"Don't be a coward!"

Shizuo felt his pique rising steadily until it threatened to froth and overflow out of his mouth like molten rock. He glared at the slender teenager who crouched down teasingly before him, a crooked grin on his pale face.

"It's not being a coward, flea," Shizuo growled. "It's called being sensible!"

"We're teenagers! Since when are we ever sensible?" laughed Izaya. "So cute; you have so much naïve faith in humanity." He pinched Shizuo's cheek as if Shizuo was one of his little sisters. Shizuo's face grew red immediately.

"Don't touch me, you!" he snapped shoving Izaya way. Izaya stumbled into Kadota and they both toppled to the ground.

"Wah! Dotachin, Dotachin! Shizuo's being so harsh!" Izaya sang, Kadota sighed heavily and lightly hit Izaya on the top of his head with the heel of his hand. Shinra chuckled in the background, clearly unfazed that having his two best friends under the same roof might lead to the destruction of his own home.

"We're supposed to be studying for exams, not playing stupid games," Shizuo reminded Izaya harshly. The only reason why he deigned to study with Izaya was that Izaya came with Shinra, and Shinra usually helped Shizuo out a lot when it came to schoolwork.

"Studying is for the weak!" Izaya said confidently, nimbly jumping on top of Shinra's couch. "I've known the things they taught us in school long before the teachers opened their mouths to lecture about it."

"All right, if you're so brilliant, what is apoptosis?" Shizuo shot at him.

"Apoptosis is cellular suicide, in which the cell is signaled to compartmentalize itself and self-digest," Izaya said promptly. "This prevents the insides of the cell with the death wish to leak onto surrounding cells and harm them."

Shizuo checked his notes and scowled; the flea was correct.

"The only one who really needs to study is you, Shizu-chan," Izaya said. "Though I'm not sure how much that will even benefit you; I doubt your brain can retain the amount of information in our notes. It's far too small. Careful now!" Izaya quickly did a backflip off the couch before the low coffee table could knock him in the chest. It crashed against the wall and splintered, leaving a large gash in the wall.

"Ah, Shizuo-kun, that was a good table too!" lamented Shinra, kicking a snapped leg. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Sorry, I'll pay for it," Shizuo mumbled.

"At this rate, your family shall be broke from all these repayments!" Izaya pointed out.

"Shut up!" Shizuo hurled a sharpened pencil at Izaya. Izaya spun out of the way, knocking it out of its course with a wave of the hand. It pierced the wall like a dart.

"I can't concentrate anymore," Kadota muttered, shutting his notebook.

"Dotachin should relax!" Izaya said, lounging on the couch. "Let's play the game, okay?"

"I will not play the game!" Shizuo said resolutely.

"I think the game sounds pretty interesting," Shinra said, smiling fondly.

"You think anything that results in my suffering is interesting," Shizuo said grudgingly.

"No, no, that's just coincidence," Shinra insisted.

"It would be so intriguing to see what ideas different people come up with," Izaya said, his eyes brightening with eagerness. "What different people consider as unbearable…isn't that so fascinating?"

"You're crazy," Shizuo growled, knowing exactly what he considered unbearable.

"All in favor of playing?" Izaya announced before his hand immediately shot up in the air. Shinra's followed promptly. Kadota shrugged halfheartedly and raised his hand to eye level. Shizuo gaped at him.

"You? Since when did you want to play this game?" Shizuo sputtered.

"Anything but studying," Kadota grunted. Shizuo glared at Kadota, feeling a bitter sense of betrayal before realizing he was greatly outnumbered.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Shizuo exclaimed. "You're all willing to go along with his crazy plan?" He pointed an accusing finger at Izaya.

"You have no sense of fun, Shizu-chan," Izaya said seriously, shaking his head in disappointment.

"You!" Shizuo pointed to Celty, who had just entered the room. Celty stopped short, confused. "Back me up! Vote negative against their decision."

