It's Finals Week next week and this week was pretty tough, so sorry I didn't update according to my previous schedule. Thanks for all of those still reading, reviewing, favoriting, alerting and such. I'm thinking about 2-3 more chapters. And sorry if this chapter is short. It just turned out that way. Please review!~
Shizuo's POV
After chasing the flea almost half-way across the city, I catch up to him at the park. His ears twitch happily before he walks over to the swings. He looks out of place in a playground like this, but I'm sure he doesn't really care. I walk over to him before spotting something in his hands. He twirls a branch he found close-by in his hand and tosses it. I chase after it like usual and bring it back to him in my mouth. He pets me before tossing it a few more time. Tossing a branch and fetching it every time it's thrown seems boring, but I don't get tired of it. I jump on the swing next to him after he's done playing with me and sigh as I notice it's getting late.
"Shizu-chan do you mind being like this?" Izaya suddenly asks as he swings himself a little.
"Not really…I mean we're really too old for playing on the playground but I guess I don't mind as long as no one we know sees us."
"I don't mean that protozoan. I meant do you mind being like this." He asks as he pulls his ears slightly.
"I don't know. I guess at first I was really upset about it, but now I'm getting a little used to it." I answer simply. "I mean, I don't want to stay like this forever though."
"Yeah…I see what you mean." He says sadly.
"Why? Are you thinking of staying like this the rest of your life?"
"Well, I'm really quite adorable like this, wouldn't you agree?" He says happily. I look at him with a dull expression before grabbing onto the swing's chain and toss him off. He falls to the sand under our feet and stays there for a moment before groaning.
"What was that?"
"I said, that you're just upset because you're an ugly Neanderthal and I'm a beautiful god."
"You're sister's told me that you think I'm handsome." I say with a smirk. "That you like my eyes and my soft hair." I'm not gonna repeat that whole butt confession…
"What!? They told you that?!" He looks away from me and growls. "They're so dead."
"Calm down, I think the same stuff about you." I say honestly. His eyes prick up and his cheeks turn red. "I mean, the only thing you have going for you is your looks really since you're a psychopath and you're personality is terrible." His ears flatten against his head and his blush disappears. I guess he was right, I am sort of a high school bully, but I don't care since bullying him means I get to see him like this. I pet his head and sit on the sand with him. "I was kidding."
"Brute." He says as he pouts. "So what do you like about me?"
"I like your eyes mostly." I say nervously as I scratch the back of my head. I pet his head. He rubs his face against my hand and purrs affectionately. He suddenly makes a sort of mew noise. I smile and kiss his forehead. "When we were in high school…you remember how you used to sleep on the top of the roof?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Shinra and Kadota used to want to wake you up so we could all head back together, but I always told them I'd do it myself. But…I never wanted to wake you up since you looked really peaceful. Sometimes I'd lie next to you and sleep there too. That's what I liked most..." He suddenly pushes me and climbs on top of me before lying on me happily and purring. Dumb cat…I place my hand on top of his head and run my fingers through his hair. It's gotten dark really fast. I look up at the moon and feel like howling, but I don't since I know Izaya will tease me about it. "It's getting cold…" I say as I get up and let him sit in my lap. He places his head under my chin and brushes against me happily. "Do you have to purr so loud?"
"Do you have to be an idiot all the time?" He asks slyly. "I'm happy, so I purr."
"Well, I'm happy too, but I don't make that annoying sound that comes from who knows where."
"Hmm…where does it come from?" Izaya asks himself as he presses his ear against his chest. I smile as I watch him try and find where the noise is coming from. I twitch my ears before pressing my ear to his chest. I suddenly hear a giggle escape Izaya's mouth as I move my head curiously around his body. "Stop it protozoan! I'm…" He laughs a little before pushing me away. He ears twitch in irritation.
"Ah, you're ticklish?" I ask with a smirk.
"No…" He says before scooting away from me. I wag my tail happily as scoots farther away from me. The smirk doesn't leave my face. "Shizu-chan…stop looking at me like that."
"Hmm, what are you talking about flea?" I ask simply.
"You know very well what I'm talking about. You're giving me that look that says you want to attack me!" His fur pricks up on his tail and ears. He actually looks kind of cute instead of menacing. "If I had claws I'd scratch you so bad, your own mother wouldn't even recognize you."
"Yeah if you had them, but you don't." I say before climbing on top of him. My tail wags fast as I start playing with Izaya, mostly just ear nipping and tickling or nuzzling. I nibble on Izaya's cat ear which is pretty sensitive since he mews cutely beneath me. I release his ear before kissing his cheek.
