A/N: Sorry for how long this took to update.

Chapter 2

After watching the information broker skip away, Sora could not help the new nauseous feeling in her stomach. She feared for what might happen next. Just then, remembering the very person she had been concerned about, Sora looked over to see how Akira was. Her friend appeared to be frozen still, a dumb looking state of awe on her face and cheeks were still tinted pink. Sora just sighed at this sight of her friend. It took Sora several minutes to snap Akira out of her mesmerized daze. After that, they both walked home.

Just like Sora figured, Akira began to obsess over her new crush. Sora was beginning to notice her friend, who sat next to her in class, gazing dazedly with a blush on her face. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out the kind of thing she was daydreaming about. Akira was normally a good student, but when she gets like this, it's hard for her to think about anything else. Not saying that Sora was the perfect student or anything, but she knew that school was important to Akira. Plus, Sora had sworn she would look out for Akira when she moved to the city, so that would include helping her stay focused on things like school.

School was supposed to be Akira's good distraction. In the past Akira has already been vulnerable to some of the ugliness of this world. Sora really did not want Akira to go through something like that again. But seriously though, of all people for Akira to fall head over heels for it had to be Izaya Orihara? One of the most dangerous men in Ikebukuro! She would rather Akira fall for Masaomi Kida over Izaya (and that was saying something). Despite how contradictory it would seem to Akira's gentle nature, she always seemed to fall for dangerous-seeming guys. There was probably some sort of psychological explanation for it, but Sora did not know anything about that sort of thing.

If Akira had fallen for Masaomi, at least she would not be in danger. At least, not physically. But Sora was not sure if she could protect Akira from Izaya though. In the past, if Akira had fallen for the bad boy type, Sora would not find much difficulty steering Akira away from them. A lot of times they could be avoided. However, Izaya goes after people. As soon as he noticed Akira first blush around him, Sora knew that there was a possibility that Akira had peeked his interest. A lot of times the bad boy types at school would not want to have anything to do with a girl like Akira. However, Izaya was the kind of person who would play with her out of curiosity and for fun. She's not a toy! It did not help that Izaya was so attractive and good at portraying that fake charming persona.

He was good at seeming like he would not be dangerous. Not that Sora thought Akira would doubt her or anything. Akira trusted her. She just cannot help how obvious she is with crushes. Sora imagined it would be difficult for Akira to say no to him. Sora also was not thrilled that Izaya was so powerful. If he wanted to, he could send dangerous people after someone who crossed him. It's not like Sora had any power like that. She really feared for her friend.

During class one day, after Akira's first glimpse at Izaya, Sora glanced over at Akira's notes and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Really Akira?" Sora questioned, trying not to be heard by their teacher.

At the top of Akira's paper were doodled hearts and Izaya's name written several times in fancy print. Seriously? That was so elementary school.

Akira, who had been doodling in her own world, snapped out of it when her friend spoke to her. She looked over and saw her friend's frustrated disapproving look. She looked down and blushed in embarrassment, attempting to cover her note doodles.

Sora sighed and shook her head.

"Akira- "

"I know I know." Akira whispered and sighed. She knew Sora had good judgement about these kinds of situations. Akira was embarrassed that she still liked this guy so much after hearing Sora's warning. Akira felt like she was so pathetic at times and wanted to cry out of embarrassment. But no. She wouldn't let herself do that. She'd already been degraded enough.

"You know Akira, you don't- "

"I know I know, I don't need a guy. You've given me the speech before Sora. Just because you've felt the need to be independent of guys since your last breakup doesn't mean it's so easy for the rest of us."

"I know it's not easy, Akira. I just think that, given your history, it may be best if you stop thinking about that kind of thing so much."

"It's not like I can help it Sora. You know that. I've tried to contain my feelings before, but I can't."

"I didn't ask you- "

"I know you didn't ask me to try to change my feelings or anything, but you and I both know just how hopeless I am when I have a crush on someone."

