Author's Note:

And now we start the real stuff! Please do leave a review and I hope you enjoy!


The rain did indeed arrive earlier than usual and only two days later the fog came. They checked the Midnight Channel, did everything they had to do and, as they had hoped, no one appeared that night on the TV. Once again, they had won, at least for now anyway.

Despite his chat with Yu, Kanji still remained fairly distant from the group. He stopped meeting them after school and tried to avoid any awkward conversations. He had a lot of things on his mind and talking to others didn't seem to help him much. With every word, he seemed to draw further into himself to the point where there was nothing anyone else could do other than wait.

He had spent more time on the roof since they'd saved her; it was quieter during this time of year due to the colder temperatures that crept in after the warmth of summer. Now that heat was gone, the team tended to eat their lunches inside their homeroom and discussed their plans, their trips into the TV World or just what they watched on television.

Without even thinking about it, Kanji always found himself coming back onto the roof, as if it was his sanctuary. His head fell into his hands, class had been boring and nothing interesting had happened all week. He groaned, slicking his hair back. It was always so much harder for him to wait when there was nothing that could take his mind off of it.

He heard gentle footsteps approaching him and scowled into his palms, "Go away a'ready… I'm not interested."

The footsteps stopped. There was no response other than a tiny, whimper-like noise. He lifted his head just enough to see the unfamiliar pair of black school shoes on small feet, leading up to thin, toned legs that were hidden under black tights. Whoever had arrived did as he said, turning on her heel and beginning her escape.

For the following few seconds he felt a strange guilt. He had turned away a ton of girls in the past, all of them liking his tough 'bad-boy' image, so why did he feel so horrible about turning this one away?

"Wait." He gave in, sighing and lifting his head, "I didn't mean to be so…"

His eyes moved from the shoes, up the legs and up to the face. A pale face, a blush of embarrassment streaking her cheeks, black hair cut at the shoulders in a choppy, feathered fashion, a single blue eye.

"Kali?" His question was quiet, his eyes flickering over this new look.

She smiled shyly, combing some of her now short hair through her fingers, "I thought I needed a…fresh start. Do I look ok?"

As the shock faded, he allowed himself to look over her new appearance. Her long, thick hair was gone and replaced with a, admittedly more adorable, shorter cut with little animal hair clips that kept it out of the way of her eye. That eye was, as before, clear of any makeup, its natural brilliance doing far more than any eye shadow could. She wore a similar style of uniform to Rise and the other girls, the black collar framed with a yellow had a purple cardigan to keep her warm, leaving it unbuttoned for the moment, and her skirt was just like all of the others. Though somehow, Kanji thought that the way she wore it was much cuter.

"Ya look fine." Was his blunt response, turning his head away to hide his growing blush.

She looked a little disappointed but his physical reaction told her all she needed to know. She shyly laughed, her gaze returning to the floor, "You saw a lot of me last week, the real me. I hate to admit it but I really had forgotten about some parts of myself."

Kanji looked up, watching Kali with wonder as the breeze gently brushed through her hair, "How're you feelin'?" His voice was slightly distant, more focused on how the October sun seemed to be a lot less impressive all of a sudden.

"If I'm honest… I've haven't felt like this in eight years," She paused, closing her eyes and smiling, "I feel free."

Kanji watched her constantly, he didn't see the ghostly girl he met by the riverbed a week ago anymore, it was almost like that lost spirit had found her salvation and was standing at the gates of heaven.

"My daddy wanted a part of my mama's homeland to be part of me. I looked more like him, my hair and my face and while I had the eyes and skin of a European, most of me took after him. He let her pick my name." There was a glimmer of nostalgia in her eye, not sadness as one would expect, "Kalina. It means flower, which is why my daddy used to call me his "little flower". I never wanted anyone else to call me that, that name was sacred to me."

Kanji nodded slowly, "So, Kalina, what do you-"

"Kali." She corrected gently with a smile.

Kanji was shocked, blinking in confusion, "But… I thought thatcha liked that name better."

She laughed softly, toying with the bow on her uniform, "I don't like the idea of being a flower so much anymore. Flowers are pretty but mostly useless, only providing food for others and eventually they will wilt and die. I'd much rather be a scary, four-armed god of death, wouldn't you?"

Her blunt wit shocked him further, shocking him to the point of laughing. She wore a cheeky grin, and giggled along with him.

"A goddess is powerful, and, the goddess, Kali can do exactly what she wants. I'd like to powerful too… just in a different way."

Kanji chuckled again, winking at her, "How'd that story go again?"

"Oh I never really…wanted to research it. All I know is that she's often shown holding the severed head of her…husband, I think?"

"Well that better not happen!" Kanji joked, bringing out a little giggle from Kali.

"N-Not that you'd need to worry about that," Kanji noticed that little stutter and it confused him, what was it that made her so embarrassed all of a sudd- Oh. Husband. Now, he was the one blushing.

"A-Anyway!" She chirped suddenly, flicking little threads of hair out of her face nervously, "How come you're up here on your own?"

Ah, he realised, I've been caught.

He sighed and decided to stop running, "I've been up here 'cuz I felt guilty for not protectin' you that night. I could have, I dunno, helped ya find your dad?"

Kali laughed softly, stepping closer to him, "I was taken that night, my father had found me earlier on. There was nothing you could have done."

"Well, it don't matter. I felt guilty so I spent my time up here fixin' this." He thrust his hand out, a prettily wrapped box resting on his palm.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise but did carefully take the box. Opening it, she saw her most precious possession sitting there, its fuzzy, little cat-head tilted to the side as if it had been wondering where she had been.

Kanji didn't see her reaction, too embarrassed to look at first. When he heard a little choke, he raised his head and saw her crying in joy.

The tears appeared to surprise her; she reached up and touched them, inspecting her fingertips "I haven't cried in a long time…" She looked up at him with a prettily tearful smile, "And this time it doesn't hurt."

Gently, she removed her precious plush toy from the box and cradled it against her chest. He had done a wonderful job fixing it but he had found that the stitching left a scar on the once perfect stuffed limb. He couldn't leave it like that and so he had knitted a tiny bandage to put over the top, a little red heart sewn onto it.

Kali was quiet for a few moments, just cradling her beloved toy against her heart. When she did finally speak, her tears had faded "Remember when we were in the other world? I spoke about my friend Valy?" Kanji nodded and she continued, "He was the one who bought me this doll. We were at a festival; I saw it on a stand and pestered him like mad to get it for me." She sighed softly, smiling at the hazy memories, "I always thought I'd marry him someday."

He felt his stomach sink and was about to apologise but she stopped him, leaning forward and pressing her finger lightly to his lips. Her smile told him that everything was alright and, for the first time, he really did believe her.