The sun was rising over Shidoubu Junior High School, the cool breeze flew as a tall, red brown haired girl was walking
down the pathway to the school in her school uniform with a large blue and black duffle bag hanging over her shoulder. "Aah! I'm
going to be late, why is my first period at 6:45 in the morning ? I could be dreaming of that Roy kid but no!" She gasped heavily
has she ran up the stairway, a few girls talking dodged the girl and almost fall over the railing of the staircase. "Katagi! Watch
where you're going!" One girl with short blonde hair yelled with a disgusted look at she looked at the girl, Katagi.
           "Sorry, Hana. And it's Kat, not Katagi!" Kat yelled back as she turbo her way into Biology class. Mr. Shains turned his head
as he finished making a rough drawing of a nightingale head, the skull, eyes, and voice box being shown inside the bird's head.
"Ms. Eiketsu, you're late. Note or tardy ?" He asked in a strong voice, just loud enough for the rest of the class to hear him scold
her.
" Tardy, sir." Kat said and sadly walked over to her seat. A few girls in the back row giggled. "What a loser," a raven haired girl
named Kouhiko "Kori" Sunobbu.  " Hard enough of her being the leader of the cheerleading squad but being a loser leader is
bad. Even for her sake." Kat turned her head to the trio of 9th graders and sighed sadly. " Baka girls." She turned her attention back to the blackboard and started to get her notes until something crashed into the second level window, knocking Mr. Shains' head. "Aargh!"
He fell over and the shiny object that came through the window landed on top of Kat's notebook. "Nani ?" She asked confused and picked up the object. It looked like the head of her wrist-watch but alot more high-tech. "What is this ?" A girl said behind Kat and snatched  the object from Kat's hands. Kat turned her head and growled, it was Kori. " This is too nice for some red-head cheerleader, maybe I could see how it works."

Kori flipped the watch like object into the air and caught it, she looked at it and growled. "It must be broken, baka watch. Not even
a strap to it." She pulled her arm back and aimed for the window.  "No!" Kat yelled and grabbed Kori's hand that had the object. "If you don't want it, I can have it. I love collecting weird objects." She said lying through her teeth.

Kori narrowed her eyes. " A cheerleader wanting to have this thing for her amusement ? Hah!" She tried to pull away from Kat's hold on her then a gold flashed brightly from the object. "What the ?!" the whole class called out. Both Kat's and Kori's hands locked onto the flashing object and couldn't let go. "This is freaky!" Kat yelled as she looked up, a black/blue spiral hole appeared above them and started to lift them up.
Kat's foot caught onto her bag to support her weight. "Let go, Kori while you can!" Kat said to Kori. Kori laughed. "For once you make since, Katagi." She let go and Kat and her duffer bag shot upward to the spiral hole and disappeared.
Mr. Shains got up from the floor with a red mark scarred on his bald forehead. "What happened ? And who broke that window ?!" He yelled. All of the students pointed to Kori.
                                                                                                 ~~~

Takuya stepped into his house. "I'm home!" he called out. In an instant, Naoko was there, beaming at her son.
 "How was you day, Tak-chan?" she asked, helping him remove his jacket.
 "We took our kanji test. I made an eight."
 "An eight? Oh, I'm so proud!" She kissed Takuya and ruffled his hair. "Well, you'd better go get your homework done in time for Shin Gunmaizer!"
 "Yes, mom!" Takuya quickly skipped off to his room, books and paper in hand.
 Quickly, he set to work, studying each kanji they were to learn next week in detail. There were twenty in all, and he would learn thousands before he finally graduated school. Sometimes, he wished he'd been born American, but then he taste their food, and was glad to be Japanese.
 After studying his kanji for half an hour, he moved on to English. His least favorite class.
 "Geez, their language makes no sense," he mumbled to himself, going over the various methods of pluralization. He sighed and checked the time, then jumped up suddenly. "Shin Gunmaizer!" he yelled, rushing from the room.
 In an instant, the television was flipped on, and Takuya was seated in front of it, watching the opening credits to hs favorite show. He grinned happily as his dog Kichi joined him, whining for attention.
 "Wait for a comercial break, Kichi!" Takuya instructed, pretending to chide the dog. Kichi gave him a repentant look, and Takuya giggled, turning back to the television. Boy and dog remained motionless as giant mechas paraded across the screen. As soon as the commercial break ended, Takuya popped up for a snack, Kichi at his heels.
 There was noise from the bedrooms as Naoko began to vacuum. Unconcerned, Takuya grabbed some flavored ice treats from the freezer and was just preparing to sit down when something caught his attention.
 A stange device lay on the kitchen table, a green light blinking. Curious, Takuya picked it up. The light stopped.
 "Huh?"
 Suddenly, a column of green light appeared aroudn Takuya. "Huh? What?" he exclaimed as the light surrounded him. "Aaaah!" Kichi began to bark, attracting Naoko's attention. Takuya felt his feet leave the ground, and he disappeared.
 "Kichi?" called Naoko as she entered the kitchen. "Kichi, is everything okay?" She glanced around, but seeing nothing unusual, went back to cleaning the bedrooms.

                                                                                           ~~~

One girl sat alone in front of a large mirror, quietly braiding her long, dirty-blond hair.

"Well Taki," she said to herself, "this is it.  The day you've been waiting for for three months.  Three long months . . . but it's finely here."  She picked up the note form her desk and read it for the hundredth time.

