Izaya scowled softly as he watched the young teen slip the envelope into Shizuo's locker. He knew what it was and what it meant, she planned to confess... He glanced both ways to ensure the hallway was empty before going up to the blond's locker, his eyes set and a small frown on his lips. Shizuo was his, Izaya thought that much was obvious but apparently not... so he dialed the combination on Shizuo's lock -he had known it for ages- and stole the letter. He closed the locker and turned the dial once to lock it again before heading up to the roof. Hopefully no one was up there, but one never knew either. He could read it in private, mock her and then destroy it this way before starting to make her life hell for liking what was Izaya's.

Shizuo let out a sigh. It was lunch break now. Or it had been for a bit, and he wanted to be a bit alone. The roof would be the perfect place. It was 'his' spot. However, when he got up there, he noticed someone. Someone being Izaya. "The hell are you doing up here flea?"

Izaya jumped and dropped the joint he had decided to enjoy in his solitude, though he crushed it under foot so Shizuo couldn't rat him out for smoking pot on school property. "Shizu-chan~! I didn't know you came up to the roof~" He grinned, hiding the letter behind his back.

Shizuo scowled at the raven. "I almost always come up here. Thought almost everyone knew that." His eyes narrowed as he watched Izaya. Something seemed different. "What are you hiding?"

"Oh this~? Just a young girls heartfelt confession, but I'm afraid I have to tell her no~" He stuffed it in his pocket. What a lie, the letter was for Shizuo, not him, but Izaya was good at that too. He didn't care if she got upset that Shizuo never showed up to meet her, Shizuo was Izaya's, not hers!

"Tch. I doubt that's yours. Everyone hates you 'cept for Shinra, but he's a weirdo." He scowled some more. "Now what the hell were you doing up here?"

"Looking for peace and quiet, but so much for that," Izaya's expression was one of irritation. He was plotting how to make the woman who had tried to confess to Shizuo miserable.

Shizuo scowled some more. "Whatever. This is my spot flea. Move it."

Izaya chuckled at that and moved around now, not daring to get in reach of Shizuo. "Alright Shizu-chan~, I'll leave you alone this time but don't worry, I'll play with you later~" With that he skirted around the blonde and headed into the school.

Shizuo scowled before walking to where Izaya had been standing. Only then did he notice something on the ground. He looked confused for a moment before picking it up and examining it. "The hell is this?" It looked like something you smoked, but it had been stamped out in haste.

It was then that Kadota and Shinra made an appearance, having seen Shizuo heading up to the roof though they were concerned when they saw Izaya heading down from there.

"Hey Shizuo- Shizuo why do you have a joint?" Shinra asked cheerfully, despite the seriousness of the question.

"I found it on the ground." Did that mean Izaya had been smoking it? Why the hell would a teen have a joint? Izaya didn't seem the type to do drugs. Then again, he didn't exactly know Izaya.

"Oh, well, throw it out; you don't want to get in trouble right?" Shinra pointed out as he and Kadota joined Shizuo for lunch.

Izaya wondered what that would be like vaguely, though he thought Shizuo liked him better. After all, if Izaya was there Shizuo only paid attention to him, no one else. It made Izaya feel special somehow.

It wasn't until after school did Shizuo decide to do something about the joint Izaya had. He hadn't followed Shinra's advice about throwing it away and had kept it as evidence. That's why he was at the principal's office, showing him the joint. "I found Orihara Izaya with this, sir."

"Orihara Izaya? Well, I must say I am shocked... he's a model student, his grades are excellent... But Shizuo was not a liar either even if he did get into fights. "I suppose I will have to speak to him then, thank you for bringing this to our attention,"

"It's no problem. Besides, can't just let something like this slide. Thank you for your time." He nodded before leaving. It wasn't much, but he was getting at Izaya, he guessed.

Izaya was called out of class for it though he panicked when his parents were called. He tried lying his way out of it with the 'I'm a straight A student and he's in detention every day for fighting' line but they didn't believe him. Neither did the principle. He was given detention for a week -a light enough punishment- and sent home for the remainder of the day but Izaya was not in school for the next three days.

Frankly, Shizuo didn't really care. If Izaya wasn't there, he got pissed of less. It was good. However, when Izaya finally did show up for school, he was shocked.

