Recap:

"Shizuo—"

"I'm sorry, Shinra. I'm…I'm so sorry…"

"It's oka—"

"I'm so sorry…"

Shinra opened his mouth, about to say that it was okay and that he didn't have to worry about it, but closed it shut once he saw that the blond closed his eyes shut, clenching his teeth as his knuckles turned white from his harsh grip. He realized that he was no longer listening to him, and slightly wondered if he was even apologizing to him specifically. Deciding to not disturb him, he got up to fetch the alcohol wipes and bandages, and continued to finish his incomplete job.

Shuffles of papers and rapid typing could be heard in the office of the infamous Orihara Izaya. Namie, said informant's secretary, was busy filing the mountain of papers stacked on her desk. Honestly, why do I have to do this for him? She narrowed her eyes and shot daggers at the raven haired man sitting at his desk, typing away. No doubt he's stalking people again. Her frown deepened slightly at the previous debate they had of whether what he did was "stalking" or merely "loving his precious humans so much he has earned the right to check up and see how they were living life".

Feeling an intense glare being directed at him and only one other person in the room, Izaya turned around in his favorite swivel chair to face his beloved secretary, a smirk that was all too familiar settling on his face. "You shouldn't glare so much, Namie. You'll get permanent deep wrinkles if you keep that up."

This only deepened the glare. "Shut up, I'm sure someone as old as yourself would know a lot about wrinkles," she shot back, slightly taunting him about the fact that he always claimed to be "twenty one forever". This earned her a slightly painful smack to the head, the culprit now rolling on its side on the floor. The beautiful brunette woman took a second to glare at the knight chess piece that hit her, then back at the one who actually threw it and aimed squarely at the back of her head. Said person had an 'innocent' smirk, which he was anything but, a look Namie knew all too well. She bent down, picking the game piece with her delicate fingers, and returned the favor to Izaya, who just continued to smirk as he help his palm up, the knight landing perfectly in his hand with ease, much to the woman's distaste.

"Tch, go die," she venomously spat as she began to shift her attention back to her work.

Izaya only responded with a laugh at Namie's easy defeat. "Aww, does Namie-san not want to play today?" he asked childishly. This didn't even dignify a response from the secretary, who continued to ignore him and his bait. Sighing, Izaya was beginning to feel boredom gnaw at his nerves. There was nothing he could do in his office since Namie was currently taking care of everything right now, so maybe he should get some fresh air. After all, he had been cooped up in the office for weeks, which wan an ungodly amount of time to be away from his humans, in Izaya's opinion.

Settling the knight down in a new location on the board, he then got up from his chair, skipping towards the door. Just before he left, he called back to Namie, who was looking up from one of her files to see what the man was doing now.

"I'm going to pay Shizu-chan a little visit. Bye, Namie-san~ Don't miss me too much~"

And before the flying pen could made contact with his face that still wore that stupid arrogant smirk, the door was closed and sent the pen falling down to the ground.

. | Ω | .

The end of the fur-trimmed coat followed every movement its owner made as he skipped down the streets, smiling as if everything was right with the world, despite all the suspicious whispering and glares being thrown at him. Soon, his skipping slowly melted into a normal paced walk as he took his time to look around the crowds, inspecting each and every person who walked past him. It was rather exciting when he got to examine his precious toys up close and in person, but somehow, something was off. Today was just not the day. Nothing seemed to be happening, and there even seemed to be a gloomy tension in the air. His lips pulled into a frown, not liking the depressing air or the fact that he couldn't shake off a feeling that something was horribly wrong. And he especially couldn't get rid of the repulsive taste of not knowing something in his mouth, something he loathed to death.

Once his devious red eyes landed on a certain blond, however, he shoved those feelings to the deepest corner of his mind. When there was a Shizuo to infuriate, who needed depression? His frown soon morphed into that signature smirk of his as he skipped towards the blond, hoping to get his attention. It does seem odd that he still hasn't noticed my presence like he usually does… My, is Shizu-chan slowly losing his touch? His smirk only grew at that, but slightly faltered when he noticed that the blond still hasn't turned around or even notice him. Instead of waiting, he impatiently tapped Shizuo on the shoulders, waiting for the him to turn around and see that it was Izaya who just walked up to him and touched him, waiting for that long shout of anger entwined into his name.

