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Chapter 20: Vertigo

-Izaya´s point of view.-

*Tick tock tic tock*

Steadily the annoying sound of the clock´s hands kept aggravating the raven´s ears. He just wanted to sleep for god´s sake, but it almost seemed like the devilish counter of time was making fun of him, ticking extra loud each time he was about to drift off to sleep.

Sighing he pushed the white covers off his body, feeling too hot to keep being beneath them.

It had been a shitty idea to come here. To school that is. Leaving home was a smart move but he should have really just entered the house secretly again or something and sleep. Running around all day, going on the roof, even if it was a nice change of his midday break he had been feeling only worse since then.

He had no clue what his temperature was at the moment but seeing how hot he was feeling he suspected the fever might have just risen instead of fallen.

After he had parted ways with Shinra he just went straight for the infirmary. The nurse didn´t ask any questions at least. He just needed to say his stomach was hurting and she would believe it like that. Thinking about it she had to be thinking he wanted to skip a certain class or exam because he didn´t study, well not that he minded. It was better than her actually realizing he was sick and sending him home.

...

Blinking the raven glanced at the ceiling.

Something about that train of thoughts made him pause. But he didn´t know what it was. Getting sent home-

...

The last time she said that to him was before the trip. That he had to go home that is and next thing he knew he woke up on Shizu-chan´s back in the infirmary. A frown crossed his forehead as he realized the oddness of the situation.

With a sigh the raven´s expression relaxed and he rolled on his side, the blanket slipping off his shoulders just the slightest bit. Right now his head was hurting so he would just think about that again once he was actually able to.

Letting his eyes trail up he could spot a tiny gap between the curtains. They hadn´t been pulled close properly and so he could see the nurse sitting at the desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper.

It was only then that he heard a couple footsteps approach from the hallway- He could hear voices, loud ones and then-

"THAT DUDE ATTACKD HIM FOR NO REASON!" The door to the infirmary had barely been opened when some guy screamed those words at the top of his lungs. Judging his tone of voice he was obviously mad and he could hear someone hiss in pain.

He saw the nurse getting up from the chair with a sigh. He could hear rustling, "It hurts!" Another voice complained-

"it´s just a bruise it will heal soon." Pfft- seriously? The raven almost snorted at that. He whined like that when he wasn´t even seriously injured?

Really he wondered how the nurse wasn´t getting fed up with this job. Rolling on his back the raven closed his eyes, deciding he wasn´t going to pay any more attention to this scene and just sleep some more.

"It was your fucking fault in the first place!"

And then the raven blinked-

That voice-

"Heiwajima-san you are bleeding , again. How many times have you even come here this week?" Ah- Shizu-chan?

Interest piqued the raven rolled on his elbows and reached forward with his right hand to move the curtains just the slightest bit.

Advancing his field of vision the raven caught a glimpse of the situation- two guys were standing there, one really had a bruise, but it was nowhere as serious as some of which he had seen in his life, and then there was a blond guy next to them, scowling just like he always did.

The two guys he didn´t recognize were standing next to him, yet making sure to keep their distance from the blond as the nurse scolded him. Blood was staining his right arm´s sleeve and Izaya wondered what had actually happened.

"... three?" the blond mumbled awkwardly, answering the nurse´s question obviously feeling guilty.

"It were five! Fi-ve!" the woman announced, shaking her head as she emphasized the number. The blond frowned, glaring at the guys next to him.

"But that´s all their fault-!"

"HUH?! You fucking asshole- you just attacked us out of nowhere!" The two yelled in unison, and for a second Izaya found himself thinking they might be stupid enough to try and start a fight with Shizu-chan in the infirmary.

"I forbid this kind of language in my infirmary." The nurse hallowed quickly, making both of the two parties shut up instantly. Turning their heads they avoided looking at each other. "I suggest you leave before I inform the principle about this incident, understood?" The nurse stated, addressing the two random guys.

Hoh- the raven blinked- putting it that way, did she really think it was their fault? It had to be that way otherwise she would have scolded Shizu-chan some more and told him he would have to visit the principle later.

"Understood," the two mumbled, obviously annoyed, one was still cradling his arm as they stepped out of the door. With a noise louder than intended the door slipped shut.

Sighing the nurse reached for one of the cupboards. "Pull up that sleeve so I can take a look at that injury," she announced while grabbing a tube that Izaya suspected to be filled with sanitizer. Following the orders obediently the blond pulled the white fabric up- revealing a pretty nasty looking cut. The raven frowned a bit, finding himself thinking that he never cut the blond that deep with his flick knife.

