And finally, chapter 2. Yes, you all probably know who the mysterious lad at the end of chapter 1 was, right? Either way, you'll know now! (Really, who didn't know who he was? It was implied so heavily, it was pretty much explicitly stated…)

Anyhow, read and review! :)

- Sakura-tan

Writer: Sakura-tan
Editor: Kyoko-tan
Disclaimer: Would you so kindly refer to chapter 1? Thanks. -evil smile-

"Who are you?!" Mikan called.

"Someone who will cut your life short if you don't leave." A boy that looked around their age emerged into the clearing with a large grey and red gleaming weapon.

~Second Feather: Friends

The two pairs of Guardians stared at the mysterious lad, perplexed and troubled.

"What the…?" Mikan dropped her defenses slightly, unbeknownst to her.

Mikan glanced at the boy with the scythe in front of her. He was wearing a midnight blue, thick sweater with a red t-shirt (almost the same shade as his eyes) underneath. His dark blue jeans were covered with dust and torn in random places. Mikan couldn't decipher if it was from the injuries he sustained or if it was just the style.

What alarmed the brunette the most were his physical features. They were quite different and perverse. He had jet black hair; his hair was a shade of black darker than she had ever seen in her life. His stoic crimson, blood-red eyes frightened her. She swore that he was probably wearing contacts (because the color seemed so artificial), but her conscience told her otherwise.

Despite the minimal presence of emotion from the lad, she could tell that he wasn't too happy with their trespassing.

Mikan's train of thought was disrupted when the crimson eyed boy glared at her.

"So are you going to listen to me or what." His voice expressed no emotion, but Mikan could tell that he was getting impatient when he tightened his grip on his large weapon. It was just slightly taller than him; the blade glistened in the sunlight, making it seem even more menacing than it already was. The holder of the weapon didn't make it seem any more harmless either.

"Wait, are you the remaining Syannia Guardian?" Ruka attempted to break the contact between Mikan and the raven haired lad. This was not a greeting he and his friends were expecting.

"Yes, and you guys are in the way." Ruka couldn't even respond to the Syannia Guardian's remark when he realized that he was getting charged at.

The blond just stood there dumbfounded at the oncoming onslaught when his captain threw him to the ground.

"Ruka, pay attention," Youichi calmly (yet firmly) told him before getting off the shaken lad.

"I'm sorry…" Ruka rubbed his head after he had made contact against the glass shattered earth.

"What are you doing?!" The two Leannia Guardians heard from behind them. "We are just trying to help!" They noticed that it was Mikan hollering as she made her way towards them. "You didn't even give us a chance to speak!"

The boy just stood there, looking emotionlessly at the furious brunette. The fact that he didn't seem to be the least frightened annoyed her even more.

"Say sorry, you idiot!" Mikan was about to launch at him with her daggers when she felt herself being held back. She turned to see that it was her subordinate. "Hotaru, let me go!"

Again, her friend ignored the hazel-eyed girl's comment. She simply continued surveying the Syannia Guardian in front of them, who was still looking at them distantly.

"We were sent here by Narumi. He told us that you may need some assistance."

They noticed his face scrunch up in distaste before he muttered an inaudible curse. "Tell him that I don't need help. I'm fine. Now leave."

"Can you at least tell us your name?" Mikan sighed in defeat, the inventor having already let go of her.

"Would that make you guys leave?" Once again, the boy gazed icily at the crowd of friends in front of him, more specifically at Mikan.

"Goodness, you're so stubborn," Mikan muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Is this how all Syannia Guardians treat the other Guardians that want to help them?"

The raven-haired lad's eye twitched in annoyance.

"I told you idiot that I'm fine. What else do I need to say to get through that thick head of yours?" the boy growled.

The three friends just continued watching the harsh exchange of words between the two. Ruka glanced slowly to the Prellia subordinate and sweatdropped when she looked bemused, as if she planned this all along. As he turned his attention to his captain, he noticed that his eyes gleamed at the Syannia Guardian.

