Daily Life : Not Available

Chapter 6

Posted: 08/10/2020

Status: Ongoing

Author's note: Okay this one is...long.

I might have gotten carried away a little.

Ikebukuro was empty, no sign of human life visible anywhere Shizuo looked. He had looked everywhere, starting from his own relatively quiet neighborhood to the usually busier streets, yet nobody was there.

Things were…strange, too. He had noticed electricity worked perfectly everywhere in the city, yet some things were off. The cellular network, for example, was down, as was the Wi-Fi, as he found out when he had tried contacting Celty by mail. While electricity did function, the typical jingles and songs you could hear in stores and in the streets were gone. Likewise, the gigantic screens on buildings that would usually show advertisement and, for some, television, were all blank. They weren’t turned off, just blank, displaying white screens everywhere.

Of course, that wasn’t all, oh no. It looked like everything had been cleaned overnight, not a speck of dust visible anywhere. Everything looked brand new, and not a single object was out-of-place. Even cars were all parked perfectly straight. They were squeaky-clean as well, of course.

Everything felt so wrong…and yet he couldn’t help but feel like this situation was very familiar. He couldn’t for the life of him remember when this had ever happened. Maybe he had seen a movie with this kind of scenario? Either way, Shizuo couldn’t shake off the feeling of déjà vu.

He sighed, the sound awfully loud in the silent, empty streets. Just what was going on here? Everyone was gone, everything was so neat it looked artificial, and Izaya—

He froze.

‘Izaya?’

Why was he suddenly thinking about the flea, of all people?

A sharp pain suddenly made itself known in his head, he could see images rapidly go through his mind.

A phone ringing.

Goodbye.

He couldn’t breathe. Flames.

Unbearable noise. Explosions. Flashes of light.

An army of red eyes.

Bones breaking.

Do it, monster.

Do it.

Monster.

M o n s t e r.

D O I T , M O N S T E R .

He let out a sharp cry as the images kept coming. He clutched his head in pain and fell to his knees on the ground.

He had promised himself, after this. Never again.

The city was as chaotic as it usually was. Yet something was missing.

He kept doing it anyway. Uprooted signs. Destroyed property. Broken bones.

‘He’ was right.

That was all he was good at.

Violence. Destruction.

A true monster.

Finally, the flashes stopped, and he was left on his knees on the empty road, breathing heavily. Gradually, the pain subsided until all that was left was the memory of it.

He took a heavy breath, then got up to his feet.

“I need to find Izaya.” He spoke to no one.

…

Izaya had tried many things in the past in his search for excitement. Of course, messing with humans was by far his favorite activity. It was so fun, trying to predict how people would react in certain situations, and watching the chaos unfold after giving the right people the right information. It was exhilarating.

He had never tried getting around the streets while seated in an office chair, but he supposed he could now add that to the list.

It wasn’t very fun, however.

He had taken a broom from the lobby to get himself around more easily, seeing as dragging himself from walls was not only impractical but also painful for his suddenly weakened arms. He put the end of the broom on the ground in front of him, then dragged himself towards it, again, and again, and again.

Needless to say, he wasn’t advancing very quickly.

Good thing the streets were void of any life whatsoever, because he was feeling completely and utterly humiliated. Oh, how the great Orihara Izaya had fallen from grace.

He was so focused on trying to move while stuck in his own chair that he barely paid attention to his surroundings until he finally moved his gaze up from the ground and immediately froze.

“Izaya.”

In front of him was a beast. He could feel his entire body tense up, bringing more pain to his legs and arms. He quickly took the broom and pointed it at the blonde without a word.

Shizuo seemed surprised, either because of the broom in his face or, more likely, because of Izaya’s general appearance.

Izaya looked miserable, Shizuo thought. The man was looking frazzled, face flush from exertion and, possibly, humiliation, and was sat down in an office chair in the middle of the street.

Shizuo tilted his head to the side.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“None of your damn business, protozoan.” Izaya spat, still not letting go of his makeshift lance despite knowing it would do nothing against Shizuo.

They stayed in silence or a few minutes, looking at each other. Izaya’s gaze was full of suspicion, while Shizuo’s looked more confused.

“Do you, uh…need help?” Shizuo broke the silence with his question while vaguely gesturing to Izaya, and immediately mentally berated himself because why the fuck was he even asking this to his sworn enemy? Not only was that immensely stupid, but there was no way Izaya would accept his help.

The dark glare Izaya gave him confirmed his thoughts.

Izaya was keeping silent, but Shizuo could see his gaze become more intense as the seconds passed. This will end badly, Shizuo thought.

He took a slow step back, not breaking eye contact. Red eyes were entirely focused on his movement.

He took another step back, and a few more until, finally, the broom was gradually lowered till it rested on the ground.

“Stay right there and not any closer.” Izaya said, tone sharp but eyes now less agitated. He laid the broom across his lap, keeping his hands over it in case he would need to use it as a weapon again.

