Chapter Text
Izaya startled awake at the sound of the front door slamming closed. A few moments later he heard the rev of an engine and looked outside his bedroom window to see his father rolling out of the driveway in his black BMW; off to work no doubt, wherever that was. It was still early morning, the sun was mounted only halfway into the sky. He distantly realised that he was lucky to be awake. Falling asleep for more than ten hours in a row with a supposed concussion was not the smartest move he had made. Despite that, he was all too tempted to go back to sleep, maybe even for the rest of the day. He felt feverish. His head was spinning, his vision blurry and he recognised that hot, uncomfortable sensation in his stomach as mild nausea.
The air was crisp and cold, it sent a shiver down Izaya’s spine, still clad in an oversized T-shirt and a pair of black boxer briefs. He slid out of bed and walked to the upstairs bathroom on unsteady feet, holding the wall for support. As soon as he was inside — the door closed and locked behind him — Izaya stripped down and stepped under the scalding water; taking a seat on the tiled floor, he hugged his knees to his chest and started rubbing life into his numb limbs.
By the time he had finished drying himself and stood dressed in a fresh uniform, the worst of the nausea had subsided, and after downing a few more painkillers, the dizziness eventually passed and the black spots cleared from his vision. He made it out of the door more or less on time and dragged his feet all the way to school. While he walked, he busied himself with sending a message to his aunt, asking how the girls were doing and if there was a day they had planned on coming back. In Izaya’s opinion, the later the better. The stress of sharing a house with someone he neither knew nor trusted would only intensify if he had to worry about his little sisters in the same space. He received a reply within the minute.
[7:51] Yuriko: Hey Izaya, I got a call from the girl’s school this morning. They are fine to have some time off but I am going to a meeting in Kyoto and staying the night so I will have to bring the them back. I was able to push it back until this afternoon so i’ll drop them home after school so you can be there when they arrive.
[7:51] Yuriko: We’ll talk more when I see you this afternoon, but if it’s at all possible I don't want them to have to be alone with Shirou. He may as well be a stranger to them.
Izaya sighed, it seemed that his luck had truly run out. Whether he had any to begin with was a debate he was not willing to give any thought at the moment.
The bell sounded as soon as he stepped into the building. Izaya knew his first class on a Friday was biology, so he pulled the thick textbook from his schoolbag and slipped into the lab; which was thankfully close by. He must have been later than he had originally thought because when he entered the classroom, the teacher paused mid-lecture and all faces in the room turned to him. Thankfully the teacher didn't call him out on it, Izaya merely ducked his head and made his way over to the closest lab bench and the only one with a free seat. Shinra sat there watching him with a concerned gaze and next to him, Shizuo. He had completely forgotten he shared this class with the brute. He took a seat in the empty stool next to Shinra and placed his textbook on top of the bench in front of him.
“Izaya, you’ve never been late before!” The brunette chirped, raising a hand to Izaya’s face. He frowned in concern and carefully brushed Izaya’s raven bangs aside.
Izaya almost flinched at the touch, so similar to the brush of his father’s hand the night before. But this was different, he realised. Whereas the man’s touch had only made him feel uncomfortable and weary, Shinra’s was genuine, as was his concern for the raven. Izaya closed his eyes and found himself leaning into the tender touch at his forehead. He could see Shizuo staring at them from the corner of his eye, when Izaya turned to meet his gaze, the other turned away and pretended to busy himself with something in his open textbook.
“That’s a nasty contusion.” His attention was brought back to Shinra’s voice. The other stroked his thumb across the angry purple bruise and ran it down the bridge of his nose, which he then booped. At that, Izaya flinched. “Sorry. You really did a number on him Shizuo!” Shinra chuckled.
“It was an accident.” Izaya heard the blonde grumble under his breath.
“Well your nose doesn't look broken, just a little swollen and bruised. But your head looks like it hurts and you probably had a concussion. Do you still feel dizzy or sick? How’s the pain?” Shinra’s incessant questions were making Izaya feel like he was stuck in the doctors office rather than sat in a classroom at school.
He sighed. “I felt really sick and dizzy when I woke up, but it’s mostly gone now. I took a couple of painkillers so it’s just a dull throb.”
