A few opening words: Whoo! Back from Vancouver at last. Alright, first of all, if you want a disclaimer, check a previous chapter. Next, I would've had two chapters, but I couldn't figure out how to end the second, so I merged the two, and left what was left for chapter three. If you're reading my other story, Behind the Wheel, the next chapter for that should be up in a few hours, unless I fall asleep due to jetlag. Anyway, on to the long overdue chapter…

Sakaki looked around. She felt as if she were floating, in what seemed like an endless void. She didn't know how she got here, nor how long she had been there. She could not feel pain, or any temperature, or anything for that matter. Where she was, there was nothing. Nothing except her, that is. Sakaki tried to remember something, anything, which would help explain her current situation. Her mind came up blank. It seemed as if she didn't even have her memories to keep her company. She called out into the void again, knowing that no one would answer.

"Hello? Anyone?" Sakaki sighed, and repeated her message again a few times. She quickly exhausted herself, which she found odd, as she was naturally athletic. However, this time she noticed something different. Off in the distance, in whatever direction that may be, she saw a small glowing object that was quickly approaching. As it drew nearer, Sakaki identified it as something akin to a cat, however large and out of proportion it was. It was roughly oval shaped, yellow, and had odd tentacle-like things for arms. It stopped close to her, and looked upon her with its large eyes.

"We meet again, Sakaki."

"...Again?"

"You do not...remember me?"

"We've met before?" The cat-thing pulsed a dark blue color, and spoke again.

"That's too bad. Are you sure you don't remember me?"

"Um...yeah." It pulsed blue again.

"Hmmm. It seems you have some business to take care of before we speak, then. Good luck!"

"Wait, business? What do you mean?"

"Do not look far, for your enemy is close," it said as it began to drift off into the void.

"Close? What do you mean? There's no one here!"

"Don't take everything so literally, geez..." Without another word, it vanished. That was...odd, Sakaki thought to herself. Before she had time to reflect on what had happened, a bright light shined in her face. She tried to look away, but the light seemed to follow her. Sakaki squinted in an attempt to find the light's source. She tried lifting her arm to cover her eyes, but found that she could not move them from her sides. The light was getting brighter now, and she was forced to close her eyes. What's happening? Why is it so bright? A million questions flashed through her head, but were left unanswered as she left was sucked out of the void she had been trapped in for so long.

Sakaki could hear voices around her, all of which seemed extremely excited. She opened her eyes, but quickly regretted it. Her eyes had been shut for so long, they weren't used to the light. She shut them, and opened more slowly this time. Everything was blurry, but it slowly came into focus. There were five girls around her, and she seemed to be in a small apartment, though it had a lot of medical equipment in it.

Sakaki's eyes focused more, and she noticed that there were six girls, the one she hadn't seen was a foot and a half shorter than most of the others, and had average lenth red hair. She also began to notice a small kitten rubbing up against her side. She looked around at the girls, taking in each one individually.

There was the smaller girl with the red hair, who looked to be still in grade school. She wore her hair in cute pony tails and had a big smile on her face, as all of them did, except the next one. This girl had short, dark hair, was about average height compared to the rest, and had a large goofy grin on her face. The third was taller than the rest, with long brown hair, and square rimmed glasses. Fourth, there was another girl of medium height, with short blue colored hair, who seemed to be on the verge of tears she was so happy. Beside her there was a girl who was extremely tanned, and looked like one who was good at sports. She had dark hair that was probably the shortest of the group. Lastly there was another girl, a little on the shorter side. She had semi-long hair, and had a far off look in her eyes, as if she wasn't looking at Sakaki, but through her.

No one spoke for a long time. Sakaki just laid there looking back and forth at the girls, unable to find her voice. It seemed like one of them was going to speak up, when the doctor entered the room.

"Ah! She's finally awoken!" The girls separated to allow him some room. He walked over, and checked the various medical instruments. He then nodded approvingly, and removed the IV drip from her arm. "Well, everything seems to be in order. Sorry about your hair, but we had no choice but to cut it. Forgive me?" He asked with a chuckle. Sakaki tried a smile, and nodded, still unable to speak. "Well, that's nice. Though it seems to be growing back at an abnormally fast pace. Maybe that's how it got so long in the first place! Well, I better leave you to catch up with your friends." Friends? "I'll be back in an hour or so to check up." He smiled, and waved his hand over his shoulder as he left, leaving Sakaki with the girls.

