Izaya sighs, leaning forward. He peeks down at the show playing out before him. Shizu-chan is truly crazy. He's ripping through everything and everyone he can get his hands on, like the monster he is. Izaya would feel sorry for them, if not for the annoying pain in his stomach.

Of course, he had paid the gang to beat him, but it still hurt quite a lot. Though, he can't deny that it was indeed his fault that the gang's boss lost his money.

That was probably the reason why they had been so rough with him. This should serve enough as a payback though. He shouldn't be hearing from them anymore and neither should Shizuo, so everything will turn out fine.

To be honest, Izaya really didn't expect the brute to be tricked so early in the plan. But this was only a further proof as to how unpredictable Shizu-chan was. And Izaya can't deny that actually being rescued is a sort of compliment to him, too.

He involuntarily smiles at thought before spinning around on the edge of a roof. At this rate, he should be able to steal a kiss from Shizuo pretty quickly.

While watching the brute fight, Izaya had to admit that he looked pretty fascinating. His muscles stretching as he lifts cars and street signs, and his bartender suit almost ripping apart in the process. He sighs with another smile. Kissing, in itself, wasn't all that interesting to Izaya, but with Shizu-chan? Just what will he taste like?

Izaya shivers.

He imagines his fingers running softly through the bleached hair, his mouth closing the distance between his and Shizuo's. Their hips rubbing gently as Shizuo grips his waist, and his teeth nibbling and biting roughly into Izaya's lower lip.

It's going to be amazing!

Before he can dive any deeper into the fantasy, Izaya stills when he notices the blonde staggering away from the scene; everyone else already passed out or ran away.

Shizuo is bleeding from a wound behind his neck and his knuckles are bruised and battered even worse than Izaya's.

The informant's smile disappears as he shakes his head. Shizuo's wounds heal quickly anyway, so there is no reason to worry. Well, that is if he really was worried in the first place.

It wouldn't hurt to chat with the brute for a bit, Izaya thinks to himself as he begins to make his way back down to the ground, jumping from the roof. He landed with a slight hiss as he's reminded of the fact that he was beat to hell not too long ago.

He creeps behind Shizuo's slouched form at a safe distance watching him walk for a few minutes.

Izaya doesn't want Shizuo to see him yet, so he decides to stalk him until they turn the corner and reach... a dead end?

"Stop playing games, Flea..." Shizuo mutters and turns around to finally face the informant, "I know you're following me."

Huh? Izaya freezes with his mouth hanging open slightly. Surely, Shizuo couldn't possibly hear Izaya's quiet steps behind him, so how come he was able to notice him anyway?

Shizuo waits for an answer, but after he sees nothing is coming out of the informant's mouth, he just scoffs and turns back to leave.

"Nothing gets past you, does it, Shizu-chan," the informant answers and Shizuo stops in his tracks.

A slow smile spread across Izaya's face as he found the humor in his current situation. He is reminded that he can't predict, let alone control, Shizu-chan's actions like he can with his precious humans..

Izaya starts to follow the blonde as he limps away from him again with a crooked scowl on his face.

"What do you want from me, idiot?" Shizuo responds to Izaya's annoying smile without turning back to him and sighs tiredly before continuing, "You're right, okay?! Celty told me."

Huh?! Izaya freezes for the second time since his short interaction with the brute started.

Shizuo turns back to Izaya completely oblivious to his frozen posture. "So, could you please stop following me around?! First you avoid me, now you won't leave me alone. You have been acting so weird around me ever since that night. You've been confusing the fuck out of me all this time, and that's probably what you wanted. Well, the fun is over. I came to help you after Kadota's annoying brats persuaded me, but don't think too much of it, Flea! I didn't do it for you and I won't bother next time."

The bodyguard gets angry as he watches Izaya's grin slowly disappear while a sudden surprise takes over his face.

Izaya continued to underestimate him. Not only that, but Shizuo had him almost completely figured out. He notices the subtle inquisitive frown on Shizu's face, realizing the blonde's surprise at Izaya's expression.

Maybe he hasn't lost yet. Actually... this might be a good thing.

Izaya smirks darkly. This is going to be way more fun than he had ever expected.

