Rainy Day Cafe [Izaya/Open]

[Izaya Orihara]

The loud hiss of rain could be heard over the hum and bubble of the various coffee and espresso machines each time the door of the small cafe was opened. As the ever-familiar jingle of the cafe's entry bell rang for the umpteenth time that afternoon, the long and slender pale fingers of Izaya Orihara wrapped around the handle of his steaming coffee mug and raised it to his lips. He sipped the liquid slowly and thoughtfully, enjoying the bitter taste of the unsweetened tea as he moved his chin to rest in the palm of his free hand.

Bored red eyes watched as people scurried in and out, pulling their jackets closer around themselves or creating makeshift umbrellas from newspapers and magazines. It was amazing to the informant just how creative humans could be when they wanted to avoid something. He couldn't help but wonder how different they would be if they put as much effort into the things that needed to be done, no matter how boring or tedious the task. Of course, the human races flaws were also what made it so interesting. Imagining them as anything close to perfection bored the informant. Perfection was hardly entertaining.

Tearing his gaze away from the window, he leaned against the back of his small two-person booth in the corner and focused his attention on the small slice of cake in front of him. It was an unusual choice of snack; he didn't particularly enjoy the taste of foods with a high amount of sugar in them. However, he found himself ignoring that rule whenever he would relax and enjoy his people watching from inside this particular cafe. It was made of a pale shortcake with a thin layer of whip-cream between the two layers and a very light layer of whipped frosting and a strawberry sitting on the top. The informant placed a bite in his mouth and absently twirled the fork between the fingers of his right hand as the left reached for his mobile as a message alert went off.

"Oh...?" The name on the screen made the informant smile in amusement; he had never expected the young Raira student he'd barely known for a few weeks to use his number at all. Not that he was complaining. If the pieces of his chessboard kept in contact with him, that made them easier to keep track of. It would be a problem if they wondered away from their proper space. Even someone as talented as he regarded himself to be needed a few things to be easy. Quickly typing out a reply, he took another bite of his cake and set the phone aside, looking up just as the bell of the shop rang again.

[Lin Yamada]

Rain. No better weather than rain. Drops of water splattered against the sidewalk as people rushed to find shelter. Smaller children splashed in puddles while their mothers scolded them. Business workers held briefcases over their heads trying to keep their well-tailored suits dry. Most people brought their umbrellas out and continued walking along without a care in the world. Lin walked along the street wearing a jacket over her normal attire while keeping the jacket’s hood down. She enjoyed walks like this on the streets of Ikebukuro while rain continued to fall. Tea would be the perfect compliment for the weather.

Lin tilted her head back to stare at the sky. The storm would no doubt last for the rest of the day. Lin stopped at an intersection and waited for the light to change. Cars whizzed by, their tires flinging a spray of water into the air adding to the persistent hissing of the rain. The light changed and Lin crossed the street and headed towards the coffee shop. Lin could already see through the windows that the coffee shop was crowded. However the line moved fairly fast so there was no need to worry. The bell on the door jangled as Lin passed through the door though she always wondered why they would need a bell.

“Green tea please.” Lin said while pulling out her wallet. The employee looked at her strangely, probably because her hair was completely soaked, but Lin didn’t mind. Once she had paid, Lin stood over to the side and watched the rain outside. The coffee shop had a warm cozy feeling to it that Lin enjoyed. When Lin’s name was called she picked up her hot cup of tea. She blew on it gently before taking a sip. Truly there was nothing better than tea. Lin decided to stand out of the way of others while she enjoyed her tea. She could see an empty seat or two, but she preferred standing.

The sound of laptop keys clicking, cell phone alarms going off, people talking, and the other sounds that emanated through the shop was soothing. Lin noticed couples sitting together talking while businessmen and women were talking on phones or hooking laptops into chargers. She noticed one guy sitting by himself with a slice of cake and a hot drink sitting in a booth. He reminded her of a cat by the expression on his face. Superiority, yes that was what she got from him, or perhaps it was arrogance that could be right as well. Lin took another sip of her tea thoughtfully.

