A/N:Time for a new chapter for this story! I'm so glad this story is so popular! I love it as much as I do my other stories...honestly this might be my longest running fic...Well, I know how you guys want me to not have such long A/Ns so I'll end by saying: Izaya will not be the tortured soul that relies on Shizuo entirely, don't forget Izaya is a Badass Normal who, even though emotionally broken at the moment, is actually a very strong individual who is not and will never be a sissy...he will never be a weak character. I'm glad you're all giving Izaya hugs! I am, too and I hate when people diss him without understanding his character!

"I did learn something about insanity while I was down there. People go crazy, not because they are crazy, but because it's the best available option at the time."

― Gabrielle Zevin, All These Things I've Done

Chapter Twenty-Five Picking up the pieces of a broken mind

Izaya looked at Shizuo with wide eyes...why the hell had his worst enemy just hugged him? Was the world going insane or was he even more insane than he thought himself to be? He then felt Shizuo loosen his grip on him and then realized the wall behind him was now slightly cracked from the weight of Shizuo's fist. 'Oh crap...' He thought.

Shizuo was not happy...

"Flea, what the hell are you doing to me? Stop acting like a wimp, start acting like the you I know so well! It's not the same when you're not smirking and acting like the irritating jerk I know you as!"

"S-Shizu-chan, is it not normal for me to act like the despicable humans I hate so much? Simon threw me out of Russia Sushi and no one will be my pawn anymore...what point is there in even being in Ikebukuro anymore? Everyone hates me, even you...Shizu-chan...admit it, you'd be glad if I died." He said, though he wasn't crying anymore, he was still extremely irritated with himself for humiliating himself in front of his mortal enemy, Shizu-chan.

'Dammit, what is it with me and being so open lately? I need to stop doing that...I'm the god who watches over these miserable humans...I can't let myself stoop to their level of idiocy!' He thought angrily, biting his lip. But Shizuo would not stop.

"Listen, flea! Stop letting people get to you like this! The Izaya I know doesn't act so down about others; he kicks their asses into next week and doesn't let anyone drag him down! How about what you told me you did to those assholes who screwed you up this bad? Didn't you tell me you wanted to kick their asses? Well, what you've done with your life has screwed them over, right? You've triumphed over them already, so why fall apart again when that'd be just giving in to your past? The past is gone, flea! Stop moping and get on with your life!"

"Ahaha...it figures, Shizu-chan would be so harsh and mean so well...I never knew you'd actually be kind to me without trying to kill me..." Izaya muttered.

"Flea, anyone who went through what you went through would lose their minds." Shizuo said softly.

"Hey, Shizu-chan...you remember that time Shinra decided to film everyone in his house, including the two of us?" Izaya asked.

Shizuo tilted his head slightly, and then his eyes widened. "Oh...yeah...flea...that was annoying...really annoying..."

"Hello there! This is a recording I'm making so Celty and I will one day see this in the future so our children can see the love we had for each other! I'm your father, Shinra Kishitani, the son of the great and weird scientist Shingen Kishitani! This is my lovely wife, Celty Sturluson! She's a dullahan, which means she has no head, but she can still talk and I love her the way she is.

To tell you the truth, I have two friends who are every bit as weird as I am! And here he comes now, the weirdest boy I know, Izaya Orihara! I don't know too much about him, as I've only known him for a year. He won't say where he's from, but I think he's from England with his accent and all-"

"Excuse me, Shinra, but I'm standing right here, so please try not to gossip about me when I can hear every word you're saying right now." Izaya said, "And stop fooling around with that stupid recorder. Even Celty's annoyed by it."

Celty typed in something on her phone. 'For once, I agree with Izaya. Put the stupid thing away and stop recording us while we're trying to talk.'

"Uwah, everyone's against me! Why, Celty, why? Why would you betray me? We are lovers, aren't we?"

'Just because we're lovers doesn't mean you get to brag about my not having a head. It's embarrassing...'

Izaya tapped his foot impatiently, his gaze stuck on the latest article of the Daily Prophet he was currently engaged in. Apparently, the newspaper was still whining about him being missing...they still wanted him to come back and be their slave...too bad...oh, and there was something in there from Dumbledore...

