~Chapter 1~

~Smell the Roses~

"English"
"Japanese"
[PDA]
'Thoughts'
*Actions*

[( Translations )]

"What do you mean I don't exist?" she yelled.

"Your name and passport do not show up on any records..." The immigration officer replied trying to calm me down. She slumped into the chair feeling hopeless, it had been about 4 years since she had last been in Japan; everything had gone smoothly, but now, when she finally returned to Japan on an exchange program, she no longer existed. Sighing she kept her head down, trying to make sense of what in the world was going on.

"Your visa is not a forgery, so- although your name does not show up in our records we shall allow you to use your visa and remain here for a year." The officer stated handing me a yellow envelope containing my visa and passport.

"What am I supposed to do though? This is a student visa and the university doesn't have me in their roster. If I'm not a student doesn't that nullify my visa? "

"You should look for a place to stay. Find a job and live your life if you so wish. If you find somebody to sponsor you, you could extend your stay. The only other option you have is to go back." the immigration officer leaned back into his chair, watching the young pinkette in front of him way her options. Neither if them said anything as the lone clock on the empty desk kept track of the passing time with slow tick-tocks.

'No way this is real.-No way this is real.-No way this is real.-No way this is real.-' repeated in her mind over and over again like a broken record.

"Miss?" the sound of the officer's voice snapped her out of the repeating thought with a jolt.

"Your Japanese is really good," he paused, his face showing a sorrowful putty to her plight. Of course taking into account that people with perfectly legal papers are not in the system, is not an everyday occurrence.

"Where did you learn?"

"At school... I started in my 3rd year of Junior High... [( Freshman year )] That's for about 7 years now..." She replied grateful for the distraction.

"What do you want to become in the future?"

"I planned to come here and teach English... Too bad I don't exist anymore ne-" sighing heavily she looked down.

"I'm going to stay." Her voice firm and decided. 'Who knows what can happen within this year...right?'

"Ne~ Take this..." The officer said sliding a wad of cash across the table towards her.

"No way... I can't take your money..." She shook her head furiously, rejecting him.

"My daughter was about your age when she committed suicide... It's a chance for me to atone for not helping her when she needed my help..." He placed the money on the desk in front of her. "You are free to go... try to find a job and start a new life ok?" the officer said before walking out of the small cubical.

Taking a deep breath and looking at the wad of cash, she slowly picked it up and counted how much she had been given so that she could the calculate how much she had to live off of.

"Whoa~" She whispered to herself realizing that the total amount was now equal to about 97,600¥ [(about 976$)]; without a place to sleep She could live for maybe half a year? But, where? Standing up, she stuffed the cash into her wallet, which she then stuffed into her messenger bag and headed off. After she arrived at the station she bought a ticket on Narita express to Ikebukuro Station.

"If I don't exist why not go where I wasn't able to spend a lot of time the last time? I almost know it like the back of my hand..." She thought out loud, remembering how much she wanted to visit Ikebukuro during her junior year in High School and didnt get the chance to enjoy the few hours she had spent in Ikebukuro... She pulled her cosplay coat over snugly over her shoulders and moved the camera hanging around her neck so that it would sit better so that she could get comfortable in her seat. During high school she had been a devoted fan of Durarara, and still was to this day. A fit of uncontrollable laughter took hold of her, earning weird stares from those around her. Her life no longer existed, She was no longer an exchange student to a university here in Japan, She had no friends, no money, and had only what She had on her person during the flight. Oh this was rich, how much more Durarara could this get?

"If this is some sick joke, I can't wait to find out who it is..." She seethed through her teeth getting off at Ikebukuro station, and weaved through the crowds heading towards Sunshine 60. After passing every couple of intersections, she would snapped off her camera lense and take snapshots of her surroundings.

"Way~ better than in the anime" She stated slightly awed despite having been here before. As she continued walking, a sudden yell from a cosplay group made her spin around on her heels to see what was going on:

"I-ZA-YA-KUN~" rushing forward she tried to take a picture of the re-enacted scene of Shizuo chucking a signpost after Izaya. She took pictures on speed mode, keeping the shutter pressed as the Izaya cosplayer ran away leaving Shizuo to continue his act of madness. Taking one last picture as the crowd dispersed she pulled up the "Izaya" hood of her cosplay jacket and headed for Sunshine 60.

"This just made my day-" She froze as a stop sign pierced the ground only inches infront of her. "WTF? Since when does wood go through concrete...?" Turning around wide eyed to face what She had thought to be a harmless cosplayed Shizuo, she met absolute darkness as something heavy collided with her head. The last thing that resounded in her head was the classic yell of:

"I-ZA-YA-KUN~" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The headache hit her full force the moment She regained consciousness... as her senses started to slowly process the unfamiliar surroundings. once she realized that the ground was soft not hard like the city concrete, she shot up only to fall back disoriented and in pain.

"Oww..." She whined softly, lifting a hand to her head. Apparently bandages partially covered her right eye as they wound around her head.

"How do you feel?" a familiar yet foreign voice said softly from nearby.

"Like I got hit by a vending machine..." She joked, opening her left eye, staring at the ceiling in the attenpt to grow accustomed to the light.

"I suppose it wouldn't feel like anything else," the voice laughed.

"N-Nani?" She stuttered trying to sit up again, this time making slow movements...

"Shizuo did nail you with a vending machine..." messy brown hair framing black ovalish glasses focused as she looked at the voice...

"HOLY SH-" She yelled jumping up to her feet before leaning against the wall in pain. "That is not who I think it is...That is not who I think it is... That is not who I think it is..." She chanted slowly under her breath before looking up again.