… Was he impressed by the crimson-eyed lad?

Ruka facepalmed, hoping that his conclusion was wrong. He didn't seem like that much of a good role model…

"Your name would be nice!" Mikan retorted back harshly as she pointed at him, her daggers already stashed away. "And could you put that thing away?! It's scaring all of us!"

Natsume glared even harder at her, his grip tightening on the object. Then all of a sudden, he launched himself at her, momentarily startling the brunette. As he was about to strike her, his scythe was caught up by a barrier (meaning a large, strong gust of wind surrounding her) that the hazel-eyed lady put up.

He didn't falter though as he sliced the blade deeper into the shield, hoping to break it and get through to the brunette. His eyed widened temporarily when he saw the determined expression on the brunette.

"What..!" Natsume's mind suddenly reeled back in time for a quick moment.

"I won't let you!"

Mikan noticed Natsume's sudden stunned look, before his scythe was suddenly deflected from her shield and he was thrown back. She could just barely hear the gasp her three friends emitted as she had deflected an attack from the Syannia Guardian.

She gave a small sigh of relief when she saw him do a quick backflip and his feet landed onto the ground in a precise motion. It wasn't her intention to hurt the lad, and she knew that she would regret doing so, despite the fact that he was the one who first attacked her.

Mikan just continued looking at the crimson eyed boy, whose eyes were now blocked by his hair. His scythe laid in front of him (he dropped it to regain his balance), and he didn't even bother to make a move to picking it up.

The other three friends on the side also glanced at the frozen lad, who was clasping the wrist where his pure white feather was bound to. The four friends broke out of their trance though when finally he bent down to pick up his weapon, not uttering a sound. He turned his back on them. Mikan's eyes didn't tear away from the young lad.

"Wha—"

"It's Hyuuga Natsume, fire element."

"What?" Mikan couldn't even process what was going on.

"You're so stupid. Since you guys won't leave, I'll do the honors." With that, Natsume departed into the skies, leaving the four friends on the ground still trying to process what just happened.

"Hyuuga… Natsume…" Mikan muttered to herself.

"Hyuuga Aoi, was her name."

"… The two Guardians of Syannia... they were siblings."

Mikan's heart dropped again slightly when Ruka's words replayed in her mind. Who could've possibly stolen her feather? Did they specifically target her? Where was Natsume when this happened? And most of all…

… why did it happen?

"Only Natsume would have the answers to all—or most—of these questions," Mikan mentally concluded before deciding to pursue the Syannia Guardian. She was about to take off when something on the ground caught her eye.

Her friends noticed Mikan bending down to the Earth below her. Wondering what she was doing, they casually walked towards her.

"You alright Mikan?" Hotaru asked as she bent down beside her, only to freeze, slightly concerned. "Mikan, your hand, did you get hurt when Natsume hit you?" Hotaru held onto Mikan's left hand, which was slightly tinged with blood.

"No… that's not it…" Mikan replied slowly. "This… isn't my blood…" Mikan suddenly remembered the moment when she was staring at the raven-haired lad, his right hand clutching his left one.

"He couldn't have… got injured? Or even worse… his feather…" Mikan thought worriedly.

"Wait, are you saying that Na—" Ruka was cut off when the brunette impulsively rose up from the ground and departed into the sky, heading in the same direction that Natsume took off to.

Hotaru gave a tired sigh. "Not again…" she groaned before taking off as well. She turned back though, and raised a brow. "Are you two coming or what?"

Youichi and Ruka quickly peered at each other and gave a simultaneous shrug before departing into the air, following the two Prellia girls.

"These girls are so weird," Youichi contemplated curtly.

~ASF|G.S (S-T)~

"Mikan, are you sure you know where he flew off to?" Hotaru asked her friend who she was now flying beside. "He's probably fine, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Mikan whispered, "but I don't think that it's right to just leave him alone here when he's wounded…" Mikan glanced at the ground below her. "There's a clearing up ahead. Let's walk from there."

Hotaru gave a small nod before they did a sharp turn towards the ground below them, the boys following in tow.

