MASS POST WARNING: GO BACK AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED, PLEASE. IT WILL SAY "THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER I POSTED."

I feel like I'm getting worse, but no matter. Don't worry about me, guys. I just feel better knowing that you all enjoy my work. I'm satisfied with that alone. The song you should play to set the tone for this chapter is "Release Me" by Agnes.

I feel so insignificant

For the strangest reasons

You want my heart more than you want me

And it hurts

Because I have to die to make you happy

But will you be?

Will you truly be happy?

Chapter 27: To Dance With Death in Your Dreams

I was just a rich girl, living in a bland world. I danced, I had my karate, and I lived with Persocoms. But, once mother died, I found that my passion for such things had dwindled. I had almost no friends. Well, not exactly, but I didn't want to stay "just friends" with him.

It's funny. The boy I liked never showed much interest—it made me think that I was wasting all my efforts. Maybe there was a reason he wasn't into me in that way? I guess I didn't want to think about it too deeply.

However, one day, he asked if I wanted to go watch a movie. He had a collection of old dvds that he wanted to show me. I said yes without thinking, which is hilarious in hindsight. Dvds? Ew, those were so retro that it wasn't even cool. Cassettes and Walkmans were cool—even the digital ones. Dvds? Nope. My family only used microdisks. Even dusting off the Blu-ray player was a stretch. Nevertheless, I went. I had a little hope that the evening would turn out the way I often dreamed.

The beginning of my freshman year—I hoped he would ask me to be his girlfriend. I went there hoping to make-out with him. Unfortunately, I became addicted to uncool, ancient movies, instead.

...

It was after class, and most of the students had gone home. Chii had come to pick up Hideki for a change, accompanied by Amu, who had directed her here safely. She was much more independent than she had been a few months ago. The little blonde now was able to buy a ticket and go on the subway without incident. She could even navigate the city streets, with some help, of course. The little mobile unit was resting on Chii's shoulder and swinging her feet like a child when they arrived.

In all honesty, Amber would have preferred not to return to the classroom of the woman who had broken Sumomo. After transferring into the new body, she seemed happier as the week went on. For someone to have done something like that to such a bright and cheery girl—it was very disappointing. At first, Amber had thought the teacher very nice, but now, as time went on, she was beginning to see the darkness that had been brewing within the older woman.

She was demonstrating this now.

"Miss Shimizu, are you alright?" Wary, Garrett ensured that he was standing at a reasonable distance away from the upset teacher.

Only moments ago, Garrett had requested that Ms. Shimizu not ask Amber to run any more errands. The response was hostile, saying the least. She appeared to be on the brink of flipping out.

The woman slammed her palm on her desk in frustration. "Maybe it should stay home, then," Takako said icily, tilting her head to the side. "If it's so useless, then I'd prefer that thing to stay out of my classroom."

For a moment, it was deathly quiet.

It. Last time Garrett checked, Amber identified as female. Last time he checked, she wasn't a thing. She had a name, and it was extremely rude to not use her name at all. For Garrett, who was a Persocom, this was a major racial slur.

Hideki, who had been preparing to leave, was speechless upon hearing his teacher speaking in such a virulent manner. He wasn't sure what to make of this predicament, even though technically, it was his business. Chii had tugged on his sleeve as he looked at the teacher in shock. From when she heard that Ms. Shimizu had hurt Sumomo, the girl was wary of staying around her for long, despite her coming to get Hideki.

"That was out of line Shimizu-sensei," said Garrett coolly.

Stunned, the teacher wasn't sure if she should be either indignant or bewildered. However, her brain quickly opted for both. "What, you're taking its side? Have you already given up on real women? I never see you with anyone else but it, and you want me to just stand by and say nothing, do you?"

Garrett glanced briefly at Amber, who was keeping her emotions in check pretty well at this point. In fact, right now, she looked a little bored—at least that was the air that she was projecting. As for Garrett, he was getting pretty frustrated at this point. Just what was her issue? Garrett's scan of the public records also showed that Ms. Shimizu had been married before, but he had filed for divorce. Were Persocoms somehow to blame for that, or was it something else?

