"Shizuo… Maybe you need a break…" the soothing, calm voice of the blond's brother spoke through the phone that was shaking in Shizuo's hand.

"W-what do you mean, a break?! This is fucking…!" Shizuo growled, beyond upset at his financial situation right now.

Kasuka sighed on the other end of the phone, his voice still calm, monotonous, as he said, "How about we go out for coffee? I'm free for a few hours, as are you."

Shizuo was silent for a while before he said gruffly, "Fine." He closed his phone and shoved it into his pocket, looking around at his messy apartment as he ran a shaking hand through his hair, irritation clear on his face.

A few minutes later, his famous, well-respected brother knocked on the door. Striding over to the door, Shizuo opened it for him, looking down at the actor wearing sunglasses and a hat to conceal his identity. "Kasuka."

Kasuka nodded once, "Shizuo… Shall we get going?"

Shizuo nodded and stepped out of the messy apartment, closing the door behind him as he walked beside his brother to where he predicted was a coffee shop, since they were getting coffee. He shook his head. If this is my train of thought, it's no wonder I can't find a job.

There was a silence lingering above them as they walked through the city, everyone quickly avoiding the monster of Ikebukuro as he strolled down the streets. Kasuka was thankful he was with Shizuo. The focus on the monster took focus away from the actor, limiting his chances of being recognized and flooded by fans and paparazzi.

Finally, the brothers reached the coffee shop, and Kasuka politely held the door open for his older brother. Shizuo actually had to lower his head a little to enter the small building. Inside, the atmosphere was warm and welcoming, with soft, unique music playing in the background.

There was a barista at the cash register, but his back was turned to the customers as he was standing on his tiptoes, trying to reach a container of coffee. His fur-trimmed coat and black shirt rode up, causing part of his lower back and waist to show. Shizuo's eyes widened at the pale, milky skin before his gaze quickly shifted when the young man finally grabbed the container and turned around.

"Ah, hello," the young man's smooth voice called out.

Shizuo's eyes met the young man's, and he was completely drawn by their profound, red depths. The young man's jet black hair framed his round, pale face perfectly, and his little smile revealed mystery and, most suspiciously to Shizuo, hidden intentions. There black lip ring that the barista was sporting against his thin lips. The tall blond actually took a deep breath in before saying shakily, "Hi."

"Well~," started the young man, placing his elbow on the counter, his cheek in his palm as he looked up at the two brothers with unwavering interest, "what can I get you two gentlemen today?"

Kasuka nodded in acknowledgement, telling the young man, "Just a medium coffee, please."

The raven nodded and pressed a few keys on the cash register before looking up at Shizuo. "And what about you, blondie?"

Shizuo frowned. Besides the teasing "blondie" remark, something was off about this guy. The way he smiled, the way he looked, the way he spoke. But he managed to say gruffly, "Large coffee with…" he looked over at the selection of pastries before deciding, "a vanilla cupcake."

"Aaww, how cute~. A cupcake." The raven's voice was teasing, a playful glint in his eyes as he maintained eye contact with Shizuo even as he pressed the keys on the cash register. Shizuo glared, his face flushing with anger and embarrassment at this stranger's teasing, demeaning aura. The young man with the black hair finally broke the eye contact to look at Kasuka. "Shall this be one order, or shall I separate it into two?"

Kasuka nodded. "Yes, one order. I'll take care of it."

Shizuo objected, embarrassed that his brother is paying for him. "Huh? No. I-I have enough money… I'm not that broke, you know!"

Kasuka shook his head as he quickly pulled out the money and paid it to the waiting man, who was watching them with interest and amusement. The barista smoothly placed the money into the cash register and handed Kasuka the change. "You can take a seat, and I'll be back with your orders soon."

Kasuka nodded and led the way to one of the tables, Shizuo grumbling behind him. When they were seated, Shizuo said, trying to control his anger, "You didn't have to do that… I did have enough money to pay for myself."

But his brother was as calm and emotionless as ever as he replied, "Shizuo, it's not a matter of you having enough money or not… It's just a gesture of courtesy."

