Shizuo hadn't seen Izaya for nearly three weeks. He left before the police showed up at Shinra's—so did Celty, but her disappearing act was understandable—where the psychic was reported dead on sceen. The autopsy showed that he had swallowed barbed wire and thus Shinra and Shizuo were not to blame. Although the investiagion was still going on, the three friends were in the clear.

There were two things Shizuo didn't understand. One was how in the world does someone swallow barbed wrie? Was it Alessa? And if so how did she do it? She shouldn't be able to leave Izaya's dream. She can't do anything in the real world, right?

His other form for confusion was why did Izaya leave so quickly? Why did he run out like he was to blame? Celty and Shinra said that all three of them fell unconscious so there was no way it was Izaya's fault.

Unless Alessa used Izaya's body to kill the psychic...

Shizuo shook his head. He honestly had no idea what he was thinking about. He felt like he was walking around half alseep, only slightly aware of his surrounding. More than once, Tom had to stop him from walking out in front of a truck and it got to the point where Tom told Shizuo to go home and rest.

The terror's of what he saw in Izaya's dreams still haunted him. He was scared of falling asleep in case he started suffering the same thing the flea did. But unlike Izaya, he didn't have the stamina to stay up past his bedtime so he wasn't turning into an insomniac and his dreams had only snippits of what he remembered. Either he was dreaming off of memory like any normal dream or Alessa wasn't strong enough to enter his mind all the way.

No that's not right.

Why would Alessa have any interest in him?

Shizuo wasn't anything special.

And she had Izaya so why would she bother with him?

Shizuo sighed as he looked up at the sky. It was pointless to try and figure out a demon's motives.

"Hey, Shizu-chan."

Shizuo jolted.

"Well, aren't you jumpy. Guess our little trip to dreamland has affected you a bit, huh?"

"Iz-Izaya, hey, uh." Shizuo turned around to stare at the smiling raven. "How—where've you been?"

"Cool, so the truce is still on." Izaya chuckled as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I've been home. Studying up on Silent Hill."

"...And?"

"Heh, it's just some place in West Virgina. It's currently abandoned so it won't be hard to investigate."

"West Virginia?" The word sounded strange on Shizuo's tongue. "Where's that at?"

"Eh~? Did you never pay attention in Social Studies? It's a state in America, stupid."

Shizuo chose to ignore that insult at the end. "You...plan to go to America?"

"Well, yeah."

"By yourself?"

"...Well, yeah~. I don't know that many people who'd leave the country to hunt down monsters."

Shizuo hestitated before saying, "Can I go with you?"

Izaya's eyes widened. His mouth opened but nothing came out for a really~ long time. "Why would you...?"

"I don't know." Shizuo adverted his eyes. "I just don't think its smart for you to go alone..."

'And if your luck is no different than in your dream, you won't last five minutes.'

"...Well, if you want." Izaya shrugged. "I don't know if you'll be of any use. I know you can't speak English and you're a dimwit so you aren't a good detective. If anything, you'll just draw attention—"

Izaya heard something break and opened his eyes to see Shizuo's fist indenting the wall at his side.

"How 'bout I come for moral support—HM?!"

Izaya just stared at him.

"Pssh, Shizu-chan's so kind." He grinned.

Shizuo glowered at him.

"So, I got a few questions for ya." Izaya held up a finger. "Question number one, do you have a passport?"

Shizuo opened his mouth but nothing came out.

"Alright, question number two; how do you intend to buy your plane ticket?"

Shizuo glowered at the ground.

Question number three, do you think I'll get both for you?"

He glared at the raven. 'Same shitty attitude...'

Izaya smiled at his silent blond. "Well, be happy I'm in a good mood, because I will get both for you."

"Eh?"

Izaya twirled around. "You'll need to get your picture taken but other than that, I can take care of the rest." He then pranced away down the sidewalk. "Keep your phone charged, okay?"

