Chapter one: New Year in Ikebukuro

23:00 o'clock

Shizuo walked down the crowded streets of Ikebukuro as children screeched and laugh, running around with sparklers in hand. "The new year's coming!" They yelled as they passed him towing their mothers to the park.

"What's so great about that?" Shizuo remarked as he took another drag of his cigarette. "It's just one more year like any other." He breathed out the smoke in slowly watching as it faded into the night air.

He stopped in the park to rest, after a long day of work with Mr. Tom and walk all over town his feet were dead tired so he took a seat on a nearby bench. He leaned back breathing in another puff of nicotine; Shizuo ruffled and pulled his hair man was he bored.

"Hey, Shizuo!" A familiar voice called out the artificial blonde didn't look up he knew who was coming it was his old friend Shinra. "Hey Shizuo what are you doing all alone on New Year's Eve? Don't you have anything you're going to do?" Shinra smiled, "No plans to kiss a beauty at midnight in the square?"

Shizuo breathed out watching his smoke dissipate. "No I don't think I will." Shizuo smiled sadly "I'm just gonna go home and enjoy the countdown with some beers. I don't feel like breaking a face when I lean in for the kiss, anyway, you gonna do anything?"

Shinra smiled wider a slight pink creeping into his cheeks. "Yea, Celty and I are going to enjoy the countdown from our balcony together."

Shizuo looked up at his friend to find a stupid grin stretched across his face. "Good for you man, you get past second base with her yet?" Shizuo asked his scientist friend, Shinra blushed and grinned. "I'll take that as a yes then." the blonde smiled as he stretched out about to take his leave.

"I'll catch you next year man, I'm a go home and get started on a six pack I left in the fridge this morning." Shizuo began walking away as he heard the roar of a motorcycle and the faint call of his friend.

"Celty says have a happy new year! Bye!" and then the roar of the motorcycle began to fade. Shizuo looked back to see Shinra and Celty turning a corner off to enjoy the New Year's Eve together.

Shizuo dropped his cigarette and stomped it out as he walked further into the city, he began to rethink his idea of going home though. 'Maybe those beers aren't enough to get me drunk?' He thought when he heard another familiar voice in the crowd.

"Hey look its Shizuo-san, hey!" Mikado called over the noise of the crowd, his voice as prepubescent as ever. He was walking with someone, a girl. She had huge tits, short hair, and big glasses all in all she was cute; for a teenager.

'Well look at this,' thought Shizuo 'Mikado's got himself a lady friend.' The blonde smiled and waved over to the teens, they waved back and continued on their way, 'they're probably going to the city square to kiss at the stroke of midnight.' Shizuo smiled.

Mikado had changed a bit since Kida had left, and since then he's shown a bit more confidence as well. He even had the guts to ask Anri on a date tonight. Way to go Mikado.

23:30

Shizuo looked at his watch and saw it'd only been half an hour since he'd checked it last. "Slowest hour of the whole damn year!" He cursed turning the corner, and there it was his old job. The bar he'd worked at was just up ahead and he knew that's where he'd end the year.

He walked into the bar to be greeted by his old boss, the blonde sat at an empty stool and asked for his favorite drink Jack Daniels on the rocks. He loved the way it burned a little when he took a swig. 'Yea I can spend some time here,' he thought asking for another glass.

23:50

It's been 20 minutes since Shizuo walked into the bar he once called a work place and in those 2o minutes he drank like a fish. He'd had 3 shots of tequila 5 glasses of Jack on the rocks and Smirnoff.

"Damn it when's the damn clock gonna say it's midnight already?!" He retorted looking at the clock that hung above the bar. The smooth jazz and booze being the only things keeping him relatively calm. Then the bars door chimed as another patron walked in and pulled up a chair next to Shizuo.

"A white Russian for me bartender." Shizuo knew that voice and if it weren't for the all the numbing alcohol in his system he would've broken the bar on the damn flea's head.

"What the fuck are you doing here flea?" Shizuo growled at Izaya gripping his glass tighter making crack before shattering to pieces under the power of his force.

"I'm here to fulfill my new year's resolution Shizu-chan, what might you be doing here," Izaya asked. His eyes piercing into Shizuo's.

The latter sighed "Just get the fuck out of here I'm not in the fucking mood to deal with you right now so buzz of fucking flea." His sentence was slurred and almost incoherent he was shitfaced drunk. This made Izaya's task all that much easier.

"Well no I'm not leaving until I've completed my resolution shizu-chan so I guess you're out of luck." Izaya chuckled when the blonde glared at him. He just loved to get a rise out this man, but that's not what he came down to Ikebukuro to do.

"Say Shizu-chan aren't you curious as to what my resolution is?" Shizou really couldn't give a single fuck as to what it might be, and the informant knew, it but he went on anyway. "It's to become your lover Shizu-chan." He said it so matter of factly Shizuo was awestruck.

"Da Fuck did you say flea?" Izaya blushed and looked away "Answer me damn it!" the blonde screamed when he got no immediate response.

"I said I want to become Shizu-chan's lover, I love Shizu-chan, so…." Izaya trailed off unable to explain more than that. Shizuo didn't know what to think at this point, except it's just Izaya being an asshole again, but the look on his face looked so sincere and he was so fucking drunk he just couldn't process it.

"Hey Shizuo, it's closing time can you take your lover's quarrel somewhere else for the night?" The bartender asked as cleaned off the last glasses for the night. Shizuo left a atleast double his order of drinks and walked out of the bar as the clock struck twelve.

24:00

"Bout' fucking time this year ended." He cursed and wobbled his way back to his apartment, Izaya following close behind unnoticed.