Tapping his foot impatiently with his eyes darting from around the room back to the watch on his wrist, Izaya continued to watch in pain as Kyouhei seemed to be taking his time with his long black today. With practiced hands that could make coffee like a God, Kyouhei's eyes were closed, completely relaxed with a content smile on his face as he took his sweet time.

"Dotachin, I asked for a long black, takeaway, not a long black slave away!" Izaya snapped nervously. Kyouhei resumed his pace as though he never heard the incessant nagging, but laughed when Izaya called out 'Dotachin!' exasperatedly.

"Izaya, we both know you're not late to anything, you're just having a nervous breakdown," the coffee barista said lightly. Bristling as though the fur and hairs on Izaya's body and jacket stood on their ends furiously, Izaya's mouth opened and Kyouhei sighed.

"What? Of course I'm not late I'm just wasting my fruitless time when I could be spending it with my precious baby laptop and typing away at my story instead of watching you take your damn time with my cup of coffee- god dammit Dotachin!" Kyouhei laughed at this and capped the take away coffee cup, handing it to Izaya whereas the shorter male snatched it and handed down the exact change. "You're so damn annoying when you want to be," Izaya hissed before he pivoted on his heel and bumped straight into a brick wall.

Rubbing his nose with his free hand, Izaya cursed and peeked open his eye to look straight into-not a brick wall- a toned chest that peeked out from the café uniform. His gaze followed the chest upwards-though that gaze may have lingered there for a moment too long- and dove straight into honey. Drowning, Izaya gulped before tilting his face down to cover his blush, and cleared his throat. He muttered a bitter 'sorry', before hurrying out of the store.

Quizzical, Shizuo looked at the man that seemed to be in a rush and turned to the lax expression of his friend behind the counter.

"…Customer complaint?" Shizuo voiced, broom in hand. Laughing, Kyouhei shook his head and waved it off.

"You could call it that, I guess. Just a friend of mine who is having a few troubles at the moment. Don't mind him, he's a frequent regular." Nodding blankly, Shizuo turned to sweep the side of the store he hadn't reached yet, contemplating on trivial matters such as 'what should I have for dinner', whereas a few blocks down, a writer contemplated 'what the hell is love.'


The next morning, Namie swiped her card key through the door and entered the passcode she had memorised off by heart, convenient for those times when she had to hound her 'fantastic' writer to make it for a deadline. After hearing a successful beep and watching the mechanical security device's light turn green, she turned the handle and entered the luxurious complex, pocketing her spare card key.

"Izaya?" she called out, scanning the room for any signs of her obnoxious little writer. Frowning, she glanced at the plain clock on the wall, and headed towards rooms that he could have been lounging in. "Izaya, where are you? This is no time to be playing a damn child's game." She sweeped her hand over the stair railing as she climbed to the second story of the loft, and turned left into the bedroom down the hall, only to find-

Twitching, a handle of her handbag slipped down her shoulder as she glared angrily at the lump that hid under the covers in the dark of the room, despite the fact that it was 11 am.

"You have got. To be kidding me," Yagiri Namie deadpanned, though no matter how many times she blinked, the lump with still there, under the bed, unmoving. A muffled complaint reached her ears just barely, but she was too busy slowly becoming furious at her unmotivated 'lump in the bed', all blinds and shades effectively blocking the sunlight from filtering into the room.

"Namie, I said I'm not feeling well today, leave!" the muffled voice came again from under the covers, most likely from a peephole that made enough room for the head to come out. Dropping her bag and marching straight towards the lump, Izaya raised his defenses to 'turtle under attack' and gripped his sheets around his body like his life depended on it.

Which it did, at the moment.

"ORIHARA IZAYA GET OUT OF THE BED NOW!"

"No!"

"IZAYA!"

"No!"

"IZAYAA!"

"NOOO!"

Covers were tossed about, struggling became violent and curses were thrown back and forth, a childish and sulking Izaya finally dragged from his covers by the scruff of his full pajama cow body suit, complete with a hood.

"I can't believe you, you little shit, how fucking old are you?" Namie hissed, surprisingly strong for a woman her size. The fluffy body suit only seemed to emphasise his immaturity, beady cow eyes staring up at her. Hell the thing came complete with fluffy hoof slippers.

"Old enough to write rubbish!" Izaya harrumphed, sticking his nose into the air with his arms crossed, causing the cow's head to fall back and reveal Izaya, which made it look as though he was temporarily eaten and thrown back up again. And thus, despite its cuteness and its beady eyes as Izaya flipped it back up again, she began her lecture.

