CHAPTER 3

The few seconds Krad spent circling around Alyssa like that seemed painfully slow from the patient, ritual-like deliberateness in his steps. Kyo felt the need to do something – he couldn't just stand there and watch Krad act in any way he pleased. That look in his eyes was creeping him out. Was it even legal to wear that expression?

Kyo opened his mouth to speak, but the shining entity beat him to it.

"It appears I have accomplished everything asked of me," Krad gave a little bow to each of us. "I look forward to coming out again."

He lifted his head and closed his eyes; a radiant yellow glow engulfed his figure and brought him back to Satoshi's size. He soon reverted entirely back to Satoshi himself, causing the room to appear much larger, much less blinding. Compared to what had just been, the once-bright furnishings died in their brilliance.

"Agh!" Satoshi fell to his knees and gripped his sides. "Those wings…they kill…"

What could I do for him? Was Krad going to continue to hurt him?

As Satoshi attempted to straighten himself and deal with the pain, I noticed that there were no longer any gaping holes in the back of his shirt. The being that brought them to life decided to give their clothing some regeneration power – a relief, to me, who saw that they came without spare clothes. With their creator on my mind, I resolved to get at least one more thing straight, and I knew just how to go about doing that. I needed to make certain of her identity, if ever worse damage were to occur.

Icy blue eyes looked up at me with heart-breaking agony.

"Don't ever ask for him again. I'm begging you."

While he tended to his back, I exchanged a few words with my guests and departed momentarily for the basement stairs. She'd be there. I was sure.

She opened her sleepy eyes and took in her surroundings. Upon examination, she appeared to be in a dull, grayish sort of office space that was lacking any signs of life: the papers were stacked too neatly on the desk, various writing utensils and other supplies organized in an orderly fashion beside them; swiveling black office chairs were lined up in a row, untouched; weary blinds were pulled down on the windows, blocking any cheery summer sunlight from entering. The room was a gloomy sight that she didn't expect to wake up to. In fact, she hadn't the slightest idea where she was.

Sitting up on the bland, gray carpet, she examined her hands, which looked different somehow. Yes, that's right. It'd been a while since she last opened her eyes. Is this what life looked like? She couldn't remember.

Next to her own feet, she observed another set. Looking to see who they belonged to, she discovered a man lying beside her – a memorable man that she knew well, in a standard, drab business suit that coordinated with the room – fast asleep, and oblivious to the strange world she awoke to. He was a handsome man, the way she saw it: he had a tall, lean build, with a pleasant face and peaceful eyes accented by a pair of glasses. At the moment, they were crooked, for his head lay to the side. She was able to analyze things about him that she never noticed about anyone before: the way his dark hair had depth, possessing innumerable shades of deep blacks and browns; how his chest rose up and down to the steady pattern of his breathing, altering the shadows his body cast; how each item he was wearing had its own, unique quality. What happened to the outlines that once illustrated every detail about him, about every item in the room, about her? How had so much color and detail become possible?

"Sir," she ventured to nudge the man's shoulder. "Sir, wake up."

His dark eyes stirred, and as his head rose from the carpet, his glasses fell off. Narrowing his bare eyes at the girl, he moved in a little closer and frowned. "It's you. I thought you were dead. I thought I was dead."

"I think you need to see this," she made a sweeping motion with her hands, presenting the room to him.

"It's my office," he said with wonder. "How did we get back here?"

"That's not it. Look harder." She picked his glasses off of the floor and handed them to the man, who slipped them on and pushed them high on his nose with a single finger.

"It looks…different!"

He turned his head back to the girl. "As do you!"

"As do you." The two stared at each other for a short moment, absorbing the detail.

"I've read about this before, this third dimension. I believe we have somehow arrived in a three-dimensional world. If so," he mused, "then this is the real one."

"Correct!" a voice came from all directions at once, startling them. They stood to their feet and attempted to find its source.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Oh, I'll tell you that fun stuff later. As for now, listen to my instructions. If you don't, you're going straight back to where you came from."

The girl marveled at her hands once more, admiring the foreign feeling of warmth flowing through them. "I don't want to go back to that," she said. "This is too cool. What do we need to do?"