"Izaya, you're reading that science fiction magazine again, aren't you? What's in it? Religious stuff..? I didn't think you were religious," Shinra said, sticking his nose close to what Izaya was doing, who jolted away in shock.

"S-S-Shinra, it's nothing in particular. I'm just reading this...and it's private. So please, stop snooping. For heaven's sake, I don't see you doing this to Shizu-chan..."

"Izaya, your Japanese is still bad. Not as bad as it was when we first met, but your accent is still strong...as I was saying, Izaya hasn't told me anything at all about his parents or his past or why he moved here all of a sudden. He's what you would call a sociopath; he has no feelings or empathy-"

"Pardon me, Shinra, but I don't feel comfortable having you trying to dissect all my secrets and keep them on this stupid recorder. So could you turn it off before I decide to take the recorder and shove it up your ass? You're not doing it to Shizu-chan..." Izaya groaned, glaring at Shinra in distaste. Didn't the man have any sense of privacy?

"Where is Shizuo? Oh, wait...he's in the bathroom! We've gotta go see how the strongest man in Raira Academy handles the toilet. Let's hope he doesn't destroy it...URGH!"

Suddenly, the recorder went flying as a hand gripped Shinra's shirt tightly.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Shinra? Why do you insist on recording me everywhere I go? I don't want to be seen on the fucking camera! I'm a monster for god's sake, and how many times have I told you, I hate having my picture taken, and also I hate even being in the same room with the flea!"

"You mad, Shizu-chan? Mad that your ugly mug isn't being plastered on the camera screen for all to see? I think you'd look hysterical on them, kuh kuh kuh. A bloke like Shizu-chan should..."

"What's a bloke, Izaya?"

Izaya paled slightly before clearing his throat. "I...slipped up. But that's all right. I'm fine, Shinra...now, can you please put away that stupid camera?"

"Everyone's against me, Shizuo! Put some reason into Izaya!"

"Shinra, I hate to agree with the flea...but your GODDAMNED CAMERA PISSES ME OFF!"

Then the next thing Shinra knew, his precious recorder was thrown and smashed by an infuriated Shizuo and then Izaya started to toy with him, throwing things at him and laughing maniacally while he did so.

"Flea," Shizuo began, "That world...have those assholes tried to toy with you before?"

"...Just a man who was my teacher and a bully. He's dead now. I'm glad. Dead men tell no tales, after all..." Izaya muttered to himself before a wry smirk made its way on his face.

"I see...what was he like, flea-er, Izaya?"

"Yes, Shizu-channnn, what is it? Do you have something relevant to ask me...?" Izaya taunted, hoping fervently that his bait would work and provoke Shizu-chan like usual.

"Flea, don't divert my attention. I know you're not all right, no matter how much you smirk. You're broken, aren't you?"

Izaya blinked and then rubbed his eyes. "Who cares about that stuff? I'm perfectly all right, Shizu-channn! I feel better, thanks to you!"

"Izaya...I've known you as a rival long enough...long enough to know when you're lying. You always lie. But I didn't...understand...why...you did, until now. So now, I understand...you...better..." Shizuo puffed.

"Please don't smoke in here, Shizu-chan. It's unhealthy-"

"Like your stench is any better, flea!"

"How rude! I tell you, I bathe every day!" Izaya chirped.

"Hey," Shizuo said, "You sure you're all right?" He looked at Izaya piercingly.

"...I'm fine," Izaya lied. Deep inside, he felt aggravated that Shizu-chan was seeing him in such a terrible state. But somehow, his frozen heart seemed to have melted a bit. Just a bit...

-Two weeks ago, In Azkaban Prison-

Severus Snape sat in Azkaban, biding his time. Surely they would let him out sooner or later. That old fool would surely see reason, sooner or later...he would surely not abandon him like this. The thing was, he knew full well that he was going to die, but the rational part of his mind was being bogged down by stupid reassurances his mind conjured, like surely they'll listen to me...

