Disclaimer: HA-HA! It’s all mine, baby!

Sensei - Teacher. Is used with a teacher’s last name to indicate they are a teacher instead of “Mr.” “Mrs.” Or “Miss.”

Baka - Moron, stupid, idiot. Take your pick. ^_~

Byooin - Hospital.

Okaasan - Mother.

San - The ending of a name, is the equivalent of “Mr.” or “Mrs.”

Ningenkai - Human World.

I know this is probably gonna be confusing at first, but all will eventually be explained. Now, ENJOY! I command you to enjoy! ...Please?

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“Damnit!” I yell, as I look at the clock. Seven thirty already?! Shit, I’m gonna be late for school! Again!

Okay, you know this routine, don’t panic. Jump out of bed, throw on my school uniform, brush you hair for about five seconds, give your teeth a five second scrub as well, put on your shoes, curse as you realized you put them on the wrong feet, fix it, then run downstairs, eat a pop tart without even chewing and run like hell to school. I’ll probably still be late, but it’s not like Jirojimai-Sensei doesn’t expect it. He’s cool, as long as I’ve made it to class ten minutes after the bell, he doesn’t count me tardy. GAH! Not time to think about that! Get out of bed, Kyoko, you baka!

So I finally get out of the house and now I’m running down the street. I making pretty good time, actually. Maybe I’ll make it on time this time after all-DAMNIT! Red light?! Come on! Grr... One... Two... Three.. Come on! Hurry it up-Ah hah! Green! Now I gotta hurry, I’d like to make it on time for once!

~*~Normal P.O.V.~*~

A man with an bristly face and an addiction to pot was driving in his car one morning around seven forty-five, trying to get his mind off of his hangover. The road was blurry and he didn’t notice the red light, or the teenage girl, until it was too late...

Some say that when you go into a coma, you go into a dream world and stay there until you wake up from your coma. ...But then again, people also say that if you die in a dream, you also die in real life...

~*~Kyoko’s P.O.V.~*~

I didn’t even have time to scream. I saw the car coming, and I felt the impact for about a second, then I blacked out. Then I woke up for about two minutes... I was in a ambulance. Then I blacked out again, and I was on a bed at Lexiakono Byooin, the hospital nearest to my house. I’m surrounded by doctors... Okaasan? My Okaasan is here... There’s a doctor talking to her, and... And she’s crying, I can hear her... But I can’t see here anymore. I can barely hear what they’re saying.

“She’s slipped into a coma, Yuki-san. The chances of her awakening are slim to none... I... I’m sorry, Yuki-san.” Wha-? A coma?!

“...Are you sure? I mean, isn’t there anything you can do?!” My okaasan sounds like she’s near hysterics.

“No. I’m sorry, Yuki-san, but Kyoko is as good as de...” I can’t hear them anymore! ...Ah, shit! What’s happening?! I feel... So... Sleepy............

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Huh? Where am I? ...It looks like some sort of lobby or something... I stand and go over to the desk where a pen and guest book is. The guest book reads, ‘Welcome to Ai-Ai Hoteru!’ Okay... Holy hell! The pen just levitated! And to book opens by itself?!

‘Sign...’ An unknown voice says, ‘And then report to the diner...’ Um... Okay... I take the levitating pen and sign on the empty spot, ‘Kyoko Yuki.’ Immediately afterwards, a strong wind pushes me into the diner.

There, a red headed waitress is standing, simultaneously looking at me and washing the counter. I sit down at the counter.

“Hello there, hun. The name’s Shugah. Welcome to the Love-Love Inn.”

“Um... Hi. I’m Kyoko Yuki. Um... How exactly did I get here?”

“You’re in a coma. This is were people go when they’re go into a coma. Now, I’m gonna fill you in. Listen carefully.” Wha-?!

“If you want to ‘wake up’ then you best stay in here. If you leave, you lose your only chance at waking up. And if you leave, I can’t let you back in. I couldn’t even if I wanted to, those are the rules around here. If you leave, there’s only one place to go, Ledge Cave. You WILL fall off the ledge, and then you WILL die. Ya hear?”

“What kind of bullshit are you trying to feed me, lady? Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“Nope.” She replies apathetically, “But I could really care less if you didn’t. It’s the truth though, so I’m giving you a fair warning. Don’t leave unless you want to die.”

“Look, I don’t know how I got here, but I certainly am NOT staying. I wanna go home, and that’s just what I’m going to do.”

“Listen, this is your last warning. Stay here. Or else I guarantee you will die and you will never get to go home. You‘ll be too busy freezing ya bum off in the fifth hell!”

“Whatever.” I reply and walk to the door, I hear her mutter a “Stubborn little bitch...” As I put my hand on the knob. Whatever. I turn the knob, and crack the door, and I’m suddenly enveloped in darkness. What the hell?! Ah, shiiiiiiit... I take a blinded step forward and I squint my eyes as I see a small light in the distance.

