Story: More Than Breathing

Author: Takaratoast

Chapter Two: Hurt

Pairing: ShizuoxIzaya

Warning: This story contains malexmale relationships. Don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters

The "flea" smirked and jumped in front of the bench that the two were on just moments ago. Finally, what he had waited for.

"Now lets see if you can actually make me bleed this time Shizu-chan~" His name had been said with an extra teasingly sweet tone. "I'm beginning to think that you're losing your touch!"

With that the raven raced forward and aimed a shallow slash at his "lover's" chest. The ex-bartender backed up suddenly, swinging his sign towards Izaya, hitting him hard across his left side, most probably leaving a dark bruise.

"Yeah right, louse! I'd think you were the one losing your 'touch'." He grinned at Izaya and shot him a playful wink. Honestly, the brute hardly ever took their fights seriously. It was more like play time to Shizuo, while Izaya was seriously trying to kill Shizuo, not that the blond knew of course. Because of this Shizuo only rarely hit him with anything, letting this sudden hit take Izaya by surprise.

Izaya cursed under his breath as he recovered to his feet, one hand on his side, rubbing the area where the sign had made contact with him. It hurt, but not nearly as bad as it could have; this told Izaya that Shizuo was holding back once again.

"Really Shizu-chan~?" He taunted, "That hit was hardly half strength." He let out a sort of snicker. "We both know you can do better than that~."

In a spit second Izaya released a knife towards Shizuo; the blade sped towards the left side of Shizuo's chest, a vital area, but easy to dodge. Izaya had thrown countless like it before, always pleading that it would hit, and that the knife would penetrate his heart, finally ending the brutes life. Though each time had obviously been unsuccessful. Anticipating Shizuo to dodge again, Izaya ran up to him for close combat, a second knife in his hand to aim a second slash at the blond's chest.

Shizuo laughed, already foreseeing the ravens second attack. Honestly, if Izaya used the same tricks every time, how could he expect them to actually work? An easy dodge, all it took was two steps to the right and a slight lean in the same direction. Then he'd be able to force Izaya to drop his knife and he'd pin him. The fight would be over in only a few minutes.

But... that wasn't what was happening.

Shizuo's laughter caught in his throat as he fell to his knees, a sharp pain that he couldn't quite comprehend emanating from his chest... and another, on his neck?

'Whats... going on?' He thought to himself as he looked up at Izaya who was so suddenly above him, and becoming... blurry?

Izaya saw it happen almost as if in slow motion. The knife hit Shizuo, his second blow missing the blond's chest as he originally planed and instead slicing deep across his neck due to the way that he had fallen. His eyes widened instantly.

'It worked...?'

'It hit...?'

'I... I've won?'

A flood of emotions washed over Izaya in the milliseconds before Shizuo's knees hit the ground. Glee. Victory. Pride. Disbelief. Confusion. Hate. All of which he had expected to feel when he finally killed Shizuo. However... deep within his heart was something unexpected.

Regret.

Regret for what though? For killing him? No... This is what he had planned his entire life around for months; what he was looking forward to and dreaming about since he had first met Shizuo. There was no way he could regret what he had just done. And yet, when he looked down at Shizuo, whose eyes were locked on the raven, confusion and pain dancing in their amber orbs, a stab of pain hit his chest.

"Shizu-chan...?" He asked, as if he had suddenly expected him to say that he was okay, and was only messing with Izaya.

But he didn't.

Izaya took a deep breath. He didn't regret this. In fact, he loved it. This would be the last time he would ever have to play the disgusting role of Shizuo's lover.

He let tears collect in his eyes as Izaya let his knife drop from his hands and reached out to catch the man, telling himself that the tears were completely and one hundred percent staged.

He lowered his voice to a whisper, letting it quiver as if he were utterly terrified, and let a few tears begin to stream out of his eyes.

"Sh-Shizu-chan!"

Shizuo looked up at Izaya from his place in the other's arms. His eyes were slightly closing as he was beginning to feel increasingly tired.

"Flea...?" He started, his voice so hoarse it was almost as if he were merely mouthing the words. "Why... are you crying?" A weak smile appeared on his face; though, to him he was grinning widely at Izaya, his words sounding as they usually did, his eyes wide at the sight of his love's tears.

"Can we.. just go home..?" He asked him, the question followed by a cough, the blond man completely unaware of the taste of his own blood in his mouth. "I... don't feel so hot.. And... I'm tired... can we... take a nap... or something?" He continued with a weak chuckle; the laugh only causing the wound from his neck to bleed all the more.

Izaya shook his head as he let more tears fall.

'Don't break character... plead to him... be desperate... you're supposed to be madly in love with this man...'

He shook his head desperately. "N-no, Shizu-chan... d-don't go to sleep... stay awake... please Shizu-chan... you have to..."

