Shorter chapter, this is the second time I typed it out since one third of it was lost the first time when my com shut down, so it may seem a bit rushed...anyway thanks for the reviews, they make me smile. Enjoy :) Next chapter will be sort of a Shizaya interlude (even though this is a Shizaya date there ironically hasn't been much Shizaya 'cause they always get interrupted lol) in Shizuo's 3rd person POV and it's gonna be long judging from what I've written, so I tried to encompass the different parts ('cause I usually write in parts and future scenes then link them so I can give previews which kind of sound not only like episode previews but like AMVs with the characters' voices in different places, maybe 'cause I've been watching too many of them...) in the preview so that it won't seem so lengthy. And I'll shut up now because this author's note is lengthy enough.


Chapter 6

The Taming of the Flea


"…What?"

"Oh you heard me," Izaya said casually, but his smile was sly, "Come on Anri-chan, it's just a kiss!" He waved a hand, "You don't even have to kiss him on the lips, okay?"

"I fail to see how this will have any benefit to you, Izaya-san." Anri said, her eyes narrowed.

"Eh? Who said this was about me? This is about you!" Izaya smirked as he looked at Anri, "You aren't going to back out of our deal…are you, Anri-chan?"

Anri stood in silence as she felt various gazes on her and Izaya sighed and smiled with an expectant gaze, spreading his arms grandly, "Everyone's waiting, Anri-chan!"

"I-Izaya-san!" Mikado finally spoke, blue eyes wide, "You don't have to do this! I don't want Sonohara-san to do anything she doesn't want to!"

Izaya waved him off, "Trust me, Mikado-kun, you'll thank me later." He brushed off the black haired boy's protests and turned back to Anri, "Get on with it will you? Anri-chan."

Anri inhaled. Slowly, she turned to look at Mikado. "I'm sorry, Mikado-kun." She said quietly. "But can I kiss you?"

Mikado nodded numbly, feeling himself blush, "W-Why is she apologizing?! Could it be she doesn't want to kiss me?!" He shouted in his mind, feeling a sudden nervousness overcome him even though he wasn't the one who was going to kiss the other.

Anri leaned in towards Mikado. He felt his face warm even more as her soft lips brushed against his cheek in a gentle kiss, causing him to blush furiously. It happened so fast, too fast, and as he blinked, Anri had already turned away from him and he tried to hide his disappointment.

...

The silence was broken as Izaya clapped twice and gave a smile.

"See Anri-chan? You can love after all!"

Anri narrowed her eyes in unusual anger. In a flash, she had Saika in her hand, the dangerous blade directed towards the heart of the smirking informant, its appearance causing frightened gasps from the people around them.

"I will cut you."

"Come on now Anri-chan," Izaya drawled with an evil smirk on his face. "I told you not to underestimate me, right?" He sighed. "I didn't want to fight on my date with Shizu-chan today, but…" he drew his knife with an amused smirk, pointing it up in the air as the sunshine shone off the sharp blade, giving it a malicious glint. "I guess there's no choice. Really, and I thought I'd do a good deed for once…"

"Mikado-kun," Anri's eyes glowered red as she looked critically at her smirking opponent. Mikado started. "Stand back." She said. "Izaya-san, we will take this somewhere else, if you will."

"S-Sonohara-san…"

"Hmm of course, I wouldn't want to scare my beloved humans," Izaya sang with a malicious smile as he drank in the fearful gazes of his humans around him. He directed the blade of the knife diagonally towards Anri. "But remember Anri-chan, there's a reason I can keep up with Shizu-chan-" Izaya blinked as a hand intercepted and fished the knife out of his hand. "Eh?"

Crack!

Izaya's eyes widened. He whirled around, staring up at the tall brunet with a broken knife in his hands with a disbelieving gaze, "S-Shizu-chan!" He exclaimed. "You-my knife!"

"Hm?" Shizuo looked at him. He then looked down at the broken knife in his hands. "Ah. It broke." He said in realization. Izaya stared at him and he shrugged. "But it's not a big deal, is it? I've broken many of your knives before."

"B-But…" Izaya stuttered, and Shizuo found it amusing, "I didn't even stab Shizu-chan!"

"Oh yeah." Shizuo said. He pondered for a bit as everyone looked at him in surprise, then took the half with the blade of the knife and stabbed it into his arm.

There were gasps and screams as blood flowed out. Shizuo pulled the blade out and dropped the two halves of the knife onto the floor. He swept the blood away with his hand, then turned to the stunned Izaya. "There. This knife stabbed me." He said simply. He ground the broken metal under his heel. "So it deserves to be broken."

Izaya stared. "Technically, Shizu-chan, you stabbed yourself-"

"Technicalities," Shizuo mocked Izaya with an almost teasing grin, "Don't matter, do they?"