"There's a girl," the mysterious, femininely high-pitched voice began, "that you're going to meet soon. More of your kind will continue to appear until the right one comes along. Once that happens, your kind will stop coming, and the ones already existing here will vanish, for her sake. It's because of her that you're both here. Others have appeared, and I've explained this to them already."

Having seated themselves in the swivel chairs, the two sat facing each other, but not looking at each other, mystified. They were real people now, existing solely because of one girl. Impossible. Why didn't the voice bring them to life when the first fangirls wished them to be?

The voice, suddenly soft, continued: "You can't reveal yourselves to her until I give the word. Before that point, I've given to you a power that you're going to put to work. Do as I say, when I say. Deal?"

"Deal," the girl said.

"Deal. But, what if I don't have any interest in meeting little girls?" the man said, eyeing the girl in front of him spitefully, his glasses glinting in the sliver of light that escaped around the closed blinds.

"So predictable. I've already arranged this office space for you with that in mind. You'll be able to live normally, work behind the scenes. I've altered the documents of this world to include you as a well-known businessman among the humans here." The voice spoke quickly and calmly, showing how it had everything under control. "Be wary when you step in public. People might recognize you. I've supplied you cloaks for this reason."

They looked around until the cloaks were located.

"I'm also making this office of yours a sort of command center for everyone. There are only certain times that I can come out and speak like this – so you, mister, will do my talking for me. Understood?"

"Yes. You have my thanks, strange being, now leave me be to my work." The man scooted himself in his chair over to the desk. "As for this girl, give her something to do and get her out of here. Oh, before you go, is there a name I might address you by?"

He propped his elbows on the desk and rested his head on his hands; looking to the side, at nothing in particular, he grinned. The girl turned her back to him and sighed.

"The name's Lena," she answered.

In front of him, the man witnessed the computer turn on automatically, and a program opened without him touching a button.

"Here's your first assignment. I could do it on my own, but I've got some business to tend to. Remember, you speak in my place."

The man read the message that popped up on the screen. It was a question from a curious stranger, and he replied as he was instructed to: "Yes, I created them."

I got a few samples of "real food" out and brought the boys over to the living room again to give them the opportunity to share a little bit about themselves. Kyo, with his limbs sprawled out over an entire section of the couch, surely heeded my suggestion that he make himself comfortable; Satoshi, having recovered some, sat with his legs casually crossed while enjoying the cool air conditioning that circulated throughout the room.

Kyo was the first to speak.

"That's one freak-show of a guy you share a body with," he said, and then stuffed some potato chips into his mouth.

"To put it simply," Satoshi replied.

Kyo nodded slightly while he chewed. "Is he controllable? Can you suppress him?"

"No."

My face portrayed not nearly the amount of worry I felt. Meeting Krad seemed like such a good idea until those eyes – those exceptionally evil eyes that humans could only encounter in fiction – locked on to me like I was a target.

"He comes out when he wants to, he injures me when he wants to…he can do anything he wants to me whenever he wishes. But if I die, he dies, so he obeys me for his twisted sense of mercy." Satoshi frowned. "There's nothing I can do about it."

"Seriously?" Kyo leaned forward a little. "Nothing?"

"The only balance to this equation is that Dark fellow."

Kyo's head twisted my direction. "Who is he, anyway?"

"He's…" I paused, thinking of where to start. "He's a winged being who can use magic like Krad, be he's totally different. Just try to picture Krad's opposite." The image of Dark flooded my mind and kept me from continuing.

Kyo's eyes travelled upward as he, too, thought up a mental image. To help him out, I walked back through the hall to my room and brought out the drawing I made the day before.

"This is what he looks like," I said, handing it to Kyo. Satoshi leaned closer to Kyo to get a better view of it, and I noticed his eyes pop with sudden interest.

"You drew this?" Satoshi asked, amazed.

"With some help," I shrugged.

"It looks just like him!" the professional-level artist exclaimed, appraising every detail. He gave me a soft grin and forgot the topic of conversation entirely. "I wasn't expecting you to have this level of talent. Tell me, what else do you do?"

Kyo reluctantly paid attention to my answer, not really caring, but knowing that the knowledge might do him some good.

