July 21, 2009 (Morning)


"Ughhh, it's sooo early. I think I'm gonna puke."

"Shouldn't've drank so much." Shiro leaned over, grabbing the metal kettle from the fire. He poured a cup of steaming hot coffee and passed it over to Shura. "Drink. It'll help."

Shura stumbled over to him with the gracefulness of a panda, which is to say none at all, and grabbed the cup of coffee like a lifeline. A grateful moan escaped from her after taking a long sip of the hot liquid. She plopped herself down on the floor, curling up around the heat of the cup, all while ignoring the peeking sunlight rising over the treelines.

She was not looking forward to the sun being out.

"Why am I here again?" she complained grumpily. "Ya would've been just fine with Yukio alone. How did I let ya talk me into this?"

Shiro sat back in his chair, sipping his own cup of coffee while Shura continued to complain. Rin glanced over at them, and he simply gave a smile to Shura before turning his attention back to making breakfast. His hair was clipped back with one of Ryuuji's clips and he let out another hearty yawn but the food was turning out just as well. If it wasn't for his best friend, Rin would probably never have been up so early but that's how it had been for the past few months.

Broth was boiling away, eggs were cooking, and the clearing smelled like food and coffee. The other students were slowly climbing out of their tents, nose first, following the scent of breakfast.

"That smells real good, Rin-kun."

Konekomaru let out a pleased sigh as he approached Rin, looking ready to face the day with his school uniform on. Rin was still in his pajamas, wearing an apron over as he cooked. He didn't seem bothered by it.

"Do ya need any help with anythin'?"

"Me?" Rin grinned. "Actually, could you get out the dishes and stuff and I'll start serving? It's all gonna be done soon."

"Sure." Konekomaru was more than happy to aid Rin with the set up and the two of them worked in tandem as the rest of his classmates drew near. Ryuuji, who had been doing a short jog around the camp in lieu of his usual morning workout, arrived just in time to grab the last bowl of food. Rin was happy to note that Ryuuji did not look tired at all. He'd been worried that his sleepwalking issue might return since he hadn't had a chance to use his flames in the past two days, but Ryuuji had assured him this morning that everything had been fine.

"Good morning, kids!" Shiro called out as they all settled in. Rin crawled back out of his tent after setting up the food, dressed properly in his uniform, before he went to grab his breakfast. The others replied in all different states of energy, some more awake than others. Rin wondered what they would be doing up so early. Wasn't the test supposed to take place at night?

Even Yukio's tired, Rin thought as he glanced over, watching Yukio yawn behind his hand. As usual, his little brother looked as if he'd gotten little to no sleep. Renzou looked equally as tired, though he perked up a bit when he got his first bite of his food in. Noticing his stare, the pink-haired teen met Rin's eyes with a quick thumbs up before leaning over to whisper something in his brother's ear. The small chuckle that brightened Yukio's expression made Rin smile happily.

Rin moved to sit next to Ryuuji and Konekomaru, drinking out of his bowl. "So… What do you think's gonna happen today?" He looked between them, though his eyes settled on Ryuuji.

"I'd rather not make any assumptions," Ryuuji said, glancing up at their teachers briefly with a frown. "But I rather doubt it's somethin' that requires much supervision, given well… her." The teen's nose wrinkled as he shot their redheaded teacher a disapproving glare.

Shura, either oblivious or uncaring, continued to moan curses about her hangover into her cup of coffee.

Rin stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth thoughtfully. "I guess so…" He looked at Ryuuji. "She's not that bad, though." He nudged his friend's shoulder. "Dad said this forest is supposed to be safe. Lots of demons but nothing we can't handle." He looked to Konekomaru. "Do you think we're gonna have to fight something again?"

"The probability of having that as one of our tasks is high," the shorter teen agreed. "But knowing Fujimoto-sensei, I'm sure he has more than just that in store for us."

"Right as always, Miwa-kun!" Two hands clapped on Konekomaru's shoulders and Shiro jostled him affectionately. Konekomaru and Rin both yelped out in surprise and, where Konekomaru paused to gain his breath, Rin bristled.

"Stop being so slippery so early in the morning!" Rin shouted at a snickering Shiro while Ryuuji held back a grin of his own.

Rin's loud voice drew Shura's attention. The redhead's poor mood was visible on her face and she directed a scathing glare in their direction.

