The night after that weird dream, Shizuo laid down for bed again. The book was still on his bedside table, and he stared at it as he fell asleep. Throughout the whole day, the dream had been lurking in the back of his mind. He really hoped he didn't have another like it.

When Shizuo opened his eyes again, he was outside in an alley. A large, closed trash container was on his right and a few fire escapes lined the long alleyway. The air felt a little cold, like it was autumn. Shizuo turned to his left and saw the little boy. This time, he looked a little older. He looked to be around eleven or twelve. He was in black pants and a grey jacket that looked just a little bit too small. His hair was a little shorter this time, but it still fell into his hazel eyes. He was breathing loudly, as if he had just been running for a while.

But none of these details was what caught Shizuo's eye. Now that the kid was a little older and they were no longer in a dark room, he really looked like Izaya.

And then the kid smirked.

Oh. Oh this had to be Izaya. No one else could possibly have such an annoying smirk.

Izaya suddenly darted forward, straight through Shizuo and jumped onto the trash container. He landed in a somersault and, at the end of the somersault, jumped up and caught a fire escape a few feet from the trash container. He swung himself up and then let go, performing a backflip in midair before landing perfectly on the ground.

Definitely Izaya.

Immediately, Izaya jumped up with his fist in the air. "Yes!" He turned around and then Shizuo could see the grin on his face.

Shizuo was a little taken aback. Okay, that wasn't like Izaya. That smile was a little too childish and innocent. That was a smile that wasn't hiding anything, planning anything, or mocking anything. And it was weird to see it on Izaya's face. But the kid looked pretty excited over completing the series of jumps and flips. And it was actually kinda…

NO. No no no no no. Heiwajima Shizuo did not almost think that Orihara Izaya was cute. Even if the latter was only eleven.

Shizuo wanted to throw trash cans at Izaya, not admire his NOT-cute-at-all smile. He just had to keep in mind that this little boy would grow up to be an annoying flea.

Wait.

That was like saying that this dream Izaya and the real Izaya were the same person.

But they weren't. Just because he was having a dream about Izaya as a little kid did not necessarily mean these were Izaya's memories. In fact, that was the least likely scenario. It was much more likely that he was simply dreaming about Izaya as a little kid rather than having psychic visions about his memories. Even if it was a little creepy. He probably had Izaya and his memories on his mind because of that book, and that was why Shizuo was dreaming about him now.

After running through the series of flips a few more times, Izaya seemed to think that was enough. He turned and walked out of the alley. Shizuo wasn't going to follow him. He had enough of this dream and he had no desire to watch Izaya any longer. Maybe if he let Izaya leave his sight, the dream would end sooner.

But despite his intention to stay put, Shizuo found his feet following after Izaya against his will. He tried to ground his feet into the pavement, but they kept moving. It felt like some sort of force was pushing and pulling him towards Izaya. He was like a planet that could do nothing but helplessly orbit the sun. Shizuo even tried grabbed the walls to stop himself, but his hands again slipped right through them. So, Shizuo sighed and resigned himself to follow after the flea.

The roads were familiar. Shizuo knew this part of town.

Eventually, Izaya stopped at a house. They hadn't gone too far. It had been maybe fifteen minutes of walking.

Shizuo turned to his right and saw the name on the house.

"Orihara"

Shizuo swallowed hard and stared at the name, confirming Izaya's identity. It was just a dream. These were not Izaya's memories. He was dreaming about this because that book and Izaya were on his mind.

Izaya opened the gate to enter the house.

And that was when Shizuo was suddenly, once again, enveloped in darkness. He blinked and everything was black. And when he opened his eyes again, he was laying in his own bed.


That day, after school, Shizuo did not go straight home.

Instead, he followed the route that dream Izaya had taken to the house. Shizuo planned to end the ridiculous thought that these dreams were memories that day. He would go to the house and he would see that someone else- and not Izaya- lived there. Maybe he would investigate, just to be absolutely certain. He could ask the neighbors and confirm that the Oriharas do not- and never had- lived in that house. And that would be the end of it. Shizuo had no doubts about what he would find. He didn't even know why he was even bothering to investigate. The whole idea of the dreams being memories was ridiculous. No doubt about that.

