Written on a whim at night when my parents found out their co-worker died.

Disclaimer: Don't own Durarara! or any of its characters.

Dedication: To everyone who has lost a loved one to disease, abuse, or anything else. Just know that they're in a better place now, looking down at you. Their battle is over but they haven't forgotten you. Don't forget them and keep loving them. That is how they stay alive.

Warning: Contains angst, OOC-ness, child abuse, and some language. This won't be your average "I used to hate you, but now I love you." This is more like "I held some resentment towards you but we're childhood friends so I'm over it."

In the center of the city, sat a playground. It was originally supposed to be apart of the park, but at the last moment, was decided to be set alone. Trees scattered the entire area, home to already several names carved into it. They looked old but were actually fairly new. Many memories were passed throughout the playground with the many people.

Children loved it and walked the few blocks to it after school. Adults settled down to watch the happy children after work, glad for a break. It was a place of resting and a place to release energy.

It was truly the most popular place in Ikebukuro.

They met when he was ten years old.

He was intrigued by the other, younger boy. His almost contrasting red eyes and black hair were unknown and he had never seen anything like it. He admired the fact that he seemed independent despite being so young. He blended in well with the crowd and moved swiftly away from what was his supposed younger twin sisters.

While, he could never leave his brother's side.

At the moment, Kasuka wasn't with him, however. He always preferred to stay at home when his older brother visited the playground, knowing that he probably wouldn't play in the first place.

In his thoughts, he had stopped watching the red-eyed boy, and grew confused when he could no longer find him. He was about to let out a sigh of disappointment when he noticed said boy standing next to him.

"Who are you?" the boy said. "You've been practically stalking me for the last twenty minutes or so."

At this, he blinked his hazel eyes in surprise. He wasn't aware that the boy had noticed him. However, noticing that he had used the word "stalking" when he was clearly just surveying the area, made him a bit annoyed.

"Shizuo Heiwajima" he said, making no move to elaborate.

The other child grinned. "Hmm, Peaceful and Quiet, huh? Doesn't seem so, considering the fit you almost just threw."

Shizuo glared at him. At first thought, he figured the boy to be more of the polite type but now he could see he was more of the annoying type. Shizuo attempted to calm down the anger starting to bubble up within him. This was the reason why Kasuka mostly came out with him in public, sure to try and keep him from hurting anyone.

"Nevertheless, my name's Izaya Orihara" the boy said, still grinning. "Nice to meet you, Shizu-chan!"

"Don't call me that" Shizuo muttered, still a bit angry, although having calmed down, mostly.

"Its an affectionate nickname, Shizu-chan." Izaya replied.

An affectionate nickname?

"Affectionate nicknames?" Shizuo scoffed. "There is no need for your so-called affectionate nicknames. We've only just met, we're not friends or anything. In fact, I'm leaning more towards the enemies factor."

At this, Izaya just stared at him. "May I remind you that you were the one scoping out people?"

Shizuo sighed. "I wasn't scoping anybody out, idiot. More like surveying who was here and who wasn't."

Izaya looked up at the sky. Shizuo, confused, also looked up when he did and gasped. When he'd arrived at the playground, the sun was setting, now it was practically dark. How could he miss something like that?

"My mom's going to kill me!" Shizuo yelled, panicking. He picked up his satchel and got ready to run off when he remembered the person he was just conversing with. He turned to him, seeing him just standing there.

"Aren't you going home?" Shizuo asked him.

Izaya frowned. This caught Shizuo by surprise considering that the only expression he'd seen on the boy so far were sinister grins and smirks. He was barely able to contain his shock.

"They don't care about me" Izaya replied.

Shizuo remembered the twins he had spotted earlier. "What about your twin sisters? Won't they be worried if you don't get home by dark? And surely, your parents will be wondering where you are."

Izaya's frown turned into a bittersweet smile and he directed it towards Shizuo. "Ah, well, my sisters were most likely happy to get rid of me. Same with my parents. I don't really get along well with my family."

