A/N: This...shouldn't have taken this long. I'm so sorry for the long wait.
Thank you all so much for supporting Gameplay! I really appreciate it! :)
April 20, 2013
[Shinra.]
"Hmm?" The bespectacled man turned around, giving Celty a warm smile as he pocketed his phone. "What is it, dear?"
[About Izaya...] She started hesitantly. [Um, how is he?]
Shinra "hmm"-ed in a way that sounded like a contemplative sigh. He turned back to face his latest patient on the bed, and waved a gloved hand in front of his patient's face only to get no response. "The same as when Souji-kun and the others brought him in," Shinra said. "Still ignoring everything and everyone around him. It makes me wonder if he is even aware of what's going on. With how he is now, though, I think it'd be no surprise if he isn't."
[And Shizuo? Did you tell him?]
"I did. And you know what he said? He said he didn't exactly care." Shinra smiled wryly. "Well, who can blame him, really."
Celty didn't reply, and simply made her way closer to the bed, standing next to Shinra while watching Izaya fade in and out of consciousness.
Like what Shinra had described, Izaya was completely oblivious to their presence in the room. He was just lying there on the bed, so straight and still that if Shinra had declared him dead, Celty would readily believe him. The only telltale sign proving that Izaya was still alive, of course, was the steady rising and falling of his chest.
Occasionally, when Izaya happened to be in a brief conscious phase, he would also mutter something under his breath or let out a quiet moan. It never failed to give her a shock.
As Shinra had hypothesised, people might sometimes have the reasoning and processing part of their brains shut down for many possible reasons. But with all their senses intact, they were still able to see and hear everything around them. Without the logical part of their brains functioning, however, their instincts would be responsible for interpreting what was being sensed, which almost certainly meant chaos for the victims of this strange phenomenon.
It was why they often responded to the mayhem they were "seeing" with nonsensical mumbling, Shinra had explained. To other people, it might sound like a meaningless murnur, but to the victims themselves, it was a lucid statement. Shinra joked that it was no different from how Izaya was normally like. Celty thought it was almost like sleep talking. Except that Izaya was conscious, which was rather unsettling.
But what unnerved Celty the most was Izaya's eyes.
When Izaya would slip into unconsciousness, his eyelids would slowly lower until they completely covered his eyes. When Izaya was regaining consciousness, however, his eyes would open fully in an extremely swift manner, and then he would stare into space with widened eyes that saw nothing and nobody.
And those eyes... They had been so bright once. So filled with passion, vigour and life. But now they were cold. Distant, even. Almost as though he were viewing everything from another world.
Despite it all, though, Celty couldn't find within herself the heart to feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Izaya. This was the man who ruined the lives of others despite knowing the consequences of his actions; the man who could never be trusted, and the man who wouldn't hesitate to put her friends and loved ones in danger just to get what he wanted. It was hard to sympathise with the very same man whom Celty believed to have deserved what was coming.
On the contrary, she felt sorry for the group of teenagers who were resting outside the room, waiting for Shinra to update them on the poor condition of the man they tried so hard to save.
They had travelled into another world, got themselves worn out and covered in grime and cuts and bruises - all to save this same man who was seen as despicable by many people who had met him, including Celty herself. Of course, it didn't mean that Celty believed they should've had left an innocent life in there, but when the victim was someone like Izaya, she couldn't help but question if things were really that simple.
There was no telling what Izaya's true intentions were in any situation, after all.
She knew she was being a little too cold, but...
"Excuse me, Kishitani-sensei? Celty-san?"
A voice that clearly belonged to Souji, accompanied by two consecutive knocks on the door, interrupted Celty's chain of thoughts.
And apparently, Shinra's as well. "Yes? What is it, Souji-kun?"
"There's someone at the door, looking for you. We're not sure if it's alright to let him in. He says he is-"
"Preposterous!"
Another voice that was all too familiar to Shinra and Celty joined in, sounding more muffled from behind the door than Souji's was.
