Can't Get Enough - 3. Arc 1, Chapter 3

Arc 1: Ch.3

The blonde let hand fall from Izaya’s face. He felt how tense he was under his touch. It was an endless loop; Izaya pissed him off, he got mad, and tried to kill the other man. One those rare times he did manage to hit him, the damn louse came back and tried to cut him with a damn knife. One of them had to give and that’s what he was trying to do, but the damn bastard didn’t know how to stop. “You brought it on yourself, flea,” he told the injured man. His hazel eyes looked over at Shinra when he brought a clipboard in to the room.

He flipped through the notes, wanting to double check on everything and to make sure Izaya was fine. The man wasn’t too bad off; a broken rib was the worst of it. He was surprised that Shizuo didn’t crack Izaya’s skull open. He just broke the skin to where it caused a lot of bleeding. “Shizuo, you’re going to have to watch him. You know this, right?” he asked. “Not because you injured him, but our injured friend is a target now.”

What was Shizuo thinking? If he really wanted to hurt him, then why did he save him? That didn’t make much sense. He always thought Shizu-chan attacked him because he wanted him to die, or he wouldn’t have attacked him at all. He should have died in that alley. It would’ve saved a lot of time and Shizuo would’ve gained the reputation of a true monster. Maybe then he’d know exactly how Izaya felt.

Shizuo had the chance to fix his life, but Izaya couldn’t. He ruined too many lives and people suffered because of him. He would always be the same person. Izaya had a reputation to withhold. Izaya thrived on other people’s pain. It was his only will to live.

Izaya scoffed, and threw the cloth at Shizuo’s face angrily. At least he could still move his arms, though they felt like jell-o. It’s not my fault! I can’t change who I am.

“Who is going after him?” Shizuo asks asked, taking the washcloth off his face. He dipped it back into the cool water, listening to Shinra’s words. It was just his bullshit about how the blonde was responsible for watching over the raven. He had a theory that people would come after Izaya because he was injured and couldn’t fight back. He couldn’t make his quick exits from the scene if he could barely move.

Shizuo put the cloth back on Izaya’s forehead, just to keep his head cool. He had to take care of his brother when he was sick, so he knew the basics. His honey eyes stared down at the info broker, looking at how weak he looked. He loathed violence, but it always came out and hurt this damned flea. It reminded him how he hurt the girls that he liked, that was one of the few reasons why he started to change his anger issues. “Don’t be such an ass,” he muttered, trying not to lose his temper. “Hey, flea, can you talk?” he bluntly asked. Shinra said he couldn’t, but he thought if he got Izaya mad enough, he would yell at him.

There is no way the neanderthal is going to “take care of me.” He has the nerve to save me, and now he’s gonna rub it in my face. That’s the only reason why he saved me in the first place. I don’t even need anyone to take care of me.

Who knew how long that would take for him to recover? He was determined to leave and hide in his loft, maybe throw a few knives at Namie until he could finally kill Shizuo. I’ll cut Shizuo in places he’s never been cut before. Most people would have felt grateful to live after such an attack, not Izaya Orihara. “I don’t need help,” Izaya slurred from underneath the hospital mask.

Shizuo growled when Izaya glared at him. He was not sure if he can handle this. The damned flea pissed him off for the hell of it. Izaya couldn’t take kindness even it bit him in the ass, he just spat on it and ground his foot in it. He didn’t want to hurt Izaya, but he was asking for it, egging him on. “Flea, what is the matter with you?” He sighed when the man just continued to glare daggers at him. He swore, if he hated it that much, he was more than willing to shove him out the door. “You’ve been acting weird. Since when do you even willing ask for me to hit you?”

Izaya slammed his fist against the bed. The raven would have always imagined Shizuo to sleep on a metal bed with no mattress. It was much more comfortable than he expected. He had enough of Shizuo, always pointing out the obvious. He would never admit that the protozoan was right about the whole situation.

As always, he answered Shizuo as if it was all a game. Izaya ripped the oxygen mask off of his mouth and tried to sit up. This time, he was successful. “I wanted to see what kind of a monster you really were.” He took his time speaking, while clutching his side where the broken rib was. “I don’t understand why you saved me. Are you my hero now, Shizu-chan?”

“Shut the hell up!” snapped the beast, “I’m so fucking sick of you and everyone in this town thinking I’m just some sort of monster!” His anger got the better of him. Shizuo wrapped his hand around Izaya’s neck, about ready to kill him but he released his grip when he heard Shinra yelling at him to stop. The blonde took deep breaths though his nose, trying to calm down. He needed to deal with this in a better way. “I didn’t save you to be your fucking hero, flea. I saved you because I felt bad for hurting you; it was as simple as that.”

Figures that Shizuo would take his anger out on a man with an IV in his arm. Izaya also took a few minutes to regain his breath. “First, you show that you actually care for me and then you want to kill me. Which is it?” He rubbed his neck with a smirk plastered all over his face. It was all just a game, a very entertaining game.

“You keep pissing me off!” he roared. “If you would just leave me alone, I wouldn’t want to break your neck!” he snapped. The blonde growled before picking up the chair and setting it further away from the damned flea. If he was too close, he would end up killing the dammed bastard.

Shinra sighed, not believing that they’re still trying to kill each other. He had to do something to make these two talk it out instead of trying to kill each other whenever they saw each other. It was getting out of hand.

