A.N: Chapter 4 is heeeeere! Thank you SO MUCH for all of your nice reviews! Keep them coming! :D. Writing Izaya like this is SO MUCH FUN XDDD.

EDIT: Also, corrected the problem with Shizuo's eye color, I think XDD. Sorry, I don't know why I thought they were blue.. XDD

4. The Development

Shizuo climbed the stairs, rubbing the back of his neck as went. It was only the afternoon, but somehow he felt exhausted. Sure, he hadn't exerted himself at all today, but holding himself back was just as tiresome as lashing out, even more so. Wandering up the stairs, he approached his door, reaching out to put the key into the lock, when he noticed that the door was already ajar. The wood was cut, hacked away. Someone had broken in.

"What the hell?" He slowly pushed the door open with his flat palm, standing under the doorframe. The room was spotless. Everything was in its place. Nothing had been moved, opened or touched since he had left. Yet, something still seemed peculiar. Shizuo was not one to fear intruders, but he didn't want strange people in his home. He thought for a moment, for a fleeting moment, that it could have been the flea. But it was such a long walk, and he would have seen him, since the only practical way home was down the street. Of course, Izaya could have scaled a few fences, hefted himself over a couple walls and such, but…would he really go to such trouble?

Probably.

Shizuo scoffed at his own thoughts of Izaya. Maybe he needed a vacation. Thinking about the bastard all the time was strenuous. He put his phone and keys down on the kitchen table, slipping off his shoes and sitting them by the door. He would make a light lunch, and then settle down for some television. Maybe he would go out again tonight. As he mused, he shuffled into the bathroom to do his business, when someone sprung out of the tub and latched onto him.

Following instinct, he yelled at the top of his lungs, reached behind and seized the fabric of the man's back, peeled him off of his body and flung him, rather forcibly, against the porcelain plumbing. It was Izaya, naturally. He lay slightly crumpled, wedged between the floor, the counter and the toilet. His blade was in his hand—firm in his hand—and dripping with red. Shizuo felt the hot trickle of blood at the back of his left shoulder. His temper went from zero to boiling point in about two seconds.

"THE FUCK, IZAYA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY FUCKING APARTMENT?"

There he was. There was the Shizu-chan Izaya knew. Rising gracefully from his position, Izaya assumed his arrogant, flaunting persona. He grinned with what could only be delicious fulfillment. "Why, Shizu-chan~! I came to fight you, of course. I figured if you wouldn't do it in public, you'd rather do it here."

"WHAT GAVE YOU THAT IDEA, ASSHOLE?" Shizuo advanced savagely and Izaya dodged, so Shizuo's fist slammed into his toilet, cracking it and springing a water leak. This just made him angrier. He would have to fix that. There was a serious problem with fighting in his own home.

He would break things.

He would have to pay for them.

Izaya probably knew this.

"Our fights are very intimate, Shizu-chan~," Izaya continued, skirting around him with his blade. He flashed out and tried to slash him, but Shizuo went forward at the same time. Shizuo hardly felt the slice of the sharp knife, but Izaya surely felt the hard hit to his face. It stung, then roosted on his cheek and burned. Burned badly. He brought his sleeve to his face, feeling some blood in his mouth. "Just you and I. Our passion."

Izaya was just messing with him now; he was just playing with him, like he always did. Shizuo roared at him, this time ripping the toilet from the floor and lobbing it. Izaya hit the deck and crawled as quickly as he could out of the bathroom while the toilet crashed through the wall. Izaya was laughing.

"Ah, Shizu-chan is so passionate today~!"

"DAMMIT, I WILL KILL YOU!"

Izaya felt the cold swell of momentary panic when Shizuo laced his hands around his ankles, yanking him like an abusive father would drag a naughty child. Izaya, futilely, tried to use his fingers to cling to the hardwood, but of course that didn't do him a damn bit of good. Shizuo snatched the back of his coat, jerking him up, and Izaya plunged the knife into Shizuo's arm, sticking it there, holding it there. Shizuo's hands went to Izaya's neck, pulling their faces close. He growled, ignoring the searing pain in his upper limb.

"You fucking ass," he snarled. "I'll kill you."

Izaya's voice struggled to leave his throat due to the fact that Shizuo was choking him, but the raspy noise still managed to sound smug over everything else. "Oh, Shizhu-chan~!" He was grinning, bring his hands up to grab Shizuo's sides, around his abdomen. "Don't stop, naughty-!"

Shizuo's pupils dilated, and he gave a hiss of disgust before flinging Izaya as far away from him as he could. The knife, still tightly in Izaya's hand, was ripped out. He couldn't help but grunt in pain, hand pasting to the wound as blood leaked out. Izaya sat up from under the kitchen table, rubbing his throat, breathing carefully. Shizuo had one hell of an arm, throwing him like that.

Shizuo's voice was deep. He was still very angry. "You're revolting. Just damn disgusting, you know that?"

"Aw, Shi-" Izaya paused here to cough into his fist. A dry, wracking noise. He swallowed again, trying to continue on with his sentiments. "Shizu-chan, you know you live for this~."

Shizuo's glare only deepened. Well, yes. Yes, he did. Sometimes, for brief seconds. Encountering Izaya on the street, as much as it irritated him, was the most exciting part of his days. He crossed the room to his kitchen cupboard, breathing a little heavy from the sudden rush. After fishing around, he managed to find a roll of bandage for his shoulder. It would stop bleeding soon, but he didn't need blood all over the floor.

"Why are you even still here? Get out before I fucking try to kill you again," Shizuo said. He didn't look back at Izaya, but heard him start coughing again. It went on longer this time, and Shizuo scoffed at him. "Shut the hell up, flea. I didn't squeeze that hard."

