dearest.

Suddenly, the boy was closer to him than Reim would have considered comfortable for a stranger and took a short step backwards, narrowing his eyes. Carefully, he took a small glance around him where the younger male was pointing. He hadn’t even considered asking anyone around him for help — but maybe that was because these people didn’t have any presence. Perhaps they weren’t even people at all, like he was saying. Illusions? Or something —  "Regrets? ..may I ask what these Regrets are? ..and why shouldn’t I look back?" The boys words sent chills down his spine. They were too ominous for his liking.

Regrets.

..Reim didn’t want to admit it but he had more than enough regrets..

"I can assure you, I wouldn’t forget my own name. It would take quite a large blow to the head for me to forget something like that. ..I’m not a fighter like Gilbert or Master Rufus but I’m sturdy enough on my own." He didn’t learn all that sword-play for nothing. Suddenly, he twitched with annoyance, “M-my name is not strange! If you must know, its meaning is ‘will of the little moon’. It’s quite a heavy meaning for someone such as I and I bear it proudly." Reim huffed, crossing his arms defensively.

As his ‘host’ began to walk away, Reim looked around nervously before beginning to follow after him, adjusting his coat. Though no one was looking at him, he felt like there were eyes on him. He was told not to turn around, and he wouldn’t but he couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling of the stares. That was until the boy said his name causing the Pandora worker to stop in his tracks, eyes wide.

"…..you can’t….be serious….."

There was just no way. It was impossible.

He stopped to gaze at the other, blinking once and pausing to think, before opening his mouth. "Regrets are regrets. They're created from humans' regrets, mostly because humans tend to cling to their past." He spoke with little emotion, almost as if he's told the same story over and over again and became bored of it. "They hang around people with no purpose, like you." With a tiny shrug of the shoulders, the March Hare shifted his weight to his side, resting his hand on his hip bone. It was obvious the other was a little shaken by his words. Good. "Well, last time someone 'looked back', the regrets tried to kill that person." Reim didn't need to know that "person" was actually the 89th Alice, and the regrets were more prone to violent acts against Alice specifically. "That's why."

As the other protested to forgetting his own name, Mitsuki couldn't help but laugh a little under his breath. No one wants to forget their name; it's something that happens against your will. You can never account for things like that. "It can still happen, you know. I didn't exactly plan on forgetting mine." A bitter taste filled his mouth; he didn't want to think about those days anymore. He silenced himself and turned away slightly, frowning and rubbing his arm -- anything to show he didn't want to talk about it.

"Gilbert? Rufus?" The March Hare furrowed his brows, but didn't really care enough about those two names to prod further. What was more interesting was the next part: "So you can fight? That's a pretty useless skill here." He paused, scratching his cheek. "Unless, I guess, you know when to fight." When the others' tone switched to annoyance, however, Mitsuki grinned; it was kind of amusing how easily flustered the guy got. "I was only kidding, geez." He rested his hands on his hip, and gave a warm smile. "Your name is your name. You should be proud of it." The rabbit-eared boy paused, temporarily glancing to the side before continuing with a more placid look: "Though, it's still a pretty unusual name, at least around these parts. You're really not from around here, are you?"

   "Lenalee!" Both hands cupped his mouth to ensure loudness, but even so — it was all futile. The city he was currently stuck in could not be determined and this was indeed an issue. Not to mention, a growling sound could be heard. The poor cursed adolescent was starving, already. However, shelter and his friends were his priority at the moment. It was a shame to say it but, food had to wait.

   Once his hands fell back to his sides, steps began. How about another search? He’s done this all before—something had to work out sooner or later, right? Albeit bewildered, Allen still kept a close eye on those who brushed passed him. Humans were an easy disguise for Akumas (demons)—that much he was well aware of already. But, due to the lack of focus ahead of him, he collided with another individual.

 "Ouf—-!" Inching away from the other, an apology was in order. "Uh…I’m sorry!”

Recipes and concerns floated through the manager's thoughts as she drooped her head towards the sidewalk. Her legs carried her forward and her eyes glazed over with immense concentration. She could only buy the cheapest groceries available, but still had to keep the nutrition values in mind. Chiyo was sure if she went through a few cookbooks, she'd find something, and yet -- She didn't have time to complete the thought. A thud interrupted her, and sent her back a few steps. She opened her eyes to see what the cause was, and blinked.

It was a boy. He seemed a little older than herself, with strangely white hair, and a mysterious marking (a scar, perhaps?) that spread across his left eye. It was rude to stare, but for a few seconds, it was hard to not emerge herself in his presence. He was unlike any person she had seen before; Chiyo wasn't entirely sure what to do, at least, until he started speaking.

