"…Izaya-kun…?"

"Shi…Shizu-chan…"

"Kyaaa!" I heard a girl squeal, "It's Izaya! Izaya and Shizuo have seen each other for the first time in twelve weeks!"

"Aw, sweet! Kick his ass, Shizuo!"

I flinched. Izaya Orihara is right up under me…literally! What am I supposed to do?

"Shizu-chan…g-get…get off of me!" the raven yelled, beginning to thrash. I turned my head to see Izaya barely nicking me on the wrist with his flick blade. In shock, I jumped off of him and held my wrist defensively.

"Tch…what the hell's your problem, flea?!" Not a good way to start off a nice relationship, but this was bad. He tried to slit my wrist the first time he saw me in three months. His eyes were filled with a burning hate, stronger than anything I've ever felt from him before.

"That's my line!" he yelled back, no trace of that trademark smirk, "You should've stayed out of the way, and why are you alive anyway?! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

I flinched at his choice of words, but I ultimately tried to find a way for both of us to vent. It surely wasn't going to happen with the growing crowd surrounding us.

Dammit, dammit, dammit…this is getting really bad…

My eyes searched for any type of opening in the large crowd. Eventually, I found a small split between a group of teenage girls, and if I played it right, it would lead right to an alleyway. I looked at Izaya, only a few feet away from me, and I quickened my breath.

"It's risky…" I said aloud, and in the next second, I grabbed Izaya's arm and latched onto it, strongly pulling him with me, "But it's worth a shot!"

The crowd gasped as I took off, but the informant was absolutely none too pleased.

"Wha...What're you doing, protozoan?!" he screamed in frustration as he was practically dragged down the street. At this rate, his legs were virtually running by themselves, almost tripping him up. "Where are you taking me, you damned idiot?! Let me go!"

I didn't answer, only looking behind me every so often to check on our progress. They were still hot on my trail, but I spotted the alleyway and swooped around the corner. I put my back against the bricks, still clutching onto Izaya's arm, and dropped down to the ground, hiding both of us behind a dumpster. I held my breath and cocked an eye, watching the large mob rushing down the street, and sure enough, they ran excitedly past us without a second thought.

I took a long-needed sigh and began to turn back to the raven while loosening the grip on his arm but still held onto it.

"Geez…" I huffed, "I think we're safe for-"

SMACK!

"…"

"Let. Go. Of. Me."

…I don't believe it.

Izaya just…he hit - no…he slapped me.

I took in the dull sensation that rang against my cheek, and I lightly touched the spot with a slow-moving hand. I looked to the raven in front of me with shocked eyes while his were filled with anger and a hint of sorrow. I glared at him, but I held back my temper the best I could.

"What the hell was that for?!" I asked him loudly, "I take you away from all those pests and to show your thanks, you slap me?"

He breathed heavily and almost shrieked, "Who the hell said I wanted to be saved by you?! I was never in trouble, and I told you to let go of me!"

"Well, SORRY…" I said rolling my eyes, "I thought you would've at least said 'Thank you' but I guess that's too much to-"

"Shut up."

I paused for a few seconds, but picked back up on the one-sided conversation.

"Now that I think about it, why'd you do that?"

"Do what?!"

"Why did you try to cut my wrist when I ran into you?"

He didn't answer at first, but suddenly, he chuckled with a growing smirk on his face. This smirk, however, was far from happy, funny, or snarky.

It was filled to the brim with detestation.

"To be honest, I don't even know why I tried…" he answered still chuckling, "It's not like you're gonna die soon anyway…No matter how much I could wish for it, you escape Death's realm every time…"

"…That doesn't really answer my question…"

"Tch!" he scoffed, "Don't you get it?! Stupid idiotic protozoan…"

He began to stomp off back into the street.

"Wha…what?!" I yelled after him, "Wait a minute, Izaya! Let me-"

"Just shut up!" he snarled looking back at me again, "You are so stupid! So goddamn stupid! Why can't you see it?! I hate you, I can't stand you, but no matter how many times we fight, I still can't kill you! You're absolutely the worst thing I've ever had to put up with over the years! You're gone for three months, and then you just pop up and act all nice to me as if you changed somehow! Nothing changed - you're still just as dense like the protozoan you always were! I can barely stand to look at you, let alone be near you! And yet…a-and yet…"

He stopped, trembling, and gradually fell to his knees. He scooted his back towards the brick wall and placed his palms on his face to cover his eyes.

"And yet…" his speech muffled, but it was clear he was about to cry, "I-I can't stop looking at you…because…every time I do, I see…my…oh, God…"

He broke down, his sobs loud and desperate. His hands were still over his face, but clear, shiny tears ran down and dripped off his chin.

"My little boy…" he cried on, "Why did he have to look like you of all people?! Now he's gone and you're back in Ikebukuro to try and kill me again like you always do, but…but now you're not even screaming or attempting to throw anything from a punch to a stop sign at me…why? Why is nothing going back to where things are supposed to be…? I…I hate you! I fucking hate you so much…!"

He sobbed some more, and I, not having moved once since his speech, sighed and put my hands in my pockets. I took out my box of cigarettes, took one out, and lit it with the lighter I fished out from my other pocket. While inhaling the nicotine, I trudged over slowly to the informant and boldly planted myself right next to him, fairly close.

"Don't touch me."

"I'm not."

"Just…don't get near me."

