Author's Note: This is extra long to make up for my absence! I'm so happy to hear you guys are enjoying this 3 I tried to incorporate some of all your ideas into their date, but couldn't add too much without breaking out of character. I'm gettin used to Shizuo... but for some reason Izaya keeps getting harder to write as. 'Tis ok, I'm re-watching Durarara! anyways :'D

Also, my parasite is dead!

In other good news, I'm gunna prob come out with a Izaya x OC pretty soon. It's going to be called "Opposites" (well maybe, might change) and it's about another information broker moving into the district and working together with Shizuo to make Izaya go out of bussiness cause she's a bad ass bitch who lurvs teh moneyz. (shameless advertisement)

ENJOY PLOX. LEAVE REVIEW PLOX...I LOVE YOU ALL. -creepy stalker breath-

Day Six
How We Planted the Seed

"This. Fucking. Sucks."

"Aww, it's not that bad Shizu-chan. Look on the bright side, now you get to be by me all the time!"

"I want to die."

"I can help you with that~"

"It never stops with you two, does it?"

"Nope~"

The sun was hanging high up above the sky. Ikebukuro was just as loud and full of life as usual. Finally, they had had a chance to return to their normal lives and Shinra still restricted them. Izaya was honestly slightly worried. He could have lost a lot of business in the five days he had been gone for. It was a good thing he hadn't planted a seed of destruction before he left, else he would have missed the beautiful symphony of someone's life shattering like glass. That was his favorite thing, of course.

Shizuo, Izaya and Tom all walked quietly down the street together, each one stuck in their own state of mind. Tom was with them because Shizuo still had a job to do, and debts didn't collect themselves. The poor dreadlock haired man was sporting several cuts and bruises by now. The second a client saw Shizuo wasn't with him, they took it as a chance to beat the shit out of Tom and finally rid themselves of the money they owed. So far, it hadn't been a pretty week for poor Tom. Izaya could have gone to his job... but there was sort of a little problem.

They were handcuffed together. And this handcuff had enough static charge to put a raging bull (such as Shizuo) on his knees in seconds flat. Luckily, this one did not react to blood pressure. Actually, this one had a lock of it. Whenever the lock was forced, it would click in place, effectively shocking the two people chained to it. This way, not even Shizuo's brute strength could rip through it.

"I don't get what Shinra finds so enjoyable about this," Tom commented. It was weird, watching Izaya skip next to the deathly looking Shizuo. It was like watching a happy little Chihuahua prance next to super angst-y, emo grizzly bear. Izaya seemed almost happy to be out with Shizuo (which Tom found creepy yet comical). As for the blonde? Well, he looked just about ready to shoot himself in the head.

"Hn," Shizuo grunted, completely agreeing. He quickly pulled a cigarette from his packet, fingers fumbling as they lit up the stick. Once the smoke entered his system, he could feel himself cool off.

"You know smoking kills, right Shizu-chan?" Izaya commented, slipping the cigarette pack out of Shizuo's pants.

"The hell do I care!" Shizuo roared, roughly snatching the pack back.

"Although, you finally dying would make life easier on me. In that case, you need to smoke more."

"How about I burn this in your eye instead?"

"HEY! Yeah, look, a job. Please, let's just get this last collection over with so I can go home and send you two of to your date. I'll even give you money for ice cream...," Tom teased, a slight hint of annoyance behind his voice. He was usually a chill man... but listening to these two bicker was too much, even for him. Whatever Shinra was doing was working, because Tom was amazed how casually the two walked next to each other.

Finally stopping in front of a beat down apartment building, Tom let out an exhausted sigh. "Alright then, back to work..."

"Alright, I'm leaving the money with you, Shizuo-san. Try not to let Izaya steal it all. I'm heading home. Call me if you need me," Tom said, handing over to Shizuo his now plump wallet. "Now... go get some ice cream or something."

Shizuo was about to retort, but with a half hearted wave, Tom had left. The two men stood in the silence of an abandoned street. Just a couple of blocks ahead, the city life sprang up again. They walked in complete silence until they were completely surrounded by people, lights, and the fumes of the cars.

Actually, now that Shizuo thought about it, an ice cream didn't sound that bad. He did like sweet things, after all. What about Izaya, though? He had mentioned he didn't like junk food... Would he consider ice cream junk food? Maybe. Wait, why the hell did he care? If Shizuo wanted ice cream, then god damn it he would get his mother fucking ice cream. If Izaya becomes an unhappy troll, then so be it.

