She ran and ran through the streets. The young girl's jet-black bangs were damp from sweat. Her slender arms desperately struggled to keep a hold and carry the basket of apples. Worry was clearly shown in her garnet orbs. Taking a sharp turn at the intersection, she mumbled to herself, "I have to hu-"

Thump!

The very same girl crashed onto a young boy and fell down, dropping the basket. The apples scattered onto the ground, dirt and dust dirtied the bright red color. The girl grimaced and groaned in pain whilst the boy stood in silence. Slowly, she opened her eyes and studied the boy. There stood a brunette boy who seemed to be around her age before her. She narrowed her eyes at the boy, having difficulty to believe that he was the one she crashed onto. How could this small, thin boy be that.. strong? Ah, wait. Judging from her own body size, she was not in the right position to say that.

After a few seconds, the staring became awkward. Perhaps it was her fault for being careless while turning in the intersection, but somehow she a was a bit.. peeved. The straight expression on the boy's face as he kept staring down at her in silence didn't help either. "Hey, what the..?"

Finally, the boy responded. He offered a hand and said, "Sorry. I didn't see you there."

The girl shifted her stare towards the hand, contemplating in silence. Finally, she chose to act stubborn. The girl nonchalantly ignored the hand and sat up. She collected the scattered apples and tossed them back into the basket without saying any single word to the boy. The boy's eyebrows twitched in annoyance at this response. However, he decided to be a gentleman and hold back his anger.

Another hand beat her to pick up an apple. The girl quickly shot a sharp glance at the boy, to which the boy didn't back down.

Finally, the girl spat a bit too harshly, "What?"

The boy merely raised an eyebrow in silence.

"What do you want?"

"Me? I just wanted to be kind to the girl who crashed onto me by lending a hand."

The girl's eyebrows twitched and she gaped in disbelief. Again, the boy merely raised an eyebrow, and again, they ended up having a staring contest, in which neither of them was willing to back down.

The girl groaned and facepalmed in defeat. "Fine, do what you want," she spat. However, a slight tint of red seeped onto her cheeks, betraying her harsh tone and words, as she added, "...and thanks, I guess."

The blush obviously didn't go unnoticed by the boy. He watched her in amusement. However, the stare didn't go unnoticed by the girl either. She instantly glared at the boy, though she failed to look intimidating due to the blush that somehow grew a few shades darker. "What?"

"Nothing."

There was silence.

"Sheesh, what the hell? Not only are you ridiculously strong, you're creepy as well."

The boy had no problems ignoring the latter comment as he repeated, "'Ridiculously strong'?"

"Yeah. I thought I bumped onto some giant or something."

The boy stared blankly at the apple in his hand, seemingly off in his own world. The sudden change caught the girl's interest. She looked up at the boy and raised an eyebrow. However, the boy didn't respond, and the sudden change was starting to scare the girl.

"..Hey?"

"Hm?"

"..What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Oh."

The boy watched in silence as the girl tossed the last of the red fruit into the basket. Then, slowly, the girl stood up. "W-Well, uh," the girl fumbled with her words as she looked away. With the prominent shade of red on her cheeks, she didn't feel like she had the courage to look back at the boy's gaze. "I'm sorry and thanks for helping me, I-I guess.."

"Sure."

"..May I know your name?"

Apparently, the sudden question caught the boy off guard. His eyes slightly widened as he kept his stare fixated at the girl while the girl seemed even more nervous under his stare. "U-uh, i-it's okay if you don't want to tell me your name, I-I understand. I-I mean, this might be awkward and all," she rambled, covering her blushing face with her hand, "b-but I guess it would be nice if I could know your name, right? Y-You helped me, after all. And, uh, I don't have much friends, so.. W-well, I-I don't know, who knows we might meet again someday and we would be friends or something. Who knows!"

A few seconds passed and the boy stayed silent. The girl slightly regretted her question and she felt as if she could die from the embarrassment, until finally, the boy responded. "..My name?"

A smile graced her features as the girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, uh.. why don't you tell me your name first?"

"A-Ah, r-right, I guess I should, huh?" The girl laughed, albeit a bit forced. "My name is Kaname, Nakazawa Kaname. I-It's nice to meet you." The girl slightly bowed as she introduced herself. Then, she looked back at the boy as her eyes sparkled with hope. "T-Then, what's your name?"

With the slightest of smile, the boy introduced himself. "My name is.."

The bus stopped abruptly, effectively waking up the black-haired woman. Kaname cursed under her breath. She glanced at her brother who sat next to her and was deep in his peaceful sleep. She let out a small sigh in annoyance and turned her gaze towards the sky outside the window. The sun was starting to set and the sky was illuminated with a beautiful shade of vermilion.