"Now," Izaya blinked as Shizuo grabbed his wrist. "Do you want to continue this date or not? If not, I'm going home."

Izaya blinked again, still trying to comprehend Shizuo's unpredictability which seemed to have evolved into another level, "Of course, Shizu-chan-"

"Good. Then shut up and follow me. Don't ruin the kids' date."

"What?" Izaya protested as Shizuo dragged him away. "Shizu-chan-!"

"Don't waste my precious time, flea. Your matchmaking project is done."

"But breaking my knife when I didn't even stab you…Shizu-chan you're lucky I didn't use my switchblade!"

"Whatever."

"Shizu-chan…"

Shizuo sighed in exasperation. "Look, are you my girlfriend or not?" He said impatiently.

Izaya blinked at the unexpected question. "Well for today, I'm Shizu-chan's girlfriend…"

"Right. You're the one who asked me out on this date." Shizuo looked down at Izaya, "And I don't care if you're the flea, no girlfriend of mine threatens people."

"But Shizu-chan," Izaya grinned slowly, "I can be a bad girl-isn't that the trend-"

"You can't. You're not a girl." Shizuo replied evenly. "You're just my girlfriend for today."

"…There's a difference?"

"Of course. Now didn't you want to get something to eat…Izaya-kun?"

"Why is Shizu-chan being so sweet all of a sudden?" Izaya smirked as he clung to Shizuo's arm, "Could it be Shizu-chan actually likes me?"

"Shut up. I'm just taking responsibility." Shizuo raised an eyebrow at the smirking raven haired man, "So you should take responsibility too as my girlfriend, huh," he smirked, "Izayaa-kun?"

"Of course! I shall be the best girlfriend Shizu-chan has ever had!" Izaya proclaimed brightly. He paused, then smiled. "Ah wait, Shizu-chan has never had a girlfriend, has he?"

Shizuo scowled. "Shut up."

"Heh, I feel so special!" Izaya exclaimed.

"I said shut up!"

Izaya smiled widely as he held onto Shizuo. As they walked away (or rather, Shizuo strode away and Izaya skipped alongside him), he turned and waved to the staring people. "Bye bye!" He said too cheerfully as he waved with a happy smile, "Anri-chan! We'll continue this another day! Enjoy your date with Mikado-kun, okay?"

Shizuo looked back. He raised his free hand and gave a wry smile. "I'll see you guys another time. Bye." He nodded to Celty. "Enjoy your date with Shinra."

He ignored the whispers and murmurs of Heiwajima Shizuo being in the vicinity with someone who looked like Orihara Izaya – or maybe it was Orihara Izaya since the man was the only one who dared to approach Heiwajima Shizuo- and how he was a monster who had stabbed his own arm. Shizuo looked to the side. "Hey flea. Don't cling on to that arm." He moved his free arm, "If you want to cling, cling on to this one."

"Hmmm?" Izaya blinked. He looked at Shizuo's expression, then smiled. "Ah, Shizu-chan accidentally stabbed himself too hard, didn't he?" He teased with an amused smirk. "After all, when I stab Shizu-chan, the knife will only go 5 millimetres into your inhuman skin!"

"Ah Shizu-chan's such a monster! He can't even control his own strength on himself!"

"…Shut up and move."

Surprisingly, Izaya obeyed. He let go of Shizuo's arm and skipped to the bodyguard's other side, holding on to Shizuo's left arm. He peered over curiously, "Hey Shizu-chan, you don't need medical attention, do you? Shinra's just over there."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Okay, Shizu-chan. We shouldn't disturb his date with Celty, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Hey Shizu-chan, want me to kiss it better~?"

"No! Don't you dare. You'll suck more blood out instead, you flea."

"Wah~! Shizu-chan has so little faith in me! How hurtful!"

"Glad you know, Izayaaaaa-KUN!"

. . .

"Eh…" Shinra broke the awkward silence that had descended. He sweatdropped. "What just happened?"

[I'm not sure myself…]

"Izaya-san retreated." Mikado said in surprise.

Shizuo Shizuo SHIZUO. HEIWAJIMA SHIZUO. STRONG LOVE STRONG LOVE LOVE LOVE SHIZUO. HEIWAJIMA SHIZUO LOVE LOVE LOVE SHIZUO-HEIWAJIMA-LOVE-

Anri bit her lip and let Saika slide back into her body. "Heiwajima-san broke Izaya-san's knife." She said once the voice stopped. "Heiwajima-san stabbed himself with the broken knife, then pulled Izaya-san away."

