Kyandi: Hey guys! Sorry I've been gone so long. Summers are a busy time for me.

Kokoro: But we are back, even if it's only long enough to post a few updates.

Kyandi: Right. And I have quite a few updates for my various stories.

Kokoro: So we won't be beating around the bush today.

Kyandi: But before we start, due to the urges of some of my most faithful readers, as well as my own high muse for this general idea, I will be changing the rating of this story to M-rated.

Kokoro: We will put warnings at the be beginning of chapters for those of you who don't want to read that.

Kyandi: Right, so please continue to enjoy and review!

Kokoro: Kyandi-sama does not own Durarara!

Chapter 10 Forgiveness

"Koro-chan, next order!"

Kokoro turned from the table she had just cleared, plates piled high on a tray balanced perilously on one hand. She corrected herself quickly, catching one falling plate, when someone nearly knocked her over.

"Coming!" Kokoro called to her boss, slipping past people coming and going.

This was the one day of the month that Kokoro disliked at Russia Sushi. With sushi half off, the place was full all day long and that meant Kokoro was working over time, hauling orders and dirty dishes, back and forth. After the conversation with Shizuo in her apartment the blonde man had refused to leave until Kokoro agreed she would be back at work the next day. Then, the next morning, he showed up at her front door to make sure she went.

Kokoro had been tempted, at first to argue with him, while standing at her front door in the over sized T-shirt she wore to bed, but when Shizuo had put a dent in her door frame, she had silenced the argument and instead, had run to get changed.

Not from fear, of course.

Just...too much awareness.

Shizuo was far too much male for her to be standing there in nothing more then a T-shirt.

In the two days she had been back at work, her friends, from Tom to Celty and Shinra, had stopped by to see her, all of them telling her how they felt about her "condition". Pretty much all of them had the same out look as Shizuo and didn't care.

In the end they had all said the same thing; she was still herself and therefore their friend.

Because of that, and the curious lack of a certain red head in her life the last two days, Kokoro hadn't been able to control the smile on her face. It wasn't the usual polite, fake smile she had worn at work, but instead was a bright, infectious smile that had her customers grinning with her.

She couldn't help it.

It was the first time, aside from Ikari, that someone had accepted her for who she was. Even with the double shift, Kokoro's mood couldn't be dampened.

Then she heard his voice.

"Well look who's back in the roll of normal life."

Kokoro froze in her tracks, her tray, for the moment, empty. When she turned towards the bar, she found none other then Orihara Izaya leaning on the bar, watching her. Kokoro was so happy she just smiled brightly at him.

"Oh! Hello, Orihara-san. Yep! Hiding under my pillow like a child because of a disagreement wasn't helping anyone. Heiw...Shizuo taught me that." Kokoro said with a firm nod, having paused long enough to correct herself.

She attained a slight blush to her cheeks before smiling again. Shizuo had told her to call him by his given name. Kokoro, deep down, knew she was happier about that then she really should be as nothing more then his friend.

Izaya, of course, didn't miss any of that. His eyes narrowed as he watched her. She was all but wiggling on the spot. It really...irritated him. Seeing Kokoro this happy and knowing the cause was the blonde monster he adored annoying really annoyed him. And he certainly hadn't missed that while she still called him Orihara-san, she was now calling Shizuo by his given name.

Izaya suddenly had an itch to cut something.

After all, Shizuo was every masochist's dream. Strong, gruff, rough, and no tact what so ever. Seeing Kokoro this happy because of Shizuo, effectively ruined his day. And she didn't noticed in the least. She was probably too lost in her own happiness to notice the slight change in him.

"Are you here for sushi or to just possibly annoy Shizuo again?"

Kokoro's voice made Izaya look up at her. Izaya grinned at her. To Kokoro it was a grin that could mean anything from agreement to her statement, to him simply laughing at her. She sorely hoped it was neither of those cases. She was already working on her second shift in a row and didn't think she had enough strength in her to break up a fight between Izaya and Shizuo.