“Ah, sure.” Shizuo was uncertain. Izaya’s attitude was…unusual, but so was his own, he had realized. He had noticed he was feeling surprisingly clear-headed and, despite the strange situation they were in, calm. Izaya, in contrast, looked volatile, like he could blow up any second if Shizuo did or said the wrong thing.

In a way, it felt like their roles had been reversed.

They were silent once again, neither willing to break the rare calm between them. Shizuo was starting to feel antsy, wanting to grab a smoke, but not daring to move in case Izaya lost it.

Izaya, meanwhile, was observing the blonde with rapt attention. Shizuo didn’t know what the informant was looking for, but he seemed to have found it, seeing as he gradually relaxed in the chair until he seemed like himself again.

After a long silence, Izaya finally piped up.

“I don’t suppose you know what’s happening to us, do you, Shizu-chan?” His tone was even and hid perfectly his previous panicked state.

Shizuo shook his head.

“Nope. Well, I know everything looks weird and stuff” Shizuo scratched the back of his head.

“Elaborate.”

“Well, huh…” Shit, Shizuo wasn’t sure how to word this, words had never been his forte… He tried anyway. “Well, everyone’s gone. Also everything looks…weird…” Nailed it.

Izaya sighed.

“Ah, I shouldn’t have bothered. Asking you to formulate complete, understandable sentences is like trying to teach a fish to talk. Actually, the fish might be more successful in its endeavors.”

Shizuo’s eyebrow twitched, a familiar annoyance towards the flea surging up.

“Hey, that’s all I know! Just look around and you’ll see what I mean! It’s all weird, there’s no other way to describe it!” He yelled, clenching his fists.

Izaya seemed just as annoyed as Shizuo at being ordered around, but took his suggestion and looked around for the first time that day, not being focused on trying to get around without the use of his legs.

The first thing he noticed was just how clean everything was. Even the windows of shops were bare of any speck of dirt. All objects present were perfectly orderly, looking like they’d been put there with purpose.

He looked up at some of the bigger buildings and noticed the screens that would usually show ads of all kinds were simply…white.

He frowned.

“Oh,” Shizuo startled Izaya with his outburst, “Phones also don’t work! I couldn’t send messages to anyone.”

“You should have mentioned this earlier, dumb brute.” Shizuo didn’t seem to think it was that important, however this information was crucial, because it confirmed Izaya’s doubts.

“Hey, I forgot alri—“

“This isn’t Shinjuku, or even Tokyo. Actually, we probably aren’t even in Japan at all.” Izaya interrupted Shizuo with his conclusion.

Shizuo froze, not only because of the revelation that suddenly…made a lot of sense, but also because the sense of déjà vu he’d had the whole time came back full force.

Hadn’t they already had this conversation?

“This. This is weird too.”

Izaya tilted his head to the side in confusion. “What are you going on about, now?”

“I mean, this situation.”

“Yes, Shizu-chan, I agree finding yourself alone with your sworn enemy in an empty replica of your home city is quite unusual.” Izaya mocked him with a smirk. Shizuo growled in frustration.

“No! I mean yes, that too, but it’s not the only weird thing!”

“Then use your words and explain yourself in a way someone with IQ higher than that of a beast can understand you.” Izaya knew provoking Shizuo while he was in a less-than-ideal physical condition was an atrocious idea, yet he couldn’t seem to help himself.

Shizuo, meanwhile, was doing his best to reign himself. He had promised himself.

When had he made that promise?

“Us, we’re weird. Don’t you feel that? How familiar everything seems? Like it’s happened before?”

“For a matter of fact, I don’t. But please continue.” And this time, Izaya seemed genuinely interested.

“I woke up and I was thinking things I usually wouldn’t,” Shizuo continued explaining how he felt as best as he could.

Izaya was very tempted to make a joke about how it was indeed strange that Shizuo would think at all, but decided not to. The beast was saying some interesting things

“And at some point I…remembered some stuff, except not really? They felt like memories, but I don’t remember any of it happening…”

Izaya quirked an eyebrow. Well, this sounded familiar. Not the remembering things part, but the probable amnesia thing.

Had they had their memories erased, and Shizuo managed to get some of those back? This would explain his own physical state…but something was still missing.

Even if he did get into an accident of some sort and forgot about it, it didn’t explain why he had woken up tired, but otherwise fully physically able.

“When did this happen? The flashback?” He asked, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

“Oh, huh, I was looking for people this morning, and it suddenly came all at once. My head hurt like a bitch.”

Izaya hummed. “Did anything specific happen beforehand? For example you saw something that surprised you, or thought something that caused you to remember?”

“Uh…” Shizuo looked to the sky in thought, crossing his arms. “I don’t think so? I was thinking about how weird everything was, and then…”

‘Izaya.’

It was like a lightbulb had lit up just above Shizuo’s head. “Oh, I thought about you! Then it happened!” He exclaimed.

“Interesting, so thinking about me brought back memories, huh…” He smirked. “Well, I’m flattered, Shizuo-chan.”

