"Where are we going?"
Izaya shifted his gaze which was fixated on his and Shizuo's intertwined hands back to Shizuo, light breeze tousling their hair as they ran along the streets of Ikebukuro with adrenaline rushing through their veins. Only this time, they weren't chasing each other. It was almost like a dream, and he felt as though he was watching the scene unfold from someone else's perspective. But the smile painted on his lips stayed in-tact.
He didn't dislike it.
"Really now, Shizu-chan! A train station? If you wanted to elope, you could've just asked—"
"No!"
Shizuo finally answered him.
"We're not going home?" he asked again, "I need to pick Mairu and Kururi up."
"They're safe."
Izaya blinked, tipping his head to the side in confusion when Shizuo glanced at him. It was a relief to know that they hadn't gotten themselves kidnapped but it made him uncomfortable to think of who could've picked them up. If it was Shinra, there was no telling that Shinra wouldn't do the same of what he'd done towards Izaya to the twins.
Doing so without a motive was a bit odd, but Shinra had always been odd.
"Kadota… picked them up."
"Only Dotachin?"
Shizuo crinkled his nose at Izaya's many questions, tugging Izaya into the ice cream parlor nearby, deciding to change the topic of their conversation.
"I told Kasuka we'd go here together."
"But Shizu-chan brought me instead."
"I think I deserve some ice cream for tolerating you."
The first thing Izaya did when they got in was to observe the customers in the shop. Seeing the glint of interest in Izaya's eyes made him feel uneasy, so Shizuo turned to look at the various flavors they offered at the new ice cream parlor. The worker seemed polite as well— that definitely made him feel better.
"I'll get green tea."
Kasuka had told him that he loved green tea, and Shizuo never got around to try it since the green color reminded him of vegetables. But perhaps he could, now, although thinking of Kasuka made him feel kind of bad since he'd promised Kasuka that they'd come to the ice cream parlor together, but Shizuo cancelled the plan at last minute, and now he was there… with Orihara Izaya. Who would've thought?
Shizuo had decided to come here on a whim, thinking that he needed some time to buy before he decided whether he'd bring Izaya to Shinra's apartment or not. That, and -he wasn't sure if Izaya knew this- Izaya's stomach had been growling for food.
"Black sesame, please," Izaya's voice resonated from his left.
"That'll be 500 yen."
At that, Izaya turned away from the cashier, looking at Shizuo who blinked once, twice, until he understood why Izaya was staring at him that way.
"I have to pay?"
"Of course! You brought me here. What kind of logic are you using?"
Shizuo seemed to realize, and he took his wallet out, first counting the amount of money he had left before he paid for their ice cream. He wondered if he'd made a wrong choice when he took the cone from the lady. The green tea ice cream really, really reminded him of vegetables— almost as if it'd taste like broccoli.
"Tch. What a brute," mumbled Izaya.
"Aaah?"
"Nothing!"
Izaya made a face.
"That's very unsanitary, Shizu-chan," Izaya blurted out, focusing on Shizuo's palm which had blood smeared across it. Shizuo ignored him, however, and his tongue darted out to have a taste of the green tea ice cream before his face contorted in slight grimace. It wasn't up to Shizuo's liking. He wasn't used to the taste of green tea, thus he decided right then that he couldn't eat the ice cream— or rather, he didn't want to.
Shizuo switched his cone with Izaya's while Izaya appeared to be distracted, snatching the black colored soft serve into his hand, the clean one.
"I don't want blood on my cone!"
A complaint came almost immediately as Izaya attempt to give the cone back to Shizuo, groaning in distaste.
"It's your own blood, idiot!" Shizuo retorted.
"Whoever it belongs to, it's still dirty! You have your own ice cream."
"It doesn't taste good."
"Then why did you order that!"
"Kasuka said it's good."
Shizuo pointed at the black sesame ice cream in his hand.
"This one's weird but good."
Izaya sighed in defeat, leaning back and he gave Shizuo a nod, both of them now focused on that ice cream. Meanwhile, the green tea ice cream in Izaya's hand was starting to melt from the warm weather.
"Black sesame tastes unique, it still has that sweet taste but just right. A bit on the savory side, too."
"Yeah, I like this one."
"…"
It was then that their gazes met, a brief moment of silence taking over when they realized the way they'd come to agree about something without quarreling. Izaya traced the pattern on the cone with his index finger before jutting his bottom lip out slightly, being the first to say something.
"Alright, but I'm not eating the cone."
"It's not good to waste food."
"Shizu-chan should eat it, since he's like an animal."
"What did you say?"
Beep.
[Incoming text: Kadota] We're done preparing so you can come now.
Shizuo seethed with rage, the text had interrupted him from throwing the vase decoration on the table at Izaya.
"It's getting late, so let's go."
He didn't let Izaya ask more questions, grabbing Izaya's hand and leading him outside despite having glanced at the puzzled look Izaya was wearing on his face.
"Wait here, I need to call someone."
"He must be texting Celty," Izaya muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes once Shizuo left.
