Chapter 55: Check

A deja vu was something Shizuo didn't experience all too often. Except maybe when he reached out to rip street signs from concrete. But even then they were less of a deja vu and more of a mere habit that was starting to become repetitive.

But right now?

Entering the police station the same officers were running around that had been present previously.

The same questions were asked, and he was wearing the same inconspicuous attire whilst hoping they would not realize the scam.

It was only when he passed through the door into the corridor that least to Izaya's cell that he wondered whether his attire had even been necessary in the first place.

After all, Izaya was being released today, right? So no one should be searching for Shizuo either as any form of accomplice.

Eyes narrowing, Shizuo's body stiffened as he proceeded with heavy steps.

No.

Maybe that was exactly why they were letting Izaya off the hook?

Bored glances and uninterested demeanor greeted Shizuo the second he stepped into the corridor. The officers present seemed increasingly unbothered by the fact that they had to let go of what they had believed to be a danger to humanity.

"I have come to fetch my client," Shizuo announced awkwardly, trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible.

A tired nod was directed into his direction and the officer next to the door pointed to the far back.

"He is in the back." And with that the officer was gone.

Just like that- almost as if… no one cared?

It was as odd as it was extremely unsettling.

Bars leading to detention cells left and right presented themselves in front of Shizuo. He was on edge. Maybe someone was waiting in one of them?

Waiting that they were going to fuck up?

Talk about the wrong topic? Move in the wrong way?

The option of someone just shooting them right here right now with no one ever hearing a word about it crossed Shizuo's mind and his back tensed.

That was until he heard Izaya's voice.

"Thank you for coming over~!" chirping happily the raven leant at the very back of the cell.

Relaxed, giddy and without a care in the world to anyone who didn't know him by heart.

It was a show.

A show he was putting on for the officers.

Within two quick strides Shizuo was at Izaya's side- and the tension faded. Izaya was here. No matter what these bastards had in mind, as long as he was within an arm's length Shizuo was damn sure he would be able to protect him from any danger.

Eyes met briefly and Izaya quickly cast his gaze towards the single officer at the front door who had just let Shizuo pass.

"I take it we can leave now?" Izaya called from afar, and the officer waved them off with an annoyed shrug. "You could all along, get going."

All along, huh?

Izaya doubted that.

Incredible tension laid on his mind and he opened his lips for a quick whisper.

"The twins?" He needed to know they were safe before they moved. And seeing how Shizuo had arrived here without their company Izaya felt slightly unsettled.

But Shizuo quickly cleared his worry as he whispered back.

"At home. Namie is watching them."

Relief made itself apparent and Izaya smiled with a cocked eyebrow.

"Without payment?"

Shizuo shrugged, "She said she was going to ask for double for doing your work."

Izaya laughed- that was good. That was great in fact.

"That sounds more like her," he replied, and pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning onto.

"... what do we do?" Shizuo asked the fair question that was waiting in the air like a lady to be asked to dance.

Looking back to the cell one last time Izaya's body tensed and he moved.

"We leave."

What other choice did they have?

Staying here was no option. There was no reason to, nor was it going to benefit them. The camera at the top of the corridor was still recording. The officer in front seemed anything but capable of putting up a fight nor willing to shoot them or anything alike.

If there was one fact that unsettled him about this entire situation- then it was Vincent's missing presence.

Where was he?

After threatening Izaya the way he had, he was smart enough to know that the bastard hadn't given up.

…but what was it that he had planned?

The tension in the corridor spiked, and Izaya's legs moved towards the exit.

Where?

When?

What was that bastard going to do?

The bored officer quickly passed and Izaya found himself in the corridor he had met Shizuo in previously.

The bathroom was on the left, the reception up ahead.

Having Shizuo follow close behind was assuring in its own way and yet it also caused Izaya's hair to stand on ends.

Maybe they knew Shizuo had somehow saved him from the drug? Maybe this was just a farce to get them both? Had he played in their hands by asking for his "lawyer" to appear?

Millions of possibilities like these crossed Izaya's mind- but none of them changed their goal.

Get out of the station.

And so they kept moving.

Police officers passed without paying any attention to them, new people brought to be detained were forced down the corridor. One was drunk off his ass, the other seemed to have been selling the wrong guy the wrong kind of drugs-

And then the front of the police station was in sight and Izaya's body stiffened even worse.

