"Rin, slow down. I can't keep up!"

"C'mon Shiemi if we stop, four-eyes might get us!"

Two uniformed Cross Academy students with a few travel bags ran through the crowds of Ikebukuro in the late afternoon. Rin Okumura got a bit bored of his travel group and decided to get 'lost' in the crowds, bringing his best friend Shiemi Moriyama with him. He couldn't wait to see what made Ikebukuro like nowhere else in Tokyo, and sticking with his brother and classmates weren't going to give him the experience he wanted.

They continued going through the busy streets, passing the people who were rushing home from work, when suddenly Rin stopped at his tracks. His stomach started to growl of hunger. Shiemi finally caught up with him

"Can we...go get something... to eat? I'm a bit...hungry", she asked while catching her breath.

Rin looked around the area, looking for somewhere to eat when he spotted a tall black man wearing a white sushi chef outfit giving out fliers to potential customers.

"Come to Russia Sushi. It good, it cheap!"

'Russia Sushi? I never heard of that before,' Rin thought. 'I guess we can try it out.'

Rin focused his attention to Shiemi, pointed to the direction of the restaurant and asked her, "What about that sushi place?"

Shiemi looked at the direction Rin was pointing and studied the restaurant carefully. "Hmm, okay, I guess."

"You don't have to if you don't want..."

"It's not that, it's just I never ate at a sushi restaurant before." she said in a worrisome tone.

Rin gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about that. I can help you with picking out menu items. Is that okay?"

Shiemi smiled back and nodded. "Yes, thanks."

The two friends run towards the restaurant and in front of the tall man. Rin waved at him to catch his attention. The man turned around and looked down on Rin and Shiemi, giving them a friendly smile.

"Hello there. Long time no see."

Rin was a bit startled at the man, never seeing someone like him before in his life. He took a big gulp and said, "We would like to eat at this fine sushi place you have here. So can we come in?"

The man moved away from the doorway and gestured the students to get inside. Rin and Shiemi smiled at each other, then walked in.

They took a seat at an empty table across from each other and took up the menus, wondering what to order. Rin cheeks started to burn pink as he peeked through his menu to see Shiemi's face. 'It feels like we're on a date...'

"Rin? What are you getting?"

Rin immediately snapped back to reality when he heard her voice, still blushing while waving his hand frantically. "Um... I haven't decided yet. Just give me more time!"

"Okay, I haven't decided what I wanted yet either. However..." She slid her menu towards Rin, right on the specials page. "There are some weird items on here."

Rin stared at the page, scowling at the odd items. 'Cheese sushi ,sour cream sushi? Who the hell came up with this?'

He sighed and gave the menu back to the blonde. "Those are weird items, just don't order them."

Shiemi nodded and continued looking through her menu. Suddenly, the man from earlier came to their table, still smiling.

"So you decided to order?" he asked.

I'll just get some nigiri," Rin replied, giving his menu to the server.

Shiemi sighed, laying her menu down. "I'm still can't decide. What do you suggest mister?'

"I would recommend the fatty tuna if you asked me~" a voice said.

Rin and Shiemi looked around for the voice, seeing a young man standing beside Rin's seat. He had raven hair that fell just below his reddish-brown eyes, wearing a fur-trimmed coat over a black v-neck shirt, and dark blue pants. He smirked at the students then turned his attention to the tall, black man.

"Izaya! Long time no see. Here for Sushi?"

Izaya nodded at the man. "Indeed I am Simon. Just give me the usual." Izaya looked back at Rin. "If you don't mind, I'm going to sit with the new costumers."

Rin glared at Izaya, not being fond of the thought of some random stranger sitting next to him. "Now just wait a min-" Before Rin could finished, the raven sat right beside him, making Rin giving him some room and moved his travel bag.

"Oh, you're so kind, young man~" Izaya mused.

Rin placed his elbow on the table, resting his head on his hand. He was clearly not happy with this situation at all. "So much for my date..." he mumbled under his breath.

