Chapter 5

Crystals for Hearts

Eagle sighed running his fingers through his hair, obviously annoyed. Izaya. "These idiots are going to kill you! Izaya seemed less than amused, before shrugging. "They think you're a monster!"

The coal-haired informant sighed before giving an irritated look, one Shizuo hadn't seen before. "What defines a monster? What doesn't define a monster? What defines the definition?" Oh just dandy, Izaya was going through another one of his rants that Shizuo couldn't follow at the moment and didn't want to. Did he always have to be so infuriatingly annoying?

"You know sacrificing yourself for them isn't going to make anyone happy! Not like they would do the same!"

"Cause they want me dead~? Izaya responded easily. Izaya was sacrificing himself for someone? Did the flea even know what sacrifice meant? Shizuo wanted to punch himself that time, because obviously Izaya went through enough to prove that he was willing. Of course whoever he was trying to help, hated him. That was perfectly normal.

"I don't want you to be another one of his victims!"

"I don't either." The red-eyed informant shrugged.

"What the hell is going on?" Shizuo finally spoke up, which made Eagle growl. "Fine Izaya. Get your strength back on your own. Obviously you want to be some stupid sacrifice for people who don't even know what you are."

With that, his body faded just like it had before, leaving Shizuo with a giant headache. Did all of Izaya's friends have the most annoying chip on their shoulder, or what? Either Izaya hung out with people that were annoying, or the whole world was full of annoying fleas with shiny miasma powers or something.

"Oh, just an argument Shizu-chan~" Izaya decided to humor or annoy him with a response. He didn't even sound half dead. However before Shizuo could say anything, he saw the skeleton that was Izaya before and he swallowed his rage. Sadly enough, he could say a live flea, at least looked better than a dead flea.

Shinra finally decided to get himself off the ground, setting his glasses in place. "Izaya?" Red eyes slid to give an amused glance towards the scientist. "Yes~?" He asked, his mouth curving into that familiar smirk. Shizuo's hackles rose just at the sight of it, but looking at Izaya, he just remembered the skeleton, and swallowed his annoyance once more. It was better than anything before. "Do...you mind telling us what's going on?" Shinra asked, gesturing to the whole room.

Izaya blinked once before shrugging. "I don't think you want to know. Someone got to me, put me a cage and decided to play with me." Shinra shook his head, tsking. "Not that Izaya. The...other things. The singing, the energy, all those things." Izaya's eyes glinted, and Shizuo was suddenly aware that Izaya knew exactly what happened, and was playing stupid. Growling he stomped forward, snatching up Izaya's wrist roughly. "Louse." Izaya didn't answer, and Shizuo tightened his grip, paling softly when he heard a sickening crack.

Snatching his hand back, Izaya cradled it to his chest, and Shizuo looked away guiltily. He broke Izaya's wrist, or at least that's what he thought. Shinra sputtered and flew forwards, and tried to get Izaya to relinquish his arm. "Come on, let me see it. You two are too rough with each other." Shizuo was expecting a comment about him being a brute to come out of the coal-haired informant's mouth. However he heard nothing but heavy breathing.

Shizuo felt guilty, obviously Izaya just came from hell and back, and he had the monster-like strength to snap his twig like bones in half. He didn't mean to! Izaya was just too fragile! The debt collector wanted to take off, but Shinra gave him a small glare and he stayed rooted to the spot. "Come on Izaya." Shinra for once sounded a bit annoyed but Izaya swatted his hand with the uninjured one. Finally Shinra yanked his arm, and made a small sound of surprise.

Shizuo and Celty peered closer, and Shizuo blinked confused. His mocha eyes weren't lying to him, neon red outlines of a six sided shapes. What were six sided shapes again? He learned that, hexa...hexag...hexagons? Who the hell cared, why were they on his wrist and arm, and why were they glowing? He swore his eye twitched, staring at those things. Great. The flea glowed red. The flea glowed. Is he the only one who thought this was completely confusing and impossible for a normal human?

"Izaya, you're glowing." Shinra stated blandly and Izaya finally snatched his hand back.

