I slammed the door to Kokonoe's files shut and huffed. "Hyde, you done over there?"

After hearing no answer, I turn around to see how he was doing. He had stolen a lollipop from Kokonoe's desk and was laid out on the floor, faced towards the roof. He had finished sorting out the files on his end quite a long time ago, I just didn't take notice. I couldn't tell if the lollipop was finished, but either way he was sleeping peacefully. It was rather assuring.

I yawned, then shook myself awake. Kokonoe had left the room to figure out... something. I'll be honest, I had no idea what she said. I was just overwhelmed by all the files she gave us to even comprehend anything. The stack of files was massive, and it took hours for me to even read and sort out half.

Kokonoe seemed to take key words she didn't recognize from other files and got files of those words. Earlier I saw a file on semblances, then jumped to dust, then to Grimm. Getting every tidbit from four worlds surely wastes a hefty amount of paper and folders...

Oh, that being said, I purposefully left out important folders so that Hyde and I can look over them. He told me that knowledge of all the worlds will make everything easier. Now that I've read half, I can see that his statement held true. My attention span did not hold, though. I'm quite tired, too. I don't blame Hyde for sleeping. He probably hasn't had a rest in a long time.

How long has it been? Kokonoe doesn't have a clock here, so I have no way of telling. Should I take a lollipop?

Eh, why not. I took off the wrapping and plopped it into my mouth. Strawberry flavored, nifty. Alright. I should take a look at the files Hyde thought were important to know. I walked over to his stack, and found it to be bigger than I thought it would be.

I took the top file, and saw it was labelled Hollow Night. Oh, the real Hyde mentioned it to me once when we fought together.

Hollow Night

A phenomenon that happens once a month in Kanzakai. Happens during a full moon in an area. If you are in the area, you get dragged into the realm of the Hollow Night. Normal people can also wander into the Night.

Voids manifest in the Hollow Night. If normal people are bitten by a void, they either become a void if they cannot keep their sanity, or become an in:birth if they retain it.

Voids and in:births... I know Shadow Hyde is a void and that Hyde is an in:birth. In:birth... sounds weird. Next file!

Voids

Oh, hey, great! I was just wondering about those. Sure, Hyde explained it to me earlier, but a refresher is never bad.

Invisible creatures that live in the Hollow Night. Their most common form is black blobs. Incapable of thinking and uses instincts. If a human turns into a void, they stay human-looking except for their eyes. They get consumed by black mass the longer they live until there isn't a trace of them being human left.

Only those who have been bitten by a void can see voids.

List of victims:

...There's seven pages of victims..? The font size is so small for these pages too...

I... I'm not quite sure I want to read all of this.

I slowly close the folder and set it aside, looking at the ones below it. EXS, re:birth, Licht Kreis, Amnesia, Hilda, Linne, Void Red... Ogh, what do I start with? C'mon, there's gotta be something that can wake me up. Does Kokonoe have a sink so I can splash cold water on myself? I look around, and see another stack. The top folder says Inaba.

Agh, what!? There's more? It's sorted by world! I groan, and sat on the floor. Kokonoe gave me the files related to my world, while Hyde was given the ones related to his and Narukami's.

I took the lollipop out of my mouth, looking at how much it shrank. I bit into it and the strawberry ball broke into bits. I threw the stick in the trash can. I'm not one to just sit around, I guess... I took one of the folders from the table randomly, and read the label.

EXS & FLS

I threw the folder upwards without caring where it landed. I grabbed another folder, and this time it was a name.

Hilda

Reading through a persons file can't be THAT boring. I got this.

"Ow..." I jumped at the sudden noise, and moved my sight from the folder to Hyde. The EXS folder had fallen onto his face, and woken him up. He flicked the folder off of his body. "Ruby, what the hell?"

"Ah, sorry Hyde!" I started waving my hands around. "I didn't mean to wake you!"

"It's alright, but, why'd you even throw it in the first place?" Hyde sat up, and took the lollipop out of his mouth. It was finished, so he threw the stick into the garbage can as well. That's when he noticed the label of the file I threw. "EXS and FLS... Oh, nevermind, I see why now."

"I thought reading about other worlds would be exciting, but for some reason, I'm just tired." I closed the folder I had in my hand.

"I get ya. The files are as blunt as can be. Though, I'm surprised you're reading about my world first... When I mentioned facing your shadow, you seemed pumped up." He opened up the folder about EXS and FLS and just skimmed it. He probably knows all about it already.

"If I had known you sorted them by world beforehand, I would have chosen Narukami's."

He chuckled, "Trust me, I'm sure anyone would. With terms like these, it just gets confusing. I see you have Hilda's folder. I can tell you about her, if you want."

"Please." I didn't want to read it, really. Interacting with someone will wake me up easier. Hyde took the folder from my hands and read it over, making sure he already knew everything in there.

"Uh... I believe your file said you really liked fairy tales, so if we're going off that, Hilda would be the bad guy here." I know he didn't mean any harm by that, but why does it feel like he's dumbing it down for me? "Hilda seeks Hyde's sword, Insulator, because the sword holds enough power to control the Night. Well, those were her words, I still don't understand how it would do that... Anyway, Hilda made a team called Amnesia. The real Hyde was looking at their base, and by then, he vowed to make sure no one finds out about his sword, Insulator. Hilda saw him and invited him inside."

