•Etched Future•

The flames were eating the buildings; the fire had not only set in Izaya's office. It was a chain reaction; buildings all along the area were being consumed by flames. Like a living animal, the blazing fire crept over the walls, destroying everything in its pace. The city was in panic, and the firemen were already trying to stop the incessant wreckage. A mass of people was escaping the area. They were seeking salvation.

Shizuo could barely see through the thick smoke, his lungs were hurting for all he'd inhaled, but he couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't move. He was powerless. His muscles, his bones, and his nerves were numb. Shizuo didn't know how he was managing to breathe because he was sure his brain was frozen.

Even though the building was crumbling and cracking around him, he couldn't help but be thrilled. Something else was controlling him, something was stimulating his senses to feel pleasure, because never before had the sole action of looking at Izaya made him so excited. It wasn't a sensual pleasure, it was something more confusing and frightening, yet amazing and devious; it was simply marvelous. Shizuo was probably out of his mind.

Izaya's eyes were hypnotizing him. It felt like a dream, a gorgeous nightmare.

Izaya was moving towards him and Shizuo could only wait. Their gazes were connected.

A cobra targeting its prey.

Izaya smiled. That's what Shizuo had thought, but it wasn't Izaya who was smiling at him. The one smiling, the one destroying, the one who was agonizing the city was Roppi. An ens who Shizuo would never understand. Roppi was in control of Izaya's body. Roppi wanted Izaya's latent powers and abilities. Roppi wanted chaos and misery. But above all, he wanted to monopolize Izaya, and he would get rid of anything that was more important to Izaya than Roppi himself.

Izaya loved humanity.

Roppi decided that humanity could perish.

But, Roppi knew that something was slowly taking the first place in Izaya's heart.

Izaya… no, Roppi smiled again and looked at Shizuo, and said with a sweet voice,

"You will die today."

•••••

The used ammunition was falling like rain on the ground. The sound was deafening to Izaya's ears, each shot ringing twice as hard in the closed space of the cave they were in. The air was hot, and crimson and green flames were dancing in the background. The flames seemed to be alive, eating each other; ripping and tearing the ground apart. Izaya could faintly hear the brawls of beasts feasting in the distance. He was so tired… So, so tired…

'…Maybe I'm better off dead…' Izaya thought as a malign gray mist began to cover his sight and numb his senses.

The shots stopped and the man holding him shook him viciously.

"Keep those foolish thoughts at bay, Orihara." The man spoke a in harsh tone, and his body was burning with green fire. A figure formed behind the man's back within the green flames.

'A wolf…?' Izaya thought, regaining some composure.

"The choice is yours to save yourself." The man told him, his tone still severe.

The man didn't get a reply. But he didn't need it. He was someone who could understand others by touching them. His arm wrapped around Izaya was the only thing he needed in order to know his wishes.

The flame-shaped wolf behind them that grew in size and charged forward was Roppi was advancing and doing his attack.

"We need to move from here." The man pulled Izaya onto his feet and said with a straight face, "I need you to stay alive."

•••••

"What are you thinking?" Roppi played with a small flame that was sticking at his clothes. "You might have brain-damage, don't you? You were the only one here when we woke up. That Kadota guy was never standing beside you."

Shizuo didn't understand what was going on. He felt so confused.

"Tell us the difference between love and death, will you?" Roppi asked. He moved around like a hunter savoring the time of a kill.

Shizuo was just standing still, unable to move; an intangible, unknown force was stopping him.

"No answers?" Roppi hugged Shizuo from behind, wrapping his arms around his torso and pressing the side of his face on Shizuo's back. "You see, the answer is that you fear them both… No one can get away from it, nor oppose it, and both take your breath away… it isn't like a tremor, it's worse than tremor, it's utter terror for the heart… it feels like as if somebody is gripping your throat and squeezing and… I guess you can tell, right?"

Roppi pushed his body from Shizuo. "After all, you are in love with Izaya."

Suddenly, Shizuo was able to breathe, think and move. He felt like a huge burden was lifted from his body.

"You're a meddlesome monster," Roppi said disdainfully.

When Shizuo was finally free of the oppression, he got shot with that statement.

Love?

In love with Izaya?

