[b]---Collab between Summer and Alyss Dolyss---[/b]

Sho barely heard Suzume calling out through the white noise. Did she say 'Haruka'? Before he could turn to see what was going on, the overwhelming sound began separating into distinctive pitches. Then he realized the pitches were forming syllables. He cocked his head slightly and shut his eyes, trying to pick out the words. What he heard sent a chill creeping up his spine.

"[i]Kill[/i]?" Sho murmured, eyes wide. "W-who? I didn't..." He faltered, a growing sense of unease in the pit of his stomach. [i]Suzume[/i]. Sho spun back around to find her backing away from him. Too late.

"Suzume," Sho called after her, raising his voice to be heard over the constant thrum. He stood up and took a tentative step towards her. "Where are you going? It's not safe out there."

Suzume just kept walking, trying to just forget about things. But in her stubbornness, through the noise, she heard Sho near her. She heard what he said, and she just turned to look at him. It was barely a look, she just kept her head down and averted her gaze. Whatever she heard, it made her very uncomfortable, confused and bitter. She bit her lip, then looked at him in a cold way. But as she did her eyes started to swell with big tears. 

"I don't know where I'm going...just somewhere?" [i] Listen to me... [/i] she thought. "I just..." she looked back down. "I don't know what happened between you and Haruka, but playing games on me isn't okay." she growled under her breath. "I just want to get out of this building, and go home, Sho." her voice came to a crack, she still didn't want to look at him. "I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you [i] like [/i] me. But I don't want to be hated anymore or be in this... this... hell. I just wanna go home..." After her speech, she looked up at him with tears starting to run from her eyes. [i] I sound so pathetic... [/i]

Sho opened his mouth, then closed it again. He wasn't sure how to respond to her sudden change of mind. What did she mean by 'hated'? He racked his brain in search of any memory of something he could have done to hurt her or initiate such thoughts. He couldn't think straight. The white noise was too pervasive... Wait. It suddenly clicked.

"Suzume, hold on!" Sho hurried over to her and grabbed her hand to keep her from fleeing. "I don't know what you mean by me and Haruka. [i]Nothing[/i] happened, okay? It's this godforsaken noise! It's putting thoughts in our heads and trying to turn us against each other. Suzu, listen to me." He put one hand against her cheek and gently turned her face towards his. "We [i]will[/i] go home. We just have to do it together."

Sho drew her into an embrace and kissed her on the forehead. "Come on now. We have to keep going. We're still the heroes of this story, remember? Some writing on a wall told us that, so it must be true." He offered her a playful smile. "I promise I'll help you through this. Don't you trust me?"

Suzume just blinked at him through her tears. A childlike spark came across her eyes but she still just blinked at him. She didn't really know what to say to him either. [i] The Noise [/i] Listening to all he said, she stared at him. Suzume like everything single thing he said, and it made things not seem as bad. "Heroes?" she mumbled. She snugged against his chest like a little girl, and thought about things for a second. After some silence, she looked at him and put her hands around his ears. A smile came on her face with some tears still in her eyes but she laughed. "If I cover your ears, you won't hear it maybe?" She continued to have a joyful laugh as she looked at her hands covering his ears and talking over this noise.

"Hmm," Sho covered her hands with his own and grinned at her. "It does help a little... Here." He took off his beanie and slipped it over Suzume's head, down to just below her ears. "That should help with the noise. I also must say: it looks better on you than it does me."

She kept feeling tears, even though she didn't really get why. "Sho...I want to be heros." Her eyes watered some more, "But I've had this god-awful feeling that, we're going to die in here." she still smiled. "We might end up being [i] tragic heroes [/i]"

"Hey," Sho said. "Don't say things like that." He furrowed his brow in a mock scold. "We'll get out of here alive. And you can't die; I forbid it." He suddenly remembered Haruka was here with them. "Let's regroup so we can come up with a plan to get out of here."

Suzume brushed off her tears and giggled, "Okay, just don't look at me like that. You look mean when you scowl." She turned in the direction she thought she heard Haruka's voice. "I think she was this way. I hope she's okay, and hopefully Toby is with her." she gave a small smile.