I'm really glad people are reading this story and enjoying it as much as I'm writing it; thanks to all of you. Please review some more, it makes me oh-so happy :3 Oh and the Poll I have on my Profile will close the day when I post Chapter 10 (so this Thursday) and I will pick whether to keep them as they are or change them back :) Thanks to all of you who have voted.
Shizuo's POV
What the fuck?! How can that little maggot be in love? He confessed to me, but…That's not possible.
"That's not possible." Izaya says as if he's reading my mind, which would make him all the creepier if he could. "Such a thing hasn't happened since I was in high school." Izaya admits plainly. "And I've only ever had a crush. I've never been 'in love'."
"I know, you told me about your 'crush' when it happened then too." Shinra says with a laugh. "Is this the same person or someone else?" He lied to me; he said he didn't remember who it was!
"It's the same person." Izaya says nervously. "You think I'd learn by now after that brute rejected me once." Izaya says with a forced laugh. 'Brute'? Did he say 'brute'? So his confession wasn't a joke? He loves me? My heart starts to pound loudly against my chest and my tail starts to wag happily. I feel my cheeks getting warm. I remember him saying 'like' when he confessed to me, not 'love'.
"I think you should tell him."
"I did! But then we got hit by that damn truck and then he pretended not to remember. But right before you guys came back, he said he did."
"And…?"
"And nothing…if he wanted to avoid talking about it and wanted to forget it, then there's my rejection. I can hopefully put this to rest now."
"I don't know Izaya…remember what happened last time this happened? You got really depressed and wouldn't eat. Then you got really skinny, became ill, missed school and had to attend therapy."
"I told you, that was for something else. My parents thought I was a homicidal maniac or something."
"I'd probably think the same thing…" Shinra whispers. "But that's a lie. Your parent's loved you. They wouldn't have sent you there because they thought ill of you. They sent you there because you were depressed and they were worried."
"Well, lovely, they get the best parents award." Izaya says sarcastically. "Look, I'll admit that being shut down was a horrible experience especially when I never fell in love before, but it's not going to be like before. I'm much more mature and will handle this in a much more refined matter."
"And how are you going to 'handle' this? You're not going to go crazy like in those TV shows and kill Shizuo while saying 'if I can't have him no one can'!"
"No, I'm gonna do what anyone would do when they've had their hearts torn out of their chests. Eat a ton of comfort food while watching soap operas in the dark and cry myself to sleep." Izaya says with a laugh. "Then after I've gained a lot of weight, I'll join a gym and get a personal trainer who'll inspire me to get back on track. And while on a run through the park one day I'll meet a fellow jogger whom I'll befriend. Gradually they'll teach me how to love again. It'll be such a grand experience that they'll even make an inspirational movie out of it."
"You're taking this much better than I thought you would." Shinra says with a laugh.
"And you're taking my joke way too seriously." Izaya says with annoyance. "Look, just don't talk to Shizu-chan about what I said…"
"Your secret is safe with me." I clench my fists as I feel the anger build inside me. This time I'm not mad at Izaya. I'm not mad at Shinra, Izaya's annoying sister's, Simon, some random people on the street, I'm mad at the person who was so dense not to know that all along, Izaya was doing all the fucking crap he did because he wanted my attention. Sure, he may be a freaking psycho maniac a lot of the time but I don't think he knows how to be anyway else, not if someone else doesn't teach him how. Not if someone doesn't care a whole lot more about him, even have strong enough feelings to break down the walls that he's always putting up.
It was all because of what I said. I never meant for all this to happen. If only I had just kept my mouth shut. But, he really did piss me off; first because he looked like someone who liked to cause trouble, but also because…somehow…I hated the way he made me feel. After a couple of weeks of knowing him in class, having him eat with Shinra, Kadota and I during lunch, I began to like the simple things he did. Sometimes I noticed things, normal things he did which were kind of…cute. He'd fall asleep on the roof and look kind of peaceful. During class he'd look out of the window, his reddish-brown eyes looked really…beautiful whenever they'd catch sunlight. The things he said were always sort of obnoxious, but I sometimes liked hearing his voice…
Why? Why did I have feelings for this stupid louse during high school? Probably because he wasn't afraid…of me. He laughed at me, made me angry, let me chase after him (wanted to be chased after by me). He wasn't afraid of me. He was like me. I liked that about him, but what I didn't like was the awful things he used to do to me that made me hate him.
"Damn it…" I whisper to myself in the darkness.
