In honor of my last high school summer, this is a five chaptered series centering around Shizuo, Izaya, Kadota, Shinra, and Tom during both Raijin and current time. As stated from the summary, it is Dotachin/Izaya, Shizuo/Tom, and Shinra/Celty but there will be love triangles and bitter bitter one sided love/obsession. Be warned.

This chapter contains slight references (Tom and Shizuo's past) from Narita's extra DRRR! side releases (I am not sure about the official titles.) I don't own a thing.

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Late Spring

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He was one year older than him.

This was the last year, his very last spring.

There were no expectations for anything different than the last. He had lived in the ordinary for too long to grow astray from that path.

"Tanaka-kun."

He looked up at the soft call of his surname and caught sight of their class representative. She had short hair and a nice smile. The girl gestured to a small stack of books and asked him to bring it to their homeroom teacher. A brief nod and he stood up from his seat. His chair scratched against the floors and he strolled easily out the classroom door.

The books weren't heavy and he weaved through the halls with ease, past the gossiping groups of girls and the boys tossing a baseball in the air. He nodded at those who he recognized and smiled at the cute girls that had strayed in twos and threes.

This was his last year at Raira Junior High, there had to be something special to that.

But he knew there must be a change occurring right within the core of his own being or at the very least, something must be wrong with him. Because present time was blurring into a blank as he passed them by.

The walls were running white and the noise had dulled considerably.

Because he was only seeing importance in one thing, a single human being to be exact.

The science department came into focus but before that— It had been the sight of red on white and nasty cuts littering the stretch of exposed skin that had caught his gaze.

And then it had been the blonde locks.

Instincts came first.

"Shizuo."

The name had grown into a synonym for monster. An equivalent to terror.

It had been almost two years since he had met him. Heiwajima Shizuo. A name with a meaning that opposed everything he seemed to be but Tom knew that this name was the perfect resemblance of what Shizuo could become.

Because within his own perspective, Shizuo might as well be the poster boy of normality if it wasn't for his incredible strength or his intense preference for milk.

Two years ago, Shizuo had fought with a gang of his own friends and single-handedly beaten down the entire bunch with an annoyed grimace to his lips. Tom had been watching from afar, fear quivering into practical understanding.

From there, a senpai and a kouhai, they developed a mutual acceptance on his part and a mutual tolerance on Shizuo's part. Since then, they had become friends. Just like that.

He smiled a weary smile at the fresh cuts and scratches but decided to comment on something else. "The hair looks good."

Faintly, Shizuo smiled, embarrassed at the rare compliment as he ran a hand through his now blonde locks. "That's because I took your advice, senpai."

There was no longer any hesitance to get close.

Shizuo had once been accustomed to abrupt rejection and constant fear. The first time he saw Shizuo, he had seen the damage that was done but he had no blame to pin on this kouhai. The genuinely perplexity that he saw in Shizuo suppressed everything else that he was feeling at the time and Tom decided that he had none of the fear or rejection to offer.

Instead, they made casual conversations.

"Are there less people picking fights with you now?"

"Yeah… It's nice like this."

Through his murky brown eyes, he smiled an easy smile because Shizuo was genuinely content and he knew that this wasn't like him at all. Tanaka Tom was never one to involve himself with someone else's business. He hadn't known what made him willing to initiate a conversation with someone who had righteously earned the title of a monster but seeing past all that, he knew it had been the right choice all along.

"…Do you need help with that?"

The offer reminded him of past hesitance and Tom found it almost endearing on a kouhai who he had to tilt his head back just to see eye to eye. His dreadlocks were tied up and they shook with his shake of his head. Replying, he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"It's just a few books. Even though I don't have strength like yours, I'm no girl."

"That's right."

They walked side by side. The weight of the books remained a constant nothing in his mind. There was a late breeze that blew in from the opened windows of the halls and the world had seemed peaceful at the moment. Not even the fresh scent of blood from Shizuo's wounds drifting by could make a difference.

They stopped at the door to the science department. Through the barrier, Tom could hear the blurred murmur of what could be his homeroom teacher and then a thought sparked into his head. Looking up from the books in his hands, he spoke up just as Shizuo began to walk off.

"Oh, Shizuo?"

The blonde turned his head at the call of his name, two sets of brown eyes met.

"Hmm?"

There was the constant smile on Tom's face and the sun from the window made the blonde locks glimmer gold.

"You should be careful, some graduating gangs want revenge."

Shizuo nodded, he had taken the advice to the heart even though they both knew that the effort was hardly required. "You should too."

A tilt of his lips, a smile for a kouhai and Tom gave a short wave. Their memories rushed back to the very first time Tom played the part of hostage for a childish game of revenge.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

He didn't want to end this in a blur of vague memories and he had exactly one more month to make this meaningful.

000

The first time people noticed Tom's ability, they called it chemistry between the two.

But Tom had only laughed it off with a simple defence that Shizuo was normal, a lot more so than what most had thought. He wasn't a lion tamer and Shizuo really wasn't the terror that rumours had pinned him for.

Tom turned down the street corner.

The morning sun was in his eyes.

Casting his gaze to the ground, he saw shadows, unlike the dark shades from the high-rise buildings.

He gave a soft sign, more exasperation than annoyance and turned down another street, following the shadows against the cement sidewalks. He made his way in the opposite direction of his school that had been right in sight.

