This chapter is dedicated to Mika~ Thank you all for your continued support and reviews! It means a lot to me to know this story has readers and wonderful reviewers, favoriters, alerters (I'm pretty sure those last too aren't real words xD)! Thank you all, I read each review and try to comment to them because you all deserve it. Those who are anonymous reviewers I wish I could comment back to all your reviews personally too, but this is the best I can do...SO THANK YOU TOO ANONS :)
Warning: cuddling and fluffiness ahead. Possible OOC.
Izaya's POV
It's like they were born to ruin my life. I don't want to think about them, though. Sure, what they said was true. I've liked Shizu-chan for a long time. And having urges is perfectly normal when you're a young teen. I shouldn't be ashamed, but I am. To think that they told Shizu-chan that I did that when I was younger! I'm hoping Shizu-chan forgot. With his protozoan brain I don't think it would be that difficult, besides he said he wanted to forget my confession so I can assume that he likes to forget disturbing memories…
I look at the sky and sigh as I watch the clouds pass by calmly. It's really gray outside now.
I can tell that it's going to rain again. I really hope that there isn't going to be thunder again like last time. It's been raining the past few days, sometimes it's just cloudy. Its winter so I'm not so surprised, but it doesn't mean I love to listen to the sound of thunder. In a couple weeks it's going to snow, at least that's what the weather man said. I rather have it snow and freeze, than have it rain and hear thunder.
"So, you're not going home, I presume?" I ask Shizu-chan as he continues to follow me back to my place. He only mumbles a quick no. "Well, I'm going to be working on my computer for an hour or so; you'll have to entertain yourself in the meantime."
"That's fine. I'll just watch TV." Having the brute in my apartment is a bit uncomfortable considering that I have personal stuff in my living room, not to mention a lot of very expensive, breakable possessions. "By the way, I…uh…had fun…today…"
"You did?"
"Yeah, I mean, you're still pretty annoying, but it was kind of fun spending time with someone—other than Shinra or Celty."
"Shinra." We say in unison and shiver.
"Thanks, Shizu-chan. I had fun too." He blushes slightly before elbowing me playfully.
When we finally get to my place, Shizu-chan heads over to the couch and sits there calmly, like a dog coming home from a long walk with his master. I, on the other hand, head straight for my desk. I grab the remote on my desk and tell Shizu-chan to catch, which he does, but with his mouth.
"Damn it." He curses as he takes the remote from his mouth and grumbles. He turns on the TV and tries to relax. I open my desk drawers and put on my reading glasses before continuing where I had left off in my work yesterday. Now and then I'll scan some paperwork, reading only the finer details of it, and then start typing out some stuff on my computer. This back and forth routine catches the eye of my monstrous guest in less than an hour. Before I know it, I'm being watched from behind by Shizu-chan. I hadn't noticed him standing behind me so as soon as I catch the faintest evidence of his presence I jolt a bit from surprise. "Sorry…" He says as he backs away.
"Don't sneak up on me like that, protozoan. I know you've always been so eager to kill me, but I rather not die in this chair." I say as I glare at him.
"How long have you worn those?"
"What my reading glasses?" He nods simply. "I don't know, two, three years." I say as I begin typing again, keeping my attention on the screen, but still managing to hold up the conversation with my lonely guest. Shizu-chan mutters a simply "ah" before wandering about the living room; glancing at my game board for just a split second before noticing something that catches his eye.
"Okay, either we wear the same kind of boxers, or these are mine." He says as he picks up some light blue, striped boxers. I look up and laugh nervously before getting up and snatching the boxers from him. I stash them away in my drawers before returning my attention to the curious protozoan.
"They're mine. Please refrain from touching any of my personal belongings. I didn't say this in the beginning because I thought it was apparent." I say, trying to hide the blush on my cheeks. Of course they're his. I stole them one night when I snuck into his apartment, which is a disaster by the way. He has no sense of organization. I could have gotten lost in that hellish abyss.
"Hmm…it's raining again." Shizu-chan states as he points out the window. I sigh as I watch the raindrops hit the window gently. I get up and close the curtains, not wanting to continue looking at the dreary sky. "Are you done yet, flea?"
