Izaya Orihara's eye twitched as he stared at his computer. The moment he had turned it on, it had crashed. When he pulled it up again, he was alerted that a virus had infiltrated his computer. It was not the virus that aggravated him, but the time he was losing by clearing it out. Nevertheless, he was certain that it would have it cleared out in no time; then, he could pursue his search for information.

For the first time, Anri cursed Mikado's blue eyes as she made a small pallet on the floor of her small bedroom beside Kida's. If she had only been stronger and said no to his question, she wouldn't have this problem. The virus she had planted in Izaya Orihara's computer should have been activated by now. She had been counting on watching his face when he found out that the trail "Kyouko" had given was limited to only one person that would not talk even to Izaya Orihara: her aunt's friend, the first person she had ever "helped."

Anri was startled awake as the front door to her aunt's house slammed shut. She could hear a young man's voice called out for her aunt. Anri stumbled from her bed with a small scowl on her lips as her aunt barreled past her front door.

"I'm in trouble, Evie," the young man gasped. Anri peaked at the young man from around the corner. His lips were busted open and blood was falling heavily on the carpet. It would leave a stain, Anri noticed as she stepped fully into the room. His arm had a gash on that she assumed was made by a bullet wound.

"What did you do now, Eric?" Her aunt sighed. Anri tilted her head as she listened to the conversation. She wondered if her aunt even knew she was in the room.

"I messed with the wrong person…" He mumbled as Evelyn (Anri's aunt) bandaged his arm and handed him a small piece of cloth to place over his lips. Anri slipped back away from their view and back into the hallway. She had heard of the man sitting before her aunt. He was a high school teacher. It had been said that he had been molesting teenagers at the high school. With a small scowl, she realized that in a year or so she would be a high school student. "Izaya Orihara…" Anri couldn't help but perk at the name. She could hear her aunt quickly telling him to hush about the man. "I KNOW IT WAS HIM!" Eric shouted suddenly. Anri tensed. Subconsciously, Anri knew that she was waiting for the sound of a fist against flesh. "These girls follow him like he's a beckon of light! I'm sure that that little bitch was one-" A small yelp filled the room. "OW! Evie, what the hell?!"

"Gomen, Eric," her aunt apologized. Anri smothered a small giggle. She was certain that her aunt had tied the bandage too tightly on purpose. She let the sounds of their conversation die away as she walked back toward her bedroom. Anri slipped into her bedroom and began to plan. She would help the man out of his trouble, but not for him. She only wanted to really piss Izaya Orihara off.

"Evie!" Came the relieved breath as the man re-entered her aunt's house as Anri and she ate dinner. Evie stood, ready to help bandage another wound if needed and to shield her young niece from the pervert's eyes. At thirteen, Anri had begun to fill out beautifully. Evie's eyes widened as the man swept her into his arms and spun her in a circle. "I don't know how you did it," he said with a laugh, "but thank you!"

"Eric?" Evie called in a curious tone. "What are you thanking me for?" She asked. Eric turned his head to the side.

"You mean you didn't do anything?" He asked, confused. Anri watched her aunt shake her head. She attempted to slip away quietly before he could speak again, but she wasn't fast enough. "But you were the only one I told about my problem and now, like magic, she's gone. She moved away." Anri tensed as the older man's eyes found her. "Oh, hello," he greeted her. Anri gave a small shudder at the way his eyes seemed to rake over her newly developed curves. Anri sighed in relief as her aunt stepped in front of his view again. "Evie, who is she?"

"She's my niece," Evie told him. Her red-brown eyes burning holes into her long-time friend's eyes. Eric shifted slightly and attempted to seek Anri again.

"Was she listening in the hall that night?" Eric asked. Anri watched her aunt's entire body tense. Anri met his eyes confidently. This was one area she knew about. Fooling her aunt would be easy, but this man needed to know that he was in her debt now. So, she did the only thing she could think of that would give him confirmation before her aunt turned around. She smirked. Anri watched with amusement as his eyes widened to comical size. She quickly wiped the amusement away as her aunt looked at her.

