Author's Note: I think. I didn't know that I drank, or anything, but I blacked out on Sunday and woke up... today. Weird, huh? That, and I... apparently wrote this. Apparently, I DO drink. A lot. Well, assuming this is mine, I'll post it here for you peeps anyway, along with the Christmas special that I DO remember writing.

The first time was long, long ago. Back in Wakayama.

Ayumu Kasuga was an up-and-coming child at the age of five, as far as the rest of the world knew. She wasn't 'off' like she was known for later in her life, but still, a unique and bright child. Then, one of her friends began confiding in her a secret.

That friend had recently broken her arm, falling out of a tree. Only Ayumu knew this had to be wrong—that girl was afraid of heights. She told Ayumu that she had 'come to' up there, panicked, and fell. During her stay in the hospital, something strange began happening to her. The nurse kept coming in, saying there was a visitor in a suit for her, but when this 'visitor' was summoned to the room, he had vanished.

Ayumu had listened intently to her friend as stranger and stranger things began happening. She was released from the hospital, and swore she kept seeing the same, suit-wearing man at several different places, in front of buildings, peering through store windows, peeking out from behind trees. His face was obscured, his features spindly and gangly, and he seemed boney like a skeleton.

She began having dreams. Dreams, only vaguely remembered, involving a tree, and fire. She began seeing the gangly man more and more often, closer and closer. The dreams became more vivid, and she became more nervous and incoherent. Ayumu did the best she could to comfort her friend, but she became so frightened that her parents sought help.

Her family moved to Tokyo, and wrote often to tell Ayumu that the girl was improving every day. Being only five at the time, she believed them.

Eventually, the slender man was all but forgotten to Ayumu Kasuga, who developed her trademark eccentricity a short while afterward. Whether it was her own fated growth, or a means of coping with stress, was lost to her soon enough.

I: Fall

"Look, Miss Osaka!" Short, redheaded, and pigtailed, Chiyo Mihama was an undeniably prodigious youth. Transferring to the most regarded high school in Tokyo at the tender young age of ten years, she was nevertheless courteous, humble, kind, and mature beyond her years. Despite this, she was still a child who enjoyed a day at the park. Her tiny face was beaming the warmth of the sun as it shone down on her skin. She was pointing towards a group of boys a few meters away, who were flying kites. "Isn't that cool?"

Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, who had been seated placidly on the park bench, watching her young friend play with her dog, Mr. Tadakichi (who was twice as large as his owner) and thinking her own thoughts, took notice of the kites.

"Wow, you're right, Chiyo-chan." She agreed. "It's just windy enough for kites."

"I should've brought mine. My mom taught me how to make a simple kite a little while ago, and I was waiting for the perfect day to try it out." Another thing Chiyo had going for her was that her family was one of the richest in the country. In Japan, where rough terrain led to absolutely cramped cities and property wasn't cheap compared to that in other areas of the world, the Mihamas owned not one, but two homes, a mansion and a summer cabin that was still quite spacious.

For this reason, it wasn't surprising to Osaka that Chiyo had been taught to make her own kite... but a completely different thought came to her mind that she had to voice.

"You know," she murmured, as her tiny friend sat next to her, "I think, that if we made a big enough kite and strap you to it, you'd be able to fly, Chiyo-chan."

Chiyo laughed nervously. Sometimes, it was hard to tell whether she was joking or not.

"I... don't, think that'd be such a good idea, Miss Osaka." She pointed out carefully, "It... just doesn't work that way."

"Oh, I get it. So flying's impossible..."

With a sigh, Chiyo resumed watching the boys fly their kites. Sometimes, it was the best option to just leave Osaka with a thought like that, since it impeded her from hurting herself. Although, granted, it wasn't always easy to determine whether Osaka had been convinced of something or merely lost interest in the conversation...

"You know, something's kind of been sticking in the back of my head recently, Chiyo-chan. Lookin' at all these kites... reminds me of something. Can't really remember what."

Leaping at the subject change, Chiyo replied, "it might be deja vu. When you feel like you've gone through a moment before when you really haven't."

"Except, I know what it is I'm trying to remember. I just... can't remember." Osaka's vagueness was to be expected, but for some unfathomable reason, her tone carried a somber, concerned, and serious vibe that Chiyo had never heard in her before.

"Is something wrong, Miss..."

"No." Osaka replied sternly, causing Chiyo to jump in surprise. Mr. Tadakichi reacted as well, watching the conversation more intently, but remaining silent. Seemingly realizing how she'd just spoken, Osaka repeated herself in a gentler, but still serious tone. "No. I'm fine."

She leaned back, heaving a sigh of her own, as her gaze tracked downward from the kites. "That guy down there looks pretty nice, doesn't he?" She asked, to Chiyo's confusion.

"Down where?"