The Dullahan's Groom

CH 17

"Celty!" Izaya called out after spotting the black rider heading towards him. Celty stops the bike in front of him and gets off. Izaya patted the park bench he was sitting on, letting Celty sit next to him. "Thanks for coming!" he greeted. [What is this time, calling me so early in the morning?] Celty asked, still using her phone. "You didn't bring your head with you?" he asked, noticing the empty helmet and that the biker had no bags or containers that could possibly contain the Dullahan's head. [No, I left it at home.] She replied. "You sure it won't get taken away from you again?" Izaya teased a smirk with furrowed eyebrows in his face. [I trust Shinra and I can feel where it is. It would only be a problem if Saika was to cut our link again.] Celty typed. "I see… so how's Shinra?" Izaya asked, knowing well that Shinra didn't really want Celty to have her head back.

[He's been a little weird lately, weirder than his usual weird self.] Celty revealed. "I see… we both have it tough then." Izaya sighed. [What did you want to talk about anyway? And why did it have to be so early in the morning?] Celty asked again. "Ha ha…sorry about that" Izaya giggles a bit and faced Celty seriously right after. "Celty, how come Shizuo can read my mind? And how come I can't read his?" he bluntly asked.

Celty flinched at the question and quickly typed on her phone. [He can read your mind?] She bothered asking. "Yes, he can. I had to ask you about it this early cause the only times when he can't read it is when either I'm asleep or he's asleep" he pointed out. [Why didn't you guys tell me about it earlier?] Celty asked. It was already 1 week after the incident concerning Alex ended. Right after Izaya and Shizuo left from the hospital, they hadn't shown themselves in front of Shinra or Celty, they ended up thinking that it was to avoid being asked questions about the afterlife experience. "He wouldn't let me! He said it was fine and that there wasn't really anything wrong with it or it was actually really convenient… for HIM!" Izaya nearly yelled. The embarrassment of one week was finally whistling out.

[Maybe it's an effect of your souls connecting after the incident.] Celty guessed. But there has to be another reason though, she thought to herself. "Maybe? Can't you do anything? I mean, no matter how much I try to get mad at him, it doesn't work. He just hugs me tight and says… he knows how I really feel and stuff… and that I'm not mad and that I'm kind of happy that he's that concerned about me…. It's just so weird… he can read me TOO easily!" Izaya nearly cried, pathetically.

[Well, you do tend to hide a lot of things from him, especially your plans. And whenever you show affection it sometimes show in a teasing manner and he even says that when you're embarrassed you tend to act cold… I think that's called tsundere? He complains a lot about how secretive you are you know. He just really wants to know every little detail about you, so it isn't surprising that he'd be happy about-] Celty's typing gets cut off when Izaya's hand covered the screen. He was reading while Celty was typing. "Exactly how much is that brute sharing with you?" Izaya asked, annoyed. He saw Celty's shoulders shake, signalling a giggle from the Dullahan. Izaya reluctantly removes his hand from the screen and allowed Celty to continue typing. [He sometimes talks about your sex-] "GAAAH! That bastard! Geez… enough. Think of a way to get this stupid soul link cut so he wouldn't be able to read my mind anymore!"

[It can't be permanent, that I'm sure. And there has to be a reason for it too.] Celty typed, trying to help. Izaya sighed again. Not permanent…. "IZAAAAYAAAAA!" The two jolted when they heard the scream. "That was fast… it hasn't been an hour yet…" Izaya sighed, again. [Amazing, he can tell where you are too?] Celty asked. "Yeah… you have no idea how annoying he has been this week…" Izaya remembered. "Izaya! *pant* why… *pant* it's… not permanent?" Shizuo faced Celty. The blond was still wearing his pyjamas, his feet, one wore a slipper and on the other his black shoe. Good Morning~ Shizu-chan! Izaya thought, the second day after finding out Shizuo could read his mind; Izaya had stopped talking to the blond verbally and instead with only his mind, a kind of retaliation that Izaya really didn't like it.

