"I can even give you a male's perspective if you'd like." Shinra added, then put his hands up defensively, knowing how his fiancé was going to react. "I only mean in terms of what Shizuo might like, we're both men, after all! of course you'll have to take my opinions with a grain of salt, my tastes aren't the same as Shizuo, I'm a scientist slash surgeon, and he's a bodyguard for debt collection, but the principle still holds."

"yeah, I appreciate it, thank you." Kagome smiled warmly, she had the best friends ever.

[-x-]

it was just after Kagome had left.

"so, Shizu-chan..." Izaya hummed, amusement seeped from his voice. "I didn't realize you wanted to spend time with Kago-chan that badly, if I'd known, I'd have offered so much sooner."

"cut the crap, Izaya. you're just trying to take up her time so she can't be around me." Shizuo scowled deeply, he hated the info broker twice as much since Kagome had moved to Ikebukuro.

"hmm, perhaps, perhaps not. but that's for me to know, and you to never figure out. but know this, Shizu-chan!" Izaya announced holding his trusty knife out in front of him, "I'm not giving up on her without a fight. there's just something about her that fascinates me, and I want to know what it is."

"she's too kind for the likes of you. you don't deserve her." Shizuo growled.

"maybe, but do you really think that's going to stop me from trying to get close to her?"

"you can try all you want, but you can't have her, I won't let you! but just this once, I'm letting you off the hook, Izaya...I'm in a rather good mood, so I'm not going to kill you today." Shizuo smirked broadly, "I have a date to prepare for." he said, turning on his heels and striding away.

"be careful where you go, Shizu-chan, I just might have to crash your party." Izaya laughed

"whatever." he waved it off, not wanting to directly challenge him. Shizuo chuckled deeply for a moment. he'd been sitting on this information for so long. one day he'd learned that, as a little girl, Kagome had loved the movie, "Lady and the Tramp" and had always wanted to live out that famous spaghetti scene. it was the perfect chance to get close to her. there was only one problem, Shizuo didn't know how to cook spaghetti. 'the question is...who can I get to teach me how to make spaghetti on such short notice? damn, this is gonna be a pain in the ass. but if everything goes well, it'll be completely worth it to see her smile.' he thought as a smile crept across his face.

"SHIZUO! long time no see! how goes?" a large, dark-skinned man wearing a sushi-chef outfit and his hands full of flyers greeted Shizuo with a bright smile.

"hey, Simon. uh, this is gonna sound outta no where, but...do you know how to cook spaghetti?"

"spaghetti?" the large man cocked his head to the side. "is that not noodles with a red tomato sauce and meatballs?"

"yeah." Shizuo nodded.

"ah! yes, I can cook that, why you ask?"

"cause...I'm kinda taking Kagome out for dinner tomorrow, and I wanna make some spaghetti for her, could you teach me how to make it?" he rubbed the back of his neck as a bright blush darkened his cheeks. there was no time to wuss around, this was the perfect opportunity to impress Kagome!

Simon smiled, his eyes crinkling while a satisfied, 'hmmm' escaped, "yes...I can teach you how to make. you want to impress, yes?"

"...yeah, I do."

"wonderful! we start tomorrow morning, bright and early! I will get ingredients for practice!" Simon bowed and went inside Russia Sushi, he walked out a few minutes later, the flyers he'd be holding were now gone.

"I still have to make sure Izaya doesn't interrupt us.." Shizuo whispered to himself. "but where could be safe? that damned Izaya pops up everywhere, and he seemed pretty intent on screwing with my date." the last word put a small smile to his face, he FINALLY had a date with the woman he'd fallen head over heels for.

the next morning, Shizuo woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. a quick look at the caller ID told him Simon was calling.

"erf.." he asked groggily, then paused as a large yawn escaped, "hello?"

"is good morning, Shizuo! time for cooking lessons!" Simon spoke cheerfully.

"right. yeah, are you gonna teach me in Russia Sushi's kitchen?"

"yes, I hope you are ready for learning to cook! when lessons are done, Kagome will be so happy!"

at the mention of his dinner date, all traces of sleep were gone. "I'll be right over so we can get started."

"wonderful! long time no see!" Simon said happily, and the call ended with a beep.

Shizuo sighed, running a palm down his face, tonight had to be absolutely perfect.

[-x-]

Kagome woke up bright and early, she had gotten ready for the day, and went to the kitchen for breakfast. "good morning, Kagome" Celty greeted her.

"hey, Celty. are you ready to go shopping?" Kagome smiled. they were going to pick out a

dress for her date.

"whenever you are. I imagine you're excited for your date tonight." Celty sounded happy

"oh, I'm SO excited...I almost can't believe actually have a date with Shizuo.."

"Shinra had left just before you woke up, but he didn't say where he was going, just that he had to go get something. he seemed excited about it, so I wonder what he's doing..."

"maybe my dinner date inspired him to do something special for you."

"ah! you think so?" Celty asked excitedly.

"knowing Shinra? yeah." Kagome giggled. that boy was head over heels for Celty.

~ding dong~ the door bell rang

"think that could be him? it's only been five minutes since he left." Celty wondered aloud.

"I don't know, I guess we'll never find out if we don't answer the door." Kagome shrugged. she opened the door to find not Shinra, but...Izaya? "I-Izaya?" Kagome stammered, what was he doing here?

"good morning, Kago-chan" the info-broker smiled pleasantly.

"was there something you needed from Shinra? he's out of the house, but he'll be back any minute."

"what? can't a guy just drop by uninvited for absolutely no reason at all?" Izaya chuckled dramatically.

it was then that Kagome noticed he had his hands behind his back, "what are you hiding?"

his smirk didn't change, "oh, of course I couldn't fool you, it's just a small gift." he pulled out a bouquet of flowers.

"wha-ah..they're beautiful..." she'd never seen such beautiful flowers before. Kagome smiled at the gift, but quickly forced it away, "this is lovely, but...I can't help but think the timing is a bit odd, you're not trying to bribe me out of my dinner date with Shizuo, are you?"

"what?" he asked dramatically, "OF COURSE NOT, I would never!"

"uh-huh...so, you dropped by to give me these flowers for absolutely no reason whatsoever?"

"I just thought someone as beautiful as you deserved something equally as beautiful to brighten her day." he waved his hands dramatically.

his words stunned her, "wha-t-that's really sweet, thank you. but I'm still busy tonight."

"ah! you wound me, truly!" he pretended to be struck in the chest with an arrow.

Kagome had to admit, he was an incredibly smooth talker. "so, what are you really here for?" she giggled, "it's not like you to just show up at a girl's doorstep, give her flowers and act all suave for no reason."

"ooh! you certainly don't pull any punches, Kago-chan" Izaya pretended to stagger back, as if he'd been struck again.

she had to admit, he was entertaining to watch...and...perhaps a little cute..but she still had her heart set on Shizuo.

"I'm not here for anything sinister. as much as Shizu-chan likes to believe, I'm not a complete monster. now, as I already told you, I just wanted to brighten your day with something just as vibrant and beautiful as you are. enjoy the flowers!" he announced, then spun on his heels dramatically and walked away, "see ya around Kago-chan! oh, and don't forget to put those in water!"

"hehe, alright." with that Kagome shut the door.