Of course I wasn't going. What was I going to do in the company of someone I wanted to kill, someone I didn't even know what I wanted to do with anymore and someone who had yet to have my anger unleashed upon him for what he'd done. Sounds great, doesn't it? And besides, there were only 10 minutes left until the meeting time anyway.

I was just gonna watch a movie or something on TV. After all that had been my routine for almost a week and a half. And maybe add two weeks before that when that woman decided I "deserved something better" and that "there was someone out there who surely needed me more than..." her..." No...no. Did she know, too? ! But…We had gone out with those two plenty of times but she and Izaya had never really been alone. Plus I doubt he'd just up and tell her. Damn, it was that obvious? That idiot was that desperate? Then how come I didn't see anything? ! Was I just that much of a blockhead? All that time spent together and I never, not even for a moment... Hah, I guess he only tried to hide it so well from me.

He waited eight years for someone who he knew wouldn't go to him. Was he that stupid? And he still took it that badly. And I did that thing... Gah, I really had to stop remembering it-!

Ding dong.

"Ah, see? ! I told you he still wouldn't be ready!"

Was I seeing things or was the clown actually at my front door?

Without waiting for an invitation he stepped beside me and entered the apartment, struggling to drag Izaya after him. Looks like I wasn't going to be the only one tortured tonight.

Sliding in after that, Kadota only gave me an apologetic look.

"He insisted. A lot."

Oh, ok. That totally makes me forgive you.

"Shi-zu-o-san! How could you break your promise?"

"What? I didn't promise anyth-"

"Anyway, let's get some clothes on you so we can go."

"Wait a minute! Who gave you permission to go into my bedroom? !" Too late.

"So messy~... Wah, you haven't even fixed your bed!"

"So?"

"That's not nice. Or maybe it was occupied until recently... Right, Izaya-san?"

Wha-?

"Wha-? !"

"Hmm? I was just wondering if it had been occupied. I mean, by his girlfriend or something."

Oh, the sly bastard.

"...How would I know." His frown was almost ugly.

"Ah, maybe we'll find a bra or panties if we-"

"Don't you dare go near my bed!"

"Eh?"

"Are you retarded? How could she just leave without her underwear? !"

"Hmm, maybe a spare or…so women just come and go, huh... Heh, and you actually looked like the dedicated type to me~"

"That's none of your business! Get out already!"

"No, you're coming too."

"Why the hell do you want me to come so badly? !"

"Eh? Because you're Izaya-san's friend, of course."

"That's not the case any..." Catching a glimpse of him I saw his brows furrow even deeper at that. What, it was the truth, wasn't it? Even he himself acted like there was already nothing between us...

"Shizuo?" Ah, damn, Kadota. Now that I think about it, had I misjudged him or something? I honestly thought he would've caught up at least a little… But if he actually brought them here, then he was really expecting me to go, wasn't he?... Wait, what was I doing, feeling bad for him! I was supposed to be mad! Mad!

"Jeez, he's so stubborn! But if he's so opposed to coming I'll just have to pay twice as much attention to Izaya-san! Actually that's not so—"

"...Fine! I'll get dressed so get out of the room already!"

What the hell was I doing? I should've just kicked them out.

The night wasn't really anything special so far. We went to a bar and most of the time I had to listen to the "funny" guy ramble about random shit. Trying to ignore his words I noticed that again, he was pretty generous with the touching. In fact I struggled to remember a moment where his hands weren't on Izaya. Or at least one of them. For some reason I honestly found it annoying. But what was more annoying was the fact that I found it annoying!

"Shizuo..."

I moved my gaze to Kadota, who was looking a bit fidgety.

"Now that you know the truth... I just thought I should tell you something."

"What?"

"I... I'm thinking of getting married soon?"

"Huh, so fast?" Didn't he just meet her recently? "How long have you known the woman?"

"...Almost two years."

"Two..."

"I'm sorry. I seriously felt like shit and I wanted you to see her but... I didn't want it to fall apart. But you'll meet her now, she's really great!"

"...Yeah, I'm sure she is..." I've missed something like this because of a stupid lie.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you...Shizuo?"

"Eh, Shi-zu-o-san! Where are you going?" Wow, was I on his leash?

"To buy some smokes."

"I'll come with you!"

"Please, don't."

"No, no! I need some fresh air, you see."

I hate you. I hate you so much I could kill you right on the spot.

"Aah, this is nice. That place is a bit noisy."

"It's a bar. What did you expect?"

I opened the pack and quickly dragged a cigarette out with my teeth. Feeling my pockets I cursed when I realized I'd left my lighter on the table. Soon I heard a click as a light was presented next to my face.

"Here you go.", he offered with another grin that for some reason made me a bit sick.

"...Thanks."

We stood there in silence for a while until he turned to me again.

"Ah, actually, since you decided to join us-" More like was forced to! "-I think It's a good opportunity to have a little talk with you."

"...Really." So that's what you wanted.

"You know, it pains me to see Izaya-san so sad. Especially because of someone like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I know about his feelings for you." Just as I suspected.

"I don't see how it's my fault. I never gave him a reason for those feelings."

"Haha, silly Shi-zu-o-san. Love doesn't bother with reason. I mean, for someone to be able to fall in love with a person as cruel and heartless as you, isn't that conclusive enough proof?"

"Be careful, bastard." I glared at him but he didn't seem bothered at all.

"You see, the thing is... Izaya-san and I are together..."

My cigarette almost dropped from my mouth when I heard those words.

"What did you just say?"

