Z/N
I've been getting a lot of comments about how the character's personalities seem so different. With respect, it is SUPPOSED to be that way in this fic. I have never seen the series (though I REALLY want to, and it's not fair) and only have the first two manga, and as such I cannot be expected to know each individual's personality inside and out. I've mentioned—several times—that the characters in this story have had their personalities altered to suit the fan fiction. There is nothing wrong with this.

Sigh Okay, if everybody hates this story so much, I'll take it off, okay? I've said before that I never saw the anime and I prolly never will, and I only have the first two manga sets, and that's not really enough to base a personality on. If people would let me get on with the story without flaming my characters' personalities, it'll get better for Daisuke and Satoshi and the whole world will be better! Now, I've written the complete plot for this story and the complete plot for its sequel (yes, I'm making a sequel for once, go me.) and I think they're both great story lines and people would prolly like them if they wouldn't get stuck on the fact that my characters are prolly not even remotely like the ones they knew. This story is like the Harry Potter movies (no offense meant if you like them; I do too): Great as movies, but not very good at all as based on the books. So think of my story as a whole new thing and not based on the animes or mangas.

Now, if you don't like it, it's okay to tell me so, but PLEASE do it politely, and not "I don't like this because Daisuke isn't like he was in the anime" and such. But I respect my reviewers enough to keep them up on the review pages (besides the fact that the flames are sent through signed accounts, so I can't delete them... -.- why me?). I'm just letting you know that if everybody hates this story so much, I'm taking it off! That's all there is to it.

Thank you, and on with chapter four!

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

"Satoshi? Satoshi, Daisuke, wake up. Come on, you two, get up."

Satoshi sighed and stirred, stretching in his seat. "Mmm... What?" Very slowly he opened his eyes. "I wasn't sleeping, I was examining the insides of my eyelids." He stifled a yawn. "Are we there?"

Risa was sitting on her knees in the seat in front of his, facing them. She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "No, silly, you slept right through the intercom announcement. Looks like Daisuke did, too." She nodded to the redhead, whose head was still resting on the detective's shoulder. "Anyway," she continued, "we're not there yet."

"Are we at a rest stop? Is that why the bus is stopped?" Satoshi cautiously wiped the fog from the inside of his window, trying not to jar Daisuke awake, and peered outside. It was dark, darker than it should have been. And wait... Why would there be a fog building up on the inside? It hadn't been all that cold when they'd left school...

She shook her head. "No. We're in the middle of the Douseiai Mountains, somewhere near the peak of Mount Hatsukoi. The bus broke down, and nobody can figure out how to fix it. We've been stuck here awhile, and Professor's going to say something outside. Everybody's been ordered to get their stuff and their selves off the bus. We need to wake him up," she added, nodding at Daisuke again. "Anyway, you can do that; I'm sure Riku is looking for me. I didn't tell her I was going to come and get you," she explained, "so she's probably worried sick."

Discretion being the better part of valor, Satoshi refrained from telling Risa that her twin probably didn't give a Fig Neuton where she was or why. As the brunette skipped her way off the bus, he gently shook his companion awake. "Come on, Daisuke," he said softly, "time to get up. Off the bus. Let's go."

A small groan escaped Daisuke's lips and he yawned, shook his head, and snuggled into Satoshi's shoulder. "Not yet. Good dream. Five more minutes."

Satoshi smiled but shook him again. "Sorry, but we have to go. The bus broke down in the middle of the mountains—can't you feel how cold it's getting?"

"Not cold, warm pillow," Daisuke mumbled and yawned again. "All right, I'm up." He pushed off of Satoshi and rubbed his eyes. "'S too early to be getting up, anyway. What do you want?"

The detective smiled. "Come on, they're making some kind of announcement outside where everybody is, and they're probably not going to wait for us."

Daisuke stretched, a faint groan escaping his lips. "Hm-mmm.... All right, let's go." He slipped out of his seat and tried to reach their bags from the carry-on compartment over their heads, but the bags had been shoved all the way in the back. Even jumping he couldn't reach them.

"Here, let me." Satoshi gently pushed him to the side and stood up on the edge of the seats. With this added foot or so, he could easily reach the back of the compartment. As he handed down his bag after Daisuke's, he heard the clink of glass on glass.

