Someday, It'll Be Different.(Private)

"Please?! You promised you'd play!"

"Just one more time!"

Children of various ages, human and Reploid alike gathered around a young woman, obviously a Reploid herself at her late teens at the most. They were in a room of some sort; toys, stuffed animals and other things lay scattered between them. A half made castle of blocks rested unfinished in the far corner with a blond Reploid working on them, the only clue she wasn't human were the ears and orb on their forehead.

"All right, all right." Aya said with a chuckle, going to sit down Indian style before grabbing a nearby book. Instantly one of the children went closer and cuddled to her. "But first, who wants to hear a story?"

"But we already heard that one." One of the children said.

Aya's eyes twinkled a bit. "Oh, that you did. But you can learn more then the other times, I'm going to tell you more about the story. But you have to be good and listen, okay?"

That seemed to do it. All the other children gathered around excitedly and Aya began her story once again.

* *

Where...am..I?

Aya knew she was hurt. Not critically damage or mortally wounded thankfully but right now her body was in pain. She couldn't remember exactly what happened. How she ended up here, or where she was. It wasn't Giga or Able City. Nor was it anywhere else she knew. It was more primitive, like in the history books but at the same time different and more advance. She couldn't explain it.

She tried to move, a pain wracking through her body as she did so. Aya only had enough energy to move her head and body slightly. From what she could determine she was in a alley of some kind. That wasn't good. One of the basics of living in the city was that you avoided alleyways. That was the home of the less..savory people. Espeically when it came to bigger cities and this one didn't seem small.

I..have to move..I have too..

Mind over matter, but her body seemed to be winning this time around. Whatever had happened, it had done a number on her.

She didn't get far before a shadow loomed over her, and she looked up to see a slightly overweight man, and two others on the skinnier side. They looked human but from her scans she could tell they were something else.

"Man, what do you we have here?" The overweight one said.

"Don't know, she's hot though but she's a fucking robot. Maybe she's one of those Biodroid things?"

"If she's like that, then she's built correctly if you catch my meaning. We could find out, looks normal enough. If you catch my meaning."

"N-no..stay back!" Aya panicked, she wasn't stupid. She knew what they had in mind.

"I say its worth finding out." The leader said, ignoring Aya. "Kenji, be on the lookout just in case anyone comes." They wordlessly went to the alley entrance.

It was starting to get colder out. Junpei zipped up his sweatshirt and took another sip of his drink. It was bitter as hell. He wondered if it really worked as a mental stimulant. Lounge music hummed in his ears as he checked the time. The next train heading back to the city was leaving soon.



The train ride proved itself uneventful. Japan was certainly a haven for the strange. Junpei considered it a blessing to leave the house and return without running into some time-traveling super samurai or a massive dinosaur wrecking half the city or some rampant crazed demon. Peace was boring, but he much preferred that to the alternative. He stepped off the train and slipped into a nearby drugstore.

The store was empty, save for the shop keep and a man standing at the counter. The clerk had an exceedingly nervous look on her face. The man standing across the counter discreetly pointed a small black barrel at her. Junpei pocketed his empty can. After procuring a full drink of the same brand, he moseyed over to the counter to stand in line. The man spoke to him in an annoyed tone.

"We're actually just closing."

"I'll only take a sec." Junpei said while opening the beverage.

"Beat it, kid." The man warned.

"I already opened it." His obstinate responses were starting to piss off the gunman. He flashed the gun into Junpei's view without taking its aim from the clerk.

"Last chance to FUCK OFF."

Junpei lazily glanced down at the gun, then back up to the man's side-turned face. "So, you gonna be much longer or...?" The robber started to turn and pistol-whip Junpei. A sharp pain ran through his forehead as an empty can was suddenly smashed against it. Before he could yell out, the world around him flipped. Junpei had grabbed his arm and slammed him to the ground before he knew what was happening. He leaned down and rummaged through the robber's pocket, taking his wallet. "Who brings their wallet to a hold-up?" He mumbled to himself while relieving the wallet of its contents. He placed down enough to pay for his drink. "Keep the change." He turned and left the store; a man lay unconscious as the clerk was mashing the panic button.

His stride down the street was unhindered. Waiting for the cops to show up would only bring unwanted attention. It wasn't really his business to begin with. Maybe a normal night was a bit much to ask for. He hadn't gotten halfway home before another problem made itself known. He could sense something happening down the street. Sounded like three men had cornered a woman. Technically a Biodroid. Either way, someone had opened the floodgates to the scumbags in the city. Well, whatever. It was none of his business.