"Actually, my love-life is none of your business." Stuffing his hands into his khaki pants, Garrett said this 'bluntly' instead of 'politely', which made Amber raise an eyebrow. Japanese was quite interesting when you got down to speaking it. He was taking advantage of one of the many ways to say something, which, should have been a subtle warning towards the teacher not to take this any further. Garrett was quickly running out of patience, and if he got angry, things would not turn out well. "I would also prefer you not talk about her as if she wasn't real."

Noting the furious look in his wife's eyes, Shinbo held up his hands. Her fists were shaking, and she looked ready to pop a blood vessel. "Takako, calm down, he's—,"

"No!" she shouted, causing Shinbo to flinch. "Don't 'Takako', me. You shut up, Hiromu! You're siding with this bastard, too, aren't you?!" Ms. Shimizu looked enraged enough to throw the stapler on her desk at them. "All of you men are the same, aren't you? Replacing us with machines, throwing us away as if we're nothing… if I don't stop him here, he'll become just like my ex-husband!"

At the exact same time, Amber and Garrett finally understood. Why hadn't Hideki told them earlier? Amber shot a look to the guilty-looking boy and frowned. It was too late now. This situation was boiling over. Obviously her ex-husband had replaced her with a Persocom. What a scumbag.

Nevertheless, that didn't excuse her blatant racism.

"You're seriously messed up in the head," said Amber, not sure if she should look at her with pity or disgust.

Thank goodness Ms. Shimizu didn't take these words as seriously as Amber meant them. "What would you know? You're just a machine. A thing. I don't need your simulated pity, you insufferable bitch.*"

Blinking in surprise at the cutting retort, Amber felt her cheeks warm up, but thanks to her complexion, it wasn't too noticeable. Beside the shocked heiress, Garrett was livid. He clenched his teeth and hands tightly, thinking of reasons why he shouldn't hurt this woman. Number one, he was a gentleman. Number two, he could be disassembled if they found out he was a Persocom. Number three…well, he didn't have much reason other than those two.

"You better watch what you say in front of me—," hissed Garrett, seething with anger. "I'd want to keep my arms attached to my body."

A hand lay on his tense shoulder. As much as he didn't want to, Garrett looked askance. It was Amber's hand, of course, and she was giving him an even look. "It's okay, Garrett. Only a twisted and weak woman would connect me with her failed marriage." She spoke idly, in that pretentious tone she would use whenever she wanted to assert her 'status', as it were. It was the voice she used when talking to insolent stockholders or school bullies—her 'heiress' voice. Looking over the woman standing in front of them, Amber tilted her head to the side. "Really, what did Persocoms ever do to you?"

"I'll tell you what they—,"

"I was being rhetorical," said Amber, not giving her time to argue. "I already know what happened. You'd be amazed what you can find on the internet. All it means he was an unfaithful dog—not that some Persocom 'stole' him." Her words were sounding sharper with every syllable, so piercing that they were cutting into the teacher's heart like it was butter. "I hate women like you; women who blame the other person first instead of their mate. Sometimes they're pursued; sometimes they don't say they're married. But the thing is that he was a cheat. In the end he wanted to replace you. If they could, I'm sure that a lot of them would replace women with Persocoms—it'd be Stepford Wives all over again."

"Stepford what?" said Ms. Shimizu, the reference obviously being lost upon her.

Garrett and Amber had seen both versions of the film: the old version and the ancient version, so both of them opened their mouths in shock.

"She doesn't know Stepford Wives, Garrett," Amber shook her head, "I'm afraid all I've said had just gone to waste." Also shaking his head, Garrett grunted in agreement, folding his arms. People these days just didn't watch the classic anymore, did they?

"I saw that," said a voice from the doorway. "It was a great movie. A little too prophetic, I'm afraid."

That voice was totally unfamiliar. Who…what… Almost in unison, everyone turned and looked to the source of the comment.

