"Huh?" Maru blinked at Hanako. "Ah, not a clue, honestly. Tea room?"

Hanako waited a few moments to answer his question. "M...maybe."

"Well hell, want to go investigate?" He smiled. "Could do with another meal with friends." He paused. "Gets a bit lonely without, actually."

Hisao passed through the door, and Hanako tensed again.

"Ah, hey Hisao." Maru nodded to him. "Got tired of whatever that just was, too?"

"Ah, it's not that," Hisao replied, and looked at Hanako. "Actually, I came out here to see if you needed to find Lilly. She was looking for you in the morning but I guess you have missed each other."

"Yeah, about that, I forgot to ask why Shizune was so pissed when I came back in the room," Maru said. "What'd you even do?"

"Er, well I..." Hisao glanced at the room to the door. "Can we talk about this elsewhere? They're still inside," he whispered.

Maru blinked. "Oh, yeah." He looked at Hanako. "To the tea room, then?"

"Yeah, we can come with you," Hisao said. "If it's okay."

Hanako nodded fractionally, still on guard, her shoulders stiff like wood.

I get the feeling that she might be more comfortable by herself, but it's too late to back off now, Hisao reflected. She has this really troubled expression she seems to wear almost constantly, one that makes me constantly be on guard myself. I wonder why. I kind of understand why she always seems to be so wary... or maybe more like, why there could be a person like her. But I still have no idea how I should act around such a person.

"Well, shall we then?" Maru gestured with his prosthetic in the general direction of the stairwell. Huh. You know, she seems tense. Wonder why. Well. Maybe it's because these two strange dudes are here, when she was expecting her friend? Ehhh... He started to feel regret for inviting himself along.

Hanako merely nodded and started walking.

Hisao followed suit, and soon outpaced her, which forced her to skip a little to meet his pace. He noticed, and slowed down to match her speed.

Maru himself brought up the rear, and raised an eyebrow as the two matched speed. He looked around. "So, how'd you piss her off?"

"I turned my back on her," Hisao said. "I don't know, but it feels like the first time anyone's done so."

"Ah." Maru nodded. "Yeah, that all... got out of hand fast. I mean, that really escalated quickly." I also think I may have put that in the wrong order, but whatever.

"You should probably try to make up with her, you know," Hisao said.

"U-um," Hanako said, just on the verge of hearing. "What..."

"Huh?" Maru blinked. "Oh, yeah... Shizune and Lilly had a confrontation this morning."

"And then you had to go and join in on it," Hisao noted.

"Er," Maru replied. "I'm sorry, I can't help it sometimes. Particularly when she's already got me riled up like that." He sighed. "I mean, she's probably all right, but damn if she doesn't push my buttons."

"You really should be patient about that sort of thing," Hisao said.

"Yeah..." Maru shrugged. "Oh hey, stairwell, my old nemesis, we meet again..."

Come to think of it, he's not had good luck with stairwells, has he? Hisao glanced behind him. There was the dorm, and he was talking about it when I was with Rin... He started to descend the stairs slowly. "I guess the lack of a leg would be a probably be a problem for that."

"Little bit," Maru admitted. "I certainly had an easier time of it beforehand. Eh, such is life."

As the three approached the tea room, Hanako spoke. "She's... she's a nice person, I think. I-it's just..." She looked down.

Hisao blinked. "Who, Shizune?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Maru admitted with a sigh. "I guess I'll... try and make up to her, or something, I dunno." Or just try not to talk to her. Less likely of accidentally escalating things further that way. He grit his teeth. Or, you know, I could man up and just go apologize for being an ass. Though she's been an ass likewise, so hm. Eh, fuck it, I'll just roll with it as the situation calls for.

Hisao opened the door to the tea room and looked inside. "It's empty."

"Huh." Maru scratched his chin. "Well, er..." Huh. Don't know where she'd be, otherwise. He shrugged. "I've got nothing."

"Hanako," Hisao began, "have you looked somewhere else already?"

"J-just at the library...," Hanako said. "I was reading..."

Hisao nodded. So she does spend the classes she skips at the library. "Ah, so not exactly a thorough search then. Well, if I had to guess, she'd be in her own class like Shizune said, right?"

"R-right." With the slightest of nods, Hanako agreed with Hisao's reasoning.

