A/N: This is a rewrite! w Dedicated to the reviwer whose name is Abbey:) Whoever's confused, there's a little note at the end.

Xecty Ein, that was once her name. I don't really know how my sister knew about this. Worse, I don't know how she could not tell me all about her knowing about Ain's true name!

It's so unfair, very unfair. And the time she and her friends went here and went to that Liberia place and fought that El Fahren demon-guy, why do they tell me this now! No, better yet, why do I always have to know about exciting stuff after it's done? It's so unfair!

Anyway, Xecty Ein, that was Ain's name. I don't know why she needs to change it but I kinda understand. Going to Japan to live with big sis and me and attending St. Luminous Academy as a dimension-exchange student, she needed a new name.

Ain.

It isn't really different from her first name but it passed anyway. I guess she doesn't want to stray afar from her path as a fighter and her past, memories and herself are still intertwined by Fate's red thread or something. Well, I don't care anyways.

Xecty -rather, Ain, told me stories of her journeys and experiences often, though spacing out a lot of details and informations. I don't mind much, though she would sometimes be a killjoy. No, not sometimes, frequently.

I chuckled silently as memories of me and her sitting on her bed, laughing at some jokes I just so happened to make at the last minute, appeared to me.

I looked at my shoes and let my gaze fall down at a rather traditional leather ones. I looked at the owner's face and tried to hide my smile.

Ain is smiling, thought faint, as she looked at my sister, Kannon Seena. I rolled my eyes at sis' direction and, by luck, wasn't noticed by the 'orange-haired monster'.

I snickered at the thought. But by now, my luck's ran out and my sister whipped her face at my direction and half-scowled half-frowned.

"Hey, what're you laughing about?" she asked, a tinge of annoyance in her voice. "Ha, Rage?"

"N-Nothing, sis. Just remembered a joke," I replied, inwardly smacking myself and my stuttering.

"Geez," she huffed in disapproval, arms crossing and head shaking.

Ha! As if I care!

But all that short indirect (or is it direct?) fight with my annoying big sister, a little reward had shown itself shortly. I couldn't help but smile and let my heart skip a beat.

Ain is laughing. Laughing. Don't you know how seldom she laughs? It's almost like that 'once in a blue moon' thing but a bit more often.

"What is it, Ain?" I asked amused and she instantly stopped laughing, though a shy smile formed in her lips.

"It's nothing," she said softly, her eyes shining brightly from a secret happiness. "It's nothing, just that," she then laughed again but this time, a lot more livelier and child-like, "Families are nice, aren't they?"

My eyes widened slightly from what she said. What is nice about an orange haired demanding, bossy, moody and very strict female who knows fencing, as your family?

"What is nice about living with her?"

"What is nice about living with this...this salmon-haired guy exactly, Ain?"

I don't know why but I guess it was from how slow and how often I stressed words or how fast my sister talked that we ended our sentences at the same time. I could hear Ain's laughing again.

"Mhm! Families are really nice!" she exclaimed happily.

Her laughing is quite contagious, I realized, as I too started laughing. Sister could only groan and roll her eyes.

"What am I goin'ta do with you, Ain?" she asked in a soft tone as she walked and ruffled the elf's dark brown locks, her lips curled in a fond smile. After a while, she looked at me with a monotone expression. "And maybe you too, though I doubt there's anything much to do with you."

I blinked and my eyes once again widened, this time a bit wider. I almost stuttered but as I didn't want to be lectured again, I left my mouth sealed and bit my bottom lip.

I heard a call at the background and found Senior Touka waving her hand in the air, calling for sis. She seemed to notice and looked at me.

"Rage, kindly look after Ain for me. But if you had hurt Ain in any way," she said as she walked past me but then stopped and whipped her sword at my neck, only stopping an inch away my throat, "I will hurt you back the same pain you hurt her. Maybe twice the pain."

I gulped and grabbed her wrist, the one free of sword and said, "I will never hurt Ain and I will surely take pleasure in killing anyone who will hurt her. You can count on me."

