"I don't understand," Shizuo sighs, heading over to the MANAGEMENT building. "Why didn't you just do it yourself? Y'know, go ask for your life back instead of makin' me?" He stomps down the hill, Izaya trailing behind him with a much better temperament.

"Because it wasn't my fault I died, it was yours." Izaya states easily, though Shizuo felt that was debatable. "And anyway… I couldn't get the doors open." He huffs. Shizuo pauses before the building, looking it over for a second. The closer they got the colder the air seemed to grow, not an uncomfortable chill, but, not a refreshing one either.

"You...couldn't get the doors open?" He asks, grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"They were very heavy, okay? But, that shouldn't be a problem for a brute like you, so get to it." He commands, completely ignoring Shizuo's glare. 'Asshole.'

"Fine, but once we get your life back you'd better stay alive and away from here." He says, reaching for the handle. He's surprised when Izaya's hand grabs his own, suddenly, tugging it back sharply and drawing his eyes to Izaya's. He's angry, another mood swing apparently, and Shizuo is taken aback at how easily he flips.

"What do you mean, stay away from here?" Izaya snaps, glaring right back at him. "Do you intend to stay dead?" He asks, a laugh in his voice that suggests this is a silly thought.

"Yes." Shizuo tries to pull his hand back, but Izaya grips it tighter, face paling on an emotion he can't place. 'He's become more of an open book, ever since we got here,' Shizuo observes silently. 'Then again, suppose I've felt calmer...must be somethin' in the air.'

"What...you want to stay dead?" He hisses, tugging on Shizuo so that he turns and faces him. "Why in the world would you want that? Are you crazy? Have you gone insane? Can you even comprehend me, mad man-?"

"Yes, yes I can comprehend you!" He snaps angrily, teeth grit and eyes narrowed in clear threat.

"Then explain yourself." Izaya gets right into his face, proving he's not the least bit intimidated. "Explain yourself right now!"

"No." He refuses, simply. He turns away from the ex informant, pulling his hand free with enough force that Izaya stumbles forward a few steps. He can feel Izaya's glare cutting into his back, sharp like one of his many knives. 'Nice, shakespeare. You could have just said he was "glaring daggers."' Ah, look at that. It seems self deprecation followed him to hell.

"Let's just get this over with." He mutters darkly, placing a hand around the left door's handle and tugging lightly.

It doesn't budge.

"What the…?" He tugs harder, but still the door doesn't move. The sun is beginning to rise, and with the added light he looks for any sign that the building is closed. There are none, and he can't look inside since the doors are metal.

"What's the hold up?" Izaya bites out, and Shizuo scowls at his tone. It's rare for him to be so aggressive, at least in such a blunt way, but he brushes it off. He supposes death would make anyone a little grumpy, after all. And amazingly impatient, ironically enough.

"It won't open." He tugs harder, hard enough that a street sign would have warped beyond mend by now, but nothing happens.

"Don't tell me, you've grown weak?" Izaya mock gasps, coming up behind him. "Maybe you just aren't angry enough."

"What're you plannin'..." He starts, eyes going wide when he feels Izaya swiftly tug his pants down. Fine time to figure out The Afterlife Dress Code didn't include underwear.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" He roars over Izaya's obnoxious laughter, aiming a fist for his face. Izaya dodges, having the nerve to point while he half doubles over from glee.

"Look at it flopping around!" He gets out between gasping laughs, ducking under another fist and successfully staying just out of reach as he always did. "Just like you, it can't hit this!"

"...What?" Shizuo pauses, frowning in confusion.

"Think about it, Shizu-chan." Izaya sighs, walking back over to the building. Shizuo pulls up his shorts and follows, not sure he wants to consider the implications of joke. 'Asshole!'

"Did you even try?" Izaya accuses him, eyes sliding over to his in the cool shade of the complex. He grips the door handle on the left, the same one Shizuo had tried, and makes a small show of feeling for the small dents and cracks Shizuo typically leaves in anything he touches.

"You know damn well I did!" He snaps, grabbing the right handle and pulling. It flies open easily, and in his shock he lets go before he can think otherwise. He watches the door close with a mix of anger and denial. Izaya lets his hand fall from the door, raising a slim eyebrow at him. Shizuo scowls, muttering curses under his breath. "The door was just stuck earlier, that's all." He mumbles.

