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Durarara!! and characters (c) to Ryohgo Narita

Shizuo woke up the next morning all stretched out over the bed as usual. He stretched, yawning extensively, before his pajamas reminded him he wasn't alone. This in turn made him wonder how he had managed to stretch in his small bed.

I haven't kicked him off right?!

But when he looked over to the other side there was still a black-haired mummy there, rolled up like ball, knees almost touching his chin. He seemed to be shaking lightly. Shizuo wondered why for a moment, until he realized he had apparently hugged the blankets to himself.

Oh… he's cold.

Shizuo got up from the bed, and threw the blankets back over Izaya. He remembered what Shinra said and took the O- from Izaya's nightstand. He dubbed for a while, wondering if he remembered correctly and then changed the bag of the IV. It started dripping nicely…
Shizuo spared a quick glance for his patient.
The bits of visible skin did look a little better now. Shizuo had mixed feelings about that. Whether he should be happy about it, or bothered by it, he couldn't figure it out. In fact, he was both.
Izaya seemed to relax a little and stopped shivering as the warmth of the blankets got to him.
Shizuo felt somehow satisfied by this fact, but couldn't figure out why… He was probably just happy to have done something "right".

Shizuo then left the still sleeping Izaya on his own, and got dressed in his usual suit. He made a simple breakfast, 2 slices of bread with cheese and a glass of milk.
He made some bread for Izaya as well, and left it on his nightstand, along with a can of water and his pain meds. He was about to leave for work when he ended up dubbing about something else… Leave the extra key for Izaya to use if he would want to get out and risk giving the flea free access to his house for the rest of his life here, or take it with him? After thinking that out, the answer was pretty obvious. Izaya probably wouldn't be able to get down those stairs anyway. And with that, Shizuo left.

I was a few hours later when Izaya woke. He was relieved to see Shizuo had already gone, and surprised at what was left for him. He took the meds first and then ate his breakfast, trying hard not to let his thoughts wander. He didn't want to think about yesterday, knowing he wouldn't be finding answers like this. However, the silence made it rather difficult… He had to do SOMETHING.
So Izaya turned over and pulled himself up against the windowsill, and opened the window, leaning out a little to see more. It was better than the four unchanging walls of the bedroom, but still…
Al he could see from here was the flat on the other side a small rarely-traveled street bellow.
He watched the people walk by, occasionally smiling if any of them did something unusual, wondering what their calls were about when they talked into their phones.
But it wasn't all that interesting, even for him. After about an hour or so he let himself fall back in the bed, wondering if he should just go back to sleep.
The fact was, however, that he wasn't sleepy at all. A bit sluggish, probably from the combination of pain meds and low blood pressure, but definitely not sleepy.
He sighed, searching for something else to distract him. He remembered the books Shizuo kept in his nightstand. He picked the thinnest one out and started reading, rather uninterested in its contents. It took him a few hours to get through it, by then it was about 4 o'clock, and Izaya still didn't feel sleepy in the least. His wounds were starting to hurt more then he deemed necessary though, so he took another dose of meds.
He didn't feel like reading another book, so Izaya decided he'd check to see how much he could do in his current state… Starting out with walking. The ability to move around would be a huge improvement to the situation for Izaya.

He rolled himself to the side of the bed, shoved the blanket away and put his feet on the ground. He carefully tried to put some weight on them. There was an odd sensation as he did that. He could clearly feel the floor beneath his feet, but the muscles in his ankles gave a belated reaction to the weight, as he felt them tighten a good second after he tried to use them. Wondering what this strange feeling was Izaya sat back down and tried to twist his feet to around. That he did, but the movement was slow and jerky, not the smooth rolling he had expected to see.
That said, it wasn't like he couldn't move his feet at all, he just had to be careful… So Izaya tried putting some weight on his feet again, and rose up slow and carefully. He could stand at least. That was a relief. Now, let's try to actually get somewhere.
He carefully took s step forward and nearly tripped as his foot wouldn't stretch properly to take over the weight, but Izaya kept upright by holding on to the IV-standard. And he tried again, more careful to wait until he could actually feel is ankle tense up before putting any wait of his foot. That worked, he didn't trip this time.
He continued his slow progress towards the door, where he stood still; trying to regain the patience he had lost through the slow process. He notices a slight dent in the wall, next to the door frame. This must be the spot Shizuo punched yesterday.

I'm glad that didn't hit my head…

Izaya took a deep breath and took a next step into the living room. He looked around and headed for the cough, eager to let his already painful ankles rest. It took so much strain to get them to work correctly… Izaya hoped this would get better soon.
When he finally reached the cough he inspected the room he was in.
Like the bedroom it was quite minimal. There was the 3-person cough he was sitting on, a low table in front of him, a closet that held a small television, a radio, some DVD's and a few more books, and a dining table with 5 chairs a bit to his right side, holding a laptop and a vase with flowers. There seemed to be a chair missing… Izaya wondered if Shizuo might have used it as a projectile at some point.
The whole room was clad in light, calm and warm colors, wooden furniture and beige colored walls. It was also very clean… Cleaner then Izaya's own apartment, since he usually left whatever he used regularly within easy reach. Then again, he obviously owned a lot more stuff.
Izaya frowned. How'd Shizuo keep himself occupied in such an empty place?

