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In which Izaya Saved His Own Life and Shizuo Tastes His Revenge
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…
…
It started because of Izaya.
Everything started because of Izaya.
No surprise there.
...
Still, it started because of Izaya.
…
…
The previous day in Ikebukuro
…
"GET BAACK HERE YOU DAMN COWAAAAARD AND PAY UP YOUR FUCKING DEBT!"
…
The man in a bartender suit is chasing a man whom, unbeknownst to him, has a look of pure panic on his face.
Bartender suit would have caught the man, but suddenly he's seeing not a retreating back but many faces.
"THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS?!"
"We're here to pay you back, Heiwajima Shizuo! We got the information from a certain information broker that you –"
These guys were clearly dumb, so Shizuo didn't feel the tiniest guilt when he smashed his fist into the man's face and sent him crashing against a nearby wall, the impact of his head making him dumber than he already was.
"Get out of the way." He says calmly, because he doesn't recognize the guys and it isn't the guys' fault they were dumber than the flea.
But it is the guys' fault they were dumb enough to charge at him after seeing what had been done to one of them, and he snaps, giving in to his anger and blind rage.
When he can see clearly again, bodies twisted in ways bodies should not be twisted are around him and blood is on the walls. And the man he was chasing is nowhere in sight. Shizuo growls and stalks back to where he had started the chase.
His colleagues are there, and the other debtor is on his knees, fear on his face as a knife is held to his neck.
"Speak."
It's fortunate that Vorona speaks first, for it helps him focus on the current situation instead of a smirking annoying bastard the knife reminds him of.
"I don't have the money! It's with the other guy! He was the one who borrowed it! He's the one in debt – not me –"
It's also fortunate that Vorona knocked him out before he could finish his sentence, for had she not, Shizuo would have done something worse to the guy who was too much of a coward to assume responsibility – which was once again like that fucking flea.
"….I'm sorry." He says once he's managed to get his anger under control. "I lost him. There were these bastards sent by the flea who came out of nowhere and distracted me. They wouldn't let me go, so I had to beat them up."
"It's not your fault, Shizuo," Tom says, but sighs, "Izaya is still doing stuff like that huh?"
"Yeah." He turns to his kouhai. "Sorry, Vorona. I set such a bad example, huh?"
Vorona's smart, so he doesn't have to say more, and she replies. "Negative. Not Shizuo-sempai's fault. Shizuo-sempai couldn't have foreseen the distraction – thus to avoid such distractions in the future, I request, to exterminate the flea, Orihara Izaya."
"Nah," he says, "Killing is bad, didn't I say? I'll kill him myself."
"…But Shizuo-sempai is not bad."
She tilts her head at him and looks at him with puzzled sky blue eyes and he feels almost embarrassed, "Yeah. I mean, no. I'm bad. I mean, I'm not bad yet since I haven't killed the flea yet, but I will be bad. The flea makes me bad. Anyway I'm already a bad person."
"Negative." Vorona says simply. "I proclaim, to be worse than Shizuo-sempai assumes."
That makes him laugh goodnaturedly. "You, bad?" He reaches out and pats her hair fondly, "No way."
He withdraws his hand when Vorona just looks at him, and Tom speaks, "It's a pity he got away. He really borrowed a lot of money from the Boss – but it's not your fault Shizuo."
"Yeah."
Tom sighs and pats his shoulder, as if sensing his own anger at himself and the flea.
"There's only one more guy, so why don't you have the day off? Vorona and I can handle this from here."
"But –"
"No buts Shizuo, go and clear your head, or as you said, you'll just be setting a bad example to Vorona."
That gets him, for what kind of sempai would he be if he set a bad example to his kouhai? She's his first kouhai, so he doesn't want to screw things up like he always does, in the first job he managed to keep.
"You're right, Tom-san. Then, I'm going. Sorry Vorona."
"Apologies unnecessary, I bid you a good rest."
He smiles at her appreciatively and then leaves. And walks through the streets of Ikebukuro, frustrated at himself and pissed off at the flea who's still managed to get him after all this time.