Takimizu Suisieno,

 We know how much you like to walk in the woods, so, for your birthday, we've decided to let you spend the entire day there.  You don't have to take anyone with you, and you can pick up a bag lunch in the kitchen before you leave.  Enjoy yourself Taki, and be careful.
      Sincerely,
                     Mrs. Kalmirane

 It was a dream come true.  Ever since she'd come to the orphanage when she was 10 there hadn't ever been time for hiking in the woods like she and her father use to do.  She threw on her jacket and picked up the messenger bag she always carried.  These two things were her last connection to the life she'd had before.  Before her father's plain had been shot down in the war.  She shook her head.

"I can't think about that kind of thing now.  This is supposed to be my special day.  February 28th at last!"
 

 Taki had been walking for most of the day.  Sometimes along the trails other's had made, and sometimes making her own.  Everything had been like a dream.  She finally had time to herself, to do what she wanted without having to ask permission.  She'd found her way to a large waterfall and was drawing on her sketchpad.

"Hey you, what are you doing around here?" The new voice made her jump.  It was a man, a very tall man with an angry look.

"I, uh, I'm just . . . just out for a walk."  She quickly put her things back in her bag, trying to back away.

"What's your name?"

"I . . . I'm not suppose to talk to strangers," she said quietly.

"Your one of those kids from the Salni orphanage down the rode, aren't you?"  He started to laugh at her.  "What, you mom and dad didn't want you?"

"Leave my parent's out of this."

"Why, are you embarrassed?"

"No, but . . . "

"But what?  Were they criminals or something?"

 That was it, he'd gone too far.   Taki punched him square in the nose.  He staggered back.

"What the . . .?  Hey, come back here you little brat!"  But it was too late, she was already gone.

*~*~*~*~*~*

 She ran as fast as she could until she was sure the strange man wasn't following her.  Finely, she collapsed against a tree, out of breath.  Even she couldn't believe what had happened.  She was normally a very passive person, hard to anger.

"But he'd just gone too far," she said to herself, "making fun of my parents like that.  He had it coming.  And anyway . . . " but her train of though was cut short.

"Hah, you though you could get away from me?  Well think again."

It was true, he'd followed her and now, she was done for.  Taki closed her eyes tight, waiting for that first strike, but it never came.  When she finely looked, she found that a bright light was shining behind her, easily blinding her opponent.  But, when she turned to look, it didn't have the same affect on her.  It was a ball of light, hovering in mid air.  It floated over, into her hands.  The light died away, leaving a small, silver device, which then clasped itself onto the strap of her bag.  A large, swirling, black vortex opened up in the sky, somehow dragging her in while its winds easily blew away her assailant.

The next thing she knew, Taki was lying on her back.  She slowly opened her blue eyes, and found a pair of green ones staring back at her.

"Ahh!"

"Hey, there's no need to scream, I'm a friend."  She looked closely at the little creature standing beside her.  It was small and light pink with four short legs and a very short tail. Its ears are long and turned and its face was round, with a friendly looking mouth and small, non-threatening teeth poking out.
 
 

"What are you anyway?"

"I'm Tanemon." The creature said.

"Tanemon?  What's a Tanemon?" Taki asked with wonderment.

"I am.  Who are you?" The creatured that called itself Tanemon asked.

"Well . . . " but she never got the chance to finish.  A very large, green and black creature burst out of the trees around them.

                                                                                           ~~~

 Kitai was skateboarding in the park on one fine morning. She was desperate for some fresh air and was finally getting it after a  long day at school. Her friend Nate was rollerblading right next to her. Kitai had a reputation. She was the tough girl around. She was streetwise and hated being called by her own name. She was known as Kitty to all those who know her. She was speeding around the street course, zipping through quarter and half-pipes.
 She spun into a 540 spin which is 1 1/2 revolutions through the air. As she spun her two braids went perpendicular to her body. When she landed the spectators applauded and she skated off to the bench to rest. Nate continued on. It was a very sunny day and Kitai's mind was distant. She had a dream last night. A dream that scared her. She dreamt that she was in an unknown country and she found someone who looked almost exactly like her.
 She slowly drifted off into a daydream when somebody yelled and something landed at her feet. Kitty opened her eyes and looked down. It was a small gray digital device. She picked it up and looked at it strangely. "What is this?" Kitty thought, "I've never seen one of these before. It looks straight out of some comic book." She didn't realize that this small device was her destiny. She looked towards Nate as he skated towards her. She clipped the device to her small backpack.
 "I'm going home, Nate," Kitty said as she looked distantly at  her friend.
 "What's wrong Kitty, " Nate pondered, "You just don't seems yourself lately. This is beginning to scare me."
 "It's nothing. I'm going to go home."
 Kitty launched her skateboard down the road. She reveled as the wind flowed through her hair and cooled her face. She had been sweating from a hard day's practice. She was getting ready for the Championships. She had been waiting all year for a big competition like this. She loved to rollerblade and skateboard. As she closed her eyes a portal opened up in front of her and the next thing she knew, she was sitting on an island. Her skateboard falling on her head.
                                                                                              ~~~

 "Who are you?" a voice asked behind Kitty.
 Kitty turned to see a small orange purring kitten. She bent over showing her soft side for once, but not knowing who spoke.
 "I asked, Who are you?" the kitten asked once more.
 Kitty's eyes opened wide, "Did you j...just speak to m.m...me?"
 "Y...y..yes I did. Now who are you?"
 "I'm Kitai Omoino, but everyone calls me Kitty."
 They looked to each other and then a large dolphin like monster splashed up out of the water and attacked....