Izaya POV

"There now…do you feel better?" I asked the infant in my arms. He was fast asleep, but it was better than him crying like that. To be honest, I've never seen Kishou silently cry to himself, and another thing, I can't figure out what was wrong with him. He's alright now, but it kills me that I could've helped him differently.

Kishou murmured a bit as he slept and sucked quietly on the pacifier. I'm so happy that he's doing so much better than yesterday. It might've killed me if he was dead now, or I would at least fall into some dark abyss. If something were to happen to my baby, I just don't know what I'd do…

I jumped when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Kishou stirred and whined, writhing and kicking his feet. Using one hand to fish the device from my pocket, I used the other to pet the baby's tummy.

"Shh…Kishou, it's okay…" I whispered to him as I flipped open my phone and held it to my ear, "Hello?"

"I-Izaya, hey! I-"

"Yes, Shinra, I'm sorry if I'm a bit late. I'll be over there soon – I had a client then Kishou started crying, so-"

"No, no!" the doctor seemed to sound out of breath from excitement, "Well…I – GAAH! I need you to hurry-hurry – it's urgent! Are you dressed?"

"Yes…look, is there something wrong over there?"

"Quite the opposite! I'm just…I just wanna check on the kid! Is he alright?!"

"Shinra, you're kinda scaring me…yes, he's fine, and again I ask you, is there a problem?"

"Nope! Not at all!"

"Yeah, sure…alright, I'll be on my way over there now. Later…"

"Yes, bye-bye!"

After hanging up, I just sat there, completely bewildered. I look down at the sleeping infant in my lap, who was just starting to wake up.

"…Now what was that all about?"

Shinra POV

"Omigod, omigod, omigod, omigod – HAHAHAHAHA! I got it – holy freakin' crap, I finally got it!"

[Shinra, please stop spazzing out…]

I grinned at my wife's comment, "Oh, honey, I get it best from my father, but I'm just so happy! The Fortissimo of Ikebukuro is coming back, and it's all due to you and me!"

[Well, yes, I understand that, and I'm happy, too, but I'm not the one jumping up and down on the couch with the cure in my hands…]

I laugh again and hop down, clasping the small transparent test tube tipped with a cork, holding the answer to all of Shizuo's problems. I gave it a smooch and held it up to the light – the real Excalibur in my eyes!

…Well, I mean…it wasn't the cool, dancing one with the cane, but what're you gonna do?

"Ah, but that's the beauty of biological scientific experimentation – pure hell to get through, but SO worth it in the end!" I chirped looking at the liquid inside the container that took me an hour to formulate, "But, Celty, my dear, this sense of completion feels better than I thought…oh…"

[What's wrong?]

I suddenly got downhearted, "Nothing…well...yes, there is something that's bothering me…"

[And that would be?]

"…I feel so sorry for Izaya…as surprising as that sounds…"

Celty sunk her shoulders and nodded, […I do, too…]

"Good, I thought I was the only one…" I responded, "Maybe Shizuo turning into a baby in the first place wasn't such a bad thing…Izaya's almost made a complete turn-around in his life, and he seems so happy and carefree – he's not going to take this well…"

[I've been having that same fear, and I know Shizuo's been thinking about that, too.]

"He has…um, Celty, I've also been thinking…that maybe…"

[Yes?]

"…Maybe Izaya doesn't have to know that his baby was actually Shizuo this whole time, or that it was just a huge misunderstanding."

[What?] Celty fumbled with her PDA, [Shinra, I don't think that's fair to Izaya.]

"Well, I'm asking this because I think it'll be better for him if it seems like his child just goes missing instead of it turning out to be that his child was actually the person he hates most in this world. Either way, it's still gonna break him, but not knowing the whole story won't break him completely as it would if he did know."

[Still...doesn't Izaya have a right to know?]

"I'm suggesting this as his friend and Shizuo's friend. I don't want either of them to do anything stupid, especially Izaya."

My headless wife sighed, [I still don't think it's a good idea.]

My eyes softened and I turned to face her seriously.

"…Celty, keep this to yourself, 'kay?"

She seemed confused, but I took her hands in mine and spoke quietly.

"Love, listen to me when I say this: My mother was a complete slut."

She jumped at my choice of words, but I went on.

"When she was pregnant with me, she was about 7 months along when she told my dad that there was a chance that he really…wasn't my dad. He told me that he cried himself to sleep almost every night, but when I was born, it turned out I was his after all. He ended up leaving my mom and taking care of me on his own ever since. One day, I asked him if I had a mom and if I did, where she was. He waited a long time until he finally told me exactly who she was and what she had done. So far, I don't know where she is now."

