Although it was a relatively hot summer, the kids were still out and playing. Almira Aura Springfield was no exception to this rule. She was at the baseball field of her high school, joining a pick-up game already well underway. It was already the bottom of the ninth, and she was joining ‘cause the team at bat had begged her. She shook her head and commented, "You guys are getting whipped, ya know that? How can you possibly be this bad?"

"We aren’t that bad, it’s that that pitcher’s that good!" responded one of the freshmen.

Mira looked up at the pitcher, who turned out to be a short girl with blue hair, wearing a gray sweatshirt over some rather expensive looking clothes. Curious, she asked, "Who’s she? I’ve never seen her before." From the stands, a girl answered "She's Azura, and she’s transferring into our class for next term. She’s from New York City."

Mira nodded, "I see... Now, how can she be beating you this bad?"

"Well, she’s got this pitch... When she uses it, the ball literally disappears!"

Mira scoffed. "Yeah right! It must be that you guys just suck. That’s fine, just give me the bat, I’ll take care of this disappearing shot."

The freshman handed her a bat, and she stepped up to the plate, taunting the pitcher by yelling, "Show me what you got!"

The pitcher nodded. She took a strange stance on the mound then threw the ball. A tingling sensation went through Mira’s body as she watched the ball carefully. It was actually a slow pitch, easy to hit, and when it got near enough Mira swung the bat. A resounding crack filled the air, followed by a collective gasp, as the ball soared over the fences in the back, a homerun. Mira looked at the pitcher sharply, for she realized what the tingling had been; she had sensed spirit energy. The blue haired girl, under the scrutiny, ran of the mound, out of the stadium, closely followed Mira and the shouts of the kids that were playing ball...

And so, Mira found herself speeding down the streets of Tokyo, chasing after this mysterious Azura. She noted that they were heading in the direction of the Spiritual district, an area that the general populace could not enter. The quickly approached and then passed through the barrier, entering the district. Mira pretended to lose Azura in the crowd of mystical creatures, while actually taking note of what building she had entered than silently sneaking in. She heard panting behind on of the doors inside and put her ear to the keyhole to listen. She heard a girl who panted, "Do you think we lost her?" A deep, male voice responded, "That is a good question, Azura. I do not believe she found us, but one can never be too sure." The girl named Azure sighed in relief, but soon said, "But why did you tell me to run away from her? All she did was hit my special pitch. That has happened before." The male voice sighed this time, almost exasperatingly, and proceeded to lecture, "Indeed it has. But, no one has ever hit a home run off of it, because they can’t hit a home run off of it. The spiritual energy that you infuse into the ball makes it impossible to hit far. You probably didn’t notice it, but the second before she hit the ball, she subconsciously released enough spirit power to hit the ball like she would any other."

"Oh, so that means she must be involved with the otherworld over here."

"Yes, most likely. We should probably keep an eye on-- Wait. Can you hear that? I hear breathing on the other side of the door! Quickly, get whoever it is!"

Azura swung open the door, just in time to see the open window across from her slam shut. Mira had escaped.

Back on the street, Mira wheezed, "Man, that was close. I better get back to the shop, the dinner hour starts soon." With that, she started to run toward the nearest station, the easiest way for her to get home. She had to get to the shop before the dinner hour started.

Gordon trotted around the back of the fence in the outfield, eventually coming to where the ball had eventually come to rest. Finally. Some kid could actually hit this thing. He'd been watching the whole game and the kids making fools of themselves trying to hit the darn thing. All of them swinging too early, as if they didn't see it was BP.

He yawned and tossed the ball up in the air, instinctively catching it in his left hand. Man it was good to have a baseball in his hand. He tried to get around these parts and get to the fields as often as he could, but he really didn't want to lug his gear everywhere on his bike if there wasn't a game. So he just contented himself with watching, and often cringing at, the neighborhood pickup games. Gordon then turned and jumped the fence, landing softly in the slightly uneven outfield grass. For being a neighborhood field, this one wasn't bad at all. Man, he wanted to play!!

As he crossed the infield dirt he laughed to himself. Why was he complaining? He got a free ball out of the deal, much more than he usually got. Finally he reached the dugout with the abandoned bats and gloves and he hesitated.

Nobody would mind right, if he helped himself for two seconds. For a moment he inspected the bats, testing their heft and balance, finally coming across one that satisfied him. With that, he turned around his baseball cap that he was wearing and stepped up to the plate. ah, was it good to be in a batters box. With that, he tossed the ball up and snapped around, the bat giving a nce sound and the ball carrying over the left field fence, right back to near where it was before. Oh, well. He really didn't need another baseball, his locker at the Shelter was filled with em' along with his other gear. He sighed at the fleeting instant of hitting then returned the bat to it's spot against the fence. then he exited the infield and walked over to his bike, parked a short distance away, then turned around to take one last glance at the field.

