"I hate trains. Whoever invented trains and the whole damned subway system should burn in the fiery flames of hell!!!!"

She was mumbling to herself. No, Hitomi hadn't gone crazy (though she's been accused of that before…), its just the way that people behave after being forced to endure the trials of the subway. No, it wasn't enough that it was pouring rain out there, melting all the snow to slush to just about demolishing her new suede shoes, not only that, but she had to be forced to run down slippery, muddy and wet subway stairs only to miss the train. Stupid cursed train. To top it so sweetly off, the next train to Greenwood wouldn't be arriving for the next forty-five minutes. Oh, but that's not the end of her situation. It only happens to be that she had forgotten her keys in her blasted little desk, and she just happened to realize it four minutes before the next train arrived. You can figure out the rest.

Groaning like the exhausted person she was, she leaned her wet head onto the door of 5B, water dripping from her soaked dirty-brown hair, agonizing at the thought of looking for her keys. She had them. Yep, she had went back and got them and had missed that second train. And now, here she was, with those stupid-ass keys nearly two hours later, wet, hungry, and not exactly pleasant.

The sound of the chain being unlatched from the inside nearly scared her half to death as she quickly backed away. Catherine. She should've thought of that! She didn't need any keys!!! Cathy would've been home to let her in anyway!! ARRRGGGH!!!!

"Oh you poor thing," Her roommate lost all tone in her voice. "Here, let me take your coat," Cathy looked on in pure sympathy at the drenched figure by the doorway. She had never seen Hitomi looking quite so miserable. The woman stood, looking a funny tint of brown from the murky rainwater, shuddering endlessly recovering from the cold. Hitomi was more close to dead than a doornail. Sighing, the small energetic woman lugged Hitomi's heavy and soaked parka to the bathroom tub for drying.

"I'm going to make you some tea Hitomi, ease your nerves a bit huh?" Cathy was all smiles, quickly heading back to the kitchen and sitting the disoriented Hitomi by the dining table.

Hitomi sat there expressionless, peeling her wet hair from sticking on her moist face. She still felt horribly cold, and a tad guilty for making Cathy serve her like this. But in all honesty, she was too brought down to even move. The uncomfortable feel of wet clothing stuck onto her back, the icky feel of soaked socks mushed through her toes, and the strain of a computer monitor ached at her eyes. She did light up though as Catherine sat a cup of green tea and sugar-bread cookies on the table in front of her.

"Oooh, thanks, I really do owe ya now don't I?" Hitomi sipped the warm drink slowly, enjoying every second of being back home. She leaned her head back, falling into the depth of the dining chair. She decided to let time wander, and ignore the session tapes for today. A part of her flourished with curiosity on the secrets those tapes contained; but not today, not now.

"You need it Hito. You're going to catch a cold at this rate," Catherine quickly took a seat across Hitomi, looking at dismay at Hitomi's new and obviously destroyed shoes, leaking brown puddles onto the floor she had just happened to mop.

"Oh… someone has to do something about these slow moving transportation systems huh?" She prodded her eyes back on to her wretched companion. "I couldn't catch a bus with a three ton magnet!"

"Uggh…. I know what you mean!" Hitomi's voice came out all sniffled and sickly, as she groaned and leaned forwards. "It just hurts the mind to think about it." She lay her chin against the cool wooden table, continuing to brush back at those pestering bangs. She could feel almost every muscle in her body accustoming to all the relaxation, soothing their aching selves. If she wasn't careful she'd fall asleep this way.

"I've got all the remedies for a bad day, believe me girl!" Cathy quickly bolted up with a craving to cook some hot chicken soup. She brushed her hair back in a long ponytail, and spotted Hitomi's cell phone lying on the coffee table where Hitomi had left it. "Oh, but before I forget, you forgot your cell here Hito, and you got a call."

Hitomi lazily picked her head up and stared at Cathy's direction. "I did?"

"Um hum. Lady, I do not know how you and Amano plan to have a peaceful dinner with you in that condition."

"What??" Hitomi sat up curiously. She had purposely left the cell phone here, she didn't even want to imagine all the trouble that thing caused. But then again, she hadn't been expecting any calls. "Amano said we're having dinner?"

"Nope," Cathy shook her head plaintively as she organized the kitchen in search of some soup base, every so often looking back out at Hitomi. "It wasn't Amano. It was Mikami's confirming that Amano had reservations for two tonight. I just said you guys were still going if you don't mind."

"Oh…" Hitomi lost her voice in thought, slowly picking herself up to stand at the kitchen doorway. She watched Cathy bustle around the kitchen, talking of things she wasn't quite getting. "That call was probably for Amano then, we share lines."

"Oh that's right, then you should call him, don't want him forgetting your date." Cathy gave Hitomi a little wink, then peeked into the warm pot on the stove, contented to see the water boiling just right. She yanked open the freezer door in search of those frozen peas. By the sound of Hitomi's ail voice she would need the best damn chicken soup ever.

"Our date? He never said anything about going to Mikami's Fine Cuisine." Hitomi leaned her weight against the doorway, mind frazzled. She knew there wasn't any 'dates' between her and Amano tonight. What on earth was Cathy talking about?

"Girl, what is that supposed to mean?" Cathy gave her an odd look as she dumped a package of hard-uncooked noodles into the pot of hot, simmering water. "Mikami's is the most elaborate and romantic restaurant in the whole city!! Personally, I don't even know how you guys possibly managed to get reservations there!!"

"Its Amano," Hitomi sighed, tapping her fingers against the kitchen doorway. "You know, the guy's got all the connections for the next 30 mile radius. But we haven't been there for ages, and I know I haven't been invited for tonight."

Cathy quickly put a lid on the boiling soup pot, and turned to face Hitomi with the same look of puzzlement. "Business meeting I guess?"

"No," Hitomi's tone grew dark, as did her expression. "He's off today and tomorrow, he's supposedly doing in-home studying on his medical practice…"

"Well," Catherine laughed awkwardly. "Let's not rise to conclusions…"

"No," Hitomi shook her head. "Let's." Thoughts started to occur at the back of Hitomi's mind. Mikami's eh? Why would Amano need to go there? There really wasn't any special occasion happening, at least none that she had been informed of. Just what was Amano hiding from her…

Cathy squinted, feeling a little odd. This sure wasn't looking good for Amano at all. She really shouldn't have answered that damn phone, or further yet said anything about answering it. She had just unwillingly got herself involved.

