A/N; All right, now. I've been reading fan fiction for a while and I finally came to the conclusion that I gotta write something. So here, first fan fiction, not first thing I've written. Rated M for later chapters, probably. Rape, maybe some violence. Gonna be in Kida's POV because I feel like it. It's also slightly AU. Enjoy.

I don't know how long ago it was that I left Ikebukuro. Three, four years ago? You would've thought that I counted the days I was away from my friends, but in all reality, it didn't matter to me. Counting the days would bring back the first day, and the second, the third, so on. I would remember what hell I went through the first few days away from what had become my home…

Did I grab everything? Yeah, yeah, food, water, a coat, first-aid, what else… That picture of me, Mikado, and Anri-chan? … No, I don't need it. That's going out.

I went through all the things in my apartment, until the last thing that was left was my yellow scarf on top of the dresser. I stared at it for a few moments. No, I couldn't flashback now, it was trash now. Useless. Terrible. I grabbed it tightly, running into the kitchen and grabbing one of the knives. I cut it into pieces, cut into tiny little pieces, and threw them out the window.

My memories would be scattered around Ikebukuro, and I didn't really care. I watched as the pieces floated away, finally feeling freedom from what I was obviously running away from.

Finally, I grabbed the very knife from the kitchen, putting it in a knife holster that I'd bought the day before. What lows I'd have to reach to cut someone with this, I don't know. It could be used for other things, like if I needed to protect myself.

Why the hell couldn't I think of anything other than hurting someone else with this?

I scowled; shoving it in my backpack, then ran outside. I might have ran for a good five, ten minutes, until I found myself going past Simon's. Of course, he spotted me. Of course, he knew exactly what I was doing.

His stare caused me to slow down. As I came to a halt beside him, I looked up at him, smiling. "Hello, Simon."

A cold, understanding gray gaze back at me made me feel a pang of guilt. "Kida, running away will not solve anything."

I felt a grin creep across my face. I don't want anyone to worry about me. "What are you talking about? I'm just going on a little run is all~ Simon, you're assuming the worst!" Lies. I've told plenty of them lately.

"I know you're lying to me, Kida."

I flinched. What else could you expect from him? I felt a laugh, a bitter laugh, rise up and escape. "I…" I couldn't think of an excuse. "I gotta go, Simon." Before I could dash off, however, trying to run away from what was making me guilty and uncomfortable, I felt a strong hand grasp my shoulder.

"Don't do anything you'll regret later."

My gaze lowered to the ground, another pang going through me. Without a word, I ran, waving a hand goodbye to the Russian. This is the second time he'd done something like this, and both times he'd made me feel terrible inside.

I ran for a good twenty minutes, mainly stopping in alleys, until I came upon something I had to stop and observe. The Yellow Scarves. Some of the members that I didn't know by name were beating up someone, demanding to know if they were one of the Dollars. They were the exact reason why I was running away. It was them. It was Saki, who I couldn't save. It was Mikado and Anri, who I kept getting the idea that they were hiding something from me. That they were starting to separate from me into their own little world. It was everything about this fucking city. It may look like lights, glamour, and fun on the surface, but deep down it's Hell. You'll get caught up in all this shit and do the same thing as me.

Don't ever come to Ikebukuro.

I opened my eyes. Dammit, did I fall asleep again? The dream was about that first day, too. It wasn't as bad as the second or third day, where I was just a mess. I didn't want to look back, I didn't want to reflect.

Groaning, I turned in my bed. I'd rented a hotel room, but it was practically my home. I worked for the manager doing a lot of meager duties; it kept me from having to pay rent. She was a nice, old lady, no one that would try to screw me over and kick me out. I called her "Granny", even if I knew her real name very well.

I'm just not the best at pronouncing American names.

I'd come to the USA after leaving Ikebukuro, since I had this crazy notion that it'd be better than anything Japan had to offer me. I'd learned enough English to support myself, and I was just learning every day. People seemed to love my accent, though. It was rather amusing.

How I got here is… Well, a long story. Let's just say I found a way to sneak onto a flight, and it including running all the time. Stealing. Doing shit I thought I'd never do, but got stuck doing.

I guess that's what you get stuck with when you do something like this.

I got up from the bed, knowing that in about thirty minutes I'd be expected to help guests and such. For some reason, this little town in California was a hot spot around this time of year. June. I'm guessing it's people getting let out of school, so it's mostly teenagers.

I walked over to the shower, checking the calendar as I strolled by. June 19th. I blinked, doing a double take on the calendar. Today was my birthday? Hell, I had totally forgotten about that. I walked over and checked my phone, and sure enough, my past self had bothered to bookmark it. It was my eighteenth birthday. So it was three years, not four.

"Maybe I could tell Granny, she'll cook something special, I'm sure," I sighed, then chuckled under my throat as I walked into the shower. The whole birthday thing kind of made my day a little better, the dream washing away with whatever dirt and grime I'd managed to pick up since my last shower.

Stepping out and drying myself off, I quickly shaved (since I knew that I looked terrible with any hair on my face, that was a fact) and brushed my teeth, deodorant and stuff too, then quickly slipped on a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt with sneakers, then grabbed my watch before I walked outside.

"Kida! I have a guest already, come help me!"

This early? I blinked, checking the watch. It was six A.M., why would someone be here this early? Shrugging, I walked toward the lobby, shoving my hands in my pockets. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, don't worry, Granny."

