Ryoko woke up.

Usually it took her a while to fully wake up – she wasn't a morning person, and she would drift in and out of coherency in the mornings, and have difficulty remembering things, especially her dreams. But this time it was like she'd suddenly snapped back into consciousness; there was no interim period of grogginess, just straight from the dream to the real world.

This was the real world, she was sure of it. It felt real, not fuzzy around the edges like the dream had been. She sat up and looked around – she was still in Deneb's cot, blankets wrapped tightly around her, and in a cold sweat (although this was probably less because of the dream and more because she'd slept outdoors).

It was strange. Her body was rested, but her mind felt like it had never fallen asleep…

She didn't see Yuuto anywhere, but she found Deneb busily airing out Yuuto's sleeping bag on the lower level, and he very cheerfully provided her with a couple of pancakes for breakfast.

"There's no shiitake in this, is there?" she asked suspiciously. She knew Deneb. "And – where did…he go?"

(She still wasn't comfortable saying Yuuto's name. She kept wanting to call him Yuuko, and then she wasn't sure if he'd mind her calling him by his given name, and…well, she was confused enough by this whole place in general, she figured she was allowed some leeway.)

"Yuuto left earlier to go check something," Deneb explained. Ryoko noticed that he had not answered her first question. "He didn't tell me what, only that I should stay here with you. I don't think he expected to be very long…"

Ryoko gave in and ate her pancakes, which were slightly spongy but very good, and was just starting to wonder exactly how long Yuuto had expected to take when Deneb said, sounding surprised, "Ah! Welcome home, Yuuto!"

She turned around to see that Yuuto was not only back, but Hana was with him. They had identical scowls on their faces – now that was strange; it was one thing for Haru to resemble Yuuto, that was probably just an angry boy thing or something, but Hana? She didn't have any time to reflect on this, though, because Hana's face immediately softened when she saw her.

"Geeze, she looks even tinier in my clothes," she remarked. Ryoko blushed and tried to casually pull her sleeves back.

Yuuto, demonstrating his inability to make any sort of small talk whatsoever, got right to the point. "We may have a lead," he said, leaning over the railing. "It's not certain yet, but –"

"—you remember how Owner had me send off a message?" Hana interrupted. Yuuto glared at her, but she didn't seem to notice, and continued, "Well, we got a reply."

Actually, Ryoko had totally forgotten about that. What with everything else going on…still, she managed to get her brain working again after only a second, and she asked, "Who was it?"

Hana and Yuuto exchanged glances. For a moment, she thought they wouldn't answer – but then Yuuto said, "The station master."

There was a very long pause.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry," Ryoko said finally. "I could've sworn you just said –"

"We don't know any more than that," Hana interrupted, having anticipated her next question. "But…Den-Liner's a train, after all, and so I suppose it only stands to reason that there's a station…"

She looked bothered, as though not knowing something about Den-Liner was disturbing to her. Yuuto didn't look bothered, though; he just looked impatient.

"Come on," he said, gesturing back in the direction he and Hana had come from. Ryoko nodded vaguely, still trying to process the whole station master what the hell thing. "The message is for you. You have to be there for it."

"Owner wouldn't tell us without you there," Hana explained. Yuuto sighed, apparently irritated at how Ryoko was taking more than two seconds to leap to attention, and before Ryoko knew what he was doing he'd leaned over and – grabbed her, physically lifting her over the railing. He wasn't rough about it, it didn't hurt – but Ryoko yelped in surprise and sort of fell over when he set her down, right onto him.

I'm going to kill him, Momo declared. This was a relief; not because Yuuto had been threatened with death, but because the Imagin had been oddly silent all morning, and Ryoko had kind of been wondering why they hadn't piped up by now.

"Um," she started, not sure whether she was talking to Yuuto or Momo or both, but Yuuto had already let go of her and was stalking back away again. Hana was running after him, shouting something along the lines of "how dare you, have you no manners", so Ryoko had to wish a quick goodbye to Deneb (who looked astonished that someone had actually remembered he was there) and run after them.

Den-Liner was still stopped, so they were able to board immediately, and two minutes later Ryoko was standing in front of Owner and his fried rice, Yuuto and Hana on either side of her. The Imagin were crowding around them – save for Ryuu, who was blowing bubbles in the corner, and Kin, who was asleep, and Momo was pretending not to be interested even if he was doing a horrible job of it, and…well, all right, only Ura was really crowding. Even then, Ryoko suspected this was less because of any actual interest and more so he had an excuse to stand behind her and breathe heavily.

