51 minutes into the flight
Izaya was normal again after he picked up his book and continued reading it. He was quite surprised at what Shizuo did to get even with him just moments ago. That Shizu-chan, he thought, so unpredictable. I agree, I was quite tense about what happened. And that smile. It seemed really... different. Is this the Shizu-chan I know? I like this. This is getting fun. The aura feels like it's changed too. It's not quite edgy anymore, but more... pleasant-like? Izaya looked up from his book and peered at Shizuo, who was serenely looking out the window. He studied him as he continued to ponder more. It's weird, he started, I've never seen the calm side of him and yet it looks like he adjusted himself to me. This is really weird. I kind of... like this side of him. I wish I could see more of this side.
Shizuo suddenly turned and looked at Izaya. He was completely unaware of the fact that he stared at Shizuo for a whole minute straight.
"W-what?" Izaya blurted.
"I'm kind of curious, what book are you reading? It looks... interesting." Shizuo replied.
Shizuo happened to be in a good mood at the moment so he wanted to start up a conversation with Izaya about something he's been curious about for a while now.
"Oh this?" Izaya let out a sigh of relief as he continued. "It is quite interesting, indeed. It's a short novella called Anthem by Ayn Rand. She's a Russian-American writer and philosopher. I am quite fond of her. She has a very interesting view on humanity." Izaya said, as he showed him the plain white cover that had a yellow light bulb on it along with the title that indeed said 'Anthem' along with the author's name.
"Hm." Shizuo thought. "What's it about?"
"Where should I start… well, this story would be what you call an 'anti-utopian' society. Everything and everyone is controlled by the government which is called the "World Council". They decide pretty much everything. The thing is that in this story, all the people work together and no one can be an individual. They aren't allowed to express their opinion. The individual pretty much lives to be part of the group. And everyone must address themselves and others as 'we', 'they', and 'our'. The words 'I', 'me', 'my', 'mine', and even 'ego' are banned. They are what you call the "Unspeakable Words", but the thing is that, no one knows them since they have been long forgotten since the Unmentionable Times. Isn't that just remarkable?" Izaya gleamed.
"W-wow. I barely got half of that. Is that just what the entire book is about? Just talking about how people live like that?"
"Oh no no, of course not! That's just the background information. The real story are the diary entries of the main character, Equality 7-2521, who dared to even act like an individual and think on his own. He was the only one that completely hated not being an individual. When the Council of Vocations chose a job he would have for the rest of his life, he hated it. He wanted to be something different. And even worse, he did the worst sin ever possible."
"What's that?" Shizuo gulped as he looked really into it.
Izaya laughed as he took in Shizuo's hilarious expression. "That would be falling in love, Shizu-chan."
"Oh." He paused for a moment. He started again. "But wait, how do people make, you know, babies? Aren't they supposed to fall in love?"
"Aha, no can do. Remember, there is no individualism allowed. When people reach a certain age, they are tossed into the Palace of Mating and are forced to make offspring without a choice. And guess what? After that, they move on with their lives, the parents never knowing who their kids are, and the kids never knowing who their parents are."
"That's sad..."
"It sure is. And that is why I love this story. Ayn Rand is a complete genius for writing this. I mean, who could ever think about controlling and toying with society like that? That is just so astonishing! If I was living in a world like this, I would definitely be chosen to be a member of the World of Councils! Orihara Izaya taking over the world and controlling all the pathetic little humans! Ahahahaha!"
"Tch, yeah right. Just one look at you and those people would probably make you a toilet cleaner or something like that." Shizuo began to laugh.
Izaya gasped. "Oh no you didn't! That's something along the lines of what you would probably do, Shizu-chan! Ah wait..." Izaya fell silent.
"What?"
"Well, you are actually correct. In this story, the smartest people are chosen the most worthless jobs and the dumbest people are chosen the most difficult jobs."
"Really?"
"Mhm. That's why Equality 7-2521 didn't like his job. He was an intellectual and given the career of a street sweeper. Yay for my chances of being a World Council member."
"Haha. That sucks for you." Shizuo smiled.
He saw that Izaya was now sulking. It was pretty hilarious, seeing him so powerless like this. It was quite bizarre for Shizuo but he liked having a normal conversation with Izaya. At least he wasn't getting as pissed off as he normally would. And this topic about books interested him. He always thought books were pretty boring but the sound of the one him and Izaya were conversing about grabbed his attention. He guessed that of course Izaya would know where to obtain the most peculiar books too.
"Say, you seem kind of bored. I brought another book with me. Would you be at all interested in reading it? I'm not sure if it's really your kind though. But then again, you don't seem like the type interested in books."