But then the doorbell rang and he heard a familiar voice outside.
"I said we'd be too early~ He still has to walk home you know?"
…
"Of course, me too! I'm also quite curious as for how those too were getting along."
…
"Haha~, No of course not. I would kiss you right now if I could, you're so cute Celty!"

Izaya carefully got up again, and was carefully making his way over to the door, glancing at the time. 5 O'clock.
"Eh! Well, now that I think about it…"
…
"It really would explain a lot though~!"

Izaya finally reached the door and leaned against the wall as he opened it.

"Hello."

Shinra stared at him in shock. Celty might have done the same, had she had a head. As it was she quickly typed something on her PDA and showed it to Izaya.
[Are you okay? You shouldn't be walking around like this!]
Izaya shrugged. "It feels funny, but I'm fine."
Shinra finally recovered and walked in, Celty following close behind. He pointed at Izaya. "You, sit down now."
Izaya rolled his eyes; he'd been planning too anyway. He once again started walking towards the couch. Celty however quickly got impatient with his slow progress, and picked him up with remarkable easy, and placed his on the cough.
Izaya frowned a bit at this, bothered by the fact he was being treated like an invalid. But he didn't complain; it wouldn't be any use either way.

The first thing Shinra did was taking a look at Izaya's ankles; he treated them with some ointment and re-bandaged them. He couldn't see anything different from yesterday on the outside, but the way Izaya struggled to walk was enough to support his theory.
Izaya however didn't know about this theory yet, and he was curious.
"Say, how come I can't walk properly? I don't remember them doing anything to my legs."
"Well, your feet were bound right? Your bloodstream was blocked and I think your nerves might have been damaged too. Besides those stab wounds were awfully close to your spinal cord. Honestly, how'd you get all this?"
"Hmm… I see. Ah well, isn't that obvious?"
"You were tortured." Shinra stated in a matter of fact way.
"Yes." Izaya answered in a similar way.
"So, who did it."
"That's classified"
Shinra sighed. "Well, whoever they were, they didn't want to let you get away."
"I noticed."
"They succeeded you know… I mean, it's thanks to Shizuo you're alive and safe for the time being… But this is not going to heal anytime soon. You may be able to walk semi-normally in a week or so. But it will be several months at best before you can run again and even longer before you'll have your previous athletics back."
Izaya looked down. "That's longer then I was hoping for…"
Shinra shrugged. "It's probably your own fault anyways."
Izaya fell back against the pillows. "That what I thought but…"
And at that exact moment Shizuo opened the door and walked in. He was looking straight at Izaya, he had obviously heard the last bit of their conversation.
"But I can't figure it out…"

He walked in on a rather strange scene, in his own opinion. Ikebukuro's infamous informant and well known troll was sitting next to his best friend, who happened to be an underground doctor, wearing nothing but shorts and bandages, on Shizuo's cough. And to top it off, a headless fairy clad in a black rider suit was leaning against the wall next to the door, intently listening to their conversation.
But, considering Izaya didn't have any cloths here, Shinra being the only doctor Shizuo knew, and Celty always having been headless, that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that Izaya seemed to be saying he was tricked.
Shizuo just couldn't see that happen, Izaya of all people, getting tricked by somebody.

"That's strange for you to say." Shinra continued their conversation as he refreshed Izaya's bandages.
Shizuo closed the door behind him and walked across the room to take place on of the chairs. Celty showed him her PDA as he passed her. [Welcome home. Izaya let us in.] Shizuo nodded and sat down, watching Shinra work.
"Hmm… I'll find out somehow."
"I expect no less of you, but you better not put yourself in any dangerous positions for the time being." Shinra motioned for Izaya to lean forward so that he could change the bandages around his torso.
"I know." What Shinra didn't realize was that it had never been Izaya's intention to be in the middle of anything, he just got dragged in time and time again when he stirred up trouble. Except for last time, when he figured he might as well jump in himself if he was going to be dragged in anyways.
Shinra carefully poked the spots of nearly pure black skin around Izaya's ribs. "I think you'll be strong enough to have those fixed tomorrow."
Izaya held back a yelp and made a pained face as Shinra poked him.
"Oh, ok. Am I moving to your place then?"
Shinra shook his head. "I've been getting patients almost non-stop, and you're gonna need a stable environment. Besides, Shizuo's house is cleaner then my own~"
Shizuo was slightly bothered by this being decided without him, but he let it go. He had already decided to let the Flea stay, what difference could a few extra days make?
Izaya was looking at Shizuo, waiting for something. Shizuo didn't get it at first, but then he realized Izaya was waiting for him to get mad… He pretended he didn't know.
"What is it, Flea?"
Izaya looked away. "Nothing." What was Shizuo thinking? That was the one mystery Izaya could never figure out.

Shinra finished up with Izaya's torso and arms, and went on to take off the bandages on his head. The bruises where darker now, varying from a deep purple to a very dark blue. The wound on the back of his head was healing ok, but Shinra didn't trust it, it was too open for his tastes. "This is going to hurt." He said while picking up the disinfectant and the ointment he had also used on Izaya's ankles.
Izaya closed his eyes in concentration and braced himself.
The disinfectant stung terribly, and if such a thing is possible, the ointment was even worse. But the pain meds Izaya had taken earlier made in bearable, and he managed not to move while Shinra was taking care of him.
Izaya sighed in relief when Shinra was done and put some fresh bandages on him.
"There~ All done!" He then took a new blood bag from his medical case and changed Izaya's IV again. The one Shizuo put on this morning wasn't entirely empty yet, but it was clogging up a bit, so it was definitely time to change it.
"Well, I think this is the last one you'll need… Just as long as you make sure to drink plenty.
Also… You'll have to practice your ankles in order for them to recover, but if you do too much it will just get worse, so take it easy, ok?"
Izaya nodded. It's not like he had anywhere to go anyway. It did bother him though, being stuck in a small house like this, with practically nothing to do.
Shizuo hadn't seen Izaya walk, so he didn't know what was going on… It bothered him a little.

