"Nice night isn't it?" Izaya asked lightly as Chihiro walked beside him, nervously tugging her sleeves.
"Yeah, I guess."
She was already having second thoughts about this.
"I wish I could've afforded a new yukata." Chihiro looked down at herself; she was wearing the one she had worn in junior high and, while it fit well, she wasn't sure how she felt about still being able to wear something she should've outgrown by age 24.
"You know, if it wasn't for your face, you'd really look like a little kid."
Izaya smirked as Chihiro scowled; he always had to make some comment.
"You said you wanted to go on a date to the festival." Chihiro grumbled. "Aren't you suppose to compliment me?"
Izaya shrugged. "You haven't been acting like this is a date. You won't even hold my hand or compliment my yukata." Chihiro narrowed her eyes at him; admittedly, he did look good in his, but she felt like she'd regret saying so out loud.
"You don't need me to say so." Chihiro retorted. "You've got a big enough head as it is."
They continued to walk by the brightly lit booths in silence; Ikebukuro was holding a special street festival for the summer, and Izaya insisted they go together as their first official date.
"Is it though?" Chihiro wondered as Izaya threw knife after knife right on target; the girl running the game booth handed over his prize with a stunned expression, torn between being irritated and awestruck. Chihiro could relate.
"We had sex, but it doesn't really mean anything." Chihiro rolled her eyes as Izaya took the prize with a smug grin. "He says he loves me, but does he really? I don't know what he's thinking. Hell, I don't know what I'm thinking!"
"Here." Izaya held out the stuffed cat to her with a somewhat less smug smile.
"Thanks." Chihiro took it somewhat reluctantly.
"No kiss?" Izaya teased; his smile turned to a frown as she grimaced.
Chihiro scowled defiantly and looked away from him. "You practically cheated at that game. I don't even like places like this."
A couple of girls from the next booth were staring and whispering to each other; one of them giggled and blushed as Izaya made eye contact.
"Well, if you don't want to accompany me, I suppose I'll have to find other ways to amuse myself." Izaya waved carelessly at the taller of the two girls who blushed. She waved back and giggled self consciously.
"What?" Chihiro glared at him.
Izaya turned back to her with a cold smile. "Don't act like you're the victim. I ask you on a nice date, and you treat me like an annoyance."
"You are annoying." Chihiro retorted. "And if this is a date, you shouldn't be going off and checking out other girls."
"Why not? I thought you didn't want to be here? If that was true, you wouldn't care about me going off to flirt with someone else." Izaya asked with a cutting tone. "You say you're not sure of your feelings, but that's an ugly lie."
"Fuck you." Chihiro turned to storm off, but Izaya grabbed her wrists tightly. "Hey!"
"You say you don't know how you feel about me, but you do. You just don't want to admit it for some petty reason. Is it because you don't approve of what I do? Or is it out of some stubborn sense of pride? It's pretty mean of you to treat me like this when all I've tried to do is be nice to you." Izaya's voice was a hiss and Chihiro shivered from the coldness in his eyes. "In that case, we shouldn't be together. You're wasting my time and if you really cared, you'd just be honest with me."
"Let go. You're hurting me." Chihiro said stiffly; Izaya released her hand and she dropped the cat.
"You're right. I do have feelings for you." Chihiro's voice grew bolder with each word. Izaya was right; it wasn't fair of her to treat him this way, at least not when he was trying to be civil. But she couldn't forget who he really was, couldn't shake the feeling that giving him any idea of how she really felt would backfire on her in the end.
"The truth is, I don't even know if I should have any feelings for you more than I already do. Part of me doesn't want to fall for someone like you."
Izaya smirked bitterly. "I knew it."
"But you're in the wrong too!" Chihiro argued. "Threatening to go off with someone else is just childish. If you really loved me, you wouldn't try to hurt me. When you care about about someone you don't just-" her voice was small. "run out...on them."
Chihiro looked down and smiled ruefully; it was all so pointless to expect him to care. "Look, go do what you want Izaya. I don't know what I'm saying."
Izaya stared as Chihiro ran off.
"It's my own fault for letting it go this far." Chihiro ran past confused and apathetic faces; there were so many couples here, it was ridiculous. Her breathing was restricted from her clothes, but she ran faster, just wanting to escape. After a while Chihiro came to a stop at the park and walked quickly to the small pond; the closer she went, the more trees there were.
