The pounding, ringing in Shizuo's head is deafening as he stumbles home, unable to hear his own heavy footsteps and barely able to hold his thoughts together.
Damn it… Mom and Kasuka are going to be so upset when I come home like this… and I've been doing so well.
...shit. Are we out of milk? I think I need to go pick some up…
So it really shouldn't be a surprise that he doesn't notice someone trying to get his attention until boney fingers are digging into his left shoulder and a wavering voice gasps -
"Shizu-chan!"
Directly into Shizuo's ear.
Shizuo whips around, instinctively throwing the hand off of him and stumbles back to face whoever could be crazy enough to approach him so soon after a fight.
"Who the fuck…" Shizuo snaps, trying to focus on the small, dark figure in the dying light of the evening. It takes him longer than it should to recognize the object of his daydream right in front of him.
Izaya stares back at Shizuo, arm still partially stretched out and eyes wide as though he was the one who was just snuck up on.
"What the fuck Izaya…" Shizuo mumbles, dropping his head into his hands, digging his palms into his eyes to try and make the world stop spinning. "Don't sneak up on me like that! I could've killed you!"
"Sneak up on you?" Izaya repeats, bewildered tone prompting Shizuo to raise his head. "I've been calling your name from the other side of the street till now."
"Oh." Shizuo says, lacking any desire to banter and having a hard time focusing his eyes on Izaya's as they keep sliding off to other parts of the other boy's face. Have Izaya's ears always been that pink? He wonders, squinting and leaning forward towards Izaya.
Izaya steps back to maintain a large radius of personal space.
"What happened to you?" He demands, gesturing to the excessive amount of blood on Shizuo's face.
Shizuo blinks slowly, staring at Izaya's nose which lacks glasses but seems to be pinker as well. He blinks slowly and has to repeat Izaya's words to himself before he can answer.
Shizuo strings together his thoughts just long enough to explain. "Got into a fight… some blues guys hit me over the head with a baseball bat…" before losing his train of thought. "Iza, why is your face so red?" Shizuo asks, eyes trailing down to Izaya's lips next.
"It's winter you idiot, I'm cold!" Izaya snaps his fingers in front of Shizuo's face to get his attention, looking very annoyed. "I shouldn't be surprised a monster like you is walking after a head injury like that and yet I am. You need to get home before you pass out and die out here."
"Shut up, not a monster…" Shizuo grumbles out of reflex before Izaya's words really sink in. Home… get home… aw shit.
"Hey, Iza…" Shizuo stumbles forward a bit, steadying himself on the Red-Eyed Panther's shoulder who flinches at the contact. "Do you have any seltzer water?"
Izaya blinks rapidly, and the flutter of his thick eyelashes seem to be moving up a bit slower than the rest of the world.
"I mean… I don't want to drink it or anything… shit's nasty. It's just that my Mom gave me this scarf and I got blood all over it. I wanna wash it before she sees it…"
Izaya scowls and Shizuo wonders why he's never seen Izaya make this face before, he knows he makes it all the time.
"Your Mom is going to be upset that you got blood on her scarf?"
"No, no…" Shizuo shakes his head and instantly regrets how it makes to world start spinning again. "I'm upset I got blood on it… and she's gonna be so sad if she sees I got in another fight…" Shizuo blinks and tries to find Izaya's face again. It's a pretty good face. "Maybe you got some… I dunno, hydrogen peroxide? I heard that's pretty good… oh, I don't wanna drink that either."
Izaya's body becomes stiff as a board and he glances to the side, biting his lip in thought. This draws Shizuo's attention and narrows his focus straight to Izaya's lips again and how red and shiny they are.
"My house isn't that far," Izaya says, clipping his words short. "I'll see what I've got." He turns sharply, wrenching his shoulder out of Shizuo's loose grip to lead the way.
The walk to Izaya's is a blur and soon enough he's bumping into Izaya's back while he's fishing in his pockets for his keys, sending Izaya staggering forward into his front door.
