Disclaimer: Durarara! I don't own thee!
"We greatly appreciate you visiting. Aiko-sama hasn't been her usual self since the incident," the servant explained as the two of them made their way across the complex.
"I see," Izaya muttered, pulling his furry hood further over his eyes. He felt a little dizzy and wondered if he would be able to keep the spell up through his conversation with Aiko. He didn't understand why it was so difficult this time around, although he did admit to himself that he had still not fully recovered. Izaya let out a soft sigh, wishing that everything would just end already.
"Why would you say that?" they heard a yell behind the shoji screen doors just as they approached it.
"Ah, please take your time," the servant said before bowing curtly and hurrying off. Izaya frowned, wondering if such occurrences were common.
He took a breath and knocked softly on the doorframe. The voices inside stopped.
"I'm here to visit Aiko," he announced, and the door slid open to reveal a foreigner dressed in a tailcoat.
'They use western butlers?'
Izaya blinked and looked up. Shitsuo was tall, probably taller than Shizuo, and the two looked strikingly similar. If he placed them side by side, they might have passed off as brothers. Izaya immediately felt his resolve weaken, wishing he had come earlier. The other's hazel eyes burned with frustration, but the man swallowed whatever he had wanted to say and moved aside to let Izaya into the room.
"Ah, sorry for intruding," Izaya apologized as he stepped inside and removed his hood.
"Sakuraya?" Shitsuo gasped. To Izaya's surprise, the other's hazel eyes were staring straight into his own instead elsewhere like his forehead or ears, which would have been the more obvious signs. "No, you're not Sakuraya," he concluded almost instantaneously.
Izaya shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint you, but my name is Izaya." He saw the one called Aiko instantly look up. Someone had moved an entire hospital bed inside, its presence an abnormality in an otherwise normal Japanese-styled room. An IV line ran under one of the two casts on her arms, and a bandage covered her neck. Izaya considered her lucky that she survived the attack, knowing full well what harm a demon could do to a human body in a matter of seconds.
He turned his attention to the brother. "I take it you rushed over from Osaka as soon as you heard the news?" That would be the only explanation for the strange uniform.
Shitsuo seemed surprised. "How did you know?"
Izaya shrugged. "Sakuraya told me."
The other hesitated. Izaya saw conflict in the those hazel eyes. "How is he?" Shitsuo finally asked.
Izaya crossed his arms, leaning against one of the dressers for support as the spell threatened to overwhelm him. "He's under house arrest. Mother found out he has been meeting with you humans." He could see Shitsuo grimace. "Health-wise, he's been well, if you wanted to ask about that too." Izaya mentally sighed when this didn't seem to appease the other. "Please don't worry about my brother. I'll handle things with the main household."
Shitsuo's frown finally melted away, revealing a soft smile. "That's good to hear."
Despite his efforts, Izaya felt a faint pang of jealousy. It was nearly the same expression Tsugaru used to give him, those years so long ago. He tried to stifle the feeling, but the image of that day poured into his memories, the very last moment he had felt that warmth.
He knew those ocean eyes were long gone.
The tightness in his chest was too much for him to bear, and he slid down to the floor, clutching at his heart. The spell dropped just as suddenly, and he felt his horns rematerialize as he tried to catch his breath.
"Are you okay?" Shitsuo had caught him to slow his descent to the tatami. Izaya nodded while the pain dulled to an ache.
"Sorry…" he groaned, resting his forehead on his knees. He had to focus. "I assume you wouldn't want to see a demon so soon."
"Why wouldn't we? Sakuraya's our friend," Shitsuo pronounced the last word with the slightest hesitance.
Izaya looked up, realizing that Aiko hadn't told her brother yet. She looked away, unable to deny the information she had withheld. He wondered at this, since of all people, Shitsuo was the safest person to tell this to. He spontaneously decided to break the news to Shitsuo, reasoning that if she was going to be secretive about it, then he would need a helper to get information from her.
"It was a demon who gave your sister those wounds," he informed the other.
"You were attacked? You told me you fell!" Shitsuo immediately flared up, turning to his sister on the bed. Izaya decided that he really did remind him of Shizuo instead of Tsugaru.
"If word got out that there are demons in the forest, your kind will probably come with guns and tanks or something," Izaya explained carefully, his eyes meeting her wide brown ones for clarification. To his surprise, he found none.
