Chapter Four

"Shizuo! Let's walk home together with Noelle-chan!" Shinra's shrill voice penetrated the blonde's ears as he tried to ignore him. Shinra decided to drop the honorific since he was getting jabbed at the stomach too often. Beside the two is the human doll, Noelle, herself. She waved at Shizuo with her serene smile, when the guy in question refused to look at her with his red face.

Three months have passed since their first meeting on the rooftop. Three months have passed since he silently declared he has feelings for the petite girl. Well, actually it was Shinra who forced him to think about it. But then, as he stared at her back while she and Shinra chat about their homework, it wasn't a bad feeling. I mean, he thought to himself just as Noelle broke into a gorgeous smile, there's nothing wrong to have a crush, right?

"Oh, Shizu-chan!" The mere voice seemed to piss him off more than usual. He knew who that is. And there's no exception.

Izaya Orihara.

That fucking flea… He quickly snapped his head to find him. Shinra and Noelle stopped too when they heard him. Shizuo swiveled his body left and right, trying to find his true hatred. The one who started it all.

"Hello Noelle-chan! Good to see you still young and beautiful as always." What the fuck? The blonde turned around to see his raven haired enemy snaking an arm to Noelle's waist as he pulled her closer to him. Shizuo's anger reached the boiling point. An unfamiliar presence suddenly pierced his insides as he tried to remain calm. But… What the hell, since when is Shizuo Heiwajima calm about his nemesis flirting with his girl-! Er, the author means, his friend!

"IZAAYAA!" He shouted just as he found the nearest stop sign and ripped it off the street. Shinra backed away with his mouth agape and Noelle just smiled happily as she clapped her hands and cheered for him. She has always been a natural fan of his strength, which he surprisingly found it comforting than it was the opposite. Izaya smirked yet he remained hold of the giddy brunette and unsheathed his silver knife.

"Temper, temper, Shizu-chan…" He learned this nickname when he saw Noelle yelling it at the corridor. He remembered how embarrassingly red his face was and how it turned into rage when he saw him standing there. "You wouldn't want to injure Noelle-chan now…" He added just as Shizuo let out a yell to let her go. He didn't and yet his smirk grew wider. "A-ano…" The two men, plus Shinra, turned to look at the brunette girl, who was suddenly blushing like a fresh tomato.

"What is it, Noelle-chan?" Izaya cooed at her, adding another drop of burning rage into Shizuo's angry meter.

"Iza-chan…" She made that nickname when they met at the hallway two days after her first meeting with the blonde. "Y-you're holding…m-my…" She didn't continue any further until she looked down. The three men instantly got their noses into a bloody waterfall when Izaya was actually clutching one of her medium sized brea-

"IZAAYAAA!" Shizuo charged forward with stop sign in hand, completely forgetting that Noelle might get hurt. Fortunately, the raven sadist jumped out of the way with her in his arm (now tucked elsewhere) as the sign collided with the asphalt ground. Izaya let her go next to Shinra as he readied his knife. "See you guys tomorrow..!" He then waved goodbye to them as he skipped and ran fast, away from the raging blonde. Shinra sighed as the two watched Shizuo chasing down the raven haired high schooler with a new pedestrian sign in hand. The sun began to set as they continued on walking home.

"Ne, Shinra-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that someday, Shizu-chan and Iza-chan might call each other friends?" The question seemed to take him aback, but nonetheless, he answered in his own motive.

"With the proper time and situation and all, they can. Sometime in the future." At this, Noelle giggled as the bespectacled boy stared at her.

"What?"

"Oh nothing. It's just that, it may happen in the farthest future rather than the nearest." There was silence after that. Soon, they reached the heart of Ikebukuro, Sunshine 60. The black Russian in a sushi chef outfit was standing in the middle of the road, giving out fliers about their sushi shop. "Oh, Shinra, Noelle! Do you want sushi?! It good, it cheap!" He said in his strange accent. Noelle looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"Yeah, we'll eat. Table for three, Simon-san."

She knew Shizuo will come back anyway.