Shizuo didn't even hold his phone by his ear, instead he only kept on pressing on the keypads, eyes glued to the screen. He really didn't bother to lie properly. But Izaya complied, anyway. He stood by the ice cream parlor -reminded of the way he'd left Kururi just like this in the morning- until a few shadows looming over him caught his attention.
[Text: Celty] Celty?
[Incoming text: Celty] Yes? I'm here.
[Reply: Celty] What should I do with Izaya?
[Incoming text: Celty] I think you should bring him to our apartment.
[Incoming text: Celty] They need to reconcile.
[Incoming text: Celty] I've been preparing for this party the whole day! :(
[Incoming text: Celty] I understand that you don't want him to get hurt, though! But maybe having this party will make him feel better. He needs to face Shinra eventually too.
[Reply to Celty] Oh. You're right.
[Reply to Celty] Thanks, Celty.
[Incoming text: Celty] No problem! ^_^
[Incoming text: Celty] I'll see you when you get here later!
"Huh?"
The onlookers whimpered in fear upon seeing the irritated expression on Shizuo's face while he bit into the ice cream without caring if it was cold.
Izaya was gone when he looked up from his phone.
"Ugh. He's always disappearing from my sight whenever he pleases."
"Do you remember selling our information to the yakuza? We were hospitalized for a week because of you!"
Was this another gang Shinra sent for him?
Izaya calculated there to be about five members in front of him. He hoped there wasn't more lurking in the dark corners of the alley they'd led Izaya into. Normally he wouldn't mind, but even one person was considered troublesome to him at this point.
"Heard it was your birthday."
The leader approached him, smacking the ice cream cone out of Izaya's hand, and it fell to the ground, green ice confection making a splat noise. Shizuo would've been angry to know that his money went to waste, thought Izaya.
"Happy birthday."
Surely it wasn't the first time he'd heard that, but it was still unpleasant as ever. It sounded fake and sarcastic. And it brought a frown to his face, lips kept shut even when the leader charged for him, attempting to attack Izaya with a pipe.
Izaya evaded the hit with his quick footing skills, using the wall as leverage to jump onto the leader's back, swiping the pipe into his hand to swing it towards a lackey's abdomen. It was a direct hit. Watching them fall with a pained groan, Izaya didn't notice someone creeping up behind him until they took a strike at his shoulder.
Why did I succumb to this ridiculous desire?
"I still can't believe someone like you was allowed to be born into this world."
Unconsciously yearning for affection.
He couldn't uncurl his fingers, instead they stayed balled into a fist as the knuckle collided with his attacker's cheek. Agility wasn't all that Izaya had. Even without his blades, Izaya could still put up a fist fight. He was never fond of it, though, but he never thought that when he actually had to resort to this, he couldn't control himself from using his all might to attack. Something in just snapped -was this how Shizu-chan felt?- and his hands hurt but he continued to bash the other's head into the wall, his jaw clenched.
"Not much of a talker today, eh? I can picture Orihara Izaya having a birthday cake all alone—" came another taunt.
Enough, Izaya.
He couldn't stop.
"—with no friends."
Shinra's face came into view in his mind, his mouth moving but Izaya couldn't make out what he was saying. The transition wasn't smooth as it kept on switching from one scene to another abruptly and making the sounds sounded like he was underwater.
All he could remember was Shinra's arms around him.
Shinra's fake smile.
Shinra's sharp, biting words.
Shinra-
Enough.
Izaya released a shaky breath, his punches had finally ended and he let his hands fall to his sides, giving a scan over what he'd caused— it had him laughing. The red liquid splashed on the scattered bodies before his eyes sent shivers down his spine, bruised fingers trembling because he'd gone too far, too engrossed in resentment to notice the damage he was inflicting to the humans he'd claimed to love.
"What's it with today? Ha, have I switched luck with Shizu-chan? That'd explain it! He'd become so calm while I'm the target for all the bad things, and losing composure like this… isn't like myself."
His nails dug into his own thigh, having him jerk forward in pain while his gaze narrowed, brows knitted and Izaya pulled his hand back, cradling it to his chest as he stared ahead at the mess of unconscious bodies in silence.
"I'm a monster," he chuckled to himself, crimson eyes which more often than not held a fierce gleam brimming with tears.
"Izaya?"
"What the fuck happened to your hands?"
Shizuo decided to greet him by the time he left the alley. One look over Izaya's shoulder was all that Shizuo had to take for him to find out what had befallen, but Shizuo only grasped his hand, examining the discoloration and swelling on the usually soft skin. He'd never cease to be unpredictable.
There were beads of sweat dripping from Izaya's forehead, making his bangs damp while he brushed his fingers along them. His body was on the verge of collapsing yet Izaya held on to bits of strength he had left, which felt ridiculous at this point.
Who was he fooling with this false act of nonchalance?
"Where's your ice cream?"
Izaya only smiled.
"I threw it away, of course! Sharing saliva with Shizu-chan is something I ab-so-lutely refuse to do!"
