If he wasn't so doubtful about it, Shizuo would be certain that Izaya was a clever intellectual; as much as he didn't want to admit it. Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach. But the fact that he used such devious ways to mess with people's minds and put them in the oddest situations was brainsick, yet cunning.

Izaya on the other hand, as much as he despised Shizuo, admired his strength. Every whack to the head with that street sign or a pop machine was painful, but sensational. He may be known as "The-strongest-man-in-Ikebukuro," but sometimes he seems like the strongest man in Japan...rarely, the world; if Izaya was completely awestruck.

The night sky fell over the city of Ikebukuro. The two rivals stared at each other from a distance in a narrow alley.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of here, Izaya?" Shizuo called out.

"As many times as you want, cause I'm not going anywhere," Izaya replied. "And last time I checked, you don't tell me what to do."

Shizuo tightly gripped the street sign in his clenched hand.

"If you won't leave, all use whatever necessary to make you leave."

"Are you trying to scare me Shizu-chan?"

"'Trying' is too redundant, Izaya, and your choice of words is rather displeasing," the blonde said as he walked toward the brunette, dragging the street sign across the ground. "I prefer-"

"Attempting?" Izaya said, cutting off the sentence.

The blonde stopped in his tracks.

"You must really want me to hurt you, is that it?"

"Oh, please continue, Shizu-chan," Izaya said, crossing his arms. "Which word do you prefer to use rather than my horrible choice of words?"

Shizuo continued to walk toward Izaya.

"I am for certain scaring you."

"Or really?" Izaya grinned. "Cause frankly I'm more amused than scared."

"Amused?"

"Quite. You say you don't like violence and yet you've got this tough-guy routine going on twenty-four seven."

Shizuo ignored Izaya.

"Actually, I'm starting to agree with the fact that my choice of words are redundant, so allow me to rephrase my sentence."

Izaya cleared his throat.

"I am 100% amused, by your attempt to scare me."

By this time, the two were only a few centimeters away from each other. Shizuo wanted to teach the flea a lesson and smack him upside the head with the street sign, but something felt like he still wanted to add to his self-assurance.

"Come on, Shizu-chan. As much as you swinging that sign around like a madman looks dangerous, it's just not...scary."

Shizuo narrowed his eyebrows.

"Sorry, horrendous. That better?"

Shizuo forcefully grabbed a hold of Izaya's collar and the street sign clanked against the ground. His voice wouldn't stop, he kept mocking him and it irritated him.

"What will it take you to get out of here, or at least shut your fucking trap?"

Izaya's crooked smile formed across his face. Suspicious...

"I can tell you what it'll take to shut me up."

Shizuo loosened his grip a bit. "That's a start..."

Izaya grabbed hold of Shizuo's collar.

"Well, you hold the power of shutting me up. You do it all the time anyways. You smack me around with that sign of yours, you throw pop machines at me..."

Izaya trailed his hands down Shizuo's torso.

"...there are other things you can do."

Shizuo backed up slowly.

"Y-You're insane," he stuttered.

"Am I?" Izaya replied, walking in Shizuo's direction. "I haven't even told you anything yet."

"Well I have a pretty good idea of what you mean," Shizuo said, almost too freaked out to move.

Izaya somehow got eye to eye with the frightened blonde and pulled him even closer in to him.

"Funny, it would appear I'm the one doing the scaring," Izaya said.

"I'm not scared of you, flea," Shizuo said. He truly was hiding his fear. Izaya could feel him trembling under his clothes.

"I'm afraid I have to disagree," the brunette said. "See, you're scared of me...because of all the people you know...I happen to be the only one who knows your weak points."

Shizuo stared into Izaya's dark eyes. He tried not to show any nervousness.

"Am I right?"

Not a word from Shizuo.

"How about you just throw in the towel," Izaya continued, wrapping his arms around Shizuo's waist. "And denial will get you nowhere, so I hope you don't plan to think I don't know what else scares you."

Shizuo's eyes flared up with hate.

"You disgust me," he snarled.

"Yeah, well..."

Izaya landed an unexpected kiss upon Shizuo. He felt the blonde's face heat up. As mortified as he was, he felt an extreme sensual feeling.

"...you excite me," Izaya said as he broke the kiss.

At that moment Shizuo felt like Izaya had taken away all his strength from one little kiss. He couldn't resist or fight back, but he only kept telling himself that; a rotten lie. He didn't want to resist.

"Don't do this," he managed to force out.

Izaya grabbed a hold of Shizuo's shoulders and pushed him backwards; toppling over onto the hard ground. Izaya clearly dominated the blonde; as he wanted and as he thought it should be.

"Dammit! That hurt, you prick!"

"Sorry 'bout that, Shizu-chan," the brunette apologized as he stroked the side of Shizuo's face. "But I distinctly remember telling you that you can't and don't tell me what to do."

"Well, when you tell me not to do something, I kind of like to try it," the blonde said contemptuously.

"Oh, aren't you daring," Izaya said leaning in closer to Shizuo so that they were eye to eye once again.

