Once again, I apologize for the wait... This time I was helping my best friend plan her wedding and it was a beautiful wedding and all went perfect!

I am trying to work through these next few chapters of developing Shizuo and Izaya's relationship. It's always hard to decide what direction to take and even if I decide on something it always changes later as I begin writing the scene.

But thank you for being patient and as always, thank you so so much for the reviews!

…~-~...

"Hey, Shinra," Shizuo began, sounding unsure, "I have kind of a strange question for you."

"You haven't been shot again, have you?" Shinra cut in.

"No," Shizuo replied.

"Stabbed?"

"N-no,"

"Hit by a truck?"

"No! Would you just shut up for a second?!"

"Okay, okay! So what is going on? Celty and I are trying to enjoy our afternoon together!"

"Well, it's just… this might seem like a strange question, but I was just wondering…. Have you heard from Izaya today?"

"Izaya-kun?" Shinra questioned, seeing Celty perk up at the name, suddenly on high alert. "No, I haven't heard from him… However I did hear a rumor that he was back in town." He glanced at Celty noticing how she seemed to want to ask him why he hadn't told her about this rumor. "I also heard, as silly as it might sound, that he was spotted walking around with you in Shinjuku. But of course they must have been mistaken," Shinra said with a laugh.

"Yeah," Shizuo agreed hesitantly. "I had heard something similar."

"Ah I see… Well he hasn't contacted me. All I've heard is rumors."

"Yeah, thanks, I'll talk to you later I guess."

"Wait, Shizuo," Shinra started, "If it's true and he is back… well… if he doesn't start anything with you just leave him be. I imagine he is still recovering."

"I won't. I just… was curious I guess."

"I see…" Shinra replied, though he didn't sound satisfied with Shizuo's explanation. "Well, it was good hearing from you without a crisis in tow!"

"Yeah," Shizuo mumbled, "See you."

When the line went dead Shinra stared blankly at his phone, processing what he had heard.

A different phone appeared in his vision, interrupting his stare with a written question. "Hmm?" Grey eyes shifted from the blank screen in his hand to the new screen in front of his face.

"What was that all about?" Celty had typed.

"Not sure," Shinra responded, I am trying to figure that out myself.

"Well, what did he ask you? Something about Izaya?"

"He was just wondering if I had heard from him. I haven't, have you?"

Celty made a gesture as close to shaking her head as one could do without one.

"Strange, but I'm not going to spend time worrying about it! After all, you and I are spending today together. The last thing I want is for that to be interrupted by some lingering feud between those two idiots."

…~-~…

A sharp knock on the door made Izaya snap his head up so quickly that it hurt. In one click, Izaya switched his screen to the new security camera outside the door. Well, it wasn't new, but it had been newly installed this morning the moment he had dug it out of storage.

When a familiar blond head and blue sunglasses looking up into the camera graced his screen, Izaya sighed and stood from his desk.

"Hey," he greeted Shizuo as he opened the door.

"That's useful," he commented, pointing at the camera.

Izaya nodded in response as he stepped aside to let Shizuo inside. He still wasn't sure how he should react in this situation. Shizuo was his bodyguard, yet with their complicated past he found it awkward to treat him as such, especially with the say Shizuo wasn't acting like a bodyguard.

"I brought lunch."

Case in point.

"It's from Russia Sushi," Shizuo began, avoiding eye contact and reaching up to rub his neck as he spoke, "I wasn't sure what you liked so I just got a variety deal…"

"Ootoro." Izaya mumbled without thinking. Why did he feel the urge to provide an answer to a question he wasn't even asked?

"What?"

Izaya sighed. "I like ootoro, but any tuna in general is my favorite."

A curt nod was the only response Shizuo gave and soon enough they were thrown into yet another long stretch of strained silence. Shizuo was the one to finally break it.

"You didn't call Shinra like I suggested, did you?" he asked, setting lunch on the table.

Izaya approached the table and took his share of food in his hands. "I'll do it later. Maybe. I've been a little busy."

