Deliberation

Chapter Three

Word Count: 6,193

Rating/Warnings/ Summary: Same as chapter one

Author's Note: I don't know that any of the possible theories I've used make sense (though I still think there are holes in some explanations in canon but I could be wrong there, too) but I kept going back to this one as a possible solution. I think from what Kent said about how he considered things ranging up to alien abduction when he was trying to explain her odd behavior that he would think about all of them. And since there wasn't another version of the heroine in this world, this did explain that, too.

And I was going to add in more characters so this wasn't all about her talking to Kent, but this felt like a good place to pause.


Three

She put a hand to her mouth, shaking her head. That was impossible, wasn't it? "No. That can't be right. I had to have been here—she had to—for me to take her place."

Kent didn't look at her. "I believe that to be the assumption that would seem to fit with the explanation that Orion and his god gave you. However, in my deliberations and having heard your story, I believe it to be still erroneous."

"Because Ukyo didn't find a world where I didn't exist? Because... that world was the only one where the two of us did exist?"

"Accepting the idea that there are infinite number of parallel worlds, it is almost impossible to believe that the two of you never co-existed in another. The odds against that are so overwhelming they would likely seem incalculable to you."

She supposed so, since she still had trouble with quick addition in her head at times. "You figured it out, didn't you?"

"The result was sufficiently high enough to suggest to me that if Ukyo truly did not exist in worlds other than the one you two were in, he was not human, either, therefore making him something closer to Orion or his god who seem to have only one plane of existence despite the many worlds."

"But... he was human. He couldn't do it on his own. It was his wish that sent him to the other worlds and made him suffer."

Kent nodded. "A wish that saw you survive, yes?"

"He had to see me survive past the twenty-fifth. The reason it didn't work was because he kept dying before he did because the worlds were trying to rid themselves of the anomaly he was. So he died over and over until... until he started killing me to spare himself death."

"It seems odd to me that a god with such apparent power and knowledge would not see such a thing coming. Clearly he did not consider all the variables in making such an offer."

She almost smiled. "Not all of us are you, Kent. I think even gods can make mistakes."

He gave a halfhearted laugh. "That is the problem, though. For such a being, with that kind of power, to have made such a mistake... if he could see the other parallel worlds and that Ukyo was not a part of them, why not stop there? It had to be at least some kind of a sign."

"Well, if Ukyo existed in other worlds but I didn't, wouldn't that just mean that... Wait, is that what you think happened? That... That he tried to bring me from a world where I didn't exist but Ukyo did? Wouldn't that have meant my death, too?"

"I am not certain. I lack the data and the ability to look into parallel worlds. However, I did consider the possibility that moving you from one world to another was not achieved how we previously thought."

"What do you mean?"

"When we spoke with Orion, we discussed how your 'core essence,' as he termed it, was moving between worlds. Not your physical body. We assumed that to mean that you were moving from women that were all identical to you from world to world."

She thought she understood now. "You think... I took the place of women who... weren't me at all? Isn't that... impossible?"

"Technically, everything we've spoken of thus far has been impossible," Kent reminded her. "However, I did not devote enough time to this aspect of the theory before sharing it with you. It was... Perhaps I did rush it, thinking it best to inform you of this since it would make your inevitable conclusion easier and enable you to reach it sooner."

He tapped his chin, muttering under his breath, and she thought he was still thinking about his theory. "I mean, there is some basis to it, of course. It is difficult to say just how much as... well, I had hardly advertised the fact that we were dating to anyone. Had I been more forthcoming with others about our relationship, I might perhaps have asked more people about it after you disappeared, enough to where my questions made me appear insane, but as I had not even informed Ikkyu of the fact that we were dating, when you disappeared, there was no one to ask. I did get some strange looks from the staff at the cafe who'd never heard of you, including those I knew to be your friends."

"I... don't work at the cafe?"