"Well?" Yuuto demanded, after a moment of silence. Owner looked up from his rice, glared at him, and then took another careful bite; Yuuto fell silent and didn't speak again.

They waited in total silence; Ryoko could feel the others shifting impatiently beside her, but finally the stupid flag fell over and, after throwing his hands up in despair, Owner cleared his throat.

"As you are aware," he said gravely, because Owner was probably incapable of saying anything with any semblance of actual emotion, "yesterday, a message detailing your predicament was sent out to the Time Station, along with a request for advice. This is not standard procedure –" He glared around at them, as though they had suggested otherwise. "—but based off of certain recent events, as well as Sieg's testimony, I suspected that your presence here was indicative of a larger problem than a simple chronological malfunction."

Nobody asked how he knew what Sieg had said. Ryoko wasn't even sure she wanted to know.

"I was correct," Owner continued. "That the Station Master replied at all confirms that this situation goes beyond the Den-Liner's jurisdiction. This is no error in the timestream…" He paused for dramatic effect (or so Ryoko assumed, because she couldn't see any other reason). "No, this is a matter of…alternate universes."

"Alternate what?" Hana yelped. Yuuto's jaw had dropped, and even Momo looked shocked, having apparently forgotten that he was pretending not to listen. "Owner, are you saying that alternate universes exist?"

"Of course they do," said Owner. Ryoko wondered if she was the only one not surprised by this. After magical flying trains that travelled through time to defeat evil memory-eating demons from the future, the concept of alternate universes sounded pretty plausible. "Just as the timelines branch and weave, so does the world itself. And just as time can be tampered with, so can the very universe…"

"A spacial rip," Ryoko whispered, remembering what the strange man from her dream had said. Owner raised an eyebrow, but this was his only reaction; nobody else seemed to notice. In fact, everyone else seemed to be growing even more impatient.

"What did Station Master's reply say?" Hana demanded. Owner gave her a very flat stare, then turned back to Ryoko.

"The message was for you," he said. "It should tell you all that you need to know."

Ryoko waited, her heart fluttering nervously in her chest. Owner's sense of theatrical suspense had never been more distressing.

"It says…" Owner started. Everyone leaned forward in anticipation; it was like the entire car was holding its breath. "…Don't panic."

Ryoko blinked.

"Is…that it?" she asked weakly. Owner sat back, hands folded over the top of his cane.

"That is all you need to know," he said, and his tone made it clear that this was the end of the conversation. Ryoko wondered why she'd expected anything else.

Hana protested a lot, and Yuuto protested even more; Momo flat-out shouted and flailed, but Owner simply refused to say any more on the subject. Ryoko ignored them all and sat down at a booth, feeling utterly confused.

This made no sense. He'd just said it was worse than a problem in the timestream – but was the station actually going to help? What kind of advice was 'don't panic'? That didn't tell them how they were supposed to fix this!

She was never going to get home, was she? She was never going to get to go to her Milk Dipper ever again, or fight with her Momo, or get yelled at by Haru. She was never going to go shopping with Yuuko, or listen to Ozaki and Miura fight over her brother, or even see Ashiri again…

Ryoutarou was never going to come home. It seemed all the worse now that she'd actually met him – he wasn't just a name or a concept anymore; he was someone real, someone that she knew. Someone that she'd laughed and had coffee with, who was another her

She'd been trying not to cry, but once again, her body wouldn't listen. At least nobody noticed; everyone was still too busy yelling at Owner, and Ryuu was making things worse by blowing bubbles right in their faces. And Kin…

A tissue was thrust unceremoniously in front of her face. Ryoko stared at it.

"Don't cry," Kin said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "The only thing there is to weep over is –"

"—yes, I know," Ryoko sighed, but she took the tissue anyway, and felt a bit better as she dabbed at her eyes. Kin stood there and waited while she calmed down again, which was strangely soothing; he still wasn't her Kin, but…it helped, just having his big comforting presence beside her.

She blew her nose, still brooding over the weird message. Don't panic. Why shouldn't she panic? If there were ever anything to panic about, a spacial rip that had hurled her into an alternate dimension would be it. Why…

"Yeah, stop snivelling," Momo muttered, sliding into the seat across from her. "You'll get back home eventually."