"Almost, have patience, Shizu-chan." I say as I sit back at my desk and send the last two replies to the e-mails I received a couple hours ago. "There, I'm done. Now then, what should—" I would have finished that question if the loud thunderous roar didn't frighten me. I jumped and quickly covered my ears after that, my body shivering in absolute terror. Shizu-chan looks at me curiously before walking over to me and petting my head to try to calm me down. Another loud thunderous roar, this time I quickly attach myself to the brute, wrapping my entire body on his, my legs wrapping around his waist and my arms flung around his neck. My fur sticks up on my ears and tail and my body shivers in fear.
"Flea, get off of me!" Shizu-chan yells as he tries to pry me away from him. "It's just a little bit of thunder; it's nothing to be chicken shit over!" He finally releases my grip on him and tosses me to the couch. "Jeez, you're such a scaredy cat."
"I am not!" Another roar. I hide myself in the couch cushions and meow in terror. I can't see Shizu-chan, but I can tell that he's looking at me. And before I can protest, he sits next to me and stokes my back to try to calm me down. "I have a phobia okay? I'm not a scaredy cat." I say, though it's probably muffled by the pillows. My ears twitch as I get my head out of the cushions and listen in for any more alarming sounds. Suddenly, the phone rings. I immediately attach myself to Shizu-chan again after screaming/meowing in fright.
Shizu-chan pushes me off him and grabs the phone.
"Hello?" Shizu-chan says as he answers it. "No. He's kind of busy at the moment shitting a brick."
"Shut up protozoan! Give me the phone!"
"It's Shinra." Shizu-chan says as he hands me the phone.
"Hello Shinra." I say dully. "What do you want now?"
"Well, just called to check up on you guys. Um…what was up with what Shizuo said?" I tell him it was nothing. "Is it because of the thunder? I really hope you get over that fear. Anyway, Celty said you guys were getting along. I'm really glad; it's really good to hear that your two best friends are finally getting along, as they should have in the beginning."
"What are you going on about Shinra?"
"Just happy, I suppose I'm rambling. Anyway, just keep me updated on any progress."
"What progr—"
"You might be surprised that Shizuo hides a lot of secrets too." He says vaguely. "Good luck." He hangs up after that.
"Well, that was a splendid chat." I say dully. "Shizu-chan…?" I say as I notice he's missing. "Shizu-chan, where'd you go?!" I say a bit louder so he can hear me. Still no answer. I get off the couch and start searching for that dumb dog. I check the bathroom, jiggling the doorknob but find that it's not locked and also not occupied. Then, I check the kitchen…still nothing. "Shizu-chan, I have a biscuit for you! Granted it's not a dog biscuit but a bread biscuit…but it's the only thing I could find in the kitchen."
"Flea!" I hear him yell from my bedroom. I head over to my bedroom and find Shizu-chan looking quite angry and holding up what seems to be a book. "What the fuck is this!?" He says as he tosses it to me in his fit of rage. It hurts because he threw it pretty hard, well, more like chucked it at me. I look at it and grimace…Of course he just had to find the doushinjis that involve me and Shizu-chan romantically involved with each other because the world despises me and just loves to humiliate me.
"What the fuck are those?!" He asks loudly.
"They're doushinjis…but they aren't mine…"
"Like hell they aren't! I found them under your bed!"
"Well, what the heck were you doing snooping around my room!?" He's suddenly silent. I growl at him angrily before putting the book away. "I just like reading them…it's interesting to see what people think our relationship would be like. That's all." I say nervously. "One can dream can't they?"
"W-what…?"
"Nothing." I say abruptly. "Let's go watch some TV. I rather not talk about my personal life." I say as lead him down stairs, practically pushing him. When we get to the couch I push him and tell him to stay there; his ears prick up when I say this and he just glares at me. For a long time I've wanted to be in control of Shizu-chan and now that it's happening I feel happy, but even if I were to command him to do something unreasonable like kiss me for example, it wouldn't please me. Shizu-chan wouldn't be doing it because he wants to, he'd be doing it because I said so. I can't keep chasing after him like this. I don't want to be in love with him anymore; the chase is fruitless and depressing. If he wants to just be friends, so be it. There's nothing I can do. I can't force him.
I flip on the TV and look for something decent to watch. Shizu-chan takes the remote from me and looks at the clock before skipping to his desired channel, which is some cartoon I've managed to avoid up until now. I look at him with a glare, but it doesn't seem to faze him. I sigh before getting up and opening my hall closet to retrieve a blanket. I head back to the couch and sit with the blanket covering my body.