"Were you?" She asked. Anri felt only a small stab of guilt at the amount of worry and concern in her aunt's voice. Anri painted on a very convincing expression of confusion and innocence.

"What are you talking about, Auntie?" She asked. Anri watched as her aunt's tense form relaxed completely. The worry and concern disappeared from her eyes. Anri tilted her head to the side.

"Nothing, dear," her aunt reassured her. Anri furrowed her brows. Even if she hadn't helped him and knew ahead of time what he was talking about, it would still be very clear that something had transpired in their living room. It annoyed Anri that her aunt would attempt to cover it up, but she shrugged it away and acted like the compliant little girl that her aunt "knew." Anri simply cleaned off the table and put the dishes in the sink. It was her aunt's turn to wash tonight.

As she walked back to her room, she overheard the sounds of an argument starting up.

"I'm telling you! It was her!" Eric exclaimed. Anri clicked her tongue. Something would have to be done about that mouth of his. She smiled. Maybe she could coerce another group of men into handling a "bully" for her. A delightful idea came to her as she heard her aunt leave to use the restroom. Anri slipped into the darkness of the hall and waited for the perverted man to attempt to slip into her bedroom.

The moment Eric walked toward her bedroom, Anri pounced. She pinned him against the wall. The small pocket blade she had bought was pressed against the lining of his jeans. The pressure was only enough to warn of what was to come.

"You will keep silent about me helping you or I will cut your family jewels off and shove them down your throat," she hissed to him. He stayed silent. His entire body was tense with fear. She had appeared out of nowhere; and with a knife to his groin, he was afraid to attempt to overpower her. Anri was disappointed at his silence and made it apparent. She applied more pressure to the knife and broke through the fabric just beside his zipper so that her aunt wouldn't notice a suspicious hole. That drew the desired reaction. Eric let out a terrified squeak.

"I swear I won't tell anyone!" He swore.

"Good," Anri told him. "Because come next year, you'll be seeing a lot of me. If I catch wind that you have even hinted of my help, I will do more than just own up to this threat." She told him. She heard her aunt flush the toilet and disappeared from over him. She closed her bedroom door with a soft click. She smirked as she heard her aunt descend on the frightened pervert.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" She exclaimed.

Oh, there were so many times she wished she could make well on her threat over the years. She hated the personality that she had created for herself very much during those moments. It was that personality that allowed him such liberties and he had begun to notice. Kida, sweet and protective Kida, would always intervene when he saw him. She smiled softly, darkly. Maybe she should pay the overconfident man a visit…just to remind him who he is dealing with.

"Anri," Kida called softly from the doorway of her bedroom. Anri turned from her position to see her blonde friend leaning against the open doorway. "You alright?" Anri turned her eyes away from her best friend and patted down the corner to Mikado's bed.

"I was just lost in my memories," Anri explained as she stood up.

"Memories of me, I hope," Kida teased. Mikado's boot in Kida's back stilled any further teasing. The blonde's mouth was currently occupied by an unwilling but unyielding floor. Anri let out a small giggle. There was a time that Kida's flirtatious nature would cause her to put on a show for the boys. A show filled with blushing and half-hearted scolding. She assumed that now they simply believed she had gotten used to him. They wouldn't be wrong; she had gotten used to them both. She had gotten used to their presence in her life. Kida held up his hand toward her.

"Anri-chan! Help me!" He whined convincingly even though they both knew he was capable of moving the foot off of his back on his own. Anri simply raised a black eyebrow. "Then again…" he muttered, eyeing her. "I am getting quite a nice view." This time her face flushed for real.

"Kida-kun…" Anri sighed in exasperation. Mikado stepped down harder onto his best friend's back. Kida yelped and knocked the boy off of his back. Mikado hit the floor with a surprised "umph." Kida sat beside his friend and shrugged his shoulders. His hands came up even with his elbows during the shrug.

"It just can't be helped," he sighed as if exasperated with himself. Anri simply shook her head while Mikado sighed.

