LOL...I loved the screenshot, Goldenspines. That little "hmmm?" moment with Shizuo and Celty was cute. And poor Shinra! I think he's probably my favorite character so far. And is it just me, or does it feel like he's mixed up in something pretty nasty? I almost thought maybe the person who picked him up for that job with the fireworks kid might have been threatening him in some way subtly...I wonder if he's mixed up with them to protect Celty?
ich1990, I had to watch 7 again just to be sure - but I think Izaya was egging Shizuo on right from the beginning. Granted, when Shinra introduced the two of them, Shizuo immediately told Izaya he didn't like him, but he didn't get
violent until Izaya started pushing his buttons. And you could tell from the smug look on his face that he was fully aware that he was ticking Shizuo off, even if he didn't know what that would mean...Izaya also kind of made it sound like the "fun" the two of them would have would be the sort of mutual antagonism that eventually evolved...so I almost think he was asking for it. I could be reading into it something that isn't there, though.
At any rate, neither of them were exactly pure as the driven snow about it, but it made me think that Shizuo just sensed something wrong (evil?) about Izaya, and his emotions took over. Even Shinra introduced him as "kind of an a**hole" and Shinra strikes me as pretty non-judgemental. At any rate, that's my theory, but I could totally be off.