Ryoko stared at him, and he blushed – he actually blushed, turning even redder than he was normally. She hadn't even known he could blush. "What?" he demanded. "I'm not just leaving Ryoutarou in some freaky-ass girl world! So if we're going to get him back, that means we have to figure out how to put you back, so –"

"Senpai is correct," Ura interrupted. "It stands to reason that rescuing Ryoutarou would involve returning you to your world, in all its feminine glory. Actually, I wouldn't mind going there myself – but if it meant leaving you, Ryoko-chan…"

"Nobody asked you!" Momo screamed, leaping wildly out of the seat. Ura ducked, and Momo went right into Kin, who immediately declared a contest of strength, and they began grappling right there on the dining car floor while Ryuu and Naomi cheered them on. Yuuto and Hana still looked upset, but Ryoko felt better; she knew that that had been the Imagin's way of telling her not to worry, they were going to help fix things.

Don't panic

A sudden suspicion blossomed in her mind. It couldn't be – surely Owner would've told her, there was no reason to keep it from her…

Still, she got up slowly, side-stepping the still-wrestling Imagin, and headed back towards Owner's table. He glanced up as she approached.

"Owner," she said carefully, "are there…other people? I mean, like how Den-O protects the timestream – are there people like that for dimensions…?"

She could feel Yuuto and Hana staring at her, but she kept her eyes on Owner's face. It was a wasted effort, though; his expression remained totally blank, and he said nothing at all.

The silence discouraged her. He was probably just going to ignore her stupid question – she was about to turn away again when he finally spoke.

"The Den-Liner is a train that travels through time," he said, more sharply than she'd expected. "We do not concern ourselves with anything else. As long as the timestream remains intact, there is no need for us to become involved."

"Oh," Ryoko said, disappointed. It would've made so much sense…

"Ah," Ura murmured, from directly behind her. Ryoko was getting used to him now, and only jumped a little this time. "But that's not a no, now, is it?"

Ryoko looked back at him in surprise. "No," she said softly. "It's not. Does that mean – they don't want us to panic, because they're taking care of it? Is that what Station Master was telling us?"

She looked hopefully at Owner, who stared impassively back.

"Time is made up of memories," he said finally. "But dimensions…are different. The rules work in unexpected and unusual ways." He paused, then – looking directly into her eyes – added, "And some would say that dreams are dimensions unto themselves…"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Yuuto snapped, but Ryoko barely heard him. She just stared at Owner – he couldn't know, how could he possibly – oh god, maybe he could read her mind. She tried desperately not to think of anything embarrassing, failed utterly, and buried her face in her hands in shame.

"As I said," said Owner, and she peeked out again from between her fingers. He was still looking right at her. "The Den-Liner is involved only with the timestream. We do not concern ourselves with anything else."

And that was that. There was no arguing with that tone – even Yuuto didn't protest it, just looked annoyed and confused (but that was pretty much his default expression, so that was okay).

But it wasn't a no

Was that who the mysterious man had been, then? Was he also a Rider, just one who fixed dimensions instead of time? Why couldn't he have just told them – maybe they could've helped! But then, what had even caused this whole mess in the first place? Maybe there was some monster, something like an Imagin, but for space

She sat down again, her head whirling. Maybe the dream-man had been the bad guy, making things worse instead of trying to fix them. Or maybe he was something else entirely – Owner hadn't said no, but he hadn't said yes, either, and it was possible Ryoko was entirely wrong about all this.

If only there was someone she could talk to – if this had been her world, she might've asked the Imagin, but for all that they were like them, these weren't her friends. She didn't know them well enough to know that they wouldn't laugh at her, or tell her it was just a dream – heck, even her Imagin would've done that. And, well, it was exactly the opposite for Hana – she seemed friendly enough, but Ryoko saw enough of Haru in her that she was pretty sure she'd tell her not to pay any attention to silly dreams. And Yuuto

She wished for the millionth time that Yuuko were here. She could tell Yuuko anything, and she would take her seriously when she said it was real, she just knew it was. She'd listen, and she'd do her best to help; even if no one else went along with it, she would never leave Ryoko alone in anything.

