Sorryyyy for the long wait! x((

Hope you enjoy reading!

Chapter 19

Shizuo's heart dropped a beat. His breathed hitched. Where was the raven?! The blonde swirled around. His brain told him to run out and scream his lover's name through the streets, until this one would just pop up from somewhere. This was what he would do. It was so typical for the blonde to stop thinking, when he was in panic.

He needed to calm down. There must have been a good reason, why Izaya wasn't there yet. That's right!

His pulse raced a little slower at the thought. Concentration! Panicking wouldn't bring him anywhere. Maybe the raven was still at Shinra's? His eyes trailed to the clock on the wall. How long had he been gone for work? Three or four hours? Could that be possible? The doctor said that Izaya's injuries hadn't been that serious, which meant he should have been done treating the raven hours ago. Maybe they were talking? But that long … Those two said they were best friends, so it would be an option. Though the blonde found the doctor to be annoying after a while with his way too happy behavior. He favored Celty for that. The woman was calm and always found the right words. When his thoughts wandered to the headless rider, an idea struck him. Maybe that was it! Celty could have come back and maybe, just maybe, they were thinking off a way to get rid off the demon? Sounded logical to him.

The blonde had calmed down by now. Izaya would have clearly messaged him, if something had happened. He sighed. Right. Izaya trusted him. Shizuo just had to ensure himself of this over and over again.

Due to their history Shizuo wasn't quite confident, when it came to how Izaya might act in a serious situation. He always appeared more as a guy who would solve his problems on his own. That's what scared the blonde slightly. It was funny, that Izaya always said that Shizuo's unpredictability annoyed him. The blonde could say just the same to the raven. How should he know if the raven wouldn't just run and try to save his sisters on his own? There was no doubt to Shizuo, that Izaya was strong, but strong enough for this…? After all, it wasn't just physical pain they could inflict on him. Having his sisters in their hold Izaya was easy to be manipulated psychologically. Right now it would be quite easy to make the raven act out of character.

Shizuo gulped. A frightening thought came up in his mind and brought a dark fog over it. He didn't want to think about the possibilities.

His hand fumbled with his pocket taking out his phone. Pressing the buttons the dark feeling inside him just rose. The phone was fucking dead! How could he not have noticed?! Was the battery empty? Did it get destroyed during the fight and he didn't even notice it?

What if- what if someone had tried to reach him, but they just couldn't? What if Izaya-?

His breathing became unsteady. Horrible images of Izaya running through dark alleys, strong guys punching him to the ground and torturing him, went through his head. His vision got black for a second, when the room started spinning.

"Izaya..." he whispered into the empty room, his voice being absorbed by the walls.

His body flinched when a sudden ring reached to his ears. It was so loud that he stumbled backwards in surprise.

His eyes snapped through the room looking from where it came. Stupidly they even fell on the display of his phone, hoping that someone would call him. The display though stayed dark, naturally, and Shizuo cursed under his breath.

He looked around concentrating on the sound, only to find that it must have been the phone on Izaya's working desk, that was making the annoying sound.

Shizuo was unsure. Should he take the call? His feet approached the wooden desk hesitating in front of it. Izaya had several phones, so this was probably his business phone. Probably. Still Shizuo didn't have any other clue as Shinra's place, where the raven could be. If he now destroyed one of the raven's several business connections, let it be. Izaya could punch him for that later.

With trembling hands he reached for the phone. "Hello?"

For a second no one answered and Shizuo almost hang up.

"Heiwajima-san?" The other end said and the blonde paused. Shizuo hesitated. He recognized that voice, absolutely sure that he had heard it once before. But where?

"Yeah, who's there?"

"Here's Izaya's Dad. We've talked before." Shirou answered and Shizuo gulped immediately.

"Hello." He replied silently.

What was he supposed to say now that he didn't even know where Izaya was at the moment. Was he supposed to tell his dad? Shizuo felt ashamed. Wouldn't he be considered a bad boyfriend? He hadn't even managed to rescue the raven's sisters, yet alone he wasn't able to protect the raven right now.

He sighed. Hell, he didn't even know if the raven's dad knew about their relationship! Actually he didn't know, if this was official between him and Izaya. Shizuo was absolutely sure about his feelings and that he wanted to protect the raven. And if Izaya would come in now, ask him to make it public that they were, well dating or a couple or whatever, the blonde wouldn't hesitate to say yes. He was so desperately in love and in general desperate and at a loss when it came to his life at the moment, he didn't even know how far he'd go for the raven. But right now, when all the possibilities were racing through his head, he was almost sure, that he would do anything for Izaya.

"Hello, Heiwajima-san!" Shirou shouted happily at the other end. He seemed to be at joy talking to the blonde once again. Shizuo on the other hand wasn't sure if he was too happy about it.

