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Six months.
That’s how long a certain blonde in a bartender suit and the switchblade swinging information broker have been together. The news of their relationship spread faster all throughout Ikebukuro than a fire, undoubtedly because of Erika and eventually even the raven himself. No one would have ever guessed Izaya was someone who liked to brag about being in a partnership, especially not if the person he was with has been his self-proclaimed nemesis for nearly a decade. On the other hand no one would have ever guessed that he would ever date anyone at all, it was as if everyone just assumed the young man had no interest in romance at all, which was probably true considering how things were.
Not that he seemed like he didn’t enjoy being with Shizuo, but his ways of showing it seemed more like demands more often than not. The blonde didn’t particularly mind, he knew dating Izaya wouldn’t be easy but the feelings he had for the man were starting to become more and more undeniable. What they once thought has been hatred and disgust turned out to be quite the opposite, even if it was often unclear to the debt collector whether those feelings were returned by the other or not. Then again, Izaya was the one who happily admitted to their partnership right away to anyone, sometimes even out of context in the middle of a fight, which was a rather questionable situation to brag about that but no one in their right mind would want to question some of the things the raven did.
Four months.
That was the time they lived together, of course causing each and every one of their friends to worry, why would anyone move in with their lover only two months into a relationship, right? They did, it didn’t even take a week after an unusually cheerful raven announced he wanted to be around Shizuo as much as possible. Could they really blame him for agreeing? Probably. Did he really regret it? So far, to his own surprise, no. After they started going out the smaller male had been even more energetic, or maybe it was just that the blonde had never seen him this happy, how could he possibly say no to anything when all those smiles he got to see just made his heart beat faster.
Celty had told him over and over again to be careful, to take one step at a time, so did Kadota and even Tom was worried how this whole relationship was affecting the blonde, but he just couldn’t take them seriously. Yes it was Izaya they were talking about, he knew that, but they didn’t get to see what he saw. A side of him that he, by now, even dared to call cute. Even if the other surely knew what he was doing to him and most definitely took advantage of that, what was the harm if it made Shizuo this happy?
As time went by and the feelings started covering up less of the others actions Shizuo realized a bit more what his friends were so worried about, he might not be as smart as the raven but he wasn’t stupid. Well not stupid enough to ignore everything even after six months of dating and four months of living in the same apartment. Izaya’s apartment. He didn’t mind moving in back then and even now he still didn’t, but that was what worried their friends, that if they broke up he would have no place of his own. Confronting the raven about that was probably one of the worst ideas he ever had, especially since lately they had a few more arguments again.
Their fighting didn’t just stop only because they weren’t trying to kill each other anymore, especially in the beginning there were fight over absolutely everything. The way he slept, the food he ate, his clothes, the apartment, the smoking, but it went both ways, he seemed to find an endless amount of things about Izaya’s everyday behavior that he disliked too. That changed once they spent their first night together, and just like that seemingly all their problems were gone, their fights stopped almost completely even as long as they made sure to spend the majority of their time in the bedroom.
That’s how it has been ever since, instead of fighting his lover he simply made sure that he would be the one to raise his voice, in much more enjoyable ways. It took a while but in the end it was the right decision, the little things stopped being annoying and instead both him and Izaya just teased each other with it. All in all it wasn’t a perfect relationship, but he was happy and the only doubt he had left was whether the other felt the same way or not, if only he would have kept his thoughts to himself about it. At least today. Their anniversary was tomorrow and now instead of peacefully preparing lunch together he had to worry about both the food and his annoyed boyfriend. His past experiences with Izaya and knives did still make him a bit nervous whenever they were fighting, and the kitchen was full of them.
“All I was saying, is that you can’t really blame them for being worried about all of this, flea.” Watching him from the corner of his eye the blonde really had trouble not burning the food on the stove, usually it would be no problem but their argument made Shizuo pay more attention to the raven than the meal they were making.
