Well, as I continue working on my plans for this story, I wanted to stop a little to edit the old chapters. So I'll be adding and removing a few things here and there, hope you like it!

The streets of Tokyo were buzzing with activity as usual. People went about, most distracted with their goals or destinations, intent on doing what they had to.

Among those people was a teenage girl with shoulder length burgundy coloured hair and sky blue eyes, she wore a white and purple jacket, a pale grey shirt underneath, jeans as well as grey and purple shoes. There was a certain destination for her to reach and given that she was in a completely new area, she tried to focus. It was proving to be a futile struggle as her mind kept drifting to recent events...

''Damn brat, I'll sue!''

''She did what?''

''Keep away from her, she's a criminal!''

''Look what you did! You brought us nothing but trouble, again!''

''If you had just done what you were told...didn't you learn from the past? See where all this attitude got you. Serves you right, we don't want any part of it!''

She shook her head, trying to dismiss those voices. The girl heaved an inaudible sigh, knowing it couldn't be that easy.

The girl had been forced to come to the city as a part of her probation after being falsely accused of attacking a man. It was all so wrong...all she had done was push him off the woman he had been hurting, when she'd asked for help. She couldn't just leave her like that. Unfortunately, the man had been so drunk; he stumbled and hit himself on the ground...

But people wouldn't listen to a thing she said. The man had somehow wound up forcing the woman to testify against her. He'd even managed to keep himself anonymous and pin all the blame on her to boot. The girl had been judged guilty and was told to come and stay here with a stranger for a year. People treated her as a criminal, her school kicked her out...long story short, her life was ruined.

Things had changed so much for her over the the last three years, especially after a certain incident two years ago. She was just getting used to the changes-there was so much to deal with and now...

The people she had grown up with, her own parents...many who she knew throughout her life...they all just believed that horrible man over her. She just didn't understand how they could do that. Did they really think so lowly of her so as to believe she'd attack someone for no reason? Didn't they trust her at all?

The indignity of it all was eating away at her, bringing back the frustration and anger she held back all this time. She consoled herself with the reminder that at least her grandparents still believed in her. They had been a rock for her in this sea of chaos, affirming their faith in her and supporting her to this day. Besides, at least she wasn't sent to prison. Small mercies, she supposed...

The girl stopped in her tracks, having reached the street leading to her new guardian's location...

Cafe Leblanc was located in the backstreets of Yongen-jaya. The area around it seemed relatively quiet. The place itself was rustic and mellow. The barista, a middle aged man with black hair and dark eyes was reading the newspaper. His name was Sakura Sojiro. An elderly couple was seated before him, chatting about recent events.

The couple made to leave after a few minutes, only pausing when the door opened and the girl was about to step in. She stopped when she noticed them and gave a small bow, before opening the door wider and side stepping to let them pass. The old woman praised her good manners with her husband agreeing. Her voice soon trailed off, too far for them to hear.

''So you're Hyakuya Namine...''

The girl looked at him and bowed again ''Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Sakura-san.''

''...Well, you're as polite as they said.'' The girl's puzzled look prompted him to add ''What, they didn't tell you? I've known your grandparents for years now. I think I heard about you from Itsuki enough to make my ears bleed.''

''Oh, god I'm afraid to ask...'' Namine mumbled, facepalming. She loved her grandfather to bits but sometimes he could be really embarrassing.

Sojiro smirked as if guessing what she had in mind ''Yeah, since we both know that goofball, it's about as bad you might expect. Anyway, Itsuki and Yuri turned out to be really good friends but that doesn't mean I'll just cut you some slack based on their word alone.''

That was fine by her ''I understand. I wouldn't expect less. It's only fair if you see what I'm like in person, right?".

''Exactly.'' Her ready acceptance was a relief. ''I'm pretty sure you know the deal. I'll be your guardian for the year and fill your probation officer in. But if you cause any trouble, you'll be kicked out. I'll show you to your room, all your stuff's arrived now.''

Her new room was in the attic. It was clear as day that the room hadn't been used in a long time as most of it was covered in dust. There were even a couple of spider webs here and there. Namine's things were gathered up in boxes that were lined up near the desk that was opposite to a shelf. There was a couch on the side as well a single bed near the wall on the opposite end.

Sojiro glanced at the boxes ''So, that's everything right?''

Namine hummed as she finished looking them over ''...Yup, it's all here.''

''Good. Now we'll be heading to Shujin Academy tomorrow to register you, I'll tell you which trains you can take to school but you'll be on your own after that.'' He stated.

''Right...well, do you have any cleaning supplies I could use? I'd like to sort things out in a bit.'' Namine admitted.

He seemed a bit surprised by the question but replied readily ''Sure. They're all downstairs, use whatever you need.''

When Sojiro came back, he was surprised to find that she was finishing the clean up. The attic was looking so much better already. Namine seemed well-mannered and diligent; like he'd been told before this whole deal was started. The case had left him with doubts for sure but he liked how she took his stance on the situation. He was willing to be fair so long as she didn't cause trouble.

What threw him off was that she seemed more or less apathetic to his remarks on her situation. On the other hand, she appeared tired so perhaps it was best to leave her be for now.

He was partially right...Namine exhaled, she just didn't see the point in going into the same argument she used over the last few weeks. What was the point when only few listened to her?

She closed her eyes for a moment as she lay down. Cleaning up had worn her down more than she expected but at least it all paid off.

Namine wasn't sure what to make of Sojiro yet but if her grandparents trusted him then she'd give him a chance. At the very least, he was the only person in quite a while to actually believe her story. Unlike the others he hadn't dismissed it, he believed her. It was just that he basically believed she got in over her head by interfering that night and this was the result.

Not to say he was wrong but Namine didn't want to believe she was wrong for taking action back then. She couldn't bring herself to walk away from that sight...

