Crimso's Notes V.2

Study hall! We finally get one only because our concert was yesterday and there was no need for band practice. It went over pretty well, I think. The other band had like twenty songs that were like… five minutes each. They were really, really, really good though. It was actually kind of boring aside from when I was playing. Yeah, listening to music is cool. Just… boring, if that's all that you're doing. I started counting the number of people who had iPhones and iPads, because everyone was recording on them. I lost count. Really, there's not much to do when you're waiting. The concert was fun any how.

Oh, and just curiously, Does anyone know why paragraph scrunches happen? I'm adding this after proofreading my chapter on FF and fixing up the ones that I can find. I do my work on Microsoft Word but I proofread here on the document editor. It's beyond me how that happens, and they are almost impossible to fix when I notice them in word. It's very annoying. Also, does anyone know how to remove the spaces FF puts in between paragraphs when you paste them on a word document? The document I have of GED has spaces in between each paragraph in the whole fanfiction, and it's starting to annoy me because 1. It looks bad 2. I want to count how many pages it is, and I can't do that with the spaces in between each paragraph. Yes, I'm adding this here because Crimso's Corner was looking too long. And now this is too. Great.

Note: I'm still focusing here on the characters, so we're not at the parts you probably want to see yet. Don't worry; it's not going to be too long until we move on from the introduction.

~~~~X~~~~

Chapter Nine: Pieces

Another day of school came and went. As usual, the children yet out cries of pure joy as they ran up from their seats and dashed out the door, some of them forgetting to push in their chair and some of them knocking into other children in the rush. The teacher simply sighed at such behavior, shook her head, and left the room along with the remainder of the younger children. The older kids didn't act nearly as excited about leaving as the younger ones, but they certainly were on the inside. Mion often labeled her days of work at school as a waste of time. She did, however, enjoy talking with the other students. That was really the only highlight Mion could find in school, and she was sure that the same thought was in everyone else's heads whenever they went to school. Really, who should spend their childhood doing a bunch of math problems when you could be enjoying your time playing with friends?

She sighed as she watched her friends walk out of the door. A part of her still told her that every day, after school, club activities would be waiting for her. However, that was no longer the case here. Such a club didn't exist. Sure, they were still good friends, but the lack of games and excitement made her quite sad. There just wasn't anything to look forward to after school without it. Well, maybe talking with her sister whenever she got her jobs with her grandmother done, but even then it wasn't nearly as exciting.

Mion slowly put away her stuff, and when she was done, she gave a quick glance to the locker that usually contained everything for club activities. Had it been her world, the locker would have been stuffed full of crazy outfits and games, and it would have been labeled a hazard to go near due to the sheer amount of items contained in it. Mion was really the only person who could open it without everything flooding out. How she did so was her own little secret.

She really did wish that she could get together and play games with her friends, just like in her own world. Okay, sure, playing with Keiichi that one time was pretty fun, but that wasn't enough. There weren't any punishment games and there just weren't enough people to make it seem the same. There were some good and bad about this world, she realized. She couldn't enjoy games like she could back in her own world, but people seemed a lot more happy with their lives in this world.

Well, whatever the case was, she was stuck. She had to be happy with what she had. Perhaps she would one day ask Keiichi to play with her again, and maybe ask Shion if she wanted to join in. Oh, Rika would probably enjoy it to considering how she acted in this world, and maybe Satoshi would like the games. He enjoyed them quite a bit when he was still present in her own world. Someday she would do so, maybe.

For now, she had to be concerned about fitting the final pieces of the puzzle together.

Mion slung her bag over her shoulder, like usual. Might as well go home and lie down. Maybe I'll take a nap or something, there's nothing to do at this time of day.

Suddenly, Mion heard frantic footsteps. In a flash, Mion realized that Satoshi had suddenly appeared in the doorway. The blonde-haired boy whipped right by her and began frantically looking around the room, much to the girl's confusion. Why did he suddenly come back?