"Funny that we talk once again, when I actually called Izaya! That's going to be a habit now?~"

"Well…" The blonde mumbled. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't just announce something, when Izaya hadn't even talked to his father for himself.

"Don't tell me, you two are dating?!" Shirou suddenly screamed into the phone and Shizuo flinched. Right now he would like to just hang up and run for it. Or disappear into the ground. Both options were better than having this talk right now. Was this what all boyfriends had to endure one day?

Actually he would have liked to get to know Izaya's parents officially once, when this thing between them had been figured out. How you'd do it in the good old days. Instead he had to deal with this now, not knowing whether the raven would approve of it or not. Fuck this! Why could nothing work normally with the raven?!
"I wouldn't exactly say, we're dating..." he started, but was abruptly cut off again.
"But you did kiss or something?" Shizuo would have spit out water, if he had been drinking at that moment.
"Well, yeah… kind of..." The blonde could just slap himself. Kind off?! Who was he even trying kidding here?! They fucking had sex! There probably wasn't anything more that they could do!
"Heiwajima-san!" The voice sounded serious all of a sudden and Shizuo gulped. Now he had done it! He told Izaya's father without the raven knowing. What if Shirou disinherited Izaya now? What if he would abandon him? Or worse! What if he would force Shizuo and Izaya to go separated ways?!

The blonde started sweating horribly at the thoughts. Why did he have to deal with this right now? He didn't have time for it!

"Please take good care of my son, Shizuo Heiwajima!"

Shizuo blinked.

What?

A few seconds passed until the words finally made sense in his brain.

Did he just say-?

Take care?

"Huh?" was all his mouth managed to form.

"Please take care of him!" Shirou repeated once again, this time even louder. "I've waited so long for someone honest and brave, who could help Izaya. I know my son is complicated most of the time. Actually even I don't know what's going on in his head sometimes!" A small laughter followed.

Shizuo noticed how the muscles in his shoulders relaxed. He had been quite tensed a minute ago, thinking he had fucked up everything. But now a smile found it's way on his face. Shirou was actually quite the nice guy.

"I know what you mean! I don't know what the flea's talking about in 99% of the time." He replied honestly, earning another laughter from the raven's father.

"I do think, my son means well though. He's just confused and lonely. He needed someone who would take care of him all along."

Shizuo smiled softly. He remembered Izaya's smile, his cute giggling, his soft hands touching and embracing him. It made him happy. The raven made him happy. And the blonde wanted to protect this, the raven's smile and his happiness. And if Shirou gave him the permission, it would be an honor for the blonde to take care of it officially.

"I would love to be the one doing that." He said softly.

"That's great!" Shirou replied sounding honestly happy about the way things turned out. "There's something I need to tell you then about my son..."

The tone in the man's voice changed. It caught Shizuo's curiosity. He just got accepted as his son's lover and now he was immediately introduced to some family secrets, or what? This day couldn't get any better. An ironic grin placed itself on his lips. The talk with Izaya afterwards would be one hell, though he didn't know if it would be in his favor or not.

Right then, Shizuo's eyes fell on a piece of paper on the desk. He hadn't noticed it at first due to his panic. And after that he had been way too relieved to even hear his own thoughts.

One hand on the phone, the other one in his pocket, he approached the neatly folded paper before taking it up.

His eyes scrutinized the writing when Shirou started talking again.

"Do you remember when I asked you, if Izaya was still wearing his rings?"

"Yeah..." he mumbled, not really listening to the question. It was somewhere far away and his brain wouldn't really try to comprehend what the man said, when his eyes fell on the writing that the blonde immediately identified as Izaya's.

"There's a reason for my concern. It's actually quite the unbelievable story. Still I hope, you'll believe me." Shirou started. His voice was full with worry. Shizuo could hear it even through the phone. It was hard concentrating on the man's voice though, when he had to read the raven's notes at the same time.

And then Shizuo's world stopped.

"To make it short: there's a demon inside my son."

His eyes had read a certain line. Telling him that the kidnappers had called and that Izaya was going to them. But his brain kind of didn't proceed it, when he still had Shirou's voice next to his ear. So he read it again, blending out for a second what the man was saying. And then again. And again. His eyes were glued to that part, before his brain was finally sending the words to his brain. And their meaning.

And then it was sending all his energy to his legs. He had read the address on the paper that the raven had left him, and his legs would bring him there faster than a truck. Still the phone in his hand he stormed out of the apartment.

His thoughts were on a roller-coaster. How long had the raven been gone?! How much time had the blonde left?!

Shizuo ran out of the house, against a lot of people on the way. Some were shouting after him to watch out, others, and that was the majority, was going out of his way like always, when they saw how enraged the blonde was. Strangely, he wasn't angry yet. It was rather, that he was desperate and his pulse started pounding hard enough to almost hurt his veins. But just thinking about the kidnappers and the raven getting hurt, made him almost lose control and his vision go white.

