Chapter 68: Good luck
Izaya had not expected Roy to be as fast as he was when the soft palm of a hand covered his lips in a burst of embarrassment.
"Can you be any louder?!" Roy hissed between tight lips and turned his head towards the two doors leading back to the dining hall and into the garden.
Seeing as this monastery was connected by a variety of means it was only natural he was scared Maria would turn up from any direction.
To Izaya his reaction was highly amusing as his lips curled into a grin.
Even Shizuo seemed to have been convinced of his words as he looked at the agitated young man.
"Now that you say it-" he hummed slowly and Roy looked even more devastated as he glanced towards Shizuo.
Picking the hand off his face Izaya snorted before lifting an eyebrow.
"I was of the impression she knows." That was a lie of course, but watching Roy's face shift into a variety of colors at once certainly was amusing to watch.
"She doesn't and I really hope that remains that way," he groaned quickly and much more anxious than Izaya would have expected from the fairly calm guy.
He seemed quite bothered by the topic and Izaya hummed as he looked at the guy from head to toe.
As far as he was aware they were roughly the same age. Roy wasn't ugly either and from what he saw Maria didn't dislike him.
"Why though? You would make a cute couple," Izaya spoke his thoughts aloud and Shizuo nodded in agreement.
It was funny, Izaya was obviously bullying Roy a little and Shizuo didn't realize he was only making that worse.
Sighing softly Roy shook his head before grasping his temple. "Are you asking stupid questions on purpose again?" he asked, "You are a half. You should know better."
This time it was Izaya's turn to end up confused.
"Exactly. She transformed. An abnormal ability as you put it is only reserved for Shizuo's kind of incubus, so where is the issue?"
Reverting time, or rather reverting the time of an object fell into the category of full blooded incubi. Also known as Izaya's type. But during the car ride Maria had used an ability that obviously did not stem from that section, meaning she was a half.
Like Shizuo.
She could provide Roy with the energy he needed and live a blissful life as far as Izaya was concerned. But Roy's expression only grew more sour.
"You saw how kind she was," he whispered quietly and leaned against the counter.
"And?" a groan followed and Roy grasped his forehead.
"Does she love me?" Side eyeing the two of them, Izaya quickly understood Roy wasn't actually asking for confirmation of his feelings like most love sick would.
He was expecting a negative response to prove his point.
"Can't say, she definitely doesn't dislike you," Izaya shrugged. After all, he had barely known the woman for a day, and interacted even less. Sometimes things like these were painfully obvious from the get go.
If Roy wanted a serious answer he would have to give him a week or something.
But as suspected, Roy wasn't asking for confirmation.
"See and that's the point," the young man sighed, and nodded to himself. "What do you think a girl like her would do if she knew she could give someone the bliss of having the perfect relationship with the one they loved within the borders of this shitty curse?"
Ah.
So that's why.
Maria would probably oblige. No matter if it were her actual feelings or not.
Expression growing sour Roy shook his head, "I hate the idea of having her sustain me like feeding livestock."
Izaya had expected a lot from his conversation with Roy. Maybe new intel regarding their current situation, involuntary or told on purpose. The incubi business was also one he remained blissfully unaware of until the day before.
What he hadn't quite expected was the sudden feeling of empathy that forced Roy's demise onto his own mind.
Glancing towards Shizuo, Izaya felt his throat choke up and his hands tightened into loose fists.
He knew what Roy was talking about better than he wanted to.
The night Shizuo had made a mess of him at his apartment- it had been exaggerated, blissful, amazing in ways Izaya hadn't quite understood yet at that point in time.
When he regained consciousness to Shizuo taking care of him in unexpected gentleness it was as though someone had cocooned Izaya with threads of happiness.
And that happiness only brought him down so much more when he found himself alone in Shizuo's apartment the next day.
The moment he thought Shizuo was only sustaining him because he didn't want to feel responsible for a corpse.
The feeling in his chest and the demise it put him through up to the moment he was shot remained in his mind like a burnt scar.
Of course he had been wrong with his assumption, but that didn't change the fact that the pain stemming from that idea inflicted enough demise for Izaya to consider going back to Hachiro. Because if anything would have been worse than Shizuo feeling nothing but obligation towards him, then it was the false hope Izaya held onto like a drowning man clinging to a floating tire in the midst of the dark sea.
Looking towards Shizuo now, Izaya felt his elevated pulse calm down.
He was here.
Shizuo was his, and he was Shizuo's. With everything he had. His strength, his new mind reading ability, the black hair dyed by his sisters-
Despite the many changes in his appearance and structure, Shizuo was still Shizuo.
And somehow judging from Shizuo's expression Izaya could tell he understood the issue at hand.