Celty flipped out her PDA and typed out a message before displaying it for the teenagers to see. [I will not be involved with your shenanigans.] Without another word, she whisked away, desiring anything but to be stuck in a room with four teenage boys—four bored boys to be exact.

"You're so paranoid, Shizuo-kun," Shinra laughed. "What could possibly go wrong?"

At that very moment Shizuo knew that this could not end well.

And yet he somehow ended up sitting in a circle with his classmates with a large plastic bowl and strips of paper in the middle.

"So what are the rules again, Orihara-kun?" Shinra said excitedly.

"The game is called 'Punishment,'" Izaya said. "Everyone takes several of these strips of paper and write down a punishment. What you think is this worst kind of punishment ever! And then we put all of them into this bowl, mix them up so no one can see, and then we each take turns picking one out and being forced to do it."

"I'm out of here," Shizuo said automatically, standing up and walking toward the door. Before he could take another step forward, something suddenly grabbed his leg and almost made him trip. He looked down and was shocked to see Izaya clinging to his leg.

"You're such a stick in the mud, Shizu-chan!" Izaya said, hugging Shizuo's leg tighter. "Don't leave! Pretty please?"

"What the heck are you—? LET GO OF ME!" Shizuo shouted, trying to kick him off. Though Shizuo was strong enough to lift his leg, Izaya still clinging onto it, the flea had an extremely strong grip.

"Don't fling him around, I don't want holes in my walls," Shinra reminded Shizuo, not the least bit worried.

"Come on, Izaya, let him go," Kadota sighed. Izaya stuck his tongue out at Shizuo before letting go of his leg. Shizuo shook the sickening sensation of the flea even touching him off his leg before marching toward the door again.

"Hey, hey, Shizu-chan, I think you forgot something."

Shizuo groaned and turned around. Izaya was standing up, an innocent grin on his face. In his hands were all of Shizuo's notebooks; Shizuo was about to leave them behind.

"Give those back," Shizuo hissed.

"Ne, come and try to get them," Izaya said playfully. "I can't send these via telekinesis, you know."

Shizuo knew that if he went back into the living room, he would not come out without playing Izaya's twisted game. However, those were all his school notes, and if he lost them he'd have nothing to study with and he'd certainly fail. He clenched his teeth and strode forward. However, when he was halfway down the hallway, he immediately broke into a sprint, determined to take his things back from Izaya by surprise.

However, Izaya anticipated this. He quickly moved out of the way, hugging Shizuo's notebooks to his chest. Shizuo stumbled and crashed into the couch.

"Flea, give those back!"

"I will if you play the game," Izaya said immediately. "Will you, Shizu-chan?" He held the thick notebook delicately between two pinched fingers, dangling it teasingly before him. "Or should I dispose of them to save you the trouble? No doubt they are poorly written."

"I don't want to play any stupid game of yours," Shizuo said.

"Too late," Izaya said lightly. "You're already in one." He flicked out his blade and ruffled the edges of the paper with the sharp metal. The edges began to fray. "Well?"

Shizuo was positively fuming. He wanted to take that blade and shove it into the flea's stomach. However, he mustered all his strength to swallow down his rage and stiffly sat down next to Shinra and Kadota. Izaya dropped to the ground across from Shizuo, still holding the notebook protectively.

"There are some rules, of course," Izaya said professionally. "The punishments must be PG rated. Also, they can only take place in this house and cannot lead to someone's death."

"Does an incurable coma count?" Shizuo grumbled.

"Hmm, I'd like to see you try," Izaya said sweetly. "However, I won't say no to the heart stopping for thirty seconds or so before starting back up again."

"Brilliant," Shizuo said, rubbing his hands. "Wait—I say that these have to be legitimate punishments. Nothing like…like, 'Slap Shizuo with a knife' just to get someone else to hurt me."

"Shizu-chan is thinking ahead for once," Izaya said disappointedly. He shrugged. "Fine, fine. Real punishments. I'll be fair."

Shizuo felt no more comfortable.

