Author's Note~

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved, and followed the story!

Here's a new chapter for you all!

As a minor note, I reread some of the light novels and it seems Izaya came in contact with the Awakusu and formed Amphisbaena during his third year. However, in my story I'm having both those events take place during second year, since for the third year I have other plans. I hope you all don't mind~

Leave a review and thanks for reading!

Chapter 2 – Stupid Choices

"Hi Hi-chan!"

Hiro gaped at the figure greeting her at her door. None other than Izaya stood there waving and wearing a weird smile.

"I'm amazed you still remember that I live in this crappy apartment," she commented dryly and exited making sure the door was firmly locked.

Izaya's reddish-brown eyes cut to her with a strange intensity. "Aren't we friends?" His grin mocked his words.

"We were friends," she corrected adjusting her bag before holding it over her shoulder. "Then you stopped talking to me once high school started."

"I didn't think you'd be interesting anymore, but I was wrong. Who knew you worked for the yakuza, too!" He followed her down the stairs and walked at her side.

"Too…?" Not missing a beat, Hiro furrowed her brow and looked at him incredulously. Rethinking yesterday's occurrence, she wondered whether letting her hothead get the better of her and proudly proclaiming she worked for the yakuza was such a good idea after all. Sure it was only Izaya and Shizuo, plus everyone who knew her kind of assumed she did so…but the grin on Izaya's face and the fact he was right there in front of her suddenly made her nervous. And what did her mean by 'too'? She knew he wasn't normal and did some shady things, but the yakuza? Was his information business taking off that well?

Ignoring her burning stare, Izaya laughed and hooked his arm around hers. "Let's walk to school together like we used to, Hi-chan!"

Scoffing at his childish phrasing and voice, she asked, "Since when do you really go to school anymore?" Despite her terse voice, she allowed his arm to stay linked with hers. It…kind of felt like middle school all over again. But, he avoided her question.

"Hmm?~ So you noticed that we're in the same class?"

Hiro rolled her eyes skyward. "I'm the class representative, so of course I notice when a certain someone is always absent. But you already knew that." No matter how hard she stared at his face, she could never read his expressions. And then she'd start getting distracted…and…shaking her head she persisted in knowing why he said she worked for the yakuza too. "Are you sell-"

He cut her off making her fists clench.

"Nakura and I are reviving the club."

Fists unclenched.

"You're joking." Hiro knew he wasn't but commented anyway. "Is this an invitation?"

"Naturally," he grinned.

Hiro recognized that grin as a promise for something to happen. That 'something' was always obscure and most certainly questionable in consequence. It thrilled her.

Only in front of the school did Izaya release his hold on Hiro. She watched him curiously as they walked into the building. Just as curiously other students watched them. They both ignored the stares and continued carrying their conversation.

"What do you think my response will be?" She questioned, easily falling back into the comfortable place she once had at his side in middle school. Some things never really changed and old habits die hard.

He chuckled leaning against a wall and blocking her from walking any further. "You'll say yes, of course."

Hiro hated that he could read her so well, but as he pointed out a while ago, her face was an open book. Wearing her emotions on her sleeve came in handy sometimes, but it put her at a great disadvantage with Izaya. "Are we calling it the 'biology club' again?" A devious smile emerged to accompany her words.

"Maybe, you'll find out eventually." With that he skipped away and students parted for him to pass. First they gawked at Izaya and then they turned to her, questions and rumors already beginning to form.

If anyone so much as approached Hiro they would end up on the ground with a bloody nose. Thankfully Kimeko showed up just in time to calm the impending explosion. With the petite girl around, most people averted their eyes, but the muttering only grew louder.

"You came to school with Izaya Orihara," Kimeko noted placidly.

"He showed up at my door," Hiro explained making a face. Making sure no one was within hearing range, she leaned over and asked, "Do you know if he's getting clients from your family?"

Kimeko adjusted her hair in a pocket mirror and met Hiro's eyes in the reflection. "Not that I've heard. What makes you think that?"

"Nothing," Hiro muttered feeling irritated that she wasn't able to pin Izaya's movements in the underground world she lived in.

The two girls stood at the shoe lockers and changed their dress shoes for their school shoes. Before Kimeko could question Hiro any further, she let out a cry of pain and dumped a bunch of thumbtacks onto the ground from the shoe she pulled from her locker.

Hiro gaped at the small pins scattering across the floor. A symphony of high-pitched giggles erupted from behind the lockers accompanied by the tapping of feet as the perpetrators fled the scene. Hiro slammed her fist into the lockers as Kimeko calmly put the shoe onto her foot without a word.

A hand wrapped around Hiro's wrist and removed her hand from the locker she had punched. Whipping around she found Shizuo staring between her, Kimeko, and the tacks littering the floor.

All he said was, "That's my locker you hit."

