Tyler ran as face as she could. She hadn't even bothered to see if they were still chasing her, she just kept going. She was angry. The fact that Izaya asked her to meet him at the sushi place and instead, two guys just started chasing her really pissed her off. Part of her wondered if the cruel informant had set them up to this, but she quickly dispelled the thought. No matter how much he loved to tease and mess with her, he wouldn't go this far. Right? Tyler didn't let herself ponder it. She just ran. It wasn't until she was on the outskirts of town that she stopped. Looking around, she noticed that she was alone. Sighing in relief, she finally allowed herself to relax. So she sat on the ground. No, correction, she fell onto her butt. She was so exhausted. In her entire life, Tyler couldn't recall running that hard. Which arose the question: why had she felt the need to run? Those men must have needed something from her. Again, her mind flashed to Izaya. Would he really do this to her? Maybe the guys needed a target or something, and Izaya gave her up. She shook her head. Izaya may be cruel, but he would never do that to me, she thought with conviction.
Tyler sighed again and fell back into a laying position. She bent her knees so that they were pointing to the sky. It was dark, but not completely black. More like a bluish purple with few stars out. It was beautiful. Peaceful. Tyler realized that she hasn't felt this at peace since before she moved to Ikebukuro from America. Back then, she didn't know a word of Japanese. Now she could speak it fluently. Plus, when she switched back to English, she would have an accent. It amused her, but annoyed her parents to no end. Izaya had teased that she was no longer a true American. She snorted every time saying "You wish." Thinking back on it, she hung out with the informant more than she should have. Everyone else seemed to be wary of him. One guy kept attacking him. She remembered first meeting the black haired man. She saw him talking to a group of's when a trash can just come from the sky and hit him. Trash cans. They can sense trash from a mile away, someone had joked. But she was worried that Izaya was injured. Later that day, she found him and asked if he was okay. He had been stalking her ever since. For lack of a better word. Sure, Tyler had sometimes gotten caught in the line of fire when the blond found her friends. But she had never truly been injured.
The fatigue was starting to catch up to the redhead, and she yawned. Her hazel eyes could hardly stay open. She kept thinking of every time she had almost been hit by a trash can or vending machine, hoping it would keep her from falling asleep. But it didn't. She foolishly dreamt of Izaya. She dreamt of the day she met him, and every fantasy that followed. The girl had never been fool enough to hint that she liked him like that, not one bit. She kept her thoughts to herself and instead pretended to not want him around. Oh how idiotic she had been to think the man hadn't noticed something was up.
A camera shutter woke her. Tyler slowly open her eyes and nearly screamed. Leaning over her was Izaya. In one hand, he had his phone. The camera was pointed directly at her. His other hand covered his mouth; presumably to hide his laughter. This was the first time she had ever been in a vulnerable position. At least in front of him. She was about to yell at Izaya when she noticed the tiny blush dusting his cheeks. She cocked an eyebrow.
"What are you doing, Orihara?", she asked with an edge to her voice. Izaya put his phone back in his pocket.
"I found you like this, and couldn't help myself," he chuckled, letting his other hand drop into his other pocket.
Tyler tackled him to the ground, causing him to fall backward with her on top. She immediately went for the phone, but he grabbed her arms first. He held them above his head like you would when keeping something out of reach of a shorter person. She yelped as she was pulled closer to him. As a result, their chests were pressed up against each other, and their noses were inches apart. For the first the time ever, Tyler let herself blush in front the crazy informant. Her heart beat sped up. What is he doing!?, she mentally yelled. Izaya just smirked. This was the only chance he would get to test his theory. So far, it was proving to be as entertaining as he originally thought. He had Tyler blushing as bright as an apple. Now for the fun part. He leaned up and kissed her on the nose. She yelped and attempted to pull away, but he held a tight grip.
"Orihara! Let go!", she yelled, turning a brighter red.
He couldn't help it anymore. He let out a laugh. Then he rolled so that he was on top and took out his phone again. Now he had a picture of the American sleeping, and blushing. He got up and backed away, admiring his handy work. Tyler sat up and just started at him. He set this all up. To get a few pictures. Her eyes teared up as she stood. Keeping her head down she rushed past the man and ran home. Leaving him there, confused about what he had done. But soon he shrugged it off. He had gotten good reactions out if her. But then, why did he feel guilty?
A week passed since Tyler ran from the informant. She hadn't seen him since. Not from lack of trying on his part. Every time he came around, she would just ignore him until he decided he would rather find someone else to mess with. She still felt too betrayed to talk to him. She found that the guys that chased her, were in fact guys who owed Izaya favors. The whole meeting was a setup. The discovery had made her cry for three hours. Part of her wanted those pictures deleted, but knew he would never let that happen. So she just pretended he didn't exist. Kida asked her what was wrong on several occasions, but she always dodged the question. She didn't want to admit that she'd been played. She came to Ikebukuro to get away from crap like that. Maybe she should have stayed in America. Better than getting bullied by Izaya.
You see, Tyler lived alone. Her parents had left her when she was sixteen; three years ago. That stirred up the bullying in the first place. When she first met Izaya, the fact that he could find out anything he wanted on her frightened the redhead. She didn't want him digging. Not that she anything to hide, she just didn't want somebody knowing everything about her. Izaya started showing up everywhere she went. She would even find him on her computer when she got home. Not often though. He would walk her home, to school, to work. The entire way, he would tease her. It unnerved her at first, but after a year she got used to it. Though I can't comprehend why someone like him would want to follow someone like me for a year.
Tyler's thoughts were interrupted when she was pushed from behind. It wasn't hard, but it was enough to knock off her balance a bit. She stumbled forward just as someone wrapped an arm around her waist. She was yanked back into someone's chest. She could feel their breath on her ear. It was a little excited. Looking back, she saw Izaya. He was looking away from her. She doubted he even knew who he was holding. Suddenly, he jumped up. She yelped as she heard a crash where they'd just been. When the informant landed, her moved his hand from around her waist to her hand, and they both starting running in the opposite direction.
"Come on, Tyler!" he yelled.
Tyler couldn't remember a time where she felt happier. Izaya was holding her hand.