"The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle."
~Anais Nin~


"I'm sorry." Those two words were pulsating in Mimiru's grey matter along with the loud bang of the gunshot. It was soothing to her ears because of the voice and painful because of the shot accompanying it. Darkness would take her soon just as the previous night. White spots were already forming in her current state. She had known something like this might happen again, she came prepared knowing in the end she might be left unconscious, but she also came prepared knowing she would gather something knew. If she let this chance fly away, it could very well mean a dead end in her investigation. Who knew when the next opportunity would arise? No, there was no need to pose that question.

"No … no … move away." With what little strength and coordination she had, Mimiru waved her arms around. The perception of up, down, left and right was a little slow, almost making the girl look drunk or half asleep. Not that those conditions were very much different to what she was feeling now. Somehow she managed to grab Spyro and began pulling him away from her line of vision. Claws had slightly extended by now, leaving marks to be formed on the red head's cheeks – two on her right and one small one on her left. She didn't pay attention to them. Her eyes were almost completely flooded with the color white, saved for the few portions around the edges or close to the middle of the iris. People were moving. What lied beyond that blankness were faint shapes, faint pieces of the scenery like that of a puzzle - the trees, the sky, a black shape, lavender and … blue eyes? Or where they purple? Perhaps they were both …

Mimiru had fallen down the rabbit hole. She had been falling and rolling and sinking deeper for a while now until she felt the soft material around her. She was lying on something soft, sinking into it and tickling her. Her body felt light, but in the sense of actual ease in weight. Whatever was covering her felt nonexistent and her skin shivered in the light breeze blowing wherever this was. It was quite, so quiet. Mimiru fought against the comfort and lazily opened her eyes to be met with an even more bleached out world. The ceiling, the walls, the bed covers and curtains around it, the sofas and chairs, they were all white. Without being aware of it, the wildfire girl had ended up in a strange world.

The ceiling had edges adorned with flowery designs and a small gold and crystal chandelier in the middle. To her right there was a small two person sofa, with silky pillows, next to a pedestral like vase of white roses in the corner of the room. A snowdrop shaped lamp sat on her nightstand. The curtains around the bed seemed to be made out of delicate voile and were fluttering in the wind coming from the balcony door on her left. Strange enough, when trying to look at the windows or better yet through them, Mimiru couldn't see anything. The outside was devoid of any actual object or being. The girl used her hands for support to lift her torso. She felt chillier than she should have. Having looked down at herself by now, the red head's mind processed and came to the realization she was wearing nothing like she recalled.

Instead of her shirt and school jacket, she now had a white top with thin straps holding it in place, reaching about an inch above her belly button. Instead of the school skirt or her boxers, she had a long flowing ankle-length skirt with some lacy underwear from the feel of it. The usual plain hairstyle had a drop of grace to it. To her left, some of the locks were clasped together with a pin concealed by small forget-me-not flowers. They vibed of life in comparison to the room. Mimiru placed her bare feet on the carpet and began walking a bit around the room to check if her eyes were true to her. She took a step towards the bedroom door.

"You have awakened princess." the voice came from the balcony. A teenage boy now stood there, with long black hair tied in a low ponytail. Shorter parts of hair were coming out from the waist-length ponytail and bangs were looking to shadow his eyes. Another drastic color change came with his arrival for his clothes consisted of a royal blue shirt, black jeans and a black trenchcoat. The attire was flapping in the breeze, making the air bend to the obstacle.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your knight of course." The male got closer.

"Knight? That makes no sense whatsoever. You can only be the one that kidnapped me!"

"Every princess needs a knight and to be kidnapped means being taken away by force. You were very quiet though." He was standing right in front of the girl now, looking down on her. The man moved without making any noise. It was as like he wasn't corporal.

"That's because I was unconscious! And I'm not a princess!" Mimiru dared look into his eyes. They were blue, striking toward purple. She had been in this situation before. That's right, just before she had been rendered unconscious.

"I was being allegoric."

"Well don't! For all I know you plan on keeping me here for the rest of my life, trying to get me to go crazy by the lack of a normal life and colors. Or you could be out to rape me."

"This will be all over in about a minute anyway." He reached out his hand towards Mimiru's head. She didn't dare blink in case she would miss anything important, any sign of hostility. She didn't want to miss anything. The man fumbled with the hair pin and brought one of the small forget-me-nots face to face with the girl. "Something to remember me by."

"Oh, usually guys give away roses and with so many lying around… Remember who again?" She took the flower in the palm of her hand and looked at it curiously. The flower itself was beautiful, but so small and fragile. Mimiru was wondering if it was suppose to symbolise something. If so, just what was the message? Clearly it had to have a connection to the man, but it only made her mind loop even more.

