Sleygal here and back again for a double update! This time, it's for this story. I already have chapter 4 but too lazy to transfer it to my PC from my notebook. As to the people who liked/followed/reviewed this story, thanks so much guys! :D

Disclaimer: Nope. I still don't own it. Sunrise does.


The evening breeze pelted Umi as she soared above the forest. Her scales perfectly blended into the night sky giving her the chance to freely move around. Her wings, despite coming from an injury, flapped at a steady pace as she circled the area of the forest. Eventually, she managed to soar above Kotori's village; the village she used to call home. With her sharp sense of sight, she can make out Kotori's house from sky-point. The light is still on and a figure seems to be sitting on a chair.

Kotori.

Umi dived down in a small spot near Kotori's house. Her feet landed silently on the ground while her wings gave one last flap before tucking them. She peeked out from her hiding spot and observed the house. The figure from before came out of the house, looking around for something. This caused Umi to retreat back and hide until the figure retreated back into the house.

Umi lets out a breath she didn't know she's holding. Fearing that she would be seen, she headed back to the forest. At the clearing, she settled around the edge of it, breathing fire on the ground where she will lay in order to warm her up.

"It's a nice night, don't you think?"

Umi whipped her head and saw a figure standing at the side, hidden by the shadow of the trees. A large yellow fox stood beside the figure. Umi rolled her eyes and averted her attention.

What do you need, Nozomi?

"Is that how you greet an old friend? That's not the case with that girl though. What was her name? Kotori?" The figure chuckled as she and her companion stepped into the moonlight. Her black robe and pointed hat blended with the night but her purple hair and emerald eyes glints under the moonlight.

"It's been a while, Umi." What used to be a fox is now a human girl, sporting fox ears and a bushy blonde fox tail behind her, wagging happily. Her blonde hair sways with the night breeze and her blue eyes shines in the night.

H-How did you know about Kotori? Umi asks Nozomi, flustered at the fact that someone saw her interact with the ashen-haired girl. Does someone wanders deep into the forest?

"You guys aren't very subtle after all." Nozomi snickered while Umi's face heated up. "I can totally see what you're up to when I want to, you know."

"Come on now, Nozomi. Give Umi a break." Eri piped in.

A-Anyway. Umi diverted the conversation. Do you need something?

"Oh, nothing. We're just here to say hello after all." Nozomi replied. Eri gathered some twigs and broken tree branches and placed them at the center. Holding her palm up, a blue flame erupted from her palm. She tossed the small fireball into the pile of twigs, successfully creating a campfire.

What are you doing?

"Lighting a campfire." Eri answered back like it's the most obviious thing in the world.

"Oh, don't get mad at Erichii." Nozomi pipes in. "Besides..." She pulled out a small orb from her pocket. Its blue light shining dimly. After which, Nozomi pulled out a card from her sleeve.

"The cards are telling me something."


"Umi-chan?" Kotori calls out.

After finishing her tasks for the day, Kotori went back to the forest to find Umi. However, she didn't find the blue dragon anywhere. This lead to her search around the forest for any sign of her.

I wonder where could she had gone off to.

"Umi-chan?" Kotori leaned below a cliff, hoping to find her friend. She sighed when she was greeted with nothing but silence. She turned to head back when the ground suddenly collapsed below her.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Kotori closed her eyes, bracing for an impact that did not come. She heard soft flapping sounds and felt that she's floating rather than falling. Risking to open her eyes, she saw Umi grasping her hand with her claws, hovering over the collpased ground. Umi's sharp amber eyes stared at Kotori's amber ones before breaking contact and flew over the trees until they reached the clearing. Umi sets Kotori down first before settling on the ground.

Are you alright? Umi asked.

"I-I am now..." Kotori whispered. The shock from her fall is still evident on her that she find it hard to speak. She feels as if her heart is ready to burst out of her. "T-Thank you."

You should watch where you're going.

"Hehehe..." Kotori giggled. "Why are you not at the clearing?"

'O-Oh... Um... I had some business to attend to.' Umi replied, trying to avoid eye contact from the ashen-haired girl.

"Maybe you're looking for others!" Kotori happily clapped her hands at her realization. "Well? Did you find one?"

Umm...

"Geez, Umi. It's not polite to fly out of a conversation. We're not yet done-" A voice rings out at the clearing, startling both the speaker and the ashen-haired girl. Kotori looks around for the source of the voice until she saw a yellow fox peeking out from one of the entrance of the clearing. Surprise and confusion painted the fox's eyes as it dart her sight from the ashen-haired girl to the blue dragon on the side.

E-Eri!

"Eh? Eri?" Kotori looks confused. She turns around and asks. "Do you know this fox, Umi-chan?"

Well... ummm...

"Nozomi's not yet done talking and you just have to fly off who knows where." The fox grumbled. Kotori could only look between the annoyed fox and the sheepish dragon.

B-Besides, Nozomi seems to be done talking about it. Umi nervously replies. That one Kotori heard.

"Who is Nozomi?"

That snapped Umi out of her thoughts.

"Who is Nozomi, Umi-chan?"

"Did someone call?" Two heads whipped at the direction of the voice. Sitting on a boulder is the black-robed witch. The yellow fox walked towards the side of the figure.

Nozomi!

"Hi~!" She replies with a smile. "I heard a little bird call my name so here I am!"

