Strange Transaction

[Kyoki]

Chapter One: The Mysterious Girl and Friendly Ren

Ren Takeshi was a normal college student who was walking home. He had dark blond hair that went down to the middle of his ears. His bangs were longer than the rest of his hair. He had brown eyes. He had on a school uniform that was black. His jacket was open on the front and under he had on a white t-shirt. His pants were also black. He had a black backpack over his shoulder.

As he was walking, a girl with green hair that was up in a hair clip walked rapidly past him. The girl had her hangs up to her face like she was trying to hide the fact that she was crying. She was wearing a black kimono looking dress that was sleeveless. It went down to about her knees. On her feet she had black boots that went to an inch below her knees.

He watched her as she walked over to the nearest bench and sat down. She leaned forward and held her face in her hands.

I wonder what is wrong with her? I hope she is ok. Should I go over and talk to her? What do I do in at a time like this? I wish you were still here, dad. You would know what to do…

Ren took a deep breath and walked over to the bench and sat at the far end of it. He had to wait there anyway since he had to take a bus home.

He glanced over at her and realized there was a panda face on her dress on her chest. And that there was a little dragon design that wrapped around it. The dragonhead was right below the panda and wrapped around the dress in the middle and then came back into view in the front, toward the bottom of the dress, where the tail was.

“Umm… I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, but are you ok?” Ren said, not sure if he said the right thing, or said it in the right way.

The girl looked at her curiously. “Yea. I’m ok. I was just sent to this city for a while, ko. I’m ok.”

Ren realized she had a slight accent, but he couldn’t’ identify where it came from.

Ren was rather confused by what she said. “Sent here? What do you mean by that? I’m sorry! I’m being nosy. Don’t mind me. But do you need any help? Or anything?”

“No, thank you. I will be fine in a little bit, ko.” she smiled.

Ren looked down at his feet.

My bus is going to be here soon. I can’t just leave her alone. I mean, she’s crying. Girls that cry usually can do some damage if they put their minds to it. Ren smiled at the time when he was eight and his mom’s hamster got out of its cage and how his mom was crying about how it could get hurt in the apartment. She ran all over the house moving furniture around until she finally found the rodent. After she was done, it looked like a massive tornado had gone through. He looked back over at the girl.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” he asked her. “Are you waiting for the bus?”

She shook her head. “Nope, I come from far, far away, ko. Nope, I’m just sitting here, relaxing for a bit. Do you come from around here?”

“Yea. I lived in this city my whole life.”

“Wow! That is amazing. My family moved around a lot as I grew up, ko. It’s been lots of fun being able to meet new people at every new home,” she said. She seemed to be getting happy.

Ren was sad to see his bus coming, since he was having a good time talking to this girl, even though they didn’t really talk for that long, or about much of anything. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. This is my bus. I hope everything goes good for you. Sorry I couldn’t talk to you some more.”

His bus turned the corner and began to slow down.

“Thank you. I’m sure everything will be ok. Maybe we will meet again one day.” she gave a small smile. “Bye.” He seems like a really nice guy, she though to herself.

“Bye.” he stood up as his bus stopped in front of them. I really wish I could help her. I hope she has somewhere she can to. If I had asked her if she needed a place to stay, she would probably think I was some kind of pervert, or other people would take that the wrong way and I would get arrested. He thought as he walked onto the bus and took his seat in his normal spot in the back.

A few seconds later and the bus started and headed on its route.

Fifteen minutes later, the bus stopped at a bus stop at the corner of a street. Ren got off and headed toward the apartment building that was in the middle of the block. He opened the front door and walked in. He walked over to the elevator and went to the third floor where his home was.

He got his keys out and unlocked his door. He walked in, closed the door and tossed his keys on to the counter. He then walked into the living room and turned on the TV.

Currently the news was on. A guy with short fluffy brown hair and brown eyes was on. He had on a red headband so the hair was out of his yes. He was wearing what most news reporters wear.

“…In other news, a meteor hit somewhere out in the country this morning. No one was injured. Unless the government is covering something up, which is very likely. Anywho, the strange thing I that the meteor is gone. The only thing left is the huge crater,” the reporter laughed. “I think it was actually a alien, and that the government is covering it up. That is my opinion.” he smiled. “Now, on to the weather…”

Ren put the TV on mute. He then walked over to the computer desk and turned it on so he could finish a paper in one of his classes. He sat down at the desk and began typing as soon as it was ready.

A few minutes later, a reddish-brown cat walked over to him and jumped onto the desk.

Ren looked over at the cat and stopped typing. “Hey, Muka. How was your day?” he petted the cat behind his ears.

The cat purred loudly.
* * *
There had been many reports of the crying mysterious the day after Ren first met her. For the next few days, that was all people talked about at Rens‘ school and places near the bench. But a few days after that, the talk of the mysterious crying girl died down since no one had seen her.