"At present they employ only Sawa and Mine, who both seemed to have no recollection of me at all," Kent said. "Though curiously, I did think that your manager... Well, that is neither here nor there. This hypothesis is still somewhat unformed. It's true I disliked it and did not want to extend much effort into pursuing it. I did go to your school to see if a student by your name had ever enrolled there—"

"I don't understand," she said. "I was in this world for weeks. I interacted with a lot of people. That... it doesn't just go away. And how... Ukyo came to other worlds looking for me, right? So that means that I had to exist here first."

"No. It doesn't. I already told you I don't think it means that at all." He closed his eyes, looking a bit pained. "This path made me consider more and more the possibility that I was, in fact, mistaken about your existence. That I had simply... imagined the entire thing."

"You're wrong." She wished she felt confident enough to touch him again, but after earlier, she wasn't sure she should or even could. He was wrong about this, wasn't he? She was real, and he knew her, and she was here. Now. With him.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to be indirect, not this time," Kent said. "Everyone has blamed my recent distraction and obsessive nature on my presentation, and they accept it as they have no reason to understand my altered behavior or my fears. I believe—am nearly certain—that this world is in a holding pattern that will end when you return to the world where you belong. No, that, too, is inaccurate. It is not the world that is in a holding pattern. I am."

"Kent?"

"As Ukyo did, I refused to accept that fate that I had been given. I would not give up on you or forget what I knew. I did not allow the most likely scenario—which in some cases seems unlikely as I am not particularly given to flights of fancy or imagination—of you being an illusion to take root. I did not prove it, though I likely could have if I'd tried. I did research the parallel worlds as you know. I did other things that kept you forefront in my mind and did not lose hold of my memories... but that will end when you return to your world."

"No. You... you deserve to be happy. All of you do. I..." She stopped. She was afraid, wasn't she? That all of them would be lost in some way without her. Shin would grow harder and more distant thinking no one could ever accept him or look past what his father had done. Toma might take his protective nature too far with someone else. Who knew how far he could go? Ikki needed to break free of his fan club and find real love with someone he cared about. And Ukyo... he'd been so unable to cope he went to world after world and then even went insane.

And Kent... what if no one ever showed him how to look past logic and rational thinking?

"I had originally intended to tell you this theory so you would understand that you did the others no harm. However... you still had doubts about returning, and that prompted me to tell you that I did not think you were ever meant to be a part of any of our worlds. The reason why Ukyo and you could not exist in the same one was not a matter of fate—not as I see it. I find fate a belief I cannot support, though I could still be wrong about that. Certainly more things exist than my world view allowed for prior to meeting you and your spirit."

She nodded. "But I fought fate. I refused to accept that either of us had to die, and that broke the cycle. We both lived, at least long enough for Ukyo's wish to be fulfilled so all this could be undone."

Kent smiled at her. "Fighting fate is illogical, if such a thing exists, but I am not surprised that you of all people managed it."

"That still doesn't explain why there was no me here."

Kent shook his head. "I may be wrong about this as well, but combining the thought that you needed to be 'seen' to survive past that date and that it was your 'core essence' moving between worlds... It is possible that in searching for a world where the two of you could coexist, an attempt was made to integrate you into another world. If it was only your core self that was here, you would not be a target for the world itself to purge as an anomaly."

She blinked, trying to make sense of that. "Ukyo still killed me when I was with Toma."

"You had to be recognizable to Ukyo for this goal to be accomplished. Therefore your core essence would still be known to him and you'd be able to survive. However... he was already so far gone that he believed he had to kill you so he did. That forced the god to return you to your own world for one final attempt as all others had failed."

"You think that's really it? That I... was never in any of the worlds as myself, as a person?"

