The clock said 10:08pm as Shizuo finished his tea. Izaya had finished his first, and now sat staring into his empty cup. Shizuo glanced over in time to see the flea shake his head and jump up off of the couch.

"I'm hungry!" He declared. "How about I pay you back for the food earlier and treat you to something? You can wait here while I go get it."

"Sure. Where are you going to go this late though…?" Now that he mentioned it, Shizuo was rather hungry…

"There's a Sushi place open late just a few blocks away. Don't worry, Shizu-chan! I won't go far!" And with that, he shut the door behind him as he left.

The flea had said not to worry and meant it as a joke; however, Shizuo suddenly found himself a little apprehensive about Izaya going out alone after what had just happened. Why did he save the flea? Was it really because he wanted to be the one to kill him? If Izaya were to walk back in the door right now, could Shizuo kill him? In the time he had been stuck living with him, he had seen the flea show some very human physical and psychological weaknesses. Izaya seemed to be letting his guard down when it came to how he presented himself. Perhaps his illness was to blame?

Shizuo found his mind drifting to the incident a few hours ago when he had woken up with the flea on his lap… And the kiss… Izaya hadn't said anything about it… He had been drunk. Could it be he didn't remember kissing him?

Apparently, Shizuo had been lost in thought for quite some time because before he knew it, the flea had come back holding a few bags filled with an unnecessary amount of sushi. He had to ask. It wasn't an option anymore to leave it in the back of his mind to grow.

"Flea, do you remember this afternoon at all…?" He asked staring straight ahead.

"Hm… I remember throwing up, but that's about it… Why?" He replied placing the food on the coffee table.

"You really don't remember what you did…?"

Now Izaya started to look a little nervous. "No… What did I do…?"

Shizuo wasn't sure how to approach this, so he decided to just flat out say it. "Well… You kissed me…"

Izaya started blankly at Shizuo for a moment before he burst out laughing. "You must be joking! Good one, Shizu-chan! You got me!" he laughed a little more, but stopped at the serious look on Shizuo's face.

"I'm not joking, Izaya."

Izaya froze. Shizuo just called him by his name. And his tone was calm and quiet no less. He was looking at him with a slightly concerned look. Izaya felt himself blush, and looked away quickly hoping Shizuo didn't notice. He got up, and took his share over to his desk and started to eat without speaking to the blonde. Even ootoro didn't seem to make him feel less uncomfortable, so the informant did what he does best, and started surfing the internet, logging in to the chatroom where he used the alias Kanra.

Izaya heard Shizuo turn on the TV, and watched out of the corner of his eye as Shizuo flipped through channels, starting to eat some of the sushi on the table. After realizing what Shizuo had settled on watching, Izaya grinned feeling confident that he could now re-gain control of the situation. Shizuo was watching a movie starring none other than his brother Kasuka—the movie where Kasuka got his start as an actor.

Shizuo was smiling slightly as he watched his brother on the screen perform some ridiculous role in which he was some kind of vampire ninja. Izaya didn't find this plot interesting in the least, but seeing Shizuo's reaction, he couldn't resist taunting him a little bit. After all, taunting 'Shizu-chan' had been his main source of entertainment for nearly seven years now.

Izaya crept up behind where Shizuo was sitting, and bent over to rest his elbows on the back of the couch, placing his head in his hands. "Whatcha smiling at?" He made brief eye contact with Shizuo, then looked back at the screen. "Ah, brotherly love~"

His grin grew wider seeing Shizuo's face show signs of anger. It was time to take back control.

"You really do love Kasuka, don't you Shizu-chan? I've seen you go out of your way to protect him from hoards of screaming fan-girls—my sisters included. They have some weird obsession over him or something… Come to think of it, Shizu-chan, you do tend to become quite protective over those you love. I recall a certain woman from a bakery—"

"—How do you kno—" Shizuo cut in, but Izaya cut him off in return.

"—I'm Orihara Izaya. I know. But my point in this being… If you are protective over those you love, then you must love me! You protected me! Wait, that man was going to do dirty things… Were you jealous, Shizu-chan? You want me all for yourself, and so you protected me fro—"

Izaya was cut off again. Shizuo had suddenly turned and grabbed hold of his shirt, and before he knew what was happening, Izaya found himself being kissed by Shizuo—with tongue.