Celty went over to Shizuo and showed him her PDA. [Can we stay over for dinner? I brought all we need for hotpot.]
"Sure, sounds nice."
Celty clapped her hands together in a happy motion. [Do you mind if I take my helmet off?]
Shizuo shrugged. "Of course not, go ahead."
Celty's shoulders shook a bit. Was she laughing? She took her helmet off and placed it on the table. Shadows coming from her neck started swirling in the air like smoke.
Celty wasn't very concerned with Izaya. She never liked him in the first place, and couldn't care less if he got himself into trouble. She wasn't about to kill him or anything, but she was fine with him being defenseless like this. In fact, she considered it quite the improvement. Maybe the city would be calm for a while with Izaya out of the picture… That would be such a relief. What did bother her however is how her friend Shizuo would have to put up with him somehow and she didn't even want to think about Erika's opinion on the matter.

About an hour later everyone was sitting around Shizuo's dining table enjoying the hotpot. Izaya with a blanket dropped over his shoulders. But it was rather quiet. In fact, it was dead silent. Even Shinra felt uncomfortable trying to get a conversation going. It was nothing like the hotpot party Shinra and Celty had organized with everyone except Izaya before.
Izaya didn't look anyone in the face. He felt embarrassed for falling over his own feet when he tried to walk over to the dining tablet. Shizuo had laughed so much… And he couldn't even do anything to get back at him. It made him feel sick to his stomach; he could barely swallow the food…
He had only taken a few bites when Izaya got tired of the silence. He shoved his chair away from the tablet. He stood up and somehow made his way to the bedroom. Slowly and carefully, so that he wouldn't fall again.

"I'm going to sleep."

He felt strange, not like him at all. He let himself fall on to the bed and closed his eyes, thinking, realizing what was happening to him.

Ah… I must be falling into depression… So this is what it's like? Hmmm… I guess I should think of something nice… But what is nice about this situation?

Izaya opened his eyes and stares at the ceiling. He was quite tired, but he didn't actually feel like sleeping at all. In the end he just listened to the others, chewing, shifting their weights, talking…

"That so unlike him…" Shinra muttered after Izaya disappeared from sight, while he was enthusiastically fishing a piece of cabbage from the hotpot.
"Hmmm, really?" Shizuo couldn't tell what was Izaya-like and what was not. Hell, what did he really know about Izaya? For him Izaya was just an annoying flea. He hated how he thought he could control people and that damned know-it-all grin of his. Shizuo had never bother to look further than that, and why would he? The very fact they had been sitting around the same table in peace a moment ago would have registered as a miracle in anyone's eyes.
But now he was actually feeling a little guilty for laughing. Izaya hadn't said a thing about it… not even one snide remark to get back at Shizuo. He just struggled to get back on his feet and walked on. Shizuo felt conflicted inside. The part of him that hated Izaya with all its might loved seeing Izaya so defeated, and felt great being in charge like this. But Shizuo was, by all means, a good person at heart. And he didn't like seeing somebody hurt like that. Besides Izaya hadn't been acting all mighty today… Nor had he displayed that damned grin. No, in fact, he hadn't even smiled at all. The very things Shizuo hated so much were just… gone. He didn't know how to act anymore. Even Shizuo couldn't get mad at Izaya when he's being like this.
"Yeah… I wonder if he's really okay…" Shinra continued, "He seemed fine a little while ago though…" Shinra twisted his chopsticks around before taking another bite.
"Was he ever like this before?" Shizuo was honestly curious now that it was so painfully obvious there's more to Izaya then he knew about.
Shinra tilted his head slightly, thinking about middle school, the time before Izaya and Shizuo had met.
Celty's shoulders shuddered again, she was giggling, thinking it was such a cute motion.
"Hmm, not really. I mean, not like this… But there was one occasion when he acted a bit oddly. I never thought much about it though."
"So what happened?"
Shinra looked a little confused, why would Shizuo care? But he didn't mind telling. "Well, in my last year of middle school I got stabbed. Actually, that happened because some guy named Nakura was trying to stab Izaya, but I got in the way…"
Shizuo frowned. "Why would you protect that flea?"
Shinra blushed at that. "Ah well, I wanted to make a good impression on Celty…"
Celty's shoulder shook again, as she quickly typed something and showed Shizuo her PDA. [He failed though. I thought he was just a brat at the time.]
"Moh! Celty! That's so embarrassing!" Shinra tried to hide Celty's PDA, although far too late.
Shizuo looked kind of blankly at the two. "So what happened after that?"
"Huh? Oh, that… Well, Izaya told me to tell everyone he was the one who stabbed me… Actually I'm pretty sure it's the only criminal record he has."
"Is that so…" Shizuo continued eating as his friends got themselves in a little lovers' quarrel. A very one-sided one, since Celty cannot speak. He wondered why Izaya would have asked for something like that, or why anyone would. He was also surprised that Izaya wouldn't have more of a record. He ought to have been caught sometimes… Or were those crimes he pinned on Shizuo not his own? Thinking about that a vein sprung out on Shizuo's face, and he shook his head.

