Hisoka opened his eyes, then sat up and tried stretching, wincing in pain and reflexively moving his hand to his side. He was confused at first, but then he remembered the events of the previous day. He looked around the hotel room. Emma and Akane were still asleep, while William was sitting up in her bed, reading a book. "Where are the others?"

William looked over at Hisoka. "Well, Henri and Thomas went exploring, and I believe Nashi went to go grab something to eat. Merlin is out looking for new metals to eat."

Hisoka nodded. Then he looked down at his bandages, remembering that he had slept in them, and they probably needed changing. He started to unwrap them.

"Wait!" William commanded. "You'll want someone else's help with that. I'm still recovering, so I can't walk over there, but don't worry. Nashi should be back shortly."

"I'd rather not rely on that." Hisoka threw some water at Akane, who woke with a start, then looked over at Hisoka.

"What was that for?"

"Sorry," Hisoka apologized. "I need someone to help change my bandages, and William can't walk over here."

"Right…" Akane stood up and went to Hisoka's nightstand, taking some fresh gauze and the roll of bandages, then sat down next to Hisoka, slowly unwrapping the old bandages.

"Sorry about that. You know, come to think of it, I could have just walked over to William."

"Oh, yeah," William realized. "That probably would have been better."

"It's fine," Akane reassured. "Just try to remember."

Hisoka nodded and glanced down at Akane. Suddenly, his wound flared up with pain. All over again, he saw Akane in his partially dragonized form, the crimson blade going through Hisoka's left side. He scrambled back and delivered a water-assisted punch to Akane, sending him tumbling off the foot of the bed and slamming into the bed across from them. Hisoka then fell off the bed himself and scrambled up against the wall.

"Hisoka, are you alright?!" William exclaimed.

Hisoka pressed his back up against William's bed, breathing heavily, his heart pounding. Then the pain from all of that sudden movement set in, and he clutched his now-unbandaged side. Each breath caused a spike in the intensity of the pain.

William dropped to the floor, scooting over to Hisoka on her knees. She looked down at the stab wound and saw that it was bleeding profusedly.

The door burst open, and Nashi rushed in, carrying some groceries. "I heard Hisoka scream. Is everything al…" Her eyes widened as she saw the mess. "…right…?"

Akane slowly stood up. "I-I don't know what happened. He asked me to help him change his bandages, and as I was unwrapping them, h-he attacked me."

Nashi looked over at Hisoka and William. William was holding the wound to reduce the bleeding, while Hisoka just sat there, trembling and breathing heavily, his eyes wide with terror.

"It's a panic attack," William explained. "I've had them before. Can you grab the gauze and bandages?"

Nashi nodded, setting down groceries, then heading over and picking up the supplies that had been knocked to the floor, then walked over to William, setting them down next to her.

"Now, I need a wet cloth."

Nashi looked around.

"There should be some cloth on Hisoka's nightstand."

Nashi looked over, picked up a piece of cloth, then rushed to the bathroom, coming out ten seconds later with the cloth dripping.

"Thanks." William took the cloth, then started wiping off the blood around the exit wound. She pressed one of the pieces of gauze against it. "Hisoka, I need you to lie down, okay?" She assisted Hisoka in lying down on his back, then did the same thing with the entry wound. Then she took the bandages, making sure the pieces of gauze were held firmly in place, and wrapped the bandages around him.

"S-Sorry…" Hisoka stammered. "I-I don't know what got into me. Just… watching Akane s-so much as touch the wound… s-suddenly I… f-found myself reliving it…"

"I know exactly what you're going through," William replied. "I can't really be comfortable around Torden. You'll probably remember that I even got a panic attack myself the first time I met him, just because he's a dragon." She looked over at Akane as she finished with Hisoka's bandages. "Even yesterday, Akane, what you were experiencing was the reliving of a traumatic event. Now you understand, right? Even though Hisoka consciously knew you were helping him just now, he couldn't control himself. So stop beating yourself up over what you did." She crawled over to Akane. "Hey. Reliving a traumatic event isn't something you can just simply turn off. However, you can work around it."