"Let's start!" Izaya said animatedly, handing everyone several strips of paper. The next few minutes were spent in silence as everyone scribbled down a punishment, folded it in half, and tossed it into the bowl. Shizuo spent most of that time glaring daggers at Izaya, who pretended not to notice.

"Is everyone done?" Kadota asked when many pens were dropped. "Looks like it. Who goes first?"

"Me! Me!" Shinra said excitedly. Shizuo and Kadota gave him odd looks and he laughed. "I'm super curious as to what people put." He reached into the bowl and pulled out a strip. He unfolded it and read the punishment out loud. "'Drink three full shots of soy sauce. No flushing it down with water.'" His gray eyes widened with surprise. "Soy sauce? I'd have never thought of that."

"Was that brilliant idea yours, Shizu-chan?" Izaya said.

"I'm not telling you," Shizuo said stubbornly.

"Oh, it has to be yours! You like sweets and hate anything that's overly salty; of course the idea of swallowing down three mouthfuls of salty soy sauce would disgust you!" Izaya said. Shizuo scowled but said nothing.

"Well, it isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Shinra said, standing up to fetch some soy sauce from the kitchen. He brought back the plastic bottle and a plastic cup. As he poured the slick brown liquid into the cup, he grimaced. "Ugh, I take that back. This is going to be worse than I thought."

"Shizu-chan is sadistic," Izaya commented.

"You're the one to talk!" Shizuo said angrily. Shinra put the cap back onto the soy sauce bottle and lifted up the cup. The brown sauce sloshed like oil in the cup. Even Izaya shuddered at the anticipation of the overwhelming taste.

"Well, cheers," Shinra said before bringing the cup to the lips. He only took one sip before he spat it back out into the cup, sputtering for air. "This—this is horrible!"

"Your fault for choosing it," Kadota said unsympathetically.

"I didn't choose it on purpose!" Shinra exclaimed. He turned back to the cup and he grimaced. "I can't do this."

"You didn't even swallow!" Shizuo said.

"You try doing this!" Shinra shot back.

"Ahh, when faced with terrible punishment, friendships turn their backs on each other," Izaya remarked interestedly, leaning back to watch the scene.

"All right, all right!" Shinra said hastily. He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his nose.

"No pinching allowed," Kadota said.

"Et tu, Kadota-kun?"

"Just do it!"

Shinra sighed dramatically before letting go of his nose. He took in a deep breath before gulping down the soy sauce. His grimace worsened at each gulp and when the last drop of soy sauce was drained, he threw the cup aside and hurried to the kitchen, doubling over the sink.

"See what your stupid game is doing? It's killing people!" Shizuo snapped at Izaya.

"Hark, who's talking," Izaya smirked. "Weren't you the one who put that punishment down on paper in the first place?"

When Shinra returned to the group, he looked rather ill and somewhat drained, since much of his inside had gone down the sink drain. He woozily sat back down onto the ground, nudging the bowl to Shizuo.

"My turn?" Shizuo said incredulously. Shinra nodded wordlessly, a little miffed at the suffering he had to go through because of Shizuo. Shizuo sighed heavily before plunging his hand into the bowl. Izaya leaned forward expectantly, his tension high. Shizuo glared at Izaya before pulling out a piece of paper.

"'Suck on a dirty sock,'" Shizuo read out loud monotonously. "This looks like something you'd write, Kadota."

"That was when I was running out of ideas," Kadota defended himself.

"Well, where am I supposed to get a dirty sock?" Shizuo said, desperately hoping that he didn't have to eat any of his classmates' socks.

"Hmm, which one of us has the dirtiest feet?" Shinra said contemplatively. "Everyone, stick your foot out!" He, Kadota, and Izaya stuck out a foot into the circle, comparing the cleanliness of their socks. Shizuo immediately felt sick to the stomach.

"Does it have to be one of ours?" asked Izaya.

"Nah, it doesn't have to," said Kadota.

