The following week went by as usual without any extra visits from anymore shady characters, let alone the mysterious info broker. Ritchie hadn't even seen Shizuo Heiwajima around for the last several days. That was definitely a welcome turn of events.

Another welcome factor was the staff turnover at the club. The boss had hired one too many newbies, meaning a lot of the dancers didn't have to do as long a shift as usual for at least the next few weeks. Ritchie made sure she was one of the first ones to be put down for some shorter shifts. Finishing early meant you got to hang around the club while the night was still going and all staff, on shift or not, were entitled to free drinks. Who wouldn't want that?

So on Friday, Ritchie was even happier than she usually was at work as she sashayed around the pole on stage at half past midnight, knowing she only had half an hour left of her shift before she could go and join the happy clubbers dancing and drinking down on the dance floor.

She decided to give that last half hour her all. Kosuke, the deputy manager of the club, was one of the bartenders on duty tonight. Hopefully if he saw her doing a good job he'd be extra generous with the vodka later on when she took advantage of the free drinks perk.

So she abused the pole on her podium as much as she could. A lot of people – the ones whose minds were closed beyond belief – saw pole dancing simply as slutty and degrading. They obviously didn't realise what ridiculously good exercise it was, Ritchie thought to herself, as she was forced into using all of her upper body strength to keep herself aloft on the pole.

Her brand new Jimmy Choo heels could handle the job a lot better than the killer stilettos she'd been wearing when she'd scaled the wall outside the club last week. Despite her job, Ritchie wasn't at all overly feminine. She hated wearing makeup and she always just let her hair fall the way it wanted to – it was a good thing her short black locks always happened to naturally stand out in a stylishly untidy manner. Her one true girly trait was her weakness for shoes. She had an extensive collection of over forty pairs. In Ritchie's mind, expensive did mean better.

Her hard work paid off. After she was joined on her podium by one of the new girls ready to take over – a pretty young blonde who looked way too innocent for this line of work – she hopped down onto the dance floor and headed straight for the bar, where she was rewarded with a cocktail that was three-parts vodka and one-part fruit juice. She beamed her thanks at Kosuke before joining the mass of intoxicated dancers.

For the next hour or so Ritchie was content. She'd been round several male dance partners, separating them with beelines back to the bar. She loved flirting and she loved to dance with guys. She liked to keep her escapades tasteful but she'd definitely had her fair share of male action. She didn't really care if anybody thought she was a slut.

When guys had already seen her working her moves on the podiums it wasn't difficult to find a willing partner. It then depended on Ritchie's mood as to whether she wanted to pursue flirting with the next guy or if she wanted him to remain nameless and faceless whilst they did nothing but dance.

Having spent plenty of time flirting with both her second and third suitor, Ritchie was happy to spend the rest of the night concentrating just on dancing. She intended to continue doing so when the next set of hands found her shoulders and a body pressed slightly up against her back.

She fell back into the rhythm of the music – a fairly new Flo-Rida song that was one of the club's most popular anthems right now – and her newest partner moved with her for a bit. His hands never left her shoulders and soon prompted her into turning round, obviously insistent on either making conversation or just simply making out.

Ritchie turned towards him reluctantly, briefly hoping it was someone she didn't know and that it wasn't Shizuo or his minion Tom Tanaka. It wasn't either. To her immense surprise it was Izaya Orihara. What the hell was he doing here?

Both an asset and flaw of Ritchie's was that she had no qualms about saying exactly what was on her mind. So she did just that. "What the hell are you doing here?" She pulled back slightly so that she could study his face better. His hands slid from her shoulders.

"I believe I'm dancing with you," he replied cheerfully, the same easy smirk on his face that he'd worn last week. Ritchie had a feeling that this was his usual expression. "And I'm pretty sure it was you who invited me to find you here in the first place."

Crap. Of course she had. She'd only been telling her two penpals from online about it the other day. She was quite close to her penpals. She'd only met one of the two, Sei, but she spoke to them both nearly every day. It was on recommendation from both of them that she'd moved to Ikebukuro in the first place.

Neither of them had approved when she'd told them of her previous exchange with Izaya. Everyone in this town knew his reputation for being trouble. Sei had firmly advised her to forget it had ever happened and just stay away from him. Her other penpal, Kanra, had simply mused over Ritchie's sanity.

