Nothing belongs to me except for Ryuu Akihana, Kanta Akihana, Ichirou Arata and the story itself. All rights go to Ryohgo Narita! Enjoy!
Izaya lay in the bed lost in thought as he gazed up at the dated popcorn ceiling above him. Shizuo lay beside him breathing softly with his broad, naked back facing the teen. Izaya watched the movements induced by Shizuo's breathing for a short while before sighing, pushing the sheets back off him and making his way towards the office.
Once the bedroom door was shut behind him, Izaya walked over to the large wall-to-wall window which looked out over the florescent city that seemingly transformed over the course of the evening as the sun went down. As the teen looked out over the city, he thought of how he always liked how the day faded into dusk. Tokyo almost seemed to thrive off its night life and those certain individuals who only appeared once the sun was nowhere in the sky.
Down in the streets of Ikebukuro, neon signs directed all kinds of people to different shops and clubs. Office workers were meeting up with friends to relieve any stress accumulated throughout the day with drinks and gambling, while varying age groups of students were going out on dates and exploring the city to forget about how they should be studying for their upcoming tests before winter break.
Around this time on a normal day, Izaya would be at home after having dinner with Kanta, Ryuu and his sisters. He would be in his own pajamas with a blanket wrapped around him binge watching pre-recorded anime shows and gearing himself up for a late night gaming session before bed; that is, if he ever made it to his bed.
The teen sighed again as he turned his gaze up towards the sky, but found his eyes widening in astonishment when a myriad of flickering lights flooded his vision. Before today, whenever Izaya looked up at the sky, even from his second floor balcony back home, he found himself lucky to catch even a small glimpse of the sky's multitude of blazing suns. With the beauty of the natural display before him, Izaya failed to hear the creak of a door and the faint echoes of footsteps coming up behind him.
The teen flinched when a hand landed on the cold glass inches from his face, and looked up to find smoldering eyes of honey brown glaring down at him from above. Shizuo's close proximity emitted a comforting sort of warmth from behind the teen, and Izaya found himself almost wanting to lean more into it if not for the annoyed expression on the older man's face.
"Kids should be in bed at 2 o' clock in the morning, not sneaking around someone else's domain as though they own the place. What are you up to?"
Shizuo spoke softly into Izaya's ear, the man's voice raspy with sleep as hot air caressed the raven's sensitive skin and cause the affected area to redden in response. The teen licked his chapped lips and swallowed down a lump of anxiety as he struggled to answer the executive clearly.
"I c-couldn't sleep."
Clicking his tongue, Shizuo turned his gaze up towards the stars Izaya had previously been viewing and mumbled unintelligible insults under his breath. At least, Izaya assumed them to be insults as the yakuza didn't look to be thinking about anything pleasant at the moment.
"What about you? W-Won't you be busy again tomorrow?"
Returning his gaze to Izaya's briefly, Shizuo shrugged before moving from his spot behind the teen and making his way towards his desk where his nearly depleted box of cigarettes sat on it's corner. Making quick work of grabbing a lighter from a drawer and lighting up a stick, the man landed heavily in his leather, swivel chair and crossed his legs up on top of what was left visible of the wooden surface.
"I would love to get some sleep. Unfortunately, some punk-ass kid decided to go on an adventure in my office where I keep reserved documents not meant for outsiders. You know how that goes."
Izaya turned his eyes to the floor with a ping of guilt as he thought about his position and how the blonde might think it his responsibility to keep an eye on him. Even if he had helped out their group, he was still suspected of acting against them. He was cleared by his interrogators, but Izaya was sure the yakuza preferred being thorough in their investigations before letting him roam free.
"Say, kid, while we're up, it'd be a good idea to make sure we're on the same page if not the same book."
Turning back towards the yakuza, Izaya hesitated before nodding. Shizuo blew out a cloud of smoke before starting, his expression without humor and his eyes watching for every slight change in the teen's demeanor.
"Before we begin, I'll tell you that I'll let that girl and her brother visit since you're only here for two weeks or so, but make sure to tell her not to make a habit of it. Capiche?"
Izaya nodded in understanding before Shizuo allowed himself to continue.
