Anni drifted gently to reality, letting her eyes open. She could only see the soft skin of her favorite pillows throat, but that was good enough for her. Dozing while cuddling her sleeping Shizuo sounded like the best possible plan for her morning, especially when she could distinctly recall setting her alarm to the proper time. It was probably only because she had gotten used to getting up obnoxiously early that she was awake now. So she closed her eyes again and let her mind wander while listening to Shizuo's breathing. If her pillow woke before she left, she would have to say something. Anni couldn't keep doing this without letting him know exactly what it meant to her. Even if she'd spent last night here at his request, it felt wrong to keep something so important a secret.

Anni got to snuggle her sleeping guardian for what felt like an hour before he started to wake. She tried to keep from moving as he carefully slipped his hand out of her hair to rest it on her lower back instead. For some reason or another, Anni couldn't get over how adorable it was that he'd fallen asleep while stroking her hair. He apparently didn't want her to know, so she was happy to pretend to be asleep. Besides, the cuddles would probably come to a swift end if he knew she was awake. Sadly for Anni, fate was against her. Her nose itched.

"-choo!" she squeaked violently into her pillow, making him jump. She wasn't even allowed to sneeze normally. No, she had to do a stupid little squeak.

"Good morning!" he laughed.

"Shut up, I'm asleep" Anni asserted weakly, rearranging herself slightly.

"Just like you said last night" Shizuo observed, though he didn't move, which Anni was thankful for.

"Did I start talking in my sleep again?"

"You actually held a little conversation with me. Or should I say, you told your 'pillow' you were sleeping" he recounted, his smile obvious from the tone in his voice. Anni tensed. She would have been happy to go her whole life without him knowing she thought of him as her favorite pillow, among other titles.

"Quiet! You heard nothing" she ordered.

"Don't worry, I don't mind it." He brought his hand back up to brush her hair away from her face, forcing her to relax.

"Cheater…" she breathed. Shizuo stopped.

"What?"

"Using the stupid hair thing to calm me-" She was cut off as he started stroking her hair again.

"Like this?" he asked innocently. Anni wanted to be mad at him, to protect her pride and not be controlled by such a simple, gentle gesture, but she couldn't find the energy. It took all she had not to melt.

"Fffuuuuu…" she sighed.

"I'll take that as a yes" he chuckled, stopping and letting his hand just rest on her head, holding her close. Anni felt her face grow warm at that. If there was a time to tell him, it was probably now.

"Shizuo…" she started, all of the words she'd planned to say up until now flying away. When have I ever been this nervous?

"Yes?"

"I…" Anni fidgeted anxiously. "I just wanted to let you know…" You worthless coward, he just let you use him as a bed for the fourth time and you can't bring yourself to say that you like him? she ranted in her head.

"What is it?" he asked, sounding more concerned. When Anni couldn't bring herself to say any more, he sat up and held her by her upper arms to look her in the eye. She flinched back at first, but it wasn't like she would be escaping his grip, so she tried to show with her expression the things she couldn't get past her lips. It took a moment of Shizuo regarding her with confusion, but he seemed to get something out of her red face. "Ah, I see" he said, pulling her into a hug and holding her close again. "It's ok. How about I go first then?" he offered. Anni tensed in surprise. He pulled her back to see her face. His own expression was soft and kind, with hair still tousled from sleep. She could only watch in disbelief as he started talking. "You're special to me. I care about you, as more than just a friend, or a roommate. You're precious, and I want to keep you safe..." he trailed off, either running out of things to say or giving her a chance to step in. Anni responded by throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him as tightly as she could.

"You're precious to me too. I can't stand it when you get hurt, and I love being around you, and I love it when you smile. You make me feel so safe all the time, and I love that you're kind enough to take care of me like this, and I love being so close to you and how much you trust me…" she gushed, her words running together. Anni pulled back abruptly, startling Shizuo who had apparently just gotten comfortable with the hug. "I want to take you up on your offer!" she proclaimed, gripping his upper arms. Shizuo blinked.

"Which one?" he asked slowly, still surprised.

"I want to move back in."

"Oh, that one. We can work on that after your brother goes home then" he said, his small smile returning. Anni grinned back, overwhelmed with relief. She jumped as her phone's alarm went off, breaking up her perfect little moment. It was time to get ready for work. "One more thing" Shizuo added once she'd silenced her phone.

"Yes?" she asked giving him her full attention. Something in his tone was off.

"You should have next Friday free, right?" He was much more reserved and serious than he had been just a moment before. Anni knew where this was going now, and was nearly overcome with nervous excitement, but forced herself to adopt a similar tone instead.

"I should" she answered carefully.

"Would you like to spend the day with me?"

"Nothing would make me happier" she answered earnestly. Shizuo smiled with her and didn't move as she planted a small kiss on his forehead. Anni darted off, giggling as she grabbed her bag and slipped into the bathroom. She would work through all of her holidays if it meant they would all start this well.

-!DRRR!-

Alex was navigating the massive crowds on the main streets as he made his way to Anni's little manga shop. Apparently her friend had a date today, and coerced Anni into covering her shift, which his sister failed to mention when she dropped by last night. He'd only found out when he called her wondering where she was. Once she'd gotten him on the line however, she'd absolutely insisted he meet her for lunch, forcing him to brave the insane numbers of people outside yet again. So Alex got to wait grumpily just outside the shop for a few minutes while his sister changed into civvies. Then she came skipping out, humming softly.

"What the hell happened to you?" Alex asked, drawing her attention.

"Good afternoon brother! Come on, let's go get something to eat!" she coaxed, pulling him along by his arm.

"Seriously Anni, what the hell is up?" he laughed as she threaded quickly through the throngs of people.

"You'll see!" she chimed.

