His birthday was still a long time away but she was already wondering what he would like. She glanced down at the bracelet he gave her the other day; it was a simple gift but it reminded her of how long it has been since she gotten one. Her former squad leader had given her something from time to time, but she was long gone. She only had him to talk to now, and she felt like she had to do something to make it up to him for everything. No— she wanted to make it up to him.

"Maybe I should learn how to make a cake too…"

A whole range of emotions crashed into her when she saw him: joy, grief, pain, elation, sorrow; so many… but most of all confusion. Why was he here, and with the old timer too? Senti couldn't make sense of it.

Memories of their past— or rather, Hua's past —flashed in her mind at seeing Fujimaru Ritsuka again. It was so so long ago that she last saw his face or heard his voice, but he was just the same as in her memories. He even had the same friendly smile he always had when they talked.

Without thinking, she blurted out his first name which was surely a mistake. While Ritsuka simply looked at her with confusion, Fu Hua's reaction was more hidden; the serious look in her eye was unmistakable though and Senti knew she was in for a talk with her later. The Herrscher just hoped she wouldn't be questioned too much.

If Senti could help it, she was going to keep those tragic memories away from Fu Hua. For now, she just needs to play cool to not make her even more suspicious.

Before any of them could say anything, an audible growl came from Ritsuka's stomach. "…Sorry," he apologised with a red face. His body's loud demand for food destroyed whatever tension was in the air. "So, uh… about that lunch, Fu Hua?"

"Lunch?!" Senti snapped her head at Fu Hua upon hearing that. However, a wide mischievous grin then stretched across her face before she turned back towards Ritsuka. "How'd you managed to get her to agree to a date? She always turns down everyone who asks!"

As expected, Fu Hua's first reaction was to passive-aggressively state that it was not a date. Ritsuka's response, on the other hand, was to laugh it off. "Actually, she's the one who insisted to take me out for lunch after… well, she can explain better than me. I'm still trying to process everything, to be honest."

While she did register his other sentence, his first one made Senti's grin grow wider. "Her?!" She asked with a fake incredulous tone. "Nah, that's impossible. Old timer here has no ga— Ow! Ow! Ow!" Senti was quickly cut off by Fu Hua pulling on her ear with a forced smile.

"Please ignore everything she says. She has no idea what she's talking about," Fu Hua calmly said. "Shall we be going now?"

Now that he got the moment to actually think, Ritsuka realised where he was. It wasn't exactly how he remembered it, but it was without a doubt Shinjuku. "But what year is it?" He quietly asked himself as he followed them (well, mainly Fu Hua) to their destination.

Sentience, or Senti as she said he could call her for convenience, was clearly the more outgoing of the two; unlike Fu Hua, she talked about this and that to fill the air as they walked. Her twin simply sighed at her yapping and again, told him to ignore her. "Oh come on, you scared he might like me more than you?" The cold glare Fu Hua gave her promptly shut Senti up.

It was only once they reached the cafe Fu Hua said she wanted to try and ordered lunch that the topic turned to one that actually mattered.

"So out with it then," Senti's eyes darted between them as they sat at their table. "What's this long complicated story between you two?"

"It's not really that long to be honest," Ritsuka admitted with a shrug. It was definitely complicated, but a pretty short one. "I got attacked by these… things? They sort of look like ghosts but in any case, Fu Hua saved me. Thank you for that again."

"It's nothing." Fu Hua replied with a shake of her head.

"Then she took me to the clinic where we met," he finished telling Senti what happened. "And now we're here."

Senti put on a thinking face, putting a finger to her chin, while muttering, "I see… I see…" After a couple of moments, another grin stretched across her face as she turned towards Fu Hua. "You know, it's usually the one saved who—"

"Don't finish that sentence." The dull and unamused tone in Fu Hua's voice was enough to make Senti stop though not without a pout. "In any case, that reminds me," she glanced at Ritsuka with a more serious face, "Why were Quantum Shadows chasing after you?"

There was that name again. Clearly, that was something important as Senti visibly reacted to it.

"Wait… those things? That was the trouble earlier?" She questioned and gave Ritsuka an inquisitive look. She narrowed her eyes at him intensely before asking, "What were you doing to get those bugs on your tail?"

Ritsuka had been anticipating that question and was still deciding how much he should reveal. He had to do so quickly with both their questioning gazes on him; eventually, he decided to say just enough. "I was finishing work when I found myself in this weird… place. I could only describe it as a void with floating buildings. Then those Shadows came after me and I ended up out on the street when Fu Hua saved me. It sounds stupid, I know, but—"

"The Sea of Quanta?" To his surprise, not only did Fu Hua believe him, she knew what he was talking about.

"The Sea of what?" He parroted. Again, this was the first time he had heard anything about that.

