Was I really going on a date with Onigawara? I had no idea. I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to wear, so I just threw on my Paranormal Investigation shirt (product placement, what can I say?), a large jacket (it was pretty cold) and plain jeans. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. My short, red hair was the same as always. I re-adjusted the bow clip holding up one of my ponytails, and decided to head out. I guess I'd have to wait and see if I was 'hot stuff'.

You probably already guessed that I'm not great with romance. That whole Joshua thing tore our band apart. But then again, it wasn't confirmed that I was going out with Onigawara, right? We were (excuse the friendzoning) 'just friends'.

Who was I attracted to, anyway?

Mob had already left to go and summon aliens, and Ritsu was going over to his friend's house.

"Good luck, okay?" Ritsu told me. "Tell me if he tries anything."

I rolled my eyes. "Like I'd let him. Get out of here."

Ritsu patted my shoulder. "Happy New Year, little sister."

"Happy New Year to you too," I said.

And then we hugged. We split apart, both sharing a big grin.

"If you see him, say good luck to Shigeo for me," I said.

Ritsu nodded. "Same to you."

I left around mid-afternoon, catching the train to Ankle Park. I spent the entire ride anxiously tapping my feet together. Normally, Onigawara didn't scare me at all, but if it really was a date…

What would I do? Freak out…? Accidentally set a tree on fire?

I got off the train and headed over to Ankle Part, hugging myself. It was quite chilly out, even beneath my jacket. I sat on a park bench, staring at the trees. Thanks to Winter, most of their leaves were gone. I sighed. I really hate cold weather. It's freezing all the time and it chills you down to the bone. And you can't go to the beach, either.

But hey, maybe that's because I'm flaming hot.

"Hey," a voice said. "You came."

I looked up, seeing Onigawara. Like me, he was wearing a snow jacket. He also had his usual pompadour, sneer, and bandages on his cheek.

"'Sup," I replied, casually.

He sat next to me. "Not much. Happy New Year."

"Not quite yet," I said. "Wait 'til midnight."

Onigawara rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I go to bed before midnight, so…"

"Do you?" I asked. "Mr. Bad Boy's got a bedtime?"

Onigawara blushed. "Shut up. I have trouble sleeping sometimes, okay?"

"I feel you," I sighed. I coughed. "So, why did you want to meet me here anyway?"

Onigawara looked away. "Because… isn't that what… friends do, or something…?"

"Is this a date?" I asked.

His face went red. "No way! I mean- no, I mean…"

"Are you into me?" I asked.

Onigawara covered his face with a hand. "I…!"

I smiled at him. "Well… I don't think you're all that bad, either. I'm not good with this romance crap, but…"

"You stuck up for me, dammit all," Onigawara cursed. "Not many people have done that. Not even…"

"That girl who wanted to marry you?" I finished. "Look, buddy, it's not a big deal. I stick up for my brothers all the time. And my friends, too."

"You ain't like other people," he added. "I don't know… I actually kinda like hanging out with you… and I got pissed off when you were dating that green-haired guy…"

"You mean jealous," I corrected. "I didn't actually like him. He liked me. I only went out with him because… I felt bad for him."

"Seriously?" Onigawara asked. "Doesn't sound like you."

"Josh is one of my first friends," I said. "He's the leader of my band. I felt like I owed something to him. Without him, Paranormal Investigation wouldn't exist."

Onigawara shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. You suck up to him."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not sucking up to him. Though… I guess it's my fault that the band broke up… I really shouldn't have done that…"

"You're back together now, right?" Onigawara asked.

"Obviously," I said. "We managed to sort it out. But… that wasn't really the biggest… thing that happened to our band…"

"That Miko chick?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah," I coughed. "Her."

I was still annoyed she was hanging around Reigen and his psychic agency, but she seemed to be more tolerable now. But I wasn't going to forgive her for what she'd done, ever. I hoped karma would come and collect her debt, eventually.

"Wanna… do something?" Onigawara asked. I looked away. I realised my expression must've gone stone cold.

"Uh, sure," I said. "What do you want to do?"

"Not go on one of those cheesy boats back there," Onigawara huffed. "Let's do something cooler."

'Something cooler' included walking around the park for a while, before we headed over to some old arcade. Even though it was pretty old-fashioned, we had a lot of fun there. We played some generic race car game, which became pretty intense once I declared whoever lost had to buy the winner an ice-cream. I won (of course), so that's how I ended up with a strawberry-cheesecake cone.

Onigawara kept grumbling to himself as I laughed and licked my ice-cream.

"You snooze, you lose," I told him.

"You were cheating," he grunted.

"Was not," I argued. "I was just too good for you!"

"Yeah right," he snorted.

We continued our walk through the town, still teasing each other. I couldn't get the smile off my face. I hadn't had this much fun in a long time! It was nice to spend time with a friend. For a moment, everything seemed… good.

If you go to the music school, you'll never get moments like these again, a voice in my head said.

You won't see him or your brothers for a long time, another added.

