A/N: Y'all are too sweet honestly. Writing these chapters is so much fun! Especially when I know someone likes them. (´ω`)~

To ivyshadow13: Thank you! I'm so glad I made you happy with my fast update! I had a long weekend off so I wrote my butt off instead of being with my family haha….so maybe future chapters won't be so quick. But I won't let work stop me!

To inlovewithshizaya: Your review made me laugh! XD I'd fire Namie too, honestly rats are scary. But yes, I do feel bad for Izaya ;v; He hides so many things…

Onto the story~ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


CHAPTER 3: Deal With Me

Shizuo chuckled. "Hard way it is then." He took a menacing step towards Izaya. Who scooted away and pointed his knife out.

"What do you mean…protozoan?" The raven asked uneasily.

"I mean….this!" He reached out and roughly pulled the blanket off the male. The informant broker instantly curled up into a ball, pulling the hood over his head. Shizuo's eyes widened in astonish, noticing that Izaya was….shivering. Dark red eyes glared at him from under a fur lined hood.

"S-So, Shizu-chan…wants to watch me freeze to death…huh?" Izaya chuckled, hands shooting up to his mouth as it developed into a coughing fit. The blonde heaved a sigh and pulled the scarf off of him, cautiously walking over to the raven and wrapping it around his neck. It earned him a stunned look from the male before he harshly took it off and threw it in the ex-bartender's face. "Like hell I'm gonna wear a scarf a beast gave me!" Shizuo slowly pulled the cloth off his face, clenching it tightly in his hands.

"You…have no idea how hard it is for me not to kill you right now," he said through grit teeth.

Izaya looked at him directly in the eyes, an unusually intense gaze coming from him. "Then kill me. It's not like I won't die in here anyways." The cold tone leaking from his voice made Shizuo raise an eyebrow. "You're awfully pessimistic when you're alone, aren't you?"

The raven's eyes narrowed. "You don't know a thing about me."

The blonde crouched down in front of the other. "Then why don't you talk about yourself for once?"

Izaya giggled at that. "Silly Shizu-chan, no one wants to know about me. Why bother?" He faked a smile. 'There's that mask again.' Shizuo internally stated. He brought his hand up to Izaya's cheek and started pulling on it.

"Ow! Owww! Shizu-chan stop that-!" The male whined, clawing at the others' hand to pry it off. After a few tugs, the ex-bartender let go and wrapped the scarf around Izaya once more, standing up. He looked down at the informant broker and stated calmly, "I want to know more about you. This experience has shown me that you possibly aren't just a cocky, sadistic flea. Of course, I still hate you. But this side of you is more tolerable than your usual self."

Izaya gazed up at him in shock. For a brief second, his cheeks tinged pink before he adjusted the scarf and pouted. "You never make any sense, Shizu-chan. Either hate me or don't." Shizuo opened his mouth to retort until the male stopped him. "But~ Maybe I'll let you know more about me if you promise to hate me forever and ever. Kay?" He smiled honestly this time, holding out his pinky to the blonde.

The taller male looked at his pinky and back at the flea. What a weird request. "What the hell is this?"

"It's a pinky promise! You gotta do it, Shizu-chan~! I won't take no for an answer!" The raven chimed.

Shizuo sighed and hooked his pinky with the others'. "Obviously I'll hate you for the rest of my life. So don't think anything of this, okay? You're still a rotten flea." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked to the door, waiting for the other to follow.

Izaya hopped off of the couch and stuffed the knife into his pocket, skipping over to Shizuo. "And you're still a monstrous protozoan~" he sang as they both headed out the door.


"Dammit flea, stop it!" Shizuo shouted as he got hit with –yes, another snowball. They've been walking back for a while now, and in this time…..Izaya has been a complete annoyance. He turned back to spot the raven preparing another ball of cold snow to throw. "I thought you were gonna act differently! Didn't we make a promise!?" Izaya brought his arm back and hurled the ball forward happily, this time being dodged easily by the ex-bartender.

"This is how I always act! You've just never seen me upset, Shizu-chan~" he giggled, trotting up to Shizuo joyfully.

Shizuo rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation. "So you're like that whenever you get upset?" he grumbled, referring to his attitude back at his apartment. The other male looked to the side, smile fading only slightly.

