I do not own anything from Danball Senki/W/WARS


Jin looked around for the hundredth time as he walked to Hana's cottage. For some reason, he felt that he was being followed since he left the inn. Muraku had mentioned that he sensed someone following them at the meadow yesterday, but he did not know what to think about it. It could be Aidara or it could be just a coincidence.

Shrugging off the feeling, he went up to the door of Hana's cottage and brought up his hand to knock. But before he could do that, the door flung open and a bunch of kids ran out, forcing Jin to step aside to avoid them.

"Thank you, Hana-sensei!" They waved and ran back to the village. Jin was still a bit bewildered and stared at them.

A chuckle from the door brought him back to his senses. "I guess they startled you when they came out."

Jin smiled wryly and shook his head. "I wonder how you manage with kids. They are like a heard of wild animals."

For a moment, Hana's eyes darkened but it soon disappeared as she smiled politely. "Once you gain their respect, you will find it easy."

Jin observed her for a while and looked back at the direction the kids ran off. "I wonder if life is all fun if you stay as a child."

Hana opened her mouth to say something but Jin held up his hands and continued. "But at one point all of us have to grow up."

Hana kept quiet for a while as she contemplated on Jin's words and nodded in agreement. "Maybe you are right."

Jin turned to her and eyed her arm which was covered with her long sleeves. "How is your arm?"

Hana glanced down at her arm and smile. "It's fine. I can still move it."

Jin did not look convince and took her arm gently and pushed up the sleeves. It was completely bandaged and there was a smell of herbs coming out from it. "I see that you have been taking care of yourself."

Hana drew back her arm and rolled down the sleeves. "Yeah, like I said yesterday, I get hurt on every hunt so I know how to take care of myself."

"What kind of herbs did you use?" Jin enquired curiously.

Hana smiled gently and sat on the doorstep. She gestured at the spot beside her for Jin to sit beside her, which he obligated.

"It is my personal recipe for wound healing cream." She explained. "I used a mixture of Speedwell flowers, Yarrow oil, Calendula flower oil and Aloe Vera."

Jin looked thoughtful for a moment. "So, if you use those herbs, it will speed up wound healing?"

Hana nodded. "Yup. It also helps elevate the pain."

"Nature really is a wonder." Jin said in amazement.

Hana nodded. "Yes."

Jin looked up at the sky and got up. "I have to go now. But can we go into the forest tomorrow?"

Hana nodded. "Same time?"

"Same time." Jin extended his hand and pulled her up. "This time, I will come here so that you would not have to wait in the forest and risk anyone seeing you."

Hana stood stunned for a minute. When she opened her mouth, she stammered, "T-T-There's not need to do that. You could meet up with me at the same place."

But Jin would have none of it. "I prefer to come to your cottage. It has a soothing atmosphere around it like you."

This caused Hana to blush a bit. Now she was beginning to believe Hikari when she said that Jin likes her. But at the same time, part of her is drawn to the man in front of her.

"I will see you tomorrow." Jin nodded at her and left.

Hana stared at his departing figure and tried to figure out the feeling that was pooling her stomach. It was warm but at the same time, it there was a mixture of guilt and shame. Other than Ban, no one has been this kind to her at all, and she was repaying his kindness by lying to him.


On another part of town, Vanessa and Mikhail were wandering around the market.

"I don't know about you, but I am definitely sick of the food at the inn." Vanessa declared.

Mikhail had to nod in agreement. "I don't think most of it agrees with my stomach."

"Let's see," Vanessa stopped at a stall that was selling vegetables and examined some it the goods. "It doesn't look fresh, but the quality is good."

"That's because we pride ourselves in using nature to keep the insects away." The shopkeeper explained to her.

Vanessa looked up and touched the surface of a cabbage. "By using nature, do you mean that you use birds to chase insects away?"

The shopkeeper nodded. "Yup. Also, we depend on cats and hedgehogs to help us. That is why Misora Town is famous for its agriculture."

Mikhail examined a cauliflower and smiled. "I'm sure that your business must be good."

The shopkeeper's face darkened a bit. "It would have if the mayor did not tax the people excessively. Now I have fewer customers because less people can afford to buy one meal now." This made them look up in surprise.

"I don't get it." Mikhail said once they left the stall but not without giving it some business. "I thought the tax level was set to be affordable by everyone."

Vanessa furrowed her brow. "I don't know. But I can see that most people here could not even afford one meal like the shopkeeper said. Remember what Hikari said, many citizens of Aradia have to get another source of income even if it means breaking the law."

"So," Mikhail lowered his voice. "Do you think that we should tell Muraku or Jin that the mayor is taxing the people over the tax level?"

Vanessa thought for a moment and shrugged. "I don't know. The mayor might deny it."

Mikhail hated to admit it, but Vanessa had a point. He frowned as they approached the town square. There was a crowd of people gathering there and from the looks of it, it cannot be anything good.

