3 Gate Fractures

I was mostly sure I could trust this Danté Kaguya as he was a friend of Aiden's, but I wanted to be cautious as he was probably a close relative of the Mr Kaguya that stole my sacred stone.

"I recall that Agent Minami telling Aiden of something called a gate fracture?" I continued. "I'm not familiar with the term but she also said that there was some sort of dimensional bridge. Is that how I got here?"

"I just found you in the forest. After there was another quake, I went to check out what it could be - as that's what usually I do - and just found you lying there unconscious. I knew you weren't human so I immediately brought you to Aiden's house. I knew he could keep you safe. Well… I thought he could anyways." Danté laughed. "About that gate fracture theory. I'm sure it's accurate for how you managed to get here from, I assume, Mystica. Your home, right?"

"Y-Yes! How… how do you know!?" I stuttered. Why does a human know of the other realms? How could he specifically guess that I'm from that one!?

"Mhmmm… thought so. My father's organisation, the E.P.P, does research on this kind of thing. I'm sure you know nothing of Professor Edward Stewarts, but he plays a big role in our development. Well… I say our but I don't approve of all of his ways."

"Your father? That other Mr Kaguya, I presume?" I frowned.

"Yes, but I assure you I'm nothing like him." Danté shook his head in disgust.

"My father is the head of The Order for Earth. Unfortunately, he was one of the members from all five realms that agreed to the creation of the Kyōkai. He wants to be free from the other realms and has a great desire for power - the boundary was a great way to make sure he became the strongest body in our realm. He has become more authoritative than even royalty here and I know he has ill intentions, so I've been working on my own project."

"And that is?"

"Helping people like you, who seem to mysteriously travel to this realm by chance and need some assistance in getting back." Danté gave me a friendly smile.

"People like me? You're implying that this has happened before? I'm not the only one?" I gasped, quite surprised at the fact that this whole fiasco was a reoccurring thing.

"Yes. It's happening at a gradually increasing rate. As the Kyōkai's substitute heart grows more and more unstable, more and more people get caught in unexpected and unpredictable gate fractures.

"We suppose the gate fracture creates some sort of void that draws the victim in and allows them to cross the multi-dimentional bridge to find themself in a completely different realm. From previous reports, the victim never remembers what happened at the time of fracture and doesn't know what the multi-dimentional warp looks of feels like. They wake up almost like nothing happened and they've just randomly teleported as if it were magic." He explained in shockingly accurate detail.

"I see. You seem to be an expert at this, Mr Kaguya."

"I have a good team." When he said that his gaze seemed to drift off to Aiden.

I looked around too, only to find he was fast asleep. I must say he looked completely at peace there. He had the face of innocent sleepy child and it almost seemed cute to me.

"I really do feel bad for him. He has a much tougher job than I do and I always drag him into my business too. You know the last time we did this he said he'd never help me again… I knew for sure that day he was at the end of his tether. Yet here we are again, back in action."

There was a silence for a little while as I didn't know what to say to maybe brighten the mood. "You wanna know something, Ember? It'll be our little secret."

"Oh… of course." I nodded, enthusiastically.

"He'll never know because I never tell him seriously. How much I really need him, I mean. Without his help none of this would be happening. Step by step my team and I are trying to make a change to make this miserable reality we live in a better place.

"He would always help me without doubt, but I knew if I asked this time it would be different. He might've even said no… so I left you with him this time without warning to make sure he couldn't refuse haha… By now I would've expected him to say he'd leave. Probably would've jumped out of the helicopter if he really wanted to. But he's still here. And I'm grateful for that."

How sweet. An unspoken feeling and a great bond that I could feel between those two. An… incredibly unusual bond at that.

"Uhm… I don't mean to intrude, but… are you two… you know…?" I scratched my head and laughed awkwardly.

"Oh!? Hahahahahaha… that's funny! Me and Aiden!? No, no." He shook his head, slightly chuckling to himself at the thought. "He's adorable, but I already have my heart set on someone else…"

"I see." I stared at Aiden as I could see his eyes slowly opening. Immediately his cheeks went red with embarrassment and he groaned awkwardly as Danté burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh, fuck off." He sighed, putting his arms behind his head to get into a comfortable position to fall asleep again. I giggled too. At his stupendous reaction. Then I remembered how his level of spirit energy fluctuated regularly depending on how he felt.

"Danté, I have another question. It's about Aiden…" I said.

"Yes, he's single. Do you like him?" He quickly answered.

"What? That was not my question? No! Not at all! You were no where close! Not even a fraction of a-!" I shrieked.

"I'm kidding. But I think you two get along swell, even if you only did meet today." Danté winked and I felt extremely uncomfortable. "Ask away, Ember." He was still laughing at me, but saw my serious face and abruptly came to a stop.

"Your friend Aiden… is he human?"

"If I'm being completely honest, I'm not quite sure myself." His eyes widened at my question. "You don't think he is?"

"No, I don't believe he is. You… you don't know? How long have you known him?"

"Curious, hmm? Maybe starting to feel like you should get to know him better?" Danté raised his eyebrows, teasingly.

"You have an awful habit for trying to annoy people when you don't feel like speaking the truth, I've noticed." I frowned. "What if I am curious? I would just like to know if my suspicions are correct-"

"Fine. Fine." He sighed. "You're awfully blunt, Ember, I must say, haha… I don't like to talk about it because it makes me feel uneasy. I've known him a few years now, but I've had my doubts about him being a human. I'd take his word for it, but he always seems confused himself at times. So… a while ago, I made the decision to run a few DNA tests on him."

"What did you find!?" I questioned him with an eager hope for a useful answer.

"I found absolutely nothing. Everything in the results cam up looking completely normal. He has no family that I know of so I know nothing of his heritage - which doesn't help either."

"That's a… shame." I huffed.

"Before… you said you had suspicions? You have an idea of what species he is?"

"I cannot be sure. I'd rather be sure before I start spreading rumours that could be completely false. Was he like me? In need of help?"

"No, it was definitely me who needed help. He's always the one helping me… for once I would like to be the one to help him, but it seems I just can't at the moment." I could sense how solemn he suddenly became.

"I'm sorry. I'll stop asking about this now." I genuinely felt sorry for him.

"How peculiar, Ember. You seem to be sympathising with these humans a lot more than I expected you would." I jumped a little as I forgot that I didn't command Nokoribi to rest, so she was listening the whole time and could feel my emotions.

"You're growing soft it seems. We should get off of this planet!" She was mocking me after I saved her life by retrieving her earlier! How would she have liked to stay with that sinister Mr Kaguya!?

"Sh-shut up!" I said to her, not aloud though. "Nokoribi, sleep!"

"Hey! No… fair…" She yawned. Nokoribi made a good point, despite the fact she was being idiotically annoying about it. I'm not usually so considerate, however being here for only a few hours seems to be making me loose my mind. I need to focus on getting back to homeworld.

"Don't get too hung up on it, Ember. I'm alright." Danté said, suddenly. "Any more questions?"

"I do, actually. I'd like to know where we're headed, if you don't mind me asking." I gazed out of the window and realised we were right above the ocean now. "Urgh… I hate water." I muttered.

"Ah, yes. You have no clue. Sorry about that I completely forgot. We're going to Ethioxis. Home of Prince, soon-to-be King, Tora. He's another work friend of mine, a great member of the A team." Danté replied, proudly.

"A Prince!?" I gasped.