Arc One, Chapter Twelve

The blonde extended a hand out, clenching it around Izaya's small neck; the blood in his body was boiling and he just saw red. "Huh, flea," he said, slowly lifting him off the ground. "I've tried playing fucking nice with you, figured it would benefit both sides, but I guess I saw wrong!" His hand started to tighten some more, but he stopped, his eyes widening at seeing Izaya gasping for air and trying to kick him. He quickly dropped Izaya to the ground and the blonde sprinted away before anything else could happen. "Damn it, damn it, damn it," he repeated, "what the hell just got over me?"

Izaya thought he was going to die then and there. He was to busy panting to yell out an insult at the brute. He rubbed at his neck as Shinra walked out of his office. It's better this way, Izaya tried to convince himself. The brunette pushed his glasses up on his face. "Izaya...why do you do this to yourself?" That only earned a glare from the info broker. "What, you think it's all my fault?"

"No, but at least Shizuo-kun was trying; you're not even trying." The doctor told the panting info broker. He knelt by the other man, tilting his head up, making sure Izaya breathed enough air into his lungs. He started to make sure his neck was fine. "Doesn't this little game get old? I mean, you two do the same thing every day, fight. Have you ever thought about breaking that cycle? Or would it be the end if you two suddenly stop fighting?"

Now even Shinra was tired of their fighting. Izaya couldn't let Shizuo go; he grew up fighting with the man. He was Izaya, for crying out loud. "No, it doesn't get old and it will never get old." The words hurt coming from his mouth. "Of course the world would end, Shinra! What would Ikebukuro be like without us?" He laughed and coughed.

Celty hopped on her bike and rode off to find Shizuo. When Shizuo was in one of those moods, he ended up hurting someone or himself by mistake. She knew how much he beat himself up over fights with Izaya. The man did nothing but anger Shizuo. She stopped by Shizuo on the sidewalk and frantically showed him her message. [Shizuo! We need to talk.] She typed again with her lean, strong fingers. [I know it's not your fault.]

"Go away Celty," he told her, his voice cracking a little. Celty typed up another message and the blonde turned to face her. He was going to tell her to fuck off but the words just didn't come out. He lowered his head, silent tears started running down his cheeks. The headless rider leaped off her bike and walked over to the blonde, but she wasn't really sure what to do. She nearly jumped when Shizuo rested his head to her shoulder.

"I almost killed him," the blonde muttered a few times over. This really wasn't like Shizuo, crying over Izaya. She wrapped her arms around the man, trying to make him feel better. "I'm fucking sick of it. The fighting, it's been happening for over ten years. When we were in my apartment, we were talking without yelling at each other…I enjoyed it, a lot. I was trying to be friends and I keep fucking up."

Celty ran her hands along his back to comfort him, feeling the tears on her shoulder. It was sad that someone as sweet as Shizuo fell for a manipulative jerk like Izaya. She had helped Izaya as a friend whenever he needed it but that didn't mean she liked him. The only reason why she put up with him was for Shinra's sake. Celty would never understand how anyone could trust Izaya with personal information.

After a few minutes, she let go of Shizuo and typed on her PDA. [You are the only one that likes Izaya for who he really is.] She showed him. [It makes sense that after ten years, you'd want to kill him. But you didn't, and I am sure that is exactly what Izaya wants. He wants you to hate him again.] If Izaya didn't have Shizuo to bother constantly, his life wouldn't be so entertaining. He loved testing Shizuo's strength and anger. This time, he didn't just annoy Shizuo, he broke his heart.

"Who else would put up with his trolling ass?" The blonde asked, not expecting an answer to that question. "Look, it's been really hard on me. I've had a crush on him ever since I met him." He watched Celty type and she held it up. [You've liked him for that long!] The blonde laughed, finding it a bit funny for some odd reason.

"Wish you had that head of yours. It would be interesting to see the look on your face. But…you know, I've always had this fear of hurting people...and the flea doesn't break that fucking easy." He sighed deeply as the woman typed more, asking a question.

[If you want, tell me what happened with Izaya.] Shizuo thought for a moment, wondering what he should tell her.

"Took advantage of him when he was drunk...but he was drunk and I wasn't able to stop him. For some fucking reason, whatever the hell possessed him made him stronger." His face heated up. "Look, without all the details…you just need to know that…we're not virgins anymore."

It would have been priceless to see Celty's face, indeed. He slept with Izaya? She knew that Shizuo liked Izaya, but not that they would ever go that far. And did Shizuo say that Izaya was possessed? This was all so confusing. [You said Izaya was possessed? And he was stronger than you? How do you know that...] She paused, thinking of the right words to type. [...it wasn't the heat of the moment?]

"How I know? Because he doesn't remember the times he felt me up in public. I mean, I knew he wasn't lying to me when he said he didn't remember. Trust me, I wouldn't just sit there and let him rape me. I'd struggle, but he just pushed me back. Trust me, its possession. And why not, you're headless, why can't a spirit control people?" The ex-bartender turned on his heels, getting himself a drink from the vending machine. "Shinra pretty much said you couldn't help, or can you?"

Yes, it definitely sounded like Izaya was being possessed . That would explain his odd behaviour. She slumped her shoulders, not entirely sure if she should tell Shizuo the truth. Shinra had lied to Shizuo and Celty hated lying, even if it was necessary. [Actually, I can try and get it out of him. It is definitely possible, but there are some risks.] She showed him the message. [There is more than one risk. I will be messing with his soul, Shizuo.]

