Chapter 1


Shizuo stared out over the guard rail of the highway, Celty sitting next to him. They had been out for nearly an hour, just talking to each other.

:Do you know if Izaya's alive?: Celty typed.

"Hah? What do you mean?"

:Izaya came to Shinra about four months ago. He wanted some drugs and when Shinra said he didn't have them, he got really angry and desperate.:

"Pfft, he's addicted. Never thought he'd sink to that level."

:I haven't seen him since then.:

"Well, I haven't either. If I had, I would have beaten the shit out of him."

:...True.:

"What was the drug?"

:Some sleeping pill. Shinra said it was taken off the market because it was causing people to have lucid dreams.:

"Why would he want that?"

:I don't really know. He said something along the lines of it was stopping him from having a reoccurring nightmare. And that now he's not taking it, he can't sleep.:

"Hah."

:At least that's what I got from it. He was screaming a lot.:

"Hmm. Weird. Never took him as an insomniac."

:I think there's a lot we wouldn't take him as.:

"Heh, true."

:Do you think he's alive?:

"Probably. He's a slippery little flea—" Shizuo turned around and his eyes widened.

A raven-haired man was walking on the other side of the highway, his black fur-trimmed coat over his shoulders.

"Well, speaking of the devil." Shizuo growled as he cracked his knuckles.

Izaya continued walking, not taking notice in anything but where his feet were going, then came to an abrupt stop. He turned and climbed over the guardrail of the highway. He stood on the edge of the road, his hands holding onto the railing.

"What is he doing?" Shizuo cocked a brow.


Izaya stood on the edge of a mine shaft, holding onto the railing behind him. Tears streaked his cheeks as he didn't know where to go now. He could hear the screeches of the inhuman children who were pursuing him. He looked down at the mine shaft, seeing a ladder on the other side. He knew he could never make that jump but it was either attempt and maybe die or don't attempt and definitely die.

Izaya could hear the screeches drawing closer. He made up his mind. He had to...


"Is he going to..." Shizuo started.

Shizuo looked down the road to see a semi-truck driving towards them.

"Izaya!" Shizuo yelled.

Izaya let go of the guardrail.


Izaya let go of the railing and leaped.


Shizuo reacted quickly. He jumped over the guardrail and ran across the highway. The trucker honked at him and Izaya as his brakes screeched.

Shizuo wrapped his arms around Izaya and tackled him over the railing.


Izaya's hands remained outstretched as he fell farther and farther down the mine shaft.

His fingers curled around the bars.

But his legs slammed into the metal tower. His hands slipped with the momentum while his legs were entangled in the bars.

Hanging from his trapped legs, Izaya screamed in pain.


Izaya struggled in Shizuo's grip, squirming lazily, not making much of an attempt to loosen Shizuo's hold.

Once the road was clear, Celty hopped her bike over the railings and parked it on the walkway, then dismounted and joined Shizuo.

"What the hell were you thinking, flea?!" Shizuo yelled at the squirming raven. "You trying to kill yourself?!"

Izaya only groaned and squirmed.

"Answer, you damn flea—"

:Shizuo, look!: Celty shoved her phone in Shizuo's face. :He's not awake.:

Shizuo's eyes widened. He looked down at Izaya and true enough the raven's eyes were closed.

"What the hell? What do we do then?" Shizuo said.

The two looked up at each other.


"Where's Celty and Shizuo?" Anri asked. "They're missing the hotpot."

Shinra shrugged, going to possible reasons as to why they were late. One scenario being Shizuo grunting and groaning on top of his lovely Celty who was goading him on by digging her nails into his shoulders.

"Shinra!" Shizuo yelled.

Shinra jolted, about to yell,"I wasn't thinking anything!" but restrained as Shizuo walked in with a raven-haired man in his arms, Celty following.

"Why'd you bring him here?!" Kida groaned.

"Shut it. He's passed out."

"Seems awake to me." Kida crossed his arms as Izaya kicked his legs slightly.

"He's sleepwalking."

Mikado and Kadota cleared the couch as Shizuo put the raven down. Izaya continuously squirmed and kicked, his legs shaking as one hand held his chest.

"Um, shouldn't we wake him?" Mikado started.

"No." Shinra said. "Its possibly dangerous to wake someone when they're sleep-walking. They could have a heart attack from the shock."

"Then by all means~~~" Kida sneered.