The sun was still in the sky, there wasn't a single cloud in the blue.

Tom's ability was just an acknowledgement.

There was nothing special and it was hardly chemistry. He accepted the distinct traits, however more violent, and took a step back when things fell across the line. From what he could see, Shizuo's temper was constructed of fears, perhaps one percent was his own fears but the other ninety-nine percent was the fear of everyone else.

He walked into the school.

No one dared to approach him but their whispers were roaring behind his back. This in itself was enough said.

He dropped his bag unceremoniously to the ground and opened the small compartment to his shoes. Reaching in, his fingertips touched a smooth surface, rather than the rough fabric of his white shoes.

He leaned down and took a glance inside.

There was a white envelope, resting on top of his shoes, like a letter sealed with love.

But the time wasn't right. It made him curious.

He opened the envelope and read its contents, oblivious to the onlookers brimmed with curiosity. His eyes scanned each word with a flaring stare and the paper was crumpled in his hand because his curiosity turned into anger and their curiosity turned into genuine fear.

The true power wasn't Shizuo's strength, it was the word of mouth.

And it was spreading like wild fire as Shizuo tore out of the school.

A ball of a white threat laid in his wake.

There was nothing more to it. They had both acted on instincts, one for the other, another for each other. There had never been a single promise, just a mutual commitment that they had come up with on their own.

Shizuo ran down the streets, his peripheral vision became a blur of white because his only concentration was set on a senpai that had went out of his way to help a kouhai. He was a little breathless but he didn't stop and he wouldn't have if he hadn't collided sharply with something soft and small.

He wouldn't have noticed either if it wasn't for the general darkness to the space that the other occupied, Shizuo couldn't help but pause and look down with hesitation.

It was a boy and he was sitting on the ground.

There was a heavy silence that weighted them down but Shizuo could only watch as the boy bit violently on his lips. His eyes were clenched shut as he took a shudder of a breath, it was clear that he was trying to hold back the pain but each word that came out sounded eerily calm.

"You dislocated my shoulder."

The accusation had hit him dead centre and Shizuo blinked, taken back by the fearless confrontation. The expression was short of emotionless aside from the traces of pain, it reminded him of Kasuka but his brother would gently pull him back when his temper bordered along danger, unlike this fearless gaze that was pushing him deeper and deeper within his own temper.

"Sorry, kid." He stood still as he breathed out, Kasuka's silence echoing in his head. "I'm in a hurry but I can call a friend. His dad is a doc—"

"No thanks." He coldly brushed him off without a hint of remorse in his voice and his fingers fumbled with his cell phone. He expertly pressed at the buttons with ease despite the pain that wracked his entire frame. "I don't want you introducing me to some shady doctors."

Red eyes glared furiously through the tears that wallowed in the orbs, Shizuo bowed his head in a silent apology.

The call connected, Shizuo turned around with one last look, dismissing the small youth sitting in the streets, just in time to miss the greetings the boy with the jet black hair spoke into the phone.

"I need a bit of help… a dislocated shoulder… someone bumped into me… I'm serious, Shinra. Call your dad."

000

He saw him first before he saw him in return.

Shizuo found him, lying on the ground, looking at his worst.

Tom could taste blood on his lips and pain at each joint of a knuckle. The concrete floor was cold and it did nothing to ease his injuries. But he was reassured at the sight of blonde hair in the mass.

He didn't want to make a scene but Shizuo had been their ultimate target and he was just the bait in another attempt for revenge.

The warehouse amplified each sound that was made.

A heavy body hitting the ground, a horrified scream, a stuttered banter, broken glass, splintered bones. Tom was sure he could hear the sound of metal bending in Shizuo's hands and he smiled a weary smile at the lack of hesitation in his violence.

It could have been minutes or seconds but the air was already stiff with fear.

Shizuo came over, blood trickling down the length of one arm. Red against the flesh, his uniform was done for but his care was only for one single person. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live."

He looked up at his kouhai and slowly got up with the help of Shizuo. They looked down at each other, dried blood caked against fresh injuries, pain throbbed against muscles and bruises were surfacing right below the tangible skin. They stood in silence as the tension in the air slowly dissipated with their breathing.

"…You should have just used me."

"I may not be good at fighting but I'm not about to use a kouhai to save my own ass."

Tom shook his head at the sight of injured bodies lying across the warehouse lot but he knew that this year had sincerely become a memory of the meaningful kinds. He glanced back at Shizuo and took in each emotion displayed over his kouhai's face. His lips dissolved into a smile. "Don't give me that kind of expression, people would think I was bullying you or something."

With a hand smeared in blood that did not belong to him, Shizuo easily pushed open the large metal doors to the warehouse. The sun filtered through and warmth enveloped them both. Maybe it had been the slight heat or maybe it had been the blood loss but Tom allowed himself to lean, ever so slightly, on Shizuo for support.

It felt nice.

"Come on, Shizuo. Let's leave before the cops get here, I actually want to graduate this year."

This year hadn't just been another year, this year was his last year and he had managed to make it mean something with just a bit of Shizuo's help.

But Tom really wondered if there would ever be an existence that could ever compare, just to match up to Shizuo's.

000

Two weeks later, Tanaka Tom graduated from Raira Junior High with just a bandage on his face.

XXX Kuro

This pairing is a first for me, thus it will remain platonic, if not just outright friendship but their sweetness killed me DD: