Day 31

[from Aishiteru! Hikikomori-san]

Yuuichi was about to head into the bedroom to set things straight with Ilana, when the Russian girl suddenly exited the bedroom. To Yuuichi's horror, she was carrying his dakimakura, a puzzled expression on her face as she held it up. "Why you have pillow with drawing of half-naked woman?" she asked.

Blushing Yuuichi grabbed the pillow. "Th-that's none of your business!" he said. "And it's not a drawing, it's anime!"

"Any…may?" repeated Ilana, confused. "What that is?"

Ordinarily, Yuuichi would have been shocked that Ilana didn't know what anime was, but that wasn't really the issue right now. Neither was the fact that he had a dakimakura. Yuuichi put those discussions to one side for now and focused on what had to be done. "Uhh… look, we can discuss those things later," said Yuuichi. "Right now, there's something you should know. Something very important."

Ilana could tell from Yuuichi's expression that something was wrong, but couldn't tell what. "What is?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

Yuuichi sighed heavily. He knew this was going to break her heart, but he had no choice. Unable to look her in the eyes, he looked down at his feet at he spoke. "Look… the truth is… I didn't actually order you. In fact, I didn't know you were coming until you walked through the door. My friend ordered you for me, so I'd have some responsibility… some reason to go out and get a job. I dunno what you were expecting me to be like, but I'm probably nothing like that. I've never had a job, or a girlfriend, or even been kissed until five minutes ago... I only have one real-life friend, unless you count the delivery guy. All I've done for the past three years is sit in my apartment watching anime and playing video games. If I wasn't such a loser, you wouldn't be here right now at all."

Yuuichi sighed again. "I understand if you're mad at me, and you never wanna see me again or something, but…" Yuuichi blushed, rubbing his arm nervously. "I-I mean, you don't really have anywhere else to go, do you? So you're perfectly welcome to stay here, and I'll just have to do what my friend wants me to do: stop being lazy, and get a job, and start facing up to my responsibilities. But… if you hate me, then…"

Yuuichi found himself unable to continue, and fell silent, waiting for Ilana to respond. The silence seemed to last forever, before finally he sensed Ilana moving close to him. He expected her to slap him, or shout at him, but instead, to his surprise, she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You good man," she said gently. "You tell truth. You could have lied, said you were someone you not, but you tell truth instead. I hate you not." She placed her other hand under Yuuichi's chin and softly tilted his head back up to face her. She seemed somehow happy and sad at the same time. "Yes, is sad I come so far for man who love me not, who know me not, who prepared not. But you still want care for me. You know me not, but you say you will take me in, get job to support me. You not just send me back, or send me to street." Her smile grew wider, but Yuuichi could see tears in her eyes. "You say you not what I expected… you right. I expected not man with such good heart. You make good husband, Yuuichi. I try to make good wife for you."

Before Yuuichi could fully process this, Ilana dropped the body pillow and hugged him tightly. Feeling completely overwhelmed, it took him a few moments to hug her back. They held each other tightly for a while, each on the verge of tears, feeling the other's heart beat against their own. Finally, Ilana pulled back, rubbing her eyes a little.

"So," she said, "we have… how you say… deal?"

Yuuichi was still a little overwhelmed by it all. "D-deal?" he repeated blankly.

Ilana smiled at him. "Yes. Deal. You get job, make friends, go out, enjoy life, like friend want. You do that, and I be good wife for you. I not do everything for you - or you will sit all day doing nothing - but I do what I can. Is good deal?"

Yuuichi nodded. It surprised him, but he was willing to change himself, willing to start trying, if it meant she would like him. It wasn't just a case of having to get a job anymore; he wanted to, for her sake as much as for his own. Is this… what it's like to be in love?, he wondered.

"Then we have deal," said Ilana. "You get job as soon as you can, okay?"

Yuuichi nodded again, feeling anxious but also excited. "Yeah. I will." He hesitated, before adding, "Thank you, Ilana. For not hating me, I mean."

Ilana shook her head. "No. Thank you, Yuuichi, for being good man. And thank your friend for me, that he order me for you. Was… how you say… lucky for me."

"I guess so," said Yuuichi. "Okay, I'll tell him."

Ilana glanced back at the bedroom. "One problem… you have single bed. We need double. Where I sleep for now?"

Yuuichi blushed at the thought of eventually sharing a bed with Ilana. "Well… I sleep on the sofa a lot anyway, so I'll sleep on there and you can have the bed-"

Ilana shook her head. "No, I cannot do that," she said. "I take sofa, you take bed."

Yuuichi shook his own head. "No, really, it's no big deal, I'll take the-"

"Wait a minute." Ilana help a hand to interrupt him, looking suddenly thoughtful. A moment later, without warning, she grabbed Yuuichi's hand and began dragging him towards the bedroom.

"Wh… what are you doing?!" asked Yuuichi, startled, as she flung open the door.

"Test," said Ilana. She dragged him over to the single bed, and before Yuuichi knew what was happening, he was lying on the bed with Ilana squeezed on next to him, their bodies remarkably close. His heart and his mind began to race. He had never been like this with a girl before. Is she about to take my virginity? This is technically like our honeymoon… but I'm not ready! It's too soon! I don't even have any condoms!

Ilana draped an arm over her husband's chest, oblivious to his inner turmoil. "Looks like we both fit on bed," she said, smiling mischievously. "Is… what you say word was? "Cozy"? Yes: is cozy. Of course, we still get double bed one day, but this okay for now." She paused. "You okay? You have blood coming from nose."

Yuuichi blinked. "I do?" He put his hand to his nose; it came away bloody. "Oh. Ehh… don't worry about it. I'm fine."

Ilana nodded, then yawned as jet-lag began to sink in. "I tired now. Bed is comfy. I sleep."

"But it's 11am-"

Ilana was fast asleep before Yuuichi had even finished speaking. She fell asleep that fast?!, he thought to himself, amazed. Seizing the opportunity, he tried to slip out of bed and leave her be, but the arm on his chest suddenly curled around his waist, pinning him down and hugging him close to her. Her breast pressed against his arm, and Yuuichi's face flushed bright red. He tried to tug himself free, but to no avail. Eventually, he accepted that he had become Ilana's captive, and settled down, staring up at the ceiling.

Yuuichi realized that he wasn't the only one whose life had been completely changed. Ilana had flown halfway across the world to be here, leaving everyone and everything she knew behind. She had nothing here except him, and she barely even had him. They were both very much in unfamiliar territory, thrust outside their comfort zones, and were both going to have to adapt. It's going to be hard for both of us, thought Yuuichi. But… He found himself gazing at Ilana's sleeping form, a smile spread across her plump red lips. I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end.

Day 30

[from Pokemon xTreme]

As Taylor Evans walked through the main street of Viridian City, a gentle breeze rustled through the verdant treetops around her, creating a pleasing melody. The sound of a chirping Pidgey flapping its wings could also be heard occasionally as one flew by overhead, on its way to or from its roost. Other than this the only sounds were those of Taylor's own leisurely footsteps as she walked, hands nestled in the pockets of her jeans.