Izaya's right arm was in a cast and he was very sullen. He was sporting a limp and he refused to change for gym class where anyone could see him though he sat out anyways. The cast on his arm was not enough. Izaya ignored everyone that day, especially Shizuo.

Shizuo scowled at that, especially since he could hear whispers of other students pinning the blame on him. He hadn't seen the raven, so it was impossible for him to do so. Plus, he didn't go out and pick fights unless he was pissed, which he hadn't been. He was tempted to confront him about it, but decided against it in the end. Maybe if it kept up, but not now.

Izaya didn't correct them when he heard them, but he wasn't exactly aggravating the rumours either. He sulked on the roof the day after his return during lunch and he really didn't care if Shizuo came up. After all, even Shizuo wouldn't beat him up like this.

Finally, Shizuo decided that he had enough of the rumor. When he saw Izaya head up to the roof, he followed. "Oi. Flea. How'd you get so beat up?"

Izaya blinked at him, and then sat down, back against the wall, "So beat up? I have a broken arm and I twisted my ankle. That's not beat up," He lied easily.

Shizuo scowled. "Yeah it is. And if you still don't think so, I'll rephrase it. How'd you get a broken arm and your twisted ankle?"

"Fine, I fell down the stairs," He was lying and he knew Shizuo wouldn't buy it but his parents had said if he told when they did this it would be worse.

Shizuo's scowl only deepened. "You're the farthest thing from clumsy."

"Then what answer would be satisfactory to you and bring this conversation to an end?" He asked, his tone exasperated.

"The truth," Shizuo simply stated. "I want the truth because I'm sick and tired of hearing everyone whisper about how I beat you up." He frowned more now. "Also, what were you doing with the joint a couple of days ago?"

"Smoking it obviously," Izaya grumbled, "but if you don't want to be blamed for beating me up then maybe you should have just minded your own fucking business!" Izaya snapped.

Shizuo growled at that, though he didn't snap and attack him. He wasn't the kind of guy who'd just attack someone while they were hurt. "Alright fine. From now on I will!" It was spouted angrily. "It's not like I care what you do anyway." And with that, he stomped away and off the roof.

No... That wasn't what Izaya wanted at all... Shizuo didn't care? He had to though, since he dropped everything when Izaya was around right? Izaya would taunt him later on... then he would know Shizuo still cared about him. Izaya sighed and pulled out a joint. He really needed to get high now... besides, he usually was, or drunk.

Shizuo let out an angry huff as he joined Shinra for lunch. He also ignored the man's attempt to find out why he was so angry in favor of just eating. He had had enough and was just done with it right now.

Shinra and Kadota at least didn't assume that Shizuo had done it to Izaya though both did speculate as to who did manage it since even Shizuo hadn't managed it before.

It was just after school when Izaya hunted him down next, making sure to talk loudly about how terrible Shizuo was to one of the many girls who was madly in love with Izaya.

Shizuo felt his eye twitch when he heard the raven talking bad about it. He was a nice guy, just easy to piss off. His eye twitched again as he attempted to resist the urge to hurt the already hurt teen. However, that attempt didn't last long, and soon, he was screaming after Izaya, ready to chase the raven.

"Woops, here we go again~!" Izaya grinned from ear to ear and began moving for an exit. The other students were beginning to scatter, getting out of Shizuo's way before he could use them as a weapon.

Not that Shizuo would use another human being as a weapon. Sure, when angered, he'd hurt and destroy, but he still had enough wits about him to know that a human was not a weapon. He roared in rage as he ran after the injured raven. Injuries be damned! The flea was a flea and bugs had to be crushed.

Izaya bolted, but he was slower than usual, his leg slowing him up along with his inability to breathe properly. Among the injuries covered by clothing -mostly large bruises and small cuts- were three broken and taped ribs.

Not that Shizuo knew that. All he knew about was the arm and the foot. "Izaya! Quit running away you flea!" He could tell that Izaya was slower than usual, but he didn't know if he could catch the raven or not.

Probably he could if he ran fast enough. Izaya ran for the streets, hoping to lose Shizuo in an alleyway or get him run over again.