"Well, let's see Cathy. I know for a fact Amano Nekuchi is the only one who can possibly get reservations at that prestige restaurant at this busy time of night. And well, Mikami's… they specialize in buffets right?"

"Yeah, top-notch Chinese Buffet in town." Cathy's face looked absolutely perplexed at Hitomi's pondering image.

"I thought so…" Hitomi clenched her hands quietly behind her back, fingers crushing the helpless sugar-bread biscuit that she had been eating. Aha, she had known it all along. It was exactly what she thought, no doubt about it.

"Funny," She looked downwards, eyeing her bare toes against the linoleum floor, totally making Cathy fidget in uneasiness. "I just can't think of anyone that loves Chinese food more than Yukari Uchida, isn't that funny…"

Cathy uncomfortably wobbled from side to side, guarding her soup, and looking at the apparently wet and upset Hitomi. "Yukari, your friend? Why would Yukari need to speak to Amano?" She could now feel her own nervous lump choking her.

"That's just the thing," Hitomi grinned. "She doesn't."

* * *

"Hey Hitomi? Sup girl?" Yukari closed the blinds as she balanced the cordless in her shoulder.

"Nothing much over here, how about you?"

In all honesty it was Catherine's plan. They had just wanted to find out what Yukari and Amano were up to. Nothing big, no assumptions made, just wondering. After all, it was the most elaborate and romantic restaurant in all of Aimsa, and fact had it they could have at least told Hitomi they were going, instead of it leading up to this.

"Same here, just watching the rain poor. Its hideous out there." Yukari shut down the Word program on her computer and slowly spun around on her computer chair in dizzying circles. "Have you ever seen bridalgowns.com? The selection is just fabulous, I was just on."

"Oh Yukari, you and your wedding updates," Hitomi smiled tapping her fingers against the drying table rhythmically. "My mother actually likes some of the dresses I do, can you believe it?"

"Ha," Yukari smiled. "A common bond at last."

"Omigosh, I know eh? It must be like a blue moon out tonight or something…. Speaking of blue… I just cannot get a good color for the bridesmaids dresses!"

"Seriously? Whatever happened to pastel pink? I thought it was cute…"

"Oh... but the Barbie thing…"

"Hitomi, don't worry. I highly doubt any of us bridesmaids will end up looking anything like a Barbie doll, I can only wish."

"Ha, maybe not, but everyone, well basically my mom, thinks Lilacs would be good for the ceremony bouquets."

"Ah I see, so now you're thinking lavender right? Lavender's good. Spring colours and all."

"Lavender or pink… maybe I could work them together…. but anyway," Hitomi caught a glance of Cathy signaling to cut to the chase. "You wanna go watch a movie tonight Kari? I hear 'Silent Murder' is supposed to be stocked with suspense, you know I love the freaky stuff!"

"Um," Yukari peered out through the blinds hesitantly. 'Geeze Hitomi, what great timing…' she thought. She hadn't seen a movie in weeks, but today was impossible. "Yeah, that sounds like a wicked movie, but in this weather?"

Hitomi grinned to herself. "Yeah, you're right, this rain sure does suck. I guess it'd be hard to go anywhere won't it?"

"Basically," Yukari nodded, feeling quite relieved and disappointed at the same time.

"Ah hell, pleeeaasee Kari? We can survive a little rain! I've been through more than that today!" Yukari was turning a movie down? That sure wasn't like her. Yukari was the type who'd run through a hurricane to see anyone that even resembled Nicholas Cage. A little rain really wasn't the issue…

"Um…" She glanced around her oddly, thinking of any sort of reasonable excuse.

"Come on! Don't make me drag Amano!! I need someone who'll stay awake through most of it!"

"Oh hehe," Yukari laughed uneasily, quickly glancing at the clock by her kitchen counter. 6:37. Oh drat, there was no way she could work the movie in. "I don't think I can make it Hito."

Hitomi smiled, pressing her hand against the receiver. "We got her."

"Seriously?" Cathy looked on curiously. She had just been sitting there anxiously, hoping it wasn't what they all feared. She didn't know Yukari all that well, but whatever news it was it couldn't be that bad. "Then why are they going to the restaurant…. alone??"

"Hold on, I'll get to that." Hitomi released the receiver, wondering why she had just gotten a sudden pang of guilt. It wasn't shameful to be plotting against Yukari like this was it? Well, its not like she was plotting anything much! She just a wanted a few things answered, that's all. Besides it was Catherine's idea, and it wasn't evil or anything…

"How come? You have plans or something?"

Yukari quickly stopped the spinning chair abruptly, words stuck on her lips, not quite knowing what to spit out. Oh geeze, Hitomi was getting a little intent on this one. Maybe she really wanted to see the movie. But with this short notice it would obviously get in the way of Yukari's other unknown plans. "Well kind of… I um… I have to go to Warden tonight."

"Really???" Hitomi's eyebrows narrowed considerably. Yukari had to go to Warden University? That wasn't what she had expected on hearing.

'Yukari don't do this to me, please don't lie to me'. She figured if her own best friend would just come out with the truth life would be so much easier for the both of them. Besides, now that she knew that Yukari wanted to keep the dinner date so secret, it only made Hitomi much more suspicious.

"Yep, tonight is like an open house kind of thing for the freshmen. I just have to go deliver um, some books to… Trista's dorm." Yukari could feel her palms begin to sweat nervously. Damn, she sure did suck at lying.

"Oh… well, great… I guess 'Silent Murder's gonna have to keep quiet for now huh? Could you hold a sec?"

"Yep sure," Yukari breathed out the most humongous sigh of relief that could possibly fit in a human's lung capacity. Hitomi had gone for it. That was too close! Why of all nights did Hitomi have to invite her for the theatres tonight? She was just dying to see 'Silent Murder'! That was not fair! Yukari could watch the previews seventy times in a row and still be looking forward to it. Anything with someone as brilliant as Nicholas Cage had to be worth seeing…

She looked on out at the miserable weather, aware she had only a few minutes before she 'd have to pop in the shower, get ready, and totally do something behind Hitomi's back. She lay her head on the cool plastic of the phone, nudged between her face and shoulder, still spinning slowly. There was no need for Hitomi to know anyway, what's a little dinner? Nothing big. But even if it were smaller than an ant she couldn't bring herself to say it. And she doubted she ever would.

"Open house at the university???" Catherine shook her head grinning. "Both Yukari and me are on our third year, and the open house for the newcomers shouldn't even interest us. Besides, there isn't an open house tonight so that's that."

