Author's Note: Hey everyone! I kinda got bored so I'm gonna make another new chapter of TCR. I'm also working on chapter 3 of Firefly's Enchantment too, so expect that to be done later in the future. Nothing new happened much, except that I did some volunteer work at my local library and I got a little book about Japan in the process and I'm hooked on my new Phoenix Wright game! Gah! Enough babbling! It is time to create TCR chapter 44! Read and review nicely please! NO FLAMES!!! Happy reading!

CHAPTER 44: Healing of a Heart

Tuesday, July 13, 2035

Nothing has changed much in the town of Kisara, located in a small, open, non-crowded part of Tokyo. The sun remained in the sky as it rose into the air and made the sky around it blue and released it's effulgence on the town below. A group of small birds flew across the gentle, turbulent wind effortlessly until they gently roosted onto telephone cords and their nests located within trees. The little flowers bloomed gracefully in the green grass, ranging from different colors such as pink, blue, white, purple, and yellow. The blue sky didn't have a single white cloud in sight.

One boy in particular was staring at a tree outside of a window from his home.

This boy looked to be 12-13 years of age. He has long, dark chocolate brown hair that goes to his lower back, tied in a low ponytail with a dark maroon string. His dainty, golden eyes shone brightly like the sun above, but the look in his eyes didn't seem too happy. His skin was a perfect, peach color. He was white, but he certainly wasn't albino. He supported his face with both of his hands as he was standing at the small tree in front of his window. He was mostly staring at the little bird nest on a branch. Some baby birds were flailing around the nest made from straw, scraps of torn newspaper, twigs, and leaves. The boy was wearing a short sleeved, orange shirt with a zipper and black sleeves along with tan-colored shorts and was barefoot. Then, someone came into the room.

It was an adult woman. She looked to be in her mid-30's. She had long, wavy, caramell-colored hair that went down to her upper back and chocolate brown eyes matching the boy's hair. She was wearing a short-sleeved, blue shirt with green and yellow stripes on it along with tan-colored shorts. Apparently she was carrying a tray that had a plate of buttered toast on it along with scrambled eggs and a glass of chocolate milk.

"Good morning, Tajin-kun" The lady said in a calm, polite, womanly voice, referring to the boy as Tajin. Tajin did notice her come in, but he continued to stare out the window and gaze nonchalantly. at the birds nest.

"Good morning, Chiaki-san" Tajin replied nonchalantly. Chiaki gently placed the tray of food onto the small desk that was about a few feet away from his bed. Tajin took the chair that came with the desk and continued to sit on it as he was staring out the window. Chiaki looked at the clock and it read 7:38 AM.

"Tajin-kun, you seem a little down" Chiaki said. Her brown eyes became slightly covered with worry as she watched her son daze out the window with a nonchalant expression on his face.

"I'm fine" Tajin murmured quietly.

"If you want, I can add some pepper to your scrambled eggs" Chiaki told him.

"I'm fine" Tajin murmured again.

"Uhhh...hard to believe school starts up tomorrow. Today's your last day of summer break. Do you wanna do something today?" Chiaki told him with a slight smile, even though she seemed worried. Tajin continued to stare out the window with an emotionless look on his face.

"I'm fine" Tajin whispered again. Chiaki became surprised, but then looked like she realized something.

"Wait! Is this about what happened yesterday? With that boy Kaiji?" Chiaki asked.

"I'm fine..." Tajin whispered yet again. Chiaki slowly walked up to the boy and gently tapped him on his head.

"Tajin-kun! I know something's bothering you! Don't try to deny it!" Chiaki told him strictly. Tajin finally turned around and saw Chiaki behind him. He was surprised at first, but then his nonchalant expression returned again.

"Chiaki-san...can I ask a question?" Tajin asked.

"Sure, ask me anything you want" Chiaki replied. There was a short pause, then Tajin decided to speak.

"Would you...like me better if I was a normal human, rather than a catalyst?" Tajin asked. Right when he said that, Chiaki gasped in mild shock, then hugged Tajin quickly.

"Why would you say that!? It IS because of what happened yesterday! Tajin-kun, I'm going to tell you this once, I don't care if you're a human or a catalyst. I would never trade you for anything else in the world! You're my son and I love you very much, and I will always accept you, even if you're not exactly human. Others might not think so, but I won't care about what they say! And you shouldn't too. Also, your friends care about you too, even if you're a catalyst. Remember the oath we made all made a month ago?" Chiaki told him sternly and strictly.

This is true. Tajin wasn't exactly "normal". He's what's known as a catalyst, something like an "enhanced" human being with mysterious powers such as psychic abilities, elemental abilities, multiple personalities, and many other features. His kind were only discovered 30 years ago. Chiaki found him a month ago and decided to adopt him. She wanted to care for a child since she lost her own children and her husband left her. Chiaki now didn't care if he was human or not, she loved him no matter what. Unfortunately, there was a small incident where Tajin got into a fight with another boy who kept criticizing him about his gender and his relationships with his friends which resulted in him accidentally unleashing his powers.

Tajin was down today because of that incident yesterday. But he was also down about something else, which he didn't feel that he was ready to mention yet.

"I have another question. If you were friends with someone who's suffered a whole lot in their life and it doesn't look like they've been getting better, would you try and make their life better just a little bit?" Tajin asked. Chiaki paused in silence for a little bit, then she smiled.

"I'm not really sure. It depends on the person itself and the suffering they've endured. But I did do that once. Come sit down and eat your breakfast" Chiaki told him. Tajin decided to leave the chair, pick up the tray, and walk to his bed. He proceeded to begin eating his breakfast. He took a quick drink of his chocolate milk, and took a slice of buttered toast and ate it. Chiaki sat next to him as she began explaining what she meant when she said that she "did that once".

"When I was young...about 10-11 years old, I became friends with a young boy. His name was...I think it was Shingo, was it? Anyway, he was quite a troubled boy in my class. He had ADHD and his family life was terrible. His father was an alcoholic and his mother was high on drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. He was removed from their custody and put in a foster home, but he still wasn't very happy. He often caused trouble in class. He would often lash out at people who tried to approach him without warning and would sometimes hurt other kids. I think he needed something to unleash his anger and frustration out on. Of course, the teachers considered him a bad kid and even told the foster parents they weren't disciplining him correctly. I overheard them arguing in the teacher's lounge that time. During recess, I saw Shingo sitting in a corner of the blacktop, crying. I was so heartbroken to see those tears. He also had red marks on his wrists and some on his body. They looked like marks that his original parents inflicted on him. I wanted to make him happy, I wanted to show him kindness, just once..."

Tajin was captivated yet crestfallen by the story that Chiaki was telling him. The story reminded him of someone that Tajin is currently close to. A girl to be exact. As he ate a piece of his scrambled eggs, he curiously looked up at Chiaki with his golden eyes.

"What did you do then?" Tajin asked. There was a short pause for a moment. Chiaki closed her eyes a little bit, then opened them as she began to tell him the rest of the story.

"I...went on a date with him" Chiaki told him. Tajin was shocked.

"Wha!? A date!?" Tajin yelped. Chiaki then laughed a little at his reaction.

"Oh, it wasn't a romantic date. I wanted to show him that there were good things in this world. I wanted to give him a happy memory" Chiaki told him with a smile. She began to finish up the story.

"On a bright summer morning like this, I met with Shingo at school and asked him if he would like to go out with me. It took him a while to answer, but he said yes. He and I began going to a lot of places such as that little ice cream shop, that little restaurant in town, the library, the park, the lake, and other places. I bought him this little toy dolphin from a gift shop that was open during that time. He loved dolphins and he also liked bears, sharks, and snakes. After that, we went to the park and looked at the flowers for a long time. We played in the meadow in the evening and watched the sun set. Then, he told me this: "I had a great time with you, Chiaki-chan. I didn't think I would be able to have a fun memory like this!", and I told him: "There may be bad things in the world, but there's also good things too! Always try to find good things and create happy memories so that you won't be sad throughout your whole life!"...and then we heard music playing from the park. A local orchestra was playing then, so Shingo-kun and I danced to it. We danced in the garden of flowers in the park that day. He had such a big smile on his face, almost as if he'd never smiled like that in his whole life!"

Tajin was touched with what Chiaki had just told him. As a young girl, she helped a troubled young boy with ADHD to have a good time and create a happy memory of that day. Chiaki closed her eyes and began reminiscing.

Chiaki pictured herself as the young girl back then, with semi-long, straight caramell-colored hair, wearing a short-sleeved, white dress with a blue ribbon on the chest part, black shoes and tan-colored socks and with a purple flower accessory in her hair, dancing with a boy with curly, dark orange hair, freckles, and maroon colored eyes. The two children danced happily and beautifully in the garden of flowers in the grassy green meadow, dancing to the classical music they heard from afar. It looked like ballroom dancing at one point, but the two kids were having lots of fun.

Back in reality, Tajin smiled at the brave thing that Chiaki did, but was confused. What happened after that? He decided to ask.

"And then what happened?" Tajin asked. Chiaki's smiling face from before then dissolved into a sad, doll-like face, the one Tajin had before.

"A few days after that...a terrible thing happened. Shingo-kun...he...died" Chiaki whispered quietly. Tajin was shocked and flabbergasted.

"WHAT?!?" Tajin yelped loudly.

"After our little play date, I haven't been able to see him. A new teacher had taken over for one of his classes, and I learned that the teacher was very mean to him and would restrain him in appalling ways whenever he would suddenly become frustrated. The teacher began confining him to a storage room. But suddenly, Shingo began throwing a fit one day and the teacher tried to restrain him. It was that moment...the teacher unknowingly made him stop breathing. His airway was cut off and he was deprived of oxygen. He died as a result. I...I was so heartbroken when I heard what happened. What touched me the most was that his final word was...Chiaki..."

Tajin was shocked. Right when Chiaki went as far as to take him out on a date to make him feel better, he suddenly dies a few days later! He couldn't believe what he had just heard. It was so fast and it was all so heartbreaking. His face grimaced in sadness.

"I was so angry. When that very teacher substituted for my class a few more days later, I was so angry at her. I was so angry, I literally jumped from my seat, walked straight up to her, and screamed right in her face. I yelled "You killed Shingo-kun! You killed a boy who was suffering so much! How could you be so cruel!? How could you do such a cold, heartless thing!? He was suffering! He didn't experience one little piece of joy! You ruined it! You ended his life so shortly!! You monster!!", but I ended up getting slapped in the face and she threatened to suspend me, but not before calling me a brat. She called my parents after that and told them that they didn't discipline me correctly. It wasn't about discipline! I was angry at her because she mercilessly murdered a boy who was going through a myriad of traumatic experiences! I tried to make him happy and to make him experience joy, just once, yet she ruined it! I know, it was a careless thing to do, but I didn't want to just let her get away with what she did! Thankfully though, she was arrested and placed in jail. But I was so sad after that. I felt like I lost a member of my family. But...I certainly hope...that Shingo-kun doesn't have to suffer anymore. He's in a better place now...the place where the sun, the sky, and the clouds are..."

