After Roppi had finished his long explanation, Shizuo shifted, pushing his sunglasses up on the bridge of his nose. They were sitting at a table in Izaya's apartment.

"And that's all I know," Roppi spoke dully. "That's what you asked for, right?"

"Yeah…" Shizuo frowned.

"So…can you explain to me what's going on, now? You said you'd tell your side after I told you everything."

Shizuo nodded, drawing his lips into a thin line as he rubbed the back of his head. Tsuki used to do that, too. "Well…first of all, my name is Shizuo, not 'Shizu-chan.' I'm the guy Izaya apparently based a whole bunch of people off of…"

Roppi looked at him. So he and Tsuki had had the same first names as the originals… "So you were his friend?" he asked, tone flat.

Shizuo looked at him, pausing. Then he averted his gaze. "…Nah, we weren't really friends…" He paused. "I, uh… I'm sorry about your friend, and everything else…"

It was Roppi's turn to look away. "Yeah…whatever…" Another pause. "…What happened to Izaya?" Something had to have caused all that had happened. This was where he found out the cause…

The blond looked at the ground, taking off his sunglasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't really want to talk about it, but he guessed he had to explain. "Izaya…," he began. "…Izaya…is dead."

Roppi gazed at him with his red eyes. "So he's dead after all…" He looked to the ceiling.

Shizuo gave a grunt in confirmation. "When you were plummeting…that might have been when he shot himself."

That's when the raven-haired boy stared. Izaya had fallen to suicide? Roppi could remember, back in his creation, that he had tried to pick apart who Izaya was… Roppi knew that there was some kind of emptiness beneath mask upon mask upon mask, but he'd figured he'd numbed himself to the point he wouldn't even consider something like suicide… And thinking about it now, those based off of Izaya… Virus couldn't die, Sakuraya didn't grasp death, and Psyche and Hibiya feared death (despite the fact Hibiya ended up taking his own life too). Did Izaya also fear it? But then there was Roppi – the suicidal, the one who would gladly take to death… Maybe that was why he survived…?

Shizuo's hand was to the back of his head again, not making eye contact. "Izaya…he…" He sighed. "Shinra was the name of his…friend… And Celty is the headless woman. Shinra has known Izaya since middle school, but…I guess you wouldn't call them 'close'…" His head lowered slightly. "I guess you could say no one was exactly 'close' to Izaya… And I bet he wouldn't have let 'em close anyhow, but still… Damned flea."

Roppi squinted. Flea, huh?

"He and I were actually the opposite of friends. We hated each other a lot. The moment I'd see his disgustingly smug face, I'd snap and try to kill him. Now that he's dead, I can say I bet I'd never actually kill the damned maggot." He clenched his teeth. "Agh… If he were alive right now I'd wring his stupid neck for doing something so stupid!" he abruptly stood and flung his fist into the nearest cupboard, shattering the wood.

Roppi watched. Well shit.

Shizuo huffed, muttering an apology. "None of us really saw it coming… Me, Celty, Shinra…" He crossed his arms, still keeping his gaze away from Roppi. He didn't want to explain exactly what had happened, but he guessed he'd have to explain it eventually. "He stopped coming around for awhile, and I was happy with that. I hated him anyway, and he really pissed me off more than anything, since he's a shit. Hearing what you've said, I think you agree."

Roppi nodded, and Shizuo sighed.

"But I guess maybe there was more to the shit than being a shit…so he wasn't all smug smirks and manipulation and 'human love' and all that crap. There had to have been more… I guess he was lonely. He said something like that himself right before he…" He trailed off.

Roppi looked down in thought. "Considering what he gave me… When I was first created, I asked him for a reason to live. He didn't give me anything at first, but when I was ready to break down, he gave me…Tsuki." Roppi looked up again. "And he was reminiscent of…you." His eyes gazed off at nothing again. "Maybe…maybe deep down he actually wanted you to be his friend…or something."

