A/N: I hate math class! It's just back to back torture again and again, constant homework, science mixed in with it, too much work! *head explodes*
Please enjoy this chapter, I have to say, it took me awhile to think of a story plot, but I finally thought of one, so I hope you love the story, have fun~
Sorry it took so long, my Internet access was cut off after my parents didn't pay the comcast bill, so I had to wait for them to pay for it so I could post this chapter.

Chapter 3:
Turmoil of Ikebukuro

Mariko awoke in her bed the next day, sprawled on her covers as the sunlight beamed in her room, wind blowing through the open window her mom opened when she came in to check on her. Mariko's eye twitched as she lifted a hand to rub her it. She yawned, sitting up straight as she stretched her arms in the air, looking out the window already seeing a few people walking down the street.

It took her a few minutes to get off her bed (she pulled an all nighter and stayed up 'till 3:00 A.M.) as her feet slowly reached the plushy carpet. Mariko rose from her bed and checked the time. 11:00 A.M., she thought, looking at herself as she gazed down at her pajamas. A neon green tank top with gray shorts.

After finally waking up from her slumber mode, she walked out of her room and into the kitchen, just to find a note on the refrigerator. Mariko read it out loud. "Good morning sweetheart, I had to go to work this morning, and I probably won't be back until later in the evening, sorry I couldn't stay for you. There's some money on the counter for lunch, don't spend it all. Love Mom," she mumbled. Mariko placed the note on the tan counter as she stood near the big patio window.

Mariko walked outside and stood near the edge of the patio, leaning over the metal rail as she stared down at the green grass. Mariko wondered why she came to Ikebukuro, nothing amazing has really happened, so why not go home. Then a thought ran through her brain as she dashed back to her bedroom and grabbed her cell phone from the dresser.

She'd just gotten a text message. It read, 'Mari-Mari, are you awake?'. Mariko blushed to herself as a soft smile curved on her lips. 'Yeah, I'm awake now. How are you doing?' she responded.

A message suddenly came back to her. She gasped, surprised to see an immediate reply.

'I'm doing fine. I see you're awake now, I hope I get to see you sometime today. I've been hoping to meet you.' Mariko's smile widened as she continued to text an answer to him. 'You don't have to hope, I can meet you today. Where would you like to meet?' she asked.

Now they weren't responding to her message as she waited for about fifteen minutes, just sitting on her bed. Why do they always do this? They talk to me and just vanish for the next few hours, Mariko thought. Finally giving up on waiting, she got up and made her bed up(to avoid any arguments from her mom). Mariko changed into a white t-shirt that had a red number one on the front. She then slipped into her tan capris and white sneakers as she brushed her hair down.

Mariko looked at herself in the mirror, trying to look her best as she grabbed her keys and her cell phone, placing the items in her pocket. She then grabbed the money from the counter and walked out of the door. She shut it silently before walking down the stairs and onto the sidewalk.

It wasn't as crowded as last night, which made Mariko happy because it meant she could move around easier without bumping into anyone. The place was nice to walk around when you knew (or at least thought) that nothing bad was going to happen.

Suddenly, Mariko got a text message from that mystery boy. Mariko smiled brightly as she looked down at the message.

'I want to surprise you when we meet. You'll know it's me. I'm the tall handsome young man with a charming gaze in his eyes,' he said. Mariko giggled, blushing to see that it was a male. That's great, Mariko thought. Now it means that I can love him and not feel weird about it. I'm so happy...

Mariko closed her eyes and bowed her head over the phone as she clutched it tightly. Just wait, one day I'll meet this man who seems like the love of my life. I can't wait to see how handsome he is. Suddenly realizing she was standing in the middle of the sidewalk with her eyes closed, Mariko shot her eyes open and rushed down the sidewalk, checking the time. 12:00 P.M., that's still time to hang out around town and sink in the scenery.

A loud growl rang in Mariko's ears. She placed her hands over her gut and looked down with a disturbed expression. Mariko then looked left and right, making sure no one heard her hungry stomach as she sighed nervously.

Great, I'm hungry and I don't know where to eat. I barely know any of the buildings here, Mariko thought. She walked down the sidewalk, looking up at all the buildings, figuring it wouldn't be hard to find at least a one fast food place. In a big city like this you could find anything.

