♪♫Twelve of them shining bright in vain, like flowers that blossom just once in years♫♪

The evening was much warmer than she was used to back in the glen. Warm bursts of air collided with her clothing, feeling her damp jeans contend with the temperature change. She was not dressed for the weather, as it felt much like summer would, despite the season having changed to winter long ago.

The gentleman stopped outside of the nurse's station, a large door with her name written near the threshold. It was the obvious clue that made Mayu realize they were safely at their destination. Considering the early hour, where the sun was making its first stand against the horizon, the tinged blue overcast skies told May that morning was already so close. In the hype of the fuss, it only registered to her then, and she quickly dismantled any ideas she was getting out of her punishment easily.

"I have some things to take care of," the gentleman commented. "Please return to your room once this is done. I will be by to get you in a few hours," waving a hand at her in farewell as he headed down the hall and disappeared behind a corner.

She barely had time to provide him with a smile and response, as the door opened. Bright locks of red and orange, bouncing with a livelihood the girl could rival were she not so worn down, attacked her face in a glorious wave of motion as a head popped out of the door. "Whoa, hey there kid. Don't get so friendly!" a woman excitedly called out, hands gripping the child by the shoulders to keep her upright. "Yohko, you got a new one! I'll catch up with you later after my thesis is done!"

"Okay, Midori," another woman called from inside the station. Midori gently patted bright locks of teal, a big grin accompanying it. She tore off to leave Mayu with nothing to do but go on inside.

"Um, you are? Nurse Yohko?" Mayu asked as peered around the room, noting that it resembled more of a small hospital than a nurse's station meant to treat children with mild stomach aches.

Swiveling on a stool, with tresses of brown that bounced just above her shoulders, the indicated Yohko turned to examine the one that asked for her, glasses being pulled from a thin nose and set aside a stack of papers. "You must be Mayu Tsuzuki, yes? I was told you were to be by shortly."

"O-Oh?" she quietly uttered in relief, fumbling forward to move to a nearby bed that was not covered by curtains that were often used to provide privacy. She slumped against it, shoulders hung so low, they might soon reach the floor.

Yohko's stool did most of the work as, with a simple push, she wheeled herself over towards the child. "You don't look so good. Definitely a step up from my usual patients who are trying to get out of tests." She pulled a tiny light from her breast pocket, fingers pulling one of the child's eyes down in inspection. "Into the light? there we go," a soft purr of approval as she repeated the process in the other. "Your eyes? are very peculiar. But they look alright. Can you tell me what you're experiencing?"

The girl wasn't sure she could acknowledge the nurse that sat before her, slumped shoulders rolling in a shrug. "? grief."

♪♫They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage♫♪

The girls were allowed to leave once Yohko finished her examination. She had grown suspicious over Mayu's eyes, as they lacked a pupil. It was something of a medical marvel.

Mayu's eye exam came back with a perfect twenty, twenty read out ultimately. Rather than attempt to fix something when it was not broken, she allowed the girl the freedom she was absolutely dying for.

Wakana remained close to her friend for the duration of her return to the room they shared, backpedaling to keep Mayu the number one priority. "Where'd you go, anyway? Someone mentioned that you went to the States for some big exam. Did'ja? Did'ja? I just love the states! I'm hoping my parents will let me go this summer!"

The buzzing gnat in Mayu's ear, her friend of many years, usually went on a tangent of conversation without ever allowing a word in edgewise. Were it not for the fact that Wakana was the teat that Mayu could feed off of, she probably wouldn't have enjoyed her company quite so much.

Wakana was still on a tangent when Mayu returned her focus on her friend. "Of course, I told him I don't do that thing on a first date. But we're in the STATES!"

"Ah, Wakana?" Mayu winced with a small finger in the air. She couldn't warn the girl fast enough, instead watching as she plowed into another who was also not paying attention to her surroundings. The pair crashed into the ground, papers flying like homework confetti.

Mayu's hands cupped over her mouth, moving to assess the damage and make sure they were not hurt too terribly. "I'm so sorry for my friend?" she quieted, noting the Fuka Academy badge that was wrapped about the arm of the victim of Wakana's onslaught. Hands pulled the girl up, recognizing her as a member of the Executive Committee?or more importantly?the ones that oversaw her transferring between home and 'vacation'.

"Y-Yukino," Mayu greeted the girl painfully, moving to help her collect the many papers that were scattered all over the floor. Wakana was momentarily forgotten, even if she started complaining about how small the hallways had become in this day and age.

Yukino adjusted her tear-shaped glasses, which only brought the several freckles that graced her cheeks out further. "Oh, hello Mayu. I'm sorry for disrupting your friend?"

A smirk hid itself behind several stacks of those papers, her hunt continuing. "I wouldn't be so sure you disrupted anything?" she teased, the papers being returned to their owner. "Have you heard anything about the committee's work on the problem with the janitor's closet?" She could only pray that Yukino understood what she meant.

The shy, quiet girl took a moment to collect her resources before speaking. "I don't think so, Mayu. Haruka's busy attempting to install traffic lights in the halls to make sure that things like this don't happen? of course, I can bring it up with her later, if you'd like."

For a moment, the idea of traffic lights amused the girl. She could foresee the major issues that would arise, and Haruka's inevitable tantrums shortly afterwards. "No, that's okay. Thanks for checking though, Yukino. And?" a motion was given to Wakana, who'd since quieted down quite a bit.

"Right? Sorry, Yukino! I hope your traffic lights don't come with tickets I'd have to pay," she muttered, arms over her chest in a pout.

Yukino smiled fondly at the two, moving off to continue her duties for the evening. "You don't have to be so mean, you know. The Executive Committee works hard," compassion in her voice toward the cause. She remembered trying to set up Katt's party, the way that everything felt so vastly overwhelming just to plan it. While it didn't come to pass? the work she'd begun to put into the cause was satisfyingly hard. A light smile met her lips to the idea, before Wakana's snapping brought May back to the present.

"I know how hard the Committee works. But it's Yukino! You can't do anything but tease her sometimes, ya'know?" a small jab of an eblow into May's ribcage.

She squeaked to the contact, a hand moving to rub at the ache that the bump left behind. "Haha? yeah?" not agreeing with her in the slightest, but willing to let it pass her by. "I think I'm just going to go home. I'm a little exhausted after everything?"

