Izaya woke up in a cold sweat. He panted hard and clutched the covers as he scanned the room. His body was shaking and his chest heaved as he tried to recall what had happened.

It was another bad dream.

He dreamt that he was young again and his mother was beating him senseless on one of her drunken rampages. He could feel every bruise and cut. He could smell and taste the blood, the faint, but familiar, scent of Marijuana and Opium was tainting the air as his father lounged on the couch, whining and complaining about how loud Izaya was crying.

The woman had tossed him to the side, calling his rude, foul names and how she had resented his and the twins' birth. She dumped a glass of a clear colored liquid on him which he guessed to be her gin. Izaya shivered and cried as she pulled her leg back and kicked him as hard as she could. He coughed and screamed, trying to crawl away from the evil woman.

He managed to stand and run away, stumbling but succeeding to escape her grasp. Izaya dove into a closet and held himself as he kept his sobs down and shook.

Then, the boy heard the most terrifying noises ever.

The screams of his 3yr-old baby sisters as they were being hit.

Instantly, the raven got up and ran into the other room and lowered his head to head-butt the woman with full force. She shouted in anger and threw a horribly off-target punch at him, missing him by a foot or two as he grabbed the girls and ran out of the room.

He ran up to the roof with them and held them close as he tried to stop their crying. They were grabbing their brother and clutching to him as they tried to get comfort from what they had just experienced. The raven pet their hair and murmured sweet things to them, "Shush, Mar-chan and Kur-Kur-chan… Iza-nii is here.. Iza-nii won't let her hurt you again…"

Izaya was still in his room, his fingers running nervously through his hair as he panted, his bare chest still heaving. That was only 4 years ago.

Last year, he had run off at 13 with his two 6yr-old sisters in tow. The woman didn't care, or, at least, she never came out after them or the money Izaya had stolen to pay for an apartment and food. She never came for the girls or for the alcohol he threw away when they left. She just left them. Alone.

Izaya had managed to get a job to support himself and the two girls, and send them to school, and still be the top of his class. He was determined to break everything that had been said about him and start anew, which he had accomplished so far…

But he still felt alone.

The raven sighed and lay back in bed, his eyes slipping shut as he heard two sets of feet pitter patter across the hardwood floors and go into his room. He felt the sheets be pulled back on either side of him as two girls slipped in bed with him, both wearing the exact same overly-large pajama shirt and socks so he couldn't tell which girl was which.

Izaya cracked an eye open and looked at his sister snuggled into his side. No braid meant it was Kururi. He held her close and she squeaked, not knowing he was awake.

"Iza-nii… nightmare too?" she asked softly.

Izaya smiled sheepishly and nodded, then looked over at Mariu, "Did you have a nightmare as well, Mar-chan?"

Mariu hugged Izaya tightly and nodded, "Y-yes, I-It was scary…"

"I'm sorry… How about you two just sleep in here, ok? Then we'll deal with that before school in the morning, alright?"

Both girls nodded at the same time, then cuddled with their big brother until they fell right asleep.