John walked around town he sat down on a bench "Man i wish something would happen its getting really boring i havent been to school yet and there are no attacking monsters anywhere America was more intertaning than this i want to destroy something!" He gave a sigh of pure boredum then he walked to a park that seemed completely deserted he summoned his giant sword he calls it Oblivions Great Blade he dosnt know the other translations only english he swung it aroun a bit. He gave a relived sigh "I can finnaly hold you again your lighter than last time i held you i must be getting stronger."
He held it with his other hand and he gave a great swing he trained till swinging the sword was boring he used magic to recreate a monster he faced before it growled at him and charged at him claws as long as him. It jumped up to the sun John saw it coming and held his blade up as a block and the creature came down just like John planed with a hiss the monster pressed down on him so inretalation John pressed his hand on it and had to let out a smal shock to destroy the aura of the beast John hated summoning monsters they were always weak and easy to beat but it was better than nothing he sat down and sighed "I wish i could do something today it would be fun to kill something."

The park was alive with activity. A baseball game had taken place. Had Nabari not been caught up within his thoughts, he would have noticed the faintest pulse of energy.

He probably did detect it, but showed no signs of change within his demeanor. A temperate wood bloomed from behind the park; it's growth had quickened its pace for the past six years, and it had become almost a monstrosity itself, barely keeping it's image of a normal forest. Because of this, contractors had decided against building on top of it, parents warned children not to go into it, and friends dared each other every so often to go deeper into the forest.

It was also his home. Sure, he had an actual house, somewhere. But, he spent more days here than in that artificial area. Cradled by the green, it was the only place where he felt he truly belonged.

Here, on the outskirts of the forest, he casually hung from the tallest tree there. There, he could gaze out as far as downtown. His eyes, half closed, his hands clasped over his open green jacket. His feet, bare. Here, he dreamed.

What did he dream of? One would ask. That would be a mystery to all, maybe including him. But one thing was sure. He was encased in his thoughts, whatever they were. He failed to react to that strong aura of a solitary girl, and a fainter but still distinct one of two others.

He didn't mind. People of like traits gravitated towards each other. It was only the matter of time, only the matter of time.

Maika was walking in a large bad illuminated corridor being followed by a girl wearing the same model of bodysuit as her,black colored eyes, long black hair tied in a ponytail and a face that was practically shining showing a real happy smile, she talked with a tone of seriousness despite her looks "It went good, didn´t it?" Maika didn´t answer her recalling the last events, for a beginning she never expected the organization to act in favor of a company as R.O.C., one of the most powerful and best positioned firm in technologies over the world, and that the boss of the company would allow them to do whatever they want placing only one condition "The firm´s honor and credibility must remain untouched." The girl shooked her head looking at Maika´s back, the meeting last a lot of time to just said do what you want and she didn´t even knew if that boss was a man or a woman, as always her leader kept too much to her.

After some minutes of walking both girls stop watching through a large window to a room in front of them, there was a little group of men in suits, lab cloaks and some in military gear in front of them were boys and girls wearing bodysuits showing strange smiles, that was the outcome of Maika´s first order: gathering the leader of all the branches to convince them of supporting The Stalkers, after a denial Maika left for her meeting giving a single order "Do to them what they did to us." with that all the underground branches were under the control of the Stalkers.

After a moment Maika continued walking ignoring the sounds behind the window followed by the girl, after a quick turn in another corridor both reached a door and enter it. The room was excellent, chairs here and there, a big television placed in the wall, two bigs sofas placed at the edges of the room, tables in the corners fill with folders and papers and a large desk in the middle of the room, it was really a room fitting for the leader of the underground part of the firm.

"And I tell you is unecessary!" Maika turned to her right side, near a sofa were a girl and a boy arguing, both taller than Maika the girl had short blonde hair with a large bang covering the left of her blue colored eyes, the boy had short white hair and green colored eyes. "It is! Names must be made basing us in the country so we can infiltrate better in the community!" The boy opened his mouth in surprise before answering "Infiltrate? How should we do that wearing this?" Maika looked at her own body suit, the boy was right as long as the used them infiltrating was out of question the only difference in the models was that the men didn´t have heels in the ankles.