Chihiro slowly sunk to the ground and rested at the foot of one of the largest trees.
"What was I saying?" Chihiro thought as she caught her breath. "He doesn't actually care. He didn't even try to stop me." she bit her lip. "He won't even compliment me without it being backhanded. Izaya's just upset I'm not paying attention to him."
But she knew Izaya had a point; if she wasn't acting so coldly, maybe he wouldn't have either. Or maybe he would. Chihiro couldn't say for sure.
As she sat there in the dark, Chihiro scanned her surroundings. It was too peaceful here. The air was warm and still; tiny fireflies floated by and Chihiro couldn't help smiling slightly as one landed by her feet.
"Am I scared?" she wondered idly. "Am I just scared to get left behind?"
Her father was gone and the rest of her family had slowly faded out of her life. Her first love had left the second there was an problem he couldn't handle. Even Toru, who genuinely cared for her, lived a whirlwind lifestyle and she barely heard from him.
"It could be worse." Chihiro said with a shrug; she gently cupped a firefly in her palm and watched as it lit up the inside of her hand. "I haven't gone through any traumatic hardships. I have a good job, a place to stay, and food to eat. I'm lacking in the social department, but who isn't?"
She couldn't bring herself to rely on Izaya; his interests changed and faded as quickly as they came. Who's to say he too wouldn't leave her out to dry as soon as he was bored?
Chihiro tugged the comb Izaya had given her out of her hair; she had worn it for him. Chihiro looked at it for a few moments before tossing it in front of her with a defeated sigh; she pulled her hair out of it's ponytail wearily. The cherry blossoms glinted in the faint light.
"To think I got all dressed up for him." Chihiro frowned as she looked down at herself. "Not that I helped by being hard on him...still, would it kill him to say I look nice?"
The park was beautiful at night with everyone gone at the street festival; she could see the city lights, but the area was dark enough to see a few stars in the sky.
"I should go home soon." Chihiro stared up at the brightest star, briefly wondering which one it was. Izaya would know most likely. "I bet he's having fun at least with those girls."
"Where the hell did she wander off to?"
Izaya strolled into the park with a frown. "I swore I saw her go this way…."
He wandered around, idly looking this way and that and listening for footsteps; the stuffed cat was clutched in his hand and seemed to be smiling up at him mockingly. Why did Chihiro have to be so difficult? He just wanted to take her out.
"If she was just honest with her feelings from the start, we could be sharing takoyaki right now." Izaya yawned. "I suppose it wasn't that smart a move trying to make her jealous, but she didn't have to run off."
The face of those girls had already been forgotten; he probably wouldn't be able to recognize them if he saw them again. That's what always happened; faces and names floated into his head and out, not to be remembered, unless they were significant to him and his plans. They were his humans, all wonderful, but also wonderfully insignificant to the grand scheme of things.
There were three categories of people in Izaya's mind: humans, monsters, and himself. Well, there was also Shinra. He didn't know what to make of him half the time.
"Chihiro's definitely human." Izaya stated firmly and smiled. It quickly faded from his face remembering she was probably back to hating him.
Not once had her face faded from his mind; she wasn't a nameless identity in the masses of people he had to interact with. Chihiro was simply Chihiro and contrary to what she believed, it meant something to him, more than he wanted it to.
A loud boom echoed through the park, interrupting his thoughts; Izaya looked up to see the fireworks display had already begun. The wheels and spirals of color burst into the air and faded into the night sky like embers. It was something he was hoping he'd see with her.
Izaya continued walking and looking up at the sky; he went to the small groups of trees surrounding the pond and scanned the area with narrowed eyes. They widened considerably as he caught sight of someone a few feet away.
"Hm?" Izaya stopped and stared blankly; he was confused, but was also certain it was Chihiro kneeling near the bank of the pond.
Her hair hung around her thin shoulders, dark and shining under the bright lights of the fireworks; her whole body was small and Izaya found himself marveling at the delicate wrists and legs tucked under herself. She looked frailer than he had ever seen her.
Izaya wanted to go over to her, but his body refused to move an inch; his feet felt rooted to the ground, his hands hung limply at his sides as he watched her look up at the almost blinding display of color and lights.
