Alright, well I just wanted to say, I'm really sorry for the long wait! I had a lot of school work writing this, College, and High school, I really couldn't find time anywhere to finish the chapter. XP so I apologize.

But on the other hand, Happy Birthday to me! It's my 18th birthday today and I just got an Adam Lambert CD from my sister, and 50 cents from my little brother XD I'm so rich lol. So so-far, so good for my 18th birthday. XD

anyway, on with the long overdue chapter 7 ... I will try to update faster this summer, but I will still be studding so I make no guarantees. All I will promise is that I am not done with this story by a long shot so I will be continuing it when I can!

~ Evi


As the door opened to Izaya's home Namie walked in, a scowl quickly making itself apparent as she listened to her "boss" terrorize the Dollars leader. She rubbed her temples as Mikado ran in behind her to hide from his insane new boss, or Nii-san as he was making the kid call him.

"Mikado-kun, why are you running? Nii-san's gonna teach you everything he knows! So you've gotta listen to me!" the broker whined like a child as he too walked into the spacious apartment with a pout.

"I won't do it!"

"But you have to! You've gotta do what I say, you're my apprentice now!" Izaya skipped over to Mikado who was cowering behind his computer desk on the floor, manipulation be damned, if he tried to weasel out of this he'd end up worse off!

"Nii-san, please? I don't want to wear that, what's wrong with my normal clothes?" Mikado asked, looking up to Izaya, hoping the informant would take pity on him and not make him wear the ridiculous outfit he'd shown him in the car. It was a maid's outfit; he wasn't going to be Izaya's maid! Why would he wear something like that?

"But this is so much cuter! And with the ears and tail, you'll be absolutely adorable! "

"Why?" he whined, on the verge of crying, all of his bravery from before this washed down the drain.

"Because if I wore it, it'd look stupid! You could pull it off much better!" The informant almost laughed as he spoke, but tried to keep his mirth under control until he'd managed to snare the teen into doing this.

"But why does one of us, namely me, have to wear that monstrosity?"

"Espionage!"

"What?" Mikado was officially confused.

"I wanna know what's going on in this club in Ikebukuro, but Shizu-chan likes to go there ... quite often actually, so I can't actually meet the man I need to talk to. That's where you come in, so if you go in there wearing this, you would totally catch his eye and get him to spill the beans! It would only be for however long it takes you to get the information." Mikado looked up to Izaya like he had just grown a second head. "It's the most convenient place too. Everywhere else he's watched." Izaya added taking in Mikado's confusion.

"But why me? What about Namie-san?"

"Namie-san wouldn't look cute in a maid outfit at all, she'd look ridiculous." Izaya pouted.

"That's not in my job description, I don't want anything to do with the information, he can get arrested on his own, I will not be an accessory in his crime sprees." Namie interjected.

"Besides, it is in your job description as my protégé Mikado-kun." The informant beamed down at him, the boy still shaking a bit from the request.

"B-but why? Why can't I wear something normal?"

"What if Shizu-chan sees you? Do you want him to recognize you?"

"W-well I mean …" Mikado blushed. "Do I really have to wear that thing?"

"Of course! The guy has a thing for maid outfits; it's why he goes to the club after all, if you go there dressed like this you'll fit right in with the normal workers!" Izaya was beaming now; he wasn't even trying to sugar coat it anymore.

"What?" The informant sighed, but only long enough to get his breath back to start laughing again. Mikado was just too cute for his own good, sure he'd known that from the start but now he was seriously considering just using this "apprenticeship" as a way to get him into bed with him without really having to do too much. At that thought he stopped laughing. 'No, that really wouldn't do, I need to get him to consent or I'll never hear the end of it.' He told himself almost sighing again in disappointment of his small revelation, but quickly went back to the matter at hand after telling himself that the prospect of actually having to try to win someone over without them noticing what you were doing really didn't make a difference if he got what he wanted in the end. Not to mention it would be entertaining in the meantime.

"Of course, it's a little like a maid café, don't worry though, not the whole staff dresses up, Shizu-chan just likes the coffee there, he wouldn't really try to hit on you ... I don't think ... You'll be fine!" he waved his hand in that 'you'll be fine' kind of way, as if trying to shoo Mikado's worries away, which never worked when it was Izaya Orihara who was the one making you worry in the first place.

"But I'm a boy, won't he notice that?" Mikado's voice almost shook in the most adorable way the informant had ever heard, Izaya really just wanted to jump the boy, he had to be doing this deliberately, the sneaky conniving little minx!

