The trio walked down the main strip; the twins bouncing along and holding Shizuo's hands, while he tried to block out their annoying singing. Their constant chirping made his head hurt, but he knew that he couldn't do anything about it. It's not like he'd hit them, even if they were related to that bastard Izaya.
"Neh, Shizuo-kun!" Mairu sang as she tugged on the cuff of his sleeve, breaking him out of his daydreaming.
"What is it?"
"Where are we going?" She whined, lolling her head from side to side as she began to drag her feet. Shizuo's brow ticked slightly as he looked ahead.
"We're going to pick up my paycheck." he grumbled, dragging her along. Mairu tilted her head and picked up the pace a bit to jog along side Shizuo's long strides.
"But you are on vacation."
"Paid vacation."
"You can get paid for doing nothing?" Mairu squealed, her eyes a light with giddy wonder. Shizuo chuckled and shook his head.
"If you work diligently before your vacation, yeah sometimes. It's not like I chose to go off work. I guess they are just being nice."
"Good." Kururi smiled as she hugged Shizuo's other arm, walking at a normal pace beside him. Shizuo raised his brow lightly at the gesture, and glanced back at Mairu, who had let go to stray off toward a candy store. Shizuo grabbed her by the hood and pulled her back.
"Oi! No wanderin' off. You guys chose to follow me, so you're sticking with me, got it?" Shizuo grunted as Mairu squirmed to get away.
"But they have candy there!" She whined, pulling her arms into her hoodie so slip off the jacket. But Shizuo had learned from Izaya using the same move to get away. He quickly grabbed Mairu by the waist as she slipped free, throwing her over his shoulder and holding tight.
"We'll get something on the way back."
"Wahhh, Shizuo-kun! No fair!" Mairu whined as she beat against his broad back and kicked her legs. She gave up after a few moments and crossed her arms and pouted. Kururi giggled a bit at Mairu's fit, and continued to hold Shizuo's hand as they walked up to Tom's debt collection agency.
"Why are your fingers twitching?" She asked shyly, squeezing his hand softly. Shizuo looked down at Kururi and glanced at his hand, which was gently trembling.
"I'm trying to quit smoking." he simply stated, stepping inside the building without slowing down. He headed straight for a side room where Tom's office was attached. The entire time, he avoided Kururi's curious glance, and Mairu's sudden onslaught of questions.
"Why are you quitting? Is that why you're sick? Is it hard to quit?"
He grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.
Shut up, shut up, shut up!
He set Mairu down stiffly, and placed her on a chair. Kururi followed the action and sat next to her sister. Shizuo took off his sunglasses and placed them in his in the pocket inside his vest and crossed his arms.
"Now, you're gonna sit here and keep quiet. No running away and shit, I won't come looking for you. You're not my problem."
"Shizuo-kun, so mean!" Mairu moaned, a small smile on her lips as Kururi nodded.
"(You would) abandon (us)?"
The blonde sighed, "No, I wouldn't abandon. It's just that if you two cause trouble, I'm not gonna waste my time trying to track you down. Besides, you're the flea's problem. Not mine. Now, you promise to behave for the few minutes I'm in the office?"
They nodded eagerly and beamed. Shizuo curtly nodded and walked into the office, "Alright, stay put."
Shizuo closed the door behind him and noticed Tom turning in his chair to face his guest. Tom smiled widely and stood up, walking over to Shizuo to pat him roughly on the back.
"Hey, long time no see Shizuo." he grinned, leading Shizuo over toward the desk. The blonde smiled and shrugged a bit, chuckling.
"Yeah, it's been too long."
"Have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?"
Shizuo shook his head, sitting heavily into the seat and leaning back, hands folded in his lap leisurely. Tom fell into his chair and kicked his feet up onto his desk before taking a sip from the water on his desk.
"So, how are you feeling? I've been keeping up with Shinra to make sure you were ok. But he's been so uptight about everything being confidential." Tom grumbled, causing Shizuo to laugh. It felt good to laugh without having a coughing fit.
"I've been a bit better since I quit smoking. Still having some fits, but nothing too bad. I wanna get back to work soon."
"Ahh, so you quit, huh? Good job!" Tom praised, clapping his hand a bit. "This calls for celebration, huh?"
"No, no!" Shizuo laughed, shaking his head. "I mean I've only quit a week ago. Go throw a party after it's been like…a year or something. If it even lasts that long."
"Ahh, yeah. Smoking is a hard habit to kick. You gonna be ok?" Tom questioned, leaning on the desk and bit toward Shizuo; his brow furrowed with concern. Shizuo nodded a bit.
"I should be. Although Shinra did tell me on my last visit that the longer I go without a smoke, the more irritable I might become. Or more violent, dammit."
Tom shook his head and sighed, "That's what I figured. That's why I have some suggestions for you."
"Suggestions?" Shizuo asked, slightly confused and concerned. Tom reached into a drawer and pulled out a white box. He tossed it to Shizuo, who caught it with slightly shaky hands. He grit his teeth at the action; his finger's haven't been able to stop twitching the past few days.
He turned over the box in his hands and narrowed his eyes, recognizing the box from the front desk of the pharmacy.
"Nicotine patches?"
Tom nodded, "Yeah. It might help kill the craving. Then that way, we can bring you back to work."
Shizuo stiffened slightly and scowled, "So, I'm not getting my job back unless I wear these…these things?"
"Unfortunately, the higher ups won't let me unless you do. They don't want you destroying more property. They are figuring out that I'm paying half of the damage charges we get. They don't like it."
"I told you that I can pay for the charges."
"Shizuo, you know you can't. With the wage your getting right now, you couldn't pay half of all the charges stacked up." Tom argued. Shizuo's eyes widened a bit and he slacked his posture, sighing. He didn't realize how much damage he had caused.
Shizuo grunted and rolled up his sleeve, ripping a nicotine patch open with his teeth and slapping it on his arm. Tom flinched a bit at the rigid gesture. Shizuo rolled his sleeve back down and slid the rest of the patches into his pocket next to his sun glasses.
"So, I can work now?"
"Not yet. They want to make sure it works. And you've still got those pills Shinra prescribed you. Let's just wait until we see how the mix affects you, ok?"
Shizuo grunted and stood up, pacing back and forth a bit as he grit his teeth. This wasn't fucking fair. He shouldn't have to be held back like this. He could control himself. Tom knew that! Why the hell couldn't he just work again?
Tom stood up, grabbing a check from his desk and placing it in Shizuo's hand. The blonde reflexively crushed it in his palm. Tom sighed.
"See? This is why they wanna wait. With your twitchy fingers, withdrawls, temper, and now a new medication and treatment, you're kinda like a bomb waiting to go off. You need to have some time to relax."
"I AM RELAXED."
Tom and Shizuo stared at each other for a long moment. Shizuo's eyes softened a bit as he sighed, sagging his shoulders.
"Yeah…I get it." he mumbled.
Tom patted Shizuo's back and led him to the door, "I know it's rough. I want you back too. But you're health is more important than my ties in this business. Get better, and things can get back to normal." Shizuo nodded, smiling a bit.
"Thanks Tom…for everything."
"Anytime."