Izaya would have rather Shizuo kissed him a hundred times than confess his love for him.

Because it stunned him in a way no kiss from Shizuo ever could.

"…What?"

He said, as he stared at the number over Shizuo's head.

6

"I said I love you."

Shizuo said, still holding Izaya.

6

"….."

Shizuo seemed to realize Izaya looked as if his mastermind brain had finally broken down on him.

Slowly, he released his hold on Izaya and stepped away.

"Sorry, this is sudden isn't it. But, it's the truth. I love you –"

"You can't."

"Huh?"

No longer being in Shizuo's hold and held against his pounding heart seemed to have returned Izaya back to his senses.

"You can't be in love with me."

"Why can't I be in love with you?"

"Because it isn't supposed to happen."

Shizuo gave a scoff at that, "Like you ever cared about that."

Izaya's mind was whirling as Shizuo looked at him.

He's in love?

With me?

Shizu-chan is in love with me?

Impossible.

And illogical.

"Say it again."

Shizuo blinked, but said, "I love you."

6

"I know you don't love me, and you probably don't even like me, but you're at least interested in me right? Even if it's just for my information, I don't mind, so –"

"No!"

"…What?"

While Izaya usually wasn't one to shout for anger meant a lack of control, Shizuo had ruined all his plans and his perception of the situation by that one sentence alone.

It felt as if the world he had built again after the accident was crumbling down on him, and there was nothing to replace it.

"It's not that. I'm not interested in you at all, I just wanted to find out about your lie!"

"…But that means you're interested in me right?"

Shizuo said with an 'I don't get it' look. Izaya felt the urge to punch him.

"No, you protozoic brain! I just –"

Wanted to make you lie

Then you lied and deprived me of the satisfaction of making you tell your first lie

And so I decided to find out about your lie and I had to go on that date with you

But you tricked me and so I had to go on another date

And then you rejected me

And now you're confessing your love for me?

Which, according to that number, is true?

Unbelievable.

Because of your unpredictability, everything's gone to ruin.

"I just…wanted to make you lie."

Izaya said lowly, looking away and trying to regain some semblance of control.

There was silence, then Shizuo spoke.

"…What do you mean?"

"I said I wanted to make you lie. You've never lied before unlike my humans so I –"

"No, how would you know it would be a lie? Actually, how did you know I lied?"

"I –" Izaya hesitated, at the suddenly intense look in Shizuo's eyes.

"…I can see it."

"…See?"

There was something indescribable in Shizuo's expression but Izaya continued on.

"Lies. I can see lies. After I woke up from my coma. There's a number over every human's head, even yours even though you aren't human, that number represents the number of lies a human has told in their lifetime –"

Izaya stopped.

Shizuo was trembling.

"Shizu-chan…?"

"…Haha…HAHA…HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Wha- Why are you laughing?!"

Izaya yelled at Shizuo in frustration, and Shizuo only laughed harder, his head thrown back in mirth.

"Haha! Hahahahaha! AH this is hilarious! Are you kidding me? You can see LIES?!"

Shizuo said and laughed again, banging his fist on his thigh and chuckling uncontrollably, causing an unusual anger to take over Izaya.

"Shut up! I don't care if you believe it or not –"

"I can see the truth."

"…What?"

Izaya stared at Shizuo who had issued another unpredictable statement and was grinning rather fiercely.

"I said I can see the truth. That's why, if you can see lies, you know I wasn't lying when I said I loved you right? Damn, I didn't really mean to confess this way. But you know, I can see the truth. You said you were lying? Well the numbers over your head don't say so."

"!?"

"That's why, I let you play your game. To me you weren't lying at all. Although it made me embarrassed, you were always telling the truth. You have a low number compared to everyone else around me, so I was glad to see it shoot up –"

"You bastard! You…tricked me?!"

"Me?" Shizuo snorted. "You tricked me flea. Made me think you're lying when you're actually not! Fuck, all along I thought those numbers were the lies people told, 520 0405? 634 109, even Tom-san had such a high number and that fucking Shinra was even higher! Fuck, it really pissed me off!"

"But then you came along, and the number you had was fucking low. Like so low it pissed me off so much and I threw that bench at you. That's when I realized I couldn't be seeing lies, because no one lies more than you."

Shizuo said honestly and Izaya stood, stunned, even more than he had been at Shizuo's confession of love.

"But…"

"What?"

"…."

Izaya inhaled, decided to brush away the absurdity of the situation, and focus on the unpredictable, unchangeable facts.

