Whoever heard about meeting up at nine in the morning on a weekend? Well, jokes on me since I was actually following Ace's dumb instructions and was pedaling like a madwoman just trying to get to the station in time.

I carelessly discarded my bicycle somewhere near the bank and ran to the turnstiles at the North Entrance. It was still five minutes to nine, according to my watch, but, apparently, everyone had arrived already before me.

Ace turned to look at me and pointed at me. "You're late! Penalty!"

"It's not even nine yet!" I protested breathily.

"The last person to come is late," he sneered, "and latecomers have to be punished! That is the rule."

My brow twitched. "And why have I just heard of this rule now?"

"Oh, that. I just made it up now!" Ace grinned contemptuously at me. "So, your penalty! You're going to have to treat all of us to drinks!"

Portgas, you lowest of the low! Are you seriously making a girl pay for your little outing?

Despite his harsh words, Ace was visibly excited about the SOS Brigade's first out-of-school gathering. He was dressed in a loose white shirt and brown jacket with jeans, and he looked like a typical trendy teenager out for a good time. I pitied any girl who tried to flirt with him today based on that deceptive appearance.

While Chopper and Law managed to wear anything casual and nice, Basil… Heck, why was he donning his school uniform?

I sighed and dragged my feet after the group. And then that was when I noticed that I was the only girl amid a cluster of four boys. I could envision a fourteen-year-old Kuina being thrilled to be in such position (Kuina grew out of her hormonal stage by the next year), but, to be honest, I rather go hang out with the computer club geeks.

While I enjoyed being with Chopper, despite him looking cuter than the average girl, the others really got under my skin in all sorts of ways. Ace was pretty self-explanatory. Basil, on the other hand, was a silent trekker, spouting things what he deemed as important, but I guess he was alright. Law really creeped me out. He really got down the whole mysterious transfer student image since I can't figure him out; he seemed to hide himself being a laidback smile of a mask.

You'd think that the guys would be gentlemanlike and offer to pay for me, but none of them spoke! Well, except for Chopper, but he said it with nervous reluctance, probably fearing that Ace would snap at him for helping me out. In the end, Ace did snap at him, and then made him choose a parfait.

By the time we took over one table in a little café, I found my wallet dismally empty afterwards.

"We are to split into two parties. If any of us find anything mysterious, we're to contact each other by phone and meet up to discuss what to do next. Once it's all over, a debriefing would be held to review and prepare for future developments," explained our chief.

Ace then grabbed five toothpicks from the toothpick stand, and marked two of them using a pen he'd borrowed from the waiter. He wrapped his hand around them, concealing the marked or unmarked ends, and thrust his fist out at us to draw.

Inwardly, I prayed fervently that I wouldn't end up with Ace. You know how terrible that'd be if that were to happen? It would be very, very terrible.

So, when it was my turn to draw a toothpick, I braced myself and pulled one out of Ace's grip. It was marked.

And so was Chopper's.

Before I could break into a mental cheer, Ace's eyes were filled with cold fire. "Chopper!" he snapped. "You better take this seriously, you understand?"

Chopper's eyes widened. "Y-yes!"

Then Ace leveled his frightening glare onto me. "The same goes for you, Kyonko."

I felt my back stiffened. "Right…"

Man, what's up with Ace now?

"What exactly are we looking for?" Law inquired, his hand supporting his rested cheek.

Ace looked pleased that someone had asked that question. "Anything that looks suspicious! Anybody or anything that looks unusual! Look for portals that seem like they lead into different dimensions, or people who look like aliens disguised as humans!"

I nearly swallowed the gum that I was chewing, startled by his sudden outburst that practically caused my left ear to go deaf. Strangely, Chopper looked as though he inhaled a bug. Basil was impassive as always.

"I see, I see..," Law said slowly.

What do you see?

"So then, all we have to do is look for aliens, time-travelers, and espers, and any traces they may have left behind on Earth. I understand entirely," Law continued, now sounding vaguely amused.

"Exactly! Law has it exactly correct! Everyone should learn from him!" Ace declared, smiling widely.

Oh great, now we have a suck-up. Thanks so much, Law.

Our chief leapt to his feet and fisted the air. "Alrighty then! Let's roll out!"

XOXOXO

Ace unnecessarily threatened Chopper in graphic detail about what would happen if the search for extra-terrestrial life somehow turned into anything approaching romantic. He needn't have bothered going that far; Chopper was shaking in fear after the first few sentences.

