The next few days ran together for Akira and his friends. They didn't yet know how time worked in this video game world, as they had no calendars or even clocks. And yet, whether because there were less tasks to complete, fewer places to be, or some special property of this world itself, it appeared to them that time moved slower. They found themselves with long stretches of time with nothing to do.

That seemed strange, considering how long they trained their first day, but it appeared Terra, Aqua, and Ven were responsible for lessons and work assignments around the Land of Departure, while nothing was yet expected from them. It felt strange to have so much free time all of a sudden, and they weren't sure how to handle it.

Futaba was by far the most bored. "I can't get the stupid internet to work!" she pouted, sitting on her bunk typing away at her laptop. Except for their phones and Futaba's laptop, they had seen no computers or TVs, not even a CRT like the one Akira bought in Tokyo. Now that they thought about it, the absence of a CD or even an audiocassette player struck them as odd.

"I don't think they have internet here, Futaba," said Makoto. They had all tried using their phones, but while their cameras and texting still worked, they couldn't reach anyone with them except one another. The mysterious red eye app, which let them find keywords for palaces, stayed stubbornly inert on their phone's main screen.

"WHAAATT!" yelled Futaba, throwing herself backwards on the bed in frustration. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Why don't you invent the internet?" Akira quipped from the doorway as he passed by. "You're smart, you can figure it out."

Futaba sat up, stunned at first, then her face split almost in two with such diabolical glee that Akira realized he'd made a huge mistake.

From that day on, chaos reigned supreme in the form of Futaba. She created a social media page, which she added everyone to, and proceeded to have long, involved arguments with herself across 20 different accounts. Within the media page and group texts, she changed everyone's names almost daily, usually to something silly, and refused to call the person by any other name. She invented a video-making platform and spent days painstakingly re-creating the "Badger Badger Badger" video, spamming it everywhere she could reach. She did the same with multiple other videos and clips as well. No one knew why or how, but she had a near-infinite supply of sound effects, which she would use by hacking other phones and playing the clips at full blast, leading to more than one dropped dish. She would also randomly change the settings. No one was spared, but Makoto and Haru bore the brunt of her antics.

Interestingly, Ven began helping her. When she struggled to place her phone in a high cupboard, he used a wind spell to lift the phone into place. And when she got into trouble, as she often did, he helped her get away.

Akira's favorite Futaba moment by far happened a few days into their stay, during an otherwise quiet evening when he and Ann were absorbed in teaching Terra, Aqua and Ven how to play Tycoon. Suddenly, the door flew open and they instantly jumped to their feet, drawing their keyblades. Futaba came barreling in, screaming, "Save me, save me, save me!", with a wild-eyed Makoto a few feet behind her. With unerring precision, Futaba launched herself at Terra, hiding behind him and clinging to his leg while screaming, "She's going to kill me!" There was dead silence as Makoto caught her breath, glaring daggers at Futaba. Akira grinned. She and Ven had used him, too, as a human shield the other day.

No one ever found out what Futaba did, for Makoto gave up after a few minutes and stalked to bed. Nor would she say anything about the incident ever again, except to say, "She knows what she did!" while Futaba laughed maniacally.

Eraqus sternly admonished Futaba for that incident, saying her behavior was unbecoming of a keyblade wielder. This did subdue her somewhat, at least when he was around. But Akira knew Eraqus was fond of her too. He chuckled about the incident later, saying, "With all of you around, there's never a dull moment."

Of their new friends, Futaba was seen the most often with Ven. While she didn't have near his energy, they often bonded in quieter moments, staying up late to watch the stars. More often than not, Morgana would accompany them, as he became unusually protective of Ven, even preferring to sleep in his room sometimes. When Akira asked why, Morgana shrugged. "He doesn't remember his past, either. I know what that's like."

It took time for Akira to adjust to the new pace of life. In Tokyo, he'd become used to occupying himself with tasks every day: practicing at the batting cages, fishing, watching movies, visiting various confidants. Now, ninety percent of his usual pastimes simply didn't exist in this new environment.

