A copper haired woman stood off to the side with a fake smile forced onto her face. A chair flew by her. It was natural for the cafe to be lively, but not this extreme. So while the other waitres and waitresses hid behind the counter along with the shop owner, the woman stood where she was with a coffee mug in her left hand. Knives flew by. The customers began to ran out of the popular cafe and make a mad dash to save their lives.

Ah…how did things turn out like this? The woman sighed.

"Rei-kun!" The shop owner whispered. "Please do something."

Hinata Rei turned to look at her boss before sighing and placing the coffe mug down. She tied her hair back into a ponytail and stood in the middle of the battlefield, between Orihara Izaya and Heiwajima Shizuo.

"Stop." Rei raised up both of her hands. Both sides ignored her and proceeded to throw things, only this time, it went around her. Rei dropped her smile and immediately took of her shoes, each in one hand.

"I said stop you knuckle-headed bastards!" She shouted. She aimed one of her shoes at Izaya who couldn't dodge because Shizuo's table was blocking the other way. Then she threw the other one at Shizuo who didn't have time to react at all. Simultaneously, both earned themselves a painful, and slightly bleeding forehead. The throwing stopped and silence can be heard for a brief second.

"How many times do I have to tell you: No. Fighting. In. The. Cafe?" Rei glared at the two men with her pale blue eyes.

"That hurts, Rei-chan~" Izaya rubbed his forehead in a mischievous smile with an attempt at a cutesy tone.

"Shut up you shady asshole."

"You didn't have to use your shoe. Besides, it's his fault for pinning the crime onto me." Shizuo glared at the man in the black coat, across from him.

"Then please make do with this for now." Rei sashayed over to Izaya and stood behind him. She gently put her arm around Izaya's neck. Izaya whistled in respond.

"What's this? Falling for my charms finally? That won't do...I- ow ow ow ow." Izaya's face paled slightly as Rei did a headlock. She looked up at Shizuo who sweated slightly and sighed in exasperation.

"Fine...but the moment when he and I both step out of here, it's a battlefield." He strided to one far end of the cafe and sat down with a grump. Rei lets go of her victim who rubbed his neck. He laughed and scoffed before heading to the opposite direction.

The staff members seemed to sense the temporary truce and began to bustle around, cleaning up the mess. The clock struck twelve so the shop owner flipped the sign, which now said "Closed".

"I heard you're starting at your full-time job tomorrow." Izaya commented after he asked for a caramel cake.

"Is it at Raira?" Shizuo asked after he ordered a strawberry shortcake.

"Yes." Rei grinned as she wiped down the tables. Staff began to leave and she sent each and every one of them off with a smile. The owner was the last to leave, other than Rei, Izaya, and Shizuo. He gave Rei the keys and patted her head. "Don't come home too late."

The three watched the old man leave and continued their conversation.

"That interesting place?" Izaya laughed. He puts his feet on the table while eating his cake.

Rei slapped his face with her towel, demanding him to lift his feet off the clean tables.

"Congratulations on earning your dream job as being a teacher." Shizuo finished his cake and placed his fork on the plate.

"I'm thinking of moving out of the old man's house to live closer to my workplace." Rei placed the dirty towel into a basket and washed her hands.

"Speaking of which, is that old man your guardian or dad or something?" Izaya asked, rocking his chair back and forth.

"Oi, Izaya!" Shizuo hissed.

"You know that I don't have parents and I'm raised by the shop owner." Rei rolled her eyes. She took the plates and cutleries away from the two men and began washing them.

"But that old man...why would he raise you? Is he a family friend? A relative?"

"Izaya!"

"How many times do you have to ask this and how many times do I have to tell you: He's my parent's friend."

Izaya stared at the woman for a long time befor putting his hands inside his pocket and digging out a wad of money. He headed out after waving and saying: "Goodnight Princess, goodnight Shizu-chan."

"That bastard." Shizuo glared.

"Surprisingly you're not chasing after him." Rei sat across from the tall man.

"I already encountered him earlier in the day...I'm not looking forward to dealing with him." Shizuo grumped. "Besides...I'm not a jerk to let you walk home by yourself this late."

"Even if I can fight?"

"Yes."

"...Which do you mean…"

"What?"

"Are you worried for me or the people who are ganging up on me?"

"Both."

Rei gave him a blank stare and smile. They both got up as she went to put on her coat and grabbed her bag. As they headed out, Rei locked the cafe behind them and they strolled through the night.

"But...I'm worried about you too." Shizuo began to lit a cigarette.

"Tell me more." Rei snatched the cigarette away and placed it in the trash can, beside the grocery store they passed by. They were now in the lively streets of Ikebukuro.

"If I can get hurt from fights, then you can too."

Rei laughed. She still was when both she and Shizuo were cornered into an alleyway by a group of thugs. They were holding knives, metal bats, and many other lethal weapons.

Rei dropped her bag and coat while Shizuo puts away his sunglasses.

"Reason number one I became a teacher at Raira: High school was a ride to hell for me."

"Today is the day you get hurt, Heiwajima Shizuo!" The leader of the thugs shouted. "If not, that woman is the one who will."

"Brings back memories?" Shizuo flashed a grin, despite hating violence. Normally, he would be enraged for anyone to pick a fight...but fighting with his friend after so long was a wind of refreshment and nostalgia.

"Indeed." And the two charged. Throughout the night, screams could be heard.

After Rei tied a rope around the thugs, she received a text message. She brightened up and Shizuo could guess who it was from.

"Celty sent a text." Rei read the text message and it darkened to disgust. She looked at Shizuo. "Did you ever know that Izaya had tricked a girl into almost committing suicide and it was Celty who saved her."

Shizuo twitched in annoyance. "No, but I can expect that."

"And...she's my student." Rei showed a picture of a young girl in twin tails to Shizuo. He whistled in response. "Izaya raised the death flag."

"Oh that bastard sure did." Rei put back on her coat and bag. The two began walking toward the quieter part of the city and reached a small and cozy house.

The two friends parted and Rei went inside.

"Welcome back, Rei." The shop owner smiled, along with his wife and three other children who were in college, high school, and a doctor.

"I'm back." Rei smiled.

"Who walked you back today?" The high schooler asked, linking her arms around Rei.

"Heiwajima." Rei patted the younger girl, whose name was Hinata Yuna.

"Hmmm...oh! Orihara-san dropped by with a letter." Yuna gave Rei a letter.

"Izaya?" Rei took the letter and unfolded it. The letter said:

"Yo, Rei-chan. A lot of things happened so don't come looking for me." Rei flipped the letter.

"P.S. Since Shizu-chan and you are already planning to kill me, I might as well say this: You have a very nice ass. :)." Rei crumbled the paper and was shaking with a murderous intent.

The eldest child of the family, the doctor, was named Hinata Daiku, and he pushed his younger sister out of the living room. "Rei-chan doesn't seem very happy, let's leave her alone."

The second eldest son was a little older than Rei by several months, laughed at Rei. His name was Hinata Aki and he was the generic annoying sibling that almost everyone had.

"What did Orihara send you now? A letter of sexual harassment?"

"That bastard…what is he a runaway girl fleeing with her secret lover? No no...that last phrase was sexual harassment. I swear, the next time I catch him, I'll throw all of my heels at him." Rei fumed.

Aki stopped laughing and stared at Rei with a blank face. "Seriously?"