Author's Note: No worries, people. There will be lots of Shizuo x Izaya love. So if you are not a fan of this pairing, just hit the backspace button and move on.

Chapter Two: Experimentation Opportunity

Izaya rummaged through his wardrobe; just like in his dream, it was entirely female attire. Reluctantly, he found the same outfit as in his dream, put it on, and exited his apartment. Once he got out into the street, he was about to pull his hood over his head but stopped halfway as a thought entered his mind.

"Would anyone actually recognize me?" Curious, he attempted the girliest skipping walk he could think of and pranced down the street; all the while staring at how he looked in the glass reflection of store windows.

"It shouldn't be a problem," he muttered to himself thoughtfully. "I play the part of a girl online anyway, so it shouldn't feel too foreign. I don't think anyone would recognize me either." Then his cunning smile plastered across his face. "Besides, I should use this as an experimentation opportunity."

To test his hypothesis, he strolled into Ikebukuro. He managed to pass by Dotachin and his gang without getting recognized. He also bumped into Simon who offered him a sushi pamphlet and called him "lovely young lady." Just for kicks, he asked him if he had any fatty tuna – the kind of sushi that Simon knew is Orihara Izaya's favorite. To his amusement, Simon seemed a little suspicious for a second, but shook it off smiling and told him that he did.

It was actually becoming more entertaining. None of the people who knew him seemed to recognize him at all – just as predicted. Then, he spotted the all-too-familiar figure of a bartender beyond the crowd of people. Just before Shizuo turned his head towards Izaya's direction, Izaya whirled around and began to jog away. Through the years, running away from Shizuo became a usual reflex.

Shizuo shuddered uncomfortably a little before darting his head everywhere.

"Th-this feeling," he grumbled as he clenched his fists.

The infamous strongman tilted his head to the right; a vein in his eye nearly burst when he saw a black coat with beige fur-lining running in the distance. All his concentration bent on chasing down Izaya, he dashed after him. He ripped out the nearest road sign when he was meters away from him.

"Where the shit do you think you're going, IZAYA?"

Izaya jolted a little at the roaring voice, but continued sprinting aimlessly. Innocent bystanders quickly got out of the way, letting the two run by.

Without thinking, the devious informant scurried into an alleyway. He sled to a stop when he noticed a giant white wall closed off the passage. His ears twitched at the hammering footsteps getting closer. He spun around just as Shizuo reached him.

"I found you, you little sh-" Shizuo paused when he got a closer look at Izaya.

Izaya raised an eyebrow, then remembered that his appearance is that of a girl now – which means Shizuo would not recognize him…probably. It was worth a try, he thought.

With the cutest voice he could utter, he appealed to him, "Um…Bartender-san, I think you must have mistaken me for someone. Please don't hurt me!"

"Wha-" Shizuo was taken aback for a moment, then resumed his deadly stance. "Cut the act, dumbass! Don't think you can fool me in a girl's getup! Even though it's-it's well-done," He growled as he eyed the informant from top to bottom.

Izaya frowned. This is why he absolutely hated Shizuo – he just can't predict him at all. But somehow, inside his chest, it felt very warm and fuzzy. Letting out a sarcastic defeated sigh, he chuckled.

"How did you ever recognize me?"

"I can smell your rotten stink two prefectures over." He clenched his teeth together and murderously pointed the now disfigured road sign at Izaya.

The informant took out his flickblade and swung it open with a provoking grin. He waited for Shizuo to dash at him; after a moment, Shizuo rushed at him and swung the road sign towards his body. Izaya ducked, subsequently leaping behind the bartender. Swiftly, Shizuo spun around to give momentum to his leg which drove right into Izaya's abdomen and sent him flying to the wall. Shizuo threw down the road sign, ran to the injured man, pinned his wrist to the wall and pinned his own hand onto his chest.

Shizuo was really about to give the other man a beating, but was alarmed at the feeling of something soft and warm in his hand.

