A/N: I am looking over this to see if I need to edit anything regarding grammar. Sorry, I don't use a beta. I like to get feedback from multiple people anyways. Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 4

Akira froze when she saw Izaya nonchalantly leaning on the wall next to her apartment door. He had a Cheshire cat grin on as face, seeming like he had been waiting for her.

Since Akira had not run into Izaya while she was walking home, she had assumed that she would not be seeing him today. Yet here he was, waiting by her apartment door. Akira was not sure what this meant.

At certain times of the week, Izaya would show up seemingly out of nowhere and walk her home. Akira noticed that he only approached her when she was walking home alone, never when Sora was with her (like when Sora was working at her job at Russia Sushi). She knew that this should probably be a red flag to her, but for some reason, this did not scare her.

Akira couldn't put her finger on it, but from the moment Akira had first seen Izaya, she felt like there was almost something familiar about him that she couldn't seem to explain. Perhaps that was why her fascination with him had started. Akira knew that Sora had suspected this, and most likely had an idea as to why Akira felt this way. Yet, for some reason, Akira wasn't sure she wanted to know what Sora thought it was.

Since Sora had suggested Akira find someone to walk her home when Sora wasn't there, Akira had considered asking the brunette boy who hang around Masaomi a lot. He seemed like a nice enough guy, even despite the reaction his friend got out of Sora. She had the feeling he would probably be polite to accompany her. From what she had observed, he even seemed like he might be similar to her in personality; that is, a shy and kind person.

However, Akira saw that he usually walked home with his two friends. She didn't want to take him away from that, since he seemed so content with it. Plus, Akira had noticed that his trio always walked home in the complete opposite direction from where Sora and she lived. Akira didn't want to take him out of his way home. Therefore, she had been too shy to even bring up the matter due to these thoughts. Akira was not sure who else to ask though.

Akira had not made very many friends besides Sora, mainly because of her own shy personality. She was not sure who else to consider asking to accompany her. Akira never noticed any other classmates come their way home, although she was not sure why.

Akira had not really tried to tell Izaya off, even with Sora's warnings. When she would start to, the words would get caught in her mouth as her gave her that look which always seemed to melt her inside.

He had not tried to kiss her since the first. Although, he would typically give her a hug goodbye before leaving. Each time the hug seemed longer and more intimate.

Akira hadn't yet told Sora about his appearances yet though.

Akira could not seem to help how fast her heart was thrumming when she saw him waiting there by her apartment.

Why was he here? He didn't walk her home, so why would he be here?

Izaya seemed to be growing increasingly more amused by her stunned silence. His red-brown eyes were boring into hers mischievously the entire time. Her face grew very hot as she undoubtedly blushed rather brightly. Her cheeks began to burn even more when she realized just how long she had just been standing there gawking at him.

Akira turned away from him for a moment to try and compose herself. She took in a shaky breath and exhaled, but that didn't seem to calm her nerves at all. Akira thought she heard a muffled giggle come from the man behind her. She attempted a few more deep breaths before turning around to face him again. She had thought her breathing had calmed down enough for her to speak normally, just for him to shoot her an irresistible smile.

Akira wasn't sure if she could breathe normally. She shook her head erratically to try to get a hold of herself, squeezing her eyes closed stubbornly.

These actions to try and compose herself, little to her knowledge, were coming across to Izaya as very cute. He could watch her adorable flustered actions all day if he could. They were simply never tiring.

Finally exhaling a long breathe, Akira attempted to give Izaya a calm expression. She willed her body to seem more normal and less nervous, with a lot of restraint.

"Or-Orihar…I-I-I-I mean…um…I-Izaya…"

Curse that stutter! She tried to clear her throat, but it turned into a rather high-pitched fit of coughing.

Izaya thought she almost sounded like a kawaii kitten sneezing. As she got over her coughing fit, Akira faced Izaya again with a shaky determined expression on her face.

"I-Izaya…san? W-what are you doing here?"