"I am your editor for a reason, I am one of the toughest, best workers in the publishing industry there is out there, and you, I took you for a damn good reason Orihara. Just because you can't write one genre doesn't mean it's the end of the world, grow the fuck up-!"

"Ahem…"

An intruder's voice cleared their throat, shocking both the lecturing nanny and the stubborn child who stared at the doorway to the bedroom. Standing with a small piece of paper with address details in one hand, and a helmet under the other arm, a steaming cup of –godly smelling- coffee attracted the immature two's attention to the cup, then back to the stranger at the door. Eyes widening, Izaya realized it was the new employee that joined Dotachin's café 5 days ago.

Well… this is embarrassing.

"Um… the door was open, and no one was responding… so I uh, came in. This is from Kadota," the handsome man said, handing the coffee towards them. "He said he was worried 'you didn't pick up your phone.' So… um…" Trailing off awkwardly, he stood there, arm outstretched, coffee cup in hand. Judging by the perfect blend and brew smell the coffee gave off, it was Izaya's usual long black.

The tension from earlier seeped into extreme awkwardness as no one made a move for the coffee, only stared at one another. Glancing at the dresser next to his position at the door, the tall blonde glanced back and forth and began to slowly set the coffee cup down, as though any sudden movements would bring the monster woman he witnessed from just now back.

"I'll... leave it here. Good day." He nodded once and power walked outside of the apartment. The sound of a door closing politely was heard from the living room, and Izaya could feel Namie's grip loosen.

"Well, at least my coffee's here! How nice of Dotachin, such a caring friend-" Izaya sang happily, skipping towards the dresser where his coffee sat. However, his bedside lamp flew past his head and straight out the window.

"OBNOXIOUS LITTLE-"


Awkwardly standing in the elevator on his own, as soon as the doors had shut, Shizuo collapsed his head onto his forearm, which rested on the mirror wall beside him. Covering his face with one hand, his shoulders shook as a blush overcame his face.

Moo.

What… Shizuo questioned himself in his own mind as the elevator passed several floors leisurely. What the hell was what… Without knowing what to expect when Kyouhei had asked him to make a little personal delivery, Shizuo certainly did not expect to see that.

Held by the scruff of the hoodie's neck, a dejected looking young man gazed up at Shizuo from his position on the bed, though it looked as though he was going to be dragged off it had Shizuo come any later. However, the man's face was swallowed by an unbelievably cute, fluffy body suit that looked like a cow, a rare sight that Shizuo had never seen in his life. Standing beside him, with a manicured hand that dug into said cow's neck, stood a strict, but pretty lady who seemed to be the 'I don't take bullshit' kind of person. Despite the comical situation Shizuo had found himself in, the two certainly knew how to make a delivery boy feel awkward.

A slight ding had alerted Shizuo he reached his destination as he straightened himself, but still covered the bottom half of his face with a hand, the awkward image of a cow retaining the blush on his face. Sighing, he exited the exquisite apartment/penthouse complex and continued to think of his schedule for the day, desperately trying to forget that fucking adorable cow. Shaking his head, Shizuo stood right beside his motor scooter and raised his helmet, about to place it on his head.

Shizuo had little to no warning as an ornamentally modern bedside lamp made its presence known by smashing against the back of his head just before his helmet made it. Pausing, Shizuo stood still for a few moments in silence as passersby that had witnessed the event gasped and spluttered, wondering how on earth that man was still standing. Feeling a rage bubble from within himself, Shizuo's brow twitched, and a cynical twitch of his mouth upwards made itself known.

"Shizuo, stop!"

Breathe, Heiwajima. Breathe, Shizuo forced through his head. Taking slow breaths and calming himself, he forced the screaming voices out of his head.

"Shizuo, stop!"

Once he opened his honey-glazed eyes again, the lamp that shattered to pieces was forgotten as Shizuo clipped his helmet on, and started the engine of his blue scooter.

Sometimes, Shizuo wished the peaceful life was suited for him.


Ringing, the bell above the door was triggered as a regular customer stepped inside the toasty and familiar café, sparking a smirk out of the assistant manager.

"So, the cat returns to the cradle huh?" Kyouhei jested as a hissy Izaya stepped towards the counter.

"Shut up, I'm not in the mood," Izaya snapped, handing down the exact change it cost for his usual takeaway long black. Laughing, Kyouhei knew his little writer friend was being greatly affected by his writer's block, and wasted no time in creating the perfect blend of espresso that would somewhat soothe the frazzled person's nerves.