"Just what are you talking about, protozoan. Did you miss me or what?" Izaya replies snarkily, ignoring Shizuo's attempts to leave him alone.

"What? I'm too tired to deal with your stupid mind games and bullshit right now. I don't want to kill you, okay? Well, I do. But apparently, I'm too weak to do it. Or cowardly. Not that I admit defeat, but whatever suits you. This is pointless, so stop," Shizuo sighs tiredly with an evident defeat in his voice.

"But you're wrong, Shizu-chan. These are not mind games. I'm not playing with you," Izaya answers while raising his hand to calm him down, and tries for his wicked grin not to give him away.

"Why have you been avoiding me, then?" Shizuo asks in confusion.

Shit. Izaya struggles to figure out what the blonde wants to hear by studying his expressions, but he can't find anything.

He tries to hide it with a careful smirk.

"Because Shizu-chan is being annoying," Izaya responds with a grin and observes Shizuo's bewildered gaze in a slight amusement.

"What? I'm the one who's being annoying?" Shizuo asks again, louder this time.

Izaya may not predict every single one of the brute's reactions, but one thing's for sure; there is a thin line between a calm and peace-loving Shizuo and a very angry and pissed off Shizuo. And Izaya has made it his current life mission to continuously tread that line.

"You heard me, protozoan. I can't stand you, and the fact you're not even capable of hurting me anymore is even more annoying. And you've come to my rescue. Why, Shizu-chan? Why?"

Izaya stops smiling and doesn't bother to hide the fact that he too wants to know the answer, because Shizuo is too easy to trap. And at the same time, he isn't.

And Izaya just wants this to work. He wants this to work very much...

He gives Shizuo the space to answer him, but nothing comes out of the blonde's mouth. He just frowns with a seemingly confused face.

Izaya sighs, even more annoyed. "I really can't imagine why. You know that I'm not your damsel in distress, right? I see that it's you who doesn't want to leave me alone. Indeed, Shizu-chan, stop frowning like you don't understand at all. It's you who doesn't want to let go off me. Admit it. You get off on our little fights, don't you? Stop pretending that you're not a monster and that you care because, just like I thought, you're nothing like my beloved humans, Shizu-chan."

It was true. Humans are selfish and greedy and all they fight for are themselves. That's why playing with humans is easy. Playing with Shizuo is different.

Izaya watches as the brute's jaw drops and his eyes widen in complete shock. One might think that his plan to make Shizuo fall in love with him is crumbling down with Izaya's evil words, but the informant can't afford letting Shizuo slip away from him in ignorance!

The informant can feel his emotions take over. No. Just no.

Izaya averts his face away from Shizuo as his shoulders start shaking involuntarily.

This might ruin everything, but it seems it's already too late, so he might just go with the flow. Maybe a little bit of honesty would help?

"That's right. I don't understand the reason why you hadn't killed me when you had the chance. And right now, because you could if you really wanted, couldn't you? And I can't understand the reason why you saved me just moments ago, either. And, judging by your facial expression, you can't understand it, either," Izaya continues, almost angrily and walks closer towards the blonde to shove him with his hands.

The blonde staggers back a little due to his surprise, but Izaya keeps pressing him. "So tell me, Shizu-chan. Why won't you just let me die?!" Izaya wants to ask, but it comes out as a half-scream.

Both stare at each other in a complete daze, and honestly, Izaya doesn't dare to speak any more.

Thinking about it, maybe he slipped just a little more than he had wanted. He frowns and folds his arms in annoyance.

He rushed it and now he needs to start over from square one. But first, he needs to calm down. After that, he's going to have to compose himself again and reaffix his poker face. That'll work. He has to try to take everything that's happened into account and get the situation under his control again.

Well, at least now he knows he was wrong. That he could never get tired of Shizuo.

But why must Shizu-chan be so frustrating?

Why can't he just fall in love with him already?

Everything comes back to Shizuo. The talk he had with Celty. The feelings he had when he wasn't able to see the ugly bastard's face for days. And most off all – the feelings he had when Izaya left him when he told him he hated him every chance he could get. That would be understandable in other situations, but not with them.

They were different.

Shizuo watches Izaya's frantic outburst. He has never seen him like this before. Is he angry that Shizuo just saved his life? What the fuck?