Throughout my say, I had a smile, the one where I show my teeth. Sis nodded in approval, sheathed her sword and ran to the direction of Senior Touka. I sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness. The overgrown orange has left!"

I flopped myself on the grassy ground, my eyes staring at the blue cloudless sky. I heard shuffling and felt a presence to my right.

"I could have relayed the 'overgrown orange' statement to Kannon," Ain said, making me bit my lip in nervousness. But her voice once again chimed in, with a small smile on her lips. "But then, I don't want to. Kannon would most probably scold you again, wouldn't she?"

I nodded my head slowly. She then faced me, her eyes tight shut and her mouth in big smile, the one you would normally see in a child's face.

"Then, let's just keep it as a secret then, right?" she asked, although her eyes are closed, her happiness could never be hidden behind her eyelids.

I nodded. "Yeah! Just a secret between the two of us. Thank you, Xecty!"

Her mouth let out a breathy gasp and her eyes fluttered open, her brown eyes dimming considerably.

"Xecty, you say?" she asked, her voice soft and unreadable.

I almost instantly shot up. I could not believe I just said that. I couldn't believe I said her name! I started panicking. What am I going to do? What am I going to do?! If Senior Kaito knows about this...

I shuddered at the thought. I do NOT want to be stabbed or killed by Senior Kaito. Why, do you ask, that Senior Kaito does not want me to say Ain's true name whenever she's around?

I don't really know. He just told me to protect her, teach her how to adjust in Earth or what Senior Kaito had once called it Elde, and I am to never say her name at all costs, though that time, I don't know her real name. It had made me confused but I promised anyway. How I wished I've known what the last one meant.

Anyways, back to panicking. What to do? What to do. Whattodo. Whattodo. Whattodo. WHATTODO!

"Rage?" a voice called out as I felt a hand tugging at the cloth wrapped around my stomach. I looked at the one calling and I wanted nothing more than to back away from her. But my head popped a side-image of her frowning slightly, asking me if she had hurt me, making me stay in my place. "Rage?"

But the image disappeared swiftly and my calmness is replaced by a jittery nervousness. I jumped to my feet and held out my arms in front of me in defense. "I didn't mean it!"

"Rage?" The tugging continued.

"Please don't tell Senior Kaito!"

"Rage." She continued tugging my cloth.

"I didn't mean to call you Xecty!" Ohmygosh, I just said her name. Again!

"..." The tugging stopped.

"So please, don't tell Senior Kaito-gah!" I felt myself plop down to the grass again and felt the wind rush towards my direction, knocking me to my back. I opened my eyes slowly and found myself staring at dim amethyst orbs.

"Rage."

I sat upright in a flash once again, my eyes widened and my cheeks flushing red. I calmed down afterwards but still felt a bit embarrassed on how I had acted childishly. And in front of Ain, too! Curse my emotional overdrive! Why can't it act normally whenever I'm with Ain? No, better question:

Why do I have to have these stupid emotions for her?

Yeah, you could say I have a tiny crush on the elven brunette.

I turned to face her and found her head titled to the side, her usually expressionless face tainted with confusion and worry. I turned away, my cheeks warming at the sight of her confused expression. Curse elves for being cute!

Okay, fine, fine, I love her. Like crazy. No, not crazy as in over-obsessed or thinking-about-her-always-and-I-think-I'm-going-to -become-obsessed-with-her love (though I don't stray off from the last one). But like as in deeply-in-love kind of love. But, sadly, there are two problems:

Senior Kaito loves Ain.

Why do I know of this? It is obviously obvious, to how he looks at Ain and to how he suppresses more emotions when it came to her. That, and he told me once about it, though he might not remember it.

I sighed and curled my hands into a fist and reminisced my horrible love life. Not really horrible-horrible but still horrible. Ugh, I hate my horrible love life. Only the tugging of my shirt snapped me out of my deep thoughts and for the first time after a long while, I remembered Ain being there by my side.

"Rage, are you alright?" she asked her hand finally drawn back to her. I nodded in reply. "Oh, okay."

