This is the last chapter before everything is in place to move forward and it's not so all over the place. Chapters are going to start getting longer after this one, so you have that to look forward to!

On a side note, I'd like to thank my two friends who have been helping me with this story for quite some time now, so shout out to them (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ you know who you are~

Shizuo

"It's getting late, we should probably make this our last trip down," Shinra said, checking his watch then looking up to the setting sun in the distance.

It was a beautiful sight, all the warm tones up in the sky marrying together to create a view I had only seen in pictures in travel magazines. I had to pinch myself to remind me that the beautiful spectrum was a daily occurrence here, in this small town.

That's not to say that the sunsets back in 'Bukuro weren't a sight themselves, but this. This was magnificent.

The way the orange and pink hues reflected against the usually achromatic landscape, now looked vastly similar to that delicious kind of fake, rainbow ice cream they give to kids who are lactose intolerant.

It had been a successful day, here on the mountains. The weather was beautiful, it wasn't too crowded, and the flea had managed to stay out of my hair for almost 5 hours. Perhaps my stay here wouldn't be as painful as I thought.

I made my way to the cliff's edge, bracing myself before pushing off. The trip down the hillside never got old. The cold wind burning my face was ignored by the adrenaline coursing through my veins. The only time I got half as much of a rush as this was when I was chasing that damn louse around…

I couldn't put a hold on my thoughts before realizing that I had just admitted that to myself. That matter was dropped quickly when images from the night before popped back into my mind. I had been trying to forget about them all day, but to no avail. Ever since we started skiing this morning, the exercise had numbed my mind a little, but the constant thought of those eyes remained.

Dammit...

Reaching the bottom of the slope, Shinra and I made our way back to the shop to return the borrowed items. We headed to one of the resort's back entrances on the west side. The doors opened, letting a warm air wash over our chilled bodies.

"Want to grab a bite to eat?" Shinra looked over to me, nose and cheeks red from the frigid atmosphere.

He pointed over to one in the cluster of restaurants that lined the halls. The smell of various grilled foods filled my senses, making my mouth water.

"Yeah," I nodded, feeling my stomach growl at the thought of food.

We sat in silence while we waited, mostly because Shinra was constantly on his phone. By the quirky smile on his face, I could already tell who he was talking to, but I asked anyway.

"You know you smile like a dork whenever you text her, right?" I laughed a little to myself, probably the first time I had genuinely smiled since I got here.

He looked up at me blushing a bit. "I can't help it, the woman I want to marry is miles away from me. How am I supposed to deal with the distance?" he said, smiling sheepishly.

Shinra was my oldest friend. We go way back together being classmates in grade school. I remember the first time he invited me over to his house. That's when I met her.

"There's something you should know..." He hesitated to turn the knob to the door of his apartment.

"Yeah?"

"I have an...er...roommate..." He turned to face me with a nervous look on his face.

I canted my head, puzzled at what the problem could possibly be. Tons of people had roommates.

"Shizuo, you are my best friend. I trust you more than anyone, and I know you won't say anything, but...please don't be freaked out. She's really friendly, just...different."

We went inside to what seemed like an empty room. Everything seemed ordinary to me. Shinra's OCD must be genetic with how organized and well kept the apartment was.

"Celty, I'm home from school!... I have a friend with me. Shizuo." He called into the vacant space.

Footsteps were coming from down the hall. A female figure dressed in a leather bodysuit entered the room. She was wearing a yellow helmet with a blue design, and at the crown were two feline ears.

I bowed at the older woman. "H-Hello. I'm Heiwajima Shizuo. Nice to meet you," I said formally.

She began typing on a PDA.

[Shinra has told me so much about you. My name is Celty.] She withdrew the device for a moment to type again. [I'll make some tea.] Then she headed into the kitchenette.

I turned to face my friend. He was watching her walk away, but there was something about his facial expression that I had never seen before. To put it into words...He admiringly looked at her. Like he had been waiting all day just to see her. I didn't quite understand it.

We took a seat at the kotatsu in the living room. He was beaming a smile as she served us our drinks. His eyes never left her face-or helmet, that is. I wondered why she wore it indoors...

She left the room and returned with a small laptop. She typed quickly then faced it to me.

[Please make yourself at home. I'm so glad to see Shinra have a friend over. We don't usually have company.]

I nodded to her. "Thank you for having me over."

There was something strange about her aura. Something about sitting beside her, even being in the same room as her, made me feel calm. I hadn't felt this way before. I was fascinated. Excited. Happy. At peace. All at once. Maybe it was because she was so mysterious and intriguing. Maybe there was something else about her...

