It continues. . .

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Chapter 5: Five Golden Rings

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"Shizu . . . chan. . ." Unable to come up with a snappy remark or comeback and in full knowledge that he was in trouble muttered a whisper. "Help-Shizuo-chan." That was the last thing Izaya remembered happening before he felt a warm, strong pair of arms around him. His fever frying his brain, he figured he was imaging the voice of Shizuo saying how dumb and stupid he was for wondering Ikebukuro in the snow with a cold. But that was the last thing on Izaya's mind. He just kept focus on the heartbeat of the person carrying him. It was a fast paced beating. He beating was like a soothing melody that made drift into sleep. . .

"Shizu-chan . . . Shizu-can . . . Shizu-can . . ." Izaya mumbled.

"And you say you're not in love Shizuo?" Izaya's eyes flew open to find Shinra standing over him with a wide smile. "You know, you talk in your sleep." Izaya went to sat up and felt really nauseous. "Wooh! Hold on, you shouldn't be moving. Here lay back down." Izaya didn't have much of a choice. If he sat up, he felt like he was going to blow chunks. Shinra must have read his mind, because he placed a bucket by the sofa.

"How did I get here?" Izaya asked rubbing his forehead.

"Celty found you in the park yesterday while doing her runs." Shinra said. "You were in pretty bad shape. It took a good few hours to get your fever down."

"Really?" Now he felt his stomach starting to churn. So he figured he'd sit up and just get it over with.

After emptying the contents of his stomach, Shinra made Izaya some herbal tea to help settle Izaya's stomach. After a few minutes, Izaya caught his breath and took a sip of tea. "So Shinra, want to tell me why you lied?"

"Lied about what?" Shinra tried to keep his face blank.

"I know Shizu-chan brought me here. I know his voice anywhere."

"And you still claim you're not in love with him?" Shinra countered. Izaya's eyes just flashed with a hint of panic.

"I am not!" Izaya snapped. "I hate the man with a burning passion!"

Shinra sighed setting a plate of steamed vegetables and rice out in front of Izaya. "Back to our questionnaire. Are you gay?"

"No." Izaya said picking up the plate.

"Have you ever 'experimented' with other males?" Izaya just looked at Shinra blank faced.

"There was a moment in junior high where all the guys in the locker room were comparing themselves with each other." Izaya sighed. "Then I lost a bet and did something I'm not proud of." Shinra just went wide eyed.

"Um. . . Have you ever slept-with anyone?" The questionnaire had gotten really awkward.

"You know very well I don't have time for that." Izaya grumbled a bit. "I love humans, but not that much."

"Well, since you love humans so much, why not love them to that extent? Why not fall in love, get married, and start a family? What could be so wrong with that?"

"That answer's simple. The family life, not my thing. I live to come and go as I please. Not having any worries or responsibilities. And say in the event I do settle and have kids, what if I get bored? I have an affair and then go through nothing but nonsense and headaches, some the woman leaves me. Or, we get married, have say, two kids, she gets bored and just leaves. Then I'm stuck with two kids I'm more or less just going to grow to hate." Izaya just put the plate of vegetables and rice back down on the coffee table. He didn't feel up like eating.

"But that's only looking at the negatives." Countered Shinra. "Try looking at the positives. As cruel as it sounds, after having children, you can raise them to be just like you. And who knows, maybe they'll even be able to beat up Shizuo, or be like your twin sisters." Shinra wasn't too keen on the idea of Izaya have kids like his incestuous twin sisters Mairu and Kururi.

"Ah yes-now that would be interesting." Izaya stumbled to his feet.

Shinra jumped up to push him back down. "Oh-no. You're not going anywhere." Shinra scolded him. "You still have a slight fever and it's way too cold for you to go home in the snow." Not in the mood to argue, Izaya just laid back down and tried to drown out the sound of Shinra's useless babble. At some point, he's not sure when, he fell asleep. . .

When he woke up again, it was to his phone buzzing. He answered it to find a message from Shizuo. "How am I today?" Izaya read out loud.

"I'm feeling a bit under the weather, but other than that I'm fine. How about you?" Izaya typed on his keyboard.

"Can't really complain. Had lunch with my brother yesterday, it was pretty nice."