...Then why was he walking toward the alley?

Junpei walked idly down the alleyway, seemingly ignoring the situation entirely. "'Scuse me." He said to the first guy. He didn't give the man any time to reply before hurling him down the alley with ease, aiming for a group of trashcans. The people he kept running into tonight were starting to get on his nerves.

"-If you're quite maybe.." The leader trailed off as he noticed some young emo-looking punk come in. "The fuck? Kid we're busy so piss off unless you want to end up in the morgue." He was going to say more when one of his buddies was grabbed and sent to a pile of trash cans; unconscious. This caught the leader off guard but they gritted his teeth.

"Okay, that's it. You're dead!" Snarling, the leader lunged at Junpei at a inhuman speed, a small knife drawn. While this was going on, his lackey tried to circle in for the kill as it were. They thought they would have a easy time.

They weren't aware how outclassed they were.

While this was happening, Aya winced, forcing herself up a bit. She could see what was happening and felt a bit of relief. Was this man coming to help her? Aya didn't know exactly what was going on, but she held her breath for now.

Junpei attempted to take another sip from his drink. He hadn't expected the man to possess such speed, but continued to drink as he closed in. With his free hand, Junpei grabbed the leader by his armed hand and launched him skyward. He maintained his pace as he approached the oncoming lackey. In a short dash he was just in front of the attacker, poised to send him hurling into the air. The two airborne foes collided violently in midair and crashed into a heap on the pavement. Alive, but likely broken in a few places. Didn't matter much. Or at all, really.

The alley now cleared of riffraff, Junpei continued down the small space. He stopped next to Aya and glanced at her appearance. She didn't seem hurt. Good. "You seem new here. Not a good place to hang around."

The men, as predicted didn't stand much of a chance. They were stronger and faster then a normal human, but they weren't dealing with one. What also was a final nail in their coffin was the fact their enemy had skill to go along with their impressive physical stats. Suffice to say when they came back too again they would be no shape to do anything. If they were lucky, they would see about reconsidering their lot in life and getting better, safer day jobs.

Aya watched surprised. She hadn't encountered something like that. Reploids could do similar things, but she had never seen humans able to do anything like that unless they were enhanced.

No..not human. None of them were but they looked like it.

"I..am. I-I don't know how I got here there was.." Aya tried to remember how she got here, her memory was slightly fragmented at a certain point. Perhaps it had something to with how she got here. "A portal. I don't know how it got there, only it sucked me in and I ended up here. I think it damaged me.."

It had too. That was the only thing that made sense.

Wincing, Aya stood on wobbly legs, one hand resting against the wall for some needed support. "T-thank you for helping me. Where are we?"

Junpei tossed his can into the garbage and resumed walking after hearing she was alright. He noticed her continuing behind him, but stopped at the sound of her standing up. That didn't sound too vivacious. "Dammit..." He sighed. He had jinxed himself, thinking that he wouldn't run into any of Japan's "crazy" tonight. While there was somewhere he needed to be, he couldn't leave the woman there knowing her condition. She'd likely fall into a repeat with more men like the ones passed out in the alley. He turned around and started toward the woman.

"Well, you're in Nikaho, Japan. Dunno if you're familiar with that place, but it's not too important. This world's called Earth, by the way." Without warning, he took Aya's arm and carried it over his shoulders. He placed his free hand on the other side of her hip to help her walk. "Sorry 'bout that, but you can't move too well on your own, I gather. I'm gonna take you to an organization called Nobus. They take interest in this kind of stuff and you really shouldn't stick around here." He was already leading her out of the alley.

Aya blushed slightly. She wasn't used to this and a bit flustered, however she didn't protest. He was only trying to help and Aya knew what her limits were. She wasn't a combat Reploid; what she could handle was limited. Whatever that vortex was, it had damaged her. Aya had heard about such things from reading books but she never thought they actually existed and were real. If true, it meant she was in another world. Japan..there hadn't been a true Japan in a long time and she had never heard of Nobus. Not to mention the strange signatures that weren't human.

Too many things didn't add up to be a concidence.

The Reploid didn't want to anaylze things too much, for fear of growing home sick if she was truly stranded somewhere else. She had to remain positive. Walking along side him, she finally made a bit of conversation as they went to their destination. "Nobus? I've never heard of them."

Something else occured to her. She hadn't even introduce herself to the person who saved her. "Oh! I'm sorry. I should have said it earlier but I wasn't thinking, I didn't even give my name. My name is Aya Hoshi."

