"Did you guys here the rumors about Shizuo Heiwajima?"

"What?"

"He's got a girlfriend."

"Yeah, that blonde chick right? That's old news dude."

"No, not her, this other chick. I heard the blonde is actually his long lost sister. She got taken in by Russian spies who plan on training both her and Heiwajima."

"That sounds really fucking stupid."

"Hey screw you."

"Wait, so if the blonde's not his woman, what about this other chick?"

"That's just it man, word is she's a total nobody. No one knows anything on her and this one guy heard Heiwajima has her stay away from him in public so the Awakusu or one of the small time gangs don't kidnap her for leverage."

"What, so no one's even seen her? How do they even know she's real?"

"Well, I don't know personally, but I've heard people talking about him taking some girl out to eat and she walks around with him all the time."

"Can she fight too?"

"Don't think so."

"She must be crazy than or she's using him like an attack dog."

"Yeah, I heard Shizuo Heiwajima's totally whipped. Hey, maybe this is our chance to take him down."

"Huh? What the fuck are you smoking?"

"Come on man, think about it! We kidnap this chick and we won't let her go unless Heiwajima agrees to work for us. His girl can't fight right? It sounds like easy pickings!"

Tom watched warily as Shizuo stared directly ahead without blinking; unbeknownst to the two young men sitting in the adjacent booth of the restaurant, Shizuo and Tom had heard every word of their conversation.

"Oh shit." Tom thought as the spoon Shizuo was using to eat his parfait was bent in half; his anxiety doubled as Shizuo stood up and ground the crumpled spoon under his foot.

"Come on Shizuo, they're just a couple of punks. Don't go crazy."

The shorter of the two young men looked up curiously as he heard the sound of metal fall to the floor; his eyes widened in horror as Shizuo slowly went to his table.

"Dude." the other boy's gaze was also glued to the vein threatening to burst out of Shizuo's temple. "You gotta be kidding me…" he whispered.

"Hey."

Both of the teens immediately tensed; they were not particularly cowardly by any means, but they were also not completely stupid. Perhaps it was this stupidity that made them fail to notice the very noticeable Shizuo Heiwajima in the first place, but at least they had enough sense to be terrified.

"Y-yes?"

Shizuo's nostrils were flaring as he spoke quietly.

"You guys were planning on kidnapping my woman?"

"What?! No no no, that was just a joke, really!"

"Yeah, we were just talking shit, we wouldn't actually-"

"It's pretty obvious you two are a couple of dicks." Shizuo interrupted. "Not to mention you're probably way over your heads and have about as much sense as a public school dropout."

Shizuo's voice grew rougher with every word, his fists clenched in his pockets; he briefly unfurled one to put away his sunglasses. He wanted to get a good look at their faces before he smashed them in.

"So, I'll let you off with a warning this one time." Shizuo grinned widely, but this did nothing to calm down the teenagers. They half expected him to grow fangs, a completely ridiculous idea, but fear does funny things to the mind.

"If you and any other asshole in this town ever try to use Kyoko to get to me, I personally guarantee, any scratch, any mark, any threat you even think of doing to her will be returned with a flick to the forehead."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Huh?" The shorter of the two young men frowned in confusion while the other subconsciously checked his ears for water.

"Yep." Shizuo nodded. "Like this."

Tom quickly dragged Shizuo out of the diner as the two young men lay slumped over in their seats, their faces smashed into their plates.

"Sorry Tom." Shizuo said; he didn't look guilty by any means. "We didn't get to finish lunch."

"Eh, that was better than last time." Tom smiled wearily as they walked side by side; Shizuo looked oddly satisfied. Usually he was left feeling ashamed of his outbursts, even if they were justified.

"Let's go see if Simon has that combo platter still on sale, I'll treat this time." Shizuo offered.

Tom waved him off. "Hey, you're already tight on cash. How about you just share the next lunch Kyoko packs you? I don't know where she finds the time to make all that stuff…"

Shizuo frowned. "If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be in danger."

"Kyoko's pretty anonymous." Tom said lightly. "Besides, no one around here who's an actual threat will try anything. They know better than to mess with you."

"I'll protect her." Shizuo swore to himself firmly; he still couldn't help feel a creeping sense of worry gnaw at him. "But that's not really what I'm scared of. I know I could protect her from other people, but what about me? What if I end up hurting her too?"

"Shizuo, don't sweat it." Tom spoke up suddenly; Shizuo was a lot easier to read than he knew. "It's no use worrying about stuff that hasn't even happened."

"Yeah, I know." Shizuo sighed; he thought of Kyoko's earlier words, how even if he ended up breaking every bone in her body, she would stay. He couldn't quite describe exactly how it made him feel, but the relief was clear.

Tom patted his back. "Kyoko loves you. Heck, you've smashed nearly every piece of furniture in that apartment, but she's still hanging in there."

Shizuo grimaced; luckily Kyoko had a better paying job and knew where to get decent furniture for bargain prices, particularly at this thrift shop a few blocks away. He wished he could say the people working at the store didn't know Kyoko by her first name by now, but…

"You know, I bet Kyoko's gonna be really happy when you tell her how you saved her from another potential kidnapping." Tom smiled encouragingly; Shizuo visibly perked up at the thought.

"Maybe she'll make me yakitori again. She makes me a chocolate shake instead of beer to go with it, and the chicken is always charred just right." Shizuo said with a hint of bragging.

"Yeah and you can share it with me for lunch"

"..."