By the time Shizuo returned to his own apartment, the poorly-dressed bandage Izaya had given him had almost completely unraveled, and he decided to take a shower before attempting to wrap the wound himself. This proved to be a poor decision, as he could not get the water hot enough, no matter how much he meddled with the nobs. It only reminded him of the rain outside, so he stepped back out the shower after barely three minutes. He dried off, and then examined his injury in the bathroom mirror. Already a thin layer of scabbing had covered the wound, and he decided to simply stick a band-aid over it.

As he was dressing, his phone chimed with a text from Celty.

[Hey, are you alright? Shinra says he spoke with you, but I'm still having a hard time believing him. Are you sure you're alright?"

Shizuo pondered how much to tell her, and brewed a pot of tea as he thought through his response. It ended up being very short.

[Yes everything is fine. I am fine.] He took a deep breath, and then revealed a little more. [We are hanging out tonight.]

He wasn't exactly eager to read her response, and took his cup of tea to the couch. His phone buzzed a moment later, but he waited a few minutes without looking at it. Celty's reply made him freeze with the cup halfway to his lips.

[Hanging out? What are you going to do?]

Shizuo stared dumbly down at the message because truthfully he had not that far ahead; getting Izaya to agree to spend time with him was the hard part, he had not considered the equally difficult task of finding something for them to do. He hung out with Tom sometimes, at cheap restaurants and bars, but he didn't think Izaya would like either of those suggestions. Whenever he hung out with Celty they just stood around and talked with one another, and occasionally took a walk through the park, but Izaya couldn't walk and Shizuo didn't like talking to him very much.

Pausing his conversation with Celty, Shizuo typed a message to Izaya. Though short, it was incredibly difficult to compose.

[Was there anywhere in particular that you wanted to go tonight?]

When Izaya did not reply immediately, Shizuo stood up and began to pace around the room. Several questions presented themselves in quick succession; where should they go? What should he wear? Should he meet Izaya out somewhere, or meet him at his hotel first? He started to reply to Celty, but a message from Izaya finally came in.

[You invited me out Shizu-chan, the details are your responsibility. If you'd like relieved of the burden I can easily make other plans tonight.]

Shizuo had the extreme urge to type back a response canceling their plans, but he restrained himself. He took a full five minutes to calm himself down, and then typed his response quickly, answering at least one of his own questions.

[I'll think of something, just be ready at eight. I'll meet you at the hotel.]

Izaya's reply came in less than a minute later.

[I'd rather not have you visit my residence twice in one day. We'll meet somewhere else.]

Shizuo sat back down on the couch, frowning. [What if you get attacked again? You probably shouldn't go out by yourself.]

He knew that wouldn't sit well with Izaya, and when the informant replied, it was roughly what Shizuo had expected.

[I don't need an escort.]

Shizuo typed Yes you do, and then erased it. [Just be ready at 8.]

After pressing send, Shizuo let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, leaning back against the couch. He waited for Izaya's response, but when his phone buzzed it was only Celty.

[If you want I can ask Shinra what he likes? I'm sure they used to hang out in high school.]

Shizuo felt suddenly very tired, and his response was much angrier than he had intended.

[I already know what he likes, scheming and manipulating people.]

Celty's next question annoyed him, even though it was warranted.

[Then why do you want to spend time with him at all?}

[Because I've never tried to before]. He waited a moment. [I'd really appreciate it if you asked Shinra].

He did not receive any messages from anyone for a solid fifteen minutes, and had almost fallen asleep when Celty's next text arrived.

[Shinra suggests an arcade].

Shizuo checked the time, discovering that he still had four hours before he was expected at Izaya's door. He picked up his tea, only to find that it had gone cold.

.

The elevator doors chimed open thirty minutes before eight o'clock. Shizuo had not exactly meant to arrive early, but he was worried that Izaya would somehow find out their destination and leave the apartment on his own. Deciding that it would be stupid to wait out in the hallway for thirty minutes, he knocked on Izaya's door. He knew it was rude to arrive early, but at least he wasn't late. He waited a few moments and then knocked again. Behind him, Shizuo heard the elevator ding as the doors slid open.

"You're early."

The flatness of that voice was unmistakable. Shizuo turned around as Izaya maneuvered his wheelchair out of the elevator. Izaya had a bag of shopping in his lap, and did not look happy to see him. He watched Izaya's eyebrows raise.

"You look nice."

