"Sorry for the wait!" Roppi said, kneeling down by the table in the private booth. He grabbed plates from his tray and began placing them. "Here is the salmon gunkan maki set. The tuna, shrimp, and tamago nigiri sets. And the temaki. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Could we get some saki please?" A young woman asked.

"Of course. Can I see your ID real quick?"

"Oh, right!" The woman jolted and reached for her wallet.

She displayed an ID that said she was 21. Roppi nodded.

"Will you be the only one drinking this evening?"

"No," one of the two men said. "I'll drink some too."

The man pulled out his wallet without prompting. He showed his ID as well. Roppi nodded once again. The raven glanced at the last man, who looked the most underage out of all of them. The man didn't say anything, so Roppi assumed that was the case.

"Alright, I'll be right back."

Roppi closed the paper door and stood. He went back to the counter, went around to the kitchen door and went through. He grabbed two sake cups out of the cupboard, then grabbed a tokkuri jug of sake out of the fridge. He pulled out the cork that was keeping the sake in. He gave it a generous sniff, happy to smell nothing but sweetness. He put all three items on a smaller tray, turned around and went back out to the dining room.

He returned to his table with a smile. "Excuse me, sorry for the wait!"

He put the tray down on the center of the table.

"I hope you enjoy."

"Thank you!" The three said.

Roppi nodded. "I'll check on you in a bit."

With that, he closed the door.

Roppi stood and returned to behind the counter. He looked around to see if any of the tables were low on food or drinks. There weren't that many people in since it was close to closing time, so their weren't that many people to look at. All seemed well in the establishment.

"Hey," Roppi said in Russian to Denis. "I'm going to start closing down the back a bit."

"Da." Denis nodded without looking at him.

The Asian walked away to the kitchen.

Four months passed since Izaya found Sakuraya and Shitsuo. Everything had become eerily calm since then. Eerily perfect. Izaya was completely unsuccessful in finding Yodojiri. The man masterfully disappeared. Izaya had found his assistant, the brunette with a red bow snooping around Nakura and other places. She was always with an older, graying gentlemen, however rarely the same one. Izaya didn't know who they were. At first. Until Roppi made a very important statement.

"By the way, who was that guy chasing you two?" Roppi had asked Sakuraya and Shitsuo.

Shitsuo had cocked a brow. "That was Yodojiri-san."

"Did you not recognize him?" Sakuraya had asked.

"Roppi-chan was under a lot of drugs." Izaya had stated. "What's more, it was many years ago."

"I was under drugs, yeah." Roppi had said. "But he didn't try anything until the drugs took affect. He sat there talking to me for a good 10 minutes before I passed out. That old guy in the alley. That wasn't the same guy who impregnated me."

After that, Izaya broadened his search to a wider margin. To the possibility that Yodojiri had shadow warriors to take his place for official affairs. It made the most sense, since Yodojiri was a hard man to find and an ever harder man to get a clear picture of. The fact that the true Yodojiri was lost in a bunch of aging men was almost obvious once Izaya thought about it.

Even then, he had little luck. The only thing that stuck out was the assistant. She was hard to find, but not nearly as hard as Yodojiri. In the end, he hadn't gotten anything worth mentioning to Roppi. So, Roppi was still completely in the dark about the bastard who wanted a mermaid child.

Although, Roppi wasn't worried about it in anyway. Yodojiri was only after him and his children to try and get a spawn fresh out of the womb who he could train. Since he was not pregnant and Sakuraya was no longer pregnant, all threats were removed, as far as he was concerned. Yodojiri had no reason to mess with them anymore. As such, the last four months had been relatively peaceful.

What's more, with Yodojiri practically out of the picture, it allowed Roppi and Izaya to focus on their relationship a bit more. As such, the two had only grown stronger as a couple. Roppi was loyal; Izaya was loyal. Although, they did have their fair share of problems, especially with Roppi working. They had quite the argument about the mermaid accepting Simon's job offer. Izaya was fueled by possessiveness and they were both aware of that, but he made valid points that Roppi would be around Simon and Dennis regularly—as such, they may eventually succumb to his pheromones. Izaya was especially worried about Simon, since Roppi had already made it a point that he was the mermaids type and with the pheromones altering his thought process, who was to say Simon wouldn't take advantage of the situation?