Shinra hummed. “Well, let me know if you start to feel unwell again.”
The best Izaya could offer was a nod. He would never admit so, but it felt nice to have someone caring for him, looking out for him like Shinra was doing. It made him upset to think that he had been missing out on this aspect of their relationship for the many years they’d known each other, but he knew that he wouldn't have appreciated as much as he did now.
They listened to the teacher explain their experiment for today, something about identifying organisms from different water sources. Izaya didn't bother listening, he knew it'd be easy enough to follow from the book. When she gave them the go ahead, they started setting things up for the experiment. Shinra pulled out different sized beakers and placed them on the bench, he labelled each with a whiteboard marker and started filling them with the various bottles of water they’d been given, as per Izaya’s instructions. Shizuo just sat with his chin resting in his palm, elbow on the table. Izaya wondered if he had any clue as to what they were doing. Over the years he had made an effort to never be stuck in a group with the blonde. He had a grade to uphold after all, and Shizuo chasing him out of the classroom every time Izaya would open his mouth would not help this cause.
As it was, Izaya found himself intrigued by this new and improved version of Shizuo’s temper. Not only were they being civilised in one another’s presence, but they were in group where they would have to exhibit teamwork and communicate with each other. He could tell there was a delicate structure in place that was currently enabling them to work together. Izaya was curious as to how far he could push these boundaries, how long could Shizuo hold out? And what would it take to finally get him to snap and revert back to that enraged beast he knew so well? Izaya had never been very good at knowing when to hold back.
“Shizu-chan~ Stop being lazy and help us. I won't have you mooching good marks off of us while you sit there like a rock and we work hard!” Izaya drawled and watched in amusement as Shizuo’s brows immediately furrowed at the sound of his voice. Though to his surprise, the blonde obediently stood up from his spot at the bench and made his way next to Shinra instead.
How interesting…
“What am I supposed to be doing?”
“Well, there’s probably not much your simple-minded brain can fathom but how about you start by using the dropper and placing a couple of drops of each type of water onto these slides.” Izaya pointed to the line of plastic slides he had set out, each sitting above a small piece of paper on which he had written the water to be used.
Shizuo set to work and Izaya watched him in intermittent glances while he drew up a results table in his notebook. He heard Shizuo mutter a shit under his breath and Izaya turned to see that he had dropped too much water onto one of the slides, drowning it completely. Izaya sighed and handed him a new one.
“Just use another one, if you wipe it clean it’ll affect what you see under the microscope.”
Shizuo took the slide out of Izaya’s hand and muttered his thanks. It was then that he noticed the stares they were garnering from the other students and teacher alike. Once he had made eye contact with some of them, they quickly turned away, but Izaya could still see them send weary glances in their direction every once in a while. It was as entertaining as it was refreshing, he enjoyed the attention.
Suddenly his thoughts about pushing the monster ran in a different direction. Shizuo was proving his determination in keeping up this false persona of calm — and Izaya knew he would be able to break him sooner or later — but maybe there existed a more entertaining method in make this monster snap. One that would shock their current audience rather than let them feel at ease with the normalcy of their arguing. He could be nice to the idiot, he liked to think himself charming after all, and if it was just acting then he could find it acceptable enough.
After the slides were filled, he placed one under the microscope and adjusted the settings until the lens focused and he could make out the tiny organisms floating around. He waved Shizuo over and motioned for him to look into the microscope.
“Can you see the grey moving shapes?”
Shizuo grunted a yes.
“That’s called a protozoa, a singled celled organism. Sometimes they call it a Shizu-chan too.” Shizuo raised his head to glare at Izaya. The raven just laughed, “Just joking!”
Shizuo swapped over with Shinra and the brunette was able to list off the organisms present, while Izaya recorded them in his results table. They did this for each water sample and finished before any other group. While Shinra busied himself by washing out and putting away the equipment they had used, Izaya passed his notebook across the table and placed it next to Shizuo’s.
“You can copy the results down, if you want.” He put the side of his face in his hand, his elbow resting of the bench, mimicking Shizuo’s earlier position. Shizuo gave him a distrustful look, he probably thought Izaya was giving him the wrong answers on purpose.
