I know this beginning part might seem a little "Death Note-esque" (you'll see what I mean), but don't worry. Shizu-chan is not gonna spontaneously develop an amusing, diabolical laugh and start killing criminals.

Important Note: This is set when they're in high school.

Shizuo scanned the bookshelf in front of him, looking for a book on his topic so that he could get started on his report. The librarian had told him that the books on World War II were in this section. Aah, he really didn't want to do this paper. But he kind of needed to in order to pass the class. With a sigh, he continued scanning the shelf until his eyes met the book he wanted. He was just about to pull out the book with "WWII" in the title, when the book right next to it caught his attention.

The spine of this book looked old. Really old. Abnormally, curiously old. Shizuo was almost wary of pulling it out, a little afraid the decrepit-looking book would fall apart at the slightest touch of his super strength fingers. But curiosity got the best of him and he gently tugged the book out of the shelf.

It was a simple, plain brown book about the thickness of an average chapter book, but with slightly bigger pages. The ages were frayed and the brown cover of the book looked faded. There was no title on the front, so Shizuo turned it open to the very first page. "Book of Memories" was the only thing written in large, elegant font on the worn first page. Shizuo turned to the next page and read:

Instructions

-This book will capture the memories of the one who last touched it.

-To obtain this information, you must know the name of the one who last touched it.

-The name must be written on the last page. The important memories will then be revealed.

And that was it. How cliche. Was this a cosplay accessory for some shitty anime? Shizuo flipped through the rest of the book, but there was nothing else written. He chuckled. If something like this were really possible, he knew the person he'd try it on. He'd bet that sneaky flea would be much easier to deal with if Shizuo knew all his secrets and was able to push his buttons for once. Shizuo was just about to put the book back, but he hesitated.

No. There was no way. Shizuo would have to be pathetically gullible to believe something like this. It was so cheesy sounding.

And yet…

Shizuo grabbed the book on WWII as well and then took them both to check them out. It was stupid and he knew it, but it couldn't hurt to try it. Why not?

Oh, how he would regret that thought.

Shizuo had a plan to get Izaya to touch the book. It was simple really. Now all he had to do was wait for the flea to show up to enact it.

And there he was. Shizuo spotted him as he turned the corner in the school's hallway. He was talking to Shinra next to the window, with his back turned to Shizuo.

Perfect.

Shizuo took out the book and got ready to put his plan into action. "Izaaaayaaaa-kuuuun," Shizuo launched the book at the back of Izaya's head.

The book rocketed into Izaya's head just as he was turning around, but he almost instantly recovered.

"Oi~ Shizu-chan, that's not how you use books. Frustrated that your protozoan brain can't read it?" Izaya smirked.

Shizuo picked up a trashcan and hoisted it into the air. "Your stench is the only thing that frustrates me!" He threw the trashcan at Izaya, but this time Izaya dodged.

Not even bothering to take out his knife, Izaya turned to the window next to him and jumped out. "Bye bye, Shizu-chan!" Of course, his parkour skills took him safely to the ground.

Shizuo didn't bother going after him. Instead, he took out a pair of gloves and, careful not to touch it with his bare hands, picked up the book. He tucked it into his jacket and walked away from the scene. The book didn't say anything about having to touch it with bare skin, but Shizuo hoped it was like that. But hell, the book probably didn't work anyway.

Later that night, just before he went to sleep, Shizuo remembered the book. He pulled on his gloves and took the book and a pencil from his bag. Shizuo sat on his bed, a lamp next to his bed providing the light as he flipped to the last page of the book.

This was so stupid. Nothing was going to happen. But Shizuo had already come this far, so he might as well finish it. In his rough script, Shizuo wrote "Orihara Izaya" on the page. All of the sudden…

…nothing happened.

Shizuo sighed. He already knew that would happen. He turned off the lamp, set the book down on his bedside table, and laid down to go to sleep.

Shizuo opened his eyes. He was standing in a dark room. It wasn't his room. This room had no window or desk. Actually, this room really didn't have anything except for a wardrobe and a bed. And sleeping in that bed was a small child. Shizuo squinted at him in the darkness. As his eyes adjusted, he saw that the child looked to be around eight. His dark hair spilled over his eyes and his face…

His face looked just like…

No way. This was just a weird dream. And there was no way this kid was Izaya. Why would Shizuo have a dream about the flea? Especially the flea when he was a little kid. This was just-

BAM! The door slammed open and the child jolted awake.

A woman stood in the doorway, looking pissed. "You disgusting-!" She cut herself off as she darted towards the bed.

Suddenly, she had her fingers wrapped around the child's throat and was choking him on the bed. The child's fingers scrabbled and pulled at her, desperately trying to get her hands away.

Immediately, Shizuo bolted forward. Dream or not, he couldn't let someone do this to a kid. He reached to grab the woman, but his hand went straight through her. He tried again but was met with the same result.

Shizuo felt the feeling of panic rise him. Was he just going have to stand here and watch a woman kill a kid? What kind of fucked up dream was this?