[Izaya Orihara]

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Izaya noted that he recognized the girl's face. He had seen her a few times during his various trips to Ikebukuro, once or twice out on the streets, and several times inside a bookshop that he'd ducked into for business. The informant had never talked to the girl before, but he made it a point to remember the faces he ran into more than once. It wasn't really paranoia that made him do it, or even as safety precaution, but the information was always handy to have. A familiar face was always easier to control. Easier to work into a plan when needed.

In other words, useful.

Raising the cup to his lips once more, he took a deep gulp of the liquid and met the young woman's gaze briefly, allowing the corners of his mouth to quirk upward into a small smile. It was easy to tell when someone knew who he was; the look they would give him was unmistakable. Fear was usually the first response, sometimes surprise, but this girl didn't seem to mind at all. It was all to tempting to add another piece to his chessboard, he really didn't need it. The extra pawns weren't worth the risk to his current plans right now, anyway. Even if he needed someone else, it wouldn't take much to get them. He'd much rather entertain himself with a game. After all, it was raining and he didn't have anywhere else to go.

There was no harm in a little entertainment, right?

As he set his drink back down, Izaya raised his gaze to look at the girl once more, inclining his head slightly in a standard greeting. The informant didn't bother with anything else. Instead, he brought his attention back to his phone and slid the cover up as he reviewed the latest response from the boy who'd texted him earlier. The problem itself wasn't all that interesting, or distracting, but as long as he didn't look up again, he wouldn't come off as "creepy." Not that he much cared if someone found him as such, but it was generally much harder to play with someone if they thought you were a creeper and hurried off before the game could begin.

[Lin Yamada]

The gaze of the man met Lin’s and she saw a small smile that leaned more towards a smirk. It almost seemed like he knew something she didn’t, however it wasn’t the same way an arrogant person would. No, he was definitely more of a superiority complex type. Somehow that smirk seemed a bit familiar. Lin thought back a bit, surely there weren’t that many guys like that who ran around Ikebukuro. Ah, that was right, he had been around the bookstore a few times. Of course during those times Lin had been placing books in some bookshelves. The guy would set her manger on edge a little. She never knew why. Perhaps he was involved in some of the darker bits of Ikebukuro.

His red-eyed gaze broke Lin off her train of thought. He tilted his head in greeting towards her before breaking his gaze away back to his phone. Lin could tell he wasn’t that interested in what was on his phone. She wondered if his greeting was an invite to talk to him. It was tempting, but something told her not to get involved with this guy. However Lin knew that she would probably keep thinking about it if she were to leave the coffee shop. The man didn’t look up again from his phone. Was he doing it on purpose? Lin sipped more tea and contemplated her options. The curiosity would eat at her more than regret for making a potential mistake.

While Lin’s thoughts were processing any remaining seats available had filled up. Well at least there was a plausible excuse for asking for a seat at the man’s table. She approached the table with a bit of caution. “This is some of the best weather we’ve had for a while.” Lin said absently gazing out through the window. She felt a bit awkward talking to this man since she was unsure whether or not he had invited her to walk over. Ah well she’d already made her move so there was nothing much she could do now. Perhaps if she touched upon another topic it wouldn’t be so bad. “Hopefully the rain will keep everyone indoors and we won’t see any news on Slasher attacks tomorrow.” She continued. Hopefully this was actually less awkward than she thought it was.

[Izaya Orihara]

The smirk that threatened to cover Izaya's face as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching his table was forced away almost immediately. His bait had worked even quicker than he'd originally thought it would which could only mean a small handful of things had occurred, but the informant knew where he would bet his money: curiosity. It was a simple trait that more people had than not and made it easy to gain attention when he wanted it. Still, he hadn't reached his first goal. Not just yet. It was logically to assume that she was approaching his table, as it was the only one with an open seat, but he waited regardless. He had already made the first move. Now he just needed to wait for her to make hers.

And then she spoke.

Game start.

Looking up, the raven smiled faintly and nodded, turning his gaze to the window. Outside, a man was struggling with his umbrella, which didn't seem to want to open, and straining with the effort of doing so. If he leaned forward slightly, he could just barely make out that the man's face was starting to go livid with anger. Perhaps he'd have a meltdown. That would be entertaining, but for now, his attention belonged elsewhere. The game had already started and he couldn't afford to take too much time during his move; the clock was ticking and he didn't want to run out of time.