Ace headed off east with Basil and Law, throwing a few suspicious glances back at us as they departed. Chopper and I were supposed to go west. Despite Ace's instructions, I still wasn't sure what to look for. Jeez, as if this wasn't complicated enough…

I turned to Chopper and smiled. "What should we do?"

Chopper looked at me nervously. Great, now he's scared of me. Thank you for making my job easier, Portgas.

I considered going home, ditching this stupid outing, but Ace made it clear that we had to come back to have lunch—no doubt that he'll find some reason for me to take another penalty.

I pretended to be contemplating on what we should do before telling him, "It's pointless to stand around here doing nothing, so let's just take a bit of a walk."

"Okay," Chopper agreed, and he then smiled.

I tried to imagine what we must look like to those who passed by as we strolled down a path by the riverbank. Chopper wasn't really that tall, so we probably matched each other well. Then again, maybe people would think that I was his older sister due to his youthful appearance. Well, if I were to have Chopper as my little brother, I wouldn't complain; he was probably a lot less annoying than my actual little brother.

If we had come down here about a month ago, we would have been able to see the cherry blossoms blooming, but, alas, it was now just a plain riverside walk. Still, it was a popular spot for couples and families, so the place was a little crowded. But Chopper and I were probably the only people out here on this nice spring day, just looking for aliens by the river.

"Oh, there's an ice cream stand over there!" Chopper suddenly remarked. When he turned to me, his bright smile vanished to a sheepish blush. "W-would you like some?"

I couldn't help but smile. "Sure!"

Chopper was so kind as to buy one for me too. We took our cones and went to a bench, trying to lick away the frozen treat before it melted under the sunny weather. Chopper looked as though he was in pure bliss as he lapped his ice cream. "Mmmm!"

I guess he really liked sweets.

"Chopper-kun...there's a bit of ice-cream on your nose."

"Oh!" He wiped it off, blushing. Aw, he was so cute! Like a little kid!

When we finished taking our break, we continued walking around. We exchanged bits of small talk along the way, relaxing into the calm atmosphere and the absence of Ace in general.

"You know, it's kind of funny how we're searching for things like aliens and the like," I mentioned absently.

"Hmm? Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really. It's just that Basil-sempai told me something weird a couple days ago. He said he was an alien. So it'd be kinda funny if—"

Chopper stopped short.

"…It...was...true?" I trailed off, finishing my sentence, though I grew uncertain. "Uh, Chopper-kun?"

He gulped a few times, and stared at me in total shock. Uh oh.

"Kyonko-san…" he said softly, just staring at me for a second. Then something like determination flashed in his eyes. Bracing himself, he looked directly into my eyes and said, "I th-think I have something to t-tell you."

He led me to a bench by the sakura trees and we sat down, but, for a long time, Chopper didn't speak. He still looked like he was composing himself for something momentous. I could just make out his voice, muttering to himself, "Where s-should I begin? I'm no good at explaining things... M-maybe she just w-won't believe me..."

Finally he lifted his head and began to talk in a slightly uncomfortable tone.

"I'm... not from this time, not from this age," he said, not quite looking directly at me. "I'm a time-traveler. From the future. I'm—I'm forbidden to tell you when I came from or from which temporal plane. I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted to, anyway. Before coming to this time, I had to undergo mental conditioning if I were to ever reveal something forbidden."

When I didn't speak, he continued. "People assume that time is a strict progression from cause to effect, but, actually, from a nonlinear and non-subjective viewpoint, each time frame is made up of different flat planes."

"You…lost me at 'strict progression'," I said.

"Hmm." He lost his nervousness and looked thoughtful at my question. "How about this? Imagine it like a cartoon. When watching a cartoon, you see the characters within move seamlessly, but you know that it's just an illusion created by a series of still images. So time is a bit like that—a digitalized version. If I were to use a series of still images lie that as a description, perhaps it'll help you to understand better.

"So, between every single time frame and another, there are these things called temporal fault lines. They exist, but the frequency of these fault lines is near zero, so there's no continuity between different time frames. Time traveling is the attempt to make a three-dimensional movement between the two-dimensional temporal planes. So for me, because I've arrived from the future into this temporal plane, it's like adding an extra object onto the still images of an animation.

"Even if I were to attempt to change the future, nothing would happen in the future that I came from, because of the lack of continuity between time planes. Everything would only change in this temporal frame. So it's like trying to add a few words onto a still image from the hundreds of still images needed for an animation—the overall story doesn't change.

