Double update because there'a a lot of anime dialogue! Also, are any or my readers possibly going to be at Anime North this weekend? If so, I'll probably be in my Psyche cosplay on Saturday! :P
…~-~…
"Izzzzaaaayyyyaaaaaa-kuuuuuuun"
Izaya smiled when he saw Shizuo calling him from outside the building.
'Does that idiot really think I'd hear him from there if I was in my apartment?' Izaya thought.
Hiding behind the vending machine, Izaya watched as Shizuo stepped inside the building, and made his way through the lobby.
"Let's plaaaaay…"
Before Shizuo could kick down the door, Izaya snuck up behind him, and smiled lightly to himself as he tried to balance his empty soda can on Shizuo's shoulder.
The can clattered to the ground as Shizuo spun around to face his nemesis.
"Why are you here, Shizu-chan?" Izaya asked, genuinely curious. Shizuo rarely showed up at his apartment. Shinjuku was Izaya's turf after all as far as Shizuo was concerned.
"To punch you, obviously." Shizuo said bluntly.
Of course.
"And why do I deserve to be punched?"
"Because you pissed me off!" Shizuo responded angrily.
"Aren't you a bit old to be acting like a bully, Shizu-chan."
"Shut up." Shizuo interjected. "Just how involved in this are you?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Izaya said with a smile, heading for the door to avoid damage to the building from the inevitable fight to come.
Shizuo continued. "I'm talking about the Slasher causing uproar in Ikebukuro."
Izaya had to admit, he was impressed by Shizuo's intuition.
"That's quite the accusation." Izaya stated, neither confirming, nor denying Shizuo's allegation.
"Ninety-nine percent of the time when something strange or unexplainable happens, you're the one behind it!"
"Can't you trust in that one percent this time?" Izaya said, throwing his arms out to the sides. He then pulled out his flick blade with a smile still on his face. "I figured you wouldn't."
Shizuo perked up at the sight with a look that Izaya recognized as one that meant he was ready to fight.
Izaya backed out the door, making sure to not let Shizuo out of his sight. All of his senses were on high alert thanks to the caffeine in the soda.
Shizuo casually walked over to the side of the road where he gripped the guardrail.
Izaya stood there, stunned at the brute's weapon of choice. "Seriously?" Izaya asked himself.
He suddenly had the image of himself being hit like a baseball, and flying across the city.
That was something he'd like to avoid…
Izaya quickly took a ready stance, and held his knife out on front of him as Shizuo lifted the guard rail over his head.
And then the unexpected happened.
Out of nowhere, a black and yellow shape cut in front of Izaya's vision, forcing him and Shizuo to take a step back to avoid being hit. When the shape stopped moving, Izaya realized it was actually Celty.
"Oh, my…" Izaya said to himself. He slipped his flick blade back into his pocket as Celty approached, sensing that their fight wasn't going to happen.
"Celty? Why are you…?" Shizuo trailed off as Celty showed him her PDA.
"What is this?" Shizuo shifted his attention back to Izaya. "Did you plan this as well?"
"If I had the power to predict that Celty would show up, I would have dropped a meteor on your house by now." Izaya said casually.
Without another word, Shizuo caught the helmet thrown at him, taking the hint and jumping on the back of Celty's motorcycle.
As the sped away, Izaya stepped forward watching them disappear into the city.
"How's an idiot like him so smart…?" Izaya whispered to himself, "That's why I absolutely hate him…"
After a few moments, Izaya dragged himself back inside his apartment, no longer wanting to be outside.
"You know," Izaya said, "When Anri stops Haruna—which we both know she will—your plan will be ruined. Anri will never let you get to her the way Haruna did."
"I'll find a way… Don't you worry…" Saika said, materializing in front of Izaya, "I won't lose the power I've attained even after my children are stopped. Their allegiance will shift to Anri, but they are still my children in the end…"
"Either way, this only helps my own plan out further…"
"And what plan is that?" Saika asked.
"My plan to wake Celty's head, remember? With the city divided into the Yellow Scarves and the Dollars, won't it just be even more interesting with Anri leading a third force in the city? Now all three friends are going to be involved in the war."
"Cruel… That is not how you love humans…"
Izaya laughed. "Yes, well, consider it one of the ways I'm getting back at you for pissing me off so much lately."
"If I get control of Shizuo tonight, then this plan of yours will be ruined."
"And what makes you think you'll get control of him, hmm?"
"He is currently headed for where my children are gathering… They will cut him… He will be mine…"
"No…" Izaya said flatly, "Shizuo won't be controlled. He can't be controlled. Not even by me, and especially not by you."
…~-~…
Shizuo sat on the back of Celty's motorcycle, both of them looking around South Ikebukuro Park, waiting for the army that they knew would arrive soon.
The park was quiet, and devoid of any life other than the two waiting in the center. The color of the sky above them matched the stone on the ground, blending the scene into nothing but neutral dark grey which only served to make the duo stand out more.
But that was the point.
They had to wait for the Slasher's victims to make its appearance. And hopefully, mixed in with the Slasher's children would be their mother.
All they had to do was find the mother, and take it out.
It didn't take much longer before they could hear the whispers being to surround them, disrupting the stillness of the evening.
"I love Shizuo…"
"Love…"
"Heiwajima Shizuo…"
"I love you…"
"Shizuo…"
In under a minute, Shizuo and Celty found themselves surrounded by people with glowing red eyes, each proclaiming his or her love for Shizuo in a sort of trace-like tone.
"I wanted to meet, Heiwajima Shizuo-san." A girl stood at the head of the group as she spoke to Shizuo. "You truly are a sight to behold. Just as our mother said, everyone knows that my sister was defeated. The internet is quite convenient, no?"
Celty looked around, quickly realizing that the mother must not be here if it is using the girl instead of speaking to them itself.
"It was difficult in the beginning for us to learn to speak," the girl continued, "but now our consciousness is just as well defined as our mother's." Pulling out her own weapon—a butterfly knife—the girl began spinning the blade in her hands as she became more excited. "Now, Shizuo-san, show us all just how strong you are! Then we'll all love each other! We won't let anyone—not even that monster over there—interfere. The police won't even come! They're rather busy right now because my sisters are out increasing our numbers all over the place!"
Nonchalantly stepping off of the back of Celty's motorcycle, Shizuo calmly stood before the army of possessed knife-wielding citizens of Ikebukuro.
"Can I ask you something?" Shizuo questioned calmly.
"What is it?" the girl responded.
"Why do you like me so much?"
She didn't hesitate to answer. "Because you're strong. We want your ridiculous strength. So that we can love all of humanity!" she said enthusiastically, "Just like humans want superior genes, besides, there's no human out there who'd love you, is there? However, we'll love you."
There was short pause as Shizuo took the girl's words in. When he registered what she had just said, Shizuo's only response was to laugh.
"[Pull yourself together Shizuo! If you don't think you can do it, I'll make it so you can get away!]"
"No Celty, Actually, I'm happy." Shizuo said.
Celty tipped her helmet to the side.
"I've hated this power so much." Shizuo began, looking at his hands. "I thought no one would accept me for who I am. However, all these people—how many of you are there?" he looked around at the army that surrounded them. "We'll just say there are a lot. So I guess it's okay... I guess it's okay to recognize my own existence now... I guess it's okay for me to like myself. This power that I absolutely hated and wanted to rid myself of… It's okay to use all of it now."
Shizuo paused and removed his sunglasses before addressing the red-eyed army. "By the way! You guys definitely aren't, and never will be my type!" he declared. "The only person I hate more than you is Izaya."
And with that, he charged in to the crowd head-on.