"It is… You are right in calling it a void but it's a complicated thing to explain," Fu Hua sighed with a deep frown, rubbing her temples to soothe the headache she was now having. "I had the feeling there was something different about you but I never thought it was something like this…"

Well, that sounded great…

"Wait wait wait. So you somehow not only fell out of the universe, but you also got back with no issues? I mean, besides those Shadows chasing after you?" Senti sounded incredulous again but this time more genuinely.

Ritsuka nodded at her question. "Yeah, I just found myself there and… wait, what do you mean fell out of the universe?"

"Huh, you were right. This is a complicated story," sighed Senti, which confused Ritsuka more. "Long story short, you got tossed out of reality and made your way back. If you don't want a headache, do not question it any further. Just thank your lucky star you somehow got out of there before you died."

…Okay then. Somehow, falling out of the universe was something he didn't expect but was surprised to realise hadn't happened to him yet. Of course, that led to a slew of new questions like how that happened in the first place and why, what happened to the others, and more. However, the first thing he asked was, "How do you guys know about all this?"

Even as the question left his mouth, he already knew the answer; sure enough, Fu Hua replied, "It's… a long and complicated story."

Despite the cliche response, Ritsuka couldn't help but snicker at her. "Seems like there's going to be a lot of that going around, huh?" He tried to lighten the mood slightly and was successful in making Fu Hua crack a smile.

"That seems to be the case," she agreed with a small chuckle escaping her. "But now that we know what happened to you, I'm afraid we can't let you off on your own anymore. I'll have to contact some friends of mine to figure out what we should do with you."

Those sorts of words wouldn't normally inspire much confidence in most people, but Ritsuka felt that he could trust Fu Hua on this. He just had a good feeling about her and his instincts had never steered him wrong before. And as expected, while Fu Hua was more grounded and serious about the matter, Senti acted more casual with a hearty laugh. "Then it's decided! Until the smarty-pants agree on what to do, you're sticking with us," Senti declared, grinning madly at him. "And if anyone so much as looks at you the wrong way, I'll show I can be just as cool as the old timer."

"Stop calling me that…" Fu Hua sighed again at Senti's nickname for her. Ritsuka wondered why the latter called her twin that since they should only be a few minutes older than the other; the older twin also usually revels in the fact they are older but that doesn't seem to be the case with them. He decided to just shrug it off though; it may be different but was amusing to watch. "Oh, our food is here. Let's resume this discussion later."

After lunch, they returned to the two's hotel where Fu Hua entrusted Senti to keep an eye on their new charge while she called the others. Leaving Ritsuka alone with her other self might sound like a bad idea but she trusted Senti not to do anything weird while she made her call. Besides, it was just going to be like a five-minute talk; it won't take long.

…As it turned, the talk nearly doubled in length because the only people available to answer her were Welt and Tesla; the latter of whom naturally wanted every single detail about her mysterious friend.

"And… he's just a normal boy?" The redhead questioned again. It was not that she didn't believe what Fu Hua said, she was just in disbelief at how… easy it was for Ritsuka to get in and out of the Sea of Quanta. "There's nothing at all that seems notable about him?"

Other than his admittedly strange but still normal black uniform, there was nothing notable about the young man. Well… actually… "Hmm… he has a tattoo on the back of his right hand but other than that, I believe he has nothing outstanding about him."

While he heard Tesla hum in thought as she processed the information, Welt then took over the call and asked her something. "Miss Fu Hua, is that all you're telling us?" He sounded as nice as possible but Fu Hua knew he figured there was something she was hiding.

Fu Hua paused and stayed quiet upon hearing that question. After a few seconds of silence, she let out a long sigh. "…Senti knew him. I didn't mention his first name but she still called him by that. And the way she looked at him too…" Fu Hua muttered just loud enough for the two on the other line to hear.

"Hmm… would that not mean you…?"

"Yes, that seems to be the case," Fu Hua nodded. "But that invites more questions. Why is all this happening around him? And him just happening to meet me of all people? It cannot just be a coincidence."

"Perhaps you need to ask them a few more questions," Welt advised her before saying they'll pass everything to Anti-Entropy and look into the matter more in-depth. "Take care and good luck, Miss Fu Hua."

"Likewise," hummed Fu Hua before ending the call. '…Who is he?' She thought again, her mind returning to the strange young man who suddenly appeared in her life. Or maybe reappeared was the right word. It looked like her first order of business now was to get Senti to spill the beans.

She returned to their room and was ready to talk to her counterpart when…

"Oh, old timer, you're back!" It was clear Senti was on the verge of breaking down in laughter while Ritsuka inspected his new attire.

"A bit small but it feels sorta comfy to wear…" Fu Hua heard him mutter before he looked up at her and noticed the face she was making. "Senti told me to get out of my "stinky clothes" and gave me this. What do you think?"

Fu Hua only had one thing to say: "…Those are my clothes."

A/N: And chapter 3 up~ Tomorrow, we'd be caught up here too!