Two people. A human and a Persocom were standing in front of the open door. This was surely becoming a pattern, wasn't it? The human was tall, with short black hair so dark that it nearly looked blue. His black and white uniform blazer indicated that he was in high-school, and was in, what looked like, planned disarray. From the white collared shirt, black pants, and red plaid tie, it all was ruffled and loosened very precisely. He was standing beside a teenaged girl with long white hair tied into short pigtails with little red bows. In the middle of her bangs were three red clips shaped like hearts—most likely where her connectors were. She had amber eyes, with spots of pink in the middle of her irises in the shape of clovers. Her uniform matched his, as her skirt was red plaid, and the blazer was the same exact style. Despite her young-looking face, her blazer was practically bursting, however impossible as that may seem.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Kasuga Arata, and this is Yui." With his arm slung around his partner's shoulder, the young man pointed to Chii. "I'll be having the location of the gate, now," he smiled genially and then pointed to Amber. "And your heart as well, little butterfly princess."

"Chii wonders if you two are dumb," said Chii, pouting and folding her arms. Amu giggled at this and shook her pom-poms. It surprised Hideki that she had called them 'dumb', but Chii was changing more and more every day, so he did not comment on this. Obviously, these guys were a part of 'The Game', like the others they had encountered. A few weaker competitors had come up against them in the past few weeks, but they had been no match for the combined efforts of the eight of them, that was for sure. "Chii may know where the gate is, but she is a guardian. Obviously Chii won't tell you two, even if you were more polite than everyone else. Haumph." The little Chobit continued to pout, staring at the two newcomers with mistrust.

Scratching his cheek, Arata chuckled dispassionately. "Aw, geez, guys, I was hoping you'd cooperate. I mean, we're not here to cut it out, you know." He sounded like he was telling the truth, but you never could know. Then again, most people didn't just walk up to you and ask you to help them win a contest that could decide the fate of the universe.

Sneering, Amber snorted in derision. "Tch'yeah, right. I've heard that how many times?"

"Like hell that's true," said Garrett, concurring. More than of the people who came to attack Amber, either here or in the States, were psychopaths who wanted to cut out her heart. Some of those people had the good sense to present themselves as friends first—or at least as people who meant them no harm.

"Chii!" agreed a certain blonde.

Arata put his hands in his pockets, shaking his head. "It's a shame, though. I knew our targets were beautiful, but I really didn't expect them to be this cute." His eyes were glancing between Chii and Amber respectively. Unsurprisingly, Arata's stare made Amber bristle with discomfort. Chii only narrowed her eyes and continued to pout.

"Right back at you," said Garrett. "Most of the Persocoms that go after us happen to be cute girls, but your little friend really is hot."

"Thank you," chorused the two newcomers.

"Garrett!" Amber smacked his arm and frowned disapprovingly. Impossible. He was flirting with the enemy. Every day he was getting worse and worse.

"Er, sorry," said Garrett, scratching the back of his head, not even looking apologetic at all.

Loping his arm around her waist Arata gestured wildly with his free hand. "You see…Yui is a unique creation of mine. Her looks aren't original or new. You see, from her looks to her personality to her memories…it's all been saved. She used to be human."

Snickering, Garrett ran his fingers through his hair. So it turned out he wasn't the wonderful unicorn that he thought he was, huh? From his records, Garrett knew that she had not been constructed within the Chobit program, so he must have had a lot of time and money to accomplish what he claimed. Even so, this girl before him could be called a Chobit, by all means, if what her friend had said was true.

"What a coincidence... so did I," admitted Garrett easily. "But being a Persocom does have its advantages, don't you agree, little lady?"

Shinbo, still too surprised to speak, only looked at the young man in awe. The past few months he has spent around the foreigner, had he really been so unobservant? Garrett's expressions, his mannerisms, everything had been so convincing. Just what was going on here? From inspecting Hideki's face, this announcement was no surprise to the normally flustered young man. If that was so…did Shinbo not really know his friend as well as he thought he did?

Still, Arata shrugged as if expecting that response. It had not been new news to him, so he must have had some very good spies.

On the other hand, Ms. Shimizu, who was in shock over having such a strange and shocking conversation in her classroom, all of a sudden found the strength to speak.

"But if you're a Persocom... then..." Her eyes grew wider as they looked to Amber in horror. What else had she overlooked?

