I'M NOT DEAD! I'M ALIVE...KINDA... I'M JUST A TERRIBLE PERSON AND AUTHOR! That's why I've just disappeared for like god-knows-how-long... Anyways, if you really want an explanation then...I'll paraphase it for you: I got writer's block again, then realized that half the summer was gone (I posted my last chapter in the summer), then went on a 30 different anime purge to make myself feel like my summer was productive, then school started, school's a piece of a shit...a very large piece of shit, I get bombarded with shit homework and I didn't have a lot of time, so after several months of me just writing for 3 hours a day, I've finally accumulated enough to give all you readers that I don't even know why you're reading this... (so please don't hunt my ass down and disembowel me so you can eat my inards and then have your dog mutilate my bleeding corpse w)

Thank you for all your death threats and reviews! They literally are the only thing keeping me going with whatever the fuck my mind came up with... I love reading them and they really are appreciated alot! Like you all deserve some kind of cash reward for sticking to the shit and crap I put you through...
Oo Asura oO: Wait... this reminded you of twilight... WAAH... Is it that it has vampires in it or are there other similarities too? XD No offense, sorry, but I'm not really a fan of twilight XD I was kinda using inspiration off of Vampire Night and Diabolik Lovers though (Vampire animes) T^T Hopefully I didn't just cause you to go on a rampaging fangirl spree after my life... (don't kill me lol OTL)

Disclaimer: OTL DO I really need to tell you that I don't own the anime or the doujinshi, etc...

Warning: Shit... A lot of fucking shit...omg someone just kidnap me or kill me now... I'm not even embarrassed that I wrote this... I just...wanna die... I fucking love all of you for sticking with my lame ass OTL Dark themes in this one kind of? Not really? Smut in later chapters that contain yaoi (boyxboy)... Ya I think I covered everything here... Lol It's like you're not even reading this long ass author's note XP

For the rest of the morning, tension filled the atmosphere. Everyone was anxious, unsure of what to do. It seemed like Shizuo and Izaya were deliberately avoiding each other at all costs. This only put everyone else on edge because this was even more terrifying than the usual fight and chase. They were basically ignoring each other. Never has this ever happened before for as long as anyone has known the two.

Mairu and Kururi were still wide awake with new found energy from their nap that lasted half the night. Izaya was growing tired, but he didn't let it show. He's lasted far longer than this without sleep. And even if he wanted to rest, he wouldn't be able to stay asleep with the uneasiness of the uninvited guests roaming around. It was also risky. What if that quack doctor decided to do some creepy experiment on him? What if Shizuo killed him in his sleep? What if Mairu and Kururi did something stupid again? What if Kadota's two new friends join in on the stupidity that his sisters would do if he were to go to bed? The possibilities were endless! But Izaya was also a light sleeper so any unexpected sound would wake him up, which is to be expected, and in the end, he wouldn't be able to sleep at all.

Currently though, Shizuo was on the first floor with Celty, Shinra, the twins, and the otakus while Izaya was in his room, shrouded in darkness from the curtains blocking the sunlight from entering through the balcony and windows. He didn't want to get burned again after all. He'll need to heal his burned hand soon too, but how was he supposed to with his low energy supply? He can't even get more without getting noticed by the others. Because, ooooh, Izaya disappeared, that immediately means he's up to no good or is planning to kill us all! Let's all freak out and cause Shizuo to go on a rampaging search, oooh! Yep, Izaya could see the catastrophe that was sure to come if he went to Bukuro to get some blood.

He sighed. This was a serious problem with all of them here. He's been trying not to think about it too much lest he get a major headache, but this was just becoming too much. The problem wasn't because outsiders knew about his location or his sisters necessarily. The problem also wasn't that they'll tell others. No, they wouldn't do something like that. He knew that much for sure. Even if they are unpredictable, he was positive that this was a crime they wouldn't commit, right? They wouldn't, would they? Everyone wouldn't betray him like that, right? Wait, would Shizu-chan do that?

He wasn't so sure anymore. The more he worried about the unpredictable, the more he felt like any choice of action would be wrong. This was only a minor set back that he'll just have to fit into the equation, it's not like anyone would be foolish enough to believe them if they were to spew this information out, the real problem was how to prevent them from snooping. What they already know is more than enough. They couldn't find out any more of his secrets. Some things were just not meant to be dug up from the dark pit from which they were buried in, because they were buried there for a reason.

If they were to find out, they'll pity him! They'll know his weaknesses and judge him! He didn't want to be judged for his pathetic weaknesses, for his pathetic life, for his pathetic actions, and most of all, he didn't want them to pity him because of it. Pity is a disgusting emotion after all. They look down on you thinking they're showing you compassion, but what they're really doing is taking advantage of you and judging you at your lowest so they'll gain your trust and all. Pity is a despicable emotion no matter how you look at it.

He'll just have to keep them from snooping around, that's all. Easier said than done. He couldn't even predict what Shizu-chan was going to do, much less control the brute if he did do something unexpected. Shinra, Walker, and Erika were all curious little shits. They were probably even more curious about this predicament since it has to do with the unknown and supernatural and shit. And to make matters worse, his sisters will probably help them when they slip into the 'Let's screw Izaya over' temptation.

He just has to keep them distracted, right? Keep their minds from wandering. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard after all. He was a professional at changing the subject when needed. Hopefully it'll work, recently nothing was going the way he thought it would for him, but he mustn't panic.

He heard a yell coming from downstairs, "Oi! We're back!"

"Oh, Dotachin's back~…" He looked to the rays of sunshine seeping from the drawn curtains. They were bright and vibrant.

So it's around two in the afternoon, huh… He thought as he left his room.

Shizuo sat in one of the couches in the living room. There was an old chipped table in front of him with an ash covered fireplace on one end of the room. Portraits that were no longer identifiable decorated the stained walls. Everything was shabby and covered in dust, giving it the abandoned grim look. On the couch on the other side of the rickety table sat Shinra and Celty.

Awkward silence enveloped the air around them. Shinra looked around nervously, unsure of what to talk about while Celty sat there tensely. Shizuo just stared at the floor with an annoyed expression, but also unsure of how to strike up conversation.

He could sense the doctor and dullahan staring at him and finally spoke up, his voice unamused, "What."

Shinra almost jumped off the couch from the suddenness while Celty replied casually, 'Nothing, we're just wondering about what to do now…' She thought it be best to not bring up how Shizuo and Izaya were avoiding each other right now.

"U-Uh yeah! Of course we were!" Shinra agreed way too fast. Fortunately, Shizuo just ignored the doctor's suspiciousness because he didn't care and because Shinra was just weird like that all the time.

"About what?" Shizuo asked.

'Well… About our current situation, I guess?'

Shinra cleared his throat, regaining his composure, "Y-Yes, Shizuo, I wanted to tell you that we can't tell anyone about this situation that we're in currently right now."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Well, I'm sure you already know that Izaya has a lot of enemies and if this 'secret' gets out about his location, it could create problems that are potentially dangerous for him…"

"Why in the fucking world do you think I would talk about the louse with other people? Tch, like I give a shit about his life and secrets. And wasn't there some 'force field' crap that that weird book said?"

"Oh, really? That was easier than expected. I thought I'll have to persuade you more, haha~!" The doctor rubbed the back of his head, relieved, a goofy smile gracing his lips, "Oh, and the book could be stolen by the way~!"

"Wait…What do you mean…persuade me more…?"

"Well, Uhmm, I just thought that you would do it purposely to give Izaya more trouble because worst case scenario is, he gets killed…by…someone else…" His voice became smaller and smaller as he noticed the irritation growing on Shizuo's expression.

The hunter replied calmly though, "Shinra… I thought you'll know me better than that…" He took a deep breath and at that moment Shinra realized that was the calm before a storm. Before he could react however, the glare that was sent his way made him freeze all movements for a second.

"W-Wait, Shizuo-san, calm d-dow—!" He said when the glare turned into anger, trying to calm him down anyways, after he realized it was too late for him to take back what he said, even though he knew it was futile, but was cut off before he could even finish the sentence.

"I'm the one that's going to kill the louse! No one gets to hurt him other than me! If they even think about touching what's mine, I'll kill them! Only I'm allowed to kill Izaya! Understand?" Shizuo growled out menacingly, a possessive scowl on his face.

Celty waved her hands up and down, trying to tell the angry blonde to calm down as she quickly explained, 'Shizuo, Shinra is sorry for not knowing better. We all know you'll catch him one day!' She wrote encouragingly.

"Y-Ya! I wasn't implying anything to begin with anyways! I already knew that you weren't going to say anything, but I was just making sure, to be safe…!"

After calming down, the blonde mumbled an apology for his outburst and they all continued talking normally.

'By the way, Shizuo, how are you holding up? We all know how hard it is for you to be around here for so long. Are you ok?' The dullahan asked, thinking maybe he was avoiding the raven because he doesn't want to get mad and be around him anymore than he has to.

