Will You Fall for Me? Chapter 5

“Sorry; I didn’t mean to yell. I just have a bad temper is all. I just-, it’s hard for me to accept that someone doesn’t think I’m a mo-monster or anything. So sorry if I don’t believe you right away when you say you’re not scared of me. Sorry for yelling at you and all,” he mumbles under his breath. His eyes are glued to the floor and his cheeks start turning red from how flustered he is apologizing to you. You smile and pull him into a tight hug.

Shizuo flinches visibly when you hug him, his arms at his side. After a moment he lifts up his arm and gently pats you on the back. You snuggle into his chest when you feel something warm seep through his shirt. You quickly jump away from him and point at his chest in horror.

“Sh-Shizuo you’re bleeding!” The blonde looks down and sees red slowly soaking the front of his shirt. He walks to his closet and begins searching for a new shirt.

“It’s that damn flea’s fault from where he cut me yesterday. Must have reopened when I punched the wall. Great, now I’m going to have to explain to my mother what happened.” He yanks out a new white shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans, tossing them on his messy bed.

“I’ll go get some bandages! Where do you keep the first aid kit?”

“Bathroom next door. Open the medicine cabinet and its right there.” You dash out of the room and grab the small red kit before going back to Shizuo’s room and closing the door.

“I’m pretty good with cleaning wounds and bandaging them so no worries about getting an infection or anything because I did a bad job.” You chuckle nervously as Shizuo raises an eyebrow at you. He shrugs and sits on the bed, pulling off the dirty shirt and throwing it to a corner of the room.

You blush madly when you see his well-toned chest, the boy obviously taking very good care of his body. You swallow quietly and sit next to him, opening the kit and taking out some rubbing alcohol and cotton balls. You dip the cotton ball in the alcohol and hold it over the blonde’s wound, looking up for approval to continue. He nods his head and you gently start swabbing the long cut.

He grunts slightly from the stinging sensation and looks up at the ceiling, waiting patiently for you to finish. You discard the bloody cotton ball into the nearby trash can and repeat your previous actions until you are satisfied at your cleaning job. You pull out some gauze bandages and wrap the roll around Shizuo’s chest twice, cutting the bandages and pressing them firmly to the wound so they won’t unravel.

You stand up from the bed as Shizuo slips on his new white shirt. You place all the items back inside the bag and zip the kit up, going to the bathroom to put it back in the medicine cabinet. You look at your reflection and see that your face is bright red from seeing the blonde shirtless. Splashing some water on your face to cool your cheeks off, you hurriedly wash your hands before returning to the bedroom.

“Thanks, for uh, you know, doing that for me,” Shizuo says softly when you return to the room. You smile widely at him and pick your school bag off the floor.

“It’s not a problem; I was happy to help.” You check the time on your phone and look at the setting sun from the single window in the blonde’s room. “I should get going home. I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”

Shizuo opens his mouth to speak before a knock on the door interrupts him. The door slowly opens and Shizuo’s mother pokes her head inside the room. “Shizuo dear, dinner is ready. Did you ask [name] if she wanted to join us? I made [favorite food] and there’s plenty for all of us.”

Shizuo blushes slightly and scratches the back of his head, looking down to avoid your eyes. “Would you, uh, like to stay for dinner? I-I mean if it’s alright with you and all!” You giggle and nod excitedly.  

“I would love to stay thank you for asking!” You happily put down your school bag and head downstairs to the dining room, Shizuo and his mother following behind you.

“Mr. Heiwajima usually sits at the end of the table with me next to him. Kasuka sits across from me and Shizuo sits next to his brother. You can sit by me and be across from Shizuo. That way you can talk while us grownups discuss boring topics like taxes.” Shizuo’s mother giggles as she grabs some glasses and pours some milk for everyone, giving an extra tall glass to Shizuo. You sit down at the table and wait until everyone is settled down.

The family sits down and Shizuo’s mother sets down the last bowl of food on the table before she takes her spot and begins spooning food onto her plate. Everyone starts doing the same and you take a small portion of all the food to taste the woman’s cooking.

“Wow this is amazing! I wish my mother could cook. Unfortunately she burns everything and it ends up really nasty tasting. I live off microwave dinners and instant ramen.” The mother laughs and places a hand to her heart.

“Well thank you for the compliment; I appreciate it my dear. You’ll have to come around more often for dinner. We usually have extras and it would give us a chance to get to know you better. Wouldn’t that be nice Shizuo?” The brunette looks at her oldest son who ducks his head down and stares intently at some vegetables on his plate.

“Yeah that would be nice. Hope you can come around more [name],” Shizuo mumbles as he stabs his fork into his vegetables, a small crack appearing on the edge of the plate. You tilt your head in confusion before resuming eating your food. You saw that before the blonde put his head down, his cheeks were tinted a bright pink.

