Chapter 1 : Trance

Admin Posts : 88 Join date : 2012-11-27 Location : Anime

H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

The time was 2:50 and school had just ended. It was another boring day filled with semester exams and annoying teachers. But, lucky for her, it was now the start of winter break, and she made plans to go out with her two friends, Kai and Azumi. They always went to this small manga cafe after school and today was no exception. Shoving her belongings into her small backpack, she carried it by the handle and exited her Biology classroom. The three of them were, in a way, childhood friends, and it was hard to seperate them. It was difficult to see any time that the three weren't together if they weren't in their different classes. See, each of them were in different programs, so that made things somewhat complicated, but apart from that, they were always together. Hikari was a short and petite teenager, who had long black hair and somewhat pale skin. Her blue eyes reflected the aura of the sea and she was dressed in her usual school uniform, a red colored collar shirt and a skirt. She stepped outside of the school boundary, waiting for her two friends, as she checked her cell phone. It was 2:55. Kai was typically a lazy person so he always got here around 3:05. A small yawn escaped from her parted lips and she started to play with her phone, randomly clicking the buttons. As time passed, she saw Azumi exit the school as well, and she waved at her "childhood" friend, a small smile plastered to her face. "Hey!" she exclaimed, her voice sounding somewhat bland, even though she was secretly happy.

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Azumi:Oshiro

Azumi exited as quickly as she could. The school day was finally over. Due to several years of tutoring, the exams were no big stress, she was much more concerned about spending time with her friends. She had been taken out of school for a while when she was nine. Azumi had been so scared that no one would remember her when she returned, but she managed to stay in contact with Kai and Hikari, so I guess you could call them 'childhood' friends. As always, they were going to the manga cafe today after class. Azumi truly treasured this time and made no attempt to hide it. It was wonderful to have friends like them. But as she was leaving school, a couple people waved saying goodbye, and her manners prevented her from just ignoring them. When Azumi got outside she heard Hikari call to her. Unable to contain her delight, Azumi raced over and gave Hikari a hug, "Hello! How was your day? Where's Kai? I missed you guys!"

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Kai:Agito
Kai went into the locker room, over tehre he washed his face.. In the mirror he saw a light skinned face with dark hair that was so long that it covered his ears, his eyes were red and he wore glasses. Kai was tall and somewhat muscular, however no one could tell due to him covering himself up. He walked out of the locker room and headed outside. He was making himself shade by raising his arm towards the sun. Winter break had started but it was still sunny. While he was walking he noticed Hikari and Azumi hugging. He couldn't help but smile, as they were all childhood friends. Seeing them again after a long day before winter break made him as happy as a guy could be. He walked over to them. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

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H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

She was not expecting the hug, but it made her smile. "My day was boring. Especially those semester exams. I just want to head out to the manga cafe," she said to Azumi. Another voice made her look back at the front doors of the school, watching Kai, her other "childhood" friend, walk up to them. "Just waiting for you. The usual," she exclaimed to her male friend, a small smile on her face. After another minute or so, she managed to deattach herself from Azumi and she stretched her arms out. "It's finally winter break. Other than the manga cafe, we should make other plans. I really want to watch the new movie that came out," she said. She walked with Azumi and Kai to her car, being that they were all 16, they could drive. Although, compared to the other two, she was the richest, and so, she was the one that drove them from place to place. The manga cafe wasn't that far, but it still took a ten minute drive from the school to get there. She shifted into the front and started the car up, waiting for her two friends to enter. The entire parking lot was filled with other students, who were making their own plans or the anti-social ones were leaving as quickly as possible. The temperature was rather mild and a breeze swerved through her black hair. She pushed the car into reverse and turned the wheel left, shifting her foot onto the pedal. The car swerved forward and they were on their way to the manga cafe.

