Author's Notes: This is the "raw" edition, so you'll be seeing lot of grammar mistakes, story mistakes, and some very short and simple conversations. But as usual, please read and review!

April 11th

Inaba, Shopping District

"So, this is where the butterfly leads." Ryoji said.

As Minako and Ryoji emerged from the black portal, they found themselves in a rural town. It was unlike Iwatodai. The buildings were small and old compared to the big, tall and modern buildings there. The air here was also cooler and more refreshing. Although it was a new place for Ryoji, but for Minako it was an old memory.

"Hmm, isn't this Inaba?" Minako asked.

"Minako, you know this place?"

"Yeah, the other Tennis Club members and I went here for a fellowship. This town isn't big and modern compared to Iwatodai, though… "She sighed.

"Is it boring?"

When Ryoji asked that question, her eyes lit up.

"Not at all! The inn is good, the food is delicious and…"

Before she can continue, Minako's stomach growled loudly. This was because she hadn't eaten anything since getting out of the seal. Since only her spirit was sealed, she didn't need to care about the basic necessities.

"All this thinking of food has made me hungry. Can we eat first?" She held her stomach and blushed.

"We came here to find the Wild Card user, not to enjoy ourselves."

"I know, I know. Just a quick bite, please…"

Ryoji was going to say no, but looking at Minako's pleading eyes made him hesitant.

"Uh…"

He quickly looked around his surroundings to look for a way to stall her, but suddenly the butterfly flew further away from them without them noticing. Fortunately, he saw it before it flew even further.

"Look, the butterfly's moving!"

Ryoji immediately gave chase to the butterfly before it cannot be seen again. Minako also regained her composure and followed it. After a few minutes, the butterfly stopped. When they looked around, they found themselves in a gas station.

"The butterfly stops here." Ryoji looked high and low to see if the Wild Card user was there while Minako simply walked away to find something to eat.

Afterwards, a white van arrived. A gas station attendant who was resting nearby quickly came over to greet the van.

"Welcome to Moel!" the gas station attendant greeted cheerfully.

Afterwards, two persons got out from the van. One was a middle-aged man who had blackish-grey hair and wore a dark grey with pulled up sleeves, a loose, light red necktie and brown belt with a metal buckle as well as a pair of dress pants along with dark brown shoe. His left hand was carrying a black jacket too. Another one was a little girl with brown hair, short pigtails and brown eyes. She was wearing a white turtleneck dress in pink and two shades of red, white socks and pink shoes. The girl looked around in distraught, as if she was looking for the toilet. The attendant noticed this and said,

"The toilet's in the back, to your left. You know which way's left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."

"I know…Jeez…" the girl made an annoyed face and headed for the toilet. Soon afterwards, a teenager with grey hair and wearing a school uniform came out of the van. The blue butterfly flew towards him and flew above his head in circles.

"Hmm? Is that the Wild Card User?" Ryoji thought to himself.

"Are you guys taking a trip?" The attendant asked the middle-aged man.

"No, we just went to pick him up. He just moved here from the big city." The man replied.

"The city, huh…?"

"Fill up my car while you're at it. Regular's fine."

"Right away, sir!"

"Good time as any for a smoke." The man then left the teenager and went to a nearby place to smoke.

Afterwards, the attendant struck a conversation with the teenager.

"Are you in high school?" The attendant asked.

The teenager made a surprised look.

"Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here? There's so little to do, I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with friends or doing part-time jobs. Speaking of which, we're looking for part-time help right now."

Ryoji, who was watching them the whole time, thought that the attendant looked suspicious.

"Who is that attendant? She looks so familiar…"

He focused his eyes on the attendant and felt shocked.

"That grey hair and red eyes. It can't be, Izanami…?"

"Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student."

The attendant, known by Ryoji as Izanami, extended her hand to the teenager. Ryoji was about to stop them. However, it was too late as the teenager shook her hand. While he was running up to them, he abruptly stopped. The little girl was back. Izanami looked at Ryoji and smiled before saying,

"Oh, I should get back to work."

Afterwards, Izanami continued her work. Ryoji was going to talk to her but he can't make a ruckus, not in front of them. He continued to stay watch until the family left. Suddenly, the teenager held his head, as if he had a headache.