Hisao suppressed a wince. God, she's being so awkward. It's like I need double layered silk gloves with padding to even begin interacting with her.

Maru put his fist and prosthetic on his hips with a frown. "Well, back up then?"

Hisao winced. Of course, maybe it's just that Maru's here. He may be an alright in his own way, but he seems all but blind to the awkwardness that she exhibits. I've heard of people who have difficulties with body language; I wonder if he's one of them.

"U-um..." She looked at Maru for a moment, then nodded. "Y...yes."

Maru nodded and started walking slowly the way they had come.

Hisao glanced at Hanako as the two of them followed Maru. Either way, some small talk might help her become a bit more used to us. "So you and Lilly usually hang out together after class, right?"

She looked down. "Y-yes."

Hisao frowned slightly. I'm not quite sure what I expected from her answer, nor why I even asked the question. That much was rather obvious, after all. She doesn't seem like the type to cultivate a social circle, either, so I suspect that Lilly and Maru may well be her only friends. "Must be a pain being in different classes, I'm guessing."

Hanako gave a sharp, almost reflexive nod.

Compared to Lilly's careful thought about her actions and speech, Hisao reflected, Hanako hastens to make her answers as prompt and short as possible.

"Lilly... comes by the classroom, though," Hanako said with a small smile. "Even when she's busy..."

Maru smiled and nodded. "Gotta love friends." And now I have that Queen song in my head. Friends will be friends, right to the eeeeeeend!

Hanako nodded.

Hisao blinked. Evidently she appreciates the fact that Lilly goes out of her way to help her. It's pretty cute, really. No need to say more, I think we're all content that the discussion's reached an end.

Maru's brow furrowed ever so slightly. Suddenly, it's quiet. I'm not sure though. It sort of feels like it may be one of those comfortable silences? Hmm...

As they ascended the stairs back to the hallway, they were met by a group of students heading downstairs like a school of fish moving from one feeding area to another. They kept mostly to themselves, but before Hisao could notice her doing so, Hanako had moved around behind him.

"Hey," Hisao began, "are you all right?"

"Huh?" Maru blinked and looked behind him.

Hanako recoiled slightly. "J-just keep going..."

The students passed without as much as a second glance, and Hanako took up position by Hisao's side again as they entered the hall, her momentary reprieve from her anxiety all but snatched away.

"Uh..." Maru frowned. "What happened?"

"N-nothing," Hanako said as she looked down.

Hisao blinked. "Are you sure?"

"Y-yes," she said. "I-it's fine."

Maru scratched his chin for a moment, then shrugged. "Well... if you say so," he said, and continued. Well, if she doesn't want to say, not my place to butt in, I think.

Hisao frowned. It's obviously not alright. It isn't as if I've never known a shy person before, or even shy girls, but Hanako seems pretty far beyond what I'd call normal in her fear of other people. If it weren't for Lilly acting as a mediator, I doubt Hanako would have even been able to walk with us like this. She seems to completely shut down in the presence of others.

After they made their way up the stairs, the noise that came from Lilly's classroom is audible from halfway down the hallway.

Huh, Maru thought. What's all this, then?

I wasn't expecting such a din at all, Hisao thought. "Well, I guess we found her..." This wasn't hard. Did Hanako come here first then come to us for backup, I wonder? Well, if that's true, then at least she's starting to trust us a little. That can only be a good thing.

"Mmm," Maru agreed.

Eventually, the three of them reached the door to class 3-2. Hanako less than subtly positioned herself behind Hisao, and Maru opened the door. Inside was a hive of activity, seemingly every student in the class talking at once as they worked hurriedly on their separate tasks. The paint cans, decorations, and banners being made indicated it was for the upcoming school festival.

"Huh," Maru said as he looked in. "Well, there's Lilly, all right."

With a couple of students gathered around her as she stood at the front of the class, she seemed to be in charge of the preparations, or at least busy organizing them.

The three of them carefully negotiated a path through the various students hunched over the floor for a lack of desk space.

Hisao raised a hand entirely out of habit as they finally reached her.

"Hey Lilly," Maru said.

"Hi, Lilly," Hisao added.

Lilly perked her head up as she broke off talking to a noticeably smaller girl who must have been her classmate, trying to listen as best she can. "Sorry, who..."

"Ah, sorry," Hisao said. "Hisao."

"And Maru," Maru added. "We come bearing a Hanako." He glanced around for a moment and frowned.

