The first thing Shizuo became aware of was that he was able to breathe normally again. It had been so difficult when he was in the hospital, like sucking all of his oxygen in through a straw. Now, Shizuo could breathe so effortlessly that he figured the entire cancer crisis must have simply been one long, extremely vivid dream. He felt more relaxed than he had in ages, and he was perfectly content to just lie in bed for the rest of the day and do absolutely nothing.

Well, he would be, if it weren't for Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" being played loudly in his ear.

Shizuo's irritation spiked immediately. Goddammit he hated that song; whoever gave that girl a recording contract deserved a vending machine right to the face. Her pitch was painful and her diction was more slurred than Shinra after a few too many glasses of sake. The ex-bartender reached for his pillow with every intention of using it to drown out the God-forsaken singing, only to find as he groped around blindly that there wasn't a pillow beneath his head. Now that he thought about it, whatever surface he was laying on definitely wasn't his mattress, either.

"Yo, buddy, you awake yet?" A voice said loudly from a short distance away. Shizuo felt a hand on his knee, shaking him into opening his eyes. "Time to get up; we're here."

Shizuo squinted as his eyes adjusted to a sudden brightness he hadn't been expecting, turning his head from side-to-side in a sort of sleepy confusion as he took in his surroundings. He was inside of a taxi, stretched out along the back seat with his head resting on the speaker (well, that at least explained the terrible music). "Where am I?" He asked, running a hand through his hair as he sat up.

The man whom had spoken before was the cab driver, dressed entirely in white and surprisingly well-groomed for someone in his line of business. "You'll find out soon enough." He said, gesturing toward the door with his thumb. "Now get outta 'ere."

Shizuo reached for the door handle, then stopped and reached into his pocket for his wallet instead. "How much do I owe you?" He asked, still feeling disoriented. He couldn't remember the last time he had taken a taxi, and he couldn't believe that he would ever have fallen asleep in one.

The driver let out a wheezy chuckle, shaking his round face. "Don't worry about it, this one's on me." He said and laughed again, like it was some sort of joke Shizuo wouldn't understand.

He didn't understand, but he also didn't care enough to find out what the driver thought was so funny. "Well, thanks I guess." He said as he opened the door, stepping out into the noise of the city.

As soon as he was out the taxi drove off, and Shizuo turned his head from side to side, looking for some indication as to where he had been dropped off. Having lived in Ikebukuro for so long, Shizuo knew the city like the back of his hand; he knew right away that wherever he was, it wasn't Ikebukuro. At first glance it was a typical city with neon lights, huge signs, and buildings that seemed to stretch on endlessly toward the sky. At closer look, though, there were several things distinctly different: For one thing, there was no graffiti anywhere. The buildings were shining and polished as though every single one of them was brand new. There was no trash on the ground, and the sky was clear and the air as clean as though there was absolutely no pollution. How was that even possible?

"Shizuo,"

The blonde turned around at the sound of his own name, eyes widening when he came face to face with... himself? No, not himself, but someone who looked exactly like him. The only difference in their appearances was that this guy (whoever he was) had startling neon pink eyes that matched the pin-striped shirt he wore underneath a pure white jacket. The man also wore a strange-looking pair of white and pink headphones, and his expression was much more at ease than Shizuo's was at the moment.

"Its nice to finally meet you." the man continued, bowing politely to him. "My name is Delic. I'm your guardian angel."

Shizuo stared back at him incredulously. Guardian angel? Was this guy insane?

He opened his mouth to ask the stranger just that when the so-called Delic beat him to it. "Look, I know it must be a lot to take in- dying, going to Heaven, meeting your guardian angel and all -but I assure you I'm not making this up. Just look around if you don't believe me."

Shizuo narrowed his eyes and turned his head from side to side, focusing more on the crowds of people that surrounded him this time rather than the buildings. He hadn't noticed before when he was still trying to get a baring on his location, but the masses of people around him didn't behave the way they did in Ikebukuro. No one seemed like they were in any kind of rush, no one pushed passed each other or swore when they were accidentally hit with an elbow; everyone seemed so unbelievably content with their leisurely pace that it was enough to make Shizuo feel like he was in some episode of The Twilight Zone. Furthermore, for every person there was another who looked exactly like them- same gender, same age, same height, weight, hair color. The only difference was the eyes, always a bright neon pink that matched the variations of outfits all following the same white and pink color scheme. All of the pink-eyed clones (or 'guardian angels', Shizuo assumed) wore a pair of wireless headphones that completely covered their entire ears, though none of them seemed like they were listening to any music.

