Zero was dreaming.

He was standing in a void, black and empty. There were no sounds, no colors. He couldn't move his own body. His legs walked him across the void, and every step filled him with the primordial dread of falling. He could feel his blood pumping, yet couldn't hear the sound of his own heart beating. His skin glistened with sweat, while at the same time, his body shivered.

He felt alone. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with.

He was nearing the end. He didn't know what that meant but he knew it was true. This is the end. This is the end. The thought echoed in his mind, over and over.

Up ahead something sparkled. A seed of crimson in the great beyond, and it was at this moment that Zero realized that he couldn't feel the beating of his own heart.

The closer he got to the glow, the dimmer it got, until finally Zero was right upon it. He could feel his heart now. The beating vibrated not in his chest but in the space around him. He was waiting now. Waiting for what? For the end? He didn't know.

Suddenly the beating stopped. The void stilled

And then he dropped.

Down.

Down.

Into the murky waters.

Into the abyss below.

Zero gasped for air.

For a second, he panicked. This wasn't New York. This wasn't his room. But as he struggled to breath, he slowly began to gain his bearings.

He was in his new room. In Japan, In Odaiba. Boxes were stacked along the wall opposite of his bed, and the curtains to his right were wide open, allowing him to see the city skyline and night sky.

Looking at the digital clock on his bedside table, Zero blinked dumbly at the numbers that read 5:47.

"It's… early." He murmured to himself.

Groaning, he sat up and laid his head into his hands.

Shaking his head, he tried to grasp the dream that was quickly escaping him, but to no avail. All he could remember was the deep feeling of loneliness. Loneliness, and falling.

What a great way to start his first day in a new high school.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, Zero got out of bed. Now that he was up and moving, he realized just how utterly drenched both he and his bed were in sweat. Zero peeled off his shirt and threw it in the laundry basket across the room, before doing the same with his sheets. He'd have to wash them when he got home.

Gathering a change of clothes, Zero headed for the shower.

By the time he was out, it was well past 6:30. Seeing as he had nothing else to do, Zero began to unpack his belongings. There really wasn't much. Other than his guitar, notebooks and school supplies (that he really should have unpacked the day before) Zero didn't really have many personal belongings.

Moving a box filled with the materials and directions needed to build a desk, Zero smiled as he stumbled upon the only box he really cared about.

It was labeled "Cameras". Picking up the box and putting it on his bed, Zero ripped at the tape keeping the box closed. Wrapped in protective paper, various cameras, from polaroid's to digital ones laid securely in the box. Underneath them was a white binder, and as Zero flipped through its contents, he couldn't help but feel better about the situation.

He had never wanted to come to japan. All his friends, the very few that he had, were in New York, and the time difference made it hard to keep in touch. Mostly though, Zero was afraid of his friends moving on from him. To make matters worse, one of his friends had been in an accident shortly before he left, and he still didn't know if she was alright or if she'd even wake up…

Still, looking at the pictures he had, the memories, the lingering loneliness and apprehension he had been feeling lessened.

Even if they were separated, even if they moved on from him, he still had the memories they made together, and that was enough.

Putting the binder back in the box, Zero went back to unpacking.

Zero didn't have anyone to say goodbye to in the mornings. His dad preferred his work over him, and was never really home as a result. His dad worked with complex programs. The exact what and how's of it was above Zero's knowledge, though he did know that his dad had been working on the same project since before he was even born.

Running his hand in his short black hair, Zero left the lifeless apartment for school. He was used to being self-sufficient. It was something his dad forced on him as soon as he could reach the stove. As long as he listened, got good grades, fed himself, and got a good job, there weren't any problems. Finding his own way to school in a foreign country all by himself was just another part of his dad's hands off parenting.

In a way, he was more of a pet or a trophy than a son. Just there to be shown off to his father's coworkers and impress them with. It kinda sucked, but it was just a part of his life. At the very least, He enjoyed the complete freedom he was given from his Dad's lack of care towards him.

In any case, the actual walk to school wasn't very eventful. The GPS on his phone hadn't led him astray, and with a full half hour to spare, Zero arrived at Odaiba high.

He had been thankful at the very least when he found out school in Japan started a full hour later than it had in New York, but now that he had the time to kill, he didn't really know how to spend it.

Standing in front of the school, Zero watched as students entered the building or loitered about.

And then he was falling.