Chiaki, back then, openly expressed her anger at the teacher who mercilessly killed Shingo, though she was mostly trying to make sure he didn't cause any trouble for others, though she achieved that in the worst way possible. Tajin, in his mind, actually cheered for the younger Chiaki for valiantly standing up to the cruel teacher and pointing out her crime, though it resulted in Chiaki being slapped in the face and punished for her deed. But Chiaki, back then, didn't care. She was angry at the teacher for attempting to "discipline" Shingo for his actions. Tajin's mind began floating somewhere else. He was also down because of something that a friend of his told him, something about his other friend and that friend's sister.

"She didn't just get hurt once! Not just twice! Not even thrice! Kagami wasn't abused just that one time!...Kagami was abused by Kanako HER WHOLE LIFE!!!"

A female friend of Tajin's told him a secret about her sister, Kagami, who was Tajin's friend too. Tajin knew Kagami as a kind, gentle, sweet but shy girl who wasn't very good at making friends. They were very good friends and even dated once, but Tajin learned that Kagami had been abused and mistreated by an older sister on a regular basis long ago, and that as a result of the abuse, she doesn't remember any of it. He couldn't believe such a kind, gentle and sweet girl suffering at the hands of a cruel, heartless, and possibly paranoid older sister named Kanako. He cried just from hearing the terrible and atrocious story that Kagami's sister told him yesterday, before the incident where he got into a fight with another boy.

As Tajin's expression became more full of despair, he suddenly began hearing loud chirping noises coming from outside. He had already eaten the rest of his breakfast, so he quickly rushed to the window and to his surprise...a little baby bird was on the ground! It must have somehow fallen out of the nest. Thankfully, it was still alive. The little bird's fall was broken by a big pile of flowers that happened to be under it. Tajin was surprised. He snapped out of his gloom.

"Chiaki! Do you happen to have any gloves around?" Tajin asked Chiaki, who was behind him.

"I have those rubber gloves downstairs. Are you planning on...?" Chiaki replied, but was confused as to why Tajin asked her until she realized his intentions.

"Sorry, but I am going to do it!" Tajin told her with a courageous, fiery look in his gold eyes. Chiaki slowly ran out of the room to find the rubber gloves she was talking about. Tajin followed suit, but not before grabbing a small, brown bag that happened to be on his desk.

The two arrived in the kitchen and Chiaki found her yellow rubber gloves. Tajin immediately took them and put them on his hands. He put the small brown bag in one of his hands and ran out the door. As he arrived in front of the tree, where the little bird was, he slowly walked up to it, slowly kneeled down, gently scooped it in his hands, covered by the yellow gloves, and slowly put the baby bird in the brown bag. He tried to keep it open so the bird could have some air to breathe, but he also had to make sure the bag was properly closed so that the bird doesn't fall out.

Tajin put the bag on his arm, wrapping the yellow string that was on it around his wrist, and proceeded to climb the tree. The tree wasn't very tall, but it wasn't easy to climb it. Nevertheless, Tajin made absolute caution to make sure he properly gripped parts of the tree and not fall off. A few seconds later, he successfully manages to make it to the nest. He tries to position himself properly so that he doesn't fall when he puts the bird back. He opens the bag, gently pulls the baby bird out, and gently places it back into the nest. The birds began chirping like crazy. Chiaki and Tajin smiled at the sight. Tajin then slowly jumped off of the tree and fell back to the ground, feet first.

"You did a good thing, Tajin-kun. But it was also rather dangerous, you know?" Chiaki told him.

"It's okay. I don't want a family to be separated" Tajin said.

"But why did you ask for my rubber gloves?" Chiaki asked.

"I read that if you hold a wild animal with your bare hands, the human scent stays on them and the animal's family might not want it back if it has a human scent on it" Tajin told her. Chiaki chuckled a bit.

"Ohhh! I see! How could I forget something like that!? Silly me!" Chiaki scolded herself comically. Even though she's an adult, she forgot that if someone touches a wild animal with their bare hands, the human scent gets stuck on them. But Tajin looked up at the nest and saw that the mother bird arrived and is feeding them worms. But then he began thinking about the story Chiaki finished telling him earlier. Then, he suddenly had a big smile plastered all over his face. He grabbed Chiaki's arms quickly.

"Chiaki!! I know what I wanna do today!!" Tajin cried out happily as he looked up at Chiaki with a sudden brightness and a piece of joy in his eyes. He decided that he'll go on a date with the girl he was thinking about!

That girl is living at a different house just about a few blocks away.

The house that she is living in is white and quite big, with white walls, a large, long window on the front of the house, a taupe-colored roof top, a blue porch, and a few other things. The first door was white with 2 large glass windows covering most of it, making the door completely see-through. The other door was really thick and big, heavier than the glass door, and it was old. It was a mixture of orange and brown. There was a small window on the top of it covered by a yellow curtain on the inside.

A girl was in her room re-organizing.

This girl looked to be the same age as Tajin. She has long, yellow hair tied into long pigtails with red strings supported by hairclips that resemble wings. Her eyes were two different colors. Her left eye was blue and her right eye was aqua green. She is wearing a sleeveless, bubblegum pink shirt with a picture of a raspberry colored flower on it along with dark blue jean shorts. She was also barefoot. Her hair seemed to stretch down to her knees if it was down. Her room was quite big. There was a single white shelf on each wall of the room, making them all fit to look like a square. One shelf had many toy carousels on it, very fancy ones at that. Another shelf contained fancy tea sets and tea cups, many of which had flower designs on them. Another shelf contained books, half of them were manga, and half of them were novels and normal books.

In this big room is also a dark colored bureau which contained clothes, a big bed with light blue sheets, a closet full of clothes, and a light brown-colored desk with a clock on it, a small lamp, and a few other small trinkets. The girl then noticed another door in her room. This wasn't the closet. She decided to open it, and it revealed to have boxes, nothing but boxes, in it. The girl was surprised but curious.

"I wonder what's in here?" The girl said to herself. She decided to pull out one small box and take a look inside. As she opened it up, she was surprised to see there were many things in it like DVDs, DVD boxsets, some books, and other trinkets. She sat down and decided to take a look at them.

"Wow! Our DVDs from when me and Kagami were kids! Holy cow! Here's Unico(1), and...and Pastel Yumi(2)...and Jewelpet(3)...and the Anne of Green Gables anime...Wow! Kagami and I used to love these when we were kids!" The girl exclaimed happily as she was rumaging through the box. She certainly wasn't Kagami. But then, another person came into the room.

"Konata-Oneechan? What are you looking at?"

Another girl came into the room, referring to the girl looking into the box as Konata. Konata is apparently her older sister. This girl has short, yellow hair, which also has red strings tied into bows supposed by white hairclips resembling wings. Her right eye is blue and her left eye is aqua green. She is wearing a sleeveless, tan-colored shirt with a folded collar and buttons along with orange shorts. She is also barefoot.

"Oh! Kagami! Look at these! They're full of old DVDs of shows and movies from when we were kids! And I think some of them are yours!" Konata told her younger sister Kagami. She became curious and decided to look. Kagami was surprised and curious herself.

"I don't remember these at all!" Kagami exclaimed with a smile.

"I can't believe you don't remember! We used to watch these as kids! There's Anne of Green Gables anime, Fancy Lala(4), Lady Lady, Candy Candy, Ringing Bell, Night on the Galactic Railroad(5), Little Princess Sara, and...a whole lot of others! I tell you, when you were little, you and I were addicted to Pastel Yumi when we were kids! And Ringing Bell!" Konata told her.

"Really? We were?" Kagami asked, confused.

"Yeah! During your early intervention program back then, we used to watch the DVDs literally 500 times I day! I wonder if they're still watchable?" Konata told her excitedly as she began digging through the box. Kagami picked out the first DVD for the anime that she mentioned. As Konata was rumaging through the box, however, her happy, excited face suddenly dissolved and became stoic and emotionless.

'After that awful day...your memory...' thought Konata when suddenly everything around her became enveloped in a bright, white light.

(flashback one)

3 years ago...

A 10 year old Kagami was sleeping in what appears to be a white hospital bed. She looked terribly injured. There were small bandages on her face and her head was wrapped completely in long, white bandages. It was like she had been terribly beaten by a gang. Kagami then finally woke up to the sight of her father, mother, and Konata. Konata's pigtails were smaller than usual.

"Kagamin! You're awake! Oh, thank goodness!!" Konata exclaimed happily as she quickly dashed in to hug her newly awakened sister. Kagami was rather confused, but she decided to go with the flow anyway.

"It's such a good thing she survived!" The father said. Two other kids were right behind him. They were both 15 years old. A boy and a girl. The girl had long, yellow, braided hair and green eyes.

"What happened to Kanako, Ryuunosuke?" The girl asked her brother, Ryuunosuke. He has short, flat, dark yellow hair and brown eyes.

"I hear that the police took her into custody. You really need to read newspapers once in a while, Hinata. You are the oldest daughter after all" Ryuunosuke told his older sister, Hinata. The mother decided to speak.

"I talked to the doctor and he says he has to keep Kagami here for a little longer to try and stitch up some of her wounds, but he said we can take her home later today" The mother said. The children cheered happily.

"Yaaaaay!!"

Konata was especially excited about this. She hugged Kagami tightly, but then let her go.

"Sorry about what happened to you back there, Kagamin! Hey! When we get home, how about--" Konata exclaimed, but she was suddenly cut off by Kagami, who seemed more confused.

"Huh? Something happened to me?" Kagami asked, confused and nonchalant. Right when she said that, Konata immediately became confused. So did the rest of the Yoshino family.

"...D-Don't you remember? Kanako tried to beat you up! She had a spear and...she was trying to--" Konata tried to explain to her younger sister about the bad thing that happened to her, but the mother cut her off.

"Konata! Please do not talk about that in front of your sister! She's been through a rough time already" The mother scolded her daughter for talking about the recent incident. The father tried to calm her now.

"Now now, Kaoru. Let's not be loud today" The father told his wife, Kaoru. Konata decided to let go of what just happened and tried to talk to Kagami again.