Her metaphorical fuel tank was running on fumes only at the moment and she still had another three hours left before her current shift was over.

"Whatever you're thinking, Orihara-san, don't do it. I have not the time nor the energy to put up with your mischeif today." Kokoro told him, actually shaking a finger at him.

Izaya feigned a look of hurt, even laying a hand over his heart.

"What makes you think I was thinking something bad?" he asked.

"You're Orihara Izaya. Your thoughts are always bad for others." was Kokoro's simple reply before she turned as her boss called her name.

She called back before turning back to Izaya.

"Be human for once, Orihara-san, and be kind enough to wait until tomorrow after I've caught up on my sleep, to go pick a fight with Shizuo." she told Izaya with a pointed look before walking off.

Izaya couldn't hold back a laugh at that one. He had to admit that Kokoro was a really interesting human. She had his basic nature pegged to a T. She had a point though. His thoughts usually weren't good for others. At the moment the one his thoughts weren't good for, was her.

And she would find that out soon.

-0-0-0-0-

When finally her shift was over, Kokoro was ready to get home. To thank her for pulling a double shift and working so hard, her boss had sent her home with more sushi then could eat alone. Even if she gave several pieces to each of her cats, she would still be eating sushi for the next few days.

At least her cats would be happy.

Lugging the two big bags home, Kokoro waved a final good-bye to her boss and Simon and took off out the door pulling the collar of her coat higher when the first gust of the chilly air hit her. It was starting to get colder as fall started to turn to winter. The moment she cleared the front door, she found Shizuo leaning against a lamp post, cigarette hanging from between his lips.

"Shizuo?"

Shizuo looked up as Kokoro came towards him. Once again the girl was wearing her cat earred hoodie under a white fur trimmed coat, chains hanging from the black jeans she was wearing. She carried a large Russia Sushi bag in each hand and look tired enough to go home and instantly fall face first onto her bed.

"Heading home?" he asked.

"Yeah. I had to work a double shift today so I didn't take any new courier jobs for today. Did you come to walk me home, Shizuo?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Shizuo looked away from her, still as uncomfortable with this as he usually was. Kokoro could see through him easily so there was no point in arguing. Didn't mean he had to admit it.

"What's with the bags?" he asked instead.

Kokoro smiled but she rolled with the subject change. That was another thing Shizuo liked about her. She didn't press the matter if he changed the subject.

"My boss gave me enough sushi for me to eat the next four or five days." she told him.

Shizuo leaned over, pulling open one bag to peer down into it.

"Why don't you come over for dinner? Even if I feed some to my cats, it's too much to eat alone." she suggested.

Shizuo would have turned it down if it was anyone else. But when Kokoro gave him that smile, he couldn't help but agree. Her smile became even brighter as he agreed. He took one of the bags from her and fell into step beside her.

"You didn't come by today." Kokoro stated.

She had expected him to since all sushi was half off, but he hadn't come in at all. Usually he came in for lunch with Tom anyway, but neither had showed up that afternoon.

"Me and Tom-"

"Tom and I." Kokoro corrected.

"-had a lot of work to do today." Shizuo finished, ignoring her correction.

Kokoro laughed lowly to herself at his stubbornness not to correct his grammar. Shizuo ignore the laugh, waiting for her to reply to what he had said.

"You know, I'm kind of glad you didn't come in today." she said.

"Why?"

"Orihara-san was in the shop today. I could just tell that he was looking to cause you problems today." Kokoro replied.

"The flea bothered you?" Shizuo asked on a growl.

"Not really. He came in for sushi and I could just tell by the way he was acting that he was looking for you to mess with you. As usual." Kokoro replied.

Shizuo looked down at her, but she didn't look bothered. There was still a smile on her face as they slipped past others still out on the streets. He just huffed about Izaya. The dark haired male lived to mess with people and seemed to love to mess with Shizuo via Kokoro now.

"So needless to say, I was kind of glad you didn't come in. I saw Tom early this morning though. He stopped by to say hi. Said you were off deal with clients." Kokoro said.