"Stop." Maika place herself between the boy and the girl, both stop their rambling very quickly "Ah leader... how did it go?" The boy joined his hands looking excited "It was good." After saying that Maika sat in the sofa and remain in silence, the blonde girl turned to the boy and then to the girl that was following Maika "Katteya...?". Katteya shrugged and shooked her head as if she was saying "You know her". After a moment she joined her hands with a clap "So what happened while we were out?" The blonde girl answer with a excited voice "Well to be honest all were fearing that the leader would change after becoming the head of the military branch, but after hearing the order of disposing of those... well you know , almost all went insane due to happiness, so the loyalty is unquestionable. We were checking some files and we thoguh it would be nice to the others and not only to us... specially now considering that from almost 500,000 of us only 3000 remain."

Katteya nod quickly the "accident" was something that she and the others were still trying to forget. "Lida?" Maika spoke as if all the things previously said were unrelated to her. "She is walking around this place looking how many are willing to act as guards and how many to go outside to collect info." The blonde girl shooked her head while speaking showing that she was against the idea. "Good Move." Maika nod slowly as Katteya started whispering the other what happened in the firm. "Names?" The boy raised his chest proudly "Of Course I chose something brave, strong, power..." Maika stand up and step on the boy´s left foot with the heel in her left foot. "Ugh! I chose Erta..." The blonde quickly shook her head "And I told that name won´t help you, use one like mine totally from this country I chose Nadeshiko."

Katteya quickly intervine before they started to argue again "Nice names isn´t it Maika? Better than that. What do we do now?" Maika sat again watching at the only friends she had and really trust, with the one missing the five had been together since the beginning supporting each other to survive "Now... We get information and prepare to move, as our goal is the same as before." The friends nodded to Maika and started looking in the folders, as Maika read some papers that were near her hoping to find something that would help in her next move.

John gave a sigh again he pulled out his ipod and pluged his earphones in and moved the selection to Dance by Fall Out Boys. He pretended to have his guitar with him and he air guitared and then with his voice that people say was great but he said it was the worse but he cant help to sing to it he sung the sung "she says she no good with words but im worse.." and he kept on singing.He liked rock and techno he remembered his girlfriend he had to leave introducing to him to new thing and how mant times she downed her self for going out with him and he found that like something that made him want to make her smile more so he would do crazy and random stuff to the point he changed completely at school and at home. Then when he moved here his parents worried about him the truth was he found no reason to act that way she wasnt there to smile about it.

Hisashi threw open the door and let out a big, long yawn. Finally, he was home. He threw his green windbreaker in a pile next to the door. He walked down the short corridor leading to the living room of the apartment. He turned the corner and faced the "workshop"- the living room of the place that his Uncle Shin had turned into a cluttered space of metal and grease. "Hisashi, how was you day?" said a pair of feet peeking out from beneath the lip of his Uncle's latest project. "The usual," stated Hisashi, as he did every day. Two hands gripped the bottom of the machine as the large figure slid out of the intricate chaos no doubt present under the thin metal sheeting, two eyes stared at him sternly. "You know very well that today was unusual. You're late." Hisashi sighed deeply. "I was working on a project." "And what's it about?" "It's some stupid project where we have to analyze the affects of dragons and legends on modern culture. It's due the day after tomorrow, so I'll need to keep working on it tomorrow afternoon." Shin nodded. "You just needed sources from the library, then. You know enough already to write that report." Hisashi nodded. He was'nt exactly the perfect student, but he was familiar with much of the national folklore.

"You haven't cooked dinner, Uncle," said Hisashi, noticing the missing scent of Ramen in the air. "I was busy today. I had a dream late last night- you'd love to hear about it, but you're tired now- and in the end it inspired me. As soon as I woke this morning I began work on this," Shin said, emerging from another pile of metal and sketches with a small, brown cylinder. On one side was set a large green gem, placed in some type of bronze-ish device. Shin slid the device off of the cylinder, and at once Hisashi noticed it as an arm-band. "A little big to be fashionable, Uncle." Shin shook his head. "Look, I don't know why or how I thought of it, and I don't even know what it does. But when I awoke, this gem was placed next to my head on my pillow. It was in my dream. It also seemed that the blueprint was implanted in my head, but now that I think about it I don't remember a single detail but these," he said, pointing to three slots on the side of the band. "Something plugs in there." Hisashi stared at his uncle blankly. He always had a tendency to ramble on about something. "Aren't you going to try it on?" said Shin, handing it to Hisashi.

