The Happiest of Man

Chapter 28

He was going to look away, but he spotted his name – or rather, the nickname he supposedly hated so much – in Izaya’s journal. Shizuo’s somewhat angry expression made a one-eighty turn as confusion took place: his expression softened at the edges of his mouth, his eyes, and even his heart faltered just a bit as curiosity overwhelmed him.

“Ah?”

Upon hearing the confusion that left Shizuo’s mouth, Izaya turned to see who was behind him – and he immediately placed on a smile as his left hand shut the journal close, his right hand gripping the pen as if his life depended on it.

“Oh, Shizu-chan. What brings you here?”

“Huh?” He had to mentally shake himself awake, surprise clinging stubbornly onto his conscious mind.

“No reason. What are you doing in Ikebukuro?” 

Actually, he approached Izaya with the idea of driving him away from Ikebukuro. He had no reason here and weren’t there plenty of cafes in Shinjuku? It seems that right after he saw that nickname written down on paper, his mind decided to make a change of plans and now he appeared as if he wanted some form of small talk with his enemy.

“People here are always interesting.” Izaya replied as he set the pen down next to the journal. 

“Have you heard of people-watching?”

“Not really.” Shizuo sat himself down across from him as he looked out the window.

“Figured you wouldn’t. We never had anything in common, after all.” Izaya looked out the window – his chin would have rested upon the palm of his hand if he was confident that his body wouldn’t decide to play tricks on him.

“People-watching almost sounds like stalking anyway.”

Izaya laughed. 

“That’s where you’re wrong. See, people-watching isn’t stalking. Not at all.”

“Then what is it?”

“I highly doubt anyone who people-watches focus on a single individual. It takes away the whole purpose of the activity and they fit more on the criteria of ‘stalking’ if they do end up following the person around.” 

Izaya used this time to hide his journal away. It seemed that Shizuo was a lot more focused on what was going on outside rather than what he was writing about just a moment ago.

“Tch, that’s just like you.”

“I do enjoy observing humanity. They never get boring.”

“Why come to Ikebukuro to people-watch? You can do it anywhere, can’t you?”

For once, Izaya wasn’t babbling. He remained quiet as he looked down at his lap, his legs frozen in place – inadequate limbs that decided to give up on him.

“Maybe one day you’ll know why I do.” 

Izaya shifted his gaze over to the clock on the wall as he smiled in relief.

“I have to go. Doctor’s appointment and all.”

“I’ll come with you.” Shizuo got up from his seat as he walked over, stood behind Izaya’s wheelchair as he gripped onto the handlebars and began to wheel him out of the café as if he was given permission to do all of this for him.

Izaya wasn’t the type to show a person how he truly felt inside and even if he did, it always came out in a way that could be easily misinterpreted. He liked it best when no one knew who and what he was really like because it just didn’t give anyone the room to realize that they got it all wrong about him.

Despite all that, though he knew that the rumors that circulated about him were not far-fetched; it was close to the truth since he really was the cold-hearted person everyone made him out to be. He didn’t care what occurred in a person’s life – as long as he was living comfortably and enjoying himself, then it didn’t matter. Izaya was never the type to get involved with anyone, forming emotional bonds with others and calling them “friends”.

Although he never got involved, he enjoyed speculating the motives behind a person’s actions. That’s exactly what he was doing now as Shizuo walked him around the city – it was obvious that he didn’t know which hospital he was supposed to be headed.

“At this rate, I’m going to be late.” Izaya joked as he placed his hands within his coat pockets. “What made you decide that escorting me to the hospital was a good idea?”

“I want to know what you have.”

“What made you so curious?”