“Uh, thanks…”
Izaya just smiled. “You’re welcome.” He was sure people were staring now, he felt giddy with anticipation. He leant over the bench, his knees folded under his bum still resting on the stool. He let his body stretch across the table and planted his forearms in front of the blonde’s open notebook to steady himself. The blonde’s eyes widened ever so slightly and Izaya thought he saw him lean back a little on instinct. The raven pretended to not have noticed.
“Make sure you include this extra space at the end of the table. Because you’ll need to fill it out after we hear everyone else’s results.” He put his finger on the book, circling the blank space he had mentioned. “And you’ll need to write a conclusion too, you can just copy the one out of the textbook and replace the results with ours.” Izaya flipped open Shizuo’s textbook to the right page and then slid back into his own seat. Shizuo kept his head down and started copying from the book, a faint flush on his face.
“You’re being awfully nice today! Are you sure you’re feeling all right?” Shinra spoke from behind Izaya, putting a hand to the raven’s forehead and pretending to check for a fever. Izaya winced at the contact and Shinra just laughed a half-hearted apology.
“I’m always nice Shinra! Believe it or not, I can be a very lovely person.”
Shizuo scoffed and then covered it up with a cough. Izaya just smiled.
Once the bell rang for break, Izaya had packed his things and was ready to head to the library, his warm haven of solitude from the outside winter air. He had only made it out the door before another arm was linked around his own and he felt himself being pulled in a different direction.
“Come on, Izaya. Where are you going?” Shinra spoke while dragging the raven along by his arm. Shizuo walked alongside them both and he realised that they were headed for the rooftop once again. He hadn't even thought about the possibility that he might be welcome there a second time, he was sure that by the end of his first stay, they were all eager to be rid of him. You can’t be paranoid if you don’t care, he told himself.
“Shinra, I don't need to sit with you every break.” The brunette adopted a confused expression.
“I know, but I want you to. That’s what best friends do.” Izaya’s eyes widened in disbelief, he turned away from the bespectacled boy and refused to acknowledge the warming of his face. Shinra continued. “If you really don't want to, I wont force you. Except for this one time. I have something I want to talk to everyone about.” Izaya scrutinised the childish grin on Shinra’s face, wondering what he could possibly want to talk about that involved the four of them together.
……………..
Shizuo could feel the sun warming his face, the cold concrete rough under his palms. He sat on the roof, leant back against his supporting hands and sucked every last drop from the juice box hanging by his lips. He rolled his eyes at the glare he received for making such an obnoxious sound. Shizuo ignored the raven’s glower, as far as he was concerned Izaya deserved to know what it was like for Shizuo to have to listen to something equally as obnoxious: Izaya’s voice.
A strong breeze brushed by and Shizuo revelled in it, he let his hair be tousled by it’s waves, feeling refreshed. But as he looked around the circle, everyone else just seemed to curl in on themselves, hiding from the cold.
“Come on, Shinra. What is it you wanted to say? It’s too cold to be up here.” Izaya spoke from blue tinted lips, shivering slightly.
Shinra’s eyes lit up, most likely remembering the supposedly incredible idea he had come up with. “Well…” He started sheepishly. “You know how the school festival is coming up and this morning the teachers told us to organise groups and get started on a project?”
Everyone let out a collective groan. Shizuo did not in fact remember that announcement, he was probably half asleep — or more likely — blocking it out on purpose. He had never looked forward to these sorts of events. They demanded a level of creativity and human interaction that he was just not capable of. He enjoyed visiting the festival every year, seeing everyones hard work and basking in the positive energy, but he had always made an effort to get out of participating in them. They all had, as far as he knew. And now Shinra wanted to break that perfectly valid tradition and submit them to his own personal hell: spending time with the flea, outside of school as well as inside. That didn't sound like a good idea.
And it seemed that Izaya was having similar thoughts. “That doesn't sound like a good idea, Shinra.” The raven spoke. “I’m sure a disaster will strike if Shizu-chan has to work with his most hated enemy.”
Shinra dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “Oh come on, he’s been fine 'till now and it would be a good team building exercise to help you guys become friends.” Shizuo barked a laugh at which Shinra narrowed his eyes. “Don't be like that Shizuo. This is really important to me. It’s our second-last year and I want us to participate in something like this… Please?”