My smile slowly vanished.

"What's wrong?" Onigawara asked, noticing my face.

"Nothing," I replied, looking away.

"Don't give me that crap," Onigawara said, crossing his arms. "Something's been bothering you. I can tell."

"Can you?" I asked, raising a brow.

He kept staring at me.

"Look, it's just… some personal stuff," I said, clenching my fists. "It doesn't matter."

His stare hardened. "You sure?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm sure."

Onigawara tilted his head. "Fine, whatever. So, as I was saying…"

But then I tuned out. I could sense… something big coming. It was psychic energy, but nothing like I'd felt before. It was… extraterrestrial.

No way, I thought. It can't be… I thought they were kidding...

"Hey, hello?" Onigwara waved his hand in front of my face. "You there?"

"What is that…" I breathed. "I've never…"

"Huh?" Onigawara asked.

My body went still. Shigeo...

"Sorry, I gotta go," I told Onigawara. "I'll see you next year!"

"Wha- hey!" Onigawara shouted, as I dashed off. "ISN'T NEXT YEAR IN A FEW HOURS?! ARASHI, COME BACK!"

But I didn't have time to go back. Aliens were coming.

And my brother was going to face them head-on.

I was beginning to understand how I'd done well in the marathon.

I'd pretty much bolted all the way to a mountain (okay, maybe I caught a train or two), drawn towards the psychic energy flying into the sky. It was almost a beautiful sight: bright, white lights piercing through the clouds, lighting up the moon. I've said it before and I'll say it again: psychic powers make for an amazing fireworks show.

Then I saw it: a UFO.

It was a real UFO, like the ones you see in movies. It was floating above the peak of the mountain, which had been cleared of trees thanks to the psychic energy. My trek up the mountain slowed as I took in the sight of the UFO.

My brother and his friends are dealing with that thing, I realised. Oh, crap, what if they get abducted?

I kept running, reaching the top of the mountain. Ahead of me, I saw a light coming down from the bottom of the UFO.

"Mob!" I shouted.

The light dispersed, revealing a trio of aliens.

What in the name of…

The aliens looked like young anime school girls, with large, glittery eyes, skirts, and outfits that vaguely resembled my school uniform. Their head to body ratio was ridiculous, and I found myself asking several questions.

One of them was is Mob okay?

"Brother!" I said, reaching my brother and his friends (which seemed to consist of Reigen, Himiko, and the Telepathy Club).

Mob turned and stared at me. "Arashi?"

"Arashi-chan?!" Tome asked, looking at me.

"Tome?!" I yelled.

"What are you doing here?" Reigen asked me.

"What are you doing here?!" I asked, returning his stare.

A guy I didn't recognise stared at me. "Uh… who are you?"

"Who are you?!" I asked, hands shaking.

"ENOUGH!" Tome yelled over all of us. "We'll have this conversation another time! Right now, we've got other things to deal with!"

She gestured wildly at the aliens, who were staring at us with their large, glittery eyes.

"What the Hell are those things?" I asked.

Tome didn't respond, instead reaching out to one of the aliens.

"They're not hostile, thankfully," said the guy I didn't recognise.

"Seriously, who are you?" I asked him.

"Call me Takenaka," he said, offering a hand. "I'm a telepath."

He gave me a half-smile. He was wearing a hoodie with a black vest, and had messy black hair in front of his face. Just your average middle school student. But then again, us espers aren't known for looking outstanding.

My eyes went wide. "Oh, wait, I remember Mob talking about you… you were in the Telepathy Club, right?"

"Yeah," Takenaka nodded. "Well, it's a kind of a long story, but yeah. Long story short, I'm a telepath. What about you?"

"I'm Arashi," I replied, shaking his hand. "Mob's younger sister."

"Wow, you don't look like him at all," Takenaka said, rather intelligently.

"Well, we're not related by blood," I replied, biting my lip.

"Are you two serious?" Tome asked, staring at us. "I said save your meet and greet for later!"

"Hey, c'mon," I crossed my arms. "It'd be rude of me not to introduce myself."

"And you, Takenaka-san," Tome turned her attention to her former clubmate. "You're the one who can understand aliens, right? So… tell me what they're saying!"

Takenaka turned to the aliens, frowning curiously. One of the aliens gestured for us to follow it.

"They want to show us the inside of the spaceship," he translated.

"Seriously?" I asked. "Isn't this, like, stranger danger, or something?"

"Believe it or not, she has a point," Reigen said.

"Yeah!" some of the other members of the Telepathy Club cheered. "Whoohoo!"

"They're all going to get bundled into a van one day," I muttered.

Mob turned and stared at me. "How did you find us, sister?"

"The amount of psychic energy you were releasing was insane," I told him. "Trust me, even a normal person would've been able to see it. I couldn't ignore it, no way."

"She's right," Himiko agreed.

"You," I glared at her. "How dare you think you can still hang around my-"

And then, before I knew it, we were all floating up into the spaceship.