"Eh?" He lightly squeezed Izaya's small breast. "This feels too real."

"Just what are you groping?" Izaya grumbled.

Shizuo flinched and let go of him, taking two steps back. He blinked in confusion.

"Nooo! Shizu-chan touched me in an inappropriate way! You have to take responsibility now!" He cried jokingly.

"What the hell are you– anyway, when the hell did you become a transvestite?" He flustered significantly.

Izaya tried to stifle a laugh but could not help letting it out. "Geez, you're an idiot, Shizu-chan. Do you really think I could get an entire sex-change operation in the span of one night?"

"Then how the hell did this happen?"

"You seem awfully interested. Are you worried about me?" Izaya giggled, earning an annoyed grumble from the other man. "Believe it or not, I visited a website with a chat-bot who turns out to be a genuine sorceress." He noticed Shizuo listening intently, so he put away his flickblade and continued explaining. "She said she would grant me one wish, so I asked her for something I wanted. Next morning, I got this body instead."

Shizuo snickered, "Serves you right. It's punishment for all the messed up crap you've been doing."

Izaya ignored him and walked past him. Shizuo quickly turned around, grasping the other's wrist.

"Hold it right there! You're not getting away!"

"Sorry to let you down, but I don't have time to deal with you today." Izaya tried to pull his wrist free, but realized that his arms were more slender and less strong. So just for kicks, he put on an irresistible puppy-dog expression which got the strongman to let go of his wrist immediately. He pulled his lips into a smirk.

"Hmm?" He stood on his tip-toes to move his face inches away from Shizuo's; the other man began to fluster again. "Could it be that Shizu-chan can't attack me now that I'm a girl?"

Shizuo angrily stuttered.

"I see," Izaya thought, "This is the defense against Shizu-chan that Circe granted me. How sickly humourous."

"That female body just isn't you," Shizuo rationalized, "So, I can't attack you now until you change back. It's fair that way."

Izaya blushed for an instant, taken aback, but forcefully regained his composure. "Oh! How chivalrous! But you know me better – I don't play fair, right?"

"You do it your way, and I'll do it mine!" Shizuo pointed his finger at him to get his point across. "But don't take it the wrong way! If you start a fight with me even as you are now, I'll kick your ass. I just won't deliberately attack you; that's all."

Izaya blinked, then smiled before turning around to leave the alleyway. "Heeeh? I'm really at an advantage."

"Where are you going now?" Shizuo asked in annoyance.

"Back to my apartment to find books that probably have information on how to turn me back." He titled his head sideways, finding Shizuo following behind. "Oh my, why are you coming along, Shizu-chan?"

"Stop calling me that," He grumbled and lit a cigarette. "And I'm following you just in case you suddenly turn back into a man. That way, I can kill you right on the spot." He puffed out some smoke and grinned malevolently. "I have all day."

Izaya giggled, "Well, hold on to your hat, because you might be following me around forever. I should take this opportunity to lead you into a huge ditch."

"Try me."

"This is why I absolutely hate you, Shizu-chan."

III

Shizuo actually followed Izaya back to his dwelling. It felt quite awkward, like they were in an entirely different dimension. Izaya unlocked the door to his apartment and they both entered.

The informant pranced over to the bookshelves and fingered the various spines.

"This is the first time I 'invited' you into my habitat. It's unsettling." While searching through the books with one hand, he used his other hand to point a reprimanding finger at Shizuo. "Oh right, don't touch anything – you'll break them."

"Hmph!" Shizuo turned his head everywhere to eye the office. To him, the decor was surprisingly ordinary.

"Here we go! 'Greek Deities' – now let's see…" The informant exclaimed and proceeded to flip through the pages of the book he found.

Shizuo couldn't help but watch as Izaya flipped through every page intently. When he was not doing something messed up, Shizuo thought, Izaya did seem quite cute. But he dismissed the thought - he only felt that way because Izaya's current feminine appearance has its charm. Or so he believed.

