A Cold Winter's Night- Shizaya

Chapter 1: Wounded

Snow gently fell from the night sky over the city of Ikebukuro. Izaya Orihara was flat on his back in knee-deep snow. His eyes were half-lidded as he laid there in excruciating pain. His whole body ached, yet for some reason he didn't know why. He could barely even move. He tried to look around, and noticed a figure silhouetted in a nearby streetlight. Whoever it was, Izaya didn't care. He weakly lifted his hand to reach out for help. It quivered, feeling as if it weighed a thousand pounds. There were bloodstains on it. Izaya started to panic in his mind at the sight of his own blood, and quickly came to the realization that it was more than just his hand. His arm, his chest, his torso, and his jacket; they were all covered in blood too. The feeling of cold was unbearable, and slowly numbing, yet he could still feel everything. All he remembered was some stranger beating him down, before stabbing him in the stomach multiple times with one of his own blades, and then slipping off into the night. It had all happened so fast, and Izaya couldn't react in time. He weakly tried to call out. "H-H...e....l...p... Pl....ea...se..." His voice was raspy and filled with agony.

Shizuo Heiwajima stood under the streetlight smoking, waiting for Tom. He was waiting for his friend, because they had something important to discuss. Shizu stood there, and suddenly his phone screen lit up. It was a text from Tom. "Sorry, I can't make it to meet you tonight, something really important came up last minute. I'll talk to you tomorrow." the text read. He puffed out a cloud of smoke as he let out a heavy sigh. "Geez..." He put his phone in his pocket. In the silence before he was about to walk off, he heard a muffled sound of pain. His eyes scanned his surroundings. He thought it was just his imagination, until something caught his eye. The shiny glint of metal sticking out of a dark mass lying in the snow. He stared at the mass for a second, trying to figure out what it was. He began to approach it with caution, and as he drew nearer, he realized it was a person. He got about five or six feet away, when he realized who it was. Izaya. He clenched his fists, about to get in a fighting stance, when he noticed that Izaya didn't even move, only laid still, just barely looking up at him. "Izaya?" he questioned, nudging the frail man lying on the ground. "Sh....iz...u...-ch...a..n..." Izaya weakly called out desperately, his vision hazy. Shizuo kneeled down and looked at Izaya closer. There was blood all over him. The majority of the blood was around his abdomen. The knife was still protruding from one of the stab wounds.

Shizuo's eyes widened in surprise, and he started to reach for the knife to pull it out. As his hand was just about to grab the handle, Izaya's hand grabbed his wrist weakly. Shizuo immediately looked at Izaya's face. It was etched with pain. His eyes reflected a mixture of pain and fear. "P...lea...se.... d..on...'t... Shi....z..u-Ch...a..n...." he pleaded, not letting go of Shizuo's wrist. " Shizu wondered what or who could have done this to Izaya. He couldn't have done this to himself, or at least I don't think he would've... He thought to himself, staring at the knife. "Who did this to you..?" Shizuo asked. "I....I d-do...n'..t.. Kn..ow.......who....h..e....was... It a..ll....ha...ppen...ed...so....fas..t... Be...at....me....a....nd...th..e..n...kn..ife...ov.e.r..and...ov..er.. I....I..." Izaya responding in heavy, weak, desperate breaths. "Take it easy... Don't try to strain yourself so much.. So you're telling me, someone you didn't recognize beat you down and then stabbed you multiple times..?" Shizu asked, trying to get confirmation of what he heard. Izaya weakly nodded, his vision going blurry again. Izaya was confused as to why Shizuo was asking him all this stuff. Any other time he would have been merciless towards him, but now he was actually showing some concern for him. Thinking about seeing this slightly softer side of Shizuo made Izaya smile a little, even through his agony. Sure, it wasn't exactly a moment to be smiling, Izaya started to go into a state of total bliss. His wounds seemed to stop hurting, and he started to feel lightheaded. He thought it was happiness, but it was truly his consciousness fading. His vision slowly got darker, and he started to feel nothing. He panicked in his mind again. Where...? Where did Shizu-chan go..? I can't move... I.... Shizu-chan.... Shi..zu..-cha...n....Shizu...-cha... his mind repeated over and over. "Whe...re....di...d...yo..u....go... Shi..zu..-chan...? I... ca..n't...see..y..ou..." Izaya weakly but frantically asked. "Izaya..! Hold on, just listen to me and try to do what I ask of you, okay..? I'm picking you up, right now.. Try to hold on if you can.. Don't go dying on me..!" Shizuo said in a panic, picking Izaya up from the ground. "I...can..'t....fe..el..you...." Izaya said, his voice extremely quiet, almost a whisper.

"Izaya-kun..! Don't you dare go dying on me..! I'm gonna save you, I swear! Just hold on!" Shizuo panicked. He started running as fast as he could through the snow. Izaya tried his best to hold on with a very weak grip as Shizuo carried him. Shizuo didn't know exactly why, but as of not too long beforehand, he felt something different for Izaya. He wasn't sure exactly what, but he had an idea of what it could've been. For quite some time he tried to just push the thought out of his mind. To think he could feel anything for Izaya besides hatred seemed impossible, so he ignored it, and was ignoring it pretty well up until that moment. Now, the feelings were suddenly coming back again. Could it really be true..? Do I really feel this way about him? I thought it was just impossible, but it might actually be... Shizuo's thoughts trailed off as he came back to the reality of running. Just as quickly as he came back to reality, he suddenly came to his mental conclusion. It is true. I do feel this way about him. I do, I do.. There's no way I can ignore it anymore..! Izaya, I have to tell you everything, don't you leave me, now! You're going to live..! You have to, or else I'll.... I'll.... Shizuo thought to himself, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. If Izaya died, Shizuo just knew he probably would too. He ran as fast as he could, and quickly arrived at the hospital, not wasting any time, rushing to the front desk. Izaya needed the emergency room, and fast. The nurse at the front desk immediately stood up when Shizuo bursted through the door. "Is everything okay, Sir..?" the nurse asked. "No.. He needs immediate medical attention, he's dying..! Please help..!" Shizuo said in a panic, adrenaline keeping him from being tired. "Of course, right this way..!" the nurse replied in a hurry, and led him down the hall. The doctors met them in the middle of the hall with a rolling bed, and quickly took Izaya into the emergency room, Shizuo following as far as the doors. He watched them roll Izaya through the doors, and stood there silently for a moment, his heart racing.