"Shizuo, are you still there? Did you hear what I said?" He suddenly heard next to his ear and he was brought back to reality. The phone was still pressed to his head. A miracle that it hadn't been broken by his hand with the tension in his whole body.

His brain started working again. Did he hear what the man had said?

He did right?

Something with a demon?

And then it clicked.

"A demon?!" He shouted, partly to himself in disbelief, partly to answer the man's question.

"Right! I know it sounds strange, but it's true! The rings on his hands are like seals. They are keeping the demon in, as long as Izaya is able to control his feelings." Shirou explained.

Shizuo's eyes widened.

The rings were seals?

Running over the street he almost got hit by a truck again. Just in time he managed to maneuver himself to the side to let the vehicle pass. His breath hitched and he cursed under it, before starting to run again. His legs hurt by now and his lungs were aching horribly. And here, the blonde thought he had been in good shape. He needed Celty and her motorcycle.

"Shizuo, are you alright?" He heard Shirou asked on the other side. The man must have been able to hear the blonde's unsteady breathing and the curses when he had been almost hit by the truck.

"Since when?" Shizuo asked instead of giving a reply.

"Since what?"

"Since when is the demon there?"

"Since his birth actually. It's a long story concerning his mother and some bad blood we had with another woman. Some people would call her a witch, I guess. Normally, Izaya would have been just a doll for the demon. But we had help. A friend gave us the rings as seals, that'd keep the demon inside his body. And it should never come out, as long as Izaya keeps his positive feelings. That's why we taught him to love all humanity. The demon inside him is attracted on negative feelings and feeds on them. Sadness, pain, hate… All of it makes it stronger and rise the danger, that the demon will take control. So we thought, if Izaya loved everyone, then …"

Shirou stopped. The last words had been mere whispers. Shizuo had the feeling Izaya's father was asking for forgiveness for what he had brought over his son. The burden his son was carrying because of him and his mother, because of what they had done. He possibly felt guilty. Did he want Shizuo to understand? To forgive him? The blonde didn't quite know, but either way he wasn't the one who needed to forgive. Izaya should know about this. The raven already knew about the demon anyway! It was Izaya who had to forgive.

All Shizuo would do, was to take care of him! Shirou telling him this, wouldn't change a thing! He would have done it before, and he would do it now!

"It already appeared." The blonde said steadily, while he surrounded another corner.

"What do you mean?" Izaya's father asked after a short hesitation.

"The demon already appeared. This morning, after a nightmare." Shizuo breathed heavily for a second. His body was at the end. Talking and running at the same time was killing him right now, sending painful waves throughout his upper body. "Just tell me, how I get rid of it!"

There was a short pause. The blonde hoped that Shirou didn't just faint on the announcement that the demon was already quite known.

"As long as Izaya keeps emotionally stable, everything should be fine..." Shizuo heard from the other end. It was quiet and sounded rather than an assumption. But apparently, it was the only thing, they knew about how to handle this.

So that's it then? The blonde thought to himself. Keeping the raven emotionally stable. Right now, this was easier said than done.

He played this over in his head. What would he have to do to fulfill such an easy task? Save the raven's sisters (and the raven himself as it was now) and then bring all of them back home, taking care of the raven not to lose control until the end of his life.

Shizuo would be more than glad to do the second part, but the first one would be quite the struggle. Right now, even if he reached that address in time, he wasn't sure, if he could still walk by then. How could it be that his legs weren't breaking were his knees connected his lower and upper legs?

"Shi...rou..." He said between breaths, sweat running down from his head and covering the display.

"Shizuo, are you okay? You sound weird-" Izaya's father said, but Shizuo almost couldn't hear him anymore. His brain seemed to stop working. Even his vision got blurry. All he could see, was that one point. It was pointing towards his destination. Like a clear line. And he would follow it until the end. He didn't need to see the rest of the world right now. He didn't need to listen to anything. But Shizuo wanted to say this once and for all.

"Leave Izaya to me! I'll take care of him, forever."

The phone clattered to the bottom when his hand let it go. He didn't want to concentrate on the small thing in his hand. He needed all his concentration on the way in front of him. To get faster. To get stronger. This destination would bring him forward.

Shizuo needed to feel it in his whole body. In every fiber. The will to do this, to force his body to do something, that he would never be able to do normally. But his mind was stronger than this weak body, these weak muscles carrying him. Let his bones break, let his muscles crack.

His mind would still carry him to his destination.

This is what losing control felt like.

And then his vision got white.

This chapter was kind of annoying to write to be honest :( It was way too Shizuo centered and I always have the feeling that I can't really write a good Shizuo haha *sob*

2 chapters left! I absolutely want to finish this within the next month! *^* The next chapter will be from Izaya's point of view and the last one from Shizuo's ;P Beware!