Ever since he could remember, he knew one thing. He was destined to die by the hand of that man. He didn't know his name, but his image was etched upon his mind, clear and vivid. There were flames. Heat. And a blurry silhouette, heading towards him.
Izaya Orihara didn't know fear. He often found himself messing with the wrong people. But the ultimate test of his courage turned out to be meeting the man that would kill him one day.
It was the first day of high school. Shinra, Izaya's closest friend, was beaming with joy.
"I can't wait 'til you guys meet! I'm sure you'll get along!" he'd said, leading the way to the school court. He was supposed to introduce Izaya to some kind of friend of his.
Well, he was… intrigued. Not many people could get along with him, even though many had tried, due to his family finances.
When they finally got to the court, Izaya wasn't sure what he was looking at. There was a group of people, all dirty and dusty. Among them stood one man, his shirt torn and head turned down.
"Shizuo!" Shinra shouted, waving his hand.
The man looked up and started walking towards them. The silhouette was identical to the one from Izaya's Vision. The whole scenery looked oddly similar. Blurry, yet clear. Monochromatic, yet vivid. Izaya felt a sting of fear for the first time in his life. So he did what he thought was self-defense - he drew a blade and attacked the man. And so their never-ending chase began.
He didn't like to remember it. It was tangible proof of his weakness. He liked to think of himself as God. A being above normal humans. That day was something that said otherwise. It was 7 years ago, and for those 7 years, Izaya has been scared. Scared of Shizuo Heiwajima. Scared of dying. And that's so… human.
"What are you frowning for?" Namie, his secretary asked, putting a cup of coffee before him.
"Why, you forgot my birthday, of course!" he smirked.
"Don't be silly, your birthday was like, a week ago."
"Was it?" Izaya was genuinely surprised. What day was it even?
"Yes, and you still haven't opened up your presents."
And sure enough, there were four fancy packed boxes on the table.
"Huh…" he stood up and walked up to them. He grabbed one and unpacked it. It was a box of fatty tuna, all smelly and gross.
"You're saying it's been here for a week and you didn't notice?"
"Did you?" she raised her eyebrow in a mocking manner, but only seconds later she burst out laughing.
"Clean it up," he tossed the box to the floor and grabbed another one.
"Alright, it's definitely from Shinra," he smiled, looking at a first aid kit. It was probably meant as a message of "do it yourself" kind.
"That's an oddly accurate gift," Namie snorted, picking up the gift wrap he tossed to the floor.
"What could you possibly mean by that?"
"You do get back home with bruises and cuts too often. It's me who washes the blood off the floor afterward, you know."
"Why, thank you for your concern about my wellbeing."
"No such thing exists."
He smirked and tossed this gift to the floor as well.
"That's just laughable."
"Don't you want to know what you got from me?"
Izaya raised his eyebrow "Yougot me something? That oughta be terrible."
"Yeah, pretty much. I couldn't care less about what you like, after all."
"Figured as much. So, let's call it a day, shall we?"
And as he was about to go back to his desk, Namie said:
"You should probably check out the other one."
"Why is that?"
"It's from that Kadota guy. He insisted I delivered it to you asap."
"And you decided to wait a week?"
"It was an interesting experiment. How long till Izaya Orihara notices four boxes on his table? What world do you live in? I thought you were supposed to be the God of perception!" she mocked him while laughing and laughing relentlessly.
Izaya sighed and was about to open Dotachin's gift when he heard a roar. Very angry, very animalistic roar.
"Just when will you two grow up?" Namie let out a sigh, but Izaya knew well enough she feared the monster, just like him.
"Go to my bedroom and wait there," he commanded and walked up to his computer to save what he was working on and do a backup of everything. The monster had a tendency to ruin everything he touched.
"Be quick," Namie said quietly and went upstairs. And just as she disappeared out of sight, the door to Izaya's apartment went flying through the room.
"IZAYA!" the blonde yelled, panting as he'd just run a marathon.
"Did you just take the stairs?" Orihara laughed, "You do realize I live on the top floor of the second-highest building in Shinjuku? You are even stupider than I thought."
"Shut the fuck up you shit-eating maniac!"
"Oh? Those are some sophisticated words you used here! To what do I owe the pleasure?" he stepped closer, his hands resting in his pockets where the familiar cool metal of his switchblade soothed him. It was the exact same switchblade he used 7 years ago.
"Don't play dumb, flea! What the fuck is that!?"
A piece of paper was thrown and fell to the floor. There was a man, all sweaty and running, and a man so angry he managed to carry a traffic light, chasing the first one. Someone scribbled the words "Remember me, 05/04." on it. Izaya recognized this photo immediately. It must've been taken 7 years ago. During their first day of high school. During their first chase.
