"Where am I now?"
Shujinkou looked around. It appeared that he had landed in the courtyard of a gothic castle.
The sky above him blood red which, to him at least matched the oppressive and foreboding atmosphere that attacked him the moment arrived.
"I kinda hope Monika didn't end up here. Doesn't seem like a fun part of this world to be blown away to." He thought aloud.
"Wow, another interesting surprise."
A sharp chill crawled up Shujinkou's spine as he heard that voice. It sounded familiar, but also much more menacing then he was used to.
Suddenly, a figure crashed into the ground in front of him; the impact creating such a force that he was surprised he wasn't blown away by it.
"Even more surprising is that it's you of all people."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as she watched the figure rise to her feet, giving him a chance to see a familiar innocent-looking face.
"Mali?"
The girl simply circled around Shujinkou; her eyes examining every inch of him.
"Hm… You don't seem like the person I know…"
She then stopped right in front of him and stood on the tip of her toes. Her face slowly approaching his own reminded Shujinkou of when she did it to him in the past.
At least, another version of her did. Something about this Mali is scarier than the one I know.
That budding fear grew as a smile stretched across Mali's face. "You're name's Shujinkou, right?"
The young man nodded his head."Y-Yeah."
Unlike him being tricked to reveal information as per usual with the Mali he knew; Shujinkou felt compelled to give this one a quick and honest answer.
Just looking into her eyes allowed him to realize what she may do if he tried to lie.
Mali giggled at his nervous face."Another 'protagonist' out of nowhere. And not just out of nowhere, but the same way that that girl did."
"Girl?" Any fear Shujinkou disappeared once he heard that. "Did she wear a uniform just like mine?"
"Mm-hmm. Were you looking for her or something?"
"Yeah. Do you know where she now?"
"Yep."
Innocence radiated from Mali's face as she turned around and thrust her hand forward. With a simple flick of the wrist, she summoned a tall column of pure darkness.
"She's in there. You two are lucky that I was the one who found you; who knows what the Boss' would have done."
Giggling one more time, Mali took the opportunity to sneak a glance at Shujinkou's horrified face before quickly disappearing.
Shujinkou dashed forward, extending his hand towards the darkness.
"Monika!"
Shujinkou quickly sat up. His heart was racing as he was greeted by the olden rays of the sun.
What was that?
The young man scratched his right cheek. It had to be a dream and yet it somehow felt like he was actual living that moment.
Mali probably just left a worse impression than I thought she did.
Just recalling that meeting with the small girl from yesterday was enough to make him shiver.
"You okay, Shiko?"
Suddenly, Sayori dropped in front of him. The last time he looked into her eyes, he felt guilt; however, now he felt most of the guilt was gone. He didn't find a way to deal with Mali's words and yet they no longer held the full impact they did yesterday.
"Shiko?"
"Huh? Um, yeah; I'm okay."
"That's good. You've been sulking around ever since Mali showed up yesterday."
Hearing his friend recall the events of the day before caused the guilt to return, immediately weighing down on his heart.
"Yeah, about that…" Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek. "I'm sorry that I didn't think about bringing you along in the first place."
"Eh? Where did that come from?" Sayori asked, perplexed.
"Um…"
"Is that what you were sulking about the entire time?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Why?"
Shujinkou continued to scratch his right cheek as he forced himself to answer. "Well… I'm travelling the world and could have stumbled across your home without you."
"Shiko… I didn't care that that could have happened while you were gone."
"Really? But wasn't that the reason why you followed me in the first place? Why you didn't want to be left behind?"
"No…" Sayori's cheeks grew red. "I just didn't want to be left alone again."
"Sayori… AH!"
Shujinkou quickly cradled his head as it was assaulted by a sharp pain. His body twisted and turned in pain while his mind witnessed a plethora of events.
For some reason, he was in these strange moments. He was sure he never experienced these before ad yet they seemed familiar somehow.
It became harder and harder for Shujinkou to stay conscious as the witnessed more and more.
"What's… happening?"
The pain soon reaching its zenith, Shujinkou howled as he plummeted towards the ground. Too weak to even fight the pain, his consciousness soon faded.
…
The Moon, a large spherical object that traversed the infinite reaches of space alongside the much larger planet known as Earth. A long time ago, humanity viewed the lunar object that appeared once the sun dove beneath the horizon, but now, humanity views their old home from such a spot.