"Knock it off, Kida." Kadota said.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Erika said.

"Just wait." Shinra said. "Make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

"And if he doesn't wake up?" Shizuo asked.

"Everyone eventually wakes up."

"I mean before we leave. What if he sleepwalks when we leave?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine. As long as we lock the doors he shouldn't go anywhere. Sleepwalkers typically only walk, not grab door knobs or anything like that. But it really all depends on the dream. It's been proven that if a door is locked in the real world, it'll somehow be incorporated to the dream, for example as a wall or another locked door."

"If that's the case, how'd he get out of his apartment?" Mikado chimed in. "Doesn't he have coded locks?"

Everyone fell silent as they looked down at the sleeping raven, his eyes moving under his eyelids.


Izaya panted as he ran through the hallways, his legs in obvious pain but he couldn't allow himself to stop. The demented children that chased him were hot on his damaged heels. He had to keep running till he could hide.

Izaya glanced over his shoulder, seeing nearly twenty twisting, withering gray children coming closer and closer.

The raven faced forward.

And his eyes widened.

A little black-haired girl stood at the end of the hallway, Izaya getting closer and closer.

"Run!" Izaya screamed.

The little girl stood her ground.

And the raven stared in horror as an armless, faceless man with a gaping hole in his chest stood behind the girl.

The creature screeched as it leaned back.

"Look out!" Izaya yelled.

Izaya pushed harder and made it just in time to push the little girl out of the way. At the same time, the creature let out an array of black sludge from it's chest. The slime flew through the air and landed on Izaya.

The raven stumbled and tripped as the unknown fluid got into his eyes. He yelled in pain as he rubbed them.

Then he screamed in agony as the fluid started to burn.


Izaya screamed, making everyone jump. The raven rolled on his side, his legs kicking in pain against the couch as he held his face.

"I-I can't—"


"I can't see! It burns, aaaaAAAHHH!" Izaya screamed, rubbing his face and eyes wildly. "HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE—"


"HELP ME!"


"Hel—" Izaya's plea was cut as he screamed in pain when razor claws slashed his back.

Izaya scrambled to stand, stumbling blindly forward. He fell on his chest, unsure of where he was or where he could go.

A soft hand fell on his back over the cuts. Izaya flinched, blood streaming his cheeks instead of tears. He looked up but could see nothing but black. But he found comfort in the hand, wishing for any form of warmth.

But all too soon, the hand was gone and was replaced with razor sharp claws.

Izaya kicked and squirmed as the claws cut and stabbed him. Pain overtook his whole body, blood pooling around him.

All Izaya could do was scream.

Izaya's eyes flared open, his scream tearing through his vocal cords. He saw multiple people sitting over him and the terror of his nightmares held him tightly. The demented children with their twisted faces were reaching for him, razor claws ready to tear him apart.

Izaya screamed and struggled wildly, kicking them away while scrambling off the plush couch. He turned to run only to slam into a desk, knocking over several picture frames—some shattering as they hit the floor. Izaya fell to the ground with a yell of pain and surprise.

He tried to push himself to his feet but phantom pain overtook his legs and he collapsed back to the ground.

A shadow fell over him. He gasped and quickly turned on his back, aiming to kick his assailant. But the man-like creature grabbed Izaya by his bicep as he sat by his side.

"No!" Izaya screamed, pushing against the man's chest with one hand while the other reached for something to attack this person with, his legs also kicking and the rest of him squirming to get out of his grip. "Fuck you! Get off of me! Let me go!"

"Knock it of—" Shizuo's words were cut as Izaya had gripped one of the glass shards from the broken picture frame. As soon as it was in his hand, he stabbed the shard upwards with all his might. Shizuo's reflexes kicking in, he caught the attack, the glass slicing the webbing between his index and middle finger. His eyes widened when he realized Izaya had been aiming for his eye without hesitation.

With the prompt distraction, Izaya grabbed another shard with his other hand and swung it towards the monster's side. The glass disappeared into the flesh, Shizuo letting out a call of surprise.

The monster released Izaya and he quickly scrambled back. Once out from underneath it, Izaya swung his leg up and kicked the man in his chin as hard as he could. The monster fell away so he stood to run. He saw a hallway behind the couch so he aimed for that.

There were more monsters towards his side and the monster he had just attacked was laying on the ground in front of him so he had no choice but to vault the couch. Which he did with ease. However, one of the other monsters grabbed his arm once he was only a foot away from the hallway.