"Mm." Akane stared down at the floor and continued to lean against the wall.

"Look me in the eye, Akane."

Akane looked up at William – her short, unkempt blue hair, the reading glasses that she'd forgotten to take off, her large, brown eyes.

"I'm still alive," William stated in a firm tone. "Just let that repeat in your mind: William Redfox is still alive. It's how I got more comfortable around Torden, by repeating over and over in my mind that he's our friend and our guildmate. It's not one hundred percent effective, but it does make things easier."

Hisoka smiled at William's attempts to calm Akane down, then stood up, grunting in pain. "And you're my best friend, Akane. I mean, maybe it would be better if someone else changed my bandages, but I'm not going to get mad at you for having a flashback, and just because I relived that moment doesn't mean we're no longer friends." He noticed that his heart was still pounding, but he shrugged it off as he went and grabbed a change of clothes, then went to the bathroom to change. He came out a few minutes later in his normal attire.

"Oh, I just remembered…" Nashi reached into one of the grocery bags and pulled out a winged fish that appeared to already have been cooked, then held it out to Hisoka. "I caught this separated from its flock, and I thought you might like it. I even cooked it for you."

"Thanks," Hisoka replied. "It would probably be good to get some food in my system after all that." He took the fish and started eating it.

Nashi nodded. "Plus, you haven't even eaten since you got stabbed."

"Mf… yeah, thah thoo," Hisoka agreed through a mouthful of fish. Then he swallowed. "And it tastes that much better. However, I probably shouldn't eat too much, since my stomach did get cut in half."

"But I put it back together, right?"

"Cauterization seals it back together, but it doesn't restore the damaged lining," Hisoka replied. "That'll take some time to heal." He offered the rest of the fish to Akane. "You want this? I don't have a way of storing it for later."

Akane shrugged. "Sure." He looked over at William, who had settled down beside him. "You want help getting back to your bed?"

"I mean, I was in the middle of reading that book." William jerked a thumb at the book she had left on her bed. "But I think you could use a bit of company."

"Well, I could sit there with you."

William shrugged. "I guess that's fair."

Akane started to get up, then scooped up William, who wrapped her arms around his neck for extra support. Then Akane stood the rest of the way with William and carried her over to her bed, setting her down and then sitting next to her.

There was a knock on the door. Hisoka limped over and opened it to see Elkhart.

"Yes?"

Elkhart stepped inside, opened his mouth, then closed it again. He stood there for a moment, then opened his mouth again and succeeded in speaking. "Where's Merlin?"

"He's out shopping for new metals to eat. What do you need him for?"

Elkhart took a moment to think of a response. Then he started sweating, and Hisoka could hear a significant increase in nervousness. "I-I'll tell you guys when I'm ready, alright? I want Merlin to be the first to hear this, and… I'm really not ready to tell anyone else, okay?"

"O… kay…?" Hisoka scratched his head. "Well, can't you use that tracking thing you infused into our guildmarks?"

Elkhart snapped his fingers in realization. "Right! Of course. Sorry, I haven't been thinking yesterday since clear… erm… clearly… since… yesterday. Sorry…" He took a few deep breaths. "Well, you seem to be doing well, Hisoka… I'll be…" He turned and immediately ran into the doorframe. He rubbed his forehead, then turned in the right direction. "I'll be going now. Hey, Torden!"

Torden lifted his head as Elkhart headed off. "What's with him?"

"I'm not sure," Hisoka replied. "Maybe he wants to ask Merlin out or something? He did seem really nervous, much like someone is when they have a crush." He turned around and saw William's face. "Um… is something wrong?"

"Sorry, I just… sometimes make that face when I find something cute."

Hisoka thought for a moment. "Maybe we could…" He pondered for a moment, then saw Emma stirring.

Emma sat up and looked over at the others. "Wha're you talkin' 'bou…?" she mumbled.