Shizuo stared dumbly back at him. Eventually he shrugged, self-consciously running a hand over his pale blue button-up. "Well the past two times I've seen you my bartender uniforms have been ruined. I figured it was safer not to wear one."

Izaya wheeled towards him, tilting his head to the side. "How many shirts do you own that aren't a uniform or pajamas?"

Shizuo paused to think. "Four."

That seemed to amuse Izaya greatly. He gestured to the bag in his lap. "That's less than an hour's worth of shopping."

"You bought clothes?" Shizuo stared at him. "For this?"

Izaya's lips curled downward. "Don't flatter yourself. I did not appreciate your attempt to impose house arrest, and I didn't pack enough clothes for my time thusfar, so I went out to buy more. Give me a minute to change." He unlocked his door and Shizuo started to follow him, but Izaya shut the door in his face.

Izaya took a very long time, and Shizuo paced up and down the hallway, trying his best to be patient. He was tempted to knock on the door again, but he knew Izaya was already irritated with him for coming early, so he refrained from doing so. After half an hour, his phone buzzed with a message.

[Knock.]

Shizuo was confused at first, but then understood it as a command. He did as he was told without thinking. A brief moment passed, and then the door pulled open.

"Ah, Shizu-chan, you're right on time."

Izaya looked, in a word, different. He certainly looked different than he had earlier that day when he was wet from rain and covered in dirt, but he also looked different from usual. He wore dark jeans and a red sweater that looked very soft and very expensive. He smelled faintly of cologne, and even though Shizuo wasn't very good at distinguishing between scents, he thought it smelled nice. Finally, and perhaps most surprising, Izaya had done something with his hair. It looked sharp, shiny and slicked back. The band-aid Shizuo had pressed to his cheek was still there, but he didn't let it distract him, at least, not too much.

"You certainly took your time." He growled. "You look...different."

"Well I had to look better than you," Izaya said, "and we agreed to meet at eight. I saw no reason to open the door before then." He wheeled out into the hall. "So, where are we going?"

Shizuo hesitated, still not confident in the activity he had decided on. "An arcade."

Izaya said nothing, but that only further provoked Shizuo's anxiety.

"Don't you have some asshole comment?"

Izaya shrugged. "I like arcades."

Shizuo sent a silent thank you to Shinra as the elevator doors chimed open and they moved inside. Izaya cleared his throat.

"Although I'll admit it's a bit juvenile, it's not like we're still in high school."

Shizuo gritted his teeth and pushed the button for the lobby so hard he thought he broke it.

When they reached the lobby he let Izaya exit the elevator first. Izaya was doing a better job pushing the wheelchair by himself than he had done earlier that day, and he looked stronger and more rested, so Shizuo did not offer to push it for him. Still, as they set out for 60 Story Street he tried to walk slowly so that Izaya could keep up.

They talked very little, but Shizuo still thought it was nice. He stayed alert as they moved through the city, looking for anyone who might wish Izaya harm. Girls kept looking at him, but Shizuo assumed that was because Izaya was handsome. In general, he was surprised by how little attention people paid to the informant. To his even greater surprise, Shizuo noticed that he also was attracting fewer gazes than usual, perhaps because he was not wearing his bartender uniform. Walking down the street with Izaya, he felt like they were just two normal people, on their way to a normal place. Without their usual disguises, costumes and masks, they could pretend that they were strangers or acquaintances, perhaps not friends, but they could at least pretend that they hadn't spent years hating each other. He was grateful that the city could let them do that, could let them be that.

These thoughts kept him distracted for most of their journey, and he accidentally led them one block past the arcade. Izaya raised his eyebrows when Shizuo said that they needed to turn around, but he said nothing,

Several stories tall, the arcade was crowded and very loud. Light shone from a hundred different games and machines, flashing in bright colors that hurt Shizuo's eyes. He thought that if Izaya truly could not see color as he claimed, in this case he was lucky. He also immediately realized that they had a problem; while most people did their best to move out of Izaya's way, the capacity made it difficult for him to maneuver his wheelchair through the crowd. Casting a quick glance around, Shizuo lead them to the least occupied corner of the arcade. When they reached it Izaya gave him a bemused look, as if to say, Now what?

"Is there anything you want to play?" Shizuo asked.

Izaya didn't speak, only shrugged again. Shizuo frowned at him and turned to the machine closest to them, a crane game full of stuffed animals.