The argument boiled to a point where they had to get the input of the two Russians Roppi would be working with. In which, both stated there was nothing to worry about. They were professional assassins after all, so they were trained to cast love away before it can become a problem with their daily lives. So, even if Roppi's pheromones did cause a stirring, they were more than confident they could snuff it before it became a problem. Besides, they came to Japan to get away from trouble and to avoid it when it could be avoided, not to start it. If either tried to pursue Roppi, Izaya would cause more trouble than it was worth. Roppi tried not to take offense to that, since he understood where they were coming from, but it still stung to hear that.

However, with that problem officially out of the way, Izaya allowed Roppi to start working—as annoying as it was to need permission, but Roppi chose to ignore it. Instead, he focused on his work, and because of that came the next hurdle of their relationship: Living situation. Neither of them were entirely sure if Roppi was living with Izaya or not. There would be weeks where Roppi stayed in the warehouse, and weeks where Roppi would spend the night with Izaya. Half of his clothes were moved into the warehouse, while the other half were still in Izaya's guest bedroom. Same could be said for Tsuki and Hibiya's clothes as well as the kid's fish tank.

Roppi even went so far to send the kids to daycare. Tsukumoya had successfully made Roppi a fake ID that passed without question—although, Izaya was not happy about that at all when he found out. He was extremely upset that Roppi would go so far as to go behind his back to get away from him, like he was some kind of abusive husband. The two got into quite a fight from that one, prompting Namie to go home earlier that day. They ended up coming to terms when Roppi apologized and explained his reason, that at the time Izaya was being irrational, so he thought it was necessary and the sort. Izaya was still miffed but he accepted the apology.

Thus, Roppi started sending his children to daycare. The two were aging slower than Roppi would like since they weren't having consistent days of being in saltwater. Most days, they were in, however, there were plenty of days where they weren't. Sakuraya and Shitsuo had been fine with babysitting them, but Roppi wasn't willing to dump his kids onto their older siblings everyday like free labor. He would rather pay and have honest service than to take advantage of his kind adult children. However, because of that decision, Tsuki and Hibiya were not aging consistently. Despite being five months (22 weeks) old, they only looked like they were eight years old when they should be nine—turning ten soon.

However, they were still aging faster than a normal human. So, without question Roppi had to hop from daycare to daycare, so the inhuman identity of his children weren't found out. Roppi got away with the one daycare he started with until the children looked five. He switched, then, when they looked seven, he switched again. It was working so far. There was no problems and despite being spoiled, Hibiya was taking to the daycare positively. They were content at least.

Finally, with all arguments out of the way, Roppi and Izaya came to equal terms and some common ground with their situations. Roppi was but wasn't living with him. Roppi was working full-time. Sakuraya and Shitsuo were enjoying their days however they wished to enjoy them—they still had to hide from Minigawa, so they didn't go anywhere extravagant, but they enjoyed their outings well enough. Izaya and Roppi met regularly in Ikebukuro and Shinjuku for dates and nights over. Izaya had yet to sleep in the warehouse with the family of mermaid's, but Roppi was fine with that. Izaya's place was a much better rendezvous point for sexy-fun-times anyway.

For four months, Roppi had had a relatively peaceful work time. Izaya caused no problems. The customers were generally kind with the occasional asshole. Luckily, Simon and Dennis were the type to take no bullshit, so if a customer was being an irrefutable prick—the food wasn't good, despite eating all of it; Roppi or Simon took too long to get their food out when the restaurant's packed; "I want to talk to your manager! I'll have you fired!"—Simon would just toss them out. Roppi was truly happy to see that, as he had worked in plenty of restaurants that were run by people-pleasing managers who never stood up to entitled customers, and even worse off punished the employee to make the customer happy. Roppi, obviously, also had a no bullshit policy, nor a need for money when he could just return to the ocean, so he never stuck around long with those type of employees. Working under someone who also shared his views on how to treat a worker was always a plus.

Of course, there were always those types of customers. But, there were also times where Izaya couldn't avoid causing problems. Usually, those headaches were one and the same.