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“Thank you again for the dinner Mrs. Heiwajima. I should really be heading back home; my mother will worry about where I’m at.” You put on your loafers and straighten out your skirt before picking your bag up.

“I wouldn’t want her to worry about you or anything. Thank you again for stopping by.” Mrs. Heiwajima leans in close to whisper in your ear. “Between us girls, I think you really brightened up Shizuo’s mood today. He was so mopey until you showed up. He needs to be around more people like you.” She pats you on the back and smiles softly. “Where do you live again [name]?”

“I live on the opposite side of school from here. I don’t have too far to walk or anything.” Shizuo’s mother gasps quietly and places a hand over her mouth.

“It’s way too dangerous to have a young lady such as yourself to wander the streets at night. I’ll have Shizuo walk you home. It’ll make me feel better if you have company with you.” Before you can say anything, she rushes upstairs and brings down an irritated Shizuo.

“I’m tired; just let me sleep. She’ll be fine on her own.” Shizuo yawns and scratches his stomach. His mother gives him a strict look and places her hands on her hips.

“You will escort this young lady back to her house safely or so help me I will ground you for a month. I should already have you pay for the damage you did to your wall but I’m going to be generous and let it slide for the time being. Only if you walk [name] home do you understand me?” You flinch at the stern tone in her voice and avert your eyes to a spot on the floor.

Shizuo groans loudly and nods his head. “Fine, fine, I’m going. Happy? I’ll see you later mom. Come on [name], let’s get going already.” You bow to Mrs. Heiwajima and run out the door after Shizuo. His mother sighs and places a hand to her forehead before walking in to the kitchen. Mr. Heiwajima is busy cleaning up the table and putting dishes in the sink.

“I hope that [name] can help Shizuo not be so lazy. He needs to be more motivated to do his best and I feel she can help him do better in school.” She starts scrubbing dishes and pauses for a moment, a smile appearing on her face. “I can see how differently he looks at her. He’s never given anyone before the look he gives to her.”

“He needs that. Shizuo thinks so low of himself; he needs someone to lift him up.” Mr. Heiwajima chimes in as he wipes down the dining table. The two remain in silence as they finish cleaning the kitchen.
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“Th-thank you for walking me home and all. I’m sorry your mother made you do this; I would’ve been fine by myself,” you say as you and Shizuo walk down the street to your house.

“There’s no use arguing with her or anything; better to do what she asks than deal with her yelling. She’s almost as annoying as the damn flea when she tells you to do something.” Shizuo stuffs his hands in his pockets and pulls out a cigarette and a lighter. He lights up the cigarette and takes a long puff of it, blowing the smoke out of his mouth in one long stream.

“Aren’t your clothes going to reek of smoke? Won’t your mother get mad or anything?” You take a very small step away from Shizuo and hope that the smoke doesn’t cling onto your clothes. Your mother would question you for hours if you came home smelling like smoke.

“I’ll go switch clothes at Shinra’s house since he lives close to you. He’s always got spare clothes for me because I get hurt all the time. It’s mostly that fucking flea’s fault. Shinra patches me up whenever Izaya starts a fight with me.” You want to ask why he hates Izaya but decide to not ask in fear of making the blonde angry.

“How did you become friends with Kyohei and Shinra? All three of you seem close to each other.” You still have a little more walking to do so you figure asking questions will help pass the time and learn more about the mysterious blonde boy.

He takes another puff of his cigarette and stares straight ahead, his brow furrowed in thought. “Let’s say Shinra was a bad acquaintance that stuck. I’ve known him since middle school but he annoys the hell out of me with his ramblings and wanting to run tests on me. He’s still a friend though even if I want to punch him. Kyohei I’ve known for a while as well. He doesn’t irritate me so we’re on good terms.” You raise an eyebrow at the part with Shinra wanting to run tests on Shizuo.

“He wants to run tests on you? For what?”

“Shinra wants to see how I’m so strong so he wants me to give him my blood to do research on. I swear there’s something not right in his head.” You place a hand over your mouth and laugh at the mental image of Shinra begging Shizuo for blood.

“Although that guy introduced me to Izaya and I’ll forever hate him for that.” Shizuo bites down angrily on his cigarette and spits it out on the ground, crushing it under his foot. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and doesn’t say another word until the two of you reach your house.

“Thank you again for walking me back home. I’ll see you in school tomorrow?” Shizuo smiles slightly and gives you a small nod.

“It’s fine; I liked talking with you and all. See you at school [name].” He turns around to walk away before you quickly hug him from behind. Shizuo freezes and his shoulders tense up a little. He looks down to see your arms around his waist and he gently places a hand over yours.

“I’m not scared of you Shizuo. You’re not a monster to me,” you whisper as you pull away. He turns around and rubs the back of his head, nodding at your statement.

