Thank you for the follows and favorites so far! =7= I've decided to make this a Wednesday-Friday kind of update, so here you go!

"That was probably Psyche, at the end, there," Shinra remarks as we walk away from the hospital. I don't respond, just flick on my lighter and light my cigarette, finally. "Psyche is another one of the personalities, you know. He's, ah…"

"A wimp?" I suggest flatly. I inhale a drag of my cigarette and exhale a puff of smoke.

"Well, kind of," Shinra answers me. "You see, I have all of his personalities recorded; there are five in all; so far at least." I listen with an impassive expression, silently slightly irate about all this. He doesn't have to go on about it. Him, Celty, and I are all walking the back alleys of the city to reach their house. I'm apparently eating lunch there. "Two of them are Roppi and Psyche; those are the ones you saw today, obviously." He lifts a notebook and taps it. "I have all of their names and traits right in here. You can look through them if you want; I find it to be very interesting myself. All of this is. It seems that Izaya has disassociated from himself; I mean, I find it odd that not once has he called himself Izaya since he woke up; he doesn't even know who Izaya is. It's like the original is just gone. I think that maybe all of his personalities are pieces of him, which is odd considering a lot of their traits are so very unlike the original. I'm curious as to whether Izaya will come back or if he's fragmented into—"

"Shut up, Shinra." My voice is low and irritable. "I'm not going back after that. If he pulls himself together, great. If not, I really don't care. Just drop it."

Shinra looks at me, then gives a small sigh. "Alright."

I hear tapping, and then there's a phone held up to my right. I look at it. [Aren't you at least a little bit worried?] Celty pulls it back before adding, [I don't like him either, but I feel like we should at least be worried about something like this.]

"No," I grunt, "I'm not worried. I don't give a single shit." And I leave it at that.

I don't go back until a week later. As much as I hate to admit it, I do feel guilty for causing this. God damn it, fucking flea just had to do this kind of thing; letting himself get hit and now in the hospital; fuck him, that damned asshole…

I fucking swear; if he's faking this I really will kill him.

But I hate knowing it's my fault and not doing anything… Shinra hasn't said anything about him, so I'm guessing he hasn't made any progress. Still acting like however many people Shinra said. There's no way in hell that I'm letting people like Shinra or Celty know I'm actually checking on him, though. I guess in the long run it doesn't matter, but my point is I don't care about Izaya as Izaya. I care because he's a human being whether he acts like it or not, and contrary to his accusations, I am not some soulless monster, god damn it.

When the reception woman asks me who I'm visiting, I have to bite out his name; damn, I really hate him. Why the fuck am I here again? Tch… I close my eyes and concentrate. Technically it's not Izaya Orihara I'm coming to see anyway. It's whoever he is when I walk in. And if it's that Roppi guy, then…well, I won't be there all that long if he decides to sneer at me again. I'd be in and out. No killing fleas today.

Unfortunately.

I take a deep breath to calm myself. I really wish I could smoke in this damned place. Ugh, well, too late. She told me the room number and I'm already in the elevator. It doesn't take long to get to it, really, and when I walk in and see that—flea sitting there, I immediately want to lose it and go for the kill. Then he looks up at me with this blank look and tilts his head in curiosity, and it isn't really Izaya I'm looking at anymore, even though it's taking a lot to stay calm and give him a chance. I feel my eyebrow twitch as I close the door behind me – I can't leave it open; fucking hospitals.

If they lose their door, it's not my fault. It's theirs.

"Hello," he smiles kindly at me. Okay. That…isn't right at all. That's just creepy.

Well, at least I don't want to kill him.

Though if he gets too unnerving – this was originally a deranged sociopathic asshole, remember – then I might have to leave.

"Is something wrong?"

I look at him; his brow is creased in worry; oh great, so this flea-oid has a heart. "Nah," I respond, my demeanor calm and impassive. "What's up with you?"

"Um, I'm doing alright, I suppose," he answered. "I'm sorry, do I already know you?" He sounds hesitant.