"Huh? Oh, Shion. Have you seen my math notebook? I was walking home and then I remembered Rika had hidden it during lunch, and I forgot to look…" he suddenly spoke out as he looked about the room.

"Oh! Sure!" Mion did remember Rika deciding to play a little game and hide Satoshi's notebook, and he had said that he was going to look for it after he ate his lunch. However, he never did get to finish his lunch until about thirty seconds before the teacher walked in to end lunch period, so his math notebook went unlooked for. Mion hadn't seen where Rika had placed it, so it could really be anywhere. Rika in her world was usually a good trickster when it came to things like this, so she was sure that she would have put it in a place that no one would ever suspect…

Satoshi frowned as he looked under his desk. "Huh, you don't think that Rika put it in her bag and forgot to give it back?" he asked.

"I don't think that she would hide it in her bag, for some reason," Mion said. "But if that's really the case, you won't know until you look everywhere…"

Satoshi seemed to take her advice and began to look through the rest of the room. He pulled open the drawers and looked in the bins containing art supplies, and when he found nothing, he went to the drawers that had some tools that would be used in math class, like rulers or protractors. That was too obvious of a place, Mion realized, as it wasn't there. Satoshi sighed as he walked over to the teacher's desk and began to rummage through the many things on the desk, while Mion went over to the tables at the back of the room, where a lot of the art projects were placed.

"Not here," Satoshi said. "Are you having any luck, Shion?"

Mion shook her head. "Knowing Rika, I think she would put it in a tricky spot."

Satoshi rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, but where, then? I looked everywhere in this room."

Something struck her when he spoke those words. "Maybe it's not in the room, then! She could have put it in the teacher's office or something like that," Mion suggested.

"Ah, you're right!"

The two friends wandered out of the classroom and down the hallway, to the teacher's office. They really shouldn't be there without a teacher, but it didn't matter in this case. She wouldn't find out anyways. They pulled open the door to the teacher's office, and after confirming that there was indeed no one inside, they went in and began to search about.

The office was very crammed, as it had to have enough space for Chie and her desk, as well as some other furniture needed, such as the many shelves that she needed to carry papers and textbooks that she may need for teaching. Mion reached up to the textbooks and began to look through them, as it would be a good spot to hide another book. It wasn't there though, as Mion discovered after a while of searching through the top shelf.

She sighed and looked over to Satoshi, who was going through the papers on Chie's desk. He shook his head upon realizing that the book was not there and decided to look underneath.

Where else was there to look in this room? He had already gone through all of her desk, which would be the most likely spot for something like a book to be hidden, and then the shelf with all the textbooks didn't seem to have it, either. She looked about. Really, those things were the only things in this whole room. There were stacks of paper lying about here and there, but no books as Mion could tell by a single glance. Huh, I don't know…

That's when a ridiculous idea popped into her head. The girl turned around and eyed the only remaining object in the room. Could it be…?

Mion opened it, and sure enough, there sat the book. She smiled widely as she reached out and took the book. The mystery was solved.

"Hey, Satoshi-kun! I found the book!" she cried out, waving the book back and forth frantically.

The boy turned around, and a delighted look plastered over his face when he spotted the book in the girl's hand. "Oh, thank you so much, Shion!" he cried out. He took the book from her outstretched hands and looked down at it, smiling. He opened it, flipped through the pages a little to confirm that it was indeed his math notebook, and then closed it when he confirmed that it was indeed the object that he had been looking for.

"Well, that's good," Satoshi said. "Now I don't have to worry about Chie yelling at me for not doing my homework again." He allowed the book to fall to his side along with one of his hands, and he smiled sweetly. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay now. Thanks again, Shion!"

"It's no problem. I'm just glad to help out!" Mion said. "It's not like it wasted any of my time or anything like that. I have nothing to do, anyways."

"Yeah, I'm still sorry, though. I really should have looked before…" Satoshi told her apologetically.

Mion laughed. "Haha! You don't have to be. And really, I don't think you would have found it anyways, even during lunch. Really…" she turned around. "…Who hides a book in the refrigerator?"

