Chapter two! It gets a bit crazier! Oh, and read Funakounasoul's original 'Flutter' so you know what to expect if you haven't already!

Enjoy!

The school's chime system went off, informing the students that yes indeed, it was time for lunch. Thusly, the students processed out of their classrooms in myriad small packages of two or three, sometimes more. Hold on, didn't I just state that in the previous chapter? Gods dammit! Oh, well… Two girls in particular walked out of the school and proceeded towards their destination: The Edge of the World.

After what seemed an eternity of anticipation, the abandoned shell of a building loomed before them like some hulking she-beast. The windows were shattered, the paint along the exterior was rotting away and peeling. From the open doorway they smelled nothing but dust and an occasional hint of strawberries.

"Should we….go in?", Yomi's voice cracked.

"Heck yes we're going in!", Tomo pushed her friend forward through the doorway.

"Ahh….AHHH!!", Yomi screamed out as she was forced into the building.

"Geez, it's dark in here!", said a man in a red leotard and cape that seemed to appear from out of nowhere and now stood behind the girls. A giant letter 'O' was emblazoned on the chest of his uniform.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious.", Tomo stated.

With that, the man took to the air.

"I'm flying away!", he yelled back.

In moments he was nothing but a small speck on the horizon.

"Hm…I haven't seen him for a while.", Yomi said.

Tomo nodded. "I'm glad I brought this with me.", she said as she ignited what looked to be a medieval-style torch; a short pole with the tip wrapped in cloth and then dipped it pitch. It stunk like the dickens.

"Where on Earth did you get that!?", Yomi shouted.

Tomo just shrugged. "The 100 yen store."

"You're going to burn this whole place down with that!", Yomi yelled, backing away from the possible death of her.

"Oh, come on!", Tomo pleaded, using her free hand to drag Yomi deeper into the bowels of the building. Soon they came upon a rickety staircase that seemed as if any weight put upon it would send the stairs tumbling down in a pile of rotted wood and rusted nails.

"Don't tell me you want to go upstairs!?", Yomi shouted , her voice echoing through the cavernous main room.

"I've walked up worse stairs than this!", Tomo said. "Remember when we tried to get into NASA?"

Yomi shook her head in exasperation. "Don't remind me…"

"Let's goooo!!", Tomo shouted as she held her torch high and dragged Yomi up the stairs behind her.

Creak…creak…creak….SNAP…SNAP..SNAP!

The final three stairs dissolved under their weight as they reached the top landing.

"Ahahah!", Tomo laughed. "I guess we'll have to skip those on the way down!"

"Tomo…you're absolutely insane!", Yomi said through grit teeth.

"Doesn't it just make me the most awesome friend ever?", Tomo grinned. "C'mon now."

She led the way to the large room on the second floor where the entire facing wall was knocked to pieces. Rubble scattered the ground, but the open wall provided a lovely view of downtown Tokyo.

"Isn't it pretty!?", Tomo said, whipping out her bento and sitting on a fallen piece of concrete.

"You aren't….afraid?", Yomi said, her bento quivering in her hands.

"Heck no!", Tomo said, laughing so much that her sides began to hurt. "And then we can tell everyone we actually went inside The Edge of the World and weren't eaten by demons!"

Yomi smiled; Tomo's cheerfulness was infectious. She sat down beside her and began to eat as well.

"So…", Tomo chided through a mouthful of rice. "Are ya jealous of my massive brain yet or what?"

"Of course not!", Yomi responded. "All you do is copy from me and somehow pass….You're a burden sometimes, you know that?"

Tomo sat quietly then, her chopsticks placed neatly inside the bento. A tear fell from her eye and hit the concrete below, staining it dark.

"D-do you really think…I'm a burden?", she asked, sniffling.

"No, no, no!", Yomi apologized, waving her hands and then patting the other girl on the shoulder. "I just get annoyed sometimes and say things I don't quite mean. Believe me, you're not as much of a burden as him.", she finished with a thumb-point towards a man in a blue leotard standing behind them.

"Aww….No!", said Captain Falcon with a huff. "C'MON! BLUE FALCON!!", he yelled as his prized race car somehow drove up outside the building by itself. He jumped from the top floor, landed inside the cockpit and rocketed down the street to the screams of terrified onlookers.

"Why does he follow you around sometimes? He's like a lost puppy.", Tomo said.

"Beats me.", Yomi answered.

"So….you really don't think I'm a burden?", Tomo asked, returning to eating her bento.

Yomi nodded. "No, you're a little annoying at times, but-"

She was interrupted by the immensely loud outdoor bells from their school; signaling the end of lunch period.

"Darn! Oh well, it was fun, wasn't it Yomi?", Tomo asked cheerfully.

"I guess…", Yomi answered.

"I had fun too…", came a voice.

They turned back to see a man with a full, graying beard in ragged clothing carrying a bald rat which he was petting.

"GAH!", the girls screamed, backing away from the man.

"….Wanna see a dead body?", he asked, leaning forward.

"NO!!", the girls yelled as they rocketed from the building.

The man just stood there sadly, petting his bald rat.

"It's okay Flufflenuffigins….we'll find a friend….someday…"

Only a few hours later, the final bell of the day rang and the students poured from the school like fresh blood from a stab wound. The students went their separate ways to sports practice, clubs, home, illegal activites, etcetera. Tomo and Yomi were headed towards that 'special place' that Tomo had mentioned the previous night.

