It's strange to think it's been a week... It felt like it was just an hour ago that I lost Kanade, but at the same time so much had happened that I would have sworn it was a year ago... It was almost like an eternity had passed, but in a world with no time. Though then again... Maybe that's true.

Time doesn't pass here, not for us anyway. We can't expire or die; the only world in which that's possible is a world without time. Which begs the question, does time even exist here at all? But then again, this is applying normal a logic to a world completely abnormal. Hell, according to Earth logic this whole place shouldn't exist... and maybe it doesn't. Who's to say anything really exists.

Though in the end, it doesn't matter if it's real or not. I am here. That is something I'm sure of, so if it's a dream or reality, real or not, we must keep fighting. And maybe it isn't real, but when you're fighting for what you believe in, it doesn't matter.

I know, stupid right? I always have been quite a deep thinker, probably too deep for my own good, but I can't seem to stop. Every night when I lie down my head becomes clouded with doubt, every fibre of my body trying to explain each and every fallacy that surrounds me. The doubt… these fallacies of broken logic lying in shards signifying nothing! I try and push the thoughts aside, but it's too late, the match is ignited and my mind's been lit.

It's consumed me.

There's so many fallacies in logic that it's gotten to the extent were the existence of fallacies is all I believe in. Everything I believed in was shattered when I came here, everything I thought I knew was proven wrong; a fallacy... A fallacy like Angel. For the SSS, Angel was our fallacy. We spent so long thinking she was the antagonist... I just wish I'd figured out the truth sooner.

"Otanashi? Are you even listening to me!?" I snapped out of my thoughts unaware of my surroundings. "Huh? Oh... Sorry... Could you explain that to me again?" Naoi sighed irritably, "It's okay, I'll start from the beginning..."

We were working in the SSS headquarters as we usually do, or to be more specific he worked. I just sat here. I've never been good at going through files, I never really have been. Ask me to stitch someone up; easy! But ask me to go through some paperwork and... well that's a different issue. In the end we came to a silent agreement that he'd do the paper work, I'd do the practical. In other words; He finds the souls, I help them pass on. We haven't actually seen anyone yet though, so that leaves me with absolutely nothing to do.

It turns out he's actually a major workaholic, which I guess he always has been. Though I never seemed to notice before for some reason... I guess that's just another one of my many fallacies. He'd be up until midnight shuffling around with papers. He'd become... obsessed. I couldn't help but feel kind of bad. Naoi was always working, and I didn't even know what to do. Not to mention my chronic daydreaming which I seem to be doing more often than not nowadays. He doesn't seem to mind too much though, he always did have a lot of patience for me... A patience I don't know if I deserve...

Over the past week Naoi finally learned how to control his mind reading abilities, after which he hastily promised to never read my mind again. I honestly didn't care though, I'd gotten used to him reading my mind, but he insisted saying that reading my mind would show disloyalty. I guess he wanted to prove he trusted me.

As for me, having my heart back's began causing... complications. I've started having agonising chest pains, and every so and then my heart just seems to... Stop, and go cold. I haven't told Naoi though, I'm scared he'll worry, which he defiantly doesn't need. It's not that I don't want to tell him, but I've already put him through so much, this is something I'll just have to face on my own. Not that it matters, it's not like it's anything serious... right...?

"Okay, got it?" Naoi asked when he finally finished. "Yeah, I think so," I replied hesitantly. Admittedly, I couldn't understand most of what he was saying; too many technical terms. But from what I could gather nothing interesting was happening.

Without even a second thought Naoi's head was back down on his scattered papers. I couldn't help but worry about him, this amount of stress can't be healthy. But I never felt comfortable asking, so I didn't.

Whist Naoi was thoroughly cross-checking the system, I found myself once again indulged in my thoughts. Whilst I pondered my thoughts I realised how quiet everything was, I guess it's because I spent so long trying to adapt to how noisy SSS was that I'd forgotten what silence felt like. SSS was by all means a flawed group, but one thing they could always do without fail was cause a commotion. And hell, I missed it!

It was times like this that I really started to miss them, when I realise their petty quarrels and bashful comments are gone. The little things that I took for granted.

"I miss them…" I muttered quietly in a barely audible voice.

Naoi raised his head with an eyebrow raised, "Sorry, what did you say?"

I shook my head, bringing Naoi down would probably be a bad idea. "It's nothing…" I replied. Naoi scowled, even without his mind reading abilities he can tell when something's up. "I just… I miss them…" I said, finally giving in.

Naoi gave me a comforting yet sad look. "Do youmiss them?" I asked him softly, though inside I knew it was a bad idea to ask… Naoi put the papers down and stared at the floor guiltily. It was then I realised that I pulled a string, and the events to come were set in motion.

