#shitsuo

  A man was running up the stairs to the control room, panic on his face.

Their base of operations had suddenly been intruded.

There were dead bodies all over, the blood spilling out like bloody flowers.

 He slammed open the door and shouted.

 “Emergency!!! There’s an intruder – someone hired a hitman –“

 He stopped short at the bodies slumped over the control panels.

 A man dressed in some strange flowing garment had a smile on his beautiful face as he looked at the controls before him.

 “You -!”

“An intruder…”

 The man said even though he was the intruder, as he got up gracefully with that smile.

 “I’m sorry…but I’ve been assigned to kill your boss. If you insist on getting in my way, I’m afraid you have to die…”

 The man in pink and white spoke politely even though he was going to kill the other man.

 “Argh -!”

 The other man screamed in anger and took out his gun, shooting at the intruder.

 But the bullets never hit, the black haired man in pink and white moved so fast it was like there were afterimages of him.

 “Goodbye.”

 The soft voice like falling cherry blossoms was the last thing he heard.

    Sakuraya smiled as the man fell to the ground, the knife in his neck.

“Death is so beautiful…”

 He said, his kimono flowing out behind him as he made his way to the control panel, revealing the knives he kept hidden under the flowy material.

 “Ah…the sooner I finish this job, the sooner I can go home and eat the strawberry shortcake Shitsuo bought for me…”

 Sakuraya smiled as he thought of his lover, as he stopped before the control panel in the control room.

 He sat down, a strange sight of soft pink and white in the crime scene, as he stared at the control panel.

  “Now…how do I find the boss’s location….?”

  “Hello. I am your new bodyguard.”

 “Huh?”

 The middle aged man stared, flummoxed at the blond man in a butler suit before him.

 “I am your new bodyguard. I will be guarding you. Please continue your activities like normal.”

 “You’re the new bodyguard?”

 The middle aged man stared with a frown and Shitsuo nodded.

 “Yes. Please rest assured.”

 He pulled out a piece of paper out of nowhere.

 “Now, I believe you have a meeting in an hour’s time…shall we get going?”

  “What do you mean the contract’s been nulled?!”

 The middle aged man demanded, staring at the man with sunglasses opposite him who laughed.

 “Exactly as I said. I found a more worthy partner. And they only had one condition.”

“What condition?”

 The middle aged man asked as the blond in a butler suit stood silently behind him.

 “What else but…your death!”

 The man with sunglasses had suddenly pulled out a gun and shot before the middle aged man could even scream.

But it did not hit him.

 Smoke fizzled out of a white glove, and the men stared at the butler in black who had caught the bullet with his hand.

 The two men stared in shock as hazel eyes shifted their gaze.

 “You fire a bullet…like this.”

 The blond man in a butler suit spoke calmly, and flicked the bullet towards the shocked man.

 It went through his forehead before he could even scream, and he was instantly dead.

 The bodyguards of the man screamed in fight and fired their guns.

 He caught the bullets with superhuman ability and flicked them back at them with superhuman speed, resulting in them meeting the same fate as their employer.

At the same time, he took out dual pistols from his pockets, weaving in and out, as he shot swiftly at the other bodyguards, flipping and somersaulting throughout the room.

 Within minutes, the job was done.

 “…Ah…”

 The pistols spun in the air as Shitsuo threw them, before he caught them deftly and slid them back into his pockets, pulling out a piece of paper from his breast pocket.

 He blinked.

 “Oh…I got the wrong target.”

 He looked abashed like he hadn’t just killed almost all the people in the room.

Except for the cowering man who stared at him in fright.

 “M-Monster!”

 Shitsuo blinked.

He looked at the photo, then looked at his employer.

 The images matched.

 Shitsuo smiled.

 He took out his gun.

 “That was a bit too easy a kill. I’m a bit bored.”

 He spun the pistol around in his fingers as the man backed away towards the door in fright.

 “You see, I got the wrong target. My target is actually you.”

 He advanced towards the middle aged man who yelled.

 “Y-You’re the hitman?!”

“That I am. Now…”

 The barrel of the gun pointed straight at the frightened man.

 “Choose.”

 A dark smile twisted across the blond’s lips.

 “Do you want to die now…”

 A bullet shot through the door.

 “…or later?”

 “L-Later?! Never!!!!”

 The man screamed and ran for the door, flinging it open and escaping into the mansion.

 Shitsuo grinned and headed calmly after him.

