"Of course not. Everyone knows that marriage kills all romance. It's the dress I like!"
"I see…"
Izaya put on the matching gloves.
"It's missing something. Do you have one of these with fur?"
The shop clerk blinked.
"Fur, you say?"
"Yes. White fur. To go with my trademark look."
Izaya nearly tripped on the long skirts as she spotted someone glued to the window display on the other side.
"Aoba? What the hell are you doing here?"
Aoba entered the store after rubbing smudge marks from his face. Trying to remain cool.
"I see that you are already picking your wedding dress. That is wonderful. We still have to wait a few years but still. There is nothing like being prepared."
Izaya rolled her eyes again.
"Again, go find someone your age to annoy."
"I had an agreement with two ladies but when I saw you it was love at first sight."
"Right…tell you what, I have some errands to run in Odaiba."
"Say no more. I am honored to do that for you. By the way, I believe that you have hired the blonde kid there. I will show you I am more qualified. Do tell me what your errand is."
Izaya's eyes glittering sharply as she whispered into Aoba's ear.
"I see. It shall be done."
"Bye bee, Aoba-kun!"
Izaya and Kida watched him leave.
"What did you tell him?"
"To find Suzuki-san, he'll know what to do."
"What Suzuki-san?"
Izaya beamed beautifully.
"I have no idea!"
Next Izaya dragged Kida to the lingerie store, which was pretty awkward and then proceeded to drag him to a sex shop, which was considerably worse.
"Orihara-san, I can't go there! I'm a minor!"
"Gee, since when does that stop you from doing shady things. Besides, you have the fake ID I arranged."
"I'll get in serious trouble!"
Izaya rolled her eyes, big eyelashes fluttering.
"You're such a pussy, Masaomi. Honestly."
"Just take your boyfriend with you."
"No way. I want to surprise him. This is why your love life is such a mess. You lack finesse. Fine, I'll just call Dotachin."
And that he did.
"Er, Izaya…why am I here, exactly?"
Izaya did not bother to look at Kadota but carried on studying the wide arrays of colored dildos on display.
"Don't be silly. I'm a proper woman, there's no way I can be in such a place alone. It gives a wrong idea."
"Okay…why didn't you come with Namie, then?"
"First of all, that is 'Yagiri-san' to you and second, I want it to be a surprise obviously. Excuse me, do you have the rabbit vibrator?"
It turned out that they did carry it, in several variants, even. Izaya bought a regular one and then a waterproof one. She then got a remote control egg and a few extra goodie including edible lingerie.
"You really have a lot of money…"
"Indeed I do. And I put it to good use, too! I've always wanted to try this vibrator out. It has a special feature, clitoral stimulation. I've heard marvels about it. All the girls I've done swear by it and who am I to contradict them. I can hardly wait to try it out!"
Izaya did skip around a bit. Needless to say Kadota was left to tow the bags.
"Maybe you were born the wrong gender…"
"I wouldn't go that far. It just so happens that I am in tune with both genders. I embrace humanity in its entirety."
"Right…"
Izaya was overjoyed when Namie gave her a call later that day. She prepared a light but tasty meal without forgetting to make it healthy.
"Namie, hello-"
"What were you doing today in Ikebukuro?"
She could tell right away that something was amiss. From the clipped enquiry to Namie's ice cold eyes.
"I went on a shopping spree."
"Some of my men saw you trying on wedding dresses."
"Oh, that! I was just having fun. You know, it's one of those things a woman wants to do. See how she looks in pretty white lace."
Namie took a step in her direction.
"So you're not getting married?"
"Of course not. Just who would I marry anyway? It's not as if you'd want such a thing and I don't want anything else. You know me, I'm all for trying new things and those dresses are kinky."
"'Kinky', you say? Is that why you went to a sex store with some guy afterwards?"
"Hey, I don't like you spying on me like that."
"I wasn't spying on you. My men followed you-"
"On whose orders, exactly?"
Izaya folded her arms.
"I told them to keep an eye on you."
"Oh really? And why was that, Namie?"