Age count: Namie-18, Izaya-16, Seiji (the hated) - 13. Thank you everybody for your wonderful reviews. Keep them up, it's what inspires me. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did when I was watching it in the cinema of my mind. I also hope no words got lost like the last time I did a note this long. That's annoying.
Disclaimer: No, no, no.
From that day on, things changed. Seiji, who usually barely noticed Izaya, was now leading a one sided war with the raven headed boy. Izaya did his best to stay out of Seiji's way, but Izaya's best wasn't good enough. Her uncle would just wave his hand and said that it is in the nature of the boys to fight, or he would scold Izaya for whatever Seiji accused Izaya of doing. Namie tried to protect Izaya from Seiji's rage, but she wasn't in the house all the time and there where times when the raven head would be left to fend for himself. Seiji made sure that during those times he made Izaya's life hell.
It started out small enough, just a few insults during their meals, a few snarky remarks. Seiji would insult Izaya and anything that had to do with Izaya. Cooking being his favorite target, Seiji went out of his way to show his displeasure for having to eat "that garbage that the insect made." He went so far as to just get up from the table one night and dump a whole plate of pasta on Izaya's head. Seiji smiled in triumph when Izaya said nothing, just dropping his gaze down like a punished dog. Their uncle only slightly scolded Seiji for wasting a "perfectly edible meal" and staining their floor in the process. Izaya was the one who had to clean the mess up after the dinner. It was like Namie's uncle was enjoying the torture as well.
And then…it escalated.
From few rough words Seiji moved on to tripping Izaya, laughing at him when he fell, laughing at that confused face that did not understand what did he do to deserve this. Punches and kicks proceeded next and Seiji turned openly violent to Izaya. More then one time Namie found Izaya locked out and shivering during the coldest storms. More then one time she hushed the sobbing boy to sleep. More then one time she tried to get her brother to stop abusing Izaya. Her brother would just role his eyes and proceed on. She tried everything. Every single thing she could think of. Just to get Seiji to stop. She even tried to talk to her uncle, but he dismissed it with a laugh.
Izaya didn't know what he did to make Seiji so mad. He desperately tried to fix the damage done, only to receive a shove in a closet or through the back door, if it was raining. And Izaya would stand through it. Just like a well-trained dog, he did not complain or hit back. He would just look up with those miserable red eyes that asked for explanation. Why? Why did Seiji hate him so much? Feeling of hate was unfamiliar to Izaya. Izaya did not hate. Izaya loved. He loved Namie. He feared too, he feared Namie's uncle. He felt embarrassment and happiness, pride and sadness. But hate? No, Izaya was unfamiliar with hate.
It was bound to overflow over Namie's head someday. And that day happened on the day of her high school graduation.
It was the first time Namie's uncle has allowed Izaya to attend anything public and Izaya was hyped up all week about it. That's all he talked about, and Namie couldn't help but laugh about it a little. Izaya was as happy as if he was the one graduating, and not her. And then…as she looked up to find her family in the crowd of triumphant seniors, she found that Izaya was not with them. Her brother was there, looking bored like usual. And her uncle was there too, looking extremely pleased with her. But…Izaya, the one person who she actually wanted to see, and the one person that actually loved her…he was not there.
"Izaya stayed at home." Her uncle said "he had to take care of are celebratory lunch, you'll have to thank Seiji, he thought of it."
Her brother gave her a wicked smile of satisfaction, as he saw rage boil in her. She ran out of her school, not even thinking what or why is she doing this. She was just fed up with her brother's malice, his constant picking on Izaya and everything. Just everything. She felt tears sting her eyes even before she got to their house, and she flew in it in full sobs, catching Izaya by surprise. She saw him only a second before she ran into her room, shutting the door behind. She fell on her bed and cried, cried her heart out. She was just sick of it all. She couldn't handle the constant worrying and sadness in Izaya's eyes and she couldn't handle her brother's cruelness. Not anymore, no more.
A soft knock on the door stopped her train of thoughts.
"Namie? Are you alright?" Izaya's quiet voice drifted from the other side.
