-Chapter 1-

-Welcome to Ikebukuro-

" English"

"Japanese"

[PDA]

'Thoughts'

"If the whole world is mad, what use is logic?"

~ N/A

The airplane had arrived ahead of time, giving me an extra hour to get lost in Tokyo, since there wouldn't be anybody waiting for me... Therefore I slowly made my way through the train system towards Ikebukuro. I clutched my backpack straps for dear life, dreadfully paranoid of getting lost in such an unknown world... As the train stopped at Ikebukuro station, I pondered my decision. It had been 7 years since I had last seen my brother face to face, and now I was on my way to his house. Getting of the train quickly I decided that I had no other choice.

'No way in Hell… will I go back to that lab coat prison called home'

Leaving the station I ventured out into the /streets holding onto a city map and the notecard, with my brother's address. Getting around was near impossible due to my limited Japanese…

"Russian Sushi! Sushi Good!" a large black man dressed as a sushi chef yelled out as he passed out fliers in front of a Russian Sushi Restaurant.

"Miss, Eat sushi~ Sushi good for travel~" he said holding a flier out to me.

Taking the flier I checked the time…

"I still have 2~ maybe 3 hours left…. Why not?" he smiled at me.

"Right behind you?" I made sure to double check.

"Yes. Lots of Sushi…. Good for travel~" he replied before turning around to hand out fliers to people who tried to avoid him.

Walking into the restaurant the chef welcomed me ushering me into an empty room before returning to his place in the kitchen. I took off my shoes at the door, and hid my pack behind the entrance wall due to my paranoia. Taking a seat near the end of the table I picked up a menu and took on the task of trying to read and understand what it said.

"Yo~ !" a voice to my left said, returning me to the real world.

"Gomen~ didn't mean to surprise you~ " the man said, his voice amused with my reaction. I looked him over, he was taller than me, and his red brown eyes contrasted his dark black hair. He had a black jacket, which was trimmed with fur along the hood, hands, and end. His eyes watched me intently, as though reading me, trying to judge my reaction to his sudden presence.

I pulled my cat-eared beany lower, a bit surprised at how he managed to sneak up on me without me hearing him.

"What's your name?" he said casually picking up his menu.

"Call me Mika…" I replied, nervous at the idea of having to keep a discussion going in Japanese.

"Where are you from?"

"…. America…." I returned to trying to make out the menu…

"So~ Mi-chan~ who are you visiting?"

"My Nii-chan and his roommate live here…" I sweat dropped remembering just how lost I am…

"What you eat?" the black man from outside asked standing in the doorway.

"Ah~ Simon!" the black haired man said before starting a conversation in Russian with 'Simon'. I watched them impressed that they would actually know Russian… after they had finished the conversation Simon turned back to me to get my order.

"Just some miso soup and tea please"

"Too little, eat more to fill stomach" he replied shaking his head in disapproval.

"Next time... I promise ...Simon" I smiled unable to wait until next time...

"How bout tomorrow Mi-chan~?" The black haired man said enthusiastically.

"Maybe... My brothers' roommate loves cooking so she may make more than my brother and I can eat. But I would love to." I smiled not feeling so awkward. Either way Simon approved of me coming again so he walked off to place the order...

I looked at the man beside me thinking about what to say...

"Nee~ that was Russian right?"

"Yep... I can speak English too if it would help~" he replied slightly bored...

"It's ok I have to get used to speaking Japanese if I'm able to stay..."I replied not wanting to inconvenience him.

A rather l long awkward silence ensued, as he studied my reactions before looking at his phone... My phone broke the silence as it began to ring. Hurriedly I picked it up.

"Moshi Moshi?" Recognizing the voice I apologized to the dark haired man.

"What's up Raizo?"... "Yes I'm here" ... "No I'm not at Nii-chan's place yet"... "OI! Why don't you get you ass over here and try to find his place!"... I sighed as Raizo apologized on the phone... "I'll let you know when I arrive okay?" ... "Bye..."

"So~ Mi-chan~ who was that?" The man asked.