He expected someone to shoot them. Now. Right here.

Because there was no way they were going to let him leave for real, right?

And yet it seems they did.

Because a second later they were out.

Cars honked their way down the street as Shizuo had done anything but parked properly. Officers were shaking their heads at the sight and Izaya could spot a ticket moving in the wind from underneath the windshield wipers. The sun was starting to set, showering everything in colors of light orange and yellow.

It was the picture perfect scenery of a release, really.

If this had been some kind of movie and Izaya had been the main protagonist that finally escaped his fate, then he should have been jumping in joy by now and praised the lord for hearing his prayers.

But this was no movie. And their surroundings might as well be fitting for a quick execution.

"...- they really let you go." Izaya heard Shizuo mumble these words under his breath. He was relieved to find them rather questionable than ringing true.

He was doubting the release as well, Shizu-chan that is.

"Seems like it." Izaya replied hollowly and with a quick sleight of hands he skipped to the road.

Waving at a taxi not too far, he called it over, much to Shizuo's surprise.

"Why not move with ours?" Shizuo found himself asking a little confused- after all he had gone through the trouble of driving himself despite owning no license to keep up their pretense game. After all, arriving by car one day, then skipping the next could have seemed weird.

But Izaya shook his head, barely noticeable as the yellow car moved over.

".. there is no way we are getting into a car that you left sight off," Izaya whispered, and Shizuo realized with dread that Izaya was talking about the potential danger of the vehicle having been spiked with a bomb.

"... are you serious?" he breathed, but Izaya said no more as he slipped into the backseat.

Looking towards the car Shizuo swallowed.

What was this? Some kind of action movie? Would the police really do something like that? … no-

They gave Izaya drugs in hope he would attack someone so they had an excuse to shoot him on the spot. Eyes darkening, Shizuo's grip on the car's door tightened as he slipped inside.

Izaya's caution wasn't an exaggeration- it was necessary.

"The address?" the driver asked in a broken accent and Izaya quickly leant forward. A piece of paper was pulled from his mantle and for a second Shizuo spotted what looked like an interesting drawing of a cell.

"This one," Izaya said, pointing to three lines inscribed at the very bottom.

"Understood, sir," the driver nodded and set the blinker.

The vehicle moved and the police station faded and with it, Shizuo's tension.

Relief made itself apparent as their scenery changed to traffic lights, random people walking down the streets, grocery stores and children begging for sweets.

They had done it, right?

This was it.

The police obviously had stopped pressing charges and they were free to leave. A soft smile spread across Shizuo's lips as he faced the raven.

And yet Izaya looked nothing like he expected him to and it caused Shizuo to bite back the words he had been about to say.

No.

Not yet.

Izaya was waiting for something.

His reunion with his siblings maybe?

It was when the car turned at a very specific corner that Shizuo's attention spiked and he whipped his head around.

"Are we not heading to your apartment?" he shot quickly, his eyes instantly at the driver- Did he change the course on purpose? Was he trying to lead them to a trap?

Was this why Izaya was still this tense?

Ready to choke the guy whilst driving Shizuo stiffened in his seat- but then a hand found its way to his arm and his attention diverted to Izaya.

His gaze was serious but his demeanor hadn't changed.

"Not yet," he answered, and Shizuo felt a slight hint of relief at the fact that they were not being kidnapped or anything of that sort. "I'm not really trusting this situation," Izaya announced quietly and a soft smile spread across his lips, "I know you probably don't understand but-"

"No, I do." Surprise reflected on Izaya's expression and Shizuo quickly elaborated. "Something is off about your release."

Heh. Izaya was quite surprised at Shizuo's sharpness. After all, he had yet to tell him about Vincent, about his threat which was arguably the number one reason for his excessive caution, and yet he had already aligned with Izaya's mind.

"Heh, is my genius rubbing off on you perhaps Shizu-chan?" Izaya snorted playfully, "Or is it the hair color?"

Shizuo clicked his tongue, feigning annoyance.

"Oh, shut up-" There was no real offense to be felt- he was just too glad that Izaya was there. Because despite the impending sense of danger they were both feeling, they were still together.

And Izaya felt quite similar.

