Note: This may be a coincidence, but is it me or does Anri look somewhat similar to the milk-lady from Shizuo's childhood? Both wear glasses, both have short black hair, and both have kindhearted personalities. Kind of makes me wonder if Shizuo's inability to save the milk-lady (as well as not asking her name) has to do with not remembering Anri's name...
It's not like he lets a lot of things slip from his mind on purpose.
It's just that forgetfulness was a constant habit of Shizuo's, and one of the many bad habits he had developed when it comes to socialization.
Ever since childhood, all the blonde man could ever do was terrify people with his short-term temper and inhuman strength. With the exceptions of Tom, Celty, and Shinra, Shizuo never bothered to form connections with anyone else. After all, he always assumed that folks would run away as soon as they see his face. Because of this, memorizing names never became a priority to him - what use was there for it if you're trying to identify the ones who are all too willing to make a break for it?
However, forgetting people's names often made Shizuo come off as more of a jerk than he actually is.
In particular, Shizuo always had trouble remembering a certain girl's name - the black-haired one with the glasses, he recalled. Due to their infrequent interactions, the first thing he would always ask her whenever they met was, "Who are you, again?"
Although the question seemed relatively harmless, Shizuo eventually realized that it was quite a rude thing to ask. Considering that was his only response whenever the girl expressed gratitude to him for saving her life or showed concern for his wounds, Shizuo felt terrible that he made himself look inconsiderate towards her.
But what else can he say? All he knew about the girl was that she goes to Raira Academy and is Celty's friend. Well, since she is Celty's friend, that must mean that the girl is a good person. Other than that, the girl seemed rather quiet and polite. Definitely the complete opposite of Shizuo, now that he thought about it.
Funny, Shizuo did feel at times that he came across someone like her before. At first he couldn't recall it, but he painted a mental image: black hair, round glasses, soft-spoken voi-
Wait...
Another person with black hair, round glasses, and a soft-spoken voice appeared in Shizuo's mind, but she wasn't by any means a pleasant memory.
No... no way, he thought.
Actually, the woman was indeed a pleasant person, but she suffered serious injuries due to one of his episodic rampages.
It can't be, it just can't be...
An unpleasant rampage that haunted him for the rest of his life.
Dammit, why am I thinking about this right now?
And all he could ever do was wonder if he could have ever done anything to fix that horrible event.
I must be imagining things...
Because every time Shizuo looked at the young girl's face, all he could ever see was the female shopkeeper from his childhood.
The dark-haired shopkeeper who gave a little Shizuo milk every time he fractured his bones.
The bespectacled shopkeeper whom Shizuo grievously hurt when he tried to save her from a bunch of thugs.
The kindhearted shopkeeper whom Shizuo was too ashamed to ever see again.
To make it even more unnerving, Shizuo never caught the shopkeeper's name. Maybe that traumatic memory prevented him from remembering names from females that looked like her? Maybe that was the reason why he was so distant from the high school girl?
No, that'd be crazy, he thought.
He wondered whether or not he would bring himself to talk to her if they were to meet again. Maybe he should, just to disprove this coincidence.