It was so sudden. One second he's at school, the next he's plummeting. He can't scream. Yet he quickly realizes he doesn't want to.

Someone's crying. Crying for him and him only. It's familiar yet new, and all he wants to do is reach them. To fall.

As he falls he feels the vibrations of his heart in the space around him. He knows he's getting closer to the crying, not because he hears it, but because he can feel it in the heart beat around him.

He's close. So close. To the heart beating out to him. To the crying calling out for him.

And then he stumbles.

He's back at school. His phone that he'd been idly holding tumbles to the ground, and he barely catches himself as he falls.

"Oof. Sorry! I didn't see you there!"

It takes a second for his spinning brain to put together what happened. Looking behind him, a red headed boy in the school uniform, a green blazer and beige pants, stared at him. His eyebrows are scrunched up and he's frowning.

"Are you alright? You don't look so good."

"I-" Zero swallows to clear his throat and forces himself to his feet. "Yeah I'm fine. Just feeling a little under the weather. First day and all" scratching his arm, Zero chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry for getting in your way."

The boy shook his head. "It's my fault for not paying attention." The boy bends down and picks up Zero's phone. "Here you dropped this."

Zero isn't even able to say thank you. As the boy hands Zero his phone, their fingers touch for the briefest of seconds, and a large screeching fills the air.

Both boys recoil in shock and the redhead bends over, clasping the side of his belt. The sound dampens as he does so, but the screeching is still loud enough to gather some sideward glances from the other students.

Just as quickly as it started, the sound stops.

Groaning, the boy apologized. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Almost as if talking to himself the boy murmured "It's never done that before. How curious."

"It's fine…" Zero trailed as he realized the boy wasn't listening to him.

The red head was staring at his belt, or rather, the white octagonal device clipped onto it. Zero had never seen anything like it before, yet it struck him with a sense of familiarity. It somehow looked new and ancient at the same time. Maybe it was.

"Oh wait, I haven't introduced myself yet." Zero looked away from the strange device and to the boy's outstretched hand instead. "I'm Koushiro Izumi, a third year student. Nice to meet you."

Zero shook his hand. "I'm Zero." There was an awkward pause (mostly in Zeros head) before Zero realized his mistake. "I-I mean, I'm Kisho Maruki. Everyone calls me Zero though. It's nice to meet you too"

Koushiro smiled kindly at him. "Don't worry, first days aren't as important as they seem, so try not to be so nervous."

Despite saying that, Koushiro couldn't help but frown. Glancing at the device on his belt Koushiro said" Sorry but I have some things to check out. I'll see you around."

Koushiro gave Zero a small wave as he passed him.

"Wait!"

Koushiro stopped.

"Sorry to bother you, but do you know if there are any rooms in the school open before class starts. Maybe one that's more quiet."

"A quiet place." Koushiro pondered. "Ah you said you weren't feeling well. If you're looking for a place to gain your bearings, you're more than welcome to join me in the computer club room. It's usually quiet at this time in the morning."

"That's great. Thank you, uh … Senpai?"

Koushiro laughed. "Please, Koushiro's fine. Come on."

Taking a breath to calm himself, Zero followed Koushiro into the building.

"So, why Zero?"

Zero, who had been fiddling with the monitor in front of him, paused.

"It's kind of stupid." He started. "I wasn't a very social kid, so one of the teachers in my school tried to help me by having me join the baseball team. Practiced everyday. Hit zero pitches. I don't remember who started it, but the nickname just stuck."

"O-oh. I'm sorry." Koushiro said.

"Don't worry about it. If I didn't like the name, I wouldn't tell people to call me it."

"I see." Throughout the conversation, Koushiro had been typing away on his computer. Long lines of code ran across the screen, and Izzy seemed to be correcting errors throughout it.

Noticing he had missed a correction, Zero pointed it out. "I think you missed an error here."

"Oh." Koushiro blinked. "It seems like… oh it's not an error, Thats… " Koushiro seemed to trailed off, muttering "strange" as he leaned more towards the screen. Now that Koushiro was leaning forward, Zero could see that Koushiro's strange device was connected to the computer, meaning that the lines of code belonged to it. On one hand, Zero was interested to know exactly what was up with the strange tech. On the other hand, it was obviously important to Koushirou, even if it did just happen to be a toy or a personal project, and Zero didn't want to seem rude or nosey.