A light laugh tumbled from Izaya's lips as he set his phone aside and looked at the girl once more, taking in her appearance subtly with a small nod. "Most people wouldn't consider this pleasant at all, but I suppose not everyone can appreciate the smaller pleasures in life." His hands moved to rest on his cup of tea, one hand on the handle, the other wrapped around the glass body. Casual and relaxed. That's all he needed. "I hear it's supposed to start storming later," a sigh, followed by a small shake of the head. "It's a shame; having the weather ruined by loud bangs and flashes of light. They're expecting power outages."

Memorizing details and facts had always been a talent of the raven's. It helped in his profession; and informant couldn't always rely on hard copies or technology to store everything they needed to know. His brain was his most valuable possession, something no one would steal away, and it was what kept him alive, working, and holding the strings of all the marionettes around him. It was slightly troublesome that he didn't know anything about the girl in front of him aside from her affiliation with the bookstore and gender, but that could be fixed easily. She'd already let him in.

Immediately he opened a 'new file' in his mind and taken a mental picture. Long brunette hair, dark eyes, slender with a paler complexion than others. She paid attention to those around her--a detail Izaya liked, she wasn't completely oblivious--and the way she carried herself eliminated timidness, but she was still slightly uneasy. Perhaps nervous was a better word. That wasn't unusual. He was a strange man, they'd never met, and he was vague in his invitation. But she'd caught it. He did like that. She liked the rain. Random, but perhaps important. And most of all, she was curious. He loved the curious ones most. Setting different types of bait and seeing where they went was always fun.

[Alice]

Alice was on her day off from work and had decided to take a walk outside. The weather looked a little dark but Alice didn't mind this, it wasn't like she could get hurt from water,now lightning that was another deal. Alice would most likely jump inside the nearest building if it started to storm. Alice prediction had started, it had started raining but nothing was as bad as thunder and lightning. Alice didn't know where she was walking, she would most likely stop at her bar or maybe go back to her apartment.

But Alice's plan was quickly changed as she saw lightning about a mile in front of her and jumped inside a Coffee shop that was filling up. Alice had been here before actual, last week too. She noticed That some Tables were filling up. while standing there when she spotted something odd for this store. It was Izaya, another member of the Dollars. Alice had worked with him before but never really talked to him much, she didn't want to talk to him for some reason, to was like he was just so full of himself that he would just treat her like some sort of servant.

Alice saw a worker start to go up to Izaya and speak to him, Alice was too far away to hear what they were saying but knew that whatever Izaya was saying, it wasn't good news for the worker. Alice went to order a drink, she doesn't drink coffee or most teat, but rather Chai Tea and that what she ordered. Alice then walked up to Izaya's table to interrupt his conversation.

"Why hello Izaya, funny to see you here. Are you troubling this kind young lady?" Alice said while standing over the table. She said this with a sort of fake smile only one so she wouldn't scare the worker here. Which is who she directed her conversation to next. " So Miss you might not know me but i think its kind to introduce yourself before starting to talk to them. I am Alice Carol, and you are?" Alice asked before a clap of thunder made her jump. Alice hated thunder and lightning, it was so rude and loud, and one of the two was deadly.

[Lin Yamada]

A laugh emitted from the man, a sign that he did intend to converse with her. The unease inside of Lin began to fade and she took another sip of her tea. A businessman outside the window finally opened his umbrella and began hurrying away. Lin noticed that the guy was looking at the businessman earlier. If she was correct about him having a superiority complex, he probably mocked the man silently. The man started to speak so Lin turned her attention to him. He now held a more relaxed now, but his eyes didn’t match. They were calculating like a cat with a mouse. “Thunderstorms aren’t that bad. The power outages would be troublesome though.” Lin replied before drinking more of her tea.

The sound of footsteps approaching footsteps alerted Lin to someone else’s presence. It was a girl, perhaps around her age with blonde hair and a bossy appearance. At a glance she looked happy to see… Izaya? However her eyes weren’t smiling, rather they were uneasy, possibly dislike. Did this guy really make everyone uncomfortable? Perhaps he really was involved in some underground business. A rumble of thunder broke through the pattering of rain. The blonde girl, Alice Carol, jolted revealing her dislike for it. “I guess the storm came sooner than expected.” Lin said glancing at Izaya.

