"I'm so boooored!" Izaya complained aloud; he was running out of ways to amuse himself while he was in the hospital. Being bedridden was definitely not his style; he was feeling somewhat better, but he mentally felt in a daze from doing virtually nothing.

He sighed restlessly. "Shizu-chan just had to break my ribs…"

Well, he supposed it didn't matter much; one thing was sure, he'd pay back Shizuo for that. Izaya was a bit annoyed with himself though. He knew he should have been able to move out of the way quicker than that; Shizuo's hit shouldn't have even made contact.

"Getting slower huh? I know you're older than 21, but I didn't think you were an old man yet."

Izaya turned to face the door way to his room; Chihiro leaned against the frame, smiling wryly and somewhat amused to see him laid up.

"Not as invincible as he thinks he is." she thought.

"Come to gloat over my misfortune? You're not as innocent as you make yourself seem." Izaya retorted mysteriously. She rolled her eyes; she was used to his goading.

"So, did you get stabbed again? I just got a call from Shinra this morning that you were here." Chihiro made herself comfortable and sat on the visitor's chair. "He wouldn't say what happened."

"Oh, I just had a run in with Shizu-chan, still holding a grudge."

"Gee, I wonder why." she said setting down her bag. "Was it a vending machine, a sign, a truck? Don't keep me in suspense."

Izaya chuckled feebly. "He just punched me; it barely hurt." he laughed louder to make a point; unfortunately, the movement caused a sharp pain to go through his abdomen and he couldn't suppress the pained wince.

Chihiro shook her head exasperated. "I'll never understand why men have to act so tough; its sad really." she commented. "You might as well just tell me you're going to "walk it off" or something."

"I wish I could." Izaya thought a bit frustrated; he hated being cooped up anywhere, much less some hospital bed. He smiled up at her instead of voicing his thoughts.

"Wouldn't it be something if I could do just that? Then we could walk over to your place! We can have a movie night, play some board games, maybe we can even-"

"You really do hate it here, huh?"

Her statement was quite casual, but her stare was serious, almost probing. It made Izaya uncomfortable; he was the one who did the analyzing, not her. He frowned at the way she was able to read his moods more easily, despite the facade he carefully put up. Perhaps it wasn't a big deal this time, but he hated knowing Chihiro knew him better than he knew her in some ways.

It made him that more bitter, that and the fact she too was completely fine with him being out of her way in this state, in a hospital bed.

"I can't say I particularly enjoy it; I daresay you do though." he added lightly.

"Huh?"

"I'm sure you're glad to get some time to yourself, right? Now that I'm stuck here for a bit, you don't have to worry about me popping up; don't act nice when you don't mean it." his voice was pleasant but his words had an unmistakable sharpness to them. "It doesn't suit you and you're not very good at it."

"Shut up." Chihiro said quietly.

He pressed on. "Oh, did I touch a nerve? You act so self-righteous, but your show of being this innocent girl is getting annoying. Don't try make it as if you feel bad or wish me well." he smirked as she bowed her head in shame for being exposed.

At least, he assumed that was why until he saw tears drip onto her clenched hands.

"You know what? You're right. I hope you rot in here." Chihiro got up, rushed out of the room and into the hallway toward the elevator.

"What the hell was I thinking? I must be going crazy; I should've known, and here I was actually feeling sorry for that asshole. I don't even like him, why did I even come here?" She thought quickly wiping away the few tears that lingered. She couldn't believe she even let herself get this upset. It's just that she was making an effort to be nice and she thought maybe he'd be nice for once too.

"What a fucking joke." she was glad to have the elevator to herself; she hated getting like this in front of strangers. Chihiro only hoped Izaya hadn't seen; the elevator doors opened and she got out on the first floor. She stepped out and walked toward the entrance hoping it wouldn't be too hard to find her car in the parking lot.

"Stop! Please come back, you shouldn't be out of your room!"

She turned around startled at the sudden yell; it came from the direction of the stairwell. A moment later, she saw Izaya hobbling down the steps with a nurse's aid not too far behind him.

Chihiro stood still, not able at the moment to process what was happening very well. Izaya ignored the aid and didn't stop walking (hobbling) until he was in front of her; despite his efforts to cover it up, he was breathing harshly and was holding his sides.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a slightly hushed tone.

He took a second to catch his breath before smiling at her. "You forgot your bag." He held it up triumphantly; she had completely forgotten it in her haste to get the hell out of there.

Chihiro looked at him with a mix of disbelief and uncertainty and grabbed it. "Thanks, but are you nuts?! You shouldn't be walking! You're the one who was pouting about staying here in the first place, and now you've probably gone and made it worse just to show me up-" Izaya held up his hand and she paused reluctantly in her scolding.

"I saw the cookies Chi-chan."

She felt her face grow warm in embarrassment. "Yeah, so?" she said defensively. "I can't have cookies in my bag?"

"Dammit, he'll never let me hear the end of this." Chihiro thought frustrated. She had enough of Izaya for one day and turned again to leave.

"They're mine; you can't just take them." Izaya had grabbed her wrist; the scene felt somewhat familiar…

"Who said they were yours?" she retorted trying to yank her hand away; people were beginning to stare.

Izaya's grip didn't loosen. "I read the card. You really were worried weren't you?" he sounded almost innocently puzzled and curious at the same time.

Chihiro glared at him bitterly. "Whatever. I'm just being fake, so what does it matter?" She spat back his previous words; she couldn't comprehend why she was even still talking to him.

"He looks pitiful that's why. He's injured, that's why I came here in the first-" she paused in her trail of thought; she had just realized something.

"You took the stairs."

"Hm? Well, the elevator was being used. I couldn't very well skydive off the roof to get down." Izaya sighed but smiled bemusedly; she got off track so easily. "Anyway, those are my cookies and I'm hungry so-"

Chihiro interrupted him once more. "Your rooms on the tenth floor."

Izaya's voice was patient. "Yes, it was. And now we're on the first floor. Do you know who I am?" he asked with a tone an adult might take with a slow toddler.

"A total dick?" she questioned sarcastically.

"You know, it's not proper to say things like that in a hospital." he reprimanded cheerfully. "I swear you didn't use to be this vulgar."

"Here. Get well soon, okay?"

She handed him the cookies and the card; he took them and looked back and forth from them to her.

"My lunch break is almost over; I'll come by tomorrow." she waved before walking out the door and into the parking lot.

"He didn't have to come down here. He could've just eaten the cookies up there." Chihiro thought still a bit befuddled, but pleasantly surprised.

Izaya stood there unsure of what just happened and why she were suddenly being so cooperative. Regardless, he was pleased to have something other than hospital food to eat.

After a few more seconds Izaya collapsed to the floor.

"Sir, please, let's get you back to your room. I have a fiancée and I know what it's like, but she'll be back later." The aid chuckled helping Izaya to his feet. "If you just run off like that, you'll do more damage to your ribs!"

Izaya checked to make sure the cookies hadn't crumbled; Chihiro was coming back tomorrow, but she probably wasn't going to bring more food.

"Maybe I can get her to peel an apple for me!" he thought with childish excitement; he had something to look forward to!

Chihiro had already driven back to work; it wasn't too far from the hospital at least. She knew she was supposed to be focused, but she couldn't help ponder recent events.

"I can't believe Izaya did that." she thought amazed. "Maybe this is a turning point."

Izaya was currently eating each cookie carefully, savoring their texture and sweetness; Chihiro hadn't made a special treat just for him before. When Izaya would come over for meals, he just ate whatever she had already prepared or what he had demanded she make, which was done with plenty of grumbling. These cookies were truly his.

He had to admit, they were pretty good.