"Cross-dressing maids aren't all that uncommon at this establishment and as long as you're pretty they don't ask too many questions and no one really cares." He shrugged.

"Still … I don' wanna!" He started to pout a bit. That was it. Izaya put his hands on his hips and looked Mikado dead in the eye.

"Keep making faces like that and I'll have to take advantage of it. Honestly Mikado, if you're doing it just to get out of wearing the outfit, it won't work. And part of this partnership is you listening to me, or else I might just have to, oh, I don't know, punish you in some way perhaps?" the glint in the man's eye told Mikado all he needed to know as he stood up grumbling. He yanked the outfit from the broker's hand rather roughly and headed to the bathroom. Ten minutes later he came back out fully dressed and properly too, to Izaya's amazement. He whistled.

"Mikado-kun, you look amazing, I might just change my mind and lock you up here looking like that." He laughed. Mikado blushed brightly and pulled at the skirt, trying to magically make it longer. Izaya walked over to the boy and adjusted the black and white lacy headband and chuckled when Mikado smacked his hand away and fixed it. Izaya hummed a bit and then flipped the frilly skirt up and burst out laughing. "Even the underwear? Mika-chan, it's decided, this is now a mandatory outfit for when you're here, no negotiations!" he said holding his side. Mikado's blush darkened.

"I couldn't very well wear my boxers … they were too long." He mumbled a bit dejectedly.

"I don't mind in the slightest, and that collar, it's very becoming of you." He said playing with the lacy chocker and silver heart pendant that hung around his neck. "perhaps I should have this engraved; 'property of Izaya Orihara'" the older man mused aloud, chuckling when the boy made an indignant squeak as the cool metal made contact with his skin along with the cold, nimble fingers of the crazy informant who happened to be leaning over his shoulder and playing with every little thing he could get his hands on, one of which happened to make its' way down the back of his dress and squeeze his butt. Mikado stiffened.

"Nii-san, isn't that a bit inappropriate? I believe where this is going is called incest." The young gang leader stated cutely in his most 'adoring younger brother' voice. Izaya deadpanned over his shoulder, his hand falling to his side, he gave a weak chuckle and stood up, his head lolling off to the side.

"I'm already regretting giving you a choice. It seems "Nii-san" has come to bite me in the ass a little too early." Mikado broke out of his loosened grasp and twirled around.

"But on the up side, I look fucking fantastic!" he gave the informant a flirtatious smirk and swung his hips a bit more than necessary as he made his way to the kitchen.

"I'll second that." He grinned, ignoring the fact that Mikado's personality had just seemed to have done a complete 180. "So it's decided, I get to pick your clothes from now on." He nodded to himself. 'Mental note; Mikado might protest but seems to quite enjoy cross-dressing, must take full advantage of that.'

"That's negotiable … as long as I approve the outfit anyway."

"… Only on weekends, Tuesdays and Thursdays! How about that? And only while we're here, I don't wanna share this, call me selfish but …" he trailed off, taking out his phone and snapping a few pictures of the unsuspecting boy.

"Oh, by the way … do I really have to wear the ears and tail?" he turned around and looked a bit worried.

"Only around me." The informant sniggered. Mikado gave a small glare.

"Then I'm not even going to bother with them." He sighed. "I couldn't figure out how to put them on so I just left them alone."

"I would have thought the tail was pretty self explanatory."

"No, there wasn't even anything to attach it to anything or any instructions for that matter, where did you even get it?"

"The internet."

"Gee, that's specific. Thanks." Mikado groaned getting out a cup and filling in with water from the tap, then taking a small sip.

"Any time Mika-chan~" Izaya smiled. "Ne, Mika-chan, how would you say your seduction skills are?" The informant hummed, drumming a finger against his chin. Mikado almost dropped the cup he was holding, slamming the glass on the counter next to him as he started coughing uncontrollably as the water he had been trying to swallow decided to try and choke him instead.

"W-what? Seduction skills?" he managed to get out after the coughing had stopped.

"Yes, you'll have to seduce him."

"What exactly is the objective here?" Mikado asked holding his chest, waiting for the dull ache from the coughing fit to fade away. He winced, he better get used to these kinds of things, lest he end up in the hospital, or worse, an early grave.

"This man has taken something from another client of mine and we were asked to retrieve it for him." Izaya smirked.

"So I just have to distract him?"

"Oh no, it's much more than that. You have to convince him to take you back to his work place and from there you'll have to manage to get his password so we can get into his safe. It's an easy enough task but he knows me so I need you to play the bait."

"What exactly is this café that I'll be pretending to work in?"

