"If I could, I honestly would have loved to shoot you now." Rei stared at a certain raven haired man who crouched at the window of the staff washroom for women. Rei had just finished teaching all of the first years English and she was taking a refreshment break in the bathroom.
Teaching was a rather amusing experience, as most of the students had not seen a fluent English speaking Japanese woman, even though this is the very bizarre city: Ikebukuro, where anything can happen. One of her students, Kida Masaomi had decided to stand up in the middle of the class to ask her out but she flatly rejected him.
It WOULD'VE been an enjoyable experience, if she wasn't staring at Orihara Izaya. In a women's staff washroom. Izaya laughed and offered a gun to her as he smiled, cat-like. "Shoot me, Rei-chan~ Shoot me to prove my heart's bleeding for your love!" He taunted Rei, like he always did since their high school lives. He swooned in a mocking way and grasped his chest like a maiden in love.
Rei merely smiled as she slammed the window down, jamming his fingers. She could here his shaky laughter from the other side. It pleased her that the man was feeling pain and soon, regret for his action.
"Hahaha sorry Rei-chan! Please love me….please free me...Rei-chan? Rei-chan!" Izaya whined while Rei prevented Izaya from running away. She took off her right shoe and hid it beneath the windowsill. She lifted up the window and immediately threw the shoe at him, full force. "What are you doing here, Izaya?"
"Going down memory lane." Izaya painfully grinned and rubbed the red mark left by Rei's heel. He obediently picked up her heel and returned it to the rightful owner.
"I thought you ran away?" Rei leaned over to grab the heel only to reach nothing and receive a head butt from him. Izaya began to laugh and caused the embarrassed Rei to stop tiptoeing and back up a few step before flipping her middle finger at him. "Fuck you."
Izaya tossed back her shoe in amusement and teased her once more. "A teacher shouldn't use that language~"
Rei coughed and corrected herself, this time speaking in English: "Fuck you, dipshit." Izaya closed his mouth in surprise but began to laugh harder.
"Memories, fun people and Rei-chan are reasons why I'm here. I'm only temporarily running away from Shizuo for safety." Izaya grinned innocently.
Footsteps were heard and Rei threw her handbag at Izaya. "We'll continue this conversation later." She quickly strutted out and bowed to the incoming teacher while Izaya slid down and covered his mouth with his hand, stifling his laughter. It was amusing, seeing his high school acquaintance being her usual self, a seemingly weak, but an actual hard nut to crack. She showed a lot of vulnerability including right now where she's timid in her work environment, but in all honesty, she's probably the last person to drop her optimism. There were two type of optimistic people that Izaya had categorized: Those who were extremely annoying and he wants to be eradicated from this world, or those who he would want to toy with and spike up some drama. Rei was placed in the latter.
Interested in having a conversation with the woman, he waited by the gates of the school, attracting attention from several people, and a hostile glare from Masaomi. Izaya merely grinned and waved at the boy who hurriedly pushed his friends away, but not before he caught a glimpse at who the villain was waiting for.
When Rei finally left the building, Izaya grabbed her hand and without a word, he pulled her away. He did not let go of the woman's hand as they swerved and slipped between the crowds to a God knows where location.
"Let's go on a date!" Izaya skipped and sang while Rei groaned. She made sure to hide her face because she didn't want to be seen with a skipping, grown man, who has multiple enemies in the city that could later cause trouble for her and her students. As she used her hair to shield her face, she asked with a muffled voice:
"Where in Ikebukuro are we going?" She cried in surprise as they suddenly stopped, forcing her to trip. Izaya merely laughed at the woman, with no signs of helping to prevent her stumble. He then pointed at a coffee shop that was across from them before entering. As the bell rang, a man with a rough chin looked up and nodded briskly at his customers.
"How may I help you?"
"Vanilla latte for my companion and the cherry special for me." Izaya smiled before pulling Rei to a table as they waited for their order. He stared at how Rei cautiously looked side to side and hiding behind her hair before leaning forward. He pried her hands away and pushed her strands away from her face before commenting:
"It's not making a difference whether you hid your face or not. It's quite obvious who you are."
He then leaned back an whistled while Rei gritted her teeth. "You could have told me that earlier you bastard." Unfortunately for her, she could not vent her anger as she was slightly touched by the fact that her criminal friend remembers that she preferred sweet coffee, especially vanilla latte. So she kept quiet until their orders arrived.
As Rei sipped her latte and Izaya staring at her intently, Rei finally spoke up. "I still haven't tried to beat you up yet for your letter of eloping and harassment. Tell me, who's this forbidden lover you're running away with? Any person who would want to run away with you is a complete idiot. "
Izaya stared at her, confusion flickering across his face before he broke down laughing. "Y-you're the best, Rei-chan! You read too many books!" He wiped a tear before leaning forward, a bit too close for Rei's liking, and grinned. "Do you really think I have a forbidden lover?"
"If they're a class A criminal who has the hots for a manipulative, dark, twisted man yes." Rei pushed Izaya forehead back so he was sitting upright, 90 degrees angle straight.
