I've been writing for Zayne a lot; because of his supernatural ability to sense and see, I'm just intrigued by the way he perceives things with his mind instead of his eyes. A bit like synaesthesia probably.

In the morning Zayne wakes and immediately feels that something is wrong. Instantly he stretches out his mind to the infirmary, and his feet hit the floorboards before he opens his eyes. But the trouble is not with Tsubasa, who still sleeps soundly.

His mind reaches out and zips through the list. Sabrina is fine. Tai is fine, Luis, and Cythia.

The trouble lies with Kyouya.

Zayne stands, stretching his arms over his head, recovering from his moment of panic, for now the alert that woke him is dying down, not as terrible as it seemed in his waking moments. He pulls his coat around his shoulders and slips his feet into his moccasins.

Padding down the hall at this early hour, for it's only 5 a.m. in this dimension, feels the sleepy almost-awareness of waking students and tastes the fresh-bread sensation of seeing sunlight. All around him people walk to breakfast, ready to get on with their day.

He finds Kyouya in the study hall, damp grey worry prickling the hairs on his forearms. Kyouya turns and is startled to find him there.

"Zayne - "

"Tobio is gone", Zayne answers. "I already know. He's not in this building."

"You looked...?"

"Trust me; he isn't here. But he's safe", adds Zayne. Tobio is now connected to his psychic field. If he was in danger, daggers would be ripping at the back of Zayne's mind. He nearly blacked out when Griffin died.

Speaking of connections...one mind that was muted to him before is wakening suddenly, fresh rain. He knows the touch of this mind, soft like balsa wood and focused like a crystal ball.

"Tsubasa is awake", he tells Kyouya. The two of them step side by side to the infirmary.

Tsubasa sits up in bed, gazing at an object in his hand. A single feather. Zayne closes his eyes and feels the fibres of the feather as if they were on his own fingertips, and then the dizzying black smell of coins, loss.

When he opens his eyes again there is a single tear running down from Tsubasa's closed eyelashes; and then he looks up and smiles.

Tsubasa joins them in the cafeteria for breakfast. All around them are students with their laptops, yellow lemon sharpness, hard work enhanced with buzzing pollinated caffeine.

Zayne shuts his eyes and feels Sabrina approaching the table. She is humming grey contained storminess, swelling muddy rivers. Stressed.

So she, too, knows that Tobio is AWOL. "I can't believe him", she tells Zayne. She knows that he knows that she knows.

"He's like Luis. He needs time to be in the world again. Remember where we just came from", Zayne says. It's not comforting to her at a time like this, but some things you want to hear and some things you need to hear. The rivers overflow.

Sabrina slaps a letter onto the table, white hot electric sparks, mad at Tobio. "I just picked this up from the Unity Station Embassy in the city."

"You just got back? Why were you out so early?" Tai demands.

Zayne felt her, inky indigo shallowness, up all night and sleepless. The rivers were oceans last night.

"I couldn't sleep", she answers simply. "Read it."

Tai takes it and reads it aloud to their small group.

"Sent to Sabrina Notscha, leader SOS subdivision 101, September 16 at 7 am earth time, Eppaulus 9 16:36 Unity Station time. Yesterday", Tai adds in clarification.

"Your squad is required at Unity Station on September 20 earth time, Eppaulus 13 Unity Station time, or earlier if possible. Please do not delay.

Signed,

Emerson Juliet, Elder Supreme; Caephus Danton, Elder Second; Sloane Tykus, Elder Third."

"It's red-level correspondence", Sabrina says when Tai is finished. "They took it to Emerson. It's certainly serious." Zayne can feel Emerson's psychic fingerprint, black pinstriped clarity, staining the paper in Tai's hand. Most people don't leave such a large fingerprint behind, but Zayne can sense anything that Emerson's touched from miles away. It makes the hair all over his body stand up on high alert.

"Emerson himself handled it, not his secretary", Zayne tells Sabrina. He can feel her straighten. Then her anger bursts, burning his ears severely. He cries out and claps his hands to the sides of his head, but of course, there's nothing there.

Sabrina doesn't show that she is angry. Kevin gives Zayne a weird look, and Zayne glares at Sabrina. "Calm down, you're hurting me!"

"Your brain is so sensitive", mutters Sabrina. Her anger carries the image of Tobio with it, mad that he's gone and left them when it's time for them to go and leave. "He better be back before Eppaulus 13 or we're leaving without him."

"Who better be back?" Cythia asks, but Sabrina leaves. Zayne casts a worried glance after her. She's breaking, and it sends panic shooting like liquid nails through his veins.

"Zayne?" Cythia taps his arm, bringing him back. Her consciousness hits at his mind, freshly-opened pretzels.

He answers her question and then stands up. He needs coffee.

Two nights later, on September 19th - well, Eppaulus 12, Kyouya reminds himself - he is startled by Zayne coming in. Zayne hands him a folded note.

"Tobio sent this. Don't worry, I didn't read it, but he has a very unique psychic fingerprint. Like a stone goat."

Kyouya doesn't understand Zayne. He opens the note. Meet me outside, it says.

He stands, and Zayne tells him, "If you find Tobio, tell him we need him to come back. We can't leave without him."

True to his word, Tobio stands half-hidden at the edge of the field in the dusk, and Kyouya makes his way over. "Where have you been? First Luis and then you", he grumbles. "Do you get how mad Sabrina is?"

"I got the idea she wouldn't be pleased. But I need to talk to you", he says.

"So talk. But walk with me while you do. It's chilly out here."

"No", Tobio says, taking him by surprise. "You see, that's the thing. I'm not going back."

"You're...what?" Kyouya fumbles for a second, thrown off guard by this answer.

"I don't want to leave. I just got here. This is a place with some semblance of normalcy."

"Why? What's here for you to want so badly?"

"No aliens, for one thing", Tobio says, crossing his arms and leaning against a tree. "People. A city. Sunlight. Familiarity."

"You're a blader. Your beyblade won't work here. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I'll find a job. But I'm stopping this before it gets too far. Alien hunting and dimensional travel...that's not the world I came from."

Kyouya laughs harshly. "I don't think you understand, Capri. We're wanted by the interdimensional alliance. They basically called us to court. They'll hunt you down, I'm sure of it."

"Tategami, you know me, and you know I don't just get hunted down that easily." Tobio shakes his head. "You should stay here too. We're good; they'll never find us. Justice? Galaxies? That's not the world I need! I need a place where I know the physics and the language, not some space station! I know where you're going. I followed Sabrina to the Embassy. And I can't go...there."

"Why not?" he persists. "Once this whole mess is cleaned up, you'll be brought back, if you want. It'll be a lot less trouble for you."

Tobio shakes his head again. "Sorry. It freaks me out." He turns away. "I've said my part. I don't see how I've got any more explaining to do, so come with me or don't come after me, Tategami. Either way, I'm not staying here."

"SOS will come after you. You know that", Kyouya calls. "Once they find out what you're doing, they'll never let you leave."

Tobio throws a smirk over his shoulder. "I don't think they'll find out. I know you, and you won't tell."

Kyouya knows he's right. He tries one more time. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into!"

"I think that's you", Tobio says. And then he turns to face Kyouya, five yards away. "So long, Tategami."

"So long, Capri."

Kyouya watches until Tobio disappears behind the trees. "Good luck", he whispers.