There was a gentle tapping of rain on the sidewalk as Shizuo trudged on in search of some new way to make money after being fired from his first job. It honestly wasn't his fault; the kid had it coming. But following that logic, that meant that the counter he threw and window he smashed also had it coming, which sounded stupid even to him. Instead he tried to blame Izaya. For the first few weeks of the boy's absence, Shizuo was restless. His pent up energy had him pacing around grumbling until he finally snapped, literally and metaphorically. He'd re-broken every bone in his hand not four days after Izaya moved to Shinjuku by punching a car that honked at him. Shinra managed to rein him in before he could do any serious damage, telling him that he was just making a mess that someone else was going to have to clean up. Of course, the appeal to his guilty nature stopped him in his tracks. So in the time following he just sulked at home or took walks around Ikebukuro in hopes of seeing that cut of jacket and red shirt. He would've been happy with a knife flying past his head for Pete's sake. But they received nothing. Nobody heard from Izaya or even from the twins. Izaya hadn't contacted any of them to let him know that he was alive and well. When Shizuo awoke in the morning he would often wonder if the boy had carried out his suicide attempt from some different rooftop under a different sky and with a different audience, one that wasn't going to be able to save him. The rain didn't help either. For the rest of his life he would associate precipitation with death. This was a real pity, seeing as he quite enjoyed storms when he was a kid.

The rambling in his head was cut off by a low whinny at his side, and Shizuo looked up to see Celty on her steel horse, tapping away at that PDA. He paused to watch her but didn't say anything until a screen was flashed in his face.

'Have you heard?!'

Shizuo couldn't tell if she was happy or not by the shaking of her shoulders. "No," he stated simply. "What? Did something happen?"

'I can't believe Shinra hasn't told you yet!'

"Wha-"

'He is in so much trouble when I see him!'

"Celty-"

'I mean come on! You of all people deserve to know the most of all!'

"CELTY."

The gloved fingers ceased, hovering over the keypad. Shizuo let out a sigh.

"Just tell me what happened, alright?"

'It's Izaya! He's in Ikebukuro! He called Shinra this morning saying that he was here!'

As soon as this information processed, Shizuo broke out into a dead run. He wasn't sure where he was going exactly, but he had only three things on his mind: flowers, balloons, and Izaya.


Izaya pushed himself up from the plush armchair that Shinra had seated him in. "It's been a pleasure catching up, but I'm really here on business, so I best be going."

Shinra smiled brightly, though he really had been since Izaya walked through the door. "Alright. Be sure to check in with me occasionally, okay? I want to know how you're doing mentally and physically. And don't forget to go see Shizuo!"

The informant laughed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his new jacket, lined with fur and black like the rest of his wardrobe. A grin spread across his features. "Don't worry. Shizu-chan has a knack for finding me no matter what."

With a short goodbye, Izaya left and began his walk towards Russia Sushi. Sure, he had an important meeting to attend to in less than twenty minutes, but he could down a package of ootoro before then if he didn't get distracted. He counted the steps remaining, 10, 9, before he would get to the desired establishment, 6, 5. Izaya had gotten down to three when he heard something like a stampede behind him and he jokingly mused whether or not an elephant had escaped. A glance over his shoulder had him rooted to the spot though.

To be blatantly honest, the sight was rather ridiculous. A tall blonde with about six colorful balloons clasped in his hand, a small bouquet in the other, and a stuffed cat tucked under his arm was not what people generally saw on a day to day basis. His cheeks were pink from either the exertion of running from point A to point B or the sheer embarrassment of looking how he did. Izaya memorized the image with the utmost glee.

"Izaya."

His heart stumbled and skipped with just that one word.

"Hello, Shizu-chan."

Shizuo looked around at his cargo and flushed even more, not really knowing what to do as the shorter man approached him. So, he did what he did best: ramble like a nervous school boy.

"I never got you anything while you were in the hospital, so I thought that I should you know, buy you something…but you kinda moved so I never saw you and Celty just told me that you were here and I didn't have any time to get anything better so…here."

The blonde thrust his hands forward and stared at the ground so he didn't have to see Izaya's reaction. After having this moment recounted to him by the raven himself, he wished that he had. Izaya took the balloons and flowers with deft fingers, coddling the toy feline in the crook of his arm as if it was an infant. He took one large step forward so that they were practically chest to chest. This action in and of itself drew a lot of attention and he adored almost as much as the man in front of him. He decided to step it up a notch.

"How thoughtful of you, Shizu-chan," Izaya purred, getting up on his toes so that he could brush his lips over the other's cheek. A delighted shiver was his only response. Izaya transferred the flowers into his other hand easily and let the free hand tangle itself in Shizuo's hair. "And you're right. We haven't seen each other in quite a while. What do you say we go make up for lost time, ne?"

Shizuo blinked owlishly and tried to ignore the butterflies that arose with the heat in his stomach. He wasn't dreaming was he? No, he had definitely gotten up this morning. He had rolled off the edge and hit his head on the nightstand. Which meant this was real. Izaya was really, truly, actually asking him to go and do god knows what. What they did didn't matter to him so long as he got to hold that tiny frame close. Just the thought had him grinning.

"Okay."

And with that one word, their fate was sealed. And with one swift motion, Shizuo had picked Izaya up to carry him back to his apartment princess-style. Now it was Izaya's turn to blush and pout as he struggled to keep a hold on his gifts.

"My legs work just fine Shizu-chan, you can put me down," he huffed, though he enjoyed the affection deep down in that twisted little heart of his.

"Nah, this is more fun," Shizuo replied, adjusting his grip on his new beau. Both of them were too wrapped up in their own romance to see how the clouds had disappeared, and the only rain that was left resided on the delicate flowers in the bouquet.


Haha, well this isn't exactly how I planned on finishing this bad boy up, but I kind of like it. Yeah it's a bit OOC but you can't get a whole lot of fluff with these two unless it ends in smut, which I don't feel fits the plot.

SO! I would like to thank everyone who stuck with this stroy and reviewed and waited oh so patiently for the final chapter! I love all of you! Hugs, balloons, flowers, and stuffed kitties for you!

~Chickadee