Sorry this wasn't ready on Monday like I promised. Life got in the way. And now that I'm all caught up with the stuff I've already written I have to write out the chapters before I post them.

Anyways. Enjoy :)

Ikebukuro is either slowly losing its life as both Izaya and I withdraw from it-or it's becoming a safer place where everyone is much happier. Especially now that I'm taking off of work. In my eyes it also seems to be a place of increasing danger. Every time I think of letting Izaya out on the streets I can only see all the dangers I've ever seen on the streets of Ikebukuro crushing his weak body under them. It's not a pretty picture. It shouldn't bother me because I hate him, but it does. Izaya has subconsciously become someone to protect instead of someone to kill. Strange. Very strange.

Izaya starts to recover his sanity the very next day. It's amazing really, how fast it happens. He sleeps less and starts to show a lot more interest in the world.

"Izaya, would you like to have some breakfast now?" I ask the next morning as I eat mine. He hadn't opened his eyes as soon as he heard me walking which was surprising, but Shinra might have said the medicine would make him drowsy or help him sleep. Something like that. He needs the sleep anyway.

Izaya nods. His head wobbles around. It could be because he's tired. I decide that's another side effect of the medicine.

I heat up his morning meal again, which is some sort of gruel, and put it on the table in front of him. He looks down and groans. He isn't too happy about the liquid diet Shinra ordered him on. I make sure he gets plenty of milk because I think the diet is too insubstantial to help his body heal.

"How are you feeling?" I ask, trying to make conversation. Silence tends to draw out between us a lot. It's not a comfortable silence at all.

"Fine," Izaya says in a way that shuts down the conversation before it even began. I rest my chin in my hand trying not to become discouraged. Losing his memory hasn't made Izaya any easier to get along with, that's one thing for sure.

Another thing for sure, I have to go to the store. We're running low on just about everything and I haven't been out anywhere since Izaya came. I was too afraid to leave him alone after his episode with Shinra's scalpel, but it can't be helped. I'll have to go to the store either today or tomorrow.

"Izaya, you wouldn't mind if I left for maybe an hour this afternoon would you?" I ask halfway through breakfast. "You'd be able to handle staying in the apartment alone, right?"

Izaya immediately goes rigid. To see him now, the way fear plays across his face whenever I leave him or talk about going anywhere you never would have guessed he was one of Ikebukuro's most dangerous men. It's sad. It's scary. If it can happen to Izaya, it can happen to virtually anyone. Even I'm at risk. People could be tracking me down right now. I never thought of how vulnerable I really was up until now.

"Why would you need to leave?" Izaya asks nervously. His eyes dart back and forth searching the room for anything threatening. It's hard to see him act this way.

"It's just that we're running low on food so I need to make it to the store eventually," I explain in an attempt to call him down. "It shouldn't take too long." Besides the food thing I'm also running out of cigarettes. I had quiet the supply in the bathroom cabinet, but what with taking care of Izaya I'm going through them faster then I care to admit.

My explanation only panics Izaya more. "We're running out of food?!" he demands in a strained voice.

"Yeah. That's why I have to go to the store and buy some more. It's not that hard. It's not like we're going to starve," I say laughing a little. I'm trying to lighten him up, but it's not working. "You won't be alone, you'll have the puppy." I try to take a new approach, but it doesn't seem to work.

"If you have to go can I come with you?" Izaya asks. I'm about to say no when he continues. "Please. I don't want to be alone again. Can I come with you?" He looks so pitiful. Nearly close to tears. And how can it hurt? He has to get back out into society eventually. Maybe being around the humans he loves so much will help him snap out of this.

"Fine. But you're going to wear your hood and stay close to me," I say. I don't want him to be recognized. If word gets out that Izaya and Shizuo are walking the streets and shopping for groceries together…..well, nothing good is going to come of it that's one thing for sure.

Izaya nods happily and we finish breakfast in silence. Afterwards I clean up the dishes while Izaya naps on the couch. I'm tempted to leave without him and hope I get back before he wakes up, but I can only imagine how hysterical he'll be if he wakes up before I get back so I shake him awake.