"I'm a firefly." Izaya commented sarcastically, cradling his wrist back against his chest. "It's not broken." He finally sighed, showing his wrist again. The marks were gone. Shizuo frowned. He felt the bones give way. They did break. He couldn't even control his own strength! Digging his nails into his palms, he opened his eyes to stare at Izaya. Just...the louse he always tried to kill. He didn't even look human with his that skinny body.

A small chuckle, which he swore was only in his mind, before the singing started to drift calmly in his ears. Shizuo wasn't how to describe it. It was like someone put water in glass, and then made the glass disappear, and the water not stuck in the form just spilled. He felt so relaxed, tired, and calm at the same time. His muscles didn't feel as if they were holding strength in them, he was utterly mush. Celty seemed to notice, Shinra was much too busy making sounds and looking at every possible inch of skin on the informant's wrist.

'You okay?'

He shook his head in an affirmative. He never felt more relaxed in his life just standing. Singing? He muttered, and then the song suddenly stopped. It was like one of those records that suddenly skipped, and then nothing played. It took a few moments as he dazedly stared at Izaya. His head was down, his uninjured hand trembling in his lap. Was the flea scared? "Shinra~" He sang happily, taking his wrist away from the doctor. I need to sleep~ Do you mind?"

Shinra apparently did mind, but a jab to his back from the Dullahan made him reluctantly nod his acceptance. We're talking tomorrow, Izaya. Izaya smiled, and Shizuo stared at him for a moment, noting how pale he was. Did that red stuff hurt him? No, it healed his wrist...so what was going on? The music was practically gone as well. Did Izaya try to turn it off? Why? Why did he even want the song in his head?

Great. He was going crazy. It was the entire flea's fault.

Finally Shizuo, Shinra, and Celty left, and Izaya slowly curled back under the covers. This curse was finally coming apparent. Narrowing his eyes on the white sheets, his fists tightened. Evolving wasn't going to save him this time. The past was going to kill him one way or another. He could only wish that it was his cute little humans going to make him meet his untimely demise, but sadly only monsters were outside.

His body felt cold, numb, and it felt like something was crawling through his blood like some sludge. Shuddering his red eyes stared at the dark room, there were no windows. Light filtered in from the cracked door, and he heard the TV. Closing his eyes, he sighed softly. He didn't want Shinra or Celty to know about this...or Shizuo. He didn't even really know what was going on himself. The informant grumbled internally.

He knew...bits and pieces of what was going on, but his sluggish mind felt like it was stepping through mud. All he remembered at the moment was that smirk and those blue eyes. That stupid monster. Izaya swore to himself that he would crush that monster. He didn't care about being a sacrifice, or whatever, this was his fight. He would even protect Shizuo if he had to. This was his fight. These were his people, his puzzles, and his pet monster.

Like hell he was going to allow some white winged freak to poke his nose into this game. Ikebukuro, Japan was his. All his. Izaya growled deeply in his chest, slamming his fist against the bed hearing the muted thump.

Above him, unnoticed in his rage a small bird stared down at the red eyed man. Its wings dripped in black like tar, and red eyes took in the sight of the informant. White letters spun in the red circles, before blinking them away. Spreading its wings, tar flying uselessly from its wings, it disappeared when it hit the surfaces around it. With a silent caw, it flew up into the ceiling, hazing to black dust.

Shizuo lit up a cigarette, leaning against the pillows in his bed. He was confused, lost and he didn't think he was going to be making sense of this mess anytime soon. Izaya was just always confusing. Mind games fit him, because he was screwed up himself. Breathing out the smoke, he ran his free hand through his hair. Izaya...was a freak. Mental freak, he knew. But he was just as screwed up as Shizuo was. Is that why they 'got along' so well? Because they were both monsters?

He was cursed. He was a monster. So was Izaya. Izaya knew everything that he went through probably. Not everyone was the same, and just because they had the same afflictions they might grow up differently. He knew that. Kasuka was horridly different from him. Izaya's sisters were pretty nice, though a bit strange. Though it was pretty hard not to be different from Izaya.

Red eyes staring at him like that...he didn't know what Izaya went through. He didn't doubt that Izaya was the same bastard. Nor just because of the way he grew up, that wasn't an excuse to how he acted...but maybe he could understand the slippery louse more? Maybe he could understand him more if he did. Maybe he could figure out what's going on.