Izaya's POV
It's raining again. I was hoping not to get all wet, but I managed to not accomplish that. I'm practically drenched to the bone, shivering like a fool as I enter my home. I take my jacket off and set inside the bathroom before taking off all my other clothes, including my underwear. Yes, those are drenched as well and I am not sleeping in soaked underwear. It's uncomfortable just wearing them, having to sleep in them would be unimaginably awkward.
I slip on some boxers and a robe since I'm too lazy to put on some casual clothes. I'm in my own home anyway. I yawn a bit before heading into the kitchen. After grabbing some coffee, the doorbell rings. I head over to the door, lazily dragging my feet (almost as if I'm crawling) and open it.
"I already told you, I'm not interested in buying a piano. Where would I even—" I open my eyes and see it isn't the strange person who keeps asking me to buy his used piano, but Shizu-chan. "Ah, it's you." I say bitterly. "I would have rather it been that strange piano man. What brings you to Shinjuku? And, an even better question, what brings you to my home?" Shizu-chan sighs as he enters upon me waving my hand at him, signaling that he's allowed to enter. "I don't have any tea right now, but if you want some coffee." He looks at me blandly. "With a lot of sugar and cream." I say as I notice why he's looking at me that way. Of course, he's not into bitter things. He probably hasn't come across a coffee sugary enough for his tastes.
"You piss me off…" He says suddenly. I turn around and my ears prick up from the familiar proclamation. I glare at him and then set my coffee cup down as I cross my arms.
"Then why did you come here?" I ask him skeptically.
"You didn't let me finish." Shizu-chan says with irritation. "You piss me off…but sometimes you're not that bad like that day when you went with Kasuka and me to the movies and everything…"
"And why the sudden change?" He looks at me for a split second until our eyes meet, then he looks away.
"Dogs and cats can sometimes get along, but usually when they're introduced at the right time…" Shizu-chan begins as he nervously scratches the back of his head. "We weren't introduced at the right time..."
"And so what you're saying is that you want to start over?" He nods simply and holds out his hand. I take it awkwardly and shake it.
"I'm not saying everything that's ever happened between us was my fault. It was mostly yours, but I just want to settle things since I was avoiding that whole…confession thing…" For a few minutes it's silent, then he speaks again, this time he changes the subject. "Was Shinra still pretty upset when I left?"
"I suppose, but he'll forget about it in a week." I tell me as I smile.
"You're not wearing a shirt…?" Shizu-chan asks with a raised eyebrow.
"No. Does that please you, Shizu-chan?"
"Shut up." I laugh a little as he smiles slightly. "So what…? We're friends now?"
"Well, that depends, are you going to keep tossing vending machines at me?" I ask with a smirk.
"Well, that depends, are you going to keep being a sneaky rat?" Shizu-chan asks simply. I laugh a little as I sit at my desk before turning the computer on.
"It's not good to ask me to destroy my entire identity, Shizu-chan." I say happily as I begin typing a reply to one of my clients. "Anyway, by how you're completely avoiding bringing up discussing what's most important, I'm not going to agree to anything."
"Fine, but why the hell do you want to talk about it so badly though?"
"Because I want to know your thoughts." I say as I clench my hands in frustration. "I already told you mine…" I say. I can feel my cheeks become hot; they're probably red.
Shizuo's POV
As I hear Izaya asking me about what I think about his confession I think about the day we first met…
It was a normal day like any other, that damn flea came to Ikebukuro and just had to show his face. He mocked me, said the usual banter that gets on my nerves and then ran off, knife in hand. Correction: it was supposed to be a normal day…but all of a sudden it wasn't.
Flashback
"Get back here flea!" I say as I swing the stop sign I'm carrying at him. He dodges it and laughs as he turns the corner. I do the same and look around for him, but he's disappeared. I then feel something hit the back of head. As I turn around I find a knife pointing at me, daring me to move any closer.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, it's not very mature to get angry over something so insignificant, Shizu-chan. All I said was that you have a brother complex. You shouldn't get mad over that; I was just telling the truth. And I thought Namie had it bad with her brother." Izaya says as he laughs. I grab his arm and make him release the knife in his hand. "Let go of me, you brute!"
"Not a chance." I say to him angrily, as I hold onto his wrist more tightly. He grabs another knife from his pocket and slashes my side. I step back and hold onto the wound as he runs off again. I run after him like usual, but this time catch him again by his collar. I smirk at him as I hold onto his other hand that has the second knife. "I'm tired of playing this fucking game."
"Ah…me too…" Izaya says weakly. "My chest is tight…"
"Good, you damn flea." All of sudden he gets red and turns his face so as not to look at me.
