[This chapter is just a bit shorter than all the others but hey! Two chapters in a day! Enjoy!]
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Shizuo and Izaya immediately pulled away from their kiss when they heard Erika's squeal. "Erika you better not post that!" Shizuo yelled angrily.
"Hey! If you can't be with Izaya then I deserve to post this picture of you two!" She argued before smiling. "So how long have you two been sneaking around?" She asked with a mischievous smile.
Izaya buried his face in his hands from the embarrassment. "Miss Erika please don't post the picture. I'll be in your debt if you keep this secret for me." He offered.
Erika thought it over. "Deal! Your payment will be hanging out and cosplaying with me and Walker! We might invite Anri-chan too!"
Izaya mentally groaned but forced a smile. "I'll do that for you. Just promise that you won't post the picture and you won't say a word about this to the public." He said, making sure she understood.
Erika nodded, her smile growing wider. "Oh, our whole group is here and Anri-chan brought the boys. Kida-kun invited his girlfriend!" She said excitedly before exiting the kitchen.
Shizuo and Izaya shared nervous glances as they left the kitchen, unsure if they could trust Erika not to say a word about what had happened. Izaya was still trying to process it for crying out loud!
Shizuo, Shizu-chan, the man that wanted him DEAD. Kissed him. How the hell was he supposed to feel about that?! Sure, he may have developed feelings for Shizuo but what would happen if his identity was revealed?
Shizuo would definitely think he was tricking him and messing around if he found out.
'What will I do?'
'Do I reject him?'
'Do I say yes?'
'He'll kill me if he finds out'
Izaya was torn from his thoughts by Yuu. "Papa, everyone is here! Let's eat!" He cheered, grabbing his chopsticks.
Izaya smiled and served the hotpot to all of his guests. 'Ha, serves Namie right. I can have hotpot with friends!' He thought.
The table didn't fit everyone so Izaya, Celty, Shinra, and Shizuo ate on the couch while everyone else sat around the table. The four talked while eating and Izaya forgot about the little scene in the kitchen.
"Oh, Iza. I heard Erika squeal. What was that about?" Shinra asked.
"O-oh it was nothing! She was just fangirling." Izaya made up an excuse, the scene replaying in his mind.
Shizuo laughed at Izaya's struggle. "Yea. You know how she is. She was excited to meet Iza again." He helped defend Izaya since he also did not want to mention what had happened in the kitchen.
Shinra didn't ask more questions and the four watched the group at the table tell jokes and stories. Yuu wanted to show them pictures but he didn't want to get food on them.
Izaya watched the scene, feeling... bittersweet. He could have had this all much sooner if he hadn't manipulated people. He didn't even remember why humans had fascinated him so much.
He couldn't understand his own mind and sometimes he still woke up with the urge to go back to his old ways.
Sakura and Yuu would nag him and he realized that with help, he could change.
They cared.
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[3 Weeks Later]
Shizuo and Izaya were pretty awkward around each other after the incident in the kitchen. They rarely talked for a week since none of them had the courage to talk about it.
Eventually Shizuo had enough and went to Izaya's apartment to talk while Yuu was at school. Izaya was surprised to see Shizuo but invited him in anyway.
The two had a very long and awkward discussion about what had happened and where they should go from there. Izaya hesitantly agreed to going out with Shizuo, still worried about what would happen if Shizuo found out who he was.
The two started dating, only Yuu and Sakura knowing that bit of information. Yuu had even started calling Shizuo "Papa Shizuo" instead of "Mister Shizuo"
Sakura had the same worries as Izaya when she found out but was supportive after realizing how much it meant to Izaya. She promised that she would help explain things to Shizuo if he ever found out about Izaya's identity.
3 weeks after the kitchen incident, Izaya and Shizuo were on the couch watching the news. There was a news report that caused Izaya to be worried.
"We have received an anonymous report that Izaya Orihara, a man presumed to be dead, is alive." The reporter said. Izaya choked on the water he was drinking while Shizuo clenched his fists.
"That's a shock." Izaya said, coughing.
Shizuo looked at Izaya worriedly. "You okay?" He asked, taking the cup of water from him so he could focus on not choking. He wasn't going to try to be a doctor and risk making things worse.
"I'm fine. I was startled and choked on the drink. I'm fine now though." Izaya said, no longer coughing or choking. Shizuo sighed in relief and gave Izaya the glass of water.
Izaya cuddled up to Shizuo and they continued watching the news. Izaya was worried, could the fake Kanra have sent in the anonymous tip? Or maybe it was the "creep" Shizuo had mentioned.
He had so many questions and zero answers. He had to get to the bottom of the situation, he didn't want anyone he cared about getting hurt.