He looks around but there's no flea in sight, and it pisses him off even more for he can't bash the bastard in for causing him trouble. Just as he's thinking of going to Shinjuku to kill the bastard once and for all, a big man stops in front of him.
"O, Shi-zu-o! What wrong? You look unhappy! Is it puberty?"
"Flea." He answers tersely, "Going to kill."
"Kill? Oh no, killing bad! Sushi good – why don't you come in have sushi? Free!"
"No thanks –"
"What does Shizuo have to lose?"
"…."
And that's how he finds himself in Russia Sushi, there for who knows what. But Simon is right, he has nothing to lose – except perhaps the murder of a flea – and the money needed to get from Ikebukuro to Shinjuku.
- Oh well, might as well spend the money on food. I can get that bastard another time.
And his stomach agrees with him as well. The sushi's not that bad though he would prefer something sweet. And the sake's not bad either –
Wait.
Sake?
"Simon, I don't drink."
"Mind not, only sake. Sad men drown sorrows in sake, yes?"
"…Tch."
He takes off his sunglasses and slides them carefully inside the pocket of his pants. He stares at the cup of sake in his hand.
The weather's hot and he's thirsty. Only sake, he tells himself. It's not as if he's gurgling down beer or anything. It's not as if he's going to get drunk off sake, right? Anyway the sake's cool against his throat, and it feels as if his anger has faded away –
"Simon…..more."
"Ok, Shi-zuo!"
- So this is why people get drunk
Shizuo thinks somewhat blearily. He would hate drinking on any other occasion but he's too pissed off to care. Actually he isn't so pissed off now, he even feels lighter and – happier? He wonders what sake is made of. He wonders if Simon will let him buy a bunch home.
He's not sure when he's stopped thinking and continued drinking. He vaguely remembers Simon saying something about the name whirling around and around in his hazy head, and stumbling out of the chair and into the open.
…
There's something called the flea. He's been searching for the flea. The flea is there.
The flea's name is that name in his head – Izaya.
He doesn't remember much of what happens after that, but he remembers the happiness at seeing the flea he's been searching for, and that the flea is fluffy – no wait that's his jacket (probably bought from a flea market), and that the flea's neck is really nice, and the fluffy flea feels nice in his arms, and the flea's annoyance –
And the anger when the flea ignores him to talk to a guy named Shiki (that guy gets Shiki-san and he gets Shizu-chan? What the hell was a Shizu-chan anyway?).
In retrospect, Shizuo thinks his drunk self is the protozoic brain Izaya is always talking about, for he doesn't blame the flea like the normal him would do and instead blames the guy who captures the flea's attention.
Because the flea is his. His to kill. And how could the flea not pay attention to him when the flea forces Shizuo to pay attention to him?
It gets him mad, especially as after they leave the Awakusu-kai the flea goes to meet other men. As if the flea didn't meet enough men.
And Shizuo is forced to meet other men with the flea.
And the men the flea meets are scared of him and that pisses him off even more and he wants to beat them up (again) but the flea doesn't allow him to for they are his 'clients'. Hah! Clients. More like 'people to screw the life of even though they may screw him over in return'.
It gets him mad, and he glares at all the dirty men the flea meets (and beats the first batch of them up before the flea gets angry and forbids him from doing so to the next few), releasing the flea only when he needs to (like when to beat the first batch up), or rather when the flea needs to provide his fucking information to those dirty men, and when the meetings are done he hangs onto the flea all the way to the taxi, glares at anyone who dares to even look at his flea, nuzzles his flea in the taxi except when the flea is down, almost beats up the taxi driver who keeps on staring at his flea but doesn't because the flea touches his arm and sounds tired even when saying, "Shizu-chan", nuzzles the flea again all the way back to the apartment, for the flea is his –
Not in that way, but Shizuo knows his brain is lazy and his drunk brain must be even more addled and lazy and can only compute certain words in his limited vocabulary. Like 'Flea' and 'Mine'. And 'Kill'. But 'Not Today'. Because 'Flea is nice to hug'.
