The weather was warm, streets resonating with the sounds of kids' laughter while they made their way to elementary school. Mikado remembered when he was just as small; it made him a little nostalgic to think about. He parted his lips and sucked in a breath of fresh, morning air (as fresh as it could be, this much was to be expected when you reside in such buzzing city as Ikebukuro).

He smiled.

It was a good day.

"You're slacking! Is this all you have?" The cunning laughter he swore he was familiar with zipped past him. He could only catch a blurry sight of a fur trimmed jacket before there was something flying in his direction. It had happened so fast that his brain could barely register it, but he must've dodged the object and fell, considering he was now on the ground.

He was adapting well to the occurrences in Ikebukuro.

It was a good day.

"Is it going to rain?" Mikado squinted.

Strange, the day seemed sunny a mere second ago, but now there were black spots forming on the sky, which he immediately chalked up as grey clouds.

"Excuse me, are you okay?" Someone, a girl – invaded his view of the sky. She appeared to be of around his age, and judging from the Raira uniform she donned, his deduction skills was probably spot-on. "You got hit by a bicycle."

Mikado blinked once, twice, then turned to look at where she was pointing.

"Eh?!"

.

.

"Come back here, Izaya!"

Shizuo's hands were as busy as ever, darting out to grab whatever was within his reach, hoping that at least one of them would hit his target. It reminded him of attempting to spray a cockroach back in his home. These two fuckers were both slick.

He didn't dare to take a glance at the trail of destruction they've caused behind them. Tom definitely won't be happy with the aftermath of their fight. The damage was immense, surely. Oh, he'll make his damnest sure that the flea bastard pay for it.

Shizuo was merely performing his duties to protect the city from Izaya.

"Sure!" Izaya spun around rather cheerfully, his jacket billowing in the air. Shizuo was already foreseeing himself receiving a cut or two the moment Izaya brandished his favorite knife.

Neither of them could've prepared for what happened instead.

Izaya's movements stilled. The blade of his knife was pointed at Shizuo's skin, ready to slash the monster across the cheek. He'd felt so certain that he'd see red dripping down Shizuo's face, yet his trusty knife didn't come close as to inflict even an ounce of damage. His whole body froze, unmoving.

"W - What, did Shizu-chan put a spell on me?" Izaya exhaled a nervous chuckle. It was ridiculous to even suggest the possibility of Shizuo doing so, but he had to ask. Being friends with a dullahan must've had its perks.

"No, but now you're at my mercy, so who cares."

The frown that formerly marred Shizuo's face was now replaced with a genuine grin, pleased to finally have his target cornered. Izaya striked him as a scared rat when helpless. Shizuo tucked his sunglasses in the front pocket of his vest and stepped closer. He could see the trembling no matter how much Izaya attempted to conceal it from him.

Was Izaya acting? There was no way that the flea couldn't actually move.

Ah, well, it didn't matter.

Shizuo slammed a hand on the glass window right next to Izaya's head, his breath ghosting over the other's face. The people inside of the bakery were dead-set on watching them, their shocked expressions he noticed from his peripherals.

"You're so fucking – handsome!" Shizuo growled.

"What…?" Izaya mustered himself to say, breathless.

"Shi-zu-o! You're finally coming around to Izaya. Good, good! Fighting bad, make up good!" Simon chimed in from the side (since when had he been here?), clearly overjoyed with the so-called improvement in their relationship, "Come to Russia Sushi later, give you discount!"

"The fuck?! I ha – love this cutie!" was what he wanted to say!

No, wait – what?

Izaya stared up at him in disbelief, cheeks flushed red. Why was the flea blushing? No, screw that. The more gravely matter now was why the hell was he saying the opposite of what he meant? Shizuo clenched his jaw. He wanted so bad to announce his dissatisfaction of this situation, but the last thing he wanted was uttering more ridiculous things.

There was a sound then. The unsettling sound of from what he could gauge, hundreds of feet running towards them. And before he could even begin to question Izaya if this was his doing, the flea had already slipped away, approaching the people. The people who were dressed in fancy costumes – princes, to be exact. Did they just get back from a play?

"Orihara Izaya, be betrothed to me! Please, accept my love!" The one man in red and gold royal attire went down on his knee, displaying a box of ring in his open palms. Shizuo knew jack shit about rings, but even he could tell that it was expensive. Soon enough, another man joined in on the party, but with a more extravagant looking ring.

"No, be mine! I have majestic white horses back home for you to ride!"

Then another.

"What the hell…" Shizuo seethed.

There was a light tap on his shoulder, and he almost smacked the person until he recognized them to be his best friend. His anger melted with her presence.

"Celty."

[ What is going on here? I was passing by and saw these people, so I followed them! ]

"Somehow it just turned out this way. Izaya probably hired all these guys."

If there was something far more sinister brewing in the air, Shizu couldn't sense it. How could he? As far as he was concerned, trouble followed Izaya wherever he went. He was trouble himself. The only thing Shizuo could smell was the bastard flea's scent.

It must be his fault – all of this nonsense must be his fault. And the fact that Shizuo was rooting a stop sign from the ground must also be his fault.

What a nuisance.

[ SHIZUO?! ]

Celty couldn't stop her best friend in time. Shizuo was out there by the time she even extended an arm towards him, flinging and fighting the 'princes' as if his life depended on it. She briefly contemplated using her shadow tendrils to restraint him, but decided against the thought. She trusted Shizuo to do the right thing.

So now, he should be going after Izaya, she mulled to herself as she watched him stomp over to Izaya.

?!

She couldn't believe her eyes.

Her best friend was on one knee before his own nemesis.

"Izaya, you found me at my nadir –" Shizuo began to recite off of his phone, his free hand situated over his heart, "— when despair attained new heights. I was cold to you. Unfeeling. You drew me out. Made me feel. Nourished my soul. Made me love again."

[ What is that poem even?! ]

Shizuo disregarded the PDA she blatantly shoved in his face.

"I'm sorry to everyone here! It's not an unknown fact that I love humans so much. But I have to stick to my beloved! Therefore, I'll choose to accept your love, Shizu-chan!"

[ What are you talking about?! ]

Izaya as well, paid no heed to her.

"Let's go on a date tomorrow, Izaya."

"I'll have to check my schedule, but if it's for Shizu-chan, I'm sure I can make some adjustments!"

They were hugging now.

Celty felt dizzy, like she needed to take a seat.

"Celty-san," Mikado greeted her. He was holding an ice pack to his head, which was bandaged with blood seeping out of it.

[ Mikado! T - Tell me, is the world ending? And what happened to your head? ]

Mikado laughed softly; the laughter sounded fake to even his own ears.

"I'm not sure if I know Ikebukuro after all."

.

.

a/n: thanks so much for reading! and if you're leaving a comment, thank you! i hope you know that it really makes my day :)

p/s: shizuo's poem is from mywordwizard (cant seem to add link so sorry, ff net formatting is just,..idk)