Author's Notes: I'm actually quite proud that I was able to dish out the previous 3 chapters in a relatively short period of time. The coming chapters will be coming out a bit slower since I've taken up a summer job and such, but I hope I can still keep your interests. I really thank the people who favourited this story and even those who are merely reading in silence. I am especially thankful to C.M. Kearney for her diligent reviews. :)

--

"Hmm… Hmmmm… I think it would be fine… Probably…"

Sitting on top of her desk, Rempo stared at the troubled girl with a look of confusion and disbelief. For some reason, Tia kept re-reading a single sheet of paper over and over with an unsure expression on her face. Every once in a while she would talk aloud, sigh, or groan.

If it weren't for her natural tendency to treat everything with care, there was little doubt that the offending sheets of paper would've been greatly crumpled and difficult to read by now. As it was, Tia continued to pace around the room with one specific page constantly held out in front of her.

"Mmm… But maybe not…" Another sigh escaped her lips. "But then what should I do..?"

"Grrrr!" Unable to take it any longer, Rempo flew right up to Tia's face and demanded, "Enough pacing around Tia! What's the problem anyway? Usually only two things worry you this much, the book of prophecy and 'important' assignments."

Startled, it took her a moment to recover before answering, "Oh, it's a form for a trip."

"And?" Cocking an eyebrow, the fire spirit was clearly communicating with his eyes, 'You think I know what that means?'

"Sometimes the school decides to get the students out together on a small excursion." She explained, "It says here that we're to a botanical garden in about three days but…"

"But..?" He was beginning to get rather impatient with the constant need to prod the conversation along.

"Um… We need to get a parent or guardian to sign this form before we can go." She murmured solemnly.

"Hmm… Speaking of which, you don't seem to have any parents right?" It was oddly comforting to hear Rempo ask such a question without a single hesitation. It pained her to see people constantly apologize upon bringing such a topic up, looking at her with pity.

"They passed away just a few years ago." She confirmed, "Legally speaking I became adopted by a relative but the truth is… I've only met him once or twice."

"How does that work?"

"Well it seems that I didn't actually have any close relatives left. My parents were both an only child in their family and my grandparents had long gone. The person who adopted me rather distant, I think he was my dad's 4th cousin, meaning we only shared common great-grandparents.

No one else would take me in, so he reluctantly decided to adopt me. But he figured I was pretty much old enough to take care of myself so…"

"He left you a house and ditched." As always, Rempo chose the most straight-forward and blunt words to finish her sentence. Inwardly, she winced. When he stated it so matter-of-factly, even she felt a bit of self-pity.

"Um, it was a very sudden and big responsibility so it's not really that bad." She found himself automatically defending her legal guardian. "And he sends me money every 3 weeks or so, even though it's a pretty big imposition…"

Tia left her string of thoughts at a cliff and allowed her words to trail off. She didn't really feel the desire to continue the topic, especially considering the unconvinced scowl Rempo had on his face.

"So, the problem with this," He pointed at the sheets in the girl's hand with a shackled arm, "Is..?"

"Um, I'm not sure how I should get this signed." She told him with a sheepish expression. "I have a contact phone number, but I just don't think I should ask him to come over to sign something like this…"

"Eh, just sign it yourself!" Rempo waved his shackled arms around as though he was swatting the problem away. "He's only a guardian in name right? Since you're just taking care of yourself, that makes you the much more qualified guardian! There, problem solved!"

"That's considered forgery…"

"And..?"

"It's not a very good thing to do… Probably."

Rempo let out a huge groan. Sometimes this girl showed a lot of determination and spirit, but the next second she would be this sheepish little goody-two-shoes. "But you want to go right?"

"Yes…"

"Then sign it!"

-The Following Day-

"Anyone who has their form and money ready, give it to me on your way out."

Most of the students simply headed straight for the door but a few made a sloppy line in front of the teacher's desk. Walking towards the very end of the line, Tia took a longer route and first slammed the book on Kamui and the beautiful flowers still on his desk, causing a small moment of confusion for all who were present there. Before anyone snapped out of their daze, she quickly lined up with her head down in embarrassment.

"Ah, Tia. I'm glad to see you're able to come on the trip this time." Her teacher told her with a gentle smile.

"Let me guess, you kept chickening out and made up some excuse for not going instead of signing the forms." Rempo sighed. The girl could've sworn she felt an arrow go through her head when he continued, "Either way you're either forging a signature or deceiving your teacher. It's not like doing one is more honest than the other."

"Ah ha ha," With a nervous laugh she handed in an envelope with the trip fee and the form with a forged signature. "Here's the money and the form. Have a good day Mr. Kamui."

"You too Tia."

Unlike her companion Rempo who seemed to be enjoying the small turn of events, Tia walked out of the classroom with a small pit in her stomach. 'Is it really okay for someone responsible for the next world to do things like this? Ahh, no, I don't think it's okay. I'm sorry everyone, the new world is being created by a liar.' She was obviously thinking too much about her petty crime.

"Hey." A light smack hit her on the head as she walked through the halls. Of course, it was none other than Rex. "You're not gonna stand me up again are you?"

"No, I'll come." After grabbing their lunches, the two, three counting Rempo, made their way to the noisy cafeteria.

"And? Guess you're not coming on the trip this week right?" The boy asked a rhetorical question between bites. "It's just a garden so I doubt there'll be anything there, but tell me if you want a souvenir."

"No, actually I'm going this time." She replied with a smile. With a pained expression, Rex swallowed a bite full of his sandwich without chewing properly. Luckily he didn't choke, but it was painful to have something so big pass through his throat.

"And who do you think you should thank for that..?" Rempo asked beside her ear.

"Seriously? Wow, good for you Tia." Her friend congratulated her with a little straining on his part. He quickly took a long drink from his water bottle to help the chunk of food along. "Ah, much better."

"How do you usually get your forms signed anyway?" Despite being in a similar situation, Rex had never missed out on a trip unless he truly had a legitimate reason to do so.

"I just signed them, duh." He bluntly replied, "No one really cares anyway. The stupid principal and his cronies are just going through the standard procedure in case something does happen and they run the risk of getting sued. As long as the form's signed, no matter who actually did it, lawyers would have a difficult time winning the case."

As troublesome as it was, there was little doubt that that the school administrators would sigh in relief that they indeed had all their paperwork done for the future excursion. For on that excursion, the one-in-a-thousand chance that something could go would indeed happen, and the forms that parents often signed without reading properly would finally serve a purpose.

--

Sorry, it's a pretty short chapter. I have no idea what Tia's family situation was, so I made up most of the stuff in this chapter. I don't think I've seen anything in the game that explains the main character's situation, but if there was, I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me.

On a side note, I am very happy to announce that this story has had 150+ hits and 80+ visitors! Apparently many people stop at the first chapter, but I am grateful, nevertheless, for those that bothered to even read the first chapter to the end.