"It stinks. Damn stench is goddamn everywhere! Pisses me off, but there's something different about it so it doesn't stink as bad as it normally would, it's strange though considering this is the flea's home and all… Other than that, I'm fine so stop worrying, alright Celty?" He reassured.

She nodded her neck as Shinra smiled goofily to conceal what he was actually thinking. He's not getting as mad as I thought he would at that question... He smells something different? I don't smell anything strange at all. His nose really is like a dog's! Ahh...I wish I could have a blood sample from him.

"Oi! We're back!" A voice called from the front of the castle.

"Oh, looks like Kadota's back~!" Shinra said as they all got up to welcome them back.

The four of them all sat on the last step on the stairs, trying to think of something to talk about. They all noticed that the tension has gone up in this castle, but they decided not to mention it. It was already pretty obvious as it is.

"Soooo what now?"

"I don't know, Yumachi. How about we gossip?"

"About what though?" The younger twin asked.

"Oh! Oh! How about we check out your room?" Erika's voice was filled with curiosity and excitement.

"Room… (Our room?)," the older twin repeated to be sure.

"Holy—that's a great idea! Come on!" Mairu jumped up and started running up the stairs. She was already half way up while the others just finally reacted and started going up too.

"Shhhh…you have to be quiet…! Iza-nii's in his room," the bespectacled one whispered as they all tip-toed down the hall to the twin's room which was located right next to their older brother's.

Quietly shutting the door and gently placing the broken one back up as best as they could, the twins began to show the otakus around.

They were laughing softly as they looked through the drawers and wardrobes. After they were done messing around with everything, they all sat on the floor.

The otaku duo were both wearing a long cape now, but Erika's was adorned with a broche to keep it from falling off.

"Wow! This feels so cool! And you get to wear these all the time?" The brunette exclaimed.

"Well, we really have no other choice. This was the only way that protected us from the sun, Haha~! Kuru-nee and I find it rather annoying though."

"How can you ever find this annoying?! This is awesome! I mean, look!" Walker grinned as he flapped his cape, imitating wings as if he was trying to fly.

"They just drag along sometimes and it gets so bothersome when they get caught in something. And also sometimes you can get tangled in it and then you're stuck or you trip because of it! Yeah…when we first wore them, we also thought it was cool too!" Mairu whined while laughing.

"It's like we're in a secret brigade or something! Like we're superheroes or a vampire like you two! I love it! I wish I actually was a vampire!"

The vampires didn't respond for what felt like years which in reality were actually mere seconds. The two just kind of stared wide-eyed at Erika.

"U-Um… D-Did I say something wrong…?" She asked carefully, feeling guilty all of a sudden.

"H-Huh? Oh! No, no, you didn't say anything wrong! I'm sorry, I zoned out for a bit… It's just that…no one ever used 'superheroes' and 'vampire' in the same sentence...and in such a positive way too…! But being a vampire isn't something anyone should want to be…" Mairu's voice was solemn.

"O-Oh… I didn't mean it that way… I was just—I was… I'm sorry…" Erika replied, her voice becoming just as solemn.

"Don't be! I'm the one that should be sorry. I forgot that you two probably don't understand much about us or vampires in general, so I shouldn't really be that affected or even care."

The black-clad girl abruptly stood up and marched over to the non-broken side of the double doors, opened them, stomped over to her room, and began flipping around through her messenger bag. She pulled out the dusty old book before quickly rushing back and shutting the door softly.

"Here it is!" Slamming the book down on the floor, Erika proceeded to flip through the pages that are unlocked before going back to the first page again

"We actually know more than you think…" Walker explained for the other, "Sorry."

The otakus sat still as the twins cautiously and intently read through the first page. Minutes passed by in what felt like an eternity before they reached the end of the page containing the information about what used to be, the Orihara kingdom. They gently closed the cover afterwards.

"You aren't going to read anymore...?" Walker asked.

"Nah…I don't really want to indulge in the past… If that was only the first page, then I believe you when you say you know more than you think…"

Erika flipped to the last page, the one that showed the quest they have to complete in order to continue.

"This is the last page…" She explained.

They sat still examining the last page, before Kururi finally spoke up, "That's why… asked…something…the vault…memories… (That's why you asked about something like the Vault of Memories.)"

"Mhm… Are you sure you don't where this vault is?" Erika asked.

"We honestly don't know what it is, where it is, or what it means… Iza-nii never tells us anything. He's always so secretive about everything! And even if Iza-nii did know what it was, he'll never tell us anyways!" Mairu puffed out her cheeks out and whined, "We barely know anything actually!"

He doesn't tell you anything, a person like that… "If you don't mind me asking... What is your relationship with Iza-Iza?" The female otaku asked.

"Iza-Iza? Oh my god! He's going to hate that nickname! I'm so going to use it from now on to annoy him too~!" She snickered evilly.

"Eh!? But it's so cute! I don't think he'll hate it that much, Mai-chan!"

"Sure, sure…" The bespectacled girl said sarcastically and cleared her throat continuing, "To be honest, Kuru-nee and I used to hate Iza-nii…a lot… We hated Iza-nii so much that we wanted him to die…!" She laughed weekly as she looked away from their eyes, "But we don't hate him anymore! Well, we act like we do sometimes, but that's because it'll be weird if we don't. It just makes everything more normal, you know? Iza-nii also said he just wanted a little normalcy that's from the past so…we didn't have to heart to stop pretending to hate him. If we act like we don't hate him then…everything would have changed fro Iza-nii…"

Just as I suspected, a person like that...must be hated… Erika thought and nodded understandingly, but said nothing else. From behind her eyes, she could see a gloomy dark blue aura start to show itself. Even though it was faint, she could feel the sorrow that it emanated, though it wasn't strong enough for her to hear the thoughts that came with it.

She looked over to Walker, who nodded to signal that he sees it too. The blonde was pondering about what he just heard. Something just didn't make sense.

"Why don't you hate him anymore?" The smile that was usually on the blonde male's face was no longer there. The gears in his head began spinning. It just didn't make sense to him. He continued to try to fit the puzzle pieces together, but it wasn't complete yet, something was still missing. Suddenly it clicked. Barely above a whisper, he asked the question that will make it all fit, "What happened that night when your kingdom was attacke—"

"Oi! We're back!"

"Dotachin's back!" Erika cheered as she jumped up. This prompted Mairu and Kururi to do the same, seeing as the serious conversation was over now.

"Come on! Let's go see them!" Mairu grabbed her sister's hand and they walked to the door.

"W-Wait—" Walker was pulled up and off of the floor.

"No time to wait, Yumachi! Dotachin's back! Come let's hurry!" She dragged the other out of the door right after the twins, who have stopped to stare at something.

A few meters away was Izaya, leaning over the railing that was next to the stairs, looking down as if contemplating whether he should go or not.

Knocked out of their staring, Mairu and Kururi excitedly ran up to their brother, feeling a need to annoy him just to make sure he's still there.

"Izaaaa-niiiii!"

"Iza-nii…" They both shouted at him though at different volumes.

The raven quickly spun around just when they jumped up and pounced on him, hugging him tightly around the torso. He was leaning back on the railing now, "H-Hey! Let go, you two! What are you doing?!" He sputtered out.

"We're hugging you, duh!" Mairu huffed.

"Well, stop hugging me then!" He started to poke their foreheads, trying to push them away. He was leaning heavily over the ledge now.

"Ow…hurt… (Ow! That hurt!)"

"Fine, fine!" They said at the same time as they pushed themselves off of him which inadvertently caused Izaya to fall over the railing.

Usually he would have just caught his balance on the rail if he was falling. His reaction time and agility and stealth were fast enough after all. But this time, just when he was about catch himself from falling, he felt a harsh tug at the back of shirt. No one was behind him though. What stunned him the most to let his guard down was what he heard in that moment.

"Good lord, just fall already!" A voice said exasperatedly into his ear before it disappeared. It was a voice that he was acquainted with already, but since it was distorted, he wasn't able identify it as the invisible tug finally pulled him over the edge.

In that second, the raven's eyes widened when he felt he was falling back. Everything was in slow motion. His wings were still in their petite miniaturized form so he couldn't fly. He couldn't get them to transform, he couldn't concentrate with this shock going through his veins. Come on, work! Work, already! There was no way he could get them to enlarge in time. He was just going to have to take the damage the impact will cause.

It wasn't like falling from this height would necessarily kill him. He'll just get a few broken bones… Ok, maybe he'll die if his neck breaks, but he will just regenerate, right? No, he was low on energy so he couldn't even if he wanted to. He'll be crippled, unable to obtain the needed nutrients.

Time may be slowed down to him, but it was still ticking and running out for him too.

Then a feeling hit him while he was falling. This felt familiar to him. This scenario gave him a nostalgic feeling like it has happened before. Why though? He could hear voices, but they were all muffled. He could see his surroundings, but they were all blurred. Then it hit him. He suddenly knew why this felt so wistful!

