As soon as the door opened, she had questioned her actions of why she was there in the first place. There stood the vaguely familiar beauty she had last seen months ago, still with her dark hair cascading down her back and a blank look on her face. She raised an eyebrow at the girl, though there was no curiosity in her dark brown orbs. Awkward silence filled the air, and Reika started to fidget nervously. Before she could speak, the nameless woman opened the door wider and looked over her shoulder.

"You have a client." She called dully. "Don't expect me to deal with her, I'm off the clock." Reika peered into the spacious apartment, taking notice that nothing had changed since the last visit. She jolted in surprise when the woman beside her gave an annoyed sigh and place a hand at the small of her back. She gently shoved her in, and as Reika turned to look at the woman in question, she was met the inevitable slam of the door. She sweat-dropped - that lady wasn't exactly the friendliest to be around.

"Don't mind her." His voice surprised her, but she chided herself when she realized that she was in his apartment. Taking a nervous gulp, she turned her gaze to land on Izaya behind his desk, his eyes trained on the computer screen in front on him as he typed away. He wasn't even looking at her, but she saw his lips twitch into a smirk at her arrival.

"Y-you're working," She mumbled. His eyes flicked over to hers for a moment before finding it's way back onto the computer screen.

"I do have to make money, Rei-chan." His laughter was soft and tickled her ears, even from the distance. She nodded and let her shoulders slump. "I'll leave then." She muttered and turned towards the door, once again.

"Why so?" His voice sounded more solemn this time. "You came here for a reason, right?"

She paused and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Not really." She laughed humorlessly. "Forget it. I won't bother you-"

"Something must have possessed you to come all the way here."

"Yeah, but-"

"But what? You don't trust me?" He laughed. "I'm hurt, Rei-chan~"

This time she turned around to look at him. His eyes were curved upwards, his palm holding his face and a smile tugging at his lips. His body was facing her direction and he stopped typing, his full attention on her.

"I'm not going to answer that." She murmured. He laughed again, but turned back to his computer. "Take a seat, I'll be done in a moment."

Reluctant at first, she eventually found herself doing as he said, sitting comfortably on the leather sofa. She took a nervous gulp; why the hell was she here again? Her palms were starting to sweat as she cupped her knees, staring at her toes, she tensed. The room was silent again, with the exception of the informant's consistent typing. Ultimately, the tapping stopped, though she didn't exactly noticed it until the couch had dipped beside her and his presence was known. Her nervous sweat trait was becoming known and she mentally cursed herself for not controlling her body. The sound of china being placed onto the glass of the coffee table startled her, and her eyes immediately flew to the source. There were two tea cups, the steam of the sweet smelling green tea wafted to her nose and she let a small smile grace her lips.

"Thank you." She muttered shyly, still avoiding direct eye contact.

"Ah," He nodded. "So what brought you here?"

A shiver ran down her spine at the early memory. Shizuo with another woman. She couldn't just say that to him. If anything, the raven would laugh at her for being so silly. She was sure of it.

"I.. j-just came to see you." She said, not thinking of anything else better. It was partially true. She had went to Izaya's apartment subconsciously seeking comfort, knowing full well he wouldn't give it, especially when he knew the reason of why she wanted it. But that was just it. She wanted it. She didn't need it. It wasn't like Shizuo and her were dating. In fact, she had no idea why she was so torn up over it that she wasn't even thinking clearly. Who in their right mind would go to Izaya Orihara for comfort? Meaningless comfort much less.

"Oh?" He smirked. She was already starting to regret her half-ass answer when she heard the intention behind that simple word. "And what do I owe the pleasure of having you visit me?"

Shizuo was happy right? He should be. If that was the case, then why can't she be happy too? The problem with that simple-minded solution was that she had no idea what she needed to achieve to become happy. Then again, she couldn't remember the last time she was truly happy. That was the reason why she had left Matsuyama. Because she wasn't happy, nor content. She was satisfied living in the city, but she wasn't happy. She tried to remember the last time she was smiling and it had reached her eyes.

.

