Chasing Death

"IIIIIZAAAYAAAA-KUUUUN!"

The deep growl echoed throughout the hallways, causing anxious students to dart out of the infamous Shizuo Heiwajima's path.

"Ah, what's this, Shizu-chan? Why are you shouting so early in the morning?" his raven-haired classmate chirped, giggling in amusement as a rather frightened girl almost tripped over her own two feet to get out of the way.

"SHUT UP! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHY I'M ANGRY!" the blond yelled, punching a nearby bulletin board, causing all of the pinned and tapped on papers to cascade to the floor.

"Oh, I do? I'm afraid I don't recall-"

"YOU STOLE MY LUNCH!" Shizuo bit in, his features appearing much more monstrous now that he was drawing closer to Izaya Orihara at a fast pace.

"You mean this lunch?" Izaya chuckled, holding up the perfectly wrapped bento like a plucked beet. "There was an adorable little note attached to it, too! 'Enjoy your lunch, big brother.' How cute. It makes me want to vomit," he concluded, crumpling the dainty piece of paper and dropping it to the ground.

This triggered a spark to go off in Shizuo's brain, his teeth grinding together in passionate fury. "You pick that note up right now, or you're dead."

Smiling pleasantly, Izaya rose his left foot into the air, allowing it to linger for a moment or two before he stomped down onto Shizuo's "precious note", applying pressure as he squashed it like a bug.

The blond could not believe what he had just saw, his mouth dangling open in utter shock. His disbelief didn't last long, however. It took only a split second for Shizuo's brain to register, his teeth snapping shut and his hands darting forward as he sped, intent on strangling the life out of that filthy little flea.

Turning a one-eighty, Izaya bolted in the opposite direction, causing unsuspecting female classmates to squeal in terror.

Izaya and Shizuo must have run through every hallway, climbed every set of stairs, and parted every sea of students that they had come across. "STOP RUNNING, IZAYA!"

"But if I stop, Shizu-chan will kill me! How frightening!" Izaya hollered, a whole-hearted laugh resounding in the back of his throat.

"JUST GIVE ME MY FREAKING LUNCH BACK!"

"No, hahaha!"

Bursting through the side stairwell's set of doors, Izaya ascended said staircase as fast as his thin legs could take him, Shizuo trailing dangerously close behind.

They had ended up on the school's rooftop. Izaya felt a pang of regret in the pit of his stomach for making such a terrible decision. Where would he go now? He was like a cornered mouse.

Coming to a short stop at the protective wire fence that rounded the perimeter of the roof, the raven turned around, half-expecting to see Shizuo just feet from where he stood, but he was wrong. The blond had a villainous grin painted on his face, making him look like the true monster that he was. He was positioned back at the top door of the stairwell. "Nowhere to run, huh, Izaya-kun?" What was he doing? With a balled fist, Shizuo pounded in the doorknob, forcing it to be broken, damaged, and locked. Oh. That.

Izaya's grip on the bento lunch failed him and it slipped from his hand, causing it to crash to the ground and break open, something that would have amused him terribly if he were not in his current position.

Shizuo started to walk closer, almost at a preying lion's pace. This action had caused Izaya's heart to accelerate, his feeble hands gripping onto the rusted metal of the fence behind him. "Shizu-chan's so scary," Izaya snickered, swallowing an embarrassing amount of pent up saliva.

"Shut up," he drew out in a low growl, coming closer with each pounding step. Step. Thump. Step, step. Ba-thump, ba-thump.

"Shizu-chan's a monster," Izaya continued, taking no such order.

"I told you to shut up!" Shizuo shouted, losing his temper for just a moment. He struggled to regain it with no avail.

"A monster! A disgusting, good-for-nothing monster!" Izaya screamed, the tips of his words lingering within the higher altitude of air.

"What part of 'shut up'," Shizuo belted, lunging forward and wrapping his fingers around Izaya's neck, "don't you understand?"

Choking at the fierce impact, Izaya struggled for air, a feeling that he couldn't say he had ever felt before. "Shiz-"

"QUIET!" he demanded, tightening his grip. Izaya's expression melted into one of distress, his mouth agape as he fought for air.

Shaky hands detached from their place on the wire fence, leaving Shizuo to all but stare at them as the ventured upward. Closer.