Based on his tone, one would never be able to decipher the gesture as one of courtesy, but the younger brother really did care for Shizuo and wanted to be kind to him, especially considering his current financial crisis. A long yet comforting silence fell over the two, with Shizuo staring at the barista who was busy making the coffee and Kasuka staring out the window at the busy city.

The barista finally came, carrying the two coffee cups in his hands and the cupcake on his shoulder, his balance and grace perfect as he made his way across the café and to the two brothers, setting the coffee down in front of their respective purchasers and the cupcake in front of Shizuo, biting down on his lip, his teeth gently scraping the lip ring. Shizuo's eyes were closely focused on that, everything else melting away.

"… Shizuo?" his brother's voice snapped Shizuo out of his momentary trance, and he blinked as he looked at Kasuka.

"Huh?"

"Did you hear him? He's asking if you need anything in your coffee."

Shizuo cleared his throat, saying with embarrassment as he looked down at the black coffee, "Ah. Yes, milk. And five spoons of sugar."

The barista's eyes widened, but the smirk remained on his face. "So first you order a cupcake, and now you want… coffee-flavored, sugary milk. Interesting~."

Shizuo looked up from his cup of coffee to glare at him, this young man having an unreal way to seriously piss him off. "What the hell does it matter to you, you… you… f-flea?!"

The so-called flea blinked, though his amused expression remained. "Flea?"

"Yes. Fucking flea. Go do as you're told and stop messing with me!"

Kasuka interjected, though he was not frazzled or anything close to it. "Shizuo, please remember where we are and who you're speaking with…"

"He should remember who he's speaking with. I'm the damn customer."

The barista smirked widely before walking away and coming back with two containers, pouring a small amount of creamer into Kasuka's cup of coffee and adding a spoon of sugar before pouring a larger amount of milk into Shizuo's cup and adding five spoons of sugar. "Good enough~?"

Kasuka nodded, but Shizuo actually took a sip and was silent for a bit before he grunted.

Just to be a tease, the dark haired man asked, "So what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means yes, you louse. Now go away."

The barista smoothly moved away from the table and went back to the cash register, a very interested expression on his face, his smirk wider than ever.

"Damn," said Shizuo gruffly, trying to calm himself down. "I don't think anyone has ever pissed me off as much as that barista guy has."

Kasuka took a slow sip of his coffee before asking, "So… how many jobs have you applied to so far…?"

"Sixty," Shizuo answered shortly, his eyebrows furrowed with anger.

"And how many interviews have you landed?"

"Five."

Kasuka's tone did not change, and he showed absolutely no emotion – no sympathy, no pity, no sadness. But Shizuo liked this. He hated when people felt bad for him. He hated when they would give him words of sympathy. He didn't like to feel powerless. He hated their pity. But Kasuka was different. He skipped through the pity and sympathy and got down to business: how to improve the situation. And that's exactly what Shizuo wanted – needed – right now.

"Well, Shizuo, I can try again… I can try to refer you to more employers."

Shizuo was silent for a while before saying, "Do it quickly. I may be kicked out of my apartment soon. I can barely afford paying the rent…"

"You can always come live with m-"

"No."

"But Shizuo-"

"I said no. I won't be dependent on my younger brother."

Kasuka sighed before taking another sip of his coffee, commenting off-handedly, "This coffee is good…"

Shizuo nodded, saying reluctantly, not liking the idea of complimenting the raven's work. "I guess."

The barista came over and easily leaned against the side of Shizuo's chair, looking down at him and saying with a mocking form of gentleness, "So you can't find a job?"

Shizuo glared. "Why are you eavesdropping, you flea?!"

The barista played with his lip ring, his tongue skillfully fiddling with the accessory. "I wasn't eavesdropping. I'm just good at picking up information."

"What the fuck ever. Leave us alone."

The young man smirked widely as he said slyly, "Ah~, so it's that kind of rendezvous~."

It took Shizuo a while to understand, his eyebrows furrowing with confusion as he looked at Kasuka, but when Kasuka shook his head slowly, the blond finally understood what the raven standing beside him meant. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Shizuo exploded, standing and causing the table to wobble. Kasuka grabbed for the two cups of coffee, holding them steadily so they don't topple over.

