This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.

4/21 Sunday

Morning

You wouldn't understand because you're a hafu.

Your Japanese is really good for a foreigner.

(Shocked Gasp) Are you a hafu?

I wasn't expecting Japanese to come out of that face.

You're a hafu? Let's hang out!

Oh, you're such a cute little hafu, Jiachi-kun!

But you're not really Japanese you know. You're a hafu.

Julian Rosea hated the sound of silence. It made time seem to stretch on forever and inevitably made him start to turn on the other person for not saying anything of interest. It made him feel like they were both (or all) walking corpses.

But now, sitting there in his father's car, he found himself on the opposite end of the equation.

Akusa Rosea liked to wear most of his brown sugar hair tied back into a thick tail much like some at Koashimizu, as well as leaving a noticeable shell of ashen stubble around his chin that always seemed on the verge of transforming into the start of a beard before he would shave it off and begin again. His other main visual upkeep was fresh on his face today as well- a tanning job that shaded his skin darker than it was naturally.

"Did your soccer tryouts go okay?", he asked, eyes never visibly leaving the road but somehow able to study his expression as well. "I know you wanted to get in this year."

"Y-yeah", he said when the crushing silence in the car finally became too much to bear. "It was fine. Same coach as last year, but I think he likes me better now."

"Congratulations", his father said more brightly. "Sorry we won't be able to see any of your games. We both have to work, to keep what we have, as well as... well, never mind."

The dismissive tone had exactly the opposite effect as desires, setting off alarm bells in his skull. "Something happened? The mortgage payments-"

"Nothing", his father promised with a haste that suggested the opposite. "It's nothing. We'll make it, don't worry. Funds are a bit tight right now, you know that. But we'll make it, Jiachi. Don't you worry."

An angry correction to the name he'd used welled up in his throat and died unused. His father wasn't like the students at Koashimizu. They used the name Jiachi, the name that he despised, as a tool to aggravate him. His father just used it because he insisted, and disputing it would only provoke an argument just as it had several times before now.

And it was also clear to him that subject had already been touched on. His father was taking a deep, dramatic breath as he always did when he wanted to have a difficult, but necessary talk with someone. Over the last few years with his son, that was rapidly becoming every conversation.

"We got a call the other day, from Mr. Ishinagi. He said you'd been caught fighting with other students again."

He shouldn't have been angered by that turn, but he was. Not even a week and Ishinagi's already on my case. Can't he just leave me alone?

There was more silence, and his father had to be the one continue. "Jiachi... we've had this talk before. You can't let the other students set you off so easily. I know I taught you better than that, so... I'd appreciate if you could start showing that you actually do listen to me for once."

Julian let his eyes droop shut so he could imagine his father talking to him from across a vast, barren canyon instead of being face to face with him as the car reached the city's main streets. "It wasn't easy."

"Pardon?"

"I said it wasn't easy!", he was shouting now. "I tried, alright? I put up with their shit until I can't take any more. They ask for it! They act like I'm some kind of time bomb, just 'cause I'm half-"

"Enough". Akusa didn't cut his son off with the word, but its finality remained a strong presence in the air between them. "We talked about this. You have to be calm. Disciplined, just like all the native students who, you may notice, aren't getting reported within two weeks of the new school year. Student discipline is much more important in this country- that's one of the many things I've always admired about it."

A dozen cutting responses withered and died half-formed in his mind. There was no point. He settled for saying nothing until they were in front of the building, a common suburban rectangle of white concrete and dark windows, nearly a perfect square if viewed from the top. He was one of the few students who lived close enough to their family to enjoy a trip home every Sunday, but after this opening he was beginning to wonder if that was a mistake, if he wouldn't have been better just staying in his dorm the whole year.

At least his mother wasn't quite so passive-aggressive, even if she still used that name he hated. He noticed that she had abandoned her usual masterful use of cosmetics and other effects to hide her age, allowing faded auburn hair to sag down in sparse threads along the sides of her scalp. He didn't care so long as the most important part of her face- the part that showed him clear, uncomplicated happiness at having her son back home, even if for a single day.

That feeling only intensified when she brought out a baking tray loaded down with her own specially baked rice cakes. Julian never quite understood the exact combination of vegetable extract and heat that was used to create them, only that they remained to this day the very best thing he'd ever tasted. "Hey, thanks mom", he made sure to say before taking a big bite. "Koashimizu tries, but they'll never top anything you make. Ever thought about becoming a caterer?"

"A few times", she joked back, smiling weakly. "I'd have to learn to cook a lot more types of dishes before I could try that. Although, maybe if my clientele consisted of nobody except you or your father..."