Hisashi shrugged, and wrapped it around his arm. It was surprisingly sturdy, he noticed. He stared at it on his arm for a few seconds, when he suddenly felt light-headed. He leaned against a device heavily, waiting for his head to clear. It did, after a few seconds, but suddenly he was struck by a massive headache. He fell to the ground in pain, and Shin lunged to his side as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Hiroshi sat on the floor of the tiny balcony that connected the apartment complex doors to the outside stairs. It was a tiny set of apartments, only two floors, maybe twenty rooms in all. Hiroshi looked out through the slats of railing, he could see the deserted street beyond that eventually dumped into the down town area. If he'd been standing, he could have seen Tokyo in the very near distance. These city outskirts weren't the best area to live in, he was fully aware that the neighbor apartments on all sides of him housed druggies and scam artists. He'd notify the authorities eventually, but he couldn't afford to now, or else their cover would be completely blown. Hiroshi worked for the International Paranormal Weapons and Warfare Research department. It was based it America, but worked in conjunctions with many other countries' governments. He wasn't officially part of the military, but that was the cover story when things needed to get done.

Hiroshi had only been working this new case for a week, prior to this, the IPWW would just send him stuff that needed fixing or upgrading. He could do that, designed some pretty cool gadgets too. But now, he was on a "real" mission. Field research was how it was described, testing these weapons he'd made and studying the enemies' tactics. He'd been partnered up with Lt. Colonel Shiori Ren, a person he'd never heard of before. She'd be leading the mission, what exactly the "mission" was, Hiroshi was still in the dark about.

He was loath to go back inside, but as the sun was moving over head, he really couldn't risk being seen anymore. Standing and stretching, he tucked his T-shirt back into his pants, and then tucked his pant legs inside his boots. He opened his door and stepped inside, finding his trench coat where he'd left it, he also slipped that on. As he locked the door and stepped farther inside, he could hear Shiori's voice coming from the side room. She sounded frustrated as she talked into her cell phone. He manged to understand "rat hole" and "that kid" amongst the list of complaints she was rattling off. Somewhere "underfunded" managed to get slipped in as well. Since the called ended with a vehement, "Yes, Sir", Hiroshi figured her superior had told her to suck it up and do her job. There was a distinct snap of the cellphone closing, then a loud thump as it hit the wall. Now he'd need to fix the cell phone and the wall...

Shiori's foot steps were light, but Hiroshi heard her coming out. Momentarily he panicked, unsure if he should look busy or stand there at attention. Desperate he grabbed some official looking paper on the coffe table and pretended to look engrossed. As Shiori entered, she caught him in her glance, he pretended not to notice.

"What are you reading?" she asked. Maybe Hiroshi was paranoid, but the question sounded like a test, as though she suspected he'd been eavesdropping and was using the papers as a cover. Which he was, but that was beside the point.

"The, ummm" he scanned the page as fast he could, he was lucky it wasn't upside down in his rush. "It is the the forms to fill out for our TV license."

"Phff. Just shred it. " She waved her hand nonchalantly, and hoped on the sofa. Hiroshi noticed the she literally had to "hop", because she was so short. Oddly though, Hiroshi didn't really notice how young she was. Anyone who talked to her or looked into her eye would know that she was an adult, her stature had nothing to do with it.

"Um,yes, Ma'am. He collected the rest of the paper and escaped to the kitchen where they kept the paper shredder. He let out a sigh of relief as he entered and leaned against the small island in the center. He'd almost relaxed, when he heard his name called again. Sticking his head back into the living room Shiori said.

"Can you fix this, I- it broke... accidental."

The train home was a long one, and Mira spent it by just thinking. She had just run off from the game with nothing to do and even wearing the gym uniform she wore when she played. Not really something she would be wearing in the semi-crowded train car, but she couldn't change what she wore now. But even though she excepted this fact, that didn't prevent the leers of some of the men in the car. Especially a fat, sweat, pig-like person who she had stupidly chosen to sit right next to him. He was had a greasy white, almost gray from the grease and sweat, shirt along with a pair of jeans and a porky face that was covered in acne. He looked like one of people everyone would associate with a complete nerd. All he needed was some taped up square glasses to complete the stereotype. And, soon after Mira thought all this, this ugly man would prove himself to to ugly in more ways than one.

Mira hadn't really been paying attention when she had come into the train, and she certainly had been looking at the man next to her. She hadn't even notice him start to move. But now she did. The disgusting man was now trying to grope her. In public! She fended him off with her hands, but he had a surprising bit of strength. She looked around at the other passengers, trying to see if anyone was going to help her. But they were all looking elsewhere! In fact... it was like they didn't even see here. Looking back at the fat man, she noticed he was starting to look more like a pig. He was a man possessed by a spirit! He had ripped her out of the normal world and dragged her into his own realm, one where no one could see them. She supposed that, in the real world, it looked like they were still there, but those were just magic illusions. And, since he was just another perverted spirit, her illusion was probably starting to do something weird. She couldn't let that happen.

