Just so you know, I didn't originally intend to stretch this out, buuuuuuuuut….

Well…..

I can't update Blind.

Let me explain—I currently am still on the anime, which means I have to watch through it AND write at the same time. I do this by pulling up an episode on my iPod and proceeding from there, pausing and going back and rewatching/listening a few (hundred) times for roughly every ten seconds. Right now though, my iPod kinda just… stopped. I came home from a place, listening to my iPod through my car speakers. I toss jacket with iPod in it as well as my phone into my room like usual, do some stuff real quick, etc. I try to turn on iPod to check emails. Nothing. Nada. Blank screen. My home button has been stuck for months so I can't reset or force it into recovery mode, and contacting Apple is on the 'Things that freak me out that probably shouldn't but do anyway' and I already had to replace my first iPod a year or so ago and I have no idea if my warranty is out or not…. And since I don't live on my own juuuuust yet, I still have to tell my guardians.

So, either I will A-get a fixed/new iPod and possibly be grounded for, like, ever, B-I will get mad magician skills and fix it, or C-I'll ignore it by writing this for a while, until I gather my meager courage to go talk to some (somewhat moody) old people.

Unfortunately, this means Blind won't have updates for a while—unless I can set up a new system. Not hiatus or anything, goodness no, just a setback that you guys are actually informed about for once (crap like this is somewhat normal for me, unfortunately).

It was then that I figured that I didn't want to do more sucky update schedules, trying to make a normality of writing for myself, if you will. So, since a few of guys expressed interest, I decided to try to write for this story instead.

(Anyone else have a hard time deciding between 'man' and 'boy' or 'woman' and 'girl' when describing teens? Just a thought. Also, this won't be all that long, and will vary from the thing I already have, so that thing will stay up still.)

With that said, I hope you enjoy!

STEPS

My nightclothes scratched against my back as I turned in the bed, trying to simultaneously shove my sheets off of me while also keeping them on. It felt warmer in here than necessary, and I really just wanted to go out and scream or something but I was so totally exhausted that it wasn't even an actual option from the start.

I blame Naru. If I can't fall asleep at all, it's totally his fault when I'm tired tomorrow. If I feel too warm to sleep under what-should-be-comfortable-but-now-feel-scratchy sheets in my rented bed then that's also his fault.

It's his fault.

Damn secrets.

I'm his assistant. He could have at least given me a damn hint that he was Oliver Davis.

Sure, his alias Kazuya Shibuya is a really obvious fake, but I'm also obviously an idiot and he still hired me so ha!

Maybe if it was only his whole entire 'I'm secretly a famous paranormal researcher with crazy insane powers and I have a doctorate unlike you peasants' thing I wouldn't be so upset.

Annoyed and irritated, yes. Sleepless? Probably not. At least, not for this long.

No, not only he Oliver Davis, doctor-of-bad-aliases, but he is also Oliver Davis, identical twin to a certain 'dream figment' that, as it turns out, is totally real.

Damn psychics.

Why did I not run while I had the chance? I could have just rejected Naru's offer and worked at another tea shop that hopefully wouldn't have shut down. But no. His eyes were pretty.

Stupid emotions. Stupid eyes. Stupid Naru. Damn secrets. Damn psychics. Damn rejection.

Really, it is all Naru's fault when you think on it.

I get the rejection, I do—and the timing was wrong anyway. But he's leaving. Sure, I feel like punching him instead of cuddling him (though that's still a farfetched idea even if he recuperated my feelings), but at least I told him.

Him or Gene….

Can't I just punch both and move on to somebody else? Like with Yasu or something? That would be easy. Though, I can't really imagine a relationship like that with Yasu. He's a great friend, and I'm sure he'd be a great lover, but… Even if he's joking half the time, I'm still not sure whether he really wants in a girl's bed or in Monk's sheets…

Gene… The boy in my dreams. Not of my dreams, dammit, he's just in them. A lot. That almost upsets me. He was able to get into my head, literally, for almost a year and a quarter and I had been calling him by his brother's name. Considering how Naru phrased his rejection… and Naru and Gene being twins…. It must have hurt, at least a little. There's no way it didn't.

If I could, I think I'd change things. Let Gene live. Save him. I won't say 'what's the worst that could happen' because experience says a whole freaking lot can happen that can be classified as 'worst' and it usually gets worse anyway.