"I'd pay. You can cater for my wedding.", his father chipped in before his face slid back into disgust as he saw the TV he'd left on past the main area where several futons lay strewn around a table. "Damnit, not this again."

The markings and organised frames of one of Tokyo's main news stations were easy to spot even from how far away Julian was from the TV. What became clearer as he drew closer was what exactly they were reporting on.

"-in the last thirty years, this country enjoyed a level of growth surpassing world superpowers", a determined-sounding man looking around Akusa's own age was speaking into a microphone. "Yet now, our economy has become stagnant, our workforce fragmented and desperate for enough money to support their families. We must have harmony! No machine can run properly while so many of its parts are so incompatible with the whole, and this-"

His father had finally reached the mute button then, swiftly changing the channel to try and hide the fact that he had been watching the report on the Tokyo rally himself before going to pick Julian up.

Taking a seat, Julian made a show of thinking over what he'd seen before turning to his father and shrugging. "Peh. More like JCRAP."

"Maybe", he said more gravely. "But you can see how many people come to their rallies to cheer them. Hundreds of thousands of loyal Tokyo citizens. They believe that we are what's holding the country back, and spoiling things for everyone else. That's why it's so important that we blend in, Jiachi. We don't want to be targeted."

News flash dad, he wanted to scream, we already are.

While it was true that they hadn't seen a repeat of the initial vandalism of their home that had occurred two years ago, the other signs of it had proven far more damaging than simply getting windows replaced or outdoor walls repainted. His mother had been working at the bottom rung of a clothing manufacturer for nearly ten years now without any sign of a raise or promotion. Her hands carried themselves with the same manual dexterity that he was so proud of demonstrating at school, but also countless blemishes. Sometimes, they would even bleed, and she would need to apply a special herbal solution to stop it.

His father had been locked into a similar rut, all the while new citizenship laws had been passing to make it even more costly for them to own a home. Akusa hadn't needed to mention their tight finances to his son- it was a hard reality that he'd long since come to grips with.

He'd learned to make due with what he had, and keep his own spending to a bare minimum. The only thing he really splurged on was the collection of DVDs in room, which he absolutely looked forward to unwinding with later and forgetting about all this pressure, both from within and without. It was nice when he could pretend to be free of it, if only for a little while.

What does he expect me to be? A carbon copy of every other native student my age? Dye my hair black? Just keep my head down and never do anything that might draw attention?

"I'll be careful", he promised dully. "You heard about that girl who disappeared, right?"

Akusa nodded sadly in his seat. "Things have gotten pretty dangerous around here too. There's been rumours about all sorts of strange happenings in the city. There's that vigilante back now as well. You remember?"

His mother raised a hand of objection though. "Dear, Jiachi's just gotten home. He doesn't need to hear about all of that madness. I'll be making udon for tonight, don't forget to wash up."

Julian let a light smirk creep onto his face at the lack of clarification as to who she wanted to make sure washed their hands. "Sure thing. I'll just be in my room in a little while. Just need to go visit with gramps first, is he out on the porch like usual?"

A cold breeze filled the house, triggered by his words. The expression on his father's face in particular was so worrying that began to fear the worst. "What? Did something happen? Is he alright?"

Akusa rose. "He's just fine, Jiachi. Just fine. He's... at his house."

At his house. Not at our house. Not like he was when I left last time.

The fine-grained floorboards seemed to twist wildly beneath him, sliding away into free fall. To their credit, neither of his parents retreated when they felt the dangerous air coming off their son, and kept looking at him when he spoke again, each word a flying dagger mainly aimed at his father.

"You made him leave."

"It was time", Akusa argued back, unyielding as before. "He's almost 70. They can look after him better over there than we can."

"That doesn't matter!", he shouted. The overwhelming sensation of heat seemed to be pushing outwards into his skin now. He felt as if his eyes were bulging. "He didn't want to go! He said so! He said he wanted to stay here with us!"

'Jiachi", his mother tried carefully, hands nervously wringing at each other until the old blisters glowed, "we're well aware that he wanted to stay here. But we've discussed this before. You know that he's... difficult. We can't watch him when we're both working full time to keep this place. If he left the house, who knows what sort of trouble he might get into?"

"It's a very nice house", his father said, his voice forced into a taut-string calm. "A fine neighbourhood with a lot of other houses for honoured elders. There are caretakers there who can look after them. It cost us a fortune, but we both agreed it was better to do it this way."

"I don't care-", Julian ground out. His eyes blurred, the herald of tears. "-How much it costs! He wanted to stay here! He was the only one... the only one who..."

They all fell silent for a long while, none sure what exactly to say. For a moment, it was so deathly quiet they could actually hear the cars driving by.

