Zero: ...

Kuro-chan: what? no protest?

Zero: no. Go ahead. It's ok.

Kuro-chan: What? Where's Skye? Won't he kill you?

Zero: *tears up*

Kuro-chan: oh...I'm sorry...

Zero: *in a quiet voice* just leave me alone...

Chapter 2: meeting the monster

I got off the jet and looked around me. I was in the ikebukuro airport and I teared up. where's the oxygen?! I know cities have more machines and buildings but this is ridiculous!, I thought. I stepped out of the airport and immediately got to work on tracking Izaya. It seemed that everyone knew who he was , but would not dare tell me I met a strange character. He had blonde hair and a fake grin from ear to ear.

" Why hello there~", He grinned wider, "jeez! For such a small girl you sure do have big boobs!"

"E-excuse me?!"

" Well! To the point! Are you that hottie looking for Izaya Orihara?"

"Who wants to know?"

He suddenly became serious, he pulled me into an alleyway. Before i could protest he cut me off.

"Stop.", he said, "don't risk it. Whatever problem you are in, whatever mess you've got yourself into, you have a better chance of the devil showing mercy to a sinner than Izaya being able to help you."

"What the hell are you blabbering about!?"

His phone beeped. "I gotta hit the road, but take my warning. ", he ran off.

"Yeesh! The hell is wrong with these people?"

I continued on until eventually my stomach growled. Sighing i made my way to the nearest restaurant. The name of the place was Russia Sushi and there was a man outside shouting about his sushi not being made from humans. Good to know.

He handed me a flier and shouted in friendly tone. " AH! You are new here! "

" Y-yeah, hopefully not for long, don't get me wrong though, the city is beautiful. I am a bit short on money at the moment."

" Do not fear! first roll is free,but after that you pay!"

" Uh...thanks...oh and this is probably pretty random but do you know a guy by the name of-"

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAA-KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUN!", shouted a loud voice from behind us both.

"Yeah, him." , I smirked.

I turned to see a man in a fur jacket, Raven-like hair, and a flickblade in his hand standing close to me. So close in fact, my long jet-black hair bushed his jacket as i turned. I stared at him for a moment. Wasn't it summertime in Japan right now? Why is this guy in a fur-trimmed jacket? More importantly...why is he holding a flickblade?!I stumbled back in another man. This one had a cigarrete crushed between his teeth and fake blonde hair. He had on dark sunglasses. His expression was angered. He growled at me and mumbled something about me getting in his way. He then roughly pushed me to the side and proceeded to rip a stop sign out of the ground and chuck it at the man with the jacket. Whatever, being a demon I've seen weirder. The raven-head dodged by spinning towards me again. I scowled at him. I did not want to be caught in this strange crossfire.

" tch, IZAYA! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF IKEBUKURO!?" , He screamed, getting spit on me, " Hiding behind a defenseless girl?! Coward! Face me like a man!"

" so instead of man you mean a protozoan? No thanks.", said- wait- IZAYA?!

" Izaya? Izaya Orihara?!", I asked the man.

" Yup~ but I have more pressing matters to attend too. Sorry i can't play today shizu-chan~" , He handed me a card with an address, " However you can always come to my home~? My door is always open~!", he then peppily skipped away and out of sight.

"IZAY-", Shizu-chan started.

" Shizuo! I thought i told you not to fight in front of russia sushi?", The Russian flier guy said.

" There seems to be a lot of telling but not much listening in this area." , I smirked, " What's your deal with Izaya anyway? All i know about the guy is that he's a pretty good informant."

" What's your deal getting in my way!? ", Shizuo yelled, again getting spit on me.

" Don't worry about your bacteria getting all over me. I get spat at alot, although it's usually on purpose." , I talked as emotionlessly as i could.

" Don't trust Izaya."