Rolling his eyes said raven didn’t even look at him but instead turned away, rummaging in the cupboard for a second. “Tsk, oh I’m sorry Shizu-chan I didn’t know that ‘all of this’ was that worrisome. I asked you before, if you hate it that much then why are you still here?” Not able to ignore the slight change in the other’s voice at the end the blonde couldn’t help but sigh, running a hand through his hair.
“I don’t hate it and you know that.” Inspecting the ingredients he was stirring eagerly now Shizuo decided, no matter how hungry he was, the food could wait. With that the stove was turned off and his eyes wandered back to look at the annoyed man, who was now watching him with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. “Izaya…”
Shaking his head the raven just averted his glare, obviously distressed. During the past few months it became a bit easier to read his expressions, maybe he let him or maybe he just wasn’t able to hide it that well anymore, either way the blonde was already stepping closer to him until his arms wrapped around the slim waist of his lover. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…”
“Whatever you say, Shizuo.”
Fuck.
Hearing his name being said like that only ever meant two things, or at least that’s what he was able to figure out so far. Option one: he was peaceful and happy, like when they lay together in bed and it’s one of those rare moments they actually say those three little words. Or option two: he’s hurt. It really didn’t take a genius to figure out which one was the case right now.
“Flea, come on I said I’m sorry, don’t be like that now,” leaning down he pressed a kiss against the others collarbone before resting his head on his shoulder, placing more small kisses along his neck. “You know I’m not going anywhere.”
Loudly sighing the raven took his time until with one last roll of his eyes his arms found their way around Shizuo as well, looking up at him a little pout on his lips now. “I’m the one who lets a monster live in his home, people should be worried about me and not you.” That signature smirk of his back in place Izaya pulled the taller man down just enough to let their lips connect for a second, having the nerve to even sigh into the kiss, before pulling away again granting his lover a half genuine smile.
“Maybe if you actually had friends they would,” saying that a bit too amused despite trying to control his voice the pout was back instantly and Shizuo could help but chuckle a bit at that, in the end the raven would always be a bit of a child. “We should get back to cooking now, I’m hungry you know.” Another kiss was pressed to the smaller one’s cheek and it didn’t take long until the blonde focused on their lunch again.
It took a few more moments and a long glare before Izaya reluctantly continued his part as well, he didn’t like cooking in the first place but there really wasn’t much of a choice. “So rude, remind me why I agreed to this relationship again?” Despite it just being a tease, that sentence did make feel the debt collector a bit guilty about what he said, but they both knew the raven was just playing…hopefully.
“Because you love me and I love you.”
“Hmph.”
Great.
A few minutes of silence and Izaya’s quite horrifying demonstration of what he is able to do with a knife and a cucumber later, both of them had cooled off. Cooking with him was never easy, even without an argument. The raven probably just hated one thing more than cooking: Shizuo’s love for sweets. Making something that he himself would actually benefit from was one thing, but baking was something the information broker would always refuse to do, there was absolutely nothing he would help with if it was sweet, not even pancakes. The blonde just shrugged it off since it would indeed be unfair to make him help if he didn’t even like it.
Making lunch however, that was something he would not do alone, no matter how much the raven complained, which he did, a lot. One would assume that the more often you do something the better you get at it, cooking itself was just following step by step instructions after all. Turned out Izaya was the master of burning absolutely everything, he didn’t even know how to cut vegetables properly before Shizuo showed him, preparing meals with him was a curse as much as it was a blessing. His sarcasm and the way he got annoyed, trying to take his anger out on the ingredients so many times, it was better than any low budget cooking show on TV ever could be. Especially with foods that required a sauce of some kind, the whole kitchen would be a mess afterwards, but cleaning was still preferable to putting a fire out.
This time there weren’t many unpleasant changes of their meal, due to someone refusing to do anything but complain, well, if one could ignore the fact that instead of being cut into little pieces the cucumber looked more like the victim of a gruesome crime. Good thing that cutting something didn’t alter the taste, so that after their ordeal in the kitchen was over they were able to enjoy lunch together at the dining table. Something that hasn’t even existed in the information broker’s apartment before Shizuo had moved in, but it only took him about two weeks of arguing with Izaya to make him buy one.
