"Y'know," Makoto started, looking over at the lavender haired detective as she scribbled down an update into her notebook. "You never told me your name yet."

"I haven't?" Kyoko mused, glancing at him for a moment out of the corner of her eye.

"No, you haven't…," he repeated, tilting his head in a curious gesture. Kyoko didn't notice, still busy writing down the recent events in what Makoto assumed was a logbook. "Very well, then. I suppose I owe you that courtesy after all. My name is Kyoko Kirigiri."

"Kyoko… I like that name, it's nice," Makoto said with a smile. Kyoko looked over this time, her brow raised. After a few seconds, she turned back to her notebook, not making another comment. Makoto bit his lip, wondering if he had perhaps said something wrong. "Are you okay?" he asked her. Kyoko merely let out a quiet hum, nodding her head once, still absorbed in her work. The boy stared for a few moments more, before deciding it was best not to bother her while she was busy.

He stood up from his seat, wobbling slightly as he tried to walk despite the numbness in his leg. It had helped soothe the pain while he had waited for the spell to take it's full effect—Touko had explained to him that she liked slower healing spells so the pain of rapid recovery didn't do more harm than good to the subject—but even as it began to subside, he still found it hard to balance as he walked. Taking a couple shaky steps, Makoto attempted to make his way over to a new group of people—however it felt like his leg just wouldn't cooperate. He quickly decided, however, that this was a bad idea, as his hand frantically reached out the grasp the table edge, to prevent himself from collapsing. He took a few deep breaths, contemplating just sitting down and waiting it out, when he heard someone call his name.

"Hey… Makoto, was it? You really shouldn't be walking so soon," Hotaru said, glancing up at him, briefly distracted from her card game with Celeste. "If your leg is still numb, the healing spell isn't complete yet. You'd likely just hurt yourself even more by walking around."

"Right… sorry, I'm still new to this magic stuff, I don't really know how it works," Makoto admitted. Celeste just hummed softly, then looked at him as well. "Well, you'll learn as you go, won't you?"

"I guess so," the boy nodded, as Hotaru pulled out a chair for him, before promptly turning back to her game. "Thanks," he said, sitting down, and he couldn't deny feeling much better after taking the pressure off his left leg. Hotaru said nothing in response, just giving him a brief nod—and Makoto couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he was just bothering everyone.

"It's your turn," Celeste said to Hotaru, breaking the silence for a moment. "Remember, five cards, two from your hole cards, and three from your common cards."

"Right, um…," Hotaru mused, a nervous giggle escaping her lips. "Well… which is which, again?"

Celeste sighed, gently tapping her finger down on the table. "Hole cards, common cards. Now just play your turn." Makoto watched as Hotaru sighed, looking at the cards she chose, and placing a rather weak hand of cards onto the table. "I don't get this game at all," the blue haired girl admitted.

"It's fine. I suppose you'll get better with practice," Celeste said, idly toying with a piece of her hair as she placed her cards on the table—and while Makoto didn't understand this game much either, he knew that her hand was just about the best you could get in any poker game.

As Celeste began to straighten the cards back into a neat pile, Makoto spoke up, hoping to start a conversation. "Um… so, do you mind if I ask for your names? I don't know anyone here besides Touko and Kyoko…"

Both girls looked at him as he spoke, and Hotaru was the first to respond. "Hotaru Miyoshi," she said simply, "nice to meet you."

"You too," Makoto replied, turning to Celeste. The gambler smiled sweetly—but Makoto just felt that the smile was almost unnerving. "My name is Celestia Ludenberg, but most just call me Celeste. It's a pleasure to meet you, Makoto."

Makoto smiled in response. "Same to you," he said, reaching out a hand for a handshake. Celeste returned the gesture after a moment of hesitation, and Makoto felt that her grip was rather light, almost fragile in a way.

"So, I take it you two are friends?" Makoto asked as he pulled his hand back, placing it in his lap. Hotaru's face fell for a moment, and she tilted her head down, her bangs obscuring her eyes for a moment. Celeste merely smiled again, resting her chin on the backs of her interlocked hands. "I suppose you could say that… her company isn't as bad as the others, so I don't mind her as much."

Makoto noticed how Hotaru bit her lip, like she wanted to say something, but just as quickly as she had done it, she looked up with an unsure smile. "Yeah, Celeste is just about the only person here I get along with… I wouldn't say we're friends, though."