"I don't like you being so close, Shizu-chan." He says with a blush. "Let go."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"I said let go! You're making me feel awkward, you brute!" He says his face still red. I suddenly realize that he's nervous. I can feel his pulse beating in his wrist that I have my hand over. It could also be from all the running, though, so I shrug it off.
"What the hell is up with you, flea?"
"I like you, okay?!" He says out of the blue.
For a while now he's been acting so strange. A couple days before he had slipped up and fell into the fountain in the park when I was chasing him. I thought it was just because he was going blind or something. A couple months before this, he kept calling me, but his voice sounded really weird, as if he was struggling to not sound nervous. And then, just a few days ago he kept avoiding me. Today I chased after him so I could figure out why he was being weird. When I called him out on this he just said "I have no idea what you're talking about Shizu-chan" and then began to tease me like he always does.
"What?" I say as I keep holding onto his collar. Suddenly, I hear the faintest sound of a truck horn and then everything goes black.
I had thought that things were beginning to seem awkward between the two of us before the incident, but I never asked him about since I knew he'd never take me seriously. He'd make jokes out of things that he probably thought were too personal and whenever I called him out on things that I thought were out of character for him, he'd get nervous and fumble with a new subject. So, when he suddenly confessed to me, I couldn't believe it. I had suspected something was going on, but I would have never guessed that he had feelings for me. How was I supposed to know if he always caused me trouble?
Izaya and I talked about it for a while, hours ago before I came home. It's all too confusing. I didn't want to say I liked him back because I'm not entirely sure about it. A confession is sort of a commitment and I'm not sure if I want to make a big commitment like that. Besides, this is Izaya…no doubt he's probably trying to mess with me again. That's what I keep telling myself at least…so I don't give in.
"Why…?" I ask myself as I look at the bland ceiling.
Flashback
"Fine, but why the hell do you want to talk about it so badly though?" I ask him in frustration.
"Because I want to know your thoughts." He says simply. "I already told you mine…"
"I don't know." I say honestly. "You've always pissed me off, always caused me so much trouble. And we've always hated each other since the day we met. How the hell am I supposed to suddenly like you back the way you like me?"
"I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking for an answer." Izaya says as he sighs.
"Then…sorry…I don't like you the way you probably want me to." I say without looking at him. I'm hoping he can't tell that I'm lying. He only nods.
"Then, we can just be friends, if we can manage that." Izaya says with a laugh, though I can see he's hurt. He struggles to keep his mischievous façade. He tells me that it's time for me to go, that he doesn't have time to "throw a party for this momentous occasion." Then he mutters that he wants to be alone. I nod as I head off, feeling guilty all of a sudden.
I could have told him…but what's the use? I've never really been in a relationship before and he hasn't either. What kind of relationship could we even have with one another? We've been enemies for years; we can't suddenly become a couple so easily. Not to mention I don't think I want to admit that I could be gay. I mean, I kind of suspected Izaya was since he's always so weird. The way he dresses is kind of strange. He skips for crying out loud. I know those aren't valid reasons to think he's gay, but I've just always thought he was anyway. Back in high school I could feel him looking at me since he always sat a couple desks behind me.
"Sick freak." I say as I rub my temples. "Damn cat." I say as I feel my cheeks become hot. "He's not cute…" I put the pillow over my face and sigh into it.
Izaya's POV
I haven't felt so down since the first time I got rejected. I don't want to listen to break up songs since I don't want to feel even more depressed, so I just continue to lie in my bed even though it's already the afternoon. I stare at the wall for a little while, thinking about Shizu-chan's answer. It was simple enough, it wasn't as harsh as I thought it would be and we settled on being friends. I'm not going to give up despite thinking of doing so a while back. Friends sometimes turn into something more right? After a while, something more can blossom between friends, right? It's not all the time this happens, but perhaps with luck we'll become something more.
I suddenly hear the sound of the doorbell. I get out of bed sluggishly and then answer it.
"Morning." Namie says as she enters.
"What? You didn't bring me breakfast~?"
"No." Namie says dully. "Why are you still in your pajamas?"
"These aren't pajamas, Namie, they're casual clothing. You know? Clothes for around the house." I explain happily.
"Are you wearing bunny slippers?"
"I'm not paying you to judge my outfit, Namie. Go organize my files and reply to some of my e-mails." I say with a wave of my hand. "Oh, and I didn't appreciate the note you left me last time you were here. A lady, even one such like yourself, shouldn't write something like that."
"Shut up." Namie says with a grimace. "Oh, I bought something you might like, though."