"And Izaya-san seemed happy to be pulled away?" Mikado questioned in confusion. "He was smiling and clinging on to Shizuo-san. He…called himself Shizuo-san's girlfriend? And Shizuo-san agreed?" The black haired boy blinked, puzzled. "But Izaya-san is a guy, right?" He's only a girl online, as Kanra…

Anri nodded. "How peculiar." She said softly.

"But…I think he said bye to us." Mikado flushed at the reminder of the raven haired man's words. "And…"

"Um, Sonohara-san…"

"Ryuugamine-kun…"

The two teens started, then blushed and looked away. "J-Just now…" Mikado began nervously, wringing his hands. "When you…kissed me…"

"I apologize, Ryuugamine-kun," Anri said, averting her gaze, "It was the penalty for losing the race." She swallowed. "I understand if you did not like it-"

"No!" Anri looked at him in surprise, but Mikado went on, "I liked it! Please don't apologize!"

"Ryuugamine-kun…"

"I mean…that's the truth," Mikado flushed. "I really liked it…and, it's Mikado, remember?" He said with a shy smile.

"Alright, Mikado-kun," Anri smiled back at him. "I'm glad you did not dislike it. I…liked it too."

Mikado smiled happily. "Sonohara-san…"

"And um," Anri coughed, blushing, "You…can call me Anri…if you want."

"…Anri-chan." Mikado's smile widened. He hesitated, before taking hold of her hand shyly. She flushed, but smiled back at him.

"Awww!" Shinra grinned widely, causing the two teens to blink. He looked at them in amusement. "Young love! Isn't it sweet, Celty?!"

Celty nodded. [You two look good together.] She flashed her PDA. [I'm glad you're happy, Anri-chan :)]

Anri smiled shyly, "Thank you, Celty-san."

[And…please don't mind Izaya. He's always like that.] Celty typed quickly. [You should try not to let him get to you.] Her fingers moved fast and Anri blinked at the next message. [If you do, he will only provoke you more! He's that type of guy.]

"Ah." Anri said. She shook her head with an almost wry smile. "I understand. But I'm okay now." There was what looked like the slightest amusement in her brown eyes. "Heiwajima-san helped out."

"Yeah," Mikado agreed. He smiled. "Shizuo-san was kind of cool." He said admiringly. "He's always chasing after Izaya-san, but I've never seen anyone stop him like that."

"Ah, I guess if there's anyone who can rein in Izaya it's Shizuo!" Shinra declared in amusement with a wide smile. "They're good for each other, right Celty?"

[I guess…] Celty replied. [I mean, as strange as it sounds, I also think Shizuo just controlled Izaya. Even though I still can't believe it myself, he stopped Izaya from fighting Anri-chan.] She typed, then flashed her PDA again. [And, it's not like they're lovey dovey…] she mused. She remembered the stunned expression on Izaya's face. If it was like this, it was fine for her. Like Shinra said, Izaya needed someone to keep him in line anyway. Someone needed to put him in his place. Shizuo and Izaya were on a date, or so they claimed, but besides Izaya clinging onto Shizuo and claiming to be his girlfriend and Shizuo seeming to not mind his presence, they weren't being that different from usual. She nodded to herself. She didn't know about Izaya, but she was sure Shizuo knew what he was doing. As long as they were not lovey dovey…the Dullahan shuddered at the memory. She just couldn't imagine, and she didn't want to.

Anri nodded. "It is unexpected, but it seems that Izaya-san chose his date with Heiwajima-san over a duel with me." She said contemplatively. "Despite the fact that he initiated it."

"And…it sounds impossible but," Mikado mused. He blushed slightly. "I think Izaya-san actually sounded sincere when he told Anri-chan to enjoy her date…with me." He blushed harder. If Shizuo-san had such a…positive influence on Izaya-san…he mentally noted to thank the man next time he saw him.

"Maybe." Anri murmured. Maybe Orihara Izaya had been happy with his date and wanted them to enjoy their date too. It was a strange thing to even think about. But she looked at their joined hands and smiled. Mikado smiled back, his cheeks pink.

"You two are so cute together!" Shinra exclaimed with a cheerful grin. He moved to Celty, looking at her with loving eyes. "But of course, Celty and I are the most lovey-dovey-Owww!"

[Stop saying that, Shinra!] Celty typed furiously as Shinra rubbed his abused stomach. [W-We are not lovey-dovey!]

Shinra pouted. "But Celty!" He sighed when she didn't relent. But he smiled anyway, just the fact that they were finally able to go out on a date together was enough for him. He turned back to Mikado and Anri. "It was surprising, but it was a good thing Izaya stopped, huh?" He said almost fondly.

Anri nodded. "Yes." She agreed softly, glad that her date with Mikado was not ruined.