Amber sighed. With a defeated expression, young woman pinched the skin on her forehead and closed her eyes. "Looks like our social experiment failed, Garrett."

Guffawing, her partner took note of her understatement and nodded. "Sure does look that way."

Without further ceremony, Amber grabbed hold of the headband hidden beneath her hair and flung the fake ears to the side. Winking at the two normal humans gaping at them, she stuck out her tongue, all her anger from earlier forgotten.

"My name is Amber Lee-Young, heiress to Gala Computers Incorporated. It's nice to finally meet you all!" She gave a knowing look to her partner, who had gotten the silent signal she had sent: 'Artefacts out on three.'

In spite of this, the two of them weren't as subtle as they thought. Arata quickly picked up on their plan.

"Now, Yui!" he ordered, just before the others could reach for their cards.

"Okay, Oniichan!" Flashes of light streaked across Yui's eyes. Forming a 'v for victory' sign near her left eye she spoke in a rush. "Connecting to the 'Avaritia' Archive. Executing my Thema!"

A flash of pink and white light exploded before everyone's eyes.

"Arc Symphony: Starry Night Serenade!"

Every single one of the six other people standing within the room fell to the floor, immobile.

A million little pieces came tumbling down around them. Reflected in his eyes was a fear so great that it could have made his heart stop beating. But she had come through, his mysterious friend, and saved them from a tragedy. The thoughts swirling now in his mind were a whirlwind.

Kasuga Arata stood above the five snoozing bodies, monitoring the data from their dreams. Two of them human, three of them mechanical. Sitting in a plush leather armchair was a Persocom. Yui, of course. Her eyes were closed, as she was a part of the slumbering party, and the four heart-shaped hairclips were now unpinned from her hair—they were used to extract four wire connectors from her head. Two of these connectors were connected to Garrett and Chii. The other two were locked into grey helmets placed over the heads of Hideki and Amber.

Around this time, Ms. Shimizu and Shinbo would have woken up to find everyone else was missing from the classroom. Of course, the police would never believe the conversation that had happened between them and the two strangers.

The program that Yui was running now was directly liked to her magical move, 'Starry Serenade'. It had taken Arata two grimores and a cryogenic chamber to help preserve Yui and her research, but this was the final stage of his planning. Prettty soon he would meet the other seven of his friends in that paradise called Elysium.

"That's right, Yui," he whispered into the sleeping girl's ear. "Invite them all into your dream."

Kowai Yume…pt. 1

In the large, dark chamber there were cables. Cables snaked around every nook and cranny of the cavernous laboratory, like jungle vines. All of them converged upon one Persocom, who was hanging from the ceiling in a fetal position, as if the entire room was her giant womb. Her hair was a dark, silky black and it draped over her arms in thick ribbons, reaching past her thighs. Her skin was a smooth tan that resembled coffee inundated with cream.

In front of the girl was a man. He had a long white labcoat that nearly brushed the ground. His smile was wide. He also happened to be Korean and Japanese. His name was Dr. Shawn Michaels Lee-Young.

"As you know, my wife and I could never have children of our own, so we decided to build them," said Shawn, spreading his arms wide. "I'm glad you get to see me activate my newest daughter, Handel. It's a little embarrassing, actually."

Behind Dr. Lee-Young was a man wearing a shorter labcoat. His hair was a ruffled, mousy brown, and he couldn't help but reassure himself that this was reality. The Chobits program had been so top-secret that everyone thought it merely a legend. Now he was taking part in it? Un-flipping-believable. Dream come true.

"It's no problem," said Dr. Ravensdale. He had a clipboard in his hands, checking over the last few things on the To-Do List. "We only have to wake her up, now."

"Excellent," said Shawn. He beamed, his dazzling smile rivaling the sun in warmth. "Let's begin! Welcome to the world little, one!"

"Time to wake up," agreed Handel, pressing a few buttons on the tablet. "Rise and shine!"

"We're all eager to see you, Amber!"

Ever so slowly, the Chobit opened her eyes.

There was only darkness. She felt nothing, heard nothing, and saw nothing. It was a peaceful oblivion that seemed to last forever.

But it ended, as most things do.