"It sounds like SOMEONE had a good night" he joked, quickly grabbing her wrist as she tried to hit him.

"Get your mind out of the gutter" she instructed, but her glare only lasted a second. "Now hurry up!" Anni took off again, dragging him along behind her. He wasn't at all surprised when they ended up at Russia Sushi.

"You're so predictable."

"I don't care" she retorted, scurrying inside with only a wave at Simon. Despite being so excited, she refused to say anything about what had happened until after their food arrived. Alex had his own guesses, but he wanted to confirm exactly what it was.

"So what's up?" he asked casually before starting on the sushi in front of him.

"He asked me out" she answered quickly, with barely constrained excitement.

"... Is that all?" he joked, but Anni seemed to miss the sarcasm.

"Be quiet, it means a lot to me-"

"It was a joke you dunderhead, I'm happy for you" Alex laughed.

"...Quiet" Anni busied herself with her food.

"So was this before or after-"

"-These chopsticks are going through your eye-"

"-you… went to sleep" he finished, surprised by the heat of the glare she was giving him.

"It was this morning. Any other arbitrary questions, or are you going to give up on trying to make dirty jokes?" She clicked her chopsticks at him, which came off far more cute than threatening.

"I think that's it for now" he said, making her roll her eyes. "You're acting like a kid again, little one."

"Ya, well… I feel like a kid, so shush." They ate quietly for a few minutes before Alex spoke up again.

"You have rather inconvenient tastes" he commented. Anni paused and eyed him warily.

"What EXACTLY do you mean by that?" she asked. She was apparently trying to sound sweet, but she did a terrible job of covering her irritation.

"I mean you had to go and pick a guy I couldn't properly threaten. What the hell am I supposed to do if he goes and breaks your heart? Punch him?" he suggested, breaking the tension and making his sister giggle.

"Might shatter your hand on his face" she theorized.

"I happen to like my bones where they are. Could you pick someone else so they stay that way?" He was far from serious, and was glad Anni caught that this time around.

"Of course, because your comfort is the most important factor here" she said, rolling her eyes at him again. "Why don't you go try and tell Shizuo to 'pick someone else'?"

"That would almost definitely end in my bones NOT staying where they are" he sighed. Anni snorted her laughter, nearly choking on her bite of food. "Easy there Trouble."

"Shush."

-!DRRR!-

-Lizzy has entered the chat-

Kanra~ Welcome back Lizzy-chan!

Setton~ How are things going?

Tarou~ Evening Lizzy

Lizzy~ Hey guys!

My day was absolutely amazing ( ^_^ ) d

Kanra~ That's great to hear!

What happened?

Lizzy~ Be quiet Kanra

This doesn't involve you

Setton~ I'm curious too Lizzy

Tarou~ So am I

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better than you were last time

Lizzy~ Alright

So the guy I have a crush on asked me out this morning 3

Kanra~ Oh?

Taro~ I'm happy for you!

-Setton has invited you to a private conversation-

[Setton~ You said earlier that you live in Ikebukuro, right?

Lizzy~ Ya

Why do you ask?

Setton~ Do you happen to know Heiwajima Shizuo?

Lizzy~ He asked me on a date this morning

How did you know?

Setton~ Because he told me about it when I talked to him today

It's me, Celty

Lizzy~ Really?

Setton~ Hello Anni!

Lizzy~ Hello!

It's great to hear from you

Setton~ I'm so happy for the two of you

Lizzy~ Thank you ( ^_^ ) ]

Anni closed the private chat to see Izaya and Mikado had continued the conversation without them. Surprisingly, Izaya didn't say anything more about the subject, but Anni was happy to avoid his prying. She talked to the group for a while longer, until it hit 11 and she decided to follow Alex's example and go to bed. He'd crashed around 10, saying he had to get up early to make his flight the following morning.

That night was quiet. Anni woke up to her alarm, to find her brother was already gone. Not one nightmare. Not even Alex leaving had woken her. She was ecstatic.

Shizuo was just as happy for her when she told him she'd managed to sleep peacefully on her own. Anni was sad that she wouldn't have an excuse to cuddle him anymore, but she was also happy to not have to depend on him.

Anni got a chance to chastise Maya during their break the next day, but it only ended up in Maya gushing over her new boyfriend and everything they did on their date. Anni listened patiently, waiting for Maya to take a breath before dropping her own bombshell.

"Shizuo asked me out" she said simply. Maya's jaw dropped and she lost track of her own story.

"You can't!" were the first words out of her mouth.

"Why not?" Anni laughed.

"Because it'll destroy the platonic defender-slash-damsel thing you had going!"

"What happened to you thinking he was scary?"

"Of course he's still scary, but he's only a scary monster to everyone but you" Maya explained. The blonde glared at her.

"Don't call him a monster in front of me" she warned.

"I'm not calling HIM a monster, I'm talking about the way he ACTS" Maya defended. Anni sighed and let it drop.

Days passed slowly, and most nights passed peacefully. Routine fell back into place like it had never been disturbed. Anni didn't spend another night at Shizuo's, though she did start cleaning things up in preparation for her eventual move back to his place. Even with something to occupy her, she became more and more anxious with each passing day. She couldn't wait for Friday to roll around, but she was terrified she wouldn't be prepared when it did. Anni wanted to do everything in her power to make sure it went well.

By Thursday night, she'd worked out a plan with Shizuo for their date and gotten herself an outfit especially for the occasion. It also meant that Anni would be wearing a skirt, which she wasn't accustomed to. She never liked going into public without pants, but she was willing to endure it for him. Anni went to bed that night with a strange sense of foreboding, which reminded her vaguely of the night Shizuo was shot. It was written off as premature butterflies and ignored in favor of sleep.

-A/N-

Edited by my dear friend Faded Phoenix