The four friends removed their transformation and started treading by foot from then on, and they walked in momentary silence until Mikan spoke up once again.

"I don't believe that he was unaffected from his sister's disappearance." Hotaru understood that Mikan was continuing the conversation that they had in the air a few moments ago.

"Me neither," Youichi agreed, "but he doesn't seem like the person who would just cry on your shoulder when you give him the opportunity to either."

"He isn't," Ruka replied firmly, a little too firmly in fact. He earned a few raised brows directed at him, but he was too immersed in his own thoughts to really react to the questioning stares.

"Why does Natsume look so familiar…? Have I met him before? And his sister…"

Ruka halted in the middle of his thoughts when he bumped into Hotaru, who was walking in front of him. He rubbed his nose while muttering an apology more from habit than an actual heartfelt one.

"Pay attention, Nogi," she replied straightforwardly.

"Yeah, sorry about that…" Ruka gave a small embarrassed chuckle before realizing that they had stopped in their tracks. That would explain why he obliviously walked into the girl in front of him. "Why did we stop?"

"Shh," he heard Mikan respond, and Ruka understood the situation. They probably found Natsume. Ruka couldn't help but facepalm though. They were acting as if Natsume were some exotic animal that escaped from its cage and they were trying to bring him back into it.

Mikan, the one leading the way, stopped when she saw the familiar figure in front of them, leaning on a tree trunk, having removed his transformation. He was wrapping gauze around his injury, in which confirmed Mikan's suspicions to be correct (that the wrist that he was clasping onto got injured, not necessarily that someone tried to take his feather).

Natsume tore the bandage by wielding his weapon forward and slicing through it, detaching it from its roll. He patted it down and gave a small sigh of tiredness. As he was about to sit down, he swore he heard a branch snap, like someone just stepped on one.

An animated vein appeared on his forehead when he heard whispers of accusation shortly after. He didn't even need to turn his head to the source to know who it was behind the trees.

"What you guys doing, idiots."

As expected, the sudden chatter stopped, the four friends realizing that they have been caught red handed. Who Natsume identified as the annoying brunette stepped out of their hiding spot first, and then her friends proceeded as well after that.

"Well, it seems that we've been caught... heh heh," Mikan gave a small chuckle and a sweatdrop in awkwardness.

"Haven't I told you guys to go awa—"

"No, you said that you were going to go away. We just simply stalked you," Hotaru replied way too directly, causing her friends' jaws to drop.

"Hotaru you idiot! You weren't supposed to say that!" Mikan burst out before whipping her hand to her mouth, not believing that she just said that with the crimson-eyed lad attentively listening.

Natsume's eyes narrowed in suspicion before commenting harshly, "That's great. Now go away. I gave you what you wanted."

Mikan directed her attention back at the raven-haired lad.

"We were just worried because you were injured!" Mikan stomped towards him and snatched his hand that was bandaged, shocking her friends and the boy she was holding onto. "Look Natsume. We mean no harm, I swear! You're complicating this too much. Just accept our stinking help and deal with it!"

Natsume just stood there for a moment, stunned at the sudden outburst of the brunette that he realized he still didn't know the name of yet. He regained his composure shortly afterwards, realizing the awkward silence that was taking place between the group of Guardians.

"I thought you came here to get information out of me?" Natsume responded coldly, his eyes pierced her menacingly.

"…" Mikan didn't know what to say to that. She couldn't lie and say that it wasn't true…

Natsume, comprehending Mikan's hesitation, retorted accusingly, "I knew it. You guys just wanted the information and report it all to Narumi."

"Wait, Natsu—"

"Am I wrong?" Natsume jerked his hand out of the trembling girl in front of him.

"Well—"

"That would be a 'no'. You're not going to get anything out of me then, since you lied and tried to sweet talk me—"

"No, Natsume! She didn't mean that at all!" Ruka burst out suddenly. The two arguing teens shifted their gazes to the blond haired lad. He stuttered when he realized that everyone was now looking at him. "I-I mean, we really do want to help you. When we heard of the news that your younger sister disappeared, the first thing we wanted to do is to assist you—"

"And how do you know that it was my younger sister that had disappeared?" Natsume crossed his arms across his chest, leaning against the tree trunk with an eyebrow raised in question.