"Oh, well, I'm sure it'll all work out" Shizuo said, trying to rush the conversation along so he could get home. "If its your family, I'm sure it'll work out because you definitely love each other!"

And with that, he ran away in the direction of his house.

He didn't notice but Izaya didn't leave that one spot for many hours.

It wasn't like his family cared, anyway.

They didn't meet again for another five years.

The playground had been replaced by other children, much younger than them. They enjoyed it as much as the teenagers did when they were children. They played after school just as they did.

Shizuo Heiwajima at this point, was fifteen years old. He was entering his first year of high school.

He'd allow himself a couple of minutes a day, when he was away from school work, to reflect on the past. Izaya Orihara was a constant thought in his memories. Since the day he had met him, he hadn't seen him again. He wondered where the younger teen had disappeared off too, wondering if he was well, wondering if he still had family problems.

Over the years, he had developed a sort of resentment towards Izaya. Izaya hadn't returned in five years, he had disappeared without the slightest trace. Despite Shizuo's apparent annoyance towards him, he wanted to know if he was still alive, at least. However, he couldn't know and he hated that. He hated not knowing things that could be simply found out.

He expected to see Izaya at the high school at least but no one had ever heard of his name, which was strange since he figured Izaya had lived in the area his whole life. He figured at least one person to know.

Shizuo sighed and took a right turn. He was currently on his way home. Every day, he passed the playground and watched the children playing for a few minutes before going on his way.

Today wasn't a normal day. The playground was empty.

Shizuo blinked, bewildered and searched the playground for at least one child. No luck. There weren't any. Not even any adults taking a break after their work days. This was strange. Ever since he was a child, the playground had never been as empty as it was now. It gave off an eerie feeling and Shizuo turned to rush out.

The corner of his eye caught view of the swings and seeing a figure, he turned in the general direction. He gasped.

It was Izaya. He'd know him anywhere.

"Izaya!" Shizuo yelled, dropping his satchel and running towards him.

Izaya looked up with a blank expression, wondering who was calling him. As he saw the familiar face, shock registered on his face and he attempted to look down and disappear. He was sure he would never see Shizuo again.

"Where have you been for five years, damn it?" Shizuo yelled, when he had arrived in front of him.

Izaya didn't reply. He couldn't possibly tell Shizuo what had happened to him.

Shizuo noticed his lack of expression and conversation. He squashed down his anger and sat down next to Izaya in the other swing. There was definitely something wrong and although they hadn't seen each other for five years, he was going to get to the bottom of it.

"What happened?" Shizuo asked, in a quieter voice.

The other male turned his face away from him, rejecting his concerning question. Shizuo could no longer quell his anger. He grabbed Izaya's chin and turned his face around to look at him.

However, before he could even say anything, he took in Izaya's appearance. His mouth fell open in shock. It wasn't the clothes that surprised. No, it wasn't anything like that. It was something much more.

It was the bruises.

They adorned most of his body, although most of them were covered by his clothes. Shizuo was speechless as he looked over every bruise and etched them into his brain. He couldn't even bear to look Izaya in the eyes as he searched for every injury. There seemed to be the most near his abdomen and chest, which could cause extreme internal damage.

"W-what happened?" Shizuo managed.

All resentment he had gathered for Izaya over the years suddenly washed away as he asked him this question.

However, Izaya looked as if he didn't want to answer.

"Izaya, you can tell me" Shizuo said. "I promise, I won't tell anyone else."

Izaya sighed. He and Shizuo had only met twice. This was technically the second conversation they had ever had. Over the years, he had gathered information about him before. Currently, he felt as if Shizuo was the only one he could talk to about the problem. He knew practically everything about him but Shizuo knew nothing about him.

And so he told the story.

Shizuo stayed quiet for the two hours that it took to tell it.

He could never have imagined Izaya was going through something as horrible as this. Beaten to death almost daily by his parents, including sexual abused by his father. Apparently, this had been going on for years and had already been going on for two years when he met Shizuo. Izaya told him that his sisters didn't get the same treatment as he did.

But why? Why would someone do something so horrible to their first born child?