"Time is unlike this river here; it's not analogue, linear progressive events; it's a series of digitalized temporal planes. Do you follow me?"

I hesitated on whether to clamp one hand to my forehead; eventually, I did. Temporal planes? Digitalization? I had no idea what temporal planes meant, and I couldn't figure out how digitalization could fit in all this…oh wait, he was using it as an example… But…But...a time-traveler?

Chopper glanced down at his shoes, took another breath, and continued. "Let me explain why I've come to this temporal plane..."

A couple with a young child passed us as Chopper began to explain. "Five years ago, we detected the occurrence of a huge time quake. It was…coincidentally five years ago from today. But when we attempted to travel back to investigate, we ran into something—a source wall. We were unable to travel back any further than five years ago."

Five years… Why does that sound familiar?

"We came to the conclusion that a massive temporal fault-line had been created, but we had no idea why it only appeared at that specific time-frame. It's only recently that we discovered the reason... recently relative to me, I mean."

"What caused this time quake?" I inquired, feeling dreaded anticipation clutching me.

"We hypothesized that...that it was Portgas D. Ace."

Ugh. Those weren't the words I wanted to hear, but it was to be expected nonetheless.

"He's located right at the nexus of the time quake. Please don't ask why; the knowledge is forbidden. But we're certain that it is Portgas D. Ace who has blocked access to the past from that point onwards."

"I…I don't think that Portgas is...is capable of doing that," I mumbled.

"Neither did I," he said, not meeting my gaze. "Honestly, it's supposed to be impossible for a normal human to interfere with the temporal planes. It's still an unsolved mystery, and Portgas-kun himself seems unaware that he is the source of temporal distortions and the time quake...

"I've been sent here to Portgas-kun's side so I can better observe the changes to the temporal planes in his presence. Um...I think the best word for it that you currently have is 'surveillance'. Um, yes...I'm on surveillance duty. It's also why I'm prohibited from involving myself with anyone. It's too risky."

"..." I was too speechless to respond.

Chopper fidgeted. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, no I don't," I said, placing my hand on my head again. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because you have been chosen by Portgas-kun."

Basil said the same thing before…

"I can't go into the details, but, if I've guessed correctly, you're a very important person to him. There's a reason behind everything that he does."

Yeah, his so-called master plan or whatever...

"Then Basil-sempai and Law-sempai are...?" I prompted.

"They have similar goals that I have, but Portgas-kun is still unaware that he is the one who has gathered us to his side."

"Then do you know what they are?"

"Classified information."

"What would happen if we just leave Portgas alone?"

"Classified information."

"Since you're from the future, you should know what would happen next, right?"

"Classified information."

"What if I told him all about this?"

"Classified information."

He paused.

"I'm sorry, I really can't tell you. Especially right now, when I don't have the authority to do so." He gave me an apologetic smile. "It doesn't matter even if you don't believe me; I'd just like to let you know about this."

I remembered hearing almost the same things being said inside a certain dull, quiet apartment.

"I'm sorry."

I remained silent.

Okay, what the heck? First there's Basil who just told me that he was from a parallel universe, basically an alien, and now Chopper's spouting nonsense about him being a time-traveling observer? Just what was going on here? They were here for Ace, but why? Why was he so…special? How?

And there was that thing about me being Ace's chosen one or something…

I felt a headache coming up, so I sat there, waiting for it to subside.

For what seemed like forever, with the two of use simply staring at the river in silence, I chose to speak up. "Chopper-kun?"

"Y-Yeah...?"

"Can I just pretend this conversation never happened?" I said, leaning back and sighing. "Whether I believe you or not, let's just put this aside for now, okay?"

His face lightened up instantly. "Okay!" he chirped, looking rather relieved. "I suppose that this is the best solution, the way things are going at the moment. Please, just treat me as you've always done, Kyonko-san." With that said, he bowed.

I felt my face redden by the show of manners. You barely see any boy being this cute nowadays. "Hey, um, can I ask you a question?" I asked, trying to get him to lift his head.

And it worked! His head bobbed right back up as he looked at me in a childish puzzled fashion. "What is it?"

"I know you're not allowed to be involved with anyone, but…do you have anyone you like?"

"Classified information!" Chopper smiled at me again, and winked.

...

He's so adorable!