"It's because I've met her before," Ruka confidently replied.

"Wha—"

"We've met before too, a couple years ago, Natsume-kun."

"… What?" Natsume muttered once more as Ruka walked up to him. The other three friends had their eyebrows raised in question as well, wondering where Ruka was going with this.

"Do you remember the name 'Nogi Ruka'?"

Natsume just continued gazing at the quivering lad, as if he was inspecting him. After a moment of suspenseful silence, he finally said, "Is that you? The one who got lost two years ago looking for the Syannia headquarters?"

Ruka sweatdropped once again, sensing three pairs of eyes peering teasingly at him, on the brink of laughter from a truth that was revealed about the boy who the Prellia Guardians thought of as 'mature'. He could just hear their internal giggles and teases.

"I wanna know how Ruka got lost," Youichi commanded, making more sweats form over Ruka's forehead. Natsume just stood there stoically, still trying to decipher the strange people in front of him. He acted as if he wasn't the one who had created the comedic atmosphere that had abruptly clouded amongst them.

"But…"

"I wanna know too!" Mikan raised her whole arm straight in the air. Hotaru simply brought her hand up too, indicating that she was interested as well.

"Why do they want to know so badly?!" Ruka exclaimed to himself in his head.

"Nee… Ruka…" Youichi gave him an unfazed look, but Ruka could just see the burning aura around him. Why did he have to be so stinking paranoid at their implications? Ruka composed himself, giving a sigh to show his discontentment.

"W-Well, it pretty much happened like this, I should say…"

~ASF|G.S (S-T)~

2 Years Ago, May, Leannia National High

"Ruka-kun, can you deliver a package to the Syannia headquarters?" The sudden request from the Barrania Guardian and leader slightly startled the blond lad, who was in the middle of History class.

He earned a few stares from his classmates as he started panicking from the device in his pocket. He quickly excused himself from class and sprinted out one of the school's side doors, into the fresh spring-like air.

"Oh sorry~! Were you in the middle of someth—"

"Yes, yes I was," Ruka growled boldly to Narumi. The leader sensed the burning aura even though he was miles and miles away, only seeing the young freshman through a small device that Ruka seemed to be crushing with his usually weak hands.

Narumi acted as if he was unfazed by the prince's bold remark (and seemingly threat), and just simply replied happily, "I would've asked Youichi, but he had his communicator turned off."

"Oh I wonder why…" Ruka muttered tiredly in his mind, having regained his repose. He simply shook off that thought as he went back to the situation at hand. If he was out for too long, his teacher would get suspicious. "I was in class, like every other teen in Cordellia."

"Yes yes, I'm sorry, the students here in Barrania have a day off, so I completely forgot that you guys still had classes," Narumi admitted. "Can you deliver it when you're done for the day then?"

"Yeah, I'm fine with that. Where is the package?"

"It's in your headquarters. I think the Prellia Guardians sent it to you already."

"Wait, why did they bother sending it to us? Couldn't they have just sent it to Syannia?" Ruka sweatdropped at the simple logic.

"Youichi didn't tell you what it was?" Narumi raised a brow.

"What do you mean?" Ruka did the same gesture, completely dumbfounded now.

"They're the trackers that the Prellia Guardians made for the Cordellia Guardians. You were supposed to have received the package a few days ago." This time, it was Narumi's turn to sound simplistic.

"… Youichi probably forgot to check, I guess. He tends to do that a lot." Ruka sighed.

"Yeah, be sure to notify him regarding that after school then. Take a few of them, and then bring the rest of it to Syannia, okay? They're expecting it later tonight, at the latest. You know where the Syannia headquarters are, right? It's just—"

"Yes I know where the headquarters are, Narumi. Is that all?"