Wakana tilted her head, hands moving to rest on May's shoulders. "What's going on with you, anyway? You act like somebody just died."

The girl froze, her throat seizing up at her friend's analogy. Wakana quickly changed her key. "I mean, I?" she trailed off, shoulders hunched as she realized that what was originally playful, was actually something a little more hard hitting. "S-Sorry? Mayu. Who? was it? If you don't mind me asking."

A mournful frown told the story in itself of how important the deceased party was to the girl. Her eyes closed, allowing herself a moment of composure before trying to speak the name. "My? friend. Her name was Katt." Despite the start, she was widely proud of herself for getting that far.

Wakana showed interest, hands working shoulders in an amiable massage. "Go on."

She wasn't sure how long that would last, but Mayu tried her best. "I met her? a while ago. We kind of hit it off right away because she? has a crush on somebody. I could relate to their situation, since? you know," referring to a time that the girls clearly never spoke of.

"Right, that whole thing with Shuji," not missing a beat, nor allowing Mayu to think on it, "Go on."

She could have flinched, but graciously continued knowing Wakana wouldn't let more grief befall the girl. "Well I?" she quieted down. "I tried to help them out? but? fell in love with her, instead."

Wakana blinked, tugging on those shoulders to pull Mayu off balance and ever close to get a hard look at the girl's face. "You did WHAT?" A shout so loud, several students passing by the pair in the windowed hallway had to look to see what the commotion was about.

Mayu tugged on Wakana in a heartbeat, pulling her clear out of the hall and into a nearby classroom not currently in use. The door was closed to prevent their words from meeting any curious ears. "It was an accident. I don't? have feelings like that. I've always dated men? you know this!"

Wakana scoffed, a finger in the air. "My dear, you've dated one boy. Hear me, b. o. y. Men are another game all together. But what's bigger than that? Women! They're not your breed, doll."

The conversation pulled at Mayu's heart, a hand in the air to swat that risen finger away; a trait the blond stole from her. "Don't be so narrow-minded. She had a beautiful spirit that outshines any 'pretty boy' that wanders these halls."

Snorting, Wakana laid judgement on the girl with her eyes alone. "Don't be absurd. I'm sure any pretty boy here willing to sweep you off your feet will make you forget."

Teeth gritted in an unpleasant noise, snapping, "Don't say that! She died because of how much I cared for her! I? let it get the best of me."

A mouth running with its own motor putted, coming to an eventual stop as she looked upon Mayu, dumbfounded. She hadn't realized that the death was a result of love. "Oh? I'm sorry, Mayu?" becoming hushed, pain in her expression. She was not on a good track record this day. "What? happened?"

The girl shook her head, a hand landing onto a shoulder to tug Wakana along. "Let's go home? I don't want to talk about it right now?"

Twenty hours to Disassembly

"Mayu?" a voice called out, drawing the girl from her delirious slumber near the janitor's closet that acted as her gateway to the world of Rhydin. Before her, dressed in her uniform and prepared for class with a pack slung over a shoulder, was Wakana. She lowered to the girl that slept the night away in nothing but a large tee-shirt, hand moving for her forehead. "Did you have a party with yourself in the hallway?"

Heavy eyes, weights more than a window to reality, fluttered to the contact, lips smacking to break down the sour taste in her mouth; both stale and sick. "W-W? Wakana?"

Flatly, the girl withdrew her hand, no temperature registered from pink tipped digits. "Bingo," pointing at her. "Pajamas in the hallway, by the closet? Are you hiding a new crush?"

Messy teal swished across a rigid brow as she lifted a tired gaze up to the door, widening further only when her brain sped up to the present. To her feet faster than a bolt of lightning striking, her hands tugged down on her shirt to prevent anything from being seen. Wakana would decidedly keep it quiet? the girl had already exposed everything there was. "W-W-When? What's going on!?"

Fingers splayed across lips as Wakana let out a chortle, one that was easy to the ears. "I think you partied without inviting the ever party-goer Wakana!" A proud response, something she took heavy pride in when serious on the matter.

"I-I?" stammering as she rushed past her friend to return to her room. "P-Please excuse me!"

The door slammed as Mayu made her entrance, snapping the door locked to prevent her friend from entering behind her. "Aw, come on Mayu, it's not like we haven't seen it before!"

A fist met the door as Mayu heard that, turning to shout at the metallic surface. "W-What are you saying?! G-Get out of here!"

A second, equally delightful laugh escaped Wakana as she started to fade with distance. "Don't be late."

Heaving a sigh, Mayu moved off toward her dresser, tugging the drawers open to find a change of clothes. Her Academy uniform had been left hanging in the bathroom, which she quickly headed off after. She was thankful the warmth from the baths served as a desirable weapon to strike fear in the wrinkles of her vest and pleated tan skirt.

Changed, and refreshed not even a few minutes following an embarrassing jump from slumber, she nabbed her backpack and prepared to head out. "I swear, that girl? crazier than Giz?" she stopped herself, eyes quivering as the thought entered her head. Gizmo, Toby's mangy mutt, always reacted in a similar fashion when first laying eyes on Mayu's arrival. So full of life, and treating her like a newfound mother. Why was it that he entered her head.

Then another thought eased itself into her mind. "Super Fluffy Marshmellow Treat?" a name not suitable for a dog, but one Mayu gave Katt's present. "Damn it? Damn it!"

Tearing from the room, the girl eased sneakers against carpeting as she peered around the immediate hallway, throwing open the door. Resting on the otherside, rather than a closet for janitorial duties, was a dim bathroom that was currently not in use. Lurching forward, the girl swam from one reality to another, the weight of lighter gravity in Rhydin causing her to nearly heave herself into the toilet that was positioned on the other end.

Thankfully, the seat was lowered, a quiet praise she uttered as she smoothed out her hiked skirt, and started out of the apartment building.

"I need to find Marshmellow before someone realizes I'm here?" she commanded herself, a mission she was now set firmly upon.

One hour to disassembly

"Mmph?" came a noise, a stirring of consciousness. The young girl rose her head, only to realize that she could barely maintain the weight. It felt more like two million concrete blocks were cemented to her forehead, restricting her movements.

Surrounding her was the quiet sounds of tinkering, tools clattering across sterling trays. A rhythm of monotonous beeping pierced her ears, and she could make out the slightest of words between several people.

"How is our gem?"