“Shizuo, you can leave if you don’t stop, alright? I don’t need you two fighting. You two really should work it out,” he offered Izaya. “Seriously, you two act like an old married couple,” he said before leaving the room.

“We do not act like that! And who do you think we are? It’s not that simple. I want to leave, Shinra. Now. There are other places I could stay…like my place.” Izaya began untangling the wires that attached were him.

The ex-bartender forced the raven back on to the bed, trying to keep him down. “Flea, you’re not going anywhere!” he snapped again, holding him down by the wrists, making sure he didn’t do anything stupid. The easiest way for him to do that was by straddling the other man’s hips. “Don’t be a pain in the ass,” he warned. “Shinra won’t think twice to strap you down if you don’t stop.” He continued to hold the informant down, making sure he understood before he slowly removed his hands. “You’re staying put until Shinra says otherwise.”

“Like I said, I am perfectly fine.” Every time he heard Shizuo’s voice, he cringed. Sometimes out of an adrenaline rush because he knew Shizuo wanted to fight him anytime, anywhere. He tried to kick Shizuo away, but the grip he had on his hips prevented him. “Since when did you listen to Shinra?”

“Since he knows what he’s talking about. Or would you rather die from a concussion?” he asked, not expecting an answer. His hazel eyes narrowed when Izaya gave him his trade mark smirk, the same damn smirk he hated so damn much. “What’s with that damn smirk?” He stiffened when he felt a pair of arms loosely wrap around his waist and felt a hand grope his ass. “Flea, I will kill you if you don’t remove your hands.”

It happened again. Izaya blanked; his vision blurred and he had no idea what was happening. He wasn’t sure if he passed out for a moment, but when he woke up, his hands were…groping Shizuo’s butt?! He told himself to play it cool. He rested his hands back down on the bed. “Oh, I’m sorry; you’re not trying to get in my pants?”

Shizuo growled, “Don’t be a troll,” he warned. He looked up when he heard Shinra come back and looked down again at the awkward position he was in with the raven. He wasn’t sure if the flea had a fever but his damn cheeks were red.

“That’s not what I meant when I said to restrain him.”

The ex-bartender blushed before he pushed himself off the bed, getting off Izaya. “He was trying to pull the IV out.”

Shinra handed a bottle over to the blonde, telling him to have Izaya to take the medication. “You can leave in two days. Don’t strain yourself anymore. And try not to kill Izaya, Shizuo,” the brunette said before he left the apartment.

Izaya held back a laugh at how flustered the ex-bartender looked. He sat back up on the bed, and his narrowed his eyes to look at the bottle. Now that Shinra was gone and he was bound to the bed, all comfort was lost. Two more days.

Shizuo was acting really weird. None of this made sense to him and Shizu-chan never explained exactly what happened. “Shizu-chan^___” He was going to ask him, but he figured he shouldn’t bother. The blonde would make up some excuse. “This doesn’t change anything.”

“Am I going to have to force the pills down your throat like people have to do with their pets?” he asked, shaking the bottle. “I’d rather not.” He turned the bottle to see what Shinra gave Izaya and how much of it he needed. He sighed and turned on the TV to at least keep Izaya from growing bored out of his mind. “Or maybe you want to play a board game?”

Izaya rolled his crimson eyes, and looked at the TV which Shizuo turned on. As much as they hated each other, Shizuo knew a lot about him. If he couldn’t physically attack Shizuo then why not hurt him mentally? “Fine,” he looked at Shizuo, “chess.”

The blonde sighed, “Sure, I’ll go get the chess board.” He stood up, going out for a moment to go to the hall closet, looking for the chess set. He played it from time to time with Tom and his brother. He had other strategy games, too, but he didn’t play them often. It really wasn’t any fun when you play by yourself. He wasn’t the best at them, but he was decent. He came back and set up the game on a small table that can sit on a bed. “I’m a decent enough player, if you’re wondering.”

The game went on for hours. It turned out that Shizuo was actually smarter than he thought. They were both competitive, but the raven wasn’t expecting him to put up much of a fight. They took turns and finally they reached checkmate. Both men wouldn’t let the other win, however this time he was confident. “Checkmate.”

The blonde’s eyebrow twitched, annoyed that he just lost, but he wasn’t going to let the man win; he knew that Izaya was expecting him to toss the board across the room. “Seems I can’t win no matter who I go up against,” he muttered. He stood to go to the kitchen, making a pot of coffee and something for the two of them to eat. He returned, carrying a tray with stir fry and coffee. “You act as if I can’t be nice to people,” he stated when he noticed Izaya poking at his food like it was poisoned or something. “I only know what to do because I’ve taken care of my brother at times when he’s gotten sick or overworked.”

Izaya sat there, stunned. Why wasn’t Shizuo angry? Usually, Shizuo couldn’t stand to lose against him. A chess game was the perfect tool to make Shizu-chan angry. He was expecting the blonde to give up as soon as they started. That made Izaya annoyed. If Shizuo was going soft on him, then who would he annoy? “For all I know, you could have poisoned it.”

“You’re giving me too much credit, flea,” he told him before he took a bite out of his food, chewing on a piece of chicken. He spun the chop sticks in his hand, growling when some noodles dropped back into the bowl. He received a chuckle from the other when he found it amusing that he was losing a fight against his own food. “Shut up.” When the two were done, he put everything back in the kitchen and setup the futon on the floor of his bedroom. Shizuo laid down right away, planning to sleep there for the night. “Don’t wake me unless you’re dying,” he muttered before turning off the lights.