When Shizuo asked this, Izaya replied that his parents thought him to be different. He said that he loved humans of all shapes, sizes, and ages. He longed to be with them, but he could never love just one person. The inability to love was despicable in his parents' eyes and they sought out to get rid of him. Obsessed with their hatred, they did not notice the traits passing on to the twins. They sought to be one person, but different individuals at the same time.

In Shizuo's opinion, the twins were more twisted than Izaya was. It wasn't his fault that he apparently didn't have the ability to love. So what he never got married and gave them grandchildren?

"What about the twins?" Shizuo asked. "They could carry on the family line, even if its not the Orihara name."

Izaya smiled forcefully. "They can never do anything like that. Mairu and Kururi could never have children or get married."

Shizuo stared. "But why?"

"Because," Izaya said, sadly. "Although, they're both female, twins, want to be the same person...they're virtually in love with each other. At first, I would call it incest but its more of selfcest in their case."

Shizuo was speechless. He never expected something like that.

"Do you have any siblings, Shizu-chan?" Izaya asked, although he already knew the answer.

Shizuo turned to him and nodded, thinking about Kasuka. Over the five years, he had grown somewhat distant towards his younger brother but that didn't mean he loved him any less. Besides, Kasuka always seemed too involved with his own thoughts to learn of Shizuo's life. They mostly left each other alone and talked on rare occasions.

"His name is Kasuka," Shizuo said. "He's my younger brother."

He knew that already. He knew everything about him. But, listening to Shizuo talk seemed to take his mind off his current situation. So, he asked more questions.

"What about your parents?"

"Ah, well, they're mostly on business trips. I don't see them much."

"Do you love them?"

Shizuo looked at him in shock.

"Of course I do."

"I see." Izaya replied, and forced another smile.

Shizuo got up off of the swing and stretched. He had been sitting there for hours, just talking to Izaya about his life. It felt good to actually hear someone talk after not really having much conversation between his brother and him.

"Well, I better be going" he said, grabbing his satchel.

He began to walk away. At the last moment, he turned to say something to Izaya. Something encouraging so that he could possibly get through the night at his house, with his wretched parents.

But, as he turned, he found the swing empty.

He hadn't heard the swing shift and it wasn't swinging back and forth as it did when someone got off. He also hadn't figured Izaya to be that fast of a person.

He frowned.

That was weird.

By the time Shizuo graduated, he had met with Izaya multiple times in the playground. After the second meeting, he seemed to be there every day, which Shizuo was glad for since he felt as if he could always talk to Izaya. Although, every once in a while, Izaya made him more angry than most people did. If was if the smallest thing Izaya said would make him go crazy.

He would instantly calm down later though.

Today was a day in which Shizuo waited for Izaya to arrive. Sometimes, he got there early enough to be there before him. It always amused him to see the shock on his face when he got their earlier than the other did.

It seemed as if Izaya was running late today so Shizuo took this time to reflect on their relationship.

It was surely a strange one. He believed they were stuck somewhere between friendship and romance, not mentioning also stuck between love and hate. He couldn't really call Izaya a friend, or a lover, but he couldn't really call him an enemy either. They fought on a constant basis but by the end of the visit, they always made up.

Shizuo shook his head. What exactly was Izaya Orihara to him? Izaya was pretty much smarter than him, he'd admit that, so perhaps if he asked him, he'd know the answer to his troubles. He admitted that he was scared to know the answer though. If they were only friends, would he have unwanted feelings? If they were something like lovers, would that ruin the friendship? If they were enemies, then why did he enjoy his company so much? It was all so confusing.

There were so many signs for each proposition. He enjoyed Izaya's company but constantly argued with him. That sounded pretty friendly to him. But, he'd also hugged Izaya on multiple times, and even went as far as to kiss him once. He wasn't sure how he took it though since he had ran away right after. The next day, he had pretended that it never happened. And so did Izaya.

Perhaps, he was in love with the other boy.

But Izaya could never return his love. If he was, he'd be forever stuck in the abyss of unrequited.