Amber could not open her eyes yet, but there was one thing that popped up around her that startled her at first. Numbers and values, all of it code she'd seen thousands of times before. The startup processes for a Gala Inc. model, from what Amber could tell of the cursory glance she took. But what was actually happening was completely beyond her understanding.

Startup Initiated_

Loading parameters_

System OS detected_

Initiating OS…

OS X Platinum Monarch ver. 1.0

In front of her, at least what she perceived to be 'in front of her', a white butterfly symbol was displayed. It gradually was filling up from the bottom to the top with a silvery color, like someone pouring a drink into a glass.

Initiating Sound Card_

The first thing she heard was a young man's voice.

It was Garrett's.

"I wonder how long it'll take to start up the first time?"

Activating Neural Net_

The next thing she heard was a soft whirring. It vibrated all around her, it seemed. She still could not move her arms or legs.

Unlocking motor-sensory sections… 30%… 50%... 100%... Completed_

Feeling seemed to leech into her joints and muscles then. Amber noticed from the position alone that she was laying on a comfortably soft bed. The way the soft sheets folded around her arms was soothing, so she relaxed.

Initiating Visual Cortex_

Before she realized it, Amber's eyes had snapped open without her consent. She sat up smoothly, taking in her surroundings. It was a simple room, with a bed and a desk lumped into one corner. On the desk was a lamp, but other than that there wasn't much in the way of furniture.

"Oh, you're awake…" said Garrett, peering over to look at her face. He seemed happy to see her, from what she could tell. The young man was wearing those god-awful glasses again, though.

Vocal processes, initiated_

"Nice to meet you," said Amber, although she did not know why she had the compulsion to do so. "I am your new Gala Inc. Persocom, Model: Eve. Please state the confirmation code found in my instruction booklet to start my configuration."

"Right," said Garrett, looking down into his hands.

Amber noted how less symmetrical he looked than usual. Was it her imagination? Why did Garrett look so…so…so human? More importantly, where was she? She knew that Yuuko had been able to travel to other universes, but surely that power hadn't been bestowed upon her, hand it?

Come to think of it, what was the last thing she remembered?

Garrett flipped open the booklet and found the code.

"Here it is… K - three - five - five - T - zero - M - four - D - three - V"

Blinking once, Amber heard some more clicking noises. Projected in front of her was a rain of numbers and letters.

"Confirmed. Please state your name for vocal recognition."

"Garrett Ravensdale."

Flashes of light danced around in her eyes. "Vocal Imprint generated. Do you wish to name me?"

"Well," began Human!Garrett, looking into her dimly glowing eyes. "I guess so. I feel like you should name yourself, though. I mean, I never asked to be a 'Garrett', you know?"

Smiling, she folded her hands in her lap. "Whatever you see fit, Master."

"But—," he continued, "you were just activated, and it would be weird to just call you 'you' all the time."

"That is true," agreed Amber.

'This is really feeling strange,' she thought, contemplating this situation. It was slightly ironic, a little humiliating, and just overall awkward. But, she could not control any aspect of it. It was more like watching a movie, yet being able to feel every sensation that one character experienced.

"Your model is called 'Eve,' but I don't like that name, and it's a bit uncreative. Probably most everyone who bought the same model will do that. Your eyes are a pretty honey color, but calling you 'Honey' sounds a little weird. What else is a name for honey?" he mused in a low voice, looking over Amber.

"There are many things that can be described as honey-colored," Amber said immediately. "Other than the obvious saccharine substance, there are jewels like Topaz or Amber that could very well suit me as a name."

This Other!Garrett seemed to like these suggestions. He stared into her eyes and seemed a little excited at this prospect.

"Topaz…that's true. Huh." Grinning like some fantastic idiot, Garrett folded his arms. "I think I like Amber better, though."

Amber knew not what to think of that, actually.

After a moment of deliberation, the Persocom spoke. "Amber. I like that. Would you like to confirm that as my designation?"

"Absolutely," said Garrett, chuckling. He was staring at her more intently, now.

It creeped her out, actually. If she could have, Amber would have shuddered.

"There. Name confirmed."

