This was just not my day. First, I woke up from a month-long coma. Then a bunch of people storm my hospital room and knock me out. Now I gotta deal with this idiot. Where were his pants, anyway?

'Well? Either get out or go put some pants on. No one wants to see your nasty legs. Really,' I said, glaring at him. He sneered and rolled his eyes.

'Where's Naruto,' said Sasuke, looking around.

I turned to walk away. He wasn't worth my time. Who did he think he was, anyway? Sasuke Uchiha. Oh boy. The most arrogant, selfish, conceited person ever to walk the planet. Did I mention his superiority complex? Oh, yeah. Because no one was better than an Uchiha. Whatever.

'Hey! I asked you a question!' yelled Sasuke, running after me. I ignored him. 'You can't ignore me!'

I spun around and looked at him right in the eyes. 'Shut up, you think you're so great? You're not.'

'Rude. That's what you are. Didn't your mother teach you how to talk to people?'

My eyes got wide, and I almost forgot to breathe. This was just another reason to hate Sasuke. I faced him, the anger building up. He must have seen it in my eyes, because he took an involuntary step backwards, his expression shocked.

'No. Sorry, my mom didn't teach me much. I don't have a perfect family like you.'

He just continued to look shocked. I turned to walk away, when I heard another voice. 'Oh, now don't be mean to him!'

It was a girl's voice, but when I spun around again, no one was standing in the hallway except for Sasuke and the nurses and doctors moving about from room to room.

'What'd you say?' I asked.

'I didn't say anything to you,' replied Sasuke.

'Yes you did. You definitely said something.'

'No. I definitely didn't. Hearing voices is the first sign of insanity, you know.'

'Shut up.'

I went to walk away again, but the voice began speaking. 'Fix your hair. You look like a mess!'

'What was that?' I yelled, taking a threatening step towards Sasuke.

He held his hands in front of him defensively. 'I didn't say anything to you! I haven't said anything! You're crazy!'

Then I saw her. Standing right behind Sasuke, grinning from ear to ear. She was wearing all white, and she seemed to be glowing with an eerie light. She had bright blue hair and deep purple eyes. I pointed. 'Y-you! You're the one who saved me!'

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked around. 'What?'

'No! Not you, stupid! Her! Behind you!'

'He can't see me,' said the girl, still grinning. 'He thinks you're talking to yourself right now.'

I can't believe this. Can YOU see her, Kichi?

See who?

What?

I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Blue hair, purple eyes, white dress? Yeah, I see her! Jeez, you're panicky…

Well, YEAH, I'm panicky! There's an imaginary person talking to me!

The girl stepped forward a little and snapped her fingers. 'Hey, hey! Eyes over here!'

'Why are you doing this?' I yelled, becoming more and more scared by the minute.

'Why am I doing what?' yelled back Sasuke. 'I'm not doing anything!'

'Why am I doing this? Well, at first I had to tell you something, but now I think I just wanna mess with you,' answered the girl. 'Hey, you wanna see something really cool?'

'No! I don't!'

By now, the nurses, doctors, and patients were stopping in the hallway to watch me scream at thin air. The girl walked over to the nearest nurse and stepped behind her, so I couldn't see the girl anymore. A second later, I saw a hand coming through the nurse's head. The nurse shivered and touched her head, looking around.

'Stop that!'

The girl removed her arm from the nurse's head and walked back to me, smiling happily. She's nothing like the one who saved me!

Yeah, you're right. The one who brought you back was a lot more serious.

In other words, this girl is a complete idiot.

Pretty much.

XxxXSasuke!XxxXSasuke!XxxXSasuke!XxxXSasuke!XxxXSasuke!XxxXSasuke!XxxXSasuke!XxxX

What the hell.

Rikia was yelling at no one. I wasn't wearing any pants. There were lots of people staring. Damn this day. Damn it to hades.

All of a sudden, Rikia stopped screaming and stared at a spot right behind my head. I turned around, but there was no one standing there. I turned back to Rikia. This had to stop. I wasn't worried about her. Oh, no. I couldn't care less what happened to her.

I just didn't want people to think that I was involved in her little crazy invisible friend stunt. I liked my reputation as a sane person. And I wasn't about to lose it because of someone who I didn't even partially like.

'So you're not the one who saved me?' asked Rikia, still staring. 'There are more of you?'

