I Realized That

by EreAsha

I'm afraid of being human. Izaya Orihara. One-shot.

Alright, I got this idea at four in the morning while reading Dying Message. If you want to read it, it's on my profile's list of fanfictions I don't want to forget. Anyway, the title and summery are really just what I realized while trying (and failing) to hold tears in while reading the fanfiction mentioned above. (I refused to cry because my siblings were still awake, and I hate it when they see my weaknesses, especially when it's for works of fiction.

Alright, enough about how I fail at emotions; you want to read I Realized That… now, don't you?

I do not own Durarara in any way, shape, or form. All I own is the idea for this fanfic.

Summery: I'm afraid of being human. ~Izaya Orihara.

Warning(s): Semi-AU-ish. Possible OOC-ness. Character death.

I'm letting you know that I wrote two endings. One where there is character death, and one where there is not. Sorry to all Shizaya fans, but this is NOT a Shizaya fic, for once. The notes will let you know when you're at the respective endings. I tried to keep the characters as in-character as I could. Enjoy.

Namie just stared at her employer, once again questioning his sanity. "…What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself, Namie." When the woman did not speak up, Izaya sighed, spinning around a few times in his chair before replying. "I said, I realized that I'm afraid to be human." When Namie just continued to stare, Izaya got a bit impatient. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to work?"

That seemed to snap Namie out of whatever sort of trance she was in. "I guess that I didn't expect the 'great' Orihara Izaya to actually be afraid of something, other than not existing after death. And what you're afraid of is being human, no less!"

Izaya just spun around in his chair some, now ignoring his secretary, and just thinking aloud to himself. "I suppose… it would make sense as to why I act like I do. I play God, manipulating everyone I can wrap my fingers around. They're my little playthings… something to distract me so that I don't see that the very same thing could happen to me. Whether I'm afraid of it or not; whether I want it to be or not, I am human. So very human…"

Namie just tuned her boss out after that. Whatever he was saying was obviously to himself, none of her business, and she didn't really want to be affected by her boss's insanity.

Eventually, Namie finished her work for the day. She slammed the stack of papers on Izaya's desk with a huff and with much more force than necessary. "I'm done for today, so I'm leaving."

"Always in a bad mood, Namie-san. Why don't you stay for some tea?"

That threw Namie off. Since when did Izaya actually do anything civil? The most civil thing she could think of him doing was when he dealt with his clients, sometimes. She narrowed her eyes, figuring that Izaya must have been up to something, especially since he completely threw her off earlier with his whole 'I'm afraid to be human' talk.

"No thank you. I don't feel like being drugged and killed in my sleep."

Izaya feigned being hurt by her comment. "Please, Namie, I'm not you. I won't try to poison my employer, or since it's me talking about you, my employee. It just wouldn't be a smart move."

All Namie replied with before slamming the door was, "You're such an ass."

And so, Izaya was left all alone in his apartment. "I wonder, will Namie tell anyone about my new found fear? She could definitely call up some of the yakuza, and easily sell them the information. I mean, I'm not entirely on friendly terms with everyone. Some of them would, and have, killed for information about me. Of course, I've always made sure that they haven't gotten any real information about me. Ah! Look at me! I've seemed to have gotten off topic!" Izaya laughed as he spun around in his chair, seemingly lost in the 'fun' he was having, before he suddenly stopped.

"Maybe I should go out." A wild and uncontrolled smirk appeared on his face. "Yes. I should go out. Go out to Ikebukuro to be precise. I haven't gone to see the monster in a few days. He'd be in such a good mood. What better way to help me forget about my realization, than to ruin that good mood?" With those words, Izaya grabbed his jacket and flickblade before skipping out the door.

…/…LB

Yet another man was sent flying through the air of Ikebukuro. This meant that a certain blond ex-bartender was not in his happy place at the moment. It meant that you wanted to stay out of the area and hope, pray to any and all gods, and form of said god/s, that you wouldn't become the target of his anger, or a weapon of his anger.

Why was Shizuo Heiwajima angry? Simple. Izaya Orihara had not shown up in Ikebukuro in awhile. To Shizuo, this meant that the 'flea' was planning something. And knowing this, while not having said 'flea' to take his anger out on made Shizuo irritated. Luckily, or more likely, unluckily, a certain someone's voice was heard directing the man that everyone was afraid of.

