It was quiet. Quiet and painfully awkward. Though both made no move to break it. Why should they? They had only used each other to satisfy their personal desires. Reika had pulled her knees to her chest, her head buried in her arms as she tried in vain to calm her breathing. Izaya had slipped on his pants, frankly to disgusted with himself and her to even close the distance between them again. So easily could he just reach out and touch her for the third time. It seemed the girl hadn't realized her small mistake that had ended their session a little too early for the other's liking. She hadn't even said a word since he had sat up and started dressing himself. His jaw kept clenching, only to slacken before repeating the process. She was here with him. Physically, she had gave herself to him. He should be satisfied. He had gotten what he wanted. Though the raw hurt and jealousy had got the best out of him. He had her here, but at the same time, he didn't.

"It seems I've won the fight, though not the war." He gave a dry laugh. Reika blinked. "What're you-"

"It's nothing you should be concerned of." He snapped with a smile. His lips were tugging upwards, but his heart had already sank to the very pit of his abdomen. What startled him was how much he wished to flick out his blade and run the edge against her skin. He wanted to do anything to make her recognize him, even if it resorted to hurting her. He loved and adored her, so that's why she should love and adore him too. He almost laughed when he realized that was a line he had used multiple times for his beloved humans. She was his beloved human of course. She was apart of society, yet so much more. Yet he couldn't find the reason why? Perhaps her naive and simple mind was the cause? He could mold her into anything he wanted, so easily. No. That wasn't it. It was something else.

.

.

He watched her close her door as she took her shoes off at the entrance. "What are you doing?" She asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"What do you mean, Rei-chan?" He purred with another almost sinister smirk.

She paused, looking at his black shoes. "Your supposed to take your shoes off.."

He blinked, almost surprised himself.

.

"Tsk, Shizu-chan, your not trying to corrupt my Rei-chan~, now are you?" Izaya wrapped slim arms around the smaller girl's waist.

"Shut up, fucking flea!" He growled, his gaze hardening upon mahogany irides. He looked back at Reika. "Trust me when I say that most of the bad things that happen in Ikebukuro is because of this filthy louse!"

"Shizuo-kun.." Her voice was shaking -whether with anger or pain, he couldn't tell. "I think you should leave." Her bawled fists tightened on Izaya's coat as she diverted her eyes to his chest, suddenly finding his v-neck shirt much more interesting.

Izaya chuckled, almost maniacally, as he smirked at Shizuo's shocked expression. The blonde ex-bartender looked as if he was going to say something before being cut off.

"Please, Shizuo-kun, leave."

.

"Are you sure it was okay for me to stay the night?" She asked quietly.

"I said it was alright already, didn't I?" He smiled, looking her straight in the eyes.

She bit her lip. "I guess.." She buried her face into his chest once again. "Ne, Izaya?"

"Hm?" He gently started petting her hair.

"Am I bad person?"

He blinked, momentarily stopping his strokes on her head. "Why do you ask?"

"Because-" She hesitated, sucking in a short breath. "Ah.. never mind."

.

"Uhm.." She starts, stopping in her tracks.

He stops as well, looking at her with curiosity.

"T-the thing I wanted to tell you earlier.." She bit her lip. "W-was that.." She sucked in a deep breath as she looked him straight in the eye. "Iloveyou."

.

"I see." She said lightly. "Well, I'm glad I could help you with understanding humans."

.

Izaya peered behind his binoculars on another high-rise roof. He carried a blank look as he continued to stare at Shizuo silently comforting the crying Reika.

.

"On about Shizu-chan again?" He asked, something underlining his light tone. "It's almost as if you're catching feelings for the barbarian~!"

"It shouldn't matter to you nonetheless, right?" She glanced back.

He giggled, placing an arm over her shoulders as they continued to walk. "Ah, Rei-chan, so cruel! Can I not hold concern of my ex-girlfriend?"

"I wasn't you're girlfriend." She said, feeling awkward as she felt their bodies brush against each others. "I was you're experiment, remember?"

.

.

Ah, so that's why.

He nearly slapped himself for taking so much time to figure it out.

Foolish. He thought. All of his attempts were foolish. There was nothing he could do. It was futile.

He was humiliated. Humiliated because for someone who claimed to understand and love humans, he had took too long to notice the problems. The reason he was so infatuated. The reasons behind Reika's actions.

Even when she was with him, she was still thinking about that damn brute. The reason she had said she loved him, was simply to reciprocate his 'feelings'. So she wouldn't feel guilty - though she herself might have not realized it. That was why she had responded so clearheaded when he had broken up with her. That's why she went to him for comfort. Her relationship with that brainless barbarian had came naturally, antecedent to theirs. Theirs was forced. He was certain if he had never decided to test her reaction, she would've been with that blonde protozoan a long time ago.

He rubbed his temple, obviously annoyed. He sat next to the barely dressed Reika and let out a sigh. She had even avoided his questions of if she had loved that brute. Perhaps his possessive feelings for the girl were because of his complex for the strongest man of Ikebukuro? He noticed how she tensed when he sat beside her. He looked back at her, his gaze softening when they landed on light brown. He chuckled as he reached out a hand to touch her face. She let him run his slender fingers through her hair.

No. Somehow, labeling his relationship with Reika as rivalry against his longtime enemy did not satisfy him. She might love that brute, but she was his. His displeasure for the protozoan had only grown since he had won the girl's affections. It was almost as if he wanted to lock her in a cage and the only face she'd have the privilege to see was his. He wanted to be the only one on her mind.

"What do you see in him?" He found himself asking as he brushed her hair through his fingers. She leaned into his touch, though she tensed when he had asked that prying question.

"What are you talking about?"