"Well, I don't really know actually. Just back there….it sort of felt like the world was ending, I guess. I was ready to accept death right then and there." Half of that was true. But it's not like he's gonna admit that. Especially to the monster of Ikebukuro. He got a confused look from the blonde after that statement.

"So….you are a bitchy flea when you're upset." The taller male said casually. He felt a tug on his coat sleeve and saw that Izaya was trying to pull him into the snow.

"You're one to talk! Go die you stupid ex-bartender! I hope you suffocate in the snow!" He shouted angrily. 'Is this really the louse…?' Shizuo thought. He snickered and pushed Izaya off him, causing the informant broker to stumble and fall into the cold. That made the blonde laugh.

"Wow, so you really are clumsy," he said, looking at Izaya as the male got up and brushed the snow off of him grumpily.

"Shove a boot up your ass, beast." The raven huffed, running his hands over his arms trying to warm up. That push was so unnecessary. The "beast" merely laughed again, which made a vein pop in Izaya's head.

"Who knew you could be so humorous, louse?" He would normally be furious at these insults, but seeing his usually sly rival all pissed off was really quite enjoyable. He proceeded in walking again. "Let's not stand around here for too long, though. The weather may get worse."

Izaya just crossed his arms and looked away, walking alongside the man anyways. "Whatever."

Shizuo glanced at the younger male for a moment. That face was actually kind of cute.

WAIT.

Did he actually think that this mischievous, little flea was cute!? He's officially gone insane. This trip has officially made him insane. Maybe he can clear his mind a little. So, he casually walked over to a random pole and started banging his head on it. This'll purify his thoughts, right? It'll help him right!?

"Um….Shizu-chan..?" He heard Izaya carefully call out to him. The man turned around grinning, dribbles of blood falling down his face.

"What is it, I-za-ya-?"

The long droned out syllables didn't affect the informant broker at all, he simply just gathered up some ice in his hands and slapped it on Shizuo's forehead. "You should take care of that injury, stupid. What's with banging your head on a pole? You must be dumber than I thought."

The ex-bartender blinked a few times and felt his face heat up a bit. He tore the others' hand off his head quickly. "Don't touch me, bastard!" But that shout still didn't do anything to him. Izaya just sighed and stuffed his hands back into his coat.

"I was just trying to keep you from dying of blood loss. Buuut, I guess a monster like you works differently, so fine. Your face is a bit red though, is the cold getting to you Shizu-chan~?" He teased, sticking his tongue out playfully.

"Let's get back now. It's gonna be dark soon." Shizuo took his fist and bumped Izaya on the head with it, getting a whine out of the raven.

"Ow, no fair~ You just dodged my question!" But no matter. He smiled and waited until the blonde turned his back, before jumping onto it and hooking his arms around the guy's neck. "If you're so caught up in getting there, then carry me~!" He sang happily.

Shizuo was having none of it though, and he pulled on the raven's hair to try and pry him off. It wasn't doing much, as the man just clung on tighter making it hard to breath for the taller male. He tried jabbing the flea with his elbows, and spinning around to make him dizzy, but none of it worked.

"The more you struggle the tighter I hold on, Shizu-chan~!"

"Damn pest, I'm not gonna carry you!"

"Then try to get back home as I throw snowballs at you and try making you suffocate in the snow~"

"…..I could kill you right now…"

"But you're not, right? Because Shrina has to make sure I'm safe~!"

Shizuo groaned in discomfort and anger. He hooked his arms under the raven's legs and started walking through the snow. Izaya hummed happily as they made their way down the city.


The walk from there on was really peaceful for the blonde. After the smelly louse demanded to be carried he was surprisingly tolerable. Sure, he still talked quite a bit. But all he really did was just point out things around him and just…..entertain himself.

"Shizu-chan, look how white the snow is! Isn't that cool~?"

"Shizu-chan, it's snowing pretty hard but you're making it look easy~ No fair!"

"Shizu-chan, I wonder if all the kitties are okay out here. They must be cold~"

It wasn't as bad as Shizuo thought it would be. Especially since at one point he stopped talking in general. The male didn't pay much attention to it though, now that they were finally at Shinra's door. He knocked on it with his foot and waited. Soon enough the door opened and Walker appeared.

"Oh, Shizuo! Come on in!" He let the two males into the living room and shut the door after.