Ritchie shrugged off his comment, avoiding admitting that he was right. "Still… I wouldn't have figured you for a dancer."

"I'm not really," Izaya admitted. "I came here to watch you dance. I never would have guessed I'd get the pleasure of dancing with you myself."

Ritchie snorted. He couldn't have sounded less sincere. Then she remembered what he did for a living and wondered if sincerity was something he was even capable of. "Sure you did. And I'm guessing you knew I was a dancer from my wardrobe or something, right?"

"Right," Izaya agreed, looking amused.

Ritchie rolled her eyes. Of course. It was fruitless trying to get an honest answer from someone like him but she couldn't help being persistent. She put one hand on her hip in a show of her no-nonsense attitude. "So how did you know I'd be here tonight? I only work four nights a week and my shifts are always changing."

Izaya's lips twitched and his smirk widened. "I'd say it was a lucky guess."

Ritchie scowled. No way was she accepting that. "New choice."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." The amusement still never left his face.

"I mean I want you to change your answer to one that isn't total bull," Ritchie said simply.

Izaya laughed out loud at that, but then he turned away, looking distracted as he gazed out across the dance floor. "As much as I'd like to I'm afraid I'm gonna have to bounce."

"Excuse me?" said Ritchie in disbelief. That was the lamest excuse she'd ever heard for dodging a question. He'd purposely sought her out here and now he was already running off without explaining a thing. "I don't think so! You're gonna stay right here and give me a real answer."

Izaya sighed, as if he was having to explain something trivial to an impatient child. "Within the next twenty seconds Shizu-chan is going to spot me and then proceed to an attempt to kill me. I'd much rather split before that happens."

Ritchie looked round in surprise. Shizuo was here? She spotted him straightaway. It wasn't difficult – he was tall and always seen wearing a bold black and white bartender's get-up. Oh great… She swore instinctively without even realising. She really didn't want to deal with him right now.

Her reaction just seemed to amuse Izaya even more. "And from the sounds of it maybe you'd like to come with me." He held a hand out to her, his eyes full of nothing but danger and deceit.

Ritchie raised an eyebrow. "How do I know you're not just going to kidnap me?"

"You don't," said Izaya brightly, completely unperturbed by the accusation.

Ritchie hesitated and glanced towards Shizuo again. He was a lot closer now, pushing his way past people. She wasn't sure if he'd seen her or not, but from the extremely pissed off look on his face he'd definitely seen Izaya and that was who he was heading for.

She quickly turned back to Izaya. He was still watching her easily, but he was tensed and ready to bolt. She had literally seconds to decide. Even the damn Flo-Rida song that was still playing was encouraging her.

"We're counting down. We're counting down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…"

She should have said no. Of course she should have said no. But she'd been impulsive all her life and she was feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline. "Fine. Let's go for it."

She'd barely outstretched her hand when Izaya grabbed it and jerked her roughly into the crowd. He didn't waste time trying to weave round anyone; he just forced a pathway through the mass of people. Ritchie found herself having to run as fast as she could to keep up in her heels. She wasn't entirely sure if it was working – it still felt like she was just being dragged along.

Some guy's beer cascaded over her head as she bumped past his arm. She shook her hair furiously as she ran. If anything happened to her Jimmy Choos then Izaya could forget about Shizuo. He'd have to worry about running away from her.

There were so many people around that Ritchie couldn't even tell whereabouts in the club they were. Then suddenly she was pulled outside. She hadn't realised how close to the exit they'd been. Izaya didn't stop there though. He sprinted across the main road, dragging Ritchie along with him. It was lucky that there weren't any cars coming – he hadn't even bothered to look. Though at three in the morning traffic was quite unlikely.

A roar from behind told them that Shizuo had still followed them out of the club. Izaya seemed only amused by this however, and was laughing as he ran. It was a little unnerving. He suddenly changed direction and darted down a side alley, with Ritchie still in tow.

All she could do was concentrate on keeping up. If, in the future, at any point she had a feeling Izaya was going to show up then she was going to make sure she was wearing better shoes. This was twice now that her choice of footwear had held her back.

The silver ring on Izaya's forefinger was biting into her hand. It was annoyingly distracting. She wondered what would happen if Shizuo actually caught up with them… She'd have nothing to worry about of course. But would she feel guilty if he got hold of Izaya? Nope, not really. She didn't even know the guy. And from the sound of his reputation he did this kind of thing every day. It'd be his own damn fault.