As quick as she could, she took hold of a hand he was still trying to grope her with and pulled. He was pulled up out of his seat, and now was at Mira's mercy. Still holding that arm, she slid under him and kicked out a leg, giving herself the leverage needed to flip the spirit over her shoulder and onto his back. Weak spirit that he was, he disappeared, and Mira got ripped back to the real world. It was just like waking up from a dream. And just in time, too. The doors opened to Mira's home stop, and she left the train and headed toward a gathering place of both humans and spirits alike; her families little restaurant, the Phoenix' Ashes.

John sighed he finally stopped to look around he was in a more poor district where most of the low life's live and mostly the evil spirits and demons.He felt a tingle of spirit pressure like and energy release he summoned a sword and ran towards the direction he felt it he saw a apartment complex that was in his way he jumped up to a balcony he landed with a heavy thud he saw a small girl and before he could catch his breath he jumped up and when he felt the pressure build. He saw a demon over a girl who screamed he kicked the window it shattered as he entered he saw the ugly thing swing a giant ax down at the lady he jumped right in front of her and blocked it he was forced on his knee. He pushed back and the monster staggered back he stood up he smiled "finally some ugly demon decided to show its face and meet my blade." The thing roared and shook the entire complex "Foolish human i will crush you like a bug then i will devour you completely your god will collect no soul from you!" John smiled "Good i hope you can live up to that DEMON!!" Lightning erupted from his hand the place tore up as it made contact with the walls the lady from before hiding from the fight john charged right to the ax wielding creature John didn't see the ax coming down but he placed his powerful lightning on the demon at the same time he received a blow to his shoulder. John gasped in pain but he smiled to see that the demon was launched backwards and made a giant hole where the wall to the court yard is and the demon launched even further of the railing and it fell four stories and landed shaking the whole place.

John jumped down and drove his sword into the demons shoulder it roared in pain and threw John to a wall he yelled in pain and landed on the floor breathing heavily. He stood up "You just now pissed me off your stronger than American demons that's for sure but i will get used to your kind". He felt a stir inside he swore and whispered to himself "No i don't need help you know when i do so back down for now" he smiled and thought Well enough with the small stuff time to bring out my big blade! His long sword disappeared with lightning and then with a small bolt his giant sword replaced his other sword. The demon smiled and showed it sharp long teeth and charged for John. John did the same and charged he got closer and as the demon came close John smiled "You fell for it!" his giant blade erupted into lightning and as planed the demon out of shock stopped and was left defense less. John swung his giant blade into the demon and the lightning paralyzed it and swiftly and quickly helped John cut the demon in have.

Even though the lightning should have sealed the flesh blood sprayed everywhere and covered the place in blood John cursed his adrenalin rush was over and now he took the full pain of what he was delivered with he screamed in intense pain no one came out because they were afraid that they would get caught. John felt his warm blood streaming down his arm John wanted to pass out the pain wanted him to but he knew if he did he would die he stood up and tried to move his arm he screamed in pain again but louder the pain seemed to double.

Hisashi suddenly sat up, nearly knocking Shin in the forehead. "Whoa!" the uncle said, jumping backwards. Hisashi rubbed his temple, squinting in pain and confusion. "Ugh... what happened?" "You passed out. It must have been the lack of food." Hisashi rose uneasily. "Let's go get some food. I keep hearing about this great place called the Phoenix' Ashes. Let's head out now before you collapse again," said Shin quickly. Hisashi stared at his arm. "Can I take this off first, at least?" "No." He knew he would feel like an idiot, but he couldn't argue. Hisashi wobbled to the door, supported by Shin. They headed to the exterior of the complex and called for a taxi. As they entered, Hisashi knew it wasn't hunger that had caused his collapse.

The two arrived at the restaurant soon, since their apartment complex was only a few blocks away. They stepped out of the vehicle, and it sped into the night, then walked through the door, looking for a place to sit.

As Hiashi and Shin took up seats in the fairly empty restaurant, a brown haired man came up to them. His blue-green eyes flitted over the pair, lingering momentarily on Hiashi's strange wristband before asking them, "What can I get for you today? The menus are right here," he said, handing them each a folded up laminated piece of paper, "But if you can name it, our chef can proably make it. Oh, and speak of the devil..."