"We've deduced that Elkhart has a crush on your brother," Hisoka explained. "I was trying to come up with ideas for what we can do to help."

"We could set up a date for the two of them," Nashi suggested.

Emma perked up at the mention of Merlin. "Oh my god, I fuckin' love this idea! What's the plan?"

"Nothing yet," William replied. She looked over at Akane. "Any ideas?"

Akane looked around at the others, then swallowed his mouthful of fish, and took another look, a concerned expression on his face. He sighed. "You're going to drag me into this whether I like it or not, aren't you?"

"Absolutely!" Hisoka beamed. "That's what friends do."

"Yeah, not really. Well, anyway…" Akane stood up. "I suppose I could fly around the city and look for some nice places."

"Thanks, Akane!" As Akane flew out the door, Hisoka turned to the others. "Well, then, let's form a plan… ooh! Emma, how about you get to Merlin before Elkhart can? It might be hard, but I think you can do it."

"Right." Emma charged out the door. "Oh, I know! Hey Torden, can you help me scan the city for Merlin?"

Torden gave Emma a disapproving look. "Let me guess: you're dragging me into this as well."

Emma shrugged. "I just want you to help me find him."

Torden rolled his eyes. "Fine." He stood up and stretched, then lowered himself to make it easier for Emma to get on his back.

Merlin held up the chunk of potassium, then took a bite out of it and chewed for a moment. Then his eyes widened as his mouth started to burn, and he spit out the potassium, as well as a bit of flame.

"It is to be expected."

Merlin jumped at the sudden voice behind him and turned to see Elkhart.

"Potassium is, after all, an alkali metal, and you know how those are with water."

Merlin shrugged. "I figured it was worth a try. I mean, Nashi's immune to fire, so I thought I might possibly be immune to metal-related reactions."

"I guess you were wrong." Elkhart looked over at the partially-burned piece of the metal.

"Yeah, I guess. Maybe if I dried out my mouth first?"

"That doesn't sound like the best idea either."

"I mean, I'd only be doing it once, so it wouldn't be that bad."

Elkhart nodded absentmindedly. "Right. Well, anyway, ummm…"

"Hm?"

Elkhart stood there for a moment, trying to think of something to say.

"Did you want something?"

Elkhart continued to stand there in silence, beginning to tremble.

"Are you alright?"

Elkhart opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Eventually, he managed a "never mind" and flew off using his meteor spell.

"O… kay, then?" Merlin held up the rest of the potassium, wondering how he could safely store it. He turned and nearly ran straight into Emma. "Um, yes?"

"What did he say to you?" asked Emma.

"Well, we had a conversation about potassium."

"That's all?"

"Well, he seemed like he was about to say something, but then he flew off without saying it."

Emma nodded. "Seems to add up. Now tell me, what do you think of Elkhart."

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Um… he's cool, I guess."

Emma nodded, resting a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "Right, right. Anything else?"

"Like what?"

"Like, what stands out about him? What do you like doing with him? Any defining personality traits that you really like? Come on, I want all the details."

"Well, he invents cool gadgets, and his smile is really warm. Also, where he put is guildmark is kinda cool… why are you asking me all this?"

"Nothing. No reason. Carry on."

"Um… okay? Well, he's calm and collected, but also kind of fiery, as well as nervous at times. And I like helping him out with stuff. Plus, the way he sometimes talks to himself is kinda cute, I guess."

Emma continued nodding. "You must like Elkhart quite a bit."

"I mean, yeah, he's a good friend." Merlin looked away nervously, blushing a bit. "What is this about?"

Emma chuckled as she heard the word "friend". Right. Totally. "Well, Merlin, it was nice talking. See ya!" She turned and bolted.

Merlin stood there for a moment, frozen. "What was that all about?"

"Okay," Akane began, "so there's the palace gardens, and there are also a few nice restaurants around."

Hisoka nodded. "A restaurant. Interesting…"

"We could reserve a table for them," William suggested.

"I'm not sure if you can reserve a table less than a day ahead of time," Hisoka pointed out.