All of a sudden, time began to fast-forward again for him, now it was too fast for Izaya. He inwardly cursed at what was bound to happen next. He was about to collide with the floor, and an inch before collision, his wings abruptly grew in size and sprung open. With a huge flap, the gust of wind that it created shot the raven in the opposite direction.

He found this out long ago, apparently this was some natural instinct that activates whenever you're falling and you can't make your wings work for whatever reason. Izaya's theory was that originally vampires were supposed to sleep in trees, and if you were unconscious when you fell, this was supposed to prevent you from actually hitting the ground, kind of like how a cat always lands on their feet. But there were some major flaws to this, such as this was more dangerous than just falling to the ground. Once this is activated, you'll lose all control since it's your instincts that take over, and flying becomes hazardous since there is no stability or synchronization when they are in control. You basically just zigzag around in the air erratically until you crash into the ground somehow despite that it's supposed to prevent that from happening because it just so happens that it stops when your body is 'safely placed' on a flat surface.

But if you asked Izaya, he'll say this was some sick ironic joke that god decided to play on them because by the end of it, you'll feel even shittier than if you were to just simply fall and hit the ground.

"I knew this would happe—!" He wasn't able to finish as he unexpectedly changed directions. He tried not to flail too much, that only made things worse. Great, now he couldn't stop even if he wanted to!

The poor raven spun around in the air, hitting the ceiling and walls several times, but still unable to stop. This was not going to end well. He was already getting nauseous and dizzy with all the fast spinning and loops. Orihara Izaya was not someone to get nauseous easily.

His back slams into the ceiling again, this was getting painful now too. He was practically just dangling around, under the mercy of this sixth-sense, just bracing for impact now.

His head crashed first against the wall next the stairs followed that by the rest of his body slamming flat against its surface. The irregular flapping finally stopped. It must have been tricked to think that his body was flat on the floor and not actually against a wall. He felt light-headed. He slid down until his feet touched the floor before he fell forward, face first, and blacked out completely.

"Yo. We're back. Did we miss anything?" Kadota greeted and asked when he saw the blonde, doctor, and dullahan approach him.

"Nothing that exciting, sadly… My dear Celty wouldn't let us go any farther last nigh—OOF! Sorry, sorry! It was a joke!" Shinra wheezed out when the headless woman punched him repeatedly in the gut. Shizuo and Kadota inwardly facepalmed at their perverted friend's failure.

Celty stopped when Shinra was bent over, holding his stomach. She pulled out her notepad and wrote, 'Where's your friend Saburo?'

"He's looking for a place to put the wagon. Sorry we took so long. We looked around the town a bit before we left and, don't know how we did it, but we managed to get the wagon here somehow too... Hey, where are the others?" He looked around, realizing that the annoying duo wasn't here yet.

The brunet, after the pain subsided and he could talk again, explained, "Oh, they're hanging out with Mairu and Kururi. They should be around here, somewhe—!"

"Izaaaa-niiiii!"

"And that should be them coming…" Shinra finished, smiling goofily at the coincidence.

They looked towards the grand stairs, waiting for them to appear. After some more yelling coming from upstairs, they were about to go up and check what was going on when suddenly Izaya was sent falling over the ledge.

Everything afterwards happened so fast. They all froze when the saw the fluttering black cape fall, but then right before the vampire hit the floor he shot up in the air in a flash. Shinra backed up a little when Izaya slammed into the wall several times.

"Oooooh… That's going to hurt…" Shinra cringed. Kadota cringed too while Celty just stared. Shizuo also stared, but it looked like he wasn't processing what was happening like Celty. They were all confused about what was going on, but some showed more recognition of what was actually happening in front of them than others.

Walker and Erika watched in awe from the second floor. Mairu and Kururi had worried looks on their faces. As amusing as this was for them, this wasn't something they intended to happen right now.

When Izaya went splat on a wall this time and fell face first, collapsing in a heap on the carpeted floor, everyone stood still in absolute confusion.

"Is Iza-nii going to be alright, Shinra-san!?" Mairu asked frantically, clinging to Shinra's white lab coat with Kururi as they exited Izaya's room.

Kadota ended up carrying the vampire after the long heavy air of silence made them realize that the raven had passed out. Shizuo stormed off right when everyone was crowding around the werewolf hunter wondering if the smaller male was still alive. Celty was the only one who noticed, and followed.

Izaya was taken to his room and tucked into the rumpled sheets of his aged bed. The only way Shinra could check if Izaya was still 'alive' was if he was still breathing. Even though it was faint, the small puffs of air could still be felt.

"Don't worry, Mairu-chan. He's doing just fine," he smiled reassuringly, "Though he might have some head trauma from his wing spasm attack. Do you know what that was by the way?"

She shook her head, answering, "Not a clue! Iza-nii is too secretive and refuses to tell us anything!"

"Is that so?"

"Yep! And then when we try to find out ourselves, he gets mad!" She sighed, angrily at the unfairness of it, "You can look through his stuff if you're curious though~! But I should warn you that they are all suuuper boooring and if you don't put everything back exactly and remove all traces that you were there then he'll notice immediately!"

"Uh, I'll pass… It seems like he's really observant… Too observant…" The brunet doctor sweatdropped. He would've done it until he heard the part about being super stealthy and careful because, despite himself being a doctor, he was rather clumsy to the point that he'll even blunder something up in his own house and work place sometimes. And those are the places he's most accustomed to already.

"Scared…you… (Scared, aren't you?)" Kururi taunted, monotonously.

"Scared? Of course I am! Even though I've never seen Izaya mad… I have this aching feeling that it's just as scary as when Shizuo is angry…" The bespectacled male gulped.

"Shizuo-san? I've never seen Shizuo-san angry, but I heard a lot about him from Izaya's midnight ranting~! Does he really look like a wild buffoon, high on drugs, stomping around and being the retarded brute he is?" Mairu's eyes sparkled with curiously as they looked up at the poor doctor who was currently at a loss of words on how to answer back without getting killed by said brute in the near future.

Instead, he tried to change the subject by saying, "Y-You heard Izaya rant about Shizuo? Was he angry at the time?"

"Was he angry at the time? The question repeated itself in the younger mischievous girl's head. A flashback to that night flitted through her memories.

With a scowl on his face, the lithe man paced back and forth in the confines of his room. His hair was messy. His clothes ripped and ruffled. His pale skin was decorated with scratches and small cuts. The two girls sat on his bed as they watched their brother rant on and on, no longer caring if they heard him.

"He's an absolute brute! An idiot! A degenerated amoeba! Protozoan! Beast! Neanderthal! I hate him so much! I can't believe he called me a 'flea'! What kind of insult is that? It doesn't even fit me at all! Is he saying I'm an insect, a bug? How dare he address me, Orihara Izaya, in such a manner! I am a vampire! An immortal supernatural winged creature and I expect to be respected and feared like one, not treated like a pest!" The pacing became faster. His voice and tone became louder and higher. The ticking minutes seemed like hours as the clueless twins continued to listen.

"He also blames me for everything too, just like most other humans, so why doesn't he act like a normal human being? It doesn't make sense. Why can't I predict what he's going to do? If I wasn't so good at dodging, I would have been killed by now! I wish he'll just drop dead! I just want him to die already…!"

"Oi, Iza-nii…" Mairu tried to get her brother's attention without prevail.

"He's completely useless to me! I can't make my plans to include him or adjust them to fit him into them as a variable. He's like one of those factors that just don't go anywhere or do anything, other than being a nuisance or a problem with no solution to fix it! Why can't he just die already?"

"Izaaaa-niiii~!" She tried again.

"He's so stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Is he mocking me? Does he know how much trouble he gives me? He's such a monster! But if I'm going to become God, I'll need a rival, wouldn't I? Or else it wouldn't be an easy road to travel, ne~? Ne~!? But why did it have to be such an idiot?! Am I being underestimated by some non-existent superior?"

"IZA-NII!"

"What?! Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Do you really hate this 'Shizu-chan' person?

His eyes widened for a second as that question made its way through his head. Once it processed, he answered immediately, "Of course I do! He is a stupid brute that ruins everything I plan even though he has absolutely no intelligence in that small, small peanut-sized brain of his! He's unpredictable in everyway possible! How can you seriously even ask such a question?"

"It's just that you don't sound like you hate him... You sound like… I don't know how to put it… Hmm, I guess you sound like you actually want him to give you his attention. Oh! Like an embarrassed, love-struck gir—"

"Don't you even dare finish that disgusting sentence!" He interjected quickly, "How can you even say something so disregarding like that to me?! How can you even think that to begin with?!" He looked at the floor, his bangs covering his face as he yelled defensively, too defensively, with his hands clenching into fists at his sides.

Clearing his throat and coughing a little also, he quickly composed himself and turned away abruptly, facing to the side, away from his sisters' direct stares. Barely above a hushed whisper, he said quietly, "Of course I hate him. He's such a protozoan, how could I possibly not?" Even though his bangs continued to cover his red orbs, the blush that slowly crept up to his ears could be seen by Mairu and Kururi. He bit his lips, frowning uncertainly as he tried maintaining his anger that was suddenly dispersing for some reason that he didn't know of. The crimson red blush remained unknown to him.