"Izaya, it's time to go to the store," I say. His eyes snap open almost immediately. He looks sharper, more focused. For the first time in a long time I can see a glimpse of how clever he really is. He must have had a good nap.

As soon as we leave the apartment he's back to being tense and afraid. He has his hood up so it covers his face and he's hunched over as though he's trying to make himself invisible. Add that to the fact that he's practically glued to my side and I feel like I'm bringing some little kid around town. Not a knife wielding informant. Out of the two little kids are a lot cuter. They're cheerful innocence is so endearing.

"Hey, Shizuo! Shizuo! Shizuo! Over here!" I turn around to see the Orihara twins running towards me. I curse under my breath and look over at Izaya. He's not in his trademark jacket and with all the changes he's gone through he looks different, but not that much different. His own sisters probably know him well enough not to mistake him for someone else. I try to duck behind a few buildings, but they have already seen me and follow us easily. Probably doesn't help that I'm so tall and blonde. I stick out like a sore thumb. Finally I give up and let them catch up.

"You can't escape us, Shizuo!" Mairu exclaims as soon as she catches up to me with her sister in tow.

"No," Kururi agrees. When I said I'd rather deal with children I didn't know I'd have to deal with more Oriharas. God is a cruel man.

"Who's that you have there, Shizuo? Is it you're famous little brother by any chance." Mairu tries to see around me to get a better look at Izaya. I push him farther behind my back to make it harder for her to see. Izaya is frozen stiff. Being hunted down by strangers hasn't been fun for him.

"No," I say shortly. Hoping they'll leave us alone soon.

"Who is it? Come on, tell me. I'll figure it out."

"Who?" Kururi asks curiously. She's staring intently at Izaya and I don't know which one of them is worse at the moment. Mairu is persistent, but her sister is studying Izaya much harder.

Mairu ducks around me to get a better look at Izaya and the poor guy barely manages to escape her. "Hey! He's got brown hair. That is your brother isn't it."

"No!" I snap frowning at them. They're not ones to back down just because I glare at them though. It's one of the things I'm starting to like less about them all of a sudden.

"Then who is it?" Mairu demands trying to slip around me again.

"It's….my cousin," I say. Immediately Kururi and Mairu become very disappointed.

"Oh," is all Kururi says.

"Well who is he?" Mairu asks. "You don't have to hide back there, I'm not gonna hurt you," she tells Izaya.

I'm not so sure how far I would trust her on that and Izaya seems to share that thought.

"Auugh so shy," Mairu groans. "Well then you'd be perfect for Kururi. She barely ever talks. Why don't you say hi?"

"Hey," Kururi says quietly.

I poke Izaya in the ribs. The sooner he says hi to his annoying sisters the sooner we can finish out trip to the store. He seems to have frozen up.

"Iz-Izzy," I stutter. "Why don't you say hi to these knife girls?" I say in the most encouraging voice I can muster.

Izaya manages to wave a little.

"There, now we really have to get going," I say and start to drag Izaya off.

"Waiiit!" Mairu exclaims. "I don't know anything about your cousin yet."

"He's pretty shy. So I suggest leaving us alone unless you want to be hung up by the hood of your jacket," I snap glaring at them.

"Fine," Kururi says. With that she leaves with Mairu and I breathe a sigh of relief. That's one disaster averted. Figures I would run into the two people that don't run away screaming when they see me.

"Let's go….Izzy," I say just in case his sisters are still listening.

"Who were they?" Izaya asks. He doesn't seem to be as timid now that we're away from those twin terrors.

I have a quick argument with myself where I weigh the pros and cons of telling him before just coming out with the truth. "Those two are Mairu and Kururi Or-i-ha-ra," I say slowly and carefully trying to spark some sort of memory.

"Why are you talking like that?" Izaya asks. "It's not that hard to say. Orihara. Like that. You shouldn't have to sound it out."

He's going to drive me insane this one.

"I don't think you have much room to talk when you couldn't even say hi to your own-Mairu and Kururi," I say nearly calling them his sisters. I can only imagine how that would have gone over.

"I guess I just don't trust strangers," Izaya says sullenly. I can't blame him for that, but I'm kind of disappointed that his own sisters didn't spark any sort of memory. I sigh.