Shizuo stared after him, then scoffed and turned away. "Saying I'd be useless when your obviously eager for me to go."

'I don't think he realizes just how much his mask is slipping.'


"Boarding call for Flight #138. I repeat, boarding call for Flight #138."

Shizuo stood up, grabbing his duffle bag and tossing it over one shoulder. He didn't pack that much stuff, just four pairs of clothes, deoderant, and a toothbrush. But he only owned a duffle bag and buying a suitcase would be pointless when he already had something so he dealt with a half-empty bag.

Shizuo looked around, trying to find the entryway to the plane. But with so many people crowding him and blocking the signs, he couldn't figure the place out. He took in a deep breathe to keep his temper from flaring as he continued to search and look.

"Shi~zu~chan~!"

Shizuo felt his irritant rise.

"You lost already? Hey, why'd you pack a duffle bag? We'll only be gone for four or five days. Eh? It's empty? Why are you bringing an empty duffle bag?"

*Thwack*

Shizuo swung his duffle bag into Izaya. He caused the raven to bump into a fancy-dressed woman who glowered at him. He quickly apologized, a slight blush on his cheeks. Shizuo grinned.

"You asshole." Izaya growled. "Just for that, you're on your own. Find the plane yourself."

With a huff, he turned and walked away. But with so many people he couldn't run so Shizuo easily followed.

In about thrity minutes, the two were sitting in First Class, Shizuo by the window and Izaya on the outside.

"How long till we take off?" Shizuo asked.

Izaya checked his watch. "Meh, fourty minutes."

Forty?" Shizuo glared. "What are we supposed to do till then?"

Izaya pulled out a laptop from his bag.

"The fuck? I thought you couldn't bring electronics."

"You can, stupid. You brought your phone, right?"

"No."

Izaya glowered at him. "What do you mean no? We're going to be investigating and you decided to leave your phone?"

"Shut up! You're not supposed to bring electronics on a plane!"

"No, you're not supposed to have them on during the flight. Because the frequencies get on the intercom of the pilots deck."

Shizuo blushed. "Sh-shut up, dumbass!"

"I'm not the one who left my phone."

"I said shut up!"

Shizuo turned his back on him with a huff, dropping his seat back so it was almost flat.

"Hey, don't do that!"

"Shut up, I'm taking a nap."

"We're not the only ones on First Class. You can't lie your seat back over another's seat. That's rude."

Shizuo didn't answer, crossing his arms over his chest and getting comfy before closing his eyes.


Shizuo groaned as he opened his eyes.

'Eh? Did I really fall asleep?'

Shizuo groaned and sat up, reaching down to grope for the handle and sit the chair back up. He leaned down and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, propping his elbows on his knees.

Then he looked around. Izaya was gone, although there were others sitting in the isle across from him. A woman chuckled and turned away, tryingto hid her expression.

'Hm?'

He glanced down to his hands.

And glared at the fact that his palms were black.

"Do you have a mirror?" He asked the woman.

She held back a chuckle, but handed over a make-up mirror.

"THE HELL?! IZAYA!"

His eyelids had been colored black with markers and he had three whiskers on each of his cheeks.

He could hear the flea's laugh behind him and he quickly turned to see the culprit.

"You bastard! The hell d'you draw on my face for?"

"Waah! It's an angry Tanuki! Run away!"

"Don't run on a plane, you idiot!"

"Don't get violent on a plane, either! The plane police'll taze you!"

Shizuo growled as he walked over.

Izaya smiled as he turned sideways so there was more room for Shizuo to walk past.

"Bathrroms in the ba—hey, let go!" Izaya started, only to protest as Shizuo grabbed his wrist and tugged him along. "Are you throwing a silent tantrum, let go already!"

"Shut up, you're washing it off!"

"Hah? What, you're incapable of doing it youself?"

"I said shut up!"