"Get off me, you mutt." He says as he tries to push me off. I suddenly feel something strange land on my neck. It sends a shiver down my spine before I finally realize what it was. I look up and see that it's snow. Izaya looks up too and tries to shield his sensitive ears from the snow. "Ne...I don't see what's so romantic about lover's in the snow…I'm freezing my tail off out here…let's go Shizu-chan."
"Cry baby." I say with a laugh.
"Am not!" Izaya says as he gives me a shove. I bring him closer to me and kiss his forehead. He purrs lowly as he puts his hood on his head. He mutters something I can't hear and then starts heading in the direction of his apartment. I follow him.
Izaya's POV
It's snowing even harder than before. I don't usually watch the weather channel since they're usually wrong, but maybe if I had I could have avoided being stuck in the snow. Shizu-chan tends to avoid being affected by the feeling of pain and the like, but I can't do the same. I hate the cold. I don't mind watching the snow fall, but I hate being stuck outside when it's snowing or raining. I rather be inside enjoying a nice, hot cup of coffee than being where the snow is going to sneak it's way past your warm jacket and end up chilling your neck when you least expect it. And it does happen, also with the rain.
"You're gonna keep whining?"
"I'm just saying that if you hadn't chased me across the city then we wouldn't have been so far away from my apartment." I say as I hang my jacket on my coat rack and suddenly trip and fall clumsily to the floor and trapping my head into a small box I had opened so I could stuff more unnecessary gifts from Shizu-chan into it. "This is why this world could never be heaven…"
"Hmm, is this when I'm supposed to say something really stupid and cheesy?" Shizu-chan laughs.
"Yeah, this is the part where you say, 'Oh Izaya, this world is heaven to me when I'm with you' or something like that." I say as I get my head out of the box and toss it. I collapse on the couch and sigh exhaustedly.
"Not gonna happen. I'm not founding this relationship on lies." He says with a laugh. I smile and laugh with him. "So…mind telling me what happened to your apartment?" Shizu-chan asks as he looks around and notices the horrible mess I've created during the weeks of his absence in my life. It was so very quiet, deafening quiet. It could have made the sanest person in the world go mad. And since I'm already quite insane (at least in Shizu-chan's opinion) it was even more horrid. "Is that a piano?"
"Yeah. Want to hear me play 'My Heart Will Go On' by Céline Dion?" I ask happily, my tail swaying back and forth slowly. My ears twitch happily as I look at Shizu-chan lovingly.
"No, I don't want to cry." Shizu-chan answers dully as he blushes a bit. His dog ears twitch a bit from nervousness.
"You? Cry?" I say as I laugh a little. He smacks the back of my head, sending a pain through my entire body as he does so.
"Yeah, I'm not heartless like you." He says with a glare. There's a short silence before I poke him with a smirk.
"So which part made you cry?"
"Shut up." He mutters in frustration.
"It was the end, am I right? When Jack dies?"
"SHUT. UP." He says sternly, though his ears seem to give him away as they flatten against his head unhappily. He looks adorable if I do say so myself. I'm not gonna say he looks adorable to his face because I have no doubt that he'll argue with me and smack the back of my head again. He turns his head and sighs. "Damn small board…didn't fit both of them…"
"Ha! It was the end!"
"Shut up!" I ruffle his hair and nuzzle my head against his chest. "Damn flea…"
"You watch too many romantic movies." I inform him plainly. "And yet, you don't know how to woo someone like me. Showering me with gifts would have been completely ineffective if I hadn't thought it was kind of cute since they were coming from you who knows absolutely nothing about flirting with me."
"I flirt with you all the time."
"Throwing vending machines at your crush isn't flirting."
"Oops." He says with a smile. "Well, I guess you're right I know nothing about flirting then." He adds sarcastically.
"On another note, a little birdie told me you were watching anime at home because you were depressed about me rejecting you~"
"Che, yeah right." He says as he crosses his arms. "I watch anime regardless if I'm depressed or not."
"You're really childish Shizu-chan."
"And you're really crazy." I nuzzle my face against his cheek before kissing his lips softly. He pulls me in and holds onto my tightly as if fearing that I'd disappear or I would wind up being just a figment of his imagination, a dream. But this isn't one. I can feel his soft lips against mine, his tight grasp, the feeling of his warm body pressing ever-so closer to mine. If I wasn't so involved with Shizu-chan at the moment I'd move my piece and Shizu-chan's piece across my complex game board to checkmate. "I love you…" My ears prick up as I become aware of the words Shizu-chan has just uttered. It was barely above a whisper, but I was able to catch it. He looks at me waiting for me to say something, do something. I can't find my voice; even if I want to (and I do really want to) I can't say it back. He leans in and presses his forehead against mine and his tail wags rapidly. He takes my hand and presses it against his chest where his heart is. I can feel his heartbeat pound. I gently grab his hand and do the same, blushing fiercely as I do so. He smiles and kisses me again, more passionately this time.
