So I had this all typed out a few days ago, but of course, my computer crashed. Thank god we have IT here on campus and it's free, cause I would have had to been computerless for a while, and for a college student that is impossible. Plus, fanfiction. Can't forget that.

This story can be found on the kinkmeme as well as my livejournal fanfiction account. My name there is fallback_fics

I don't own Durarara!


"So soft..."

Shizuo cupped Mikado's face, his thumb smoothing red-rimmed eyes and cheeks. His fingers lingered; Mikado's skin was puffy to the touch, like his would get after a fight. The clock mounted over the counter ticked, ticked, ticked, the time away, the hours it had taken to push Mikado into the bed and some spare clothes for the night, the hour it had taken him to calm down enough to stop tearing up. It had been heartbreaking, practically, to watch him toss and turn, and then finally when he fell asleep, to start twitching, his body wracked with emotion. His lips would move silently every once and a while.

"I'm so sorry..."

Shizuo's clothes hung off both his shoulders, and the pants drooped so bad he'd had to cuff the bottom and tie the strings as tight as they would go around his waist. His comforter engulfed him, from his toes, to where it bunched up at his waist, to his neck. He clutched at Shizuo's pillow, his knuckles a shade lighter than normal. Had he done that the last time they'd slept next to each other? He racked his brain, but couldn't remember beyond the memory of touching him, of kissing him, of holding him so tight his heart had thudded against his chest.

Shizuo ran his fingers through Mikado's hair, bent over, and kissed his forehead. "I'll make everything better, I promise, Mikado."

He pulled his arm back, fished in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"I was wondering when you would call, Shizu-chan~"

Just the sound of his voice... Shizuo growled. "I'm not playing with you anymore, Flea. Meet me at the park. Now."

"Oh, so commanding~" Izaya snickered. "And if I don't show up?"

Shizuo cast one last look at Mikado before shutting the door. The blanket covered most of him, but the gentle rhythm of his breathing made Shizuo smile sadly. He hoped that he stayed asleep while he was gone. "You'll show up."

"Shizu-chan knows me so well, I see. What a scary thought, a protozoan like you knowing anything about grand ol' me."

Shizuo grunted. He reached into his pocket and rooted around for a cigarette, lighting up before he stepped out of the house. The familiar metallic sting of smoke and ash soothed his anger - a bit. Pulling the phone away from his mouth, he whispered, "good night, Mikado."

"So Mikado-chan is staying with Shizu-chan? How scandalous!" The sound of his laughter was even worse over the phone; Shizuo puffed harder.

"That's none of your business, Flea," he snarled.

The streets were still packed, people still avoided him, giving him a wide berth when they took in his bartender suit. People were still largely uncolorful, even behind his purple shades. He still smoked. The girl with that sign, the one he'd once written in, was still by the park, and Simon was still speaking broken Japanese.

"Shizu-chan."

He snapped his phone shut and crushed his cigarette under foot.

Izaya stepped out of the shadows, hands in pockets, the picture of contentment. He shrugged, the fur of his parka rubbing against his pointy face, then smiled. "Don't be like that! We came to talk, not to fight! Or do you plan on killing me, before I hurt your precious Mikado-chan?"

"Don't say his name so familiarly!"

Izaya blinked. Shizuo cursed inwardly. Why was his temper so bad? Why was he always doing this? Why would Mikado want him? Their first meeting he'd come close to mauling the boy, but he had sat down and tried to help him anyways. He went through library books, countless websites, asked people he barely knew! And for what? To fall in love with a man with brute strength and a horrible temper? He frowned, scuffing the ground with his shoe. Izaya's lips were moving.

"I've known Mikado-chan much longer than you have, Shizu-chan. I know all about his past and his present. What do you know about him?" He wanted to wipe the satisfied smirk off his face, but Izaya wiped out his knife, pointing it at him. Light bounced off the blade, blinding him for a split second. He blinked, almost missing Izaya's sudden frown. "That he's a high school student? That he's helpful? That he's the Dollars leader? I knew it all before you, dear Shizu-chan. And I know more than that too."