"You should introduce yourself first..." Finally realized I knew nothing about him.

"Tell me first..." He said practically ordering me...

"My other brother... Now, what's your name?" I said quickly.

"Izaya..."

'I-za-ya-, gotta remember that… I finally know somebody else in this city!' I danced internally feeling more comfortable with my surroundings.

As he spoke Simon arrived with our orders... Tea for both, miso soup for me, and sushi for Izaya. After Simon left I asked I turned to ask Izaya what kind of sushi it was...

"Fatty Tuna... " He stated simply.

"Why do you wear that hat inside?" He asked pointing to my beany with his chopsticks.

"Lucky hat..." I stated simply, reaching for the cat ears, in a nervous twitch.

" And you believe that?" His soothing voice was laced with amusement, at the childlike belief.

" Yes I do... It is actually its the main reason I made it here... Well that and me, dying my hair..." I twirled a strand of my now dark blood red hair...

" Interesting" was all he said. I drained my tea and miso soup before looking at the time.

" Ah Shit!" I cursed under my breath realizing that I now hand under an hour and a half to figure out where Nii-chan lives... I watched Izaya as he finished his sushi slowly... His name was so familiar, but I couldn't place it anywhere... Maybe...

" Umm I-kun...?" I said, as we finished paying for our meal and headed for the restaurant exit...'If he give me a nickname why by give him one too?' I thought to myself...

"Could you help me out?" Izaya snickered amused at my 'helplessness'.

"Sure... What's in it for me?" Izaya bounced on his heels expectantly, signature smirk gracing his lips.

"Umm-" I started before... "WHAT THE!" …. A street sign missed my head by centimeters...

"I-ZA-YA-KUN~!" a blond haired man in a bartender suit was seen across the street picking up a nearby vending machine getting ready to hurl it in our direction.

"Ara~ Forgot about you Shizu-chan~ !" Izaya said before grabbing my hand and pulling me down the street after him. As we ran 'Shizu-chan's' profanities could be heard, while the objects he threw were visible as Izaya danced out of the way, with me in tow.

The running continued for what seemed like ages, my legs numb and my side hurting on top of my shortness of breath…. 'Man am I out of shape!'

"Sorry Mi-chan~ . That… protozoan has no self-control…" he twirled around lightly in the dark alleyway, as though this was a regular warm up. Seeing my huffing and puffing he laughed out loud.

"No~ Really?! He seemed to know Exactly- what he was- doing-" I huffed sarcastically, rolling my eyes for further dramatic effect. Izaya laughed harder, before he finally calmed down and squatted so that he was at the same level as me as I sat on the cement. With my head hanging between my knees I desperately tried to calm my breathing but to no avail. The adrenalin drained out of my system allowing the pain to hit me.

"Oi~ you okay?" Izaya asked

"No- I'm- having- an- asthma- attack!" I gripped my chest trying to keep myself from hyperventilating.

"Aww~ I can't have you dying on me yet~" his smirk widened...

" I'll take you to a doctor... But-" he stopped looking at me with mischievous eyes.

"But-what-?" I managed to get out, knowing those eyes all too well to know that nothing good would come out of what he would say next...

"You'll owe me a favor~" I looked at him wanting to decline... I tried to stand up slowly until a sharp pain in my right leg revealed a dark crimson spot forming on grey below my knee.

"Fuck..." I swore under my breath... When I looked at Izaya he had his back to me as though waiting for me to climb on.

"As I said before~ Just a favor Mi-chan~" his voice sounded amused at how he cornered me but annoyed that he would have to carry me.

"Fine" I got on his back and tried to focus on stabilizing my breathing... Trusting that this stranger would indeed take me to a doctor.

I felt myself get lightheaded because of the lack of oxygen, and not so smooth ride that I as being given. I rested my head in his soft hood taking in the smell of his cologne...

"You - smell weird..." I whispered.

"Aren't girls supposed to be light?" He teased in response, entering a tall building. He let me fall off his back onto the floor before calling the elevator.