"Great! Now, it's time to meet the rest of the family," announced Garrett, taking her arm gently. "They've been dying to meet you for a while. I wanted to activate you in private, is all."

"Please lead the way, Master," said Amber brightly.

Inside, though, she was shaking her head. She had to find a way to get out of this place before she went crazy. This really was a strange situation that she found herself in.

Kowai Yume…pt. 2

Garrett awoke from sleep mode with a start. He was so startled that he fell off the bed. His autocorrect feature wasn't working, so instead, he fell onto his face.

There was no extra input, so his radio gear must have been turned off. Confused as to why it wasn't responding when he attempted to switch it on, Garrett scratched his head.

Blinking, he felt his scalp more closely. No connector ports were there. The subtle indents where they were embedded were missing. In front of him there was no virtual display. No numbers, no values. Nothing.

His chest began to tighten.

Wait…his chest was tightening.

He breathed in sharply at this revelation.

What the hell, he was breathing?

This was really beginning to confuse him. Something must have gone wrong in that classroom. The last time he checked, Garrett hadn't been human for over four years.

He remembered that they were talking to Ms. Shimizu. The next thing he knew, he was pulling himself off the floor of…was this his old bedroom? His bed was in the corner, as always. A plain, modern desk was sitting on the opposite side of the room. Even Chell was there, standing next to the console at his desk, in sleep mode.

Okay, this was getting eerie.

Why couldn't he remember what had happened?

He had two theories, and both of them involved magic. Either his consciousness had been sent back in time, or this was a large-scale illusion of some sort. If it was the first theory, then there wasn't much he could do about it. Undoing it would take Amber's help, assuming she had told him her secret already. If it was the second, then breaking free from it would be impossible. He had knowledge of magic, yes. However, he left the wand-waving to Amber. In the sword and sorcery genre department he obviously was the sword-guy defending his mage partner. The only experience he had with magic was laying down wards or channeling energy. Amber usually gave him a magical boost while they fought, and that was pretty much it.

There was still that first theory. It bothered him, because, as much as he didn't want to think about it, time travel was nigh impossible. Garrett knew that Amber had told him that Yuuko had mastered it, so the possibility wasn't out the window, yet. If he changed one event, how would the rest of the timeline play out? Moreover, how many mages in the S-registry were able to manipulate time? From what he remembered there was only one mage that was able to do that. But they were dead, from what the grimore had shown.

'Ah, but this really is troublesome, isn't it?' he thought, pacing now. 'If I can't break free…then what will become of us, then?'

He had half a mind to wake up Chell and ask what the date was. Maybe if he explained things to Amber in this timeline, she would find out a solution. After all, this was before the incident where they were badly injured, obviously. He was human, and that was one sign of that. Amber from this time period was more like his current self. Bold and not afraid of her feelings. Why, once could say that their personalities switched around since they fell off that cliff.

Yeah, if he could just explain the whole situation, then maybe it would work. She was much easier to convince then, anyway.

Tap Tap Tap-Tap Tap

A knock on the door broke apart his thoughts. Glancing up, Garrett blinked.

"Come in," he said automatically, before he had time to think it through properly.

"Hi, Master Garrett!" piped the newcomer, peeking her head into the doorway. "You're decent, I assume. Not like last time, I hope, heehee!" Noting his proper state of dress, she walked in all the way. "Breakfast will get cold, you know!"

Looking her over, Garrett's mouth opened and closed repeatedly. The silky black hair she had stretched to her knees. A pair of white kneesocks covered long tan legs. A maid outfit, one that probably belonged on the cover of an ecchi anime, was what she wore. Bright honey eyes and grey cat-like ears aside, she looked very similar to a certain someone he knew. To top it off, she had a grey cat's tail as well, which was probably going overboard.

He stopped gawking and decided to speak.

"Wa…wa…Amber?"

Confused, the Persocom put a finger to her lips in thought.

"Master Garrett doesn't seem to recognize me, huh?"

She responded to the name, all right, but there were about twenty things wrong with this picture.

"M-master?" sputtered Garrett, his head beginning to pound. He needed to sit down. Either this was some sort of elaborate cosplay, or his time-travel theory was just invalidated. He plopped onto his bed with a heavy thump.