There was a slight problem that Lin did not entirely want to deal with. If this man was part of shady businesses around Ikebukuro she didn’t really want to reveal too much about herself. Of course it wasn’t like she was borrowing money from loan sharks or anything, but still caution was required. A name was required of her though now that the blonde girl had directly asked her and was bold enough to state her own in full. Perhaps showing that she couldn’t be touched? That she was in a high position in the world that was under the radar? Names were powerful things and if given without care dangerous. Lin took a sip of her tea and savored its delicate flavor. “Everyone just calls me Lin. Nothing really formal or special.” A first name hopefully was satisfactory to Alice.

Now that she thought of it, Lin remembered seeing the girl before. In fact, Alice was a regular customer of the bookstore. Lin even remembered ringing up the girl’s purchase a few times. Most of the books she chose were fantasy unless Lin remembered incorrectly. She wondered if Alice recognized her. Perhaps or perhaps not, each person remembered different details of their lives. A flash of lightning streaked across the sky and more thunder boomed a few moments afterwards. Hopefully there wouldn’t be a power outage while they were in the coffee shop.

[Izaya Orihara]

[OOC: I would like to apologise in advance if this post makes no sense at all. I went to bed at 2:30 in the morning and was woken up at five in the bloody morning because someone thought it'd be a brilliant idea to start banging on the front door. So, in short, I'm exhausted and I have this bizarre thing about me where, once someone wakes me up, I can't just fall back asleep until night again.]

When Alice approached the table, Izaya's lips instantly twisted into a frown. He really didn't like it when people interrupted his games, but he wouldn't let himself be deterred. After all, as long as he played his cards right, all would be well and he'd leave the shop the winner in the end. After all, he was a master at these games, there was no way he could lose so easily. Especially not to a stranger and someone he barely knew.

Smiling, he nodding politely in the newcomers direction and smiled, "Alice... good afternoon." His tea was returned to his lips as he carefully observed the two greeting one another. He would admit, his annoyance had flared slightly when Alice approached the table, but it didn't show on his face. Minor complications were something he was used to. He didn't get where he was in life by panicking at every little set-back. He knew how to hide his true emotions and intentions well, how to say the right thing. It was simple.

After all, he was innocent in this game. All he wanted was to talk to this person he'd seen so many times but didn't know. No hard there.

"You know... most people would be offended if someone approached their table and suddenly started accusing them of things." Taking another sip of his drink, the informant vaguely noted that it was halfway empty. The clock was ticking faster than he would have liked, but he'd already taken the lead. It didn't matter in the slightest. He'd just earned himself a bonus prize.

Alice Carol was afraid of thunder, hm? The information was basic at most, he still planned on keeping it stored away. Who knew when it would be useful. The raven's annoyance with her had faded slightly as his attention moved back to the girl he now knew as Lin. Well, it saved him the trouble of asking for it. That was nice.

"It would be troublesome," he mused in response to their earlier discussion. "I can't imagine that it would be good for business if the cafe had to close early. Everyone seems so... cozy. Rainy days must make them a lot of money."

Glancing at the chair Lin had taken to standing by, he nodded at it and waited for a moment before speaking. "Please, sit... I did invite you over here." He didn't bother invite nor send Alice away with the offer. It was her choice if she wanted to stay or not; either way, he'd gotten what he'd originally wanted and then some. All that was left now to collect his bonus. Check, he thought. All I need now is to close in on the King.

[Da Repo]

(( OoC:: Just a warning, I'm very sorry about the long wall of text, I'll try to make my replies shorter ; -; don't hurt me~ ))

Ah what a... horrendously charming and downright awful day to make business! He loved the weather; don’t get him wrong, he enjoyed nice rainy days like these. But just not in his job. Actually that was contradicting. He loved the weather helped him get away “lower” with his job, he hated the fact he had to wait like some cat in the rain for his business calls, now that made him churn. He was a black marketer! Not a soaked and sorry looking cat at someone’s door steps! For the awful love of God, when was that man going to get here. The man stood outside the subway stations entrance. Waiting under an umbrella, he slightly frowned as through closed slits he saw the crowds go back and forth through the rain. Lovely weather, made the streets look darker than they were. Flipping open his mobile the small adornment that hung out of a corner, that just seemed odd for a man of his age to have a small anime figure hanging from his phone, much less with a bell. He received few odd stares because of his tiny charm. Shrugging them away they knew nothing about the “Pretty Sailor Scouts!” Yes the twenty nine year old watched anime still and was quite the fanatic of some bisho anime series. Besides he didn’t bug in another life why should they?