Shizuo nodded weakly, wincing a bit as the action seemed to irritate his wound. "Izaya...? Why? Are you still crying...? Did I do something wrong...?" His tired, dimming eyes somehow still managed to shine with a kind of love that Izaya knew he could never understand. Shizuo weakly lifted a hand up to Izaya's cheek, his fingertips growing cold against Izaya's skin.

"I'm sorry Izaya..." he said with that same weak smile and look of absolute adoration in his eyes. "I lied to you... I don't hate you okay? I love you... So if that's what it was... I'm sorry..."

That odd feeling of regret seemed to be amplified at Shizuo's words... now somehow accompanied by something like... sadness? Fear? Izaya shook his head, he didn't want to think about it, he had other things to think about.

"Shi-Shizu-chan... I-.. I love you too Shizuo..." He shook his head as he tightened his hold on Shizuo. "D-don't you realize it Shizuo? I... I hit you, you couldn't dodge it... Oh god Shizuo please don't die on me... Don't leave me alone..." He lowered his head a bit, letting salty tears mix with the blood that was pouring out of Shizuo's chest, and hating that he was letting himself look so... weak in front of another person... but then, Shizuo was a dead man after all.

Eventually he would need to call an ambulance or something of the like... But... if he wanted to be sure Shizuo died, it would be wise to wait. He raised his head a bit to look Shizuo over, his face was growing pale, and his body cold as he was obviously losing a lot of blood. Izaya's hands were itching to call early, a part of him yearning to save him.

But why?

He had planned this from the start... He shouldn't let his emotions in the heat of everything ruin it for him... And yet...

"I'm going to call the ambulance..." He moved down to give Shizuo a light kiss on the lips. "You're gonna be okay... I promise.." He whispered to Shizuo.

"I-.. Idiot.." Shizuo said weakly. "Of course... I dodged it..." Shizuo's breath was becoming softer and softer. "I'm just... a bit... tired is all.." He said as his voice was beginning to hush, along with the sound of his breath. Izaya shook his head as he stood up and took a few steps away from Shizuo to dial the ambulance. He quickly gave a vague explanation of the situation and their location, closing his phone then kneeling beside Shizuo again.

"Stay with me," he whispered to the blond as he reached out to take one of his cold hands.

Shizuo offered a weak grip on to the hand, confusion taking over his features, as suddenly he couldn't see Izaya... his vision similar to as if something was covering his eyes. He didn't realize though that his eyes were closed, his body too numb from shock and pain to process this. "Izaya... did... did you cover my eyes ... or something?" He asked, though it was nearly a miracle that he was still able to talk.

Izaya simply shook his head, letting a tear fall on to Shizuo's face. He was becoming less and less sure of what to do, and how he felt in this situation. It was nothing like he had pictured it.

This was supposed to be his moment of victory. But instead he was... regretting going after this man, regretting ever resenting him. Shizuo continued asking him pointless questions. "Why are you so warm all of the sudden?" "Why does my chest feel so strange?" Each one making it more and more obvious that Shizuo was entirely unaware of his condition, and each one leaving Izaya speechless.

He wasn't sure when but somewhere along the line, the tears he began to shed were real. He began to think about the short amount of time that they had been together, the dates they had gone on, the time they shared, his admittedly favorite moments with the blond. All that time, all Shizuo ever did was love him, he would literally do anything to make Izaya happy. And there Izaya was, plotting to kill probably the only person who would love him so truly.

He leaned down to kiss Shizuo lightly and tenderly hush him, trying to get him to stop talking, to stop looking for Izaya so desperately. He needed to settle down if he were to live. "Calm down love..." Izaya whispered to him as he heard the distant sound of sirens approach them. "Just be quiet okay... I promise you we're going to go home..."

Shizuo nodded at him, closing his eyes again and trying to relax.

'Home... that's where I want to go... home with Izaya... I want... to be able to love him, for as long as I can...' Shizuo thought to himself, as he let his body relax. Glad to let Izaya take him home as he finally drifted into a state of unconsciousness.

Sorry the update took so long, I haven't been very motivated, and turning a role play into a fanfic is utterly tedious(I'm literally pulling my hair out trying to get replies to fit together and flow correctly while taking things out that spoil the ending sadhfjka). But I'm bored to tears on a 6 hour flight from California to Hawaii today soooo I decided to type out some updates~!
There's a little girl in front of me... like... freaking dancing in her seat, making it nearly impossible to type shdashdjfhsadl *pissed*
ohgodtheplaneisgettingbumpyw e'regonnacrashandI'mgonnadiefuckfuckfuck.
... Anyway enough of my crazy panicking and personal fears... I LOVE REVIEWS, YOU SHOULD REVIEW YEAH? IT MIGHT EVEN MOTIVATE ME TO UPDATE FASTER.