The Characteristics of a Sociopath
Sociopathy is not diagnosed officially until someone reaches the age of 18. However, teenagers might display the characteristics of a sociopath long before a diagnosis can be given. Sociopathy is also known as anti-social personality disorder, which is characterized by a lack of empathy for others, pathological lying and extreme uncooperative behaviors. A teenager diagnosed with a conduct disorder may well end up with the sociopath label in adulthood
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Lack of Conscience
A sociopath more often than not has the rest of society fooled with his/her brash and coldhearted ability to have no remorse or guilt-no matter who the person he/she is affecting is-and to have no care about the well-being of others. A sociopath has no conscience and, therefore, has a make-believe step-by-step scenario life of doing whatever he/she wants and covering it up with a false sense of sincerity by masking that anything about his/her (and their psychological makeup) may be different than you.
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"Izaya!" said man turned at the sound of his name being called from down the street. It was his one and only friend, Shinra.
He couldn't help but give a small chuckle at the sight of the other running to catch up with him. His lengthy brunette hair caught in his mouth and he continuously had to push his glasses up. In short, he looked like a dork. Actually, for lack of a better word, that's just what he was; a dork. Of course, Shinra had always chided him, saying that he wasn't really; he always claimed to be something of a genius. The term "quack" was more like it.
"Yo, Shinra, if you don't hurry I'll have to leave you behind~" he turned on his heel to continue on his way. It was their first day as high schoolers. Being late was no way to start the year; what sort of image would that give him? Certainly not a good one.
"There isn't a doubt in my mind that you would, too." He felt his friend grab him by the shoulder, using it for balance as he tried to catch his breath.
"Ahahaha, you know me so well."
"Heck, after all these years it'd be sad if I didn't." they shared a laugh before continuing on.
Yes, it had indeed been a long time since the two had first met. Their friendship had started back in middle school. Izaya had spent his entire life observing the creatures they called humans from afar. He had never really been one for social contact; he found it much easier to watch from a distance. For some reason though, Shinra had approached him, asking if he would help bring to life a biology club.
"Hey!" Izaya looked up from the paper he was currently working on. A boy, about the same age as him looked down from above.
"Yes?"
"You're Orihara Izaya, no?"
"Who wants to know?" The bespectacled boy smiled and put his hand out slightly startling the other brunette.
"My name's Kishitani Shinra and I would like you to be the vice president of my biology club."
At first, Izaya had promptly refused. He didn't need anybody. He was to be neither too close, nor too far. Besides, he preferred to observe rather than participate.
However, not long after, Izaya had come back to Shinra asking if he could indeed fill the spot of vice president of his biology club. Shinra had gladly given him the position and left the club expo entirely in his hands. Little did he know, he would be returning to something of a gambling ring.
Sure enough, there he was; Izaya was at the head of the pack; someone by the name of Nakura, standing at his side. What was originally supposed to be fun was now a little less than a middle school gang of sorts. Since it was baseball season, the group had taken to making bets on whose team would win or who would be able to pull off the next successful run.
Shinra disliked what the group had become. As much as he liked Izaya, he couldn't handle his precious biology club being so corrupt.
"Izaya, can I talk to you?"
"But of course~" Shinra pulled Izaya to the side of the room, away from the T.V and other children. "So, what can I do for you today?"
"Izaya, look, I'm not sure what to say here—"
"Thank you, perhaps? Look Shinra," Izaya pointed to the pile of cash and trinkets that they had accumulated, "We're winning. You can't tell me you have a problem with that."
"Well, I, I" Shinra stood awkwardly and looked at his feet.
"Yes?"
"I want this to stop!" Shinra had even surprised himself with the sudden outburst as he too stood shocked. Izaya looked at him suspiciously, as if weighing his options.
This person, no, this human, Kishitani Shinra was something else indeed. He had started a biology club. Biology was the study of life and living things; hence the Latin root bio, but Shinra wanted nothing to do with people. Why was that? Shinra was his opposite; a truly interesting human.
Still, he had no intentions of shutting down his little "business."
"Sorry, Shinra, no can do~" he shrugged his shoulders, his red eyes showing no interest in the matter.
"Izaya!—"
"I said no." with nothing more left to say, he walked away; leaving his only real friend with no room for debate.
The red eyed brunette walked back over to the group of people. He sat next to the other boy, Nakura, and offered him something of a fake smile. He knew the other was nervous; hell, he would be too if he'd just put down the last of his parents stash of yen on a baseball game. ￥50,000 (Approximately $500) was at stake.
It was funny really, a middle school child taking their parents money and losing it all on some stupid bet. Of all the things he supposed he should feel, the only one that came to light was that of happiness. He knew it was wrong; after all this whole situation was, but in his mind he saw nothing wrong with taking the other's money; friend or not, a bet was a bet.
Half an hour later, just as he had expected, Nakura was once again in front of him, pouring in the last of his parent's savings. Once everyone was finished they left, leaving Izaya behind to put the classroom back in order. He didn't mind much, not really anyway. It gave him time to think.
"Izaya!"
At least it would have anyway.
"Ah, Nakura-kun, how can I be of service?"
"G-give it to me!" Izaya looked at him a little confused as to what exactly he was referring to.
"Give what to you? Did you forget something, because I haven't picked anythi—"
"Don't play dumb with me Izaya!" Nakura brought out a small pocket knife, "The money, give it back!"
Ah, so that's what it was. He should have known that's what it would be. It seemed that the pressure had finally reached the boy. Whatever, it was his own damn fault.
"You know I can't do that." His red eyes grew dark as he tried to stare the other down.
"Fine, have it your way!" Without a second thought the boy raised the knife and prepared to charge.
