Kizuna awoke to an unusually peaceful house, but in her groggy state, she took no notice. Besides, it was hard to tell over the din that was her morning alarm. She swung her arm over to silence it, but missed and ended up rolling off her bed and onto the carpet below. The dog groaned and tried to pull herself back to her feet. This ended up being a mistake, as when she put her hand down on the night table for stability, she also grabbed the alarm clock which slid off and bonked her on the head. Another groan mixed with pain escaped her lips.

After getting herself untangled from the mess, Kizuna grabbed a towel and headed for the shower. As she left her room, she passed by her headphones. There was a brief moment where they crackled to life, and then went silent. Kizuna slowly backed up to her door frame and leaned her head in. She stared at her headphones, unsure if she'd heard anything. After a few moments of silence, she shrugged and went back to her shower.

It wasn't until Kizuna got out of her shower (which she thoroughly enjoyed) did she notice how… quiet… things were. As she wandered her house, getting her school things together (including her headphones, which were really staticy), she strained her ears for any sign of her family. Nothing, not even Kenji, who loved babbling and making noise. A quick check in every room confirmed it; her family was gone. The kitchen downstairs remained undisturbed as well. There were no notes left for her to explain their absence. Everything was in place, it was as though her family had just up and vanished.

"Mom?" Kizuna called out to the house. "Dad?"

Her voice was met with silence. "Kenji?" The girl called out, hoping in vain he would make some sort of noise. She held her breath, standing perfectly still, trying to make as little noise as possible. Once again, nothing. With a sigh, and a great deal of worry beginning to creep over her, Kizuna made her own breakfast of cereal and sat down to eat. It stumped her, this mystery. She couldn't recall her parents saying they were going anywhere that morning, and if they did, surely she would have heard them when they were getting ready.

Kizuna finished her breakfast in deafening silence and tossed the bowl and spoon in the sink. The time on the microwave indicated the bus would be at her stop soon, so she grabbed her backpack and ran out the door. Kizuna was halfway to the sidewalk when she noticed something odd.

Her parent's car was still in the driveway.

Kizuna ran over to check inside, just on the off chance her family was in there. If not, maybe there'd be some sign they were there at some point. Kizuna pressed her face up against the glass, examining every inch from the outside. Nothing seemed out of place, and she grunted in frustration. She walked away dejectedly to the bus stop, where she would stand alone.

This was actually not out of the ordinary. Kizuna was the only one at her stop. As she stood on the curb, she began to wonder if everyone else had gone, too. Then what would she do? Be doomed to wander the world forever alone? It was a frightening thought, and she shook it from her mind. At least the bus would be there soon, and to her relief, she heard the old rumbly engine coming down the road. So, she wasn't alone after all. The bus came closer and closer, and Kizuna got herself ready to board. However, the bus showed no sign of slowing down. It kept up its fast pace, and zoomed right past her.

The bus driver had forgotten to stop for her. For the first time ever. Kizuna blinked a few times, shocked, but didn't wait around for long. The dog took off after the vehicle, running as fast as her legs could carry her.

"HEEEYYY!" She yelled. "STOP! WAIT FOR MEEEEE!"

But the driver, nor the passengers, heard her, and the bus didn't slow down. It kept driving on until it turned a corner out of sight. Kizuna's legs and lungs burned, and to add insult to injury, she found herself meeting the ground after tripping over a turtle that had crossed her path. She didn't see it as she was distracted by the bus, but she did see the concrete sidewalk when she fell over.

"Owwwie…" Kizuna whimpered, pulling herself into a sitting position on the ground. She assessed the damage. A few scrapes, and a really sore nose, but nothing that would kill her. The offending turtle silently slinked out of sight, leaving Kizuna alone on the ground. The girl wanted to cry. The day had started so horribly, and she wanted some normalcy. Just ONE thing to go right.

Her headphones crackled to life and emitted a high pitch screeching just under her ears. "AGGGHHH!" Kizuna jumped and flung her headphones off her next in one swift move. They tumbled a few feet away, still crackling. Kizuna stood up and took a few timid steps forward. She couldn't understand why they came to life so suddenly. They shouldn't have been on. She mused they might've gotten damaged when she fell. She picked them up, and they fell silent.

The headphones found themselves back around Kizuna's neck. Bus or no, she still needed to get to school. Besides, David would be there. Kizuna smiled to herself as she started her walk. David always made her feel better, even if he never intended to. He was always so sweet and kind and handsome. Kizuna just hoped one day he would remember her. The warm thoughts of a brown labrador kept her spirit up as she walked to school, thankfully avoiding more tripping hazards.