The sad truth was that Albus Dumbledore had long since left the thing called sanity behind and headed for the same path that his protegé himself had ended up on: insanity. To tell the truth, he was terrified of the warped, twisted human the man once known as Harry Potter had evolved into. It was what he was always afraid of, looking at those glowing green eyes...he had always been afraid the boy would be like James Potter, an arrogant blowhard who thought so highly of himself.

He had been foolish indeed. The boy may have once been sane in the head, but now...now he was so far off the deep end that it wasn't funny anymore, but saddening. He had taken a part in corrupting an innocent child and effectively created the next Dark Lord...though he doubted the boy would consider himself a Dark Lord. He was just a twisted person now.

He still couldn't help but shudder as he thought over the various times he had met the twisted adult Potter had grown into: there was the first time...on the rooftop of a building in Japan. Frowning, Severus wondered if he could somehow give his memories to someone and have that man stopped before it was too late. But he knew he had no privacy: the dementors surrounded him now.

He could recall seeing that boy laughing hysterically and at first, he had thought he'd run across some crazy Muggle and had been prepared to use his wand on him until he had detected a faint magical aura emanating from the boy. But whenever he had tried to pursue him, the boy had been most unpredictable.

As he thought over the person he hated the most, the images floated through his mind:

Severus froze, wondering who this Muggle was who seemed incredibly demented, babbling on and on in a language he knew nothing of. Though he could have sworn he had heard 'Hari' and 'Potter' somewhere in the garble, the man just seemed like a lunatic. That is, until he actually called him by his name.

"Severus-kun...what brings you here?"

"What?" He said, not understanding a word the man had said. The man turned around and stared at him, smirking darkly. This man gave off a dangerous aura; one quite like Voldemort's. Was this really the boy he sought? This young man, grinning darkly with crimson eyes and spiky black hair, was the Boy Who Lived?

"...Potter? Is it you?"

The man paused. "Sorry...I don't speak very good English, Severus-kun. I don't know who this Potter person is. You've mistaken me for someone else. Go away, Severus-kun no baka."

Severus made to reach for the young man, but the young man cackled insanely as he jumped right off the roof before a shocked Severus's eyes, only to see him landing on the ground about ten feet below unscathed and running off at a casual pace, laughing madly.

"Potter!" He cried. The young man ignored him, reaching into his sleek jacket for something for a moment; he whipped out something shiny; a knife. He put it away and then whipped out a strange black device, which he started pressing for some reason and then put it to his ear and spoke, in a language he knew nothing of:

"Hello there, Dotachin! This is me, Izaya~! Oh, that's not very nice, Dotachin, after all I do for you, you address me like that? That hurts, Dotachin. I'm being stalked by some idiot now, so I want him to leave me alone! Oh, you hope he grinds my guts out? That's such a nasty thing to say, Dota-chin. I'm not a bad person! You're so funny! Tell Erika-chan I'll buy some BL novels for her later! ~Ja ne, Dota-chin!"

'Is he talking to himself?' Severus thought, not knowing what to make of the man he thought was Potter speaking to himself (or a weird black thing) dementedly.

"Potter, stop it with the nonsense!"

But no matter what he said, Potter ignored him. Then he talked again, "Hi there, K-kun~I'm sure you know who this is! Such~ language! Ooh, is it true, then? That your best friend is coming into town soon? Oh, don't say such nasty things! It hurts me! Oh, you're no fun, K-kun. Bye, K1*. My love of anime comes in handy sometimes!"

But then the boy had just dismissed him as though he were nothing more than garbage in his eyes. Then he remembered one of the more...unsettling, to say the least, encounters he'd had with the boy.

The next time he had met Orihara Izaya, the former 'hero' of the Wizarding World was busy conducting some business in an alleyway. Severus had to gape at what he saw. Potter was holding a man up against a wall, smiling cheerily.

"Do you have any new information yet? Shiki-san's becoming very impatient..." The boy said.

"N-No...please...let me go...I don't want to be used by someone as twisted as you! I don't have any more information!"

"Hmmm, so that's how it is then, huh? I guess you're useless, then. Bye bye!" Izaya chirped as he slit the man's throat and blood got on the informant's face and hands. Izaya blinked and stared at the man, gagging.

