AN: Hello everyone! Exams are finally over and I love my second semester so far, except for the fact that I didn't make the play...but that is a long, depressing story. Please review and all that jazz, though half of you are too lazy. Enjoy this chapter, and sorry for the long wait.

Arc Two, Chapter Nine

Shizuo's eyes fluttered open when he felt something poke his cheek. "Brother," Kasuka said, trying to wake up the blonde. The bartender slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his tired eyes. "Yeah, what's up?" He asked and stood when he heard that Kasuka was planning to leave. The older brother hugged his sibling before he left. He headed to the kitchen to make some coffee, seeing Izaya waking up soon. Might as well get breakfast ready. He decided on pancakes for that morning and cooked a dozen before heading back into the room to see if Izaya was sleeping. He sat by him, watching the raven-haired man sleep and reached a hand down, running his fingers though his dark locks.

Izaya was completely content on the futon, knowing that he was safe. It was pathetic in his mind. He brows furrowed at the soft touch through his hair. It was relaxing, extremely relaxing. He opened his eyes and stared at Shizuo for a moment. "Shizu-chan! You dirty man, trying to molest me while I'm sleeping." He tapped his hand. "Naughty, naughty man."

Shizuo quickly pulled his hands away, face beat red. "Don't put it like that!" He snapped at the info broker. Why did he have to go and ruin the moment like that? The blonde sat there pouting, the flea looked so damn cute when he was sleeping, then he had to open his big mouth. He rested a hand on Izaya's head and shook him. "If you want to be like that, I can just let you starve," he informed him. "Come on Izaya, you'll enjoy the pancakes. I even found a syrup that you might like, it's not sweet like how they normally are." He stood up, needing to check on the bacon. He finished breakfast, but it had him thinking. He wasn't looking forward to Izaya leaving. He enjoyed doing this, cooking for him and taking care of him. It was sort of a nice change to come home with someone in the apartment.

"Wait, you called me Izaya? You rarely call me by my actual name." He stood up off the futon. His neck and back hurt from sleeping on it. The actor wouldn't be willing to sleep on it, oh no. He changed and brushed his teeth before he walked out into the living room. He saw that Shizuo was looking for something, quite possibly his cat. He spotted her under the couch and picked her up with long, skinny fingers. "Shizu-chan can't get you because his hands are too big huh, huh? Shizuo's too demanding anyways. Poor kitty!"

"I'm not demanding! If I don't pull her out of her hiding spot, she won't eat," he defended himself. He walked to the kitchen, waving Izaya to follow him and handed the raven-haired man a can of cat food. "Here, why don't you feed her," he suggested as he cracked open the tin can for the lithe man. His hazel eyes stared at his kitten, sitting on top of Izaya's hand. It looked so damn cute.

Izaya moved the kitten so she could eat the food out of his other hand. "That's right, you feel on top of the world, kitty? It is better than eating on the floor." He smiled at the kitten as she looked up at him with her big blue eyes. Izaya laughed and set the cat on the ground when she was done and threw the can in the garbage. He sat down beside Shizuo and held up the syrup. "Where did you find this anyways?" Izaya leaned close to Shizuo's face, dripped syrup down his cheek, and licked it off. "It does taste nice." He smirked.

Shizuo's face turned red at feeling Izaya's tongue on his cheek. "What the fuck!" He snapped and he wiped it off with hot water. Gah, he couldn't stand the feel the sticky syrup on his face. "I found it in this little store across the town. I was there getting money from someone and I just found this little family owned shop. They make a lot of things there that aren't really sweet," he explained. He sat back down to eat, while his other hand held a cat toy so Suki could play with it. "I have this weekend off, we can go to the castle then. Tom can take care of Suki when we're gone for the weekend."

Izaya held down a laugh while chewing on his food. Shizuo was easily flustered, and Izaya had no shame. "You don't like sticky stuff on your face? Aaaw. That's a shame." He joked. "Do they have Shizu-chan flavored syrup?" He was having too much fun messing with Shizuo. Not giving him any room to respond, he commented, "will you be my knight in shining armor? So scary, an abandoned castle. What if something pops up out of nowhere?"