I turned and pointed to the little upright piano, afraid to say anything. I could indeed play the piano, but in my eyes, I didn't play it well.

"Do you mind playing a piece?"

"If you don't mind," I said, sheepishly. I felt that Satoshi, a grand artist and admirer of the arts, was deserving of something more pleasing to the ears than I could offer. "I'm not the best musician you'll find."

"Save that for later and just play something already," Kyo hissed.

Without further ado, I seated myself at the piano and flipped to something that I was sure would surprise them. Satoshi's unofficial theme, straight from his anime, was the first thing I played; secondly, I played the theme song to Kyo's. I was very nervous when I did so, because I worried that Kyo wouldn't appreciate piano music much. He didn't seem to mind, but yet he didn't seem to enjoy it.

"That song is so lame" was the first thing that came out of his mouth when I had finished.

"Thanks!" I dared to stomp on his foot.

"Ow! Geez, lady! Don't get me wrong, you played fine! It's the song itself!"

"…Hey, Kyo?"

I sat down on the couch beside him. Still rubbing his foot, he looked at me flatly. "Huh?"

"Can I hug you?"

Satoshi was taken aback by this odd request that was totally contradictory to the atmosphere.

"Why would you want to…" Kyo started, not knowing what to say. He looked away, visibly reddening. I knew that there was no way he'd ever voluntarily hug me.

I stretched my arms out, guardedly; but, when he saw them, he smacked them down with instinctive speed and turned around with alerted eyes.

"No, don't hug me! Bug off!"

"But Kyo, I –"

"No!"

He speedily took for the other side of the room, but Satoshi grabbed his wrist along the way and whipped him around with one swift motion. I had followed Kyo to that point, and suddenly his looming figure was coming straight for me. He was thrown off balance, and landed against me; in the path of my fall, the sharp edge of an end table was doomed to hit my head. This time, Kyo's instinct was to protect me and not push me away. In the split second that we fell, I felt his arms twist me to the side, and then they were gone. All I could see was a cloud of dense, white smoke.

When the smoke cleared, I saw that Kyo's clothes were just to the side of me, and a little orange-colored cat with a tiny black throbbing mark on his head sat near the base of the end table.

"Satoshi…!" the cat screeched.

"So I see," Satoshi spoke to himself. "He's a cat."

"I'M NOT A CAT! I JUST TRANSFORM INTO ONE!" Kyo yelled.

After I steadied myself and organized Kyo's clothes into a neat pile, I proceeded to pick him up. He tried to scratch and squirm out of my hold, but gave up after a little while, finding it futile.

"This is why I wanted to hug you, Kyo! I wanted to see if your transformation worked, and it does!"

"Why are you so happy about it?" the cat retorted.

"Because it's incredible, and you're really a very cute cat."

Satoshi looked on with amusement, and ventured to stroke Kyo's head. "Yes, a very cute cat you are."

"Shut up, you."

They squabbled on and on, and I couldn't have minded any less. I didn't want them to ever stop talking. I realized, then that I was a very special person: the only human to ever witness an honest-to-goodness talking cat. How was I going to explain this to my family when they returned home? This day so far was unexplainable, unreal, and I didn't know what to do with that, but all I knew for certain was that I wanted it to continue. I wanted to wake up to a shouting cat and a charming genius in the morning instead of silence. It would make me…happy.

But the precious little time I had…. My mother had said that she and my brother would return in a week's time. I had a week to spend in a dream – the dream I was so scared of having – and what would happen when it was over? If my wish wouldn't come true, could this still be the best few days of my life, or would I only remember it as "the time that Dark could've been real"?

"Satoshi, Kyo," my words cut short a potentially cat-infuriating insult in the middle of its utterance, "you're…you're staying the night, right?"

The both looked at me like I missed something.

"I have to," Satoshi said. "I have nowhere else to go where fangirls or informed individuals won't find me."

The little cat nodded in agreement, causing a huge smile to come to my face. They would be here tomorrow. They would be here!

"That's good."

Satoshi leaned forward, grinned, adjusted his glasses. "It's nice to see you smiling like that," he said. I could feel a sudden rush of warmth in my face, something I wasn't used to.

