Izaya was never fond of Shizuo's eyes— the amber hued orbs had always tailed him with suspicion, because of course, as quoted, his whole existence was no good; it only spelled trouble. That was how Shizuo perceived Izaya, despite the inconsistent answers Shizuo was giving, switching from tender to biting remarks in a flash. It didn't even matter if Shizuo had written a whole long list on how to love, Izaya thought, as he was sure that that accusing gaze would never change. The amount of mischievous stunts he'd pulled reminded him further that this relationship couldn't improve on a positive note— after all, Shizuo had claimed that no matter what bullshit Izaya spew, he was well aware of the tricks hiding up Izaya's sleeves; the strings attached to him that he could tug at any moment to put Ikebukuro in destruction's way.
Shizuo wouldn't ever let him erase that from his mind.
"I'm happy that you have someone to love you now, Izaya-san, someone who you can call your own," a sweet voice chirped by his side, one that belonged to one of his favourite underlings, and his guess only proved to be true when he faced her. Her appearance was similar to the last time he'd seen her; donning a white skirt and tee, accompanied by her pink cardigan to complete her sweet look.
"Saki?"
"Hello, Izaya-san."
Saki had her usual smile on, seemingly innocent to those who wasn't well acquainted with her— but to him? Izaya knew well that she was scrutinizing his actions to figure out if what she'd mentioned was true. How he was going to react to that, she was curious of it. And truth to be told, he didn't know what to think of her words either.
"I'm not sure if being loved by a monster is going to cut it," he joked, leering at Shizuo out of the corner of his eyes, wondering if that was enough to rile him up.
It seemed as though it wasn't just him who was taken aback by Saki's blunt exclamation, Shizuo getting roped into it as well, albeit the brute not saying anything to deny it (he wouldn't be surprised if Shizuo was actually contemplating whether it meant just that). Of course, it'd only work into Izaya's advantage if that was indeed what Shizuo thought of, so he chose to ignore that part. Saki clearly noticed it, her facial expression changing and her eyes were twinkling with interest, but she carried on with her previous demeanour; her head tipped to the side.
"If that's so, you're always welcomed to call me anytime."
"What? Saaaaa~kiiiiiii!" contrary to Saki's soft-sounding voice, Kida had a loud, booming one, garnering attention of those who were within 5 metre radius of him, especially with the whine of distaste towards his girlfriend offering herself to someone he hated. Apparently he was in the middle of introducing himself to Shizuo, or something akin to that, at least— all Izaya managed to catch on was that they'd met before, and a flick to the forehead from Shizuo had rendered him paralyzed for quite a while. The downside was Shizuo didn't seem to recall that ever happening.
How could anyone even think Shizuo could remember anything? The primal instincts in him clearly overpowered the intelligence. It was one of the reasons why Shizuo's growth into a human was halted to a stop.
"On a date, are we?"
Izaya cornered Kida, hands in the pockets of his fur trimmed jacket as he continued further, "What about the task I asked you to execute for me, Kida-kun?"
"Oi."
"Nothing bad, Shizu-chan! It's just work!" he shook his head, flashing a bright smile, "Not that it was Shizu-chan's business if it wasn't anyway."
"Bast—"
Shizuo seethed, the fingers of his right hand balling into a fist as if on cue. See, Shizu-chan couldn't resist his instincts. There was a spark, threatening to turn into a flame but Shizuo diminished it as soon as he realized, his clenched jaw turning lax. It was such a shame, indeed. Although Izaya knew now that all he had to do to bring back the Shizuo he knew so well was by doing what he did best, and that was to pull the strings connected to the people of Ikebukuro. However, he had to think about it further once he get home, as doing so might just end this whole ordeal, bringing them back into their normal routine of cat and mouse chase.
He'd have to calculate the limit of how much Shizuo could take.
"Please take care of Izaya-san well."
Saki interrupted their quarrel, her palms splayed out against her knees as she did a ninety-degree bow in front of Shizuo, unfazed of the horrified expressions Kida and Tom had on from the unfamiliar display of protectiveness towards Orihara Izaya. Vorona (the beautiful foreigner, according to Saki) appeared irritated, as though she'd decided off the bat that she wasn't fond of Saki.
Of course, Saki didn't appear to mind that look either.
"Uh… okay," Shizuo responded after several seconds of recomposing himself, confusion evident on his face.
"Negative. There is no requirement stating it is necessary for Shizuo senpai to concern himself with a pest's well-being."
"I do think that it should be the other way around, Saki…" supporting Vorona's argument, Kida let out a sigh.
In the midst of all of this mess, there was an individual who didn't display even the slightest reaction, strangely not uttering one word despite being known to always having clever responses prepared before anyone even proposed a question. No one was attentive enough to notice how out of place it was— no one except Kida. Well, if he was going to be honest, he didn't mean to, really. His gaze just so happened to wander in that direction.
Kida brought up a hand to rub at the nape of his neck, wondering how it'd all led to this, with Saki's next words making his eyes linger a little more on the person whose attention so fixated to the ground.
"I'll trust Heiwajima-san to not hurt Izaya-san."
Izaya's expression was unreadable.
.
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A/N: i'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you for leaving reviews ;;; although its p hard to reply here compared to ao3 (i reply to comments one by one there) but i want u to know that i really appreciate your reviews and that they make me really happy, so thank you so much 3