A/N:Thanks for so many favorites and follows! I love this story as much as my readers do, but I've also got my other stories to work on as well. Well, let's see...so Sirius, Hermione, Fred and George know the Boy-who-lived is alive, and Rita Skeeter, Snape, and the Dursleys are dead. Well, Malfoy and the others are too busy stuck in their little plastic world to notice the Muggles, so Izaya is safe...for now. He will get his revenge very soon. This story is going to be pretty long...I think. I do plan for Dumbledore to die by Izaya's hands and with him fully aware of who he used to be. It'll make his death twice as enjoyable, especially when you know the old coot treated him like shit for no reason. Now let's get on to the story. I know a lot of this is explained in flashbacks, but that's sort of my style and it's also how Izaya thinks.

Chapter 26 New problems arise

Masaomi Kida kicked the ground as he walked with his friend, Mikado, though inwardly he was seething. Why the hell was Izaya still so fucking cheerful? He had just exposed his hypocrisy to everyone and yet the bastard was still laughing it all off like it was nothing? How dare he laugh it off! He hadn't given a damn when Saki was hospitalized and when Kida was used as his plaything, so why had he reacted like that?

"Damn that bastard..." Kida growled, his hands clenching into fists. Poor, sweet Saki had never deserved being that man's pawn and his personal puppet in order to make Kida do what Izaya wanted to do. He hated that man so much. And what the hell was with those other weirdos who had been around here lately, those weird people dressed in old-fashioned outfits...who were they? What was their link to Izaya?

"...Kida...I think you should stop messing with him and just drop it already." Mikado's cold voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He still wasn't used to seeing the darker side of his best friend and it still scared the hell out of him to look at him and notice his normally cheerful friend having such cold, unfeeling eyes...it didn't suit sweet, polite Mikado Ryuugamine.

"Mikado, when are you going to stop with acting like you're so distant? I don't believe that Mikado can ever be so damned crazy. I think you should stop defending that pig Izaya. It's disgusting, Mikado, how you still idolize him and think he's so great-"

Pain suddenly went through him as he realized that Mikado had just-he had just...stabbed him...in the foot...with a pen of all things. Blood leaked through his shoes. He screamed.

"What the hell, Mikado?"

Mikado was wearing that distant look again, but there was a smirk playing about his lips. "...Uh uh, Masaomi. That's not what you say to me. You should stop insulting Izaya. I'm aware what he is. He's a broken man trying to rebuild his sanity from where it was lost-I don't know how or why he lost his sanity, but that's a personal issue with him. I don't like him very much, but I do respect his selfish-ness. That was a warning, Masaomi."

"Mikado, you just stabbed my foot! I could become crippled! We're friends, Mikado!"

Mikado glared at him. "...We are friends, Masaomi. Which is why I'm telling you to shut the hell up and leave Izaya alone. He's as broken as you are mentally, and touching him in this state will only make things worse. He's a madman and Ikebukuro is his playground, but he has a child-like state about him, don't you think? He has a reason for being the way he is. Just leave him alone."

Masaomi said, "Don't you know what he's done, Mikado? He's done horrible things-"

"So have you. You made him cry, Masaomi. He's just as human as you, surely you didn't already know he was just as fragile as you or I? Or did you, silly little Masaomi, think, oh Izaya's a complete and utter devil with no heart? I can see you believing that. See, Masaomi, your problem is you're too naive to see how things really work. But I can protect you from that. I will with my Dollars, but I don't want to hear you tearing him down when he's already so broken."

"What's so great about him? He's not a human, he's an inhuman devil who toys with others' lives! Surely you should know that."

"Why else would he cry unless he has emotions, Masaomi? That's why I stabbed you-to make you realize the pain you caused him. You tore his heart open and created new scars. He obviously has old scars causing him grief and you had to add more to his plate. Now let's get you treated. That wound wasn't that bad; it's nothing compared to the pain you gave him."

"I hate him...the world would be better off if he died..." Kida growled as he got his wound treated by a nurse; Mikado told a little lie about how he had acquired the injury. He was surprised at how devious and twisted his friend was. He was scared of him.

He got out shortly afterwards with a cast on his leg that wouldn't last long. As he limped along, he bumped into the last person he wanted to see.

"Yo~, hello there, Kida-kun! What happened to your foot? A little injury? Who gave it to you?"