Suddenly Koushiro reeled back, and Zero looked at the screen on reflex. The code for the program was gone, replaced by a strange looking window made up of a circuit board graphic with the words "DIGIPORT: OPEN" near the top left. The window itself was filled with a static picture of grassy plains, and to the right of the picture was what seemed to be a level selector of some sort, made up of black and white boxes, though the white ones far outnumbered the black.

"Thats!-"

"A video game?"

Koushiro seemed to freeze for a second before saying, "Yes! It's uh, a personal project. I didn't expect it to work so soon into development … " Koushiro trailed off with a nervous laugh, and closed the window, unplugging the device from the computer.

"Congratz. From what I could read, the scripts' pretty complicated."

"Yeah, " Koushiro paused. "Are you familiar with complex programs?"

Zero shrugged. "I don't really like the field, but my dads pretty deep into computer science and he's had me taking classes in it pretty much since I could read." It was probably the only thing his father had forced him to get into, and while Zero could appreciate the potential monetary gain (computer science was a desired study after all) it didn't change the fact that he more or less hated it.

"So you have a lot of experience then-" The warning bell for classes went off and Zero immediately looked towards the clock. Koushiro however wasn't fazed by the alarm and continued, "You should drop by here after school and join the computer club."

Zero was going to respond, but Koushiro kept going. "Er not today. The computer rooms booked for today I mean. But tomorrow it's free, and I really would recommend joining a club as soon as you can. The way classes are structured, you'll have very few classes with the same people in it, so it's easier to make friends through clubs."

"Oh. And are you in the computer club?"

"As a matter of fact," Koushiro said proudly, "I'm the head."

Zero smiled, though he couldn't quite look Koushiro in the eye. He really didn't like computers that much and he got enough of them from his extra studies at home. At the same time, Zero didn't usually make friends so easily, and there was a slight, slight chance he'd be able to use the club as an excuse to blow off his studies at home.

"I have to see if I have enough time to commit to it… "

"Of course." Koushiro nodded then stood up.

Zero glanced at the clock, and, realizing there was only five minutes till class started, ransacked his bookbag for his schedule.

"Do you know which teacher you have for homeroom?" Koushiro asked.

"Oh no, one second." Zero grunted, before finally succeeding in finding his schedule. "It's Miss Tanaka."

Koushiro nodded. "Follow me, I'll take you there."

"Really! I mean, it's ok, I wouldn't want to make you late-" Zero stammered.

"Nonsense." Koushiro laughed kindly. "It's my job as your senior to help you out. Come on."

Seeing as arguing would make them both late, Zero followed along. With his good fortune in finding a nice person like Koushiro, Zero was starting to feel like today wouldn't be as bad he thought it would be.

"Welcome home."

Zero froze in surprise, before frowning and ripping his keys out of the doorknob. Slamming the door behind he said "Wow, did they get sick of you in the office already?"

His dad snorted. Subaru Maruki was an impressively solid man for someone in the computer science field. Zero had always wondered if he'd live up to his fathers six foot four stature, and the fact that his father had more of a boxer's build, than that of someone who worked behind a screen all day had always mystified him. Still, he'd look more intimidating if he got rid of his square glasses, and didn't comb his spiky hair backwards.

"If you must know, I forgot some documents I needed in the apartment. Since the office is a long drive, they told me to just work from home for today." He said sitting at the kitchen table.

Zero shrugged in response, and started for his room.

"Have you found a job yet?"

"What?" Zero stopped. " We've barely been here for two days!" He said Incredulously.

"You had three days to set up an interview for after we arrived."

"Three days. Right. It isn't like anything awful happened beforehand that had me a little preoccupied." Zero hissed.

His father stalled for a second, before taking off his glasses and actually looking at him.

"That's right, the accident, I forgot… I guess it's acceptable that your mind was on other things."

Zero relaxed just a little bit, and scoffed. "Whatever."

Zero pulled on the door to his room, but his father wasn't done with him yet.

"However, there's no reason for you not to start looking now."

Zero Bristled. "Are you serious!" Zero said in English.

"Katlyn hasn't shown any sign of waking up before we left, and there's no reason to believe she will anytime soon." Putting his hand on Zero's shoulder, his father said " Just because her life has frozen for the moment, doesn't mean your's should as well."

"Screw off!"

Zero wrenched himself away from his father, and slammed his bedroom door. Like a child eager to prove their parent wrong, Zero grabbed his phone from his pocket and eagerly checked the group chat his friends had set up, but much to his disappointment, they're weren't any updates to Kate's situation, just a bunch of memes and shitposts to keep everyone's mind off the fact.

