Whew! This chapter took a bit longer then I expected. I had to do some research to make sure I chose a good location for the flash back scene. Also, I've been really busy lately with summer term finals XP

I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter :)

P.S.- I do not own Durarara!, any of the characters mentioned in this story, or profit from them in any way.

Chapter 4:

Weaving the Thread

Shizuo was kept busy for quite some time after finding the hidden lab and super computer. Food in the house was running low, so he had to start going back to work with Tom to earn some money. Tom tried to tell him that he'd be more than happy to loan Shizuo some money if he needed more time to grieve. To that, though, Shizuo responded that he wasn't grieving over "that damn lousy flea", and that he just wanted to get out of the house for a while. Tom knew better than to argue with the dyed-blond and let the subject go.

Seeing Shizuo working around town again seemed to calm a few people, too. For one thing, Shinra and Celty always made a point to talk to him if they saw him while they were out. They seemed skeptical about his calm-to-mildly-irritated temperament, but they let it go and said they were glad he appeared to be doing better. A few others, like Izaya's sisters and the sushi chef, got excited when they got to see him and started bombarding him with questions and invitations to go eat or hang out for a while. Even Shizuo's brother, Kasuka, who had been texting him every couple of days to check on him, seemed relieved to hear that Shizuo was working again.

To everyone on the outside world it seemed that Shizuo was over Izaya's death and back to normal again.

If only they knew what went on after he walked through the front door of his house in the evenings…..

As soon as Shizuo walked through the door after another long day of work, he went into the kitchen and put the groceries away. As he glanced into the barely half-full fridge he had the fleeting, hopeful thought that soon Izaya would be back and could nag him into keeping the kitchen fully stocked like he used to. While the nagging had always driven him crazy, Shizuo was now missing it in the silence of the house. That, and he was tired of going to the store every other day for milk and rice.

These thoughts marked the end of his "normal" half of the day as he walked into Izaya's office and sat at his desk. Pulling the key he had found a couple weeks ago out of his pocket (he figured he'd be less likely to lose it that way), opening the desk drawer, and turning the key in the hidden hole in the back of the drawer, Shizuo stood and readied himself for another visit to the creepy little lab hidden under his house. After walking to the bookcase and pushing the red button, Shizuo descended the spiral stair case. Trying his best to keep his eyes on his hand on the railing to avoid getting dizzy for the eighth time that week, Shizuo eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and took a breath before entering the large room.

He flicked on the light switch and, as usual now, was greeted by the sound of the large super computer starting up. After the screen lit up and Shizuo sat down, he was welcomed by the (slightly comforting) voice of the computer.

"Good afternoon, Shizuo-san. How was your day?"

Shizuo stretched in his seat and yawned. "Exhausting, as usual. Nothing new, I guess…."

The computer gave its hollow imitation of a chuckle. "Hahaha, I see." Now that the pleasantries were out of the way, the computer got right down to business. "So, were you able to get what I asked for?"

Shizuo nodded- though there was no real purpose in doing so since he quickly found out that the computer had no connected camera or way to see him- and pulled an envelope out of a hidden area under his vest. "Yeah, I got it. Had to trade some stuff to Izaya's sisters, but they were glad they got a few more pictures of Kasuka."

He opened the envelope and pulled out a few pictures and a lock of black hair. A scanner lit up and Shizuo started placing the pictures on it one at a time, glancing at them as he did:

The first picture was of a tiny baby asleep in a crib with black hair and one big red eye groggily peeking out from behind a blanket. The next one was of a very tiny, approximately ten or eleven year old, and annoyed Izaya glaring at a camera while two baby girls in matching pink animal-onesies clung to his legs. Following those home-pictures were a few press-related pictures of Izaya winning several awards in elementary school and a couple class pictures in his earlier middle school years. During the next few, however, Shizuo noticed that Izaya changed from a normal looking and bored student and now had the familiar look in his eyes that always ticked Shizuo off. These pictures included photos of Izaya and Shinra at the opening of their biology club and a few class photos of Izaya from high school. Unfortunately, there was a gap in photos after that for a long time, so Shizuo didn't have any more photos until he and Izaya actually started going out.

Shizuo stopped for a minute and looked down at the photos of himself and Izaya. At the time, they seemed like stupid little stunts that Izaya pulled just to fuck with him. At the moment, however, he really missed them and the annoying man who took the pictures.

Most of them were surprise selfies that Izaya took when Shizuo wasn't expecting it: A picture of them eating sushi and Shizuo about to choke on his sake nigiri from the surprise photo-bomb. Shizuo being dragged into an amusement park photo booth and trying to hit Izaya in retaliation, resulting in the photo booth being ripped in half in the last frame of the glittery pink strip (Why Izaya chose that color for the pictures, Shizuo would never understand). Several pictures of the two of them alternating between fighting/trying to kill each other and making out/dry humping each other into the walls and/or ground. A picture that Shizuo had managed to turn on Izaya by bribing Mairu and Kururi into dumping a bucket of rainbow glitter on Izaya's head at a festival right at the moment that Izaya was going to plop a temporary heart-tattoo on Shizuo's cheek (the tattoo was smeared and Shizuo got some of the glitter on him too, but it was worth it just to see that look of genuine surprise on Izaya's face). A picture after the house-warming party that Shinra insisted they NEEDED to throw with Shizuo passed out drunk on the couch with Izaya doing a victory-sign pose over the various things he'd drawn on Shizuo's face (with PERMANENT MARKER of all things).

