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Yukio nonchalantly ducked around the corner of a building into a small dead-end alley. Once out of view of the few people who were still hanging around the scene of the crime, he gave a deep, calming sigh to help push the adrenaline out of his system. He'd just thwarted a purse snatching! The poor old woman who was the intended victim wasn't hurt, beyond maybe a wrenched shoulder from where the thief grabbed her bag from her. It had been sheer reflex that the lanky young DJ had stuck out a leg to trip the thief up, sending him sprawling on the pavement. Yukio practically stood on the thief's back until a cop showed up, which luckily didn't take very long, and he'd given the purse back to the old lady, who'd thanked him profusely.

Not how he'd intended the evening to go, frankly…

He pulled a clove cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, deeply inhaling the spiced smoke as he thought about what had happened. Something the little old lady had said to him stuck in his mind: "You give me hope for the future," she'd told him. That was a rather odd thing to say, but then again given how wild and wooly Destiny City had gotten over recent years, especially at night, maybe not so odd after all.

Taking another deep drag off the cigarette, Yukio contemplated what she could have meant. Hope… it was a large part of his life, actually, though one might be hard-pressed to tell from his outer stone-faced appearance. So many things going on, from hoping he could find a graceful way to end the lies he perpetuated to his parents about college to the hope that someday he'd find someone who really cared about him… He wasn't a terribly optimistic man, but he was hopeful things would all work out, no matter what the world threw at him.

The nearly-full moon was shining down into the small alley, and he looked up at the silvery orb, pulling down his ever-present little round shades to get a good look at it. "Wonder if you can tell me what she meant," he muttered to the moon. Then he closed his eyes and mouthed a small prayer to it. He thought he remembered seeing a movie with someone doing something like that in it…

One second Yukio was in a small, dark alley, the only illumination being the moon; the next he was squinting from the brightness of a white room whose sole occupant was a glowing orb of light that seemed to be watching him. His clove cigarette was gone, but it didn't matter – he was too busy trying to process a) where he was and b) how he had gotten here.

After a few moments the orb spoke, with words he could hear in his mind and his heart as well as with his ears. This was a new, strange way to communicate, and it startled him, though he tried not to let it show. He removed his shades and fixed the glowing orb with a faintly confused expression, wondering what it meant, until he remembered what he had been thinking about right before he was whisked away to… wherever this was.

Hope, and what the little old lady had said about him giving her hope for the future.

"I um, think I…" he started, then thought maybe the entity or whatever the orb was wanted a direct, honest answer. "Yes. Yes, I want– would like to know what she meant, if you know. It seemed like a strange thing to say…"

There was something surprisingly tranquil about the glowing orb, even as it swirled with more enthusiasm. Yukio watched it, listening/hearing/feeling what it was saying to him and letting its words sink in. He honestly hadn't thought of himself that way, the type of person who steps in and does what needs to be done. To be truthful, he just did whatever needed to be done, without thinking about it. Without thinking of any potential fallout – which unfortunately had resulted in the situation he found himself in with his parents and college, but that was the exception to the positive outcome that typically happened.

Such as with the little old lady and the purse-snatcher. He had acted on pure instinct when he'd taken the would-be thief down, and it was only sensible to keep him from escaping until the cops came, and he hadn't had a thought for his own safety. He just reacted to do what was right. Were his instincts really that good, that the orb was asking him if he wanted the power to make a difference in the world? And what kind of power was the orb talking about?

But… he wanted to make a difference in the world; he hoped he was doing so with his music, but he gathered that the orb meant on a larger, more meaningful level. Despite his outwardly cool appearance, Yukio loved people, loved humanity. To be given the opportunity and the means to help, really help…

"Of course," he nodded, looking directly at the swirling orb. "I'm willing to do what needs to be done. I'm willing to fight for what's right. What do you need me to do?"

Yukio took the silver disk hovering in the air in front of him, and suddenly and instantaneously changed. Not only could he see the light which enveloped him, he felt it, something transforming inside him.

It was over in an instant. He looked down at himself, now clad in pale shades of violet and purple and blue and pink. Tall boots adorned his feet, and sparkling crescent-moon buttons affixed everything. It looked very formal and archaic, but it was as comfortable as his own skin. And more – a kind of power flowed through him now.

Running his hands over the smooth fabric of his new outfit, Yukio -- now Spei -- listened as the Code gave him his new name and told him some of the legacy of the place. A sacred site, one of hope, that he was now charged with protecting. "Spei," he repeated, and it felt right; it fit him like his new outfit.

The newly-minted Page of the Moon nodded. "I'd like to see it now, if I could. But how can I protect it?" he asked, looking back up at the swirling orb. "I mean, I feel different… And what do you mean, not alone? Will you be helping?"

Spei collected the small orb in his hands from the larger Code Piece, feeling the warmth and power emanating from it… then they were gone.