Silence overtook us and I could feel the environment beginning to become more awkward. Then heard a cough. "So, about awhile ago..."

My eyes widened once more. I don't know if it's out of thanks or out of another wave of nervousness. "J-Just don't tell Senior Kaito," I murmured, my eyebrows scrunched and my shoulders drooped.

Ain smiled a little then shook her head, her deep brown locks swaying in the wind. "No, it's not that. I just wanted to know what you were thinking about awhile ago," she said softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind an ear. "But if that's what you worry about, I don't mind not telling Kiriya."

My heart sunk as I heard Senior Kaito's given name. She never calls anyone by their given name except for sister sometimes and Senior Kaito. She told me the reason why once but I never thought of it much. "Because of hope," she reasoned before, "Because Kiriya is my hope." My heart sunk a bit deeper. It is obvious that Senior Kaito is a very important person to Ain. It's so obvious.

And that (points to second-to-the-last sentence before this) is the second problem. My emotions aren't mutual, not even close.

"But," she started once again as she stood up, her hand clutching her sword, "I'm not angry at you for saying my name. I am happy, actually, because someone had called me Xecty."

I looked at her silently, my mouth slightly agape. My cheeks warmed considerably as Ain turned to look at me and held out a hand. I hesistated before reaching for her hand and standing up. She let go of my hand and tucked angry whipping stray hair behind her right ear as wind blew in our direction. I looked at my hand, the one I used to reach for hers, and curled it into a loose fist, my lips curled in a goofy smile.

Silence once again filled the air and I don't really like silence that much, even if it's comfortable. "About what I was thinking awhile ago, well, it's about me calling you Xec- err, by your real name."

She exhaled lightly and tapped the hilt of her katana in thought. "Oh, is that so?" she asked, a ghost of a smile hovering just centimeters away from her lips.

I nodded. Then she asked in a soft yet curious voice, "Then, you don't mind telling me, right?"

I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, ummm, about that," I said as I ran a hand through my salmon colored hair, "I don't know what Senior Kaito would tell or do to me if I told you."

Her eyebrows creased in confusion and thought and sat down once again, legs brought to her chest, her katana laying on her side. "Kiriya wouldn't do that to anyone, you know."

Yeah, right. If it's the secret rules he told me to follow that's related to you, he'd kill me in a flash. "But...I don't know how to tell you, exactly and senior told me not to tell you by all means."

She pouted, not the one where she sticks out her lower lip but where she puffs up her cheeks. Cute. "Your just making me more curious, Rage."

I smiled at her apologetically then smirked. "It's just a payback for being a killjoy. And no, killjoy is just an idiom."

She puffed her cheeks harder and I swear I could see a shade of pink. "Killjoy as in how?"

"You keep on spacing out lots of details on lots of your stories. That's a killjoy."

Her eyes widened again and her cheeks settled down. Then smiled faintly. "I guess, we are equal then."

I nodded and smiled at her but my smile soon faded as I saw her lips turned into a frown. She never does that frequently and when there were times, it was always when Senior Touka and Senior Kaito Kiriya. I envy them sometimes because they're the cause of her deep thoughts. But if there is one thing he had learned from Ain, it is to be thankful not to be one of her thoughts because if you are, you wouldn't see her smile much.

I looked back to our camp as I heard a shouting of her name and I could feel surprise filling my veins. Senior Kaito. He was the one person I had least expected to call her attention. I bit my lip and debated on whether telling her or not but I ended up nudging her shoulders as I remembered him bein my senior. Curse the accursed Japanese school rankings!

"Ain, uhhh, Senior Kaito is calling for you," I murmured once she looked at me. Her frown had lifted momentarily but returned. She whispered an excuse, collected her sword, stood up and headed towards camp. I watched intently, my heart sinking deeper and deeper as I saw, not only Senior Kaito's blush, but also Ain's small smile forming on her lips. It doesn't bother me much if it was just her smile, the smile that tells a small happiness behind a cold mask but this smile isn't her normal smile. It is the smile that only Senior Kaito can make her smile, the smile full of unsuppressed warmth and emotion.

