"Say, we will meet each other again?"

"Yes, of course."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now go and don't look back."

The alarm clock rang loudly. Chihiro Ogino, still groggy, sat up on her bed, rubbing her eyes. Finally, realizing she was awake, she sighed. It was that dream again. The dream she had so many times in the past. It was always the same. The silhouette of a person giving farewell to her and making a promise. Who that person was, the girl had no idea.

Every time Chihiro had this dream, she would wonder the same thing. If, by any chance, it had to do with the mysterious memory gap she had. Years ago, when moving to the town where she currently lived, they found a strange tunnel on the way. Memories were blurry after that and the last thing she remembered was them turning back with the car since it was the wrong way and arriving at their home.

Things got strange after that. They discovered that months have passed since they left their old town. That wasn't right, was it? Their car travel only took a few hours!

Still, the reality was harsh. To their luck, their house was bought, but the family faced many other problems. Her parents on finding a job, Chihiro on enrolling in the school and getting used to it. Because of the mysterious event surrounding her family, all other students were afraid of her and kept their distance.

'If you get close to that girl you will be cursed and disappear in 7 days!' That was how rumors went. Therefore, with a few exceptions, she pretty much had no friends. Even in the present, 6 years later, they continued.

"Chihiro! You will be late to school!" her mother called from downstairs. Once again, the girl yawned and finally got off of bed. Putting on her uniform, she went downstairs and greeted her parents, settling down to eat. Finally, she left towards school.

Chihiro lived in a small town, but her school was certainly not small. That was because the teenagers from neighbor towns also went there as well. It was pretty much a nice school. Even though she was isolated and received stares often, she didn't mind it. Rather, she was used to it. Plus, it wasn't like she didn't have any friends at all. Arriving at school, she put changed her shoes to the indoor type and went towards the classroom.

"Chii-chaaaaaan~!" An energetic voice echoed by the hallway, along with running footsteps. Suddenly, Chihiro felt something - or someone - jumping on her back.

"Na-Nao-chan, stop! You will break my neck, you will break my neck-" Finally, she lost her balance and fell on the floor, with a girl on top.

That girl finally stood up and held out a hand, laughing. "Hahaha, sorry, sorry! Chii-chan, your reactions are always too funny!"

That was Nao Fujioka, one of the two girls Chihiro considered to be friends with. Nao was a 'wild' girl, with straight long hair tied into four pigtails. Two behind her shoulders and two in front. She was someone who was often in trouble with the teachers and was considered to be a delinquent by many. Chihiro knew better though. Nao was kinda weird, but she was a really kind girl.

Another voice sounded behind Nao. It was a much gentler voice, like the one of a mother. Still, it belonged to someone the same age as them. "Nao. If you keep doing that you will really end up sending Chii to the hospital."

A half-foreign girl with a pale skin and wavy blond hair, using a blue hairpin that matched the color of the eyes. She had the air of a ladylike frail girl, what made people find difficult to approach her. Some even tried, but the only ones she was truly able to be open with were Chihiro and Nao. Her name was Yuka Hashimoto.

Nao and Yuka were childhood friends. They grew up together and got into the same school and high school. They ended up in different classes, though, Nao ending up in the same class as Chihiro. That was what started everything. The wild girl learned about the rumors of the cursed girl and got interested. Before anything could even be said, a certain brunette was already being dragged to eat lunch with the duo. She had been friends with them for one year already. They were all people who had trouble fitting in the crowd, but together they always had a blast. Things were so different a year ago...


It was lunch time. Chihiro would sit alone in her desk as always. Her homemade lunchbox to many would be a sight to behold in terms of food, but for her, it tasted bland. She felt bad for the meal so painstakingly made every morning by her mother, but to eat alone while watching everyone group together and have fun was painful. Things have been like that for five years, but Chihiro couldn't get used to it. She really missed her friends from her previous town.

Her thoughts were interrupted once she felt a tug on her ponytail. It was as if someone pulled it fiercely. Then, it came loose.

"Ah…" Chihiro tried to feel around her hair, looking for something. What happened? Where was her hair tie!?

"Hey, cursed girl! Looking for this!?" A boy from her class laughed. In his hands, there was her purple hair tie. Chihiro paled as the boy kept mocking her. "You always come to the school in the same ponytail using the same ugly tie! Try to change a bit!"

"Hey, don't mock her~" Another classmate laughed, joining the fun. "It's probably some kind of voodoo spell so she won't disappear again!"

Clenching the fists, Chihiro walked towards the boy. "Give it back!" She tried to reach her tie but the other boy raised his hand out of her reach.

"Too bad you're small! Otherwise, you might have been able to get it. Here, catch!" He threw the hair tie to the other classmate, who was dangerously close to the window. Catching it, he threatened to let it fall from there.

