Izaya was sprinting across the city, closely (but not too closely) followed by his number one enemy, Shizuo. Izaya thought it would be fine to go to Ikebukuro today, since he was in an area that wasn't part of Shizuo's routine, but Izaya must be having terrible luck; for Shizuo had spotted him right away, hollered his name, and proceeded to charge at him.

Izaya was quick on his feet. Quick enough to escape Shizuo with only a few bruises, however, Shizuo would toss large objects at him while running, which Izaya would sometimes not be able to miss. But Izaya knew this city like the back of his hand, and Shizuo, blinded by his anger, never paid attention to where they were running. Izaya could quickly find a shortcut or secret passage at any moment if he needed it.

Izaya couldn't help but be amused at these moments, when the roaring, crazed Shizuo would chase after him in the city. (Not that he would ever find Shizuo just to be chased by him) but Izaya couldn't help but find it humorous, and would occasionally crack up laughing as he ran, which just made Shizuo more angry. It was like adding fuel to the fire, but the fire was already a roaring fire ball.

"Izaaayaaaaaaaaaa!" Shizuo would yell, and Izaya would respond with a laugh. People would gasp and jump out of their way, but some people were starting to get used to it by now. Especially Celty, who would see them and shake her helmet head in annoyance, not even caring to try to stop them anymore.

Izaya started to get cocky, running backwards and mocking Shizuo. Shizuo growled in annoyance, and lifted up a bicycle, causing the owner of the bike to fall to the ground and scamper away.

"Oh shi-" Izaya said, and ducked into an alleyway to dodge the flying bicycle. Izaya snickered as he looked back to make sure Shizuo was still chasing him, but turned to look in front of him to realize he had turned into a dead end.

Izaya stopped running immediately and froze in place.

"How could I have not known-" Izaya couldn't even finish his thought, for it was interrupted by Shizuo, who was now only a few feet behind him.

"Finally." Shizuo growled, gasping for air.

"Damn it," Izaya thought as he carefully reached into his jacket pocket for his knife, hoping Shizuo didn't see his movements. Before Izaya could even spin around and face Shizuo with his knife, Shizuo had smacked him right in the head, causing him to fly forward and collide with the brick wall at the end of the alley.

"Gaah!" Izaya cried out involuntarily. He tasted blood in his mouth. "Shit."

Before Izaya could rise to his feet, Shizuo grabbed him by his shirt and tossed him into the side of the building. Izaya's body slammed into the sturdy wall. He was now slumped over on the ground, and spat out a bunch of blood. "Did I break something?" Izaya thought, unable to rise to his feet. "Not good…not good…" Izaya repeated in his head.

Izaya's eyes went wide as Shizuo approached him for his next move. Shizuo was standing in front of him, looking down on him with hate filled eyes. His hands were in his pockets cockily, and he grinned at Izaya. Shizuo's lifted his leg up, preparing to stomp directly on Izaya's chest.

"Shizuo!" Izaya cried out. Shizuo froze in place, his foot only a few inches away from contact with Izaya's chest. Shizuo glared at Izaya, and one of his eyebrows twitched. Never before, even on the day they first met, had Izaya called Shizuo by his proper name. He would usually call him "Shizzy" or "Shizu-chan". And that tone….Izaya sounded so desperate.

Shizuo put his leg down, and walked backwards a bit, still glaring at Izaya. Izaya managed to rise to his feet, using the wall behind him for much support. Izaya raised his knife up and pointed it at Shizuo.

"You're really….going to kill me, huh?" Izaya laughed, and blood trickled from his already blood-stained mouth. Shizuo didn't respond.

"But…I'm not going to let you…do that-" Izaya had dropped his knife, swayed a bit, and fell over onto the ground, unconscious.