Shizu-chan is in love with me.

Shizu-chan can see the truth.

But Shizu-chan didn't know I could see lies.

So, just like me, he thought he was the only one who could see those numbers.

And I didn't know Shizu-chan can see the truth.

Did Shinra know when I told him I could see lies?

What about Celty?

Is that why she was laughing at me? Because she was in cahoots with Shizu-chan?

Damn it….

All along I've been wanting to make Shizu-chan lie, that I've been missing the most vital piece of information.

I never even considered the possibility.

Tch.

…I feel like a fool.

What do I do now?

He raised his gaze to Shizuo.

"What?" Shizuo said again.

Since it's come to this…

Even if all my plans have been destroyed by him, and my perception overturned

He's still here.

Why not get the information I need?

"Let's sit down." Izaya said, and did just that.

"…'Kay." Shizuo soon joined him on the ground, staring at him expectantly.

"Let's exchange information, Shizu-chan."

Izaya said as he leaned back, his hands on the ground.

"I'll tell you about my plan, and in exchange you'll tell me about your own and answer any questions I have. Deal?"

The blond man opposite him nodded. "Fine."

"Right. So, my plan was to make Shizu-chan lie. Shizu-chan has an impossibly low number compared to everyone else around me, so I decided to make him lie. My humans were getting boring because of those numbers, it's no fun knowing if they're lying or not. It ruins the game."

"…Uhuh."

"So I decided to put on an act. I kissed Shizu-chan because I wanted him to lie that he didn't enjoy it – under the assumption that Shizu-chan doesn't have anyone willing to engage in such an act of romance with him, though I didn't expect him to fall in love with me. When that didn't work, I decided to lie to Shizu-chan until through the Mere Exposure Effect, he would learn to be accustomed to lies and even like them."

"That's a shitty plan." Shizuo said bluntly and Izaya looked at him sharply. "…No offence." He muttered.

"Yes well if this is how you treat the one you claim to love it's no wonder you haven't had a significant other." Izaya said flippantly, "Anyway, going with the previous assumption of Shizu-chan wanting someone to be close to him, I told Shizu-chan I loved him which was a lie. And then Shizu-chan snapped and upset my expectations again."

Shizuo waited until Izaya continued, "After that, I wanted revenge. I decided I had to make Shizu-chan lie no matter what along with some psychological torture – only to find out Shizu-chan has already lied. So Shizu-chan upset my expectations again with his monstrous unpredictability."

"In the end I ended up going on a date with Shizu-chan to find out who he lied to, which turned out to be himself. So, Shizu-chan tricked me and ruined another plan, I couldn't seek that person out if that person was Heiwajima Shizuo himself. I agreed to a second and last date, but Shizu-chan can't stop being unpredictable, confessed two unpredictable things at once and so now we're here."

"You were unpredictable too." Shizuo pointed out and this time Izaya did glare.

"…Sorry. But it's true. Who told you to run away from me? I thought we were past that, damn flea."

"No, it's a blessing in disguise." Izaya said dryly. "At least now I know Shizu-chan has been hiding his ability too. It would be better in the long run," he muttered. "Or Shizu-chan would think I like him, which I do not."

"Anyway, that was my plan. Now it's your turn."

"I didn't really have a plan though."

"Well of course not, you're a protozoic brain. Just give me your perception of events."

"…Alright." Shizuo said. "Then I'll start from the beginning too…just, let me have a smoke first."

Izaya waved a hand dismissively and stared out into the sunset as Shizuo smoked, uncrossing his legs as he sat with his knees half bent, blowing clouds of smoke into the air.

They spent a few minutes in peaceful silence and Izaya briefly mused upon the surrealistic scene of Shizuo sitting opposite him and smoking, of them sitting down together and just talking like they were two normal men.

It seemed they were once again sitting down, this time by Izaya's direction. While Shizuo had pulled him against his shoulder after inviting Izaya to sit down beside him on the bench, Izaya had made sure that they were facing each other with a distance that was comfortable –

– In the park where he had first closed the distance between their lips, an act which he had never imagined would lead to the current situation now.

Honestly.

What are we doing?

What am I doing?

Telling him everything just like that.

…Ahhh…it doesn't matter.

He's become too unpredictable even for me.

I have to change my moves as well in accordance with the new information.

When everything I believed in was practically a lie.

Despite the situation, he found himself smirking at the irony as Shizuo spoke, "Izaya."

"Go on, I'm listening."

