And Marisa is slightly more negative/hostile to Izaya at first as she still doesn't know/trust him as well as Kida does. Kida will return, don't for why Kida acts more childish than other kids his age, he was abused/neglected by his parents, so this makes him more emotional/slightly a bit slower at emotional learning than other kids. He's more clingy and cries more than others his age.

"When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind."

Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

Chapter 2: A CHILD'S INNOCENCE


"Marisa, Marisa, what would you do if you weren't in this bed?" A little girl with dark hair asks, looking at me as I sit there, IV needles in my arms, unable to move.

Well, what else? I'd be up, moving, and about like you. I entertain her with a smile and instead tell her a little fairy tale about why I'm here.

The little girl laughed and smiled at me. "I'm sure you'll get out of that bed sooner or later and be happy again!"

I smiled at her,"I knowthat I will come back! I will be able to live and be a normal person."

"That's so good, I get so worried!" The little girl chirped, handing me a stuffed dog, which was quite cute, before she turned and walked away.

"Wait, who are you?" I cried, but she didn't listen and walked away.

"What kind of cancer is it?" A woman with dark hair said, stroking my head as I sat there, hands on over my face, sobbing.

"I'm afraid it's brain cancer. A rare form, known as glioma." The doctor said, staring at me.

"Glioma?" I muttered, "What's the survival rate?"

"Very low." He replied.

My heart sunk. How was I supposed to live like this? I might have my head opened (brain cancer wasn't easy to operate on, after all!) and such.

Suddenly, my surroundings warped...in time to show a little boy staring up at me, as I sobbed. He watched in concern, with eyes of a child, innocent yet not. I didn't recognize him from anywhere, yet his golden eyes seemed familiar.

"Why are you crying, lady? Did someone call you a name?"

I shook my head, continuing to sob, wishing this kid would just leave me alone.

The boy frowned. "Did you get a hurt somewhere?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm really sick."

"You can get better!" He chirped, happily. "Izaya-nii tells me people can get better!"

"I'm not going to get better." I told him, "I'm going up to heaven."

"That's not fair," He said. "I just met you and you're going to heaven already?"

I nodded.

He frowned before sitting down beside me and looking at me. "Are you lonely?"

Of course I was. "Where are your parents?" I asked.

He looked at me funny. "We'll meet again, lady. What if...you'll never see them again?"

"Of course I will!" I cried, but then I was suddenly...awake, in time to see my family.

My family, talking animatedly.

I held the covers closer to me and wept, remembering that horrifying nightmare about being dead, about being a child and somehow being an anime character. No part of that had been real at all...right?

Suddenly, my family got up and walked away from me.

"Hey!" I cried out.

"You're not supposed to exist, you're supposed to be dead." A voice whispered, and I turned in time to see the figure of a man with dark hair standing there, smiling widely at me, a smile that sent shivers down my spine.

"Come here...I'll help you out!" He said, stepping closer to me.

I tried to run, but he was too quick and had pinned me down, as I struggled and flailed madly, kicking and trying to beat him back.

"Go away! Leave me alone! Stop hurting me!"

"Sorry, but it's a secret, isn't it? You know you can't escape me." His slimy hand touched my cheek, and I started screaming and crying, kicking at him, trying to beat him back with my bare hands, before running in the opposite direction, trying hard to escape him.

"You little shit, I'll kill you!" He snarled, and I fled.

I lay in a dark alleyway, breathing hard.

I could hear him coming to find me.

Who was he, and why did he send such fear down my spine?

"Hey!"

That voice...who did that belong to?

I glanced around, but saw no one.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Again, I did a double take. No one, but I noticed that the dream was shattering into pieces.

This is a dream-no, I'm supposed to be here.

"Wake up!"

Who was that?

I turned my head. "No...leave me alone!"

"Kid, wake up already!"

A firm shake...


At that second, my eyes flew open, in sheer and utter panic, recalling the sheer terror of my death, as I lay there, trying hard to catch my bearings.

I snuggled up more in the covers that surrounded me.

I let out a soft whimper, pulling my covers over me more. I still felt hot and achey all over.