At that moment, he door opened again to admit Mira. She looked disheveled and tired, probably due to the fact she had chosen to run the entire length from the train stop all the way to the restaurant. Without looking around to see who was there, Mira continued past her older brother and the people he was waiting on and headed upstairs, to the actual living quarters of the family. From there, she headed straight to her room, a place that few other than her family had seen. It was covered in posters of various anime, manga, pop artists, Red Sox players, and other assorted people of varying fame. She quickly changed out of her gym clothes, something she had been wanting to do for at least an hour, and into her work "uniform", which was just normal street clothes, in this case knee-length light tan cargo shorts and a midriff exposing sky blue shirt. With her changing done, she charged back down stairs into the kitchen, and started firing up the ovens for the dinner crowd (which usually wasn't much of a crowd). The man at Hiashi's table, Katsu, said to the costumers, "You came at a good time. You'll be first to be served for sure."

John felt weak then he felt his spirit increase he cursed "Man i thought i could get over this without you wolf" in his head a voice laughed at him Well I'm sorry i am an a great help here at least let me heal you,and my name is Dante you idiot! The spirit energy from the blood and the demons body and ax gathered and then absorbed into John then his wounds healed and John felt exhausted "Man i need a pizza im hungry" he walked away from the now clean from spirit remains courtyard it took him a while but he found a restaurant and he entered and picked up a menu and sat down he was soon met by a friendly guy who told John that he could get whatever that's on the menu or if the chef can make it that would be good. John asked for a extra large pepperoni,sausage,ham,And pineapple pizza and absolutely no olives. (This is where Hiashi and Shin and Mira are so everyone knows oh for the person who posted after me i dont think it s a pizzaria just a restraunt John is making a request for pizza sorry for the confusion)

Tobias knew from the start that the crowds of Tokyo would become problematic. Very few people drove their own cars, because the streets were usually so crowded with pedestrians. As a result, people used public transportation (namely the trains) more than anything else. While the crowds made it easy to avoid being seen, it also made it more difficult to spot the people Tobias was supposed to be watching. Sometimes, he missed watching charges from less populated areas, where one could actually hear oneself think. He sighed, spotting Mira in a pizzeria of some kind. Deciding not to risk being spotted, Tobias went into the Sushi Bar across the street. There, he could get a window seat and keep an eye out.

"I'll have today's special if you don't mind." Tobias told the owner as he walked inside, speaking in Japanese of course. He never thought in a million years he would have to speak it so fluently. Then again, he never thought he'd learn to speak French, Spanish, German, and Italian so fluently either. Such was the effect of having to work from all over the globe. Toby sat down at the table near the window and kept his focus on the streets. Those kids would probably never know just how protected they were at times, but it didn't bother him in the least. After all, it was what Toby existed for.

Toby's focus went back to the Sushi bar when a plate was set on his table by a waitress, "Arigato." said Toby, thanking the waitress before she went about her other duties. Toby popped a piece of Sushi in his mouth keeping his gaze on Mira specifically. The others were special in their own way, but could not compare to Mira's importance. Although she was perfectly able to handle herself, as Tobias had witnessed for himself, it was still his job to make sure no harm came to her. He had not revealed himself to any of the students he was protecting yet, and nor did he plan to any time soon. Although angels were indeed the good guys, keeping things secret was a top priority.

With that in mind, Tobias was prepared to be little more than a simple English Professor to the kids, forever if need be.

SHin ordered the largest bowl of noodles the restaurant served, while Hisashi asked for a plate of tempura. They sat and chatted for a little before they noticed a man on the other side of the restaurant staring at them. Hisashi was angered at this, since he had not had much sleep recently. "What are you looking at?" he said, looking in the man's general direction. Suddenly, he rose and walked over to their table, reaching into his coat. A little scared he had accidently been talking to a member of the Yakuza, Hisashi prepared to make a run for it. However, the man's hand came out with a small crystal. "Don't ask why, just take it," he said, placing it on the table in front of Hisashi. He glanced once more at Hisashi's arm before hurrying himself out the door and getting lost in the crowd. Shin looked at him, shrugged, and continued to wait for the food.

John was sitting down when he noticed on the other side of the room a man staring at some guys one of them made a scene and then John noticed that the man didn't get enough sleep. John sighed then better yet the man stood up and gave what looked like a gem to the what seems to be quite one then the guy just left and blended to the crowd. John was mildly surprised at this but instead of getting involved in it he quietly went back to drinking his coke-cola he liked this place it was nice the food was evenly priced and the place is comfortable. He thought back to his battle today and then to the healing process he thought about it some more and then he felt something on his head twitch he felt a cold shiver going down his spine slowly he felt his head and near the middle of his head he found two soft standing of wolf ears! John turned pale he could hear the laughter of his wolf Dante then he relaxed a bit "no one can see it unless they are spirits or they can see the other world like me so no reason to freak out." He laughed silently to him self but more in a way that he wanted to beat the crap out of his spirit he smiled in a evil way then his ear twitched again and he kinda freaked out quietly to himself.

