Ever since the incident with the peephole Izaya has been keeping his distance from his specimen. He hates the idea of missing opportunities for information on him, but that close call has him terrified that Shizu-chan is onto him. Shizu-chan is not supposed to break the 4th wall that Izaya so carefully constructed.
It takes three weeks of hardly seeing Shizu-chan for Izaya to crack.
"I can bring tears to your eyes and resurrect the dead. I form in an instant and can last a lifetime. What am I?"
Shizuo's heart skips a beat when the whispers of a riddle drift through the bookcases as he skims some old court cases.
"Huh?" Shizuo croaks out, a reflexive stall for time.
"Come on Shizu-chan, this one is easy."
"Shizu-chan?!" He roars at the perversion of his name, red creeping into his vision. He almost squashed the little insect on the other side of the bookcase with the shelf when the little voice piped up again.
"Sshhh, we're in a library…" The voice purrs, and the sheer arrogance of it almost makes Shizuo forgo his respect for the rules.
He really is the worst delinquent.
Shizuo growls at the other boy, low and menacing as he searches for those red eyes.
"What do you want?"
"Isn't that obvious? I can bring tears to your eyes and resurrect the de-"
"Shut up." Shizuo snarls. "Who are you?"
The voice goes silent for a moment, Shizuo unaware of Izaya's silent struggle for a clever response through the all the electrical misfires in his brain from the sound of Shizuo's low, animalistic voice.
Once Izaya is reasonably certain his voice won't crack he replies.
"Answer my riddle first."
Shizuo briefly considers the riddle before reminding himself that he doesn't have to play into this creep's stupid game. He dashes to the far end of the bookcase and rounds the corner, intent on getting a good look at the little freak he's about to punch in the face - but the other boy isn't there.
"How rude, Shizu-chan." The boy drawls from the next row over. "I'm not done playing."
"I'm not playing with you." Shizuo snaps, getting more pissed by the second and desperate to take it out on those smug, red eyes. "Come out so I can beat the shit out of you."
Izaya snickers quietly, trying not to pay attention to the raw excitement rushing through him. He almost wants to step out and let Shizuo see his face.
"Ah, see the thing is, I don't want to get the shit beaten out of me. Sounds messy."
"I'll squash you like a bug!" Shizuo roars.
The chase is on, but Izaya is always somehow out of Shizuo's sight. Able to navigate the maze of books of his home turf and lose Shizuo at every turn.
Their blood is hot in their veins, boiling with pure adrenaline.
Come on, faster. I can catch that little creep if I just go faster. I can see those eyes again.
Shizuo wants to see this boy who hides in the library. He knows he should just beat the kid up and be done with it, but he's not too sure if he'll be able to punch the boy if those expressive eyes lock onto his again.
Come on, Shizu-chan. Come on, come on, faster. Come and catch me.
He wants to be caught. Izaya wants to be caught so bad but he knows he can't let that happen. The desire is so suffocating and confusing that he decides it would be for the best if this game stopped.
Being so near his specimen messes with his head.
A few more turns and Izaya manages to lead Shizuo into the stern librarian while avoiding the woman himself. He's on good terms with the old woman, and would like to keep it that way.
Shizuo just barely stops short of barreling the old librarian over. Heart stopping as his narrowly misses probably killing the ancient woman who's about half his size.
"S-sorry!" Shizuo gasps, swiveling his head around trying to see where the other boy could have gone. Bewilderment replaces all the heat in his body as there is no sign of the kid. He could've sworn he was right on his tail, how did the other boy get past the librarian?
"Heiwajima, what are you doing running and shouting in the library?" She demands, glaring straight up at Shizuo through thick glasses.
"I was- But he-" Shizuo sputters for a reasonable way to begin, but finds he can't think of anything that would sound reasonable. What's he supposed to say? A kid was asking me a riddle and I'm trying to attack him for it?
"Mr. Heiwajima, I understand that you have something of a reputation at this school." She steps closer to him, and Shizuo finds himself retreating. For such a small woman her presence is enormous. "You may be able to frighten some of the faculty into getting away with misconduct but I will not be intimidated by the likes of you."
Shizuo completely deflates at her words. "I am very sorry." He apologizes with a deep bow. "I have no excuse for disrespecting you like this…"
Unlike Izaya, crouched behind nearby a shelf, the librarian does not seem surprised by his sincere apology.
"If I catch you acting out again you will no longer be spending your community service here and I will notify your counselor. Is that clear?"
"Yes ma'am." Shizuo tries his best not to mumble out of shame. Despite the occasional riddle and the odd smell he likes working at the library. He knows he is unlikely to find a quieter job around school, which is really all he wants. He mentally berates himself for almost fucking that up over some weirdo.
"Good." She turns and strides away, leaving Shizuo to try and not think about how she felt the need to stand up to him. How she could even think that he would threaten her.
He knows she has good reason, and that makes it worse.
Suddenly he really doesn't feel like reading anymore. Leaving may make that bastard feel like he's won, but at the moment Shizuo doesn't care. He needs a cigarette. And maybe a chocolate bar.
Izaya watches as Shizuo shoves his hands into his pockets and hunches over, the wide line of his shoulders forming a wall around him. Looking dejected, Shizuo quickly leaves the library.
He notes a few new things about Shizuo today.
Curled up in his favorite corner of the roof, Shizuo lights himself a cigarette and tries not to think about the day. For awhile he is successful. The sun is too bright and the wind is a bit too strong and by his third deep drag the answer to today's riddle pops into his mind, as if it came from the vast, blue sky and not his own mind.
"A memory, huh…"
Maybe he's been reading too many court cases, or watching too many cop shows, but there's something more to the boy with the red eyes than just a knack for being annoying.
For starters, he's knowingly picking on Heiwajima Shizuo with no intention of taking him in a fight. And he can seem to vanish from what Shizuo has dubbed "the crime scene" like a true villain. One that would take a few episodes for the cops to catch instead of just one. Not to mention the creepy riddles and the creepy, yet strangely… well, Shizuo would say alluring if he was a woman or something. But he won't say alluring, because there isn't anything alluring about another guy.
So Shizuo settles on just creepy.
At home Shizuo had ripped out piece of notebook paper and written down the facts. He doesn't know what he's looking for, but detectives on TV always seem to find unexpected leans from seemingly insignificant information.
Currently he is focusing on the answers to the two riddles. Even if there's no intentionally hidden message there's gotta be some… subconscious clue into the villain's mind? That's how it works, probably.
The answer to the first riddle was 'Nothing' but more specifically the boy had said 'I am nothing.' Twice, in fact. That had to count for something. The answer to the second riddle, which he was confident in his answer for, was 'a memory.'
'I am nothing' and 'a memory.'