Well, it looked like my pre-teen dream came true. I was walking home from school with a boy, just like a couple from TV dramas, but I'd be lying when I say I was truly tearing up inside from mirth. Actually, I felt as though I've been steamrolled a couple times and then left out in a desert for the vultures to do their pickings. At least, that's what my self-esteem endured.

Here we were, Ace and I, climbing down Mount Kangchenjunga and following the railway line. A little bit further would be Koyouen Station. As I followed Ace, who was reading the map closely, I slowly recognized the area—we were approaching Basil's apartment.

"Kuro-sensei lived in room 505," he murmured, eyes glancing up at the building.

"So, now what?" I asked. "The gate's locked," I pointed at the keypad by the intercom, "and you need to enter the correct code to open the door. Do you even know it?"

"No, but, luckily for us, I have a plan. We just need to wait."

Wait? Wait for what?

Eventually, a middle-aged man in a business suit opened the gate from the inside. After giving us a questioning glance, he walked away. Just as the gate was closing, Ace rushed forward and stuck his foot in between to prevent it from shutting completely, and then the doors pulled back open automatically.

Though it was a good idea, this would be considered as trespassing…

"Hey, hurry up, will ya?" He pulled me in by the sleeve of my cardigan, and then dragged me into the entrance hall. As if I wasn't capable of moving my two feet, he continued to drag me around and then yanked me in an elevator.

Completely, completely unnecessary.

"You know," Ace began, his voice working up a notch over this annoying elevator music, "it's not just this transfer that's weird. Kuro-sensei didn't have a documented teaching degree either."

That was to be expected, really, if you had the same knowledge as I do.

"I've done my research. You see, he was a scholarship university student in a big city, and yet he supposedly decided to become a teacher to the high school that we attend to. Now, why would an academic big-shot like him go through the trouble of becoming a teacher?"

I could have said something like how Kuro developed a spontaneous love for teaching the younger generation and that our school happened to be the same school he once attended to, but what would be the point in saying all that? It'd just fall to deaf ears, anyway. So I shrugged and let Ace go on with his rant.

"Yet he lives near the school, and it's one of those apartments paid by cash and not by rent. The price here must be insanely expensive. Hmmm." Ace rubbed his chin. "I guess we need to find out when Kuro-sensei started living here, then."

"Won't we need to find the caretaker first?" I said, quirking a brow. "I mean, you'd think that the door to Kuro-sensei's room would be locked, right?"

Ace fell silent, then scowled. "Shut up," he muttered, and then pushed the ground level button before the elevator would take us all the way to the fifth floor. Score one for me.

Returning to the ground floor, we went to the caretaker's post at the entrance hall. Sitting behind the window screen was an old lady hunched over her papers. Ace rang the bell that was situated by the screen, getting the lady to blink owlishly and scrabble at her desk, eventually pulling out a pair of butterfly glasses. By the time her eyes landed on us, Ace bombarded her with a flurry of words.

"Excuse me, we're students of Kurahodal-sensei. He suddenly said that he was moving without leaving his new address, and we don't know how to contact him. Could you please tell us where he had moved to? And could we please know when he started living here?"

I don't know if gaining a specific address in Canada would be as simple as that.

In any case, I was amazed how Ace could actually be polite enough to say "Excuse me", but it was pretty pointless since the old lady seemed to have difficulty hearing. She kept repeating "What?" and "Come again?" while cupping her hand around her ear. Even though she had a tough time hearing, she certainly didn't have any difficulty roaming her eyes all over his face, a smile on her face.

I shuddered.

Ace must have not noticed because he leaned forward and shouted what he had just said. We learned that the lady was surprised that Kuro was suddenly moving out, mentioning that she hadn't even seen the movers to transfer the furniture. Additionally, Kuro had moved in five years ago.

Five years ago, huh?

