OKAY. Really long A/N, guys! You can skip past this, but I'm going to be putting some important information pertaining to this story below. So if you want to be in the loop outside of the actual story, then go ahead and read it.
FIRST. I'm going to be posting two chapters a day. I've already posted one today, but I might go ahead and write three today because of this whole decision. Why? Glad you asked. This story is going to be pretty long. (Sorry, fans of short fics!) This story was originally supposed to be an original story, with original characters, so I have a loooot of ideas for this. As well as having two chapters a day, I'm going to make the chapters here on out be longer than 1k words. I don't want the story to have 50+ chapters unless I have to, so it's going to be pretty long each chapter. I don't want the story to end abruptly or have sloppy ideas for the sake of time and shortness, so I'm going to write more to develop ideas.
SECONDLY. (This one is the one I want people to read 'cause I want to do something neat for this story. :)) While I have a set plot and set ship (Shizaya, obviously), I want this story to be very interactive! So if you have any ideas, any ships you'd like somehow incorporated into the story, or if you think you have a cool bad guy/kick ass good guy, go ahead and submit some ideas in the reviews! I'll look each one over and try my best to incorporate one idea a day into the story. I just think this story would be really fun (er... maybe fun isn't the best word for an angst fic) if you guys were apart of it! :)
Ohmygodthisissuchalongintroimsosorry
I'm probably going to post the below part in the Introduction chapter, so if you want to skip past this (trigger warnings), go right ahead.
LASTLY. I will be posting warnings for the content at the beginning of each chapter so that way, if you are triggered by certain things, you can go ahead and skip right past the details. I will post a short summary at the bottom of each chapter (starting here on out), so that way you can stay in the loop. :)
OKAY. -clap- Now that that is over, let's get to the story.
WARNING: rape, suicide mention
Shizuo froze, letting the taunt slip into his thoughts. It was true, of course, but he wouldn't admit it. Not to that scumbag over there, who would mercilessly slaughter anyone he wanted because he could. He growled and continued walking out of the home given to Izaya for the night.
"Shizu, wait. I didn't mean it in a bad way. I w-"
Shizuo was out of ear shot in seconds, before slamming his back onto the wall of the adjacent building. He slammed his fist into the brick, causing pieces to wither off like rose petals. The whole day caused him anxiety, and, for some reason, every time he was around that damn Original, his anxiety shot through the roof. He looked into the window of the home Izaya was in, watching as the raven plucked the bandages straight from his arm.
Annoyed by his idiocy, Shizuo growled and stormed back in.
"Listen, moron. Those cuts that you did to yourself will get infe-"
Shizuo's eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed at Izaya's arm. It was clean; there was not a single scratch on his arm. Izaya pulled his arm away and clicked his tongue.
"It takes longer when it's not life threatening. My regeneration, I mean. 30 minutes for stuff like this. Probably still faster than what your body does, but, if it's not going to kill me, my body just takes its time. Do you have regeneration, huh? Being a freak and all?"
Shizuo shook his head and scowled at 'freak,' but he was still in awe of the arm and stayed silent.
"I see. That's upsetting. Then you're an even bigger idiot for fighting them off alone. Only a real moron would go in and die for the sake of dying." Izaya hummed. His eyes looked around and spotted a painting on the wall. He smiled. "It's kind of nice artists get inspiration in times like this. When it's all said and done, the world won't be able to forget what happened because of those guys."
Shizuo looked over at the painting as well and smiled.
"My brother did that. He was an artist, y'know. Not just for painting and stuff, either. He used to put on plays for the little kids. He really loved making people forget we were in Hell." He laughed, fiddling his thumbs. "Sometimes, the kids would hate him for weeks because he would play a bad guy so well. Other times, they would idolize him as some sort of God because of the heroes he'd play. He was really good at doing that stuff, y'know? Making people get interested in a story."
Izaya nodded, urging him to go on. Hearing the brute talk relaxed his nerves, and he even got to blow off steam by taunting him.
"How'd he die, Shizu?" Izaya pushed when Shizuo fell silent. The brunette bit his lip, scratching at his thumb with the other's nail.
"One time, he was writing something, and he got angry in the middle of it. I'd never seen him angry before. He always looked emotionless and cold, but then he'd go on stage, and all those emotions he didn't show or, maybe even, that he didn't have would leak out. So seeing him angry, I thought it was another performance. Just for me. But it wasn't." Shizuo sighed. "I don't know why I'm telling you, you creep. Why are you so damn nosy?"