I hadn't noticed I had been watching her in the corner of my eye until she looked at me and tilted her head to the side. I felt myself heat up and looked down at the cup full of green liquid sitting in front of me. I brought it to my lips trying to hide the blush.

"He wants to know what you are, Celty."

I couldn't help but gasp mid-drink. Trying to suppress a coughing fit, I managed to get out, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare at you. I didn't—"

She retrieved the computer and pecked at the keys some more before showing me.

[It's fine, you don't have to apologize. I would be curious too.]

She added:

[Is it okay, Shinra?]

He smiled and nodded. "Shizuo can handle it. He's different too, in his own way."

She turned to me, putting both hands on either side of her helmet and lifted it slowly.

My eyes widened, and my heart skipped a beat when there was nothing but inky smoke hovering above her neck, where her head should have been.

They say when you experience the supernatural, part of your soul intertwines with the spirits around you. That's why you feel weightless and heavy at the same time. The two are pushing and pulling despite being in separate worlds.

That's just what they say though. I didn't believe it. I was certain we were in the same world. Something within me knew that the world was just bigger than what I had once thought.

I wasn't frightened or scared. I felt...enlightened.

She was different. I think that's why I wasn't afraid. She was like me.

She began typing again.

[Shinra told me about you too...Being different isn't always a bad thing.]

No one outside of my family had ever treated me so...normally. I had never been invited over to anyone's house before now, because, well...I didn't have any other friends, besides Shinra. People at school didn't talk to me because they had either seen me angry or heard of my bad temper. But part of the reason I was always in a bad mood was because I was treated so alienated...I felt alone.

But knowing that someone could relate to me...

[The world's not as cruel as you think.]

I smiled.

[You are welcome to come by anytime.] She said as I was putting my shoes back on.

"Thank you, again, for having me," I bowed.

And I did feel welcome. I didn't feel alone anymore.

I shook my head and chuckled again when his thumbs went back to racing against the small keypad of his phone. A few minutes passed in silence before our meals arrived. It took no time at all before I had completely scarfed down a steak and fries and Shinra ate his salmon.

As we left, Shinra checked his phone for the time, only to be interrupted by the sound of a new message. He read it over before turning to face me with a bright smile.

"Izaya just texted me saying there's an onsen here! It's pretty close to where we are. Wanna go?"

"Hell yes I do," I said stretching, feeling each individual muscle begin to ache from today's activities. That, on top of a restless night.

We followed the directions given in the text message, leading us to a pair of doors labeled "men," and the other one, "women." The men's locker room was large and luxurious-for a locker room, that is. Isles of tall compartments lined the walls, between them, long wooden benches. Off to the right were restrooms, changing rooms, and showers. Against the back wall were many small cubbies with freshly folded, white towels.

I chose a locker at the end of one of the rows; Shinra, a locker behind me on the opposite side of the bench. I began taking my coat off then my boots, shirt, and pants. Standing there in nothing but a pair of boxers and socks, I started to feel a little self-conscious.

Fuck it, I thought to myself as I headed over to grab a towel before walking into a stall to change. Something about being completely naked with a bunch of old men and Shinra in the room just felt weird as hell.

I exited the changing stall with a towel wrapped around my waist. Going back over to my locker, I stuffed my socks and underwear on the shelf. Closing it behind me, I walked over to where Shinra was waiting by the door in a towel.

"You shouldn't be so self-conscious, Shizuo, the human body is a beautiful thi—"

"Yeah, yeah," I waved off for him to spare me the lecture, walking out the door he was holding for me.

Immediately I felt the heat radiating from the spring as I stepped outside. The foggy air swept around my feet.

The outdoor room was surrounded by half wooden, half screen walls, so that you could view the evening; snow-capped mountains beyond. Candles lit up the large room, on top of the natural light of a waning crescent coming in through the screens. There was a black, lamp-like chandelier that hung from the center if the ceiling. Through the steam, I could see several heads bobbing in the bath water.

I stepped down onto the stairs in the water before removing my towel and setting on the side of the pool. Thankfully there was enough steam hovering above the water to cover the lower half of my body. I sunk into the liquid feeling my muscles relax as the heat touched my flesh.

"Ah," Shinra sighed in relief sitting down next to me. "This is the life...The only thing that would make this better was if my dearest Celty were here," he said winking at me, an unusual sight of his face free of glasses.