"Oh…" There had been a very large part of Hitomi that wished Yukari had been telling the truth about the open-house-at-Warden-University thing. But Cathy confirmed it herself, it was all fake. "Its so not like Yukari to lie to me like that…. if she can't even bring herself to say the truth I guess it must be something important that 'I' can't know about."

"Yeah well," Cathy nodded smiling, laying her hand on Hitomi's damp shoulder. "You know very well Amano and Yukari are your two closest friends on this planet; I don't think any of us really need to doubt them."

"You think?" Hitomi looked on up at her smiling too, reminiscing on the wedding, Yukari, grinning with glee with the other purple or pink bridesmaids. Catherine was right. Why did she even doubt her own sister-like best friend anyway? She knew she could always trust her.

"Yeah.. You're right Cath, I really shouldn't be prying into their business anyway." Hitomi loosened her grip on the phone, feeling her nerves lighten a bit.

"Hey Yukari, sorry about that, say we catch the movie on Saturday or something?"

"Oh yeah sure!" Yukari agreed emphatically, glad to not be letting her friend down, relieved to see that Hitomi wasn't pressing on the issue. "You can count on me. Hey Hito, can I call you again tomorrow, I um, should be getting ready for Warden now…"

Hitomi smiled regardless of the Warden thing.

"Sure, I guess I'll talk to you later."

"See you Hitomi."

Hitomi gently hung the phone back on its nestled cradle, and tucked her hands into the soft deep pockets of her bathrobe, every so often picking at the embedded lint. That wasn't as nerve wrecking as she had imagined. She hadn't exactly heard anything she would've regretted. Sure, Yukari may have fibbed a bit, but maybe Hitomi was simply digging too deep.

"Don't let it eat at you," Cathy read her expression of uncertainty. "Those two will be fine. Besides, we're not even sure Amano's even going with Yukari. How about we have a little dinner ourselves? It's no Mikami's; but it is the finest chicken soup in all of Aimsa."

"Oh," Hitomi grinned, laughing, picking herself up off the dining room chair. "Of course, why not? Just let me freshen up a little bit, all that rain water sure feels disgusting."

She tiptoed on to the bathroom in her soft padded slippers rubbing her aching neck. Hitomi rested her arms upon the cool counter, glaring at her dim reflection listening to Cathy setting the warm soup bowls onto the dining table. Her face was a little run down with streaks of mascara running down her cheeks where raindrops had sailed. That problem was eased by a refreshing splash of water, perking Hitomi up a bit.

It must have just been the day. It must have just been the whole clutter of things that had picked at her through this whole day and whole evening that made her so anxious over Amano's plans. It really didn't bother her as much as she let on. Maybe it was the trains, or the dreams or the wedding or the session tapes, or something… and all this was just cluttering her mind until she began acting a little drastic. Things were right now. Now, things were calm and cool and fine. It didn't matter where Amano or Yukari were eating dinner tonight, or why they wouldn't discuss their plans, or whatever it was they had discussed on that fateful phone call from before, it really didn't matter. Amano was Amano and Yukari was Yukari, and no matter what it was, it wasn't worth losing them for.

Hitomi sighed feeling a little more fulfilled. She ran a soft brush through her damp and drying hair, bathing herself in the aroma of chicken wafting in from the kitchen. A part of her actually did want to see that movie with Yukari, it had been a while since they just went out and had fun. She would probably drag Cathy along as well; they were getting along great. Things were going along great, weren't they? She promised herself to see Amano tomorrow. It had been a while since she last hugged him, and clinged to him, gazing into those mature and sensitive eyes. Just the thought made her feel a little lost and lonely. She couldn't stand being upset at him. Who cares about the phone call anyway, she could easily let that go, as long as she never let go of Amano.

Yawning she switched off the lights in the small bathroom, about to walk on down following the scent of delicious cooked food. That's when she noticed something peculiar. Very peculiar. She stood there unable to move for a series of seconds. Now that wasn't right. 'Oh dear God….' She thought. What was going on?? Still frozen her eyes remained locked onto a little dangling necklace that lay against the pearl white of the bathroom counter. No. It couldn't be. Her pendant? What?!? Why was it there?! Why!?

Quickly she snatched it off the counter inspecting it closely. Yes, it was hers!! But… but… Hitomi's hands shakily let it drop to the floor, landing onto the soft bathroom carpet. She gazed at it helplessly, its round ruby shape as if mocking her. Why? Why were there TWO of them??

Hitomi slowly looked down to the bare of her neck, where of course, the second pendant lay. The second one. Why was there even a second one?? She fell to her knees, by the one she had found here in the bathroom, looking at the identical counter-parts. Gazing at them. Studying them. She felt almost frightened, and was left speechless. It was uncanny. They were identical. One lay there, on her neck, and the other she had picked up in her hand. There was no way that one of them belonged to Cathy. No way that anyone could possible have the same necklace as hers. To be so similar and exact to the last detail… no way…

Quickly she unlatched the one that she wore upon her and held it up against the light, side by side with its twin. She could barely tell them apart. All she knew was the one she found was in her left hand, and the one she wore in her right. Either than that, differentiating from the two would've been impossible. She moved her hands slightly; watching amazed as both pendants swung…. Slowly… back and forth…. Back and forth.

"One…. Two… three…." She counted along with them, counting with every beat. But both pendants kept right up. Both swung over and over with every second she counted. They mesmerized her with their gracious movement, flowing naturally from one side to the other, in sync with each other, pinkish beams radiating from their unique gems.

She could hear soft violins playing behind her. Cathy must've put on her classical collection while waiting for Hitomi. Really, now wasn't the time to be obsessing over the mystery. Half of her just wanted to get up and get something to eat, put all the weirdness behind her. But she just couldn't bring herself to let the pendants go.

Slowly standing, both necklaces still at hand, she quickly switched off the light again. Hitomi had them both clenched within her fists, and she stared at them through the darkness. Her right hand began to tremble, and she knew why it was so. Slowly, in a spurt of fear she unclenched her fingers of her right hand, shutting her eyes quickly scared to look on. Both hands lay open now, necklace lying within each. Slowly breathing she decided to open her eyes. In the midst of the dark bathroom she could see it. She could see what she thought she would see. There in the reclusive dimness of the room lay two pendants. The one on her right captured her attention. The one on her right drew every breath in Hitomi to a pause. The one on her right sat within her trembling hand and it looked on back at her as it glowed. It glowed, with brilliance. It lay in her hand emitting the warmest little pink light that danced upon her fingers and twinkled in her eyes. It was not her imagination. It was real. So real. This was the pendant he had given her. This was the real one, the authentic one, the one that glowed that same night she met him. This was the pendant her grandmother wore and given upon her to keep. This was the pendant that had been missing for five whole years without her knowing. And, it was back at last.

