Things are a little slow moving right now, and these chapters are much shorter than the ones to come. Once things start heating up and there is a stable setting, I'll start to add more dialogue. This is just getting our little group of high schoolers all settled in (✿╹◡╹). As for now, bear with me.

Shizuo

We boarded the train with our belongings and made our way towards an empty cabin. Stowing away our bags in the overhead compartment, we took our seats and waited for the departure from our beloved city.

Two hours. I can do this. Just don't lose your cool...I thought, as I arranged my bags in the overhead compartment.

I decided to take the window seat, hoping to sit as far away from the flea as possible. To my dismay, Izaya took the opposite window seat in front of me. He opened his laptop, the familiar sound of the login screen chimed and he began to click away. Shinra shared the booth with him, and after Kadota closed the door behind him, he took a seat next to me.

"Now spill." I demanded, elbowing him gently in the arm.

He looked around one more time to make sure there were no eavesdroppers and hovered closer to the three of us. "I had to make a couple stops before leaving," he said in a hushed tone.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed Izaya briefly pause to smirk before returning to type.

"What do you mean 'stops'? Where?" Shinra asked skeptically, accusingly.

"Oh come on, you guys haven't forgotten about Shizuo's 18th birthday coming up, have you? I thought I'd bring us a few...party favors." He shrugged passively as if it were nothing.

"Shit, you didn't?! What happens if we get caught?!" I stated. There's no telling what could be in those bags stowed away above me.

"What exactly...did you get?" asked Shinra with a hint of underlying nervousness.

"Just some booze," he said nonchalantly. "Nothin' too heavy."

The smirk on the man before me formed into a full Cheshire grin, but Izaya was still focused on his laptop.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" My words came out in a whispered hiss.

"Hey, it wasn't even my idea, it was Izaya's." He crossed his arms, obviously annoyed with our reactions. "It's nothing to worry about as long as we're the only ones who know."

We all looked over at the raven sitting in the corner typing away. He stopped to look up and meet the three of our gazes.

"I was just thinking of how much fun we would all have together~," he said, feigning innocence. "Don't you wonder what would happen if you got a monster tipsy?" he said, locking his mischievous, crimson gaze with mine.

I couldn't stop my hand from reaching for the collar of his shirt, pulling him eye level. He grabbed his laptop before it could clatter to the floor.

"You little shit, you're going to get us expelled!" I spat, close to his face.

"Come now, Shizu-chan. I merely suggested it." He rolled his eyes, not at all phased by my violent reaction. "Dotachin made the decision to follow through and buy everything, you know?" he stated, avoiding the blame.

"Let's think about this rationally," Shinra interjected. "There's a possibility we won't get caught if we keep this information to ourselves. I doubt anyone here is going to rat Kadota out." He eyed Izaya exclusively.

"Your secret's safe with me," he said with a friendly smile and shrugged.

My grip loosened on Izaya's shirt. I knew everyone would keep it on the down low, but I seriously doubted that Izaya wasn't going to pull some shit.

"Tch," was all I had left to say, as I pushed the raven back into his seat.

I sat back in my chair crossing my arms, counting down from ten in my head.

Izaya resumed his typing; Shinra was reading a book on the history of early medicine; Kadota had his headphones in, asleep; I was watching out the window at the passing scenery. We sat in silence with the hum of the train's engine as white noise.

I checked the time on my phone. About an hour had gone by since we left the station. Snow was steadily falling and sticking now, the tops of trees and other plants were starting to be dusted with a thin layer of white, resembling powdered sugar. It reminded me of the breakfast sweets my mother would make on special occasions.

Now isn't the time to be getting homesick, Shizuo...

"I'm going to go find the bathroom," Shinra said getting up from his seat.

Before closing the door behind him, his gaze swept between me and the flea. "Try not to kill each other while I'm gone," he said playfully, and shut the door.

I looked at Izaya, who looked back at me and then over to our sleeping friend. Smiling that wicked smile as soon as Shinra was out of sight, our eyes met once more. "Ne, Shizu-chan..." he began. "We should mess with Dotachin while he's napping." Slitted eyes looked over the body beside me.

"Tch. Why do you always feel the need to start trouble?" I reprehended.

"Dunno," he sighed leaning back in his seat, hands stretched behind his head. "It makes things interesting, I guess," he replied apathetically. "Why do you always feel the need to ruin my fun?"

"Dunno," I returned. "Why do you always feel the need to ruin people's lives?"

"I like to live an exciting life," he shrugged. "Why don't you try branching out on your hobbies?"

"Maybe because unlike you, I actually respect people," I scoffed. "Guess you don't know what that's like, huh?"

"What makes you think I don't?" he smirked.

"What makes you think I would?"

"Are we playing 20 Questions, Shizu-chan?" he changed the subject, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "Who was your first kiss?" he asked with a sly smile, narrowing his brows.

"W-What?!" His sudden question caught me off guard and I couldn't help but react, feeling my face grow hot with a little more than just anger.