"Pervert," I muttered with a smile as I closed my eyes. I leaned my head back against the edge of the pool. I hadn't felt this at ease in years...Or was it ever?

"Glad you could finally join us~," I heard his annoying sing-song voice making its way over to where we were sitting. I cracked an irritable eye open as satan reincarnate stood before us.

Well, that was a nice five seconds while it lasted...

"Hey, thanks for telling us about this place, it's exactly what we needed," Shinra said gratefully.

"Of course, of course. Anything for my friends," the flea said in a disgustingly sweet manner.

Kadota came over and sat next to me, giving me a nod. I nodded once back, then shut my eyes once more trying to tune out the conversation between the other two.

The heat of the water immersing my body made it easier for me to relax again. It wasn't before long when the sounds around me began to sound muffled and distant. Before I knew it, I was out...

At first, I felt my body covered in sweat. It was too hot, wherever I was. I could barely breathe. And it didn't help that something was holding my body down, a weight centered on of my stomach. I could feel it shift on top of me as I struggled to inhale.

There it was again. That smell. That familiar smell from before.

Something warm and wet dragged itself along my cheek. My eyes snapped open. Looking back at me were those same crimson eyes.

I woke up suddenly, sitting straight up.

Breathing hard, I looked around at my two friends and the flea who wasstaring at me mystified.

"You alright, man?" Kadota's concerned voice asked beside me.

"Yeah, just this weird dream..." I said rubbing my eyes.

"Wanna talk about it?" Shinra asked from my other side. "Not that dream study is in my field of medical training, that's more psychiatric work—"

"N-No. It's nothing..." I said trying to snap out of it.

There's no way I could ever talk about that fucking nightmare.

There was a long awkward pause before Izaya broke it. "Well...as exciting as this has been, I think it's time for me to get out. I feel like a raisin."

The louse was heading toward the stairs, and within seconds, the steam engulfed the figure walking away.

The three of us sat in silence for a few minutes as I waited for my heart to return to a normal pace.

"You sure you don't want to talk—"

"I said I'm fine," I cut Shinra off, accidentally adding more force.

When I had calmed down enough, I pushed myself away from the wall. "I need a cigarette. I'll see you guys back in the room."

Grabbing my towel and wrapping it around my waist, I got out of the pool and made my way over to the locker room door.

Moving my hand up to massage the back of my neck, I walked over to where I had left my things in my locker. Absentmindedly, I reached up for the handle, but to my surprise, it was already open. I looked inside, and it was completely empty. I checked the number again

I was sure this was the locker I had used...

"Looking for something, Shizu-chan~?"

The insufferable sneer immediately had my hair standing on end.

My head whipped around, to see the louse standing there with my clothes bunched in his arms and a smirk on his face.

Izaya

"What are you doing, flea?!" the blonde shouted, his voice echoing off the walls. We were the only two in the locker room; I had made sure of it earlier.

"I'm going to say this one last time, Shizu-chan. Let me room with you," I offered my final warning.

"Why the fuck do you keep bothering me about that, you damn louse?! I said no!"

"Always wanting to do things the hard way," I heaved an exaggerated sigh. "You give me no other choice then..."

And with that, I dashed out of his sight and through the door.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" I heard him growl behind me.

Excellent, just as predicted.

I turned a sharp corner, but I could hear Shizuo catching up to me. He may be strong, but I'd beat him in a race any day. My parkour skills were being put to use as I hopped over benches and jumped through bell carts.

I looked back at the monster as he was gaining on me. The poor fool was running with on hand holding the towel wrapped around him in place. I laughed loudly before I sped up, dodging other tourists as we continued our race through the hallways.

People were staring at the brute and I as we played our game of cat and mouse. How strange it must be to see two teenage boys chasing each other, one in nothing but a short, white towel. I didn't feel the least bit phased that it might be disturbing to some of the older folk here.

"IIIIII-ZAAAAA-YAAAAA!" he kept shouting from behind me, which just made me laugh harder. He was starting to fall behind.

"Those cigarettes holding you back, ne, Shizu-chan?" I called back.

With that, he sprinted harder towards me, raging with fury.

Next thing I knew we were on the complete opposite side of the resort heading into the main lobby. I looked back one more time at the blonde who was getting too close for comfort before shouting, "you've got to run faster than that, Shizu-chan, if you ever plan on getting these ba—" when suddenly I felt something hard hit my shin. The next thing I knew, I was flying forward.

This was entirely unpredicted...You never fail...

Cold water surrounded me as I practically belly flopped into the lobby's large fountain.

