Title:- Beat of love

Pairing:- Izuo

Rating:- T

Disclaimer:- I don't own Durarara

Warning:- language, violence

Summary:- Maybe they could get along after all.

Requested by:- Guest

A/N:- The next one is for Gomerah.

Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.

Izaya Orihara was in his element. A drum major for Rajin school's marching band. The natural born leader. First the band. Then the school. Then the world.

Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.

His humans were standing obediently following his every movement. Izaya grinned twirling the baton and catching it in his other hand without so much as blinking. With a smirk he began to hit the drum. Slow at first setting the pace for the rest of the band to follow. Behind him the cymbals clashed together followed by the rest of the drummers.

Izaya marched ahead twirling the baton again. At the side of the sports field he could see the teacher watching. No doubt to make pointless comments after their rehearsal. The only problem within the band was in the mallet percussion. Of all things they gave the protozoan Shizuo Heiwajima an xylophone.

Lack of members had been the teacher's excuse. He's my friend. Had been Shinra's. Unexpectedly the blonde could follow instructions as well as managing a tune. There was a thrill Izaya supposed. It felt like a hungry animal at his back.

It made things exciting. Izaya knew the exact moment the blonde stopped playing. With a smirk he caught the baton spinning around to see the beast standing over him looking murderous. Izaya looked his classmate over seeing the small xylophone around the blonde's neck bouncing against the blue blazer and now torn white shirt.

It took seconds to set his equipment down. Less than a second to swipe the drumsticks of one of the other drummers and shove them up the protozoan's flared nostrils. To end the ensemble Izaya laughed taking hold of the cymbals and slamming them together.

Clang~

Both sides sandwiched the blonde. The drum line broke away running across the field out of harms way. The mallet percussion and brass began marching backwards.

"Hey!" The teacher called beginning to walk over as if they were normal students. Izaya was already running across the field vaulting into the stands.

"Izaaaayaaaa!" The blonde screamed his name barrelling after him. Side stepping expertly Izaya dodged a drum thrown at him. With a sigh he looked down at his broken instrument. Luckily the storeroom had plenty more.

x-x-x

The practice the previous day had been their last one. The teacher was fussing over the band looking panicked and giving out advice. Today was the day of the competition. All the schools marching bands were put together to perform. Izaya wasn't bothered in the least. The only thing he was happy about was the blonde hadn't been on his bus. He did hear that there was a fight due to spilled juice or something similar.

Now his band was clustered together getting ready. Izaya looked over the sea of blue done up uniforms. They had a military element what with the hats and the school's insignia. Izaya was a little annoyed that they expected him to dress the same as his humans.

That was why he was wearing black with a red sash. His own design. The teacher gave him a displeased look. Giving her a wink he dared her to argue with him. Shaking her head he was left alone.

With a smirk Izaya unpacked his baton and freshly shined drum. Threading the thick strap over his neck he took out the drumsticks hitting the skin experimentally. I the corner of the room he could see a certain member struggling to fit in a uniform that was a little too small.

x-x-x

There were a wide number of schools playing. The stadium was filled with spectators. Along the front was a panel of judges. Izaya smiled leaning against the edge of the arch. His gaze rose to the large electronic board. They were sixteenth to perform.

"Excuse me. Losers are over there." The drum major for the first school laughed. Izaya held up his hands skipping away. He could go up in the stands to watch if he wanted to. "Watch and learn."

Izaya did just that. The arrogant leader began to march out into the stadium.

Tap tap tap.

He watched them file out each of them looking tense. It was a shame they had such an amateur leader.

Tap tap thunk

Like that the music stopped. Izaya glanced back seeing the leader's strap had snapped crashing onto the ground. Whistling happily he folded the pocket knife back into the pocket of his uniform.

x-x-x

Fifteen matches later and it was their turn. Izaya hummed softly twirling the baton. "Places people. We've been through the practices. You know what to do." The teacher was sweating, panicking. He could see her eyes flitting from him to the blonde.

"Everyone has their uniforms?"

"Yes miss." The band chorused.

"Good. Instruments. Does everyone have their instruments?"

"Yes miss."

"Good. Then go out there and do your best." Izaya smirked catching the blonde's gaze before giving him a wink. It was looking to be an entertaining performance.