"~Shi-zu-chan!" The voice sang out every syllable in a mocking, song-like voice. Instantly, Shizuo's attention switched from the man who had angered him, to the voice. Anyone in their right mind would do there best to stay on the blond monster's good side. Izaya Orihara did not. In fact, he did everything in his power to constantly stay on the ex-bartender's bad side.

Shizuo ground his teeth. "I-ZA-YA-KUN!" Everyone in the vicinity knew what that one name meant. It meant quite a few things. It meant that they should run. It meant that Izaya was in the area. It meant that Shizuo was angry. The worst thing was, it meant that the two were in the same area when Shizuo was angry.

"My my, Shizu-chan. Angry already? All I did was call out to you." All Shizuo offered was a warning growl before he ripped a completely innocent street sign from it's post next to him.

Izaya barely had time to dodge as the object whirled past him, not that he told anyone that, or let it show. All Izaya did was giggle as he dodged every object that Shizuo Heiwajima threw at him, taunting him the whole time, causing the monster of Ikebukuro to get even angrier, and chuck even more random objects at him.

Never would Izaya admit it to anyone, except maybe himself, but he felt real and genuine fear during his fights with Shizuo. It all went back to his realization that he was afraid to be human. Izaya knew he wasn't like Shizuo or Celty.

He knew that he was human, unlike the two of them. Celty would stay alive until her head died, which it would not unless someone deliberately killed it off. And Shizuo. Shizuo Heiwajima was nothing but a monster. He claimed to hate violence, yet constantly used it. He was born with immense, inhuman strength and an extremely short temper. He constantly drove others away and nearly killed everyone he cared about. Oh yes. Izaya had done his homework. He knew he injured the one dubbed 'milk lady' when his intention was to protect her. He even somehow found out that the only reason Shizuo didn't chuck a fridge at his precious younger brother was because his bones nearly gave out. Hell! Izaya even knew that Shizuo nearly broke Shinra's arm one of the times he was at the hospital. And this was all when he was a middle-schooler, before Izaya had met him. So, to Izaya, and all but a few people, Shizuo Heiwajima was a monster.

Back to the original point, Izaya knew he was human. And humans could make mistakes. They could be embarrassed and humiliated. People could make fun of you, not that anyone would dare make fun of Izaya Orihara unless they wanted to die. Humans could die. Worst of all, humans could make mistakes.

That alone was reason enough for Izaya to fear being human. If he ever made the slightest mistake, all of his plans could end up ruined, or more likely, he could end up dead. Izaya knew that he didn't want to die until he knew for certain that he would still exist after death. He didn't care what it was. Heaven, Hell, Limbo. Anything, as long as he existed was fine.

That being said, Izaya always feared for his life whenever he was facing Shizuo Heiwajima. Izaya knew that Shizuo was a monster that couldn't die, but that didn't mean that he, Izaya, couldn't die. He knew he was human, and as a human, he could make mistakes. One mistake with 'Shizu-chan' and he would be dead. Buried six feet underground with no one to truly miss him. If he did make a mistake and died at Shizuo Heiwajima's hand, he didn't care if there was no possible way to exist after death, he would come back, and he would haunt Shizuo forever. What better way to torture a monster, than to make it unable to do what it desperately wanted, to kill the other man. Izaya would have already been dead, and Shizuo would be given help he didn't need because he was 'seeing things.' The thought almost made the informant laugh, which he would have, not it been for one little detail.

He was still playing the game with Shizuo. He was running, and Shizuo was attacking. Izaya knew that the only way to kill the blond would be to send a bullet through his head, or through his heart. However, Izaya couldn't have his game end so easily. He didn't want to admit that he was human. For Izaya was a god above men, and monsters. He didn't have to fear anything but his own death when he was fighting Shizuo because, monsters can't die.

It really was that simple. And Izaya was smarter than Shizuo. He would never be killed by Shizuo, and Shizuo couldn't be killed. It was all part of his plan. It was one of the only ways to forget about being human. Nothing could go wrong, because Izaya was God in that moment, and a God does not make mistakes.

"I-ZA-YA!" Yet another object went soaring through the air at Izaya, but he managed to dodge, giggling a bit. "STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME AND IKEBUKURO, FLEA!"

"Ah, but Shizu-chan, for me to stay away from you, you'd have to drop dead, and for me to do both, I'd have to drop dead."

