Ib and Mary were sitting inside Café Chagall right next to the windows, showing the inside of the Mall. Mary had a half-eaten piece of strawberry shortcake in front of her, plus a cup of warm milk. Having learned from her mistake this morning, the girl was taking it easy when it came to eating. Another reason for her slow eating was because she was listening to Ib. Specifically, the older girl was explaining to the blonde what adoption is as kid-friendly as possible. Ib, for her part, had only ordered a cappuccino, not feeling particularly hungry. Aside from the first sip, she had taken when receiving the drink. The brunette had left her mug untouched.

"So, you lost your parents as well," Mary concluded after her friend was done with her explanation. Ib nodded with a sad smile.

"Yes. The people who brought me into this world are long gone. I miss them." Ib's smile brightened a little. "But at the same time, I am grateful that my new parents took me in. It was… weird at the beginning," she chuckled a little. "Getting used to the idea that two strangers were all of a sudden, my mom and dad."

She looked out of the window, wistfully. "But they took their time with me. They didn't expect me to call them mom and dad immediately. They allowed me to have some space when I needed it. They allowed me to sleep in their bed when I was having nightmares. They comforted me when I was crying."

Ib looked back at Mary, who had her gaze downcast in contemplation.

"Over time, I became more and more comfortable in their presence. Eventually, I accepted them as my new parents. But, I never forgot my true parents. As much as it hurts to think about them, I can't pretend they never existed."

Mary slowly took her cup of milk and stared at the white liquid. "And… do you think they will adopt me?"

"For sure!" Ib tried to reassure her friend. "Before I came here, I overheard mom and dad talking to each other about adopting another kid. I wasn't supposed to hear it. Apparently, they're afraid I would get jealous or something." The older girl giggled. "So silly. I don't mind having a younger sibling. Especially if she is blonde, has sky-blue eyes, and has a knack for green dresses."

Mary's head shot up, almost spilling her drink over her dress. She put the cup down on the table, walked around, and gave her friend a big hug.

"Do you mean it?" the blonde asked, her voice muffled due to Ib's clothes.

"I do," Ib nodded, her hand going through Mary's hair. "I do, Mary."

The two girls kept hugging each other for a minute until they broke up and returned to eating. Ib could hear a voice inside her head, notifying her of the progression of the Hunger Social Link. The wild card was slightly surprised, but not by much. The second level of a Social Link was generally the easiest one to establish, yes, even easier than the first one. Because for the first one, you had to find people you could connect with on some basis. For example, Ib had attempted multiple times to establish a link with Mitsuru-senpai, but it somehow never worked out.

Generally speaking, when working on the second level of any Social Link, you just got to know the person better. This was done very quickly by hanging out with them for one afternoon. Of course, Mary's situation wasn't normal by any means of the imagination, but Ib was nevertheless glad that she still could progress their friendship. Hopefully, she could keep up the pace.

The next hour was way less emotional talk and more Ib telling Mary what she liked to do in her free time. The blonde was pleasantly surprised that the brunette had taking up painting and drawing herself. "I wanted to join the art the club, but they were already full," Ib complained. "I ended up joining the tennis club if only to get some exercise done." And to find a potential Social Link, but Ib kept that info to herself. In fact, she avoided talking as much as possible about other people as not to make the blonde jealous in any fashion.

After some time, Ib decided they would head back to the dorm. Lunchtime was approaching, and the teenager didn't want to eat somewhere in town, while still having to take care of everything she and Mary had bought today. The girl in the green dress drew some attention to herself, as she was skipping all the way. No surprise there. Mary looked like she came straight out of an anime with her green dress and blonde hair. Some people probably thought she was European.

Ib, for her part, just made sure her short friend didn't accidentally enter the street, what with how carefree she was acting. Still, a happy Mary was better than a gloomy Mary.

Back at the dorm, Ib was surprised to see that the building wasn't empty.

"Mr. Chairman? What are you doing here?" The brunette asked, putting the bags full of child clothes on the ground. The man had been sitting in the living room and walked to the front entrance when he heard the door being opened by Ib.

"Good day, Arisato. And you must be Mary. A good day to you, too," Ikutsuki smiled at the blonde, who hid behind her big friend's legs. Ib chuckled and put a hand reassuringly on the blonde's head.