Junpei continued to help her along the street. "Makes sense since you just got dropped from God-knows-where. Nobus is like a universal police force. Anything supernatural, they most likely know about it or can point you in the right direction." They rounded the corner and kept moving. They were getting a few stares from passerby, but they didn't appear too out of place. "Don't worry about it. I'm not to big on formalities anyway. Just 'Junpei' is fine."

Luckily for her, she had landed only a few blocks away from assistance. "Here we are. Let's get you inside." He glanced at the time before they entered. There was still a little time to make his 'appointment.'

"They sound like the Maverick Hunters." Aya then caught onto something else. "The supernatural..it's real?" Now that was a surprise to her. She had known from scans Junpei wasn't human and neither were the now downed men in the alley(or a some people she saw during their walk) but she hadn't expected that.

When they came inside from the automatic doors, a young woman was tapping away on some computer, wings folded behind her back. One would assume a angelic of some kind.

Briefly, they stopped their typing and smiled at the two. "Can I help you?"

"Depends on your take of 'supernatural.' Sounds like you came from a place a bit more tame than this world. Sucks to be stuck here." He helped her to a seat so she could rest for a moment. Junpei then regarded the woman behind the desk. "Yeah. Apparently this woman here... Aya, just got flung into our world by some unidentified portal? Wherever she's from, it definitely ain't here. Doesn't seem to know much about the world and she seemed pretty worse for wear, so we came here. Figured you had some sort of procedure for this kind of thing."

Aya shook her head. "..It's not really..'tame'. There's a race called Reploids which I'm apart of. Some are more civilian models, and others are built for combat. Some of the Reploids end up going rogue for their own reasons, or just a virus. With some of them, they're strong enough to do a lot of damage just with one of them. The strongest is Lord Phantom, he has the ability to warp reality. The wars took a toll on my home..and now only a few places humans can live outside of dome cities because of the enviorment.."

"I like how things look here, its not so gloom.." At the last part she looked a bit sad. When it came time for Nobus, she went quite for a moment. She was unsure what was proper here, so she glanced briefly at Junpei for guidance. In the mean time fiddled with her fingers as if they were absolutely fascinating, looking a bit cute without trying too.

"I see. Poor dear." The woman behind the counter said, a tag read 'Hale' in black letters. Then she clicked something else behind her desk. "Best we can do is try to find you someway back home. But it'll take some doing. Opening up portals is dangerous. There's no way of knowing if even a briefly opened one could lead to some nasty piece of work forcing it to remain open and letting their lot come here. That's to say, there's a chance we might not be able too." She said, looking apologetic. "I don't want to rain on your parade, but you deserve to know the truth."

"I understand. I don't have any strong bonds back home. Not anymore." Aya said softly.

Hale seemed to be looking at the young woman for a bit longer, then said. "I need just a strand of your hair. I also need a way to contact you if we do find something."

Aya silently complied, plucking a piece of hair out. Then the side of her arm opened up, numbers running along it. It seemed like a built in communication device.

The angel blinked, then chuckled. "Ah, that's nice sweetie. Think that'll work, Biodroids are something else." She gave Aya a phone number and in turn Aya gave something to contact her with. "Done. As soon as we find something we'll let you know."

"I don't have a place to stay though..." Aya said, her arm returning to normal as it folded back with a light 'click'. While she could ask Junpei, she didn't want to be a burden, he had already saved her life.

Junpei stood off to the side, while the two ladies conversed. He listened to the steady stream of music pouring from his headphones while leaning against a wall. Reploids, huh? Never heard of 'em. Though, it's not like I study this stuff anyway. Could'a passed for a biodroid in my book. His thoughts were interrupted by a vibration in his pocket. He retrieved the cell phone and stepped outside.

"Yeah?"

"There's my dumbass! Where are you?"

"I made a pit stop at the Nobus office. What do you mean 'where are you?' I'm not even late yet!"

"You're always early. I figure when you're late to being early, somethin's wrong." Junpei rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, old man."

"What're you doin' with Nobus? Are you in trouble? Did you fuck somethin' up?"

"No! Would you calm down? I just found this girl. She dropped in from another dimension or something--"

"Is she hot?"

"Piss off."

"Bring her by!"

"Piss. Off."

"She doesn't have a place to stay, right?"

"I'm not bringing her home so you can ogle her. And I have crap to do tomorrow."

