Okay, so here is the second to last chapter! I would post the last chapter today, but I'm not going to be that nice. xD I'm starting a sequel to it, called, "Brightened". So, I hope you enjoy! ^^ As always.
February 27th
3:00 PM
Three Months after Izaya's Return
Shizuo walked behind Tom. "So, we're done for the day?"
"Yep. We just have to find Vorona…" Tom sighed.
"Hm?" Shizuo paused for a second, recognizing a scent in the air. "Tom-san?"
"… Eh… Sure, whatever. I'll just use cotton candy or something to lure her out," Tom replied with another sigh.
Shizuo walked around until he caught sight of the flea. "I-ZAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAA!" He yelled. Izaya turned around, not with a smirk, but a smile.
"Oh, wow, Shizu-chan found me again?" he laughed, starting to run.
Shizuo smiled as well as the two were caught in their little game of cat and mouse. Somebody must have thought it funny to trip Izaya while he was running from what could possibly kill him, because a large bag fell at his feet, causing him to fall forwards.
"Eh!?" He silently cursed at himself for not paying enough attention to his surroundings. Shizuo walked over to him, outstretching a hand towards him. Izaya took it and stood up.
"Don't be so clumsy when we're fighting," Shizuo smiled, raising an eyebrow. "You're taking the fun out of it."
"Well, I'm sorry for totally falling on purpose and scraping my knee. I definitely planned that, Shizu-chan, because that's so something I do these days, protozoan," Izaya said sarcastically. Shizuo hugged Izaya, and Izaya gave up, hugging him back.
"Don't compare me to an amoeba," Shizuo whispered with a smirk. Izaya pulled away slightly, looking up at him.
"Did you Google it?" Izaya asked.
"Yep," Shizuo laughed.
Izaya hugged him once again, cuddling up to him. Just then, his phone rang. "Ne? Oh, whoops, sorry," He backed away from Shizuo just enough to escape the hug and answered. "Hello~? Oh, of course! No… Alright… So, we meet at Russia Sushi, then~? Alright!" He hung up, putting his phone back in his pocket.
"You have to work?" Shizuo asked, hands in pockets.
"Yep," Izaya replied.
"Wait."
Shizuo took Izaya's arm and pulled his sleeves up, revealing cuts along his wrist. "… Izaya, I thought I told you to stop this."
"Shizu-chan…"
"No. Just stop, okay?"
"…" Izaya nodded. "Sorry."
Shizuo pulled his sleeve back down and smiled, patting Izaya's head. "Have a nice day, flea."
"You too, Shizu-chan! Gotta run~!" Izaya smiled back, his mood immediately changing. He skipped away gleefully.
"Can't believe that flea's depressed… And no reasonable man skips around like that," Shizuo muttered to himself. "Oh, well. What're you gonna do?"
And with that, he went home.
- Three Hours Later -
- Kanra has entered the chatroom.
Kanra: Hello, again~!
Setton: Oh, hey, Kanra. ^^
Tanaka Taro: Sup?
Bakyura: Die.
Shizu-chan: Howdoyoumakeaspace?I'mreallyconfusedandnobody'shelpingme.
Izaya's eyes widened. If that was really Shizuo… Why would he use Shizu-chan as his alias? Well, not really alias, since everybody knew who he was, but…
Kanra: Ne? You just press the space bar.
Shizu-chan: …What'sthat?
Kanra: … It's the thing in the bottom middle of your keyboard.
Shizu-chan: Oh, okay. Thanks.
Setton: Haha… So, how is everybody?
Bakyura: Fine. T^T
Tanaka Taro: Great! :D
Kanra: Amazing, thank you.
Shizu-chan: I'm trying my best not to break my keyboard right now.
Kanra: Hm… I have to go, sorry.
Setton: Bye.
Tanaka Taro: See you.
Bakyura: Die. =-=
Shizu-chan: Okay, bye.
Kanra: BYYEEEE~! ^^
- Kanra has logged off.
Setton: So, Shizuo- er, Shizu-chan- you know who Kanra is, right?
Shizu-chan: No. Who?
Tanaka Taro: He'll figure out soon enough.
Bakyura: Eh, I highly doubt it.
Shizu-chan: What is that supposed to mean..?
- Indoor Scholar has logged on.
Indoor Scholar: HELLOOOOOOO!