She flicked the light on and latched the genuine necklace back on her neck, feeling at last that it was more than just a necklace. Feeling that feeling about it that she hadn't had in so long. Feeling complete. It glowed back at her, friendly like, as if happy to be back as well, right where it belonged. She dropped the other look-a-like pendant back into the depths of her robe pocket, and went off to finally get some of Cathy's classic chicken soup. It was time to move on now. Things were going along great.

* * *

"Right this way sir…"

She had a distinct scent to her, the waitress that is. Amano couldn't quite touch on exactly what fragrance it was, but he knew he had caught a whiff of it before. He followed her dazed by the waft that floated from her, knowing in a few seconds that Hitomi also had the same perfume. Yes, it was the one that Hitomi had worn that night they went to Sunset Beach and gazed at the soft stars sunken in depths of satin skies for hours on end. He instantly recalled holding her slender arms and listening as she described all the hundreds of astrological patterns that lined the night sky. Wow, that had been almost six months ago… but yet, he just couldn't keep his mind off her.

"Would this be fine?" the small delicate waitress brought him back to earth, stopping by a private candle-lit table, surrounded by bouquets of fresh roses and stunning angel-carved fountains. She drew back one of the velvet-chairs and tugged out her small notebook and a spare ball pen from her apron pocket.

"It's wonderful, thank you," Amano smiled gladly receiving his menu and setting the other one down by the empty seat next to him. "We'll be taking the buffet today Marianne."

"Very well," Marianne Dowes nodded, putting away the pen and paper and looking over in the direction of the buffet tables. "May I suggest the lobster selections for today; also I'm sure the Missus will adore the new steamed Chinese vegetable rolls." Marianne, kindly reached over and handed him the wine menus. "She is a fan of the occasional Mordeau is she not?"

Amano smiled gently, glancing every so often at the overwhelmingly romantic environment. "Oh yes, Hitomi does love the shot of Mordeau, but um, she won't be accompanying me tonight." He smiled anxiously at Marianne's surprised expression.

Marianne nodded understanding, but actually feeling quite astounded herself. She had only been serving Amano and Hitomi since they first started attending Mikami's back a few years ago. But who was she kidding, they didn't always have to come here together. But then again, it was a restaurant for couples…

"Well, just call on me when your company arrives and you need some drinks alright? And starting at nine it will be open bar. Would you like any soup appetizers or anything like that Mr. Nekuchi?"

"Yes Wonton please, thank you Ms. Dowes." Amano nodded and slowly sat as he watched Marianne disappear behind a large cluster of aromatic flowers and candles. He dusted off his dress pants continuing to flatten down a pestering crease around his knee. As he drew his attention upwards, he couldn't get over how much Mikami's had changed over the course of a few months! The whole restaurant seemed to flicker in candlelight, and was bathed in the soft red of roses everywhere. There was a wide assortment of flowers weaving around delicate wooden patterns and floating in crystal vases. He could hear the faint echo of violins and cellos with their ongoing tune… the rough brass sounds trumpeting loudly from a Tenor Saxophone as fingers dazzled their way along the golden keys, drifting his mind away with the rest of the soothing atmosphere. He arched his neck this way and that to try to catch a glimpse of the mini-orchestra somewhere within the large restaurant. He also couldn't help but notice how odd he looked. There in the midst of dozens of other tables all occupied by romanticizing couples engaged in soft whispered discussions was little ole Amano, sitting there alone by his candle lit table, tugging feverishly at the red, satin tablecloth in need of something to do.

He peeled his eyes off his surroundings for a moment to inspect the little napkin swan left on the table by the serviettes. He gazed at the intricate little cloth being, and pondered again on how they did that. Hitomi knew how. She was pretty amazing at Origami, and would often blow up flat pieces of paper into sphere-like cubes, or into a geometrical river bird. The little things she did amazed him so. If she were with him right at the very moment she would have probably collected a vast assortment of cocktail umbrellas and line them up together in all their wondrous colours. He would watch as her small, slender fingers would gently open each umbrella as they extended their fragile miniature segments. Then she would place them down on the table and fold constantly at a napkin until it resembled something like a miniature beach towel, which she placed under the umbrella. If she just happened to find a spare piece of paper lying around, she would somehow manifest it into what looked like a tiny person that would lie on the imaginary towel basting in the shade of the cocktail umbrella.

Amano sighed drawing his head off his hands and watched mesmerized as the candles flickered before him. The wax slowly oozed down the candle side, filling the small silver tin that lay beneath. He was so taken back by the soft glow of the burning flame he almost didn't come to notice two hot steaming bowls of Wonton soup placed right before him.

"Oh thank you Marianne, how quick." He smiled up at her, wondering how long she had been standing there gawking at him stupidly watching candles melt.

"No problem Mr. Nekuchi, would you like something to drink or should I wait until your guest arrives?"

"Never mind, here she is now," Amano stood smiling politely as he finally spotted Yukari slowly weaseling her way around many occupied tables. She gave a small wave placing her umbrella amongst the jacket closet.

"Here let me help you with that," Amano appeared out of nowhere, graciously hanging Yukari's soaked coat. "It's pouring out there huh?"

"Sure is," Yukari sounded almost out of breath. Actually she was. Just as Amano, the newly renovated Mikami's took her aback. She could barely peel her eyes off the luxurious surroundings as Amano dragged her along to their reclusive little table where Marianne still stood.

"Good evening Ms. Uchida, how are you today?" Marianne greeted her with her usual tone of courtesy. She had easily recognized Yukari from a high school reunion both her and Hitomi had attended at Mikami's a few months back.

"I'm doing great! Wow, hello again Marianne! No need for all the politeness, you know you can call me Yukari!" She grinned as she took a seat in one of the comfortable chairs.