As Shizuo stares at Izaya's face, he realizes just how close they are. Immediately, he takes a step back. "Woah, Flea. Didn't realize you were that desperate for me to kill you," Shizuo replies and runs a hand through his hair hastily.

"I'm not. I'm just confused," the informant turns back to face him while flinging his arms around in annoyance.

"Calm down, Flea. I hate to break this to you, but I'm even more confused. So don't expect any answers from me. And while we're at it, since when do you get confused?"

"Stop it, Shizu-chan. You know what I'm trying to say..."

"Actually? No, I don't. You were the one who started this. You were the one who ran away from me," Shizuo raises his eyebrows. He didn't mean for it to sound like that, but he can't help but wonder how long they will continue in this pointless hiding game.

"Are you stupid? I run away from you all the time," Izaya scoffs and raises an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean it like that, Flea. And what was that with the gang, by the way? They beat you up and now you look like shit. Just how the fuck did you let that happen?"

"Are you stupid?! There were just too many of them, Shizu-chan," Izaya sighs.

"Of course. But you manage to get away from me all the time, so what's your excuse? Or are you suddenly that incapable?"

"That's because you're you. And you're just one and so easy to piss off..." the informant shrugs, because it apparently should have been obvious to Shizuo without asking.

"Well, you've been doing pretty well at not pissing me off the last three weeks. So..." Shizuo struggles with how to continue, but doesn't turn away. He doesn't want to admit that he was thinking about the informant longer than necessary.

"Have you been counting, Shizu-chan?" Izaya seems to catch on Shizuo's sudden nervousness as he continues to smile like an idiot.

This makes Shizuo laugh out loud because of course he would notice. Idiot. However, he decides to continue answering the informant's inquiries.

"Shut up, Flea. And to answer you previous question; I don't know why I saved you, but I know why I didn't kill you. I don't care that you think I'm a monster because I don't care about your impression of me. I know that I'm not a monster and I don't want to kill people. Not even the likes of you."

"The likes of me?"

"Exactly. You're scum. But back then, when I said I want you to disappear..." Shizuo starts, but doesn't quite finish as he notices Izaya's confused gaze.

"Yeah?" the informant stops smiling and suddenly, he's way too serious.

Shizuo frowns. "Yeah, well... I didn't really mean that. I just want you to stop being so fucking meddlesome. So can you just stop hiding already?"

Izaya looks to the ground in something resembling timidness. Or maybe regret. Shizuo can't quite put his finger on it, because this hasn't happened before.

For a while, Shizuo thinks he's not going to hear the answer, but when Izaya looks up to look at Shizuo's face again, the smirk is back on his face. "I see. That's a big mistake, Shizu-chan. Because now that I don't have to avoid you anymore, I'm free to do whatever I want in Ikebukuro again. I'm glad we've talked this out. More or less. I understand that you decided to peacefully accept yourself, but you're delusional. It led you to convince yourself that you don't want to kill me. But it doesn't mean that I have to do the same.."

Izaya reaches out for his knife in his pocket, but finds nothing. He looks at Shizuo in confusion.

"Missing something?" Shizuo asks mockingly as he remembers Izaya's favourite knife is hidden in his vest and brings it out to show it to the informant.

Izaya scowls when he notices the object in his hands and it's Shizuo's turn to smirk.

"Bastard," is Izaya's only answer before he runs away from the flying blade.

"IZZAYAA!" Shizuo can't help but scream the flea's name, gritting his teeth in mock anger.

Izaya laughs madly as he's being chased by Shizuo, and the bodyguard does the same.

Honestly, Shizuo is glad everything is back to normal. Kind of. He thought he could get away with ignoring Izaya in return. It was well-deserved as the informant had been doing the same for what felt like a very long time. But apparently, that was just in a spur of the moment thing, because here they are, chasing after each other again.

A warm breeze tickles Shizuo's cheek as he runs.

They almost fly through the streets, but Shizuo takes a moment to look up at the sky and realize it's almost morning. The orange and yellow are mixing with the last remaining bits of dark the night had to offer, and the stars are slowly disappearing between the clouds.

Shit. Going to work today will be pretty exhausting.

