A couple weeks had gone by since Haru had his birthday party, and Izaya found himself in a bit of a dilemma.
A great many things had changed in his life as of recently, so much so that he was still trying to wrap his head around it. He had quit his job, gained actual friends, quit his evil ways, and (most importantly of all) he had adopted his son.
Just that thought brought a smile to his face, making him turn towards where Haru was in his high chair with a small bowl of Cheerios while babbling to a visiting Akabayashi.
The second the baby saw him looking, Haru released a toothy grin and waved. Izaya chuckled and waved back as he called,"Hi Haru!"
"Hi Haru!" The little child mimicked, only succeeding in making Izaya smile even wider than before.
Yes, his life truly had changed for the better… But… There was one thing that was still exactly the same.
Shizuo absolutely hated him.
Even before he had moved to Ikebukuro, Izaya had known that Shizuo would pose a problem. Considering all the things Izaya had done to him, the raven couldn't really blame him for his feelings.
But still, Izaya didn't want to fight anymore. He didn't want to cause Shizuo anger and misery, that was in the past. They didn't have to be friends, but could they at least come to a peace?
Izaya loves his new home in Ikebukuro, but even shopping was a pain. For some reason, Shizuo seemed even angrier than normal. The few times he had caught Izaya around Ikebukuro, he managed to keep up a lot better and sometimes even chased Izaya into Shinjuku. (Which was really annoying, considering Izaya didn't live there anymore.)
It was to the point he was too afraid to bring Haru to any parks in Ikebukuro, he had to go to Shinjuku for that too. It was stressing him out so much…
"What's eating you?"
The raven was jolted from his thoughts by the sound of Akabayashi's voice. He looked up from the counter, finding that the man was now leaning against the other side.
Knowing it was useless to hide anything from the oddly perceptive man, he sighed and lowered his eye back down. "Shizuo," He plainly said.
Akabayashi instantly began to chuckle. "Oh, I see," He said,"Not so fun fighting with someone when you don't actually want to, huh? It's almost like you know how he feels."
"Haha, I get it, karma is very funny," Izaya responded, rolling his eye. Then, he grew exasperated all over again. "But I don't want to fight him anymore! That's the thing!"
Akabayashi's smirk went away and he turned a little closer to Izaya, letting the young man know that he was there to listen with a small nod.
The raven gave him a thankful grin, and then continued. "I don't know how to get that through to him! I never have a chance to do anything before he starts chasing me. What am I supposed to do? It can't stay like this, especially with Haru around. It's too dangerous."
The man listened carefully to Izaya's plight, and hummed a slight bit once he was down. "That does sound like a problem," He casually agreed,"A problem that needs a solution sooner than later."
The adults looked back at the one year old, watching him place the tiny Cheerios down one at a time on his high chair.
"I don't want Haru to suffer for my mistakes," Izaya explained,"What if- What if I'm walking out with Haru and he gets hurt because of our fighting? I don't want it to happen."
"Have you ever thought about trying to make peace with Shizuo?" Akabayashi suggested.
Izaya nodded. "Ever since I really decided to keep Haru, it has been crossing my mind," He replied,"I just have no idea how to go about it. Any time he sees me, even if I'm not trying to bother him, I get something thrown at me and then a chase begins."
The older man huffed again. "Yes, That does seem like a problem," He said, and they both fell into silence once again.
The awkward tension was vanished by Haru. The baby lifted up his bowl of cheerios, and then flipped it upside down. The Cheerios spilled all over his chair, tumbling down onto the ground below.
When Izaya and Akabayashi looked at him in surprise, the baby looked at them with wide, innocent eyes, and said,"Uh oh."
The two adults snorted in amusement at Haru, which only made the baby even more excited. With a loud squeal, he knocked the bowl off onto the floor. "Uh oh!" He yelled again, bursting into a pearl of giggles.
"Mister man!" Izaya exclaimed, moving over to the high chair and lifting him out. "What are you doing, silly?"
Haru answered with several more giggles and then fell into his usual babbles. Izaya listened and nodded along as if he could understand.
The little baby ended his happy babbles when he loudly declared,"A boom.!"
"That was very interesting, Haru," The raven agreed,"I'll be sure to put in a word with management down in the gravity department."