Nope.

None at all.

Shizuo absolutely did not have any doubts.

He didn't.

Finally, Shizuo was on the end of the street that the house was on. It was just four houses down. He hesitated.

No.

Doubts.

He pressed on. Shizuo kept his eyes on the ground until he was right in front of the house. He stopped and stared at the ground for a few more moments. Out of the corner of his eye, he recognized the bottom of the painted blue fence. Exactly like his dream. Even though he had never been here before. Slowly, Shizuo raised his eyes to look at the name on the house.

His breathing stopped and he stared at the name for a long moment. Nothing in the world existed except for those characters spelling out that name.

"Orihara"

Shizuo took in a shaky breath. He could feel his heart beating fast. There was no way he could have known that this was Izaya's house. And that meant…

…that meant he really was seeing Izaya's memories.

Izaya had once smiled like and innocent child. And it was Izaya whose mother…

"Can I help you?" Shizuo was jolted from his thoughts by a woman's voice coming from behind them. He turned around to see a middle-aged woman with brown hair and a plain face. She was dressed in a business suit and her brown eyes were staring at Shizuo questioningly.

Shizuo stared stupidly at her for a moment. "Do you live here?" He asked her bluntly.

His eyes narrowed and she looked at him warily. "Yes. Although I just got back today."

Only then did Shizuo realize that she was holding two rolling suitcases. A taxi must have dropped her off while he was lost in his thoughts.

"Can I help you?" She repeated. This time, there was obvious annoyance in her tone.

"Er, no." And with that eloquent denial, Shizuo hurriedly walked away before she could say anything else.

He didn't stop until he was a couple of blocks of way. Then he leaned against the wall of alley. His head was spinning. Who was that woman? She definitely wasn't the woman he saw in his first dream. But it seemed like she lived there since she said she had just gotten back. An aunt maybe? Who was she to Izaya?

Izaya.

Izaya's memories. Those really had been Izaya's memories. It made him sick. If his mom had done that, then just what kind of childhood did he have?

Izaya may actually have a legitimate reason for being a manipulative, sadistic, crazy flea. If Shizuo had grown up in that kind of house, he was sure he would be a little messed up too. Maybe Izaya was just broken. Even though he still hated the damn flea, Shizuo actually found himself feeling sorry for him. Even if it was Izaya, how could anyone not pity someone whose own mother tried to kill him?


Shizuo yawned as he walked down the halls of Raira High. He had stayed up later than usual last night, too filled with anxiety about what he was going to do the following day to properly sleep. Last night's dream had been a happy one. The flea had been five or six and had built a snowman in the park. Even Shizuo couldn't deny he was cute as he carefully packed the snow together, pouting every time a chunk of the soft snow fell off.

However, it had bothered him a little that the small child had been all alone in the park without a parent in sight.

Ah, really, he could hardly believe he was actually going to do this. But he had to. He couldn't, in good conscience, keep trying to kill the flea while knowing what he knew. Even if Izaya was annoying. He still hated the flea and he always would. But he didn't want to hate himself. and the guilt was gnawing at him. Even if that evil little flea deserved it, trying to kill him reminded Shizuo too much of kicking an abused dog.

So, when he saw Izaya walking towards him down the hall, he pushed down the automatic rush of anger and stopped just a few meters from Izaya. Izaya, noticing this, stopped as well and gave Shizuo his I-am-superior-to-you smirk.

Gradually, the other people in the hallway realized that the two most notorious people in the school were staring each other down. The hallway was empty within seconds.

"What is it, Shizu-chan? You look like you have something to say."

There was a long pause. He really didn't want to do this. He really didn't want to. He wanted to rip that door off and throw it at Izaya.

But instead, he made himself blurt out the words that would seal his doom.

"Let's be friends, Izaya."


Dun dun duuuun. Please review!