"Ah, no, I should be the one to apologize, really."

Chiyo let a small laugh escape her lips, before grabbing the bags in her hands tighter -- whether it was out of nervousness or habit, she couldn't tell, but frankly, that was the last thing on her mind. The girl looked at the stranger with curious, but kind, brown eyes, wondering what brought him to the Saitama prefecture. She wasn't all that popular at school, but she did know a handful of people. Surely someone as diverse as him would be the talk of the town, and seeing as he wasn't, he must have just arrived. At least, that's what she figured. Still, she could ask him those kinds of things later -- for now, how he was doing should be enough to spark a real conversation.

"Wonder…land?"

"That…sounds like a cruel joke…" Reim murmured more to himself than the person before him. He looked the other male up and down, feeling an odd sense of familiarity as he stared. He’d never seen this person before though. Why would he feel such a thing at the sight of a stranger? Unless…those ears…they did remind him of his dear Chain…

"M-me?" Reim stepped back nervously, furrowing his brow as he adjusted his glasses, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? Telling me this place is Wonderland…did Xerxes put you up to this? Or perhaps Lady Sheryl?" He cleared his throat, sighing. He shouldn’t be accusing this boy. He might be his only clue on returning to Pandora, “I…I’m sorry. I’m a bit frazzled, that’s all."

"Like I said, you're in Wonderland."

The March Hare took a few strides towards the male, stopping just a few inches in front of him. His hands on his hips, he leaned forward, and raise an eyebrow. "What, you don't believe me?" Bringing his upper body back, he turned to look at the stores lining the street, pointing at the passer-bys without a second glance Reim's way. "See those people? They're inhabitants of Wonderland. They're probably not really people as you know them." The smaller male looked up towards the taller, before continuing to talk. "Oh, and I wouldn't look back around here. I don't know if you have a purpose or not, or if you're planning suicide, but the Regrets are out full force these days." He shook his head, crossing his arms and clicking his tongue once against his teeth. "They're a nasty bunch, those Regrets."

Xerxes? Lady Sheryl? He never heard of anybody named either of those. It was now obvious this man wasn't a resident of this place; if the confusion written all over his face didn't give it away, it was the rapid questions. You can't fake that kind of emotion. At least, no normal person could, and this glasses-adjusting bookworm-type didn't seem so out of the ordinary when it came to controlling emotions. In other fields, sure: in fact, the March Hare was quite interested in what hidden potential this man had, but placed it to the side for now. There were more important matters to discuss -- specifically, what this stranger was doing here.

"It's fine. It's pretty obvious you're not from around here, so being confused is normal. But at least you remember your name." 

It wouldn’t have been right of him to leave her there. He was hard-headed at times, but the skater had a big heart. He cared deeply for his sister and his friends, but in situations like this, the care extended to complete strangers. It was the right thing to do, and he knew so; he even felt a bit proud of himself when he saw that he’d managed to make the girl smile.

“Heh, ‘s no problem — an’ you don’t gotta worry about it.” The blonde shrugs off her offer to pay him, as though it was the least of his concerns. Truthfully, his little stunt had emptied his wallet for the next few days — and he wouldn’t stoop so low as to ask his friends or his sister for money. But the girl before him didn’t have to know that, and he’d feel strange taking her money. Especially when he was only doing her a favor. He’d find a way to make up for the lost money .. eventually. When she brought up her friend paying him back, it only make him shake his head even more frantically. To take her money — Beat felt strange enough about that, but now she was offering to give him another stranger’s money in compensation. Stranger of a stranger .. or something like that. “I’ve been in y’ shoes once or twice before; I know how it is. ‘s on me, a’ight?”

Still, her words managed to strike a little curiosity in him. So she’d been waiting for someone here — a friend, or a relative, or something? As she pulled out her cell-phone, the skater took another good look at her. Her manner of dress was pretty similar to some of the other girls in the area; after all, Shibuya’s shopping districts were filled with different, unique types of fashion. What Clover wore was wasn’t too much like the things he’d seen around the area of his home — nor was it similar to the things worn around his school district. Beat could attest to that much, anyway; there weren’t too many girls that he went to school with that dressed like that .. 

.. On-campus, anyway. In truth, that might have just been on part of the uniform policy. And besides, Beat didn’t speak to too many girls, besides for Shiki, Eri, and, of course, Rhyme. He just wasn’t good with them; they’d giggle at the way he spoke, and it’d make him nervous. In turn, he would start to stammer, and his slang would get even worse. Eventually, he’d just turn and walk away, so as to save himself from any more embarrassment.

His conversation with this girl seemed to be going well enough, though. She didn’t seem to mind his manner of speaking, and he wasn’t all that nervous. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mess it up now.