"Mikado," Masaomi growled, "What the hell have you done to him? Have you also made him into your little pawn as well?"

"Come now, Masaomi, he's always been that way, you were just too dumb to notice the brilliance lurking inside your best friend before it was too late, or should I say madness? But true best friends don't turn on each other for stupid reasons. I'd like to have a chat with you in private-just the two of us."

"Not a chance," Masaomi spat.

"Ara? That so? I think I'll have to bring Shizu-chan along, too..."

Shizuo looked very menacing. Kida gulped. "Fine, but I'm not playing any of your mind games."

"Oh, this is a game, but it's a game of my future and the future of a certain place that has caused me nothing but grief. I'm going to destroy it and everyone in it! It'll be glorious!" He cried, skipping happily.

"Flea, I'll never understand how you can be so innocent yet twisted," Shizuo groaned.

"Blame that on the one who brought me into being," He said darkly, and Kida noticed the smile fall off Izaya's face before a look of pure loathing appeared and then vanished.

"What is this all about?" He spat as he went in Izaya's office.

"Now, now, don't go raising your voice. What I'm about to tell you should remain between you and me. You've been snooping around and learning about things you shouldn't know, so I suppose you would know eventually. Well, those idiots in costumes aren't ordinary cosplayers, they're magical people."

"You're joking," Masaomi said.

"I'm not. They think they're better than us ordinary people and they control us all the time. What a bunch of obnoxious morons they are. Anyway...my story begins a long time ago...when I was born, under an entirely different name than the one I have now...I was happy, growing up with a family...and then one day, a crazed man showed up at my door and murdered my former father with a wand and then he killed my former mother, and then somehow my old self destroyed him. I was one, without parents and a house. A man who I shall not name showed up to claim me as a prize for destroying a murderer. I had a mark that labeled me, as a 'hero', a 'savior' for this magical world. So he knew he had to do this to me."

"Do what?" Masaomi said, "Yup, this sounds like a lie."

"The flea speaks the truth. Shut up and listen," Shizuo said grimly, "It's mighty unpleasant."

"That it is. But so was this man. He was a great and powerful man in all positions of power in this magical world and seemed a kind sort, but inside he was a wicked man who manipulated people far more than I ever will. He saw my parents' death as an opportunity-a chance to take an innocent child and raise him to be a puppet for the entertainment of this world. So he chose to bring me to a house with people who weren't magical and hated magical people-with good reason, too-and left me there without warning. I was never to be raised to know of my 'purpose' and of what I 'was.' That home was...hell on earth. ~My dear old Aunt and Uncle...what lovely people they were...they made me their slave who did all the work around the house and they beat me if I did the slightest thing wrong. See this mark on my leg? My uncle whacked me with his belt when I burned his food slightly. This other mark is from when my cousin tried to kill me with a butcher knife. Both times, my 'family' encouraged it and approved of it. I was forced to be an outcast, a pariah with no meaning in life."

Kida was silent. "...What the hell kind of joke is this, Izaya?"

"It's no joke. I was raised with no kindness or love. I was a nobody in their eyes. I was bullied at school, beaten by my cousin and his buddies regularly, starved of food and of attention and locked in a single room. Gradually, I started to care less about others. And then...one day, those wizards showed up again after doing nothing to help me get through near-death situations and allowed those people to continue abusing me. They told me about my 'destiny.' You see, I was supposed to be a sort of symbol for them, a symbol of hope. So I fell for this bullshit and went to their world. It was a lie, of course...the place I went to had students dying on a regular basis, teachers who didn't care, teachers who bullied you and made your life hell, and sadistic students who bullied anyone who was different. Nothing was different. I was tortured by my teacher. This man was a headmaster of the school who was supposed to protect me and the other children. He didn't care. You know what he really wanted? Power."

"You're lying-"

"I don't lie about the things people did to me, Kida. This all happened to me. How could I forget the looks of scorn people sent me, the times I was humiliated in their newspaper and given death threats for existing and having an opinion, the times I was nearly attacked by monsters and killed? My two friends...well, calling them that was a bad joke. All of the years I was there were a joke, Kida-kun. I was the pariah of the school, the kid everyone pisses off and bullies. I was beaten, tortured, humiliated, and even mind-raped. No one cared. Eventually, I learned that I was sent back to that hell-hole...for the amusement of that bastard."

"You're lying...that can't be true..." Kida said.