In single file they left the changing room. They were in the order of where they were in the parade to make things easier. Izaya was as usual at the front grinning from ear to ear.

Tap tap tap

Playfully he hit the skin of the drum. His knees bent stiffly giving him a more rigid form. Under his lead they would be ready. The teacher he could see had her doubts.

The number of practices the band had should have set those worries at ease. It was more of a matter of the unfinished practices. The only time the band had finished a reversal was when one of them was absent.

Well they were both here now and short of locking the protozoan back in the changing room there wasn't much he could do. One would affect the entire band. Right now his band was one group of humans representing their school.

Izaya stood at the mouth of the entrance quickly skimming the board. They had a pretty good chance at winning. Only a couple of the other bands had managed to get a high score. The first band had lost points for a messy start followed by a shaky performance. "What a shame."

Tap tap. Tap tap tap. Tap tap.

Izaya breathed in deep marching out into the stadium. His wrists flexed in perfect harmony, the slim drumsticks beating softly against the drum.

The baton flew up higher than necessary caught expertly without the action disturbing his drumming. Behind him in the front lines the battery was in perfect sync.

The cymbals clashing together introduced the mallet percussion followed by bass and lastly the small group of woodwind. Risking a glance at the judges, crimson hues took in the complacent looks on their faces.

Izaya turned away twirling the baton. Tough crowd. It looked like the teacher's performance plan wasn't going to impress. "Izaayaa!"

"Now?" The raven asked bemused. There were numerous exits that he could take to escape the murderous blonde. However they were in the middle of a competition and Izaya didn't like to lose. "Keep playing no matter what." He hissed behind him.

Like a wave his message rippled through the band. Izaya changed direction cutting off their straight march. From the corner of his eye he could see the blonde breaking out of his group heading in a beeline for him.

"Iz-" with a calm smile Izaya changed direction again sending the band to the left. The longer it took the protozoan to get to the front he better.

Tap tap tap tap tappity tap tap

The march went on and the band continued to play as per his instructions. As well as it was going to. The disturbance was at the front line now still playing he xylophone.

"This is a competition, Shizu-chan. Are you going to humiliate my humans by acting like an animal?"

"The only one ruining things is you!" The blonde hissed. "You sabotaged my uniform." Izaya smirked not needing to turn around.

"Three quarter pants suit you, ne?"

Izaya turned 180 degrees twirling the baton to catch it behind his back. The uniform had been shrunk. The blonde's ankles and the majority of his forearms were submitted to the cold chill in the air.

At the entrance he can see their teacher looking fearful shaking her head. Izaya doesn't blame her seeing as the thin thread between sanity and the protozoan's rage is about to snap. Snap it does a scream of his name renting the air and no longer can Izaya pretend to keep his cool.

If he stays leading the band then by all accounts he'll end up with bruises, a black eye and perhaps broken bones. The only blessing is that he knows the blonde hasn't killed anyone-yet. Who's to say that he wouldn't be the first?

"Kill kill kill."

Tap tap tap.

Izaya mimics with his drum. In a short burst of speed the raven leaves his post running to the side away from the anger charged beast. His head is filled with cuts, bruises and bandages if he gets caught. So he makes sure not to.

It doesn't still his hands though. Multitasking is one of his many gifts. The baton isn't thrown as high not when every second counts yet Izaya still manages some semblance of control. His drum beat speeds up a little and as good little humans, the band does too.

The tempo dips and falls, the rhythm still there but no longer one from a couple of sheets of paper. They've made it their own by complete accident. Izaya ducks and weaves to avoid any injury.

It's not that the other teen is big or bulky with a huge muscle mass. It's that being hit feels like being crushed by a mountain. Or so the boxing club told him.

His fingers are locked in place continuously tapping as he backs away skirting the edge of the mallet percussion. Shinra is smiling at him lost in day dreams of his crush at home.

Izaya laments the loss of his drumsticks as he succeeds in further pissing the blonde off. The drum is the next to go slammed over the protozoan's head with a tell tale rip.

It's over. The music comes to an abrupt end. The baton he's tossed is swiped out of the air by the teen crushed under an iron grip. Izaya dangles a foot from the ground waiting for an oncoming punch.