He closed his eyes and let out the what he thought could be rated the longest sigh in existence.
“Be careful, Shizuo. Getting rid of all that air, if your single-celled brain doesn't know how to breathe it back in, you might suffocate!” Izaya’s voice was as grating and condescending as ever.
That doesn't even make any sense! He couldn't be bothered opening his eyes to glare at the other. “Fine.” He grit out. “I’ll do it. But i’ll put in as little effort as possible and only if he can make an effort to not be annoying.” He nodded his head in Izaya’s direction.
“How rude!” Izaya sounded scandalised, but Shizuo knew it was fake. “Besides, we haven't heard Dota-chin’s opinion yet!”
Everyone turned to Kadota, who stiffened under their gaze. “I… Uhh…” He sighed. “I don't care. I’ll do it if you want. Could be fun.”
Shinra clapped his hands. “Yay! That just leaves you Izaya. So, what do you say?”
Izaya rolled his eyes. “Sure, sounds like a guaranteed train wreck. I’m in!” Izaya brought a big grin onto his face, the one that Shizuo had always hated, the one that spoke of inevitable trouble.
“Yes! This will be great!” Shinra yelled. “We should all go to my house after school to brainstorm ideas!”
Shizuo could honestly not see how this would all unfold, and that kind of scared him. As long as he kept up this calming resilience to Izaya’s antics, he would be fine. He just hoped that Izaya would make some sort of an effort too. He realised that this morning was all a performance in the flea’s eyes. The friendly gestures and feigned interest in Shizuo’s education was nothing but a ruse, to entertain their onlookers or freak him out, Shizuo wasn't sure. Regardless, if Izaya could be like that from now on — an act or not — Shizuo thought that it would be a lot easier to be around him.
“I can’t” Izaya said. “My sisters are coming back this afternoon and I don't want them to be alone when they get there.”
Shinra hummed, a thoughtful look on his face. “Why don't you get them dropped at my place? Then you can go home together when we finish.”
“I… guess I could do that. They’ll probably be pretty annoying though, I cant guarantee their cooperation in staying away from us.”
Shinra just shrugged. “That’s okay! We can just put them in front of the TV, apparently that’s what my parents did to me when I wouldn't stop pestering them.”
Shizuo refrained from saying something along the lines of look how well that turned out. Shinra wasn't so bad, aside from his questionable morals and strange obsessions, he was a good-hearted person, at least compared to Izaya. He distantly wondered if Izaya’s sisters were anything like the boy himself. He couldn't imagine what trouble two young girl’s could get up to, but if they were anything like their brother, Shizuo was sure they’d find a way.
The rest of the remaining school day passed by uneventfully. Shizuo stood waiting outside of the building, Kadota at his side, until Shinra and Izaya eventually sauntered out. The brunette was looking too excited about the entire ordeal for Shizuo to feel at all at ease.
“Lets go!” Shinra chirped, motioning for the others to follow his lead. They walked the ten or so minute distance to Shinra’s house, travelling in silence. Once Shinra had unlocked the door, everyone toed off their shoes at the entrance. Shizuo followed the others into the living room and sat on the carpet next to Kadota, while Shinra scurried off to collect some ‘things’ they apparently needed.
With wary eyes, he watched Izaya sit down next to him. Shinra came back and dumped a large piece of paper and a pile of markers in the centre of their circle. He sat down in-between Kadota and Izaya, uncapping one of the markers and pulling the sheet of paper closer to himself.
“We need to brainstorm some ideas, so we’ll go around and each name one, then we can decide from those.” Shinra spoke from his spot on the floor.
Shizuo watched Izaya unfold from his spot next to him, he laid down on his stomach and stretched out like a cat. He rested on his elbows, legs swinging in the air — similar to small child, Shizuo noted.
“Okay, me first.” Shinra said. “I’m going to put down… Haunted house! Kadota, you’re next.”
“Arcade games?”
“Oh, that’s a good one!” The brunette scribbled on his sheet of paper. “Shizuo, your turn.”
“Umm… a bake sale?”
Izaya laughed at Shizuo’s suggestion. “That’s lame, Shizu-chan. And I don’t believe that you have the ability to make anything other than instant ramen anyway.”