Fueled by her anger at the cowards who ran away, Hiro turned the brunt of her attention on Shizuo. "Good. That's for almost hitting me with a trashcan!"

Sighing as if the girl's anger tired him out, he pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled, "Look, I said sorry about that. I was aiming for that scumbag."

"Then aim better!"

Perhaps a fault of Hiro's is that once she started something, she never stopped. Even when it came down to her yelling at someone who was notorious for his inhuman strength and vicious temper. Whispers erupted around the spectacle she was making so Hiro took a calming breath and sent him one last glare before she tugged Kimeko away.

Kimeko remained silent until they arrived at their classroom. "Aren't you afraid of him?"

Confused, Hiro turned to Kimeko and looked her up and down checking for any more signs of being bullied. "You mean Heiwajima-san? Not at all. I'm not afraid of anyone." Nothing was obviously out of place on Kimeko, but her non-reaction to the tacks made Hiro realize this wasn't the first encounter.

"Not even Orihara-san?" Kimeko asked sending her best friend into a contemplative silence.

"No," Hiro said eventually not sounding completely sure of her own answer. Sure, Izaya was by far the last person she wanted to piss of because she knew exactly what he was capable of, but she refused to fear him.

An arm hooked around her shoulders and a voice caressed her ear. "You sure about that Hi-chan?"

Kimeko took in a whistling breath and bristled at the tall, dark-haired teen who looked at Hiro as if she were his next meal. "Since when do you come to class?" She snapped, dropping her kind demeanor to glare at Izaya. Her words echoed Hiro's very own earlier.

Izaya grinned not startled in the least by Kimeko's sudden ire. "Since Hi-chan caught my attention again."

For a moment, uncertainty clouded Hiro's gaze as she looked up at Izaya. Even though it was gone as soon as it occurred, Izaya noticed and she knew he did. Biting her tongue, Hiro remained silent under his wing because that way he wouldn't be able to get more out of her.

At that exact moment Shinra Kishitani passed by the classroom on the way to his and stopped when he noticed an old pair resurfacing. "Izaya-kun? Hiro-chan?"

Kimeko shook her head, pursed her lips, and went to her seat. It was beyond her how Hiro managed to always get tangled up with these kinds of people. Monsters, Hiro always labeled them, and she wasn't wrong. That being said, Kimeko knew she fell into that category as well. Whether she wanted to or not, it was out of her hands.

"Shinra-kun," Hiro greeted her friend since elementary school with a genuine smile. "How've you been doing?"

Shinra surveyed her and Izaya for a moment before returning the smile. "Pretty good! Celty wants to see you soon. She doesn't get to make many friends so she misses you."

Hiro brightened instantly at the prospect of seeing Celty again. "Would it be fine if I went over tomorrow? I miss her, too."

Through the small exchange, Izaya remained silent watching Hiro's face change expressions with natural ease. What she felt truly showed, there was no hiding with her, which is why he had been interested in her back in middle school. But then he grew bored of the lack of surprises. Clearly he misjudged since somehow, beneath his watchful eye, she became a dog for the yakuza. He knew she had a link through Kimeko Yamaguchi, but he always doubted there was more to it. Soon he'd see how far her dedication went.

"So, Izaya-kun, it's rare to see you actually in class." Shinra turned his bespectacled gaze to Izaya whose face hadn't changed despite being deep in thought.

"I was just inviting Hi-chan to the new biology club, like old times." Izaya responded with ease knowing just how Shinra would react to the statement. Only four people knew about the incident that got Izaya put under protective custody; himself, Shinra, Nakura, and Hiro. Those four would always have some kind of connection to each other, be it willing or unwilling. Fate, or perhaps Izaya, had them all played.

Shinra only had to take one look at Hiro to realize she knew exactly what she was getting herself into. Seeing that, he grabbed Izaya and dragged him out of the classroom slamming the door behind them.

Hiro stood there for a moment and then shrugged. If Shinra wanted to try and protect her for some reason, perhaps to impress Celty or because she was Celty's friend, who was she to stop him. It wouldn't change her course of actions. She didn't know how she felt without Izaya's arm around her anymore so she discarded the thought altogether. Sighing, she fell into her seat beside Kimeko.

"Why are you getting involved again?" Kimeko asked, keeping her eyes glued to her desk.

"Because I want to," Hiro murmured, smiling despite herself and Kimeko's worries.

Kimeko sighed tiredly and said no more.

Hiro wanted to ask about the bullies but decided to wait it out and see if anything else would happen today. If not, she would take the head-on approach.

The door banged open, but it wasn't Izaya who walked through.

"Hiro-chan!" Two girls ran toward Hiro shoving people out of their way.

The shorter one with bobbed red hair and dark eyes planted her hands firmly on Hiro's desk. "Rumor has it that you've been seen with Orihara-san and Heiwajima-san this morning!"

