Out on a ledge, the air was still as death, not even the slightest breeze moved it. It wasn't chilly, but it wasn't warm either. That was how it always was here in the Otherworld. The girl on the ledge put her foot up on a rock, getting a good look at the surroundings. She stared out at the seemingly endless landscape. In possibility, it was endless. In Otherworld, there was no beginning, and there was no end to things. Everything here just was, nothing else to it.

She didn't know what made her do it. A scent on the breeze. A change in the air. Or perhaps it was just some unexplainable sixth sense that was instilled in her from years of battles and scrimmages. Either way, she turned and looked behind her, long black pigtails whipping around as she did so.

It wasn't Dead Master who stood behind her. Nor was it Chariot or Strength. However, someone was there. Unlike the other beings in Otherworld that she had met, this stranger appeared to be a boy. His clothing was somewhat similar to hers. He wore a long, black jacket that seemed hooked around his neck and flowed down to about his knees; his hood was pulled over his head, obscuring his face so she couldn't see it. Except for the closed area around the neck, the jacket was open, and she could see that he wore no shirt underneath. His chest was bare, his skin as pale as her own. He wore a pair of tight, black pants with a plain belt, along with a pair of simple boots. In his fist, she could see two chains clutched between his fingers.

Her vibrant blue eyes followed the black chains, similar but different to the ones that Dead Master controlled. At the end, she saw two large, black cats. They appeared similar to panthers, but had long, gleaming teeth like a saber-toothed creature's. They stared at her, with gleaming eyes, growling neither threateningly nor in a friendly way. They only growled, as was their nature. She looked back at the boy, he still stood there, looking at her.

Eventually, she turned away. She saw no threat in this boy, and knew she was in no danger from him. She continued looking at the landscape, watching the horizon. She didn't even care when she sensed instead of heard his silent footsteps as he walked up next to her. His jungle cats didn't follow, but stayed in one place, the chains clinking loosely as their master walked ahead. He stood right next to her, shoulders straight and face as blank and emotionless as hers. Out of the corners of their eyes, they looked at each other, silently expressing a mutual interest for each other. Not interest as in infatuation, but simple curiosity that comes from meeting a new person.

The flame in her left eye lit as they looked each other over, she used it to check for any sign of weakness. The boy didn't even blink. He just looked at her. For a second, vibrant blue met a hazel so bright that was almost red in color. Seeming to find what he was looking for in her, he nodded as if in approval. She returned the gesture, but soon became distracted.

Flexing her fingers, she stepped out further, to the very point where the ledge fell off into empty space. There were going to be battles coming, she was sure of that. Her weapon formed on her arm, not even hampering her with its' massive weight and bulk. Making one more nod, she jumped off of the cliff, ready for whatever came to her. As she fell, she chanced a glance back at the stranger. He stared back at her. For a second, she could have sworn she saw a spark in his eye, something lonely, pleading. Then, by some unseen force, he was jerked away and out of her sight.

Black Rock Shooter turned back just in the nick of time and landed feet first before jumping to the next rock. What the boy did didn't matter to her at the moment. He was of no immediate concern, and she could afford to discover what he had to do with anything another time. For now, she had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. Readying her Rock Cannon, off she went.

–

Mato jerked as she awoke, feeling a hand on her shoulder. Looking, she saw the green eyes of Yomi were looking at her worriedly.

"Mato, is something wrong?" Mato took another second before she really woke up, then smiled at her friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry." Yomi looked her in the eyes seriously.

"... Was it Black Rock Shooter?" Mato faltered a bit at that. After the whole incident with Strength and Yuu, she had told Yomi the whole story, about her connection with BRS and everything else that happened in the Otherworld. It had taken time, but Yomi had believed it whole heartedly, even seeing her other self once or twice in a dream not unlike Mato's.

"Yeah, but it's nothing important. Looks like there's someone new there, though." Mato looked confused.

"Someone new? Like, another other-worlder?"

"Uh-huh. But this one is a guy. Weird huh?" Yomi nodded. "I mean, I've never seen a guy in the Otherworld, just us girls." A little rustle drew her attention, and she saw Kagari slowly sitting up, blinking sleepy eyes slowly.

"Are we almost there?" Mato looked at the streets the train was passing and nodded.

"Yeah, we should only have a half hour to go." She smiled widely, pumping her fists in the air. "Aren't you guys so excited? Not only are we all getting into True Cross Academy, one of THE BEST schools in the country, we're all going together! I can't wait!" This was true, pretty much all of them were getting into True Cross. Yomi and Mato had both gotten in via scholarships, Yomi for art and Mato for her basketball playing. Saya had taken up a counseling job at the school, so Yuu was going by default. Kagari didn't really care about the school, she just wanted to be near Yomi. So when Yomi told her she got in, Kagari told her parents that was where she wanted to go (her family was fairly wealthy, after all, so she was able to pay to get in).

Kagari nodded, still a bit groggy at just having been woken up from her nap. Quietly smacking her lips a bit, she reached down and into her bag, pulling out a plastic baggie full of colorful, home-made macarons she had brought with her as a snack to share for the trip. She reached in and pulled out a pink one that she promptly put in her mouth. She held it between her teeth, most of it still outside of her lips, and held out the bag to Yomi and Mato. They both took one and nibbled on them as they looked out the window.