Mariko had to admit, this place was nothing like Kyoto. When she was in Kyoto, it was just an easy farm life. Very quiet, no problems... it was just peaceful. Her mom craved for the city life, her dad just wanted to settle down. It was part of the reasons for the divorce. Looking back at it now, Mariko just thought it was stupid, the reasons they broke up. It just started off as simple arguments, then it got worse and worse. When her mom hit her dad right in front of the young seven year olds eyes, she knew everything would be over, even at her age she could comprehend what was going on. She would cry and cry, praying they'd stay together. But they didn't. Her mom left without any protest to Ikebukuro where she lived a lonely life. As her dad staid in Kyoto and lived a lonely life as well. Except the only difference was that Mariko was with her dad, while her mother was all alone.

Though, she begged to go to Ikebukuro and live with her mom (even though she knew it would hurt her dad badly). She didn't like having a normal life, she wanted something different for once. Wasn't it common human nature to wish for something out of the ordinary? Mariko would think. Kyoto just wasn't exciting enough, she craved for the city.

And to think, I had said something so mean to my father before I left, Mariko thought, her eyes shaking.

Suddenly, a flyer was flung into her face. Mariko looked up and saw a giant black man standing right in front of her with a somewhat friendly expression (probably the best friendly expression he could conjure up). What the heck? Mariko thought.

"Long time no see," he said, even though they've never met before. "Um... hello," Mariko stammered. "You hungry. Eat at Russia Sushi. It's good, it's cheap," he said. Mariko smiled. Great, it took too long to find a place to eat at. Mariko grabbed the flyer from his iron grip as he pointed where this 'Russia Sushi' place is.

"Thank you," Mariko bowed, running over to the building as she walked inside. She looked at the awkward scenery as she gaped at all the things. They weren't kidding when they said 'Russia' Sushi.

Mariko took a seat at the front counter, getting on the barstool as she waited for someone to ask for her order. Mariko checked for the money in her pocket. She had 250 yen, she hoped that was enough to buy something. "Oh, I see Simon finally brought in a costumer," a man said. He was dressed in a pacifist outfit and noticeably foreign. Mariko nodded as she smiled slightly. "What can I get you?" he asked.

"Anything is good, as long as it's not over 250 yen," Mariko said. She watched as the man grew a spark in his eyes. He nodded in approval and turned as he cooked some sushi for her.

Finally, after waiting for about fifteen minutes, Mariko marveled at the artistic looking sushi he set down in front of her. "Wow!" she shouted. "What is this?"

"It's just sushi, but it's different than all those other sushi parlors you could go to. And it taste better too."

I bet that's why you have soo many costumers, Mariko snickered in her mind. Mariko lifted her chopsticks and broke them apart as she poked the mysterious looking food. She gulped, lifting one up as she brought it too her lips and chewed it like an old lady.

After one bite, she couldn't stop eating the delicious sushi. "This stuff taste incredible!" she said, eating the last bit of sushi on her plate (she didn't have a lot). The man set some tea down for her as she thanked him. Mariko was nice and full now, and she was positive she was going to be out of money at the end of this. I don't think Mom will get to mad about that. It was just 250 yen, she thought, sipping her warm tea thoroughly.

She sighed, just holding the tea in front of her as she stared at her reflection. Mariko then heard a thump beside her as she blinked, setting the cup down as she glanced over to see a man sitting next to her. He looked a little older than her, probably in his early twenties. After staring at the man she realized who he was as she stared at him faintly. "Hey..." she said quietly. He looked over at her with an icy smile on his face. "Aren't you that guy from yesterday?" she asked.

He chuckled to himself as he played around with his fingers, the two gray rings he wore clashing together making a 'clink' noise. "That depends, I'm sure you saw a lot of people yesterday," he said.

"I know I saw you yesterday. You were being chased by that bartender guy," she said. He chuckled again, staring at her with his piercing red eyes that went through her like knives. "Bartender? I'm guessing you're new here considering you don't know Shizu-chan's name," he said.

"Well you're in luck. If you're looking for excitement or things out of the ordinary, Ikebukuro is the place to be."

"So I hear," Mariko replied, sipping some more of her tea. "What brings you here?" he asked. Mariko rested her chin on her arms as she laid on the counter. "I'm not sure if I should tell you. I mean, I just met you a few seconds ago," Mariko said. That smile didn't leave his face once as he stared into her brown eyes.

He grabbed her cup of tea and drank it as Mariko looked at him shocked. "Hey!" she shouted. Before she knew it, his face was mere inches from hers. Mariko gasped a little as she backed away. "I'm Orihara Izaya. It's a pleasure," he said, backing away from her.