There was a pause, then a low kind of growl. Roppi turned to see Shizuo pinching the bridge of his nose. "I guess that doesn't matter now if he's dead," he uttered. Another pause. "I can't believe that damned flea ended up creating a whole different reality. What the fuck?"

Roppi shrugged, and Shizuo gave a sharp sigh.

"…Shinra and I were there when he did it," he said lowly. "He was still smiling that goddamned smile of his when he pulled the trigger. He was grinning. We tried to stop him, but…"

"…But you couldn't do it," Roppi finished. "It was too fast, right? Nothing you could do."

"Except maybe not be such a shit to him before that."

"He was a shit to you, too," he reminded him. "And me."

"…" Shizuo silently agreed. "…Fucking maggot."

"Yep."

"He's a shit for doing something like that… Dying in a way that he probably knew would make us feel guilty…" A beat, and the blond sighed again. "He didn't even die right away. Shinra checked him; he was still breathing…so we got him to the hospital…but he was brain dead and he only lasted a few more hours." Silence blanketed them again until Shizuo looked at Roppi again. "Now how the fuck did you end up here? Even if Izaya managed to make another reality…it's another reality, not this one."

Roppi shrugged. "Maybe it's because I was the part of him that got him killed."

Shizuo stared. "…Maybe," he grunted, and looked away. "So you think you're going to stay in this world, or are you gonna randomly wink out and disappear?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. Currently, I don't care, either."

"Well…I guess, then, that means you're kinda replacing Izaya." Roppi gazed at him dully in response. "Well, not replace, but, uh, fill in where he disappeared."

"Isn't that kind of the same thing?" he asked flatly.

"…Maybe." He hissed out a sigh. "Whatever. Well, maybe you could live here…"

"This is Izaya's apartment, right?" Shizuo nodded. "…So why were you in here in the first place?"

Shizuo blinked at him. "Oh, uh… I really just came here to kind of think, I guess… I was just wandering around the city…and I guess I just…decided to come here. Maybe try and figure out why he did it. I dunno… But I found you here, so I'm glad I came." He rubbed the back of his head. "So…"

"Alright."

Shizuo looked at him confusedly.

"I can live here, I guess…" Roppi looked down. He hadn't exactly asked for a whole new life; he'd asked for Tsuki back. Oh well, he'd see soon enough whether he could tolerate this restart…

"…I guess…," Shizuo began, rubbing the back of his head again. Roppi looked at him. "…I guess all those people he made won't come back, will they?"

"I doubt it…," Roppi responded, gaze drifting. "I guess they're just…dead."

"Mm," he responded, bowing his head. "Er, sorry about all that…"

"Not your fault."

Silence returned as their ever-faithful companion. Then, "…I…kinda want to show you Shinra and Celty." Shizuo shifted. "Not just to prove to myself I'm not crazy, but…just to let them know, and…and to show you all the new friends you got here in this world, alright?"

Roppi blinked. "Well, alright…"

Shizuo nodded and began walking; Roppi watched before standing up to follow.

Even though Izaya had died, here was another chance. Though it wasn't Izaya himself, it was the piece of him that partially caused his downfall. The piece that brought about his ending. And if that piece could live on now, then it meant all the difference. To Shizuo and to Shinra and Celty; to everyone of this world that had known Izaya, this was their chance to make amends for not trying to dig under Izaya's outer self before there was nothing left in the core, because there would always be that hideous guilt stirring their insides even though all of this was just what Izaya had created for himself. To them, a new Izaya had emerged, and they would likely do their best to save him. And to Roppi…to Roppi, this was a reset. Maybe his life had been rough before, and maybe he didn't want to leave behind his only friend, or all he had known…but here was a chance to have a better life where maybe, just maybe, he could find that thing called 'happiness.' Izaya, who had created his own suffering, lie in his grave, but the part of him that only wished for peace lived on. Perhaps there was still hope.

Despite everything, Roppi smiled a small, lopsided smile.