his chest.

"No," Izaya said hugging his pillow harder.

"My my, Orihara-san is kind of tsundere, isn't he?" Tsugaru kissed the back of Izaya's head.

"No," Izaya said sluggishly.

Tsugaru sighed, amused. He was ready to go to sleep too when a meow sounded in the quiet room. Tsugaru directed his gaze to the yellow eyed cat. The feline meowed some more and Tsugaru felt himself tense. Without consideration, he turned all the lights on.

Izaya flinched and glared at him.

"I need to talk with you." Tsugaru stood.

Tsugaru wasn't smiling.

•••••

1:08 a.m.

"…I've been telling you, Orihara-san. Izaya-kun is you and you are him. Your existence is both the same and different. I assure you, I have not a motive to lie to you. I won't feed us lies here, they're not giving us much time anyway." Tsugaru said, serious.

"…I do think… that you just want to piss me off," Izaya said acidly.

"What is within your essence is nothing more than a shred of a different psyche. If I can paraphrase it, we can call it an abnormality of pure energy. You were lucky, from all the scenarios of thousands of possibilities, you, Orihara-san, are still you. The timeframe you live on is intact. However, Izaya-kun's didn't have such luck, or in this case, improbability. So to resume, you are going to be able to live like yourself… to a certain extent. I have made sure of that."

"I just can't conceive of this happening. You pretend to make me believe that there are more of us out there in some inconsistent thing called alternative universes?"

"I do not pretend to be over-confident and make you believe something that I, myself, can't comprehend to its full extent. Do I know that there are more me's in other realities? I do not know," Tsugaru said. "I…We, live like this, living what we have to live, living from what we know about ourselves. It's absolutely ridiculous to try to comprehend everything in life and the universe."

Izaya paced in his living room.

"But who knows? The possibilities are infinite. Perhaps, we are watched by even greater forces. The space is infinite and endless."

"Don't you dare lecture me about religion right now," Izaya growled.

"I am not doing it. I have been telling you since the first time we met. I only care about the development of my plans. The end is meaningless. And right now, you are in the crucial pinpoint. You have made contact with your other-self. Well, more likely he did the contact... Like twins who seem to share a supernatural connection to each other, the spirits travelled through space, calling out to their pairs." There was a mixed feeling on Tsugaru's face, an expression between delight and worry.

"Hypothetically speaking, I haven't agreed with your words. Why do this Izaya and I have that 'energy'?" Izaya rubbed his temples.

Tsugaru made a small smile and continued. "Because its purpose is to be within you, to fill an invisible vacuum. To repair a fissure ."

"…if there was a space left behind, then something was there before it, right?"

"Sharp."

"What was it?"

"My lover."

"…Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Do you expect me to believe that rubbish?"

"You changed. Psyche transmitted some of his essence to you and to Izaya-kun. Its purpose was-"

"So, you're only here because I look like your dead lover then?" Izaya said, mordacious.

Tsugaru was quiet, looking at Izaya with an unreadable expression.

"The first time we met you weren't smiling at me," Izaya said as a fact, bitterly. "You, you are telling me that I am a mutant now? A freak? A fucking monster? !"

"You shouldn't be fretted. You are safe. Izaya-kun can be killed any time, you are the lucky one."

"I didn't asked for this shit to happen," Izaya hissed darkly.

"I just want to make sure you understand me now."

"I…" Izaya hesitated. That was, that was just "bullshit."

Tsugaru narrowed his eyes. "You, a person that doesn't make mistakes, surprisingly gets injured, your mood fluctuates unexpectedly, your REM sleep is haunted, you get big headaches, you have small lapses of unawareness, and you get sick often. Those are the symptoms of the changes that are occurring in you. Also you probably have had moments when thoughts filled your mind, but you didn't have any intention whatsoever to think about them. Or speak words you never thought about."

Izaya shook his head. Everything he'd done until now had been someone else's thoughts? He didn't want to believe or understand.

"Your mind will develop a certain brain capability. If I should pick a name for it, it would be Psychokinesis. However, the intensity of that ability has been restrained by me. I couldn't stop the process completely. I apologize."

"Stop. Just stop and shut up," Izaya said, walking up to his bedroom.

Tsugaru followed him. "Your problem is that you're too hermetic, you don't let people in, and that's why I have to monitor you."

