Chapter 10: Picking Up A Stray Cat

                                    

                                          
Kida and I spent our 3 hours playing carnival games and going on pretty much every ride except the roller coasters and the ferris wheel. Kida had complained that the ferris wheel was a place couples go and I had agreed it would be a little awkward. So he suggested going into the haunted house. I didn't really want to go in, but I couldn't bring myself to say no because of the roller coaster thing, so I went along with it. 
                          
I guess Kida thought he could be the "brave guy" while I screamed and clung to him, but Kida got scared too. In the end, we both ran out of the haunted house as fast as we could. Overall, the whole trip was really fun. 
                          
The next day passed normally, but the day after that was different. I was sitting in a cafe trying to decide what kind of job I should get. I didn't want something too stressful, but I didn't really want to be stuck in a boring job either. Ah! I can join Shizuo and Tanaka! Or... maybe not. 
                          
"What's wrong? You looked stressed."
                          
I froze and then looked up. "I-Izaya?! What are you doing here?"
                          
"I'm eating, obviously." Izaya smirked and held up a pastry as if it made his point. "Sorry. I saw you sitting here alone and I couldn't resist." 
                          
"Couldn't resist what?"
                          
"Sitting next to you, of course." Izaya said, as if it were obvious.
                          
I sighed. "What do you want?"
                          
"Well, we haven't been formally introduced. Not since you lied to me about your name. So I wanted to try it again and maybe hang out a little." 
                          
A blank slate? I mean, it didn't sound like a bad idea. 
                          
Izaya smiled as if he could read my thoughts. "I'm Izaya Orihara. What's your name?"
                          
I didn't know whether to play along or call him out on his bullshit. "Um. I'm Hikaru Misae." I said. "Nice to meet you...?"
                          
"Good enough." Izaya said passively. 
                          
"Is there any point in this?" I asked.
                          
"Didn't I already say I wanted to hang out with you?" Izaya asked. You said 'maybe' hang out! I glared at Izaya. Figures he'd do something like this. "So what's on your schedule for today? I'm bored and there's no one else to hang out with."
                          
"My schedule is nothing that concerns you. Go bother someone else." I said.
                          
"You do realize that 'someone' would be Shizuo, right? You don't want me bothering him, do you? I honestly don't want to cause you too much trouble. I'm just bored." Izaya said. "I want a good friend to hang out with."
                          
"Oh, so we're friends now." I said. "That's greeaat." My voice was dripping with obvious sarcasm, but Izaya just smiled politely. I sighed. This was pointless. "Promise you're not planning anything?"
                          
"You're the one with the plans. I'm just along for the ride." Izaya said.
                          
I sighed. "Fine. Tag along." I said. He would probably follow me anyways.
                          
Izaya smirked. "I knew you'd say that." 
                          
Of course he did.
                          


                          
I didn't actually have any plans besides job hunting, but there was no way I would let Izaya come along with me and know where I was possibly going to work. I decided to put it off for a day and make stuff up since Izaya was here. We ended up going to the movies together and wandering around stores. It was surprisingly fun hanging out with Izaya. When he wasn't trying to manipulate you or threatening you, he was actually a decent guy.
                          
It was around 7pm when things finally started to wind down. Shops started to close, the sun started to set. It was dangerous to walk alone at night, especially with Izaya Orihara at your side. But I could handle it.
                          
"Hey Izaya? I know it's not the best time to bring this up, but I recall you sending some guys after me about a week ago. Why did you do that?" I asked.
                          
"You and Shizu-chan looked like you got along pretty well. It's hard for Shizuo to make friends, you know. A guy like him is so monstrous almost no one want to hang around him."
                          
My eyes narrowed at Izaya. The brunette seemed to notice and eased off the topic.
                          
"I thought it was weird for him to have a cute girl like you around, so I thought I'd try and figure out why he likes you."
                          
Now I was confused. "You sent people to try and beat me up... because you wanted to know why Shizuo and I are friends?"
                          
"Heh. Pretty much."
                          
"That's so stupid!" I exclaimed. "Obviously if you're nice to Shizuo and not scared of him then it's easy to become friends with him." Well I didn't really have a right to say stuff like that. Even though we were friends, Shizuo still scared me when he got really angry. I hated watching him fight because he wasn't himself anymore. And the thought of Shizuo not really being Shizuo was scary.
                          
"No, actually. It's not." Izaya said. "Many people have tried to act kindly towards him to get him to do favors, but Shizuo always notices and loses his temper with them. And even if you're not trying to use him, you might annoy him and make him snap. He's hard to please." Izaya said.
                          
I frowned. "It's not that hard." I said, but as much as I hated to admit it, Izaya was actually right. You couldn't be too smart and logical like Izaya, but you couldn't be annoying or ask stupid questions. Talking too much was out of the question, but sitting in silence wasn't good either. Not only did it depend on you ability to balance these things, it also depended on Shizuo's mood and how close he was to you in the first place.
                          
"You know I'm right." Izaya said with absolute certainty.
                          
I rolled my eyes. We walked in silence for a while. It wasn't awkward. We both were analyzing each other. "It's getting late. I should head back home." I said.
                          
"Alright. I'll walk you back to the cafe we met at. It's close to your house right?" Izaya said. 
                          
"...okay." It was a little weird, but Izaya was weird in the first place. At least he wasn't trying to figure out where I lived. Or maybe he was. I had no idea what he was thinking, to be honest. Everything is just guessing when it comes to him. 
                          
"Can we talk about you for a while?" Izaya asked.
                          
"Oh. Uh..." That was a strange request. He probably just wanted information for his collection. "I guess."
                          
"Excellent. Do you have any hobbies?" Izaya asked immediately.
                          
"Well, I like writing," fanfiction "reading," manga "sleeping, eating, playing on the computer, and..." watching anime "yeah." I finished lamely.
                          
"Hmm. You like many non-materialistic things." Izaya mused. "You're a thinker. A dreamer. A creator." Izaya smirked all of a sudden. "I'm quite the opposite. I destroy things. I like tangible thing, like humans and board games. But I also like their dreams, feelings, and ideals. Yours in particular interest me most."
                          
"Uh...thanks?" I asked. At that moment Izaya stopped walking. I was confused until I realized I didn't know where we were. He distracted me with questions?! Was this why he offered to walk me back? I should have been paying attention. I let my guard down. 
                          
"You..." I didn't know what to say. Liar, trash, creep.
                          
"Sorry, Haru-chan~" Izaya smirked. "I'm not letting you leave me just yet. We're not done talking."