"So he had a wife? I never knew that. Come to think about it, I never did see any of his family members come by. He was such a stern yet polite fellow, that Kurahodal-kun was. It's such a pity that he didn't stop by to say goodbye," the old lady sighed, shaking her head and not-so discreetly appraising Ace.

Ace bowed at the caretaker and said, "Thank you for your help." With that said, he motioned for me to follow after him. I didn't need any urging at all—I was eager to get far, far, far away from this apartment building.

Before I moved my feet, the caretaker called after me. "Hey, little lady! That boy's a looker," she whispered when I turned to her, "he'll grow up to be a nice man. If I was just my granddaughter's age, I'd go for him in a heartbeat, so don't let him get away! Tame him, and you'll be set for life."

The lady was obviously senile.

A few steps from the gates, we bumped into Basil who was carrying his schoolbag and plastic bags that seemed to be filled with groceries. I wonder if he knew how to cook.

Ace wore his surprise blatantly "You live in that apartment?" he exclaimed. When Basil nodded, Ace said, "Wow! Kuro-sensei used to live here too! What a coincidence."

Oh, Ace, if only you knew.

Ace grinned excitedly. "Have you heard the news about Kurahodal-sensei? You know, the homeroom teacher of class 1-5?"

Basil nodded again.

"Awesome! If you know anything about him, let us know, okay?"

Basil nodded again. Geez, was that the only thing he can do? Nod?

Ace walked away and I followed with heavy feet, only to acknowledge Basil by giving him a wave. When I passed him, I heard him whisper, "Be careful."

Be careful? Be careful of what?

Oh great, now I'm officially paranoid.

XOXOXO

"So, are we going anywhere else?" I asked, wondering if there was anything else to do other than walking aimlessly along the railway line

"Not really," he murmured.

"Then can I go home now?"

He suddenly stopped dead.

"Do you ever get the feeling that you're an insignificant speck on the face of the planet?" he said, his voice toning down to a mere whisper. "I have."

What…?

He glanced down at the railway. "When I was in fourth grade, my gramps took me and my brother to a stadium to watch a baseball game. I wasn't expecting anything other than getting a hotdog and a good game to watch, but by the time we got there, I was shocked. Everywhere I looked, there was a mass of people; the audience from the opposite side of where we stood looked like grains of rice. Curious, I asked my gramps how many people were at the stadium, and he said that, since it was full that day, there were about fifty-thousand people.

"After the game, the roads were packed with those people. Seeing all of this, I was completely stunned. There were so many people here, yet they were only a tiny fraction of the whole country. I had read in geography class that this nation had a population of a hundred million, so I went home and did the math. I found out that fifty thousand was only one out of two thousand of the total population. I was stunned again. I was just a small part of that audience, while that audience was a small fraction of the whole country.

"Before that day, I had always thought that I was someone special. I was happy with my family, no matter how annoying my gramps was and how silly my brother can be. I thought that the most interesting people were my classmates. I thought that my teachers were the kindest people ever. But, slowly, I began to realize the truth. Those things that I held up on a tall pedestal happened in every other family and school. For the whole country, the whole planet, they were everyday occurrences. Everything started to lose its color. I brush my teeth and go to sleep, then wake up and have breakfast. Go to school, learn, leave school, and the cycle starts again. Day after day.

"My life became boring when I noticed that everything I did was ordinary, that everyone does it. Since there are so many people in this world, there has to be someone who's living an extraordinary and exciting life. Someone out there has to be fighting monsters, rescuing princesses, and slaying giants. Why couldn't that be me?

"I thought about it until I graduated from elementary school. When I entered junior high, I decided to change myself. I'd show the world that I'm not someone who's content to just sit and wait. But even after I've tried my best…nothing changed. Now I'm in high school, still hoping for a miracle, but…would it still be possible?"

Slowly, the distant look in his eyes disappeared, his face then twisting in what looked like regret for saying too much. I was in no better position; I was awkwardly staring at the railway, hoping for something to break the tension.

