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Shizuo could barely feel his face as he and Izaya were walking down the streets of Ikebukuro. The sharp blasts of wind containing snow flurries made Shizuo’s vision impaired but his step never faltered as Izaya led the way while holding hands. Their path illuminated by the streetlights of the city.
Shizuo grumbled for the millionth time that day as he muttered, “Why won’t you tell me where we’re going?" Shizuo pulled his black scarf that Izaya had given him as a Christmas present up over his face. Damn is it cold! Shizuo thought. It was only six days after Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Shizuo really wanted to stay home due to his hatred for the cold weather. Like always, Izaya conned his way into taking his boyfriend somewhere as a surprise.
“Don’t worry Shizu-chan, you’ll love where we are going, trust me!" Izaya said with his notorious smirk. Of course Izaya must have been toasty warm under his fur coat, basically bouncing up and down with every step, that’s how excited he was to be going to this surprise destination.
“I trust you about as far as I can throw you Izaya.” Shizuo countered. After thinking about it for a second, Shizuo realized that he actually could throw Izaya pretty far. Izaya laughed in response and Shizuo couldn’t resist grinning himself.
As they went around the corner, Shizuo began to recognize where they were going. Working all day as a debt collector, Shizuo was very familiar with all of Ikebukuro, especially the rundown parts. Shizuo's guess was confirmed when he saw the bright glowing sign on one of the smaller buildings: THUNDER BOWLING!!! As Izaya saw the realization dawn on the blond man’s face, he threw his hands in the air in celebration, “Surprise!"
Shizuo had always been a big fan of bowling ever since he was a child. Using his super strength to knock the pins down consecutively always satisfied him, especially when he needed to take his anger out on something. Ever since he started working more, Shizuo hasn’t had any time to bowl. So as soon as he found out that Izaya was taking him bowling for New Year’s Eve, he was ecstatic. Shizuo was confused on how Izaya knew about his former hobby, but Izaya is an informant after all.
Shizuo smiled and couldn’t contain his joy as he basically ran into the bowling alley. Izaya chuckled as he stuck his hands into his coat pockets and trailed behind his boyfriend, whose mood had changed within a single moment.
To Izaya, this bowling alley was as shady and run down as most of his clients’ establishments. If it wasn’t for Shizuo, Izaya probably wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this. But to Shizuo, this place was special because this was the same bowling alley that he had always gone to when he was little. It wasn’t exactly a big bowling alley with only about 10 alleys total. Some kid was whining nearby and Izaya looked at a piece of pizza on the floor with disgust. This place gave Izaya the shivers.
I’ll just have to make this more entertaining, Izaya thought to himself with a devious smile.
He turned his attention towards the front desk to where Shizuo was already exchanging money for bowling shoes. Kadota was working at the front desk and had a grimace on his face when Izaya joined Shizuo. “Hey Izaya, I didn’t know you were here too..." Kadota gulped. Everyone in Ikebukuro was extremely baffled when Shizuo and Izaya announced that they were dating. Everyone besides Erika and Shinra still didn’t believe it due to the fact that the couple still fought on almost a daily basis. Kadota was one of those people.
"Anything else Shizuo?" Kadota asked, obviously eager to leave early. He didn’t want to be the one responsible when the place got destroyed later due to an inevitable fight between these two.
“Yeah, that’ll be –"
“Actually," Izaya interjected, “Can we have bumpers on our alley?" Shizuo looked at Izaya with a puzzled glance but he didn’t complain. What’s the worst that can happen? Shizuo thought to himself. Kadota nodded as he sent another employee to raise the bumpers. Izaya pulled out his wallet and gave Kadota a large sum of cash. Once again, Shizuo was confused.