Shizuo grabbed for the raven's collar and pulled him up, actually causing the smaller man's feet to lift off the ground, the dark-haired male smirking with amusement, really enjoying this. "He's my brother, you filthy pervert!"

"What would cause you to have such an outraged reaction~? Ah, maybe it's the same reason that causes little elementary school boys to turn red and stomp on the ground while screaming, 'NO! I don't love her!' when questioned about their feelings for the girl they obviously have a crush on. Hmmm, do you also pick on your brother~?"

"SHUT UP. Why the hell do you talk so much?!" Shizuo slammed the man's lithe body into the nearest wall. "Why don't you just fucking shut up?!"

To Shizuo's surprise, the young man actually let out a small sound of… was it pleasure…? The raven's eyes fluttered closed as he was slammed into the wall.

Shizuo's eyes narrowed, his suspicion about something being 'off' about this guy completely confirmed now. "What the hell…"

The attacked man's eyes finally opened, and he laughed gleefully, easily freeing himself from Shizuo's grasp and moving gracefully to stand behind him. "You know, I was just trying to help you~."

Shizuo turned around to be face-to-face with this odd person. "Help me? How so?"

The raven's tongue played with his lip ring again as he said, "Well~, I can easily get you a job. But since you're so insistent on abusing and hurting me, guess not." He shrugged as he began to saunter away, his smirk wide.

Shizuo was not going to fall for it. This person was suspicious, and he knew it. Any "job" this person has to offer was either illegal or nonexistent. Besides, he would never lay down his pride just to ask someone like him for help.

But Kasuka was the one who got up. "Please do help him find a job."

Shizuo was outraged. "What the hell, Kasuka?!"

The raven stopped in his steps, turning around slowly. "Oh~? So you want my help after all~?"

Simultaneously, Shizuo said, "NO" as Kasuka said, "Yes."

The barista smirked, saying playfully, "I'm confused here~! I don't know what to do~."

Shizuo finally relented, not wanting this day to end badly since Kasuka was obviously putting effort into making Shizuo feel better and get back up on his two feet. "Fine…"

The raven said cheerily, "Great! Well, my name is Orihara Izaya." He extended his hand out to Shizuo, and Shizuo hesitantly took and shook it, saying grumpily, "And mine is Heiwajima Shizuo."

"What an interesting name. Well, Shizu-chan, would you be-"

Shizuo released Izaya's hand, his eyes narrowing as he asked with anger, "Excuse me? Shizu-chan?"

"Hehe, sorry, it just slipped out."

"Don't let it slip out again. My name is Shizuo. Shi-zu-o. Not fucking Shizu-chan. Where the hell did you even get that shit from?"

"Okay, okay, Shizu-chan~."

Shizuo growled, his hands twitching as he reached out for Izaya, but Izaya effortlessly avoided him, moving his body to stand behind Shizuo, faster than Shizuo's eyes could see.

"The hell?!" Shizuo asked with outrage, whirling around to face Izaya.

"As I was saying, would you be interested in working as a bartender~? I see you're dressed in a bartender uniform, so I do believe it'd suit you."

Shizuo frowned and said, "I got fired from my last job as a bartender."

"That's okay. You can always try again~."

Shizuo's frown intensified, looking at the smaller male warily. "Why are you so concerned about finding me a job?"

Izaya shrugged, saying nonchalantly, "Just saw a human in need and decided to lend a helping hand."

Shizuo's eyebrow twitched. "I'm not a fucking homeless, starving, poor m-"

"Ah, so you're one of those people. Ashamed of and hateful towards pity."

The blond's eyes widened. How the hell did he come to that conclusion so easily?

"So hurry up and make your decision. The store will be full in just a few minutes, and I'll be busy with customers."

"Fine. I'll take the job."

Izaya pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons. "Alright then. I have you scheduled for a job interview tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Be there on time."

"Huh? How'd you… set everything up so fast?"

Izaya smirked widely and said simply, "I have connections."