"Did you hear, Akira-chan? There's a new Psychology teacher this year!" an excited school-girl told her friend, eyes sparkling brightly.

"Really, Sakurako? Is he any good?" replied Akira as she rechecked her schedule, gently rubbing each ink-printed room number until they were all embedded into her brain.

"Who knows? He's handsome though! They say he has red eyes. All the more to get students to pay attention, right?" Sakurako laughed nervously. She was taking the class this year, and, coupled along with the intimidating teacher, the school delinquent senior was also in the class.

Akira paused at her room-memorizing to look at one of the courses she'd signed up for. Psychology. "What's the teacher's name?"

"Orihara Izaya-sensei!"

It was a very bad day for Izaya.

Not only did he wake up late, but it was his first day of teaching, and he lost the lesson plans. 7:55 AM. Classes started at 8:00 AM. Screw this. Lesson plans were for wimps. Improvising would spice things up a bit anyway.

It was 8:03 AM when Izaya arrived to Raira Academy and was greeted by a very displeased headmaster. A quick, but stinging lecture was given, in which Izaya shifted on his feet for a total of two minutes and forty three seconds. Thereafter, in a very mature manner, Izaya flipped the headmaster off behind his back and raced to his classroom in record time. 8:05 AM. Not bad.

"Alright, alright, students! Please take your seats!" Izaya said as he whisked open the sliding door and strided into the room in what he wished was a fashionably late manner. The previous night, he had gone to the academy and arranged the desks in order with a drawing on the chalkboard displaying the students names in alphabetical order. The students scrambled to find their correct seats. He surveyed the room with his ruby-red eyes. Two girls sitting in the back were whispering to each other. A boy was chewing gum while fiddling with his PSP. Every student in the front row seemed to hang to his words. One empty seat. A boy was already taking notes, while the one next to him was drawing manga comics in his notebook. A motley crew it was.

"I am your Psychology teacher, Orihara Izaya-sensei. Please call me Orihara-sensei as Raira wishes to preserve the respect for teachers that it has already established," Izaya proclaimed as he took attendance. Hana Sawako was chewing her pencil thoughtfully. Hayashi Tanaka was the kid playing PSP. Heiwajima Shizuo was the empty seat next to the window. Izaya put a small "x" next to the name. Who would be late for the first day of class? Other than himself, that was.

"As you should all know, Psychology is a study of how the mind works and behaves according to whatever situation it is put in," Izaya continued. He hated giving first day of class speeches. Then, he drabbled on a bit further, gave the students his teacher website where assignments were posted, and announced a pre-test to assess the knowledge of the kids, much to their displeasure.

"Sensei! How can you give a test on the first day of school?" Hayashi Tanaka whined, reluctantly putting away his PSP.

"Deal with it," Izaya replied, handing out the dreaded test papers while the other students laughed as Hayashi's cheeks blushed deep red.

The sliding door opened with a loud smack. No apology was given. Instead, the student nonchalantly walked to the only unoccupied desk in the room, sat down, and gazed out the window. He had bleached blond hair, and the faint smell of cigarette smoke curled off of his body. Whispers coursed throughout the room while Izaya checked his seating chart again.

"Heiwajima Shizuo?" Izaya inquired, studying the said student. He looked like a delinquent. Izaya placed a test on Shizuo's desk. "Complete this test, and see me after class."

With some peace and quiet, Izaya tried to organize lesson plans for the next day. It was a daunting challenge. Should he troll the students or should he be nice this year? Five minutes of class remained, and a few students had already completed the test and were looking around the room with nothing to do. Shizuo was one of them, Izaya noted. He probably filled in all the circles with "C" or something. Izaya snorted.

"Today's assignment will be posted on the website. Complete it, and bring it to class tomorrow, unless you want to set yourself up for failure," Izaya inadvertently made eye contact with Shizuo. The bell rang, and the students collected their belongings and scrambled to leave the Psychology room, like it contained some contaminant that they couldn't believe they'd spent an hour sitting with. Only Shizuo remained.

"Do you want to tell me why you were so late today?" Izaya questioned. Shizuo looked away and mumbled something. "What was that?" Izaya asked.

"I said, I woke up late," Shizuo said, this time, glaring at Izaya. "Now, if you'll excuse me, sensei, I have a class to attend." With that, the blond exited the room, again, slamming the door behind him with a smack.

Izaya grinned. It looked like he was going to have fun this school year. With a student like that, fun couldn't be avoided. The red-eyed man laughed out loud and spun around in his office chair. "I love teaching!"

After school there had been a staff meeting. Surprised, Izaya recognized an old Blue Square elite as the new Sociology teacher. Hiding behind one of the school vending machines after the meeting, Izaya further investigated the teacher.

"Nakagawa-san! It's a pleasure to work with you this year. The first year of teaching is always the roughest" another teacher said.

"Thank you, Sato-san. Sociology is my strong point though, so I should be alright," Nakagawa said.

In a more hushed tone, causing Izaya to have to strain his ears, Sato replied, "No, what I'm saying is that the faculty makes a point of paying the first-year teachers the lowest rate possible."

Nakagawa laughed. "Again, it's fine with me. I'm working for Chushin Technology Co. part time. Well, I should be heading home so I can prepare for work." Then, footsteps reverberated across the floor as both men started walking towards Izaya. Taking this as his exit, Izaya whisked down the hallway, collected his belongings from the Psychology classroom, donned his fur lined jacket, and practically skipped down the hallway. The CEO of Chushin Tech often consulted Izaya for information on his employees. He only hired top-notch employees and would never accept a former Blue Square gang member. Izaya couldn't believe his good fortune.

Upon reaching his lofty apartment, Izaya danced around, pounced on his chair, and moved a piece on his shogi-chess-go board. The CEO knew his phone number, and as if on cue, Izaya's phone rang.

"Hello? Izaya-san? This is Sachi of Chushin Technology," a rough, gravelly voice rumbled.

"Ah, yes, what can I help you with today, Sachi-san? New employee?" Izaya spun around his chair with glee. He loved his new job as a teacher.

A/N: What do you guys think so far? Suggestions? Reviews? Improvements to make? Thanks!