The following day began slowly, with less fanfare than the previous. My journey to school was as deceptively simple as the last, the only difference being my lack of relative solitude.

"School seems fun. You come here everyday and learn?" Koda remarked with curiosity.

"Not as fun as you imagine." I said, thinking back on the many unpleasant things that took place in the lawless zoo I was approaching. "It's more brainwashing the helpless youth into conformity than teaching most of the time."

Koda, now comfortably resting in my bag, seemed skeptical but remained quiet nonetheless. As classes started, my mind wandered even faster than it normally tended to. With the mystery of the metaverse now introduced to me, it was inventing questions that I couldn't possibly answer, some of which I expected not even Koda knew the answer to.

What was so special about me that caused Igor to single me out, and to what end? Was it my ability to manifest a persona, or something less tangible?

Why was the fog out to kill me? Did it have some sort of autonomy, some sort of intelligence that was specifically targeting me?

What even is Koda? I've taken on the task of finding out who she was, but to be perfectly honest, she knows much more than I do.

How does the metaverse operate? And, more importantly, how could I increase my chances of survival while traversing it? If there are more powerful shadows out there, and Koda assured me there was, I was going to need-

I abruptly stopped my thought process there, and realized one thing. I need a plan, now. Firstly, I need to establish, prioritize and find the answers to the most relevant questions I had. Simply spiraling out of control accomplishes nothing. Secondly, I need to take action to not only decrease the danger involved in entering the metaverse, but also increase my ability to take down shadows. And lastly, I need to find a reliable way to enter and leave the metaverse once I establish steps one and two.

My mind slowed to a reasonable pace, my spatial awareness grew to include the now empty classroom. As I had been lost in thought, our lunch period had begun. This left only me, and my overly friendly (some might say nosy), mentor Hiratsuka-sensei. I followed my first instinct and simply walked towards the door, dead set on avoiding the conversation that was sure to happen if I didn't.

"Hikigaya-kun." She said, voicing it less like a name and more like an objective statement.

I froze in place, not even turning to acknowledge her immediately. A couple seconds passed in silence before I released a sigh and turned my head towards her.

"Yes, Hiratsuka-sensei?"

Her compassionate expression, one that I had grown used to seeing over the events of the last couple years, seemed to be even more guilt inducing than ever. I wasn't entirely capable of keeping my face schooled as she studied me in silence, but that was inevitable. As far as telling other people about the metaverse, I was certain that now was not a good time. There were far too many unknowns, too many dangers involved. And even then, I could admit to myself that I was attracted to the autonomy the metaverse promised. The ability to go to and from would certainly be limited by other people, who would likely quote safety as one of their main reasons to do so. At the moment, I was solely responsible for it, and that is how I would like to keep it for the foreseeable future.

"As your teacher, I am always here for you to speak to, you know that." She released a small sigh, and allowed herself another short, searching look towards me. "But at the end of the day, I can't always be there for you. No one can." She admitted. "Whatever's bothering you, I encourage you to take your time and think it through, okay? Promise me that."

I chewed on her words for a second before assenting. "Yeah. Yeah, I can promise that."

The rest of the day followed with no further abnormalities. It wasn't until attending the service club that I found some semblance of entertainment.

"She's so small!" I winced as Yuigahama's less than calm voice rang throughout the room, slightly echoing in the hallway beyond.

"Please keep it down." I said for the 4th time. "She probably won't be allowed in the school, and I'm not keen to find out for sure."

Sure, even showing Koda to my fellow service club members was likely a huge security breach when it came to maintaining some sense of normalcy in my life. However, Koda wouldn't be told no when she realized I, and these are her words, 'Had a room and two women all to myself.' As far as concessions go, however, this one wasn't too bad.

"Wait, how do we know it's a girl?" Yuigahama asked, genuinely confused.

I froze for a second, my mind grasping for an answer to the relatively simple question.

"Uh..."

"Don't you know? Female crows have a slightly higher pitched cry." Yukinoshita responded, not missing a beat.

"Of course." I said with ease.

Yuigahama's face scrunched up, likely annoyed at her relative lack of knowledge. I was tempted to admit I had no idea what Yukinoshita was talking about, but only tempted. Who the hell knows how they'd react to the truth, besides calling me crazy I mean.

Yuigahama's loud cooing (and Yukinoshita's restrained cooing when she thought I wasn't looking) aside, the service club ended as it normally did. Iroha did not make herself present, and neither did someone come with a request, so as the club concluded I set forth on my self assigned task for the day.

