Chapter Five: Yomi's Tale

Yomi Sighed. "I don't really know exactly when everything started. I Guess you could say it all began when Mato and I were put in different classes at the beginning of this year. We'd been friends since the beginning of Junior High. Really close friends. We both thought nothing would change. Our clubs still met in the same place, and we still went over to one another's houses almost every day.

"But then Mato met Yuu. She was the Basketball team's manager, and the one who would deal with the bumps and scrapes Mato always seemed to get. Mato started spending more and more time with her, so I sort of fell behind. I didn't have any other friends. I'd only just moved back to Japan from Germany at the beginning of Junior High, and I hadn't met anyone else really. I was completely alone.

"Then I began to feel odd. It was like there was another person inside me, calling out to me. I would catch glimpses of her in my mind from time to time. Then, one night when I thought I couldn't take it any longer, the girl appeared in front of me. She asked me, 'Do you want to disappear, Yomi? Do you want to leave them all behind?' I said I wasn't sure. She then replied, 'I'll stay with you until you are. All you need to do is say 'Yes.'

"It was three days later that I finally said yes. It happened just before Volleyball practice. I told the captain that I had to leave early and went to the overlook Mato and I used to love going to. I wanted the last part of my old life to be in a place that reminded me of the happy times with Mato. The girl I had seen before was waiting for me there; she already knew I was ready. I asked her who she was, and she told me, 'I am Dead Master. I am a part of you. And from now on, I am you.'

"She was true to her word; Dead Master took me to her world, where none of them could see me. She was in control of me, but I didn't care. I wanted the same thing she wanted. But then that girl came for me. Mato. Black Rock Shooter. She drove Dead Master out and brought me back.

"I thought that would be the end of strange things happening to me, but then, yesterday morning, I woke up and everything was different; like it is right now. It's like Mato and I barely even met. At the same time there's this psycho girl named Kagari that she and my mom say I've known for years even though I've never seen her before."

Yomi took a long sip of her tea. Saya, who had been watching Yomi intently the entire time, finally spoke. "That's…quite a story Yomi-chan"

"You do believe me, don't you? I mean, I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth!"

Saya took a long, thoughtful drink of her café-au-lait. "You said that the two of you have known one another since the beginning of Junior High?"

"That's right; last year."

"Yomi-chan, you and Mato-chan are freshmen. You haven't even been in Junior high for a full month."

"That's another difference. Somehow I've lost an entire year. All I can say is that when I went to bed two nights ago I was a second-year student.

"I see.

"Then there's also the problem of Dead Master. She never went away—not really. She's been there this entire time, just in the back of my mind. Ever since yesterday morning, though, she's been showing up more and more. I keep seeing her fighting some other girl that looks like the Kagari girl. I think she's trying to get control again, the way she did before. It's like she's absolutely desperate."

Saya shot a look to Yuu. "Can people's other selves even do that?"

Yuu Frowned. "Most of the time I'd say no, it's impossible. A person's other self doesn't have that kind of free will. They're fueled by the emotions of the normal self and fight by instinct. I was a special case, because Yuu chose to make me that way. So some other selves can develop free will of their own, but what Yomi is talking about goes far beyond that. It almost sounds as if Dead Master possessed her, like some kind of demon."

"That's not the only difference, though. I've had Black Gold Saw tracking this new version of Dead Master. She isn't acting like an other self should. It's like she's enjoying the fights. And she's very vindictive about it. It's not like the Chariot who fights on instinct, or Black Rock Shooter who fights for a cause. This new Dead Master is fighting for the joy of fighting."

Yuu sighed. "Taking all of this together, along with Yomi's story, it looks like there's only one possible explanation. Yomi-chan isn't the same Yomi-chan that Mato met after the ceremony. Somewhere, somehow, there's another world out there. Not like our other world, where it's linked with this one, but something else; some other reality that runs parallel to this world. That reality must be something like a mirror of ours; almost everything is the same, but it's not identical."

"Now you're talking crazy."

"Don't laugh, Saya-chan. It's not as ridiculous a concept as you might think. The other world where people's other selves fight is a concept that would be difficult to swallow for anyone that has not had direct experience with it. Imagine trying to explain Black Gold Saw to an outsider. They'd think you were crazy."

Saya frowned. "Hmm. So, another reality. And on it another Yomi, another Mato, and another Yuu?"

Yuu nodded. "And another Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master. That reality seems to have an other world attached to it as well, though it seems the dynamics between worlds are different."

"Yes, It would be interesting to study that reality and see what the differences are, wouldn't it?"

"And at some point yesterday night, that world's Yomi Takanashi and Dead Master took the place of their counterparts in this world."

"This is all good," Yomi cut in, "but we still have the question of how I get home."

Yuu fidgeted. "That's difficult. Since we don't know exactly how you got here in the first place, we don't even know where to begin in getting you home. We'll look, but it may take some time before we figure out what happened."

Yomi frowned. "What you're telling me is that I should make the most of the situation, is that right?"

Yuu nodded. "Exactly. At least until we figure out how to get you home."

"But that could take years! What if I don't get to see her until we're both old?"

Yuu put a reassuring hand on Yomi's shoulder. "Don't worry, Yomi-chan. It won't take years for you to get back. I promise that I'll get you back home as soon as I can. Saya-chan and I are going to do everything we can."

"And Dead Master?"

"It's your life, Yomi-chan. Not hers."