Izaya never cared for birthdays. To him, the passing of another year meant nothing. He would forever be "21." Izaya didn't believe in growing older and was unappreciative of those who reminded him that he was doing just that.

Each May, his sisters would send him a tacky card in the mail, one with obnoxious colors or flowers or sayings on it. He never kept the cards, promptly throwing the year's gift in the garbage after reading over it once. Since Namie started working for him, Izaya was worried the woman would rub it in his face each time his birthday came around. Instead, she simply treated the day just like any other. He was thankful for that, even if he would tease her whenever her birthday happened.

Once, back in high school, Shinra had invited Izaya out for dinner on his birthday. Izaya declined, saying he was too busy with school work. The next year, Shinra asked again and Izaya turned him down. This continued each year, Shinra trying to celebrate with Izaya, only to be rejected with a poor excuse. Izaya didn't care and thought Shinra should just give up already.

Over the years, things had changed for Izaya but the dislike for celebrating turning another year older never left. He woke up on May 4th to a text from Shinra, inviting him to dinner with him and Celty. Izaya quickly replied, saying he was sorry but he already had plans for the evening. Namie showed up to work, late, with the mail under her arm. She tossed it at Izaya's desk and he saw his yearly birthday card sitting on top of the pile. He read it and tossed it, sighing to himself.

"Oi, Namie, do you know what today is?" he asked, spinning in his chair.

Namie continued searching for a book and replied over her shoulder, "it's Sunday."

Izaya chuckled. "Ah, yes, it would appear to be so.."

—

After a long day of background checking, meeting with clients, and playing solitaire on his computer, Izaya sent Namie home and locked up his office. As he turned to leave the building, he saw a single, small piece of paper lying on the floor. He picked it up, thinking perhaps a client of his had forgotten it. The front was blank but the back had a single address and a time on it. Izaya checked his watch and saw he had 30 minutes until the noted time.

He waited a few moments before pulling up the address on his phone and heading in the direction of the restaurant it lead to.

—

Izaya nearly walked straight past the entrance to the small, dimly lit sushi restaurant. He glanced around, noting he still had a few minutes until whoever the note was for was supposed to meet. He realized then that perhaps the note had been meant for another day and nothing exciting was going to happen. This thought brought a frown to his face and he was debating what to do next when he felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around quickly.

"Mr. Orihara?" an old woman asked, looking right at him.

"Um, yes, that's me.." Izaya said cautiously.

The lady smiled at him and pulled the door to the restaurant open, motioning for him to go inside. With a nod and another quick glance around, Izaya went into the building.

The inside was lit only by candles and it smelled vaguely of vanilla. There were a few other diners eating but no one Izaya recognized. The old lady motioned for him to follow her after pulling the door shut behind them and he did so, looking around the room. For an information broker, finding a new place he didn't know about before was always exciting.

Izaya was brought to a table in the back of the restaurant. It wasn't possible to see the front of the building from his spot, no matter which seat he sat in. The woman placed two menus on the table, bowed, and walked away, leaving Izaya alone. He began to look through the menu, wondering what sushi they had, when he heard the chair across from him scrape backward and a small, wrapped gift was placed in front of him. Izaya smiled before looking up.

"I wondered if this was a set up, Shizu-chan," he quietly stated, placing his menu down.

The tall blonde sitting across from him said nothing, only shrugging his shoulders as he removed his sunglasses and picked up his own menu.

"Ah, but Shizu-chan, I thought you knew I didn't celebrate birthdays?" Izaya asked, watching the other.

"Then don't think of this as a birthday gift," Shizuo gruffly answered, eyes scanning the menu.

Izaya smirked and leaned forward, pulling the menu away from Shizuo.

"Let me order. You still aren't very good at picking out sushi you enjoy and I don't want you to waste your money on food you won't eat," Izaya said as he caught the eye of the old woman passing by their table.

He waved her over and quickly ordered food for himself and Shizuo, handing her the menus. With nothing to distract him, Shizuo tried looking around the room, anywhere except at the man sitting directly across from him, staring intently in his direction. With a sigh, Shizuo gave up and ran a hand through his hair before speaking.

"What, flea? Why are you looking at me like that?" Shizuo asked.