[Shizuo, you look awful] Celty noticed, though the blond already seemed weird cause of his clothing especially being in the park at early morning, Shizuo also looked like he lacked sleep, he had eye bags and even some bruises and cuts on his face and arms. [What happened?] Celty asked, now worried. Shizuo brought a hand up his forehead and sighed frustratingly. "It's nothing… no… Its love" Shizuo blurted out. Shut up Izaya screamed inside him. [Love…?] Celty bothered to type. She looked at Izaya and the raven was glaring daggers at the blond. She looked back at Shizuo who just responded to the glare with a cocky smile.

"Izaya… are you happy? Now that you know it isn't permanent, can't you just let me enjoy it?" Shizuo tried to stop the informant from glaring. You seem to be enjoying it just fine even with me acting like this. Anyway I want to go back to sleep, since that's when you can't read my mind, carry me back. Izaya ordered. Shizuo sighed and approached the raven. Celty started typing when she noticed that the blond was giving Izaya a piggy back ride. [Are you two going already? I can give you a ride if you want.] Celty offered. Shizuo read the text and replied "No, its fine. I want to take a long walk anyway, while my Queen here pretends to be asleep." [Take care then; try not to push his buttons too much.] Celty advised and watched the two leave.

After the two disappeared from her view, Celty hopped on her bike and drove back to Shinra's apartment. The reason why Shizuo could read Izaya's mind… is it because he really desired it? Shizuo really did want to know what Izaya was thinking every time. Why would he want that? Because Izaya's always so secretive and because it sometimes leads to him getting hurt... that Shizuo… feels the need to be sceptical toward him, Shizuo can't trust him…It might be a problem if Izaya finds out… but, Izaya didn't get the ability… I wonder if Shizuo already knows the reason and that's why he's so happy…

When Celty had the apartment building in sight, she noticed Shinra on the balcony. Shinra? It's too early for him to be up… She turned and hid herself from the doctor's view by using another building. Approaching the building with a different path from what she usually uses, she sneaked herself inside the apartment and quietly peeked at the doctor. Shinra hadn't noticed that she was already inside. Shinra looked like he was in a quiet panic.

He had his binoculars and was focused on the road where he would always see Celty use when coming home. Shinra… Celty approached the doctor from behind, making him jolt a bit. Celty hugs him tight from behind. "Ah! Celty, Welcome Home! Did you have a job at this early morning, it's still dark out, shady business, I guess? You should have woke me up and told me! Aha, well glad you're back!" Shinra smiled. Celty releases the doctor and types on her phone. [Shinra… would you let me tell you a story?] She asked. "Eh? A Story?... I guess that's okay… What kind of story?" Shinra asked back. [Wait, let me get my head first] Celty walked fast paced to her room while Shinra sat on the couch, waiting. He's still worried… I want him to trust me… If revealing some of my past to him would help… then… it's a small price…

"Izaya… I know you're awake" Shizuo said, not bothering to look behind to see the raven's head. Shizuo was now walking home carrying Izaya on his back, he didn't mind his clothing since it was still dark out and there were close to zero people that would be outside at that time. Shut up and let me sleep… Izaya thought, tightening his arms that were wrapped around the ex-bartender, one arm over the shoulder and another on the blond's upper arm, both hands clenching on the Shizuo's white shirt. "Izaya… please talk to me, it's really painful not hearing your voice you know… don't hate me for this. You know you can't blame me for liking this so much when you're always into shady business..." Shizuo said, glancing at the raven's black hair resting on his shoulder.

