Author's Note: Thank you so much for such support so quickly, everyone! I'm glad you're enjoying this story. And I hope you like new chapter, too!

Chapter 2

Tsuki blinked his eyes open and wished he hadn't. Pain scorched up his body. In a flash the beating and theft came back to him. He rolled to the side, hugging himself to give himself some comfort when he fell off something and landed on a floor.

He groaned, looking back to discover that he'd been sprawled on a couch.

A couch he didn't know . . .

Tsuki looked around at the hard wood floors and dark walls.

In a place he didn't know . . .

Stomping came from the hall, making Tsuki duck behind the armrest as a figure entered the room.

What's going to happen to me?! Terror welled up inside him.

Then, light blazed up the room, though it hardly lightened the dark and scary feel, revealing the man's face.

A familiar face!

Tsuki brightened when he realized it was the man who had given him directions! He'd saved him!

"What the hell's the matter with you?!" his savior spat.

The blonde let out a squeak, hiding once again.

The raven stayed where he was, though, as if he found Tsuki to be the threat rather than the other way around.

"Making all this racket while I'm working! Is this how I'm repaid for dragging your sorry ass out of trouble?!" he huffed.

Tsuki shook his head, trying to appease him.

"And where do you get off smiling at me like that, you pathetic human? For all you know, I could have given you the wrong directions and sent you to get beat up just so I could have you at my mercy, now." The man crossed his arms.

"D-did you?"

The man looked at Tsuki as if he were crazy. "Never. I would never go through that kind of crap for a human just to have one infesting my sanctuary. Now, if you'll be so kind, leave."

"Leave?"

"Leave."

Tsuki just looked at him, really confused.

The man made a jerky gesture to a door behind Tsuki. "Get out and try not to touch anything."

Tsuki looked at the door and back at him.

This seemed to just rile him up more.

"Get. Out."

Roppi was getting seriously pissed. The kid had been in his house all night and most of the morning. He was contaminating his whole area. He was a spot that needed to be cleaned! And how dare he accuse him of pulling a trick like Izaya! He was nothing like Izaya!

He was so lost in his anger that he almost didn't hear the kid respond.

"O-okay." The other nodded, using the couch to get purchase so he could rise to his hurt legs. He stumbled a bit before straightening up.

Roppi glared harder at the display. The blonde was obviously trying to look as pitiful as possible so he could remain in his domain longer.

It wasn't going to work.

He watched him wobble to the door, so close to going through it and being out of his life forever. He tripped a bit on the steps to the landing.

Roppi growled. He had no reason to feel any sort of guilt for the blonde. None at all. He'd done enough. He'd made sure he hadn't had to spend the night outside in the human world where anything could and most likely would have happened to him. Yippee, Roppi had won his badge for the good deed of the day. Leave him alone.

It's not like the kid would have been just fine if he'd gone along with him and shown him to his brother's in the first place. It's not like it was his fault because he hadn't felt like playing tour guide. And the kid ending up in the hospital or dead from people taking him out while he was down wasn't going to be his fault either. Nope. That was just how the human world worked. It was every one of them for themselves. It wouldn't be his fault if the kid died just because Roppi let him leave while he was too weak to take the whole world on alone.

The young man coughed and his hand shook when he reached for the door knob.

Fuck.

"Get your ass back here." He snarled, supremely pissed at what he was about to do.

The blonde squeaked, looking at Roppi as if he was dealing with a live grenade.

"You leave, I'll kill you." He laid down the first ground rule and continued on. "You die and leave your body to stink up my house and I'll find some way to bring you back so I can kill you. You don't touch any of my things unless you absolutely have to. If it's not food or the bathroom, just sit there and be quiet and never annoy me. Don't interrupt me during anything for any reason ever or I'll kill you. You got it?"

The kid just stared at him, hand still a centimeter away from the door knob. He could get really annoyed by that stare.

"W-what?" he stuttered, shyly.

"Don't you make me say it." Roppi hissed.

The boy leaned away, concern pulling his eyebrows together —concern for himself or Roppi?. "I-I don't understand."

Heiwajima's and their little brains. Roppi rolled his eyes.

"You're staying with me until you get better."

With that, Roppi turned and went back down the hall to his study.

Minutes later found Tsuki still standing by the door with his hand just a moment away from opening it to freedom. He was frozen. Absolutely floored by the odd man. The raven hadn't acted like a normal host. He'd raged at him then shouted for him to get out. But . . . then he shouted at him to stay?