"True…"

"Well, I think it's worth a try," Nashi decided. "Let's do it."

"Can we include a walk in the palace garden somewhere in there?" asked Akane.

"I think so," Hisoka agreed.

Just then, Emma walked into the room. "I think I can confirm that Merlin likes Elkhart. When I asked him what he thinks, he started complimenting his physical features alongside other things. Also, Elkhart's behavior has been consistent with our conclusion of a crush. He went to Merlin, but panicked and fled before he could get a sentence out."

Hisoka grinned. "Then I think we can carry on with this. Let's pick a restaurant!" He limped over to the door, then sprouted his wings. However, as he lifted off, he suddenly tilted to his left and crashed into the ground, the wind knocked out of him and pain shooting through his entire left side.

The others ran over to Hisoka, with Nashi kneeling next to him. "Are you alright?" she questioned.

Hisoka grunted, trying to get a word out through the agony and continuing to clutch his left side.

Nashi slid her right arm under Hisoka's ribcage, wincing at the sound of the metal scraping against the cobblestone, then slid her other arm under his legs, picking him up bridal style and carrying him over to his bed, setting him down gently. She then repeated herself. "Hisoka, are you okay?"

"I… will be…" Hisoka grunted, breathing in a quick, huffy manner. "I guess… I shouldn't… fly… until… I've recov… recovered." His face twisted in pain. "Damn, that… was a bad… idea…"

Nashi ran her fingers over Hisoka's ribcage. "Well, the bolts seem to still be in place, so that's a good thing."

"Yeah," Hisoka agreed. "I guess I should rest here a bit, though." He looked over at Akane. "Can you go pick out a restaurant? You've spent more time with them than I have, so you would have a better idea of what they'll like."

Akane nodded.

"I'll come, too," Emma declared. "I am Merlin's big sister, after all. I've known both of them way longer than you."

"Fair enough." Akane picked up Emma and flew off.

Hisoka looked over at Nashi. "What do you say we go check out the swimming pool?"

"Well, you need to rest, so…"

"Water's good for me, remember? Also, I got those waterproof bandages from Porlyusica for exactly this purpose."

Nashi nodded. "True. But we should wait for the others."

William nodded in agreement and looked across at Hisoka. "Nashi can't carry both of us very effectively."

Nashi looked between them, her eyebrow raised. "Is that a challenge?"

"Don't you dare," warned Hisoka. "You could badly hurt both of us if you tried that."

Nashi nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Carrying injured people shouldn't be a challenge."

Elkhart leaned against the alley wall and sighed in frustration. "Why am I so nervous about this? Merlin is the person I'm most likely to trust with this secret."

"Nervous about what? Just curious."

Elkhart jumped slightly and looked over at Utkarsh. "Usually, I'm the one startling people like that."

Utkarsh shrugged. "Not this time, I guess. I happen to have a bit of natural stealth."

Elkhart chuckled. "Same here, actually."

Utkarsh nodded in understanding. "So what is it you're nervous about?"

Elkhart shrugged. "Well, you're not someone I know very well, so I'd rather not tell you. It's a secret of mine – one I figured out about three-and-a-half weeks ago. At first I was just going to reveal it to all of Dragon King if they won the Games. Then, however, I thought I'd just present myself at the Post-Games Ball. However, after I went to someone who had some experience with this type of secret, he advised that I come out to my closest friend first, then maybe some other close friends. After that, I could make it public."

"'Come out', huh?"

Elkhart tensed up as he realized what he'd said. "Uh… you weren't supposed to hear that."

"Sorry," Utkarsh apologized.

Elkhart shook his head. "It was my bad. I could have phrased it as 'reveal it', and you wouldn't have noticed."

Utkarsh gave a huff of laughter. "Well, being straight myself, I can't offer much in the way of advice, but I will say it's normal to be nervous when revealing something like orientation or gender identity. Burah and I have been close friends since we were little, and he still panicked and changed the subject several times before he managed to come out to me."