"Yes, you may go to class now."

"Thanks, but I didn't really need your permission for that…" Ruka commented roughly to the leader as he remembered the embarrassing event that had just previously occurred. As he was about to open the school doors to proceed inside, Narumi stopped him once again.

"Wait, I have one more thing to tell you."

"What is it?" Ruka didn't even bother stealing a glance at the device, he just looked at the handle that he was about to pull open the door with.

"Tell Youichi to turn on his communication device next time."

"Yeah yeah…" Ruka simply brushed his hand in the air and flipped off the screen of the device, before casually walking back into the school.

~ASF|G.S (S-T)~

"I'm sorry Ruka, I forgot about the trackers," Youichi apologized monotonously before setting the package onto the maroon table in the Leannia headquarters. Although he didn't sound apologetically, his bow in front of his subordinate made Ruka think otherwise.

"N-no, it's fine," Ruka stammered.

"And I didn't know that I turned off the communicator…" Youichi continued with the same tone of voice as before. "Sorry for making you deal with that weird man."

Ruka gave an embarrassed chuckle at how his captain addressed Narumi. "It's fine, really. I'll go now to drop off the parcel. I did most of my work during lunch anyways."

"Thank you," Youichi gave a seemingly grateful look to the animal pheromone lad.

"No problem." Ruka picked up the package after throwing some of its contents onto the table before flying down the wide hallways and out into the sky, to Syannia.

~ASF|G.S (S-T)~

"I swear that the Syannia headquarters was here!" Ruka exasperated mentally to himself as he treaded through greenery. "If it's not here, then where could it possibly be?!"

The blond-haired teen walked through a deserted forest with the brown box of trackers, inspecting the area for the signs of the headquarters somewhere. He thought he knew exactly where the headquarters was until he saw buildings paved through that area. Now, he was walking aimlessly through the forest in which he swears he just saw moments ago.

In short, he was lost.

"At this rate, I'll never get to deliver this package! Asking Narumi is just too much on my reputation!" Ruka thought irritatingly as he continued walking. Then, he froze in his footsteps when he heard voices in the distance.

"Pass the ball, Mochiage!" he heard a boy command.

Immediately, Ruka ran towards it. When he did, his sprinting came to another eventual stop. He realized that he was in front of a schoolyard. He awed at the large field that the school had; it was bigger than any field he had ever seen. To the side, was a huge building, which he had recognized as a school building from his studies of the island.

"Nice kick, Natsume!" he heard another boy call, interrupting his thoughts.

Ruka quickly turned to the direction that the voices were coming from, but then remembered his task at-hand. He saw a small path to his right just down the gravel that he was standing on, and walked towards it. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice a pair of unfazed crimson eyes staring at his fading figure.

"Which way could it possibly be?!" Ruka cried in his head as he slumped dejectedly against a tree trunk. "I'm completely lost!" He gave a tired and frustrated sigh as he was about to stand back up onto his feet.

"What are you doing," a sudden voice startled Ruka. He was just about to command his staff forward when he realized that shouldn't blow his cover so suddenly. Transforming wasn't the best idea either.

"Y-yes?" Ruka spluttered to the unknown voice as he subconsciously held the package in his possession harder.

The Leannia Guardian noticed a figure slowly emerge from the shadows, his posture showing little interest in what he was doing, yet Ruka knew that the teen would be trouble if he made him angry.

"Well, I was just… uh…" Ruka hesitated gravely. "I wasn't prepared for this at all!" Ruka's mind screamed in fear.

The raven-haired boy casually approached the blond lad with the box, Ruka becoming more and more alarmed at his striking features as he did so. "Well—" Ruka halted in his sentence when he noticed the boy reached his palm out and his pure-white feather appeared in it.

"I'm assuming you're the Leannia Guardian?" The red-eyed boy raised a brow, motioning the teen in front of him to reply.

"Are you the Syannia Guardian?" Ruka asked impulsively.