Then... "I know he meant a lot to you, Jiachi. He meant a lot to all of us. Don't you understand?"

He paused, turning to the window. He couldn't look at them any more. Not after what they'd done. "Oh, I understand. I understand that you never liked the things we talked about when we were together. Now you're trying to keep us apart."

"I promise, that wasn't why we did it. He was getting too troublesome and-"

Akusa's voice dropped off, able to see in his wife's face that he'd said exactly the wrong thing. Trying to recover, he fell back on the quiet, barely restrained anger from the car, a hanging ultimatum from the man who was still master of their household.

"Just the fact that you're acting this way about is proof that we're right, Jiachi. He acts this way too. He doesn't realise that it's bad form. People forgive him some of it because he's older, but sometimes even then..."

He swore he could feel brain cells combusting into flame. Distantly, as if controlled by someone else, his hand clenched into a fist. "Yeah, I see. 'Cause he's just too troublesome, right? Right?"

He had to go. He had to get to his room. He could lock the door and sleep, and then when he woke up gramps would still be there. His father remained positioned between him and the main hall where all the rooms were, clearly not liking the idea of leaving their relationship in this condition but unable to find the right words.

Julian had words though. They erupted from him like he'd spent all day penting them up, directed only at Akusa. "Maybe later I should start being troublesome too, yeah? Then I'd get to leave this place behind."

"You're acting like a child, Jiachi! You can't-"

"My name is Julian."

Neither of them got in his way as he sped down the hall on autopilot, only breathing once he was hunkered down on his futon with the door closed. A collection of movies on disk lay exposed along the wall as if it had been eagerly waiting for him to pop in one of his favourites and veg out until dinner time.

But he didn't feel like watching a movie right now. He didn't feel like playing any video games, or even twirling something on his fingers to take the stress off.

He didn't feel like doing anything except curling into the sheets, hoping against hope that they would absorb him, devour him and everything he was, worries, frustration and all, and he would finally have freedom.

He wasn't that lucky though.

With your first step you will burn

Can't control the hate you have learned?

Killing slow is the way I conquer

Until you know the meaning of suffer

4/22 Monday

After School

Aiko Tsuruga was unabashedly happy, sunlight shining down into her hair as she stared across the cliff. Today it felt like the last two weeks of torment and trial had never happened. Like everything was starting anew, except 'right' this time.

It was a brand new day.

There were no more detentions. No more violence. No further smear campaigns from Benihime Kujou as far she could tell, and people were actually excited to learn that Mirambela Sorano was no longer declared missing. Somewhat embarrassingly, principal Yumika had declared as such over the PA this morning- even he couldn't keep the enthusiasm out of his voice entirely. Even Mr. Noriyama seemed more easygoing than usual, giving a simple, straightforward lecture about the first formation of the 'rules' of war in Feudal times without yelling at anyone.

There was no more Faraway Lands. No more Shadows. The Personas stayed, hovering distantly in the back of her awareness, and she was grateful for them even if they were not needed. There had been no further need to revisit the Velvet room in her dreams. Not since...

'It's only just begun.'

Ah, there it was. One small cloud on an otherwise perfect day. Still, it was a cloud that was easily ignored for now. Mr. Igor had been characteristically vague, not giving up any kind of details of when it might be necessary for her to return to the roiling black waters which he called 'the sea of human consciousness'.

"Indeed, my dear guest. This is only the start of your journey into unknown shores. The soul of the friend you have saved is only that- a single soul. This situation exists due to a powerful desire shared by billions of humans. A desire to possess a world all to their own away from others, a world where their darkest dreams are made into reality. The unspoken desire to fragment reality in this way is not so easily dispelled... and neither is its chosen avatar of chaos and regression, whatever its true identity may be."

She pondered it over on the cliff behind the main building where the half-finished pool and changing rooms lay, as if a silent reminder of the perils of leaving a job unfinished.

So. Faraway Lands, the starless sea. People wander into that dimension when they want a better home really, really badly, she considered. At least, that was the case with Mirambela. She said that she heard a voice calling to her on the beach when she ran down there. Her own voice, promising her a land of her dreams in the green light beyond.

Only... was really that her problem anymore?

Mira was being questioned closely by the police now, and Aiko couldn't think of any way to avoid telling them the truth of what had happened. This really isn't something we should have to deal with. I'm just a student, and Pelagio's a bird. The adults should be the ones to learn of this and deal with it. But... how would they?

Cordoning off the bay seemed the likely outcome. If that happened, then people would be safe from the gate, and there would be no need for her powers any more. Igor's prophecy about the world's regression into chaos would be rendered moot. She would be able to live a normal life without worrying about any of that.

Right?

Right.