"We would never…" Shitsuo trailed off, unable to fully deny the statement.
"I asked the doctor to hide the handprints," Aiko finally spoke, her voice raspy.
Izaya frowned. "I'm surprised you're still alive."
He saw her hands tremble as they grasped the bedsheets. He slowly stood up, feeling some of his strength return since dropping the spell, and knelt by her bedside until they were at eye level. "Listen, I promised Sakuraya I'd find out who did this. Do you remember anything strange your attacker might've said?"
She hesitated.
"You can tell me," he coaxed, motioning for Shitsuo to be silent when it looked like the other wanted to add to the conversation.
"He referred to Sakuraya as his nephew," she whispered.
"Hmm." Izaya stood up. "Thank you."
"W-wait, Izaya!" she called after him as he turned to leave.
"What is it?" he asked her. She seemed to hesitate, and she looked at Shitsuo for reassurance.
He scratched his head awkwardly. "This may not be the best time, Aiko."
"I've been searching since the beginning. And, he might not come back," she returned, apparently deciding to do whatever she wanted to do. She turned her gaze to the piece of furniture Izaya had used as support earlier. "In the top drawer, there is a letter."
"Huh?" Izaya eyed her suspiciously before pulling the the drawer open. Tucked away to the side was a blank sealed envelope.
"I meant to give that to Sakuraya to give to you," Aiko told him as he gingerly pulled the object out. She choked up a little before speaking the next sentence. "It was supposed to be our last meeting."
Izaya looked up. "What do you mean by last?" he questioned. He did wonder if the other's refusal to tell him the information earlier was due to her trauma, but there seemed to be something deeper going on behind everything.
"I agree. Why do you keep saying that, Aiko?" Shitsuo added. Izaya wondered if that was what they had been arguing about earlier before he arrived.
"It's all my fault," she muttered, looking down at her arms.
"Aiko..." Shitsuo tried to comfort her, but she pulled away.
"I stole everything from you, even Sakuraya!" The outburst made her cough, and Shitsuo rubbed her back carefully until her hacking subsided. She attempted to push him aside weakly.
Izaya blinked at this. This human thought she "stole" Sakuraya? "Why would you say something like that?"
"I told you before, don't think like that," Shitsuo comforted her, but she shook her head.
"I told you that I liked Sakuraya, and then you left for Osaka right after," she said. "You even refused to commute even though it was so close!"
"I just happened to find a job at that time. It was mere coincidence," Shitsuo replied, although Izaya detected the lie instantly. Aiko seemed to also catch on, and she continued the interrogation.
"Then why didn't you even visit him to say goodbye?"
Shitsuo had no response to this, and Izaya looked at the both of them incredulously. He hadn't realize his brother had not seen Shitsuo for such a long time; Sakuraya had always been so optimistic. The thought of his brother waiting pained him. He knew what it was like to wait. He had waited for over a century, only to have the one he wanted to meet again so badly hate him to the ends of the earth.
"He'd ask for you every single time we met the last year, without fail, again and again," Aiko continued. "Can't you see?"
"Aiko, he cares for you very much," Shitsuo tried to convince her otherwise.
"I know you love him," she returned, her wide brown eyes staring into his.
Shitsuo gaped, unable to deny it. He finally averted his gaze, looking down at the floor. "You know I would do anything for you, Sister. If you had told me who attacked you, I would've killed him in an instant."
"Then Sakuraya would have been sad," she replied, her eyes meeting Izaya's.
Izaya returned her gaze silently, the letter still clenched in his hands. He understood perfectly now. Human love was complicated, and he had seen quite a substantial amount of it as an informant playing around with their lives in Ikebukuro. He had distanced himself so far from it that after all these years that he had forgotten how beautiful it could be.
Izaya swallowed hard. After all this time, he had been the same as the ones he tricked, always being pulled around by it, its invisible strings strangling his existence. It was no different for these two humans who stood before him now.
"You know…" he offered, making the two look at him. He knew Aiko knew of course, but the brother was stubborn, just like Shizuo. "You can't steal a heart."
"But Sakuraya," Shitsuo began.
"Loves you," Izaya completed his sentence before he could continue.
His composure froze. "That's impossible."
Izaya shrugged. "Maybe it's time you asked him yourself."