Everyday since Ren first met the girl, he looked around for her at the bench where he first met her. But she was never there. He didn’t think he would ever see her again until one day when he was walking to the bus stop after a day of college.

He was walking, when he heard people running and yelling behind him.

He turned around to see what was going on, and saw the same girl running toward him. She had an ice cream on a cone in one hand. She had an irritated grocery man running after her.

“Hey! You girl! Get back here and pay for that!” he yelled.

“I did pay!” she yelled back.

“Pay me with real money!” he yelled back.

“It is real!” she yelled. The girl saw Ren and was surprised to see him. She lost her balance from yelling, running and being surprised at Ren being there. She put out her arms so she only fell on her knees. But she dropped the ice cream. She looked down at her now dirt-covered-grimy ice cream and began to cry silently.

“Now look what you did!” he yelled when he caught up to her. “Now pay for it!”

“But I did…” she whined.

Ren quickly walked over to them. “I’ll pay for the ice cream, and for a new one for her.” Ren grabbed some money out of his pocket and held it out to the store guy.

He looked at Ren skeptically. He took the money. “Wait right here, I’ll be right back.” he ran back to his store.

Ren offered the girl his hand to help her stand up. “Are you ok? You’re not hurt are you?”

“No. I just got scratched a tiny bit. Nothing too big.” she smiled.

“So that guy wouldn’t take you money?” Ren asked curiously.

“No. He said it was fake or something. Then he started to yell at me and I got scared and ran away with the ice cream, ko,” she said.

The grocery guy came back and gave the ice cream to the girl. He then handed the “fake” money back to her as well. “Don’t use fake coins or you’ll get arrested.” And with that he went back to his store.

She smiled happily at her new ice cream. “Thank you, kind stranger.”

“Oh, your welcome.” he smiled. “ I can see why he though your money was fake. The money you have isn’t from anywhere I’ve seen. Is it a new type of currency?”

“No, we’re always had this kind where I’m from.” she said. “I’m incredibly sorry for getting you involved in that. I should have known they would not accept the money since it was from somewhere else.” She bowed.

“It’s ok, really. It’s not a big thing. Just ice cream.” he smiled nervously. “I’m Ren Takeshi, by the way.”

“I’m Kieru Okamiki,” she said. She began to eat the ice cream.

Ren began to wonder why she was alone in the city. He didn’t want to be noisy or rude or anything.

Kieru looked up at him. “Is there something you want to ask me?”

“Umm…w-well…no…” he stuttered.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be offended by anything you ask me, ko.” she smiled.

“Umm... Did your family abandon you here?” he asked. He looked down at the ground. He knew that was a stupid question.

She giggled. “No, not really. My parents just left me here for a bit as a punishment. And to teach me to be more independent, or something.” she took at bite of her ice cream.

“When I first met you, you said you lived far, far away, so your parents just left you in some foreign city all by yourself?”

She giggled. “Yep.”

“That’s mean! I mean, when most kids get in trouble they are sent to their rooms, or in a corner as punishment. Or they are banned from playing outside with their friends, or banned for playing a video game or something. But never left in a city all alone.” he said. Ren was shocked and mad that anyone would do that to his or her kid.

“Yea. I thought my parents were kidding about leaving me here for a while. But apparently they weren’t cuz I’m here, ko.” Kieru finished her ice cream.

What could she have done that would make her parents leave her in an unfamiliar city? What kind of parents does she have?

Kieru looked at her watch. “Isn’t your family going to be worried that you’re coming home late from school?”

“Nope. I live alone and I usually get home around this time anyway.” he told her.

“What? You live alone?! But you’re too young to be out on your own. Aren’t you like, in high school, ko? Or are most people out on their own at such age in his place?” she asked.

“My parents are dead. So I live alone. But I have a cat, so technically, I’m not alone. And I’m a college student.” he said. He looked at her closely and realized she was about to cry.

“You poor human. I’m so sorry about that.” Kieru began to cry.

“Don’t cry. Don’t worry about it. You had no idea,” he said.

Kieru looked up at him and tried to wipe her eyes. “You’re a very nice and friendly person, Ren-kun.” she smiled.

“Oh, thank you.” he began to blush.

“I must be going now. Maybe I will see you around sometime. Thank you for the ice cream. You’re bus is coming, so you better hurry to your bus stop. Later.” she waved and ran off before Ren could say another word.

“…bye….” Ren said. I hope she’ll be ok. I hope she doesn’t get into any more trouble…

Ren shrugged and began walking toward his bus.
* * *
Unknowing to Ren, off in the distance, a person is watching him from afar.