Still... She couldn't deny that she actually trusted Igor's advice more than the police. He knew all about this strange phenomena she'd been pulled into, while they didn't have a clue it even existed. If he said that Faraway Lands would continue to pull in new victims to increase its power, and cause a 'world regression'- whatever that was- then she was inclined to believe him. Better safe than sorry. Especially with something this dangerous.

I'll certainly know when it happens. Every disappearance so far has been publicised. Even if I had no connection to the victim at all, I would still hear about it. And they say media glut is a bad thing.

And when that happened, she and Pelagio could pursue them into their Land, defeat their Shadow, and save them before their soul was lost.

So there was no point in worrying about it until then, she decided. If it happened, it happened. She could hope it never did, that no one else ever got as desperate for change as Mira had been, but if they did she would be there.

It's only just begun.

"Tsuruga-san?"

Now didn't this seem familiar? It was Shukiji Niyoga, his dark hair even longer and more obscuring than before, but always recognisable. She waved back. "Is this your favourite hangout, Niyoga-kun?"

"Something like that." He deliberately sat down next to her on the cliff in the exact same position they'd been in on the day they'd met, then raised a finger to his mouth melodramatically. "Oops, accidental disclosure. Perhaps that could be considered the start of a payment for what I want to ask you?"

Her eye-rolling was involuntary. She had become familiar with just how stingy the school's self-proclaimed 'information merchant' was about giving even the simplest of answers to questions, and she didn't like it. He claimed to be her friend, but in her humble opinion, real friends weren't so tight-lipped or snobbish.

"We'll call it a start. I guess it was too much to hope for that you came up here because you wanted to visit me?"

"When did I say it wasn't both?", he asked, folding arms behind his head innocently. "It looks like you've had quite the interesting couple of weeks here."

"Master of understatement." He had no idea, for once.

"Yes, that's practically my nickname", he agreed stately. "Now then. If that satisfies your need for meaningless banter that accomplishes nothing, then let's get down to business. Mirambela Sorano disappeared, then returned after a week. Alive, unlike Furusato-chan. If anyone here would know why, it would be you."

There was the immediate temptation to rebuke him with his own medicine after he'd been so very unhelpful in resolving any of Mira's problems.

But she, Aiko, wasn't Shukiji.

"If you're really this big information kingpin, then you already know why she disappeared. Mattora. Kujou. All her school assignments being mysteriously deleted... and of course, me, being so idiotically careless with the information you gave me. It was one big mess that we helped cause."

The single eye she could spot beneath his black bushel widened, his lips curling into something like an amused grin. "Oh. Don't hold back or anything. Actually, I was more interested in learning where she went for that week. She was last spotted running out of the school down the hill to the beach, and then nothing. Not one sighting."

Damn it, he would have to be sharp. Fortunately, without any inkling of Faraway Lands, even the best detective in the world couldn't begin to predict what had happened to Mirambela, or how she had come back.

"The police are questioning her", she offered, raising a hand to the afternoon sun. "Maybe you should offer them some of your best information in exchange?"

"You're unhelpful, but correct." Shukiji pushed up and folded his arms contemplatively. "However, I believed that you would have some ideas as well, since she met with you first before personally presenting herself to the police. Additionally, you were the one who submitted the report last Sunday. I heard that you spent several of the following days at the beach after class."

"So you want to know what she said to me when she came back?"

"Yes. And I would be willing to trade for it."

Aiko bent further to hide an amused smile. Not for the first time, the school's 'information merchant' was offering to trade her for something relatively worthless. But maybe she was underestimating him. His 'scan' of her when they'd first met still lingered in her mind as one of the most impressive- and kind of scary if she was completely honest- things she'd ever seen since coming to Koashimizu.

Maybe he actually did know something about Faraway Lands already. It was almost funny to think that he knew nothing at all, never even suspecting what lay right beneath their noses.

"Alright", she said at last. "In return, you have tell me what made you like this, Shu-kun. And no half-answers."

He regarded her disgustedly, the single visible eye narrowed. "Tell you my entire life story in exchange? I am that I am, Tsuruga-chan, and there's no one I'd rather be. Certainly preferable to the indolent idiots that make up most of our male student body. No deal."

"Darn", she replied exaggeratedly before pausing to decide on a different request. "Then I want to know how to get extracurricular stuff authorised." Before he could answer, she held up a hand. "Not the official way. I just had to read the school code for days. The way that will actually work."

His lip curled in amusement. "You're learning. Sadly, the student disciplinary committee is not the only warped power flow here. You have something in mind that you want to try, knowing your reputation?"