"Great. So you're a fucking alien stalker?"

"I prefer extraterrestrial. It's very complicated to define our existence, because we existed before and after your race. The time and space is just a form for the likes of you for us to seize."

Izaya took the first thing in his closet and changed. "A moment… that 'Doctor' from before…?" Izaya didn't want to remember.

"Yes, he's one of my underlings. It was a suitable moment to make a check up on you."

"You are unbelievable! Have you set tapping devices on my house? !"

"Something like that…" Tsugaru tried to change the topic. "Also, about that monster you saw in your dream… it is an abnormality. It's a mutation of Izaya-kun's abilities. Don't worry, it can't reach you in any way. That dream is just a part of Izaya-kun's nature."

"I don't care." Izaya said, hustling down.

"You want to pretend that everything is OK, don't you?" Tsugaru said passing him and stopping his retreat.

"I don't want to be infected with this poisonous talk." Izaya took the handle of the front door of his apartment.

Tsugaru wrapped his arms around him. "I will not hurt you. You know it. You can feel it, right? You feel the sensation. Don't you?"

Izaya was silent.

"Orihara-san… I think you should look at yourself in the mirror…"

•••••

2:59 a.m.

Shizuo couldn't sleep. He simply couldn't. Not after what he did. Not after what they did.

He wasn't thinking.

Shizuo could still taste Izaya in his mouth.

He didn't know how the hell they kissed. Or how the hell it ended. Izaya just pulled away, saying that he had somewhere to go. Shizuo didn't stop him that time, and Shizuo didn't know what to do. He growled to himself, watching heavy rain fall incessantly, covering the whole city. The next thing he knew was that there was an incessant knock at the main door. Frowning, Shizuo stood and walked to the door. The noisy storm wasn't stopping; neither was the time.

Shizuo was beyond surprised.

Before him, a soaked raven-haired man stood. The rain had no mercy.

Izaya opened his mouth to speak but the words were stuck. "I… I'm… sorry…" He shook his head and turned to walk away.

Shizuo grasped his hand, frowning at how cold Izaya's skin was. "Sorry for what?" Was Izaya turning him down? For what he was he turning him down in first place? ! Shit!

"For coming so late."

"…" Shizuo felt like slapping himself.

"…I should…" Izaya tugged his hand but Shizuo didn't let go.

"You came from your house to Ikebukuro…? With this rain?" Shizuo felt Izaya's hand shaking, his entire body was. At that point Shizuo didn't know if it was from the cold or from something else.

"…" After a moment, Izaya tugged his hand, and Shizuo yanked him inside his apartment in response.

Shizuo locked the door behind them.

"Don't move," Shizuo said and went to his room.

When the blond came back, Izaya was still standing in the doorway. Shizuo covered Izaya's head with a towel, and stroked the towel over his head.

"Would you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"…" Izaya didn't answer because Shizuo… he was like a gentle breeze, his very presence alone was soothing.

"Hey," Shizuo stopped briefly, lowering his face to Izaya's.

Izaya laughed without meaning it. "I… I've…I really… I should just disappear…"

Shizuo looked at Izaya's face, getting closer. "I don't know what happened but-" The gap between their lips ended. Shizuo took a hold of Izaya's nape while their kiss deepened.

Lips crashed again and again, hands roamed over wet clothes, over cold skin. Hands gripped clothes helplessly. Space and time stopped.

Their breathing was heavy "-stop spouting gibberish."

Shizuo attacked Izaya's lips again while his body pushed him to the bedroom. It was mayhem of mixed feelings. What they were doing wasn't white or black, just a blurry gray. Maybe they were doing this for whole different reasons, or perhaps they were just thinking of excuses to do it. Either way, Shizuo just wanted to wipe that sad face off of Izaya.

They undressed.

They kissed.

They wanted… needed to be so much closer… closer than that.

•••••

3:35 a.m.

Our destination…

Is heaven…

Or hell…?

•To Be Continued•

A/N: Everything cleared out! But so many things happened! Enjoy the drama~

Important: I promised an one-shot rated M. It's an interconnected one-shot with the end of this chapter. It's called "Pure & Easy". If you want to read it please click my profile.

PD: Celty was right. Macha (the cat) is an alien (lol)