"Oh, no reason.. I was only wondering how long you expected to ignore me. Iam sitting right in front of you, you know? It's somewhat rude to pretend I don't exist," Izaya replied.

"I wasn't ignoring you," Shizuo mumbled, looking away again. "I was just, uh.. Taking in the scenery.."

Izaya chuckled softly and reached forward, taking one of Shizuo's hands into his own.

"Are you nervous? Are you worried someone might see us?" Izaya asked, gently brushing his thumb across Shizuo's knuckles.

Shizuo's ears began to turn red but he didn't pull away.

"I wasn't even sure you'd come.." he muttered.

"To be honest, I almost didn't. You know, there are other ways to invite me to dinner. Ways that will get my attention better than a blank piece of paper outside my office," Izaya said with a light laugh.

Shizuo pulled his hand away, crossing his arms at that.

"Shut up, I knew you'd find the note. You're always looking for out of place things."

"Ah, that may be true.. But what if Namie had found it first? Or I hadn't noticed it? Poor Shizu-chan would be sitting here all alone, eating sushi he doesn't like and wasting money on some gift.." Izaya mocked.

Shizuo was cut off from responding as their food arrived. Izaya moved his still unopened gift to the side, leaving the place in front of him open for his plate. He thanked the old woman and dug in, ignoring Shizuo's glares from across the table.

"Eat up, Shizu-chan," he said as he ate another piece of the delicious sushi.

They ate in silence, Izaya finishing his food before Shizuo. He watched the other for a bit before once again picking up the wrapped gift. Izaya studied it carefully, shaking it gently but hearing no noise from inside.

"Uh, you can open that, if you want.." Shizuo mumbled as he finished his food.

"Hmm.. I wonder what a beast like you could ever think someone like me would want.." Izaya said, smirking at Shizuo.

"Ehh, just shut up and open your gift, damn flea," Shizuo growled in response.

Izaya meticulously unwrapped the small box, avoiding ripping any of the paper or breaking the tape he found keeping the box inside closed. There was a layer of foam inside the box and Izaya frowned, before removing it. The confusion on his face was obvious as Izaya picked up the silver ring underneath the foam to examine it.

"Um, Shizu-chan, I don't really know how to tell you this but.. I already have this? Two of them, actually," Izaya said, holding his hands up to show Shizuo the silver rings on each index finger.

Shizuo scoffed and pushed the hand holding the identical, third ring closer to Izaya's face.

"Look at it, you idiot.."

Izaya turned his attention back to the ring, studying it up close. The outside was exactly the same as his other two rings, the three rings could have come from a set. When he looked closer, however, Izaya noticed something written inside the new ring. He pulled the candle in the middle of the table toward him and read the note engraved into the silver band: 'to Izaya, my love. keep me close to you, always. Shizuo.'

Izaya gawked at Shizuo, his mouth hanging open but no words coming out.

"You hate it, don't you?" Shizuo began, looking away. "Ah, fuck.. I knew it was stupid. You already have two rings, why would you want to wear this one instead either of those.. I'll just.. I can take it back, it's fine-"

Shizuo was cut off by a finger pressed firmly to his lips. He looked back at Izaya and noticed for the first time the other's eyes seemed wet.

"Izaya..?"

Izaya shook his head, looking away from Shizuo. He quickly removed the ring from his left hand, replacing it even faster with the new one Shizuo had given him. He took a deep breath and smiled up at Shizuo.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

He drew in another shaky breath, trying to keep his emotions from showing too much. Reaching across the table, he took Shizuo's hand once more, opening it up and placing the ring he just removed into it.

"Do what you want with this one, I don't care. I don't need it anymore. Thank you, Shizuo, I love it," Izaya told him, smiling and gripping Shizuo's hand.

Shizuo grinned back before glancing around the room. Izaya soon felt a hand cupping the back of his neck and gently pulling him closer until Shizuo's lips met his in a quick but emotional kiss. As Shizuo let go, Izaya hurriedly brushed a hand across his cheeks, removing the wetness he felt there. He glanced down at his fingers, seeing no difference in the way they looked before but feeling deep inside him an overwhelming sensation as he brushed his thumb across the silver band on his left hand.

It was in that moment, as he leaned in to kiss Shizuo again, not caring who saw, that he realized, 'maybe birthday's aren't so bad after all…'