Akabayashi watched the scene with a small smile. Seeing Izaya acting this way still never ceased to amaze him. It was so different than the Izaya he knew just a little while ago. In fact, sometimes it seemed like a completely different person.
The thought made Akabayashi freeze up. A completely different person… That's it! He spun around to face Izaya, and declared,"I have an idea, about what to do with Shizuo."
"Oh?" Izaya asked curiously, unconsciously moving Haru closer against his chest at the mention of the blonde haired bodyguard.
The older man nodded. "You are a lot different than you were before, and everyone seems to realize this except Shizuo," He pointed out. "So what if next time he chases you, you try and do something out of the character he sees you as. It might be enough to make him stop and give you a chance."
The raven frowned, thinking it over in his head. I only ever run when I see him now, I don't try and talk to him… He looked down at his son. Maybe Akabayashi is right? If I act 'weird'... Well, weird to him, it may give me the few seconds I need.
"Alright," He said aloud, looking over at the man. "I'll do it. Next time I'm out by myself, I'll try to talk to him."
Akabayashi smiled at his agreement and nodded. "In the end, that's all you can really do," He pointed out,"Hopefully it will go well."
"Yeah…" Izaya whispered back, hugging Haru even closer. He couldn't help the fear that he felt at even the mere thought of what he was about to try.
All he could do was hope it would go well…
Shizuo had been in a very bad mood recently… Well, actually for quite a few months. He just felt constantly angry and frustrated, the smallest things were setting him off.
His mood wasn't out of nowhere no, it wasn't just mood swings. He knew exactly why he was feeling this way.
It was that damn flea.
The bodyguard knew he was somewhere, he had to be. He smelled him all the time, as if he never left Ikebukuro anymore. Why? Was that bastard really trying to test him like this!?
The few times he had caught Izaya wandering around his city, he chased him off as fast as he could. Still, the smell, the feeling of that damned flea never went away.
Then there were those rumors. He heard them all the time. About Izaya having changed, being a good person, that he even stopped a huge trafficking ring.
He didn't believe them, not for a second. There's no way the flea would ever change. It was impossible. He would always be a demon and a monster of a flea no matter what.
I swear, the next time I see that bastard I'm going to-
"Shizuo!" Tom's voice broke through his angry thoughts. He turned those still burning eyes over to his senpai, making the man jump back in surprise.
Guilt pooling into Shizuo's chest, He quickly said,"Sorry, senpai… I'm just… I've been really out of it recently."
Tom sighed in response. "Yeah, I noticed…" He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and then looking back up at the blonde. "Well, it's our lunch break now. Where would you like to eat?"
"Russian Sushi sounds pretty good today," Shizuo calmly said,"I haven't seen Simon in a while anyways."
The older man hummed thoughtfully, and Shizuo could swear he was salivating at the thought of the sushi. He quickly nodded and said,"Then we'll go there!"
"Sounds good," Shizuo responded, shoving his hands in his pockets as well and following behind him.
But the closer they got to the restaurant, the worse Shizuo felt. The smell… It was getting stronger. It was driving Shizuo crazy, it was almost as if Izaya was someone right nearby!
It turned out his hypothesis was correct. As soon as they turned the corner to where Russian Sushi was, he saw the flea.
He was standing there by Simon, chatting idly with the man as if he wasn't doing the very thing Shizuo always told him not to do! Then, both of them started laughing. Why? Why was Izaya acting so carefree? Was it all just a ploy to annoy Shizuo?
The blonde growled angrily, his fists clenching tightly and breathing becoming heavier and heavier. His vision turned red, and all he saw was the damned flea.
Next to him, Tom let out a small sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, here we go…" He muttered.
"IZAYA!" The blonde bellowed, instantly bursting into a sprint as fast as he could towards the restaurant and his target.
The raven jumped in surprise at the sound and spun around to face him. The second he saw Shizuo, he turned and ran away.
"Oh no! You're not getting away!" Shizuo angrily yelled,"You're getting the fuck out of Ikebukuro!"
And so, the chase began. Civilians quickly hurried out of their way as they tried to avoid being hit by a flying stop sign, trash can, vending machines, etc.
Izaya managed to stay just two steps ahead of him though, enough that Shizuo almost lost him several times. But he managed to keep up, he wasn't going to let Izaya escape this time.