During their time together, he had not thought, not even once, the word love. Izaya and that word simply didn't mix together. But why was he asking it as if he was another person? What was happening to him? Shizuo found the willpower to ask such questions in his mind, but.

Roppi sneered and happily said. "We can't resist anymore, we want to see you dead!"

Boom!

Shizuo felt as if thousands of needles were piercing through his body. The pressure was so strong that it forced his body to bend. He fell onto the floor gasping for air. His muscles were screaming in pain. Shizuo felt as if his skull was ripping into two halves. Agony whirled in his system.

"Nice~." Roppi said. "You're the strongest of Ikebukuro, no?" Roppi kicked Shizuo's side, forcing him to lay on his back. "But your mind is weak." Roppi tilted his head to the side while licking his lips. "We'll savor every second of suffering~"

•••••

Izaya could hear the soft sound of water running. With his eyes closed, he pictured a quiet, peaceful river; he was floating and moving in a gentle water-stream. The sunbeams were passing through the green leaves and branches of trees, clearing their way into the crystalline water below. The breeze was making random leaves fall onto the water, causing mini-waves to run along the surface. Birds were singing their songs and…

No.

That wasn't it.

Wrong. That's wrong. It wasn't real. There was gunpowder. It reeked of blood. Everything was wrong. Nothing was real anymore.

"Orihara! Look at me!"

Izaya felt weak and dizzy.

"He's trying to get into your conscious. Don't let him do it. Just bear with it a bit more. We're almost there."

Izaya glanced at the thing the man held in his hand. The man threw a grenade behind them. After the explosion, they reached a place where a motorbike was parked.

"Hold tight," the man said as he started the engine.

•••••

"How long has it been since I fell into this dream? You thought." Roppi smiled smugly. "It's been only five minutes, but it's enough to torture you, create a disaster in this city, and enough to find Izaya. That guy who's interfering is quite powerful… but it doesn't matter. This power we're taking is more than enough! When we get hold of Izaya, we'll be unstoppable!"

Shizuo panted on the floor.

"But first~"

A cry of pain stuck in Shizuo's throat as his nerves were pressed and pulled, packed and stretched from their inner core. His head lolled back. He wanted to pass out so badly. But he was restrained from doing so.

"You're boring…" Roppi said. He sat on Shizuo's stomach, gazing down at him. "At this point, you should be begging for mercy, cursing Izaya's name or simply wishing for the Grim Reaper to come to get you. After all, we've ripped off your fingernails one by one, we've broken and torn your muscles and bones, sliced and ripped your limbs and we've skinned you alive countless of times. Of course, figuratively speaking. We haven't touched one single strand of that hair of yours. Frightening, it isn't it? We can kill you with our brain~."

Shizuo just sighed shakily.

Roppi snorted. "Let's finish this. Any final words? Not that you can talk, though."

Shizuo closed his eyes, thinking.

"What?" Roppi stopped in his tracks. "You wish that Izaya wasn't so crazy?"

There was a prolonged silence.

"…you're really stupid. Do you think that we're Izaya? Well, we'll tell you this. We're not Izaya. And the explanation of our existence is too complex for a minuscule brain like yours to comprehend. So, we're just going to say that we are Izaya's relatives. So now, please die."

Shizuo waited for the final blow.

Instead, soft delicate hands grabbed his face. "Hey! Wake up! Come on! We don't have much time!"

Shizuo opened his eyes and saw a pair of yellow eyes.

"Iza-nyan isn't going to forgive me if something happens to you! Or rather, I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't do anything! I'm going to force that Tsugaru guy to pay me twice the price!"

A girl.

A girl was lifting him from the ground as if he didn't weight over 70 kg. As they were getting away from the flames and Izaya, Shizuo noticed that the movements of the flames were slow, like in a shot of a camera in slow-motion. It seemed as if time had stopped and they were the only ones able to move.

Shizuo muttered out of sympathy, "This is the most fucked up dream I have ever had…"

•••••

It was an intermittent light of hope descending over him. Relief and despair were hand in hand, traveling alongside his future. Izaya should be angry. Izaya should be happy. Izaya should feel everything. Izaya should feel nothing.

This was reality in a dream. The thin frail line of reality had snapped and merged as a real-dream in the depths of his existence.