It never came.

Shizuo turned and just stood there, just stood there. The nerve! And after the informant came down to see especially him, too! He should at the very least react somehow. But for some unknown reason, when he turned around and mocha eyes met crimson, Shizuo just continued to stand there and stare! Though his smirk did not falter; he couldn't have let the brute know that he was horribly confused and even a little disappointed at the lack of response.

"Hello, Shi~zu~chan~" he practically sang the detestable nickname. Still nothing. Not even so much as a twitch. "Ehh~? With all the staring I'm getting from Shizu-chan, I think he might like what he sees." He smiled as he wiggled his hips suggestively.

At least that got a reaction out of the ex-bartender, even though it wasn't exactly the one he aimed for.

"Izaya, stop fooling around," he huffed. Now the informant was beyond perplexed, and it showed when he raised his eyebrow at him, the corners of his lips tugging in a light frown.

"Ehh? What's wrong with Shizu-chan? Is he broken?" He pranced around said person, as if examining him just to see which part of him was broken.

The hands beside Shizuo's side was now clenching into fists, seemingly holding back a punch to the raven haired man that would surely send him flying half across the planet. His fantasy didn't calm him like it usually would, though.

"Of course I'm broken…" Shizuo mumbled in a voice so low that Izaya had to lean in closer to strain to hear him. "What kind of question is that? I thought you were the one who knew everything."

Now this struck a chord to Izaya's pride as the best informant in Ikebukuro, and possibly the whole world. In a flash, his flick blade was out, resting dangerously on Shizuo's throat, easily achieved with Izaya's speed, and much to his annoyance, Shizu-chan's lack of will to fight, or even do something.

"Shizu-chan, of course I know everything that concerns my beloved humans~ But what's beyond even my knowledge are monsters." He sighed dramatically as he pressed his free hand's palm against his forehead, the blade pressing deeper against Shizuo's skin. "After all, they're so unpredictable. An abomination, really." He added more pressure with every word that flowed carelessly from his lips. "Just. Like. You. Shizzy-chan."

Izaya was admiring the clean cut mark he left on the blond's neck, blood dripping beautifully down his neck, like an invisible ghost painting with blood and Shizuo's neck was the canvas. Of course, that was the only thing in his line of vision, seeing as how Shizuo was pressing his hands on his neck against the concrete wall of the building nearest to them, no doubt creating bruises on his pale skin. Izaya narrowed his eyes at him, his hand clenching his blade struggling to reach the monster's heart. The effort was futile as he lost all energy to do so and his arm dropped limply by his side.

"Iiiizaaayaaaa…"

Both men's eyes narrowed at the other as the blond dragged out the smaller man's name, the latter's lips stretching in that trademark smirk of his. No matter how bad the situation got, he was always smirking, somehow. After all, why let your guard down and let your enemy see through your façade? It was an instant kill if your enemy knew you were weak and vulnerable, something Izaya couldn't afford to have with his head constantly wanted from all the business he stuck his nose into.

"Me~" he chirped in reply, glad that at least something brought out the monster filled anger in Shizuo once again. After all, he'd been missing that side of him, he grudgingly admitted to himself. The apathetic side of him made him look more…human. How ironic was that.

"Iiiizaaayaaaa…" he repeated, growl embedded into his name. Shizuo now lifted him higher so that they could meet eye to eye, practically glaring holes in the twisted informer. "I'll kill you…" he ground out through clenched teeth.

Izaya smirked, and opened his mouth to retort back with a witty comment. But nothing came out. He was only seeing it now, the pure hatred and fire in Shizuo's eyes. Usually it would always be there when Shizuo laid his eyes on Izaya, but there was always something else in those eyes, something he could never identify. But this, this was pure, raw hatred, cold to the touch. And the burning anger in them were intensified, and if possible, even more than the hate. It was only then did Izaya realized that Shizuo was completely serious about the threat. And he had a feeling that he would do everything in his power and being to wipe him out of his existence.

