Johnny was staring at me, then he grinned. I threw him a questioning look, slightly puzzled.

"Dan, don't ya worry! The doc over there says ya only got slight head damage. Might cause ya to hallucinate a bit." I opened my mouth, and found i could speak again.

"What happened...?" John pulled up a chair and sat down, a hand tucked under his chin. I narrowed my eyes.

"Eh. Nothin' to be worried 'bout. Ya just knocked your head on a bench. Not hard, though!" He added quickly, as my eyes widened in panic. I seemed to ponder it for a moment, then glanced up at him again.

"When can i go home?" Johnny beamed at me, as if suddenly remembering something worth to be excited about.

"Now!" He answered, his eyes twinkling. And now, for the first time, i smiled back.

School went on normally, and i found no trouble doing school work. My parents were still not home, but father had called me the following day to tell me that him and mum just had a lot of work to do, and they would be home soon. I didn't buy it, but decided to believe them anyway.

Today the sky was the same ugly grey as usual, and i grimaced. How could people stand to live here? Johnny was taking in the dirty air like it was a life source.

"Ah...today is such a great day! The air is cleaner, too!" It was all i could do to keep myself from barfing. I really didn't understand city people. As we neared the school gates, i glanced around, then stopped dead in my tracks.

A plump short girl stood by the gates, her golden locks blowing in the air like streams of sunlight. For a moment, she turned and our eyes locked-

"Why are you just standing there, eh? We'll be late for class!" Snapped out of my trance, i turned to John.

"What? Oh, yeah." He narrowed his eyes at me for a moment, as if trying to read my face, then started walking again. I looked out for the golden haired girl again, but didn't see her again.

In class, i sat beside John, who looked delighted. I was about to tell him off when a voice spoke, and everyone fell silent. Even John. I glanced to where they were looking, then jolted in shock.

The same girl stood beside Ms. Collins, staring right at me. In shock for a few moments, i barely heard the teacher talk. When she got around to introducing the girl, however, my head shot up, alert again.

"Everyone, this is Freya Skuld. Freya, go sit beside Dan over there." I looked up at the girl again. Her eyes were deep blue, and narrowed slightly. She is Asian, i thought. She came and sat beside me, and stared.

"My name is actually Jikken hyōhon, but i don't like that name at all." It took me a moment to comprehend the words had come out of her mouth, and then i nodded.

"I'm Daniel Normelk. You can call me Dan. Everyone does," She just stared, silent as a feather. I continued, "By the way, why do you hate that name?" She was taken aback, but her eyes suddenly looked cold and shielded. She answered in a piercing cold voice, which gave me goosebumps.

"Someone i hated gave it to me." And she said fell silent again. But that cold and piercing gaze had left her eyes, and they stared ahead at the teacher. I must have imagined it, I thought.