Roppi finished washing some dishes and dried his hands on a towel. He heard Simon welcome someone into the restaurant, and so he grabbed his waist-apron. He put it on as he walked out of the kitchen into the lobby. Roppi saw who came in. Two men, one skinny in a yellow hoodie and the other fat with a gray shirt. They looked like wannabe-thugs to Roppi, but he wouldn't say anything. Instead, he walked over.

"Hello," Roppi said, placing two menus on the table. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"We ain't here to eat." The skinny one growled.

Roppi's smile immediately became strained. "Well, if you're not here to eat, then I'll have to ask you to leave. This isn't a cat cafe. You're taking a table from someone who actually wants food."

"Is it true you're Orihara Izaya's woman?"

The smile vanished completely as Roppi glowered. "Yeah. And?"

Roppi reached out to take the menu's back. However, the skinny man grabbed his wrist and tugged.

"We've got some beef with Orihara Izaya."

"To think Orihara Izaya would choose a man as his lover." The fat man punched the table. "To think that bastard was a faggot!"

"We'd like to have a little talk with you. So, why don't you go on break and step outside with us for a moment."

Roppi's eyes narrowed with obvious boredom. He took on a droll expression as he let out a heavy sigh. Roppi didn't tug his wrist away. Instead, he let the man hold his arm as he grabbed the menu's and stuffed them into his apron. It wasn't like this weak man could stop him. The skinny man's eyes widened.

"Let's just have this conversation now." Roppi said. "One, the thing between my legs is not the same as your grimy dick and balls, so I can say with absolute certainty, I am Orihara Izaya's woman. So, drop the faggot shit before I make you a woman. Two, if you have beef with Izaya, then take it up with him. If you're too much of a pussy to face him head on, then you're not worth my time either. Three, do you think for a flying fuck of a moment that I would be able to be Orihara Izaya's woman if little pissant, wannabe-thugs like you actually stood a chance against me?"

The man jolted as his eyes stretched wide with rage. "You! You bitch!"

He tugged Roppi's wrist again, but this time, Roppi didn't budge. Instead, the raven hooked his foot around the bottom of the stool and pulled up—tipping it backwards. The man's eyes stretched as he fell out of his seat. He flailed wildly on the way down, trying to save himself with Roppi's arm. However, Roppi simply tugged his wrist free so the man went tumbling down.

"Hey, bro!" The fat man stood.

"If you two want to fight," Roppi said, "Then I'll happily kick the shit out of you until you know your place. But just so you know, I'm not going to tell Izaya about this. You're only causing me a headache, so you best make sure it's worth it."

"You BITCH!" The skinny man pushed himself up.

However, he didn't get any opportunity to even raise his fist at Roppi before Simon put his hand on his shoulder.

"No be angry." The Russian said. "Angry make your stomach emptily empty. Eat sushi to fill up."

"I don't want to eat your fucking sushi, you bastard!"

"Hm? If not hungry, then may you want to be part of next menu."

Their eyes widened. Roppi looked at the Russian man with a cocked brow and a smile. "Heh, I'm not sure what you're trying to say there, but I'll help you cut 'em up."

Simon just smiled.

"You bastard!" The fat man stood.

Simon didn't hesitate to grab the man by the back of his shirt and lifted him up. His shirt rode up around his chubby neck before his feet left the ground.

"H-hey!" The man kicked wildly, grabbing the back of his shirt.

"You bastard!" The skinny man reached for his friend.

However, he was also stopped as Roppi grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind his back. He grabbed the back of the gangsters neck and forced his head down.

"OW! You crazy bitch!"

"You make other customer's upset." Simon said. "Upset customers taste sour food and no be happy with meal. Come back when hungry."

"Like hell I'd eat here, you bastard gaijin!"

"Ah, no good. Chef's heart be damaged irresistibly."

"I think you me irrefutably." Roppi chuckled.

The two employees walked the gangsters out of the restaurant. Simon simply put the man down on the sidewalk. Roppi, on the other hand, shoved the man and gave him a kick in the ass for good measure.

"Don't come back." Roppi growled. "If you try to step foot into this place again, I'm not going to just simply kick you out."

