A/N: So, I got eighteen reviews on the first chapter of this in two days. And now it's up to twenty-three. All I can say is holy shit, guys... I've honestly never gotten that many reviews on anything I've written for on here. Thank you, oh my gods. So, because I love you all, I wrote another chapter for you.

This will be a flashback to Izaya and Shizuo's high school days, from Izaya's point off view. No warnings for this chapter. Probably.

Will have mistakes! Unbeta'd.

xxxx

He always liked it when he had to switch schools, to be honest. The humans he was forced to spend nearly every hour of the day with quickly became boring to him, like a child's old toy.

This new school, however, already promised to be a grand time. He had recently learned that his old schoolmate Kishitani Shinra was attending the very same academy, something that he definitely had mixed feelings about. On one hand, he loved the man- Simply because he was human, therefore interesting to the raven. However, on the other hand Shinra had a habit of well...

Never shutting shutting the fuck up.

Ever.

Truthfully, the raven-haired teenager enjoyed talking as much as the next person. His words were what got him want he wanted, actually. He was what one would call a silver-tongue, meaning he could twist another person's words and make them do the things he wanted them to do; As if they were simply puppets.

It was very entertaining for him, to say the least.

Another reason why Izaya was excited to start attending Raijin was because of it's location: Ikebukuro.

He had heard many things about the city, ranging from a headless rider to a teenager who could tear street lamps from the ground with a slight twitch of his wrists.

Yes, Orihara Izaya was intrigued about this 'monster'.

It didn't take long for him to find out the supposed 'monster of Ikebukuro's real name, given the fact that all the students around him were far too trusting for their own good.

Heiwajima Shizuo.

An extremely unfitting name, if the rumors were true. Honestly, it was almost laughable. Then again, Izaya's own name wasn't all that normal to begin with; So he couldn't really talk.

The good thing was that it wasn't hard to find the brute, if you knew what to look for.

Izaya stood at the large window a couple floors up from the ground, a smirk plastered on his lips as he watched the crowds of humans below him scurry around- Much like ants, if you thought about it.

Ants in an ant farm, and Izaya was simply holding the case. The choice of whether to simply let go of the container and allow the glass to shatter, or whether he could coddle and protect his 'pets' was entirely up to him; And only him.

It was all so fun.

Suddenly, he spotted a mop of blonde hair before the crowd moved quickly out of the teenager's way; Fear and caution clear on their faces as they backed away.

Interesting.

Really, it couldn't be anyone other than the 'Heiwajima Shizuo' he had heard about.

The blonde looked up, amber meeting carmine for a long moment as Izaya's smirk widened; And the blonde- Heiwajima Shizuo- scowled.

Someone called his name, and he plastered a smile on his face as he turned to face the panting brunette. "Shinra-san~" Izaya greeted airily, wiggling his fingers slightly at the wanna-be doctor as the latter bent slightly; catching his breath. "What is it?"

Shinra straightened, coughing slightly as he panted. "I have someone I want you to meet! He's my friend, but he has a really short temper so don't piss him off. Come by the court yard after class, okay?"

Izaya raised an eyebrow, regarding the other curiously. "Who is this person?"

"Well... It's Heiwajima Shizuo. Have you heard about him?" Shinra asked quietly, looking somewhat concerned and a bit pissed off at the concept of the raven having heard the rumors.

"I'll come, I just... Have something to arrange~" Izaya purred, turning and walking away from the brunette. Once he was out of earshot, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number quickly; Bringing the device to his ear.

Ring, ring, ri-

"What do you want."

"How mean, Jushimaru-san~ And here I was calling to give you some good news."

"What is it?"

Izaya smirked, hearing the slight interest in the other's voice. "It involves Heiwajima Shizuo, have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"He's challenged all the gangs in Tokyo except for your beloved 'Darts', Jushimaru-san." Izaya lied easily, throwing in a distasteful sigh. "I wonder if he just considers you not to be a threat or..."

"What? We'll kick that fucker's ass!"

Hook, line, and sinker.

Pathetic.Izaya forced himself not to laugh gleefully, as he inspected his nails. "I hear he's going to be in the courtyard of Raijin after classes are over, actually. He's also apparently weakened from the cold he has right now..."

"What? Thanks, Orihara!"

Honestly, why do these people trust him?

"You're very welcome, Shi-san~ I'll put this on your tab."

