OK OK OK OK I'M SORRY. In my defense, I had started an update months ago, but it was lost (along with a lot of other stuff) and I was discouraged and it took forever for me to get back on the horse. BUT the DRRRx2 dub has got me newly motivated! (I'm too lazy to read all of those subtitles) I'm only a few eps in, but I'm digging it ( Izamie, man. I ship it so hard.) Anyways, hopefully this chapter makes up for the wait!

...

The past six months were probably the most difficult of Namie's life. While Seiji and - much to Namie's dismay - Harima helped out as much as they could, Namie knew she couldn't expect much help from a couple high school students aside from a few Saturdays of babysitting. Not that Namie necessarily had any reason to take Saturdays off, but it was still nice to get out of her cramped apartment every once and awhile to spend some time for herself.

Difficult though they may have been, Namie couldn't help but feel that she had never accomplished more in her life. She kept her head down, working in a small shop apothecary as a pharmacist, the most interaction she had outside of her small, mix-matched family was the few elderly regulars that came into the shop to fill their prescriptions. This job, while not nearly as glamorous or high-paying as Yagiri Pharmaceutical or even as Izaya's secretary, managed to pay the bills and put food on the table, and that was enough to make Namie proud of herself.

But what really filled Namie with pride was her daughter. When she was first born, Namie could see the slight resemblance to Izaya immediately, however as the months went on, that resemblance became more and more pronounced. Akaime had his same dark hair and pointed nose, as well as the strange burgundy eyes she was named after.

When Namie held her daughter, she had expected to feel a twinge of remorse that Akaime didn't seem to share any features with her - especially those that Namie shared with Seiji. However, much to her surprise, these feelings never genuinely surfaced.

She hadn't thought it would ever happen, but it seemed as though her strange feelings for her brother had come to a halt. While Seiji made a wonderful uncle, seeing the way he interacted with Akaime made it clear to Namie that he was nowhere near capable of acting as her father. The maternal instinct that Namie didn't even know she had in her seemed to do what her heart and brain couldn't and completely ruled Seiji out as a potential mate. Of course, that did nothing to thaw Namie's cold attitude towards Harima, as some things never change.

Though it caused her trouble, Namie loved her daughter's face. It caused her trouble because it ruined her deniability. Anyone who knew Izaya that looked at this child would know exactly where it came from and from there, it would be only a matter of time before word got back to him.

Another way Akaime troubled her was that Namie knew that someday those chubby cheeks would slim out and her slim nose would become more pronounced. Namie also knew that she would also recognize her smile as one she'd seen countless times before, she only hoped that she would never catch a glimpse of that twisted insanity she knew so well.

Akaime was Namie's first and only priority now and she was hell-bent on keeping her safe and out of the shady business her father was always meddling in. This determination almost verged on paranoia at times, though Namie knew better than anyone the extent of Izaya's reach over Ikebukuro.

On multiple occasions, Namie considered leaving city as she had originally claimed she would, however the prospect of getting up and leaving what little security system she had in terms of her brother was daunting. Sure, she could probably find a better paying job in another city, however with success comes reputation and anyone with a reputation worth knowing is easy to find, especially if you look hard enough.

So Namie decided to stay and continue her humble, yet fulfilling life and all of its uneventful glory.

...

When Namie awoke, after a moment of panic, she was relieved to discover it was Saturday. Thanks to knowledgeable background at work, she was able to get in her boss's good graces and receive most weekend off at the shop.

No longer feeling the rush of the weekday morning, Namie took her time getting out of bed. One of her favorite things about Akaime was that the girl loved to sleep. On multiple occasions, Namie had to wake the baby up herself in order to get her to eat something.

Namie tiptoed across the hall to the small second bedroom she had transformed into a nursery. Akaime was sound asleep in her crib, the long tuft of dark hair sprawled around her.

Deciding it was probably best to let her sleep for a while yet, Namie decided to make breakfast. Having been forced to take care of Izaya for so long, Namie had become proficient as a cook, as it was one of the chores Izaya made her do that she didn't mind as much.

After cooking herself a small breakfast and eating it, Namie prepared a dish of baby food for Akaime.

Returning to the baby's room, Namie put a gentle hand on Akaime's back. Akaime's dark red eyes opened slowly. "Good morning," Namie said sweetly as the baby began to whimper. "It's alright, it's time for some breakfast!" Namie lifted the small child out of the crib and carried her to her seat in the kitchen.

Namie allowed Akaime, who was always the independent sort, to messily feed herself while she kept busy cleaning up the kitchen. Just as she was finishing up, her phone began to ring. Namie took a look at the caller ID and saw that it was Seiji. Smiling, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Namie, didn't wake you, did I?" Seiji's dull tone asked

"Oh, no. That's not something you need to worry about around here, Seiji" she replied, still smiling.

