Counter Illumination :: Shizaya

Counter Illumination

The pattern of it all started back in high school, maybe a few months after they'd first met. Neither of them could pin done the start of it to a specific date, but there was a general time when they could both agree on it starting.

Sure, they might not have gotten along too well and they fought a lot more than was probably healthy; but it did wind up in one very strange, but functional relationship for the both of them. It wasn't one that they talked much about with anyone else. It was their little secret.

Shizuo didn't ask a lot of questions when Izaya randomly climbed in through his bedroom window late one evening and looking as though he'd just crawled out of a dumpster. His hair was a disaster and he was completely soaking wet – not to mention the smell, which was just unpleasant to put it lightly – from the rain and his eyes looked a little dull.

He didn't say anything. He just pulled out some towels from his closet and an old shirt and a spare pair of boxers and handed them off to Izaya. And then he'd flopped down on his bed, curling up on his side and facing the wall to give him just a little privacy to change.

The brunet had seemed a little bit skittish, but he'd eventually stripped, picking up his wet clothes and dropping them into the laundry basket in one corner of Shizuo's room. He dried himself off and pulled on the clothes that Shizuo had given him before, slowly, crawling into bed beside the blond. Izaya was shivering just a little, but he pulled his knees up to his chest and tugged the blankets up around him and fell asleep after a little while.

It took Shizuo a little longer to fall asleep, but the rhythmic sound of breathing eventually lulled him into slumber.

Shizuo's alarm clock blared, loudly, several hours later.

Grumbling, Shizuo flung out an arm, slamming down on it to shut the damn thing off. There was a nasty sound of cracking plastic, but the bright red number still glowed defiantly. He hadn't broken it quite yet, but it had certainly taken something of a beating.

It took a few more minutes before Shizuo realized just what position he and Izaya had wound up in.

Izaya was curled up against Shizuo's side, one leg nestled comfortably between Shizuo's and an arm thrown around his waist. His head was resting on Shizuo's shoulder, tucked into the crook of his neck. He was still asleep.

The arm that Shizuo hadn't used to shut off his alarm clock was holding Izaya close. Still in that half-asleep haze, Shizuo gently ran his fingers through Izaya's hair, watching as it fell back into place.

Izaya mumbled something nonsensical as Shizuo did that before he snuggled closer to Shizuo; the arm around Shizuo's waist tightening its grip as he did. He turned his face away, hot breath tickling against Shizuo's neck.

Staying like that for a few more minutes, Shizuo eventually carefully extricated himself from Izaya's arms. He couldn't help but smile just a little when Izaya's face fell just a little when he climbed out of bed, but then he was curling himself around his pillow when it was pressed into his arms. His expression smoothed out and he continued to sleep peacefully.

He paused for a moment to soak it in before turning away with a sigh. Shizuo would let Izaya sleep for a little longer while he showered and tried to find something for Izaya to wear to school; he might have an old uniform kicking around...

– – –

Izaya had gotten used to being left alone at home. His father was usually away on business and his mother was always taking off to look after his grandparents, leaving his younger sisters in the care of their aunt. He'd gotten used to being told that he was old enough to look after himself and that he needed to develop some independence since his parents wouldn't always be there to support him.

Of course, they'd been leaving him on his own since he was around ten so...

Being home alone, he was a little jumpy when there was a loud knock on the door. He jumped nearly a foot in the air, heart thudding in his chest, before he took a couple of deep breaths and slowly crept towards the door to peek through the peephole.

He hadn't expected to find Shizuo on the other side.

Opening the door, his questions were cut off by the fact that Shizuo wasn't just standing on his doorstep. He was standing and bleeding on his doorstep.

Izaya was, quite frankly, a little surprised. He'd injured Shizuo quite a few times, but those injuries were superficial. These wounds were a little deeper, more severe. In fact, there was what looked like a combat knife still partly embedded in his side. There was also the fact that his uniform looked shredded, he was covered in dirt, and he looked like he'd probably been run over by a truck at the very least.

Too shocked to really say anything, he stepped aside and let Shizuo in. He closed the door behind Shizuo, the click echoing loudly and making him wince just a little.

Not saying anything, Izaya darted past Shizuo to the bathroom, not caring that Shizuo had toed off his shoes and was following behind him quietly.

Shizuo silently sat down on the toilet, watching as Izaya opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out the fully stocked first aid kit that his family kept there.

Izaya popped it open, taking out several long rolls of bandages, antiseptic, alcohol wipes, medical tape, and gauze pads. He set them all out on the counter before he looked to Shizuo, sucking in a deep breath.

Up close, the wounds looked worse. The blood was dry and cracking around the majority of the cuts, shallow mostly, but the long, ragged injuries on the side of Shizuo's body was, in fact, road rash. So he had been dragged under a car at the very least.

He'd need tweezers then. Izaya fished them out of the case too.

After that, he quiet set to work. He had to cut off the majority of Shizuo's clothes with a pair of scissors that he'd taken from the kitchen. He dropped them to the floor in a messy pile; he'd deal with them later.

Then he set to mopping up all the blood, not surprised that Shizuo didn't even wince as he dabbed at the cuts with alcohol swabs before bandaging them up. When he came to the knife in Shizuo's side, he was rather astonished to see that it had only penetrated maybe one or two centimetres. But it had gotten tangled up in his uniform jacket and shirt, keeping it in place.

Pulling it out resulted in blood pouring out all over Izaya's hands. He swore quietly and pressed a towel to the wound to stem the flow.

The room was dead quiet, but Izaya could hear his heart pounding wildly in his ears, the rush of blood in his veins almost deafening.

Hours seemed to tick by in minutes, Izaya didn't really care or notice it. He didn't look up until he'd finished bandaging the last wound. By that time, Shizuo was covered in bandages, looking more like a mummy than an actual human.

Izaya rocked back on his heels and survey his work, feeling a brief spark of pride at how good his work was. Shinra would be proud of him.

By that point, Shizuo was only wearing his boxers and he looked exhausted. Even if he couldn't feel the pain, the blood loss had almost certainly taking its toll on him; rest was the best solution to that.

He woke up the next morning curled around Shizuo, who was still fast asleep, and with two very strong arms holding onto him tightly. There was no way that he was going to be getting up until Shizuo let him go.

And he didn't really want to move anyway, so it was alright.

They were alright and that was what mattered.

FIN.