Today seemed like an ordinary day, well to everyone else. Only his close 'friends' knew what was so special about today. Other than that, everyone went about their day as they would. Maybe some Star Wars fans would go around saying 'May the 4th be with you,' but other than that everything was ordinary.

Izaya's opinion on today bordered in between 'Forever 21' and 'Who would even remember?' Shinra remembered. He received a text in the morning, but that was it. Namie gave him a card signed 'Go die.' And his sisters called to tell him that mom and dad were on vacation. It's not that he expected anything grand, oh no, but all these little things made his day drag.

Shizuo said he was working late tonight and not to wait up for him. Of course he would forget, nothing more could be expected from a neanderthal like him. And at least Izaya got a good bye kiss this morning when Shizuo left for work. Like always, at 5:13 in the morning. Contrary to popular belief, Izaya was NOT a morning person. Just because he had respectable clients did not mean he had to wake up early to meet with them. They paid HIM, they came to HIM. So he saw no point in waking up early when he could sleep until at least 10.

Right now he was finishing up a report that was to be delivered to Shiki, no later than noon. Shiki didn't like receiving reports via email, feeling that it was risky in case some hacker decided to intervene on their business. Izaya didn't mind, especially today since it gave him something to do other than waiting for Shizuo to get home from work.

This would have been his first year celebrating his birthday with his lover, and that protozoan forgot. Again, Izaya didn't have such great expectations. Even as a child his birthday was not much to behold. His parents were always busy working, so his presents would consist of expensive toys and after his 5th birthday, it was just a plain card with money. By the time he was 18 he had saved up enough from birthday and holiday money, also some gambling on the side, and moved out. It was a nice apartment in Shinjuku. Not the one he currently owned, but a nice one. His parents didn't seem to care and his sisters would only come over to make a mess of the place.

No, his birthdays were never really special. So why did this year feel the slightest bit disappointing? He shook it off, thinking that maybe it was the start of some midlife crisis. "Forever 21." He reminded himself.

His was never really that exciting, and today made no difference.

When he got to Awakusu HQ, Shiki was busy sorting out some mess with a few of the underlings. There was no time for him, so Izaya left his report on the older man's desk and took off.

It was lunch time right now and he was feeling hungry. And now that he was in Ikebukuro so he might as well have lunch at Russia Sushi! Maybe if he told Simon it was his birthday he could get a special treat or something. He walked in, almost expecting Shizuo to be sitting at the bar with his boss, but alas…

"Izaya! Welcome back! And order of ootoro coming your way!" Simon smiled and Dennis had already started working on his order as soon as he saw him walk in.

"Thanks Simon, Dennis." He nodded to them in appreciation as he took his usual spot at the sushi bar.

Simon was walking around taking more orders and greeting customers while Dennis was busy making the sushi rolls. Everyone else in the restaurant was with someone or even in groups. No one he knew on a personal level. Even here he was alone.

"Eat up." Dennis put the plate in front of Izaya and the raven slowly started eating. He couldn't seem to enjoy it as much today. Dennis noticed the strange behavior but said nothing. He had mixed feelings about Izaya, similarly to Simon, so he really didn't feel like striking up a conversation with Izaya.

After the second bite, he asked Dennis to put it in a box for him. He didn't really feel like eating here. Maybe he could go to the park and see if Shizu-chan was there. If not he might just give up on his search and go back home.

And at the park he was once again met with disappointment. It was surprisingly quiet, not too many people around and not even color gangs were around. His precious humans weren't even at the park today. Shizuo wasn't here. It was shocking and annoying as well.

Granted that he really hasn't been out that long today, he was pissed that he hasn't spotted Shizuo anywhere! Every time he stepped foot in Ikebukuro, Shizuo wasn't too far away. But all day had been quiet! No destruction, no feral cries, no beaten up lackeys on the street, nothing! He wasn't asking for much, just something to break this unbearable calm! It was too quiet and it was really irritating him!

He stomped on back home, ignoring the stares at the giant screen behind him. The screen that read 'Happy Birthday Izaya.'

Izaya dropped the small styrofoam box of food on the coffee table as he landed face first onto the couch. He really was having an off day already and he really wasn't sure why. Turning the TV on, he flipped through different channels until he saw that Hanamaru Kindergarten was on. Just like the ootoro, it wasn't as enjoyable today.

He just sat back on the couch and watched his favorite show, stuffing pieces of sushi in his mouth. He didn't even notice his phone vibrating on the kitchen counter. When it stopped, the screen read '3 missed calls from Shizu-chan 3.'

Namie had taken the day off today since she really didn't want to hear Izaya going on about his birthday or bugging her about wanting to do something. So he was alone here. He made sure not to schedule any appointments for today since he thought that maybe he could spend the day with his forgetful boyfriend, but that wasn't happening for obvious reasons. He really considered calling Celty to go and do menial tasks for him, but odds are that she wouldn't. She only knew it was his birthday because Shinra had told her, but she could care less about Izaya. Heck, when she found out that he was dating Shizuo, she tried to talk Shizuo out of it! That's wasn't very nice. Thankfully it's been months since that's happened.