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Azumi:Oshiro

She released Hikari and beamed at Kai, "Kai! Wonderful! It's a nice long break, which means lots of time with you guy!" Azumi fixed her dark-brown bangs which had fallen over her eyes. She was a little taller than average and had a slender frame from too much ballroom dancing. Azumi tilted her head in thought, "A movie sounds great! I'll see if I can convince my parents to let me out of the house over break." A slight breeze followed them as they walked to Hikari's car, and Azumi's pigtails swirled about. She noticed all the students that rushed to their parents cars, eager to be alone. Azumi realized that it could just as easily be her, all alone over break without friends like Hikari and Kai. She felt incredibly lucky and held on to that on the 10 minute ride. Her stomach grumbled slightly, "Oh hey, can I borrow some money for food? I left my stuff at home..." Azumi laughed slightly.

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Kai:Agito
Kai was sitting there, anxious to hear about what they were going to do next, although he didn't really care about the activity, he just wanted to be with his two friends. He heard Azumi asking for money for food. "Instead of money, I can give you some food, I always have food, I love food ya'know? Did you know, having a bitter drink or bitter food before having a sweet drink food amplifies the taste of the sweet drink or food? In fact, whenever I get a pumpkin muffin, I make sure to have bitter coffee with it. There's nothing that tastes better then bitter coffee with pumpkin muffins. The same goes with donuts. Oh lord, have you ever tried a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese? The taste is so good... it makes your taste buds party. You don't even know. Here, try one." Kai pulled out three cinnamon bagels, all loaded with cream cheese. "One for me, one for you, and of course, one for Hikari."

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H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

She blinked, listening to Kai rant on about bitter and sweet foods, keeping most of her focus on the road. It was important to focus on the road due to the reason that it usually just had a bunch of drunk drivers or old people. Old people were really slow drivers and it annoyed her when she wanted to go fast and an old person happened to occupy the car in front of you. In any case, she managed to take the cinnamon bagel that was loaded with cream cheese and she stuffed it into her mouth, her hands back on the wheel, so the bagel was just hanging from the teeth of her mouth. She tried to say something, but it just came out muffled and strange. Repressing a sigh, she continued the drive, finally stopping in front of the manga cafe. It was loaded with people already, but the manager always reserved a special table for them, since they were his "favorite" customers. She stopped the car and finally removed the bagel from her mouth, wiping her face with the back of her hand. She took a bite out of it, her taste buds, indeed, "partying." She looked at Kai, a small smile on her face. "This is actually good..." she said to him, before taking another bite. She waited until her two friends exited the car before locking it, and the three of them entered the cafe. The cafe was a medium sized building and was completely full of people. To the left was an entire section of manga, that someone could take and read at his or her own time. There was even a rent policy, although if you lost the manga, you would have to pay a fee so the manager could buy another copy. She sat at their usual table, which was located in the far back, and she let out a small yawn, taking out her most recent manga, Love in the Mask.

Posts : 51 Join date : 2012-11-27

Azumi:Oshiro

"Whoa...never had one of these before." She took a small bite of the cinnamon bagel. "It's so good! How have I been missing this for so long?! Thanks, Kai!" She continued nibbling at the bagel and licked her fingers when she was done. The cafe was full of life and she was glad that they had a space reserved. She smiled at manager and said hello before walking over to pick a new series. There were a bunch on the shelf to choose from. Azumi selected at random and walked back to the table with 'Betrayal Knows My Name'. Azumi sat down, crossed one leg over the other and began to read. At some point she saw that Hikari had out 'Love in the Mask', "Hey, what's that about? The cover look nice."

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Kai:Agito
Kai looked at Hikari as she ate it all and complimented it. "It's good, isn't it?" He then answered to Azumi. "Congratulations, you ahve just lived." They arrived at the manga cafe, Kai was the first one out as he was the last one into the car. Once they got inside his ear twitched when he heard the phrase "What's that about?" From Azumi. He got over to her side so fast that no one beside them noticed. He then looked at the cover, it read "Love in the Mask." "Are you kidding me? It looks nice? Woman, you haven't lived a second life until you've read this manga, it's a Korean manga, about a girl who has been forced to look like a guy for work. She acts as a bodyguard, she meets this other guy at school. Oh lawdy, the handsomeness on him, however, she's restricted from going out with him because her boss doesn't want her to and because every knows her as a guy and then like-" Kai stopped there. "You'll have to read to find out~" Kai went and got the manga "Ga Rei" and ewnt to their table, he sat down and opened the book. It was the fourth time he was reading the manga. "This manga is so feel-full."