I leaned forward and grabbed Rikia's arm, but she was so interested in what her imaginary friend had to say that she didn't even notice, even as I began pulling her down the hallway, looking for an empty room.

'No! There was another one, when I was dying! She brought me back!' continued Rikia.

I whispered, 'Can you stop talking to your little buddy for a couple of seconds while we get out of public?'

She ignored me. 'Yes, I'm sure! I think I would remember a death experience!'

There! Empty room! Yes! I threw Rikia into the room, locking the door behind me. 'What are you doing?' I yelled.

Rikia ignored me still. She was staring at the bed, listening intently to…absolutely nothing. 'Hello? Rikia! Ri-ki-a!'

She was still staring at the bed. I walked over and examined the bed closely. Then I screamed and jumped back. Out of absolutely nowhere, a girl had materialized onto the bed. She had bright blue hair and deep violet eyes. And she just scared the crap outta me. 'W-who are you?'

The girl looked up at me with a shocked face. 'You can see me?'

Rikia grabbed me by the arm. 'You can see her?'

XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxXRikia!XxxX

He can see her! I'm not crazy!

No, you're still a bit crazy.

Sasuke backed away, towards the door. 'How did you get in here without me seeing?'

The girl stood up and held out her hand to Sasuke. 'Hiya! I'm not quite sure how you can see me, but it's nice to meet you!'

Sasuke screamed like a little girl and ran out of the room. I could hear him stumbling down the hallway, knocking over carts as he ran. Stupid coward.

Stupid HOT coward.

Hot? Ew! Uchiha is NOT hot!

The glowing girl poked me in the face. 'Helloo?'

'What?'

'What were you saying before about the person who saved you?'

I thought for a minute. 'She was glowing like you, but I didn't really see her face. I actually didn't wanna come back, but she kind of forced me…Oh, and she said that I was going to be back there soon.'

'Back where?'

'I don't know. Some field, meadowy thing.'

The girl stopped to think. 'Hm, as far as I know, I'm the first one the society has sent for you…'

'The society?'

Sounds dramatic. The society. Hehe.

I'm glad you're finding this funny, Kichi.

'But I guess I'll just contact my superiors and find out if they sent anyone else. Until I get back, do not speak to anyone else who claims to be from the society. Got it?'

I was confused. 'Wait! Why are you here in the first place? And why did that girl send me back? What's going on?'

'Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine. My name's Kanako, by the way.'

Then she was gone. Just disappeared, like that. I was alone in the room. Or so I thought.

'Hello, little one.'

I gasped and turned around, facing the window. And there she was. The woman who had saved me. I could see her a lot more clearly now. She was older than Kanako, and her hair was a dark shade of red, and her eyes were bright blue.

I could've asked so many questions, but I chose only one. 'Why did you save me?'

The woman didn't even flinch. 'Because you have things to do. It was not your time.'

'Are you from the same society as Kanako-san?'

'I am. But you must not tell Kanako about me. I am on a top secret mission from the society, and Kanako does not know about it. If she knows any information about it, she could endanger my mission.'

'What's your mission?' I asked.

'I cannot tell you that, little one. I can only tell you that I am here to protect you, and I will make sure that those who conspire against you.'

'Who are you? And why would anyone want to conspire against me?'

'My name is Rioko. Do you know how powerful you are, Rikia?'

I just stared at her. 'Powerful? I mean, I guess I'm strong…'

'You are more than strong, Rikia. You are seventeen years old, and you are already a team captain. Not many people can put that on their list of accomplishments for their lives. There are people who want to use your abilities in death. I will not let them.'

'Wait…So was I actually supposed to die?'

Rioko looked at me. 'Technically, yes. You were supposed to die. But to keep your power from falling into the wrong hands, I had to bring you back.'

'And…when you said that I would be back to that place soon, what did you mean?'

'I don't want to alarm you…' began Rioko. 'But…'

'But?'

'If every Merani could bring back someone who they were trying to protect, then no work would ever become complete. So there is a limit to how long we can bring someone back to Earth.'

I was feeling dizzy. I was going to die anyway. My voice was hoarse and weak as I asked, 'So how long do I have?'

Rioko put her hand on my shoulder. 'I'm not quite sure, because I had to use my power in great haste. But…you have anywhere from a week to a month.'