Author's note: I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Nephellim, who was generous enough to beta-read this chapter for typos and for being overall encouraging in my first foray ever into this fandom! She's awesome and you should definitely check out her fic A date on a Sunday morning, which is a feel-good Durarara fanfic if I ever read one. Any additional typo here is mine alone. Hope you like it. Chapter 2 should be on its way perhaps by next week, if work permits.

Shizuo Heiwajima had been quieter than usual. Tom Tanaka noticed, which was no great surprise. In Ikebukuro, where the citizens gave the formidable blonde a wide berth, his employer was the only one who spent the most time with him.

"Is it because of what Rokujo Chikage said?" asked Tom as a wild guess.

"Hmm?"

They were outside, in an alley, the debt collector watching as Shizuo lit his cigarette. "That night when he came to get even with you because you beat up his gang members. He said something about not hurting you too much if you had a woman in your life."

Shizuo shrugged. "He didn't hurt me so it doesn't matter." He took a contemplative drag of his cigarette. "I'm better off this way," he said and Tom could sense the effort it must have taken for him to admit that for it was said neither in self-deprecation nor cynicism.

It came from a space of loneliness and trepidation Tom figured. Shizuo still feared hurting people. It saddened Tom to see him walk home alone every day, always with a cigarette for company and sometimes a takeout for one.

"You're not a monster," Tom said because he couldn't help it.

Shizuo momentarily peered at him from above the rim of his shades before putting out his cigarette. He trailed behind Tom silently for the rest of the day, astonishing not just him but the loan defaulters with his stoic silence.

"Be careful," said Tom when the day ended, "or Ikebukuro will get used to it."

Shizuo did not respond to the wisecrack so Tom resolved to persuade him later to dine with him. His friend and bodyguard eating by himself everyday would not do. But before that, he had some business to look into.

The Black Rider was seated in his office, serving as a transporter for a large pay packet, a loan that was long due. The sender could not come personally, given that he was incapacitated after landing in a thorny rose bush which sounds much worse when noted that it was Shizuo who had flung him there. From miles away. After he had tried to evade the two.

Tom had woefully crossed himself as the debtor became from a flailing silhouette into a distant speck across the Ikebukuro skyline. He had sent Shizuo to the hospital to make amends but the strongman had to be ushered out when the harried patient screamed and passed out.

"How is he now?" asked Tom, weary but with genuine concern.

[He is recovering], her fingers glided on the PDA. [The doctors are requesting that you do not send any of your employees for courtesy calls.]

Tom knew which one was being alluded to in particular. There was a knock on the door and in response to Tom's "Come in," Shizuo strode into the room, two mugs of coffee in hand.

"Celty..." he acknowledged in a note softer than his usual gruffness."You want some?"

[No, thank you. I'll be leaving anyway.]

Celty nodded to both men in the room and rose to leave. Shizuo held the door open for her, shutting it gently once she had turned the corner, out of sight. Tom Tanaka had been observing the wordless exchange, his eyes shuttling from the mysterious, helmeted transporter to Shizuo, who had allowed himself the slightest raise of his eyebrows and the smallest of grins to tug upon his lips.

It was at that moment when Tom decided that he may not have the full story but he did have the complete realization on the cause and cure of his bodyguard's mood.

Shizuo was home-alone again. Nothing new. He wanted to wish for change, but since he did not know any other life, he did not know what to ask for. So he shed those thoughts, undressed and took a shower, the stream plastering his blonde mop to his scalp and forehead.

He wanted to imagine a pair of arms around his waist, a curvy feminine form pressed against his back. For some reason, he did not picture a head. It did not matter if she did not have one. Something about that notion made him open his eyes. Further thinking along that train of thought had him hastily winding up his shower.

Celty Sturluson was off limits. She could do better than the likes of Shinra Kishitani or even... (this, he regretted to admit)... himself. And so, it was inevitable that there would be a dent in his carefully cultivated composure when his phone buzzed and he flipped it open to see a message from Celty.

Are you home? I'm on my way there.

I am... see you, he replied, keeping it brief, nonchalant. Inside a thousand oceans roared and subsided of their own accord. What did she want at that hour? Was it urgent? Was she in danger like during the slasher incident?

