Chapter 23: Wanna keep that?

Air was something widely appreciated.

Be it that of a purple evening sunset, bathed in the scents of the day and the warmth of the rising earth, or the kind that was sucked in freshly like no other breath before the second one raised to the surface of the sea after a long dive.

The latter appeared closer to the heaps of cold slapping Shizuo's face as he hurried down the main road.

He was late.

And not even by a few minutes, but a full hour.

Expression holding the lightest tinge of guilt, he turned at another of the many corners of the city.

He heavily doubted Evelyn was going to actually scold him at his arrival, especially after the many hours they had spent in overtime. Just yesterday had been the longest exception in a while and Shizuo's steps slowed just barely.

Yesterday, huh?

A face he had seen more often than not appeared in his mind and for a second he cursed his thoughts for remembering Izaya's words and appearance as well as they did.

He was flirting with him.

Shizuo with Izaya. And the other way round.

While the latter was flattering and by no means ill received, the former action was one Shizuo condemned himself for.

What was he doing?

The night before, or rather the second Izaya left, he realized what he had been doing and it was not something he should.

What was his goal?

Toying with Izaya was not what he had in mind at all. And that was exactly the problem.

Typical blue and neon green mixed with the magenta flowing from the front door of their club as Shizuo finally laid eyes upon his destination.

A couple of doormen were standing left and right, ready to block the way for anyone that looked like he meant to bring trouble.

A short recognizing smile was all they offered Shizuo after spotting him and the cord serving as a weak barrier into the club was quickly undone as he hurried over.

"Focus," one of them chuckled and Shizuo showed a quick apologetic smile before heading into the building.

Focus.

He couldn't have put it better.

He wasn't here to flirt. He wasn't even here to serve drinks. His goal was simple and his actions ridiculous as he kept pushing what had to be done further and further away.

A few guests passed as Shizuo moved down the stairs. Drunk ones, rich ones, drugged ones. This was no place for personal affairs.

And that's why he would quit making it one.

Lights flashed and before he knew it he was doused in colors of gold and amber.

The walls reflected whatever color was aimed at them with the beauty of a tiger's eye and heavy music was forcing the bodies in the floor to move against their will.

Laughter, glittering eyes, everything pleasant and appreciated filled the air as Shizuo finally approached the bar.

"If you were on life support I would unplug you and charge my phone."

It was the first thing he heard and he just knew he was there.

Izaya.

Sitting in his usual place.

A woman shooting glares at him was just pushing herself off the counter as Izaya's eyes trailed to Shizuo's and it was as though someone had turned on the light of a

Christmas ornament as his expression brightened. "Awfully late today Mr. bartender!"

It was just a smile. Nothing more, nothing less.

And yet somehow suddenly Shizuo felt as though the previous night had never ended.

The sensation he had felt upon touching his chin, the expectant gaze, the witty banter-

"Ah, Shizuo!" Evelyn suddenly spoke, having spotted her colleague as well and Shizuo quickly snapped out of his thoughts.

This couldn't do. He couldn't let himself get distracted like this.

Quickly bowing deeply he showed his honest regret as he spoke clearly.

"I'm very sorry. I promise this will be a first and last at the same time."

He was talking about the fact of him being late of course. But Evelyn seemed confused for a second nonetheless before offering a quick chuckle.

"All good, don't worry. It's just an hour. Sometimes things come up, I get it," she waved him off, and instead of scolding Shizuo moved on to pick up a tray of drinks that she had left behind at the bar. It was only when she pulled it towards herself that Shizuo realized she hadn't called his name to scold him, but to help. "Also it's not like I can't handle this bar alone for an hour." She winked playfully and with that she was already off. The tray of shots resting in her hands and her hair skipped a beat as she made her way over to one of the tables.

And Shizuo smiled.

Evelyn truly was a gentle soul.

"Your colleague might be forgiving, but I am not. This calls for free drinks as compensation," Izaya suddenly announced from the side and Shizuo turned only to face a playful smirk.

And again it was there.

This sensation.

This craving.

Slipping behind the bar Shizuo quickly shook his head as if he could be getting rid of his thoughts easier that way.

"You look good today. Any reason why?" he heard himself ask and cursed his own tongue only seconds later.

No. Stop. What was that question even for?

A quick shrug was given along with a smile and Izaya let his chin lean onto his palm.

"Just caught up on some much needed sleep."

Sleep.

Right.

As if only having realized as much now, Shizuo blinked for a second as he met Izaya's gaze.

"You do seem to have very irregular working hours." After all he had stayed late on a couple occasions, and the day before he even returned way past closing hours.

