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ஜ Chapter 5: Death Reaper ஜ
-Shizuo´s point of view-
Door after door passed. It was slightly humid inside the building and a faint stench of dust was filling the hallway.
It was quiet too- after leaving the busy streets the contrasting silence was making the blond feel even more uncomfortable. Made him wonder if he had went to the wrong building after all-
Doubtfully looking at the piece of paper he had received at the training ground, he turned left into another hallway.
Only five people apart from him had even been accepted as recruits from what he had heard. All people that he didn't even meet yet.
After a few minutes of standing on the training ground and wondering just what the hell just happened Tom pat him on the shoulder saying that he didn't get accepted.
They had all left.
No one was nearly as devastated as he had been, some even looked relieved.
Well of course.
He doubted anyone of them had a particular reason to join in the first place.
Yet another door finally came in sight, this time wearing the number plate he had been searching for.
Pressing down the handle, the wooden door wearing the number 8 opened with a creak. A flash of sunlight coming from the east side window blinded the blond for a second.
It was pretty small. Dust was drifting in the air becoming visible as it touched the ray of light.
He had heard some rumors.
People supposedly didn't stay in this dorm for longer than one night before the mission. Maybe one or two more nights if the first mission was scheduled for a later date but all in all, no one ever returned to this house- or the wall in the first place.
The other recruits had talked about it, but he only caught a word here and there.
Gossip wasn't anything he was willing to listen to. But seeing as the whole building looked like it had been abandoned, maybe they hadn't been talking bullshit after all.
Just thinking about how many people he had heard of that died outside made him feel like they weren't just gossiping after all.
Letting himself flop into a small bed next to a equally tiny window he looked at the ceiling.
He swallowed.
And now he was part of the livestock for the titans.
He knew it since the scene on the training ground, and he certainly knew it when he told Kasuka about it, but right now, looking at the ceiling like this he seemed to finally actually grasp it.
He did it. He really did.
It was odd. He was torn between feeling relieved and anxious at the same time.
He had to survive out there if he wanted to keep his brother alive. And being chosen despite obviously lacking the skills to make it back alive wasn't exactly putting him at ease.
The sight of that titan destroying their house and the glance it threw at him was still burnt into his mind.
He could recall the blood, the teeth, the way it had grasped his brother in its fist, stepping mindlessly into their house…
It was odd, because he defeated that titan. He beheaded it and yet he couldn't forget the immense fear shooting through his body and making his guts twist when he first laid eyes upon it. And now thinking about how he was going to face multiple ones of these creatures- thinking about how he couldn't even handle the gear-
Getting up from the bed once more the blond hurried back to the door. All of a sudden he felt like he was going to suffocate in this tiny room.
Stepping outside the door fell into place and he let his head thud against the door.
He would survive. He knew he could.
He would make it back and Kasuka would wake up soon.
"Shizuo?" Snapping out of his thoughts the blond turned his head in surprise. The voice had already given away who it was that called his name and yet he couldn't help but stare in disbelief at the person that had appeared in the hallway.
"What are you doing in the survey corps? Finally decided to kick some titan´s ass?"
His throat still felt like someone was choking him and yet he couldn't help but feel a soft smile crawl upon his features.
Really- of all the people he could have met, he certainly didn't expect to meet up with his childhood friend. Not after such a long time.
"Kadota," he said, standing upright, "what are you doing here?"
Pulling out one of the keys they received on the training ground for their rooms in the dorm the man unlocked the door next to Shizuo´s. "Same as you, I got accepted into the survey corps." Opening the door he mindlessly threw two backpacks into the room. "I didn't hear anything from you since high school though, how have you been?"
Highschool, huh?
Feeling nostalgic the blond couldn't help but feel fond about the memory.
Their school had been inside Wall Maria. They were all studying to be able to get a better job and move inside the inner walls. Shizuo didn't think he was actually going to be one of those privileged ones allowed to do that, but hey the hope was there.
And if anyone, then his brother might have just been able to do that. He excelled at most subjects, he wanted to go into science too- find out more about the titan´s and stuff.
"I´m good, didn't really graduate like you guys did, but Kasuka and me just stayed in our house." Nodding to the statement the man hummed.
"I see. talking about it, how is your brother doing?"
Shizuo should have probably expected the question. Should have seen it coming the moment he spotted kadota, but somehow he didn't think of that.
It had been so long. They all used to hang out with each other. But after they left high school they somehow lost sight of each other pretty quickly.
Of course Kadota wouldn't know.
And maybe it was better that way.
"He is fine," the blond responded quickly, glancing behind the man almost hoping for a certain pair of people to appear right behind him. "How about Karisawa and Yumasaki? They arenˋt with you?"
"Saw their bags?" the man questioned instead of giving an answer and pointed inside his room.
"They are coming later, the examination of the maneuver gear hasn´t finished yet. But judging Karisawa´s and Yumasaki´s skills they won´t have any problem passing them. I was the first to pass and chosen as the one to carry our stuff here." The bond snorted, yeah that did suit those two.