They heard the teacher clear her throat. Both girls looked up to see the teacher looking at them with a disapproving look. They had not realized that their voices had been raising gradually while they were arguing.

The teacher then sighed.

"I'll leave you with a warning for now, since you Akira haven't messed up before. However, if you girls disrupt my class again I will now hesitate to give you both detention. Understand?"

"Yes Ma'am." They both said in unison, gulping.

Sora noticed Masaomi, who was sitting in front of her, glance back at them before turning forward in his seat again. Sora rolled her eyes. That jerk really needed to mind his own business.

Akira wished she could get over this guy.

It was not like this guy would ever go for a girl like her anyways. He seemed like he was in his twenties or something, so why would he even look at someone her age? She was not exactly amazingly beautiful or anything. She had light brown hair that ended just below her shoulders and ordinary brown eyes. Nothing exciting there.

It wasn't surprising that Sora had more experiences in dating that Akira did. Sora had pretty hazel eyes and long wavy goldish hair that reached her midback. Typically her hair would fall over the front of her shoulders. Unnaturally bright red streaks shown in her hair as well, definitely making her stand out more that Akira did. Although, she added the streaks after she decided to swear off dating for a while.

Plus, with how attractive Izaya was he should totally realize how much he was out of Akira's league. There was no doubt he probably had many ladies wanting to be with him.

On top of all that, she had probably made a complete fool of herself after first seeing him. She blushed and could not even get out a coherent word. Some first impression. And yet, he winked at her? That did not make any sense. Why would he do that? Was there some sort of city cultural reference that Akira did not know about? She doubted that, but you never knew.

All these thoughts were passing through Akira's head as she walked home from school one day. Sora was starting her new job that day at Russia sushi, so she would have to walk home alone.

"Why, Hello there Akira Kiyota."

Akira froze, immediately recognizing the voice she had repeating over and over again in her head. It was him. She did not move as he caught up to her and gave her an amused simper. How did he know her name? She never managed to get that out.

He chuckled.

"You're Sora's friend. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything. I'm an information broker, so knowing things about people is kind of what I do."

That made Akira feel a little bit better. She tried not to look him in the eyes, knowing she was probably already blushing like crazy.

"You caught my attention the other day. Since I hadn't seen you around here before."

W-w-what? What did he mean by that? He was standing pretty close to her. Akira did not know if she could take it.

"Um, hello? Can you speak?"

Akira let out a nervous laugh.

"Um, y-y-yeah. Of-of course I can."

He let out a small laugh that sent a warm feeling to her chest.

"Well, what a relief."

"Um, yeah?" Akira wondered if it was alright for her heart to flutter so fast. Was he really as close as he felt? What was the matter with her? It's not like they were touching or anything!

"So, where are you headed off to then?" He leaned his face towards hers slightly.

She sucked in a breath. She could not respond for a moment. His eyes were so captivating. They were a red-brown combination that just made him seem like he was not of this world. She tried to glance away, feeling a little overwhelmed, her cheeks heated up again. Had a guy's face ever been so close to hers before? Akira did not know what to do.

"Uh-uh-um," She took a deep breath, hoping to somehow not embarrass herself further. "I-I-I w-was j-just on my way home." For some reason, Akira had the strange feeling that she should not have told him that. Out of her peripheral vision, she thought she noticed him smirk.

He leaned away from her face slightly just to slowly sling his arm around her shoulders.

"All by yourself? ~" He asked right into her ear. She inhaled sharply again, his warm breath against her ear made her shudder. Why was he doing this? Why would he have any interest in her what so ever?

"Uh-uh, well yeah-"

"But don't you normally walk home with your friend Sora?"

Wait, how did he know that? This whole knowing a bunch of info on me thing was really starting to unnerve Akira. Yet, somehow it was not tuning her attractions away from him.

Akira began to wonder if she really was crazy as she thought about this.

