The wind whistling in his ears as he ran through the alleyways, the feeling of his heart pounding against his chest, and the guttural roars of his arch-nemesis running after him. Today was a great day.
Ah, yes. It was moments like these that Izaya enjoyed the most.
"Shizu-chan!" The informant broker sang as he jumped onto the fire escape of a nearby building, narrowly dodging a stop sign. "Your aim is getting worse! Maybe I should come around more often, you need practice!"
The blonde man let out another enraged screech, tearing out a nearby mailbox. "You bastard! Stay out of Ikebukuro or I'll kill you!" He snarled.
Dodging the mailbox, sat on the rails of the fire escape, hanging upside down as he looked at the debt collector. "You won't kill anyone if you can't aim correctly, silly Shizu-chan!" He giggled, a snake like grin on his face. "Even a protozoan should know that practice makes perfect!"
"SHUT UP!" Shizuo yelled, the sound echoing throughout the alleyway. With a large lung, the man sent himself flying upwards towards Izaya with his fist pulled back, ready to strike.
Just before Shizuo reached him, Izaya unhooked his legs from the fire escape, falling down towards the ground. His hands quickly hit the dumpster below, allowing him to use the momentum to push himself into a flip and land on his feet.
Without turning to face the sound of crashing metal, Izaya hurried out of the alleyway and back into the busy streets. He ran as fast as he could through the crowd, and then into one of the several stores nearby.
Once inside, Izaya backed up against a wall and caught his breath. Turning his ruby orbs to the outside of the building, he could see the bartender clad blonde at the mouth of the alley, angrily searching for his lost prey.
He giggled between gulps of breath. "Silly Shizu-chan, thinking he could catch me," He said to himself. "Even lions are less than twenty precent successful at catching prey in daylight, and they actually have the brains to think about the hunt."
Izaya went to laugh at his own joke, but something got caught in his throat. He gasped and lurched forward, his hand going to cover his mouth as a sudden flurry of coughs ripping through his chest.
It took several long, painful seconds for the coughing to subside. When he finally had enough air to breathe, he pulled his hand away and froze at what he saw. His hand now had blood splattered all across it.
The raven's eyes widened in shock. What? Blood? He wondered. But… Why? I'm not sick… I feel fine?
He didn't get anymore time to examine it, as the sound of terrified shoppers made him turn to the shop's windows just in time to see a trash can flying towards the glass. He quickly jumped out of the way just as it broke through the weak protection.
"IZAYA!" Shizuo's voice reached his ears once again. "You slimy bastard, thought you could hide from me?!"
The sound of his voice brought Izaya back into the action. He forgot about the blood he had just lost, and turned to Shizuo with his usual grin. "Oh Shizuo, I could never hide from you, you can sniff me out like a bloodhound. Too bad you smell like one too," He casually baoted.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Shizuo yelled, his hand making possession of a metal rack of clothes and lifting it over his head.
The raven turned and sped away, the chase was back on, and Izaya's glee overtook any worry he had felt only seconds before.
It was sundown by the time Izaya got back to his apartment in Shinjuku, and found that he was thoroughly exhausted by the day's activities. Usually, he could have let Shizuo chase him until the sun fell and then rose back up. But for some reason, his lungs felt much smaller than usual.
When he got back to his door, he shook as he tried to unlock his apartment door. His vision was clouded at the edges, and he desperately tried to force more air into his lungs. As soon as his door was unlocked, another coughing fit overtook him.
Forcing the door open, Izaya stumbled forward and nearly fell to the ground, only being saved thanks to the half wall in front of him. In his stumble to take possession of it, he knocked over and shattered a vase but he paid no heed.
His hand once again went to cover his mouth, desperately trying to stop the coughing that ripped through him. He could barely breathe, it hurt so bad. Why is this happening to me?!
It was so hard to get any air in his lungs, his legs shook underneath him and hit the hardwood floors painfully as he fell. Black and white spots danced across his vision, painful coughs and wheezes still tearing out of his throat as his vision finally turned black.
When Izaya finally woke up, his chest was burning, his limbs were cold, and his whole body felt strangely numb at the same time. His eyelids felt like they were glued shut, and it took several seconds for him to pry them open.
He cringed at the feeling of the light hitting his face, having to blink several times in order to get even the slightest bit of his vision back. What… What happened?