"You are my registered user, after all," she responded instantly. "You're looking a little ill, Master." She sat beside him and put the back of her hand to his forehead. After two seconds, she sighed. "Your temperature is rising rapidly, and your heartbeat is elevated. Are you feeling ill? Any symptoms of weakness, fatigue, or nausea?"

Feeling his stomach lurch upon hearing her speak, Garrett curled up into a ball and lay on his side.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," he remarked, wondering what he was going to do.

Kowai Yume…pt. 3

Chii was not dumb. She sometimes played dumb, and sometimes she simply didn't know.

The person standing across from her had claimed to be Hideki, but obviously, this was not true. He looked just like Hideki. Same brown eyes, same cheerful smile, and even the same tone of voice. If it were someone other than Chii, then most likely that person would have been tricked.

At first she had not suspected anything had happened. But, more and more the impostor's behavior seemed to show through. If not for the similar looks, Chii could have sworn that this was a completely different person.

The real Hideki would not have asked her where the gate to Elysium was. After all, she had told him and the rest of the group that it was a secret. Only the winner was allowed to know its location.

Where was her boyfriend? In any case, Chii was definitely going to find out. First chance she got, she was going to run away from this faker. Now, all Chii had to figure out was how to escape from this awful illusion.

Maybe, if she concentrated hard enough, the others would be able to find her.

Kowai Yume…pt. 4

Hideki looked around at the harem of girls and wondered just what in the world was going on. Was this supposed to be a joke?

Eight, no…ten girls had surrounded him. If he hadn't been so adamant, right now he probably would be naked, if going by their expressions were anything to trust.

He knew he wasn't popular. He knew he wasn't extremely good-looking. He knew girls didn't just act like this on a regular basis.

Somehow though, he was being tempted by several girls at once. Chii was nowhere in sight, and the classroom they had been in was replaced by his apartment.

Come to think of it, there was something he was missing, Hideki was sure of it. Between the classroom and here, what had happened? Was he supposed to do something? Was this some sort of test?

With blood running from his nose, Hideki looked away from the girls. If he was that type of shameless person, he would have given in to his first instinct, that is, enjoy this situation. But Hideki was practical. He wasn't stupid. At first he had thought it a prank, due to its ridiculousness.

Banging his head against the wall, he grimaced. For a seconde he had entertained the thought! Ah, Chii was bound to find out for sure.

Taking one last look at the scene, he pinched himself.

It hurt.

Still, this couldn't have been real.

All of them were Persocoms. Not that he was being discriminatory, but honestly, Chii was the only Persocom for him. No, scratch that. Chii was the only person for him.

Now he wanted Chii. Where was she, anyway?

'Ah, this cannot be happening! No, no, this really must be some sort of trick! What kind of dumb fantasy is this?!'

He had known this was fishy from the start.

It just had to be magic, there was no doubting that.

He barely had any concept of what he could do about this situation, concerning that. Chii, even before he was introduced to the world of magic, had been odd. Flying around, glowing…and nowadays she was showing him spells that she had mastered. Every day was something different. Even that time he and Chii had fought with that Lestat person, he was just going on adrenaline. He hadn't consciously used any magic, not really. Just swung around his sword and stuff.

Running out of Gub Jogasaki at full speed, Hideki burst onto the street, tightening the belt of his pants as he did.

He was going to get to the bottom of this, even if he was going to lose his mind in the process.

It was my fault for letting down my guard

I let you all down

I keep getting us into trouble

But what use is my "existence" if

I don't use it at all?

*When Ms. Shimizu said "bitch", it's in English, sort of. It's a bit of a loanword in this case. Nonetheless, the meaning of the word when used in Japanese slang does not mean quite the same as it does in English. It means something like a "loose woman" who sleeps with everyone, so the word actually seems more insulting in this context.

Also, Yui and Kasuga are duplicates, but not exact copies of two characters from the manga Trinity Seven. I wanted a certain scenario, and I couldn't come up with anyone original, like Doctor Lestat, so I just added them both to the story. If you wanted a reference to how they look, just put in their names into Google Image Search, and you'll probably get them.