Before either could react, there was a myriad of voices and then the door to the room slammed open, revealing a man dressed in a white doctor's coat and equipped with a gas mask as the culprit for the sudden commotion. His hair was brown, the same shade as Shinra's, and slicked back. He wore surgical gloves and rubber boots, looking like a mismatch between a surgeon and factory plant worker. It was a strange sense of attire all in all, but somehow it seemed like the perfect fit for the equally, if not stranger, man who had just barged straight into the room that made for a makeshift hospital ward.
"What a ridiculous turn of events we're having," the masked man said, shaking his head in what seemed to be disappointment. "To think that I, your father - your own biological father - have to seek clearance from a bunch of teenagers in order to enter my own house! And all I came here for was to drop off the luggage and grab some clothes! Do you really doubt my respect for your privacy with Celty-kun that you have to hire these children as your personal bodyguards, Shinra?"
"You're exaggerating, Father," Shinra replied.
At the same time, Celty held up her PDA. [Do we have any reason to believe you in the first place?]
"You wound me so, Celty-kun. I am your father as well, you realise. Shouldn't you be a little kinder to me?"
[I will if you act more like one.]
"What's that? You didn't deny that I'm your father?" Shingen said excitedly, cupping a gloved hand around his ear as he walked and leaned towards Celty. It was deliberate, and Celty knew that, so she remained mostly unfazed. "Hey hey, so that means you two are finally going to be married! ...And you didn't mention a word of it to Emilia and me. Aren't you two being a little unfair, keeping it all to yourselves?"
Celty's shoulders slumped as she shook her neck. Shingen's melodramatic side was often hard to deal with, a trait that he shared with his son, Celty had to admit. Though Shinra's melodrama was something she could handle. Shingen's mannerisms, on the other hand, occasionally reminded her of Izaya, which was probably why Celty sometimes found it difficult to get along well with him.
"We haven't discussed much about marriage just yet, Father," Shinra said. Then he gave Celty a suggestive smile. "Hm, but if Celty is ready..."
[Th-this isn't the time for such things!] Celty quickly typed.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but..."
The members of the Kishitani household turned towards the voice. They were greeted by the sight of Souji and his friends walking into the room, looking uncertain as to how far it was alright for them to step in.
"Is something the matter?" Shinra asked.
"Oh, no, it's nothing too major," Souji assured. "We're just worried for Orihara-san."
"'Orihara-san'?" Shingen rubbed his chin. "What, so Izaya-kun got himself into trouble again? Hoho, that boy really never learns, does he. But I think it'll be alright. He can take anything Shizuo throws at him and spring to his feet like nothing happened. You kids have nothing to worry about."
"...Father," Shinra said. "Look here."
Shingen's line of vision followed the direction Shinra was indicating, taking a closer look at the man occupying the bed who he somehow failed to notice when he had entered the room. With both hands behind his back, Shingen walked around the bed, moving from one side of the bed to the other without taking his eyes off Izaya, evaluating his condition meticulously.
The one and only time Shingen took his eyes off Izaya was to check the informant's pulse and blood pressure, the vitals being displayed on the screen of a monitor by Izaya's bed. Celty had mirrored this action, and it was then that she noticed the numbers displayed fluctuating slightly while remaining on the low side.
When Shingen nudged Izaya on the shoulder and tried to initiate a conversation with him, Izaya opened his lifeless eyes slightly and gave an intelligible moan as a response.
"...Hm! This is..."
Shinra jolted. "Father, you know something about this?"
Celty, along with the other eight adolescents in the room, moved in closer.
"This is simply a conjecture on my part," Shingen started, pulling the blanket over Izaya's chest after completing his examination. "But it seems that Izaya-kun here is suffering from a peculiar condition - one that has not been diagnosed in nearly three years."
He paused to give Izaya another glance. Then he nodded. "Yes, there is no mistaking it...
"Izaya-kun is suffering from Apathy Syndrome."
Silence descended into the room until Naoto broke it.
"...Apathy...Syndrome..." she whispered, letting the words roll over her tongue as if she had heard them before.
"What exactly is that?" Yosuke asked.
"I think I read about it somewhere," Shinra said, turning towards his father. "A few years ago, a place called Tatsumi Port Island saw a sudden outbreak of cases of a particular condition. And then, after a year, it vanished. All the patients who were still alive instantly recovered, and nobody ever contracted it again. Its occurrence...no, I should say even its mere existence remains a complete mystery to researchers even today."