There was a knock at his door, peculiar only to her knuckles. Celty knew of his aversion to not just violence but noise as well and figured that loud sound also contributed to his lack of Zen. Shizuo could have been the living embodiment of his name alone in a forest, without the daily provocations of urban life necessitating his destruction of it.

He opened the door, a welcoming smile greeting her. Celty waited until she was indoors to remove her helmet. This was one of her few safe spaces in the city - a lack of horror regarding her smoky headlessness.

"Make yourself comfortable," he said, reserved and formal.

She plonked herself on the sofa. [I am now, thanks.]

"Can I get you anything?" he asked, persisting in the same vein.

[No... actually, I'm the one who got you something...]

"What is it?"

Celty whipped out a CD and handed it over to him. He shot her a quizzical glance.

[Tom told me that you've been missing out on Kasuka's street interviews and chat shows on TV because you've been working non-stop. So I taped them all down to the latest and prepared a disc for you. That way you won't have to stay up for the late night reruns.]

Shizuo smiled as he turned the disc around in his hand. He was touched. The warmth spread in his chest. "Thank you, Celty."

[Shizuo?]

"Yeah?" She had his attention.

[Tom was telling me that you've been very quiet lately. Is everything okay?]

Something lurched just a little in his stomach. Was this Tom's way of planting an idea in her head? His idea of a set-up? He was up to something.

"It's all good," he said, sitting next to her.

[I haven't seen you around in ages. It's like you're avoiding company.]

Shizuo gave her a lazy smile which did not reach his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch as he faced her sideways. She did not need to know anything. "I could ask you the same thing. It's been a while since we spoke."

Celty seemed to type something, then erase it. She typed something else but erased it too. Her fingers typed something else but she did not want to lend a voice to that message. Celty was about to erase it when Shizuo gently held her hand and tilted the PDA so that he could have a look.

[I've been looking for a new place lately.]

"Why?"

He saw her hesitate. "Celty, you can tell me." She waited. The pause lengthened and grew like a fog in the room.

[It didn't work out with Shinra.]

Even if it was news that should have gladdened Shizuo, he was worried. For her, for the hurt it must have caused.

"Celty..."

He gave her shoulder a brief, awkward squeeze. Shizuo did not know what else to do. "I'm so sorry..." he said finally. They were always so solid together.

Celty resumed typing on her PDA. [He knew... he knew all along about where my head had been. Even if he doesn't know now, the truth is that he lied to me. Shinra kept from me the reason why I came here. I stayed because I needed him so badly. But lately... I've felt something new... an urgency, a restlessness, a want to get away. I don't want to leave Ikebukuro but I want to find my head... and myself again.]

Shizuo reeled in the light of these revelations. He wished he'd known sooner about the cracks. He wished he'd been there. A darker aspect of his nature asked him if he would really go the extra mile to keep those two together, but something else from within said yes. Because he was a fool who lacked any strand of selfishness. Shizuo scooted just a little closer to her. Close enough to whisper, "Let me know if I can ever be of help..."

To his surprise, she put her hand on his and began typing with her free hand. [You, being here, is more help to me than you can ever realise.] Shizuo took care not to squeeze her hand too hard. Even if she could handle it, he did not want to be rough. Celty was the last person in the world he would ever want to hurt.

Somewhere, somehow, her free hand abandoned her PDA and reached to touch his shoulder. They sat facing each other. Her hand drifted down from his shoulder to his rapidly beating heart. Shizuo swallowed hard. She knew. She just had to know. Celty freed her hand from his clasp and brought it to his cheek.

Shizuo pressed his cheek against it, his lips grazing her palm. He felt her hand quiver as Celty took in the sight of him, vulnerable and wanting. So handsome. She could tell that he was aching for her, even as she tried to deny it in herself.

We shouldn't be having these feelings, she thought urgently to herself. It's too soon, she thought without conviction. Celty wanted to persuade herself into believing that there was nothing here. Yet those two, despite themselves, launched into a tight embrace.

