"...No one's home?" I had entered my house just at the right time before my dad came home. He's usually around six, and it's half past four. Alright, now that I'm alone, I can finally take out this… thing out of my pocket and figure out what it is. The person that was supposed to be in the art room ended up being a creature. I'd rather choose to not believe something from a weird creature, but it's the only lead I have to finding out where this book is located.

"Alright, you… thing, is there anything that you can tell me that leads to a certain book that creates weird spells that are dangerous to normal people?" Bringing the creature out, I stared at its confused and innocent look in its eyes. "I guess… not?" And it shook its head.

Great, isn't this all peachy?

Bringing the thing up to my room, I sat on my bed and continued to stare at the small creature for some time while it smiled comfortably. What is up with this thing? Was this seriously the thing that put a curse in my book?

"Okay, you can understand me, but I can't understand you. Is there… some sort of way for us to communicate with one another? Like writing? Can you…" Well, judging by the size of the creature, I can doubt it can even put up a pencil.

"Hm, maybe…" Taking a glance at my sketch book, I have the thought about what the creature can use in order to communicate with something like the book. If it was able to curse the book, then would it be able to use magic for like… communication? Getting the book, I opened it in front of it and pointed to a blank page.

"Alright, Little Guy, I'm going to need to see if you communicate with me or not. Can you write in this book with your… magic or anything?" Little Guy only stared at the blank page in wonder. Then, after nodding its head very fast, he stared at the page for a second, before something purple appeared in thin air. As I stared at this… weird purple line leading its way towards my book, it started to form letters. As it continued and continued, it started to form a sentence.

'The book you're looking for is located within the shrine.'

The… shrine? Is this about the shrine that Sakura-chan protects? No, that wouldn't make sense. If it was there, then, Sakura would've already known that the book hadn't left the shrine. Or… someone could be hiding within it? Or maybe… the other shrines that could be in the other sectors?

Before I could ask Little Guy another question, I heard a buzz from my phone that was left on my desk and went over to it. As I had left it in a hurry from the chance Amelia-chan gave me, I didn't really get the chance to grab my phone and everything. Hm, I wonder who's texting me? I don't remember giving my phone number to anyone because…

I don't have any friends.

Then… who's texting me?

'How ya' doing, Haru? Got anything fishy from the school?'- Best Detective Watson

Amelia-chan? When did she even have the chance to get my phone number? Before I could reply, I had gotten another message from somebody.

'Heya, Haru! This is Kiara! You remember right? I didn't have the chance to put my name on your contacts, but I managed to put my phone number on your phone, and get your phone number on my phone! And don't even bother deleting mine! - Kiara

…

Okay, great, my life has gotten a whole lot worse. Even if I bothered to delete her number, Kiara still has mine. Forgetting about that, I decided to reply to Amelia-chan about the latest information I had obtained from the art room. Stuff like Little Guy, the book, and that was about it.

'Little Guy? Man, you gotta come up with better names, Haru. How about we start talking about the more pressing matter? You said that… Little Guy said that the book was in the shrine, right? Could you explain as to which one?- Amelia

Ask it about which one, huh? Hm, that does sound logical, but why didn't it explain which one in the beginning? Oh well, I'm going to have to ask him-

"Haru, I'm home!" Hearing my dad at the door, I walked downstairs to greet him since he always requires that I do so. I swear, I always hated how he changed after…

"Hey, dad, the way here wasn't…" I couldn't finish my sentence because of the astounding display that I was seeing right now. I was used to it, but my dad always came home from work at this time with boxes upon boxes of collecting valuables that would be worth selling in the future. I never knew where he went to get these things, but I never questioned it. Other than that, the fact that there was… a surprise visitor was what got me confused. And annoyed.

"Heya, Haru!" A familiar bird stood in front of me and greeted me with a smile and wave.

Yeah, it's safe to say that I am royally screwed.

"So, Kiara-san, you said that you two met after saving him from getting hit by a car, right? Well, for first, thank you for looking out for my son, and secondly… THANK YOU FOR BEING HIS FRIEND!" And here he goes getting all excited…

"Your welcome! I was happy to help him make sure that he was okay! But you know, typical boys aren't paying attention to their surroundings and focus on their phones, so it's no problem! And being his friend is nothing! I'm overall friendly to people that I don't know!" I can only go along with this obvious lie. If he hears that I had actually died and met this phoenix, then he would probably freak out and have a heart attack. But still, why do I have to be the idiot in this?

"But regardless, not only did you save my boy from death, you also helped me with these boxes! I must say that you have quite the strength! Because of that, we are forever in your debt! If there's anything you need help with, ask us and we'll be there for you!" I slammed my face down onto the table that we were sitting at.

"Oh, w-well… I don't have anything in mind right now, so…" Hearing her strained voice, I can tell that she's getting all pumped up that her plan worked out.