"Oww~" I complained

"The doctor lives at the top..." The way up was quiet. The smirk on Izaya's face turned into a frown, as he got lost in his thoughts. Finally reaching our destination, Izaya helped me to the door before walking in unannounced.

"Nee~ I have a patient for you~" Izaya sang out dragging me into the hallway.

"This doctor of yours should really lock his door..." amazed at how simple it was to enter.

"Trust me they don't need locks" Izaya mused, practically throwing me on the couch as a person with brown hair and white lab coat entered. He looked from Izaya to me his childlike smile morphing into a serious business expression.

The brunette pushed his glasses closer to his face before walking around the couch to examine me. I shuddered at the thought... Why? I have no idea but the doctor smelled familiar... He put my leg onto the table before rolling up my jeans to take a look at the wound.

"Does this have anything to do with Shizuo?" The doctor asked Izaya, his tone very professional.

"We were chatting when he found me... I ended up dragging her along." Izaya walked lazily to the window and looked out.

"Ah... This may sting a bit" the doctor began to clean the wound of both fresh and dried blood.

"No shit!" I muttered sarcastically under my breath. Despite my continued muttering of English profanities the doctor continued to bandage the wound, his face professional the entire time.

"Nee~ Izaya did you see Celty on your way here?" The doctor inquired his eyes shining with a childlike gleam.

"Nope~ should I have?" Izaya turned around so that he leaned with his back against the glass, and his eyes filled with amusement to match his smirk.

"She's out on an errand..." The doctor continued. Somehow the name Celty brought a nostalgic feeling of Deja Vu... A violent deep throat cough expelled that feeling as I curled up trying to breathe between coughs. The doctor left and returned quickly with a glass of water.

"Here... Take these... They'll help with the asthma..." He handed me the cup of water and two small pills. He smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry..."

I looked at Izaya's bored face as I struggled to swallow the pills. After taking a minute or so to actually swallow the pills I felt the pain die down and my breathing slowing down.

"Thank you..." I said softly.

The doctor studied me intently, as though he knew who I was but failed to recognize me. The phone in my pocket began to ring, breaking the awkward silence. As I pulled it out to answer I felt the phone leave my hand. Izaya walked to the hall entrance and leaned against the wall corner, his eyes watching my face intently.

"Give it back..." I hissed glaring daggers at him. His smirk only widened as he opened the phone.

"Moshi Moshi?" ... "No this is not Mi-chan~"..."She is not available right now~" his eyes gleamed with amusement.

"Izaya! Give it back! It's my brothe-"

A figure walked down the hallway stopping behind Izaya. The figure hidden by the lack of light in the hall stood dangerously close to Izaya, whose face contorted in slight pain as a loud DZZT was heard. The figure emerged into the hall a cell phone was in one hand, while the other held a taser.

"Shinra~ I found an intruder~" the man laughed, smiling like he had just won a game.

"Eeeh! Raizo!" I watched Izaya slide against the wall as he clutched his side. It was like watching a slide show of emotions. #1: shock, that he just got hit. #2: pain from being tased. #3: annoyed that a person was able to tase him, etc...

I looked at Raizo in shock that he was standing before me, with him looking at me even more so. He looked from his cellphone to my cellphone were Izaya dropped it, before looking at Izaya with a serious expression full of hostility. Izaya stepped away from Raizo trying to analyze the new data coming in, of course from a safer distance.

"Mika..." Raizo paused looking me; the glare from his rectangular shaped glasses blocked any emotions his eyes contained. "... You're so short," he continued, zapping the taser in Izaya's direction.

"RA-I-ZO...!" Anger boiled in my veins as the hairs on the back of neck raised in anger. "I dare you to say that ONE more time, unless you wish to avoid a SLOW and PAINFUL death..." I hissed at him my finger pointed at him as a warning to top of my death glare.

Ignoring us, or rather using the distraction Shinra inched his way over to Izaya, and led him to the side of the room to check the tase wound.