  “I do love the thrill of the chase.”

    “So how was work today?”

 Shitsuo asked Sakuraya as they had a peaceful dinner in the dining room.

“Now…how do I find the boss’s location….?”

Sakuraya said contemplatively as he tried to figure out the control panel.

“If I press this button, and that button, I should be able to zoom in and see….”

The black haired man said, and soon brightened when he saw his experimenting had worked.

“There!”

He looked at the picture in his phone.

“That’s the boss! Now to go to kill him~”

  “Oh…it was fine. I had some technical issues, but I solved it.”

 Sakuraya said with a calm smile.

 “How was work for you?”

 He asked almost like a counter.

  “Someone help! Help – AHHHHH -!”

The man screamed as he nearly avoided being hit by the chandelier that came crashing down.

“Oh. Careful there. You wouldn’t want to be killed by a chandelier when you could be killed by your former bodyguard. Ah, but that was my mistake really. Sorry about that.”

The former bodyguard said and jumped off the railing, landing in front of the man’s terrified form.

The phone was crushed under his foot.

“No personal feelings, really. This is just a job for me.”

The blond said but his grin suggested otherwise.

“If you can’t run away anymore…I guess this is the end for you.”

 “Shitsuo?”

Sakuraya’s voice cut through Shitsuo’s thoughts.

His eyebrows furrowed.

“You’re grinning. Did you enjoy your job that much? I thought you were a higher-up in the construction site…”

Shitsuo caught himself and coughed.

“Ah. Yes. We had…some new materials. They helped a lot with the construction.”

  Pft construction. More like destruction.

 Shitsuo thought to himself as he ate his dinner, staring into Sakuraya’s curious eyes.

 Sakuraya blinked then smiled.

“I see…I am glad you enjoy your job.”

“Yes. I enjoy using new materials.”

Shitsuo chuckled like at a personal joke at himself.

He smiled.

 “You must be a genius in your technical job…”

“Oh you flatter me…”

 Sakuraya giggled, but his eyes spelled boredom.

  Ah, this man is so boring…I thought he would be interesting, but he’s so boring!

He seemed so charming at first but he chose to retire from a good job as a butler to work at a construction site?!

What’s so exciting about that really?

Assassination is much more fun~

 Unknown to Sakuraya, Shitsuo was having similar thoughts.

  At first, he looked like an angel. But he’s too much of an angel.

He’s like a …. What do they call it. Yamato Nadeshiko. Too perfect.

I was entranced by his etherealness and mysterious demeanor.

But lately…….our relationship’s been dull.

If he were a target of mine, I don’t think he would be exciting to chase…..

 “Hey.”

 They said at the same time, then looked at each other.

 “….you go first.”

 Sakuraya gestured with his elegant smile.

  “Ah. Yes. I……our relationship has been…..lacking a spark……so I was wondering, if you wanted to go on a date…….like old times.”

Shitsuo smiled with a gentlemanly smile.

Sakuraya clapped his hands.

“Oh I would love that, I was just thinking the same thing! Let’s have a fun date night~”

“Really?! It’s settled then! I’ll find a good movie and let you know!”

“You’re such a dear, Shitsuo. Thank you.”

  The couple smiled and laughed with each other but the same thought was in their minds.

“What are you smiling about, bastard?” Shizuo Heiwajima growled, trying to put as much hatred into his glare as possible. After all, if Izaya was smiling, then that could mean nothing good for him. The best he could hope for was that he could somehow manage to intimidate the bastard into reconsidering whatever it was he was plotting in that head of his. But that would be the day pigs flew. He could try to strangle Izaya with a metal pipe, and the bastard still wouldn’t be frightened of him. He was too cheeky and brave for his own good. Shizuo was glaring goddamn daggers into him, but the man’s face remained practically serene as he spun around and hummed, the long pink and white kimono he had draped on flowing around him with an elegant grace.

“I just think we finally got put into very fitting and appropriate roles for once. I, a rich, prominent noble person, and you, a lowly servant-” Izaya’s sentence ended with a yelp as he dodged the water bottle Shizuo chucked at him, the bottle exploding everywhere, unfortunately nowhere near the louse.

Shizuo gritted his teeth in annoyance. What exactly was getting on his nerves, he wasn’t sure. Was he irritated because Izaya was being a perpetual asshole like always? But he should be used to it by now. Was he mad at himself for allowing Izaya’s quips to get under his skin in the first place? Shizuo had always had a ridiculously short fuse and bad anger issues. It didn’t take much for his temper to flare, and that flaw of his had almost caused him to lose roles before, seeing as some directors or actors felt afraid to work with him. He would like to point out if they didn’t want him blowing up half the time, they should try to avoid productions that involved Izaya, but whatever.

