Izaya scanned it rapidly. His fingers trembled just a bit before he waved the paper around and sighed in that mock sadness that Shizuo could never exactly figure out.
"Ah, what do you know. It must be a fluke of sorts. You see, Todai is swimming in money. I've heard there's an inner secret campus filled in the bills, a bit like the roses in Utena except with money. So every now and then they'll toss some of it away because otherwise they may very well end up drowning. The fees, Shizu-chan, are through the roof. In fact-"
"I looked up that this…summa thing means. It's 'with honors'. And you know very well Todai wouldn't offer you this unless you were really good."
Izaya shrugged. There was no point in being at all upset. His stoicism consisted in deeming that impossible was not worth much.
"Who knows, maybe I slept with the teachers and that's why they want to splurge me."
"I doubt it. I checked the forums too and you were the talk of day-"
"So what else is new! I'm so hot. Creepy but hot."
"-and everyone was saying that you were really great-"
"You need to improve your vocabulary, too much 'really' going on here."
"-and that it was a shame that you simply disappeared."
"Oh well. Such is life. I don't suppose you sent them a mail as requested? If you get a chance, tell them that Orihara-san would gladly trade the scholarship for its equivalent value in desserts and sushi."
"I didn't tell them anything. I thought I'd talk to you first."
"I'm pretty sure they'd withdraw it if they knew I'm in jail, it would not bode well. Either way, it doesn't really matter. Will there be chocolate mousse tomorrow? It should be about now-"
"What do you mean it 'doesn't matter'!"
Izaya blinked at the outburst.
"I mean precisely what I said. It doesn't change a thing."
"Aren't you mad? At how unfair this is? You should take this instead- it's just so unfair."
"Such is life, Shizu-chan."
"I know but I don't understand how you can be so calm about it. Only a handful of people ever get such a chance. Just when I think I have you figured out-"
"I throw you a curveball?"
Shizuo nodded.
"Yeah."
Izaya looked away. One of the things he liked about the infirmary was that there were windows around. Even when you could not quite see them, the clear light of the day filled the room with a sense of cleanliness. It was very comforting.
"What do you want me to do? Should I cry, tear out my hair, grovel on the floor and be altogether miserable? What would that solve? Nothing."
"But being so reasonable about it is just-"
"Too cold? Shizu-chan, everyone has their own defenses. At times I wonder if true happiness is to be without desires after all. What I can't change, I can't change. If you will pardon the tautology that is just the way it is. If I stop to reflect about what I am missing out- then I won't be able to go on."
"I should've kept my mouth shut. Sorry."
"It's okay. Don't get all Eyeore on me."
"Eye…what?"
Izaya giggled.
"Eyeore is a really sad donkey. He lost his tail, you see. So he became a pessimist through and through."
"Okay…"
Shizuo was confused.
"I'll add Winnie the Pooh to the list. Trust me, no complicated words there. But at times these children's tales are much deeper than they seem at first. They can be read on many levels. With that said, the Christian allegory in Narnia was so wrapped up in other elements that you will only see it if you are already looking for it in advance. We all know it's actually about being gay. I mean, they all go into the closet and, alas, land on a different world!"
Shizuo touched Izaya's hair very lightly.
"I watched the movie. Never read the book."
"Argh! When you tell that to a lit major, it's like sunlight to a vampire! I'm melting! Melting!"
Shizuo had to laugh.
"You're so whacky at times."
"God as my witness, I cosplay as the March Hare on Sundays. Bunny ears and all. I hop up and down Akihabara like it's no one's business."
"I actually can imagine that way too easily."
"Because it's so in character?"
"That's the crazy rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, right? I watched the cartoon."