As the blonde was just about to carry the dishes back to the kitchen his partner decided to go straight to his work desk, searching for something. Neither did the taller male want to get involved in the other’s work nor did he really enjoy the fact that it was all he thought about sometimes, however fighting over it was useless. Izaya was still the same person, causing trouble for people as much as possible, whenever something came up that really peaked his interest Shizuo could be grateful if he succeeded in convincing him to sleep at the same time he did. Today was no different as he would soon find out, despite their upcoming anniversary the next day.
“I’m heading out, there’s something...important I have to do!” Already trying to sneak away after announcing his departure the blonde was lucky to catch up with him in time, not so gently grabbing the hood of that fur trimmed jacket he hated so much.
Turning the raven around and pulling him closer by his hips Shizuo made sure to make his grip just tight enough to not let the other get away without a bit more information and at the very least, a proper goodbye. “When are you going to be back home?”
Not fazed by the exhausted sounding sigh the blonde’s eyes were fixated on his lover, who just looked down for a moment before meeting his gaze. “It’s important, Shizu-chan. You’re a big strong beast, you should be able to survive a night without me. Who knows, maybe if you’re a good boy and let me go now I’ll even hurry and make it back before daylight, ne?” Feeling the slender arms around his neck and those soft lips of the devil he fell for inching closer to his own, the stronger man couldn’t help but loosen his hold, knowing this was something he couldn’t fight. Hopefully Izaya would stick to his words and hurry, waking up alone tomorrow was not something the blonde wanted, playing along might help for that to not happen.
“Not like I got much of a choice, do I?” A smirk dancing around the raven’s lips he closed the distance between them for a heated kiss, which was way too short for Shizuo’s taste. Even so he enjoyed the promises it held for when his partner would be back, losing control over his hands just long enough for them to slide down the man’s sides and press their bodies together. The sly chuckle of the information broker was swallowed by the kiss his lover tried to prolong as much as possible, giving him the opportunity to explore more of the raven’s mouth.
Unfortunately everything good eventually had to come to an end, so did the kiss they shared, that started to become more than just a goodbye. “I have to go now, Shizu-chan, don’t wait for me. We both know you can’t stay awake that long and I need you in a good shape tomorrow,” softly the words were whispered to him during the unexpected embrace, but before he even got to answer the smaller frame disappeared from within his arms and out the door.
That little bastard…
Saying things like that to him to get away, and in the sweetest voice he had too. The only thing left now was to hope this wasn’t for nothing, because if the raven was still gone by the time daylight hit Shizuo would hunt him down like he did all those months ago whenever he came to Ikebukuro.
The next question was, what was he supposed to do?
For the rest of the day that question didn’t leave his head, neither did the words Izaya said before he left. Shizuo had no idea how to distract himself from it, after the kitchen was cleaned, the dishes washed and all other chores he could possibly think of were done, barely a bit over an hour had passed. Not that there was much to do anyway, despite being lazy when it came to doing chores and complaining about everything Izaya’s apartment had never, not even once, been a mess. It was always clean and things were put neatly where they have belonged, sometimes the blonde wondered whether the raven paid someone to do everything without his knowledge, the thought of him actually doing everything himself just seemed too absurd.
After calling a few people it turned out that not even his friends had any time today, Kadota was working, Celty was on a job and even Shinra was busy, however it did seem more like he was just trying to get rid of him. He didn’t question it, it wouldn’t be the first time the brunette tried to cover for his boyfriend doing something, if there was something that Shizuo had learned it was that underground doctors and information brokers worked together more closely than he thought they do. Of course he had known that the eccentric man with the glasses had been friends with both of them for a long time, the one who started the misery that was their fighting in the first place by introducing them to each other, but it was still surprising just how much they actually seemed to work together.