Shizuo rubbed the back of his neck. By dealing with clients, Tom had meant that Shizuo had been beating the crap out of them because they had done something to anger him. Kokoro knew that, but she wasn't going to scold him about it and wasn't bothered by it either. She really wasn't bothered by his strength.

"He mentioned seeing you this morning. Said you were talking to Celty." Shizuo remarked.

"I was. She stopped by to see me. Her and Shinra both. They had to tell me that they agreed with you about my..."condition"." Kokoro replied.

"Told you."

Kokoro looked up at him and shook her head. She gave him a nudge in the side.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that you should never tell a woman, "I told you so". It's just not smart." Kokoro told him.

Seeing how the only two females he really dealt with in his life were Celty and, now, Kokoro, he didn't think he really had to worry about it. Celty usually just ignored it and Kokoro seemed to handle it in a playful way.

The two joked the rest of the way to Kokoro's apartment. When Kokoro opened her door and flipped on the lights, Mayonaka and Tora looked up from where they lay on a pillow in an armchair. When they saw the bags they hopped out of the chair and mewed at Kokoro. Kokoro dropped her keys into the awaiting bowl on the table, shrugged off her coat and hung it on a peg, and left Shizuo to close the door as she took one of the bags to the kitchen. Tora followed her, meowing, but Mayonaka stayed behind and stared up at Shizuo as he closed and locked the door.

Shizuo looked down at the cat. The little black creature liked her lips, her eyes fixing on the bag in his hand. She gave him a mew, a purr sounding before she padded forward to rub against his leg. She was begging him, he knew. Shizuo looked from the cat to the kitchen where Kokoro had vanished with Tora. He made sure Kokoro wasn't in view and swatted next to the cat, reaching into the bag and pulling a piece of sushi out of one of the containers.

"Don't tell your owner." he told the cat lowly, offering her a piece of sushi.

The cat happily latched onto the piece, a cheerful meow leaving her as she started chewing on it. Kokoro peeked around the corner to the kitchen, watching Shizuo as he fed the piece of sushi to Mayonaka and then pet the black cat as she ate it. It put a smile on her face. Leaving the two to their moment, Kokoro turned back to her cabinets and pulled out a can of tuna.

She was just scraping the fish into a bowl when Mayonaka, followed by Shizuo, came into the kitchen. The black cat jumped up on the counter next to Tora and waited for the tuna while Shizuo sat his bag on the table next to the one Kokoro had left there.

"Help yourself to anything to drink in the fridge." Kokoro told him over her shoulder as she sat the bowl in front of the cats.

Shizuo opened the fridge while Kokoro cut up a few pieces of sushi and added it to the bowl of tuna for the cats. Both dug in with purrs and Kokoro turned back to the table where Shizuo was sitting two colas on the table top. The two took the same seats they had when Shizuo had first came to her apartment and each took a platter of sushi to eat.

"Ironic, isn't it. Here we are again, eating Russia Sushi in my kitchen." Kokoro remarked.

"It's good sushi." was all Shizuo said.

"It is."

Kokoro shrugged off her hoodie, revealing the red shirt below that hung off one shoulder and showed off the lace trim and strap of a black under shirt. She let the hoodie drape over the back of her chair as she started eating.

"Haven't seen your sister around." Shizuo remarked.

"Yeah, she hiding. She knows I'm angry at her and she's hiding out until she figures out a way to make it up to me. It'll take her time to make this up to me." Kokoro replied.

"You going to forgive her?" Shizuo asked, looking up at her.

Kokoro picked at her food as she thought about it. Then she heaved a sigh and sat her chopsticks down and leaned back in her seat to rub at one temple.

"I don't want to, that much I know. I always forgive her. No matter what she does to me, I always do. I always manage to tell myself, she's my sister, I have to love her and forgive her. But I don't want to forgive her this time. Even if it turned out well, it doesn't excuse that she blurted out my biggest secret in front of my friends." Kokoro replied.