"I don't think you have any right to talk," Izaya snorted and pointed towards the shelves. "Surprise me?" he grinned with the silent question for a drink and Shizuo turned.

The music was loud, but not enough to block out all sound. He could hear the chatter all around. The people as they flirted, as they danced, as they quarreled.

The discussions on the tables in the back were too far off to truly listen in, but for the most part Shizuo knew what was happening behind his back even when he wasn't looking.

And so he closed his eyes for a second, facing the large variety of beverages and alcohol.

"Any direction you want to give me?" he glanced across his shoulder, but of course Izaya offered nothing but a shrug.

"Nope. You better guess what it is I want." Misschief defined his expression and with a deep sigh Shizuo's gaze returned to a couple whiskeys.

Not Izaya's choice, definitely. But his own.

The glittering liquid laughed at Shizuo from a short distance and he took a deep breath before reaching out for a cocktail glass.

What was he doing? Really.

He hadn't come to this bar to flirt. He hadn't come to this bar to pass time. Not to work, not to get lost in some meaningless conversations. Especially not with Izaya.

Right now he was a simple bartender. And Izaya nothing more than a guest.

This was going to end.

Now.

"Izaya Orihara?"

And suddenly it was there.

A voice.

Not much louder than the rest of the club. Not special in the slightest. Just another guy, approaching Izaya for either his beauty or his connections if Shizuo had to guess. Both were occasions he had seen more often than not.

And yet it was different.

The glass resting in Shizuo's hands slowed and froze to a complete standstill with each agonizing second that passed.

It was a gut feeling.

The kind one received upon gazing into the eyes of an unknown creature alone in the middle of a forest.

Something was off and Shizuo put the glass away.

Because suddenly he heard the silence-

Silence had no voice, silence owned no pattern, no distinctive character and yet right now it was louder than the bass thrumming in the background.

Because Izaya didn't say anything.

Because Izaya didn't say a thing.

His body turned quicker than his mind was able to follow and he saw.

Red. Smooth.

Like the kind a velvet carpet would assume on its surface as it was being sold to a rich man.

It moved, and laughed, as it clung to the blade of silver embedded in Izaya's stomach.

He got stabbed.

It was visible all the way over here.

That single truth suddenly overrode everything on Shizuo's mind and drowned the music like it never existed.

Izaya's right hand clung to the blade's handle while his other grasped the counter. A glare settled on his eyes as he directed them at his assaulter in what was barely a second of a reaction.

"Nice, are you gonna take this back or can I keep it?"

It was a menacing question- one that despite the heavy injury, shot shivers down the stranger's spine. Their eyes met and Izaya recognized the guy as the same one that had tried to shoot him a few days earlier.

He had thought he was just a nobody. One of Creston's victims. He had failed to shoot Izaya and apparently getting his hands on another gun had proved to be a task too difficult to achieve.

So this time he opted for a knife.

Izaya felt nothing.

Not yet.

The deed had been too fast, the sensation of the metal forcing itself inside his body so incredibly surreal that his mind had shut off his sense of pain altogether.

Something about that caused Izaya to think that maybe it wasn't too bad.

Maybe the idiot had missed or just managed to graze his skin.

It was only when Izaya's gaze trailed down after two beats passed that he saw the way it was rammed fully into his gut.

"Fuck-"

And suddenly time moved fast. Considering how awfully slow it had been earlier, the assault of sensations suddenly overwhelming Izaya's mind at once was too much to take in.

He could hear the music. He could hear the first couple screams of people having seen what happened. The fear in the guy's eyes as he let go of the blade and backed away with awry eyes.

The way Izaya's grasp on the bar and blade weakened despite him not ordering it to.

Cold steel against warm organs. His breath leaving his body.

This brilliant and intense feeling as all strength sept from his limbs. His knees gave out quicker than he realized-

Shizuo.

All of a sudden he was just there- when, how, Izaya had no idea. He just knew his eyes grazing his wound before tracking his eyes. A hand. Covering his own around the blade's handle and another on his shoulder as his surroundings suddenly started to shift. He didn't realize he was sliding down from the chair until he was sitting straight up on the ground with his back against the counter and Shizuo's body following every motion.

A secure hand had wrapped around his own to keep the blade in place and another trailed to his arm in support and Izaya's eyes flickered up to meet his.

Warmth. Caramel of a depth too brilliant to be surreal looked at him with deep concern and assuring security of a man that had not seen someone get stabbed for the first time in his life.

"Don't pull it out-"

And suddenly they were there.