"Fine, my name is ______." She saw the lips moving, she heard the most of it except that last crucial part. The sound didn't come out even though the mouth was moving. This girl was never good at lip reading and cursed the fact this very moment. Perhaps she was going deaf? The room was devoid of color and now of sound?

"What!? I didn't hear that!" Her voice became louder. Sure enough, she could still hear herself. The man didn't even open his mouth this time, but she could still hear it clearly ... like that time before the rabbit hole.

"You'll be seeing me again, don't worry. I'm sorry."

"That's why I'm saying … Who are you?!" The room began disolving. First the ceiling crumbled piece by piece, the the walls peeled off like paper being torn and lastly but not least, the ground. During this time Mimiru had averted her gaze from the mystery man. Who can be oblivious to total destruction or life and death situations? The furniture and flowers burned up in ashes. Sometime during her negligence, the raven haired boy had just disappeared. He just ... disappeared. The floor's erosion began from the edges, closing in on the red head.

"Not agaaain!" Alice was sinking again before she could piece together anything in her mind. Falling and tumbling and shouting and without a clue.

***

"I think she's coming to." That soft female voice was unmistakable.

"Nikki."

"Saeki-san, can you hear me?" an older woman was talking now.

"The nurse?"

"Here, use this!" someone else had spoken.

"The chairman?!" A wave suddenly washed all over her, earning quite the scream and surprise from Mimiru's part. "What the hell are you morons doing?!"

"Oh, it worked." Nicola stated as a matter-of-course. Sharing the same room, she had already gotten used to this. It kept her world lively from one point of view.

"No duh! You poured ice cold water on me!" The red head began shaking a bit and rubbing her upper arms for warmth. She felt something down her back, under her white shirt - the only thing besides a sports bra covering her. She streched her hand to catch a grip of the item and after bringing it to her face, in a light everyone could see, the girl realized it was a melting ice cube. Further inspection of the pillow she had been previously sleeping on, showed her some more ice cubes slowly turning into running water. "I was being metaphorical with that last statement."

"It wasn't me who did it." Nicola pleaded with her hands up in surrender. Mimiru's brown eyes scanned the room clockwise, starting from her roommate who had been the closest to her on the left side of the bed. The head nurse did the same motion as the blonde girl, pleading innocent. During this time the patient was trying to grasp the situation. Somehow she had wounded up in the school infirmary. Her last company had been Spyro and Zero, so it was probably the prefect that had brought her here. She decided to brush aside her dream in this count, no matter how real it had felt. Zero had also screamed her name now that she remembered. It felt weird knowing he had showed chivalry like that, even though she knew it was just his job. Mimiru would have to thank him. Brown eyes landed on green, along with black fur. The brown ones narrowed.

"Uhm ... Mimiru?"

"Right. He doesn't even have opposable thumbs." Next in line had been Cross Yuuki at the head of her bed. Yuuki didn't look or sound the type of person to do that. Further back leaning on the wall was Zero. He would have been a suspect if not for the chairman that was hiding further to the right, behind the clothes tree. Those glassed eyes peeked at the girl lying in bed from behind one of the coats.

"Thank goodness you're okay Mimiru-chan, right?" Cross Kaien had said nervously, keeping that big smile of his and eyes closed.

"Riiiiiight."

"So how are you feeling?" It was Yuuki that asked.

"Pretty good I think. A bit hungry." The red head began picturing a gourmet meal as her stomach rumbled. She also checked the scratches on her cheeks. They were shallower from what she recalled.

"She's perfectly fine everyone. Perhaps you've been stressed out too much or anemic. I'll go bring you something to eat." Nicola smiled with relief, trying to lighten the mood by offering her hand with one of Mimiru's favorite happy subjects. The blonde began making her way out the door when Zero suddenly moved from his spot. He got close to the teen lady and stopped her in her tracks.

"Roberts, I need to talk with you." The blonde stared the prefect in the eyes very shortly before complying quite naturally.

"Very well. I'll be back later to see how you're doing." Nicola turned towards her roommate to reassure her.

"Like I'll even be here later." Mimiru flumped back down on her bed. She had kind of forgotten about the soaked sheets though. She could have jumped back up, but didn't see the point anymore. Her shirt was already wet and would dry off eventually.

"I certainly hope so! Miss Roberts you may go peacefully. I'll be bringing Saeki something to eat." The head nurse alongside Zero, Nicola, Spyro and the chairman had exited the room. In the headmaster's case it was more like sneaking out. He didn't want to face his student, known for a heated mind - kind of like a child when doing something bad. That meant the only other soul in the room now was Cross Yuuki.