Plus...maybe he could hear that singing again. He felt irritated. That song was there...but it was so muted it sound like there was a pillow in front a speaker. He hated it. Shizuo was a bit irked, but honestly liked the music. It calmed him down. He liked feeling like a normal person for once. Life wasn't stressful. He wasn't smoking as much. All those things were amazing to him. They were...unachievable things without Izaya's stupid singing.

Things were going to end badly, he knew it...but he just wanted to feel normal for once, he didn't care what he had to do to have it happen.

Stupid flea.

The morning came with no issues, no singing, no weird dreams, it was all normal. Which meant everything was going wrong. Shizuo had the horror of someone flying down the street half naked, Shinra fell asleep in the shower and almost drowned, and Celty tried to cook and almost set the kitchen on fire. Izaya however slept though it all, his breathing slow and deep, his eyes tightly closed. Shizuo visited Tom, and it was good to hear he was getting out of the hospital in a week, but he would still be off the job for at least another three weeks.

Shizuo wasn't honestly that surprised, but he still didn't like that he had to do nothing for three more weeks. However it gave him time to reflect on Izaya's situation and his own. Izaya was a monster, he always was, even without Shizuo's knowledge of the weird and creepy singing, the red shapes on his arm, and that apparently the flea was radioactive or something. Relaxing in the park, he stared at his phone with a small sigh. No calls. Not that there ever were.

Izaya had taken up all his time now. Somehow he missed throwing things at his face and the devilish grin he wore. Even if it was just missing the chance to knock it off his face, it was in fact, missed. Did Izaya seek him out because he was a monster? Because he was different than all his 'humans'? Izaya was an ass. There was no doubt with it. Being arrested and run over twice was the tip top of the 'being a bastard' totem pole. However if he really was a monster just like Shizuo, was that really surprising?

Maybe he was the monster in the mind, while he was in body? He could remember Izaya's bones crushing like a plastic cup being gripped too hard. Anyone could do that. He hated the flea, but he could understand why. Understanding why didn't give reason, but he could at least understand it. That was the one thing he could do. Understand. The singing was following him around like a muted buzzing.

He was going to figure why people were after the flea. Monsters only had monsters.

Standing up, he walked to Shinra's on autopilot. Anything, hoping that Izaya was awake and was going to tell him what happened. Biting his lip he saw that face in his eyes. 'Monsters' never should look like the dead. Ever.

Izaya woke up to his door being slammed open. If not for the yelp and hands on his shoulders, he would have shot out of the bed and stabbed the intruder. However he was at Shinra's and Shizuo had no sense of decency. Stupid brutes were stupid after all. "Okay, let's get this over with. Flea. Tell us everything."

What did Shizuo care anyways? Not like it concerned him. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to tell you." He answered coolly. "Tell me what you want to hear. I don't think my secret obsession with girly key chains has anything to do with this Shizu-chan." Faking surprise he put his hand over his mouth in sarcasm. "Whoops." Shizuo's fists tightened and his eyebrow ticked. Izaya felt like a contented cat lapping from his milk bowl. A smirk on his face and his eyes slit with feline glee.

"What are you?" Well Shinra seemed to dislike their conversation. Pity, he liked that comeback. "Human" Izaya answered with a pout. "I'm human. Born human, and will evolve far beyond normal humans." Celty seemed to step in, and he had to lean back a little to see the cell phone shoved in his face. 'You are human and something else' He read her statement, mulling it over in his head. It was true, the curse that he knew of, that he remembered with every fiber of his being, wasn't human, but at the same time was nothing but human.

"I don't know what the other part is, and I'm being honest. I was never told." He answered truthfully. Izaya say no point to lie at the moment, he had to keep scrounging for information. "What happened while I was out, besides the singing?" Shinra gave him a small innocent look, "Besides the screaming, violins, crying, and then making us all hallucinate the same dream? Not much." Izaya blinked almost opening his mouth in a 'Wha' but he realized that his 'ability' may have gone out of control while he was out.