"Knowing my reputation", she echoed fake-merrily. Of course Shukiji knew her nickname, merely being polite enough not to use it and invoke the annoyingly persistent label of 'delinquent'. "I'm still brainstorming, but you have to admit this school is seriously lacking in extras for its size. Maybe it wouldn't be so grim if people had something else to look forward to after class besides homework and dinner. I'll be talking to Julian-kun later to try something like that."

She didn't have to so much as glance at the half-finished hole in the ground for him to know what she meant. "You aren't the only student or teacher to try such things. Most of the time, their initiatives fall victim to lack of interest."

"There's a lot of that going around", she acknowledged. "Still, I want to try. So spill."

Shukiji shrugged. "You first. I went last time. The trade is fair."

"Fair enough", she agreed, silently hoping that he wouldn't be mad at the lack of anything incriminating and renege.

"I found her on the shore where all the fishing boats rest. We headed back to the dorm together. She said thank you."

Naturally, he looked disappointed. She would have been too, in his position. "That's all?"

"That's all."

"You didn't ask her where she had gone for an entire week?"

"No. I was just so happy to have her back. I didn't think to ask questions."

Stymied, he fell silent, gazing back across the grassy edge of what she had already started to think of as 'their cliff'.

"You're a very unusual one, Tsuruga-chan. Every time I speak to you, I always remember that."

"Pot to kettle."

He caught himself at the last moment, preventing a laugh from escaping. "Of course, I was hoping to get confirmation of a theory I had. A shame. There's no information in this world that I shouldn't have."

"A theory?" Suddenly it felt like the gentle wind had dropped altogether. Did he know after all? "What theory?"

Shukiji smiled foxily. She was learning as well, that no matter how she tried, he always seemed to have the better surprise in store whenever they talked.

"I had begun to hypothesise that Sorano-san was Hex."

4/22 Monday

Evening

Mirambela was waiting for her in room 22. Just waiting, for a period of time she would never know, until she could lunge forward and bear hug Aiko.

"Thank you", she whispered in her ear over and over, the strands of her dark brown hair hanging down messily between them. "Thank you. Thank you so much. You saved me. Like you said you would."

Her grip was even stronger than before, and in seconds she felt herself starting to choke, and frantically signalled for her to let go. "You saved yourself, Mira-senpai. I was just there to help."

"It sure didn't feel like that", she argued as they returned to sitting on their beds. "I know I said it already. But the more time I spent in the real world, the more I remembered of that other world, and how I was acting in there. How I was thinking. It was horrible!"

Aiko shook her head. "No, Mira-senpai. Your Shadow was horrible. You weren't. Anyone would go a little crazy after what you went through this week, but you are the one who told your Shadow to go take a hike. All I did was beat her up. Sorry... what we did."

Mira nodded. "Right, Pelagio. I could hardly believe it either when a bird came up and started talking to me. I thought I was still back in that other world... I have to thank him, too."

A voice came to them through the vertical glass rectangle of their window then, heralding the arrival of their favourite stuck-up bird on the narrow sill, albeit slightly muffled. "Ah... actually, I would prefer to be called sir Pelagio if you please, miss Sorano. But your thanks is much appreciated."

"Should we?", Mira asked.

Aiko shrugged, reaching over to lift the window. "May as well. He knows to make himself scarce if somebody comes knocking, right Pela-tori?"

Casually strutting through into the other side of the sill, Pelagio's talons contracted, creating an ironic little bow that no normal bird would ever do. "But of course, my lady. I'm perfectly aware of the restrictions on young males entering this dorm. This shall be as far as I come."

"You don't sound so young", Mira commented, still taken aback at the mere existence of a talking falcon appearing at their dorm window. "Wait. How old are you, sir Pelagio?"

His beak clicked. "I'm... afraid I cannot say for certain. I merely remember waking up on an island in Faraway Lands several years ago by my reckoning. My voice and size have not changed at all since that time... merely my skill with the sword."

"Time works differently there", Aiko reminded her. "We spent hours exploring in there, but whenever we left the gate only about 30 minutes passed in this world. Not that I'm complaining- it's definitely convenient for us. Anyway, whatever Pela-chan is probably doesn't age the same way as humans."

Mira suddenly put her hand up to a worried face. "Oh no! Birds only live for-"

"Pardon my interruption, girls", Pelagio cut her off, his darker chest feathers ruffling. "But I am NOT a bird. I only took on this form when I emerged into your world. My true body is the one you see in Faraway Lands."

"Hm. The ship, or the knight?", Aiko asked thoughtfully.

"Hmph! Both! At any rate, my age is irrelevant to my duty."

"Alright", she relented. "You definitely tell us if you feel like you're getting any gray feathers though, okay?"