Blankly, she mumbled, "It's the very same dream.."

Ever since that day at the hospital, she had the very same dream almost every time she slept. However, she never get to know the boy's name, and she kept cursing at how she couldn't recall the boy's face every time she woke up. All she knew was the brown hair and how that boy felt suspiciously familiar but at the same time.. foreign. It was as if she felt like she knew him, but at the same time, she didn't.

Finally, Kaname decided to give up on the topic that has been bothering her for the last few days. She glanced at her wristwatch. They have been on the way to Ikebukuro for almost five hours, and if she's not mistaken, they will arrive in the busy district of Tokyo in approximately an hour. Somehow, she felt.. nervous.

God knows how her and her brother's life in Ikebukuro would turn out..

"Wake up, Kaname," Haruka whispered gently as he shook his sister's shoulder. With a wide, cheerful smile, he continued, "Come on, Kaname. We've arrived! Welcome to Ikebukuro!"

Slowly, Kaname opened her eyes. A deep frown spread across her face as reality struck her. She shot a piercing glare at her brother, causing Haruka's smile to falter, and spat, "Stop it. Why are you happy that we've arrived in Ikebukuro? You know I'm nowhere near happy about this." Kaname swatted his hands away from her shoulder and looked away. The pain in her eyes didn't go unnoticed by her brother as she muttered, "Stop smiling, it won't make me feel any better."

Kaname's words caught him speechless. He froze while Kaname grabbed her suitcase and prepared to leave the bus. Ah, right, perhaps it was very ignorant of him. Haruka knew very well why Kaname hated the idea of returning to Ikebukuro, and yet..

"Sorry," Kaname mumbled as she gently laid a hand on her brother's shoulder, interrupting the train of negative thoughts she knew he was having. She yawned and continued, "Forget what I said. Let's just.. go on. We'll live somehow."

It took a few minutes before they finally managed to get away from the ridiculously crowded bus. The siblings sat at the bus stop, both were clearly exhausted. There was a peaceful silence, until a violent grumble was heard from the black-haired woman's stomach. Haruka chuckled at his groaning sister. "Alright then," Haruka stood up and offered a hand, "let's get something to eat, shall we?"

Kaname gladly accepted his offer and stood up. "Damn, I'm tired and hungry. Couldn't be any worse."

Haruka led the way and Kaname followed. The two walked away from the crowded bus stop in silence. However, few minutes later, a suspicion rose in her mind. Kaname didn't hesitate as she voiced it.

"Hey, do you have any idea where we're going?"

Kaname's hunch proved to be spot on when Haruka instantly froze in his tracks. The man looked back at his sister with a wide apologetic grin and a small "Ehehe." Kaname's eyebrows twitched at Haruka's ridiculous response. His grin grew wider as he continued, "Eh, I guess this place couldn't have changed that much in the last 10 years, right?"

Kaname let out a loud, exasperated groan. She really couldn't believe the unexpected irresponsibility he was showing now of all times. She quickened her pace and quickly led the way. "Fine," she spat, annoyance clear in her voice, "besides, we'll find a place to eat sooner or later."

Haruka merely watched as his sister walked away, the same grin still plastered on his face.

"Oi, come on, I'm hu-"

BOOM!

The siblings' eyes quickly darted over the distance to the source of the loud sound. They both gaped as the sight before them left them flabbergasted.

"What the- Haruka, is that what I think it is?"

"Woah, what.. I-I think it m-might be, Kaname."

"Holy- Is that really a flying vending machine?!"

"I know ri- Woah, Kaname, something else flew up-"

"What?! Was that a lamp post?!"

None said any single word as they watched in disbelief. What baffled them more was how the citizens didn't react significantly. All they noticed were some citizens muttering something along the lines of, 'ah, there they go again.' What exactly happened over the years when they left Ikebukuro?

"Come on, Haruka! We have to check this out!" Kaname shouted, but didn't wait for her brother to recover from the shock as she quickly ran through the streets towards the various flying objects.

"Woah, what? W-Wait!"

When the two arrived, a crowd was already surrounding the scene. The siblings noted how the crowd seemed to regard this as an 'entertainment'. Kaname didn't hesitate as she shoved her way into the crowd until she was right in front of the scene. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She watched the scene and tried to process it with her brain, but somehow it was as if her brain blatantly refused to due to the lack of physics law in the said scene before her. She watched as a tall, blonde man with sunglasses and wearing a bartender suit threw a trash can towards a shorter, black-haired man wearing a dark fur coat.