“So, the wheel is in motion…” they say in a non-gender voice. “It’s about to happen. I must get ready.”

* * *

[ravenwithoutcause]

Sweet chapter! Sorry it took so long to reply. The unknown man' at the end remind me of my uncle '

[Kyoki]

Yay! Thankies! It's ok. ^^ I should have chatpter 2 up soon. I am like, so redoing everything. It's going to be really different, but not so different, ya know? So anywho, thank you for reading it! Hehe. This story is going to be so much better than last time. XD

[Kyoki]

Ok. There is one big change in this story. I decided to change Kyoki’s name to Kieru because I have lots of fanfics and other original stories that have Kyoki as my characters name and I wanted to have it be something different in this story so it doesn’t seem like I am repeating characters or anything like that. And in Japanese Kyoki (depending on the kanji you use) means insane, sobbing or weeping. Which was kinda interesting cuz when Ren first met Kyoki she was weeping/sobbing. And in Japanese, Kieru means to disappear. And when she was younger she had to “disappear” in a way, which will be learned why later on. But maybe I will have her real name be Kyoki and her alias name be Kieru. Yes! That is what I am going to do! Yay! So yea, I just wanted to say that so no one is confused. ^^

Chapter Two: Ren is Late for School!

Ren was walking down the street, he looked up ahead and realized the street was empty. He looked behind him and also saw no one. He looked at the street and saw that it was empty. Which was not a normal thing. Not at all…

What is going on? Is this some kind of dream? If it isn’t, then where is everyone?

He looked back up ahead when he saw some movement. It was Kieru, the girl who he first met crying on the bench. He ran over to her.

“Kieru? What is going on? Where is everyone?” he asked.

“It’s all my fault. I couldn’t stop it. Look what I did.” Kieru leaned forward and began to sob. “I’m sorry… I ruined your world. I’m sorry!”

“What? I don’t understand.” Ren said.

“You’ll understand when the time comes.” A voice said from behind him.

He whirled around. “M-mom? Is that really you?”

His mother had long blond hair that was pulled back into a loose ponytail. She had pretty blue eyes. “Yes, Renny, it’s me. Look at you, you’re grown up so much. I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too, mom. I wish you were still alive.” Rens eyes began to tear up. He moved forward to give his mother a hug, but as he went to hug her, he passed right through her. He stepped back. “Mom?”

“I’m sorry Ren. But you cannot hug me. I’m dead. I came to visit you in your dreams to tell you something. I don’t have much time left.” she said.

“Is it about Kieru?” Ren asked, glancing over at the crying girl.

His mother nodded her head. “Yes. Please help her. Because if you don’t, this is what will happen to the earth. Everyone will cease to exist. Please do what you can for her.”

“But this is only a dream, right? Everyone can’t just cease to exist. Can they?” Ren asked.

“Yes, this is a dream. But also reality. Even though I’m dead, I can still contact you. I‘ve visited you before in your dreams. I don‘t know if you remember or not though.” she said sadly.

“I don‘t know. I think I remember.” Ren smiled, trying to get his mom to cheer-up. “I’m glad that I got to talk to you at all.”

She looked up at her son and smiled back. “Me too, Renny. Now, you must find Kieru and take care of her. Or it could be everyone’s last hope.”

“How?” Ren asked.

“Let her stay with you for awhile. Things shall unfold from there. This is where your destiny will come into place. You will meet many new friends, make new enemies…and some enemies who may turn into allies. Now please, find her. My time is up. I love you Ren. I’m so proud of you. I know you’ll do everything right. Good bye.” she began to fade away.

“Mom! Please don’t go. I love you too. I don’t want to be alone anymore.” Ren said, reaching out for his mom.

She smiled as she faded all the way.

Ren looked over to Kieru to realize that once again he was alone in his dream…

* * *
Ren woke up suddenly the next morning.

That was a weird dream. I wonder what that part with there being no people was about… Kieru is just a normal girl. Normal people can do that right? And that was only a dream, right? So why am I questioning a dream?

Ren looked over at his clock. It read the date and time. The date was Monday, October 2 while the time was 9:15 a.m.

Only 8:15...that means I can sleep in for another forty five minutes. I hope I don’t have that weird dream again…

Ren was about to close his eyes to go back to sleep when it hit him that it wasn’t eight fifteen, but nine fifteen. He sat up and looked at the clock again more closely.

“No! I’m going to be late! I can’t be late! I Have a test today!” Ren jumped out of bed. His feet were tangled up around the blankets, so he tripped, fell and landed right on his face. He quickly scrambled back up and ran to his dresser and grabbed some clothes from it. He quickly got dressed.

Ren ran to the backroom to brush his hair when he notice he had blood on his shirt. How the heck did that blood get there… and it’s still wet…

Ren looked in the mirror to realize he had a bloody nose.