Which that honestly wasn't surprising, since he often dealt with it in his sleep. "I see. It seems it got a bit out of hand. The curse." He admitted. "What was the dream?" He desperately needed to know what was revealed. Construct his mask over again, and never let these people near him. You had to stay away. You had to keep an eye on them, but not let them get so close. He had to know what happened; being truthful would benefit him, no matter how annoying it was.

"We all heard you doing a weird song...you were singing, but you never left the bed...Shizuo appeared in the apartment, but we were all sleeping. Yet we all in the same place and we had the same dream." The red eyed informant blinked at the doctor's statement. He never heard of that before, nor did he think the curse was even possible of such a...impossible feat. He didn't even remember singing or any of it. His eyes narrowed softly, and he shrugged weakly. "Shinra, you're as confused as I am." Not really, Izaya admitted, he knew a bit what was happening.

"Eagle, that's your friend correct?" Shinra clicked his tongue, switching the subject. Izaya knew Shinra well enough that his tone of voice wasn't a good one. Giving a toothy grin, he hid any insecure emotions under that mask, neatly tucking everything away. This was going nowhere good. "You could call him that~? Izaya answered. "He promised me you would give me something in return. Something modern science can't explain. Something your curse creates. Since you won't tell me anything of use maybe that will."

Izaya's eyes widened slightly, he knew exactly what Eagle was talking about. That backstabbing bastard!

"I see, he did something without my compliance." Letting out a small sigh he looked at Shinra, giving a small shrug. "Why do my people have to be so rash?" Shinra brightened a little, and Izaya inwardly mulled over the idea of giving him something else, but if he gave Shinra what it really was, he might be able to leave quicker…He highly doubted Shinra would be shocked or disgusted with the crystal-like blood form- after all he loved Celty for being such a monster.

"If you want that from me, you'll have to give me some things to let me separate it from what it's living on."

Shinra perked up, and Izaya was reminded of an excited puppy, wagging its tail for a ball. Giving a small glance towards the blond debt collector he sighed. Moving his gaze towards the headless woman, he could sense the uncertainty towards him. Was Shinra the only one who could accept he was cursed? Probably- Shizuo hated him, Celty was scared of him, and Shinra was an idiot. A friendly idiot.

"I need a scalpel, or at least my blade, and a container to keep it in- and I'm quite shy-"Shizuo snorted loudly to let his amusement show. "And you all can leave the room~ Shizu-chan, I'm sorry I know you want to see me naked! ~" Shizuo gave a look of pure horror in his direction, setting off Izaya who cackled like a madman, clutching his stomach. Shizuo's eyebrow twitched, his hands itching to probably break something in half.

"Shizuo!" Shinra yelped, standing in front of the cackling informant. "That information is mine; you can throttle him once he's better!" Izaya's cackling died down into chuckles. Shizuo huffed, "Yeah-yeah, he's just annoying as hell. Flea, you sing like a chick." Izaya blinked, his face for a few seconds deadpanning, and Shizuo grinned happily to get a proper reaction that was cackling. "I'm male." Izaya finally responded with a small grin. "I would let you check, but you'll have to take Shinra's word on it."

Shizuo glared and just walked out of the room, to avoid that stupid grinning face, Shinra rushing into action to make sure he got his sample, Celty following after Shizuo. Once Shinra left, his face fell. It was going to be painful.

Izaya lifted his sleeve, twitching his fingers, watching the crystals appear on his skin, bright red crystal like rock hexagon shapes crawled against his skin like spiders, and Izaya bit his lip, feeling the familiar pain stabbing him to his bone. Letting out a gasp, he grabbed the scalpel and stabbed his arm with a low whimper. Blood started pour of his wound almost immediately; the red crystals glowing with a strange light as Izaya yanked it out once more, driving it into his skin once more.

God he hated this curse.

AN/ I'm –sooo- sorry for the wait. I have utterly failed fixing this chapter. I wrote it, then it disappeared, rewrote it, then the file got corrupted, so I had to delete half of it and rewrite it. So I've given up trying to write this. Again, thank you so much for the reviews; it makes my day-week-month. I did my best not to give up on this chapter. I'm sorry if it's a bit of a let down. I will do my best to speed up the story line just a bit, there's another one of these chapters before we get to the real plot. So I hope you all continue to keep reading!