"I was just checking to see if you needed me to take care of 'Kaime today, you see there's this festival in the park that Harima really wants to go to, and we could take her but -"

"That's fine, Seiji," Namie cut him off. For some reason, Namie still couldn't stand even hearing about that Harima girl. "I think I'll manage on my own for a day," she joked.

"You're sure" Seiji asked, hesitantly. She could tell he felt guilty for not giving her a day off.

"It's no problem Seiji, we're probably just going to head to the store and spend the day at home. No big deal."

He paused, "alright, if you say so."

"I do say so. Bye Seji, thanks!"

"Bye," he said slowly before hanging up the phone.

Namie looked down at her daughter, whose face was splattered with dried baby food as she grinned widely at her. Namie shook her head and lifted the girl out of the chair and proceeded to the sink to wash her up.

...

After getting herself and Akaime together, the two set off for the street shops not far from where the lived. As it was a little too close to Russian Sushi for her liking, Namie made sure to keep her eyes out for any familiar faces as she pushed the stroller through the crowd.

Namie had also taken an extra step to make herself less recognizable by wearing her hair up, something she rarely did in earlier years, and by trading in her usual sweater and skirt combo for for short sleeved blouse, a pair of black pants and a pair of sunglasses. With this makeshift disguise, Namie was fairly confident she wouldn't catch anyone's eye.

Her paranoia kicking in again, Namie secured a small pair of sunglasses on Akaime as well. The sunny weather was a great excuse for her to hide her daughter's most telling feature.

Once the two arrived at the crowded shops, Namie went to work browsing each of the stands while Akaime watched the bustling street with a look of fascination.

After about half an hour of shopping, Namie looked down to check on Akaime, only to find that she had dropped her sunglasses at some point. Namie searched the a radius around the stroller quickly, but was unable to find them. When she turned back to the stroller, she was stunned to see two dark haired girls crouched in front of the stroller, one of them holding Akaime's sunglasses. Namie recognized the two immediately and her blood ran cold. She should have never come here. It would all be over now.

Unable to put it off any longer, Namie walked back to the stroller where Mairu and Kururi were cooing over Akaime. Upon her approach, Mairu stood up with a big smile.

"Your daughter dropped her sunglasses! We were bringing them back to her!" She said brightly.

"Erm. Thank you," Namie replied, confused. Was it possible that these girls didn't recognize her? Or even better, didn't recognize their own brother in Akaime? Namie didn't want to get her hopes up, but she couldn't help herself when she saw the genuinely innocent look Mairu gave her.

"I was just saying to my big sister that your baby looks just like her." Mairu chattered.

"You're wrong." Kururi responded quietly, "She looks more like you."

"No way! She's super cute, just like you!" Mairu shouted. "She's even got the same color eyes!" Mairu pulled on her lower eyelid, childishly pointing to her eye.

At that moment, Kururi's attention finally turns fully to Namie. She stares at her for a moment, confused. "Don't we know you?" she asked, slowly.

"W-what? I mean, I don't know, I-" Namie sputtered, so much for not getting recognized.

"Huh?" Mairu leaned her face in closer to Namie, "that's right! I thought you looked familiar!"

"You're Iza's secretary-wife." Mairu said finally.

"No I'm not, I mean, I was, but I'm not anymore… and I never was his wife!" Namie exclaimed, unable to keep her cool. She was beginning to understand Izaya's frustrations with the pair.

"Quit, huh? We were surprised you lasted as long as you did. Iza usually goes through employees pretty fast. Not too long ago I think another one quit on him, the one with the big boobs. What was her name again? Sherry? Ika?"

"Rei," Kururi muttered.

"Right! I bet poor Iza was sad to see her go, if you know what I mean!" she grinned, nudging Kururi in the side. Normally such a statement would have made Namie roll her eyes or make some snide comment, but not this time. She was too intent on Kururi, who wasn't listening to her sister, either. Instead she was staring absently down at the stroller.

After what seemed like forever, Kururi finally cut off Mairu's ramblings. She looked Namie in the eye and asked "does he know?"

Namie gulped. It was foolish of her to hope they wouldn't see it. He was their brother, after all. She had no choice but to tell the truth. Lying would only cause more trouble at this point.

"No." Namie responded firmly. "And can you blame me?" she asked as Kururi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I don't know, Miss Namie, you might not be giving Iza enough credit." Mauri said in a sing-song voice, as though she had been in on it the whole time.

"Trust me, I've thought this out. This is the best option." Namie said, her voice steady despite her nerves. "I'm sure you can understand why I want to keep her away from… all of that. She deserves better. She deserves to be safe. I need your word that you won't breathe a word of this. To anyone. Especially not Izaya."

The two girls exchanged a look for a moment before turning back to Namie.

"Before we agree to anything," Mairu said, her voice strictly business, "we have one final questions for you..."

Namie gulped again, her throat completely dry. The answer to this question could make or break her life as she knew it.

The two girls suddenly leaned in, their faces inches from Namie's and said in unison, "When can we babysit?"

As always, I adore reviews.