"Get off of me!" Izaya struggled hard. The creature didn't falter and was even able to grab his other arm.

Izaya squirmed and yanked his caught limbs as he was being pressed against the monster's body. He could feel breasts press against his shoulder blades and terror overtook him that he was being grabbed by a woman in a nurse outfit. With that thought in mind, he knew he had to get out before more of them came. He swung his head back to, in hopes, break her nose. However, his head collided with metal and something fell off from the person's head. Izaya leaned forward in pain and reached up to rub his head even though she still had a hold of his biceps.

He shook his head instead before putting up a fight again. He pushed the nurse back with his body while his hands reached out to grab something. His hand knocked something over on his left and metal clattered. He quickly looked to see it was a knife block and the knives were now free. So he reached for one. He grabbed a butcher knife and quickly twisted his body. The twist caused the nurse to release his arm that had the knife, giving him the opportunity he needed. He quickly turned and swung the knife, where it stabbed into the neck of the woman.

His eyes widened for a moment when he saw the monster was headless but knew that wasn't weird compared to the monster's he's seen before. The headless woman fell away as she reached for the knife that was embedded in her. Izaya reached over and grabbed another knife, ready to fight his way out of this hell.

"Knock it off, you fucking flea!" Someone yelled before that someone slammed into him from behind and grabbed his arms.

Izaya's entire instinct told him to fight. He was pinned. Anyone or anything could attack him at that moment. But he didn't listen to his gut as his eyes widened and he quickly looked over his shoulder. His eyes remained wide when he recognized the person.

"...Shi...Shizu...cha..."

"You awake now?"

"...Wh-what are you...doing in my—wait! If-if you're here then this is real—this is—"

"Yeah, this is real, you idiot!"

Izaya turned around fast so they were facing each other. Shizuo jolted and went to back away but the raven grabbed the chest of his shirt as he looked up at him with desperation evident on his face.

"Who's all here?! I stabbed someone, didn't I, earlier?! Are they okay?! I didn't—did I...?"

Shizuo's eyes widened to the expression Izaya exposed to him. He had never seen the flea make that face—fear, concern, desperation—so he wasn't necessarily sure what to do.

But in the end, he answered, "No one's dead, if that's what you're asking. You didn't...hurt anyone, really."

"Bu...I stabbed..."

"It's fine. They're not hurt."

Izaya's expression changed between disbelieve and relief, then his eyes welded up with tears. He tilted his head down, where he rested it on Shizuo's chest. Shizuo stiffened and raised his arms as if he was going to push Izaya away. But he didn't only because he could hear Izaya sniffling. So he remained in the awkward situation, unsure of what he should do.

"Why are you even in my apartment?" Izaya muttered. "Came to beat me up or something?"

Shizuo cocked a brow and stared down at him. "Take a looked around you, flea. We're not at your place."

Izaya's eyes widened and he quickly looked up at Shizuo with fear in his eyes. He looked around himself and his expression changed to absolute terror.

"I'm...I'm not..."

Izaya started shaking. Then his eyes widened in realization.

"Get off!" Izaya pushed Shizuo away and ran down the hall.

"Hey, flea!" Shizuo followed quickly.

Shinra, who was attending to Celty, stared after them before the headless rider stood and rushed to follow—the knife having been removed and her neck healing within minutes—causing him to follow as well.

"Stay here." Kadota said to Mikado, Anri, Kida, Mairu, and Kururi before following after Shinra.

"Izaya, open the door!" Shizuo yelled, banging on the bathroom door that the flea had locked behind him. "I'll break it down, flea!"

"Go away!" Izaya's voice cracked with tears, the sink faucet getting turned on.

"Izaya!" Kadota yelled. "Open the door—"

Shizuo leaned back as he raised his foot. Controlling his strength to the best of his capability, Shizuo kicked the door open. The door was knocked off its bottom hinges but no the top so it swung spasmodically against the wall.

"Don't fucking do that shit! Makes it feel like you're going to kill..." Shizuo's yell trailed off as he stared down at Izaya.

Izaya sat huddled on the floor, the sink overflowing with water, his coat laying a bit away from him while his face buried in his arms as he sobbed and rocked himself back and forth.

"...Izaya." Shizuo leaned down as Shinra ran over to tun off the sink.