They ducked, dodged, and weaves through the city until they were out of the crowded city section and in the quieter part of town.
Shizuo watched as Izaya turned into an alleyway and ran in after him, already dragging a large vending machine with him and ready to throw it. But when he walked into the alley, Izaya wasn't running. He was just standing there.
"Wait!" Izaya yelled, holding his hands up and staring directly at Shizuo with his one, determined red eye.
The blonde debt collector had been ready for many things, but this wasn't one of them. In fact, it caught him so off guard that he screeched to a halt only a few inches from Izaya's outstretched hands.
Shizuo took several deep breaths, trying to regain the air he had lost from the chase as he glared down at the flea. He looked around the alleyway, searching for any sign of a trap, but he saw none.
Turning his angered eyes back to Izaya, he angrily asked,"What the fuck are you trying to pull flea?!"
"Please, I don't want to fight, I just want to talk," The raven responded, his voice calm, even, and maybe even a little shaky. There was no sign of the taunting tone that Shizuo was used to.
This only made him even angrier. Clenching his fists again, Shizuo yelled,"Bullshit!"
Izaya quickly shook his head and exclaimed,"No! I'm serious! Look!"
He reached into his pocket, flicking out his switch blade and showing it to Shizuo. Once the blonde got a good look at it, he realized it was the one Izaya always used against him. He mentioned several times during his taunts that he loved using his favorite knife on the blonde.
Then, to his utter surprise, Izaya turned and tossed it behind him. It tumbled to the ground sadly, Shizuo watching it the whole way. When he looked back at Izaya, the man was standing with his hands in the air.
Now he was even more confused. Could it be possible? Did Izaya really just want to talk? He didn't know, could he trust him?
No, no he couldn't. But that didn't mean he had to not listen. He was actually curious what scheme Izaya was trying to pull now, it was a new one. So, instead of throwing anything, he slowly dropped the vending machine and firmly said,"Start talking then."
Izaya let out a sigh of relief, and then quickly said,"I wanted to talk to you about something important-"
"Start talking then!" Shizuo angrily repeated again. Why was Izaya trying to stall? Was he waiting for something to drop on Shizuo from the sky?
The raven jolted at the sound of his voice and quickly continued,"A- a lot of things have changed for me during these past few months, and some of it wasn't good." His one hand idly went towards the medical eyepatch he was wearing before he continued. "And because of that, I've also changed."
Shizuo was about to call bullshit, but Izaya kept going before he could yell anything.
"I… I had my eyes opened to a lot of things. One of those was how horrible of a person I was," He explained,"I was horrible to you and to so many other people. For that, I'm sorry."
He slowly lowered a hand, and then held his other one outstretched. "This apology also is a way to tell you that I don't want to fight you anymore," Izaya declared,"I'm offering a truce."
The blonde's eyes were wide with many different emotions. Shock, disbelief, and confusion most of all. He looked down at the outstretched hand, then back at Izaya. "A… A truce?" He echoed.
"You don't have to be my friend, especially not after everything I've done to you," Izaya said,"All I'm asking for is a truce. No more fighting, no more chasing out of cities. I'll stay out of your way, in return for the same."
The world seemed to slow down as Shizuo just stared at the pale, outstretched hand. Everything Izaya had told him was so very tempting.
He could already imagine the benefits. No more losing jobs, no more crippling debts from the property damage he caused, no more scaring people during their chases. Hell, maybe his temper would also calm down and he'd have much less stress.
The deal, the truce Izaya was offering sounded good… Really good.
In fact, it sounded too good to be true.
All the anger that he had managed to keep under wraps during Izaya's proposal bubbled to the surface.
Izaya slowly pulled his hand back, fear welling up in his red eye as he figured out what Shizuo's answer would be.
"You…" Shizuo snarled,"You think that you just come here to my city after tormenting me for years and just apologize?!"
He slammed his foot on the ground, breaking the concrete beneath it. "NO! That's not how this works!" He yelled,"You bastard! Your stupid apology is worthless! Monsters like you don't change, you don't have the ability to!"
"Shizuo-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Shizuo yelled. Izaya went silent, his eye wide with fear. and Shizuo's angered frown turned into a vicious grin as he saw the emotions burning in that red orb.