"Hey, wa-"

Click.

Izaya snorted, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

Bishop to A5.

Your move, Heiwajima Shizuo.

xxxx

The school bell was soon ringing to signify the end of classes, and the ravenette yawned slightly as he stretched; Giving a soft mewl of bliss when his back popped in several places before relaxing as he dully noted that his fellow classmates were all hurrying out of the room and into the halls, clearly in a hurry to get home for the weekend.

Of course, Izaya wasn't one of them.

Instead, he simply sat in his seat; Idly typing away on his cell phone as he leaned his elbow in the surface of his desk.

A movement from out in the front of the school caught his attention, and he looked away from the tiny LCD screen he had been concentrating on; Turning to look down at the front gates of Raijin.

His lips suddenly split into a wide smirk as he recognized the man in front of the group of people forcing their way through the crowd.

"Here already, Shi-san~?" He sighed to himself. Chuckling before pushing his chair back, the legs scrapping against the floor as he pushed himself up; Humming thoughtfully as he skipped towards the door happily. "I suppose I should hurry outside for the show, ne?"

He didn't hurry, but he didn't loiter either. He walked down the stairs to where his locker was, quickly spinning the combination and pulling it open; Though an envelope placed delicately on top of his shoes surprised him slightly.

Raising an eyebrow, he pulled it from the small space and glanced at the front.

No name, no anything.

Flipping it open, he nearly snorted at the heart sticker stuck directly at the very center of the flap; Holding it shut.

"A love letter, perhaps? How cliche." He murmured to himself, amused. He tucked it into his pocket, planning to read it when he got home. Maybe I can use the human that sent this, He thought joyfully. Nothing would amuse him more, actually. I've been meaning to acquire new 'pieces'.

He thoroughly enjoyed pulling the strings.

"No time for that right now." He reminded himself as he pulled his outdoor shoes from his locker, placing them on the ground in front of him before slipping out of his school runners and sliding the others on in three quick movements, grinding his foot against the floor to make sure it was on properly.

He scooped up his school shoes and shoved them messily into the locker, slamming it shut with a flick of his wrist.

He could hear the fight.

Just barely, but he could.

He smirked to himself as he quickly left the building, doubling around the side of the school in the opposite direction from the fight; Knowing that Shinra wouldn't be the type to stand amongst the main fray, and would inside probably hide somewhere off to the side.

Sure enough, as he quickly jogged around the corner he spotted the young brunette watching from beside a jutted out part of the main school building; Obviously both trying to hide and also to watch due to the wanna-be doctor's own interest.

Izaya skipped over to him calmly, jumping up to sit on the surface of the small platform-like part of the building. "Yo, Shinra-san."

The brunette jumped and looked at the raven, his eyes wide for a moment before he calmed down, recognizing who had spoken. "Ah, Izaya-san. H-hey."

Izaya looked out at the scene before them, clearly not disturbed by the sounds of the men crying out in pain from the hits they took from the roughed-up blonde. His carmine eyes trailed over Shizuo's body for a moment, taking note of his mussed up attire and the scratched on his forearms; Certainly from the knives the gang members carried.

In the blonde's fist as a bent sign post, Izaya noted; Raising his eyebrow in intrigue. Apparently the rumors are true. He thought gleefully, restraining himself from wiggling in place.

It was all so much fun!

Instead, he turned to Shinra as Shizuo roared; Flinging a group of his attackers back with a simple flick of his wrist. "So, Shinra-san. What happened?"

The brunette looked away for a moment, adjusting his glasses before raising a hand and scratching the back of his neck; Looking slightly sheepish as he refused to meet the ravenette's piercing gaze. "W-well, these guys cornered us here and accused Shizuo-kun of disrespecting their group; Which of course isn't true. He tried to agrue with them but the guy leader- I think- jumped at him with a bat and well... This happened." Shinra's eyes suddenly sharpened and he frowned, kicking at the dirt at his feet. "Shizuo-kun doesn't even like fighting, but he doesn't have a choice in the matter most of the time."

"What a pity." Izaya said airly, clearly not sympathetic in the slightest. "Too bad he was born to be such a monster, ne?"

"Izaya-s-!"

There was a sudden clang of metal and the two looked over at the scene, one's eyes full of concern while the other's was full of intrigue as they took in the sight before them.