The screams.

The chaos.

The panic of guests and eyes settled on his body all around. The bass was still thrumming from above, serving a laughable background to the gruesome scene as the DJ had no means of knowing what was happening on the floor below. A girl fainted somewhere on the dancefloor as she couldn't take the sight of blood and for a second Izaya felt the urge to laugh at the weakness displayed- but all sounds were stuck in his throat.

He could feel it.

The hot blood, seeping, unnaturally hot, spilling into his belt and soaking into his pants.

It hurt- yet it didn't. More than pain he felt a weird sensation of wrongness accompanied with the foreign object under his skin.

He had thought getting stabbed would hurt more but instead he only felt the unsettling dread of wrongness cloud his mind.

It was similar to fear, yet completely different as it didn't let him relish the idea that everything was just conceit.

The loud music was suddenly dimmed and only Shizuo's voice sounded clear as a cold knife cutting through heated butter.

The hand that had rested on Izaya's shoulder suddenly left and before he knew it Shizuo had reached for his phone. Blood grazed his fingertips and smeared the screen while illuminating the outline of his face with sickening blue.

"Get me Shinra, now." Not more words were said, not a shred of panic glazed his eyes and the phone dropped as if there wasn't more to be said-

"Evelyn a towel-"

Ah.

Evelyn. Right.

It took Izaya a full second to recognize the woman standing right next to them.

Having heard the screams she had headed over only to freeze the second she spotted the blood.

Only now as she was being addressed directly did her body jerk back into motion and her face paled. "Sure-!"

Sensations were skipped and somehow Izaya had a feeling his attention was fading as his surroundings sped up.

The towel was there quicker than he realized and he noticed with insecure dread that he hadn't even noticed Evelyn bringing it over.

His thoughts ran avidly, no proper string of words seemed to form and in search for distraction Izaya looked at Shizuo's eyes.

And it was as though he was looking at a boulder in the midst of a dark ocean, defying the incoming waves with ease.

"You are awfully calm," Izaya joked with a voice too shaky to be his own and somehow those words caused the stone to crack.

The hand on his arm flinched and for a moment the hold Shizuo had on his body tightened as an expression made of pure concern tried to force a smile.

"Would you rather have me freak out?" he asked quietly, and Izaya realized that Shizuo appeared calm but wasn't.

Clear, attentive eyes took in every motion of his body, every second that passed, and Izaya trembled as he felt a tremor race down his spine.

"Hey you, give me your coat." Shizuo was quicker to act than Izaya was at voicing his state.

"What-" Confusion assaulted the guest that Shizuo had addressed, but Shizuo obviously neither had the patience nor the will to explain his order and instead snatched his coat from his hands.

Before Izaya knew it the fabric rested against his body and the tremors stacked upon each other.

Cold-

He didn't even realize how cold he felt until the jacket came.

And suddenly it started to sink in. Not the cold. But the pain.

Izaya couldn't feel his legs-

His breath was growing shorter too-

He wanted to breathe, but couldn't-

More-

More air-

"Izaya, everything is going to be okay."

Shizuo's voice sounded so far and yet so close and Izaya's expression churned.

"Confident, aren't y-" but his breath got stuck in his throat and suddenly it was there.

Fear.

Cold blooded fear.

He was stabbed.

He was bleeding.

Losing too much.

He could feel the warmth seep from his body in an unnatural sensation, he could feel the way his consciousness was starting to drift- The music dimmed even further and suddenly Shizuo's voice sounded echoic-

"Shizuo-" he felt it everywhere. The blood. At his stomach. His pants. Trickling down his back.

The ground-

Shizuo's hand on his arm started drawing soothing patterns of swirls on his skin as he whispered.

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay."

And somehow Izaya believed his words. No reason guided his thoughts. No arguments worthy to support what he said, and yet suddenly the pain was gone.

Peace.

That was all he felt- just peace.

Peace and Shizuo's voice.

Soothing.

"Izaya."

Funny, the more relaxed Izaya felt the more dread started to fill Shizuo's voice.

"Stay awake. Izaya."

Izaya didn't know how much time had passed.

A minute? Five? Half an hour?

All he knew was the hand on his shoulder and Shizuo's voice.

And suddenly there were more voices.

Then less voices.

Only barely he saw blurred images of someone's face shoved into his vision and felt his body being moved before finally everything faded to black.

to be continued~

Oh my, I guess no one saw that coming xD

Mini spoiler: No of course I'm not just killing off Izaya right here xDDDD Now that would be a bummer hahahaha