"When I am alone

And none can save me

Then, just maybe

Maybe you can.



If I am blue

Then, baby

You must save me

Give me your hand.



When I go

I want you to come

'Cos I never want to be

Without you..."



Japs sat alone. He was cold, and he was frightened. The day had almost past, and night would soon be upon him. He was singing in the shadow of where he hid, and he was crouched into a ball. He was crying, still. He had wounds now so deep they may never heal, and they were not psychical.

Hearing footsteps, he peered from his hiding place. He was outside, that much was for sure, but none knew where. His heart skipped a beat, for the one he was singing about was now so close to him. A chain, previously unseen, drooped from out of his shirt, and on it was the reddest jewel anyone would have seen. He gathered it up, and then slithered back and watched.

'... And Link said that he's been missing ever since.' Said Kumba, as she and Nekoni walked to the First Year block.

'I don't really care, Kumba.' Nekoni replied. 'Ever since he told m- us that he loved me, you've been talking about him as if he's my boyfriend.'

'I only wish.' Japs whispered, then diving down as the two looked round, as if hearing something.

'Don't be so heartless!' Kumba snapped. 'What if he's gone and done something... awful?'

'Japs?' Nekoni smirked. 'I bet he couldn't work out which end of the knife he is to hold!'



'That was uncalled for.' Came a voice inside Japs' head. His face angered.

'Ness, I told you, leave me alone!' Japs thought.

'I am not Ness.'

'Mewt--'

'Or Mewtwo.'

'What?'

'Japs, your friends are worried about you.'

'What friends?'

'Kirby, Yoshi, Kumba.' The voice began. 'Link! Nekoni!'

'They don't like me. They detest me.'

'Maybe if you were Japs, they wouldn't.'

'I AM Japs.'

'No. You are something, like a mind that has been tampered with. You are not Japs.'

'Who are you?'

'They know about Kanaka, Japs.'

Japs was silent for a while, but then he jumped from the bushes he was hiding in and darted for the dorms.

'No, not into the common room. Everyone knows you are missing. Go round the back, Japs Gento Kanto Kahn.'

Japs swiftly and silently snuck round the back of the dorm building. As he opened the door, he heard the voice again, but not in his head.

'Here.'

Japs turned to find no one was there, save a bundle before his feet. It was a folded up cloak, black as the night sky that was now upon him. It had a hood, and once he picked it up, he found it covered him almost entirely. So, putting it on, he slipped into the dorms. From the larder, he fled through to the common room, and then upstairs. Students only saw a cloak baring person run by, but Japs heard them talk.

'They say that he went mad.'

'In that case, he would have ran when he was born.'

'I think he's killed himself. Depression, you see.'

'Ironic.' Japs thought. 'Just what I planned to do.'



He fumbled for the dorm keys in his pocket. He was not thinking straight, and so he dropped them. Bending over to pick them up, he found once more his chain fell from his shirt. He looked at it, and it seemed to talk to him. He treasured it, for it was the only thing he had to remind him of--

He swooped up his keys and opened the door. He had only one thing in mind, and so he was senseless enough not to notice Kumba was watching him from the open door of her dorm, and he had fled to find Link.

It was only a matter of time before the dorm inhabitants had come to find out if it was Japs or not. But Link had scared them.

'He could be dead. He could have killed himself.'

'Maybe.' Said Kirby. He had been sensitive to the subject of Japs more than anyone could guess. The thought of someone mentally changing themselves in a desperate state like Japs upset him like nothing else.

'Open it.' Said Yoshi. 'We have to find out if he has returned or not.'

Link hesitated, but eventually opened the door.



Japs was there. There was a brief moment of relief. But around him they saw destruction. He had been searching for something, and he had found it.

He was kneeling on the floor, crying. In his open palms lay the limp body of Kanaka. The boy looked up, and he saw Link. He stopped his snivels and waited for something. Link knew what, and he smiled. Japs cried again, and, dropping Kanaka, ran to Link's arms.

'I'm sorry.' Japs whimpered. Link, as any good friend would, let the boy embrace him. After being missing for almost twelve hours, Japs was back. He was shaking, and he seemed stirred. Link turned to Kirby and Yoshi, and Japs let go. All of them smiled at him now, and Japs weakly smiled back. Now he cried with happiness. He had returned to friends, not enemies. His greatest fear passed.