"You bitch!"

Roppi scoffed. "If you want to fight, then wait for me to get off work. I'm off at 8."

The man tried to yell at him, but Roppi didn't care to listen to him. He turned around and went back inside while wanna-be gangster screamed profanities. Roppi let out a heavy sigh as he folded his bangs out of his face. Simon came in shortly afterwards.

The raven glanced at the closest table. The individuals looked obviously uncomfortable, which made Roppi feel a little guilty. He walked over to offer his condolences and some free appetizer's if they would like them—which they accepted. Roppi then went in the back to continue cleaning up.

Such pissants were unfortunately a common occurence for Roppi since he started working. People coming in to pick fights with him over Izaya. All kinds of people came in with a desire for revenge. Many were lowly gang men who got screwed over by Izaya in the past. There was a few rich cats who Izaya had soiled their names or worse. There was even a yakuza from the Asuki group once.

Those were usual kinds of paparazzi that came to visit Roppi at work—however, not all. A few questionable people came in who were jealous of Roppi's role as Izaya's lover. Men and women alike would threaten, bribe, or beg Roppi to break up with Izaya. That Izaya was their future husband, their soulmate, or just simply their obsession and they didn't want anyone to take him from them. Naturally, Roppi told them to kick bricks. Which invoked annoying responses of attempted violence and even stalking. It was dealt with quick enough by Izaya, but it was still irritating.

Although, not everything was bad. There were plenty of people who came in to see Roppi as some kind of celebrity, to ask if the rumors were true about his inhumanity, his relationship with Izaya, and his hermaphroditic body. They wanted to take pictures of him and with him. They asked about his kids. Asked if they were doing okay, how many he had, how old they were, and if they could see any of them. Some people would even wait for Roppi to get off work for the chance to meet his kids. Admittedly, Roppi did not like that. Maternal instinct told him to kick the shit out of all of them. The only reason he didn't was because they were usually young teenage girls who just lacked social appropriation. Instead, he just lectured them on how creepy it was for them to do that, that if they had been middle-aged men they would be called perverts, so they should rethink their behavior.

All in all, the only peace he got was from the Russian's he worked with. He was lucky to get a customer that didn't know who he was—which nowadays was far and in between. He enjoyed working in the back, enjoyed working with Simon and Denis. But he could do without the publicity that Izaya gave him.

Roppi's phone buzzed in his pocket. The raven dried his hands on a towel and pulled the device out.

(1) New message: Izaya

[I picked up the kids early. Would you like to spend the night tonight?]

Roppi glowered, although a smile crossed his lips.

He typed: [Yeah, sure. I could use a good fucking.]

The response back was almost instantaneous.

Izaya: [Stop it]

Roppi held back a laugh. He then went to Sakuraya's feed and typed a message.

[Hey me an the boys are gonna spend the nite at Izayas. dont forget to lok up]

He pocketed his phone.

Eight o'clock rolled around quick enough.

"Hey," Roppi said, coat and shoes on. "I'ma head out. I'll take the garbage out with me."

"Alright," Denis said, "see you tomorrow."

"See you."

Roppi picked up the garbage bags and went out the back door. He closed the door, walked over to the dumpster, then tossed the bags away. Once done, he walked down the alleyway to the main sidewalk. Standing in front of the sushi shop was the two gangsters from earlier. Roppi let out a heavy sigh and walked over. The men didn't notice him until he was only a few feet away.

"You actually stuck around?" Roppi growled. "You're that desperate for an ass-whooping?"

"Shut up, bitch!" The skinny man yelled. "You talk a mean game, but you're all bark and no bite!"

"If you're really Izaya's woman, then you're just full of it! You can't do shit without him!" The fat man called.

Roppi chuckled. "Yeah, sure."

The men glared at him. They opened their mouth with the obvious desire to yell at him some more.

However, nothing was said as they both stiffened with fright. Their complexion paled and their eyes stretched wide with fear. Roppi immediately cocked a brow in confusion. A second later, Roppi felt a soft burn in his chest. A bittersweet heartthrob. Luckily, it wasn't an intense feeling so no tears came forth. But Roppi knew what this feeling was, thus knowing where the fear came from. It didn't take a genius to figure it out, although it helped that the cause talked.

