Chapter 1: Intrigue

Ever since she had moved back to Japan, Avia had been told wonderful, mind blowing things about one place. Ikebukuro. She'd heard of the overbearing strength of Shizuo Heiwajima, and of the sly and cunning info broker, Izaya Orihara. Perhaps she should fear people like this, but the fact they were so different only intrigued her and willed her to visit this city, no, live there.

Her life had been pretty boring after all, as it was for most 18 year old girls, she was working a part time job, and still considering exactly what her future held, when a friend showed her a picture of a blond bartender throwing what looked like a vending machine through the air, seemingly with ease!

Whilst her friends freaked out and called him a 'monster' or 'beast', Avia sat, thinking, heart pounding against her ribs. 'WOW A-AMAZING! How on earth can somebody be that strong?!' As she studied the picture on the screen, she decided. She was going to find him. He who had reignited her interest in the world. This..this.. 'So...Who is this guy?' trying not to seem too eager. 'Oh? You mean the blond or the poor guy that just escaped this monster?' her friend, Miyako asked, not seeming too happy with her friends over interest in him. Avia again, closely studied the screen, as she noticed a blurred young man with spiky black hair and what seemed to be a knife in his hand. (Although the image wasn't all too clear)

'I mean the blond. Who is he? A-and where exactly are they? It looks like Japan!' sounding a little more excited and eager this time. For a moment, Miyako looked at Avia with apparent worry on her face, and finally gave her the answer she was so desperate to know, 'Shizuo Heiwajima. And the guy with the black hair is Izaya Orihara. My cousin sent this from Ikebukuro, where she is currently living. She was leaving the convenience store when she saw a stop sign fly past her, narrowly missing her boyfriend who was just in front of her!' '...Awesome.' Avia whispered, her cheeks slightly flushed a light crimson, which didn't go unnoticed. 'Huh? What was that? What's so 'awesome' about a guy that nearly kills someone with a stop sign, that he shouldn't even be able to rip from the ground anyway!?' Miyako huffed in satisfaction, her mind slightly being at ease that she had reasoned with the naïve mind of her fiery haired best friend, judging from her thoughtful look.

Avia could see that if she kept his conversation going any longer, then Miyako might just explode. So she gave a slight nod and quickly changed the subject. 'Anyway..I've been thinking about moving out on my own once I turn 19..' Miyako shot her a concerned and slightly angry look. 'Where do you plan to move?' 'Well..I was thinking...Ike...bukuro?' Avia slowly lifted her head to look at friend, who did not seem happy at all with her plans. 'ARE YOU SERIOU-''Well I suppose it's not Ikebukuro' her classmate and close friend Ikumi intervened. She flashed Miyako a sweet smile that could make all your worries and pent up anger wash away, and carried on. 'Sorry to interrupt, but I heard you mention that you were interested in moving to Ikebukuro' 'Ah! Yes! I'm going to be looking for a new job and I heard that there are a lot of nice restaurants in places around there..' she trailed off, seeing Miyako angrily looking out of the window, avoiding eye contact. 'Well,' Ikumi started, 'If you're interested in sharing an apartment, we should talk about you moving there with me! I go to visit Shinjuku frequently, so my older brother let me take over his place' 'R-Really?! That sounds..just..WOW! Thank you!' Ikumi giggled and suggested that they talked about it later on that evening, after Avia finishes her shift at the store she was currently working at. After exchanging a few glares and apologetic looks between themselves, Miyako and Avia left, and said nothing more of Ikebukuro, Shinjuku or the people that inhabited those areas.

5 months later here she was, a 19 year old Avia, living in Ikebukuro with Ikumi. The sense of freedom she felt was amazing! 'So, how has your job search been going, Avia?' Ikumi spoke softly, from behind her door. The heat was killing her. Avia wasn't coping too well either, as she lay sprawled out across the floor as the miniature fan slowly sent waves of cool air through her bangs, momentarily cooling her sweat beaded forehead. 'Hmm...Well, I did find this little place called 'Sushi..Russia'? No, Erm, Err.. OH. RUSSIA SUSHI!' 'Great! At least you found somewhere, right? Lucky too, you love sushi!' Avia laughed at the last statement. 'Aha, that's half the reason I wanted to work there! Also, the guy who owns it, Erm...Simon, I think, is sooo cool! He's actually Russian and everything!' Ikumi giggled. 'So, Ava, when do you start?' 'He said I could start today, so I offered to be down there by around 1:30...' Avia trailed off looking at the clock, it was now 1:18 and she hadn't even brushed her teeth. She and Ikumi had been too tired from the late night job searching and finishing art assignments, to have even bothered to get up. And even when they did, they continued to lounge around in bed, desperately trying not to sweat to...well quite frankly, DEATH.

As she heard various bumps and crashes coming from the living room, Ikumi giggled as she could just visualise the flustered red head frantically throwing things out of the way to find her makeup bag, in the process stubbing a few unsuspecting toes.

1:32, not a bad time to say all the trouble she had getting ready and bumping into various people whilst running at top speed down a road after road filled with people. Now very pissed off people that had just had their afternoon ruined by a fiery haired teenager sprinting right into them, the majority of the time, knocking them straight over with strangely masculine strength. But none of that mattered now, she had made it. Avia was only 40 minutes into her shift, when she heard a soft spoken voice, that felt like it came from right next to her ear, slightly seductively called her. 'Oh, yes...sorry sir, Erm...'Greetings, welcome to Russia sushi. We have many dishes that I'm sure y-'Avia had been stopped mid way through her rehearsed greeting that Simon had insisted her to use every time someone came within earshot. 'Yes, thank you, but I'm not here to eat' Slightly taken aback by the strange interruption, she hesitated a little too long before he carried on. 'You see, I gather information for a living, and what I want from you, is details' 'D-details? On what, me?' Avia didn't quite know what to make of this...she hadn't been trained to deal with a customer like this...HELL, SHE HADN'T BEEN TRAINED AT ALL. 'Yes, you should be honoured really, I don't take an interest in many individuals...just humanity itself' The strange mans eyes glinted with crimson. She didn't know what was stranger, the fact that his eyes were the colour of dried blood, or that he was wearing a fur lined coat in this weather, whilst she was close to fainting in just a vest top and denim shorts. 'I don't mean to be rude, but I don't feel comfortable with giving personal information about myself to strangers...please don't take any offence' To her surprise, he merely grinned at her. She tried not to shiver, but it was impossible. His expression was both creepy and attractive. 'No worries Ava-chan, I'm sure we will get the time to talk again, maybe over time we can get to know each other! Bye-bye now!~' She watched him as he disappeared into the surging crowds of people, as she put a hand to her face. It was burning hot. But the thing that puzzled her, was is it the heat, or the fact that that's the guy from the photo Miyako showed me...Izaya Orihara.

Thanks for reading! ALL opinions and feedback welcome! My first fan fiction EVER so I'm really interested to see how it compares with the awesome ones that are already up on here, which inspired me to write my own! ~PandoraSkies.