Since Izaya knew that both Mikado and Masaomi were too shy to talk with each other about their feelings, so first he decided to try to talk with them individually. He went to his little brother first.

On Saturday morning, Izaya was making breakfast when he heard a tired groan coming from the doorway. He looked up from the pan of eggs to see his teenage brother staggering intot the kitchen. He had dark bags under his eyes, and he nearly missed the chair when he tried to sit down. Izaya giggled at his little brother's tiredness. He must have been staying up late again last night, talking to people in the chat rooms he liked so much.

"So," Izaya started as he scooped half of the eggs onto one plate and the other half onto another. "What time did you go to bed last night?"

"Ugghhh," Mikado responded, with his face on the table. Izaya lifted up the head of black hair and replaced the spot on the table with a plated of scrambled eggs.

"That late, huh?"

Mikado nodded at his brother's comment, then looked up hopefully at him. "Coffee?" he asked. When Izaya nodded, he quickly jumped up from the chair and poured himself a cup, making sure to mix in a bunch of creamer and sugar. While he was enjoying his breakfast, Izaya decided to start with his plan.

"So, how has Masaomi been?" he asked.

"Fine," Mikado replied. "Tomorrow we were thinking of hanging out at the park."

"Oh, like a date?"

At his brother's inquiry, Mikado choked on his eggs in shock, then started coughing uncontrollably. Izaya calmly got up and slapped his brothe on the back. After Mikado had stopped coughing, he looked at his big brother with a blush on his cheeks. "No, of course not. Masaomi doesn't like me like that."

"But you like Masaomi," Izaya countered.

After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. "But it doesn't matter, he likes girls."

Izaya didn't like it when his baby brother looked so sad. He threw his arms around his shoulder and said cheerfully, "Well, you don't know that! I mean, have you specifically asked him if he likes girls or boys?"

At Mikado's shake of his head, he brightly hugged his brother. "There you go! You're not sure! So how about next time, you ask him?"

He expected that to cheer the young boy up, but all he got was a look of horror. He frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Are you crazy?! I can't just casually ask him, 'Hey, Masaomi, are you gay or straight? Oh, and if you happen to be gay then could you date me?'"

Izaya thought about it a minute. "Well, you could probably word it a little better."

Mikado just looked exasperatedly at his brother. "It's not going to happen. We're just friends right now, and I'm fine with that."

You don't look fine, Izaya thought. You look very sad and I don't like it. He opened his mouth to try to talk Mikado again, but before he could, his brother quickly plastered a fake smile on his face. "I'll be upstairs working on homework!"

With that, he scurried up the stairs, leaving his brother downstairs. Izaya frowned. Time to talk to Masaomi.

Masaomi worked at a cafe a couple of blocks away from his house. He liked working there, but he was glad when he got off. He prepared to go home and eat, take a nap, and then text Mikado, in that order. What he did not expect was to see Mikado's older brother waiting outside his work when his shift ended. He looked uneasily at the smirk that Izaya was wearing. He liked Izaya enough, but sometimes the look in his eyes made Masaomi a little bit nervous. However, he would never show it.

"Izaya Orihara!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Come to see little old me?"

"Why yes actually," Izaya purred. Masaomi shivered a little at the threatening tone. Izaya had a friendly smile on his face, but the glint in his eyes was murderous. "I thought that we could have a little chat on your way home."

It was funny how Izaya could suggest something to you, but it would always sound more like a non-debatable order.

Masaomi wasn't really sure how to talk to his friend's older brother, so the first couple minutes of their walk was spent in awkward silence. Finally, the blonde decided to actually initiate a conversation, since he couldn't take the silence. He decided to try talking about basically the only thing they had in common.

"So, how's Mikado?"

His question was met with a sharp smile. "I'm glad you asked. Masaomi, you know how much I love my little brother, don't you?"

Masaomi decided that the safest thing to do was nod. The smile widened. "Good. Because whenever someone I loves is upset, it makes me upset. And when I'm upset, some bad things happen to certain people."

Masaomi knew that that was supposed to sound threatening, and he was probably supposed to be scared right now(he kind of was) but he was a little confused. "Wait a minute," he said, coming to a sudden stop. Izaya stopped walking as well and stared at him with an expectant look on his face. "Why is Mikado upset? What are you talking about?" If something was upsetting his best friend/secret crush then he wanted to help.

Izaya had this look on his face that could make you feel like the biggest idiot on the planet, and it was directed straight at Masaomi's face.

"Maybe," Izaya started. "He's upset because his best friend is constantly talking about whatever girl he sees on the street whenever he comes over. Because he kind of has a very big and obvious crush on said best friend, even when the best friend is acting like an idiot instead of growing a pair and asking him out." With his tirade done, he continued walking, only this time he was leaving a shocked blonde in his wake.

Masaomi must have stood there for at least two minutes before finally breaking out of his stupor and looking around dazedly. He looked at where Izaya had been a minute ago before a wide smile suddenly broke out on his face. Ignoring the curious looks of passerby's, he whooped for joy and jumped up.

"Mikado likes me back!" he screamed before suddenly taking off towards his best friends house.

"Mikado!" Izaya called as he opened the door.

"What?" Mikado answered from the kitchen. He had been making ramen when he heard his brother's call. Said brother then proceeded to burst into the kitchen and throw his arm around his shoulder.

"I did you a favor," Izaya said, and then gave him a brotherly noogie.

"What favor?" Right after he said that, there came a knock at the door. Izaya smiled broadly at his brother. "If I'm no mistaken, there's your favor, right on time." He and Mikado walked out of the kitchen, Mikado to the door and Izaya towards the stairs. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he called down as he went up the steps. Mikado just looked at him confusedly, then opened the door to reveal a sweaty and panting blonde. "Masaomi?"

Masaomi leaned against the doorway, out of breath and about ready to collapse. He had been so excited that his feelings had been reciprocated that he had decided to run all the way to the apartment. Not one of his best ideas.

"So, what do you think about going out this Friday?"

Mikado blinked in surprise. "B-but I thought that you liked that one girl, Reiko."

"Who?"

"The girl you were talking about yesterday when we were in the chat room. You said that she was really into you."

"Oh, yeah, well, about that..."
"You made her up, didn't you?"

"No! She's real! I just may have fibbed a little. She's actually an old lady that came into the shop and flirted with me a bit."

"..."

"Mikado?"

"So, you wanna go get some ice cream this Friday?"

Hey everybody! Sorry it took so long for me to update. I was just having so much trouble finishing this second chapter, and I still don't really like how it came out, but hopefully you guys like it!