"And the name of that condition is Apathy Syndrome," Shingen continued from where Shinra had left off.
"Please, tell us more," Souji requested.
And so, Shingen did. (Or more like, in Celty's eyes, he would've had done so without Souji's request anyway.)
The condition named Apathy Syndrome.
As the name itself explained, patients with such a condition displayed extreme apathy towards everything and everyone around them, to the extent of indifference even towards themselves. They would stop caring about their own needs, depriving themselves of food and water, and would simply remain bedridden or walk aimlessly until they drew their last breath. If not for the people taking care of them, there would've had been a high death rate from this condition.
What worried researchers and healthcare professionals the most had not been the lack of a cure for Apathy Syndrome, but the reason such a condition had existed at all. It started with a handful of people developing extreme apathy overnight one day, without any warning or notice. As time passed, the number grew, baffling many experts and researchers. And then, it dropped drastically. But it wasn't long before the number rose again...before it fell down again. It was a repeating cycle over the course of the year.
After studying this strange pattern, however, researchers managed to arrive at one conclusion: the occurrence of Apathy Syndrome was related to the cycle of the moon.
The number of reported cases rapidly increased as time drew closer to the full moon, and once it was over, the number decreased sharply. Just as there were many patients who developed the condition overnight, so were there patients who recovered - with no recollection of the time spent in their apathetic states - just as quickly and inexplicably.
Then, like what Shinra said, the odd nightmare simply ended after a year of tormenting the inhabitants of Tatsumi Port Island. Nobody had heard of another case ever since.
...That is, until today.
"Lack of acknowledgement for his surroundings, fading in and out of consciousness, mumbling to himself, low pulse rate and BP... These are clearly early signs of Apathy Syndrome." Shingen chuckled. "Looks like Izaya-kun hit the jackpot."
How contracting an incurable and unstable disease could be considered striking the jackpot, Celty would never understand - and neither did she want to anyway - but what she did understand, was that it was definitely not a call for celebration. As much as she might dislike Izaya, Celty certainly wouldn't rejoice at the idea of him dying.
[Why do you know so much about this condition anyway?] she decided to ask in an attempt to shrug off the disconcerting idea.
"I was there on behalf of Nebula to look into the disease," Shingen replied. "I did invite Shinra to come along, but he was too busy spending time with you to even bother."
Celty winced. If Shinra had indeed gone with Shingen to investigate the condition, he would've probably known exactly what to do for Izaya right now instead of just watching his friend slowly withering away without knowing the reason why. Her arms fell limp, hanging by her sides.
Shinra caught her hand with his own and flashed her a warm smile as he ran his thumb over her knuckles soothingly.
"Whatever it is, it's all in the past," he said, to both Celty and his father. "What's important right now is to figure out a way to take care of Izaya until he gets better."
"We'll do whatever we can to help," Yukiko said determinedly. Her friends nodded at her suggestion.
"That's very nice of you," Shinra replied. "But you really don't have to do anything further. You guys have already done enough for Izaya."
"But it isn't good enough," Souji said, with every intention to be blunt. "This isn't the outcome we wanted."
The frowns plastered on his teammates' faces seemed to convey their agreement with him.
[You did all you could to save him. That's good enough for us.]
"No, it isn't," Teddie insisted, sounding sad.
Rise raised her voice slightly, "We were so close... We were practically just a few seconds away from truly saving him, but..." She paused, pursing her lips. "No. This isn't enough. Seeing Orihara-san like this from what happened in the TV world... No. We can't. We won't admit that we have saved him, because we haven't even achieved that."
[Don't be so hard on yourselves.] Celty typed, shaking her neck. [I don't know what happened exactly, but I do know that it isn't your fault. So don't shoulder the blame all by yourselves.]
"But-"
"Now before you kids go on," Shingen cut everyone off, raising both of his hands like a mediator in an argument between two parties, "this is all rather intriguing, but I'm afraid I don't quite follow with what most of you are saying. What is this talk about saving Izaya-kun or a TV world? Is there some big thing going on that you can't tell your dear ol' Daddy about, Shinra and Celty-kun?"