"What is that?" Izaya spat those words full of well-known emotion he learned to hide throughout the years - fear. Cold, paralyzing fear.
"You tell me, you freak!" Shizuo made a step forward.
"Are you suggesting I had something to do with it? Your stupidity never fails to amaze me, Shizu-chan."
"Don't you dare call me that, flea!" he stepped closer and closer and Izaya should've stepped away, but he couldn't. Instead, he took a step forward.
Shizuo seemed thrown off but didn't halt. He swung his arm aiming to punch the brunette, but Izaya ducked, picked up the photo, and ran out of his apartment. Shizuo followed closely.
They ran and ran all the way to Ikebukuro. Shinra's apartment, to be precise. A long time ago, they were best friends. But everything changed that day. Everything was ruined. He treated Izaya when he was badly hurt, but they couldn't be called friends anymore.
Shinra opened the door almost immediately.
"Izaya? What happened?" he asked.
Izaya pushed the photo onto his face, "You better have some good explanation for this."
Shinra laughed, "Or what? You're gonna attack me? You seriously are crazy."
"Crazy? You could've gotten me killed!"
"You started it! You attacked Shizuo the moment you two met!"
"What the fuck is going on here!?" it seemed Fortissimo of Ikebukuro finally caught up with Izaya, as he ran up the stairs.
"I was just explaining to Izaya that everything that has happened to him is his own fault."
"Huh," Izaya snorted and closed his eyes. His Vision appeared in his mind. Is trying to escape certain death really such a bad thing?
"I was just trying to help you," Shinra murmured, "But every time I do so you end up ruining it."
And Izaya couldn't hold back a laugh. He needed to get away, he needed to change his destiny. So he drew his blade and swung his arm to stab Shizuo.
The man was fast enough to parry with his arm, but the knife stuck in. Izaya took it out and swung again, but this time Shizuo grabbed his wrist.
For a moment it was quiet. The only sound they could hear was Shizuo's blood dropping to the floor. Then, Izaya broke the silence:
"Why can't you just die?"
"Why can't you!?"
"Let me go, protozoan."
But Shizuo only held tighter.
"Shizuo," Shinra called, but it remained unanswered.
"Let go!" Izaya knew he wouldn't die right now, and yet… he panicked. Shizuo was so close, trapping him, threatening him. And it worked. He felt like his life was on the line.
But Shizuo was enjoying this way too much. He finally caught him - that flea, that annoying, infuriating man who ruined his life many, many times. It was Izaya who got him thrown out of high school. It was him, who got him fired three times. It was all Izaya. He was responsible for every bad thing that has happened to him. And he could end it right now. He could kill him.
With every next thought, his grip on the flea's wrist tightened. Who could stop him? He was the Fortissimo of Ikebukuro - he could do anything! And yet-
Izaya screamed. Something snapped, something broke. In all of them.
Shizuo let go, scared for the first time in his life - scared of himself. Izaya fell to the floor, his hand twisted unnaturally. Shinra ran up to him, yelling something at Shizuo. But he couldn't hear. He couldn't comprehend. He hurt the flea many times in the past. But it has always been… different. This time, Shizuo made a choice. He did this. He proved to be exactly what Izaya would always tell him he was - a monster. He left. Defeated by none other than himself.
Izaya woke up half an hour later.
"Izaya-" Shinra started,
"No, Shinra. No. I'm-" -sorry, he wanted to say, but couldn't. "-gonna go. Thanks."
Shinra nodded. And with that Izaya was gone.
When he got home, Namie was repairing the door. He passed her and walked into his apartment.
"Izaya?" she left the door and followed him inside, "What happened?"
He didn't know what to do. He couldn't get rid of Shizuo. Was he meant to die by that monster's hand? No. No. He couldn't. So he'd have to change the rules of their game. He wouldn't get rid of Shizuo. He'd get rid of himself. He'd disappear. Go to another city, heck, to another country-! And then…
He smiled. He would finally be free. He's never lost before, but he'd learn to live with his defeat.
"Go get my suitcases," he told Namie.
"What? Where are you going?"
"Away."
"What do you mean, away? You can't just-!"
And then she sighed.
"Please, don't."
But it was no longer a choice to be made. It was a necessity.
He packed in silence. And after one last look through his big window on his favorite city of all, he turned to leave, only to find himself face to face with the one person he wanted to get away from. Shizuo Heiwajima himself.
Sooo, I've been sharing this story for a while on AO3, and today decided to share it here as well!
The next four chapters are coming right up!!!
Hope you enjoy!