"Stop!" Chihiro shouted, but she couldn't move. If she moved, there was a chance that he would release his grip on the tie. That tie was important to her. She didn't remember how or when she got it, but as long as she had it, no matter what, Chihiro believed she could go through anything. That everything would be alright, regardless of the situation.

Probably- No. She was pretty sure she must have received this gift from someone really special.

"Stop, you two!" A female voice was heard. The brunette knew that voice. Wasn't it from her classmate...what was her name again...Fujioka? That should be it. She was rumored to be a delinquent and have beaten up a whole school gang with a single hand. The same type of crazy rumors Chihiro had about her. The only things she knew about her, however, was that she always arrived late and that she didn't respect the uniform regulations, using a skirt shorter than should be used. Still, the two boys also knew well about those rumors. So well that they were now pale.

"She asked already, didn't she?" The black-haired girl gave a smirk, crossing her arms. "Give it back to her, will ya?"

"U-ugh." It took only a few seconds for them to surrender. "Fine! We don't want to get cursed by holding it for too long anyways!" Violently, the classmate threw the tie back to Chihiro and ran away with his friend. Chihiro caught her hair tie with a relieved smile.

"Err...Fujioka-san?" She approached the girl carefully, maybe a bit hesitant. "Thank you. This is really precious to me so- I'm really grateful, I really owe you one." She gave a bright smile, truly happy to have it back.

"Those boys are dumb, so they might come back." Nao smiled, moving her hands and resting them on her hips. "If anything like that happens again, call me, I won't hesitate to chase them away! Also, call me Nao! 'Fujioka-san' sounds too formal."

"Then Nao! Thank you!"

"That said, is this tie that important from you? Is that some sort of important gift from someone?"

"Huh...maybe?" Chihiro gave a weird smile.

Nao looked surprised. What a weird answer. "Maybe? What do you mean maybe? Don't you know?"

"I don't know exactly, but I know it is important. Like an amulet of sorts. It has always helped and cheered me up."

Nao blinked once. Twice. Then burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! You're a really weird girl, aren't you Chii-chan?"

"Chii-chan!?" Where did that nickname full of closeness and familiarity come from? They had known each other for only five minutes!

"Yeah! Your name is Chihiro, right? Chihiro Ogino. Therefore, Chii-chan. I like you, so consider it a display of friendship!"

"Ah...yes…" The girl only nodded dumbfounded, still trying to process that, apparently, she had just made her first friend since she moved into the town. However, before she could even be aware of it, Nao had already grabbed her hand and was pulling her out of the classroom. "W-wait, where are we going!?"

"We are going to have lunch with Yuka! Come on!"

"Who is Yukaaaaa!" Chihiro cried trying to match her pace with the fast-paced girl in order to not trip over herself.

"Yuka is Yuka! I'll introduce her to you!"


"I'm Yuka Hashimoto, Nice to meet you." Yuka bowed politely. Compared to the hurricane that was Nao, Yuka seemed like a calm oasis in the middle of the desert. They couldn't have more opposite personalities and yet, they were best friends. Yuka was having lunch under the shade of a tree, which Nao later said to be their secret spot.

"I'm Chihiro Ogino, nice to meet you, Hashimoto-san." She returned the bow, relieved to be finally able to sit and rest after their mad dash through the school.

"You are really cute, Chii. Don't worry about formalities, you can call me Yuka." Yuka smiled.

"...Chii?" She blinked.

"Your name is Chihiro Ogino, right? Therefore, Chii. Take it as a token of a new friendship."

...Right, maybe they weren't so different after all.

"Why are you two befriending me though? Haven't you heard the rumors?" Chihiro frowned. They weren't true, of course, but most of the students still believed it.

"You are interesting, so I have wanted to talk to you for a while!" Nao grinned. "I mean I was kinda hesitant, because I thought I would have only scared you, but you seemed so cool fighting for your precious gift back then that I had to know you more!" Nodding, she pointed a thumb to herself. "Also, if you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly popular either. Well, Yuka is popular, but to an extent everyone just stays away admiring her."

"Strangers also send me weird letters every day. I feel like I am being stalked." Yuka sighed, but Nao shook her head.

"You mean the confession letters? They are declaring their undying love for you, Yuka! You could try meeting one of those guys some time."

"I don't want a boyfriend, I want friends." The blonde once again sighed.

"Everyone treats her like a frail princess, though. So you see, Chii-chan. Treat her normally okay? Like, don't even be afraid of doing things like flipping her skirt-"

Nao, with a motion, did exactly what she said and flipped Yuka's skirt, earning a heavy slap across her face.

"See? This girl has a monster strength, no way she is frail!"

"Nao-san…" Chihiro frowned. "There is a hand imprinted on your face."


Since then, those three would meet each other every day. The food that was once bland would be colorful and tasteful as she spent her meals with her new friends. It wasn't painful anymore because she wasn't alone.

During that afternoon, the trio went to their secret spot and had lunch, while chatting.

