Izaya continues to play with the small cups of creamer for a few moments; stacking them into a small creamer cup castle. For a long moment he stares at his piece of work, before he sighs and flicks the stack with his finger so the small castle he had made collapses; thus sending a few little cups rolling across the table. Shizuo catches one when it rolls off the side of the table closest to him.

"Why not?" Izaya sighs; and he reaches out to take the creamer when Shizuo offers it to him. He quickly stacks all the small cups back into their dish, neatly.

"Well, he's your doctor... and your friend," Shizuo says slowly.

"He insulted me," Izaya snorts. Shizuo watches with a mild amusement at the way the corners of Izaya's nose scrunch up when he says this. It's one of the only signs Shizuo had ever seen the shows that Izaya's irritated, or simply thinking too much. It was cute, in a way.

Only a little bit. Shizuo had seen girls do it when he was in high school too; it was cute when they did it too. So, yeah, not only Izaya was cute when doing it – everyone was. Yeah…

"I insult you all the time," Shizuo replies. Izaya's eyes snap up to meet his own in a split second.

"I hate you, and you hate me," Izaya says. "It's normal for us to insult each other."

"How do you know that Shinra doesn't hate you too?"

Izaya presses his lips together, and his nose crinkles at the sides again. But before he can open his mouth to reply, the waitress steps over and smiles down at them, with faked friendliness. She's holding a platter with Shizuo's and Izaya's plates of American styled burger's and fries; and when she sets the plates down in front of them she kindly asks if they would like anything to drink with their lunch. Izaya's asks for a cup of tea, and Shizuo mutters something about coffee. And she nods, and heads off to get their drinks.

"I never expected you to be one for coffee, Shizu-chan," Izaya snickers. "I imagine you would never need the caffeine with all that adrenaline running through you."

"Yeah?" Shizuo grunts, and crosses his arms over his chest. He's kind of glad that Izaya dropped the subject about Shinra, because the suspense was starting to get to him. He didn't like seeing Izaya down – it made him feel guilty, in a strange way; even though he wasn't to blame for any of Izaya's sorrow. "I would expect you to be the kind of guy that drinks tea all the time, rich fucker."

Izaya smiles. "Don't be jealous because I have a luxurious apartment, and a hot secretary, and tasteful tea."

It's Shizuo's turn to laugh now, and he slaps one of his hands against the table top in a show of hilarity. "Hot secretary? I wouldn't touch that bitch if she were the last creature on Earth. And I don't care for your "luxurious tea" anyway; I prefer coffee."

"Don't be mean," Izaya chuckles, and starts picking idly at his fries as he speaks. "Namie's not that bad."

"She is that bad. I hate her so much."

"Do you hate her more than me?" Izaya sings. But even though his tone is playful, and not to be taken seriously in any way, Shizuo finds himself actually thinking about it. He tilts his head and munches on a few of his fries for a moment.

"Maybe."

Izaya raises an eyebrow.

"Lately, I mean," Shizuo is quick to add.

As Izaya continues to stare at him with a raised eyebrow, Shizuo begins to stuff more fries into his mouth.

"Interesting," Izaya mutters. He continues to stare at Shizuo, though his eyes narrow a bit, as if thinking. "Very interesting."

"Stop staring at me like that," Shizuo says around his mouthful of fries. "You look like a fuckin' cat."

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or as an insult."

"An insult, obviously," Shizuo says matter-of-factly.

"I don't know~" Izaya hums. "Cats are cute. I was even thinking about buying one."

"Shut up and eat your food."

"Yes, mother," Izaya retorts sarcastically.

"…Or I'll shove down your throat."

"Kinky mother," Izaya chuckles, but picks up his burger nonetheless. The burger looks much too big for Izaya's hands, and his mouth even. Shizuo finds himself watching curiously as Izaya fiddles to hold the giant burger in place and take a bite of it.

"Struggling?" Shizuo asks. He puts elbow on the table top, and cradles his cheeks within his palm as his watches Izaya. Vermillion hues glance at Shizuo quickly before returning to the monstrous piece of food in front of him.