"I want to play this."

He didn't really, but he thought that they had to start somewhere. He only wished that the nearest game had not been one so clearly meant for children. Izaya made a face like he was refraining from saying something judgmental. Shizuo appreciated it, since he had only led them to this unpopular corner for Izaya's benefit anyway. He eyed the contents of the game, his gaze falling across a series of rabbits, bears and dogs. He spotted a black and white cow in the corner, and dropped a coin into the machine.

He tried a few times, but could never get the crane in exactly the right position. He also felt unnerved with Izaya watching him, and after his sixth failure he was beginning to feel frustrated. He took a deep breath and stepped back.

Izaya rested his face in his hand like he was bored. "Giving up?"

"You try it."

Izaya looked surprised. "Why? I don't want to."

"If I try anymore I'll get mad and smash it."

"So? Then you'd have your pick of them."

Shizuo frowned at him. "And then they'd kick us out before you even got to play anything."

Izaya scrutinized him for a moment, his eyes wide like he was searching for something, and then he wheeled in front of the game. "You're more patient than you used to be."

Izaya said it quietly, without looking at him. Shizuo wanted to say that he was trying very hard, but was cut off as Izaya dropped a coin into the machine and took hold of the controller.

"In any case, I didn't know you liked cows so much."

Shizuo looked at him like he was stupid. "Where do you think milk comes from?"

The game was starting up and Izaya didn't look at him, but he smiled. Shizuo could see it in the mirror at the back of the claw machine; it wasn't sarcastic or cruel, it wasn't like usual. It pulled gently across his lips, causing two little wrinkles up by his eyes. It was gone in seconds, replaced with a look of determination as he moved the crane into position. Watching it drop, Shizuo realized that Izaya had done an even worse job than he had.

Izaya refused to look at him and shoved several more coins into to the machine. Shizuo leaned back and watched him. With each failure Izaya seemed to grow more agitated, pressing his lips together and furrowing his brow. It was very amusing, watching Izaya try and fail repeatedly at a child's crane game. It was very human. The thought surprised Shizuo, but he knew at once that it was true. Around his eighth try, the corners of Izaya's lips tipped upward as the claws closed firmly around the cow, lifting it into the air.

"I got it!"

Izaya immediately looked embarrassed by how enthusiastically he had said it, and hid his face by ducking down to retrieve the cow from the chute.

"Hey good job," Shizuo tried to match his excitement, "I was beginning to think it was impossible." He reached for the cow, but Izaya leaned back and pulled it just out of his reach. He looked very serious.

"This one is mine, get your own."

Shizuo stood dumbfounded. He spoke slowly. "Izaya, I think we both know I am more than capable of taking that cow from you by force."

In the time it took Shizuo to blink, Izaya had a knife out and pressed against the throat of the cow.

"Careful Shizu-chan, you seem to have stumbled into a hostage situation. I wonder if you're delicate enough to handle it?"

They stared at each other. It was stupid, Shizuo knew that, but he almost started sweating. Izaya suddenly turned, throwing the cow over his shoulder. Shizuo caught it. He barely heard Izaya's voice as he wheeled away.

"I don't care about this, let's go play something else."

Over the course of two hours, Shizuo learned that Izaya was alarmingly good at idol rhythm games and surprisingly bad at shooting games. On the third floor, they discovered a room full of non-machine games like pool and darts. They tried to play ping-pong, but Shizuo kept hitting the ball too hard and sending it across the room. Izaya disappeared at one point and returned twenty minutes later, keeping one arm bent behind his back.

"I won something for you," he said, smiling wickedly. He pulled the hand out from behind his back and unfurled a white, I Heart Tokyo t-shirt. He presented it to Shizuo with a flourish. "Now you have five shirts."

Shizuo made a face. "I don't want that ugly thing." But he took it from Izaya and slung it over his shoulder. "Are you hungry? I think there's a food court on the top floor."

They decided to split up; Izaya went to get them drinks while Shizuo waited in line for food—it had taken several minutes to get Izaya to agree to any of the fast food restaurants present. They met at a small table a few minutes later, and both tore eagerly into plastic bowls of gyudon, the one food they had agreed upon. It was spicier than either of them had expected, and Shizuo reached immediately for the cup Izaya had brought back for him. The drink was halfway to his lips when the smell reached his nostrils. Shizuo gagged and slammed the cup of beer back down on the table. It sloshed over the sides and spilled onto the table.

