SIX: Beauty is a Pain in the Neck

Of course Celty would enchant all of the doors so that only Shizuo could open them. At least, that's what Izaya guessed was what happened. Even when he unlocked the door, he couldn't open it. It was like the door was glued shut. The only explanation for this was magic. Izaya didn't even know Celty was capable of performing this type of magic. He wondered if that meant the windows were also enchanted.

It was ten and Izaya had finished eating and bandaging his neck. Since Shizuo had locked himself in his room, Izaya decided to take this chance to explore the house and hopefully find a way out. Looks like there wasn't.

He sat down on the new sofa that Kasuka had bought earlier in the day. Was he going to be forced to live here for the rest of his life? Shinra had suggested this was a specially made jail for him, but certainly he wasn't given the life sentence, right? No they weren't such cruel people. Kadota worked for the law, but even he would be lenient with his friends. Especially since this wasn't directly related to his job (sideways, somewhat, since even a whisper of Izaya's name meant trouble for the whole town). Celty was also a kind person. The only one who would consider it would be Shinra and even he could be easily swayed to let Izaya go.

So...If I put their personalities into the equation, they're bound to get tired of this game by at most a year. In fact, he could bet that he'd be out in a couple of months. That wasn't so bad. He'd miss a couple of months of action, ah, actually, never mind, that was quite a bit of torture itself! He wouldn't be able to find out what his precious humans are up to at that time! All the fun he would be missing...the thought brought a pout to his lips. His feelings were akin to that of a fan missing his favorite television show. To think he would have to spend months with a beast rather than-

Right, the beast! There was yet another person in this mess with him. Immediately, Izaya's face soured. He can't imagine that Shizuo would want to keep him here any longer than Shinra or Celty. Despite Shizuo's willingness to keep Izaya here as a prisoner for his own sort of revenge, Izaya can't imagine Shizuo would want to live with him as soon as Shinra or Celty says he can go. Even better, perhaps he can just make Shizuo want to let him go.

No, wait, that might not be a good idea. Izaya had both witnessed and experienced firsthand just how easily Shizuo lost his temper. If he angered Shizuo too much, the beast can just kill him on the spot. Heck, he nearly died three times within the past two days. He should get a medal for surviving this long.

Izaya's eyes drifted to the clock hanging above the television. Half past ten. There wasn't much to do in a quiet house like this. The walls had been repainted along with the repair they did today so there weren't any scratch marks around the house. The walls were more pleasing to look at, but they seemed...boring now. Izaya didn't even have the amusement of imagining what horrendous tantrum Shizuo had to cause them.

He giggled to himself, imagine that! Shizuo acting like a baby! Of course, he had seen Shizuo running about in anger several times when he sent gangsters and hoodlum after him, but in a tantrum! Screaming for what he wanted! Izaya burst out laughing on the sofa and it took him several minutes to stop.

"...And it's boring again," his eyes drifted over to the television. Nice, of course Kasuka knew to pick out the best model. Giant, flatscreen, plasma...at least this was up to the quality of Izaya's lifestyle back in his apartment.

It couldn't hurt to turn the television on. And after finding the remote inside one of the cabinets the television rested on, he turned the power on, muted it, and changed to the news channel. It may not be the extensive database he had in his office, but it was some connection to the information outside this house. He didn't want to turn up the volume since Shizuo appeared to enjoy silence in this house. Otherwise, why keep quiet from the rest of the neighbors? Of course, the television gave a blue glow to the whole room, but it was less obvious than turning on a light and blasting sound throughout the room.

It was the general news. They had reports of the weather, the stocks, some happenings around town... There was a glimpse of the Black Rider and they talked of leftover rumors of Ripper Night. There was an attempted robbery here, an automobile accident there... There were no juicy details, just the cold hard facts which made a radius around the event. No news anchor ever probed further.

"Tch..." Izaya could've done a much better job.

And then finally, there was a short coverage on sightings of a monster. This was nothing new to Ikebukuro, which held many urban legends. But this one was new. It wasn't a motorbike and it wasn't a Russian assassin. It was a beast with a horns and a snout, with claws, looked like a mix between a wolf and a bear-

"Why's the volume off?" Shizuo's voice drifted from behind him.