"Yeah, well, Sora started her new job today. She had to head over there soon after school so I had to walk home by myself."

Izaya made a tsking sound.

"Well, you know, it really isn't very safe for a teenage girl to walk through the city by herself. Especially for someone like you who is so new to living in the city. Who knows what could happen to you?"

Akira gulped. She could not help but feel that Sora would say that he is one of those people she should look out for in this type of situation.

"It certainly wouldn't feel right in my conscious if I were to just let you walk through the city alone knowing how dangerous that would be."

Akira looked up at him, slightly confused.

"Would you mind if I were to walk with you to your home? I don't have to if it makes you uncomfortable, I would just feel better about your safety if you weren't alone."

Why did he even care?

"Oh um, it's-it's quite alright O-Orihara-san. Y-you d-don't have to do that. I-I'll be fine. I-I'm sure y-you have things you n-need to do anyways, so I wouldn't want to g-get in the way of- "

"Oh, nonsense, Miss Kiyota. Why, you wouldn't be interrupting anything. I was on my break as a matter of fact. It would really be no trouble at all. I would actually like to escort you home, so really, I insist. Please ease my guilty heart, miss?"

Akira wondered if the man's sweetness was too good to be true, yet she still could not help herself from swooning at his words.

Akira knew she should not let him. Sora would definitely say so. Yet, Izaya did make some good points. She just hoped her own attraction was not making her blind to reason. Besides, it was not like he was going to come into her apartment or anything.

"Well um, sure I suppose. You can walk with me if you like." Akira felt like her voice sounded so small as she said that.

Izaya grinned slyly again.

"Oh. Good."He removed his arm from her shoulders."Well, then lead the way, Akira-chan."

Of course, Akira was not aware that Izaya already fully knew the way to her apartment, having been there before.

She glanced away for a moment hoping he would not notice her cheeks tint again. Chan? Why would he call her that?

Izaya had of course noticed and his grin grew wider at the sight. He chose not to say anything though, as Akira began walking towards her home again. He followed, walking beside her, on the side closest to the street.

Izaya was very surprised that she had accepted his company so easily. She really was very interesting. Clearly, Akira wanted to respect Sora's advice, and had tried to act wary around him. Yet, it was so obvious how much she still liked him. It really was very easy for him to get her really flustered. This was rather adorable and amusing. Normally Izaya would not even bother with the innocent seeming types, yet something was different about this one. Partly because of how hard she had clearly fallen for him despite how contradictory it seemed to her personality. It very much so intrigued Izaya. He definitely wanted to learn more about this human. Plus, it helped that she was so entertaining to play with. He had the feeling that he could get many various amounts of reactions out of her and he looked forward to doing just that.

However, it would be more fun in this game to go gradually. Despite how much she seemed to battle with it internally, Izaya knew that it would be easy to get her to say yes to him. Izaya felt that this human was going to be very fun for him for a while.

The beginning of their walk felt awkwardly quiet, well at least it did to Akira. After a couple of minutes, Izaya had struck up a casual conversation. There was nothing too unusual about it, he was just simply asking her normal getting-to-know-you type of questions. Akira still stuttered a lot and avoided meeting his eyes as she answered his questions. Gradually during their stroll though, Akira's stuttering began to calm down a bit. She was becoming a little bit more at ease interacting with him. It seemed to Akira that he was trying to put her at ease but asking simple questions. He most likely had noticed her nervousness. She felt grateful that he was trying to make her more comfortable around him.

He really did not seem like he could be that dangerous though, especially when he was being so polite like this. Of course, she would still head Sora's advice, but still feel doubtful while doing so. After all, it was the least Akira could do since Sora was letting Akira stay with her and her family while Akira's parents were on a long business trip out of the country. They were practically sisters now.

Akira had gone from uncontrollable nervous fidgeting to a bright shy smile to herself by the time they finally got close to her apartment. He really did seem very chivalrous.

