Chapter 1

"Hey flea, would you still kill me if you had the chance?"

Shizuo heard Izaya turn to face him, the sheets sliding and shifting in the dark.

"What kind of question is that, Shizu-chan?" he said, laughing softly. "Of course I would."

Shizuo turned to face him too, to see those brown eyes that glowed red in the moonlight. "Would you kill me right now?" he asked.

Izaya rolled his red eyes. "I'm butt-naked in your house, trapped between you and the wall. I'm at a distinct disadvantage here, Shizu-chan."

Shizuo felt him freeze. "Why?" he continued, trying to smirk, the word a little too harsh to be joking. "You're not thinking of killing me right now, are you? Now that's hardly fair, not when I've treated Shizu-chan so well tonight~"

Shizuo tried not to laugh, since Izaya wasn't trying to be funny. Not really. Only the sheer weirdness of this urge kept him from acting on it. Normally, anything Izaya said, especially when he used that mocking tone, irritated the crap out of him and made him want to hit things. Hit Izaya. Now, his words were making him smile, making him want to laugh. Shizuo reached his hand up to ruffle Izaya's hair, not missing how Izaya flinched a little at the touch. His hair was soft, it was always so soft.

"I'm not going to kill you right after we – " made love " – had sex," Shizuo said. "That's sick."

"Right? So stop asking stupid questions and go to sleep already."

"Yeah," Shizuo said, watching as Izaya closed his eyes, not bothering – or not willing – to turn his back on Shizuo again. "Good night."

"Nighty night."


It started a year ago. Shizuo, Tom, and Varona were making their rounds as usual, but it was a relatively lazy Sunday. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the birds were chirping feebly, trying to ward off the blistering heat. The whiny jackasses they usually dealt with probably didn't feel up to arguing with them that day, too worn out by the seeping intensity of the sun.

So, they ended up reaching their last client a little earlier than usual, everyone in high spirits. They were looking forward to an early dinner, Tom's treat.

Tom knocked on the apartment door.

And knocked. And knocked. And knocked.

And knocked.

"Hello?" Tom finally called out. "Anyone home?"

"Perhaps they have derived the meaning of our presence and fled the premises," Varona suggested quietly.

"Nah, we would've heard if someone was climbing out the window or something," Tom said, eyeing the door. "It's dead quiet out here."

"Your logic is quite sound, Tom-san. I retract my previous assumption."

"You really think someone's in there, Tom-san?" Shizuo said. He really wanted to get this over with and grab dinner already.

"You know as well as I do how stubborn they can be."

Shizuo grimaced with agreement. Sighing, he put his ear to the door. "Actually...I think I hear someone in there." He tried knocking. "Oi! Open up! We know you're in there!" Still no answer. Shizuo tried again, knocking louder. "C'mon we're not going to hurt you! Hurry up and open the door already, it's fucking hot out – !"

The door suddenly caved inward, falling into the hallway entrance with a large groan. Tom sighed. Shizuo ignored him.

Shizuo ignored him instead of apologizing, which he was more used to doing nowadays. Shizuo didn't even lower his upraised fist or move to enter the now-accessible apartment.

No, Shizuo just stood there, his eyes wide underneath his sunglasses, his skin perhaps a shade paler.

Shizuo just stood there, staring.

"Hey!" one of the guys said – the tall one with bleached hair – "That's my door!"

"How perceptive of you, Ichigo-san," the smaller one said – the one without a shirt, the one with his belt unbuckled, the one who was holding a knife to the taller one while blushing a shade of red Shizuo felt like he had never seen before, and definitely not on him.

Orihara Izaya.

What the fuck?


Shinichi Ichigo*. A rather unfortunate name, thought Izaya, amused. Twenty-five and tall, with oddly light brown eyes and cheap, bleached hair. The boy had fallen off the deep end, let pride get the best of him as he sold his life to gambling rings and, interestingly, male prostitutes. Even though Shinichi-san was just in his mid-twenties, he was drowning in debt, and – if Izaya's guess was correct – had recently turned to more underhanded methods to try and swim his way out of it.

What an easy human to manipulate.

With these thoughts, Izaya found himself in Ikebukuro on its hottest day in five years, knocking politely on Shinichi-san's shabby apartment door. It took a few tries, three increasingly irritating minutes to be exact, before the bastard finally opened the door. Didn't he know just how hot it was out here?

"I told you, I'll have the money next – "

Ichigo paused, opening the door wider as he looked Izaya up and down. "Who're you?" he said.

Izaya smiled. "My name is Kanra-san. I'm here to offer you a once-in-a-lifetime deal, Shinichi Ichigo-san. May I come in?"

"I – wha – "

Pushing him aside, Izaya strolled right into the run-down apartment, carefully not reacting to the lingering stench of souring milk and human fear.

"How do you know my name?" Ichigo demanded, slamming the door shut.

Izaya passed the small excuse for a kitchen and stopped to turn around once he reached the living room/bedroom. "I know a lot of things, Ichigo-san," he said, inwardly despairing that he didn't have his jacket because of the hot weather. He didn't know where to put his hands.

"I know, for example, that you come from a moderately wealthy family," he continued, deciding to keep his hands in the front pocket of his jeans for now. "I know you have two older brothers and parents who always expected more from them than they did of you. I know you nearly failed out of high school, but made it to college in Ikebukuro, and then actually failed out of that. Too ashamed to face your family, I know you ran away from home and tried to make it in the real world, only to fail at that too. I know you only let me inside because I'm just your type," Izaya stepped closer to him, reveling in that shocked face.