"Don't worry, Mary. This man is Shuji Ikutsuki. He's the man responsible for this dorm. It means he has to make sure the students living here uphold the rules and keep the house clean."

"Essentially," Ikutsuki confirmed. It was a dumbed-down version of his actual duties, but he supposed a girl at the age of nine or so would have a hard time understanding his real responsibilities. Mary looked at the man from behind Ib's legs but refused to say anything to him. The chairman noted the blonde holding a red rose in her hand.

"To answer your question Arisato, I thought the reason for me being here would be obvious. Very early this morning, I received a call from Mitsuru, who told me a rather interesting story."

Ib shuffled uncomfortably. She knew the chairman would get involved sooner or later. She didn't think that he would show up that early.

"Not only do we have a potential new resident in our dorm, but there was an attack last night here of all places." The chairman shook his head. "To think that they would appear here of all places. Maybe it is time to increase our security. Nevertheless, I am glad that you came out of this without a scratch, Arisato. Although the way you recovered was most peculiar indeed."

All three humans looked at the rose Mary was holding. The blonde moved her arms out of the way, as to discourage anyone from taking the rose away.

"Of course, there is only so much you can talk over the phone, especially when it comes to delicate situations such as this one. And I figured it was best to discuss the current situation as soon as possible. Though, I guess I can wait a little longer. The two of you probably want to bring your luggage to your room."

Ib smiled sheepishly. "Mary doesn't have anything to wear, except for what she has on right now. I figured it would be best to get her some new clothes as soon as possible."

"I see. Well then, I will be waiting in the living room for you two."

The man spun around and casually made his way back to the couch he had been sitting on previously. Wordlessly Ib picked up the bags again and made her way to the third floor. Mary followed her closely.

"Ib, who is this man?" Mary asked in a low tone.

"Shuji Ikutsuki. Have you already forgotten?"

"Iku…what?" The blonde had trouble saying the name. No surprise there, it was a rather hard name to pronounce.

"Just call him chairman. He's responsible for everything going on in the dorm. If we want you to stay here, we have to get his approval. Don't worry. He's a nice guy."

"So, if he says no, does that mean I'll have to go?"

Ib opened the door to her room with her elbow. She noted that she forgot to tidy up her bed this morning. Else, the room was the same, not counting Mary's painting. It stood out like a sore thumb from everything else.

"If you have to go, then I will go with you. But don't worry. I have a feeling the chairman will allow you to stay."

Ib played a dirty game. She knew very well that without her unique ability to use multiple personas, the rest of SEES would pretty much be screwed. No offense to the fighting capabilities of her friends. The others were simply more limited in the number of spells they could use compared to her.

Five minutes later, Ib and Mary were sitting opposite to the chairman. The man appeared to be his usual, casual self, seemingly not bothered by the prospect of Ib potentially leaving SEES. Of course, it could merely be that the man had a good poker face. Or maybe he had already prepared an argument that would convince Ib to stay with SEES, either way, was possible.

"Now then, Mitsuru gave me a brief rundown over what happened the previous night. She also gave me a summary of your rather… shall we say unique experience in an art gallery?"

Ib shuddered involuntarily. Unique was one way of putting it. She glanced over to Mary, who wasn't focusing on the man in front of her. No, the blonde was focusing on Ib's rose, which was terrible in of itself. The brunette wished Mary wouldn't be here while Ib recounted the tale of her adventure to the chairman, but she couldn't come up with a decent excuse to remove Mary from the room. Hopefully, the blonde would not suffer from a violent PTSD attack or something while listening. The possibility was there, and if Mary lost it, all bets were off.

"Don't worry. I am not here to berate you about your behavior the previous night. I am simply here to get the facts straight so that I can get a grasp of the overall big picture," the man explained calmly.

"Alright," Ib nodded. "I take it you want to hear from my perspective what happened back then?"

"Precisely," the chairman nodded back. "I hope you don't mind."

"I don't," Ib replied. "And I understand why you would need to know." The brunette took in a deep breath. "Okay, here we go. My parents and I were currently on a trip overseas…"

It took a while to recount the entire tale, and the whole time, Ib kept glancing at Mary, eyeing the blonde's reaction. The teenager became especially scared when it came to the part where it was revealed that Mary was another painting, plus everything that followed the revelation. The blonde's bangs hid her eyes during the exchange, but given the way she was shaking, she didn't like hearing about her demise. Ib tried to comfort her friend by wrapping an arm around the blonde, and it seemed to help. The shaking certainly stops.