"I thought Shizuo delivered your usual over to you in the morning?" Kyouhei questioned, capping the drink. Izaya huffed at the embarrassing memory of being caught in his 'moomoo' pajamas, and then scoffed.

"I just need another one," he said moodily, mulling over the name in his head. Shizuo huh? Izaya muttered a quick goodbye to Kyouhei, who waved in turn, and left the warm café to venture into the bitter chilly streets of Ikebukuro. He hurried towards the subway line that would take him home, and boarded the train as soon as the doors had opened. After the messy and crowded bustle of humans had passed and Izaya settled himself against a pole adjacent to the train doors, he took a long sip of his coffee and sighed. Grateful for the coffee intake, Izaya closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax, taking in the chatter of humans around him, the beeping of mobile keypads being pressed and the distant cry of a baby in another carriage.

A small bump in the smooth railway track took Izaya off guard as he bumped into the person behind him accidentally. The jolt was rather hard, and sent Izaya practically straight into the person's back. Almost spilling his coffee-thank god he didn't, he certainly wasn't in the mood for coffee flavoured shirts- he heard the sound of a thick book falling to the ground, and spun around to quickly apologize.

"Oh shit, sorry-" and as he bent down to help the person crouched on the floor to pick up the book, he was shocked to see his face staring up at him. A small picture of himself was settled on the inside of the book cover, which appeared to be one of his famous books, 'Hide and Seek'. He raised his now arrogant filled eyes to make eye contact with whoever appeared to be a fan of his, but once again did a double-take. Blank, honey eyes stared back at him in shock, a warm scarf wrapped around a certain handsome blonde's neck.

Looking down at the author's picture, then back at the person in front of him, Shizuo's eyes widened.

Orihara… Izaya… this man… all along? Shizuo asked in his own head, trying to grasp the concept that his favourite author of all time was a regular customer at the café he worked at. His hand no longer functioned to pick up the book, but rather, his gaze followed the pale hand that picked the book up for him. Standing slowly at the same time, Izaya had a puzzled look cloud his face as he watched the totally spaced out café worker stare at him.

But the spaced out stare became a full out blush that spread from the tousled blonde's cheeks to the tips of his ears.

Moo.

Tilting his head to the side, Izaya's face furrowed into a questioning glance as he wondered 'why are all my encounters with you so awkward?' Clearing his throat after his blush had settled to a dusting on his cheeks, Shizuo began to awkwardly struggle with something to say.

"Um… I'm sorry about that, I… just remembered something." As Shizuo avoided eye contact, Izaya realized he was referring to his 'moomoo' suit. Soon a pink dusted his own arrogant cheeks before he cleared his throat and held out his hand, his confident persona kicking in.

"Well, how about we get past that, and I introduce myself properly?" The cocky grin threw Shizuo off guard, before he could feel a familiar irritation bubble inside himself at the arrogance that he had little tolerance to. "Orihara Izaya, spectacular and wonderful crime-novel writer, brilliant, handsome and intelligently so." Shizuo's brows furrowed as his lips set into a firm line, conflicted at how he should feel about meeting the author he's been a great fan of for a while now. He took the hand into a firm grip and shook once as he grunted a response.

"Heiwajima Shizuo… pleasure to meet you." Izaya's brows raised and his lips twitched upwards at the manners and etiquette this man had. How cute he cooed in his mind, totally forgetting the stress of his writer's block as it was lifted from his shoulders.

"Finally, we've been properly introduced it seems. And! A fan of mine, are you?" the writer questioned sneakily, wiggling his eyebrows. Once again, a pink dusted the blonde's cheeks as he nodded, burying the lower half of his face into his scarf.

"Uhh… yeah…" Having spent only a few minutes with this man however Shizuo knew that if he said 'oh this is my 5th time rereading this book actually', the man's ego would probably knock the train right off its railway line. Smiling, Izaya leaned back giddily, knowing that his works had once again, proven to be excellent.

"Glad to hear it. Always happy to hear that my stories are worth reading," he cheered, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Ah but enough about me, Shizu-chan, what about you? Where are you headed right now?" the social man inquired. A vein popped and a brow twitched as Shizuo stared at the shorter man in front of him. What the- Shizu-chan?

"Shinjuku," he mumbled stewing over the new nickname he just received from an almost complete stranger. Oh well, Shizuo tried to calm himself down. Just get off the train at Shinjuku, and then you barely have to tolerate this man again. Oh, next stop Shinjuku, great-

"Eh? Really? That's great; I'm getting off there too!"

Fuck.

