Chapter 2


Izaya sighed as he glared at Shizuo, Shinra, and Celty.

"An asylum? You've got to be stupid. Who came up with that? Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo glared at him.

"Wait, no," Izaya laughed, his voice still hoarse. "That'd be giving Shizu too much credit."

Shizuo clenched his fists. 'His shitty attitude's back.'

"But to whoever thought of that, you're stupid. You honestly expect me to go to an asylum to have apathetic strangers look after me? Please. If I want an asylum, I'll just fall asleep and go there. Nurses and Stalkers are great attendants, don't you know?"

"Nurses and Stalkers?"

Izaya shrugged. "I can't make up names for my nightmare monsters?"

Shizuo didn't answer.

"Izaya, where is 'there'?" Shinra asked.

Izaya just stared at him.

"...Okay..." Shinra said. "Then why don't you tell us about these monsters."

Izaya remained silent.

"You stupid flea." Shizuo growled. "You need help! If you're not going to an asylum, then at least talk to us about it!"

"You?" Izaya scoffed. "I'll consider telling Shinra but you want me to tell you about my problems? Fat chance, Shizu-chan."

"You and that shitty attitude are going to earn you a black eye." Shizuo growled as he stood.

Izaya just smiled, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Look Izaya." Shinra said. "We want to help you."

"Get me those pills and you will."

"They don't exist anymore. I can't give you a drug that's been taken off the market."

"Then you can't help me."

Izaya went to stand only for pain to encase both legs. He winced and plopped back down.

"Don't move, flea." Shizuo said. "You hurt your legs."

Izaya stared at him wide-eyed. "How the hell do you know that? You couldn't have been in my dream."

"Hah?"

"I...fell down a mine shaft. My legs got tangled in the bars and I wrenched them."

Shinra grimaced. "Sounds painful."

"You hurt your legs in real life, stupid." Shizuo said.

"How?"

"...It doesn't matter how." Shizuo decided not to mention that when he had tackled Izaya over the guardrail last night, he had landed on his legs. The blond thought he had heard something snap but he had been more worried about yelling at the flea at the time. So, he thought it best not to be the guilty one with this situation.

Izaya glared at him.

"Well, let me have a look." Shinra said, grabbing Izaya's foot and pushing the pant leg up.

Izaya winced.

"Feels like a fracture. I'll need to take x-rays to be sure."

Izaya didn't answer.

"You're going to need crutches till it heals."

"No."

Shinra glared up at him. "Izaya—"

"No, i'm not walking on crutches. Give me a brace or something. But don't expect me to walk like a handicap."

Shinra stared up at him. Then sighed. "Fine. Let me see the other one."

Izaya obeyed, though he looked rather reluctant.

"You tore the muscles here." he touched the back of the raven's leg.

Izaya shrugged. "Give me tape then."

Shizuo growled. "Flea, will you take this seriously?"

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

Shizuo bit his lip to keep himself from yelling while Shinra scurried off.

"Just curious, is there a reason you're actually caring about what happens to me?" Izaya sneered. "Don't tell me you saw something last night that changed your opinion about me?"

"You cannot tell me you forgot what happened last night."

Izaya didn't answer, although he averted his gaze and his white cheeks went a little red.

"I'm going to be the one to kill you, you bastard flea. But I can't hit a crazy person. It's not fair."

"You've always said I was crazy."

"You know what I mean! You belong in an asylum where you can get help! Before you belonged in a fucking prison cuz you're a fucking psycho!"

"That's rude, you know."

"Fuck you."

Izaya just chuckled as Shinra returned with a brace and white gauze tape.

"So, Shizu-chan has decided to stop hating me for the time being. A temporary truce, huh?" Izaya chuckled. "I knew you were stupid."

"You damn flea!" Shizuo yelled but that was all he did. His fists were clenched at his side tightly as if he wanted to punch Izaya but he amazingly held back.

