Finally meeting up with Tatsuko, she is the main character in a story my sister is writing called Enjoy the Silence. That is an Izaya story, please check it out. Thanks for reading!

My head was down and the pencil in my hand deftly moved across the page giving the impression that I was taking notes for class, but I wasn't even paying attention to the words coming out of the teachers mouth. He was known for being a perv and Masaomi and I had caught him being a little too close with our new friend Anri, so now I payed close attention to him. I wasn't his type but the girl who sat two seats behind me and one row over had seemed to catch his attention, he is staring at her again. I wonder if she knows that he keeps checking out her rack in the middle of class. I had done everything in my power to not draw attention to myself but I noticed that sometimes he would glance in my direction worriedly. He probably remembers that I was with Masaomi when he was caught harassing Anri. That and we are friends now.

"I'm here to get Kitomi Laurett," a familiar voice announced as she slid the door to the classroom open.

The teacher looked over at me confused but his attention went back to the girl in the doorway quickly. I had expected you sooner Tatsuko and not at my school. "This is highly irregular, you're supposed to go to the main office and then they will page her down there." Out of the corner of his eye he glared as if the whole situation were my fault. Seems he hasn't forgotten about the incident with the mop bucket.

She handed him a piece of paper before walking into the classroom and glanced around at the other students, "Yah, I did go there and they just sent me to get her myself." She came over and grabbed my bag, "Shall we get going then?"What does she think she is doing? Tatsuko has never had any connection with Kitomi!

I glared up at her, "Do we have to do this now? I'm in the middle of class." We're causing too much of a scene, I need to not draw attention.

"Well I guess we could talk here but. . ." She glanced over at Masaomi, he was glaring at her from across the room. My eyes went wide at her subtle threat, Is she crazy?!

The teacher looked at the paper and slowly paled, "What exactly is your relationship with Miss Laurett?" the teacher demanded. For some reason he looked scared now, is he afraid of what is on the paper or is it Tatsuko he is afraid of?

"She's my friend." I tried to quickly explain.

"I'm her Aunt." We spoke at the same time and I winced when our stories didn't match up.

"She's my mom's little sister but because their ages were so different she seems more like a friend then a relative." I stood up and linked arms with Tatsuko, "She's right we really do need to talk. Sorry to interrupt class." I laughed dragging her towards the door. I'll have to do damage control later with the class and with Masaomi, this is going to be so much fun. Did she get help from Izaya for this? What was on those papers?

Of course before we were out the door Tatsuko had to say one last thing, "Oh and you," she said pointing to the girl my teacher had been checking out just barely, "You should be more careful, normally when your teacher leers at you like he was just barely, then you tell the principal."

I cringed and tugged harder on Tatsuko's arm, before she could say anything else I managed to drag her out of the school. "How did you get them to let me out of class. Shinra is the only one who should be able to come and get me?"

Letting go of her I grabbed my bag and did a quick scan of the street, nothing suspicious but I need to change or we will draw too much attention. "Izaya set it up for me, I was just going to leave without it but he said the papers he handed me would ensure that you could leave the school."

"Alright you got me out of class, what do you want?" As much as I miss Tatsuko Masaomi is right, her presence is like a bad omen. Everything she knows, Izaya knows and since he seemed to let her come see me willingly he must have some hidden agenda with me. Tatsuko looked hurt but she glossed it over quickly with a smile.

"You look so cute in your school uniform, I can't believe you're in High School already." She hugged me tightly as if she were afraid I was going to disappear. Does she see me as anything more than a child? I wondered often if Tatsuko saw reality for what it was, I haven't been a child since. . . as long as I can remember. Survival was more important.

I hugged her back, "Sorry. I've just been so on edge since Izaya came back. I know Shinjuku isn't far but it was at least it was. . . something." She pulled away and her green eyes searched my face for something, and she didn't seem to find what she was looking for.

Tatsuko grabbed my hand and started walking again, "Come on lets get you something else to wear."

I was hoping to make more off this business, but the job wasn't difficult so I couldn't really complain. Don't ask questions about the people in charge and carry the backpack they give me to the drop off location. I held a tour guide to Tokyo in French and tried to look a little lost, when approached by someone who seemed threatening I had to run and send a text letting them know my delivery was delayed. I smiled thinking how similar my job was to Celty's.

"Excuse me little girl are you lost?" The speaker had long dark hair and bright green eyes, she looked the way I wished I did, Japanese. She was still a teenager but her eyes shone with a concern that seemed older than that.

I clumsily stumbled over the French for 'No I'm fine.' and the girl nodded as if she had expected as much.

"This is a dangerous area and you're drawing too much attention to yourself. No tourist in their right mind would let a kid your age wander this area alone." She folded her arms as is asking me to argue with her.

I closed the booklet and looked up at her, "Yah, and just how old am I?" Her eyebrows shot up as if she were shocked at how clearly I spoke. "Don't let my appearance fool you I can take care of myself better than most adults."

"Then how come I noticed you?" She demanded trying to act like the words I just spoke didn't mean anything.

I glanced around me make sure no one else was paying too much attention to us and pulled out my phone to text my boss. "You are odd. Most people only see what they want to. I've blended into odder settings in the past and if my French were better then what would you have done?" I countered then closed my phone so that I could look her directly in the eye. Many people did what I wanted them to if I gave them the right look, the trick was knowing what each person wanted to see.

