Day 3

Izaya clenched his fists as he stared up at the orphanage, he didn't know what to do now, he had been interacting with Zack this whole time under the impression that the boy was merely an odd lonely child. Now that he had discovered the horrible truth, it would change everything. Izaya knew that he was supposed to try and explain to the boy what was happening to him, and yet, he didn't think he could bring himself to do it. No one had noticed any difference since he'd arrived, no one had brought up the likely question 'who are you talking to?' Izaya frowned, Marie had asked him to keep it to himself, so that might work in his favour anyway. I'll just act as I did before I found out about him at the back of his mind he knew that was wrong; all the times he'd spent exorcising spirits and ghosts…. This is different, because they all knew

"Is it locked or something?" the deep voice of Shizuo slightly startled him, he turned around and his eyes narrowed a little as the blond stopped beside him.

"No. I was just thinking about something"

"Does it have something to do with what happened yesterday?" Shizuo looked at the raven beside him, he looked exhausted. "Why did you run off like that, what did she say to you?"

Izaya opened his mouth to say something, he wanted to tell Shizuo, but he couldn't. closing his mouth, Izaya stepped forward and opened the door. "It doesn't matter. It was nothing important"

Shizuo sighed with a frown and followed him inside "Nothing my ass" he muttered.

…

"I've tried to talk to them. But they don't listen, why do they hate me big brother?" Izaya and Zack were sat on the swings, the boy looked so incredibly sad and with every word spoken it caused a painful reaction to Izaya's heart. In a way, he wished he'd never asked, that he could remain ignorant to the facts. "What's wrong?"

Izaya realised he hadn't replied, he then smiled and said, "I'm sure that's not it" he thought about ignoring the boy, but he didn't want to cause him anymore sadness. I can't ignore him, I'm all he has right now, I'm the only one that can see him

The third carer, Kayla, made her way over to him and he looked at her nervously. To her, he was merely sitting by himself and furthermore, talking to himself too. She smiled at him and knelt down in front of him, as though she were about to start talking to one of the children. Izaya resented the implication, but he didn't exactly have a plausible defensive argument right now. "Are you all right?"

Izaya glanced over to Shizuo, maybe he could grab his attention enough to cause a distraction. No such luck there, since the blond was too busy having a snowball fight. Sometimes I wish he could see what I see, lucky brute

"Young man?" Izaya turned his attention back to the woman in front of him. "You can go and sit inside for a little while if you're feeling unwell"

Izaya shook his head and smiled "No, that's all right. I'm fine, I just came to sit down for a bit"

Kayla giggled "It's all right. I talk to myself sometimes too" she then winked at him; Zack then stood up from the swing and made it a point to literally stand in front of her.

"He's not talking to himself! He's talking to me, he's my best friend now!" Zack smiled brightly at her, though he noticed that she appeared to not be looking directly at him. Izaya flinched, if he didn't say anything soon, Zack might realise something else was seriously wrong.

"I- I'm glad I'm not the only one then" Izaya said, his hands tightened around the chain's of the swing when Zack spun around with a surprised expression on his face. The raven ignored the sad look in the boy's eyes as Zack realised what he was doing.

"Some of the children want you to make snow angels with them, is that ok?"

Izaya nodded and stood up "Sure. No problem" he watched Kayla walk away and then sighed, he refused to look at Zack, knowing the boy was staring at him with a heartbroken look on his face.

"You're going to ignore me too now, aren't you?"

Izaya swallowed the lump in his throat "No…I'll- I'll come back to you later"

"But you promised!" Izaya winced, and with a heavy heart, he walked away from the boy. "Big brother! Please don't ignore me!"

He had been wrong; he was foolish to think that he could just carry on as though nothing happened. Eventually, they were going to start noticing, he'd nearly been discovered already. I can't bring myself to tell him, so I should just ignore him Izaya knew he was being selfish, he was deliberately going to ignore the boy just to protect his 'sanity'.

Izaya chuckled as his hand was grabbed by a small girl as she 'showed him what to do' automatically thinking that he didn't know how to make a snow angel. "Oh I see. I think I get it now" it was always best to humour them; they were just small kids. They often became excited when it seemed they knew something an older person didn't. feigning ignorance was easy to do when interacting with kids. He got down in the snow and lay flat on his back, he then proceeded to move his arms and legs in a consistent rotation. Sitting up slowly, he moved away from the pattern without disturbing it. "There. what do you think?"

