chapter twenty-six - let the games begin

"Shizu-chan, I'd stop glaring at me if I were you. Your face will end up getting stuck like that."

Shizuo sighed. "I could say the same for you about that damn smirk of yours."

"So profane," Izaya purred, earning an eye roll from the brunette across the counter.

At least he's back to normal. Shizuo managed a faint smile at the thought, even though it only had a night to form. Still, it was nice knowing that the informant hadn't over exhausted himself, even if he only made the improvement of collapsing on the couch rather than his keyboard.

"Eh, you're smiling now?" Izaya raised his eyebrows in question. "Honestly, Shizu-chan."

"Sorry, does it bother you?" Shizuo's smile curved into a smirk, earning a glare from Izaya.

"Yes, it does." The other man held out a hand in front of Shizuo's face, turning away as he did so. "You're still as unpredictable as ever, I see."

Shizuo shrugged, nudging his hand out of his face. "Seems like it."

The brunette half expected Izaya to pull his hand away instantly at the touch, though Izaya pulled away slowly, still casting him a small glare before going off on his usual monologue. Shizuo had convinced him - how, he didn't know - to take a break today, with it being Christmas, not that would stop him. He couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the informant might have burst without talking about something related to these murders, though he supposed he had to agree with that. It was slowly killing him not knowing who the sender of the note was, and what exactly Izaya's relation to these murders was. It certainly wasn't helping having Namie's tease of "Izaya two-point-o" practically hardwired in his brain now. Still, Shizuo kept his mouth shut and his accusations to himself for the day, calling for a much needed break.

"You aren't even listening, are you?" Izaya's words finally got Shizuo out of his train of thought, leaving the two to stare at each other for a moment before Shizuo replied with a shake of his head. "Thought so," The informant continued, crossing his arms and beginning to pace around the kitchen, leaving a scowling Shizuo.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm bored," Izaya murmured, continuing on with his pacing. "It's killing me having to live by your standards."

"I never said you had to."

Izaya gave him a small shrug. "Eh. A break's needed."

You can say that again.

"Ne, Shizu-chan, did you come up with any plans for today?" Izaya asked, his smirk following with it. "Is that why you didn't want me doing anything?"

Shizuo grimaced, punching him lightly the next time he came around.

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

"Some days I really want to break your neck," Shizuo grumbled, taking his leave from the kitchen with Izaya right behind him. As he took a seat on the couch, Izaya still remained, resting his arms on the top of the couch and his head in his arms, gazing over at Shizuo. "Can I help you?" The brunette finally asked, cocking an eyebrow in question, though slightly amused by it.

"Someone's awfully aggressive today," Izaya murmured, poking Shizuo's shoulder. "Care to tell me why?"

Shizuo rolled his eyes. "It's nothing, really."

Izaya raised his eyebrows in return, saying nothing as he put his head down in his arms. Before he did so, however, Shizuo caught a glimpse of what actually looked to be concern in his carmine eyes. He supposed then that maybe he understood how the informant felt now, not knowing how to read him.

"Izaya?"

The raven stirred. "Yes?"

Shizuo gave it a second thought, and decided to be silent. "Never mind." You probably know already. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you have cameras in here, bastard...

"Not trying to ruin the mood, ne?"

Shizuo let out an exasperated sigh. "You have no filter, do you?"

Izaya sat back up, giving a light shrug. "It could always be worse."

"I guess," Shizuo murmured half-heartedly.

"Don't sound so excited," Izaya managed a faint smile. "What happened to having a break?"

"Shut up, flea."

"Shut up, protozoan," Izaya mimicked, casting Shizuo a small glare in return as his feeble smirk returned, earning a bemused look from the brunette.

"You're really taking this seriously."

The informant shrugged. "We have to lighten the atmosphere somehow."

A smile appeared on Shizuo's face a moment later and Izaya turned away at the sight, murmuring, "Don't get any ideas, Shizu-chan."

"You're one to talk."

"So, what exactly are we doing today? This is rather boring." Izaya arms fell to his side once again as he made his way over towards his desk, though he didn't sit down.

Shizuo turned his head slightly to look back up at him, managing a faint smirk at his blatant discomfort. "I never said you couldn't check Dollars."

