First Durarara fic, just a little oneshot I had in my head. Durarara is one of the only fandoms I can think of where I actually like having original characters because it makes sense. All it takes is filling in a gray person. Enjoy!

Shizuo was in the park. He had little reason to be there, but that never really stopped him from going where he wished. The flea wasn't around to cause him trouble, and only a few members of gangs were lazing about. No one seemed particularly interested in picking fights on such a hot and humid day and for that he was glad. This didn't stop his confusion when a girl came up to him, smiling with her hands behind her back. She was small, but probably only a little younger than him, with her long black hair pulled into a loose side braid. She had a pretty face and decent clothes, but didn't seem particularly worried about her appearance.

"Excuse me sir?" She smiled up at him with what he could only describe as an inquisitive expression. She didn't seem particularly afraid of him, but didn't seem unfamiliar with him at the same time. It was a weird feeling, being looked upon as if he were simply a passerby she heard about.

"What?" He mumbled through his cigarette, well aware that he was being rude.

"You're tall." He was about to make a statement about the obvious, but she hurried on to her next words, "Some jerks threw my book up in a tree. Could you uhm—?"

He was already walking past her and towards where she was pointing, and true to her word, there was a book up in the tree. It was easy to reach if he stood on his toes and leaned forward, using the trunk of the tree for support. His fingers brushed the glossy blue cover, and slowly he retracted, extremely careful not to accidentally cause damage to the book or to the tree. The girl took it from his hands and smiled shyly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear before looking at the ground and bowing.

"Thank you so much." When she straightened she cocked her head, "I've seen you before. You're the guy who throws vending machines and chases around—"

Shizuo coughed, not particularly wanting the rest of that sentence spoken out loud, "Heiwajima Shizuo."

"Arkawa Nina." She grinned, "It was lovely to meet you. Try not to get anyone killed."

With that, she waved at him as she walked away. That was it, really. He noticed her from time to time. She was always reading or staring off in the distance, almost as lost and dreamy as a stoner, but without the dullness that came along with the overuse of weed. She simply seemed peaceful. Nothing about her seemed particularly in a hurry or worried about anything. Nina seemed happy to exist, interacting with the world around her and within her own little world that Shizuo couldn't see. He didn't know why he continued to seek her out in crowds or linger longer in the park, but his eyes would simply drift to her occasionally. He never actively tried to seek her out, and she didn't seem to notice he was there at all.

For some reason he was content to leave it at that.

That was until he realized how stalker like his behavior had become. He knew this girl's favorite ice cream flavor, her preferred genre of books, that she could read English and Mandarin, how she reacted to being hit on (luckily she never seemed too pleased with that), her house was nearby and—well he knew a little too much for someone who had only said three words to her, two of which were his name. Therefore he gave himself an ultimatum: either talk to her again or stop watching her so closely. Neither seemed particularly appealing to him, but he refused to add stalking to the long list of things wrong with him. That was actually something that made him suddenly resemble the flea. He shuddered and resolved to stand up and walk up to her.

"Hey." He really didn't know exactly what to do with his hands, leaving them twitching at his side.

"Hey." She snorted, "Well that was awkward. Long time no see."

"Yeah." He replied gruffly.

"Wanna sit?"

Shizuo did as she bade, looking over her shoulder at the writing. He didn't recognize any words, despite having taken English in high school. "What is it?"

"Oh. It's Spanish."

"Spanish?"

"Yeah. I studied it when I was living in Spain."

"…oh." He was really not great at this whole conversation thing, but she didn't seem to mind. He almost asked her how many languages she knew, but that would imply that he knew that she could read in other languages which was again, creepy. Instead he opted for, "English seems like it'd be more useful."

"I'm fluent in that."

"Geez how many languages do you know?"

"Five, and some basic mechanics in three more." She replied airily, "That's what I'm at university for. I'm pretty good—oh that's bragging. Oops."

"So you're smart then."

"I'd like to think so." She replied, "So—are you hungry?" He didn't know what to think of the question or what it meant, but in the end, he still nodded and tried not to act shocked when she jumped up and beamed at him.

"Let's go, then."

Edit: Oops on Shizuo's surname. Thanks for pointing that out!