"You're going to be going home soon! With us! Hey! When we get home, let's watch Pastel Yumi together!" Konata excitedly told her battered sister. But Kagami continued to stare at her with a confused, nonchalant expression. Konata seemed to notice this and was confused herself.

"What's wrong? You keep staring with that dull face" Konata said to her. Kagami finally decided to speak.

"What's...Pastel Yumi?"

Right when she said that, Konata's face immediately dissolved and became overcome with confusion. She and Konata would always watch that anime together whenever they had the chance or felt in the mood for it. But for Kagami to suddenly forget that anime...this began to pick at Konata greatly. Even the other family members noticed this.

"Th...This is a joke right? It's your favorite anime! We watch it together! You...you can't honestly forget your favorite anime, right?" Konata kept asking her if it was a joke. Kagami couldn't be serious about forgetting her favorite anime show. Unfortunately, Kagami shook her head and still kept her confused expression. But Konata wasn't going to give up yet.

"But...!! What about that time in first grade, you were knocked out by a kid on a swing and you had a seizure and had to be taken to the hospital and...and a few months later you said your first word and...and..." Konata asked her frantically. Konata was finally becoming worried. She hoped that Kagami would be able to remember the thing she just mentioned. But...

"I was knocked out by a kid on a swing?"

Unfortunately, her prayers weren't answered.

The whole family became worried. But Konata didn't want to believe it just yet. She kept on asking Kagami about her childhood, her favorite anime, her favorite mangas she liked to read, her favorite books, any important memory she might have had, anything that Konata could have thought of. But it was all for naught.

It seems the recent incident...made Kagami forget everything.

(end flashback one, begin flashback two)

A day after Kagami came home from the hospital, Kaoru began talking with her husband regarding Kagami's sudden memory loss.

"Kyouya...I'm worried. How could our youngest daughter suddenly forget everything she knew and loved?" Kaoru asked, her voice overcome with worry.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I'm no doctor, but I know for a fact that she definitely doesn't have Alzheimer's. You can only get that if you're an adult" Kyouya told his wife, who was sitting at their large dining room table drinking tea.

"What should we do? How can we help her regain her memory?" Kaoru asked. There was a short pause, then Kyouya decided to speak again.

"I'm not exactly a psychologist, but I suspect that Kagami might have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" Kyouya explained. Kaoru looked up at him with confused eyes.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Isn't that something soldiers in a war zone usually get?" Kaoru asked, confused.

"Yes, but other people can get it too. It's a psychological thing usually triggered if someone experiences a terribly traumatic event. I know someone who was nearly killed by a robber, but when I asked him about it, just stared at me like I was crazy. I...I suspect that all the abuse Kagami has endured up until now...may have wiped out her memory completely. I never expected that...it could wipe out her entire childhood" Kyouya told her. Kaoru's eyes suddenly teared up a bit, then she finally broke down and cried.

"My lady!" Kyouya cried out as he rushed to his wife. Kyouya embraced her as she cried in his arms.

"Oh Kyouya! It's all my fault! I...I should've gotten help for Kanako right before this! I...I should've protected Kagami better! Our little daughter's been through so much abuse...and to think the past 10 years of her life are now completely erased! I...I should've arranged for Kanako to see a therapist before all this! Our little girl...she's suffered so much in Kanako's hands...but why did it have to be her autism to be the cause of Kanako's hatred?" Kaoru was completely in tears. Kyouya tried to calm her down.

"My lady...it's not your fault at all. It's mine. I should have been aware of the dangers. I should have gotten some help for Kanako too. I simply wish I could help our family recover from all this. But Kanako's been taken into custody and she should be receiving some help in Black Fields" Kyouya told his crying wife softly. Kaoru continued to shed tears in his arms. But what they didn't know was that Konata had overheard their entire conversation. She too was crying a little.

A small voice echoed in the room.

"Konata?"

"Konata?"

Soon, everything became enveloped in a bright, white light again.

(end flashback two)

"Konata!"

Konata snapped out of her flashback and turned to Kagami.

"What's wrong? Spacing out again?" Kagami asked. Konata smiled a bit and responded.

"I'm fine. I was just reminiscing about something" Konata replied with a casual smile, even though the smile seemed rather forced. Kagami did not seem to notice this, however. She did look down at the DVD she was holding. There was a short pause until Kagami started to speak.

"Hey Oneechan? Was there a time where...you and I made a swing on our next door neighbor's tree out of a yellow rope and a white fence post?" Kagami asked. Right when she said that, Konata's heterochromic eyes slowly lit up. She suddenly responded with glee.

"Yes! There was! You remember, don't you!?" Konata asked with sudden glee and happiness.

"Yeah, I do. And it was your idea. I used to play on it a lot and we would take turns and stuff" Kagami told her sister with a smile. Konata finally smiled naturally.

'At least parts of her memory are returning...the good parts...' thought Konata as she gazed upon her younger sister as she was looking at the trinkets inside of the box. But then, Kagami suddenly stood up, holding a DVD in her hand.

"I'm...gonna watch this in the basement if you don't mind" Kagami told her. Konata continued to smile.

"You do that" Konata replied. Kagami smiled and happily skedaddled out of the room.

Konata was now left alone in her room with the box of DVDs, manga, books, surrounded by her fancy carousels and tea cups. Konata continued to look through the box of DVDs until she came across one in particular. It was the box set for an old series called Jungle Emperor(6). Konata began removing some things from it and placed them next to her. She picked up the box set and stared at it. The orange-colored box had a picture of a white lion cub with blue eyes and the tips of his ears were black. Konata stared at the box set with her eyes overcome with a certain nostalgia about them.

"I miss watching you..." Konata whispered to the boxset. But then she began thinking about Kagami.

She gently placed the box set on the floor and approached her desk which had a few small drawers on them. Konata kneeled down at their level and slowly put her hand on the knob of one of the drawers. But just as she was going to pull the drawer out, she heard a voice.

"Konataaaaa! Your friend is here to see you!"

Hinata, her older sister, called out to her, letting her know that someone is here to see her.

"Okay!" Konata yelled back, even though it was still kind of early in the morning. A few minutes passed and suddenly...

"Oh! Konata!"

Tajin was the one who arrived at the entrance of her room! Konata was shocked.

"T-T-T-Tajin-kun!? What are you doing here!?" Konata asked, flabbergasted that he was here.

"I must have startled you. Sorry about that. I wanted to ask Kagami if she'd like to go out with me today, since school starts tomorrow and all..." Tajin said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You should have called first! And besides, it's only 8:49 AM" Konata told him.

"Sorry again. But wow, this is quite a room you have! Do you collect carousels and tea cups? They sure are fancy" Tajin said. He was fascinated by Konata's room and the shelves on the walls. Konata was quiet for a little bit.

"Yes...I do" Konata whispered quietly. Then, Tajin walked up to where she is now.

"What are you doing?" Tajin asked with curiosity in his gold eyes.

"Oh...just going through some childhood trinkets. Kagami's got one of them" Konata told him. Tajin decided to look at it with her. He was surprised that most of the stuff was around him.

"They're all DVDs and manga" Tajin said.

"Kagami and I used to watch and read all of these when we were little, though she doesn't remember most of them" Konata explained to Tajin. She then stood up and finally decided to open up the drawer she intended to open a few seconds earlier, before Tajin arrived. She pulled the drawer a little bit and pulled out some papers that had a paper clip attached to them. Konata looked at the papers with a somewhat grim look on her face.

"Where is Kagami anyway?" Tajin asked. His sudden question scared Konata to the point of dropping the papers.

"S-She's in the basement" Konata told him while breathing a little.

"Oh, did I startle you again? Sorry again" Tajin said.

"W-Would you like something to eat or drink?" Konata asked. Tajin smiled casually.

"Anything is fine" Tajin replied with his typical smile.

"I know! I'll cook you up something good!" Konata told him with confidence and pride as she clenched her fist and decided to dash out of the room.

Tajin was now left alone with nothing but the pile of old DVDs and manga Konata was digging through earlier. Tajin then noticed the pile of papers that Konata unknowingly dropped as Tajin was talking with her. Tajin became a little curious and decided to walk up to it. As he picked up the pile of papers, he noticed that the front page was that of a newspaper. He really wanted to put it back to where he saw Konata pick it up from, but it seems curiosity managed to get the best of him and he ended up reading the article.

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KISARA GAZETTE

SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS ABUSED IN SCHOOLS IN AMERICA AND GREECE, 4/24/2035

On June 8, 2033, 11 year old Mayella "May" Dalton was just happily walking to the library of D. Jernigan Middle School, hoping to check out her favorite book...only to be suddenly approached by a teacher who began criticizing her without warning. When May tried to ignore the situation and leave, the teacher intentionally grabbed her and began spanking her while calling her names such as "spoiled brat" and "stupid kid" and "shameful retard". The librarian, 60 year old Caroline Maginnis, stepped in to save the little girl from the teacher along with another employee who stepped in.

Little May, as she's usually called, has Asperger Syndrome, a type of autism. Autism is a developmental disorder which affects the behavior and communication skills of children who have it. Some cases can be very severe, some are mild. May's case is mild, though she still has some quirks to get over. When the librarian informed her parents, Jack and Shirley Dalton, about the recent incident, they were horrified and rushed to the school. The librarian kept the scared girl with her while the younger employee tried to keep the teacher from causing more trouble.

This New Jersey family was appalled to hear what the teacher, 26 year old Iesha Holland, had to say about their daughter and why she did what she did. The young employee, 20 year old Taylor James managed to successfully restrain the teacher and keep her from hurting Little May any further, but he remembered what Miss Holland had to say about Little May.

"I was shocked. I knew Little May very well. She may be autistic, but she's usually such a sweet, gentle and loving little girl. She always came to the library to find her favorite books such as Anne of Green Gables. The teacher didn't think so. When Mr and Mrs Dalton came in, she yelled at them, saying things like "You're the parents!? I cannot believe this! You really need to put that little brat into an institution or somethin'! You just dun discipline her correctly! She caused a heckuva lotta trouble in mah class today! She wouldn't do anything I told her to do!" and other things. She said that she misbehaved and kept throwing tantrums and how she tried to calm her down by locking her in some room. I swear, I think she overeacted REAL good. But Little May never behaved like that! I haven't seen her throw a big tantrum or misbehave or do anything like that!" said Mr. James, the employee who helped restrain the teacher.

Shirley Dalton was appalled and angry at Miss Holland for thinking Little May is a spoiled brat. "I was so angry! She kept thinking that my little girl needs to be disciplined and that she's displaying bad behavior and sass-talking her! I know my Little May well and she is NOWHERE in the description of spoiled, bratty, undisciplined, or anything like that!"