"That depends on your definition, of course," Kent said. "Still... You had no ties here—in almost every case your parents were distant or gone—and so you were given ties to hold you here, through us. Oddly the same few people kept repeating in your life despite the variations you found. I wonder... was that because in your world we were connected? Are we as necessary to your core essence as you yourself are? And yet... how can that be? I can't imagine that you and I were close in any other world. We were barely close here. Hmm. This does bear further thought. Why us? And the cafe, that was another constant. All these things, just because in the world where Ukyo knew you they were set? We all worked there and were your friends and coworkers thus determining that we must be something similar to you again?"

"Like... how Shin and Toma were childhood friends with me, almost family, and that seemed... constant, as you said?"

He nodded. "And yet there were differences as well, and not just because you were dating them. In the world you describe with Shin, you were heavily involved in a band. That is not something that carried through in any other world. It is possible that you still like music, but it was not your driving force anywhere else, and that makes me wonder if that was perhaps from the person you took the place of in this world. It also puts doubt upon Orion's theory that he was only meant to guide you while you were fulfilling Ukyo's wish and that his binding with you was an accident."

"What? You doubt Orion now? I thought—"

Kent grimaced. "He did say that he was sent to look for you, didn't he? Finding you and connecting with you were done purposefully. However, the 'accident' of your memories being lost might not have been that at all."

"Orion didn't do it on purpose. I know he didn't. He didn't even know what Nhil was up to."

Kent nodded. "I agree to a point. It is possible he knew more and simply did not say so, but I tend to discount that possibility—while still acknowledging it as one—because of his simplistic attitude and apparent open and honest nature, he may genuinely have been unaware of the true task set upon him or the lengths that his god would go to. Either way, I believe that your amnesia may have been intentional."

"What?"

"If, as I have proposed, you were not actually in this world at all, the conflict between the base memories that were 'you' in your core essence and the person you inhabited in this world would have shown themselves immediately upon your arrival in this place or any of the others. Meaning that the only way that Nhil, as you call him, could move you to a world like this and preserve your life for Ukyo to see would be to ensure that you were not aware you'd transferred at all. Obviously that did not hold true when he lost control of his power and you started randomly shifting, but in order for you to believe that you were a part of the world you were in until the twenty-fifth to satisfy the terms of the wish, then you had to have a tie to the place you were. That was given to you in the form of one of us, and... well, those ties are no longer necessary now that your own world will accept you. So there is nothing to fear and no reason to hold back from returning."

She shook her head. "There's still my feelings to consider. I didn't remember Ukyo. I still don't."

Kent's face was a mixture of relief and sadness. "You will, though."

"Maybe. If I make that part of my wish now, but there's no guarantee I will since I didn't go through to that world first. Is there?"

That brought a bit of a smile back to his face. "That's very analytical of you."

She smiled at him. "It is why I came here. To figured things out."

"Yes," he agreed, sounding troubled again. "Only we have done that already, so... Why is it so hard for you to let go?"

She looked down at her feet. She'd been asking herself the same question, and she didn't have an answer. Even Kent's latest theory hadn't erased her doubts.

"I don't know."

"That is not much of an answer."

"I know, but—it's not that simple with emotions," she said, and he tensed up but then slowly nodded in agreement. "They're not always so clear. It's hard. I don't even know for sure why I feel this way, and I keep trying to ask myself why, but I don't have an answer. I... I just know I'm not ready to leave. Not yet."

"Very well." Kent seemed to struggle with his own feelings there, his expression shifting quickly as he considered his response. "I suppose you have two options. You could wait for your feelings to clarify which has no definitive end date and may leave you stranded here for some time, or you could continue to analyze the situation."

"Isn't it kind of the same thing?"

"No. At least, not in the way I was thinking. The one path would be more passive, and as for the second... well, I did say my theory was not fully formed. Perhaps there is something to be gained in researching it further. I am now quite curious about how the ties always formed with the same few people, how their lives intersected even when not all coworkers, and that's something, too. The cafe. It, too is a focal point. Is it a nexus of some kind? I wonder..."