"I think anyone would struggle while trying to eat this thing."

"I could eat it perfectly fine."

"Oh?" Izaya lowers his burger and narrows his eyes at Shizuo. "Let's see you eat that whole thing then."

Shizuo steals a quick glance at his own plate before returning his eyes to Izaya's challenging ones. He feels himself smirk.

"Let's see who can finish theirs first," Shizuo challenges. And he realizes this is so unlike him, but he's enjoying the new expressions that appear on Izaya's face lately. Besides, Izaya needs the fun. With all that has been happening to him recently, Shizuo can only imagine how much he has on his shoulders. A friendly challenge may help; Izaya had always loved games.

"Challenge accepted," Izaya smiles—more like smirks. But it's hard to tell between Izaya's smirks and smiles sometimes.

Izaya moves to take another bite of his burger but pauses when Shizuo doesn't make a move to reach for his own. The blond stays in the same position, simply staring at Izaya. The brunet doesn't only find it aggravating that the blond may not be taking their competition seriously but the stare Shizuo is giving him is creepy.

Who watches people eat giant burgers? Shizuo obviously does.

"What?" Izaya finds himself snapping.

Shizuo merely shrugs and pops another fry into his mouth; yet not making a move for his burger.

"Stop watching me," Izaya says, in a lowered tone that might have sounded threatening to anyone else.

"Am I irritating you?"

"No, for once, you're actually scaring me."

"You've been scared of me more than once."

Izaya sets his burger down and whips his fingers on a napkin before folding his hands on top of the table and leaning forward, looking entirely interested about their new conversation. "What makes you think that?"

"You always run away from me," Shizuo says, "which makes you scared of me."

"I run away from you because you would kill me otherwise," Izaya replies.

"'Cause you're scared."

"Scared?" Izaya takes a long moment to let a bubble of laughter emerge from his throat. "Scared of what? Flying vending machines? If so, then yes! I am horrified to be crushed by a flying metal object."

"But the vending machines wouldn't be flying if it wasn't for me," Shizuo says quickly; maybe a little too quickly, because a sudden awkward silence falls over the two. And, without another clue of what to say, Shizuo finally turns his attention to his burger.

"A fine lesson," Izaya pips in just as Shizuo taking a bite of his burger. "We shouldn't throw vending machines at the innocent."

Shizuo can't help but roll his eyes. Innocent my ass.

When they had finished eating (which Shizuo had ultimately won the contest, because he tended to stuff food in his mouth when he couldn't think on how to develop conversation, and he earned the prize of Izaya buying him a strawberry milkshake) they both headed out of the café.

Shizuo clears his throat as they exit, stuffing his hands into his pocket and looking about the street and people before them.

"Where are ya heading now?" Shizuo asks. He tries to keep himself from sounding too anxious; because, even though it's terribly wrong, he's found Izaya's presence almost comforting most of their lunch date.

Meeting—not a date, forget what was just said. Moving on.

Izaya shrugs. "I'll probably head home now. I have nothing else to do; I might as well get some work done."

"Well," Shizuo pauses for a long moment, but Izaya doesn't seem to be affected by the pause, standing beside Shizuo the entire time. Shizuo half expected to Izaya to dismiss himself and be on his way, and the day of being… acquaintances would be over and they would go back to being enemies, like they had always been. But he doesn't move, and he doesn't show any signs of moving any time soon. Shizuo opens and closes his mouth a few times, trying to form words—any words. But a nervousness coils in his stomach, and a few other things that Shizuo couldn't name—the heat from before, and maybe a tint of anger he always felt when he saw Izaya.

"Shizu-chan," Izaya cuts in, forcing Shizuo thoughts into the back of his mind as he twirls in front of Shizuo and gives a bright, very not-Izaya smile. "Do you want to do something else? I'm not ready to go home and face Godzilla yet."

Godzilla, heh. Clever.

"Like what?" Shizuo grunts. He's trying his best to seem uninterested in Izaya's offer, his tone lowered and his eyes fixed somewhere out amongst the people on the street.