Shizuo leaned back to watch her, fighting the urge to light a cigarette. She had obviously given it a lot of thought and didn't feel the need to excuse Ikari and forgive as he was sure she had always done. It was like him and his brother. No matter what Kasuka did, Shizuo would always forgive him because that was his beloved brother. Kokoro didn't like the things Ikari did, but Ikari was her sister, her closest friend for so many years, that she couldn't phantom not loving the annoying woman. But Ikari had hurt Kokoro this time and she wasn't ready to forgive her for that.

The betrayal of trust stung too deeply.

"Does that make me a bad sister?" Kokoro asked.

"No. She betrayed your trust in her."

"If it was your brother, would you forgive him?"

Shizuo looked up at Kokoro who was staring at him, waiting for an honest answer. She expected that much from him. Shizuo already knew his answer. He didn't have to think twice about it.

"Sooner or later."

Kokoro heaved a sigh and dropped her head down on the table top, the bang and clatter causing her cats to look up from their food.

"Do you think I should forgive her?" Kokoro asked.

"When you're ready. Like you said...she's your sister. Can't be angry at her forever."

"I can try."

"Do you want to?"

There was a grumble from Kokoro at this question and she muttered under her breath for a moment before heaving a sigh, her shoulders sagging.

"No." she answered.

"Then there's your answer."

Kokoro raised her until her chin was sitting on the table top instead of her forehead. She looked over at him then. There was a slight pout on her face as she sat up, folding her arms on the table and leaning forward. Leaning the way she was, Shizuo had a perfect view down the front of her shirt and under shirt. He adverting his gaze quickly, rising his eyes to her face.

"You know, you're pretty smart when you want to be. I don't see why Orihara-san says otherwise." Kokoro told him.

A lot of people said other wise. Mostly it was because Shizuo could also be an idiot when he wanted to be. For the most part, that was what he acted like. Not that it bothered him. He got by just fine. But the comment from Kokoro, paired with her smile, gave him a warm feeling of pride in his chest. He jammed his hands in his pockets, mostly to keep from pulling out a cigarette. Kokoro eyed him for a moment as his leg began to bounce and she got to her feet.

Shizuo watched her as she shoved open her kitchen window, turning on a silent fan that sucked the air out of the kitchen and spit it out the window. Then she opened one cabinet and came back to the table with a silver, metal ashtray, sitting it before Shizuo before sitting down again. Shizuo looked at it before cocking an eyebrow at her. He really hoped she didn't smoke. He knew first hand that it was bad for her.

"My landlord smokes and when she comes by, she usually stays and chats with me. I've taken to keeping this and using a fan in the window to get rid of the smell." she told him.

Gratefully Shizuo pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He sucked in a thankful lungful and exhaled on a sigh. Kokoro smiled at him, one side of her mouth curling higher then the other in a smile that bordered on a grin.

"Its easy to tell when you need a cigarette." she remarked.

Shizuo grumbled making her laugh at him. Deciding she had eaten enough, Kokoro closed her container and put it back in the bag. With a sigh, she folded her arms and dropped her head on them.

"Long day?" Shizuo asked.

"I pulled a double. This is always the busiest day of the month. I'm so tired, but I don't think I could sleep even if I go to bed now. I'm just too awake." she replied.

Shizuo dropped his chopsticks in his empty container, showing he was done. Kokoro got to her feet and gathered the bags, putting them in the fridge. Tora and Mayonaka had retreated into the bedroom after finishing their dinner.

"Everyone goes to Russia Sushi on half off days." Shizuo replied.

"I've noticed. Hey, do you want to watch a movie?" Kokoro asked, turning to him with a smile.

Shizuo ended up agreeing and, after finishing his cigarette, ended up sitting on the couch next to Kokoro, watching a movie, his legs stretched out in front of him. Somewhere around the middle of the movie, Kokoro fell asleep, sagging into his side. At first Shizuo stiffened before looking down at her. Kokoro looked so peaceful in sleep, her hair falling forward to brush her face, long lashes brushing her cheeks. Shizuo shifted his arm from between them, letting her sink into his side. He tried not to move, fighting back the reddening of his cheeks as she settled in to sleep.