I have a feeling this is going to be a interesting day…

Ren swiftly got some toilet paper, rolled some up and stuffed some in each nostril. He then ran back to his room to get a new shirt. He took off the one he had on and grabbed another one. He forgot all about brushing his hair and ran to the kitchen. He drank a glass of milk.

He rapidly put his shoes on, grabbed a jacket, and his backpack and was about to open the door when it rang.

Who the hell is that ringing at a time like this?!?

He opened the door and moaned. Why of all people is it him…?

Standing before him on the other side of the doorway was a guy with short reddish-brown hair. He was about four inches shorter than Ren. He was wearing a blue t-shirt with a logo on it, baggy pants and regular shoes. “Yo!”

“Hi Rio… what are you doing here this early?”

“Can’t your favorite cousin come over to say good morning on a nice day as this? And what is with this moaning, aren’t you happy to see me? You haven’t seen me in awhile.”

“I saw you on Friday. We do go to the same school after all.” Ren reminded him. He stepped aside so he could talk to Rio as he got ready for school.

Rio came in. “Yea, I know. I just wanted to come by, see how you were doing and ask you something.”

“What did you do now?” Ren asked.

“Why do you assumed I did anything?” Rio said, pretending to sound offended.

“Because whenever your dad kicks you out, you come here. Which I don’t mind, I’m just wondering what you did.” Ren said.

“The normal alien obsession thing, you know, the norm.” Rio smiled. He then realized the funny way Ren was talking and looked at this nose. “Have you been having dirty thoughts, dearest cousin?” Rio snickered.

“Hell no! I fell on my face this morning. That’s all!” Ren said. “Is that all you were going to ask me? I’m rather late, you know.”

“Oh, yea. Can I stay here with you for a few days?” Rio smiled nervously.

Ren smiled. “Of course. Now we better hurry to school or we’ll be late.” Ren headed toward the door.

“I’m late all the time, what’s one more day.” Rio followed Ren to the door.

“We have a test today, so it’s really important that we get there on time.

Rio stopped cold in his tracks. “Test? Today? You’re kidding!”

“Nope, I’m afraid I’m not. Didn’t you listen last week?” Ren turned around.

“No. When do I ever listen at school?” Rio asked.

“Good point.” Ren said.

“Do you mind if I happen to stay home today? I need to get a few things from my house while my dad is at work…and I need to study… yea, I need to study for the test too.” Rio tried to act innocently.

“Yea, sure. Just don’t make a mess of the place.” Ren said. “I got to go. See you later.”

“I’ll be a good boy. I promise.” Rio smiled.

“Good.” Ren turned and stepped out, he turned to close the door. “And please don’t download bizarre alien pictures like you did last time. I‘m still having nightmares from that one that I accidentally opened.”

“I’ll try not to. Have fun at school.” Rio waved.

“Bye.” Ren closed the door. He sighed. Rio wasn’t only his cousin, but his best friend, so he loved Rio very much, but at times Rio could be a handful. Ren looked at his watch and sworn under his breath and took like a bat out of hell down the stairs to the front door.

* * *
Ren ran to the bus stop and barely made it. He sat down at his usual spot. He looked out the window as the bus headed toward the bus stop by his school.

“…Ren… Ren…” he heard someone call his name. He looked around for who was talking to him, but the bus was almost empty and there was no one near him that could have identify to him.

He shrugged his shoulders and looked back out the window.
A few minutes later, his bus stopped at the location he needed to get off at. He hopped off the bus and walked into the large school building.

When he entered the room he walked over to the front desk where his teacher was. “Hi, Ms. Minoru, Rio wanted me to tell you that he is not feeling good and he won’t be making it to class today.” He said quickly. He tried to regain his breath from the running and talking so fast.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Please tell him I hope he feels better soon and that he can take the test when he comes back. Are you ok? You‘re breathing is abnormal right now.” she smiled.

“Thanks. I‘m fine though. I was just running late, that‘s all.” Ren smiled, then walked over to his desk and sat down.

His teacher watched him carefully as he took his seat in he back row. She shrugged her shoulders and began getting things ready for the class that was about to begin.

* * *
“Ren, please find her…if you don’t find her soon, everything will be lost.” Ren heard his mother.

Ren was in a building that was empty. He turned around quickly. “Mom? Where are you? Why do you want me to find this girl? Where do I find her?”

“You will know when the time is right.” she said.

“Ok. I will.” Ren said, still looking around for where his mothers’ voice was coming from.

Everything began to fade away…

* * *
“Ren? Ren? Wake up Ren?” he heard Ms. Minoru’s voice. “Wake up sleepy head.”

Ren slowly opened his eyes and realized that he was still at school. “…huh?”