From the side view, all the twins were able to see was the redness of their brother's ears. With raised eyebrows, they internally wondered why since they knew that a vampire's blood no longer flows through the body…right?

"I wouldn't exactly call in angry, but for some reason his ears were red afterwards, so maybe he was actually angry?" Mairu, already knowing a vampire couldn't blush, discarded that idea, but also unconsciously threw away the possibility that it could have been something other than supposed 'hate' between them since those two things were so closely associated with each other for the mischievous girl.

Shinra sweatdropped again. Red ears, huh? For some reason, I doubt it's from anger. He kept that thought to himself as they made their way downstairs to the main living room where everyone else, except Celty and Shizuo, were gathered.

"We should totally go! This is a once in a lifetime chance! We just have to!" Erika shouted as she flailed her arms about.

"This is awesome, man! Come on, we can't give up this chance!" Walker smiled as he sided with the other otaku.

"What's all the commotion about? Did I miss something?"

"Yo, Shinra. No, I was just telling these two that the—"

"That the hunter school you all went to is going to start again tomorrow! Isn't that great! Let's all visit! We can go to town tomorrow morning together!" The chirpy black-clad girl finished for the werewolf hunter, Kadota.

"Is that so? Well, I guess it's a good idea, but I don't think we can."

"Ehh?! Why not, Shinra-kun?" She pouted.

"We got about 4 problems. First this one," he pointed to the devilish smiling Mairu, "Then this one," and pointed to the expressionless Kururi right after, "We also can't forget that Izaya is passed out and I can't let other people fall in love with my beloved Celty!" He exaggerated near the end while using wild hand movements and gestures.

The blonde quickly stormed from the scene. This was pissing him off. He needed some fresh air. He hurriedly made his way out to where the broken fountain, old and dirty, stood as the main centerpiece in the front of the large estate. He breathed out heavily.

Pulling out a cigarette from the pack in his leather coat, he carefully proceeded to light it with a match that was promptly dropped onto the floor and rubbed out by the blonde's foot. Taking a few whiffs of the cancer stick, he looked at the pitiful stone fountain that no longer worked, still not noticing Celty approaching him from afar.

It was only when the gentle tapping on his shoulder alerted him of the headless woman's presence.

"Why'd you follow me?" Shizuo said, blowing out smoke from between his lips.

'Are you alright?' Celty answered with a question instead.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

'You just left so suddenly. I thought that maybe something was on your mind again? Do you want to talk? I'm always here for you if you need to talk. Remember that.'

Taking another extra long puff of the slowly burning stick, he drops it onto the bottom of the empty structure in front of him while he breathed out the smoke from between his lips.

"I'm fine, really. The flea's just pissing me off. What's he planning this time? Dammit!"

'I don't trust Izaya either, but what makes you so sure that he's planning something?'

"The louse just doesn't fall out of nowhere with his fucking balance and agility. He's definitely up to something…"

'Let's not jump to conclusions, Shizuo! We can't be too sure. I'm sure that even Izaya wouldn't hurt himself on purpose just to mess with you because of some stupid plan that he's concocted.'

Hurt himself? A certain scene that happened several nights ago, containing the flea being hurt, popped into the blonde's head upon reading the sentence Celty wrote. Wait! Did he purposely injure himself because he knew I would let him suck my blood? Was all that just another one of his schemes? Shizuo kept thinking this until another question intercepted his thought process. If he knew what was going to happen, then does that mean he doesn't regret it and he's just messing with me because he knew it'll bother me so much? But could he really have known I would've done all that? Was it all a coincidence or not!? The vein in his temple started to bulge. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! This is too much thinking for me to do because of that louse! And I still don't know if it was his plan or not! I don't fucking know. Can't think that much! I'm not some fucking psychic or some other shit! Who does he think he is!? Bastard—

"I'll fucking kill him!" He yelled, accidentally saying that last part out loud, and causing Celty to jolt at the sudden change of volume and tone in his voice.

'Eh?! Shizuo! Izaya's probably hurt and unconscious! I know you hate him, but he is the only male vampire that we know of that still exists.' Celty wrote as quickly as she can on the blank sheet of paper without shaking too much.

Shizuo inwardly cursed himself for letting that slip out. Clearing his throat, he replied, "Ya…"

He stared at the bent cancer stick at the bottom of the fountain, on the verge of burning out. As he continued to watch the white stick, a different image appeared for just a split second.

Even if only for a second, Shizuo saw it clearly as it burned into his memory. The fountain was not brightened by the sun's golden rays in that second, instead it was nighttime and brightened by the moon's white light tinted with a blue undertone. The water in the fountain was dyed a murky red color while the fountain, itself, was in good condition, but stained with bloody handprints of all sizes.

He jolted and rubbed his eyes roughly when it returned to the normal appearance of a broken fountain. What was that? Was that a hallucination? Is all this thinking, thanks to the flea, really getting to him?

'Shizuo? Is something wrong?' The dullahan asked, seeing Shizuo blink several times like he just saw something unbelievable.

"Huh? Oh… It's nothing… come on, I think we should head back now," He said gruffly. They started to walk back to the castle right afterwards.

As they entered back into the building, having to step onto the large metal doors that remain on the floor, they heard the echoes of wild chatter. Following the loud voices, they went inside the living room to see Shinra flailing his arms about.

"We got about 4 problems. First this one," he pointed to the devilish smiling Mairu, "Then this one," and pointed to the expressionless Kururi right after, "We also can't forget that Izaya is passed out and I can't let other people fall in love with my beloved Celty!"

Promptly right after he finished that exaggerated explanation, Shinra received a blow to the head and his stomach from said beloved herself.

"C-Celty! When did y-you—ugh!—get here?" The doctor groaned out between gasps of pain.

'Shut up!' She smacked Shinra on the head again with a balled up fist of embarrassment and slight anger, but mostly embarrassment.

"Yo, Kadota. Is Shinra being a pervert again?" Shizuo asked as he walked over to the other unamused hunter.

With a straight face of unchanging expression, Kadota said bluntly, "Yeah."

"Hey! I heard that, you two! How can you be so mean to me?! I thought you guys were my frieeends!" Said brunet pervert whined from over where he was standing, trying to make up with Celty.

Everyone in the room completely ignored him, with the indiscrete snickering from the 4 troublemakers, the twins and the otakus.

Saburo quirked an eyebrow, "Shouldn't we all be more quiet? What happens if all this racket wakes up, what's his name, Orihara-san?"

"Don't worry. Iza-nii's room is nearly sound-proofed. Also we're downstairs, so it should all be good~!" Mairu chimed in.

"Sound-proofed? Why's it sound-proofed?" Shinra asked, confused after Celty eventually forgave him…again.

"Because Iza-nii's creepy!" She joked back before answering more seriously, "Actually, Iza-nii's just a light sleeper, but the way he wakes up to every creak and tick is so creepy though! Like I was in his room once, tip-toeing quietly, and even that woke him up right away!"

"Iza-nii…sleeping…problems… (Iza-nii could just have sleeping problems.)" Kururi added in her perspective.

"That could be it too~!" The younger twin nodded.

"Alriiight, people! Let's get back to the original question before Shinra-kun started all this!" Erika interjected to swerve the group back onto the subject at hand, the hunter school. She refused to be denied this once in a lifetime opportunity to see Dotachin's teenage years.

"Wait, how is this all my fault? Why are you blaming me!?" The doctor cried out, but was once again ignored by everyone as Erika continued on.

"Ok, Shizu-Shizu, Celty-chan, we were talking about how we should go to town tomorrow because… Guess what! The hunter school, you three went to, is starting the new school year tomorrow! Isn't that exciting!?" She squealed.

"Don't call me Dotachin."

"Don't call me Shizu-Shizu. It's creepy as hell."

"I think we should all go!" She ignored their complaints by placing an even wider smile on her face, if that was possible.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Swinging her arms about, Mairu chanted the mantra as Kururi did anti-climatic jazz hands to cheer everyone on.

"And like I was saying, what if Celty falls in love with someon—oof!" Celty stopped Shinra by punching him in the stomach. Again.

'I think we should all go.'

"O-Okay…ugh… If Celty, hypothetically, doesn't fall in love with a better man that's more suited to her beauty—OOF!—I m-mean…w-we can't just carelessly bring 3 vampires, 2 of them being completely new to some surroundings, and a dullahan to the town… That's a disaster waiting to happen…"

'We'll have to head back sooner or later. We need to get back to see what's going on. We also need new clothes… a bath… and food for you all…'

The man with shoulder length straight hair spoke up, "We went shopping before we came here so we got some food in the wagon. We thought we'll need some food considering the kitchen is completely empty."

"Food?! That means you bought meat, right?!" Mairu basically screamed out.

"Meat? Why would we buy meat? We can't cook it at all over here. And even if we did, what are you going to do with it?"