This is no time to be thinking about that… But could it really be that, by law, That is a proper citizen? That's damned hard to believe…

Izaya could hear everything from the bedroom.

Why would Shinra mention that time? That was nothing like this… At the time, I was simply mad at that Nakura guy, even now he's still a good tool. Ah but maybe I was a little jealous of Shinra too… It's hard to believe how he's capable of doing completely irrational things for no reason other than to impress some…thing with it.

As the conversation in the living was no longer worth listening too, with Shinra rambling about random things, Izaya sank back into his earlier thoughts. The Awakusu-kai, the torture, their questions…

Ah, this again. I should have stayed…

Izaya turned in the bed, and turned again, and ended up just rolling back and forth, bored out of his mind.
Eventually that in itself got boring as well, and Izaya sat up to look out of the window again. It was already dark out, and with the lack of streetlights Izaya couldn't see much of anything. But he heard some voices. It sounded like they were exchanging something illegal… Drugs, probably… He watched their shadows move about for a while, but it couldn't really keep him occupied. He slid back in the bed, and made himself comfortable under the blankets, and remembered something he had meant to do earlier.

"Shizu-chan~!"

He was obviously being ignored…

"Shinra or Celty is fine too…"

But it was Shizuo who turned up in the doorway. He looked… lightly irritated, but only that.

"Is it that hard to use my name? What do you want?"

Izaya hmpfed at that, looking away. "You call me Flea all the time… I think I have the right…" He sighed and looked Shizuo in the eyes. "Where's my coat? I need to use my phone…"

Shizuo ignored his first statement and got Izaya's fur-trimmed coat from the peg. He continued to watch Izaya, curious about what he was planning. This earned him a glare from Izaya, who had obviously been hoping for some more privacy.

Izaya checked all his pockets. Some of his phones where gone… And the two left over were both dead. Out of battery, or drowned, he didn't know. He did find his flick blade was still there, which was a relief.

"Ahw~, they all died~." Izaya was trying to sound cute wanting to get some, any familiar reaction out of Shizuo. However, he failed.

"What do you need it for?" Shizuo was staring at Izaya, wondering what he was trying to do, talking all girly like that. He just thought it sounded freaky.

Izaya smiled his usual teasing smile. "Well, I thought I could get some pictures of seeping Shizu-chan and spread them around the net~."

Shizuo rammed his fist in the wall, which was actually a way for him to control his anger, as he couldn't just keep it in. He took a deep breath. "I see, I guess I won't lend you mine then."

Izaya smiled somewhat freakishly. The reacting was slightly disappointing, as he didn't get anything thrown at him, but he was satisfied still being able to get on Shizuo's nerves. That at least, was something for him to enjoy. Still, he really did need a phone.

"Ok, ok Shizu-chan~ I promise I won't take any pictures~! Won't you pleeaase~ lend me your phone?"

Shizuo sighed "You should seriously stop calling me by that girly name. It sounds ridiculous." Despite saying that, he still fished out his phone from his pocket and threw it over, Izaya skillfully catching it.

"Thanks." Izaya muttered under his breath, clearly not intending for Shizuo to actually hear him, as he quickly typed in Namie's private number.
A somewhat sleepy voice answered on the other side of the line.
"Hello, this is Yagiri Namie speaking."
"Hi, hi, Namie~"
The voice immediately sounded more alert.
"Izaya?! Tsk, so you're alive after all?"
"Ah, that's mean, Namie! You sound like you wanted me to be dead~!"
Shizuo's muffled voice broke in on the conversation. "I'm pretty sure that's true."
Izaya shrugged. "Don't decide that on your own."
"Anyway~, Namie, I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"Gather up some decent clothes and bring them to me… And the chargers too."
"Meh, it's a personal thing again… Right so, where are you?"
"It can't be helped~ Also, you can take some times of after this. Ah yes… I'm at shizu-chans place."
"Shizu-chan? Oh, Shizuo… Wait, why are you there?"
"I don't feel like explaining. Just bring my stuff."
"Fine."
Beeb, beeb, beeb. Namie hang up as soon as she could.

Shizuo noticed how Izaya's speech suddenly became harsher when he was asked why he was here. He clearly wasn't going to talk to anyone about the stuff that happened to him. Shizuo found this strange… wouldn't you normally talk about things like that and get it out of your system? Another thing Shizuo found strange was how his address seemed to be general knowledge, as there was apparently no need to mention it.

Izaya put the phone on his nightstand, mostly out of habit, but Shizuo didn't seem to care, or maybe he didn't notice. He snuggled up in the blankets and closed his eyes briefly; they immediately felt heavy as he opened them again. "Good Night…" Izaya muttered to nobody in particular as he fell asleep.

Shizuo actually stayed for a while, observing Izaya's sleeping face, which was still full of bruises. The swelling wasn't too bad, because of the ice-water Izaya had been abused with, but covered in blue and purple Shizuo still couldn't find any word other then "ugly" to describe its current state. However, Izaya looked very peaceful in his sleep, smiling slightly.

