AN: Congratulations! You discovered… Secret chapter 3.5! Happy April Fools (and late Easter)! XD

PS: Sorry for the crappy humour… I'm bad at this stuff… I'm just dumping random thoughts in an organized way. DX Don't flame me for this. If you wanna skip it, please do! Chapter 4 is below Chapter 3.5.

Also, thank you to Hypno Platypus and Rambunctious Guest for the proofreading and joshuathecomposer for continuous encouragement as well as all others such as MCRDanime, Xion, and Guest! Sorry to inform that I am simply too lazy to move my lazy butt and make corrections… :P

Chapter 3.5: An April Fool's special: What?! No April Fools!?

Told from Kayleigh's point of view

School started around three days ago. After Neku went to sign up for Graffiti art, Serena went to sign up for archery with Joshua and I went to sign up for Fashion Design with Eri and Shiki, Serena began acting weird. Yesterday morning, she came up to me and started that weird day…

"Kayleigh!"

I looked up from my sketch of a dress. "Hmm? S'up, Serena?" To my surprise, Serena looked half-angry and half-tearful. Recently, she's been down and very tired-looking. But this, this was new.

"Hey, is it true that April Fools isn't celebrated in Japan?" she asked.

I blinked. "Well… Some celebrate it, but not like in America since it is part of Spring Break. It's mainly forgotten," I told her, frowning with apology. April Fools was Serena's favourite, and I mean that when I say it, day. Since in Japan, we had three semesters, or, rather, trimesters, April Fool's was either part of Spring Break or completely forgotten due to the preparations for school.

"What?! That's crazy!" Serena declared, straightening up, her hands on her hips. I couldn't help but smile, she was back to her usual self. "I officially declare this day be the Japanese April Fools!" O-kay… Maybe not usual self, but at least she wasn't down anymore. She was always childish on April Fools.

"Uh… and how will you get everyone into this?" I asked, tilting my head with curiosity. Serena gave me her cheeky smile. Something was going to happen. I knew it. With Serena's money and 'creativity', she'd be able to do something…

Later that day, I found out what she had in mind. I didn't see her during first class, but her voice rang loud and clear throughout the school.

"Ahem. Attention! Attention everybody!" Her voice came in an odd Indian accent from the speakers. She sounded nothing like an Indian though, and that was what was funny. I saw Neku and Joshua looking up in confusion while Eri and Shiki giggled. They had obviously been let in on the joke.

"I, Prince Labrea Cartokus, have an important announcement to make!" Prince what? What kind of name was that? The teacher was in obvious confusion.

"I shall- Arg! What the fuck?" Her voice turned back to normal and English. I sighed. She got caught. But not before she had some fun. That last word was still ringing in everyone's ears and along came a string of even nastier ones. Well, she taught us something today… Suddenly, I heard screams of shock. I looked outside.

A giant picture of that odd old-looking guy with a finger pointing and a weird top hat holding a pokeball with pokemon surrounding him (search Old English Pokemon theme song up on Google and you'll know what I mean) was outside our window, giving me a shock.

"The hell…?" I heard Neku mutter.

"What is THAT?" Eri asked, pointing at the large picture outside.

Joshua sighed. "Is this her way of pranking?" I heard him mutter and laugh a little, "It does suit her dramatic style…" I frowned at this and glanced at the boy, surprised to see a dreamy, sad look on his face, as if he were thinking of bittersweet memories. I looked away.

After everything was cleared up, Serena got detention, much to her surprise, and was sent back to class. But that wasn't the end of it.

When we walked home, we were stunned to see that the 104 screen thing's advertisements had been replaced with that same picture we'd seen in school, accompanied by an Old English version of the Pokemon Theme Song. Serena didn't stop grinning until this morning, when she went all sad and quiet again. Alright. I'm seriously worried about two things. One, how much did Serena spend yesterday just for April Fools, and, two, is Serena alright? I sure hope she is… I can't stand this solemn air around her. It just isn't her.

Please don't kill me for utter randomness.

Now, the chapter you've all been waiting for!

Chapter 4: Access Denied

"Um… Joshua, what are those exactly? They don't have color. Only shade."

"Those? They're… Um…"

"It doesn't matter though, does it? Every Soul needs someone to just be there for it once in a while, even if they're different from the others. Let's go talk to it! Maybe we can solve its problems, too!"

"Ilixo…? Wait! Ilixo! Don't!"

My eyes snapped open. Sweat bedded my forehead and I was panting. A nightmare? I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself. My hammering heart slowly returned to its normal speed as I rolled onto my side. I shivered. My warm, comfortable bed suddenly didn't feel all that pleasing anymore. Opening my eyes, I stared at the clock sitting on my bedside table and squinted at it. I could faintly make out what it read.

3:46

I sighed and yawned, annoyed at myself for waking up. But I couldn't sleep. The nightmares had been hitting harder and harder ever since the bear incident and, what's more, I could remember scraps of the dreams I was having. But only scraps of it. Three days had past and today was Saturday morning. I should be in bed, sleeping 'til noon. Deciding that I was now too awake to go back to bed, I threw the covers back, exposing my legs to the cold morning air. Suppressing a shiver, I quickly changed out of my nightgown, the only dress I wear, and into a pair of grey pants and a grey top with a bear on it that were resting on a chair next to my bed. I swung my legs round to the side of the bed and just sat there, reflecting on the dreams I recently had, the parts I could remember.

Ilixo

The name sounded vaguely familiar but I just couldn't remember where I had heard it. I closed my eyes, swinging my legs back and forth. Wincing, pain shot through my head and I gritted my teeth, images beginning to form in my mind.

The harsh crackling of flames. A house burning down. A boy crying, ash covering his face and hair. A grey/black monster. A buttercup sitting next to two play scripts, burning up.