Taylor's destination was a conference hall just off Main Street, where a new initiative was underway: the Pokémon Trainer Mentoring Scheme. Under this scheme, aspiring trainers such as herself could receive assistance from a seasoned pro, perhaps even a certified Pokémon Master, who would show them the ropes and nurture their skills until they were ready to battle on their own. This had been set up after an increasing number of incidents where trainers had attempted to capture or battle Pokémon without any prior training, resulting in injuries to themselves, others, or in the worst cases, the Pokémon themselves.

Taylor had applied for the scheme a few weeks ago, and had been accepted. Now, she and the other tutees would be paired up with their mentors. She didn't feel especially nervous about becoming a Pokémon trainer, as she'd been thinking about it for a while, but the thought of not knowing what her mentor would be like until they were paired up was a little nerve-wracking. What if they turned out to be a total drill sergeant? Or completely incompetent? Or some lecherous old man? The last two were unlikely, perhaps, as no doubt the mentors would have been chosen carefully, but there was still the chance.

As she reached the conference hall, Taylor could see a handful of others heading towards it as well. There wasn't too long before it was due to start, so no doubt there would be plenty of people already inside. Pushing open the double doors, Taylor made her way inside.

Inside were maybe a hundred chairs laid out neatly in two separate groups, with a central aisle between them. As expected, there were already quite a few people sat down, perhaps two dozen or so. In addition to those in the seats, there were dozens of people standing around the edge of the hall, and after a moment Taylor realized that these must be the prospective mentors. Taking a seat near the back of the left bank of chairs, Taylor occupied herself with looking around at her potential teachers and deciding whom she liked the look of.

A bored-looking man in a yellow beanie. Nope. A red-haired girl playing busily on a handheld gaming console, oblivious to everything around her. Definitely not. An old man- nope. A man with spiky blond hair, casually tossing an Ultra Ball up and down while chatting to another trainer, an enthusiastic-looking brown-haired man. They both look cool, I guess. A pretty, rather impatient-looking girl with long slivery-blonde hair, filing her nails as she waited for proceedings to being. Maybe.

Before long, Taylor was startled by a sudden burst of feedback from the stage at the far side of the hall. The man in charge of the scheme had stepped onto the stage and begun tapping the mic without her realizing. Taylor, and the rest of the assembled tutees, quickly turned their attentions to the stage.

"Good afternoon," said the man. "Now, as you're all hopefully aware, you've been called here today because you have all been accepted into the Pokémon Trainer Mentoring Scheme." There was a few random cheers from amongst the crowd. "Today, you will each be assigned your mentor. It will be their job to help you transform yourself into the best trainer you can possibly become. However, they will not be able - or willing - to do everything for you. Only by applying yourselves, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and taking in the advice of your mentors, will you be able to fulfil your full potential.

"With that in mind," he continued, "I will now read out each of your names, and tell you the mentor you have been assigned. We have tried to give you all the mentor that we feel you will work best with, and most importantly, get along best with. I will then give you your official trainer card, and you may either proceed down the hallway to my right to receive an official Pokémon League starter Pokémon, or leave with your mentor if they have made alternative arrangements. Either way, by the time you leave this room, your Pokémon journey will have officially begun."

The man paused for a moment, taking out a stack of cards: the tutees' training cards. "Going alphabetically by surname… Anderson, Kieran?" A tall, aggressive-looking boy stood up to Taylor's left. "Your mentor will be Seth Voltaire."

The spiky-haired blond man stepped forward, waving a hand, and Kieran made his way through the chairs to the central aisle and walked up to greet him, before retrieving his trainer card as instructed. Instead of going down the hallway as suggested, Seth ushered Kieran back down the aisle towards the doors he had entered through - evidently he had something better in mind.

Taylor almost tuned out again, before remembering that if it was going alphabetically by surname, she wouldn't have long to wait herself. Sure enough, after only a few names had been read out:

"Evans, Taylor?" Taylor quickly stood up, suddenly very anxious. The man on the stage seemed to pause interminably, before stating, "Your mentor will be Brandon Wells."

At once there was an outbreak of muttering, and a few gasps of surprise, as the brown-haired man that Seth had been talking to stepped forward and waved. Taylor was not well-versed in the world of professional Pokémon battling, but even she had heard of Brandon Wells, though she had not recognized him at first. Ex-Elite Four member, former Johto Masters champion, and now, apparently, her mentor. It was quite a shock, not only to her, apparently, but to the various assembled tutees who'd been hoping for such a prestigious mentor.

As Taylor made her way up the aisle, she could feel dozens of pairs of eyes staring at her. Finally, she reached the end of it, and Brandon was standing there waiting for her. He extended a hand towards her. "Hey," he said. "Nice to meet you, Taylor."

Taylor shook his hand, feeling a little nervous. "Nice to meet you too."

Taylor then shook the hand of the man standing at the front, taking her official Pokémon trainer card from him with the other hand. "Good luck," he said, as she did so.

Taylor instictvely headed for the hallway to the man's right, and her left, but Brandon called after her. "Hey, where you going?" he asked.

"Aren't I supposed to collect a starter now?" asked Taylor, forgetting about the "other arrangements" clause.

"I got a better idea," said Brandon. "Come on, let's get outta here." Gesturing for her to follow him, he set off down the centre of the hall towards the front entrance, and Taylor quickly followed after him.

Day 29

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

It was almost 4am by the time Gumi was finished. She staggered out of the augmentation theatre into the brightly-lit corridor, letting out a loud yawn. "Finally…" she muttered. "Finally done…"

Ryuto was sat in the corridor, waiting for her. Unlike his companion, he did not look the least bit tired. "You didn't have to stay up all night to finish it, you know," he said.

"You didn't have to stay up all night waiting for me to finish," replied Gumi, rubbing her tired eyes.

"You know I don't have a choice," said Ryuto, adjusting the black hood pulled tight around his head. With the bandana drawn over his mouth, he more closely resembled the gangs he was out to stop than anything else. "So, have you rebooted her?"

Gumi yawned again and nodded. "Yeah… it'll take a few hours for her to regain consciousness, though. I want us t… to all be there when she does…"

Another loud yawn escaped from Gumi's mouth. Ryuto heaved a metallic-sounding sigh. "Go get some sleep, Gumi," he said. "I'll watch over her for now. If she starts to wake up, I'll let you know."

Gumi nodded, let out yet another yawn, then shuffled off towards the dormitory. Ryuto stood up, and entered the room she had just left, the door closing behind him with a pneumatic hiss.

Inside, the augmentation theatre was rather cluttered despite its large size. It was filled with all manner of machinery, electronics, and computers, many of which Ryuto did not know the function of. Several brightly-coloured displays set up around the room showed the status of the figure lying in the white hospital bed, in a clearing in the centre of the room. Only two were of importance to Ryuto. One was the heart rate monitor, which showed that her heart was beating at a slow, steady rate. The other was a touch-screen computer monitor, with a simple message displayed on a pop-up on the screen: "REBOOT COMPLETE".

