Late update is late. Sorry, been busy with testing and visiting relatives and life in general. But I'm sure you're not interested in any of that.

Oh, and I just realized I need to specify a few little details...

[Celty typing]

"Normal Talking"
'Thoughts'

Hope that cleared it up a bit. Oh and here's the story on dA for those of you who have a dA account and not a FF account: http:/fav(dot)me/d4s4wvd

Please try to enjoy this crappy chappy.

When Izaya woke, he thought he had returned to his nightmare and, that surely, it must end soon, as the shadows enveloped him on all sides. So logically, he should come out of it soon, begin a new, happy dream, or at least a less disconcerting nightmare.

You'd think he'd grow bored of it, simply suspending in the darkness. Well, it seemed to Izaya that he was suspended, as he could discern no floor or ceiling to his surroundings, but in truth, the raven was sitting up, solidly, like he had decided to rest for moment on the ground.

And then without warning went blind. To everything except his own body. Yeah, that was what it was like.

'This isn't that scary…' the raven thought. It was irrational that he felt his dreamself trembling.

The raven felt awful. What was he doing, a man aspiring to godliness, first getting all worked up over Shizuo, then reacting like a instinct driven animal when confronted with the blonde, and now! Now he was frightened of something his own subconscious had conjured up!

What was wrong with him?

"Nothing."

Izaya yelped; ugh, yes, he was definitely losing his edge. "W-who's there?"

And with no entrance or flash of light, the girl of his dream-his nightmare- stood before him, in stark contrast to the darkness. He hadn't even blinked, she hadn't been there and then she was. Oddly, it seemed natural, like people did that all the time now.

The raven shook his head. 'And people say I appear out of nowhere, ha.'

"You just surprise them, that's all. No human can do what I can."

Izaya flinched. "How are you doing that?" he exclaimed, fighting the urge to shy away from the freakish girl. "You're not-"

"Reading your mind? Afraid so. And I don't appreciate being called a freak," she deadpanned.

"Sorry," the raven muttered. 'Didn't look offended,' he thought skeptically.

"I'm not offended," the girl asserted, cheerful again. Izaya decided to pretend he had just been speaking aloud and that mind readers were still just as real as unicorns to him.

"Yeah, you do that," the girl laughed. Then she just stood there, smiling pleasantly, as if he weren't suspended in malicious shadows. She stood still, staring at him…. Not in an especially intense way, but the raven still struggled not to squirm. The girl had distracted him from his fear, but now in the silence, she was not much of a comfort. The shadows were still lurking….

"Oh, frightened, are we?" She murmured to herself.

As sudden as the girl appeared, the shadows vanished. Izaya gasped shallowly, jumping up from his seated position and twisting around as if to watch their retreat, but they had fled instantaneously. Then he swiftly flicked his hood up to shield his eyes.

"Ugh, too bright…"

The lack of darkness, unfortunately, did not return color. Where it had once been blackness, now there was whiteness. It went from one extreme to another. And as before, he could see nothing. There was him, the girl, and nothing else.

He wasn't sure which he disliked more... Well, maybe the shadows would be less sinister if he knew the concealed nothing?

"Sorry, how's this?" As she spoke, the surrounding whiteness dimmed, settling between utter blackness and blinding white, blending into a soft, comforting gray.

Izaya lowered his hood tentatively, staring at the girl, unsure but too stubborn to show it.

The girl found nothing odd about being stared at, though it was the first time in hundreds of years a mortal had last had the chance-'the honor', her brother's voice chimed in her mind-to gaze upon her.

"It's good that you're not freaking out or anything; I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I brought you here! It's a relief to see how well you're handling it!"

Izaya scowled. "What were you expecting then? And where is 'here'?" he ground out, annoyed at himself for having such weird dreams lately. Why was he even asleep anyway? The last thing the raven remembered, he had been going to gather information about Shizuo, and then-

Nothing. He was walking home and then there was nothing.

"Ah, I've been drugged haven't I? Someone's gotten irked with me and my ways~ and they've decided to drug me and drag me off somewhere~? I expect I'll be able to look forward to some lovely, misguided vengeance from my lovely humans when I wake up?"

The girl laughed again. "You think rather quickly; I wasn't able to catch half of that before it was out of your mouth."