“For later." Izaya laughed as grabbed Shizuo's hand and went to alley 8, their alley. Shizuo picked out a heavy golden ball while Izaya got a small but quick black ball. Shizuo put on his bowling shoes excitedly while trying to lecture his partner. “You know how to play right? It’s not that difficult you just have to–" Before Shizuo could even finish his sentence, Izaya had thrown his ball down the alley. At first, Shizuo chuckled because Izaya’s form was basically atrocious, throwing the ball with both hands. However, due to the bumpers, the ball bounced back and forth before hitting the pocket perfectly as a strike. Izaya laughed as Shizuo’s mouth gaped open in disbelief.
They could hear Kadota yelling to someone in the back, “Sorry boss, but I have a family emergency and have to leave early!" Kadota exclaimed and a minute later was seen running out the front door with his jacket halfway on. Sure, Kadota was a tough person, but not even he could stand one of Shizuo and Izaya's infamous fights.
“What’s up with him?" Shizuo pondered while he was getting ready for his turn. Izaya just chuckled in response, obviously knowing something that Shizuo didn’t. The blonde’s focus turned back to the pins as he threw his golden ball. As it started to curve, the ball unintentionally interacted with the right bumper, causing it to go the opposite way only knocking down two pins. He groaned with anger as his next ball had the same effect. “You just got lucky Izaya!" Shizuo grumbled, obviously starting to get irritated.
The rest of the game was a catastrophe.
Using the bumpers to his advantage, like always, Izaya managed to score a perfect 300. He had calculated the angle at which the ball would gracefully hit the bumper perfectly so that he would get a strike every time. However, every time Shizuo would bowl like a normal person, the ball would accidentally hit the side and then be thrown completely off track. In the end, Shizuo only scored 100 points in total.
Needless to say, Shizuo was pissed. He wanted to smoke a cigarette but there were kids on the alley next to them and it was too damn cold outside to go out there. Instead, he bent the pen they were using to keep score in half and stomped on it. He was seeing red, veins popping out of his forehead. Meanwhile, Izaya was ecstatic. Spinning around in circles while laughing at the top of his lungs, “What’s wrong Shizu-chan? What was that you said earlier? 'It’s not that difficult!’" Izaya mocked with his notorious grin.
"IZAYA!!! YOU BASTARD, YOU DON’T EVEN NEED BUMPERS YOU JUST DID THAT TO PISS ME OFF BY MESSING ME UP!" Shizuo yelled as he started to pick up the heaviest bowling ball available, 16 pounds, not much but it would have to do. Shizuo quickly realized that this must be why Kadota left in a hurry.
“Oh, come on Shizu-chan, I just wanted to have some fun!" Izaya admitted, crossing his arms in a childlike manner.
“FUN??? I’LL SHOW YOU FUN!" Shizuo raged as he began throwing every item within his reach at the mischievous raven. The small bowling alley soon acted as a placeholder for the streets of Ikebukuro.
Izaya chuckled as he gracefully dodged the various bowling balls that were being aimed at him. Shizuo even somehow got ahold of some pins that were now being tossed at the information broker. By now, the couple managed to clear everyone out of the alley except for Erika who was taking pictures and almost drooling.
Shizuo was panting in exhaustion, he was also running low on weapons. As always, Izaya was as vital as ever dancing around with his charming smirk. Shizuo couldn’t help but love that stupid smile on Izaya’s face, which irritated him even more.
Out of nowhere, Shizuo heard loud noises that sounded like gunshots coming from outside. Izaya knew what he didn’t, that it was midnight and the noises were fireworks.
Izaya calmly walked over to Shizuo and reached up to give Shizuo a quick peck on the lips. “Happy New Year! Hurry outside before we miss the fireworks Shizu-chan." Izaya beamed as he strode out the front door, completely ignoring the damage they had done to the bowling alley. Shizuo now realized what the large sum of cash Izaya gave Kadota was for. There were multiple holes in the ceiling, most of the alleys were cracked down the middle and several bowling balls and pins were missing.
After a couple minutes, Shizuo regained his composure from what happened and sighed, “Can’t let him have all the fun!" Shizuo smiled as he raced out the door to join his boyfriend.