"The maids are escorts." Izaya leered "That's why Shizu-chan won't bother you and why our target will be interested. Only men who frequent the café actually know the truth about it. That's also why it won't be suspicious if you leave there with him."

"Again, I ask; do I really have to?" Mikado whined. When the only answer the teen got was a glare from the taller man he sighed, grumbling out an inaudible fine.

"Good, your job is tonight~" Izaya smiled. Mikado balked.

"What! Tonight?" Eyes wide he looked up to the informant, "You're kidding, right? I can't do this tonight!"

"Too bad Mika-chan, you have to!" Mikado swore he saw a glint in the informant's eye, almost like he was daring the other to fight this. Mikado stood there for a moment then turned on his heel, somehow managing not to fall in the four inch, black and white lace covered heels that he had been given, and stomped away. The steady click clack of the heel of the shoes on the hard wood floor was the only indication of where Mikado was going. Izaya found it a little odd that Mikado knew his way around his home already without having to tell him but then decided he was probably just storming off because he was mad and didn't actually know where he was going. Izaya hummed to himself. This was truly going to be interesting.


As it had turned out, Mikado had stayed in the outfit, grumbling that if he took it off he'd only have to put it back on later and he didn't feel like going to the trouble of getting comfortable only to be uncomfortable again in a few hours. Of course, Izaya wasn't complaining at all, it was as if Christmas had come early! Izaya had to actually step out of the room several times to stop himself from just staring at Mikado all day, no work would get done if his little Mika-chan was a distraction. So finally around seven in the evening Izaya announced in his usually cheery voice that it was time for Mikado to "shine". He herded the boy out the door and out to his car where he clapped giddily as Namie walked out slowly and handed him the keys.

"I'm not getting involved." She told him seriously.

"But Namie-chan, you have to drive, it's part of your job ~"Namie sighed, she really was going to kill this psychopath one of these days, but as he had pointed out oh so many times, he signed her paychecks. And sadly enough, she needed that money to send to Seiji. Sooner or later she'd be able to off him, but not just yet. So, begrudgingly, she took the keys back from her deranged boss and opened the door. After getting into the car she slammed the door shut with a loud "bang!" and waited for the two boys to get in. Mikado looked to Izaya and asked him something, to which Izaya just smiled and shrugged. Namie didn't really care that they were talking about though so she didn't question it when they finally got into the vehicle.

"You two are so slow, first you drag me into this scheme of yours and then you make me wait. This is ridiculous." She snapped. Mikado jumped and clung to Izaya's arm at the harsh tone. This might just be a little fun after all.

"Namie-chan, how do you do that? Mikado's not scared of me, but he thinks you're going to kill him." Izaya pouted, obviously put off that he wasn't the one frightening the boy into clinging to him. Of course … if he had been the one to scare little Mikado, then he doubted that the boy would cling to him for protection. Hmm, it was a win-lose situation he supposed.

"And he has good reason to think that, the little brat got me fired and ruined my life, not to mention that Seiji isn't too fond of him either, so that's just another reason to hate him. And he knows about the head, he's trouble!" on that note Namie started the car and began to drive, the car lurching forward. By now the pain in Mikado's neck had subsided and all he felt was nothing more than a dull ache that was pretty manageable. He had found some cover up in the bathroom, he didn't know whose it was, but he had used it none the less. The injury was now as invisible as he could make it, the frilly heart pendant chocker/collar hid most of the bandages and what stuck out, which he hoped wouldn't draw too much attention.

"But Namie-san, that's Celty's head! Why would you have it?" Mikado looked out the window as the car flew through the crowded streets of Ikebukero.

"I don't care whose head it is, I don't have it any more."

"I know, Izaya-nii has it now, but I still don't know how you got it in the first place."

"Na, na! Later Mikado-kun, you're on!" Izaya interrupted pushing Mikado towards the door as they rolled to a stop. "Don't worry, I'll be watching incase anything goes wrong, okay Mika-chan?"

"Somehow that's not all too comforting, but alright" Mikado sweat-dropped. "… so which one is he?" he asked carefully.

"He's American, you'll know him when you see him, oh and I've alerted the boss that you're going to be here, she's a friend of mine." He gave a wicked smile.

"When you say friend, you mean someone you screwed over don't you?" Mikado deadpanned as he got out of the car.

"That's so mean Mikado-kun. How could you say something like that?" the informant whined. Mikado smirked.

"So it's true then, you totally screwed this woman over and now she owes you, right?" Mikado chuckled as he saw the annoyance flash in Izaya's eyes.

