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Of all the things that could have gone wrong that day, Shizuo would have never imagined the situation he got into.
If chasing Izaya during a thunderstorm seemed like a really bad idea in hindsight, following him inside an abandoned building would have definitely won him the grand prize in a competition for dumbest decisions.
And now here they are, both stunned by the loud sound of a mechanical door closing behind them that shouldn’t for any reason in the world be still even working considering the conditions the rest of the building is in. The few still working emergency lights allow Shizuo to see the moment Izaya’s usual smug cracks, signaling to him that maybe, maybe , ending up trapped in that suspiciously abandoned but still powered building wasn’t part of the flea’s plan.
“Shizu-chan, you fell right into my trap like that brainless monster you are.”
He’s lying. If there is something Shizuo is really sure of, it is understanding Izaya’s body language. Not surprisingly, considering he had been interacting with him - not voluntarily for the most part - for almost 10 years now.
“You bastard, you don't even know where we are, don’t mess with me.”
Izaya is already pacing around, trying to find a way out, all the while poking him and making his already thin patience fade.
“Ah, you really have a nose for lies don’t you? You would work perfectly as a police dog, or maybe even a truffle dog.” He lets a laugh escape from his lips. “The image that is forming in my mind is priceless, Shizu-Chan.”
Shizuo can feel his nail digging into his palm with the way he’s tightening his fists. He glances around the dirty and humid room while trying to distract himself, the flickering emergency lights not helping his case.
”I’m gonna crush all of your bones one by one and get you out of Ikebukuro as soon as we're out of this building.”
”Ew, that mental image is revolting.” Izaya cringes, making a disgusted face. “Anyway, since all you do is bark and never bite, why don’t we collaborate for a moment just so that we don’t have to spend the night here?”
He has had enough. He’s in front of Izaya in a matter of seconds, his long legs covering half of the big room without effort. Izaya stands still, not trying to run away, not that he could anyway - they’re trapped together. He doesn’t move an inch even when Shizuo’s large hand closes around his tiny wrist.
”I don’t bite? Say again?” Shizuo says, his voice deep and threatening. He gives Izaya a big shake, not letting go of him.
“Well, what are you waiting for then? Bite me, kill me, you monster.” Izaya taunts him, his eyes closing and his smile turning into a full grin.
But Shizuo knows better. He knows that this might still be one of his sick psycho plans, he knows Izaya likes to risk, especially when it comes to ruining his life.
He thinks back to the afternoons with Celty, of how she has taught him to meditate and to calm down even when he is at his worst. He takes two big breaths, closes his eyes, channels all his energies into good thoughts, like his brother being happy with his new girlfriend, or them taking care of the kitty, Celty inviting him to another hotpot day, that one day at the beach he spent with Vorona and Tom..
”You’re not being serious.” Says Izaya at a certain point; Shizuo re-opens his eyes to find an unusually amazed flea in front of him. But the moment of genuine stupor is gone as soon as that ugly smirk is back on his face. “Didn’t know you were trying to learn the command ‘stay’.”
Being called a dog yet another time almost breaks his concentration. Almost.
” Izaya.” He says, his voice now calmer and composed. “What’s this building?” It echoes around them, now that he notices. He lets go of his wrist and Izaya takes some steps back before replying.
”Frankly, I have no idea. I don’t usually have my GPS on while running away from death.” He jokes, while inspecting his surroundings. There’s a big door opposite to the one they’ve come through, and Izaya tries to open it, without success.
“Let me try.” Shizuo tells him, grabbing the metal bar that should allow the door to slide open, if it was unlocked. He gives it a push, then another, until it budges and it finally opens, making the locking mechanism shatter to the ground.
”Good job, too bad I don’t have any treats with me.”
It takes a big breath, a punch to the wall and a blessing from his ancestors from the underworld not to make him turn around and choke the guy to death. He’s pissed, really pissed, he has never been this pissed.