Then, suddenly, she was speaking to him again — and she confirmed the idea that she wasn’t from Shibuya. “So .. you was waitin’ for someone here?” He had to admit, Shibuya’s busier districts probably weren’t the smartest places to want to meet someone. This ramen shop was off one of the side-streets, so it wasn’t terribly crowded .. but it could be a pain to find the place to begin with, what with all the intersecting streets and the crowds of people. He remembered getting lost plenty a time when he was younger, and a lot more careless. Once, the blonde had gone so far from home that he was out the entire night, and his parents actually had to go out and search from him. They found him a long ways from home — sitting outside the Sunshine Fast-Food Restaurant past the Scramble, tears smeared all over his face.

It was silly of him, but it was for that reason that when she stood to leave, he jumped out of his seat after her. “Woah, woah, wait a sec — lemme walk you t’ where you’re headed, at least!”

He blurted the words out before he’d thought them over, and he could only imagine what they sounded like to Clover. Still, he headed over to her, a nervous smile breaking out on his face. “It’s jus’ .. I don’t want you to get lost or nothin’ — not while you’re s’pposed to meet up wit’ someone. You’d worry ‘em. An’ I know this place like the back o’ my hand, you feel me?”

Clearing his throat, he continued on to say, “So .. Let Beat see that y’ get there alright, yeah? .. I mean, let me .. — I mean, I’m, uh .. ‘m Beat. Eh-heh.”

"But still!" She protested, nearly stomping her foot on the ground. "I can't just up and leave knowing you're down whatever the price was because of me." She balled her fists, pouting slightly as her voice softened a bit. "C'mon, at least let me help you out with something. Y'got a leaky roof or a messed-up window?" Truthfully, she'd probably be better off doing something more domestic like laundry, or running errands -- but all of those required going into the other's personal life, and honestly, she'd rather do no such thing. She planned to leave immediately after repaying her debt: washing and folding his underwear and socks before saying goodbye would just make things too awkward, even if she were to never see him again. It would be better to just bang a few nails in and call it a day, she concluded.

Clover hadn't really noticed until now (mostly due to her blinding rage) but looking at him closely, the boy was kind of cute. His blonde hair seemed unkept and messy, probably due to the fact that it was always beneath that skull-cap, and his mannerisms were completely different to what she initially expected them to be. With his muscular build and punk-ish attire, she honesty thought he would be way less gentlemanly, but, that wasn't the case at all. He was a complete enigma to her, and frankly, it was sort of intriguing. Clover wasn't the biggest fan of mystery novels or the like, but there was something to be said about meeting a complete stranger: you can't help but think about every minute they spent living before meeting you. This boy's childhood, his dreams, his morning habits, and what he does before going to bed at night -- she knew nothing. Ever since the Nonary Game, Clover has been much more aware of others' existences and the delicacy of a life. Meeting strangers, placing their life in your hands, realizing how insignificant your own life is in the grand scheme. .. Still, this was no time to be philosophizing. She had to think on a more realistic, resolving level.

Ugh, that's right, she forgot. The other's curiosity, as innocent as it was, only managed to re-spark her anger from earlier. With a frown, she began to recall Junpei's voice as he called her to cancel, particularly how distant it seemed. "... Yeah. I was." She huffed, "And it wasn't a boyfriend or something stupid like that, so don't get the wrong idea!" The moment the words blurted out of her mouth, she regretted it. Of course he wasn't going to think that! A blush crept its way to the surface of her skin as the words floated through the room, never feeling so embarrassed before in her life. Nevertheless, the show must go on, as they say. She paused to think, the redness leaving her ears and face; the girl gazed down at the floor as she sighed heavily. Clover didn't notice until now, but she suddenly felt exhausted. "He's just a friend. A really bad one." She frowned, her eyebrows creasing as she continued her explanation, "Shibuya's almost a midpoint between our two places, and we haven't seen each other in a while, so we thought it'd be a good idea to meet up here." She crossed her arms, pouting before hitting the punch-line of her misfortune. "But he just called me a little while ago. Said he can't make it; something came up." She had a real good idea too as to just what that something was, but the boy in front of her didn't need to know everything. Clover knew how important Akane was to Junpei, and she could understand why he did what he did. She just wished he'd stop. No matter how much he searches, he's just not going to find them. The Kurashikis wouldn't slip up like that; she knew that better than anyone else. Her arms tensed, and her pout turned sour, along with the taste in her mouth again. All of a sudden, her head started hurting too.  "So now I'm here, wallet-less and frustrated as hell."