"I know!" Shinra jumped to his feet and disappeared from the room. After a short moment later, he returned, holding something behind his back.

"Tada!" Shinra whipped out a pair of socks from behind his back. Shizuo fell back immediately; they were a discolored, mottled green even though he could most certainly tell that they weren't originally that color.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Shizuo sputtered.

"It was stuffed behind my dad's bed for the longest time," Shinra said. "No one ever bothered to get it out because it was too deep under the bed to get and we were too lazy. Except today, of course!"

"So you're only productive when it leads to my doom?" Shizuo snarled. Some friends he had.

"Suck on it, suck on it!" Izaya chanted excitedly.

"Stop that, flea!" Shizuo growled. He ripped the socks out of Shinra's hands. "Well, now I know we all have extremely sick minds!"

"Time is ticking, Shizuo-kun," Shinra said bubbly. Shizuo aimed a kick at Shinra before taking a mouthful of the sock.

"OH MY—" Shizuo spat the sock out and threw it across the room. The aftertaste still clung to his tongue like Velcro and no amount of washing his mouth out with saliva lessened it. "God—you—dammit—THAT WAS DISGUSTING!"

Shinra and Izaya were doubled over, laughing. Even Kadota cracked a smile at Shizuo's disgust.

"Take it like a man, Shizu-chan!" Izaya said.

"It tastes worse than durians!" Shizuo declared, spitting into the cup that used to hold Shinra's soy sauce. "Clean your house more often, Shinra!"

"When instead I could be torturing my friends? No way!" Shinra laughed.

Shizuo kicked the bowl toward Kadota. "Go. Now."

Kadota wordlessly reached into the bowl and pulled out a punishment. "'Get punched by the person sitting across from you.'"

"Flea, did you write that one?" Shizuo demanded immediately. "I thought you already promised that you wouldn't purposely make punishments just to screw me over!"

"I assure you, I didn't write something so mediocre as that," Izaya said.

"I wrote this one myself," Kadota said. "What should I do?"

"Well, do it anyway," Izaya egged him on. "You chose it, didn't you? Shi-i-inra-kun, time to punch Dotachin!"

"Celty would do a much better job than I could," Shinra said, sighing resignedly. He punched Kadota in the stomach. Kadota didn't even flinch.

"I know you're a nice guy and all, but you don't have to be soft on me," Kadota said.

"But…I wasn't…" Shinra started to say.

"Okay, it's the flea's turn!" Shizuo bellowed, shoving the bowl into Izaya's arm.

"Eager, aren't we?" Izaya said, beaming.

"Do it," Shizuo said dangerously. "Now."

"Tch," Izaya grinned. He reached a hand into the bowl and chose his fate. "'Massive tickle fights from everyone.'" His grin fell from his face immediately. "All right, who was the mastermind behind this? Was this you, Dotachin?"

"Guilty as charged," Kadota said, smirking.

"You are a mean, mean Dotachin."

"Well, you heard the paper!" Shinra said, rolling up his sleeves. "TICKLE HIM UNTIL HE STOPS BREATHING!" Immediately he pounced on Izaya, pushing him to the ground before tickling him. Izaya squirmed and tried to squeeze his arms against his sides, laughing against his own will as Shinra tickled him unmercifully. Kadota and Shizuo joined in promptly, their fingers teasingly dancing on his neck, collar bones, and torso—his weak points.

"No—not there—Ahh!" Izaya jerked away from Shizuo, whose fingers were close to his collar bones (No, he was not aiming for the neck as if to strangle him at all.). He tried to bat Shizuo's hands away, but once he moved his arms Kadota and Shinra launched their attacks on his sides and underarm, causing Izaya to writhe, laughing torturously.

"Stop! Stop!" Izaya cried out, curling into a ball. He was out of breath after laughing and choking. He coughed violently until his face was tinged pink.

"Okay, back off! He can't breathe; our job is done!" Shinra ordered. Shizuo reluctantly slunk back to his side of the circle as Izaya caught his breath, shaken by the tickle attack. He pushed himself off the ground, his hair mussy.