Ryuto could see nothing of the girl apart from the left side of her face. The right half was swathed in bandages, an oxygen mask concealed beneath them, and the rest of her body was covered by the bedsheets . He did not know what lay beneath, but he knew that it would not be pretty. Judging from the time Gumi and the professor had spend augmenting her, and what he had heard when she had first been brought in, her injuries had been both horrific and extensive, no doubt even more so than his.

For a moment, Ryuto was tempted to pull away the sheets, to unravel the bandages, to see just what had been done to this poor girl and what Gumi had had to fix. Eventually, he decided against it. He did not want to disturb anything, lest he accidentally cause the poor girl any discomfort.

Pulling up a chair, Ryuto sat down by the girl's side and began his quiet vigil. Almost without realizing, he swept back the hood of his jacket and pulled down his bandana. Much of the left side of his face, and his lower jaw, had been replaced by metal plating. Where his left ear had been, there was now a bionic ear with ten times the capability of a normal human ear. This, in a way, was his gift. Not only had he been reborn, he had been enhanced, and now it was his solemn vow to use those enhancements, and the second chance at life he had been given, to protect the country. In a few hours, when she woke up, the girl would find herself perhaps not with the same enhancements as him, but with the same life, the same fate. And unlike him, she would have others like her there to help her come to terms with it. She would not be alone.

As Ryuto spoke, his metallic jaw did not move, creating an eerie effect despite the softness of his words. "Welcome back, Ichiko St-Clare."

Day 28

[from Space Hunter]

Kylos' mother knocked on the door of his bedroom. "Come on, Kylos! Hurry up or we'll miss the launch!"

"Coming, mom!" came the response from the other side of the door. Kylos adjusted his shoes, then left the room. His mother was waiting impatiently outside for him.

"There you are!" she said. "You all ready to go?"

"Ready," said Kylos.

"Alright then." Heading to the landing, she called downstairs to her husband. "Honey! We're ready to go!"

"Well, get down here and let's go, then!" came the response.

Today was a historic day for the Vodi. For the first time ever, the race were about to send a person into space. General Eli Pereira had volunteered to pilot the vessel, One-Vodi, on its voyage to the planet's moon and back. A crowd of hundreds of thousands of Vodi were expected to turn out at the launch site, the newly-christened "Lunar Square", to witness this historic event, and Kylos and his family were to be among them.

The achievement was all the more remarkable given the nature of both their planet and their species. The Vodi were a gelatinous race, composed of a two-foot diameter spherical main body, and six appendages - two hands and four feet - that floated independent of the main body, held in place by a strange force that even the Vodi themselves did not understand. The feet were perfectly spherical, and the Vodi moved by rolling them along the ground; in this way they had remarkable stability, so long as they did not go too fast downhill.

As for their planet, over ninety percent of its surface was covered with water. Even with the recent raft of land reclamation projects, there was very little space for the Vodi to live on. Living in the water was not an option; it was populated with all manner of horrific, monstrous creatures, and to stray too far from land meant almost certain death. Though the Vodi could not tame the seas, their mastery of the land and its resources had gotten them to where they were today.

Kylos and his parents rolled their way towards Lunar Square. As they got closer, they could see the rocket in the distance, rising from the ground like a giant silver bullet; it was easily thirty feet tall. A little further on and the streets became packed with people heading in the same direction, making it very crowded indeed. "Hold my hand tightly, Kylos," said his mother. "Careful not to get separated from us."

"Yes, mom," said Kylos.

When the three of them reached Lunar Square, it was already swamped with Vodi waiting expectantly for lift-off. Kylos couldn't see a thing, but his father was prepared: he picked Kylos up and seated him on top of his body, allowing him to see right over the crowd. "There you go, son," he said. "Can you see the general?"

"No, not yet," said Kylos. "There's some people around the rocket, but none of them is the general."

"They must be technicians," said his father, "making sure everything's okay for the big launch."

"Everything is okay, though, isn't it?" asked Kylos innocently. "Otherwise the launch wouldn't be going ahead."

"Well, I'm afraid you can never be too careful with these kinds of things, Kylos," said his father. "Rocket ships are incredibly complicated, and if something were to go wrong once it's up there… well, Adha knows we don't want that to happen, but-"

"I can see the general!" exclaimed Kylos suddenly, pointing at the launchpad. "He's headed toward the ship!"

A great cheer rose up in the crowd as Eli Pereira made his way across the launchpad. He was wearing a white spherical spacesuit, and special gloves and shoes. The visor of the spacesuit was open, and though Kylos could not see it, he was carrying a microphone in his right hand. As he reached the spaceship, he tapped the microphone and a rush of static burst forth from speakers placed all around the square, silencing the crowd and gaining their full, undivided attention.

"I'm going to keep this brief," said General Pereira. "This is, without a doubt, the greatest moment in the history of our people. For the first time, we are going to breach the confines of our tiny planet, and take our first revs into the infinite cosmos beyond. Even more than that, our destination is Adhavo, the resting place of our exalted creator, Adha Herself. She has no doubt waited all these thousands of years for her children to pay her their first visit, and today, as Ambassador of the Vodi, and with the whole world watching, I am going to do just that. May Adha watch over us, now and forever, and- wait, what is that?"

Some in the crowd had already noticed the strange light in the sky, and as the general fell silent, pointing at it with an awestruck face, the rest of the crowd turned their attentions to it as well. As they watched, it seemed not only to move slightly, but to grow larger and brighter, as though it were getting closer.

"What is it, dad?" asked Kylos, amazed.

"I don't know, son," his father replied, "but whatever it is, it's coming this way!"

The object was now undeniably on a collision course with the launchpad. Security personnel began to evacuate the area, and a sense of shock and panic began to ripple through the dispersing crowd. Kylos continued to watch the object as it grew ever closer and brighter. Then suddenly, it was no longer a light, but a strange object the likes of which Kylos had never seen.

It almost looked a bit like the One-Vodi, but aligned horizontally, with three wings sticking out at odd angles. After a moment, Kylos realized that there should be a fourth, to make an X-shape, but it appeared to have been shorn off; the tattered remnants of the wing were burning fiercely. Despite how close it had now gotten, the object remained almost completely silent as it plummeted towards the control centre. The remainder of the crowd either stood in awe, or turned and rolled away as fast as they could, screaming.

The strange craft was clearly trying to pull up and turn away, to avoid hitting either the ground or the control centre, but to no avail. It clipped the wall of the control centre at over two hundred miles an hour, demolishing a sizeable chunk of it; its nose then dug into the ground, and it was catapulted into a series of frightening flips and rolls that send it hurtling straight through where the crowd had been not a minute before. Two of the remaining three wings were smashed to pieces, showering the launchpad with debris; remarkably, both the One-Vodi and the launch tower somehow remained intact.

Finally, the craft came to a stop, and the launchpad was engulfed in almost total silence, save for the hiss of the steam and smoke escaping from the broken vessel, and the crackling of the flames as some of the debris and parts of the ship continued to smoulder. With the chaos over, the crowd could see to their amazement that this was, indeed, a spaceship, and through the transparent cockpit, cracked only slightly, they could see its occupant.