Soon after he processed his own words, he showed signs of worry.

You and I need to have a little chat, Krad said within him, where no one but Satoshi could hear. Now. Or else I come out.

"Excuse me for a moment," Satoshi bowed his head, and then walked toward the front door, leaving the cat alone. "I'll be back shortly."

I looked down at the cat in my arms and shrugged. Neither of us knew what to think about his sudden departure.

Minutes after he left, there was a deafening, heart-stopping knock on the same door Satoshi exited through. The cat shot out of my hold in surprise, and I could hear the sound of my breath being drawn in sharply.

Hopeful, I turned around the corner to face the front door. It couldn't be, but I wanted it to be, and it needed to be!

I inhaled deeply and opened the door.

"Delivery!" a man dressed in a uniform and hat declared boldly, looking down at a small box before handing it to me. My heart shrank as low as it could in complete disappointment, and there was almost a sensation of pain when its anxious beat skipped one and died back down to a slow pace.

The mailman?

I took the box from him, and he hung in the doorway while I read the label.

The "from" label read a name that I'd never heard of before – "Dave Irata" – and didn't have an address.

"There is a message from the sender that I have been requested to deliver," the delivery man said.

"Why couldn't he just enclose it in the package?" I asked.

"Because I am a close friend of Mr. Irata, and it regards you opening the box."

I took a long look at the man, and my mind was screaming that something was off. I figured it out: there were long shadows being cast across his face by his hat, blocking the details of his face from my sight. It was evening, and the sun was going to sink into the horizon soon. Mailmen never came this late.

Suspicious of him now, I asked what the message was.

"The message is that you are not supposed to open that box until I give the word," he removed his hat and bowed formally but dramatically, "my lady, Alyssa."

From underneath the hat poured out tremendously long, graciously flowing strands of silvery-white hair. His head resurfaced from his bow, closer this time, revealing beautiful yellow-green eyes and youthful pallid skin that were too calming and soft in hue to allow my heart to speed up again like it should have.

Dramatic entries like this were exactly his style.

"Aya?" I whispered while blinking excessively. I couldn't believe that another one of them appeared. This caused me to feel joy and happiness, but also frustration and confusion. These people were going to keep on coming, weren't they? Should I think of that as good or bad?

I felt something caress my jaw and work its way to my chin; the man tilted my face upward and leaned in toward my ear. He softened his voice to a relaxingly smooth level: "Is there something so wrong with my name, that you cannot say it all?"

"Of course not…Ayame."

Just when I was about to pluck his hand off of me and move it away, he brought his arms to his sides and showed me his most charming of grins.

Then he instantly switched moods.

"YES!" he gave a thumbs-up. "I know, I know, you've been waiting in misery for this moment! I'm finally here! You can rest at ease, now, that Ayame is here!" He pointed toward himself and smiled a huge, cheesy smile.

Kyo, who could finally hear the voice from inside, gave the most annoyed look ever. Anything but this. Anything in the world. Dogs. Yuki. A bath. Anyone but Ayame.

Ayame let himself in and placed his shoes and hat wherever he felt inclined to. A glow came to his face when he saw the little orange cat in the process of hiding itself behind a couch.

"Kyonkichi, is that you?" he asked.

"No!" Kyo responded. "That's not my name!"

"Good, because that means I get some alone time with Future-Mrs.-Ayame-Sohma –"

By that time, Kyo had run over and bit his ankle. Immediately after, Kyo was spitting and coughing.

"Disgusting floral foot lotion! Agh!"

Ayame clapped his hands together twice and lowered his high-pitched flowery tone to being low, stern and serious. "Come, now, Alyssa, please fix that up for me."

Tiny drops of blood were welling where he was bitten, so I went to get a bandage and a few other items. I returned with them and sat Ayame down in a nearby chair. He didn't stop talking the whole time.

"You have my thanks for your hard labor! MY thanks! Don't you feel like royalty now? I must say, I almost feel guilty, watching her hard-worn hands work and work for my sake!"

"Almost?" Kyo mumbled, and I emitted nervous laughter as I unraveled a bandage.