They were silent for another moment, but then all at once burst out in an odd combination of crying, laughter and general conversation. One girl was crying hard, muttering Sakaki's name in between sobs, including a small laugh every now and then, and another, obviously the most hyper, was cheering loudly. The one with the glasses had to get her to stop – forcefully. These girls really seem to care for me… The kitten had cuddled up comfortably against her shoulder, oblivious to what was going on around it. Despite how overjoyed the girls were, Sakaki couldn't remember any of them. It was obvious they knew her, but from where? And, now that she thought about it, she didn't even know how she had gotten to the hospital in the first place. Sakaki struggled for a moment, then coughed.

"What's… going on…?" She asked, in a hoarse voice. The smallest girl called out to everyone to get them to quiet down. Sakaki repeated herself.

"What happened here? And why… am I in a hospital?" The girl put a troubled look on her face.

"You don't… remember? Nothing?" Sakaki shook her head slowly. Tears came to her eyes, and the tanned girl took over.

"You just came out of a coma. The doctor said something like this might've happened, but I didn't think-" She was cut off when the taller girl with the glasses hit her in the side of the head. "Ow! Hey!"

"Don't say it so bluntly! She's been through a lot!" Sakaki was confused.

"A lot? What happened?" The smallest girl had regained her composure and stepped forward again.

"It's best to leave that for later, I think. Right now, it would be a good idea to reintroduce ourselves. We're your friends, all of us, from before the… accident. You suffered some brain damage, and because of that, you can't remember us. So… I'm Chiyo Mihama. It's good to have you back, Sakaki-san!"

"Talk about your awkward moments, huh? Takino Tomo, at your service!" The taller girl leaned on Tomo's shoulder.

"She's a little hyper at times like this. I'm Koyomi Mizuhara, or Yomi as you all call me."

"Um… you can just call me Kaorin... Sakaki-san."

"Well, I guess you have an excuse not to remember me this time then? I'm Kagura, your rival!"

The last girl still seemed to be in a world of her own. Kagura elbowed her, probably a little harder than was needed.

"Wha-? Ah, yeah! Ah'm Ayumu Kasuga, but Tomo here branded me Osaka, and that seems ta be what you guys use, so yeah."

Sakaki nodded a greeting to each, knowing that she didn't need to offer her own greeting, as apparently they already knew her. Her attention then fell to the two animals in the room.

"What about this cat, and the dog?" She asked. Chiyo spoke up and answered her question cheerfully.

"That's Maya, you're faithful mountain cat. Didn't leave your side the whole time. And the dog would be Mr. Tadakichi-san. He's been with me longer than I can remember!"

Sakaki nodded, and brought an arm up to pet the kitten, which didn't seem to mind. Sakaki began to realize that Chiyo was probably telling the truth about everything, though she herself couldn't remember a thing about what had happened, and very little about any of the girls. Despite that, Sakaki felt comfortable around them, she felt accepted, as if she had known them her whole life. Their story continued on to various events of the past, Sakaki listening intently, hoping that something that was said would help her remember something from her past. But every time the subject came to what had happened to put Sakaki in the hospital, the girls panicked and changed the subject. Maybe it's something I should solve on my own. Before long, an hour had passed, and the doctor, Dr. Hayate as she had been told, returned to the room.

"I have great news! Since you have almost completely recovered from your injuries, you no longer need to stay in the hospital." Chiyo looked excited.

"You mean…?"

"Yes, as of now, you are free to leave whenever you feel up to it!"

"That's great news! Oh, but, where will she stay? I remember her saying she doesn't have any relatives in the area…" Kagura looked worried.

"Hmmm… That does present a problem…" Dr. Hayate looked like he was in deep thought, when Chiyo spoke up, now even more cheerful.

"She can stay with me!" Sakaki looked over, surprised.

"I can? But… I don't want to… be any trouble…"

"It's nothing! The house is plenty big enough. My parents won't be home for a few weeks, but they're always encouraging me to have friends over, so I'm sure they won't mind."