I'm suddenly pressed into the couch, Shizu-chan hovering over me. He traces butterfly kisses on my neck; my skin suddenly getting goosebumps as he travels downward to my collarbone. I remove his sunglasses and stare into his mocha eyes and feel myself start to drift off into euphoria. Usually when faced in the midst of death have people experienced such sudden euphoria; it is at this very moment that I feel like I'm only experiencing such a sensation, such a feeling because I feel like I could die right now…It's kind of funny since Shizu-chan always spoke of killing me and only now when giving me so much love could he actually succeed in that goal.
"Are you scared…?"
"A little…" I admit with a smile.
"Be honest…are you afraid of me…are you afraid of me hurting you…?"
"You're certainly capable of that much." I say with a laugh. "But no, I'm not afraid of you, just afraid of the feelings you stir inside me."
"That's why I love you…" He says as he hugs me tightly.
"And this is why I love you." I finally say. "Because you're so emotionally unstable…completely opposite from me…making me whole." I pause and hug him. "Brute."
"Flea."
"Protozoan."
"Louse."
I don't remember being happier in my life than I am right at this moment, in the arms of a monster.
Early Morning~
It's easy to forget the real world sometimes when you get together with someone you've liked since high school. The only thing that brought me back to reality (unfortunately) was my cell phone which proceeded to ring for a minute and a half. I get up lazily, carefully trying to avoid waking Shizu-chan sleeping next to me. Last night was peaceful and almost magical. We didn't do much except confide in each other some things that we've kept secret since we met; most of the confessions were small.
After that we just slept in each other's arms and I got to find out that Shizu-chan prefers to sleep in his boxers, which amuses me to no end. I sleep in my boxers also, but usually have a loose long sleeved shirt while I sleep, especially during the winter. Shizu-chan said something about how cute I look in such a shirt since it obviously looks far too big for me.
To think my phone had to make me pull away from Shizu-chan's hold. I grab my pants and head over to the bathroom before answering the phone.
"Hello?" I whisper.
"Ni-san!" Mairu says energetically. Oh great…
"What do you want Mairu?" I ask as I slip on my pants as I hold the phone between my ear and shoulder.
"Man, how long is that pole you got stuck in your butt? It might be pushing on your polite gland." Mairu says bitterly. I can tell that she's pouting; she's easily to read even on the phone.
"Look, I'm a bit busy right now so if you're just going to complain about how I'm being a horrible person then I'm hanging up." I say in irritation. Mairu mostly calls just because she wants to do just that and then start talking about how I should take them to see Yuhei.
"Oh you're busy with your boyfriend? Now I know what really is up your butt isn't a pole~" She says with a giggle. GAH! She makes me so irritated and flustered! This is just a game to her; she loves to see how mad I can get. She and Kururi just love pushing my buttons and making me unbearably miserable and embarrassed.
"I swear I'll knock you both out and send you to some desert island if you don't stop." I say threateningly.
"I bet you didn't want Shizuo-kun to stop what he was doing to you last night~" For the love of—I am not amused by this at all!
"Mairu!"
"Alright, alright, don't be so anal; I think you already had enough of that already anyway."
"MAIRU!" I say as I get to the kitchen.
"Well anyway, I called because Kururi wants to go to the mall today!"
"Can't you guys ever decide on something that I wouldn't mind doing…?"
"Doing? You mean like Shizuo~?" If I was a sane person I would have hung up the phone right there and then, but the only reason why I didn't was because she proceeded to tell me that they really wanted to spend some more time with me. And being the wonderful older brother that I am, I couldn't say no. Besides, even if she pissed me off, I'm still in a good mood.
Shizuo's POV
I wake up to the sound of yelling; already guessing it's Izaya talking to his sisters. They're the only ones that make him lose it, besides me. I get up slowly and stretch a little before noticing that I'm in my boxers and on Izaya's bed. At first I thought that we did it last night, but I remember suddenly that we just stayed up a little past eleven talking and kissing occasionally. I also remembering giving him a hickey when he confessed about some prank he pulled on me years ago.
"What the…?" I say as he I hear a phone ring tone. He has two phones? I pick the phone up and answer it. "Hello?"