Izaya said casually and Shizuo crushed the cigarette and stubbed it into the ground.

"Like you, I thought I was the only one who could see lies. Even though my ability is to see the truth, I thought I was seeing lies. It wasn't until you finally showed your face in Ikebukuro that I realized I couldn't be seeing lies, since no one lies more than you. At that time, I was pissed 'cause it didn't make sense – if I could see lies, how come the bastard who lies the most has such a fucking low number? That pissed me off, so I threw that bench at you."

"I ended up knocking you out, and brought you to Shinra 'cause after that accident and sitting beside you while you were in a coma, I didn't feel like killing you anymore. Then you came to me and started talking crap about lies which pissed me off more 'cause it was the last thing I wanted to think about. And then you kissed me and it pissed me off again. So I knocked you out again."

"What a beautiful illustration of events, interjected of course with your favorite word."

Shizuo flushed, "Shut up, I'm trying okay?" He said, and Izaya smirked.

"Well let me give you a tip. Talk about your feelings besides anger more, it might provide some enlightenment rather than giving me information I already know. That's not called an exchange of information you know?"

"…Tch." Shizuo looked at Izaya as if wondering why he had even confessed. He inhaled, then spoke again.

"You made me think about lies and my ability. My head was occupied by that even in my job, I could see with my own eyes who was lying and who was not and practically everyone was. So that pissed me off – uh, annoyed me even more. Then after that you came to me and said shit about your experiment and then you said you loved me."

"Which, of course, pissed you off?"

"…No." Shizuo said, to Izaya's surprise. He rested his chin on his interlocked hands.

"My heart felt cold. I was angry, again. But it was different. It was a cold anger."

"…Because you actually loved me."

Izaya said as if the mere notion made him want to put a greater distance between himself and Shizuo.

"Yeah." Shizuo said. "But, I didn't realize it then. Still…I knew I cared about you and didn't want you dead anymore. Either way, you were mocking my newfound feelings for you, love or not. And that...made me angry."

Izaya said nothing, and Shizuo exhaled, then continued. "But when I saw how affected you were by what I did, I realized I was wrong. I shouldn't have done that. I crossed your line. So I told you my feelings and it made me realize, how much I actually cared about you. So I decided to play your game. I decided to not hold back my feelings anymore, whatever they were."

"I see." Izaya said. "So where does this…" he gestured abstractly, "'Love' come in?"

Shizuo only looked almost amused. "Don't you already know?"

"What?"

"…My lie." Shizuo said as if realizing Izaya hadn't figured it out.

"I denied it. I told you I lied to myself right? Well, that was it."

"You mean…"

"I lied to myself, that I wasn't in love with you."

"Wait…" Izaya paled. "That means…"

"Yeah. I didn't know about it, I can't see my own number. But you can, though I didn't know that."

"I," Izaya said, his face getting paler, "Was the one who let you realize your love for me?"

"That's right."

Izaya slapped a hand to his forehead with an uncharacteristic groan. "I," he pronounced. "Feel like an imbecile."

"You ruined your own plan, flea." Shizuo said with a smirk.

"You are not helping, Shizu-chan." Izaya said and Shizuo grinned.

"So, is that all you wanted to know?"

"You didn't know I could see lies until I told you?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't you think there would be a reason why I would be so pissed off by your lie?"

"…Yeah, but I didn't think it was because you had an ability like me."

6

"You really are a protozoic brain." Izaya deadpanned and Shizuo shrugged.

"You never considered the possibility either."

"That's different." Izaya said. He brushed his hair back with a weary sigh.

"So you made use of the opportunity and asked me out on a date." He drawled. "What an opportunistic man you are, Shizu-chan."

"Yeah. I decided to take advantage of the situation. I doubted you at first, thinking it was some plan, but your number told me you weren't lying and you really were interested in my lie. So I thought you were interested in me."

Shizuo said with another shrug, and Izaya asked.

"Does Celty know? Is that why she was laughing at me?"

"Laughing at you – oh." A big, dopey grin had taken over Shizuo's face. "Yeah she knows."

6

"So she was in cahoots with you and laughing at me and my lack of information."

"No – well, yes. She was laughing at you. But she wasn't in cahoots with me, and she wasn't laughing at you because of that. She was laughing because I…"

Here, Shizuo blushed, avoiding Izaya's gaze, but said. "…Was telling her about my date with you."

"Huh? What's so funny about that?"

"Well, you see…" Shizuo scratched the back of his head, a sheepish look on his face.