When the raven brought his hand up to rub at his pounding head, but stopped when he saw the dried blood covering his hand. It happened again…
He dropped his hands, using them to push himself up into a sitting position. "I'm.. On the floor," He slowly observed, looking around warily. It was no longer sunset, instead the sun was just rising. "I was out all night?"
When he looked down to where he had just been laying, Izaya was treated to a very peculiar sight. There was a pool of blood on the ground, and something strange scattered in it. He reached out, picking up the small pink things with wide eyes.
"What the…" He muttered,"Is… Is this some kind of prank?"
Before he could consider it, the pain in his chest returned. He grabbed at his shirt, groaning in pain. It hurt, his lungs felt like they were burning, his whole chest felt extremely sore. He coughed again, using his already bloody hand to block it.
Pulling his hand away once it calmed revealed to Izaya's his very fear. It wasn't a prank, something was seriously wrong.
He reached up, his bloody hand grabbing at the wall again. He forced himself onto his shaky feet, looking towards the still open door. "I-I need to go to Shinra," He stuttered,"He'll, he'll know. He has to know something…"
Forcing one foot in front of the other, Izaya forced himself to keep going. There had to be something Shinra could do to fix this.
"Good morning, my lovely wonderful Celty!" Shinra sang happily as Celty walked into the kitchen.
Celty, still in her pajamas, looked over to see Shinra wearing a very obnoxious apron that read 'kiss the cook' while pouring a traditional breakfast into their respective bowls.
She plopped herself next to him on the island, watching him cheerfully chatter between bites. She sighed, drowsily pulling out her phone, typing one key at a time, and then holding it out to Shinra. [How do you have so much energy this early in the morning?] She demanded.
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise!" Shinra cheerfully responded, point his chopsticks at her. "And if I wake up early, it means I can make my love a special breakfast every day!"
[I don't even need to eat] Celty reminded him.
Shinra shrugged, that goofy smile still on his face. "I don't mind! I still get to live in domestic bliss with my love! Making you breakfast, saying goodbye as you go to work, having a special surprise for you when you get home~ Something special that involves-"
Before Shinra could finish that horrible sentence, and before Celty could punch him in the ribs, there was a frantic knocking sound on the door interrupted them. The two stopped, looking towards each other curiously. Neither of them had been expecting guests, but with their professions, surprise guests weren't unexpected either.
Shinra shed the apron, already having his lab coat on underneath, and Celty quickly shifted her pajamas into her normal back outfit. Shinra hurried over to the door as the knocking continued, opening up to reveal their visitor.
"Orihara-kun! It's good to see you!" Shinra cheerfully said, and Celty felt her mood instantly drop. Oh great, what was he doing here?
But the second she got a look at him, Celty didn't wonder anymore. It was obvious something was very wrong. The raven's clothing was wrinkled, his hair a ruffled mess, his hands had dried blood on them, and his face was splattered with it as well.
"Orihara-kun!" Shinra exclaimed again, pulling him inside. "What- what happened to you? Did Shizuo get you this time?"
Izaya stumbled a bit, breathing hard as he shook his head. "Shinra," He croaked,"I need your help. Something is wrong with me."
I can think of several things wrong with you… Celty thought, but she kept it to herself. Shinra cared about Izaya… For some reason. As long as the informant broker didn't hurt him, Celty wouldn't do anything.
Shinra had a worried expression on his face. "Why?" He asked, finally seeming to notice the blood. "Are you coughing up blood? Orihara-kun, that's a sign of several different infections, it could even be cancer!"
"I don't think it is, Shinra," He declared,"Because… because that's not all that is happening."
Suddenly the raven lurched forward, a coughing fit overcoming him. It sounded so painful that even Celty cringed. Shinra held onto Izaya, keeping him from crashing to the ground. The coughing lasted several painful, violent seconds before Izaya pulled his hand away.
Looking down at his bloody palm, he held it further away from him. "This is what I'm worried about," He croaked.
Curiously, Celty and Shinra leaned forward. In Izaya's hands, were small pink objects that were stained red with blood. At first, they couldn't quite tell what it was. So Shinra pulled a glove on, taking the small object out of his friend's hand. Lifting it up, Shinra finally realized what it was.
Izaya was coughing up cherry blossoms.