"So please, no word to her. Not even as a joke," Roy pleaded once more and his voice faded beyond that of a whisper.
Ah.
Izaya had come to find new intel, had come to get more details out of this guy- it would prove more difficult to use him after starting to like Roy.
Sighing softly, Izaya nodded and pushed himself off the counter. "My lips are sealed."
Mild relief slipped into the solemn sadness decorating Roy's face and Izaya shrugged. "You can't stop me from rooting for you, though."
Blinking confused, Roy lifted his gaze and his eyes recovered some of their former glint as Izaya shrugged. "I mean, if she were to fall in love with you and confess first there would be no issue, right?"
It was the most logical conclusion and yet, maybe due to lacking self esteem, Roy didn't seem to have considered it at all as he was left to stare in mild perplexion.
Izaya understood, better than he wanted to. Back then his array of options had included a lot, from paying Shizuo to cut the feeling of dependency, or adjust the timing, the setting, the words used, the acts made- a lot had been on Izaya's mind.
Shizuo falling in love with him was not even coming close enough to even consider.
A smile, happier than it should have been, grazed Roy's lips and he playfully elbowed Izaya in his side. "Shut up."
Soft sounds of voices bypassing the garden door perturbed the silence of the kitchen for a moment and Roy stilled.
But Izaya could already tell who they stemmed from.
Mairu. Kururi.
Yelling some orders to another kid on standby Izaya figured they were talking to the ginger that had scolded Shizuo and him when they entered the hall.
"What's the deal with the kid from earlier though? He seemed quite protective too," Izaya hummed and Roy bit back some laughter.
"That was Lea. He is the oldest of the kids in this monastery," Right, Izaya remembered looking towards the table only to meet eyes of pure disdain. He had quite the personality given for his age. "Pledged he would marry Maria one day and make her happy since he was four," Roy continued and Izaya blinked.
"He is a charger?"
Right.
Izaya almost forgot. All the children and most people living inside this monastery were actually incubi.
Just like Izaya and Shizuo. Some of which needed energy and some who provided it.
"Yup," Roy served the superfluous confirmation of Izaya's question and Izaya snorted.
"You really need to step up your game if you don't want to get outdone by a teenager younger than you." The splash of water came as unexpected as it was deserved, as a few droplets of cold dishwater grazed Izaya's face.
Eyes were squeezed shut and amusement hidden as the voices heard from outside drew near.
Like a hurricane sidestepping a farmer's house in the fields the two girls, accompanied by Leo and Maria, stormed into the kitchen.
Heaps of vegetables, potatoes and different herbs laid bare, collected inside plastic trays and Namie groaned as she had been forced to help out carrying one of them as well. It was then that Mairu's eyes spotted her older brother and the possible tease she had been about to send into Namie's direction was bit back.
"Izaya, you are finally awake!" she announced with quick delight and the goods were quickly placed upon the counter next to the sink.
Izaya snorted in order to mask his relief. He knew his siblings were safe, had known so ever since the day before, of course, but seeing them carefree like this right now relieved him more than he liked to admit.
"You are acting like I was out for weeks," he complained halfheartedly, and Kururi was quick to join her sister as she approached her brother.
"Alright?" she asked in her usual fashion and Izaya nodded.
"I'm fine," he assured, and for a tiny second his eyes narrowed, "You are too, right?" So far he hadn't really had a chance to ask what the last few days had been like for the two. Feelings had never really been something the Orihara family talked about a lot, but right now he felt he was taking his sisters' tenacity for granted.
A unified nod was all he received, however, dispersing his worries as soon as they sprouted, "Don't worry. Maria showed us around and told us we could do anything we liked," Mairu announced and pointed towards the gentle heart and soul of this place.
"Careful with such promises she will take you seriously," Izaya warned, but Maria barely seemed concerned.
"They are kids, what could they do?" she laughed and for a second Izaya swore he heard Shizuo snort.
Right.
He had spent a few days with these two troublemakers. He knew exactly what they were capable of.
"Hey, Kururi and I are sixteen, soon seventeen," Mairu complained quickly, after hearing herself referred to as a kid.
"Ah, like Leo then," Maria hummed and the twins turned towards the ginger in a flash.
"Month?" Kururi asked quickly and Leo found himself pretty dumbstruck with perplexion as he looked at the girl.
"Huh?"
"Right, when's your birthday?" Mairu elaborated Kururi's question and Leo suddenly found himself showered with way too much unwanted attention.
A certain taint of embarrassment showed on his face as the two girls looked at him expectantly.
"4th of March...?" it was barely a whisper that left his lips, but the grin decorating Mairu's expression only grew so much wider with the answer given.
