Iwaizumi so far had been completely silent, following as Oikawa's shadow for almost an entire week now, and with the spare change Oikawa's managed to find on the city streets, he bought himself a package of crackers, which was hardly filling. He's begged every shop he can find to hire him, but so far he's had no luck, and the lack of communication from Iwaizumi makes him feel lonely. Turns out, no one wants some dirty kid working for them, Oikawa doesn't want to be dishonest, but if he's to survive, he's going to need more food than an occasional pack of crackers bought with the coins he picks up off of the ground.

Oikawa sits at an empty table of some burger serving western restaurant that he can't quite pronounce the name of. "You gonna talk me out of this?" Asks Oikawa silently, no response. Oikawa looks away and frowns, his heart rate speeding up, he's gotta stay vigilant and time this just right.

The decor is all based around what looks to be the 70's with pictures of famous Americans of the time framed on the walls and music that he doesn't understand with an enjoyable beat playing. It's pretty busy with waiters and waitresses walking from place to place at a brisk pace, Oikawa's surprised they even let him in.

Now, when no one is looking, when their attention is captured by the baby crying in a different booth and the fussy harpy who's getting feathers everywhere and making a scene, he sprints to the counter, not yet seen by the workers in front. A customer's scaley outstretched hand hesitates to grab their bag of fast food in favor of turning their eyes to look at the commotion behind them. A more vigilant worker yells at Oikawa to stop as his hand reaches for the bag of someone else's To Go order. As soon as the plastic bag is in his dirty hands, he's out of there, hearing the heavy footsteps of a particularly dedicated cashier behind him, running to catch him, but Oikawa's quick and lighter and he out runs the worker and barges out the door, nearly running into three different people on the way out. Once Oikawa's outside, the cashier seems to concede and stops running after him; it's a lost cause.

Oikawa, however, doesn't stop running. He weaves through the mobs of humans and other creatures filling the city's crowded streets and makes a sharp turn into that small, grimy, pocket of darkness between the buildings. In the short amount of time he's been on his own, he's gotten quite good at living out in alleys. Something about the alleys of the city is otherworldly. It's dark and feels like it's within its own little bubble, separate from the rest of the city, so much so that the loud bustle is nothing but foggy background noise.

Oikawa leans against the building's wall and feels filthy, hiding in crusty alleys doesn't leave the most flowery scent on clothing. He pulls out a napkin from the bag and wipes his hands and face, inspecting the grime under his fingernails with disdain for a moment before his empty stomach reminds him to pull out the massive hamburger from it's wrapper. It's certainly not healthy, but the sight of it alone makes Oikawa's insides groan with hunger.

Pushing aside the guilt from stealing someone else's food that they payed for, Oikawa takes a delicious bite of the hamburger and revels in the taste of it, he hasn't had anything like this in a very long time; he wastes no more time and quickly takes more bites and devours it with ease. "Stealing is supposed to be immoral by your standards," reminds Iwaizumi, after not speaking for almost seven days.

"Could've reminded me that before I stole it," says Oikawa, annoyed that this is how Iwa-chan chooses to talk with him again after almost a week of nothing.

"I was busy trying to find a soul nearby that wasn't already claimed, which is difficult when they're almost always claimed ahead of time," explains Iwa-chan, finally showing himself as he now sits opposite of where Oikawa is.

Oikawa looks away, "Trying to ditch me as soon as possible, right?" His hand unconsciously grips the necklace protecting him, framing the question as a joke, despite how underneath it's laced with an inkling of hurt.

Stupid, he knows, anyone with a brain should want to gladly get rid of something like Iwaizumi as soon as possible, but... it's nice to have company, even if he's hardly spoken, just feeling another presence nearby has made the horrible nights where Oikawa's far too alone with his thoughts for comfort just a smidge more bearable.

Iwa-chan says nothing, human emotions are unfathomably weird, and he struggles to tell if he understood what that question truly meant. It almost sounded like Oikawa was implying he doesn't want him to leave, surely he's wrong, right? He's a strix, a species feared for literally being the reapers of souls, no living creature in their right mind would want to be anywhere near him, it's just not possible.

Oikawa keeps on stealing glances of Iwa-chan, but he pretends not to notice. Why does Oikawa keep on looking at him? Was he supposed to say something? Even if he was, he doesn't know what the proper response should've been, hell, he shouldn't even care, he'll be gone without a word the first chance he gets, so why should it even matter? It shouldn't, but the idea of leaving nothing said pesters Iwaizumi's mind in a way it shouldn't.