Izaya's face lit up, though only momentarily as realized Shizuo was still looking at him, leaving both men to scoff at one another. Still, Izaya pulled his phone out, tapping away to get to the chat room.

"So what are you doing then, Shizu-chan?" The informant inquired as Shizuo appeared at his side.

The brunette shrugged. "Well, we didn't go to Celty and Shinra's like I promised, so I thought about going over there if they aren't busy."

"Third-wheeling, then?"

"Fourth-wheeling," Shizuo corrected. "I'm dragging your ass down there since it's your fault we didn't go."

"Technically, it was Namie's fault."

"Technically you're the one who kissed me."

"Technically you're the one who kissed me first."

Shizuo was unresponsive at first, though deadpanned, "That has nothing to do with this."

Izaya smirked. "Well..."

Frowning, Shizuo placed a hand over his mouth, leaving Izaya to struggle to move the debt collector's arm, failing in the process. Cursing to himself, Izaya muttered, "Shizu-chan, pull your hand away now," though it came out extremely muffled, earning a small smirk from Shizuo.

"Sorry, I don't speak flea," was his response, leaving Izaya to kick him - hard.

"Dammit!" Shizuo spat, pulling his hand away as his knees gave way, Izaya smirking above him at his accomplishment.

"I finally found Shizuo Heiwajima's weakness. Who knew," Izaya mused, turning his back to him. "It didn't work the last time, but I guess it can work from time to time."

Shizuo was on his feet again afterwards, glaring, though the informant couldn't see him. "You had to try again, didn't you?"

"Essentially, yes." Izaya turned to face him yet again and upon seeing Shizuo's face, cut him off before he could make any argument. "So, are we heading over to Shinra's or not?"

"Unlike you, I don't actually barge into people's houses," Shizuo replied, making his way back over to the coffee table to grab his phone.

Izaya snorted. "I beg to differ."

"That's different. Besides, it's mainly Tom that does the barging, believe it or not."

"Who would've thought," Izaya murmured, gazing over at Shizuo, though the brunette was most likely blocking him out as he texted Celty. "Tom over you and your little kouhai. Ne, you're going back to work next week, aren't you?"

Shizuo hesitantly looked up. "Depends on when Kasuka's funeral is."

"Ah, right."

"I can't tell if you want to get rid of me or not at this point." Shizuo managed a faint smile, though Izaya didn't return the gesture. "Anyway, Celty said we can go over."

Izaya nodded, making his way towards the door with Shizuo in pursuit, leaving the two to walk alongside one another, partially in silence. Izaya would crack a small joke, Shizuo would either try to counter it or get pissed off - everything was normal.

Almost.

At one point, Shizuo had to gaze over and remember the text he received, those three words screaming at him in his affliction. At first, all he could think was, I have to kill you, but then it came to him, what if it was a hoax?

I doubt it. Shizuo internally sighed to keep from Izaya's interrogation. 'Bukuro may have calmed down for the most part, but someone's always up to some crazy shit, and it's impossible to keep this idiot out of it.

"Shizu-chan, where are you going?"

There was no mistaking the amusement in Izaya's voice, leaving Shizuo to come to a halt, only to turn and see Izaya a ways back on Shinra and Celty's doorstep. Flustered and cursing the informant under his breath, Shizuo caught up to him, knocking on the door, only to earn a snicker from Izaya. Shinra opened the door a moment later, greeting them with a "Merry Christmas" and an expression to rival Izaya's at the fact that Shizuo knocked.

"One word out of either of you and you won't be up until the new year," Shizuo grumbled, making his way inside only to be greeted with a hug from Celty. Letting out a light chuckle he said, "Hey, Celty."

Celty pulled away after a moment, slipping her phone out of her sleeve. [Merry Christmas!]

Izaya raised an eyebrow at the sight, murmuring more to himself, "So, I take it Celty likes the holidays."

"Maybe if you didn't-"

Shinra was cut off by an elbow to the side, wincing as he turned to face Izaya afterwards. Celty had just caught a glimpse of the sight, approaching the two and holding her PDA out towards the informant. [Merry Christmas, Izaya.]

"As to you, courier-san."

