The next day was sunny and balmy. It wasn't too hot and the breeze that was blowing was nice and cool. Riku and Chie were walking down a street filled with people laughing and smiling. Everyone seemed to be in a happy mood.

"I still think all this is a little hard to believe," Riku said, "but I'll help you."

Chie clasped her hands together and smiled. "Thank you, Giku-chan! I really appreciate your help."

Riku smiled. "So where are we going?"

"Kira-san told us to meet her in the park, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. By the way, how do you know her?"

"Oh, Kira-san, Edo-san, Iru-san, and Ami-san would always show up at least once a week to buy bread. They always celebrate important events, like their birthdays, at the bakery." Chie laughed. "For some reason, Kira-san would always call her self the daughter of pseudoscience. I guess it's because she knows a lot of stuff about that."

Pseudoscience? Riku thought.

Chie stopped walking and pointed to someone sitting beneath a large oak tree. "There's Kira-san." Chie started running toward her. "Kira-san, hello!"

Kira looked up and gasped. "Chie-chan, watch out for that root!"

Too late. Chie's foot caught the root and she immediately fell flat on her face.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked and helped her up.

Chie nodded. "Yeah. At least I didn't break anything."

Kira giggled a little. "I see you haven't broken that charming little habit of yours. Now, shall we get started?"

Both girls looked up with confusion written on their faces. Kira laughed and pointed at the stack of at least fifty books behind her. All the books had a considerable amount of pages and looked old. They even smelled old; like dust and mildew.

"Um, did you carry all of these with you?" Riku asked and picked up one of the books. "This one's kinda heavy. I'd hate to think what all of them weigh together."

"How did you carry all of them here?" Chie asked.

"I didn't. Edo helped me."

Chie's face lit up. "Does that mean Iru-san is feeling better?" she asked eagerly.

For a moment, Kira looked like she wanted to cry. In the next second, however, a smile had already replaced her trembling lips.

"He's doing better," she said. Hastily, she added. "Thank you for asking."

"Maybe I'll go take him a flower later on. A poppy flower would be nice. You know, to remind him of my family's bakery."

Kira reached out her hand as if to tousle Chie's messy hair, but instead let her arm fall down to her side. "I'm sure Iru-kun would like that. Now, shall we start?"

"Yes!"

The girls sat down and opened the books. They were looking for something, anything, that might clear things up for them. For some reason, Riku couldn't really concentrate on her reading. It wasn't Chie's loud sneezing that kept her sidetracked. It was Kira. There was something about her that seemed a little strange. She was a friendly girl and she and Chie obviously got along very well, but why had she avoided contact with her? There seemed to be a wall between Kira and the other two girls. It almost seemed like she was trying to keep herself detached. Why?

"Ah, I think I've found something!" Kira exclaimed suddenly. She laid the book flat on the grass so the other girls could see.

"It says something about a portal," Riku said.

"Ah, this is it!" Chie exclaimed. "This'll really help."

"I'll go get something for us to drink," Kira said and stood up.

"Um, I'll go, too," Riku said for some reason.

Chie was a little oblivious to this exchange and simply said, "Okay."

Kira and Riku walked over to the vending machines.

"It's very difficult to observe people if they know they're being watched, isn't it, Riku-chan?" Kira asked as she pushed coins into the coin slot.

Riku turned red and realized the Kira knew she had been staring at her. "I-I'm sorry," she mumbled.

Kira selected three different types of drinks. "Do you think I'm strange?"

Riku, not knowing exactly what to answer, shook her head.

Kira smiled. "Don't lie to me. You think it's strange for someone to have so many books on things that have supposedly been proven false." She grabbed the three drinks and handed one to Riku.

"It's not that," Riku said and took the orange soda.

"My parents strongly believed in things that couldn't be explained," Kira said as they started walking back towards the tree. "They had a grand collection of such books, but the ones that I've brought with me are all that remains."

"What happened to the rest of the books?"

Kira stopped momentarily. "They were burned."

Riku also stopped. "Burned?" she asked with confusion.

Kira bowed her head and her hair covered her face. "Our house caught on fire one day. The only books that survived were the ones I had lent Edo. Everything else was converted to ash along with my parents."

Riku's eyes widened. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Kira looked up with a smile. "It's all right. Let's let bygones be bygones."

The girls started walking again.

"So how do you know Chie-chan?" Kira asked.

"Oh, we met a while back in school."

"She's an extremely genki girl, isn't she? And her sister is so solemn and quiet. It's almost like they aren't even related."

Riku sighed and bit her lip. They actually aren't, she thought to herself.

Chie was still reading the book when they came back.

"Chie-chan, here," Kira said and handed her a grape soda.

Chie looked up and took the soda. "Thank you, Kira-san."

Both girls sat down.

"So what did you find out?" Riku asked.

"Not much," Chie said sadly. "I don't understand these words."

"What words?"

Chie pointed to a mess of text. "These ones. Aren't they confusing?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Those are words?"

"May I see it?" Kira asked.

Kira gazed at the words for a moment and smiled. "I know what they are," she said and stood up. "Get up, you two, and follow me."

Both girls stood up.

"Where are we going?" Riku asked.

Kira smiled mysteriously. "The place we need to be in to perform the ceremony."

This chapter I really couldn't remember how it went, so I made some stuff up. By the way, genki means something like "energetic and healthy". I guess that describes Chie pretty well. She actually is genki except when she's sad. Kira's kinds strange, isn't she? She also has some ulterior motives and blah. I wonder what they are . . .