I grinned, "Do all blondes hate him? oh that's right, YOUR roots are brown.", I then chuckled and circled around him, " i didn't know MEN used hair-dye~"

" You shut up! "

People were starting to crowd and shout things like : "she's a goner" and " What the hell is she thinking!?", but my personal favorite was "Fuck yeah! Beat the shit out of that bitch!"

The man pulled out a box of cigarettes and lit one. He offered one to me. A sign of good will i suppose? I guess so since the crowd then dispersed back into their daily, boring lives. I took one and lit it, then chuckled to myself. It was only three days ago when i had sworn to the person i loved that i would never smoke a thing. I wonder how he is now that he could care less about me? Shizuo raised an eyebrow at me.

" What's so funny?" , He leaned in and lit my cigarrete.

I took a good long drag at it before answering, " Used to smoke a lot, my fiancé said it was bad for me and blah blah blah so i stopped. Then he told me just how i meant to him, how horrible i was. HA! I bet he wants me to choke now."

"O...k? You wanna get sushi?"

" You aren't asking me out are you?", I smirked at him.

" HELL NO! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WALKED UP TO THE SUSHI SHOP!"

" relax, I'm just kidding.", I smacked him in the back, which apparently hurt cus he doubled over," Sorry, sometimes i don't know my own strength."

" I know the feeling, believe me. "

" I can imagine. Pulling Stop signs out of the ground is not exactly everyday in Japan. "

He chuckled, " It is here. "

I leaned against the wall, " In that case, I think i may like my short stay in Ikebukuro. "

" What are you doing looking for that bastard Izaya? "

"You want the truth?"

" No. I'm asking you to lie to my fucking face. "

" Alright, but it's gunna cost ya a roll of sushi and an onigiri for the road!", I punched his arm and ran into the restaurant.

He stuffed his hands in his pocket and followed me in. I sat at a booth and motioned for him to sit across from me. He did so and folded his arms across his chest. Waiting expectantly for my answer i suppose. I just picked up the menu and skimmed through it. Then check marked the two rolls i wanted. Smiling pleasantly at the man i just randomly met in the road and hated the OTHER random man who said he was the man i am looking for. I can imagine my bastard ex-boyfriend, Skye, telling me how stupid I am right now. Skye used to love me, or so i thought.

One night i couldn't sleep, i restlessly rolled around and i even accidentally hit poor Skye, which woke him from his own slumber. He turned to face me and rubbed his own cheek, he had tears in his eyes and dark bags underneath. Regardless he was smiling at me. That gentle smile he always gave me when i did something wrong, but he would forgive me right away. He wrapped his arms around me and sleepily closed his eyes. Tiredly, he rested his head atop mine.

" A bit restless tonight, are we?" , He whispered, " Would you like me to rock you to sleep like last time?"

"Yeah...please? ", I yawned and moved closer to him.

Skye picked me up and laid me into his lap. He rocked me and slowly i was drifting to sleep. He muttered something into my ear but for some reason i couldn't quite catch it. Whatever, nothing was going to ruin this warm moment. Except for myself.

"Hey? Hey are you...crying?"

I wiped away my tears and came back to the real world, " Yeah, sorry, i was thinking of a bad memory."

" Hmph, you know you still haven't told me why you're looking for Izaya."

" I just need an informant. The one in my city gave me wrong info. Then i got an invitation to this weird chatroom and someone told me that a guy named Izaya Orihara was a pretty good informant. "

" Chat room? "

"Yeah, can't remember what it was called though.", I took another puff at the cigarette then crushed in into an ash tray.

"What are you going to ask the creep?"

" Do all ikebukuro people pry into other people's business?"

" Whatever. "

After we ate he stalked out with not so much as even a goodbye. I rolled my eyes and payed the bill, even though he was the one who was supposed to do that. I wondered what was so scary about a fake blonde bartender that people would crowd to watch. I guess I'll ask mister informant about that one. Leaving the restaurant i input the address Izaya gave me into my GPS and set off for Shinjuku.