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"Okay, brats, time's up!"

Tsuchigomori's voice interrupts the heartwarming interaction, putting Kou and Yashiro in a panic state once more.

"P-Please, anything but the PA system!" Yashiro pleads with a pale look.

You expected him to be cruel, or at least stoic, but Tsuchigomori smirked and placed a surprisingly fond hand on the three of your heads.

"I won't do that. That was basically a joke."

"Besides, I got to see something a little interesting."

Tsuchigomori walks towards a bookshelf and reaches out for one of its lamps. Pulling on its chain revealed a secret opening into a cave.

"Follow me." He stated while leaning on the bookshelf.

"I'll lead you to my Yorishiro."

He steps out into the cave opening with a lantern in hand, looking at you and the others.

"But the only one I'll let go beyond this point is the priestess who will destroy the Yorishiro."

"Priestess?" Yashiro repeated with a confused look.

"He means my assistant!" Hanako states while wrapping his arms around Yashiro with a wide smile.

"Not a chance, Spider-guy!" Kou intervenes, placing himself protectively in front of Yashiro.

"How will we know whether or not you're going to attack her? It's too dangerous..." You chime in, with an equally protective look.

Before either, you or Kou could continue your protests, a hand snaked around your mouth leaving the both of you silent.

"Well, Number Seven-sama? Can't you trust me?"

Hanako looked at Tsuchigomori with a dark look. He was silent for a moment, probably thinking about his answer before pushing Yashiro forward.

"All right. But on one condition..." His eyes flicked to yours, for a moment his face softened but as he looked away, it became dark again.

"Yashiro will take Y/N with her."

Despite his original claim of taking only Yashiro, Tsuchigomori agreed to the offer, noticing Hanako's waning patience.

"All right. Take good care of them...Tsuchigomori-sensei."

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With a lantern hand, you and Yashiro follow Tsuchigomori closely to the end of the cave. Yashiro clings closely to you, seemingly glad that you were able to come along.

"Hey... How is he?" Tsuchigomori asked without sparing either of you a glance.

"Are things, you know... going okay?"

"Well.." Yashiro begins.

"He's mean, and he does things to lead me on, so I get fed up with him sometimes,"

"But he always saves me, and he can be surprisingly kind... I can't bring myself to hate him."

"In fact, I think of him as a friend!" Yashiro concludes with a bright smile.

Tsuchigomori nods and turns his attention to you, causing Yashiro to look at you as well, expecting an answer.

"What about you, Y/N-chan?"

You look down at the lantern, collecting all of your thoughts silently before finally speaking.

"Hanako-kun... Isn't the first apparition I've befriended.."

"But he's the most unique. I can read other's emotions like an open book... but I can never understand him."

"I feel like he's hiding something important from me at times, something about my role as a Soul Connector."

"Despite that, I can tell that he cares a lot about his friends. I've only known him for a short time but it feels like I've known him forever."

"Hanako-kun is one of my closest friends... A boy I could never forget even if I wanted to!"

You beamed at the other two, the lantern light you held illuminated your features, making your smile even brighter.

Yashiro stared at you with a sense of understanding and nodded her head at the reply, she linked arms with yours and wirelessly smiled at you.

"I see." Tsuchigomori muttered while looking at the both of you with slightly widened eyes. He scratched his head and continued to look forward.

"That's all right, then."

"He's worried about Hanako-kun as well... How sweet." You chuckled to yourself and continued walking.

"Oh yeah, Sensei, I had a question."  Yashiro hummed, looking up at the spider-like man.

"What?"

"Is it possible to change what's written in the 4 O'clock Library?"

"Unfortunately, the future is basically impossible to change."

"Ugh..." Yashiro's face instantly drops at the response, looking a bit let down. Ignoring this, Tsuchigomori continues.

"But I've seen it just once."

"Seen what?" You chimed in.

Tsuchigomori stops once the three of you reach the end of the tunnel, three wooden doors with butterflies on each stood before you.

"The moment the future changes."

He pulls open one of the doors, the light from the inside left you slightly blinded for a second, a harsh sight for your eyes that we're already accustomed to the dark. With an eager tug on the arm, Yashiro pulled you inside with her, eyes sparkling with delight.

"Woaah! This is the deepest part of the Boundary?!" Yashiro asked cheerfully.

Rubbing your eyes, you finally got a glimpse of the contents in the room. Bright lights from various jewels and gems colored the room, leaving you astonished by the beauty of it all.

"Amazing...! Is one of these your Yorishiro, Sensi?" You inquire, gawking at the shiny gems.

"No, it's this one." He started, placing down a dirtier-looking stone. It had a paper which read "seal" on it.

Taking a seat at one of the nearby desks, taking a puff from his pipe.

"I told you there was a human who changed the future written in his book, right?"

"I for this from him."

You peered at the stone thoughtfully, Yashiro leaned in next to you getting a curious glimpse at the stone as well.

"What kind of stone is this?" Yashiro asked.

"Oh... It's a moon rock."

You silently gasped at the rock in your hands astonished that such a thing could exist and you were holding it. You eagerly turned to Yashiro to see her reaction, but she looked less excited a more confused.

"An imitation?" She asked with a blank stare, seemingly not believing his words.

"No. It's genuine." He declared, smiling.

"Do you know when humans first traveled to the moon? I was given a rock the day after that historic day."

"The day after? Was the person an astronaut?!" You questioned excitedly, but Tsuchigomori shook his head.

"As if. Of course he wasn't. He was an ordinary human."

Tsuchigomori looked down with a fond smile, seemingly reminiscing memories of the person he spoke of. His soul felt airy, almost light, you were barely able to detect the connection, but his emotions poured out so strongly.

