"You'll be working in pairs."
Cheers resonated inside the classroom, and the students immediately moved along to grab their partners. Izaya, as though it'd become natural for him, walked over to Shinra's desk and leaned against the windowsill. It was unspoken that they'd be a pair.
He once tried to partner up with Shizuo -the teacher thought it was a good chance for them to be friends, thus granting Izaya the permission- but after an innocent classmate of theirs almost got injured by a desk Shizuo threw, they were forbidden to be together. Shizuo also refused to be Shinra's partner— he claimed that Shinra was as annoying as Izaya.
Mr. Toshio nodded approvingly while he took a once over at all the pairs formed.
"I've written the names of countries you need to work on here," he held up rolled sticky notes inside his palm, "…representative from each team may come and pick one."
Izaya pushed himself off the windowsill and approached their homeroom teacher to pick one.
I'm the lucky one between us, anyway.
Unlike others, he didn't mull over which one to choose and instead grabbed any he deemed would be good.
"I'll give you only three days to complete the assignment. On the cover, as usual, you must include your name, class and—" finished up distributing the papers, explaining as he did so.
"Russia!"
A shout slipped past Izaya's lips as he held the paper he'd unrolled up in the air, a teeth-baring grin spreading across his face. It drew the class' attention and they took a moment to stare at him before shaking their heads.
"This is good! I can ask Simon!"
He recalled the times Simon had taught him Russian, and spoke about his country a few times. Those are the times when he was forced to eat sushi with Shizuo, the blonde sulking in the corner since he didn't understand a thing of what was being said.
"Looks like this might be the easiest assignment we've ever gotten."
"I can get some ootoro." Closing his eyes briefly, the grin on his face dissipates into a small, contented smile. The paper was long forgotten and crumpled in his fist. He nodded to himself before turning to find his partner.
"To Russia Sushi we go~"
Izaya skipped happily to Shinra's desk, only to find it empty. He arched a brow at the sight. It didn't take him long, however, to locate his friend. Shinra's voice was as loud and clear as always, coming from the back of the class.
"Ne, Chihaya-san, I see that you don't have a partner."
The raven-haired boy so badly wanted to call out to his friend. His lips parted but no words were uttered.
He knew he couldn't do it. His pride wouldn't let him.
With eyes narrowed into slits, his gaze bore into the bespectacled boy's back.
Shinra didn't seem to mind the fact that his friend was baring it all- the confusion, and anger was clearly shown on Izaya's face. It seemed that Izaya knew what he was about to do, but not the reason why. He had to pretend to be unaware. Izaya was too perceptive and would catch on quickly if he didn't act well.
"Can I be your partner?" Shinra smiled and tipped his head to the side. He saw the paper between Chihaya's fingers, and took the chance to anger Izaya further, "China? That's good! I was aiming to get that one!"
Chihaya blinked, quite flustered that a boy wanted to be her partner.
She had always been quiet in class, after all.
"Why's Shinra partnering with that girl?" Shizuo leaned back on his chair, looking at the scene before him. Kadota knew that the question was directed towards him. He couldn't back out as it would bring suspicion, though he wasn't sure if Shizuo would even notice that they were planning something.
Shizuo could be very oblivious sometimes.
"Maybe… he wants to try working with someone else. He may be tired of Izaya." Kadota scratched at the back of his head, averting his gaze while Shizuo kept his locked on Izaya's frame.
"…Huh. Who wouldn't get tired of him? I would be, too."
Shizuo shifted his gaze towards Shinra. Nothing seemed out of place to him. Then again, no one expected Shizuo to notice. It was a trait Izaya envied. He wished he could be as oblivious as Shizuo, sometimes.
Perhaps then it would be easier to live without a care.
"Shizuo! Kyohei! I'm getting myself a partner so you don't have to worry! You guys can be together." Shinra yelled, looking over at the two with a cheerful expression.
It was a shame, Shinra thought, that Izaya wasn't looking his way when Chihaya said yes to his offer.
"I'll come over to your house tomorrow, okay?"
What kind of expression was Izaya making?
"It's set, then! Let's do well, Chihaya-chan! Can I call you Chihaya-chan?"
He wanted to know.
"Chihaya-chan, did you know that they eat dogs there?"