The kids clapped, the girl giggled and said, "I always draw a halo on mine"

Izaya leaned forward "Like this?" with his finger, he then drew an oval shape above where his head had been imprinted. He sat back on his heels. "There"

There was a snort from behind him, Izaya looked up to see Shizuo standing over him. "I think you missed out your horns and pitchfork"

Izaya pouted and clicked his tongue, he then stood up, brushing the snow off his pant legs. "It's you who's deserving of those items. I happen to be a saint"

Shizuo then laughed "Oh yeah how could I forget"

Izaya rolled his eyes, he then caught sight of Zack still sat on the swing. The boy had his arms wrapped around his knees; face buried between them. Izaya felt his heart drop, he felt incredibly guilty for what he'd done. It's not his fault

Shizuo followed Izaya's line of sight, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, he turned back to Izaya with a frown. "What are you looking at?" he then grinned with amusement "Do you want me to push you on the swing?"

Izaya glared at him and shoved him backwards "Idiot"

…

Izaya was helping the other children in their lesson while Shizuo was helping to prepare their lunches. He was actually grateful, because the blond was already suspicious of him enough, and now that he had decided to continue interacting with Zack, Shizuo couldn't know. Izaya waited for the perfect opportunity to present itself, he was in the middle of helping Kei with his three letter word spellings. Glancing up every now and then to keep an eye on Marie. It helped to know that she was the only one in the lesson room this time. A kid put their hand up and Marie's attention was brought to a brown haired kid, she made her way over and sat beside him. Perfect he told Kei "Good job" and then stood up, he turned his head to spot Zack by the far wall.

Izaya sat down beside him with a smile "I'm sorry for upsetting you" Zack shrugged "I didn't mean to ignore you" another shrug. "Don't be mad. I want to be your friend"

"Why. No one else does"

"Well I do. But you have to forgive me first"

Zack lowered his head "Why did you tell Miss Kayla that you were talking to yourself?"

Izaya chew his lip, he didn't know how to answer that question, he didn't want to tell Zack what he knew. "I thought we were playing a game. One where you're invisible"

Zack looked up at him "What if I am?"

Well that certainly backfired "What do you mean?"

"What if I turned invisible, and that's why no one can see me"

Izaya knew that Zack was a pretty smart kid, but the thought of having to explain something so heart-breaking….. "I don't think that can really happen"

"It might"

Izaya shook his head with a chuckle "Anyway. Do you forgive me? I promise I won't ever ignore you again. We can play whatever you want at playtime"

Zack smiled brightly "Ok! I forgive you!"

….

Day 4

Izaya lay a shaking hand over the broken wall as he leant beside it, he felt awful and he didn't know why, he'd taken medication last night and before he left his house this morning. He felt fine when he woke up, and now, he was even worse than before. "Zack….Let's go back now…" his breathing was a little laboured as he spoke, there was black spots in his vision, and he tried several times to blink them away.

"Aww. Not yet, just a little bit more?" Zack held up a large stick to Izaya "This is your sword; you must defeat the bad creature that is attacking Kanata temple!"

If there really was a creature to defeat, he'd knock me straight out right now Izaya gave a weak smile. "Can't…I'm all out of power" he knew it wasn't a good idea to keep playing along, he was sure he was going to pass out. I should have stayed home… but it wasn't as if he could really tell Zack what was wrong, even if he did, it wasn't as though the boy could call for help.

Zack feigned a shocked gasp and held his hands out, a concentrated look on his face. "There! I have given you more power to beat the creature"

I wish that really worked "Please Zack…, let's go back…"

Zack pulled a sad face "But the bell hasn't rang yet"

Screw the bell Izaya held his hand out "Come on….we'll come back later"

Zack sighed "And defeat the creature?"

Izaya smiled "Promise…"

Zack took his hand and Izaya lead him through the snow toward the stream. His vision begun to blur, and he grew incredibly hot all of a sudden, he placed a hand over his head and stopped. Zack looked back at him. "Big brother? What's wrong?"

Izaya heard him speak, he sounded so far away, he felt himself sway shit….Shizu-chan….help me… Izaya's eyes rolled back and he collapsed backwards in the snow.

Zack slid next to him "Big brother! Big brother! Get up!" Zack's eyes watered "Please get up!" panicking, he looked around, there was no one in sight. "Somebody help!"

…

Shizuo was starting to worry, Izaya had spent most of yesterday and today off on his own, he had no idea what he was doing. Every time he asked, Izaya just claimed that he was playing 'hide and seek' with Zack. Shizuo didn't understand, he was quite sure that he'd never seen this boy before, Izaya spoke about him often and yet he'd never actually seen him with the boy. It wasn't only that concept that was worrying; almost every time Izaya interacted with Zack, he was becoming sicker it seemed. Of course the raven denied it when Shizuo brought it up, but Izaya was unsteady on his feet, he was pale and there was a slight flush to his cheeks. If they weren't sure signs of sickness then he didn't know what were. Shizuo had watched with a frown as Izaya disappeared into the forest, that wasn't the first time he'd seen him go in there either.