"She will? ? but recover."

"And the restrictions?"

"Intact. Our Oto-h? ?"

A cumbersome hand dressed her forehead, brushing away loose locks of ocean that pressed against her complexion, causing the already sickly white to be stressed ten times as much. Although she appeared on the verge of death, her vital readouts came back normal.

"She needs time to recover before I hand her over to your care."

"See to it that it happens as quickly as possible. I would like to?"

A quiet noise escaped from the girl, unable to fend off the hand that continued to run across her forehead. She was hot; beads of sweat formulating a layer of wetness on her pillow, mixed amongst her hair.

"We will be in touch, Yohko."

The door so near was opened, and a lingering presence in the back of Mayu's mind tapered off, realizing that the person tied to the voice had made their escape.

"We need to get you back on your feet, child," a woman's voice called out, the hand being removed. She was unable to fight off the sensations of that hand, as if the contact was still live and fresh on her skin.

Her lashes struggled to part open, the blaring assault of various lights beating down on her vision and ability to make out her surroundings. Almost immediately, those lights dimmed, as if the girl's silent pleas were heard by the overhead spotlights. They were pulled aside, and Yohko's image took place of dark spheres of light remnants. "You're with me, right?"

A faint shake of her head was the most of her response. Following the answer, a pinch was felt in her left arm, the feeling of something being injected into her system. "I'll give you a minute to let these kick in," Yohko disappeared a second later.

"A-Ah? M-Miss Y-Yohko?" Mayu attempted to call out, her organs feeling like they were in a fatal war amongst one another. The sensations of twisting, churning, and clenching caused her to breath eradically.

Yohko couldn't be seen, but her presence remained familiar and close-by. "Don't worry; those are just the nanomachines taking. The pain will subside shortly," she held no panic in her voice. It was so nonchalantly. Was that eerie calm so required?

A sharp sigh escaped the girl, tightening fingers clawing at her chest to try and rid the feeling that her ribcage wasn't about to mutate and tear through her flesh. She was so caught up by the pain, she hadn't caught on that she was moving of her own accord, and had even sat up during her anxiety attack, completely bare to the world. Large, wide eyes stared in disbelief at Yohko, continuing to silently plead with the woman.

"There, there," Yohko commented in hopes of soothing the girl, sidestepping to her left to drape a large bed sheet over her exposed body. "Look at that, up all on your own. That's quite the improvement," she teased, trying to draw the girl's mind away from her panic.

"W-W?" she stammered, unable to form the words she wanted to ask. She fell silent a second later, squeezing her eyes shut to remove the build up of water. The pain was excruciating, but Yohko was right.

"Now, then," she started, allowing Mayu her personal space as she started off to a nearby station. "We're going to get you dressed, then take you back."

The green-eyed child looked weakly at Yohko, "B-Back??"

"You can't stay here," Yohko prohibited. "I am unable to explain the continued reasons why, as per our agreement."

Mayu was always silenced the moment "agreement" came into the conversation. They all made a pact to not discuss her reasons for leaving the Academy; even she agreed to never ask questions, or try to snoop out the answers. While a burden, it was always meant for the greater good. So, she merely went along with the scheme. "All right," she uttered, tying the bed sheet off to treat it like a dress.

They were stationed in a lab that resembled an underground storage facility. Between the several beds and the glimmer of computer monitors, it looked like a second nurse's station. But the distinct understanding that they were underneath the earth, as opposed to a simple station where you fix a scraped knee, kept Mayu guessing. She'd never seen such a location before. "A-Ah? is it part of the agreement to ask you? where are we?"

Yohko rose her head, inspecting the ceiling as she considered the girl's question. "I suppose it's not in the arrangement," she mused, a finger out to Mayu to indicate her. "You're currently in another lab of mine. We do more precise research here."

"W-We??" she asked with uncertainty, glancing around. They were definitely alone, although the zounds of terminals told her it wasn't always so.

"We!" She laughed, returning to Mayu with a set of folded clothing. It resembled her uniform. "While we craft things like your winter jacket, that's not all we're limited to."

Yohko's words reminded her about the mentioning of nanomachines. "W-What about? what you put inside me?"

Yohko nodded, setting the uniform onto the girl's lap to accept. "Those are included. But I am unable to explain them to you." A finger lifted in the air, as if it would speak the word "Agreement" instead of the woman.

"R-Right?" Mayu uttered dejectedly, eyes lowering to stare at the uniform in her lap.

"For now, May," Yohko didn't allow even a second's worth of thought to go into their current situation. She kept the balling rolling. "If you're feeling hardier, then get changed. We're leaving."

Twelve hours to disassembly

I slammed the door behind me and whipped my notebook across the room so hard a few sheets of paper were barfed out and twirled around in the air for a while before settling. I kicked my shoes off and they hit the window and the wall with rubbery thuds. I turned, slammed my fists, my feet.. my forehead.. into the door screaming 'AAAAAHHHHH!!' at the top of my lungs.

After about five minutes of that I sank down to my knees and did I feel better? Not by a flipping long shot, buddy.

I mean, who in the hell did she think she was? Here I am, being the good friend, never asking any questions, never pushing her for answers, always ready with her stupid notes or a stupid ear to listen or a stupid shoulder to cry on.

Who the hell does she think I am?! A girl can only take so much!! And now that I think about it, all this junk that's been happening makes sense. One second she's here and hunky dory, the next there's this half naked guy in my room that says he's her friend.. And then later on!! She's half dead, dead I said, and then she's telling me she fell in love with some girl!! AND I DON'T KNOW WHO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE ARE!!

Not to mention she freaking fell out of a closet from nowhere. And I think it's a testament to our history together that lets me bypass that whole fact instead of bombarding it with lesbian jokes.

My head thunked against the door and I sighed. Maybe she had her reasons for keeping it all quiet from me. Maybe.. she was trying to protect me from something, I don't know.. I'd like to believe that.. But that doesn't constitute.. this.

She's my best friend, she's.. I mean, like, I trust her with everything. It kinda hurts to know that she wouldn't do the same thing.. I can understand why she wouldn't want to tell, like, Tate or something.. But me?

Doesn't she know that I worry about her? When she shows up at school again all messed up, physically or mentally.. I mean, I know that something's happened to her, so it's hard to just ignore.