"Hey, its your Graduation day, isn't it?"

The voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked up into the face of the person he had just been thinking about.

"Yeah." he replied, as the other took a seat next to him.

That's when he remembered.

"I've never seen you around school." he said to Izaya. "Are you home schooled or something?"

Izaya nodded. "My parents didn't really want me around other children my age, apparently." At this, he scoffed. "As you can see, that turned out fine." he ended with.

"Well, they haven't been practically trying to kill you lately, so I call that an improvement." Shizuo pointed out, gesturing to the places when multiple bruises used to be visible.

Izaya grinned. "Yeah, I guess so."

They sat in silence for a while before Shizuo figured it was the right time to ask him the question he'd been thinking about. It was either now or never, and he didn't think he could live the rest of his life without knowing where they stand.

"Izaya?"

After he'd gotten his attention, he continued. "What is our relationship?"

Izaya stared at him for a while. "What do you mean, Shizu-chan?"

Shizuo stared back. "I mean, what are we? Are we friends? Are we lovers? Enemies?"

Izaya thought for a while, having not really thought about it really. He wasn't sure what he and Shizuo were. They definitely weren't enemies, despite how angry Shizuo got at him on most days. They weren't really friends, because friends don't...

He blushed a deep red, remembering the day when Shizuo had kissed him. Friends don't really kiss friends like that. But, they couldn't really be lovers either despite whatever was felt. He couldn't love one person, could he?

But Shizuo wasn't really human.

He had super strength and a temper that ignited much more than regular people. He was like Izaya, apart from the world, but in different ways. He'd call Shizuo a monster more than a human, exactly like he was.

Perhaps, he was in love with him.

"Perhaps, we're lovers." Izaya said, and leaned back with relief when that sounded right.

Shizuo stared at him and returned to his own thoughts.

He was hoping that was the answer.

Shizuo stopped returning to the playground less and less. When he did return, there wasn't a trace of Izaya anywhere. He tried to call but every time he dialed the number, the operator told him it didn't exist. He thought about visiting Izaya's home and finding out if he was okay. Izaya had given him the address years ago but he'd never visited.

Now was the time.

After work, he climbed into a cab and told the driver the address. At first, the driver asked him to repeat it and then he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had to convince him over and over that he had the right address.

Why wouldn't he?

The cab drove down a series of roads, before stopping in front of one. The cab driver stated that this was the closest he could get to the address Shizuo was asking for. Shizuo thanked him, paid, and climbed out.

The buildings down the road were mostly rented apartments. The apartment number on the slip of paper said 201 but the road ended at 200. Shizuo was confused. How could there not be the designated apartment number? It was as if it never existed.

He asked the residents that lived in the apartments.

None had ever heard of the Oriharas.

Shizuo returned to the playground, hoping that Izaya was there so that he could explain. This time, he took his boss, Tom Tanaka with him. During jobs, he had talked about Izaya a few times and Tom had requested to meet the person who was the object of Shizuo's affections.

"He should be right over here." Shizuo said as he turned the corner, hoping the other male was there.

And there he was. Shizuo rushed right up, with Tom following.

"Tom-san," Shizuo said, getting his boss's attention. "This is Izaya Orihara. Izaya, this is my boss, Tom Tanaka. He wanted to meet you after hearing me talk so much about you."

Izaya got up from the swing.

Shizuo expected him to extend his hand to Tom but all he did was stand there.

"Izaya?" Shizuo asked, somewhat concerned.

Izaya turned to Shizuo, sadly. "Shizu-chan. He can't see me."

Shizuo's jaw dropped in shock, not quite believing. To be sure, he turned to look and Tom and found that sure enough, he was looking around for this "Izaya" person that Shizuo was talking to.

As confused as Shizuo was, he could put pieces together. No one but him can see Izaya, no one knowing about the Oriharas, the apartment number 201 not existing...

Either the entire Orihara family had never existed or there was something behind this.

Shizuo took Izaya's arm and leaded him behind an oak tree. He gestured to Tom that he would just be a moment talking to Izaya. He turned to the person in question and was about to open his mouth.

