"Well, that's quite a story," Ana said.

Ninten rubbed his eyes, glancing up at the fluffy clouds spotting the blue sky. Rays shone down from the sun and heated Ninten's black shirt until it felt like a warm towel. He stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk and caught himself before faceplanting into the cement.

"Easy there." Ana grabbed onto his shoulder. "Are you feeling up for this?"

"I'll be fine. Although technically we're not supposed to be doing this."

"Oh my god. I was kidding with what I said yesterday about your amnesia, but this makes me wonder if you remember that we broke into someone's personal psyspace."

"Hmm. I guess that did happen a couple days ago."

Ana made a "pfft" noise before walking through a set of doors into a building with rose beds decorating the outside. Ninten followed her through the building until they reached the locked staircase.

"We could just message him, you know," Ninten said.

"So impatient."

"He's supposed to be the one to let us up anyway."

"The people here don't mind." Ana looked over at a boy walking down the hall. "Excuse me, would you mind opening the door for us? We're seeing a friend."

"Oh, sure." The boy scanned his ID card and the door made a clicking noise.

Ana shot Ninten a smug smile.

"Do you want congratulations for asking someone to unlock a door?"

"I don't need your approval to be a winner."

"Sure. You can call yourself that if you want."

Ana took the lead walking up the staircase, citing her status as "winner" for justification. After walking up a few flights of dusty stairs and staring at long-dried gum on all the pipes, Ana waited for someone to go out of another door before walking into the carpeted hall.

Ninten followed Ana through the passageway of identical-looking oaken doors with different nameplates on cartoon pawprint cutouts.

"Do you remember what our door decorations were last year?" Ninten said.

"I don't like to think about where we lived last year at all." Ana pretended to shiver. "Do you remember those girls a few doors down who would always scream with their shrill hyena voices when they partied through the night? I think it would have been easier for me to go nocturnal that year."

"And miss all your classes?"

"Honestly, it might have been a worthwhile trade." Ana halted in front of a door.

Ninten looked at the two names written on the pawprint cutouts. "Ness" came as no surprise, of course, but "Lucas" hit him like a punch to the gut. Ana walked up and rapped on the door. She sighed, drumming her fingers on the door like a piano player practicing scales. A few moments later, Ness swung the door open and looked back and forth between Ana and Ninten with at questioning gaze.

"You ready?" Ana said.

"Ana and I were wondering if you'd want to go out for ice cream now," Ninten said.

"Sure." Ness paused. "Dude, you look worse than me. What happened to you last night?"

"Me?" Ninten said.

"Obviously," Ana said.

"Well, I'm not sure how much we're supposed to say," Ninten told Ness. "Maybe one day we'll tell you. I'm not sure if you'd believe us anyway."

"Knowing you two, I wouldn't be surprised if you found a hole in the space-time continuum."

"Damn," Ana said. "He got us good."

"Well, I think that Ana's going to burst if she doesn't get her quadruple chocolate or whatever, so maybe we should start to stroll over to the ice cream store."

"Since when did you speak for me?" Ana crossed her arms. "And that's sexist."

Ninten sighed. "How is that sexist?"

"I just wanted to get a reaction out of you. Now I'm a winner in two ways." Ana flashed a grin. "And I'm paying for your ice cream, so you had better be graceful in your defeat."

"You are?" Ninten said.

"Yeah, because I'm a good friend and I care when you've gone through a wild ride. You're welcome."

Ninten grunted. "Ready to go, Ness?"

Ness nodded. He fished around in his pocket and jiggled his keys before stepping out and closing the door behind him.

"And what a rude friend you are," Ana said. "Rich people, I swear. My family had to work for this money."

Ninten rolled his eyes, but when Ana couldn't see him he let his smile show.

Nothing like a chat with friends to go back to after the longest couple of days in his life.

(ILH)

Ana pressed her palms against the glass of the ice cream display. "No triple fudge brownie. Woe is me."

"Well, they have mango," Ninten said. "You could always try a superior flavor."

"Fuck off."

Ness walked past Ninten and Ana, examining some of the other flavors.

"So are you paying for the three of us?" Ness said, glancing up at the price board.

"Well, I'm definitely paying for you. Who pays for Ninten will be a result of his actions."