Shiemi finally decided on her order and ordered otooro, much Rin's annoyance. Simon took the menus and left to go get their orders, leaving the three alone with nothing but the sounds of murmurs of other costumers. After a moment of awkward silence, Izaya tried to start a conversation with the students. "Well, I never seen you two before, out of town, I'm guessing?"

"You can say that. We come from another part of Tokyo," Rin replied, still slightly annoyed. "We're visiting Ikebukuro with some classmates of ours."

"Interesting, Let me be the first one to welcome you to this city. I'm Izaya Orihara, it's nice to meet you."

Shiemi bowed her head to Izaya in respect. "I'm Shiemi Moriyama. It's nice to meet you too, Orihara-san."

"Rin Okumura," he sighed.

Izaya laughed a bit at the student's responses. "What's wrong, Rin-kun~? Don't like the extra company?"

Rin just glared at him, not wanting to answer his question. Then Simon returned to the group with their orders placing them down on the table. "Sushi for everyone! Enjoy!"

Rin immediately brighten up at the sight of the food. "Thank God, I was starving!"

They dug in to their food, enjoying every piece of sushi. When they were done, Rin looked through his bag to get his wallet to pay the bill. "Where the hell is it? It gotta be here somewhere."

Izaya stood up from his seat and took out some bills out of his jacket pockets and lay it on the table. "Allow me, Rin-kun."

"You don't really have to, I just have to find..."

"No, no. I insist. It's the least I can do."

Shiemi smiled at the young man. "Thank you very much, Orihara-san! That's very nice of you."

"Showoff..." Rin grumbled under his breath.

They walked outside the restaurant and stood a few meters away from the entrance. The sun was already setting behind the tall buildings and the night dwellers of the city started to fill the streets. Rin and Shiemi bowed to Izaya and said their goodbyes.

"Again, thanks for the food. It was nice to meet you." Rin said.

Izaya smirked at Rin."Oh don't worry, we will certainly meet again."

What does he mean by that? Rin thought.

Suddenly, a loud, gruff voice came out of nowhere. Rin and Shiemi got starled and frantically look for where the sound was coming from.

"IZAYA!"

Izaya smirk grew larger than before. "Well, it looks like Shizu-chan found me~!"

Rin stared at Izaya for a moment. "Who the hell is 'Shizu-chan'?"

Then a tall, blond man wearing a bartender's outfit stepped forward from the street he was from. He smirked at Izaya, while Rin goes in front of Shiemi. The other people around the area moved out of the way, not wanting to be stuck in the crossfire of what was going to happen.

"Well Izaya-kun, you decided to show your damn face here! I thought you said that you were going underground for a while."

Izaya laughed at the man's comment. "Oh Shizu-chan, you know I can't stay away from my beloved city for long. Besides, everything has cooled down now and I'm starting to get bored," He pulled out his switchblade from his jacket pocket and pointed it at the blond. "Now let's have some 'fun', shall we?"

Rin couldn't believe what was happening before him. A street fight was going to happen and he didn't bring his Koma sword with him so he could protect Shiemi. He can only hope that it doesn't get really bad.

"How many times I have to tell you," the blond yelled while lifting up the vending machine from the ground , "That my name is Shizuo Heiwajima!"

Rin eyes grew wide in awe and confusion at Shizuo's action. 'But how can he do that? I thought I was the only one with incredible strength. Unless...'

Before he knew it, Shizuo threw the vending machine at Izaya. Izaya quickly ran out of the way of the hurling metal. "You missed, Shizu-chan~!"

The machine was headed towards Rin and Shiemi's way. Rin went to position and grabbed the machine before it could squashed them both. He gently put the machine down at his side, then looked back at Shiemi, who was in total shock. "You okay?"

Shiemi shook her head out of her shock and nodded at Rin in relief. "Yeah, but I should be asking you that."

"Heh, I'm fine! That thing wasn't even heavy!" he bragged.

"What the hell?"

Rin turned back to Shizuo and Izaya, who was staring at him in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. He looked around at the crowd and they stared the same way. He rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously.

'This is bad...'