Author's Note: So I've finally planned the rest of this story, and I can assure you all now that it will be at leastanother ten or so chapters now before this ends. That's just what I have planned in detail at the minute, I've still got to plan the rest of the plot into detailed chapters, so it's probably going to end up being more than that. I would say at least chapter 70 at this rate. Aren't you all glad to hear that? I'm really excited to write and share some of these scenes, .

Well, I hope you enjoy the update! It's only a little one tonight, but please don't forget to review! It's always really lovely to read all of your little reactions. (●⌒∇⌒●)

"Ah! Shizu-chan!" cooed a voice from across the road before Shizuo had a chance to answer. The blonde looked up, and so did Tom, as if they both hadn't recognised the voice already. Shizuo wasn't sure what to think or what to do when his golden eyes settled on the sleek outline of a raven across the street, wearing that devious smirk as if it were all the clothing he needed. "Just who I was hoping to run into!"

It wasn't often that Shizuo was uncertain in his actions; he was one of those people who usually just acted before they really thought about their actions, acting more on instinct rather than logic or reasoning like other people might. He was used to acting on impulse when it came to the flea, but things had changed now hadn't they? Now that their relationship had taken that shift and the two of them had fallen into the abyss, still freefalling downwards, he didn't know how he was meant to behave. There was that internal conflict rearing its head once again, bubbling inside his chest like some kind of flu trying to work its way in. There was still that part of him that was screaming to yell the louse's name and set about chasing him throughout the streets just like normal, and yet there was that other voice in the front of his mind now. It was quiet, but insistent, telling him that he didn't want to do that anymore, that maybe the louse wasn't quite so deserving of a metal object smashing into the side of his head as he had once been.

He didn't let that uncertainty rule him for long though. He knew he couldn't, or someone would think something was up. Yeah, he knew that he might not be the smartest guy around, but he wasn't that stupid, he knew how to cover things up, how to keep his tracks hidden. He didn't need this, whatever it was, with the flea exposed just yet; maybe he never needed it exposed, so he couldn't let his mask slip in public. Izaya was the only person who would ever get to see that change, that little slip in his anger, and maybe that was just the way things were meant to be. It was funny, that the man who caused him more anger, more trouble, that anyone else in his life, was now proving to be someone more than just that.

The blonde cast a quick glance at Tom, finding the other man regarding Izaya with a calm, almost indifferent gaze; meaning that the momentary pause he found himself gripped in had gone unnoticed. He guessed the other man was long since used to Izaya tracking them down with the intention of pushing Shizuo's buttons and that he assumed that was the reason for the raven's sudden appearance now. Of course that would be what he assumed, Shizuo quickly scolded himself, it wasn't as if he had known of what had transpired with the two of them the night before, in a warm Shinjuku loft, tangled in bed sheets of snowy white.

The look on Izaya's face told him that he had noticed the reluctance of Shizuo to act, that he knew Shizuo was acknowledging that something with them had changed. That was almost enough incentive for Shizuo to act, if only just to wipe that smug smirk from the flea's face. Their relationship had shifted, that was true, but it would never be possible for their natures to get along all of the time; they conflicted, they always had done and probably always would do. Shizuo guessed that was what made this all so dangerous, all so uncertain, because they were just as unpredictable too.

Shizuo could feel his brow crinkle into a frown, a scowl, but he didn't really feel the emotion that should be behind it. He didn't feel that same anger and rage that normally drove him to act, to stalk towards the louse with clenched fists as he was doing now. Instead there was only a mild irritation at himself, his own feelings, and a tinge of embarrassment that the flea had called him out on that split-second reluctance; or maybe it was because the memory of the previous night was still with him, that all it would take to bring him crashing down in front of Tom and the handful of other people around was a word from Izaya telling them everything that had happened with them. Was love supposed to be this risky? Did it normally involve relying on the other person not to bring you crashing down? He still didn't know. He wasn't nearly as virginal as he had been and yet that that didn't mean that he knew the complex, twisted way in which love worked now. Shizuo doubted he'd ever really understand it.

Though not a tangible thing, Shizuo could feel Tom's eyes on his back, something that he normally wasn't aware of in these confrontations with Izaya. Everything was different now though, and he knew he was analysing every one of his own moves, making sure that it was just as it should be, that he wasn't slipping up. He could feel Izaya's eyes on him too, burning with amusement and a look that Shizuo could easily read. Izaya knew what he was doing, almost as if he could see the cogs turning inside of Shizuo's mind, hidden beneath a sea of golden strands.

"What are you doing here?" Shizuo hissed, his fist curling in the fabric of Izaya's t-shirt. He couldn't let the mask slip, he had to keep up this act in public, and just hope that the louse would go along with it. He wasn't ready for this to all be out in the open, not nearly ready. All this uncertainty, this hesitation, it was going to be the death of him.

"We have unfinished business," Izaya replied, and his words held no real emotion, as if he wasn't sure how he was meant to be acting either. Shizuo guessed this was new, foreign and strange, to both of them. The raven's smirk lowered slightly, and his eyes flickered over Shizuo's shoulder towards where Tom was still stood, watching them with a lazy interest. "But I can see you're busy,"

"You just saw me an hour ago," the blonde shot back, this time a pinch of genuine annoyance creeping into his voice. If Izaya picked up on that, he didn't let it show. "What the hell kind of unfinished business can we have?"

The raven's grin shot back up at that, and he half wiggled an eyebrow playfully, as if he were about to retort with some kind dirty response. Apparently reading the look on Shizuo's face put him off the idea, for the smirk slipped a little again, "Us,"

Shizuo blinked, and the frown on his forehead deepened. That reply had all but pushed Tom from his mind, making the blonde a little more concerned now with finding out what that meant than keeping up his mask for his employer. He'd just shrug it off later; just tell him they were arguing intensely. It had worked before, right?

"We're unfinished, we're not defined," Izaya continued when it looked like Shizuo wasn't going to, "What are we, Shizuo? Who are we? What the hell is this?"

Shizuo let his fingers unclench from Izaya's shirt, half shoving the raven a little way away from himself, back up towards the street that he had no doubt come from; though there was no malice behind it, not anymore. He wasn't used to hearing the raven curse. Silence followed, and once again Shizuo could feel Tom's eyes digging into his back, burning past the clothes like hot rays of heat, like sharp jets of cold.

"We'll talk later," Shizuo muttered, taking a step back, signalling the end of the conversation. Izaya seemed to understand that, because he smirked, stepping backwards too, tossing an insult at Shizuo, just in some attempt to keep up their normal mask, to keep everything hidden, tucked away, just like it was supposed to be. It was just like him, some secret of the night, buried in the corners of the underbelly of Ikebukuro.

Shizuo turned after that, properly, back to Tom and back to work. He didn't look back as the flea left, and neither did Izaya. Tom's face had that look about it, the one that told Shizuo he was confused, that he wanted to know what had just happened, again. The blonde said nothing though, just like always.

"What are we, Shizuo? Who are we?"

Yeah, that really was the question, wasn't it?