Hmm, he really is human after all…

Description
Durarara!! and characters (c) to Ryohgo Narita

Shizuo woke up the next morning all stretched out over the bed as usual. He stretched, yawning extensively, before his pajamas reminded him he wasn't alone. This in turn made him wonder how he had managed to stretch in his small bed.

I haven't kicked him off right?!

But when he looked over to the other side there was still a black-haired mummy there, rolled up like ball, knees almost touching his chin. He seemed to be shaking lightly. Shizuo wondered why for a moment, until he realized he had apparently hugged the blankets to himself.

Oh… he's cold.

Shizuo got up from the bed, and threw the blankets back over Izaya. He remembered what Shinra said and took the O- from Izaya's nightstand. He dubbed for a while, wondering if he remembered correctly and then changed the bag of the IV. It started dripping nicely…
Shizuo spared a quick glance for his patient.
The bits of visible skin did look a little better now. Shizuo had mixed feelings about that. Whether he should be happy about it, or bothered by it, he couldn't figure it out. In fact, he was both.
Izaya seemed to relax a little and stopped shivering as the warmth of the blankets got to him.
Shizuo felt somehow satisfied by this fact, but couldn't figure out why… He was probably just happy to have done something "right".

Shizuo then left the still sleeping Izaya on his own, and got dressed in his usual suit. He made a simple breakfast, 2 slices of bread with cheese and a glass of milk.
He made some bread for Izaya as well, and left it on his nightstand, along with a can of water and his pain meds. He was about to leave for work when he ended up dubbing about something else… Leave the extra key for Izaya to use if he would want to get out and risk giving the flea free access to his house for the rest of his life here, or take it with him? After thinking that out, the answer was pretty obvious. Izaya probably wouldn't be able to get down those stairs anyway. And with that, Shizuo left.

I was a few hours later when Izaya woke. He was relieved to see Shizuo had already gone, and surprised at what was left for him. He took the meds first and then ate his breakfast, trying hard not to let his thoughts wander. He didn't want to think about yesterday, knowing he wouldn't be finding answers like this. However, the silence made it rather difficult… He had to do SOMETHING.
So Izaya turned over and pulled himself up against the windowsill, and opened the window, leaning out a little to see more. It was better than the four unchanging walls of the bedroom, but still…
Al he could see from here was the flat on the other side a small rarely-traveled street bellow.
He watched the people walk by, occasionally smiling if any of them did something unusual, wondering what their calls were about when they talked into their phones.
But it wasn't all that interesting, even for him. After about an hour or so he let himself fall back in the bed, wondering if he should just go back to sleep.
The fact was, however, that he wasn't sleepy at all. A bit sluggish, probably from the combination of pain meds and low blood pressure, but definitely not sleepy.
He sighed, searching for something else to distract him. He remembered the books Shizuo kept in his nightstand. He picked the thinnest one out and started reading, rather uninterested in its contents. It took him a few hours to get through it, by then it was about 4 o'clock, and Izaya still didn't feel sleepy in the least. His wounds were starting to hurt more then he deemed necessary though, so he took another dose of meds.
He didn't feel like reading another book, so Izaya decided he'd check to see how much he could do in his current state… Starting out with walking. The ability to move around would be a huge improvement to the situation for Izaya.

He rolled himself to the side of the bed, shoved the blanket away and put his feet on the ground. He carefully tried to put some weight on them. There was an odd sensation as he did that. He could clearly feel the floor beneath his feet, but the muscles in his ankles gave a belated reaction to the weight, as he felt them tighten a good second after he tried to use them. Wondering what this strange feeling was Izaya sat back down and tried to twist his feet to around. That he did, but the movement was slow and jerky, not the smooth rolling he had expected to see.
That said, it wasn't like he couldn't move his feet at all, he just had to be careful… So Izaya tried putting some weight on his feet again, and rose up slow and carefully. He could stand at least. That was a relief. Now, let's try to actually get somewhere.
He carefully took s step forward and nearly tripped as his foot wouldn't stretch properly to take over the weight, but Izaya kept upright by holding on to the IV-standard. And he tried again, more careful to wait until he could actually feel is ankle tense up before putting any wait of his foot. That worked, he didn't trip this time.
He continued his slow progress towards the door, where he stood still; trying to regain the patience he had lost through the slow process. He notices a slight dent in the wall, next to the door frame. This must be the spot Shizuo punched yesterday.

I'm glad that didn't hit my head…

Izaya took a deep breath and took a next step into the living room. He looked around and headed for the cough, eager to let his already painful ankles rest. It took so much strain to get them to work correctly… Izaya hoped this would get better soon.
When he finally reached the cough he inspected the room he was in.
Like the bedroom it was quite minimal. There was the 3-person cough he was sitting on, a low table in front of him, a closet that held a small television, a radio, some DVD's and a few more books, and a dining table with 5 chairs a bit to his right side, holding a laptop and a vase with flowers. There seemed to be a chair missing… Izaya wondered if Shizuo might have used it as a projectile at some point.
The whole room was clad in light, calm and warm colors, wooden furniture and beige colored walls. It was also very clean… Cleaner then Izaya's own apartment, since he usually left whatever he used regularly within easy reach. Then again, he obviously owned a lot more stuff.
Izaya frowned. How'd Shizuo keep himself occupied in such an empty place?