"C'mon! We're not gonna make it before sundown if you keep dragging your feet like that!", Tomo prodded Yomi who moved just a tad quicker.

Eventually, they reached the nearby park where Tomo lead Yomi off the beaten path, over a series of mountains, through the halls of the Dwarf King and under Loch Ness until they reached their final destination; it was a field filled with cherry trees in full bloom, and in the center of the field; a rainbow.

"Wow…it's beautiful…", Yomi commented with a blush quickly spreading across her face.

"That's not all!", Tomo said. "C'mere.", she pulled Yomi towards the rainbow, but stopped short and ducked them behind a tree.

Peering out, they watched tiny creatures in green drop food into a cauldron at the end of the rainbow. The three creatures stood by the pot, chatting for a bit and smoking cigarettes before wandering off into the forest.

"Were those…", Yomi began.

"Yeah, leprechauns.", Tomo assuaged.

"This place is crazy…", Yomi scratched her head.

"Look though,", Tomo said, approaching the cauldron and taking out a few tasty-looking candies.

"What the heck are you doing, Tomo!?", Yomi warned.

"It's ok, that's what they're here for! The leprechauns put food in here for needy people!", she answered, licking at her lollypop.

"We're not needy!", Yomi hissed.

"Oh, pipe down!", Tomo laughed, handing Yomi a jawbreaker.

Yomi reluctantly popped it in her mouth. It tasted like fresh strawberries in early March.

"How did you find this place?", Yomi asked.

"Just wandering one day and BAM!", Tomo answered, lying back in the perfectly green grass.

"Doesn't anyone else know about this place?", Yomi asked.

Tomo shook her head, her eyes closed. "Not that I know of. I surveyed the area before and it's way off the path; my private land of perfection!"

"I see…", Yomi said, nodding.

"So, Yomi", Tomo began, "am I really that annoying?"

Yomi looked up at Tomo and decided that truth was better than lies. And lies were better than strangulation.

"Put simply; yes. Sometimes you are, but you know….", Yomi looked to see if Tomo was going to weep again, but the girl instead was sitting quietly; listening.

"Go on.", Tomo encouraged her.

"Well, umm….you know, I could have been really popular but instead…well, instead I chose to be your friend. You notice I don't have any other close friends…Tomo..", Yomi voice became choked with tears. "You're my best friend…"

Tomo regarded the other girl with sympathetic eyes. "Yomi…"

Yomi smiled at Tomo, her eyes hooding themselves in compassion.

"Yomi….", Tomo repeated.

"Y-yes, Tomo?", Yomi questioned, noticing the quiet tone of the girl's voice. What did she want to say?

"Yomi, you have a fairy in your hair."

"WHAT THE FUCK!!", Yomi exploded, shaking her head to loose the strange winged creature that chattered in laughter and flew away into the distance.

Tomo giggled and leant on Yomi's shoulder for support.

"This place is strange….", Yomi sighed. "But it's pretty…."

"Glad you like it!", Tomo giggled. "I found it forty-three years ago."

"Tomo…", Yomi said. "You're only fourteen."

"Oh, I found it in a past life.", Tomo explained.

"O….kay…", Yomi answered, knowing Tomo's ability to embellish the truth.

"I come to just relax, think deeply and eat candy.", she said, sitting up straight. "Haha. See? I can be calm and stuff! You're the first one to know that and, to tell the truth, it's a bit embarrassing…", Tomo blushed.

Yomi immediately pulled the girl into a tight hug.

"Thank you Tomo…this place really grew on me.", Yomi said.

Tomo, surprised about the hug, just smiled. "I'm glad it did…."

Yomi pulled back and the two girls smiled and looked into the eyes of the other.

"You know, Tomo…maybe you'll mature and act like this all the time once we reach high school.", Yomi proposed.

"Wanna bet?", Tomo grinned.

"Actually, yes I do."

"Name your price!"

And thus the bet was formed. Yomi proposed that Tomo would mature by the end of their high school career. The stakes were set that whomever won would be able to ask the loser to do anything they asked for one day as long as it took place on a weekend or before college classes began.

"Dammit, Tomo….why can't you act like this all the time?", Yomi said, running her thumb sensually over Tomo's cheek.

"Only for you, Yomi.", Tomo responded, brushing a bit of hair off of Yomi's face.

The stage was set. The moment was perfect as twilight fell. The darkness hid their respective blushes as the gap between them closed until…

"DAMMIT! NOT SNAKES! I HATE SNAKES!!"

Thusly, Indiana Jones ran out of the forest, looking this way and that as he sprinted off into the distance, apparently away from snakes in the woods.

"Umm…maybe we should go.", Yomi said.

"Good idea. The hobgoblins usually come out after dark anyway.", answered Tomo as they got up to leave.

They took the shortcut back over the Swiss Alps and through the ninth circle of Hell until they came upon the main road that led to each of their respective houses.

"Good luck on your first day, Tomo. These next few days will probably be the last we'll see each other all day, every day."

"Maybe….but who knows? We could even be put in the same class!"

"Hehe.", Yomi chuckled. "If so, may the gods shatter my glasses."

"Haha. Very funny.", Tomo chided as they separated, not saying goodnight, not even a friendly handshake. They simply went to their homes and prepared for a New Dawn.