He smirked at her again, causing her to immediately look to the floor.

Darnit!

"Well~, you see, Akira-chan~, I've been doing some thinking. It's one thing to walk you home so you're not alone in the city, but you're by yourself for a long time the days Sora has to work. I imagine that would get rather lonely, and might be just as dangerous as walking home alone. So, I thought it would a courteous thing to keep you company until Sora or her parents come back home."

Akira's tried to put her apartment key into the key hole, but struggled with how much her hand was shaking.

Sora hated the idea of Izaya walking Akira home. She would be even more anxious about the idea of Izaya entering their apartment! It's not like she could really keep him from coming in if he wanted to though. He was a pretty dominant person. Plus, he always seemed to make good points when he wanted something. Akira sighed as she finally managed to unlock the door.

"Th-that's quite alright, I-Izaya…san."

"Meroooow!" Akira smiled as Sora's small gray cat scurried over to her.

"Hi Kiko!" Akira cooed. She knelt down in front of the cat and giggled as the cat nuzzled against her hand.

"I'm not alone anyways. I have Kiko!"

The cat purred and rubbed against Akira's leg possessively.

Izaya chuckled.

"Well, I suppose cats are quite consoling. But, that's not the same as human companionship. Besides, can this small cat protect should something happen?"

Izaya took a step forward as though to pet the cat as well, but Kiko hissed at him and bared her teeth.

Akira laughed when she saw the bewildered expression on Izaya's face from the cat's reaction.

"I think she can protect me better than you realize, Izaya-san." Akira picked Kiko and pet the cat soothingly, trying to get her to calm down.

After getting over his shock, Izaya chuckled again.

"Perhaps. She does seem feisty~." He cooed the last part towards the cat, who ignored him and kept purring into Akira. Akira giggled quietly again.

"But, I think she's no match for me though."

He quickly flung out his flick blade and held it up in a way that Akira could see the light gleam against the blade. Akira's eyes widened when she saw it.

"I always keep this blade with me, and it has helped me on many occasions. I think I'm much more suited to protect you with this by my side." He flicked it closed again and slid it into his coat pocket. Akira gave him a shy smile, and finally moved out of the doorway to let him in. He skipped into the apartment humming a jolly tune that Akira didn't recognize and Akira closed the door behind her.

"I can't promise you I'll be very interesting though." Akira let the cat down again, seeing that she had calmed down. Kiko curled up near the couch and went to sleep. Akira fidgeted with her fingers.

"I-I mean, um, I do have homework that I need to do."

"Oh, that's quite alright. I can entertain myself while you do your homework." He skipped into the room that Sora and she shared. Akira followed behind him. She sat down at her desk and got her homework out.

"Just let me know if you need anything~."

Akira heard him sing somewhat behind her.

Wait a minute, shouldn't she be asking him that? He was her guest after all. Out of the corner of her eye, Akira noticed that Izaya had turned on the computer Sora and she shared, on the other side of the room. She wondered why he was doing that.

He's probably just going to look some things up on the internet, like a lot of people do. Should she be concerned that he was on their computer? It wasn't like there was anything on there he would find of value. Akira tried to convince herself that she had nothing to worry about.

Yeah, Sora's paranoia is just getting to you. That's all. She should just appreciate the fact that he was giving her time to do her homework. She just needs to get it over with. Sora's been harping on her about her lack of focus in school lately anyways. Akira rolled her eyes at the thought. Sometimes it felt like Sora nagged her more than Akira's own mother did. Akira understood why Sora was so protective, but still! She really wished that she could convince her friend that she isn't as helpless as Sora thinks. Then again, what had Akira ever done to prove otherwise?

Although, doing her homework would be hard to focus on with the subject of most of her daydreams being in the same room as her. She knew she really needed to try though. School used to be her greatest distraction.