“Class is over, everyone else already left.” she smiled.

Ren jumped out of his chair. “Oh, I’m really sorry. This has never happened to me before. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. I fell asleep quite a few times in school too. Were you able to finish your test?”

“Oh, yea.” he handed her his test. “I better go. Rio’s sick and I should go see if he’s ok.”

“Ok. You take care too. You don’t want to get sick either.” Ms. Minoru said.

“Yea, that wouldn’t be cool. Later!” he said as he ran out of the classroom.

Ms. Minoru smiled as he left the room. Her cell phone rung, she ran over to her desk to answer it. “Hello?”

There was a pause.

“So, he’s in town. I’ll get right on it.” Ms. Minoru hung up the phone and smirked as she looked out the window.

* * *
Ren walked slowly to his bus stop, half expecting to see Kieru there, but she wasn’t. He didn’t know what he would say or do when and if he ever saw her again. He sat down on the bus bench. As he waited he glanced around incase she was somewhere around there. He didn’t see her at all and sighed sadly when his bus came and he had to get on.

He got on and sat in his normal spot.

I wonder where she could have gone too? Maybe she went home. If she did, I hope everything is ok with her.

A little bit later, Ren walked into his apartment to find Rio on the couch watching TV.

Rio turned around and smiled at his older cousin. “Hello! How was school? Is the test hard?”

“It was ok. Not too hard, I guess. Ms. Minoru said you can take the test when you come back.” Ren said as he took off his shoes and tossed them by the door.

Rio looked at his cousin. “Did you fall asleep during the test?”

“Huh? How the hell do you know that?” Ren said, startled that his cousin would ask something like that.

“I fall asleep all the time in class, so I know what it looks like when that happens. That means the test wasn’t that hard. I’m sure I’ll pass it without studying then.” Rio grinned.

Ren rolled his eyes. “I’m tired and I have a headache. I’m going to go lay down for a little bit, please don’t be loud.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to head out in a few minutes. I have to go and take care of something.” Rio said, looking back at the TV.

“Did you get some of your stuff from your fathers?” He asked as he went into the kitchen to find some Tylenol.

“Yea. This is something else.” Rio said.

Ren got some Tylenol and a glass water. He put the pills in his mouth and drank some water. “Ok. See ya later, then.”

“Later.” Rio said.

Rio waited until he heard his light haired boy enter his room and close the door. Rio then stood up, turned off the TV, quickly put on his schools. He walked over to the door and opened it, stepped out and then closed the door behind him.

* * *

[Kyoki]

Chapter Three: Rio-kun’s Adventure

Rio walked down causally the street to the bus station. He felt bad for having to stay with Ren and causing him trouble, but Ren was the only relative he had who actually liked him and could put up his hobbies and interests. All the rest of his relatives treated him as if he was the black sheep of the family. Some even treated him like some kind of diseased animal, sometimes, they tried to hide it, but it was obvious, especially after all the years he had lived around them. But Ren was different. Ren didn’t see him as some kind of alien obsessed freak, Ren saw him as a person, which was grateful for. He loved being around his older cousin because of that.

When Rio got to the bus station he sat on the bench and waited until the right bus came. As he waited he played a game on his GameBoy Advance SP.

Finally, the right bus came and he climbed aboard.

“You’re heading to go look at the alleged alien crash site, aren’t you?” a girl who was sitting in the seat in front of him asked as he sat down. She had light purple hair. Her hair was up in two ponytails that were both in big curly swirls. Her eyes were a light brown color. The girl was wearing a tight tank top shirt and a blue skirt that went down to her knees. It looked like she was about five foot four. She was turned around in her seat so she could look and talk to Rio better.

The bus began to move.

Rio looked at her, not sure why she asked him that. “Uh…yea…how did you know that?”

The girl giggled. “Because for one this is the only bus that goes that far. Two, lots of people have been going there since the news reporter talked about it. And three, I’m going there and I wanted to know if someone else was going there as well. And you seemed like a person who would go see something awesome like that.” She smiled sweetly at him.

“You’re quite observant, aren’t you?” Rio said, not sure what to say.

“I guess so. I have nothing better to do with my life, so why not be observant of other people.” She said. “I’m Tomoko Tomodachi, by the way.”

“I’m-” Rio began.

“Let me guess…you’re Rio. Am I right?”

Rio stared at he for a few moments, not able to get the words to come out of his mouth. “H-how d-did you know d-that? Are you stalking me or something?” Rio said. He was starting to think she was some kind of weird killer stalker girl.

“No. I’m sorry if I am scaring you. I have a small ability as a telepathic. I can only read a word or two. Don’t worry, I don’t do it on purpose, the words just come into my head. Oh, and I’m somewhat of a empathic as well.” Tomoko explained to him.