Hisashi noticed a small pattern on the end of the crystal. Curiously, he examined it. "Check this out, uncle," he said, handing it over. Shin took the gem and examined it. "I guess I'm not the only one with a dream," said Shin, suddenly jamming the crystal into one of the slots on Hisashi's bracer. Hisashi blinked twice, and a large ringing sound ran through his head and vanished in the same instance. As he shook his head clear, he noticed a patron of the restaurant that had furry ears on his head. He sighed and looked at the crystal. Cosplayers- what are you gonna do about them?
"Something's not right here," said Shin. "First I get a dream. Then that guy obviously is involved in the same thing... I don't know it it's ghosts or the government- the latter, most likely- but something's definitely up." He looked around a bit. "You better take that thing off your arm." Hisashi, relieved reached down to remove it. However, after much pulling and tearing, he found that it would not leave it's place. "Uhhh..." Said Hisashi, a little cofused, and SHin began to look for a way to take it off. "You'd think I could remove something I built..." said Shin. "But whatever. We can't remove it now, and It'll take a few days to get the right things to remove it... You'll have to deal with it until then." Hisashi whined and tilted his head back on his chair.

Njal walked around the outskirts of Tokyo aimlessly. That was the best thing to do really. It was nice to listen to the noises of the crowd and the animals as they blended. Every place he had been it was different. Home, in Norway it was without the animal noises most of the time as people hurried in the cold, but it Paris he had learned to listen beyond the people. If you listened closely you could hear insects and small animals, making their days, in perfect synchronization and harmony with the human aspect of the cities. But it was even more different here. In the central city there was no room to listen to the noises of anything, you could hardly hear yourself think over all of the noise, much less get any sleep at night. But, a subway ride and a quick walk away from the city and you cold hear the sounds of nature growing. Truly it was interesting.

Personally he couldn't stand staying in his small complex with his father for very long. His father was always wrapped up in his work anyway so it was time better spent outhere where he was allowed to think without worring about dying of asphyxiation. Here there was a sense of peace to him, one that could not be found in the heart of a city nor in the quaint countryside. There was some... feeling that seemed comforting. That eased that sensation of worry that slithers up your spine every so often.

He sighed as he looked up at the sky. It must be getting around dinnertime. He really should get something to eat, he had a quick lunch in the city before coming to spend the day out here, but luckily he had brought a healthy supply of money for the food. He glanced around for a while until deciding on a welcoming place titled the Phoenix's Ashes. A fitting title for him, one who was getting reborn anew in a new place, just like the phoenix of lore. So he walked in and selected a small table near the side of the restaurant and started to look at the menu, oblivious to all around him for the time being.

Hiroshi had managed to slip out of the apartment for awhile. It was dark and he was wearing more casual clothes, his face was almost completely in shadow from the rim of his newsboy cap. He wasn't really worried about walking through this neighborhood in the evening, he'd been trained in every kind of self-defense there was. So while he was hardly athletic, he wasn't likely to miss with his tazer either. What he was really more concerned about was the paranormal. He had opted against bringing his cumbersome anti-spirit weapon, and all he had on himself was a short-wave disruptor (that he theorized would shield against spirits vibrating at that frequency). Since he himself was unable to see spirits and emanated no paranormal vibration, Hiroshi figured spirits would not be attracted to his presence. So, he figured, he was really just as safe walking here as he had been anywhere else in his life. The thought still didn't help as the shadows grew deeper. He quickly determine his walk was over and he would head back to base to make frozen pizza and ramen for dinner.

Shiori started unseeingly into the screen of the monitor. There wasn't alot to see, just what looked like a primitive doppler radar repeating the same effect over and over. Shiori narrowed her eyes, the faint coast line of Japan could been seen beneath the phenomena. "Phff," she mumbled to her self. "A lot of waste over nothing." But she couldn't draw her eyes away, she'd seen this kind of flux before.

