"Don't assume just because I took the blame for that incident," Izaya let out a chortle, "that you're getting away with this." the gap between him and Nakura decreasing once he stepped closer, dangerous stare shooting Nakura down yet a smile of amusement was painted on his lips.

Izaya looked deranged and it was starting to frighten Nakura.

He schemed to bring about the collapse of Orihara Izaya, but he'd chosen a false opening to confront Izaya. After the good job Shinra did to break Izaya -he'd been monitoring from the beginning-, he thought it would only be simple from here onwards, which turned out to be wrong, he thought, while he watched his target turn the tables on him effortlessly.

Clearly Nakura had bitten off more than he could chew.

"It was your own fault that you got into trouble with your father for stealing from his wallet, yet you blamed me. You joined on your own accord, didn't place bets based on your own luck, and instead followed those who won… that I received complaints about a kid stalking them. It must've been karma!"

Nakura meekly accepted Izaya's insults that came with such composure that it crushed his bravery. Keeping his silence was all that he could manage in this state, or Izaya would probably attack him for the lack of politeness. He could barely meet Izaya's eyes, only opting for his nose as a safe route, and Izaya only took this opportunity to intimidate him further by pushing his forehead against Nakura's.

"Ah, maybe that wasn't enough to make you harbor this kind of hatred towards me. Could it be because your life has been hard since that day? What's this? You can't expect life to only have ups. After all, you did commit a crime. Even though the police got to me instead, it should've been plenty for you—but you still dare to threaten me."

Izaya sighed, smile in-tact, and he spread his arms wide uncaring of those watching eyes observing them—not when his own held a glint, fascination and not quite there, as if immersed in his own world.

"The thirst humans have for vengeance is amazing!"

"And here you think that you could hold Shinra against me, with a piece of information I'm yet to verify if it's true. This person called Orihara Izaya isn't the type who'd believe over a mere one source. Misjudging your opponent is the worst you could do, Nakura-kun. Now, what excuse do you have for acting like this?" A quirk of a brow, and Izaya forced him back to the past with a sentence that started this, something he wanted to overlook because it'd been his fault for associating himself with Izaya. He should've realized sooner that Izaya was a person to not be messed with.

"I only meant to scare you?" Izaya took the words from his former self, sending shivers down his spine.

It only took a slip of hand into Nakura's pocket before Izaya jerked the hidden weapon out and spun it quickly and lightly around in his hand,"It's what you said back then, isn't it? Are you trying to relive that moment?" and he aimed the tip of the knife to Nakura's skin as a warning, drawing blood.

"If you desire so, then I will see you more often from now on."

"See me more often-?"

"W-what do you mean-"

"Izaya, I-I wasn't trying to do anything!"

After letting the knife fall to the floor with a clang, Izaya turned around to make his exit once more, his movement sluggish as he tried to keep himself together.

His head was spinning, sight faintly disoriented and all his heart wished for was to escape the suffocating room. It was spacious but somehow the walls seemed to be closing in on him. He'd given his all to put on a façade, and now it was starting to eat him up inside. Slowly, throughout the day, until he could no longer support himself from losing it.

Izaya only managed to take several steps towards the door until Nakura's fingers enclosed around his wrist, stopping him from leaving.

"W-wait! It was a mistake! I didn't mean to-" came the frantic yells from Nakura, who tugged at his wrist whenever he tried to free it off his grasp. Izaya couldn't be bothered to revel in the mess he made out of Nakura. It wasn't the time to. He felt nauseous.

"Please listen, I'm sorr-!"

Everything was too much.

No one saw it coming—Orihara Izaya doubling over and throwing up onto the floor. The retching sounds caught everyone's attention, even Shizuo who didn't care about Nakura's dealings with Izaya. Everyone was taken off-guard at the scene unfolding before them while Izaya grimaced at the sight of brownish liquid on the floor, throat feeling scratchy.

When he finally came to and tipped his head back up in exhaustion, his eyes widened, lips parted in a silent gasp upon realizing what he'd done, and how each person in class was no longer looking at Nakura but him in his moment of weakness that he'd been trying so hard to put off.

It was only a matter of time before he crumbled.

Izaya staggered to his feet, nails scraping against the wall to gain his footing quick so he could flee, all he could think about was how he'd have to get away. Perhaps he could tell them that he wasn't feeling well later, but for now, he didn't belong there. The taste of vomit was still lingering in his mouth, and he swallowed while he ran, dashing past onlookers and bumping into teachers until he arrived where his feet had brought him, where his knees immediately gave up.

"What did you say to Izaya?"

Nakura turned his head to see Shinra right up in his face smiling and it didn't seem like a reunion greeting at all, especially with Kadota at the back, cracking his knuckles and gaze directed at him. He could only swallow the fear building up inside him, body already trembling.

"Shizuo, can you help us find Izaya?"

Shizuo gave Kadota an incredulous look, still resting by his desk and sipping on the juice he bought during break. Kadota thought that Shizuo could prove to be effective after all the times he'd managed to find Izaya with just a blink of an eye. He did claim that he could sniff out Izaya's scent, didn't he?

"Ha? He probably went to the infirmary." Shizuo dismissed the request with a wave, but Shinra immediately interrupted.