Tsuki had been wishing he could stay where he knew he was safe until he got better, but now that he'd gotten his wish he almost wished he hadn't thought it. Sure, Tsuki could understand someone not wanting to keep and care for a total stranger, but he was truly afraid this other man wasn't bluffing when he used death as an alternative for anything.

"I thought I said if you leave, you die." The call came from the other side of the house, through the door his host had disappeared into.

Tsuki eeped and stumbled away from the door, clutching his hand back to his chest. He fell over the armrest and landed on the couch with an ungraceful flop.

How did he know I was still over there?

"Quit making so much noise!"

The blonde didn't make a move and even held his breath for a few seconds to appease him. Moments passed by without another word. Tsuki let out a relieved breath. He sat up, very careful with his movements, and squeaked when the leather couch made a noise. He looked to the door, holding his breath once again, waiting for the man to burst out and reprimand him.

Tsuki relaxed back after a second, cringing when he made another noise. So, what was he not supposed to do?

No moving from this spot. Tsuki counted on his fingers as he thought. No touching anything. No making noise. No disturbing him. No . . . dying . . .

At that moment Tsuki's stomach growled. He looked to the rest of the house, his eyes widening.

Oh, no . . .

Roppi reemerged from his lair late. He'd wanted to throw himself into his work, hoping to forget his new pest. Fortunately, he had gotten consumed by his work. He'd gotten a lot done. More than he had in weeks. A nice feeling of accomplishment stole over him while he strolled to the kitchen. He paused before the archway, glancing at the living room. His lip curled a bit at the thought, but he had to see to his guest.

Roppi entered and jumped in shock.

The blonde was sitting on the couch, staring at the wall with the most pathetic look on his face Roppi had ever seen. His eyes were opened bigger than normal, as if he was keeping them open through force. His eyes were blanked out from concentrating and his face had darkened from what appeared to be agony.

"What's your problem?" Roppi took an aggressive step forward.

A loud growl echoed through the room and the young man's fists clenched on his knees.

Roppi blinked. "You're hungry."

The blonde broke out into intense shaking before he collapsed on his side, still staring at the wall. Roppi grumbled under his breath as he stormed toward the little idiot. He yanked him up by his scarf and led him to the kitchen.

"I told you to get food if you were hungry." Roppi snapped, tossing the boy into a chair by the table as he swept by. "What sort of fool chooses to starve to death when . . ."

He closed his eyes and stopped short, agonizing realization washing over him. "You didn't know where the food was, did you?"

He didn't hear the boy shake his head, but he knew he had just the same. He was a bit disturbed by how aware of the other he was.

Roppi took out ingredients and pans, glancing at the boy. "You . . . you really sat there, didn't you?"

He nodded and Roppi was a bit relieved to see some color coming back into his cheeks when he spotted the chicken.

Roppi turned his attention to making dinner, dismissing the intruder. Or so he wished. He hovered in the back of his mind while he made the stir-fry. The fact that the man had actually cared about his wishes so far as to put himself in pain struck Roppi. No one had ever respected his wishes let alone gone out of their way for him.

The kid . . .

Roppi growled. He was sick of thinking of him as the kid.

"Roppi." He bit out, placing the plates of food and silverware on the table.

". . .?" the young man looked up at him, confused.

"I'm Roppi. Hachimenroppi Orihara." He clarified.

"I'm Tsukishima Heiwajima." The other smiled, seeming to relax after the introductions.

Roppi snorted at the rhyming name. It seemed Tsukishima's parents had been just as creative with their naming as his own parent's had been with him.

He paused when Tsukishima continued on. "People always laugh and forget my name, so most people call me Tsuki."

Roppi made a noise to let the other know he'd heard him before focusing on eating, happy to have the social aspects of dinner over with.

But it seemed Tsukishima was a little chatty after Roppi's permission into conversation. "So, do you like being called Roppi? Do most people call you Roppi?"

Roppi took his time chewing, giving the man a few icy glares, then swallowed. "I don't much care either way. My brothers only call me Roppi."

Tsukishima ducked his head. "Oh, so, um, you'd rather me call you Hachimenroppi? Is Roppi a special nickname from your brothers?"

"Call me whatever you want. My point is just that you're the first person I've come into contact with, besides my brothers, who knew me long enough to get to know my name let alone shorten it. I wouldn't say it's special, precisely. More that my annoying younger brother thought it was cuter and was hopping I'd be more approachable with it. My elder brother latched onto it to bug me."

"So, being called Roppi does bother you?" the blonde asked, confused.

Roppi jammed the little knife into the table out of nowhere. "I said I don't care what the hell you call me! It doesn't bother me!"