“Thanks [name]. See you later.” He waves goodbye and hurriedly walks off your porch, leaving you feeling dejected and hurt. You sigh tiredly and rub the back of your head, using your house key to unlock the front door. Before you walk inside, you feel someone watching you and you glance over your shoulder in fear. You swear you see a pair of red eyes from the bushes before they vanish. Shuddering violently, you rush inside and slam the door.

You see your mother sitting at the dining table typing on her laptop, her tongue poking out of her mouth in concentration. You remove your shoes and walk over to your mother, tapping her on the shoulder. “Sorry I’m home so late. I went over to Shizuo’s house and then he invited me for dinner. I didn’t realize how late it was; I’m sorry if I made you worry mom.”

“You’re fine I wasn’t worried. Be home earlier if you feel like it. Or just call to tell me where you’re at. Sorry can’t talk right now. Have to get this finished for tomorrow,” your mother says quickly, not taking her eyes off the computer screen. You pout and head off into your room, closing the door and throwing your bag onto the bed. You sit at your desk and boot up your computer, laying your head down as you wait for the computer to warm up.

“Shizuo doesn’t believe me when I say I’m not afraid of him. Is he really so distrustful of people?” You frown and hit the side of your head with your palm. “He barely knows you [name]. He’s not going to be all buddy buddy with you so easily.” You stare up at the ceiling and spin in your chair. “He’s such a mystery; I can’t help but want to know more about him.”

Your phone beeps from inside your bag and you pull it out to see you have a text message. [This isn’t like in the fairytales. Maidens can’t tame the beast without getting hurt in the process.] You stare at the phone screen, your hand shaking from fear and anger. You walk to the window and push back the blinds, letting out a gasp of surprise.

Izaya is standing outside your window with a hand in his pocket and his phone in his other hand. He looks up at you and gives you a wide smile, waving his phone around in the air. He pockets the phone and waves to you before walking away. You close the blinds and sink to the ground, feeling your heart beat loudly.

“What a freak! How did he get my number? How does he know where I live?!” You pace around your room, your hands tangled up in your hair. “What is that guy’s problem?! I’m almost afraid to go to school tomorrow because of him.” You peek out your window again in case Izaya decided to come back. “Why is he so adamant about me staying away from Shizuo?”

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You see Izaya leaning against the school building talking to Shinra. You grip your school bag tightly and march over to the two boys, a scowl appearing on your face. “Hello Izaya. Can I speak to you in private please? Shinra I’ll see you in class.”

“Why hello [name]! How are you this morning? What do you need to talk to Izaya about? How was your night last night with Shizuo? You guys didn’t do anything inappropriate did you? I hope not! I’ll have to give Shizuo a scolding if he did anything to a beautiful girl like yourself.” You blush at his words and grab Izaya by the arm, dragging him off to a large tree. “Alright [name] I’ll talk to you more in class!”

“So pushy; it looks like you enjoy dragging me around the place.” Izaya dusts off his clothes after you let go of him. He crosses his arms in front of his chest and props himself up against the tree, giving you a small smirk. “What did you want to talk about?”

You feel a sudden urge to punch the smirk off his face but take a deep breath to restrain yourself. “First off how did you get my phone number? Secondly, how did you know where I lived? Thirdly, why are you so against me trying to become friends with Shizuo?! I thought we went over that I’m not scared of him! What is your problem you freak?!”

“Simple. I got your phone number off the same place I found your address. I know a lot about you my dear [name]. I know that your mother is divorced and she left your father to pursue her magazine job. Shoko [last name] created one of the most popular fashion magazines in the country and she has a rivalry with our principle Miss Fujiko. Similar to how you and Katsuki have a rivalry over Shizu-chan. You’ve moved quite frequently because of your mother’s job and haven’t stayed anywhere longer than about a month or two. Should I continue?”

You open your mouth in shock, not understanding how Izaya knows so much about you. You’ve barely talked to the boy; how could he know about your mother? “How do you know all this? I haven’t told anyone! And I especially haven’t told you anything!” Izaya chuckles and wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you close towards him.

“That’s on a need to know basis my dear. And for now, you don’t need to know where I get my information from. In answer to your third question though, I’m simply looking out for you is all. If you get too close to my monster, he won’t be any fun to tease anymore. He’ll be too caught up in infatuation over you and he’ll be too predictable for me. Not knowing what Shizu-chan will do next is something I found so fascinating about him. It’s also one of the reasons why I hate him so much.”

Izaya leans in close to your ear and brushes his lips over the shell of it, making you squirm from discomfort. “I don’t want you anywhere near Shizu-chan anymore alright? I’ll say this now that you do not want to get on my bad side. I have your life in the palm of my hand and I can do what I wish with it. I don’t want you hurt and all. You understand right [name]? Be a smart girl and take my advice; you don’t want to face the consequences.” Izaya releases you from his hold when the bell rings to signal the start of the day. Izaya gives you a smirk before walking off into the school. You fall onto your knees and feel your body shake, wondering what Izaya will do if you don’t listen to him.