But I mean.. it wasn't like she was the only one instructed to keep quiet. Actually, I was just requested. Sort of like a 'Hey, yanno when this happens..', yadda yadda. But honestly, wouldn't it have been better if we could have borne that burden together..?

"Mattaku.." I muttered as I slumped back onto the wood floor, stared at the ceiling. It was an awkward position that hurt my legs a little, but I could handle it. Least until someone opened the door and smacked me with it. But I don't think anyone would. May was about ready to pass out when she all but blindsided me with her closet antics, and she was probably still there, drooling a damn puddle through the ground.

Pfft. Serves her right. At least for a little while.

I rolled over onto my stomach and pushed up to my feet. I started tugging at my clothes, pitching them on the floor on my way to the bathroom.

I didn't have time for this junk. I had to take a bath, eat dinner, do homework. NORMAL stuff for NORMAL me. I didn't need any of this. Let May deal with her weird people and her weird closet and her weird.. weirdness.

See if I cared.

Things could not become more solemn. Lows had been met, with the flat end of a sharp tongue. The depths of that bottomless pit known as depression sank so rashly within the girl's heart, tears could not ebb her cheeks as they should. There was doubt in her head, and it ran its course through her body. In time, she'd come to forget that somebody even considered those words.

Words that the girl could not consider as being true.

Sneakers and heels combined into a mesh of clicks and slaps across alabastor tile. The younger no longer provided the older with resistance that could deter the course any further; succumbing to the fate that had been written out for her. Were Yohko's claim true, then truly, nothing was left for her. Bonds and ties that kept her present in one world would come to an ultimate close. A new door would be opened, and quite literally.

Tension in the young girl's legs built up as she passed into a stairwell, knees buckling underneath extremely light weight. She landed with a pop of her caps into the first of many stairs that squared in ascending zigzags to the various floors above. "I? I need to r-rest," she announced to her escort, heaving breaths forcing her body to shudder in exhaustion.

Yohko, only three steps her greater, took hold of the railing as she turned to the fallen girl. "Weren't you a part of the track team? Not to mention softball?you're not telling me you're out of shape already, are you?"

The woman was something of a titan; barely a bead on her brow, nor a sharp exhale of expended energy. May could do nothing but marvel as she rose her gaze to the sight.

"Just as well," Yohko added, steps being taken to unite with the girl. "I imagine your body is reacting poorly to the nanomachines. As I understand it, that's very common."

Ocean pools lowered to the building moisture that pattered onto the rubber surface of the stairs she held for dire support. No matter the breaths she took, more began to surface. She felt as though she'd ran a marathon, and then took a large two-by-four to the chest. Like a young spider in a foreign web, the ability to turn herself around and sit had become a rigorous task. Her muscles had begun to stiffen, and her eyes began to lose focus. The break she was hungering for would only make matters worse, in time.

"W-Wh? What d-do you mean? poorly?" May questioned with a twinge of fear in her voice. "I-Is? it dangerous?"

Yohko let out a quiet laugh, the tips of long nails raking across loose locks of deep green. "Not at all. Although it was my first time administering the nanomachines myself, it isn't unheard of for girls like yourself to become weak and disoriented." Yohko moved to the side of the girl, a hand out in assistance. "In fact, your being able to move at all after this period of time following the injection is impressive. I'm going to be thrilled," she stated with a large smile on her lips.

The woman's hand was acknowledged, and taken rather weakly. Without Yohko's grip, and subsequent pull, the girl might not have been able to get back onto her feet. "Y-You're??"

"We need to keep moving. Can you manage four flights of stairs?" Yohko asked in a whisper to the girl.

May nodded, finding it increasingly difficult to respond between sharp breaths, and a drying mouth.

"Good. Once we're there, I'm going to leave it up to you. We won't have much time following the activation," Yohko explained, slowly guiding May up the stairs as she spoke. "This gateway resembles the one you've been taking. Your body will adjust to it in the same manner. I'll be waiting for you on the other side."

The girl's head lifted, the walls of the stairwell meshing with stale whiteness from the various light fixtures. Her skull was buzzing with aches, and she felt so numb, fainting didn't feel so far off on the horizon. Yohko's constant movement, and inability to let the girl go kept her conscious. "You're??" she started, but fell silent. Her own words panged loudly in her ears.

"I will," Yohko reassured as she rounded the first flight to begin the second, the girl never once being allowed to let go. "Everything will be okay. Understand?"

She didn't. Words had begun to sound no different than her thoughts; the two battling over supremacy for recognition.

The school nurse shifted aside to lower the girl downward onto the sloping steps, but refrained from letting her free. With one hand, she fished into the contents of her lab coat, and produced a small, medical syringe. Unlike the one she used to inject May with her nanomachines, this one was filled with a thick, clear liquid, and possessed a butterfly needle.

With the cap removed, the needle was carefully inserted into an exposed vein within May's wrist, her thumb pressing into the piston slowly to force the substance into the girl's system. She carried a calm, serious demeanor as she treated the girl with the serum; something that broke Yohko's carefree character only minutes before.

May's body stiffened once the needle was inserted, and her heartbeat had elevated to such an extent that it could be monitored from her throat. Protruding veins suggested an unbearable stress that was put onto the girl's body, which had immediately begun to subside once Yohko's injection had been assimilated by her system.

Just as carefully as it had been placed, the needle was removed. The cap was returned, and the syringe disappeared into a pocket. "We'll rest here, if only a few minutes. Okay?"

The girl didn't respond.

Post-Disassembly---Otherworldly Gates Closed

Swimming, the young girl told herself, the sensation of drifting along a calm river running circles across her back. Her reality had blackened, no different from being stuffed into a locked closet. Yet, unlike a small holding cell for clothing, she felt freer than any bird, and as light as any down feather. The entirety of her existence, clamped by mortal coils, had no meaning that very second.

Death's embrace held her in affectionate arms, soothing the soundless worries that plagued her like any ravaging, crippling disease would, leaving nothing but a warm shell to shield what remained behind.

The calm river the girl rode met a shoreline, where her body ceased to feel the crawling of cool liquids. Grit scraped across her back, and under her own sense of control, she rose up to a sitting position. While the endless void continued to encroach on her, she never lost track of that sensation of freedom; now growing like an invigorated seed, gestating toward full bloom without restriction.