"Fucking stalker."

"Informant is the word you're looking for, protozoan. But I wouldn't expect someone of your intelligence to remember such a big word~"

"Cut the crap Flea."

Izaya lowered his blade - slightly. "Aw, do you want to call a truce? Perhaps hand over Mikado-chan to me?"

No, no, no, no, no! Shizuo growled, taking a step closer; Izaya's blade raised up again. "Not on your life Flea. He's mine."

"I never thought I would see the day that you fall in love!" Izaya's free hand slapped his chest, right where his heart was. "And if you did, I always vowed to ruin it. For fun, you see. But to think, that the beast would have such great taste. Though it's a bit taboo, what with Mikado-chan so young and being a boy and all. Some would call that wrong, immoral even. Do you want people mocking his good name? Dragging him even further into the lowest part of society? I can prevent that - or I can start it."

"That's a bluff and you know it. You wouldn't do that to him."

"Or would I?" Shizuo's eyes widened; what was Izaya doing? "You know very little about me, Shizu-chan," he said, pouting, as the tip of the knife punctured a hole in his shirt, cutting through the black fabric. "You have no idea how I will react. You hated me the second you caught sight of me; maybe the only smart thing you've done with your life!" The blade touched skin, and Shizuo watched as Izaya wiped the blood off the blade with a finger. What the fuck was going on? Izaya usually liked to make his blood spill, not his own blood. "Your biggest mistake was taking Mikado from me."

Shizuo steeled himself. Izaya had always been off. Poking holes in his own chest shouldn't freak him out as much as it was. "I didn't take him from you. He loves me."

"For now. Things change. People move on."

He snorted. "You're one to talk Flea."

"Ah, even Shizu-chan can joke."

Shizuo reached into his pocket. The sound of rustling paper reached his ears as he launched it at Izaya, who caught it with ease. Stupid good reflexes; stupid flea reflexes. "Enough of that. I came here about this." Izaya shot him a dirty look, then flicked his knife closed. He uncrumpled the paper ball, his eyes moving down the page faster than Shizuo's could. "What the hell does it mean?"

"It means exactly what it says. 'Give me back what once was mine.' You really are stupid, huh? It's even spelled out - correctly, I might add - in front of your very eyes. Maybe you should get them checked?"

Shots to his intelligence weren't new to him, but he gnashed his teeth anyways. Izaya could just breath and it would piss him off. "Why the hell is there a picture of Mikado on there?"

Izaya waved his finger at him, his hips moving from side to side. "Tut tut! What's the fun in explaining? You should figure it out yourself. I am presenting you with an educational opportunity, Shizu-chan. You should take care to be a better pupil."

"I've had enough of your games!" Shizuo advanced forward, until all that was separating him from Izaya was the blade pointed at his chest. "I want answers Flea, and I want them now!"

"That's too bad Shizu-chan; I'm not at liberty to give them right now. This is my game and I intend to to play it to the very end - and of course, win."

Hopeless! What kind of sick freak was he? "And if you drag Mikado down because of this?"

"Shizu-chan is such a romantic, at heart, huh?" Izaya moved the tip of the blade down, drawing droplets of blood. Izaya licked his lips; Shizuo held his ground, even as his blood splattered the ground. It was nothing, nothing at all. He didn't brush the blade away."Just because I love Mikado-chan doesn't mean I won't play with him~"

"You're a fucking psycho Flea!"

Izaya smiled, red eyes glinting. "If you say so~ But I have business to take care of, so I'm going to have to leave you now. A certain doctor wants to talk to me and he insisted that it be tonight. I guess I'm just so popular, eh?"

What does he have to do with this? "Not yet. I haven't gotten any answers still."

"That's too bad for you then. Maybe you should ask Mikado-chan what it all means; isn't that why he was crying?"

How did he...? Shizuo grabbed at Izaya's parka, but the informant was too quick for him. He leaped over the stone wall, calling, "Send Mikado-chan my love, won't you?" over his shoulder. Shizuo watched him bound away.