The raven mumbled something about stupid dream girls who avoided questions from superiors under his breath before raising his voice, "Thanks so much."

"No need for sarcasm! It is impressive, you should be thankful. And I wasn't ignoring your question, you're just impatient. I swear, the way people nowadays raise their children, no manners! No patience! Goodness!" The girl, who was obviously annoying and bipolar, tsked disparagingly. "As for your question, it was a good deduction, the drugged and kidnapped scenario. It explains how you don't remember getting home and your odd dream."

The raven smirked. "It's just simple logic, the ways of humans are always predictable-"

"Yes, yes. You're very clever. No need to tell me, I know." The girl interrupted, a bit annoyed herself now with the arrogance the informant displayed. He saw this clearly and smirked wider.

"However, your logic no longer applies." she went on, emotionless now. The raven dropped the arrogant mask, adopting her serious manner, "Logic always applies," he retorted slowly, watching the girl, wary of her swiftly shifting moods.

She smiled when he thought this but choose not to comment. He should be wary of her. "You cannot rely on your old techniques or instinct here. Your tricks are useful, but the fact remains that they are indeed tricks. I am not trying to threaten you," she assured, sensing the path his thoughts were taking, "though it is good that you are being cautious. Now, organize your thoughts, they're terribly awry. When you've finished I shall answer your questions, and we can proceed to address your little, ahem, problem."

Izaya growled, then plastered on a commiserating look, "You talk big for a little girl. Tell me, where did these control issues come from? Problems at home? Ah, it's ok you don't have to go into details, I won't be that insensitive," He rushed out when the girl frowned. "It's fine though. I have major control issues, I'm completely OCD! But I turned out okay, so you will be too, I'm sure of it. Don't worry."

The girl sighed, rubbing just above the bridge of her nose where a headache was surely forming. Where it would be forming, if she was a normal girl. "Firstly, I just said that your tricks won't work. No mind games here, they have no effect on me. And second, you're supposed to be thinking this is a dream right? What's the use of playing shrink to a dream?"

Izaya shrugged, it was worth a shot. "So did you just admit I'm dreaming?"

"Um, no," she giggled. "Definitely not. And since you're not asking, I'll go ahead and start on why you're here. And where 'here' is, since you're so curious."

The girl paused to allow for rude comments on her sanity or strangeness, but showed no surprise when there was none. "Where we are, is a realm which humans are unaware of, have been unaware of, and shall always be unaware of. And we-as in, those who are able to access both this realm and the human world- have many guardians to ensure that no one ever discovers our sanctum. To keep our secrecy is of the only rules we have. So," the girl smiled lightly, as if she had not just broken the only law applied to her, "as I'm sure you've deduced, you being here is a pretty big deal."

Then she turned away from her, but if it was to avoid the raven's incredulous gaze, he knew not.

'She's obviously the kind of person with the whole 'This is my opinion, but its ok that yours is wrong' complex going on.' The raven thought snidely.

"Don't you think that's a little hypocritical, coming from you?"

The raven blinked innocently, though the girl/entity/figment of his imagination/thing was not looking. "Who, me?" Then he giggled. His initial (and completely rational) shock at her mysterious power seemed forgotten entirely.

The girl laughed along. "Yes, you. And now that you know the 'where', I'll explain the 'why'. Don't get mad at my vagueness, okay? I gave away a big secret just now, but not my only one. Not my biggest either."

"Okay!"

Another laugh from the both of them. "I brought you here, because recently, I've been watching you."

She paused for a moment allowing him to digest this. Neither shock nor disgust registered on Izaya's face.

And why should he be surprised? He was Orihara Izaya! Why wouldn't young women be following him around?

So she forged on, "I've actually been watching the both of you. You and Shizuo-kun. And I know why he's acting strangely. He-"

"… Did …that… Shizu-chan…" The informant muttered, lowering his head so his fringe hid his expression.

"Pardon?" The girl was puzzled, with the mumbled nonsense, and the sudden whorls the raven's usually tidy, logical thoughts had become. She tried latching onto them, but they were like paint in her hands, giving her a clue of the color of his thoughts but none of the substance.

'How curious. Could he be disguising his thoughts?'