He started walking away, muttering to himself as he did, and she stared at him for a minute before rushing after him. Really, she should be more annoyed that he was doing it to her again, but he was kind of adorable when he got into this analytical mode—even when he bumped into things—and actually, him walking so fast while preoccupied—that was very familiar and even... comforting.


"It can't be said that time is a constant, not in this scenario, though it is not the earth or the season itself that has changed, only our perception of said time, meaning that it does, in part, remain as constant as if there were no outside interference. However, it is also not the same."

Ikki groaned as he lifted his head, not sure he was up to taking Ken in his full theory mode right now. His head was pounding, and he obviously hadn't made it home last night. He only remembered parts of it clearly, and he wished he didn't. They made him want to drink all over again.

"If you're thinking up a new experiment with me, you can forget it," Ikki told him, sitting up slowly. "I'm done with them. And with women. Just... done."

"I suspect that opinion will change when you are more awake, at least as far as the women go," Kent said. Ikki leaned back as a dark blur appeared in front of him. "Here. Take this. As your primary symptom is caused by your dehydration, it should help."

Ikki accepted the water bottle and took a sip. "Thanks."

"I have done nothing I would not have ordinarily done had you come here under less extreme circumstances," Kent told him. "Offering you water is only polite, is it not?"

"Can you pretend to be sympathetic for a little bit longer?" Ikki asked. "Just until the headache passes? Not because I expect you to care or anything, just... you're not the easiest to talk to even when I'm not hungover."

"I am aware of that," Kent agreed with a faint smile. "Very well. I shall endeavor to keep my comments to myself as I theorize. I am afraid the only other physical comfort I can offer is more water. Also... you may wish to avoid a mirror."

"What?"

Kent did a poor job of hiding his amusement. "You seem to have fallen asleep on my coat last night. The buckle left an indentation on your cheek."

"Please tell me you're joking," Ikki said, since sometimes it really was difficult to tell if Ken was just teasing him. "You're not?"

Someone else started giggling, and Ikki leaned around Kent to see a girl sitting in the other chair. She flushed red at getting caught, making her ten times more adorable than she should be, but no. He was off women. He hated them. They were all the same. And she was no different, laughing at him like that. He supposed he could play with her just as easily, since she was there, mocking him. It wouldn't take much. She probably already was under the effect of his eyes.

"Sorry," she said. "It shouldn't be funny at all, but Kent was smiling and you sounded so upset and I could picture the face you make when you pout and... Sorry."

That was different. She spoke like she knew him, but he'd never seen her. And more than that, she didn't seem to have been affected by his eyes.

"You seem to know me well, pretty lady, but I don't think we've met."

"Ikkyu, this is a friend," Kent said, a warning in his voice that had Ikki looking back at him. He had a strange expression on his face, one that was both relief and fear. Interesting. "She's involved in my current research and has nothing to do with your recent trouble."

"Oh," Ikki said, looking at her again. "She's the one you thought would help us if we needed proof to confront Rika with."

"Exactly."

Ikki gave her a smile, deciding against playing with this one. If Kent trusted her enough for research, she couldn't be all bad—not with his exacting standards—and she was cute. Ikki wasn't thrilled she'd laughed at him, but then again...

"You were thinking my 'pouting' face was cute, right?"

She flushed pink again. "Um..."

"Ikkyu," Kent snapped, and Ikki realized that he had stumbled onto something even bigger, with more potential for any kind of scheme, as he understood that Kent had feelings for this girl.

He set down his water. "Relax, Ken. I'm not awake enough to seduce her."

"You won't seduce her at all."

"That confident, are you?"

Flustered, Kent frowned. "Um. No, that's not it. I was more—it's complicated. You won't understand. This is... we should focus on the research."

Ikki shook his head sadly. Kent would never get a girlfriend at this rate. "I don't even know what you're researching, but there are more important things in life. You really need to figure that out already. You wouldn't even eat if you didn't get catered meals at home. And I'm not even sure when you were last home."

"Um, Kent?"

He looked over at her with a slight frown. "Yes?"