A sweet delightful scent lulled his senses, comforting him with tenderness and warmth.

Izaya hung onto that moment, seeking and keeping that feeling for himself.

The insecurities that flourished in his consciousness were relegated to a second plane. The circumstances were favorable for now.

There were soft things grazing him, touching his skin as if he was precious. He enjoyed the cold breeze against his face, like a breath of life for his soul.

There was a soft clank sound in the distance. Izaya opened his eyes, slowly adjusting to the light in the place. Like in his previous dream, Izaya saw how sunbeams were passing through the foliage of trees outside the windows, but unlike before, this felt right. The place was full of bookshelves but instead of books, what was arranged inside them was every kind of gun and ammunition. The roof of the place was high; more guns and strange devices were hanging from the ceiling in some sort of exhibition. The second floor was connected with a single staircase.

Izaya rose from the place he was laying. Green petals fell from his head. There were more sticking to his clothes. Izaya took one between his fingers and found the sensation similar to the one he felt when he was asleep. He was, quite literally, laying on a bed of roses; green roses, to be precise.

"I wouldn't move from there if I were you," a voice said earnestly. "That's the only thing that's keeping that guy away from you now. Not to mention, that it's keeping up your energy just barely enough to be alive."

Izaya saw the man walking to him.

"Okay, let's cut unnecessary formalities, let's get this straight and clear. My name's Heine. Yes, I saved you. Yes, I do want something from you. Yes, that's the only reason I saved you, because I need something only you can give me. What is that? That's very simple, actually. You know Tsugaru, right? And you know who was his lover, am I correct? I guess he didn't tell you what his purpose is or what he does for a living or who he's acquainted with. Well, Tsugaru and Psyche-"

"Don't do that anymore."

Izaya and Heine turned to the source of the voice and saw Tsugaru standing in the doorframe, wearing a blue kimono.

Heine pulled out his gun and pointed it at Tsugaru.

"No need to be rude. I haven't come to fight you. I'm here, merely looking for my charge." Tsugaru smiled and walked inside. "If you know who I am, then you should know that 'I either find a way or make one', Heine-san."

"Merely watch?" Heine scowled. "That's doesn't sound convincing to me."

"Think whatever you want to think. I'm here just to ensure Orihara-san's safety."

Suddenly, Tsugaru and Heine looked at Izaya.

"No need to be angry, Orihara-san. I never thought that Roppi would actually kill you. And if you have not noticed, we are also communicating with our minds here, so you don't have to curse that much."

"You have a dirty mind, you know that?" Heine said.

Izaya finally spoke and said, "Fuck you."

•••••

"Crap!" The girl helping to carry Shizuo stumbled on her own shoe, causing the deadly fall for the two of them. They fell on the ground. Hard.

"Damn, dammit, my time is up. My power is gone. Calm, calm. Think, just think. We got quite away from him and even though I'm not good with telepathy, I'm able to hide us both. Yeah, we just need us to get away from him until Tsugaru gets here… or better, we just have to get away from him, like right now. Tsugaru, you self-centered bastard! Where are you? I need to carry this big thug all the way without my powers, and where are you? Drinking some apple-juice! I guess! And why the hell aren't you talking, Shizuo-san?" The girl glared at Shizuo, who had managed to rest against the wall of the alley.

"Seriously! You're freaking me out here! Talk! Talk! I knew to talk, 'cuz if I don't do that my mind is going to burst! And what are you doing? Just panting there as if you were… Oh my, shit! I forgot to treat your wounds! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid me! Just wait a bit! I'll do it right away!"

The girl placed her hands on the sides of Shizuo's face and stayed quiet.

Shizuo felt a cold sensation seep through his brain. It was comfortable. He could finally breathe again.

"…There… uff, that was close." The girl slumped her shoulders; she was relieved. "You're very resistant," the girl commented a bit afterward.

Shizuo took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. There were dark and gray clouds forming. The rain was coming.

"Shizuo-san, please wait here. I'll bring Kadota-san to help me carry you. Erm, sorry, if this all so sudden, but the reason why that person said that Kadota wasn't with you was because I saved him first. There's so much I want to explain to you. But, just trust me, I'm your and Izaya-nyan's ally."