If Celty could facepalm at the goosebump-worthy designation, she would've had done so at this moment.
"Well..." Shinra began, giving Souji a hesitant glance.
Souji seemed to be holding back a sigh. He looked over his team before redirecting his attention to Shingen.
"...We can talk about this outside."
The walk to Shinra's had been strangely infuriating, to say the least.
At first Shizuo hadn't intended to step out of his house again, not when he had just returned from a long day of work and was already preparing for a good night's sleep. And especially not when the purpose of leaving his apartment had something to do with the flea.
But after hearing about the flea's condition from Shinra, somehow Shizuo felt compelled to see him. Just once. To make sure that Izaya wasn't up to his usual trickery and pulling a fast one on all of them.
Still, as he passed by the closed shops for the second time that night, Shizuo didn't stop questioning himself.
'Why am I doing this?' he kept thinking. 'Why, why, why?'
Even though he had a default answer for that, Shizuo couldn't help but remain unconvinced.
It wasn't like the flea could deceive a doctor like Shinra; Shinra was probably one of the very few people in the world who could see through the flea, after all. And things like his vitals couldn't possibly be faked. Even if they could, there was no way Shinra wouldn't have noticed.
Which meant that Izaya wasn't lying. Which, therefore, meant that Shizuo had just lost his reason for walking over to Shinra's.
But that didn't stop him in his tracks and push him home. On the contrary, Shizuo just kept walking faster, his mind spinning with the same question: 'Why?'
And then it hit him.
"Izaya is dying," Shinra's words over the phone rang in his head.
"...That so?" Shizuo remembered himself saying. "I don't really give a damn." Then he ended the call without giving Shinra the chance to say any more.
As he thought about this, Shizuo realised how much of a lie it was when he said he didn't care about Izaya's condition. Not that he was admitting that he cared - not in that sense of the word - but more like...he was anxious.
Orihara Izaya was dying.
His long-time enemy, dying.
The person he hated the most in the world was finally dying.
This anxiety that was coursing through Shizuo's veins wasn't because he was worried about the flea, but because his wish was coming true at last. It was like being filled with a child-like eagerness to see if Santa Claus or the tooth fairy really existed; the excitement one felt when they were about to see their dreams being realised.
But when he tried to imagine the flea lying motionless on the bed, his skin as pale as the sheets, Shizuo shook the mental image away. Even if it was the person who singlehandedly ruined his life and brought misery upon his friends, Shizuo didn't believe he'd be happy to see that very person dying.
Shizuo hung his head, slowing his steps as he arrived at the entrance of the lobby. If it wasn't for all the reasons that flashed through his mind earlier, then why the hell was he here at all? That was something Shinra would, no doubt, ask him when he showed up at the doctor's doorstep. Giving a lousy excuse like "I'm making sure the flea isn't messing with you" would probably earn him this annoyingly teasing and doubtful look from his whacky childhood friend, and Shizuo wanted to avoid that.
"Tch. This whole thing is pissing me off," Shizuo grumbled, folding his umbrella. "Ahh, whatever. I'll just tell Shinra I'm here to check on those kids."
It wasn't exactly a lie, since he really was a little worried about how they were doing. But he knew it was kind of weird to drop by to see them when it was Izaya dying in there; Shinra would most likely call him out on that. At this point, though, Shizuo couldn't care less.
Then, just as Shizuo stepped into the lobby, a distant voice spoke to him.
"Shizu-chan."
It was a voice that, oddly, sounded a lot like the flea's.
"Shizu-chan."
Shizuo whipped around, only to find himself all alone in the lobby.
Shizuo shook his head and looked around him again. There was nothing out of the ordinary. All was silent.
"...Great. Just great. Not only was I seeing things, I'm starting to hear them, too."
As he said this, Shizuo recalled the series of images that were shown on his television earlier but quickly pushed them back.
"Shizu-chan."
His hand instinctively reached into his bartender vest and pulled out a cigarette. Placing it between his lips, the blond took out his lighter and lit the cigarette. He walked to the edge of the lobby until he was barely a tiny step away from the pavement and allowed himself to give in to the deceptively therapeutic comfort the toxic stick gave him.