"S-Shizu…chan…" he croaked out the loathing nickname, wincing at how broken his voice sounded, and also how broken his neck would be soon, thanks to the fingers wrapped around his neck gripping it with such strength that Izaya was starting to see black out of the corners of his eyes.

Desperate for ways of escape, he started clawing at the hands that held him in place. It did no damage though, just as Izaya had predicted. But there was practically nothing else to do in his position, especially when he was quickly losing oxygen.

To his surprise and relief, the pressure immediately lightened, only having enough strength to hold him up in the air, pressed roughly against the wall. Wary of the fingers that still encased his neck, he was feeling extremely unnerved that they could be the death of him, and quickly threw a powerful kick to the chest in front of him. Granted, it wasn't even a match for Shizuo's kicks, but it seemed to have enough power to knock Shizuo down on the ground a couple of meters away from the choking raven. Izaya's fingers were now around his own neck, rubbing the area where there were still handprints around it. He winced in pain as even his own delicate touch seemed to feel like burning fire. He turned his head to glare at Shizuo's form, only to widen his eyes at the sight.

Shizuo was now lying in a puddle of red liquid, no doubt his blood, as it seemed to have come from the area around his ribs since that was where most of the blood was. Izaya couldn't have kicked him that hard, had he?

Crawling over to the still form, he glared at it, realizing that his enemy was unconscious. What a perfect opportunity to end his pathetic life here and now. But he couldn't find himself to do it. Why? Perhaps it was because of the thrill of the cat and mouse game he often played with him. Or because he didn't know what caused Shizuo to be bleeding endlessly like this, and almost everyone knew how much he despised not knowing things, and he wanted to know the cause of it. Either way, he found himself dialing Shinra's number on his cellphone, quickly cursing under his breath as to why he was helping Shizuo of all people. He would've questioned his sanity along with it, if it were not for the fact that he knew he lost it well over decades ago.

After a few rings, he finally got through. "Izaya? What a pleasant surprise~"

"Shizuo. Bleeding. Celty. Now." His message was short and so was his breath. A miniature fire always seemed to spark in Izaya's throat when he talked, so he made sure to make it quick and to the point. After a few frantic questions, Shinra realized that he had little time if Izaya was calling, for Shizuo too nonetheless, and quickly changed his tone and speech.

"Where is he?"

After giving their location and a few glares to keep the pedestrians from gawking at the sight for too long, Izaya ended the call once Shinra informed him that Celty was on her way. He then turned back to the unconscious blond and narrowed his crimson eyes, cursing under his breath that he always caused the broker trouble no matter what he did. He didn't have time to relish in the irony and the situation of a helpless Shizuo lying there in the open though, because as soon as he made the move to kick Shizuo on the arm, the black in his eyesight overcame him, and with that, he was enveloped into cold, black darkness.

Ahh, I really hope Namie was in character. Would hate to get her wrong -cough especially since I'm writing an Izaya / Namie fic soon cough-. So if I get her, or any of the other characters wrong, feel free to correct me. Or feel free to correct me on anything: grammar / conventions, plot holes, etc.

Thank you Unknown Variable, icywarm, DetrimentalHabitsPt4, and HsTs for reviewing. Thank you Toki-Toki-Bunny-Bunny, o0Kairi0o, and DetrimentalHabitsPt4 for favoriting this story. Thank you Toki-Toki-Bunny-Bunny, tallulah89, Geny789, o0Kairi0o, DetrimentalHabitsPt4, Kitsune Demon Girl, kittycat98, Rafah MMC, and HsTs for adding this story to your Story Alerts. Thank you o0Kairi0o for adding me to your Author Alert. Thank you o0Kairi0o, AkatsukiCrush, and Mika-Chan1496 for adding me to your Favorite Authors.

See ya for now.