Katsu had long since go to the back to tell Mira the strange assortment of diverse food. Mira sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to have an easy evening. She decided to tackle it in order. First came Shin's ramen, the easiest one on the list. She wasn't exactly sure what kind he wanted, she she hedged her bets be adding most of the popular contents in dishes on the side so that he could add the ones he liked. Next, it was time to move on to the tempura. She took some shrimp and through them in the deep fryer after coating them in their batter. After awhile, she took them out and put them onto a plate with a little bit of parsley for pizazz. After she gave both dishes to Katsu to bring out to their respective buyers, she started upon the hardest order; extra large pepperoni, sausage, ham, and pineapple pizza with absolutely no olives. She started by tossing the pie's dough with her left hand while getting to work on the sauce with her left. It wasn't easy, even for someone like her, but she could do it. As soon as the sauce was ready, she set down the crust dough and poured on the sauce. Soon after followed the cheese and his selected toppings. All that was left was to through it in the brick oven in the back of the shop, which she did. She took it out at the perfect time, just when it was fully cooked and hadn't started to burn. Even if she grimaced at the choice of toppings, she felt that it was one of the best pieces of food she had ever cooked. While Katsu asked the newest member of the the crowd what he would like to order, Mira came out and personally delivered the pizza. After that, she turned to the door to she a short blue haired girl walk in that looked awfully familiar. But, in here, it really didn't matter. So long as you weren't an evil criminal, anyone could come in and eat. Mira wasn't going to stand against this tradition.

John got the pizza and was amazed at it he took the first slice and he was amazed of how good it was was that girl that came out make it he had to say how good it was he felt his head and the ears were gone Good the effect are gone. He ate all of his pizza and it was big he drank his coke and ate the whole pizza soon after he was done he got the bill which was around twenty dollars in America he felt that was less than what he should pay so he put down a fifty dollars worth of yen down and he stayed there and when his bill was picked up he asked to talk to the chef about the great meal.

Shin immediately buried his face and a pair of chop-sticks into the bowl of ramen, and salty broth splashed all over the table. Hisashi watched him disinterested, then bit into one of the fried shrimp. He had to admit, it was done pretty well. Both had polished off their meals within a matter of seconds. "Alright, let's go now." Shin shook his head and wagged his finger. "Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! One cannot simply eat a meal and leave! They must give compliments to the chef!" Hisashi groaned in anguish. He didn't want to spend one more moment in public with this *thing* on his arm. Shin slammed at least twice the bill on the table with zest, shouting, "BRING ME THE CHEF!!!" Hisashi glared at him and yelled, "WOULD YOU BE QUIET!?!? PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO EAT IN HERE!" Shin sank back into his chair, hurt. "Fine, but you don't need to get all mean about it..."

Njal looked up almost in surprise as the waiter came over asking for his order. Well, he really hadn't been in Japan tht long. Never had any of the food and was simply left with universal and Norwegan and French foods. He'd heard from his father about a few select dishes that were good, but probably not in a setting like this. Pretty much every evening was taken up by a work dinner at some big name restaraunt or another. Njal could have given an oath to that at least half of his fathers clothes were suits or parts thereof.

Anyway mentally, he digressed and found himself still staring at the page in front of him, deciphering the japaneese writing. A commotion at another table seemed to buy him some more time but not too much. The commotion was simply asking to see the chef after all, something that should case not quite so much of a stir. Njal took another moment to prepare his speech and then spoke to the waiter in the best Japaneese he could muster, "I'm sorry. I'm relatively new here and have no idea what to order, to be blunt. Do you have anything you would reccommend or any specialties, sir?"

After finishing speaking, Njal looked up at the waiter trying to read his face. He hadn't been forced to speak much Japaneese since being in Japan ironically, being that he talked to the other people seldom. But, this would be a good test to see if he had gotten any better by hearing it all of the time. He was a rather awkward speaker of the language due to his norwegan and french accent by admission.

Felix walked down the street on his way home from his summer job. Anyone paying attention could have seen he was not comfortable being around so many people. He ducked into the first building he could, just in time to hear someone yelling about being quiet. Once he noticed it was a restaurant he figured he might as well eat, it was close to dinner time anyway. He ordered some shepherd's pie before taking out his notebook. He leaned back and began writing.

Katsu responded to the comment quickly and fluidly, "Well, sir, she can make just about anything. If you want to know her best dishes, they are probably tonkatsu, ramen, fried chicken, and any kind of bread or sandwitch. I'm partial toward the chicken, but that's just me." As Katsu had been talking with Njal, Mira had come out at the request of the others. She did a grand bow to them, saying, "I thank you for your praise, most valued costumers. Any and all praise can be submitted in the form of worship, adoration, and/or cash donations." She straightened back up with a cheeky grin on her face, clearly showing her sarcasm. "But, seriously, thank you for your praise! Just remember that when you need somewhere to eat out!" Smiling once again at them, she then turned toward her older brother, her smile getting a little wilder, "And, Aniki, I would love it if you would just keep you nose out of things. If you had it your way, I'd be making some of the hardest things on earth." Katsu winked back, saying, "Hey, you should make what the costumer wants, not what you want. Most businesses don't make money from doing the easy stuff." While she talked, Katsu had taken the order of another new costumer and headed towards the back. This time, their mother was the one to start cooking it, as Mira was still wrapped up out front.