Princess Aurelia of Zeta-4 sat slumped in her seat, dazed and barely conscious. Fluorescent pink liquid poured down her face, and ran down her arm; it was blood, something the Vodi lacked. Though her vision was blurred and unfocused, she could just make out the masses of strange beings surrounding her. With the last of her strength, she raised a desperate, blood-soaked hand and, to the astonishment of the Vodi, spoke to them in their own tongue.

"Please…" she gasped. "Help… me…" Then the arm dropped, and Princess Aurelia slumped forward in her seat as she succumbed to unconsciousness.

Day 27

[from A Thousand Miles to San Francisco]

After dinner, Samantha sat down on the sofa to relax and watch some TV. Not five minutes later, her phone began to ring. With a sigh, Samantha muted the TV - it was a repeat, so she wasn't missing anything - and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Sam, it's me." The voice on the other end belonged to her best friend, Dawn. They had met in high school, and had remained friends after they graduated, though their differing workplaces meant that they didn't see as much of each other as they had used to. "Just thought I'd give you a call, since we haven't seen each other in a while. How you feeling? I heard you were kinda ill recently."

"Yeah, it was just a cold or something," said Samantha. "Don't worry, I feel fine now."

"Okay, great," said Dawn. "Work treating you alright?"

"Yeah, same as always," said Samantha. "Manager wasn't too pleased that I was out for a week, but hey, I can't help being ill, can I?"

"Nope," said Dawn. "Hey, can I moan to you for a minute?"

Samantha shifted into a lying-down position on the sofa, her knees bent so she could fit on. "Sure. Moan away."

Dawn made an annoyed noise down the phone. "I had the rudest woman in the shop today." Dawn worked at the customer service desk for a major clothing retailer. "She came up with a dress, saying, 'I'd like to return this dress, please'. I told her I'd need the receipt. She said she didn't have it. I told her, 'It's company policy, we can't accept returns unless you can provide proof of purchase". So she was like, 'Are you accusing me of stealing?' And I was like, 'No, I'm just saying, you have to provide the receipt before we can accept it," and she was like, 'You're accusing me of stealing this. I want to talk to your manager, because that's outta line.' And I was like, 'Alright, I'll get the manager' - y'know, still trying to be all nice and polite and stuff, because you're not allowed to get mad at them no matter how mad they are at you - Sandy comes down, and she's dealt with these kinda people before, so I know how this is gonna go down.

"The woman says to her, 'This woman is accusing me of stealing this dress, I want you to do something about that'. I've already explained to Sandy what's going on, so Sandy just says, 'She's not accusing you of stealing anything. If you go home and get the receipt, we'll be happy to accept the return'. 'What do I need the receipt for?' she goes. 'Proof of purchase,' says Sandy, 'company policy'. 'So you're accusing me of stealing as well?!' says the woman, and she goes off on this rant, saying how she's never gonna shop here again, and she's gonna tell all her friends not to shop here, and Sandy just says, with this bitter sarcastic smile on her face, 'We're sorry to lose your patronage', and then the woman stormed out."

"Jesus," exclaimed Samantha. "How rude!"

"I know," said Dawn wearily; Samantha could almost see her rolling her eyes. "But the moment she was gone, Sandy was like - pardon my French here - she said, "Wow, what a total bitch. Sorry you had to deal with that, Dawn," and, you know, that just made me feel a lot better, knowing I had her support. We all had a good laugh about it afterwards, I feel fine now, but… ugh. Sometimes the people I have to deal with just wind me up so much, you know?"

"Yeah, I can imagine," said Samantha, nodding. "I hope you don't have to deal with people like that too often."

"Oh, not at all," said Dawn, "about 99.9 percent of them are perfectly decent, ordinary folk. It's just that little 0.1 percent that are just determined to make you feel beneath them." Dawn heaved a sigh, and Samantha could tell that she was done with her rant, and feeling much better for it. "Thanks, Samantha," she said. "I needed to get all that off my chest."

"It's no problem," said Samantha. "We all need a little moan now and then, right?"

"Yep," said Dawn. "Okay, on to a rather more happy topic… since it's been a while since we last met up, I was thinking maybe we could go see a movie or something?"

"Yeah, that'd be cool," said Samantha, nodding. "Hey, isn't The Dark Knight Rises coming out this week? I wanted to go see that."

"Yeah, it's out this Friday," said Dawn. "I'll see if I can get us some tickets."

"Alright, thanks, Dawn," said Samantha, smiling. "I'm looking forward to it already."

"Me too," said Dawn. "Alright, I gotta go: I got some stuff I need to do. I'll see you soon."

"Okay, see ya," said Samantha. "Bye."

"Bye," said Dawn, before hanging up.

Day 26

[from Vanishing Point]

As the alarms sounded throughout the facility, the guards were not the only ones alerted. In another section of the cell blocks sat another, slightly older, and significantly taller girl, wearing an identical navy-blue jumpsuit that complemented her short, navy-blue hair. She, too, remembered nothing of herself. Not even the distinctive tattoo of a snake wrapped around her right arm rang any bells. There was, however, something she had discovered about herself during her brief incarceration.

Crossing to the bars of her cell, she gripped them tightly in her hands. Whatever this red alert was about, it was the perfect opportunity to escape, while the guards were distracted and the facility was in chaos. Grunting, the girl began to pull ferociously on the bars. They seemed to have been specially thickened, and would not bend, but remarkably, as she pulled, the concrete that the bars were embedded in began to crack under the strain.

Finally, with a superhuman effort, the girl ripped the bars clean away with a deafening clang, creating a gap big enough for her to escape through. This was what she had discovered: that somehow, inexplicably, her strength surpassed that of twenty men. Even with her toned, athletic physique, what she had just managed should have been impossible, and yet she had done it.

The guards had either heard the bars being ripped away, or had anticipated an escape attempt from her, for as she stepped through the gap she could hear footsteps coming from around the corner. "Secure the subject!" cried one guard. "Don't let her escape!" cried another.

Even with their weapons, the guards were powerless to stop her. As the first guard rounded the corner, the girl slammed one of the iron bars into his chest, cracking several of his ribs and knocking him to the floor, winded and in agony. The second was struck in the head with the other bar with such force that he was thrown against the bars of the adjacent cell; he slumped to the floor, blood gushing from a deep head wound.

The third guard managed to ready his assault rifle and fire, but the girl ducked, rolled, and avoided the shots, before clubbing the man in the shin with one of the bars. He crumpled to the floor with a cry of agony, his rifle clattering to the ground. Looking up, the last thing the unfortunate guard saw was the girl towering over him, eyes filled with hate, before she struck him in the head and killed him.

With a loud clang, the girl dropped the bloodied bars, and picked up one of the fallen assault rifles in one hand. Now fully armed, she strode off through the cell block in search of the exit.

"Hey! Excuse me!"

