Author's Note: 2,100 words written in an hour. I think I deserve a medal or something. This was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you don't kill me too much for the end. /flees/

Shizuo wasn't used to being ignored, and yet he was at the same time. He was used to people seeing him in the street, crying out to their friends that it was the Shizuo Heiwajima, whispering that they didn't want to make him mad, telling people to run before he threw a rubbish bin at their heads. He was used to being noticed, but he wasn't used to people knowing the real him. He was used to them ignoring things beyond the surface; he was used to them not looking past his name and uniform. Such a funny existence that he had settled into. It worked for him, and yet it didn't. It was just an awkward balance. They knew who he was, and yet they didn't. Nakura knew him too, and yet didn't. Nakura knew all the best things about Shizuo, he knew his personality and his wishes and yet he didn't know that he was Shizuo Heiwajima, he didn't know that he was really a monster and for that Shizuo was glad. It meant the man had gotten to know him, hadn't gone running fearing for his life like so many had done before.

Shizuo wasn't used to being ignored, and yet Nakura was doing a grand job doing just that.

It had been more than a day since Shizuo had last emailed him, two or three of them at least, and he had yet to get a reply from the other man. That had irked him, and more than once the computer had nearly ended up in a heap and in pieces on the floor when Shizuo checked his email to find the inbox empty; luckily reason had swept in at the last minute and reminded him that without a computer, he would be hard pressed to reply to Nakura, seeing as he could no longer receive email on his phone. Apparently hitting something to make it work again isn't a good idea when your name is Shizuo Heiwajima.

Sure, sure. He understood that the man obviously had a life outside of this dating website and emailing Shizuo; he understood that because sometimes his work had meant he couldn't reply to Nakura for the whole day, but he had at least let the other man know that, and he hadn't vanished for three whole days. Not that Shizuo was counting. It was just something he could work out from the dates on the emails in his inbox. Not that he was just re-reading his last email in the hope he'd not said something to offend the other man. Wouldn't that be just his luck to scare away another friend, and one who had stuck with him for so long? Shizuo wasn't going to be a pest though. That was one of the tips that Nakura had given him. Don't act desperate, act like you could have anyone else in the room and that the other person is lucky to get your attention. Treat them mean to keep them keen. Was that what Nakura was doing to him? No, Shizuo didn't think so. Nakura wasn't like that, he had been nothing but nice – if not a little teasing – to Shizuo and he doubted that was going to change anytime soon. So Shizuo didn't bug the man, he didn't pester him with replies asking where he was, he didn't, because Nakura had told him that clingy men were such a turn off.

By the end of the third day though, he had decided these rules of Nakura's didn't apply to concerned friends, and he opened up the email browser when he'd showered after work. The blonde hadn't even bothered to dress properly, hair still damp and sprinkled with water, a pair of boxers hanging from his hips as he sat down to type out a reply. Hey, he was concerned, who wouldn't be if their friend was missing for so long, especially in a place like Ikebukuro where colour gangs lurked behind every bend, even in this day and age.

'Hey Nak – just thought I'd check in.
Haven't heard from you in a while – Heiwajima didn't get you did he?
Figured you must be busy with work or something.
Let me know when you're free to chat.
- Shino'

Ha. He'd even reached the stage where he could joke about himself, and he had Nakura to thank for that, though what the man would do when the two of them met and it was revealed that Shinozuka Heikichi was actually just an online alias for Shizuo Heiwajima. He guessed that bridge would be crossed later, but it shouldn't matter right. The two were friends, so Shizuo hoped that meant when that time came, when they finally- that Nakura wouldn't run, that he'd stick around and continue to get to know Shizuo.

That's what friends did, right?

The blonde sighed, shrugged, and left the computer on in favour of getting dried and lighting himself a cigarette or cooking something to eat. The man would reply when he wanted too. If something had gone wrong with the other man, then Shizuo would listen, but he wasn't going to pester the other anymore – or at least not until he had another pang of abandonment twist his gut – it was all just a matter of time now.

Just a matter of time.

The ping that sounded from his computer only irritated Izaya.

He had picked up mountains of work from Shiki – and a migraine and scolding from the older man – when he had left that night, and he was still burning through it now. How many nights ago had that been? He didn't know, didn't really care. Time was a luxury that was afforded to him, and it didn't matter how long he spent doing things. Time was time, it was unimportant as ever. The work was interesting, he wasn't complaining about that, it was delightful, and it was juicy, filled with the twisted workings of human minds and cruel wits and the like. Shiki certainly knew what Izaya liked; he supposed he'd have to thank the old man for that one of these days. The work had proved a wonderful break from silly games and provided a nice boom in his bank account that had meant he could afford luxury sushi and rice for every meal he ate. There'd be none of that horrible 'junk' food in his body, none of it at all, only the best for Izaya Orihara.

He had decided that since the game was under his control, he'd left Shinozuka sweat for a while; let him wonder if he had made a wrong move by telling him of the man in the bar; which he had, really, though Izaya was not about to realise that or admit to it in any shape or form. It was just a little bit of friendly banter, just a little break to see what Shinozuka would do. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, wasn't that how the saying went? Something like that, Izaya didn't really care.

He had managed to shake the irritation from the previous days, thankfully. It had eased itself out of his skin when he had gone to see Shiki and the man had enveloped him with open arms and given him plenty of work to keep him distracted, to keep him occupied from finishing his game too soon. He didn't want to spoil it now, did he? No. No. It was best to wait a bit, and then carry on, that was the way forward. Shiki had spotted the way that Izaya's shoulder's tensed and bunched, and he'd set him jobs to make it all better. What a nice man, always thinking of the best for him, even now.

It didn't stop the feelings returning in a flood when his computer announced he had a new email though, or that it was from Shinozuka. Izaya was glad that Namie wasn't in the office to see the scowl, black as death, which he shot at his computer screen. She would only chide about one of his games going wrong, and that wasn't what he needed right now. So he simply turned away, continued with paperwork and the light for these jobs, intent on ignoring the email for as long as he could. He'd managed three days or more already, what was one more going to hurt?

Another ping, and he idly contemplated shoving the expensive machine off of the desk and replacing it with a much less mocking version. Izaya bit out a laugh at that, he was starting to sound just like the protozoan, clearly a sign he'd been spending entirely too much time in the brute's presence, though it had been days since the two had last had a run in. Delayed reactions? Ha, ha, wonderful, he was catching Shizuo's stupid germs one encounter at a time.

He raised one hand from where it had been holding a stack of papers to push up the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, and from there to massage his right temple in a hope that it would soothe away the foreign and dismal feelings bubbling around in his big brain. His left hand continued to scratch out notes and jot down little snippets of information on the papers in front of him, so that he could hand it back to Shiki the next day and collect his money and have done with the whole thing. Ignoring an email from some anonymous man who was just a little plaything should be easy for someone like him, with a will as strong as an ox, and yet-

Izaya still found himself caving less than ten minutes later, tapping out a quick reply, if only to shut up the man on the other end and stop bothering him. Shinozuka wasn't playing by the rules. It was his turn to reply, it was his turn to choose what was said. He was in charge, he was the boss, and he was- not Shinozuka. It didn't work that way. The other man was an idiot; he wasn't playing by the rules.

Heh, wasn't that what Izaya wanted though? This was another one of those twists, another little twist to the character of Shinozuka Heikichi that served only to irritate him instead. It was as if this game was moving entirely too fast for him, he didn't like it, it was meant to be him setting the pace, not his plaything. That was breaking the rules, it was—

'Yeah, snowed under with work~.
Sounds like you had fun the other night, hm?
Good for you Shino-chan.
We'll catch up later, I have a lot of work to do~.'

There. Done. Dusted. Now he could get on with his work and Shinozuka fucking Heikichi would stop bothering him. Dumb, stupid, idiotic, wonderfully fascinating, marvellous human; what a plaything he had chosen, and what a game this was turning out to be.

Izaya's plan was squashed though with the arrival of another ping, another announcement of 'You've got mail~!' from a voice that was just mocking him now. Shinozuka always defied the rules, always did what he wasn't meant to do. Izaya had said he was busy, said they'd talk later, and yet here was the other man, emailing him silly. Idiot. Bastard. Dumb oaf. Not all humans were this irritating, Izaya was certain, they weren't, because that was why he loved them so, and yet-

'I did have fun – as much fun as you can have on your own.
Bet you would have had a better time than me though.
It's not really my scene, and I don't know, the guy was a bit—

Email me when you're done or something.'

And yet Shinozuka Heikichi had captivated Izaya's attention, wholly and truly.

Why? Why had he? It was stupid, pathetic, it was just a game and he was just a plaything. Was it because they'd never met? Was it because Izaya had yet to see the delicious twinkle of emotion in the other man's eyes? Had yet to see his heart breaking on his face? He'd watched all his other victims – no, no, playthings – come to crumble in front of him. He couldn't see that with Shinozuka, because he'd never seen Shinozuka, and Shinozuka had never seen him.

Izaya smirked. The solution was simple. One simple thing and these feelings of irritation would be gone and he could enjoy the game again. Fabulous, wonderful, brilliant!

'Hey, Shino-chan?
You had a bad time on your own – I bet I can fix that.
Wanna meet?'