"Shizuo?" I hear Shinra say on the other line.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Where's Izaya?"
"He's on the phone…."
"Ah I see, well…it's good that I got you though." Sounds like something I've heard in a romantic movie. Weird. "Look, I'm worried about you guys…I know you both decided on staying as you are, but I fear there may be complications if you don't change back to normal. I tested Izaya's hear sample I got from Celty yesterday and I found that it has the genetic makeup of cat fur not human hair…"
"Wait, what do you mean we both decided on staying as we are?"
"That's what Izaya told me…he said you didn't mind staying as you are."
"You were gonna change us back to normal?!" I ask angrily.
"He didn't inform you…did he…" It sounded like more of a statement than a question.
"Just tell me what the hell is going on!" I say.
"Um…well…I'll just have to tell you what I told Izaya…Okay…well…After the accident…I successfully did a standard blood transfusion, but while you guys were asleep for lack of a better word… I decided take that as the opportunity to test out a new serum I had made…I didn't really give you both animal blood…I only said that because I knew you both would do unspeakable, torturous things to me if you knew the truth…I told Izaya this earlier and told him I had the antidote even prior to the transformation, but he said that you and him wanted to stay as you are…It did sound a bit suspicious…I'm sorry I didn't listen to my intuition."
"Izaya knew about it…"
"I know you're probably upset Shizuo…but I bet he has a reason to have lied…"
"Yeah I bet he does and I'm gonna find out what that reason is." I say as my ear lifts up as I hear footsteps from the bathroom. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."
Keeping this secret for this long and even going as far as making a decision for me, a decision I didn't want, that's really low. I mean, if Shinra said that there may be complications with this shit he put inside us and the flea being as damn smart as he is to most likely have known…What if something bad were to have happened during the time when he kept this secret? What if we start losing ourselves and become animals? That damn flea…
"Little devils…" Izaya mutters to himself as he reenters the room."Oh Shizu-chan you're awake."
"Yeah, it's kind of hard to sleep when you're lover keeps yapping and yelling on the phone." I say as I slip out of bed and reach for my pants. He blushes fiercely, probably because I referred to him as my lover.
"Ne…I thought you were a heavy sleeper."
"I am, but I bet even a deaf person would wake up to your whines and shouts." I say as massage the back of my neck. I suddenly hear the faint sound of paper rustling and someone outside muttering to himself. My ears lift up to hear the rustling a bit better. Izaya notices this and his ears flick a bit from the noise as well, similar to the way a cow does when it has flies around its face.
"Oh, the mail's here." I get my pants on quickly and head over to the front door growling a bit as I hear the mailman finally pick out the right letters. "Get away Shizu-chan. If you try to rip up my mail, you're dead."
"I bet it's just bills." I say as I my head. Damn I'm itchy for some reason.
"How about you go take a bath?"
"Are you gonna come in with me?" I ask with a smirk. He blushes and answers the door, ignoring my small barks as I try to head outside and tackle the mailman. The mailman asks if Izaya has a dog in the apartment and then warns him that it's against the rules to keep a pet here, especially a large dog. Izaya smiles and says that he doesn't have a dog, kicking me when he says this, and then thanks the mailman before shutting the door.
"Here, you can have the funny section of the newspaper." Izaya says before stuffing the newspaper in my mouth. I hold the paper in my mouth for a moment before the dry taste of the ink starts to leave a weird taste in my mouth. I unfold the newspaper, scanning over the comics before tearing the paper up for the hell of it. Not sure why, but it sure was fun. "Come here Shizu-chan." Izaya says as he tugs at my collar and drags me over to the bathroom, the tub almost filled with water.
"Damn flea. You didn't have to drag me; you were choking me."
"Well, if you weren't so involved in that newspaper then maybe you would have heard me when I called you moments before."
"Oh, so I'm supposed to listen to you?" I smirk a bit before he grabs something from the sink and pulls the trigger on it, spraying me with water. I growl as he continues to spray me. "Stop that!" I say as I snatch it from him and start spraying him with it. He hisses as he backs away and runs out of the bathroom. I follow him to see where the hell he's off to. He didn't go far. He's sitting on the couch, cleaning his face with his hands and trying to dry his ears by shaking his head. "Oh right, cats don't like water." I say with a smile.
"That water was cold!" Izaya explains as he licks the back of his hand like a cat would. "Ne…just get in the bath. I'll take one after you." I look at him with a dull look before grabbing him by his shirt and casually carry him (almost like a mother cat would) to the bathroom. He struggles in my hold, but doesn't escape. I grab a hold of his shirt before pulling it over his head and removing it. He shudders at the feeling of being half nude. "Protozoan! What the hell are you doing!?"