.

"Hey sir!" She greeted him with a smile. "Sorry about that!"

He grunted, clearing his throat. "Watch where your going next time."

"Right." She nodded.

He looked as if he wanted to say more, though he swallowed it down.

"What is it?" She couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

After a moment of hesitation, he shook his head, passing by her. "My name is not sir. It's Shizuo."

She blinked awkwardly before giving a sheepish smile. "Well my name is Reika Sohma!"

.

"Oi." He said as she gently opened her eyes. She gazed at him for a few moments before she blinked. Quickly jolting up, she looked around rapidly before recognition crossed her features.

"Ah, S-Shizuo-kun! I'm sorry!" She said before getting up and walking towards the door.

Said man sighed before grasping her free hand. "Wait." She did as she was told, slowly looking towards him.

"Y-yes?"

He let go of her hand, a light pink brushing over his cheeks before speaking less roughly. "...I'll buy you breakfast."

.

"Let's just forget about it, okay?" She smiled warmly.

He blinked a couple times before slowly cupping the hand that gently touched his face. His cheeks heated up again as he realized that he's never been so close to the opposite gender before. He closes his eyes momentarily as he buried the side of his face into her soft hand.

She felt her face heat up also as she stared at the gesture with an unfamiliar flutter in her abdomen. She hadn't realized that she herself was slowly closing the distance between them, drawing her face closer to his unsuspecting one.

.

She slowly dared herself to look up at him with a flushed face. He brought up a hand and ran it through her hair, ruffling it which resulted in messy strands of wavy hair sprawled out in different directions. He felt him give her a small, but warm smile. She matched the gesture and on pure impulse, he pressed his slight chapped lips to her forehead. She made a sound of surprise and he pulled himself from her grasp. He turned around so she wouldn't have to witness his red face. He coughed into his fist.

.

In the bathroom, hovering his bloody hand over the sink, she continued to pluck out the fragments of glass from the calloused hand. "So're you admitting you actually like me?" She asked blankly.

His cheeks flushed a dark pink as he stared at her, his anger faltering but not willing away. "I'm nothing like that damn flea! I'm not fucking obsessed with humans! I wouldn't have any alternative gain from dating you. If you were clearly listening to our conversation you'd know that I had no intention to ask you out in the first place but-" He stopped himself, swallowing the lump in his throat. He felt nervousness well up as he looked away from her surprised face. His face heated up even more as he coughed out. "I do like you."

.

Taking notice of how his cheeks flared, she blinked when he reached out a hand to pat her head gently, ruffling her hair a bit. "Welcome back." He muttered.

A slow smile stretched across her face and she reached up to touch his much larger hand. "I'm back." She said softly.

.

.

She hadn't even noticed when Izaya had closed the distanced between them, the result of being so absorbed in her thoughts. She felt his lips against the fading mark he had left days ago. Soft lips against her skin was much more gentle compared to the first time. She felt his warm hand slither under her sweater, meeting the hot skin of her abdomen. Her breathing hitched as the hand traveled upwards, cupping the pad of her bra. One moment, she was fully clothed and sitting upright, the next she was under him, completely shirtless. His tongue caressed her nipple, a supportive hand under the small of her back as she arched on instinct.

Even though the fingers that were running through choppy raven weren't golden wisps, she found satisfaction in the fact that she was able to forget so suddenly about her problems. Nothing but the raw pleasure of Izaya caressing her body filled her mind, and even though she was purely focusing on the physical feelings the informant gave her, she couldn't help but feel guilty when she imagined Shizuo's mouth on her chest. She couldn't help but picture warm mocha instead of piercing mahogany. It was unhealthy and definitely not the morals her mother had taught her, although she didn't care. And that's when it hit her - perhaps to be happy, she needed not to care. Live in the present. She would worry of the consequences later.

He knew it was eventual until she would come running back to him, and he would be standing there with a knowing smirk, his arms outstretched. As he took her for the second time on his couch, he froze his thrusts when he had heard her tiny, quiet gasp.

"Shizuo!"