Today, I'm supposed to get back as soon as possible once I'm done taking care of the business related to the Student Council in my school. As the newly appointed President of the Student Council, I know very well that that I have to do my best in order not to make those who chose me disappointed. No matter what their reasons for choosing me, I'm pretty much aware that those who have chosen me have their own expectations and because of that, I'll do my best. But still, I have no intention to be the so-called "Perfect President of the Student Council".

Not perfect is good. In its own ways.

I stopped for a while on my way when I realized that the sun is nowhere to be seen. It's getting darker and I can't help but accepting the fact that I'm not surprised to look at the reflection of myself in the mirror. Not anymore. Even though I have been freed from the curse that was given to me by the "Crow Oddity", I cannot deny the fact that the side effects remain inside of my body. The color of my eyes would turn red once the sun sets before returning to normal around ten minutes later. There was a time where I was dreaming of myself flying through the night sky - but the feeling I got once I got up made me doubt that I was dreaming; there's a possibility that I could actually fly for real. But up until now, I haven't felt interested to try and see it for myself.

Even though I was at first annoyed about the fact that the curse didn't vanish completely but simply leaving side-effects, I learned to accept that fact that next day I discovered it. Asking Araragi-senpai to help me getting rid of the side-effects would make me as if ungrateful for him going all the way to help me cleansing the curse. Even though I'm not really sure that he'd really think like that or not, at least that's what I'm thinking concerning the thought of asking Araragi-senpai to help me.

Even though he was the one who offered to help me in the first place that time, I'm perfectly aware that I caused enough trouble for him. I'm not some ungrateful brat who'd keep asking someone who already helped me once to help me again. If I could deal it by myself, I'll deal it by myself. If I have no other choice, that'd be the time where I'd ask the one who already helped me to help me once again.

I don't have any particular reason to think like that. It's just I've always been thinking that it'd be better for people to keep their distances away from me. It took a lot of effort to drive people away when I was still cursed by the "Crow Oddity". But now that it has been taken care of and I have been chosen as the President of the Student Council, a lot of people started wanting to get in touch with me again. Even though I won't consider it as annoying or invading my privacy, putting what I've experienced into consideration, I have my own reasons for not wanting people to get involved with me.

It'd be better if they stay away from me. They wouldn't get hurt if they don't associate themselves with me.

Maybe I'm the only person in the world stupid enough to think about something like that. Trying to justify all of my actions by acting like that. But as I have mentioned, I have my own reasons. I'm not doing this because I want to. If possible, I'd like to get in touch with as many people as possible. But I wouldn't do that. If they get associated with me, maybe they'll be dragged along in my private business and when it comes to the worst thing possible, they might get cursed too.

I don't want that. Seeing people getting hurt just because they want to associate themselves with me, I don't need that. I'm not Superman; I wouldn't say something like I want to protect every single person that I know of. I'm not some modest guy that would say I would protect everyone around me. I'm just a cheeky brat who wants to keep the people that I know of safe, even if it means I have to use my own ways to do such a thing.

When I was about to continue my way back to my home, I came to a stop just after taking two steps. A familiar figure that caught the sight of my eyes was the one that caused me to stop halfway. The figure is a girl, wearing the uniform of my school. She has a long, smooth black hair and one could consider her to have the perfect body of a model. The sight of her black eyes placed to the map that's placed at the side of the road; as if it took a lot of effort for her to understand the whole map.

She's a stranger, but not a perfect stranger. At least not for me. I've met her once before. She was chosen to be the Vice President of the Student Council by the majority of the students of our school, just like me who was chosen to be the President of the Student Council using the same way. Her name is Hanazono Chiaki. She's quite famous around the school and despite that fact, she's actually quite shy and tend to stray away once people start gathering around her. I wonder if she's not aware such personalities would simply make more people interested to gather around her and get to know her more.

What's she up to, it's none of my business. But I'm not the kind of sick person who'd leave someone who's in need of help. And so, I decided to approach her.

"Hanazono Chiaki-san?" I said as I approach her, trying to be as formal as possible. We've only met once, after all. The only thing I know about her is that she's quite famous around the school despite her shy personality and she's one of the top five in the list of "Female Student of Naoetsu Private High School that You'd Want as Your Girlfriend". As the President of the Student Council, it's quite obvious that I'm aware of such a list existing among the male students. As a male myself, I'd be lying if I'm saying that I'm not interested in such a list. But let's put this straight. It's not that I'm not interested in it; I'm just not that interested in it.

You'd get what I'm trying to say eventually if you don't get what I'm trying to say by now.