When she was finished with her tale, the chairman had an alarmed look on his face.

"Oh my, how horrible it must have been. For both of you."

Mary looked up in surprise. "Being forced to kill someone and at this tender age. And for you being burned alive by the very person you tried to befriend," he spoke directly to Mary. "I cannot imagine how it must have affected each of you."

Ib's head sunk after hearing those words. Nevermind how the whole thing affected her, Mary was the true victim in all of this mess.

"But now I see why you were so adamant about having her stay in this dorm. You feel responsible, don't you, Arisato? You feel like you have to do everything in your power to give Mary-chan the chance of having a life for herself, don't you?"

Ib smiled bitterly. "That obvious, huh?"

"It is only natural," the chairman replied. "It shows that you truly regret your decision, even though you would have lost your own life if you had not acted in time." The chairman looked over to the blonde, expecting some kind of reaction from the former painting. To his slight surprise, she didn't show any feeling of guilt of having almost killed Arisato back then.

"Right then. While on a personal level, I cannot agree to leave your life in the hands of your friend, I understand your decision and will allow it, for now."

"You will?" Ib asked in surprise.

"Yes, however, I have a condition. I wish for Mary-chan to see a therapist. For both of you, to be precise. It is self-evident that the past is negatively affecting both of your psyches. The last thing any of us want is for another tragedy to happen."

Mary remained passive, not knowing what a therapist was. Ib simply nodded. That much she had expected. It wouldn't be her first rodeo with a psychiatrist. And if it meant Mary and Ib could become genuine friends again, then this would be all the better.

"Secondly, I wish to speak with this Gary person."

Mary tensed up.

"While there doesn't appear to be a coalition between the Dark Hour and the Gallery at first glance, I think you will agree that we need to investigate further into this. After all, if Mary-chan somehow managed to get out of her painting, who knows what else might follow?"

Ib hadn't thought about the possibility. She had been way too ecstatic at the prospect of having her friend come back to life to think of the broader implications. If other paintings or some of the sculptures suddenly came to life and started attacking people…

Well, the damage would probably be minimal compared to if a shadow suddenly appeared in real-time. Nevertheless, it probably was for the best to let some of the experts have a look at this. The first step to this would be obviously questioning Gary.

"I have his phone number, if you want," Ib offered, taking out her cell.

"Excellent. Though, no doubt, the man will be wondering why he suddenly receives a call from a stranger, asking him about the Gallery."

Ib looked apologetically. "Yeah, about that. I don't think he will be that surprised." She blushed. "I might or might not have told him what is going on with the Dark Hour."

"You told him?!" the chairman screamed, taking off guard.

"He was very concerned when I didn't answer his calls for more than a week. And he knows me well enough to know when I am lying. I didn't want him to rush over here and demand answers, so I told him everything."

"I… see…"

"Told Gary what?" Mary spoke up for the first time. Her voice was cold, and she was giving Ib a stare that told the teenager exactly how much the blonde "liked" the purple-haired man.

"Do you remember that black thing that attacked us the other night?" Ib asked.

Mary had to think for a second, before nodding.

"These monsters… they only appear at night. We fight them during that time, so they don't hurt any innocent people. One of them hurt me very badly one time, and I was asleep for eight days, before waking up."

"You what?!" Mary exclaimed, her anger wholly forgotten. "You… you got hurt?!"

Ib smiled, hearing the concern in her friend's voice. "Yes, but I am all better now. I tell you everything when we're done here. For now, though, Gary had pretty much the same reaction you had now."

Mary's face fell. "Did he now?" she asked, sounding less enthused.

"Mary…"

Whatever Ib wanted to say was interrupted by a cheery tune coming out of her pocket. Ib's phone was ringing, complete with vibration, and on maximum volume. The teenager took her phone out, wondering who would call her now of all times. She was usually in school at this time of day. One look at the caller ID said it all, though.

"You have the worst timing," Ib said through gritted teeth, before taking the call.

"Hey, Gary!" she answered in a fake, cheerful voice. Mary tensed up.

"What's up? Isn't it like night time where you are right now? Oh, it's morning. My bad. Huh? What exactly did you find? Your rose? Ahaha, funny you should mention this…"