No one really remembers what events could have transpired to have force what remained of Earth's inhabitants to abandon it for the moon, but at the same time no seemed to care. Everyone was content with the life they have built; everyone except for one young man. His name was Shujinkou, whose goal in life was to uncover the secrets of the past.
"Oh man…"
Shujinkou heaved a sigh of disappointment as he strolled through Luna City. Despite his best attempts, he could not help but feel disappointed by his recent progress. He knew he should be proud he made any progress at all, especially after figuring out that the lunar government was adverse to anyone discovering the event that led to Earth's abandonment. But ever since then he had no luck in finding any more information.
Perhaps they were on to him and actively searched for any leaks or perhaps those that did know felt the same. Perhaps everyone but him wanted to truly forget humanity's time on Earth.
But just as he was about to give up, a slim file folder slid in front of his feet. His natural curiosity spurring him on, Shujinkou bent down on one knee, picked the file up and opened it.
His eyes widened with surprise as his eyes darted up and down the pages he was just given. Inside was everything he was looking for. All he had to do was…
"Ow! What the-?!"
A sharp pain surged from the back of his head to the rest of his body, causing the world around him to distort and crumble. Trying to make sense of what was happening; he blinked his eyes until he found Sayori and Monika standing in front of his desk.
"What the-?!" Shujinkou opened his eyes to find Sayori and Monika standing in front of his desk. They looked surprise. "What's going on?"
Suddenly, a hand slammed a rolled-up poster in front of him with such force he almost jumped up from his seat. Shujinkou nervously looked up to find Natsuki standing right next to him. Her face did not even bother to hide her disapproval of his recent action.
"You know, if all you're going to do is sleep every day, then you might as well go home," she scowled.
Words failed Shujinkou as he watched Natsuki return to the classroom closet. But even if they hadn't, he didn't believe that he would have said anything back to her anyway. He knew deep down that she had a right to be mad that all he was doing was daydreaming during a club meeting. All he could manage to do was do what he had always done, awkwardly scratch his right cheek.
"I bet you were up all night again," Sayori playfully chastised.
He didn't know how, but her playful nature almost always had a tendency to lighten up his mood.
"Like you're one to talk when it comes to sleep," Shujinkou chuckled. "Besides I wasn't asleep. I was just thinking."
"I never seen a person so detached from reality like you when they're thinking," Monkia giggled. "We couldn't get any kind of response out of you until Natsuki got involved."
Most people would laugh at someone getting hit in the head with a rolled-up poster, but Monika's made it clear that it wasn't malicious at all. It was expected from the person everyone in the school likes and admires.
"Did you need me for something?" Shujinkou asked.
"It's not an emergency or anything. I was just telling everyone that they should bring in their favorite books to share tomorrow," Monika informed him.
"O-Okay…" Shujinkou nervously nodded his head.
He waited until the two traversed to the teacher's desk before letting out a depressed sigh. Despite Monika's assurance, it certainly felt like an emergency to him. Brining in something to share wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that all he had at home to share was manga. He was sure everyone would look down on him for brining in something where a story was half told with pictures.
He sighed once again until a strange feeling suddenly came over him. For some unorthodox reason, it felt like he was being watched. Slowly turning his head to his left, Shujinkou soon met eyes with Yuri.
She immediately turned her attention back to the book nested between her hands, but it was clear as day that she was not really focused on reading.
"Did you need something, Yuri?" Shujinkou asked.
"Ah… it's just that I overheard your conversation… N-Not that I was purposely eavesdropping!" Yuri stammered. She once again quickly averted her gaze and timidly began playing with her hair. A painfully awkward atmosphere wasted no time in shrouding the two of them.
"Well, it's not that I can blame you for overhearing. You are right next to me after all," Shujinkou pointed out as he scratched his right cheek.
He wasn't entirely sure whether he was saying that to assure her she did no wrong, break through the awkward silence or both. But whatever the reason, it was enough to get her to look him in the eyes again.
"…You don't seem too eager about tomorrow."
"Well, it's just that I don't have anything to bring in tomorrow…"
Shujinkou solemnly glanced down at the top of his desk with downcast eyes. He had just recently joined the club and was already going to be ousted as someone who'd never join in the first place. All he could feel was guilt and disappointment, something that didn't escape Yuri's sight. She could tell just from the look on his face exactly how he felt.
"I-I can…" Despite struggling to speak at a barely audible level, she was still able to recapture Shujinkou's attention. "I could help you find a book for tomorrow… if you want."
"Really?" Shujinkou's eyes lit up with hope. "That'd be great!"