I got my head above water for a brief second before something heavy landed on top of me, sending me back down into the cold pool. Water was shot up my nose and into my mouth.

Pushing the brute off, I came up again for air coughing. I looked around for Shizuo. He was trying to stand up a few feet away from me. His clothes scattered around the pool.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU SAW ME FALL IN! WHY DID YOU KEEP RUNNING?!" I shouted in between coughs.

He looked at me, eyes flaming with anger as he stalked over. He grabbed the wet collar of my shirt, bringing my face close to his. I don't think I had ever seen him this mad.

"YOU'RE THE IDIOT THAT DIDN'T STOP BEFORE FALLING FACE FIRST INTO THIS MESS, NEED I REMIND YOU!"

I laughed sarcastically before shooting back, "I'm no idiot Shizu-chan! Ungraceful at times, but NOT an idiot."

"It's your fucking fault any of this happened, so yeah, that makes you an idiot!"

I rolled my eyes, but something caught my attention. In the corner of my eye, I saw something white lapping the water's surface. Shizuo noticed my gaze shift over to the towel floating beside us. He paused for a moment and dropped me back into the water. My eyes curiously wondering down his body before stopping to see...

My eyes widened and I felt a sadistic smirk growing on my face. My gaze shifted back up at Shizuo, who was red from head to toe. He quickly grabbed the wet towel from beside him, wrapping himself up, looking around to see if anyone else gotten a shot of his display of public nudity.

I got back up on my feet and stepped out of the pool while Shizuo was still collecting his soaked clothing. Shaking some of the water off, I turned around to face a rather irritated individual, most likely someone of the resorts importance, standing behind me.

His nameplate inscribed 'HOTEL MANAGER' was quickly spotted as I put on my best fake smile before speaking. "Good evening, sir. It seems we've made quite a mess of your fine lobby...I apologize on both our behalves." I heard Shizuo step out of the water behind me.

It was almost too much to hold back from hysterically laughing at the current situation.

"You kids here with Rajin High?" the man in the suit asked flatly.

"Yes," Shizuo and I said in unison — although Shizuo's was more of a "yeah".

"Please, come with me," he waved for us to follow him.

And so we did, reaching Sir Uptight's office, where we sat, still soaking wet. We said nothing to each other, but occasionally Shizuo and I would make eye contact, which he would break immediately. About 15 minutes later, the same man came back into the office, our teacher, Okimura-sensei, behind him looking at the pair of us not exactly surprised.

"The manager has explained what happened to me," he said, gaze shifting between us. "I'm very disappointed in your behavior, you two."

The brute and I looked down... "We're sorry," we said apologetically. "Truly we are. We got out of hand," I finished, but it was a complete lie. I wasn't sorry in the slightest.

"Had you not been a student on a class trip here, you would have been asked to leave the resort...Thankfully this nice man has been so forgiving," our teacher continued. "However, this is your last chance. If the two of you end up here again, we will have to make arrangements to send you home."

"As your punishment, you will clean up the mess you have made in the lobby. Mops will be provided," the manager said.

"After you change of course," our teacher interjected looking at Shizuo specifically.

"Yes, please put some clothes on. We're just lucky no one was there to witness your...public exposure," the manager said distastefully to the brute.

I could see him shift in his seat uncomfortably before nodding and blushing a little.

How interesting. Shizuo really is self-conscious. I almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"As for my personal punishment...we will decide that after you two have cleaned," said the teacher with crossed arms.

We nodded, and apologized once more. They let us go back to our rooms and change, then came back down to the lobby. Two mops were waiting beside the fountain as well as a yellow "wet floor" sign.

Shizuo and I mopped the entire lobby, plus where we had tracked water down the hallway. It took about a half hour with the two of us working. We said nothing to each other, and we certainly didn't look at each other again. When we finished, we returned the cleaning supplies back to the manager, bowing and apologizing one last time.

"No serious harm done," he said. The mood had lightened now that we had gotten the job finished.

Our teacher was waiting for us back in the clean lobby.

We walked over to him as he began. "As my personal form of punishment, the two of you will have an earlier curfew. You will be back on the resort grounds by 8pm and in your room at 9pm."

That's not so bad.

"Which brings me to the second part of your punishment," he went on, "I've noticed that the two of you have some differences you need to work out. I think it would be best if you spent more time getting to know each other and sort out those differences in a healthier, more mature manner. That's why I have spoken to the rest of your group, and they have agreed to have the two of you room together instead."