"I don't think so. He's not sick, and he wouldn't want to be found after what happened."

"Then why did he throw up?"

"I guess the nerves finally got to him. He'd been bottling up his feelings all day."

"Yeah, cause you were bullying him so much. I couldn't even work out what you were doing, but I know why you're friends with him now," his fingers twitched and in no time, the juice box was crushed and Shizuo had his hand drenched in the drink, "You both like to hurt people."

A sigh flowed past Shinra's lips as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, sparing Shizuo a small, pleading smile.

"That's… not it, Shizuo. I'll explain later, so can you please help?"

"…"

"Sure. Whatever."

Thud.

Thud.

Footsteps.

He heard footsteps approaching the door to the rooftop, and faint calls of his name.

Izaya's hand was pressed to his mouth, he felt as though he was suffocating himself but he couldn't risk to get caught by anyone. Brows knitted, he lolled his head to the side in despair and drew in a sharp breath, knees pulled up to his chest as he sat against the wall. It was hard to breathe. For the past few minutes, he'd been trying his best, but he could only inhale short breaths before he started choking on gasps and his pained heart proceeded to hammer away inside his ribcage.

"Happy birthday, Izaya."

When the footsteps died down, he hung his head low, pulling his hand off his mouth just to pound the ground with his fist in exasperation.

He tried again. Sucking in air just to gasp, accompanied with several coughs as his breath rasped in his throat and beads of sweat already trickling down his forehead. It wasn't like him to be like this. Why did he ever let himself get close to Shinra?

"It's why you don't have friends."

Izaya never cared for love, preferring to not indulge himself in that sort of thing. No one in their right mind would say that Shinra loved him, either. But he made the mistake of expecting Shinra to remain by his side. Shinra was different, he wasn't the same as the humans he so loved -which was why Izaya never did toy with Shinra, aside from the fact that Shinra was his only friend- and definitely not the type that attracts people. In this case, he felt… betrayed.

He knew that what Nakura said was unlikely true. But what if it was? By the way things were going, and how people perceived him, it shouldn't have been a surprise for Shinra to turn his back against Izaya. He kept assuming that Shinra was probably scheming something but after being in Shinra's embrace, and having everyone wished him birthday, he'd grown more confused.

It's the way it'd always been. There were those who stayed for something, and there were those who left immediately. It was why he decided to avoid this kind of feeling in the first place, so he wouldn't be hurt.

"You wouldn't know what we do behind your back."

It would've been better if Shinra never got him so attached if he didn't plan to stay.

"Oi."

Still dazed, Izaya stopped rocking to and fro (since when was he doing that?) and found that the voice belonged to a blonde he was very familiar with.

"Stop breathing." Shizuo flat out muttered as soon as he noticed how erratic Izaya's breathing was. His posture nonchalant while he crouched down in front of Izaya, fingers curled around Izaya's chin and gaze boring through him. Shizuo had been searching half-heartedly until he remembered he'd forgotten his pack of cigarette on the rooftop, right at the spot where Izaya was sitting.

Izaya exhaled before breathing in deeply, no more gasps haunting him much to Shizuo's dismay— who let out a silent curse when Izaya did the opposite of what he told him to do, as usual. There was a bit of proud blossoming in his chest, however, to know that he'd saved someone's life, since such a moment was rare in his life. But Shizuo didn't let that feeling to overpower his hatred towards Izaya.

First came an astonished gaze, then laughter bubbled from Izaya's throat, and for once today, he had a genuine smile marring his face when he asked a question he already knew the answer to, "Out of everyone, why does it have to be Shizu-chan?"

It wasn't like he wanted to see Kadota nor Shinra.

"What are you laughing about?" Shizuo, irked, squinted at Izaya and his fists were clenched as though ready to strike if Izaya annoyed him.

His arms folded across his knees, Izaya leaned back, and not once did he pull his gaze away from Shizuo's as he flashed a teeth-baring grin which was unusual that Shizuo didn't know what to make of it, whether it was sincere or not. It looked foreign on Izaya's face, but not quite unpleasant either.

"I'm happy that you're the only constant thing in my life."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shizuo pressed on further.

"It's better if Shizu-chan doesn't understand."

"Tch," Shizuo scoffed and stood back up, finally recalling that Kadota and Shinra was still looking for Izaya when they heard Shinra's loud voice booming from below, probably searching around the field, "They're looking for you."

Releasing a breathy, gleeful laugh, Izaya was amused of the way Shizuo told him something he already knew of, but decided against addressing it.

He'd rather not anger Shizuo right now.

"How popular I am! I think I'll let them chase around for awhile seeing as I'm a bit tired. People's interest last longer when it comes to things they need to work hard for it."

Shizuo didn't understand how Izaya could still chatter around after almost dying. But this was Izaya, after all. He wouldn't be surprised to know that Izaya got up from being stabbed and still pranced about, devising plans to ruin another person's life.

"You're still acting tough after all that?" asked Shizuo.

He watched as those crimson eyes grow dim upon hearing his question, and Izaya seemed to ponder over what sort of answer he was going to give before he smiled, words coming off in a whisper it was almost as if he didn't want Shizuo to hear.

"If I don't, is there anyone who's going to do it for me?"