Of Manga and Coffee Shops

[unicornhunter]

Erika giggled as Kida tried to guess what she did for a living. Awwww, he was so sweet.

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I make jewelry and sell it. It's pretty freelance." And doesn't really pay a lot, but she makes enough to feed herself, once it's combined with what Walker, Kadota, and Togusa make.

She picked a table near a window and took the chair on the left. That way the side of her body with her bag hanging off of it was to the window/wall and safe from pickpockets. She didn't think Kida was a pickpocket, oh no. She just wanted to make it harder for passerby to do so.

"What about you? Are you in school or working?"

[Deleted]

Wow, a jewelry maker! Not quite as glamorous as the other jobs mentioned, but such a necessity that he definitely was impressed. It took a lot of smarts and skill to make jewelry and an artistic eye to make sure that it looked good, on top of everything else. She was exercising both sides of the brain, and Kida liked that, a lot.

"Eh, I'm actually in school," he admitted, blushing. "Just on the final stretch until I get to take an exam to a really awesome academy." That was not a lie, not in the least, he heard Raira was pretty good from one of his boys, so he decided that he'd go, even if that guy wouldn't be his sempai. You had to graduate eventually. "But back to you. Maybe you can make something cool for me. Like an ear cuff maybe?" He showed his left ear, where he had gotten a nicked by this psycho with a switchblade a few weeks ago. Admittedly, Kida got the jump on him and eventually got him to stop lurking around his warehouse like the sketchy individual he was, but that didn't necessarily mean he liked to advertise it.

"Something to hide this, maybe? Mikado is getting a computer if he aces his finals, which he will, because Mikado's super smart, so I figure we can chat on webcam or something and I don't want him thinking I'm picking fights I can't win."

[unicornhunter]

Oh, so he'd be graduating high school soon! That was a bit younger than she thought he was, but no matter! (Also, it wasn't like she was planning on dating him or having a love nest with him or anything. So it didn't really matter all that much, right?)

She leaned forward to get a better look at Kida's ear. She reached up and gently moved the ear closer. "Yeah, I can make something like that for you. Anything special or just your typical ear cuff?"

She let go of his ear and sat back into her chair. At that point, the waitress came over and handed them the menu. Erika smiled at her and took the menu.

Erika wasn't going to ask how the cut on his ear happened. It was none of her business, and she didn't want him prying too much into her business, either. The less she said about the Blue Squares to people she didn't know, the better. Though it wasn't really the Blue Squares she was loyal to. It was Kadota, who happened to be in the Blue Squares. That was the only reason she was a part of them, really, but she was still a Square. And she had the worries and concerns of all the others, regardless of her level of loyalty to them.

[Deleted]

Kida grinned broadly, tilting his head to give her a better look at the cut. "Anything made by a pretty girl is something special, don't you know that?" He did decide to put some thought into this, though. His folks back home didn't know he's gotten his ears pierced in the first place, much less that the minute he turns sixteen he's finding a tattoo artist that is willing to do minors and getting a few that he's wanted forever. "I kind of like simple looks, though, nothing really too fancy. But you know, I'm the only one who is going to have a pair of these, so I might as well make them something everyone else would want, ne?"

He snickered, mostly to himself, looking over the menus as well. For a minute, he thought he saw that she had a curious look in her eyes, but was hesitating on asking. Artisans tended to not like hearing about gangs, right? It went against their very nature.

...ooh. Chocolate turnovers. That sounded amazing. That's what he wanted.

"Hey. I don't want you thinking I'm picking fights I can't handle either. You see, there was just some weirdo running around in a fur parka that was creeping around my place, and so I did what anyone did and chased him off. I know that sounds really uncouth, but I do like my privacy every once in a while and he was invading it. Have you ever had the chocolate turnovers here? I think they'd taste great with orange spice tea."

He smiled at her. Hopefully, this didn't make him come off as sketchy. Well, he probably already was, picking her up at a manga shop, but that didn't really mean anything.

[unicornhunter]

Erika smiled and nodded. "Yeah, the chocolate turnovers sound great! But I'm gonna get this chocolate chip cookie sundae thing. Just so we don't get the same thing. We can share!"

She leaned back in her chair, though, as she thought about the mention of a fur parka.

"Did he have reddish eyes and a weasel-like smirk on his face? Because that might've been Izaya Orihara. He's pretty infamous in Ikebukuro in . . . certain circles. Wonder what he was doing hanging around your place...."

If he asked her how she knew Izaya, she'd just tell the truth and say that she had a friend who had gone to high school with him. Which was true. Izaya and she, though they have seen each other around, hadn't actually really talked to each other. Sure, there was the occasional "hello" when he'd come to bug Kadota, and he's where she got her nickname for Kadota, but aside from that, she had had very little interaction with Izaya.