The girl stopped, turning in the direction the voice had come from. Standing in a cell to her left was another girl, dressed in an identical jumpsuit. She was almost a foot shorter than the blue-haired girl, but had much longer hair; it was bright pink, and tied back into twintails that extended down to her waist. Her bust was also significantly larger than the blue-haired girl's, and despite her currently predicament, her disposition was rather more cheerful.

"Could you let me outta here please?" asked the pink-haired girl. "I wanna go home."

Without saying a word, the taller girl crossed to the bars and, once again, ripped two of them clean out. With a squeal of delight, the pink-haired girl rushed through the newly-created gap and gave her rescuer a tight hug, her face buried right where the taller girl's breasts would have been, had she not been almost completely flat-chested.

"Oh, thank you!" exclaimed the pink-haired girl. "I was so scared, but I knew somebody was gonna save me, and they did! You did! You saved me! Thank you!" Finally letting go, the girl gestured down the corridor. "C'mon! Let's get outta here!" The blue-haired girl nodded, and the two girls sprinted off down the cell block together.

"My name is Hanako Kobayashi!" said the pink-haired girl, choosing to introduce herself at rather an awkward time. "You can call me Hanako! What's your name?"

"I don't know," replied the first girl calmly.

"You don't know your own name?" repeated Hanako, before chuckling. "You're kinda weird. But… you must have a name, right?" she added after a moment. "I mean, what do the people here call you?"

"They call me Subject 13," said the first girl.

As the girls reached the door to the security control room, they paused for a moment, perplexed. "There's no door handle," Hanako pointed out. "How do we open it?"

"Subject 13" pointed to a numeric keypad next to the door. "I'm guessing you have to enter some kind of code."

"So, what's the code?" asked Hanako.

Subject 13's response was to smash the keypad with her fist, sending sparks flying everywhere. Sure enough, the door opened, and the girls found themselves confronted by the security officer, wielding a handgun. Hanako let out a frightened yelp and jumped behind her taller companion.

 "Get back or I'll shoot!" barked the man, pointing the gun at Subject 13. Unfazed, Subject 13 raised the assault rifle and fired, causing Hanako to squeal and cover her ears. The officer was hit twice in the chest, and fell backwards onto the ground, his gun falling out of his hand.

"Come on," said Subject 13, "we have to get out of here." Seizing Hanako's wrist, she dragged the shocked girl behind her through the control centre, towards the exit. Hanako had one last look back at the dead guard, blood pooling around his torso, before the door to the cell block swung shut behind them.

Day 25

[from Sapporo Lilies]

Today is my first day at my new job. I'm kinda nervous about it. Having to sit in this heavy traffic isn't really helping, either. I wanna just get there and get started, but instead I seem to be running into every red light from here to the training ground. As I wait at yet another one, I drum my fingers on the steering wheel impatiently, waiting for it to turn blue.

My job isn't exactly an ordinary job. Depending on who you ask, it's either completely unimportant, or the most important job in the world. My opinion, at least for now, is that it's just a job. However, since it's my job, I intend to do it to the best of my ability, and get the best results I can.

My job? I'm a soccer manager. Specifically, as of today, I'm the manager of the Sapporo Lilies women's soccer team. They're a relatively young club - this will be only their fifth season in the Nadeshiko League. They finished fifth out of the ten teams last season, and my job is to improve on that. I've had a look at some of the players in our squad this season, and on paper, that shouldn't be too difficult. But you can never be too sure in this profession.

The light finally changes, and as I pull away, I'm relieved to see a sign up ahead indicating that the training ground is now less than half a mile away. Despite all the traffic, I left home nice and early, so I should just get there on time now. Ready for the first day's training.

***

Sure enough, I arrive at the training ground with minutes to spare. Entering the car park, I soon come across a space that's reserved for the manager. Standing near it is the chairman, a well-dressed elderly man. I park up in what is now my space, and he greets me as I get out of the car.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr., uh… uhh…" He may be a kindly old man, but he's forgetful. I gently remind him of my name. [AUTHOR'S NOTE: At this point, you will be prompted to enter your own name. The default, and the name that will be used here, is Katsumi Moto.] "Ah, yes, that's it," he says, slapping his forehead. "Of course. My apologies, Mr. Moto." He shakes my hand, then gestures in the direction of the entrance. "Right this way."

The two of us head onwards into the training ground itself. "Are you excited to be getting started?" he asks me.

I nod. "Yep. I have a feeling this is going to be a good season."

"Well, let's hope so," he says. "A top three finish would be nice. I know you're not an experienced manager, so perhaps I can't ask that much of you, but I think I can at least expect that we'll steer clear of relegation, right?"

"With this squad," I tell him, "there's not a chance of that happening. We're finishing in the top half of the league again this season, for definite."

The man nods slowly. "Alright," he says, "I'll hold you to that."

He falls silent as we walk onto the training pitch. He stops on the touchline, watching the girls as they train, and I join him. They're truly remarkable athletes. A couple of them even won the Women's World Cup with the Japanese national team a few years back. Over at the far touchline, I can see Fiona Harrison, an English player who was one of the top women's players in her prime. She's in her twilight years now; rumour has it that this season will be her last. Signing her was still a major coup for us. Watching her, as she darts past another, significantly younger girl, it seems that even at the age of thirty-five, she still has plenty of her old talent left.

Eventually, it seems that the old man has had his fill. Nodding with satisfaction, he turns back to me. "Well, I've leave them in your capable hands, then," he says. "Your first match is in two weeks' time, at home… I think. I'm sure the club secretary will have the full schedule. For now, though, I must bid you adieu. Good luck, Mr. Moto." With that, he bows respectfully and takes his leave. Such a nice man. Forgetful, but nice.

I turn my attention to the matter at hand: the girls. Some of them have already noticed their presence, and have stopped their training to take a good look at me. I clap my hands loudly, calling out to them. "Alright, could you all come over here for a moment please? Thank you." One by one, the girls abandon their training for the time being and head over to greet their new manager for the first time. Their expressions are mixed: some of them are curious, some of them excited, one or two of them look a little annoyed. I hope that's just because I interrupted their training, and not for any personal reasons. They may have been expecting someone more experienced.

In any case, I had better introduce myself to them. "Hello," I say, bowing a little in respect. "As you may have already guessed, I'm your new manager. My name is Katsumi Moto. I hope we can all get along together, and accomplish great things during this coming season. Now, I'll let you all get back to your training for a minute, but for now I'd like to do a little game, just so I can get to know you all a little better."

"What is this, middle school?" objects one of the annoyed-looking ones. I'll admit, it is a little juvenile, but it's also convenient. For now, I just ignore her.

I turn to the girl closest to me, a short, rather energetic-looking girl. "Could you go fetch me a ball, please?" I ask her.

The girl nods. "Sure!" she says. She rushes off, retuning not ten seconds later with a brightly-coloured blue-and-white ball. "Here you go!" She lightly throws it to me, and I catch it. Putting it on the floor, I put one foot on the ball.