"Yes I know, I just forgot your first name that's all!" Marianne joked resting her hand on Yukari's shoulder. They all began to laugh in that odd formal kind of way. Normally Yukari would simply belt out laughing but instead she put on a sweet smile, humble giggle, fingers lightly poised by her lips. Amano noticed her frail attempt on some sort of formality and had to bite his lip hard to keep from belting out laughing himself.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, I'll give you two some time before I get your drinks." Marianne gave a small spin and once again disappeared behind a large vase of crocuses and daffodils. Her mind was frazzled. Yukari Uchida? Now out of all people, that girl was the last she'd expect to see; especially since she was Hitomi's best friend. Did things not work out well between Amano and Hitomi?? 'Oh what a pity,' Marianne thought as she collected empty dishes from the vacant tables nearby. 'Those two looked so cute together.' She could still remember when Amano and Hitomi had dropped by a few months back to announce their engagement. It was strange that it could all end just like that…

"Well," Amano turned his attention back onto his newly arrived company taking his seat by her. "Don't you look different tonight."

"Ha, thanks… I think…" Yukari grinned back at him, dusting off her glamorous silk dress. Amano was right though. She didn't look any bit the same than the usual Yukari. It looked as if she had put aside her usual sneakers and white blouse for a unique combination of a scarlet red gown accenting the amber highlights in her hair. Her appearance went hand in hand with the exquisite atmosphere of the restaurant around her.

"50% off at Laura Petite's, you know those good old sidewalk sales."

"Ha, women, go figure." Amano rolled his eyes dipping a large round spoon into his bowl of soup. "What is that, size 0.1?"

"NO, geeze," Yukari laughed it off, also blowing at the steam flowing from the Wonton. "Size 6, and proud of it. That's hard enough to get to as it is."

"You and Hitomi, I'm telling you guys, the two of you are scrawny. I've seen broom handles with more flesh than that." Amano's eyes fell on Yukari's rather slender wrists. "I'm surprised you survive all that wind out there without your arms snapping in half like toothpicks."

"Oh please Mano, like YOU are so perfect. What are you anyway, 130? And THAT isn't underweight to you??"

Amano shrugged carelessly sipping away at the last morsels left in the bowl. "165 if it's any of your concern. At least I've got enough fat to cast a shadow… unlike some people…"

In the midst of bringing a steaming spoonful of soup to her mouth, Yukari's eyes narrowed flashing Amano the evilest look she could master. He withdrew his tasteful comments (for the time being) and eyes wandered towards the tempting buffet trays off to the right knowing better to question the 'look'. He got enough of those from Hitomi.

"You ready for some real grub Kari? I am starved, after all I did have to wait for you."

"Okay, I'm coming already," Yukari quickly dabbed away at her lips with a napkin, and cautiously stood up by Amano and sauntered over in the direction of the piles of delicious Chinese food. "

Ooooh…. Would you look at this selection?" she mused. "Dammit, if I wasn't on this diet kick…"

"Diet kick?" Amano couldn't believe his ears as he seized a newly washed plate from the clean china pile. "DIET KICK? Did you NOT hear me mentioning the scrawny/anorexic thing from before?? ARE YOU DEAF?"

"Shut up!" She gave his left foot a good stab with her heel. "I AM NOT suffering from any stupid eating disorder, and I've got more flab than you think! Geeze, now I'm trying to convince you that I'm fat?! Do you know how weird that is? Look, I'm just trying to lose some weight before I show up at your very own wedding with blubber overflowing through my bridesmaids gown, alright?"

"Oh ha, that is SO funny. I just got this hilarious mental picture of you with the dress 'two sizes too small'."

Yukari brushed him aside wondering why on earth she even bothers putting up with such an ass. She had a theory about him. Every time Amano was with his associates or around Hitomi, or some other respectful people like that, he acted all superior like; she's seen it before. He's like that nearly 23/7. But of course, he saves at least one hour of his good day to unleash his male genes and become a total and utmost jackass. Why on earth did she bother talking to him? Maybe she did have an eating disorder. Yeah, she has eating issues and the lack of food is starting to get to her head.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'm just playing Yukari! Talk about your everyday mood swings… it can't be that time of the month again, can it? My gosh, right when Hitomi's done with that here comes Yukari at full steam…" Amano hurriedly tried to catch up balancing a plate of fried chow mein and sweet and sour pork.

"Not helping the situation Amano," Yukari rolled her eyes exhausted by his stupidity, placing a giant slab of mouth-watering lobster on her plate, and adding one to his. It was always reassuring that no matter how annoying he was; he was still paying for the dinner.

"No, its not that time of month, it's a not a damn mood swing, its just putting up with the likes of you. Now go get some more fried rice on that plate, we'll see who's doing the fattening over here."

A few minutes later, Amano reluctantly returned to their table with two roasting plates full of teriyaki, shrimp, ribs, noodles, stir fry, rice, egg rolls and what not (Most of which Yukari had dumped onto his plate for him). Oh wouldn't this be fun, now Yukari was releasing her "womeny" genes, the twisted gene that makes all females of the world irritable, moody, naggy and bossy. She had that look plastered on her face now. That look. How did women do that? It kind of scrunched up their face; eyebrows narrowed, eyes cold. But when he tries to do it, his face ends up resembling some sort of demented baseball glove or something. He could feel his temples throbbing just thinking about it. Yes, it must've been a talent. A motherly thing he was bound to never understand.

"I wonder what poor Hito's up to now…" Yukari sighed setting her plate down pushing the empty Wonton bowl to the side. "Did you know I sacrificed a good night out at the movies just for this?"

"Really? What movie?" Amano glanced up at her carelessly as he picked his way past a bowl of vegetable noodles with a pair of stubborn plastic chopsticks.

"'Silent Murder', it just came out too…"

Amano started fumbling with the sticks and nearly sent them flying across the table. "'SILENT MURDER'? You mean NICOLAS CAGE? Ha! I don't believe it! YOU miss your dream boy Nick for dinner? Not a chance in hell!"

"Whatever! I'm not lying!" Yukari nearly threw a fit as she insisted against Amano. "Me and Hito could be right there in the Cineplex at this very moment… but noooo… instead I'm here watching you eat."

"You're only watching me eat because you're anorexic and won't eat your own food! Now why on earth would you miss on your 40-years-too-old celebrity crush to come to a dinner with me?"

Yukari tightly gripped her own pair of chopsticks in a threatening manner, an easy weapon if Amano decided to push the envelope on that skinny thing, or even dare to make fun of the one and only, Nicolas Cage. "Man Killed By Eating Utensil"… hey at this rate, it could happen, if not would happen. She brushed her hair back behind her bare shoulders, slowly nibbling at a sizzling egg roll as she amused at the thought.