"So… you are all going to fight titans?" the blond mumbled realizing what it meant if they all moved here. A soft frown crossed his face as he thought of the immediate danger they all would be in outside the walls. "I thought you wanted to be a doctor? What happened to that?"
A moment of silence followed and the two just looked at each other. Rubbing his neck awkwardly Kadota leaned against the wall of the hallway.
the sun had reached the other side of the building by now, slowly but surely starting to set as it illuminated the corridor with its orange taint.
"One day as a doctor showed me that Iˋm not cut out to be one," Kadota started shoving his hands into his pants pockets as he let his sight travel around.
"I was in the hospital, gaining some experience when suddenly all those injured people came in. Some were only minor injured and some… it was a miracle they even made it to the hospital," the man swallowed as if to prepare himself for what he was going to say next. "It was on the day Wall Maria got broken- "
The day-
The frown having been stuck on Shizuo's face grew a tad deeper, only to disappear completely as he started to understand what his friend had probably been through.
"Barely anyone survived that day," He continued, "I had to watch people suffer and die of injuries that just couldn´t be fixed anymore. People having been ripped apart, friends and relatives crying and clinging to suffering loved ones or already dead bodies… We weren't even allowed to kill them because of ethics, but we weren't allowed to use sedatives either because, they weren't worth being wasted on…" the words dripped from his lips in a manner so bitter they didn't conceal in the slightest how disgusted Kadota was by the way the people treated those people at the hospital. And Shizuo almost couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What the fuck-"
"Some people were just barely clinging to life for hours, shaking, trembling and screaming in pain until they finally died," kadota added, letting his eyes slip shut just for a moment as those words left his lips. It was almost as if he were trying to chase away the memory from resurfacing in his mind.
"That's when I figured I would rather prevent people from getting inured in the first place," the man said with a sigh, looking at Shizuo again, steady and firm. "We are trapped and the only goal is to survive. So starting at the root of the problem would be the wisest decision, right?"
… it was.
Shizuo couldn't deny that and he knew it. As much as the idea of his friends going out there when he probably couldn't even protect himself disturbed him, he understood.
"And those two followed you?" he questioned, referring to Karisawa and Yumasaki.
"Of course. Karisawa was even excited, she was going on and on how they were going to pay the titan's back. They were talking about torture I think and stuff that I didn't even really want to listen to, too closely."
A soft snort escaped the blond's lips and he remembered just how Karisawa used to pay people back if they even did as much as glare wrong at her friends.
"Sometimes I wonder how they can be so optimistic," Kadota laughed, stepping away from the wall again. "Then again who knows, maybe we will be the group to finally beat those titans." Sighing the blond ruffled through his hair.
"Well according to the flea I will be pretty useless there..."
"Flea?"
-Izaya´s point of view.-
Door after door passed as the raven wandered through the halls of their dormitory. Some Rooms were left open, empty, the former recruits belongings still resting there. It was a shame, really. Those guys could have done so many things apart from fighting outside the walls.
Now they were all dead.
Somehow it was odd to wander through this building- it felt as though he was walking in a coffin. None of the recruits lived long enough to return a second time to this place.
Well, except him of course.
Letting his eyes travel over the multiple halls and rooms he grumbled softly to himself.
That idiot was supposed to meet him in front of the building and not make him run around to fetch him from his room like a child.
Actually he hated the inside of the walls. He even hated it more than the outside. That probably sounded odd because of the titans and all, trying to kill him and actually eating all the people and so on.
But outside the walls he was free.
He had his equipment. The gear.
He could use it however he liked, giving his best at parkour and just kill anyone threatening his life.
Outside the walls he was more like a hunter than just food for those titans.
But inside? Here, between all these people, the uppers, the political influences and connections everyone had throughout the country- he felt more like a prey than anywhere else.
The fact that he wasn't allowed to carry around his blades and gas wasn't exactly putting him at ease either. Sure he had a couple tricks up his sleeve, quite literally since there were tiny blades hidden in there, but when coming face to face with the military if they happened to actually accuse him of killing the recruits outside, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance with just his flick blade and parkour.
Not to mention that getting away was no option anyway, seeing as they were going to use his sisters against him.
-Shizuo´s point of view.-
"So what's up with that weird rumor?" Having left the hallway the two had gotten inside Kadota´s room. The bags were resting on the floor while Shizuo had taken his seat on one of the three beds inside the tiny chamber.
"Which one are you talking about?" Kadota asked, sitting opposite to him on the other bed, leaning his back on the wall. The setting sun was casting long shadows on the ground, steadily but surely approaching the horizon.
"There is more than one?" the blond asked a bit surprised seeing how the man´s response suggested there were more than just two or three.
"Depending on who you ask there are dozens." Kadota informed, letting his head rest on his elbow.
"... I heard some people say no one returns here. And this place really does look abandoned."