"Dotachin, you will die a slow and painful death," Izaya said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"It was worth it," Kadota said. "Shinra, your turn again."

Shinra squeezed his eyes shut and dived into the bowl, emerging with a single strip of paper between his fingers. He unfolded it and read it out loud. "'Do everyone's biology homework.' What? What is this?"

"You heard the paper," Izaya sang. He tossed his and Shizuo's notebook at Shinra while Kadota also pitched in his homework.

"This game isn't fun when I get all the mean jobs," Shinra grumbled, pulling out a pencil from behind his ear and whizzing through the worksheets.

"Let's move on to Shizu-chan," Izaya said, his eyes glinting mischievously. Shizuo glared defiantly at Izaya before grabbing a piece of paper without even looking at the bowl.

"'Lick a lit light bulb.' Wait a moment! This is unsafe!" Shizuo said wildly.

"Relax, Shizu-chan, with your monstrous body, it would be nothing to you," Izaya said casually. "And it's only a little lick, right? You aren't going to slobber all over it like it's an ice cream cone."

"That's what I originally intended," Shinra grumbled, scribbling furiously on the homework.

"Punishment is based on interpretation, therefore I interpret it to be a short lick," Shizuo said stubbornly. He pushed himself off the ground and approached a burning table lamp. As he leaned toward the light bulb, he could feel the heat radiating on his face already.

"This is like medieval torture," Shizuo said.

"If it really was, I wouldn't have imposed rules, Shizu-chan," Izaya said. Shizuo rolled his eyes and turned back to the lightbulb that glared at him. He took in a deep breath before stiffly sticking out his tongue and hesitantly prodding the tip of it against the burning light bulb.

"Augh!" He jumped back, pushing the lamp off the table. It crashed against the ground, shattering the light bulb. "Crap! I didn't mean to do that! It's just—"

"I think part of that punishment should also include cleaning up the mess," Shinra said, beaming.

"I love my friends," Shizuo said sardonically as he reluctantly gathered the broken shards into his hand and tossing them into a wastebasket.

"While you're up, get us a permanent marker!" Shinra requested.

"Why?" Shizuo said, taking a permanent marker from a pencil holder on the table in the kitchen.

"Because it's Dotachin's new punishment!" Izaya said. He waved Kadota's punishment in the air like a flag. "He has to suck on a permanent marker!"

"That sounds dangerous," Shizuo said bluntly.

"I hope you get poisoned and die, Dotachin!" Izaya said merrily.

"The marker is non-toxic, so don't even get your hopes up," Shizuo said gruffly, tossing Kadota a red permanent marker.

"What is it with these punishments and sucking?" Kadota grumbled, uncapping the marker.

"Ingesting something makes you a lot more vulnerable than many other things, so people think it's scarier," Izaya said, shrugging. "Either that or anything related to the eyes. Very scary, isn't it? What would you rather have, be forced to swallow a whole box of thumbtacks or be burned in the eyes?"

"What kind of question is that?" Kadota said before sucking on the red marker as if it were a Popsicle.

"How does it taste?" ask Shinra.

"Disgusting," Kadota muttered, his voice muffled. "Isn't there some sort of alcohol content in the marker?"

"Dotachin shouldn't be that much of a lightweight," Izaya said, running his fingers across the top of the papers before plucking one out as if pulling a single golden hair from the devil's head.

"What does my mouth look like?" Kadota asked Shizuo, sticking out his tongue.

"It looks like you're vomiting blood," Shizuo said, grimacing. "This doesn't seem safe at all."

"It's non-toxic!" Shinra insisted. "Besides, what better place to be than here if you mysteriously fall ill or injured, right Izaya?" Shinra turned toward his friend, who was reading his punishment. "Orihara-kun?"

All previous signs of amusement were wiped clean off of Izaya's face. Instead, it was replaced with blank shock. He turned sharply at Kadota and shoved the paper at his face.