The rest of our trip to the store is made in silence that is not broken until we get to the food section of the store. Then it's not so much broken as disturbed by Izaya gagging into the back of my shirt as he hangs onto me as if he's going to fall over.

"Are you okay…Izzy?" I ask (because at this point I'm still afraid of Mairu and Kururi) suddenly aware of how weak his really is and how far we've walked to get here.

Izaya doesn't answer. He only grabs the back of my shirt tighter in his fists and presses his face against my back. I'm afraid he's going to smother himself.

"Izzy?" I ask reaching around to drag him off of me. He doesn't answer and I manage to pull him off my shirt and turn around to face him. "Izzy, says something!" I demand. It's getting annoying. Everywhere I go, everything I do, I have to tiptoe around him to avoid sending him on a mental breakdown. Why did I think this was a good idea? I don't think I was in my right mind then.

Instead of answering Izaya just stands there shaking and I don't wait very long for an answer before giving up. It's obvious now, there's nothing left of Izaya in there anymore. I'm kidding myself thinking he'll come back. That's impossible. The only thing left is this empty shell.

"Let's go," I say quietly biting off the words sharply to avoid giving away my disappointment. I never imagined that failing to help my sworn enemy could feel so bitter. I'm such a desperate idiot. The old Izaya wouldn't have given me a second chance if I'd shown up in this state. That only hurts more because the finality of never having the old Izaya back is finally dawning on me. No more chases through the streets of Ikebukuro, no more fights, no more hearing the antagonizing flea use that stupid nickname he gave me. I never thought never hearing that name again would feel so awful.

I lead him back out of the grocery store in silence. He doesn't stop shaking even once we're a few blocks away from the grocery store.

"Are-are we going to starve now?" Izaya-no, not Izaya, someone else, asks in a quiet, shaking voice.

"No," I answer shortly. "I'll ask Celty to pick something up for us." I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place.

"Celty." I'm stopped abruptly as the shell stops, planting his feet.

Great. Now he's not going to go home and he's not going to go to the grocery store. He's just going to stay on this street until all the people drive him insane.

"Yes, Celty," I snap angrily. I'm losing my patience with him. I don't have to put up with this. He's coming home whether he likes it or not. I scoop him up and throw him over my shoulder.

He lets out a bloodcurdling shriek which immediately attracts the concerned attention of half the people in a fifty foot radius. I hunch over and start walking towards home. He doesn't have to like it he's not really there anyway. "Put me down, Shizu-chan!" he screams pounding me with his fists. It doesn't hurt me. The blows are so weak I barely feel anything. "Shizu-chaaaaaaaan!" he wails. "Let go of me!"

Now people are really staring. Dang kid.

"No! We're going home," I snarl. "And I'm not putting you down until we get there." Izaya can scream all he wants I'm angry now and I'm not giving in. People can stare. They've stared at me my whole life.

He's silent for a while, except for his deep ragged breathing then without warning he jabs his sharp elbow into the base of my neck. Pain shoots down my spine and my grip loosens a little as I gasp in pain. Izaya takes advantage of the extra wiggle room to twist around and bit my wrist. I send him sprawling across the pavement and rub my hand. A neat set of red marks line my wrist.

"Izaya," I breathe as if I just realized it was him staring at my hand as blood starts to swell out of some of the marks. I rub the back of my neck. He hit me hard with the intention to inflict pain. I stare at his limp body. It's sprawled across the pavement and people are giving both of us plenty of breathing room. There's at least a foot between us and any person in a wide circle.

Did I kill him?

I cross the empty space and kneel down beside him. I'm calm now after taking out my rage on Izaya. I roll him onto his back and hold my hand over his mouth. Air tickles my palm as he breathes out.

Good. He's not dead.

I pick him up, carefully, cradling him in my arms gently and carry him away from the crowds of the city. When he wakes up I doubt he'll trust me anymore. I broke my promise. I lost my temper. I'll just have to take him to someone who can take care of him. As I try to form a list of trustworthy people I can take him to I realize it's alarmingly short. Shinra and Celty are obviously out. Kasuka can't be bothered with Izaya. He's too famous and I already owe him too much. Kyohei and Toguso might be an option, but do I really know them that well? Mairu and Kururi are the only logical choice. He's their brother after all, they'll take good care of them.