I was glad I was waking up, everything seemed normal-aside from that bizarre nightmare I'd had where I'd been turned into a child, (and a boy!), I was so glad that none of that was real. I wasn't a child anymore, I wasn't a guy, I wasn't sick and I wasn't an anime character.

"Not possible...I'm still here..." I mumbled to myself, smiling.

Then, I heard movement as a shadow made itself visible from my eyesight. I cowered under the sheets, taken aback temporarily.

The blankets were suddenly taken from me, exposing me to the outside world.

I blinked, before realizing that there was a giant standing over me, a very tall someone standing there, and blinked. There was a stranger here!

He sat down before looking at me again. "Are you all right? You were...you were thrashing around in your sleep...like someone was going to hurt you...and you nearly hit me! What's going on with you, Kida?" He asked.

Wait.

What the fuck.

Oh...then, it dawned on me again, as I sat up more-this was still real.

My world fell to pieces again as the reality settled back into place.

"Masaomi-kun?" I blinked as he was right in front of my face-and let out a soft gasp, moving back slightly. "Are you okay now? You were...really out of it earlier."

I didn't know how to answer, so I just nodded my head as a yes and just stared at the ground sullenly, still unable to believe this was real.

So I actually was dead. I literally was.

"Masaomi?"

I ignored him and just focused on the things around me.

Everything was still...wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

The sheets on the bed were still too big. The hands clutching the sheets were still too small, too thin. The room was completely unfamiliar, still.

Everywhere, my body felt too small, which made me very uncomfortable with the knowledge that I was physically a child. It made me feel scared.

A tiny hand came to rest against my t-shirt before I could plainly tell that it had not been a dream. My chest was still flat as it had been earlier.

Then the feeling of what shouldn't be there between my legs but was came to me as well, causing me to blanch slightly in disgust before just gazing up at Izaya-fuck he was huge, before looking away, not able to really think of anything to say.

I barely even knew him, and yet I was somehow, inexplicably, a kid who'd been living the past ten years of life as a fucking boy? Highly unlikely. I had no memory of any of that and I certainly would have.

I paused, as he ruffled my hair, before grimacing slightly at the contact, but not really resisting. I had recalled what happened to me before. But all I remembered was that it had to do with a scary man and nothing else. My memories were hazy and vague before I'd gotten here. I just remembered dying...and then...then what?

I shut my eyes, trying to recall.

Nothing.

The next memory that entered my head was of me awakening here.

How could that be? Why wasn't I a fucking baby? Why was I just a ten-year old kid?

I just stared at Izaya. Why was I stuck pretending to be a kid? What kind of sick fuck thought it was funny to stick me in that position? I let out a whimper of pain, but otherwise said nothing, just giving him a grumpy look.

"Are you fine?" He pressed, "It'll be all right, because now I'm here!"

I just stared at him, getting quite irritated by his cheerful persona. Nothing about this was fun in any way.

"Masaomi-kun? Are you all right?" There he goes, again using that name, as he felt my forehead. I just let him, silently flinching. "That's good, your fever's gone down, Kida."

'Not my name, not my name, not my name, not my name!' I hissed in my head.

Oh, well that was good, I supposed. Can't have the body I'm stealing be sick, after all. I let out a slight whimper, and coughed at the same time. Shit, I hated being sick. I twitched, and flinched at the ache of pain coming from my leg, though it wasn't as bad as last night. I concluded that this was either real, or else that this was some sick person's idea of purgatory.

"What's with you today? Why were you screaming in your sleep and acting out? Are you all right?" He sounded kindly enough, but I just couldn't trust him. He was acting, I was sure of it.

I shrugged my shoulders, just wishing I could forget this whole thing ever happened and be dead.

"Look, if you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't do anything to help. You've been acting quite odd all day, Masaomi-kun. What can I do to help?"

'Liar, he's lying. Lying, don't believe him. This is a man who hurts people.'

But when I looked into his eyes again, I felt an immediate sense of guilt go through me. Guilt for stealing this kid from him, guilt for being a little shit towards someone who was just trying to help (me, him, us?), and guilt for being satisfied about hurting someone else. It wasn't fair to him. Why did I feel this way?