Not that he wasn’t thankful for meeting Izaya, maybe the brunette should have just tried to play love doctor with them sooner and everything would have worked out way better in the first place. Shinra was one of the few people, along with Erika, who despite all the time that passed in his and the raven’s relationship, would always get excited about them being a couple. There was no way he would ever ignore an opportunity to exclaim how happy he was that his two best friends were in love, supporting them in any way he could, that was the only real reason why it was odd he didn’t even want to talk to Shizuo today considering what was going on tomorrow. Then again, he seemed closer to Izaya than he was to the blonde nowadays, plus he had others to talk to, his boyfriend on the other hand…
He didn’t really need help with that anyway, the debt collector already prepared everything for tomorrow. The raven made sure to tell him what he wanted a while back, or rather he made sure that it was known he would not accept anything, continuously rambling something about how he earned more money and didn’t need any gifts. Shizuo didn’t care, he wasn’t really the materialistic guy himself and even if the other did have a valid point by saying that their earnings weren’t comparable at all, he still wanted to get him something. It wasn’t a lot but he thought really hard about it.
First of all he would shower him with affection all day long, spend it however the other would want to. Later in the afternoon he would take him outside for a walk, no bartender outfit, and no way would he allow Izaya to wear that terrible jacket. The blonde had bought clothes, knowing all too well that his lover’s closet consisted mostly of black. A simple red shirt, it wasn’t much so that there would be no complaints about spending too much money, well not at that time anyway. The other thing Shizuo had bought was…risky, the plan was giving it to him at a certain place where he wanted their walk to end. Thinking about what the smaller man might like or be happy about was hard, in the end all Shizuo could really come up with were knives, sushi and something he would get anyway as soon as he was back. Definitely not buying a knife, since it was rather unromantic, and assuming they would eat sushi anyway, he ended up asking Erika for help in the end. Not that he would ever admit that, but it eventually ended up at a jewelry store.
Now ever since then the blonde had been careful to hide his gift at a different place every night, not wanting his boyfriend to even think about looking around and accidentally finding it. Nevertheless it made it tense, very, very tense. The possibility of it going terribly wrong as well as his friends freaking out, worrying even more; apart from Shinra and Erika, he was pretty sure both of them would cry tears of joy considering how past announcements went down.
Eventually after losing track of his own thoughts as well as finding himself blankly staring at the TV that showed an interview with no one else than his own brother. Smiling at the image just seeing the younger one during an interview calmed Shizuo, giving him the feeling of reassurance. The doubts he had whether Izaya really returned his feelings or not where still there, so was the fear that his friends were right and they did take too many steps too soon, but when looking at his baby brother he felt like maybe it would all turn out well. Kasuka was the first one he told, even before his friends, and even if his brother obviously had no idea how to react to it at the time he always respected his older brother’s decision to be with the information broker. Shizuo was happy and that made him happy, that’s what it seemed like at least. Even if they were brothers the blonde knew that the actor wasn’t an easy person, but neither was he one himself. Often he likes to think that maybe that is why he supports his relationship, because he sees him and the raven as two people who try despite being complicated.
Whatever it was Kasuka thought, or what anyone else thought, it would end one way or the other and Shizuo wanted to take the risk. Even if it was stupid, sometimes it worked in his favor that he wasn’t known for having an outstanding intelligence.
Finally, after hours of trying to find things to keep his mind busy, going as far as to watch shows he never bothered to care about and one delivery pizza later when he just could find the motivation to make dinner on his own, the blonde decided that even if he wanted to stay awake and wait for his lover to return, maybe going to sleep a bit earlier and waking up to Izaya sneaking back into bed was the better option. He wanted to trust him, he really did, that he would keep his promise and come back before daylight. Once he had a quick shower and worried a bit more, Shizuo took the little box he had carefully hidden out once again be aware of the risk he planned to take, before taking a deep breath, closing it and putting it back.