The whole way there, she swore she could hear footsteps behind her. Upon looking around, nobody was there. She figured that surely she must be hearing things to fill in the quiet void that was her wakeup routine, until she heard a twig snap behind her. Kizuna stopped and jumped 180 degrees around to try and catch who it was, but still, nobody was there. She squinted and looked around, but the only thing she saw was early morning Roseville, and that meant few people out and about. Nobody was directly behind her, though.

"Hello?" Kizuna asked the air, but the air didn't respond. The girl checked her headset, just in case it had been making the noise, but it was still switched off. Nothing but the faint smell of alcohol was around. Kizuna scrunched up her nose and kept going.

Kizuna had to really rush, but she managed to make it to school in time, and catch up to David to boot. She smiled brightly when she saw the familiar brown dog walking down the hallway with his books. "Hi Davie!" She called out to him sweetly over the ruckus of the hallway chatter. The girl waved to David as he turned to look for who called his name. Kizuna wasted no time in pushing through the crowd to reach him when he noticed her. Even with a confused look on his face, David was so adorable.

"I'm so happy to see you!" She said, breathing a sigh of relief. Finally, some normalcy. A friendly face to keep her anchored.

"Ah! A girl!" David replied excitedly, tail wagging. David got excited over everything. It was one of the reasons Kizuna loved him so much. She hoped one day he would be excited over her specifically. However, today was not that day. "Who are you?"

Kizuna felt a little deflated. It was par for the course with David to not know who she was. It was like she vanished from his mind the moment she wasn't directly in front of them. This was despite them knowing each other for years. "Ehh, it's me… Kizuna?"

Davids' face did not change to show he understood. He blinked and Kizuna sighed. "We share all our classes together. You really don't remember me?"

David shrugged. "I gotta get to class, Kazeno." And with that, he trotted away down the hall, presumably to catch up with Paulo who was just ahead.

Kizuna stood in the crowd and watched him go. She clenched her fists as her heart sank. She wished once, just once, he would at least remember who she was. David meant the world to her. Kizuna didn't have much time to dwell on her missed connection as someone bumped into her, knocking her over.

"Guh! Sorry!" Apologized the bumper, which upon looking up, Kizuna saw was Mike. He offered her a helping hand, which she accepted.

"It's okay." Kizuna laughed sheepishly. "I shouldn't have just been standing there." She got to her feet and dusted herself off. "I was just thinking about Davie…"

"Ah, okay…" Mike seemed to be a little confused by the statement, but Kizuna didn't pick up on it. "Well, I better get going."

Kizuna kept up with Mike as he walked. "I just… don't understand what I have to do!" She said, a little exasperated. "How do you date someone who forgets you exist?"

The whole time Mike kept looking over at her awkwardly, like he didn't know what to say. Eventually, he had to say something. "I'm really sorry, but I don't think we've met before."

Kizuna was at a loss. She rubbed her hands across her face and groaned. "Oh Mike, not you too…"

Before either of them could say anything else, they were interrupted by a "Hey jerkface!" Both Mike and Kizuna turned around to see an angry looking white cat stomping up towards them.

Mike smiled nervously. "H-hey, Lucy."

"I thought I told you to wait for me!" She huffed, taking her stance just inches from the flustered korat. "We're supposed to be planning out what we're doing at the ice carving competition today!"

"Guh…" Mike rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, Lucy. Must've slipped my mind."

"Ice carving competition?" Kizuna asked. Of everything that happened to her that day, this was surprisingly the most out of the ordinary.

"Yes, Kizuna. Where have you been?" Lucy frowned. "Now are we gonna get to class?" Lucy grabbed Mike's arm and led him along, with Kizuna close behind them. And then she heard it.

"Kizuna."

Kizuna pivoted her head, looking to see who called her name. It wasn't a voice she recognized. Nobody was looking at her, or trying to reach her, so she shrugged and went to class.

Much to Kizuna's relief, school went along as normal. She handed in homework, took her notes, and talked to her classmates. On any other day, Kizuna would be bored, but considering the day she had so far, boring was the new exciting. Everything seemed okay now, and Kizuna shrugged off the whole morning. 'It was just a fluke.' She thought to herself with a smile. 'I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of it.' Now Kizuna could focus on more important things, like how to win over David's heart.

Lunchtime came around, setting all the students, and teachers, free, even if only for a short while. Kizuna chatted happily with Daisy and Sue as they took their seats at the usual spot. Tess joined shortly, along with Paulo who was, as usual, trying to sweep her off her feet to mixed results. Mike and Lucy went back and forth on their ice carving plans for after school. David joined last, cavorting around with a bunch of sprinkle puddings for everyone.