The only thing that's stopping him from dying of embarrassment (is that even possible?) is the memory of Izaya's annoyance which makes the whole situation a lot better.
For once, it's the flea who's annoyed, not him.
It makes Shizuo grin in triumph.
It's still making Shizuo grin in triumph.
…
Back at the apartment, he's still latching on to the flea because the flea really is nice to hold – since when was the flea so nice to hold –
And then the flea says something about No Nuzzling and that makes him – his drunk self 'Shizu-chan' (because he seemed retardedly attached to the flea who is the only one who calls him that retarded nickname) sad, because he likes the flea's neck, it's the only good part of his entirely shitty being –
There's another part on the flea which looks soft (What was it again?) so he touches his lips to that instead, then the flea is pushing him away and he's facing a woman.
She says something about the flea being afraid and it makes him sad, because Izaya was never afraid.
But the flea is the master at pissing him off since the flea even manages to piss his drunk self Shizu-chan off by still not paying attention to him.
He's paying attention to a woman called Namie (he's pretty sure her name is Namie since he thinks he asked for her name sometime and because he needs more than one hand to count the number of times the flea said her name) instead and it's not the woman's fault but it annoys Shizuo all the same.
But he's soon happy again for he can soon hug the flea again for the woman Namie (He's 90% sure it's Namie and not something like Namu, damn it-is that even a girl's name?) is nice and gives the flea he's been searching for (to kill) to him.
She leaves and he notices the flea doesn't look happy. He wonders if the flea wants her instead of him. Because as he hugs the flea, he wants the flea. (Hell knows why)
But the flea doesn't want the woman Namie yet doesn't want him either but the flea is still his so that's okay (Really, what the fuck did Simon put in that sake?)
He only lets the flea go when the flea says please and promises not to go away (for when has the flea ever said please and when has the flea ever not run away?)
The flea is suddenly angry when he wants to sleep with his flea. He also looks exhausted, so Shizuo – Shizu-chan takes pity on him and bids the flea goodnight with a kiss (that was supposed to be a bite instead damn it) on the forehead.
The flea responds by slamming the door in his face and yelling 'Goodnight' – not to his face (coward, as usual).
…
He sleeps on the flea's couch as the flea wants him to that night, and he wakes up to find that he's not Shizu-chan but Heiwajima Shizuo again, and holding Orihara Izaya, entropy personified. He only manages to not strangle entropy personified for said entropy personified doesn't really look like entropy personified. He looks more like peace personified.
The events flash back to him (Simon must have put some damn memory recalling drug in that fucking sake) and he shoots up. The man who looks more like peace personified mumbles sleepily and snuggles closer to him, mumbling "Shizu-chan…"
He nearly snaps then, but he can't snap in front of a flea who doesn't even know he's going to snap and is still clinging on to him like he's the safest place on earth – and like he hadn't done anything wrong.
But then he's reminded he's also caused trouble for the flea. Because the flea was annoyed, just like the flea often annoys him. Which puts him in kind of a dilemma to be pissed off or not. Which has never happened before.
And the flea looks peaceful and he likes peace. But he hates the flea.
He pushes the flea away and settles his dilemma outside as he angrily smokes on a cigarette, because it's easier to be pissed off than not.
…
When he goes back into the apartment without even knowing why, there are two guys who think they're being discreet.
Because Lady Luck wasn't on his side, the guys are assassins who want to kill the flea who apparently pissed off some Mafia Boss (greedy bastard couldn't even stick to Japan's underworld, could he?)
And it pisses him off again, for the flea is his to kill.
He tries to tell the guys this, but they are as stubborn as the flea and don't listen. He snaps when one of the guys has a death wish for he assumes he's the flea's lover and the door is in his hands.
And it pisses him off even more for when he's calm enough to drop the door, he realizes it's the flea's apartment door and he has to pay for it.
But the guys are good guys (the blond actually told him their intentions and that he didn't want to harm an innocent) so he still tries to give them a chance, he would be even more pissed off if he had to harm guys better than the flea because of the flea.
