"It's not that big of a deal. She has her reasons. Even I don't know where she is right now."

Shun wasn't satisfied with the bluenette's explanation, but since even she didn't know where Alice was, he couldn't blame her. Dan tugged on Shun's sleeve and said, "Come on. She's not here."

"Dan, please let go of me." He faced the bluenette and asked, "Is she not going to see me because I haven't visited her all these years?"

She shook her head. "I don't think it's because of something personal from her past that caused her to make this decision. More like something that happened recently that affected her past. Aside from me, Alice doesn't want to see anyone at all. By the way, I'm Runo. I'll tell you all about it if you have a seat."

"Thanks, Runo. I'm Shun, and this is Dan." The boys took a seat by the table on the porch, and Runo went to prepare fresh tea. "Have you known Alice for a long time?"

"I have. I was her first friend she made when she moved here. Alice was older than me by a couple of months, and if it weren't for me, she'd still be a sad person by now. That happened a long time ago, back when we were younger. What's your relationship with her?"

"Just...close friends." Shun answered. "She moved here a long time after both her parents died. Her grandfather then had custody of her. After Alice moved here, I never heard from her again, and people back in Bayview stopped talking about her. She was forgotten...almost."

"Same here. After a while, Alice started going to places without telling me, and then here I am. Alone and clueless. Then again, we don't talk about her because most of the residents here have left." She poured tea into Shun and Dan's teacups and handed them a plate of cookies. "Feel free to eat. I have more food inside."

Dan grabbed as many cookies as he can and ate. "These are delicious! Are you the only person here? Where do you buy food and supplies? Weren't there kids here earlier? Why did everyone move away?"

"Thanks. I haven't heard anyone say that in a long time. Many people moved out because of the recent events. I can't go anywhere with an injured leg, but don't worry about me. It was kind of my fault." She looked at Dan, who continued eating the cookies, and then at Shun, who silently drank his tea with his eyes closed. "Dan, maybe you should go back and watch your car. Those kids can be quite curious."

"You're right. I don't want what happened to Shun's car to happen to my car. See you later."

Shun opened his eyes and looked at her. "You purposely told him to leave, didn't you?"

"More or less. There are some things that are meant for your ears only." Runo leaned closer and whispered, "She really needs your help right now."

For a moment, Shun stopped breathing in response to the suspense that Runo built up. "My help? How? And why?"

Runo went back to her seat and sighed. "Truthfully, even if I made my new best friend because of this, Alice shouldn't have moved here. It only aggravated her troubles."

"I can see why. Her moving out aggravated my troubles."

"I guess you could say that, or should I say...never mind. It's too complicated." Runo shook her hand and passed him a rolled-up piece of paper. "That's for you to find out. I'll help you, though. Maybe you can pick up where I left off."

Shun accepted the item slowly. He looked up to see Runo with a tense frown on her face. What exactly did Alice get herself into?

-x-x-x-x-x-

"This is the place that the paper mentions."

Shun and Dan looked up at a condominium and couldn't believe what this saw. This three-story, yellow-white house was the place Doctor Michael owned and Alice lived in ever since moving. The outside appearance was physically decent aside from some forgotten cleaning, but the inside was yet to be seen.

Shun unrolled the rest of the paper and found a key taped to the end. He placed the key into the doorknob and turned, and the door opened with the cracking and creaking sound of old wood and metal. The living room was very neat but a little musty. The furniture looked fine, and there was still wood in the fireplace.

It was the uncanny cleanliness and neatness of the house that caught Shun's attention. "Knowing Alice, she had the one who kept everything organized here."

"Alice was always a neat freak about everything and everyone," Dan recalled. "yet she never dared to lecture you about your manners when you were little. I wonder—"

"Let's go upstairs."

Alice's room was on the second floor with the words My Wonderland on the door. An obvious reference to Alice in Wonderland at first, but when they opened the door, it was no longer just a reference. Alice's personal items and furniture were all some shade of purple, and everything else was of different colors depicting the tea party scene in Alice in Wonderland.