Rising to her feet, she called out, "Hello?" There was no response save the sound of her own voice. Amplified like she had her ear to a stereo speaker, she stumbled backwards, and landed on the murky floor of seeping blackness, hands protectively shielding her ears from further damage.

Thoughts? thoughts? she agonized quietly to herself, both sampling whether that came with crushing repercussions or not, and if she could make sense of them. Both were to her grateful satisfaction.

Now, to figure out what the heck is going on? wasn't I in the stairwell with Miss Yohko? We were going somewhere, the details being skimmed over from what she could recall. It became hazier the closer she felt to understanding her current situation, the clarity shifting to characterize that which surrounded her.

Nothing.

While lost in her thoughts, piecing together a timeline of events leading to the present, a streak of fiery orange and red pierced the far distance. It was no greater than a speck, and it shimmered to and from existence like a firefly's chemical reaction. Each burst of lively color shared no insight to its surroundings, as the darkness that enveloped the scene seemed stronger, in larger quantity than even the intense light.

It closed in on her. Bursting from her vision in countless particles, a firework's display in the dead of night, it reappeared each subsequent time, closer than the last. The speed it galloped with rivaled a prized horse on the track, closing in on the final stretch. Her thoughts hadn't even broken away from the timetable she started when she realized something was shrinking the gap between them.

What is that? she questioned herself as she floundered to her feet, arms out to balance herself. That freedom had been strip, leaving her heavy and cumbersome. Intense? I feel so heavy, gritting her teeth, straining to maintain her stance. Her gaze never once left sight of the intense blaze that popped from her vision every few seconds, a deer caught in the headlights of a plowing truck that took no caution to the road, or what may be in its direct path.

So long as it is fast, I will accept it? I? pausing her thoughts. Acceptance of this blazing motion as her demise, she had no reason to regret. Her eyes closed, not willing to look in the eye her damnation.

Yet, nothing would come.

Her gaze opened once more, expecting the worse to be right before her eyes. Like a scene in a play, her surroundings had shifted suddenly, to that of a lush meadow. Tall grass shrouded her, with the sky of twilight allowing the visible spectrum of stars to shine bright. What of the horizon she could see had been layered with snowcapped mountains. Tranquility befell both her setting, and her mind.

"What happened??" she inquired of herself, not able to find a reasonable solution.

Several steps were taken, leaning down to run her hands through the blades of tall grass. Everything felt so real. The smells that invaded her nose were like those back home, when spring would empower the floral to blossom.

"Is this?" she began, but was interrupted by another voice that was like a wind chime on her very soul. She turned quickly, startled.

An intense flame had broken loose within the meadow, yet threatened nothing of its existence. What loose blades of grass that met the flame toyed with their fate, continuously meeting licking flames and wavering to the immeasurable heat that collapsed in on the source: a small, dog like animal. It stretched just underneath three feet, if she were to include the large, bushy tail that hung in a curled limp. Although the flame's aura was intense, she could make out that, although the entire body was of a fiery shade, the tail's tip was as white as the purest of snow. A narrow, elongated muzzle motioned as she heard the voice resonate the meadow's surroundings, "This is not home. But a fair assessment, given that it spawns from your imagination."

It spoke, she told herself, as though she would go insane were somebody to not immediately point that out. "A fox?? But you're?"

The fox's maw parted open, the impression given it was trying to offer a coy smile. "Intuitive," head lowering, sniffing at the ground. The intense flames slowly began to dwindle as its presence came to be known, but never fully snuffed out. "You should wake up, child."

Wake up? "But, aren't I awake right now?" a question that she asked well before she thought well on what the fox suggested of her.

A triangular ear twitched, before lowering to press against its head. "You are in fact not awake," an informative tone as the fox lifted its head to the girl. Bronze eyes sank into the girl's very own, the windows of souls being peered into. "Very much not."

Were it bad enough that she was speaking verbally with a fox, and receiving answers within her understanding, so too was she creeped out by the stare the fox gave her. "I don't understand. I'm here now, aren't I? Doesn't that mean I'm awake?"

The fox lowered to the ground, particles of the meadow they shared breaking apart. The hollowed world of darkness began to creep outwards, pinpointed from the fox's contact. It didn't answer her, allowing the example to speak what words it might otherwise say.

Not natural? she keenly pointed out. Turning full circle, she viewed her surroundings once again. "How do I wake up?"

Shards and particles of the dream reality continued to break, up until nothing remained of that tranquil world which captivated the girl. With it, returned the darkness and silence from before. We must fight it, came the response from the invasive fox.

It? What's it? I'm so confused! she explained, wanting to stomp and pout for being so clueless.

The fox's flaring fire returned to life, carrying itself in graceful steps beside the girl. In time, you will understand. We go.

The presence of the fox, much like how it came to be known the first time, burst from existence in shimmery sparks. Reappearing further ahead of the girl, it waited for her before leading on.

"Fire," he ordered.

Gunshots were once again heard despite the wailing sounds of reality tearing in half, the power beginning to increase as a result of prolong use.

Wakana and May both closed their eyes tight, equally expecting the burning sensation of fresh wounds to litter their bodies, and kill off their existence before they could thoroughly enjoy what life was meant to be for.

"What the hell?" the male shouted, a fist rising. His scream forced their eyes open, and down to their person. Neither had taken a single hit. The two exchanged glances, before looking straight ahead. They were protected? But how?

"Sir, the gate's become to strong! We can't hit them like this!" one of the three goons commented, motioning to the portal itself.

"Now's our chance," May uttered under her breath. Glancing down to the fallen Yohko, she tilted her head downward. "I'm sorry? thank you for everything?" she continued, before turning and grabbing a hold of Wakana by the collar. In one fluid motion, she pulled her friend forward toward the gaping portal, and clear into it.

"Stop them!" the blond called out, rushing forward along with several of his goons to the gate's maw. Leaping forward, they plunged through the threshold of the door, and onto the ground into the classroom that was associated with it. Stammering, the few looked up to where the gate's location had been, only to find it wasn't there.

A fist met the head of one of his goons, pointing frantically. "Damn it! Get a trace on that right now!"

*-*

The gate's glow was warm, and psychedelic to the naked eye. Clutching her friend, May observed the prismatic colors that coursed all around them , and through them. Did they succeed? It would seem it was only them.