~~~~X~~~~

A few minutes later, the two friends found themselves in front of the school. Satoshi was standing there, kicking dirt with his shoe as he looked down at it and the swirl of dust that was created with each kick. Each time he tried to outdo the last, making a cloud of dirt bigger than the last. Mion wasn't sure what to say to him, and she had nowhere to be, so she simply stood there and watched. Eventually, it seemed that Satoshi got a little bored of the game, as the dust clouds created weren't getting any bigger at all.

"Hey, you said earlier that you didn't have anything to do, right?" Satoshi spoke. For some reason, his tone seemed to be a little troubled, though Mion had no clue as to why that would be.

"Yeah, that's right," Mion responded, sounding a little confused. "Why?"

"I really don't want to go home. There's nothing for me to do at home, either. I was going to do some shopping, but Satoko insisted on going by herself when I said that I needed to fetch my math notebook…" He kicked the dirt once last time before allowing his foot to remain at a standstill. "I think it would be nice if you were to stay with me, seeing as you don't have anything that you need to do, either…"

Mion was surprised at the sudden request. Well, why not? Hanging out with the boy would be a lot better than being alone at home by herself, for one. Satoshi wasn't usually the completely playful type and he was sometimes a little shy, but he was certainly fun to talk to and be around. It would be fun, Mion decided.

"Oh, sure! I'm fine with that. I really don't have anything to do back at home other than lie down on my futon or something boring like that," she replied.

Satoshi looked up from the ground and turned towards the girl, a thankful smile on his face. "Thanks, Shion. I really appreciate it."

Mion wasn't really sure what to say after that. What were they going to do, anyways? She didn't bring her cards today so that wasn't an option, and she wasn't sure that he would want to play cards anyways. They could always play another game around the garden area or run off into the forest. Actually, that was a good idea. They didn't even need to go off and play, but hanging around and just walking in the forest area would be nice. That area was generally peaceful and nice to be around.

"Let's go that way," Mion suggested as she pointed a finger towards the pathway that lead near the forest area. "I think we should talk a walk. It would be peaceful."

"That sounds good. I've been meaning to clear my head with a good walk…"

That decided, the two friends wandered down the dirty pathways of Hinamizawa, at first not saying very much to each other. Satoshi appeared to be in deep thought, so Mion decided not to bother him and think about her own matters. Aside from the different fact about Satoshi being present in this world, he seemed to be similar in personality to the Satoshi she knew back at her own Hinamizawa. She couldn't actually spot a single difference in his personality. This was similar to Keiichi, but Keiichi didn't even have a single difference, while Satoshi just had the fact that he was here.

The thing changed in his past that made it so that he was present at this time did not factor in with his personality. That was something she was now sure of. She was pretty sure it had to do with his aunt's death, so that would make sense. …Wait, if that didn't happen then, what did that mean for his aunt? She had considered it a few times but never really brought it up. It was always a little too odd to just bring up on the spot, and even right now it would be a little too odd to bring up the topic of his aunt. I'll have to find out about that. But… I think that first, I should start up a normal conversation and see where it leads us.

"You know, this is my favorite time of year," Mion spoke up, choosing a random topic.

Satoshi looked towards her, surprised at the sudden conversation. "Huh? Oh… yeah, me too. These summer days are really hot, but at least they're pretty. It's much better than… say, winter. It snows too much here in the winter for me to enjoy it…"

"Ha! I like the winter, personally. Winter used to be one of the few times when I was with Onee," Mion spoke, casually bringing up the topic of her own past. She was hoping that such a thing would lead to Satoshi talking about his own. "Our birthday is in winter, you see. The Sonozaki family decided to be nice and allow us to see each other on our birthday. We would always enjoy that day by throwing snowballs at each other and having wars! Ha! That's why winter is special to me. I'd understand why you wouldn't like it, though."

Satoshi looked curious. "I knew that you lived in Okinomiya, but not that the Sonozaki family didn't let you two see each other…"

She nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty bad. They didn't like me because I was born second to the family, so they decided that they would keep me in Okinomiya without having any contact to my family. A few days before I moved here to Hinamizawa, I saw my sister for the first time in a year." She looked up at the sky above her, which was slowly fading into a gradient of pink and yellow. It was getting a bit late, though she found that she didn't care. She just needed to fit this piece of the puzzle in and she could be satisfied. "So, as you can see, our contact has been very limited.

