Note: Still don't own the games... Sorry for taking so long on updating, I had... stuff... cry Don't hit me!

Spirit Roses/The Crossover That Could Actually Happen

By Warrior Kalia

Chapter 3b

/-Mafuyu-/

Mafuyu looked at the girl. She was thin, with pale skin and chin-length dark brown hair.

Before Mafuyu could say anything, something flashed at the edge of his vision, and he quickly turned to look at it. It was apparently Yutaka's necklace, which now looked perfectly normal. He stared harder. It still gave him an uneasy feeling, but he couldn't see anything in particular… He turned his head to the side and looked at it out of the corner of his eye. There! The amulet itself was surrounded by a dark purple aura. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but looked at the girl again.

"Hello..." He said cautiously. The girl was an unknown quantity- she might ask for a reward of some sort, or might have stolen something out of his backpack... Then again, he reasoned with himself, she didn't look capable of stealing much of anything. She barely seemed able to lift up his backpack as it was.

"You... found my backpack?" He asked, testing her. Despite her looks, she was still a stranger, and strangers were generally capable of anything. Even though she did have those honest, pretty eyes...

"Hai, I did. I came to return it... I'm sorry if I'm intruding." The girl said, standing up. She had a quiet voice- sorrowful. What made her life so miserable, anyway...? She walked over to him, carrying the backpack with her. She met his eyes, then, and he relaxed, sighing. They weren't dishonest at all... In fact, they were... beautiful...

"Thank you very much." He said, his sincerity obvious. His eyebrows knit slightly as her cheeks turned pink. Was she sick...? She held you his backpack and he seized it happily. He quickly rifled through its contents... Gym clothing... history book... science... his art tablet... his writing notebook... and, there, the camera. He raised it up, his heart feeling considerably lighter than before. He would never, EVER take it to school again... School. It hit him. That pendant... He had a strange feeling about it, and that girl...

"Say..." He said abruptly. "O namae wa?" He looked at her appraisingly, wondering if he was right.

The girl looked surprised. "Yu-... Yutaka. Rei Yutaka." She stammered. She still looked slightly sick- her cheeks were pink. He smiled. Once again, his intuition came in handy...

"Did you lose a necklace?" He asked her, his voice perking up a bit.

She, too, became more cheerful. Her pale face lit into a smile that was quite astonishing. "Hai! Do you have it?" She inquired.

Mafuyu dug in his pocket and withdrew the necklace, nodding a bit. Yutaka now looked relieved. He took her hand and wound the jewelry into it. She immediately put it on, fumbling slightly with the clasp. Her slim fingers retreated and she smiled at him again. She was really pretty when she smiled... He blinked and shook his head. Why was he thinking of such things? He had never been attracted to a girl before... And he was pretty sure that he was attracted to her... Yutaka was looking at him with her soulfully deep eyes... "Thank you..." She said quietly. "I can't express how thankful I am."

Mafuyu hesitated. No girl had ever thanked him, besides Miku... And she was his sister... Before he could open his mouth to reply, Miku herself called out to him. "Mafuyu! Dinner!"

He looked up at her. Miku was setting the table for the two of them and glaring at him and Yutaka. Obviously she had not expected her to stay so long. He thought vaguely that he should tell her about the camera, but the pendant caught his eye again and he looked at it sharply. Yutaka looked at Mafuyu, then at her amulet, obviously confused. The glow was faint, but it was there... there was something strange about this thing... something... dangerous, perhaps...

He turned his head to look at it out of the corner of his eye. The glow intensified. And, there, in the middle... the fleeting shape of... something... His eyes widened. This necklace was a ward of some kind- to keep something away from her. Why would she need such a thing?

He turned back to Yutaka. "Could I... see your necklace?" He asked, being careful not to betray this new information. Yutaka looked as though she would rather not, but removed it. He took it and held it up in the air, the pendant revolving slowly. The aura was gone... He gazed, confused, at it. "Where did you get this?"

Yutaka looked slightly confused. "Um... my otosan gave it to me when I was young. It was a present. Why?" She looked at him curiously.

He didn't say anything for a bit, examining the pendant and thinking hard. Why would this thing have an aura? And why did it keep appearing and disappearing? Another second's silence, and he wound the necklace into her hands again. "No reason." He said, disappointed. The aura seemed to have completely disappeared. Yutaka attempted to put it on, but the latch was still broken. She gave up after a couple of tries and put it in her pocket instead.

A thought struck him. "On second thought..." He muttered, "Could I borrow it? Just for a couple of days? I'm sorry if I seem sort of forward; after all, we just met..." He stuck his hands in his pockets and scuffed the floor. He didn't know why he was asking, the chances to her agreeing were very slim, and even if she did, the aura might not even pop up again...

He was about to open his mouth to retract his question, to tell her that it didn't really matter and he was stupid to ask, but she smiled, taking him by surprise. "All right, then." She said warmly, her tone changing to joking. "But I'm coming after you if you don't give it back." Mafuyu hesitated, then smiled at her. Her own smile faded slightly and her cheeks went pink again. He accepted the necklace from her hand, his fingers holding her own for a second longer than was necessary.

"HELLO?! Dinner!" Miku shouted at him, obviously miffed. She had set down two bowls of udon. Yutaka jumped and looked around at her apologetically, then took her own backpack and left, glancing back at him one last time. Mafuyu smiled and slipped the necklace into his pocket before strolling over to his irate sister.