Shizuo growled in annoyance as he kept his eyes on the raven, determined not to lose him. It could be his one and only chance to catch him, and he didn't want to let it go. "IZAYA!"

The teen ran hard, but within minutes he was struggling for air and he knew he had to stop. He ducked down an alley, one hand clutching at the aching, taped ribs and he hoped he could lose the blonde here.

Shizuo growled as he watched Izaya duck into an alley. Damned flea. Of course, Shizuo followed, and sure enough, there was Izaya. The teen hadn't kept running. Shizuo was about ready to slam Izaya's head into the wall when he noticed that something was wrong, so instead, he stopped where he was and watched.

Izaya was gasping for air; his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to get air and a light sweat drenched his forehead. He was obviously in pain, and it was the only reason he had stopped, though his hand remained clenched to his ribs.

Shizuo frowned. Didn't seem like he was faking. "Oi. Izaya... You alright?" Yes, it was a stupid question, but he didn't really know what else to do.

"F-fuck!" Izaya started, realizing Shizuo was there... and seeing this! Izaya couldn't breathe though and his legs gave out now. Stupid... he should have listened to the damn doctor... he'd lied and said he was hit by a car and they drove off before he could get a license plate but they had told him not to run until his ribs were healed... they weren't.

Now Shizuo was actually a bit worried. Sure, he hated the male, but he was obviously hurt and in pain. By the look of things, he couldn't breathe either, which meant Shizuo had pushed him by chasing him. Shit. What to do. What to do. He couldn't just leave the raven here. Okay, what was closer, the school where he could go to the nurse, or the hospital? The school. They hadn't been running for that long. But first, he had to make sure that Izaya didn't attack him. "Izaya, I'm gonna help, alright?"

"J-just-" He couldn't finish and nodded instead. He watched the blonde carefully, despite the fact that he was wheezing so hard.

At the nod, Shizuo leaned down to pick Izaya up. He manoeuvred the raven around so that Izaya was on his back before he headed back in the direction of school. The nurse was sure to be there, and that was closest, so that's where he was heading.

"No, no," Izaya whined, "N-not school please!" He whimpered. He didn't want anyone else to see him like this, Shizuo was bad enough!

"It's closer than the hospital and the nurse can help, or do you want to stay in pain?"

"Hospital, n-nurse c-can't-" Izaya was in too much pain and he couldn't breathe... and he was panicking. The three things combined meant he lost consciousness.

"Shit." Shizuo quickened the pace to the school. Sure, maybe the nurse couldn't help Izaya fully, but she could until an ambulance came or something. Finally, he arrived. Shizuo ignored the stares as he made his way towards the nurse. "Izaya. He needs help."

"Oh dear... put him here," She said, her voice concerned and she unbuttoned his uniform to get a look but when the red sort came up the extent of his injuries became apparent to both her and Shizuo who was the only other one in there. The bruises had all merged together so that his entire chest cavity and abdomen seemed to be one giant bruise that had multiple darker spots, the only thing that showed it was more than one. The tape on his broken ribs stood out, shocking white against the purpled and black skin and it was obvious that something had happened.

Shizuo's face showed surprise. Obviously he hadn't known the extent of how hurt Izaya had been. "That... How could he get hurt that much?"

She looked carefully, clearly worried, "Well, I'm not sure what he told the hospital but it appears that another person did this, probably two and he was not fighting back," She pulled Izaya's shirt back down, "He likely over did himself, he should be alright now that he's breathing properly, and I expect he will wake up in ten minutes, probably sooner," She left the area to do other things now.

Shizuo frowned. Two people had beaten Izaya and he hadn't fought back? Izaya always fights back though! This puzzled him. Now, he had two options. He could leave and ignore the flea, or he could stay and try to get some answers. Shizuo chose the second.

Izaya was awake in eight minutes with a low groan. He didn't want to move and he knew the nurse wouldn't make him either... she had left the room anyways trusting that Shizuo would not kill Izaya.

Shizuo wouldn't, not with him this injured. Shizuo scowled when he found Izaya awake. "Oi. Izaya. I want you to cut the crap. How exactly did you get so hurt? And I know it isn't just your arm and foot. The nurse checked up on you and I saw that giant bruise on your chest."

Izaya scowled; at least Shizuo didn't know that it extended across his back and right down his legs too...