Does he recognize me? Oh, fuck. Wouldn't it be just fucking great if he became Izaya again right now? And then he'd taunt me for caring so much for a damned flea when really I don't give shit. Fuck, just thinking of Izaya is pissing me off…

"Why, do you recognize me?" I ask. My voice is a little harder than I intended, but that's probably because my thoughts of Izaya are making me want to break this damned hospital wall right here. Or some other wall.

Or Izaya's face.

He blinks. "No… I'm sorry." Oh, good. "My name is Sakuraya…it's nice to meet you." He gives a little bow with his head. I don't bother to bow in return. I just look at him. "What's your name, sir?"

"Shizuo," I respond bluntly. "Say, Sakuraya, do you know who Izaya is?" I half-cross my arms, bringing one of my hands to the unlit cigarette in my mouth.

Izaya blinks. "Izaya?" He seems to think, and suddenly there's recognition. "Yeah, I do know who Izaya is," he says.

So he does know that, at least… "Who is he, then?" I frown.

"Izaya is the person Mr. Shinra keeps asking about," Izaya smiles. "I think he's his friend."

I'm looking at him; I take my cigarette from my mouth. Scratch that. He really doesn't know who he is. Did I really cause something so serious? What the fuck is wrong with me; I am a monster…

Damn it.

But wait, isn't he better this way? I think of the cold eyes of the Roppi character. I guess it depends upon who else is in his head…

"Is…Izaya your friend too?" His voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

I twitch. "Hell no. I fucking hate that flea. With a passion."

He blinks. "Oh. Sorry." He shifts, looking uncomfortable.

I frown. "Tch, don't be sorry." I stick the unlit cigarette back between my lips.

"Okay," he answers. His too-nice eyes are still inspecting me. "Um, can I ask something?"

"What." Talking about that maggot even for a second throws me off.

"Um, what's 'fucking'? An adjective? I've never heard it before."

I release a long sigh. Great. He wasn't serious, was he? I change the subject back to what's important. "So you have no idea who Izaya really is."

"Um, no," Izaya answers. "You seem irritated… Am I supposed to know him? Or is it because I said something?" His voice is soft.

"I'm not irritated," I snap, and he flinches slightly. He seems hurt. What the fuck; how could this fragile thing be acting in Izaya's body? There's no fucking sense in this at all, damn it. I ignore his discomfort and continue in my investigation. "How do you feel, mentally, then?" I ask him. I don't know how else to put it, and now that I think about it, it sounds like a stupid question.

"Well, I had a nice dream last night," he smiles, and I frown deeper.

"That's not what I meant—you know, never mind." I take a deep breath and try again. Let's see how Izaya-like this Izaya is. "What do you think of me so far?"

"Well…" – he shifts – "…you seem pretty nice, even though you have a short temper. I feel like enough time spent with you, and you could actually be a good friend."

Nope. That isn't Izaya.

"What do you think about humans?" I ask with a deeper frown.

"Humans?" Izaya responds. "What do you mean?"

I sigh. "In general, what do you think about humans?" My tone is a little flat; I'm trying not to sound frustrated.

"Um, well, humans are nice." He's smiling that sweet, naïve smile again. How that nice of an expression can form on Izaya's face I may never know.

Well, anyway, that answer isn't helping.

"Do you know how you were made?" I inquire flatly.

"Made? Well, I was born… A baby sent from God, I guess?" He puts an index finger to his lower lip and tilts his head. "That's how people are made, I think… Is that what you mean?"

"No." I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes.

"A crane?"

"No."

"A mom swallows a fresh soul and it's born from their body?"

"No." What the fuck does that even mean? "What do you remember before this place, then?" He doesn't answer. I open my eyes again and look at him.

"I…" His gaze is averted from mine, one of his hands to the side of his face. "I don't…remember…" His voice fades off into nothing, and he's quiet again.

I look at him, waiting for something. Eventually I speak. I'm impatient. "Oi, uh, Sakuraya…" It's weird calling him that.

He looks at me and tilts his head; his eyes are dull. "Sakuraya?" he asks. "You must be mistaking me for someone else. Sorry. Wrong room."

"Then who the fuck are you?" I'm frowning again. God damn it, I was having a conversation with someone here. Now who am I talking to? It better not be Izaya.

"Roppi." He speaks dully.