Mikado looked at her then smiled as he clasped her hand. He voiced the idea which was on all of their minds.

"Shizuo-san makes Izaya-san seem more…human."

... ...

... ...

... ...

Izaya sighed as he turned his gaze away from Mikado. "That boy really has to grow a backbone!"

Shizuo scoffed, "Like you're any good with women."

"Oh I can be charming with the ladies!" Izaya said with a casual grin, "Why, one of them even almost committed suicide because of me!" He smiled at the memory. "And if you remember, back in Raijin, I was popular with the girls! They practically worshipped me!"

"Then why don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Aw, is Shizu-chan curious about my love life?" Izaya smiled. "I love my humans Shizu-chan, but I'm not romantically interested in any of them."

"Then what about me?"

"You're not a girl, Shizu-chan. You won't fall for me."

"Hm. Good point." Shizuo said and turned away. He didn't see the expression on Izaya's face.

There was silence for a while, before Izaya started almost hesitantly, "Hey, Shizu-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Your arm's still bleeding."

"Ah." Shizuo said as he looked at the blood on his arm. "It's no big deal. I'll just use super glue when I get home."

"…Super glue?"

"Yeah."

"Eh Shizu-chan," Izaya extended a hand, "You do know super glue is for fixing broken objects and not broken skin, right?"

Shizuo blinked. He raised his hand to scratch at his head. "Yeah but it worked that time that guy stabbed me with a pen…" he nodded at the memory. "Yeah. It worked pretty well."

"Shizu-chan," Izaya smirked, although his eyebrow was twitching, "Didn't I tell you? When people stab you it has little effect on your monster skin. But when you stab yourself…"

Shizuo blinked at him in confusion. "But it doesn't really hurt." He said. He shook his arm, flinging blood in all directions and causing the people around him to gasp in fear.

Izaya slapped a hand to his forehead, his grin unstable on his lips, "You protozoan," he deadpanned, grabbing Shizuo's hand and pulling insistently, "Come!"

"Huh?" Shizuo said as Izaya pulled him away, "Oi, Izaya. Where are we going?"

"To attend to your wound. I'm not walking around with you bleeding all over!"

"It's just my arm- it's no big deal-"

"Shizu-chan. Just shut up and follow me!"

Shizuo blinked.

"…Okay."


Next Chapter: To Heal a Monster and to Hurt a Flea


"GET THE HELL AWAY BEFORE I HURT YOU, YOU DAMN FLEA!"

"Hurt me? And when have you ever be able to do that? HAHAHA! Shizu-chan is really funny! Instead of being grateful I patched him up, he wants to hurt me! HURT ME! This date must have really messed up your protozoan brain!"


"Get away…Izaya."

"It hurts more when Shizu-chan walks away from me. So if Shizu-chan wants to hurt me…he should walk away."


"I told you, didn't I? Shizu-chan can't hurt me if he walks towards me. In fact, I can hurt Shizu-chan."


"Why the fucking hell aren't you AFRAID?! YOU'RE FUCKING SECONDS AWAY FROM YOUR DEATH, FUCKING FLEA!"

"Huh? Why would I be afraid? Since when was I afraid of Shizu-chan?"


"Orihara Izaya is now defenceless. He has no more weapons on him. If Heiwajima Shizuo wants to kill him, he should do it now."


"Why? Why aren't you afraid of me?"

"Why are you the one to accept me?"


"Oscar Wilde said, people aren't good or bad, only charming or tedious. Charming or tedious, I still love my humans."

"But Shizu-chan is both charming and tedious, so Shizu-chan isn't human."


"Humans are immortal – not in themselves but their existence. So because I love humans, and they say love is the strongest emotion, doesn't that make me immortal? Almost like a God, huh?"


"Death, huh? I'm an atheist and a realist, so I don't believe in God, it hasn't been proven that this omniscient being called 'God' exists. If you fear death, you fear life itself. And how can you fear life, right Shizu-chan? Living is so fun! Watching my precious humans! Loving humans!"

"And hating Shizu-chan, of course! Shizu-chan is a monster after all!"


"Death doesn't exist to me. I can't be afraid of something that doesn't exist."

"Shizu-chan who can't die is going to kill me who can die! It makes Shizu-chan seem even more of a monster, right?!"


"Thank you."

"…Did Shizu-chan just thank me?"

"Yeah. I did."

"Shizu-chan is acting weird."

"Weird to you, flea. This is normal for me."


"If anyone kills you, it will be me. I won't allow anyone else to kill you."

"I'll kill them before they can kill you."


"I CAN'T BE DAMNED BY GOD BECAUSE I DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD! HAHAHAHAHA! I HATE YOU TOO, SHIZU-CHAAANNNN~!"