Pouring the clear liquid over the wound, cleaning it of dirt and crusted brown blood the woman cleaned the cut.

"Well at least you don´t complain about the burn like the others do," she said, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the infirmary.

Izaya wondered why Shizu-chan seemed as though he was feeling guilty for what he did. The boy wasn´t even seriously injured and judging what kind of assholes were going to this school Izaya suspected Shizu-chan has had quite the good reason to hit the guy. If he had to think about a reason, then he suspected they challenged him for a fight or something.

The nurse screwed the cap shut again and put it back into the cupboard.

"Almost done," she announced, getting up from the chair, "wait here for a minute, I have to fetch some more band aids." Blinking the blond glanced at her.

"Aren´t there any here?" The smile that spread along the nurse´s lips was something so scary Izaya had a feeling he understood why Shizu-chan was too timid in this room.

"Oh there would be, but a certain someone had me use them up on him." The nurse didn´t even need to say more as the blond nodded, realizing just who had made her use it all up.

"Wait here," she chirped again with her all to friendly smile and passed the blond, and so the door closed with a silent click.

Shizuo was seriously feeling guilty for all the times he came here- he made her do so much extra work because he always got involved into unnecessary fights. He had no idea how that even happened, he just threw whatever was in his reach- was it one of the gym boxes? Those awkward ones that the teacher always used for weird dances?

Sighing he looked at the cut on his arm. No wonder she was mad at him.

A soft rustling sound tore the blond´s attention away from the arm and instead towards a certain white curtain that now opened itself, revealing a raven he seriously hadn´t expected to meet here.

"Got into a fight again?"

"Izaya-?" the blond blinked surprised, seeing the raven lay there propped on an elbow.

"The one and only~" he chirped, seemingly without a care in the world.

For a second Shizuo was perplex, wondering if somehow Izaya had known he got injured and came here to see what´s up, then he thought the maybe Izaya had something to do with this cut, but all of these thoughts got dropped when he realized that Izaya had been in the infirmary before he came in and a feeling of worry replaced the confusion and beginning usual anger.

"Why are you here? Is something wrong?" But the raven just shook his head with a grin.

"Nah, I was just being lazy~!" Well that wasn´t the truth, but Izaya had only been sleeping here, so it wasn´t all that much of a lie either.

Besides, he was actually feeling a bit better after sleeping some.

"So how did that happen?" he asked, curiosity still nagging at him as he pointed at the still non wrapped injury.

The blond following his stare as though he had already forgotten about it and sighed.

"That stupid prick was trying to sneak into the girl´s shower. So I grabbed him by his neck and threw him across the campus... kinda," the blond mumbled, rubbing his neck awkwardly, "And then I grabbed one of the sports wooden box things and threw it after him-" The raven snorted. So he had been wrong, no one actually challenged him to a fight this time.

"A bit of an exaggeration don´t you think?" he asked with a chuckle, making the blond feel even more guilty about it.

"... maybe..."

"Maybe?" The blond groaned.

"Okay, it was." Interesting nonetheless, the raven mused in his head as he let himself drop back onto the comfortable fluffy pillow. Judging as those two were only average students from this school he figured Shizu-chan must have hurt himself somehow while raging.

It wasn´t the first time he noticed Shizu-chan was hurting himself when he got into fights or started one of his usual destructive chases with him.

That blond didn´t even seem to notice getting hurt when he was mad.

"And you are really fine?" Blinking the raven glanced back at the blond, not having expected the blond to ask again. Honestly, the way he glanced at him it was obvious he was actually worried for him- not that it was unpleasant, he had seen enough of that face when Shizu-chan was taking care of him at home, but while it was somehow nice to see that sort of thing on Shizu-chan's face it was equally irritating.

"I already said so," he answered with a sigh. The blond seriously should stop caring so much just because he wanted the to be friends. "Please don´t be so... caring, it´s weird, you used to chase after me wanting to kill me," Izaya explained, not really managing to convince the blond it seemed though.

"Well, but we are friends now, so-"

"That´s what I mean," Izaya tried again, getting up from his laying position as he sat up, letting his legs dangle off the bed´s ledge. "I´m not used to this kind of thing. The only friend I have is Shinra and I´m sure you noticed we don´t treat each other near as nice as you try to do."