She was tired after all. He would sit there until the end of the movie, let her get some sleep before he woke her so he could leave. Just an hour or so wouldn't hurt.

Right?

-0-0-0-0-

It was not an hour.

When Shizuo woke up, the sun was starting to peek through the curtains drawn closed over the windows. It was early morning and he was alone on the couch, a blanket tossed over him. He straightened himself, rubbing at the crick in his neck before looking around groggily. Kokoro was nowhere to be seen, but he could smell food cooking. Pushing himself up from the couch and tossing the blanket aside, he headed for the kitchen, rubbing a hand down his face.

He froze when his eyes landed on the scene before him.

Kokoro, freshly showered, dressed in black jean shorts and a large teal shirt that hung off one shoulder, and humming to herself, was cooking. Tora and Mayonaka were finishing up their breakfast on the counter. Shizuo watched as Kokoro shoved damp strands of her hair out of her face before she turned to two plates with a skillet in hand. With the skill of practice, Kokoro flipped an omelet onto each of the plates. Carefully, she turned off the heat on the stove, setting the skillet on the back burner and turned to pick up the plates.

Her eyes instantly met Shizuo's when she turned and she smiled sheepishly at him.

"Morning." she greeted, walking to the table and sitting the plates down. "Would you like orange juice or milk?"

"You didn't have to make breakfast for me." he grumbled lowly, running a hand through his hair.

"Well if I hadn't insisted you watch a movie with me, you would have fallen asleep at home, not on my couch. And I'm sure you have work today, so it's the least I can do." Kokoro replied, setting two glasses on the counter and pulling out a pitcher of orange juice to fill one.

Shizuo didn't argue and just sat down at the table. She had already made the food and it smelled too good to turn down.

"Milk." he said, answering her earlier question.

Kokoro replaced the pitcher of orange juice and pulled out a jug of milk. She poured Shizuo's glass, replaced the jug, and carried the glasses to the table. She sat the milk in front of Shizuo and dropped into her own sit.

"Sorry I fell asleep on you like that. I was far more tired then I thought." she told him.

Shizuo waved it off. He didn't mind. He hadn't meant to fall asleep either, so it was okay. Beside, everyone needed sleep and Kokoro had worked a double shift earlier that day. She was bound to be tired so he couldn't fault her for falling asleep.

"Its fine. You don't have work today?" he asked.

"No. Today will be a day to catch up on grocery shopping, laundry, and cleaning. My bedroom could use a serious cleaning and I have about two weeks worth of laundry to get too. Between my jobs, I usually have so little time for that." she told him.

Shizuo could pinpoint the last time he had taken a day to completely clean his apartment. He kept it clean enough that it wasn't a complete disaster zone, but that didn't make it as clean as Kokoro's. He needed to consider spending his next day off, cleaning it all up.

"Looks pretty clean to me." Shizuo remarked.

"You wouldn't say that if you could see my bedroom. When I get home late at night, I'm too tired to anything more then shed my clothes in the middle of my bedroom, shower, and fall into bed."

The image was going to be stuck in his head now. He cleared his throat to cover his choking on his milk. Kokoro didn't seem to notice and that was a good thing. Things could already be deemed as awkward between them at times. He didn't need to add romantic thoughts to that.

That being said...Shizuo now had the image of Kokoro shedding her clothes, stuck in his.

Great.

END

Kyandi: And there's that chapter!

Kokoro: We'll be back with another as soon as she gets it written.

Kyandi: Yep. And for those of you wondering, Ikari will be back soon. She's hiding out.

Kokoro: With good reason!

Kyandi: Yes, yes, I know. So lets wrap this up so I can finish updating other stories.

Kokoro: Right. Everyone please enjoy and review.

Kyandi: We'll be back soon.

Kokoro: Bye!