My eyes blinked open. I was panting and sweating once more. I really couldn't go to sleep. All that was waiting for me were nightmares. I sighed, to afraid to even close my eyes, as I listened to the fast beating of my heart.

"You promised!"

"Arg…" I held a hand to my head and narrowed my eyes before hopping off my bed. Ouch. My head hurt. I walked towards the desk, there should be some aspirin in the drawers. Staggering over to the desk, I accidentally pulled the curtains open. Something outside caught my eye. Squinting in the dark, I looked outside. Next to the gate of our three floored home, stood none other than Yoshiya Kiryu. My eyes widened and I gasped. I could tell it was him even though he wasn't facing my way. There was no mistaking that ash-blonde hair that was visible under the light of a streetlamp.

Stalker, I thought, putting my hands on my hips and frowning with disapproval. I barely noticed my headache go away, but I could faintly hear some kind of melody. It was soothing and made me want to close my eyes, even though it wasn't a lullaby. Oh good that it wasn't a lullaby. I would never be able to sleep with a lullaby after knowing the truth about them. The 'Sea Lullaby' was about a child getting 'kidnapped' by the sea while that 'Rocka-by Baby' song was about a baby falling out of a tree. Of course, no one knew I hated lullabies except Kayleigh and my Mom. Giving a yawn, I climbed back into bed, wanting to fall asleep there, not on the floor. For some reason, the tune seemed strangely familiar.

I didn't dream any more that night.

The next day, I woke up to the sound of my phone receiving a text message. Rolling to face my bedside table, I snatched up my iPhone and typed in the password (no, I will NOT tell you what my password is). It was ten in the morning and Kayleigh had sent me a text. I stretched and sat up before checking it.

Yo, Serena!
R U up yet? If U R, meet me at Hachiko, k?
From, Kay.
PS: We're gonna go get ramen! Yum.

I grinned. Ramen, eh? Sounds delicious! I hopped off my bed, realizing I already had my clothes on, and put a coat over my clothes and grabbed my ruby pendant before rushing down stairs.

"Mom! I'm gonna go meet up with Kayleigh!" I called as I put on my fur boots.

"Alright! Be careful!"

I flung open the door, not forgetting to grab my purse and shove it in my pocket before I left.

I saw Kayleigh waving at me as I approached the dog statue. I had to use the GPS program on my phone to find my way as I wasn't that familiar with Shibuya yet. Grinning brightly, I met up with her. Kayleigh seemed relieved to see me all happy again. After those nightmares, I had been a little not myself recently and with the April Fools thing, I was in detention. Eh. Who cares? I had fun pissing people off and that tune had healed my exhaustion.

Afterwards, we went to Ramen Don on Dogenzaka.

"Irrashaii*!" the cheerful voice of the owner of the shop greeted us as we came in and sat down. "What will you kids have today?"

"Hmm… Some Miso Ramen please!" Kayleigh ordered after looking at the menu. I took longer to decide.

"Shio Ramen, I think…" I finally said. We chatted as we waited for our Ramen. When it came, we were done waiting and began eating. Giving Kayleigh a knowing glance, we simultaneously chanted, "Itadaki masu**!" before digging in. We reminded ourselves to not eat messily, but in a civil manner, just barely. It was good… Hard to describe, but the best ramen we've tasted, that's for sure! We chatted as we ate, slowing down our pace to thoroughly enjoy the greatness of our ramen with a few "This is good!"s and "Hmmm… Yummy!"s.

Then, a voice disrupted our heated prattle.

"The usual: some Shio Ramen, please…"

It was Joshua. We looked at him in mild surprise.

"Oh!" he exclaimed with mock surprise, looking at us, "My, my… Imagine meeting you two here. Hello, Serena, Kayleigh."

"Hey there, Josh," Kayleigh greeted with her usual cheerfulness.

"Hi. Why you here?" I added, trying not to be rude.

"Why can't I be here? I do like the Shio ramen they sell," to prove his point, he took took the Shio ramen that had just been set down in front of his and ate some, "Mmh… I'm in paradise…"

I shuddered. What an odd way of expressing pleasure in eating.

I felt the same cold feeling as I felt with the bear the other day. I stared out of the window. There it was, the bear. The grey, black and white bear. Staring at me, it was, staring at me through the window. I swallowed and got up.

"Er… Kayleigh… I suddenly realized I have something to do." I set down 580 yen on the table, "Sorry, bye!" I bolted as soon as I had finished speaking. Determined to not lose sight of the strangely coloured bear this time, I ignored the weird stares I was getting and followed it.

After running for a long time, I arrived in Udagawa Back Streets, panting and exhausted, hands on knees. The bear was waiting and I straightened up to face it. I got a sense of foreboding which made me shiver, but I approached the bear anyways.

I regretted that.

I wasn't sure what happened, but, at the next moment, the bear lunged at me. Startled, I took a step back, but tripped and fell over. Its claws were an inch away from my face and my head felt like it had split open, pain raking through my brain and forgotten memories dancing to life. The world was spinning. However, a sudden CRASH made me open my eyes and the bear was no longer there. My mind cleared from the panic and I looked back, hearing something.

There stood Joshua, panting, his cellphone out and looking as if he had just ran a mile to see the end of the world, but had been able to save the world from ending. My heart hammered even faster than before, a new fear creeping up on me. Joshua calmed himself and locked gazes with me, getting out of his odd pose that reminded me of someone taking photo.

Was he mad?

AN:Hmm... I don't think this is half bad despite rushing to update before my mom begins rushing me to bed... Crappiness on the first part though!

* - 'Welcome' in Japanese

** - Something Japanese people say before eating