Shizuo turned his eyes back to Delic, doing what he could to process what had been said, what was happening, and what this all meant. "So... I'm really dead?" He asked. He could remember everything up to his last breath, but the last few weeks of his life felt so much like a dream that he almost wasn't sure that they had really happened.

Delic nodded his head, reaching out to rest a hand on the ex-bartender's shoulder. "That's the bad news," He said with a relaxed smile.

"So there's good news?" Shizuo raised an eyebrow skeptically. He couldn't see any kind of silver-lining here. He was dead, virtually alone in a strange place, and everyone he knew was still back in Ikebukuro with a long life ahead of them.

Delic rolled his eyes, shaking his head with an exasperated sigh. "Of course there's good news," He said, squeezing his shoulder. "You're in Heaven."

"Oh yeah.." Shizuo tipped his head back, staring up at all of the buildings and flashy neon signs. "I honestly never believed this place really existed, or even if it did that I would be good enough to get here." He sighed and put his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. "Aren't there supposed to be golden gates or somethin'? And little clouds for everyone to sit on?"

"We remodeled." Delic shrugged, taking a few steps back and motioning for Shizuo to follow as he began walking. "This is the main city, where everyone arrives when they first enter Heaven. The cab drivers that bring in the souls is the closest thing we have to angels of death or grim reapers or whatever you want to call them; they collect souls on earth and take them back to the main city where everyone's personal guardian angel waits to meet them when they arrive." He cast a side-long glance at Shizuo to make sure he was comprehending, then continued. "Heaven is infinite. You aren't confined to the main city, you can go anywhere you'd like. You could even dream up your own place to spend eternity, like on a tropical island away from everyone or even a cloud if that's what your heart is really set on. Food and drink, technology, material items and literally any luxury you could ever imagine are available to you at any moment in time. We do have stores, even so, because even though we have no form of currency people still enjoy getting out once in a while and finding an excuse to meet new souls. We also have restaurants, bars, arcades, zoos, libraries, amusement parks- anything that can be found on earth can be found here. We even got the seventh Harry Potter book two months before it was published, the Boss just couldn't wait to find out the ending. You'll definitely like it here, they don't call it paradise for nothing."

Shizuo's eyebrows were furrowed the whole time as he attempted to take in every word the chatty angel was throwing at him, in addition to actually believing if this all was really happening. Meanwhile as they were walking Delic had led him into what looked like a small apartment building and up a flight of stairs, opening the door and gesturing Shizuo inside.

The decor was simple in a tasteful, elegant way, although it followed the same white-and-neon-pink-with-black-accents color scheme that Shizuo was already getting tired of. In the middle of the room was a couch, and on that couch was a bundle of white fur and fabric that occasionally trembled and made soft, shuddering sobbing sounds. Whoever it was, their back was turned to Shizuo and the hood they were wearing disguised any hair color, even the jacket completely covered their small frame when curled up in the fetal-position, making it difficult to tell whether it was even a man or a woman.

Delic sighed softly at the sight, giving Shizuo a 'one moment, please' gesture before approaching the couch and kneeling next to whomever was crying. "Psyche," He said gently, brushing back the hood and tenderly combing his fingers through short black hair.. "Shizuo's here. You'll have to stop crying if you want to talk to him."

There came a few more sniffles from the curled up figure and then the head turned, revealing a face identical to Izaya's.

Or, at least, almost identical. This person's eyes were pink and his expression was a lot more open and wore more emotion than Shizuo had ever seen Izaya have in a lifetime. Tears clung to his eyelashes and spilled over his cheeks, and his lips trembled at the corners. The sight of Shizuo didn't seem to help whatever had been making him cry in the first place, for he quickly let out a large sob and reached out to cling onto Delic's neck, hiding his face against his shoulder.

Delic sighed, giving the ex-bartender an apologetic look and motioning for Shizuo to take a seat on the chair opposite him. He shifted himself onto the couch next to his fellow angel, maneuvering him into his lap with the same ease and strength Shizuo possessed. "Hush, Psyche," He scolded gently, smoothing back a row of black bangs and pressing a gentle kiss to the angel's forehead. "All of your crying is making Shizuo uncomfortable."

"I don't care," Psyche said in Izaya's voice, though without the usual snarky undertone. "This is all his fault, anyway."

"You know that's not true," Delic said patiently, petting the smaller angel's dark hair. Psyche responded like a satisfied kitten, curling up in his lap and inclining his head toward the touch in a search for more attention. "Izaya ended up the way he did because of the choices he made; very little of it had anything to do with Shizuo."