He opened up his laptop and checked the chatrooms. No one was online. Of course.

He didn't hear the knock on the door from the delivery man as he was getting sleepy from the boredom that was taking over. He kept trying to remind himself that this was normal for his birthday. No one really celebrated it or cared. It was like that every year, what made him think that this year would be any different? He really wasn't expecting anything, but deep down he was hurt.

Surely Shizuo could have remembered and taken the day off. Then they could have both slept in and later gone to lunch together. And instead of being inside the house all day, they could take a stroll down the park, maybe go shopping, or just chase each other around Ikebukuro. He could have been doing something else…

When he woke up a few hours later, his neck hurt from falling asleep at an odd angle on his less than comfy couch. It was merely to enhance the ambiance. Usually he would bring pillows out here from his own bedroom, but he was too lazy to even do that.

He got up and stretched, heard a few cracks from his joints which reminded him more and more that he was just getting older. The only comfort in growing old was that he wouldn't be some weak, old grandpa. He was perfectly healthy and no disease ran in his bloodline so he just really had to maintain himself which wasn't such a chore.

Izaya wasn't even sure why he got off the couch, it's not like there was much else for him to do right now. Shizuo wouldn't be back for a while and there was no one around for him to annoy. He climbed out his bedroom window onto the fire escape and made his way up to the roof. He looked up at the sky, still sunny. It was only around 4:30-ish. Since he didn't have anyone to hang out with at the moment he decided to do some free running.

He dashed across the roof of his building and jumped off the edge, managing to do a flip, tuck, and roll to stick the landing on the building next door. From there he continued on, jumping from rooftop to rooftop until the building started getting higher. He grabbed onto the window sills and used those to get himself up higher. He looked behind him to see that there was a slanted flag pole protruding from the side of the local bank. He pushed himself off the wall, doing a back flip and twisting in mid-air to be able to catch himself on the flag pole. After latching onto the pole he swung himself to build momentum and let go, grabbing onto the ladder of the fire escape and going down with it.

When he was back on the ground, he lost all motivation to keep going. It would be strange if people saw him running around Ikebukuro without Shizuo chasing him. He continued walking, blending in with the boring crowd around him. Everything about today was really bothering him. He wanted this day to end already, because it was dreadfully boring and…he hated the loneliness.

He didn't even notice that he had wandered into the park again. It was starting to get darker and some of the street lights were already on. How long had he been walking? Well not like it mattered.

Izaya sat by the fountain and occasionally dipped his fingers in, causing little ripples in the water.

"Izaya?"

He froze when he heard the familiar voice and he quickly shook the water off his hand. The same old smirk hid his true feelings as he turned to face him. "Shizu-chan, I thought you were working late tonight? It's only..7:42. Are you on a break?"

The blonde looked a little confused. He wasn't sure if Izaya had even noticed any of the things he's done but he had to try and subtly ask.

"Well, to be honest I took the day off."

That stung, making his evil smile waver. "Oh, and I assume you just wanted some alone time or something?" The venom dripping from his voice proved to be a sharp bite for Shizuo. Izaya really didn't know, did he?

"Izaya, lo-"

"Save it. You don't have to explain anything to me. I understand. Once in a blue moon, you want some alone time. That's reasonable and a typical guy thing. Don't worry I know the feeling."

"Iza-"

"I mean, I know I can be quiet the flea sometimes. And my place might as well be an ootoro emporium since that's all it ever seems to smell like to you. I know you don't really like watching my shows either, or just sitting around while I'm doing work. I get it, even Shizu-chan needs some personal time away from me."

"Iz-"

"I-I'll just..uh, go back home now. I'm pretty booked t-tomorrow so..s-so I'm going to take the guest room and you can sleep in our room. I would hate to make you leave the comfort of our bed."

"Izaya!" He didn't realize that he was looking down now. Nor did he notice the tears brimming at his eyes, or how close Shizuo had gotten while he was spewing out a whole bunch of nonsense. "Please don't cry."

"I-I'm fine! Really!" He took one step back from Shizuo. "I don't know w-what's going on with me. I've just…I've been pissed all day and I-I don't know what the hell it is! I…doesn't m-make sense.."

"Happy Birthday Izaya." Strong, warm arms, wrapped around his waist and pulled him into a tight embrace. Izaya's eyes widened when he heard Shizuo whisper those sweet simple words. "You must have missed all my gifts."

He missed them? What did Shizuo mean by that? What gifts?

"Shinra told me you've never had a special birthday, so I tried my hardest to make it the best birthday. Turns out I messed up, huh?" A deep chuckled escaped his lips when he felt Izaya hug him tighter. "Next time, I'll make it more obvious!"

"I love you."

"I love you too flea. I love you too."

I know this is late but I had already posted it on Archive so...it's just late on here! ^.^

May the 4th be with you for Star Wars fans

HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY Ono Daisuke and Izaya Orihara! those two amazing men! Your fans love you both!

This is also an extremely late birthday present to my very special friend who I cherish dearly and I'm really glad that he likes this! This one's for you! (*^.^)~