"Okay," I say, "now could you all gather around in a semi-circle for me, please? This'll only take five minutes." A couple of the girls roll their eyes, but they all do as I say, gathering around in a neat semi-circle in front of me. "Okay. Now, I'm gonna pass each of you the ball in turn, and I want you to tell me your name, position, and one fact about yourself. I know this is kinda juvenile-" There's a disgruntled mutter from the annoyed-looking girl that I don't quite catch. "-but it's a nice way for me to learn all your names, and learn a little about you, nice and quickly. Like I said, it'll only take five minutes. Okay, let's get started."

I pass the ball low down to the woman furthest to my left, an immensely tall foreign girl with flaming red hair. "Aliona Swarovska," she introduces herself, in a distinct Russian accent. "Goalkeeper. I once manage to score from other side of pitch." Her Japanese is a little broken. I'm guessing she hasn't been here too long. We'll have to brush up on that.

She passes it back, and I pass it on to the next player, a young-looking girl with short twintails. "Naomi Yamada. Left-back and centre-back. I actually wear glasses, but I put contacts in when I'm playing."

"You should save up for laser eye surgery," I suggest to her as she passes the ball back to me. "It'll be cheaper over the long-term."

"I am, yeah," says Naomi.

I pass the ball to the next player along. "Hinata Egami. Left-winger. In my spare time I work at my mother's flower shop."

Back to me, and on to the next player. "Rika Yasukawa. Right-winger. I have the fastest 100-metres time of anyone on the team."

On to the next player. "Ritsu Aoki. Right-back. My great-grandfather served on the Yamato during the Second World War."

As she passes the ball back to me, I can't help asking. "Did he make it?"

"Nope," says Ritsu. "Went down with the ship." Despite this, she seems rather proud of her ancestor having served on one of the greatest naval vessels ever assembled, perhaps understandably. "I'm sorry to hear that," I say, as I pass the ball on to the next girl. Ritsu merely shrugs; I guess she's not gonna be too distraught about someone who died forty or so years before she was born.

"Yuuko Sakurai," says the next woman along in the semi-circle. "Centre-back. I used to work in a maid café before becoming a footballer." I can't help but be surprised at this. Yuuko, as a centre-back, has rather a stocky build; not really the traditional frame for a maid. I'm guessing maybe she bulked up a little after switching to soccer.

On to the next player. "Yura Matsuki. Striker. I've taken six penalties for the team and I've never missed a single one. Oh, and I'm faster than Rika," she adds as she kicks the ball back to me.

Rika lets out an amused snort. "Dream on!" she says, grinning. I get the feeling there's a bit of a friendly rivalry between the two of them as to who is faster. I pass the ball on to the next woman in line, a silver-haired girl who appears to have been staring at me intensely for the entire time, as though analyzing me.

"Yuuka Noda. Right-back. I can solve a Rubik's Cube in under 30 seconds." Wow. That's impressive. I can solve them alright, but it takes me a while. Yuuka passes me the ball back, and I pass it to the next player along, a very short, cute-looking girl with bright pink hair.

"I'm Konoko Ono!" she introduces herself cheerfully. "I'm a central and attacking midfielder. I'm the only player in the squad who's never been booked! Well… apart from Ichiko," she hastily adds, before passing it back.

Next up is the annoyed-looking girl who'd objected previously to the exercise. She still looks annoyed, and I notice that a couple of the other girls look a little apprehensive as she traps the ball beneath her boot, as though afraid of what she might say.

"Suzume Kuroi," she says. "Centre-back. With all due respect… I think you're a poor choice of manager."

The entire training ground falls silent as Suzume delivers her criticism of me. From the looks of it, it seems the other girls were well aware that Suzume felt this way; some of them cast anxious glances in my direction, as though afraid that she may have hurt my feelings. In truth: yes, I may not be the best man for the job. There are better, more experienced managers out there. But there has to be a reason that I was picked, and not them. So even if Suzume doesn't believe in me, I'll believe in myself, and hopefully I can convince her over time that I'm perfectly qualified to coach her.

Konoko turns to Suzume, looking a little hurt. "You can't say that to him!" she complains. "You'll hurt his feelings!"

"I don't care," snaps Suzume.

"But-"

 "It's okay, Konoko," I say hurriedly, before this escalates into a full-blown argument. The last thing I need is an inter-team split just five minutes after I've walked in the door. "Suzume," I say gently, "I appreciate your honesty. I hope I can justify the chairman's decision to you over the course of this season."

Suzume snorts, and passes the ball back to me. The next woman along needs no introduction, but I pass it to her anyway. "Fiona Harrison," she says, her pronunciation perfect. "Central midfielder. I plan to retire at the end of this season, so I'd like to go out on a high, if possible." No pressure there, then.

On to the next player. "Natsume Kawashima. Left and central midfielder. I was almost a pro baseball player before choosing soccer instead. Oh, and I'm suspended for the first game of the season. Just so you know." So I effectively have a squad of eighteen to work from for the first game. With a squad this small, you have to really hope nobody gets injured.

On to the next player, a girl who I assume to be South Korean. The moment she gives her name, the assumption is proved correct. "Kyung-Soon Choi. Centre-back. My second cousin is actually a popular actor back home in South Korea."

Only a few players left now. "Tomoko Satoya," says the next woman, who I also recognize. "Right-winger. I was part of the starting eleven when we won the Women's World Cup a few years back." I nod in acknowledgement as she side-foots the ball back to me.

"Yui Blake," says the next woman. "Striker. I was the team's top scorer last season."

"Sanae Yamamoto," says the next woman. "Striker. I was the team's top scorer the season before that, and also won Goal of the Season."

Only two players left now. Next up is our other goalkeeper; she's not quite as tall as Aliona, but still tall by Japanese standards. "Miyuki Morishita. Goalkeeper. Uhh… umm…" She rubs the back of her head nervously. "I'm sorry, I can't think of anything!"

A couple of the girls sigh wearily. "You've had all this time to think of something," I point out.

"I know, I'm sorry!" she says apologetically. "Uhh… can I just pass and get back to you?"

"Sure." Miyuki passes me the ball, her face flushing bright red, and I pass it on to the last girl, the one who'd handed me the ball to start with.

"I'm Ichiko Umeki," she says. "I'm a striker. I've just graduated from the local academy and this is my first season of first-team soccer. I look forward to working with you all!" She bows low, then passes the ball back to me one last time. I crouch down and pick it up.

"Okay, thank you all," I say. "I should remember your names now, hopefully. For now, I want you to go about training as you did before; within the next few days I'll try and draw up a new training schedule and hopefully put that in place before our first match. Our target this season is to finish in the top half of the division again; optimistically, we should be looking at the top three. With the quality we have here-" I can't help glancing at Fiona and Tomoko as I say this -"I have no doubt we can do very well this year, and in years to come. Alright, as you were."

I throw the ball back to Ichiko, and she and the other girls go off to resume their training activities, with the exception of one. Hinata stays behind for some reason.

"What is it, Hinata?" I ask.

"Do you really think we can make the top three this year?" she asks, sounding a little surprised by my assessment.

"Sure I do," I tell her. "That's what the chairman thinks, and I dare say he knows you all better than I do. I have faith in him, and I have faith in you guys."