Mira shook her head in unrestrained marvel at their companion. "He's the strangest thing to come out of that other world, and that's really saying something. That's what was on my mind while I was waiting for you to get back. I just wanted to go ahead and get it out in the open now... what the hell?!"

Knowing Mirambela to be even more judicious with profanity than she was, Aiko nodded back as if the same question had been brewing in her mind for weeks. Perhaps it had.

"Faraway Lands", she explained when Pelagio seemed puzzled by her outburst. "What is it? How does it exist, and how long has that gate at Yume bay been there?"

If they expected clear answers from the falcon, they would be disappointed, talons gripping the sill's wood as he replied. "If a pair of Shadows were to convene to discuss such questions regarding the human world, would you have an answer for them? That world is the literal sea of the human subconscious, my lady. In one form or another, it must have always existed."

"Huh. Well I guess I won't be sleeping tonight", Aiko shivered mightily on her bed, knees drawn up under her arms. "A place like that, hiding from human eyes all this time... Now I'm starting to wonder if those other rumours are real too. You know, the ones about the world inside the TV, or the hidden 25th hour of the day?"

"They're just rumours", Mira warned her shrilly, desperate for things not to get any weirder than they already had. "Just because that place is real, doesn't mean every single crazy rumour that gets thrown around is. Is that rumour about you stuffing your bra real?"

Aiko sighed and cast her eyes up to the ceiling. "Still trying to push that? You'd think she'd have something better to do with her time. But I do find it strange that you were the only one to go through the gate, Mira-senpai. Niyoga-kun said that other students tried it too, but all they got out of it was wet clothes, until..."

"Until Furusato-san disappeared", Mira finished bleakly. "The police told me about that. They think I just fell in the water and hid on the beach for a week, not wanting to go back to school... Which I guess is kind of true, in a way."

"She's gone", Aiko announced vacantly, the afterglow of victory momentarily blunted by that failure. "The hospital is still trying to prevent the body from giving out, but she's gone now. Noel-kun told me yesterday."

It was Mira's turn to shiver. "And that could have been me too, if I'd stayed there much longer. Did Noel-kun say anything else?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm really worried about him. The way he acted when she was brought in... he was praying for her safe return the day before. I didn't see him in class today. What if he...?"

The trio fell silent for a moment, processing that possibility. "I shall watch over the Yume Bay gate during the time when it opens", Pelagio vowed to them. "Even if I cannot prevent a human from entering it- and I shall certainly try my utmost to do so- I can at least inform you two of such an incident, since you're both able to understand me. Any who enter Faraway Lands can still be saved if we act quickly. If your friend had entered already, the waters would be extremely wild at the moment. Yet, they remain calm."

"You'd save them", Mira observed, trying to catch up on things the other two had mastered by now. "Using that Persona power, right? Like Oya?"

"That's right", Aiko nodded more confidently. Unlike the rest, this was something she was fairly confident in her knowledge of. "Personas. The facades we present to the world around us. Our other selves, which we can summon into that other world. Pela-chan has Galahad, and I have Anne Bonny... And a few more with me besides."

"That seems to be a unique gift, my lady", Pelagio noted with admiration. "A Persona is the opposite of a Shadow, correct? That is why you were able to convince some Shadows to join with you and become your masks, yes?"

"Pretty much. Seems like only I can do that though." She reached up with a hand to outline her vanished hat, struggling to describe exactly how it felt to call upon or change Personas in a battle. "I just kind of... focus on this, and I call their name, and Anne Bonny changes to one of the others I have. It comes in handy."

"No kidding", Mira applauded. She had seen that power employed against her own Shadow just a few days ago, the two of them tearing the machine woman apart with their various powers before Mira herself had stepped in to banish her for good. "Well, I don't think I can do that, but I know that Oya's raring to go if something like this happens again. I... I can feel her in my head."

Aiko hesitated. She really wanted to just say no, to say that Mirambela had already been through more than enough hurt for one lifetime, but it was also very clear to her just how well that decree would go over. Just like Pelagio was with me at first. Too overprotective. Too worried that someone might hurt her. Well, I'm right to worry. But after what she saw in herself back there... I think she'll be okay.

Praying that she wasn't making a mistake, she reached out the hand that wasn't holding her ruby shard and grasped that of her friend.

"...We'll be glad to have you along with us, Senpai."

"Indeed", Pelagio chirped without complaint. "Any friend of my lady is a friend of mine, and a new comrade in arms is always welcome."

Seeing the raw happiness on Mira's face, Aiko knew she'd made the right decision. Besides, any Shadow who wants to hurt her will have to get through us first. "Even if we don't have another person to rescue, I'd still like to go back. Not now. Not when any of us have other things to do, but when we all have time to spare."