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H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

She had just started Love in the Mask, so hearing Kai nerd-rage about it made her sigh. "Hey, I just started this manga because of you. Stop spoiling everything, you nerd," she complained to Kai. She was now on chapter 7 out of about 160 chapters, so this would take awhile. "Anyways, should we try to go to the movies tomorrow? I think I'm free tomorrow but then I have to give piano lessons to this guy. My parents are forcing me to do so," she said. Her eyes were now focused on the manga, reading the page as she waited for her two friend's reply. She had a sudden slight headache, although it didn't bother her that much. "I'll be right back..." she exclaimed to her two friends. She stood up, closed the manga, and walked over to the nearest bathroom. The bathroom was kept nice, clean, and tidy, which made her appreciate the manager of the place even more. After conducting her business, she left the bathroom, and walked back to her seat, the other two engaged in some random conversation. Not wanting to jump in, she opened her manga back up, surprised to see a...symbol? There was a symbol on the page, but as quick as it appeared, it vanished, so she wasn't able to get a good look at it. After another second or so, she decided it was just her own imagination and looked back at Kai and Azumi. "This place is so busy even though it only opened up at the start of this year. I guess people really love manga as much as we do..." she stated, ruffling her hands through her black hair now.

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Azumi:Oshiro

Azumi smiled at Kai's nerdiness and at Hikari's boldness. "Well if you say it's so great, I'll read it...after this series." She had gotten to the part where Zess saves Yuki on Walpurgis night when Hikari suddenly got up. Azumi gave Kai an uneasy look, "Do you think everything's alright?" She was a bit worried for Hikari now. But when Hikari came back into sight Azumi changed the topic, "So what do you think of kittens?" Hikari seemed fine now, which put Azumi at ease. "Yup, it's really amazing that this place is so popular. I hope we can meet lots of other nice people here. But honestly, I just am glad to be out of the house." Azumi went back to reading. Time seemed to speed up and when Azumi looked up again, she thought that maybe it was getting time to go home.

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Kai:Agito
Kai was staring into the manga, not really reading as much fantasizing as how he could be this books' main character." "Man, if I had a katana like that in my hand, I would kick some butt." He continued looking at the graphic images picturing in his head, the same scene that Ken and Kagura were in, they were going up against Yomi's ghost. In his head, he had his own weapon, a black bladed katana with a red hilt. "Wow..." His imagination however, was crushed as Hikari came back from the bathroom. "Ey buddy, you okay there? Do you wanna go home? I'll drive if you do."

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H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

"Hm? No, I'm fine. This is the first time we've been together in a week because of semester exams. I don't want to ruin it for you guys," she said to Kai and Azumi. She flipped through the pages of Love in the Mask somewhat slowly, her eyes looking from page to page. Her headache was starting to get worse and worse, although she continued to keep a blank face. Winter break was a total of 17 days, so the three of them should get quite a bit of time together, although some of that time would be used up for tutor sessions and the random activities her parents planned for her. See, her parents had a successful company, and she was set to be the next head, since they never had any sons. She was an only child, but that sucked, since she had to do work, and she was a lazy person. Probably more lazy than Kai, which was a sad thing. A small yawn escaped from her parted lips, the noise around her getting gradually louder, which irritated her headache even more. "On second thought, yeah. It's getting a bit loud here. I'm going to head home, but you two should stay here and catch up. I know it's only been a week, but a lot can happen. Anyways, I'll see you two later. Here," she said to the two of them, and handed the keys to Kai. Before they could protest, she stood up, placed the manga back on the rack, and left the manga cafe. She felt like walking home and her parents didn't care about that specific car, since she owned another 3 just for herself. She started to walk home, a cold breeze now swirling around her. Blinking, the symbol appeared once more and faded right away. But, she got a more definite look at it. It was shaped like a lightning bolt, although that was the only thing she saw. She shook her head, the headache getting more intense. "What the hell...?" she murmured to herself, crossing the street into a small alleyway, which was a shortcut to her house.