The blonde walked into the living room to find that it was all lit up with candles, a small kerosene heater in the middle of it all. He suddenly heard a squeal to the right of him, turning his head to see Erika holding her phone with a flushed face.

"So cute~! Iza-Iza fell asleep on Shizu-Shizu's back~!"

Shizuo looked behind him at Izaya. "Oh, so that's why he fell silent halfway through the trip. Yo, flea. Get off, we're here." He shook Izaya on his back, making red irises open up slowly before slamming shut.

"Ngh, too tired…sleep more…" He shifted on the others' back and dozed off once more.

"Hey! Don't fall back asleep! I don't wanna smell like you, get off!" Shizuo complained. Everyone in the living room laughed at the scene before them. He just muttered something under his breath and went over to the couch, flopping down on it. He leaned back into the cushions, ignoring the groans of pain coming from the informant broker on his back.

"Rgh-! S-Shizu-chan sit up! I'm getting crushed here!" Izaya whined.

"I'm sorry, weren't you sleeping?" Shizuo asked all-too-innocently.

"I'll wake up, I'll wake up! Just lean forward so my lungs are spared you ass!" He started pounding on the ex-bartenders' back.

"Hmm….should I…?" He thought deeply on that. Kill the flea here, now that he brought him back? Or spare him.

Shinra ran over worriedly. "Don't kill him yet, Shizuo! Hold off on that for now!" The raven's eyes squinted at the doctor. 'For now!?' But after a minute passed, Shizuo got up and Izaya unlatched himself from the man, lying down on the couch in relief.

Shinra looked down at Izaya and back at Shizuo. "He seems a bit…upset today. Something happen?"

"The devilish beast." Izaya said.

"Bad day." Shizuo said.

They both glared at each other for a few minutes, before they rolled their eyes and turned away. The others in the room laughed at that. Maybe this storm won't be so bad after all. For everyone apart from the two enemies that is. Celty typed in her PDA and showed it to the ex-bartender.

["Shinra told me you and Izaya hung out a lot in high school, is this true?"]

Shizuo clicked his tongue. "Actually, yeah. Though, half the time I was chasing him around the whole damn campus. He was a loner back then; quieter. Definitely easier to handle, but still the hardest to catch. He would always sit on top of the roof with a juice box, and comment about how much he loves watching the world develop and shift."

"And once I told Shizu-chan that his power was inhuman and beast-like, that's when he started hating me~ Such a shame, too~" The raven added.

Shizuo stomped the ground and felt his eyebrow twitch. "No, it's because I found out he was sending yakuza members after me so he could 'test my strength'!" Everyone in the room gasped.

"Woah, seriously!?" Walker said in shock.

"So, even back then he was in cahoots with gangs." Kadota spoke.

Izaya sat up and crossed his legs, resting his chin in the palm of his hands. "Well, I had to find some way to entertain myself in my boring school life~ And Shizu-chan was the most interesting out of all the students!"

"And Izaya was the most annoying out of all the students." Shizuo concluded.

"Aw, you flatter me~!"

"It's called an insult, trash."

The doctor sighed and hugged Celty. "Darling, please help me find peace in this time of year! I'm not sure if I can handle this bickering of theirs all throughout the storm…" Celty patted him on the head and quickly put something into her PDA, showing it to him.

["There, there. I'll make sure they don't tear anything up or be too loud."]

Shinra wrapped himself around Celty and began rubbing his cheek on hers. "I love you~! I love you so much~!"

After his little session with his girlfriend, Shinra stretched and waved to everyone in the room. "I'm going to get some nice beauty sleep in my room. Mikado and the others are sleeping in the guest room so everybody please get along, and quietly. Okay? Night~" The doctor yawned and waltzed into his room to sleep.

Celty pressed a few keys in her device and showed it specifically to the two enemies. The taller was currently pinning down the raven, fist up in the air and ready to punch.

["Like Shinra said, get along. Quietly. No fighting you two!"]

They opened their mouths to protest, but Celty threatened to use her scythe on them and they shut up.

Oh, is it going to be a looong storm.


A/N: I really do love Erika, because she's basically the anime version of me in there. But I'm trying to make their character development go at a steady pace, so I have to hold back on the teasing couple-y stuff for now~ (・ω・;)