"I didn't want it to bother you."

"Oh," Shizuo responded and sat down next to Izaya. It was the nicest conversation the two of them ever had with each other. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Shizuo was human.

"That's a horrible clip."

"Yea, they caught your bad side."

"Heh, you keep believing you know my bad side."

"I don't?"

"Like I'd ever tell you."

"Tell?"

"Yea."

They were silent for a moment. Both men watched the pictures on the screen. The news broadcast about Shizuo had passed and moved on to international news. In twenty minutes, it will repeat again in a loop until new information was added.

"Why are you like that?"

"Like what?"

"Whatever you are," Izaya turned to look directly at Shizuo for the first time. Shizuo was dressed as a bartender as usual, his hair was messy and the brown roots were beginning to show. He looked a bit tired, but peaceful. It was so different from the look Izaya usually received from him, which was full of anger and hate.

"For the record, I am human."

"So then, why?"

"Curse."

"Then why are you human now?"

"Conditions of curse."

"Then-"

"Shut up!" Shizuo yelled and pounded his fist on the armrest of the sofa. A cracking sound echoed through the room. "I don't want to talk about it!"

Izaya was a little surprised that Shizuo still had this strength even in human form. He scoffed, "As expected of an uncivilized protozoan." And the conversation was over.

The sofa was smashed again and Izaya ran around the house with a smirk on his face. He just wasn't scared of Shizuo as a human. Shizuo, on the other hand, just felt angry. The fact that Izaya was enjoying this was pissing him off. At least he liked it when Izaya ran away like a scared mouse. Now, it was just like the nights before when Izaya tormented him.

Finally, he trapped Izaya in a corner of the kitchen, "Where next, I-za-ya-ku~n?"

"Here," Izaya responded with a smirk as he ducked down and crawled out from between Shizuo's legs.

"Fucking Flea, get back here!"

The chase ended at one when Shizuo transformed back into a beast. He nearly screeched to a stop. Izaya starred with wide eyes as Shizuo changed shape in front of him. Shizuo realized he needed to stop. It was funny, how this became a restraining force to his anger.

Immediately, Shizuo turned around and ran back up the stairs to his room, slamming the door shut. Izaya stayed in the same spot for a while, he had enjoyed the chase with Shizuo. It wasn't the same enjoyment as when he sent the hoodlums after Shizuo, those were fun. But tonight, it felt like a game of tag he had played with Shinra and Kadota as kids.

The feeling shocked him more than Shizuo's sudden transformation.

The next few days passed without incident. They stayed in their own rooms and ate at different times. They saw each other once or twice during the two hour interval when Shizuo was human, but Izaya would turn around and return to his room without a word before Shizuo even caught his eye.

On the fifth night, Shizuo was running out of food in the house and had to leave to go shopping when he was human again. By chance, he bumped into Celty, who was out on a job. It seemed that without Izaya round to delegate for work, her earnings had decreased significantly. Still, she had a few trusted customers that visited often to ask her to do a job.

By the way, Izaya is alone tonight? She typed on her PDA.

"Yea, I mean, you enchanted the doors to make sure he can't leave."

That's true, but... This is Izaya we're talking about.

"He's too small to bust a wall."

Celty glanced at Shizuo's grocery bags and noticed a few take out boxes of Russian sushi. She only knew one person who enjoyed them thoroughly. However, it was a surprise that Shizuo was buying some for him, are you guys starting to get along...?

Shizuo's face immediately scrunched up, "The bastard doesn't even consider me human."

Then the sushi...

"I'm going to eat it, obviously!"

Celty's shoulders moved like she was chuckling so Shizuo stood up in a huff and declared that he was leaving, "I should get back before one and store these in the fridge anyways."

The yellow helmet bobbed back and forth in a nod and Shizuo turned to leave. Just as he turned around, however, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Glancing backwards, the PDA screen was held in his face again, I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but I've known Izaya long enough to know that being considered inhuman is like a compliment from him. After making sure that Shizuo had read the message, Celty waved and got on her bike.