"You're an asshole."

Izaya's eyes darkened. "What? It's beer, very expensive beer, by the way. People drink it all the time."

Shizuo was not yet ready to accept that Izaya wasn't tricking him somehow, his painful night of eleven beers still haunted him. "You knew it would make me sick."

From the look on Izaya's face, it was clear that he had not known. The informant said nothing, only glared at him, his expression sinking into the darkest look that he had given Shizuo all evening. Izaya lifted his own cup to his lips and swallowed.

Shizuo still felt angry, but it was anger with no real outlet or source. To be honest, he felt a little irritated with himself for getting angry when Izaya had simply tried to be nice to him. With good reason, he didn't really expect Izaya to ever do nice things, but perhaps that was part of their problem. He didn't look Izaya in the eye. "Sorry."

Izaya kept glaring at him, and Shizuo tried his best to move on. "Is there anything else you want to play after we finish eating? I can try and win you your own stuffed cow if you want?"

Izaya's voice was icy. "Why would I want something stupid like that? I'm a grown man."

Shizuo felt himself deflate. They had been having a relatively fun evening before his outburst, but he wasn't exactly surprised that his weak apology hadn't been enough to appease Izaya. He had an idea. "Wait here." He stood up and started to walk away. He stopped and then doubled back. "Seriously," he said, "don't leave."

Izaya's glare did not waver, and Shizuo tried to return quickly as he could. Even so, it took him about fifteen minutes to ride the elevator down to the gaming floor, win the necessary prizes, and then ride the elevator back up to the food court.

Izaya was still sitting at the table, picking at his gyudon. Shizuo was both relieved and a little surprised that he had not left. As he approached the table, he saw that a third drink now sat among the first two. Peering over the side, Shizuo saw that it was thick and white, unmistakably milk.

"Did you get this for me?" He looked up at Izaya, but the informant had crossed his arms and was looking pointedly away from him. "Thank you." He raised the cup to his lips and realized that the word "Dick" was written along the side in a thick marker, clearly in the spot where a name was supposed to go. He had to laugh, he deserved it. He set the cup back down and moved around to the other side of the table.

"Here, hold out your hands."

Izaya looked at him suspiciously but did as he was told. Reaching into his pockets, Shizuo dropped several handfuls of small plastic weapons into Izaya's fingers. There were shrunken, battle axes, long scythes, and Izaya's favorite, knives.

"I know the real deal can be expensive to keep replacing, so I thought you could throw these at me when I piss you off only a little." Shizuo moved back to his side of the table and sat down. "Okay, let me have it."

Izaya raised an eyebrow and picked up a small hammer, moving it around in his fingers. "It's no fun when you're expecting it."

Shizuo rolled his eyes. "Then let's go play something else. Are you done eating?"

Izaya nodded, and Shizuo watched in satisfaction as he placed all the little weapons into his pocket.

Back down on the gaming floor, Shizuo realized with dismay that they had played everything at least once. At a loss for what to do, he let Izaya lead the way.

"Let's play a racing game."

Shizuo agreed with some hesitancy; he had intentionally avoided the racing games all evening because he wasn't sure how well Izaya would manage repeatedly pushing the pedals with his injured legs. Izaya however, had foreseen this issue, and led them to a row of fake motorcycles.

While it was the practical choice, it was also the amusing choice; although their motorcycles were red and blue, not black, the game still reminded them both of Celty. It took Izaya a moment to stand and lift himself up onto the motorcycle, and he seemed a little out of breath by the time he was finished, but Shizuo said nothing and took care not to stare at him.

When Izaya was properly seated with his hands on the handlebars, Shizuo pulled out his phone.

"Hey," he said, "look at me."

Izaya did, and before his confused expression could sink into a glare, Shizuo snapped a picture of him looking—in Shizuo's opinion—fairly at home on a motorcycle. Izaya tried to snatch the phone out of his hands, but Shizuo leaned away and quickly sent the picture to Celty and Shinra. Izaya reached into his pocket and threw a handful of little plastic weapons at him, but Shizuo only laughed.

"Now take one of me."

He passed his phone to Izaya, and was worried for a moment that Izaya would instead launch his phone across the room or smash it—as he had a history of doing—but eventually he leaned back and did as he was told. He didn't give the phone back immediately after taking the picture and Shizuo tried to take it from him, but Izaya let him have it back a brief moment later.

