World 1: Tokyo, Japan, The Girl becomes a Traveler

"Wishes…?" Hana repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean wishes. Any desire, anything you want, I can grant it. That is, if you're willing to pay the price." The woman said as she rested her elbow on the table.

"Any…desire…?" The woman's words were inviting, tempting.

"Yes. So how about it? Is there something you are wishing for?"

The faces of her family suddenly appeared, smiling at her in her mind's eye. She longed to hear their voices, feel the warmth that they had shared so long ago. The memories tugged at her heart, how much she missed them. But she stopped herself and the images vanished like smoke. No, that's impossible; once something's lost it can never return. I can wish for them to come back all I want, but that's not gonna happen. Granting wishes…? Any desire…? "I'm afraid that there's a misunderstanding; I really don't have any wish I want granted. I came here purely by accident. I was merely hiding from someone who was following me. I apologize, but I really must be going."

"Of course you have a wish; everyone has a wish. You wouldn't have been able to come here if you didn't have a wish you wanted granted. Isn't there something you want to do but know you can't do it on your own? I can help." Again the words were tempting, calling her to give it. "Watanuki, will you get us something to eat and drink? Our guest hasn't eaten dinner yet so make us something really good."

"Make you something? This late? And I just cleaned up the kitchen! You know some of us have to get up early tomorrow!" a tall lankly boy cried as he entered the room. There was a white bandana tied around his short black hair. He glared at the woman behind his glasses with his pale blue eyes. "And what do you want me to make you? I hope it's not something complicated."

"Mokana wants saké!" a black ball with long ears appeared on the table next to the woman. It looked like a fat rabbit with a squished in face. There was a round blue jewel on its' forehead and a blue earing on its' left ear. The dog stood on its' hindquarters, staring curiously up at the table and gave a bark. The thing was not bigger than a large grapefruit.

"No! No! No! I will not give you saké! You've had enough today!" the boy shouted at the furry thing.

"Saké sounds good. Go fetch us some, Watanuki!" the woman said with a smile and waved him off.

"Not you too, Yuko!" the boy, Watanuki, protested loudly. His voice was rather annoying, but Hana was too focused on the black thing to care.

"What is…that thing? It talks." She asked pointing a finger at it.

"Not a thing! Mokana's a Mokana." The thing told her adamantly.

"Wait, you can tell that he's not just a toy?" Watanuki asked, pointing to Mokana.

"Toy's don't talk of move." Hana pointed out, still staring at Mokana. "So what is he?"

"Mokana's a Mokana, just like he said." The woman patted Mokana's head.

"I see…"Hana let it drop.

"So tell me about your wish…"

"I can't really think of anything I want that you can give me."

"You said that you came here to hide. From whom? It sounds like you were being chased. Care to explain?"

"May I ask your name first before I tell you my story? It's only fair to know the name of the person who is offering to grant wishes."

"Smart girl; I like that." she smiled. "I'm Yuko, Yuko Ichihara. And you are?"

"Hana Everdeen."

"But is that your real name?" Yuko questioned.

"It's not my full name, but it Yuko Ichihara your real name? It feels like an alias to me."

"That it is." Yuko smile broadened.

"Alright, my real name is Hana Rose Yashiro. Everdeen was my mother's maiden name; Yashiro was my father's." she explained as Watanuki came back out with a cup of tea. She watched as the soft tendrils rose up from the green liquid.

"It's green tea. I hope you don't mind." He told her.

"It's fine."

"The food will be out in a little bit." Watanuki headed back for the kitchen in the back of the shop.

"Alright, thanks." Hana said and picked up the dog and set him on her lap.

"So, Hana Everdeen, why were you being chased?" Yuko asked and rested her head in her hands.

"My grandmother wants me to move to America so that she can tell me what my future will be. She sent a butler to get me and told me that I had no choice."

"And why is that a bad thing? America is the land of opportunities. You might have a bright future there so why not go?"

"Why should I listen to the woman who disowned my family and watched us from the shadows? My grandmother has never once made contact with my family since my mother married my father. I will not just drop everything and leave for her."

"And why would she do that?" Yuko pressed. "Why would that cause you to hide?"

"She disowned my mother when she married my father who was a Japanese man who was an unknown musician, the son of a music store owner. My mother was from a wealth family that has royal blood stemming back centuries. My mother was arranged to marry the son of a wealthy company head, but she fell in love and choose my father. My grandmother opposed their marriage and said that if she married that man she'd disown her. Despite that my mother married my father."

"Such a devoted love. Even though she knew the consequences, she chose happiness over wealth. And a take it now, your family has passed, am I wrong?" Yuko took a sip of tea.

"…Yes…" Hana clenched her fists under the table as the bitter memory. "My mother, father, and brothers were killed. It was the day before my birthday. I came home and…they were dead…" She eyes were staring deep into her tea. "That thing…wasn't human…"

"By that thing I take it you mean your family's killer?" Her eyes were solemn. "Explain why it wasn't human?"

"It wasn't not matter how you looked at it; its' form and its' behavior were something not human. That thing's eyes were red and…it looked like a shadow in human form." She managed to say, her body was shaking slightly.

"I see…it was something like that…Now tell me, why did you run to this place?"

"I ran…because I didn't want to go with that woman…I want to follow my own path, not something someone else laid out for me." She told Yuko and lifted her gaze.

"So what you desire is freedom, I presume?" just then, Watanuki came in with a tray of food.