Had Celty had her head, Izaya knew he would have gotten the dirtiest look for even attending. For now, however, all he got was her smoke flaring a tad more than usual, and certainly not in embarrassment, much to Shinra's dismay.

[So, why aren't you two doing anything today?] Celty asked, tilting her neck in question.

"My secretary seems to have bailed on us for the weekend, and Shizu-chan was very set on making up for not coming to your party," Izaya said with a shrug. "The protozoan insisted that I need a break, too."

Shinra adjusted his glasses, managing a small smile once again as he did so. "Right, you're getting into all those murders, aren't you?"

"If something's happening in this city, I have to know, simple as that."

"I've had to deal with a few of the victims myself, actually," Shinra started, though stopped when Celty held her PDA out for the three to read.

[Why don't we talk about something else? It's Christmas, after all.]

"Alright, Shizuo." Izaya smirked, earning a look from both the brunette and the dullahan, leaving him to shrug in response.

"My beloved is right as usual," Shinra gushed, gaining yet another elbow, this time from Celty, before he proceeded to whine, per usual.

After a moment, the four finally settled down, carrying out their usual antics, though to prevent any further punching, Celty sat in between Shizuo and Izaya, and Shinra ended up squished between the couch arm and Shizuo.

It was strange, though highly relaxing for once to just be stuck inside with someone either than Izaya for Shizuo. It wasn't like the informant was leaving him alone, however, still up to his usual antics despite Celty being in the middle of the two. He at least had Shinra to distract him; Celty, too, when Izaya wasn't getting on her last nerve. It wasn't the most relaxing situation to be in, but strangely, it was it was a comforting, well-needed break.

That comfort somewhat broke after a while when Celty suggested going out to dinner, though it was still somewhat there, even with Izaya at his side. Things were as they should be; the two getting along in their dysfunctional way, Shinra and Celty's usual banters and gut-punching, and the usual chats between the four. Their table was lively, though not in the way that would have been expected.

All went quiet at the table, however, when a piercing scream was heard outside, leaving the group to gaze at one another in suspicion.

"I'm going to go check it out," Shinra said as he rose from his seat. "Chances are it might be another murder attempt, and I might be the only doctor here."

"Illegal doctor," Izaya corrected him, though Shinra was already out the door.

[I have a bad feeling about this.] Celty typed hastily, though Izaya waved his hand in dismissal.

"Shinra's Shinra. Whatever it is, he'll be fine."

Celty, however, didn't seem too convinced. She too rose from her seat, rushing out of the restaurant with Shizuo and a reluctant Izaya behind her.

Turns out she had a right to be worried.

There lay Shinra, blood pouring out of his side and over his hand, coloring it completely crimson along with the pavement. Across from him, the group caught sight of a petrified girl in an equally soaked Raira uniform.

"Miss Magenta."

Shizuo blinked at Izaya suddenly speaking, gazing at him in question until he got a partial answer.

"Nakura," The girl spat hoarsely before being sent into a momentary coughing fit.

You can ask questions later, idiot. These two need help.

[Shinra, hang in there...!] Celty shakily typed before turning towards Shizuo. [Shizuo, can you help me get him on my bike?]

Shizuo was confused at first, wondering why she would ask that when her bike was back at her apartment, but as the sound of a horse's whinny reached his ears, he pushed the question aside. He took a step towards Shinra, helping his friend stand up and helping him balance the best he could between Shizuo and Celty.

"Celty...you don't have to worry about me. You should really...stop shaking," Shinra managed, letting out a nervous laugh before it turned into a small exclamation of pain. Moments later Shizuo had gotten him seated behind Celty on her bike, watching the dullahan ride off.

"I'm not gonna ask anything now," Shizuo started, giving a cautious glance back at Izaya. "But we should really get her to the hospital, too."

Izaya solemnly agreed. "You can help her up." That said, the informant was now facing in the opposite direction, murmuring, "I see curiosity got the better of everyone tonight."

As he said that, Shizuo turned around only to see people gathering all around them, joined by sirens in the distance. Shoving all other thoughts away, Shizuo held his hand out for the girl. She took it after a moment's hesitation, struggling to regain her balance, leaving Shizuo to let her lean against him for support. Catching Izaya's carmine eyes once more, he also caught the flare of red lights nearing closer, and the white motorbikes they came with. Traffic cops? Shizuo cocked an eyebrow at the sight, quite thankful that Celty wasn't there, or she would've had more to tremble about, not to mention her presence might have caused an even bigger scene than what the brunette predicted was about to happen.