"Too busy to eat?" Shizuo asked, nodding towards the desk where a plate of toast with a single bite taken out of it sat.

Izaya followed Shizuo's gaze to his uneaten breakfast.

"I don't eat much in the morning," That was the truth. Breakfast for Izaya rarely consisted of more than a cup of tea or coffee.

"Well, it's afternoon, so…" he gestured towards the box that Izaya was absentmindedly holding.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Izaya sighed again and slumped onto the couch. He flipped open the box and to his surprise his stomach rumbled with hunger. A sidelong glance in Shizuo's direction revealed that he didn't seem to notice. He was already working on his own lunch.

A colorful assortment of Sushi greeted him as he looked back at the box on his lap. Feeling hungry was a rare occurrence lately and Izaya wanted to take full advantage of it while it lasted. He went for the tuna pieces first, savoring each bite. It was difficult to ignore the bliss of enjoying a meal without feeling ill. Though he knew he should still be cautious. It would be unfortunate if he were to make himself sick by eating too much too fast.

"I can't stay long," Shizuo said between mouthfuls, "Gotta get back to work soon. I'll stop by again after work and maybe we can get you some groceries and clean the place up a bit."

Izaya paused, staring at his food as he listened. He didn't understand. Did he ask Shizuo to come over right after work? And his tone… he spoke as if this was normal.

"Why?" The question was quiet, almost whispered. Information about Shizuo flew around in his head while he desperately attempted to connect the strings to understand the man's odd behavior.

Shizuo fell quiet as well, setting his food down as a puzzled look formed over his features. His brow furrowed, and after a few seconds, softened again as he seemed to come up with an answer.

"Because I'm your bodyguard."

"No," Izaya spoke abruptly, shaking his head. "Bodyguards don't watch TV with the person they're guarding. They don't spend the night on the couch, they don't bring meals over, and they certainly don't invite themselves over to perform domestic tasks."

Shizuo seemed to consider this for a moment, then shrugged. "So?"

"So?!" Izaya stood, anger building with the concept that the more Shizuo responded, the more confused he felt. "What are you trying to do? What is your goal here? Why are you being like… like…" Izaya paused and gestured at Shizuo's person, casually sitting on the couch with his lunch in his lap, "like this?!"

"My goal is to protect you. Like you are paying me for. I hang around because I know he broke in once before and you have no other protection when you're alone here."

"I have a gun."

"A gun that you wouldn't even be able to aim right if he were to walk in the door right now." Shizuo stated, "I'm hanging around because… because I want to help you and I think you need more help than you're letting on!"

Izaya didn't respond this time. Instead he let those words sink in, trying not to over-analyze them.

After a moment of silence he spoke again. "You want to help me…?" Izaya whispered under his breath.

Shizuo took the last bites of his lunch and checked the time, seemingly ignoring Izaya's interrogation. "I have to go," he said, removing himself from the couch, "Call me if anything happens."

Eyes fixed on the floor, Izaya let Shizuo leave without another word. His mind raced, trying to sort out too much information at once.

"He… wants to help me…?" he repeated to himself.

Nothing made sense.

…~-~...

If he could punch himself he would be flying through the air with the force of it right now. Izaya was asking complicated questions and Shizuo couldn't answer them without revealing how much he knew about Izaya's relationship with the man he was hiding from.

How could he explain why he wants to help without explaining the video he had been given? Without explaining to Orihara Izaya that he had seen a video of him being beaten and about to be raped and begging for it to stop? That wouldn't go over well with Izaya's clearly sensitive pride.

Yet the longer he hid it, the more suspicious Izaya seemed to become.

"Damn it, fucking flea… You really are too smart for your own damn good…" Shizuo mumbled to himself.

He was on his way back to Izaya's apartment after stopping at his own for a bag of clothes and a few other useful things. He'd decided he should be prepared just in case Izaya wanted him to stay again. It was weird how the thought of it didn't completely disgust him.