He stares at the legs of humans and humanoid creatures walking along, completely blind to Oikawa and Iwaizumi, too caught up in their sightseeing or heated phone conversations. Thousands of them all chattering them at once, if only Iwa could just borrow some of their words, but his lips stay shut, he wants to move them, truly, he does, but... it's more difficult than he'd imagined. The air around them is uncomfortable.

Iwaizumi can't even fully grasp why he cares if Oikawa seems upset, so he does something he's best at; he hides away in the shadows. Fluidly, he melts into the shadows being cast by the wall behind him and Oikawa's knuckles turn white and leave painful crescent shaped indents in the skin of the palm of his hand, "Fine," he snaps and throws a small stone where Iwaizumi sat only a moment ago before hiding his head away behind his knees, "Just go back to ignoring me again," he mutters, unheard by Iwa-chan.

This didn't help at all, now Iwaizumi just feels worse and he doesn't know what Oikawa's actions even mean. Talk, he needs to talk with Oikawa, figure out what just happened and what it means, but Oikawa's standing up and rubbing his eyes as if he's tired, the moment to say something is fleeting. Ah, it's already gone.

Oikawa joins the crowds that line the streets and Iwa follows in silence.

People happily chatter around them but it feels as if there's a bubble of complete silence that encapsulates just two things, Oikawa, and the creature who hides in his shadow.

A cheerful woman in a kimono stands in the middle of the sidewalk handing out flyers for a festival just barely outside the city, Oikawa takes one and ponders on going; it's not like there's a better use of his time, a little fun amongst this recent dreariness would be nice. He waits hours until the late evening and makes his way to to festival, regretful that he he could only show up in the now dirty clothes he wore when first kicked out of the orphanage, meanwhile others at the very least have clean clothes on

With no money, Oikawa can only watch as others play games with simple goals at wooden stalls for prizes. He stares longingly at a cute little ufo plushie and turns his attention elsewhere, he spots candy apples and his figure slumps over knowing he can't have one. However, the stall owner, a woman appearing to be in her late sixties, seems to take pity on him as she beckons him closer with a kind smile on her face and hands him a candy apple, "T-thank you," Oikawa says with surprise and Iwaizumi gives it a look of askance from where he hides in the shadows.

As evening fades into night and the fairy lights strung up in the trees begin to glow more prominently, Oikawa enjoys the sweet taste of the candy apple that was so generously given to him and begins searching for a good vantage point to see the fireworks which are due soon. He finds a hill all the way on the other side of the festival and begins climbing up it, and now that he's a little farther from the chatter of the festival he's keenly aware of the silence bearing down on him, he does his best to ignore it.

Oikawa sits on the fluffy grass of the hill, looking down at the yellow glow of fairy lights and paper lanterns and the nearby city lights just past the festival and gnawing on his bottom lip. Iwaizumi could say something now, that's the thought that's been invading his mind since earlier today, now he can finally stop thinking about it. Formulating what to say as the silence gets thicker around them by the second, Iwa-chan rises up from Oikawa's shadow and scoots down next to him. Oikawa flinches, not expecting Iwa to show himself and gazes at him, there's an uncomfortable air around them and a question Oikawa can't quite seem to convey in his eyes. Iwaizumi sighs, running his tanned hand through his hair, "I'm-" surprisingly, Oikawa speaks first but is cut off my the loud explosion of a neon green firework in the dark sky and the excited screams of people down below the hill.

Iwa-chan's eyes flicker up at the sky and then down at the festival, his eyes widen; those aren't screams of excitement. Demons. Demons in their ashy black forms circling humans like prey and chasing them on foot in their humanoid forms just for the fun of it, swatting away magical attacks with ease and indulging on the looks of terror on the humans' faces.

Iwaizumi almost grabs Oikawa by the wrist in an effort to pull him away but stops himself just in time, avoiding what would've been a very painful touch, "We need to leave, now," he says firmly but quickly. Oikawa glances down at the festival and jumps onto his feet with lightning fast reflexes once his eyes see the chaos taking place. Oikawa's eyes quickly bounce from side to side as he scans the area, either he runs straight through the fray and possibly gets caught by the demons or he goes around the festival, which might take too long for him to escape. His heart pounding is an urgent reminder that he needs to make up his mind immediately but he's not given the chance, "Goddammit, just go!" Growls Iwaizumi from behind him, followed by a magic infused gust of wind that pushes him down back into the fray of the festival, in the distance he hears Iwaizumi call from behind him, "I'll catch up in a second!"