"I sent that one to them too." Izaya said it without looking at him.

Suspicious, Shizuo put the phone in his pocket, fully expecting to find the picture on some internet forum the next day. Izaya put two coins into the machine and selected two-player mode. The game prompted them to select a route—they decided on a busy cityscape—and then had them choose a character to play as. Shizuo clicked through them without much thought, and selected a man who was, in his opinion, the most normal looking of the assorted characters. He was surprised then, when Izaya selected a woman wearing a bright pink bikini top and cut-off shorts. Shizuo made a face, and Izaya looked at him sideways.

"What?"

Shizuo shrugged. "Nothing, I never would have thought you were the type of person to pick a character just because you think they're hot."

Izaya tilted his head to the side. "I picked her because like her bike, it has the best stats."

Shizuo had not noticed the column of numbers at the bottom of the screen. Looking at his own, he saw that they were significantly lower than Izaya's.

"Anyway," Izaya continued as the race began, "if I was going to pick the character I found most attractive, I would have chosen yours."

Shizuo's reaction was immediate. There was the loud tearing of plastic, and he accidentally ripped the head off of his motorcycle. His screen flickered and went black.

Izaya looked back at him, his expression smug. "Interesting, is that how Shooter became headless too?"

Shizuo felt his face grow very hot. Over Izaya's shoulder, he saw two arcade employees heading in their direction. Izaya followed his gaze and immediately began to climb off the motorcycle.

"I believe that's our cue to leave."

Shizuo waited as patiently as he could for Izaya to climb back into his wheelchair. The moment the informant was seated, Shizuo grabbed the chair by the handles and took off at a fast walk, forcing their way through the crowd. Izaya protested but Shizuo ignored him, and broke into a run only after he saw that the employees behind him had done the same.

.

As Shizuo barreled the two of them down the street, Izaya clung to his armrests so hard that the backs of knuckles turned white. Shizuo slowed four blocks away, once the arcade was no longer in sight, and Izaya's grip finally relaxed on the armrests. Shizuo's breath came in great huffs and at first Izaya thought he was angry, but then realized the beast of Ikebukuro was simply out of breath. Izaya had to suppress a smile.

"I didn't realize you became an old man while I was away."

"Shut up, with you gone I don't run as much."

Izaya gestured to his wheelchair. "Obviously I can say the same."

Shizuo made a noise like he wasn't sure if he was allowed to laugh or not. "I'm sorry we had to leave early." He said finally.

"Well, I can't say it was an unexpected end to the evening." Izaya shrugged. "Honestly, I'm surprised we made it that long without breaking something, you as well as me."

Shizuo hummed in agreement. He started to say something, stopped, and then cleared his throat. "Do you want to go back to your hotel now?"

Izaya didn't, but he couldn't think of a reason not to. "Might as well." He folded his arms across his chest. He did not demand that Shizuo stop pushing his wheelchair, even though the danger was clearly averted. Shizuo turned them down a busy street in the direction of the hotel. It had gotten colder, and when Izaya went out shopping earlier he really had needed clothes; everything in his suitcase was meant for sunny California weather, not the chill of early spring in Tokyo. Izaya was fairly certain that he could see his breath; the faint ghost of his words curled through the air every time he spoke. They were both dressed poorly for the weather, but Izaya had the feeling that Shizuo did not feel the cold as much as he did.

"So you're gay?"

Shizuo's question made Izaya's spine snap upright. He was stunned not only by Shizuo's tactlessness, but his openness as well. Leaning tentatively back in the wheelchair, he nodded once.

"Yeah." Izaya felt no self-hatred for this fact, or even embarrassment at admitting it, but waiting for Shizuo's response made him nervous.

"And you really can't see colors?"

Shizuo sounded odd when he said it, almost desperate. If Izaya had more time, if he had been able to stop and consider his answer, if any small hesitation would not have given him away, then he may very well have admitted that he could see colors. But he did not have that time, and a lie was easier.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Shizu-chan. I really can't seem them."

"That doesn't disappoint me." Shizuo said it immediately, but the feebleness of his voice did not match the strength of his words.

Izaya twisted around to look at him, but Shizuo's face was hidden in shadows. "Not even a little?"

Shizuo did not respond. Instead, he dropped the stuffed cow into Izaya's lap. "Here, hold this. I can't hold him, push you, and light a cigarette all at the same time."