I hear another thunderous roar, but try not to look afraid. Shizu-chan turns his head to look at me, probably waiting for me to jump in his arms. I look away from me and pretend that I'm going to sleep. He shifts beside me and seems like he's watching TV again. I look at the lamp on the nightstand next to me as I think about how I'm ever going to get over this…
Another roar, this time louder than the last. It's absolutely dreadful; the sound makes all the blood drain from my body. I shake a little from fear but then manage calm myself down. I suddenly feel Shizu-chan's hand on my shoulder, pulling me towards him. He embraces me softly, putting my head close to his chest. I can hear his heart beating a little faster than normal.
"If you're scared you don't need to hide it." He says softly as he holds me tightly. I glare at him and push him away.
"I don't need you to pity me." I tell him bitterly. Thunder roars once again making me quiver. He shakes his head and sighs before returning to his TV program. "Besides, I'm a twenty-one year old man."
"You're twenty-three, idiot." Shizu-chan says with annoyance. I turn my head and try to avoid him. If he's not in love with me, it's best to just remain as we are. Bickering and fighting is what we're used to. Besides, I've lost hope; after all the terrible things I've done I'm surprised he even wants to be friends, but Shizu-chan is pretty much known for being unpredictable.
Half-way into the show there's some romantic scene with a tender kiss. The girl is shy though so she pulls away and blushes. Shizu-chan nervously plays with his sunglasses which are in his hands. I watch him look attentively at the TV, hoping that he doesn't notice me staring at him. I sigh and turn my head and sink into the couch, suddenly feeling really tired. Before I even realize it, I fall asleep.
Shizuo's POV
I knew he'd fall asleep sooner or later. He's really not much of a TV watcher especially now that he's a cat. He falls asleep pretty fast. He looks peaceful just like when he used to sleep on the roof at Raira…There's a couple rounds of thunder throughout the night, at every roar Izaya shifts in his sleep. I watch him squirm a bit before petting his head so he can relax. I stroke his head, feeling the softness of his hair and the gentle feeling of his velvet black ears. I then cup his cheek in my hand as I lean to kiss his forehead. I growl at myself for letting my emotions get the better of me.
"Shizu-chan…" He mutters in his sleep tenderly, he blushes a little before drifting off to sleep again. I rub my nose against his cheek before making room for me to press up against him to comfort him. Despite dreaming of me (I assume at least) he's still terrified by the loud sound of thunder. I hold him in my arms and nuzzle my face into his neck. I know that this isn't like me, but this is the only time I can really do this. If I wake early enough I might be able to slip away without him knowing that I had cuddled with him during the night. I whine a bit before drifting off to sleep.
The next morning I find that Izaya has wrapped his arms around me and pressed his face close to my chest. I feel warm and comfortable like this, though I didn't think I would. But I have to slip out of his grasp before he wakes up. I slowly pull away from him and try to escape him his tight hold as slowly as I can. Once I get out of his grasp I find myself unable to steady myself enough to stay on the couch. I fall to the floor with a heavy thud and then curse myself for being so damn clumsy.
"Ne…Shizu-chan…?" Izaya says as he rubs his eyes before yawning. I get up off the floor and glare at him before saying good morning. "Ah…you're still here…"
"Yeah…why wouldn't I be?"
"I always figured you had no life, but I didn't actually think you'd prove me right~" Izaya says with a laugh.
"Shut it." I say as I head over to the window. My tail wags happily as I look out towards the city. "Why the hell do you live so high up?"
"Afraid of heights, Shizu-chan?"
"No…" I say simply. "I have to head out…It was…nice hanging out with you, I guess." I say uneasily.
"Hmm, likewise I suppose." Izaya says as he ruffles his hair and gets up, removing the blanket from his small body. He's really skinny. I don't think he eats much, seems like he's the type of person who really watches his weight. I hear a knock on the door before seeing Namie enter the living room. Her again? Didn't Izaya send her away?
"What the hell are you doing here?" Izaya asks groggily. "I thought I banished you from here."
"I forgot something." Namie says dully. She then smirks and takes out the light pen and turns it on. Izaya immediately starts chasing after it like last time. I get out of the line of fire and growl at the witch. She rolls her eyes at me before smiling and throwing the pen to me. I catch it in my mouth and then put it in my hands. "You two are weird." She says before shaking her head. She gets close to me and whispers, "Use that whenever he's being a prick."