"Wow," Satoshi said, amazed. "That's harsh…"

"It was harsh. But I can see Onee every day now, so it's nothing too bad anymore. I look back on the past and get upset at all the times we haven't been able to share together, but I can look forward to a better future now that I am living with her. It's not just our birthday we spend together now." She wasn't even sure that this all applied to her in this world, but it wasn't like Shion was going to bring up the topic with him. At least, she didn't think so. Well, she could always come up with an excuse later if she did.

"I could see why winter would be very special to you, then." He glanced to the side and watched as a buzzing cicada flew off the bark of a tree, flying right by his face as it went on its way. "But I like these mid-July days most of all. At least it's not boiling like in August here. It tends to cool down around this time, anyways, so I'm all good right now."

Mion was a little annoyed that the conversation happened to change like that. She would have to redirect it towards her past again, but she didn't want it to seem too unnatural and forced. "I like July, too. It's been getting hotter and hotter these days, hasn't it? But yes, at least it's not August yet…"

"The thought of the heat makes me cringe at times," Satoshi sighed.

"I know how that feels," she replied.

Mion was unsure that this conversation was going to get anywhere. In the direction that it was headed, they would probably end up talking about the weather the whole time and nothing else. She felt a little rude trying to barge into his life and past like she was trying to do, but she needed to know this puzzle piece in order to perhaps unlock the answer. She needed to find a way to shift the conversation to the subject that she wanted to know, but she wasn't sure how to do so. She supposed that, for now, she would just keep up with the conversation and hope it didn't turn into a conversation where all they did was comment on the weather and the area around them.

"Summer has some good memories, though," Mion pointed out. "I sometimes came over here to visit the Watanagashi festival whenever it came, and I would have quite a bit of fun with my sister whenever I went. Well, that doesn't mean I always went. I didn't go this year."

"Yeah, I was thinking that if you were there, I would have noticed," Satoshi responded. "I didn't see two Mions, just one. I'm kind of sad that you missed it, though. I think that it would have been fun to be at the festival with you. The more people you have, the funnier it usually gets. It was really fun this year, but it would have been even more fun had you been there! The year before that was the same. Really, each year the Watanagashi festival is a blast."

"I haven't ever had this many friends, so I don't know if that's true, but I bet it is! Being with you guys during the festival would have been a blast." Mion tried very hard not to slip. She did know that hanging out at the festival with a bunch of friends was a bundle of fun, but she couldn't say that now, as she hadn't really had any friends in this world aside from Shion. Whenever she went to the Watanagashi, it would always be in a group of people. Last Watanagashi, in her world, she had spent the time with the whole club and they had had a blast. The year before that was similar, too. She had gone with her club, which at the time consisted of herself, Rika, Rena, Satoko, and Satoshi.

Wait a moment. Satoshi didn't go to the festival the year before last. He was out killing his aunt. He had said a few moments ago that the year before last, he had gone to the Watanagashi festival. So, if he was there, then did that really mean that his aunt wasn't dead?

"How was the Watanagashi this year compared to the previous years?" she asked curiously, hoping it would answer her burning question.

Satoshi scratched the top of his head and didn't say anything for a good while, as he was in deep thought. When he finally did speak, he sounded a little unsure. "Hm… well, it was about the same as usual. Still fun, though. We always spend the time tasting all the food at the booth and just hang around. Rika usually insists on playing some of the activities, though, which we do do but they're a little too tough for me."

It did sound different from what the club usually did during the Watanagashi, though that was because the whole thing was set up to be a club activity. She ran the club, and since she wasn't in Hinamizawa in this world before, the club wasn't there and no one played the "Battle of the Evil Sevens" as she had dubbed the club activities last year, though the number tended to change. There had been seven students last year in the club. Herself, Rika, Rena, Satoko, Keiichi, Shion wasn't in the club at the time but she played anyways, and a girl named Hanyuu. She was apparently Rika's cousin who had come to Hinamizawa temporally, but she moved out a few weeks after. It was a larger number than the usual "Battle of the Evil Fives" or "Fours." It still sounded fun, however. Tasting the food at all the stands was also something they usually did, but most of the time in the form of a eating contest.

