Chapter 56: Aren't we all weird?

Pure horror reflected in Karisawa's face as the siren howled. Time seemed to slow down as Izaya's eyes trailed to the front of the store.

The car he had deemed as broken and unimportant- he should have checked it nonetheless. Regret and the nauseous feeling of having slipped up bit his guts as he quickly jumped to his feet.

There was one.

A zombie.

It hadn't seen them or heard them or anything, but it had crashed into the car and triggered the siren. Screeching it scratched the surface of the metal as the vehicle screamed. They were going to attract more- no, not more- all of the zombies nearby.

Frozen in pure shock Karisawa moved not a single muscle as Izaya pulled at her arm.

"Oi-" Quiet but harsh he hissed in her ear to gain her attention without alarming the zombies. More and more were already starting to gather from various streets as the soren was heard far and wide.

Head turning slowly she glanced at Izaya in fear.

She didn't know what to do.

She was scared. Too scared to even move.

Izaya could get behind the emotion too well and quickly turned his head to look for a solution-

They had to get out of here.

Going to the front was no option. Sure they could try and sneak their way through the distracted monsters and gamble to not be seen.

But the risk was too high. Just one of them needed to turn and notice their presence for hell to break loose.

Unwillingly reminding himself of the sight that presented itself in front of them when Shizuo and him watched that girl being torn apart in the middle of the street, he swallowed.

No.

Too risky-

Movement from the front startled both as a low hanging glass piece of the shop window crashed to the ground. The noise seemed like a stab to their ears as they glanced at the zombies.

But they were lucky. One or two shortly hesitated and turned towards the glass, but the honking of the car proved to be far more interesting as their attention was soon drawn away again. Glancing towards the back Izaya realized with dread that there was no back entrance of any sort.

Walls encased the entire room like a cage. Head turning up Izaya looked at the ceiling in one last attempt to spot something that could help them-

And he did.

The ceiling.

He remembered the very same pattern from Raira academy. It was an inexpensive ceiling. Plates of hard cartridge made up a net of plates to store away cables and what not- in other words, there was room left to slip into.

Moving to one of the shelves, Izaya quickly pushed it back up into its original position. Horror reflected in Karisawa's expression as she watched Izaya move and unavoidably create noise.

"Izaya-" her voice sounded crooked, quiet and most of all filled with fear as her expression fell.

Anxiety had obviously taken the best of her as she didn't realize what it was he was doing.

Swift, like a cat swinging its body on a fence, Izaya got up onto the top of the shelf.

Standing tall he pushed against one of the many ceiling plates and felt pure relief wash through his body as the piece moved just as he had hoped it would.

Pushing it up and aside an opening was created and Izaya swiftly jumped as he brought both his elbows into the narrow space.

Never in his life had he been more glad for his fitness and flexibility as he pulled his body into safety without creating any unnecessary sound.

Soft creaking sounds resounded from the surface of the ceiling and Izaya blessed the fact that he weighed less than he should at his height and age.

Turning around, Karisawa looked around the shop.

Izaya had successfully gotten away, but there was no way she was going to make it up there without help.

She couldn't even climb a rope back at school, not even talking about pushing her whole body up by just her arms.

Glancing at a cupboard not too far she swallowed. It was small, but maybe she could turn it over and hide underneath. Quite like a turtle in its shell-

The thought was discarded as quickly as the idea came as she pressed against the wood.

It was heavy.

Getting underneath the cupboard was not the issue, but getting out of it would definitely be a problem.

Her throat constricted as she thought about the two options available. Keep standing still and be caught by the zombies and eaten alive, or hide underneath the heavy cupboard and risk suffocation and a possibly very slow and cruel death.

Neither was an option!

Glancing over her shoulder the creatures moved. Too many had gathered around the car and now a few were walking into the shop -

No-

No-

No-

She didn't want to die yet!

"Karisawa-!" a loud hiss reached her ears and her head turned upwards. Tears of frustration prickled in the corner of her eyes as she looked at a hand reaching out from above.

Izaya.