Maybe it was even something as base as the fact that no matter what he threw, Izaya managed to always have the evasiveness of a god and dodge it. It was a constant frustration, when all he wanted was to see the bastard get his just desserts for once.

Maybe it was a combination of all three.

Even though he didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing the water bottle hit, he took consolation at the filthy look Izaya threw his way, his strange wine-red eyes glimmering with hatred.

“Fuck you, Shizu-chan,” Izaya hissed. Shizuo felt his eye twitch at the nickname. Fuck did he hate the little bastard.

Shizuo was pretty sure he had some kind of blessing-curse rombo-combo going on right now. He was somewhat blessed, because he’d actually been managing to land a steady stream of roles, especially for a newer actor such as himself, and his status was taking off faster than he expected it to. Granted, most of his roles so far had been pretty small - just some parts in a couple of commercials and a few background roles in some TV shows and movies - but he had actually managed to land a few good spots.

He had gotten a very solid voice acting role for the main character of a popular anime, got to act as a main side character in a TV show for two seasons, and had even played the main antagonist in a monster movie that was getting quite the cult following.

He had been getting more and more fan letters, more and more interviews, and his name was being reached to a wider audience.

Pretty good, right?

However, there was a downside to it all. The curse of it being that almost ninety percent of the productions involved him working with Izaya Orihara. Izaya Orihara and him probably should get along. They were from very similar circumstances. They were both relatively young actors who were trying to make it in the industry. They had both been willing to pursue acting, despite knowing the risks such a life involved.

However, Izaya was an absolute asshole. He was always taunting, always sniping, always verbally jabbing at him. The pest even had a tendency to play pranks every now and then. And what Shizuo didn’t understand was why it was only him? Of course, he’d seen Izaya be mean to others, but he’d also seen a humble side of the flea. One who was professional and polite. Why couldn’t he get that kind of side of him? Even if it was just another act that the flea was pulling off. Was it because he had accidentally decked him and nearly broke his nose during a fake fight scene during one of their television shoots? Because that had been an accident .

Well, whatever the reason, it seemed Izaya had a personal vendetta against him and was determined to annoy him in anyway possible. One of his newer methods, Shizuo had been noticing was nicknaming him stuff. Protozoan had been the first, which, okay… was just a fancy way of saying the word idiot. He supposed as far as insults went though, it was generic though. But then, the flea had began throwing the word ‘monster’ around, probably to hint at the time Shizuo had, during the movie where he played the antagonist, “transformed” into a monster and had to wear a rubber suit, which Izaya, of course had found amusing.

Then, in one of the episodes of the TV show, there had been a miscommunication error, and for a good segment of the episode in question, a character thought Shizuo was a woman, who called herself ‘Shizu-chan.’ Ever since that episode had hit the airwaves, Izaya had been using the nickname to death.

He had considered getting the directors, but he knew that would be fruitless. Izaya had a way with words. Shizuo didn’t know how the flea did it, but he could get almost everyone wrapped around his finger in an instant. He would be able to convince the directors that it was simple misunderstanding or joke and sometimes, even pose it in a way that made Shizuo look like the bad guy.

So, he supposed if he wanted to be out of here faster, he should just do his lines as well as he could so he could get away from Izaya faster.

Also to get out of this tuxedo faster as well. It was making him feel unbearably hot.

So, turning away, he went to go some distance away from the flea. He had to remember… he was in a movie. A really big budget movie. The boost in his career this would give him would make it well worth having to deal with Shizuo.

He read over the lines of his script. His part was a bit harder. His character was a servant who’d been transferred from England to Japan, so he had to speak some lines with a bit of an accent and sprinkle in some broken Japanese every now and then, in order to try and make it authentic. It would lead help lead to the character Izaya was playing, Sakuraya, to feel the need to tutor the butler character, which would then lead to their eventual falling in love.

Shizuo grimaced. Not at the story itself. The story and the lines were fine. But the idea of having any romantic involvement with Izaya made him miserable just thinking about it.

But at least the directors had wanted their relationship to be “subtle” and “somewhat hidden” as to help fit the time period. So, the most they would be doing was handholding and maybe a hug.