"This is what you get for being a brat!" He said as he kicked the man, laughing when he struggled for breath and then died. "Oh...how pointless. I'm going to have to wash myself off. Such a pity. I like this jacket. What are you doing here, Severus?"

Severus just stared with wide eyes. He couldn't believe that simpleton-that idiotic, stupidly naive, arrogant buffoon-could have just murdered someone in front of him. It was a stunning thing to behold how twisted Harry Potter was.

"..."

"You can leave now. I've no reason to see you, you know that, right? I thought Erika-chan and Walker-kun already gave you the message by breaking your arm."

He just sat there, cursing Izaya Orihara, cursing Dumbledore for his stupidity in unleashing a monster, cursing James Potter...damn them all.

Miles away, Izaya spun around in his chair, laughing hysterically when he learned of the man's death. In his mind, such a man who bullied him should not be shown any empathy when he died.

Izaya wasn't expecting Shizuo to take him to his apartment, but he did. Izaya was both a little surprised and also suspicious. It was then that he noticed Kasuka was there, waiting for his brother.

"Nii-san, what is someone like him doing with you?"

"Oh, Kasuka. You're back. And don't insult him; only I can do that. The flea stays for now."

"Oh, you're Kasuka Heiwajima, the famous actor! I'm so glad to finally meet you! I'm-"

"I know full well who you are. You're an arrogant psychopath who troubles Nii-san and hurts others." Kasuka said in boredom.

"My, you have such a vast array of emotions!" Izaya snarked.

"Nii-san, I don't want to eat here with someone like him. He's a murderer."

Izaya tensed slightly, but retained the friendly smile. "I see I'm highly regarded here."

"Kasuka, he's staying. Stop insulting the flea."

Kasuka looked a little less bored. "But why would you, Nii-san?"

Shizuo didn't answer him. Kasuka went to watch television until a familiar black rider showed up on their doorway.

"What's the black rider doing here, Nii-san?" Kasuka said.

"Celty?" Shizuo questioned. "What are you doing here?"

Celty dismounted and whipped out her Ipad and typed, 'I came to see Izaya. Where is he? I'm concerned about him. He wasn't acting right when I saw him; he didn't have any insults. He just acted like he wanted to disappear.'

Izaya frowned as Shizuo told Celty not to bother Izaya and the two of them retreated outside to talk. Izaya knew where this was headed and came close to the window.

"...Celty, the flea was crying."

If Celty had possessed her head, Izaya would assume her eyes would be wide in shock, but judging by the way she jumped back and typed frantically, her reaction was already evident. 'R-Really? Izaya, of all people? You know what sort of person he is!'

"Celty...we need to talk about Izaya. Izaya...broke down when I saw him. Like you said before, he has more feelings than we notice. But Izaya's more than that. As a child, Izaya was abused and betrayed by those who he trusted more than anything. He was raised...without any love or human kindness, so isn't it natural he'd wind up being the flea he is now? How can you have any perception of love or kindness if you're never shown any growing up? I don't know how to explain it all...I don't really wish to say too much because the flea is listening in...and I don't know what to think about him anymore. My feelings towards him are becoming confusing, dammit! It's so irritating! Normally, I'd kick him out but now I feel so bad for him and it's pissing me off!"

'Calm down,' Celty wrote. 'So, Izaya is a good person?'

"He was," Shizuo said, "But he has been used and betrayed so many times that his heart shattered and he stopped trusting in others. As a child...I was always hated for my super strength and made fun of for it. Now that I think about it, I think the flea was probably picked on in school, too. In many ways...we're actually quite...similar. You know...he was brought up to believe that his existence meant nothing and that he should die without giving any regard to his own life."

'Who the hell would do something so sick?' Celty wrote. 'That's like the way people treat me!'

"The interesting thing is, when the flea lost his mind, he decided to start surviving and decided to start loving himself because he was always denied that, but now he no longer has the capacity or the ability to love others. I hated him, up until a few weeks ago, I really hated him, but now that I think about it...I wonder...did he go insane as a defense mechanism to save himself from collapsing completely? If I were in Izaya's shoes, I think...I think I'd have lost my mind, too. I have people who care about me, but the flea has no one. I never once stopped to think about how lonely he always seemed. Here I always thought the flea was satisfied being alone..."

