#also from vol 12 izaya saying: i've never held my own against him

[stuffingprize]

I was going through my old izashin art & i remembered something..

In the actual story, whenever Izaya purposely messed with Shizuo, it was always through other people. Aside from the time Shizuo unexpectedly stopped by his place (which did not end up in confrontation bcuz Celty intervened & Izaya was innocent), all other times he didn’t get involved himself. He sent gangs after him, tried to make him a target of the yakuza, framed him for beating up a woman & got the cops to arrest him, or he’d get away thanks to Simon’s intervention.

It isn’t until Izaya reached a point where he had to commit to truly kill him that he goes after him in person. Even then he knew a direct confrontation was futile & tried to use other objects to kill him (asphyxiation, a crowd witnessing).

Yet we’re told that during their high school days, they had an almost daily run-around the city. & sometime after graduation, Izaya moved out of Ikebukuro, seemingly putting an end to that daily display.

Now I’m gonna turn this into shippy content: What was different back in high school? What were the times Izaya messed with Shizuo directly? Well, it involved Shinra.

Like, really, I only know of two extra stories where Narita actually writes about a direct run-and-chase between them that isn’t the final volume where it’s Izaya who initiates the conflict. The stories always start out with Shizuo hanging around Shinra. They’re having a friendly convo when suddenly Izaya waltzs in & gives Shizuo reasons to get mad. One in the library, where Shinra explicitly states that Izaya came into their convo uninvited, & one where Shizuo had actually been calmly listening to Shinra prattle on abt chocolates (because Shizuo likes sweets).

We can piece through the Izaya Epitome that Izaya dislikes seeing them together. He finds out Shinra has a sister & tries to get her involved to separate them. Tries to make her say that one of them (himself or Shizuo) doesn’t belong as Shinra’s friend. It’s hilarious & ends with Shinra interrupting their convo.

So anyway, it’s my observation that Izaya avoids confrontation with Shizuo directly because he barely stands a chance. Shizuo’s strength is monstrous beyond reason. So Izaya sends all kinds of people after him, hoping one of them finally kills him. But. Back in high school, there were times he provoked him directly, because his jealous ass couldn’t stand seeing him around Shinra.

Seeing Shinra be so friendly & nice to Shizuo reinforced the belief that Shizuo wasn’t human, and Izaya would risk his life & reputation at petty times just to split them. Oof.