"What a fine job you've done, Miss Alyssa! It'll be nice to have you around." I finished with his ankle and kneeled upright; Ayame leaned closer. "Getting a thank-you from me will obviously repay every act of kindness (it always does!), but in the case that it doesn't, there is a particular payment that I deem you worthy of (how lucky are you?) that I like to call –"

"Pervert!" Kyo hissed. His furry forehead turned a deep shade of purple, and small gloom-lines appeared above his head. "Just stop talking already!"

"Oh, Alyssa, I think I may request one more thing? Use those lovely lips you have to make it feel better –"

Kyo threatened Ayame with a fierce hiss and bit him again.

"Alyssa, my comfort, my savior, I need you!"

He reached for me dramatically, grabbed my hand, and drew me to a sideways seated position on his lap, where he pushed his movement to the limits: he placed one hand behind my head, drawing our foreheads together, and the other behind my back. Something glistened beneath one of his eyes during his exaggerated display of need, and then I was surrounded by that dense white smoke again. He vanished from under me, causing me to plop down onto the chair.

A lengthy white snake made itself comfortable around my neck.

"May I stay here, upon your hard-working shoulders? The air in here is a tad cool for comfort." His tongue forked a strange snaky greeting on my cheek.

"That pervert," the cat hissed while escaping to the living room. I followed and sat on one of the couches.

"Ayame, I'm glad you could make it! This is definitely a…surprise."

"I know!" the snake chuckled. "Isn't it?"

What do you want, Krad? Satoshi thought. He found himself a secluded park bench a couple blocks down, and sat in such a way as to hide his face from potential passersby.

Why must you be so cold, Master Satoshi?

Satoshi didn't answer.

Oh, I just wish to discuss an important matter with you.

Satoshi's eyebrows creased in frustration. Shall I prepare some tea?

Beforehand, Krad said with a severe tone, ignoring Satoshi's comment, why did you come all the way out here, when you could have just found another room in Miss Alyssa's house?

I want to keep all conversations with you far away from her, Satoshi thought. I don't want her to worry.

Well then. Shall we get down to business?

Once again, Satoshi didn't answer.

This is all based on something our creator told us when we first came into existence. Do you remember that?

Satoshi thought for a moment. She said a lot of things.

What I am referring to is when she said that more of our kind will continue to appear until the one that makes her content – the "right" one – does; and how, after he does appear, the rest will have to vanish from this world. We both know who the person in question is, do we not?

Satoshi nodded.

She could have just said "Dark", could she not have?

Satoshi nodded more slowly, as he understood Krad's point.

What I am proposing is that the "right" one is not limited to Dark, but includes anyone who is able to make Miss Alyssa happy.

Where are you going with this? Satoshi questioned.

I desire Dark's permanent absence, and with this realization, it is possible!

Let me get this straight, Satoshi said with a heavily disapproving tone: You want to take Dark's place in her life, so that he won't come into existence? You want to get her to fall in love with you? Somehow I find that difficult to imagine.

Not just me. You could very well fill in that position yourself, Master Satoshi. Or did you not notice how she glowed when you complimented her earlier?

Satoshi was brought back to the image of my face at that moment, smiling, delirious upon hearing that he would stick around. Krad, something tells me that there is nothing I can do to rid her of her feelings for Dark, no matter how hard I try, simply because of who I am.

There is no room for failure, dear Satoshi. If you do, I will take over. No worries, though; in such cases as you have described, magic is extraordinarily useful.

What?

An eerily sinister laugh echoed in Satoshi's head. He brought his knees to his chest and sighed despairingly at the thought of what was to come. If he wanted to hold off the damaging potential of Krad's magic, he'd have to follow through with this plan himself.

"Give me the box."

"No! 'Tis not for thee."

"At least let me see what's in it before she opens it!"

"Oh but Kyon-kyon, if you did, it'd ruin the surprise!"

Kyo's ears twitched with irritation. "You make it sound so wrong," he growled.

I smiled politely as I reached for the box and placed it in my lap. "A present, huh?" I said, gently lifting and shaking it, finding it to be startlingly lightweight and airy. I was still suspicious of the name written in the "from" label, for I knew nothing of the man.

