(MY GOD. This chapter was soooo torturous to write. I had a major writer's block. Like, I knew where I was going with the story, but I couldn't put it on the paper. RARGH. So basically, this chapter is a filler chapter. I greatly apologize for that... However, I'd like your opinion on something... What do you think, personally, Izaya should be like since he's no longer "possessed" by a counterpart Saika? Should he still be cynical and a little bit nicer, or should he be all sweet milk and honey? Maybe your ideas can help me with my writer's block? Idek. Well, thank you all to who reviewed [ I honestly smiled like an idiot whenever I read a new review ] and I hope that you'll continue reviewing...? Possibly? Maybe? /shrugs. Well, here it is. Dx)

2 .Knock.

[ fifteen years ago ]

When Izaya had finally come to, he had found that he was no longer laying on the green grass bleeding; but rather, he was laying on a plain hospital bed with clear tubings embedded into his arms. He panicked at first, struggling against the hospital appliances, before he slowly began to realize and remember exactly why he was in such a predicament in the first place.

"Ah~" he let out a sigh as he rested his head back onto the cottony pillow below him. "I fell." Suddenly feeling embarrassed at how he had fallen from the tree after he had gloated about not falling from it, the young boy ruffled his black hair in frustration and groaned. "Agh. I messed up... Mom is probably so mad at meee..."

He stared up at the white (and probably sterilized) ceiling as he lowered his hands, and he silently listened to the beeps of the heart monitor beside him.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"I really hate hospitals." he muttered to himself, turning his head slightly towards the drawn windows beside him. "There's nothing to do..." For a moment, he contemplated sneaking out of his bed since it was clearly evident that no one would be checking up on him soon, but he hesitantly shoved the prospect away.

-Ah, why not~? Just ditch this place. It's boooringgg~!-

Izaya jerked and shot up from his bed, glancing around the room wildly for the source of the voice. However, no matter how many times he looked the room over, he could not find the person who had spoken the phrases...

Then again, he was pretty doped up on medicinal drugs - pain relievers most likely. He was probably just hearing things since his mind was practically half asleep.

-Aw. Don't brush me off like that~!-

This time Izaya nearly jumped out of his bed.

He scanned the room feverishly, maroon eyes darting back and forth. However, he did not do this out of fear; rather, he did it out of curiosity.

"Where are you?" the young boy questioned in a quiet and curious whisper. "Are you... a ghost? Are you haunting this hospital? Are you-

-You're quite the jabberer aren't ya~?- came the mocking reply -But for one, I don't consider myself a ghost. But... I guess that's really for you to decide-

"So," Izaya whispered, trying to imagine what the owner of the voice looked like, "where are you? What's your name?"

-I'm right in here~!- the voice answered chirpily -And for now, my name is Izaya Orihara~.-

Izaya blinked.

Yep. The medicine was definitely getting to him. There was no other explanation. Izaya Orihara was just delirious at the moment.

-Hey~!- the voice whined once more (though Izaya swore that he could hear an amused chuckle intertwined with the whine) -I'm not a delusion. And if I am one, I must say that you must insane then!-

Well... Maybe Izaya was insane. After all, he was hearing a voice separate to his own ego identifying itself with his - well - own identity.

-Is that acceptance I hear, Iza-chan~?-

'Iza-chan'? 'Iza-chan'?! Only his mother called him (and was allowed to call him) Iza-chan!

-Do I sense a mother complex, Iza-chan~? I must say, I am shocked~!-

Getting quite irritated with the voice's mocking tone, Izaya decided to try something to silence the voice. Since the said voice appeared to be able to read his thoughts, that meant that whatever images appeared in his mind would appear in the voice's mind too... right?

So, then...

Izaya closed his eyes tightly and pictured the most horrifying image that he could conjure.

The result...

-OH MY GOD.- the voice shrieked loudly (and Izaya came to realize that the voice was coming from inside of his head [ maybe he was insane after all]) -W-what the hell is this?! My god...you... you...-

There was silence. And for a second, Izaya honestly thought that he had banished the voice from his mind.

-You really are an interesting human, aren't you~?-

…

(The voice never leaves Izaya's head even after he has left the hospital and dropped his pain medications. Strange enough though, Izaya enjoys the company the voice gives him.

The voice claims that it loves humanity in a whole, and then it loves to watch humans react to different situations - be them good or bad.

[Sometimes Izaya wonders if the voice his simply his sick subconscious telling him that he is a sociopath.]

On a more interesting note, Izaya realizes that he and the voice (constantly calling itself 'Izaya Orihara') share a hobby: watching people. They don't do it a stalkerish fashion, preying on one certain individual at a time; rather, they observe people in a whole. However, watching and observing people come and go make Izaya feel rather lonely.

Months pass like this, before the voice finally reveals it's true identity and Izaya isn't quite sure whether or not he believes it at first.

Apparently, the voice in his head is actually a cursed spirit who had contacted him through an object he had touched when he had fallen from the tree all those months ago. Questioning his own sanity with a sense of morbid fascination, Izaya goes back to the tree where he had fallen from and searches for the said cursed object. And after hours of searching in the chilling fall air, he finds it. Touches it... Holds it... Decides to keep it...