"Well, I have some business to take care of," Izaya says, slowly; almost cautious. "Would you like to come with me? I'm sure I can get it done quickly if you're with me."

Wait, back up a bit. What was Izaya saying? Izaya's work usually meant nothing but trouble.

He thought Izaya had invited him there for another reason, or maybe that was just Shizuo mind trying to convince itself that Izaya had invited here for... something else, he supposed. But...

Excuse me? Shizuo's mind snaps. Is that the reason you invited me out, prick? So I could provide as some kind of body guard?

"Actually," Shizuo snarls. "I have something better to do." He steps away from Izaya to a nearby tin garbage can, where he lifts it and turns to Izaya, raising the metal above his head, warningly. "You better start running, flea."

Izaya takes a quick step backward, eyebrow furrowed. "What this, Shizu-chan? I just… We don't have to… We could go do something else."

"Fuck no!" Shizuo yells. "I know what you're up to, Izaya-kun! And I'm not going to fall for your tricks anymore!"

Shizuo whirls his arms forward, giving the metal can the capacity it needs to fly towards its target. However, like usual, Izaya quickly ducks under the trash can, effetely avoiding any damage, and bolts right into traffic. Shizuo screams after him—but he doesn't chase him. There's two reasons'…

One, Shizuo doesn't care to see Izaya's face at the moment. He's angry—much angrier than he had been in a long time.

Two, he really doesn't feel like getting hit by a truck again.


It's fucked up. It really is.

Izaya knew he had to be cautious around Shizuo; and he should have never brought up something about his work. He was actually beginning to think that monster actually cared a little. He had been there for him recently, and the look in Shizuo's eyes when he talked to him was comforting. It made Izaya forget. It made Izaya believe he was actually happy.

But he wasn't happy, was he. He could never be happy. Everyone hated him; everyone but his family. And where were they now? Dead. The only people he had brought himself to care about over the past years were no longer there.

Sure, he still had his dad. But what was the point of having a dad if he never spoke to you? What was the point of having a dad who blamed you for everything?

If he could only go back and change what he said, Shizuo and he could be off doing who knows what. But, instead, Izaya finds himself in a lowly Ikebukuro pub. He started out with drinking some sake, and slowly moved onto a glass of beer when he felt his mind start to reel.

Who cares what people thought of him? He was meant to be alone from the beginning. He knew that; he had told himself that a long time ago.

The world seems to swim around him, like a tank filled with millions of fish. And he's simply there—in the middle of the tank. Lifeless. Unmoving. Simply watching as the other fish converse and fall in love around him; they swim around with grace and beauty, going on about their daily lives, notorious.

And now he's stumbling. He doesn't know where to, and his mind doesn't have the sobered decency to care. He's out on the street, looking about the city's lights with a smile on his face. People give him odd looks as he passes them on the streets: glares, scowls, mean gestures.

A grasp on the sleeve of his jacket makes Izaya's lip curl, and his eyes crinkle near the sides as he turns and faces a middle aged man whose hand is hooked around Izaya's forearm.

"What do'ya want, ol' man?" Izaya slurs, trying his best to glare at the man. It's not very intimidating though.

"You shouldn't be on the street at this time of night, boy," the older male replies; his voice raspy. Izaya doesn't see this man as a threat, however. All he can focus on his how bad this man's breath smells and how he wishes to go home and curl up in his bed for he can see his beautiful sister's faces in his dreams.

"That's why I'm headin' home now, ain't I?" Izaya replies with a smile. He reaches for the man's fingers in an attempt to pry the dirty fingers from his coat. But the man's fingers don't budge—they tighten on Izaya's arm.

"Maybe I should escort you home?" the old man seems to sing. "I'll take good care of you."

Izaya feels sick. "No thanks," he drawls. "I think I'll be alright on my own."

"But I insist."

And just as the man begins to lean closer to Izaya, a large black car rolls up to the pair. The old man pauses in his attempts to back Izaya into the nearest wall to glower down at the car parked beside them. A man clad in black steps out of the front seat with a handgun held up in front of him. Izaya's can't help but smile.