She just sobbed more, unable to answer for the time being, she sobbed and sobbed until she heard the door open and Izaya's quiet footsteps enter the room. He sat next to her, gently embracing her from the back, hushing her down like she did to him so many times.
"It's okay Namie. I'm here. It will be okay." His soft voice soothed her down as he stroked her hair and she turned around to hug him back, spilling more tears into his lap.
Izaya did not know what caused Namie's tears, but he didn't need to know for now. His current mission is to stop those tears from falling. He didn't like it when Namie cried. He wanted her happy all the time. But…she seemed very upset this time. Her fingers dug into his back so much that it was almost painful, her head was securely tucked under his chin as her warm tears ran down his neck.
Namie is very sad he thought trying to calm her down. Namie was the light of his life, he lived only for her. If it wasn't for her, he would die of sadness years ago. He owed her, he owed her so much. She loved him and played with him, read him books and was generally nice to him. She even allowed him to use her old school books as an item to educate himself further. She showed him how to solve problems he did not understand. She was there for him, always there. Taking care of him when he would be sick and taking a stand for him against her uncle and Seiji when he could not. He loved her. And he wanted her to be happy, he couldn't stand those tears that flowed freely, mocking him, telling him that he failed. He was supposed to be a good boy and make Namie happy, make her smile. That was his mission in life, that was why he was born…made.
"You will do anything she asks from you, got it? If she tells you to jump of the bridge you'll jump of that damn bridge and smile all the way down, got that?"
Man's voice echoed through his head. He blinked, surprised, not remembering where did the voice come from or who did it belong to. Was it talking to him? Of course he would jump of the bridge for Namie, no questions asked. Why did that strange voice told him that now? Strange…it was strange.
He shook his head, focusing solely on crying Namie in his arms. He had to make her happy first, whatever was lurking inside his head can wait until later.
"What's wrong Namie, please tell me what is wrong."
"Why didn't you come, you big idiot?"
Her small hand weakly punched his arm. It didn't hurt, but he was already aching on the inside. Namie was sad, and it was entirely his fault.
"I'm sorry Namie. I had to stay here and cook lunch. I thought it would make you happy. A big celebratory lunch. I even made cake, I made you favorite Namie. Please don't be mad at me, I thought I was making you happy. I…"
"This is not about me, Izaya! This is about you! You wanted to go to that stupid graduation; you were excited about it for who knows how long. And then you stay home. Just because Seiji told you so. And you thought it would make me happy! Can't you just make yourself happy, just one time?!"
She was facing him now, hands firmly on the younger ones shoulders, shaking him desperately.
"I'm happy when you are happy Namie." He answered quietly.
He didn't understand why Namie was so upset. It wasn't such a big deal, after all. He was just looking for a way to make her happy. He noticed that Namie was sad about something in last few weeks. Actually she always looked kind of sad or angry every time when he and Seiji fought. Well to be completely honest when Seiji fought and he took it. He wanted her to be happy again, he wanted her to smile again. Namie loved sweets and cakes, so when Seiji suggested that he stays at home and adds some of Namie's favorite cakes to his lunch menu; he thought it was a great idea, completely missing the malice in Seiji's eyes. He was a little sad that he will miss up on opportunity this rare, but he was sure that smile on Namie's face would make up for all of that. And now…there was no smile to be seen.
"Can't you see that Seiji was just trying to make you sad again, that he tried to hurt you again? Can't you see it Izaya?"
"But…"
"But what, Izaya?"
"I made cake for you Namie…why are you not happy, it's your favorite."
"You're hopeless." She mumbled, digging her head in his chest yet again.
"Please don't cry again, Namie. I don't like it when you cry."
"Shut up. I'm not going to cry."
He smiled, hugging her closer, listening to her silent breathing against his chest. He knew that words she said maybe do sound the same as the words that her uncle or Seiji said, but at their core they weren't the same. They were brighter, warmer. Her words were filled with care and kindness. He loved every single one of her scolding words. They weren't loud and angry like her uncle's scolds, or hatful and cruel like Seiji's. She said those words because she loved him, and he knew that.