The reoccurring theme of the pictures seemed to be that Izaya only liked them if he was the one taking them and it had something to do with surprising or humiliating Shizuo in some way. However, there was one exception to these rules at the bottom of the stack.

As Shizuo picked up the last picture, he had to stop to look at it for a few minutes and remember that day….

Shizuo walked along the sunny beach and stretched before sitting on the warm sand. His dark blue with black racing-stripe swim trunks did little to keep the sand off of his legs, but, at the moment, he honestly couldn't care less. He looked out over the vast ocean in front of him and smiled a bit. Despite all of his complaining beforehand, this trip was turning out to be a lot of fun.

"Ne, Shizu-chan!" He heard the voice coming from a few feet behind him and leaned his head back. He saw Izaya walking up to him, tightly clad in his own black and red swim trunks and carrying two drinks in plastic cups. Izaya sat down next to Shizuo and handed him one, a grin on his face. "I was wondering where you'd run off to. Shinra was beginning to wonder if I'd killed you and left your body adrift in the sea. I told him I haven't tried that…yet 3"

Shizuo rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, but couldn't fight the damn infectious smile that spread on his own face as he took a sip of the fruity cocktail that Izaya had brought him. "Hmph…yeah, right. I'd knock your ass all the way to China before you could touch me, flea."

Izaya chuckled and smiled more. "Oh, I have to go there next month. Maybe you can test that theory out and save me a plane ticket! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Shizuo smirked and set his drink aside. "Why don't we try it now?"

Izaya barely broke out of his laughing fit in time to dodge Shizuo's punch and smirked back playfully. "No thanks, Shizu-chan. I'll save that invitation for another day, if you don't mind 3"

With that comeback, Izaya took one of his trusty switch blade knives (a water-proof one) off of the waist band of his swim trunks and ducked under Shizuo's follow-up punch. The two of them then started fighting for what must have been the 15th time that week. To anyone else who happened to come by and see the fight, it would look like they were trying to kill each other. To anyone who knew the two, however, they would easily be able to tell from the playful smirks and non-lethal attacks from both sides that this wasn't a fight to the death- it was as close to flirting as those two would ever get.

Thankfully for the two men currently turning the beach into a battle ground, there wasn't really anyone else around for miles who would be disturbed by the fighting. There were only two other occupants anywhere near the beach- one who could certainly handle herself and even break up the fight if needed, and another who, while not much of a fighter himself, was not afraid of any of his travelling companions and would be the one to patch them up if anything got too out of hand.

Shizuo would readily admit that in the beginning he wasn't too crazy about going on a "couple's vacation" with Shinra and Celty. For one thing, it sounded way too cheesy for him. Also, why would he want to be stuck somewhere with the damn flea for two whole weeks?! Finally, and this was a reason he didn't dare utter out loud, going on a trip like that would mean actually ADMITTING that he and Izaya were a "couple". The thought made him cringe, but Shinra didn't let up. He insisted that Shizuo and Izaya were already seen as a couple since they were living together and had officially been together romantically (Shizuo and Izaya both gagged at the word) for a whole year now. He told them they needed to celebrate surviving each other that long and reaching such an important milestone in their lives. Both Shizuo and Izaya were still reluctant to agree, but Shinra managed to convince them by agreeing to pay for everything and giving them a vacation they would both remember for the rest of their lives.

Shinra certainly delivered on that promise as soon as they arrived. As soon as their plane landed in the Kunigami district of Okinawa, Izaya and Shizuo were both captivated by the view of the ocean everywhere they looked and the clear blue skies above them. It was certainly a nice change from Ikebukuro. A limousine picked the four of them up from the airport and took them directly to the private resort they were staying at. As soon as Shizuo and Izaya saw their accommodations for the vacation, any remaining doubts they had melted away:

Shinra had gotten a grand cottage for each couple to stay in, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about accidentally being walked in on during more intimate moments. Both cottages also had access to a private swimming pool and the resort's spa center. They were within easy walking distance of the beach and all of the restaurants and stores on the resort's property. The best part, however, was that they came during the lowest point of the off-season, so there were no other guests making reservations at the time. To top it all off, Shinra had either paid enough money or pulled enough strings (no one wanted to question him about it) and made sure that no one but the resort staff would be there for two whole weeks. This meant that the four of them could do whatever they pleased, whenever they wanted.