"Aw-that's so sweet. What did you guys do?"

"We mostly just talked. My brother thinks I should settle down, get married, and start a family. But that's a little complicated."

Izaya cracked a smirk on his face. "Why's that, if you don't mind me asking."

"Kind of odd really, but there's this guy I know, and he seems to have caught my attention."

"Oh really? So does that mean that you're-?"

"A homosexual? Not sure really." The conversation went back and forth. And the whole while, Izaya felt curiosity biting at his mind. He wanted to know more. Who was this person of which Shizuo spoke? One way to find out.

"So this other person, who is he?" Izaya waited anxiously for his answer, half way expecting an answer really. Then his phone beeped. The answer he got was kinda shocking.

"He's a man I detest." That's pretty much where the conversation ended and left Izaya wondering who the detested man was. There were a lot of people Shizuo hated, him being at the top of the list. Wait-was it possible?

"Shinra, are you-?" Instead of finding Shinra, he found Celty. "Oh, hello Celty."

"How are you feeling?" She typed on her phone.

"Better than this morning. Do you think you could do me a favor?"

Celty was a tad suspicious of the grin on Izaya's face. "Depends on what it is."

"I need you to gather some information for me."

"What kind of information?"

"It appears Shizu-chan has a little crush on somebody." Celty filched in surprise.

"No way! Who is it?" The headless rider typed quickly on her phone.

"That's the mystery. Think you could dig something up?"

"No problem!" Even though she had no head, Celty sure could convey her emotions.

"Also, do you think you could you could give me a ride home?" Izaya scratched the back on his head.

"Sure thing." The two hopped onto the back of Celty's 'horse' and were off. "Shizuo needs my help with something tonight. I'll see if I can get some info. But can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Izaya clutched his coat to his chest.

"Why is it so important for you to know who Shizuo likes?"

Izaya felt his face getting a little hot. "I just like knowing things." Izaya waved Celty off. Still holding her suspicions, Celty drove off to meet up with Shizuo. And the first thing Izaya did when he was home, plop on his bed and went back to sleep. . .

The horse-like rumble of Celty's bike rang through the district of Ikebukuro. Shizuo turned around as the Black Rider approached him. "Evening Celty."

"Where's the new puppy?" Celty asked.

"Back home." Shizuo said finishing his cigarette. "I hear bikes and dogs don't really mix well."

"Aw-How thoughtful." Shizuo just shook his head and mounted the bike. The job was simple, transport a mobster for point A to point B. Shizuo got to beat up some people, as if that were a surprise. So all-in-all, nothing special. They stopped at the Ikebukuro Bridge just to talk. "So, rumor has it that a certain debt collector has been eyeing somebody. Is it true?"

"I'm not sure. Tom's kinda secretive about his love life." Shizuo said.

"I wasn't talking about Tom." If Celty had a head, she'd be smirking. "So who is it? Do I know 'im?"

"How did-who told you?" Celty started laughing in her own special way.

"So it is true? Who is it?" Celty asked again.

Shizuo mulled it over for a few seconds before turning back to Celty. "It's someone who you'd least expect it to be."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Shizuo shook his head. "Why not? It's not like I can say anything." Shizuo just kept quiet. "Fine, don't tell me. But can you at least tell why you helped Shizuo?" Shizuo lowered was quiet for a moment before taking Celty's phone and typing his response. Theoretically, Celty's eyes went wide. In a split second her fingers blew up her keyboard. "Are you-are you serious? I thought you-"

"Life's funny that way." Shizuo turned to walk away. "One more thing Celty, don't say anything, please."

The Headless Rider sighed. "Ok. I promise. But have you thought about telling him? I mean-he might feel the same way."

"Tell you what, find proof that he feels the same and maybe I'll think about it." Celty watched as Shizuo walked through the cold winter night before returning home to a waiting Shinra . . .

Shizuo returned home and was greeted by his puppy, Djali. After getting showered and taking some meds, he went to bed. He was met with a dream about the lover he desired so much. Every time he had the dream, he felt his desire grow. Only, he didn't feel he should, just for the sake of keeping his heart safe. But Celty's words floated in the back of his mind.