"Do you really think I can love only one person, making my vows to them and whispering honeyed word of endless love?" Izaya sputtered. He was laughing at himself, because he knew there was no way he could do that and it was too hilarious and-
"Yes." Rei replied , causing Izaya stopped.
"What?"
"I said yes."
"Honey...wait a second, I think I have a large buildup of earwax in my ears." He picked his ear as he clearly believed Rei did not say that
"Don't call me honey."
"Oh! I think I got it out. Say it again?"
"Yes." Rei sighed. "Even if you are twisted, I believe that all humans have the passion to love. Though expressed in different ways."
Izaya scoffed and leaned back, drinking his cappuccino. "You clearly haven't learned a thing about me since high school-"
"It's the human nature, Izaya. By taunting so many people and luring them into sweetened traps...surely you know...it's inevitable for someone to love. If they can't love, they long for it. And you're involved in this human cycle, sweetheart." Rei said mockingly with a smirk on her face. "Sweetheart" was just a mocking way for Rei to address Izaya to show that if he wants to play that game, she'll play too.
Izaya opened then closed his mouth before bursting into laughter once more. "Rei-chan...you're too magnificent. But I doubt that time will come for me anytime soon. Perhaps when I'm at my deathbed but definitely not now."
"If that's what you say." Rei shrugged. "By the way, why did you target my student yesterday. I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch them with your filthy hands." She glared at him.
"Hahaha! I stopped them from committing suicide, you should be glad. Because doesn't she look healthier than ever now? Mentally and physically." Izaya gave her a lopsided grin.
"But you pushed her off!"
"Celty was there to save her. I knew that."
"I'm telling you one more time...if you touch them I will kill you." Rei leaned forward and grabbed Izaya's collar.
"Sure sure honey. By the way, is this a cue for me to kiss you?" Rei lets go of him and sits back down, coughing.
"But honestly, Rei-chan...you shouldn't be making threats like that. You were only bold back then in high school because you and Shizuo were together all the time, tearing up your enemies together. But if you're by yourself, without your shoes, with nothing to throw...you're a weak woman with a strong will. That's it." Izaya tilted his head. "And you've witnessed that personally."
"..." Rei thought a little further back.
Rei had her arms tied together and she was blindfolded. She licked the blood on her lips that dripped from her cracked lips and gritted her teeth. She couldn't move her arms nor her legs as they were tied down too. Her blindfold was removed and she came face to face with a tall, toned man with dyed blonde hair.
He licked his lips in glee and looked up to someone behind her. "This is their chick?"
"Yes boss. The chick's affiliated to Heiwajima and Orihara."
The blonde cackled and looked at Rei. "Some whore you are huh. Flitting between two men who are mortal enemies. You'll be a valuable hostage. We're going to force those two shits to fight each other to death for your safety. Unless they aren't as attached to you as you think."
Rei cracked a smile. "I don't think they value me over their safety, blondie. Shizuo, sure… but Izaya is a different story. You're wasting your time."
The blonde slapped her face and chuckled. "Watch your sharp tongue, bitch." He looked at her up and down. "But damn you're a cutie, sweetheart. I can tell why Heiwajima and Orihara is smitten with you."
"You're delusional to think that those two idiots would be 'smitten' with me." Rei laughed at spat at his feet.
The man kicked her in the stomach, making her gag a little. He grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head up. "Are you sure, your their chick? You seem weak and pathetic like hell."
He kicked her to the ground and laughed. "Last word before I knock you out?"
Rei grinned before standing up and yelling on top of her longs. "Screw you, mother fucker!" Her voice echoed throughout who knows where before she started running towards the only doorway and racing through the twisty, but single hallway. Man was she glad that this place had only one hallway because she will be so screwed...if there was more than one.
Smack in the middle, she ran into two, arguing and slightly violent people. She looked up and cocked her head with a wild grin spreading across her bloody and bruised face. "You're late, you pair of psychos. But isn't this cute? The oddest and most unlikely pair came to save this lovely damsel in distress."
" No one wants to save your pathetic ass." Izaya cuts the ropes before roughly throwing them to the side.
"We turn away for one second and we see a note saying you're kidnapped." Shizuo muttered as he pulls out a handkerchief and wiping her bleeding nose. Rei shook her legs out in the meanwhile and rubbed her sore wrists.
"It wasn't 'turning away for one second'...you guys were having a full blown fight." Rei grinned.
"Shut up. So where are the bastards?" Izaya tossed his pocket knife.
"No one messes with me unless they want to end up in the hospital." Shizuo cracked his knuckles.
"Somewhere along the hallway. But man...they need to find a better hideout. Even I could escape." Rei rubbed her sore wrists. "By the way, you two need a temporary truce or I'm volunteering myself back there!"
"Then we would ditch you afterwards." They both yelled. Glaring at each other the two went straight down the hallway to beat up the kidnappers.
Waking up from the memory, Rei frowned. "I'm not planning on getting into more fights. At least not when I can't throw anything."
Izaya grinned. "You've always been feisty and stupid. But pretty sexy and badass."
Cringing at Izaya's choice of words, Rei grabbed her bag and left the cafe with an uncomfortable look. Izaya didn't chase after her. He just sat there, deep in thought while looking at the girl slowly escape from his harassment.