Shizuo felt a pang in his heart. He didn't need that part explained. If Celty had to mess with Izaya's soul to get the spirit out of him...that raised a chance that Izaya's personality would change. "If he wants to do it, then do what you can to help him. I don't have a say in the matter, it's not my body."

Celty nodded her helmet and typed again. [You're a good person, the most selfless person I know.] She showed him the message, and if she could smile, she would. Since Shizuo cared about Izaya, of course he would feel reluctant to know the risks. [I have to go now. If Izaya goes through with this, I promise I'll do the best I can.]

"Izaya, why did you do it? Why did you make Shizuo that mad when you knew he wasn't in the mood to deal with you?"

"Why else would I do it, Shinra? I don't need to explain myself." Izaya sighed. The doctor was really persistent, that was for sure. "Fine." He felt like it was a waste of time, but he couldn't move much without feeling winded anyways. "I don't want Shizuo to like me. It's stupid and...I just can't handle it." Izaya finished, feeling like he shared his life story. "Now enough about me! What about you?" He rested his cheeks in the palm of his hands.

"Shizuo?" He questioned, finding it odd that Izaya was calling the blonde by his real name. Shinra smile widened into a grin. "I don't know, I find it so damn cute that Shizuo likes you. Makes since how he's been acting all these years, I should've guessed," he said without thinking, "wait, Shizuo-kun likes you!" He exclaimed and Izaya covered his mouth. "So, you don't want Shizuo to like you?" He sighed, changing the subject when he saw Izaya's expression. "I guess I should tell you...my dear Celty can help you remove the spirit. There are risks which is why I didn't tell you about it in the first place."

Cute was definitely not the right words to describe Shizuo's attraction. Annoying, unnecessary, repulsive...he could go on. "How can you even guess that Shizuo likes me? He throws vending machines at me." Izaya laughed at the memories. "Why did you lie to me, Shinra? Of course I want that!"

"I needed to think of the risks. Celty said she has to 'mess with your soul' to help you. And even if she's as careful as possible, there are still risks. Worse case, you can go into a coma," he bluntly told the info broker, "if you can deal with the risks, we'll do it. But I want you to think about it overnight, Izaya, before you give me an answer."

"Of course I can deal with the risks. Who do you think I am?" If thinking about it overnight was the only way to convince Shinra that he really wanted it, then so be it. "Fine, fine, whatever." He yawned and stretched. Izaya had been through worse, he really didn't care about the risks. "So, good night! I'll see you in the morning." He leaned against Shinra's lap and decided that he was going to sleep there. He really didn't feel like moving from his position.

Shinra's face heated up, wasn't expecting Izaya to sleep on him. He just started to sweat bullets, unsure what to do and it wasn't like he could move the other man; he wasn't strong enough. He was able to bring him inside after Celty came back. The night passed and when Izaya walked into the living room, Shinra offered him some food. "I assume you still want to go through with this? Perhaps you want to give your final trolling moments to Shizuo," he teased.

Izaya slipped on his fur jacket and shook his head no. "I don't want to be near him. The last thing I need is something bad happening to me and him being there. It would be a nuisance." It was Izaya's way of saying that he cared about Shizuo. If he was there when he woke up, he would be the first person Izaya clung to to comfort. He didn't want Shizuo to see him so fragile. "But I do need to talk to someone. I will be back in a couple of hours."

Izaya walk home and inside his loft to find Namie stacking papers at her desk. "Oh hello!" He announced and went to print off papers for Shiki. He slapped the papers on Namie's desk. "I need you to organize these for me while I contact clients. After that's done, we're going to have sex." He decided nonchalantly. "On another note, I might be away for a while. If I am not back within a week, you are on holidays."

Namie just stared at Izaya and scoffed. "I'll do the paperwork, but I'm not having sex with you," she told her boss. Izaya only asked Namie to sleep with him because he wanted to see if his feelings for Shizuo were real. He had no experience with either lust or love before Shizu-chan. "If you're actually nice enough for once, tell me why you might be gone." The info broker just shrugged and looked through his contacts, finishing work that needed to get done.

When he finished, Izaya headed on back over to Shinra's, managing not to run into Shizuo by some miracle. The doctor asked him if he was done everything and got a simple nod. He lead him into the operating room with Celty. Izaya laid down and Shinra pierced his vein with the IV. "We're not cutting you open, but Celty and I agree you should be asleep. Shinra placed the mask on Izaya's mouth and waited for him to fall asleep. Hours passed and Shinra looked over, seeing Izaya's eyes open. "Thank god; I was afraid you might have fallen in a coma." The doctor smiled, staring down at his confused best friend. He was unsure whether or not that was due to the drugs. "Are you alright, Izaya?"

Responses to reviews:

unconsciousmelody14: Haha, I am not sure if the sex would be considered romance...but thank you anyway! :D

Rai Rai Blue: Thank you for your review! I will still update during school, but I'll be slow. Actually, I was working on editing in all of my classes...I should probably pay more attention but editing is actually entertaining. And aww, I love it when my stories affect someone but then I also feel bad. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

kokochi: Oh yeah, that is why I love him. :]

AN: Please review! Every review matters and helps us continue. This is the end of arc one, arc two will start soon.