"IIIZAAAYAAA-KUUUNN!"

Kaname narrowed her eyes. "Oh, so the black-haired man's name is Izaya." She raised an eyebrow as she watched Izaya, easily dodging whatever the object thrown at him with graceful movements, as if he was dancing, with a wide grin plastered on his face. "Heck, it seemed as if he was enjoying it!" Kaname kept her stare fixated on Izaya. However, her heart skipped a beat and she swore that, even though perhaps it was merely for a split second, their gaze met.

"You'll have to try harder, Shizu-chan!" Izaya shouted with a mischievous grin, before waltzing away in an impressive speed.

Finally, Kaname realized that he was going towards her direction. The crowd behind her immediately scattered away, but unfortunately, Kaname was a second too late. Somehow, she was frozen. She really thought that the man was going to crash onto her , but no, he didn't. Izaya skillfully slipped past her and ran away.

"Stop right there, you damned flea!" The blonde shouted in pure rage. He quickly dropped the lamp post in his hands and ran to chase Izaya.

But alas, he was too enraged to notice Kaname's presence, and therefore, crashed onto her. Kaname fell down and groaned loudly in pain, causing the man to actually notice that she existed. The man clicked his tongue as he stared at Izaya-if stares could kill, Izaya would be so dead by now-before the shorter man disappeared. It seemed that it was useless to chase Izaya now, so the blonde man decided to look at the person he crashed onto.

"Ugh, oh god," Kaname grimaced. Then, she remembered that her discharge from the hospital was a bit rushed and realized the possibility of some injuries that might have not healed properly yet. No wonder it hurt as hell. "That.. really hurts.."

The man before her sighed. He offered a hand as he spoke rather flatly, "Sorry. I didn't see you there."

Kaname immediately shot a piercing glare at the man. How could he apologize in such an emotionless way? Alas, patience was never Kaname's forte. "Excuse me? What the hell?!"

The man's eyebrow twitched when Kaname swatted his hand away. However, he decided to hold back and spare the woman as he could see that she truly was pained by the fall. He merely watched in silence as the woman rambled.

"Agh, man, that really hurts." Kaname whined as she stood up, patting her behind as if it could ease the pain. "You have to pay for that!"

The man nonchalantly raised an eyebrow as he repeated, "'Pay'?"

Kaname continued to rant to herself while blatantly ignoring him. She reached out to her suitcase, but was beaten in speed by the man. Kaname clicked her tongue in annoyance. She bravely glared at the blonde who stared back as he held up her suitcase. Kaname scoffed and explained, "Yeah, I'm not letting you away with a simple, half-assed apology. Damn, as expected from someone who flew a freaking lamp post into the air, it felt like crashing onto a wall or a giant or something."

"Ah, Hikaru! Are you okay?"

Kaname glanced at Haruka as he ran towards her, calling Kaname using the fake name they both agreed to. He was busy gawking at the scene, but perhaps his beloved sister's yell snapped him back to reality.

"Well, it seems that I'm alright, but who knows." Haruka frowned at her indication. Kaname pointed at the blonde man as she continued, "However, he should pay."

Haruka shifted his attention towards the man who only stared at them in silence. Then, Haruka flashed a polite, slightly apologetic smile, while the blonde man merely raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, Shizuo!" A man wearing glasses and a suit ran towards them. He quickly smiled apologetically at Kaname as he spoke, "Ah, dear, I saw what happened. I'm very sorry."

Kaname sighed and nodded. "Fine, but this Shizuo has to pay." Kaname turned her attention back towards Shizuo. She boldly stared right at him as she continued, "He must treat me and my brother to dinner. No 'but's, I won't let this go with a simple sorry."

Kaname's words grabbed Haruka's attention. A slight smile of relief graced his features as Haruka silently glanced at his sister. With slight amusement, he pondered, "Perhaps this isn't the best, but.. it isn't a bad idea, either.."

Ah, the unexpected twists and turns of life.

There you go, the second chapter! I was quite tired when I typed this, but yeah, hope you enjoyed it.

And yeah, I thought maybe I needed to clarify the warning I made in the summary. Well, this fic might take a darker turn in the future and it might be a bit.. trigger-ish. I mean it. If I ever seem like a heartless person for writing shit like that, trust me, I dare because I've been through it. So, uh, what I'm trying to say is, I hope I don't come off as 'mean' to some people (perhaps those who are offended or hurt by it). This might seem a bit exaggerated or unneeded or something, but I just.. feel like I should say this, you know? It is never my intention to offend anyone by romanticizing such circumstances, and I know how bitter it truly is.

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! ;D