"…What about Satoko? What does she do?" she had to ask.

Satoshi looked down at his feet and watched as they slammed against the ground. "Well," he started up, sounding a little sorrowful, "I always try to get her to join in each year. I tell her that the games would be a blast if we all played together and that we would have a ton of fun hanging out and other things, but she always refuses. This year I practically dragged her over to the shooting gallery, but she refused to play with us. When we had left, I learned she went ahead and played a round by herself. She had gotten some candy she had eaten up immediately afterwards, as well as a few objects she decided to stuff in her room. So it's not like she doesn't like playing, it's just that she doesn't like being around us. She was more than happy to go off and play the shooting gallery on her own; she just refused because we were there at the time. She tends to do that a lot with other games, too. Not only that, but she did the same thing the year before. I know she tries to hide it, but she does enjoy those kinds of games. If only she would just play with all of us…"

Satoko did love games, as Mion knew from her world. Satoko was next to her on the list of the number of wins in the club activities, just barely beating out Rika. At least one part of her wasn't different. It didn't sound like how she was at the festival the year before last, though. It was then that she was been abused by her uncle and aunt and refused to have a lot of fun. If their aunt and uncle had been there at the time, then why didn't Satoko act all depressed? Were their aunt and uncle just never there in the first place?

"I love games, too. Maybe she can join me in a game sometime, if you manage to convince her. That would change her right away," Mion suggested.

Satoshi sighed. "Well, that's never going to happen. I know you would be able to get her out and near us if you had the chance to play with her, but she's just not going to play with you. Trust me, Shion…"

"I know. But if one day it happens, come to me," Mion said. "It seems like she just needs to be picked up a little!"

"I hope so."

Mion realized that they were at a good place right now. Perhaps she could ask him now? Well, she couldn't just go up and ask about his uncle and aunt, as she wouldn't even know that they could be living with their uncle and aunt in this world. So, instead, she decided that she would ask something else, something that would lead to the same answer but worded differently.

"But I don't get it. Why is Satoko like this?" she asked.

Satoshi shook his head. "I have no idea. You see, Satoko… she thinks that she's really strong, and she's right. Satoko is the kind of person that doesn't need to depend on anyone. She's independent and is highly capable of looking after herself. If I just left her in a random house with no food or water or anything for a few days, I would probably come back to find that she was perfectly fine. That's the kind of person she is. She doesn't need anyone to help her, and because of that, she thinks it applies to friends and having them or not. It's like she's trying to prove her strength or something," he answered. His gaze shifted towards the pink and yellow sky, focusing on it as if to ease the tension that was caused by talking about such a subject.

…That didn't sound like her at all. Satoko was never the type that could completely rely on herself. Back when her uncle and aunt were in Hinamizawa, she always clung onto her older brother and relied on him to protect her, and that was something that caused high levels of stress in both siblings. Every day she would cry for her older brother to protect her, and he would do so. When Satoshi left, she became a little better, but she was often reliant on her friends to help her out of sticky situations, be it big or small.

Wait a second. Satoshi killed his aunt because he wanted to end Satoko's suffering when her level of tolerance to the abuse grew too low and she was relying on him for every single thing. In this world, Satoko didn't have any suffering, judging by what Satoshi had just said, and there would have been no reason for him to kill his aunt. I found the connection between the two of them! Now, I only have to confirm that the aunt and uncle aren't there, or that they are still there, and I'll have almost all the things that didn't occur! Then, I can find the parallel and work out my situation!

"There's nothing that can drive her to depend on someone else? That's a little odd. Most children her age tend to rely a lot on the people around them," Mion commented.

He nodded. "Not a single piece of help is needed. I do stick up for her at times, like the time when your sister got a little too violent around her a few days ago, but that's about it."

"Really?" she said.

"Yeah, really. It's surprising, really. You know, for a girl that's gone through so much like her, I'd expect that she would rely a little more on me. She has a higher tolerance for the things going on around her than anyone would expect from someone her age," he responded.