Fine. I'll talk to him instead. I cross my arms halfway again, taking my unlit cigarette from my mouth. I decide to play along with this multiple personality thing. For now. "Oh, right, I remember you. Sorry, I'm bad at names." I'm forcing myself to be my calm, impassive, not-angry-or-frustrated self.

He averts his gaze. "Eh, whatever. Why are you here this time?"

I furrow my brow. He doesn't sound enthused. Then again, I'm not too enthusiastic about being here, anyway. "Because I want to figure some stuff out."

"What kind of 'stuff'?" he answers, sounding irritable. He's looking at me now. I can see hate in his eyes.

I frown deeper than I already am. "Do you hate me or something?" We just met a week ago, right? Maybe this guy has Izaya's hate of me. Or something like that.

"Yeah," he confirms, smiling bitterly.

"Why's that?" I ask calmly.

His eyes narrow and the smile is gone. "I hate humans," Izaya tells me. "I hate every human there is; all of humanity." He pauses, his eyes deadening. "That is why."

He hates humans, huh?… How very…unlike him. So un-flea-like. I don't know what to say. "Hmm," is my response instead. There is a pause. "Someone" – a damned flea – "once told me that I wasn't a human but a monster. What do you say to that?"

"I say they're stupid."

I nod, taking my cig from my mouth and pocketing it. I don't need it for now; it's unlit anyway. "Do you think you're human?" I inquire. That damned asshat did often seem like he had a God Complex or something.

His eyes narrow bitterly; his expression shows clearly his distaste. "Yes, I'm a human too; a filthy human."

I eye him, eyes narrowing slightly; it's not necessarily out of anger. I don't speak aloud my initial response. Then I speak. "Well, you know, Roppi, maybe that isn't so bad. Being a human, I mean. We're not all that bad sometimes."

He doesn't answer. Eventually, I leave, and he does nothing to stop me.

I head back again a few days later. You know, maybe these new guys aren't so bad, and after all, the guy's still attached to the IV; not even physically well yet. This is still because of me, remember.

No matter what, though, I cannot stop thinking of the original Izaya when I look at his face. No matter what expression he's making, no matter how nice or sweet or not-Izaya-like, it still looks like that flea, and so I will think of that flea.

I'm escorted to the room this time; a nurse needs to check on him anyway. I ask if I need to wait outside, but she tells me it'll only be a minute. She opens the door to his room – 206 – and she looks confused. I look in too.

The bed is empty.

Damned troll; little flea is what he is; god damn it, Izaya, now what the hell are you thinking?… The nurse seems relatively unsurprised, which surprises me a little in itself knowing that, well, shouldn't doctors worry when their patients are out of their beds when they shouldn't be? Must not be good doctors, I guess. Damned hospitals.

So now I'm stuck waiting; I kind of want to leave here – no point staying if he's going to take a while; I have no patience – but the nurse tells me to wait as she uses the phone to call someone. I'm listening to her half of the conversation. "Oh, you've got him? Good…" I wish I could smoke. God damn this place… I'd be crazy too if I had to be stuck here. Spent too much time in hospitals as a kid already.

Eventually I hear yelling down the hall. "Here he comes," the nurse says to me, and I look up, sitting one of the chairs in here. The nurse opens the door and soon there are doctors dragging a writhing, yelling Izaya into the room.

"No, you can't keep me here; you can't keep me here; get away!" he's yelling as he writhes and kicks. The doctors push him down onto the bed, and I'm just watching. "Whaaat?! You think I'm crazy, huh?! Fuck you!" He decidedly licked one of the doctor's faces as his only available defense.

Okay, Izaya was pretty fucked up, but he wasn't that weird.

I don't think.

Right?

Well, the not-flea's silenced anyway because the nurse injected a sedative into him. Thank God, too, he was starting to get on my nerves. Shinra runs into the room just then. "What happened; what's going on?" he asks, concerned, and then he looks at me and blinks. "…Shizuo?"

"…Hey."

Well, I guess I'm caught. Oh well.

Izaya gets reattached to the IV and now he's just lying there. That's it. Shinra and I are sitting next to each other now, in different seats. It's quiet all around. I want to leave, but Shinra's presence makes me reconsider.