The Original smirked, scratching at his foot and peeling off the bandage from there as well.
"No one has stories to tell anymore, Shizu-chan. You hear the same ones over and over. Families are torn apart or kept together. They all die, though. Usually as a family. Most freaks like to work as groups."
"Stop calling us freaks."
Izaya looked over and saw the brunette scowling, clenching his fists.
"Ah, then do you have a name for us, then?"
Shizuo opened his mouth but immediately closed it. He realized he didn't. He called ordinary people 'humans,' but what did that make him? A monster? A mutant? A freak?
Izaya pursed his lips. "Anyway, I'm being nosy because you're an idiot. Most people fight for themselves. You don't. I want to know why. I'm interested in humans, I suppose." He looked over Shizuo. "And you're as close to ordinary as an," he stuck his fingers up and motioned air quotes, "'infected' can get."
Shizuo huffed but leaned back in the chair he had sat in moments prior.
"I didn't know my brother was going crazy. He ended up going off to fight the officers by himself. When he won, he came back and sat in that building you were in for days, staring at his hands. He ended up shooting himself in the head."
"He stole a gun from the officers? Ballsy. Those have tracking devices."
Shizuo shook his head.
"My brother could turn things into things. He could turn a piece of grass into a cannon. Instead, he turned a piece of glass into a gun."
Izaya looked away from the brunette. How pathetic a life this kid had had thus far.
"I didn't want to fight, you know. If that's what you're thinking. I wasn't looking for suicide by officer. I just wanted to protect my village at all costs. And you look at me with those deadpan eyes, but I can feel you judging me," Shizuo growled, getting angrier. He knew he was making assumptions, but he had gotten angry, thinking about his brother. He was taking it out on Izaya, and he knew it.
"I protect them because we, as a race, owe it to them."
Izaya's eyes narrowed and a scowl grew on his lips.
"Excuse me? What do I owe to them, exactly?"
Shizuo shook his head.
"Life in Infirmos was a lot different, I heard. They used to fend for themselves, eventually probably would've killed each other off. But we prolonged their lives, y'know? A lot of Originals hooked up with humans, and the generations kept going. I would hate us, too. Officers would leave them alone before the Originals broke out. Then they came around, shooting anyone who they thought even associated with one."
Izaya clenched his fist before shooting a cold gaze right into Shizuo's eyes.
"Then they turned us over, killed us. Some of us had to do God awful things just to be let go. And, even then, sometimes, they still turned us in. Or worse, we'd be tortured," Izaya breathed in. Calm down. Calm down. His headache was coming in full throttle. He cleared his mind. "We regenerate. The, what was it? The Originals? We regenerate. They'd take us in and strap us down. They'd rip our limbs off. We can grow them back, but we still felt the pain each and every time, Shizu. I don't owe them anything."
Izaya closed his eyes. He was getting angry. Stay emotionless. Stay empty. Stay cold.
Oh, don't pretend you don't want to remember. It fuels you up, kid. It makes you angry. It gives you power. We can go slaughter all of them right now, y'know.
Izaya winced, holding his head and whimpering.
"Shut up, shut up. Shut up."
"I-Izaya? Are yo-"
Izaya blinked and cursed under his breath. He had let his emotions get the better of him, and now he was in his own mind, again. He had to hurry and get control back before it got control of his body. He tried clearing his mind.
"How much do you think he'll sell for, Dex?"
"He's strong. Besides for his deadpan attitude, I think he's a high price target."
The hands touched his chest, roamed his body. Izaya looked away, deadpan. The only way he'd be able to get out this damn officer trade was to what they wanted. He spread his legs and let fingers trail his body. He moaned when they asked. He promised to be a 'good boy.'
Izaya's eyes shut tightly, and Shizuo watched as his body went limp, collapsing forward. He caught the man, twitching in his arms. He didn't know what to do, setting him down and rushing off to find an elder.
The raven saw it: it was him, in a way. It was always in the same form. It hid behind Izaya's eight year old face, torn clothes and a bruised face. Just like the day it had entered him.
C'mon, don't you want to go take them down? Izaya's young voice taunted, reaching a hand out.
Izaya turned away from his childhood self, feeling his heart racing with every word it spoke to him. He had to calm down. He had to calm down. He had to calm down. He had to-
Izaya's eyes snapped open to knives to his forehead and chest, arms strapped down. Shizuo stared wide-eyed in the corner. Upon seeing the raven's eyes snap open, he pushed forward.