Elkhart nodded. "Merlin got pretty flustered himself when he was coming out as pansexual." He thought for a moment, then grinned. "Emma, on the other hand…" He snickered a bit, trying to contain his laughter. "She just came right out with complete confidence. Nero, back when he was in the guild… well, they had been hanging out for a bit, and then he asked her out, and she just flat out said in front of the whole guild that she wasn't interested in men, surprising everyone."

Utkarsh chuckled. "Yeah, some people do have that kind of confidence. Just… you do you. Don't try to force anything that feels unnatural. That's really the only advice I can offer."

Elkhart nodded. "Yeah, that kind of mindset is sort of what suppressed my magic… I think. Well, I didn't mean to tell you anything. At least I didn't tell you what I was coming out as."

"True. I guess Merlin will be the first to hear that."

Elkhart nodded. "Well, this talk was nice, anyway. You may have possibly given me a boost in confidence."

"Happy to help." Utkarsh walked off. "I'm headed to the swimming pool."

"Oh, and that was impressive, defeating Natsu and Lucy yesterday."

"Yeah, Burah and I make a pretty good team." Utkarsh disappeared around a corner.

"Okay, that's unsettling."

Hisoka looked down at himself, then back up at Nashi. "What's so unsettling about this?"

"Those blue bandages," Nashi replied.

"Well, they match these swim trunks."

"Yeah, and it's unsettling," Nashi asserted. "Bandages aren't supposed to match stuff. They're just supposed to be white."

"Well, waterproof bandages happen to be blue," Hisoka replied. "And what about you? I'd say it's the metal arm combined with the bikini that's unsettling."

"Well, I think it's rather stylish." Nashi crossed her arms. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she tensed up. Then she quickly withdrew her arms and then reached over to the spot where her right elbow had been, rubbing it in pain.

Hisoka gave a pfft of laughter. "Well, stylish or not, you'll want to be careful with metal joints near bare skin."

Nashi growled at Hisoka, startling him.

"Uh… since when do you make that noise?"

"Since whenever people annoy me. Congrats on taking as long as you did."

"Um… thanks?" Hisoka wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or guilty. Then he remembered that time Nashi had commented on his smell, and decided on the latter. "Sorry. You do look cool. What I meant was it's unfamiliar."

Nashi smiled. "Thanks. You still look weird with those bandages, though."

Before Hisoka could react, Akane stepped out of the locker room. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Oi! Over here." The three of them looked out at the pool to see William waving next to Emma.

"Coming right up!" Akane ran over and did a cannonball, splashing both of the Redfox sisters.

Hisoka walked slowly to the edge of the pool, then sort of fell in, worried that if he climbed in, he might hurt himself by moving too many abdominal muscles. He sank to the bottom and then rolled over, then stood himself up. "I already feel better. It may not be any better at healing me, but it's easing the pain quite a bit."

"Flaming cannonball!" Nashi rushed forward and burst into flames as she hurtled towards the surface of the pool, causing an explosion of hot water that swept them all back about fifteen feet.

"Oh, you wanna go?" Emma extended her arms towards Nashi. "Tetsuryuu no Suishin-ki!" Both her arms morphed into propellers and sent currents of water at Nashi.

"Would you guys like to see how my magic reacts with clean water?" Akane inquired, grinning wildly. He waded towards the fight, then lit up his hand with the swirling crimson energy. Then he stuck his lit-up hand in the water, creating an explosion that knocked all three of them back.

"Oi, there are injured people here!" William complained.

Hisoka stepped between William and the others. "Don't worry. I'll make sure I don't hit you."

"Hisoka! You're injured, too."

"I may not be able to move a whole lot of muscles, but I can obliterate all three of you without moving a whole lot of muscles!" He stuck his arm in the water, pointed at the center of the three of them. "Kawatatsu no Baasuto!" Currents of water spiraled around his arm, then shot in three different trails toward Nashi, Emma and Akane, who were thrown up in the air by the geyser-like eruptions. "You forget: water is my domain."