"…. Were you the one who did that to Shizu-chan?" The raven lifted his head slowly, revealing his now hardened face, his accusing eyes.

The girl blinked. She hadn't sensed any sign of malice from the raven, yet she could clearly see it, right before her. Was her brother right about her? Had she grown lax, was she slipping? She drew in a shaky breath. 'No. He was just taunting me. I can't be losing my cool. Not now, not with so much on the line.'

"…Why would you say that?" She smiled uneasily. "Don't you see? Why would I come to you if I had been the cause of all the strife you've stewed in? I'm here to help you!"

"I'm an information broker that deals primary with color gangs and the yakuza. You think this is the first time someone's told me that?" The raven's voice stayed low, just above a whisper, which made him all the frightening. In her ruffled state the strange girl actually found herself a bit hesitant in his presence.

But the small girl, who's looks announced of a girl no older than fifteen, had seen far too many horrifying, gruesome scenes in her long, long, long life. She would not be deterred now.

There was too much at stake now.

The girl stood firm once again. "Maybe so, but I am no ordinary human, and your surroundings, or lack of thereof, can warrant that. I am not lying, though it is not important if you believe me. What is important is your cooperation. So will you help me? … No, will you help yourself? Help Shizuo-kun?"

XXX

"So how do we do this?"

After a little more persuasion (an hour or two's worth, but time meant nothing to the duo in this realm) Izaya had finally conceded that the truth wasn't currently important. Shizuo was what mattered now, and as weird as that sounded, Izaya wouldn't deny it.

Why should he? Why doubt himself or his logic or whatever it was causing him to feel all this? This- this weird, warm gushing feeling inside when he thought of restoring Shizuo to his true self, he'd figure it out later. He'd save that for later, when he was back in his own realm, the real world.

'It's probably just this freaky place, with its bleak, grayness and its guardians and secrets and annoying mind readers.'

The girl scoffed. "Haven't you been listening? Geez, will I always receive this much attention from humans? You all really are just children, like Brother says…." She trailed off, thinking of her brother. Thinking, thinking, thinking. What was she going to do about him? She couldn't let him just continue on unchecked. Their situation could only worsen if he had his way!

The girl sighed. Uncertainty was so foreign. When had she last been unsure of where the future would lead? When had she last been worried enough to attempt to change it?

"It's simple. Brother is off- well, I can't tell you where he is, and I doubt you'd believe me, but he'll be able to sense when I enter his 'home'. It's more of a domain really, but he always knows somehow, and shows up to lecture me on privacy. So when he comes barreling over, you're going to pretend to be me, and distract him. I'll come back with our solution when he's gone."

"Okay, two things. One- what exactly is the solution? How is something your brother owns going to help Shizu-chan get back to normal?"

"Let's just say my brother was there when he first changed. He kind of, stole something, very important to Shizuo-kun. You'll see it when I get it, so you can give it back to him."

"... Okay, I'll guess I'll find out what that means later then..."

"What's the second thing?"

"... How exactly am I going to pretend to be you? We don't look anything alike. Is your big bro blind or something?"

"Well that's simple. I'm not human."

"…. Huh." Izaya said, rather flatly requesting further explanation.

"Do I have to clarify everything? Is it that hard to figure out?" Izaya's blank stare was plenty enough answer. "Geez. Guess its okay, since I've broken almost every other rule. I really shouldn't be saying this, but because I'm not human, I can manipulate my physical form to my will."

There was a beat of silence, then an audible 'click' in the raven's mind. "Oooooooooh. Okay. Why didn't you just say so?"

"You never asked."

"Hmmph." Then the raven's thoughts, which he had trained meticulously for years to always lean to the cruel and despicable, offered up some juicy material. Unable to deny a lifetime of habit, he couldn't help but tease:

"So what do you really look like? Ah, I know a lot of girls who'd kill for a power like yours~. Tell me, what have you tweaked? The shape of your mouth? The size of your nose? Eye color? Surely there's something you weren't satisfied with~."

The girl wasn't phased in the slightest by the rude questioning and cruel implications behind them. "Of course I've changed things. Quite a bit, actually."