"…Are you okay?" The little girl asked him. "Did you get carsick? You don't look too good…"

The teenager waved his hand to say that he was fine. After a while, the family left the gas station. The butterfly followed the car and was never seen from him after that.

"Okay, they left. We should ask that attendant, Mina-"

Ryoji looked around him and just found out that Minako had left his side for a few minutes.

"W-What the? Where did she go?"

He searched the entire gas station, looking for her but she wasn't found. Ryoji sighed and said,

"Oh well, time for me to ask that attendant…"

He also tried to search for Izanami but it was futile. She had already left the gas station. It was like she was here only for the arrival of that teenager.

"Ugh, it looks like I lost both Izanami and Minako…" Ryoji grumbled.

"Hey, Ryoji!"

Minako, who was separated with Ryoji, walked up to him. Following her was a teenage girl shorter than Minako. The girl had pale skin, brown eyes and navy blue hair. Part of her hair is braided and adorned with a hair-clip with a Chinese design. She was wearing a white shirt with a matching white skirt and a headscarf with the same color. On top of her white shirt and skirt was a deep-red colored apron.

"Minako, who is this?" He pointed his finger towards the blue-haired girl.

"I'm a waitress from Aiya's. I've come to collect the money for the meal that this customer ate." The girl said, her face devoid of emotions.

"You went to eat? And just when the Wild Card user was found…" He sighed.

"Really? Is it a boy or a girl?" Minako asked, feeling happy that she found the answer to her freedom.

"Wait a second, let me pay your bills first." Ryoji then took out his wallet and asked the waitress. "How much does this girl owe?"

"Let me see… 30 bowls of nikudons and 10 glasses of green tea. So that would be 40,000 yen."

"W-what? She ate that much?" Ryoji was shocked. Even his face couldn't hide his surprise. It was the first time that Minako ate this much, and the grand total was almost as half as the pocket money Theodore gave.

"Sigh… I guess we have no choice…" He pulled out 40,000 yen and gave it to the waitress.

"Thank you. Please come again." After that, the waitress went back to the restaurant.

"I told him that the money was not enough…" Ryoji muttered softly.

"Did you say anything?" Minako asked.

"N-Nothing! About the Wild Card user, he's a teenage boy with grey hair."

"Maybe this is going to be easy. Besides, there isn't a lot of young people who have grey hair nowadays."

"Also, I saw a god at the gas station…"

"Really? Is it the same as Nyx?"

"Maybe. Judging by her appearance, I think it was Izanami."

"Izanami, the goddess of the land of the dead? Why would she be here?"

"I don't know, most gods don't interfere with each others plans. However, Izanami is mostly cold to everyone. She isn't particularly close with any of the gods…"

"Maybe it will be the same as the Dark Hour?"

"Like I said, I don't know. By the way, can you cut down on the food next time? If you go on a rampage like that again, I don't think we'll find a place to stay."

"Fine." She frowned. "So then, what do we do now?"

"Well, we'll need to find a place to stay while we're here, but I don't know where to look first…"

Suddenly, Minako saw someone passing by. It was another teenage girl. She had long, straight black hair, a red headband and grey eyes. However, unlike most of the townspeople, she was wearing a pink kimono with colorful designs on it. She was carrying a shopping bag full of fruits and vegetables.

"Is it just me, or are we seeing a lot of beautiful teenage girls lately?" Ryoji said while focusing his attention towards the kimono-wearing girl.

"Hmm, isn't that…?"

Minako immediately walked up to her while saying,

"Excuse me; Are you the manager's daughter at the Amagi Inn?"

The girl heard Minako's question and turned around.

"Why, yes. Do you have any business with me?" she said politely.

"Do you remember when you came to greet a few students from Gekkoukan High two years ago?"

"A little, but I can't remember it clearly since I've greeted a lot of students before. However, you do look familiar…"

"I have a question. Can you let us stay at your hotel?"

"Ehh?" the girl was surprised.

Author's Notes: Sorry if the chapter was too short. Sometimes I don't have any time to write. But I'm trying my best just to improve a little. By the way, if you think that some of the conversations are familiar, it's because some of them were adapted from the game. I did that because I want the story to be as canonical as possible. So, if you have anything to say (about some of the mistakes that I have made, if possible), please review. And don't hesitate when posting negative comments; I want to make the story as interesting as possible.