"This is ridiculous" If Izaya wasn't going to tell him what was really going on, then he had no choice. "I should just talk to one of the carers" and with that he strolled over to Layla, since she was the closest to him.

Layla turned to him with a smile, her attention swaying slightly from watching the children. "Hello, is something wrong?"

Shizuo shook his head "Eh, no- I mean, maybe. I just thought you might want to know; I think one of the kid's might be sick"

Layla's expression became one of worry "Oh no. who?"

Shizuo scratched the back of his head, he had known what he wanted to say, but now he wasn't sure. "My classmate has been talking to and playing with a certain boy since we got here. so I'm pretty sure it's him that's sick, because I think Izaya has got it"

Layla nodded "I understand, thank you for letting us know. where are they now?" Shizuo hesitated, he didn't want to get Izaya or Zack into trouble, he'd be willing to bet that the children were probably not supposed to go into the forest.

"I saw them a minute ago…"

"Which boy is he with? I should bring him in and take him to the infirmary, he shouldn't be out in this cold"

Shizuo nodded, suddenly feeling bad for not mentioning it sooner "Sorry for not saying anything right away, I wasn't quite sure myself until I noticed Izaya's condition was worsening"

"You should tell your friend to go home and rest"

Shizuo gave her a false smile and nodded like he'd listen to me

"Who did you say the boy was?"

Shizuo laughed nervously "Oh right. sorry. It's Zack"

Shizuo had never seen someone become so pale all of a sudden, her eyes were wide, and he felt like he'd said something really wrong. "Did-did you say Zack?"

She had him doubting what came out of his mouth, did he? "That's what Izaya told me his name was. I'm sure it was Zack"

Layla shook her head "No. that's not possible, it couldn't be Zack"

Shizuo was really confused now "What do you mean, why not?"

Layla sighed her expression becoming sad "Because Zack passed away two months ago. It was an accident involving a collapsing building"

Shizuo's eyes widened "What?"

"It's true I'm afraid. He and Kei were best friends, so when Zack died we told him that his friend went to live with another family"

All this time, Izaya's been talking to a ghost? What the hell! "Can I ask where the accident happened?" he asked, though he had a good hunch already

Layla pointed toward the forest "Just beyond that set of trees, there's a stream, if you cross that you'll find the old church steeple"

Shizuo gritted his teeth, he was right That's why Zack keeps taking him there Shizuo turned to her with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. Maybe I got the name wrong" Layla didn't look like she believed him, but that didn't matter right now. Shizuo was going to have serious words with Izaya, angry for keeping this from him. "I better go check on him-them…." And then he dashed off, feeling incredibly idiotic about how he handled that situation. Damn it, why the hell didn't he tell me? His first plan was to find Izaya, and after he was sure the raven was safe, Shizuo was going to give him a piece of his mind. What am I thinking? Safe, of course he's safe, it's only a child. Shizuo ran through the zig zag of trees, remembering the directions Layla told him. "There's the stream" he then jumped the small gap with ease and ran across the snow.

Shizuo froze, Izaya was there, laying in the bed of snow. "Izaya!" Shizuo ran to him, skidding to his knees.

Zack startled and clenched his tiny fists "He just fell down!"

Shizuo shook the raven "Can you hear me?" he lay the back of his hand on Izaya's forehead "Damn it. hang on!" Shizuo reached under Izaya's legs and lay his arm under his back, lifting him from the snow.

Zack watched with concern, realising that Shizuo too was ignoring him. He didn't understand, what had he done? Why was Izaya the only one that spoke to him?

Izaya opened his eyes, he stared up at the one carrying him, blinking blearily. "Shizu…chan…"

Shizuo looked down at him with a frown "Yeah. I've got you"

Izaya buried himself against the blond's chest, he was absolutely freezing! His teeth chattered as he spoke "S-so…c-cold…"

Shizuo gritted his teeth as he trudged through the snow "You should have told me sooner! What were you thinking!?"

Zack frowned as he followed them "It's not his fault! I tried to call for help, I really did!"

Izaya coughed into his chest and let out a small groan, clutching Shizuo's sweatshirt. "It's cold….. 'n hot….don't feel good"

Shizuo tightened his hold as he ran through the forest and appeared out the other side. "Help me!" he called out.

The kid's in the playground stilled all movements. A girl by the snow covered slide then shouted "Miss Marie!"

Marie gasped when she saw Shizuo, she ran over to him, along with the other two carers. "What happened!?"