"I'm trying to strip you so you can bathe with me, louse." I say dully.
"Would you stop calling me 'louse' and 'flea'? Those nicknames aren't endearing." Izaya says as he covers his chest, probably embarrassed of his slim body. I spot the hickey I gave him on his neck last night and smile to myself.
"I'm not gonna call you 'sweetheart' or 'honey' that's not my cup of tea."
"You won't say those nicknames but you can say 'that's not my cup of tea' with such confidence?" Izaya asks as he looks at me in annoyance. I shrug and unbuckle his belt. "Hey!" He smacks me beside the head and starts struggling. I put him over my shoulder as he kicks and punches my back. I pull off his pants, leaving his underwear on since he keeps protesting that I don't take them off. I manage to remove my pants pretty easily even if I have Izaya over my shoulder. I don't have a shirt on so it was easier.
"Get in the tub first and I'll go in afterward since you're so shy about your body."
"Ne…it's not common for a couple that just got together to bathe with one another." Izaya explains simply. "Besides…the water is…"
"You've taken a shower earlier this week, right? Why would you be afraid of water now?"
"I don't know…" I pick Izaya up bridal style and am about to put him in the tub but he doesn't let go. In fact, he digs his nails into my back, clinging to me for dear life. "No, no, no!"
"Come on, cat's hating water is just a myth."
"No! It's not uncommon for some cats to hate water and I'm one of those cats!" Izaya says as he kicks and tells me to put him down. I oblige by 'putting him down' in the tub. He wants to get out as soon as I put him in, but I block his way before getting in with him with my boxers on. His ears twitch in irritation as he makes mew sounds. I just smile as he shivers.
"If you didn't keep stalling the water wouldn't be this cold." I say as I start scrubbing him down and putting shampoo in his hair. "Damn flea." I say before smiling.
"Hmm…" He mutters as he purrs; I suppose he likes the scrubbing. "My sisters called…they want me to take them to the mall so they can get Christmas gifts." He says as he groans. "It's still three weeks until Christmas, why can't they just wait until the last minute to shop like everyone else. Or better yet, get gifts and decorations after Christmas when they're on sale."
"Christmas…"
"What? Are you reminiscing about the Christmases you had with your dearly beloved brother?" I twist his arm at this point. "OW! You damn gorilla!"
"So what if I was reminiscing? I had nice Christmases. How did you spend yours?"
"…I never had a wonderful Christmas…my parent's…would always beat me…I always cried…" Izaya says as a tear escaped his eye. I look dumbstruck at him as he sniffs.
"Izaya…" I say sadly. He opens one eye and smiles before laughing manically like he's known for.
"Ha! You believed me! Ne, my Christmases were great because I hadn't met Shizu-chan yet~" I grit my teeth before pulling his cat ears really hard. "OW! You! Shizu-chan! Let go!" Despite his annoying protests, I continue to tug at his ears but a little less violently after a while. This is actually more fun than trying to kill him. I mean, his expression he's making is really cute. He slaps my hand away and meows at me lowly. "Sadist!"
"Well that's new." I say with a laugh. "I'm not being cruel to you, louse."
"Oh sure, every loving boyfriend pulls his lover's ears and smiles while causing pain to them!"
"Boyfriend?"
"Yeah, that's what you are to me…right…? You're my boyfriend, right?" For a few seconds I'm lost for words. I mean, sure it's one thing to act all stupid and in love, but it's another thing to officially announce that we're actually dating. It's really weird, but to have him say I'm his boyfriend makes me feel wanted, makes me feel like I've finally have someone in my grasp.
"Yeah, I am so does that mean you're the girlfriend?"
"Hell no! If you refer to me as your 'girlfriend' I'm gonna have you fetch a cactus the next time we head out to the park." I shudder. I know that if he did throw one, I'd fetch it like a good (stupid) dog. "Now, let's get out and head over to get my sister's…they're waiting in the center of Ikebukuro." He says as he gets up and practically jumps out. He sits down on the mat and shakes his body before licking his hand. I wash myself off before getting out too. I push Izaya out of the way and shake violently like a dog who's just had a bath in the backyard. "I just took a bath, Shizu-chan. You didn't have to give me a shower too." Izaya says bitterly.
I'd hate to know what's going to go down at the mall, but we're just gonna have to figure that out once we get there.
A/N: I was going to put the mall part in with this one, but then it would have gotten a wee bit long. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed. Please review and hopefully I'll have another chapter up by Sunday~