Now, this story is and will be very graphic. There is a small child, but don't worry; nothing too terrible will happen to her. Hope you enjoy.

Monday, February 12, 2012, at 11:38 p.m. is where it all started. It happened at an abandoned warehouse in a city that rests at the very edge of Shinjuku, Japan. This warehouse in particular was being used for a black-market auction, mostly for human trafficking or stolen objects. The next 'item' on the roster was a young child, the age of four. She was very small and frail, had wispy, light-blonde hair that was cut short, and dark, brown eyes the color of Brookside Chocolate. The men held her up carefully, showing all of her body to the audience who were interested. The young girl stared at the audience with a glazed-over expression, due to a heavy dose of rohypnols.

It just so happened that, on that very night, a young, twenty-three year old man was at this auction to cash in from a job-well-done. His name was Izaya Orihara. He had only planned to stay at this auction for a few minutes to talk to his boss, Shiki, but the young girl on the stage caught his eye. Izaya walked towards the front and stared, in amazement and disgust, at this small, unclothed child. He didn't know why, but something inside him seemed to scream at him saying, "Save this child! Look at how small she is! She'll never survive any of the men here!"

Now, normally, Izaya wouldn't give a damn whether this girl survived or not. She was just another human, but there was something about this peculiar child that he just had to bid on her. The bidding started at $5,000, escalating quickly to $10,000. Once the bidding reached $50,000, however, there was a pause. The auctioneer raised his mallet going once, twice…

"$100,000!" Izaya suddenly shouted out, against his will, catching the attention of the men around him. The auctioneer looked over at him and nodded once, raising his mallet once more. Once; twice; sold! The men who were holding onto the girl covered her in a blanket and handed her to the young man in the first row. Izaya held the girl in his arms, still wondering just what the hell had come over him to do such an odd thing. Nevertheless, he paid the men and made his way out of the building, heading home with this child still in his arms.

…..

"Namie!" Izaya called as he opened the door to his apartment. Namie, his assistant, was sitting at the desk, filing papers for the ebony-haired man. She looked up in annoyance, but her expression changed to surprise as she saw the child that was still passed out in Izaya's arms. She got up and walked over to Izaya.

"Honestly," she said, "I didn't think that even you would kidnap a child." Izaya rolled his eyes and made his way to the couch, laying the girl onto the soft cushions.

"She's not kidnapped," he said, exhaustion and exasperation in his voice. "The auction was selling her."

"So you bought a small child," Namie said with her arms crossed. "That doesn't sound much better." Izaya smiled up at Namie and shrugged.

"I like to think that I saved the girl from an awful fate," he said, sitting on the chair next to his couch. Namie rolled her eyes and went back to doing her work.

"So," she said, "why did you purchase a child? Please tell me you're not thinking…"

"Of course not!" Izaya shouted. "I'm not that bad of a person. I just, for some odd reason I cannot fathom, couldn't let some old pervert buy her. I honestly don't understand myself, but I felt like I had to help her." Namie stared at Izaya and shrugged. Even he had his moments, she supposed. Hell, he'll probably drop the child off at the nearest adoption center within a couple weeks anyway.

"Well," Namie said, shrugging and sitting next to the sleeping child, "whatever it was, I suppose I'll help. She looks a little too young to take care of herself; or you to take care of her." Izaya looked up at Namie and glared a little and Namie shrugged again. "Does she have clothes?"

"No." Namie got up, walking over to her bag and finding an extra pair of white pajamas. She brought them over to the girl and Izaya got up, going to the kitchen to get some coffee.

Namie took the blanket off the girl and what she saw was absolutely frightening to the eye. The girl was covered head to toe in marks and bruises. She had needle scars on her arms and a few on her neck. Her torso held handprints and purple spots across her chest and, most startling of all, there were two handprints on either side of the girl's hips. Namie put a hand over her mouth, having never seen marks like this, especially on a girl this young! Namie carefully dressed the girl, watching for the marks.

The girl started stirring a little bit, surprising Namie. She hurriedly finished dressing the child and then sat back a little, waiting.

The girl opened her eyes, squinting at the lights. She grabbed her head and groaned softly. "W-where am I?" She sat up and Namie carefully kept her balanced.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Izaya soon came back into the room, holding a cup of coffee. His eyes widened when he saw that the girl was awake. He went to the living room and sat on the coffee table, making the girl look over at him. Her eyes, very slowly, began to dilate and she jumped off the couch, backing away quickly. Namie watched as Izaya got up, slowly walking towards the girl.

"Calm down," he said softly. The girl lashed out, flailing her arms.

"No!" she cried at the top of her lungs. One of her hands suddenly struck Izaya's cheek when he got too close. He touched his cheek then sighed, reaching out and grabbing the girl's wrist. He pulled her towards him firmly and smacked her hand.

"I said calm down!" The girl looked up at him in fear and stopped moving. "Now, just sit down for a minute okay?" The girl nodded and hesitantly followed him back to the couch. She sat down and Izaya sat back where he was. "What's your name?"

"K-Kikoe," she said quietly, eyes never leaving Izaya. She paid attention to each and every movement he made.