Unfortunately, Little May said that she had her as a substitute teacher for her social studies class one day. She testified that Miss Holland accused her of stealing something from another kid, but she said that she never stole anything. After that, Miss Holland made the kids do a fun activity, but barred Little May from participating because of apparent "bad behavior". Little May also said that at one point, Miss Holland slapped her in the face when she requested that she not play with the kid she assigned her to, who May claimed was a kid who liked to bully her.

When the New Jersey family and Miss Holland were in a school conference regarding the issue, Mr and Mrs Dalton tried to explain that Little May has autism and that she's sensitive to some thing, but Miss Holland didn't believe it and accused them of making up a fake story to hide their daughter's bad behavior. Miss Holland also accused them of poor discipline, which the Daltons thought was false. The attorney for the Dalton family, Mr. Wright (Phoenix wright parody?), observed the girl's record and proved Miss Holland false.

"Mayella Dalton has never done anything in this school that could require disciplinary action taken against her. She has never gotten into trouble and has never disobeyed anyone" Mr. Wright claimed. The school principal and Little May's homeroom teacher recounted the same thing and knew Little May is a kind and smart girl. Thankfully, Miss Holland was arrested and sentenced to 5 years of probation and 2 years in prison for assault, child endangerment, and public discrimination.

Unfortunately, it seems the number of special needs kids being abused in schools and neighborhoods continue to rise not just in America, but in other countries. Some of them are being killed inside and outside of school.

--In Illinois, 14 year old Photios Glykeria Argyris was kidnapped, beaten, gang-raped, and killed by a local gang of classmates at his school. He and his family were from Greece and was often harassed for looking like a girl. His family was killed by the gang as well. His parents tried to convince the school to make the bullying cease, but the school denied anything like that happening.

--In France, 14 year old Florian A. Traverse was murdered on the streets while trying to protect young girls from a serial pedophile. His grandfather and only parent, Jean-Baptiste Traverse, was appalled by this and moved to Japan after the pedophile was taken into custody.

--On April 2, 2032, 9 year old Simon Crewe was beaten by a teacher and confined to a storage room for 3 hours without food when the teacher claimed he displayed "bad behavior" and accused the parents of not giving him proper discipline.

--On May 19, 2034, 12 year old Crystal Jasmine Knight was constantly abused and beaten by a teacher and some local classmates on a regular basis, claiming she displayed bad behavior and destroyed school property. She intentionally encouraged other kids to bully Crystal. The teacher was sentenced to 7 years in prison for child endangerment, child abuse, and promoting public discrimination.

Continued on page B6

-------------------------

Tajin was shocked at the article that he had just read. When he looked through more papers and newspaper articles, he realized that they all had one thing in common: they were all articles about special needs kids being abused, mistreated, and discriminated against just for being who they are, being autistic. He was shocked and flabbergasted.

'What in the...? They're newspaper articles and internet articles about abused kids? Does...Konata collect these?' thought Tajin when suddenly...

"Why are you looking at those?"

Konata suddenly arrived in the room, holding a big plate that has two grilled cheese sandwiches on it. Tajin turned around and saw her at the entrance. She began walking up to him. He became surprised.

"Ko-Konata! I-I'm sorry! I was gonna put them away, but I..." Tajin tried to explain, but he became afraid that Konata was going to yell at him for it. But her response was unexpected.

"Meh. I don't care. You can read them" Konata told him nonchalantly. Tajin became surprised at her reaction.

"Uhhh...you collect these?" Tajin asked.

"Yep" Konata replied.

"Why?" Tajin asked. There was a short pause, then Konata spoke again.

"I collect them because...I sympathize with the kids being misunderstood. All the autistic kids featured in the articles I found and printed off the internet, they're all so misunderstood that they've been abused, beaten, confined, maybe even killed. They remind me of Kagami, when she used to be abused by Kanako on a daily basis. These kids...people don't think autism exists. They think it's just one big farce. They think it's an excuse that parents make to cover for their children's so-called "bad behavior". Don't you think that's wrong? Kids like Kagami, all over the world, are being misunderstood so much and abused so much. Who knows what kind of effect it's all going to have on them. Those adults think they can just randomly pick a weak kid they can abuse and then they blame the parents for "not disciplining them correctly" or all that garbage! Kagami...used to be treated that way by other people too. I...I don't ever want her to suffer anymore. I don't ever ever ever EVER want her to suffer like she did back then! But why won't people understand!? Why don't people just face the truth? Why don't people even bother just to try and understand their situation!? They see something then just blow it off as something bad! Don't you agree!? Don't you think seeing autistic kids like Kagami get beaten just for being who they are is just plain wrong!?"

Konata openly expressed her frustration and pain. Tajin was shocked, but he listened carefully and hard to her story. Tajin himself felt rather sad. He knew Kagami very well, even though they've only been friends for a month. Tajin knew that Kagami is a kind, gentle girl who has suffered a traumatic childhood, traumatic enough to make her erase her entire childhood from her own mind. Tajin's golden eyes finally teared up.

"I...I know I've only been friends with you, Ayu, and Kagami for about a month, but I will say that I agree. Abusing autistic children just for them being autistic isn't right at all. Chiaki told me a story this morning, about how she wanted to help make a classmate's life better, so she took him out on a date and gave him a fun time. But after that, he died because a teacher thought he was being a bad kid. Chiaki stood up to the teacher valiantly, but was deemed an undisciplined brat. I really wish that the world was just a bit kinder to everyone who's different. I mean, the world is a place for everybody to live in, right? Nothing and nobody's perfect!"

Tajin expressed his own opinion about Konata's collection of articles about mistreated kids and how the world could just be a little bit better for everyone to live in. There are many kinds of people in the world, normal or abnormal, and the world is big enough to fit them all, though it's inhabitants don't always have the same opinions. Konata decided to dry herself off and smile at Tajin. Tajin noticed this and was confused.

"Tajin-kun...I'm happy that you came into Kagami's life. You've been such a good influence on her. She's been going outside more and spending less time in the house. She's starting to actually have confidence in herself. I...I'm really happy. I really approve of you going out with her or maybe even being her boyfriend. She might need someone who will stay by her side" Konata told him. Tajin was touched by Konata's kind words. After a few seconds, he dried himself off and smiled.

"Thanks, Konata. I hope I can be able to make her happy and help her recover" Tajin said. He gently put down the papers and decided to leave the room. Konata followed him.

Konata and Tajin ran into the basement to find that Kagami was finished watching her DVD (just the first episode of the anime, not the whole DVD). Kagami was surprised to see Tajin here, since it was still rather early in the morning. Tajin openly asked Kagami if she would like to go out with him, since today is the last day of summer break. Kagami was a little surprised at first, but after a bit of thinking, she finally agrees. The two began planning their little date. They decide to meet in front of Central Park at 10:30 AM.

A few hours later...

Kagami was finally in front of Central Park, with the help of her mother dropping her off. She was on the sidewalk. She was now wearing a short-sleeved, pale pink shirt with many pictures of large red and orange flowers and leaves on them. She was also wearing dark blue jean shorts and white/black sneakers. She had a red and black Jekyll and Hyde bag with her. Kagami looked at the clock in Central Park and it read 10:26 AM. She began to become a little anxious until...

"Kagamiiii!!"

Tajin finally arrived. He was also in a different attire today. He was now wearing a short-sleeved, dark blue shirt along with tan jean shorts and dark brown sneakers and white socks. Tajin approached Kagami with his casual smile.

"You're early" Kagami told him bluntly. Tajin laughed a little as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"I would have gotten here earlier, but I always keep forgetting that I leave my shoes in the kitchen. Hahaha!" Tajin explained. Kagami smiled a bit too. She chuckled a little bit.

"Now that we're in town, what should we do today?" Kagami asked innocently. Tajin looked around a for a little bit, then saw a place that was called "Uki's Ice Cream and Pizza Place!". Tajin smiled a bit and looked at Kagami.

"Wanna go to Uki's and have some lunch?" Tajin asked. Kagami became a little doubtful.

"But do you have money? I didn't bring any" Kagami asked back.

"No worries! I have my whole allowance with me! Chiaki gave me a little extra today. So let's go!" Tajin exclaimed and decided to go to the little food place called Uki's. Kagami followed suit.

The two kids entered the place. It looked like a restaurant, but it wasn't very big. Plain and simple it was. There were a few tables with normal chairs and tables with the big, fluffy chairs on the left side of the room next to the windows. The windows allowed people to see the parking lot from where they would be. There weren't a lot of people. There were three adults and a few teenagers. There were some waiters and waitresses, but not a whole lot. Tajin and Kagami picked their table, which was the table with the fluffy chairs next to a window. As they sat down, a male waiter approached them.

"Welcome to Uki's place. I'll be taking care of you two today" The waiter said. His uniform consisted of a red shirt that read Uki's in white lettering, a small white hat, and grey shorts for summertime along with brown shoes.

"Thanks!" Tajin told him.

"Are you the only kids here? Where are your parents?" The waiter asked as he was giving them their menus.

"They're at home. We're dating!" Tajin told him in response, but Kagami apparently got mad.

"Tajin-kun!" Kagami scolded him mildly for telling the waiter that they're dating. The waiter handed them their menus and walked away to help some more customers.

"What's wrong with telling people about it? We're dating, it's not a crime" Tajin said. Kagami's face became a little red.

"I know, but..." Kagami said. A few seconds later, they began looking at their menus. About 20 minutes later, they managed to get what they wanted and decided to consume their lunch. Both Tajin and Kagami ordered small plates of spagetti and meatballs along with some salads that came with them. Kagami's had more meatballs than Tajin. Kagami immediately grabbed her fork, cut the meatballs into little pieces, and began consuming them piece by piece. Tajin slurped a small thing of spagetti and noticed Kagami. He chuckled a little bit.

"Don't eat too fast or it'll get stuck in your pipe" Tajin told her.

"It's okay! I LOVE meatballs! Besides, I always cut them into little pieces before I eat them" Kagami told him as she was eating. She then finished all of her meatballs and began trying to eat some spagetti. She swirled her fork around, into the spagetti. She pulled it out and saw a roll of it on the fork. It was full of meat sauce, but Kagami scarfed it down anyway. But some strings of spagetti hit her face, leaving some small sauce marks on her face.

"Kagami, you got some sauce on your face" Tajin told her. He grabbed a napkin and gently wiped it off of her face. Kagami blushed a bit since people were around. Nevertheless, Tajin and Kagami continued to eat their lunch the way they wanted to do so. After a few minutes, they finished their lunch.