The taller one with long black hair and light brown eyes chimed in, "Yeah! What's up with that?"

Hiro snorted as her two friends babbled on about what these rumors entailed – all of which were desperately wrong. "No, I didn't fight with either one of them. Well, I may have yelled at Heiwajima-san, but…And NO I didn't kiss either one of them!" She made a face. "Who the heck came up with that one?!"

The red-head bowed her head demurely. "I might have exaggerated some things…"

Slapping a hand to her face, Hiro wanted to throttle her friends. "Honestly Eri, why do you do these things to me?" She turned on the other one who was shaking barely able to contain her laughter. "And you're no better Yumi!" Groaning when the two burst out laughing, Hiro slammed her head onto the desk.

Eri patted her head gently. "Orihara-san's fan club won't be happy with you, good luck."

Izaya's fan club, another anomaly Hiro couldn't deduce. Why the heck those girls followed him religiously made no sense. Attractiveness could only go so far with someone who had a sadistic and malevolent personality. Maybe those girls are all masochists. Then again Hiro hadn't been too far off from being like them in middle school...But that was different, she decided. The thought made Hiro scoff. "I can handle anyone."

"Except Orihara-san and Heiwajima-san!" Yumi said in a singsong voice.

"Shut. UP!" Hiro roared standing up and towering over her friends. Instead of cowering like anyone else would have when they saw the flash of merciless anger in those gray eyes, they merely laughed even harder!

Eri poked Yumi's side. "Look! She's angry!"

Yumi settled down into giggles. "So tell us what really happened!"

They took their seats around Hiro and waited expectantly for a story that would sorely disappoint them. "Nothing huge happened. I saw Izaya and Heiwajima-san fighting yesterday. Heiwajima-san almost hit me with a freakin' trashcan while I was working. I'm still pissed about almost being knocked over by a flying trashcan so I flipped when I saw him this morning."

"Wow," Eri commented with wide eyes.

"You're still on a first name basis with Orihara-san," Yumi sighed longingly.

"Well, we were friends in middle school, and he never said I couldn't talk to him informally anymore. Besides, he stills calls me Hi-chan. Freakin' annoying." Hiro grumped leaning her chin onto her palm and inadvertently watching the door in case he walked in again.

"I'm so jealous!" Yumi cried making Hiro jump in her seat and stare incredulously.

With narrowed eyes, she asked, "Do you have a crush on him or something?"

Yumi blushed and hide behind a curtain of her dark hair. "Maybe…"

Hiro scrunched her face. "I'm pretty sure everyone's terrified of Izaya and Heiwajima-san both, why aren't you?"

Waving her hands in front of her, Yumi immediately corrected herself. "I mean, I do think Orihara-san is scary! But there's also something really attractive about that! In fact, most people are terrified of him and Heiwajima-san, but they also admire one if not both of them in some way!"

Eri nodded in agreement. "They both look good. Their personalities can make anyone run in the other direction, but admiring from afar is perfectly okay."

So Yumi had no intentions of confessing or anything like that. Hiro found the fact slightly relieving for some reason. She thought that she just didn't want her friend to fall into the ranks of Izaya's freaky fan club.

Eri latched onto Hiro's hand and rattled her. "You told us about Heiwajima-san, but what about Orihara-san?! Did you two really come into school together?"

Hiro rolled her eyes. "Yeah." She answered with one, simple word wishing the two of them would stop prying, but she knew they wouldn't settle for anything less than what they thought was a full disclosure.

"Hiiiirroo-chan!" Yumi joined in by grabbing her other hand and shaking her like a maraca.

Waving from side to side because of her friends, Hiro stared straight ahead channeling her boiling frustration into the deep recesses of her mind so she could release it later.

Kimeko laughed to herself when she saw the pained look on her friend's face. She didn't intervene since it wasn't in her nature.

"Fine. He randomly showed up at my apartment this morning and we walked to school talking about trivial things. That's all." Hiro snapped closing her eyes and putting her head on the desk signaling an end to the conversation.

Kimeko readjusted a few strands of Hiro's hair to cover the tattoo that became revealed from the abrupt action. No one in school really knew about Hiro's direct affiliation with the Yamaguchi family outside of Kimeko, and that's the way she wanted to keep it. Why Hiro bothered to get a tattoo in such an obvious place baffled Kimeko in that aspect.

Eri and Yumi joined hands and started discussing what Hiro and Izaya could have talked about in a loud chatter anyone could overhear. Hiro couldn't care any less now, considering the rumors that were already circulating the school.

When the bell for homeroom rang and the teacher walked in, there was no sign of Izaya returning. Hiro wondered what Shinra told him. She would ask later.

"You look kind of hopeful," Kimeko murmured quietly as to not catch the teacher's attention.

"Shut. Up."