Shizuo placed his hand against Izaya's back. And automatically his eyes widened. The blond leaned forward and pulled up the raven's shirt, having felt something through the fabric. What he saw made his expression twist with horror.

"Izaya...what happened to your back?"

Izaya only cried as Shizuo stared at the four long claw marks scarring the length of the raven's back.


Izaya refused to speak He only sat on the couch, a blanket draped over his shoulders.

Shizuo sat next to him to make sure he didn't try to run again. He wasn't really sure what he should do to try to help the traumatized raven so being the physical assistant was the only conclusive idea he could come to.

"Izaya..." Shinra started. "You've been through a lot tonight...Do you think you can tell us some of what you dreamed?"

Izaya didn't answer.

"I mean, you did just try to kill Celty, no hesitation or regret. What did you think she was?"

Izaya stiffened but only brought the blanket closer around his body.

Celty slapped Shinra's arm. Prompting Kadota to take over.

"Izaya, it's okay. Listen," Kadota reached forward and grabbed Izaya's knees, which caused the raven to flinch but not pull away. "It's okay. No one's hurt. You didn't do anything wrong. But it's important that we know what your dreams are about in order to help you."

Izaya scoffed. "Didn't do anything wrong? Bullshit." His voice was hoarse and raspy, no doubt his vocal cords hurting from his screaming and yelling earlier. "It's only okay because it was Celty. What if it was you or someone other than Celty? You'd be giving me a different lecture then. No doubt, I'd be getting told my Miranda rights and have to explain that I didn't mean to kill anyone. Haha, then I'd be tossed in the loonie bin. Haha, hahaha..."

Izaya flopped his head over then rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand. He then leaned back and rested his head on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling with a defeated look.

"Like that'd do any fucking good."

"Izaya..." Kadota grabbed one of Izaya's hands to get his attention. "It's okay—"

"It's not okay!" Izaya flared, pulling his hand away. Shizuo wasn't the only one to jump from the sudden outburst while Celty manifested shadows. "It's not okay, Kadota! It's not, it's not, it's not!"

"Izaya, ssssh! Calm down, I'm sorry!" Kadota grabbed Izaya's hands again, pulling him forward so he couldn't hurt himself. "I'm sorry, you're right. Sssh."

Izaya's grip on Kadota's hands tightened as his whole body shook.

"Hey, Izaya." Shinra said. "Look, you've had a really bad night. That's pretty obvious. Why don't you sleep here for the night and—"

"I can't sleep." Izaya moaned. "I can't...sleep. If I sleep, I go there. And I don't want to go there. So I can't sleep. I don't want to go there anymore."

"Where is 'there'?"

"I won't go back there. But I don't know what to do. The pill was the only thing stopping the dreams but I have no more. I just don't know what to do."

"Iza—"

"Do you know what it's like to be scared to sleep?!" Izaya yelled, causing another jump from a few of the people in the room. "An average human can only last about most thirty-two days without sleep before their brain shuts down and they die! But before they reach their limit, their mind starts to trick them! They start hallucinating on the worse acid trip you could ever imagine but even worse! So while I'm sitting there too scared to sleep, I start seeing them in real life! And I panic! I had to send Namie-san home and tell her not to come back cuz I nearly cut her! I thought she was a nurse all because she had a knife in her hand! But even after all that—and tonight!—I'm still too scared to sleep!"

Izaya looked down at the ground with wide, crazed eyes as he put his hands on the side of his face.

"I'm slipping! Slipping! I'm started to blend the reality and dream! I'm not sure which one is real anymore! That place is so vivid, every thing hurts. It burns! I bleed! I scream! I feel every little patch of skin burning off my bones! Dreams can't do that! Unless you've personally experienced the pain, your mind can only generalize using the most pain you've ever felt in your life! But I feel everything! A person can only deal with so much before they snap!

"MY SANITY IS SLIPPING AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I'M SCARED! I'M—"

"Izaya!" Shizuo pulled the raven's hands away from his face, blood drizzling down his cheeks.

Izaya jolted and stared at Shizuo with wide, confused eyes.

Then Izaya broke down. He lunged forward and held Shizuo to him. Shizuo's hands shot out at his side in surprise. But as soon as he heard the raven's sobs, Shizuo felt a burst of protectiveness encase him. He stroked the raven's hair as he cried, his other hand soothingly rubbing over the long, protruding scars on the raven's back.