You can't trust me…? Shizuo heard. "…no" Shizuo replied and felt the Izaya's hand tighten his hold on his shirt. "...shame that's it's not permanent, but… that won't stop me from forcing you to tell me your plans and interfering with them" the blond continued. "Did it really hurt that much? Seeing me die?" Izaya finally spoke, Wait, that was a stupid questi- Izaya wanted to take it back, but before he could say anything, Shizuo kneeled down, signalling Izaya to get off of him. "Shizu-chan…" Izaya whimpered, feeling stupid for asking such a question before reluctantly releasing his grip on Shizuo's shirt and slowly getting up. Shizuo stood up and faced Izaya, whose eyes were directed at the ground under him, and lifted a hand to tilt the raven's head up gently.

They stared at each other for a moment before Izaya broke the silence, whispering an apology. "I'm sorry…" he said softly. Shizuo leaned closer to the raven's face, their heads already parallel with the other. "…you have no idea how I felt at that time, seeing your peaceful face with the thought that I would never see those eyes open again, feeling the body heat I love so much slowly disappear in my hold… thinking that the very reason my life felt so complete was fading from me and all I could do was watch as it was taken from me… because I didn't know exactly what I was up against…" Shizuo started, staring at the raven's eyes as Izaya's eyebrows knotted and guilt filling his eyes, already switching from looking at the ground to his side.

"…if you have told me… about your plan, about the consequences it had… about the possibility that you'd die… Why? Why didn't you tell me? D you know how I felt when I found out that Akabayashi and Shiki had an idea that that would happen and that you actually expected it?" Shizuo said, he stopped every part of himself that wanted to scream. "…but, you trusted me… that I admit, made me happy, you trusted me to bring you back… everything… went according to your plan, didn't it?" Shizuo gently smiled, a bit forced.

"Shizu-chan…" Izaya wanted to apologize repeatedly, finally staring back at the ex-bartender's brown eyes. "…Izaya, the reason I'm this happy isn't just because I could hear your thoughts, but also because I know how much you trust me, adding the fact almost everything going in on your mind contains something about me… you really need to be more honest, I'd enjoy it more and may think that I never needed this ability to read you… you know I don't mind if you want to be more selfish or cunning… or is you want to try more stuff with me…" Shizuo said, revealing how much he had already roamed Izaya's mind.

Izaya blushed at what the blond said and Shizuo was smirking now… from that mixture of anger and sadness that he felt, it was completely overwhelmed when he found out about how Izaya truly thought of him. "Shizu-chan!" Izaya wanted to scold but didn't exactly know what to scold the blond about, instead he settles in punching the blond's upper arm, repeatedly but not strong, Shizuo nearly felt tickled by the action.

"…also, just to assure you… I probably won't ever love anyone else as much as I love you… so please give up on thinking I'd replace you with someone when you die before I do… but I do promise I won't follow you out of emptiness… I won't kill myself, I'll just continue on loving you and living a life knowing you're there watching over me…" Shizuo lovingly said, Izaya suppressed a smile at this. Stupid… Shizuo chuckled. "I won't let you experience it… I definitely will make sure I won't die before you do… It'd be more heart breaking to see you cry from above rather than dying… I might end up haunting you…" Shizuo said seriously. "You stupid brute…no one's going to be happy to be haunted by you." Izaya chuckled. "Izaya…" Shizuo leans closer to his beautifully smiling raven.

"Shizu-chan…" Izaya notices the approaching lips and slowly closes his eyes. Their lips were an inch apart … *ring* they both jolted at the sound. "Ah…." Izaya half smiled with nervousness in his eyes as he opened it again to look at Shizuo's face. Shizuo had a serious face on and was staring at Izaya's eyes. "Ignore it…" Shizuo said monotonously *ring*. "Ah… but that's probably Shinra…" Izaya said as a sweat dropping from his forehead. *ring* "More reason to ignore it…" Shizuo said. *ring*

Izaya snorted at the blond's angered tone and grabbed the phone on his pocket. *ring* He looked at the screen and held it up for Shizuo to see, it was Shinra. He tapped the decline button, making sure Shizuo could see the screen. "Happy?" Izaya smiled. "Yes… very…" Shizuo said, grabbing the informant's chin again and giving Izaya a peck on the lips before grabbing the other's hand and pulling it. Eh? Were already going home? Wait! It might be a little embarrassing! I mean you could read my thoughts and all… while…while… while…we… It's too embarrassing! Izaya thought.