"Ah, hi, Roppi-san."

Roppi recognized the voice instantly. He looked over his shoulder.

"Hi, Shizuo." Roppi smiled as sweetly as he could.

It still hurt to see the son that refused to acknowledge Roppi as his mother. But after four months, Roppi had learned to hide it as best as he could.

"Hi, Tom." Roppi said to Shizuo's dread-locked companion. "Where's Vorona?"

"Hello, Roppi." Tom smiled politely. "We sent her home early today. You just finished work?"

"Yeah. Waiting for Izaya to come pick me up."

Shizuo immediately prickled at the name. Tom made a face that spoke volumes how much he didn't want Roppi to say that name.

"Don't worry, we're not staying long." Roppi patted Tom's chest. "We're spending the night at his place."

"We?" Shizuo asked.

"Yeah, me and the kids. He picked them up from daycare for me."

"...Hm." The blond glanced up. "And who are they?"

Roppi looked over his shoulder at the gangsters. "Guys who have beef with Izaya, so they want to fight me."

Shizuo's brows immediately twitched. "Uh-huh..."

Roppi didn't hesitate to step out of the way, nor did Shizuo hesitate to walk over. The gangster stood frozen in fear. Roppi pressed himself against Tom, smiling like a Cheshire cat at the violence that would undoubtedly unfold.

"So, let me get this straight." Shizuo started. "You have a problem with that bastarding flea, but instead you chose to start a fight with a mother of four children."

The blond bartender cracked his knuckles. Roppi could see the veins pulse on his cheek.

"SO YOU'RE TOO COWARDLY TO PICK A FIGHT WITH ANOTHER MAN, AND INSTEAD DECIDE TO PICK A FIGHT WITH A WOMAN?!"

Shizuo snapped—and thus, the violence ensued. Tom let out a heavy sigh as he made the sign of the cross gesture. Roppi just chuckled.

"He looks good when he's kicking ass and taking name, doesn't he?" Roppi said to Tom. "He's the spitting image of my late son, Juyu. Takes me back."

"Hm." Tom put his arm around Roppi's shoulders, patting him. "What was this Juyu like?"

"Oh, he was a pretty great kid. He was kind of a mama's boy, so even when he became an adult, he stuck close to my side. When someone tried to start stuff with me, he'd be like, 'what'd you say about my mama!' and go to town on them."

"Heh, he sounded nice. How'd he pass?"

"Heroine addiction."

Tom went quiet to that.

"Oh, sorry." Roppi looked up at him. "That's some heavy stuff to drop on you, huh?"

"Well, in my line of business, it's not unheard of."

"Ah." Roppi glanced at the ground. "Sorry all the same."

"It's alright. My condolences for your loss."

"Thank you." Roppi rested his head on Tom's chest.

An awkward silence would have surely ensured if not for the saving of the black Russian bell.

"Oh? Shi-Zu-Oh!" Simon's voice echoed. Tom and Roppi looked over to the entrance of Russian Sushi to see the white-haired man standing in the doorway. "Make big noise from inside. Disturb customers."

"Ah." Shizuo—who had an expression of utter rage—looked at him with a sudden calm gaze. "Sorry."

He dropped the unconscious gangster on the sidewalk.

"That was my fault, Samia." Roppi waved at his boss. "It's the guys who wanted to pick a fight earlier."

"Oh?" Simon looked down at the men. "Bad to litter, Shi-Zu-Oh. Trash should go in garbage."

Before Shizuo could answer, another voice came into the fold.

"Ah, Simon, it's rude to expect trash to take out other trash."

Roppi and Tom looked over their shoulders—Roppi having to tilt hid head down to see past Tom's bicep—to see Izaya. At his side were two children, both looking to be about eight years of age—one blond, one brunette.

Shizuo immediately prickled. He turned around and glared death at the informant.

"I~za~ya~!"

"Yes, yes, hello." Izaya waved him off dismissively. "Kids are here. Behave."