"Not much changes, huh..." Raizo teased taking an exaggerated large step back, the child like grin sitting smugly on his face. The almost innocent grin visibly darkens as he pushes the glasses up his nose and his mouth creeps into a dark psychopathic smirk. "Can't wait to see what you come up with~" his voice earnestly wanting to see what I could come up with best, but before I could grab something to throw at him, my cell phone came flying full speed towards my face. I caught it with a smile with enough insanity to match his.

"You...! T-there are more of you...?!" All of Shinra' previous courage disappeared as he withered down in horror.

"Wait...!" I looked from Raizo to Shinra, finally realizing the shared physical characteristics and connecting the dots. "Nii-chan?!" I finally recognized my older brother realizing how little he had actually changed.

As Izaya's eyes twinkled like a kid opening Christmas presents, Shinra straightened his glasses and posture before looking back up at Raizo and I.

"... Sou ka... The beany had me fire a moment there..."

"How else could I have escaped?" I questioned before continuing, " got lucky with the anime expo going on..." I smiled in triumph as Shinra's countenance became troubled. His eyes weary yet bemused. He scratched the back of his head before laughing at the mental images he was getting.

"Since when do you have siblings I know nothing about?" Izaya laughed as though gladly accepting his new pawns.

"You still fuzzy? I can fix that..." Raizo said sneaking up on Izaya again before poking him with the taser.

"You may want to move I-kun..." I warned sweat dropping.

"Agreed." Izaya stated stepping towards the door with his dagger pointed at Raizo.

"Let's all have some tea, nee~..." Shinra uneasily suggested as he jumped between the two. Once Raizo and Izaya stowed away their weapons Shinra made his way to the kitchen muttering under his breathe.

"Last time Raizo was this entertained..." He shuddered, "...neighbors...lights...power plant..." Shaking his head he busied himself with making tea and glancing at us every few seconds.

"I must decline... Business I must attend to else where..." Izaya said shoving his hands into his pockets as he headed to the door.

"Thank you I-kun..." I said under my breath causing him to turn around.

"Fa~vor~... Don't forget Mi-chan~" his voice darkening at the end before he waltzed out quickly, not wanting to give Raizo any time to act.

Shinra's head popped from around the corner.

"A favor to Izaya?" his voice hoping that he was wrong.

"Yep~... brought me here with the condition that I owe him a favor..." I watched as his countenance became visibly distressed, before he slowly pulled his head back behind the corner.

"That sounds troublesome..." Raizo sat down on the opposite side of the couch fiddling with the taser, as he listened intently.

"You~ haven't changed a bit~" I laughed at Raizo, earning a smile from him. He paused before he made a spastic face. My eyes widened as I saw the taser visibly shocking him from all his aimless fidgeting with the device. I laughed at his blatant stupidity as Shinra entered balancing four cups of tea.

"Izaya left. No need for four." Raizo said from the ground to Shinra who places three cups on the table and returns to the kitchen with the extra one. The door in the hall began to open making me jump up off of the couch to peek down the hall just as Celty walked in.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw me. Surprise, maybe? She snapped out her PDA from inside her sleeve and began to type.

[Are you Shinra's sister?]

I nodded studying her yellow helmet in interest. "So you are my brothers roommate... And~... The headless rider..." Although I had been in Ikebukuro for about 5 and 1/2 hours, rumors, gossip and legends of the headless rider had found their way to my ears easily.

[Yes I am both...] she showed me the PDA log enough to read it before typing again. [Do you want to see...?] She asked watching my face and reading my mind.

I nodded shyly not wanting to be rude. As she reached for the helmet a giddy excitement filled me. With the feet finally off I watched as black shadow like smoke lifted up into the air from where her head should have been connected to her neck. I watched in awe as an exam case of Deja Vu clouded my mind with notices just out of my reach.

"AH!" I yelled stepping back a bit and pointing at her. Celty jumped in surprise and my sudden actions. On the sidelines Raizo slouched back onto the couch with his tea, as Shinra entered the hall behind me.

