Hanae, Fumihito and Hayate sat near a bus stop near the convience store, it had one light attached to the side, leaving it exposed to the night, and it was perfect for the three to enjoy their smoothies, and to spy on Celosia and Haruo nearby, knowing no buses would come to this area at this time of night. Celosia and Haruo sat at a curb just in front of the store.

  The two sipped their smoothes, Celosia's was strawberry while Haruo's was milk chocote, Haruo noticed that Hanae, Hayate and Fumihito were watching them, they weren't hiding it well and it annoyed him, Celosia however didn't mind.

  "I like your hat, and eyepatch, are those kanji symbols on your eyepatch?" Celosia tried to start up a conversation, although she doesn't do it that much with people, she just said the first thing that she liked about Haruo when she saw him enter the store with the rest of his family.

  "Huh, wait, you--Oh." Haruo paused, it's been awhile since someone talked about his hat or eyepatch.

  "Yeah, it is." He smiled a little.

  "It means the future according to my dad." Haruo expined the meaning of the kanji symbols on his eyepatch.

  "My dad made it for me as a kid. I, have an defect for my covered eye where it hurts for me when it's exposed to light, he made me the eyepatch to stop the pain." Haruo added.

  "You seemed troubled by what I said, did someone insult it or something?" Celosia asked, she leaned back on the curb. Haruo remained silent for a few seconds, before he spoke again.

  "Someone did, she said that the eyepatch made me look, stupid." Haruo took off his hat, looking down at it.

  "Huh, fuck her then." Celosia said casually, Haruo was taken aback by Celosia's sudden response.

  "I think that eyepatch looks good on you, especially if it's something that's supposed to protect you from pain, nobody should tell you what to wear otherwise." Celosia denounced, if only it was that easy Haruo thought, he pced the hat back on his head.

  "If anything, bitches like that are just jealous because your wearing something cool then what they have." She jested, Haruo took a sip of his smoothie.

  "That "bitch" is my girlfriend." He pointed out, sounding a little angry by what Celosia had said about Vio.

  "Oh fuck." Celosia now was taken aback by what she said.

  "S-Sorry man." Celosia apologised... Sort of, given what she said next.

  "But it's rude for her to put you down like that and what you wear, she shouldn't talk to you like that." It's, not healthy if their retionship was like that, Celosia thought. While Haruo was a little annoyed by Celosia's comment did seem apperciatative of what Celosia said about his hat.

  He, did want to say something else about Vio. He wanted to defend her from Celosia's comments, but, he kept thinking about her, trying to find anything to say about her.

  Eventually, he just said. "It happens." And shurgged, before moving onto the conversation about his hat.

  "But, It's been awhile since someone said something nice about what I wear, so, thanks for the compliment." Haruo smiled again.

  "I'm surprised that I'm that "only person in awhile" that said something nice about your hat and eyepatch, you look cool." Celosia grinned a little.

  "Well, my family sometimes say it, but outside of them, yeah, you're the only person recently that said that they liked what I wear." Haruo said.

  "Do you have something special, like a heirloom or something?" He asked.

  "No." Celosia answered bluntly.

  "The people who could are, not around, or dead." She looked forward into the darkness.

  "Oh." Haruo realised, that Celosia had lost some retives too, like him.

  "I guess that's something we both share, losing someone close to us, friends or family." He mented, Celosia sighed quietly.

  "Yeah." Celosia paused.

  "Thanks, for the smoothie by the way." Celosia said, turning towards Haruo.

  "I'm Celosia by the way." Celosia was worried about what Haruo will think if he learned her full name, but she decided to say It anyway, since he was bound to find out sooner or ter.

  "Celosia Barnes." She introduced herself fully, Haruo did realise who Celosia was by her st name.

  "Machida Haruo." Haruo in return introduced himself to Celosia.

  "But Barnes, that means your---He paused again, before stopping himself, but Celosia knew what he meant.

  "Yeah, I'm Peter Barnes niece." She stated.

  "My family moved here after, well, you know." Celosia sighed, she was expected to be bombarded with questions about Peter and Evelyn's life.

  Instead Haruo responded with a simple. "I'm sorry."

  "I know that saying "I'm sorry" doesn't solve shit, but, it's what you could only say when something like that happens, it's, not a bad thing." Haruo counseled.

  "The best thing you could do for someone is to be there for them, like when they lose someone." Haruo sadly looked down at his smoothie.

  "I lost a lot of people, but I still have the family that are with me now." Haruo looked over towards the bus stop again, Hanae, Hayate and Fumihito were talking amongst themselves, looking joyful and not paying any attention to Celosia and Haruo now.

  "Even if I don't deserve it, given how I've been avoiding them a lot tely due to other shit in my life." And Haruo knew what that shit was.

  His side was still hurting from a days ago.

  Celosia gently patted his back, she moved up next to him from the curb. "Hey, if you're going through a lot, then just, take your time intergrating yourself back with them." Celosia advised, Haruo moved slightly away from Celosia's touch. She knew that she must have gotten too close all of a sudden and moved away a little too, but Haruo blushed a little.

  "They already seem to like the fact that you went with them to this store." Celosia pointed out, as Haruo looked over towards the bus stop again.

  "Yeah, they do." He said, smiling a little, enjoying the few times that they just, hung out together as a family.

  Sota soon walked out of the store, with a small bag containing some ingrediants that he wanted to make for dinner.

  "Got what I needed." Sota would announce as he walked over towards Celosia and Haruo.

  "Oh hi, you were in the store earlier right?" Sota waved a little to Celosia.

  "Mm." Celosia confirmed with a smile on her face as her and Haruo finished their smoothies.

  "I was supposed to get a pte, but, yeah, I didn't." She expined, Haruo ughed as a response.