Of course, Akira was nothing if not adaptable. He found tasks to occupy his day. Early on, he'd been excited to discover a reasonably modern kitchen tucked into a cozy nook. With permission, he treated everyone to the famous LeBlanc coffee and curry, to everyone's delight. When Ventus reached for a cup, Aqua took it away from him, laughing, saying he had too much energy as it was. He jumped up and down to get the cup back while Aqua playfully held it over his head.

"Let him try it, he'll be fine," said Terra, and Aqua eventually did. It proved a moot point, as Ven didn't care much for the bitter taste, but was happy to be included with what everyone else was doing.

Akira and the other Phantom Thieves explained that both the coffee and curry recipes had originated at LeBlanc Café. Futaba happily told the story of how her mother had improved Sojiro's original recipe through scientific research. Joker explained he had lived in the attic above the café during his probation, and Sojiro taught him how to make them. He then explained about why he had been on probation in the first place. They listened with astonishment as he described Shido threatening the woman to lie to the police about him, which meant he was arrested. He described how it felt when his friends, and even his parents avoided him, as he now had a criminal record. And that it got leaked to the new school on his first day, so everyone at that school thought he was a criminal as well. Akira admitted he'd been angry and sad about it at first, but not anymore. If it hadn't happened, he wouldn't have met his friends, or been able to do so much good for them.

"Is that a new game?"

Akira looked up from his spot on the floor to see Ven's eager face peering over his shoulder as he withdrew the tarot cards from his pocket. He'd forgotten Igor gave them to him until now.

He smiled. "Not exactly." He began opening the deck and looking at the cards, sorting out ones he didn't recognize. "A friend of mine uses a deck like this to tell fortunes."

"How does it work?" asked Ventus, taking a seat on the floor beside him.

Akira drew a card at random. "Each of these cards means something. This one, for example," he held up a card depicting three women with flowing robes and flowered wreaths holding cups high in the air. "This one is the three of cups. Cups are an emotional suit, and this card stands for friendship."

"Like me, Terra, and Aqua!"

"Exactly. That works even better, since there are three of you. It can also mean working together in a group, or being creative. You can see how happy they are on the card, so it stands for something good." Akira explained the other suits, which included wands, swords, and pentacles. "Those are the Minor Arcana, the smaller, every day deck. Other cards, like this one stand for something bigger." He drew out the Fool card. "This one shows a man about to walk off a cliff. He's happy, and looking forward to starting his journey. It's about beginnings."

"Can he use Aero?" Ven asked.

Akira laughed. "Maybe. Maybe he just doesn't know any better. Or maybe the cliff isn't real. But in any case, he isn't afraid, because he has faith."

"You sure know a lot about this," said Ven.

Akira explained the story of meeting Chihaya the fortune teller, and how she charged him 100,000 munny for a fake Holy Stone. Ven listened with awe as Akira described how he helped her change her fate and that of her clients.

"Do you think it's possible for people to change their fate?" Ven asked.

Akira nodded. "I've seen it happen. When you stand with people and believe in them, they can do anything."

Ven then asked for a reading, and Akira decided to start with a simple three-card reading for past, present, and future. The past card, the Tower, depicted a tower struck by lightning, represented chaos, sudden change, and disaster. The present card was the three of cups from before. The future card, the three of swords, represented emotional pain and sorrow. Instead of talking about it, however, Akira reached for the Tower card and smiled.

"It's hard for me to take the Major Arcana seriously anymore," he told Ven, "because each of them represents someone I know." He told Ven about Shinya Oda, the boy who a whiz at the game Gun About, and that he helped him reconnect with his mother. He mentioned, too, how some of the other cards reflected his friends, like how the Empress card was perfect for Haru.

"What about those other cards?" asked Ven, eyeing the pile he discarded. "Do they stand for anyone?"

"I'm not sure," said Akira. "They might. Chihaya didn't use those, so I'm not sure." He grinned at Ven and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry, I'm sure there's one for you, too."

"Let me know if you find one," said Ven, laughing as both Aqua and Morgana told him to go to bed.

That night, Akira regarded the other cards solemnly, wondering why Igor had given them to everyone. Were there confidants here too? He promised himself he would ask the others if they had sensed anything unusual.