Catching that 'I'm-secretly-plotting-your-demise-look' in Yukari's eyes, Amano quickly figured it was time to get Yukari off the topic of conversation. He'd better watch what he said to that girl. She had a pretty big impact on his life; little was he aware. If he made one wrong move, she could convince Hitomi to… who knows… not marry him? Or worse? Judging by that sinister look plastered on her face… he really didn't want to know what she had in store.

"Soo… have you ever wondered how a Chinese buffet could wind up to be the most formal restaurant? I mean it's an all-you-can-eat kinda thing, right?" He leaned back sipping slowly on the warm tea he hadn't even noticed Marianne had left on their table.

Yukari sat quietly, chopsticks poised in front of her, noodles dangling with chunks of vegetables occasionally dropping back down to the plate below.

"Have you?" he repeated, feeling nervously intimidated by her silence.

"Sometimes…" she agreed nodding, eyes locked onto the lifeless food in front of her. Maybe all that stuff Amano had been blabbing about was starting to kick in, because even when surrounded by the finest food in the city, she barely felt hungry.

"Hey, didn't you ever say something about coming here for your wedding, Amano? Or were you going to rent a hall?"

"Nope, this is the place," He grinned surveying the restaurant, patting the table proudly. "Great isn't it? The whooole place to ourselves!"

"You're kidding?!" Yukari grew an even smaller interest in her food as she locked onto Amano. "Can you even reserve Mikami's? It is a restaurant after all…" her voice trailed at the sight of Amano's bobbing head.

"Sure, of course! Me and Dave go way back." Amano had that smug look right on his face, a little too overflowing with confidence.

"Dave?" Yukari couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as she continued to watch Amano answer her in-between shoving his face full of chow mein.

"Dave Li Peng, the owner of Mikami's. We used to attend business classes together. Obviously he got further than I did…. But I'm sure Dave wouldn't mind to spare me one day to celebrate in this five-star kinda place."

"My Gosh, Hitomi sure is lucky… damn… Mikami's eh? Wait a minute..." Yukari tapped her chopstick curiously. "Amano, have you even figured out how much it's going to cost per head yet?"

"Per head? Oh my mother has that down, something like $110 at the least per person."

"WHAT?" Yukari exclaimed unbelievably, studying him, then realizing that if he was going through with that Mikami's idea, he probably wasn't kidding. "Amano!?"
She hushed, trying to keep her voice down. "You said that Hitomi and you decided not to take donations from the guests!"

Amano looked at her doubtfulness curiously, as he continued to work his way through a pile of sesame meatballs. "Yeah… we're keeping that. We're not taking donations from our guests, Hitomi finds that horribly rude, and I agree with it pretty much."

"So how the hell do you plan to pull off $110 per head?" Yukari leaned over and hissed the words at him, hoping to not embarrass Amano, because chances were he probably knew everyone in the whole restaurant, knowing Amano Nekuchi that is.

He continued to give her back that phased look, not quite getting why she was so concerned about the prices. "Yukari, I'd say 110 is pretty reasonable. It covers the price to rent Mikami's, the dinner, decorations, invitations and the D.J. Not bad if you ask me."

"Not bad!? Have you lost it? Amano, you're inviting near to 200 guests, and at 110 per head… the two of you will go bankrupt!! Never mind the cost of Hitomi's gown, or the bridesmaids!! Or the new house you plan to buy? You know, I think you could've pulled it off if you guys would just take some friendly donations or something, but you can't depend on your own salary for all this. Think about it!" Yukari's face had nearly drained of color. Hitomi wasn't even touching the whole 'prices' aspect for her wedding. Mrs. Nekuchi, Amano's mother, had promised to take care of everything, since she was an associate for this financial group or something like that. What would happen when Hitomi heard of all this? She'd freak for sure!

"I have thought about it, Kari, or should I say, Ms. Pessimistic. My whole family has! And I know I can pull it off, it's really quite a bargain. Look, my nursing job pays pretty well you know, and I have been saving for this for months, ever since we were engaged. I should get my Ph.D soon, and I can start my own practice soon enough, I've been looking into that. Also, my mother's using her savings on this, she said she would use it on me someday anyway. Terry, you know my brother, says he can cover any extra expenses, and we all know Tomi gets pretty decent pay at her receptional position at CGU, so I'm not concerned at all. As for the house, Leo's my retail salesman, he's been researching some fabulous deals for me, and he already picked one out a few weeks back right by those fancy suburbs near Hitomi's place. Besides, a lot of the people in charge of the services know me pretty well, and don't mind if I go on a loan for like a year or something. It's fine. I promised Hitomi the best wedding money could buy, remember?"

"Oh Amano…" Yukari furrowed her brows as she sat absorbed in thought. In some ways, Amano's plan actually made pretty good sense, but then again it seemed to always backfire in one way or another.

"Your plan sounds so foolish yet so sweet at the same time. Renting this whole restaurant just for the wedding, my gosh. You know, financially, I do hope you pull it off. Romantically, I know you're miles ahead of the game. You're still planning to do those little romantic thingies we talked about now aren't you?"

"Oooh yeah…." Amano nodded, that smug look written all over him once again. Yep, those wedding plans he had cooked up with Yukari were just amazing. A wedding couldn't dabble so much on perfection as his would. She had reminded him one day, of Hitomi's obsession on fairy tale stories. Hitomi would always have those little angel figurines, or unicorns or what not. But her favorite of all fairy tales or Disney tales had always been 'Cinderella'. It couldn't have been more perfect! Nope, it tied together all too well. Right after the glorious wedding reception at the most elaborate cathedral in town, the two would exit the church steps in a flurry of dazzling confetti, greeted by none other than a one of a kind, round and glitter-white carriage, resembling the one in of course, 'Cinderella'. The two finest, whitest horses would be leading the front, walking proudly in the streets, strolling them all along through Gore Park right down until they reached Mikami's Fine Cuisine, where Amano had left off in his trail of creative ideas.

"You are too much. The two of you. I feel blessed just to be part of all this. I can't believe how lucky you are, or how risky you are to do this entire scheme. It makes you wonder what Hitomi will look like when she sees that little carriage thing; she'll have that whole Oh-my-Gosh-I-can't-believe-this-is-happening look going on! It's so sweet!"