Shizuo watched her receding form disappear into the city night before beginning to walk back to his house again. "...Compliment, huh?" he mumbled.

The house was dark, as usual, when he got back. It was ten minutes before one so he hurried to put the sushi in the fridge.

There had been some truth in what Celty said to him. He did buy the sushi for Izaya, but it wasn't friendship he was looking for. The best description for the feeling would be 'acknowledgment.' Looking like a beast for months and being treated as one for nearly his entire life made Shizuo look for some sort of acknowledgment as a human. And he did find it in some people, Kasuka, Shinra, and Celty, for example.

Which makes him wonder why he wanted Izaya's acknowledgment when he had all of theirs already. He didn't even like Izaya! There was absolutely no point in it. ...Still, living with someone who thinks you're a monster isn't a pleasant feeling. He didn't need Izaya's acknowledgment as a human, but it would be nice to have.

"You're back," Izaya's voice came from behind him.

Shizuo turned in surprise. "To think you complained about me sneaking around," after a momentary pause, he added, "You should turn around. I'm going to turn back in a few minutes.

To his surprise, Izaya does turn around, "Why don't you kill me? You hate me so much and now I'm your captive! What are you waiting for? I'm tired of waiting for imminent death."

Shizuo watched as his arms and legs extended and he grew taller. When the transformation was done, Izaya was still facing away from him. One heavy step after another, he approached him, "Because we're both still human."

And that was when Izaya knew he had to get out.

Three weeks had passed before either occupants of the house really noticed. Izaya had strangely kept to himself and in return, Shizuo didn't say much either. To Shizuo, their relationship seemed to have gotten better. After all, at least they weren't at each other's throats or chasing each other down and breaking the house. They may not be talking to each other, but it was an improvement.

Or so Shizuo thought.

They had run out of food in the house again and Shizuo was still experimenting how much meat or vegetables he had to buy for the two of them to last a week. It was as if buying three boxes of precut chicken was too little and four was too much. If he bought too much, it just meant that the food will go bad really quickly. Despite the fact that he uses a lot of strength and that he turned into a beast, Shizuo didn't eat that much. He ate what was considered average and healthy for a man his height and size. Izaya, on the other hand, was a picky eater and however much he ate depended on whether or not the dish involved his favorite food.

Tonight, Shizuo was standing at the convenience store looking at microwavable meals. He might be able to cook a few basic dishes, but in the end, he wasn't skilled in making food. Besides, he was too lazy to make a meal that was worth praise.

He remembered clearly that he decided on a boxful of spicy beef ramen and had made his purchase quickly. The clerk had even lamented over whether or not it might be too heavy for Shizuo to carry around. She nagged a few times and Shizuo nearly lost his temper. She finally backed down and he left the store.

That was when he first noticed it.

It was just past midnight and Shizuo wasn't sure how long they've been around, but he was sure they were tailing him. Scattered around him in different corners of the street were seven men looking at him. Some were dressed like punks with baseball caps pulled down over their faces while others wore suits and looked as though they were returning home from a late shift.

Shizuo grit his teeth. What now? He sent hoodlums after him again?! Oh wait... he paused, realizing that there was a flaw in his logic, Izaya was still in his house. He supposed Izaya could've gotten a phone and called some guys up to fight with Shizuo, but what good would that do? It's not like they can help him out of the house. They wouldn't even be able to get the door open due to Celty's magic! And besides, Izaya wouldn't plan something he couldn't watch himself.

He let out an irritated sigh. It didn't look like they were ready to attack him, all they did was watch him out of the corner of their eyes. Deciding that he might as well confront them, Shizuo began walking towards the park. He knew of a deserted area where few people would happen to spot them fighting while on a midnight stroll.

At first, he thought that they didn't move and perhaps they weren't following him after all. Maybe he was just paranoid. It was only at the end of the block that they began to move. They're being really cautious, Shizuo realized. The street punks Izaya sent before had always followed the moment Shizuo made a move, these guys had more of an air of professionalism to them. They still weren't that great since Shizuo noticed them.