"H-hi," Hanako added.

She's pretty skittish, Hisao reflected. Considering the number of people around, it isn't too hard to work out why. Oddly, Maru seems slightly on edge as well, which I wouldn't have expected.

Lilly took a moment's pause to assess the situation before she turned to the other student once again. "For the moment, just ask Moriya for his advice. Kenji's busy with painting one of the banners already."

A quick nod and she bounced off, fingers carefully sliding along the wall's face for orientation.

Kenji? Maru frowned. You don't suppose... He glanced around the room again.

Hisao blinked. Wait... Kenji? That Kenji? He quickly turned about and leaned to the side to see past Hanako and Maru.

Sure enough, in a corner of the room, Kenji's hunched over a sheet of cloth as he painted it. His eyes remained only inches from the brush.

Hisao frowned and glanced at Maru. It reminds me of how close he had to be to make out our faces when we met him.

Maru glanced back at Hisao, and winced. Yeah, I see him too, buddy.

"Sorry about that," Lilly said with a smile. "Our class doesn't have many students with even partial eyesight, so they're in high demand."

"It's cool," Maru said with a smile and a shrug.

That's right, Hisao thought, class 3-2 was specially for students with poor vision. Preparing for the festival must be pretty arduous for them. "Need a hand? I could give you some help if you need some. Maybe Hanako could too." A chance to set her mind on something would do her good, but I doubt she has the courage to ask outright.

Hanako quickly nodded in affirmation, making Hisao feel confident that he made the right move.

"Ah, that's right," Maru said. "Sorry, I should have offered sooner; I can help as well." Not like I had anything better to do!

Lilly gave a noticeable sigh of relief. "Ah, that's good. This might actually get finished before everyone goes off to dinner, now." She clasped her hands together. "Would you be able to help Kenji? It's a big task for him to do, but nobody else can help."

"Heh, sure," said Maru.

"Yeah," Hisao said, "we'll go help him, then. He knows what needs doing, right?"

"That's right," Lilly confirmed. "Just ask if you have any problems."

The three of them chorused in assent, and began another trek across the classroom.

"Ow!" A boy clutched his hand as Maru passed.

"Ah damn, sorry," Maru said with a wince. "Damn prosthetic gets everywhere, you alright?"

The boy rubbed his injured hand. "Ow, ow, yeah, I think so..."

"You sure, man?" Maru scratched the back of his head. "Because I can take you to the nurse if you need it..."

The boy flexed his fingers. "Ah, no, that's alright. Nothing's broken. Just... watch where you step."

"I'm truly sorry," Maru said, and then sighed. "I'm still not... quite used to this. Not as I should be, probably."

The boy opened his mouth to say something, then closed it with a nod. "...I see. Well, there's no harm done, just try not to do it again."

"Heh... Yeah." Maru grimaced. "Sorry again..."

"What'd you do, Maru?" Hisao frowned at Maru's back.

"Ehh..." Maru turned carefully, being doubly sure not to step on anyone. "Demonstrated my fine clumsiness skills." He gave a pained smile.

Hisao shook his head. Somehow, I'm not surprised.

"Just a sec..." Maru made his way over to Hisao and Hanako. "Right."

The three made it without further difficulty to Kenji, who sat crouched on the floor, his gaze fixed on the white calico in front of him.

"Hey Kenji," Hisao said.

Kenji didn't respond. Instead, he continued to drag his paint-soaked brush along the large half-painted kanji that was sketched on the sheet in pencil.

"Oi, Kenji," Maru said, "Earth to Kenji, come in Kenji, over."

"Huh?" Kenji sat up with a worried expression. "What? ...Play it cool, Kenji, it's just your imagination..." He rubbed his fingers furiously on his scarf, getting paint on it.

"I..." Maru grimaced. So. Hard. Not. To. Be. Sarcastic.

"It's us, Kenji," Hisao said. "Hisao and-"

"Oh," Kenji said. "For a moment, I thought you were a psychic spy."

"Guah," Maru added.

"Ah!" Kenji jumped slightly. "The psychic spy!"

Maru facepalmed. "...I will never live that down, will I?"

It would seem not, Hisao thought. Of course, you sort of brought it on yourself.

"So what do you want?" Kenji frowned at them.