The other's sudden action startled her, to the point she immediately stopped moving. Walk her to where she's headed? It was another simple, kind gesture; yet it still threw her off immensely. It wasn't as if she was a complete stranger to kindness, though: she had seen compassion in her brother, and even through Junpei. She knew humankind was capable of it, but it became so far and few between that she eventually stopped looking for it. Still, this person in front of her .. As he smiled, a teeny bit more distrust shed from the fortress she endearingly called her heart. There's a chance he's trustworthy, she determined. It was small, realistically, but there is a still chance he really is just a kind person concerned for her safety. Maybe it would be alright, then, to open up a little. Maybe it'd be alright to even let her guard down a little.

"Well, if you insist. It sure would help, with all these crowds of people." Ah, wait. She had to pause before speaking again as she tried to find the right words to say. With no money, going to the train station would be pointless. She didn't really have a destination in mind anymore. "Actually. .." She started, bringing her nail to her lips in thought as her eyes drifted to the side. "To be honest, I don't really have a destination. Without any money, I can't really head back home, so. .." Trailing off, she looked him right in the eyes, almost hoping her gaze could somehow hypnotize him into letting her stay the night at his place so she could properly think of a solution -- but that would be unrealistic on too many levels. "I'd get my friend to drive me back, but he's been working all week. He's a detective, so you can imagine how tired he must be." Even if he was available, she doubted he'd come all this way for her anyway. Honestly, Seven was just as bad as Junpei: when he wasn't solving murders, he was trying to find the Kurashikis too. Light couldn't come get her either, that much was obvious. There was only the question of Lotus, then. Clover hadn't heard from her since they escaped the Nevada Building, so even locating her would be too much of a chore. She'd have to figure out a way home herself.

It had been forever since Reim had a dream where he was falling. But here he was, falling down through the blackness of his mind, staring up into never ending darkness. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a nightmare like this. Actually, he didn’t think he had ever had a dream like this before. Strange… It almost felt real. Reim sighed and tried to wake himself up, or at least change the scenery of his dream, but whenever he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, everything remained the same. What time was it anyway? Not like he could check anyway. It was more that he wanted to wake up as quickly as possible. 

“Oof!” Reim gasped, finally hitting something, and harder. Harder than he thought. Wincing, Reim shut his eyes a moment and then blinked in confusion. Sun? …wasn’t he supposed to be in bed though? And that was the sound of….people?

The Pandora worker sat up, looking around nervously as he realizing that he was in the middle of a cobblestone street, people wandering past without even glancing at the man who was sitting in the middle of the road. Where…was he? This wasn’t his room. This wasn’t Pandora Headquaters. …was Xerxes playing a trick on him? No. That was impossible. He was just dreaming a moment ago. Then…was this a dream too?

“H-hello?” Reim asked, standing up, adjusting his jacket while looking around. Wait. I wasn’t wearing my jacket to bed… Shaking his head, the brunette looked around again and frowned. No one was answering him. In fact, they were downright ignoring him completely. What sort of dream was this?

“I have to wake up.” Reim whispered, patting his cheeks and then proceeding to pinch them, only to find the results were nothing short of unsuccessful. So, he was awake? In that case…

He continued walking. Waves of people passed by, but the March Hare pressed forward. The 89th Alice was in town, he heard; but honestly he didn't care at all. It was Alice's fault Shirou became the way he did. It was Alice's fault Wonderland turned upside down. Everything became Alice. Alice, Alice, Alice. That was all he ever heard. The name sickened him, and gave him a sour taste in his mouth. Still, he had to keep moving. He needed to talk to the Mad Hatter, even if it consequently meant seeing the 89th Alice too. As much as he hated that guy, he could understand the Mad Hatter's role: he had to protect Alice, just as Mitsuki had to protect Shirou and, therefore, Marianne too -- .. A glint caught his eye, distracting him from his thoughts. He came to a slow stop, staring amazed at the falling figure as it hits the ground with a thud. Initially, he worried the figure had died on impact: it wasn't moving. But the Hare's concern subsided as the person started shifting, before sitting up and looking around. Mitsuki blinked, too surprised to really process much, if anything at all. But as the inital shock left, he took in the sight, and began analyzing the scene playing in front of him.

It was a man; and a very studious-looking one at that. The rabbit-eared boy watched curiously as the dazed blonde in front of him began to speak. Of course, none of the inhabitants in the area would listen: they instead continued on as if no one was there -- as if no one had just fallen from the sky at all. Mitsuki hummed softly to himself, pondering if he should be the one to break this poor soul the news of, literally, his fall. With a quick glance around, however, he soon noticed he had no choice: the March Hare was the only one around with the capacity for such actions. He would have to take this little detour, and possibly scrap his meeting with the Hatter altogether. After all, it didn't rain too often in Wonderland, but even rarer than that, it didn't rain people.