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Azumi:Oshiro

After Hikari left Azumi tried to go back to her manga and just enjoy being there, but it didn't work. "I know Hikari said to catch up and stuff, but I can't help feeling like something's wrong...Do you think we should go after her?" She waited for Kai to respond and her eyes wandered over to the clock. "Plus I have to get home soon, you know my parents don't like me out late." Azumi got up from the table and returned 'Betrayal Knows My Name'. "Sorry Yuki. Sorry Zess. Some other day, I promise," she whispered to manga. She turned back to Kai, "So, you driving or what?"

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Kai:Agito
Kai replied to Azumi's question. "But... Yomi and Kagura... two beautiful, wonderful people..." He sighed. "I guess we could go after her... I'll drive, sure." Kai reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue lanyard followed by some keys, there was a copy of Hikari's car keys. "She tends to leave her car alot, doesn't she?" He placed "Ga Rei" back on the shelf from where he took it and turned. "Can I get some coffee first? Wait, why am I asking." He looked at the line, there were no people there, once he got his coffee he walked outside and got in the car. from there he started to drive towards Hikari and saw that she was taking a shortcut to her home, the shortcut however, wouldn't let the car go in, as the car was too wide. "I guess we're walking from here Azumi."

Admin Posts : 88 Join date : 2012-11-27 Location : Anime

H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

She continued to walk home, taking a break at a green light. The cars zoomed by her, the cool breeze getting significantly cooler as her own headache increased in intensity. Hearing footsteps behind her, she looked back, somewhat surprised to see Kai and Azumi following her. "Why are you two following me? I told you two to stay at the manga cafe and catch up..." she said to the two of them, still keeping a blank face now. The cars came to a halt and she turned back around, drawn forward by some calling. She walked pass the cars, getting on the other side of the street. Except, she wasn't heading home now, she was heading in the other direction, her senses completly disorientated. After a few minutes of pointless walking, she finally ended up in a large open space, her headache vanishing instantly. "Uh...where the hell am I?" she murmured to herself, ruffling her hand through her black hair. This was just a perfect day. She went to the manga cafe with Kai and Azumi, and now she is in some random open space and she had no idea where she was. A small sigh escaped from her parted lips and she turned around, ready to go back, before she realized that there was no exit. She was in a closed open space which made no sense, since how did she get in here in the first place? Looking around, she stopped as her gaze focused on the floor. The symbol was now expressed clearly across the floor. It was the form of a lightning bolt, with multiple small markings that surrounded it. Each marking was formed in some odd way, making shapes and colors she had never seen before. "This is like a scene in a manga...manga moment #88. Wait...nothing like this happens in real life..." she murmured to herself, before the headache came back, even worse than before. The closed space turned into an open one, but she was unable to move. Whatever that symbol was, it was some type of seal thing or whatever. Footsteps echoed behind her and she realized Azumi and Kai had somehow managed to follow her. The markings around the symbol started to peel off the floor, turning into white doves, and started to fly around her and the area. Whatever was going on, it was not normal...

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Azumi:Oshiro

"Hikari!" Azumi sprinted toward Hikari. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but soon Azumi was lost in the swirling white doves. She panicked. The worst thing that could happen to her happened. She was alone. Doves obscured Azumi's vision and made her feel slightly dizzy. But she had to think through this. She knew the general direction Hikari was in and stumbled forward. "Hikari! Where are you?" Azumi yelled and kept moving through the swarm. This was weird. This was so incredibly weird and she didn't want to be alone in the weirdness. Azumi turned back for a second, "Kai! Can you hear me? Where did you guys go!" She continued moving forward until she think she touched something...