"Well, the truth is I had seen Izaya-san even before I started working in the company. He really helped me even back then and at that moment I realized what a good person he was. After that we went out a couple of times, just as friends, and it was really fun, I enjoyed his company very much. Later, when I learned that I was hired there, I was really happy! I asked specifically if I could be grouped with Izaya-san. But the man I saw then, on my first day, he looked totally different. He looked somehow… broken, even though he tried to hide it as best as he could. When I insisted on him telling me what was wrong he got really mad at first. He said some pretty bad things and just left the room."

Not again.

"Ah, but that day I decided to stay after work since I still had to check a lot of things out. I was really surprised when he came to me and apologized for taking his anger out on me. Then he agreed to tell me about his problem. Listening to his story I just felt like I wanted to cry. He looked so miserable while talking about it that I wanted to comfort him. And...well, maybe not in the best way, but I did. You know, I even told him it was okay to imagine it was you. But he didn't dare do it. He just kept quiet and held on tight while we did it. Again and ag-Ugh!"

I cut him off with a punch that sent him flying to the ground.

"Ow! Why'd you do that, Shi-zu-o-san?"

"Why do you think? !"

Shit, so he made fun of me! They both did! That morning, curled up in the sheets, those words... he was just mocking me, is that it? ! Making me believe those words to the point where I thought... But it was just a lie! So that's why he pushed me away, not because I hurt him with what I said but because he had already found someone else to 'stick it in'!

Kneeling over the clown I grabbed him by the collar as I shoved him in the ground.

"Woah!"

"Fucking bastard! Since he's obviously not sparing you any details then he told you what happened that morning, too, didn't he? !

"...Um..."

"So was that you plan, too? If you already had something with him why didn't you take care of him? Why did you let Kadota bring him to my place? !"

"...Well, it's not like I knew Kyohei-san would bring him over to you. I just thought that in that situation it would've been better if he was dealt with by someone who knew him better, that's the only reason I called him that night."

"So did you two laugh good after that? ! That fucking bastard, he's gonna get it now!", I yelled as I stood up and headed back to the entrance. I was honestly going to kill him!

"...Why?"

I stopped and turned to him with a disbelieving look.

"Are you fucking stupid? He tricked me! He acted miserable when in truth he was already over it! He did it just to piss me off!"

"Ah, it's not like that's the truth. It's obvious that he still hasn't gotten over you, Shi-zu-o-san, so he didn't lie. I think even for someone with such restricted brain capacity it would be obvious."

"Bullshit! You can't be with one person and claim to love another! That's just egoistic."

"Waah, so you really are the dedicated type~!"

"Shut up!"

Propping himself up on his elbows he stared at me for a while when I saw the corners of his mouth twitch in a mocking smile.

"What's the matter, Shi-zu-o-san? Could it be that you're hurt?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Maybe you thought that he'd just continue to be depressed forever and not look at anyone, hoping that someday for whatever reason you'd actually consider him? Are you angry because he's trying to regain his happiness?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Who the hell would think any of that crap? ! I'm only angry because I was lied to using an already fucked up enough situation and as a result did something completely disgusting!"

I saw his grin grow even wider.

"Heh... You may say that it was disgusting, but is that how you honestly felt, Shizu-chan?"

In an instant I felt my whole face heat up but at that point there was no way I could make out if it was from fury or embarrassment. Seeing how he just seemed even more pleased with the situation I wasn't gonna let the bastard have his fun anymore as I quickly got up and stormed down the street. I had no idea where I was going. I didn't want to go home because there I would start thinking. I just had to keep walking. Walk and not allow myself to think.

"Well, now that that's done..." Shintarou slowly got himself off of the pavement and headed back in the bar.

When they saw him Izaya only stared while Kadota shot up from his chair, suddenly quite concerned.

"What the hell happened? Are you okay? !"

The man smiled at him as he took his seat next to Izaya.

"Yes, it's nothing. Please don't worry about me."

"Did you fight with Shizuo? Where is he? !"

"Ah, Shizuo-san had to leave."

"Had to? Why?"

"Hmm, I wonder..."

"Wha…?"

"Shintarou-kun..."

"Don't worry Izaya-san! You can tend to my injury if you're that worried!", he chirped as he ruffled his hair.

"I think I'll pass.", Izaya sighed as he pushed the hand away from his head.

"Well, I guess now we'll just have to see…"

Eyeing his subordinate suspiciously Izaya stood up, preparing to leave. "...Ah, I'm calling it a night. Congratulations again. See you two tomorrow."

"Ehh, but Izaya-sannn..."

Shintarou watched as he went through the door,then leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath. When he opened them again he turned to Kadota, who had been staring at him the whole time.

"Well, guess it's just you and me, then..."

"You know, I'm tired of asking these questions already, but what exactly did you say to Shizuo?"

That was obviously coming.

"Nothing much."

"Yeah, sure. It's true that Shizuo is one that doesn't need much to blow a fuse but he still needs something."

"Say, Kyohei-san, I assume you've known about those two's relationship, right?"

"Relationship...?"

"Bwahaha, sorry, sorry! That was surely the stupidest way I could have phrased it. I meant these certain feelings that have been present for some time now. You know, they have a romantic nature..."

"...How did you-"

"Eh, what does it matter? More importantly, I learned something interesting just now~"

"Huh?"

"The way he acted that morning, there was definitely some reason behind it."

"...What? So he did do something?"

"Apparently."

"What?"

"I don't know that. He didn't tell me the details... Ah, I wonder what will happen next."

"Nothing good.", Kadota grunted as he rubbed his face.

"But it's still better than nothing at all~"

"Not in this case... Hey, really, what did you tell him?"

"That's a secret~!"

"You-!"