Shizuo dragged Izaya into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet, glaring up at the flea. Izaya glared back before pulling wetnap's out from under the plastic sink.

"Why do I have to do this? I'm not your mommy, Shizu-chan." Izaya rumbled as he leaned down and wiped at Shizuo's closed eyes.

"You made the mess, you clean it up."

Izaya just rolled his eyes, which Shizuo obviously missed.

"So, since we're here, tell me more about Silent Hill." Shizuo said.

"Hm?"

"I'm going to America to investigate this place. Might as well know what happened there."

"...Well, for starts, the whole town was supposedly made on old Indian burial ground 100 years ago. And the American's have a common knowledge nowadays that you should never make or do anything on Indian burial ground or misfortunes are going to befall you. Kind of like a, 'no wonder you're having all these problems. You're on this land', sort of thing.

"Today," the raven continued, "the whole town is empty, abandoned, and off limits to the public. It's essentially a ghost town. There was this fire, you see, and underneath the town the coal mines became ablaze. Reports say they weren't able to locate half of the bodies. They also say the fire's still burning deep underground, which is why the town's off limit. Also, because of the fires, the air is toxic with carbon monoxide so when we get there, we're going to need medical masks."

"Alright. So, that's it? What started the fire?"

"I don't know. All I could find on Silent Hill were newspaper clippings and ghost town websites. There were no police records. Probably because of how old and small the town was, technology hadn't really reached them just yet. Everything is most-likely paper files still so we won't be able to find out the cause of such a huge fire till we get to Brahams."

"Brahams?"

"Yeah, it's where most of the surviving residents of Silent Hill went to. Brahams is only a few miles away, down at the base of the mountain."

"Wait, it's on a mountain?"

"Not on the top but it's up there a bit."

"Why aren't their any stories in those newspapers that stated why the fire started? Wouldn't that be the first thing people would want to know is how a fire that large of scale got sparked? It doesn't make sense."

"...Are you suspicious that there was some form of foulplay?"

"...No, no. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying—"

"American cops have been known to be shady, especially in the hick-based towns. I wouldn't be surprised they don't want people to find out if something horrible happened there."

"Don't call cops shady. I'm sure they were doing the best they can and most-likely were just trying to make sure the civilians don't get panicked."

Izaya rolled his eyes, which Shizuo also obviously missed.

"What else, flea?"

"As far as I know, that's it. Nothing really else came up about the place."

"Is it safe to go there? I mean, the ground isn't going to crumble at our feet from the fires underground, right?" Shizuo asked, remembering the first thing that happened to him in their shared dream experience.

"As far as I know it won't but we'll be careful, nonetheless. We may need to watch out for fanatics but other than that—"

"Fanatics?"

"Yeah. There was one police report I was able to dig up that had to do with Silent Hill—it was the only one, actually. A couple of years, there was this guy who kidnapped a child, took him up to Silent Hill, and threw him down a mineshaft. A police officer named Cybil Bennett went down there and was with the kid for three days before they were rescued. The child didn't make it, as far as I can tell."

"She got down there but couldn't get back out?" Shizuo looked skeptic.

"That's not the point. The point is the guy had nothing to say in his testimony so I can only assume he didn't do it because he was upset. He did it because he thought he was right. Those type of people are the ones we need to worry about. What's more, since the town in abandoned, their may be a good couple of criminals or psycho's hiding in it."

"Hm. You know, it kinda seems mundane."

"How is underground fires, toxic air, and fanatics mundane?"

"...Well, I mean. If it was as bad as the dreams you have, wouldn't it, you know, be under intense servailance? The police of Brahams wouldn't be able to maintain or hide those monsters if they came down the mountain and attacked travelers and tourists. The, uh, FBI or whatever would get involved fast, wouldn't they?"

"I don't know if the FBI would get involved. Maybe the state police but probably not the FBI. But, honestly, I think the dreams are exaggerated. I've seen photos of this town. None of the houses were on fire and the ground wasn't crumbling."

