After that experience, Izaya decided to play it safe and avoid the blond until things went back to normal. At least, he thought he was avoiding the blond. As he found out three days later, it was actually the blond letting Izaya avoid him.

He was walking through his own neighborhood, not even in Ikebukuro. There was no possible reason for him to run into the blond monster. No reason at all. Yet, rounding a corner his face came smacking into contact with a firm chest. Stepping back, Izaya gave a hasty apology. A grocery bag in hand containing his dinner for the night. Izaya ducked to the left, trying to get out of the way of the other person. The weather forecast called for rain and he wanted to be home before it actually began to fall. The person in front of him grabbed his shoulder before he could do anything and that was when he realized who it was he had actually run into.

"Shizu-chan…?" Izaya questioned, looking up at the blond debt-collector in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Rather than answer Shizuo asked a question instead. "What are you doing, Izaya?"

The raven didn't miss the fact that Shizuo used his name again rather than 'flea' like he normally did. A testament to the new 'game' the two were playing. Izaya felt with his free hand for his knife, ready to pull it out if the situation turned deadly. "I'm not doing anything Shizu-chan is that's what you're concerned with. I don't actually have any plans to destroy anything for once. So you can go home now."

"Hnnn," Shizuo responded. "I don't want to go home though. I want to spend time with my Izaya-chan."

Izaya spluttered, so shocked was he. "What did you call me!?" he demanded, not liking how his voice spiked an octave.

Shizuo grinned smugly. Leaning down so they were the same height, Shizuo removed his sun-glasses. "What? If someone's cute you call them 'chan' don't you?"

Izaya pulled his knife out and held it to Shizuo's face, trying to put some distance between them again. "I'm not cute!" he protested, feeling very uncomfortable. Was this how Shizuo felt when he called him Shizu-chan?

Shizuo frowned at the blade in his face. Pocketing his glasses, Shizuo moved faster than Izaya was used to seeing from the strength based man. Shizuo took the knife from Izaya and pocketed it alongside the glasses. "I don't like my Izaya-chan playing with things that can hurt him." Shizuo straightened while Izaya glared.

"Give me my knife back, that was my favorite one!" Izaya hated how he was losing his composure so much over this. He wanted to bite his tongue to stop himself from speaking, but he knew that wouldn't help when the blond came to play.

"No," Shizuo said simply.

"I've always used knives! It's what I'm good at. Are you really going to leave me without a weapon to defend myself in these streets?"

Shizuo seemed to be thinking about it, making Izaya hopeful to get the weapon back. Shizuo wasn't really wanting Izaya to get killed, despite how often the pair used to say such things. "Well, I guess I'll just have to make sure my Izaya-chan gets home safe."

Izaya wanted to punch something. "I'm not yours and there's no –chan at the end of my name! Go away!"

Shizuo grinned. "How will I protect you then though? I think I'll escort you home." Shizuo headed off, pausing to look back over his shoulder. "Come on, Izaya-chan. We wouldn't want you getting lost, now would we?"

Izaya almost turned and went in the opposite direction, even if it meant that he'd have to walk an extra ten minutes back to his apartment. The only thing that really stopped him from doing so was the rain that began to fall. Izaya sighed and pulled his hood up, trudging after the blond. When he caught up, the blond took Izaya's bag from him. "Hey," that was the second thing Shizuo had taken from him tonight.

Shizuo opened the bag up and frowned at the contents. A week's supply of cheap ramen and a plastic bottle of water. "Is this all you eat?" Shizuo asked. Izaya could have sworn there was a hint of concern in the blond's voice. That couldn't be right though, this was a game. Shizuo didn't actually care if Izaya was eating healthy or not.

"No, of course not," Izaya lied anyways. Even if the blond didn't care he didn't want to have such a conversation. Shizuo growled but added Izaya's bag to the few he was already carrying. Izaya hadn't noticed those bags in his hands before. Looking at the vegetables, visible through the plastic, Izaya wondered why the protozoan was even here. Surely it couldn't be to do the shopping? That could easily have been done at Ikebukuro…

The rain started coming down harder. Izaya shuddered and pulled his jacket closer around himself, hoping Shizuo hadn't noticed the action. He had some really bad luck this week. The blond smirked at Izaya's appearance. "You look like a drowning kitten," Shizuo teased.

"Yeah? Well you don't look much better, you don't even have a jacket."

"Don't need one. I'm fine with being wet, it never bothers me. You look like you'll catch a cold out here though."

"I will not," Izaya protested. The two walked in silence past that until they reached the raven's apartment building. The streets were mostly empty so Izaya didn't have to worry about people questioning why the two of them were being seen together. Not that anyone in this district would connect Shizuo and Izaya together, as they were only famous in Ikebukuro.

As they walked, Izaya kept his eyes on the alleys they passed. Just because the general public didn't know where he resided didn't mean his enemies didn't know. He'd had a few bad attacks in these very streets, and as he was currently knifeless, he didn't want to be jumped. Shizuo seemed to become aware of the raven's darted looks and quick flinches to loud noises. Slowly, Izaya became aware that Shizuo had become closer in the distance between them. What was the blond doing getting closer to someone like him? Then he saw an alley where a few no good people happened to be looking at him. The blond beside saw them as well and gave a fierce scowl such as that a lion would give prey. The men in the alley grimaced and slinked back into the darkness, their eyes promising to get the raven in the future.