They'd changed direction so many times and turned down so many little alleyways that Ritchie had no idea where they even were anymore. She was pretty sure that Shizuo couldn't still be following them.

They turned into a dead end and Izaya stopped so abruptly that Ritchie barrelled straight into him, staggering in her impractical heels. She blew hair out of her face impatiently. "Now what?" she asked breathlessly.

Izaya finally released her hand and all but danced over to the rickety metal fire escape on the far wall. He gave it a good shake and the ladder slid down, clattering to a stop as it hit the floor.

"Up we go!" he said cheerily. That grin had probably never left his face the whole time they were running.

Ritchie sighed. More climbing in heels… She'd definitely have to look into getting some sensible but still sexy shoes. "You first."

He obviously didn't need telling twice – he bounded all the way up the fire escape like it was effortless. Ritchie's shoes may have affected her balance somewhat but her experience in free running meant she was able to make her way to the roof of the building almost as fast as Izaya had.

Once she was up there she knew the game was over. She was right; they'd lost Shizuo a while back. The adrenaline was still pumping through her body. She couldn't help herself – she suddenly started to laugh. Crazy as the situation was, this was the most fun she'd had in ages.

Izaya didn't seem at all bothered by her little outburst. He was too busy balancing on the edge of the rooftop and surveying the city. As if it was his city.

"Hey," said Ritchie loudly. She hadn't forgotten that before the crazy escape he'd been neatly dodging all of her questions. She wasn't going anywhere until she got at least one real answer.

He turned to face her expectantly. "Yes?"

"I still want some explanations," Ritchie persisted. "I wanna know how you found out when I was working, how you knew I'd been hiding from Shizuo last week and how you even knew who I was in the first place. And I want the truth this time. Not your backwash excuses."

Izaya sighed theatrically and hopped back down from the railing. He walked over to her, the usual smile on his face. "It's quite simple really… You told me yourself."

Ritchie raised her eyebrows. Was she really supposed to buy that? "New choice."

Izaya's smile widened at the repeat of the phrase she'd used earlier. "There is no other choice. I'm serious."

"I've only met you once before and I really don't recall telling you any of that," said Ritchie, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"You're a smart girl. I'm sure you can figure it out," said Izaya, still not giving anything away.

Ritchie frowned. She was genuinely confused. She tried to think who would have known her shifts this week. And who she'd told about Shizuo. The only people she could think of was Sei – the last time they'd met up – and her other penpal Kanra. Wait… The penpal that she'd never met… The penpal who had been happy to instant message and text her almost every day but had always dodged the opportunity to meet up…

Ritchie stared at Izaya in disbelief as everything clicked into place. "You're Kanra? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Izaya looked positively delighted. "See? I knew you could figure it out!"

Ritchie couldn't have cared less that she'd met his expectations. She was too outraged. "You told me you were a girl! I've been talking to you this whole time believing that!"

"Ahh. You shouldn't believe everything that people tell you online, Ritchie-chan," said Izaya in a mocking tone.

"Don't call me that!" protested Ritchie. "Where the hell do you get off on pretending to be a girl?"

"Would you have trusted me if you'd known I wasn't?" Izaya pointed out.

"Well no…" said Ritchie, feeling increasingly annoyed at herself. He'd just said that she was a smart girl but she was actually very stupid. She didn't like talking to guys online – they were only ever after one thing. Talking to girls gave her a false sense of security. Instead she should never have trusted anyone online. Izaya was right there. He was fucking proof of it.

He could obviously see her frustration. "I didn't mean to deceive you," he said, though he didn't sound particularly sorry about it. He sounded more like he was just plain enjoying himself. "But you probably wouldn't be here now if I hadn't."

Ritchie bit her lip. It was true. She'd grown up in a quiet little town called Nerima, not too far from here. It was impossible to have much of a social life in Nerima and the basis of Ritchie's had been spent online, making penpals. It was a life she'd hated and she'd always been desperate for more. For the hustle and bustle of a big city.

Sei and Kanra had been her closest penpals. Both were from Ikebukuro and the encouragement from the two of them had been what had convinced Ritchie to move there too.