“Really? Wow! That is so awesome!” Rio said, forgetting the fact that a second ago he thought his girl was a weird killer stalker girl. “Is it hard being a telepathic and empathic?”

“Yes and no. It’s hard because I can’t control it, so when I’m around a lot of people, they all come at once. So it’s hard to hear my self even think. But it can come in handy. Especially if any of my friends have something that is bothering them and they are too afraid to tell someone, I’ll already kinda know, so it’s easier on them.” Tomoko said.

Rio nodded. “That does sounds handy. So, have you been over to the crash site yet?”

She shook her head. “Nope, this is the first time right now. I would have gone sooner, but I had work, classes, babysitting, and homework. And a bunch of other things that were piling up that I really had to take care of. How about you?”

“This is my first time too. My dad hates it when I talk about aliens or do anything that involves aliens. I’m staying with my cousin right now, so what my dad doesn’t know, wont’ kill him.” Rio smiled. He felt like he knew this girl his whole life. Never before in his life could he talk to somebody about anything, well besides Ren, that is. Which was very odd because he never could talk to complete strangers like this, never before in his life.

“Oh, that sucks. You have one of those parents. Sorry about that. How does your mother feel about the whole alien thing?”

Rio looked down sadly. “My mother died a long time ago. But when she was alive, she supported it and wasn‘t mean and didn‘t try to get me to have a new interest.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to bring something sad up. I’m really sorry!” Tomoko said quickly.

“It’s ok. Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know.” Rio looked at her and smiled.

“Let’s talk about something happy now. Alrighty?” Tomoko smiled.

“Ok.” Rio said.

“So how long have you been interested in aliens?” she asked.

“Hmm…for as long as I can remember anything, I guess.” he said.

Tomoko laughed. “Me too. I just can’t get enough of the awesomeness of aliens and everything about them. I want to know everything they know.”

“Me too.” Rio said.

“I’m beginning to think that are meeting today wasn’t just coincidence. I think it was Hitsuzen.” Tomoko smiled.

“Hit suzie what?” Rio said.

“Hitsuzen. As Yuko Ichihara from xxxHolic would say, it’s ‘a naturally foreordained event. A state in which other outcomes are impossible. A result which can only be obtained by a single causality, and other causalities would necessarily create different results.’ That is what she says in volume one when she first meets Watanuki.” Tomoko told him.

“I see. I guess it’s kinda like that.” Rio said.

“Sorry about that. I have a lot of free time at work, so I bring lots of manga to read and I end up memorizing many of the characters’ lines. It’s a bad habit,” she said.

“It’s fine. That was kinda cool how you could do that.” Rio smiled.

The two of them were silent for a few moments. It was not an awkward silence either; it was just a normal silence between topics.

“I don’t mean to sound like I’m trying to move in on your private space, but my back is starting to hurt from sitting backwards like this, so could I sit with you? I mean, if you don’t mind or anything.” Tomoko asked nervously.

“Sure. Come and sit with me. I don’t mind.” Rio said as he scooted over so there would be enough room for her.

She smiled and got up from her seat. Tomoko sat down next to Rio. “So Rio-kun, how old are you, if you don’t mind my asking.”

“I’m twenty-one years old. You?”

“I’m twenty years old. You do not mind if I call you Rio-kun, do you? I usually call my friends with a -chan or a -kun. And since I like you so much, I’ve decided to make you one of my friends.”

“I don’t mind, Tomoko-chan.” He smiled.

They both looked at each other and laughed.

It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

A few minutes later, the bus slowed down. The view outside the window was bright and barren. There were only a few buildings on each side of the road. A few feet away from the bus stop sign was a dirt road that led off into the distance.

“This is our stop. The ship landing is right down that road.” Tomoko said as she stood up. She grabbed her backpack.

Rio stood up and then followed Tomoko off the bus. A few other people got off the bus after them. The other people began to walk down the dirt road, probably going to the same destination as Rio and Tomoko.

As soon as all the people who were getting off were off, the bus drove off.

Tomoko leaned toward Rio. “I’m guessing the place is down there where those people are going. Should we follow them?”

“Yea. Why not? We’ll find the place sooner or later, let’s just follow them to hopefully make it sooner.” Rio said.

Tomoko nodded. “Yea. Good thinking.”

They began to follow the group of people before them.

“Maybe I should walk closer to them. Perhaps I can hear if they are indeed going to where we are planning to go. Why didn’t I think of that sooner? You would think this is something someone wouldn’t forget, but here I am forgetting my cursed curse!” Tomoko smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand.

“It’s not your fault for forgetting. It probably just slipped your mind in all the excitement about the alien ship crater.” Rio said.

“Yea, probably.” Tomoko looked at Rio closely.
“Do I have something on my face?” Rio asked curiously when Tomoko looked at him like that.

