"Namie, you're like my secretary now, huh?" He asked, tossing his head back across the couch.

The woman's face was only slightly bitter as she nodded, taking a sip of her tea. "I guess you could say that. In a way."

"Then it's your job to do what I say. Like answer my questions, right?" He pushed again, trying to provoke the response he desired.

Again, she nodded in that same bitter way. "Yes. I suppose so."

"Right answer." He smiled, lifting his head. "So how much would it repulse you if I were to delve more into the love life between you and your brother?"

Namie frowned with a raised eyebrow, then slouched into a desk chair, defeated. "You wouldn't let me get all too repulsed, now would you?" She sighed. "But you always make it seem like you already know everything about that relationship, so what questions could you even have for me?"

Izaya shook his head. "Namie, of course I don't know everything, just enough to be manipulative is all. However," He turned around, leaning of the couch to meet the woman's brown eyes.

"Even though I do know quite a bit about your feelings towards him, I am willing to admit that I know very little about your emotions."

The woman scrunched her eyebrows together, confused. "What's the big difference?"

"There is a big difference, but if you don't understand it, it can be near impossible to explain. So let us assume that you get the difference and I will make these questions easy for you." Izaya shrugged, compromising for his secretary's lack of understanding.

Namie twitched at that. She did not particularly enjoy being looked down upon in such a way. Even so, she would rather he treated her this way than let him lead her onto the conversation and then bluntly point out her lack of participation. That would just make his day, and Namie was not willing to be the object of Izaya's twisted affections.

"Then proceed." She commanded as well a secretary could.

"Ah yes, so Seiji." Izaya sat down, tossing his arms over the back of the couch and crossing his legs. "You're still in love with him, aren't you?"

"Still? When did I ever admit to being in love with him in the first place?" Namie was quick to protest, which she instantly regretted. Izaya could see right through that sort of thing in a flash.

With a loud 'tch', Izaya laughed. "Namie I thought we were past this whole phase of denial! But you're almost a companion now, so I may as well satisfy your petty needs too."

He stood up, spinning quickly with a soutenu to face Namie again. "Do you still have those same feelings for Seiji as when we first became affiliated?"

Namie stared at him, searching for the catch in the question, but finding none, she settled back into the chair. "I guess you could say that. His attraction to that head still disturbs me beyond comprehension. And it certainly angers me that he cheated his way into having a relationship with it, even if I did play a part. However…" she put her hands into her lap, shifting slightly. "We are brother and sister. It would be sad if those petty things came between us, wouldn't it?"

Izaya stared at her, his sly smirk still gracing his face. However, internally, he wasn't so interested. He didn't desire this sort of answer. Brother-sister relationships had nothing to do with him – what he needed was general feedback. But how many ways could one say that without insinuating something else?

"Well suppose that he wasn't your brother? What if this whole thing was an unrequited love, and he found another woman? Tell me Namie." He was clearly speaking to his secretary, but he was staring of into a space on the wall next to her head. "Would you still be able to love someone like that – have that same sort of trusting relationship and not absolutely hate him?"

For a second, Namie actually looked concerned. Izaya's face had contorted into a sour expression, and the last question had come out through a nasty sneer. What could this questions have really been about to provoke this sort of reaction from him? This was feeling less and less like the real Izaya the longer the conversation went on.

"It could happen. It wouldn't be likely, but it would be completely possible. It all depends on the person and what they are…" She tapped the fingers of her right hand on the palm of her left, dragging out the word. "Worth. They would have to be extremely important to me – like Seiji is important to me. Otherwise, why bother chasing someone you don't care about?"

Izaya's vision quickly redirected itself at that last part. He made direct eye contact with Namie, staring daggers, but that haphazardly subsided as he didn't enjoy showing such an emotion. He nodded slowly, then shrugged as he put his hands on his hips, walking over to the woman.

"So you could fall out of love with someone that quickly?"

"No." Namie shifted again, crossing her ankles as she leaned into the chair a little more. "I mean, of course, if you loved them, there would probably be some residual emotion. Perhaps a bit of sadness, bitter distaste, spite – in some cases pure and utter hatred can come from an unrequited love of any sort. Not just another man or woman, but simply not being loved back is enough to provoke it."

Izaya frowned once more. She was speaking figuratively of course. She had to be. But as the words poured out, they seemed to be more and more relative to his current problem – almost like she already knew. But that was a coincidence.

Because Shizuo would never chase me because he cares.

He chases me because he hates me.

And I hate him too.

And that hatred is not a product of unrequited love.

Neither of them are.

"So you would say that, inarguably, it is easier to fall out of love – and quite possibly – lose all respect for someone, than to vie for their affections?"

Namie smiled a sad sort of smile. "When attempting to jump high enough to get into someone's view – even if you just want a second of their attention – wouldn't you say it's easier to hit the ground after that last attempt than to keep jumping? Doing something repetitively is immensely frustrating, and after a while, certainly, your legs would begin to hurt."

x.X.x

*headdesk*

I'm sorry, I thought I should add a noooote… so I decided to add on to this because I was asked to, and GAHD it was hard. Mostly because of Namie. My Durarara! Experience is purely based on the anime (which I still have not finished), and I don't think I'm getting a lot of her personality with it. But I tried my best..! Sorry if anything is ooc – obviously not my intention.

It is however my intention to make Izaya do ballet. Do not argue with me on this.

~Chae