Closing the mobile in a snap, as a rather defined figured woman stood in font him she was backed up by one gruff man, assuming this was his client and her body guard. He smiled as he took to courtesy bowing his head a bit. A smile spread quickly on his lips as the woman did the same, cringing his nose a bit as the woman’s bosoms bounced a bit with her movements. He hated underground women, they all looked the same. He liked the nice and simple not as arrogant stiff eye candy, but work was work. And his beloved “Melon Mini-Mart” Was currently under one of his trusted men’s guard so he had nothing to worry about.

“Tankai-San, I presume right?” The green haired male asked, his voice had the charismatic charm in it, even if it sounded a bit off with his look slightly deep but never squeaking, it was rather soothing to hear his voice at times, it said tone wasn’t pissed off that is. “You presume right, Ingawa, correct?” The woman scuffed. Where were her formalities? Mentally rolling his eyes at the woman’s so called tough attitude. “Yes that would be Inagawa-san” implying a bit on the formality the woman she tapped her foot and ignored him “I don’t have time for formalities Inagawa, we’re here to talk business, NOT! To get acquainted” She snapped rather sassy like at the elder man. Popping open one of his eyes a golden hue locked down at the shorter woman, narrowing it slightly in displease as he frowned slightly his smile turned upside down. He didn’t mind cocky women, but this cocky were over his limit. “Tanaki-San… Formalities are a must anywhere, get that through, and if you’re going to deal with me you’ll do it as I say, if you don’t… I can always drop the negotiations and leave you stranded without the merchandise. I have the power in this game Tanaki-San… So let’s keep that straight, formalities with me are a must. I don’t care how you treat your petty dogs you will treat me with respect.” Yuichi hissed venomously snapping his eyes closed as he registered the woman’s shock. A smile plagued his features once again. “Very well Tanaki-San we’ll be going to a small cozy café, there we’ll talk, follow me… I also don’t have time to waste with others.” He simply chirped as he began to walk to the café.

Receiving odd stares and mumbled every now and then of his way of dressing, he was after all in a job he had to dress differently it was a code for those that wanted to contact him. The way they could target him down. Since the cops had an eye on him they had sent a few undercover and clone of him before, catching some of his costumers. So to avoid problem he followed a dress protocol. Wearing a simple black suit with a white shirt underneath, short brown gloves, and brown steel-toed shoes. He dons a pair of black trousers held up by two brown belts. And completed the outfit with a black fedora hat to close the shady visage. It gave him only a shadier look but if they asked. He was a simple traveler from Italy, and made the Italian accent to boost his act. Besides he was charismatic enough to pass as some traveling merchant from some other country and people were wonderfully slow enough at times that took the bait and didn’t continue with him. Even though a small group of school girls asked if he was from sort of Sicilian Mafia or Italian Mafia once, he of course only hinted such a thing to play with them. What he had free time that day.

It took him perhaps fifteen minutes or less, he didn’t keep track of that, to get to the café. Frowning slightly the café was filled to the rim. The woman behind him clicked her teeth a bit. “What we’re doing it there?!” she screeched. “Shimmer down, we’ll talk there, and your to keep it down Tanaki-San, unless you want unwanted attention on yourself I’d advise to keep it normal. Now let’s move” Yuichi’s responded, this woman was working his nerves. As he opened the door a small jingle of a bell sounded “Leave your brute behind, I don’t like other ears” The woman did as said but she seemed I the least bit pleased because of this. As he pointed to one of the tables far from the main door the ones that were back against the wall he signaled for her to go take seat there. “Hmm… let’s see I’ll have a milk tea and for the lady coffee.” “Right away sir!” Yuichi took his wallet out taking out the exact about as the register told him how much did he owe. In his wallet he had a salad of yen’s, dollars and much more Euros. All this to continue his play, he was careful. As he talked to the register girl he implied the Italian accent. Smiling and tanking her as he took his order and left the register. Swaying past tables he reached was Tanaki was sitting. Settling down on his own. The woman was completely in a bad mood. Sighing he took out a folder from his coat placing on the table pushing it to her. “Your order Tanaki-San, I believe that is it right?” “Yes this is it, how much time?” “Two weeks tops” “Any problems?” “ Tanaki-San… I know what I do.” “Hmp… Very well, the place where we’ll pick it up is behind the artist’s fountain… you know the place.” “Yes I’m familiar with this place. Very well Tanaki-San two weeks.” “Fine, until then Inagawa…. San” Taking her purse and the folder the woman left as she came taking her coffee.