"I was excited and happy…that you gave me your phone number and that you agreed to go on a date with me. So I messaged her about it and she was laughing at how we would go clothes shopping for me and how you were oblivious to it all, and I guess she found that funny."

Shizuo said, choosing wisely to leave out the part where he had told Celty he was imagining Izaya's adorable expression.

"Hilarious." Izaya said blithely. "Tell your girlfriend that the next time you see her, Shizu-chan."

Shizuo had the decency to look embarrassed. He cleared his throat, and said.

"Yeah that's about it. Anything else you want to know?

If Shizu-chan thought I was interested in him…

Then everyone else thought so too?

…Damn it.

So basically everyone Shizu-chan knows, Namie and Shiki-san think I like Shizu-chan.

No wonder they looked like they were conspiring behind my back.

Tch, it's all one huge conspiracy, brought about by none other than Heiwajima Shizuo himself.

He must be some secret mastermind.

Izaya thought sarcastically. Shizuo was still looking at him and he said, "What about your love?"

"What about that?"

"Shizu-chan is always saying he hates me. Even if he didn't actually know…"

Izaya trailed off, and Shizuo blinked, then seemed to get the point.

"Idiot. I wasn't in love with you then. Or even if I was, I didn't know it. I told you, didn't I? I only knew when I woke up in the hospital before you after that accident. I went to visit you and you looked so pale and so frail."

"And at that moment, I was afraid. I was afraid of losing you. I didn't know what I would do if you didn't wake up."

6

"I couldn't imagine my life without you."

6

"And that's when I realized I loved you."

6

"I tried to deny it, but when I heard you were out of the hospital, I was so damn relieved. I kept wishing you would come to Ikebukuro but for once you didn't. And when you finally came I saw that number over your head being so fucking low and it pissed me off."

6

"I was scared. I was scared of being in love, so I didn't want to admit I was in love. I was scared of hurting you, you make me lose control. I was scared I would lose it and you would end up in that hospital bed again, this time maybe forever."

6

"But then you got your plan to lie to me and you said all those things. When you said you loved me…I couldn't deny it anymore. Seriously, my heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest and I couldn't resist. Damn it. And even when I lied to myself that I wasn't in love with you, you came back and told me it was a lie. That I actually loved you. Shit…it's all your fault, you know? Now…I really can't control these feelings any longer."

"…."

"I know you don't love me."

Shizuo said quietly, as he made his way over to Izaya on the ground. Izaya moved back, but he grabbed the black haired man's arm and pulled him to his chest, as he knelt on the ground.

"But I love you."

Shizuo said in that same quiet tone, as he held Izaya in his arms. He lowered his head, hiding his expression from Izaya.

"I'm in love with you, Izaya. Even if you don't feel the same way, I don't ever want to lose you like that again. So…let me stay by your side…please."

Shizuo ended in nothing more than a whisper, as he held Izaya as if the other man would disappear if he let him go.

"I don't love you."

"I know."

"I hate you."

"I know." Shizuo said again, still not looking at Izaya.

"I wish you would die."

"Yeah."

"…Why aren't you looking at me?"

"What?"

"Why aren't you looking at me to see if I'm lying?"

"Because I just want to listen to your feelings."

Izaya shifted his gaze, then sighed.

"Let me go, Shizu-chan."

Shizuo's fists clenched, but he relinquished his hold on Izaya. The information broker drew back and got to his feet, looking down at the man on his knees on the ground.

"Look at you, the strongest man in Ikebukuro, reduced to being on his knees on the dirty ground. Is that what love has reduced you to, Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo merely stayed silent, looking at Izaya with his hazel eyes. Izaya looked away, and spoke.

"I will never love you."

Shizuo closed his eyes. "I know, but I still love you."

There was silence as the information broker looked down at the blond man not in a bartender suit before he sighed and reached out, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him up with the strength he used to scale building walls.

Shizuo's eyes opened in surprise as he found himself in Izaya's arms. "Izaya?!"

"Don't take this the wrong way," Izaya muttered into Shizuo's shoulder, his hand still gripping Shizuo's arm.

"Shizu-chan not throwing vending machines at me is already bad enough. I refuse to deal with a Shizu-chan grovelling on his knees on the ground."

And then in a lower voice, he added –

"The Shizu-chan I know would never show weakness so easily."

"I-Izaya…"

"Shouldn't it be 'flea'?" Izaya let go of Shizuo's arm and shoved him away.

"Get yourself back together, Heiwajima Shizuo. Don't let that which you've always longed for destroy you so easily."

