Chapter Summary: Before Asa delves into the dreaded "Entrance Hell" a student must endure, she and Yoru make a weekend visit to Fourth East High. Something familiar rings away in the distance.

When her mother was still alive, Asa's performance in school had been stellar, so much so that one of the biggest schools in Tokyo, Fourth East High, had taken notice. They hadn't quite offered her a scholarship outright, but with certain waivers to the usual tuition, they were all but begging her to attend; she just needed to get passing scores during the entrance exams. Her mother had been very happy that day, and while she lamented having to move to Tokyo, they celebrated with a special dinner and—later that week—coming home with the school's uniform. And, of course, the brilliant smile her mother made as Asa tried it on for the first time.

Those happy memories were quickly quashed as Asa pulled the pinafore from her closet, seeing the wrinkles formed from previously shoving it into one of her bags.

She glanced over at the books and papers on her desk; now that the autumn weather was settling in, she needed to prepare for those exams. She'd spent the past few days holed up in her room studying, but, when Yoru asked to see her uniform, it felt all the more daunting.

"Put your body weight into it, Asa."

The teen nodded to Yoru's command, pressing the iron harder against the board. A click of the button, and steam blasted into the dress, softening the threads.

It had been a harrowing evening, as Yoru showed Asa how to flatten wrinkles. A few burned t-shirts later, and she was comfortable with trying the iron on her uniform. The underlying white button-up was simple, being a softer fabric, but the outer black jumper proved a touch more challenging. She tried multiple passes, but found the rougher fabric stubborn. Eventually, she let out a grumble, just about to give up—

"Press harder."

Asa felt the last vestiges of her confidence deflate, and anxiously swallowed before stopping, setting the iron hot side away from the board. She wasn't going to forget doing that, after causing the board to nearly burn with plenty of smoke. Watching Yoru swing a rag at the smoke detector hadn't been fun either. "I-I don't think I can press any harder," she said, her voice worn down from the effort.

"I think you can," Yoru said, as she maneuvered behind Asa. The teen wordlessly obliged as she took the iron again, and, feeling hands behind her shoulders, found her upper body over the board. "Like this."

It wasn't much of a difference, Asa thought, but she did finally get the jumper properly pressed after a few grueling minutes (though, Yoru's constant presence against her back certainly helped matters). Wiping the sweat from her brow, she clicked off the iron before picking up the jumper, hanging it up with the now-smooth dress shirt. Meanwhile, Yoru took up the ruined shirts, dumping them in a separate basket; these will need to be treated with some cleaners later.

"You did very good, Asa," the older woman said, as she took the basket, resting it against her hip. Compliments from Yoru were few and far between, so Asa felt her shoulders become lighter upon hearing those words. "You'll be going to Fourth East High next spring, correct?"

"Y-yes!" Asa replied with an enthusiastic nod. "Me and my mom were looking at this other apartment that was close by, but it's actually not that far from here, either…"

"Okay." Yoru took a step towards the hallway before stopping herself. "I'd like to visit it, see how much of a walk it is."

Asa's mouth fell open, failing to immediately reply—she had thought the conversation was done. "I-it's really not that far," she said lamely, rubbing the back of her thumb nervously. She did burn it earlier as well.

"I believe that. I just want to know myself, that's all." With a disinterested glance at the basket, she then met Asa's eyes. "Would Saturday afternoon be good? We'll go then, and have dinner out, too."

A nervous laugh left Asa's mouth; a part of her was happy that Yoru was giving her time out of the day, but another part felt bad considering… "But, what about the orphanage?"

As if to assuage the teen's worries, the older woman gave her a disarming smile, and a hand over her own chest, as if she was making a pledge of some kind. "They'll manage for one day; besides, a few of the kids wanted to try making something special. I'll let them handle dinner duties then."

Asa couldn't help but return the smile, puffing up her shoulders as well. "Saturday, then!"

It really wasn't a long walk, silent as it was between the two of them; less than half an hour across a few blocks before they arrived at the locked gates of the school's campus. Even with it closed up for the weekend, it was still a daunting place, especially as Asa's mind turned towards those upcoming exams. There wasn't much to do, frankly, so her and Yoru began to walk back.

"You can pick where you want to eat tonight," Yoru said, speaking for the first time since they stepped out of the apartment. "Family Burger, Sushish—" A sigh escaped from her mouth. "Right, no fish…"

Asa couldn't help but laugh at Yoru catching her own words. "I-I'm okay eating at home, Yoru," Asa said, looking forward as they continued to walk side by side. Even with the coming months, a simple walk like this was relaxing for the teen. "We were just seeing the school, that's all."

"I figured we should celebrate."

"I mean, it's not much to celebra—"

A loud crack filled the air, making nearby windows rattle as Asa crouched down instinctively, her hands above her head. She instinctually went for an earthquake preparedness posture, yet the ground underneath did not shake. Distant booms followed, the echo making it sound closer than it was.