It was part of Izaya's plan. Irritate the man, have his fun, slip away, repeat a little later. And it always went according to plan. Of course it would. Izaya was God in those moments. He wasn't human; therefore, he wasn't afraid of being human. He couldn't make any mistakes.

Tired of simply angering the man, yet doing nothing to harm him, Izaya decided to go onto the offensive. He pulled out his switchblade, sprinting towards Shizuo so fast that he didn't have time to react. Izaya jabbed his blade upward, aiming to merely impale Shizuo's chest. Nothing major. Nothing that would kill him if he were human. Shizuo could be bedridden for awhile if he did that, and there wasn't any fun in that at all. He aimed for the edge of Shizuo's right lung; after all, just grazing it wouldn't hurt him at all, and even if Shizuo did end up losing the lung, a human, or in Shizuo's case, a monster, could live with just one. He could always just get a lung transplant if he really needed both lungs so badly. Izaya nearly laughed. That brute, the monster of all people needing something? That was just absurd!

This is where you can skip ahead until you see another note. There are two possible outcomes.

This, where there is character death/angst, and the next, which contains no character death. You may read both.

Honestly, as Izaya jabbed his blade upward, he expected Shizuo to grab his wrists, or slap the blade out of his hand. Izaya even expected the monster to just take it. However, Izaya made a mistake. Shizuo did none of those things. In fact, Shizuo's eyes widened a bit as he dove to get out of the way of the blade. Had Shizuo been thinking, or maybe have a bit more common sense, he would have dove for the left, causing Izaya's blade to completely miss him. But, Shizuo had tried to dive to the right. As soon as Izaya realized what Shizuo had done, he tried to stop his own arm from moving, however, they were at such a close range, and Izaya's arm had built up some momentum. Instead of impaling the flesh near Shizuo's right lung, he had driven his blade strait into Shizuo's neck. Izaya couldn't believe it. Never had the monster acted so human in a time of danger. Never had Izaya made such a human mistake.

Izaya shook a bit as he stared at Shizuo, coughing and gasping for breath. No one was around. No one but him could call help for Shizuo. However, Izaya was too caught up in his own mind to do just that. He was preoccupied thinking about just how human he was. He wasn't God in the situation anymore. Shizuo was dying. The monster was dying. The monster was human. Shizuo was human. Izaya had been wrong. Instead of helping Shizuo, or even calling Shinra, Izaya turned tail and fled, leaving the blond human all alone, his flickblade still lodged in his throat.

…/…LB

'I was wrong.' That was the thought that finally crossed his aware mind as he cooped himself in his room. Izaya Orihara had been wrong about something, and had killed someone because of it. Never before had Izaya had such a role as that in a human's death. He had suggested, coaxed, even given information to others, knowing that it would result in at least one death, but never, never had Izaya directly been the cause of a death. A human death. Because Shizuo had been human. Izaya was wrong. Wrong and human. And that was exactly what he feared. Ever since he had gotten back to his home, he hadn't left his room. In truth, the truth, Izaya was afraid. The only person who was actually his friend was Shinra. But Shizuo was Shinra's friend. Celty put up with him, but Shizuo had been her friend as well. His sister's cared more for Shizuo than they did him, and they made sure that he knew that every time they came over. Izaya Orihara was afraid that he would be rejected, rejected because he was a murderer.

Izaya laughed at himself. Really? He had been afraid of being human, and because he acted as one once, he was becoming more and more like one. He feared more things. He had made more mistakes, and he refused to leave his room. The only reason Namie had done nothing as of yet was that she was being given a paid vacation. But Izaya knew, he knew it was only a matter of time before Celty came bursting in. Izaya knew she would be the first to find the body. She had a sort of knack for picking up when something was wrong. Izaya had only been home for ten minutes, and all this had happened to him. Giving Namie a paid vacation, becoming human, becoming afraid.

Izaya would have laughed wasn't he so sure that he would burst into tears upon opening his mouth. 'It's all because I realized I was afraid of being human. If I'd never known that, none of this would be happening. I wouldn't be so fucking helpless. How come Namie didn't say anything to discourage me?' Izaya stopped his thoughts for a moment or two before continuing them. 'Now, I'm depending on Namie of all people to get me out of this situation. I really am just one of the humans I claim to love so much. I wonder how long it'll be until Celty gets here. It's been a good half-hour since I got home, forty minutes since I left Shizuo.'