It wasn't long before the girls all had to leave, save for Chiyo. Sakaki bid them farewell, and they all agreed to meet at the park the day after tomorrow to catch up, and try to bring back Sakaki's memory. Chiyo and Sakaki stayed at the hospital a short while longer before she felt she was ready to leave. Sakaki changed into the donor clothes left by the doctor, and headed out to her new temporary home, with Chiyo riding Tadakichi-san beside her, and Maya lounging on the back of her neck.

Sakaki sighed and took another sip of her tea, and stroked Maya gently, who was asleep in her lap. She was in the T.V. room of Chiyo's house. Chiyo had gone to the kitchen to make them some dinner. Sakaki had offered to help, but Chiyo wouldn't have it, so Sakaki simply tried to relax. The television was on, but she paid no attention to it. Now, her mind was on more serious matters. Soon after the two had arrived home, they got into conversation and decided it was best for Sakaki to know what really happened to Sakaki and her family. Of course, Chiyo only knew what everyone else knew, so the final bit of information could only come from Sakaki. She had hoped that learning what happened would jar her memory, but it was no use. She was devastated to hear of her parents' deaths, but knew no more than that. Not how it happened, or who or what was the cause.

Sakaki rubbed her eyes, which were now sore and itchy from her crying. Tadakichi was sprawled on his side beside her, and nudged her affectionately with his big head. They always said animals could tell when you're feeling down. She smiled, and scratched his head. Setting down the tea, she let herself fall back so she was laying on her back beside the dog, arms behind her head for support. Sakaki stared up at the roof, and tried to clear her head of all distressing thoughts. She hated thinking about depressing things, especially at a time like this. She had just woken up from a two month coma, been reunited with her friends, who, despite her not remembering any of them, stood by her, and all she could think about was her parents' murder. Before she had a chance to dwell more on the matter, Chiyo returned carrying a tray of what looked like sushi and udon.

"Well, we didn't have much there, so I cooked up what I could. Enjoy!" She said, placing the tray on the table. The smells drifted over to Sakaki, and her mouth began to water. It looks so…delicious…

"You… made this?" She took a bite. "It's amazing! How did you learn to cook like this?"

"Oh, I learned from various cookbooks, and relatives, but mostly just trial and error."

"Wow…" Sakaki could say no more, and simply ate as much as she could, as fast as she could.

"You know, you shouldn't eat so fast…"

Sakaki ignored her, and continued eating. She was about halfway through when something caught her eye on the T.V. behind Chiyo. She dropped her chopsticks, and swallowed her mouthful.

"Turn that up!" She blurted. Chiyo grabbed the remote and raised the volume. It was a news program about street crime in Tokyo, mainly the various mobs. In particular, they noted that there was a new gang on the rise, known only as 'The Grey Men', and were headed by a man known only by his first name, Shuji. They showed a partial picture, taken of him as he was entering a black limousine. He was a relatively young man, probably in his early twenties, with slick black hair. He wore a grey suit, small circular rimmed black sunglasses, and a tough, almost displeased expression on his face. Sakaki froze. Her mouth went dry and she felt cold. A plethora of images ran through her head of their own will, stopping on one in particular. Her one memory from the night of her parents' murder, one piece of the memory she had been striving to find. The face of the killer. Sakaki swallowed her fear, and spoke with grim determination.

"That's him."

"You sure it was her?"

"Positive. Saw her with my own eyes boss."

"Dammit. You know where she is?"

"She left the hospital with a young girl. I tracked them to a large estate. Little girl must be pretty rich. They're still there now."

"Good. You know what to do. If you fail, don't bother coming back. You hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

Author's notes: watch to add more dramatic effect to cliffhanger


The plot thickens! Heh, more cliffhangers. I love 'em. I love a book that's full of them. It keeps me coming back for more, wanting to find out what's gonna happen next. So, you may hate me, but I'll end up doing that a lot.

I now am in possession of Microsoft Office 2007, no pirating WHATSOEVER involved. None. Whatever you heard is a LIE. Anyway, Word '07 is WEIRD. I don't like the look. At all. But on the plus side, no more spelling and grammar errors (hopefully)!

Lastly, um, read and review? Have fun speculating, next chapter to be expected in a day or two.