It was awful. It hurt so much. To the girl, that is.

[Name] broke up with her, due to her falling in love with another boy...
He suspected a person he knew, but it didn't matter now anyways.
The tears that trailed down his face - were those true? Lying on his bed and burying his red cheeks into his pillow... was that all a facade...? Why was he crying? Did it really hurt so much?

It wasn't because of getting used to her, but really the fact of loving her and never being able to get back together...?

The whole weekend, [Name] didn't answer any calls from his friends, his family nor did he poke his head out of his one room apartment.
He was listening to music, stuffing his mouth with junk food and snacks and aimlessly surfing the internet.

The way he looked like was quite horrible...

So, Monday arrived and [Name] figured he would need food. He had used up all of his resources after all so decided to dress up into something acceptable and head out.

He fixed his hair and patched his cheek up. It was a farewell gift from his ex-girlfriend.

An annoying "Tch" left his lips as he glared at the reflection of himself. He damned the day he began dating her - he truly did. If he knew this was going to happen, he wouldn't even have gone out of his way, nor do his best at everything. He was better off alone.

Ikebukuro seemed unusually dark that day. Not many people were around the parts [Name] walked and a sudden strange feeling overcame him. He casually shrugged it off as he continued his way to the local shop he often went to with that girl...

Was it out of hope to be able to see her? No! It was a curse! She was there, with another guy. [Name] only wished that she wouldn't look at him or notice him at all - but he just had so much luck...

He tried to seem casual. It would seem as if he wouldn't even have cared if someone just dropped dead next to him. The boy even turned his back on her while shopping, and turned his volume of his phone to the maximum to overhear her.

He cursed himself for coming here and being in the need of that one certain filling for his taiyaki that he was usually baking. But he overheard her anyways... she even pulled one of his earplugs out.

The sound came was blasting out of those earphones, as he turned with a surprised gaze to the person. He knew who it was... but wasn't it nice to just pretend to not know?

"[Name]-kun, how do you do?"

Those damned sly eyes glared at him. He hated the way she looked at him... she tried to make the contrast different by raising her eyebrows in worry. She also, pretended that their breakup wasn't as bad as it actually turned out...

His amused face turned into a vile smile and welcomed her to play his dangerous game.
Those lips were hiked up into a "v".

"Ah, I am great. A friend is coming over today; I will have to make her something good to eat. How about you? Got a new boyfriend?"

While listening to the male talk, the girl began to smile. She hoped to hear that they were on good terms, but she quickly caught up on the sick nature of the atmosphere. Her smile faded in a rapid fashion, causing her to look down at the ground in discomfort.

"Oh don't feel bad, this hurts me more than it does to you."

The male smiled cheerfully, closing his eyes as a sign of comfort to himself.

"Well, I've got to go - see ya later!"

[Name] bid the girl farewell with a cheeky smile and a flick of his wrist in a charming fashion before skipping past her new boyfriend.

The day went by fast especially whenever [Name] struggled in the kitchen with baking those taiyaki with his pan. At least something productive...

Nightfall arrived in less than a moment, and to escape depression, [Name] headed out to eat some sushi at Simon's Russia Sushi.

On his way, the crowd of people that he missed at the beginning of the day, showed up. Nevertheless, he went on and the moment he entered the restaurant, did Simon notice something.

"[Name], no pretty lady?"

A pained expression crossed his face but smiled nonetheless. He raised his arms mid-way to his sides in an attempt to make an excuse, but ended up lying.

"No, no pretty lady tonight."

It was only that there wasn't going to be any pretty lady, ever again. He took a seat by the bar and began eating the bento box he ordered, with some fatty tuna and black tea to drink.

Simon kept wondering where his girlfriend had been, but [Name] laughed it off as a child, repeating himself "I already told you," to the Russian. He already finished his box, and before he was about to lift the fatty tuna to his mouth to consume, flashing images of a black haired male shot through the shop – chased by a blond male.

With each step, came the disaster and the young male that passed by actually grabbed his tuna from [Name].

"Whoops!" The male cooed as he stole the precious food.

The next thing that happened was that the guy turned back mid-way and actually dragged [Name] with him by the arm. He let him stumble in front of Shizuo who was on a rampage and almost cut his head off with a sign post.

"IIIZAAAYAAA!"

"Hahaha! You'll never catch me, Shizu-chan!"

"..."

"Izaya…?"

[Name] looked after them with a doubted face; he almost thought he remembered something. That's right – Izaya and Shizuo went to Raira, and in his last year before he finished, he quit. That was the year when the two other males graduated.

"Sō datta saa… I forgot him."

He looked at the ground in disbelief; he was shocked that such a thing would even happen to them…

You will forget me, so when that happens, I'll be able to come see you right away

"A-Ah, wait up!"

[Name] shouted after the two as he rushed off, but the search for him was futile. He was nowhere to be found…

On his way returning to his apartment, [Name] was forced to think about the two. They often caused a ruckus; but how come that [Name] could lock himself up this much, to not even know of these two anymore? Maybe he was too occupied with things… But he remembered; he quit Raira because of not seeing any reason behind staying there without Izaya nor Shizuo.

So there he was, without a graduation, being a freeloader and liar.