Shizuo's heart was racing, worried for the raven in his arms, he could feel his skin burning through their clothing, and yet Izaya was shaking like a leaf. "I found him collapsed! He's sick, help him!"

Kayla ushered them toward the school "Get him inside, I'm right behind you"

Marie and Layla watch them with concern as they made their way into the building.

…..

Shizuo sat on a chair next to one of the bed's in the infirmary section. Kayla rinsed the cloth out into the bowl and wiped Izaya's forehead. "His fever is down a bit, that's a good sign. How long has he been sick?"

Shizuo frowned too long "A few days I think"

"He should really be at home resting. I don't want what I'm about to say to come across aloof, but he could be contagious"

Shizuo clenched his fists in his lap, that wasn't an invalid hypothesis, they had every right to be concerned for the children's safety. But he was willing to bet, that the reason Izaya was sick, wasn't because of the flu. Shizuo had a hunch, that the raven's sickness was due to his constant interactions with Zack. The only thing wrong with that hunch, was that no one here would possibly believe him. Shizuo blinked and was struck with an idea. "I should make a phone call. I'll be right back"

Kayla nodded and dipped the cloth in the bowl once more, rinsing it and placing it over Izaya's forehead. "Are you going to inform his parents?"

Shizuo stopped in the doorway. He probably should do that too, but they would only worry, and he was sure that his hunch was correct. Besides, Shizuo knew that Izaya most likely wouldn't want them here, he wouldn't want them worrying either. "I'll do that later" he said and then left the room. Calling Kadota and Shinra was more important, the seriousness of the situation had grown due to a ghost, so they were Izaya's best hope.

….

Izaya opened his eyes slowly to see Zack's smiling face. "Yay! You're awake!" Zack leaned over the bed and climbed up to sit on it. "Do you feel better?" Izaya opened his mouth to say something and then a sigh of relief caught his attention. "More of your friends are here" Zack told him.

"Izaya! Thank god you're awake, we were worried"

Izaya felt like he was dreaming, because the person sitting next to him couldn't be real. "Shinra?"

Shinra smiled at him, standing up and taking his hand. "Hey. Welcome back. How do you feel?"

Izaya didn't know how he felt, physically or mentally for that matter, was Shinra really here talking to him? It seemed so unlikely; he'd made it perfectly clear that he wasn't ever going to speak to him again. "Why are you here?"

Shinra huffed a laugh "Because you had us all worried. And- and I understand that you won't ever return my feelings for you…. I know that now, I'll come to live with it, I realised that our friendship means more to me"

Izaya was quite sure he was dreaming now, but he still felt sick and weren't you supposed to be healthy in dreams? Like when you wake up before you hit the ground after falling? Izaya could feel a set of eyes on them, turning his head, he saw Shizuo watching them. There was a slight jealous tint in his eyes, Izaya frowned, unsure why and then he realised that Shinra was holding his hand. He's jealous of Shinra now? we kissed once, and he starts acting possessive? Izaya turned his attention back to Shinra, subtly removing his hand from the other's hold. "So no transfer?"

Shinra pushed his glasses up and chuckled "No. besides, look at yourself, what would you do without me?"

Izaya chuckled and then coughed slightly before sitting up in the bed.

Kadota cleared his throat and hated to ruin the moment, but there was something that needed to be addressed. "We know about Zack"

Izaya head snapped over to the boy sitting on his bed, almost forgetting he was still there. a slight surprised expression appeared on Zack's face, Izaya smiled at him. "Hey. Why don't you go play for a little while"

Zack shook his head "I wanna stay with you…."

"I'm all right. I have my friends looking after me, so go on, before they come looking for you" Zack looked down sadly "I'll come find you later ok?"

"K" the boy got down from the bed and made his way out of the room.

Izaya noticed that all eyes were on him, they'd clearly watched him just have a conversation with- at least to them- absolutely no one. He sighed and took a deep breath before speaking. "So you know about Zack"

Shizuo frowned "Why the hell didn't you tell me!?"

Izaya could hear the concern in Shizuo's tone, so he didn't have it in him to argue back. "I didn't know at first"

His three friends shifted closer to him, taking chairs from the sides of the room to sit on. Kadota spoke next. "How did you find out?"

Shizuo then replied before Izaya could "How about, when?"

Izaya looked over at him, there wasn't much point in hiding anything now. "At the end of our second day"

"Is that why you ran off? Seriously?"

Izaya frowned, clenching his fists "I was in shock! How was I supposed to know that one of the kids is a fucking ghost!"

Shinra lay his hand on Izaya's shoulder "Hey calm down. It's ok. just tell us what happened"

Izaya sighed "When I spoke to him, he was like a normal kid. He was lonely though, I guess he kind of reminded me of myself. He said that he didn't have anyone to play with, and that the other kids always ignored him. I felt sorry for him, so I took it upon myself to give him the most of my attention"

Kadota then replied, "Didn't it seem weird that everyone ignored him?"