"I don't think that it would be that great for you though."
"Huh?"
The world around Shujinkou quickly dissipated, leaving the young man in a peerless white void. "What just happened?"
"I kinda have the same question."
Hearing a voice in a place he assumed he was alone in caused a small squeal to slip out of him. He quickly turned around and found Monika giggling behind him.
"You- You're Monika, right?"
"Mm-hmm. I'm glad you weren't lost to briefly living another life."
"Another life? What do you mean?"
"It's kind of a long and really meta explanation. Honestly, I didn't even think you were the one having trouble. I thought something may have gone wrong for a friend but apparently you were the one who needed help.
Perhaps because the conclusion to recent events happened in this st- reality."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. He wasn't really sure what the stranger in front of him was saying.
Stranger? But… Didn't I just say her name? It was… It was…
"No need to freak out, Shujinkou. I'm just making it so your story can be a little more stable," Monika assured him. "After all, we wouldn't want any outside forces to really mess with it so early in its infancy."
"S-Story…?"
He couldn't really understand why the stranger used such a word in her explanation nor could he understand why it was the first thing she said to him.
"Though admittedly, my track record of doing this with the one I know is pretty poor," the stranger admitted. "Hopefully doing this for more altruistic reasons will yield a better result."
"A better… what…?"
"You don't worry. Just know that I can send you back home, right away."
"Home…?"
"Mm-hmm. In fact I can make it so everything goes back to normal for you after I finish this sentence."
Shujinkou jolted out of a bed, his heart beating so hard that he felt it could easily burst through his chest. Taking deep breathes; the young man took a moment to observe his current surroundings.
To his surprise and confusion, he was in his bedroom.
Soon after that revelation, his bedroom door opened and his mother walked in.
"Ah, you're awake, Shujinkou," she said with a relieved smile.
"Mom? What am I doing back home?" he asked.
"You passed out and Sayori carried you all the way back here."
"Oh…" Shujinkou sighed as he slumped down on his bed. "Attacked by dragon controlled by something, Mali and then fainting and ending back home… This has to be the worst departure of any prospective traveler."
"Well… I could tell you what my mother told me when it came to travelling."
"What's that?"
"It's not about the beginning, but the journey."
"What? I thought it was it isn't about the destination."
"It could be about the beginning too. No one usually talks about how hard the beginning can be like financial issues and learning the lay of the land and just overall lack of experience. Along with life just being unpredictable, the beginning can be extremely difficult for some people."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he took in Hiro's words. He never considered some parts of his journey being hard, but not the beginning.
"Hey, Mom, can I ask you a question?"
"Is it about whether you should have taken Sayori along with you or not?"
Once again, Shujinkou felt nothing but surprise and confusion.
"Sayori told me that you asked her that," Hiro explained.
"Oh… So…"
"I honestly think you may be over thinking things a little."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for example, if Sayori really wanted to see her birthplace so much, she would have left a long time ago. Like Sayori had told you, she didn't follow you for that reason."
"So you're saying that I shouldn't feel bad?"
"Well, I can't control how you feel, but I can tell you that you shouldn't obsess over it. If you really do feel like you wronged Sayori, then you should do something about it. But if the person you feel like you have wronged insists that you haven't then it may cause a bit of a conflict if you don't accept that.
Besides, I don't think Sayori would like you to ask her to come with you out of obligation."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek and admitted, "That's true."
He then glanced at his window. Seeing the starry night sky filled him with delight and excitement for the first time in 24 hours.
"Ready to leave again?" Hiro asked.
"Yeah. I can't let a tough beginning keep me from the journey, right?"
Hiro happily nodded her head in agreement. "In that case, I'm glad I left you're things next to the front door."
"Thanks, Mom."
Shujinkou dashed downstairs; there he found Sayori finishing a plate of food.
"Sayori."
The young kitsune ears perked up as she turned around.
"Shiko, you're awake!" she beamed.
"Yeah, um… Thanks for bringing me back here."
"No problem, though I was kind of worried that you'd be upset that you had to depart from home again…"
"No, I'm not. It was a good thing."
Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek, wondering if he should say more.
Then again I think everything's already been said.
"Shiko?"
Shujinkou shook his head and simply smiled. "So… You ready to leave?"
"Eh? You're leaving again already?" Sayori exclaimed.
"Yeah, we do a whole world to see after all."
A big, bright smile stretched across Sayori's face. "Alright, let's go!"