But Gene… he didn't deserve death. His family didn't deserve grief. None of them deserved to lose him, including Gene himself. And no deserves having to work for Gene's narcissist brother on a Monday.

Content with my little joke, and the strangely cold breeze brushing hair away from my face like a parent would a child's, I fell asleep with the thoughts of the brothers filling my head.

STEPS

If you ever want to know what strange is, imagine walking on what should be scruffy asphalt and yet not making a single sound. I knew instantly it was a dream. It couldn't be the schoolhouse children, they got purified by me—a fact none of SPR believe. Heck, I wouldn't either if I wasn't there. But I was, and so was Gene.

Gene….

Road…

It's dark…

Too dark…

Don't tell me…!

Am I about to witness Gene's death?

That's when I spotted the person in question. Gene. Why the heck would he think wearing black next to a dark road was a good idea?

Suddenly, I felt a rush in my ankles. A fox crossed the road, going through me to get to the other side. It reminded me quite fully of the fact I couldn't do anything but watch. I didn't want to, but I somehow still ended up walking beside Gene. I matched my breathing to his, mostly to remind me that he was alive at this point and also of the fact that I still need to breathe myself. I distanced myself after a while, as a way of almost respect for his lonely but seemingly comfortable last moments before… before…

…I heard the car far before I could see it, and Gene froze up. Before either of us knew it, a car was almost upon us both. It would go through me, but Gene…. Gene….

I knew it wouldn't have any affect, but….

Against everything Gene and experience ever taught me, I started running towards the black-clad boy. A strange feeling overwhelmed me, but I pushed on. It was almost like the vision had nearly stopped and I was trying to break through a film. I broke it, somehow, I think, but then felt like a cold shower went over me and yet filled me up, warming up when it came inside of me and filled like a jar. Regardless of the cold shower feeling, I also felt completely dry.

The next feeling was that of a small Japanese girl slamming into the body of a skinny Japanese boy and both falling into the shrubs that, as it turns out, have freaking thorns.

"That hurt… wait…." I blinked at myself. "That hurt…?"

"Ow," I heard a voice say as a rumble went through the ground below me. Or what would be the ground, if a dark-clad idiot walking at night without a flashlight wasn't in the way.

Wait… was this Gene…?

Oh god, it was Gene.

Did I just change a vision?

… Monk's gonna be pissed if Ayako doesn't kill me first.

I thought of what I could possibly say to leave a first impression.

"Uh…"

Great first impression, Mai. Really. Very smart.

"Hello…?" Gene said, his eyes blinking owlishly at me. I realized I was still on top of him and jumped off.

Gene brushed himself off and stood, and, after a moment of hesitation, extended a hand to help me up.

"So, uh…." I said as I grasped his hand and set myself in a state of somewhat order. "I'm Mai."

Gene blinked. "Eugene. Call me Gene. So, do you run into people about to be hit by cars often, or…?"

"Oh!" I said. "I'm sorry, I just… it's a long story… Sorry. Are you okay?"

"You just saved my life, probably. I'm fine. What about you?" Gene asked. "Are you alright?"

"Me?" I almost laughed. "I'm fine. But, uh, quick question…"

"Um, sure?" Gene said, unsure.

"Why are you wearing such dark clothes, while walking next to a road, at night, with no flashlight or obnoxious yet useful reflector sticker? Sure, you'll look lame but cars will actually know that you're there."

Gene looked a little sheepish as the tip of his ears colored a little in the (lack of) light. "Well, I live in England, and I like my cultural roots… I don't get to connect with them much. So combine that with my like of the color black and suddenly I'm dressing like a ninja."

"…." I didn't really have a response. It made sense, but what.

Then I thought of something. If I'm actually here, and not in some screwed up version of the astral plane, then how the heck am I gonna get home? And what about those cases? We—I—will need to solve them all over again.

… Crap.

Note to self. Stop saving your boss's twin brother. You end up screwing stuff up.

This was going to suck.

STEPS

Yeah, I kinda have an idea about where I'm going with this, but if I don't… I'll just apologize now for the mess I'll probably make (why oh why did I think a story with time travel was going to be organized?!).

Until next time!