As if sensing his thoughts, there was a knocking at the front door. Not at all angry, as it should have been upon finding Shizuo dead, Izaya's flickblade lodged in his neck. It was gentle and soft, as if the person on the other side of the door wanted to hear what he had to say before they made any judgments. 'Why? They should hate me… There I go, being human again…" Izaya didn't answer. He didn't even move, and only just barely breathed, hoping that Celty, of whoever had come, would just leave, figuring that he wasn't there. That wasn't the case. Shadows streaked in, unlocking the door, letting Celty in.

After quickly surveying, Celty decided that Izaya was hiding himself away in his bedroom. The house was so quite that she knew he heard her knocks, or he was sleeping. She hardly thought that it was the latter. So, she made her way to Izaya's bedroom, hesitating only slightly before she turned the doorknob, not at all surprised that it was locked. All Celty had to do was use her shadows to unlock the door before she could push it open.

When she did open the s door, she saw Izaya, back facing her. "You want to know, right?" Izaya turned around, looking at her, and Celty just couldn't help but be a little creeped out by how much emotion she could see in swirling in Izaya's normally controlled eyes. Hate. Disgust. Happiness. Sadness. Fear. Regret. Wait, what were those last two, fear and regret? All Celty could do was nod in regards to Izaya's question, wondering why Izaya wasn't acting like his usual self. It couldn't be because he had, most likely, killed Shizuo, could it?

"I messed up. I'm entirely human and I made a mistake. Now my game is over. Yet I still have every piece except for one. I wished I had never realized that one thing. Then none of this would be happening. I'd still be having my fun, not fearing that you and Shinra, two of the very few people that actually put up with me, will leave."

Before Celty could ask what Izaya was talking about, he answered. "Earlier this morning, I had realized an important fact about myself. The reason I was who I was, was because I was utterly afraid of being human. Humans make mistakes. They get crushed and killed. Humans do nothing but care for a small group of people. They just go about their lives, very few actually becoming truly love." Izaya bit his lip for a moment, before he continued on. "I was afraid to be that. So, I wasn't. I became god, manipulating every human in Ikebukuro into doing as I pleased. It helped, having all that control. Then, I went and made a very stupid mistake. I miscalculated. I assumed things. I thought that because Shizu-chan was a monster, that he would dodge my knife, not getting it lodged in his throat." Izaya paused, laughing lightly. "But as it turns out, Shizu-chan isn't a monster, never was. He was a human. And I didn't even know."

Izaya stopped again, looking strait at where Celty's eyes would have been had she been human. "Now, I'm a murderer. Never before… not with my own two hands. Not to the… person I thought to be an invincible monster I could toy with forever." Izaya spat the final word out, acting even more human, despite the fact that it terrified him. Anyone could do anything to him if he was human. That thought also frightened Izaya, not that he would tell anyone or anything. He wouldn't even think it, just incase someone suddenly became able to read minds. "Now, you know. What are you going to do?" Izaya had stopped there because he was sure that he would start crying if he continued. It wasn't fair. Being a human was difficult. No wonder it was so easy for him to talk others into committing suicide. If this was the normal feeling of being human, Izaya didn't want it. Not now, or ever.

~If you didn't mean to kill him, it's not murder. It's an accident. ~

Izaya read what Celty had typed several times before he saw what it was. Celty was actually trying to cheer him up. But, why? He was a monster. All he did was toy with the humans he claimed to love, not knowing how they felt everyday. He even killed them off. Everyone he had talking into committing suicide, everyone's whose death was because Izaya had sold information to a single personnel, and… Shizuo. He was a monster, just taking those people's lives. Even if it was an accident with Shizuo, it certainly wasn't when he knew selling information would result in death; it certainly wasn't when he talked people into taking their own lives.

'Fuck these human emotions. Why did I have to come to that fucking conclusion? Why? Why couldn't have just stayed the way that it was supposed to?'

Izaya didn't even realize that he was crying for the first time in his life until Celty walked over and wiped the tears away. "You know, you do that so gently that I can't help but feel like you've done it for someone before."

Celty chose to ignore Izaya as she slowly typed on her phone. ~It doesn't matter what you've done before. People change. ~

Izaya didn't answer. Instead, he was thinking. 'Celty is being friendly, despite the fact that I killed the only person who could relate to her. Why do people care?'