"Boy was that good stuff!" Tajin said to himself as he sat back on the chair. Kagami was still eating a little bit of leftover spagetti. The waiter suddenly came in.

"How's everything going?" The waiter asked.

"Great! It was real good! Oh, would you mind if we had a little dessert? I'll have a milkshake and she'll have vanilla ice cream in a cup, if you'd be so kind" Tajin told him, but then decided to get some dessert. Kagami was shocked.

"Ta-Tajin-kun!! Do you even have enough money for those!?" Kagami cried out loudly.

"Calm down, Kagami. I do have money for a little ice cream" Tajin told her. Kagami was certainly against it, even though she loved vanilla ice cream a lot and she always preferred it in a cup instead of a cone. A few minutes later, the waiter came back and presented Tajin his milkshake, which had a cherry on it and whip cream, and Kagami was presented her simple vanilla ice cream. Tajin then noticed that he still had some meat sauce on his spagetti plate, which was completely deprived of spagetti. He then took a look at the cherry on his milkshake. As Kagami was eating her ice cream, she noticed Tajin remove the cherry from the whip cream. She was confused, but then came the unexpected.

Tajin put his cherry onto the spagetti plate and began putting meat sauce on it! She was flabbgerasted.

"WHAT THE BLOODY FLIP ARE YOU DOING?!? MIXING MEAT SAUCE WITH A CHERRY!!!?" Kagami screamed at the top of her lungs. Unfortunately, she unknowingly intimidated some people that were in the restaurant.

"I wanna see what it tastes like!...oh, by the way, you should probably keep your voice down. People are starting to gossip" Tajin told her. Kagami was flabbergasted and embarrassed, so she hid herself and slid under the table. Tajin took a bite out of the cherry covered in meat sauce. There was a short pause for a little bit, then he suddenly smiled in delight.

"Wow! It may be a little tangy, but it's great!" Tajin exclaimed. Kagami sat up straight again and watched as Tajin was enjoying his strange new food.

"You're strange when it comes to food. That's one thing Shinji-kun didn't do" Kagami told him. Tajin laughed at the remark that Kagami just made. But then they began hearing some people talking.

"Those two kids...are they going out?"

"How sweet! They look so cute together!"

"I don't think that girl's right for such a handsome young man. She's been shouting in this place whole time. She should be disciplined for such an act"

"Don't be so sour! But who would mix meat sauce with cherries?"

"I should try that some time..."

"Eww! Gross!"

"I think they look pretty cute together"

"Ah, young love...how nice it must be"

The waiter than arrived with their check and placed it on the table. It seems their little lunch costs $11.38. Tajin pulled out some money from his pocket and dutifully placed the money (and some coins) into the check. The two finally decided to leave the little restaurant and continue their little date.

First, they decided to go to the little gift shop that was nearby. It was the place where Kagami had bought Tajin a music box from about a few weeks ago. They happily looked at the little items that were in the store. The cashier watched as the two were browsing his items that are on display. Then, after a few minutes, they decided to leave and go somewhere else. They then went to a little store that recently opened that sells various anime, manga, and many other related merchandise with cheap prices. Kagami didn't want to buy anything even though the owner of the store was kind to them. Kagami happily browsed throughout the store, looking at and gushing over the items that were in the store, though she tried to restrain herself since she didn't bring any money and she didn't want Tajin to buy anything for her. They hung out there for about half an hour, then decided to leave.

Now they decided to go to a little library. It wasn't a very big library, though there were many shelves containing books, DVDs, CDs, and other items being put on display. There were a few female staff at the desk and one of them was in another part of the library, reading a book to a group of young children. Tajin and Kagami decided not to bother them and just look around. They sat at one of the desks, picked some books, read them a little and chatted a little, but they made sure to be quiet so that they wouldn't disturb anyone. Kagami especially since she's known to be loud when she's distressed, anxious, or even angry.

After that, they decided to leave the small library a few minutes later. They now decided to go to Central Park, since they couldn't think of any other places to go after the library. They sat on a bench in Central Park, watching the people scurry right by them. They weren't able to think of anything to say. Kagami then saw a quarter right next to her foot. She slowly bent down and grabbed it. She smiled a little bit as she put the quarter in her pocket, but then saw a vending machine that was about a few feet away.

"Tajin-kun, you thirsty?" Kagami asked.

"Uhhh...I guess maybe. Some orange juice would be nice. But you don't have any money, do you?" Tajin said. Kagami let out a mischevious smirk.

"I just found a quarter, so it's okay!" Kagami told him as she stood up and decided to skip merrily to the vending machine and get some orange juice. She placed the quarter into the coin slot, pressed some buttons, then out came a small bottle of orange juice. As Kagami took it and was about to leave...THUD!

"Oof!"

She bumped into someone. As she looked up, it was an old man she ran into. The old man's head was still full of hair, which looked to be either a light black or a dark grey. He also has dark green, olive-colored eyes. He is wearing a black tuxedo along with a white shirt under it along with a black bowtie. His white cuff-links were visible on his sleeves. The old man had a small mustache, but it wasn't big enough to cover his whole mouth. Kagami immediately panicked.

"Ahhh!! I-I-I'm so sorry sir! I-I didn't mean to--" Kagami tried to explain, but she was getting nervous to the point where she couldn't think of anything more to say. But strangely, the old man smiled and patted her head with his hand.

"It's quite alright, young miss" The old man said to her. Tajin arrived in front of the two.

"You okay, Kagami?" Tajin asked.

"I'm fine. Oh! I got your juice" Kagami said as she handed him his bottle of orange juice which she herself got for him.

"Thanks!" Tajin said to her. The old man stared down at them with a curious look in his olive green eyes.

"Might you youngsters be...dating?" The old man asked.

"Yeah. We ran out of things to do, so we came here" Tajin told him.

"We should probably get going, Tajin-kun. We don't wanna bother him" Kagami told Tajin. The two decided to hold hands and walk away, leaving the old man by himself. But when they were talking, Tajin suddenly stopped.

"Ugh, it's hot today" Tajin said as he was beginning to sweat. He pulled up the bottom of his shirt and tried to use it to dry himself off since it was getting hot. But Kagami suddenly smacked his hand! The smack made Tajin drop the bottom of his shirt and it fell to it's rightful place.

"Kagami! What'd you do that for?" Tajin asked.

"You can't do that in public! What if someone sees your giant eye! Don't forget, you're a catalyst and we don't want the public thinking that you're some freaky monster if they see it!" Kagami scolded him for nearly revealing the giant closed eye in his stomach. Tajin stopped speaking for a little bit.

"Oh...right...I see. Never mind then" Tajin replied. But what the two didn't know was that the old man accidentally overheard their recent conversation. He smiled at the two children.

'So catalysts and humans really can get along...How wonderful...if only others would understand...' thought the old man as he decided to walk away with a smile on his face. But Tajin and Kagami were still in the area.

"So...what should we do next?" Kagami asked. Tajin looked around for a bit and saw what appears to be a volleyball net about 10 feet away from them. There was also a big, orange, inflated ball under it too. Tajin smiled at the sight, then turned to Kagami.

"Hey! Why don't we play a little volleyball?" Tajin exclaimed with his casual smile. Kagami was a little doubtful.

"Whaaa? But...I'm not good at sports..." Kagami said, worried.

"It's okay! That ball's inflated so it'll be fine!" Tajin said when suddenly...

"May it be possible if we too could join you?"

They heard a voice right next to them. They turned around and saw Konata with a younger girl.

"Oneechan! Ayu-chan!" Kagami exclaimed.

The young girl, Ayu, is another friend of Tajin, Konata, and Kagami. She is 11 years old, and has short, straight violet purple hair along with light blue eyes. She has a big, light blue ribbon on the back of her head. She is wearing a short-sleeved, light pink shirt along with white shorts and brown shoes.

"I never expected to run into you two here" Ayu told them in a calm, cute but wise voice.

"How's your date going?" Konata asked.

"It's doing fine. We ran out of things to do, so we're gonna play a little volley ball over there. Wanna join us?" Tajin asked.

"Sure! I love volleyball!" Konata exclaimed happily.

"I am not that fond of sports, but if it's just for fun or for exercise, then I am willing to comply" Ayu told them sternly but in a docile tone. Then, all of a sudden...

"Kagami-chaaaaaaan!!"

Two more younger girls appeared and ran up to Kagami with big smiles on their faces. Kagami was surprised.

"A-Akane-chan! Fusa-pyon!" Kagami exclaimed.

The two little girls were 9 years old in age. The one named Akane has bright, cherry red hair tied into two pigtails with dark purple bows and has bright, emerald green eyes. She is wearing a sleeveless, light green dress under a small, light yellow, short-sleeved jacket-like shirt. She is also wearing light blue shoes and white socks. The other girl has bowl-cut, black hair and has darker green eyes. Her hair style looked like a boy's hair. This little girl was wearing a sleeveless, light blue dress with white ends on the skirt part along with matching shoes and white socks that have pictures of blue flowers on them. She also has a tiny, blue ribbon in her hair. Tajin recognized the girl in blue.

"Oh! I remember you! You're Tsuyuri Fusako-san, right?" Tajin asked curiously.

"Yep! That's me!" The black-haired girl, Fusako, replied innocently as her cheeks became a little red.

"I haven't seen you two in a while!" Kagami said.

"We overheard you and Tajin-kun talking. Are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Akane asked. Kagami immediately became embarrassed.

"What!? N-N-N-No! We're not, seriously!" Kagami exclaimed.

"I think love is in the air!" Fusako proclaimed happily and cutely.

"By the way, can we play with you?" Akane asked.

"Sure! I don't mind!" Kagami said. Tajin, Konata, and Ayu decided to agree too, but then...two more people arrived! Boys to be exact.

"Toki-san! Yoru-kun!" Tajin exclaimed as he saw them.

Toki is the one with long, light blue hair with dark blue ends. He also has matching light blue eyes. He is wearing a brown, sleeveless shirt along with blue jean shorts and black shoes. Yoru is the one with short, midnight blue hair with two stands going over his ears and has silver eyes. He is wearing a bright yellow, short sleeved shirt under denim-colored overalls and has brown shoes on.

"Hey there" Toki said in a stoic, emotionless tone.

"Can we play too? Oniichan and I got bored, so we felt like coming here. Do you mind?" Yoru asked happily.

"There's a lot of people we know coming here today!" Kagami exclaimed.

"Sure! We don't mind. Who the flip knows? Maybe someone else will suddenly pop up before our eyes!" Tajin said with his casual smile. But he didn't know that what he just said was about to suddenly come true when...THUD!