But Yuuto was big and growly and yelled a lot, and she was pretty sure he hated her, based on the way he kept staring at her and then looking furious and extra-surly. He was so violent with Deneb for no reason, and he didn't seem like he even liked Ryoutarou very much, and…

He'd helped her, he'd given her a place to sleep, and he was still here even though he could've left long ago. He'd grumbled and cursed and shouted throughout the whole thing, but he'd still done it; he might not like her, but at the very least, maybe he'd listen

She wished she could see Ryoutarou again – he was even easier for her to talk to than Yuuko, and she wouldn't have to worry about him not believing her. But what could he do, while they were asleep? And what if another meeting only caused the man to come back?

Things had settled down by now. Naomi had passed out coffee, temporarily placating the Imagin; Owner was sitting there and staring straight ahead like he always did, and Yuuto was on the other side of the car, pacing. Hana came over to check on her, but Ryoko waved her off again.

She cast another glance at Yuuto…who was staring right at her. He realized she'd seen him and he turned red, giving her such a scowl that she was amazed she didn't immediately burst into flame, and he turned away again.

Well, he was scary and angry and hated her, but he was her best chance right now. She stood up, tried not to wobble, and shuffled over.

"Hey," she squeaked – then she swallowed hard, and tried again. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute…?"


Ryoutarou woke up to find himself hurtling down a steep hill at forty miles per hour.

"Oh!" said his body, and it took him a second of flailing before he realized that it wasn't actually him. "You're awake! Finally!"

It was just as well he wasn't in control, because he probably would've been too shocked to brake right then, pulling the bike up short and nearly sending them flying over the handlebars. Ryuu – he assumed it was Ryuu, anyway, from the tone of the voice – grinned and hefted the plastic bag they were carrying.

"Yucchan sent us out for groceries," she said happily. "Geeze, you slept soooo late! It's almost noon!"

What? Ryoutarou said, his poor mind having difficulty processing all this. One second he'd been in Milk Dipper with Ryoko, and the next he was here, with no idea what was going on. Wait, what? Yucchan – you mean Yuuko?

"Duh," Ryuu said, drawing it out into one long syllable. She unbraked and they were off again, albeit at a more reasonable speed this time. "Your body's totally stupid, by the way. I can go way faster than this with Ryoko!"

Oh my god you go faster?! Ryoutarou gibbered. Ryuu laughed and pedaled harder, building up even more speed; he was suddenly profoundly, intensely grateful that his Ryuu had never gotten on his bike.

They reached the bottom of the hill and zoomed down the street, presumably heading back towards Yuuko's apartment. Ryoutarou tried to orient himself, floundered, and gave up.

All right, he said. Why did Yuuko send Ryuu out for groceries?

Because she didn't have enough, obviously, Momo said, as though this should be obvious. Ryoutaru felt that this was missing the point.

But why did she send Ryuu? he asked. Surely she wasn't that stupid…

She didn't, Ura broke in. She actually sent me, but Ryuu-chan took over while we were at the store –

"Liar," Ryuu said cheerfully, just narrowly missing a random pedestrian. "She sent Momo! She said, you go to the store and get me a dozen eggs, a stick of butter, a pack of –"

Yes, well, she meant to send me, said Ura, and if Ryoutarou had had hands right then, he probably would've waved them in frustration. (Well, okay, he wouldn't have – he would've been more likely to just curl up in the fetal position and gibber until he felt sane again – but he would've at least had the option.)

Okay, he said, in what he thought was a reasonable way. Why is Yuuko sending us out on errands at all?

"'Cause we were there, silly," Ryuu giggled. Ryoutarou realized with horror that his voice really was not made for giggling. "And she said we could get some candy while we were there too, so –"

But – she's having us run her errands?!

"Uh, hello, candy," she said, as though this was reason enough. For her, it probably was.

What, that doesn't happen in your world? Momo snorted. Hey, maybe we could all move there. I'm really sick of her always making us do shit like this. It's always, 'oh hi, as long as Ryoko isn't up yet, would you mind ever-so-much just running out and getting a couple of things –'

"She said she'd make us omelettes!" Ryuu said happily. Okay, there was one advantage her to her going so fast – nobody around them could hear her talking. "And I got chocolate!"

She does this all the time? Ryoutarou said in bewilderment. She – talks to you when Ryoko's asleep? What?

"Well, yeah," said Ryuu, as though it should be obvious. "You know, like, when Ryoko stays over and she oversleeps so we get up for her, and –"

Ah, Ura sighed. I think I see the problem. They don't do that for you, do they?