Though not sounding at all similar, it felt all too familiar, reminding Asa of the torrent of wind and rain that followed the Typhoon Devil's attack. The snapping of wood and drywall as houses were ripped from their foundations, the scrape of metal as a car—

Then, silence overtook Tokyo once more, and Asa found the courage to open her eyes. She glanced around, finding her surroundings unchanged, but as she looked up, she saw the older woman looking towards the distance. "Y-Yoru?"

As though she was unfazed by it all, Yoru continued to stare towards where the sounds had came from. Then, a flying… thing—Asa had no idea what sort of object could move that fast—whizzed over their heads, breaking the air around it as gusts of wind whipped the trees around them, sending pine needles and yellow, red, and brown leaves through the air.

And, through all this, the older woman remained in her place. A serene smile slowly took her face and, after the sounds died down once more, she closes her eyes, finally letting out a breath she had been holding the entire time.

Yoru's hands moved close to one another, letting her fingers intertwine. "This is…"

Asa's mind was still reeling, trying to collect herself, while Yoru calmly stepped closer, setting a gentle hand on the teen's shoulder. "Wh-what was that…?"

With lidded eyes, Yoru spoke with a wistful tone: "Something I haven't felt in a very long time…"

As they settled into a nearby Family Burger, one of the TVs played breaking news of a recent devil attack. Shaky footage of destroyed apartments and ruined cars brought memories of the Typhoon Devil's rampage, yet those memories paled to the current devastation being presented on the screen.

Civilians roamed around in the immediate aftermath, some desperately calling out for their loved ones, while others moved wreckage only for one of them to suddenly run off to the side and vomit on the sidewalk.

She then saw the camera move towards a girl, holding a cat, bringing to mind memories of herself with Crambon. Kneeled down beside her was a boy, tears falling down his cheeks as he bawled his heart out. The girl's own eyes, with odd pupils, were wet with her own crying.

A Public Safety worker was quick to push the camera away, the signal becoming lost before returning back to the anchors, who commented on the sights depicted, trying badly to balance respect while playing it up for ratings.

Asa's eyes moved to Yoru, who sat across from her in the booth; she had been eating all the while, as if some tragedy across the city had not just happened as she took an enthusiastic bite from her hamburger.

In the time she spent in the older woman's care, Asa hadn't seen her this overtly happy, especially as the cashier upsold her on supersizing their FamilyBurger meals.

A warm giggle from Yoru's lips pulled Asa from her thoughts. "Oh my, this is so tasty," she said, eyeing the burger's contents from the gouge she took out of it. "Now I get why the kids get so excited when I buy them these things."

"Do you not like Family Burger?" Asa asked, put-off by the uncharacteristic glee, though she admitted it was a touch infectious.

"I've only eaten it once before," Yoru answered, letting her hand rest on the tray, though still holding the burger, while her other hand reached for her soda. Compared to Asa's cup, hers didn't rattle with ice—Yoru was insistent she get as much soda in her soda, for some reason. "Before I ended up at the orphanage… It didn't taste nearly as good as today." She sucked at the straw, orange filling it.

"I'm sure they're better made nowadays," Asa said, as she reached for her own burger. "They're very proud of their ingredients."

"That, they are," Yoru returned, grabbing a few too many fries in her fingers and popping them all into her mouth. "With that annoying jingle and dance of theirs, and that jittery server—and their burger devil, too."

Asa had almost taken a bite before stopping herself. "Is their mascot a devil?"

"Devil, mascot; is it not a representation of their core values?" She could only stare at the older woman, who returned a serious expression.

"I-it's just advertising… Y'know, like for TV?"

Yoru continued to stare back, as though Asa had something on her face, then moved to take another bite from her burger. "Of course, TV… That makes sense," she muttered, her voice muffled by the food occupying her mouth. "So, they put the burger mascot on TV to brainwash children?"

"That's what commercials do," Asa answered lamely as she finally took her first bite of dinner. "It is called 'Family' Burger…"

"It does seem a bit disingenuous," Yoru returned, her eating slowing to what Asa thought was a normal pace for the older woman. "But, I suppose one should try whatever tactic it takes to make money—" Asa watched as the older woman's eyes pulled towards the standing menu at the end of their table. "Supersizing the meal was only 50 yen?!"

"… Um, yes?"

"They cannot be making money this way," Yoru muttered, as she held the hamburger closer to her face. "This is so much meat."

"There's a lot of Family Burgers in Japan, Yoru. I'm sure not everyone's getting it supersized," Asa returned, secretly enjoying how the older woman could not make sense of a long-term marketing strategy.

"Then why did the cashier ask me? They obviously wanted me to do it." Asa pushed down the urge to say something along the lines of "you were stupid enough to give them an extra 50 yen", and continued to eat; she had a sizable meal to work away at.

Author's Notes: Food always tastes better when good things happen. Also, the timelines converge.

Chapters will come out slower now that I got this story to a good jumping-off point.