"My name is Shinra~ by the way... Shizuo... the guy that brought you here... is in the other room." he smiled holding her fur lined jacket towards her.

"A-Arigatou...?" she replied casiously taking back her jacket watching Shinra.

"Come on out when you feel ready to... I'll make some tea until then~ You like barley tea, right?"

"Sure..." she said watching him wide eyed.

"Thank heavens you can speak Japanese. My english is no good... dont strain yourself till I come back!" Shinra said smiling before he walked out, leaving her alone in the room.

"What in the world is going on...?" She tried to take her bearings, making sure all her stuff was in the room, which they all were, except for her shoes. As She gingerly put her coat back on she noticed that her abdomen was also covered in bandages.

"Ouch..." She kept a hand clutching her stomach as she stood in the corner propped up against the wall. Her mind racing around in circles, trying desperately to make sense of what was going on. Her stomach grew weasy as the pounding in her head steadily increased.

"I'm in an anime... How the Fuck does somebody enter an anime!" She tried to yell; her voice coming out as hoarse and dry croak in a slightly raised voice instead.

'It's just not possible... One does not just simply take an airplane to an anime world... How can somebody survive getting hit by a vending machine! Ok...'Taking a deep breath she tried to clear her mind.

'So... I'm now inside Durarara... What the fuck... Ok calm down...breathe in breathe out... I'm here now... What am I going to do...? Wait... There is still not enough proof that this is real... I have to make sure... My friends are capable of pulling this kind of prank...'

She took a timid step forward in the barely successful attempt to walk. As She neared the door her legs gave out and She fell to the floor dragging the nearby chair down along with her. The loud thud that echoed in her ears was followed by a frantic set of footsteps that ran towards the room. Shinra rushed into the room and began to help the girl up off the floor as she laughed uncontrollably despite the pain it brought to her bandaged abdomen.

"Are you okay...?" Shinra asked, his eyes wide clearly not understanding the reason as to why she was in hysterics.

"Good one! You got me good!" I slapped Shinra on the back tears flooding her eyes. "Who hired you? Was it a girl or a boy?" She demanded as she tried to wipe the tears that clouded her eyes; however, Her inability to stop laughing allowed the tears to flow freely. Shinra brought her out of the room thinking that fresh air might bring her back under control. What he never could have anticipated was how she awkwardly waltzes out of Shinra's supporting arms towars the couch were an unruly blonde haired male sat.

"Shizu-chan~?! This is the best cosplay I've seen so far!" She recalled the dozen of cosplay pictures that called her iPod photo stream home. Moving to the other side of the couch She looked the blonde in the face, irritation and confusion plastered his face as She slowly awoke from her denial.

"Y-you... Holy Shi-..." Shizuo sat up as she swayed dangerously back and forth, her hand covering her forehead trying to ease the pain she was causing herself. Shizuo and Shinra looked at each other in absolute confusion neither sure what to make of the girl's abnormal antics. As she fell back into the dark abyss, two strong arms caught her just before her head could collide with the table corner.

Upon opening her eyes once more relief flooded through her body; she was back in her own bed, everything seemingly back to normal; the smell of bacon wafted in through the slightly opened door of the room. Getting up and peaking round the corner she could see her grandma making breakfast. It was a perfect morning, the sun was shining, the birds singing, and best of all, bacon for breakfast. However, that's what made it seem surreal... Everything was just a little bit too perfect. The two of them sat down to eat, but before she could taste the juicy bacon, the scene shifter to the university grounds where she was sitting on a grassy spot watching people as they went along with their daily lives. She groaned realizing that such a sudden jump could only be made in a dream.

A door slamming woke her up from the peaceful dream, and she was back in the room in Shinra's apartment. The last events replayed through her mind making her groan and attempt to turn on a side in order to more easily hide under the covers. Silence thickened as the apartment lay still. The silence was deafening forcing her to sit up slowly to make some noise. She sat there for a few moments trying to make peace with the unbelievable fact that she was now stuck inside an anime.

A strange dream-like state took over as she slowly stood up and made her way out of the room clutching her bandaged stomach. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The halls that she knew so well from the countless hours of watching, no-, re-watching Durarara, were devoid of any life form. On the coffee table black on yellow caught her attention:

{ I had an urgent call from work and I had to go. Make yourself at home~

My lovely partner, Celty, should be returning home from her job soon.

She'll help you redress your bandages.

~Shinra

Mata Nee~ ( ´ ▽ ` )ノ }

The note was written both in kanji and in simple Hiragana, just to be on the safe side. Next to the note were supplies the needed to redress her wounds. Looking at the bandages the growing red dot of blood was barely noticeable. She sat down on the couch and stared into space, for a solid 30 minutes unsure of what to think, and just trying to figure out how to proceed from here on out.

Suddenly she grabbed the supplies and headed back to the room. Without giving it any thought, she stuffed the medical supplies into her messenger bag and headed for the door. After sliding into her converse that were nicely placed by the door, she slipped out of the apartment and waited for the elevator; however, before she could rush into the elevator, leaving the apartment behind, a black motorcycle appeared from inside the elevator.

"Ah-" looking up an all too familiar yellow cat eared helmet with blue and black flames stood in her way, "Celty…?" The biker took out her PDA and typed quickly before showing the lost girl.

[Yes, I'm Shinra's (the doctor) roommate. What's your name?]

"Sakura…. Hikari Sakura..." she managed to mumbled as the hallway began to spin dizzily.

[Sakura…. Thats a nice name...] she typed rapidly before holding out the PDA for the girl in front of her to read.

[Are you ok- ] before she could finish typing, the girl began to sway back and forth and was once more engulfed in darkness as she passed out.