Tomorrow would be one hell of a day and Izaya was right, he needed sleep, for multiple reasons. A smile on his lips when remembering the way they parted earlier, it didn’t take much longer for him to drift into a quite pleasant dream.
A loud shattering sound was what woke him up in the end, not quite the same as the raven crawling under the blanket. Growling a bit Shizuo heard even more crashing sounds before reluctantly opening his eyes, just to discover it was still dark. A glance at the clock told him that it wasn’t even four in the morning yet, whatever that noise was there better be a good explanation for it.
“Fuck-“
Furrowing his eyebrows at what sounded like Izaya’s voice but not quite like the vocabulary he would usually use, the debt collector finally forced himself out of the warmth of their bed, quietly making his way to wherever the noise came from. It was very unlikely that anyone was crazy enough to break into their apartment, even Shizuo himself had trouble kicking the door open that one time he had to. It had to be his partner who was responsible for his way too early awakening, but what in the world was he doing.
Once outside the bedroom it was rather easy to locate where the sounds where coming from: the kitchen. Was he hungry? Sure he was out for work but it wasn’t like him to eat this late, not at home at least. Sneaking closer careful not to be heard the blonde felt like he was about to commit a crime in his own home, but never did he expect to see this.
He had to still be dreaming, his mind was playing games with him he just knew it, because no way was what he just walked in on real.
A mess, the entire place, every countertop, the stove, the oven, the fridge that was wide open and even the floor, all of it, a mess like it could only be caused by one person. However none of that mattered because in the middle of it the one responsible for it was a mess himself. Izaya, standing there, staring at him, looking like the human equivalent of a deer looking at the headlights of an approaching car, only that the car was Shizuo who, to be fair, could cause more damage than a car if he really wanted to, but that was the very last thing he wanted to do right now.
“I-“
Both of them obviously out of words, even the raven seemed to realize that there was no way he could talk his way out of this. Still, the blonde was not at all angry, not even bothered by anything at all, because what he was looking at was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. The black hair of the man in front of him was full of what looked like flour, icing all over his face and clothes, his hands were full of everything he saw spread all over the kitchen, he might as well could have just poured everything all over them and there wouldn’t be much difference. He was simply the cutest mess ever, this must be the feeling you get when a five year old messes everything up just to make you something.
“I just-“
In the middle of it all on the single place that seemed to be clean, was one thing: A cake. And it was the most delicious looking cake he had ever seen, the blush that appeared on the information broker’s face made it clear that he too noticed Shizuo had spotted the true reason for this indescribable destruction. Trying to wipe at least some of the icing off his face the raven just ended up making it worse, forgetting that his hands are dripping with what was probably every single ingredient of the cake. The blonde just looked back and forth between his lover and the dessert for a moment, soon enough not so sure which was which anymore before letting out a breathless laugh.
Pouting his arms crossed Izaya glared at him as he stepped closer, but no matter how angry those eyes wanted to be, no one looked dangerous covered in sugar, especially not him. The taller man didn’t even care about how dirty his own clothes would get, as soon as he stepped closer he wrapped his arms around the small frame of his lover, only now noticing how much he smelled like vanilla. Without resisting it seemed like the other was more focused on hiding his face than acting unaffected by the situation for once, that or he just really wanted to make sure they were both equally coated with cake.
“You better love me now, Shizu-chan…”
The shy mumbling against his chest made him chuckle a bit yet again, he knew that the raven was still pouting but it just warmed his heart to hear that innocent little sentence that wanted to be a demand, but didn’t quite sound like one. Running a hand through the messy hair before lifting the chin of his very own little mess, Shizuo didn’t wait any longer to pull him into a kiss, smiling at the sweet taste of icing mixing with the soft feeling of Izaya’s lips.
Pulling away just a bit there was only one thing he wanted to say before he would pick up this sweet raven haired mess of his and make him tonight’s dessert, cupping his cheeks and looking deep into those mysterious eyes that captured him every time.
“I always loved you, Izaya.”
“Happy anniversary, my stupid beast.”