Despite her earlier enthusiasm, Mira was confused. "We'd go back there without anyone to save? Why?"

She stood firm, having already considered their purpose in detail. "Because... I want to try to find Furusato-san's Land, wherever it might be. For Noel-kun's sake, even if it's true she can never leave. Once we find it, we can bring him there to visit. Exploring the rest of that sea might also let us find out the real truth behind its origins... Including Pela-tori's."

Pelagio seemed as concerned about that idea as Mira, even if his worry only came across in his voice, limited in expression by his beak and raptor's eyes. "All of that is certainly a possibility, my lady. But such a voyage of exploration should be handled with the greatest of care. I have asked you in the past not to underestimate the Shadows, and there are many more dangerous varieties out there in the wilder parts of Faraway Lands, both on the seas and off."

"We'll be careful", Aiko vowed. "We'll only go on the days when everyone is completely, totally ready, and we'll back out if there's the slightest sign of something we can't handle." Privately, she doubted that they would ever run into any Shadow more brutal than Mirambela's Shadow had been. So long as we avoid the Reaper's ship, we should be okay.

"Then it's settled", Mira agreed, masking her own fear for the sake of others who might be suffering from the dimension which had entrapped her. "But like you said, not right now. I have a lot of homework to catch up on."

Pelagio elected to stay however, promising he would remain quiet. "Actually, Senpai", Aiko told her. "Not quite as much as you think. I spoke with Takao-sensei today, and he believes it was a computer glitch which deleted all your old assignments. He's willing to give you a chance to catch up. You can submit everything at the end of this week."

"I will", Mira promised automatically, reaching into a bag. "That's why I need to get started right away. I'm going to make sure that I do everything written from now on, even if it takes me longer."

"Oh, so you did know about my surprise after all?"

"Huh?" Mira sat back up from her spot, but her friend had already ducked into the closet and grabbed the bagged item she'd stored there since yesterday. While most of the bag was clearly occupied by a large square object, she also pulled out a sheaf of paper and threw it onto the other bed.

It only took a moment of examination to realise what the paper was for. "This is...?"

"All my digital notes in paper form", Aiko confirmed, not looking back as she fiddled with the main item in the bag. "Takao-sensei said I couldn't show you my assignments, but I can give you my notes. I hope they're not too jumbled- my handwriting's kind of messy."

"No, no, not at all! Thank you for... you bought a TV?!"

The square object was small for a television, but it flared out at the front to become a larger screen. "Uh-huh! Got it yesterday at a used electronics store in the mall for cheap. And before you ask, I checked in with the head of our dorm to make sure. We're allowed to have it on until 10pm at night so long as the volume doesn't bother anyone, and I noticed that a bunch of other rooms got one too. Think of it as your welcome back present... Senpai."

Casting a brief glance at Pelagio to confirm what she was seeing was real, Mira chuckled in disbelief, eyes snapping back to her notes. "No. I just..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"I mean... It doesn't really feel right for you to call me Senpai. Not after what happened this week. I'm not native, so I may be getting this wrong, but a 'Senpai' is a respected older student who looks out for their younger Kouhai, right?"

Finishing the awkward task of connecting the cable to an outlet behind the short counter in front of her bed, Aiko turned and nodded, a bit inwardly proud that she had only banged her head once while installing it. "Pretty much, yeah."

Brown eyes met green, and she could see the true depth of the appreciation there. "If anything, after this week, you're my Senpai. You did more for me- more for us- than anyone else ever did, and you didn't even have to do it."

Aiko smiled back at her weakly, remembering all the times when she'd been tempted to just give up, to run back to the dorm and declare that Faraway Lands was beyond her ability to handle. Even now, it was hard to believe they'd pulled it off. "But you are one year older than me, Mira."

Mirambela stretched, smiling back. "I know. But we're in the same classes. So, let's make this an equal partnership, okay? You can call me Mira-chan. And I..."

Dropping her notes for a moment, she hunched back over her bed, lying flat to get closer, so that Aiko could fully see the appreciation shining in her wide eyes. It seemed completely impossible to her that this was the same defeated, miserable person whom she had first been given as a roommate, the hollow girl who had told her to stay away from her and mock her to be popular with others.

That was something that Aiko had noticed very recently; when Mirambela Sorano was sad, she was very sad, and it took a lot of effort, possibly even violence committed on evil shadow creatures from another dimension, to pull her out of it.

When she was legitimately happy and smiling, which hadn't been properly witnessed until she returned from the other world? The sun paled in comparison.

"To me... you're Ai-chan."

4/22 Monday

Evening

Ideka Ishinagi thumbed the button on his cell and returned his disaffected gaze to a stale box of bento. I believe that makes ten now.