“Oh no. I was just thinking how much I really like you. You are a cool guy, Rio-kun. Most people would be weirded out by my ability, but you, you act normal, like it is nothing. Which I really like. Thank you.” she smiled.

“Oh, it’s nothing. My aunt had the same technique as you, but she had complete control over hers and she could read people’s minds at will,” he said.

“Wow! Really? I wish I had more control over mine… oh well, guess I will just have to practice, right? In addition, I can practice on those people right ahead of us. C‘mon, lets get closer to them.” Tomoko gently grabbed Rio’s forearm and pulled him closer to the group of people.

As they got closer, Rio noticed that Tomoko grimaced in pain every few seconds.

“Are you ok?” Rio asked her.

She nodded and whispered, “I’m fine. I am sure these people are going where we are too. Just give me a few more seconds of interpretation.”

Rio nodded.

A minute later, Tomoko slowed her walking so they were ten feet behind the people.

“What did you find out?” Rio looked down at the girl.

“I found out that, they indeed are going to the same place as we are. I also found out that that man right there has to go to the bathroom. That woman’s sister is getting on her nerves, that other woman’s dog keeps pooping everywhere and she’s thinking about getting rid of it, and other things that don’t really matter.” Tomoko said while smiling.

“Good work, Tomoko-chan!” Rio said smiling.

“Why thank you, Rio-kun. Oh and I found out that it’s right behind that bar right there.” She pointed to the barn that was about fifty feet away from where they were walking. “And one of the people up there went to school with the guy who owns the barn, and they were thinking that they might be able to talk to the owner. So that means we might be able to met them too.”

“Really?! That is awesome! I am so glad that I decided to come here today. I get to maybe meet that guy and ask him some questions and I met you. This is a awesome day!”

Tomoko nodded. “Sure is. This is one of the best days of my life.”

“Me too.” Rio said happily.

They walked the rest of the way with huge grins on their faces.

When they turned the corner of the barn with the other people, they saw the “crater” and their grins became even wider. There was a huge hole in the ground. It must have been twenty-five feet around in diameter. The gap was about ten feet deep. The dirt in the hole was dark, almost like it had been built or a lot of smoke had settled there. The grass around the cavity was seared.

“Whoa…” someone in the crowd said.

“Is this for real, or what?” another said.

Rio and Tomoko walked closer to the hole to get a better look inside. As they looked down, they realized that there were some small shiny metallic pieces toward the very bottom of it. They both looked at each other and smiled.

A man came out of the nearby house and began to walk toward them.

“Hey Ryuji!” one of the guys in the group waved as he walked toward the owner.

“Hey Toya! How is it going? It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” Ryuji waved back.

“Yea. How are you?” Toya asked.

“Good.” Ryuji said.

“I heard about the alien ship crash and had to come see for myself.” Toya smiled.

“Yea. Many people have come to see it since it was on the news. Did all of you come to see it too?” Ryuji asked all the others.

Everyone nodded.

“What happened?” Rio asked, still looking down at the opening in front of him.

“Well, last week or so, I was out here, looking for my dog, he likes to get off her chain and run all over. I did not want him to be hit by a car so I came out to look for him. I was about to give up and go inside, but Yu-kun, that’s my dog, came up beside me and started barking off in the direction of the barn. So I looked over there and saw this big light in the sky. The next thing I know, it’s crashing into the ground by my barn. It almost hit my barn. I stood there terrified. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared out of my pants. Yu-kun whimpered and hid behind me. A minute later, a door to the ship opened and some aliens that looked exactly like humans but they had wings. The prettiest wings you’ll ever see. Anyways, they came out and one of them walked over to me and told me that they would not hurt my dog or me. They told me to go into my house; go to sleep and they would get the ship out of my yard for me. I don’t know why or how, but my body moved on it’s own back to my house. I went to bed and the next morning I woke up to find the ship gone and a huge hole in the ground.” Ryuji explained.

“Did anything else happen?” Tomoko asked.

“Yes. Later that day, these guys came. They said they were looking for someone. Some girl or something. I told them I didn’t know anything. Then they asked me about what happened the night before. They told me that it was probably just a crater and told me not to worry about it. Then even later that day, some reporters came over and were asking me questions. That’s about all that happened.” Ryuji said. “There was some metal left behind. I am having some scientist test it now. So the result of that should come back soon. It’s odd phenomenon if you ask me.”

A few people ooh and aahed over what he just said.

The small group of people walked around and looked at all the angles of the crater.

A little while later, Tomoko gently elbowed Rio in the chest. “The last bus that comes out here for the night is about to come. We should start heading back if we want to make it.”

“Yea, you’re right.” Rio said, as he looked one more time at the crater. “Let’s go.”