And he loses the next couple of hours.

When he comes to consciousness, the voice chirpily explains that it had temporarily taken over his body; and after he scolds it for nearly an entire hour, it promises not to do so again without permission.

[The young boy toys with the idea that he is actually mentally insane and has a split personality. But he knows deep inside that that can't be true and does not seek condolence. He does not want to ruin the entertaining experiences he might encounter with having this cursed spirit whispering inside of his head. Some might call it stupidity , but he calls it fascination.]

This is how their relationship began.

And this is how their relationship continued. At least until Izaya Orihara encounters the first person who actually individually interests him and becomes his friend. Everything changes when Izaya meets Shinra Kishitani.)

[ current day - renowned underground doctor's apartment ]

Shinra Kishitani was enjoying another odd-tasting, yet amazingly wonderful meal in his apartment with his "true love" Celty Sturlson when there was suddenly a loud knock on the door. This caused Shinra to frown slightly. Last he recalled, he had cleared all appointments from his roster to spend a lovely day with his dullahan.

The said dullahan who sat across from him turned her body slightly towards the door with a manner of curiosity, before raising her phone (present with her at all times) and typing: [Business?]

"Of course not~" the underground doctor replied with a slightly bemused frown, "I canceled all of my appointments so I could spend my day with you, Celtyyy~!"

If said Celty had a head, she would have been blushing like a rose. Unfortunately she did not have one, so she simply waved her hand offhandedly towards the door as puffs of black smoke rapidly dispersed from her headless neck.

"I'll be right back!" Shinra promised happily, excusing himself from the table. "Don't miss me too much-

A punch to the stomach silenced the scientist mid-sentence and he smiled sheepishly at his attacker.

"Haha, I'm just kidding." he pipped, rubbing his bruised stomach in pain.

Celty waved him off once more.

Sighing with contentedness, he approached the apartment door and swung it open widely, smile in place. Said smile turned into a surprised gaping mouth, and he quickly adjusted his square glasses to make sure that he was not hallucinating the sight before him.

"K-Kadota?" he blanched. "And Togusa...? Wait, is that Izaya?!"

At the foot of his door stood the former Blue Square's member and his haphazard companion. Sandwiched in between them, one arm slung over each of the other two's shoulders, was one unconscious Izaya.

"Eh?!" Shinra stuttered, before he quickly kneeled down and reached towards one of the pale man's wrists to check his pulse. After about a minute of measuring the said pulse, the doctor found that it was fast but steady. Sighing with slight relief, he peered at the two conscious men standing before him through his thick, square glasses with a raised eyebrow. "What happened? Did Shizuo do this?"

"Not this time," Kadota muttered with a slight smile. He shifted his weight slightly. "Mind if we come in?"

"Of course!" Shinra stood up quickly and stepped back, opening the door wider and waving the trio in. "Put him on the couch."

Kadota and Togusa complied, limping through the room and towards the couch with small grunts here and there. With the help of Shinra, they situated the unconscious information broker onto the couch and stepped back to allow the doctor to do his work.

"So will one of you kindly tell me what is going on here?" Shinra questioned lightly, reaching in his lab pocket to take out a small flashlight. With practiced ease, the doctor clicked the device on, pried one of the unconscious man's eyes open, and shone the light in at it.

"Well," Kadota frowned from behind as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "We saw him at the Russian restaurant and he was acting kind of strange-

"And then he just fainted." Togusa sighed in exasperation, cutting Kadota off.

"Well," Shinra frowned in a perplexed manner as he pocketed his flashlight, "he seems absolutely fine. Everything's reacting normal..."

At that moment, Celty entered the room, helmet clasped tightly onto her head. She paused for a moment and upon recognizing Kadota and Togusa, whipped out her phone. With a series of fluid and practiced hand movements, she typed a questioning phrase onto the cellular device:[Oh! Kadota, Togusa, what are you two doing here?]

"Celty," the blue-capped man blinked in slight surprise, before nodding his head towards the body on the couch. "Came to drop something off."

The dullahan, out of pure curiosity, peered over the edge of the couch; and upon seeing who it was that was lying on the couch, nearly dropped her phone. Quickly regaining her composure, she jabbed at her phone furiously: [Is that Izaya?!]

"Seems like it," Shinra laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up to face the woman.

[Did Shizuo do this?]

"Nope," the doctor glanced back at the former Blue Squares members, before shaking his head once with a quirky smile. "Not this time, apparently."

[What's wrong with him?] typed Celty after a thoughtful moment of silence.

"I don't," Shinra's smile faltered for a moment, "I don't actually know. It's not a concussion or anything of the like." He tapped his chin lightly as if prospecting something impossible, "Honestly, we might just have to take him to the-

There was a sudden knock at the door and it cut through the thick atmosphere like a sharpened knife. The sound was sudden and abrupt, causing all four of those within the room to the jump in slight surprise.

[I'll get it.]

And with that, Celty swept out of the room and towards the apartment door. She peered through the peephole of the door and upon seeing who stood on the other side of the slab of wood, nearly fainted.

Standing right in front of Shinra Kishitani's door was one bleeding Shizuo Heiwijima.