The redhead looked up as he took the duffel bag. "What's in here, Satoshi?"

"I don't remember, I haven't unpacked it since my trip to my aunt's home two days ago. I just picked it up this morning and put in my wallet, book, and stuff," he shrugged.

"Which means...?"

"Anything could be in there. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the glass chinking together was the candles my mother wanted me to give to my aunt. Guess I forgot." He hopped down off the bench.

"Candles?" Daisuke asked curiously as he handed the duffel back to its owner.

"My mother makes them. Come on, keep walking."

"Right." The younger boy trudged off the bus.

The school bus had been parked in a clearing surrounded by dark, snowy woods off the side of the road, could it even be called that; there was hardly anything on the ground to distinguish it as such. There were snowdrifts here and there while a thin skein of ice covering the rest of the frostbitten ground. The students, the chaperone, and Professor were standing in a mobbish-looking crowd over to one corner of the clearing, talking loudly and excitedly. The two boys hiked over to them

Riku, Risa, and their partners, standing on the edge of the mob, eagerly pulled the twain into their midst. Riku popped Daisuke on the back of the head. "Who told you you could fall asleep?" she demanded.

"Ow! Riku—!" He ducked another blow. "I was tired, and..." Daisuke covered his head and staggered over behind Satoshi. "Help me!"

"What's going on?" Satoshi asked, ignoring the pair.

Risa looked up at him. "Well..." Her eyes rolled upward, as if she were reciting something. "The bus got lost, then broke down. Professor says we're all going to walk to a service station a mile or so back he swears he saw but nobody else remembers seeing to phone somebody to fix the bus. He wants us all to go to conserve body heat because it's really cold out here." She demonstrated by stomping on the snowy ice. It didn't even crack.

"Daisuke Niwa, you bloody coward, get back here!" Riku shouted and stamped her foot impatiently. The brunette crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her toes against the icy ground. "I'm going to count to three. One..."

Satoshi pulled his duffel bag around and unzipped it. "Are you cold, Risa? I think I have a sweater or jacket in here somewhere..." He shuffled through the snacks he'd packed in the bag to get off the bus floor and the candles and other emergency equipment his pessimistic nature required he pack until he dug out the garment.

"Thank you, Satoshi," she said, blushing softly, as he wrapped the jacket around her shoulders.

"Two..."

"No problem." He smiled back at her, then stumbled a bit as Daisuke ran into him, still dodging Riku.

"Daisuke..."

The redhead stopped playing around and looked up. "Yes, Risa?"

Biting her lip, she looked around a bit self-consciously. "Can I... you know... talk to you? In private?"

"Sure." He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked with her. When he would've stopped in front of the bus just out of earshot of the rest of the crowd, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him behind the bus. "What is it, Risa?" he asked when she finally released him.

"I... uh..." She looked uncomfortable and glanced at her toes, fascinated with her shoes. "Here." She dug into her pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. "Please take this."

"I... Risa..." Daisuke looked at the paper, then, gently as he could, pushed it back towards her. "Risa, can't be your boyfriend. I'm sorry."

She looked up, tears in her eyes. "Why not?" Furiously she wiped at them. "I know, it's Riku, isn't it?" Her voice sounded angry. "She's smarter and prettier than I am! I know how you boys think, just because her chest is five millimeters bigger than mine—"

"Risa—"

"—doesn't mean she's any—"

"Risa—"

"—better than I am! I'm a nice girl too—"

"Risa!" He grabbed her shoulders and very gently shook her. "Risa, it's not any of that, really... I just wouldn't make any girl a good boyfriend—"

She yanked away from him. "That's not it at all! I was right, wasn't I?" She dashed away the tears that had started falling. "Fine, I don't need you!" She turned on her heel and ran into the woods.

"Risa!" Daisuke bit his lip, uncertain what to do. Should he go after her, or would that only make things worse? "Risa, come back!"

Satoshi and Riku came around the side of the bus after him. "What happened, Daisuke? Where'd Risa go?"

"She went that way," he answered, waving towards the woods.

"What did you say to her?" Riku snapped.