Had Shizuo actually, protected him? From real danger? Why? What reason would Shizuo have to protect him from people who had very good reason not to like him. Izaya wanted to ask but was afraid. What if the blond left because he asked? If he didn't have his knife he didn't want to be separated from the blond. Not that he couldn't take care of himself, of course. He just wanted his knife back.

It was his favorite after all.

The apartment was just as he left it earlier when he stepped out to get his dinner. Clean, if in a slight disarray from papers, and cold. The cold was due to the fact he lived high up where the heating didn't quite reach as well as it could. Izaya had paid to have it fixed months ago but so far nothing really changed, not that he cared. Namie said it wasn't even cold up here, so he hadn't bothered to complain about the temperature again.

Shizuo had followed him into his home. Izaya didn't quite know what to do with the blond guest. "I can take care of myself from here," Izaya said slowly. The blond shut the door and locked it, kicking his shoes off. "You don't have to be here."

Shizuo smiled at Izaya, and it was that foreign smile that Izaya couldn't place a name too. The one that he saw only in movies, great acting on Shizuo's part. Enough that he should be in movies like his brother. "I'm here because I want to be here, Izaya-chan." The raven scowled at the name. Shizuo went to the informant's kitchen with confident strides. To Izaya's knowledge, Shizuo had never been here before. How did he seemingly know the layout of his apartment?

Izaya reluctantly followed Shizuo to his kitchen. "Have you eaten, Izaya-chan?" Shizuo asked as he set the bags on the counter.

"No, that's why I was out. To get dinner."

"Instant Ramen isn't a healthy dinner," Shizuo spoke as though Izaya was five. "You need something better than that. I'll cook dinner for you."

"You really don't have to do that!" Izaya protested hurriedly, moving in front of the blond to stop him from doing anything of the sort. "I had a large lunch so I'm not really hungry anyways. The ramen is just fine."

"I know for a fact you skipped lunch. You were at Shinra's place. Don't lie to me, Izaya-chan. I don't like it when you lie to me."

"I lie all the time, I've done it before. I'll do it again."

Shizuo grunted. "Well not to me anymore. I know when you lie, Izaya-chan."

Izaya gaped, probably resembling a fish. "How can you know that?"

Shizuo ruffled Izaya's hair, much to the raven's horror. "That's for me to know. Now what do you have in the fridge for me to cook?"

Izaya got over his shock and quickly slid in front of the fridge. He didn't want Shizuo in there, not at all. He wanted the blond out of his apartment, he wanted him away from here. He wanted Shizuo to scream his name without the 'chan' and to throw a signpost at him.

"Izaya-chan. I can't cook for you if I can't get into the fridge. I'm getting hungry here too and I know you are."

"Am not," Izaya said as his stomach contradicted him.

Shizuo just chuckled in response, an easy smile on his face. He gently pushed Izaya out of the way to get to the fridge. Izaya couldn't understand why he was so easily fumbling around Shizuo. Why he let the brute do what he wanted. He should be diving for another knife and actively trying to force the blond out of his home, not standing here dumbstruck. And why was Shizuo being so gentle with him anyways? He was used to being thrown against a wall by this overly strong man, not gently pushed aside. Not being cooked for. Not having someone carry his groceries for him. What was Shizuo gaining from doing this?

Shizuo frowned as he looked into Izaya's fridge. "There's no food in here," Shizuo stated as he looked through the empty box.

"That's why I went to the store," Izaya responded, leaning against the counter.

"For a week's supply of ramen? What about a gallon of milk or some eggs? Vegetables?"

"I didn't think of it," Izaya shrugged.

Shizuo looked at Izaya in serious concern. "How can you not think of something so simple? Do you just eat ramen all the time?"

"I go to Russia Sushi every now and then."

"No wonder you're so thin. Alright, I've got some stuff to make stir fry with. Do you at least have cooking utensils?"

"I'm not a savage," Izaya grumbled as he showed Shizuo where he kept his cooking supplies.

"Of course you aren't, Izaya-chan. But I'm beginning to think you don't know how to take care of yourself. Come here." Suddenly Izaya felt himself being lifted off the ground. He panicked and flailed a bit, landing a solid hit to Shizuo's thigh, not making the man even flinch in pain. Shizuo set Izaya on the counter top by the stove, legs dangling off the edge. "Watch closely, Izaya-chan. I'll show you how to cook stir-fry."

"I know how to cook, you know."

"Then this will be a review for you," Shizuo responded easily. He began pulling ingredients out of his grocery bags, completely ignoring Izaya's sad excuse for dinner.

"You don't have to waste your food on me," Izaya grumbled. "You can just go home."

"I'm not wasting my food. I'm cooking," Shizuo stated, with a small glare to Izaya. "Making a meal for you is never a waste."

Izaya felt his cheeks get warm, much to his dismay. He groaned, burying his head in his hands. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you, Shizu-… Shizuo," he grumbled.

"Well you don't need to worry yourself about that," Shizuo laughed. "I know exactly what I'm going to do with you."