The three crashed back down into the water, then resurfaced, gasping for air. Then Nashi burst out laughing. "You know what? I'm having a lot of fun here."

Hisoka smiled. "Indeed."

Akane swam over to William. "Sorry. We did get a bit rowdy there."

William took a moment to think about what had just happened, then smiled. "Well, I guess I'm really glad that you can be yourself again."

Hisoka nodded in agreement. "You've been really down since what happened yesterday, but now you're acting more like your cheerful, playful self again."

"Thanks."

Suddenly, Hisoka remembered something. "Akane, did you get that date taken care of?"

Akane sighed. "Well, I ran into Henri and Thomas along the way, and since I don't really want to actively participate in this, I asked them to take care of it." He chuckled to himself. "However, I guess I'll still find it somewhat amusing."

Merlin walked into the hotel room. "Hello?" It was completely empty. He went over to his bed and found a note.

Ryuuin Restaurant. 6:00 PM. Dress nicely.

"Um… what?" The handwriting was shaky, as if done by a hand that wasn't good at holding things, perhaps not human. "One of the cats wrote this, didn't they?" He opened his bag. "Let's see… I don't want to dress formally, but something nice that I wouldn't wear to the Games or something like that… maybe the same thing I wear on Council visits?" He pulled out his white overcoat and nodded. "This works. I guess that's where the others went."

Elkhart looked up from the book he was reading as he heard a knock on his hotel room door. He got up and opened the door to see Happy hovering at eye level with a slip of paper.

Happy handed Elkhart the paper, covering his mouth and snickering. "I was asked to give you this."

Elkhart took the paper and read it.

Ryuuin Restaurant. 6:00 PM. Dress nicely.

Elkhart looked back up at Happy. "Um… who sent this?"

"My lips are sealed." Happy continued snickering.

"Well, you're making that face you make when you get wind of something romantic."

"Am I? Well, I guess you'll have to find out, won't you?" He flew off.

Elkhart looked back down at the note. "Well, whatever this is, it should be interesting."

Merlin headed across the restaurant, up to the counter. "Um… I was asked by some friends of mine to meet them here. Do you know where they'd be?"

The cashier looked down at his list. "Let's see… are you Merlin-san, by any chance?"

Merlin nodded. "That would be me."

"Your friend is sitting at that table over there."

Merlin followed the man's finger and spotted a small table with Elkhart sitting at it. He walked over and sat across from Elkhart.

Elkhart looked up at Merlin and pulled out the note. "Did you have something to do with this?"

Merlin shook his head and pulled out his note. "I got one, too."

One of the waiters walked up to their table. "And what will you two be having?"

Merlin looked up at the waiter. "Um… can we wait for the rest of our friends to get here?"

"We were told it would just be the two of you."

"Really?" inquired Elkhart. "Are you sure you don't have something mixed up?"

"We were asked to reserve a table for Merlin Redfox and Elkhart Scarlet-Fernandes."

Merlin's brow furrowed. "Huh."

"And your meals will be payed for by a cat going by the name of Henri. She is the one who reserved your table."

"Okay, then…" Merlin and Elkhart both picked up their menus and read through the contents.

"What the hell is 'dragon curry'?" Elkhart asked.

"An incredibly spicy curry," the waiter replied. "The ingredients are right there on the menu."

Merlin chuckled to himself. "Sounds like something Nashi would like." They continued looking through the menu.

Elkhart's eyes widened. "Steaks topped with strawberry jam?!"

The waiter nodded. "Those come with a side of your choice."

"Okay, in that case I will have that with…" Elkhart scanned through the list of sides. "…this salad right here."

Merlin flopped the menu down on the counter. "You know what? Just because I can't really decide, I'll have what he's having."

The waiter nodded. "Any drinks?"

"Water," Merlin replied.

"I'll have green tea," Elkhart added.

The waiter wrote down their orders and headed off.

"I wonder what Henri wanted us to come here for," Merlin speculated.

Elkhart shrugged. "Well, it works, anyway."