"Mikhail?" Vanessa glanced nervously at her companion.

"Let's have a look."

They squeezed through the throng of people and when they reached to the front, they gasped. A young boy around their age's hands was tied to a stake and was bleeding profusely from the whipping he got from the mayor who was standing beside him with a scourge in his hands.

"Do you, Wataru Kenbishi, admit guilty of your crimes?" The mayor demanded.

The boy, Wataru, groaned and shook his head. "No..." His voice was barely more than a whisper.

Bishop growled and raised his whip. Wataru gulped and braced himself for the pain to come again. But much to his surprise, there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and a groaned from the mayor. Daring to look up, he saw the same boy who he saw leaving the mayor's office just yesterday.

"What is going on here!?" Muraku demanded. Behind him, Hikari ran to Wataru and checked on his wounds.

Bishop rubbed his swollen jaw and pointed an accusing finger at Wataru with his other hand. "This brat had stolen a loaf of bread from my office!"

"What evidence do you have?" Hikari asked as she untied the ropes on Wataru's hand.

"Because he was fooling around my office when the crime happened!" Bishop said triumphantly.

"That is not true!" A voice called out from the crowd who parted to show who it was. Takeru stepped forward, holding a dog by a rope in his hands. "I saw this very dog jump into your office through the window and came out with a loaf of bread in its jaws!"

Bishop glared at him. "How can we be sure that you did not make this up just to save this brat?!" He flicked the whip at Wataru as he said this.

"The baker can testify this." He turned to the said man who nodded.

"Yes, I did see the dog jump into your office, but if I knew that it stole your bread, I would have told you."

Bishop growled and rolled up his scourge. "Fine, Wataru Kenbishi is declared innocent." He spat out the last word. "You may take him away." He stormed off.

Hikari sighed in relief and nodded thanks at Takeru and the baker.

"Muraku!" Vanessa and Mikhail ran over. "Why are you here?"

"Hikari and I just left the forest when we came across this." Muraku explained. He turned to the boy in front of him. "How is he?" He asked, kneeling down to examine Wataru. There was a pool of blood gathering around the boy, staining Hikari's skirt and Muraku's pants but neither of them cared as their main priority is the boy in front of them.

"I think he lost a lot of blood." Hikari rambled. "And he might have punctured a lung or two..."

"Hikari, calm down." Takeru advised her as he came up to them. "We should take him to the apothecary. Uchira-san can heal him."

Muraku nodded. "Can you take us there?"

Takeru nodded. "But we have to carry him there."

Muraku nodded and turned to Mikhail. "You take the right, I will take the left."

Mikhail nodded and placed Wataru's right arm over his shoulder while Muraku did the same with his left arm.

"Come on. It's not that far." Takeru gestured for them to follow him.


"Thank you for looking at him." Takeru thanked Uchira once she declared that Wataru was stabilized. The others had waited outside the building while Takeru offered to stay with Wataru.

Uchira waved it off. "Consider it as a thank you for saving me when I could not pay off my debts. He should be fully recovered in a few days time if he rest well."

Takeru nodded. "Alright." He took out some coins but Uchira refused to take them.

"It's on me this time."

Takeru was slightly surprise but smiled. "Thank you."


"Takeru, how is he?" Hikari asked worriedly when Takeru came out.

He smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry. Uchira-san believes that he will be able to make a full recovery in a few days."

They sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

Muraku suddenly frowned. "But, what the mayor did today was rather unforgivable."

Takeru shrugged. "He is always like that. He always does what he wants and never gives a thought about the people."

"This is clearly a violation of the rules of The Kaidou Empire!" Mikhail argued. "We have to stop him."

Takeru pretended to eye him skeptically. "There is nothing you can do. What can normal commoners do to him?"

"I will talk to my brother about it." Muraku told him. "He may be able to help us."

"Good luck with that." Takeru snorted. "Unless a higher up deposits him, he won't give up his position that easily." He placed his hands behind his head and walked off.

"What is his problem?" Vanessa fumed, furious at Takeru's lack of respect to Muraku.

"Um, that's the whole point, isn't it?" Hikari spoke up. "We are not supposed to let anyone know that Muraku is...you know..."

"Hikari is right." Muraku told them. "To everyone, we are only normal commoners. It is no surprise that Takeru is skeptic of us."

"He is right." Mikhail placed a hand on Vanessa's shoulder to calm her down.

Vanessa took a deep breath and sighed. "You are right. I am sorry for losing my temper earlier."

"It's alright." Hikari placed a hand on her arm. "But on the other hand, what are we going to do about Bishop?"

Muraku thought for a moment and turned to the direction of the inn. "We have to discus about it with Jin first."

Vanessa and Mikhail exchanged glances and followed him while Hikari lingered behind. A small voice in her head was telling her that she was a horrible person for keeping secrets from them. But she shook it off and went back to the forge. One thing she could not afford to do now is to screw up her cover.