Shizuo looked confused, then promptly combusted. Feeling a mix of embarrassment and rage rising up, he walked away and went to grab a nearby trash can.

The heavy, metal trash can stayed put, so Shizuo took the lid, intending to throw it like a frisbee, but only barely managed to keep it in his hands, much less throw it.

He heard giggling behind him and gave a fiery glare at the informant who seemed all too amused at the situation.

“Hahahaha,” He laughed. “Oh my god, seems like your memories weren’t the only things you lost.”

“Fuck off.” He growled, but then a thought rapidly sobered him up. “Actually, this is familiar too. Me not being able to use my strength, and you laughing your ass off about it.”

“Oh~?” Izaya cocked his head to the side, curious.

But Shizuo also had the vague feeling that he had been able to use his strength at some point. When had that been?

When…?

‘Abduction’

‘Aliens’

‘Occult’

‘She would know. Celty would know.’

‘He rang. Nobody answered.’

‘Broken locks be damned.’

“Ah.”

“Remember something again, Shizu-chan?”

“I just remembered, I tried to find Celty earlier…yesterday? I don’t know, it’s all weird.” He huffed in annoyance. “Anyway, nobody answered the door, so I broke it.”

“Quite the polite houseguest, aren’t you?”

“Shut up.” It was an emergency and nobody answered him, he had to!

“But you bring an interesting point. Something similar seems to have happened to me.” He clapped his hands as if he had found the answer to a particularly difficult question.

“Huh, really?”

“Look at me, Shizu-chan. See anything weird?” He asked the blonde. Really, it was quite obvious.

Shizuo observed his face for a bit. “You look like you haven’t slept in a week.” He said flatly.

“Wow, thank you. Look harder.” He crossed his arms.

Shizuo moved his gaze down to the office chair. He had realized it earlier, but considering how frazzled Izaya had looked then, he had felt like it was better not to mention it. The informant did seem calmer now, though.

“Why are you in that chair?” He asked with the subtlety of a large rock.

“Well, I happen to not be able to walk anymore and had no choice but to use my office chair to go outside, what with not being in possession of an actual wheelchair.” He explained simply. “But here’s the thing: much like you, I woke up with my body in its usual state. It just gradually stopped working correctly and now I cannot walk.”

He didn’t mention the constant pain he was in even when just sitting down.

“That’s…kinda extreme.” Shizuo said, feeling a bit awkward. “So we went through the same thing…sorta?”

“Yes, well, barring the memories thing. I have no idea whether what you saw was a legitimate flashback to forgotten memories or hallucinations. I didn’t see anything of that sort.”

“Oh… So, uh, what are we supposed to do now?”

“Why are you asking me, Shizu-chan?”

“Wh-, because you’re the smart one here!” Shizuo blistered, which made Izaya chuckle.

“I don’t know if I should take it as a compliment coming from you, but as much as it pains me to say this, I do need help to move around, and we’re certainly not going to find a way out by relying on your two-and-a-half working brain cells.” He extended his hand towards Shizuo as some sort of peace offering. Shizuo looked at it suspiciously. “So let’s work together, ‘Shizuo-kun’.”

Shizuo looked annoyed at hearing Izaya say his full first name. “Don’t call me that, it sounds weird. Also I’m not shaking your hand.”

“Your loss.” Izaya took back his hand and shrugged. “I will be counting on you to carry me around, then.”

“Hey, I didn’t agree to that!”

“Well, too bad, because if you want to depend on my brain power, we’ll need to move together, and I assure you, trying to roll around in this chair is neither fast nor practical. It would take forever. Your choice.”

Shizuo groaned, because of course the louse was right.

“Oh, whatever.” He said as he immediately grabbed Izaya by the waist, earning himself an undistinguished squeak, and threw him over his shoulder.

“Wha- Hey, do this properly you dumb beast!” Izaya sputtered as he pounded the blonde’s back with weak fists.

“You know,” Shizuo said, ignoring the fists he could barely even feel, “Even without my strength, I can still hold you like this. Do you ever eat?”

“I eat just enough, you protozoan, and, might I say, I eat much healthier than you and your pseudo-food that is half grease and half sugar! Now hold me correctly, this hurts.” Izaya grumbled.

“Oh, sorry,” Shizuo said, clearly not sorry but obliging anyway because having a flea complain in his ear was getting annoying. He moved Izaya from his shoulder to his arms, using one of them to hold his back while the other held him by the back of his knees. Izaya felt a bit heavier in this position, but it was that or having him complain again.

“A princess carry. Really.” Izaya said flatly.

“What.” Shizuo snapped. “Your legs hurt, right? So I can’t put you on my back, you’d fall off.”

Damn monster and his unexpected moments of intelligence. Izaya huffed.

“Ah, whatever, this’ll have to do until I find something better.” Izaya conceded, reluctantly accepting his fate. Damn body, and damn Shizu-chan.

Author's note: This fic is pretty weird, huh.

It'll get weirder.