"I'm hungry," Shizuo announced, Izaya following him behind like a lost puppy. "And I'm getting that ice cream."

"Really? Can't we get something else, Shizu-chan? Junk foods don't speak, and I can't tell the emotions of the person who made them. Take me to a restaurant!" He pouted, stopping in his tracks.

Shizuo looked back at him with an annoyed look. "Do I look like your fucking boyfriend or something? No. I want ice cream."

"I want real food."

"Ice cream is real, you dip shit. You can touch it, can't you? Guess what, it's real," he said sourly. With little to no effort, he tugged on the cuff and dragged Izaya, completely ignoring his shouts of protest. "Shut up, people are going to think I'm gunna go rape you or something..." And Izaya still kept screaming. Shizuo was losing his patience way too fast.

"Help! The big tall brute is taking me away!" Izaya shouted. People only offered weird looks, some of them actually playing with their phones as if debating whether they should call for help or not.

"I said shut up!"

"Rape! Rape!"

"YOU STUPID ASS MOTHER FUCKER!" Shizuo shouted, finally snapping. He spit his cigarette onto the ground, stomping on it before he grabbed some poor unfortunate soul's shirt collar and swunging him towards Izaya. The man cried as his face met the concrete sidewalk, Izaya having efficiently dodged the attack.

"O-Ouch...," the man on the ground whimpered. His arm was twisted in a fashion that was both unnatural and clearly painful. The sound of clicking as people dialed for the police soon became evident.

"Shizu-chan, now look what you've done! That poor man was probably just on his way on his home from a busy day at work and now you've gone and broken his arm. How naughty of you!" Shizuo could only shoot Izaya a disgusted look as the man kept talking.

Before they could properly make their escape, the sound of sirens cut through the air with shrill screech. Within seconds, the two were surrounded by the men in blue. It was an all too familiar scene for Shizuo.

But then, Izaya did something unexpected.

"All, hello men. It's nice to see you all today. Takakomi-san? What a pleasure to meet you here!" Izaya exclaimed, making his way towards what seemed to be the head police in the group. Shizuo eyed the flea carefully as he followed behind. Izaya leaned into the man, whispering words that no one else could hear.

The old man's widened with fear and worry. What had Izaya told him? Suddenly, he spoke up. "Alright boys, we didn't see anything. The man was hit by a car. Tag him and bag him. We're gone." The other police officers gave questioning looks, their batons still poised and ready to lay a beat down on Shizuo. When the leader coughed urgently to get-the-fuck-out, they finally listened. As fast as they came, they were gone. Ikebukuro returned to its normal state, as if nothing had ever happened.

Did... did Izaya just bail Shizuo out of something? Woah. He wasn't expecting that.

It seemed as though Izaya read his mind, because he quickly spoke up with a teasing tone, "Don't think I did that for you Shizu-chan. I know you got excited, but I simply didn't want to spend a night in a cell with you. I still don't love you."

Shizuo frowned. Weren't they already spending life together in a cell?

"Besides, jail cells are too dirty anyways."

Figures, Shizuo thought, rolling his eyes. It was all about Izaya, wasn't it? And just when he thought the flea actually did something nice for him. Italy would do something useful as a country before that happened. ((Lol, subtly making fun of Italy from Hetalia. 3))

Izaya suddenly smiled, like usual, and began to tug at the chain, leading them deeper into the city. Great, now where the fuck where they going? Was Izaya just going to drag him around all day? Fuck that, he should just fling him around and bash his skull into the pavement. Hmm... now that he thought about, he could do that... But the force would only cause himself to get shocked. Losing a few more nerve cells for the sake of killing Izaya seemed like the deal of the century, though.

"One strawberry, please."

Shizuo finally looked up, finding himself standing in front of a small ice cream stand on the side of the street. Izaya gingerly held the cone in his hand, grabbing Shizuo's hand and placing the cold ice cream in it. Shizuo just stared at it. Did he just buy him ice cream? Well, he did like sweet things... It wouldn't surprise Shizuo that Izaya knew... fucking crazy ass stalker.

"You know, if you keep glaring at it, it'll melt, Shizu-chan. Then I'd have to go and lick your hand clean. Wouldn't want that, now would you?" Izaya teased, playfully winking.

"Freak...," Shizuo muttered. What was wrong with this man today? He was being waayyy too nice. And flirting. That was giant no... Then again, Shizuo didn't mind it as much as he usually would. He... he kinda liked it. Gross, Shizuo must be suffering from a brain tumor or something...