"No, I'm the Prellia Guardian," he sarcastically responded, rolling his crimson-red eyes. He turned to the right, walking down the path where Ruka just came from. Noticing the Leannia Guardian having not budged from his spot, he turned and looked at him confusingly once more. "You coming?"

"Huh?" Ruka mentally kicked himself for sounding so stupid.

"You're here to deliver the package, am I wrong?" He narrowed his eyes, not in suspicion, but in irritation. Ruka stiffened even more as his facial expression looked even more menacing than it did before.

"Y-yes!" was all he could muster before following the Syannia Guardian.

~ASF|G.S (S-T)~

Ruka stopped in their steps when he noticed Natsume transform, staring at him wide-eyed due to his abrupt actions (how did this Guardian know that he was looking for the their headquarters, he still didn't know). When Ruka snapped out of his mini-trance, he did the same as well, not wanting to irritate the lad in front of him. The Syannia Guardian then placed his hand onto a tree trunk, and the headquarters appeared in front of him. They proceeded through the doors silently.

Ruka walked slightly behind the boy in front of him, examining him and the surroundings. Before he could say anything though, he heard a high pitched voice call out to them.

"Natsume~!" Shortly after, a younger girl, also with crimson eyes and raven hair appeared through the doors in front of them and tightly hugged the older boy in front of her. "Welcome back~!"

Natsume just stood there, not reciprocating the hug, but Ruka could tell that he was glad to see her partner. Judging from the distinct features of the female Syannia Guardian, Ruka had a strong inkling that they were siblings. The younger girl, noticing the presence of the unexpected guest, subconsciously widened her eyes, gleaming with happiness.

"Who is this Guardian, brother?" the young girl asked her brother innocently, her big, bubbly eyes not tearing away from the Leannia Guardian. Ruka stood behind the two awkwardly, fidgeting with his ring.

"He's the Leannia Guardian delivering the trackers to us. He got lost while looking for this place."

"I was not lost!" Ruka replied quickly. "I was just simply…"

"Awing at the trees?" Natsume finished mockingly.

"… Okay fine I was lost," Ruka muttered quietly, hoping that the Syannia Guardians in front of him didn't hear what he said. He knew that the older teen heard though when a sarcastic snort came about. Ruka noticed the bubblier Guardian eye her brother in slight dissatisfaction before bringing her attention back to him.

"Sorry about my older brother here," she chuckled embarrassingly, her hand scratching the back of her head. She brought out a hand before introducing, "I'm Hyuuga Aoi, and I have water element. This is Hyuuga Natsume, and he has fire element. Nice to meet you… er…"

"Nogi Ruka," the Leannia Guardian greeted before shaking the outstretched hand, "animal pheromone. It's nice to meet you two as well." Ruka handed Natsume the parcel, and was about to depart before Natsume spoke up again, stopping him in his tracks.

"Since you're here, do you want some tea Aoi brewed?"

Ruka's eyes widened at the sudden question that he heard come from Natsume. Was he hearing things? Didn't the fire element lad just make fun of him for getting lost finding the Syannia headquarters?

"It's good!" Aoi hoped to persuade the Leannia Guardian, who she noticed had froze in his steps.

Ruka gave a grateful smile before turning and saying, "Yes, that'd be great!"

~ASF|G.S (S-T)~

"I did not!" Aoi cried to her older brother at his teasing remark. Ruka sat across from the bickering siblings, slightly chuckling.

"Yes, you did," Natsume replied nonchalantly as he took a sip of his tea.

"That was you!" Aoi's voice hit a higher note before growling. "Why would I dump water on that teacher?!"

"You told me you hated her."

"Well…" Aoi scowled before turning her face to the side, puffing her cheeks.

Ruka couldn't help but burst out laughing at their bickering, causing the two Syannia Guardians to raise a brow in question.

"What's so funny?" Natsume glared at Ruka, his arms crossed on the table.

"Sorry, it's just that I expected the Syannia Guardians to be so reserved and stiff…"

"What do you mean?" Aoi asked suspiciously at Ruka, who she learned was the same age as her older brother.