"Say Chii-chan, I saw you drawing during class. Were you drawing dragons again?" Nao asked casually, catching Chihiro's attention and using this chance to steal the croquette from her lunchbox.

"Ah, my croque-that was dirty, Nao-chan!"

"It's alright, it's alright, just answe- AAAH- Yuka! You stole my octopus sausage! I was saving iiiiit!"

"Justice has prevailed," Yuka said calmly with a proud smile, putting the food in her mouth.

At that comical display, Chihiro laughed. "Yep! I'm drawing it again! I tried going for western dragons for once, but in the end I ended sticking to the eastern type. I can't seem to get tired of them!" She opened her notebook, showing her latest drawing with a big smile. It was a white dragon with green details. It almost seemed magical. Nao and Yuka watched, amazed.

"It is amazing, Chii!" Yuka praised. "You are such a great artist. I heard that drawing the anatomy of humans is pretty difficult but it is even more difficult to draw the anatomy of animals, especially the fantastic ones!"

"Well...I don't know how to say it. Do you know how I was saying I tried to draw a western kind earlier? I couldn't manage to get the proportions right, I think I'm just good at imagining some types of creatures."

"Once you drew a giant baby and a tiny grandma, right? They were so cute~" Yuka giggled. "You are so creative Chii."

"I just draw what comes to my mind. Sometimes what shows in my dream too." Chihiro blushed, embarrassed.

"Like the mysterious boyfriend you can't figure out who he is? The one who says in a terminator voice 'I'll be back'?

"Wait, what? No he isn't my-wait, who has a terminator voice, Nao-chan!? I never said anything about this!"

"Nao is also really creative. In her own way." Yuka smiled awkwardly. "If Chihiro ever had a dream with a guy saying 'I will be back' in such way, it wouldn't be a romantic dream, it would be a creepy one."

"I never said it was romantic," the girl mumbled, munching on her egg roll to hide her embarrassment.

"But we're serious when we say you could be an artist, Chii-chan!" Nao smiled. "Have you thought about making commissions? Debuting in a con? Maybe making R-18 comics without your parents realizing!?"

"Stop while you are ahead, Nao-chan…" The brunette gave her a sharp look. That was almost threading into a dangerous territory.

"By the way, have you heard the rumors?" Yuka coughed softly, using this chance to change topics.

"Rumors?" both asked curiously.

"It seems that some people are receiving weird emails. I don't know if it is a chain message, a virus or just a prank, but many people are getting these emails with a weird link."

"A link? To what?" Chihiro looked confused.

"I don't know. It says it is a link for a demon summoning program."

"That is a virus. Totally a virus." Nao declared. "Who would be so dumb to believe something like this? Actually, had anyone downloaded it at all?"

"Yes, I know someone who downloaded it on their smart phone."

"And…?" Chihiro leaned in, eager to know more.

"Nothing happened. Nothing except they got an app that can't be deleted at all. Every time they delete it, the app returns. Also, if they try to open the app a white screen shows up, but nothing else."

"See? Called it. Vírus. Bye bye, phone." Nao sighed. "Chii-chan, what face is that? Are you disappointed?"

"Huh, not exactly." The girl laughed sheepishly. "But wouldn't be interesting? If...fantastic creatures existed." With a longing look, she stared at her own drawings. Yes, she was disappointed. She didn't know why, though.


"I'm home, Mom."

"Welcome home, Chihiro! Dinner will still take a while."

"Okay! Is Dad home?"

"Dad is working on an extra shift today. He will come home late."

"Alright."

Leaving her shoes in the entrance, Chihiro went to her room upstairs. Thankfully she had little homework this time so, after finishing it, she had some free time before dinner.

Now, what to do…

She could watch television, read a book, or maybe…

Chihiro remembered what her friends talked about that afternoon. She was just going to check her email. Just a look couldn't hurt, right?

She turned on her computer and opened her inbox. Nothing was there. Then she checked the spam box.

"Ah!"

There it was-! A weird message from some guy called Steven.

Topic: 'For those who have courage to survive'

The topic was already fishy enough by itself. Maybe she shouldn't go further.

Even so, Chihiro clicked it.

There was the weird link, an attachment called 'Demon Summoning Program'

If it wasn't a virus it was obviously a prank.

But...

It would be nice if fantastical creatures existed, right…?

Could something change if she pressed that button? Something that didn't change for anyone else?

There was only way to know.

Taking a deep breath, Chihiro shut her eyes tightly and finally clicked the link.


Author's note: This is the beginning of a crossover I have wanted to write for a while. While there won't be many characters from Shin Megami Tensei involved aside of the demons and Steven. Characters like Haku, Lyn and Yubaba will certainly appear in later chapters. The beginning is slow but I wanted to introduce a bit of Chihiro's daily life before going deep into the story. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this! Next chapter will come soon!