Blinded

Chapter 4: Mysteries as They Were Told

"Thank you for your hard work,"

Shizuo bid farewell to his senpai, Tanaka Tom before walking back towards his own apartment.

The night was rather chilly but with the monstrous temperature of his, he had nothing to worry about. He always had the warm temperature of 36° - 37°C considering his abnormal immune system so he didn't always need extra clothing even when the weather got tough.

He sighed before taking out his packet of cigarettes, lighting one of the cancer sticks and inhaled. Letting the smoke linger slightly longer in his lungs before exhaling, blowing the puff of smoke out into thin air.

His mind shifted to a certain raven whom he despised since the first time they met. He didn't have the time to kill the annoying flea today but that did not stop him from thinking of ways to kill the pest.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself whenever the urge to think about the informant resurfaced.

Lately there had been weird encounters between him and the raven. Izaya was mysteriously spaced out and slow during their last fight. Sure, his trademark smirk was still there, pasted on his face ever-so-smugly but his eyes looked tired and less menacing than usual.

And no, Shizuo was not concerned; he was rather pissed that the raven still had the guts to piss him off even with his current state.

Even though the one that always found Izaya was the blond; he refused to admit it was his fault.

And that louse...Shizuo thought he heard him coughing on their last fight; what was he thinking when he still wore that smirk? Didn't he know it would only anger his inner beast more?

Of course he did, that's why he loved playing with the beast.

Shizuo grunted, clenching the poor cigarette between his teeth. Thinking about that damned flea was making his heart boiled in an alarming rate, radiating off an angry vibe.

Yet he didn't know why he would be so unconsciously attached to that parasite.

Stupid flea, he breathed as he fidgeted with the keys towards his apartment. He didn't even realize he was thinking too much about his enemy until he reached the front door.

Again, he grunted as another puff of smoke escaped his lips. He threw the cigarette on the ground, stomping it before stepping inside the comfort of his home.

He flickered the lights open and made his way towards his bedroom. Slowly he began unbuttoning his vest and shirt, carefully hanging it back into the closet. In the end, he still didn't like ruining the precious clothes Kasuka gave him.

He was just about to change into something more comfortable when the doorbell to his front door rang. Hastily he put on a white t-shirt, incoherently yelling something like "Coming!".

But deep within his heart he was cursing whatever being that stood across the door for disturbing his peace that just started less than five minutes ago.

"Who the hell-"

His words stopped abruptly upon seeing the familiar figure standing in front of him. Only that this figure in front of him was not in his usual state.

Izaya was standing limply at his front door with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. His hands were also in the same state, considering the numerous cuts on them that Shizuo spotted just few seconds before his eyes trailed back to the facial features of the informant.

His smirk remained unattached, but the wounds on his neck and the skin around his eyes said otherwise. There was clawing signs everywhere on his skin that had started to grow into steady bruises.

His eyes were totally unfocused and empty; and was that tears streaming down his cheeks?

"Flea? What the hell-"

"I'm sorry, Shizu-chan. They got me hehe," Izaya chuckled darkly, his throat sore from the constant abuse whenever he spoke. "Goodbye, Shizuo. I-"

Thump.

The raven fell onto the ground, his eyes shutting tightly as he fell unconscious. The blond's mind raced as he tried to piece everything together; what happened? They? Goodbye? I'm sorry?

This was clearly not the cocky and arrogant Orihara Izaya he once knew.

What on earth happened to the louse that made him this way?

Cursing, he slowly picked the lithe raven up. Surprisingly the informant was far lighter than he ever thought. When was the last time he had ever held someone as delicate as this?

He didn't know. Just as when he was about to start his journey towards the hospital, his eyes spotted a small note crumpled in his bloody right hand.

Quickly he retracted it from him, stuffing it in his pocket to read later before finally making his way towards his destination.