"Did you do this?" Izaya demanded sharply. Kadota backed away, trying to read the paper properly before shaking his head. Izaya rounded on Shizuo, his eyes burning with anger.

"Is this your masterpiece, Shizu-chan?" Izaya snapped, showing him the piece of paper. Shizuo took the paper out of Izaya's hands. It read, 'Be locked in a dark closet for thirty minutes' in his own handwriting. He smiled wryly at Izaya.

"Well, looks like that's what you've got to do," Shizuo said, thanking the heavens that this might give him thirty minutes of peace.

"No," Izaya said quickly. "No, I don't want to—"

"Are you going against your own game now, coward?" Shizuo retorted. "You made the rules! You follow them!"

"You're insane!" Izaya exclaimed. "For thirty minutes? What do you want me to do, suffocate?"

"Exactly!" Shizuo said eagerly.

"I refuse."

"You can't."

"This is inhumane."

"No it's not. Since when were you human?"

"What are they talking about?" Shinra tried to ask Kadota. Before Kadota could respond, Shizuo suddenly grabbed Izaya and threw him over his shoulder. Izaya thrashed and tried to push himself off, but Shizuo's grip on him was locked tight.

"Let me go!" Izaya yelled. He tried to find his blade and drive it deep into Shizuo's back, but realized that he had dropped it by where he was sitting moments earlier. Shizuo did not hesitate as he carried Izaya out of the living room and into Shinra's bedroom. He kicked the door open and wrenched open the closet door. He threw Izaya into the cramped closet and slammed the door shut before Izaya even hit the floor. Shizuo grabbed hold of Shinra's bed and dragged it toward the closet, slamming the bed against the wall and blocking the closet door, forcing it shut.

"Thirty minutes, flea!" Shizuo snapped. Izaya had suddenly fallen very silent, his protests muted immediately. Shizuo smiled with satisfaction before turning off the bedroom lights and leaving Shinra's room.

"What was that all about?" Shinra demanded when Shizuo returned to the living room.

"Just Izaya receiving his punishment," Shizuo said casually. "Don't worry about it. Can we stop playing?"

"Fine with me; I'm still stuck doing everyone's homework," Shinra said glumly, turning back to the biology packets. Shizuo dug through Shinra's pantry, helping himself to some of Shinra's stash of mochi. "If we aren't playing anymore, shouldn't we bring Orihara-kun back?"

"No, he has to completely finish his punishment," Shizuo said sternly, lounging on Shinra's couch. For the next twenty minutes, minus the occasionally distant thumping in the walls that gradually died away, Shizuo was in complete peace. Not once did his anger twinge or his voice rise. It was as if he was a normal person. He nearly even forgot about Izaya as well.

"Oh, I never found out," Shinra said twenty minutes into Izaya's punishment. "What did you make Izaya do?"

"All I wrote was that he had to stay in a dark closet for thirty minutes," Shizuo said, sipping milk tea from a bottle. "He was such a baby about it. I had to shove your bed against the wall to keep him in there. I'll put it back later, don't worry."

Shinra raised his eyebrows. "You…wrote that?"

"Yup," Shizuo yawned.

"And he—I mean, he's still in there?"

"I would think so," Shizuo said, shrugging.

Shinra rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. Shizuo noticed Shinra's discomfort and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What's up?" he demanded.

"Well—you see, Shizuo-kun," Shinra said, "Izaya's not exactly good with—I mean, he's claustrophobic."

Shizuo gaped at him disbelievingly. "He's—wait, he's what?"

"Extremely afraid of cramped and dark places," Shinra said. "He gets panic attacks and starts freaking out that he'll suffocate or something. You didn't know?"

"H-how am I supposed to know?" Shizuo stuttered. "I just met the kid this year!"

"I knew it since middle school," Shinra explained. "Found out when we were both trapped in a high schooler's car trunk because of a silly prank. He was having a nervous breakdown; I thought he was going to faint—where are you going?" Shizuo had immediately stood up and was striding toward the door.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me this earlier?" Shizuo snapped at Shinra before rushing into Shinra's room.