What are you doing here? Nozomi ignored the question.

"Toujo Nozomi at your service!" Nozomi slightly pulled at her witch hat in salute. "This one's Eri." She points at the fox beside her. It bowed before Kotori.

"Geez, Umi-chan. You just have to run off when I'm already telling the juicy parts!" The purple-head pouted and sits back down.

B-But I heard Kotori's scream and-

"Oh~" Nozomi gave a devilish smirk. "So you were spacing out when I was telling you something important?"

N-No, that's not-

Right now, Kotori looks definitely confused. So, Umi was meeting up with them before she found her falling from the cliff. While she wish she could question Umi about it, Kotori notices the yellow fox staring at the teasing duo in front of it. Before she know it, Kotori's already cuddling with the said animal, trapping it in her clutches.

"I-Is it alright if I pet her, Toujo-san?" Kotori asks, hoping to stop the other one from teasing Umi.

"Please call me Nozomi. And... well you're already cuddling with her and I could see that she enjoys it." Nozomi diverted her teasing to her companion as she watched the ashen-haired girl cuddle with the fox. Eri seems to be enjoying the attention as said by her tail wagging energetically even though she's trying to squirm her way out of Kotori's grasp. Even Umi couldn't help but give a smirk at her friend's struggles.

Having enough of being teased, Eri finally manage to squirm out of Kotori's grasp.

"Not funny."

Kotori seemed a little shock to hear the fox speak. But she's even more suprised when the fox turned into a half-human wearing yellow robes. Her fox ears and tail are still visible in her human form. Her blonde hair sways gently with the breeze. Her transformation caused Kotori to stare speechless at the girl.

"S-Sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you." Eri apologized.

"It's fine, Ericchi. I love seeing you in this form." Nozomi cooed as she locked her familiar in an embrace.

"N-Nozomi!" After being freed from Kotori's hold, Eri's trapped in Nozomi's now.

"Are they always like this, Umi-chan?" Kotori asks while the two of them watch the interactions of the other two.

Sorry but you'll get used to it. Umi replied. The other two forgot that they have an audience until Kotori spoke.

"U-Um... Nozomi...san?"

Immediately, Eri broke away when she heard Kotori's voice. She cleared her throat, alerting her master of the presence of others.

"Yes?" Nozomi acted like nothing happpened a few minutes ago. "No need to be so formal around me, Kotori-chan!"

"H-How do you know my name?"

"Umi's not very subtle, you know."

N-Nozomi! If only she could blush, boy, her face would've been scorching red by now. Why are you thinking of such shameless thoughts!

"I am not thinking of shameless thoughts." Nozomi faced Umi with a straight face, all the while cuddling with Eri. "Perhaps, you're thinking of something shameless, aren't you?" Her expression morphed back to her teasing smile.

Nozomi!

"Umm..." Kotori's timid voice pipes up and caused stillness as Nozomi stops with her antics.

"Well, then, it seems we may have been forgetting our guest. Do what do I owe you the pleasure, Kotori-chan?"

"Oh nothing at all." Kotori smiled. "I was wondering how did you get to know Umi-chan."

"Hmm... Let's see..." Nozomi pondered about it for a few seconds. "Oh! I remember it now! I met her when she was on the brink of-"

Nozomi's statement go cut off when they heard rustling of leaves from a bush. Halting their story time, Umi braced for a fight, positioning herself protectively beside Kotori. The said girl looks confused as she places her hands near her chest due to nervousness. Nozomi noted this scene before turning her attention to Eri. The fox's ears twitched at the slightest sound of things being stepped on and hurried footsteps moving away from them.

"Was that a person?" Kotori asks as she stood up to try and get a better view of the intruder.

"They're getting away!" Eri says as she hears the rustling of leaves and branches getting farther and farther from them.

A-Are you sure you're just going to let them go? Umi asks uneasily. Kotori could detect the nervousness in her voice. W-What if they saw...

"Nozomi-chan..." Kotori whsipers nervously. She scooted closer to the dragon to try and appease the nervousness that's radiating from Umi.

"Ericchi." The purple-haired witch directed her attention to the blonde. Eri nods and transforms into a fox and sprinted towards the direction of the footsteps. The rest of them eyed the fox until in disappeared in the trees.

"Is Eri-chan going to be alright?"

"She'll be fine. She always catches th-" Her explanation got interrupted once again when they heard a scream from the trees. The birds took flight at the sudden noise piercing the stillness of the forest.

"Well, shall we go and see?" Nozomi smiled.


"Oh."

Eri managed to catch up with the suspicious person somehow and blocked the escape route. She let out a threatening growl that kept the suspicious person from running. Watching from behind the trees were Kotori, Umi, and Nozomi, who seemed amused at the sight. Seeing that Nozomi blocked the view, Kotori peered from behind the witch and Umi craned her head high. What greeted the two of them is a ball of orange glinting underneath the sun.

A very familiar shade of orange.

"Honoka-chan?!"


Right. I just re-read this story and saw some serious grammar errors and typos. Sorry about that. I'll try to fix them soon. But for now, here's the latest chapter! Hope you like! :D

Now if you excuse me, doing a double update in two days wore me out so I'll be off playing Atelier Escha-Logy now. See you soon! :D Reviews are very much appreciated.