"No worries! Remember, we're forever in your debt! So any trouble that you have is trouble for us! Isn't that right, Haru?!" Without saying a word, I only raised a thumbs up. Now how am I going to figure out a way to get rid of her? "Would you like to stay for dinner? I could cook something quick for us to eat." To that, she only giggled.

"It's fine, it's about time I go home anyway! Besides, I like to eat chicken, and I have a fridge that's waiting for me to open!" I looked up to glance at her for a second. It's amazing that my dad hasn't asked about the feathers that's been sticking out of her hair. Maybe he's an idiot or something. As Kiara-chan noticed that I was staring, she only smiled and waved at me.

"Oh… well, that's too bad! Hm, about this? For the first of many times, how about I have Haru walk you home? You said along the way that it wasn't too far, right?" To that, I stood up from my seat.

"Wait a second, when did I agree to this?! I don't have to walk her home, she was doing just fine before you showed up!" To my anger, my dad only stared at me with a smile.

"Hm? Don't you think it's a good idea to owe the girl that saved your life? I mean, if I was in your steps, I would go by heaven and hell to pay back the person that saved my life, Haru." There was no use arguing with him. Noticing the gloomy look on Kiara-chan's face, I had no choice in this matter. If I'm going to lie, then I'm going to have to make sure that it's believable. I can't believe this mess.

"...Let's go, Kiara-chan." To that, her face brightened and got up from her seat. After walking out with her, I could stay quiet.

"So, you… managed to get past me, huh?" She questioned me as we continued to walk. As much as I cared, I wanted to hurry and get this over with and question Little Guy. There was no point in this- "Hey, I'm talking to you, Haru~! At least answer me~!"

"Yeah, I did. What of it?" If I continued to ignore her, she was just going to be more annoying. And screaming in the middle of the night was going to get more attention to me.

"Can I ask how? I mean, one second I'm standing in front of you, and in the next, I found that friend of yours in your bed. How did you two do that?" I shrugged my shoulders. If I told her that Amelia-chan could stop time, then her weakness would be exposed immediately. It's best if I just laid off the matter.

"Why did you lie to my father?" I changed the subject quickly. Hearing a laugh, I knew that she cared about the previous question.

"Changing the subject, eh? Well, I guess I can leave it alone for now, but I will get my answer from you, Haru. As to your question, I did it because I wanted to establish a connection with your father." Of course I knew that. I just wanted to buy some time to get rid of the previous topic.

"Well, happy now? You get to come to my house and ask for things that you want. Now, I'm guessing that you are more pumped up because you can watch over me more now?" She stared at the yellow light from the lamp post at the sides of the street.

"Well, I guess you can say that. But as for your father, I actually lied to you for my reason." As we walked past lamp posts, I noticed how bright her hair can shine under the right light. Even under the moon's light, it still holds a bit of a shine.

"Lied?"

"Yeah, I lied. My reason for you helping your father wasn't so that I can establish a connection, it was to just help someone who needed help. To be honest, I didn't even know what your father looked like until he started talking about a kid he has named Haru."

"You… helped him because he needed help?"

"Yup! With all of those boxes, I doubt he was able to walk home without dropping at least two of them!" To be honest, I didn't even think about helping my dad with his boxes whenever I saw him to greet. I always thought that he had everything under control and that was that.

"...There are more people out there that actually need help. Wasting your time on me isn't worth it." I looked up to her to see that she had one of the biggest grins that I've seen.

"Well, I promise that I was going to protect you from Calli, didn't I? And not even that, I also promised to make sure you live a better life, right?" I scoffed.

"What would it matter if I'm immortal now? All I'm going to deal with from now on is the pain of getting chased by criminals, you, and a reaper."

"...That is true, but life is filled with disasters and hope right? I mean, I've been alive longer than you think, so I have experience!" After that, I didn't decide to speak. In fact, no one said anything after that.

"...But, you know, I thought about something Calli told me when we fought." In the corner of my eye, I saw that her hands were pushed behind her.

"..."

"She said that she was reading a report or reading your soul or whatever, but I didn't really care about that. I didn't care that you wanted to die right then and there. All I cared about," I felt a hand on the top of my head "Was the sad expression you had on your face when we first met. I can't read souls or anything like that, but I do like reading other people's expressions."

"..." She started to pat on my head.

"...And your expression cried out for me to help you. Until I see you go past your regrets with your head up, then I'll continue to help you," After feeling the patting on my head stopped, I looked forward to see Kiara-chan standing in front of me. "And for as long as we keep living in the same world together, then I won't stop." The moon's light sprayed her beauty with light. But even then, it didn't stop me from walking past her.

I wonder… if I could ask my friend the reason why she did what she did, would she say that it was from the goodness of her heart? Even then, that didn't stop the tears from going through the dam.

"Yeah… whatever." I continued to walk past her, but I could still hear her footsteps behind me.

I'm not sure if I should thank her or not.