Prologue

He caught me and I had nowhere to run, out of places to go, no one to come and save me. Corned on the rooftop of the school, his large, rough hands took hold around my neck and my back was pressed so hard up against the wall I thought my spine would snap. He was going to kill me and I deserved it. I understood so I couldn't condemn him for hating me so much up until this point. In a way, I kind of welcomed it. I hate me too.

"You-…Why?!" He suddenly shouted in my face. "I trusted her! With everything and she was the one person I could speak to…the one person who didn't see me as a monster… but it was just you." His hands slowly loosened as he spoke. "You were laughing at me the entire time, weren't you?" I couldn't deny, or defend myself because the shock of how emotionless his voice had become scared me. He slowly started to back away. I hadn't looked at his face the entire time, scared of what I might find there. "IZAYA!" With his sudden yell I couldn't stop myself from flinching. "A flea like you isn't even worth killing." I looked up at him finally, expecting furry, but all I saw was a cold and empty Shizuo. With that he left and I sank to the ground. For the first time, my wall broke and every emotion I ever tried to hide overcame me. Without crying or screaming I drowned in my own self-hatred.

~*~+~Three Months Earlier~+~*~

Izaya

The best way to observe humans would be to find them online. The internet being such a massive place, you feel like you can hide. It's all anonymous so people are more likely to tell you the truth. It doesn't take much for people to feel comfortable enough to tell a gray face everything about themselves. It's like a game to see how long it takes before someone is willing to give you all of themself.

Humans could be so wonderfully simple.

For the past year or two, he had developed another self. Kanra. She was smart and sweet but also playful. It took the average person about half an hour to open up to her and in less than a week to want to meet her and give her everything she could ever ask for. He never went to those meetings because he didn't need anything from those sad pathetic people. It was enough to know they'd go to that spot hoping to meet the person of their dreams who would never show up.

The idea of going just to be able to see the looks on their faces was becoming an extreme itch he might soon need to scratch. Seeing maybe the loneliest moment of a human's life? How could he just continue to pass up the opportunity? 'Maybe I'll go to the next one…' he thought to himself.

Recently there hadn't been any good targets. He wanted to find someone…different from the humans he'd already played with.

He let out a sigh. Nothing yet. But he understood that finding the perfect person would take time. Weeding through them all was just another part of the game.

Pushing back the chair he was sitting in Izaya grabbed his jacket hanging on the back of it and left. Staying here wasn't going to get him anywhere now. Anyone his age would be in school and he'd had enough fun with the working class that he felt like he needed a change.

'Maybe I should go to school?' He almost died laughing at the idea. They weren't worth his time. Smirking, he walked out the front door and headed for the heart of Ikebukuro.

Shizuo

Shizuo liked having a window seat in the back of the class. It made it easier for him to zone out and get into a type of calm. A light breeze was drifting in and he liked the way it sent a small shiver up his back. The feeling was so relaxing he couldn't resist closing his eyes. Before he knew it, it was lunch break. 'Shit.' He'd missed his opportunity to run away.

"Shizuo!" Without missing a beat he came running from the other side of the room. It wasn't like Shinra was a bad guy. Knowing him for so long Shizuo considered him a friend. It was just…Shinra could be weird. Really weird. "Hey did you hear the great news?" He looked so excited with such a dorky smile on his face.

"No. What news?" Humoring him Shizuo asked.

"Our teacher's leaving for America and since they couldn't find a sub for our class they're talking about combining us with Kyohei's class. Won't that be fun?" Shinra continued to chatter on with a boyish grin on his face as he pushed his glasses back up on his nose. "We can all have class together and Kyohei will be there and it'll just be great! I hope it happens. We can all learn together!" As he talked the news started to sink in. Kyohei's class…

"Isn't Izaya in that class? When did they say this would be happening?" Shizuo turned his full attention to Shinra, his voice taking on a strained tone.

"U-um yea he is!" His smile slipped a bit but returned as fast as it had left. "But no worries Shizuo, Izaya rarely comes to school and this probably won't happen for another month. I just overheard them talking about it when I went to go hand papers back to the other teacher."

"Hmph, is that right? Okay whatever." Shizuo turned his head back to the window. His mind going somewhere else as Shinra continued to talk about other things.

Shizuo didn't want to continue to waste time thinking about a flea. He had other, more important things to think about.