Only one week after Shizuo's funeral, could Izaya find himself being talked into suicide by Kasuka Heiwajima, who wanted some sort of revenge for his older brother's premature death.

Okay. This is the end of the sad, angst, character death ending. Now, it's the not character death ending.

I hope I can type it as well as I did with the angst, character death ending that is positioned right above this little note.

Honestly, as Izaya jabbed his blade upward, he expected Shizuo to grab his wrists, or slap the blade out of his hand. Izaya even expected the monster to just take it. However, Izaya made a mistake. Shizuo did none of those things. In fact, Shizuo's eyes widened a bit as he dove to get out of the way of the blade. Had Shizuo been thinking, or maybe have a bit more common sense, he would have dove for the left, causing Izaya's blade to completely miss him. But, Shizuo had tried to dive to the right. As soon as Izaya realized what Shizuo had done, he tried to stop his own arm from moving, however, they were at such a close range, and Izaya's arm had built up some momentum. Instead of impaling the flesh near Shizuo's right lung, he had driven his blade strait into Shizuo's neck. Izaya couldn't believe it. Never had the monster acted so human in a time of danger. Never had Izaya made such a human mistake.

Izaya instantly snapped to his senses. Mistake or not, if he just left Shizuo as he was, coughing and gasping for breath, he was going to die. If that happened… Izaya's thoughts trailed off. He didn't want to even think of becoming a murderer, so he was not going to let Shizu-chan die here today. He pulled out his cell phone, glad he had decided to bring it. The street was completely devoid of people, meaning Izaya had no one to help Shizuo as he made the call. So, this had to be quick. Izaya dialed Shinra's number without a moment's hesitance.

"Hello! Izaya, I do hope that you aren't injured. But, considering that it's yo-"

"Just get the hell over here! I refuse to become a murderer! So if he dies, I'll kill you for letting it happen. It wouldn't change a thing at that point." Izaya hissed into the phone, practically slamming it shut after he finished with his little four sentence rant. Afterwards, he glanced at Shizuo, unsure of what he should do until Shinra got there. Taking the blade out would make him bleed profusely, yet leaving it in made him unable to breath. That's when Izaya got an idea.

He leaned down, ripping some of the fabric from Shizuo's bartender outfit. He couldn't possibly mind having one more of those outfits destroyed if it was to save his life, could he? Shaking the thought out of his head, Izaya gripped the blade of his knife, pulling it out in one quick motion. Just as he had predicted, Shizuo's wound stared to bleed profusely. However, that's where the fabric came in. Using the ripped off strips of Shizuo's shirt, Izaya made a make-shift bandage, momentarily stopping Shizuo from bleeding out. He finished at the exact moment that Celty appeared with Shinra sitting behind her on her motorcycle. Izaya could see Shinra's eyes widen as he casually wiped the blade of all blood. Of Shizuo's blood.

"If you're done being surprised, Shizu-chan here will die without you. I'm off." Izaya turned around to leave. Whatever new human emotion he was feeling, he wanted to get away from the source.

"You're not even going to stay to see if he'll live?" Izaya 'ignored' that comment as he just continued to walk away. The truth be told, he didn't want to be around if Shizuo didn't make it. Because, he knew it would be all his fault.

…/…LB

Shinra called Izaya about two hours after Izaya had gotten home. Meaning that Shinra had called Izaya two hours and fifteen minutes after Izaya had walked away from him. The news, Shizuo will live. But that's all Shinra had said before apologizing and hanging up. "So Shinra doesn't want me to know anything else about Shizu-chan's condition? It doesn't matter. He'll live, I'm not a murderer. My conscious is cleared." Izaya sighed as he spun around in his chair. "I already sent Namie away for the day, and now, I can't even bother Shizu-chan. What on earth am I supposed to do for my entertainment?" Izaya paused his little speech for a moment before a wide, evil looking grin spread across his face. "Shinra said that Shizu-chan will live. So I'm right! Shizu-chan's a monster who can't die! I shouldn't feel so discouraged just because he acted human. I've never been able to read him. This means that when Shizu-chan acted in a way that I didn't think he would, he acted as I thought he would. Yes! It all makes perfect sense!"