His mind was frantic. What was happening? He had lost control of the situation again. That wasn't supposed to happen! HE was supposed to be taunting SHIZUO! Instead he found himself in a forceful kiss that he couldn't break away from. Shizuo held on to his shirt with one hand, while the other hand was behind Izaya's head, preventing him from even attempting to break the kiss. But he still tried. Izaya put all of his strength into pushing away from Shizuo, who simply held his position. Even with Izaya pushing him away with his hands, and using his legs to push against the back of the couch, the blonde's hold didn't falter for even an instant. Soon, Izaya gave up and went completely limp. He couldn't do anything about it, so why bother using the little strength he had left in his body?

After what seemed like an eternity to the informant, Shizuo finally broke the kiss leaving Izaya panting, and wondering if the blonde had been waiting for him to give up control. No. The damned protozoan wasn't smart enough to pull of something like that. He was acting on impulse or something, just like usual… But what would cause him to have an impulse like that? He was more expecting to have his couch thrown at him than something like a kiss from his enemy! Izaya felt himself blush.

"That shut you up pretty good. Now just go back to work or something and let me watch this movie in peace." Shizuo said with a confident smile on his face.

… Maybe he was that smart… The situation proved to be too much for Izaya as his legs gave up on him. He held on to the couch for balance as he felt his knees hit the floor.

Shizuo turned to look at him, and burst out laughing. "Looks like I win this round, Izaya!"

His NAME again….

"Izaya…? You okay…?" Shizuo waved his hand in front of Izaya's face, but got no response. "Oi! Flea! Snap out of it!"

Izaya shook his head vigorously and managed to stand up on shaky legs, and slowly walked back to his computer desk without a word.

Shizuo briefly wondered if the flea was okay, but then shrugged. He'd be okay. He's always okay in the end. At least this time Shizuo managed to win against the flea. It was a small, but rewarding victory.

But Izaya wasn't okay this time. His mind was reeling in a desperate attempt to figure out why he had just lost control like that. He couldn't ignore the feeling of submission that Shizuo had just forced on him. Izaya needed to be in control of everything. But even as he thought this, there was a small part in the back of his mind that wanted Shizuo to kiss him again. Izaya forced the thought out of his head, but it still returned. Shook his head again to clear his thoughts, but he could still feel the blush on his face.

"Looks like someone's trying to get your attention" The sound of Shizuo's voice came from right behind Izaya, causing him to jump slightly as he was ripped away from his thoughts.

He looked up at the screen, and indeed, Setton and Tanaka Taro—Whom he knew to be Celty and Mikado—were asking if he was still there. Izaya quickly covered the screens with his hands when he realized Shizuo was reading the conversation.

"I thought I told you not to look at my work!" Izaya said sternly.

"Fine, fine…" Shizuo said looking away. "At least you're talking again. I was starting to worry since you never shut up. Did that kiss really freak you out that much? I was just messing with you…"

'That's what I'm supposed to do to you…' Izaya thought with malice. "I hope you get sick from that." He said out loud.

"Yeah, right. I don't get sick." Shizuo said confidently.

Izaya mumbled a single word under his breath. "Inhuman…"

The blonde's eye twitched when the word reached his ears. "Hey, I didn't ask for this curse, flea!" Shizuo approached Izaya again, feeling his anger start to take control of his actions.

Izaya spun around, and stood from his chair, facing Shizuo. "JUST GO AWAY!"

All of the anger that had been building up seemed to fade. The flea never yells like that. If Shizuo didn't know any better, he'd say that Izaya sounded frightened.

"Izaya… Just how sick are you…? You're acting really weird." Shizuo felt genuine concern, but didn't question why. He realized that he cared more about finding out what was going on in Izaya's head rather than why it even mattered to him.

"LEAVE. ME. ALONE." Izaya said, attempting to push Shizuo away. It was a failed attempt, as Shizuo didn't budge even when Izaya used all of his strength. Shizuo realized that Izaya's face was a little red.

"Is your fever back?" He lifted a hand to check Izaya's temperature, but was met with another yell.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Izaya placed his hands on his desk and used his parkour skills to propel himself over the desk, and run into the bathroom.

Izaya rushed past Shizuo. He didn't want to even look at him. He ran as fast as he could into the bathroom and locked the door, knowing full well that the lock wouldn't hold back the monstrous protozoan if he was serious. Izaya turned on the cold water, and splashed it over his face and the back of his neck. He gripped the sink when he heard Shizuo knock on the door.