"Izaya?" Shizuo repeated, making the very obvious assumption that this Psyche character was the informant's guardian angel. "What happened to Izaya?"

The dark-haired angel turned a venomous glare on the ex-bartender, twisting his body around and springing out of Delic's lap. "HE'S DEAD AND HE'S IN HELL AND ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!" He shouted so loudly that his face turned red, pointing an accusing, trembling finger.

Shizuo was a little taken-aback by the shouting, but the hysterical angel was hardly intimidating. What's the worst he could do, anyway? Its not like he could kill-... Hold on a second. "Did you just say Izaya's dead?" He asked.

Psyche dropped his hand and took a deep breathing, looking like he was about to start sobbing again. "He killed himself," He said after a long pause where he struggled to compose himself.

Shizuo sat silently in shock, taking in what he had been told and trying to decide if he even believed it. Could angels lie? Lying is a sin, right? Even if they could lie, what reason would they have for lying to a dead man? Psyche had nothing to gain from this, and his tears seemed pretty real. But the fact that Izaya Orihara of all people had killed himself was just a little hard to believe. Izaya was the kind of guy who tricked other people into killing themselves and then made fun of them for it later. What would make him do something like this to himself? "So... how is this my fault?" He asked, even though something made him nervous to hear the answer.

"Its not," Delic interjected quickly, his face never losing its calm expression. "Psyche is only blaming you because your death seemed to trigger Izaya into doing it. It wasn't anything you could help."

"Yes it was!" Psyche wailed in protest, waving his arms. "Stop sticking up for him, Delic! Its Shizuo's fault for getting cancer because he's the one who started smoking, therefore its his fault he died and his fault that Izaya killed himself!"

Shizuo contemplated pointing out that the stress of having Izaya in his life was one of the reasons he started smoking, but decided that it probably wouldn't do anything to improve Psyche's attitude towards him. "If you're so upset about Izaya dying then why don't you just fly down to Hell or whatever and bring him here?" As much as Shizuo loathed the idea of spending eternity with Izaya, it seemed like the obvious answer to the angel's problems.

The look Psyche gave him this time told Shizuo right away that whatever he had said was apparently very stupid. "Who do you think I am, Castiel? Angels just can't raise souls from perdition whenever they feel like it!"

Shizuo didn't have enough time to feel relieved that they aired Supernatural in Heaven because Delic was hastily interjecting. "But there is something you can do, Shizuo, if you're willing to help us."

Now it was the ex-bartender's turn to look incredulous. "Me?" He repeated. "Why in the world would I want to help Izaya? That guy made my life hell, he deserves some of his own now!"

Delic held Psyche back when he tried to lunge for the fake blonde. "Hear me out, Shizuo." He pleaded. "This could benefit you as much as it benefits Izaya."

Shizuo scowled doubtfully but nodded his head anyway. "Alright, I'm listening."

"We can turn back time to as much as a month before you died." His guardian angel told him, releasing Psyche once he had stopped squirming. "We'll even cure you completely of your cancer. All you need to do is find Izaya and get him to change his ways, try to make him a better person so that when he really does die he doesn't have to go to Hell."

Delic was making this sound than it was going to be. Izaya was a sinister, cruel-hearted person and Shizuo doubted that he of all people would be able to change anything in him for the better. Still, if they were giving him another chance to live his life then why shouldn't he at least give it his best shot? It wasn't like he had anything to lose. "What happens if he doesn't change?" He asked after a moment, crossing his arms.

"You have the entire month to try and make a difference in him." Delic explained. "If you haven't accomplished anything by the time the month is out, everything will reset; you'll be sent back here, and Izaya's soul will return to Hell."

So he really didn't have much to lose, but a month wasn't very long at all. Thirty days to make Izaya Orihara a better person? Shizuo doubted it could be done.

Still, he was going to give it his best effort for what it was worth, nodding his head as he rose to his feet. "Alright, I'm in."

"Great!" Delic grinned, and Psyche actually smiled. The blonde angel stood as well, placing a hand on Shizuo's shoulder. "Guess we had better catch you a cab, then."

.

A/N: Sorry its been so long since I updated!

Thanks so much for all of the reviews, favorites and follows. I was really shocked by the enthusiastic response this story received!

Please review lots and lots because it really helps with inspiration!

Also, this story is probably going to go back and forth between Shizuo and Izaya's point of views, just a head's up.