"Lovely name," Izaya said. "You must be hungry, right? Namie, get some sushi, won't you?" Namie rolled her eyes and got up, going into the kitchen. Kikoe watched her and looked back at Izaya. "My name's Izaya Orihara. That woman was my secretary, Namie."

"Where am I?" Kikoe asked. "This isn't the cage…"

"You're in Shinjuku," Izaya replied. "This is my apartment." Kikoe bit her lip and looked down.

"They… they sold me?" she asked softly, blushing awfully. Izaya nodded a little.

"And I bought you," he said, drinking some more of his coffee. Kikoe looked up at him again.

"Why?" she asked, shivering. Izaya shrugged and reached towards her, placing his hand on the side of her head, feeling a bump and dirty hair. Kikoe flinched and clenched her fists. "I d-don't wanna be touched…"

"Don't worry," Izaya said quickly, taking his hand away. "I'm not that bad of a person. I just wanna make sure you're okay."

Namie soon came back to the living room, a plate of sushi in one hand and a glass of cold juice in the other. She put the plate in front of the girl, catching Kikoe's attention. She reached forward and grabbed a piece of fish, eating it quickly and messily. Izaya watched, not exactly surprised, but not expecting it. She was eating as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Both adults watched as the girl stuffed her face and downed the drink as fast as she could. When she was done, she was panting and she lay back on the couch. "Thank you," she said. Namie cleaned up the dishes and Izaya grabbed a blanket, covering Kikoe. Namie soon came back out with her bag.

"I'm going to see Seiji," she said quietly. When she walked past Kikoe, she reached into her bag and pulled out a thermometer and took the girl's temperature. "She has a fever, Izaya."

Izaya's eyes widened again as Namie put the thermometer away. "Wait!" Izaya shouted loudly, getting up and following after Namie. "You can't just say that and leave! I don't exactly know much about kids and I need help." Namie's eyes raised a little.

"I'll be back tomorrow," she said with a shrug. "Just keep her warm and feed her soup. Better yet, call Shinra and he'll have some kind of medication." Izaya sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as Namie left.

"S-sir?" Kikoe called softly. Izaya turned towards her, noticing that she was sitting up, bundled in the blanket. "C-can I have some water please?" Izaya nodded once and headed for the kitchen, preparing a glass of water. He soon brought it back out, but Kikoe wasn't on the couch.

"Kikoe?" Izaya called, looking around. He soon found her upstairs staring at all of his books in amazement. Izaya walked up to her, kneeling next to her. "Kikoe, you're sick and injured. You need to stay on the couch."

"W-what are these?" Izaya chuckled lightly and reached up, grabbing The Wizard of Oz and handing it to Kikoe.

"They're books. Have you read this one?" he asked. Kikoe shook her head and Izaya nodded once. He grabbed her hand and led her back downstairs, sitting her back onto the couch. Kikoe drank her water and Izaya showed her the book. "This particular book is about a girl who gets swept away from her normal, boring life into a magical land of short people and fairies who ride on bubbles." Kikoe giggled a little bit. "Maybe once I get you settled in just a little more, I'll start reading it to you, okay?" Kikoe smiled and nodded, laying down and curling up. "Tired?" She nodded and closed her eyes. Izaya sighed and, when Kikoe fell asleep, he gently picked her up and carried her to his bedroom.

"You might like my bed better than the couch," he said quietly as he placed her on the bed. She curled up again and burrowed under the blankets. Izaya chuckled and touched her hair again. "Sleep well, my adorable human~"

…..

Izaya waited an hour or so before calling his friend and doctor, Shinra Kishitani.

"Hello?"

"Hi, there, Shinra," Izaya said, sitting on his chair.

"Hey, Izaya! I haven't heard from you in forever!"

"I have someone here who needs medical attention. Would you mind coming over tomorrow, early?"

"Of course not! I'm always happy to help a friend. I'll be there at seven a.m."

"Thanks, Shinra. I'll see you tomorrow." Izaya hung up and yawned loudly. He was tired after all of this that had happened. He went over to his bedroom and peeked inside. Kikoe was still fast asleep and sucking on her thumb. It was… actually cute to him.

Izaya, though with knowledge of everyone in his city and many neighboring cities, he didn't have much experience with small kids. His sisters, Mairu and Kururi, learned to take care of themselves when they were very young, so they didn't really need much of his help. So, he had a bit of learning to do.

He was still curious as to why he had her. He'd always known that illegal child trafficking was popular in some cities, but he didn't ever think he'd have to ever buy one. It was odd. Izaya shrugged soon and walked into the bedroom. He changed into some sweat pants and a tight black tee-shirt and climbed in the other side of his bed, trying to maintain a small distance between himself and Kikoe. He suddenly heard her groan and felt a hand on his back. He turned his head and saw her edging closer to him. He turned fully and she nuzzled against his chest. Izaya sighed and hesitantly put an arm around the girl gently. Soon, after Kikoe had fallen back into her deep sleep, Izaya also fell asleep with her.

Just so you guys know, there will be nothing sexual between Izaya and Kikoe. I don't believe in C.P. so, nothing will happen between them. I do have a few plans for them, but nothing absolutely horrendous. So, bare with me and enjoy and I'll see you next chapter!