"Owwww!!"

Yet ANOTHER person they know appears! And from a tree branch too! This person looks to be 16-18 years old and has midnight blue hair which is covered by a blue, ragged snow hat for the winter. He also has piercing, bright red eyes. He is currently wearing a dark blue jean jacket over a dark green shirt along with black jean pants and brown combat boots. His eyes look like they're angry and his teeth have small fangs that look like a vampire's teeth.

"Grrrr! That stupid tree!...Oh! Hello autistic girl and company!" The man exclaimed in a creepy British accent. Fusako clenched onto Kagami's shirt while Kagami got mad.

"Honcha-kun! Don't call me "autistic girl"! It's Yoshino Kagami!" Kagami yelled at him as she was scolding him for not calling her by her name.

"Kagami-chan? He's scary..." Fusako whispered as she clenched onto Kagami's shirt.

"Oh! Sorry, Fusa-pyon. This is Honcha-kun. He's a friend of mine with a split personality. That means there's more than one person in his head. This is Honcha-Virus as I like to call him. The real one, Honcha-Vaccine as I liked to call him, is actually really nice. He's just not here right now" Kagami explained to Fusako.

This is true. Kagami's friend Honcha is a catalyst with Multiple Personality Disorder, which means that there's more than one person inside of a body. Honcha-Virus, the one presently taking over the body right now, is a hyperactive but easily angered sadist while the dominant personality, Honcha-Vaccine, is shy, gentle, and rational who is not present right now.

"I'm just here because I was bored outta my mind. So I heard you're playing volleyball. Mind if I join? I got nothin' else to do" Honcha asked.

"Sure, the more the merrier!" Konata exclaimed loudly.

Now, with many of Tajin and Kagami's friends here, they finally decide to play a little volleyball for some exercise. Tajin looked around to see if there were any more of their comrades around. There were none so far. They were split up into two teams. Tajin, Kagami, Konata, Akane, and Fusako were the first team, and Honcha, Toki, Yoru, and Ayu were the second team. Ayu's team was outnumbered by one, but they didn't really care, since it isn't going to be an official game, so the number of people you have on a team doesn't really matter. Tajin was the one who had his hands on the inflated ball. The orange, inflated ball with black stripes was bigger than Tajin's hand, but it was certainly easy to life. Tajin held the ball high in the air and prepared his arm, trying to make it ready to slam it into the air and over the net. He then gently lifted his hand up higher and slowly released the ball into the air and then...he fiercely but gently slapped the ball with his other hand, officially starting the game.

The orange, black-striped, inflated ball flew turbulently in the air and over the net, slowly arriving toward Ayu's team. Toki was the first to react. He immediately jumped in front of the ball and smacked it back into the air with his hand rolled into a fist. The ball did another high loop and fell toward Tajin's team. Konata was the first to react, as she lifted her palms up to face the ball and gently tapped it. She was intending to let Akane try and hit it over the net. Akane followed Konata's cue as she jumped in the air and smacked the ball back into the air. This time, as the ball entered the air yet again, as it was going down, it headed toward Ayu herself. She raised her hands into the air, palms facing foward, and gently smacked the ball. Unfortunately, the blow wasn't hard enough and it ended up touching the net for about a minute, then falling in front of Ayu. Some of the kids laughed and Ayu's face became red, but nevertheless, they decided to continue.

Yoru was the one who picked up the ball and decided to serve it. He opened his legs wide, opened his arm with the hand holding the ball, and had his other arm ready to try and hit it. His hand, rolled into a fist, quickly hit the ball and released it into the calm but turbulent air yet again. Tajin and Kagami were struggling to see which one of them could hit it, but they somehow managed to both hit the ball and make a good double-spike, as Akane just called it. Honcha picked up the ball, looking a little irritated, and fiercely threw it over the net...and it was aiming for Fusako. Fusako's face became very fearful and as the ball was falling right for her face, she immediately pushed her hands in the air and somehow managed to make the ball fly back into the air. The inflated, orange ball paused and slowed down as it was hit high into the atmosphere, but it's speed increased as it came down. Likely due to gravity. Toki was the first to react and smacked the ball. Then, Konata smacked it back at him. There was now a series of ball smacking in the game, as everyone was desperate to try and manipulate one team into not being able to hit the ball. It was like an all-out battle between volleyball athletes.

Then, finally, the ball managed to fall gently onto the ground, on Kagami's team's side. The kids on Ayu's team laughed a bit except for Toki, who was his usual calm, collected and stoic self. But as Tajin was about to pick up the ball, he noticed three kids approaching the net. Two boys and one girl. One boy had messy, shaggy, dirty brown hair and maroon/dark red eyes. The boy was wearing a sleeveless, dark brown shirt with a picture of a yellow V on it along with dark blue jean shorts, long white socks and black sneakers. Another boy had lighter brown hair, which was flat and straight, and he has orangish brown eyes. He is much bigger than the boy with the dirty brown hair. He is wearing a light blue, short-sleeved shirt with white stripes on it along with tan-colored jean shorts, long white socks and white sneakers. The girl has very short, messy and choppy dark brown hair and greyish blue eyes. She is wearing a tan, sleeveless shirt along with dark green shorts and yellow shoes.

"Hey! You playin' volleyball?" The boy with the dirty brown hair asked. His speech was a little off. Kagami noticed him.

"Hiroto-kun! Yes we are playing a little" Kagami exclaimed happily as she noticed the three.

"Hey! You're that pretty boy from yesterday! How ya doin' today!?" The girl with the shaggy, dark brown hair exclaimed loudly. Tajin blushed a little as she just called him "pretty boy".

"I...I'm fine. You're...Taira Chisato-san, right? And he's Yasaka Yamato-san?" Tajin replied. Apparently he remembered that the girl's name is Taira Chisato while the big-bodied boy was Yasaka Yamato.

"Bingo! You sure know your people, don'cha!?" Chisato exclaimed with a big smile, big enough to show a small fang in her mouth.

"So I see you're all playing some volleyball. Do you mind if we join in?" The big boy, Yamato, asked politely.

"Sure! Why not? The more the merrier, as Konata said before!" Tajin replied happily.

Now, each team got extra members. Chisato and Hiroto decided to go on Ayu's team while Hiroto decided to be on Kagami's team. Since the ball landed on Tajin's side of the net, he was the one who was the first to pick it up. Tajin held the ball in the air and punched it into the air with his fist. It flew slowly in the air, then it increased in speed as it went over the net and fell toward the other team. Honcha acted quickly and smacked the ball hard with his hand. As it went over the net, Konata managed to smack it. But she smacked it toward Hiroto since he was closer to the net. Hiroto followed Konata's cue and smacked the ball back to Ayu's team. This time, Ayu was the one who reacted as she gently smacked the ball and let it fly toward Chisato. Chisato jumped and slapped the ball hard. Very hard. It managed to successfully fly over the net. Fusako tried to hit it, but the ball ended up falling right past her and it fell to the ground. Kagami picked it up, held it high in the air, and served it. Toki reacted quickly and he smacked the ball back over the net. Akane reacted first and she immediately punched the ball back over the net. But Honcha dashed in to spike it, but Hiroto stepped in and tried to spike him back. Unfortunately, Hiroto seemed to smack the ball too hard and it hit Honcha's face. Honcha fell to the ground as did the ball. Everyone laughed with glee and delight.

Honcha wasn't exactly injured because the ball was inflatable and soft. Honcha's fangs and teeth gritted together as he stood back up, with the ball in hand, and violently smacked it high in the air and let it fall to the ground. Tajin and the others scrambled in to try and hit it. The ball fell toward the crumpled up group and many of them tried to hit it. Thankfully, Konata managed to hit it back over the net. Toki and the others tried to smack it, but the ball flew right past them and it rolled toward Yamato. Yamato picks up the ball and manages to make a decent serve. Hiroto dives in and smacks it back to their side. Chisato slaps the ball with her bare hands and hits it toward Ayu. Ayu tries to hit it, but she doesn't hit it hard enough and it ends up falling back to their side.

This was certainly a fun time for all the children. Since today is their last day of summer break, they didn't really want to spend their final vacation day cooped up in the house. Everyone just happened to be here by coincidence, while Tajin and Kagami were on their date. But they were enjoying the game anyway. This game didn't have any rules for it except for those playing to just have fun. There were many comedic moments were some people fell and some people didn't hit the ball hard enough. But Tajin, Kagami, and the rest of the kids were having a very good time. But what Tajin didn't know was that Chiaki's car pulled up near the sidewalk. Chiaki opened the door and exited the car. She saw the children playing the game and decided to walk up to them.

"Tajin-kuuuuun!!"

Chiaki called out to him quite loudly. Tajin happened to notice that she was approaching them. She finally caught up to them and she began to catch her breath. But she then stared at Tajin with a rather stern look.

"I understand that you and Kagami were on your date, but you didn't even call once!" Chiaki told him sternly. Tajin became a little doubtful and helpless.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry! I guess I ended up getting too pre-occupied! I did try to find a pay-phone, but there weren't any around" Tajin explained. But he still felt a little doubtful. But then, Chiaki's stern expression dissolved and she smiled.

"Well, I am glad that you're having fun and that your date's going well. But I would appreciate it if I heard from you once in a while. I just want to know that you're safe and that you're not in any trouble" Chiaki told him.

"I guess I'm going to have to buy myself a V-phone, shouldn't I?" Tajin said to himself. But then Chiaki noticed them near a net and with an inflated ball.

"Are you playing volleyball? I was really good at that sport when I was a child. Do you mind if I join in?" Chiaki asked. Tajin did smile, but he also looked worried.

"But Chiaki-san, you're pregnant, right? You shouldn't be doing a lot of physical activity while you're having a baby. Don't you have to give it prenatal care and stuff?" Tajin asked. Apparently he knew that Chiaki was already 5 months pregnant even though she wasn't diagnosed as such until about a week ago, strangely.

"I see. I understand. I'll just sit somewhere and watch. I know you don't mean any offense. You're concerned for both myself and the baby, right? You're such a sweet boy" Chiaki said with a smile as she patted her son's head with her hand. But suddenly, a small group of young kids approached them with curiosity.

"Are you guys playin' volleyball?" One boy asked.

"Can we play?" One girl asked. There were about 4 boys and 2 girls. Tajin smiled brightly.

"Sure! You can join and play with us!" Tajin exclaimed. The kids cheered happily and they went for their teams.