"Now, now," He said playfully. "I know you cannot be that dense. You know perfectly well of what I'm speaking of." He wanted to laugh at the glare she sent him, but refrained. Eventually she let out a sigh.

"I'd rather not say, because I don't know either." She mumbled. There was a lot of things she liked in Shizuo, though she didn't exactly know the specific thing she was so drawn to.

"Then what did you see in me, when we dated?" He asked, closing the distance between them. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against his bare chest -seeing as he only wore his pants. She willingly leaned against him, her head nuzzling into the crook of his neck, which startled him at her eagerness.

"You were nice, and polite. You were a gentlemen." She smiled. "You weren't anything like my past boyfriends. It was like you were too good to be true. Which was right."

He chuckled, the sound resounding from his chest softly. She laughed a little too, but it sounded fake so she stopped.

"Ah, there's a saying about that, you know." He hummed. "If you know the reasons of why you love someone, it isn't love."

It was silent again. "What are you implying?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing, nothing." He looked down at her with a smile.

"It doesn't matter though." She murmured. "I'm not in love with him. Besides, he has a girlfriend. My feelings doesn't matter."

"Oh?" He perked. "A girlfriend?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "...I-..I'm happy for him."

"You're horrendous at lying." He commented.

"That's because I don't do it." She countered back. "He's my friend, I'm happy he's found someone better-"

"Oh shut up." She was suddenly underneath him again, her back flat against the cushion of the couch. She flinched at the crushing grip her shoulders were in. She blinked wide eyes up at him cautiously. "Your consistent lies and obliviousness is infuriating. Quite frankly, you're just as annoying as Shizu-chan."

She gaped up at him. His voice was steady and cold, his eyes never wavering from the hostile glare he gave her. She was stunned to silence, her teeth gritting behind pursed lips. Finally a sinister smirk tugged at his lips, a look she hadn't seen in what felt like years. He got off of her, pushing off the couch and straightening himself. He walked over to his desk, leaning lightly against it as his eyes trained on her laying form. She gingerly sat up, blinking in confusion up at him. She pulled on her sweater, not bothering to place her undershirt or bra on under it. She pulled up her pants and looked at him incredulously.

"What are you saying?"

Hm. Perfect chance. He thought. He closed his eyes and he prepared himself. He let out a sigh that sounded annoyed. He swallowed the lump in his throat as his heart pounded against his rib-cage, threatening to jump out of his chest.

"Ah~" He started, a smirk stretching across his face. "It was fun~" He commented loudly. "But I'm quite bored, Rei-chan."

"W-what..?" She drawled out. "W-what're- what?" She spluttered. Her shocked face tugged at something in his chest, but his smirk widened.

"The breakup," He started. "The kisses, the sex, my fever-"

"It was fake?" She asked quickly.

He clapped, a jovial laughter filling the deathly silence. "My, my! Rei-chan, you've finally figured it out!"

"But-" She choked out. "You were really sick though- you couldn't have faked that!"

"Hm?" He blinked. "Correct." He nodded. "Though I must advise you that I knew of my condition a day prior. I knew it was eventual till I collapsed onto you." He shrugged.

"And your confession?!" She yelped, her eyes widening in disbelief.

For a moment he froze. She had been listening? His cheeks flushed for a second- fortunately she didn't catch onto his slip-up. He let out another annoyed sigh, his eyes meeting hers dully. "You're not very good at faking your sleep either, Rei-chan. It was obvious you were awake."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, her jaw dropping slightly. Hot, seething, anger started to fill her. "What.. why..? What the hell was the point in this?!"

"The point?" He repeated, not in the slightest phased by her building anger. "I love you, that is the point. You are apart of my human society. Quite honestly, it was very fun at first, though now it had grown boring." He shrugged. "And when I say I love you, I do not mean you individually."

He dodged the shoe she threw at him. His smirk widened when she ran over to him, directing her fist to his face in a futile punch. He grasped her wrist as he step-sided her attack, and to prove his point, he jerked his wrist, slightly twisting her joint. She gasped in pain and struggled to pull away from his tight hold. Her attempts were in vain. Her eyes burned, her face reddening in anger, embarrassment, and frustration.

"Let go!" She screamed at him in anger. "Why?... Y-you!- I hate you! I hate you so much!"

His jaw clenched, though he kept his composure. "Ah~!" He cooed. "I do love your reactions, Rei-chan~! Especially these kinds!" He grinned happily down at her. Finally his grip on her wrist slackened enough for her to snatch it free. She rubbed it to soothe it gently, a glare in her eyes as she took a step back.

"Unfortunately," He sighed dramatically. "Even these had lack their enthusiasm." He smiled at her, that mischievous glint still present. "I'm sure you can show yourself out."

"Izaya-.." She started, the tears nearly falling. "You're lying. I know you are-"

"Really now?" There was a sharpness to his voice. His eyes narrowed darkly, the amused smirk seemed more cynical now. "I do love you, Rei-chan, just as every other human in this world, though that naive obliviousness is seriously annoying now. You should leave, before you find yourself in a problem." He said smoothly, almost as if he was comforting her instead of threatening her dangerously. To prove his point, his switchblade flipped out between his long fingers, the smooth steel glinted in the light of the sun. He looked as if he was observing it closely, which made Reika shuddered.

She stared at him for a moment. A long and hard moment. He avoided her lingering gaze, waiting for her to leave. Ultimately, she folded her shirt over her bra, to cover it's indecency and left with only one shoe on her foot, not even bothering with her second, and walked out the door. It didn't even slam, like he thought it would, but gently clicked shut. He was still observing his blade, that at the right angle sparkled in the sunlight prettily. His teeth clenched as he glared at it.

He glared at it until he felt himself close his eyes tightly, his face scrunching in anger. A shaky breath escaped his lips and he held his face in bitter frustration.