The older man releases Izaya's arm in a panic, holding his arms up in surrender and backing away from the approaching man with the gun. Meanwhile, now released for the man's grip, Izaya struts his way around the armed man and toward the car. The window lowers as he approaches.

"It's been a while," Izaya's says, his voice still tinted with drunkenness, "Shiki-sama."

"Just get in the car, Orihara," the other man sighs as he swings the door open for the informant. "We have much to discuss."

"I don't think I'm fit for discussin' business tonight," Izaya laughs. "Maybe ya could jus' drive me to Shinra's, ne? And I'll call ya in the mornin'."

Shiki narrows his eyes, but grunts and turns his head away as Izaya climbs messily into the vehicle to sit beside him. "Fine," he sighs. "But you must call me tomorrow, Orihara. Or else."

"Yeah, yeah," Izaya's yawns. He waves a hand dismissively in the Yakuza leader's face. He hears Shiki grunt at this and he pushes Izaya's hand away from him.

"If you weren't drunk, I would beat you for that."

Izaya mocks a gasp of surprise. "Beat me! Oh, Shiki-sama could never be abusive to me!"

Shiki snorts and rolls his eyes, leaning forward to tell the driver Shinra's address before leaning back and readying himself to listen to Izaya's endless drunken tales.


Shizuo sighs as he collapses against Shinra's couch, nuzzling his head into the armrest.

"Why are you here again?" Shinra asks from the kitchen.

"I came here to tell you to apologize," is Shizuo's muffled reply.

Shinra enters the living room with a cup of tea, or coffee—Shizuo's can't tell from where he's sitting—in hand.

"Why should I?" Shinra says with a frown. "He was asking for it."

"It was mean," Shizuo muffles.

"If you have forgotten," Shinra says, in that doctor-like tone he uses when he's describing something beyond someone else's knowledge. "He does a lot of mean things too. He only deserves to be put in his place once in a while."

Shizuo picks himself up from the couch to meet Shinra's gaze. "He's going through a lot right now."

Shinra gives him a look as if he doesn't believe that.

"And," Shizuo continues. "He may not show it, but I can tell—"

"He'll be fine," Shinra assures. He's not convinced at all that Izaya's hurting. Sure, he may feel guilty. But did Izaya really know his sister's all that well? Didn't he ignore his family for a reason?

"He needs help, Shinra," Shizuo sighs. "If it has to be me who helps him, than so be it."

Shinra's face softens for a moment, but he still has a tint of disbelief in his features. "Were you not just mad at him a minute ago?"

Shizuo grunts and buries his head futher into the cushions.

Celty comes into the room just then and holds up her screen for Shinra to read it. A satisfied smile immediately splits the doctor's face. He returns his gaze to Shizuo's and says: "You better start thinking of what you're going to do to 'help him.' "


While writing this chapter I could not stop listening to Mad World by Gary Jules. I've loved that song since I was a child, and it really helped me get a feeling for this chapter, and for Izaya's emotions. If you haven't heard it yet, I advise you look it up. It's truly amazing. Adam Lambert's version of the song is great too.

kitespirit: I'm in a such a comedy mood lately, so I've been making chapters a little fun and humouristic. Or I'm kind of getting people into a good mood, so they don't know what will happen next. Will it continue to move along smoothly or will something happen to conrupt their minds? Ooooooh, we don't knoooow. I'm glad people liked the text messages! I have so much fun writing them. JAGDKJSGDKJDSGFJK YOUR REVIEWS MAKE ME SO GIDDY, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. I love reading your long reviews and they really inspire me to continue writing this. Thank you thank you thank you.

Slayers64: It's whatever you want it to be. ;D BUT Iwouldliketothinkofitasadate. /cough

Lovelytrickster: BWAH, I don't think it's the best but THANK YOU!

Cheery-Toxic: It's not that late, don't worry 'bout it! I'd rather have a late one than not have one at all.~ I love Namie and Izaya when they're in a friend-type of relationship, so I love writing their playful banter. Indeed, Izaya has made a lot of progress. But he's still hurting deep down, he's just has that mask - he's good at hiding it.

Review, please?