"Aren't you leaving?"

"No-unless I'm a bother!?"

"Not really. Do you know what Kiryuu wanted with Nikki?"

"Eh? Hmmm, I have no idea." Cross' daughter began fiddling with her hair. She may have been a prefect as well and closest to Zero, but not even she could tell everything that went through that guy's mind. Unless everything was suppose to be hush hush in Mimiru's presence.

"They never spoke to eachother before, right?"

"No, Zero isn't a great conversation starter."

"Is that so? Never thought of it." Mimiru replied sarcastically. She closed her eyes and dangled her right leg upon the other. Yuuki herself went towards the nurse's desk and got started on her homework, most likely having thought the red head wouldn't have been conscious too much.

"I'm sure it's nothing you should worry about Saeki-san."

"I'm not worried, but don't you find it weird?"

"Well, I think it's okay if he gets along with others." She continued writting on the white paper, eyes turned away from the rest of the room as she stood on the stool.

"No, it's definitely weird. They don't even match." Besides herself, at that moment when Zero asked Nicola for a word, nobody else noticed it as something uncommon. The wildfire even now raised her eyebrows at the memory of it. There was no reason for the two to socialize, there was no reason for them to be alone. She wasn't jealous, just curious. The only reasonable explanation Mimiru could come up with was that Kiryuu was strengthening his control. Nicola Roberts was her roommate, meaning she was perfect as a spy. That was the only reason ... Unless there was a secret crush involved, but Mimiru scratched that idea off the chart almost immediately. She even laughed at the mere thought of it. Those two really didn't match in her eyes. The albino was a crude ice prince and Nicola was too much of a studious lady. What else could those two be talking about?

"Hey, Yuuki-chan? Did I say something weird or do anything while I was out?"

"Well, you wriggled in your sleep a bit and groaned. Before you woke up you began talking, but it was too low and incoherent for us to make out any phrase. Stuff like 'Don't' or 'Who'. It must have been a weird dream."

"You could call it like that." Mimiru had hoped not to have to think about it, but that man intrigued her too much for her own good. "Wait! He's not even real! Just a figment of my hormones. Knight, yeah right!" An apparition of those blue-purple eyes, raven hair and smirk closed in on her. She sat upright in two breaths, breaking the spell as her eyes widened to her own lower half on the mattress.

"Saeki-san, is something wrong?" Yuuki rushed to her side, leaving her homework scattered on the desk. She placed a hand on the red head's back for comfort.

"First, you can call me Mimiru. Saeki makes me sound old and business. And I'm fine, just need to go out and take a walk." She swinged her legs down and began putting on her boots.

"I'm not sure if you're allowed to do that. Maybe we should wait for the nurse."

"I'm perfectly fine." The red head stood up. Her legs felt a bit weak, but nothing a bit of exercise and fresh air couldn't fix. A flower had brushed off of her during her actions. It was a very small, graceful and all too familiar blue flower.

"Oh, you dropped this." The female prefect picked it up and held it out for the two.

"Wha? How ... did this get here?" It had been a dream. It had to have been a dream. There was no way that man could have been real and yet that flower was there, that flower was real. It was the same as the ones in her hairpin and the one the man had offered her.

"Didn't you have it? Maybe a different patient left it here by accident, but I don't remember seeing these flowers around school grounds."

"..."

"It's pretty isn't it?"

"Y-yeah, you can have it. I'm outta here!" Mimiru dashed away before Yuuki even knew what happened. She opened the door hastily and made her way down the hall.

"Hey!" Zero shouted as she bumped slightly into him. Him and Nicola had finished their discussion by now and had decided to head back to the infirmary. It wasn't that much of a surprise when they saw the red head burst through the door like a scared wild animal.

"Should have known." the blonde commented while watching her roommate's retreating form.

"Zero, I'm sorry." Yuuki came out of the infirmary, her head bowed low.

"Idiot."

"Cross-san, what's that?" Nicola pointed toward the palm of her hand. The flower was intact and held like porcelain.

"It fell when Mimiru-chan got up."

"What is it?" Kiryuu asked.

"Can't you see?! It' s a flower."

"It's a forget-me-not." Nicola chipped in before Zero could retort. "My family's gardens has a patch of these. I used to go see them everyday as a little girl. Why would Mimiru have one though?" The blonde took the small thing in her own hand, looking at it longingly. That one small flower had transported her back to her childhood, but seeing those warm eyes you knew it didn't mean anything bad. Someone's personality is usually a consequence of their upbringing.

"Shouldn't someone go after Mimiru-chan?" Yuuki brought everyone back to reality. The girls shifted their eyes towards Zero, who in turn looked strangely at the two. They maintained that pose for a minute before the male asked wearily.