Mariko fixed her hair with her hands as she pouted. "That's a weird name," she said. Izaya nodded, raising one finger. "I get that a lot. I'm Izaya Orihara, Ikebukuro's one and only Information Broker," he said. "Now tell me, who exactly are you?"

It took her awhile to respond as she rested her head on her hand. "I'm Watanabe Mariko," she said.

"Well then Mariko-kun, will you answer my question? What brings you here?" Mariko buried her face in her arms as she moaned childishly, pretending to be shy so he wouldn't ask her again. She wasn't ashamed about why she came to Ikebukuro, but she didn't want to go around sharing her life to strangers.

She could tell Izaya was staring at her, smiling she assumed. He's obviously not going to go away, Mariko thought. She lifted her head and stared down at her hands as she clutched the empty cup of tea Izaya had taken from her. "I came here to see someone," she said.

"Oh, so you're living out the story of some love movie. Coming to the big city to find you're true love? That's really corny," he said. Mariko stood up, walking over to the door (after she paid the bill). "You're the one who asked," she said. Izaya chuckled as she walked out. Mariko wasn't angry about what he said, she just didn't want to talk to him. Just looking at Izaya told her that he was trouble. And that smile... it sent chills down her spine already. I didn't realize how many weirdos lived in this town, Mariko thought.

Izaya trailed behind her, his hands in his pockets as he whistled some random song behind her. Mariko didn't even want to deal with him, so she turned around so she could face him directly.

"Why are you following me?" she asked. Izaya cocked his head back as he groaned. "I don't really know. I'm just sort of bored, Ikebukuro is just as boring as everywhere else if you have nothing to do," he said. Mariko gasped when he said that. I never thought of that. No wonder things don't seem really different, I don't have anything to do.

Izaya stood in front of her, an obvious height difference as she came up to his chin. "What's wrong? You zoned out for a second," he said. Mariko shook her head and clinched her fist. "Leave me alone. The last thing I want is a weirdo following me around town," she rudely stated. "Yeah but this 'weirdo' knows everything about this town. Remember I'm an Information Broker, nothing in this town is a secret to me. If you ask me, you're probably talking to the best person in town. If you strive for excitement, entertainment, that love boy of yours, I suggest you stick around with me. Who knows, all you're problems might be solved."

Mariko scoffed as she crossed her arms. "Don't flatter yourself. As far as I can tell, you're just a regular guy on the street looking for girls to mess with," she said, continuing to walk down the sidewalk. Izaya laughed under his breath as he continued to follow her. "Nice assumption, and you almost got it right. If you keep guessing like that you might understand me completely," he said.

He's obviously attracted to me, poor guy. My heart already belongs to someone, someone who's sweet, poetic, nice, and understands me so much- She cut herself off on the flattering because she noticed she was blushing, and Izaya was just staring at her with an amused expression. Mariko really wanted him to leave, but he's too stubborn to take a hint. Either that or he's staying on purpose because he knows he's starting to annoy her.

Bam! Mariko literally jumped in the air like a scared kitten as she yelped, grabbing her arms. Out of nowhere a vending machine crashed into Izaya, causing him and the object to skid across the ground.

"U-Um... Orihara-kun..? Are you OK?" she stammered. "Izaya-kun~"

Mariko looked over and saw that same bartender from yesterday. Did he just throw that giant vending machine at him? Mariko looked at the bartender who seemed pissed out of his mind, and she was so confused right now.

She then glanced back over at Izaya who was cringing on the pavement grabbing his ribs. "Didn't I tell you not to come back to Ikebukuro? Huh?" he asked. Izaya stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes as he placed his hands in his pockets. "Shizu-chan, isn't this a pleasant surprise," Izaya said, smiling at him.

"Didn't I tell you never to call me that?" he shouted. "But never mind that, I'll put that aside. Right now all I want to do is beat the shit out of you," he said. "You're just as violent as ever Shizu-chan. Too bad, no matter how violent you are you can never lay a punch on me."

Izaya suddenly pulled a switchblade out of his pocket as he pointed it at the bartender. Mariko stared in fear as she wondered what was going to happen.

Aw, I'm so happy the Internet is back on for me, now I can type the rest of my chapters and you guys can enjoy. This chapter was sort of a run on, I'm not really proud of it. The next chapter is good though, please Stay Tune~