Izaya couldn't help but roll his eyes "This is an orphanage Dota-chin, it seemed likely that not all the kids got along and there are only three carers here, they aren't always able to give one child full attention"

"Hmm. I guess you have a point"

"I learned from Zack that this blond kid, Kei. They were best friends. Zack told me about him, and I tried to get Kei to talk, to see if maybe they had a falling out. That's when I thought something might be wrong, apparently Zack had moved away-at least that's what the carers told them all. I found out the truth from Miss Marie"

Shizuo stood up, slapping his palm on the bed "What I can't understand, is why the hell you still continued to play and talk with him!"

Izaya gritted his teeth, he understood why Shizuo was angry, he knew the blond was worried, but the fact was that Shizuo didn't fully understand the situation. "He doesn't know!" silence fell between them for a moment.

Shizuo blinked in surprise "What?"

Izaya bit his lip, looking away, casting his eyes to his fists. "He doesn't know. he really just thinks everyone is ignoring him. He doesn't remember…."

Shinra gasped "That's awful!"

Kadota felt bad now, he should have known that Izaya might have had a good reason. "This changes things I guess"

Izaya nodded "I didn't want to tell him. I didn't know how to….at first I was going to ignore him, but I couldn't do that, he'd had enough of that. so I just- acted like nothing was wrong"

Shizuo's heart sank. So not only did Izaya not know the boy's predicament at first, it seemed like the kid didn't either. He swiped a hand through his hair, wondering if he should say something about Izaya's sickness, wondering if the raven had come to the same conclusion. "He's the reason your sick Izaya" well, it was too late to take that back now.

Izaya blinked up at him in surprise. It certainly made sense; he had started getting sick when he started spending time with Zack. Izaya thought back to when he first become dizzy, Zack touched his hand, he touched him! Was that even possible? He was aware that the whole 'walk through people' being a ghost was cliché. After all, he'd been dragged by a spirit down a corridor before, and shoved off a balcony, had been knocked out twice. Shaking his head, he needed to think about the present; despite all those misfortunes, the fact remained that they had never caused him to get sick. Then again, it wasn't as though I gave them much time to interact with me in the first place "You might be right"

Shizuo had a feeling he was, but he was still surprised to hear it. "So what now?"

Kadota sighed sadly "It's not as if we can just- exorcise him, right?"

Izaya frowned "No. that's not what we're going to do"

Shinra tapped his chin in thought "What about trying to tell him? I know that might sound harsh….but it might help him- move on"

Shizuo shook his head in disbelief, were they seriously just going to tell him? He was a kid! He wasn't going to understand. Shizuo looked at Izaya, surprised to see him actually pondering on that idea. "You're not really going to do that are you?"

Izaya glanced at him "We can't let him keep wandering around thinking he's just being ignored. Shizu-chan, he's a smart kid, if I can get him to remember on his own….it'll help"

Shizuo frowned, knowing where this was going "I don't think so. You're not going anywhere near him again. He's the reason why you're in this condition"

Izaya glared at him, he was getting pissed off now. "He's not doing it on purpose! You don't understand, I tried to ignore him before, and I couldn't do it. he's been through enough. You don't tell me what to do here, I'm doing this my way"

Shizuo gritted his teeth, growling "Well don't expect me to watch as you get sicker!"

"Well I wasn't going to ask you to!" Izaya shouted as Shizuo stormed out of the room. Kadota and Shinra share a glance and then turned to Izaya. The raven huffed and lay back against the pillows. "What?"

Shinra smiled "Nothing. So are you sure this is what you wanna do?"

Izaya nodded "It'll be better if I get him to remember on his own. Once he realises, I can figure out what to do from there. who knows, he might just disappear" It was obvious to them that Zack's predicament had effected Izaya a lot. They could see the sorrow in his eyes and practically feel the sad aura that surrounded him. Izaya blinked when he noticed something drop from his face and create a damp circle on the sheet. He huffed a laugh and wiped his face, realising that it was a tear. "Ah. Sorry. Guess I'm just tired"

Kayla appeared in the room, she smiled when she saw that her patient was awake and talking. "It's good to see that you're awake. How do you feel?" the woman took a thermometer from the side draw and his friends watched with amusement as she stuck it in his mouth. She then took it out and nodded approvingly.