Time to go home, thinks Shizuo to himself, slightly disappointed. He was enjoying this, to tell the truth. And he suspected that Izaya felt the same.

The blonde decides to stop following after Izaya, but as he turns to leave, he realizes the informant had already stopped running before him.

He's standing on a nearby rooftop.

Shizuo takes cautious steps towards him. He observes Izaya looking at the sky just like Shizuo did moments ago. His expression looks a little lost again, and his eyes are blank. But the way his hair is tossed around in front of his eyes by the soft morning breeze, probably clouding his vision, catches Shizuo's attention.

Izaya turns his head back to the blonde and flashes a smile at him.

Shizuo's belly suddenly flutters and he blushes – which almost never happens. He resists the urge to turn away at the new sight. This is a different smile than the evil smirk Shizuo is accustomed to. His eyes are smiling too, and it makes him look younger. Enemies don't smile like that at you, right?

"Izaya? Are you okay?" Shizuo breaks the silence.

"No. I'm not." Izaya answers honestly and Shizuo is caught off guard again. The informant then looks at him straight in the eyes, and Shizuo has to turn away from his gaze before it burns him.

"And it's because of you," Izaya finishes.

"..."

Shizuo is at a loss for words.

The air suddenly feels so different as Shizuo starts to fidget with his hands. He doesn't know what else to do and he can't exactly bring himself to look at Izaya right now.

"What? Why? What are you talking about, Flea?" Shizuo asks finally and forces himself to look up at Izaya's face. He registers as the soft smile disappears too quickly, and he can't stop himself from feeling a little disappointed.

"Nothing. It's almost morning, you should go to sleep," Izaya answers plainly and waves a dismissive hand at the blonde.

"What? Stop trying to act all mysterious already and just answer me! You can't just say stuff like that and then send me to bed!" The bodyguard protests angrily, feeling helpless. He thought this would be over...

"I can, and I just did," Izaya retorts, and turns to jump down without so much as a goodbye. Not that they ever bothered with goodbyes, but Shizuo is caught up in another wave of disappointment that he really shouldn't feel when Izaya disappears behind the roof.

Still, the blonde quickly runs after him as another What? dies on his lips. He makes an attempt to bring him back to the roof, but as expected, it's too late. Izaya is already running away through the streets, jumping on the parked cars and vans without missing a step, his black jacket waving after him. And then, as he takes another turn, he's gone. Again.

Just when will this stop? Shizuo sighs. Well, there is nothing he can do about it now. Worrying won't help anything and he's too tired to think much about it.

He turns his gaze back to the morning sky and momentarily regrets chasing after Izaya for this long when he notices the sun rising.

Shizuo steps back from the edge of the roof and prepares to head back home. He jumps back down and almost falls of off the balcony in surprise because... Are those his doors?

Oh.

Shizuo looks around and realizes he's back at his apartment. He didn't realize they were going this way. But hell, he's not going to complain!

He proceeds to climb to his front door and brings out his keys to let himself in. Once he's inside, he rests his back against the wall and finally thinks about today's events.

So, he's back to his enemy status with Izaya... Probably. At the same time, Izaya knows Shizuo is not really a threat in a way. Plus, he still doesn't really know what exactly is going on in that crazy head.

Shizuo sighs, confusion written all over his face as he takes off his shoes. Is that good or bad? He doesn't dare to guess the answer.

He decides to wonder about it in the morning. For now, he should really take a shower. His hands are filthy from blood and dirt, his clothes are torn and totally damaged beyond repair, which he really should have expected.

He's still pissed off at the sight.

He mumbles a quiet Fucking flea, just what are you thinking in that twisted little mind of yours as he scrubs his hands and face clean, deciding to hold off on a shower until after he gets some sleep. He then dumps the destroyed clothes into trash and changes into his pajamas before flopping himself to his bed and covering himself with blankets.

Before falling asleep, he stops to think about the flea one more time, when a realization hits him.

"You can't just say stuff like that and then send me to bed!"

"I can, and I just did."

Shizuo chased him and Izaya led the way.

And he brought Shizuo home.

Notes: It looks like our Shizu-chan is finally falling for someone..
Thank you for stopping by and reading! ;)