Which is why, at the moment, Shizuo and Izaya got to enjoy yet another round of fighting on the beach without the hassle of avoiding civilians. Their current match lasted for a long time, finally ending around sunset. The two men smirked at each other, each sporting very light battle wounds, given who their opponent was.

Izaya chuckled as he panted to catch his breath, a couple light bruises on his limbs and a slight hand print on his torso. "Ne, Shizu-chan…ready to give up yet? 3"

Shizuo chuckled a bit, equally out of breath with a few minor cuts along his hands and forearms. "Feh. Not on your life, flea."

Izaya smirked playfully. "I was hoping you'd say that, Shizu-chan 3" He made a move like he was going to charge straight at the blond, but ducked and turned to the side at the last minute with the intention of finally getting a hit on the strong man's torso.

Shizuo, however, knew Izaya well enough to see this move coming and turned the momentum on the black haired man. With a quick grab he managed to catch Izaya's hand mid-slash and squeeze it with just enough pressure to force the hand to drop the knife. Shizuo smirked down at the now helpless informant. "Gotcha, Izaya-kun."

Izaya stared in shock, clearly surprised that Shizuo caught him so easily. As Shizuo brought his hand back Izaya closed his eyes, bracing himself for a punch…..

Instead of the punch, however, he felt an arm slip around his waist and pull him into a deep kiss. This actually surprised him more than being disarmed a moment ago, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. He relaxed in Shizuo's embrace and wrapped both arms around the blond man's neck, kissing him back.

Why Shizuo chose to kiss the annoying red eyed man, he couldn't say. Maybe it was the relaxing atmosphere of the beach. Maybe he was just worked up after all that fighting. Or maybe Izaya just looked too good in those black and red swim trunks with his hair disheveled in the light of the setting sun. Whatever the reason was, he was glad he did it. And glad that they both agreed to go on this vacation.

Neither of them realized it at the time, but Shinra had asked Celty to go check on Shizuo and Izaya because of all the noise the two were making on the beach for so long. She got there right around sunset and was too amazed by what she saw to resist taking a picture. She sent the picture to Shinra who, after the vacation, printed it out and sent a copy to Izaya and Shizuo as a keepsake.

Shizuo had to give credit where credit was due: for a woman without a head, Celty had an eye for photography. The picture he was currently holding was admittedly beautiful with Shizuo and Izaya sharing a deep kiss with the ocean and setting sun behind them. One of those romantic photographers couldn't have taken a more perfect picture with professional lighting and equipment.

"Shizuo-san? Are you alright?" The computer's hollow-Izaya voice shook Shizuo out of his memory and he put the picture on the scanner.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Shizuo responded with as much casualness as he could.

"Are you sure? You were quiet for so long, I was beginning to think you'd fainted or something." The scanner finished and the pictures were loaded into the computer's database. "Is that the last one?"

Shizuo nodded out of habit, even knowing no one could see it. "Yeah. Is that enough?"

The computer took a moment to analyze the pictures before replying. "Yes, they're perfect. These should give me an accurate projection model for the growth and development of my clone body."

Shizuo raised an eyebrow slightly. "You're not gonna come out as a kid or something, right? 'Cause I don't really know anything about babysitting…"

The computer gave its hollow chuckle again. "No, Shizuo-san. My new body will start out in infancy, but will be fully grown to my current age in a short amount of time. I merely needed the pictures to make sure the body will grow to correct proportions at a stable rate." A panel opened on the side of the console and a glass tube that reminded Shizuo of those things you see at a bank or drug store if you go in a car came out half-way and opened. "Now, just provide me with a DNA sample and I'll begin the cloning process."

Shizuo picked up the lock of black hair held together with small rubber band. He'd actually kept that as a bit of a trophy after surprising Izaya by stealing one of his knives (if you could call it stealing since Izaya had them scattered throughout the house) and cut off a lock of his hair. Izaya had been both shocked and pissed at Shizuo at the time, calling him an immature Neanderthal for pulling such a childish prank at his age. Shizuo just laughed at him and kept the lock of hair to gloat, pulling it out occasionally and threatening to give Izaya another haircut. His trophy was coming in handy now, though, as he removed the rubber band and placed the hair in the tube.

The tube closed and returned into the console, a scanned image of the hair and images of the DNA and genetic code appearing on the screen. "A perfect sample, Shizuo-san. Thank you for your help." Shizuo looked behind him as one of the strange, liquid-filled tubes began to hum with energy. "CLONING SEQUENCE INITIATED."

Shizuo walked up to the tube and watched in curiosity and fascination as little air bubbles moved in it. He noticed something very tiny entering the water through the bottom and leaned closer, his forehead almost touching the glass as he squinted to see what it was. After a minute, he remembered his high school sex education and biology classes and realized what the almost microscopic spec actually was:

It was a fetus. A small, barely visible fetus that would one day grow into an adult Izaya Orihara.

Shizuo lightly touched the glass of the tank, looking at the fetus as he whispered the barely audible words.

"Welcome back, Izaya-kun…"