"Girly man-san, I'm pretty sure you know by now that there are different types of vampires… Kururi and I suck the blood from animals and its b-been awhile since I've l-last f-f-fed on anything…" Her pupils began to constrict and he fangs started elongating. She clasped her hand over her mouth to trap the saliva inside and to keep anyone from seeing. She bent over, having trouble trying to contain herself from going berserk. She couldn't go hunger crazy now, it would only be her befall in the end because it was daytime, so if she rushes outside to hunt, she'll get seriously injured. Kururi is already hurt too.

Get a hold of yourself! Just go hunting tonight! You can't make Kururi worry…

With that thought in mind, she forcefully choked and gasped out the other part of her sentence, "K-Ku-Kururi is hurt…so I was just wondering if t-there was any meat or blood that she c-c-could get energy from… We used up a lot of energy in the last few days. It's ok if you don't have any, we'll be able to hunt tonight~!" Regaining her calm, she slowly stood up straight again, still breathing heavily.

The monotone twin gently patted her overactive twin on the twin, "Fine…Worry… (I'm fine. Don't worry)"

Caringly, Celty also comforted the girl and wrote in her booklet, 'Are you ok, Mairu-san?'

"You were going slightly hunger-crazed, right? I didn't see many animals on the castle grounds? How do you usually get energy then?" The doctor wondered out loud.

"We don't get much… That's why we get hungry easily. There are animals, but they're small so they don't have a lot of blood in them… Also we prefer to not kill them since they're all so small and cute~, so that's even less blood."

Erika coughed rather loudly, "Ok! So it's settled then! We go to the hunter school tomorrow! Let's all spend the day peacefully and don't forget to sleep soundly~!"

Nighttime approached. The sun was long ago swallowed up by the chill that is the cold night sky. The moon shining down, creating shadows, and leaving nothing untouched by its ethereal glow, was cast upon the two teenage girls. While the sun catches every innocent moment in the day, the moon catches the more gruesome ones, the unseen side of survival.

It was the frightening sight of two young girls biting into the flesh of the small creatures that were slow enough to get caught in their grasps. The squealing of the squirrels and the rabbits, the dying croak of the frogs and toads, even birds were not spared as the high-pitched chirps resounded through the forest that surrounded the cage that was that of the territory of the eerie castle.

But sometimes there are some secrets that even the moon doesn't know, or so they think. Hiding in the silhouette of the gothic building, two figures hid themselves from the spreading light cast from the unworldly moon.

"Uwaah! This is terrifying! They look so merciless, feeding on small animals like that!"

"But so awesome, Yumacchi! When are we ever going to see real vampires feeding again? This is like a once in a lifetime chance~! And it's not like they're actually killing them. They're just sucking a little bit from each, so I think it's fine since that's their way of surviving~!" Erika whispered, loudly, but not loud enough for the two vampires in the woods to sense them.

Walker nodded before asking another question, "What do you think animal blood tastes like, Erika?"

"Hmmm… I don't know…Does blood even have a taste?"

"I bit my tongue once and it tasted funny, I guess… Maybe it tastes like regular food to them and different animals have different tastes."

"Like a bird would taste like…bread, maybe, and a rabbit would taste like vegetables or something, Yumacchi?"

"Exaclty!"

Walker rubbed his head, contemplating this new theory they've developed when another new curiosity sprouted from the crevices of his mind.

"Maybe we should try it! And see if we taste anything weird! Also wouldn't it be great if we discovered something about them by ourselves instead of waiting for that book to reveal its hidden pages? Do you think we'll even become one if we drank animal blood?!"

"YUMACCHI! That is the best—!"

"—Worst idea I've ever heard from you two!"

Erika and Walker jolted at the sudden intrusion of a third person and ended up tumbling into one another, falling over onto the cold grass. Scrambling back up, they hastily faced the stranger.

"Dotachin! What are you doing here!?"

"I didn't hear any overly loud and unnecessary snickering from your room. And don't call me Dotachin!"

"But how did Kadota-san find us here?!" Walker questioned as he threw his arms up in the air.

"When I went downstairs to look for you guys, I heard the loud, overly loud, rambling coming from somewhere else, outside. I followed it and much to my not surprise, I've found you two spying on the twins…"

The duo sweatdropped simultaneously as they realized that their 'whispering' got increasingly louder as they continued talking with one another, so much that the werewolf hunter was able to hear it and use it to track them down. Did that mean Mairu and Kururi were able to hear them too?

"We weren't spying on them! How can you accuse us of such a crime, Dotachin!?"

Kadota sighed heavily at this lost cause, "Then what were you two doing? Creating stupid theories as you follow and stalk the two girls? Also, don't call me Dotachin!"

Walker laughed weakly, "Erika I think it's a lost cause for us to try to defend ourselves…"

"Exactly, Dotachin! And don't call our theory on how blood tastes like to vampires stupid!" Erika continued on anyways. If it was true that the twins were able to hear them as they got increasingly louder, then she needed to justify that this act was not spying…in order for her to be able to spy on the twins some other day without arousing suspicion from them…

"I said don't call me Dotachin! And what do you mean it wasn't stupid? You'll get sick if you tried drinking blood... Not to mention that it's also very disgusting. Look, just don't try it, alright? I don't think we should pry that much into the supernatural. Pretty sure they've got some secrets that just aren't meant to be spilled. It doesn't really matter if we don't have much information on them, does it? It's not really that important."

A pause before Walker responded in an astonished tone, "Uwah! Kadota is so cool! That sounded like something right out of a mystery novel!"

"Dotachin is so cool!"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go back inside already. I'm sure Mairu and Kururi will come in when they're done."

"Mhm!" They both hummed as the followed the taller man back inside the building.

Unbeknownst to those three, the balcony's shadow that they were just standing under a second ago belonged to none other than the quirky doctor and his headless lover. The couple sat together, side by side, on the mattress of the bed.

"Did you just hear that, Celty?"

'Hear what?'

"Umm… Dotachin, Dotachin, Dotachin, and more Dotachin… Well at least that's all I heard…"

'Oh yeah. I did. But it's probably just Erika, Walker, and Kadota talking together outside or something.'

Shinra nodded and was carrying a goofy grin as always. But internally he was more worried about what will happen tomorrow.

"Celty~! Do you really think it's a good idea for all of us to head back to town tomorrow?"

'What do you mean?'

"It's just that… Don't you feel like something bad is going to happen?" Shinra voiced his concern.

'I kinda do, I guess. But I think that feeling is always going to be there no matter what. We can't escape it, so the only logical thing to do is just hope that we'll be able to prevent that disaster from happening.'

"You're right, Celty! That's definitely the answer! My dear Celty is so smart! This is why I love you so muc—OOF!"

The embarrassed dullahan silenced the poor doctor that never learns with yet another powerful punch to his gut.

'Shut up!' She wrote messily. After calming down, she wrote something else, 'Shouldn't you be more worried about Izaya? If he doesn't wake up, are we going to wake him up? And if not, how are we going to get him to town?'

Coughing several times from the pain, Shinra finally found his voice to answer, "I don't exactly feel at ease if Izaya was just left here alone. He might runaway and get himself even more hurt. We shouldn't wake him up also because he needs the rest… I'm sure he'll wake up since Mairu said he was light sleeper, but just in case if he doesn't, we can have Kadota carry him, I guess…"

'I see.'

"But we'll cross that bridge once we get there. For now, we should…" Shinra grabbed Celty's arm and pulled her down with him as they fell back onto the pillows of the comfy bed, "SLEEP!" He laughed out at Celty's shock. The quirky doctor didn't even feel the punches he received to his arm soon after.

Basking in the moonlight, Mairu and Kururi tentatively wiped the excess red liquid that leaked out from the sides of their mouths.

"There! All healed and stocked up on energy~!" Mairu smiled as she hugged her sister tightly.

"Thanks…"

"No need to thank me! I'm just doing what any sister would do~!" She said before letting go. She had been seriously worried for her before. Kururi was so docile and sweet and cute. Those kinds of people should never feel or be hurt. They just didn't deserve to…ever…

The older twin stayed silent, but Mairu could tell that she was happy even if she didn't say anything.

"Shall we go back now, Kuru-nee~? We have an exciting day tomorrow~! We should rest up, and after eating that much, I am feeling a little bit tired."

"Also…change…sleeping… (We also need to change our sleeping schedules.)"

"You're right! We should change it to daytime again like everybody else! That way we'll be able to play with them when they're awake without getting tired! Kuru-nee is so smart!" Getting up, Mairu put out her hand to help the other up. After Kururi grabbed it and was pulled up, they began walking back to their rooms, still hand in hand, smiling.

Is Izaya actually alright? What the fuck happened back there? Why am I losing my shits over this?! I don't fucking care to begin with!

Shizuo kept repeating these thoughts over and over in his head like a mantra, trying to convince himself that he didn't care what happens to Izaya. It didn't work.

He rubbed his temples. This was giving him a headache. He needed a smoke.