"What are you waiting for? Come on, take my hand-" his voice was hushed and somewhat mad as he glared at the woman as though she was stupid.

And for a small second Karisawa was simply surprised. The intention was clear, Izayavwas going to pull her up so she would be safe.

She didn't really know why, but somehow the thought that Izaya would help her never occurred to her.

Unfreezing from her stupor she quickly turned.

All of her strength and balance was exploited as she made her way into the top of the cupboard.

A zombie not too far suddenly turned, looking right into her direction and her blood froze as Izaya's hand wrapped around her wrist.

Surprisingly strong and harsh she found herself being pulled upwards. Another hand was brought forth and pulled at the back of her dress as her elbows connected with the small room of safety.

"For fucks sake how much longer did you plan to stand around for?" Izaya hissed between tight lips and Karisawa couldn't help but chuckle in pure relief as her expression churned.

She thought she was going to die.

Quickly moving the plate back into place Izaya merely left a small opening to glance downwards.

The zombies were slowly filling the store. The spot Karisawa had been standing in was already occupied by one particularly gross specimen as it smelled the area.

It probably realized that it had just missed a decent meal by a few seconds and tried to find its whereabouts.

Slightly unsettled by the sight, Izaya shoved the plate close. He knew they couldn't think or act in unity, but just the imagination of them realizing that they were up here and somehow finding a way into the confined space was too daunting to pass.

Swallowing shortly, Izaya took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"Alright now we wait until they are fully gathered," he whispered quietly, glancing towards where Karisawa was supposed to be.

The smallest holes inside the ceiling allowed just a bit of light to pass through and he could make out the outlines of her expression as she nodded solemnly. "Should take them half an hour or so," he added quickly as he realized her hands were trembling slightly.

"Half an hour?" she whispered so quiet he almost didn't hear her.

…. she was still scared.

The slightest feeling of guilt made itself apparent as he sighed.

"... sorry I should have taken that into account." He should have checked the car, or made sure the battery wasn't working anymore. Cutting the wires would have taken a few minutes at most.

Now they were trapped in here.

He had said they would probably be gone in half an hour, but honestly? He had no idea how long the siren of the car would last until it ran out of electricity.

"Eh- No, no, it's fine! I didn't see that coming either." Karisawa suddenly said, quickly bringing her hands up in defense. She was trying to force a smile, but seemed quite shaken despite that.

Izaya found himself vividly remembering the way he felt the last time one of those creatures popped out before him.

"Are you okay?"

Surprise flashed across Karisawa's face.

…. she had expected a lot but certainly not a question about her well being.

Okay, huh?

Sighing softly her eyebrows dipped into a soft frown as she mustered a smile.

"I'm fine. That just now just scared me a little."

The answer was a lie so obvious Izaya was convinced Karisawa knew he wouldn't buy it.

Pulling the opening close again he let his back thud against a pile of cords gathered in the area.

"... you haven't been out a lot have you?"

Karisawa tensed.

Ah.

Seemed he had hit the bull's eye. Guilt seemed to spread across her expression as she shook her head. "Not really… Kadota took care of everything dangerous. We met up quickly with Shinra and Celty too. Compared to what you guys must have been through, we had it fairly easy, I guess…" Regret layered thickly in her voice. It was something Izaya wasn't quite used to. The girl had always been bubbly in her whole personality, so seeing the one human upset that never was, was kinda hard to watch.

"Having it easy is nothing to feel bad about." Izaya shrugged,trying to make light of the matter. But the attempt failed bitterly as Karisawa's expression only grew more depressed. "Can't help but feel kinda useless though." As bitter as the words sounded Karisawa realized their gravity as she quickly forced a smile on her face. "Sorry, forget that."

A frown crossed Izaya's forehead.

"You aren't useless. No one is. It's not like anyone trained us to fight against these creatures," he quickly argued, not willing to let the conversation reach such a depressing conclusion. "There is a reason you survived. You remained quiet and didn't take any rash actions, instead you stayed calm. That's already a quite valuable skill to have in this environment." And suddenly Izaya couldn't hrlp but smile. 'I know someone who lacks that exact ability. He should learn from you." The way he scolded Karisawa for feeling guilty over her natural reactions he couldn't help but feel himself reminded of Shizuo.