That day, Izaya had been lucky. Shinra, being the good little boy that he was, had come back to apologize. When he saw the knife in Nakura's hands he had wasted no time in defending his friend. Long story short, Shinra had been the one who got hurt, not him.
Izaya had learned two things that day: one being the true extent of his and Shinra's friendship and the other his less than healthy addiction to Nakura's inner turmoil. He wondered, how many different ways could that had played out? What if it weren't money at stake? There were so many delicious possibilities!
Seeing an opportunity to gain the upper hand, Izaya took the blame for stabbing Shinra. Nakura wouldn't run away from him. He could definitely use him in the future. He had plans to start up their old gambling ring this year. He could use the extra cash; guess who would be his right hand man.
"So, Izaya, are you excited? This is our first year as high schoolers after all! Just think, we're so close to reaching our dreams!"
"Ha ha, Shinra, my friend, slow down. It's only just begun. Like you said, it's your first year and not only that, but you're still living at home."
"Actually," Izaya looked to his friend with mild surprise and genuine interest written on his face, "I'm not."
"Oh come now Shinra, surely you're joking."
"Nope, I've gotten an apartment not too far from here."
"Then who's your room mate?"
"What, but how did you—"Shinra sputtered and tugged at his book bag setting it straight on his shoulders.
"Are you really that surprised? You know, it isn't hard to see that your father would require you to live with somebody else."
"I guess that's…true."
"Indeed it is. So, who is it?"
"Well, her name is Celty. She works as a courier."
"Works? So it's an older woman then~ Shinra I had no idea."
"Sh-shut up!" the short brunettes face turned red with embarrassment as he tried to hide it with his hands.
"Relax Shinra, I was only joking. You know—" Izaya was cut off by the sound of a fairly popular J-pop song blaring through his pants pocket.
"Ah, do excuse the interruption. Hello?" Shinra pushed his glasses up as he watched the red eyed boy step back and turn away. There was something off about him today.
"No, no I get it. Though I can't possibly fathom how you managed to make such a mistake." He turned back to Shinra and motioned for him to go on without him. He nodded and continued on his way, only looking back once.
Shinra couldn't help but worry about his friend. He had known the man for a few years now and had noticed his trouble seeking tendencies. It definitely wasn't his favorite quality.
"Ah, c'mon! Fuck!" The brunette turned at the sudden onslaught of obscenities that rang through the small street. If he didn't know better he'd say that was Shizuo. Looking around though, he saw no such person; just a few people warily walking away from a fuming blonde who seemed to be having issues with a vending machine.
Wait.
Issues with a vending machine? He only knew of one person that seemed to have an affinity of troubles with vending machines.
"Shizuo?"
"Huh?" the blonde haired man in front of him turned to reveal the face of none other than Heiwajima Shizuo.
"Shizuo…your hair…it's…"
"Blonde, yeah I know." He finished for the other running his hands through said golden locks.
"It looks good."
"Thanks." Shizuo rubbed the back of his head in his usual nervous manner.
"So what seems to be the problem here? You seem to be a little frustrated." Shinra motioned towards the vending machine in front of them.
"…It won't give me my food."
"Pfftt ahahaha, Shizuo, seriously; just give it a good kick!" Shizuo made a funny face of displeasure towards the future doctor.
"I'll break it."
"Just do it lightly. I believe in you." He offered up a smile of encouragement that the blonde clearly didn't care for.
Shizuo stood back and looked at the machine. It was true, he was hungry and it had refused to give him his food, but he didn't really want to kick it. After all, why get violent when he could just get breakfast at the school, right? Then again, staring him right in the face was a delicious pack of M&Ms. The school didn't have those.
Still…
In the end, his conscience won and he decided to just continue his walk to school.
"Man, seriously Shizuo, you may just be too nice for your own good. Remind me again why you don't have a girlfriend."
"Tch, do you really have to ask?"
"Hmm, I'm not really sure your strength has anything to do with it." The blonde glared at the short brunette. "Heh heh, speaking of which, how have you been lately? Do you think you'd be able to come in for some tests?" Another dirty look and a growl was his answer.
"No? Then perhaps a blood sample then? Huh, oh Celty! What happened last night? You didn't come home. Were you out looking for your head?" Shizuo turned around at the sudden change in subject.
Behind him, Shinra had stopped to talk to someone. As to exactly who it was, he wasn't sure. Shinra had said something about looking for a head. Could this be the Headless Rider that everyone had been talking about lately?
"Shizuo, this is my roommate Celty! Celty, this is my friend Shizuo. Isn't she great? Some day her she and I will be married and— Oof, Celty, h-hey—"
He watched as his friend was jabbed in the stomach a few times, laughing all the while.
"Right, later Shinra. I'll see you at school."
…
"Nakura-kun," Izaya spoke softly through the receiver, "I thought I told you to do away with them. You don't need them anymore. You have me remember?"
"B-but Izaya-san, they're my…my family, my friends! I can't just blow them off like that!" Nakura's loud and panicked voice rang back at him, making the brunette hold the phone at arm's length.
"No need to yell. Listen, you do as I say. That's how things work around here. Now, you either find a way to fix what you did or things are really going to get rough!" Izaya hissed into the phone before snapping it shut.
That boy constantly was making mistakes. Anymore and they may have some problems. Izaya was working on re-opening their old gambling ring from middle school. He called it Amphisbaena. The only difference was the stakes and their contents. Things had begun to get interesting.
Just as before Nakura was made to help and join in occasionally. Things were going downhill in the other's life once more. He wondered how he would handle things. Perhaps this time he would break; actually kill him or maybe somebody else. Ha ha, it was all just so interesting!
Once more, he started his trek towards the school. He'd have to talk to Shinra about a few things. He'd have to meet that roommate of his. She sounded helpful~
…
Meh, new story. I really need to stop starting new ones without finishing the others. =_=
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