"I feel ok. just tired"

"Your temperature is back to normal, that's good. Now, you should go home and get some rest" Izaya nodded and threw back the cover "It's been wonderful having you both here. thank you very much for your help" Izaya stared at her, and realisation dawned on him, that their week was up, it was Friday. Shit, has it been a week already? Kayla was right. it had felt so much shorter than that, it was no wonder how Shinra and Kadota could be here now. he couldn't possibly leave now! he couldn't leave Zack here alone; he couldn't leave him like this.

Before Izaya could make a protesting statement about why he should come back tomorrow, on a Saturday of all days, Marie walked into the room, Shizuo following after. "Mr Heiwajima has informed me that you wish to come back an extra day to help boost your grades" Izaya looked at Shizuo who was trying to avoid his gaze, he smiled. "Is that right?"

Good thinking Shizu-chan "If that's all right?"

Marie clapped her hands "Of course it is! The children will be happy to have you an extra day. That is, if you're feeling up to it"

Izaya nodded, swinging his legs over the bed "I'll get plenty of rest. I'll be fine tomorrow"

"All right then. You make sure you do that. I better get back to the playroom now. go on home, it's getting late"

The four friends nod and both carers left the room. Izaya stood up slowly, testing his balance; when he felt confident enough, he pulled on his jacket. "Let's go. We'll come back tomorrow"

"We're coming back with you right?" Shinra asked, Izaya looked at him, he was grateful that they were friends again, but having Shinra and Kadota here all of a sudden might look a bit suspicious.

"While that would be appreciated, I don't think it's a good idea. They don't know what's really going on here, I'd prefer to keep it that way"

Shinra slumped "But-"

Izaya lay a hand on Shinra's shoulder "Trust me" he said with a smile

Shinra sighed "Yeah. ok. but you let me know if something goes wrong" Izaya smirked and drew a cross over his heart.

On their way toward the exit, Izaya spotted Zack standing by the playroom, he gestured for the others to wait for him outside. Izaya knelt down in front of the boy, Zack shuffled his feet as he stared at the floor. "You're leaving now. aren't you?"

Izaya ignored the feeling of sorrow in his heart and smiled "Actually. I'm going to stay an extra day. We never did defeat that creature did we?"

Zack's eyes widened "Really!?" Izaya nodded "Yay! And we can play all day!"

Izaya choked back a sob "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow" Zack's arms reached up for a hug, the raven knew he probably shouldn't, but what did it matter now? by tomorrow, if all went the way they hoped….Zack was going to most likely disappear. Izaya wrapped his arms around the boy, embracing him before letting go. Zack waved him goodbye as Izaya stumbled slightly out of the building.

The others were waiting there like he asked, Shinra tilted his head in concern. "Are you ok?"

Izaya nodded "I'm fine, don't worry"

Shizuo snorted, as if he'd believe that a third time "The last time you said that, I found you passed out in the fucking snow. You should have gotten frost bite with how long you were there"

Izaya rolled his eyes "Well sorry, I guess my plan to get frost bite failed"

Shizuo growled a little "I didn't say you did it on purpose, although you could have said something sooner"

Kadota sighed in irritation "Let's just go home. It's freezing"

The four make their way out of the gate, they got into Kadota's van and the brunet drove them all home.

….

Day 5

Izaya and Shizuo felt bad for not allowing Shinra and Kadota to join them, they were a team after all; but this wasn't a job that they had accepted, it was delicate and should be handled with care. Given what had happened yesterday, they couldn't afford to come across as suspicious now, and the children had gotten used to them, there was no point in the kids getting to know two others. They had to plan this carefully, it wouldn't do for Izaya to wander off with Zack to talk to him by himself, the carers would most likely keep an eye on him now, if only out of concern. He'd passed out under their watch, so they probably felt responsible. It would be harder to talk to Zack as it was, since the weather had really turned cold overnight, so the children were not allowed outside today. It put them at a disadvantage, since playtime would have been the best distraction. Izaya wouldn't admit it, but he was glad that Shizuo was now clued into what was going on, he would have trouble doing this by himself. If needed, Shizuo would be a good distraction, just so that he could have time to talk to Zack.

The teens were currently helping out in the playroom, Izaya made it a point to sit at a painting table, coaxing Zack to sit next to him. Every now and then, he'd turn his attention and try to talk to him. It was hard to do so without making the children think he was talking to them. Izaya also didn't want Zack to get upset again, making him believe that he didn't want to talk to him. Shizuo could see Izaya struggling to make conversation with Zack, without playtime outside, their plan was useless. Izaya had no chance of talking to the boy in a secluded room, it was way too obvious, and kids were too curious, they were bound to say something. the blond then got an idea, he excused himself and left the room.