A little spark lights up in Hinata's eyes as I reaffirm my belief in my players. Truth be told, it's a blind belief. I haven't the slightest idea what this bunch of players before me is really capable of. But if they believe they can win, they will win, and they won't believe that if I don't believe it. So right now, I have to get them to believe in me, and in themselves. Even Suzume.

"Thank you, Mr. Moto!" says Hinata. "I'll try my best!" With that, she heads off to join her team-mates. I'm sure she'll try her best this season. I certainly will.

Day 24

[from Aura of Chaos]

Xeron arrived at Tirera only about two or three days after he had first received their message asking for his help. It was a small town, nestled among the woodlands near the southeast of Albion. Upon arrival, he found himself greeted by a tall man with red hair.

"Ah, hey there," said the man, smiling. "You must be the man we hired to clear out the caves, right? Xeron, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, that's me," said Xeron.

"I'm the mayor," said the man, introducing himself. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Xeron." The two shook hands, and headed off into the town.

"Now that you're here," said the mayor, "I'll just go over again what it was that we hired you for. About a week ago, I headed into the cave to the west to get some water from the spring there, as I usually do. However, when I got there the place was infested with these strange monsters. I've never seen anything like them before, and I have no idea where they've come from all of a sudden; usually, that cave is empty.

"Anyway," he continued, "I tried fighting them off, but my attacks aren't strong enough to hurt them, and there seems to be no end to them. But from what I've heard about you, you should have a much easier time taking care of them, right?"

"Probably," said Xeron. "I've never failed before."

"Well, let's hope you don't break the habit of a lifetime, then," said the mayor, smiling. "Once the monsters have been driven out, and the cave is safe to enter again, you'll receive a handsome reward from us all, for your efforts. In the meantime, feel free to rest up here whenever you need to."

"Of course," said Xeron, nodding. "Thank you."

"No, thank you," said the mayor. "You're really helping us out here, you know, getting rid of all these monsters."

"Don't thank me just yet," said Xeron. "I only just got here."

"Indeed," admitted the mayor, before coming to a stop. "Well, I've got things to attend to elsewhere, so I'll be on my way. Come see me once you've successfully cleared out the cave; my house is right opposite the farm, over there." He pointed down a street leading north. "You'll be able to find your way around town okay, won't you?"

"Yeah," said Xeron. "And the cave's to the west, didn't you say?"

"Yeah, you can't miss it," said the mayor. "Okay, I'll be seeing you then, Xeron. Good luck." With a quick wave, the mayor headed off towards his house. Xeron, meanwhile, sought out the nearest apothecary; if he was going to be fighting, he was going to need supplies.

***

After stocking up on some healing potions, Xeron headed west, following the signposts directing him to the cave. Just as the mayor had said, he found it very easily; the entrance was just beyond the town, carved into a small cliff face. The passage was easily big enough for him to walk through, and was well-lit by torches on all sides. Readying his spear, Xeron headed inside.

At first, the cave seemed fairly empty, except for a couple of bats flying around harmlessly. However, after negotiating an S-bend a short way in, Xeron found himself confronted by a group of creatures that even he had never seen the likes of before. They resembled blobs of sky-blue slime, about two feet high and three feet in diameter. They had no eyes, no ears, no limbs or mouths, but they were quite clearly alive; they moved slowly towards him, leaving gelatinous trails behind them, like slugs.

At first, Xeron was not sure quite how to fight them. Would his spear have any effect on them? If it didn't, then there wasn't much he could do. There was, of course, only one way to find out. Xeron jabbed his spear at the nearest slime creature, plunging it in deeply; the creature let out an unearthly shriek and seemed to melt, collapsing into a gooey puddle on the floor of the cave.

The other slimes continued to home in on Xeron. One grew a slimy appendage and swung at the bounty hunter; Xeron blocked it with his spear and slew the creature. Another managed to land a blow on him, but his armour easily deflected it away; Xeron slew that creature as well. Soon, all the slimes had been vanquished, and Xeron was able to move further into the cave.

In a small chamber jutting out from the main path, Xeron was able to make out something glinting amongst the rocks. Heading over to investigate, he found a small shard of blue-grey crystal. There did not seem to be anything similar nearby, so its presence struck him as odd. Deciding there had to be something special about the crystal shard, Xeron picked it up and took it with him.

As he headed down to the next level of the cave, Xeron soon saw the water spring that the mayor had mentioned. However, to Xeron's surprise, the path to it had been cut off by what appeared to be a river of magma. The mayor hadn't mentioned anything like that being present in the cave, and it was highly improbable that he would not have noticed; Xeron thus assumed that the strange creatures had stopped him from reaching this far in. Regaining access to the spring no longer seemed like a possibility, but at the very least, Xeron could still clear out the creatures.

After defeating another small group of slimes, Xeron headed onwards towards the deepest part of the cave. Here, it opened up into a vast magma chamber. The path jutted out some way into the molten sea like a strange pier; standing near the end of it, silhouetted somewhat against the bright lava, was an even stranger creature than the slimes.

The creature was eight feet tall and vaguely humanoid; its arms were long, and it had a long, thick tail that dragged along the ground. Like the slimes, it was entirely sky-blue with a slimy, gelatinous appearance, but unlike the slimes, it had visible eyes, ears and a mouth. Several short spikes jutted out of the top of its head, tinted gold at the top, like some strange facsimile of a crown; a long jagged spear was clutched in one of its slimy hands.

As it noticed Xeron, it let out a screeching cry. Its tail suddenly broke off, splitting into several of the smaller slime creatures; at this, Xeron realized that this larger creature was where the other creatures were spawning from. If he defeated it, the cave would be clear once more.

As the army of smaller slimes gradually advanced on Xeron, he readied his spear, then let out a cry of war and charged.

Day 23

[from Pokémon: The Chase]

The flames came gently and quietly from the Arcanine's mouth as it breathed onto the bars of its enclosure, but the heat of them was no less intense. Within seconds the bars were glowing red-hot, then white-hot. Within mere moments, several of the bars had been reduced to a puddle of molten iron on the ground, creating a hole just big enough for the majestic Pokémon to squeeze through. The night watchman was still patrolling the other side of the zoo; he wouldn't be within sight of the enclosure for another few minutes. Now was the time.

Quick as a flash, Arcanine darted through the gap in the bars and sprinted off, racing down the path between the enclosures and towards the wall of the zoo. Though it was high, the Arcanine's speed was such that it simply ran straight up it, climbing it in two bounds and leaping over the top to freedom.

 Landing on all four paws, the Pokémon slowed to a halt and began to consider the current situation. It may have escaped the zoo, but it was still stuck in a strange city that it did not know. Its trainer lay waiting in Ecruteak, it knew that much, but where Ecruteak was in relation to this place was a complete unknown. What's more, there was no chance that the zoo were going to just let their prized Arcanine run off. If it was going to make it back to its trainer, it was going to need help.

Looking around, the city seemed deserted; it was very late at night, and there was hardly anyone around. There had to be somebody around here that could help, though. Carefully darting across an empty road, the Arcanine began to stalk the streets, in search of someone kind enough to assist it. Someone with a pure heart.

