...Darkness

"Hey, are you awake?"

...sound

"If you're awake please open your eyes"

The empty shell opened her eyes to see a boy with green eyes and dark brown hair standing over her.

"Can you speak?" The boy asked.

The shell tried to recall something or anything to help her understand but to no avail. With dazed eyes, the shell looked around. She was laying on a bed in some kind of normal bedroom. The shell looked back at the boy.

"I guess not" the boy said," but I'm sure you'll learn on your own".

The shell continued to stare at him.

"Still, even if you can't talk yet, you should have a name" the boy said,"hmm...how about Chiaki?"

The shell blinked at the sound of her new name.

"Oh right I forgot to tell you my name" the boy said," I'm Hajime"

"Ch...ia...ki" Chiaki tried to say.

"Yeah, that's it" Hajime said with a smile," this calls for a celebration".

Hajime walked over to his refrigerator and opened the freezer. When he came back he had two packaged ice cream. He opened one before offering her a blue ice cream on a stick.

"Here, why don't you try some" Hajime said," its called sea salt icecream"

Chiaki held the ice cream, but wasn't sure what to do with it.

"You eat it like this" Hajime said before biting into the ice cream.

After a few seconds of observing, Hajime eating, Chiaki took a nibble of ice cream and started to eat.

"You must be a fast learner" Hajime laughed.

...

After the sea salt icecream, Hajime gave chiaki some easy books to read. Unfortunately, chiaki was too tired and fell asleep. Hajime decided to let her sleep in his bed while he would sleep on the floor.

"Goodnight Chiaki" Hajime smiled.

...

The next morning, Hajime awoke to see Chiaki reading and surrounded by books. Chiaki noticed him and stared at him.

"Good..morning...Hajime" Chiaki said in a slow robotic tone.

"Good morning" Hajime said," did you read all these books?"

"Yes" Chiaki said.

"Just like I thought, you are a fast learner" Hajime said.

"Hajime...where did I come from?" Chiaki asked.

"Uh..well that's hard to explain" Hajime said.

"I want to know" Chiaki said.

"I guess you would ask sooner or later" Hajime said," I would of preferred later".

Hajime pulled up a seat to chiaki. Chiaki stared at him with her empty eyes making Hajime upset.

"I'm sorry I just can't" Hajime said as he stood up.

Hajime tried to walk away until he froze in place. A light glowed in his chest before popping out as an orb of light. Hajimes hair then grew to a lengthy black just as his eyes turned crimson.

"Hajime?" Chiaki asked.

"Yes and no" the person said," I am Hajimes nobody: Izuru"

"Where is Hajime?" Chiaki asked," what is a Nobody?"

"To answer your first question, I am currently using Hajimes body" Izuru said," Hajimes essence is right here"

Izuru pointed to the ball of light as it floated towards Chiaki.

"To answer your second question, a nobody is a heartless body that gains sentience" Izuru said," you and I are emotionless husk that remain when our former selves lose their heart".

"Am I a nobody?"Chiaki asked.

"Yes" Izuru said.

"What happened to my original self" Chiaki asked.

"She shattered her own heart" Izuru said.

"Why would she do that" Chiaki asked.

"I doubt she had faith that her heart would be restored " Izuru said," if someone else had shattered her heart, I would understand but her self sacrificing action makes no logical sense to me".

"Thank you for explaining these things to me, but may I speak to Hajime?" Chiaki asked.

"Very well" Izuru said.

Izuru beckoned Hajimes heart towards him. Hajimes heart responded before floating back into Izuru. Once Hajimes heart was back in place, izurus hair turned back to short brown while his crimson eyes faded to green. Hajime panted after the transformation, showing that Izuru was gone.

"Sorry about that" Hajime panted," that happens sometimes".

"Izuru explained it to me" Chiaki said," everything about nobodies and how I lost my heart".

"Figures he would" Hajime said.

"Hajime, what should I do now?" Chiaki asked.

"Well you have two choices" Hajime said," you can stay here or you can try to look for the pieces of your heart"

"I hadn't noticed it until I learned about nobodies, but I have this empty feeling inside of me...I think" Chiaki said," do you feel it too?"

"No, that's a trait that is usually exclusive to people without hearts" Hajime said solemnly.

"Is there a way to fill this emptiness?" Chiaki asked.

"Only if you have a heart" Hajime said.

"Then I would like to find my heart" Chiaki said.

"Are you sure?" Hajime asked," if you don't have a heart you don't have to get hurt".

"I want to reclaim my heart so that I can express things similarly to you...I think" Chiaki said.

"I guess, if it's that important to you, I'll let you go find your heart" Hajime said," but I'm coming too"

"Thank you" Chiaki said.

...

The two stepped out of Hajimes apartment and into the twilight lit streets.

"What is this place called?" Chiaki asked.

"Twilight port" Hajime said," but i think twilight town is a better name"

"Is a piece of my heart around here?" Chiaki asked.

"I don't think so" Hajime said," but if we search the different islands we might find the pieces".

"How do we get to the other islands?" Chiaki asked.

"We can take my boat" Hajime said.

"You have a boat?" Chiaki asked.

"Yep, so all we need is some supplies and then we'll be ready to set sail" Hajime said.

...

Once the proper supplies was gathered, Hajime and Chiaki walked to the port. There a fairly small boat floated at the dock. On the side were two scratched out names 's.s koizumi' and 's.s LP'.

"Does the boat have a name?" Chiaki asked.

"It use to, but then I thought I'd try to think of a new name" Hajime said," unfortunately I haven't been able to come up with anything".

"Thank you for sharing your boat with me" Chiaki said.

"Sure" Hajime said.

The two boarded the ship. Once on board, Hajime readied the sails before taking the wheel. Finally they were off to another world. Chiaki looked at the setting sun over the horizon as sea salt air breezed through her hair.

This is the beginning.

...

Meanwhile, in a remote location, Junko tapped her foot. Eventually her sister, mukuro, came running in.

"I'm sorry I'm late" mukuro said.

"Whatever, just give me the report" Junko sound.

"We found a piece of the pure heart" mukuro said.

"Excellent" Junko said

"On another note, the prisoner still continues to fight" mukuro said.

"She'll give in to the despair eventually just like all the others" Junko said," everything is going according to plan, but some things are missing"

"Is there anything I can do?" Mukuro asked.

"Yes, send out the hopeless beasts" Junko said.

"Yes Junko" mukuro saluted before running off.

"Hopefully my plans will come to fruition" Junko said," ha, hope".

To be continued...