I recalled all the things he'd said.

'Calm down, you'll be fine!'

'It's okay, I'm here!'

This was totally confusing. Izaya Orihara was showing...genuine concern and kindness for me? What the fuck is going on? He'd caught me to prevent me from falling and injuring my weaker body...now he was here treating me?

His every action so far had been kind and altruistic, not motivated by any selfish actions whatsoever.

Even so, the same emotion that was within me bubbled up again: a strong sense of regret for being such a brat to someone who was just trying to help, and also...deep sadness at being torn away from everyone and everything I loved. But on the other hand, here was someone who cared, presumably and who was alive.

I was alive...however that was.

Tears pricked at the surface of my eyes and my lips trembled. All fear the child temper tantrums, but it was coming, anyway.

"Masaomi-hey..." He said, but I didn't even answer and instead flung myself at him, burying my head into his shirt, crying. My face was burning in embarrassment at this childish act, but what more could I do?

I wanted to cry after all I'd been through.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong, Masaomi!? W-Why are you crying all of a sudden?" He sounded alarmed, freaked out, even. Like a teenager in over his head.

I gasped upon feeling myself suddenly being smothered in a hug back, and blushed even more.

"Masaomi, relax! You're safe here! It's all right, just tell me why you're upset with me! I can't fix something unless I know what it is I'm doing wrong."

I could die of embarrassment right now.

I flushed bright red, embarrassed at being hugged by a man my own (well, mental) age, and sniffed loudly.

"I...I was really...real...real mean, I-Izaya...niisan..."

Niisan? What the shit.

No way in hell would I refer to him as my brother.

Yet my brain was telling me he was my brother.

Crazy shit.

"I...I didn't mean to say go away and leave me alone...I don't want to be left alone. I-I'm sorry! You're here to help me and I'm sorry!" I whined, making as sincere an attempt I could to apologize without getting more tears on his shirt. God, I wanted to die of embarrassment right now.

"It's okay." He said, and suddenly he was away from me. "Everyone gets a little mean when they're sick. No one likes being sick, Kida-kun. What matters is you apologized. I'm glad you're back to normal, you were acting so stiff and unlike a child it had me worried."

Shit, he'd noticed? I wiped my nose with a tissue before looking up at him, my eyes puffy from crying. "You sure?" I didn't like how my voice sounded like nails on chalkboard.

"Why don't you tell me why you were acting like I was going to hurt you and who told you about cancer?" He asked, looking at me seriously.

I fidgeted under his gaze. "Saw it on TV." I mumbled, pushing my blond bangs back, "I was...scared from a nightmare where I wasn't alive...I died..."

I noticed the momentary look of...anger on his face before it passed.

"Who told you about death?" He asked, "You shouldn't know about those things."

I shrugged. "Dunno."

I wasn't sure if he bought that answer or not.

He sighed, looking at me in disbelief. "You were scaring me, kid. You know I'd never hurt you, right?"

I nodded. "You'd never hurt me."

His smile was bright and genuine as he ruffled my head before turning back to the soup he'd brought in with him.

"Do you want to eat?"

I nodded eagerly.

Kida or not, I was starving.

He handed me yet another tiny cup with hot soup in it.

"Be careful, Masaomi."

I nodded, "T-Thank you, Izaya..."

"Niisan..." He reminded, "You never forget that, usually. Must be your sickness."

I paled slightly.

"Niisan." I added, a little annoyed.

It tasted so good to eat, but Izaya cautioned me to eat only as much as I could take.

It was then that he informed me that I had puked several times over the course of the night.

It was now mid-morning of another day, apparently.

I shifted slightly, a little annoyed that I couldn't eat more.

Izaya suddenly placed something small in my hands.

"Your friend gave this to me for you."

It was a card, written in sloppy Japanese.

Yet I could read it.

The fuck.

I had apparently been listening to Japanese and speaking it, and understanding it. Kill me.

How was that possible?

"To Masaomi," I read.

The inside showed sloppy stick figures, one with black hair, the other with blond.