There it was… she was getting so close to the answer. She just needed to keep this up.

"Has it really been that bad for you two?" Mion asked.

Satoshi nodded gravely. "It's been… terrible over the past few years. I don't think you know this, but my parents passed away on a trip one day. Satoko was there with them at the time, but she was off playing in the meadows somewhere else when it happened. Apparently, the railing was a little loose, and they leaned a little too far… and they fell down. The police officer found Satoko and told her what had happened, and then informed me shortly after. Then, our uncle and aunt came over to take care of us, but…" The boy looked down at the ground again, a look of pain on his face. "Ah… they… aren't nice people. They abuse us daily, and you would think that Satoko would fall under the pressure, but she's actually good at putting up with them. I… kind of wish that I had that kind of power. I know it's a little lame that the older brother is weaker than the little sister, but I guess I'm not that kind of person." There was a look of sorrow combined with a tad of frustration on his face, and it remained pointed at the ground.

"And your uncle and aunt are still here…?" Mion said.

"Yeah."

There it was. That was the information she had needed. Now, everything was confirmed. Satoko's independence and the fact that she did not need Satoshi to protect her caused Satoshi to not murder his aunt, and thus, both of them were still there. That was the difference in their past.

And yet, at the same time, Mion felt a little empty knowing that those two people were still there, like there was a problem left unsolved. She knew just how much they hurt the two of them, and just how much of a horrible person they both were. It seemed that Satoko was fairing better, but… judging by the look on Satoshi's face, he didn't seem to feel the same way. Mion could understand why. He must feel a little lame for not being as strong as his sister in this world, though he seemed to be better than he was in the real world.

"…That's horrible. You should call child abuse on them…" Mion whispered.

"I… tried. But they made me say that everything was okay…" he said. "So if I were to call them again and if they were to do the same thing, then… well, the result wouldn't be different… so it's pretty much hopeless." He looked up at the sky, attempting to distract himself. "But it's okay, you know. Satoko can put up with them… and I'm fine… even if I'm not as strong as she can be, I'm fine. I can hang in there. It's not like they're going to kill us… they need us to do their chores."

Satoshi sounded horribly broken, like he was trying to convince himself of the words that he was speaking. Mion knew that what he was saying wasn't the truth, and that on the inside, he was much more badly hurt than he seemed.

"Don't lie, Satoshi-kun. Those people are hurting you, aren't they?" she said.

He shook his head. "No… it's okay. I can deal with them."

Mion doubted it. She really hated how he was trying to convince himself that he was just fine, when it was clear that he was suffering. Perhaps he knew deep down inside that he was just feeding himself lies to make himself feel better, but Mion knew that that was when it hurt the most. If he continued to do this, it wouldn't mean very much good for him. Perhaps it would even lead to him murdering his aunt and the whole scenario with his disappearance happening again!

"Listen, Satoshi-kun. Don't lie to yourself!" she cried out. She stopped in her tracks, causing the boy to do the same as he turned towards her. "You don't need to tell yourself that you're okay! Just call the child services in secret or something like that, and they'll get rid of them for you! Look, you can't live with abusive relatives forever. One day, no matter how strong Satoko looks, or how strong you an act, they will break you forever! If you call the services, can fix everything very quickly! Don't do this to yourself!"

Satoshi just smiled weakly at her. He walked over to where she was standing, and then looked into her eyes. Mion felt one of his hands reach out towards her head, and then begin petting her gently on her head, going through locks of green hair with his fingers.

"I'm fine, Shion. But thank you for being worried for me…" he told her gently. "I really appreciate it. You're a really nice person… you're one of my best friends."

He drew his hand back, and then shot her a more genuine smile. It reminded Mion of how Shion described him when she first met him, of how gently she said he patted her head, of how sweet and caring his smile was…

"Thanks, Satoshi-kun…" was the only thing that Mion found the words to say.

Satoshi looked back up at the sky, which was now completely painted by the colors of the sunset. He let out a large sigh. "If I don't get back soon, my uncle and aunt are going to yell at me again, so it's best if I get going. But thank you once again, Shion. I really enjoyed talking with you." He smiled widely at her. "Can you talk to me again like this sometime? Maybe not about this subject matter, but about anything. If it's just to stop me from going home to my uncle and aunt, that's fine, but I really want to know you a little better. Besides, you never have anything to do after school, do you?"