He shocked himself. He never cared about anyone except for his mother when he was young. After that he decided he wouldn't care for humans and just love them, not worried about their safety.
Now he didn't want any humans getting hurt? It was a strange feeling but Izaya accepted it. He knew that emotions would cause him pain, that was why he blocked them out in the first place, but he wanted to give being human a shot.
He didn't want to be a god anymore. He just wanted his friends and family to be safe, and he would make sure that they were.
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Anri was happy that she got to eat hotpot at her favorite manga authors home. She was so happy to experience it with her friends and Mikado that she almost forgot about the situation at hand.
Izaya was back, Kanra was back. She had to help figure out if Izaya was being Kanra or if someone hacked the account while Izaya was in hiding. She didn't even know what to believe.
She didn't want Izaya to be back, but she was glad he didn't die. That would have been a horrible way to go: stabbed by a strange girl after already being weakened by Shizuo, then having nobody care about your death.
It was sad. She couldn't help but feel bad for the informant, even if he had done terrible things, things that couldn't be forgiven.
The saika holder didn't even notice her name being called. "Anri... Anriiii? ANRI" Kida yelled, affectively getting her attention.
"Y-yes? What is it...?" She asked in her normally quiet tone.
Kida sighed and looked at Mikado. "We wanted your opinion on waiting near Izaya's old apartment to see if he or anyone else entered." He explained.
Anri nodded. "That seems like a good idea. But not all of us should go... It could be dangerous." Her eyes turned red.
"We were thinking of sending you and Saki. You're a fighter and can sense danger while Saki is smart and knows more about Izaya then the rest of us. Mikado will be on the phone with you two, listening in. And I will be observing the group chat." Kida explained the plan that Mikado came up with.
"That's not a bad idea..." Anri mumbled, her eyes changing back to normal.
"Y-yea! And if anything happens then we could always call Shizuo or Celty for backup." Mikado added.
"It's pretty full proof." Saki said with a smile. "Plus Anri has her cool sword, she could hold her own in a fight while I call for help."
Anri nodded in agreement. "Unless it's that lady with the other saika... I should be able to handle the fight..." She muttered, not sounding very confident.
"Yea! It's a good plan!" Kida said proudly, as if he was the one who had come up with it. Mikado laughed quietly at him.
Saki listened to the group talk as she pulled out her phone and scrolled through it, she was looking at different times that "Kanra" was online so they could plan around that schedule.
"This Kanra is usually on at night, around the time school kids typically go to bed." She told them, still staring at her phone.
"We could always track the IP address." Mikado offered, his hacking skills possibly being useful to their cause.
Kids thought for a moment before his eyes lit up with an idea. "We could track the address, find out where they are hiding, then wait for them there around the time they usually go onto the group chat to talk."
"It's a good plan...We can inform Shizuo and Celty beforehand so they'll know that we need help if we call them." Anri said quietly.
The group parted ways, satisfied with their plan. Saki would message them the time and day they would meet up and then their plan would be put into motion.
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[???]
The hooded figure laughed like a child. "This is too funny!" Their laughs quickly died out and were replaced by coughing.
They adjusted the mask on their face, not wanting to spread their germs. "I'm really enjoying this game!" They cheered, going into another coughing fit.
"Too bad I'm too sick to go out again. I shouldn't have made that trip to tell Shizuo and the others that Izaya was alive. It only worsened my condition..." They mumbled to themselves.
They didn't care that they would have seemed insane from talking to themselves, they were having fun and that's all they cared about. Who cared what the rest of the world thought anyway?
All humans ever do is judge each other. It wasn't right. Emotions, competition, fighting, none of it made sense to them. Why couldn't they just block out those feelings?
It wasn't that hard, feelings were overrated anyway. All they needed were their games. And the one they were playing at the time was their favorite.
The only feeling people needed was amusement. As long as they were entertained they would be content with their sad, pathetic lives. Love, sadness, anger, and greed were all unnecessary.
They had everyone in a panic due to the news announcement. They could only imagine Shizuo's reaction when he realized his new lover turned out to be his rival. Maybe Izaya would die for sure that time.
And the masked figure didn't even need to do anything! He knew Izaya would get revealed, they didn't need to do a thing. They held a knight chess piece in their hand and spun it around.
"I wonder what would happen if the knight sacrificed himself for the queen..." They mumbled, sounding creepily amused.
"I wonder how this game will end? Izaya is fun to mess with but I don't want him to die..." They mumbled.
"I just want to see them all freak out a bit! Their reactions will be so fun to watch!" They spun around in the chair they were sitting in.
"It's just a little game! Let's see who wins..."
They coughed again, knowing they only had a little time left.
-Sky