AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ta-Da! New chapter! Once again, disclaimer, I don't own anything but Chris. Thanks to my very first reviewer, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Wow…I knew Minako was popular, but… Chris stood in a music shop. Posters with Minako on them were all over, and there was row upon row of Minako's music. I'm glad she left England. She deserves to be this popular. Chris picked up an album of Minako's music and stood in line to buy it, tapping a fingernail on the casing thoughtfully. Does this mean we're rivals?

A voice speaking Japanese interrupted her thoughts. Handing the album to the store clerk, she dug through her purse to find her money. She counted it out, trying to remember her lessons with Mizuno-san on Japanese money. She blushed when the clerk counted it again, handing some of it back to her and then making change. Got to review that, then… She looked behind her to see whom she was inconveniencing in line, but there was no one behind her. Seeing the store manager hang a sign, she assumed she was the last customer of the day. It was getting dark, after all.

Chris walked home, bouncing with the beat of the song that came from her headphones. This is catchy. I'll have to ask Mizuno-san to write out the words so I can sing along. Suddenly she stopped, taking out one of her earphones. She tilted her head, listening, but whatever she had heard was gone. Cat. Chris put the earphone back in and continued walking. Hearing a sound again, she did not stop but sped up a little. I'm just being paranoid…but it will be good to get home. The thought of that solid hotel door with its three locks was sounding mighty good right now. Chris quickened her steps--

--And ran into something. Murmuring an apology, she glanced up and stifled a scream. A thing almost twice her height stood before her, its stonelike arms reaching for her. Stumbling backwards, Chris realized it was the same color as the building that stood behind it. So that's why I didn't see it. Dodging around the reaching arms, she ran. She bit back another panicked scream when she realized it was following her, and ran faster.

Where am I? Exhausted, Chris tried to get a bearing on her surroundings. The buildings around her were totally unfamiliar. She tried to figure out how long she had been running from the monster, but had to dodge a blow from the stone creature. Gasping in terror, she scrambled down some steps, trying to get to the door at their base. Feeling at hard grip on her ankle, she shrieked. She kicked at the stone creature, trying to free her ankle, but it began to drag her back up the stairs. She yelled, and everything went white.

Chris blinked. She was sitting on a couch. Above her, a small disco-ball-like object cast gentle light around the small room. A television set and microphone occupied a stage at one end of the room. Stunned, Chris tried to remember what had happened. It was as if she stood outside herself, watching as her hands moved in patterns it seemed she once knew. What was I thinking? For she felt that she had fully expected the hand gestures to somehow repel the creature…

Chris shook her head. She had probably been panicked, and the hand gestures were meaningless. Turning her thoughts to what happened afterwards, she bit her lip. That was more difficult to explain, although she felt rather proud of herself. She, Christina Jensen, had fought off a huge monster. She could remember what she did clearly, although it seemed as if someone else were doing it.

Chris grabbed the railing at the side of the steps, pulling her knees up to her chest and pushing them back out, forcing the creature away from her. It did not let go, but instead had thrown her at a cement wall across from it. Chris put out her arms bending them at the elbows and wincing as they absorbed the impact. Time seemed to stand still, then she had pushed, somehow turning her arms to spin her herself through the air back towards the creature. She had hit it full force like a drill, smashing it to pieces.

Chris looked in amazement at her abraded palms and assorted bruises. I did that? She didn't even know any martial arts. Rubbing her head, she looked around the room to distract herself from the confusing memory, and to try to figure out where she was. Looking at a bulletin board, she saw Tsukino-san and Mizuno-san and two other girls smiling into the camera. Suddenly fearful that she was in one of their houses, she walked up the stairs and opened the door. Looking out, she saw she was in a sort of shop. The lights were off, and trying the door Chris found it was locked.

How did I get in here? Chris had to wonder as she walked into the little room again. The door had been locked, and the glass had been intact. She imagined the door broken into hundreds of tiny triangles. Geometry. Triangles are the most architecturally sound shape, her tired mind babbled. The room seemed to blur before her eyes, and Chris was asleep even before she collapsed on the couch.

"Jensen-san?" Chris opened her eyes with a small groan, blinking them a few times until the room came into focus. She felt like she hadn't slept in years…The sight of Mizuno-san's face in front of hers made Chris sqeak and sit up, fully awake. Behind Mizuno-san, Tsukino-san and two other girls looked curiously at Chris. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to barge in, I didn't know, I'll leave now…" Chris grabbed her bag and music player, running out the door. Behind her, she heard one sentence, although later she could not have told how she understood it:

"How did she find the hidden room?"

--CHAPTER 4 PREVIEW--

I'm too lazy to do this right now, but chapter four is UP. So go read it. And you can create a preview and email it to me if you want (nothing like enlisting fans to do the dirty work).