Even so, seeing her reaction after I greeted her like before - seeing her almost flinching to the side and quickly putting both hands over her mouth and having the faint red hues decorating both of her cheeks; it actually feels like a stroke of luck. It's not that I've never seen it before, but having someone with such a reputation like Hanazono-san acting like that while being alone with me, you'd get what I mean eventually.

Instead of luck, maybe I'd just say that it feels like an honor.

"Aoyama-kun..." I could hear her voice hesitant and I can't help but noticing that she's somewhat fidgeting as she gazed away as if trying to make an eye contact with me, "I-It's really a coincidence to meet you here really late like this. H-How are you doing?"

To actually see Hanazono-san that's usually shying herself away when a male decided to talk to her asking me something like that, I simply narrowed my eyes to suppress my reaction. As a normal and perfectly healthy boy, putting the fact that I was once cursed aside and despite the curse has been taken care of but still leaving side-effects along the way, I'd be lying if I'm not saying that I'm not interested in Hanazono-san. It's not a romantic interest, more like I'm interested in her just because of her beauty and personality.

"I've been doing well. Even though the Student Council has a lot to do, I would say that I'm not overwhelmed by it and manage to catch up with my studies," I replied to her with a small nod, still trying to be as formal as possible, "Putting that aside, is there anything I can help you with, Hanazono-san? It seemed that you're having a trouble judging from how serious you're looking at the map."

"I-It's nothing serious, Aoyama-kun... I-I'm just doing a little touring. B-But it seemed that I got a little too far away and actually lost right now."

Despite the fact that she's giving a somewhat nervous giggle at the end of her sentence, the tone of her voice made me doubt what she just told me earlier. She sound more like someone who's desperately trying to find her way back because she's been lost for quite some time. But before I manage to say anything, Hanazono-san already pulled herself away, turning her body around and start walking - no, more like running away as she spoke, "We-Well then, I'll see you later, Aoyama-kun!"

Hearing such words as she ran away made me a little uneasy. Something inside me kicked in and telling me to go after her. No, it's not something cheap like a sixth sense. More like a natural instinct. You know the kind of feeling you get when something dangerous about to happen to you? The kind of feeling that's telling you to get away as soon as possible when you notice something dangerous about to head your way? It's that kind of feeling. It's not something cheap like the so-called "Sixth Sense" that's telling me to go after her. I just feel like something's bound to happen if I don't go after her - something unpleasant, it's going to happen.

I made my way after her as soon as possible, trying to keep her visible upon my line of sight along the way. I'm not surprised for someone as petite and slender as her to be able to run fast, but actually, the one that I'm not expecting is that her to be able to run this fast. Maybe calling her petite is unreasonable, but you'll get the tendency to consider someone shorter than you (even if it's only a few centimeters like Hanazono-san there) petite - just because they're slightly smaller or shorter than you. You'll get what I mean eventually if you don't get it by now.

In the very end, I'm not really surprised when I lost her from my line of sight. Somehow, she just kept getting farther and farther away until she finally vanished from my sight. But that's not the thing that's bothering me the most; the fact that she managed to slip away while running with such an incredible speed. For a moment, there was a strange thought inside of my head; telling me that she might not be normal. That she might have something do with an oddity just like me.

Just for a moment, the more normal side of my mind told me that I should shake such an unreasonable thought away - but the thing that caught my sight for a split second later made me doubt that Hanazono-san has nothing to do with an oddity. I saw a silhouette just now. Even though it's just for a split second, I'm perfectly sane to accept that I saw that strange silhouette - strange, as in I saw the silhouette of a bipedal rabbit; yes, a rabbit standing on its hind feet just like a human - passing me before vanishing before I managed to get a clear look at it.

I took no time to go after it, but stopped along my way a while later as I realized that I'm already inside of a completely different environment. While I was chasing Hanazono-san before, I'm pretty sure I made my up through familiar places, such as several family restaurants and bookstores; not to mention the lone park, the only park that this town has - along the way. Despite all that, right now, I'm finding myself in a completely different environment.

It feels like I'm inside of a fairy tale or some sort.

In the middle of a seemed to be isolated forest with the environment that's set like the one in fairy tale. No, not the one where the Big Bad Wolf peeking at a certain kid wearing a red-colored hoodie from some sort of a hidden while imagining how it would chew her with his drools flowing all over his fangs. It's more like the forest where everything is peaceful; more like nothing harmful would dare to come along your way because it might harm the story line in itself. The kind of peaceful atmosphere where something like a Fairy God Parent would come to a certain Princess and offer her help to get something she's been dreaming of for a long time.