Maru bit his tongue in an effort to keep from suggesting anything regarding brain-thoughts.

"We were just going to help with the banner," Hisao replied. The sound of Hanako's footsteps as she walked out from behind him reminded him that she was there. "Hanako, Maru, and I, that is."

"H... Hello," Hanako said.

"Oh." Kenji shrugged. "Er, hey. I guess that's okay."

As soon as Hanako enters the equation, Hisao reflected with a blink, his demeanor takes a complete about-face. His sudden faux-hospitality is slightly unsettling. He paused. Oh, right. Women. On second thoughts, this may not have been a great idea after all.

Maru stared at Kenji for a moment before sighing. Well, this'll be interesting...

The three of them grudgingly sat down on the opposite side of the cloth banner to Kenji, taking note of the small paint tins on the ground around it.

Hisao blinked. Class 3-2... noodle stall? "You guys selling noodles at the festival on Sunday?"

"If so," Maru began, "be wary of his noodly appendage, for the flying spaghetti monster does not approve of competition." He paused. "That's a complete lie, actually. He doesn't even give a fuck."

Yet another random interjection from the resident master, Hisao thought with a sigh.

"Yeah," Kenji said, "some stalls outside. Or something."

Maru nodded.

Hisao frowned. "Or something?" His noncommittal nature sparks a fair amount of suspicion on my behalf. The task at hand comes first, though. "So how do you want to split this? We do borders while you do the text? Or do you want to switch and do the borders?"

"Text is mine," Kenji said emphatically. "You do borders."

Hisao blinked. He has surprisingly strong feelings on the topic.

"This is bordering on strange," Maru noted.

Hisao looked at him with a blank expression. "You were reaching with that one."

"Eh," Maru said with a shrug and a grin.

"Puns are the very lowest form of wit," Kenji observed.

"Political cartoons," Maru replied. "Can't go lower."

Hisao sighed and reached over to grab a brush, noticing as he did so that Hanako was already debating between colors to use. "Can we just start working on this?"

"Huh?" Maru blinked. "Oh, yeah." He rooted around for a brush. By the time he had found one, Hanako had already started on a delicate pattern.

Hisao put his brush to the cloth with a small smile. Looks like my idea of taking her mind off everything around her is working.

With dark blue strokes, the four of them silently got to work.

Kenji took advantage of Hanako's working to lean toward Hisao and whisper conspiratorially. "Okay man, why're you here?"

"Hanako just wanted some help to find Lilly," Hisao replied, "that's all."

Kenji frowned, apparently disapproving of Hisao's motivations. "I get it. It looks like I misjudged you." He smiled. "You're infiltrating them, aren't you? Going deep undercover?" He frowned again. "Well be warned about Maru. I think he's a psychic spy."

Maru looked up for a moment, and then shook his head and continued painting. I can hear you, you know.

I should have guessed, reflected Hisao. Letting the truth slip by him would probably be better than outright lying or annoying him, in any case. "Is that why you're here?"

"Obviously," Kenji said. "It sucks, but there's no better way to get intel than going in yourself." He frowned. "We gotta stick together, man. This is a harsh school, a harsh world."

"Yes, very harsh," Hisao said.

Kenji leaned back, apparently satisfied that Hisao was sympathetic to his cause.

I'd better get down to work, Hisao thought. They worked in silence.

"Finished," Hanako said some time later.

"Looks like I am too," Hisao said. "Good job."

"Mmm," Maru replied. Well, I could have done worse, at least. What they did looks far better.

Hisao and Hanako had worked on the sides and top, and joined the lines of their patterns together, his being as close a copy as he could manage of hers. Maru had done the bottom, and had made a sweeping pennant sort of pattern. It was far simpler than the sides and top, but it was at least symmetrical and meshed well at the corners.

With a grunt, Hisao levered himself up from the floor and looked around. Aside from Hanako and myself, there's only Maru, Kenji left finishing off the sign, as well as Lilly and a couple of students talking among themselves in the classroom. He looked at his watch, and noticed that it was getting pretty late.

Maru nodded and stood up with a sweeping motion. "Well, not bad, not bad."

Hisao looked at the banner. "It does look good, doesn't it?"

Hanako smiled. "It does... I guess."

Her smile shows that she feels a slight sense of pride in the result, just as I do, Hisao thought.