"You didn't know? Everyone in Prellia and Leannia thinks so highly of the Syannia Guardians!" Ruka replied loudly.

"What do you mean?" Natsume repeated his sister's remark. Ruka thought they were joking, but their completely confused facial expressions told him otherwise.

"They don't know the rumours about how the Syannia Guardians are really strong, mysterious and really composed and highly looked up upon?" Ruka pondered to himself, stunned. "Everyone thinks of the Syannia Guardians as these really, really strong Guardians that are always lurking about in the shadows and all mysterious and composed!"

"Really?" Aoi's mouth was ajar, surprised at the news. "I never heard those rumours... have you, Natsume?"

"No… not in particular…" he responded casually before taking another sip of tea.

"Well, now you know." Ruka sighed before checking the time from the clock in front of him, high up on the wall. "I think I have to go back now, I have some tasks to finish back at Leannia," he commented before standing up from his seat. "Thanks for the tea!"

"Oh, okay." Aoi stood up as well and walked Ruka down the hallway as his older brother collected the cups and placed it in the sink on the side. "It's nice to have met a fellow Guardian, though it was quite unexpected." Aoi gave a gentle and bubbly smile as Natsume caught up with them.

"Yeah, it was a pleasure to meet you two," Ruka answered. "Thanks for the help today!"

"No no, we should thank you!" Aoi retorted politely. "Thanks for bringing the trackers to us! It's good that we could now keep each other more accountable with these in case an emergency were to arise."

"Yeah, it is." Ruka flashed his princely smile to the two Guardians before giving another wave of departure and flying back into the azure sky.

~ASF|G.S (S-T)~

Present Time, Syannia Forestry

"As expected, as expected~" Mikan teased as Ruka retold the story to them. She stuck out a tongue playfully.

"S-shut up!" Ruka stuttered, still ashamed about his simple mistake. Then, he remembered the situation at-hand: persuading Natsume to let them help him.

He noticed the atmosphere take a 180 degree turn when a silent period ensued.

"Aoi… was a really nice girl…" he directed his attention back to the crimson eyed lad, who was staring at him indifferently. Natsume managed to show them that he was unaffected by Ruka's retelling of his sister, who was now… gone.

Natsume contemplated deeply, before talking once more, biting his tongue.

"Aoi… we were talking in the Syannia headquarters when we were attacked."

The other four friends hastily gave their full attention to the crimson eyed boy, whose eyes were currently hidden underneath his hair.

Mikan didn't expect Natsume to tell them so suddenly. "Wait, Natsume—"

"The two of us, we weren't prepared for the attack. The attacker came so quickly that we… couldn't tell what was really happening until he came down and took Aoi's feather. Neither of us even had enough time to react."

"Natsume…" Ruka whispered under his breath, solemnly.

"Now can you guys go?" he said quietly to them. He gave them an unfazed look, but Mikan could immediately tell he wasn't okay.

"Perhaps we should leave him alone…" Mikan thought quietly to herself. Before she could say anything though, she couldn't even react when she quickly saw Natsume's attention advert to something behind him. Then, as quick as a cheetah, he brought out his large weapon and shouted.

"Who's there?"

The four friends glanced confusingly at each other, all thinking simultaneously, "We didn't hear anything…?"

However, their suspicions were confirmed when they did hear some rustling shortly afterwards.

"My my, it seems that the Syannia Guardian has very sharp ears. Even amongst all of your chatters, you could hear us creeping up behind you guys?" a male voice teased.

"As expected of the Syannia Guardian to hear us," a woman agreed before emerging from the bushes. Their pure-white feathers caught Mikan's eye, confusing her.

"... Where did they come from?"

~Second Feather: Friends, End

Can you guess who these two new Guardians are? (It's pretty obvious when you think about it, I think personally). Well, you'll find out next chapter anyways, but they're obviously not OC's, if I'm asking you readers to guess. :P Read and review please! I hope to get at least 2 reviews until the next update! :)

- Sakura-tan, goldenstarlight at wordpress (blog url on profile).