And Shizuo supposed he could resist breaking Izaya’s hand enough to do a shoot.

All of a sudden, the director was calling for them to get into their positions. Shizuo took a breath.

Here went nothing. -------------------

Shizuo hated Izaya, but he had to admit, he saw why Izaya kept getting hired back. The guy was a very good actor. In fact, Shizuo might even say he had more talent than Shizuo, at least with his acting range. Izaya could seemingly put on any face he needed, always seemed to put the right inflection to his words. He spoke very eloquently and his memorization skills of his lines was top notch.

Shizuo, on the other hand, was a little harder on these aspects. It took him a couple tries to say some lines right and some lines he just struggled to remember. He wondered if that was part of the reason Izaya hated him too, because he was the only reason they were somewhat slow in any production. Well, Shizuo found Izaya’s infuriating perfectness to be annoying as well, so there.

But once they got it all down, the scenes seemed to flow naturally. Once Shizuo got himself in the right headspace, it was almost hard for him to remember that the soft hands he was holding belonged to the bastard flea.

They said their lines, they did their scenes, and eventually… the day was over.

Izaya stood up and looked at his hands in disgust, “Gotta go wash my hands now. Shizu-chan’s filthy hands no doubt got germs all over them.”

“Oi! What do you mean, filthy, you bastard?” Shizuo hissed.

And just like that, the illusion was dead and they were enemies once more. --------------------- “WHAT?” Both Shizuo and Izaya exclaimed the next day when they looked at the now changed script.

“You cannot be serious,” Izaya said, looking at the director imploringly.

“Please,” Shizuo groaned, “I’d be willing to do anything so long as you don’t do this.”

However, the director had very little sympathy for their plight. “We’ve decided the one way to get people to actually talk about the movie is if you two kiss. It makes it more romantic anyway.”

Izaya opened his mouth, and the director cut him off, “Before you say anything about historical accuracy, Izaya, it’s historical fiction for a reason. And if you noticed, the kiss happens in private. It’s staying in. If you two are that adamant about not doing it, we can easily find new actors to replace both of you.”

Shizuo supposed it couldn’t be more straightforward than that.

Growling, they both walked away in disgust.

“Remind me to buy some mouthwash before we shoot,” Izaya said, rolling his eyes.

Shizuo bristled, “You know I am not exactly eager, either, you fucking bastard.”

Izaya gave him a smirk and said, “Oh please, this is the probably the best thing to ever have happened for you. As far as I know, I might even be Shizu-chan’s first kiss!” He sing-songed the last part, mockingly.

“You wish, you rotten flea!” Shizuo said, tossing the script at Izaya, who like always, managed to dart away right in time, giggling.

He refused to acknowledge the fact that unfortunately, what Izaya said was indeed the truth.

Oh well… he supposed he had no choice.

The things one was willing to do for one’s craft.

--------------------------------------------------------------------- Acting was a little harder that day, at least for Shizuo. Naturally, he got into the flow of things again, but he couldn’t help but be distracted in the back of his mind that his lips were going to have to touch Izaya’s. And what’s worse, the director wanted it to look authentic. It couldn’t just be a little peck or anything, it had to involve tongue and everything, because of course it did.

Eventually though, as they continued to do the scene, it became a bit easier to fall into the role. He and Izaya were sitting on their knees, and Izaya had placed a hand on his knee, the two of them staring into one another’s eyes. Once again, Shizuo had to give it to Izaya’s acting ability. There seemed to be an actual heat in the gaze, and it seemed to electrify the air around Shizuo.

The scene was coming up any second now. Izaya was the one who had to initiate it.

Suddenly, the hand on Shizuo’s knee lifted and delicate, soft fingers touched his cheek. Eyes half-lidded, Izaya whispered, “Shitsuo-san, may I try something with you?”

“Of course,” Shizuo replied, eyes going half-lidded himself. He tried to look calm and somewhat confused, even though he was antsy as hell.

He had expected Izaya to hesitate. He probably would’ve if he was in the flea’s situation. However, the slender man actually closed his eyes and pressed their lips together immediately, his hand winding into Shizuo’s hair in a way that felt way to good.

Shizuo had to admit, he was a bit surprised. He had expected Izaya to purposely make this miserable for him. Maybe eat something absolutely nasty so his breath reeked or something while they were kissing, but Izaya’s lips actually felt soft and his breath warm. Shizuo hoped the fact that he stiffened when Izaya kissed him translated to his character being surprised rather than he himself being nervous.