"CRAP!" I cursed. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO-"

And then we were inside the ship. To my disappointment, it wasn't bigger on the inside like I thought it would be. In fact, it reminded me a lot of…

"Our club room," Tome said, staring at the messy table the aliens were seated at.

"Of all the things…" I sighed. "Man, I gave up on my date with Onigawara for this."

We all sat down at the table with the aliens. It was like we were at a diner or something, rather than in an alien spaceship.

"So, they are like, super friendly, huh?" asked one of the members of the Telepathy Club, who was blond. "I thought they would be a bit scarier." He turned to Tome. "President, it was your dream to communicate with extraterrestrials, right? With Takenaka as your interpreter, this is your chance to talk to them!"

"Yeah, that could probably work," Takenaka said, sweating.

"Oh, you're right!" Tome coughed. "Um… uh… I…" She blushed. "I got nothing."

"Aw, what…" said the blonde guy, waving a hand. "After we came all this way."

"Don't feel pressured," Himiko said, giving Tome a smile.

"Let's play video games instead!" the blonde guy cheered.

"Good idea!" Tome exclaimed. "Let's show them how to play!"

And that was how we spent the next few hours playing video games with aliens. Trust me, when you're a psychic, extremely weird things tend to happen.

Before we knew it, it was the start of a new year. In fact, it was already the morning.

"Whoa, it's almost the new morning," said another Telepathy Club guy. "Better head home soon!"

"What?!" asked another.

"You're right," said the blonde guy. "Well, I guess we are pretty much best friends by now! Even the red-haired girl who showed up randomly!"

"Hey!" I grumbled. Though, I couldn't be too angry: after all, I'd gotten the chance to mess around with aliens like we were old schoolmates. Surprisingly, I got on better with them than some students back at school.

The aliens offered us a magical glowing rock.

"A glowing rock?" Tome asked, holding it. "It's beautiful."

"It's a token of friendship, they say," Takenaka said.

"They're staring at us," said the blond guy, giving the aliens a wary look. "Doesn't it seem like they want something in return?"

Before we knew it, we were all giving presents to the aliens. Never too late for Christmas, I suppose.

"Hmm…" I pulled the hair clip out of my hair. "I know it kinda sucks, but… it's all I've really got."

I handed it to the aliens, which luckily, they seemed to like. Well, considering they liked the atrocious design of Reigen's pajamas, it seemed they weren't very fussy.

Tome walked over and hugged one of the aliens.

"So, we'll be going now," she said. "Hopefully we'll meet again someday!"

We were returned to the Earth, where we got a beautiful view of the sunset.

"Amazing…" I gawked, standing alongside Mob as we watched it set. It truly was going to be a great new year.

You still haven't made a choice, a voice echoed at the back of my head.

Not now, I thought. Just let me enjoy the new year.

You only have three months left to choose, the voice hissed. You can't hide from it forever, Arashi. Will you abandon your family or not?

Stop, I thought, trying to admire the sunset. Just let me live, dammit.

I have to do it, I decided. I have to talk to my brothers about this.

That's right, I was steeling myself up to talk to my brothers about the music school situation. I'd been hiding it away for too long, and I really needed to say something. They were my family, after all. They were going to be affected more than anyone else.

Unfortunately, my words failed me. During the whole walk to school, I couldn't bring myself to say it. Shigeo seemed content, and I didn't want to dampen his positive attitude.

You're making excuses, the voice in my head taunted. Always the same excuses.

No, I, just... damn it. That voice in my head knew me too well. Because, in the end, it was just me.

"Are you okay, sister?" Mob asked me, reaching out.

"I'm fine," I said, grinning at him. I realised I'd gotten a bit taller. Mob wasn't a particularly tall person, so by the time my 14th rolled around, I'd be taller than him for sure.

Mob tilted his head. "Okay, Arashi."

Thank the gods for his easy-going nature. Ritsu wasn't quite the same; he was much more protective. As we walked into school, I gave him a wave and sent him on his way. I tried to hold up my head, only to run into Onigawara.

"Hey, you!" he snapped. "What was the deal on New Years Eve? You said-"

"Oh, look, I've got karate practice," I said, hurriedly. "See ya later, pompadour."

"Wha- hey!" he growled. "Don't you walk away from me!"

I ignored him of course, and continuing my path into school.

Was that... tsundere-ish of me? I wondered. Oh, Gods... I have to tell him too.

Exams. Fun times.

Not.

I groaned, feeling like my brain had been deep-fried. I wasn't even doing them, yet the thought of them did not make me want to jump around like I'd won a million yen. My eldest brother, on the other hand, was going to have to put up with them.

I can't tell him now, I thought. He's all stressed about exams. I can't, I-

"Arashi, are you okay?" Mob asked me.

Why are you asking me?! I thought.

"Bro, don't worry about me," I said, trying to smile. I sighed. "Okay, you know what? Screw it. Shigeo, there's something I need to... hey, what's with that face?"

"I found out something really bad," he replied, bowing his head.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Tsubomi is leaving the school," he replied.