What the hell was he doing? He was Izaya fucking Orihara. He shouldn't be hiding underneath the desk in his own office just because the stupid monster he knew and hated so damn much was entering his place. He should be up and waiting for him, have that confident grin spread over his features. He shouldn't be this... weak. What the hell was wrong with him? He needed to get this straight but he couldn't do it while that stupid brute was interrupting him.

What was Shinra thinking of?

He shook his head – one, two, three times.

It felt like forever before he got his mind straight and was able to do other things than just sit there, hiding under the desk in his office. His office. He couldn't be hiding from a man he wasn't even afraid of. He didn't believe it – he refused to believe that he was afraid of this man he called monster. And if he did end up being afraid of him, it wouldn't because of anything that had ever happened between them. He simply refused to believe that.

The informant took in several deep breath before he finally got himself straight together and managed to stop himself from trembling like he had done for what felt like hours but what was barely five minutes. He shakily grabbed around the black leather chair in front of his office and pulled himself up to sit on it. At first, he hadn't turned himself the right way and once he made it to sit normally, he swallowed thickly as he watched the underground doctor grab around the handle to the door that would reveal the man he called monster and the man who was apparently going to be his bodyguard even though he would refuse to call him that no matter how long they were forced to stay in his place.

Shifting for a few moments, Izaya was able to make himself calm and after receiving an odd look from the glass wearing brunette, he managed to pull off a somewhat confident facade even though his heart was beating like a drum and it just wouldn't calm down no matter how much he tried to force it to stop for just one little second. He wouldn't calm down and he was sure he was trembling. The great Orihara Izaya was actually afraid. The world must have been coming to an end.

Shinra, on the other hand, was feeling pretty calm and confident about this. He really honestly believed this could work out. Putting two people hating each other together for just a few days could possibly end up working out. If not, he would have to take responsibility of his little idea. He just had to prepare himself for a lot of yelling and curse words being thrown around with no care.

His hand slowly wrapped around the handle of the door and he gave the now sitting on the black leather chair informant a quick look of surprise of seeing him sit there again, before he turned the handle and slowly pulled the door open – or at least it seemed to be slowly, just like everything else did at this current time.

And the moment his eyes landed on the bartender suit wearing man standing in front of the door, the corners of his lips pulled back into a light smile – just one of his usual smiles he would pull off whenever he saw one of his friends, clients or just a person he knew of.

"Aaah, Shizuo-kun~! I'm glad you could make it!"

Just like always, Shinra's voice had that cheerful tune to it and he knew he would be told to either turn it down or 'shut up' like the man before him said all the time. He stepped to the side and let the other man come inside, making sure to shield the view of the raven haired man sitting on the chair right behind him. He didn't want it to go wrong before he could even close the door.

The bodyguard hadn't even realized that he had made it to the place he had been told to get started on his new job. But he decided not to show it and just went with being like he always was. But only after the first step inside, he seemed to slowly remember this place. Had he been there before? It could be and he may even have been there more than once – several more times. And it wasn't a good feeling that washed over him. It was a very, very bad one that came over him like a wave out of a calm ocean.

He first looked to the one side – seemed familiar – and then turned his head to look to the other side. But he couldn't get a good enough look at what was behind the underground doctor. He didn't know why but something – a smell – made his blood boil little by little, like he was about to lose it.

Shinra noticed this but before he could even as much as start talking, he noticed the taller man start taking step by step to the side to be able to see the informant he was trying to hide.

Shizuo turned his gaze to the brunette for a time being and gave him a quick look with his brows furrowed just slightly.

"Shinra, why did you–"

He didn't get any further than that in his sentence before his eyes trailed over to the side, to what and who the other man had been hiding. He froze and stared straight at the man he had claimed to hate more than anything for what felt like years but most likely wasn't more than a 10. They stared at each other and he watched as that annoying and somewhat creepy grin slowly spread onto those pale features that seemed more pale than usual. Something was off, though.

The silence lasted for several moments before Shizuo quickly turned to the side and he was just about to walk straight back out of the door but he was stopped when the underground doctor slammed it shut and blocked the door for him.

Shinra gave the former bartender a stern look. He didn't want to get his bones broken but he couldn't stop himself from what he was doing right now. He had to make this guy stay for just a few days. If he could get him to agree with him, it could work out.

"Shinra, get out of my way! There's no way in fucking hell I'll ever do anything involving that guy!"

As he said that, Shizuo pointed back at the raven haired who couldn't help but chuckle at it, like he wasn't afraid at all. He couldn't allow himself to show his fear to someone he hated so much. Sure, he couldn't care less about what this man thought about him, but Izaya did not get afraid, no matter what.

"Oh, that's very hurtful, Shizu-chan. But honestly, you know where I live and yet you willingly walked here. I think you want to be with me. Oh, does Shizu-chan want to spend time with me? Does Shizu-chan have a little disgusting man crush on me, his little 'flea'? How cute."

This was bad.

Shizuo twitched a few times and took several steps closer to the informant his eyes were currently locked on, only to slam his palms into the wooden desk. He noticed the other man flinch just a little but not enough – not like he wanted him to. He had hoped he would at least scare him a little so he would be able to have this man fire him before they even started so he could leave. He knew he wouldn't be able to just quit like this. He needed this job but he refused to work for the man he hated more than anything.

"I don't know what the hell is going on or why the fuck you decided to agree with that bastard to let me get here, but get your mind straight and fire me already! I don't want to do this and I know you don't want me here!"

While the two of them argued back and forth like this, Shinra slowly opened the door, doing it as quiet as he possibly could. He took in a deep breath and after the words 'I hate you' said to both of them by each other, he slipped out unnoticed and quietly closed the door after him, making sure to use the key he somehow had managed to steal from the informant. He was not letting them out of there before they could work this out. But – just to make sure they wouldn't kill each other – he would definitely check up on them within the next hour.

"You think I had something to do with this? I don't want a stupid monster as a bodyguard! I don't even need a bodyguard in the first– Hold on..."

Izaya cut himself off when he noticed that a person in the place was missing. He let his near crimson eyes move around the office and when he couldn't spot Shinra, he looked back at the bodyguard in front of him, the bodyguard that would be his bodyguard from now on even though he would refuse to call him that. Most likely, he would be called his dog or something like that – a dog he would definitely get rid of first thing in the morning.

Sighing, he leaned back on the black leather chair he was currently sitting on and stared off to the side for just a few moments before he looked back at the still very furious blond standing half leaned over his big wooden desk with his laptops and computers.

There was a silence between them, lasting a few moments before Izaya decided to break it with yet another one of his many insults.

"See – you made him leave with your stupid yelling, you monster."

A/N: My god, I'm so sorry for the delay of this chapter. I have been going through a lot and needed to find some distractions to get my mind off of some things - which meant lots of television shows and lots of roleplaying. Thank you very much for the reviews and I'm happy to read them all.

Thank you for reading and reviews are loved.