"The food's done." He said as he set down a plate of food in front of her. "It's steamed fish with miso soup. I hope it's ok."

"It's fine. Thanks, Watanuki. I'm sure it'll be delicious." Hana's mood changed as she flashed him a smile. She grabbed a fork and took a bite of the fish. Her face lit up as she savored the flavors. "Wow, this is really good!" She exclaimed happily. Since she had been living on her own, she had rarely any time to improve her cooking skills so she just ate convenience store food.

"Really? Thanks, I'm glad you think so." He smiled back.

"Yes, yes, that's all very nice. Once again, Watanuki, you've out done yourself. Now, I believe I'm in the middle of talking with a customer." Yuko told him flatly as she dug into her food.

"Fine! Well you don't have to be so rude!" he snapped and stalked off. "I'm going, I'm going!"

"Now then, where were we?" Yuko continued. "Ah yes, your wish. Tell me about it."

"My wish…is to leave this place." Hana said finally.

"Leave this place? How so?"

"I want to leave Japan, to go someplace else."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because this place holds too many painful memories. I want…to leave for a little bit…to travel to other places. You may think that I might be running away, but this is something I want to do."

"To travel can be a lonely business. A traveler is usually alone, facing dangers and perils by themselves. They will always be outsiders no matter where they go." Yuko explained and pulled out a long pipe with a decorative silver end. "Would you be prepared for something like that?" She exhaled a thick cloud of smoke off to the side. The smoke smelled sweet and it didn't at all bother Hana like cigarette smoke did.

"It may be a lonely business, but it also has its' sparkling moments. To see so many places and meet so many people, that would far outweigh all the bad moments. The fact that it's tough is was makes it all the more rewarding…" A small smile passed over her face. "A traveler's life allows them to collect stories for all over, cataloging all the memories of others. That is the life I want."

"To travel, that is your wish. But I thought you said that you couldn't just drop everything and leave?" The dog licked up the scraps off Hana's plate, his tail wagging back and forth vigorously.

"I don't have much left here for me now. I will do things for my own dreams, not someone else's, especially not for my grandmother." She took a sip of tea, her eyes hardening a bit.

"But isn't she the only family you have left?"

"She didn't recognize us a family for twenty years and she suddenly now wants to pluck me out of here and tell me what to do. I can't recognize someone like that. I harbor no ill will against her, but I don't want her meddling in my life that she refused to be a part of."

"Is that your wish? To travel?" Yuko asked again.

"Yes."

"And are you prepared to pay the price?"

"Any price, I'll pay it." Hana's eyes locked onto Yuko's, determination swirling around in their blue depths.

"Alright then. I'll grant your wish. On one condition though." Yuko raised a finger.

"And what would that be?" Hana inquired, trying to think of what the condition would be.

"I want you to do a job for me. If you do it, it will be your compensation." She took a deep breath on her pipe and exhaled again. Hana gazed at her, thinking carefully about what she said as the smoke curled up around her, creating a hazy cloud.

"It will count as my compensation?"

"Everything has a price; you can't get something from nothing. This is equivalent exchange. The price can't be too little or too great. If the balance is thrown off, the world will fall into chaos." Yuko explained and nibbled on the food.

"I guess that makes sense. So what is it you want me to do for you?"

"Yuko? You're not entangling another innocent person in your web are you?" Watanuki cried in horror. Yuko glared at him, grabbed Mokana and hurled him at his face.

"Quiet you!" she hissed and recomposed herself. "Honestly, it's hard to find good help these days. Anyway, the job I have for you is simple: I need you to do a cleanup job for me."

"A cleanup job?" Hana raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"You see there are holes in the universe created due to an unbalance created by a strong disturbance. I have sent other on a head to deal with the disturbance and all that remains now are the hole's created in other worlds."

"Other worlds? You mean there's more than this place?"

"The universe is a vast place, containing many worlds in many different dimensions."

"And how exactly am I supposed to do this 'cleanup'?"

"When you travel to different worlds, you will need to find something of create power that is creating anomalies in that world. Those are the 'holes'. If left unchecked, they'll rip open and swallow the worlds, one by one until the whole universe is torn apart. It's a very important and dangerous job."

"And you want me to do it? I'm not even sure if I believe all this yet. It doesn't make sense to me." Hana told her.

"I didn't expect it to. Here, take this and read it. I'll give you until Friday to decide." Yuko pulled out a thick book and set it down in front of her. "Think it over and come back to this shop on Friday with your answer. You don't necessarily have to believe what I say, but it is the reality, whether you believe it or not."

Hana stared at the title of the book. It read The Traveler's Guide to the Universe in big bold blue lettering. It was unlike any book she'd seen before; it seemed to have a magical aura surrounding it. What's with this title? Don't tell me that there's actually a book for that sort of thing? She thought at she picked up the book. It was quite heavy in her hands. This day is turning out to be not what I expected. This is too weird. "Honestly, I don't know what to believe anymore. I mean, you have Mokana over there, he's not an animal right? He's something else…I guess I've always believed that there was more to this world than meets the eye."

"A well put answer." She mused. "Be sure to read the first chapter of the book. It explains what you'll need to do." Hana nodded quietly and put the book in her bag. "Well, I guess I'll be sending you home now. Just be sure that you don't lose that book or run into any trouble on your way home." Yuko watched at Hana stood up, scooping up the puppy in her arms.

"I'll try not to. Thanks again for letting me stay her awhile and giving me a meal." She said with a slight bow.

"It was no trouble at all. Remember, our meeting was inevitable…"