"Indeed!" Maru nodded and held out a hand to Hanako. She pulled herself up by it, and he glanced at the top of her hand.

She quickly covered her hand up with her other, and looked down.

Maru frowned. "Ah, one second, I need to see something..."

Hanako blinked and pulled her hands to her chest defensively.

Hisao raised an eyebrow. What is he doing, exactly?

Maru unstrapped his prosthetic and held his stump near to her hands.

Hanako looked at it for a moment, before uncovering her burnt hand and looking at the contrast between the two sets of scars.

"I see..." Maru stroked his chin thoughtfully, if a bit clumsily due to the prosthetic under his elbow. "It's as I thought..." Her scars are definitely older than mine. And definitely burn scars, but after the burn ward, I was pretty sure about that.

Hanako looked down at that, but didn't cover her hand back up.

Hisao politely cleared his throat.

"Huh?" Maru looked over. "Oh, right. Time's a'waistin', it seems." He began to strap his prosthetic back on.

Hisao shook his head. I wonder if he even realizes that he made her uncomfortable. He looked over at Hanako, who wasn't looking down at the ground anymore. I guess she could have taken it worse, though. He really should think before he does something, though.

Maru finished strapping the prosthetic back on, and the three of them walked over to Lilly across the significantly cleaner floor.

"We've finished the banner," Hisao announced. "I guess that's all that needs to be done?"

"Unless you happen to have a flux capacitor that needs tuning," Maru added, then blinked. "Ah, nevermind."

Lilly gave an appreciative, if confused nod. "Thank you Hisao, Maru, Hanako. If there's any way I can thank you...?"

"Just doin' our job, ma'am," Maru replied in English with a bad Texan accent.

Lilly smiled wide.

Hisao blinked. That sounded like English. Fluent English, at that. "Um, it's fine. Beats sitting in my room studying, at any rate."

"I don't mind either," Hanako said as she looked at Maru with raised eyebrows.

Lilly nodded before suddenly remembering one last person. "Oh, is Kenji still here?"

"Yeah, just finished," Kenji said, before either Hisao or Maru could reply. He carefully slid his sign onto an empty section of shelf to dry, before quickly walking past them and out the door. "Seeya man."

"Bye," Hisao said.

"Later," said Maru.

The remaining two students said their goodbyes to Lilly before taking their cue to leave as well, leaving only the four of them.

"Well," said Hisao, "I guess that's everyone."

"So it seems," Maru said as he looked around.

"I hope we don't have to do anything like that again," Lilly said with a frown.

Hisao blinked. "Working past schooltime?"

"Indeed," Lilly replied. "The class's plans this year were ambitious. Maybe too ambitious."

"The stalls look nice, though," Hanako noted with a smile and a blush.

"Just so," Maru said with a nod.

"They're right," Hisao added, "it shows that lot of work's gone into them."

"My my," Lilly said with a grin, "I'm sure a lot of us would be glad to hear that. At least now there's not much work to do until the festival itself."

"Umm..." Hanako looked around. "It's getting pretty late. Should be go?"

Lilly nodded. "That's probably a good idea. Are you going back to the dorms as well, Hisao, Maru?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll tag along," Hisao said.

Maru yawned. "Yup, may as well. Have an early morning."

The four of them started to walk out.

Lilly led the way. "You have something planned for the morning, Maru?"

"A date with a weight bench," Maru replied. "And some exercycling. Oh! That reminds me..." He paused. "Eh, nevermind."

Hisao frowned. Was he about to ask me to exercycle with him again?

"It is good to take care of yourself," Lilly said, apparently content to let Maru's slip slide.

"Keeps my mind sharp," Maru replied.

Silence descended again as they left the building.

The nighttime lighting really makes the gardens look quite different, Hisao reflected. Compared to the usual look of lush greenery, things are much more calm. Being that it's so late, the lack of students around probably helps. The odd one or two that can be seen scurrying to and from the dorms trying to eke the most out of their approaching curfews, but no more. All that can be heard is our footsteps, in addition to Lilly's cane regularly gently tapping the ground in front of her. It's nice to finally be able to relax a bit after the mad rush during school. He let out a small yawn without even noticing it.

Lilly smiled. "Tired?"

"Yeah," Hisao replied. "Still getting used to the flow of things, I guess. The... uh... thing... with Shizune took me kind of off guard, though." He grit his teeth a little at the candid mention of their rather public spat. That said, I do want to sort out what in the world was behind it.