Now was the point where Shizuo’s character was supposed to protest.

Pushing Izaya off of him lightly, he grabbed Izaya’s hands and said, “Master Sakuraya, we… we can’t.”

Izaya breathily chuckled and said, “Of course we can Shitsuo, so long as we are clever and coy.”

Then once more, Izaya pressed his lips to Shizuo’s. And this was the part where they were supposed to get more intense with the kiss, Shitsuo eventually giving in to his desires, at least for a moment. Izaya reminded him of this by tracing the line of his lips with his tongue, which caused Shizuo to gasp involuntarily. The flea took advantage of this, his tongue goading Shizuo’s to work with him. The flea was letting out convincing little hums too.

He was too good at this.

Eventually, Shizuo went along with it. And it felt good. Izaya was a great kisser, despite all of his other flaws. Shizuo found himself actually getting lost somewhat in baser desires.

However, eventually Izaya pulled away and his character let out a giggle, “See, you seemed to enjoy that, Shitsuo-san.”

Now, this was where Shitsuo was supposed to exit the scene. Pushing Izaya away, this time more roughly, he wiped at his lips and said, “No Sakuraya, doing such illicit acts will get us in trouble eventually. I… I have to leave.”

He stood up to leave, hearing Izaya’s character call out, “Shitsuo, please-!”

But Shizuo’s character snapped the door closed.

“CUT!” he heard the director say, but Shizuo continued to walk on until he reached the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. Had… he actually enjoyed kissing Izaya? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night Shizuo was haunted by his dreams. Dreams of soft lips against his. The feeling of hands shifting through his hair. But there was a slight change to the context of the dreams. Instead of innocent hums, it was shameless hums he was swallowing. Instead of pushing Izaya away, his hands were slipping underneath Izaya’s kimono, feeling up the man’s pale skin, pinching a nipple and causing the other man to mewl in his mouth.

“Shizu-chan,” Izaya whined, “Please-”

Shizuo awoke with a groan. Shit… what the fuck… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Working with Izaya was already a pain in the ass, with the flea being, well, the way he was.

But somehow, this felt even worse. Cause now, he felt awkward.

His dreams hadn’t ended there. They had continued well throughout the night. Every single time, Izaya was in a new position, saying new things, but the concept was basically the same. Shizuo felt himself burning with shame.

Sure, Izaya was attractive, and okay, he was a good kisser. But he was an asshole.

And he was his coworker. He had to remember this. That kiss had been nothing but acting. Nothing else.

But for the whole day, as they were doing their shoots, Shizuo found he couldn’t focus. He kept messing up the lines, he refused to make eye contact with Izaya half the time, and he couldn’t put any heart into his lines.

Eventually, the director, frustrated, decided that what they needed was a break. He gave generic advice to Shizuo, which made him feel embarrassed… but he had simply nodded and walked away to the set to get a drink from his water bottle, wondering if it was going to be like this for the whole rest of the movie shoot. Because if so, he was going to lose a very valuable acting role, cause he highly doubted this director would have the patience to deal with him.

All of a sudden, he felt something hit him in the back. Not too hard, but enough to catch him off-guard.

When he looked down, he saw a water bottle rolling innocently by his foot. When he looked at the direction it had been thrown from, he saw Izaya smirking, saying, “Revenge.”

When Shizuo didn’t laugh, Izaya said, “Oh fine, no sense of humor… anyway, I just came to ask what the hell was with you up there? You struggle sometimes, but never that badly. What’s got you so bothered?”

Shizuo swallowed as he looked at Izaya. He couldn’t believe he was about to say this.

“Can I kiss you again?”

Izaya actually blinked in surprise for a moment. Shizuo expected him to refuse or to be disgusted, but Izaya actually just smirked.

“What?” Shizuo barked gruffly, already bracing for Izaya to mock him.

However, he was pleasantly surprised when Izaya just said, “See… told you it would be the best thing to happen to you.”

Shizuo rolled his eyes and snapped, “Shut up and come over here, flea, before I regret it.”

“Happy to oblige,” Izaya said with a purr, before striding over and pressing their lips in a kiss.

It was as good as Shizuo remembered it.

He would’ve been happy to stay there for a while, but Izaya pulled away and said, “If you want continued kisses, you got to take me out to dinner first.”

Shizuo swallowed and said, “Deal.”

Izaya was an asshole… but maybe… just maybe… he could get this to work.