"What? Why? Didn't she know Hyde was her enemy?"

"Yeah, she did. Hilda is like that. She's cocky, but she has enough strength to back that up. She knows she has enough power to kill almost any in:birth. She kept teasing Hyde until he revealed himself as the wielder of Insulator, thinking he could summon his sword. He couldn't."

"How'd Hyde escape?"

"Escape? Pshh..." He started laughing. "He didn't escape, per say. Hilda let him leave."

"Wait, what? Why!?" I was genuinely confused. Her key to her goal was right there! How'd she just let him go like that?

"As I said, she's cocky. She thinks that if Hyde ever versed her in the Hollow Night, she would win anyways."

"Did Hyde win?" Shadow Hyde smiled at me, "Well, did he?"

"Well, they haven't versed yet, Ruby... The Night he was planning to face Hilda, he got sent to Narukami's world."

"Wait, really? Aw..."

"Well, after we all get out of this world jumping mess, Hyde will be able to fight Hilda. The story will pick up from there."

"Yeah, but... I won't be able to know who wins! We'll all the be in our respective worlds!"

"Ok, Ruby, tell me this..." He set the folder down, and smiled at me. "Who do you think is gonna win?"

"Hyde, obviously!"

He chuckled at my answer, and I really didn't know why. "So confident. I believe that's the right answer, too. Eek, maybe I'm a little cocky..."

I hid a small grin. Yeah, it has to be! Hyde has faced his shadow, what has Hilda been through? ...Actually, maybe that's not the best thing to say. I don't know what Hilda's been through. But that doesn't change the fact that I want Hyde to win against her!

I see Hyde sitting up and going over to the table with all the files. He went over and specifically picked up a folder labelled Shadow-Selves.

"Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting you're a Shadow." My time with him has been pleasant, so I somehow just forgot. "I read about Voids earlier... How come you're both a Shadow and a Void?"

"Beats me."

"...Is facing my Shadow scary?"

He was surprised I just went and asked that question, especially since the mood didn't call for this. He thought for a long time. "...It depends. How much are you hiding from others?"

...I don't think I'm hiding much? I think... one key point is that I never think about myself too much. It's always been about others. Their problems are my problems, and I find there's not that much time for me to even find my own problems. But somehow, my mouth ignored the question. "...How bad did Hyde have it?"

He didn't seem to like that question. On top of that, I didn't answer his question, either. He answered, but with hesitance. "...He had it rough. I put him through hell and tried to make him kill Linne. I'm fortunate Narukami got there just in time. Hyde has always been troubled before he entered the Phantom Field, so with me being a Shadow, I felt like it was my duty to tell him what he really thinks. Turns out he just has a lot to hide. Me rapid firing him with his troubles on top of attempting to force him to kill Linne... He might just kill me if I see him again."

For once, I was glad Yang wasn't here. She'd definitely say something along the lines of 'You mean 'A lot to Hyde?' Eh? Eh?'... Oh, now Hyde's looking at me sternly.

I wonder what the real Hyde is doing right now? Hm. Maybe if Shadow Hyde and the real Hyde meet up again, I can explain what happened. Maybe? Hyde would listen to me, wouldn't he? Hey, you'll never know until you try it! It's better than staying here and being bored. "Hey, Hyde! I have an idea!"

"What? No, Ruby, no avoiding my question!"

"Nope! C'mon, we can resolve that beef between the two of you!" I picked up Crescent Rose and twirled it about. "Clash weapons with me! If anything, I can talk Hyde into not fighting you!"

"Eh?! Hey, no, there's a lot of things wrong with this! First off, Kokonoe doesn't even know we're leavi-"

"Wrote a note!" I plopped right into view and showed him the note I wrote. There were more petals flying in the air.

He gawked. "When did you have time to write that!?"

"Just now!" I grabbed his wrist, and he was surprised by both my response and my impatience. I twirled Crescent Rose with my free hand. "C'mon, let's go!"

"No, no, no! We're not going! We don't even know if your keystone is recharged yet!" I thought about it, while twirling Crescent Rose in the air again. He grabbed my scythe to make me stop moving it. "Stop twirling it! You're going to cut this place up if something goes wrong!"

"Ey, no, I've twirled a thousand times before! I'm not suddenly going to mess up now! Let my scythe go-" I realized there was a red light underneath the two of us. It was getting brighter.

"Uh... please tell me this doesn't count as clashing weapons..."

"Ah, well, you know, some people fight with their hands...?"

"...Of course... Remember to leave the note, at least."

I threw the note onto the table with all the folders.

Then my sight switched to pitch darkness.

...

...

...

I felt my body slam onto a carpetted floor. I groan, getting myself to stand up. I look behind me, and Hyde's already standing. He seems to be staring at someone.

"Ah, you're terribly late, boy. I see you brought a friend. Can't beat me on your own, I see?"

The voice screamed refined and important, but was also cocky. She struck me as a woman who knew her worth and flaunts it-

Wait, no way...

I look at Hyde, and he's more shocked than scared. I look up to the person he's staring at.

Her dress was black and white. She has long blonde hair in a ponytail, and the atmosphere was threatening. She general mood of this place seemed scary.

I spoke carefully, "You... wouldn't happen to be Hilda, would you?"

"Oho, you know my real name? Alright. This is going to be real interesting."