A/N: So, this time it's Hiyo-Hiyo. My first Spiral story uploaded, which is surprising, when you put into consideration my undying dedication to the anime. Hope you enjoy!

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Hiyono, in her current, restless state of mind, gave a quiet little sniff into the ground. She lifted her head slightly to check that sleeping Kousuke and Ryoko hadn't been woken by her stifled crying. Glad to see they were still in their slumber, Hiyono rolled so she had her back to them and lay staring at the tree trunk directly in front of her.

I shouldn't miss him this much. She thought. I shouldn't be here, in this totally remote place, hoping that he's going to be the one who rushes in and hugs me and tells me everything's going to be alright. The dirt was freezing on every part of Hiyono's bare skin, like a cold sheet of glass held against her body, and since it had been a perfectly warm day she hadn't chosen to wrap up in more than one layer. She never realised how cold it got in the forest. She couldn't have, she couldn't even give the forest a name; she just had no idea where she'd walked with the two Blade Children. They'd all been so wrapped up in their conversation that they'd failed to realise they'd become lost. Now, Hiyono couldn't even recall the conversations they'd shared. All she knew was that to reach their current location, they'd left town and crossed a field of flowers... and after that Hiyono's memory just went blank.

"There's got to be a reason for this," she whispered to herself, brow furrowed as she thought about any possible ways of how they just couldn't remember.

"A reason for what?"

Hiyono sat upright at twice the speed of light with the shock she got from Ryoko's voice. Hiyono stared at her over sleeping Kousuke, chest heaving, and the girl gave a quiet laugh, poking mock humour at frazzled Hiyono.

"Surely I didn't scare you that much," Ryoko sat on her knees.

"Y-yeah, you did," Hiyono breathed. She eventually calmed her breathing and spun around, leaning back on the tree to face Ryoko.

Ryoko glanced around, rubbing her bare arms. "I can't believe Kousuke made us sleep out here," she said.

­She's obviously annoyed with Kousuke, but she's keeping her voice quiet so as not to wake him up. Hiyono thought.

"Yoohoo," Ryoko prompted. "Hey, Dim-brain," she raised her voice a little and Hiyono was brought back to normality. Well, as normal as she could get while trapped in a completely unfamiliar forest in the dead of night with two supposed enemies.

--

Kousuke woke at dawn the following morning to sound of what he put down to being a football bouncing on the ground. He stayed still for a moment, debating whether to wake up or not, and gradually lifted his head from the ground. He was greeted by the image of Ryoko kicking around a football.

"Wha...?" Kousuke blinked, trying to un-blur his vision. He gave his bright hair a ruffle as he pushed himself to a sitting-up positon against the tree. "Ryoko... where did you get that thing?" he asked in disbelief.

"I had it in my bag, Dim-brain,"

"Why do you carry around a football?"

"Because, unlike you, I come prepared," she retorted plainly, chasing the football through the opening.

"Why are you so happy? She's," he pointed to Hiyono, who was still asleep beside him. "usually the one who's in a good mood all the time,"

"You're right,"

Ryoko booted the ball as hard as she could and staggered to a stand-still. She and Kousuke watched in plain amusement as the ball flew through the air and hit Hiyono squarely on the head.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed angrily, sitting up to Ryoko's and Kousuke's hyena-like laughing. Hiyono pushed herself to her feet and glared, but it was notably hard to take her seriously when she looked like she'd got into a fight with a bush and lost. "What was THAT for?" she asked loudly, wide awake with the sore pulsing in her head where the ball had hit.

"Just the entertainment value," Kousuke replied, having stopped laughing even though Ryoko seemed unable to.

Hiyono turned her nose up and made a 'hm' sound as she spun on her heel and stormed off into the forest.

"She's gonna go get herself lost even more," Kousuke commented.

"Who cares?" Ryoko questioned, snapping back to seriousness.

Hiyono stalked through the wood, deliberately kicking up the dirt as she did so. She figured that since she was already lost, what would the problem be in getting even more lost? It wouldn't change anything. And at least now she wouldn't be with those two stupid Blade Children. She strode to a thick tree and spiralled around, sitting down heavily against the tree. She crossed her arms in a pose that was so innocent and childish that it didn't even seem like Hiyono.