Shizuo stared, and Izaya made sure to add with a smirk, "After all, if Shizu-chan is destroyed by love, I wouldn't get the chance."

"…Tch." Shizuo returned Izaya's smirk, "Dream on, flea."

He raised a hand to his face, looked at it, then slapped it to his face.

"Arghh…alright I'm fine now. Totally fine." Shizuo said as he removed his hand from his face.

"So, what now, flea?"

"Now I go back to my apartment because I finally know what you lied about so I don't have to go on a second date with you."

"Can't we go on that date regardless?"

"Gained your confidence back, have you?" Izaya said wryly and Shizuo grinned. "As expected, even your emotional recovery rate is inhuman."

"And to answer your question – no, because Shizu-chan has done too many unpredictable things that even I need time to digest."

Shizuo looked as if he was thinking. Then he said, "One hour."

"Huh?"

"I'm not letting you go back to your apartment." Shizuo said bluntly as Izaya stared. "If I let you go…you'll pretend this never happened and I don't want that."

"That's why, let's meet again in an hour. That should give you enough time to think, right?"

"And why should I listen to you? I don't owe you anything now, now that I've found out what you lied about."

Shizuo just smiled. "Because I don't need to hide my feelings for you anymore."

"Huh?"

"I can yell to the whole of Ikebukuro that I love you, let everyone know that you're mine. In fact, I can do it right now."

"?!"

"Ahh…yeah, HEYYYYYY IKEBUKURO –"

"Shut up!" Izaya hissed, glaring warningly at Shizuo.

"Fine, one hour! Tch, I should have just let you remain in that pathetic state on the ground!"

Shizuo didn't even try to hold back his grin.

"Great. See you in an hour then." He winked, looking pleased.

Izaya looked as if Shizuo had blown a kiss at him. Then he seemed to realize Shizuo was already walking away.

"Hey! Why do we need to talk anyway?!"

"'Cause I need to know your response!"

"My response to what?!"

"My confession."

"Didn't I already say I hate you?!"

"Tch you always say that, flea. You said you need time to digest the information, right? I want to hear your response after that!"

"You're being really demanding aren't you, Shizu-chan?! Where are you going anyway?!"

Shizuo just sent him a smirk over his shoulder before he ran, shouting back –

"Sunshine 60! I'm gonna go to the skydeck to think. Don't worry, I'll make it back in an hour, won't let you wait a single second, flea!"

And then he was in the street amongst people and with a huge leap, jumped onto a building, reaching the top in seconds with his parkour skills and was soon dashing off again, not looking back.

"Show-off."

Izaya muttered as he watched Shizuo disappear into the distance, as if forgetting he himself did such parkour stunts on a regular basis.

"He's going to the skydeck of Sunshine 60 just to think? He's jumping up there isn't he? And then jumping back down? How the hell is he going to make it back here in an hour? Tch, I hope he falls and dies."

Izaya spoke to himself in the isolated area, a happy smile making its way across his face as he imagined such a scene.

Shrugging his shoulders and deciding not to comprehend Shizuo's logic, he walked away, casually voicing his thoughts out loud.

"Well, time to get my beast-free hour of peace."

…

…

…

By the way, the ability measures not lies and truths but dishonesty and honesty. What it measures is the intention - to deceive and to be honest.

For instance, if Tom asked Shizuo if it was going to rain and Shizuo said it wasn't but it rained later on, his count would not go up. But if Shizuo said it wasn't going to rain even though he checked the weather forecast and knew it was, his count would go up. The difference here in the dissemination of the same incorrect information is the intention - Shizuo did not intend to deceive Tom because he didn't know it was going to rain - thus even if he was not telling the truth, he was not lying either. In fact he was being as honest as he could, even if he was lacking the information of the truth.

Not telling the truth is not the same as lying. Lying is not telling the truth with the intention to deceive or deny - any act that aims to misrepresent the truth with the awareness or knowledge of doing so. Just like with Shizuo when he wanted to misrepresent the truth to himself by denying that he was in love with Izaya after their meeting. He knew his feelings had changed, knew that it could be love, but told himself it could not be so. That is lying.

On the other hand, telling the truth with the intention to deceive is not lying because lying is misrepresenting the truth. As long as there is no attempt to misrepresent the truth, it is not counted as a lie, because telling the truth is still being honest.

And that's an important distinction in this story.

Anyway, it's been another half a year, it seems.

Well, does everything make sense now?

U-turn indeed.