Despite how Hotaru's response seemed like a feeble lie, Makoto decided it wasn't any of his business to pry, and just left it at that. As he opened his mouth to speak again, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye from Hotaru's lap, and looked down. A small, hand-sewn doll lay in her lap, tugging on the sleeve of Hotaru's dress, as it swung its little cloth legs almost cheerfully. Makoto just stared at the living doll, wondering if perhaps he had hit his head too hard on the landing as well as his leg.

"Don't give her that face," Hotaru scolded, scooping up Molly into the palm of her hand. "She's enchanted, it isn't all that uncommon…"

"Enchanted?" Makoto mused, looking up at the brown-eyed girl. "Yeah," Hotaru replied, glancing away, as if nervous about the subject. "I'm an Enchantress, so it only makes sense that I've enchanted my projects."

"Projects? So, you made it?"

"Her," Hotaru corrected, placing her free hand in front of Molly to keep the doll from falling, as if she was shielding it. Celeste sighed, then explained it instead of Hotaru, who seemed completely reluctant to discuss it. "Hotaru's a seamstress, so with every doll she sews, she can enchant them to life."

"Really? That's so cool," Makoto said, his eyes sparkling with excitement—despite having heard of them before, he had never actually met an Enchantress before now. The thought of encountering someone like that seemed unreal—he couldn't help his excitement.

"I guess so…," Hotaru sighed, gently combing her fingers through the doll's yarn hair. Makoto smiled softly, looking at the doll, who seemed to lean into Hotaru's hand. "… You really like her, huh?" Hotaru just nodded. "Sorry if it seems strange about how I attach to Molly… but I was six when I made her, and she was the first. I guess she really means a lot to me by now…"

"It's understandable," Makoto said quickly, not wanting to risk offending her—she seemed so protective over the doll, Makoto had to wonder if she would ever even trust someone else hold Molly. Hotaru nodded, then set Molly back down in her lap, looking at Makoto. "How's your leg?"

He had to think about it for a moment, because ever since it had become numb, he had almost stopped thinking about it. But the feeling was coming back to him, and he was happy to admit that the pain wasn't returning. "Better. I can feel my leg again, which is good, right…?"

"Yes," Celeste replied, "I would say that means the healing spell is almost complete. You're free to walk around again if you wish."

Makoto wanted to say that he didn't mind staying with them, but something in Celeste's tone sounded commanding, as if she was sending him away. So instead, he merely nodded, and stood up, pushing his chair in as he did. As he walked away, he heard Celeste murmur something he couldn't quite make out, but when he turned to look, she had merely mumbled a spell that had the deck of cards shuffling themselves.

So she could use spells—Makoto smiled, it was still so amazing to him.

He paced around a bit, trying to get used to walking around again after being practically immobile for a while, and looked around the place. It was quite a small room—Makoto had noticed when they approached from outside that the building had multiple stories. He could only guess from outside that there were three of four levels, and he wondered what some of the upper floors were. Other than that, a few tables and chairs were spread out, and there was a single shelf with books on it—though very few Makoto recognized the titles of.

He walked up to the bookshelf, gently running his fingers along the spines, his eyes ghosting over the titles. It had been so long since he had seen so many books in one place—and in good enough condition to read, too. A smile crept onto Makoto's lips—it felt… surreal. And he never would have thought that to be a possible feeling for books of all things.

"If you're wondering, Makoto, that's one of Touko's best novels!"

Makoto blinked, looking over at the table where most of the rebellion members sat, as Yasuhiro just gave him a small smile. "I haven't read it, I'm not one for romance novels, really," he admitted, "but I heard it's good!"

"O-of c-c-course you're n-not one for r-romance novels, i-i-it probably r-reminds you o-of what you'll n-n-never a-achieve in life!"

"... Ouch."

"Touko!" Aoi squeaked, her tone somewhat scolding.

Makoto let out a sheepish chuckle, finally realizing his fingers had stopped on one of the books. So Lingers the Ocean—he had heard of it before, hadn't this been the novel that helped out fishermen with romance? He wasn't really sure, he hadn't exactly read it either.

"W-what!? I-i-it's o-obviously t-true!"

"Even so, that doesn't give you a right to be so mean about it!"

"What? H-Hina! You too?" Yasuhiro asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. She offered him a guilty smile, to which Yasuhiro just slumped forward onto the table in defeat. Makoto let out a quiet sigh, deciding to step in before any potential fight happened.

"Hey… I don't think I've learned your names yet, guys… mind Touko, that is."

"W-well sorry y-you h-h-had to learn t-the name of t-trash l-l-like me, f-first!"