But then the doorbell rang and he heard a familiar voice outside.
"I said we'd be too early~ He still has to walk home you know?"
…
"Of course, me too! I'm also quite curious as for how those too were getting along."
…
"Haha~, No of course not. I would kiss you right now if I could, you're so cute Celty!"

Izaya carefully got up again, and was carefully making his way over to the door, glancing at the time. 5 O'clock.
"Eh! Well, now that I think about it…"
…
"It really would explain a lot though~!"

Izaya finally reached the door and leaned against the wall as he opened it.

"Hello."

Shinra stared at him in shock. Celty might have done the same, had she had a head. As it was she quickly typed something on her PDA and showed it to Izaya.
[Are you okay? You shouldn't be walking around like this!]
Izaya shrugged. "It feels funny, but I'm fine."
Shinra finally recovered and walked in, Celty following close behind. He pointed at Izaya. "You, sit down now."
Izaya rolled his eyes; he'd been planning too anyway. He once again started walking towards the couch. Celty however quickly got impatient with his slow progress, and picked him up with remarkable easy, and placed his on the cough.
Izaya frowned a bit at this, bothered by the fact he was being treated like an invalid. But he didn't complain; it wouldn't be any use either way.

The first thing Shinra did was taking a look at Izaya's ankles; he treated them with some ointment and re-bandaged them. He couldn't see anything different from yesterday on the outside, but the way Izaya struggled to walk was enough to support his theory.
Izaya however didn't know about this theory yet, and he was curious.
"Say, how come I can't walk properly? I don't remember them doing anything to my legs."
"Well, your feet were bound right? Your bloodstream was blocked and I think your nerves might have been damaged too. Besides those stab wounds were awfully close to your spinal cord. Honestly, how'd you get all this?"
"Hmm… I see. Ah well, isn't that obvious?"
"You were tortured." Shinra stated in a matter of fact way.
"Yes." Izaya answered in a similar way.
"So, who did it."
"That's classified"
Shinra sighed. "Well, whoever they were, they didn't want to let you get away."
"I noticed."
"They succeeded you know… I mean, it's thanks to Shizuo you're alive and safe for the time being… But this is not going to heal anytime soon. You may be able to walk semi-normally in a week or so. But it will be several months at best before you can run again and even longer before you'll have your previous athletics back."
Izaya looked down. "That's longer then I was hoping for…"
Shinra shrugged. "It's probably your own fault anyways."
Izaya fell back against the pillows. "That what I thought but…"
And at that exact moment Shizuo opened the door and walked in. He was looking straight at Izaya, he had obviously heard the last bit of their conversation.
"But I can't figure it out…"

He walked in on a rather strange scene, in his own opinion. Ikebukuro's infamous informant and well known troll was sitting next to his best friend, who happened to be an underground doctor, wearing nothing but shorts and bandages, on Shizuo's cough. And to top it off, a headless fairy clad in a black rider suit was leaning against the wall next to the door, intently listening to their conversation.
But, considering Izaya didn't have any cloths here, Shinra being the only doctor Shizuo knew, and Celty always having been headless, that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that Izaya seemed to be saying he was tricked.
Shizuo just couldn't see that happen, Izaya of all people, getting tricked by somebody.

"That's strange for you to say." Shinra continued their conversation as he refreshed Izaya's bandages.
Shizuo closed the door behind him and walked across the room to take place on of the chairs. Celty showed him her PDA as he passed her. [Welcome home. Izaya let us in.] Shizuo nodded and sat down, watching Shinra work.
"Hmm… I'll find out somehow."
"I expect no less of you, but you better not put yourself in any dangerous positions for the time being." Shinra motioned for Izaya to lean forward so that he could change the bandages around his torso.
"I know." What Shinra didn't realize was that it had never been Izaya's intention to be in the middle of anything, he just got dragged in time and time again when he stirred up trouble. Except for last time, when he figured he might as well jump in himself if he was going to be dragged in anyways.
Shinra carefully poked the spots of nearly pure black skin around Izaya's ribs. "I think you'll be strong enough to have those fixed tomorrow."
Izaya held back a yelp and made a pained face as Shinra poked him.
"Oh, ok. Am I moving to your place then?"
Shinra shook his head. "I've been getting patients almost non-stop, and you're gonna need a stable environment. Besides, Shizuo's house is cleaner then my own~"
Shizuo was slightly bothered by this being decided without him, but he let it go. He had already decided to let the Flea stay, what difference could a few extra days make?
Izaya was looking at Shizuo, waiting for something. Shizuo didn't get it at first, but then he realized Izaya was waiting for him to get mad… He pretended he didn't know.
"What is it, Flea?"
Izaya looked away. "Nothing." What was Shizuo thinking? That was the one mystery Izaya could never figure out.

Shinra finished up with Izaya's torso and arms, and went on to take off the bandages on his head. The bruises where darker now, varying from a deep purple to a very dark blue. The wound on the back of his head was healing ok, but Shinra didn't trust it, it was too open for his tastes. "This is going to hurt." He said while picking up the disinfectant and the ointment he had also used on Izaya's ankles.
Izaya closed his eyes in concentration and braced himself.
The disinfectant stung terribly, and if such a thing is possible, the ointment was even worse. But the pain meds Izaya had taken earlier made in bearable, and he managed not to move while Shinra was taking care of him.
Izaya sighed in relief when Shinra was done and put some fresh bandages on him.
"There~ All done!" He then took a new blood bag from his medical case and changed Izaya's IV again. The one Shizuo put on this morning wasn't entirely empty yet, but it was clogging up a bit, so it was definitely time to change it.
"Well, I think this is the last one you'll need… Just as long as you make sure to drink plenty.
Also… You'll have to practice your ankles in order for them to recover, but if you do too much it will just get worse, so take it easy, ok?"
Izaya nodded. It's not like he had anywhere to go anyway. It did bother him though, being stuck in a small house like this, with practically nothing to do.
Shizuo hadn't seen Izaya walk, so he didn't know what was going on… It bothered him a little.