"It's fine, isn't it? You wanted to try different things after all…" Shizuo said happily, pulling the informant home. "Wait! You can't! Shizu-chan! Can't you wait till that annoying ability of yours is gone?" Izaya wailed. "Ah! I think it's gone… yup, I can't hear anything… so go on freely with whatever you're thinking about…" Shizuo said. "You Liar!" Izaya screamed as they walked home.

"Uuuuuuuugh….." Izaya growled. Shizuo sighed next to him and Celty tilted her helmet to the side, wondering what was wrong. She typed on her PDA and held it for them to see. [Can Shizuo still read your mind, Izaya?] She asked. Shizuo sighed again and Izaya blushed. "No…. it disappeared… well, at least I was able to make the most of it… hearing Izaya's thoughts while I-" Shizuo started to explain, but was cut off as two palms found its way on both his cheeks, squeezing it. "Stop saying stuff like that to Celty!" Izaya scolded, remembering that night, he couldn't stop his thoughts even if he wanted to.

[I see, it really is cause of your souls being linked together then] Celty typed. But I'm pretty sure there was already a faint link attaching their souls even before…Celty looked at them, while Shizuo also palmed Izaya's face and pinched the red hot cheeks and letting Izaya squeeze his face. …I suppose they were meant for each other since the start…Celty chuckled to herself.

"Excuse me~ would you like to become a host?" Celty turned from where the voice came from, the all too familiar voice. "Excuse me? Won't you please hear me out for a second? It'd real fun being a host you know; I think you have the looks for it!" The person who owned the voice said, facing Simon, of all people. "Host? I am not interested~ Ahaha!" Simon nonchalantly declined, returning to his business and giving Russian sushi fliers. "Huh? I wasn't talking to you! I was looking if I could turn any head that actually think their good looking enough to be a host!" The person said. "Ohoho! You flatter me mister fake blond japans man!" Simon chuckled.

That is… Celty quickly approached the man. When finally in front of him, she typed on her phone shaking, and nearly shoved the flashing screen on the blond's face. He stared at it questioningly and read. [Alex?] He read again, and looked at Celty… and read again, and shrugged. "Alex? I don't anyone named Alex, sorry about that…" the man looking exactly like Alex said. [No! You're Alex! I can't be wrong!] Celty typed. Alex shrugged again. "I'm not Alex… and I don't believe in stuff like people that looks as handsome as me actually exist… if you don't want to be a host then leave me alone…" the man said. [No wait!] Celty tried to grab him by the shoulder.

"Oi! Amnesia guy!" a man called out and the blond looked over. "Stop calling me that! I already made myself a name, didn't I? I'm grateful and all for you finding me and taking me in but I will not tolerate your ugly face to abuse my showing of gratitude by working for you!" Alex yelled, making Celty jolt. Amnesia guy? He lost all his memories… but he's still half a dullahan…

"What was that, you brat?" the man stomped nearer the blond. "Ugh…" before his boss was able to drag him back to the club, the blond runs away and laughs as his boss only got angrier. He looks like he's having fun…Is it okay to leave him like this? Celty thought. "I think it's alright to leave him like this…" Izaya said, appearing beside Celty, Celty jolted again. "...for now" Izaya smirked. "What are you planning?" Shizuo said, behind Izaya. "EH? Shizu-chan? Nothing! I'm not planning anything? What makes you say that?" Izaya tried to run away as well. "IZAYA!"

Author: yay… finally… sorry for really long wait~! Hope you enjoyed, sorry it sucked. ~ I appreciate all the reviews, follows, and favourites...