He missed this. Teasing Shizuo. He really did.

Uncalled and completely unnecessary, Izaya suddenly found himself remembering the day he had been drugged. The way he had had to part from the blond. Their last encounter basically and his stomach pivoted into a void.

"I'm glad you get it," he quickly said, not quite sure how to react to this emotion that suddenly bubbled to the surface.

"So where are we heading?" Shizuo asked and Izaya was glad for the distraction.

"Shinra's."

As if on cue his stomach growled and he snorted.

"Sorry, I haven't eaten anything in a while." It was a sentence as basic and ordinary as it could be and yet for both it caused an array of mixed emotions to surface.

Because the reason why Izaya had refused to eat anything was crystal clear.

Mind trailing back to the anger Shizuo had felt when he visited Izaya just to find him drugged, reigned his veins and his loose palms curled into fists.

The bastard who had done that deserved nothing but death. Reducing Izaya to that state- Forcing him to do something he hated-

Unwillingly trailing back to that moment, Shizuo found himself revisiting a few vivid images of the flea. Of his pleas, of his despair, but of course also of his eyes. His moans. His movements-

"Getting horny? Here? Really?" Izaya snorted, despite the tension and Shizuo jerked away from his thoughts.

"What- no-"

Izaya was aware. The way Shizuo's eyes had grown dark was a surefire indicator to pinpoint what he was thinking about, and considering the glare that paired the expression it wasn't hard to conclude that there were not just merely indecent thoughts on his mind. "Your eyes give away what you are thinking about you know," Izaya whispered, and somehow Shizuo understood that he had been joking.

"Were you okay? After… that?"

"Of course, what do you take me for?" The reply came quick, as if having been prepared ages ago, and yet Izaya failed to meet Shizuo's eyes while saying so revealing the answer as nothing but a blatant lie-

"Izaya-"

"Ah, sorry could you let us stop here?" Izaya suddenly called, and the driver hit the brakes. "Here?" he asked, and instead of answering Izaya got out of the car.

A bit perplexed and confused about the premature arrival at a location that was five minutes off from Shinra's place, Shizuo followed.

Money was given to the driver quicker than the blond could follow and within a hot minute the car was gone and Izaya headed into an alley.

"Izaya, we are off by a whole street, why didn't you-"

The kiss came as unexpectedly as it was pleasant. Soft, brimming with emotions of all sorts, Shizuo found himself pulled down.

Only barely he grasped a short frame of a bird taking off the ground- or rather, the way it was frozen mid air.

Izaya had stopped time. Had lunged for him- and suddenly he leaned away, and those of eyes just held an expression Shizuo wanted no one on this earth to see.

"Sorry, just a moment," Izaya whispered unbelievably quietly and his forehead connected with Shizuo's shoulder.

He understood.

He didn't need Izaya to tell him just what kind of strain he had been put through, he didn't need to tell Shizuo that he just needed a slight piece of comfort- Shizuo understood. Immediately.

Arms encircling Izaya's body, Shizuo pulled him close into a tight, tight hug.

"You don't need to apologize, idiot." Izaya didn't need to say anything for Shizuo to understand just how much of a toll this past week in prison along with the drugs had taken on him.

And so they stood.

For a minute, five, maybe ten, Shizuo couldn't be bothered to count, nor did it matter with Izaya having stopped time anyway.

And it was just them. No one else in the world.

The soft sound of a bird's wings moving was what broke the scene and Izaya finally leant away.

A tired smile tugged at his lips as he spoke, "But don't get horny now. I'm against fucking at Shinra's," and Shizuo couldn't helpt but snort at the joke.

"That's an idea only you would come up with in the first place."

Again Izaya's stomach growled, and Shizuo showed a gentle smile. This guy really needed to eat more.

"And I think before getting laid you should get something to eat. We don't want you to pass out again, after all, right?" he cooed, and Izaya blinked shortly as he was reminded of a very physically active night in which he happened to pass out on the blond.

He remembered the way he had felt, the way they had fucked and the way Shizuo had looked at him when he woke up and somehow that memory alone caused Izaya to calm down.

"Right," he smiled, "I'm sure we can raid Shinra's fridge."

to be continued~

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Well, well, well, seems Vincent gave up… right?... right?

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See you next Saturday~ xDDD