Not the bento, of course. He'd eaten more of those in his many years of life than he'd care to admit, a childhood favourite snack that still held its own in his estimation when eating alone. No one would be there to stare at the simple selection of items and cheap cardboard container and tell him that he should be eating something 'classier'.

No one would be there at all. Ten times since attaining his position at Koashimizu academy he'd reached out to women his own age or close enough, and ten times he'd been cast away.

Oh, they would occasionally give him hope. They would go on passing dates, watch some movie, chat with each other about their respective pasts... but the limit was usually five such interactions before the polite ones told him that he should reach out to someone better suited to him and the rude ones would stand him up and stop answering his calls. Ruriyaka Tanetari apparently fit into the latter category, which after several talks with her he didn't find so much of a shock that it would completely ruin his night.

He supposed that was the problem, mulling it over a tough bit of chicken washed down with cold juice. The education needed to earn his Masters in psychiatry had molded his own mind into a state where it was instinctively inquiring and interpreting meaning from everything a prospective partner said or did. Most of the time, his conclusions were not well-received. Even if he chose not to reveal them, eventually he would mistakenly do something that showed what he really thought of them.

Tanetari, for example, unconsciously broadcast to him a deep-seated need to feel protected from the world. Though not exactly giving the signs that she merely dated looking for someone with money, he'd also born witness in his career to a number of adult males who broadcast that exact aura she desired, even if that required lying to themselves and others.

He didn't want to do that. To lie to her just to draw her closer. Other men did that, their consciences seemingly clear.

They don't like seeing the truth about themselves, he considered pensively. Few do. There are things in my life I don't wish to dwell on either, such as the reason I continue to work as mere guidance counsellor at Koashimizu even while possessing a Masters degree.

There was a student he knew who encountered similar difficulties- Shukiji Niyoga- but he didn't seem to mind the fact that his bluntness and overbearing intellectualism quickly severed any interest members of the opposite sex had in him.

While Ishinagi had noticed that new transfer student, Aiko Tsuruga, gradually cozying up to him as she seemingly had a tendency to do, based on what the two of them had presented so far he considered it a matter of time before she gave up and moved on to more conventional friendships. The two were not compatible personality-wise or interest-wise.

Ishinagi smiled sadly to himself. It was none of his business, really. Mr. Niyoga still had time to make decisions. He didn't. I do not deny my loneliness to myself or others. I only desire someone I can enjoy the company of. Someone that I could trust with my secrets. That is a completely natural, emotionally healthy desire.

The other, much simpler explanation was that he never did anything to hide his age. The gray streaks running across the gloss of his hair like a tiger's stripes coupled with a darker than normal skin tone suggested the higher end of middle adulthood, and he considered it a falsehood in itself to try and pretend he was any younger.

Watching TV in his apartment these days did nothing to alleviate the sense of unease that gripped him in times like this. The sense that no one out there was even slightly compatible with his requirements, his desires. That the majority only desired their solitude and nothing else, or were too enraptured in the pursuit of some illogical task they'd been convinced would put an end to whatever misery plagued them.

No more of that, he resigned himself sternly as he finished the box. I can still remember the tools of conversation I used when I was going to University. I can certainly pretend not to notice the various tells, or try to intrude where I am not wanted. If that is the mask I must present to someone, then-

A fast, insistent rapping on the door cut into his planning. Wondering if Tanetari was merely late and characteristically failed to warn him, he headed to the door only to find a younger woman waiting for him there.

Cecille Yumika looked exactly as foreboding and dignified as he remembered her from the incident four years ago, her crystal earrings jangling as they reflected the dim golden light of his room, and her eyes squared and glassy among loose stringy hair. Ishinagi knew much of that appearance to be a mask hiding an agonizing pain from years past that she had needed to forge in order to be able to work as a teacher, as well as the fact that tugging at that mask would be a fatal mistake.

Taking no note of his own surprise, her gaze pierced into his. "We need to talk. And you can't say anything about it to my brother."

Finding himself again, Ishinagi regarded her like a bomb had come to his door. "Is this about Sanaki? Have you found him?"

That wasn't exactly what he'd planned for tonight, but he didn't need a degree to know that knowing that Natsuro Sanaki was dead or in jail would lift an invisible burden from his shoulders.

But Cecille disappointed him there. "No. Not yet. I think... I may have found some of his heirs. They don't even know."

A bomb it is then, in function if not reality.

"You'd better come inside", he advised quietly. "Start from the beginning."

A/N: Back in the saddle, hopefully for a while now. Got some things happening on the side that might interfere with a regular update schedule, but que sera sera.