"What? No! I didn't mean it like that," Makoto said desperately. "I just wanted to learn everybody here, that's all. I already got the honor of meeting you when you helped me… thanks again, by the way."

Touko just squeaked, her eyes widening. "H-honor!?"

Makoto merely smiled in response, nodding his head. With an embarrassed huff, Touko went back to writing in her spell book, not sparing him another glance—but Makoto could see the small tint of pink on her cheeks, and he assumed his compliment had actually been received well.

"Well… I guess I'll start, then?" Yasuhiro asked. "The name's Yasuhiro Hagakure! Good to meet you, dude! If you ever need potions or a psychic reading, I'm your man!"

The brunette boy smiled unsurely, offering a brief wave to the older male. He wasn't sure if Yasuhiro was merely excited, or just always this eccentric. "Good to meet you, too…"

The swimmer spoke up next, extending a hand, seeming almost cheerful. "It's nice to meet you, Makoto! My name's Aoi Asahina, but my friends call me Hina sometimes. You can too, if you want, 'cause I'm sure we'll be good friends," she said happily. Makoto shook her hand with a small laugh, "Nice to meet you too, Hina."

She pulled her hand back with a smile, continuing her introduction. "I'm one of the elementals here, with control over water, so… yeah. I think that's about it for my introduction, right?"

She nodded, as if confirming it for herself, before glancing over at Byakuya. "Do you want to introduce yourself next?"

"No. I have absolutely no reason or want to associate with such a boring individual."

Makoto winced—how harsh could this person be? Makoto was pretty sure he hadn't done anything to get on anyone's bad side yet, so perhaps the blonde boy was always like this? He wasn't sure, really.

"Oh come on, Byakuya! Don't be that way!"

Byakuya made no comment, merely flipped the page of his book, and with a huff Aoi decided to do the introduction herself. "That's Byakuya Togami—he's the heir to the Togami Corporation. He's a bit… well, antisocial."

"A bit of an asshole, if you don't mind me saying," Haku stated coldly, to which Byakuya sent him an icy glare, but said nothing. Makoto cut in a moment after, not wanting anyone to start arguing. "And you are?"

"Haku Enoki," the ginger haired boy said, toying with a tarnished coin in his hand. Makoto watched, curious, as Haku clenched his fist, then opened it, the coin having disappeared. Noticing that Makoto was watching, he reached behind the boy's ear, pulling the coin back out.

"It's not real magic," he clarified, "I don't have any powers like that. I'm just a magician."

"I see," Makoto mused with a smile, "Even if it isn't real magic, it's still so cool… it must take a lot of practice to learn those tricks and pull them off, right? Maybe even more practice than real magic to make it convincing…"

A tired chuckle escaped Haku's lips. "Y'know, for a moment, you sounded like her…"

Makoto tilted his head. "… Her?"

"Tomoyo," he said, but then shook his head. "She's my girlfriend… but I haven't seen her in a while."

By the pained look in Haku's eyes, Makoto assumed that Tomoyo was a sensitive subject for him—so despite his curiosity, he decided to change the subject. "Well… it's nice to meet all of you guys."

"Same to you," Yasuhiro said with a grin, folding his arms as he spoke.

Makoto glanced around for a moment, then asked, "How long have you guys been a part of this rebellion?"

"Well, a few of us started in the very beginning, right around when the Tragedy was starting to get really bad," Aoi explained, "and then some more people joined in as time went by. I think out most recent members are Mitsuki and Aiko, they joined about a year ago…"

"Which ones are they?"

Haku cleared his throat for a moment, then called out to the girls at the table behind him. "Oi! Mitsuki! The new kid wants to meet you and Aiko!"

The burgundy haired girl looked over, then waved at Makoto with a gentle smile. Aiko on the other hand just rolled her eyes, "If he wants to meet us, he can come over here…"

Makoto couldn't help but smile sheepishly, as he stood up from the table. "I'll… be right back."

He walked over to the other table, as Mitsuki murmured something—what Makoto could only assume was a spell—and the chair on the other side of the table moved out for him to sit on.

"Thanks," he said, taking a seat next to the small programmer. "So… you two are the newest members here?"

"Well, yeah," Mitsuki admitted. "Aiko and I are the rookies, as they call us."

Makoto nodded, then glanced over to the small girl by his side. "And you are?"

"U-um…! I-I'm Chihiro Fujisaki… n-nice to meet you…," she squeaked, looking almost terrified. Makoto just offered her a warm smile, hoping it would calm her down.