Akira groaned when she saw how many assignments she needed to get done. Pacing herself for the workload that lied ahead of her, Akira decided she should start with a subject that typically succeeded in gaining all of her attention. History. It also helped that she didn't mind the subject matter. Akira got started on it.

Akira was relieved that she was able to focus on her history homework, and finished it faster than she would have expected. After that, Akira was in the zone. She was able to work on her assignments for her other subjects as well. By getting past her difficulty in focusing, the rest of her homework wasn't taking very long to complete. School usually came fairly easy to her once she gets past the distraction barrier.

Every so often Akira would vaguely hear a quiet yet unhinged giggle come from Izaya's direction. She would quickly glance over to him but then go back to her work, not wanting to break her working streak. He appeared to be reading something, but she tried not to distract herself with wondering what it could be. However, she still managed to wonder what had made him laugh, but tried to write it off as probably some silly internet thing.

Is he really perfectly fine just searching on my computer while I'm doing my homework? What was the real purpose of coming here then?

Akira completed more homework. She was almost done. Just one math assignment and then she was home free. But then what? She was getting more nervous and distracted as she heard his laughing and other quiet reactions to whatever he was doing. Akira sighed, and continued with her work.

Almost done. Just a few more problems left…

"My my~, Akira, you are such~ a good writer."

Akira froze when she heard that.

No. He couldn't be talking about what she thought he was talking about, could he? Akira tried to calm her breathing as she slowly stood up and walked over to him. She needed to make sure he wasn't reading what she thought he was. As she stopped short a little bit behind him, she peered over to see what was on the screen. Her eyes widened and she froze like a statue when her fears were confirmed.

Akira was a creative writer, and she liked to write about things she felt strongly about. Writing helped her deal with things. It had for a long time. Lately though, all she had written about was him. Akira had often written about crushes she had liked in the past, but not as much as she had with Izaya.

There were various types of written pieces regarding Izaya that she had written. And she had placed them all on the same file! Akira felt like such an idiot right now. Of course he would be curious enough to open a file that was titled with his name! She had placed a password on the file though, so she didn't think anyone would be able to open it. Apparently, that hadn't been able to stop Izaya from accessing it though. She hadn't told anyone about this file though, not even Sora! It was too embarrassing. She had hoped that nobody would ever see it.

In there, she had various poems about 'd written one about his looks, her feelings towards him, and how brave he had seemed. She'd also written fan fiction-like type of love stories about herself and him. It appeared that one of these stories was currently being displayed on the screen.

Oh gosh! It was one of her most personal and embarrassing stories about him that she had written. It was extremely gushy, sappy, not to mention completely unrealistic. According to Sora, romance in the real world wasn't like a fairytale unlike what is depicted on TV and in fiction. Although Akira was not as pessimistic as Sora when it came to romance, she understood that there were no real prince charmings.

Akira was completely mortified. She was not even mad at him for snooping on her computer. She was too embarrassed to feel any other emotion. Akira was positive that she would die of embarrassment right then and there. Izaya spun around in the spinny desk chair to face her. His smile was much wider than he had seen him wear, yet still came across as catlike. There was definitely a gleam of amusement in his eyes when he looked at her. For a moment Akira thought she saw a very faint pink dust his cheeks, but she immediately brushed it off because there was no way that Izaya Orihara would blush.

"I-I-I-Izaya…y-y-y-you…" Akira felt her whole body shake uncontrollably. His grin seemed to grow even wider at that. Akira raised her shaky fingers up towards her face, and tried to hide behind her shaking hands. A soft whimper sounded in her throat.

This couldn't be happening!

"Y-y-y-y-you weren't supposed to see that." She mumbled softly into her hands, unsure whether or not he understood her. A high-pitched muffled giggle came from him. There was a rolling sound as Izaya stood up from the desk chair. Through the spaces in between her fingers Akira could see that Izaya had stepped close to her. Gentle hands pried her hands from her face, and Akira looked up at Izaya's intent peering gaze. Her shaking stopped. She did not think he could be that gentle.

