When the two made it back to her apartment-again-Shizuo couldn't help but remember what happened after the last time he walked her home.

OoOoOoOo After Shizuo Left Atsuko's Building OoOoOoOo

"Damn," Shizuo said the moment he was out of the building. That little family in there, her family, was too happy for him. They had so little but the moment her little brother came flying at her, she smiled as though there was nothing to worry about. She was lucky, but she had a horrible job, lived in a building that should be condemned, and had to support a four year old kid. And she acted so carefree. What was it about that odd looking girl that made her unforgettable?

Shizuo was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't realize that he had walked right into someone's bike.

"Oh, sorry, Celty. Didn't see you there," Shizuo said, not really paying attention to what he was saying.

"Are you alright? You seem preoccupied," Celty typed into her cellphone, showing him what she wrote.

"Yeah, just this girl I just had to walk home is all," he replied.

If Celty had a face, she 'd be smiling. The strongest man in Ikebukuro just walked a girl home, and was thinking about her? "Did you ask her out?" Celty couldn't help but type in rapidly, excited for her friend.

"No, I probably won't see her again, either. I just had to help her out when she got in trouble with the Yellow Scarves. I walked her home, met her baby brother, he called me her boyfriend, and she apologized, thanked me, and I left," he said, though he knew that what he said wasn't all. He'd also run away when he saw how easily she seemed to play around with her brother. Why couldn't he have that relationship with his family? Sure, Kasuka and he didn't hate each other, in fact they were pretty cool as far as brothers went. But his parents pretty much turned a blind eye to him when he was a kid, and when he turned eighteen they stopped talking to him altogether. But the first thing she did when the door opened, was swing her baby brother around and laughed, while making sure he was ready to be tucked in by her.

"Celty seemed to sense that he was holding back and typed simply, "Next time you see her, make sure it is far from the last. Take up any offer she gives."

oOoOoOoOo Present oOoOoOoOo

So Shizuo took Celty's advice and accepted her offer for dinner. He had to admit, he was curious about her home and her life. And the closer that they got to her home, the happier she was, and the higher she would skip. Shizuo wanted to tell her that skipping wasn't the best idea, it made her skirt fly up a little and that made guys heads turn, which angered Shizuo for some reason.

"Hey, if you keep skipping like that, you'll attract a lot of unwanted attention," he said as though he didn't care if she stopped or kept it up, he didn't want to be like the rest of the guys around them and just ogle her. She may be a little weird looking wearing an oversized sweater, knee length pleated skirt, and sneakers. She didn't exactly look professional, especially since her hair was even more wild than his, but she was still a grown woman with curves, and he was a grown man with eyes.

Catching his drift, she stopped skipping, instead swinging her arms like a little kid. She's pretty childish… Shizuo thought to himself, but in a way her naïvetés was cute in a way, and made him smile a little.

Soon enough, they were in front of her door once again, and he was getting nervous, he'd never been invited to a girl's house for dinner. He had to remind himself that this wasn't a date, she just wanted to thank him for saving her. And after this I probably really won't ever see her again. If I see her on the street, at most she'll nod politely because she's too nice to completely ignore me. But she won't smile at me again. I'm surprised she can smile at me even after I threw her boss through a door,Shizuo thought. And with this in mind, he would make sure that she wouldn't regret having him for dinner.

"So, here we are, let me open the door and pay the babysitter, and I'll get to starting dinner," Atsuko said, taking out her key and opening the door. The sight that greeted the two, however, seemed to tick off the small girl in front of him.

Toys were scattered everywhere, paper airplanes were flown haphazardly on bookshelves, and bags of junk food littered the ground. Two young boys were in the center of it all, the babysitter trying her best to clean what she could. Hideaki was on the ground, crying his eyes out while the boy above him seemed to be laughing.

"What is going on here?" Atsuko said, looking the teenaged babysitter in the eye, and in response Shizuo saw the younger girl cower a bit.

"Hideaki just said that a friend was coming over, so I brought them here, the two started watching TV, so I did some homework. I guess I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I saw, well, this going on, I'm so Sorry, Ms. Ogawa," the girl looked down as she said this last part, seemingly finding her foot interesting.

"It's alright, I'll finish cleaning, but as an apology, why don't you take the boy home, I don't think Hideaki will want him over som much right now," Atsuko said, crossing her arms and looking down at her weeping brother and the laughing unknown boy.

"Yes, um, sure, I'll do that right now, Ms. Ogawa, so, will I see you and Hideaki tomorrow?" the girl asked, wondering if she still even had a job come tomorrow.

"I'm not even sure if I'll need you after school anymore, I might be staying home for a while, but as for the weekends, yes, you still have a job," Atsuko said, already making progress on the mess. Shizuo felt bad, watching her clean while he was just standing there and the babysitter was leaving, so he made his way over to Hideaki to try to calm the young boy down.

"Uh, erm, hey. Just calm down. What happened?" Shizuo asked, clearly embarrassed.

Hideaki, sensing this said, "So you and my big sis are going out?" The boy immediately stopped crying, but Atsuko seemed not have heard her younger brother's question.

I really should have seen this coming, Shizuo thought to himself. "I'm not your sister's boyfriend, I doubt she would see me like that. She just invited me to dinner, if you, er, don't mind."

The young boy shook his head that no, he didn't mind. As the last of his tears dried up, the last of the toys were put away, and Atsuko sighed happily, put her hands on her hips and said, "And that's that. Now, time to start supper, Hideaki, why don't you set the table? Shizuo, you can watch TV or help me out with dinner." Shizuo opted to help her, he wanted to know her, and while helping her cook, maybe she'd talk a bit more about herself.

What Shizuo didn't know, however, was that Atsuko listened to music when she cooked, and often moved or sang along a little. She usually listened to rock, or punk if she felt like it, her favorite was AC/DC, their raw energy helped her let out her own aggressive tendencies, and reminded her of when she was a teenager living in a city much like Ikebukuro.

As luck would have it, AC/DC was still in her cd player, and it was her favorite album, Highway to Hell, her favorite singer's last album. Listening to it made her love the band even more, too. And the songs on that particular album were the best to sing along with. Especially Girls Got Rhythm.

"I've been around the world
I've seen a million girls
But ain't one of them got
What my lady she's got" Atsuko hummed along while Shizuo took a moment to watch her and wonder what she was listening to.

"She's stealin' the spotlight
Knocks me off my feet
She's enough to start a landslide
Just a walkin' down the street
Wearing dresses so tight
And looking dynamite," she began to sway along to, even though this type of song wasn't much of a dance song, and more of a minor headbanging song, it was still dun to move along with. Shizuo's jaw dropped as he continued to watch and listen… This went on for the rest of the song, and Atsuko managed to maneuver through the kitchen with ease even though Shizuo was just watching from the middle of it all. Hideaki watched the two of them with a wide smile on his face. It looked as though he would be getting a father figure of sorts sooner than he originally thought.