But of course they're still as stubborn as the flea and the battle begins before he even knows. He's shot and stabbed and he punches and throws and snaps when he sees aflying knife.
Before he knows it, the assassins are flying past the stars in the night sky.
He feels a little guilty for sending good guys flying but not so much because he's more pissed off than anything. And in another dilemma. Because he can't even kill the peacefully sleeping flea for causing him so much trouble, or can he?
His conscience nags at him and he ends up going back to the flea's apartment anyway for he did break down the flea's door and he's a guy to take responsibility, not like the flea.
The flea isn't on the couch, so he goes to the bedroom. He finds the flea snuggled up in the covers, somehow looking lonely in his sleep.
Then the flea's half asleep, half awake and saying stuff he would never say while he was conscious. So Shizuo takes the chance to get the flea to be honest for once.
To get the information the information broker owed him.
And the flea is – honest. Painfully honest. And clears his dilemma. The flea says he only has him. And that he was saying such for Shizuo was drunk.
Maybe this is that 1%, Shizuo thinks. So if this is that 1% of trustworthiness he had the generosity to give the flea, maybe this is that 1% he thought didn't exist.
And maybe he should make some returns on investment, and give that 1% back to the flea.
So Shizuo decides to stay with the lonely flea who only has him and who technically doesn't even have him.
And for once, he thinks. About the flea. About Izaya. He holds the flea (turns out his drunk self was right that the flea's body was nice to hold) close and thinks.
…
He doesn't really remember what he thought when he wakes up before the flea. But he wonders if it's something mind changing for he feels no desire to kill the sleeping flea, and he's not so angry anymore at the flea sending those guys after him during his job. The flea has a reason for everything, so maybe he has a reason for that too. Besides pissing Shizuo off that is.
But maybe there's a reason why he wants to piss Shizuo off so badly. The flea was so annoyed yesterday, perhaps Shizuo pisses him off as well?
His smile at that thought is wiped away by his pounding headache. Or hangover. Whatever.
Sighing, he runs his fingers through the flea's soft hair for a reason he doesn't even know and goes to take a bath –
Or would have, had the doorbell not suddenly rung.
The flea stirs, mumbles something, but stays asleep. So Shizuo goes to get the door.
…
The woman from yesterday is standing there when he opens the door (the one that he didn't dismantle anyway, why did the flea have to have two doors?). She looks at him in bemusement.
"You're still here?"
He shrugs, and she says, "Are you staying?"
"I guess."
"I thought you hated him."
"Yeah but I have a debt to pay."
"What an honourable man."
He can't tell if she's being sarcastic or not. Especially as she's speaking again.
"Do you remember?"
"What's it to you?"
She's testing his patience and his pounding headache, and his need for a bath and his policy to not hit women, all at the same time. As expected of someone associated with the flea.
She looks at him as if understanding, "You have a hangover, don't you?" He's about to reply, when she says. "Here."
She's holding out a pill towards him. He stares at it for a moment, and she says, "It's not poisonous. You're not the one I want to poison. Take it as thanks for causing that bastard trouble yesterday. It's a product from my former company, Yagiri Pharmaceuticals. It's a medical company."
"Former?"
"Izaya."
"Ah." He says, for that explains everything. "Why?"
She shrugs and doesn't look like she wants to talk about it, so he doesn't pry. He's not like the flea. He takes the pill from her hand for he feels he can trust her since she doesn't like the flea either, and pops it into his mouth without water.
"I usually use it for headaches, but it should work for hangovers too."
"Headaches?"
"Izaya." She says again and he immediately sympathizes. He goes to get a glass of water to make sure the pill stays down.
"Hey, what's your name again?" He says, to confirm. He's bad at remembering people's names. Really bad. Till now he doesn't know if the Kid is Ryuugasaki or Ryuuga - something. He thinks it's Ryuugasaki. And there's that girl he can't recall the name of.
"Namie. Yagiri Namie."