Maybe it was because he couldn't handle repressing his worry anymore. Maybe it was because those weird dreams at the start of the day had messed with his head. Or maybe it was because of the stress. Whatever it was, Zero couldn't resist the deep seated fury growing in his heart, and before he even realized what he was doing, he reared his arm back and flung his phones out the open doors of his room that led to the deck.

For a second, Zero just stood in the doorway to his room. It felt like he had just run a marathon, with how desperate his lungs were gasping for air, and he found himself suddenly out of energy. Walking like a zombie to the deck, he checked the ground, and then leaned over the glass railing. Wordlessly, he walked back into his room and collapsed on his bed.

It'd be an hour before he stopped gasping for air.

And it would be another before the great abyss started calling out for him again.

Zero woke up with a thud.

It took a second for him to realize he was on his bedroom floor. Shakily, he pulled himself to his feet. He was still wearing his school uniform, and his shoes had somehow got waterlogged. Even stranger, the doors to the deck that had been open since he claimed the room were now shut. Kicking off his shoes and socks, Zero swung the doors to the deck open and walked to the railing. His apartment was on the seventh floor, and the wind blew strongly from this high up. The wind also made him realize that his shoes weren't the only things soaked. His shirt had turned see through with how drenched it was, and he smelled so strongly of sweat, and seawater of all things, that he felt like throwing up. The only benefit of the smell was the fact that it had helped completely wake him up, and now that he was up, he realized that he still needed to clean his sheets and clothes from the day prior.

He also didn't have a phone anymore.

Slapping himself on the forehead for how stupid he'd been, Zero grabbed some clean clothes and a towel from his room, and threw his now gross uniform with the rest of the laundry.

After a quick shower, and a look at the time, Zero decided that now would be as good a time as any for laundry. Grabbing his wallet, he realized he only had a couple thousand yen.

As much as he hated to admit it, he really did need a job.

Zero was no stranger to working. Much like how he'd had to learn to cook for himself once he grew tall enough to reach the stove, his father had stopped providing an allowance when he turned fourteen and told him to get a job. As far as birthday presents went, it hadn't been the best, but he at least had more experience then most of his peers when it came to getting and maintaining a job.

His lack of a job right now wouldn't have been much of a problem because he had learned a long time ago how to manage his money well and save. The problem was that he had given most of his savings to help pay Kate's medical bills (because America's health system fucking sucked, and their insurance wasn't agreeing to cover the bills) so now the few thousand yen left in his wallet was all he had.

He didn't regret giving his savings away, not in a million years. He just wished he'd never had to in the first place.

Shaking his head, Zero grabbed everything he needed, and took the elevator to the basement. After putting his laundry in the washer machine, and paying for it (which was stupid. They already paid rent, Laundry should be included.) he left his clothes to wash while he enjoyed the city at night.

It was only seven o'clock, but the sky had already darkened. Despite being new to Odaiba, Zero wasn't out for sightseeing. Without a phone, It was kind of difficult to find the nearest subway station, but after finding the stairs that led to the subway, and putting enough money for a few rides into a subway card, Zero was off to shibuya.

It was awkward having to stand in the train with nothing in particular to look at, especially with how strangely quiet the train car was. In the end he was glad when the train car doors opened to the underground walkway/ mall. Looking around at the big tunnel, filled with people and stores and booths filled with work ads, He was hit with a sudden homesickness for New York. While New York didn't exactly have the underground mall (or clean subway system) that Shibuya had, just seeing so many people bunched together, living their lives and interacting in a way that made it seem like the place was never empty, never sleeping, it was enough to remind him of home.

Zero forced himself to get it together before walking towards one of the booths posted with jobs. There were definitely a lot to choose from, but he ruled out any that required a phone interview seeing as he didn't have one anymore and skipped over the ones that were too far away from the walkway.

While he could have gone Job hunting in Odaiba, he really did like the opportunity to explore after shifts that working farther away from home gave him. At the same time, commuting was expensive, so Shibuya and the few places hiring near the walkway and mall were the farthest he was willing to go.

