Chapter 67: Secret Love
Research. It was easier said than done inside these halls. Subjects were needed for that kind of work and as of right now Izaya found himself at a lack of such.
They had returned to the dining hall in hope to find Maria and the kids or someone else Izaya could interrogate, but oddly enough everyone had disappeared.
Well, not everyone.
Spotting a few elderly people from the priest's prayer earlier, Izaya made out the old woman that had interrupted their little energy charge earlier.
Shaking hands tried to lift a spoon full of soup to her lips and upon turning her head Izaya quickly faced the opposite direction.
"Where did they go?" Shizuo asked, noticing the same, but their questions didn't remain unanswered for long.
"What are you doing here?!" A quiet hiss following from the side startled Izaya mildly and before he knew it there was a set of palms pushing at his back.
It was one of the kids from earlier. The oldest from what Izaya could tell.
The ginger hair and attitude served as valid indicators for recognition as the young man shoved the two past a door on the left.
"What-" a female voice uttered the word startled under her breath and before Izaya knew it they found themselves inside a kitchen.
"Sister Maria, you need to properly tell them the rules," a deep frown decorated the ginger's face and Maria mirrored his expression in a flash of guilty recognition.
"Ah- sorry I completely forgot."
Turning around the scolding seemed far from over as the ginger turned to face Izaya and Shizuo.
"We aren't the only people living here, so stay clear from the dining hall if it's not your time to eat."
Not the only people?
Mildly surprised, Izaya looked around the kitchen. Used plates from earlier were resting in the sink and in the midst of being washed, meanwhile a new pot of stew seemed to be brewing on a stove not too far and plates were arranged as if they were ready to be used to serve again.
"So you aren't only sustaining the people living here but some from the outside to? Where are you taking the money from?"
"Is it your business?" Izaya had failed to notice upon the quick entry, but now that he heard his voice he spotted Roy at the sinks. Wiping some plates dry he seemed to have been sentenced to help in the kitchen for his earlier slip up.
"Stop it, right now Elroy," Maria scolded as if to confirm Izaya's suspicion right on the spot.
"Elroy?" Izaya repeated, catching the ginger's attention.
"That's his full name. Maria uses it only when she is mad."
Ah.
Of course. As far as Maria was concerned she had only seen Roy getting mad and yelling at what she viewed as their newest guests and part of their incubi family. Considering her motherly nature and straightforwardness she had probably not taken the outburst too well.
"I need to clear a misunderstanding," Izaya quickly said, diverting Maria's attention from Roy. "It was me who provoked Roy on purpose, not the other way round." Confused gazes by both Maria as well as Roy met Izaya's sudden admittance of guilt, but at the end of the day Izaya couldn't care less about his reputation inside this monastery. "You heard him because he is just as loud as a certain brute I know, but I was the one creating a mess. And I would like to apologize."
To Shizuo his apology probably came as surprising as the day Izaya started to disappear on him and revealed he was an incubus during the process.
But at the end of the day Izaya was very well aware that he owed Roy for what he did back at the cell and picking them up after Vincent's fortunate death.
Turing her head slowly Maria looked at Roy with the slightest hint of doubt.
"Really?"
To Izaya's surprise, however, Roy seemed way less exhilarated about his sudden defense.
"Stop it, it's fine."
The ginger kid seemed to be far more invested as his gaze traveled back and forth between Maria, Roy and Izaya.
"Why did you want him to get mad?" The earlier anger displayed in the kid's expression had faded and made room for an awful lot of sheer curiosity.
Izaya shrugged, "People are usually most honest when they are angry. I wanted to find out if this place is really as harmless and amazing as you make it seem."
Meeting way more understanding than Izaya had expected, the young man nodded in mutual agreement.
"I understand."
"Hey, don't teach him stuff like that," Maria suddenly groaned and quickly pulled at the young man's wrist. "Come on, help me out in the garden."
Delight was the last adjective Izaya would have used to describe the young ginger's expression as Maria pulled the begrudging kid out by the backdoor.
Izaya had memorized the outline of the monastery well enough to know that the garden he had been talking to Roy in was connected to this room.
He could hear them from here. The rest of the kids, obediently working in the garden, executing whatever task it was that Maria had entrusted to them.
The sound of plates meeting each other brought Izaya's attention back to the only presence left inside the kitchen apart from Shizuo and him.
Roy was still rinsing the plates.