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Kai:Agito
Kai followed Azumi who was sprinting after Hikari. He however, was walking. "Why the rush? It's not like she'll get far you know, might as well save your energy. Kai looked down as he was walking. "Man, some day we're having." While looking at the floor he called to Azumi. "Hey, you find her yet?" He looked up and there was no one there, just an area with nothing but pure white. "The hell is this?" Kai rubbed his eyes, once he opened them back up, the white area turned black, it was illuminated by fire on the ground. "What the hell?" Kai yelled "Hey, anyone out there?!?" He looked around for a bit avoiding the fire, his eyes soon focused on a dark figure with a katana. "Hey, is that thing real?" Kai pointed towards the katana. "I don't know, why don't you come and check?" The dark figure was provoking Kai. "That's really funny man, mind showing me the way out?" The dark figure pointed towards the only white part of the area, it seemed like a hallway. "Thanks man." Kai said. He started walking towards the hallway. The dark figure however, jumped in front of Kai and stabbed him through the heart. He then gave Kai a large grin, his teeth were what seemed to be fangs. The dark figure then opened his eyes. "Tell the being that I said hey." Kai's vision was going blurry, he looked at the dark figure his eyes were yellow. "You son of a..." He swung his fist at him and landed a direct hit, the dark figure, did not move an inch. "I guess just one stab wasn't enough for you." He pulled the Katana out and stabbed Kai three more times in the chest. Kai then fell to the floor, his eyes were blank. He was dead.

Admin Posts : 88 Join date : 2012-11-27 Location : Anime

H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

She shook her head again, the white doves still surrounding her like mindless creatures. The headache was still increasing in intensity, her head searing with pain, as if it was going to split open. She shot her hands out, trying to shoo away the birds, although that didn't seem to work, if anything, it made the birds even more agitated. She stumbled slightly, her eyes closing for a moment, and reopened them a second later. The doves were gone and so was the symbol. She wasn't even in that open space anymore, but just in darkness. "W-what's going on...? Azumi!? Kai!?" she exclaimed outloud. She knew her two friends had followed her here, but it seemed like that she was truly alone now. As time passed, she started to feel heat accompy her headache, fire started to burst around in the darkness, a firey red-colored light now combined with the darkness. Her eyes widened slightly and she took a few steps back, only to find that only fire was behind her as well. The fire started to close in on her and she opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Nothing but silence and then, she felt nothing but pain. Flames was what she was and she fell back, her own soul drifting away, before everything went dark.

Posts : 51 Join date : 2012-11-27

Azumi:Oshiro

Through all the frenetic doves and all their noise, Azumi's hand reached out and made contact with something warm. Something that had a pulse. And then all was silent. The birds all froze and disappeared around her. She could see again. Azumi's eyes followed her arm down to her hand and she saw what she was touching: another hand. The hand was big and warm and strong. She then realized who it belonged too. Shou. Shou that disappeared 7 years ago. Shou that had made her mother cry and her father forbid Azumi from leaving the house. Shou with his unmistakable piercing golden eyes and his shaggy, brown hair. Shou, Azumi's big brother. Azumi wanted to say something--she wanted to say 7 years worth of something, but she just stood there holding his hand. She felt his warmth and how real he was. She looked to his face for answers, but he had a blank expression and his eyes always made her want to look away. In one swift step, Shou closed the gap between them and grabbed Azumi's neck, lifting her off the ground. Azumi's hands went to her neck. The same warm hands that she had just been holding were now choking the life out of her. Shou didn't let go. Azumi struggled, but couldn't break free. Time was still frozen, and she slowly died in silence. Alone. But right before she lost consciousness, Azumi heard Shou whisper, "Good night, dear sister."