Going over to the balcony, he pulled out the box holding the cancerous sticks and much to his disdain, there was only one left. Frowning, he put it back in his pocket. He wouldn't be able to get another one until probably tomorrow afternoon. Fuck… this was pissing him off too…

Off in the distance, he heard people chatting, but the only world that he could make out from the mumbling was 'Dotachin'. It was the only words that was said loud and clear enough for him to actually understand

"Tch. You should go to sleep already…" He said quietly and mostly to himself instead of the people that he figured were Kadota, and…whoever those two people that always hang around him so much are… He was really bad at names.

Going back in, he plopped himself down on the bed. He chuckled to himself a bit. He needed to go to sleep just as much as he was saying others should. He had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be absolutely hectic.

Lying down, he put his head on the pillows and looked up at the canopy over the top of his provided bed.

He really was tired. But he couldn't get his mind off why he felt worried for the goddamn flea. It wasn't like he cared for the flea. Damn, the headache was only getting worst now…

It was only when a soothing voice floated into his head, did he finally feel sleepy. It replaced his worries and confusion with a sort of toxic sweet bliss.

The voice was light and soothing like the wind… Was it his conscience? It sounded so soft and sweet… So much like a girl's voice…

His mind was no longer able to keep himself awake as the voice said, "It's alright. Just go to sleep... I'll help you with your questions~…"

Opening his eyes, he was met with a bright blue sky. This felt familiar for some reason. Did he go to this place before?

He laid down in the soft tall grass that whished around from the calming breeze until…

A smile.

Until a smile came into his line of sight. Soft black hair also fell onto and touched his face.

Someone was standing over him.

He quickly sat up and looked at the newcomer. She was a girl with beautiful silky black hair. She wore a long classic maid outfit that reached her ankles. A light smile danced across her face. She giggled cutely.

Shizuo continued to stare at her. He felt like he met her somewhere before. He wasn't sure where, but he was certain that he did. The hair, the smile, the laugh, just all felt so familiar to him, and especially the…

Wait.

He couldn't see her eyes… They were blurred over to him. What color were her eyes? If he couldn't even remember such a vital factor to a person's appearance, then did he really meet her before?

He rubbed his own eyes to see if that would solve the problem. It didn't.

"Huh? Did you forget about me already…?" She said sadly. The smile melted away too.

"U-Uh I'm sorry… I'm not really good with names so… Who are you again?"

She giggled again and the bright smile returned. Shizuo was relieved that she wasn't sad or angry anymore.

"It's alright. You don't need to be sorry. I wasn't expecting you to remember me," she said comfortingly.

"Eh?" Damn, Shizuo, who is she? Even her voice sounded familiar!

"My name's Kanra. Nice to meet you again. I hope we get along~!"

For a second, a radiant red blinded his vision. It was a beautiful red that was so intense, it would put the ripest apple, the most expensive ruby, and the best blooming roses to shame because that red also burned with a warmth that felt so alive. It blazed hotter than the flames of any fire.

The red faded away soon after, but the life in it was still there… Except for this time, it was staring at him with a perplexed look.

Her eyes were that same red, that same feeling.

"Are you alright?" She asked nicely.

"Y-Yeah… Um… I'm Shizuo…"

Sitting down in the tall grass in the expanse of this never ending field, she replied, "I know~! We've met before. But it was a long time ago, I guess you could say, so I don't blame you if you don't remember."

"Sorry…"

"It's okay! Don't apologize, don't apologize! I said it was nothing to feel sorry about, right?"

"Yeah, but still, I should've at least remembered your nam—"

"Shhh… It's alright, I said. Besides, if it's you…I'll introduce myself over and over, again and again for a thousand times if I have to~! Ne~ Shizuo-san~?"

Shizuo turned away, trying to hide the blush that appeared on his face. A very quiet, but definitely audible, "Yeah. Thank you," was heard coming from the fake blonde.

Kanra continued to smile and laugh happily, "No problem, I'm just telling you the truth~!" With that said, the blush only increased ten-fold on Shizuo.

Finally Shizuo faced her again when he deemed it safe to turn back around. Nothing was said between the two. Even though no words were conversed, it didn't feel awkward. Instead it felt like the peaceful silence was meant to be.

They sat like that, in the field in the middle of nowhere, losing track of time as they felt the wind's breeze pass them by.

Shizuo lied back down on the grass. A small nap wouldn't hurt. He couldn't help it. It was just so…peaceful. Time was so meaningless to him right now that he didn't even realize everything turned to black as soon as he closed his eyes.

Slowly opening his eyes again, Shizuo was greeted by the canopy on top of his bed again. The sun was shining through the gaps in the long curtains.

Shinra draped his hand over Celty as soon as she fell asleep. Smiling like a dork, he didn't care that he was going to get beat up tomorrow, because all that mattered to him was now in his arms. He closed his heavy lids and drifted off into another world.

He woke up in an almost surreal-looking forest. He was in a patch of grassy land in the middle of all the trees. The leaves and grass were covered in morning dew, most likely from the huge lake to his right. The sun was shining and all the dew made everything sparkle magnificently down on him, but it was very quiet. There were no chirping birds or buzzing insects. Everything was just quiet, too quiet. Despite the forest looking like something out of a children's happy fairytale book, the quietness was ominous…

"No way! I can't be lost again! She's going to be soo disappointed in me again…!" A voice came from the depths of the woods. Shinra looked in its direction, perplexed.

Soon, a clumsy man fell through two trees and landed right in front of Shinra. The man almost seemed like ghost. His skin and hair were as white as the clouds above them. He was far beyond 'pale'. He wore a very colorful servant's outfit of a yellow dress shirt with green embroidery, a red ribbon tied around and under his collar flap, a brown vest, black dress pants and shoes.

The man on the ground looked up.

"Shinra! It's you again! Can't believe we meet again! What are you doing here?"

The doctor didn't respond. How was he supposed to? A stranger that he didn't know was talking to him.

"Shinra? Hello? Eeeeeh!? Did you forget my name! I know it's weird a weird name, but I thought that would make it easier for people to remember..."

"H-Huh?"

"My name's Chrome, remember?"

All this happened so fast that Shinra didn't even get a get look at the strange man's face to notice that his eyes were blurred before a brilliant dazzling blue clouded his sight. It felt cold and cool like a tranquil stream of water.

As it faded away from his vision, the cool sensation he was feeling soon became the man in front of him.

"Shinra?" Chrome started getting up, but being the klutz he his, his foot slipped on a stone half-way through which caused him to launch himself, face first, into the brunet's chest.

Surprised, Shinra quickly closed his eyes, turning everything to black as his back hit the floor.

Opening his eyes to the bruising pain, he realized that…Celty had woken up in the middle of the night and pushed him off the bed…

"Now you two, get some sleep. It was your idea to go back to town tomorrow so I don't want to here you two complaining about being tired."

"You got it, Dotachin!"

"Don't call me Dotachin."

Shutting the door quietly, the duo jumped onto the bed, bouncing up and down a couple of times.

"I can't wait for tomorrow, Yumacchi! It's going to be fun!" She said happily.

"I can't wait either! But we need to go to sleep or else Kadota-san is going to come back in and kill us with his mega coolness powers!"

"Waaah! We can't die yet! Hurry, Yumacchi! Sleep!" The duo exaggerated as they laughed. The laughter soon eventually turned into yawning and their eyelids began to close.

They were standing in the middle of a village alone with no one but each other. The village was empty except for them. Not a single soul could be seen. The houses looked homely even though they were abandoned. The sun was setting, but the shadows of the buildings and trees surrounding the village did not align. Some shadows were facing one way while some others were facing another way. They were all cast in different directions as if the setting sun wasn't their light source.

The duo noticed that they were frozen in place. They couldn't talk or move. A sense of dread washed over them as they watched their surroundings.

A small girl's voice could be heard, chuckling, laughing, and echoing ominously through the desolate homes.

"Come play with me!" The girl's voice said.

"Let's play until the sun sets!"

"Come play with me! Play with me now! Hurry before the sun sets!"

"The sun can't set yet! We haven't played yet! The sun can't set!"

"Hurry! Join us! We can play together! Before the sun sets…! Before the sun disappears!"

The sun finally set. The shadows stayed in the same places, still not aligning correctly. But when the empty village flickered with scorching heat, it finally made sense. The empty village was no longer empty as the fire engulfed every crack and crevice. The flames that grew higher than the night sky provided the shadows to be cast in different directions. The fire was the light source as it fluttered and spread everywhere.

"Where are you!? I can't see you! Hurry! Run! Hurry! What are you waiting for!?"

"RUN! HURRY! HURRY BEFORE IT GETS YOU! DON'T DO THAT!"

"NOOO! DON'T! STOP! STOP! I SAID STOP!"

The laughter of the girl soon became hysterical screaming. The screaming was shrill and desperate. And when the voice wasn't screeching, it was sobbing, sobbing a wail of tears that could break a thousand heart strings. It grew in volume along with the flames. But then everything ended.