"I got hit by a car," He lied.

"No you didn't. Nurse also said that it looks like two people beat you."

"Why do you care how I got hurt?" Izaya knew other kids didn't get punished as badly as he did, but he figured all parents hit their children when they did something wrong.

"Cause I don't know anyone who gets beat up unless it's a gang member or a bully harassing them." Shizuo scowled. He was about ready to leave.

Izaya blinked at that and before he could stop the words they came out, "You mean your parents don't hit you?" He thought everyone had been beat up like this at least once... Except Mairu and Kururi, he wouldn't let his parents do it to them...

Shizuo's scowl only deepened. "The hell kind of question is that? No one's parents beat on their kid!"

Izaya frowned at the blonde, clearly confused now and he sat up, "No one's? I thought..." So his were his different then? Was he abnormal somehow? Why was his family so different then if that was the case?

Shizuo shook his head. "Its abuse if they do. And you can call the cops to have them arrested." He frowned now. "That mean that your injuries were caused by your parents?"

"Well yes but I thought everyone had that..." Izaya's expression was one of almost innocent naiveté; it was obvious he was confused.

Shizuo frowned some more. "They don't. As I said before, it's abuse. You shouldn't be living with your parents with them doing that." After a moment's thought, he added. "Do your parents do anything else?"

Izaya frowned a little, "They do all kinds of things, I'm just going to assume now though that my entire life has been abnormal," Izaya's scowl was nearly murderous but he couldn't fight back... he didn't know how to against them... if he tried they would hurt his sisters though he had never told anyone he actually had siblings.

"Alright. Well, why don't you just leave? I'm sure no would blame you for not staying with them."

"Where would I go?" Izaya grumbled, and he had a point. No one could stand him.

Shizuo scowled. "I don't know. You could call child services or something and they'd take you in."

"Yeah, and have my sisters put in foster homes so I never see them again while I get shunted from home to home?" Not happening.

Shizuo blinked a few times. "You have sisters?"

"Yes, Mairu and Kururi, they're six," He mumbled, looking almost sheepish now. No... He couldn't leave until he could afford to take them with him and run for it.

Shizuo scowled. Well that didn't work. "Don't you have any other family?"

"My parents are both only children of only children, the only place I could go is the street if I left and I'm not leaving my sisters behind!" He was adamant about that. Most people said Izaya couldn't love... it was becoming obvious that he just chose not to in most cases.

Shizuo scowled. Then there really wasn't anything there. "Fine." He stood, ready to leave. "Good luck figuring something out then."

"Shizu-chan wait!" Izaya grabbed him, suddenly terrified. If what was happening was wrong then he didn't want it, he wanted to know what normal looked like. If what he had was wrong then he was allowed to hate it as much as he did, "I don't want to be there, I don't... I can't leave my sisters; the same thing will happen to them and they... they wouldn't understand the first time..."

Shizuo scowled. Damn it. Izaya seemed kind of scared now, and if he really did have six year old sisters, then they couldn't just stay there. "Well I don't exactly know how to help. You don't want to leave your sisters there and you don't want to call someone cause then you won't see them."

"I can't help that, I... They need me, they don't know anyone they've never even been out of the house!" And Shizuo was the only one who knew all of this... and he didn't even know everything.

"What do you mean that they're six and haven't been out of the house?"

"They aren't allowed out, because I wouldn't let Mom and Dad..." He froze, not sure he wanted Shizuo to know he had been sold to random strangers for years.

Shizuo frowned. "You wouldn't let your parents what?" He had gathered that his sisters hadn't yet been abused, but what else was there?

Izaya couldn't make eye contact in how ashamed he was now, "Sell them... I wouldn't let them sell them... kids their age get higher prices, especially for the first time..."

Shizuo's face went dark. Sell them... He asked this next question quietly. "Were you sold?"

"I stopped my parents doing it to them, there wasn't anyone there to stop it happening to me..." He mumbled.

Shizuo scowled deeply now. Alright. This was a problem. If they couldn't think of something, he'd call child services. There was no way he was just going to let this happen.

"I'll figure something out... I guess... " Izaya couldn't ask for help, not from Shizuo... not unless something bad were to happen.