XOXOXO

So after that, we took a simple stroll around the streets. Despite Ace's threats and warnings about not going on a date, I figured that simply walking around with Chopper probably wouldn't incur his wrath. We went window shopping at the fashion stores in the mall, took a peek at the souvenir stalls by the street side...you know, just random stuff to kill time.

Eventually, my cell phone rang. It was Ace.

"Hey, Kyonko! We're meeting at noon, at the same place where we met this morning, remember! Don't be late!"

He hung up before I had a chance to reply. I glanced at my watch—it was already eleven fifty. Dang it, there's no way we were going to make it!

"Was that Portgas-kun? What did he say?" Chopper asked, looking worried.

"We've got to hurry—by noon, we have to meet up the café, but we got only less than ten minutes!"

Without thinking, I grabbed for Chopper's hand and ran to the direction of where the SOS Brigade had split. I knew there was no chance to get their by noon unless we ran, so we took off, sprinting as hard as we could. What reaction would Ace have if he saw us running up hand-in-hand? He'd probably dress Chopper in something more horrendous than that Sailor Moon costume he made him wear the other day.

Better not let that happen!

"Results?" Ace demanded, as we arrived, panting. We were two minutes late, and that was the first thing Haruki said when he saw us. He seemed rather pissed off.

"You didn't find anything?"

"Nope," I answered, trying to breathe easier.

"You probably didn't even look, did you?" he said, getting worked up. "I bet you just walked around aimlessly. What did I tell you, Chopper?"

Chopper trembled with utter terror in response.

"Well, did you guys find anything?" I shot back.

Upon hearing me, Ace fell silent. After a few moments of no one saying anything, Ace growled, "Let's just have lunch first then. We'll continue after that."

What? He still wanted to continue?

XOXOXO

We had our lunch in a burger shop. Ace ordered the biggest burger they had for sale, and devoured it and the fries that came with it in about thirty seconds flat. I guess a big guy needs all those calories to fuel his system. He's so fast in every respect...

He said it was time to draw lots again, and drew out some extra toothpicks he'd stolen from the café earlier this morning. He was well-prepared for stuff that he liked, I guess.

"Didn't I tell you? All part of the plan."

Law plucked a toothpick. "Unmarked again," he said. He wasn't smiling this time—he looked kind of bored…

Chopper took his turn. "Mine is too." He looked at me. "How about you?"

I showed him the one that I had drawn. "Mine's marked," I said, leaning back.

Ace scowled at me for no particular reason and rushed Basil into drawing a toothpick. I didn't think it was possible for him to be in a fouler mood than he already was, but...

Please, Basil, for in the name of all things good, pick a marked one! Please be a marked one, please be a marked one, please be a marked one!

In the end, my wish was granted. Basil drew the marked toothpick and so was grouped with me. Ace glared at the unmarked toothpick as if staring at his mother's murderer, then turned towards me and Basil (who was rapidly, but neatly, devouring his cheeseburger) and scowled.

What's with him being so angry today?

"We'll meet in front of the station by four. Find something by then, or else!" After that fierce statement, he grabbed my soda, drained it one gulp, and stalked angrily out of the restaurant.

Ugh! And just when I was about to wash down my chewed burger!

XOXOXO

This time we went south and north, with Basil and I charged with the duty of investigating the south side. Before we parted, Chopper waved me goodbye, telling me good luck. I smiled and wished him good luck as well, and inwardly hoped that Ace would stop forcing him to dress up in ridiculous outfits.

So it was just Basil and me standing idly in front of the busy station…

"What do you want to do?" I asked, looking up at him.

Basil said nothing.

"...Let's go." I strode forward and found him to follow after. I think I'm starting to get the hand of being used to him. Since we were alone, I decided to bring something up. "Sempai, about the stuff you told me the other day..."

"Yes?"

"I'm starting to believe it a little."

"Is that true...?"

"Yeah."

"..."

So under this empty atmosphere, we silently walked around the station. I tried to make small talk with Basil, but…

"Don't you have any casual clothing?"

"..."

"Well, what do you do on holidays?"

"..."

"Are you happy now?"

"..."

And that's how our conversation went for that day.

There wasn't much point just walking around aimlessly, so I suggested that we go to the new library by the seaside that had been built around the same time the council developed the land for the station. I'd never been inside before, really, because I rarely borrowed any books. I just thought maybe I could get some rest. But when we got inside, I discovered that every single seat was occupied. I guess these people don't have anywhere else to go in their free time, huh?

I glanced around the library, looking a bit lost, while Basil had already drifted towards the bookshelves as though in a trance. I guess this must be his personal nirvana.