He finally looked back down at the envelope when the other did not reply. Once he had sorted things out with the main household, they could figure out their own feelings. His considered his work here finished, except now there was the issue of the object in his hands. "How did you know it was addressed to me? It's blank."
Shitsuo averted his eyes. Izaya guessed by their reactions that they must have read the contents of whatever was inside.
"I sealed it," Aiko said. "We found it many years ago in my great-great-grandfather's trunk."
Izaya froze, feeling his fingers go numb. He had managed to compose himself earlier when he thought of Tsugaru, but he could feel the rush begin to devour him.
He had fancied the idea, but he never expected it to be true. If what she said was true, then these people were indeed that man's descendants. He took a step back, the envelope falling from his hands. He couldn't read it. He refused to read it. No apology would be enough for him to forgive that man.
Kawamoto's descendants, the legacy of the one who was responsible for Tsugaru's death, for all the pain he had experienced over these years, were here, in the very same room as him.
"Nii-san," he could hear Sakuraya's voice in his head, his dearest gentle brother. Sakuraya had fallen into the exact same trap as him, and it just had to be with these humans.
Izaya fought with himself for a moment, trying to reason his composure back to himself. He was here to help his little brother, not to exact revenge for Tsugaru. The people responsible for everything had long passed away. It was just him left in his world. Just him who had to suffer.
"Izaya?" Shitsuo inquired, his hazel eyes filled with concern.
Izaya felt the guilt pour over him for considering revenge for even a moment. The envelope lay at his feet. Kawamoto's face flashed across his memory.
'I will never forgive you.'
He ran before he could think any more.
"Izaya!" he could hear Shitsuo yelling after him.
He ran through the forest, the branches catching onto his arms and face as he broke through the thicket heading back to the main house. Izaya didn't want to think, didn't want to feel. He ran until his lungs were about to explode from the lack of air, which was a strange occurrence for a demon, but the use of spell earlier helped with that.
He finally came upon a clearing with one of the old wells and leaned against the rotting wood, his claws crushing one of the beams. He let the tears flow freely onto the dirt, his frustration watering the weeds around his feet. A rustling of the leaves around him made him look up, not caring about the state he was in.
"Oh, Izaya-sama, what brings you out here?"
"Hibiki," he breathed as he wiped some of the tears away on his sleeve.
"He referred to Sakuraya as his nephew."
Izaya knew this did not bode well for him. He had been planning on how to deal with the situation, but it all went to dust the moment the letter had fallen from his hands.
Hibiki smiled, seemingly pleased with the situation as he moved closer. "It is nice weather out finally, given that it had been raining so much recently."
"Yeah, it is," Izaya agreed, trying to go through his options. His body was unresponsive, and he doubted his feet could even send him into a sprint again. Any other day, a demon of the royal bloodline would be able to best all the others, but he admitted that the spell had really done a number on him these past years.
Hibiki was next to him now, and he attempted to stand up.
"So did your investigation go well?"
Izaya feigned a frown. "Not at all. I couldn't get anything out of them."
Hibiki smiled. "Well that is unfortunate. The spell must have been very taxing on your body."
Izaya understood now; Hibiki had waited until after he visited Aiko because he would have used the spell. He tried to run, but his legs screamed from the pain and instead he fell back to the ground.
Hibiki caught him in his descent, effortlessly bringing him to his feet. "I do not know why, but I am relieved to hear that she is alive. I did not expect human eyes to hold such power. It is truly something to be praised of a lesser existence."
"Huh?" Izaya didn't understand this change of mind, but the other continued as if he were trying to verify something.
"Yet, humans are so fragile. We keep saying that they would be the end of us someday." Hibiki's eyes met his. "I am conflicted, my dear prince. I want our people to thrive for millennia to come, without the taint of humans. Just look at what happened in the East."
"The East?" Izaya queried, but Hibiki ignored him, seeming to regain some of his confidence as he reminisced about something. He suddenly realized. 'Orihara-sama...'
Hibiki's gaze met his, and he could see the regret lining the other's hard eyes.
"I apologize, Izaya-sama. I almost fell under the same spell as you." Izaya felt the arms under him tense. "I will not let Sakuraya go astray, I promise you," he whispered.
With those final words, Hibiki pushed Izaya into the well.
Ah! My heart T_T I rewrote this chapter at least 3 times.
As always, thanks for reading!