"I can be daring too if you'd like," he added. "An audacious Izaya and Shizuo sounds like fun. Why don't we both give it a try?"

Shizuo tried to squirm out of Izaya's hold. He wasn't sure if he liked where this was going.

"Don't like that?"

"I just don't like you," the blonde snapped. "And yeah, that includes your stupid actions."

"That's a shame, I guess I'll have to try harder," Izaya said has he slid his hand under Shizuo's shirt.

The blonde jolted is back off the ground as he felt the ice-cold fingertips of his enemy trailing up his body.

"D-Don't touch me," he managed to force out.

The scandalous brunette ignored Shizuo's demand of release.

"I said stop it!"

"My, aren't you getting feisty, Shizu-chan,"

"And quit calling me that!"

"Why are you being so demanding?" Izaya asked. "Here I am trying to be the 'daring Izaya' for you, and you completely refuse me. I mean, don't you think your asking for a bit too much?"

Shizuo felt the skillful, ice-cold hands trail past his torso onto his waist. The cries for help were clawing at his throat, but to admit defeat would be the end of the world for him. After all, Izaya was his guilty pleasure; something else he couldn't admit. He didn't need to use any words to describe how he was feeling. Anguish spread across his face, but Izaya could also tell that Shizuo was loving the touching sensations he was giving him.

"See? Fun, is it not?"

"You seem to be the only one who's having anything you can even remotely call fun," the blonde said, some-what proving his point.

"Just give yourself over..."

"To you?" Shizuo said, butting in. "No...not even if my live depended on it!"

"That's cute," Izaya said with a smirk that made Shizuo feel like he'd automatically lost to him. "But I wasn't necessarily talking about me."

The blonde looked confused; awaiting to hear what Izaya was truly going to say.

"Give yourself over...to pleasure."

"What?"

The word, for some odd reason, disgusted him.

"Let's face it, we both despise each other... but as much as you get under my skin...you're kinda cute."

Shizuo was completely drawn to Izaya's face after his statement. The flea looked unbelievably innocent."

"Plus your extremely fun to toy around with."

A smile spread across Izaya's face; still maintaining its innocence.

He sure recovered fast, the blonde thought.

"There is this thing called 'imagination,'" Izaya said sarcastically with a fake grin. "You can use it...to pretend its someone else doing this to you."

Shizuo looked directly in those dark eyes, which ironically seemed lighter.

Matches is new attitude and innocence, he thought

"I don't really wanna stop...so that's why I highly suggest you use your imagination."

"Izaya-kun..."

Izaya placed the tip of his finger over Shizuo's mouth to hush him.

"Just pretend its someone else..."

Someone else...it echoed through his mind. Two words that made him immediately pissed.

"You idiot," Shizuo mumbled.

Izaya looked confused.

"Do you really think...that there's anyone else?"

The blonde's face flushed up in a bright red; so bright to possibly light up the dark alley.

"I couldn't picture anyone else even if I wanted to, because...it's you."

Izaya wasn't sure if he should smile after hearing those words from Shizuo. He felt it form across his face once again, very cautiously.

"And maybe..." Shizuo continued. "Maybe...I don't want to pretend its someone else."

The unexpected kiss was landed upon Shizuo again...more intimate with more feeling. Their words seemed to have a certain charm that would trigger then to act out. This time, Shizuo's words made Izaya's heart swell up. It was the type of pain he wanted. Izaya wanted his heart to ache for the one person he loves.

The blonde broke away from the kiss, and sighed in defeat.

"What's wrong," Izaya asked.

Shizuo smirked.

"You keep telling me to give in, and even though I tell myself not to, I do so anyways...funny, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," Izaya chuckled.

"Some crazy part of me is drawn to you."

"That's good," Izaya smiled, stroking the blonde's face again. "But truthfully...this was kind of a test."

Shizuo's eyes slowly widened.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I wanted to see how you acted out of all this,"

Typical him, Shizuo thought.

"I mean, don't get me wrong I meant every word, but I wasn't sure how you would respond to it all. So think of it as hitting two birds with one stone; I confess my inner-most feelings for you, and I observe your reactions."

"This was all a game to you?"

"...partially. I did say I meant every word."

Shizuo wanted to be mad, but with that irresistible smile, all he heard was "I meant every word."

"Well, so much for audacious Izaya," the blonde said.

"Yeah, I could say the same for you," the brunette replied.

"Hey, I never agreed to being 'audacious Shizuo.'"

"Even so...you still gave into me."

Shizuo's face flushed up again, and he scoffed at the point that Izaya made. As much as he told himself it wasn't true...it was.

"Word of advice...don't resist anymore."

How many times have I heard that, Shizuo thought.

"I know, I know, giving in makes it easier, right?"

"Yeah...but I'm also teaching you some useful lessons."

"Huh?"

"Be sure to keep them in mind...for when you're on top next time."

The desire to be angry struck into Shizuo's head once again. But as those words wanted him to grab the street sign and smack Izaya, those words had the charm which made him the one to land the unexpected kiss.

If its not love and its not hate...what is it, he thought.