Mion was surprised at the sudden request, but she found herself shaking her head anyways. "No, I never have anything to do…"

"Then can we to do this tomorrow, too?" he asked. "I mean, it's fine if you can't. It's a little selfish of me to ask that of you…" There was a slight look of guilt in his purple eyes, which caused Mion to react quite quickly.

"No!" Mion cried out. "I'd be glad to talk to you again! As you said, I have nothing to do after school, anyways! We can do this as often as you want!"

A soft, warm smile broke out across his face. He turned back towards her, and once again allowed his warm hand to touch the top of Mion's head, ruffling her green locks gently. "Thank you so much, Mion. It means a lot to me, really." He looked down directly into her green eyes with her purple ones, genuine happiness and a hint of affection in them. "I'm so glad to have a friend like you."

Mion nodded. "Of course! I'd love to get to know you better. It's nothing, really."

"Well, it means a ton to me." He looked back up at the sky, and then back into the distance. "…I have to run. Meet me outside of the classroom tomorrow, okay?"

"Mhm! See ya, Satoshi-kun!"

"Yeah, bye, Shion!"

Mion stood there and watched as the boy ran off into the distance, his whole body eventually disappearing into the sunset. For a while, Mion just stood there, thinking about what had just happened. Perhaps, with this, she would be able to know this world's Satoshi a little better, and perhaps she would be able to make a close friend out of him.

She was fairing pretty well in this world, wasn't she?

This place really wasn't too bad, Mion decided.

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Crimso's Corner V.3

First update on a Saturday? I think so. I'm sorry I didn't upload yesterday. I usually update every Friday, but… I got distracted, and then I realized that I didn't have enough time to finish the chapter, and then I decided I would just write the rest on Saturday, and then I decided that I would upload on Sunday to make up for that (which I hope actually happens.) So I apologize. That aside, wasn't FF acting a little funny yesterday? No one could access their accounts and thus, no fanfictions were updated. Why is it that this website has those kinds of problems often? I remember when I was uploading the first chapters of GED, it would barely let you get into the update story thing and you would have to refresh and refresh and refresh just to upload one chapter… and then there were countless other errors. There was that one time in between the last three chapters of GED and the first three chapters of BFB where my FF was so slow I couldn't upload anything without having to wait an hour for it to load, but that was my computer, not FF. Not that I don't love this website. Really, I do.

Okay, so I hope to get the next chapter up tomorrow. However, there are a few things you should know. If it goes according to plan, the next chapter will be longer than the others. I don't know how much longer, but probably at least two thousand to three thousand words longer than normal. Don't be surprised if I don't upload tomorrow, and rather on Monday or Tuesday. I'm aiming for tomorrow, but if that doesn't happen, my target is Monday. I do hope I will not have to wait until Tuesday to upload, but you never know. Mondays are pretty much free for writing aside from homework, but I manage on Sundays, don't I? Things should change around the next chapter, but remember that a lot of this fanfiction is development. I can't just pull the darker chapters out of a magical hat without the build up first. That's why my fanfictions tend to be long, so I hope you can hang in there. Nothing would be good without build up.

I heard Mion and Shion's birthday is today, by the way, so here's a happy birthday to the two of them! How old would they be, now? Assuming they are seventeen in 1983, they would be… forty-six? If my terrible math is correct. Someone correct me if I happen to be wrong... math isn't my best subject this year. Wow. Happy forty-sixth birthday, Shion and Mion! According to Matsuri, their birthday is 2/11/66. That's a symbolic date, now isn't it? There are two elevens and sixes, and then the number two. I think it stands for the fact that they are twins and share their birthday. I know the VN says their birthday is in late summer, but everyone else's birthday is in summer, so I ignore that. Plus I like the symbolism in 2/11/66, and just the way it looks. Plus, it's a specified date rather than a vague one. So happy birthday again!

Thus ends my (annoying) rambling.

~Crimso