"So she IS a looker! Called it. You're bringing her by. And take her with you tomorrow. Show her around town. Make some damn friends already!"

"Don't make plans for me you son of--"

"I'll break out the futon! Oh, and don't bother coming if you don't have her with you. See you in a bit, dumbass!" *Click*

Junpei slammed his phone shut and gripped it hard. He considered chucking it into the sky as hard as he could. "Pervy old bastard..." He mumbled to himself before walking back inside the building, his hands buried in his jacket pockets. "Hey. So. If you don't have a place to go, I've got a spare room you can crash in."

Aya wasn't sure what she was going to do. She wasn't too keen about a shelter, but if she had to do it, she would. It beat going on the streets and she really didn't want another encounter with men like those downed in the alley. She was still thinking about her next move when Junpei came in and gave her a offer.

The Reploid blinked. Did she hear right? Haze just shrugged, that was her business on what she wanted to do.

While Aya didn't want to intrude, she also didn't want to go the shelter. So after a bit of thought, she talked her into it. "..Okay. I'll go. Long enough to get on my feet, I promise I'll help around your house." Last thing she wanted was just to freeload.

"Cool. Let's get going, then. Whenever you're ready." Junpei turned and exited the doors. He wasn't particularly in a hurry. He was just stewing a little from his father's unyielding personality. When he felt like doing so, Hiroshi forgot the meaning of the word 'tact.' The walk home would take a short while, but Junpei filled the time gap by pointing out significant locations and explaining a bit more about the world. Things likely wouldn't be too foreign for Aya.

"This is it." Junpei had taken Aya a little ways away from the inner city and into a quieter residential area. More houses similar to the one they stood in front of lined the streets to the left and right. Junpei opened the front gate and approached the front door. He rest his hand on the door's handle and hesitated momentarily. After a taking a deep breath, Junpei unlocked the handle and slid the door open.

Junpei wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it certainly didn't happen. There was no one at the front door. He sighed in relief as he stepped inside and removed his shoes. He glanced at Aya's feet. "I don't know if you can take those off. If not, don't worry about it." He led the way a short way down the hall. "Come on in. I don't kno--" Junpei suddenly found himself shoved into the dining room as a tall, skinny man dashed into the hall from the opposite room. Though being almost fifty, he didn't look a day over thirty.



"WELCOME!!" He stopped in front of Aya and shook her hand. "You must be our new guest! Hirayama Hiroshi, at your service. And a hearty 'welcome to our world' to you, young lady!" He was talking quickly, barely letting her get a word in edgewise. "You are most welcome in our home! I'm sure you are unfamiliar with this world's sociology. When staying in a friend's home, it is customary to sleep in the nud--GUHAAH!!" Junpei dashed into the hall and kicked his father back into the living room.

"Will you shut the hell up, old man?! It hasn't been thirty seconds and you're loading her up with lies!"

"How could you treat your own father this way?! So cruel!"

"It's pretty easy when he's such an idiot! He turned toward the stairs. "Sorry about him. Come upstairs and I'll show you your room." Junpei started up the staircase. Hiroshi returned to the living room to make his way to the kitchen. Before completely disappearing, he poked his head into the hall and yelled up at the two.

"Dinner's up in ten minutes! Keep it tame up there, you two!"

Aya was curious of what Junpei's father was like, she didn't really have anything to go on so part of her was a bit nervous about the first meeting. She liked to think she could get along with most people unless they were difficult, but she didn't know anything about them. However, they were apparently all right with letting Aya stay for a while so they couldn't be all that bad.

The sights and other scenes from Japan fascinated. She got to see other races, some had wings like the woman she had met at the 'Nobus' office. Others had different skin tones, ranging from green to purple. Many of them were humanoids of different kinds. Ranging from almost indentical to humans, to having other features that made them stood out. Aya however didn't see another single Reploid but she wasn't surprised. If she was from another dimension then it meant she was likely the only one of her kind around here.

When they came to the apartment, Aya offered a faint smile. "I can. There's just a few things I can't." She began to remove her 'shoes' revealing relatively pettie looking feet. Which fit her enough.

Before the Reploid could get another word off, the father came seemingly out of nowhere startling the girl. She almost jumped behind Junpei before she got her barrings.

"Welcome!"

"Ah!" Aya yelped before she calmed down and got a bit embarrassed for her over reacting after being startled. "Sorry you startled me. Aya Hoshi nice to meet you."

The other comment made her smile fade from her face and her eyes turn to little dots.