She really wasn't thrilled to have discovered that one of these people had actually been a guy just totally playing her. But she was glad that her choice to move here hadn't just been because of the person she'd known as Kanra. Sei had played an equal part in it too. And Ritchie knew that she could trust Sei at least. They'd met up many times since she'd got here and they'd gotten to be even closer friends in person.

So the situation wasn't really all bad, right? Though regardless, whichever way you looked at it, Ritchie was still pissed at being lied to.

"I honestly don't know whether I should thank you or hit you," Ritchie confessed, still glaring at him. Izaya laughed and she held up a hand before he could say anything. "I'll pass on both for now if you tell me why you wanted to get me here in the first place."

"Isn't it obvious? When it comes to the things we want you and I are a lot alike," said Izaya, leaning in close to her. "I encouraged you to move here because I figured you'd be a lot of fun."

Their faces were only inches apart. Ritchie couldn't tell if he was trying to be sexual, intimidating or if he just had no regards for people's personal space. She had a feeling it was probably the latter. Whichever it was she stood her ground and didn't move away.

"So how did you even know to talk to me?" she asked. That was the one she was most confused about.

"I didn't," said Izaya simply. "Don't flatter yourself; you weren't the only girl I started talking to."

Ritchie flushed with anger. Flatter herself? What the hell was he trying to imply? "Excuse me?"

Izaya just laughed at her reaction. "There's no need to get angry. Don't you see? The only reason I bothered speaking to all of those people was just so that I could find at least one human who interested me. Then, by a stroke of luck, I found you. And you are definitely my idea of interesting."

Ritchie stared at him. She wasn't sure if she was flattered or if she was insulted that she was just part of some weird experiment. "Lucky me," she said sarcastically.

Izaya seemed oblivious to her sarcasm. He was too wrapped up in his own crazy little idea. "So what do you think? Do you wanna hang out more often?"

The words sounded all wrong coming from him. Sinister, almost. They were more like what you'd hear a teenage boy suggesting to his high school crush. Ritchie highly doubted that was the case here. "Define hang out."

Izaya spread his arms wide. He seemed to have a habit of gesturing a lot as he spoke. "Why, whatever you like! I know you crave excitement and that's what my life's all about!" He gave her a twisted smile. The smile of a super villain. "It's almost as if we were made to be together."

If it hadn't have been for the total lack of sincerity in his tone the words could have sounded like a dating proposal. As it was, it couldn't have been further from it. It was more like being offered a deal from Satan.

"Rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong, right?" quoted Ritchie, her voice still keeping the sarcastic edge. Sarcasm was her best defence and she'd learnt to never drop your guard around people you'd consider dangerous. Nobody else could have fit the description more.

Izaya just grinned at her. He gave no indication as to whether or not he even understood the Grease quote. To be honest it would have been pretty weird if he did. "So do you feel like forming an alliance?"

"Now that sounds more like it!" exclaimed Ritchie suddenly. Izaya looked a little taken aback by her change of tune. Ritchie had a feeling he was the kind of person that wasn't easy to surprise. Score one brownie point for her. "The whole 'meant to be together' line sounded a little too flowery for me." She gestured quotation marks with her fingers.

"So you don't feel like becoming my new best friend?" Izaya mocked.

"If that means pinky promises and braiding each other's hair then no thanks," said Ritchie.

Izaya's grin widened. "Fine. No silly teenage vows and no hairdressing sessions. How about spirited pillow fights in our underwear?"

Ritchie fought the urge to smile. That was more the kind of line she was used to. "Not happening."

Izaya gave an overdramatic sigh and closed his eyes. "Well I suppose I can make do with just chasing after the secret goings-on of Ikebukuro's underworld…" He opened one eye and smirked at her. "What do you think?"

This was another moment where Ritchie should have just cut her losses and walked away. But she couldn't. Not now. No force on earth could have made her resist her temptation for danger and excitement. She'd just had her first real taste of exhilaration running through the back streets of Ikebukuro. She wanted that feeling again. Izaya Orihara was possibly the only person that could offer her that. How could she say no to the fire of dancing with the devil?

"I think I can live with that too," said Ritchie, her lips curving up into her own wicked grin. It was nothing compared to Izaya's of course, but it had certainly sent plenty of guys running in the past.

"Like an angel fallen from grace," Izaya commented poetically, recognising Ritchie's own dark side. "I was right. This is going to be fun."