"While we're on introductions, I guess I'll say it. My name's Aiko Shiga," the blonde girl greeted, "and this over here is Mitsuki Hino."

"I see… it's nice to meet you three," Makoto said.

"Likewise," Mitsuki replied, fiddling with her camcorder as she spoke. Makoto mused over the names for a moment, then nodded, as if confirming them. "I'll try my best to remember everyone's names. But there are a lot of people here, so… forgive me if I don't get it right at first?"

"No one will fault you," Mitsuki said, a kind smile on her face. "It's understandable." Makoto nodded, murmuring a quiet thanks to the girl. Aiko looked to him, her brow raised slightly. "So… pardon my curiosity, but do you have any magic skills?"

"What? No, I don't really…," Makoto admitted, a bit taken back by the sudden question. "Neither does my sister. Our family is completely average, I guess…"

"Ah, I see," Aiko nodded, before she offered him an unsure smile. "I know how you feel. I don't have any magic, either. That's up to my girlfriend to use magic, instead," she said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at Mitsuki.

Mitsuki just chuckled lightly, "I can read spells, Aiko. Anyone can do that—born with magic or not."

"I couldn't learn it if I tried, Mitsuki," Aiko said with a shrug, "And believe me, I have. It's like a completely different language…"

"T-that's because it is a completely different language," Chihiro added. "It'd be like trying to become bilingual—s-some can do it, some can't…"

"Is it really?" Makoto asked. The three turned to him, confused expressions on their faces. "Yeah," Aiko confirmed, "haven't you learned about spells before?"

"Well… no. I mean, I know that spells aren't like being an Elemental or an Enchanter, so anyone can do it, but… I'm not familiar with magic. Like I said to Touko before, I've heard of it all, but I haven't seen a lot of it, if any. I don't know everything there is to know about this stuff."

"I see," Mitsuki mused, "that's strange… though, if you really don't have any magical skills, that would explain it, I suppose." Makoto just nodded quietly, waiting to speak as she continued. "Well, if you want to learn about spells, I'd recommend talking to Touko about it," Mitsuki suggested, "I mean, I can read the spells and all, but I can't really create them off the top of my head. That's Touko's specialty, because she's fluent in the language. I've asked her to tutor me, but… she really closes up around others, even after all this time with us."

"Really? She didn't seem so bad earlier… well, to others she did, but…"

"Maybe you're just that likable that you're an exception?" Aiko tried, a small grin tugging at her lips. Makoto rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish smile on his face. "I wouldn't say that… maybe she's just slowly learning to open up?"

"M-maybe…," Chihiro murmured.

"So… what about you?" Makoto asked, looking at Chihiro with an interested expression. The programmer squeaked, almost startled, as tears began to build in her eyes. Makoto quickly waved his hands in front of him, trying to calm her. "No, I-I didn't mean to upset you! I was just wondering if you had any magic…"

"O-oh…. I-I see," Chihiro sniffled, drying the moisture that had built up in her eyes. "I'm an Enchanter."

"Really?" Makoto asked, his expression turning into one of curiosity. "What are some of the things you've enchanted?"

"Um… I-I've made people."

Makoto just blinked, staring at her. "… Um, come again?"

"I-I'm sorry, I just…! I mean… I-I've made artificial intelligence, a-and… they've been enchanted into real people. I-I'm sorry…"

"No, that's fine," Makoto said with a smile on his face. "I'm just new to the possibilities of magic, y'know? I didn't know you could enchant a program into living things…"

"That's the thing about enchantments," Mitsuki pointed out, trying to give Makoto a proper explanation. "It's to enchant something to life. Everyone had different degrees and capabilities of how the enchanting works. For some, it's giving inanimate objects sentience so they can move and think for themselves. For Chihiro, it's giving intangible things a physical existence in the world."

"I see… that's amazing," Makoto said, his eyes twinkling in wonder, "how long did it take you to learn how to do that?"

"I-I had to learn how to make programs first… so, m-maybe a few years after that? The h-hardest part of being a born magic user is t-trying to figure out how you can use your powers…"

"That make sense," the boy said with a nod. "But still… what you can do is really cool."

"… T-thanks," Chihiro said, offering him a timid smile. Makoto smiled back, however he couldn't help from jolting in shock when Mitsuki suddenly called out behind him. "Hey! Leon, knock it off with that, you're going to fall and hurt yourself!"

"I haven't yet, why are you so worried?" Leon called back, folding his arms behind his head as he floated. Makoto blinked, almost amazed by what the redhead was doing. He was floating on the air, hovering far above the floor, just laying down and relaxing—Makoto tried to comprehend how he was accomplishing that.