"Ayame, who is this…Dave?"

"Ah yes, Dave! He's a wonderful man who doesn't live too far from here: my life-giving savior! He knew from the dawn of his time that someone was missing from your life, and so he molded my very (beautiful) existence with his own two hands! Earlier on this morning, I was dead, but now I have life, life that I desire to dedicate to you!" Ayame's snake-head twisted high into the air for dramatic affect.

Little blue gloom lines rested upon the orange cat's head.

I was too lost in thought to hear any more of Ayame's rant. This man, Dave Irata, gave him life? A man? But Kyo and Satoshi said the voice was distinctly feminine, and without form. Here, Ayame spoke of where the man resided. Was this man also behind the scenes?

"Are you sure he's the one who brought you to life?" I asked, peering over at Kyo. He understood my train of thought after only a few seconds. "And that he's a he?"

"Yes, yes!" Ayame's head swung off my shoulder and around to face me. "He greeted me in person when I woke up and explained everything."

I worked my way through feelings of trepidation and made up my mind.

"You said you know where he lives? I think I need to pay him a visit."

"But Miss Alyssa, he said that none of us are to go to him unless by request. If we do, there are these things called 'consequences', that according to Hatori are not pleasant, and…"

Disappointed, I slouched and my eyes wandered in attempt to erase the hopes of meeting this Dave Irata any time soon. In the process, they landed on the neatly folded clothes on the end of the couch. I wasn't given too much time to think, right then.

A thick cloud of smoke emerged from Kyo's direction, and it didn't immediately register that that was my cue to look away until I saw the smoke begin a gradual fade from around his now-human head and bare shoulders. Ayame coiled once around my face.

"Let me shelter your bright blue eyes, your sweet, innocent mind, from Kyo's unworthy physique!" Ayame cried out. "Now I, on the other hand, can personally arrange for –"

From his spot at the other side of the room, Kyo looked at the snake on my neck with inexplicable malice – he had only time to put on some jeans before his anger took over – and took one angry step, then two, before another cloud of white smoke appeared.

Krad stopped in his tracks on the way to the front door in the dark. The front window looked peculiarly foggy. When it cleared, he noticed only two people in the giant living room window; one of them, only half-dressed, seemed to be looking at the other in a most passionate way whilst inching forward.

Kyo? thought Satoshi inside him. And Alyssa? What is going on in there? He looks very…worked up? Surely, she couldn't have angered him to this point. Could they…

"The young miss somehow doesn't seem to mind the advancement," Krad said aloud with interest, seeing the situation the way Satoshi did. "Your job might already be done." Then he noticed what he and his host had missed in the picture.

"Miss Alyssa?" he marched through the front door and glared at the silver-haired young man standing near me, ranting on about something, stark naked; I shook nervously from the manner of his transformation and burrowed my face into the back of the couch with my eyes shut, nearly failing to notice Krad's entry.

"GET OVER HERE, YOU FOOL, AND LET ME TEACH YOU SOMETHING!" Kyo roared and locked Ayame's head in his arms.

"NOT THE HAIR! NO, NOT THE FACE!" Ayame whined.

Krad, get her out of here while those two settle whatever they need to settle! I'm begging you, she doesn't need to see that!

Two white-and-gold arms lifted me from where I sat; suddenly, the world around me was made of pure white feathers. I was led back several steps into the kitchen, and then allowed to stand freely. Turning, I found Krad smirking a silent greeting, looking like he was pleased to run into me again. I breathed a sigh of relief that he rescued me from the chaos and gave me a little circle of feathery peace. When I shifted my thoughts from Ayame to the fact that I was but a foot away from Krad again, I grew quiet.

"Thanks," I said softly, cautiously, made suddenly conscious of his power. His expression did not change.

"That new man is a Sohma?" Krad spoke, after waiting for one of Kyo's loud battle cries to die down.

"Yes, Ayame transforms like Kyo, but into a snake. He wanted to rest around my neck, saying he needed rescue from the air conditioning, but I forgot all about their return transformations, and…that happened."

"I see."