"I know the first thing you thought of when you saw me was that you'd like to push me down on that cheap tatami mat and force me to my knees so that I could suck you off until you came in my mouth. I know you want to see me swallow your cum and that you want to hear me moan your name. You want me naked, writhing on your floor, you want to kiss me, taste me, touch me, and ram your dick inside of me until you make me scream, and then you want me to beg for more." Izaya was so close now he could count the stubble on the man's chin. "Am I wrong?"

Izaya saw him swallow.

"N-no..."

Just as Ichigo started to lean forward, Izaya took a swift step back. "But fortunately for you, there is still one piece of information in your possession that I desire." Izaya leaned against the wall behind him. He looked up, eyes half-lidded, lips smiling."When you tell me, you will, of course, be well compensated."

Ichigo was practically drooling. "What do you want to know?"

"Next what?"

"...huh?"

Izaya got off the wall. "When you opened the door for me earlier, you said you'll have the money, next...?"

"Oh, um, next week."

"So soon! What's happening next week, Ichigo-san?"

"My friend is, uh, going to give me some money."

"What nice friends Ichigo-san has, giving you so much money, just like that~"

Ichigo licked his lips. "Yeah...yeah, they're nice."

Izaya let the silence hang in the humid air between them, waiting and watching as saltwater trickled down from Ichigo's scalp onto the floor. Finally, Izaya nodded. "I see. Well, it was nice meeting you, Ichigo-san. I do apologize for barging in so suddenly, but if there's nothing else – "

"Wait – wha – Kanra-san!"

Ichigo made to grab at Izaya's arm, but Izaya stepped swiftly to the side. "Yes?"

"I answered your question," Ichigo said, his voice pleading.

Izaya kept his disappointed face on, smiling only on the inside. "Yes, you did, Ichigo-san, and thank you for that. But you also lied to me, and I don't make deals with liars."

Ichigo looked distraught. "I didn't lie!"

Izaya sighed, shaking his head as he started for the front entrance.

"I mean – okay, my friend isn't just gonna hand over the cash, I-I'm giving him something too."

Izaya looked back at Ichigo, stopping. "'Something'? Is it possible that you're the one giving out sexual favors for money now? Maybe Ichigo-san is the type that can top and bottom~ "

"No!" Ichigo cried out, making Izaya raise and eyebrow. "It's drugs, okay? I'm selling him drugs."

"And who gave you the drugs, hm?"

"Just another friend. Why?"

"Why? I'm a curious neko, Ichigo-san. And Ichigo-san has a lot of friends~ maybe I want to be his friend too..."

Ichigo stepped closer. "I don't have a lot of friends like you, Kanra-san."

"You're making me blush, Ichigo-san." Izaya leaned against the wall just across from the 'kitchen'. "What's your friend's name?"

"Tanaka Rei." Ichigo grabbed for Izaya's arm again, and, on a whim, Izaya let him.

"Rei-chan~ how cute!"

"Not as cute as you."

Any reply Izaya could have had to that was cut off as Ichigo kissed him, his mouth open and breath hot, his hands pulling Izaya so close their sweat-soaked shirts clung together. Izaya paused for only a split-second, until he found himself grinding against Ichigo, kissing back with interest, only gasping for air when Ichigo peeled off Izaya's shirt, running his hot hands over Izaya's skin. Hungrily, Ichigo leaned down to bite his nipples.

"Tsk – careful," Izaya said, gripping Ichigo's hair so hard he knew it hurt. "I'm not a chew-toy."

Ichigo let his nipple go, only to blow cool air on it and flick it with his tongue. Izaya shivered.

Izaya didn't stop him as Ichigo started unbuckling his belt, only urging him on with kisses and harsh breaths.

And then someone started knocking on the door.

"Shouldn't you get that?" Izaya muttered.

"Probably just debt collectors, don't worry about it." Ichigo shoved his hand down Izaya's pants, effectively shaking away the vague worry that crept up in Izaya's mind at the words 'debt collectors.' Ichigo took one of Izaya's hands, shoving it down his own pants. "C'mon," Ichigo breathed. "Me too."

They both started jerking each other off, ignoring the increasingly loud knocks coming from the door just feet away from them.

"Hello?" someone finally said. "Anyone home?"

Izaya froze. That voice sounded familiar...

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Ichigo said, irritated.

"Let go," Izaya replied. "I need to leave."

"What the fuck? Right now?"

More murmurs from the other side of the door.

"Yes, right now. Get off." Izaya retrieved his hand, only to have it slammed into the wall by his head.

"What, you chickening out just 'cause I got some visitors?"

Ichigo thumbed Izaya's slit, making him jerk. "Ngh – fuck – just let go!"

The visitor started knocking again, this time more forceful.

"Oi! Open up!" a different voice said – a voice Izaya would have recognized anywhere.

Izaya struggled in earnest this time, but Ichigo just ducked his head and started to suck on Izaya's neck, keeping his hand down Izaya's pants.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Exasperated, Izaya took his knife out from the back pocket of his jeans and slashed the hand on his dick.

Ichigo let go. "The fuck – !"

The door crashed open at the same time, accompanied by Shizuo complaining about something – maybe the weather – until he stopped talking completely.

"Hey," Ichigo said. "That's my door!"

"How perceptive of you, Ichigo-san," Izaya bit back, breathless.

The three of them stood there, Izaya with his knife at Ichigo's throat, Ichigo staring stupidly at the knife, and Shizuo just staring and staring.

"Hello, Shizu-chan," Izaya said, hitching on a smile. "What an unpleasant surprise."


*Ichigo means "strawberry" in Japanese