Shizuo's face turned red with the way Izaya talked to him. He really wished he stopped with all the sexual references. He was trying to forget what happened between them and it was working until he brought it up. He wasn't proud how that night turned into rape. "The castle, it's fine. I think you're confusing a medieval castle with a Japanese one. But what the hell, I'll amuse you. Sure, I'll protect you," he answered, a teasing smirk on his lips. After the two ate, Shizuo cleaned the kitchen and looked at Izaya playing with Suki. He smiled; he never saw Izaya look so happy before. "You know, I wanted a dog, but seeing as I live in a small apartment and no yard, I had to kick that dream out of my mind. But a kitten is small enough to live here," he told the other man and sat himself on the couch.

The week flew by. When the blonde came home Friday, he and Izaya did their packing for the weekend trip and left a list for what Tom while they were gone. He was going to take care of Suki. He sighed when Izaya was trying to convince him to bring the cat along. "I don't want her in a cage and she's won't stay in your hands the whole time."

Izaya grabbed a ball of yarn and threw the string at Suki. She caught it and ran around Izaya, causing the yarn to tangle around his legs. "Kitty!" He broke the yarn and caught Suki on his arms. "You little bugger." He giggled and the cat licked his cheek. "But...I feel so guilty. We need to bring her. She'll miss us." He scratched under her chin and set her down. "Maybe it's better that you don't go with us! You don't want to see the dirty things Shizuo will do."

The raven actually looked forward to the castle. He packed a few sexy outfits, especially this short, silky white robe that hugged his body. Shizuo was not aware he bought, nor packed this. He had to admit, staying the weekend in a castle would have been creepy if Shizu-chan wasn't coming with him. Suki tried to climb Izaya's leg to prevent him from leaving.

The blonde felt a pang in his heart, seeing Suki try to climb Izaya's leg. No, he didn't want to leave her alone, but he didn't want to risk her running off and getting hit. He knelt down and took the kitten in his hands, kissing her head. "You won't be left alone. Tom will be here for the weekend to take care of you." He dropped her gently, allowing her to run off. "We'll make it up when we come back; Izaya can take you to the park on a leash." The two left the apartment after double checking they had everything. They took a three hour trip on the train towards the castle.

They were getting strange ass looks on the train, guess it was strange that the two of them were sitting together on the same train peacefully. Guess it was even stranger when Izaya used his shoulder as a pillow. He shook Izaya awake when they came to their stop and walked off the train, the blonde carrying both their bags. "We'll check-in first then we can walk around and see what's going on in the town." They continued to walk and checked into the castle before exploring the city. Shizuo's hazel eyes looked around, watching the women run around in yukatas. "He'd look cute in one of those," he said out loud, but turned red when Izaya turned to face him. "No, I was joking, I have no idea what I was saying!"

Izaya wore something different than usual. It was his goal to wear different clothes for every day that they were there. He was wearing a tight, red t-shirt, an artificial leather jacket and dark-washed jeans. He left his fur parka at Shizuo's house just for the weekend so he could enjoy time with Shizu-chan without the reminder of his past, of who he was. "If you were to joke about something like that, it would be a miracle. Come on now, you can help me pick one out!" He held onto the debt collector's hand and walked into a nearby shop. Right away, Izaya saw one on the mannequin. It was red, his favourite colour with yellow and black flowers. "So nice!" He smiled, wanting to buy it (even though it was a woman's kimono).

Shizuo blushed like mad when Izaya grabbed his hand. He shouldn't be enjoying it, but to him, it felt right to him. And what the hell, Izaya was acting so cute on this weekend trip, he couldn't resist it. He watched as the raven-haired man ran over to a kimono with a beautiful design on it. "But it's one for a woman," he pointed out. But from the looks of it, Izaya didn't really seem to care. "Hum," he said, but cut himself short, not sure if should say what was on his mind. But then Izaya looked at him, telling him to finish what he was saying. "I think you'd look better if the bottom ended at the middle of your thighs."

A smirk twisted at the corner of Izaya's lips. His silky white robe was in the middle of his thigh. Why buy a kimono or yukata when he could surprise him later? It was perfect. He could just imagine the look on the male's face. "You pervert, you. I changed my mind, Shizu-chan! I want to get you a kimono." He spotted a blue one that he imagined would look amazing on Shizuo. He pushed his hands against Shizuo's back and guided him towards it. "Why don't you try it on for me?" Izaya picked the kimono off the hanger and threw it at the blonde. "Hurry! We have so much more to see. Why don't we go to the hot springs while we're at it?" Izaya smiled widely. He was genuinely happy to spend alone time with Shizuo, not that he didn't spend alone time with him already.