It wasn't until he reached the end of his second stick that Shizuo entered the lift which would bring him to the floor where the underground doctor stayed.
When Shizuo arrived at the entrance to Shinra's apartment, he saw that the door was slightly ajar, and heard muffled voices that were engaged in a rather heated discussion.
Quietly, the fortissimo of Ikebukuro removed his shoes and ascended the platform. He closed and locked the door behind him before he made his way through the familiar walkway leading to the living room, where the door was left wide open.
"-my fault."
Shizuo came to a stop.
From the sound of the voice and the way everyone in the room stopped talking and turned to stare at a familiar blue-haired girl, Shizuo guessed that the one who had said that had probably been the detective.
"Why do you say so?" Shizuo heard Shinra ask.
The detective girl breathed in deeply before she released a sigh. "I knew...that Orihara-san had been the target all along."
"I thought we all knew that," the guy with brown hair and wearing headphones said.
"No, what I meant was..." A pause. "Heiwajima-san had never been the target. It had only Orihara-san all along...and I knew that from the very beginning."
Shizuo nearly blinked in surprise.
"Huh? But...why? I mean, didn't they both appear on the Midnight Channel together?" the girl who helped Shizuo out with the debtors asked.
The young detective nodded. "They did. But I believe that it was either an unintended or deliberate result on the culprit's part." Then she began to explain, "As for why I am certain that Orihara-san was the only target... I would have to trouble everyone to try and recall what the recent rumours mentioned about the discovery of Yagiri Seiji's body. Did they not say that two people found the body together? And that these two people are Orihara-san and Heiwajima-san?"
While the other occupants in the room tried to remember the exact content of said rumours, Shizuo couldn't help but frown.
He wasn't aware that there were such rumours circulating around Ikebukuro; Tom-san and Vorona barely ever mentioned a word of them. Aside from the night Shizuo left the police station after giving his statement, Celty hadn't asked him any further either. On his own part, Shizuo didn't feel the need to know what the public thought about it.
But they were wrong about something. And because he realised that, Shizuo was frowning.
Technically speaking, he didn't find the body. It was-
"Yeah, we remember, Naoto," the headphones guy said. "But why bring this up all of a sudden?"
The detective - Naoto - replied, "Because the key to solving the mystery lies there." She paused. "Heiwajima-san had no part in discovering the body. Orihara-san did."
Although he couldn't see from where he was standing, Shizuo was certain some of the room's occupants' eyes widened.
"B-but, weren't they together when the incident happened? I mean, Senpai and Yosuke-senpai talked to Simon-san, right? Didn't Simon-san say that they found the body together?" the girl with long, curly brown hair, whom Shizuo recognised as his brother's colleague, pointed out.
"...No, he didn't," the grey-haired adolescent Souji answered, his voice carrying a calmness that Shizuo envied. "He did say that he saw Heiwajima-san and Orihara-san staring at the body when he arrived at the scene, but he couldn't be certain if they did find the body together."
"They didn't," Naoto said. "I've read the three main witnesses' statements. Heiwajima-san emphasised that he was following Orihara-san into the alley and came to stop when he saw Orihara-san looking at the lamppost, where the body was hanging from. Orihara-san also mentioned in his statement that Heiwajima-san arrived only a moment after he saw the body.
"If we are to go by the strict definition of the word...then the person who found the body was only Orihara-san, while Heiwajima-san merely saw the body which had already been found. Orihara-san being the only one who was thrown into the TV also fits with what happened to Konishi Saki-san two years ago, proving that he was indeed the culprit's true target."
"Th-then... The Midnight Channel showing two people at once was...?" the girl with her black hair tied in a bun trailed off.
Naoto nodded. "Either the culprit hadn't intended for it...or they were the ones responsible for spreading the false rumour. With how meticulous they appear to be, however, I am inclined to believe it is the latter. But of course, I have no concrete evidence to support that."
"And you knew all along? That the killer's target was Orihara-san?" Kujikawa bit her lower lip. "Is...is that why...?"