"M-Mom… stop…" The child choked out.

Mom? What kind of messed up mother would do this? Shizuo reached for the women again, and when that didn't work he tried for the wardrobe. But his hands went straight through that too. The child was still struggling, legs kicking and hands clawing. He had to stop this!

"Mitsuki!" A man rushed into room. "Stop!" He pulled the woman off and away from the child. "You're going to kill him!"

"Good! Can't you see that's what I'm trying to do?" She shoved the man off of her, but turned away from the child and left the room. "Aaargh! I hate it!" The man followed after her, shutting the door behind him.

And just like that, everything was over just as suddenly as it had begun.

Shizuo turned back to the kid. He was still gasping for breath. Shizuo just looked at him, miserable that he couldn't protect him, and couldn't even comfort him now. It was clear now that he would be unable to interfere. After a few more seconds of catching his breath, the kid laid back down.

Shizuo was stunned. Didn't his mom just try to kill him? What was he doing just laying back down? Shouldn't he be getting out of there? Or calling the cops or something? Anything other than just calmly laying back down.

But as Shizuo looked closer, he realized that the child was not calm at all. He was taking deep breaths, as if trying to calm himself down. But his eyes were still a little wide and a little scared and he was shaking. Once again, Shizuo was hit with the pain of how useless he was right now.

Gradually, the kid seemed to calm down. His breathing became even, his shaking stopped, and his eyes lost the fear. In fact, his eyes looked almost… dead. For just a split second, Shizuo almost thought the kid's mom had succeeded. But no, he was still breathing.

This sucked. What a shitty dream. Shizuo couldn't wait to get out of here.

The boy was laying on his back staring at the ceiling, completely emotionless.

No. As Shizuo took a step closer, he saw that the kid was biting his lip. His eyes became a little glassy and he bit his lip harder, seeming determined not to cry despite what he had just gone through.

The kid looked so young. How could something like this have happened?

Finally, the boy seemed unable to contain his tears and they slipped out of the corners of his eyes. His face contorted in misery and the tears ran down his cheeks.

The boy let out a very quiet, shuddering sob and covered his eyes with his hands.

Shizuo watched as the boy struggled to contain any further noise. Shizuo was absolutely miserable. This had to be the most depressing thing he had ever seen. Why did he have to dream about this? Even though he knew the boy was just an image in his mind, a character in his messed up dream, he desperately wanted to help him.

After a few minutes, the boy scrubbed at his eyes and seemed to get his near-silent crying under control. After wiping away the last of the tears, he rolled onto his side and gave the door a fearful glance.

Another pang of misery hit Shizuo. He glared fiercely at the door. He wanted to reassure the boy that he didn't need to be afraid. He wanted to tell the boy that he would destroy anything that came through that door trying to hurt him and he would never let anyone do that to him ever again.

But Shizuo knew he couldn't. And it hurt. With a dejected sigh and a miserable expression, Shizuo turned back to the boy.

But suddenly the boy was gone. Everything was gone and Shizuo found himself surrounded by a blanket of pitch black darkness.

Shizuo awoke with a gasp. He was no longer in the child's room. He was laying in his own bed and morning light filtered through his window, contrasting the dark room he just been in. Shizuo closed his eyes again, still reeling from the traumatizing dream.

After a few moments spent gathering himself, Shizuo opened his eyes again. The first thing he saw was the old book sitting on his bedside table. And a horrible thought hit him. Could it have worked? Could that have been Izaya's memories?

No. The thought was repulsive. He hated the idea of anyone's mom trying to do that to her son. As annoying as the flea was, he absolutely didn't deserve that. There was no way that was Izaya's memory. Shizuo refused to believe it. And besides, such a thing as a magic, "memory book" was impossible. It was just some weird, fucked up dream he had.

Just a messed up dream that never actually happened, so he could stop thinking about it now. Shizuo took a few deep breaths, attempting to expel the disturbing dream from his mind before he got ready for school.

That morning, when Izaya walked into the classroom, he immediately realized that Shizu-chan seemed bothered about something. Normally, when Shinra ranted endlessly about his love for Celty like that, Shizuo got annoyed. But now, he seemed lost in his own world and was only muttering back a few, half-hearted replies. How interesting. Izaya just had to antagonize him now.

"What's wrong Shizu-chan? Did your little brother finally realize that you're a monster? It was just a matter of time~!"

Enraged, Shizuo grabbed a desk and lifted it into the air, preparing to throw it at Izaya.

Strangely, Izaya saw him just barely hesitate.

But before he could even fully process it, the desk was flying towards him and he had to dodge. And then he dismissed it as the protozoan attempting to resist violence and forgot about in the following whirlwind of dodging and insults.

Not much Izaya in this chapter (well, except, you know), but there will be soon so don't worry. And you just got a taste of the angst fest that will be this fic. I love being mean to my favorite characters and Izaya is my favorite Durarara character (with Shizu-chan as a close second, of course).

Please review!