Yuichi simply frowned as he took to sipping his warm tea, his eyes followed as the woman left. Flipping his mobile open, he looked at the time; he had a good thirty minutes to waste before he had to move to his job. So he would enjoy it, taking a slim book typed in English he took to reading it, he loved how American writers had this sway with words at times.

[Masaomi Kida]

(( Lol due to conversations im gonna burn this cookie stand and expand out a bit so i modified my post and will be making a new thread = 3 = ))

The patter of the rain was wonderful, the loud thunderous call filling the emptying streets but it was obvious it wouldnt completely empty infact that was almost completely impossible. Masaomi ran in the rain feeling the light pebbles of water whipping against his cheeks; he'd have to admit it felt really nice the cool touch was relaxing against his warm skin. The hood to his sweater under his uniform was pulled over his head already soaked and dripping from the hem it was a wonder why the blonde kept the hood up since it didnt seem to do any good anyways. Kida stopped at the light cross walk and looked to see just what was on the other side of the road his hand placed against the red button to switch the light, which fusteratingly seemed to be taking a lot longer then he hoped for. "come on! come on!" he chanted urgingly to the inanimate object.

It was then that he noticed him. it wasnt like he hated the informant it was more so that he despised him in a 'ill put up with you' way; if that made any sense at all, But masaomi wasn't as much concerned with izaya as he was to the girl that sat with him. "what are you up to now?" he mummbled to himself his brown hues stuck on the two at the window seat he hardly noticed the other girl that stood by them right away and when he did it wasnt hard for kida to figure she wasnt any good news either by the way she locked her eyes on izaya and turned to talk to the 'victim' he'd claimed.

The teen crossed the road quickly when the light flashed walk, he could already feel his boots filled with water from all the puddles he ran through splashing. Kida slowed down as he walked into the cafe doing his best to be off 'his' radar, but of course that didnt stop masaomi from greeting the people he knew as he normally would. 'just ignore him...pay no mind' he noted to himself thoughtfully as he gave his wide friendly grin to the employee who he must have met sometime by the way he laughed and started talking a storm about how long it had been since kida had been in there and what had been happening during his absence; he felt a little apologetic that he didnt remember the guy the slightest even after reading his name tag but allowed himself be pulled into the conversation non the less and was a bit surprised he didnt have to even say what he wanted since he got it right on.

After his friendly conversation he sat himself at a window seat staring out at the partly flooding streets from all the rain, his eyes still lit up with the friendly air he held when he talked to people around him as he sipped at his hot coffee beverage the smell of vanilla caramel filling his senses the taste even more wonderful tasting more of a sweet vanilla creme then a hard coffee. Enjoying the warmth of the cup in his hands he tuned himself to catch izaya's voice hoping to catch what that sly 'cat' was up to but before he could even settle down in his seat his phone gave a gentle hum of vibration. "oh?" he acknowledged gently before he stood and turnned on his heel reading the text he walked himself to the door he would pay mind to izaya later right now he wouldnt mind himself with the imformant as he would lead himself out of the cafe tossing the full cup away figuring it wouldnt do much good walking in the rain with it.

[Lin Yamada]

Annoyance, it was brief, but still it flashed in the man’s eyes. Perhaps he didn’t like Alice in the same way Alice did not like him. How did they know each other anyway? They didn’t seem to be friends; maybe they were co-workers or something. Izaya’s reply to Alice’s accusation revealed little except his tone implied he was used to being accused in this fashion. Lin took a larger gulp of tea; she could feel her cup getting cooler. Room temperature tea never tasted good. Now that she thought of it, if Izaya was part of underground of Ikebukuro then was Alice part of it as well? Sub-consciously Lin started to rub her forefinger and thumb together while contemplating this.