"With that being said, I'll be making use of you while you're here. You clearly possess some sort of skill with computers and information gathering that while I question it, I can't deny us an advantage over our competition. I'll give you the jobs our usual informant proves incompetent at and you'll continue to prove you're not dead weight I'm forced to babysit. You following me so far?"
Another nod from the teen, this time more sure, encouraged the man to continue.
"I can't promise the guys won't try something while you're under our care here, so you'll likely be confined to the office for the most part when your classes aren't in session. Your winter break starts this weekend, right?"
Izaya nodded once again.
"Arata will be your tail outside the office and will be in charge of protecting you, but will also ensure that you don't attempt an escape. Once Tom and I clear you as ok to leave, you can do just that. You'll return to your old life rest assured that you won't be hearing from us without proper reason. Any questions?"
Izaya did have questions. Many in fact. However, when he looked into Shizuo's caramel eyes while they studied him as though he were under a microscope, his words died at the tip of his tongue, his mouth open with the intention to speak. Shizuo continued to stare at him expectantly, knowing that the teen wished to convey something to him if the fidgeting fingers worrying the hem of his sleeves was anything to go by.
"C-Can I… what… do I call you?"
Shizuo arched a well polished eyebrow at the question before letting his feet slide from the desk to land on the floor, a soft thumping sound being heard as he scrutinized the scrawny teen who couldn't seem to stay still if his life depended on it.
"I'm sure Tom told you my name before having Arata bring you here. I don't see the confusion."
Izaya pulled at the sleeves of the white shirt borrowed from the man in front of him and took a moment to breathe before meeting Shizuo's scrutinizing gaze once again.
"I want to call you by your first name. Please?"
Silence stretched out between the two males for almost a minute before a small, amused smirk exteneded across Shizuo's lips and the man rose from his seat, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray by his keyboard and walking towards Izaya.
"You're an interesting kid. Do what you want."
The man walked pass Izaya and made his way towards the bedroom, stopping at the door to look back and find the teen staring after him.
"You coming or what, kid? I'm tired."
Jolted into action, Izaya followed the man into the room with a feeling that sleep may come easier this time around.
"So what happened next?"
Ryuu leaned forward on Izaya's desk from her seat in front of him, listening intently as the boy relayed what happened between Shizuo and himself after she and Kanta left. Izaya shrugged as he leaned on his cupped hand to look out the window of the classroom, admiring how the sun up in the sky fabricated the idea of it being warm despite the low temperature.
"We went to sleep, woke up to eat and then Arata-senpai came to get me so we could meet up with you and Dotacchin."
Ryuu shook her head in exasperation as she leaned back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest. She turned her head to gaze out the same window, although her gaze leveled on the multitude of students still making their way onto the school grounds, eyes narrowing.
"What a prick. Well, I guess you can't expect much from anyone these days. I swear, all humans should just disappear. The world would be a much simpler place without them."
Izaya looked back at his friend with an amused smile. They had had the same debate many times before. Both enjoyed watching people from afar and learning what they could from observation, eventually making a game out of comparing their surveillance.
"Don't you think it would be lonely though, Ryuu-chan? I can't imagine a world where people didn't exist; even the faulty humans have their uses, ne?"
The girl clicked her tongue, clearly disagreeing, but kept any further argument to herself. While the two had indeed fought over more menial subjects, on this particular topic, they simply agreed to disagree. Izaya chuckled quietly to himself, poking the girl's cheek playfully as the teacher walked in and the class representative called for the students to stand and bow.
Ryuu returned to sitting at her desk to properly face the front, awaiting for her name to be announced for roll call. Izaya gazed back out the window, thoughts lost before settling on the blonde yakuza who he had shared a bed with the night before, a slight blush settling on his cheeks as he recalled how close the two men were as they spoke while staring at the starry sky.
Back at the base, Shizuo sat hunched over at his desk, reading glasses perched on his nose and his fingers tapping against the keyboard with a practiced rhythm. His only break from the screen being to take a document from the large stack of papers and skim through it's contents before returning to his neutral position.
The ring of the corded telephone beside him broke the blonde's concentration, and with a growl of frustration, he pressed the speaker button and resumed his work.