Setton: …
Bakyura: Hey ^^
Shizu-chan: Hi.
Tanaka Taro: Oh, hi. :))
Indoor Scholar: WOAHHH… Shizu-chan? Shi-san!?
Shizu-chan: Yep. Hi. Do you know who Kanra is?
Indoor Scholar: Well...
Indoor Scholar: Why do you ask?
Setton: We're just trying to see how long it would take him right now.
Indoor Scholar: Oh, okay! Hahahahahahahahahaha!
Shizuo was about to type another word when he felt arms wrap around him from behind. It took him a moment to realize who it was.
"Really, Shizu-chan?" Izaya laughed, hugging him. Shizuo stood up and hugged him back.
"I didn't see why not," Shizuo shrugged. "Oh, hey… Do you know who Kanra is? And who are you? Because I've seen you on the chatroom before, I just-"
"I'm Kanra, Shizu-chan," Izaya rolled his eyes. Shizuo's jaw nearly dropped.
"Why are you a woman on the internet?" He asked.
Izaya shrugged. "Just for the lolz, I guess."
"…" Shizuo sighed. "Alright then."
Shizu-chan: Hey, I got to go guys. Kanra is at my house. Bye.
Setton: Aw… I guess we'll never know how long it would've taken him.
Indoor scholar: D'awwwwwwwwwwwww!
Tanaka Taro: Haha ^^
Bakyura: o3o Okay then.
- MONTA has logged on.
Setton: Monta! ^^
Monta: 'Sup?
- Shizu-chan has logged off.
Shizuo laughed. "So…" He picked Izaya up and set him in the computer chair, staring at him with his arms crossed. His face became serious. "You didn't stop, did you?"
"Shizu-chan, I…"
"I told you to stop and you didn't!" Shizuo yelled. "What, I'm guessing you're smoking now, too? You'd be better off killing yourself! Now, I see where you were getting at when you tried to jump! I wish I hadn't saved you the first time!"
Izaya flinched, suddenly getting teary-eyed. He wondered how it was possible for Shizuo to change the mood so quickly instead of him.
"S-Shizu-chan, you don't mean that…" he said quietly.
"I do mean that! If you're not going to listen to me and stop this crap, then just go ahead and die already!" Shizuo yelled louder.
"Shizu-chan!" Izaya yelled back, standing up and backing away in terror. He ran out of the house in tears, just wanting to go home. He wasn't paying attention once again, and accidentally ran into Celty, who was on her phone, probably still on the chatroom.
Celty stopped him just in time, glad neither of them fell or hurt themselves. [Hey, you alright?] She asked, noticing his tears.
Izaya hugged- actually hugged- Celty Sturluson. She hugged him back, patting his back gently. She couldn't communicate with him while he was hugging her, but he knew what she was trying to say.
"S-Shi… Shizuo… t-told me t-to… K-Kill myself…." Izaya stuttered, sobbing. Celty didn't believe it. She pried the crying informant off of her, setting him on the back of her motorcycle. She created a helmet around his head as she climbed on in front of him, beginning to ride to Shinra's house. Izaya was still sobbing, just not as hard. Somehow, Celty's kindness at the time was soothing and comforting. It was all he needed right then.
When they arrived at Shinra's, Celty sat Izaya down on the couch.
"So, what happened? It's okay, just tell the whole story. And no stuttering or crying," Shinra instructed, sitting on the chair next to the couch.
Izaya nodded. "Well… Earlier today… I met Shizu-chan… A-And-"
"I said no stuttering," Shinra said.
"… And so, he looked at my wrist, and he got angry, because… He told me to stop a while back, but… I didn't, and… When I got home a few hours later, he was on the chatroom, so I went to his house to ask about his username, and… He got angry again, and accused me of all this different stuff, then told me it would be better and that I was right to try to kill myself…" Izaya sighed, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.
"Izaya, I doubt he actually did mean any of that," Shinra smiled sadly, raising an eyebrow. "Y'know, if he told you to stop whatever you were doing, then obviously, he doesn't want you hurting yourself. See?"
"B-But…" Izaya sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I understand now…"
[Well, are you going to stop?] Celty turned to him.
"…" Izaya paused, but nodded. "Yes… I'll stop…"
"Good," Shinra stood up. "Then, unless you want me to treat you, you can go now."
Izaya didn't move.
