(Short, pointless chapter. My teachers are trying to kill me, just as I anticipated, and that is why I'm still updating very slowly. xP)

"Akira must've kept you busy on Friday, huh?" Emi questioned you on Monday. "What were you guys doing?"

You hadn't taken much time to think of an excuse... thinking back to a few weeks ago, you told Emi that Akira needed help finding Yuni again. Good, good. Emi wouldn't question Yuni's whereabouts if you were simply looking for her; it was as close to the truth as you could get.

"Oh, okay," she said, "I was having trouble texting Yuni all weekend... it's weird that she would escape and not go to the arcade first. I was worried about her."

You argued that that would probably be the first place Akira would look.

"I guess..."

You had a bad feeling Emi would soon suspect that something else was going on...

-.

One strange thing about Emi was that you had been talking to her frequently a little bit each day, yet while you were able to form bonds with others, you had yet to start one with her. You had assumed with her generosity and openness, you would've experienced some sort of link since you met her. But if you wanted to fully break the wall between the two of you, you would need to do more than the small talk you usually exchanged with her.

But is that what she wanted? Maybe the reason there was no link was because she simply didn't want another close and personal friend. But you liked Emi. Without her, you would've never met everyone else, and you would've never cared to play DDR in front of a crowd. She seemed sweet and outgoing, but that was about all you knew. You wanted to get to know her, whether you could form a link or not.

Wednesday, you asked her if you wanted to practice DDR. Her face lit up.

"Really? You want to go, just to play DDR?" she exclaimed. "Definitely! I'll meet you at your dorm at 3:00, okay?"

You agreed to it, and told her where your dorm was.

-.

It was raining, but as you and Emi walked to the arcade, she skipped happily every few minutes or so. The two of you each had an umbrella. No matter how much rain fell from the sky, nothing seemed to hurt Emi's high spirits.

"Sometimes I come here by myself," she rambled. "I love having someone to play with, though. Rage is usually working at his takoyaki stand. I really like his food, but I gotta do something to work it off, huh?"

You chuckled. You flattered her by saying she looked fine to you; a little fun food didn't hurt.

"Rage tells me that, too," she said. "I always thought it was typical boyfriend stuff. That, or a way to get me to eat his food. It's nice to hear that from you, Souji."

It was a long walk to the arcade. You tried to prolong the conversation (or at least your side of it; Emi always had something to say about whatever building, person, or object you walked by). You asked her how college was treating her.

"Oh, sometimes it's a drag," she complained. "The teacher in our class has called me after to talk sometimes. I guess I'm just not doing well on any quizzes. I've been thinking about looking for a tutor. But I'm doing well in my other classes. And I like how the environment's all different from high school."

You offered to help her with her homework sometimes. Just... not until Sunday, because you were rather busy until then.

"Oh, that'd be great! I like doing homework better with friends than with strangers." She skipped again. "I think we'll be really good friends, Souji."

There it was.

As her foot tapped the ground, you felt a wave of energy through your body. You were still as another link formed; the one between you and Emi. Even if you couldn't take her in the Shadow world, she was important to you, and you were important to her.

-.

The rain hadn't let up, and you tried once again to watch the Midnight Channel. Still, nothing appeared on your screen.

That foggy Thursday, just before you went to work, you ran into Devil Zukin, who had apparently been waiting for you.

"Are you sure you cannot see the Midnight Channel?" she questioned. "Nothing was there again, if that is of any interest to you."

You were relieved, and thanked her for the information.

"It leaves me to question... is it the television that doesn't work... or did someone do something to you?"

You pondered it, but you told her about how she and Rage were the only people to notice. You wanted to know what the two of them had in common, and what no one else had.

"No one else regularly stays up so late," she replied. "But I have requested that Yuni and Akira watch as well. She was in school until about an hour ago... I believe our group should meet before going to the arcade."

You agreed to talk to everyone Friday afternoon.

"I will gather the others," she informed. "See you tomorrow."

-.

Working in the hospital, you tried to get a feel for the layout of the building. It was only about four stories high, but you were nowhere near familiar with the location of each room. Thankfully, the numbering on the floors was similar, save for the locations of the check-in desks and cafeteria which made the numbering of the rooms a bit off.

You were on a mission to find 128 C when you ran into a familiar girl with long blue hair. Despite the fear of getting in trouble, you had to stop to see if that was really her.

Alice was just as surprised to meet you. "Oh! Souji, you work here?"

You confirmed that. You told her Zero got him the job... which you were supposed to be doing. You quickly apologized and said bye before continuing your search. Your one regret was you never asked her why she was there in the first place... was she there to visit someone? If she wanted to see a sick patient, perhaps it was something personal and it was better to leave her alone, anyway...

(I proofread this like days ago, please point out and oddities you find, especially cause I switched the last two scenes around at the last minute.)