There was a softness to his eyes that Akira did not know that Izaya was capable of. He stepped even closer to her so that Akira could feel the warmth of his body against hers. He let go of her hands, and raised one of his hands to softly twine his fingers in her hair. He began to stroke his fingers tenderly through her hair. For a moment, Akira wasn't sure if she could breathe.

He brought up his other hand to caress the other side of her face until it cupped her cheek.

"It's ok, Akira." He said very softly.

Her heart began to flutter rapidly again. Both of his hands were holding the sides of her head now. She saw his eyes lid as he leaned in closer to her. Suspecting what was to come, Akira closed her eyes as well. She felt his lips against hers again. At first it was a simple brushing of lips like last time when he pulled away slightly. Then Akira felt his fingers thread her hair again as he drew in again, this time it wasn't just a simple peck.

It was simply a simple kiss, yet slightly deeper than before. His lips moved against hers with more intensity, yet still being gentle. She was surprised by the change in kiss, but felt herself eagerly responding back. She wrapped her arms around him as he pulled her closer. His lips were just as soft and warm as last time, except this time there was something else. She was feeling something thrilling. This was making her really happy in ways she didn't really understand. His fingers gripped tighter into her hair, yet still without hurting her.

The way he was moving felt like he just couldn't get as close to her as he wanted to. He kept pulling her more and more against him. She felt warm and tingly everywhere their bodies touched.

Everything about this just felt right. Definitely more so than the first time. Forget thinking. She wanted this moment to last.

She was safe. She was warm. She felt protected.

For a while now, Akira felt like she was always scared. She always felt paranoid, like nowhere was safe. Despite what people would tell her, she couldn't seem to help feeling nervous. Even at night she was terrified. The darkness would remind her of those painful times in her past. Going to sleep always chanced the nightmares from due to what had happened, and how hard it would be to go back to sleep afterwards. For some reason, despite the dangerous vibe Izaya gave off, she didn't feel that way around him. The only time she didn't feel scared anymore seemed to be when he was kissing her, or simply being in his arms. Perhaps it was okay to go with her feeling on this one besides thinking too much. It's not like he would do worse than what had already been done to her, yet for some reason Akira trusted that he wouldn't even come close to that.

Akira was not sure how long a kiss was supposed to last, but this felt like a while. Not that she had any problem with that. His kisses were feeling more desperate, like he couldn't get enough of her. The pace of his lips against hers had increased as well. As much as he seemed addicted to kissing her and getting closer, he never went farther. He seemed perfectly content with the pace they were at.

Then again, Akira had no idea what going farther would mean anyways. She didn't think about what that could mean at the time though. After what felt like a while, Izaya finally pulled away just to rest his forehead against hers. He didn't give her any more space, still holding her just as intimately close to him as he had during their kiss. She felt his breath tickled her face, sending shivers throughout her. They were both breathing hard from how long the kiss had been.

Akira froze again when she felt his lips against her ear.

"I actually really liked your writing, Akira~" He murmured softly into her ear. "You're very~ talented." She felt him smile against her. She could tell the voice he was using was meant to be seductive, and gosh did it make her just melt on the inside. She had trouble finding the word to describe how she felt during that second kiss. In that moment though, it finally came to her. It was electric.

Izaya was not sure what came over him to kiss her then. There was just something about her…

He had started this just for fun, and this was definitely fun.

Even though Akira hadn't said anything, Sora knew that something had happened with Akira and Izaya while she was at work that day. When Sora came home that day Akira seemed…different. She was acting very dreamily again, like the last time…when Izaya had kissed her. At least she was moving this time though. Her face was definitely a lot rosier than it was last time. Sora just knew that this would only end in heartbreak for her fragile friend. Something had to be done. She knew who she had to go to. As much as she didn't want to go to him, Sora wasn't sure who else would be able to help her. She just hoped he would be willing to help. Sora thought he would.

A/N: Are the page breaks helping at all?