Maru yawned. Damn, it's contagious.

"Ah...," Lilly frowned, "about that... I'm sorry about it being so public. Shizune and I... go back some ways." Her voice seemed slightly irritated as she remembered Shizune, obviously unwilling to discuss it any further.

Never would have been able to tell that one, Maru thought snidely.

Hisao glanced at Hanako for her views on it, but her expression was, unsurprisingly, evasive and difficult to read. Either way I guess her apologizing for it is something, even if my curiosity goes unanswered.

Lilly smiled. "I'll be glad once the festival is over, in any case."

The change of topic's welcome, Hisao decided, clearing the thickening air quickly. "I can imagine. My old school's festivals were a lot more low-key than this."

"Yamaku stresses the idea of a school community," Lilly said, "so the staff likes to make our festivals and such special occasions."

"And yet the students are the ones who do the work," Hisao observed. "What an unfair world."

Hanako and Lilly both chuckled in agreement, savoring the fact that none of the staff were around to hear the grumbling.

"Oh, what a world, what a world," Maru lamented. "I'm melting, meeeeelting!"

Hisao sighed.

Lilly chuckled again. "I suppose coming from a strict all-girls school helped me a bit with Yamaku. Compared to there, Yamaku is much more relaxed."

Hisao nodded. That'd go a way towards explaining her well-bred speech and behavior, in any case.

As the quartet came up to the dormitories, it eventually came time to leave for their respective rooms.

"See you Lilly, Hanako," Hisao said.

"Yup, later," Maru said with a wave.

The two girls both gave polite nods before they set off to the women's dorms, just next to the guys'. As to be expected of such an arrangement, there's a staff member casually patrolling around the outside to prevent any nighttime shenanigans. Hisao and Maru walked past him.

Hisao quickly stretched his arms and rubbed his neck, both quite sore after having worked on the floor for so long.

"See?" asked Maru.

Hisao blinked before the realization came to him, causing him to facepalm. "Tell me I didn't say 'see' to her."

"I can tell you as much as you want, but it won't make it less true," Maru noted.

Hisao sighed. "Well, at least she didn't seem to mind."

"Well, I didn't even think about it until just then anyway," Maru said. "Delayed reaction, maybe?"

Hisao shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever quite get the hang of this place."

"Eh, could be worse," Maru said. "Speaking of, how'd the run go?"

"It went," Hisao replied.

"Cool, cool," Maru said. "Just remember to keep up with it, eh?"

Hisao shrugged. "Yeah."

Maru glanced at him with a frown, but didn't comment.

They walked to their respective rooms.

Maru looked at his bed for a moment before he shrugged and flopped down in it. That was fun, and I feel better than I did this morning. But still. He sighed into the sheets. Fucking tired. Too much people time. Even if not much of it was talking. Bed, you so cozy. He yawned and shut his eyes.

Twenty minutes later, he stood up and changed out of his clothes, turned on his light, and examined the now slightly paint stained bedclothes. Ah, damn. He scratched his chin for a moment, then shrugged. Eh, fuck it. He turned off the light, sat down in his chair, and waited for sleep to take hold.

Hisao laid down as well, if in a more dignified fashion. As he laid there, he started to think. It feels good to actually have direction. After so long in the hospital, the everyday facts of studying, homework and teachers seem almost a blessing. I guess if things continue like this, my time at Yamaku might turn out okay.

He was feeling tired, so he set his alarm clock to wake him as late as he could afford, while still making it to the first class. The nurse's voice is almost nagging in the back of my head about morning jogs. I guess I'll just have to make up for it by going for a walk after school tomorrow. Emi won't care either way, I bet.


If you get the stall up to 88 MPH, then you can travel back to 1985. Just be careful not to hit Hisao McFly on accident. It would hnnnng up the time-space continuum.

Anyway, Beforethedawnbreaks, glad you're liking it so far! WarbirdHD, the cold war turned hot. And feels will be coming soon. Some minor ones in this chapter, even. Very minor. AwesomeInstead, just so! And somehow, I see Mutou having many interests. ;) ThisIsAwesome, here's some more! That One Guy, I'm glad you find Maru to be relatable! Cyberchao X, that may well be, but it's still a bit surprising somehow... Still, I'm glad you're liking it so far!