"Why are you getting off there Shizu-chan?"

Annoying.

"I'm going to my next part time job," he mumbled from under his scarf.

"Wow~ so admirable! Busy body you are, aren't you? Are you a freeter*?" Izaya asked curiously. Shizuo simply nodded, ignoring the little 'oh we're here!' the little man cheered as the doors to Shinjuku station opened. Shizuo walked out ahead, hoping that the man would say goodbye, leave him alone and-

"OH MY GOD, your head!" the young man screamed. Shizuo turned around to look at Izaya curiously, before touching the back of his hair and realizing a flaky substance was falling off. What the- Bringing the fingers to his line of vision, he noticed it was blood.

Oh. So that's why people kept staring at me all day-

"Come on!" a voice commanded, before he felt his arm being tugged towards the exit of Shinjuku station. "You need treatment for that!" It took a moment for the thought to process properly in his head, and when it did-

"Hahhh? No! I don't need to, it's fine-OI!"


After exiting the closest convenience store the pair found, Izaya exited the shop with Shizuo in tow, a bottle of water in hand, along with disinfectant and tissues. Settling down on a half brick wall that acted as a small barricade entrance to a local park, Izaya proceeded to wet Shizuo's hair to get rid of the dried, matted blood that developed over the day. Shizuo had another hour or so to kill before his part time, so he let himself be treated of an injury he didn't even feel.

"Geez," Izaya sighed, dabbing at the blonde locks, which to his guilty little pleasure, was pleasant to ruffle. Not soft like a girl, but almost as soft as a dog's coat. "What the hell did you do to yourself, and how the hell did you not feel it?" After a moment of silence, Shizuo quietly responded-

"You wouldn't believe me." Rolling his eyes, Izaya rubbed the blood out of his hair, and proceeded to wipe off any excess scabbing that might have irritated Shizuo's scalp.

"I'm wiping a whole head full of blood off of your hair, I think I'd believe it," Izaya scoffed, standing behind a seated Shizuo while pouring a small, delicate amount of water onto his head.

"A bedside lamp fell out of a top storey window and hit me on the head."

At the pure shock and irony of it, Izaya accidentally poured the whole bottle of water out onto the blonde's head. An outraged roar escaped Shizuo's lips by instinct as he stood up and whipped around to face the laughing perpetrator.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Shizu-chan!" Izaya gasped for breath in between words and laughs. Now he knew at least the lamp Namie threw had hit somebody. "Hahaha, it's just, no, funny story, that lamp is- hey wait what are you doing?" the laugh skipped to a yelp as Shizuo hoisted the skinny author onto his shoulder. With a head of dripping water and a partially soaked top, Shizuo ignored the complaints and fearful whines that escaped Izaya's lips and continued walking towards his destination despite the kicking and flailing.

"Shizu-chan-" Growl. "Shizuo, okay, seriously I'm sorry, that was an accident, I didn't mean to do that, where are you taking me? Shizu-chan? Shizu-chan! Shizu-AH!"

Unceremoniously, Izaya was promptly dropped from a reasonable height into the freezing cold fountain of the local Shinjuku park and was left to struggle for a few moments as he spluttered and struggled for proper oxygen to enter his lungs without the accompaniment of water. After regaining a common ground in the fountain on his sore ass with his hands supporting him, he could only stare in wonder at the rich laugh that escaped the handsome man's body. Izaya kept staring at the man until the laughs died down to a chuckle, and Shizuo regained his breath.

"Ah, that was good payb-ACK!" a disgruntled Shizuo exclaimed before he too, was pulled into the fountain by a sopping wet arm. And so, after twenty minutes into their spontaneous 'acquaintance-ship', the two spent another forty minutes dunking each other under water, and splashing the other without mercy.

Shizuo had to explain half an hour later why his phone didn't work when his boss tried to contact him, and why his uniform was soaked through and through whereas the next morning, Izaya had a hard time convincing Namie he was actually sick.

Though, needless to say, if anyone had asked either of the two, if they had regretted their little water-fight, both would have been too proud to say no.


A/N: Wowee! Finished the second installment of IM, and I'm quite proud of myself actually! I didn't expect this story to get much of a response, to be honest, but when I read my first two reviews, I couldn't wipe that grin off my face. Reviews make me damn happy in actuality, which made me write this story faster. If you can take a hint, my dear readers, you understand what I'm saying right? ;D But anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!

*Freeter/Furi-ta : a Japanese term that basically means something along the lines of someone who is not employed properly, but has lots of part time jobs.

Reviews and Criticisms appreciated!