Still, now he felt like he owed the flea something. Shizuo didn't really like being indebted to people either, knowing how much hell that could bring onto your life. As a debt collector himself, he knew how badly debt could get. Knowing Izaya, the stupid bastard would try to use today's events against him in the future. But... what could Shizuo give Izaya in return? He said he didn't like junk food... maybe he could take him out to eat? Though, that would feel like a date... No, why would it have to be looked at like a date? It could just be two friends out to eat.

But that was just it, they weren't friends. In fact, they hated the shit out of each. At least he thought they did. Lately, he's been feeling a bit more tolerant around Izaya. It's extremely unsettling.

Alright... so they would go out to eat... just as... acquaintances. Right... that could work.

"OH MY GOD."

"Fuck my life...," Shizuo muttered.

"I knew you two totally had it in for each other! And handcuffed! How scandalous! Why don't you ever do that with Anri-chan!"

"Ah, Kida-kun, what a pleasure it is to see you," Izaya said with mock joy.

The infamous trio pulled up to the duo, wearing their usual Raira Academy uniforms. Kida lunged for Izaya, pulling at his cheeks while his own Cheshire grin spread across his face. Izaya only growled in annoyance. "Looks like the big bad wolf finally got put on the leash!"

"Um," Mikado started, "Can I ask why two are...?"

"They're on a date, obviously!" Kida exclaimed.

"Masaomi-kun...," Mikado warned.

"Pfft, you're so dull, Mikado. Everyone knows they are madly in love with each other—"

"I don't usually make it my hobby to punch kids, but I think I could take it up," Shizuo simply stated, plucking Kida from Izaya from the collar of his shirt. Kida simple hung in the air, an innocent look on his face. "Now leave."

"So threatening~"

"I think we should go, Masaomi-kun," Mikado said, reading the atmosphere for once better than Kida. Anri nervously nodded and agreed.

Completely ignoring what the others said, Kida continued to probe at Shizuo's patience. "So where is your date going to take you? A stroll at the park, romantic dinner, the amusement park? OH! Sex in an alley way? How scandalous."

Kida was on his face on the floor with a bloody nose within seconds.

"I'm leaving," Shizuo said angrily, spitting on the ground as the other two kids moved to pick up their beaten friend from the ground. A headbutt from Shizuo was enough to knock the shit out of anyone. Izaya followed with a bounce in his step, almost giggling as they left the trio.

"Shizu-chan, you're so rough—"

"Shut the fuck up. We're going to Russia Sushi. You will eat and you will like it."

Izaya stared at him dumbfounded for a few moments. Now he was the one caught off guard. Was this seriously turning into a date? How odd and... completely unexpected of Shizuo. Yes, Izaya thought, blow me away Shizu-chan, please keep surprising me!

"I don't like owing anyone anything, so I'm paying you back. Get your mind out of the gutter, you prick."

Izaya chuckled. "Whatever you say, Mr. Prince Charming."

Dinner... had been extremely awkward. The two men had sat there, waiting for their meals, glaring into each other eyes like lions setting their sights onto the prey. Every time Izaya tried to spark a conversation, Shizuo would blow it down, only giving one word responses and waving him off, clearly not eager to speak at all. Still, there were moments were one caught the other staring at him. Each time, they would look away embarrassed.

Finally, when Simon had arrived with their food in an offering of escape, the tension had died down a bit. The air seemed lighter as well, the growing brooding moods of hatred and angst quickly being eaten away like the food. The silence had actually become comfortable for the two. Again, they had caught each other's eyes, Izaya smirking while Shizuo looked away in frustration.

Full and ready to return to prison... I mean home, the two men walked down the lit streets of Ikebukuro. People swirled around them, splitting like water does when it meet a jagged rock in the river. Neither or them spoke, but merely walked in silence. It was broken by the sudden ringing of both their phones.

Shizuo plucked his phone from his pocket, quickly reading the text message out loud.

Hey! It's Mikado... Um, a bunch of us where heading to the Fukuro Festival at the West Square. All of us thought it would be a good way to loosen some of the tension between you two... I-I mean, you don't have to come! But I'm just saying it would be nice... Anyways, we'll see you there!

-Ryūgamine Mikado

"Oh I almost forgot! It's the last weekend of September! The festival is going on right now," Izaya informed, having received the same text message.

"We're not going," Shizuo grunted roughly.