"I'll be fine you idiot. You should watch yourself more."
"Ladies first." he laughed in her hair, and she laughed too, glad to hear his happy voice again. She loved that happy voice, not that crying, begging one that her uncle and brother received.
"Tch, what will I do with you?!" she giggled.
"Well you know, love me, hug me, feeding me would be nice too." He laughed back, enjoying that rare moment of pure happiness.
"What! I feed you! Oh, how you make me sound cruel, Izaya. Well I guess you are a bit skinny thought." She poked at his chest in thought; "Well I guess there is only one way to fix that, how about that infamous cake."
He grinned in pure joy, jumping of the bed, back turned to the door; "Coming right up, Namie!" he cheered happily, moving to the door backwards.
Then, everything happened quickly. Walking backwards Izaya slipped on one of the Namie's books, which sent him lunging forwards on to the bed and the still sitting Namie, with a surprised yelp. Namie cried out in surprised as small raven head landed on her, pinning her down on to the bed. Her cheeks flushed red as Izaya's head stopped millimeters away from hers, their lips only a kiss away. His eyes were huge and surprised, not fully realizing the situation yet.
And then…
The door opened.
"IZAYA!"
Her uncle's yells of disbelief and rage shook the room and Izaya was grabbed by back of his shirt and lunged into the wall. A painful cry was given away from the boy, but he quieted down when he saw the eyes of the man who had hurt him. Those eyes were not just mad, they were furious, cold furious eyes that pierced right through his skin and consumed his heart. His mind automatically shut out all possibilities of this not being his fault, because those eyes told him that indeed, this was his fault. And he is going to get punished for it, and punished painfully. His body started shaking with fear at the sight of those eyes.
"Uncle, don't! He didn't do anything! It was an accident!" Namie screamed, stopping her uncle's hand from hitting the trembling boy.
"Let go, Namie. He needs to be punished."
"He slipped! It was an accident!"
"Then he needs to learn to be more careful."
"You just love this don't you?!" You just love punishing him, even if he did nothing wrong. It is sick. Let him go! Let him go already."
Her uncle, who was now holding Izaya up by his hair, ready to execute his punishment right then and there, growled slightly.
"Seiji, take the mutt to my study. I'll deal with him later." He showed Izaya to Seiji who was looking at the development from the safety of the hallway.
Izaya felt rough hands grab him and a silent but spiteful you're dead being whispered into his ear. But he did not care for that. What he cared for were sounds of Namie's angry shouting that broke into crying. Those sounds followed him through the hallway and into the study, where Seiji locked him up.
He was afraid. Afraid like he never was before. He got punished before, but it was always different. Sometimes, Namie's uncle was kind enough to just slap him or hit him a few times, but other times when he did something very wrong, Namie's uncle would beat him until he lost conciseness. This time was different. He didn't do a little mistake or something mildly wrong, not even something very wrong. This time he did something seriously and very bad. He wasn't sure what exactly, for he only slipped, but the eyes of the man told him that he did something so wrong like he never did before. He was terrified. He didn't know what kind of punishment came for this kind of crime. He was afraid for Namie too. He never saw her uncle hit her or Seiji and he hoped it will stay that way. There was no reason for her to suffer because of his deeds.
Loud footsteps invaded his thoughts, sending him looking for a sanctuary anywhere in the room, only to curl up against the corner, shaking in fear. The man opened the door and locked it behind him. Two times. So Izaya would have absolutely no chances of escaping. Izaya knew all the windows were locked too and he knew that he was trapped, left at the mercy of the coffee eyed man.
The man strode of to his closet and grabbed a long, tick belt from the hook. Then he approached Izaya and knelt next to him, letting him see the full horror of what is going to happen to him. Izaya's eyes went wide with terror. The belt was usually used just to scare him, and was never actually used on the boy's tender skin. Only slaps, punches and kicks. Never the belt. Not until now. He started shaking more then ever, his eyes pleading Namie's uncle not to do this. Her uncle smile sadistically and whispered with a voice filled with poison;
"Shirt off, boy."