“Well, what’s your great idea then? Huh?” Shizuo grumbled.
“A maid cafe!” Izaya spoke with a wide grin. “We can dress up in cute maid costumes and serve people stuff.”
Shizuo grimaced. “No way. As if we’re dressing up in maid outfits-“
“Don’t dismiss the good ideas, Shizuo.” Shinra spoke over the blonde. He can’t really be considering this, can he?
Three sharp knocks sounded and everybody’s attention was suddenly brought to the front door.
“Ah, that will probably be your sisters, Izaya.”
Izaya stood from the floor and made his way over to the entrance, Shinra following close behind. The door opened to reveal two small raven haired girls and a middle-aged woman standing behind them. They were close enough that Shizuo could make out most of the conversation.
“Hello, my name is Shinra Kishitani.”
“Nice to meet you, i’m Yuriko. Sorry for the intrusion, and thank you for letting the girl’s stay for the afternoon.”
“No problem!” The brunette chirped. “Follow me, little ones.” Shinra motioned for the girl’s to follow him and they warily took a step inside the house. Only after a nod from their brother did they follow Shinra into the living room. Shizuo kept his attention on the conversation between Izaya and what he thought must have been his aunt or a family friend.
“Izaya, make sure you message me if anything happens. If you or the girl’s feel unsafe, it doesn't matter where I am, I will come right back and get you.”
Izaya nodded. “Yeah, I will. Thanks.”
The woman stepped forward and pulled Izaya into her arms, he returned the embrace and said his goodbyes before closing the door. Shizuo turned to look at the two girls — twins from what he could see, or just eerily similar — and took in their appearance. They had the dark hair and snow white skin of their brother, but their eyes looked to be a dark brown, rather than the burgundy, almost red shade of Izaya’s. He distantly wondered where Izaya got the genes for such an obscure eye colour, he wondered if it was a feature he shared with his mother, or even his father.
The only feature than separated the two girls were the haircuts, the one on the left wore two long braids and the one on the right, hand in hand, had a short choppy haircut, almost as if someone in their family had cut it spontaneously in a fit of frustration of not be able to tell the two apart. They looked suspicious of the new people they were being introduced to. Shizuo worried what their reaction would be to someone who made an effort to more or less beat their brother to a pulp on a daily basis, even if never had caught him. He guessed that depended on how much Izaya had told his sisters about him or if he had been mentioned at all. He honestly wasn't sure what he preferred.
Izaya sat back down next to Shizuo, introducing the girl’s at the same time. “These are my twin sisters. The one on the left is Mairu and the one on the right is Kururi.” Izaya pointed a finger in each direction. “Mairu, Kururi, you’ve already met Shinra, this is Dota-chin and Shizu-chan.”
“It’s Kadota actual-”
“Dota-chin and Shizu-chan” One of the twins spoke over Kadota’s correction, ignoring it completely as recognition glowed in their eyes.
“How about you go watch TV while we do stuff?” Izaya turned to speak to them.
“No! We want to stay with Iza-nii and Shizu-nii.” The braided girl, Mairu, he remembered spoke while they both stared at Shizuo with awe-stricken eyes.
Iza-nii? Wait…
Shizu-nii?!
Izaya looked just as confused as Shizuo felt. “Uh… Okay, I guess. But just sit quietly and don’t annoy anyone.” They both nodded eagerly at their brother’s instructions. They walked over and squeezed into the small space between Shizuo and Izaya. He watched them carefully, he’d never been very good with kids, Shizuo didn't trust his strength around such cute fragile looking creatures.
They continued their brainstorming. Shinra struggled to come up with anything else, but Shizuo felt distracted by the two pairs of eyes on him, smiling sweetly. He was confused. Izaya obviously hadn't told them who he was to the raven or else he didn't think this would be the reaction they’d have demonstrated. At one point, Shizuo looked over to find three pairs of eyes burning holes into his side, he had to suppress a shudder at the almost frightening sight of having three Orihara children staring into what felt like his soul. Though Izaya quickly turned away, the twin’s attention remained fixated on the blonde.
