It took a moment for him to register the gunshots and screaming were not ruminants of his dreams. They were coming from outside the old building he had been resting in, and Izaya immediately knew the bastards had closed in on him. His eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the horrified cries of the people outside. Finally, he stood, slipping his jacket on and putting his hood over his head. He lifted his face mask to cover his nose - along with the brand the government had pressed into his cheek the day he received his ranking. With that, he rushed outside.

People were crying over dead bodies and sobbing for someone to "stop this." He looked over, eyes widening.

The young man from last night was hurling the officers' own cars at them, screaming to get out. He examined the scene before realizing an officer had gotten behind Shizu and prepared to fire a cannon right through his chest. Izaya kicked off, lifting his arms up as blades flicked from his arms and pierced through his skin. The pain still made him flinch after all these years, he noted, and he'd have to sleep off the migraine thumping in his head as the voice laughed.

"FIRE." One of the officers yelled, causing Shizuo to widen his eyes and glance behind him. For a second, he prepared himself to feel the pain, but in the same instant that he had spotted the officer, blood splashed across his clothes and the ground. He dropped the car and fell to the ground, looking at his hands.

Did he do that? He knew his strength surpassed the Originals' - that was his gift - but did he have an untapped power, a second one that he somehow got like the Originals?

"Get up and get out of here, brute."

A familiar voice caused Shizuo to rip away from his thoughts as his eyes landed on the culprit that had completely obliterated the officer behind him. The officer, who's hand was eerily close to Shizuo's own, trembling hand, was completely in two. He looked up and watched as the man from the night before kicked off and spun, slicing through the officers that had infiltrated the village Shizuo called home. He watched as officers fell, one by one, sometimes one by two depending on the slice. The lone officer that was left fell to the ground and plead.

"We were told to get rid of them, please! I just want to see my family! I just want to go home! I'm just doing my job," he sobbed, staring into the eyes of a monster. The monster he knew was the infamous 2. He had studied him in Officer Training. The slicing, the spins, the way he stood - cold and empty. The way the officer knew 2 would not give mercy. The way the officer knew to say his last goodbyes.

Izaya stared down at the man and kicked up his foot, letting a blade shoot through his boot and prepared to swing.

However, he was pushed aside by an angry brunette boy, who stared down at him with eyes that would make any other being feel weak and shameful.

"What are you doing, getting in my wa-"

"I hate the fucks as much as anyone, but what is he going to do to anyone now? He's horrified. He's useless. They'll probably kill him when he returns to his base anyway. Let him have the possibility to live, though. You're human, too. Somewhere in there."

Izaya stared at the panting boy, as the officer stood and ran. He scowled under his mask, causing it to slip.

The brand was visible, and Shizuo's eyes widened.

"Y-You really are..."

Izaya let out an aloof tch before getting on his feet and staring at the villagers. They were coming out of their buildings, wiping their tear soaked faces, and whispers filled his ears.

He had been praised that night, given clothes, food, and a place to sleep. He already knew young kids were whispering about him, and the few that talked to him only talked to a deadpan, emotionless man who seemed to find this attention more of a nuisance than flattering.

Shizuo sat on the chair in the room Izaya was in as he got doctored up, watching as he fiddled with the bandages on his arms when the doctors left the room.

"You're a legend," Shizuo spat, annoyed that someone so rude was getting massive attention by his village. Izaya looked up at him, and he sighed.

"I see. Humans tend to idolize beings close to some sort of representation of God incarnate," he replied in a monotone voice, avoiding eye contact.

Shizuo watched as Izaya continued to fiddle with the bandages, accidentally pulling one apart. When Izaya's eyes narrowed at the fabric, Shizuo groaned and got to his feet. Walking up to the standoffish Original, he tucked his fingers into one of the loose pieces before sliding the fabric back into place and hissed when he realized he had to do the whole thing over because Izaya had completely messed it up by continuously messing with it.

The fire crackled behind them and filled a silence besides for Shizuo's heavy breathing and the sound of Izaya picking at the sheets.

Izaya began to study the boy fixing his bandages, watching his body carefully. He was attractive, although he was irked to admit it, considering he was somewhere around 130. The boy also had small wrinkles in between his eyebrows, which Izaya assumed got there from being angry all the time. He breathed loudly, but it was possibly because he didn't breathe through his nose, and he felt warm breath on his arm when Shizuo leaned in closer to carefully wrap his arm correctly.

"How old are you, Shizu?" He gazed up at him, watching Shizuo slightly flinch at the sudden noise filling the silence.

"Oh. I'm 19. Why do you care, asshole?"

Izaya smirked, realizing how annoying this kid actually was. But, he thought to himself, at least it wasn't as creepy to find him attractive. He looked young - 16, maybe 17 - but, then again, he forgets what he looked like at that age. He had longer hair then, messy and unkept, and he was completely hollow by then. He was cruel by the time he was 16 or 17, as one had to be back in the arena.

"I was just curious. You have wrinkles already, so I figured you were thirty or fourty," he teased, grinning as Shizuo's lips grew into an impatient grimace.

"Listen here, shithead. I-"

"Shizu, why were you trying to fight them alone?"

Shizuo's hands froze, tensing at the question. His eyes softened, and he breathed in before working at the bandages again.

"I'm the only one of us left. I mean, y'know, only -"

"Infected? Freak? Mutant?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm the only left in the village. They've raided us before, and the leader - the one who started our village - was a tiny old woman. She was an Original. She was very kind, and she always smiled. I never knew why she never seemed to be angry or sad by it all, but," his voice trailed off as he bit his lip. "One day, a few months after I was born, the officers came. My mother was there, and she, along with several other.. of our kind... Fought them. But there was hundreds of them. They took out my father quickly, according to my older brother. They took my mom. I hear Asians descendants are kind of rare - are you one? Your name sounds like-"

"I am. I was born in Sanus, but my grandparents were Japanese before the world war happened."

Shizuo nodded. "My older brother said they took her, and they sold her. That's what they do with us - the females, anyway - sometimes the males, but it's mostly children and women." He growled. "Fucking sickos. Anyway, the whole ordeal left us with just my brother and I, along with a few other kids and adults with powers. My brother ended up... Well, he died. The other kids decided to run off and fight them, and I'm sure they are dead now, too. The officers came because of the adults and myself, and they all died to protect me. I owe it to the village to put my life down to save them."

Izaya nodded, staring the kid up and down. He had a pathetic life, but he didn't expect any different. Life for their kind wasn't too passive. Finally, he clicked his tongue.

"They're gonna keep coming back because they have these things. They made them back when I was in the original gathering. They can sense abnormalities amongst people with these little devices. As long as you're here, they're going to keep coming back."

Shizuo stopped adjusting the bandage and dipped his head down, his hair covering his eyes.

"You know that. You said it yourself. The officers came for the adults and you. So why do you stay?"

Shizuo gripped at the arm, not intentionally, but he squeezed, causing Izaya to yelp. Shizuo loosened his grip, softening his eyes.

"Why do you care, asshole? Keep being nosy, and I'll knock your teeth in." He smiled at the bandage and turned around, waving as a sign of his departure.

Izaya smirked.

"You're afraid you'll die on your own, aren't you?"

I decided to make Kasuka the older brother, just because I figured it'd be more angsty to leave lil' Shizuo all alone after being raised by his big brother. (TFW you love to hurt your babies. I'm sorry, Shizuo. ;; It's a sickness, y'know! From watching all those angsty movies and TV shows.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! It'll get better as it goes on, I promise. I have so many ideas!

Thank you for reading!