The two of them started heading back to the bus stop. A few of the other people looked at the time on their watches and realized it was time to go, so they followed the younger people back to the bus station.

Rio and Tomoko walked in silence, but amazed at what they had just seen.

Almost as soon as they got back to stop, the bus pulled up.

Everyone climbed on and sat down in a seat.

Then the bus headed back towards town.

“That was really amazing.” Rio said.

“You said it.” Tomoko said. “That was the best alien crater I have ever seen.”

“Me too.” Rio said. “I think it was the biggest I have seen, you?”

“No, I think I’ve seen a slightly bigger one in Australia.” Tomoko said.

“You’re been to Australia?” Rio asked.

“Yea. I have been to all over the world. My parents job requires them to travel a lot so I get to see all kinds of new places.” Tomoko smiled. “But it’s hard to have friends for long when I travel around so much.”

“So you don’t live around here, do you?” Rio said somewhat sadly.

“No, I live around here. My parents do not have to travel right now. So I am staying home at home right now. I did most of my traveling when I was younger. When my brother and sister were born, I could not travel with them as much. Now with college and everything, it is even harder to travel. But I kind of like settling down and just having a normal life for a little bit.”

“I see.” Rio smiled. “My parents use to travel around once in awhile. But I did not go with them. They had me stay with my cousin and his parents. Which I didn’t mind; because Ren is cool. And so were his parents.”

“Were? They did die too?” Tomoko asked sadly.

“Yea. They both died when Ren was thirteen. He’s lived on his own since then. Ren didn’t want to be a burden on anyone so he decided to live in the same apartment his parents lived in. He is very mature for his age. He handled his parents’ death fairly well, I guess. I don’t think I could have gotten though both of my parents dieing. Me and my dad don’t always get along, but I don’t think I could manage by myself.” He looked at Tomoko. “Oh, I’m really sorry to go on like that. I must be boring you.”

“Nope, I’m not bored. It’s interesting to hear about you and your family, Rio-kun.” She smiled. “Your cousin sounds like a strong person. I don’t think I could go through with my parents dieing. It’s so hard to imagine that.”

As they neared town, Tomoko said, “We should do this again sometime. It was really fun.”

Rio nodded. “Yea, we should.”

Tomoko pulled out a notebook and a pen from her backpack. “I’ll write down my phone number so you can call me sometime and we can go alien exploring again.” She jotted down her number and ripped out the paper. She handed it to him.

Rio put the paper safely in his jacket pocket.

“I’ll give you my number too. That way if you find some other crash site when and if you get to travel again, you can tell me all about it.” Rio said.

“Alrighty!” Tomoko handed him her notebook so he could write down his number, which he did.

Rio glanced out the window as the bus slowed down. “This is my stop. This was a lot of fun. I can’t wait until we do it again.”

Tomoko nodded. Before she stood up so he could she leaned closer to him and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. She got up and stood in the aisle. “That’s for good luck so we can get in touch again.”

Rio smiled shyly. His cheeks began to turn a light red. “Thanks.”

“Your welcome. Now you better get off before the bus takes off and then you’ll have to walk home.”

“Oh, right…” Rio stood up. “Later, Tomoko-chan.”

“Later, Rio-kun!” Tomoko waved and sat back down on the chair.

Rio waved and then walked toward the door of the bus to get off.

He grinned as he began to make his way to Ren’s house.

As he was walking, he had the sensation that he was being followed. So he quickly turned around to only find people going this way and that way. Those people were not paying any attention to him.

Rio continued walking. As he turned a corner, he quickly hid around the edge; he then waited there for a few seconds. He then popped back out. Still, there was no one there. He then turned around to continue on his way, but stopped and gasped when he saw that a girl with green hair was standing right in front of him.

“Hello. Are you playing hide and seek? Who are you playing with?” the girl asked. “Or are you playing tag? Tag is always fun.”

“Huh? I’m not playing anything. I thought someone was following me. That’s all.” Rio said, surprised at this girl. She acted like she was ten, but she looked like she was nineteen.

“Oh, I see.” she looked over his shoulder. “It doesn’t look like anyone is following you.”

“Yea. I guess I was just imagining it. I tend to do that sometimes.” Rio scratched the back of his head.

“Well, I guess if you’re not going to be playing tag or hide and seek I’m going to be on my way. See ya!” the girl hummed as she walked past him and continued on her way.

He looked over his shoulder as the bizarre wandering girl walked away. Rio shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way.

When Rio got back to the apartment, he found that his cousin was still sleeping. He looked at his watch and realized that he, too, was tired. Rio then walked to the extra room at the far end of the room. His stuff was already in there, so he just sighed and fell asleep as he began to lie down on the bed.
* * *