Slowly clapping fills his ears and the stadium. Izaya looks around seeing that all of his humans are standing in ovation giving them thunderous applause.

The blonde is stunned staring around dazed. Izaya uses the moment to escape darting back to the front of the band. The applause slowly dies out and all that's left is waiting to be awarded their scores.

"That was amazing." The first judge beams. "I was worried for a moment at the beginning then you turned it around." Izaya's brow furrowed glancing back.

"Beautiful. It's about time we had something new in this competition. I loved it." They were awarded praise after praise for such a 'unique' performance.

x-x-x

The first place trophy sat proudly on their teacher's desk. They had won the competition. "Gather round. Gather round." The teacher smiled. "Congratulations on your victory. I'm so proud of you." The woman gushed. "Izaya Orihara, drum major step forward."

Izaya grinned skipping ahead. "Shizuo Heiwajima, mallet percussion. Step forward." Izaya's grin slipped turning into a displeased scowl. "It's thanks to you two that we won. The judges said it themselves our routine started off too by the book. From now on I'm leaving the planning up to the two of you."

Crimson and chocolate hues clashed both of them looking horrified as they realised they would be forced to spend time together. "Izaaayaaa! This is your fault!"

"Who's the one that came after me?" Izaya retorted taking out his knife.

"You shrank my uniform."

"You could still wear it. Not like you're a man anyway. Right Shizu-chan?" An enraged scream had him heading for the school gates.

x-x-x

Working together? Izaya glanced over at the other side of the room where the blonde was sitting looking as pissed off as usual. One wrong word would cause the desks to fly in every direction.

"Shizu-chan~" Izaya sang skipping over and planting himself on the desk. "The sooner we do this, the sooner we can go home. I don't want to work with you any more than you want to work with me."

"Then piss off and die." Was his response.

Thump.

Izaya's ass hit the floor. "Figures a protozoan like you wouldn't be able to work together. After all you're already isolating yourself. You're naive if you think anyone will ever like you."

"I know. I already knew that so why are you telling me? Doesn't matter what I do if I'm gonna fail, does it?" The chair scraped back, silently as the teen's name implied he left the classroom.

x-x-x

"Hey. How's the planning going?" Shinra asked grinning beside him.

"It's not. Shizu-chan's- well I didn't expect much from the protozoan. Now he's running away." Izaya scoffed. "Like that's going to change anything."

"Maybe if you two try and get along."

"I already tried that."

"You were an asshole and cut him." Shinra pointed out.

"He said he hated me first."

"If you say so. Shizuo is afraid of hurting others. If there's no one beside him then no one gets hurt. You're not as smart as you think, Izaya."

Izaya rolled his eyes turning his head to look out the window. On the ground he could see the target of their discussion walking out of the school gates.

"What do you suggest I do?"

"Be nice. Shizuo is a sensitive guy."

Izaya laughed. "My bones are sensitive. Doesn't stop the protozoan from trying to kill me. Fine. I'll test out your theory."

x-x-x

Tick tick tick

Who knew that silence could be so suspenseful. Izaya sat on his side of the room by the window. No waspish comments, no teasing- nothing. Instead he studied the other teen.

Quiet, perpetually annoyed, would most likely grow up to be cantankerous wreaking havoc and destruction.

"...what?" Came a small grumble.

"Hm?" Izaya asked getting up to perch himself on the teacher's desk. Swinging his legs back forth he continued to stare.

"You keep staring at me. What the hell do you want?" Well he had tried.

"Have you come up with anything so far?" Izaya asked instead. Being nice was a lot tougher than it looked.

"Huh?" The blonde looked shocked. "...no."

"Guess maybe we should brainstorm." The raven suggested.

"Do what you want. I'm going." Izaya shrugged watching him leave. So much for that idea.

x-x-x

"You were wrong." Izaya declared leaning against the wall. "I was being nice and he still didn't change."

"You're not trying hard enough." Shinra sighed. "Try putting some effort in. Talk to him. Ask him how's he's feeling."

"Tch. Like that's going to help." Izaya laughed. His eyes narrowed noticing there were two xylophones on his friend's desk instead of the one.