Shizuo prickled even more. His fists clenched with a crack of knuckles and the pulse of tightened veins. Izaya, however, wasn't looking at the blond at all. He was looking at Tom. More prominently, he was giving Tom an obvious stink eye. The dread-locked man didn't miss that, nor did he need to ask why. Tom took his hand off Roppi's shoulder. Roppi glowered at Izaya, then patted Tom on the chest as he walked over to his children.

Tsukishima immediately separated from Izaya and gave Roppi a hug. The boy was already quite tall, his head being chest level with Roppi. Hibiya didn't gain his heights just yet, as he stood waist level to his mother.

Shizuo clicked his tongue and turned his head away. "No matter how many times I tell you to keep your ass out of Ikebukuro, you always come here. Using the kids as a shield no less. You cowardly bastard is the real trash here."

"Well, if I don't have the kids, you'll try to kick the shit out of me. They're like my Trojan horses into Ikebukuro."

Veins became very prominent on Shizuo's temple. So much so, Roppi reached out and grabbed Hibiya's hand. He tugged the boy to the side—who looked at Roppi wide-eyed as he let Izaya's hand go—and stood by Tom. In the next moment, Shizuo charged. Izaya jolted and leaped back, pulling out his usual flick blade with a grin on his lips.

Shizuo swung his fist. Izaya dodged out of the way, although he didn't need to. Simon, who was still outside, rushed to stand in front of Izaya. His hands were up to catch Shizuo's fists.

Roppi jolted at the sight, eyes stretching wide. "Wait, don't do that! He's—"

Shizuo's fist slammed into Simon's hand. The black man grabbed his hand, the sheer force of the blond's punch causing the huge Russian to slide back across the concrete. Roppi's eyes stretched wide in genuine shock that Simon's hand wasn't broken.

"Shi-Zu-Oh, no good to fight. Children presentation."

"Shut up! Get out of the way!" Shizuo yelled.

The blond swung another fist, in which Simon caught it, sliding another foot. Once they came to a stop, Shizuo and Simon sat hand in hand. Their arms were shaking as they pushed against each other.

"Ho~ly~ shit." Roppi said. "How is his hand not broken?"

"I wonder that every time." Tom voiced.

Roppi looked over his shoulder at the dread-locked man. "Do they do this often?"

"Often enough. It's best to just let them be and stay out of the way."

"Roppi!" Izaya yelled.

Roppi looked at the informant.

"I'll meet you at my place!"

With that, Izaya turned and ran.

"AH, HEY!" Shizuo struggled against Simon. "GET BACK HERE! Simon, let go!"

Shizuo threw his shoulder backwards, which was enough to yank his hand free. He swerved around Simon and pushed off the concrete just enough to force his other hand free. The blond gave chase after the raven.

"IIIIZZAAAYYYAAAA!"

"HEY!" Roppi yelled. "DON'T BREAK HIM TOO BADLY! I NEED THAT LATER TONIGHT!"

Shizuo tripped. But he kept his footing and continued the chase. Roppi held back a laugh, liking to think it was his words that made him stumble. The two were out of sight in moments.

"Alright, kiddos." Roppi tugged on Hibiya and Tsukishima. "Let's go home. Bye, you guys."

The mother looked over his shoulder at Tom and Simon.

"Bye-bye, Ro-Pi. Be safe journey homeward." The Russian said.

"I will, I will."

The two waved good-bye to each other before Simon went back inside the sushi shop.

"Will you be alright on your way home on your own?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, pretty sure. Don't see a reason why we wouldn't be."

"Well, its late and there's plenty of people who'd want to pick a fight with you thanks to Izaya-san." Tom pointed behind him at the knocked out gangsters.

"...Would you like to escort us home then?"

Tom paused for a minute. Then he chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, it would put my mind at ease. But I know that's probably weird."

"Nah, I like you, so it's not weird."

Tom jolted to the statement.

"Not like that. Although, I wouldn't mind getting to know you in between the sheet—nope, no!" Roppi shook his head. "Loyalty. Loyal. Izaya."

Tom chuckled softly.

"Ah, I'm the definition of 'if she breathes, she's a thot'. Excuse my rambling." Roppi looked back at Tom. "If you want to escort us home, you can. I'm not stopping you."

Tom looked at his watch on his wrist. "I've got time."