The closer I get to the light, the more I notice a few things. The cave walls are adorned with jewels. It’s very pretty... It’s also very cold... But I shrug it off and keep walking towards the light. I’m very close to it by now.

When suddenly the ground underneath me disappears, and I find myself clutching to the edge. Oh crap-! The edge is cold, and slippery, and covered in snow. I can’t hold on for much longer! It’s getter colder... I’m blacking out again... I’m... Falling...

“...I told you not to leave.” I open one eye at the sound of that annoying waitress. She did give me a fair warning, but that only makes it more annoying. I’m currently laying on a table in the diner. I sit up to look at her.

I give her a weary look before replying, “You were right. This IS hell.”

She growls, “Do I look like Enma to you?!” But before I can answer she quickly adds, “Never mind, don’t answer that!” To which I snap my fingers.

“So what happened to my date to ‘freeze mah bum off in the fifth hell?’” I say sarcastically with a fake southern drawl.

“...That’s what I was wondering...”

“What?”

The waitress sighed, “A fella came in here about two minutes after you left. In the Ningenkai, two minutes here is equivalent to two hours. He had an unkempt beard and bloodshot eyes. He looked like he’d been doing drugs. Was cursing all over the place, and just like you, he left even after my warning. Thirty seconds later I heard him scream as he fell into the abyss, which made me wonder what was taking you so long. If you didn’t start walking towards the light, a strong wind would have blown you over the edge in under ten seconds. I got a call from Enma right afterwards informing me he had situated that man into the first hell, and he was quite ‘toasty.’ But then he asked me what was taking you so long to arrive in the fifth hell, and I told him I had no idea, and that’s when It came in, carrying you over to this here table. And that confuses me more than anything...”

“It? Who or what is It?”

“I don’t know. It always makes itself invisible to me. I don’t even know what gender It is, or what It’s name is. That’s why I call it It. In fact, the only thing I know about It is that It rules over everything here.”

“So It’s God?” I ask.

“No. Even ‘God’ has no say-so here. He just rules the Ningenkai Heaven. The one that Christians go to. There are millions of different Hells and Heavens, and each one has it’s own god or goddess that rules over it. The most ‘popular’ heaven is the Christian one, but they only go there because they want to. You go to whatever heaven or hell you want to go to. And the most ‘popular’ hells are the seven Japanese ones and the Christian one. But just as there are millions of heavens and hells, there is twice as many purgatories. This is not a purgatory, though. Like I mentioned before, this is a place you go when you are waiting to ‘wake up.’ But you’ve lost your chance to ‘wake up’ so I’m confused as to why It brought you here instead of leaving you to die and fall into the fifth hell. It’s never done that before... For anyone. And It’s been ruling here since 143 B.C.”

“.........Whoa...” I reply numbly, all of what she just said slowly sinking in.

“My thoughts exactly, hun.”

“Um... What was your name again? I kinda forgot...”

She smiles, “It’s Shugah. Now, would you like some hotcakes? It’s not my job to serve people, but you look like you need to relax, and what better way than to eat?” She says, winking.

I nod, “Yes, thank you. ...And... Sorry I was so rude earlier.”

She shrugged it off, “No problem. I didn’t expect you to stay anyways. We’ve had over 200 visitors this decade and only fourteen of them have actually stayed long enough to be sent back home. The ones that stayed were even ruder than you, actually.” She laughs when a floating plate of hotcakes comes over to the counter and places itself in front of me, then silverware appears in front of me as well.

I stare where the floating hotcakes were, when a jovial, good natured voice booms out to me, “Well don’t just stare, Miss, eat!” It laughs. The voice reminds me of Hagrid from Harry Potter.

Then I remember what Shugah had said about It being invisible, “Are... Are you It?” I ask.

The voice laughs heartily, “Goodness, no, Miss! I’m Big Jon, the chef! It’s nice to meetcha, lass. Now eat up!”

I eat, and it’s fabulous. Big Jon’s a terrific chef, and the warmth of the fresh hotcakes feels good since I’m still cold from my encounter on the Ledge.

When I finished eating, Shugah came over and handed me a damp cloth to wash the syrup off my hands, then throws the cloth in the sink and hands me a folded piece of paper.

“That’s from It.”

It? “Thank you.” I say and slowly unfold the piece of paper as Shugah washes the dishes.

‘You’re Welcome, Kyoko.’ It says in fancy handwriting. Doesn’t get much more cryptic than that, does it? But as soon as I read it, the note vanishes.

‘You’re Welcome, Kyoko...’ The words replay over and over in my mind. My heart beats fast and I suddenly feel very tired. I lay my head in my arms and start to fall asleep on the counter. But before I drift into the subconscious, I hear a whisper, so soft you can’t even tell if it’s male or female.

“Goodnight, Kyoko...”

In my mind, I reply, “Goodnight It... And... Thank you...”

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So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Confusing? If you have any questions feel free to ask! And please review! I’d like to have some feedback for this story, I need to know how I’m doing! R & R!