It was a coffin.

A crematory.

He was locked in a tight space where he couldn't move a muscle, couldn't brink, couldn't breathe, his heart couldn't even beat in such a space. They were locking him up and throwing him underneath seven miles of rock and soil where no one could hear him scream. He was thrown into an oven where they were going to burn him alive until he was unrecognizable, until no one could tell the difference between him and dust.

He was trapped.

Izaya couldn't move. His mind screamed for him to move but his muscles were frozen into stone. He was going to die here, curled up in a ball underneath Shinra's Raijin uniforms. He couldn't even make a sound; his voice was completely gone and his mouth was glued shut. The door wouldn't budge; surely it had been nailed shut. He was caught underground, buried under the house of Usher, locked in stone.

He couldn't breathe.

The air was too hot. So hot and thick that it blocked his mouth and nose. He gasped for air but no oxygen cleansed his lungs. His mind felt like it was being squeezed, like the walls were coming in on him in all directions and therefore his skull was closing in on his brain. His head hurt so bad it felt like something was ramming against the inside of his head. All he could see was blackness. He was extremely dizzy and he could barely remember how long he was in here. Thirty minutes? Hours? Days?

Help help someone please help me get me out of here I can't stand it here

His stomach churned and he felt like throwing up. He could barely stay sitting anymore; sooner or later he was going to collapse. He was dead, dead, dead, buried in a coffin, cremated, reduced to the nothing that everyone would end up being—

On the other side of the closet door, Shizuo shoved the bed out of the way and yanked open the closet door. Light spilled into the closet, revealing Izaya curled in the corner of the three by three closet crammed with clothes. Izaya didn't even lift his head when Shizuo finally opened the door.

"Flea?" Shizuo said apprehensively. Izaya didn't react, but Shizuo could tell that his body was shaking and that his breath was short and nervous. Shizuo bent down in front of Izaya and shook him roughly by the thin shoulders. "Flea, I'm cutting your time short. Come on—"

Izaya suddenly punched Shizuo in the face. Shizuo stumbled back, unhurt by the blow but still shocked. Izaya still kept his face buried in his knees, his fist still raised from the blow. It quivered in the air before he quickly wrapped his arms around his knees again.

"Hate you," Izaya whispered in a strangled voice. "Hate you, Shizu-chan. M-monster."

Shizuo clenched his teeth. Here he was, trying to help Izaya, and now he was being hit and insulted. However, he couldn't help but notice how terrified Izaya looked, and a small pit of guilt settled in his stomach.

"Look, Flea," Shizuo said heavily, reaching out. He took Izaya's shoulders again and tried to lead him out of the closet. However, Izaya's legs seemed to have lost their strength and he couldn't budge. His face was extremely pale and his hairline dotted with beads of sweat. He raised his red eyes to Shizuo; they were not narrowed with mocking hatred but wide with anxiety.

"I'm sorry, okay? Will you come out now?" Shizuo said. Izaya slowly let go of his legs and tried to push himself off the ground, but his hands and legs were shaking too much to support him. Shizuo couldn't believe how nervous—how human—the flea was. He never expected Izaya to be afraid of anything, much less tight dark spaces.

"Here…" Shizuo pulled Izaya off the ground, carrying him. "Only because I didn't know you were claustrophobic. Otherwise, don't expect this from me ever again! Any other time I touch you, it'll be to kill you, you hear?"

Izaya didn't respond. He only wrapped his arms around Shizuo's neck and hugged tightly as if trying to hide himself from the dark. He was like a little child frightened from ghost stories at midnight. Shizuo couldn't help but smile at the thought. Not with satisfaction or mockery, but at the surprising innocence.

"Hate you, Shizu-chan," Izaya mumbled into Shizuo's shoulder as he tightened his grip. "Hate you, hate you, hate you…"