In the end he found three places hiring that he was interested in. One was a flower shop back in Odaiba surprisingly. How and why the pamphlet was even here was a mystery in itself, Zero was a believer that strange things brought even stranger opportunities so he pocketed the pamphlet away for later. The other two were a ramen shop above the subway that Zero was weary to visit, mostly because he had given up on the food industry after that fiasco at Mcdonalds (don't ask) and a convenience store a short walk into the city itself. While the ramen shop was, well, a ramen shop and not fast food, Zero still preferred the convenience store to working with food.

It's with that in mind that Zero finds himself talking to the manager of 7 Convenience. She was a nice brunette woman named Keiko with a kind smile, though she seemed slightly overworked. The grocery store itself was small, and the shelves were lined with strange snacks and drinks that didn't seem as popular as he'd expect from a corner store.

"How old did you say you were again?"

"I'm 15." Zero smiled. "That shouldn't be too young over here right?"

"No." She smiled politely. "Though what do you mean from over here?"

"I recently moved from America to Japan." Zero explained. "Honestly, I'm still unsure of some of the manners and customs, but I'm a quick learner and I know how not to be rude at the very least."

"And you're honest too." Keiko laughed. "In that case, I'll be honest in kind. Not many kids your age stay working here for long. A lot of our products resonate more with the older crowd, if you know what I mean."

Zero blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Our customers are very dear to us." Keiko explained. "And we're very dear to them. A lot of the older folk that visit have either outlived their families, or don't have family members that visit often, so we're really the only one they have to talk to. They can be really long winded at times, and you're going to have to put in the extra effort when it comes to making them feel welcome here. A lot of kids your age don't have the patience to really deal with them… so if you're not up to the task, this job might not be the best fit for you. Only those that are really kind can handle working here for long."

"I think I can handle it." He really did. Zero was no stranger to loneliness, and he couldn't imagine what it would be like to go through life without someone with you in the end. Well he could imagine it, it was how he expected things to turn out in his life, but still, if he could make some old people feel better just by giving them his time, then he might as well.

"In that case, what time are you available? I don't want this job to get in the way of your studies."

"Mondays and Tuesdays, around six." Zero frowned. "I'd like to work as late as I can, but I'm not sure how late I'm actually allowed to work."

"There's a curfew for minors that starts at 11." Keiko walked to the back of the store and came back with an application and some documents on labor laws. "Just to be safe, I'll cut you off at ten. An hour should be enough time to get home right?".

While the curfew meant that he wouldn't be able to explore the city like he hoped, he nodded not wanting to seem picky. He'd gotten lucky with getting an impromptu interview with such a kind person as Keiko. All his previous interviews in America had been rushed or more robotic, Keiko on the other hand made him actually excited to work.

"I assume you want to start next week, so you have time to settle in with school?"

"No Ma'am. I really want to start as fast as I can, if it's possible."

Keiko seemed surprised, but she nodded. "That's fine. You can take these papers home to sign. While you're here, come meet your coworker, he'll be training you tomorrow."

Zero followed Keiko into the backroom, clutching the papers Keiko had given him in his left hand. The backroom was much bigger than he expected. Crates filled with odd drinks and merchandise took up more than half the space however, which left just a small table big enough to fit two, and an area for personal belongings. At the table, a boy with purple hair in a white apron sat at the table. The apron, paired with a white and pink visor, was part of the uniform of the store and was what Keiko herself wore as well. His backpack was on a side table, and Zero decided for the sake of his own nerves, to ignore the strangely lifelike bug plushie sticking out of it.

"Sorry to interrupt your break Ken."

"Please, you know you don't need to apologize." Ken stood up and extended his hand out to Zero. "You must be starting out here soon. I'm Ken Ichijouji. It's a pleasure to be working with you from now on."

Zero shook his hand firmly. "I'm Kisho Maruki, but everyone calls me Zero. I promise to learn quickly so you won't have to worry about me too much."

"Zero's eager to work so he'll be starting tomorrow." Turning to Zero Keiko said. "Ken's the same age as you, but he's already been working here for a year. He's my longest lasting employee, so If you want to stay, you should learn from his example."

Ken blushed from the praise, and Zero smiled at him. "Don't worry, I won't disappoint you Ma'am."

Keiko patted Zero on the shoulder and said, "Miss Keiko's fine." Before returning to the front of the store.

Zero nodded at Ken, planning to leave but stopped as his eyes landed on the bug plushie. There was something about it, something familiar that called to him in a way that twisted his gut, though that could have easily been due to his fear of bugs. Still.

"If you don't mind me asking where'd you get that?" He gestured to the plushie.