The gateway's construction was different, consisting of an eye, instead of a seamless bridge between two worlds. It was like she was back home, playing one of her many video games, where the transition from world to world required a loading time. This was often when she prepared to go to the bathroom, or make a snack?

*-*

The transition from psychedelic phenomenon ended abruptly, the girls being spit out of seemingly thin air, and flat on their rears. Wakana's grip on May didn't let up in the slightest, it being her first transport from one world to another. "W-w?" she stammered, unable to find the words she wanted to say. Yohko's death, being shot at, moving from worlds, it was all too much. She wanted to snap, but wasn't even sure if that was possible that very minute.

An arm snaked around Wakana's shoulders, cradling the girl as she wept tears from the sudden stress that was put on her. May, too, carried her own baggage, complete with tears. But of the two, she knew she could muster the strength to keep herself composed while Wakana let it out. She took the necessary moment to observe her surroundings. "It seems like we're in a train station. Or, some kind of rail system?"

Straight ahead were several pods, of an unknown origin, that were set onto a track. It branched outwards well out of sight, but emerged to a basking sun that was but approaching the noon marker. "This isn't where I normally wind up?" she informed Wakana, who has yet to take in the sights around her.

The station was relatively packed, but nobody offered them any attention as they went about their business. It gave May a peace of mind to know that she might get away without so much as an embarrassing moment when fresh in a new world. Rising up to her feet, she maintained her cradle of her friend. "We should try to find Yohko's associate, and be on our way."

Together, they made their way for the obvious exit, which was labeled for their convenience, and started down the various stairs that lead into the very heart of the city they occupied. Motioning upwards, she gave Wakana a heads up, to try and distract her mind from what had just transpired. "This is definitely not where I wind up," mouthing the welcoming sign that loomed over head.

"Windbloom," they said together, content that they had it correct since the other mirrored it perfectly. Stepping from the canopy of the train station, they emerged on a large sidewalk. Skyscrapers overwhelmed their sense of sight, looming tall and as far as the horizon would allow. In many ways, it resembled the mainland of Japan. But, in other ways, like the various large television sets that suspended high in the air, the holographic displays that advertised the latest fads, right down to the odd designs of vehicles, it was suggested they were anywhere but on Earth that very moment.

"This is?" May started, not sure what to put her eyes on first.
"Overwhelming?" Wakana finished the thought, head turning just as often as May's.

Nearby, a young girl no older than they came to a slowing, lifting an oddly-shaped contraption that resembled a radiation sensor. It, popping like such a device might, became unbearably loud as the girl passed it by May. "Oh my goodness!" the girl exclaimed with excitement. "This means you did get through! Thank the stars!"

May, startled at first by the device, became slightly more worried at the girl that shared her excitement through high pitched squeals. Barely a chance to defend herself, the girl latched onto May's arm with a tight hold. "Now, no running away! I don't want to lose you again!"

Wakana peered at the girl from her other side, eyes fixating on the hold in particular. "I'm sorry? who are you?"

"Oh goodness, I didn't introduce myself! No wonder you look so spooked," a hand meeting her forehead in a tap. "My name is Reina. I'm here to take you to Garderobe to meet with our Director of the Science Department."

The Earthly girls blinked, mouths slightly parted. Either they didn't understand it, or they were in such disbelief, they hadn't a clue where to go with that.

"Goodness, I hope the gateway didn't break you two. That would be an awful pickle!" pausing right then, looking at the two with heightened concern. "You two are the ones that Yohko sent, right?"

Yohko? "Yes! We are! You're the associate we were supposed to be meeting with?" May asked with a perk in her posture.

Smiles sprouted all around, Reina nodding in response, "That I am! If you don't mind, we should be leaving. Normally, our kind remains within the district of Garderobe, to prevent any misdoing. If you'd come with me, we can be on our way."

May nodded to Reina, and offered Wakana a slight frown in apology. The girl, while extremely confused, had become accustomed to meeting new faces, in a new world. She'd already been doing it for two years between Earth and that Rhy'Din place. Reaching out with her other hand, she latched onto Wakana, and started off.

Blips of her vital signs aroused her from heaviness. The feeling that overwhelmed her was much different from slumber: her head pounded, feeling heavily of concrete, and her limbs refused to move as though they were not her own.

Long lashes were entangled with one another, restraining her from opening them to view the world at large. Despite what she couldn't do, she could feel softness beneath her, plush like the clouds she watched on the apex of knolls back home.

Her throat rumbled a groggy sound, announcing her stirring well before her brain was prepared to comprehend everything that overcame her. A second sound caught the attention of a nearby attendant. The audible sounds of her shoes clicking against tiling grew louder as she approached to one side of the bed, "Miss Tsuzuki, please try not to move? you've sustained a minor heart attack. You're stabilized for the time being, but you are not out of the clear yet. Please try to?"

The nurse's voice faded like the rolling of ocean tides. Slumber, hungry to consume her consciousness, overwhelmed her, and she was soon no more lively than a rock nestled deep in the wilderness.

A hydraulic hiss penetrated the silence of the room at large, a second pair of clicks resonating as a tall woman with chocolate brown tresses emerged from a nearby doorway, approaching the girl slumbering on the bed, as well as the woman watching over her, "What can you share with me, Irina?"

Irina was a girl of similar age to May, with hair that swept just over sloping shoulders that she often slouched when not under the supervision of her mentor. The arrival of her tutor caused her to whirl around with a graceful step, and adjusting her glasses. A clipboard in one hand was offered, "I was just finishing my initial assessment of her status, Professor Yohko. She briefly regained consciousness, but lost it soon after."

"Did she say anything?" Yohko asked, taking the clipboard without hesitation, and beginning to study the report. One ear remained trained on Irina's words.

"No, Professor," Irina answered quickly, a slow regard for the girl on the bed, "I'm afraid that? her status has not improved very much at all."

Yohko didn't answer, flipping one page up to examine another. It didn't have any extra notes on Mayu's condition, and was thus put out of mind. As though realizing that very moment of what Irina informed her of, she moved to slide the clipboard into the holder at the end of the bed. "She is stabilized, and that is better than not having a pulse at all," she directed at Irina, a cautious look offered to Mayu as she spoke.

Irina trained her gaze on Mayu no different than Yohko had, adjusting her glasses, "Did you see the secondary report?"

Yohko nodded a single time sagely, "I did."

"What are we going to do about it?" Irina's concern was well-placed, in her own mind.