"Because of all the empty rooms, ne?" the blond nodded. It had been obvious the moment he entered. And the fact that he didn't meet anyone in here either was a bit unsettling as well.
"Can´t say it´s not true," Kadota hummed, "I only just got here, but from what I heard almost no one makes it back alive from the outside trips." He paused for a second and corrected himself. "Well except one."
Right.
Tom had said so too. Only one of the survey corps has been returning from each and every mission so far.
"... that flea?" the blond questioned, having hit the mark.
"Izaya, yeah. People call him the death reaper because of it." A frown crossed the blond's expression.
"What?" Death reaper? "Why?"
"You asked whether there were more rumors, right?" Kadota repeated, "Well one of them is that Izaya kills his own men on the missions to make sure he stays the captain."
Kill-
For a second the blond blinked, the frown on his face growing just that much deeper.
"... you are kidding-" but Kadota shook his head.
"There are many people who believe that especially inside wall Rose."
Killing the people that went outside with him?
Okay, no one returned from the trips, but that was understandable because of the titans, right? But killing them? When no one would be there to witness it?
Now that he thought about it, Izaya accepted him into the survey corps even though he couldn't handle the gear at all. He even said that one mouth less to feed wouldn't harm anyone inside the walls-
He accepted him despite knowing he won't survive…
…
And yet-
"I don't believe that." the blond stated firmly.
He didn't have any logical reasoning for it, but what the flea did for him and said and this rumor were two entirely different things. Somehow.
"Me neither actually." Kadota suddenly threw in, supporting Shizuo´s opinion. "Sure Izaya is an ass sometimes, but not a killer." The blond blinked at the words.
"You say that like you know him."
"I do."
Oh?
Taking off the cap he was always wearing the man let his arm rest on his knee, looking outside again. "I used to hang around with him when we were kids. He wasn't my best friend or anything, but not a bad guy." He snorted, "Well that counts as long as you don't get on his wrong side, he can be quite the asshole to some people. That's probably where the rumors came from in the first place. Same for the attacks."
"Attacks?" the frown growing deeper Shizuo´s stare hardened. He didn't like the sound of that.
"With these rumors coursing around some people take them too serious and start taking revenge on their own you know," Kadota explained, seemingly already having taken the fact for granted, while Shizuo could do nothing but stare in disbelieve.
"They try to kill him?!" he could feel his fists tighten next to his body left and right. "But those rumors are wrong!" He didn't even know why that thought made him get so mad- but he swore he could feel his blood boil.
"Tell that those people."
"What the hell-" He certainly could care less- hell he couldn't stand that stupid louse with his smirk- but people attacking him randomly for something those titans did just fuelled his rage.
"Seeing as he doesn't have the best personality either it's not surprising. Sometimes I think he deliberately makes people hate him."
The blond grit his teeth.
"That´s still no fucking reason to start attacking innocent people for-"
A sudden creak coming from the door made both of them pause in their conversation and snap their heads towards it.
"So this is where you were hiding Shizu-chan." Talking about the devil. There he was.
It took the raven merely a second to spot not only Shizuo but also Kadota inside the room- "Yo Dotachin, so you got paired with the monster." To say he was surprised to see him here would be a lie. But him being together with the blond was something he didn't expect.
"I thought I said I would be waiting for you in front of the dorms," the raven spoke addressing the brute as he leant against the doorframe crossing his arms in front of his body.
"You aren't surprised to see me here?" Kadota asked instead, beating the blond to the answer.
"Saw your name on the list. Excuse me if I don't congratulate you on making it into the corps."
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To be continued~
Heyyyyyy! xDD Sorry I took so long for this update people C': And also for taking so long with all the others- screams-
I was getting slightly stressed with studying and got a minor tiny lil writing block xDD
Lol but seeing as I wrote basically 1000 words of this shit today I guess that´s over lmao
On a side info I was also kinda busy researching and shit because I´m getting two fat tail geckos -squeals- I can´t wait for the beauties to arrive xD Setting everything up and getting informed on them took up lots of time so whelp x'DDDDDDDD
-coughs- anyway, back to the shizaya x'D
Guest 2: xD lmao yes exactly xD awww he has C. ohoho he has so much xdDD just wait for coming chapters xD izzy sure has a weak spot for him xDD haha izaya feels way more than he would ever like to admit C: The pressure will only keep growing especialyl when things get serious - there is a mission approaching after all ho ho. C: And new people lmao xD ahhh so many new things to discover here~ C: I can´t wait to write them xDD
I will try to make sure to update again in 14 days from now on haha, though I can´t promise it because university exams are also approaching xD I tend to get too freaking nervous over exams and then I can´t concentrate on writing nor studying lmao Anyway~ I will be trying to update every other story I´m writing in the coming days, (wanna finish Sotd for tomorrow) and I will be updating my profile more often so you can see how that´s coming around x'D
Well then, see you in 14 days~! -hopefully- xD