A few minutes later, the sound of a fire alarm rang loudly throughout the building. Izaya startled, the kids started panicking and screaming, not quite sure where to run. The raven stood up and soon noticed that Shizuo was absent, he smirked. Nice now that it was obvious Shizuo caused the alarm to go off, he would have his chance to talk to Zack without anyone questioning him. Now all he had to do was part from the group without being noticed. Soon enough Shizuo came running back into the room, he glanced over at Izaya and the raven nodded a thanks. The blond began to help the carers calm the children down and form neat line.

"Remember your practice children! As quickly and neatly as possible. Well done, now follow Miss Layla in front of you, I will be behind to make sure none of you get left behind" Shizuo walked with them in the middle, Izaya followed but quickly veered off from the group, dragging Zack with him.

"Where are we going Big brother? The fireplace is outside the front"

Even though Zack was a ghost, Izaya couldn't help but feel irresponsible, and Zack was already getting worried. This probably wasn't the best plan, but it was their only shot. "We'll be safer at the Kanata temple I think" even before he said it he knew it sounded ridiculous. Izaya brought Zack into the playground and the two made their way through the forest and eventually came to a stop at the steeple.

"Are we going to defeat the creature now?"

Izaya shook his head, and feeling lightheaded again, he needed to sit down, he couldn't afford to faint again. Patting the snow, he motioned for Zack to sit beside him. "Not yet. I'd like to talk to you for a bit"

Zack took the space beside Izaya and sat down, banging his feet together. "What we gonna talk about big brother?"

Izaya took a deep breath, he'd have to be cautious, take it slow. "Zack, what's the last thing you remember before everyone started ignoring you?"

Zack pulled his legs up to his chest "I remember playing with Kei before"

"You don't remember anything after that? How about in the evening when you went to bed?"

Zack shook his head "No. I woke up and everyone was mad cause they started ignoring me"

"Did the carers look sad?"

"I guess. Not the other kids; but they did"

"And you're not sure why?"

"Nah uh. I tried to ask, but they ignored me too"

"Ok. So back to the night you went to bed. You didn't sneak out of your room or anything? Didn't wander outside maybe to play?" Izaya watched Zack's expression change slightly, there was a thoughtful frown on his face now. He was getting somewhere. "Did you come here Zack?"

"I- I don't know. Maybe...Me and Kei found it together, we were told not to play here. But-" Zack's eyes widened and Izaya knew that the boy was remembering. "I didn't listen-"

Izaya ignored his dizziness, he wasn't about to give up now. "Did you come here alone Zack?"

The boy nodded "I wanted to see if it was safe. I wanted to play with Kei the next day..."

Izaya chewed his lip and his heart sank, he almost didn't want to carry on. Before he came along, Zack had been ignorant of why he was ignored, and Izaya almost wished he could stay that way. He pointed to the broken steeple. "Do you know what happened?"

Zack frowned and lay his head on Izaya's shoulder. "Am I in trouble?"

Izaya closed his eyes, he wrapped an arm around the boy and said, "No. I just- I want to know what happened, maybe get everyone to stop ignoring you..." it pained him to lie, but it was to protect him as much as he could.

"I- Came here by myself. I wanted to look. I went inside but I wasn't supposed to. Miss Marie said it was bad, I didn't listen- I remember things falling on me, I screamed for help and-" Zack clung to Izaya's jacket, the raven could only guess what was going through his mind. "I didn't listen! I didn't!"

Izaya rubbed his arm soothingly "Shhh. It's ok. It's ok" what have I done?

Zack looked up at him, eyes full of tears, but it was what he said next that tore at Izaya's heart. "Big brother, am I dead?"

Izaya looked at him, unable to respond, he couldn't possibly reply to that! None of this was right, he's just a little kid but eventually, the raven nodded slowly "I'm sorry Zack. I'm so sorry"

Zack threw himself at Izaya and the teen wrapped his arms around him "But I don't wanna be dead! I wanna play! I wanna go to a new family with Kei!" Izaya clenched his eyes shut, his own tears falling down his face, unable to stop them.

"It'll be ok. Everything will be ok"

Izaya couldn't stop the cough that suddenly riveted from his chest. Zack pulled back and Izaya tried his best to get his control back.

"I made you sick. Didn't I?"

Izaya shook his head "No Zack, you didn't. Don't think that, it's not your fault ok?"

"Am I a ghost? Is that why no one can talk to me?"

Izaya didn't imagine it to be this hard, why did Zack have to be so clever? "I think so. But the carers told the other children that you went away to live with a new family, they didn't want to upset them"

Zack wiped his eyes, the boy was shaking, Izaya didn't blame him, he was probably terrified. "I didn't get to say goodbye to Kei...he's my best friend" the boy looked at Izaya "What's gonna happen now? I don't wanna go away"

Izaya used the wall to pull himself up, he held out a hand to Zack. "But no one can see you here"

Zack took his hand and stood up "You can"

Izaya smiled "I know. But I don't live here. It's going to be lonely for you if no one can see you"

Zack lowered his head "But I'm scared..."