"I've been awfully worried. Mom and Dad told me you'll come back to school. Take care, Masaomi!"

The name scribbled at the bottom was printed in child-like letters, but even then, it made me double-take.

"Signed, your best friend, Mikado Ryuugamine."

Mikado. Ryuugamine.

There was no denying it now. I was in Durarara.

But how the fuck can I be young Kida with young Mikado?

This makes no bloody sense.

I smiled at the misspellings, though.

"Mikado is so nice." I said, smiling.

"I'm glad you're more conscious. Are you conscious enough to do some homework?"

I made a sound of disgust.

He sighed. "You've gotta get it done sooner or later, Kida-kun."

I sighed, deciding to humor him and do this homework.

...How do you do this?

"You've never been very good with numbers, have you, Kida-kun?" He asked.

Upon seeing my blank stare, he laughed.

"Numbers are hard. Shizu-chan is stupidest at numbers, though."

"Not nice to make fun of people." I muttered.

"You usually never stop talking, Kida-kun." He said, flicking my forehead.

"Tired." I said, and it was true. I was tired.

I was feeling drowsy, ready to sleep again.

"I'll give you another pill for this flu and then you can rest."

I was led back to the bedroom (once again, being led by hand) and hopped into the bed.

"Ow."

"You can't jump up quite yet, you're still injured." Izaya scolded.

"Izaya-niisan is being annoying."

He bristled. "I'm not annoying."

"I was the annoying one." I muttered, placing my head in the covers.

"You're not annoying, Kida-kun. Want me to read you a story before you sleep?"

Oh god, not this.

The condescension made me wince, yet at the same time the other side of me wanted to hear a story.

"Okay." I said, resigning myself for some terribly written children's story.

I had to sit through a painfully bad children's story and suddenly I was already sleepy.

"Are you sleepy now?"

"Uh-huh." I muttered, from how bad it was, of course.

"I'll let you sleep for a while then, Kida-kun. You can go back to school tomorrow."

He flicked out the lights, leaving me in darkness and realizing a growing horror. Oh god, school.

I was ten. I'd be stuck with sniveling brats.

Elementary school was the absolute worst-hell.

'Hell is a bad word,' The whiny part of my head said.

I smiled, knowing one good thing, I was cancer-free, for now, anyway.

Maybe...maybe being Kida wasn't such a bad thing.


Too bad, I didn't calculate for the existence of Shinra Kishitani.

Yes, yes, being Kida was very bad, I had to conclude, as Shinra Kishitani was examining me yet again.

I'd had to wake up to the sight of Shinra flashing a light in my eyes, real pleasant, and then have a freaking physical? I was just sick!

I glared at him in visible irritation, swinging my legs back and forth as he was taking my pulse and sticking things in my mouth yet again.

Does he ever shut the hell up?

I know it's cute and all to yammer at kids, but really it's annoying.

"I think he's tired of your talking, Shinra." Izaya snarked.

It was after school, so Shinra had stopped over to examine me.

"He's definitely improving, Izaya."

"That's good." Izaya muttered, coughing, "I think I might be getting his sickness."

"That's okay, if you get sick, he can always come live with me and Celty!"

I paused. No way in hell was I living with him. This sick guy dissected people.

"I live with Izaya-niisan." I whined, coming toward Izaya instead.

"Sorry, Shinra, he prefers me over you." Izaya said smugly, looking very pleased with himself.

"What? What's wrong with me?" Shinra whined.

'You're whiny, annoying, rude...plus you talk too much. You scare him.' Celty wrote.

I stared up at her in fascination. Celty.

I never dreamed I'd be face to face with her, much less like this.

My favorite character had been Shizuo, though.

Then the vapors suddenly appeared, causing me to jump back.

"Don't scare him!" Izaya yelped.

'I didn't mean it!' Celty typed.

"It's okay." I said, doing a manipulative kid smile, "I thought they were cool!"

Celty immediately started shaking.

'He's so adorable, Izaya!'

"I know." Izaya muttered in annoyance.

I started laughing, which made Shinra laugh, causing Izaya to shake his head.

"You're all against me." He complained.

"I like Izaya-niisan." I chirped.