"What?"

"Ugh! Get a move on!" The female prefect gave him a push from the side in the right direction.

***

"Oh boy, I must be loosing my mind." Mimiru hadn't wandered off too far. Just a few hallways and took a seat on a pair of stairs. She was hanging her head upside down at knee level, arms lazily dropping at her sides. She had hoped to reach her room at least, but that dream irked her and thus needed to conjure up some reasoning time. It was the second this has happened and the second time it was proven it could have been real. The first experience had the sting mark, which upon inspection she could still see, and the second experience led to the flower. In both of the cases the evidence had also manifested itself in the dream or make dream. There was aslso a high probability in both cases it was the fault of the same guy. "And he keeps popping up and I keep wondering and it's not like I particulary love that flower and ... and...ugh! It's not like I have a crush on the guy or something!"

"Crush on who?"

"What are you doing here?" Mimiru moved her eyes upwards to come face to face with Zero's knees standing in from of her. Her body hanged as lazily as before, but the voice and those knees were unmistakable.

"I never thought you would be interested in that kind of stuff."

"I'm not!"

"Then who were you talking about?"

"I was just thinking of this weird dream I had."

"Another weird dream? ..."

"Not THAT kind of weird dream! I told you already!" Mimiru stood up on the stairs, towering over the prefect angrily. She once again got into his face and for a moment Zero was worried she would fall over him. It was the last thing he needed.

"You're pretty suspicious getting worked up over it." He tried maintaining a straight face.

"Because I liked it." the red head stated like it was nothing out of the ordinary. She meant what she had said, but not in the way it was most obvious. She wasn't bothered by the dream itself, but by the fact she couldn't figure it out faster. She had liked the dream because it was something strange and different, something that signaled her involvement in a bigger plot.

"Weren't you upset because of it?"

"Because I don't understand it and know nothing on what it wanted to tell me, but I liked it."

"And you get upset when I misunderstand?...Such a weird girl." Zero sighed as he ran his hand through his silver locks.

"Ne Kiryuu, have you ever seen anyone with blue and purple eyes at the same time?"

"You mean it's one of those colors you can't figure out? No, didn't see anyone with such eyes. Why?" He answered still keeping her fingers entangled in his hair, but also keeping eye contact.

"I find it interesting."

"..."

"Ouch!" Mimiru cried out when the albino pinched her hand. She wanted to snap back but the sudden subject change swayed her mind from revenge.

"That flower's called a forget-me-not."

"Huh?" she rubbed her sore spot.

"The one you found in the infirmary. Roberts told us."

"Nikki? She knows the flower?"

"Apparently her family grew some."

"Is that so? That's perfect!" The red head jumped down from her step to set out in a sprint. She was pulled back by the collar of her uniform so abruptly though, that she landed back on her butt.

"Wait just a minute!"

"What?" She brought her eyes up towards Zero's face. He had one of his bad mood expressions on, clearly not up for fooling around. Mimiru complied.

"No more running."

"What are you? An old man?" The red head brushed the dust off her skirt.

"I don't wanna have to carry you again." the male prefect left her behind as he made his way to their destination. That last statement made Mimiru feel strange, maybe a bit guilty and like he owed the guy. She hated having to owe him. Not saying anything would have made her sound ungrateful, which she was not. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

"... About that ... Thanks." She stepped alongside the prefect. The events could't help but replay in her mind. When you apologize or thank someone, your brain always goes back to what you need to thank or apologize for. Even if one may not realize it, a tiny bit of the brain does that. "Wait a minute! What was that gunshot I heard?!" It's true that she hadn't seen anything clearly before giving in to darkness and her ears had been a bit clugged or busy echoing different words, but one thing she remebered hearing was a gunshot.

"What gunshot?" Zero didn't react in any way.

"Right before I blacked out you shouted my name and then I heard a gunshot."

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming that part up too. You can't possibly have been thinking clearly if you were fainting."

"But ... you're not denying it." the girl looked at those lavender eyes from a lower left side angle. It made the teen avert his gaze slightly to the right, making sure not to appear as if it was on purpose.

"Well, you're not stupid. You know about the rumors so there shouldn't be any need to explain. Leave it at that."

"You mean the killer. It's more amusing when I figure things out on my own anyways. You're not worthy of being my sidekick." she rubbed her palms one on the other as if scheming. She was acting like a little child again that struck candy.

"Haven't you learned your lesson?"

"Nope! Now I'm living proof he's out there and there is something supernatural about him. Last night and today were two big steps!" she began jumping for joy.