It all came down to pity. He didn't like Izaya, he pitied him. That's why he was doing all of this. That, and of course to get a much more dangerous man off the streets.

Shizuo sighed as he approached the door. At least the flea is being tolerable and not trying to piss him off every second. It was making the time he had to be around him feel more pleasant and peaceful.

I just have to find this guy once and it's over. I'll fucking kill him. I'll kill him for all this crap he's putting me through… And I'll kill him for making me feel like I want to help that flea.

Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill…..

"I hope you're not talking about me." Izaya's voice startled Shizuo who had forgotten he had already knocked on the door.

"What?" he asked, torn out of his trance.

"You said you were going to kill someone. I was just going to point out that killing me is the opposite of what I am paying you to do," Izaya explained, stepping to the side to let Shizuo enter.

It finally dawned on Shizuo that he had been speaking out loud a moment ago. He would have to be more careful…

"Not you," he said, removing his shoes, "Just… some fucker from earlier…"

Izaya didn't reply, instead working his way back to his computer.

"Have you ever stopped working today besides at lunch?"

"I'm busy," Izaya replied, "Did you forget I was out of the city for a while? You broke my arms so I couldn't exactly use a computer any time I wanted to."

"Oh, right…" he trailed off, giving Izaya a look up and down. He looked a little better. Maybe a proper lunch had helped give him more energy. "Well, you're taking the rest of the night off. Let's get some food in this place and get you some dinner."

Izaya didn't respond at first. There was a lasting silence between them while Izaya stared at his computer screen, unmoving.

"Shizuo…" Izaya began cautiously, his voice barely above a whisper, "Do you… care about me?"

What? What was that supposed to mean? Where did this come from? Shizuo stared back at Izaya wordlessly, not sure how to respond.

He didn't care about Izaya. That would imply that he liked him. So then why would Izaya ask a question like that?

"You keep checking up on me when I don't ask you to," Izaya spoke, his voice gaining more confidence as he continued, "and lately you've taken a keen interest in my health. I'm not paying you to do these things so why are you doing them?"

"I don't know what you mean, I-"

"Don't give me that," Izaya snapped, standing from his chair, "I don't want a bullshit answer. Tell me the truth. Why are you being so… so… nice to me?!"

Izaya stood face to face with Shizuo, studying his expression so intensely that he felt like he was trying to read his thoughts. He took a step back, thrown off by Izaya's sudden intensity to have his question answered.

"B-because…" he couldn't lie. Izaya would see straight through him. But that didn't mean he had to tell the whole truth. "Damn it Izaya it's because you look scared. Whatever this guy did that you want protection from… I can tell your fucking scared and seeing you like that kind of scares me too if there is someone out there who can make you act this way."

Izaya closed his eyes and backed off slightly. When he opened his eyes again he looked directly into Shizuo's again. "But do you care about me. About my feelings? About my health?"

Shizuo grit his teeth. "A little. Okay? A little. Because as much as it pisses me off to admit it, you are human, Izaya, and I can't just turn my back on this without it eating away at my conscience later."

Shizuo was admittedly a little surprised by his own response. Surprised at how easy it was to say and how truthful those words actually were.

Izaya seemed to be considering his words carefully. When he spoke, he spoke in a very precise manner that sounded very much like one would during an important business meeting.

"So then we have a truce for now," he said. There was a pause before he continued. "I don't dislike the help you've provided. Please continue as you have been doing."

With that, Izaya returned to his computer and sat down to continue his work.

"O…kay…?" Shizuo replied. It seemed as though Izaya was trying to remove his emotions from the conversation with that statement. As if he hadn't just been drilling Shizuo with complicated questions. Shizuo took it as a sign that Izaya wanted him to forget the conversation even happened, which he honestly was happy to do.

"Let's start with getting you off that computer," he said, ignoring Izaya's glare, "It's getting late, and I already told you that you're taking the night off."

With a drawn out sigh, Izaya complied. However, Shizuo didn't miss the light smile that spread over Izaya's features, if only for a second.