I narrowed my eyes. It's an unbelievable atmosphere, if I should put the fact about the unbelievable surroundings aside. I then gazed at myself.

The fact that my appearance didn't change means that the oddity (or whatever it is that's causing this situation to happen) has nothing to do with me. It's simply changing the environment because I entered its territory. At least that's what my instinct's telling me. I gazed around. Nothing come on my line on sight - but a split second later, I saw the silhouette from before, moving through the shades of the tree in a place not so far away from where I'm standing right now.

When I was about to decide to follow that strange silhouette, I can't help but narrowing my eyes the slightest bit when I saw a silhouette that strangely and similarly shaped like Hanazono-san, chasing after the silhouette of the rabbit from before. That sight alone made me certain that this "Rabbit Oddity" (I'm calling it a "Rabbit Oddity" because it's shaped like a rabbit, just like what I've described before) must have something to do with Hanazono-san. At least catching up with either of them would be able to explain what the type of the oddity is and why the sudden change of the environment like this.

I made my way after them with haste, trying to pinpoint my location as I marched through the forest before eventually realizing something critical - the setting of this place reminds me of a certain fairy tale that I once read when I was still a child. Maybe I shouldn't say "read" right there because at that time, I was just browsing through the pages of the fairy tale book to look at the pictures; typical of what kids would do when they find something interesting - simply browsing through the pages of the books to see the pictures.

I lost the sight of the two of them (first, the silhouette of the bipedal rabbit and eventually, the silhouette of Hanazono-san) not too long and I found myself standing right in front of a huge tree where a rabbit hole could be seen upon it; big enough for someone like me to enter. I'm not exaggerating about the size of my body, after all I'm just an average High School student with an average height and average weight - but if you consider the width of a rabbit hole, I think you too would be surprised to see a rabbit hole where you're perfectly aware you could stick your body into it and wouldn't get stuck along the way.

I hesitated.

I lost the sight of those two silhouettes, the bipedal rabbit's and Hanazono-san's when I came near this tree with a rabbit hole upon it. Could it be that they went through it? If that's really the case, that would explain the sudden disappearance, but only making me feel even more uneasy - it reminds me of the story of the fairy tale book that I read when I was little. I can't really pinpoint the title, but if someone were to give me just a little hint, I think I'd be able to remember it perfectly. At the story of that fairy tale, the girl, the main heroine of that fairy tale, chased after a rabbit and she came to a stop upon finding a rabbit hole too - even though she took little to no time to decide to go through the rabbit hole as well, unlike me who's hesitating if I should do it or not right here.

I glanced at the rabbit hole in front of me.

As I gave a sigh, I made my way through it, only to find the inner side of the hole to be big and large enough that I could stand straight without having my head touching the ceiling - probably a meter away from my head. I wouldn't be surprised if Hanazono-san managed to make her way through this place with relative ease.

I gazed around to see if I would find something interesting.

At the other side of this room (I don't know if I should consider this place as a room or not, considering the height and width of the place), I could see a door; a really small door. The top of the door only reach my knees and I couldn't help but arching an eyebrow; who in the world would make a door so small? But then I realized that the place I'm in right now isn't normal either. Until ten minutes ago, I was still inside of a perfectly familiar neighborhood, but as I chased after Hanazono-san and chased after the rabbit silhouette along the way, I found myself in a completely foreign place - probably in the middle of nowhere.

Not so far from the door, I saw a table - upon it, there's a tray that's filled with a small half-empty bottle and a half-eaten cupcake. Something's telling me that Hanazono-san was the one who ate the cupcake and drank the content of the bottle, even though I'm not really sure about the thing that's telling me about it. Maybe it's instinct, but I'm determined not to consider it as something cheap like "Sixth Sense" - I dont' believe in such a thing anyway. I made my way towards the table and find two labels; one placed upon the bottle and the other placed in front of the cupcake. The one glued to the bottle is "Drink Me" and the one placed in front of the cupcake is "Eat Me".

I tapped my chin in hesitation.

This whole thing is starting to get more and even more similar to the story of the fairy tale that I read when I was little. Unfortunately, I still haven't managed to remember the title. If someone here knows about it, please just give me a hint; don't just plainly tell me about the title. I wouldn't feel satisfied if I don't solve it by myself. Putting the matter of the title aside, I placed my sight back at the two objects in front of me - the bottle and the cupcake. If those two are traps, it's too obvious. But considering the situation where the bottle is half-empty and the cupcake is half-eaten, I wouldn't think of these two as traps. Connecting these two objects to the door with unreasonable size of the door in front of me, something must be done with these two objects in order to get me through this door.