A random idea popped in my head. Comfort him. As if I had the capabilities of comforting someone. I wasn't exactly the kind of girl who knew what to do in…emotive situations, I suppose. Maybe I should hug him. Or would it be better if I came up with something philosophical and inspiring? Should I say something lame to make him laugh?

"I'm going home now," he suddenly announced, marching on forward. I nearly stumbled on my feet to catch up to him, but I just stood there, motionless. It was as if his back read to me "Don't follow me" as I stared behind until he disappeared from my sight.

I looked up at the sky and blew my bangs from my face. Geez, what a day.

XOXOXO

I woke up to the clanking against my bedroom window. For a moment, I considered whether I should ignore the disturbance or see what was making all that noise. After a few minutes of listening to the glass of the window ringing annoyingly, I groaned and pushed myself off my bed.

I drowsily made it to the window and slide the window open, only to have a pebble being pelted at my cheek. "Holy ouch!" I cried, my hand flying to my cheek. Glancing down, I found Law below, smiling and mouthing, "Sorry." As if the jerk was really sorry; he just stood there, looking pretty darn amused.

"What are you doing here?" I called down to him as softly as I could. There was no way that I was going to risk waking my family all for this guy. "You were probably alarmed the neighbors of something."

"Couldn't find an even more romantic way to whisk the princess away from her castle," he replied with heavy, heavy sarcasm. I would have winced, but I was too tired to.

"No, seriously," I said, trying to equal him in dryness (it was obvious who the winning contestant was), "what are you doing here, Romeo?"

"I've come to keep my promise."

I frowned. "Um, last time I checked, you never did promise me anything."

"It's my self-promise, then." He adjusted his hat—a white fuzzy hat with black spots—and smiled enigmatically. "C'mon, I have something worthwhile to show you."

"Which is?" I prompted.

"My powers."

My eyes peeked at the sky. It was still dark out and I have a feeling that it was around midnight. "Right now?" I sighed.

"It's the only available time I can show you now," he said with a shrug.

Appraising him with a grimace, I then told him to wait for a bit—well, he did say that it'd be worthwhile. Closing the window, I hurried to throw on a sweater and socks, and then quietly traveled downstairs to not stir awake my family. Law met me in front of my doorstep, offering an arm, in which I shoved back into his chest, ignoring his snort.

"I don't even want to know how you found out where I live," I muttered.

"Wasn't going to tell, anyway," he said.

"So, I'm guessing that this has something to do with Portgas?"

He smiled. "Doesn't it always?"

I hung my head and sighed. I've known this guy for a few days and already he's getting under my skin, and I have a feeling that he knew it too. I knew that he was a creep the first time I met him.

Law had a taxi cab already waiting near my place, and we rode off along the main road, heading eastwards. He instructed the driver to go to the large city outside the prefecture. I thought that it would be cheaper to go by train, but since it was Law who was paying for this ride, it didn't matter to me. Wait, did the train station even work this late at night? Whatever.

"Why do we have to travel this far?" I asked, staring at the passing scenery while wondering if my parents had noticed that I was gone yet.

"I can only use my powers under specific places and conditions. The area we're headed to fits those conditions."

"This is seriously about Portgas, isn't it?"

"Well, he is a god, after all," he said, rolling his eyes.

Right. And considering how the driver wasn't making a word about our weird discussion, addition to Law speaking freely about his powers, I guessed that it would be alright for me as well. "Law-sempai, remember when you told me that Basil-sempai was an alien like you? And that you two were under the same organization?"

"Yes."

"Well, he told me a different theory in contradiction to Portgas being a god."

Suddenly, Law threw his head back and laughed. I must have been watching him in bewilderment because he gave me an amused glance. "Sorry about that," he said, chortling.

"You're…weird."

"So I've been told." His dark eyes ghosted to his side of the window. "The organization is divided into three sectors: the agency, the observatory, and the constitution. All three are governed by the superiors who basically run the organization."