I let go of her hands so she could respond to all that I said.

[That's awful…but what does that have to do with Izaya and Shizuo's current situation?]

I paused, "…When somebody has a child, that's something that they can claim and love as theirs and theirs only. They have somebody that looks up to them and relies on them. Ask any good parent, and they'll tell you that their kid is an absolute dream. Now, imagine all that being suddenly stripped away from you and spat right back in your face, whether it's being told that the child isn't yours or some other reason. Remember that Izaya just had Shizuo officially adopted for him to keep, and simply put, it hurts than any type of pain a human can experience. Do you see why I'm worried?"

Celty nodded slowly and typed something.

[I hope those two can get past this somehow.]

I smiled warmly and put my arm around her.

"They will. It'll take some time and a lot of comforting, but they soon will. And when that day comes, we'll be seeing flick blades stuck in the sides of buildings and random vending machines strewn everywhere through the city!"

Her shoulders shook in a giggle. I planted a small, but reassuring kiss on her neck, and she snuggled up against me.

"Ah…these past three months have been pretty chaotic, haven't they?" I remarked, fumbling with the little glass container in my hand, "But that's Ikebukuro for ya, right?"

My honey nodded and snuggled closer. I blushed deeply. It's times like these when happiness just seems to flood me, and since we don't get to have these types of moments very often, we make it last the best we can.

However, our sweet hour was interrupted by a short knock on the door. I got spazzy all over again and skipped merrily over to the door. I shoved the little test tube in my lab coat pocket and swung the door open, grinning from ear-to-ear. Izaya stood there, looking a bit uncomfortable and confused while he pushed Baby Shizuo in the stroller. As I advised, Shizuo was bundled up tightly and had a thick panda cap on his head with the binky in his mouth. He seemed to be sleeping.

"Why, hello, my fluffy-jacket friend~!" I said swinging an arm around him and pulling them both inside, "How are you?!"

"Um…fine, thanks…" Izaya said before saying a quick hello to Celty as well, "You seem to be…really excited about something…"

"Oh, yes!" I squealed, clasping my hands together. I bent down and picked up the little infant in the stroller, who squirmed from being woken up so suddenly, "Hey, squirt, do you feel better?"

Poor Shizuo started to fuss at the sudden interruption. I held him closely and bounced him a little.

"Oh, I'm sowwy…" I cooed, "We're gonna get you all better, 'kay-'kay?"

He whined, but ultimately ended up calming down. Izaya smiled as he sat down on the couch next to Celty.

"So just by looking at him, how do you think he's doing?" he asked.

"Well…" I started, "He looks way better than he did yesterday, and you said he ate something, right?"

"Yeah. It took him a while to get used to solid food like that, but he finally found one he liked."

"Good, good…" I put Shizuo over my shoulder and patted his back, "His breathing isn't as shallow as it used to be, seeing as though he hasn't been coughing, though I can tell that he's been a bit irritable."

"Yeah. We had a huge wrestle when it came to taking his temperature…"

So it did happen…oh, poor Shizuo!

"Uh-huh…" I pondered, "Just to be sure of everything, let me go back here and check him up. Overall, he's doing a lot better."

The raven nodded, "Okay. Thank you, Shinra…for everything."

I gave him a smile and took Shizuo to my back room. He nodded back off to sleep before I set him down on the table.

I poked his cheek and whispered, "Pssst…Shizuo…wakey-wakey, Shinra's got a surprise for you~!"

He writhed and whined again, "Leave me alone…"

"Oh, come on!" I said poking his stomach this time, "You'll like this! You look cute in that fluffy hat, by the way~"

"Shut up…"

"Shizuo~"

"What?!"

I shushed him and cupped my hand over his mouth. I removed it once he was quiet and slowly pulled out the bottled cure from my pocket. His eyes widened and his breathing almost stopped as I held it close so he could see it.

"It's all right here, Shizuo."

Like I said, this story's not over yet - still a few more chapters left! I just want to have some time to think it through and work on my other fanfic.

Random Fact: I hung out with my friend (my cow buddy and the one that also has the Mini-Shizu-chan brother) and her family today and three things happened:

1. I went to Starbucks for the second time in my life so far.

2. I bought some DRRR! manga - volumes 1, 3, and 4 (don't ask me why I didn't get 2...)

And 3. I came up with anime character comparisons for all her brothers (Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, Mini-Shizu-chan, and Sealand!)

LAWLZ - but I had so much fun~! Please review - love all you guys!