When I spoke, I had looked him in the eyes, but their stone-cold quality made it impossible to keep up. I shifted my gaze to the wings that surrounded me and we waited in silence for the final verbal blows to come to a close.

Krad lowered his wings just enough to peek over them. Ayame's head surprised us by peeking over the other side.

"Who might you be, honored guest?" Ayame asked, now fully dressed in red and gold. Krad folded his wings to his sides and answered with his name.

Kyo saw the stern look on Krad's face, so he and I answered all of Ayame's other questions for him.

Suddenly, Ayame faced me and bowed deeply. "I am truly sorry for our unruly actions. I do hope you'll forgive me. I'll remember my manners from now on."

With his switch to a more gentleman-like attitude, I did indeed forgive the incident. Krad took the opportunity to transform back into Satoshi, who looked very tired and pained.

"You're the guy I saw walking down the sidewalk!" both Satoshi and Ayame exclaimed at once.

"Where did you go?" I asked, pulling out a chair from the dining room and seating myself in it. Satoshi and Ayame followed suit; Kyo stood against a wall, thinking of his situation from another perspective. Another person from my world. Does this mean Tohru might come on her own? If not, could I ask for her, or does Alyssa have to?

"Not far from here. Krad wanted to discuss a few things, and convey the message that he has power over me," Satoshi answered while rubbing his back.

"Kills to be you," Kyo remarked.

"Here, blue guy, how about I give you a massage?" Ayame asked.

"It's Satoshi. And no. I'll pass."

I looked at Satoshi with concern, but he gave a weak, reassuring grin.

When night had fallen over the house, the four of us grew tired and readied ourselves for sleep. I brought out some spare sleeping bags, pillows and blankets for the men, who took over the living room. Kyo refused to share a room with Ayame, but he found the idea of Ayame sneaking secretly into my room even more revolting, and so he put up with him. Ayame refused to sleep in the basement for the colder temperatures, being the snake that he was. The weary Sohmas seemed to hit the sack as soon as the sack was available, having been fighting boisterously since Ayame first arrived.

I switched off all the lights, washed my face, and entered my own bed. I couldn't fall asleep just yet, with so much still on my mind – this would be a repeat of last night, if I didn't get the answers I wanted. I wouldn't be able to get to sleep for the heat, either. About a half-hour after I entered my room, I got up to turn on the air conditioning for the night. When I did, I found Satoshi keeled over the dining room table bathed in a beam of moonlight from the patio door behind him.

"Satoshi?" I whispered. "You're still up?"

His head rose slowly, as he was already aware of my presence.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I asked. He looked bothered in a way.

No, Satoshi thought, because Kyo didn't take my job, so Krad just told me the specifics of his whole plan. "Yes, I'm fine. Maybe it's the heat…this night is unusually warm. When the AC starts up, I should be able to sleep."

He still looked bothered.

"You know, Satoshi, if you're worried about something, you can always tell me." I usually found mushy-gushy-I-love-you talks to be awkward, but he looked in need of a kind word. Maybe I'd be able to wish for Krad to be a separate person if it all got too bad. Although, that have would wait until my first wish came true.

Satoshi looked up, and his reassuring smile wasn't so weak this time. "I'm fine, so don't worry. Get some much-needed sleep after a day like today."

"I guess that's an order." I smiled and returned to bed.

While I lay awake, waiting for the air to grow cooler, I thought of the day's miraculous events. Just last night, I was alone. Now, I had four anime people living in my house to stay until who-knows-when.

But the same thought had been lurking around all day: was that good enough for me? Even though my wish wasn't quite granted, here I had three others plus Krad that should make up for it…but they didn't, really. There was still a tiny empty feeling that I wouldn't be able to shake, that no one else could fill.

These people needed a chance, though, Dark or no Dark. I resolved to get closer to each and every one of them, and play the game with a different tactic: forget about Dark. If he comes, the wait will seem that much shorter. If he doesn't, I will have still had a wonderful experience meeting Kyo, Satoshi, Krad, Ayame – maybe others. Maybe I'd get to meet Dave soon.

Or maybe I'd get to meet Lena, now that her confirmation had erased all doubts of her existence from my mind.

For now, I just needed to go to sleep, and bring on the new day.