  "I still could have paid for that pte you know, or at least have taken the bme." Haruo said, Celosia turned to him with a grin.

  "Why would you get bmed for something that wasn't your fault?" Celosia challenged Haruo's need to bme himself for the broken pte.

  "Well, I'm Chisaka Sota, I live with Haruo here, along with those three over there." Sota pointed over towards Hanae, Hayate and Fumihito at the bus stop, who were busy pying charades and making fun of a few people that they know of.

  "I'm Celosia Barnes." She introduced herself to Sota, who seemed to quickly realise who Celosia was, by the brief change of expression that appeared on his face.

  "Cool name." That was what Sota was going to say on the matter as he smiled at her.

  "So is Sota, and Haruo." Celosia pointed out, the two boys smiled at this, but then Haruo remembered a question he wanted to ask Celosia.

  "So Celosia, your new here like you said, what school are you attending?" Haruo asked, he didn't know much about the Barnes family other then Peter used to work for the council and he had a wife and two sons.

  He wanted to know if Celosia and her family were, different like them---

  "Oh, I'm going to Conways in the city, why?" Celosia asked, confused by the question, the two boys paused over Celosia's answer and even looked a little shock, like the way Haruo looked already by Celosia's insult over that girl that said those things about Haruo's eyepatch.

  "Wait, do you go to that Besant Academy at the top of that hill?" Celosia pointed towards the hill from afar which was currently a dark silhouette.

  "Yeah we do." Haruo answered sadly.

  "Damn, we uh." Haruo quickly tried to act as though he wasn't weirded out by what Celosia said, he sounded awkard.

  "That means we might not be able to talk that much, given we're going to be attending different schools, shit." He cursed.

  "Fuck, your right, and you all seem real nice too." Celosia sighed.

  "But it's not the first time either that life fucked me over hard." She added.

  "It's getting te too." Sota checked the time on his watch, he looked towards Hanae, Hayate and Fumihito as they approached the three.

  "We should get home, I don't want everyone there to starve." Sota said, pulling up the bag of ingrediants.

  "Even if we don't talk for awhile Celosia, we can still talk again." Haruo assured to Celosia.

  But, in truth, he didn't know how he felt about that after the moment kicked in that he had been talking to a human this entire time, he, did like that he helped her avoid getting a concussion from that pte though.

  "I would like that." Celosia smiled, as she watched the five begin to walk away from the store and head home.

  "Will you be alright heading home by yourself?" Haruo turned as he and his family were leaving, while Celosia continued to stand by the store.

  "This isn't a joke or anything but spooky shit tends to happen around here when it gets te, what with that bear near the woods." Haruo warned.

  "Like everywhere, but I'll be fine, I'm heading home now too." Celosia would assure Haruo.

  "Thank you for the concern though Haruo. You and your family stay safe on the way home, there's spooky shit nearby." She repeated.

  Celosia watched them as they walked into the rge void leading further into the neighbourhood.

  Although menting at the fact that she wouldn't see them for awhile, considering they were going to different schools, this night ended well, Celosia had thought.

  Maybe she'll meet better people here in Fmel after all, then back in Agatho. She would like to meet more people like Reiki, Haruo and Sota while she was here.

  As Celosia began to make her way home herself, she paused, and turned towards the woods near the store.

  She thought that, as she swerved to the left to begin walking down the same path that Haruo, Sota, Hanae, Hayate and Fumihito walked down, she saw something.

  Two pairs of eyes staring straight at her from the forest and a figure of what appeared to be a tall adult man in a trench coat.

  Was he there the entire time? While she was talking to Haruo and then Sota?

  When Celosia rubbed her eyes, the figure was gone.

  Concerned, she turned and began to walk back home, increasing her pace as she did.

  Despite how creepy the school tends to be in the te hours of the night, Maria never seemed creeped out by the darkened emerald halls of Besant, in fact, she had grown accustomed to them in all hours of the day, it helped that she wasn't alone, hell two people basically lived here.

  Like Professor---I mean, just, Campion down in the school's basement, only students call him Professor Campion, and there was also the school's vice principal Seiji, whom Maria was just about to see.

  She entered the darkened waiting room to Seiji's office, she then approached the rge wooden door to Seiji's office and knocked on it a few times.

  In a long, slow tone, Seiji finally answered from behind the door, "yeees, Maria?" He bellowed.

  Maria, with her hands behind her back, smiled at the greeting before bowing down towards the door, even if Seiji wouldn't see her gesture.

  "Hello sir, I suppose you know about why I arranged this meeting? I've already mentioned her a few times before her arrival recently." She said to Seiji, there was a long pause, which Maria knew was still doubt on Seiji's part over her decision.

  "Yes... I... Would go through with this..." He said in slow agreement.

  "Your... Never wrong since you started working here Maria..." Seiji continued.

  "Are... You still sure... Yourself?" He questioned Maria, who nodded.

  "It will work out for everyone in the end, besides." Maria would grin.

  "Celosia is just one human anyway, would anyone believe her if she does tell them about this school?" She pointed out.

  "But she won't, and I know she won't." Maria answered the question herself.

  "She's not that kind of person that would blurt that out to anyone, that I swear." She said, Seiji still found everything about Maria's idea strange, as she never even met this Celosia girl, yet, she thought she would do well in a school like Besant, then in a school like Conway's, despite the fact that she's human.

  And yet, like he said, she hasn't been wrong before.

  "Right." He replied.

  "If... You're sure." He said.

  "Tomorrow... We shall make arrangements for Celosia transfer's from Conways... To here." Seiji announced, Maria apperciated Seiji's decision to allow this to happen, as she knew this would be a good thing, for everyone involved, especially Celosia.