S-sleep?! I-In the nude?!

Before Aya could think of a way to politely decline without offending his culture, Junpei came to her rescue in which she was grateful. Aya followed after Junpei but heard the last comment.

Something like a small cute whine came from her blushing face and she covered her face with one arm. "I-Is he always like that?"

Junpei scoffed to himself. "He invented being 'like that.' Just try to ignore him and avoid doing anything too... you know. Enticing." He stopped between two doors. The one on the left clearly led to his own. A name tag on the door read "Gone". He switched it to the other side which read "Yo". He then turned to the unmarked door and opened it.

Inside, there was a futon, a small desk, a dresser and a lamp. An unused guest room. Junpei clicked on the light. There was nothing in the closet and the window's blinds were drawn. The room was empty, but looked like it had been cleaned just recently. "Here you go. Probably not the most comfortable of accommodations, but a room's a room. Keep your stuff wherever. Hell, decorate it if you feel like it. The old man's pretty lenient about, well everything, so don't worry about trying to rush out of here." He waved his hand dismissively as he turned to exit the room. He started going back downstairs to have a quick chat with his father.

"Thank you."

Aya watched Junpei leave then took off her metal 'gloves' and the like until she was dressed out of her armor to something more comfortable. Being a newer Reploid she had a even more human apperance but there were still a few things she couldn't take off. Aya would worry about her room later. In the mean time she wanted to try to get some sleep.

So after doing a few things and stripping down to her undergarments she crawled onto the bed and tried to sleep.

"Guess she wasn't hungry?" Hiroshi gobbled down another bite of rice. He glanced toward the door frame and looked to his son across the table.

"She's kinda like a Biodroid. Said she was called a 'Reploid' where she comes from. She might not even need to eat." He quietly at from his own bowl.

"Okay, dumbass. What's the hell's the matter with you? The first time in ages you bring home a friend--"

"She's not my friend."

"--Fine. 'A female'. You bring one home and you hardly even talk to her."

"So?"

"You know how I worry about my little dumbass."

"Shut up."

"Doesn't bring home girls. Not even guys."

"I said shut up!" Hiroshi rested his hand on Junpei's shoulder.

"I'd still love ya if you were gay, but I don't even know! You're givin' me nothin' to work with here, son!" Junpei grabbed him by the collar.

"Dammit, I told you to shut the hell up!!" Hiroshi's eye's suddenly glinted with passion. Junpei released him with a creeped-out expression. "What the hell--" Hiroshi suddenly gobbled down the rest of his food and tossed them from his seated position into the kitchen. The bowl landed in the sink, the chopsticks in the garbage.

"I'mfinishedG'nightson!" In a blur, the old man disappeared upstairs. Junpei was amazed that he'd moved as quietly as he did quickly. Upstairs, Hiroshi skidded to a halt in front of Aya's door. His eyes shone brightly as he looked down at the handle. Lecher senses... TINGLING! He gripped the doorknob silently. "For great justic--GUHAAAAAAH!!!" Junpei flew up the stairs and clotheslined his father down the hall. His other hand still held his bowl, full of food. Hiroshi was most amazed that he hadn't heard Junpei climb the stairs.

"Y-you... perfected my technique...! Son, I'm so proud of yoooooou!!!" He leaped toward Junpei with outstretched arms, fake tears rolled down his cheeks. His face was quickly smashed by Junpei's foot.

"Go. To. BED."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning, Aya could find Hiroshi downstairs making breakfast. The sign on Junpei's door had been flipped to "Gone". When she came downstairs, Hiroshi would call her into the living room. "Mornin' Miss Hoshi! Ready for some breakfast?"

Aya came down after getting dressed and doing her personal hyene. She was going to need some new clothes. She couldn't continue to wear her current ones forever if she was going to be here for any length of time.

"Morning." Aya greeted as she had a seat. "Breakfast sounds nice. Thank you for letting me into your home."

A slight pause, then she added. "Did Junpei really leave already?"

"Hey, hey! No problem little lady! What sort of man would I be to leave a woman to her fate out on the cold street, eh?" Hiroshi sat a plate of eggs, toast and bacon in front of Aya. He seemed to be dressing his tie, packing his briefcase and cooking all at once. Hirosi liked to multitask. "Yeah, that kid's always up to somethin'. If he ain't here prattlin' away on that keyboard of his, he's out workin' or visiting the--" He stopped mid-sentence. That probably wasn't something Junpei would want him blabbing. An idea came to him as he downed a piece of toast in one bite.

