Whoa, I did not expect the ending to show up for this update! How amusing! Anyway, here it is, the last chapter in this story that was initially meant to be a one-shot. Thanks to everyone who stuck around till the end, and a big high-five to the ones that reviewed and/or put this story on their favorites.

Unvarnished Reality

(Four Months Later)

Shizuo had gotten into a routine. He'd wake up, cook for Izaya, go to work, pick up sushi, and then head home. Izaya would greet him when he came in the door, Shizuo would snarl at him, then they would eat the sushi. After an hour or so of passive-aggressive conversation, Shizuo would go to sleep.

But today was different. Shizuo came home and Izaya was gone. There was a note on the counter, but it was just a scribbled picture of fatty tuna with a heart around it. Shizuo understood that the note was only there to tell him that Izaya had left of his own free will.

Tossing the note into the trash, Shizuo sighed and put the sushi on the counter. He had gotten so used to living with Izaya that he could hardly believe he was really gone. Though it was nice to be living alone again. If he wanted, he could sit on the couch. He could work out in the living room. He could...he could...

"Dammit," Shizuo growled. There was no way he missed the flea. No way.

Besides, this was good news. Now things could go back to normal.

Shizuo sighed.

xxx

Since Izaya left, Shizuo kept a look out for that familiar furred collar as he prowled the streets of Ikebukuro. Nearly a week later, he finally caught sight of Izaya, who was chatting with a group of teenaged girls. Izaya had on his most dismal expression, but it was clearly just part of the act.

"IIII-ZAAAA-YAAAAA!" Shizuo bellowed before he knew what he was doing. He looked around for something to throw or rip out of the ground. A street sign would do nicely, he decided, and the metal screeched as he wrenched it free.

Izaya immediately spun around and grinned at him. "Hi, Shizu-chan!" he said happily. He saw the street sign and his grin widened. "Ah, playtime already?"

"Izaya," Shizuo growled, and he swung the street sign. Just to be safe, he had swung a little more slowly than usual to make sure Izaya would be able to dodge it. Izaya skipped nimbly out of the way.

"Oh, come on, Shizu-chan," Izaya whined. "This isn't fair!"

Shizuo knew exactly what he meant. He reached into the pocket of his vest and brought out Izaya's flickblade, holding it up tauntingly. There was a murmur through the small crowd of people that had stuck around to watch, and then a shocked silence when Shizuo tossed the knife to Izaya.

Izaya caught the flickblade out of the air and snapped it open. "Much better," he commented, slashing the blade a few times experimentally. At last, he pointed it at Shizuo. "Let's go, Shizu-chan!"

With a roar, Shizuo ran forward with the sign. He had missed this, he realized as he whipped the sign at Izaya. Izaya seemed to be enjoying himself as well, twirling and leaping and ducking just in time to avoid the sign, and yet still managing to lash out with the flickblade every so often to keep Shizuo on his toes.

They didn't hold back; it wouldn't have been as much fun otherwise. But Shizuo didn't go into his murderous rage and Izaya kept his most biting insults to a minimum. Sometime during the fight, Shizuo realized that Izaya had stolen back his wallet, which Shizuo had had since the fire. Izaya had picked it right out of Shizuo's vest pocket and then tucked it into his own pocket with a grin.

Gradually, the fight became less fun. Izaya started wincing more often whenever he had to twist out of the way, and Shizuo couldn't swing nearly as fast for fear of actually landing a hit. At last, Shizuo let Izaya jump back and put some space between them.

For a moment, they both stood there, panting, sweating, then Izaya grinned and straightened out of his fighting stance.

"Okay, I'm done," Izaya said. "Wanna go for lunch?"

"Sure sure," Shizuo replied.

Then, to the mingled surprise and confusion of the spectators, Shizuo dropped the street sign, Izaya put away his flickblade, and they walked away down the street side-by-side, chatting as amicably as could be expected as they headed towards Russian Sushi.

The End