"So…you decided to come back after all," Shinra says eventually, smiling at me. "If you're wondering, that one was probably the one called 'Virus.' "

I don't answer. I just want to smoke right about now. Nah, I want to go home. Not spend my time here at this god damned hospital waiting for this god damned fucking flea to wake up.

"If you want, you can look through the five he has," Shinra offers, holding up the notebook again. It's a dark blue color.

I only grunt in answer. I'm irritated being stuck in this place, just waiting. It always has irritated me, waiting in these places. Especially when I was the one hurt, and I couldn't freakin' move.

Whatever.

Shinra seems to realize that I'm not going to read his notes, and sets it beside him. Actually, I'm kinda curious, but I don't feel like letting him know that.

"I'm starting to wonder if maybe they really do reflect a piece of him; wouldn't that be interesting? But if that's the case, then there's definitely something we're missing about the original Izaya…"

I don't answer. I don't care about the original Izaya. He's annoying, and to be honest the world would be better off without him. A very, very large part of me is hoping that Izaya won't come back, and we can keep these five, whoever they are.

Speaking of annoying, I'm also really hoping Shinra will shut up soon.

"…Virus is the only one that doesn't think he's human, oddly enough, though there is one of them that thinks he's above humanity. Apparently Virus is 'incomplete,' whatever that may mean. Perhaps it's a personality that only formed halfway…though Virus doesn't know who Izaya is either. Virus is probably the most unstable of all of them…"

"Oi," I cut him off, and he looks at me. I hold out my hand. "Give me that notebook."

He blinks. "Oh, of course…" He picks it up from the floor and hands it to me.

I open it to the first page; the first page is all on the one called Roppi. I scan through the notes:

- Hates humans (Izaya's opposite?)nah
- Traits: calm, dull, irritable, sad (?), bitter
- Depressive – possibly suic.?
- enjoys sweets(How weird!)

I only get that far before I hear shifting from the bed and I look up to find the flea waking up.

Sorry. Not flea. Flea-oid.

Whatever…

I close the journal-thing and hand it back to Shinra. "Ah—" He looks at me, then to Izaya. "Good morning!"

Izaya pushes himself up and leans on the head of the bed, grimacing. He looks at the clock. "It's afternoon, dimwit," he frowns.

I raise my eyebrows without much other expression, pulling out my not-allowed-to-be-lit-anyway cigarette in preparation of dealing with this guy.

"Well, you just woke up," Shinra smiles in turn. He's so…cheerful. "So I said good morning."

Izaya rolls his eyes and looks at me. "Now who the hell are you?" he asks me, and I frown.

"Shizuo," I respond bluntly. "Who the hell are you?"

"Why are you visiting me if you don't know me?" he shoots back, raising his eyebrows.

Great. This one's annoying.

"He's here with me," Shinra comes in before I can answer. "This is Shizuo Heiwajima; would you like to introduce yourself?"

Izaya straightens. "My name is Hibiya Subarashii," he says, holding out his hand. I grunt and stand in order to shake his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Shizuo Heiwajima." I can tell easily by his voice he's not so thrilled. He releases my hand and looks at Shinra; I sit down again. "Shinra, what is the date?" he inquires, and Shinra tells him, sounding a little bemused.

"Why do you ask?" he asks, tilting his head.

"I have blank spots," Izaya answers flatly. "Pockets of time I can't seem to remember what I was doing; probably only sitting here anyway. Obviously these doctors are terrible; for all I know they're feeding me too many drugs. You'll take care of that, I assume?"

"Of course," Shinra nods.

I furrow my brow. Those pockets are probably when he was Virus or Roppi or what's-his-name, the nice one, right? I guess Shinra's just saying that to humor him.

I listen idly to Izaya and Shinra talking to one another for awhile, most of the time holding back a very strong urge to throttle this new Izaya. He's prideful and irritating and really needs a punch to the face. Eventually I get too irritated and stand, muttering some kind of goodbye to Shinra before I walk out the door.

Thank you for reading! Next chapter's coming out next Wednesday. Reviews are very welcome! Feedback is great~

I hope all you lovely readers have a fabulous day~