I remembered heated vermillion flames and Celty holding out her hand, her shadow clothing contrasting the flames. When the memory went away I hugged her tightly overjoyed, but not clearly understanding my feelings.

[Nani...?! Shinra is she okay?!] Shinra typed quickly, worried and confused. Shinra stood there smiling at us, tears forming in his eyes, which he quickly wiped away.

[Shinra?] Celty asked as I let go and the two of us watched him. Without warning Shinra snapped and squeezed Celty and myself into a tight bear hug.

"Aahh!" I yelled in surprise as I was squished between Shinra and Celty. Silence ensued until broken by Raizo as he calmly sipped his tea.

"Now..." Shinra says releasing us, "that we are all here together... Despite the peculiar circumstances..." He glanced at Raizo with a worried and slightly freighted look.

"You won't send me back... Right?" I pleaded.

"If He finds out you're here, I'm going to be given heck..." Shinra replied his voice trailing off.

"But! Nii-chan!" Celty put her hand on my shoulder and showed Shinra her PDA.

[Him as in you father?]

"Yes I mean my father..." Shinra sighed sheepishly as Celty shuddered at the thought.

"I'm sick of their experiments... That's why I ran away! Don't send me back! Please!" I begged.

[Experiments?]

"Show her Mika, it's only fair..." Raizo said looking at us briefly before returning his attention to his tea.

[Show me what?]

"She... She isn't exactly normal Celty..." Shinra said nodding to me. I slowly took the cat eared beany off my head. Two black cat ears stood on my head instead of human ears on the sides.

Celty took a step back before typing quickly:

[You're not an alien, right?]

I giggled slightly at her childish question as Shinra laughed with tears in his eyes.

"Of course not! I'm as human as Raizo and Nii-chan..."

[T-then... Why do you have cat ears?]

"My father genetically altered her when my mother was pregnant..." Shinra explained moving towards the living room and guiding us out of the cramped hallway. Celty helped me back to the couch where I sat between her and Raizo.

"I remember you now Celty-san..." I said looking up at her remembering her silhouetted against vermillion.

[?]

Shinra looked between the two of us confused.

"You helped me and Raizo out of the burning lab when we were little..." I explained taking a sip of my tea before it got cold, "Ne~e, remember Raizo? It was just before we left Japan...?" I felt him tense up next to me as he held onto his tea.

"My Celty? You truly are amazing ne~e Celty?!" Shinra swooned sitting on the couch arm. Celty jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow as he leaned towards her.

Raizo paused, "No." He replied before continuing to sip his tea.

"You really don't remember?" I asked tilting my head sideways.

"No. I don't remember." He said his voice distant. As he finished his tea he stood up and headed towards the kitchen with his cup.

[Sorry I don't remember either.] Celty typed apologetically.

"Oh... It's okay though," I laughed, "I could be wrong the memory is hazy anyways..." I sipped my tea in awkward silence. The silence continued as Shinra and I drank our teas my watch ticking softly as it kept track of the time.

Celty stood up and walked to the glass room before returning with her computer.

[Let me show you where you can sleep...] she typed before turning the screen to face me.

"Ok..." I replied standing up and limped after her to my new room. I grabbed my pack from the hall as we entered the room.

[The futon is in that closet along with blankets...if you need anything please ask :) ] She typed.

"Thank you Celty..." I smiled in return, "if I don't come out again it means I fell asleep..." I added quickly before she left.

[You must be tired] she stated.

"You bet... All that running..." I said remembering how Izaya dragged me around Ikebukuro during his escape.

[?] Celty questioned.

"Long story... I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?" I yawned as my brain slowly began to shut down.

[See you tomorrow morning... Oyasuminasai~] she typed before closing the door behind her.

"Oyasumi~!" I sang after her. With a sigh I pulled the futon and blankets out of the closet and struggled to arrange it in the middle of the room. I sat down on the floor next to it yawning and barely fake to stay awake. Peeling off my clothes and changing into my "pjs" I crept under the blankets and passed out. Memories of the fire haunted me in my dreams.