When he arrived at the secluded area of the park, he placed the box of noodles and other groceries he was holding on a bench and stepped forward. As he waited, he lit a cigarette to calm himself. He wasn't afraid of them, but he was feeling particularly annoyed. However, they didn't attack. Shizuo remembered the guys that Izaya would send would attack the second Shizuo was walked out of a populated area and was alone. Shizuo could sense that these guys were nearby. Some of them even walked out of the groves of trees and sat the other park benches. These guys weren't planning on attacking.

And that. Pissed. Him. Off.

"Arrrrrghhh!" Shizuo crushed the snapped cigarette under his foot and lunged at the first guy, picking him up and throwing him several feet away onto another guy. Seeing this, all the men following him immediately looked up from whatever they were pretending to do and took out knives and other weapons to attack him.

One of them thrust a knife out at him, but Shizuo easily dodged and caught the blade in his hand and promptly crushed it into pieces. The man holding the blade withdrew his arm to find only a plastic handle. He glanced at it once before Shizuo reached out and flung him to the other side of the park.

At this point, all of the men were beginning to look uncertain, but strangely, not running away. Despite how useless it was, they continued to try to attack him. What's wrong with these guys, Shizuo thought. He had already sent nearly each of them flying several times already. It wasn't as though they came back unharmed so they weren't some type of superhuman soldiers. They all just simply got up with whatever fractured bones they have and ran in for another attack.

It was like they were scared of something other than Shizuo- like they're scared of failing to attack Shizuo.

Just as he realized that, a resounding chime from the center of the park echoed throughout the trees. "Shit, it's one o'clock already?" Shizuo panicked, looks like he'll have to run back to his house in beast form tonight.

As he transformed, the men around him finally couldn't take it anymore. Most of them were down for the count sniveling on the floor, but still reaching out for weapons, but the moment they saw Shizuo turn into a monster, any fear of whatever else was there that night disappeared and they began scrambling to get away.

After all of the punks ran away, Shizuo shook his head. He didn't think there would ever come a time where he was glad he could transform, but there was a first for everything. Picking up the groceries from the bench, he began thinking of the most obscure route to get home.

"I-za-ya-kun!" he yelled as soon as he kicked the door open. The door flew right off its hinges, he'll have to inform Celty to come fix it tomorrow. Tossing the groceries on the floor, he decided that he needed to question the other man about tonight's events just in case.

"When the hell did I allow you to call me by first name basis?" the usual annoying voice grumbled from the top of the stairs.

"Did you call up some fucking cronies to fight me again?" Shizuo yelled as he stomped towards the stairs. Instinctively, Izaya backed away towards his room.

"Stay away, Protozoan! You gave my phone to Celty the other day, remember?"

"You could've gotten your hands on a new one."

"Your stupidity astounds me, Shizu-chan!" Shizuo let out a growl at Izaya's words and Izaya quickly added an explanation before he was chewed up and spit out, "I can't leave and the only other phone in the house is your cell phone. Which. I. Don't. Have." He said the last few words with a slight taunt in his voice, which made Shizuo want to run up the stairs and choke the man, but he refrained from doing so-because Izaya was right. There were no other phones in the house.

And there was a more important issue here tonight.

"Did...something happen?" Izaya asked.

"Why, are you concerned?"

In the dark, Shizuo could just make out a stunned expression on Izaya's face and then a light blush following it, "Yea, about the rest of the city! I hate this so much! I can't find out any information while being stuck here! Do you know how bad it feels? To be stuck in an informationless place while the rest of the world moves on?"

Izaya prattled on and Shizuo felt like he was listening to a teenager complain about missing out on news about the latest celebrity break up.

"And I hate you, Shizu-chan, for putting me in this situation. Good night, I can't stand to see your ugly face any more!" and with a huff, Izaya stomped into his room and slammed the door.

Despite Izaya's claims about Shizuo being stupid, he mumbled with a mildly concerned look, "...That was rather transparent."

I finished writing this on the night after my first final. fff- why am I not studying for the remaining two? Oh well, it was worth it to finish this.

Slowly, but it's happening. This is going to be a love story.

(Fun fact: As of the last chapter, this is my second longest fic in terms of chapters. And with chapter, the second longest by word count.)