There. Huddled in a side alley, shivering in the cold, was a girl who could have been no more than ten. The Arcanine immediately felt a deep sense of pity in its warm heart, but at the same time, it sensed that this girl would be willing to help it. Its trainer had said something once: "Those with the least to give are always the most generous".

The Arcanine entered the dark, dirty alleyway, heading towards the shivering girl. She did not notice it until it was right beside her, as its hot breath started to warm her freezing body. She looked up, and upon seeing the Pokémon towering over her, jumped back with a startled cry. "P-please don't hurt me," she stammered.

Unexpectedly, the Arcanine began to speak. "I'm sorry," it said. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not going to hurt you, but I would like to ask for your help."

The girl was surprised to hear the Pokémon speaking. "You… you can talk?" she said warily.

"Yes," said the Arcanine. "My owner taught me how. However, I can only be understood by those who are pure of heart, like yourself."

"I see…" said the girl, still a little rattled. "Y… you want my help?"

"Yes," said the Arcanine. "My owner and I were visiting this region from Ecruteak City when I was stolen. I was sold to the zoo here, to be put on display, but I have now managed to escape. However, I don't know the way back home. Would you be able to guide me there?"

"Uhh… I think so…" said the girl. "But… why me?"

"No reason in particular," said the Arcanine. "I just had a feeling that you would be willing to help me."

The girl, thinking about this some more, realized that this could be a potential opportunity to do something about her current situation. "If I do… what's in it for me?" she asked.

The Arcanine caught on fairly quickly. "You are homeless, aren't you? An orphan?"

The girl shook her head. "I'm not an orphan. My daddy died of cancer, but my mommy's still alive."

"Then where is she?" asked the Arcanine, looking a little concerned.

"I don't know," said the girl. "She went off a few weeks ago and never came back. But I know she's still alive."

The Arcanine thought for a moment. "But you have no home, correct?"

The girl nodded sadly. "When daddy died, mommy couldn't pay the bills, so we lost our house."

"My owner is a kind man," said the Arcanine. "His heart is pure like yours. Perhaps, as a reward for helping to return me, he will take you in, or at least help find you a place to stay."

The girl couldn't believe her ears. "Really?" she exclaimed. "He'd do that for me?"

The Arcanine nodded. "Yes," it said, "I believe he would."

"And my mommy?" asked the girl. "Can she come too?"

This was a hard decision for the Arcanine to make. "I'm afraid we don't have the time to try and look for her," it said finally. "The zoo will be looking for me. We have to leave for Ecruteak as soon as possible. Perhaps, once we're both safe, we can come back for her."

The girl was a little downhearted to hear this, but knew deep down that the Arcanine was right. "Okay," she said, nodding sadly.

"Thank you," said the Arcanine. "So, do you know the way?"

To the Arcanine's initial dismay, the girl shook her head. "Not exactly," she admitted. "But, I do know where we can get a map of Kanto and Johto. That should lead us straight to your home."

"Okay," said the Arcanine. Then, it lowered itself. "Get on."

Once more the girl was taken aback. "What? G… get on you?"

"Yes," said the Arcanine. "It'll be faster if you ride me. Don't worry; you won't fall off as long as you hold on tight."

"Uhh… okay." Though she was still unsure, the girl knew that once again, the Arcanine was right; it would be a lot faster if she travelled on its back. Cautiously, she climbed onto the Arcanine's back, hugging it tightly round the neck. She could feel the warmth of its body against her cold, dirty skin; it was immensely comforting. She found herself snuggling up against the warm fur beneath her.

"Hold on tightly," repeated the Arcanine, "and whatever you do, do not let go. Understand?"

The girl nodded, and with that the Arcanine took off once more, darting back out of the alleyway and into the empty streets. The girl squealed as suddenly the wind began to rush past her, the buildings flying past at speeds she had never experienced before. At first it was terrifying, and she clung to the Pokémon for dear life, but as she got used to the speeds, she grew to enjoy it. Before she knew it, she was laughing, the sound quickly snatched away by the air rushing past her.

"So, where is this map?" asked the Arcanine, shouting over the howling winds.

The girl was enjoying herself so much she had almost forgotten why she was riding an Arcanine through the streets in the first place. "Oh, right… uhh…" Looking around at the buildings as they passed, she tried frantically to get a bearing on their location. "That way… I think…"

The Arcanine nodded, and rushed off in the direction she had pointed. It was going to be a long and difficult journey to make it back to Ecruteak, but nothing was going to stop it from making it back to its trainer. Not the distance, not the zoo staff, not even Team Rocket… nothing.

Day 22

[from Murder By Pixels]

This Is The Life

I open my eyes
And a brand new dawn begins
I look through the window
At the sunlight streaming in
You light up my life
Like a firework inside
I feel so much brighter
Now you are by my side

Yeah, this is the life
This is where we want to be
Yeah, this is the life
Rolling around in ecstasy
When you hold me close,
My heart explodes
Yeah, this is the life
This is where we want to be
You and me

I couldn't believe it
I thought it was too good to be true
I didn't deserve you
But it seems I've captured you
Now when we're together
My smile feels a million miles wide
I've never felt better
Since you were by my side

Now, this is the life
This is where we want to be
Yeah, this is the life
Rolling around in ecstasy
When you hold me tight
The world feels right
Yeah, this is the life
This is where we want to be
You and me

This is the greatest feeling
I have ever known
You give my life new meaning
Please don't ever go

'Coz this is the life
This is where I long to be
Yeah, this is the life
When you're lying next to me
When you hold me close
My heart explodes
Yeah, this is the life
This is where we want to be
You and me

This is the life
This is the life (yeah!)
Yeah, this is the life
This is where we want to be
You and me

Shattered

I gave you all my heart

You stood and watched it burn

Now you want for us to start again

I think it's time you learned

What hurts me makes me stronger

And I'm stronger than you now

You won't leave me broken again

I don't want you back now

Yeah, this is goodbye, my friend

You're not gonna break my heart

And leave it shattered again

I'm gonna make a new start

You said that I was guilty

But you're the one to blame

Now I see it, and I'm glad that you're gone

I was sick of all the games

No, I won't take it any longer

And I'm stronger than you now

You won't leave me broken again

I don't want you back now

Yeah, this is goodbye, my friend

You're not gonna break my heart

And leave it shattered again

I'm gonna make a new start

Shattered on the floor, I lay as you left

You'd broken me in two, alone and bereft

If you could see me now, looking back to that day

You wouldn't recognize me as I walk away

And I'm stronger than you now

You won't leave me broken again

I don't want you back now

Yeah, this is goodbye, my friend

You're not gonna break my heart

And leave it shattered again

I'm gonna make a new start

Yeah!

And I'm stronger than you now

You won't leave me broken again

I don't need your love now

Yeah, this is goodbye, my friend

You're not gonna break my heart

And leave it shattered again

I'm gonna make a new start

I'm gonna make a new start

You won't leave me shattered again

You won't leave me shattered again

You won't leave me shattered again