I must either drink the content of the bottle or eat the cupcake. Or I might end up doing both if something went wrong, just in case.

I reached for the cupcake, gazing at it and telling myself that considering its half-eaten condition and the fact that Hanazono-san was the one who went through this place before me, she must be the one who ate the cupcake and left it half-eaten like now. Maybe she's just not bothered to eat the rest of it because she already got the right size to go through the door.

I switched my gaze towards the half-empty bottle that's still placed upon the tray upon the table. "Drink Me", it's the label glued to the bottle telling me - indirectly. Considering its half-empty condition, Hanazono-san must be the one who drank it as well. Thinking logically, she must've drank the contents of the bottle first and then something happened to her - causing her to eat the cupcake which resulted to her getting the right size to go through the door and also caused her to leave the cupcake in its half-eaten condition.

I gazed upward.

There's a small bump upon the ceiling right above me. Making the size of her body bigger, either the content of the bottle or the cupcake must be the one that caused it. I gazed at the cupcake upon my hand once again, before deciding to give it a small bite - eventually widening my eyes as I could feel myself growing taller and larger all of the sudden; only coming to a stop once the top of my head touches the ceiling; not bumping into it, thankfully. I gazed at my right hand, then my left hand, before shifting my sight down towards my body. I sure grew bigger all of the sudden just from eating cupcake. I know cakes such as this one contain a lot of calorie and such, but making someone grow one or two times bigger just because a small bite is absurd.

I narrowed my eyes before carefully placing the cupcake that I bit back into the tray upon the now tiny table in front of my shin. The bump upon the ceiling right on top of my head was caused because Hanazono-san (probably) carelessly took a large bite (explaining the half-eaten condition of the cupcake) and grew even larger than me which caused her to bump upon the ceiling because of the unreasonable size - probably. I wouldn't be so sure about it until I ask Hanazono-san about it directly.

I reached for the bottle with the tip of my index finger and my thumb, picking it up before pausing halfway as I once again read the label "Drink Me" glued upon it. Considering what the cupcake just did to me after taking a small bite to it and considering the size of the unreasonably small door in front of me, I'm pretty sure that the content of this bottle should be able to shrink me to the right size so I could make my way through the door with ease.

I opened the lid of the bottle with ease before giving one last gaze towards the bottle - before finally pouring the content of the bottle to my mouth, probably only a drop or two before I finally could feel my body shrinking. Eventually, the shrinking process comes to a stop when the top of the door reached my chest. Arching an eyebrow, I decided to have one small drop from the bottle; trying to be as careful as possible so I wouldn't be stuck in the wrong size and having to repeat the entire process just to get the right size.

I swallowed the one last drop. And I could feel my body shrinking once again, only coming to a stop when the top of the door is only a few centimeters, probably five, away from my head.

I gave a sigh of relief. At least I managed to get it right. Being too careful wouldn't hurt, what just happened to me proved it. I gazed at the bottle (which become a little too big for my hand) before placing it back to the tray upon the table with slight effort. Because of my size, I have to stand upon the tip of my toes to be able to place the bottle back to the tray upon the table correctly.

Once done, I shifted my sight towards the door before reaching towards the doorknob.

Giving a light sigh, I pulled it open - only to widen my eyes as I find yet another forest in front of me. But unlike the forest which has a somewhat peaceful atmosphere like before, the forest laying in front of me right now has a somewhat sinister atmosphere leaking from it. As I gaze around, I'm not that surprised to hear the sound of leaves rustling uneasily - making it as if something's waiting deep inside the forest, watching me and ready to gnaw me once I got careless. As I gaze around once again, I find myself not surprised to hear the sound of owls echoing through the forest - fitting to the atmosphere that this forest is giving. It's more like a haunted forest. As I gaze around once more, the sound of the breeze flowing from the insides of the forest making it as if it's the sound of something that's breathing quite far away in front of me - far enough so I wouldn't be able to see it.

I'm not surprised. But I would be lying if I'm saying that I'm not afraid. Of course I'm afraid, even it's only slightly.

I moved forward ever so slowly, gazing to the right, to the left, and to the back as I move; trying to keep my guard as high as possible at the time. Eventually, I came to a stop on my way once my eyes caught the sight of a very familiar figure - the figure of Hanazono-san that seemed to be looking around in confusion. My vision was not lying to me, it was Hanazono-san (and the bipedal rabbit, whatever that is) that I was chasing before.