"Oh?" I say, trying to play along.
"Yeah." Namie says simply before taking out a metallic-looking object. She smirks before pressing some button on it. Immediately my eyes find the red, magical light illuminating on the floor. My eyes widen as I lunge forward and try to capture it. Namie laughs as she waves the light in different spots around the room, each time I follow it and end up empty handed. In the back of my mind I know this trickery, but my instincts tell me to chase, catch, and kill. All of which are basically impossible since the light doesn't exist in a solid form. "I knew you'd like it."
"Shut—up—and stop waving that thing around!" I say as I continue to chase after the light. As I chase the light I notice on some instances I crouch down low to the ground and try to pounce on it. With my size, however I fumble and roll. I then get up for another round. "I'm not enjoying this game Namie! I order you to stop!"
"Not a chance. This may not be fun for you, but I'm enjoying this." Namie says with another annoying laugh. Suddenly I hear a knock at the door, Namie (since I'm apparently busy) tells the person to enter, probably to embarrass me. As the door opens my ears prick up and I look over to see who it is. Ah…Shizu-chan…perfect timing…of course this is sarcasm.
"Flea, I came by to…" He looks at me curiously, probably wondering why I'm on the ground. I then hear a whistle from Namie who I look at for a split second. She points over to Shizu-chan who's looking at the red light which is right on his…Oh god this isn't gonna be good.
Shizuo's POV
It was a fast reaction. As soon as Izaya noticed the red light, he attacked. It hurt like hell, then again, why wouldn't it? He fucking hit me in the groin with all his force! Damn flea. I punched him in the head after I regained my composure and sure enough he's down for the count, holding his head in pain. Namie laughs as if it's the funniest thing in the world. She's on my list.
"You could have given me a damn concussion, you damn gorilla!" Izaya says angrily as he holds an ice pack on his head where I had hit him.
"Oh, 'gorilla' that's new." I say as I glare at him. He glares right back at me before tossing an ice pack on my crotch which makes me cringe. "Fucking flea."
"I didn't do it on purpose. It was Namie's doing. Besides, why did you come here anyway?"
"I thought we could have lunch together." I say nervously. "You know, to make the whole thing official. I mean, we should at least try it out, right? See what it's gonna be like."
"You two going out now?" Namie teases with a smirk. Izaya immediately throws a glare at her, while I want to throw something heavy.
"No way!" I say a bit too loudly. Izaya looks at me; his eyes show a look of hurt.
"We're trying to engage in normal friendly customs." Izaya says to her as he turns away from me. "You wouldn't know since you don't have friends, Namie."
"Neither do you. Shizuo isn't going to tolerate you. I don't even tolerate you." I can tell that even though he looks like he's taking all these harsh words well, he's struggling to not believe them. I can see his hands clench a bit as he tries to throw a decent comeback at her.
"I've had enough of your sass. You can go home. After the red light incident I rather not see you at all for a couple of days—though it's not like I ever wanted to see you in the first place." Izaya says as he practically pushes her outside then shutting the door loudly.
"Why do you have clips in your hair today? Did your sister's come by?" I ask him as I point at his hair.
"Ah, no I put them on myself. My hair is getting too long and gets in my eyes. These just so happen to be my sister's, so I just decided to use them since those rug rats won't come by and get them back." Izaya says as he puts his hand on his hip as he looks at the door. "Besides, I look adorable this way, even more so than before~"
"Whatever you need to tell yourself to get you through the night." I say with a dull expression. "Let's go, I haven't had anything good to eat since this morning. And if we don't leave soon, I'll have to raid your fridge."
"Barbarian." Izaya says as he grabs a different jacket than the one he normally wears and then wraps a scarf around his neck. It's pretty cold now since it's pretty close to Christmas. First it was pouring rain and now it's freaking cold in the mornings that is until it gets a bit warmer in the afternoon. He also puts on mittens and a hat before opening the door and motioning for me to follow him.
"Do you really need all that?"
"Do you really need to ask stupid questions? I hate the cold, protozoan. I rather not get sick." He states simply. "You should be more careful. That bartender get up isn't going to be so useful in this cold." I shrug, if he wants to wear a bundle of winter clothes, then who am I to stop him? Besides…he looks kind of cute like that. I push him slightly and he glares at me before trying to push me with one hand, but after noticing that it didn't do anything, he pushes me with both his hands. It worked better than the first time, but still didn't send me as far as I sent him.
A/N: Their friendship isn't gonna be magically perfect xD But that's what makes these two so fun to write about. Please review~!