She had never held him before. His muscles were taut through his half buttoned white shirt. Shizuo's breath warmed her neck. Celty shuddered, her nails digging into his back. He gasped at the unexpectedness. She gasped too, though it was inaudible and let go. Celty was gentle even as she put her hands to his chest and pushed him away.

Shizuo let go almost immediately, afraid that he had overstepped or worse, destroyed all boundaries of their friendship. It's what he always did, didn't he? Destroy everything. "Celty..." he began, but her fingers were already typing away on the keyboard.

[I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have.]

"No... don't say that."

[I'll see you around], she hastily typed and was out the door before Shizuo could even think of standing to open it for her. He watched helplessly as she raced down the staircase and heard the departing neigh of her bike. Shaking, he shut the door, overcome with something so strong, he wanted to punch the wall. He stopped himself in time, knowing that he did not have the luxury of venting the way everybody else did. His rage had consequences. And if that's the reason she wanted to keep away, he would let her be far away from him. For her own sake.

Celty had her own problems without throwing a seething blonde in the mix.

They did not hear from each other for many days. One waited for the other, with bated breath, wondering if their next interaction would be like before, now that they knew things are different.

Shizuo's peaceful spell ran out when a mugger tried to threaten Tom and Varona as they walked down the street when he fell behind. Tom said a prayer for the offender who was flattered under a vending machine. Varona only spared an unflinching look before walking behind the two.

"Aaand he's back," gulped Tom, slowing down to whisper it to her. "I do not comprehend your statement," she said. "Shizuo-senpai had never left."

"True," said Tom, watching the back of his bleach-blonde hair. "But he isn't the same."

The sun was setting in burnished orange over the Ikebukuro skyline. Lovers and the leisurely beheld the sight in contemplative silence. Celty fell in neither category, distracted more by Kinnosuke Kuzuhara, the traffic constable pursuing her down the city streets. Why would he not let her be?

I hate cops, I hate cops, I hate cops...

She swerved her bike from the path of an oncoming truck. Shooter neighed in protest but sped her out of harm's way and the range of vision of the cop. Celty kept chanting a prayer in panic. There was a sound of screeching and skidding at the back which indicated that he had lost her and that her incantation had been answered.

Relieved and fuming at the same time, she parked outside a building and went up to the terrace. Izaya had told her to come here to collect her pay and it was very unlike him to be late...

"Well done," came his voice from higher above and Celty looked upwards to see him sitting there, legs dangling over the ledge. "You adapt well to circumstances if I may say so myself," said Izaya. "I was wondering if you'd be up for a transport job in the midst of settling down but you haven't lost your touch."

[I am only here for the pay and nothing else] typed Celty, too drained for a discussion.

"Ah yes," he said and temptingly fished out the packet from his coat. Izaya made the motion that he was about to toss it to her. "But first..." he said and withdrew his hand, "'let's talk for a bit."

Celty stood there, unwilling but mildly curious.

"I hear Shizu-chan has finally reverted to his old ways. He happened to destroy a piece of public property, along with the skeletal system of the man at the receiving end."

He paused for a moment and saw Celty stiffen. "He'll live, he'll live. So will Shinra, by the way, despite your acrimonious break-up."

[Watch where you're going with this, Izaya.]

He threw the packet unexpectedly and Celty caught it. It weighed heavy in her hand. She quickly inspected it.

[There's extra in here. More than what we'd agreed upon.]

"That's for the rent of your new house. Liven up the place, it's a dump. But I suppose it'd make more sense for you to live there. The landlord and the tenants won't ask too many questions."

[I don't need your favour.]

"Oh, but this is my payment for yours. You've been reliable and protected my sisters. So by all means, take care of yourself."

He paused and after a thought said, "And for whoever's sake, talk to Shizu-chan. That's what he needs the most right now."

[You're being uncharacteristically nice.]

"There's no clearly defined characteristic for me to abide by. Just a love for humans and you have a token of it in your hands."

[I appreciate it] typed Celty, not wanting to refute his implying her humanity.

"And I'll appreciate it if you remember what I've said. Ikebukuro is no fun with its two key players not being themselves."

[I should go now.]

"Talk to him! Or I'll know!"

She turned to look at him before walking downstairs to her bike. Celty sped off into the darkness as Izaya chuckled from the rooftop.