Izaya just laughed for awhile as he spun around in his chair. "I don't have to worry about being human! It doesn't matter! Even with the slight error, I was still right! A-hahahahaha! Nothing's changed! Nothing's changed at all! As soon as Shizu-chan is well again, we can resume our game! He'll scream at me and I'll run. I'll ruin his bartender outfits as he just barely misses me!"

Izaya never stopped to think that Shizuo would have died had he done nothing. He didn't stop to think about what lasting damage a knife through the throat would do. No, all Izaya was thinking about was how much of a God he was. He controlled everyone and everything. He knew Shizuo wouldn't, couldn't die, and he was right! That's all that mattered. So, Izaya just buried his fear of being human deep inside of himself, hopefully, to be forgotten.

…/…LB

Being an informant, Izaya could find out information about anyone and anything. So naturally, he found out when Shizuo was back on the streets. Instead of directly confronting him, Izaya stayed in the shadows, just observing his un-beloved monster. Shizuo was working. That wasn't a surprise. Tom was talking and Shizuo was nodding his head in agreement to whatever was being said. When he opened his mouth to speak, Tom interrupted him, saying something that caused Shizuo to scowl. Izaya wasn't close enough to actually hear what they were saying, or observing them at an angle that wouldn't allow him to read their lips. However, Shizuo pulled out a PDA similar to the one that Celty carried around, before typing and showing it to Tom.

Izaya stopped to think for a moment. Why would Shizuo not be talking? He could be trying to see how Celty felt by imitating her way of communication. But that seemed a little too smart for Shizuo to come up with. That's when Izaya mentally smacked himself on the head. He had driven a knife through Shizuo's neck. There's no way he'd be able to speak. However, Izaya was unsure if Shizuo's muteness would be temporary or not. That's when a street sign impaled the wall next to Izaya's head.

Izaya's attention immediately snapped up to Shizuo who looked as if he was yelling something at him, except for the fact that no voice was coming from the lips. Luckily for Izaya, he could read lips.

"It's your fault that I'm fucking mute! Flea!"

That, did not spell good news for Izaya. If Shizuo couldn't speak, Izaya would have practically no warning before being attacked. His fear of being human came back. His life was now in even more danger, because he did make a mistake. He had assumed that Shizuo would dodge, not get the knife lodged in his throat. Now, Shizuo could not speak, so Izaya had no warning.

He took off running, not at all comforted by the fact that there was no scream of "I-ZA-YA!" coming after him. If anything, it made him sprint away even faster. 'Fuck. If I didn't realize I was afraid of being human, I never would have been in this situation. I wouldn't be becoming human, overcome by the stupid feeling of fear.'

Another object whirled past Izaya's head, and Izaya could only count himself lucky that Shizuo didn't have that good of an aim. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Izaya got away from the silent monster, and back to his lovely home. He sighed in relief as he leaned against the front door of the apartment.

"No wonder I'm afraid of being one of the humans! It sucks!" Izaya casually walked over to his desk, sitting in his chair and spinning around twice. "But I guess that knowing how they feel will make it all the more fun to toy with them. Not to mention, I can just find a new way of being God around Shizu-chan. I'll certainly develop better hearing with our 'games' now…"

And that's the end of this one-shot. What did you all think? How did I do with my attempt at keeping them in-character? Are you mad at me for not writing Shizaya? Anyway, I have to write an actual short story, instead of a fanfiction now. I apologize to all those apologize to all those who are waiting for an update of my on-going fics. My mom told me that I had to write a science-fiction short story, and she would send it in to one of the science fiction magazines to see if we can get it published. My mom told me that she believes I could be like Christopher Paolini, and actually write a story at a young age. If you don't know, Christopher Paolini is the author of the Eragon series, and he wrote the first draft for his first book at age fifteen. I'm fourteen. The only reason I'm even telling you guys this is because I will NOT be updating until after I get this short story all typed up. I'm unsure how long it will take, so it could only be a day, but at the same time, it could be up to a month or longer to update. So I apologize.

Please know that I was going to type this up before my mom told me about this. I was actually halfway through typing up the second ending when she told me what she wanted me to do. And it's one of my dreams to be able to write a book, even if it is just a short story, so I will be doing this. I appreciate everyone who actually reads the author's notes and knows what's going on. I hope that it doesn't take too long, but then again, I'm unsure. Thanks again for reading.

~icywarm.