"Stupid Ryoko, stupid Kousuke," she muttered. She repeated this a few times until her words changed themselves into something else. "Stupid Kousuke, stupid Ayumu,"

Hiyono gasped and looked up. What had she just said? Was it because she was so used to saying it? She sighed. What would Ayumu think of her now? Stuck in some forest just because she hadn't been paying any attention to where her feet were going. What would he be thinking about right now? Would he be wondering where she is? Maybe I'm just being big-headed. Thinking he would worry about me... Would he worry if she was still alive? After all, she had last been seen with Ryoko and Kousuke.

Would they kill me?

Right at that split second, she wouldn't have minded if they did kill her. After all, what did she have to loose? What did she have to miss? Who did she have to miss her? There was Ayumu, but, she knew him well enough to know that he would soon move on and find someone else to befriend.

"Probably someone better at helping him with problems than me," she mumbled.

Am I just denying things I know are true?

Or am I just seeing the truth for the first time...?

Questions darted around Hiyono's darkening mind like bombs waiting to explode. Her mind felt like a sinking ship, getting heavier and heavier, until she would...

--

What is that?

It smelt like those cakes your parents gave you when you were little. Sickly but the kind of icing-smothered cakes that you ate in one and then asked for more. The smell crept up into Hiyono's senses. It smelt like childhood.

"Yo! Hiyono?" Kousuke's voice came.

This was not childhood. This was a life teenagers wouldn't even want.

Hiyono felt a pair of fingers pushing up her eyelids.

"Hey!" she slapped the hand away and sat up. She was back in the opening, Kousuke on her right, but that wasn't what she gave her attention to. She stared and licked her lips at the small, perfectly sculpted cake Kousuke was hovering in front of her face. She reached out for it when Ryoko appeared and took it from Kousuke's hand first.

"Why were you gonna give this to her?" Ryoko asked, peeling off the wrapping.

"It seemed to be the only way to get her to wake up," Kousuke replied flatly, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, so give it back!" Hiyono exclaimed. She was surprised at how angry she felt that Ryoko had stolen a cake. Maybe it wasn't the sugary treat - maybe it was just Ryoko.

"Just eat it, Ryoko," Kousuke waved her off. "You're probably a better cause anyway," he added as he got up and paced across the opening.

Hiyono just stared in disbelief after pleased and proud Ryoko and Kousuke. Not because of the cake, she decided now, but because of the way the pair obviously cared for each other and looked out for each other without it being a completely full-on relationship. She admired them; but she also loathed them. Not because they were Blade Children, not because of how much they hurt Ayumu; Hiyono had long decided that her worries weren't to do with what they usually were. She loathed them because even when they were trapped in someone strange, they had each other. Hiyono had no one.

No one.

--

"Can we stop now? All I want is a little rest," Hiyono pleaded, dragging herself after Kousuke.

"Urgh, alright, fine, if you'll stop bugging me," he paused and turned to her face Hiyono, who had dropped herself gratefully to the ground to the word 'urgh'. "And..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I won't be long 'coz you've already lost Whirlwind," Hiyono said as she rubbed her aching feet.

Kousuke knew she meant Ryoko and smirked. "That would've usually suited you, y'know. Whirlwind. But we haven't seen you smile since yesterday,"

"Maybe that's because I'm stuck in some weird place with a pair of bakas," Hiyono replied, getting to her feet and storming past Kousuke in one swift moment.

"What the hell?" Kousuke stared after her. He could've sworn that he saw her eyes ablaze as she stalked past. "What the hell's gotten into her?"

"Nothing has gotten into me!" she barked in his direction.

A/N: Woohoo! The first chapter is finally up! xD Betcha all weren't expecting that change of circumstance. xD

Well, I say that because neither was I.

xD

Since my recent ATTEMPT at a Spiral story died miserably, if you want me to carry on with this one, stick in a review telling me so. I love reviews and it only takes a few seconds to write that you like it or you want me to 'update soon'. xD