Well, for everyone but Kizuna. She expected as much, but it still hurt. That was, until one of the cups was slid in front of her by David himself. "Sorry, I forgot to get you one. You can have mine!"

Kizuna's jaw dropped. David… DID care about her! Her eyes sparkled, and he glowed. She accepted the offer. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed.

"Calm down, it's just pudding." Paulo said, a little annoyed at the high pitched outburst.

"Not even good pudding." Lucy added, despite eating a big spoonful of it.

"But Davie remembered me for once…" Kizuna responded in a small voice. She wasn't going to let them spoil her big moment. It was such a small, silly thing, but a first step was better than nothing. As Kizuna enjoyed her pudding, her gaze passed over the back of the cafeteria, where a tall, shadowy figure stood partially behind a column. She jerked her gaze back to the spot, but the figure was gone. She shrugged, it must have been a trick of the light. Nothing could bring her down from this ecstacy.

Lunch ended, and the group had just one class to end the day, science. Everyone, now fed and watered and looking forward to the end of school, went back to class eager to get it over with. As the group of friends walked back to class, Kizuna's headphones became staticy again. With a few smacks, they went silent.

In class, their science teacher, a rather serious looking dachshund, took center stage in front of the whiteboard. He looked over the rows of students, now complacent after having full bellies. He cleared his throat. "Good afternoon, class." This brought a few more eyes to him. "Today we are going to be diving into the theoretical." He turned around and popped open a dry erase marker. On the board, he wrote 'Multiple Universe Theory' in large letters across it. This made everyone sit up.

"Multiple. Universe. Theory." He said, punctuating every word he spoke with a tap under the corresponding word on the board. "It is as it sounds. The theory that our universe is but one of an infinite number."

The teacher began pacing up and down in front of the whiteboard. "These other worlds differ from our own. Some slight, others far more notably. Perhaps you decided to have eggs for breakfast instead of cereal. Maybe some of you are the opposite gender." He stopped. "There are infinite possibilities, some of which are beyond our comprehension."

Kizuna leaned forward, soaking in the lesson. This was certainly a departure from the standard droll monologues he gave. That's when her headphones started rearing its ugly head again. The low buzzing returned. "If I can have you all open your textbooks to page one thirty seven…" Their teacher instructed.

Kizuna tried lightly smacking her headphones to shut them up, but it only made the buzzing grow louder. The other students were noticing now, and Kizuna was trying to shut them down. The teacher turned around with an unsatisfied look on his face. "Miss Kizuna, can you please turn your…" He scrunched up his face at the awful sound. "Music off."

"I-I'm trying!" She gasped as the headphones were now at full volume, producing a terrible static. Mike even covered his ears.

"zzzzZZZZ…. KIZZZZZZzzZzZZzZzzz…zzzZZUUzZZzZz…" Came out of the headphones as the girl desperately tried everything to shut them off.

"Miss Kizuna, if you please!" The teacher called over the noise.

"I don't know what's wrong!" Kizuna panicked, becoming increasingly aware of the dirty looks her classmates were giving her. "They're supposed to be off!"

"If you cannot control your things in the classroom, then leave them in your locker!" The teacher demanded, pointing at the door. Kizuna didn't need him to spell it out for her. She ran out of the classroom, stumbling over desks and chairs and backpacks the whole way. As she ran down the hallway, the headphones buzzed loudly, with what sounded like fractions of words mixed in between. She was given odd looks by passersby and she ran into the bathroom where she locked herself in a stall. This is when the terrible noises stopped.

Kizuna breathed a heavy sigh and leaned back on the toilet. So much for normalcy. Perhaps she was still asleep. Yeah, that must be it. The explanation to everything was there was no explanation, she was just asleep, and this was a very vivid dream. Surely now she came to this realization, she would wake up.

But she didn't.

Her headphones did, though. While before they sputtered and sizzled, now came through a very clear signal, from a voice she did not recognize. "Kizuna."

Kizuna sat up straight and stared down at the brightly colored headphones. She waited for another sound, but there was nothing. "H-h-hi?" She asked timidly, like she might have just imagined her name.

"KizZzuna, is that zzZz you?" The sound was still a little marred, but much clearer than the incoherent screeching from earlier.

Kizuna contemplated whether or not she should answer. She'd been taught the dangers of talking to strangers. But what was stranger still was the fact the headphones did not have the ability to perform two way communication, they were just to listen to music on. At least, as far as she was aware. With not much to lose, she decided to answer back. "Y-yes. This is Kizuna."

"KizzZzzuna… zZz… urgent matter… zZz…"

"What?" Kizuna lifted the headphones to her ears. "You're breaking up, I can't hear you!"