Izaya took the cow in his hands. "Fine, but it'll cost you."

Leaning backward, Izaya plucked the freshly lit cigarette from Shizuo's lips. Facing forward once more, he brought it to his own lips and took a long drag, blowing smoke all over the cow. Izaya felt the pace of the wheelchair falter as a direct result of Shizuo's surprise. A long moment passed, and then Shizuo brought his fist down on the crown of Izaya's head. It didn't hurt, and was similar to a small bop.

"That was mine." Shizuo growled, but simply reached into his pocket and lit another one.

They proceeded on in silence for another few minutes. Izaya didn't really smoke his cigarette, he just let it burn, occasionally flicking the ash into the street. The smell of cigarette smoke always made him think of earlier days, of arguably better days, and he was forced to acknowledge that even the wicked man is not immune to nostalgia. Although it killed him to admit it, there was something familiar about Shizuo; there was something comfortable in knowing exactly where he stood, something relaxing in knowing exactly what space he occupied in the Shizuo's mind. Recently of course, that dynamic had become more complicated.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Shizuo asked suddenly.

"Think what's weird?"

"That we can spend time together like this. Like, isn't it weird that we just hung out in an arcade and now I'm walking you home so you don't get attacked?"

"I didn't know that was why you were walking me home." Izaya raised his fingers to his lips to cover his smile. When he felt capable of responding, he let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair. "It gets weird if you think about it too much. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't make sense. So I've stopped trying."

The wheelchair paused for a moment as Shizuo stomped out his cigarette. "But aren't you the king of thinking too much? It's kind of your thing."

Izaya squeezed the cow in his hands. "Well these last few days haven't exactly been normal...being back here, seeing you, it hasn't felt like reality. I'll probably come to my senses in a few days and wonder what the fuck I'm doing." He could see the large cement structure of his hotel rising in the distance. His voice grew quieter. "When that happens...well, I'm sorry."

Shizuo let go of the wheelchair just in front of the doors leading to the lobby. Izaya turned back to look at him. He wanted to say something sarcastic or teasing, something to relieve some of the tension, but nothing came to mind. Shizuo, thankfully, came to his aid.

"Thanks for the cow."

Izaya chuckled. "No problem. Now I know what to get you for your birthday."

Shizuo looked confused. "You don't know-" But he stopped, raising his eyebrows.

"You think I don't know when your birthday is?" Izaya paused to chuckle. "Ten years is long time Shizu-chan, you can't help but learn stuff about people, even if you hate them."

Shizuo looked at him for a long moment. "I don't know when your birthday is."

Izaya felt the unwanted teeth of disappointment sink into his flesh, cutting into the top of his spine. He gave Shizuo a small smile and shrugged. "Maybe it's just me then."

Shizuo looked uncomfortable. He shuffled his feet. "Well..." He began, "I should get going."

"Yes." Izaya agreed

Shizuo gave him an awkward half-wave. "I'll see you." Again, he looked like he was going to say something more, but then turned and began to walk back down the street.

Izaya decided to watch him leave, because Shizuo really did look nice in his pale blue button-up. As he watched, a pillar of moonlight suddenly tore through the dark clouds, falling like rain across the city, coloring the buildings and reflecting off windows. It was a pale sort of blue, a cold type of light, like an arctic sky. He wanted to call after Shizuo and point it out, but remembered that he wasn't supposed to be able to see color. Izaya pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was after midnight; he only had seven days left in Ikebukuro. Without thinking, he sank his right hand into his pocket.

"Hey."

Shizuo turned around, now twenty feet down the street, and Izaya sent a small plastic knife flying towards him. It hit Shizuo on the forehead and then bounced away.

"I know it's a long way back to your apartment," Izaya said, "you can sleep on my couch if you want."

Shizuo stared back at him. He rubbed unconsciously at the spot where the knife had hit him. He blinked several times. He opened his mouth. He closed his mouth. Eventually, he nodded.

A/N:

Hello hello! I'm sorry it has taken so long to post this chapter, I'm back at university and my creative writing classes sap most of my creative energy.

I can't exactly say I'm happy with this chapter? It is one of the few that I didn't have meticulously planned out, and I feel like this chapter is a little too silly. That being said, next chapter will be a very swift return to your regularly scheduled angst and poor communication hahaha. I can't say that it'll be posted quickly, but I am very excited to start working on next chapter so that will ideally motivate me a bit.