Originally, I wasn't going to post this yet, but since our group progress with Kiri the Novel has been kinda slow, I figured it would be okay to start this fic. Have fun reading :)

Chapter 1/A Mysterious Encounter

A blanket of darkness covered the city. Even the glow of the streetlights was dim in the thick fog. And it didn't help that tonight was the new moon. Gao Mikado, who normally stayed awake to view the lights outside, sighed and closed his window.

He laid in the darkness for a good fifteen minutes. Unable to fall asleep, he mindlessly drew circles in his sheets with a finger.

That was when he heard a tap on his window.

And then another.

Whoever - or whatever - began to tap more frantically. Concerned, Gao pulled back the curtain.

No one?

Gao opened the window and surveyed the outside. Suddenly, someone floated down from directly above and zoomed forward, knocking Gao flat on his back.

"W-whoa!" Gao pushed himself up into a sitting position. "What was that?"

A boy about his age had just finished slamming the window down and was reaching for the curtain.

"Hey, wait a moment!" yelled Gao. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the stranger's wrist, bending it at an awkward angle. "What do you think you're doing?"

The boy winced. "Shh! They're after me!"

"Who?" Gao demanded.

"They want to take Jackknife Dragon," the boy replied. He held up what seemed to be a playing card.

Gao relaxed his grip slightly, but stayed on guard. "That doesn't answer my question."

The other boy glanced toward the window. He paused for a moment as if he were debating whether to answer or not. Finally, he spoke. "The police."

Gao blinked. "The...police?" It took a while for the information to register in his mind. Then this boy is...a criminal?!

The boy pulled away from Gao's hold on his arm and turned back to the window. "They should be gone by now."

Gao thought quickly. If he let the boy leave, all this strangeness would be over, but then he would be letting a criminal go free...

"Wait," he said. "Why don't you stay overnight?"

The other boy turned to him, surprised.

Gao searched for words to say. "They, I mean, they might still be nearby." He knew his response was a bit too quick, but all that mattered was that the boy would stay. He could call the police in the morning.

The other boy relaxed. "Thank you."

"You can sleep on the floor," Gao added, pulling a sheet off his bed and tossing it to the boy. He climbed back into his bed, pulled the covers over himself, and rolled to the side to keep an eye on the boy.

The boy yawned and curled up on the ground under the sheet. Gao waited a while, just to be careful, before letting himself drift off to sleep.

Gao woke up to the sound of birds chirping. He slowly opened his eyes. Turning his head to the right, he saw light filtering through the curtain in front of the window.

Was it...all a dream?

He climbed out of bed and stretched. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a sheet on the ground, crumpled as if it had been thoughtlessly discarded. Gao froze. If the sheet was there, then it actually happened, and–

The boy was gone.

Gao rushed to the window, drew back the curtain, and opened it hurriedly. He was about to call out a name, but then he realized he had never asked for the boy's name. He mentally kicked himself; that would have been a good thing to know about a possible criminal, especially since the low light had made it hard to gather more than an impression of his appearance.

That was when Gao realized something. How had the boy entered through the window? He hadn't been climbing, had he? But there was no other way. Unless...he had been flying.

Gao shook his head. What was he thinking? No one could fly. This was real life, not fantasy. Maybe it really was just a dream...

Just then, the door flew open and Gao's younger sister burst into the room. "Gao! Time for breakfast!" she sang out.

Gao smiled. "I'll be down in a minute, Hanako."

After breakfast, a few of Gao's friends showed up at the door.

"Hey, bro!" Baku greeted him.

Noboru brushed his striped blond hair out of his face. "We were planning to head out to the park today. Want to come?"

Gao nodded. "Sure! Race you guys there!"

The boys took off at top speed toward the park, with Kuguru trailing behind them at a slower pace.

"I win!" cheered Gao. He stopped to catch his breath.

Baku skidded to a halt nearby. "So close."

"I would have won, if I didn't have to tie my shoe," Noboru added.

"It looks like you guys are in the mood to run," Kuguru commented as she joined them at the entrance. "Maybe we should play tag."

"Sure," Gao agreed.

Baku gave Kuguru a little push. "You're it!"

"Wait, me?" the girl asked, surprised.

"Run!" called Noboru, taking off down the path to the right. Baku and Gao both followed him.

After a while, the boys stopped to rest.

Baku looked back. "Where's Kuguru?"

"She can't be that far back," Noboru put in. "Unless she didn't follow us at all..."

Suddenly, they heard footsteps from behind them.

"Tag!" Kuguru said triumphantly. "You're it, Noboru!"

"How did you–" Baku started.

"I went around a different way, of course," Kuguru explained. "The map shows that the two paths are connected."

Luckily for them, Noboru was focused on chasing Gao. Knowing that Noboru was a bit faster than he was, Gao tried to think up a strategy. Maybe I can lose him if I make a lot of turns, he thought. That's it! I'll make a fake turn! He ran toward the right side of the intersection. At the last moment, he swerved to the left and charged down the path.

"Whoa!" Noboru panted, screeching to a halt on the right-hand path. He made a quick turnaround and rushed after Gao, but Gao had already made the next turn. Since he didn't know which path Gao had chosen, Noboru headed back to catch one of the other two friends.

Gao glanced back, seeing that Noboru was nowhere to be seen, and grinned. There! I think I lost him!

As he ran on, Gao took random twists and turns, and soon he realized that he could no longer hear the sounds of his friends running or shouting. He slowed down and looked around him for a way to get back. It would have been a good idea to bring a map.

Suddenly, something caught his attention. Something was glowing brightly in the middle of the trees. Curious, Gao headed toward it. What he saw made him gasp in shock.

The boy he had met last night was standing there, and he was next to a large green dragon.