I stopped for a moment, deciding if it would be right decision to approach her or it would better to leave her - considering the fact that she was the one who got trapped inside of this environment (even though I got dragged along in the very end like now), and how she made her way through the door with ease (putting the bump upon the ceiling from before aside, of course), she must've experienced this not only once. I would say that she must've already experienced this several times to be able to tell that the silhouette of the bipedal rabbit was the one who lead her (and me, in the very end) astray.

Down the rabbit hole, she must've experienced it several times to know what the content of the bottle would do to her if she were to drink it and what the cupcake would do to her if she were to eat it. The fact that there's a bump upon the ceiling from before, I would say that because she was in such a hurry to go after the silhouette of the bipedal rabbit that she ate the wrong portion of the cupcake and got bigger than she firstly expected. The two of us did the same, eating the cupcake first before drinking the content of the bottle, which tasted like a normal water - it's not sweet, it's not salty, it's not bitter; just like a normal water.

I don't know what would happen if I were to drink the content of the bottle first before eating the cupcake. But something inside of my mind is telling me that it'd do no good.

I shifted my sight and my attention back to Hanazono-san. After taking a few seconds of thinking, I decided that I would just approach her. Considering the fact that she seemed to be confused about her surroundings, I would say that this forest is her checkpoint - she never went past this forest. If she already made her way through this forest, surely she wouldn't be looking around with a confused look upon her face.

As I took my step forward, the fact that I stepped upon a small branch and caused the most unnecessary sound in such a situation resulted to Hanazono-san giving a surprised yelp before shrinking and hugging her knees as she shouted, "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!"

To be honest, I would be lying if I were to say that I'm not interested in her cute reaction - but as I mentioned before, I'm not romantically interested in her. If I just find it cute and decided to tease her just for the fun of it in a situation such as this, it would surely be an insult; not to me and my pride, but also to her. I gave a small sigh before calling towards her, "Hanazono-san, don't be afraid. It's me."

It took a moment for Hanazono-san to lift her head up and narrowed her eyes as if trying to have a clear look of me. I could see the sides of her eyes twitching and because of that, I could tell that she's in the verge of crying. Even though what happened before was just an accident, I couldn't help but feeling a little bad. Despite her cute reaction, seeing her like this actually made me very uneasy. But as I mentioned, I'm not romantically interested in her. So I wouldn't act like a kind of idiot that would act manly and offer my chest as I comfort her.

I'm not that low to take the advantage of such a situation.

I made my way towards her slowly, coming to a stop once I'm only two steps away from her spot. "Are you alright, Hanazono-san?" I asked her, "Do you need any help?"

"I-I've been better, really. B-But I suppose I-I'm fine right now," the fact that her voice is trembling must mean that she's scared a lot after what happened before; I could see it upon her slightly shaking her body as she got up and wiped her eyes with the back of her left hand, "I-I'm sorry to drag you into all this mess, Aoyama-kun. Y-You must be mad at me, right?"

Considering what she just said, what I thought before, it's all true. This is not the first time she experienced something like this. And the fact that she got surprised and petrified over what just happened, it means that this forest must really be her checkpoint - this is as far as she could get on her own.

"Please don't mind it. We're on the same boat right now, so it'd be natural for us to help each other in a situation such as this," I said to her, placing a hand to my hip as I gaze around, "Anyway, do you know what's the cause of such a strange environment?"

Hanazono-san shook her head.

"I see. Maybe we'll find the answer once we manage to get out of this place," I replied to her as I offered a hand to her, thinking that it should at least make her feel the slightest comfort after what just happened, "Shall we go?"

Hanazono-san didn't immediately take my hand. She gazed at it uneasily before having her sight placed upon mine. Ever so slowly, she placed the tip of her fingers upon the palm of my hand as she asked, "Y-You'll guide me out?"

"I wouldn't say a cheap lie like 'I'll guide you out of here immediately' or something like that. This is the first time I got stuck in such an environment as well, or should I say, this is the first I got lost in such a strange environment," I said to her as I gripped her fingers gently and pulled her along as we steadily make our way through the sinister forest, "At least two heads thinking together would be better than one head thinking on her own."

"I'm sorry, Aoyama-kun..."

"Like what I said, don't mention it. We're on the same boat, so it would be natural for the two of us to help each other to find a way out-"

"No, you don't understand, Aoyama-kun," the sudden tug from Hanazono-san caused the two of us to stop on our way, even though the tug's not enough to pull her hand away from my grip - as I'm still gripping her hand, the tip of her fingers to be precise, as I listen to her next words, "Right now, in this place, I'm Alice."

If I didn't just shake off what she just said and managed to understand the hint hidden inside of those words, surely, the next event wouldn't happen and we would be able to make our way out of this strange place with ease.