"Woof, woof," Koromaru barked. He looked up at Ryoji and Labrys, and barked again. The three of them have been climbing the other half of the tower for nearly two hours now, searching for any lead for their teal-haired friend. Fortunately for them, Ryoji and Koromaru in particular, this was their last floor. But so far they've found nothing, but traces of familiar, yet still unidentified scent.

"What did he say?" the male asked Labrys.

"He said the that this spot smells familiar too, but he can't tell who it's from." The dog whimpered, and bowed his head in shame. "It's okay Koromaru. Like you said, the scent is too faint. No one can blame you if ya if can't tell who it's from.

"I guess that's it..." she told Ryoji. "We should head back now. We still have school tomorrow anyway."

"Yeah..."

The three strode to the teleporter without another word. When they made it back, they saw their two friends, sitting on the floor - one leaning on the wall, staring at the ceiling, and the other was curled herself to a ball, motionless, as if she were asleep. Neither of the two teens noticed the arrival of their three comrades until Koromaru barked and ran to them.

"Oh," Ken looked down to the dog and raised his hand to stroke the Shiba's head. "Hello there, Koromaru." He raised his gaze and greeted Labrys and Ryoji. "I thought Aigis-san's group would make it here first. I guess I was wrong."

"Thought the same to," Labrys said. "What's taking them so long?"

"Why don't you call them?" Ryoji suggested, settling beside Ken before sighing in exhaustion. Labrys grabbed her phone to call her sister. Meanwhile the black-haired boy glanced at the brunet boy beside him who looked more exhausted than him. "What happened to you, Ken-kun? You look as haggard as your fangirls after fighting over your sweat."

Ken weakly chuckled, "You're exaggerating." Then like the girl beside him, he brought his knees closer to the chest, curling up to a ball.

Ryoji shrugged and leaned on the wall. He looked past Ken, to Minako, who still wasn't moved an inch since their arrival. "Minako-chan," he called, but he received no response. He wanted to ask Ken about what happened to the girl, but when he was he opened his mouth to speak, they had already drifted off to sleep. "This isn't really a good place to sleep you two," he mumbled.

"Aigis said, they'll be here in around thirty minutes," said Labrys. "They got lost on one of the floors. Said Teddie got them to go around in circles."

"Good thing we have Koro-chan with us instead of him."

"Imagine what he'd say if he heard ya."

The boy looked up at the mechanical maiden and cleared his throat. "Ah~ Ryoji! You're so mean," he said on his best imitation of the bears voice. "Then he walks over to either you, Aigis, or Minako and say, 'Please comfort me, insert name here.' That mean, mean cretin hurt me so beary much."

The two stared at each other for a while before laughing off. To pass by time, they mocked their bear friend: copying his typical lines, imagining what he'd do on certain occasions, and mimicking how he would flounce or sashay around the dorm and school.

"I wonder what it would be like without him here," Ryoji murmured thoughtfully.

"Mina-chan, Ken-Ken, wake up." Teddie shook them gently, but instead of waking up, the two were knocked over to the floor. "Oh no! Are they dead? Labby, Ai-chan! They won't wake up!"

"Calm down, will you!" Shinjiro scrutinized the two forms, lying on the floor. "They're just sleeping."

"Well, how are you going to carry Ken-ken back?" Teddie said, looming over Minako. His hands slowly inched towards the girl, but his fingers never made it because Aigis pushed him out of the way. The blonde android took scooped the girl swiftly, while the bear struggled to stand up. "Ai-chan, why...?"

"Sister said that the two of us will handle lifting things," Aigis stated. "Though Minako-san is lighter than Ken-san, I doubt that someone of you physique will not be able to carry her." Teddie and Ryoji gawked at her, the former because he was indirectly being called weak, and the latter because he and Teddie have nearly similar form. "Let us depart now. It is a school night; you would need to rest for tomorrow's activities." The girl veered to the portal leading to the TV world. Labrys followed close behind with Ken in her arms - something that Teddie quickly caught on his phone.

"Sometimes I feel like she still hates me," Ryoji said, frowning.

"Sometimes I feel like I already lost Ai-chan to Mina-chan," Teddie whispered, his shoulder stooping.

Shinjiro could only stare at them flatly, wondering how their brain works. Guess I'll never know. "C'mon you two. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can hit the hay."

~2 days before the Full Moon~

When Ken came to, he was tucked in his bed. His head was still pounding and he was still feeling disoriented from everything that he learned and everything that he remembered. He rolled to his side to check the clock beside his bed, and groaned when he realized that he still has a little over three hours before classes start. He tried to go back to sleep, but he was already to awake to go back. Sighing, he got up to wash his face and brush his teeth.