People and magical humanoids run all around Oikawa in every direction like panicked cockroaches in the attic once the light switch has been flicked on. Oikawa runs through the mobs of people, staying as low to the ground as he can and scanning every corner of the space in front of him with his chocolate brown eyes that hide fear just beneath the surface. Fights had already begun breaking out and a hint of the metallic scent of blood tickles Oikawa's nose in an unpleasant manner; through the skirmish Oikawa trips over someone's foot and he quickly scrambles to get back up on his feet, already running again before he's even steadied his balance.

Oikawa can see the exit up ahead, his heart thumping hard against his chest and the rush of adrenaline whizzing through him. An icy hand catches his wrist and their nails dig into his skin, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, just where do you think you're going?" The demon jeers, freezing breath ghosting by Oikawa's ears. The demon turns him around with a sharp jerk of his wrist and as Oikawa meets the demon's eyes he gags and quickly looks down. The demon hesitates speaking for a moment, "The bell of death tolls for you," their eyes bore into Oikawa's skull uncomfortably, it's a feeling he's had to deal with a lot recently, and his heart is lodged in his throat, thumping and a far too rushed pace. "I can hear it ringing, yet here you are. What's so special about you that causes death itself to bow to your will?" Their words take on a staccato form, more disdain in each syllable than the last. The demon's cold eyes land on Oikawa's stolen pendant, "Oh. I see now, you, you're spe-" whatever the demon's about to say is cut off when they get hurled back by a magic ball comprised of inky blackness; Iwa-chan had caught up.

The demon quickly gets back up on its feet, clearly furious, "You stupid human, I can't believe this strix has actually spared your life!" The demon roars, jumping on Iwa and pinning him down. Iwaizumi almost manages to break free of the demon's grasp but an ashy colored fog controlled by Oikawa rips the demon off and Oikawa almost tries to help Iwa up but remembers the pendant he's wearing and steps back while the strix in front of him gets back up on his feet.

Now the two of them make a mad dash to the festival exits, but more demons see them on the brink of escaping and close in on them, "Don't you dare stop running Shittykawa!" Yells Iwaizumi as he digs the heels of his feet into the ground and slows himself to a stop, taking on the several demons trying to prevent their escape by himself.

Oikawa does the opposite of what was requested of him and begins to turn around as soon as he realizes Iwa-chan's plan, "Goddammit Shittykawa, what did I just say? Keep on running!" Yells Iwaizumi with even more force as he blocks several different attacks with difficulty. Oikawa grimaces and begrudgingly does as Iwaizumi told him and forces himself to continue forward, clearing the exit of the festival and continuing to run until the festival is far enough in the distance. Panting from his plummeting levels of adrenaline, he sits on the rocky ground, he can't calm down yet, his mind is running too fast for his breathing to catch up.

Iwaizumi claws his way out of Oikawa's shadow after a few minutes of intense silence and tries to suppress his strained wheezing. "Are you okay?" The look in Oikawa's eyes and the voice of concern he accidentally let slip out make him bite the inside of his cheek.

"I'm fine, nothing that can't be healed through the course of a few days."

"Oh, good," again, a sigh of relief that Oikawa accidentally lets slip out, this time Oikawa visibly flinches, and Iwaizumi notices.

They sit in silence while Oikawa refills the precious oxygen in his lungs, "Why do you care?" Asks Iwa-chan, Oikawa stiffens and Iwaizumi wonders if the question sounded too rude. It's wasn't supposed to, he's just really curious as to why any living creature would want anything to do with him.

Oikawa makes a feeble attempt to avoid the question all together, "I... I don't." Iwaizumi stares at him blankly with those eyes that can creep right into someone's soul, his thoughts completely unreadable. Oikawa can sense that if he lets this silence hang in the air for a second more it'll go back to the way things have been, with Iwaizumi out of sight and quietly looking for a way to leave Oikawa, and he can't stand that idea, Iwaizumi moves to disappear into the shadows but Oikawa quickly speaks up, "Okay, that was a lie. I don't know why I care- I guess I just... I don't want to be alone, as stupid as that sounds." Oikawa's eyes take a chance and lift up from the dirty ground to look up at Iwa-chan.

Iwaizumi blinks, "Even if it's something like me?"

"Wh-what?"

"You don't want to be alone, even if it's with something like me?"

Oikawa looks at him with surprise, he's right, "You'd think that something like that would matter to me... but it doesn't. Not anymore, at least."

"Oh," they both look away from each other, and Iwa-chan smiles to himself.