The library.

It was slightly mundane, but in the end I had the realization that something as substantial as the metaverse had to have been recorded in public text at some point. Whether through eye-witness accounts, research on group psychology, or even as folktale and hearsay, there was bound to be something that could point me in the right direction. Hell, even I had already heard buzzwords I could relate to it, one 'collective unconscious' comes to mind.

So, I set upon the task of cross-referencing Koda's personal experiences in the metaverse with any information I could find, hoping to give myself an advantage.


"Koda." I called, hoping to tear her attention away from the crackers I had just recently bought her from a nearby vending machine.

"...yeah?" She responded, her willpower clearly being tested as she turned to face me.

"Didn't you say that people travel into the metaverse pretty regularly?"

"I don't think those were my exact words, but yes. Sometimes people find their way there by coincidence."

"Well, most people seem to be describing the metaverse by accident. It's almost as if..." I faltered, "Well, it sounds like no one even remembers what transpires inside."

Koda cocked her head to the side, and followed with a question. "How so?"

"Here." I gestured to a book on the table, one going by the title 'Home of the Faeries.'

"This book describes fairies briefly, as a prelude to it's main theory. They say, among other things, that fairies live in forests. They tend to be mischievous, they can be seen as evil, benevolent, and sometimes a mix of both." Koda listened patiently as I described the book in passing detail. "However, it truly becomes relevant when it mentions the theory it calls 'Faerie Manifestation,' which it posits is the true source of faerie sightings."

"This manifestation, the author claims, is evidenced by certain details that also prove the existence of a 'faerie realm,' such as colors being distorted and changed, recognizing people who, by all accounts, shouldn't be there. And," I took a breath, "the appearance of a strange fog that was impossible to navigate."

"From there, the author proceeds to lose direction of the theory, using pseudo-science to further support the eye-witness accounts I mentioned."

"Hmmm." Koda hummed thoughtfully.

"Then there's this one here." I picked up a book titled 'Hunting the Silver Stag.' "This one mentions a stag from Arthurian legend, one that was able to eternally evade capture. It also quotes multiple different eye-witness accounts of strange albino stags that seem to be more supernaturally inclined than normal. Once again, they mention it escaping into a white fog that none were able travel through."

"Those aren't the only ones that mention something similar, but you understand my point." I finished, prompting her to respond.

"You're saying that these people likely entered the metaverse, but none of them have the complete memories involved to properly describe it." She concluded.

"Exactly."

"Well, it would make sense. It matches my experience, even if I can't explain why." She paused to eat some more crackers before finishing her statement. "Most humans I've met in the metaverse seemed... dazed, to say the least. Not entirely there, if you get my meaning."

"Hold on," She stated, before proposing a theory of her own, "Maybe it's due to your persona."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, think about it. The metaverse made you unnaturally tired after you left, right?" I nodded. "Maybe your persona somehow shielded you from most of it's effects, giving you the ability to leave with your memories intact. Persona's are simply more complex shadows that serve you instead of their own interests, after all."

I nodded for a second time, processing the information for a moment before looking back at Koda, slightly shocked.

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Know what?" She innocently responded.

"How did you know that my persona was a shadow? Didn't you say that I was the first person you met to have one?"

She looked confused for a moment, clearly considering her previous statement.

"I, uh..." She trailed off. "I think I just assumed, you know. It made sense to me."

"That so?" I responded absentmindedly. My thoughts turned to my conversation with Igor, and more specifically, his statement about 'divine providence.' Without more information, however, my assumptions would remain just that.

Assumptions.

"Let's head home, it's getting dark." The statement shook her from her silent rumination, and I let her jump back in my bag for the journey home.

Just as I was cleaning up, one book caught my eye. It was one that I hadn't had the time to skim over during the couple hours I had spent here. It was titled, 'The Mind's Eye,' with (you guessed it) a stylized eye on the cover. To be honest, it seemed only tangentially related to my experience. On a whim, I picked it up, checked it out, and took it home with us. I could pass the time with it, if nothing else.

I made it home just as sunset was passing, and Komachi was already there.

With more than a couple jabs about me being 'out on the town' despite telling her I was at the library studying (which was true...mostly), I spent the rest of the night relaxing. That was until I opened 'The Mind's Eye' with a passing curiosity, and inside finding a clue to unravelling the metaverse, at last.

Knowledge, Once Shrouded In Mystery, Begins To Reveal Itself