Ana scurried off to another set of ice cream containers and leaned into study the flavors until her forehead almost touched the glass.

"Well, that's nice of her," Ness said.

"I think she feels bad about forgetting your dad. It was a long day for both of us."

"Yeah, I feel bad for being cold about it." Ness glanced out the window. "It's just hard. Like what happens if my mom is distraught and doesn't work? I'm not going to let her and Tracy starve. But if I don't get a degree I'm not sure how much I can do."

Ninten nodded. He knew better than to offer money. Maybe later if it came to that.

"I heard that the dean passed away," Ness said. "From unknown causes as well. Seems suspicious, doesn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. It does."

Ness shook his head. "You're too honest, Ninten. I hope that you weren't involved in his disappearance?"

"Not me. It was, um…"

Ness raised an eyebrow.

"I can't really tell you."

"That just makes you sound more suspicious."

"Well you wouldn't believe me if I told you who killed George."

"Someone killed him?"

"Uh, well if someone did kill him then-"

"You need to practice on that lying if you're going to go into business." Ness bit his lip. "But I can stop grilling you. How close were you with Lucas, anyway? And with the dean, I guess."

"Ana was closer with Lucas. And while I don't ever want to rejoice at death, George isn't high on the list of people I'm going to send sympathies for."

"Wow, and coming from you."

"And what does that mean?"

"You're just so innocent. Not in a bad way or anything, but-"

"Yeah, I get it. I've been given everything in life."

But now it was time to do something real.

"Well," Ness said, "No matter what happened in the past couple of days, I'm sure that you did your best. And I do trust you that you didn't kill the dean. You're not that stupid, and I know that you wouldn't harm a fly either way."

The image of Ninten's dagger entering Mary's stomach popped into his mind.

"Ness?"

"Mm hmm."

"What's the best way for us to support you right now? I've never had this happen to anyone I know."

"Well I'm glad nobody you know is dying from cancer." Ness paused. "I think just showing that you care enough to ask me question is good. I don't mind anything."

"Anything, huh?" Ninten took a deep breath. "So what's the timeline looking like?"

"When's my dad going to die, you mean?" Ness flashed a dull smile. "The doctors say about three months."

"How do you feel about that?"

"It's okay. Better than one. Not that much better than six. I think he feels that way too. Feels like we can get done everything we need to before then."

You have to promise me, Ninten. Lucas' words echoed in his mind.

This might be the fastest that Ninten would ever break a promise.

"I'm not sure I can give you the full details yet," Ninten said. "But I might be able to do something."

"I don't want your money."

"I can't save your father's life, of course, but maybe I can make it so that he still exists after death."

Ness frowned. "I think ripping a hole in the spacetime continuum actually makes more sense than what you just said."

"I promise that you'll be able to see your father again after three months. Maybe not do everything you want with him, but you'll be able to talk for as long as you need."

"You know, most people would accuse you of being insane right now." Ness glanced over at Ana. "Unless you two discovered a dirty little secret about George's PSI company?"

Ninten fell silent.

"Well, that's interesting," Ness said. "Thanks, Ninten. I'll talk with you about it once you can share more of the details, I guess? Hopefully you can understand that I don't want to get my hopes up too much."

"Of course."

Ninten exhaled. This new beginning of Ninten's had many branching paths. Before it had been linear: elementary school, middle school, high school, college. But now his choices could change the world.

And he was ready to dive into the possibilities. Who better to start with saving than the loved one of a friend?

But for now…

"For now," Ninten said, "Let's enjoy our ice cream."

Thank you so much for reading this story all the way through! I had a lot of fun writing it and hopefully you enjoyed reading it at least a little bit. :)

I think I may have tipped my hand a bit plainly with the ending where Ninten talks about branching paths. The more I wrote this story the more it seems to me like it's about Ninten being set up for success in the past but now having a chance to challenge his path and do what he wants in the big wide world. But hey, maybe it means something totally different to you, and that's fine.

And the branching paths stuff is also my excuse for why the story kinda ends open-ended lol. But we know that Ninten doesn't feel as trapped anymore, and after a long journey I'm glad he got something out of it. :)

But seriously, thanks for reading all the way through. It means the world to me.