"We will extract it as soon as her body can withstand the surgery," Yohko turned, and excused herself from the room without further delay. "Continue to monitor her status. I would like real-time updates in my office every twenty minutes."

"Yes, Professor!" Irina stood proudly at her tutor's request, but momentarily had a lapse of thought, "Of her friend?"

Yohko paused at the doorway as she left, glancing over a shoulder. She offered no words before stepping through. The large door frame hissed as it came to a close.

The outside of May's confined room was a larger version of where the girl was housed, with four central displays, and a large desk stationed at one end. Two of the four displays were presently fixated on the girl, which Yohko kept a keen eye on as she sat at her desk. Steepled fingers pressed against her chin as she contemplated her next course of action. "What was I thinking? crude methods like that??"

An unfamiliar burning sensation stirred the girl from her deep, almost medically induced slumber that kept her barred from the world at large. Agony, thought to have occurred only minutes ago, had transpired nearly one week prior. That insufferable ache in her chest, like a knife plunging into every and every muscle and ripping it clear from her vessel, was gone. A fluttering of her eyes intended to seek out her surroundings, but the dull fuzz of light that bore down on pupils ill-prepared to adapt forced her to close them.

She could move, but just barely. Her limbs felt separate from her person; numbness reaching to the very marrow. She wasn't sure if she could muster the strength to push herself from the massive pillow that cushioned her head like one giant marsh mellow. She refrained from trying.

"Ah--you're awake," a female's voice commented with delight. To the girl, it was incomprehensible. A sharp pang struck clear through her skull.

Metallic taps were like gunshots to her drums, and were it not for the aid of the large pillow that drank in her head, there was a clear indication that those magnified sounds would rupture her ears without resistance.

A gentle caress feathered her brow, a clear sign that life existed not only from another person, but herself as well. The graceful brushing was chilling. Or, she were far too hot. Her senses couldn't elaborate on which; and her brain's want to function clashed with her want to simply return to the void of slumber that consumed her prior to this very moment. "Mayu? can you understand me?"

A slow, lethargic shake of her head spoke her response. She could understand it despite the thought she wasn't at all aware of what was being said.

"Strong girl. I've stimulated the nanomachines in your body? you should gain a sense of composure momentarily," the voice continued to speak to her angelically. It was determinable. Slivers of green opened, blurry remnants deciphering browns and blues.

"M-M-?iss Y-Yohko??" a raspy voice called out, seeking that the truth was immediately before her. Was it an everlasting dream? Did her imagination bleed into reality? Were the shackles of truths broken?

A melodious laugh echoed the room.

"I see your sense of perception is good and well. Welcome back," the Professor greeted the girl with a stroking of glossed, filthy ocean. "I will give you a few moments to get your bearings? we have much to discuss, you and I."

The girl rolled her head to the side, shrugging off the touch that met her head. It was gentle, but it was no different than a razor blade to her mind. Shuffling amongst the many blankets that coiled her lithe figure, she pushed herself upright, swaying in self-produced momentum. It threatened to knock her clear over the side of the bed.

Yohko's quick judgments kept the girl from finding such a fate. Her hands acted as a safe that would not be cracked, holding the girl's shoulders with tight intention. Mayu leaned into the hold, allowing the guidance of another to keep her straight.

"What? h-happened??" Mayu asked, feeling the fog that had encroached on her mind beginning to burn away. It took several moments for her to find Yohko's presence. The woman bore an uncanny resemblance to the nurse she put faith in back home? but something was different at the very same time.

Professor Yohko eased her grip on the girl, biding her time until she could rest without anxiety that the green-topped woman wouldn't topple clear over. "You? were a little sick, Miss Tsuzuki. We were able to help you recover."

Sick? The agony in her chest was still fresh in her memory. Absently, she rested a palm across her chest. She hadn't realized she was without clothing, and fully exposed. A quick motion brought a blanket clear up and over her person. "S-sick?? I feel?"

"Better than usual? That would be the reason," Professor Yohko commented, excusing herself from the bedside and returning to the small aid-station that she was previously working at. "Our recovery efforts involved introducing new nanomachines into your system. These will take better than the ones you were previously using."

Nanomachines? the word was also fresh in her mind, but she had not a clue what they were. Any research she took toward only suggested they were experimental, if not merely a far-fetched idea for something you would read in a science-fiction novel.

Her shaky gaze followed after Yohko. "I do-don't? know what they are?"

Several flasks were produced from underneath the station along the wall, as well as a clear liquid that resembled water. Yohko spoke while preparing a concoction. "Nanomachines are a resource here on Earl that we specifically introduce into young women who are recruited into Garderobe Academy," she paused her actions to observe Mayu's confused expression. This was going to be a long one. "They're tiny microscopic robots that are implemented into a person's bloodstream."

Mayu's expression didn't exactly divert from its confused status. "Y-yes? I've read about them back home? y-you? put them in me without explaining them?"

Yohko didn't want to smile, but it arrived before she could fight the urge away. If anything, she did hope it would alleviate the awkwardness of the moment. "Then I'll get right down to the nitty-gritty," the clear liquid was added to a flask, while another, more vibrant orange liquid was produced. It was measured, and added. "They enable a person peak-human strength. With the correct monitoring from our end, they can also provide a certain level of supernatural healing. Consider them a secondary resource for metabolic enhancement."

Blink. Mayu was extremely confused now. She opened her mouth, but found herself incapable of asking a question. She didn't know where she wanted to start with the path of enlightenment.

"As I mentioned prior," Yohko continued, moving to return to Mayu's side. The milky orange drink was offered over without hesitation. "These are used by anybody who has become a student here at Garderobe Academy. We train Otome here, who act as a means of protection to important political parties. Typically, continental leaders. Presidents, Emperors, et cetera. They regulate the controls of an Otome's powers, but also provides side-effects, much like what I've already explained to you."

The girl glanced down to the offered drink, taking it up into hand. Her throat was absolutely parched, as though she'd consumed a pound of sandpaper. It was lifted for a small wiff, before blindly accepting it into her esophagus.

While it was an orange hue, it tasted more like a putrid, rotting tomato. She made a face, adding her tongue to the mixture for good measure, to share her discontent with the flavor. "W-what is this junk??" Mayu asked, foregoing the idea that manners would probably be suited best for Yohko's hospitality.