A jolt of shock on Shizuo's part caused the fiery grip to transform into a deathly one. Izaya's hands had coiled around Shizuo's murderous arm, holding onto the fabric of his school uniform carefully due to light-headedness that he was now feeling. "Shi-" Shizuo dug his nails into the porcelain skin and dragged them at the sound of Izaya's voice. Nonetheless, Izaya pushed forward, his bluing lips forming hushed words. "Shizu...Shizu-chan wo...n't. Shizu-chan...won't do...it."

Won't do what? Did this useless flea honestly think he had a chance at life? It was at that moment, though, at that very moment when Izaya's hands began to slip from Shizuo's arm that the blond hurriedly released. The sudden retraction forced the raven to plummet to the ground, gasping and gapping for air.

Shizuo merely watched. He watched as that scrawny body struggled to regain a grasp on life below him. "Next time, I won't let go," he warned, voice as frigid as the arctic.

Picking up his ruined lunch in a huff, Shizuo jabbed a kick into Izaya's side, coaxing a muffled cry on the raven's part, before he left the site, kicking in the stairwell door to open it.

Izaya's eyes slipped shut after the blond had left. His breathing pattern had almost returned to its normal and healthy track. Well, that was an adventure. It was what the raven had wanted, right?

"What a monster," he grinned.

"Awe, Izaya! What happened to you?" Shinra questioned in a panic. Classes were over and the brunette had just happened to be passing by Izaya's homeroom classroom. When he casually looked inside of it, Shinra was most certainly not expecting to see his friend tending to a very bruised and battered neckline.

The raven chuckled coarsely, his throat dry and raspy. "I stole Shizu-chan's lunch," he answered.

The brunette shook his head in disapproval, walking into the classroom and taking a seat beside Izaya. "Why do you do things that you know will upset him?"

"Why?" Izaya smiled, tapping a finger to his chin in thought, deciding, "Because it's fun!"

"Only a masochist would think getting strangled to near death is fun."

"Shinra is so judgmental! I'm hurt!" Izaya complained.

"Oh, hush up and let me see your wounds," Shinra sighed, adjusting his glasses. The raven complied and pulled off his uniform jacket, his array of bruises and fingernail marks coming into view. "He really wasn't playing around this time..." Shinra examined.

"Tell me about it. I really thought I was going to die up there."

"Up there?"

"On the rooftop," Izaya sighed, putting his jacket back on. "It was a stupid mistake on my part, but I was almost positive that he would just give up the chase and punch some lockers in or something."

"But he didn't."

"Nope! He followed me all the way up there, broke the stairwell lock, and choked me!" the raven giggled.

Shinra's face turned disgusted at his friend's cheerful laughter. "Okay then...uh," he was clearly having trouble with his next string of words. "Do you...like it when Shizuo hurts you?"

Izaya's mouth clamped shut, laughter instantly ceasing.

"Look, I'm not judging you if you do, but I'm really getting tired of seeing you all beaten-"

"I don't like it," the raven cut in, voice scratchy and head hung low.

"Then why do you-"

"Shinra," he broke in again, this time looking up, "you're starting to annoy me."

Essaying Izaya's face, the brunette sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'll stop asking questions." Standing up, Shinra fit his hands into his hips. "You're coming with me to the nurse's office, though. We need to put some hydrogen peroxide on those scratches before they get infected."

"Yes, doctor," Izaya drew out in mockery, rising from his seat and tagging along behind Shinra.

It was quick, but as he was standing up from his desk, Izaya saw a glimpse of bleached locks outside in the school's courtyard from the classroom's windows. The sight made the strings within his heart tangle; the bruises on his neck radiate.

'I'll play with you again tomorrow, Shizu-chan.'

Hello there, everyone! Chappy here! (:

I hope you've like the first chapter of this story! It is a four-chapter compilation, so I hope you will stick around to read the other three chapters! I put a lot of hard work into them! (:

I'd just like to say a huge thank you to Logic Dive for helping me push through and get the motivation to write this story. Without you checking in on me every few hours or so, I don't think I would have been able to focus and get this story finished as fast as I did, so thank you!

That's all that I have to say now, so I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for taking the time to read it!

- Chappy