"Thanks." I say with a smile as I close my hand around it. She heads over to the desk and grabs her bag.
"Oh and here." She says before tossing a ball to the corner of the room. I immediately chase after it and catch it in my mouth. "Have fun~"
"Evil witch." I say angrily.
"Where'd it go?" Izaya says as he spins around trying to find the red light. "Gah, forget it, stupid Namie."
"Oi Flea." I say before pointing towards the red spot on the wall. He turns around and his ears prick up happily before he lunges his body towards the light. He misses of course and I point the light somewhere else. He immediately chases after it despite it being completely a waste of time. He probably knows that it's useless, but his instincts don't let him choose. He's kind of cute this way. He's in my control, he's playing around happily (even if he's probably annoyed that I'm tricking him). "Namie was right, this is fun."
"Protozoan—stop it—this instant!" He says as he continues to play with the light. I make it go in a circle and he spins around for a while before getting dizzy. "Ne…"
"Had enough?" Izaya gets up and snatches the pen out of my hands. "Hey!" He glares at me before hiding the pen in his drawers. He seems kind of more mad than usual. Usually he'll just be a bit annoyed or playful. Right now he seems really angry, like I've upset him by doing something even more annoying than making him chase around a red light for ten minutes. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." He says but, it sounds like that 'I'm fine' where it really doesn't sound like he's fine. "I'm heading over to Shinra's. I'm gonna see the progress on that antidote. I'll be back later. If you want to stick around here it's fine with me, just don't break anything."
"Alright…" I say a bit downheartedly. What's up with him? Does he…hate me…? He puts on his fur-trimmed jacket and is about to leave when I grab his wrist. "Wait…are you…upset at me…?" I ask him worriedly. He turns and faces me before giving me a forced smile.
"Of course not." He says uneasily. "You're silly, Shizu-chan; don't be so paranoid. You're overanalyzing things. That's not you're style."
"You seem kind of…pissed…" I say slowly. "I just…" I didn't realize it but I'm holding onto his hand. He slips out of my grasp and glares at the ground, but I'm pretty sure that glare is actually for me.
"I'll see you in a little while Shizu-chan." He says a bit dryly. He puts his hood on and then heads out. It isn't like him to be so distant like that. I mean usually he's really clingy to me, always following me around all the damn time. And it isn't like him to get all emotional over something like this.
Damn it…Shinra was right, I'm like a dog that gets lonely when his master leaves…Maybe that's why I'm whining now? I sit down on the floor, my tail no longer wagging. I look around the apartment before setting my sights on the door. I stare at it for a long while hoping that Izaya would just suddenly reappear, but it doesn't happen, not even when ten minutes have passed. I sigh before finally getting up and walking around the apartment to explore. I'm sure I'll find some really messed up stuff in Izaya's house, but what else is there for me to do? Besides I've already found those stupid books. And Tom's still gone, so there's nothing much I can do.
I sit on the couch and, oddly enough, start inhaling the sweet scent on the pillow that Izaya was sleeping on. I never knew he smelled so good…and I never knew I'd actually like this smell. He used to smell really bad to me.
"Izaya-ni!" I hear a squeaky voice say loudly through the front door. "Izaya-ni, open up! We've got a present for you!" I head to the door and open it, immediately noticing the two twin girls standing there really surprised.
"Izaya's not here." I say lazily.
"Oh, you guys already had sex?" Mairu asks unexpectedly.
"WHAT!? NO!"
"Well, then why are you here at Izaya-ni's place in the morning?"
"He said I could stay here until he got back from somewhere. And last night it—"
"Ooh, 'last night' huh?" Mairu says with a grin. I put my hand on her head and press her head down angrily. "Ow! Were you this rough with Ni-chan last night—OW!"
"Shut up! We didn't have sex! You didn't let me finish!" I say angrily.
"Didn't let you finish having sex with Izaya-ni just now?" Mairu says with a laugh.
"NO! Shut the fuck up and let me finish my sentence!"
"Alright, alright. Sounds like you really didn't have sex with Izaya-ni. If you did you wouldn't be so angry right now. Maybe you're this mad because you didn't get any last night from Ni-chan~" I sigh before putting my hand on my forehead in frustration.