"Sorry…" Shizuo mumbles, grabbing Izaya's sleeve to try and steady him.
Izaya huffs and stuffs his keys into the lock, but hesitates before turning them.
"I'm warning you now, Shizu-chan. I have little sisters."
Shizuo brightens with this information, not understanding why Izaya sounds so ominous.
"Really? I've got a little brother. I mean, he's really not that little but… I've got a brother."
Izaya sighs, turns the lock, and pushes the door open.
The heat that hits Shizuo's face makes him fully realize that he's been stumbling around in the cold and he's immediately drawn to it, almost tripping on the half-step up into the Orihara home.
Izaya locks the door behind them and the two barely have enough time to toe their shoes off before a loud, high-pitched squeal slices through Shizuo's eardrums.
"Iza-nii!" A little girl screams, running up to them with what appears to be Shizuo experiencing double-vision. He wonders if he really should go to the hospital. "Who's this? Why's he all bloody? Is he a dangerous yakuza?"
When Izaya kneels down and takes two girls into his arms Shizuo breathes a sigh of relief. There are in fact two girls there. They are twins.
"Quiet down you two. This is just someone from my school that needs help. I'll make you two some ramen and then you can go play quietly somewhere for awhile." Izaya says, voice low but authoritative, leaving no room for argument. Shizuo never thought he could sound like that, he only associates Izaya with flirtation and teasing. He sounds good like this too…
"But Iza-nii doesn't have any friends!" The loud one with braided pigtails protests. Shizuo snorts at the brutal honesty. Izaya's got some pretty cute sisters.
Izaya shoots him a dirty look and carries the girls further inside. Shizuo follows. He sits the girls down at their kitchen table, cluttered with junk mail and crayons, and directs Shizuo to the bathroom so he can wash his face.
Looking at his reflection in the immaculate mirror, Shizuo is a bit disturbed the twins responded as well as they did. He looks like a dead man.
He makes quick work of scrubbing off most of the dried blood and then fills the sink with cold water to let the scarf soak.
When Shizuo goes back to the kitchen to sit at the table, he fully realizes how badly he's needed to sit down.
"These are my sisters," Izaya says as water boils on the stove behind him. "Mairu." He places a hand on the talkative girl with the braids. "And Kururi." He places a hand on the quiet girl with short hair.
"And that monstrosity." He points to Shizuo. "Is Shizu-chan."
"Hey!" Shizuo snaps over the girls' laughter before he can even think about how he might accidentally scare them. "That's not my name. My name is Shizuo Heiwajima!"
The girls, thankfully, are not scared.
"Shizuo-nii, Shizuo-nii!" Mairu chants, bouncing in her seat.
"Shizuo-nii…" the Kururi whispers, smiling up at Shizuo and warming his heart.
The girls are loud and Shizuo can see why Izaya felt the need to warn him, but in the end, it would've been impossible for Shizuo not to love them. Being a big brother is his greatest pride and while these aren't his sisters that doesn't change Shizuo's love for kids.
"Shizuo-nii… boyfriend." Kururi whispers, stalling Shizuo's train of thought.
Shizuo doesn't trust his head enough to think that he heard her right. "Wha-"
"You're right Kururi!" Mairu shouts. "He's just like the guy Iza-nii-!"
-
Izaya clamps his hands over his sister's mouths, never having felt like becoming an only child before like he does in this moment.
"You two." He threatens. "Are going to stop talking before I let you go to bed hungry tonight with no story.
"Nooo!"
"You can't just not feed your sisters!" Shizuo snaps, causing Mairu to let out a muffled cheer.
Izaya glares at him but is grateful that Shizuo's still too out of it to insist on backtracking the conversation. Izaya's mind works quickly to keep Shizuo away from the fact that his sisters almost just ruined everything. If he had known the girls read his field notes he would've let Shizuo stumble all the way back to his family covered in blood.
"I bet you really spoil your brother."