"Well, Izaya." Shinra said, "I don't think it's safe for you to go home alone."

"I'm not a narcolept. I'm not going to fall asleep as I walk."

"That's not what I meant. What if you sleep walk again?"

"Locked doors do wonders."

"Oh, yeah. They were really wondrous last night."

Izaya opened his mouth to argue. Then he fell silent, his eyes widening.

"What?" Shizuo cocked a brow.

"The door was locked last night."

The room fell silent.

"Well, Izaya, we were actually talking about this." Shinra said, having squatted down and was in the process of wrapping his leg. "But is there any possibility that someone could have gotten your passcode?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, we were thinking that someone may have gotten into your apartment and is the one leaving the scars on you—"

"Not possible."

"Don't be stubborn—" Shizuo started.

"I've had these nightmares since I was eight-years-old. And I have scars from then too. They're not as noticeable so my parents never paid them any mind. They got me those pills and I haven't had any issues since."

"...Izaya," Shinra said, "that's not—"

"I know it's not a coincident, dammit!" Izaya flared. "I get cut in my dream, she touches it, and it's on my body in real life!"

"Izaya, we both know that's not possible!"

"Don't tell me what's possible and impossible when you're fucking a dullahan!"

*SLAP*

Izaya's eyes widened as Shinra's hand came across his cheek.

"You need to calm down." The bespectacled brunette stated.

Izaya didn't reply, holding his cheek.

"That hurt, you know."

"Well then don't say such vulgar things about my Celty."

Izaya just pouted as he rubbed his cheek more.

"I'll admit you're not wrong." Shinra pulled the pants legs back down. "With Celty's existence, it is possible there's something supernaturally wrong with you. But it begs the question: when did you ever come in contact with something inhuman besides Celty?"

"..." Izaya galnced at the ground. "If it's something supernatural then an asylum won't do anything for me."

Celty sat down by Izaya and showed him her message. :What about a psychic?:

"A psychic?"

:Yeah. Maybe one can help you understand your dream.:

"...But most psychics are fake. They only pretend to be talking to ghosts and spirits. If anything, you're the best candidate."

:...I don't know what I can do. I'm a faery, not a ghost. Besides not all of them are fake. I'm sure one of them can help you.:

"Yeah, after we fish him out of a bundle of fake look alikes."

"Stop being difficult." Shizuo plopped down on Izaya's other side. "A psychic doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"It's better than nothing." Shinra sat on the coffee table.

Izaya glowered at the ground, crossing his arms over his chest in a pout.

"...If you can find a reliable one then I'm willing..."

Shinra smiled. "Alright. We'll look through the phone book. In the meantime, you should stay somewhere other than your house."

"Like where?"

"...My place is open..." Shizuo suggested.

"Hah?!" Izaya jolted. "You can't be serious!"

"Shut up, flea. I don't like it either—"

"Then don't suggest it!"

"But you're not safe alone!"

"And I'm safe with you?!"

"I won't hit you."

"Like I'll believe that!"

"Well, do you have somewhere you can stay?!"

"Yeah, my house."

"You're not safe at your house!"

"I don't have stalker!"

"Just humor the idea! You don't know that!"

"I do know that! There are camera's in my house!"

"When's the last time you looked over the footage?"

Izaya opened his mouth but nothing came out.

Shizuo looked at him expectantly with a tilt of his head.

"S-shut up! That's none of your business!"

Shizuo huffed. "You're staying with me."

"NO I am NOT!" Izaya raised his voice, glaring death at Shizuo. "If you try to force me, I swear I'll slit your throat while you sleep."

That made Shizuo pause. Izaya's proven last night that he's liable to attack if others are around him when he wakes up. He didn't believe in Izaya's threat so long as he was stable, but unstable Izaya just might do as he said.

"Well, here's what you can do!" Shinra butted in. "Izaya, you can go home after I x-ray your leg. And Shizuo can go with you."