"What's it called?"
"The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Heard of it?" Izaya asked.
"I think I have... what's it about?"
"It's an old favorite of mine. I hardly remember it, I just brought in case I finished Anthem early and had enough time to reread it. To put it briefly, it's about this woman's grandfather who works as a curator for a museum and one day, he gets murdered unexpectedly. Her and a symbolist have to track down a hidden code he left for them seconds before he died and use them to find out more about the truth behind the woman's past. It's more religious then anything actually. I find it quite intriguing how these two humans have the smarts to crack all these codes and yet reveal this whole woman's past in a matter of merely a day. Humans can be so interesting can't they? Too bad they are only fiction."
"Oh cool. It sounds really neat. I'm interested."
"Aha, it might be a little difficult for you to comprehend though. Are you sure you want to read it?"
"Yeah, I want to try it out."
"Alrighty then~ one moment."
Shizuo watched the informant as he dug around in his carry-on bag and pulled out a red book with gold-printed text on it. Izaya handed him the book.
"Thanks."
Shizuo mentally froze as he heard himself say that with such sincerity. What the fuck was that? It was okay at first starting up a conversation with him but now it feels odd. I feel like we're something along the lines of... friends? What the hell? Okay, I'm just getting out of hand here. That is absolutely not it. Hopefully reading this book will keep my head cool. After I'm done with reading, I'm giving him back his book and that will be it. No more nice talk. It's fucking weird.
1 hour and 32 minutes into the flight
Izaya yawned and stretched as he closed his book.
"Ah, that's enough reading for now. Just one more chapter left! I don't want to finish it now though, so I'll just save it for later." Izaya proposed, as he put the book in his bag. He looked over at the blond. "How's it going for you?"
"Oh, good. I really like these chapters. They're short, like five pages long each. I'm in the middle of chapter 5. I like it, but I don't get a few things..."
"I knew you wouldn't." Izaya chuckled. "Do you at least get what's going on?"
"Yeah. This curator guy was killed by this bad albino guy, Silas. Then this guy, Robert Langdon, gets called to help investigate the murder scene. That's all I've gotten so far. Some things do kind of confuse me like this group, Opus Dei? And the Priory of Sion? Also certain French words they use. I don't know any French... "
"Oh non! How do you not know any français? It is a very beautiful language, it is. Oui!"
"Ah shut up, I don't get you. Oh, what about the girl you mentioned? There's no girl in this book so far..."
"Oh, her! She's the curator's granddaughter. She should be coming up soon."
"Hm okay. Does she and that Robert guy get together at the end?" Shizuo wondered.
"Haha jumping to conclusions so soon are we? I'll have you find that out for yourself at the end." Izaya smiled.
"Okay then. Here, I'm done with reading this for now. I'll make a mental note to finish reading it later." Shizuo handed him the book.
"Okie dokie!" Izaya said, while he took the book and shoved it into his bag.
There was an awkward pause of silence after Izaya put away the book. Izaya simply wanted to ask him something he'd been wondering ever since he first saw him on this plane.
"So, I've wanted to know in detail... why are you traveling to Okinawa?"
Shizuo was all in all taken aback by this question. Izaya's curious to something like this? He thought about his answer and just told him the whole story.
"Well it first started out that when I was exhausted one day from work. My boss, Tom-san, simply saw me and brought up a suggestion that I take a break and possibly go on a vacation... he even suggested I go to Okinawa because he said it's nice here. So I wanted to try it out myself."
"Ohhh. Well that's a nice story." Izaya said.
"Yeah. So you're here because of business, you said?"
"Mhm that's right. This guy just sent me an email wanting to meet up with me to get some information. And there wasn't a way he could come to Shinjuku so he wanted me to fly down where he lives, which is Okinawa." he explained.
"Wait, if you're flying for business, why aren't you sitting in the business part of this plane?" Shizuo wondered, the question actually sounding like a question and not a threat.
"You mean why I'm currently not seated in the business-class section? Well you see, those business-class people usually have managers who usually pay for their ticket. They go flying strictly for business related stuff only the whole time they are there. I'm not part of any of that nor do I work for any manager. And besides, this trip is a one-time meet up. I don't want to go and have to pay an extra thousand dollars to get a bigger seat with a television, if I'll just be enjoying that for a couple hours. So that's why I ended up sitting here next to you, Shizu-chan." Izaya smirked.
"Tch. I see." Shizuo looked down and then up at him again. "How long are you planning on staying then? A day?"