"Fuck!" His foot kicked out, catching a stone. It split in half. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

This was too confusing! Izaya loved Mikado, right? Wasn't this why this was all happening? But it was the Flea, he had been known to start fights just for the hell of it. But he knew about Mikado crying, when Mikado had only started at his apartment? Did the fucker have his apartment bugged? Shizuo froze; if his apartment was bugged...then that meant...

He started running. He didn't stop until he skidded into his apartment, shouting, "Mikado!"

"Hello Heiwajima-san."


Izaya sauntered into the room, falling into his favorite couch. He snuggled into it, relaxing. Meeting with Shizuo was always so exciting, he just wanted to nap afterwards. He used his arms as a pillow, calling out Shinra's name. If the doctor didn't show up, he was going to fall asleep. Though Celty would probably have a few choice words - typed out, of course - to say about that. She didn't like him much; he grinned. Not that he could blame her, exactly.

"Ah, when did you get in here Izaya?"

Izaya cracked an eye open. "Are you serious? I've been screaming your name for the past minute."

Shinra chuckled, moving aside. "As you can see, I was with a patient."

Izaya watched the man walk away - awkwardly, like Frankenstein - with a detached sense of amusement. "The underground must be booming with business," he observed, closing his eyes again.

Shinra mumbled his agreement. "In part, due to you, of course."

Izaya wiggeld around in his seat, throwing his arms up into the air. "Ah, how I love humans! So exciting, so interesting, the perfect subjects to study."

"So you've said before."

What's with him? Izaya opened his eyes. "Why did you call me over? You're usually so hung up on your darling Celty that you rarely call me over anymore!" He pouted. "Or you're enjoying cutting some poor simpleton to shreds and then patching him back together. So sadistic-like~"

Shinra smirked. He was sitting in the armchair, arms folded neatly on his knees. It was hard to imagine he'd just been stitching someone up just mere minutes ago. "Jealous, Izaya?"

"Not at all. Just an observation." Like he would be jealous of Celty. Bah! "So what is it? Did you get me a gift for my birthday?~"

"Why would I do that?"

Izaya yawned, stretching before he sat up. "So cold," he whined.

"We both know why I called you over."

Izaya's hands slipped into his pocket, feeling the cold shaft of his knife against his warm skin. He rubbed his finger along the drying blood. "Ah, the new war? Isn't it just grand? It took me a bit longer than I had hoped to plot it all out, but it's going to be even better than the last! Your business will skyrocket." Izaya's eyes narrowed. Shinra was still staring at him, devoid of emotion. "Aren't I a good friend?"

"You should stop the war."

His lips quirked up. "So predictable, Shinra. Did your beloved ask you to talk to me? Or did you decide to act on your own? No, no, it must have been Celty; you were never keen on the matters of humanity before. Even though Shizu-chan is your friend too, you would never act like this for him~"

Shinra leaned forward, pushing his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. They glinted in the light. "As is Mikado-kun."

"His charms are hard to resist."

"He's not a toy to play with, Izaya."

"I know."

"Then why are you doing this? Starting a war in his name isn't exactly going to endear him to you. Stressing him out isn't going to make him decide he wants to be yours."

"It could." He shrugged. "After all, you helped conceal Celty's head and she still loves you~"

Shinra stiffened - ah, bingo! "All I am is asking is to go about this a different way."

Izaya stood. "No, I don' think I will. This is just too perfect as it is. Why change a perfect plan?"

Shinra stood too, catching Izaya's shoulder before he could turn. "I won't help you."

He turned the knife in his pocket more. "I know. Celty comes before everyone, even your old best friend~"

His hand dropped. "I just thought I would let you know."

"Thank you, but your help isn't needed. I can do this myself." He mock bowed. "Tell the lady of the house hello for me. I will see you later, Shinra-kun."

He let himself out. What a disappointment. It had played out just as he had imagined. Shinra was getting duller and duller. He rubbed his thumb over his blade. He would make this war even better than the last; and he would win Mikado.

No matter what it took.