The sobbing was cut off just as abruptly as the fire disappeared, leaving nothing but the ashes of what used to be something recognizable.

The sun began to rise again and the shadows aligned accordingly now.

A choke, a sob, could be heard here and there, but it wasn't from the girl, they sounded much different. These noises seemed far away as if the wind was carrying the unspoken words of a lost soul.

The creeping darkness that crawled from the forest pushed both of them onto the dirty ground. Erika and Walker shut their eyes tightly in fear as it all crashed down upon them. Everything turned to black.

"I'm sorry… I've failed again…" Was the last thing heard the duo heard. This time though, it was a boy's voice.

"I can't wait either! But we need to go to sleep or else Kadota-san is going to come back in and kill us with his mega coolness powers!"

"Waaah! We can't die yet! Hurry, Yumacchi! Sleep!"

Kadota stood outside their door for a minute to see if they would actually listen to him and sleep. He kind of wished he hadn't…

"Geez… I'm not going to kill you with my nonexistent powers… What in the world do you two think about half the time?" He sighed out as he began walking back to his room. Saburo had the room next to his.

When he got in, he went straight towards the bed. He could already feel the tiredness of tomorrow, today… His eyelids shut tightly just thinking about how tomorrow was probably 10 times worse than his imagination.

He was in dense woods. Everywhere he turned, all he could see was trees, plants, and more trees. A dim light source shined at one end. Was that the exit? He began to follow it since it was his only clue.

He didn't know how long it took him to get there, maybe minutes, hours, or days, but when he did, it was, much to his disappointment, not the exit. It was actually a clearing in the middle of the forest. There was a huge lake that covered all the trees and grass in water droplets, like morning dew. But the main centerpiece that caught Kadota's attention was the stranger rolling around on the floor, whining like a child.

"Noo! He's gone! What happened?! It wasn't my fault, right? Ahhhhh! Kanra's going to be even more disappointed now! That I got lost and I made Shinra-san disappear!"

"Umm... Excuse me? Sir, are you alright? And do you know where the way out is?"

"Sir? My name's not 'sir', it's Chrome!" He giggled before realizing someone was talking to him, "Oh my god! Another person! Yes! Maybe I can make it up now!" He cheered happily.

Kadota, however, was blinded by bright blue blotches appearing in his vision suddenly. He closed his eyes and began rubbing it vigorously, unintentionally letting his guard down.

Chrome got up and hastily started making his way over to Kadota. During his haste though, he tripped again on a stone, the same stone that tripped him before, and fell right into the other's chest while they were rubbing their closed eyes.

Kadota was still rubbing his eyes, only being able to see the darkness behind his eyelids, when he felt something crash into him and then the sensation of falling. His back hit the hard floor.

Opening his eyes, he saw the sun leaking through the curtains that covered the windows. On top of him were Erika and Walker, smirking.

He was surrounded by darkness. Everywhere he looked there were only the gusts of black fog. He was stuck in the middle of it all, floating into oblivion. Dread was a major understatement at what he was feeling right now.

Nothing could be seen past this fog. It blinded a person completely, engulfing them into nothingness, taking away the sense of sight, the most used sense.

Without the ability to see, the other senses are heightened ten-fold. The lone raven could feel the coldness in the darkness creep under his skin, smell the unforgiving loneliness spreading through the tainted air, and hear the silence of insanity seep into his mind until…

Someone called out to him.

Adrenaline started to course through his veins and he started to desperately grasp onto something, anything that could lead him in the direction of the voice. To him, those faint words were his only light, a light that is heard rather than seen.

But there was nothing with him in this hell. There was nothing for him to grab, nothing for him to grasp, and nothing for him to depend on. Absolutely alone.

"…ya… Are…there… Iza…. Are you…there…Izaya?" She said playfully.

His light was calling for him again. Where was it? He couldn't move when there is no floor for him to step on, no wall for him to lean on, no surface for him to grab on.

"…zaya…Izay…Don't…hurt…ya…Don't hurt…him!" This time desperateness could be heard, completely different from the tone in her last sentence.

Wait, what? He wasn't being hurt… What is she talking about?

Something's not right…

"Let…go…Let…iza…Let Izaya…go! Let him go!"

Suddenly his eyes widened in the black fog. No…! Not this scenario again! He didn't want to go back! He didn't want to remember! No! He didn't want to repeat it once again! He didn't want to bask in his failure again! NO!

This time a different voice resounded through the pitch black fog.

"What are you doing? This is your sin. You failed to save her, so accept your punishment by reliving the most devastating moment in your life again and again and again! Don't you fucking dare forget what you did to her! You owe her so much, but yet this is all you could do to repay her so you better go back and remember! Remember and dye this darkness into bright crimson again and again and again!" The voice said with distaste in his tone that soon turned into insane laughter near the end.

It was his voice. His conscience was talking to him, berating him for being a coward. But he couldn't help it, being a coward is a quality that he rather liked. Or is a quality…that defined his whole being. He was nothing else but a coward.

"You're contradicting yourself, pathetic. If you say you like it then why do you sound like you detest it instead? If you truly hate that quality that you possess, that quality that defines you, that quality that is you, then do everything you can to become stronger! Stop being a coward and face your past! Stop being pathetic!"

Clenching his teeth and snapping open his eyes that he didn't even realize were closed, he allowed his mind to drag him back to his sin...

"The fucking least you can do is to find a way to blame this on yourself. So save her this time, and you'll finally know…that her last words were wrong… You know you deserve to really know if it is your fault… No matter how much you say you failed, it's your failure, are you for certain actually sure? Because what if there was nothing you could do, what if it was meant to be, and what if it was fate? Are you for certain actually sure?"

There he was, once again, in the confines of his room, being held still from behind. Breathing heavily, he could smell the smoke from the burning village through the open balcony.

Lifting his head, he faced the leader, a reddish-brown haired werewolf.

"Why do you look like you hate me so much?"

He answered abhorrently, "That's because I do!"

"Did you know that when I first saw you, I thought you were a girl, then I found out you were actually a boy, how disappointing… But you looked so beautiful, sitting upon your ego, your throne, all high and mighty, so I thought to myself that I wanted you, though you're not cute at all apparently…"

"Shut up! You're disgusting!"

"You know, I'll be careful what you say to me…" He smirked. Snapping his fingers, two other werewolves tightened their grip on their second captive, causing her to whimper in pain.

There she was, his light, being restrained off to the side of the room.

"I can easily make it much more painful for her you know…"

"W-Wait…Don't—!"

"Unless, you'll rather take her place? If you know what I mean~…" He taunted wickedly.

Gulping down the lump in his throat, he forces the words that he said back then out of his mouth, "O-Ok… Just…please…don't hurt her…" He learned from past trials that if this first beginning part didn't go like this with the exact same words spoken, then Kanra would die immediately.

"Oh? Really? Would you really?" He said. Walking slowly towards him, he grabbed Izaya's chin and forced the lithe raven to look at him straight in the eye, "I'll say it again, would you really? It's not too late to take it back yet…"

"Yes…really…" Izaya answered back lowly.

"No! Don't! Don't hurt Izaya! Don't hurt him!"

Ahh… yes… it was those faithful words that forced him to remember…

"Huh? What d'ya say?" The leader smirked, looking at the helpless girl.

"Let him go! Let Izaya go!" She shouted again.

Izaya shot a deadly glare in her direction telling her to shut up already. Their eyes met and the message was transferred, but a certain look in Kanra's eyes showed defiance.

"What are you going to do now, Izaya-'sama'?" He mocked evilly.

"Don't listen to her. She doesn't know what she's saying…" Izaya replied coldly. Almost there…the middle part was where he'll need to react differently in order to change the outcome.

"Whatever you say, Prince Orihara Izaya-sama…" With that said, the werewolf leaned down and gradually began to lick the curve on the raven's slim neck.

Izaya shuddered and bit his lip lest he vomited. He could never get used to this disgusting feeling. For a thousand years, this never felt right to him.

"I said let him go! It's me you want, you filthy animal!" Kanra began to struggle, provoking the werewolves holding her on purpose.

Feeling annoyed at being interrupted, the werewolf retracted his tongue and looked at the strong-willed girl.

"Shut her up—"

This was it! This was his chance! This is when it changes!

Izaya used all the weight in his body and pushed forward, breaking loose from the werewolves holding him and pushing down the leader. Before, he would push back, causing only the werewolves holding him to be deterred and not the leader. That was one of his many mistakes.

While they were temporarily deterred, he rushed over to Kanra. He just needed to get Kanra to the other side of the room, to the balcony! From there, she could fly away and live!

Twisting Kanra out of the two other werewolves' grips, he kicked both of them down and began running to the other side, holding her hand.

But something happened.

He was about to reach the other side when all of a sudden, when they were passing his bed, one of the bedposts at the end snapped off and crashed into Izaya's wrist, breaking it, and separating their held hands. But Izaya didn't feel the pain from his broken wrist. His whole body was numb as he watched the scene play out in front of him again when he turned around. Maybe he shouldn't have…but he deserved to watch this despair for failing yet again.