Izaya and I within two feet of one another. A girl bleeding to death that's definitely terrified of both of us. Celty seen riding off with Shinra. Yup, just our fucking luck.

"Shizuo Heiwajima and Izaya Orihara. Why am I not surprised?"

Shizuo turned to see one of the cops sliding off his motorcycle, approaching the two with a small smirk. Just a little concerned, Shizuo cast Izaya a quick look that read, Is there something I should know about?

Don't look at me like that. Izaya's eyes countered before they fell on the cop as he continued on.

"If only your headless rider friend were here, too. The city has a score to settle with all three of you."

"Ne, ne, Kuzuhara-san," Izaya cooed, holding his hands up in defense. "Let's try and get some evidence before any accusations, shall we? You have no proof that this was our doing."

"You're one to talk."

Shizuo and Izaya both tensed up at the sudden comment from "Miss Magenta", with Shizuo yet again casting the informant a glare.

"Rio-chan, have you lost so much blood you can't think straight?" Izaya purred. "Kuzuhara-san, don't you think we should save the questions for later and focus on getting this poor girl to the hospital?"

Shizuo was partially amused that the informant was using this method to talk his way out of questioning (could this be what he did back when he was accused of murdering the twins?), though he had to focus on the girl Izaya was now referring to as "Rio-chan", and how she was bleeding more seriously, her blood now dousing Shizuo's side. There goes another one of Kasuka's shirts...

"And I'll take to that duty," Kuzuhara grumbled, easing Rio onto his shoulder rather than Shizuo's. The officer then turned his back to Shizuo and Izaya, the two exchanging glances afterward, waiting until Kuzuhara was out of earshot, though more of his group began to approach them.

"Looks like we have a murderer to find."

Shizuo stared at him in disbelief. "You're just going to run off and get into even deeper shit?"

Izaya shrugged. "May as well add fuel to the fire."

With that said, the informant took Shizuo's hand, earning a bit of protest from the brunette, though the two were free, sprinting off directly across the street with shouts of even more protest behind them. Shizuo pulled his hand from Izaya's grasp then, posing the question, "So, what's your plan, then?"

"To be honest?" Izaya started, letting out a light chuckle. "This is more of a hands-on scenario for me."

"Never thought I'd hear that from you," Shizuo mumbled. "Hey, what was up with you and that girl? And the whole score-settling business? I know you have your secrets, but..."

Izaya managed another chuckle. "Rio-chan and I had a bit of a run-in last year when she wanted to commit suicide, and yes, you can just go ahead and say what you want to say."

"Asshole," Shizuo grumbled, thankful that he was unable to see the smirk on the informant's face. "I figured she had a good reason to be afraid of you, but she had that same look with me, too."

"Have you already forgotten?"

Shizuo was only confused for a second longer. "Shit."

"Some things never change," Izaya murmured.

"Some things do," Shizuo muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Izaya to catch, even through all the chaos that was now thrown upon the area. Sirens sounded in the near distance, along with the mutters from bystander to bystander as the two ran through the streets, and more sirens were heard in direction they were running. "Dammit...are you sure you couldn't think of some brilliant plan now? We have no way of telling what way they ran off."

Izaya turned on his heel to face him for a split second, a half-smirk appearing as he turned. "Do you doubt me that much?"

The informant faced straight ahead once more, making a quick turn and taking Shizuo with him – just in the nick of time, at that. Shizuo hadn't even noticed the motorcycle coming straight at them, which ended up crashing in their favor.

"I suppose not," Shizuo finally replied as they took off down a new street, though the brunette realized that Izaya was beginning to fall back, leaving him to stop and wait for Izaya to catch up.

"I'm too out of practice," Izaya said, trying desperately not to sound out of breath. "There are too many things wrong with you deciding to change your ways, you know."