Needing a distraction, the girl took her phone out, having hardly touched it all day. That was when she noticed something odd. It was an app, one she didn't remember downloading before. Its icon looked rather strange. Heck, she'd never even seen anything like it. Where'd it come from?

Namine tapped its icon, but nothing happened. At least, that was what she assumed, until something in the air seemed to shift.

A second later, the space in front of the girl seemed to erupt in a burst of blue flames, leaving her to recoil in shock. A figure then became visible through it and it took Namine a few seconds to realize that it looked just like her.

The only difference was that her apparent doppelganger appeared to have golden eyes and that its expression was unreadable. It held up a hand to her but the girl was too shocked to move. The figure touched her hand, a confident smile settling on its lips a moment later. In a flash, a white and black bird like mask appeared on its face. Also, its clothes changed from a duplicate of Namine's to a black and white dress with red lining. The strange outfit had a matching short and boots as well as black gloves with red lining. The figure vanished as the flames billowed only to be replaced by a silhouette of a larger figure with orange eyes and grin and black feathery wings. It quickly disappeared and the flames faded away.

Namine was speechless, what in the world was that?

Even as she tried to dismiss it as such, something wasn't right. What was this feeling? That doppelganger of hers...she couldn't shake the feeling that it was important, very important.

But...it couldn't be...this had to be some kind of dream, right?

Mysterious incidents aside, the next day went as planned as Sojiro took her to Shujin Academy. Namine knew this was the only place that accepted her with her probation. She thought it seemed a bit dreary but she was content to wait and see what would happen. Not that she had many expectations...

That was a good thing because the teachers would have certainly dashed any hopes she might have had for her new start.

The principal, Kobayakawa, a fat, bald man wearing a suit, was quick to remind her of the situation, pointing out that she would be expelled for any infractions. He was quick to state that while she might have had leeway in the past; there was no she could expect any here.

Her homeroom teacher was one Kawakami Sadayo. Namine couldn't shake the feeling that the woman was worn-out, she looked so done with everything. After giving her the student ID, the woman proceeded to complain about having the girl in her class, worried about housing a criminal. Kobayakawa reminded her that her class was the only one with an opening, promising that everything would be fine. They would just make sure Namine would behave or there would be consequences.

Namine bit down her frustration at it all, reminding herself that they wouldn't listen anyway.

Had she tried looking around, she would have noticed Sojiro's unimpressed expression. Sure, the kid may have messed up but for crying out loud, they were teachers. Weren't schools supposed to give children a chance and let them learn? She was still young after all. How was this attitude supposed to help?

Could they at least have the decency not to talk like that now? They may have acted like they were open to Namine having a second chance but somehow he wasn't convinced. He glanced at his charge, only to find that her expression was apathetic again like it was yesterday.

Sighing, the man spoke ''Don't worry, I'll make sure to talk to her.''

''Please do, Sakura-san.'' Kobayakawa acknowledged.

Both were only too glad to leave after everything was settled. Sojiro spoke up once they were in the car ''Good grief...I figured they'd come down on you but not nearly this badly.''

''I'd hoped they'd be as open-minded as that principal tried to appear but I guess it is what it is.'' Namine shrugged.

Sojiro blinked ''You're handling this pretty well.''

''Reminding myself that it was either adapting to the way things are now or jail helps, Sakura-san.''

Good point, he'd give her that one. ''True enough...''

Sojiro was distracted by the radio ''...and investigations into the mental shutdowns have yet to any results...''

Namine tilted her head a little ''I heard people talking about this yesterday. Is it true?''

''It seems so.'' All he'd heard were rumours too. But then, he'd never really paid attention to the situation...

Namine frowned as she looked at something on her phone ''Again?'' At his raised eye, she admitted ''I found some weird app last night. I don't even know how I got it though...''

''You're better off getting rid of shifty stuff like that. It could wind up getting a virus in your phone or something.'' He advised.

''Yeah...'' She proceeded to delete it. ''...I could have sworn I did yesterday though...''

Not much else happened; they were stuck in traffic for a while. Sojiro had to close up a couple of hours later and Namine prepared herself for the coming day.

She had a strange dream. She woke up to find herself in a strange blue area, for some reason she was in a cell. There two girls dressed up as wardens at the gate. Both looked near identical to one another, having platinum hair and golden eyes. A man with thin grey hair and a sharp nose sat at a desk behind them.

''Welcome to the Velvet Room.'' He greeted as she approached the entrance.

Just what was going on?

''I'm afraid it's a complicated situation, Trickster.'' The man stated as if picking up on her thoughts.

Namine blinked, why was he calling her that? ''Ah...w-what is all this? I'm really confused...''

''Understandable.'' The man nodded. ''My name is Igor and this is the Velvet Room. These girls are Caroline and Justine. You have been chosen to partake in a very important endeavor...''

He hadn't explained much else before she'd woken up but he promised he would do when the opportunity arose. No matter Namine looked at it, things seemed to get weirder ever since she arrived here. She just couldn't make sense of that dream. The thought left her sighing as she went downstairs, finding Sojiro behind the counter.

He nodded to her greeting ''You're up early, that's good, Here...'' he set a plate of curry and a spoon on the counter. ''...I've got breakfast.''

''Thank you...'' The surprised Namine took a seat and began to eat.

''...it's delicious. Thanks.'' She said again after finishing up.

She missed his lips twitching as she bent to pick up her stuff. ''You know the way now?''

''Yeah, it's fine.'' The girl made her way out of the cafe and headed to school.

All right, let's stop here.

How was it? Looking back I saw that I made plenty of mistakes-I never claim for my work to perfect but I think those mistakes could've been avoided so there we go. Not much changes now but thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it, till next time!