Yukari was now beginning to lose herself in the fantasies of the wedding which wasn't even hers to begin with. But she couldn't help getting a little bit carried away. After all, the three of them have only known each other for near to eight years now! Eight whole years together! Never would have she imagined that this day would come, when they'd go beyond tardy bells and science class right down to moving out on their own. It amazed her in so many ways. She couldn't help but plaster on a disappointed face to see Amano's eyes wandering off in another direction, obviously not giving the wedding as much thought as she was. She shook her head slowly sipping on her tea, trying to block out the giddiness from inside… trying not to make it obvious that she was getting a little too energetic about the situation.

"Hey… have you talked to Hitomi about that phone call yet?" Amano's voice cut in and threw the conversation right off topic, his eyes still drifting around the restaurant.

"No," Yukari answered placidly, almost having forgotten about that issue from the night before. "I've talked to her, but she hasn't said anything. Why? Has she told you something?"

"I haven't talked to her lately," Amano replied, sounding kind of out of it, practically jerking his head this way and that to see above the looming vase of petunias.

"Haven't talked to her? Geeze, when was the last time you guys just went out on a date or something? I'm thinking you two seriously should spend more time together, honestly. Am I right Amano?"

Yukari brushed her russet bangs back slightly, somewhat annoyed to find Amano lending his eyes to his surroundings and entirely tuning her out, again. One moment, he puts up a perfectly fine conversation, bringing about topics, defending his opinions, and then boom, the second someone else starts talking, all of a sudden the man that dropped his spoon at the next table just seems so much more fascinating.

"Amano!" Yukari snapped, rolling her eyes for the one-too-many times that night as he gave her back that childlike 'what'd I do?' look. Frankly, she was surprised he actually fixated himself on her this time, for at least longer than a half second.

"Amano! There better be a wild group of punk-rock extra-terrestrials with Gillian Anderson on bass guitar and David Duchoveny on drums playing right behind me; because at this rate that would've been the only possible thing much more interesting than what I had to say!" She continued heckling at him sternly, this time not too concerned whether others were within earshot or not, maybe even wanting them to be…

"What??" Amano raised his shoulders defensively. "I was listening to you, but no offense, I would kinda tune you out if the cast of the X-files were playing percussion right behind you, but in this case I just happened to have the talent of doing two things at once: listening to you and watching that freaky kid over there."

Yukari rolled her eyes once again, having a feeling that it wouldn't be long now before they fell right out of their sockets. "Freaky kid? This better be worth it." She yanked herself around on her chair, watching the seam on the edge of her skirt, and glanced over in the direction Amano's eyes were apparently glued on.

She could make out small groups of people hovering around the heated buffet trays, every now and then wandering back to their tables with one full plate, and heading back to the trays to retrieve another. Waiters and waitresses dressed in tops of white and bottoms of black winded around buffet tables, cautiously balancing trays of food on their shoulders for those who had ordered on menu, carefully weaseling around all the feisty buffet customers. The bartender by the bar was lazily making small talk with the two or three single adults that had stopped by for a drink, as they all waited impatiently for open bar to come along, and the real party to begin. Now that she thought about it, to actually see a kid in this place under 18 would probably be kind of freaky.

"I don't get you Amano, I really don't." She shook her head, as she got ready to turn her attention back on her loose-minded companion.

"Wait, Kari, look right over there, see by the place where the little band is playing the piano and stuff? See that kid? He's dressed like an adult, but he's still way too young to try to play that one off."

"Oh my gosh! I see him!" Yukari made a 360º turn to look right in that direction. There she had her eyes fixed on a rather young boy, dressed in suit and tie, but with such eyes of innocent crystal blue that gave away his youth. His small face was crowned with the blondest hair ever, falling down past his eyes and sometimes near to his chin. It was patted down the sides of his face because of the rainwater that had managed to soak through. There he stood, eyeing the buffet tables with a small, empty plate on hand. He wandered slowly, obviously trying not to make himself look too conspicuous. And it was working too, for either than them; no one else seemed to have noticed.

"Isn't that the weirdest thing…" Amano couldn't help but muse.

"I wonder where his parents are…"

"Oh that's not the weird part." Amano had his finger on this situation, and it was obvious he was cooking up something in his mind. "I don't think the kid's here with his parents."

"Ha," Yukari snorted at the idea. "So what, he's got a birthday party here or something? For Pete's sake, I can't even get into Mikami's without like a month's reservation! That kid's gotta be here with somebody."

"Yeah? Then tell me why this is like the eighth time I've seen him walk by, alone."

"Oh Amano," Yukari managed to peel herself away to turn back towards him. "Will you let it go? Honestly, you're like a little puppy or something, anything and everything except for what's important fascinates you."

Amano leaned back on his chair, trying not to make it obvious that he was still eyeballing the kid. He didn't even pay much heed to his quickly getting-cold clumps of half-eaten food. "Well, you got to think about it a bit, Kari. The kid's circled that exact same spot around the buffet trays a dozen times now, and each time he's come around with an empty plate. It has to have already been 15 minutes or so now. No one can look around that long without picking out something, and he always disappears from sight every time a waiter goes by."

"So what are you implying?" Yukari blew softly on her tea, letting herself be entertained by Amano's odd thoughts. "The kid's in here alone?"

"Yup, somehow managed to sneak by and now is trying just to blend in with everyone else."

"And do enlighten me, what on earth would he accomplish by doing that?"

"I'm not sure, there could be a whole variety of things. Maybe he's lost or something, avoiding somebody, or just trying to get some free food. You'd probably have to ask the kid I guess."

Amano raised his head up startled as Yukari noisily placed her chopsticks down onto her plate. "Ask him Mano? Why didn't you say so?" She picked up and folded the napkin on her lap, tucking it underneath her dish.

"Hey, you're not really going to ask the kid are you?" Amano couldn't help but stare at her oddly, not seeing why Yukari was now getting interested when only a few minutes ago she looked as if she was to bat him over the head for even bringing up the topic.

"Well, why not?" Yukari was already up, neatly tucking her chair in. "If it'll get you to focus a bit more on the wedding, then I might as well."

She gave Amano one last look as she winded her way around the groups of dining couples, to the buffet trays only a few steps away. Amano watched from a distance, still jerking himself this way and that to try and get a good view. Sure enough, the young boy was still there, looking inattentively at the selection of food items with his empty plate. The warm tray lights cast a red tint on his lemon yellow hair, making it seem a fiery orange; with that little feature he sure wasn't hard to miss.