…Well, it seems he's got it right this time – who wouldn't, with the flea saying her name a little less than ten times? With no honorific too. Though she's spared from the abominable honorific the flea gives his name – or not even his name, since his name isn't 'Shizu' or 'Shizuka' or god forbid 'Shizuko' but Shizuo, damn it.
Though, from the looks of it, she isn't someone who can be 'chan-ed' – even though she's female. Even Izaya that bastard must see that.
Yet, it's not like he's someone who can be 'chan-ed' either, but even vending machines and signposts don't seem to convince the bastard flea to not toy with his name. He'd pondered once on returning the favour with 'Izaya-chan', but the mere sound of it in his head makes him shudder in disgust. Especially since he'd heard the girl Kadota has in his gang calling Izaya 'Iza-chan'. Ugh.
He wonders how Kadota has managed to stay sane so far. He respects, even admires the man. Really.
"Right. Thanks, Yagiri-san –"
"Just Namie is fine. You're much more polite than your drunk self."
"…Namie-san."
"Namie, or would you rather I call you Heiwajima-san?"
"No, just Shizuo is fine."
"Then just Namie is fine." She says and he relents. "While I appreciate the respect, Izaya uses that honorific mockingly and I'd rather not be reminded."
"Right. Namie." He realizes she's not such a bad person, even though she's associated with the flea. That's one thing his drunk self got right.
They exchange a smile of understanding of mutual suffering by the flea, and she says, "Well if you're staying, tell him I'm taking the day off, will you?" He looks questioningly at her and she says. "I'm his secretary. And his housekeeper, apparently. Bastard makes me cook for him. This would be a great chance to get away from that bastard for a day."
"Yeah I understand. Go ahead."
"Thanks." She says, turning away.
"Hey, Namie." He says, without even knowing why, and she looks at him curiously.
He blames his brain for being slow. Especially with the fading but still there hangover.
"Any idea what the flea – Izaya likes? For breakfast I mean."
"Izaya? That guy likes any food as long as it's made by someone. Said it tells him the personality of the person or some crap like that."
"…What the hell's with that?"
"Don't ask me. Though occasionally he'd demand me to make a Western breakfast for him." She scoffs, then shrugs. "Sometimes I think Japan is too boring for him and he wants to go to some place like America where it's legal to keep a gun or something. Though, he's too much of a coward to ever kill or shoot anybody. Well, not like I care."
"Is that so."
"You're making breakfast for him?"
"In case I'm forced to. I don't want to hear him whining that I didn't cook his favourite food."
"Want some poison?"
"?"
Shizuo looks questioningly at the tiny bottle Namie holds in her hand.
"Don't you want to get rid of him once and for all?"
She has a point. He had infiltrated the flea's territory and he could just poison the flea's food and the flea would be dead.
But poison is too much of a cowardly tactic (sounds like something the flea would use), at least to him, and he frowns at her.
"No, no thanks."
"I see." Namie says, smiling wryly as she keeps the bottle that is potentially poison. "Ironically, Izaya didn't want to poison you either."
"…Seriously?"
"I've suggested it to him because he keeps on complaining about you but he refused. Saying he wants to make you suffer then kill you." She scoffs, "I told him poison would bring you great pain and suffering. He still insists on killing you by his own hand, which is impossible, as everyone knows."
"…..I see."
He says, feeling surprised that the flea is not as much of a coward as he had thought. And that they had something in common.
"You know, you're nowhere as bad as Izaya or your reputation makes you out to be." She says, and he blinks.
"Oh by the way, you better wake that lazy bastard up. He has an appointment at 9.45 AM."
And then she turns and makes her way out of the doorway, past the other half of the double doors. He stares at her in surprise for a while, thinks vaguely that she's a nice woman, and then turns to go take a shower.
…
The flea's still asleep when he enters the bedroom, his phone shows that it's one and a half hour before 9.45AM, and he leaves him that way as he enters the bathroom next to the bedroom (to get rid of flea germs). He sheds his clothes and gets into the shower, letting the warm water wash over his body. There's red on the wet floor and he realizes its blood from the gunshot wounds by the assassin (Mikhail? Whatever) but it doesn't hurt, so he brushes it off easily.