"You can stop cleaning now, the punishment should be blown off," Izaya announced briefly, but Roy didn't show any signs of stopping.
Izaya's apology seemed to have hit home, but his mood remained sour nonetheless.
Nodding towards the pile of dirty dishes left on the side he sighed.
"Did you see the amount of work she has to do?"
Right. Maria said she was taking care of breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Looking at the mountain of work that still needed to be done and the fact that there were probably more people to come, Izaya understood Roy's intention.
He wanted to help.
No matter whether he was being forced to do so or voluntarily. It was just a hunch, but suddenly Roy's reluctance to clear the misunderstanding made a lot more sense to Izaya.
Maria probably didn't let them help a lot except for using the extra work as punishment. Roy was probably exploiting that fact to his own advantage.
Sighing softly, Izaya nudged Shizuo into his side and threw a quick glance towards the sink, before stepping up.
A wet plate was grasped from the pile to Roy's right and the guy showed mild confusion when Izaya rubbed it dry with a towel lying by.
"What are you doing?" he asked bewildered and his stupor only tripled when Izaya wordlessly handed Shizuo the plate to put it away inside the designated cupboard on the side.
"Four people are faster than two, wouldn't you agree?" Izaya asked, and Roy's mouth opened for a second.
He seemed opposed, even for just a moment, but then he paused and sighed as he accepted the help he was so generously offered for Maria's sake.
Izaya wasn't someone to hand out charity for no reason. But considering Maria had used her ability to help them escape from the police it was within reason to at least help her lift some of her responsibilities off her shoulders.
Wordlessly the three of them continued washing the dishes for a few minutes.
Izaya saw no need to speak up, nor did Shizuo, but he certainly noticed the glances Roy cast every now and then.
It was when he side-eyed Izaya for longer than half a minute straight that the raven snorted with impatience.
"Just ask already." He could tell something was on Roy's mind and hesitation really didn't fit the hot blooded guy too well.
Redirecting his eyes towards the sink in front Roy hesitated a bit.
"Weren't you some kind of famous information broker?" he mumbled with way less conviction than Izaya had thought him capable of.
He nodded, although not sure what the question was supposed to achieve. "Your point is?"
Faltering even further, Roy's voice turned even more quiet.
"You are rich. Don't people do this for you all the time?"
Ah. So that's what he was going on about.
Looking at the plate resting in his palms and a set of pretty hands Izaya couldn't quite keep a short chuckle to himself. True. He certainly didn't look like he had ever done any kind of substantial work. Compared to the people living at this monastery, sustaining themselves he had to appear like some sort of nobleman and the act of washing the dishes had to seem pretty incredulous to Roy. Especially considering Roy had looked Izaya and his deeds up before deciding to rescue him.
"Not really actually," Izaya answered, truthfully. "You see I don't trust anyone so I'm doing everything myself." The option of hiring someone to clean his flat had come to mind a few times, but imagining someone else had unlimited access to his own four walls proved too many security breaches to ever be considered.
"Ah, except for Namie," Izaya blinked, realizing that the woman had sometimes acted in a similar way once he asked her for some errands. "The stubborn wench you described earlier. She is my assistant," he quickly reminded and recognition called to Roy's face.
"What did she do to gain your trust?"
A good question.
Roy was certainly asking the right questions, but for once Izaya found himself actually lost for an answer.
"Hard to say actually," he mumbled, "We were striving for the same goal once and after achieving it she kinda stayed."
Glancing towards Shizuo next, Roy gauged the personality he was facing.
"And you?"
Shizuo wasn't quite as quick on the uptake and merely raised an eyebrow at the lack of definition. "What about me?"
A short shrug was given and Roy quickly fished for a plate that had been about to slip from his grasp.
"I don't know. Didn't you like, beat people up for a living?"
Ah.
Not the best question.
Looking at Shizuo, Izaya tried to interpret his stoic expression. He was uncomfortable, without any doubt, but not mad at least. After all, Roy wasn't all that wrong, but the topic was probably not one Shizuo wanted to talk about in spades.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Shizuo argued and Roy seemed to realize his blunder.
"I'm not trying to blame you or anything," he quickly corrected himself, "The way you did Vincent in was actually pretty satisfying to watch."
Izaya didn't even need to look at Shizuo to know his body had tensed at those words.
Killing Vincent had been a necessity without a doubt and he was really glad he had convinced Shizuo to not feel guilt for his death, but the topic was still not an easy one and certainly none Shizuo would want to discuss with a stranger.