She stood, but caught Shizuo's voice. "Why is he doing this?"

"Because… he's selfish…"

•••••

"It's okay. It's okay. You don't have to worry, everything is going to be alright," Tsugaru said gently.

"Stop it! Stop messing with my head!" Izaya fisted the ground in anger while Tsugaru hugged him inconsiderately.

"You're like an open book to us. Deal with it," Heine said as a matter of fact.

Tsugaru turned his head to him and smiled a cold, dreadful smile. "You say any more rude things to Izaya, and I'll rip your tongue off."

"Sheesh, you're also that with him?" Heine talked back, but held his gun tightly in his hand.

"That is none of your concern. You should be more polite with the people you want help from," Tsugaru said blankly.

"I don't want you. I want him." Heine looked at Izaya. "Yes, you're something very valuable for many people. And the moment I noticed him… they also did…"

"This wasn't in my calculations," Tsugaru muttered.

"Anyway, the problem at hand is that freak that wants to possess you. There's only one form available to solve this problem. You have to bring him here… completely… his scent must be over this side…"

"I agree…" Tsugaru rose from the ground where Izaya was sitting.

"But…" Heine said.

Tsugaru looked straight into Izaya's eyes. "After that, you will have control of him with our help, but there's a price, Orihara-san…" Tsugaru wore the same look when he'd told Izaya about who he was. "…But just tell me, do you want to live, regardless of anything that comes from the future?"

"I do."

•••••

The rain was finally falling down.

Love.

He had never been in love.

Not even once.

He had been angry countless of times… and sad, and he had hated… He snorted softly. How much he had hated Izaya. But that meant that he really did mean something for him, didn't it? Always blurry. Everything about them had been blurry, like a curtain of smoke. He was afraid. Because that curtain was vanishing, leaving them exposed. Was it a bad thing, really? The droplets of rain fell over his face. After what that girl did to his head, he felt strangely thoughtful.

What did he want?

What did he want from Izaya?

Splash, splash, splash, splash…

Someone was getting near Shizuo.

Shizuo looked to his left and saw that fur coat, now lightly soaked in rain.

Izaya laughed. "Izaya, Izaya, Izaya, Izaya and Izaya! Izaya is what you always think about!"

Shizuo just gazed at him with suspicion.

He crouched in front of Shizuo. "You're such a pitiful human." After a moment, he laughed. "We can't believe it! Until now, you didn't understand that we weren't Izaya?

"Yup, Izaya isn't the one doing this chaos. We, Roppi, are the ones playing in this enormous playground." Roppi smiled. "By the way, we should tell you that you aren't going to see Izaya anymore…"

Shizuo, who was in some kind of apathetic state, stilled; his heart began to beat faster, something within his soul stirred uncontrollably.

"You know why…?" Roppi closed the distance between their faces and whispered into his ear. "He'll be gone forever! You won't have him ever again! Hahahaha!"

His body moved of its own accord. Everything happened so fast. His sight was blinded with that familiar red mist of ire and hate. He could faintly hear his own voice shouting at the top of his lungs: "Give me back Izaya!" again and again.

Shizuo's hands were over Izaya's throat.

And…

Everything changed in a second.

"…Shizu…chan…" Shizuo couldn't hear Izaya's voice. "…Well done…" The mist numbing Shizuo's senses began to dissipate, and slowly… so painfully slowly, he realized that−

"Izaya…?"

Izaya gasped for air and Shizuo immediately withdrew his hands. "…you win…"

Panic was rising. "Hey?" Shizuo asked, not able to form any coherent thought anymore.

Izaya chuckled softly, "…Goodbye…."

Izaya looked at Shizuo's pained expression and glanced one last time at the sky, and with a final breath, Izaya's body went limp.

"Izaya!" Shizuo called desperately.

Shizuo shook him. "Izaya, wake up!"

Wake up, I-I have to tell you…

A knot was forming in his throat. "Izaya… no… don't… hey…" Seconds after, a sorrowful cry erupted from his heart.

I have to tell you that…

What if this was a bleak future…?

I love you…

•••••

Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love. –George Eliot.

•To Be Continued•

Thank you very much for your comments!

Next, the final chapter!