"It's ok. When you leave-" Izaya chokes back a sob "You'll go to a different place, they'll be lots of people that can see you there"

Zack glanced up "Kids too?"

Izaya nodded "And you can show them all your games that you like to play"

"You promise?"

"I promise"

Zack's hand tightened "Wish I could say goodbye..."

Izaya smiled and he began to form an idea. "I think there might be a way" he said, he looked around the snow covered ground, bending down he fished out a piece of broken wood. He pulled out a pen from inside his jacket and began to write the kanji for Kei. I hope this works Izaya then turned to Zack and motioned for him to follow.

Halfway through the forest, Izaya pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Shizuo, hopefully neither of the carers had started looking for him yet.

They made it out the other side and by this point, Izaya was stumbling, he coughed a little and almost collapsed when his vision darkened, Shizuo was there to catch him. "Hey..."

Shizuo held him up by his arms "You look awful. Izaya, we should get you inside and-"

"No. Not yet. Zack knows..."

Shizuo's frown disappeared, his expression turning somber. "So what now?"

"He wants to say goodbye...to Kei"

"Are you crazy? That won't work, you'll scare the hell out of him if you tell him something like that!"

"No. I know, I have another idea... hold this" and Izaya gave Shizuo the piece of wood he'd been holding. "We can't use any of the kids, so you're the closest person we have, the fact that you're blond helps"

Shizuo looked at the wood with Kei's name on it, "But I can't see him Izaya, I can't talk to him if I can't see him"

Izaya smiled "Not yet"

Shizuo looked up and Izaya gave him a knowing grin. The blond gasped and yelled "No way! Absolutely not! Forget it!"

"It's the only way. I'll be fine. He just wants to say goodbye Shizu-chan..."

"You're already sick Izaya! What's this going to do if you let this happen?"

Izaya smiled he really does care about me Izaya decided that while he was concerned about getting close to Shizuo, he would get used to it. Izaya leaned forward and pressed his lips to the other. Shizuo's eyes widened for a second and then he relaxed and started to kiss back.

After a minute they pulled away "Izaya-"

Izaya placed a finger over Shizuo's lips "I'm not scared anymore. I'd like to test that more. But first, help me help him to not feel scared too"

Shizuo didn't like it, but if anyone could pull this off, it was Izaya. "All right. What do you want me to do?"

Izaya nodded "Just stand there" he then turned to Zack "I can help say goodbye Zack. Just relax and clear your thoughts. You can take over my body"

"How?"

"Don't think about touching anything. Just close your eyes and take a leap and think about Kei. When you open your eyes, you will see him"

"You mean it?"

Izaya nodded "Try it"

"I'm scared..."

"I know. But I'm right here with you, you can say goodbye through me ok?"

Zack then closed his eyes, his mind clear and then he leapt. Shizuo watched Izaya gasp and then stumble backwards, the blond stepped forward to help balance him. Izaya opened his eyes and smiled brightly. "Kei!" Shizuo became very aware that the boy Zack, was now in control of Izaya's body, which meant that he was most likely seeing his best friend. Zack looked at him with sad tearful eyes. "I have to go away now"

Shizuo swallowed the lump in his throat. "Why?"

"Cause I have to. You're my bestest friend in the whole world. I'm gonna miss you"

"I'll miss you too"

"Thank you for playing with me"

"Will you come back?"

Zack shook his head "I'm not allowed. But I'll see you maybe one day" Zack wrapped his arms around Shizuo and the blond reciprocated. "Bye..."

"Bye bye" Shizuo felt Izaya collapse in his arms and only imagined that it had worked, and Zack had left his body. "Izaya!"

…...

Izaya opened his eyes, tears clinging to the corners of them as he took in his surroundings. He was in the infirmary of the orphanage, glancing around he found Shizuo sitting beside him. Izaya smiled and the blond sighed in relief. "It worked"

Shizuo nodded and reached up to link their fingers together. "Good. At least he's at peace now"

Izaya nodded and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. "Zack's tears" he said

Shizuo chuckled "Sure"

"Shizu-chan?"

"What?"

"Walk me home?"

Shizuo grinned "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't"

Izaya raised an eyebrow "Boyfriend huh? Aren't we ambitious"

Shizuo nodded "Very. I'd also like to take another test now"

Izaya smirked and pulled Shizuo toward him and pressed their lips together. "How's that? Did I pass?"

Shizuo laughed "With flying colours flea"