"Wait, wait! Izaya, is that you? Are you...you?"
Izaya mumbled incoherently, trying to get out of his daze.
An older man from the back stepped forward. Izaya noted he was very aged, very thin, but he already knew what the older man thought. He tried to gain full control of each part of his mind back to speak.
"Shizuo, it is good that you brought this to our attention. However, it would be best if you left, so that you do not witness an execution."
"A-An execution? I just wanted to help him, Christopher! I'm not a big fan of his, ei-"
Izaya laughed and looked over at Shizuo.
"Shizu-chan, you're an idiot. They weren't going to kill me because they don't like me," he groaned. He watched the older man wave the people away from him and unstrapped him, sighing in relief.
"I apologize, 2. Please forgive me. I could not let my village be taken over by someone we could not stop otherwise."
Izaya winced upon hearing '2' but chose to dismiss the nickname. He sat up, rubbing his wrists.
"Don't worry about it. I've done the same thing, honestly."
After a brief discussion, a few laughs, and another one hundred apologies, the group left, leaving Shizuo and Izaya alone. Izaya could feel Shizuo's confusion emitting from his mind. Finally, he gestured the chair he had been sitting in prior to his emotional break.
Shizuo sat down and waited for an explanation.
"Do you know why Infirmos was created, Shizu-chan?"
"Stop calling me that, flea."
"Flea? If you get to give me such a demeaning nickname, I'm calling you Shizu-chan."
"Stop calling me Shizu-chan, and I'll stop calling you flea."
"Listen here, ki-"
"Yes, I do. Infirmos was created for killers. Bad guys."
Izaya nodded, kicking his feet as he watched Shizuo raise his eyebrows.
"Infirmos was created for bad guys. Do you know why we were sent here?"
Shizuo shook his head.
"The Originals, as you call us, were very afraid and confused. Being that way let something inside of us awaken. And that thing inside of us took control of some of us. And some of us became a much more dangerous thing to humans than just being mutant freaks. We were unstoppable forces of power. Blood thirsty. We couldn't control our bodies. The thing inside of us just wanted to cause as much pain as possible. It enhances our abilities. It makes our skin almost impossible to penetrate after a few minutes of losing control. It's our ultimate weapon against humans."
Shizuo frowned, staring at his hands.
"From what I can tell, Shizu, it only applies to Originals. Ever heard of what I'm talking about?"
"It sounds like..berzerks.. But those were just stories old people told us to scare us. They told us they made it up."
Izaya shook his head.
"Berzerks, huh? Interesting choice. I guess it fits. But no. They are very real. And if I had lost control of my emotions, then you wouldn't be here to know that berzerks are real."
Shizuo nodded, realizing what exactly made Originals legends in the eyes of offspring like himself. The power the Originals had were horrifying, and it didn't surprise him to know that officers would do anything to keep them dead.
He pursed his lips.
"Izaya, why haven't you killed yourself?"
The raven's eyes widened, looking at Shizuo with surprise. The thought of suicide hadn't entered his mind in a very long time, and he really hadn't thought about why he stopped thinking about it until now.
He closed his eyes and smiled.
"I'm going to take down every last person that wants to kill our kind. I'm going to be able to leave this world knowing that future generations will live in peace."
Working through a stomach ache because I really wanted to elaborate on what the berzerks were. And I also wanted Shizuo to talk about Kasuka. ;;
I know the whole "why haven't you killed yourself" is kind of forward and a tad out there, but when your brother did it to escape his own cursed fate of being a mutant/freak/thing (Someone should offer a nickname for them that'd be super), I'm assuming you'd think Originals would do it. Pluuus, that WILL be elaborated on - the whole forward question, I mean.
ANYWHO. I hope you enjoyed. I decided I'm only going to do Chapter 2 and 3 today 'cause I began having a killer stomach ache right about the time Izaya and his little...Izaya were interacting.
:^) Leave a review, constructive criticism (which would be appreciated to make the story more enjoyable for all your inner critics out there!), or some ideas. I'm all ears, folks.
(SUMMARY BELOW FOR CHAPTER 3)
When Shizuo begins learning more and more about what makes an Original special, he accidentally triggers what makes an Original so deadly as well. His perception on the world leaves Izaya in an emotional frenzy, causing him to have to fight for control. When he regains his mind, he tells Shizuo the truth about why Originals were so hated and casted out of society - the violence they caused back at Sanus. He then tells Shizuo his mission: He wants to take out anyone who isn't working for peace for freaks like him and humankind.