"Izaya, you okay? Seriously, if this is because I kissed you, don't freak about it! I told you I was just messing with you, jeez!" Izaya could hear genuine concern in his voice, but he didn't care.

'Damn it, I know you weren't serious, but that's now what's bothering me!' Izaya thought to himself. "Shizuo, just leave, okay?"

Shizuo almost had to put his ear to the door to hear Izaya's response. His voice was so quiet… It sounded pitiful. He had no plans to leave the flea like this. Clearly he was upset. Was it really the kiss? Izaya was the one who ever so confidently kissed Shizuo that very afternoon! Why did it bother him so much now? Granted he was sober this time, but still. He waited, and after a few minutes, Izaya opened the door and seemed to freeze on the spot when he saw Shizuo standing outside the door.

"You didn't call me 'Shizu-chan'. That means there's something wrong, right?" Shizuo asked, hoping for a response this time.

"I could say the same to you. You called me by my name instead of just saying 'flea'." He still sounded angry, but at least his voice didn't sound pathetic anymore.

"Hmm. I guess I did, didn't I…?" Shizuo hadn't realized it at all.

"Yes, now will you kindly leave?" Izaya gestured towards the door.

"No. Now come on. Just lay down for a few minutes or something before I get angry and destroy your office." Shizuo said as he slowly walked back to the main section of the office. He strolled over to Izaya's computer desk before turning to look at Izaya.

"Don't even think—" Shizuo gripped on to the desk, still looking at Izaya, who felt his heart skip a beat.

"Shizuo, don't you dare—" Shizuo didn't let Izaya finish his sentence as he started to lift the desk, which held all of Izaya's electronics, still keeping eye contact with the informant.

"Okay, okay, I'll sit down! Just please don't do that! That's expensive and I'm in the middle of something!" Izaya raised his hands in surrender as he walked over to the couch and sat down. "See? Now please let go of the desk!"

He watched carefully as Shizuo gently put the desk down, leaving it and everything on it completely unharmed. Izaya sighed in relief and slumped forward with his head hanging above his knees. He tensed slightly as he felt the couch give when Shizuo sat down next to him.

"Now tell me, why are you acting like this?" Shizuo asked not bothering to hide the curiosity in his voice.

Izaya refused to make eye contact with the man sitting next to him. "You… You just startled me, okay? I'm fine now." Izaya looked at the TV, which was left on Kasuka's movie.

"You're looking a little pale… Do you want the rest of your ootoro?" Shizuo got up and took the food from Izaya's desk and placed it in front of the informant as he sat back down. "Here."

Izaya looked at the ootoro on the table. It didn't seem to have its usual appeal. Izaya looked away. "No, thanks."

"Okay, something is really wrong with you." Shizuo said.

Suddenly, Izaya felt Shizuo's hand on his forehead. He flinched slightly at his touch, but decided not to resist this time. Maybe it was just because he was weak at the moment, but for some reason, Izaya wanted the physical contact. And Shizuo complied as he moved his hand back, running his fingers through Izaya's hair. Izaya's cough started up again, making the pain in his chest return. He could feel Shizuo's hand move down the back of his neck and start to rub his back as he coughed, trying to comfort him. The cough got a little worse before it stopped and Izaya took a few gasping breaths. Soon enough, Izaya felt light headed. He felt himself fall into Shizuo's lap, and immediately he pushed away trying to sit upright again only to be stopped by Shizuo. Izaya let himself fall back onto Shizuo's lap, a little more concerned with catching his breath than the fact that he was lying on his enemy.

After finally getting his breathing back to normal, Izaya spoke again. "Why are you doing this?"

"Dunno. You just seem kind of fragile when you're sick." Shizuo said continuing to rub Izaya's back.

"I don't need your pity." Izaya's voice was clear and stern even though he didn't make any attempts to resist the comfort provided by Shizuo.

Shizuo continued to gently stroke Izaya's back even after the informant had fallen asleep. Shizuo was lost in thought and didn't even notice himself start playing with Izaya's soft hair. He really didn't know why he was trying to comfort his enemy like this. Was it pity? Or was it something else? Shizuo couldn't be sure. All he knew was that he had to do this, and Shizuo always followed his instincts.