Izaya's breathing was still wheezy, but all he could do was dizzily grin. Finally, everything was back to normal. All was right with the world. He collapsed onto the floor, stretching his back along the wood, sighing as a cat would in the sun.

"Ah, Shizu-chan is back to normal," he said, voice scratchy. "Thank goodness~."

Shizuo glanced over at him, one eyebrow raised. He was getting irritated again, but only a little. And that was bound the happened whenever he was around Izaya. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Izaya rolled over onto his side, clearing his throat, closing his eyes. It was just such a relief. Not fighting with Shizu-chan had been, to an extent, frightening. "Before, Shizu-chan kept acting all weird~. You didn't want to fight me. And now, you did." He grinned faintly. "I win, Shizu-chan~!"

Shizuo listened, beginning to smirk. So, Izaya hadn't picked up on the new game after all? The game where Shizuo plays dumb and Izaya gets flustered. He started taking off his shirt, so he could get to his wound. He made only a small noise of discomfort when he had to lift his arm. "Oh, no. I think I win," he said. And his voice was calm again. Silky. He was feeling confident and superior. Izaya could hear it.

The informant's face started to turn a little pink. He swore under his breath. Not this again. This was supposed to be gone.

"How so?" Izaya asked. He wanted to sound natural. His voice cracked. He prayed Shizu-chan would chalk it up to his strangled windpipe.

"I started a brand new game, that's how," he stated. His shirt was now completely off, bare chest to the open air. He trapped a strip of gauze under his arm, and then started wrapping it around. It was sort of hard to do alone.

"New game?" Izaya's mind was frantically turning. New game? What new game? When did they start playing this? He cinched his hands shut, swallowing again. His throat was dry. His stomach was jumping. He glanced up at Shizuo, to assess his expression, and saw that he had on no fucking shirt. His face faded red, burning, and there was nothing he could do about it. The area on his cheek, where Shizuo punched him, was beginning to bruise.

"Yeah, new game," Shizuo continued, still trying to wire the bandage around his arm. He was feeling pretty calm all of a sudden. All of the frustration was gone now. He liked talking with Izaya when Izaya had no idea what was going on. It made Shizuo feel smarter, a level up. It was a good feeling.

"The game where I try to bug the shit out of you." He grinned, looking over at Izaya. The raven-haired man was still on the floor, propped up by an elbow, glancing over his shoulder. His face was really red though. Had he hit him so hard the blood rushed to his head or something?

"Hey, you okay?"

Izaya's stomach turned over, clenching up, and he looked away immediately, sitting up and hunching over.

"What? Oh, yeah. Naturally, Shizu-chan~." He tried to put on his arrogant tone, his 'I'm-better-than-you' tone. It wasn't working so well. He could feel Shizuo staring.

"Well, fine then," the blonde said, then sighed impatiently. "Hey, could you get your ass over here and help? Least you can do for stabbing me."

Izaya couldn't help but think to himself, what do I owe you? Somehow, the answer seemed to linger in the back of his mind. He didn't want to go over there. Not because he didn't want to-…well, be with Shizu-chan. He kind of liked being with Shizu-chan. That's why he chased him around sometimes. But it was obvious that there was something about himself that Izaya couldn't control. These constant gut-clenches, the sweatiness, the blush. He couldn't fix any of that. He jumped with Shizuo addressed him again.

"Asshole! I said come over here and help me, dammit!" He groaned in defeat. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't really need it."

Izaya started standing up, but his legs felt weak. Why was he so fucking nervous? What was so scary about walking over to stupid Shizu-chan and wrapping his arm up? He loitered over to him, not carrying his natural confidence, averting his eyes. When he was close enough to touch Shizuo, he forced himself to make eye contact.

"I'm only helping because you asked so nicely~," he said with customary sarcasm. His hands, shaking slightly, reached forward and took the bandage from Shizuo. Their hands brushed; Izaya blushed vigorously.

Shizuo studied him like he would study a hardy mold. He frowned, disconcerted, but couldn't look away. "Do you…feel okay?"

"Fine," Izaya muttered, focusing on wrapping the gauze. He tried not to let his eyes wander anywhere. What was wrong with him? Why was this so-?... He flushed further, breath catching as he realized all the implications. Oh, fuck.

Shizuo reached forward and grasped Izaya's hand, feeling it tremble inside his own. "The hell, Izaya? Why are you shaking?"

Izaya could only snatch away, stutter out something stupid. "You did just beat the shit out of me, S-Shizu-chan. Only natural~." All he could think about was the damn way Shizu-chan said his name. With concern, in the silky tone. No anger. Only conversation. Damn! Dammit dammit!

The longer Shizuo watched it go on, the more concerned he became. Izaya had gone from a cocky stud to a bashful high-schooler in the span of about ten seconds. He couldn't stop shaking, he would cringe from time to time, he was sweaty, blushing. What was wrong with him? Shizuo reached forward, grabbing Izaya's face to force him to look him dead in the eye. With the sunglasses gone, having fallen off during the fight, it was rust-red on brown. Direct connection.

"Seriously, Izaya. What's wrong with you? You look bad."

Izaya's heart shuddered at the contact; his hands pinched around the gauze. His face got so red, he feared a nosebleed. All this flustered him, made him hate himself. And hate Shizu-chan for making him feel that way. He wasn't dumb, he knew what it meant, but he couldn't acknowledge it. He couldn't face it yet, alone. He was trying to look away, trying to think of something smart to say, when Shizuo's grip slacked off. They stared at each other. Light dawned in the blonde's eyes.

"Wait…" He frowned, looking Izaya up and down, before his face broke out in a mocking smile. "Are you… turned on right now?"