"Last night there was a thunderstorm and your brother was scared so I stayed over to keep him company. That's it." I explain quickly so they don't interrupt me.
"Wow, you sure are boring." Mairu says with a giggle. "Well, can we stick around to wait for Ni-chan for a while?"
"I don't really care if you wait, but just don't wait here. You guys are annoying the hell out of me." I say angrily as I'm about to close the door. One of them places their foot so the door won't close, so they immediately slip their way through. I sigh as I watch them jump on the couch and turn on the TV casually. "You said you had a present for your brother."
"Yeah, it's us visiting. Isn't that a great present?"
"Great." Kururi says dully.
"I'm surprised your brother isn't suicidal." I say simply as I sit on a recliner and try to get a couple more minutes of shut-eye. Suddenly when I open my eyes again, I see the two girls hovering over me, inspecting me for something. "What the hell!?"
"I don't know what our brother sees in you. I mean you are handsome, but Yuhei is a lot better. Not that we'd want Izaya-ni to like Yuhei though. Yuhei's off limits." Mairu explains happily. "But I guess people will like whoever they like."
"He told you guys that he likes me?"
"No, we forced it out of him. We tied him up one time and threatened to blackmail him with embarrassing pictures my sister and I had photo shopped. It was really fun to see him negotiate with us so readily." Damn they are little demons. "He said that he really likes your eyes."
"Uh…" I say uneasily.
"And the way you're hair is so soft."
"Okay…"
"Butt."
"Oh yeah, he likes your butt too." Mairu explains for her sister. I really didn't need to know all that. "Do you like Izaya-ni back?"
"I don't know." I say honestly as I get up and rub the back of my neck. "Listen, I don't like being interrogated like this, especially by two little girls."
"We aren't little." Mairu argues. "Hey! What are you—" I pick them up by their hoods and carry them outside. I toss them out and close the door quickly before locking it. I exhale as I listen to their nagging. I head over to the window and look out towards the city. My dog ears twitch a bit as I watch the people below walking casually along the streets of Shinjuku. I sigh before scanning Izaya's place. I set my sights on something that catches my eye. I head over to it and pick it up.
It's a picture of Shinra, Kadota, Izaya, and me in high school. Izaya has his arm around me, which makes me glare at him. Shinra and Kadota are just looking at us worriedly. It's a strange picture, but it seems like he took a liking to it if it's here in his living room. I check the back of the frame after noticing a sliver of paper sticking out. I take out the backing and notice it's not the corner of the photo sticking out, but a piece of paper that's been placed behind the photo. It's probably something secret since it was placed somewhere so discreet.
"What is this…?" I ask myself as I unfold the paper. I finally notice it's a letter, but what's more surprising is that it's addressed to me. And it's from Izaya.
Dear Shizu-chan,
I've never noticed how lonely it's been at the top until I meet you. I once thought that having humanistic emotions were only a hindrance, so naturally I shunned them away so I could be invincible, almost God-like. It's only now that I see that I'm not above humans at all. I can feel emotions; I feel attachment towards you. Sometimes I can't stop thinking about you. I do tease you a lot, I know, but I enjoy making you angry mostly because I've been positive since the first day we met that it'd be impossible to make you feel any other emotion towards me. But, it's not like I enjoy being hated by you; I only like that when I get you mad you pay attention to me. You don't see anything else but me. It makes me sort of happy. For the past couple of weeks I've noticed that I don't hate you; I may not like the fact that you don't like me, but I certainly don't hate you. In fact…I really, really like you. I know this letter is probably too long for your short attention span, but I hope that you make it to the end of this to know that I really do like you a lot. And so I want to ask you…will you go out with me?
Sincerely, Izaya Orihara~
It's from when we were in high school. I can't believe he wrote me a letter like this but never gave it to me. I guess it'd be too awkward to, but I mean I never thought Izaya was shy. He'd always be so confident in everything he'd do, especially when it came to knowing shit. But, to think he actually had something like this but didn't have the guts to give it to me. The question at the end made my heart skip a beat. I felt as if this was some kind of plan of his, that he purposely left the letter here so I could find it.
I fold it back up and keep it in my pocket. I'm not gonna mention it to him but if he asks about where it is, I'll take that as my opportunity to ask.
A/N: I really, really, really love that laser pen :3 I hope you guys are loving it too! Anyway, please review~!