Yukari stood motionless one foot poised still on the carpeted dining area, the other resting upon the clean, white linoleum floor of the buffet section. She couldn't help but bring herself to stare at the little innocent child wandering amongst the aisles of food. What was Amano thinking? The kid just looked so adorable! She felt kind of stupid to be there about to accuse a small boy of sneaking into Mikami's. She really didn't believe it too much herself. He was most likely here with parents or something. Actually, up close he looked a little bit older than he had from their seats. At this point, he could've been say around eleven or twelve years old, but surprisingly none the less, still cute as ever. She decided a little small talk couldn't hurt.

Yukari slowly crept over to his turned back, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. Suddenly, she drew her hand in surprise as he practically leaped in shock. He had a startled expression on his face, as did Yukari. She really didn't expect for the kid to be so much on edge.

"I'm sorry," she soothed, gazing into his perplexed glimmering eyes. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"That's alright," the kid replied, in a voice that actually startled Yukari. Judging by his sound, he must've at least been twelve or so, much older than he looked. She also couldn't help but notice the way he instantly stared downwards, and avoided eye contact to the point where he continued to gawk at the door, the entrance and exit of the restaurant.

"Anyway, hi my name's Yukari, my friend and I couldn't help but um…" Yukari quickly stammered for words, not knowing how to go about saying that Amano and her were suspicious about the kid. "Well we uh, noticed you because you're the… only child we've seen around here in Mikami's lately-"

"Why? Do you work here?" The kid instantly interrupted her clumsy train of words, with a question that only aroused her suspicions even more. Why would he want to know that? Yukari couldn't help but recall Amano saying something about the kid avoiding the waiters or something like that. She glanced at him silently, watching him get more anxious to disappear from her sight. Yukari had a good feeling she wouldn't be able to get much out of this kid if she didn't play along. After all, she was honestly starting to get curious on why on earth the kid was even here.

"Well, um yes, I'm a cocktail waitress for the bar, but I'm off today, having a little dinner date kind of thing. This usually is a restaurant for adults and couples you know. I just, was kind of curious how-"

"I'm here with my parents." Once again he jarred the words mid-sentence of Yukari, answering her question before it was even asked. She furrowed her brows noticing the way he was slowly backing away from her, eyes focused on the direction of the exit. Geeze, what was wrong with this kid? He looked just so endearing a few minutes before and turns out he's some sort of adolescent paranoid. She gave a glance around but saw no one that could be potential parents around the buffet tables, and she doubted anyone would let their child wander around alone for twenty minutes in a prestige restaurant like this.

Yukari couldn't help but give him one of her looks. "Well then, I'm sorry to trouble you, um, I never did catch your name…"

The kid had rudely turned now, heading to the direction of the doors. He paused slightly at the sound of Yukari's last words, and hesitated a moment. "It's Steven, and I'm sorry but I have to go now."

Yukari stood and watched stunned as the kid ran out of the restaurant, dodging all the real waiters that were around, and leaving his empty dish upon the jacket closet. She just couldn't come up with a thought at the moment; that had just been too odd. Everything out of that boy's mouth was nothing but a lie! Well that part was obvious. But she still hadn't really cracked on why he had been lying in the first place, or why he was even there. It boggled her mind too much to even think of such things. Why did she care so much anyway? It was probably just some kid out for a free meal or something.

As she headed back, a small white piece of paper on the ground caught her attention, interrupting her thoughts. It lay crumpled on the floor, of which she noticed it hadn't been there before. The kid, or rather "Steven", must have dropped it. Bending over she inspected it only to see trails of run down ink, most likely from rainwater. The letters were hard to make out, but if she squinted hard enough…

"So what happened?" Amano was all ears as Yukari finally settled in her seat again, with that tiny stained note in her hand. "Where'd he go? What'd he say?"

Yukari peeled her eyes away from the blurry letters on the dirty paper and looked at the eager, anxious Amano sitting across from her. "Well, let's just say our little blond friend, 'Steven', sure has issues. The very second I even came close to asking why he was here, bang, he just bolted right out."

"Bolted right out? He left just like that?"

"Yeah, basically. Cute but weird, aren't they all…. I'm going to have to rule out your free meal theory though."

"My free meal theory?" Amano slouched in thought. "What's wrong with that? Why else would he be here?"

"Mano, if he was here for a free meal, wouldn't he have actually bothered taking some food and oh I don't know, eating it maybe?"

"Oh yeah, I guess your right." Amano sunk even further into his chair as he looked onwards to the glass doors of Mikami's, trickling with water droplets from the outside. "Then that doesn't make much sense. He was in here with no company, not here for the food, and acting all suspicious. What could a kid like that be up to?"

"I don't think we will ever figure it out, either that or it's none of our business. But check this out, I think he may have dropped it on his way out." Yukari reached over and handed the crumpled card onto Amano, who eagerly began inspecting it trying to solve a mystery he sort of had begun to create in his own mind.

"What is this? It's all runny, I can barely make it out."

"I know what you mean," Yukari leaned over and squinted as she glanced at the blurry scribbles. "It looks like a name and phone number, or an address probably."

"Yeah I can see by that by the way he wrote it, what'd you say his name was again?"

"Steven, or at least that's what he told me."

"Steven eh…"

Amano's eyes quickly adjusted themselves to the stained ink, as they began seeing forming letters in the jumble of splotches. The address was an absolute hopeless case, disappearing to the edge of the crimpled sheet, but the name was barely legible. It did start with an "s", both first name and last.

"Shed…" Yukari mumbled underneath her breath.

"What'd you say?"

"Shed… I think that's what it says, the first name I mean." She continued staring at it trying to make out what the last name could've been.

"Shed? What kind of name is shed?" Amano looked over the first name again.

"Ha, what kind of name is Amano Nekuchi? Yukari Uchida? For pete's sake, everyone's like that, it's called multi-culturalism Amano… multi-culturalism."

"Pssh," Amano took the advantage of being able to roll his eyes at her for once. "'Culturalism' isn't even a WORD Yukari, geeze. Besides, can't you see that 'i' before the 'e'? I think it says 'Shied', not 'Shed'."

"Yeah whatever, so Steven's really Shied, that dirty little liar. What gets into the heads of kids these days…."

"Yeah, well this kid ain't exactly normal. His name sounds oddly familiar though, or at least his last name."

"What? You can read that?"

"Sure, we've only been gawking at it for about five minutes now, it says Shied Sheizar." Amano tapped the crumpled sheet confidently.

"Oh your right, it does." Yukari lifted it up to the candlelight, glancing at the now visible name. "Well supposing that the name on the sheet is this kid's real name, then I guess our little kooky case was some kid named Shied Sheizar, hey you're right… that name is… oddly familiar…"