I walked into the lobby, seeing that our supposed guest was checking out brochures. We were about an hour away from LA, so I wasn't surprised. I walked over to where she was, leaning on the counter and resting my chin in my hand. "So, who's our early bird?"

She looked over at me, smiling, then handed me the registration. Often she would let me see them, since I'd been working for her for a good eight, nine months. I'd told her practically everything, and she knew I was trustworthy enough.

For some reason, my eyes wandered down to the bottom of the page before going up. The first thing that caught my eye was the signature. It was in English, but at the end had some Japanese characters. I blinked, giving a small smile. So maybe the guy was Japanese? I couldn't read the handwriting, though, but it was probably because I hadn't read Japanese in so long.

Going up the page, I started murmuring what I was reading out loud. I then got up to the basics at the top. "Male... Twenty-one… Orihara, Iza-" I cut myself off, eyes widening at the name. In clear print, there was… that name written. Orihara, Izaya. I could've thrown up right then and there at the surprise and all the emotions that swelled within me at the sight.

Why the hell was he here? What did he want in California? Wasn't Ikebukuro enough for him? I felt a growl rise up in my throat as I pushed the paper away. Obviously, he wasn't twenty-one, either. I knew he was at least twenty-two, if not twenty-three, by what Saki told me. He was still covering up his age from some reason. Right now he'd be twenty-six or twenty-five, something along those lines.

I almost crumpled up the paper, but remembering what it was, I kept myself from doing that and just gripped my shirt. Granny walked up beside me, looking at the paper. "Mister Orihara would like to hire you for showing him around the city, Kida. Don't get him lost, okay?" She laughed, patting my back.

I had to show this asshole around the city? Great, now my birthday felt like the worst day of my life.

I remained behind the counter, hair hiding my eyes, arms brought up and holding my head on the counter, staring down at it. I was hoping for a way out of what would eventually be one of the biggest downs I'd encountered on my escape.

"Ne, are you the one who's going to show me around?" That voice. It was exactly who I thought it was. I guess you can say I had that one last string of hope that someone in this world had the same name as that bastard, but that string was cut as he spoke.

I mumbled, "Yeah, I'm that guy. C'mon… Where's your stuff?" I pushed my way past him, going to where his bags were. I lifted my head up slightly to see that he'd brought at least five bags with him. I quirked a brow. What the hell did he need to bring with him?

Whatever, it's not like I cared. I grabbed the bags and started walking for the room that he'd be in, the only one open at the time. I could hear him behind me, completely quiet, which was a surprise. I was expecting some sort of obnoxious statement about who I was, but he either hadn't noticed, or had something else up his sleeve that he wanted to torment me with.

Finally getting to the room, I practically yanked the door off its hinges to get it open. "It gets stuck sometimes." That was a lie, but I couldn't let him know how much he was affecting me with his presence. I quickly set the stuff inside the room, and then let him walk into the room to look around as I attempted to escape. "Call me when you need me."

One foot out the door, I thought I'd made it out of there without getting into any conversations with the man when I felt a hand grasp my arm. It was a firm one, but he didn't pull at all. There wasn't any sort of tease or anything paired with it, so I'm assuming he wanted me to say something first. "Did you want something?"

Silence, at least, for a while. Then finally, I could practically hear him smirk. "What's wrong with a little bit of pleasant conversation?"

I scowled. That voice always made me scowl. Or feel like I wanted to punch someone again, but I had a bit more self control this time. "I… I'm busy, sorry. We can talk or whatever when I'm showing you around, is that okay?" I finally got the guts to look back at him, seeing that look that he'd always wear whenever we spoke. A smirk, paired with a slightly tilted head, curious, amused eyes, and a dominant stance like he ruled the world.

"I can wait. But show me your face, why don't you? You've been practically hiding yourself from me the whole time, I'm not that scary~"

Wait. Did he not know it was me? Or was he doing what he did best, fuck up your head and make you think things that weren't true? Ugh, I couldn't think straight. Why couldn't I just say something clever to get myself out of this? Why'd I let myself turn completely around at look at him?

Seeing Orihara that surprised amused me, just a bit. So he didn't know it was me, then? I felt my lips quirk a bit in success, but soon they were turned back down as he smirked. "Nee, looks like the dead have come back to life."

The hell? What did he mean by that? I arched a brow at him, but as I did that, he pushed me out and closed the door behind me. I practically fell over the balcony, grumbling to myself.

Okay, so now Orihara was here. With that, his comment was starting to make me suspicious. It ringed in my head, once again. "Looks like the dead have come back to life." Was that implying that he thought I was dead? Probably, something like that.

I started to walk back to my room, feeling dazed from what had just happened. I was surprised at the feeling, actually. Usually, I would be thinking a lot, grumbling, getting angry at everyone and feeling like screaming, but now I just wanted to sit down.

A ghost from my past had just come back. Why'd it have to be him? And why was he here, exactly? Was he playing dumb, did he know I was here, just to fuck with my mind?

I got to my door and leaned against it before opening it, resting my head on the cool wood. So many fucking questions. And it wasn't even seven o'clock yet.

A/N; Hopefully that was good. Also, in note, the reasons why some of this is all happening will be revealed later, yes? A little obscurity in the first chapter never hurt anyone. Review? :D