"I've told myself many times that I would tell everyone, but I always ended up saying bits and pieces of the whole picture. 'A strong force', " she gave out a dry chuckle, "it was my poor, stupid attempt to hide the what really caused this. The truth is... this is all happening because I couldn't accept the fact that my memories, after I died, were nothing but a replica of his... that they were never real. Ken, I wished for everything to disappear, for this... If Makoto wasn't there, you and everything wouldn't be here now."

Those words kept repeating in his head like a broken record. There was so much more that she said with her guilt ridden voice, but those words refused to be forgotten for even a second.

"Do you know how to stop this?"

Minako brought her knees closer to her chest and buried her face in her arms. "I don't know... or maybe I just don't remember."

After drying his face, he peered at his self on the mirror. "Ryoji-san was right," he said, noticing his bloodshot eyes and dark circles below it. He wondered why he was so exhausted when he barely did anything. He thought that maybe it was because his memories returned. But what if those memories weren't real too...? Deciding to give his mind a break, he changed to his uniform and trudge downstairs to have some breakfast.

When he was a few steps down, he caught a whiff of garlic. He didn't bother to hide his presence because he was too tired. "You're up early," a voice, that made him flinch, said.

"Minako-san?"

"Good morning, Ken-kun. You hungry?"

"Not much. What are you making?"

"Fried rice and omelette. Wanna share? I don't think I have the appetite to finish all of this myself." She turned the stove off and poured the fried rice on the plate. After that she placed the plate beside the omelette.

"Sure, thanks." Ken took his mug and prepared his coffee. On the other hand, Minako deftly divided their meal in half. She made sure not to spill a grain of rice and the filling of the egg dish on the table. With his daily dose of caffeine ready to be consumed, he took his seat across the girl. He gazed at his plate, suddenly feeling nostalgic.

"Huh? Is this... for me...? Minako-san..." The girl nodded "...Oh, th-thanks for the food!"

But that never really happen, right? He could feel his heart tighten at the thought. But somewhere in him, he still hopes those memories were real - that the red-head in front of him was her friend, and that Shinjiro didn't die. "Minako-san?"

The girl's mouth was full so she could only glanced at the boy. She raised an inquisitive brow at him.

"If your memories are fake, does that mean we were never friends before?" He mentally slapped himself for being so tactless and for not thinking first. "Never mind. I'm so-"

"I guess," she answered almost frivolously. "But then, whenever I think that it wasn't real, these-" she lifted one of her earphones "-always make me think that maybe, just maybe, all of it was real." She dropped the red object, and looked thoughtfully at her half-full plate. "That we really were friends."

Ken suddenly found himself smiling. "Real or not, we're friends now. And I'm a hundred percent sure that this is real."

"If you're done talking, then you should eat your food. It's gettin' cold, you know?"

"Oh, right. Thanks for the food!"

"Have you figured it out Ted?" Shinjiro asked during their lunch break. "That scent." The two of them were left at the classroom with a sleeping brunette friend, Ken went off for a meeting, while Aigis and the others headed out to buy them some lunch.

"Not really. Maybe it came from Rise-chan and the others."

The pony-tailed teen contemplated at it for a while, "Ask her."

"Okay, okay," the blond fished out his phone and fumbled with it. "There sent. Now we'll just - OH! She sent a message!"

"What did she say?"

" 'We did one last recon yesterday' she said." Teddie pouted staring at his phone. His brows furrowed with slight suspicion. "But there was something else."

"Maybe it's just the shadows."

"Hmm... Wow Gakky. That is a really smart assumption. I didn't know you can say stuff like that."

"Shut up."

Akihiko begrudgingly plopped down his chair and slumped over his desk. It was the first time in days since last sat in his office because he spent most of his time investigating or looking for Fuuka. Frustration consumed him because at the end of the day, he goes back home without a single lead. If it weren't for Naoto's exceptional persuasion skills he would have scoured the whole of Port Island.

"Dammit," he said under his breath, kicking the trash can. "She might be dead on the full moon."

No matter how much he itched to go into action, he can't. Naoto and Kurosawa made sure that it stays that way by using their connections. He thought that it was unfair, but then Kurosawa chided him that he has other duties to deal with.

"There are people there who need your help too, and they need you just as much."

"But Kuro-"

"Shirogane said she's got it. Why can't you just trust her?"

But it was not about trust. He was just afraid of the past repeating itself. He was scared that just like his sister, he would lose his friend and wasn't able to do something.

"I promise you Akihiko-san, we will bring her back."

Deciding to stop his brooding, he finally sat up and checked the work given to him. "You better."

~April 22, 2016 - Full Moon~

Minako stretched her arms and legs. She jogged a little in her room and ate some chocolates when she got hungry. A few minutes later Aigis knocked on her room. "Minako-san, the car has arrived. Are you ready to go now?"

Swiping her naginata from the floor, she opened the door. "Yup. Let's go!"

I can't believe I made it to 40. Thank you readers and to AtsushiLiezl. Pleas review m(._.)m