As they stopped in front of her apartment, she turned to face him, not even trying to hide the huge smile on her face anymore.

"T-thank you, Orihara-san, f-for walking me home. That was very kind of you." She enthusiastically bowed at him.

He beamed amusedly again.

"Why, you are most certainly welcome, Miss Akira-chan."

Every time he called her that she blushed, and he had definitely noticed. She started to reach forward to hug him but then stopped herself, putting her arms at her sides again. W-was that okay? After all, she barely knew this man. She suddenly felt embarrassed again at how awkward she was. It made her almost want to cry. Izaya had of course noticed the motion.

He leered at her.

"You know, Akira…"

Before Akira could really think about it, Izaya moved his face towards hers and brushed his lips lightly against hers. It was barely three seconds before he pulled away again.

The sly grin had reappeared on his face.

"You can call me Izaya." Without another word, Izaya skipped away, leaving a stunned Akira in front of her apartment.

Izaya laughed to himself, and lightly brushed his lips with his fingers. He felt he should not have been surprised by how sweet her lips her, even though the kiss had been so brief. He smirked lecherously to himself. He had just wanted to fluster her again, he did not think he would have actually enjoyed it. Despite how brief it had been and that since it was so brief she did not get the chance to kiss back. Izaya pondered how he could have liked such a sweet chaste kiss. He looked forward to going after that sweetness again. Oh, how he loved humans. This was going to be more fun that he had originally thought. He hummed a random jolly tune.

For a moment, Akira just stood there as Izaya's retreating form skipped away. She could not think. Akira did not know how long she stood like that, before she brought trembling fingers to touch her lips. T-t-that was my f-f-first kiss…Izaya Orihara was my first kiss. She had not expected this at all. It really did not make any sense that he kissed her. She still could not convince her that this had just actually happened. It was a fairly innocent kiss, but Akira did not care about that. It was meaningful to her.

His-his lips were so…soft. She had expected a man who was supposedly dangerous to be very rough, and yet he had not been with her. It was amazing that his lips had been so soft. The way they had tenderly brushed against her own made her feel as though he was being tender because her lips were something precious, that he cared about. They had been so warm too. It had felt so…nice. She felt so fluttery afterwards. He had closed his eyes when he has leaned in. With how brief the kiss was, she could not tell on his face whether or not he liked it. But based on the subtle movement of his lidded eyes, she had guessed that he did even though it was too short for her to really be able to tell.

Akira wondered if she should even bother trying to make sense of what had happened. Part of her wanted to just marvel at the fact that it had. She could not even bring her mind to wonder if it would happen that time. She could not even think about what this meant now. Akira was still too dazed. Somehow the moment had felt…magical. She very gradually began to awaken from her daze, but only enough to be able to move. She placed her hand over her chest, felt her eyes shut, and slowly slid down against the door of the apartment so she was now sitting against the door. She had not even made it inside the apartment. She did not want that moment to end. She just wanted to continue to reminisce in the heartfelt joy she had found from it.

That warm feeling, she had gotten from the peck, that feeling of being just right, safe, comforted completely, and of adoring love, was a feeling she had been desired for a long time. She had so very much so desired the ability to feel completely comforted even for just a brief moment. Normally, Akira would be embarrassed with herself by how charmed she had become over something as simple as a peck. She would feel that it was so elementary to treasure something so incredibly innocent. Yet, in this moment, she could not bring herself to think about how silly it was to feel like this.

No doubt the embarrassed feeling would come to her once she had snapped out of her trance. The return of feeling embarrassed would probably follow not long after Sora were to come home and discover her friend's pathetic state. There was probably no doubt that Akira was going to hear another lecture from Sora about Izaya. Not only letting Izaya walk her home, but also from the fact that Izaya had kissed her.

Akira truly had no idea just how much things were going to change.

A/N: I don't have anything against Masaomi. It's just my OC that does.