"Oh," was what I uttered. I have a feeling that this would become more and more complicated for my tastes.

"The agency sets the data in order if anything was out of its natural place; the observatory simply observes; and the constitution develops hypothesis and experiments. Each has its own theory; however, concerning Portgas-ya, but there are times when each sectors will collaborate to see whether each view offers a more logical side."

"I can imagine that there would be plenty of debates," I murmured.

"Exactly. Basil probably told you about how Portgas-ya's not a being of his own, but a soul fragment that was somehow extracted from his parallel self, right?"

I nodded. "This whole…parallel universe thing still catches me off guard. I mean, when you say a parallel universe, does that mean that everyone in this planet have a parallel self in that other world?"

Law shook his head. "Not really. Just people who are directly or indirectly connected to him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, take Roronoa Kuina for example."

I felt my forehead crease. "How do you know her?"

"Kyonko, ever since you became Portgas-ya's chosen one, there has been a plethora of data observations about you."

Suddenly, I felt vulnerable. Just because I became an interest of Ace, that would make me another test subject? Oh great, does that mean my privacy would be inconspicuously invaded now?

Law must have noticed my discomfort because he said nonchalantly, "Anything basic or would hold any value concerning Portgas-ya. It's not as if your weight or blood-type would matter."

"Oh gee, that sure makes me feel better," I muttered.

"Good. Now, as I was saying, Roronoa Kuina would have a parallel self because her brother, Roronoa Zoro, is a friend to Monkey D. Luffy, who is the adopted brother to Portgas-ya. Even though the connection would be vague, it's still there."

"How about you and Basil-sempai? I mean, unless there isn't another you in this world."

"No. Basil and I are entities of our own."

Chopper's face then popped in my mind. "How about Chopper-kun?" I asked. "You said that there was a Tony Tony Chopper in your world, only…he's a talking reindeer, as you mentioned."

He smirked. "I thought you didn't believe me."

"Yeah, well, that was before I nearly got killed by my alien teacher," I huffed, waving my hand dismissively. "Then a load of crazy stuff flashed before my very eyes."

"So I've heard. Anyway, I don't know why. It was the observatory that reached that conclusion." He shrugged. "Who knows? Even I don't have a hypothesis of my own."

For someone who seemed to hold all the answers, he did know very little. It must have been the confident way he carried his voice. Maybe I've just got to rely on Basil from now on, since he seemed well-informed, being an observer and all. But…what if Basil suddenly obtained an order from his superiors to kill me? Yeah, maybe it'd be best to give each other some space.

"Do I have a parallel self?" I asked. Hey, if Kuina get a replica of her own, why don't I?

Law shook his head (okay, I guess I don't have a clone). "That's a definite no. Only a particular sum of those around Portgas-ya, and perhaps a few scattered across the world, have a parallel self. The theory, however, is somewhat faulty, so if I were you I wouldn't think too much of it."

I blinked. "Does that mean that Portgas being a soul fragment isn't true?"

"Possibly. The organization possesses no hard-core facts, just theories. Actually, the only facts we know are Portgas-ya having an unusual link to his parallel self and that he has the ability to alter the data structure around him."

"Then the other Portgas," I began. "Does the organization run tests on him or observe him like the Portgas here?"

"That," Law said, "I cannot say. You might as well ask Basil."

Before I could open my mouth to something else, the cab suddenly jerked to a halt. If I didn't strap myself a seatbelt, I'm sure I would have flown off of my seat. Instead, the belt dug into my stomach as I released an "Oof!" Remarkably, Law didn't even budge from his seat. Maybe he secretly weighed over five-hundred pounds and wore a tall and lean boy costume as a delusion. I mean, he was an alien, after all.

"We're here," the driver grunted.

Law opened the door to his side and slide out. I followed the same suit, wondering what exactly "worthwhile" he was planning on showing me.