The dread-locked man then walked up to stand next to Roppi.

"Shizuo will be busy for quite a bit, so I don't mind."

"Ever the gentleman." Roppi bumped him playfully. "I'm not a fan of taxi's. Hope you don't mind taking the train."

"I don't mind at all."


The elevator dinged, signally Izaya that he reached his floor a millisecond before the doors opened. It had taken him a good 40-50 minutes to finally lose Shizuo. Once free, he called a taxi and made it home in twenty minutes.

He pocketed his phone and stepped out. He immediately turned right and went down the hall. However, before he reached his apartment door, the door opened. Izaya was surprised to see that. Even more surprised to see the dread-locked partner of Heiwajima Shizuo stepped out. Tom closed the door behind him and looked up. His eyes widened when he made eye contact with Izaya.

"Good evening." Tom said.

"...Evening. Pray tell, what are you doing in my house?"

"Nothing to warrant suspicions. I walked Roppi-chan and the kids home and she invited me up for a nightcap."

Izaya smiled, although his eyes were anything but happy.

"Nothing happened. Roppi loves you too much to try anything and I've never been the type to go after a woman that's already taken. I also don't want to get involved with yours and Shizuo's rivalry, so it's not like I came with the intention to uncover some deep dark secret. Shizuo's not the type to destroy someone's reputation anyway."

"I don't need you to talk down to me as if I'm some overly-jealous, possessive boyfriend. I'm not concerned with you uncovering my secrets nor telling Shizu-chan. The protozoan already knows where I live, so it's not like you can rat me out for anything." Izaya's smile only grew. "I'm just not a fan of a strange man entering my house without my permission or awareness."

Tom was quiet, just staring at Izaya. Then he let out a soft sigh. "I can understand that. My apologies for intruding."

Tom walked past with a wave.

"Try to stay out of Ikebukuro. You make business hard when my bodyguard has to chase you out."

"Well, keep a better leash on your guard dog then. Have a good night."

Tom paused, glaring over his shoulder. However, he said nothing as the elevator beeped. The dread-locked man stepped inside the lift. Izaya went to his door, putting in the pin. He watched the elevator doors close. Once truly alone, he glowered at it. His own door beeped to unlock and opened it.

"I'm back." Izaya said.

"Welcome back!" Roppi called. "I've got goulash cooking. It'll be done soon!"

Izaya didn't respond as he closed the door. He took off his shoes, stepped out of the genkan, and walked down the entrance hall. Hibiya and Tsukishima were sitting on the couch, watching cartoons. Roppi was in the kitchen cooking. Namie was gone—Izaya had told her she could leave early tonight. The informant immediately went over to the kitchen.

Izaya grabbed Roppi by his wrist and turned him around. Roppi's eyes widened before Izaya's lips came over the mermaids. Roppi paused for a moment. He then reciprocated, inhaling harshly.

The two separated with a loud chu.

"Roppi-chan, I don't think I'd have to tell you this," Izaya said, "But I'm not comfortable with you inviting random men into my house."

"...I don't think Tom is a random man. I talk to him twice a week at least."

"However, he and I are not on general speaking terms. This is the first time he's been to my house and it wasn't on my terms."

Roppi stared for a moment. "Ah, I get it. I'm sorry. Are you mad?"

"I'm not mad. Just a little irritated. If you want to invite Tanaka-san to the warehouse, that's up to you. But this is my house."

"I get it, I get it." Roppi turned away with a look of irritancy. "You don't need to beat the dead horse. I know I fucked up."

Izaya glowered. Roppi looked back at the informant and glowered right back. He then leaned in close, pressing his mouth to Izaya's collar bone.

"I'll make it up to you after the kids go to bed, okay?"

Izaya immediately felt annoyed and excited at the same time. Annoyed that Roppi once again resorted to sex to get out of being in trouble—as their arguments tended to go recently—but excited at the prospect of a very lustful night. After all, sex was nice and Roppi was definitely good at it.

"I have things I need to do still." Izaya said, kissing Roppi's cheek. "But I'll forgive you if the apology is worthwhile."

Roppi could only smile.


Damn, didn't even realize I never posted this chapter. It's been on Archive since April. Whoops!

KCK