It hurts but I feel kinda happy for her. I flopped back to the ground and felt something cold, smooth and sharp. And for the first time, realized Ukihime's presence. I shifted to the side and held her hilt. Instantly, tiny white light-dots floated above and Ukihime glowed -from the tip of her blade to her hilt. A moment later, I could feel warmth where the hilt should be cold and the glow disappeared.

"So now you notice me," she said, her left eyebrow twitching in annoyance. I only laughed sheepishly.

"Yeah, well, sorry."

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lip together, her cheeks flushing red. I blinked again and this time, I could feel mine warming up. I stuttered as I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I squeezed her hand involuntarily. She smiled tiredly as she let go of his hand and sat upright. "I overheard your talk with Ain and I couldn't help but sense your uneasiness."

I nodded my head and closed my eyes, a sound of faint laughter echoing in my ears.

"Seems like Ain is more open with her feelings, huh?" Ukihime said. "Not like the first time I've met her."

"Yeah, well, there's a lot of things she had gone through and I can't really blame her," I said, sitting upright and stared off at the camp, my heart sinking as I saw the tiny figure of Ain with Senior Kaito.

Ukihime smiled at me and let her gaze fall at the black-haired elf. Then back at me. I glanced at her momentarily and saw a flash of concern. "H-Hey, Rage. Don't you think we should go back to camp? Everyone might be worried that you aren't there yet."

I sat silently for a moment, letting the gentle wind ruffle my hair. Then shook my head.

I smiled at her and stood up. I offered her my hand and she took it gratefully. "Let's go."

Yes, she's right. Everyone's going to be worried. And I'm grateful. Everyone's still here for me. Sis, Senior Touka, Sakuya, Roselinde, Misty, Senior Kaito, Ain and everyone. Yes, that's right. I don't need to be sad about anything. I don't even need to be worried about Senior Kaito and Ain. It's better this way. And if Senior Kaito will protect Ain and make her happy, I'm fine with that. There is only one thing I could not do and that is to let my feelings go entirely.

I shook my head and looked at my friend/master/blade, whose lips curled into a curvy smile, much like the ones a cat does. I smiled. No, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I could let go of

Ain. Maybe...I can...

Rage wa, arigato... to tatakatte tsudzukete kudasai... sekai no kibo no tame ni. A soshte wa, itsumo shiawasede kudasai... ne, Rage?*

Yes, I will, Xecty. That's a promise.

A/N: Okay, first off, Shining Blade's an RPG game, sequel to Shining Wind whose a sequel to Shining Tears and I think a prequel of Shining Hearts. But I just focused on Shining Blade and some on Shining Wind. Elde is Earth in German (I think). For the plot, it's just after Seena's and Ain's Event. For the cast, here's the summary:

Rage- hero of Shining Blade.

Ain- known as Xecty Ein in Shining Wind. In both games, she is a playable character using a sword (Wind) or a katana (Blade). There's an anime (Shining Tears X Wind) where she said that Kaito Kiriya is her hope for the future.

Senior Kaito- he is the main hero in the game Shining Wind in the name, Kiriya. He has some kind of obsession towards Ain.

Kannon Seena- the sister of Rage. She treats Ain as her little sister and is more fond of her than Rage. She is a playable character in both games.

Ukihime- she is the partner of Rage. She's a girl who can transform into a sword and lets Rage use her as one. I read on the internet once that she treats Rage as her servant. It is hinted that she has feelings for Rage.

Senior Touka- she is called as Kureha in Shining Wind. Also a playable character of both games.

Sakuya, Roselinde, Misty- playable characters in Shining Blade.

El Fahren- a demon and the main antagonist in the game Shining Wind.

Also, Liberia is a place in the game Shining Wind.

*Rage, thank you and...please continue fighting...for the hope of the world. Oh and always be happy, right, Rage?

If anyone's still confused, please check wiki. Thank you. :)