She shook her head as if trying to clear something out of it, "You really don't get it do you? If I noticed you that means more dangerous people will notice you as well. Why are you out here anyway?" She completely ignored my last question as if it were irrelevant.

"You don't like answering questions but you ask a lot of them." I told her. My phone vibrated and I pulled it back out. 'Ditch them and hurry to the drop off. You have a half hour before things turn bad for you.' I sighed, they always liked to threaten. Probably because they thought it would get better results. Well that's what I get for working for the Yakuza, I reminded myself. "Anyway I have to go. I'm working but it was nice to meet you."

"Five." She called as I started walking away, "You don't look like you could be any older than that." She walked to catch up to me, "I'm Tatsuko by the way. Why don't you just come with me, I can keep you safe."

Now it was my turn to be shocked, "Five really? I'm seven, and I don't need you to keep me safe. I just need to finish my job and I can't do that if you are with me."

She seemed to choke for a moment, "Seven? what kind of a job would a seven year old. . ." She stopped and looked me over again, "What is your name?"

I gave a flourished bow, "Hitomi, and the work I do now is better than what I did before. Please excuse me." I darted off before she had time to think about it anymore and hoped I would make it to the drop off point in time.

"You finally look a healthy weight." Tatsuko smiled at me as we walked out of the store, now clad in pants and a white shirt she had picked out for me I didn't stand out as much. Why is everyone so obsessed with how much i weigh? Its not like I bloated up or anything.

I laughed harshly, "Yah everyone keeps telling me that I'm getting fat."

Tatsuko gave me another searching look, "You need to ignore Masaomi. Being off the streets was probably the best decision you two made. That and leaving the Yakuza drug ring." I couldn't stop myself from wincing at the mention of my actual past. Few people knew the truth of my past and even less knew all of it, Even though I've never told Tatsuko everything I'm sure she knows as much as I do. She should know that those two decisions are hardly anything when compared with all of the bad choices I've made.

"Where have you been?" If it weren't for Tatsuko I never would have been allowed to leave the drug business, the Yakuza doesn't like having their people leave but she got me out and helped me start my escort business. She even came up with my disguise as Natsu. As difficult as is was to trust Tatsuko she was an important part of my life, a part of the family I had created for myself.

"Out in the country. I knew Izaya would look for me in Shinjuku and when that failed he would tear Tokyo apart, I didn't even tell Shizuo where I went." I nodded understanding, the safest secret is one only you know. "You need to eat something right?" She didn't wait for me to answer just started dragging me off.

"Wait. . .we still haven't talked about. . ." I gave up trying to talk to her and let her lead me down the road. She suddenly stopped though, Yagari Pharmaceuticals stood across the street and Kyohei Kadota was leaning against a tree reading a book. Tatsuko stood blushing and staring at Kyohei. "Are you in love with Kadota?" I asked.

Her eyes widened as if she had forgotten about me and she started frantically shaking her head and waving her arms in denial, "No. . . No. I don't. . .I mean. . .why would you think that?"

I smiled slowly, "No reason, come on lets talk to him." Now it was my turn to pull her along. "Hi Kadota, what you up too?" I called waving to him.

He closed his book and looked at us seeming a little surprised. "Not much, how have you been Kitomi?" He turned and nodded at Tatsuko, "Its been a while Tatsuko."

She shuffled uncomfortably, "Yah. I've been away for a while, I didn't feel like Bukuro was safe, thats not so say that you should have been in any danger. I just needed to get away from all of this." she looked across the street as if she were confused, "Why are you at Yagari pharmaceuticals? It isn't safe here, you should stay away from here."

I shook my head, "She's right they are dangerous. I've been fine, thanks for helping me and Masaomi the other day."

He smiled at us as if we said something funny, "Its more dangerous for you two than it is for me. I heard that they paid those body snatchers extra for teenage girls." He suddenly seems to know a lot about this. I didn't think he really took notice of the disappearances and Yagari Pharmaceuticals.

I shrugged, "I would be concerned but they have tried catching me once a year since I was eleven so I think I can take them." I smiled back, "And Tatsuko here is skilled with a knife so I'm sure she could take them right?" I elbowed her and noticed that she had pulled a piece of paper from somewhere and was hiding it in her hand.

She started frantically nodding, "Yah I'm really good with knives and. . . I can take care of myself. . . I really like your hat by the way." she awkwardly fidgeted with her hair. Then bit her lip as if there was more she wanted to say, suddenly she reached up and touched his hat, "I really think the black one suits you better than that blue one you used to wear." When her hand came back the piece of paper was gone. Her eyes went as if she suddenly realized what she had just said, "Not that you look bad in blue, it's just the blue squares weren't a good group to be a part of. . . Not that you have bad judgment or something like that its just they. . ." Her eyes darted over to me.

"Anyway," I began before she could continue babbling, "I need to get something to eat, would you like to come with us?" I asked him but he shook his head and leaned against a tree and glanced over across the street again. "Well then it was good to see you, but we need to go." Before Tatsuko could start babbling again I pulled her down the street.

Once Kyohi was out of sight she immediately regained her composure and shook my hand off, "I didn't realize you needed to eat that badly, how often is it now?" She asked without looking at me.

"Often enough. What did you slip into Kyohi's hat?" I counter questioned. We really never get anywhere when we talk to each other because all we do is ask questions that we know the other won't answer. She stopped and gave me a side glance before shaking her head and continuing down the street.