"Kida-kun, this man pretended to care about me, and gave me 'advice...' and 'guidance...' in reality, he wanted a tool he could use and discard. I was a nobody. In the end, I discovered the truth after confronting my 'friends' on their hypocrisy. My best 'friend' disowned me and whacked me on the head and gave me a concussion. As I lay in the bed recovering, it was then that I heard those awful words that scarred my heart forever..."

"What? What happened...?" Kida asked, stunned by the iciness and pure anger and rage in Izaya's voice. It sounded like he was convinced this happened to him.

"...Well...he was displeased with my injury and wanted to send me back to hell. Then, good old Runt and Herwhinny showed up, whining about my injuries. Here's what they said." He changed his voice to a high one.

"Why can't he just die already? He's a vegetable-he's useless as he is now! We've pretended to like him just so we can get rid of him! He's an egotistical, useless pain in the ass! How dare he complain about being beaten so much by Snape?! Why, the other day, I saw him crying alone in the bathroom. It was so pathetic and disgusting. Why can't he be grateful to us?"

Kida gasped in plain horror. "You're lying...Izaya..."

"And then my other friend says, what about the money we get from spying on him? They befriended me so they could use me as a tool. His family...well, they wanted me to make children with their daughter. You see, the 'destiny' I was supposed to fulfill was to take on the most dangerous 'psychopath' and die as a hero. I was raised thinking it was okay for me to die so easily without thinking about it. They all enstilled this in me. And if I wasn't dead, merely crippled or in a vegetative state, they'd still use me for breeding purposes and then kill me, or else erase my memories and make me a living puppet. A child, being raised to die despite never being asked if he wishes to do this...what kind of effect do you think that does to your mental state, Kida-kun? Or clearly you've never experienced that feeling before...ah, it does wonders...it opened me up to how screwed-up the world is...but it also drove me insane. I destroyed my magic, and left that accursed place for my own survival. I was determined to live, even if that meant destroying others. I would get my revenge on those who stood by and watched me suffer. So I went to Japan and got into crime and became the man you know today, Orihara Izaya. That's all there is to it, really. So, am I still a huge jerk, Kida-kun?"

Kida was shaking in shock, staring at him as though he were an alien. "...How can that be true? How do I know you're not lying?"

"Because why else would I have this?" He said before showing him the faded scar of the head wound. "It hurt oh so much...lying there, bleeding and hearing my friends laugh over my weakness. Eventually I learned to hurt others just as they had hurt me. When you're raised like that, Kida-kun, you don't think normally. If deprived of love, how can you love when you've never felt the hug of a parent? If deprived of pride, how can you ever feel proud of yourself? If deprived of sanity, how can you ever deal with what hits you? That all happened to me."

"...That's screwed up. Why would they raise you to die? That's awful. I never thought, of all reasons you do this...that it would be because you wanted to live. I always thought you were twisted from the beginning...I'm sorry you had to go through that. But still, what about what you did to Saki?"

"...They wanted a convenient scapegoat and I was the right choice. In my defense, Saki's injury was not my intention. I merely wanted her to be held hostage so you could realize what she meant to you. Unfortunately, my pawns did their own thing. I can no longer feel empathy or remorse, so I am no longer capable of love or tears, until you made me release my tears again. But now I'm still the twisted devil, aren't I, Kida-kun? You never look past the surface. So...what do you think?"

"That's just...terrible...it explains why you think so little of life...because life was never given to you...and love was never bestowed to you, hence you could only love in the way you knew how...but it doesn't excuse how you've used me and everyone else!"

"You're right. It doesn't, but I don't know how to feel apologetic anymore. My heart is frozen and I can't feel anymore. I don't want to feel anymore. Emotions are weak and pathetic. My crying was entirely accidental. You won't see me ever do something so stupid again!" He chirped. "I'm going to destroy all of them!"

"Why?"

"Why? Because they deserve it. They abandoned me, so I abandoned them. They hate me, so I hate them. They wanted to kill me, so in return I'll destroy every single one of them and make them beg for mercy. That's what I've lived for-revenge. I won't rest until they're all dead, Kida-kun." He said before clenching his fists tightly.

"Why would you tell me this?" Kida said.

"Why? Because I need you as a pawn. Because you're irreplaceable, Kida-kun. You're just the rightly naive idiot with a trusting complex I need."

"Did you just say that...?" Kida and Shizuo both said. Izaya blinked and shrugged.