"No, of course not! Why would I spend this whole trip just for this one guy anyway? I'm planning on staying a week, maybe a week and a half, tops. I must observe and get to know some humans in this city, you know!"
"Mm I see."
"What about you?"
"I was thinking about a week too."
"Aha, what if we both decide to leave at the same time again and end up on the same flight? Wouldn't that be so ironic?" Izaya joked.
"Heh, I don't think that can happen."
"It's possible!" Izaya exclaimed.
"I guess it could be." Shizuo acknowledged.
"Mhm. I don't know about you, but I'm a little tired. I think I'm going to take a short nap now if you don't mind. Actually this would be more to your advantage. No more talkative me for a while."
"Heh finally." Shizuo said.
The ex-bartender watched as Izaya bent down to grab a blue blanket type thing out of his bag. When Shizuo instantly knew what it was, he began laughing hysterically. Izaya looked up at him in horror.
"What's so funny?" Izaya stared at him furiously.
"Hahahaha, is that a freakin'... snuggie?" Shizuo responded trying to hold his laugh in but couldn't. It was too much for him.
"Yes it is, so what?" Izaya replied irritably. Shizuo just laughed even harder after Izaya began to talk. Izaya was getting more and more aggravated. He waited a while until Shizuo's laughing barely subsided and asked, "Done yet?"
"Hahaha yeah almost." He felt the urge to laugh some more but held it in. "Aren't snuggies kind of... gay?"
Izaya gasped dramatically. "Absolutely not! Why, they are the most convenient thing ever invented! It's a blanket but it keeps your arms warm as well! Genius! Pure genius!" Izaya asserted while putting his arms through the arm sleeves.
"Hahaha whatever. It looks funny on you. So much for being a man."
"Shut up, Shizu-chan! I'm going to sleep now! Hmph!" Izaya turned the other direction annoyingly and curled up in a small ball on the seat.
Shizuo watched his every move. He was thoroughly amused and wanted to laugh more but he didn't want to press it on any longer. He saw how Izaya used his sleeve covered arms as a support for his head while he lay them on the armrest. And he saw that his legs were bent and up on the seat. He looked like a curled up cat if you observed close enough. Shizuo couldn't help but notice that he looked kind of cute. He simply didn't look like his original troublesome and irritating self. But cute. And innocent. In fact, it came to realization that Shizuo never saw him sleep. And it was absolutely captivating.
He froze and realized that he had been staring at Izaya for the past two minutes. He quickly turned the other way. He noticed that the window was streaming in bright rays of sunlight. He took a look around and noticed that some of the passengers had the window shades pulled down and were resting or taking naps as well. Shizuo did him the favor of pulling down the window shade and darkening the area around them to make it easier for Izaya to sleep. He glanced at Izaya who was snoring lightly which already indicated that he was fast asleep. All of a sudden, Izaya unconsciously moved up and changed his position to lay his head back on the seat while he let his legs drop to the floor.
Shizuo let him be and decided to listen to some of the music the plane had to offer. He dug around the front pouch and pulled out headphones. He plugged them into the arm of the seat and browsed through the music channels they had available. He finally found a channel with soothing music and it relaxed him. He began to gradually close his eyes when something startled him. Something hit the side of his shoulder and he quickly turned to see what it was. Izaya's head happened to slowly lean to the side until it rested against Shizuo's shoulder. Shizuo slightly blushed at having seen Izaya lean against him.
Shizuo took his headphones off momentarily and whispered, "Oi, flea. Psst Izaya." He began poking him but Izaya didn't budge. Shizuo moved up slightly to try to whisper into his ear better. He noticed something right away. What's that smell? He closed his eyes and leaned down to Izaya's neck while inhaling. He realized that Izaya was wearing some kind of perfume, no, cologne or something and that it smelled very pleasant. He fancied the scent and was unexpectedly attracted to it. When he opened his eyes, his heart skipped a beat or more when he noticed how close he was to Izaya's smooth, soft skin. His lips were just barely brushing the side of Izaya's neck.
He quickly pulled himself back as Izaya's head slid onto Shizuo's shoulder even more. Shizuo tried to keep himself calm while he put his headphones on again. What the fuck was that? Why the hell is my heart beating so fast? Why the fuck is it someone like him? Thoughts kept taking over his mind.
Shizuo just didn't want to think about any of this. As he heard the sound of the calm music, his thoughts were slightly at ease. He noticed the plane lights dim for the sole purpose of allowing passengers to rest for a bit. As Shizuo grew more and more sleepy, he unintentionally leaned his head on Izaya's and slowly but comfortably, dozed off.