All of the children were happily playing volleyball and having a good time. Some played as if they haven't had a fun time in a very long time. Some were just here to get some exercise. But nevertheless, every single kid in the volleyball field are having their fun and enjoying themselves. Chiaki watched as the children hopped up and down and moved forward and backward to smack a ball to knock out one of the teams. She chuckled at the sight, but was also doing a little reminiscing. She watched the children play their game and laugh at each other whenever they made a comedic mistake. She was also remembering the time she told Tajin about when she helped a little boy have a good time before he died.

Many many minutes later, all of the children were on their knees and were tired out. Some were desperately trying to catch their breath and were gasping for air.

"Ohhhhh boy now THAT was fun!" Konata exclaimed loudly.

"True that!" Chisato exclaimed while her little fang showed up.

"I wonder if maybe I've lost a pound or two?" Yamato asked himself.

"Ahhh weight shmeight! I'm gonna go home and grab a bite to eat. It's getting late" Honcha exclaimed as he finally caught his breath, stood up and decided to leave Central Park. The younger children from earlier decided to leave as well, but they also had a good time. Fusako turned around and saw Kagami and Tajin next to each other. She decided to walk up to them.

"Kagami-chan. I hope I'll be able to see you at school tomorrow" Fusako told her in a cute, high-pitched girl voice. Kagami laughed a bit and rubbed the back of her head.

"I kinda doubt it's gonna happen. We're in different grades and we have different lunch times" Kagami said.

"But you never really know, you might just randomly run into her in the hallway or something!" Tajin said with a smile. Kagami and Fusako smiled too. Soon, Akane came into the scene.

"Maybe you two can go back to being cute and lovey-dovey!" Akane exclaimed happily. Kagami and Tajin immediately blushed as they heard Akane's little remark. Fusako turned her head behind herself as if she heard something, then turned back to the two.

"I hope we can play together again. Oh! If it'd be possible, maybe I can have you help me work on my newest album!" Fusako exclaimed cutely and smiled.

"You're working on a new song?" Tajin asked.

"Yep! I'm not going to tell you the title though! It's a secret!...Oh! My mommy's calling. I'll see you two lovebirds later! Bye-bee!" Fusako told them cutely but heard her mother calling and decided to leave. Tajin and Kagami's faces got even more read when Fusako just called them lovebirds. But as Kagami calmed down and turned around, she saw a little passageway in some trees about 3 meters away from where she and Tajin are now.

"Tajin-kun. Wanna go to the meadow?" Kagami asked in a quiet whisper. Tajin nodded a bit, stood up, then looked at Chiaki who was tending to Ayu and the rest of the kids.

"Hey Chiakiiiii! Kagami and I are gonna hang out in the meadow for a bit! Do you mind?" Tajin asked loudly. He somehow managed to catch Chiaki's attention.

"It's alright. You can go and play, but don't stay too long! It'll be getting late soon! And it's a school night!" Chiaki replied. Tajin grabbed Kagami's hand and decided to go into the small passageway.

There was a small, dirt road which started at the entrance they just entered. They walked along it and saw some rocks, twigs, and green leaves. They even saw a little frog hopping by. Tajin became a little intrigued by the frog.

"Kagami. I hear there's supposed to be a hidden pond somewhere around here. I wanna go find it!" Tajin said. Kagami was a little confused, but decided to follow Tajin. They managed to get to the big meadow, but Tajin found another little passageway which led to another place. They walked along the small dirt path and at the end...they found a pond.

But unlike most ponds, this one was REALLY big! The waters were bright and clear like crystal. Tajin and Kagami were amazed at how pretty it was, especially since the sky was becoming a mixture of orange, purple, and navy blue. Tajin saw little frogs hopping onto the lily pads. He saw a small log sticking out from the pond and decided to walk on it. Kagami slowly followed suit, but tried to make sure Tajin didn't fall. But as Tajin walked onto the log and tried to bend over to touch the water...his foot nearly slipped! Kagami reacted quickly by approaching him and grabbing him. But even so, Tajin was still on the verge of falling. Kagami pulled on him real hard. As she pulled hard on his arm, she successfully managed to stop him from falling, but he ended up falling onto the ground...with her following suit! Kagami was lying on her back while Tajin was on his stomach. They were still holding hands. The two kids looked at each other with confused looks, but Tajin suddenly smiled and started giggling a little until he finally burst into a fit of laughter for no reason! Kagami didn't exactly care and decided to laugh along with him. Both of them had their eyes closed and were having their own private fun time(7).

Now, they decided to calm down and return to the meadow. They were amazed at how big it was, though it has always been rather vast and big. There was literally nothing but a large piece of green land surrounded by trees and small flowers. A soft wind blew in the area, making itself visible in the grass. Tajin and Kagami's hair were both carried by the gentle breeze.

"It's so peaceful here. I could come here any time" Tajin said to himself.

"Yes. It seems so..." Kagami murmured to herself. As the couple gazed upon the vast meadow, they were both silent until Kagami started to speak.

"Tajin-kun...I'll admit, I had quite a lot of fun being with you today. You're always so fun to be with. I...I don't get to play with my friends very often because...well, you know" Kagami explained quietly. Tajin was a little confused, but he smiled afterward.

"I agree. It sure was fun! We should do this again sometime. I also like being with you" Tajin replied with his typical boyish smile. But Kagami's soft, calm expression then turned a bit stoic.

"It's...still there, isn't it?" Kagami asked. Tajin was confused.

"What do you mean?" Tajin asked back.

"The debris...from that place" Kagami replied sternly. Tajin's face also became a bit distressed when she mentioned the unknown place.

"Yeah, it was there when me and Akagi were trying to escape from the storm 2 days ago. Why bring it up now?" Tajin explained.

"I don't know. Whenever I come here, I end up thinking about that wretched place. I can't help but wonder why people can be so cruel to those who are different. Why do they exist? Why are they cruel to those who are different? Do they desire to become perfect? Do they want the world to be normal and perfect? I just don't understand" Kagami explained. Tajin became quiet for a short while, but then looked at Kagami.

"Wouldn't it be soooo boring if everyone in the world was completely the same? I mean, people would look the same and would be doing the same thing over and over again on a regular basis. But I don't think that's how the world should work. In this world, everyone is different but some strive for perfection and normal stuff. Having different and weird people in the world can be rather fun! Don't you think so?" Tajin explained. Kagami was a little confused, but she began thinking. After a few more seconds, she looked at Tajin and smiled.

"Yeah...it would be kinda fun" Kagami told him. Tajin smiled right back at her.

"So what if everyone's different in the world? We have to accept it, because it's how the world was made! Everyone's supposed to be different in their own way, but that's what makes us unique. You're autistic and I'm a catalyst. We're not the same, but it shouldn't matter, now should it?" Tajin replied with a smile.

"It shouldn't" Kagami said, but then she looked up at the sky, looking like she heard something. The bright sun was hidden by purple clouds. She walked a few steps forward. Tajin was confused.

"What's wrong?" Tajin asked.

"Do you hear that?" Kagami asked him back. Tajin followed her by walking up a few steps and he looked up.

"Hear what?" Tajin asked back.

"I think I hear...music playing" Kagami murmured. Tajin tried to hear what she was hearing. But it seems he managed to hear it.

"Hey, you're right! I do hear music playing!" Tajin exclaimed. The music they were hearing was classical music. The music was quite soothing and melodious and was playing in many different forms. Instruments such as a violin, a flute, and a trumpet could be heard among the air.

"My dad said that a special orchestra is playing at a little festival further away from Central Park tonight" Kagami explained. Tajin remained quiet so he could hear the beautiful music that was playing. Tajin closed his golden eyes and tried to feel the distant sounds as he was hearing them. All of a sudden...a little idea sprung up in his head like a bird hatching from an egg. He faced Kagami and offered out this hand.

"My dear mistess, may I have this dance?" Tajin asked as if he was a refined and noble gentleman with a British accent. Kagami was confused, but as she heard what he said...it suddenly came to her.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-You wanna dance!? But this music's barely hearable! And...I'm terrible at ballroom dancing! And we're outside to boot!" Kagami proclaimed as she was shocked and surprised.

"I know. But there's nobody around, so we'll have this whole area to ourselves. And I've never danced either. But Chiaki told me a story from her childhood about how she took a troubled boy out with her and helped him to have a good time. The last thing she did with him was dance with him in the meadow. I...I kind of want to to do the same thing with you. I want you to express that you've had a wonderful time. Plus this music is making me feel motivated! Plus it's good for dancing to! So...wanna try it?" Tajin explained. Tajin's face began to turn a bit red as he was explaining the story that Chiaki told him to Kagami. Kagami finally decided to calm herself and she slowly pulled out her hand.

Then, her small, white hand gently landed in Tajin's tan-colored hand. Tajin smiled and pulled her close.

They slowly began to create their own rhythm by moving their bodies one by one, trying to match the distant music playing far, far away. They first began with holding both of their arms and slowly spinning around in a circle. They were spinning very slowly so that neither would be dizzy. They then slowly began to increase the speed that they span around, like they were two small birds flying in circles and making love. They sometimes opened themselves up and spread their bodies out widely for only a brief moment, then they clenched their arms and span around in circles again. Sometimes Tajin would allow Kagami to spin a little as she held his hand. The two embraced the distant sounds they heard from far, far away and tried to influence their bodies into becoming part of the music. To Tajin, the music sounded like a pleasant melody speading joy to others, starting off rather slow, then speeding up. To Kagami, the music felt more like a requiem and a soft ballad-like melody. There were tints of sadness and tints of happiness as well. The two happily danced and spun around each other.

Tajin began to remember the story from Chiaki's childhood. He suddenly imagined himself as the younger Chiaki, who tried to make the troubled boy experience happiness for the first time, and imagined Kagami as the shaggy-haired boy named Shingo, finally experiencing happiness and joy for the first time in a lifetime. Birds began flying past them and the wind began to blow in a different direction. The wind felt like it was actually helping the two lovers dance to their heart's content by cooperating with their rhythm of dance. The colorful flowers in the grass spread their petals as they bloomed beautifully, as if they were awakened by the couple's random but melodious dance. The music became very soft and lucid. Tajin and Kagami danced slowly but elegantly. They moved randomly, but they were leading each other as if they had already planned the dance out.

A soft sound coming from a quartet of violins began to echo across the wind, along with the gentle elegance of many flutes and cheerful and flamboyant echoes from a trio of trumpets. Cellos and violas also rung their symphonies as the sounds combined together were being carried across the meadow by the gentle, turbulent wind. Then, the wind suddenly began to pick up. Multi-colored flower petals began to become ripped off of the flowers as they were carried off by the strong wind. The flower petals began to swirl around the dancing couple as the wind gracefully followed the melody of the distant orchestra from afar(8).