Chihiro's smile was quiet, a blend of delight and sadness as she gazed up at the fireworks. She didn't gasp or exclaim in excitement: she simply watched silently, half present in the moment and half consumed in her own musings. Izaya felt the peculiar notion that she wasn't actually there, that maybe she was an illusion and the second he blinked, the vision would disappear. He did so for the hell of it, but Chihiro was still there, kneeling and and watching the fireworks with slightly parted lips.
It was in that second Izaya realized that Chihiro was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. The thought made his hands twitch and his head spin slightly; for a second she became blurry in his eyes before she was back in focus. Everything was in sharp focus and Izaya began to move toward Chihiro slowly.
"Maybe she's not human after all." Izaya thought absently as his gaze locked onto hers. "A witch who can cast spells? Maybe she has another branch of Saika she used on me?"
Chihiro looked over at him suddenly and averted her eyes with a small guilty frown.
"I'm sorry. You had a good point earlier. I do like you, more than I'd like to admit." Chihiro's cheeks turned pink slightly. Izaya slowly lowered himself to her level.
"But you have to admit, you make it hard for me to trust you. I feel like you'll just use me if you find out how much I-"
Izaya kissed her. Hard.
Chihiro's eyes were wide open; she felt as if the breath had been knocked right out of her.
"Why did you take out my gift?"
"..Huh?"
Izaya picked up the discarded hair comb with a pout; he gently pulled Chihiro's hair into a side ponytail and stuck the comb back in with a satisfied smile.
"I'm sorry." Izaya grinned sheepishly. "You have a point, but wouldn't you prefer to judge me based on my current actions?"
Chihiro leaned against his shoulder, absently tracing a finger over his collarbone; he involuntarily shivered and hoped she hadn't noticed.
"Maybe. But your current actions are pretty questionable. Just try to be a little bit less of an asshole and it would be easier for me."
"In exchange, you have to be more honest with me. Quid pro quo and all that." Izaya kissed her again gently licking her lips as he pulled away: she tasted like the cotton candy he had bought her earlier. "You look like a little china doll in that yukata."
"Is that a good thing?" Chihiro asked skeptically despite the pleased flush on her cheeks.
Izaya smirked. "Yeah, if I'm the only one allowed to play with you."
He slowly lowered her onto the grass and nipped at her neck. "Are you positive you haven't fallen for me? Not being prideful now are we?"
"I don't think I can honestly say I love you just yet." Chihiro pushed him away gently. "Izaya, you better not be thinking what I think you're thinking."
"What?" Izaya asked innocently. "I'm not going to ravish you out here for anyone to see. You have to admit, making love under the fireworks sounds pretty romantic, eh?"
"It sounds troublesome and messy." Chihiro deadpanned; she kissed him as sweetly as she could regardless. "In real life it's hard to get away with that sort of thing."
Izaya shrugged. "So, did you really want to go home?"
Chihiro paused before cuddling up to him; her face was buried into his chest. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.
"Not now I don't."
"Chi-chan, are you that uncomfortable being open with me?" Izaya asked sounding genuinely curious; he couldn't help notice how hard it was for her to relax during sex, let alone talking with him. He'd spend much of their time together just on getting her loose enough so he could slip inside.
"Not that it's not worth it." Izaya glanced down the collar of her yukata; he could just see the swell of her small breasts.
"Well, I suppose so." Chihiro confessed.
"Is that why you won't look at me when I enter you during sex?"
"Don't say shit like that so loudly!" Chihiro whispered harshly looking around.
"Well?" Izaya pressed; his fingers ran through her hair soothingly.
"I didn't really think of it." Chihiro sighed and looked up at the now dark sky; the fireworks were done and she could hear cheering not too far away. "That sounds right though. I feel like you're judging me or think it's amusing and I get embarrassed and self conscious..."
"That's not what goes through my head." Izaya said as his hand squeezed her waist. "Trust me, that's the last thing I'm thinking of."
"Geez, have you always been this huge of a pervert?" Chihiro grumbled; Izaya laughed.
"No, actually." he looked down at her with a meaningful gaze. "By the way, you dropped this."
He handed Chihiro the plush cat and she smiled apologetically.
"It really was sweet of you to win it for me." she muttered and pecked his cheek.
Izaya held her just a bit closer.