"Fine. Can I go now? School's over and I'd like to have time to do my homework." If it got worse he would. Couldn't just set things on the flea. In fact, he didn't even know where the raven lived.

"Yeah..." Izaya had to be home soon anyways... He sighed softly and headed for home now, hoping that nothing happened tonight.

Shizuo sighed as he himself headed home. That was enough of that for now. He'd get his homework done then possibly think of how to get the Orihara kids out while keeping them together. Or maybe he would just call child services. He didn't know.

There wouldn't be time for Shizuo to think much though because three hours later he would have a frantic knock on his door.

Shizuo let out an irritated sigh. If that was Shinra, he'd get a great big beating. Well, maybe not that, but he'd still be irritated. However, when he opened the door, he was surprised to see Izaya and two girls who he assumed were his sisters. "What are you doing here?" It wasn't an angry question, just surprised.

"Please help... please," Izaya was desperate enough to skip right to begging, "Shizu-chan, you have to keep them here, please, please let them stay here," He wouldn't ask for himself, he didn't know what Shizuo would say to that but he was likely to say yes to the twins.

Shizuo blinked, confused. However, it had to be something huge for Izaya to beg him right off the bat. "Why?"

"They found a buyer for them, I won't... I will live with them under a bridge before I let it happen to them but... but please... please let them stay here," If he didn't then Shizuo really was a monster.

Shizuo frowned but nodded. "Alright. They can stay. But what about you? You aren't going back, are you?"

"If I can stay too..." Izaya's eyes drifted down, knowing that was unlikely.

Shizuo frowned, thinking. He really did hate the flea. He got on his nerves and pissed him off. He'd also probably have to ask his parents for more money a month to get enough food for all four of them, three without Izaya. Finally, he sighed. "Fine. You can stay too. But only until you can get your own place."

Izaya nodded, though he wanted to hug Shizuo.

"Mairu... Kururi..." Izaya kneeled down to speak to the twins who held hands and looked remarkably nervous and afraid, "This is Shizuo-san, okay? We're going to live with him for a little while okay?" The two nodded quietly and peered up at Shizuo nervously.

Shizuo just smiled at the two before moving aside to let all three of them in. It was certainly going to get awkward now. He just hoped that Izaya didn't try to piss him off.

The twins clung to Izaya's leg when he went inside though even he was a bit meek now.

Shizuo frowned. He didn't like this. It wasn't what he was used to at all. It was, well, it was disturbing. He closed the door after the three of them came in before walking to the kitchen. "Uh, do you guys want something to eat or drink?"

"Iza-nii..." One mumbled so quietly she was barely audible and the other nodded, "Yeah, only Iza-nii gets us food..."

Shizuo let out an irritated sigh before turning to Izaya. "Alright. You wanna get your sisters something to eat or drink then? And if you want, you can have something too." He actually still had some homework left to do. Not much, just a problem or two.

"You two can eat it if Shizuo-san brings it okay?" He told the two getting them seated on the couch before moving into the kitchen to make them each a sandwich.

Shizuo sighed, debating whether or not to go into the kitchen to help Izaya or to go finish the final few homework problems. After thinking for a moment, he decided on homework and headed to the table to work on it.

Izaya made them peanut butter and jam with mil, crusts cut so the bread was a perfect square and then cut diagonally the way they liked it. They had no school things though, they had never been to school and Izaya had put their clothing into his backpack along with his school things, no clothing of his own.

Shizuo finished with the problems pretty quickly before getting up and looking at the three Orihara's. "Alright. How much of your stuff were you able to bring?" He spotted the flea's backpack, but that was it.

"Some of their clothing and my school stuff..." He frowned a little. He'd had to run in the window he'd had where his parents went to pick up the client... or rather the sick freak who wanted to hurt his sisters.

Shizuo frowned. Great. Now he sighed. "Well you can't just have that. And I doubt my clothes will fit you." He let out another irritated sigh. Did he have extra money? If he did then maybe he could go out and buy Izaya a few pairs of clothes. He sighed again. "Wait a moment." He'd go and check. If he didn't have enough, he'd call his parents to explain the situation, which he'd have to do anyway, and ask for more money.