"Back then you said we bonded. What did you mean by that?" Izaya quickly steered the conversation into a more productive direction and Shizuo relaxed.
Roy seemed to appreciate the save as well and ranted quicker than Izaya had expected. "You know how rare it is to find someone who fits the bill right?" He was obviously talking about the concept of incubi having to rely on someone else who could sustain their life force. "If you ask the priest according to every dilemma there is always some sort of prophecy that counteracts it. You know like people being oppressed and then the one comes to save them."
Izaya was aware of how religions worked. If there were no underdog suddenly rising to power and serving the revenge everyone sought without any downsides, then what would it even serve existing for?
"Are you going to give me some kind of ying and yang talk?" he snorted and Roy shrugged. He was obviously just as doubtful as Izaya when it came to church and its worshiping of holy entities chosen by god.
A simple shrug followed as he handed Izaya the last of the remaining washed plates.
"More or less. A common belief incubi handed down over the years is that incubi who don't need energy are somehow blessed by the maiden that saved the priest."
Izaya blinked, "How would that work?"
The rubber gloves Roy had been wearing were pulled off his hands and she shrugged with no interest in the rumor whatsoever. "I have no idea."
Izaya must have looked anything but pleased by the lack of information in that answer because Roy quickly raised his hands in defense as if he had accused someone of something. "Hey, it's an old theory, okay? Do I look like I was present hundreds of years ago?"
Right.
Sighing softly, Izaya handed Shizuo the last plate to dry and tossed the towel back into its original place.
"And that blessing is what made him strong?"
Roy shrugged, "That blessing might be the reason he didn't end up like perforated cheese on the spot."
That wasn't the answer Izaya had expected. And he certainly didn't fancy the blow those words dealt to his guts.
He remembered it way too well. The fear he felt when he saw Shizuo getting shot by Vincent. He didn't know he would survive, didn't know the bullets couldn't harm him.
At that moment all he knew was that Shizuo was injured beyond saving if those had actually hit him.
"I was thinking high speed regeneration might just be his ability," Izaya quickly spoke, trying to steer the topic away from the gruesome memory.
Shizuo was looking at Izaya. He had obviously figured this conversation repulsed Izaya more than he liked to admit. And he had noticed how Izaya hadn't mentioned Shizuo's mind reading skills so far.
He was skipping it on purpose.
Just in case.
"And the strength? Didn't you see the way he crushed that bastard's skull like it was made of wax?" Shizuo cringed lightly as the way Roy phrased his active murder of their perpetrator. The words had depicted the sensation Shizuo had felt when beheading Vincent on the spot a bit too well.
"As I said, high speed regeneration, paired with the fact that humans don't use their full potential strength due to limitations on their brain." Izaya quickly explained, and Roy seemed to finally accept the idea.
"Ah. You mean he short circuited that and just healed himself right up?"
Izaya nodded. "Would it be so far off?"
Turning around Roy let his hip rest against the sink as he tilted his head towards the ceiling. He seemed to judge the plausibility of Izaya's theory and slowly but surely nodded to himself.
"No, sounds accurate," he agreed, "It's still a fucking sick combo though."
Izaya snorted. Yeah. An overwhelming force. Wasn't that what Shizuo had always been?
But one fact still irked Izaya more than he liked to admit.
Shizuo's ability to read his mind.
Their theory explained none of that. And owning two abilities just by sheer coincidence seemed a bit too easy of an explanation.
So how? How did he get two of them?
"... so you were trying to get me mad earlier?" Roy suddenly asked, snapping Izaya out of his thoughts.
"On purpose, yes," Izaya agreed, but Roy didn't really seem convinced.
"That was no lie to save me from Maria?"
Save-
Izaya snorted, and his lips curled into a decisive grin.
"Did you need saving?"
Falling short on an immediate answer Roy blinked in a moment of stupor and Shizuo mimicked a very similar expression as he had apparently failed to follow the conversation.
"What do you mean?"
Short laughter followed Shizuo's question and Izaya shook his head. "Why am I not surprised you didn't notice?" Pointing towards Roy, Izaya put on his best smile as he grinned. "He has obviously a crush on her."
to be continued~
I hope you are enjoying the small monastery trip end exploration of the people living there haha The grand plottwist is 2 chapters away so enjoy the peace as long as it lasts xD