Izaya raised an eyebrow. Was he going to go and be difficult now? Izaya would actually prefer to go, mainly because that just meant more time away from their prison back at Shinra's house. This could also be a perfect chance to piss off Shizuo with some of the festival games... Actually, when he thought it, Shizuo might just get really pissed off and destroy the whole place... Yeah, definitely sounded like fun to him.

"But why Shizu-chan? I want to go! Pleaaasseeee?" he whined, prodding Shizuo's arm.

Smacking his hand away, Shizuo replied. "Fine, but only because I want to waste more time."

"That's what I thought~"

"Ohhh, that's the third time! Sorry sir, but the net broke and the fish is loose! Would you like to try again?" asked the man behind the stand.

The net broke in Shizuo's hand. "Fuck your fish!" he roared, tired of trying over and over again. Losing his patience, he punched the table. Izaya watched with amusement as water and goldfish flew through the air, shimmering under the light of the fireworks. The man scrambled to pick up his things, shouting profanities at the two men who quickly made their way out of the scene.

"You lose your patience a lot, Shizu-chan. It's just one of the things I hate about you, really. You're so stupid it's hard to predict you."

"Yeah? And you're an ass, but I'm sure you've been told," Shizuo replied, honestly getting bored. They had been arguing for so long that it didn't even bother Shizuo any more, something that was starting to severely irk Izaya. Every time the dark haired bastard made some snide remark, Shizuo would just wave it off, causing a very surprised Izaya to try even harder than needed.

"Who's going to play next! Anyone's a winner when you play the Pocky Game! Step right up, nibble on the ends and see who's a pair and a who's afraid! You two!" shouted a woman in a kimono behind a stand with large decorative pocky sticks covering every visible inch of the stand. Shizuo paused, casting a questioning look to her behind his shades. "Yes you two! I can see from the hand cuffs you two are on a date! Why not play the pocky game!"

"No," Shizuo said, quickly turning away.

Izaya quickly jumped to make a comment. "What? Afraid I'd win?"

"If we play, there's a chance you'll be a sly, pervert flea and try to kiss me. I'm going to pass on that."

Again, Izaya chuckled. "I knew it, I'm just better than you and you don't want to be proven wrong. Am I right, Shizu-chan?"

"You? Better than me? That's a real laugh! The dirt under my foot deserves more respect than you! Give me that pocky!" he roared, extending his hand. The woman giggled, handing him one of the large, one foot pocky sticks. He bit down on end, watching with hateful eyes as Izaya bit down on the other end. Sparks flew between as the munched away furiously. They were a few millimeters away from locking lips when Shizuo suddenly pulled away, finally realizing his situation. Izaya swallowed the last piece, happy to know he was the one to win. Shizuo growled, getting close to Izaya's face as he growled. "You bastard..." He loomed over Izaya like a stone pillar, casting a shadow that almost hid Izaya's obvious glee.

Suddenly, someone bumped into Shizuo.

"Mikado told he saw Izaya and Shizuo down near the fountain," Selty typed, showing it to Shinra. The two of them had come to the festival in hopes of finding them and returning them home, but so far, they had had no such luck.

"I wonder where they could... Holy shit," Shinra barely got out. Selty tilted her helmet in a questioning manner. "You're not going to believe this...," he muttered, his shaking hand pointing somewhere ahead.

Selty turned her head in the direction he was pointing, only to drop her phone and belongings in complete shock.

Up ahead was a crowd of people, two figures visible in the middle. They all took pictures, watching in awe as one young man kept begging forgiveness, saying he wasn't looking when he bumped into the other man.

The two figures in the middle were Shizuo and Izaya... Kissing.

Shinra just shit so many bricks.

Izaya had been watching with a smile as Shizuo glared at him, towering over him. It was too easy sometimes to make him angry. Still, he started to wonder why Shizuo was suddenly getting closer and closer and closer...

He darted his eyes behind Shizuo, watching as a man had accidentally bumped into him, shoving Shizuo forward. Before Izaya had any time to react, Shizuo had landed on him, grabbing his shoulders to balance himself as his lips landed firmly on his own. Their lips melded together perfectly.

It was a simple moment of bliss. Both their eyes were wide open, shock and surprise swimming in them. Still, they didn't pull away, still too shocked to even move. Shizuo's grip became tight on Izaya's shoulder, but they slowly softened, afraid he might break the man under his hold.

Finally, they came to their senses.