Though she did know that Ran and Izaya really didn't like each other, and that tended to cause some problems amongst the Blue Squares.... Izaya knew how to fight dirty, that's for sure.

[Deleted]

Reddish eyes? How was he supposed to know what color the bastard's eyes were? That's just hilarious on so many levels. When you fight someone, you're not watching their eyes.

Of course, mentioning this to Erika implied that he was looking for the fight, which he wasn't -- well, that guy Horada was, but that was honestly beside the point. Kida just wanted that guy out of his warehouse and far away from him. Who knew what the man was planning.

"Izaya Orihara, huh...So that's what the guy's name was. I'll have to keep it in mind. It was over as fast as it could begin, so I never bothered looking him in the face. I'd probably recognize him if I saw him, though."

That part wasn't a lie. He'd recognize that weaselly smile from a mile away, that condescending tone as he asked if he was really serious about fighting him.

He wanted to wipe that smug look off of his face.

[unicornhunter]

The waitress came back with their tea and to get their orders. Once she had gone away again, Erika nodded. "Yeah, Izaya really stands out once you've gotten to know him. Even if it's in a knife fight." Erika herself didn't have any qualms about Kida thinking she got herself into trouble a few times. Even if he did think she was the type to get into fights, there was no way he'd accurately guess what she and Walker did for . . . well, she supposed the right word was "fun," even though that made her and Walker sound much worse than they actually were. They didn't enjoy tormenting good people. Just bad people. And that was an important difference....

There should probably be a change in conversation topic now.

"So what are you planning on studying in school?"

[Deleted]

Kida definitely noticed the subject change. How could he not? She had done it in the most obvious way. It sounded to him like this Izaya person had made himself a nuisance to a very pretty lady, and that was just not forgivable, was it?

As for her question, Kida had to think on his feet. What did they study last time he was in class? That was an insanely stupid question, but Kida flat out didn't remember, so he went into the back of his mind and proceeded to ask his brain what the last lesson that he remembered was.

The closest thing that he could come up with was Chikage giving a lecture to him on not paying attention on...

"English, mostly. I'm actually pretty good with it, but sometimes it's just so boring, reading the books in English when I can just go get the movie, you know? There's no harm in that, is there?"

Kida didn't think so, at least. There was no harm in a lot of things in his mind, one of them being watching the movie instead of reading the book, which Chikage constantly reminded him was the lazy way out. But hey, Chikage didn't plan to go to any university any time soon, so he was one to talk.

[unicornhunter]

"Oh cool! I've never been too good at English myself. Though many people think otherwise because of my name." She laughed a little. It was true, though. A lot of people assumed she was biracial and knew English simply because her name was Erika. But that wasn't the case.... Not that she needed to give Kida her whole life story.

She hadn't even told Walker or Kadota that....

"I think it's great that you know what to do at school. Me, I never really saw the point in it at the time.... Sometimes I wish I had stuck with it, but other times I'm content with my life. I have fun living with Yumacchi, Dotachin, and Subaru in the van."

Oops. She hadn't meant to mention the van. But . . . maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

The waitress arrived with their orders soon enough, and Erika licked her lips. "Looks delicious~!"

[Deleted]

Kida had been about to say something about how he had always heard the you can always return to school for whatever reason you saw fit. Hell, he had heard that there was no reason to not try, given the circumstances. Yes, he thought a bit of why he was bothering with this whole high school thing, but then he remembered that Mikado was planning on trying for the same private school he was considering. It was funny how things like that work.

Of course, that had been before she said that she lived in a van. "You live in a van? No no no no, that is just not the kind of life for a lovely lady such as yourself! I can't even imagine how that works. But...at least you have friends in there that would be willing to protect you. I for one would never rest my head comfortably until I note that you are completely safe." He dramatically place his hand over his heart and lifted his chin.

[unicornhunter]

Erika snorted, and that snort turned into a full-fledged laugh. This guy was so funny!

"I don't mind, I like living with Yumacchi, Dotachin, and Subaru. Though Subaru doesn't like making the pit stops when it's that time of the month."

Those weeks were never fun when it was happening, but looking back, it was always hysterical to her. She could be a bit of a bitch when on her period, and Kadota had to be the one to pay for all the pads, tampons, and the pain meds since he had the best paying job out of the four of them. Sometimes it made her feel like a burden, but she did her best to make up for it when it was over. Usually it was in the form of her treating them to Russia Sushi - or if she had been a particularly big annoyance to Togusa, she paid for his gas the next time he had to fill up.

It was probably easiest to make it up to Walker, since he usually always cheered up once they went back to obsessing over anime and manga.

She took a bite of her food. "Mmmmm~! Yum! How do you like yours?" She took another bite, sucking a bit on the eating utensil.