As he continued to speak, you could just barely visualize the person he had been thinking of, as if you were in his mind with him.

"He loved the stars and was a little awkward with words."

For the faintest moment, you spotted a person in this memory. It was only for a brief moment, a young schoolboy looked out the window beside his desk.

"His grades... Weren't great."

The boy turned his head towards you, hand still holding his cheek. He started at you for a bit, then grinned. You open your mouth to speak, but no words left it. Once Tsuchigomori finished his memory, everything returned to normal again, and you were back in the room holding the moon stone.

"Now, you know how to destroy a Yorishiro?"

Looking down at the moon stone, your face softened.

"How did that person's future change?" You hopefully ask, wanting to know more about the boy you saw.

"Well..."

Tsuchigomori pauses, letting out a small cloud of smoke from his mouth.

"Hurry up. If we stay here, I'll end up saying more than I should." He finished, brushing of your question.

With an inward sigh, you gently hand over the stone to Yashiro, she hesitantly pulls off the seal causing the area around you to shatter like glass.

The world around you became a blinding bright light...

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"Won't you come out and tell me already?"

You groggily open your eyes to see yourself in a classroom, the windows were the only thing emitting a golden light for the room.

In front of the window sat both teacher and student, the teacher resembled Tsuchigomori while the student...

"Every single day... Who's doing this to you... Yugi?"

You stood still fearful that with one movement the two in front of you would disappear. Unlike Misaki, the two didn't speak to you, it felt more like another memory than a present event.

"You still won't tell me? You've been like this since your first year."

"Your bruises don't fade. You've got no friends. You cut class."

The teacher finished wrapping the young boy's bandages, the boy looked at his arm with a blank look not speaking a word.

Subconsciously you lean forward, trying to get a better look at him. He had choppy, dark brown hair and mesmerizing golden-brown eyes.

"This boy... Looks just like Hanako-kun." You thought to yourself, sitting on one of the window sills beside the desk they both sat at.

"Are you listening, Yugi Amane?" The teacher asked with a slightly annoyed tone.

"You're so pushy Tsuchigomori-sensei."

The student named Yugi turned his head, looking past you and out of the window. You gazed at him quietly, mentally burning the name Yugi Amane into your memory. Tsuchigomori scoffed looking frustrated with him.

"You little-- Listen. I'm worried about you."

"About what? This? It's totally fine. I don't really mind-"

"Well, I do. What reason could possibly justify hurting someone like--"

"It's fine!"

Yugi's face becomes tenser, visibly annoyed with Tsuchigomori's prying. He lowers his voice again,

"Even if it's not justified, even if there's no reason..."

"...I don't mind."

You wordlessly watched him stand up, looking at Tsuchigomori with a determined look. His white bandages became much more apparent once they hit the light. They covered various parts of his body, even his cheek, you couldn't help but feel sorry for him and what he has to go through to get them.

Although the scene seemed to be filled with emotions, you couldn't feel a single thing. In fact, everything felt like white noise. Everything felt empty.

"Guess what, Sensei... I've got a moon rock."

"Huh?" Tsuchigomori asked with a baffled look.

As Amane reached in the pocket of his pants you instantly thought back to the Yorishiro Yashiro destroyed. When he had finally pulled it out, you knew then that it was the same rock.

"It happened one night when I was four, I think."

"It landed right in front of me."

Subconsciously you leaned in closer to get a better look at the rock, captivated by Amane's explanation. Still, you waited silently again for him to speak again.

"Would you believe me if I said it's real?"

"Hmm... No." Tsuchigomori replied, giving the rock an analyzed look before standing straight again.

"Heh! Yeah, I figured! But we believe it's real."

"Whatever anyone says, it's a moon rock."

Amane jogged up to the chalkboard with a content smile, grabbing one of the discarded chalks he began to write something.

"How far apart do you think the moon and earth are?"

Stretching put his arms wide with the chalk still in hand, Amane exclaimed the answer happily.

"It's... 380,000 kilometers! That means this rock traveled all that way from the moon. Isn't that amazing? It's my treasure!"

You let a few light chuckles slip past your lips, you couldn't help but smile at the young boy's excitement towards the rock.

"How adorable...!" You mumbled to yourself, allowing your smile to grow fonder for Amane.

"Yugi, we're not talking about the moon, we're talking about--"

"Oh look!"

Ignoring his teacher's words, Amane rushes towards the window you stood beside, opening up the windows. A light breeze brushed back his choppy bangs and his bandages became loose due to his extreme movements. In a moment of awe, you leaned out the window as well, gazing at the bright moon in the middle of the blue and pink sky.

Weirdly enough, you felt a cool breeze against your skin even though you thought that this was simply a distant memory. You were feeling things inside of this memory.

"Sensei! You can already see the moon today!"

"Your bandage came loose." Tsuchigomori sighed, finally fed up with trying to talk some sense in him.

"Have you ever wanted to go to the moon, Sensei?"

"What?"

The air beside you shifted, noticing a pair of legs that stood on the edge of the windowsill. When looking up, there stood Amane with a distant smile. His hands just barely clung to the sides of the window and even then, he removed one of his hands to hold the moon stone up the real moon.

"The moon is so big and pretty. So, I've got a feeling it's a great place."

For a few moments, the room was silent.

Even though Amane stood in a dangerous position, you didn't have the fear of him falling. Something told you that he had to ill intent, the look in his eyes gave you all the reassurance you needed.

With a swift movement, you stood on the windowsill beside him, gripping the right side of the window with both hands.

"You're right Amane... Maybe you'll get to visit it one day." You whispered, gazing at the moon with a fond smile.

"Yeah... Maybe." He whispered back.

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