"Leon, I will not tell you again," Mitsuki said, her tone turning quite stern. "Get down from there this instant." Leon groaned, then floated back down into his seat, mumbling something about being too controlling. The brunette looked back at Mitsuki, who offered a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I just try to take care of everyone… sometimes a bit too much, but I'm just worried."

"She likes to mother everyone," Aiko simplified, earning an indignant squeak from Mitsuki. "I do not mother people, I just… care."

"Yeah, care like a mother," Aiko said with a giggle, but she cut Mitsuki off from any reply by cupping her chin and kissing her. The other girl wasted no time returning the gesture, and Makoto turned away, not wanting to ruin their moment by staring at them. He found himself looking back at Leon, who was rocking on the back legs of the chair now, looking bored. Makoto excused himself, and walked over to the redheaded boy, his expression intrigued.

"How did you do that earlier?" Makoto asked.

"Do what?"

"That… floating thing you did," he clarified.

"Oh, that?" Leon asked with a grin. "I'm an air elemental, it ain't that hard to float. Just gotta manipulate the air to hold my weight or somethin', and there. It happens."

"That's amazing," the brunette mused, although he had to admit the explanation wasn't as clear as he had hoped. Still, as elemental powers were something you had to be born with, Makoto couldn't help but wonder if perhaps some elementals weren't aware of how they did what they did, either.

"I used to use the skills for baseball," Leon continued, "it was funny as hell to make the ball go in random directions and watch all my teammates run and try to grab it at practice. Didn' like usin' it for games though, that was cheap cheating."

"I can understand that. At least you were honest about it."

"Yeah, I guess," Leon agreed with a shrug. "Though if I gotta be honest with you now, being an air elemental is shit… so useless sometimes, y'know?"

"Hey, it's not so bad," Makoto protested. He couldn't understand how someone with such a gift could just think of it as useless—Makoto would have given anything to have to the magic Leon had. But still, he supposed he had no right to judge, but that didn't mean he would let Leon look down on himself. "Maybe it's not as widely used as some of the other forms of magic, but it's still useful. You have a gift, be proud of it."

Leon just chuckled. "Makoto, was it? You're quite the optimistic kid, aren't you?"

"My optimism is my only redeeming trait," Makoto admitted sheepishly, "but it's still something I can do that's good."

"Yeah, don't put yourself down," the redhead sighed, "I'd kill to be able to be cheerful in this situation…"

"Why can't you?"

"Hello…? Have you seen the world, now? What reason could I possibly have to be cheerful?"

Makoto just gave Leon a determined smile. "You just have to search for one. And never let it go. I have my sister and my friends, and the hope that someday things will be back to normal. And I keep fighting for those hopes… and nothing says you can't do the same." Leon stared for a moment, then scoffed, turning away. "It ain't that easy, Makoto."

"Maybe not, but it's worth it in the end…"

"Whatever you say, kid…," Leon mumbled, not saying another word.

Makoto just sighed, looking around the room at everyone. While some had seemed relatively livelier than others, Makoto still couldn't shake the fact that they had just given up. After all this time of trying, they gave up. Sure, it seemed only natural, but giving up was accepting defeat. It was accepting what Junko had created—and accepting it was something Makoto absolutely refused to do. How could they just accept that ending? It wasn't right. Even if they died in their fight, wasn't it better to die trying than die because they gave up on living?

But they didn't see it that way.

Makoto clenched his fists, his eyes gleaming with determination.

They didn't see it that way yet.


I'm so sorry this was late. I was originally planning to write this chapter and post it on Saturday, the day after Christmas, but I didn't get a chance all week to actually sit down and write with all the Christmas mayhem and such. So, I finally got a chance to write this week, and it's posted now. Again, though, I apologize for the wait!

This chapter was admittedly sort of filler. :'D I wanted to get moving with the plot, but I also wanted to explain some things, too... but this is the fourth chapter, so it's time for a little history and character development? I really hope this was good enough for you guys, and that it lived up to what you wanted for the characters. And more history will be explained later, so if something isn't clear with one of the characters or the magic in general, don't worry, that's (most likely) intentional.

And thanks to TriMaplenut, fangirlandotaku, annoyedbunny64, and Cickyellow for the reviews! You guys make my day with them. X3 Thanks so much!

Again, hope you enjoy, review please and let me know what you think, and I hope you all have a lovely day! And happy 2016, guys, hope the year goes great for everyone!