"Oh, I see. You thought that you could come here and offer some silly little truce and that I would fall for it?" He sneered,"Then you would get me to trust you and then destroy everything I held dear, right? Right?!"
Izaya frantically shook his head. "No! That's not it!" He tried to explain, but Shizuo wasn't listening.
The blonde grabbed the vending machine again, building up his strength as he smiled even wider. "Guess your plan didn't work this time," He yelled,"Did it, I-ZAY-YA!?"
With a mighty heave, he threw the large machine towards the retreating raven. It slammed into his half turned body, and sent the man tumbling down to the ground, and this time he didn't get up.
With a victorious smirk, Shizuo yelled,"Try and remember that next time you 'just want to talk!'"
With those final words, Shizuo stormed out of the alleyway, leaving the unmoving Izaya behind.
"YOU WHAT!?"
Out of all the reactions Shizuo had been expecting when he went to Celty and Shinra to rant, this hadn't been one of them.
Shinra was staring at him with wide, terrified eyes and his jaw dropped and Celty was practically hidden by the black shadows bursting from her neck.
Shizuo was at a loss. "What? Why are acting like this?" He demanded,"I know you don't like the fact we fight, Celty, but he was out of line this time!"
He started pacing again as he said,"Trying to act like he didn't want to fight anymore, did he really think I would fall for bullshit like tha- OW!"
While he had been ranting, Celty stormed up behind him and slammed her closed first into the back of his head. When he whipped around for face her, she shoved his PDA into his face.
[Shizuo, you idiot!]
"Idiot?" Shizuo read aloud, confusion echoing in his tone. "I don't understand, what do you mean?"
Shinra groaned, his hands rubbing behind his glasses. "Izaya wasn't trying to trick you, Shizuo!" He exclaimed,"He really was trying to make a truce!"
Shizuo's eyes widened, shock overcoming his features for a moment before he shook it off. "Why should I believe you?" He asked,"You're friends with him! And he's tricked you before, Celty!"
More of those black shadows billowed out of Celty's neck as she shoved the PDA back in his face. [This isn't like those times, Shizuo! Izaya really has changed! He's a good person now!] She said.
"How!?" Shizuo demanded, throwing his hands out. "Izaya has never changed before, he's always been this way! What insane force could have made Izaya change?"
Celty didn't respond with words. Instead, she closed her messages and swiped through her photos, pulling one up and shoving it into Shizuo's hand. When the blonde looked down at the photo, his heart nearly stopped in shock.
It was Izaya, laying on a soft, comfy looking couch. His head rested on a pillow, his eye was closed, and he looked extremely relaxed. In his arms was… A baby.
The little one was resting against Izaya's chest, his eyes shut, and his hand holding onto Izaya's lax one tightly. They looked so relaxed, so peaceful, and so happy. It looked as if they were always meant to be together.
"Is that…" Shizuo whispered, unable to finish his thought for fear of what the answer might be.
"That is Haru, Izaya's adopted son," Shinra revealed. "Ever since Izaya took him in, he's been a much different person. He nearly died protecting Haru, he quit messing with the city, and he even quit being an informant broker."
[Those rumors about Izaya stopping that trafficking ring are true, Kadota's gang and I were there and helped.] Celty also mentioned.
Shinra nodded, and said,"Haru has changed him for the better, and Izaya is the kind and loving person I always said he could be."
Celty continued. [He has changed, and he really did want a truce. He did it because he lives here now, and he wants to keep Haru safe.]
"That's his new purpose in life, Shizuo," Shinra said,"Keeping Haru and those he cares about safe. Even if that means that he would get hurt in the process."
[Shizuo, please. You have to believe us.]
Their words reached the blonde, but he found hat he couldn't respond. As he stared at that photo, and heard what they were telling him, many confusing puzzle pieces started to fall into place.
It all made sense now. The reason Izaya basically vanished off the map for once was because he had been taking care of Haru. The sudden feeling that Izaya was always nearby was because he was. The reason he only ran from Shizuo now and didn't attack was because...
Izaya truly didn't want to fight him…
Shizuo's heart pounded in his ears as he turned his wide eyes up to the courier and underground doctor, the hand holding the phone shaking as he forced himself to speak.
"I really fucked up, didn't I?"