Shinra stared down at the unconscious Izaya, who lied on the bed in the guest room. Shinra had given Izaya sedatives after he cried himself to sleep in hopes that the drugs would keep him from dreaming.

The brunette closed the door and turned back to his friends.

"What should we do?" Mikado was the first to speak.

"He can't be left alone." Shizuo said. "That much is obvious. He'll hurt himself."

"Or others, but that's obviously not anything new." Kida shrugged.

"Kida." Kadota growled.

"We should probably ask this Namie-san." Erika suggested. "She's around him more than we are."

"But what do we do until then?" Shizuo asked. "We can't let him leave. Someone needs to stay with him—"

"In all actuality, he should be in some form of professional caring." Shinra said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Sleepwalking isn't the issue, it's the fact that he's questioning his sanity."

"He's always been crazy." Kida stated.

"This form of crazy and that are not the same kind. His previous dementia was always a hobby or sport, something he was aware is harmful but it's fun. Sociopath's have that unwavering apathy. And yet, now, Izaya is worried about hurting Namie-kun. These dreams have shaken his foundation. His resolves are turning."

"That should be a good thing." Shizuo chuckled. "The flea'll finally have a conscience."

"If he wasn't causing self-harm in the process, it would be. But when someone has such vivid dreams and potentially hurts others or themselves, that's when their friends and family should consider putting them in a metal health care facility."

"You mean an asylum."

Shinra pushed his glasses up again, the light reflecting the lenses. "Well, yes."

"Iza-nii would never agree to go to an asylum." Mairu said.

"Never." Kururi muttered.

"Well, you never know." Walker said. "With this incident, it might be easier to convince him to go."

"The things he had said made it sound like he wanted help." Erika added.

"He's reached his breaking point." Togusa finished. "Anymore and he'll snap. And when he snaps he'll probably try to end it all."

"Are you saying he'll try to kill himself?" Shizuo stared at Togusa wide-eyed.

"No way!" Mairu yelled. "Iza-nii prides on always being able to deal with what life throws at him with a smile."

"Then he'll jump off a building with a smile on his face." Kida sneered.

"KIDA!" Mairu, Kadota, and Celty yelled—typed—at him.

"Calm down, guys." Shinra said. "You'll wake him up."

"Togusa is right, though." Shizuo said to bring the conversation back. "The flea's sanity is on a thin thread. Who knows how much more he can take."

:Well then, what should we do?: Celty typed.

"Its sad to say," Kadota said. "but the asylum seems like the option—"

"Wait, Kishitani-san, what about the scars?" Mikado interrupted.

"Hah?"

"The scars. Those vertical cuts on Izaya's back. He couldn't have done that himself."

"...Well...true. The scar tissue is too deep to be nail marks and he wouldn't be able to reach that low on his back."

"An animal maybe?" Erika suggested.

"...It could have been a bear or some form of big cat to get the tissue that deep but the space between them are too close."

"So what does that mean?" Anri asked.

"What it means is their too close to be an animal but too deep to be human."

"...Maybe...a knife." Shizuo said.

"No one would've held still long enough to cut such smooth vertical lines."

"He could have been restrained."

"Or drugged."

"He doesn't have any bruises—" Shinra started.

"They're scars though. They're not new injuries—"

"From Izaya's behavior it seems as it the scars were new, as if he hadn't seen them till tonight. Yet he knew the possibility of them being there tonight were high."

"Well, yeah...but it had to be someone. I mean, dreams can't transfer over."

"If that was the case then Izaya would be blind now." Kida inputted.

Shinra was silent for a moment, thinking it over. "True. Someone had to have done it. Maybe...a crazed stalker has gotten his pass code."

"Maybe he drugs him at night so he doesn't wake up but he's aware of the pain he's going through." Erika suggested. "So his nightmares are a premonition of his reality."

"...That could be a possibility." Shinra said. "I'll check him for sexual assault and any other unnatural scarring. In the meantime, you should all go home. If he has a nightmare he'll be less likely to panic if he's alone."

The group looked at each other and agreed. Then began to pile out.

"Hey, Shinra," Shizuo started when it was only him, Celty, and the doctor. "Will the flea be okay? I mean..."

"If we put him in an asylum, he'll be okay."

"And if he doesn't agree?"

"...Well, then we'll have to worry about him."