Kanra fell back from the sudden shock and right into the hands of the leader who just got up. She crashed into his chest and the werewolf gripped her side, breaking the skin and flesh, and crushed it within in his fingers. Blood spilled out of the massive wound and she puked up even more of the red liquid before she fell to the floor in a heap. Too much blood was spilling out and she wasn't healing.

"Eh, eh, eh. You shouldn't have done that~…" The werewolf laughed cruelly.

No way! No way! The werewolves never touched his bed once so the bedpost shouldn't have been broken! This isn't what happened last time! Last time he was near the side of his room with bookshelves lining the wall, and one had started to fall because it was already broken, causing Kanra to let go and back up out of the way and right into the leader's hands… This time he steered clear of the bookshelves! And the bed isn't even damaged, so why!? He was so close! How long does he have to endure this torture before she finally makes it out!? How many more years!? How many more possibilities, causalities, paths, and variables are there!? How much mistakes does he have to remember!? Does he even have those many chances left?!

Like every other time, Izaya couldn't stomach the anger welling in his stomach at the sight of Kanra being brutally murdered and once again…the gap occurred, the gap in his memory.

Blinded by rage, he had blacked out and when he regained recognition again, everything was already over. Their corpses covered his floor in gore. The dark room was painted in crimson splatters. Everything was already over.

He had killed them all, all of those who had done this to his light, but without knowing how. How did he kill them? Was it painful or quick? There was no way he could have taken down them all… He was outnumbered, after all. And he lacked the physical strength to do so too…

Just because he was able to defeat several opponents that were stronger then him, doesn't mean that he was stronger… It only means he's even weaker. Not being able to control what you did, not being able to remember you did it and how you did it, and only being able to do it when you have blacked out from anger is not strength… It's weakness. Pathetic uselessness to him. If he could not be strong all the time then there was no meaning to this hollow victory for him.

That's why, covered in blood that was not his, he leaned over Kanra, grasping her cold hand. Her other hand came up to stroke his dirtied cheek as he sobbed without sound. Tears streamed down his face, washing away the blood, but not the tainted imprints they left behind. Those would be forever carved into his life.

"Don't cry…please… Please…don't cry… It's not…your fault… There was nothing…you could've…done…so don't…cry… please…" She said weakly just like every other scenario and time.

This can't be happening… He thought he didn't make any mistakes this time! Was this what would've happened the first time, the only time when it would have actually mattered to Kanra, if they've made it this far while running to the balcony near the side of his room where his bed was? So what's the right path then? What's the right way then? What scenario will allow Kanra to live then!? HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO KNOW!? HOW!?

"It's not your fault…Pleas—Ugh…" She coughed up more blood, "P-Please…don't cry… You're n-not to blame… It's…not y-your fault…"

Oh, but it was his fault… Every time it was his fault…! It was his fault that he couldn't save her! It was his fault that he was this stupid and pathetic! EVERY GODDAMN TIME, IT WAS ALWAYS HIS FAULT! EVERYTHING WAS HIS FAULT! EVERY GODDAMN THING!

He didn't say anything. It wasn't that he had nothing to say, it was just that he couldn't…It would mean nothing to Kanra now. The first time was the only time that it actually mattered if he had said what he wanted to…but now it was too late. It was all too late!

He tried to say what he wanted to anyways. The words that he wasn't able to speak the first time just so he can satisfy himself… How selfish.

"K-Kanra… I-I…I l-lov—!" Kanra put he fingers over his lips and silenced her just like every other time in these nightmares of his.

"Shhh…" She opened her mouth to say something else, but no voice came out. She couldn't speak anymore… Death was creeping in on her already. She tried getting it out, but just couldn't, and so her lips closed again along with her eyes, all against her will. Her hand grew limp in Izaya's grasp.

She died in his hands and at his hands since it was all his fault.

And the last words that were said by Izaya before everything turned back to pitch black were…

"I'm sorry… I've failed again…"

Waking up in a sweat, Izaya sat upright in his bed, panting heavily. His heart was pulsing but the blood that was finally flowing from the increased adrenaline from the nightmare was colder than ice. Where was he? What's going on?

Looking down, he saw that he was in his bed and remembered how he got here in the first place…

So I passed out after I crashed into the floor, huh? So all that was a nightmare then… Relief washed over his body, but his breathing was still erratic. His body was still suffering from the after effects of that torment.

"It happened again, dammit…" He gasped out breathlessly, still absorbing the same occurring nightmare that's been happening for the past 1000 years… That's why he rarely slept at all. He didn't want to relive that every time he went to sleep. He knew it was fault. He didn't need proof by actually finding a way to save her… But his subconscious apparently thought otherwise and subjected him to this nightly torture. Not like he didn't deserve it…

On rare occasions though, sometimes it didn't happen. He never figured out why. Actually a few days ago it didn't happen again. It was on the night when he kissed Shi—

He cut off that highly disturbing thought. The only times he didn't really get that horrific nightmare started about 10 years ago when a certain blond idiot came into life and gave him enough trouble that on occasion, not all the time, he would fall asleep with Shizuo preoccupying his mind… But that's only because his mind was just focusing on the more important things…or should he say, problems, at that moment. Yes, it's just because Shizuo is the only thing getting in the way of his plans and therefore, his brain was working overtime, thinking about that stupid brute, trying to find a solution. It never did though. He tried to convince himself with that, but grimaced instead. Nothing was more important than Kanra…

Shaking his head, he got rid of these confusing thoughts. Anything pertaining to Shizuo never made any logical sense anyways.

And that's why I hate you so much, Shizu-chan…

He tried to get off of the bed but fell back when stinging pain shot through one of his hands. He looked to check what was wrong with it and saw that his burnt hand's wrist hurt badly. It wasn't broken though.

I probably hit it by accident on the night table when I was sleeping… He thought to himself.

Izaya jolted when loud pounding came from his door.

"Iza-nii! Wake up, you 'flea'! Hehe~! Shizuo-san was right, Kuru-nee! It does kind of roll off the tongue when you're addressing Iza-nii~!"

The raven choked on the air he was breathing. Dammit! What was Shizuo teaching to his sisters?! Not only is it a terrible insult, but it sounded sooo wrong coming from his sister who would usually call him a 'loser'.

"Town…today… (We're going to town today.)"

"Yep~! Exactly what Kuru-nee said, we're going to Bukuro today so hurry up and wake up~!"

Shit. This was going to go terribly wrong somehow.

I'm sorry for my sins! My sins! I'm sorry if there are any mistakes I have overlooked or if I'm a little shit and a lame author or if this story is confusing and shit or if you hate me because of this or everything is OOC or too much italics and fucking cliche shit plot or etc...

If you haven't searched it up yet, Chrome, Kanra, and Nakura are Izaya's borrowed screen names. Yes, they are actually real people in real life that Izaya knows in Durarara! Their personalities and looks aren't stated yet when this fanfic was made sooo if in the future they are, then I'm sorry for not being able to predict the future... The personalities and appearances I've created for them are mine, soo... ya... Any other questions? PLEASE ASK ME IF ANYTHING IS CONFUSING YOU! I'LL EXPLAIN!

Izaya: Author-san has some serious confidence issues~

Chaos: Who's fault do you think that is?! T^T

Izaya: Yours, obviously, I'm not even real in this post script. You're basically just roleplaying with yourself~

Chaos: I fucking know T^T *sobs*

Izaya: Author-san is pretty lonely...

Chaos: T^T

Izaya: But you've seriously disappointed me... Like do you really think I'm misunderstood?

Chaos: Well...Y-Ya...

Izaya: Bullshit. I'm god, fuck you.

Erika: I heard 'fuck'! Is Iza-Iza going to do the smut with Shizu-Shizu finally?!

Izaya: What?! No! Don't you have porn you have to read and Dotachins to annoy?

Erika: Don't you have porn to create with Shizu-Shizu and humans to love and destroy mentally?

Izaya: Touche...

Chaos: Where's the rest of the cast anyways? Why are we the only 3 here? I feel inferior compared to you two since Erika-san is the the Goddess of yaoi and Izaya-san is God in general... T^T

*Somewhere on a tropical resort island*

Shinra: Are you sure it was a good idea to leave the author with those 2?

Shizuo: I don't give a fuck.

Walker: REVIEW SO ERIKA AND I CAN BE TOGETHER IN THE POSTSCRIPT!

Shizuo: Stfu.

Kadota: Review and hopefully we won't leave author-san with those two next time...

Celty: We can have more encouraging people to stay with author-san next time

Izaya: What? Am I not encouraging enough?

Shizuo: WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE, FLEA?! GTFO, I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!

Izaya: Review my humans if you're actually still reading this goddamn long postscript since Author-san is having a mental breakdown while writing this and this is her only solace...

Shizuo: REVIEW AND GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS LONG ASS CRAP ANYWAYS?! REVIEW ALREADY!