"No. I don't." I blinked a couple of times, this really wasn't the response I was expecting. Naoi started shuffling his feet in self-loathing, I knew that he didn't want to feel this way. I softened my gaze, but I couldn't shake the curiosity. I wasn't entirely sure what to do, I wanted to comfort him, but I didn't know how. Luckily Naoi noticed this, and thankfully he didn't leave me hanging.

"It's just… Well, you won't like me for saying this, but I didn't really like any of them. They never respected me, none of them even tried to be nice to me. They just laughed at me…" I was aghast, I never knew this was how Naoi felt. I mentally slapped myself, of course Naoi felt like this. How'd I not notice sooner? Naoi was always pushed around, always labelled as nothing more than a sense of comic relief. All he ever wanted was acceptance, even before SSS, in his first life. He never seemed to care though, perhaps that's why I didn't notice… Maybe I should have looked closer. I extended a hand and laid it on Naoi's arm gently. I felt gushes of guilt run through me when I realised he was on the brink of tears. I ran my hand up and down his arm in attempt to comfort him.

Naoi was trying to prevent the tears from falling, but they were no longer in his control. With tears rolling down his cheek he started stuttering, "I-I-I'm… s-sorry… I d-don't …. I mean… I-I-I want to like them… I just-"

"It's okay," I interrupted. I didn't want to put him through any more pain and hastily pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry, I should have noticed sooner. I should have done something, but I didn't." Naoi's face was now covered in tears, which he had given up trying to hold back. I cradled him in my arms, once again stuck in my thoughts. I had always seen Kanade as the SSS's fallacy, I thought it was her we misperceived. I had never put much thought in the idea that it was Naoi we also misperceived, but maybe that was our real fallacy. Believing that Naoi was really okay with people laughing at him. Then again, maybe that's just what we wanted to believe. We should have known better, I should have known better…All Naoi ever wanted was a sense of acceptance and equality. A sense I never gave him…

A familiar sharp pain rippled to my heart and a cold feeling washed over me. Except this time it was much worse than before. I pushed Naoi away and fell to my knees clutching my chest as I let out an agonised groan.

"Otanashi!" He shouted and crouched down to me. "What's wrong!?" He said shaking me by my shoulders. I slowly felt the coldness slip away and with that I felt my ability to breathe began to return. I gradually brought my breathing back to a normal pace and swallowed deeply. I had tried so hard to keep it from him, so hard. It doesn't seem fair, he's already helped me in so many ways, he shouldn't be forced to deal with my burdens on top of everything else. Once I was in control of myself again I raised my head to see Naoi with a terrified, concerned yet ultimately confused look on his face. "W-w-what just happened…?" He asked, though I could sense a little part of him was too terrified to know.

Lying seemed futile at this point, he was too good at figuring out when something was wrong and I was a terrible liar. "It's nothing, I've been getting chest pains. That's all." I tried to pass it off as casual statement, but I guess he knows me too well.

"Chest pains? Does that happen a lot?" He asked me, a little too worriedly for my taste. "Well, yeah. But it's nothing big-"

"Otanashi! This is serious! Are you forgetting that you just got your heart back!?" I was shocked beyond belief, I've never seen Naoi so serious and- dare I say- angry. "I-I-I'm sorry, I didn't want to worry you..." I stuttered back. "But don't you get it? I LIKE worrying about you, it makes me feel important! Do you know what that means to me? The feeling of importance that I haven't had in my entire life!? It means EVERYTHING to me!" I blinked a couple of times, I felt practically spellbound. "Naoi…. I'm so sorry, I had no idea you felt this way…"

Naoi softened up and smiled sweetly and held out a hand to me, "it's okay, we can face whatever's going on later. Just… promise me you won't hide anything else from me, okay?"

The comfort Naoi offered me sent vibes through my body. A vibe I couldn't explain… Kind of like a warm flutter in my chest. I couldn't quite tell what it was… Though I'll face that later, along with everything else I need to deal with.

I smiled and shook his hand, "Okay then, I promise."

Indeed, we can't prove anything exists. The promises we make, the secrets we keep, the friends we make and memories we hold… who's to say any of them exist.

But whether they exist or not has no relevance. For as long as I have control over me, I'll live how I want. I confess, I may not have control of myself forever. One day my life may lie in the hands of my friends, family or even foe, but until then, I belong to me.

So yes, we can't prove anything exists. And I'm still in a place where fallacies are all I believe in, fallacies like Naoi…

The only thing I can do now is hope, and then maybe there will be a world outside the existence of fallacies.

So here it is, Chapter 3... Sorry if the quality isn't good, I wrote the chapter, then had to re-write it when my computer froze. I don't think it came out half as good as it was first time round. I want to also apologize for the delay. Thankyou for reading, please review, Criticism is totally welcome:)

By the way I'm considering writing a Final Fantasy XIII and Bleach fanfiction. If you show interest, please tell me.