"Oh, well that's uh-." Ken paused for a second before saying, "I found him online. He's a limited edition so I don't think there are any left, sorry." Ken smiled kindly at him, but Zero shrugged him off.

"Don't worry about it, bugs kind of freak me out. Though," Now that Zero was really looking at the plushie, at its comically huge yet human-like eyes and it's odd purple mouth, he found the bug growing on him. "I guess he is kind of cute."

Shaking his head, he said "See you tomorrow." and left.

Zero woke up much later in the morning than he had the first time. He had managed to clean his sheets and clothes, as well as fill out Keiko's paperwork before crashing into his bed last night.

He hadn't dreamed. Yet for some reason, that left him more sad than glad. He still didn't really know what to make of them. Of the endless fall to something he couldn't reach, yet desperately wanted to. Maybe it was all a product of stress, but somehow that line of thinking felt wrong and he really didn't have a reason why.

His dad had already left the apartment by the time Zero was ready for school, which really was more in line with normal than their encounter yesterday after school had been. By the time Zero actually arrived at school, there was still twenty minutes before the bell for classes would go off. Despite managing his way through the school on the first day, he really only had a rudimentary idea of the different rooms that were available to students and where he'd like to be. Not really feeling like experimenting, Zero just decided to head to the computer room. He wasn't surprised to see Koushiro already at the lab, though the blond boy and purple haired girl next to him was new.

The two were hunkered around Koushiro's computer, focused on it completely. It'd feel awkward to interrupt whatever they were doing by greeting Koushiro, so Zero decided to just sit at one of the computers away from the trio until Koushiro noticed or decided to say good morning to him.

The click of the closing door behind him however, was enough to make the three snap their heads to him in a way that made Zero feel like he had caught them doing something they shouldn't have. Despite this, Koushiro greeted him warmly.

"Oh it's just you. Good morning Zero."

"Good morning. Sorry to interrupt… whatever you're doing." The tone of voice must have betrayed his interest, as the trio glanced at each other, a silent question passing between them.

They seemed to have come to a consensus and Koushiro smiled at him. "This is Miyako Inoue." Koushiro gestured to the girl behind him.

Pushing up her glasses, Miyako said, "You can call me Yoelei. I'm a second year , so you probably won't see me much unless you join our club" she dug her elbow into the blond boy beside her as she mentioned the club. "But if anyone messes with you, you can totally come to me. I'll show them who's what." She finished her sentence by smashing her fist in her palm that was probably supposed to be cool, but seemed more awkward to Zero.

Changing his attention to the blonde boy beside them, Zero realized that the boy was far older than any of them. He was wearing more casual clothes instead of the school uniform, and there was a bulge in his chest pocket that Zero was pretty sure were cigarettes.

"I'm Yamato Ishida. I'm not supposed to be here right now, so don't go ratting off." This time it was Koushiro who elbowed the standoffish man, but Yamato didn't seem to care. "And no I don't do autographs."

"Oh are you fam-"

"Catch."

Zero did not like having things thrown at him, and barely caught the small device as he flinched, bringing his hands towards his chest and almost folding into himself. As soon as the device touched his hands however, a horrible screeching filled the room.

And he was falling again. Falling faster and faster, except this time he could see the light. He could see the path. If he could just make it there. Past the salty sea, past the oozing abyss. To the heart of all things. To the heart of all worlds. If he could make it there then he'd finally reach the end.

But he never made it. Just as suddenly as he started to fall, the light was wrenched from his hands and he was in the computer room again.

"Can you hear me? Zero can you hear me?"

"Koushiro?" Zero blinked the dots away from his vision, only to rear back when he realized just how much in his face Koushiro was.

"Sorry. You seemed to be in shock. I was scared we had done something to you. Yoelei went to get the nurse and Matt- I mean, Yamato had to leave. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I don't know." Zero slurred. "It was that stupid dream again. I was falling. I think I made it past the waves but I don't know.

"What waves? Oh dear, don't tell me-"

"I don't know." Zero's mind was simultaneously going fuzzy and clearing. "The waves called me away before, but I needed to go deeper. I needed to reach the end."

Zero groaned, finally feeling like he could think again. "What am I even talking about? What was that thing you threw at me?"

Koshiro didn't get to answer as Yoelei burst through the door, the school nurse pushing a wheelchair behind her.

"I know you're not feeling well," Koshiro said quickly, "but you really should join the computer club afterschool today."