"Alice is really obsessed with Wonderland..." Dan muttered.

"I wouldn't say obsessed, but more like desperate. Alice in Wonderland was our favorite children's story when we were little, and she couldn't get her mind off it."

"Or off you, either. "

"Whatever. Runo told me her opinion of why Alice is missing, and it led me to here. She really wants me to find and help Alice before it's too late, but I don't know exactly what I'm looking for."

"Try the green silk pouch." said a different voice.

Shun turned around to see Runo sitting in a tree outside the bedroom window. "Runo? How did you get up here? I thought your leg—"

"I haven't been here in a long time, so I decided to stop by since I gave you the key to her house. As for getting up this tree, I had a little help getting up here with an improvised ladder. I love how you're so meticulous in noticing everything, Shun." Then, without Dan noticing, she mouthed, "That's why we need your help."

Dan searched Alice's desk and found a green and gold embroidered silk pouch. "Shun, isn't this yours?"

"That is mine. I placed the jade koi in it and handed the entire thing to her. What's inside?" A lavender piece of paper stuck out at the very edge, and Shun pulled the strings open to see. "It's a note. Judging by the handwriting, Alice certainly wrote this. It must be a clue or something."

I want to return to Bayview to see my old friends,

But I doubt I could do that before my childhood ends.

Yet if Grandfather hadn't taken me out for breakfast that day,

I wouldn't know how to meet Runo in any other way.

"Written here are the first things she misses and the first things that happened here ever since moving. Runo, where does she go for breakfast?"

"At what used to be my parents' small diner. My friend Julie owns and manages it now after my parents left. I'll take you there now."

"Oh wait. Let me help you." Dan opened the balcony door and gave her a boost down.

"Thank you! Haven't had anyone help me in a while."

"No problem."

Seeing Dan kindly assisting Runo only made Shun wish Alice was here instead of hiding.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Alice sat silently in her seat waiting for her grandfather to come back from placing orders.

"Hey! You're new here, aren't you?"

A bluenette girl in an apron came by and greeting Alice. "I am. I just moved here to live with my grandfather. What's taking the line so long?"

"Rush hour, as my parents say. I'm Runo Misaki. Are you Doctor Michael's granddaughter?

"Alice Gehabich. Nice to meet you, Runo. Do your parents own this place?"

"Definitely." Runo sat in the chair in front of Alice. "Mind if I sit here?"

Alice smiled for the first time she moved here. "Not at all. It's pretty boring sitting here doing nothing."

The redhead clenched her hands tightly, and Runo noticed the stress and tension in Alice's eyes. "You're not happy, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You're stressed."

Alice took a deep breath and sighed. "Both my parents died, thus I had to move here, but I haven't seen my grandfather in a long time, so I'm good."

"No, not that. What's in your hand?"

"N-Nothing."

"Come on."

Alice gave in and placed the jade koi on the table. "There. Happy now?"

Runo lowered her head and admired the intricate details and soft luster. "Somebody close to you must've given you that. Who is it? Your boyfriend?"

Alice blushed and avoided Runo's eyes. "Not a boyfriend, but a really close guy friend..."

"Oh, come on. The only difference is a confession. I feel you, Alice. What's his name?"

"Shun. Why are you asking me this already?"

"If you really like him that much, then make it your goal to be able to see him again in the future. Are you twelve or thirteen? That's only five or six years away. I'll be your goal counselor."

"You don't even know him or me very well, yet you're determined to help me. I don't know how to thank you for making my day better. I guess I should've told him before I left."

"No worries." Runo saw Doctor Michael came back with a piece of paper in his hand. "Got to go. Keep fighting, okay? I believe in you."

"Thanks, Runo. You're a really great person." Thus, a beautiful friendship blossomed for Alice in this new place.