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"You know that thing I was about to talk to you about earlier today?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'd still like to talk to you about that, and I was kind of too nervous to approach you on purpose. This was a great way for me to get back to you. Although…" Elkhart looked around the room. "I'd rather talk in a more isolated place."

Merlin thought for a moment. "What about the palace garden?"

Elkhart nodded. "That works. Although, I would like to go ahead and eat first."

"You said it. I'm pretty hungry."

"What's the news?" William questioned.

"The restaurant is taken care of," Henri replied. "I picked one near the palace garden so that they'd find their way there."

"The messages have been sent," Thomas added.

William nodded. "Emma, time to head out."

"Aye, captain!"

"Hisoka, I calculate a ninety-one percent chance that they will head for the palace garden. Can you make that distance with your injury?"

Hisoka nodded. "Depends on how quickly you need me there."

"I estimate ten minutes waiting for their food, and another twenty eating it. Then perhaps ten to fifteen minutes to walk to the palace gardens."

"Forty minutes should be plenty of time, captain!" Hisoka declared. He picked up the metal walking stick William had made for him.

"Excellent. Nashi, Akane, go with him! Stand watch from various locations in the park, and stay out of sight."

"Aye, captain!" The three of them saluted and then headed out the door.

As Henri watched the others exit the hotel, then turned to William. "'Captain'?"

William shrugged. "As Merlin's twin sister, it makes sense that I would be in charge of this operation."

Henri shrugged. "Whatever. This operation doesn't really have a central leader."

Merlin sat down on the bench, then beckoned to Elkhart, who sat down next to him. "So what is it you were wanting to tell me?"

Elkhart's cheeks reddened, and he began sweating. "Well… I still don't want to just say it out loud."

Merlin nodded. "I can wait." He looked up at the stars, marveling at the sight of a meteor. "You know, I think I know why the others sent us to that restaurant."

"Why?"

"I'm pretty sure I accidentally gave Emma the impression that I have a crush on you, and they decided to set up a date."

Elkhart sighed. "I think we should have a word with them about that. Actually, I think I gave them the impression that I had a crush on you. But I was actually flustered about something entirely different."

"Maybe it was both."

Elkhart nodded, then sat there trembling. Finally, he blurted it out. "You know what, can I whisper it in your ear? I think I can comfortably do it like that."

Merlin nodded.

"So, I was just going to tell it to the whole team if you guys won the Games. Remember that? But then I got some advice from Jonah on how to go about it, and I decided this was a better option. Oh, and you are the first to hear this, so don't mention it to anyone until I say you can." He leaned over, covering the gap between his mouth and Merlin's ear with his hand.

As Merlin heard what Elkhart had to say, his eyes briefly widened, and then he smiled and sat up, looking Elkhart in the eye. He nodded in approval. "I always knew there was something about you, and that matches your eccentric personality perfectly. Also, I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me first. It means a lot to me."

Elkhart smiled and gave a small chuckle of appreciation.

Merlin stood up, then turned to Elkhart. "Well, shall we head back?"

Elkhart nodded. "Let's head back to your place first. Henri has some explaining to do, and I'd like to hear it."

Henri, Thomas, Emma and William looked up as the door opened. Then they all grinned as they saw Merlin and Elkhart walking in.

Elkhart pointed at Henri. "You have some explaining to do."

"How was it?" asked Emma.

Just then, Nashi, Hisoka and Akane entered the room.

"So how was your date?" asked Nashi.

"'Date'?" inquired Merlin, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep," confirmed William. "We inferred from Elkhart's behavior that he had a crush on you, so we sent Emma to interview you on what you thought about Elkhart, and then she reported back to us saying that you seemed to like him."

"You really seemed to be enjoying the date," Hisoka added. "However, I think we need to apologize. I was watching you from a distance, and…" He looked guiltily at Elkhart. "…I sort of heard what you whispered in his ear. Sorry. My ears are just a little too sensitive sometimes…"

Elkhart looked wide-eyed at Hisoka. "You weren't supposed to hear that…"

"I kind of already knew," Akane added, "due to the weird way that I recognize people. It works by giving me a feeling for people's souls, so I can always tell who's who, as well as soul-related things like gender."

