As I left the school with Michio by my side, I couldn't help thinking about what Mai had said, and Satchiko before. It seemed more and more likely that our memories really were taken- I mean, a town doesn't just become abandoned overnight.

Across the street from the school, there  was in fact a townhouse complex, just like Mai said. We decided there probably wouldn't be anything important there, so we continued walking down the street.

"Is that a music studio?" Michio sounded excited, seeing the last building for them to explore. Suddenly he grabbed my arm and quickly headed towards the building. I stumbled to keep up, and was glad that he let go once we got there.

We walked inside, and immediately I saw instruments everywhere of every kind. Michio headed over to the wall of guitars, picking up an acoustic. He put his leg up on a nearby stool to rest the guitar, and began playing insanely fast. Needless to say, he was extremely good. He wasn't the ultimate guitar player for nothing.

Michio stopped and smiled. "It feels like it's been forever since I played, I'm getting out of shape!"

That was him out of shape?!

I shook my head in slight disbelief, and glanced around the room once more. I noticed that there was a piano at the other side of the room. "I bet Katashi would like it here too," I pointed out.

Michio nodded. "Yeah, we'll have to show him." He put the guitar back on the wall, "I'll practice later. For now, should we head back?"

"Sure," I said with a nod. I didn't think much of Michio before, but he really wasn't a bad guy. 

We left the building, and I immediately spotted Kaiya. She was sitting on the ground across the street, a fluffy grey cat in her lap. I approached her, Michio following closely.

"Hey, Kaiya... where'd that cat come from?" I asked. The cat was purring loudly and rubbing its head against Kaiya's hand. The ginger girl was smiling, and didn't look up at us.

"She's a stray... she was walking around in the townhouse complex." Kaiya explained, "She's so friendly, I'm sure she grew up with people. Poor thing was probably abandoned."

"So, you're gonna keep her?" Michio asked.

Kaiya nodded. "Of course! Her name's Cinder." She stated, scratching the cat's chin. I wasn't surprised, she was the ultimate cat lady after all.

Leaving Kaiya alone with her new cat, Michio and I headed back to the hotel.