Tsukishima looked at him and Roppi could tell he was thinking: That sounds like it bothers you.

No, it really didn't bother him. What bothered him was Tsukishima getting his meaning wrong when he tried to explain something so simple to him. Hell, the kid could call him asshole and he wouldn't care. It was just a stupid name. It depended on who was saying it that changed how he felt. He didn't care either way about Tsukishima, so he could call him anything. He should have just said for the man to call him Roppi and left it at that. It would have been simpler.

The elder man growled and shoved his plate over to the blonde, uncaring that it spilled a bit over the table. "Here. I'm not hungry anymore."

With that, Roppi left the room, returning to his study.

Roppi sat in the dark for hours just leaning back in his chair, defeated. He'd listened to the brat clink and clang as he finished his dinner. He'd heard him sit there for a while as if he were trying to decide if putting the dishes in the sink was okay. Show good manners or not touching more things he wasn't supposed to?

He put the dishes in the sink, most likely leaving little finger smudges everywhere.

The soft patter of feet grew softer as he made his way to the living room where he squeaked on the couch. Roppi sighed, rubbing his temples. He really was far too aware of Tsukishima. He liked the quiet. Liked his home being in total silence. This Tsukishima was a problem. He hardly made a sound and seemed to want to do as Roppi ordered, but he was a problem nevertheless. Roppi had never had to deal with something else in his domain before. Even the smallest noises disrupted his thinking pattern. It was just natural instinct for him to detect an intruder in his life and keep all his focus on them until they left. He had to watch them. Had to make sure they didn't pull anything like he knew they would.

Tsukishima would be no different.

It was very late before Roppi dared reenter the main rooms. To think he was so uncomfortable in his own home, now. All thanks to him. His red eyes were so bright that they almost seemed to glow in the darkness as he made his way down the hall. Their gaze never missed a single detail. Not the dishes in the sink. Nor the cleaned table. The fact that Tsukishima had had to turn off the light with his own hand.

The fact that he really was sprawled over the couch in complete, innocent slumber. Roppi didn't touch the couch, but he came closer to peer at the blonde over the back. A human so unaware of what could happen to him when at the mercy of another's whims.

If only the little fool knew what could happen to him when he trusted others. When he believed in a goodness and a light that just wasn't there. That sort of thinking was going to destroy him. Roppi very much wanted to just reach down and . . .

He didn't know what he wanted to do, actually. Part of him wanted to strangle the idiot for trusting him. Another wanted to slap him for being so at peace when Roppi hadn't felt anything but roiling anger for years. And some foreign place in him wanted to do something totally different. He wanted to brush the kid's hair in a gentle, comforting gesture and let him know everything would be all right. He wanted to be worthy of Tsukishima's trust in him.

Ugh! He snatched his hand back that had been moving towards the blonde of its own accord. How can I want to destroy him and protect him all at once?!

If Roppi were more like them, he'd act on his urges to just hurt the blonde until he was not his problem anymore. He'd be selfish and take his suffering out on him. But, Roppi was trying very hard not to do that. Perhaps he should think of the whole situation as more of a test? A test to see if he could deny his human nature. That seemed like an okay experiment. It would allow him to gain more control over himself.

If the kid became a problem or too much for him to handle, he could call Shizuo. And true, he could have called Shizuo over to fetch him and take him off his hands in the first place, but he knew the blonde well. He'd see Tsukishima's broken form and he'd get mad. He'd most likely tear apart Roppi's oh so fragile protection from the outside world.

Tch, it seemed these Heiwajima's were good at that sort of thing.

But dealing with Shizuo's temper, and most likely his brother who'd be more than happy to tag along for a visit, didn't strike Roppi as a fun time. He was already having more than he could handle with just one human. More would be irritating. Then again, he could just take Tsukishima to Shizuo's. But, the blonde would need rest and relaxation to recover. Shizuo wasn't known for such things. And with Izaya being about to stir him up, Tsukishima would more than likely be hurt worse one way or another.

Roppi hovered, his brow crinkling when he recognized that he was feeling concern towards the human. Shaking his head, he left for his room.

He locked the door behind him.

Author's Note: Let me know if you liked everything or if there's anything you feel I could improve upon. I do hope you feel I'm keeping everyone in character! It's quite interesting working with characters that don't have set traits to start with, but quite fun~! This is just my thoughts on how I'd imagine Roppi and Tsuki to be. I always thought they'd have a fun awkwardness between them that makes you want to laugh, feel worried and have your heart melt all at the same time. I hope I'm getting this across well enough! I'll try to get the next chapter sorted out soon!