”Shizu-Chan stop punching holes in our wall, or else they’ll accuse you of domestic violence.” Izaya’s jokes with a higher pitch, which would almost be funny if it wasn’t coming from him of all people.
“For the love of god, shut up.” It’s all Shizuo can think of saying, really. He’s had enough with his bullshit. He can’t believe he could beat the shit out of the guy and he’s not doing it. He blames everything on Celty’s too-good influence on him.
They try to call the elevator that’s right outside the big room, but the light from the calling button immediately dies after Shizuo presses it; something can be heard moving from upstairs, but they move away and decide to take the stairs anyway, not really trusting the unsupervised machine.
They walk up a countless amount of steps before the peaceful silence is unfortunately broken.
”You know, you trying to keep your temper like that is not that bad.” Izaya comments as he walks right behind him. It’s almost disturbing having to walk without seeing what that devil is doing. “You see, you’re quite pleasant to be around when y-“
Something shatters to the ground, the noise invades the building. Shizuo turns around so fast, his heartbeat pondering into his ears. One of the steps has collapsed, falling down the dark void of god knows how many floors they’re passed already.
Izaya is just about to make another quirky comment as Shizuo notices that the step the other’s on is about to collapse too; the last nail is coming out of one of the holes on the side, threatening to fall down any moment.
”Careful!” Is all he can exclaim before grabbing Izaya by his arms.
Just in time, as Izaya’s foot slips from the step, almost making him fall into the nothingness under them. Shizuo guides them both up without letting him go, until they reach another empty floor.
The moment he lets go of Izaya’s arm he already expects some kind of teasing.
”Oh, it’s really a shame I can’t do any reinforcement training on you right now, you would work perfect as my personal guard.”
Not a thank you, not a hint of gratefulness in that shitty brain of his, as expected. Shizuo almost regrets not making him become a scrambled egg.
”If I ever work for you, just know that it isn’t me. I was probably kidnapped by aliens or something. There’s no way.”
“Well, if I was an alien, I would definitely have you on the list of people to experiment on. Actually, I would love to find out what’s wrong with you. Even without being an alien.”
“I’m going to beat you so bad when we’re out of this fucking maze, you have no idea.”
“Bet.”
They continue making their way up, walking up the countless metal stairs, taking tentative steps in the dark, the only sound now that of their breathing. Now that Shizuo thinks about it, Izaya is being too silent. Suspiciously too silent for someone who had been trying to get on his nerves until now.
When he turns around, he realizes.
Even in the dark and with that little of a vision his eyes provide him, he can see it. He can see how Izaya is dragging one of his feet, the one that had slipped on that broken step. He cannot see it clearly on his face, but he’s sure Izaya is hiding his distress.
“What? Are you feeling some kind of presence around us?” Izaya tries to joke, and that confirms Shizuo’s thought. His voice is raspy, he’s breathing harder than before, it’s obvious that something’s wrong.
“You’re hurt.” He says, calmly, stopping them both in their tracks.
“I’m not, it’s your pace, Shizu-Chan, you have to understand that us common folks were not granted the gift of having two meters long legs.” He lies. Shizuo knows he’s lying. He knows from the way he’s leaning against the wall, supporting himself unaware of the fact that Shizuo can see better than him in that pitch dark. Blame it on his fucked up body and everything, but now that he looks at him better, he can clearly see the sweats coming down his unnaturally white face.
There’s no other solution he can think of at that moment. Nothing that would be both quick and painless. He can’t leave him in that place, with god knows how many stairs left, with the temperature slowly going under zero with the advancing of the night. He can’t risk getting blamed for that flea’s death, not now that his job is finally steady and now that he has colleagues that he likes to be around.
It’s without any warning sign when he bends down towards him, Izaya doesn’t see it coming, and doesn’t realize what’s happening until it’s already too late.
