She sighed deeply as she rubbed her temple. She would've followed, though she was seriously too hungry and in need for groceries to do so. She shrugged her shoulders as she continued her journey towards the store.

He grinned a menacing smile as he finally reached his target. His fists were plunged into his pockets as his long strides came to a halt. He didn't even have to go all the way to Shinjuku, the bastard found him by pure coincidence. Then again, nothing was pure coincidence with Izaya Orihara.

"Hey Shizu-chan~!" He sung in that sickening sweet voice.

"Did I not say stay out of 'Bukuro?" He started with a vein popping out of his neck.

"Well, I couldn't resist the urge to visit my favorite monster~!" He grinned, loving the reaction he got from the other male.

He readied himself to dodge anything flying in his direction, yet nothing came. Not even a fist. He blinked and stared at the well-contained male. He still looked furious as hell, but he was standing still, not even motioning to retrieve anything heavy to throw at him. His most likely clench fists were still hidden within the fabric of his deep pockets. That menacing grin he'd get when he saw the other on occasion was completely wiped away, a look of pure rage plastered in it's place.

"Shut the fuck up louse!"

He made a 'tsk' sound as he flicked out his blade, pointing it straight at the other. He intended to provoke him. It made some sort of progress because the other took a step forward. He frowned as he stopped his advances, seemingly reluctant on fighting today.

"You set it up, didn't you!" He bellowed.

Izaya smirked indifferently. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Shizu-chan!"

"Don't play stupid flea!" He barked. "You know damn well what I'm talking about! You knew Reika was in that van!"

The informant yapped a humorless laugh. His eyes skimmed over his blade dully before shrugging his shoulders. His eyes danced in amusement, dark mahogany irides contrasting in the sunlight to look like a bloody red. "What an accusation!" He said.

Shizuo, beyond annoyed with his antics took another step forward, his fingers just itching to throw something heavy at him. To just hear the satisfying sound of bones crushing beneath whatever inanimate object surged into the air and slammed against the shorter man. The vein in his neck was pulsating threateningly.

"It's not an accusation but the truth!" He said through gritted teeth. "You set this up! It's one thing to torment me, but to Reika of all people-"

"How romantic." He spat, eyes narrowing dangerously. His eyes curved upwards as he smiled widely, though it was more unnerving than kind. His eyes, still fixated in the red gleam, trained on the blonde before observing his blade once again. "You know, you should really rephrase you words, Shizu-chan. One might think you have feelings for the girl."

An irritated growl bubbled from his throat, but the stain of pink in his cheeks didn't fail to catch Izaya's attention. Shizuo managed to snatch a post sign, ripping it from the side of the cement road. He raised the stop sign ceremoniously before outstretching his arm and pointing the makeshift weapon at the smirking informant.

"Ne, ne! Did that actually manage to set you off?" He gasped in mock, faking his surprise. "You really like such a boring girl?"

"Shut it!" Shizuo raved, his embarrassment becoming buried behind blind rage.

Relentlessly, he continued as he effortlessly dodged the whipping stop sign, the pentagon plate slamming into the cement roughly, sending chips and chunks of concrete into the air in result.

"Silly Shizu-chan~" He laughed, loving the thrill of adrenaline as he dodged all 'Shizu-chan's' efforts. He saw an opening, an escape. No, he wanted to play a little more. "Rei-chan will never think of going out with such a mindless protozoan! If she treasures her life, that is. Hm.. You never know though! Maybe she's secretly suicidal?"

"SHUT UP!" He raged as he chased the raven around, hoping to land mark with his stop sign. "I WOULD TREAT HER DAMN WELL BETTER THAN YOU EVER DID, FUCKING LOUSE!"

"'ch!" He narrowed his eyes at his attacker, continuing to dodge swiftly. Finally eyeing his escape route, he was just about to retreat when something caught his attention.

She had headed in the direction of the grocery store, checking over her mental list in her mind. Just as she was about to enter the store, something caught her attention. There seemed to be a commotion going on in the middle of the street in Sunshine 60. She curiously eyed the people were taping the unknown commotion until most of the smarter ones left the scene. She blinked as she caught a glimpse of a bartender suite and messy blonde hair. She stepped away from the supermarket and decided on seeing what she had missed. It wouldn't hurt to spare a couple minutes before pursuing her much needed groceries. She stopped mid-step as she heard a familiar voice, now in earshot range.

"Silly Shizu-chan~" His voice sang as she watched him dodge all the blonde's murderous attempts at his life, a wide grin on his face. "Rei-chan will never think of going out with such a mindless protozoan! If she treasures her life, that is. Hm.. You never know though! Maybe she's secretly suicidal?"

Reika blinked.

What?

She blinked again.

What are they talking about? She watched as her neighbor reacted violently.

"SHUT UP! I WOULD TREAT HER DAMN WELL BETTER THAN YOU EVER DID, FUCKING LOUSE!"

"'ch!"

Now her face was red, realizing what they were implying.

Wait. Did that mean Shizuo liked her?

No, that was impossible! Why would he?

She shook her head as her face turned another shade darker. She gulped. What if he "liked" her for the same reasons Izaya did?

She breathed a deep sigh at her luck. Why couldn't have had a guy that actually liked her, for her? Or better yet, why didn't these guys 'like' some other poor soul and experiment on them? Why always her? She already had bad luck with men, why did God have to put her through more. She was now convinced she was forever alone. She rubbed her temple, glad that she heard the ending of their conversation.

This time, no matter what, she will be careful.

She almost felt tears brimming her eyes, yet she summoned her inner strength to push them down. Fortunately, her body was on her side today. She sighed again, this time it was shaky.

It felt so real too. She would seriously have to praise both of their acting skills. As well as chide herself for being tricked so easily. Her heart still throbbed of heartbreak with Izaya, yet Shizuo managed to stomp her future hopes of it healing properly. She finally realized that the scene stopped, and that they took notice of her presence.

"Reika?" She heard his voice, still rumbling from anger, but soothed with concern. Her eyes were still shut tightly.

"I'm such an idiot." She muttered to herself.

No way would Shizuo genuinely want to become her friend, or even want to comfort her when she was crying over Izaya. Now she understood. He was just doing that to get a reaction from her. Just like Izaya. All this was a game to them.

Her feelings was a game to them.

For all she knew, they were probably accomplices in this act. They were both laughing at her when she wasn't looking.

She felt the tears resurface behind shut lids in frustration as her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides. She didn't realized that she was hyperventilating violently as she contorted her face in anger.

Without warning, a hand was placed onto her shoulder, a gruff voice coaxing her trembling shoulders. "Hey, now. Calm down Reika."

Her eyes snapped open. Her eyes stared at the dark silhouette behind Shizuo, a couple meters away. He had a mildly surprised look in his dark red eyes, along with another emotion she couldn't quite identify. Probably laughter- she thought bitterly. Her glared snapped to Shizuo's concerned face behind blue sunglasses.

SLAP!

There was a faint red hand print at the side of his face. His face was forcibly turned to the side from the impact as he stared at the ground in shock. His grip on her shoulder slacked and Reika used that as an escape.

"I hate you! Both of you!" She cried, not sparing each of them a glance back as she ran.