"What? Some pawns are better than others. Sometimes, you grow to value the ones who stand back up after being broken. Well, that doesn't mean I'd cry if you died. I wouldn't care one way or the other, but I need you as a pawn and nothing more. Don't take it to mean anything else."

Kida was stunned. Was Izaya actually saying that he cared about him? It was hard to believe, but the look in his eyes was one of boredom and annoyance. "You're joking."

"~Nope. I hold on to my pawns. They belong to me, just as every human belongs to me. I don't share what's mine with anyone else."

Kida nearly fell out of his chair. "Izaya, you've lost your mind. I'm leaving."

"No, he hasn't. The flea is serious. Come on, you don't honestly think he has a heart? Of course he does-though it's a rather cold and small one..." Shizuo trailed off.

"That's mean, Shizu-chan," Izaya said playfully, though it seemed like he was smirking...or...smiling?

"Flea, stop smiling. It's irritating. Holy...holy shit, flea, you're smiling?"

The smile vanished and returned as a smirk. "Nope, you're seeing things, Shizu-chan. That's for idiots."

But for a moment, Shizuo and Kida had seen a trace of...happiness in the psychopathic informant.

Kida realized this man was as pure as he was twisted.* But he had his reasons why. "...Fine. But I'm not your friend or anything. You're still a twisted asshole I'm going to blow into next week..." He spat as he walked out, completely disillusioned with himself and Izaya.

When he visited Saki, she smiled.

"I knew you'd come. Where's Izaya? I wished he'd come."

"He's not coming back. I won't let him hurt you-"

"What are you talking about? Izaya-sama was never hurting me, Masaomi. In fact, he helped me heal by giving me hope. Even if he was using me and lying to me, he helped me. He told me about his sisters and how annoying they are, but I knew he loved them. He even saved their lives once. He denies it with that cute smirk of his, but he did do it. And, the one who helped me recover...was him. He was angry with the Blue Squares for hurting a child. I don't know why...but I feel like he hates hurting children. I think he was hurt in the past and developed this cold side as a means of hiding his hurt. He's become his persona, but he still has a frozen heart of gold underneath."

Kida gaped in shock. "But...but..."

"Masaomi, what have I told you about not looking past the surface? Izaya-sama isn't the worst person in the world. Neither are you for running away. In fact, Izaya-sama himself ran away from death to survive. He mentioned that off-handedly to me once and then refused to bring it up. He's a twisted man, but deep down, he does care in his own warped way." Saki scolded.

"You always had a way of seeing right through me..." Kida said softly.

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "That's what I've always loved about you...your stubbornness and naive nature make you cute."

Kida blushed. "Hey! I'm not stupid!"

"You're so adorable when you deny things." Saki said, laughing. And then Kida laughed as well.

"So he is...human?" He said. "I've misunderstood him this entire time. What is he thinking, in that head of his? How the hell could he survive something like that and still live?"

"...He's a survivor. He's the kind who can't die until he's fulfilled a purpose. You have to admire his tenacity." Saki said vaguely.

"Flea..." Shizuo said as Izaya walked over to his shelf, looking through books, "What is that up on your shelf?"

Izaya froze. "Nothing's up there, Shizu-chan. Just a pickle jar."

"It looks like there's a mannequin in it or something...what is it?" Shizuo said in confusion.

Izaya paled... "What does it look like? It has brown hair...a face...eyes, and lips..."

Shizuo's eyes widened in comprehension and then he whipped out of his chair, enraged. "You bastard! I should've known you were scheming something! Why the hell do you have Celty's head? Give it back to her, dammit! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Shizu-chan...Shinra would never allow me to do that. He's in love with her as long as she's weird. I can't stand that about him, but his father gave me this head. He wanted to toy with his son. And I'm not giving her that head because my friend wants her the way she is. Is that so wrong?"

"Hell yeah, flea. She wants her memories back! How can you justify-"

"Shizu-chan, remember, if I could forget my past, I'd gladly do it. In a way, she's amazing. She's completely forgotten by everyone and built a new identity. I can't do that. I envy her innocence. She's fine like this. Don't you agree?"

Shizuo shook in rage, but sat back down. "Fine...you're still an asshole. Are you really that lonely?"

"Lonely? Whyever would I be lonely?"

"You are, flea. Why else would you stir up trouble?"

"It's simply for my own amusement."

*-Pandora Hearts reference, said of Levi about Jack.