Shizuo can still remember that day.. well, at least some of it. Shinra had decided to throw a small party, and it also just so happened that he had a bad day, so he had drank a lot. Normally, he tended to stay away from anything bitter as he hated the taste. There was this woman Shinra knew that was a couple years older than them, Namie Yagiri. He had seen her over there a few times but had never really talked to her, which made it even more surprising when he woke up naked in his apartment to find her, also naked, beside him. He wanted to think he had been dreaming, but as he shook her up, her first reaction was to scream and smack him with the pillow while trying to cover herself.

One thought was that they had drunken sex, while the other hoped all they did was undress and just fall right asleep. The stains on the sheets and the fact that the woman claimed to be a bit sore told him his first thought was true.

He thought that was the worst of it...until weeks later when she told him she was pregnant.

-Four years later—-

"I just want to spent more time with her," said Shizuo Heiwajima, talking on a cellphone. He held a cigarette in the other hand. "If you really want what's best for her then you would give me equal time with her." He paused as the person on the other end began to speak more. "Do you actually think I don't care? She's my daughter too, I've even made sure to pay up every month on time."

He rolled his eyes as the person on the phone began to ramble on. "Namie, do you really take me for some idiot? I don't smoke around her…yes I know it's unhealthy…I smoke outside…" He paused to let her talk. "No, I wait till she's sleeping and I keep an eye on her with a monitor…Do you honestly think it's best for her to only see me on weekends every other week?"

He closed his phone as Namie seemed to not want to stop yelling in his ear. He threw his cigarette to the ground, crushing it with his foot. "Damn," he said with a sigh.

- Same time at Izaya's apartment in Shinjuku-

Namie put her phone in her pocket. She was in Izaya's apartment, angry, talking to herself as Izaya walked into the room.

"Can you not find a sitter willing to take care of this.. thing?" he said as he held the child awkwardly. "I don't recall ever saying it was take your monster child to work day, let alone every day, and you know I don't wish to have to meet clients in my own apartment with a child running around like a tiny demon."

Namie just glared at him.

He placed the child on the couch. "Don't get me wrong; I love humans, but can we really call THAT a human? I mean, its father is a monster, after all." He held a smirk upon his face.

"Let me hit you," she said .

His smirk grew. "Are you going to expose it to violence now? Actually, you do that every other weekend already, don't you?" he said.

"I swear I'll poison you," she said, and he let out a laugh.

"You said that the last few times and I'm still here."

Namie glanced at the clock. "I'm done for the day, it's his weekend and I need to go drop her off," she said, picking up her child.

"I'll be taking whatever damages the demon caused in my penthouse out of your pay, just so you know," he said as she walked through the door.

******

Namie walked up to the door of Shizuo's apartment, holding her daughter in her arms, she used one hand to knock. He opened the door, smiling down at his child and taking her in his arms. "Kikue," he said. "I've missed you so much." The child he had called Kikue held onto her father tightly, as if not wanting to let go. Shizuo looked back at Namie. "We really need to talk," he said.

"I nearly worry to death about something happening in the little time you have her. With a history like yours, you're lucky you're getting what you have," she said.

"I can control myself around her. I've done so in front of children before," he replied.

"Should we really be having this conversation around Kikue?" said Namie.

"I'll put a movie on to keep her occupied. We can talk in the kitchen," he said.

She sighed. "Not that I think we can change anything, but fine," she said, walking in behind him.
Shizuo sat Kikue down in the living room, putting a movie in. "I need you to stay right here. Daddy and Mommy need to talk in the kitchen, ok?" he told the child.

"Ok, Daddy," she said, climbing up on the couch. Shizuo walked into the kitchen with Namie, closing the door.

"We need to end this. What happened that night was a mistake, but I love that little girl that we got from that. Look at me and tell me she never asked to see me. You can't, can you? And because of you, I wasn't there when she said her first word, or when she took her first steps. I've even heard you take her around the flea. How is he any better than I am?" he asked.

"Why hire a sitter when I'd much rather annoy him?" she said.

He sighed. "Look, I know my anger is easily triggered, but I can control myself when Kikue is around. Right now, for example. I'm a good father and you know it," he said.

"I just can't take the chance. What if something happens?" she said.

Shizuo looked at her. "I got in contact with a lawyer," he said. "I'd rather not take this fight to court, risk not being able to see her at all, but she needs me. She needs both of us. She needs equal time with me," he said.

"If this lawyer is any good, I'd have to bet your brother is paying" she said. "Anyway, I'll be leaving now," she said, then she left the kitchen and left the apartment.

Shizuo walked back into his living room to see his daughter asleep. He walked over, picking her up, careful not to wake her. He planted a kiss on the child's forehead.