Shizuo stood alone amongst a large group of groaning bodies, the sign post stuck in the ground beside him as he stood there; Panting.

Izaya did the one thing he figured would be the most irritating:

He started clapping.

Sure enough, Shizuo turned and glared at him; A spark of recognition in his eyes as he growled slightly. "Who the hell are you?"

Izaya opened his mouth to answer, but Shinra piped up before he could say anything.

"Ah! Shizuo-kun this is the friend I wanted to introduce to you. This is Orihara Izaya, and I know him from back in middle school. Now, he's not really a nice guy- Actually he's pretty much an asshole bu-"

"Ne, Shinra-san~" Izaya interrupted, his tone amused. "That hurts, you know?"

"Sorry, Iza-"

"You piss me off."

The two blinked, turning to looked at the blonde; Whose gaze as locked on Izaya's own.

Izaya's surprise stayed on his face for only a moment before he smirked widely, gesturing dismissively with one hand. "Oya, oya~ That's too bad. I thought we could have lots of fun together."

"Shut up." Shizuo grunted, turning away and placing a hand on his hip.

Izaya simply chuckled slightly, thoroughly entertained. "Ah, but I guess we still could. Ne, Shizuo-kun?"

His smirk widened as Shizuo whipped towards him, his face twisting with rage as he darted forwards; Fist upraised.

Izaya's smirk widened as he jumped away from his seat at just the right time, easily dodging the blonde's punch as it destroyed the cement he had been seated on. He landed gracefully on his feet, his flickblade slipped down his sleeve and into his hand as he pivoted quickly; Jumping at the blonde from behind while the other cluelessly looked around for him.

At the last moment, Shizuo spun; His amber eyes filled with shock as Izaya's hand snapped out, his blade slicing a neat line across Shizuo's chest.

Blood soon beaded from the deep wound, and Shizuo scowled at the raven as he slapped a hand against it in an attempt to slow the flow.

"See, isn't this fun?" Izaya mocked, lifting his blade pointedly before pointing it at the blonde.

A roar of his name, and he spun on his toes; Darting away from the enraged brute.

Then began the first chase.

People and building whipped past him as he gleefully sprinted down the city streets, laughter bubbling up in his throat at the pure rush of it all.

Heiwajima Shizuo was truly a monster in human form.

It was all so fun, but at the same time; Infuriating.

Infuriating because before he knew it, he had grown fond of the monster; Fond of his strength, fond of him.

Fond of his monster.

It disturbed him at first, due to his belief that he could not care for one individual human; But soon he remembered that what he was dealing with wasn't a human at all.

Still, it annoyed him.

He was the selfish sort, and as he watched Shizuo interact with other's around him calmly- Espeically their Sempai, Tanaka Tom- he began to feel jealous.

He watched as Shizuo smiled calmly at the dreadlocked man, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

How disgusting this affection that he held was.

He only ever saw one part of Shizuo's personality directed towards himself, and that was the monsterous part.

The part that clearly despised him, the part that flared up as soon as he came into the blonde's view.

But at the same time, that was okay. Izaya was fine with being hated by his because that meant that Shizuo would always notice him; Would always chase after him, even if it was solely for the purpose of beating Izaya into the ground.

And so, Izaya disguised his affection as hatred. If only for the purpose of keeping his favorite piece forever in play, even if said piece rarely did what he thought it would.

It's unpredictablity only kept him more interested.

However, there were several things he could always rely on; Regarding Heiwajima Shizuo.

One: The blonde wouldchase him if Izaya did something to piss him off.

Two: The blonde would not abandon the chase as long as Izaya remained in view.

And three: He would always hate him, no matter what he did.

And that was alright.

And therefore, Izaya made sure to start doing things to cause the blonde's hatred to run deeper.

A stupid, mocking nickname.

Placing erotic reading material inside of his desk.

Cutting his uniform with his blades.

Mocking him.

Framing him for small crimes.

Making him destroy school and city property, knowing that the blonde would soon fall into debt.

All of it was a part of his game plan to make sure the blonde would never fall out of his clutches, all part of a game that he marked on a chess board at home; The surface littered with multiple game pieces from several different games, the rules of which only he knew of.

A complex, purposeful dance that the puppeteer performed from above the scene as he looked down upon those connected to his strings.

Because with hatred, he could become the most important person in Shizuo's life.

xxxx

A/N: Second installment, done! Please read and review!