A green-haired man entered the coffee shop with a ruffled looking woman. It was Yuichi Inagawa unless there were more tall guys with green hair. Lin shopped at the store he owned, Melon Mini-Mart, frequently since she lived close by it. Yuichi was also a frequent visitor of the bookstore as well. He was a nice guy, but had his own secrets. Lin figured he also ran a side business that wasn’t strictly speaking legal. More than once she had seen a shady guy or two inside or outside the mini-mart. Ah well it wasn’t really that important. It wouldn’t be her fault if he were arrested one day.

Izaya’s answer to her previous statement brought Lin back on topic. Lin nodded and took another sip of tea. A nod from Izaya brought her attention to the empty chair at the table. Although Lin was perfectly fine with standing she still slid into the seat and tucked one ankle behind the other. “How do you two know each other?” Lin asked glancing from Izaya to Alice and back. It was a casual question and one that wasn’t suspicious by any means. Hopefully Lin wouldn’t be insulting either of them by asking. What sort of business were these two involved in?

A blonde boy entered the coffee shop. He wore a Raira Academy uniform although it was currently soaked. Lin had seen him on the streets before talking with his friends. He seemed to be very happy right now, but Lin sensed something was a little off. Before she knew it the boy left in a rush; odd, but not too unusual for a high school student. Lin remembered when she was in high school she would have to rush to certain places.

[Izaya Orihara]

[I'll be bowing out of this thread; hopefully all of you will stay. I'm glad all the new members are getting along so nicely~<3 Please continue this, don't mind me. Ah, but don't be too cruel to Izaya after he leaves. ;D He wasn't actually planning anything... this time.]

Swallowing a rather large gulp of tea, a pleasant smile worked it's way onto Izaya's lips as he glanced at Alice. He was never under the impression that the girl liked him, but her tendency for manners rarely seemed to expand to him. Most people in Ikebukuro wouldn't dare call him out or accuse him of something without any evidence, and even then, the bulk of them lacked the courage to do it. He was powerful, he knew it and so did the people of the city. "Dangerous" was the only word to describe him once someone got on his bad side.

But this really wasn't the time for revenge. Revenge was such an ugly word; he'd play with Alice later. Now everyone knew that he didn't take well to accusations. He'd just have to give her a lesson.

"Work," he answered Lin casually, finishing off what was left of his tea. "We... worked together once, I suppose you could say. If you'd call it that."

Calling it worked seemed a stretch. If anything, it was pure coincidence. Izaya had a number of connections within the underground and their meeting had been pure chance. She happened to work for a client who had sought out his help. Nothing more. It wasn't a formal meeting, and Alice had been the one he was supposed to take his information to once he'd gathered it. After that... nothing. Not beyond seeing each other on a street a few times. And it given it was Ikebukuro, seeing someone more than once wasn't all that uncommon.

"It was only once, I barely remember it." A lie, but neither of them knew that, nor did they need to know. If there was one thing Izaya was good at, it was lying. There were only two people who ever had any hope of telling if he was lying or not; one of them was inhuman, and the other didn't bother talking with him much, the message was usually clear with the size of the object that was thrown at him.

The crowd of people in the store was slowly starting to become too much for him. Too many people at once always made the informant a little uneasy. It was harder to slip out of a crowd that was focusing on him. "If you'll excuse me..." he stood up and drained the rest of his drink completely. "I have work related matters to attend to. It was a pleasure to meet you, Lin. Hopefully... we'll see each other again."

Not bothering to wait for a response, he left the remainder of his cake on the table and stood up, grabbing his phone on the way. He deposited the mug he'd been drinking from in the dish bin and kept going, slipping out the front door as a particularly loud boom filled the area and caused the lights of the cafe to flicker. Normally, he would have turned around to enjoy the reaction of someone he'd just learned was afraid of such things, but after such a quick exit, it only seemed to make sense for him to follow through.

Tugging up his hood, he stepped out into the rain without a care in the world. It didn't matter if he left early. He'd gotten what he'd wanted. Checkmate.