Celty went over to Shizuo and showed him her PDA. [Can we stay over for dinner? I brought all we need for hotpot.]
"Sure, sounds nice."
Celty clapped her hands together in a happy motion. [Do you mind if I take my helmet off?]
Shizuo shrugged. "Of course not, go ahead."
Celty's shoulders shook a bit. Was she laughing? She took her helmet off and placed it on the table. Shadows coming from her neck started swirling in the air like smoke.
Celty wasn't very concerned with Izaya. She never liked him in the first place, and couldn't care less if he got himself into trouble. She wasn't about to kill him or anything, but she was fine with him being defenseless like this. In fact, she considered it quite the improvement. Maybe the city would be calm for a while with Izaya out of the picture… That would be such a relief. What did bother her however is how her friend Shizuo would have to put up with him somehow and she didn't even want to think about Erika's opinion on the matter.

About an hour later everyone was sitting around Shizuo's dining table enjoying the hotpot. Izaya with a blanket dropped over his shoulders. But it was rather quiet. In fact, it was dead silent. Even Shinra felt uncomfortable trying to get a conversation going. It was nothing like the hotpot party Shinra and Celty had organized with everyone except Izaya before.
Izaya didn't look anyone in the face. He felt embarrassed for falling over his own feet when he tried to walk over to the dining tablet. Shizuo had laughed so much… And he couldn't even do anything to get back at him. It made him feel sick to his stomach; he could barely swallow the food…
He had only taken a few bites when Izaya got tired of the silence. He shoved his chair away from the tablet. He stood up and somehow made his way to the bedroom. Slowly and carefully, so that he wouldn't fall again.

"I'm going to sleep."

He felt strange, not like him at all. He let himself fall on to the bed and closed his eyes, thinking, realizing what was happening to him.

Ah… I must be falling into depression… So this is what it's like? Hmmm… I guess I should think of something nice… But what is nice about this situation?

Izaya opened his eyes and stares at the ceiling. He was quite tired, but he didn't actually feel like sleeping at all. In the end he just listened to the others, chewing, shifting their weights, talking…

"That so unlike him…" Shinra muttered after Izaya disappeared from sight, while he was enthusiastically fishing a piece of cabbage from the hotpot.
"Hmmm, really?" Shizuo couldn't tell what was Izaya-like and what was not. Hell, what did he really know about Izaya? For him Izaya was just an annoying flea. He hated how he thought he could control people and that damned know-it-all grin of his. Shizuo had never bother to look further than that, and why would he? The very fact they had been sitting around the same table in peace a moment ago would have registered as a miracle in anyone's eyes.
But now he was actually feeling a little guilty for laughing. Izaya hadn't said a thing about it… not even one snide remark to get back at Shizuo. He just struggled to get back on his feet and walked on. Shizuo felt conflicted inside. The part of him that hated Izaya with all its might loved seeing Izaya so defeated, and felt great being in charge like this. But Shizuo was, by all means, a good person at heart. And he didn't like seeing somebody hurt like that. Besides Izaya hadn't been acting all mighty today… Nor had he displayed that damned grin. No, in fact, he hadn't even smiled at all. The very things Shizuo hated so much were just… gone. He didn't know how to act anymore. Even Shizuo couldn't get mad at Izaya when he's being like this.
"Yeah… I wonder if he's really okay…" Shinra continued, "He seemed fine a little while ago though…" Shinra twisted his chopsticks around before taking another bite.
"Was he ever like this before?" Shizuo was honestly curious now that it was so painfully obvious there's more to Izaya then he knew about.
Shinra tilted his head slightly, thinking about middle school, the time before Izaya and Shizuo had met.
Celty's shoulders shuddered again, she was giggling, thinking it was such a cute motion.
"Hmm, not really. I mean, not like this… But there was one occasion when he acted a bit oddly. I never thought much about it though."
"So what happened?"
Shinra looked a little confused, why would Shizuo care? But he didn't mind telling. "Well, in my last year of middle school I got stabbed. Actually, that happened because some guy named Nakura was trying to stab Izaya, but I got in the way…"
Shizuo frowned. "Why would you protect that flea?"
Shinra blushed at that. "Ah well, I wanted to make a good impression on Celty…"
Celty's shoulder shook again, as she quickly typed something and showed Shizuo her PDA. [He failed though. I thought he was just a brat at the time.]
"Moh! Celty! That's so embarrassing!" Shinra tried to hide Celty's PDA, although far too late.
Shizuo looked kind of blankly at the two. "So what happened after that?"
"Huh? Oh, that… Well, Izaya told me to tell everyone he was the one who stabbed me… Actually I'm pretty sure it's the only criminal record he has."
"Is that so…" Shizuo continued eating as his friends got themselves in a little lovers' quarrel. A very one-sided one, since Celty cannot speak. He wondered why Izaya would have asked for something like that, or why anyone would. He was also surprised that Izaya wouldn't have more of a record. He ought to have been caught sometimes… Or were those crimes he pinned on Shizuo not his own? Thinking about that a vein sprung out on Shizuo's face, and he shook his head.