"Mika-chan, just remember who's in charge here. Me, so don't go biting off more than you can chew." He smirked. Mikado took in a deep breath as he turned around to walk into the café, chancing a quick glance back to see if Izaya truly was still there, when he saw that cinnamon red eyes staring back at him from the car he released his breath. At least, if he could really trust what Izaya said then, if he was going to be molested by some perverted older man, it would end up being by someone he knew … and someone he would know how to get back at. So, bracing himself, he walked into the small building that looked like it belonged in a fairy tale book. It was cute, but it had sort of a Hansel and Grettle feel to it as he looked at the pink walls and pale yellow trim. The roof looked like tiles of chocolate and it almost seemed like there were straight, colorless, marble candy canes at the beginning and end of the walk way. He sighed as he walked in the door causing it to jingle, and for a moment, he was worried that everyone would look at him and realize what he was doing, but no one really cared. Mikado was relieved … that was until a tall woman, dressed in an all red floor length dress showed up. She smiled down at him.

"Well aren't you just the cutest little thing! Are you Mika-chan? I was told we'd be having a guest entertainer tonight, for a special patron." She smiled. Mikado only nodded, not trusting his voice at all at the moment. The woman's chest practically ate him when she hugged him out of delight, laughing and rambling on about how cute he was. Mikado didn't know what Izaya had told this woman, but he wasn't going to burst her bubble just yet. When she finally let go of him his eyes were wide with shock and a bit of wariness, his headband was about to fall off, his hair was a mess and the poor dress was terribly wrinkled. Mikado's body was almost shaking as he tried to fix everything, only to have his hands swatted away by the woman before she took over the task of making Mikado presentable again. "I'm sorry Mika-chan, I just couldn't help it. I don't see many as cute as you very often, and I just had to ruffle your feathers just a bit." She giggled. Mikado's breathing was shakier than his legs were.

"I thought Izaya said he'd step in if anything like that were to happen!" he was yelling loudly to himself.

"Alright now, you look good, so let's go find your partner for the night, shall we?" The women took Mikado's hand and drug him to the kitchen where she handed him a plate of cakes, and some drink that Mikado didn't know what it was, it smelled awful though. "Okay, now, you better get Mr. Alex anything he wants tonight, alright? He's one of our best customers and we want him to be happy. Got that?" Mikado only nodded again. "Can you talk at all young man?" she gave a worried look. Mikado only smiled. Of course he could talk; he just didn't like this woman. "Cheeky I see, well I guess that'll have to do, but if he starts to lose interest, I'm pulling you out and you'll be on kitchen duty for the rest of the night." Mikado's eyes narrowed. That would mean failure, and failure meant he'd have to come back dressed like this again. That was not going to happen.

"I'll be fine." He smiled. The woman's eyes twinkled.

"Oh! You even sound adorable! He will love you!" She said launching herself at him again, this time he gracefully side stepped her at the last minute, miraculously managing not to spill a single drop from the tray he was holding.

"I'm sorry Miss, but I'd rather not wrinkle my dress again." He smiled. She straightened up, dusting the invisible dirt off of her dress, and smiled back.

"Right, well then, come with me." She said guiding Mikado by a hand on his shoulder out of the kitchen to a leather couch in the far corner where a man was smoking his life away with three other girls not in maid outfits but in jeans, pink short sleeves shirts, and darker pink frilly aprons, sitting around him, all laughing. "Alright girls, time to get back to work." The woman called sweetly when they had reached their destination. To which all responded with a moan of protest, that was, until they turned to look at her, or rather them both. As soon as their eyes landed on Mikado they were up in the blink of an eye to squeal over him.

"Ooh! Who's she?"

"Is she new?

"I wanna play with her too!" the three girls asked trying to grab at him to do God knew what to him. Mikado instinctually took a step back from them, was he really as cute as everyone kept telling him?

"Girls, you all have work to do, Ali, why don't you go make sure that Heiwajima-san is alright, refill his coffee while you're at it, okay?" She told one of the girls, Mikado didn't really care to figure out who was who as they all three left at the same time, it didn't really matter much, he wasn't going to come back here any time soon after this.

"Ah, Angileen! How good to see you this evening, and who is this lovely young thing?" The man, his appearance seemed American, but he spoke Japanese rather fluently. Mikado wondered if this was the man he had to coerce into giving him the pin Izaya was after.