The Imagin? Sometimes, when I can't keep them out, he said. He was getting really confused now. But…I mean, they don't run errands or anything, mostly they just get in trouble – no offense…

Wow. Boys suck, said Momo. Ura laughed, a high, tinkling sound that sort of traumatized Ryoutarou.

It's our body too, she said. It would be extremely inconvenient for us if she ran herself down.

Wow, Ryoutarou realized. Boys really did suck. …All right, that wasn't fair; it wasn't like his Imagin never did anything. They did try to keep him out of trouble, like when he'd been arrested for kidnapping Sieg's brother – and sometimes when he'd had a long night, they'd get him up and dressed and have breakfast, and wake him up just in time to help Airi open the store. They'd never volunteered to run errands, though…

Ryuu banked sharply to the left, nearly splattering them against a brick wall, and whizzed down the street. Ryoutarou wondered what the heck she was doing – he didn't remember Yuuko's apartment being in this part of town…

Evidently, he wasn't the only one, because Ura spoke up again just then. Ryuu-chan, she said suspiciously, where are you taking us?

"Oh, I'm just gonna head up here," Ryuu said innocently, turning off into a nearby alleyway. (Well, semi-alleyway. They were still in a fairly suburban area; it was about as close to an alleyway as they were going to get.) She stopped and hopped off the bike, setting the grocery bag on the ground beside it.

You brat, what are you – Momo started angrily, but Ura cut her off with an, Ah. Ryoutarou might've said something too, but he was in too much shock.

The man from his dream was standing right in front of them, holding up his camera. Ryoutarou wondered if it were possible for a disembodied mind to have a heart attack.

"You've been following us since we left the store," Ryuu said accusingly, hands on their hips. The man shrugged and didn't answer, just wound his film.

You could've said something, Momo grumbled. Ryuu pouted, ignoring her, and snapped their fingers – this time the man looked up, and he still had that same condescending expression as he'd had in the dream.

"That's not going to work on me," he said. "Now, just hold still so I can get your –"

Kin-chan, wake up, Ura hissed, and Ryoutarou felt the familiar push – and suddenly they weren't Ryuu anymore. The man didn't seem to have been expecting this; he looked up from the camera's viewfinder and frowned, opening his mouth to say something…

If it had been anyone except Kin, he might've seen it coming – but Ryoutarou was pretty sure the guy hadn't expected them to suddenly scream, "I'LL MAKE YOU CRY, YOU STALKER!!" and take a flying leap onto him. They went down hard, and this whole thing was almost entirely worth it just for the look on the man's face.

He didn't really fight back, which surprised Ryoutarou – instead he grabbed his camera and tried to curl around it, like he was protecting it for some reason. It was easy enough for Kin to wrestle him down and just sit on him, holding his arms down and staring down into his face. The camera had gotten knocked aside, and was laying in the dust beside them.

"You idiot, what are you doing!" the man was yelling. "I'm trying to help you! Let go of me, or I swear, I'll –"

"You're too noisy," Kin said, and she banged her face right into his. It didn't knock him out, but he did seem to be sort of stunned; he shut up, anyway. Ryoutarou heard Ura sigh.

Okay, Kin-chan, she said, let me handle this. Just do what I tell you…

Kin listened and nodded – Ryoutaru was too horrified to say anything, otherwise he might've objected to what Ura was telling her to say. As it was, all he could do was sit (or float, or whatever the hell he did when he wasn't up front) back as Kin put her foot against the guy's head.

"Why were you taking pictures of us?" Kin demanded, at Ura's prompting. "TELL ME BEFORE I CRUSH YOU UTTERLY BENEATH ME, YOU BASTARD!!"

(That last part had not been from Ura. Apparently Kin believed in improvising.)

"You have no idea who you're –" he started furiously, but Kin leaned down heavily on their foot, and he shut up.

"This," Kin said, after another moment of listening to Ura, "is my foot. This is your head. If you don't tell me what the hell you're doing, they're going to be introduced to each other very quickly."

She frowned at him – it was just a normal Kin-frown, Ryoutarou knew, but to the guy it probably looked like she was going to bash his head in. He didn't look concerned, though, more just irritated, as though having someone threaten to kick his head in was merely inconvenient.