Izaya put one finger over his lips and then kissed him.

Somehow, Shizuo felt like this was the final one.

"Goodbye, Shizu-chan" Izaya said, pulling away. "You showed me what true love was."

Shizuo panicked. After all they had been through, where was Izaya going? And what was all this stuff with his family not existing? He needed answers and he needed them now.

"You can't leave!" Shizuo practically yelled.

Izaya nodded. "I have to. Its time for me to return. But, I'm leaving you with something."

Before Shizuo could utter another word, Izaya placed a disc into his hand, kissed him on the cheek with a sense of finality, and then disappeared right in front of Shizuo's eyes. Shizuo could barely believe this was even happening to him.

In the next few minutes, he rushed home, forgetting about Tom and only thinking of Izaya.

The minute Shizuo got home, he popped the disc into his DVD player. Hopefully, this would give him his answers and tell him where Izaya had run off to. Well, at least he hoped that's what it contained.

As soon as he pressed play, Izaya's face came on camera.

Shizuo touched the screen as Izaya began to speak.

"Hello, my name is Izaya Orihara. I am twenty-three years old but I was murdered by my parents at the age of ten. I do not know why I was allowed to grow but I was."

Shizuo stared forward, not saying anything, not commenting.

"I met the only person I love, Shizuo Heiwajima, when I was ten years old on the playground. The exact day after, my parents beat me to death. At first, I kept the bruises but they gradually disappeared over time. The only reason my parents gave for murdering me was that this was the only way I was going to finally love. The only way I would stop being so different. Stop being a monster."

He took a deep breath.

"And they were right. Without them killing me, I never would have been able to spend as much time with Shizu-chan as I did. I actually thank them for that one deed. It was the one good deed they ever did."

Another deep breath.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering about the house and the neighbors. When I was killed, my sisters found no reason to hold back. They came out to my parents and became "one" as they would say. They got rid of my parents and lived by themselves. Of course, they would never get away with it. They had the house demolished, under the manager's name and threatened the neighbors to keep quiet about the Oriharas. It was as if they never existed. But, we did. Our whole horrible story did."

By this point, Shizuo and the TV Izaya were both crying.

"I know I can't stay as a ghost for long, but, I just want you to know, Shizu-chan. That I loved you with all my heart. I believed myself incapable of love but you showed me that I'm also human, and can love somebody. Thank you for that. I'll truly miss you."

And then the disc ended.

Shizuo sat in silence for a while. Everything hadn't registered in his mind. He hadn't yet come to terms that Izaya was dead and that he possibly could never see him again. But, then why was he still on earth even after he died? Ghosts usually have attachments. Perhaps, he was just there because he had an attachment to Shizuo.

Or perhaps he wasn't put to rest.

That meant he could still be wandering around the city, despite saying he had to leave. If Shizuo could find his body and properly bury it, then maybe Izaya could finally be at peace.

With this revelation, he jumped up and ran out the door.

Shizuo was at a loss.

It was hours ago since he had left his home, to search for Izaya's body. He'd checked the empty area that was supposed to home Apartment 201 but found nothing suspicious. He checked various places in which he thought would be a good hiding place. He had come up with nothing, in the end. Either Izaya's sisters were too smart for him or he'd been looking in the wrong places.

Currently, he was sitting under the biggest tree in the playground, searching the clouds. Izaya was gone, there wasn't an inkling that he was around the playground. Tom had also disappeared off to somewhere. Shizuo wasn't exactly sure how he was going to explain the day's events to his boss, let alone go back to work after all his emotional distress.

He sighed and ran his hand over the bark of the tree. They had carved their names into the bark long ago, with the word 'Forever' sealing something between them. Forever, apparently didn't last very long.

Shizuo slowly reached up and ripped off the section of bark that suggested forever. It was easier to rip off than he thought it to be and he looked back at the tree, suspiciously. He touched the underside and looked on in confusion when he realized that it was softer than normal. It pushed in on it a few times, noticing it going deeper each time.