The woman chuckled at Mayu's reaction. She couldn't once think on a time somebody shared their content with her drink. "It's a nutrient-based formula meant to provide you with what you've been lacking. The nanomachines can balance your system when you go without eating for long periods of time? but they'll still require something sooner or later to work with. You can't build a house without having enough bricks."

Mayu winced with a pronounced frown, but lifted the drink up to continue consuming the product. Despite the offending flavor, she urged the idea to regain health. She questioned between hefty gulps, "What kind of powers are you talking about?? Do I have them now?"

"Not necessarily," Yohko answered with a small frown. "While the nanomachines we've provided are linked to our network, using them is absolutely out of the question."

The flask was lowered to her lap, Mayu's eyes lifted to Yohko, imploring she continue.

"You? sustained heart damage from the jumps between where you came from, to where you were going? the last jump to here was specifically damaging." Yohko turned her gaze down to the edge of the bed, and the heels that dressed her feet.

"H-heart? damage? I? did I die?" Mayu's question didn't share the fear that chilled her body.

"Without proper aid, it would have most likely happened? that is why you have these nanomachines in your system now," she informed the girl, hiding the shame she felt over the whole ordeal by preventing herself from even glancing that way. "The nanomachines are set up to specifically, indefinitely, heal the damage your heart is naturally going through by being active. Were you to? require the use of the nanomachines in another fashion?"

An audible sound escaped the girl. It was her fear becoming a sentient creature. "Y-you mean? what? exactly?"

Yohko shook her head. The conversation came so suddenly, and she didn't intend to even be so blunt with the explanations. The moment that she found herself in with the girl was an unprepared one. "?Without them, Miss Tsuzuki, you wouldn't? be alive right now. If you were to be injured mortally in another fashion? the nanomachines would quickly divert their attention from your heart to take care of another injury."

Sense overcame the girl. "Y-you mean? if I broke my arm? or? I would? die?"

The woman nodded her head once in response. "Yes. As I've also mentioned? they provide you with peak-human strength. Were you to require that use? then?"

The girl shuffled on the bed, pushing herself to the opposite side and rising up to her bare feet. She could feel the brisk chill swim over her naked figure, but her care did not find focus on that specific situation. She wanted to get herself away from the woman that was explaining everything to her as quickly as possible. She was intent on running away from the problem, however. The person herself was not at fault. She knew that.

"Miss Tsuzuki, please wait," Professor Yohko rose up to her feet immediately, turning to face the girl that had stopped short of clearing the room and make way into the lab's main hall. "?I understand the difficulty in hearing all of this. It's a terrible burden, but we have every intention of helping you live a normal, healthy life? we won't abandon you."

"A-ab?" Abandon? The girl turned to face the woman. Those words echoed in her mind like a voice that carried through the narrow crevices of a deep, endless cave. "Abandon? me?"

Professor Yohko nodded, sliding past the bed with a blanket wrapped in one hand and approached the girl with her arms held out. "I know that you've had a terrible time growing up with that." Yohko refrained of speaking about the girl's parents. She'd understood about the processing of pawning the girl off to the school. She sought to express her understanding in other ways. "I know that you want to do nothing else but look out for yourself, and prove that you won't abandon people like they have you?"

Yohko wrapped her arms about the girl without hesitation, clutching her tightly to affirm her words. "We all have every intention of looking out for you too. If you will let us? we will keep you safe, and watch over you too."

The bare girl blinked. Liquid poured clear from her eyes, and littered her face in thin waterfalls. Her tears were shed in silence.

A sweeping motion of Yohko's arms brought the blanket about the girl's shoulders. Life was much simpler when nobody was in the nude. "For the time being, the Headmistress is incapable of allowing you access to our school's vast education. As it stands, much is different from your home to ours. However, I have personally taken it upon myself to allow you to stay with me until we can find a more formidable fix."

The girl blinked in another contesting round of confusion. She looked up to Yohko, the tears staining her cheeks in shimmery streaks. "But? what about where I was staying?"

Yohko nudged the girl from the small confinement of the room they shared, breaching into the large hall that was fitting for the Director of the Science Department. "We've already begun preparations for that. With Irina's assistance, a stronger gate jump is in the works that will prevent any lasting effects on your person, so long as we prepare jump windows that will allow the least amount of disturbance between the two realms."

Yohko excused herself from the girl. She took a seat at her desk, and produced a small box. It was set to the top for Mayu to examine for herself. "This is a coral GEM. With this, I will be able to keep track of you at all times should the need arise."

Mayu took the box into hand, observing the coral stud with animosity. "I don't like earrings," she admitted, pinching the GEM between her thumb and forefinger, lifting it up for a closer examination. "Th-that whole? needle thing," she added. The words were laced with a level of amusement, considering that she was standing before the Chief Medical Officer with a failed heart, and previously underwent several injections. "If I wear this, you could get me out of danger?"

The woman leaned against the desk, watching Mayu with a slight smile. "Not entirely, but the GEM is linked to our network, which will help me keep tabs on you. Should anything go wrong in a pinch, it'd be better that you have that on."

A slow shrug accompanied the rising of her hand, slipping the stud onto her left lobe. It would be the first time she considered earrings in over ten years. "S-sounds fine t-to me?" she took an immediate glance over her surroundings. It only occurred to her right then, with everything slowly settling down, that she'd not seen or heard mentioning of Wakana for some time. "W-what about? my friend?"

Yohko pressed off of her desk, and rose to her feet. "Wakana? She's just fine. We were concerned that she underwent a cardiac arrest as well." She stepped around her desk to return to the girl's side. "I believe the jump caused a small network between you two. She simulated the attack while you actually had one. It'd be like me poking you in the face. There's a high probability she'd feel it as well."

"O-oh?? Like? what twins mention having sometimes??" she couldn't recall the exact medical term. But that was not an unheard of process.

"Exactly the same. It should wane in time? it is most likely a direct result of you holding onto each other when you made the jump. Nothing to be worried over!" Yohko smiled wide. She motioned toward the exit at the far end. "If you would like, we can go see her now. I know she's been up in arms this past week about wanting to talk to you."

Mayu nodded frantically, but held off on making headway. "A-ah? w-well? maybe after a shower and? a change of clothes?"

Yohko laughed, "Of course, Miss Tsuzuki. If you will accompany me, we will get you everything you need."