I used to read often. When I was back in elementary school, my dad used to borrow illustrated books from the children's section for me to read. There were all sorts of books, but I did remember that the ones that I'd read were all quite interesting. But I couldn't remember the names of any of those books anymore. When was it that I stopped reading?

When did reading become boring for me?

I randomly picked up a book from the shelf and flipped through a few pages, before putting it back and picking up another book. It would take me forever to find an interesting book in this ocean of literature if I didn't do any research first. With those kinds of thoughts hanging over my head, I wandered between the bookshelves.

As I headed to look for Basil, I found him sitting cross-legged in front of a shelf full of thick hardcover books, reading one large tome particularly intently.

Eventually, a woman stood up and wandered off elsewhere. I went and sat down on her chair, carrying a novel that I had randomly picked. But it was impossible to continue reading a book that I had never intended on reading in the first place, so I found myself getting drowsy...and eventually falling asleep.

At that moment, my pocket suddenly vibrated.

"WHA-?"

I jumped in astonishment. When I saw everyone frowning at me, I remembered that I was in a library, and immediately rushed out of the library to answer my cell-phone, which had been set to silent mode.

"Idiot! What the hell have you been doing?" A deafening sound roared through my ear. Ace's dulcet tones helped me jump straight out of my drowsiness and back to reality. "Exactly what time do you think it is now?"

"Sorry, I just woke up just now!" I babbled, glancing at my watch. Great, we were at least a quarter of an hour late already!

"What? Dumbass!"

You are the least qualified person to call me a dumbass!

"Get your ass over here at once! I'm giving you thirty seconds!"

Stop making demands that are impossible to achieve, Portgas!

After he roughly hung up, I shoved my phone back in my pocket and rushed back inside the library. Basil was still there, reading what looked like a huge encyclopedia—possibly a long range variety about tarot cards or the like.

The following was a little tricky. It took quite some time trying to move Basil—who seemed almost rooted to the spot—and then we had to go to the counter to fill out a form to borrow the book. And the entire time, my pocket incessantly vibrated—Ace wouldn't stop calling me.

When we returned to the station, Basil holding the thick book in his arms like it was his first-born child, the three people waiting there all had completely different reactions. Chopper offered us an exhausted smile, coupled with a sigh of relief, Law simply shrugged her shoulders, and Ace (predictably) yelled at me as though I was on the other side of a mountain.

"Late again!" he snapped. "Penalty!"

Oh, give me a break!

XOXOXO

"What a day," Chopper sighed before we parted. "Portgas-kun was walking so fast that it was hard keeping up with him! Anyway, thank you, Kyonko-san, for listening to me today." He smiled shyly. "I had a fun time being with you."

Were people from the future stunningly cute as Chopper? Seriously!

"See you later then!" Chopper said, waving goodbye. As I watched him leave, Law tapped me on the shoulder and bid me a farewell also, but Basil seemed to have vanished on the spot. I guess the guy couldn't wait to get home to read his new book.

Now that left Ace, who was glowering angrily at me.

"What exactly have you been doing all day today?" he demanded.

"You could ask yourself the same question," I muttered.

"What kind of answer is that?"

From my prior experience being with Ace, I've learned that he was just a bundle of unpredictable emotions, and yet he could be manipulated. Wow, that wasn't a nice thing to say, but it was true. If you were to toss in careless words, Ace will no doubt get irritable, but if you made sure to say things that will be pleasing to his ears, then he would be in a tolerable mood. I had a suspicion that Law discovered this not so long ago.

Ace was already put off with me, so I decided to steer clear of the storm cloud by saying something that would distract him. I wasn't in the mood of putting up with him right now. "There's no way that anything paranormal could be discovered already. We just got to be patient and I'm sure that they'll come eventually."

He looked surprised, as if he hadn't been expecting me to say such a thing. Then he looked away and huffed. "I knew that. I just wanted the SOS Brigade to become accustomed to searching for something that could be blended within the community."

Or something that would be right next to you the whole time. Heck, I'm sure that Law was probably an alien like Basil.

"Yeah, sure," I exhaled, feeling exhausted.

"Hmmph." Without saying a single goodbye, Ace turned around and marched away.

It didn't matter to me. My mind was focused entirely on going home. But when I got back to the bank, I found my bike missing. Replacing it was a small poster on the lamppost which stated that "Your bicycle has been towed away as a result of illegal parking."

…Why me?