'...Are you sure it's not a trick?'

"Definitely not. The flea definitely wasn't faking those tears. They were genuine emotions, ones that he's shut up in his heart all this time. Masaomi Kida broke him down, apparently, and Simon threw him out of Russia Sushi."

'What? Simon did?'

"Apparently. And now that I look at Izaya, I wonder why I didn't notice before how human he is."

'...I've misjudged him...and...do you love Izaya?'

Shizuo had no answer for her.

Izaya wasn't surprised at all when Celty came in with Shizuo. Celty seemed hesitant to come near Izaya at first, then she paused and slowly approached him, before typing out three words on her Ipad.

'Are you okay?'

Izaya smirked as his answer. "You know the answer to that, Celty. I'm always happy!"

Celty shook her 'head' and wrote, 'No, you're not. I've misjudged you, Izaya. For that, I'm sorry.'

Izaya just shook his head. "Whatever."

Later on, Izaya fell asleep on Shizuo's couch.

"Damn that flea. I want to kick him off," Shizuo growled.

'Calm down,' Celty wrote. 'He looks so peaceful asleep, though.'

The next morning, Shizuo woke Izaya up by whacking him on the head with a lamp.

"Shizu-chan, what the hell was that for?" Izaya cursed.

"Flea, you're being a freeloader. Now you're going to get out as soon as possible...or...ah, screw it! Do whatever you want!"

Izaya looked at him in surprise. "No insults, Shizu-chan? I'm shocked. Or is it just because your brother is here?"

A glare from Kasuka told him everything he needed to know. "Someone like you shouldn't touch my nii-san. You're an evil person."

Shizuo spoke up then, "Kasuka, the flea is my rival, so only I get to badmouth him. It pisses me off when anyone else insults him. He's human, too."

"I was under the impression that you weren't human, Kasuka-kun. You only have one facial expression for everything." Izaya said.

"Flea, let's go."

"Where?" Izaya said.

"Tell me who the hell broke you down like this."

"The redheads...they broke me down partly..."

"Damn those bastards!" Shizuo cried. Sure enough, there were Fred and George, who paled when they saw the informant.

"Why are you with a guy like him?"

"Shut the hell up, scum!" Shizuo said as he picked up Fred and slugged him in the stomach.

"I think I broke a rib," Fred whined.

"You're gonna have a lot more broken when I'm through with you!" Shizuo roared. Izaya just stood there, laughing.

Fred passed out, and then George was next.

"This is what the flea felt when your stupid kind did this to him," Shizuo said as he headbutted George and knocked him out as well. "Now you'll feel the same pain he felt."

"Shizu-chan, thanks. That was funny!" Izaya chirped, but Shizuo looked at him in disbelief.

"What the fuck, flea? Did you just thank me? I must be losing my hearing."

"So I did, then...but we have to have our daily fight, too..."

"Of course..." Shizuo said darkly, "This hasn't changed our battle one bit."

And romp they did through Ikebukuro, Izaya laughing insanely like usual, and Mikado and Kida noticed.

Kida just glared at him. "Bastard."

"Hi, Kida-kun."

"Go to hell."

"My, I certainly was in hell after what you did to me, Kida-kun! You made me cry!" Izaya taunted.

"What?" Kida said, not sure what he was hearing.

"Damned right you did. The flea is mine only to beat up." Shizuo said menacingly. Masaomi quivered, but Mikado looked at him.

Mikado looked at Izaya and then nodded his head politely.

Izaya smirked as he was in his office. "You know...Shizu-chan is a nice person and all...and I do appreciate him feeling bad for me...but so long as I have his precious Celty's head...he'll never think I have it!" He said, before dancing with Celty's head. "If you could open your eyes, what would you see of me? A fallen angel, or a devil getting his revenge on those who wronged him?"

*Maebara Keiichi's nickname by the fans of Higurashi.