“W-Wha-“ Izaya laments, while his body gets lifted from the stairs and up in the air. He tries to escape his grip, tries to get back down, but Shizuo’s too strong, he’s already adjusting his light body so he’s carrying him in bride-style. “Let me go, what the hell.”
“It’ll be faster this way.” He tells him, simply. And with that, he's back to walking up the stairs again, as if the person he hates the most wasn’t pressed against his chest, with his short dark hair tickling the exposed part of his neck. It takes a bit more of lamenting and trying to escape before Izaya surrends and stops complaining to put him back down.
They make it to the 20th floor in complete silence, both too embarrassed to acknowledge the awkwardness hanging between them. Shizuo can’t see Izaya’s face, doesn’t want to see it, he’s trying his best to not be weird about all of it, and to think that they'll soon be free. Something's wrong though, as a low noise that he was so sure was coming from his stomach before, turns out to be a lament from Izaya.
”What’s wrong?” He asks, his voice now raspy from all the dust he’s inhaled and from the tension in his body.
”Nhhn..”
”Oi, flea.” He calls, shaking the body he’s carrying and making Izaya sigh. “Don’t ignore me.”
”It hurts.” He laments, his voice unusually lacking enthusiasm.
”Yeah, no kidding. You’ve probably broken your foot.”
“What an unfortunate turn of events.” It’s all Izaya comments in an attempt to sound like the normal teaser he is.
”Don’t tell me.”
”I think we’re almost at the top.”
”Thank god..”
Shizuo decided not to put Izaya back down, instead pressing him harder against his chest while ripping off the roof door with his free hand. While the door groans and collapse under his strong grip, all he can feel is a sweet scent invading his nostrils. A peach and lemon combination that he tries to follow with his nose, until he realizes it’s probably Izaya’s hair shampoo. As the realization hits him, his nose twitches involuntarily.
“Stop sniffing me, you dog.”
“I wasn-.. Nevermind.” He mutters down his breath, a mixture of frustration and embarassment coloring his cheeks.
The closeness is too much. He realizes at that moment that he needs space, air. Anything to shake off the unfamiliar and unsettling sensation that Izaya’s warm body against his chest is now giving him.
So, he finally puts him down, but watches as Izaya tries to balance himself. He slowly takes a cig out of his pocket, both to calm his nerves and to act as an excuse to stand still behind him, in case the other slipped again.
The moment the flea seems to be standing good and not threatening to fall, Shizuo starts inspecting the roof.
“Is it okay if I leave you here waiting?” he asks as he finds his way out, an emergency stair, casting an inspecting glance at Izaya, who’s now leaning against the broken door, trying—and failing—to hide how much his foot is hurting.
“Oh, I’ll survive.” Izaya replies with a weak smug. “Or did you still want to carry the damsel in distress?”
Shizuo can’t help but snort at the mental image he’s having, a cloud of smoke escapes his mouth as he thinks of everyone's possible reaction to that. It’s been ages since he hasn’t felt something that wasn’t rage towards Izaya.
It’s when he’s already past the first step and making his way down the emergency stairs, that his golden eyes catch something unexpected: Izaya looks tired, powerless. The smirk that’s always plastered on his face is gone, replaced by something neutral, unreadable even for him.
“Don’t pass out or anything, flea.” that's all he can say, as their eyes meet, the dim light of the clouded moon enlightening Izaya’s pained face.
As a response, Izaya chuckles weakly, the sound low and unnatural. “Go away, Shizu-Chan, I don’t need you playing all worried for me.”
His gaze then shifts from Shizuo to his phone, trying to hide himself with the excuse of a sudden call, but not fast enough for Shizuo not to catch the faint hint of a smirk at the corner of his mouth.
Asshole.
The unresolved tension lingers, in the chill air, in Shizuo’s chest even by the time he’s finally back home. He can’t find a reason to think of why Izaya would go to the point of hurting himself just to play with him, to mess with his head. It doesn’t make any sense, just like everything else about him.