Fellowship bloomed in the air whilst the four friends shared a table with trays filled to the brim with sushi. During that hour, none left with an empty plate, and each friend made sure their neighbor had enough to satisfy.

When it was time to go, Mirai, Haruna, and Akane took turns purchasing their meals. In Omo’s case, her wallet burned through the most yen since she had to cover both hers and No Name’s. She reluctantly handed the cash over to the register, but that hesitation was temporary. After all, the visit to the amusement park could wait a while. Akane wasn’t going to give her time for luxury when a tournament awaited her visitation.

When the group exited, the four’s local loudmouth was the first to speak up. She chuckled and rubbed her belly as if she were a pregnant woman greeting her new child. “Aaahhhh, that sushi hits the spot, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was pretty good.” No Name agreed with a singular nod.

Meanwhile, Akane looked at her phone and read the time. The sky no longer sustained its warm tropical colors, and the only visible lights were the streetlamps that lined up across the sidewalks. “Well, we should get going. Ready to go, Mirai?” Akane asked.

“Huh? We have to go already? Hrrrmm,” Mirai grumbled. “Alrighty, guess I’ll see you two tomorrow!” Mirai dismissively waved. Akane and Mirai started to jog down the sidewalk side-by-side.

“Wait–” Haruna briefly halted them. Something Akane said caught Haruna’s attention, so she just needed to ask. “Do you guys live together?”

“Nope! We’re neighbors!”

“OOoooohhh…” Haruna nodded. For a moment she thought the two were something more than ‘just friends'. That’d be silly for her to think, wouldn’t it? Of course, they’re neighbors!

And so Red and Blue jogged off into the distance until they were nothing more than a fine spec amongst the countless others in this dense town. What was this feeling? An indescribable unwillingness. Of course she wanted the two to return home… but her selfish heart wished to cling onto this moment for a little longer. Even if just a second more…

Omo turned around to face No Name. “I had fun today, No Name– er- No Name?” Haruna paused at the sight of her friend’s neck angled upwards. No Name’s eyes were pried wide open, and her pupils shrunk to the side of beads. Her arms hung limp to her sides and her jaw gaped. It was nothing short of a trance, Omo was sure. She waved her hand in front of her friend’s stone face. “Yooohooo? No Name?”

The stone face began to crack apart. No Name’s body shook, jerked, and pulled forward. Her eyes blinked once, twice, thrice even, before staring at Haruna. “Yeah, see you around… er- what’s your name again?”

Haruna raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. What her friend was doing, she did not know. She was just as puzzled as anyone would be if they encountered someone covered in shadows so much like No Name. No Name didn’t know what cats were, let alone her own name. But whoever she was is only for No Name to decide, not her. Haruna answered with a meek smile, “Haruna! Haruna Omo!”.

With her answer, No Name silently turned around and walked away. She had her own home to reach, and it wasn’t that far from here. In fact, her home lay just beyond this sidewalk… in a location it’s always been. She stopped at the edge of an alleyway, taking notice of a golden light that sat inside it followed by the crisp scent of charred wood.

There by a warm fire accompanied an elderly man clothed in gloves and heavy winter clothes. His face was boney, his fingers long and pointy. When you saw him, instead of a man, you saw just a skeleton clothed in old and flaking flesh. It’s unknown what this man’s real name is, but No Name only knows him by the name ‘Yu’. It’s possible he named himself that due to it being easy for No Name to remember.

“Ahhh… you’re back. Where have you gone?”

No Name made herself at home by the old man’s fire, sitting right across from him and extending her hands to take in the warmth. She tried to think back to the last few hours, but there was a sudden hesitation. Yet again, her brain forged another hole inside itself. Just as she returned from a long and eventful day, the day she worked so hard to live is swept away into the nightly wind. “I… I can’t remember.”

“Hrrrmmm… so you have forgotten?” The old man stroked his beard, grumbling in thought. “You forget most of the things you learn, but you remember me all of the time. I wonder… if it is because we see each other so often.”

“Maybe…” she nodded. “Whatever happened, it felt like it was really nice… if only.”

“Mmm. I wish I could be of help, but I can’t solve your memory dilemma. I am but an old man, too weak to even stand.” he curled a hand over his mouth and was overcome by a crippling cough.

“Hey, are you okay?” He hasn’t seen him in this shape before. Each time she sees him he progressively worsens. His eyes get greyer, his body gets thinner, and it presents a difficult challenge for No Name to return each day.

“I’m… fine, don’t worry about me, little one.” He smiled. “It’s just one of the things about growing old, you get…” He gets interrupted by another fit of coughing. “...weaker.”