"I just wish," Mato said around her sweet, "that it hadn't taken so long for the paperwork and stuff to be processed. Now we're going into school three weeks late." Yomi nodded as she took another offered macaron from Kagari.

"Yeah. Well, at least we'll be seeing Yuu and Miss Saya there, so we won't be completely alone." She looked at Kagari with a smile. "Kagari will probably make new friends the day we get there." She didn't look jealous or spiteful as she said this. She was only stating a simple fact, and one that she was happy about. Kagari shrugged a bit, holding out the bag for Mato to take another sweet when she saw that she had finished hers.

"Yeah," she mumbled as she pulled out a green macaron. "But I won't forget about Yomi. Or Mato." She hugged Yomi slightly as she held her baggie of sweets. "Yomi and Mato are my friends, I don't want to forget them again." Like with Yomi, Mato had told Kagari all about Otherworld. Kagari had, surprisingly, been more quick to believe the story than Yomi had. Then again, Kagari had always seemed a bit strange, so it could have been that she may already have had some slight suspicions about what was going on all the time. "Yomi and I will still be friends. I'll make sure of that. I love Yomi." Yomi smiled slightly as she petted the back of her friend's head.

"And I'll be sure to leave plenty of time for you, Kagari," she said with a smile. "And Mato, I have my copy of Li'l Bird Li'l Bird, so we can all look at that together." They both looked up, startled when Mato gasped. "What's wrong?" Mato looked about ready to jump up and down with joy.

"Guys! Look! We're here!" The two girls sat up and looked out the window, amazed by the sight of the school. It was so large and... well... colorful. The buildings themselves were all brightly colored and decorated, and they were surrounded by a forest of trees.

"It looks like a fairy tale castle," Kagari murmured. Overhead, the conductor's voice crackled on the intercom.

Ladies and gentlemen we have reached the stop of True Cross Academy Town. Kindly stay in your seats until the train has come to a complete stop and be sure to collect all of your luggage before exiting the train. Thank you.

"This is it you guys," Mato trilled as she rubbed her hands together. "We're finally here! I'm so excited I could burst!" Yomi smiled gently, then looked out the window at the approaching academy.

So many colors, she thought blissfully, just like the little bird's world...

–

Mato ran ahead of Yomi and Kagari as they went to their room. Apparently the classes had just let out,

so the courtyard was bustling with students and teachers alike. They were all walking about, mostly in groups, as they either lazed about or went to their rooms or hangout places. Mato wished she had just about ten more pairs of eyes so she could look at everything all at once. She twirled and skipped around a bit as she held her carry-on bag in her hand. Their other bags had been taken to their dorm room from the train.

"Be careful Mato," Yomi warned, "you don't want to run into something." Mato was hardly paying attention. She snapped back to reality, though, when she ran right into someone. The person she had walked into fell on the ground with an 'oof' as Mato herself fell from the interruption in her momentum. She 'ooww'ed quietly as she rubbed her backside. Yomi looked worried while Kagari just continued to give her that same blank look she always did.

"Yomi warned Mato," she said softly. Mato looked up suddenly, seeing that some of her things had scattered around the immediate area when her bag had flown open when she hit the person. She yelped and got onto her knees, gathering up her things as she apologized profusely to the person she had run into.

"I am SO sorry about that! I should have been looking where I was going!" She was stuffing her traveling books and her cell phone into her bag when a hand came into her line of vision. That hand was holding a book that she had missed, so she took it and looked at the one she had run into, also the one who had just helped her. He was a small boy, he must have been shorter than Mato herself. He had a shaved head and thick red glasses that magnified his bright, hazel-red eyes.

"It's fine, really. I should have been paying attention to where I was going." He stood up and dusted himself off, then offered a hand to help Mato up. She took it gratefully and stood up with his help. "Are you three new students?" Mato nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, we just came here today." The boy smiled a bit at her display of happiness.

"Well, I hope you'll have a good time here. It's a big place, so you can get lost easily, but you'll get used to it pretty quickly." Mato started to ask some questions about the school, but someone yelling drew the boy's attention away from her.

"Hey! Konekomaru! Come on, we're gonna' be late!" The bald boy, known as Konekomaru, called back a response.

"I'll be right there!" He turned back to the trio of girls and bowed politely at them. "I have to go now, I hope you find your way around alright. Maybe I'll see you in class, goodbye." With one last, shy smile at the girls, he picked up his own bag and ran off. "Coming Bon!" Mato waved at him, calling goodbyes at his back.

"He seemed nice, don't you think?" Yomi nodded, while Kagari only continued to look blank. They continued walking on their way, though Mato had a strange feeling scratching at the back of her brain. She ignored it, however, when they got to their room. It's probably nothing. I mean, he seemed like a pretty normal guy, I don't think he could be strange in the slightest.

–

In Otherworld, a hooded boy with hazel-red eyes viewed the black and white landscape. His two black cat companions' eyes were ever-vigilant as their master looked around. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a pair of colors against the mostly-bland landscape. Dots of yellow and green, standing next to each other as they examined the place. The boy examined them for a moment, then turned and walked away, his chained pets following close behind.

From below, Dead Master looked up with vibrant green eyes. Then, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she looked ahead and continued on her way, ready to face any challenge, Chariot following not far behind.

–

So, what do you think? This was mostly a beta-test kind of chapter, to see what people think of the story. If I will continue or not depends on if I get any reviews and what kinds of reviews I get. Just tell me what you think and I will continue on if the waters look clear enough. See you around!