"Alex, it has been a while since I have been able to come over and say hello, I've just been so busy." The woman, Angileen as Mikado now knew, grabbed Mikado's arm and pushed him forward. It was times like these that Mikado was glad that he'd had a friend as pushy as Masaomi, because otherwise,he'd have been wearing the drink and cake the woman herself had told him to carry. "This is Mika-chan. Special order, just for you, play nice." She smiled. The man, Alex leered at Mikado and smirked.

"Of course~ you know me Angileen, am I ever anything but nice?" He laughed. Mikado had to resist the urge to roll his eyes; this guy was so going on his hit list when he left here. Let's see how cheeky he is when he's in the hospital after a Dollars attack, yeah? "So, Mika-chan, why don't you come sit down? " He smiled. Angileen smiled and pushed Mikado forward when he didn't move fast enough.

"Well he is new, so you'll have to be patient it seems." She leaned in to whisper into the young gang leader's ear. "It seems you're all bark and no bite." The woman's red painted lips curled into a smirk as she straightened up.

"Looks aren't everything they're cracked up to be Miss Angileen." He whispered back before walking over to the couch. Angileen didn't seem to understand his words though it seemed. She looked rather flustered and confused as she walked away, leaving Mikado with a small triumphant smile on his lips and a happy twinkle in his eye.

"My, my, you really are something, what-ever did you tell her to make her leave like that?" the man asked, this time in English. On the inside Mikado was glaring daggers at the man, on the outside he gave his cutest smile.

"I simply told her not to underestimate me is all; it seems she wasn't quite expecting it." He laughed as he set the tray down on the table in front of them. "I believe this is for you, I'm afraid I wasn't told who to give it to, but seeing as how I'm to spend the evening with you, it would only make sense that it's yours, yes?" He smiled sweetly, sweeping a hand beneath him before he sat down.

From the car Izaya sat watching, glaring holes into the man's head. Almost growling as he put his arm around his little Mikado. He knew this was his idea, and really it was the only way to get the information without force, but that didn't mean he liked it. Namie sat with him, by his orders, and almost gaged.

"Well the brat's a good actor, that's for sure. But if he doesn't tone it down he'll end up giving me a cavity." She grumbled, then smirked and spoke up for her insane employer to hear her more clearly, a slight mocking tone to her voice. "You know, I don't think this is the first time he's done something like this, he did his own make up and he knew how to wear the dress, plus he didn't just sit down, he's keeping the dress nice." She almost laughed as Mikado sat down next to Alex, sweeping a hand under himself to avoid sitting on the dress wrong. Izaya hadn't thought of that, but Namie was right, now that she mentioned it, and those heels were pretty high, he hadn't seen Mikado even wobble a little while he was walking, not even back home. He smirked. Well, well, well, he would just have to have a little chat with his little Mika-chan when he got back, now wouldn't he. After all, lying was not a good thing to do around Izaya Orihara, even if you were insanely adorable as Mikado was.

"Mika-chan, you look so cute tonight, did you dress up just for me?"

"Silly, everyone is wearing this kind of thing. But if you'd like, should I say yes?" He heard Mikado pretend to giggle on the screen. Suddenly there was a cracking sound and Izaya's hand felt a little damper than he had last remembered it. When he looked down to his hand he noticed that the pen he had been twirling around his fingers was now in two pieces on the floor of the car and the black ink that had once been in said pen was all over his hand and dripping down onto his black jeans. His eyes narrowed. When had he done that?

"Oi, don't be expecting me to wash those, pen ink does not come out." Namie growled. Izaya just waved her off, taking a rag out of his pocket and wiping as much of the ink off of his hand as he could.

"Not to worry Yagiri-san, I'll just burn them." He growled, eyes training back onto the screen just in time to see Alex with his hand on Mikado's leg and moving closer to where Izaya would have to call off the mission and go rescue the other boy. He really hadn't thought that he'd hate watching this as much as he did. Sure, he knew that he liked Mikado, hell he'd go so far as to say that he'd claimed him, and Izaya Orihara did not share. But then again … "Yagiri-san, how would you suggest killing someone very painfully without making a mess?" the older man mused aloud, a bit of a dangerous twinkle in his eye as he spoke. The woman only sighed, she knew he was crazy but this was his plan was it not?


Alright, well that was Chapter 7 ... I didn't edit this one as much ... so if you find any mistakes or anything that just sounds really odd, please tell me and I will fix it right away.

Thank you for putting up with me and I hope you liked it, I'm already working on the next chapter. This wasn't where I wanted to end this one, but I made a promise to myself that I would update by my birthday at the latest. So, seeing as how it is the 19th today, I had to upload what I had. so I guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter for Izaya to raise hell.

Gomennasai!

~ Evi