Now, where do they live?

I sit down on a park bench trying to think of a way to find them with Izaya lying on the bench next to me, his head on my lap. I need to find them…or someone who knows them. Do they attend the same school as that Ryuga-whoever and his blonde friend? I suppose I could always go up there and find out. It's probably around lunch time now.

When I pick Izaya up he stirs and opens his eyes. "Shizu-chan?" he asks in a weak voice. I ignore him. Maybe I can just keep him calm until I find his sisters if I don't say anything at all. "Don't ignore me, Shizu-chan," he begs.

"Don't worry. I'm taking you to stay with-"

"I'm not going to stay with Shinra and that she-demon again!" he yelps weakly.

"I don't mean Shinra and Celty," I say. I don't want to tell him about his sisters for some reason. I just can't bring myself to tell him.

"Shizu-chan," he says trying to get my attention. When I don't answer right away he starts poking me in the chest.

"What?" I ask staring straight ahead stiffly. I don't want to look at him right now. He'll never look like Izaya again, just

"I'm really hungry."

"Well what are we going to do about it? You're too scared to go to the store and I have no food at my house. We're at a stalemate," I snap.

"I-I think I can handle it this time, Shizu-chan," he whispers.

I laugh bitterly. "That's what you think! That's what I thought too, but it's not true. You'll never be able to do stuff like that again. That's just how it is, Izaya. Some things just don't heal no matter how hard you try! Face it and live with it."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do," Izaya snarls weakly. I look down at him. He looks different, not as dead. There's life in his eyes, fire. "You don't know anything."

He elbows me in the stomach. Not very hard, but it surprises me enough that I let go of him. He falls on the ground, but quickly picks himself up.

"We're. Going. To. That. Store. Shizu-chan." He turns and leads the way.

There you have it, everything can be overcome by hunger.

Izaya: Well after that last chapter where WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK AT THE END. Shizuo and I decided to take things into our own hands. But don't worry, she's not dead or anything we just kidnapped her after she wrote the chapter and locked her in the haunted house next door. Or it might not be haunted. It depends.

Shizuo: Anyway. She'll be back to write the next chapter, but until then we're going to be taking care of the reviews and comments.

Izaya: so if you want to ask us a question about how we feel about our parts in this story then go ahead. Since our opinions were oh so obviously omitted in that last section.

Shinra: Weren't Celty and I supposed to talk after the chapter this time since you two let things get out of hand too often...

Celty: [Yeah. what were you thinking when you locked that little girl in the haunted house.]

Izaya: she's like 5'2 she's not small.

Shizuo: maybe not for someone as small as you but...

Izaya: I'M NOT SMALL!

Shinra: well you're easily the smallest person in the room

Izaya: not when Celty takes her helmet off

Celty: [if I had a head then I would be taller.]

Izaya: no you wouldn't! You're still like half a foot smaller

Shinra: I think she would be taller

Izaya: do we have to get out a ruler and measure everybody, Shinra?! Is that what we have to do?

Shizuo: No. Becasue we already know who the shortest person would be. *Pointing at Izaya and snickering*

Izaya: I'LL CUT OFF YOUR LEGS AND STICK'EM ON YOUR HEAD AND THEN WE'LL SEE WHO'S TALLER

Shizuo: BUT I'LL POUND YOU INTO THE GROUND WITH A VENDING MACHINE AND YOU'LL STILL BE SHORTER!

Izaya: then I'll-!

Shinra: STOP!

Celty: [I think Zia might have been right when she said you couldn't handle this XD]

Shinra: you used an emoticon lovebird, that's sooooo kawaii!

Izaya: why would you put Japanese in the middle of your English sentance? That's stupid. Speak one or the other NOT BOTH AT THE SAME TIME!

Shizuo: that's a short temper you've got there, flea.

Izaya: oh don't you start!

Celty: [Read, review, follow, comment, something, I can't stand being in the middle of this fight anymore. Tell them to stop argueing. I think I might try and get Zia out of the haunted house so she can stop it. She may be the shortest, but it's her fic so she can make them stop...right?]