True, as far as Shizuo remembered Izaya and Shinra had always treated each other strange. He didn´t understand why they did, but seeing as Shinra was an odd ball and Izaya didn´t have the easiest personality either he never thought much of it.

"I´m not Shinra though so you better deal with that," he shrugged, making the raven sigh in defeat.

"You are impossible," Izaya snorted, wondering just what mess he got himself into now.

Becoming actual friends with Shizu-chan was somewhat... dangerous.

"I will be heading to the next class," he announced, feeling as though it was time to leave now before they ended up talking more than necessary. Seeming surprised the blond looked at the clock in the infirmary.

"There is only one lesson left, why not go home right away?" he watched the raven as he got out of the bed, shoving the curtains back to their original position. It was just for a moment that the raven blinked and paused in his movement as if he had suddenly realized something.

"Hmm, true, well then I´m heading home," he chirped instead, heading for the infirmary´s door quickly before the blond could even try and say more-

"See you~" he chirped, and with that he closed the door.

...

That was close.

Strolling down the corridor the infirmary moved further and further into the distance until Izaya had reached the lockers with fast steps. The moment he had stood up from that infirmary bed he had felt vertigo wash over him and for a split second he thought he might as well just tilt over right then and there.

Now that would have been perfect, fainting right in front of Shizu-chan when he tried to convince him that he was alright. Smart move Izaya, really.

He wondered if Shizu-chan would be mad if he knew that he lied to him.

Considering this new, caring friendly version of the brute he probably would be.

But what was he supposed to say? No, I don´t want to be friends, please just go back to hating me? It wasn´t even like he disliked Shizu-chan's behavior.

But friends pried. Friends asked questions, even Shinra did once in a while, he could deal with those, but Shizu-chan was just too stubborn for his own good.

Getting close to anyone was a bad idea.

Unlocking his school´s locker he pulled out his shoes and bag that he had just left in there before heading to the infirmary. All along he had just been waiting until enough time had passed so his father had left home for work.

Which was approximately now.

Slipping on the shoes and coat he stepped out of the horrifying institution called school. It was still surprisingly cold out here, and the wind was just as strong as it had been before.

Wrapping his arms around his shivering body he sneezed as he headed for the school gate.

He couldn't wait to be home alone. Just curl up in his warm bed and sleep for the rest of the day. And then once he was all better again he could think of what exactly he was going to do with Shizu-chan.

Step after step he crossed the campus all while cursing the sun that suddenly decided to reappear from behind some clouds. Not that he disliked the warmth, not that, but the way it illuminated everything around him the point it hurt his eyes and head was really not all too pleasant.

Pausing at the school gate he let himself sit down on a small ledge of the fence surrounding the building. Rubbing his temples the raven closed his eyes for a second, trying to chase away the stinging pain between his eyes.

He didn´t have to be a genius to know that this was all due to him running around while he wasn´t all healed up yet. But soon he was going to be home and then it would be alright again.

Sighing softly the raven opened his eyes again, only to face the ground- a ground that was decorated with odd shadows.

"That´s rare, are you being inattentive, huh?" Quickly lifting his head a frown crossed his expression and he instinctively reached for the flick blade in his pants. There were guys, four of them. He only knew one of them, from the trip.

"If I may introduce, this is my brother and his friends~" the smaller boy chirped and Izaya remembered only too clearly how the guy had said on the trip that he was going to gather his brother and his friends to beat him up like he deserved it.

"Ah, didn´t think you actually had the guts to approach me~" the raven mused, letting his thumb brush across the smooth surface of his blade inside his pants as if to assure himself that it was there.

They should just try to approach him, he would teach them what it meant to bother with him.

To be continued~

Ho ho ho, now what´s going to happen~? C: C: C: C: You will see next time~! xDDDDD

Guest 2: Daw thank you 3 xD I love Shinra way too much xD he is like the Erika version of a fanboy xD he is shipping them so hard xDDD haha Izaya just thinks Shizuo is trying to be friends C': and welph, he does have a fever still xD he hasn´t even yet figured out what actually happened before the trip when he passed out xD

Izaya certainly is one of the top students xDDD -hints hints- but anyway, more to that next chapter~! C;

Now, now minna-san, just telling you again that I colored another picture of mine xD it´s from sotd where Izaya gets slammed into the wall by a zombie xD As usually, if you want to see it you just gotta google "Ao3 Shirohimesshizaya" In my "works" folder there should be a story called "Story pictures and stuff C; C:" xD

Well then, that´s it for today~! xD See you again in 13 days~ C':