"All right, fine," he said, "fine, you caught me. I'm a scouter for a model agency –"

Really? said Momo, just as Ura said, Yeah, right. Kin just snorted, which got across her opinion.

"—oh, fine, I'm a stalker with a great big crush on your stupid face," the guy muttered. "I'll reform, go straight – literally – and never bother you again, just let me –"

Kin reached out and grabbed the camera, holding it up in front of the man's face, and his arrogant sneer suddenly cracked – a flash of pure fury came over his face, even as it immediately settled back into that earlier blank expression.

"This," he said flatly, "has gone on long enough. My god, what's that over there –"

Oh please, Ura sighed, don't think we'll be taken in by that old – Kin-chan!

Kin had turned to look, and while their guard was down, the guy kicked. They fell off of him as he jumped back to his feet, grabbing the camera back away from them in one fluid motion.

He was going to leave, Ryoutarou realized suddenly – and he hadn't even asked him anything yet, just sat there stupidly as the Imagin threatened him. He braced himself and shoved his way back into control, scrambling back up even as the camera was aimed at him…

"Oh good," said the guy. "You're you again. That makes this easier."

"Wait," Ryoutarou said hurriedly, holding his hands up. "Wait, I've got to talk to you! Can you just tell me what's going on –"

"Let me think about it," he murmered. Then, without pausing, he continued, "No. Ready?"

The camera flashed, and when the spots finally faded from Ryoutarou's eyes, the man was gone again.

What was that about? Momo muttered. Ryoutarou shook his head slowly, still staring at where he'd been.

Who cares? Ryuu demanded. I want my omelette! We beat the stupid crazy stalker; let's go back and have breakfast!

Ryoutarou wondered if he should tell them about the dream. Even if he'd thought it might not've been real…well, that had just been living proof! But Ryuu was still whining about breakfast, and the others didn't seem in any mood to listen, so he just got back on his bike and pedaled off again.

He should tell Yuuko, he decided. She seemed like she'd be intelligent about it, and now that the Imagin had witnessed the weird dude, she couldn't just discount it as a dream.

He got lost twice – first from Momo's muddled directions, then from Ura sending him down the wrong streets because she thought it'd be funny – so they didn't get their omelette until an hour later, when Ryoutarou had finally managed to find his way back to Yuuko's with the groceries.

"They're not as good as Deneb's," she admitted, as she handed him his plate. "He's been teaching me, but I'm still not up to his level. You want some juice with that?"

Ryoutarou nodded absently, staring at his omelette as though it held all the mysteries to life. Something had been bothering him ever since they'd gotten back, but he hadn't realized what it was until just now.

"Um," he said, "where is Deneb?"

The Imagin wasn't in the apartment – it was small enough for him to tell that at a glance – and he didn't remember seeing him since last night. Yuuko looked surprised at the question, and shrugged.

"He sleeps in the storage room," she said. "He insists on it, since this is barely big enough for two people anyway, and…" She blushed, which was sort of a horrific sight on what he still thought of as Yuuto's face. "…a girl needs her privacy, you know?"

Ryoutarou did not, nor did he ever really want to. He busied himself with the omelette – it was pretty good, but Airi's omelettes were better – and ignoring Ryuu's demands to be let out so she could have a taste, too.

I'm the one who bought the stuff! she wailed. It's not fair!

Life isn't fair, dumbass, Momo said snidely – followed by the unmistakable noise of crayons being used as deadly projectiles. (There were many noises Ryoutarou had never really heard before the Imagins, most of them traumatizing.)

He kept eating, still mulling over what to tell Yuuko. 'Oh hey, I just ran into this creepy stalker that I coincidentally had a dream about last night' didn't seem to really convey the situation, somehow. Maybe if he led into it subtly…

Yuuko sat down across from him, arms crossed. Ryoutarou looked up, saw her face, and cringed back out of reflex.

"Okay," she said firmly, "what happened? Don't bother denying it," she added, as Ryoutarou opened his mouth, "I know Ryoko. I can tell you're hiding something."

Don't tell her about the stalker, Ura hissed. It's just going to piss her off.

Besides, Momo said, we took care of him. He won't be bothering us anymore, not if he wants his head to stay intact.

Ryoutarou ignored them. Instead he put his fork down and sighed, trying to think of where, exactly, he should start.

"Well," he said finally. "Um. This is going to sound really crazy, but last night, I had this dream…"