He ripped the insides of the tree apart and finally reached something. He noticed what he thought to be a red shirt inside. Panicking, he ripped the rest of the tree apart and looked inside. His suspicions were confirmed.

It was right under his nose the entire time.

Mairu and Kururi had hid Izaya's body in the very tree that held many of their memories.

Shizuo fell to his knees as he looked on in horror at the sight of Izaya's dead body. Tears formed again, as if he was seeing him dead for the first time. The shock came back and he curled up.

He didn't move for hours.

Tom found him hours later, lying next to the body. He had removed it after his shock wore off but still didn't want to leave. Tom was at a loss. Who exactly was this person Shizuo was lying next to?

When he got closer, the smell of decomposed flesh caused him to retch in a nearby bush before staggering over to wear Shizuo was. He had a blank look in his hazel eyes and Tom had the inkling that he hadn't moved for hours and wasn't going to move for more.

"Shizuo, what's wrong?" Tom asked, sitting next to him.

Shizuo directed his eyes towards his boss. They were empty and hollow.

"Tom-san," Shizuo said, staring at him. "He's dead."

Tom looked at the body, in worry, wondering who it was and why was it here. "Who's dead?" he managed to ask, although he kind of had a feeling if he put it together with the earlier events.

"Izaya." Shizuo said, leaning on his arms. "I mean, he was already dead, but I found his body."

Tom began to say something in response when Shizuo began again.

"I have to bury him somewhere." Shizuo said, rising to his feet and dragging the dead boy with him. "He has to be put to rest no matter what. Otherwise, I'll never see him again."

Tom stared at Shizuo as he began looking around the area. This couldn't possibly be Izaya, Shizuo's so-called lover. This was a boy that Tom reasoned to be around ten. And plus, the body was mostly decomposed, probably kept somewhat intact from the tree's nutrients. Was this really the amazing Izaya Orihara that Shizuo talked about so much?

"But, Shizuo." Tom said, getting up to follow him. "How can this be Izaya? This is a child."

Shizuo turned towards him and glared. "This is Izaya when he was ten years old. He's grown since then."

Tom didn't quite know what he meant so he kept quiet while Shizuo turned round and round the playground. His eyes found the swings and looked immediately at the dirt under it. He rushed over and began to remove various clumps of dirt. Tom knew what he was trying to do and ran over to Shizuo's side to stop him.

"Shizuo!" Tom exclaimed. "You can't possibly bury a body here! Children play here!"

It fell on deaf ears. Shizuo keep removing the dirt at a rapid pace and soon had a small ditch, or grave technically. He picked up the decomposing body and placed it into the ditch. Then, he began to gently replace the dirt over it. As soon as he was done, he stood back and admired his work. He had finally buried Izaya.

Tom had nothing to say. He just looked on. He asked no questions despite how many he had.

And that's when he saw him.

A taller, more mature version of the boy Shizuo had just buried. He was in a similar outfit as the ten-year old version of himself. It seemed as if he had appeared out of no where.

Izaya immediately went up to Shizuo, whispered what Tom figured to be a 'thank you', kissed him one last time and disappeared with a smile on his face. Tom turned to see Shizuo's expression but the shadows were covering him.

Shizuo turned around and walked away.

Tom just looked on, bewildered.

It was two years after Izaya had disappeared.

Shizuo was sitting across from what he thought to be two of the weirdest people he'd ever met, or rather "one" person in their minds. He was sitting across Mairu and Kururi Orihara. They sat as close as possible to each other and constantly held hands, including wearing matching clothes.

"Why'd you do it?" was the first thing that came out of Shizuo's mouth.

He still hadn't forgotten.

They exchanged a look. "One" was the only word Kururi said. This had a completely different translation for the other twin. "It was the only way we could become one."

Mairu nodded. "If we didn't get rid of our parents, they would have never accepted our need to become "one". Izaya-nii was already dead by this point and to get rid of any tracks to our parents, we had to hide Izaya-nii's body too."

Shizuo stared forward. "Why didn't you tell the police or anything?"