"That means we are older than you, child," the girl crooned, serving for a little bit of irritation on Leo's part.
Meeting Izaya's eyes, who he had learned to be the older brother of these twins his eyes searched for an answer Izaya was willing to give.
"14th of February."
It didn't take much of a calculation to notice that the age difference was less than a few weeks and the ginger frowned in mild offense.
"Huh, that's just one month that doesn't make a difference," Leo announced, but none of the twins seemed to be bothered by his declaration at all as Mairu merely laughed and Kururo hummed.
Looking up and down their new friend she suddenly displayed a smile.
"Radish."
That was the only word she spoke, and more than enough to send her sister into a laughing flash.
"True, true he looks like one!" she wheezed, and it certainly didn't help that Leo was getting slightly embarrassed by the way these two treated him.
"Hey, can you stop that?" he requested, but his cheeks ultimately betrayed him as they taintley matched the color of red on his head and Mairu wheezed, "What are you getting all agitated for, radish?"
It was Namie who cut the display of youthful bullying as she approached Izaya from the side.
"So what is the future plan?" she whispered, knowing that as long as these twins were making a ruckus like this, neither Maria nor Roy would pay much attention to them.
"For the twins or for me?" Izaya asked and Namie snorted.
"Are you planning to leave me behind as an eternal babysitter?"
"Maybe?"
A soft sigh left Namie's lips as she crossed her arms. "I know you are the last to listen to advice, but I think you shouldn't rush anything. Why not simply wait until they take care of the witnesses?" the woman suggested and left Izaya in mild surprise.
The fact that the priest had sent someone with a suitable ability outside the monastery to take care of the mess Izaya and Shizuo had created was something they had only just found out an hour before. Needlessly to say, alone.
At least that's what Izaya had thought, but apparently he had been wrong.
"You listened in?" he asked, and Namie shrugged. "Happened to walk by when you talked to the priest," eyes trailing back to the lively bunch of girls Namie showed the slightest hint of a smile on her lips. They had ceased tasing the poor ginger and instead helped Maria who was now starting to peel the vegetable freshly picked from the garden. "It's not so bad here. Safe too from what I can tell," she added and for once Izaya agreed with her.
And so he sighed softly, "I probably will."
Pleasant surprise grazed Namie's features as she turned to look at her boss.
"Really?" Of course doubt was the first reaction she could show considering she was talking to someone who barely served facts before teases. But this time it seemed Izaya was serious as his voice lowered.
"I see no better option at the moment. Leaving this place only holds downsides as far as I am considered. Sure that might change at some point, but right now it's nothing I would just cast aside." Humming softly, Namie nodded, "And once the rumors die down and people are made to forget?" she asked, and Izaya found himself void of an answer.
So far he had not had a lot of time to think about the future. Be it his own, Shizuo's or that of his sisters'. Vincent, the energy business, trying to understand Shizuo and now unveiling the secrets buried in this monastery had occupied most of Izaya's mind for the majority of the time.
But looking at the kitchen, the lively faces and the unexpected peace they brought Izaya found himself almost fond of the situation.
He had yet to find someone who could sustain Kururi, except for her sister. And even though she only needed little pecks on her cheek or tight hugs, there would be a point she would require more just to live.
With the energy distributor hidden inside these monastery's walls, that issue was negligible and took a huge weight off Izaya's shoulders.
"... I might start doing some research," he whispered after a while, answering the question Namie had brought on and the woman nodded slowly.
"About your demon side?"
"I have learned more in the past few days than in the last 28 years," Izaya sighed, "Would be a shame not to put that knowledge to use."
Izaya heavily doubted the religious texts were anything close to accurate, but they provided a new starting point nonetheless. A direction he hadn't quite bothered to look into yet. When it came to incubi genes and their purpose he had vastly neglected their source. Because what use did he have finding out why he was suffering from this curse? So far he had been busy enough to find solutions rather than do research about their origins.
But now that had changed.
"I'm guessing you will leave those two behind for me to occasionally check on them and give you updates?" Namie asked, and Izaya showed his best smile as he agreed. "I see you are following my ideas," and Namie snorted as she looked at the same smirk she had had to for the past year.
"You are really a pain in the ass," Namie sighed, and Izaya knew it was an agreement, phrased in a way only Namie would.
to be continued~
C: Alright, next chapter will be the start of the end of this arc xD And with end I mean the beginning of the last arc in this story xD Which will consist of roughly 30-40 chapters lmao
Are you ready to plunge into a plot twist? Uncover some mysteries and unexpected turns? Yes? Then look forward to Saturday when I put my sadism on display~! :D