"Do you think maybe we should go to the cafe? You said it was a possible nexus, right? And it was a part of everything I did in the other worlds, so if your theory was right, then... there could be some sign of it there. Maybe." She gave him a timid smile. "We could walk there and have breakfast."

Kent considered this. "I acknowledge that proper nutrition is important and that we should address that issue at some point, but I am not so certain that it is wise. I... am not certain I like the idea."

"It's just breakfast," Ikki said. "Eating is important, and you get to do it with a cute girl. What's not to like? Are you really trying to make her feel bad?"

Kent shook his head. "No, I was not—it is a good suggestion. Please understand. I am not trying to belittle your input, but I hesitate to accept it. I realize this is slightly irrational, and I do not mean to be so... emotional about the idea—"

"You're worried about us getting separated on on our walk again like before," she said, rising to stand next to him. "Well... what if Ikki walks with us? I could also hold his hand. That way no one could bump me like before, and you wouldn't have to worry. That's okay, isn't it?"

She held her hand out to Kent, and Ikki sat back, watching them with surprise. This girl... she must really care about Kent to offer something like that. He doubted his friend would take it, seeing as he was that into this girl—he was clearly jealous and not liking that Ikki was even speaking to her—but if Ikki wasn't mistaken, she liked him back. A lot.

Was that even possible? Or was he still drunk?


"Huh," Ikkyu observed, looking at the sign on the wall by the stairs. "I had no idea this was here. How did you hear about this place, Ken?"

She squeezed his hand, and Kent forced a smile. Ikkyu had actually been helpful along their walk, acting as a buffer as she'd suggested. They had gotten more attention than Kent would have liked, the three of them, but he was relieved that they'd made it to their destination without her disappearing again. He actually could not begin to describe his relief that Ikkyu had not only seen her but spoken to her and even touched her.

She was real. Kent wasn't imagining this.

He would still lose her, and soon, if he was not mistaken, but he knew that had to be the best for everyone despite his personal feelings. His emotions were not worth the suffering in the other worlds, and if he held onto her and kept them from returning to their proper state, people would even die.

As selfish as he wanted to be, he could not do that. There was no logical reason to keep her here, and he could not ignore that as much as he wanted to.

Furthermore, if what he suspected was true, he would forget her and be spared that sort of pain. That made it all the more important to give her the information she needed to finally make the choice that should have been made in the first place.

"Are we not going in?" Ikkyu asked with a frown, looking around at the people walking nearby. So far, none of them were female, but that could change and the relative quiet would be gone.

"Kent's thinking," she said. "We can give him a minute to finish his theory."

Ikkyu smiled at her. "You really like him, don't you? To be so patient... That's rare."

"She is quite unique," Kent agreed, not wanting to hear her response to that. "I did not mean to delay us. We can go in."

She went in first, and Ikkyu followed after her, with Kent entering last. He was uncertain of this choice, but he thought it best she see for herself what he meant when he said she had not actually belonged here.

The manager greeted her, and though he did not voice it, his look at her suggested that he might recognize her on some level. Kent was not sure what to make of that man. He showed them to a table, giving them another glance as he left.

Was it Ikkyu causing that reaction? Or something else? Kent wasn't sure if he was being analytical or suspicious.

"I didn't figure you for someone who liked being called 'Master,'" Ikkyu said. "You're really surprising me today, Ken."

"This place has significance to our research. It is not about being called—I do not actually enjoy the theatrics, though the drinks are passable and you with your coffee addiction should find that quite pleasing."

Ikkyu smiled. "You're way too easy to tease right now. I don't even have to try."

"Mock me if you like. You will regret it when it comes to the next problem I give you. Under the circumstances, I feel less inclined to spare you even though I had thought I might hold off until you had at least recovered from your hangover if not the recent upset, but if you are well enough to harass me in such a manner, then I think you should be capable of a few difficult problems."