"Jail" Kururi said. "They would have eventually gotten out of jail."

Mairu continued, "And everyone would know the Orihara name if our parents were sent to jail. Besides, we were too young. They would have sent us off to an orphanage and we wouldn't have wanted that."

Shizuo was frustrated. They hadn't done a thing for Izaya when he was alive and they still didn't when he was dead. So far, they hadn't even asked him if he'd discovered Izaya's body.

"You're both sick!" Shizuo said, slamming his hands on the table. "You're fucking despicable!"

And with that, he stormed out of the small cake shop, hoping he never came across the Orihara twins again.

Immediately after leaving the cake shop, Shizuo set out to the playground to clear his thoughts. When he turned the corner he'd been turning for years, he found almost nothing there.

Many groups of people stood in the bare lot and Shizuo joined them, confused and panicked.

"What happened to the playground?" he asked a man standing towards the front.

The man turned towards him. "When we all arrived here, there wasn't anything there. The only thing that remained were the swings. Everything else is gone. All the tress, everything."

Shizuo surveyed the area and surely enough the swings were the only thing that still remained. He stared at them, wondering what had happened. What had happened to everything else?

People began to leave the spot, promising to bring their children to another playground. Shizuo stayed and stared at the swings. It was as if there was a light shining down on it. He walked over and sat in the spot, when all the other people had left.

"Izaya." he said, realizing why everything was gone.

He smiled and swung a few times.

"You were lonely, weren't you?"

Over the next few years, Shizuo Heiwajima was not seen around Ikebukuro, not seen with his boss, Tom. He wasn't even seen with his brother around. Both wondered where he was. It was if he had disappeared into thin air. Searches were conducted for months but he was nowhere to be found. By this point, both had given up any hope.

The playground remained in the same place and its other attractions had returned.

One certain boy loved the playground. He always visited after school and swung on the swings. It made him feel as if he was flying so he kept at it every day. He and his friend sometimes had races to see if they could get to the top.

One particular day, he was waiting for his friend to return from school. He blinked his pink eyes and swung his satchel back and forth as he waited. He really hoped he wouldn't be late.

He turned to look around when he saw him standing near the entrance. His friend called his name and he immediately ran to join him at the entrance so they could walk home together.

"Coming, Tsugaru!" he said, as he ran.

Behind him, was the biggest oak tree in the entire park. While waiting, he had carved their names, Tsugaru & Psyche, into the bark, placing the word forever under it.

And this time, it would last.

"If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character...Would you slow down? Or speed up?"

~ Chuck Palahniuk

Author's Note: Thank you for reading. I'm sorry about the OOCness. This is only my second Durarara! fanfiction, my first being a yuri that didn't turn out so well. Nevertheless, besides all the mistakes, I hope you enjoyed it.

Note: If its kind of confusing for you, here is the basis of the fanfic:

Izaya was beaten by his parents over and over because he loved all humans, therefore, probably having the inability to love a single person. This was considered "weird" by his parents, so they decided to get rid of the weird one in the family. They didn't notice Mairu and Kururi's obsession with wanting to be one person.

They murdered Izaya at the age of ten. When this happened, Mairu and Kururi's plan stepped into action. They hid his body in the biggest tree at the local playground and murdered their parents. This way, they wouldn't have to worry about disapproval, and they could be whatever they wanted. They made the neighbors keep quiet and demolished the apartment to keep their tracks covered.

Izaya needed a person to find out about this. This is why he stayed on Earth. He figured that Shizuo was going to be the person to find this out considering that he was the only one that could see him.

He began to disappear every time Shizuo got closer and closer to a clue and finally disappeared all together when Shizuo found his body and buried it under the swings.

Being one person under a two-swing place, he felt lonely. Shizuo made the choice to die with him. Its up to you to guess if his soul was just taken from his body or if he really committed suicide a little bit later.

At the end, Shizuo and Izaya, not having that good of a life, were given a chance to restart, but this time as Tsugaru and Psyche.

Well, that's pretty much it.

Thanks again for reading.