"Ne, are you blushing? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you..." he smirked as he spoke. "Or is it because you haven't been kissed yet?"

I felt my body begin to tremble. Who the hell even asks that?!

"It's okay Shizu-chan, I understand...Who would want to kiss a monster anyway?"

Izaya

In seconds, I felt myself being ripped up from the chair. My head hit something hard, and it wasn't until my vision focused, did I realize I had been pinned against the cold glass of the window. The blonde had an unbreakable hold on my throat, and I coughed as I felt my windpipe being crushed by his monstrous strength. I met his raging caramel eyes, but my smirk remained unwavering as my brows knit together in disgust at his close proximity. His face was just a few inches from mine, voice was a low growl and I felt the warmth of his breath ghost my skin.

"I'm NOT a monster," he spoke slowly as if he thought I wasn't capable of understanding Monster dialect.

I forced a smile. "And I suppose this strength of yours is entirely human, ne?" I choked out.

His grip only tightened.

I've always known it to be a sensitive topic to him, but it was all part of winding him up and watching him go.

He leaned in closer, and I noticed the everlasting crease between his brow and vein bulging above his temple.

"This is exactly why no one wanted you to be in their group! You're always startin' shit and poking your nose where it doesn't belong." His tone was like ice; chilling me to the bone, causing me to catch my breath — or rather, what breath I could take with the blonde's hand wrapped around my throat.

No one, huh?

I heard the click of the sliding door behind the beast towering in front of me. I tried to gaze over Shizuo's shoulder, but the brute was too tall and blocking my vision.

"I thought I told you guys not to kill each other?" Shinra said taking the empty seat, sounding more impassive than patronizing as he picked up his book once more.

Welcome back, Shinra...

I fell to the floor coughing, trying to send air back into my lungs.

"Yeah, well, then the flea started to talk," I heard Shizuo grunt as he turned around.

"Honestly, you need to work on your self-control, Shizuo."

The blonde scoffed as if the brunette wasn't making any sense at all.

I used the seat beside me as leverage to regain my balance. As I sat down again, I reached my hand up to where Shizuo had his death lock on me.

I certainly hope that doesn't leave a mark...I thought sarcastically with a smirk.

"Anyway," Shinra said interrupting my thoughts, "I spoke with one of the chaperons. She said that we will be arriving at the station ahead of schedule. About 20 minutes until we're there."

"Good. The sooner I'm not breathing the same air as the louse, the better," he said, sinking into his seat like a pouty kid.

"Enjoy suffocating, then," I chimed merrily in a raspier voice than I had expected.

We spent the remainder of the time in silence, again.

This is exactly why no one wanted you to be in their group...The dumb blonde's words kept repeating in my mind. He was no one to talk, though, I thought, mentally rolling my eyes.

When the train arrived at the station, we woke up Kadota and gathered our things.

I stepped out of the train into the practically empty station and joined the remainder of our class who were gathered around a large map where our teacher stood.

"We'll take the town buses to get to the resort. Everyone stay with your groups until we get there," were the directions.

The ten-minute bus ride to the resort was full of buzzing teens. Everyone was more awake now, anxious to finally reach our destination.

I watched out the window observing the town that couldn't even be considered a one-hundredth of the size of Ikebukuro. I studied the scenery as we passed by. Cafes and tea shops were on every corner; family restaurants between little boutiques, and the occasional convenience store. Everything about the fleeting town was quaint and I sensed it's peacefulness. People were hurrying to cross the street, carrying umbrellas to shield themselves from the falling snow, and children were running around in hats and mittens chasing each other with snowballs.

I wonder what the people are like here...

Lights were still wrapped around lamp posts and wreaths still hung on shop doors from the holidays. The town made for a perfect winter wonderland.

I noticed a rather large building ahead, up a hill that didn't quite fit in with the rest of the town. As we emerged closer, I saw recreational signs that read "Ski Resort Ahead". The resort looked even more massive up close. A sizable, triangle-shaped and heavily windowed building with a portico indicated the main entrance.

We pulled into the parking lot, disturbing the thick layer of fresh snow that blanketed the ground, covered in partial tire tracks and footprints. The winters here were certainly much stronger than back at home; the snow must last several months longer out of the year to keep the resort up and running.

The bus came to a halt in the front, under the overhang of the glassy, pyramid-shaped building. Behind this bus stopped two more. The lot of students and teachers soon began exiting the vehicles.

As I stepped out, I felt the chill of the crisp atmosphere as it hit my skin. As I took a deep breath through my nose, the fresh air up on the mountainside cleansed all the impurities from the air I was used to inhaling from our heavily polluted city. Everything here smelled so clean. So new. So pure; unadulterated with the touch of men. It smelt of the amalgamation of odors between new snow and pine resins of burning tree logs in a nearby chimney.

The adrenaline of a fresh start coursed through my veins, throwing off my anxiety of what the blonde said to me; I was already getting used to the new environment. I was starting to feel the excitement of what was to come.