"A few?" Ikkyu repeated. "Is there no mercy in you at all, Ken?"

Next to Kent, she started giggling, and Ikkyu frowned at her. Kent did as well, since it was unlike her to enjoy someone else's misery. He was not sure why she would react that way.

"Sorry," she said, blushing. "I just... I... um... like watching you two tease each other. Neither of you says it, but... you can see the affection when you do, how much you two like each other, how well you get along, that you're good friends. It's very nice to see."

"An interesting if... erroneous thought," Kent said, since he was not sure that he and Ikkyu were true friends at all. "That is like assuming that arguing is how I show my affection, which has also been falsely claimed in the past."

Ikkyu smiled. "I've actually said it, but now having watched him with you—"

"Ikki?" The sudden appearance of another female at their table was somewhat of a relief in spite of the loud and somewhat high pitch of her voice. "You're here?"

"Mine," Ikkyu said with a forced smile. He seemed unable to offer the usual greetings. "Yes. I'm here with Kent and his friend for 'research.'"

"Research?" Mine repeated with a frown. "Here?"

Ikkyu gave her a real smile then. "Someone is too shy to call it a date."

Kent refused to groan. "It is not a date. This location is a potential nexus. We came to investigate whether or not it was a direct cause or instead being affected by other variables. If so, which variable determines the focus? Is it enough that the location remain constant or must it be the human element? That said, thus far only two members of the human element could be said to be constant, which makes the location more likely and yet if it was location alone, why is the theme—"

"Are you sure this is a date?" Mine asked. She leaned closer to the other girl. "Kind of hard to date a man you can't understand, isn't it? Even if he is cute."

Kent blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Um... I may not understand everything Kent says, but he is doing this research for me, and I... I like when he's thinking about stuff. Well, I mean, he gets quiet sometimes and it's almost scary when he is because he frowns a lot, but he's really smart and knows so much and... he sees things I don't and when I've always rushed in and done the first thing that came to mind... he thinks it through a lot more and... that's all valuable."

"Oh, that's adorable," Mine said. She turned to Ikkyu. "Don't you think maybe you should let them have a little privacy?"

Ikkyu laughed. "Well, maybe, but I'm also worried that if I leave, Kent really will try to pretend it's all research."

"Ikkyu—" Kent began, but he stopped when he felt a tug on his coat. He looked over, seeing her nod toward the manager. "Oh. I do believe that someone disapproves of your conversation choice as much as I do."

Mine frowned, turning and gasping when she saw the manager. "Quick. Let me have your orders."


"I regret that we learned little from this trip," Kent said, adjusting his glasses again. "It did not answer any questions, though admittedly we were unable to ask many given the added company we had with us when we arrived."

She bit her lip, looking back at the cafe. Ikki had gotten caught by a crowd again as soon as he tried to leave. He had said not to wait, but she wasn't sure Kent would want to in case she got bumped again. "Do you think it's that impossible for Ikki to believe us if we told him about all of this?"

"Ikkyu is not stupid, though most people assume his interests are as shallow as his relationships. He is more dedicated to his studies than they know, and he is one of few people I know who can solve the problems I create. In that sense, he could understand the theories I've created more than most people around us would. In fact, as he has a peculiar and inexplicable condition, he may be more open to the idea of spirits and gods."

"But?"

Kent shook his head. "I... My reasons for being reluctant to share any of it with him are selfish. I do not want to subject myself to the needless ridicule that will come. Ikkyu has already teased me considerably over my feelings—"

"This was about research, though."

Kent sighed. "Yes. It was. I did not have any ulterior motive in agreeing to come to the cafe. It was possible that coming here would cause more of the ties to break or even make it so that you left again, but that was not... my intention."

"It wasn't?" She had almost felt like Kent was trying to push her away since she woke up, like he wanted her to go. He said he didn't, but he kept trying to show her why she should, so he must, right?