This is no time to be thinking about that… But could it really be that, by law, That is a proper citizen? That's damned hard to believe…

Izaya could hear everything from the bedroom.

Why would Shinra mention that time? That was nothing like this… At the time, I was simply mad at that Nakura guy, even now he's still a good tool. Ah but maybe I was a little jealous of Shinra too… It's hard to believe how he's capable of doing completely irrational things for no reason other than to impress some…thing with it.

As the conversation in the living was no longer worth listening too, with Shinra rambling about random things, Izaya sank back into his earlier thoughts. The Awakusu-kai, the torture, their questions…

Ah, this again. I should have stayed…

Izaya turned in the bed, and turned again, and ended up just rolling back and forth, bored out of his mind.
Eventually that in itself got boring as well, and Izaya sat up to look out of the window again. It was already dark out, and with the lack of streetlights Izaya couldn't see much of anything. But he heard some voices. It sounded like they were exchanging something illegal… Drugs, probably… He watched their shadows move about for a while, but it couldn't really keep him occupied. He slid back in the bed, and made himself comfortable under the blankets, and remembered something he had meant to do earlier.

"Shizu-chan~!"

He was obviously being ignored…

"Shinra or Celty is fine too…"

But it was Shizuo who turned up in the doorway. He looked… lightly irritated, but only that.

"Is it that hard to use my name? What do you want?"

Izaya hmpfed at that, looking away. "You call me Flea all the time… I think I have the right…" He sighed and looked Shizuo in the eyes. "Where's my coat? I need to use my phone…"

Shizuo ignored his first statement and got Izaya's fur-trimmed coat from the peg. He continued to watch Izaya, curious about what he was planning. This earned him a glare from Izaya, who had obviously been hoping for some more privacy.

Izaya checked all his pockets. Some of his phones where gone… And the two left over were both dead. Out of battery, or drowned, he didn't know. He did find his flick blade was still there, which was a relief.

"Ahw~, they all died~." Izaya was trying to sound cute wanting to get some, any familiar reaction out of Shizuo. However, he failed.

"What do you need it for?" Shizuo was staring at Izaya, wondering what he was trying to do, talking all girly like that. He just thought it sounded freaky.

Izaya smiled his usual teasing smile. "Well, I thought I could get some pictures of seeping Shizu-chan and spread them around the net~."

Shizuo rammed his fist in the wall, which was actually a way for him to control his anger, as he couldn't just keep it in. He took a deep breath. "I see, I guess I won't lend you mine then."

Izaya smiled somewhat freakishly. The reacting was slightly disappointing, as he didn't get anything thrown at him, but he was satisfied still being able to get on Shizuo's nerves. That at least, was something for him to enjoy. Still, he really did need a phone.

"Ok, ok Shizu-chan~ I promise I won't take any pictures~! Won't you pleeaase~ lend me your phone?"

Shizuo sighed "You should seriously stop calling me by that girly name. It sounds ridiculous." Despite saying that, he still fished out his phone from his pocket and threw it over, Izaya skillfully catching it.

"Thanks." Izaya muttered under his breath, clearly not intending for Shizuo to actually hear him, as he quickly typed in Namie's private number.
A somewhat sleepy voice answered on the other side of the line.
"Hello, this is Yagiri Namie speaking."
"Hi, hi, Namie~"
The voice immediately sounded more alert.
"Izaya?! Tsk, so you're alive after all?"
"Ah, that's mean, Namie! You sound like you wanted me to be dead~!"
Shizuo's muffled voice broke in on the conversation. "I'm pretty sure that's true."
Izaya shrugged. "Don't decide that on your own."
"Anyway~, Namie, I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?"
"Gather up some decent clothes and bring them to me… And the chargers too."
"Meh, it's a personal thing again… Right so, where are you?"
"It can't be helped~ Also, you can take some times of after this. Ah yes… I'm at shizu-chans place."
"Shizu-chan? Oh, Shizuo… Wait, why are you there?"
"I don't feel like explaining. Just bring my stuff."
"Fine."
Beeb, beeb, beeb. Namie hang up as soon as she could.

Shizuo noticed how Izaya's speech suddenly became harsher when he was asked why he was here. He clearly wasn't going to talk to anyone about the stuff that happened to him. Shizuo found this strange… wouldn't you normally talk about things like that and get it out of your system? Another thing Shizuo found strange was how his address seemed to be general knowledge, as there was apparently no need to mention it.

Izaya put the phone on his nightstand, mostly out of habit, but Shizuo didn't seem to care, or maybe he didn't notice. He snuggled up in the blankets and closed his eyes briefly; they immediately felt heavy as he opened them again. "Good Night…" Izaya muttered to nobody in particular as he fell asleep.

Shizuo actually stayed for a while, observing Izaya's sleeping face, which was still full of bruises. The swelling wasn't too bad, because of the ice-water Izaya had been abused with, but covered in blue and purple Shizuo still couldn't find any word other then "ugly" to describe its current state. However, Izaya looked very peaceful in his sleep, smiling slightly.

Hmm, he really is human after all…