Elkhart looked around the room. "Who else knows?"

"I haven't told anyone," Hisoka replied. His heart sank as he realized what he had done. "Elkhart, I'm sorry…"

"Oh, you are, are you?!" Elkhart exclaimed. "You don't listen to people when they're whispering to someone else! And you most certainly don't spy on your friends!" He turned and blasted the door off its hinges, not even bothering to open it, and stormed off into the night.

Hisoka stared through the open doorway, not sure how to respond. "I think I upset him…"

"You think?!" Merlin turned and headed out the door. "Nobody follow me. Got it?"

Hisoka went and sat on his bed. "I can't believe that turned into such a huge misunderstanding."

"Well, we shouldn't really be meddling in other people's affairs," Akane pointed out.

"True that," William agreed.

"It's my fault for suggesting it," Nashi added.

"I can't believe I did that." Hisoka laid down and closed his eyes, not even bothering to take his clothes off.

"Elkhart!" Merlin shouted. "Elkhart!" He ran through the empty streets. "Elkhart, I want to talk to you!" He kept searching, until he spotted the scarlet-haired boy sitting under an arched bridge, his legs pulled up and his face buried in his knees. "Oi, Elkhart, are you alright?"

Elkhart sat up and looked up at Merlin as he approached. "Oh, hey, Merlin."

"Hey." Merlin sat down next to Elkhart. "Look, they didn't mean any harm, alright? They really did think you had a crush on me."

"Right." Elkhart sighed. "Well, the real trouble is Hisoka. He thinks it's okay to just eavesdrop and learn some pretty fucking sensitive secrets."

"At least he didn't tell anyone."

"You think that's the problem?! He spied on us, and because of it, he now knows something I wasn't ready for him to know."

"Yeah, I understand. He has some personal space issues. But he didn't mean any harm by it."

"But there are consequences," Elkhart noted. "He hurt me, and in doing so, he hurt his friendship with me."

"Yeah," Merlin agreed. "Honestly, I'm pretty pissed at him as well. How about we go back to your room? It's a little chilly tonight."

Elkhart buried his face in his knees, and Merlin could hear a somewhat muffled voice. "Can I just… sit here for a while? But don't go, okay?"

Merlin nodded, and they both sat in silence for about a minute. Then Merlin spoke up. "You know, since you told me a secret of yours, can I tell you a secret of mine?"

Elkhart raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Umm…" Merlin looked away for a moment, then back at Elkhart. "…I actually kind of do have a crush on you."

Elkhart chuckled. "Well, then I guess they were right to an extent. I believe their conclusion was that it was mutual."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

Elkhart stared up at the underside of the bridge. "Well, I never considered being in a relationship, but I did kind of enjoy tonight's 'date'."

Merlin smiled at this. "Well, I honestly kind of enjoyed it as well."

"And honestly, I think if I were to be in a relationship like that, I'd want it to be with you." Elkhart looked over at Merlin. "So what do you say?"

"About what?"

Elkhart raised an eyebrow as if to say "seriously?".

"Ah, right. Well… sure! If you're okay with it."

Elkhart smiled, and they both sat under the bridge together for a few more minutes in complete silence.

Finally, Merlin stood up. "Well, I guess we should be getting to bed. Remember, the final showdown is tomorrow."

Elkhart nodded and stood up. "See you tomorrow. And while we may have just decided to be a couple, we are enemies tomorrow." He waved and headed towards his hotel, while Merlin headed towards his.

I will admit that was a pretty long chapter. Also, I did not mean for that one misunderstanding to escalate to such a significant degree, or take up an entire chapter. Also, the deal with Elkhart is, he ended up being very different from how I introduced him, even going so far as to discuss things with my queer friends for advice on such a character coming out in the middle of a story. But overall, I liked how it turned out, and as always, I hope you enjoyed!