I had my arms folded around my legs, chin resting on my knees as I stared sullenly at the street before me.

"You know, gopher, you can't see anything when you're sitting on the ground like that." Chika-kun nudged my shoulder with his foot.

With a wail as miserable as I could manage, I turned my gaze up towards him—squinting against the sun and lifting a hand to shade my eyes. "I don't want to do this any more," I complained. "Can't we just go back to the dorms? We've been here for over two hours…"

The golden-eyed boy put one hand on his hips, tapping the rim of my glasses that were hooked over the edge of a pocket. "No. Because we've been out here for two hours and you still haven't seen any black rings. We will go back once you find, one, gopher, because you owe me a loooot of money."

I groaned, kicking out my legs and leaning back against the wall. "No fair, Chika-kun…" I sniffled, rubbing my hand over my eyes and looking away from him. "You're so mean."

He nudged my shoulder again and extended one hand. "C'mon, stand up. I'm getting tired of just standing around too, so the sooner you find me some extra cash the sooner we can go home."

"It's only about the money for you…" I muttered, taking the offered hand and letting him pull me to my feet. Making a disgruntled face, I focused my concentration on the crowd passing by us. "What if I don't find anything…?"

"I'll kill you," he answered without wasting a beat, tapping his foot impatiently against the ground.

I gave a frightened squeal, taking a few steps back and clutching my hands over my chest. "So mean, Chika-kun!" I gasped.

The young man laughed, looking back at me over his shoulder. "I'm kidding. I won't kill you until after you repay what you owe me and Shito." He gave me his characteristic smirk, locking his hands behind his head.

We were silent for a moment; I returned my thoughts to elsewhere as my eyes focused on the necks of the people hurrying past in their daily lives. Any one of these people could have a ring and I could be missing it. Or maybe tomorrow, or the day after that they will have a ring. And then their life would be over.

I crossed my arms uncomfortably over my chest and looked down at the ground. "I don't want to be here…" I muttered. Not here, not in a city where I am forced to try and measure peoples' fates. It was too heavy a burden for me to bear. Maybe somewhere out in the country would be nice.

Chika-kun arched an eyebrow, glancing at me over his shoulder for a moment with his hands still behind his head. "Then why don't you just fly away from here if you don't like it," he mocked.

"Because I don't have the wings to carry me away."

His bright eyes turned up towards the sky. "Then just learn how to fly without them."

For a moment, I stared up at him with a startled expression. "We can't… Humans can't just fly away," I sputtered. Then again, I certainly thought before that zombies didn't exist, but…

Chika-kun's next action caught me completely by surprise. He turned around to face me and for a moment I thought he was going to hit me over the head and call me a 'stupid gopher'. Naturally, I flinched, covering my face with my hands and hunkering away from him.

Instead, he caught onto my hands and swept them away from my face, then leaned in and touched his lips to mine.

My eyes shot open as my heart jumped into a rapid frenzy in my chest. My fingers twitched against his, my mind going completely blank.

The young man pulled back for a second before leaning over to mutter in my ear. "Doesn't it kinda feel like you're flying now?"

I certainly felt something… but what it was, I couldn't really figure out. It was a mixture of several things, shock and annoyance coming through the strongest.

"Chika-kun you jerk!" I shouted, covering my mouth with one hand and smacking his arm with the other. "T-that was my first kiss!"

He stepped back, giving me one of his uncharacteristically lonely smiles for a brief instant—the expression hidden as he turned away from me. "Would it make you feel better if I say that was mine, too?"

I blushed, peering at him from around the tips of my fingers. "R-really?"

"Kiiiiding," the golden-eyed boy chimed, turning around and making a weird face at me.

"Ehhhh!?!" I shouted back, surprised. "Y—you've kissed someone before?" For some reason, even though I didn't know him that well, I hadn't really thought of Chika-kun having a normal relationship with a girl.

"Ehhh…" he started. "That's a secret." Chika-kun winked and reached out to tweak my ear. "But you on the other hand…"

"Ah!? What's that supposed to mean?!" I gasped, taking a step back and covering my ear as I blushed again.

"Ko-yo-mi" he teased in a sing-song voice.

"Kya no!" I yelped, clutching both hands to the side of my head. "That doesn't count! That's no fair that doesn't count!!"

Chika-kun laughed, knocking the side of my head with his hand in a loose fist. "C'mon, let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry, and you're not working."

I grumbled, hugging my arms to my chest and glaring moodily at his back—my glasses still dangling from one of his pockets. "I take it I have to pay?"

"Of course, I already paid enough to last you a few life-times, gopher. This is the least you can do."

Pouting and muttering something unintelligible under my breath, I followed after him. And tried to decide just how much I was not going to like flying after this conversation.