"No." Kent frowned. "I hesitate to speak of it, but... It is also possible that were Ikkyu made aware of your relationship in the world where you were close to him and not me, he would feel that he had an equal claim to you."

"Claim?"

Kent nodded. "Not, of course, that the rational part of me believes that there is such a claim to have, but I admit that the idea of losing you to him is intolerable, as would be any suggestion of... 'sharing' you. These thoughts are not rational, though, and I cannot defend them. I... dislike myself for thinking of them, for feeling this way, and yet I do."

"Oh."

"Ikkyu knows me well. He was not mistaken about my feelings. They are, at least for now, quite genuine."

She frowned. "What does that mean?"

Kent turned away. "Again, if I am correct about all the worlds returning to their original state, then you would not have been here and there would have been no one for me to have met and developed romantic inclinations toward. Those feelings will cease to exist. They are, after all, the product of outside interference and a need to bind your essence to this world long enough to permit Ukyo to see you survive the twenty-fifth."

She winced. "Kent..."

"Still, you should not feel concern over my emotions. As I have said, they are... They will fade when the worlds are restored."

"I hate how much this hurts you. No one should have been used like you were. Your feelings... they should be your own, not... forced for me."

"I believe love to be a mere chemical reaction within the brain. This is essential for continuing the species. It also seems somewhat easy to manipulate. It is difficult to comprehend why I'd develop feelings for someone I can have no future with, but then... it also seems the most logical explanation for why something like this would occur now. I was too focused on research, determined to go to London at the end of this month. Having outside interference in such a thing... it explains much to me. It may even be a comfort to have them... gone."

She shook her head. While she knew it was painful, being in love with her, someone who did not even belong to his world, she still believed that Kent deserved to feel love and be loved in return. She believed Ikki deserved to know true love. Shin needed people who saw more than his father's actions. Even Toma. He had so much love to give. If Ukyo had more love and support in his life, would he have been so desperate when he lost her?

She wanted to help all of them, not just one. She wanted to believe she still could in her own world, but if she forgot everything, then how could she? She might have helped Shin in that one, possibly Ikki, but she wasn't close to Kent, and if Toma had feelings for her, that only complicated matters.

She reached for Kent's hand. "You should have love, Kent. All of you should. Not just Ukyo because he got a wish. You because underneath all that logic is a generous heart that should be loved just as much as it does. And the others, too. How can I go back and help Ukyo alone?"

"It is not your place to fix the problems of all the worlds."

"Maybe not, but I don't even know if I'll remember to fix mine. I can't accept that. I care too much about all of you."

Kent started to say something, but he stopped, speaking only one word instead. "Ikkyu."

Ikki's smile wavered. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No."

"Well, then," Ikki said, clearly not believing that. "I think I just got offered a job. I have one lined up for after school, so I don't really need one exactly, but for now, it might not be a bad idea."

"You'd be really good at it," she told him, "and very popular, too."

Ikki smiled at her. "Thanks."

"It would seem your condition might well be an asset in such an occupation, though it could cause problems with other members of the staff," Kent told him. "Additonally, they do say that it is good to keep busy in hard times."

"They do," Ikki agreed. "What about you two? You have more 'research' planned for today?"

Kent shook his head. "I do not know what else I could show her that might be of assistance."

"Oh, Ken. You need to—"

"Ikki!" Several girls shouted his name at once, and Ikki's smile disappeared as soon as he saw them. She tightened her hold on Kent's hand as she recognized them from the fan club. She knew that Ikki knew the truth of them now, but that didn't mean that he wanted to see them. She didn't, but then she couldn't help remembering how they'd shoved her in that boat before it sank.

They scared her.

She didn't know what they might do. They hadn't cared if she lived or died. Would they go so far as to hurt Ikki? Here?

"Go home," Ikki told them coldly. "Didn't Rika tell you? No more fan club."

"But Ikki—"

"No buts. I know what you did. I want nothing to do with any of you. Get out of my sight. Now."