"Say, you wouldn't mind doin' me a small favor, now would'ya?" He dashed upstairs without waiting for an answer. Slowing down wasn't really his forte. He returned after a couple minutes with a yellow envelope in his hand. A list of directions were scribbled on the front. "My dumbass of a son forgot this when he left this morning. Would'ya mind takin' this to him? The directions are written on the front. I'd do it myself, but I've got work in..." He glanced at his wristwatch. "CRAP!! Seven minutes! Gotta run, sweet cheeks! Make sure you get that to him!!" With that, he crammed a fist-full of bacon into his mouth and rushed to the door. In one swift motion, he rolled toward the front door, slipped his shoes on, grabbed his briefcase and shot out the door. It closed behind him as he dove into his car and raced down the street.

Aya took the envelope in her hands, looking it over and was about to say something when Hiroshi suddenly dashed off. "..Have a nice day." Looking the food over, she decided not to simply let it go to waste and began eating. Wanting be a good guest, once she was done she began cleaning up after she was done and putting everything away neatly. Reploids didn't have problems with water, not even the first generation so she didn't have any issue cleaning them the old fashion way.

Looking over the instructions of the note again, Aya left the house, locking the doors behind her before following the instructions. While she was curious of what the note was, she didn't want to pry. Part of her felt vunerable still after her first encounter on these lands but she couldn't let that control her. Things happened that were out of your control all the time but you couldn't really let them rule you.

The directions took Aya through relatively open/well known areas. In fact, some of the instructions appeared to deliberately take her around her intended destination. Perhaps it was an exercise to get her used to the area? Who knows, Hiroshi didn't seem the type to favor forethought. After some travel, she would reach the address in question. A large building stood in front of her, a sign hang above the door reading "Saint Augustine's Orphanage". There were numerous smaller children at play just beyond the front doors.

As she entered, a group of small children would come sprinting by. Each of them rushed past her, laughing giddily. A straggler ran a little bit slower than the group. She was a small girl, couldn't be any older than five years of age. She wore an eye patch and carried an armful of picked flowers. She was busily scurrying about, placing a flower in everyone's hair that she passed by. She ran up to Aya after noticing her and prompted her to kneel down. The Reploid had a good three feet on the little girl.



"It's my birthday. Here!" She smiled sweetly with outstretched arms, trying to place a flower in Aya's hair.

Aya felt a sense of nostalgia mixed with slight homesickness take her seeing the orphanage as it brought back enough memories of her home. That didn't last long though as she noticed the children which caused her to smile. The memories back at helping her adopted mother's childcare service had been some of the happiest of her life. It was nice to be in a similar setting once again.

The little girl made Aya's smile brighten and she crouched down so she could reach her. "It is?" She asked, her voice warm. "Thank you for the gift, I would have brought you something if I knew it was your birthday." She pause for dramatic effect. "My name is Aya, can I have your name?"

While she couldn't tell what race she is, her scanners were already looking at her and the other children.

In the end besides curiosity it didn't matter.

The girl gave Aya a delighted smile. "Mary! I turned five today." Mary took a studying look at Aya for a few moments before smiling again, this time with a blush. "You're pretty, Miss Aya. And your clothes are super cool!" More children came running by, each had a flower placed in their hair. The majority of the children at play were not human. Some of them visibly so, others exuded small demonic auras, and a few of them appeared to have mechanical limbs. Despite the building's nature, not of the kids seemed to be lacking in proper clothing or hygiene.

Mary was a curious case. Her body was human; everything was normal except for her covered eye. A strange presence emanated from underneath the patch...

"Don't run through the lobby!" A middle-aged woman walked briskly into the main lobby, scolding the kids who were running laps through the building. She stopped to catch her breath when she noticed Aya conversing with Mary. "Oh, my! I am SO sorry! These kids can be a real handful sometimes." She apologized, walking over to them.

"Her name's Aya, and she's really nice!" Mary beamed. The woman looked to her and nodded.

"That's very good to know. Thank you, Mary! My name is Claire, I run this orphanage. Is there something I can do for you, Miss Aya?"

Aya didn't know what all the children were, and while she was curious, especially about the ones with mechanical limbs as they reminded her a bit like herself, in the end it didn't matter. They were children all the same.

She stood up as the middle aged young woman came, smiling. "It's okay. I love children, they were just keeping me company. Is someone named Junpei here? I have a envelope for him his father gave me. Nice to meet you Mary."