"Ah ha! Oh~, but there's nothing~ wrong with taking advantage of such a gift~. So you look very~ different? What did you look like before? Oh, you've been dropping all these little hints, haven't you? So you're not really human huh? Are you a demon then~? Or a witch? An old, ugly hag~?" With that one cruel thought, the old, jackass Orihara came bursting out, eager to tease and prod after over a week of suppression, overdoing it really.

"Not like that. It's just that, if you saw my true face, well, you'd be reduced to a little puddle by my feet."

Izaya did a double take. He hadn't expected her to admit anything after being so secretive. And about her appearance, something most girls would spend hours masking beneath layer after layer of product. A real anomaly, this one. "A-ah. S-so… I was correct on the demon account? The horror merely seeing the beastly truth shall melt my flesh and bones?"

Much to his irritation, the girl just laughed. The most his words could possibly prompt from her was amusement. 'Arrgh! What kind of troll if I can't even annoy a child?'

"Usually I'm being revered! To be insulted, and by a human no less! It's laughable! So don't be offended. Can't be a troll if you get so flustered, especially by a child."

Izaya sighed. She was right, and even if he could read his admission in his mind, he'd never voice it. Too stubborn, so stubborn. "Let's just get it over with then. So your big bro is gonna come along, I'm going to pretend to be you, pretending to be me. Now, how do I explain you, becoming me?"

The girl grinned devilishly. "I'm sure you'll figure something out~," mimicking his teasing tone from before.

Damn, this girl would be the death of him.

"Hey, I'm getting pretty tired of just referring to you as 'girl' in my head, and I'm sure you're tired of hearing it. Can your name really be a secret as well?"

"Yes, yes it is."

'Must not kill. Must not kill. Must not kill….'

"If you're that upset about it, give me a name."

"…. How about Futago?"

"Awww! I've endeared myself to Orihara Izaya? He sees me as family, close to his heart? Cute!"

"Nah, it's cuz you're just as annoying as them," he snapped.

"You like them!" she accused.

"Whatever, Futa-chan."

Futago beamed, thrilled by the prospect of a pet name. She could she why Izaya was so infatuated with humans; they were delightful!

Izaya huffed, feeling his fingers twitch longing to reach out for that pale, deceptively fragile looking throat. 'I really am becoming the protozoan.' A little groan emitted softly. 'This is for Shizuo. For Shizuo.'

"Ok, let's go!"
'Finally! Ugh, for Shizuo, for Shizuo.'

In his frustration and longing to be back in his own realm, the raven kept up his mental mantra.

'For Shizuo, for Shizuo, for Shizuo, for Shizuo, for Shizuo….'

Still dreading this place, this girl, this plan, his own damn life, Izaya was not calmed by this practice. But he was stubborn, so stubborn. If this would return the Shizuo he knew and- was he really going to risk so much for someone he hated?

A dry chuckled escaped the raven's lips.

'No, I'm way too stubborn and cruel and Orihara for that.'

So then, what else to do except-

'Alright, then, so for logic's sake, let's say I'm doing this for someone I love.'

Futago laughed, prompting a scowl from the raven. He figured since she'd stopped commenting on his every little mental quip, she somehow tuned out his thoughts. Apparently she'd just pretended not to hear.

"Someone you love, huh? Can the whole of humanity be counted as a 'someone'?" she teased.

"No."

No, no they couldn't. And though he loved them, he would never go to such lengths for his humans.

"But Shizu-chan can."

Me: KYAAAA IZAYA LOVES SHIZUOOOOOO!

Shizuo: ... O_O''

Izaya: Why are you freaking out? You're the writer! You were supposed to see this coming!

Me: Actually I didn' last little part was added much later... I wanted at least a little of Shizaya in this chappy, even though it's just Izaya and Futa-chan.

Note: To anyone confused, futago means 'Twins' in Japanese. Izaya claims to name her that way because his sisters annoy him, and even though they're family he has no attachment to them. Futa-chan taunts him about actually liking them, so he wants to kill her.

Futa-chan: Mean!

Me: Shut up! Your babbling is boring to write, so I was late on the update!

Futa-chan: You're just lazy!

Me: Damn mindreader! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

Izaya: Mine too!

Me: Soon, don't worry.

Shizuo: ... O_O'' ...Can I get back to normal already...?