"Then why..."

"Why what?"

"Why are you, a Tokyo resident whose never been to America, having dreams about this supposedly ordinary ghost town?"

"...I don't know. We'll find out when we get there."

Shizuo wasn't so happy with that answer. It just didn't seem to make sense. Why the hell would an American ghost haunt a Japanese person?

"Done!" Izaya smiled, throwing away the wetnaps.

Shizuo stood and checked himself in the mirror.

'Good, he didn't lie.'

"Now then, let's go sit." Izaya said as he opened the door, Shizuo following behind him. "The attendent said we'll be landing in another two hours."

"You expect me to sit for two hours? Screw th—"

Shizuo's eyes widened as he saw a little black-haired girl walk past them. He turned and saw the girl leave first class through the curtains.

Shizuo followed.

"Eh? Shizu-chan?" Izaya followed as well.

"Hey, wait!"

Shizuo grabbed the girl's shoulder.

She jolted and turned around, staring at Shizuo wide-eyed.

"Hey, get your hands off my daughter!" A woman yelled in a language Shizuo didn't know.

"What are you doing?!" Izaya grabbed Shizuo's hand and yanked him back. Switching spots, Izaya bowed to the mother deeply. "I'm so very sorry about that. He had your daughter confused with someone else."

"Sorry." Shizuo bowed.

When he looked back, his eyes widened yet again.

The little girl, her school uniform dirty and hair ragged, looked back at Shizuo further down the isle. She then turned and walked off.

"Um, excuse me."

"Shizu-chan?"

He shimmied past the mother and daughter, Izaya apologizing and doing the same.

"What are you doing?" Izaya grabbed his arm. "You look like a psycho."

"Can't you see her?" Shizuo continued down the isle, dragging Izaya along.

In the back row, a man stood, a badge on his breat pocket showing he was the plane's security.

"See who? Shizu-chan, quit being weird. Let's go back to our seats—"

A rack of turbulance cut Izaya's words off. Shizuo fell back into an empty seat with the flea on top of him. The plane cop was leaning against a seat heavily till the shaking stopped.

"Come on, Shizu-chan~." Izaya whined as he struggled to stand from his awkward position on Shizuo's stomach and lap. "We should go sit back down~."

Shizuo wasn't paying attention. He was watching the little girl—no, the demon, Alessa—walk towards the pilots' hub.

She looked back at Shizuo, her pure black eyes staring into the blonds.

Then she turned and phased through the door.

"Shizu-chan?"

'This is going to be bad.'

On cue with his words, the plane tilted at a dizzying angle. Respiratory masks fell from the top compartments as people screamed. Izaya's eyes widened and he went to stand only for Shizuo to pull him back down.

The two fell out of the seat as the plane tilted at another angle. Shizuo held Izaya close, slamming shoulders first into the emergency door.

"What's going on?!"

"Mommy, I'm scared!"

"Make it stop!"

"I'm gonna puke!"

"Shizu-chan!"

Shizuo held Izaya tightly.

Then everything exploded in noise as the pilots' hub tore away from the plane. Peoples' screams were drowned out by the sound of rushing wind. Chairs were torn from the cab along with their occupants.

Shizuo held onto Izaya tightly with one hand while holding onto the emergency door handle. Izaya's nails dug into Shizuo's shoulders, his face pressed to the blond's chest with his eyes closed tight shut.

The handle twisted in Shizuo's hand, the wind pushing the door open.

The door tore off its hinges, taking Shizuo and Izaya with it.

Then it was eerily silent. All Shizuo could hear was the sound of wind rushing past them. He could see the ground coming closer and closer.

He was going to die.

There was no way his body could withstand this fall.

Izaya was going to die too.

They were going to die!

'If this is a dream, let us wake up quickly!'

Shizuo squeezed Izaya and closed his eyes tight shut.