More white motorbikes were coming straight at them, leaving Shizuo to look for somewhere for them to run off to. When he caught sight of something, the brunette went running, only to realize that Izaya had fallen on his knees. Narrowing his eyes, Shizuo burst out in the middle of the street once more, making a dive to shove Izaya out of the way, his force sending the two tumbling into the alley ahead of them in a blur of black, white, and brown.

Shizuo opened his eyes after a moment, flinching at the feeling of something underneath him, until he heard Izaya's voice, the informant writhing underneath him and trying to get out. "Shizu-chan...you're squishing me."

The debt collector rolled off of him without hesitation, landing flat on his face, much to Izaya's amusement, allowing the raven-haired man to get a breath of fresh air, though only for a minute. "Get up. We don't have time to just sit around."

Shizuo lifted his head up with a snort. "Like you have any room to talk."

"Would you like to get arrested today?"

Shizuo didn't reply.

"As I thought," Izaya murmured bitterly. "Anyway, do you think you can create a distraction for me?"

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "What kind of distraction?"

"Start running across the buildings. They'll notice that I'm gone and instead of focusing on you, they'll focus on trying to find me."

"And what are you going to do?" Shizuo raised an eyebrow. "We're stuck in a dead end."

Izaya let out a sigh. "I guess I'm hiding in this dumpster until my plan's complete."

Shizuo suppressed his laugh, knowing that now wasn't the time to ridicule him. With a nod, he murmured, "Alright," and after a few attempts he made his way up to the top of the building above them, giving Izaya a small salute.

The informant rolled his eyes, and that was the last Shizuo saw of him before taking off. He ran across only a few buildings at first, waiting for the exclamations of the cops and bystanders to sound below him, which, sure enough, they did.

"Is that Shizuo Heiwajima?"

"Orihara's not with him!"

"Find him! We can deal with Heiwajima later!"

Shizuo chuckled to himself, sitting down and kicking his legs off the side of one of the building tops, waiting for the motorbikes to disappear into the distance, off on their unsuccessful chase for Izaya. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, however, turning around to see Izaya, though his face was covered by a black helmet.

"What the hell, Izaya?" Shizuo stood up then, facing the informant in question. "What happened to-"

The other man had taken a step forward, and it was then that Shizuo realized that this certainly wasn't Izaya, but only just as the man was approaching him and the brunette had taken a step too far backwards.

The last thing Shizuo saw was the Izaya imposter waving him off as the informant himself would before he collided with something rough, and everything went black.

author's note~

First chapter of the new year, and I'd say it's a pretty good way to start!

Happy late new year and late Durarara x2 day to you all! xD I was really set on getting this chapter out yesterday to celebrate, but I got a little caught up in the hype of the actual episode and tumblr's reaction than anything else. I was also able to find that the new OP makes for some great writing music, especially for this chapter.

I would go into a complete hype fest here, but I can finally announce that I now have an Instagram account! I'd really love to be able to interact with you guys through there, so I'm pretty excited about seeing where this will go. I've had this up on my profile since I made the account, but I have no idea how many of you actually check there, so there's another reason behind me making this. So, if you guys are interested in following me, my account is . I only have one, very late post over there right now, but I imagine I'll be putting up plenty of updates, drrr x2 related things, and just me being a dork as time goes by.

Now, two things before I go: one, I'd really appreciate some feedback regarding this chapter. I'm taking a bit of a different turn here for our new murder subplot, and while I think it's off to a promising start, I can't tell how it's going to end up or how you guys feel about it. It's a bit distracting now, I know, but don't worry, there will be a lot of Shizaya to come!

Now for some guest review replies, since I got quite a few last time!

numbah: Thank you very much! I'm trying my best to do just that!

xkitkatkittenx: Ah, thank you for pointing that out! I'll have to add that to my list of things I need to change (which is a list that really needs to be made shorter). Anyway, thank you! I'm trying to get everyone more in character, but I could definitely use a bit more practice.

Zev: Thank you so much, yet again! ;-; I'm trying my best to be proud of myself, since you guys really do love this, and I hope that I can be just as proud as you guys want me to be by the time this is completed.

Timothy: Yup, I couldn't resist that ending. cx Thank you and you're welcome again!

Anyway, with this all said and done (so much for shorter ANs xD), I'll see you guys in the next chapter~!