He gets out of the shower, and decides to soak himself in the flea's bathtub. His hangover is almost completely gone (why would Izaya shut down such a good pharmaceutical company, he would never know).
It feels like heaven. When he feels relaxed enough, he gets out, ties one of the towels on the rack nearby around his waist and starts to dry himself with the other, walking around and letting the water drip away, when the door opens and the flea skips in.
He stares at the flea. The flea stares at him.
"Oh flea. You're awake."
The flea is still staring at him.
"Hey, you –ow."
He's rewarded for his words by a punch to his face and the slam of the door in his face – which of course pisses him off.
But the flea is pissed off too and is screaming at him like a scandalized woman. And that pisses him off even more for how dare the flea act like it was his fault?
A shouting match ensues and then the flea orders him to stay put and storms off. He's pissed off and wants to break down the bathroom door especially when the flea doesn't seem to accept that he'll explain about his broken apartment door later, until he hears the flea talking to himself about his clingy behaviour in bed yesterday and he can't help but laugh.
Of course, he isn't like the flea who laughs at others behind their backs and so he tells the flea to shut up. But the flea doesn't appreciate his kindness and yells at him to shut up, which somehow makes him even more amused.
He's soon fully clothed again and his hair dryer than before. When he's stepped out of the bathroom to the room with the sink, he walks and opens the door – and promptly catches a falling flea.
The flea is still an ungrateful bastard and complains and whines and blames Shizuo instead of saying a simple thank you, so Shizuo decides to hold him captive instead. Because he likes seeing the flea out of control and angry.
And because he likes the flea's neck. He really likes the flea's neck. He doesn't know why but it tastes sweet – maybe it's the taste of revenge?
The flea also seems less shitty when he tastes the soft neck. But the flea can't go one second without pissing him off though and he's soon deprived of that nice taste and he's even more pissed off. But the flea has a point that Shizuo is….assaulting him and he has to repay his debt (that doesn't make him any less deprived of that sweet taste though) so he tells the flea he'll prepare breakfast and to go cleanse that stink (as much as a shitty flea can anyway).
Or he might just attack the flea's neck again. And maybe other soft places.
Surprisingly, the flea is obedient and retreats into his bedroom. So Shizuo goes to reluctantly prepare the flea breakfast -
After he looks around the information broker's apartment which seems to double as his office (his real office).
But even the memory of Izaya tricking him into a potential conflict with the Awakusu-kai is not enough to curb his sudden satisfaction. He's smiling as he searches the flea's fridge for the ingredients for the flea's breakfast. But he's not really searching, he's more thinking of how he prefers this annoyed, out of control flea.
It doesn't even bother him that much that the flea manipulated him somehow into becoming his temporary bodyguard, for if he hadn't sent those bastards Shizuo wouldn't have gotten drunk in his frustration and then he wouldn't have accompanied the flea to his apartment. Though the flea probably didn't know that, for he was too annoyed to. So perhaps it wasn't the flea's intention for once.
Still, it doesn't bother him that he saved the flea's life, that the flea made Shizuo save his life.
Because for once he has the advantage. The flea seems really annoyed at his presence and his actions and everything about him and Shizuo relishes in Izaya's annoyance.
He doesn't know what he's doing to make the flea so annoyed, but whatever it is, it's definitely better than throwing signposts and vending machines and chasing the flea all over Ikebukuro and never managing to catch the slippery bastard.
Yes it's definitely better, for exerting violence on the flea only ends up with him pissed off in the end – always, and the bastard escaping – always.
- Tsk. This match is mine, Izaya.
Shizuo thinks with a triumphant grin.
…
Unbeknownst to him, as he searches the fridge but not really, a man (client) is going to enter through Izaya's apartment door (or lack thereof) soon enough – pissing him off with his mere presence alone.
The man in a bartender suit was about to find out a day with Orihara Izaya aka The Flea would be nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster.
And Orihara Izaya aka The Flea was about to find out the same with the man in a bartender suit –
Who was resolute on his first victory –
As well as his revenge.