Shizuo changed in the changing room, looking down at the kimono. It was a light blue color with this white cloud design. How the hell are these worn? With clothes under or am I meant to be naked under it? He began to strip down, just keeping his boxers on and put on the outfit, having the hardest time figuring out how to wrap and tie it. After fifteen minutes of struggling, he came out wearing the kimono of Izaya's choice. "Does it look nice on me or do you want to find another one for me to wear?"

Izaya figured that it would take a long time for Shizuo to get dressed since kimonos were complicated and he had never seen him wear one. There weren't any in his closet, either. He was bored so he ended up picking out a kimono for himself. Nothing too fancy or sexy, but he liked the way it looked. The kimono was black silk with a red trim, a wider belt and stopped at his knees. Shizuo took him off guard when he stepped out. Izaya's eyes lingered on the other man. He couldn't stop staring at Shizuo. It fit him perfectly, granted some mistakes here and there. He stared from top to bottom. It was Izaya's turn to flush and stare in awe. "Oh, Shizu-chan! Get that one!"

The blonde patted Izaya's head. "Guess I'll get it," he blinked when Izaya ran into the changing room, and a few minutes later, he saw the flea in a black and red silk kimono. He blushed at how nice it did look on Izaya. The black silk looked really nice on him and the red really attracted his eyes. "It looks really nice on you," he commented. "I'll pay for them," he offered. He was lucky they were sold cheap at the store, he knew how expensive they could be. Oddly, since Izaya lost his memories, he had been getting paid more; it was mostly because he wasn't destroying half the town. He paid for the kimonos and Shizuo carried a bag with their old clothes.

Izaya smiled, his cheeks still a rosy colour of red. He was hot, looking at Shizuo made him feel hot. Shizuo didn't have to pay for anything, but he seemed intent on paying for the outfits. He clung to Shizuo's arm and looked up at him as they walked. Wearing kimonos was common there; almost everyone was wearing one. He couldn't live with wearing a kimono every single day of his life. It was too much. "Shizu-chan! So, how about the hot springs? Hmm? I've got that covered and kind of already...made the reservations."

"Eh?" The blonde questioned as he saw a limo across the street, assuming it was for them. "We could've just walked to the hot springs, you know," he said as he was pulled into the limo. He sighed deeply, catching himself before he hit the window. "Fine, if it's what you want to do, then we can go up," he told him and watched the car drive them to the hot springs. Guess they couldn't really have walked; it was all the way up in the mountains. He stepped out when the driver told them that they arrived. His hazel eyes looked around, looking at all the nature around them before taking a deep breath.

Izaya also stepped out and breathed in the thick mountain air. "Ohh! It is so much colder out here. Perfect hot spring weather, ne?" He rubbed his shoulders for a moment and walked inside. He only made the reservation for a few hours, which included a private room. He opened the doors and everything was golden and white, just like Shizu-chan. There were huge windows, which Izaya loved. He could see the steam through the curtains. Izaya turned back to meet Shizuo's eyes, just thinking about how great this felt. He didn't want this moment to end, but he knew it would eventually when he returned his memories.

Shizuo was lead on back to the bedroom, Izaya holding his hand to the whole time. He couldn't help but marvel at room. The white and gold looked really nice in the room and the oriental designs were a nice touch. He reached a hand to touch the sheets, feeling the smooth fabric. He looked over to Izaya when he heard him say something. "Wait, what do you mean it's been nice knowing you?!" He snapped as he ran over to Izaya, nearly tripping over the futon that laid on the floor. He reached out, grabbing the man's wrist. "You can't just ditch me now," he said to him, "we're on a date, how fucked up in the mind do you have to be?"

Izaya's eyes widened at Shizuo's sudden movements. "No, no! Calm down. I'm not going to leave you yet, at least I hope not. I mean...for when I return my memories. I hope you realize that it might not be like...this anymore. I don't want you to feel let down." Seeing Shizuo freak out hurt Izaya even more. He couldn't bear the thought of losing the man he grew to love. "Or is this a sudden realization? For now, let's just enjoy the moment?" He leaned up to kiss Shizuo. "It's hard for me too; I don't want to leave you."