The yellow sun finally began to set and the Bengal orange-colored sky was slowly transforming into a clear, pleasant, but darker shade of blue, a dark version of day which the normal people called night. The full white moon finally revealed itself in the coming night. The two children danced elegantly and beautifully, even though there was basically nobody around to see them. Their bodies moved brilliantly with the flying flower petals, the turbulent wind, and the distant orchestral music coming from somewhere far, far away. The two children smiled at each other happily and brightly as they spun each other around, like they were two hummingbirds flying in circles, chirping, and making love. As the sun finally set, and as day turned to night, the beautiful music finally began to fade. The bright sun's yellow effulgence finally disappeared, the wind finally calmed down until there was absolutely no trace of it. Not only that, the Bengal orange sky finally succumbed to the dark blue atmosphere. But there was certainly something to be left behind. Tiny, bright, sparkling dots appeared in the peaceful night sky. The public called them stars. The moon was finally fully exposed in the night, it's brilliant whiteness was the only light in all of Kisara as of now. The children finally stopped dancing and fell to the ground. Tajin sat right next to Kagami. The two were a little bit dizzy, but it was like they finally created the happy memories they wished to make. It was as if their hearts were healed of their suffering.

"Boy, am I dizzy! Are you dizzy, Kagami?" Tajin asked. His head wobbled a little bit, but he manages to make it stay still. Kagami smiled brightly at the boy.

"Nah, this is nothing! I spin around hundreds of time and I NEVER get dizzy!" Kagami exclaimed loudly.

"I envy you for that" Tajin replied when he suddenly looked down and found himself staring at Kagami's stomach, which was concealed by her shirt.

"But! There's still one more thing I wanna do before we're finally done our date!" Tajin proclaimed with a touch of pride.

"Now what might that be?" Kagami asked. Tajin suddenly krept up closer to Kagami and suddenly grabbed her wrist with his hand.

"I better hope you're prepared because it seems you're going to get a surprise visit from...the tickle monster!!" Tajin exclaimed loudly as he then suddenly pushed Kagami to the grass and pinned her down to the ground. As Tajin let go of her wrists, he then slowly began pulling Kagami's shirt up, just to an amount where he could see her abdomen and her navel. Kagami tried to get up, but it was like her hands were stuck to the grass like magnets. Then, Tajin slowly placed his hands on her stomach and his fingers began to gently dance across her smooth, soft, apricot-colored stomach. Kagami couldn't help but giggle a little until she finally burst into a fit of laughter.

"Bwahahaha! T-Ta-Tajin-kuuuuun!! You sneaky, no-good...making my guard go down...fwahahaha!! P-Please stop!!" Kagami desperately pleaded in front of Tajin and pleaded him to stop. But he certainly wasn't. She was finally at the point where she was shedding tears of laughter.

"Is it wrong to want to make someone laugh in your own hands? Come on! Besides, you're cute when you laugh under my control!" Tajin told her with a sly, playfully mischievous, child-like smile plastered all over his face. He continued to playfully torture Kagami, but Kagami was thinking something else.

'What is this? Why...do I feel so light-hearted? So...peaceful? Is it because I'm with Tajin-kun? It feels like...I'm reunited with Shinji-kun again. He used to tickle me like this as well, only he doesn't have the power to make my bones feel like magnets and be stuck to the ground. But...here I am, shedding my crystal tears of laughter...suffering from Tajin-kun's playful gestures. But...I really do feel happy. It's like he's healing all of my suffering with the movements of his fingers. His slim fingers...to be honest, I really love it when his soft hands and fingers streak my body. I wish this could go on...forever...' Kagami surely didn't want to admit it to Tajin through her own laughter, but she was certainly enjoying every minute of Tajin's playful "wrath" as she'd prefered to call it. She really wanted it to continue for as long as she wanted. She never really got to play with her friends very often because of her disability (autism). She wanted to spend the entire day with Tajin, no matter what happened or what they did together. But after a few minutes, Tajin finally stopped and let out a strong sigh.

"I'm done! I'm feeling tired...Oh! I better help you up" Tajin said as he finally stopped playfully torturing Kagami. He placed both of his hands on her wrists, then slowly pulled Kagami off of the ground. Kagami sat herself up while Tajin suddenly plopped to the grass. Kagami laughed a bit.

"I had such a fun time!" Tajin exclaimed as he fell to the ground happily and gazed upon the night sky infested with stars and a full moon.

"I couldn't agree with you more!...it's strangely cool tonight. I like it" Kagami said when suddenly...

"Tajin-kuuuun! Kagami-chaaaan!"

Chiaki's voice echoed in the meadow. Chiaki, along with Konata, Ayu, Toki, and Yoru, arrived in the meadow and ran up to the couple.

"Hey Chiaki-san. Sorry if I must have worried you again. Oh! Did you hear that music earlier? Kagami and I danced to it, just like how you and Shingo-san did years and years ago!" Tajin told Chiaki with his typical boyish cute smile. Chiaki became a little speechless, but she smiled.

"I'm glad you and Kagami-chan had a great time. I think it's probably time to go home now" Chiaki told him.

"I certainly didn't expect that orchestra to play in Kisara today. I wish I could have gone to see them play" Ayu said.

"Well, it certainly was worth it! Right, Oniichan?" Yoru exclaimed with a smile. Toki was quiet, but he smiled just a little bit.

"Yeah, it was. I had fun" Toki replied non-chalantly but with a smile.

"Ahhhh! I think I'm finally beat! I guess I'm--" Tajin was just about to say something when suddenly...

"EHHHHHHHH?!?"

Kagami suddenly let out a loud scream.

"What's wrong, Kagami?" Konata asked.

"T-T-T-T-Tajin-kuuun!! Y-Y-Your...your giant eye!!" Kagami screamed loudly. As Tajin suddenly looked down at his own stomach, he suddenly became overcome with shock.

The eye in his stomach was fully open! Golden iris and all! The part of the eye surrounding the iris that's supposed to be white is black in Tajin's big eye.

"WHAT?!? How can this be!? How did--!?" Tajin nearly exclaimed when suddenly...a bright blue light suddenly shot out from his eye! Because of the light suddenly appearing from his eye, his body fell to the ground as if he was being pinned down like he did to Kagami before. Kagami, Chiaki and the others became worried. The ray of light exited Tajin's eye and was heading directly toward the full moon. But the only thing strange was that the light didn't actually hit the full moon. It suddenly stopped in the middle of the sky.

Everyone was confused. The ray of light from Tajin's eye suddenly disappeared without a trace...well, the only trace of it left was now a small, light blue orb in the sky. The blue orb in the sky didn't move at all, but then, out of nowhere...

BOOM!

The blue orb of light exploded!

But it wasn't a very big, dangerous, or even life-threatening explosion at that. It was actually a very small explosion. But the small explosion only exploded many smaller lights and, like shooting stars, began falling from the sky. The lights were very far away, way above Kisara, and even farther away from Tajin and the gang. Many lights from the explosion fell into various parts of Kisara like falling stars. Everyone was confused, but they were also relieved. Kagami and Tajin were in awe by this.

"Woooow!! Tajin-kun, I didn't know you could make a little mini star shower!!" Kagami exclaimed loudly but happily.

"Me neither! I never even knew I even had any powers like this!" Tajin replied in response.

"It sure is beautiful..." Chiaki said to herself.

"Quite a phenomenon this is! I'm going to have to do some research on Tajin-san's Omega 101 eye later on!" Ayu exclaimed to herself.

"Wow! This is so cool! I wish I could do that!" Yoru exclaimed loudly.

"Yoru! Don't get too excited! We don't know what the aftermath of this is going to be or why or how this was caused" Toki told him sternly.

"Hey Kagami! Do you remember when we first met Tajin and he first got kidnapped by Kojiro? This very same thing happened, only the light hit the moon and it went back into Tajin and it exploded and stuff!" Konata explained.

"Oh you're right! I do remember that! That was also when we first learned about catalysts!" Kagami exclaimed in response. Tajin stood up and came up to them.

"Yes. I remember that quite clearly, even though my eyes were closed most of the time" Tajin told them.

"Speaking of eyes being closed, is your giant eye alright?" Kagami asked. Tajin looked down at his stomach and discovered that his giant eye had already closed.

"It's closed now" Tajin said, then he looked at the sky. The falling lights began to fade.

"It sure is beautiful. School's tomorrow. I had a great summer break" Tajin said.

"So did I! Aside from that stupid thing that happened with Hazelnut, everything else was epic!" Kagami exclaimed.

"I also had fun!" Konata said.

"As did I" Ayu said.

"I did too" Chiaki said.

"I hope we get to have a fun summer break again!" Yoru said. Toki didn't say a word. Tajin and Kagami looked at each other, closed their eyes, then smiled. The children and Chiaki finally decide to leave the meadow and return home, dissatisfied with the fact that their summer break was finally over and that starting tomorrow morning, they'd have to return to school. But to all of them, it was well worth it, especially to Tajin and Kagami, who both created a very special memory that would hold a special place in their hearts.

Author's Note: Yes! Boy did I write a lot for this chapter! I officially declare this chapter the second longest in all of TCR, only losing to chapter 39! I put my heart and soul into this piece of work and I don't think I'm going to stop just yet! Unfortunately, I have school starting in 2 weeks time. Nooooooo!! Why do they have to start it at the end of August!? I wish my summer was longer than this. But Otakon really made up for my cruddy 2009! But I really wish I could see my friend Christine in person again. I haven't seen her in such a long time! I reallt want to see her again! I better go now. Read and review please! NO FLAMES!!! Bye-bee!

Footnotes:

1. Unico is the name of a manga created by a famous mangaka named Osamu Tezuka. There are 4 anime movies of it so far.

2. Pastel Yumi is the 4th installment of Studio Pierrot's magical girl anime, in which this one was made in 1986.

3. Jewelpet is a new anime made by Sanrio.

4. Fancy Lala is the 5th installment of Studio Pierrot's magical girl anime, in which this one was made in 1998. No more have been made ever since.

5. Night on the Galactic Railroad is the name of a book authored by Kenji Miyazawa published in October of 1934. An anime movie for it was made in 1985 and was directed by Gisaburo Sugii

6. Jungle Emperor is the name of a long-running manga by Osamu Tezuka. Many anime versions were made, with the first being made in 1965. It's commonly known in America as Kimba the White Lion.

7. This scene was based off of a scene from episode 2 of the anime called Figure 17.

8. This entire dancing scene was based off of the opening theme of the anime of Aoi Hana, which is originally a shoujo-ai (girl's love) manga authored by Takako Shimura.