Too often had he doubted his actions in this doomed world and Izaya had fished for ways to explain and rectify them.

Silence followed for a short moment as Izaya relished in the short memory.

Lifting her gaze Karisawa looked at the guy she thought didn't care about anyone.

"...are you actually trying to cheer me up?"

Surprise as well as a well crafted poker face quickly replaced Izaya's smiling expression as he shrugged.

"I just don't want to listen to your moping until we can leave."

So he was.

Izaya was not exactly someone Karisawa would have expected to try and cheer someone up. Yet here he was, obviously trying his best to lift her mood.

And the best part about it was that he somewhat succeeded. Feeling a soft smile spread across her lips she hummed as she looked at Izaya.

Meeting her gaze with a slightly dissatisfied expression he frowned.

"... what?"

Karisawa shrugged lightheartedly. "Nothing. I just always thought you were more of a jerk." Izaya snorted at that as he raised an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?" Karisawa nodded, curtly shutting her mouth as a sound reached up into their hiding spot.

The siren.

It had stopped yelling the living daylight out of it.

Moving the ceiling plate aside, Izaya glanced downwards.

By now the zombies had filled the entire shop. Confused as to why they didn't find anything to kill, they stood still.

Moving over quietly Karisawa peek through the gap as well.

The sight on display was horrifying and the stench even worse.

The smell of dirty, partly rotting human flesh was not something she loved to smell and she curtly felt the need to cover her nose to suppress a retch.

They looked horrendous. Adults, children, women, men- everything assembled down there and Karisawa couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness at the sight.

One of them, a boy not much older than seven maybe, was gnawing at the cupboard that had fallen over.

… he probably had had a family.

A mother.

Siblings maybe.

Pulling the opening shut again Izaya leant back into the stack of cables as he sighed. He would never admit it, but the smell was getting to him more than he wanted it to.

"Say…" Karisawa suddenly started. Hesitation marked her words as she fidgeted with one of the cables. "Why did you tell Namie about her brother like that?"

… what was he supposed to reply?

The truth was nothing Izaya fancied sharing. Especially not in this kind of environment. An act of kindness might as well be perceived as weakness- and he wasn't willing to show that. Not even to Karisawa.

Shrugging, Izaya avoided her eyes as he avoided the question gracefully.

"He was beyond saving."

Blinking, the girl sighed, obviously not hearing the response she had hoped for.

"No. I know you had to kill him," she paused, "What I mean is, why did you have to tell her like that."

Izaya merely shrugged.

"... maleficence?"

Face contorting to one of frustration the girl gave him a look of dissatisfaction.

Izaya had to disappoint her.

"Who knows?" he said with a shrug, not willing to press on with the topic.

Karisawa frowned- she didn't know what to make of this guy, really.

Sometimes he was being nice and then again a complete asshole.

Realizing there was no use in trying to get answers she stopped.

Izaya obviously wasn't going to tell her the reason.

… wait.

And then she halted in her thoughts.

He didn't tell her the reason why. But didn't his actions imply that there was one?

Meaning he hadn't done it out of spite but for some sort of purpose.

Looking at the guy as he peeked through the gap once more she suddenly saw him in a much better light.

Call it a hunch, a gut feeling, but somehow Karisawa found herself thinking that he didn't do it out of spite.

Expression relaxing, she sighed.

"Alright I can live with that."

A confused blink followed as well as a clear sign of irritation as Izaya frowned.

"I didn't say anything."

"I know." Karisawa chirped, and honestly Izaya's reaction only proved all the more what she had concluded as he shook his head.

"Sometimes you are weird Karisawa."

to be continued~

I don't know about you guys, but I love Karisawa xDD Not only for shipping Shizaya officially, but her quirkiness in general haha C:

See you next Saturday~ C: