Chapter 99: Truce

Groans and noises of arbitrary nature forced their way past the symphony of classical music. Izaya didn't know the piece being played at the moment, but he noticed the sarcasm of its happy theme contrasting their current situation.

With everyone in their ordered position either taking the fungi down or acting as a safety measure watching out, he had all the time in the world to wreck his head about his next steps.

About Kururi.

How to get her out.

How to get her back.

Eyes narrowing the back of his palm met his lips in a moment of contemplation. He had a few options in mind, but none of them were secure or quiet. And what about this kid, Phil? And his friend whose name they had yet to hear?

They had acted awfully docile and obedient, but was that really their true character?

For all Izaya knew they could be acting a beautifully crafted story and just wait for them to let their guard down and then-

"Izaya." Shizuo's voice came a bit as a surprise, but not enough to make Izaya flinch. "I know you don't want to hear it, but-

Looking up from his seat on the edge of the building he merely spoke a sigh as he closed his eyes. "What? Are you on her side?" he snarled, a bit more hostile than intended, but Shizuo was both used to it and knew better than to attribute his anger to his own actions.

Clear eyes, unwavering and sure of themself locked on Izaya as he waited for a real response. "What do you think?"

Izaya wasn't stupid.

Of course Shizuo wasn't on her side. Hell if anything then he probably detested her too for doing what she had done.

Sighing softly, Izaya rubbed his temples for a second, "Then what do you want?"

Black fabric slid across the surface of the roof and Izaya noted for a short moment that the restaurant uniform suited Shizuo even better than his usual attire.

The black and red added a nice flair of seriosity- or maybe that was just something that had changed about Shizuo.

… changed, huh?

Lacking an answer still, Izaya's eyes drifted back to the fungi pit below.

A lot had changed over these few weeks of terror. Shizuo had. In multiple ways, and yet he stayed true to his character. Izaya had too. Somewhat. More internally than externally he supposed but it was a fact he was willing to admit.

And the rest…?

What about Shinra? What about Karisawa? Kadota? They were acting roughly the same as usual, but to deal with this new reality thrown upon something on a deeper level had to have changed as well.

Looking towards Vorona he watched the blond as she kept clearing out fungi around Kururi.

By now she was basically walking around alone in a mess of corpses. The bodies hindered others from getting closer and from the looks of it she had gotten stuck between two shoulders and a head.

It was a gruesome image. Especially with the blood of strangers sullying her skin and hair. But it was also comforting.

To know she couldn't suddenly disappear from one moment to the next. At least not until Izaya had come up with a plan.

"I don't ask you to forgive her. But right now, shouldn't we focus on the problems we already have?" Shizuo suddenly whispered, taking the conversation up right where he had left off. "The priest wants us dead for all I understand. Or abuse us in different ways."

Feeling his own face scrunch into a manner of disgust, Izaya frowned. Namie, Karisawa and Vorona. He wasn't stupid, even Shizuo had realized from their predatory glances what it was that they craved from these good looking women in an era that seemed awfully lacking in females.

"I don't care whether we spend another year in this setting or not. Nor do I care about anyone's survival as long as you don't head straight into your death," Shizuo continued and Izaya laughed.

"You do."

Why? He wasn't even quite sure.

Turning his head with an expression not wavering in the slightest, Shizuo only insisted on his words.

"I don't."

Izaya wanted to protest. Wanted to attest Shizuo as a liar and point out that he would want to convince him to stay-

Why?

Izaya already knew Shizuo was only here for him. For various reasons. Reasons of love. Reasons of regret. He had tried to protect many and failed to save even one. Focusing on one person was the right action to take and that being Izaya made his words set in stone.

And yet somehow in the back of his mind Izaya also knew that this was one of the things that had changed in Shizuo over the course of time. It was an attribute needed now during the apocalypse and it would only vanish the moment they were liberated from this virus.

A grand goal.

Almost unachievable.

And that idea sent goosebumps down his spine.

"Anytime. You say it and I have no issue moving on from this place," Shizuo emphasized on what Izaya already regretted causing and sighed.

"... why is it that you only say smart things at these moments?" he whispered and Shizuo shrugged, unaware of the string of thoughts circling in Izaya's head.

"I'm just saying what I think you would."

What would Izaya say?

Funny, because Izaya didn't know what he was supposed to say.

But somehow, maybe just because of Shizuo's awfully calm presence, he felt the storm in his own chest calm down slowly.

He was mad. Mad at Namie for hiding what she had. Mad for never doubting the circumstances of Kururi's death. It was a mixture of self blame and hatred for being deceived that had caused his blood to boil- and yet, right now?

Facts laying bare as they were, he was actually looking at something positive.

Kururi.

She was still here.

She was breathing. She was moving. And ultimately, wasn't this a new chance?

"I'm curious," he whispered and glanced towards Shizuo. "What is it that I should do now?"

What was he hoping for? A step by step guide on what was the best decision to take? The best move to make? He wasn't quite sure, but the second he saw Shizuo's expression slip to one of puzzlement he somehow realized the true solution to this mess.

"I don't know," Shizuo admitted after a few seconds, just as Izaya expected. But his lack of an answer didn't matter as he sighed and rose from the ground.

"But I do."

Namie had acted in her best interest and moved away from Izaya. Watching their van was about the best she could do without aggravating anyone further and so she jumped in her skin the moment she heard steps behind her back.

If there was one thing she had not expected, then it was Izaya as he sat down next to her.

Silence of a thousand words weighed heavily on both of them as neither Izaya nor Namie said anything.

There was no use crying over spilled beans, especially now with their situation being anything but preferable, Izaya realized as much. Not only due to Vorona's and Shizuo's efforts.

And even Namie seemed to have come to a similar conclusion as she hesitated to speak.

"Izaya-"

"Is there anything else you are hiding from me?"

Izaya was quicker to kick the conversation off and poke right where it hurt.

He had never been the type to dance around a topic at hand and he wasn't going to start doing so now.

"Awfully docile, will you shoot me once I turn my head?" Namie whispered and Izaya snorted while eyeing the boxes filled with artillery.

"Don't give me ideas."

But that was not what he had come for and they were both aware.

"I thought she was dead," Namie sighed after a whole minute of silence and Izaya didn't fail to give her a soft glare at the way she phrased those words.

"Not back at the hospital of course," She quickly corrected, "But when I saw her turn and disappear on camera I figured she had not much time to live anyway-" Harsh. That's what her words were. But they were the truth. "Genuinely," she insisted as she met Izaya's angry glance. "The moment we figured out what was truly going on it was too late," a bitter smile spread across her lips as she recalled the way she had frantically left the building only to see that the outside was off just as bad as the inside. "I barely managed to escape our own laboratory."

And then-

"My first thought was to get Seiji," she hesitated for a second. "So it's not like I don't understand why you are mad."

Izaya expected a tantrum, or rather words of retaliation. How he didn't deserve any better for killing her brother, but oddly enough she didn't.

No sarcastic comment nor snarl followed at the topic of her brother's death and Izaya hummed.

"... you seem awfully docile. Is the guilt really affecting you this hard?" he joked and Namie smiled while briefly touching the tender skin next to her eye.

"Must have been the hit to the head," she snorted and Izaya paused for a second as he noticed a light tinge of blue grazing along her cheekbone.

Ah.

So that's why she wasn't insisting on an eye for an eye.

"Let me guess, Shizuo?" he sighed and Namie shrugged.

"I'm not going to apologize for anything I said or did," she announced with the same amount of pride she had always held. "I always moved with the best interest in mind."

"Doubted you would." Izaya agreed, and then she said something that he had expected last from her.

"But I want to thank you."

Blinking slowly, Izaya turned and faced the woman.

He searched for a joke, or maybe sarcasm, but oddly enough he found none of those.

"I know myself well enough to admit your hunch wasn't too far off," Namie explained quickly, as if hurrying was going to take away the guilt she felt. She was talking about Izaya's presumption of her killing herself after Seiji's death. "You had no reason to look out for me, yet you did."

Certainly.

But at the end of the day Izaya's actions had been nothing but a hunch. Executed on a simple wish to have more allies than infected enemies or dead corpses.

He was about to complain, but didn't.

"You had no reason to save Vorona either," he sighed instead and Namie's head turned in surprise. She had neither expected him to know about that nor for him to bring it up right now.

A snort followed as the woman shook her head in short amusement.

"One of these days we might end up becoming Altruists at this rate."

And funnily enough Izaya offered a short chuckle as well.

"Truly a frightening thought."

This was good.

This was a consensus they could both work with. His animosity towards Namie had of course not simply vanished, but their current goal should be to save Kururi, not to fight amongst themselves.

Or at least that's what he thought of for their next actions.

"Izaya-" alarmed Karisawa's voice tore through the peaceful moment, and Izaya quickly rose from his position on top of the roof.

A finger pointing into the direction of the museum's side was enough for Izaya to follow and spot the new problem approaching by the second.

An eerie smile and the company of three tall grown and armed men was what he presented upon moving closer and Izaya's eyes narrowed.

What was Shijima doing here?

"Shizuo." Izaya spoke his name as if it contained every order he could possibly relay and within a few seconds their group gathered at the left side of the museum.

Just in time as the ladder guiding up the wall presented Shijima's face.

"Yo. Change of plans," he announced while pulling his body up and the smile on his face only broadened to an even sicker degree. "We need two of you as a special force."

Sweet. Uncanny. That's what his words sounded like and Izaya frowned.

"Special force?" Vorona asked quickly and moved before Namie as he was clearly looking at her while speaking.

"There is another barricade nearby and some zombies are starting to tear it down. Two of you need to get rid of them. Close up sadly." It was funny how the guy was trying to relay words of seriosity when his eyes were undressing Namie on the spot. "He wants you to be one of them," he added with a seemingly casual attitude, but it didn't contain the shudder that trailed down Namie's back.

"Me?" she whispered and the guy grinned in a way that relayed exactly what it was that he wanted.

This was no official visit. Izaya could tell.

The priest had either no clue of what his henchmen was doing or he approved of it because he wanted to reward his closest ally. Both options were highly likely and the latter worse than simple death.

"But we-" Karisawa tried, but Shijima quickly shut her down.

"You are supposed to stay here and keep killing them."

As if on cue the two men unlocked their weapons and Karisawa froze. Fear lingered in her eyes as she glanced towards the victim in question.

But funnily enough Namie was calm and her composure didn't leave any room for speculations about her mental state.

"Alright. I don't mind," she agreed and Shijima smiled. "But you said two of us. So I can take someone with me?"

"Feel free." Shijima nodded and a hopefully glance of disgust trailed towards Karisawa and Vorona. A woman choosing another for mental support was what he probably hoped for and it wasn't hard to guess what it was that he had ultimately in mind.

But to his disappointment Namie turned not towards the women.

"Izaya?" she called instead, and with the slightest motion she glanced towards the zombie infested front of the museum.

The direction was vague, but Izaya knew a secret message when he saw it.

Kururi.

This was the perfect chance to act away from the group.

"Will be my pleasure," he smiled with his brightest anticipation.
"Izaya-" Shizuo whispered quietly, but Izaya quickly shot him a confident glance.

He was in control.

Nothing Shijima had planned would catch him off guard.

"Really? You sure you don't want to opt for someone else?" Shijima protested and Izaya was quite sure the second she chose Shizuo he would come up with reasons for her to choose anyone but him and slowly guide her to bring who he desired most among the remaining women.

But Izaya had neither the time nor the patience to let this stupid game of words continue and so he spoke loudly.

"Everyone. Keep shooting the zombies, but don't go down. I don't think this trip will take too long."

A quick ray of nods was all that followed and Shijima snorted.

"Confident aren't ya?" But all he received was a soft glare.

Whatever it was that he was planning, Izaya would be quicker to exploit those plans to his own benefit.

to be continued~

Alright xD I am a little bit slower than I thought haha This story has roughly 4 more chapters to go C:

By the way, I only managed 3 of 5 updates this week xD Had two exams in a row and was unreasonably nervous before them lmao

So basically I couldn't get shit done until Wednesday xDDD But hey I passed them both so at least it was worth it xDDD

See you next friday~ xD with a full 5/5 hopefully x'DDD