"I offered to protect him?" Naoto finished with a sigh that was directed at herself. "Well... There's...another reason for that, but...yes. Essentially that was the rationale behind my decision at that time."
Shizuo heard Shinra hum thoughtfully. "Okay, but how is knowing this linked to whatever guilt you may be feeling, Naoto-chan? I don't see anything wrong in keeping that knowledge a secret since it wouldn't have changed anything if everyone knew."
Naoto hesitated. "You may be right, Kishitani-sensei," she started after a while. "But it is precisely because of this knowledge that I should shoulder the blame for the misfortune that befell Orihara-san."
Shizuo saw one of the boys - bespectacled with a small stripe of bleached hair along his black hair - opening his mouth to retort that, but eventually he didn't, and folded his arms instead, keeping his eyes on the detective.
"Because..." Naoto continued. She was starting to sound scared, like a kid who got caught doing something wrong. "Despite knowing that Orihara-san was in danger, I had...let myself be affected by his words and left him unprotected. Left him vulnerable and open to the culprit's assault. That is simply...simply..."
Before Naoto could go on, her friends were quick to comfort her in their own ways. Some, though confused, giving her soothing and encouraging words; some watching her quietly but protectively, as if anticipating for the right moment to end the discussion there and then, and one who was panicking at the sight of his unsettled friend even offered to give her a hug. It was a tense yet heartwarming moment.
Naoto thanked her friends, but then she shook her head and casted her eyes to the ground. "To have my judgement clouded by my own emotions... It is an intolerable mistake. The sheer gravity of it is enough to sully the Shirogane name."
The detective clenched her fists, face reddening with either shame or anger, or maybe a little of both. Shizuo couldn't tell exactly, since the girl was still forcing herself to contain her emotions. He felt a chord strike within him at the sight.
"It is just...unacceptable..."
"Yeah? So what if you let your feelings get the better of you?"
Everyone turned towards the door as Shizuo casually stepped into the living room with both hands in his pockets.
"Happens to me all the time. 'Specially when I'm around the flea. Just seeing his face is enough to get my blood boiling. I mean, if I were you, I'd have tossed him out the window the moment I saw him." Shizuo paused. "You're pretty good already if you didn't do that. Or feel like doing that."
The group of kids and Celty continued staring at him in silence. Shingen, however, waved at the blond animatedly. "Oh, Shizuo-kun. How nice to see you again after so long. Here to visit Izaya-kun after knowing about his condition?"
"...Why are you here?"
"Well well, how rude! Can't a man be in his own home? Just because I don't come here often doesn't mean this isn't my home, you know. Oh, seriously, kids these days..."
As Shingen grumbled to himself, Shinra flashed Shizuo his professional smile. "So you're here to see Izaya after all? I thought you said you didn't care?"
Despite being prepared for that question, Shizuo couldn't help but grunt. "Shuddup. Who said I was here to see the flea? I was worried about these kids, so I'm here to check up on 'em."
"Even though you could've just called up and asked?" Shinra asked, giving the annoying look that Shizuo had been trying to avoid.
"I didn't think of that, alright?"
"Sure you didn't." Shinra got up from his seat. "Well, as you can see, they're doing fine. But if you're still concerned about their well-being, I'll issue a doctor's order for them to return home immediately to have their well-deserved rest. How does that sound?"
The adolescents looked like they were about to argue against Shinra's decision, but when their leader shook his head, they indignantly stopped themselves and said nothing in the end.
Shizuo just shrugged in response to Shinra's question.
Celty gently knocked against the table to gain everyone's attention. [I'll send them back. It's already late. And with how exhausted they must be, I don't think we should let them go home by themselves.]
"We can't possibly trouble-"
"It's settled, then," Shinra cut Souji off, giving him no room for any argument. The underground doctor turned to face Souji. "We'll continue this when everyone's rested."
Souji kept his intense gaze on Shinra, before he gave in and nodded. "...Alright."
Shinra beamed. "Well then! It's time for you to head home." Then he turned towards Shizuo. "So, Shizuo-kun, shall we go?"
"...Uh, go where?"
The corners of Shinra's lips widened. "Why, to see Izaya, of course. Isn't that why you're here?"