"You're right. It probably won't. Shizuo quit this morning. I have to hand his instrument in." Shinra smiled. "Looks like you did something after all."

"Where is he?"

"He didn't come to school today either."

x-x-x

Tap tap tap

"Shizuo-sensei, I can't do this." Izaya only managing to find the other teen was pure luck. He had wanted to take the longer path back home giving him more time to think.

The teen was sitting in a children's park surrounded by a ground of six seven year olds. Izaya stood and watched keeping out of sight.

"No, you've almost got it." The blonde smiled at the children. Warm, sincere and unlike anything he had seen before. "Try again."

"Yes, Shizuo-sensei."

Tap tap tap

The girl was a drummer by the looks of things. Izaya raised a brow in question. Since when did the protozoan teach little kids? The other children all had drums too. The girl's whining turned to giggles as she was hoisted onto the blonde's shoulder. Izaya watched fascinated as the other teen marched around carrying a baton.

He watched it thrown into the air balancing on a single finger before tossed back up. Each throw was caught with a different finger before caught in the blonde's palm.

"My turn!" The little girl on his shoulder cried. Izaya shook his head watching her throw the baton full of determination. "Let me down."

"Okay, there you go." The baton lay on the grass next to the sobbing girl. "What are you good at? What do you enjoy?"

Izaya found himself unable to tear his eyes away. This was a new side to the protozoan he hadn't seen before. A smiling, happy side that he wanted to know more about.

"Gymnastics! Cartwheels! I'm good at those." The blonde smiled again taking the drum away. The baton was picked up from the grass. Izaya watched as something was removed from the teen's pocket.

"Try them with this. This routine is your own." The baton was handed back this time with brightly coloured ribbons tied to the end.

The pair of them stood together. The girl with the baton and the blonde with the drum. The girl was smiling twirling with the baton above her head. His attention was on the teen playing the drum.

Izaya found himself scowling as the girl threw herself into a cartwheel becoming a flurry of colour. Turning away the teen trudged away from the heart warming scene.

x-x-x

He didn't understand his current actions. The protozoan had quit the band. They didn't have to try and practice any more and yet Izaya still skipped into the classroom placing a drum on the desk.

"You're late for practice, ne?"

"I q-"

"Sensei I have to take Shizu-chan."

Izaya grinned leaving the classroom with the other teen in tow.

"What the hell, flea?" Ignoring the blonde's complaints Izaya began tapping on the drum. A small little rhythm that was stuck in his head. "I already quit."

"You ran away." The teen corrected. "I figured out a way we can both be in the band."

"You aren't going to say something stupid like suggest we get along? I've already told Shinra it's a crappy idea."

So he wasn't the only one with Shinra in his ear. "We make it a competition. A competition within a competition. Who says there can't be two drum majors?"

Taptaptaptaptap

"What are you talking about? I was in mal-"

"The wrong section." Izaya shrugged slipping into an empty classroom. "It will be boring without you. Everyone said as much."

"I-"

"Ne, Shizu-chan. I believe we could get along. What do you think of this?" Izaya asked beating the drum.

Taptaptaptaptaptaptap

"What's beating a drum that fast got to do with anything?" The blonde growled looking increasingly uncomfortable. Izaya risked stepping forward taking the blonde's surprisingly soft hand to place it against his chest. "Hey!"

"Feel it? It's the same rhythm. What I just played was the racing of my heart." Slowly the teen reached out. "If I'm right. You should be playing the same." Izaya smiled feeling the strong beat under his fingertips.

"M-my heart is always fast. Something to do with adrenaline and-"

"I think I like you, Shizu-chan." Izaya said slowly in realisation.

The blonde blinked eyes widening. "This is a joke." He scowled.

"Nope. No joke. I'm not laughing. I like you. I haven't thought of kissing or touching you yet but I'm sure that's to come."

The other teen was silent staring down at their arms. "...then I think I like you too."

"I thought you might." Izaya quipped quickly pulling his hand away.

"Only when you're not an asshole. Or annoying. Or-mm." Izaya touched his lips backing away. "Y-you! Don't kiss me!" Izaya laughed letting the drum hit the floor running from the classroom and down the hall a light blush dusting his cheeks.

End