"Kasuka isn't-!"
"You have a brother!" Mairu wrenches his hand from her mouth and chirps, changing the subject just as Izaya had hoped she would. "Is he tall and handsome like you?!"
"Does he like to play dress up?" Kururi ducks under Izaya's arm and leans forward over the table.
Izaya steps away with a sigh of relief and turns to finish the ramen with that crisis averted. Shizu-chan can handle his sisters for a few minutes. It's nice to make dinner in peace for once.
Dinner with a full table is surprisingly nice too.
With Mairu and Kururi fed and playing by themselves upstairs Izaya can finally focus on Shizuo.
Turning to see Shizuo. His Shizu-chan. Sitting at his kitchen table after having dinner with his family. With the quiet comes the opportunity for the full effect of this situation to finally kick in, and Izaya's not sure his heart can take it.
What was I thinking! He chastises himself, swallowing hard standing up. Oh, that's right, I wasn't thinking! This is what happens when you don't think! Stupid! As graceful as possible he rounds the table, picking up the dirty dishes.
"Alright, Shizu-chan." He says, trying his best to keep his voice as steady as possible despite the fact that the person of his interest is here. In his house. As if having my closet invaded wasn't bad enough. "I'll put these aside and you go get that scarf of yours. Let's get this over with."
Shizuo nods, but it takes him a minute before he manages to stand and even longer to fetch the scarf. Izaya goes through the practiced motion of rinsing dishes, ignoring the way his hands shake and pushing worry away.
My monster will be fine… but the Blue Squares… need to be dealt with.
Izaya had no idea how he's going to take on an entire gang by himself. A gang that assaulted Heiwajima Shizuo. But he's going to.
By the time Shizuo comes back into the kitchen Izaya's cleared the sink and found some hydrogen peroxide for them to treat it. He's never had an issue with bloodstains, but he supposes Shizuo must have, so he steps aside and lets the beast take over.
…
…
…
But Izaya can only stand the most awkward silence of his life for so long.
"Should you be in the hospital right now?"
Shizuo snorts. "You worried?"
"No," Izaya says, resting forward against the counter on his elbows and feigning an aloof disposition despite the defensive color flaring up in his cheeks. "I just don't want to have to worry about disposing of your hulking body if you die in my house."
Shizuo actually laughs at this and if Izaya felt red before he's sure his ears must look like their stained with blood too at this point. He has to fight off the instinct to snap what's so funny and keeps his composure by focusing on Shizuo's bruised hands working out the stains.
"You think you can get rid of a body and not get caught?" Shizuo asks, tone mostly light except for the slight edge of paranoia Izaya might be imagining.
But who would Izaya be if he didn't tease his Shizu-chan a bit?
Izaya shifts his weight to one side, leaning in towards Shizuo and jutting his hip out so it brushes against Shizuo's ever so slightly. Shizuo tenses visibly, light brown eyes darting to Izaya before trying to refocus on his task.
"Of course I can." Izaya replies easily, pitching his voice low. He raises his hand and places it on Shizuo's shoulder for the second time today, digging his boney fingers into the muscle as if he could leave bruises as thoughtlessly as Shizuo gave them to him while steadying himself.
Izaya watches Shizuo intently, hoping that his sisters will keep to themselves just a bit longer so he can watch Shizuo uninterrupted.
Slowly, Izaya brings himself up on his toes and leans in towards Shizuo's ear, rubbing his shoulder just a bit while he whispers.
"I can get away with anything I want, isn't that right Officer?"
Izaya lets his words hang in the air, waiting perfectly still to see what Shizuo will do. The world stops for them again, leaving the air between them suffocatingly hot. Three heartbeats of deafening silence pass between them and Izaya starts to wonder if something is wrong. Shizuo is completely frozen. Maybe the head trauma is too much after all?
Then, time starts again.
"Fuck off." Shizuo grunts, shouldering Izaya off of him.
This time, Izaya laughs.