No Name’s fingers curled tightly against her pant legs. At last, she could no longer persist in hearing this dreadful noise. She had to do something… and that is when an idea hits her. No Name scanned the area and settled on a plastic bag adjacent to the elderly man. She darted for the bag and rummaged through it, revealing a can of beans.

“What are you doing? Hungry?”

“No, but you are. You haven’t fed yourself again, have you?” She asked, then popped open the can and began to cook it over the fire.

“Those are… in case of emergency.” He dismissively waved his hand. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

But ‘No name’ remained disobedient to the old man’s wishes. “I don’t know very many things, but I do know that you should have at least three meals a day. Not one, not zero.”

“Hrmmm…” The old man reluctantly allowed her to persist. It was no use, after all. He was just an old man she took care of; he was no parent to her. She had no guardians of her own, she didn’t even remember who they were. All she remembered was happening upon this alleyway and taking refuge by the same fire that he sleeps at. From that day forward the two became familiar with each other.

“Miyuki…” The old man muttered.

“Hm?”

“That was the name of my daughter. She was just like you when I last saw her…”

“Really?”

“Hrmmm, yeah… She wanted to be a chef at the sushi joint down the street.” The old man shied away, his tone going quiet.

“Did she do it?”

“N-no… no she didn’t.” The old man shook his head. “I-... she moved from New Tako Town a few years ago. I wasn’t… the greatest parent. I was at a loss with my own job with the rudest of bosses. I drowned my sorrows out with alcohol, and it began to affect my family. My wife left me and took everything else…” He despised bringing this story up. It only made him want to huddle in his sleeping bag and hide from the world. Each time it was brought up, it felt like his mind was yelling at him. It’s his fault. He is why his wife left. He is why his daughter hates him. He is why he lost his job. This was all his doing… if only he could have prevented it sooner and took his doctor’s advice.

“That sounds so horrible! What’s alcohol?”

But even when he often mourned, there was always someone there to help him pull through. “I–” the old man cracked a smile and laughed. “Don’t ever learn what it is, little one. Never do something that will drive your friends away from you. You never know the impact your loved ones have on you until they are gone.”

“Mmm, okay…” she nodded. The cooked aroma of beans interrupted their conversation. No Name turned her attention to the can. There was a problem with just eating a can of beans: It will not satisfy an appetite very well on its own. It needed more.

‘No name’ looked at the old man, then back at the fire. She took this chance to hold her hands out towards the orange flames, her palms getting so close she could feel the brush of the embers scrape her skin and singe the hairs on her arms. Her eyes closed and her focus dilated. In response, a rose-colored aura engulfed her hands.

This aura traveled over to the can of beans, taking the outline of a figure. Its skinny rounded body flared out into a triangular tail at its end. The outline filled in with the rosy color before vanishing. What manifested was a full-sized salmon which lay dead and ready to cook.

“I’d refuse it, but there is no arguing with you, Miyuki— I mean, little one…” The old man silently nodded.

“You have to eat something.”

After the salmon and beans finished cooking, No Name ushered the food to the old man and begged him to eat it. Whether he liked it or not, she was going to make sure he could take care of himself. One spoonful at a time, the old man’s face began to regain some of its color.

“See?” ‘No name’ smiled. “You look better already!”

“Yeah… I guess a thank you is in order. Tell me, little one. Aside from your importance for meals, what brings you to help an old man like me? When society rejects the slums like I, you take me in.”

“Hrmmmm…” She stopped and started to ponder on it. That was a really good question, because she didn’t have the answer to it. Well, she did, but portraying it into words proved a challenge. “I guess it’s because I just… do it. I can’t really help it, when I see someone struggle, I just feel like I have to be there for them. It’s like someone, or something is telling me to ‘keep going’, and so I go wherever it takes me.”

The old man gave a meek smile. He was expecting no less of an answer from ‘no name’. He softly patted her on the shoulders, then scrunched into his sleeping bag. “You have a pure heart, Miyuki. Don’t let others take advantage of it.”

“A pure heart? What is a pure heart?”

“It’s… something of a miracle in this world. With it paired alongside your power, I believe you could save our city from fools like me.”

What he meant by that; she didn’t know.

With that gap in her memory growing, so did her curiosity. What was that pleasant sensation she felt like she just missed? That fellowship, that… she couldn’t describe it other than a warmth unlike the one you get from a fire. Whatever it was, she had to learn it. Alcohol, pure hearts, friendships, she had much more to learn in this world than she thought.