"Mm-hmm~" Izaya smirks, and Shizuo goes to, yet again, pull the door with an angry scowl.

And, yet again, door doesn't budge.

"What the hell!?" He cries, punching the door itself in frustration. There are no dents to be seen, no crumble or crater the shining metal before them. At this point he's pretty sure someone is mocking them.

"Are you trying to make me angry, Shizu-chan?" Izaya asks, voice practically spitting venom like the snake he is.

"I'm telling you, it won't move!" Shizuo barks, putting a foot against the opposite door and tugging with a great deal of his strength. He's amazed his fingers don't break from the force.

"Oh, You're such an asshole." Izaya snaps, apparently mistaking Shizuo's for a prank. He moves, grabbing the right handle again, and both doors come flying open. Shizuo falls back, as Izaya steps swiftly inside, the door closing behind him. He gets up with more aggression in his movements than necessary, grabbing the door, and yup you guessed it, pulling.

He feels ready to lose his shit when it won't open.

"Izaya!" He snarls. "Open the door!"

"I'm not holding it back." Izaya protests from the other side. "Just come in already."

"...It won't fucking open. It apparently only responds to you, so push them open for me or I'm going back to the hill." He threatens, and though he's not there he can just see Izaya rolling his eyes.

"Fine, fine. Geeze, death has made you such a," He pauses, voice getting quieter suddenly. "...Shizu-chan?"

"What?" He huffs, resisting the urge to tap his foot like a cartoon character.

"It won't open." Izaya says. Shizuo frowns, eyeing the damn door with confusion. After a moment or two, during which he imagines Izaya was pushing harder, he hears him start to bang his fists against the door several times. "It won't open!" He yells, panic seeping into his voice.

"Calm down." He laughs. "Didn't know you were scared of the dark."

"I'm not!" Izaya snaps over the sound of him hitting the door harder, supposedly throwing his weight against it now. 'Overreact, much?'

"Sounds like you are," He teases perhaps a bit cruelly.

"Don't you understand!?" Izaya growls, throwing himself against the door again. "If you're here with me then this isn't Heaven, it's Hell! We haven't been tortured yet, but what do you want to bet this mysterious Management building is a trap? Or some kind of demon company! Who knows what's in here? I don't, cause I can't see!" He hadn't thought about that, and he stamps down the annoying that that perhaps 'Izaya didn't need me to talk to someone, he needed me for protection/bait.'

"Shit," he curses, and he'd be rolling up his sleeves if he had any. "Stand back, I'll try to break it down."

He waits a second for Izaya to shuffle back, taking a few steps back, then moving forward in a burst of speed. He slams into the door, not damaging it in the least. He tries again, and again, and again to no avail.

"Shizu-chan!" Izaya yells, and Shizuo growls impatiently with the rising feeling of panic. He's not so sure he wants to be alone here, after all.

"I'm trying!"

"No, just, stop that. We'll try something else. You pull, hard as you can, and I'll push. Okay?"

"'Kay." He agrees, nodding to himself and panting a bit from the adrenaline rush.

"On Three." Izaya instructs, and he places a hand on each handle without pulling yet. "One. Two! Three-!" He pulls and Izaya pushes at the same time, and thankfully the door finally opens up again. Izaya comes flying forward, knocking them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs. He's panting as well, clearly still unnerved by the idea of being stuck in that building alone.

"...I think I figured it out." Izaya mumbles against his neck, then uses his arms to push and hold himself above Shizuo. "We both have to be pulling, or at least touching, the doors."

Shizuo nods, staring up at Izaya hovering above him. Even in the shade, his pure white clothes gleam in a way that doesn't quite suit him.

"Very good."They both jerk, Izaya rolling back onto his heels so Shizuo can sit up. They both turn, startled to find a silhouetted figure stepping out of the shadows. "Most give up, or take quite awhile to figure it out, surprisingly enough."

"What is that thing?" He gasps, and receives no immediate answer.

"Think about it, Shizu-chan." Izaya sighs, walking back over to the building. Shizuo pulls up his shorts and follows, not sure he wants to consider the implications of joke. 'Asshole!'

You're right, Shizu-chan. An asshole does have to do with the joke.

He's learning ;)

I updated the soundtrack, as I will with every chapter~

playlist?list=PLu19NGJeb1Jcpxvd_hXHW1inkrcH1M-WT