“I honestly think the maid cafe is the best idea we’ve got.” Shinra’s sullen tone brought Shizuo out of his distracted haze. He couldn't have heard that right.
“Um, What? You’re joking right…” Shizuo quickly spoke up, eager to establish that, that had in fact been a joke.
“I wonder if Celty would like me in a maid dress?” The brunette mumbled to himself, oblivious to Shizuo’s current panic.
“What if it was a butler cafe instead?” Kadota added calmly.
“That’s not much better.” He mumbled.
“I KNOW!” Shinra suddenly yelled, a visible lightbulb brightening over his head. “We should play a game and the two that lose wear maid costumes, while the two that win wear butler costumes instead. That way we can do both.”
“I don't think I like those odds.” Kadota mumbled.
“Yeah, I definitely don’t. There is no way i’m wearing a dress in front of the entire school, I doubt we would even be allowed.” Shizuo hastily let out. He wasn't particularly fond of attention, especially when it involved public humiliation. He doubted anyone would be. But of course Izaya had to take this as a fucking challenge. Just like everything he did.
“They would. There was a group of boys that did the same thing a few years ago.” Izaya spoke with feigned disinterest. How did he even know that? “What’s wrong, Shizu-chan? Are you really scared of wearing a dress? You must be very insecure about your masculinity~” He drawled.
Shizuo knew that Izaya wasn't too keen on wearing a dress either, that’s why he had remained quiet about the idea since he had first mentioned it. But Shizuo saw the way his eyes lit up at Shinra’s suggestion of a game, he knew the raven was smart enough to win, or more likely cheat at whatever game they chose, and he probably knew that Shizuo would draw the short straw too. He was sure that was the only reason he seemed to be so enthusiastic about it now. But I won’t take the bait, he told himself. If there was a guarantee that Shizuo had any chance of winning maybe he would, it’d be worth it to see that smug bastard lose at his own game. But there was still a chance he would lose alongside Izaya, and even if he didn’t, Shizuo honestly couldn't bear the thought of seeing Kadota or Shinra in a dress.
“Come on, It’ll be funny! We can do a game that revolves around chance, so no one has any advantages of skill, strength or intellect.” Shinra declared.
“Well, what do you say Shizu-chan? If you win i’ll even give you a thousand yen!” Izaya spoke, waving the paper note he pulled from his pants pocket in Shizuo’s face.
That is so not worth it, he thought. But then two pairs of small hands started tugging on the sleeve of his school jacket.
“Please play, Shizu-nii! We want to see Iza-nii have to wear a dress!” Mairu spoke while the other, Kururi, nodded her head vigorously.
He sighed. “Fine.” He directed a hard stare towards the raven. “But only because I want to see you in a dress too.” As soon as the sentence slid out of Shizuo’s mouth, he realised that those may not have been the best choice of words. Judging by the wide eyes he was receiving, along with slightly agape mouths, they might’ve realised that too. “I- I mean, because I want to see you lose! N- Not in a weird way though!” He stuttered out, in an effort to regain some form of dignity. He really didn't mean it like that.
Shizuo thought that he might’ve seen Izaya’s shocked face heat up for a moment, red dusting the sharp of his cheekbones and nose; and he would’ve laughed at the raven, had it not been at his own expense.
Regardless, it only took a moment for everyone’s flabbergasted features to clear before they had erupted into laughter. Now it was Shizuo’s turn to blush; How embarrassing. Even Kadota couldn't hold back a chuckle and Shizuo felt betrayed. The two girl’s beside him were still giggling as was Shinra and the flea.
“Does Shizu-nii like Iza-nii in a special way?” Mairu giggled, still tugging on the blonde’s arm.
“No, definitely not!” He grit out. He was never going to live this down, it would follow him for the rest of his life. They would never let him forget! He’d have to move to another city and find new friends. Maybe he was overreacting, but he was quickly realising that fuck did he embarrass easily. He would need to work on that.
“Can we move on now please? Before I change my mind.” He spoke in a disinterested tone with eyes narrowed at all of the guilty offenders, eager to change the subject.
“Alright, alright.” Shinra wheezed out, steadying his breathing. “We know what you meant Shizuo, now let’s decide on a game!”
Shizuo had a feeling he was going to be regretting this for years to come.