Shizuo roughly shoved Izaya to the ground, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe his mouth clean. "Fuck!" he cursed, feeling as if his lips would shrivel up and fall off at any given moment. Izaya just sat on the ground, still a bit dazed. The crowd around them stared in awe, watching as the two beast of fury stared at each other.

While Shizuo dunk his head in a random bucket of water in one of the game stands, trying to rinse his mouth, Izaya sat dumbfounded on the floor. He blinked a few moments as if he had forgotten where he was. Did... did he just share a kiss with Shizu-chan? How weird. A strange feeling built up in his gut, one that made him want to go throw up. He was completely disgusted with himself. As much as he wanted to puke and frown, he found himself smiling and making jokes.

Resting his elbow on his raised knee, he said, "I didn't know you wanted me that much, Shizu-chan." He watched Shizuo from the floor, rolling his eyes every time in annoyance when the force of Shizuo dunking his head caused his arm to yank forward due to the cuffs. He really needed to get rid of those.

Shizuo was up and out of the water tub, roughly picking up Izaya by the collar of shirt and lifting him into the air with his free hand. "What the fuck are you playing at!"

"Me? You're the one who kissed me. I was just standing there when you jumped me. If anything, you should be angry at yourself. But, as usual, you don't see the logic in things when you get angry, so of course you blame this icky event on me," he said plainly, not all terrified by the look Shizuo was giving him.

"I'm going to kill you!" the blond roared.

Izaya laughed hard, actual tears forming at the rim of his eyes. "You know, I'm starting to doubt that a lot. You've been saying that for the past couple of days, but not once have you actually done it. What? Is little Shizu-chan actually growing a soft spot for me? I'll have to admit I've grown one for you. Now if I kill you, I'll make it less painful. See? I'm such a giver."

The grip around Izaya's shirt loosened slightly, but Shizuo still didn't let him down. He was deep in thought, processing everything the flea had said. He made a valid point... Shizuo had plenty of chances, and all of them went unheeded. Had he grown a soft spot for the piece of trash? That was certainly a very violent soft spot then. As much as he wanted to wring his neck, he somewhat didn't want to hurt him... at least not that much anyways.

What the hell was wrong with him! Izaya was playing mind games again and Shizuo didn't know what to do. Was he really angry about the kiss? Izaya was right, it was his own fault, not the dirty flea bag. Even when Shizuo had Izaya in his grasp, he hadn't crushed him. In fact, he had handled him with the upmost care, gently holding him as if he were made of glass. For the shortest of seconds, Shizuo had found a small moment of bliss shared with him. It wasn't every day Shizuo kissed someone... and he certainly didn't kiss men. But something about it felt so right.

But why was it so wrong as well?

Shizuo's face was like a blank slate, no emotion on it what so ever. He gently dropped Izaya, placing his shades back on his face and lighting up a cigarette. Exhaling a puff of smoke into the air, he turned, pulling Izaya behind him. "We're leaving now."

Izaya's eyebrow raised in suspicion? What? That was it? He had been expecting Shizuo to scream some more and try to punch him at least, but he had been left off the hook instead. Damn it, that stupid bastard never did things as he was supposed to. He wasn't as pissed off about the kiss as he should have been. Had Izaya said something that triggered something in the brute's mind? He couldn't have been right about the blond actually developing a soft spot for him, could he? That would definitely be beyond anything his cold and calculating mind could have expected. Should he happy or even angrier?

He let himself lean towards happy.

But why should Izaya be happy that Shizuo tolerated him? That was bad, wasn't it? It would just be harder to piss him off and they would just talk normally... actually, that didn't sound too bad. When was the last time they had a normal conversation where they weren't trying to kill each other? Hmm, when Izaya thought about, he came up with never. It was so foreign to him, thinking that the two could be on a basis of friendship, if not more.

Well, the kiss had been enjoyable, Izaya found himself thinking. He smiled to himself, finally realizing what had happened.

He had done it—Izaya had planted another seed of destruction.

Those few words he had spoken to Shizuo about a soft spot were going to eat him now. He could see it now, Shizuo constantly debating in his head the reasons why should or shouldn't kill Izaya. But. Izaya didn't know it, but another seed had been planted in his own mind by that kiss. Sure, he didn't think anything of it now, but later on, this killer's own mind would be consumed by thoughts of the intimate kiss. Soon, they would both want more.

Unaware of the future to come, Izaya walked all the way home with a bounce in his step, humming as he skipped along behind the eerily quiet Shizuo.

The seed was now growing.