The sun was high in the sky when the plane landed in Hakkaido. It had only been a year since Himeno had become the white pretear. Himeno, Hayate, Hajime, Mannen, and Shin were all standing in port waiting for the occupants to exit. Mannen was being particularly impatient.
"Why are we here again?" he asked with a truly childish tone.
"We're here to pick up Rouge, a friend of mine. She coming from the States to spend a summer with me!" Himeno seemed to have no issue in repeating herself. She'd been excited for months waiting for her friend to arrive.
"Why do WE have to be here?" he whined. Hayate gave him a dangerous look. Mannen gave a sigh. "Fine," he said in defeat.
The passengers were almost done unloading when a girl exited the plane. She had long curly brunette hair that circled her heart-shaped face. Her milk chocolate eyes were bright with excitement. A smile graced her face when it fell on Himeno. As she cleared the crowd they could see she wore a black tank top, a black backpack, and a pair of fairly tight, ripped up jeans. They all gave her a curious look, except for Himeno. She just returned the smile. Finally when she reached them she dropped her backpack and gave Himeno a hug. They wrapped each other in greeting.
"Hey, Himeno! I haven't seen you in three years! How have you been?" the girl's voice was sweet and kind.
"I know. It's been a long time. I'm just fine. How about you?" Himeno released her to get a better look at her old friend.
"I'm great!" she said and within an instant she looked straight at Hayate. "So THIS is the hottie, hm?" it came right out of her mouth. Himeno immediately turned red.
"I-I-I never said that!" she said about ready to karate chop her skull when she blocked the blow by crossing her arms above her head. Instead of intensity they both started laughing. Hayate was in shock along with the three children. Finally they put their hands down and hugged one another again. "I missed you," Himeno laughed.
"Ditto!" the girl said when they separated she wiped away a tear in the corner of her eyes. "So you want to tell me who the guys are or should I assume again?" she teased. Himeno nodded and gestured to each one by one.
"This is Hayate, Mannen, Hajime, and Shin," Himeno smiled. "They live with me," she said sort of embarrassed. The girl raised her eyebrow at Himeno in question. "It's kind of difficult to understand," she said hoping she wouldn't ask any questions.
"Well, as long as your dad knows. Hello Hayate, Mannen, Hajime, and Shin. I'm Rouge Miller," she nodded in greeting to them all. It surprised them that she remembered their names and in the same order that Himeno. They all simply nodded in response. After the acknowledgement of greeting Himeno grabbed her hand and pulled her along.
"Come on! You have to meet the rest of my new family!" she said dragging Rouge along behind her.
"Hey, Himeno, slow it down!" the boys followed behind them when they got to the exit they walked to the limo waiting for them. Rouge took a minute to take in the new looks of her friend's new life.
"Do you want to walk?" Himeno asked when she saw Rouge's shocked face.
"Yeah, if you don't mind. I'd rather not," she said with haste. The boys finally caught up and decided to take the limo to give the girls some privacy. Hayate lingered in the door for a moment. Himeno gave him a smile of reassurance and he got into the car.
"Himeno?" Rouge looked at her as they walked down the sidewalk.
"Hmm?" Himeno's voice was light and happy.
"That Hayate guy, he seemed worried about you. What was that all about?"
"Oh, we were just in a bit of trouble not too long ago. He still worries every now and again. He just doesn't like to leave me unprotected," Himeno said as if it were nothing and then covered her mouth as soon as she realized what she had said.
"Unprotected…" Rouge's voice faded.
"Oh I didn't mean-!" Himeno tried to make up for her mistake but was interrupted.
"Himeno, how many guys became apart of your 'new family'?" Rouge's voice was of the utmost seriousness.
"Seven, why?" her voice was of concern. When Rouge quit walking it only became worse. "Rouge, what's the matter?"
"Himeno, there's something that I've got to tell you," Rouge's voice was very sad.
"What's wrong?" her hands rested on Rouge's shoulders. And just then the air got really thick.
"No, not here!" Rouge's voice was in a near panic. Himeno almost didn't remember this feeling that she felt now, it was the feeling of darkness approaching. What surprised her though was the fact that Rouge knew what it was. Then there was a scream from the airport. They had gotten so far away from the airport that they almost couldn't understand what the woman was yelping.
"Wolf! There's a wolf!" the woman yelp came as a surprise to both but Rouge's surprise melted away to a pure joy.
"Come on!" Rouge grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the airport, but she pulled her towards a hiding spot. She waited with a smile Himeno didn't know Rouge had.
Himeno looked down the green hedge path and in an instant a pure white wolf leaped through the outer hedges and landed in the path. It's yellow eyes intense and only on Rouge.
"Kane," her voice was warm and lucid. The wolf started to run towards her but what Himeno saw was beyond her understanding. The wolf transformed into a man. He had long silky white hair that trailed behind him like a tail and the same golden eyes, burning with intensity. He wore a coat almost exactly like Hayate's except it was all white and had a shoulder guard. His pants were white as well as well as his shoes. The man took her up in his arms and it reminded Himeno of when Hayate had come for her. Rouge wrapped her arms around him with tears streaming down her face.
"Idiot! You should know better than to leave without me! What if I couldn't have caught the plane right after yours? What if he got to you before you got here?" his voice was thick with worry and concern. Rouge gave a short chuckle.
"You're the idiot. You changed right in front of a stranger," she said in good humor. His face became pale and he looked over at Himeno, who was staring at him in shock. He hung his head in defeat.
"Come on! My luck can't be that bad, can it?!" he whined. Rouge laughed and patted him on the back.
"It's okay. She already knows someone like you. Right, Himeno?" she said while looking at Himeno with a gentle expression. It took Himeno a minute to come out of daze before she could register the question.
"You mean the Leafe Knights?" Himeno was surprised but she was able to think.
"Yeah, well, meet the Leafe Knights, second division. Or, at least one of them," Rouge seemed to have figured out what had happened. Then a hawk that swooped down and landed in front of Kane giving off an evil glare. It's black eyes burning holes into his face.
"Hello, Takai," Kane said as the bird transformed. His hair hand many different shades of brown black and white, just like his feathers. His hair hung halfway in his face and his skin was tan and a feather like outfit almost like Kei's. The black eyes however, stayed black.
"Hello, Kane. You are SO lucky you didn't do something really stupid," he said as if it were a normal thing. Then he turned around to face Himeno. "I'm sorry miss. He's a complete dolt. So you must be the pretear. I haven't seen Shin in a while so I wouldn't mind saying hello," the guy was very kind and calm. Himeno, felt for the darkness but it had hidden away since the two guys had arrived.
"Rouge, what's going on here?" Himeno seemed very confused. Rouge hugged Himeno gratefully.
"Everything will be explained later," Rouge's voice was of both relief and worry, but that wasn't what worried her the most. What Hayate and the others going to say when they find out.