"I'm not trying to. I just want to talk to you."

"Oh, please…" he said grabbing a fistful of his hair, "Just go away…or better yet, just kill me while you still have this chance!"

My eyes widened. This is exactly what I was afraid of. He's getting all suicidal and "Kishou" hasn't even been missing for a full 24 hours. Taking another drag of my cigarette, I sighed.

"…No."

"What?"

"I'm not going to kill you, Izaya, so just forget it."

"…You're…" he pulled his hood over his head, "You're really stupid, Shizu-chan. I can't say that enough. Don't you even have the slightest temptation to do away with me once and for all?"

"…Well," I spoke softly, "Let's just say I have a debt I owe."

He sniffled, "That's bull."

"And that's a bit cold," I pointed out, "So every time I run into you, it's mandatory to throw something at you?"

"That's the way it's been for the longest, idiot!" he yelled after yanking the hood off. Then his head dropped back down in his arms for more sobbing.

I let him cry a bit more before speaking again.

"Izaya…let's just say that my little absence did change something about me. Something that made me realize that…we both kinda screwed up the first time we met. We acted…immature."

I made sure not to say the word "childish"…

"I know this it's crazy that I'm sitting this close to you, and it's even crazier that I sa- well, kinda saved you. But I guess…"

The raven slowly picked up his head again.

"You guess what? Spit it out already."

I took another puff of my cigarette.

"…Why don't we just call it a truce and…s-start over?

"…Start over…?"

"Y-yeah…I mean, don't you think things will get better if we get to know each other better? I'm not saying we try to be 'best friends forever' or anything like that, but…why not just kinda…call everything off and let bygones be bygones? Maybe that'll fix some things in both our lives, because…I can tell – you're not really in the best mood to fight me, not even to look at me…am I wrong?"

"…"

"So…what do you say?"

"…"

"…Ah, I see…" I scratched the back of my neck and stood up, ready to leave, "Maybe I'm just being an idiot again…sorry about that – I'll go."

I was about to do just that, until I felt something tug on my dress shirt. I glanced down to see two teary crimson eyes looking back at me.

"Shizu-chan…I…"

"Yeah?"

"I, um…"

"Hmm?"

He tensed, then he finally sighed in frustration.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Huh?"

He drew his legs in and nestled his head on top of his knees.

"I'm just not…ready…for anything just yet…"

"Oh, uh…I'm sorry-"

"Stop apologizing, protozoan." He stated, "What I meant was…you see…"

"Yeah?" I asked, sitting back down next to him. I noticed his eyes getting teary, so this time I gave him a bit more room.

"…Recently, I…I lost something very important and dear to me…"

"Oh…" I said, looking up to the heavens. Until then, I didn't even notice the temperature dropping or it beginning to cloud up in the sky, "So…how much did this thing cost, exactly?"

"…It was…precious. Truly irreplaceable and priceless. Just precious…"

He choked, fighting to hold back tears, and I down casted my mocha eyes. It made me feel guilty for asking, especially since I knew exactly what he was looking for. Every piece of logic that Shinra handed to me about not telling Izaya the truth was about to be flown out the window. I knew that it was a bad idea, but…honestly, I'm so scared at how he'll react if I do tell him.

"It's okay…you don't have to go into detail about it if you don't want to…All I can say is that…I'm…I'm sorry to hear about that, and…I hope you get it back, whatever it was that you're looking for."

"Yeah…" he responded quietly. The first snowflakes began their pilgrimage down towards Earth.

"Thanks, proto-...thanks, Shizu-chan."

"Mm." was all I said, but on the inside, I was in shock that those words came out of Izaya Orihara's mouth, "Now…another thing…"

He flinched when he saw me reaching into the pockets of my vest, but he relaxed his muscles when I pulled out some tissue.

I handed it to him and shrugged it off, "You should wipe your face. You don't wanna look like you got your ass kicked and went home crying, do you?"

He sniffled again, taking the tissue gingerly, and softly blew his nose.

"Mm-hmm…"

I smiled to myself as I watched him clean himself up. He caught note of this and frowned.

"What're you smiling about?"

I shook my head, "Nothing – I should be on my way, though. I still got work to do with Tom, and in the meantime, you should probably get home before any more trouble comes, okay?"

"…But I -" He was ready to object, but it wasn't until soft, white snowflakes began to fall from the sky. We both stared at them a bit, giving a vibe of peace. Finally, Izaya caught onto a breath that was prepared to give reason why he shouldn't go back to Shinjuku right away, but he ended up sighing and hung his head, nodding reluctantly.

"Alright, good." I finally said while trying to ignore the exhausted look on his face, but as I turned around to go, I called Izaya's name. He looked at me expectantly, and I flashed him a cautionary, yet discontented expression.

"Izaya-kun, don't do anything stupid."

Me: Oh, this is getting intense! It feels just like a double rainbow!

Izaya: ...

Shizuo: ...'Kay, what the hell is a "double rainbow"?

Izaya: Shizuo, don't!

Me (singing): Double rainbow, all the way, 'cross the sky! YEEEAAAAAAAH - IT'S SO INTENSE!

Izaya: ...Goddamn you, Shizu-chan...

Shizuo: ...Meh...uh, please review...

Me: Double rainbow, all the way, 'cross the sky! Wow - Wow, oh my God! LOOK AT THAT RAINBOW! XD