"I—nothing—I think..."

Satoshi was already halfway to the timberline, bag still around his neck. Riku gave Daisuke a nasty look, then ran off after Satoshi.

Daisuke sighed. Damn. This day just keeps getting better all the time. He knew what he should do, what he had to do, but doing it was a different story in and of itself. "Fine," he muttered and jogged off towards the trees. "I guess it's my fault anyway... somehow..."

Four feet inside the forest he couldn't see the clearing or the road anymore. Daisuke turned in a slow circle, immediately disoriented. "Risa?" A twig snapped behind him, and he whirled around. "Riku?"

An eerie, white-blue fog began to drift up around his feet. "Risa? Riku? Satoshi!" His feet started moving, pushing him onward into the forest, deeper and deeper. The fog became thicker and colder. "Riiiiisssssaaaaaaaaaa..... Riiiiikuuuuuuuuuu....."

Daisuke stumbled over a raised tree-root and grabbed onto a branch to steady himself. But the limb snapped, sending him hurtling towards the mist- covered ground. He struck his forehead on an ill-fated stone. Dizzy, he rolled on his side and glanced up through the swirling fog and watched the edges of his vision go black.

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

"There, there, there," Riku murmured as she led her sister back towards the group. "I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt your feelings. He's just a boy, after all." She wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders and hugged her gently.

"B-but, Riku, I l-l-like him," Risa sniffled.

"I know. He'll come around."

"Promise?"

"Of course. With a face like yours, how could he not?"

"You two look alike," Satoshi chimed in from where he was walking behind them. "And you have a whole harem of boyfriends, Riku."

Risa promptly burst into tears again. Riku turned and gave Satoshi an evil death-glare. "Pipe down, detective," she sniped. She snatched the jacket from around Risa's shoulders and shoved it into his chest. "We don't need your charity or your coat. Just leave us alone." That said, she turned back to her twin sister. "Shh, Risa, he didn't mean it. Come on, little sister, it's all right."

Satoshi ducked his head and branched away from the wailing woman to stand with a group of boys. "Have you seen Daisuke?" he asked Takeshi.

"Niwa? No, not since we got off the bus. Man, where've you been? The class is fixing to leave."

With that, the gang of guys moved on. Satoshi sighed, bit his lip, and sighed again. To go after Daisuke or not to go after Daisuke, that was the question. He's helpless, and I've got my phone. Hands shoved in his pockets, he made his way back to the woods.

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

The fog was slow to clear from Daisuke's mind. He blinked, shook his head, and blinked again. His forehead stung, and his head hurt terribly. Slowly he sat up and touched his fingertips to his face. They came back with blood. Damn. Very slowly he stood, then stumbled toward a nearby tree as dizziness ate at his consciousness and the blackness edged closer towards the center of his vision. I need to find the rest of the class, he thought and set off. He didn't know if he was going the right way or not, but what other choice did he have. I don't even know if they know if I'm there or gone.

Satoshi stumbled into a smaller clearing and wiped the cold mist from his glasses for the third time in five minutes. He should probably just take them off... Then he saw Daisuke's red hair, going away from him.

"Daisuke? Daisuke, wait up." Satoshi jogged towards him.

Then the mists parted and Satoshi's heart jumped into his throat. Daisuke was standing on the edge of a cliff, holding his head. Bright red blood oozed from a jagged cut in the middle of his forehead. The redhead glanced up at Satoshi and swayed slightly. The cliff wasn't very high, Satoshi saw on second glance, but high enough and very steep. He swallowed hard and stepped closer to the other boy.

"Daisuke? Can you hear me? Daisuke, listen very carefully to me. Come over here, okay? Everyone's worried sick about you." A little white lie, all for the better, he thought. "Come on, let's get back to the bus." He held his hand out towards the boy.

For a moment, Daisuke seemed confused, then his face cleared. He started to take a step towards Satoshi.

But then the cliff crumbled out from beneath his feet, sending him sliding down its bank. His foot hit a root and hooked into it, hurling him to the side and evermore downward. A sickening crack rent the air, and his foot came out of the crook of the root. The boy tumbled head over heels the rest of the way down and was lost in the chilling embrace of the mist.