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H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

After being surrounded by mindless doves, engaged in manga moment #88, and being consumed by a ball of fire, there wasn't much else she could be surprised by. Except, for one fact. She wasn't dead. She was happy about that, but she was still confused by what had just happened. She opened her eyes to see a sky of blue, her face prickled by an endless field of green grass. Sitting up, she ruffled her black hair, looking around. It was a little obvious that she wasn't on Earth anymore, mainly being that there were three suns in the middle of the sky. She stood up and looked down, surprised to see that Kai and Azumi were on the ground. "H-hey, are you two okay?!" she exclaimed to the two of them. She knelt down by them and started to shake them, not knowing what else to do. White doves circled the three of them once more before they dispersed, a cool breeze swerving through the area. Kai started to mumble about food, so she knew that he was alright, but she still wasn't sure about Azumi. Whatever happened, it seemed to shock the two of them, well the three of them at least. The doves, the symbol, and the fire freaked her out, but her surroundings made her shock even worse.

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Azumi:Oshiro

Azumi woke up gasping for air. She woke to someone's touch and leaped away. She had just shoved Hikari, "S-sorry! I thought...you were someone else..." Shou. Azumi's hands went to her throat, but nothing, it didn't feel bruised at all. When she steadied her breath, Azumi finally looked around at where they were: blue sky, green grass...and three suns. A few feet away were Kai, grumbling about food and Hikari, staring at her. "I'm alright now. Sorry again for pushing you. Um, any idea what happened? And I agree with Kai...I'm getting hungry." Azumi laughed quietly and sat down on the grass to sort out her thoughts.

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Kai:Agito
Kai was still on the floor, his eyes however, returned to it's original state, as if he were resurrected. He got up and sat on his feet with his knees out front. "Where did he go?" He got up to his feet this time, looked around and saw Azumi and Hikari. "Have you guys seen a dark figure around here, with yellow eyes and fangs? He and I have a score to settle." Kai put his hand to his chest, there were blood stains on his shirt but no markings of any wound whatsoever. "What the hell?" He looked up at the sky, there were three suns. "Do you two know where we are?"

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H i k a r i : D e n a u l t

She did not expect to be pushed by Azumi, and stumbled backward onto her knees. "It's alright. I don't know what happened...but now is not the time for food," she exclaimed to Kai and Azumi. She stood up slowly, watching Kai come to his senses. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Nothing like that exists..." she said to Kai, her voice low. She started to look around, still bewildered by her surroundings. She started to walk around a bit, seeing if she could still walk, being that she was consumed by a ball of fire. "I don't know what's going on...there were just this symbol that kept popping up. I-I had a headache and then these doves surrounded me...I was then consumed by fire," she said to them, her voice breaking midway. She shook her head, ruffling her hair with her hands. This was driving her insane. All she wanted was a nice winter break with her friends and now the three of them were somewhere who knows where. She stopped, finally noticing her clothes. "What the hell...?" she murmured outloud. She was no longer wearing her school uniform, but a long blue overcoat and a black shirt. The skirt was the same except it was now blue and she was wearing one legging on her left leg and none on her right. Knee-high black boots covered her legs and feet. "What happened to my clothes?" she asked and then looked back at Kai and Azumi, who also had makeovers. This must have been some type of sick joke or something. She finally sat back down, resting her head onto her knees, completely defeated now.

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Azumi:Oshiro

"Yeah, Kai, I don't know what you saw, but I sure didn't see a vampire anywhere...though I saw something just as rare. In any case, it sounds like we all went through a lot...did you guys die too?" Azumi looked down at her feet and noticed her costume change. Brown, fringed boots replaced her everyday shoes. Then she noticed the white thigh-high stockings that lead up to a red pleated skirt. Azumi's top half was dressed in a long white shirt with brown uniform jacket over it. Two black belts were seated on her hips. On her shoulders she found a brown, patterned shoulder cover with a high collar. In spite of all that had happened, Azumi laughed, "Eww, what am I? Dracula?" To complete the set was a nice and obtrusive red bow at the base of Azumi's neck. "Here we are, out in some unknown wilderness and I get a skirt. What kind of nut-job dressed us?" Azumi shook her head and found two matching red bows in her hair. As everything that had happened finally caught up with Azumi, her eyes began to swell with tears, "...How are we going to survive?"

» Chapter 2 : The Mark
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