III

Hours passed by fast. Outside the large window was the view of the setting sun. Shizuo took one more puff from his third cigarette then put it out on the tea saucer on the table. He leaned back on the couch, eyeing Izaya from his periphery.

"Hmm. Nothing useful, after all." Izaya closed the book shut and put it back on the shelf. He walked over to his desk to turn on the laptop.

"What are you doing now?" Shizuo muttered lazily.

"I'm going back to the chat-bot website," he chirped, "Maybe there will be something."

Shizuo folded his indigo shades, putting them into his breast pocket; he walked over to Izaya and leaned over his shoulder to view the screen. A pleasant shiver traveled up Izaya's spine as he smelled the fresh tobacco scent off the blond man. Regardless, he managed to keep a poker face. He briefly cleared his throat and entered the website.

The page loaded just as it did the day before. The animated sketch of Circe appeared; so did the text box and golden-lettered message.

"Oh, Shizu-chan, I've got an idea – you can wish for me to return to a male!" Izaya exclaimed, "Since you're the only one here with one wish left."

Shizuo stared at the crafty informant, at the screen, then back at him.

"Che! I'm not stupid enough to fall for that. What if I end up just like you?" He folded his arms across his chest.

"My my, so you do think," Izaya giggled.

While Shizuo huffed at the insult, a black spider suddenly scurried out from nowhere towards Izaya's hand on the desk. Izaya noticed it out of the corner of his eye and involuntarily jerked his hand away. It continued to scurry towards Izaya's body, so he slowly got up from his chair.

"What's wrong with me? Why do I feel so scared of that puny, little thing? " Izaya thought to himself. "I usually don't care about spiders. Could it be a side effect of being in this female body?"

"Ooooh, so you're afraid of spiders."

Izaya stiffened – he momentarily forgot Shizuo was with him. The bartender chuckled maliciously.

"Of course not." A bead of sweat formed at his temple. "I could care less about these lit-AAAAH!"

Shizuo had taken the spider in his hand and threw it at Izaya's feet. He burst out in laughter and squished his eyes in mirth as he watched Izaya jump around with a high-pitched scream. Izaya quickly ran around the timid spider to Shizuo who was holding his stomach in laughter. Izaya slammed his fists repeatedly at Shizuo's chest like an upset girlfriend hitting her boyfriend for pulling a mean prank on her.

"That was so mean, Shizu-chan! I really hate you!" Izaya turned beet-red from embarrassment.

"Eh heh heh!" Shizuo finished laughing, taking a deep exhale while Izaya kept hitting his chest.

The former bartender gazed at Izaya whose eyes were squished shut and tears streamed out from the corners. There was also a tinge of light red across his cheeks.

He really is cute, Shizuo thought to himself. Unintentionally, his arms wrapped around Izaya's small figure; he put enough force into the embrace to tuck Izaya's arms onto his chest so that he would stop hitting him.

"Ok, ok, ok. I'm sorry," Shizuo chuckled.

Izaya sniffled, then whimpered while tightly clenching onto Shizuo's dress shirt. He eased into the embrace and indulged in the taller man's warmth. For that moment, the feelings that he was hiding surfaced completely.

After a few seconds, they both registered their positions at the same time. They jerked their heads up to stare at each other, but neither let go of the other. The sun was now fully below the horizon, and the laptop screen flickered.

All of a sudden, a rosy glow enveloped Izaya. Before either could make a reaction, Izaya shot up six more inches in height; his face smashed into Shizuo's and their lips forcefully came in contact. Shizuo's eyes widened; Izaya was fully back in his male form.

They ripped away from each other's kiss and embrace. Both covered their mouths with the palms of their hands in shock. They silently gaped at one another like mirror images.

IIII

Author's Note: Next chapter, Celty and Shinra make an appearance! Expect a nice make-out scene with Shizuo and Izaya (male form) next chapter. OH, by the way, all romantic interaction between the two will be with Izaya in his male form. So it's strictly BL, no worries. Haha.