"Know where… zZZz… Family izzZZzzz…"

Kizuna's heart skipped a beat and she stood up. "My family? You know where they are?"

"Went… zzz… home…"

"But they're not at home!" Kizuna said, leaving the stall, hoping it would garner her a better signal. "They were gone!"

"Another world." Said the voice clearly. Kizuna stopped.

"I… I don't understand. Is this some sort of prank? Who is this?" This was far too much for even her to believe. How could she trust whoever was on the other end?

"You must… zzZz.. go back to your… zZz… home planet."

Kizuna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, how?"

"Fly."

The girl laughed. "Fly? Now I know this is a prank."

"JuzZzt believe." The voice said firmly.

"Yeah, okay, whatever." Kizuna was done with the conversation. Whoever it was had run the joke into the ground. "I'm going now."

But the voice said something that made her stop again. "Michael doezZzn't remember you…zZZzz, does he?"

"How do you…?" Kizuna whispered.

"You must trust me, KizZzuna. The… zzZZZzzz… depenzzzZz… muzZZzt go home… zzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZ." The headphones screeched a wretched sound and went silent. And Kizuna stood alone once more.

She didn't know what to make of any of it. If it was true that she was from another world, she wanted to say goodbye to her friends. But in reality, it was probably someone pulling a prank on her. Then again, how could they know about Mike? And how could they hear her? She was the only one in the bathroom. Kizuna shook her head. Whatever it was, she'd spent too much time away from class for it. The headphones were discarded in her locker and she ran back to finish out class.

Over the course of class, which continued the theory of multiple universes, Kizuna forgot all about the odd conversation in the restroom. When school finally let out, she grabbed her headphones and it all came back to her. Maybe her parents would be home then, maybe they wouldn't. She would be the judge of that. Maybe if they were still gone, there could be some creedence lent to what the stranger said.

"Hey, Kizuna!" Lucy called out to her in the busy hallway. Kizuna turned around to see her, along with an anxious looking Mike. "Are you coming to the ice carving competition? It's at the park."

"Oh, I will! I just need to stop by my house first!" She said.

"Alright, see you then!" Lucy replied, taking Mike with her. Kizuna saw Mike look over his shoulder at her, confused, followed by him leaning down to whisper something to Lucy. Lucy frowned and bopped him on the head.

Kizuna finished grabbing her things and headed home. She figured it would be a bad idea to ride the bus, as it would just go past her house. She ran the whole way back, being mindful to be on the lookout for any wandering reptiles. Upon returning home, she found the van in the driveway untouched from that morning. Inside the house proved to be no different. The dishes were still in the sink, unwashed. Everything was very still and quiet.

Kizuna ran from room to room, calling out for her family, but they didn't respond, nor did she see any signs they were there in the time she went to school. The last room she checked was hers, and it too was empty. Kizuna sat on her bed and hung her head. Where were they? Why hadn't they told her they were going somewhere? Did they abandon her? Was she unwanted? The girl pulled her legs to her chest as tears stung at her eyes. She'd give anything to hear even Kenji's voice.

But the mysterious stranger over the headphones came back into mind. Kizuna removed her headphones and placed them in front of her on the bed. With a deep breath, she asked them, "Okay, where are they?"

The headphones remained silent. Kizuna leaned down to them. "Hello?" And still, nothing. She felt a little silly now, of course nobody was going to answer. Someone must have just been messing with her at school.

'But no…' She thought, sitting up. 'They would have to have followed me to school, I heard them on the way there.'

And sure enough, the headphones crackled to life. "Hello… zZz… KizzZuna…"

Kizuna pounced on the music device. "Hello? Hello!" She hurriedly said, in case the one on the other side left again.

"Hello Kizuna." The voice said, much clearer this time.

"My parents really are gone, aren't they?" She asked, dreading the truth of it.

"Returned home." Replied the voice.

"You said I can fly there?" Kizuna asked skeptically.

"If… zZzz… believe…" Crackled the other.

"I wouldn't even know where to go." She sighed, flopping beside the headset.

The other voice responded immediately. "You will."

"Just like that?" Kizuna raised an eyebrow.

"CorzZzrect…" The other said, and the headphones went silent.

"Anything else I should know?" Kizuna asked the voice, but it didn't respond. She smacked the bed in frustration. "Fine. But I'm saying goodbye to my friends first."

Kizuna put the headphones around her neck and put her leglets on. Just in case, she locked her front door and left the key under the mat. She figured she might need to come back (she was prone to forgetting things when going on trips) and this would be a good place to hide it until then. With a new sense of purpose, Kizuna hauled off to the park where she would say her goodbyes to her friends.