Anri glanced back over her shoulder at the two boys that slept at the side and foot of her futon. Kida's mouth was hanging open as small snores escaped his lips. He had only taken off his uniform shirt and pants. This left behind a white T-shirt and a pair of boxers that were decorated by vertical stripes of red, blue, and yellow. His right hand had been thrown over onto her bed. His legs were splayed open; his left leg bent at the knee toward his other leg. He was dead to the world if only for a moment. Mikado was the exact opposite of their friend. He had stayed in his school uniform and lay curled in a tight ball underneath the covers of his futon. She prayed that he was as asleep as he looked as she slipped out of the room and into the hallway of her apartment.

She was clad in a black form fitting sweater and a pair of black jeans. To completely the outfit, she wore a pair of black boots. The only part of her visible was the white of her face and the glowing red of her eyes. Anri called to her children silently.

"Is he alone?" She asked in the quiet of her living room.

"Yes, mother," a distinctively male 'voice' answered.

"Monitor him until I say otherwise, but do not give yourself way," Anri demanded. While it was a simple intimidation mission, it had to be carefully executed. She had peaked Izaya's curiosity. From this point forward, she would be traveling through dangerous waters. One small disturbance in those waters could alert all kinds of monsters. A small dark chuckle escaped her lips at the comparison.

"Yes, mother," the voice answered again. Anri allowed her satisfaction to seep through the link. For a few minutes, she stood still in her apartment and listened to the sounds. She could still hear Kida's snores, but other than that everything was silent. Satisfied, she walked out of her apartment.

She had called Izaya Orihara a monster. If that was true, what did that make her? Anri smothered her dark chuckle before it could even escape her throat as she slipped through the quiet streets of Ikebukuro. If he was a monster, then she must have been something much worse. After all, she had thousands of humans at her control and frequently used them for her own means. Not for the first time, she cursed that foolish girl, Haruna Niekawa, for creating them. Each time Anri contacted one of her children she robbed them of the ability and will to think on their own. In their waking hours, they did not know who she was; but in the moments she had them under her control, she was everything to them.

She came upon Eric's house quickly. She could hear the loud television and the sound of his laughter. Anri slipped around to the front of the house where her son was waiting. She touched his arm gently. He turned his red eyes, so full of devotion, toward her. Remorse shot through her as she stared into his young face. His dark blonde hair fell diagonally over one eye. He smiled warmly at her. She sighed and quickly looked away.

"You will leave now," she whispered as she left his side. She listened to him as he walked down the sidewalk. While he walked farther away, Anri checked the window she stood in front of. She did not want to have to go through the door unless it was absolutely necessary. To her shock and amusement, the window was unlocked. She cut the connection she had with her child as she listened closely to the sounds coming from inside the house. Eric was still watching television. She slipped through the window. Her feet barely made a sound as they touched the tiled floor. Careful to avoid any reflective surfaces, Anri walked away from Eric. She would go through his bathroom, which sat just behind the kitchen wall and connected to his living room, so that she would avoid being seen early. She wanted him to believe that she had appeared out of thin air like a phantom from his past coming to punish him for his crimes.

Anri slipped from the bathroom and appeared behind him on the couch. She waited for him to see her in the reflective television screen. When he did, he squawked in fear then a wide, satisfied smile replaced it. Anri frowned. That wouldn't do.

"Have you convinced yourself that night was simply a nightmare, Eric?" She asked. Her voice no longer held the sweet tone he had accustomed himself too. Eric swallowed as the tone of her voice brought back the memory of her knife over his privates. Anri walked around the couch to stand in front of him. She angled her body in a way that the knife she had strapped to her left thigh would be perfectly visible to his eyes.

"I…I haven't tol-told anyone," Eric stuttered. Anri tilted her head. Her short black hair followed the motion. It had the desired effect. Eric swallowed. His brown eyes darted toward the door. Anri clicked her tongue.

"No, but it seems that you have done something much, much worse," Anri purred. Just before he could move to get away from her, Anri's left leg shot out. He went to scream at the movement, but the sound never escaped his chest. It became a pained gasp as her foot connected with his groin. The knife she had strapped to her thigh was now in his line of sight. Her left hand came down to rest on the hilt. His fearful brown eyes widened. "You seem to have forgotten who you are dealing with…" She informed him in an intentionally seductive tone. She pressed her foot down harder. Eric yelped.