"I know I won't change."

[Name] smiled with pride at his own stupidity; accepting his reality.

The next day, puzzled though by the event from last night, was [Name]. He was sitting on his bed staring out at Ikebukuro with the crowd of people that swarmed the place.

He remembered his days at Raira Academy. Izaya and Shizuo were in their final year, while the young male was still one year behind.

"He's a stupid flea... I'll kill him!"

Shizuo cursed while talking to Shinra, who seemed fond of Izaya. He tried to calm down the blonde male but it was only making matters worse.
At that time, [Name] was interested in getting involved with them - his school life was so boring...!

"Hey~, you're [Name] from the 2-B class!"
Sang a mischievous voice, coming from behind said boy. He was just about to enter the room where Shizuo and Shinra were, but this fellow; Izaya Orihara stopped him from doing so.

"Come here for a minute."

He advised him with a slight serious tone in his voice now. An arm caressed [Name]'s shoulders as he led him away. Thus preventing [Name] to get involved with things.

"You're really smart~. Too bad it's not showing on your grades, [Name]-chan. Let me ask you; why is that?"

"Why...? Hmm...I am kinda lazy in school... there isn't anything to do it for, so... it's kinda meaningless. I am not really proving any point even if I were to bust my ass off. S-Sorry for the term..."

He sheepishly answered, sitting with tense shoulders on the rooftop. Izaya seemed to be amused by the answer. [Name] seemed so innocent, living his life in a careless way and waiting for something interesting to happen. This made Izaya decide that it may have been better for [Name] to not be involved with dangerous things...

He had some potential for sure... [Name] had a rough childhood and he grew up with constantly having to beat his bullies up, and the countless time that he had been messed with may have caused some people to go mad, insane or even want to kill themselves, but not him.

"You sure seem to possess something... Say, what do you think about suicide?"
Izaya smiled sweetly at the boy who shrugged while watching him back. [Name] lips curved into a smug smile as he raised his arms to make an excuse.

"I don't think that it's the best solution. I never really considered it. It just doesn't sound appealing to me - I wouldn't even have as much from it as if I was living like this."
His way of thinking was so simple...
The grin spread onto Izaya's face like butter.

"I seem to have forgotten him for a while... so he did come to see me then."

[Name] reminded himself of that one sentence Izaya once said to him. Shinra was the same. Probably the two people Izaya considered friends, however his and [Name]'s friendship wasn't as deep as it was with Shinra.

Izaya still wished to know more about [Name], it seemed.

Another day started.

[Name] thought about heading out, and for a few days, he didn't seem to hear nor see any signs of Izaya...

But he found Shizuo. Well, better put; Shizuo found [Name]. The boy got wound up in a fight, and Shizuo got a mail about having to save a poor boy.

"Thanks, Shizu-chan."

"Hah?!"

The blonde growled at the smaller male, who seemed to be intimidated by him.

"It's [Name], Shizuo... from Raira...!"

He seemed so pissed, he would have ripped the boy's head off, making Ikebukuro have 2 headless residents. He stopped growling and blinked in surprise. With a better look, Shizuo realized who that person was...

"You're still a freeloader." He growled again, picking up the boy by his clothes. He glared into his eyes and puffed the smoke of his cigarette into his face as revenge.

"I told you to graduate and you still loath around Ikebukuro at an hour like this?!"

It wasn't Shizuo's business, he knew that himself, but well... [Name] was different. He never annoyed him, and he was a good guy at Raira. Like Shinra, for example - except, Shizuo never called him an idiot; but a wanker.

"You know that Raira isn't a place for me, Shizu-chan -! Besides, what would I do there without my best friends?"

He nervously stammered, trying to calm down the pissed individual. It didn't please Shizuo, however. He raised [Name] higher, and he was about to spin him a few times around to get some air into his head to realize that school was important - was it not for one certain man in Ikebukuro...

"Simon...!?"

[Name]'s eyes grew wide in shock as he was ripped away from Shizuo.

"Fighting bad! Eat sushi, that way you can calm down."

He ordered for both. It was futile, arguing with Simon. The blonde let out a grunt and murmured loud enough for [Name] to hear.

"Just don't do anything stupid. The flea is back in town."

"Flea?"

The boy questioned himself as he pointed a numb finger at himself.
Shizuo gave him a careless nod and dropped [Name] gently to the ground. He let out a heavy sigh and turned to walk away.
Before he did though, he glanced back at [Name], his face obviously looking upset...

The boy was left with a puzzled face, not sure about what or who Shizuo meant. He blinked once and looked down at his feet - Shizuo did want the best for him; keep him safe from Izaya... but there was no way of repeating something as useless as that anymore anyways... right?

"Hmm… too bad you forgot about me, [Name]. But don't sweat it~," Izaya trailed off as he spun in his chair, looking at his cellphone. "I'll come to see you right away."
He smirked mischievously to himself as his eyes scanned the office, looking up at Namie, who was watching him.

"You're planning on harassing him? Poor thing…"

"Hmph," the boy smiled smugly at her. "Namie, I think you still need to learn a few things about me and [Name]. Can't you see how anxious he is? He is dying to see me~. Just like how I am craving for him."

He muttered to himself as his smile grew wider.