"Last night and today? You .. You stayed out there for hours waiting for the guy?!" But Zero's questions were left unanswered as Mimiru was in her own little world.

"That weird dream last night wasn't such a dream after all. Hmm, this means earlier was also... I have physical evidence. I should study them." She could dust for fingerprints, analize the skin from the sting spot, check for any loose hairs ... The mind of Saeki Mimiru never slept. One of her favorite crime mysteries was that of Jack the Reaper. One of her favorite detectives was Sherlock Homes. Not eerything the guy did in the books or aced was 100% in accordance to her, but he was pretty close to what she was aiming.

"Idiot!" Kiryuu slapped the back of her head.

***

It didn't take long for the two teenagers to reach the infirmary again. They were only a few turns and halls. When they walked in, all three heads turned towards them - Nicola, Yuuki and the head nurse who was first to open her mouth.

"Where have you been?! You're not suppose to leave this room until I say so, let alone run around!"

"Yeah,well-" Sadly, Saeki's attention got caught up by the tray shinning majestically on the night table. That wonderful plate of mashed potatoes and fried drumstick with gravy on top, that bowl of fresh and colorful salad, that dish displaying a creamy piece of strawberry shortcake, that glass of seemingly orange juice ... they were all calling her. She was put under a spell, a wonderful delicous spell. She embraced that spell. "Fooooood!"

"You did wonders with her Kiryuu-kun." Nicola added as she watched her roommate munch to her heart's content.

"I wouldn't call that a wonder. Yuuki, you should go to your room."

"Alright." The female prefect took her books and notebook and complied without any trouble to Zero's sugestion. Thus there were only four people left. Mimiru choked for a second because of how fast she was eating and how much she shoved in her mouth. Nicola took the liberty of patting her on the back.

"Don't eat so fast. You got away only to die from food overdose?"

"Kiryuu told me you knew about the flower." the red head spoke, left cheek swollen similar to a hamster's when depositing food.

"Yeah, you can find some in the gardens back home." The food went down the girl's throat in a second as she swallowed hard. The nurse had busied herself with papers and Zero had flopped down in an adjacent bed for a small nap, so Nicola took the liberty of taking a seat next to her friend.

"Forget-me-not was it?"

"Yes."

"What do they mean Nikki?"

"I'm susprised you're interested in this. If you talk about the general symbol of the flower, it means just as its name. It's a sign of remembrance. They come in different species, though they mostly differ in size, the closeness of the petals to eachother and where they grow. The sleek and vibrant one you have here is also knows as a True Forget-me-not. These usually grow in wet places, near streams or rivers. See how the petals are arranged that the points would make a star if connected?" It was true, they were beautiful and smooth. This one small flower looked like a star, a mysterious blue star. "They have an appearance in folklore as well, even dating to the creation of man. The little flower cried out, 'Forget-me-not!' as Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden. In 15th century Germany it was said the wearers of the flowers would not be forgotten by their lovers and it's connected with romance, tragic fates. I could go on, but you got the idea by now."

"Wow, you know a lot about it."

"I was quite fond of them as a little girl." Nicola looked so ... lonely. She had a look of happiness, but was lonely. The flower meant a lot to the blonde, it had to have held a special connection. Mimiru couldn't not otice this.

"What happened?"

"I guess ... I grew up. Got preoccupied with my daily duties."

"Such a shame. Then I hope you don't mind if I continue where you left off?" Mimiru took the forget-me-not in her own palm.

"Hmm?"

"I'm getting quite fond of it now that I know more about it."

"It's because it has such a mysterious background. You're curious if it's special ad because it's special."

"Hehehe, well this way I'm not forgetting about it. I'll keep your promise." The red head flopped down on her own bed.

"My promise?" Nicola asked surprisedly.

"Forget-me-not right? There was someone you didn't want to forget. That's why you always liked it, but you gave up on the way for a reason."

"Well well, not too shabby. Can you figure out who it is?" The young Roberts was actually pleasantly surprised. She had understimated her wild roommate and she had guessed spot on. There was no meaning in hiding the fact or try and lie. The wildfire took great pride in her theories and her adventures, so Nicola let her be. The little secret in her past had started making her lonely for a long time now. Perhaps sharing it would have been a change for the good ... if red guessed it.

"I'm working on it."


Author's Note: Here you have the 7th chapter. This time I made sure not to forget about it for a month ^^ Yeah, you have to forgive me for the last one. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated and looking forward even to the small regular reviews. Anytime you have a question I'm open for answers.

Next Chapter: What will Mimiru do to get closer to finding out Nicola's mystery person? This has to be the most red has socialized. She even comes face to face with people she never thought she would.