"Ah... Right. Sigh... Let's get out of here then. I've had my fill of these types of places for one day," I said, loosening my collar as I swiftly made haste for the exit.

 I suddenly remembered something, twisting on my heels in haste, my eyes scanned the hall in an attempt to locate a certain someone whose fragrance still sweetly drifted around me. Once I finally found her though, she was engaged with a group of young people who had circled her in what looked to be a humorous conversation. An off smile creased against my lips.

 'Ringo was probably right about her being out of my league.' I said to myself, despite the off chance we bumped into each other like this. I understood we were from two completely different worlds. And it wasn't like I didn't know that truth anyway. Sometimes one only needed life to remind you of such things from time to time. 

'Ah well, It was good seeing her anyway.'

Once outside, we were bombarded by a series of flashing white lights from the countless cameras wielded by enthusiastic reporters on standby. The vultures had been camped outside with the hope of capturing exclusive shots of billionaire directors or celebrities attending the event.

Both Ringo and I were relatively unfazed by their presence. At worst, it was a mild annoyance to navigate through the crowd, especially since we were lower down the pecking order of guests whom they were eager to photograph, so we had to barge and wriggle our way through the throngs of nosey bodies. Thankfully these kind of situations Mom had already prepped us for during our childhood.

Along the sidewalk, a line of black jeeps sat immobile like a pack of docile beasts. Recognizing our car by its  number plate I swiftly hastened my footsteps towards it. As Ringo and I approached the jeep, our driver, already seated inside, seemed engrossed in his phone unwares of our approach. Upon opening the back car doors, we alerted him to our arrival.

With the swiftness of a feline, he turned his phone face down and slid it against the dashboard, creating the facade of having been diligent during the five hours he spent alone in the car. I could almost sense his anticipation, perhaps mistaking us for my Mom amusingly. When he turned and saw it was just us, a wave of visible relief swept over his middle-aged face, followed by a relaxing sigh.

'Sheesh, just how scared is he of my Mom.' I thought, watching him softly dabble the ends of a hankerchief against his forehead.

Ringo, absorbed in her phone as per usual, appeared oblivious to her surroundings. As I settled into the seat beside her, I reached down to the left side of my leg, retrieving a water bottle securely tucked in the small compartment at the bottom of the door.

"Hey, Shoba, did you hear about that incident in America the other day?" Ringo inquired, her eyes glued to the phone screen whilst she asked me this.

"Hm?" I responded, "No, can't say I did. What happened?"

"Someone claimed to have discovered a strange silver shard in their backyard. Allegedly it fell from the sky in the middle of the night. But here's the weird part—the farmer who found it said a bunch of weird stuff started happening since its arrival. Look, it's all over the social forums."

Before I could utter a word in response, Ringo turned her phone toward me. I squinted, attempting to focus on the presented article.

The headline read, 'Have you seen stranger things?' What unexpectedly sent a chill runninf down my spine was the slightly pixelated image at the center of the article.

From a first glance, it was perplexing to make out, a lazy look told me it was some kind of strange hole in the air. That didn't make any kind of sense. So perhaps it's poor lighting on the photo or something I thought. But with closer observation, I became certain it resembled what I could only make out to be some form of spatial tear within the very air itself. Inside it, a glittering mixture of countless sparkling colors instantly reminded me of the galaxy filled with a stitch of stars.

Naturally, doubt filled my thoughts initially. Yet, an unusual unease settled within my heart the more I stared at the image. Ringo eventually withdrew the picture from my view. I couldn't recall what she said afterward. I reluctantly admit I was still lost in wonder concerning that article for some strange reason. It somehow felt like a bad premonition. I wasn't really a skeptical person as well, but there were some things you stumbled upon that instantly left a sour taste in your mouth.

Not long afterward, we heard the door beside the passenger seat opening. Mom had finally arrived, trailed by a few journalists badgering her with questions about V 9's release up until the very moment she slammed the door behind her.

"Phew… Mr. Okinzawa, let's get out of here, please," Mom hastened, breathing slightly rapidly as she rested the side of her head against her propped hand placed beside the window. I assumed she must be exhausted after the day she's had.

'I'll congratulate her once we get home.'

"Yes, Madam Nagato." The driver proudly spoke, I did notice him strangely side eyeing me through the mirrors. Probably hoping I wasn't going to rat him out. He's lucky I wasn't like my sister, RIngo.

The car started rolling across the sleek road covered in fallen droplets from earlier in the day. I glanced toward the amassed clouds above the towering skyscrapers; my expression likely reflected a slight daze. The rain had been falling continuously throughout the day, but fortunately, it had quieted down since our departure tonight.

As I gazed into the folds of the gray outdoor skies, I sensed the atmosphere descending into a state of gloom. The radio became the sole comforter against the silence within the car tonight. No one held much to say.

Ringo was absorbed in her phone, as usual, and my mother was too spent to even glance at us during the journey, resting the side of her face against her palms, dreamily staring out of her side of the window in the passenger seat. I could only imagine what swirl of thoughts danced within her mind right now.

Tokyo at night is truly a sight to behold. I must admit I couldn't imagine living anywhere else when I envision what the wider world looks like beyond this beautiful place.

As our journey continued, I lazily found myself lost in the urban punk ambiance on this side of downtown Tokyo, home to countless eccentric-looking neon billboard signs.

Now and again, I still caught partial voices from the radio filtering into my daydreams.

"Good evening. We interrupt our scheduled broadcast to bring you urgent breaking news. Earlier today, at approximately 5:25 PM, Takanashi Kaneki, the heir apparent to the Takanashi Olive Oil Company and leader of the most notorious Yakuza syndicate, was shot dead during a stand off with the armed forces. As you may already know, Kaneki had been alleged to have recently taken over the syndicate, succeeding his father and the legendary crime lord Takanashi Fukashi. Sources suggest that this succession was a hostile takeover. Members of the Yakuza were said to have celebrated the end to the tyr-"

'Wait… what is that falling from the sky?'

Suddenly, I noticed a glowing violet ball of light streaking across the twilight sky above me. My eyes narrowed instinctively, a sense of foreboding settling in my chest as I struggled to comprehend what was falling at such a blinding speed.

'Is that a shooting star? But that light,' I thought to myself, an ominous feeling stirring in my gut again. I had never seen a shooting star or a comet glow like that. In fact I had never seen either one of those things before. And since when did stars fall towards us?

I turned towards Ringo and repeatedly patted her forearm to catch her attention. It took a few moments longer than I would have liked for her to respond, and when she finally did, her manner was less than cordial.

"Damn it, Shoba, what do you wa-huh… why have you got that look on your face?" She asked me in confusion. Only when she realized I was wearing a look of deep concern did she decide to remove one of her earbuds from the ear closest to my side.

"L-look at that - over there in the skies… I-I saw?" Just before I could conclude my speech, the previous purple ball of light had disappeared, leaving nothing but the expected empty twilight above and my own slackened mouth foolishly blabbering.

'What the hell? It was there only a moment ago,' I was almost certain I saw something. I couldn't have imagined that, could I? I was almost sure I saw what I saw. But nothing? All was normal now...

"Hmm, what am I supposed to be looking at, Shoba? Are you messing me about again and wasting my time? Hmph! Idiot Shoba, you just wait until I get you back," she barked half-heartedly. Usually, I might've flinched from one of Ringo's threats.

But for some reason, I feel a slight disconnect from everything around me at this moment. There's something stirring in my heart—a cold sensation that refused to go, unsure of how to place this feeling, but I'm almost certain… something terrible is going on somewhere...or maybe...maybe I was overthinking and just needed sleep.