"So, you want me to?" Shinra asked. "Alright, sure." He walked over to Izaya. "Celty?"
Celty nodded, getting Shinra's medical kit and setting it on the table in front of him.
When Izaya left that day, there wasn't a scratch or cut on his body.
He walked around the streets, eyes on his feet. Should I really..? Izaya sighed. He didn't know what to do. He'd been hurt so much… And of course, if his monster wanted him dead…
That would be two reasons to die.
Then, you could add on everyone he hurt, how he was involved in illegal work, and how he was practically infamous for ruining people's lives. Three more reasons.
So, there. He had five reasons to die and none to live.
Right?
And so there he was, back where he started, finding himself climb the stairwell of the infamous building to the top, standing at the edge, looking down at the blood stains, and wondering why he was so afraid to fall. There was no Shizuo there to save him. Never. He excluded himself from the crowd, not leaving his apartment until midnight, not answering Shinra's calls, even begging Namie to tell everyone who visited he wasn't home.
Yet, somehow, even with him disappearing off the face of the Earth…
He still couldn't jump.
And so, there he stood, at the edge of the building so many people had jumped, unaffected by the world… and the world unaffected by him. Surely, he thought to himself, nobody would miss me. And of course, he believed it. He was simply a shadow representing everything wrong with the world. Of course no one would miss him.
Nobody would care.
And that night, once again, Izaya stood at the edge of the building, looking over. He thought about what Shizuo said. He doesn't actually like me… He was just being stupid and unpredictable, as always. And so then, he decided it. He was going to jump. He took a deep breath, leaning over just enough to-
Wait…
Where was Shizuo?
Last time he did the exact same thing, and Shizuo saved him. So, why not now?
He fell to his knees, realizing how much of an idiot he actually was.
Everybody hates me… I have to do this, He thought once again, standing up. Though, somehow, he couldn't help but tremble. He slowly, ever so slowly leaning forward until he fell, his heart pounding in his chest as the cold wind whipped his face. After that, everything went black.
He awoke slowly to the sweet smell of roses, too pained to sit up. He looked around. To his left- endless flowers and trees, and beautiful sights. To his right…
Shizuo Heiwajima.
Shizu-chan? Izaya wanted to call out, but his body disobeyed him.
"You wanted your fairytale ending," Shizuo said, smiling down sadly at him. "Shinra said there was no hope in trying to save you, so… I guess this was all I could do."
Izaya stared up at him in disbelief, and his heart was no longer pounding. He was no longer afraid. He knew that it was going to happen eventually, and now..?
There was no stopping Izaya's fate.
"Thank you," Izaya managed to speak.
"I can't believe it, though… I guess Ikebukuro's traffic is safe without me tearing up all those signs, huh?" Shizuo smiled, laughing. Though, Izaya could tell that Shizuo's vice was obviously cracking up, and there were tear streaks down his cheeks. "Heh. And people can once again buy soda in peace…"
Izaya blinked, feeling himself getting weaker and more tired as the seconds passed. Every minute he spent in that heaven felt like an hour, and he smiled, listening to Shizuo's stupid, idiotic stories about his own protozoan mind.
And when Izaya felt his eyes drop, his heartbeat quickened, even if only for a moment. He really wouldn't be able to see Shizuo's face, feel his touch, or even hear his voice again. He clung onto reality as best he could before he disappeared.
"Izaya..? Izaya!" Shizuo called out, but Izaya could only see blackness. "Don't… You can't!"
He felt Shizuo scoop him up in his arms, hugging him tightly.
"You better not be doing this to me, flea!"
Izaya only smiled.
"… Shizuo… Heiwajima. M-my… monster."
His body fell limp in Shizuo's arms.
After that, sobbing. Only harsh sobbing. Shizuo heard a bike pull up and stop in front of him, Celty staring at Izaya's dead body unbelievingly.
[Wow… Oh, my God…] Celty took Izaya from Shizuo's clutch, setting him back on the ground. [He's in a better place, now… Just let him stay in his fairytale. This place never changes… So… There.] Shizuo nodded and climbed on the bike behind her and they took off, back to Shinra's.
Shizuo just couldn't- rather, didn't want to believe Izaya was dead. It just wasn't possible. He didn't want it to be possible. Yet, it was.
And it had happened right before his eyes.
DUN. DUN. DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN! See ya next time. xD