"No way—"

"And, we'll call Kadota-san too and have him come, as well. That way, you won't have to worry about Shizuo doing anything violent."

"...Then why don't you just have Dotachin come instead of Shizu-chan?"

"I'm coming, flea." Shizuo said. "I can handle getting stabbed."

Izaya fell silent to that, looking down at the ground while a flare a guilt crossed his eyes. Shizuo felt guilty too for saying that but he knew he had a valid point. Izaya then sighed.

"Fine." He looked up at Shizuo. "But if you try anything, I'll call the cops faster than you can throw a refrigerator."

"Fine."

"Alright!" Shinra beamed. "Izaya, come with me. Celty, Celty, can you text Kadota-san?"

Celty nodded. Shinra offered a hand to Izaya, who took it and stood up. The raven winced and leaned against Shinra heavily. The brunette put Izaya's arm over his neck and wrapped the other around his waist. The raven limping heavily, the two men headed to the back room while Celty pulled out her phone. Shizuo stayed seated on the couch and waited.


"Do not get comfy. This is only a temporary arrangement." Izaya said as he took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack. "Don't touch any of my books or my computer. Dotachin has free range over the TV so long as it doesn't get distracting. I'm fairly certain I don't have any food in the refrigerator. I eat out more often than not so if you get hungry, go buy some. Dotachin, if you're low on cash I can supply you."

Shizuo was giving Izaya a death glare. He didn't miss the fact that he only addressed Kadota with the positives of their stay. 'Annoying piece of shit. Why did I agree to this?'

"I don't have any spare futons." Izaya continued as he went over to a door by the kitchen's empty doorway. "But I have two couches, plenty of blankets, and plenty of pillows. Dotachin, you're alright with the couch, right? Shizu-chan, you're sleeping on the floor. I don't want your monster germs on my sofa."

Shizuo clenched his fists. 'Annoying, annoying, annoying, flea.'

"I'm alright with the couch." Kadota said, not sure how to respond to Izaya's jab at Shizuo other than to ignore it.

Izaya nodded and reached into the closet he had just opened. He pulled out a blanket and smelt it.

"My apologies. I haven't used these in a while." The raven said as he pulled them out, filling his arms past their breaching point but still trying. "They've become stale so I'll wash them."

"Here, let me help." The carpenter said, walking over and grabbing some from Izaya's hands.

"Thank you, Dotachin."

Shizuo walked over and grabbed some too.

"I didn't ask for your help, brute." Izaya glowered at him.

"Shut up. You're going to drop them." The blond growled.

"...Fine, those are yours for the night."

"Fine."

Izaya turned with a 'hmph' and headed into the kitchen. Shizuo pulled his lip back in an annoyed snarl but said nothing as he followed.

'Look after Izaya, Shinra said.' Kadota thought as he sighed. 'More like make sure Izaya doesn't annoy Shizuo to his death.'

The two went through the kitchen to a small walk-in closet that had the washer and dryer in it. The raven loaded as many of the blankets in as he could and started up the wash. Once done, the raven instructed for the two to drop their load in front of the washer—which they did—and closed the door. He then went over to the coffee maker and turned it on.

"I'm going to be working so don't bother me. If you need the bathroom, there's one through that door." He pointed to the door by the TV.

"Okay." Kadota said.

"Fine." Shizuo grumbled.

Izaya looked over his shoulder at the blond.

Then turned on him. Shizuo's eyes widened by the sudden movement and he took a step back out of reflex.

"I'm going to try to be civil with you." Izaya's expression was absolutely laced with scorn, his eyes burning with hate and a strained smile lied on his lips. "I won't bother you so long as you don't bother me. Got it?"

Shizuo returned the glare. "I'm here to make sure you don't kill yourself. Not to play nice."

The scorn only became more apparent. "Good."

With that the two turned away from each other.

'This is going to be a long~ night.' Kadota thought, already starting to feel exhausted.