Izaya was already working on gaining an income though the options available were unpleasant. He could deal information, he had always been intelligent and he could find things others had trouble with and had a knack for knowing when others were lying... the other thing he could sell was himself but he didn't like that any better since being here meant he never had to have sex again if he didn't want to.

In his room, Shizuo let out an irritated sigh. Nope. Not enough extra money at the moment to get Izaya more clothes. Frowning, he dialed up his parent's number before putting the phone to his ear. After explaining the situation, they agreed to start sending him more money as well as extra for the Orihara's clothes. Seemed his parents decided that it'd be alright to buy all three of them more clothes.

The raven teen explored while the twins ate, though he wasn't sure if they were allowed to use the spare room. Izaya slept with the twins in his bed anyways to keep them safe if he could and usually he blocked the door.

Shizuo sighed as he walked back into the main room. "Alright. My parents are going to be sending me more money a month so that I have enough to get enough food for us all. Tomorrow or the day after, I should be getting a bit extra to get you three some more clothes, seeing as Izaya only has the ones he's wearing and you two probably don't have much with you."

"We don't have much anyways..." Mairu said, shrugging. Izaya usually did laundry enough to keep them in clean clothing. "So... do we take your spare room then?" He asked.

Shizuo nodded. "Yeah. I mean, that's why there's a spare room. For when guests stay over. You three can have it till you get your own place."

Izaya nodded, glancing at the clock. It was nine and so he had to get the twins into bed now. They were both tired, and neither had any idea what was happening or what had nearly happened.

Shizuo sighed as he packed away his school things for tomorrow. "If you're going to bed, night. Ask if you need something. Just don't wake me up if I'm asleep when you do or I can almost guarantee that I'll be irritable."

"Just putting them to bed," Izaya muttered, getting them into the room and settled. He had to make up a story but he seemed to be a natural with them too as he had them giggling like mad and yet somehow they were asleep by the end of it. He came back out then and got to work on his own homework though he seemed to be doing it at lightning speed.

Shizuo defiantly thought it was impressive, but he just shook it off. Realizing that he hadn't actually eaten since lunch, he made his way towards the kitchen to make himself some ramen. Since Izaya was up... Shizuo let out an irritated sigh before calling from the kitchen to Izaya. "Oi. I'm making myself some ramen. You want some?"

Izaya seemed startled that he was offering, "If you want I can cook..." He said then, "I can make a lot of things so if... if the ingredients are there I can cook anything you want me too..."

"You're doing your homework right now and I don't have much more than cereal, eggs and ramen. Sandwich stuff too, but nothing much else."

"O-oh... then yes... um... please..." Izaya was going to be polite; Shizuo didn't have to help them after all.

Shizuo just nodded before getting out two bowls and the ramen. It'd take a bit to get the water boiling, but then it'd only take three minutes to cook. He'd make Izaya's first, then his own.

When Izaya did get his he was reluctant to eat but when he did the food was gone in seconds. Then it was back to homework and he finished that in minutes.

"You work fast." Was the only thing Shizuo noted as he ate his ramen.

Izaya shrugged, "I've never had a choice... I only have half an hour to do my homework for the day and if I don't get an A then..." He frowned a little, no... that wasn't right... was it?

Shizuo sighed. No, it wasn't right. "You don't have to work that fast. I'm not gonna do anything if it takes you more than a half hour to finish. It took me a couple hours myself to finish my homework. You also don't have to strive to be perfect. Doesn't matter if you get an A or a F."

"Yes it does, it has to be an A anything less is unacceptable, I have to have an A" He frowned a little... that was what his mother had told him when he had brought home his first B+.

Shizuo just scowled. "Forcing you to get an A every time is just stupid. But if you really want to, fine. I'm not gonna argue." He went back to eating his ramen, almost done with it.

Maybe it was stupid... Izaya would still get it done as fast as he could... he needed to get Mairu and Kururi enrolled in school though soon. They had never been... this was going to be hard on them at first.

Shizuo sighed as he finished before bringing both bowls to the kitchen and washing them. "Alright. I'm going to bed now. You can go to sleep whenever. I don't care. Just don't mess anything up." And with that, Shizuo headed to his room for bed.

Izaya put his school bags away though he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He went to bed ten minutes after Shizuo, his arms around Kururi and Mairu protectively after blocking the door with the dresser out of habit.