"What? I'm busy."
Tom spoke in a hushed tone, not hiding the fact that there was someone present who he would rather not listen in on their conversation.
"Celty's here to see you. She says it's urgent."
Shizuo sighed before saving his work and telling Tom he'd be right down and to send a car. He hung up the call and rose from his chair, stretching out his back and hearing the satisfactory cracks that followed along his spine. Once he works out the tension, the blonde grabbed his grey trench coat and made his way out of the office.
Once down in the lobby of the building, Shizuo walked out to see Tom chatting with a shapely woman dressed in a slim, black suit, her yellow, feline shaped helmet held at her hip and black combat boots on her feet. Her pale skin and pale green eyes tended to attract many men, but they were usually scared off by the scar that ran around her neck, which was partially covered by her light brown hair that reached just below her shoulders.
Shizuo happened to walk in on some lunatic high schooler trying to chop her head off when he and a few lackeys were investigating a bunch of murders in their area. The multitude of deaths had started drawing in authorities which made it difficult for them to work, so it was only a matter of time before the higher ups asked Shizuo to get involved. The executive never would have believed it was some teenager obsessed with creating his perfect girlfriend, and Celty's head and face just happened to have his ideal features. What made the case even more twisted was how his sister, an accomplished scientist, was helping him since she was in love with him and because he asked.
Long story short, Shizuo took Celty to an underground doctor, a friend he'd known since elementary school, the two fell in love at some point while she was recovering and now the woman was not only the gangs most trusted and efficient courier, but also one of Shizuo's most trusted friends. She couldn't talk after the incident due to damaged vocal cords, but Shizuo found her to be very positive and a great listener, which had definitely drawn him to her.
"Celty, it's been a while. Let's talk on the way to a job I have. The car's already on it's way."
The dark clad woman nodded with a smile and waved a farewell to Tom as she followed the blonde through the sliding, glass double doors that led outside the building. Tom waved back before continuing to focus on his work.
The car pulled up just as the two friends walked outside and a door was opened by a suit clad man, allowing the both of them to climb inside the vehicle. The door was shut and the car was on it's way. Shizuo was the first to initiate the conversation.
"How's life with Shinra. Knowing him, I imagine it can't be easy."
The woman pulled out her PDA and typed out a response quickly before showing the man sitting beside her.
[That's actually what I came to talk to you about.]
The blonde hummed in acknowledgement before rolling down his window and taking a cigarette and lighter from the inside pocket of his coat.
"Care to elaborate?"
Celts nodded and again typed her response on the PDA. Judging by how how her smile fell, Shizuo knew had to be a topic she took seriously. The PDA was soon turned back to him so he could read what she wrote.
[Shinra proposed.]
Afterstory Monologue:
Momo: [Screaming From Rooftop] I have internet again! [Wave Crashes]
Izaya: Why do you have to always be so dramatic when you lose internet?
Momo: [Glares At Izaya] I don't want to hear that from you!
Izaya: [Smirks] Then I'll have to say it again.
Shizuo: [Throws Izaya Over His Shoulder] Time to go. Quit bothering her.
Momo: [Waving Towards Struggling Izaya] Thanks, Shizuo-kun! See you soon! [Turn To Camera] Hello, my lovely readers! Sorry it took so long, but as you may have heard, my internet was savagely taken from me for a time. I'm back though, so let's hope this sort of experience doesn't happen again for a while. [Shudders] It's a painful experience every time.
Anyway, here's another chapter for you! So far, this is my most popular story since I've started posting on this site, so it's good to know that you're all enjoying it. If you guys ever have ideas for the story or any critiques, please don't hesitate to review or message me. I'm always open to suggestions and am always looking for opportunities to improve my writing.
With that said, I'm planning on opening Shizuo's world to the otaku community via Izaya. If anyone has ideas for situations that Shizuo, a non-otaku, might find himself in while getting to know Izaya, please suggest them to me. Whether it will be a part of the story or a bonus chapter is still up for debate, but I think it will be hilarious regardless! Til next time, my lovely readers! Ja-ne~! [Turns Camera Off]