"No…" He choked underneath the pain.

"Let me remind you of a few things you seem to have forgotten," Anri told him as she leaned forward. She put her full weight on the foot lined up with the groin. Her face was directly in front of his. "You will tell no one, no matter how they threaten you…because I can promise you this…" She withdrew the knife quickly and ran it down the side of his face. She was exceedingly careful not to draw blood. "Whatever they threaten you with…will be nothing compared to what I will do to you if you say a single word." She flicked the knife away from him and back away from him. She lessened the pressure of her foot. He breathed a sigh of relief, but Anri wasn't done. "Oh…and another thing…" Eric tensed. She snapped back at him and pressed the blade into his throat hard enough to leave a small red line. Eric choked. "You are not to touch me ever again…you got that, pig?" She hissed.

"Yes…" He squeaked. Anri smirked. She withdrew the knife and backed away from him completely. The smell of cigarettes and booze on his breath was beginning to annoy her. Once she was far enough away, she raised her free hand to his face. He flinched the moment her hand touched him. Anri smiled and patted his cheek almost playfully. It only increased Eric's fear.

"Good," she said with false cheer, "I knew you were smart." He laughed fearfully. Anri had planned on knocking him out, but she now thought it better to leave him to think on all of the terrible things she could do to him. "Ta…"

Eric was left a shaking mass on his couch. He flinched as he finally noticed the wetness of his jeans and that of the cushion underneath him. He stood almost lifelessly from the couch. His legs threatened to fall out from underneath him as he moved toward his bathroom. Every now and again, he would cast looks over his shoulder to make certain she wasn't behind him ready to pounce again. He attempted to comfort himself with the knowledge that he had heard the opening and closing of his front door, but it was futile attempt. He had heard her leaving because it was what she wanted. A full body shudder threatened to knock him off his feet.

Anri Sonohara was dangerous. Eric was certain that one day the whole world would know it, but he also knew that the knowledge would not come from him. No, the mind numbing fear he felt because of her ensured it. His fear only increased as he realized something that used to bring him perverted joy: he would see her again tomorrow.

Anri slipped back into her apartment. A satisfied smile curved her lips. The night's activities had silenced Saika. For the moment, the sword was satisfied because her master felt the same. Anri stripped the black sweater from her body as she walked toward her bathroom. She unbuttoned her pants as she pushed the door to the bathroom open and took the knife she had strapped to her thigh off once she was inside. She hummed quietly as she stripped off the jeans and slipped on her deep red night shirt. It fell to the middle of her thighs. Once she was comfortable, she began folding the clothing she had had on. She opened the cabinet underneath her sink and placed them onto a blank space. She took the knife with her into her bedroom and stored it in the night table drawer. As she straightened herself, her eyes fixed on the bright red numbers of her alarm clock. 1:00 a.m. stared back at her. Anri moved Kida's hand gently off of her bed and slipped underneath the covers.

"Anri?" Kida grumbled suddenly. Sleep made his voice husky. It made Anri shiver in what she had long identified as pleasure. Saika cried out happily at the feeling and attempted to influence it into growth. Anri fought against it easily. "Where ya been?" He mumbled. Anri froze. Had Kida awaken during the night and found her gone?

"Bathroom," Anri lied convincingly. She kept her voice quiet to keep from awakening the sleeping Mikado.

"'Kay…" Kida muttered as he rolled toward her. His hand fell limply to his side. Anri raised her eyebrows and stared at him for a moment. A small quiet laugh escaped her lips as she shook her head. She had worried for nothing. Kida had simply felt her move him and reacted to the touch. With worry clear from her mind, Anri settled back into bed and closed her eyes.

(A/N: I would like to remind all of you that the poll for who Anri is paired with is still open on my page. I feel inclined to tell you that I am torn between Izaya and Kida as her potential love interest. It is up to you at the moment on which she goes for.)