"Quiet down over there!" she growled darkly.

Shiro grinned as he ruffled Rin's hair, who was now trying to keep his voice down while he grumbled in Shiro's direction.

"Now that everyone's all fed, it's time to talk." Shiro moved to stand in a place where all the students could see him. "Today's test is very important." His tone dipped down into sudden seriousness. "In fact, this test will decide whether or not you, as individuals, will be able to proceed to the Meister exams."

The air in the camp turned tense. Shiro looked around at the students, one by one. "Out in the forest, with the help of the other teachers, I've hidden your goal. There are some particular items that can be retrieved. Whoever retrieves said item in the time limit will be able to move on. If you don't, your time here at the cram school will end."

Rin's eyes widened as he stared at Shiro, barely comprehending his words. He looked around towards his classmates, each one of them who he'd begun to form bonds with. He didn't want any of them kicked out. He swallowed harshly. Though if anyone would fail, it would most likely be him.

"The goal can only be reached at night, so today, starting in about an hour, you will set off on a recon mission. You're to gather as much information as you can about the forest and the item you need to retrieve and be back before sundown. You can do it together, apart, or in groups, but keep in mind that when you set off tonight, you will all go individually."

A low murmur befell the clearing as the students looked at each other in worry. Although the instructions had been very clear, the consequences Shiro had placed before him seemed too harsh to digest.

"What does that mean?" Ryuuji was the only one brave enough to voice the most pressing concern. "We're gonna get expelled just for failin' a test?"

"Expelled, no. Nothing like that." Shiro looked at them seriously, not a hint of a joke in his tone. However, a hand lifted as a brief moment of reassurance. "But, you won't be able to continue this year. You'll have to attend cram school next year and try again from the beginning of the exwire courses."

"That's still kinda harsh…" Rin murmured, looking around at the group again, shifting nervously.

"Rules are rules." Shiro checked the watch on his wrist. "In 50 minutes, you all are going to head out for your recon. So get ready, gather the supplies you need, and figure out a plan. If you have any questions, Kirigakure-sensei, Okumura-sensei, and I will be happy to answer as long as it's not asking for too much information. Today is all about doing your own research to prepare for the test tonight."

They took his advice seriously. The students all took their time carefully deciding which supplies to pack into their bags, doing a last quick review of their textbooks, and finally, when it came down to it, discussing their plan of attack.

"We should split up in groups." Ryuuji was the one to bring the idea up, his voice loud enough to carry over to the rest of their classmates. "We might as well collaborate while we can."

"Hmph. No thanks." Izumo's denial was swift, and before anyone could convince her otherwise, she walked off without another word, the twin tails of her hair swaying behind her.

Ryuuji immediately scowled.

"That's a great idea, Bon," Konekomaru pitched in, perhaps sensing his friend's temptation to start a fight. "How about we go together, Rin-kun?" he said, staring up at him with a hopeful smile.

Rin beamed at the suggestion. "Yeah! Let's work together, Konekomaru! We got lots of practice yesterday working as a group!"

Ryuuji opened his mouth but closed it again as he took in the remainder members of their group. With Izumo already gone, and Takara taking a page of the same book without even sparing a glance at them, that left Renzou, Shiemi and himself to decide who to partner with.

He had naturally assumed he'd pair up with Rin, but…

He spared a glance at Renzou. The idea of the pink-haired teen pairing off with Shiemi alone sounded like a nightmare in the making. He doubted they would make any progress together so he made a quick decision. "Then, Moriyama, myself and Shima will be group two."

"Eh?" Shiemi looked surprised at his request. Renzou, on the other hand, merely shrugged.

"Sounds good to me."

Rin gave Ryuuji a momentary longing look before he nodded. "Smaller groups should be better for recon stuff anyway, right?" He looked like he was more trying to convince himself at this point. Rin turned to Konekomaru and nodded. "Okay, we should get started!"

"Keep in contact! And call us over if ya need anythin'. We'll do the same," Ryuuji said.

"Right!" Konekomaru secured his bag across his shoulder and with a short wave, he and Rin began walking into the forest. "Good luck!"

Rin and Konekomaru's first move was to peer over the latter's phone, examining the radius of the area as they selected a direction to follow.

"It wouldn't hurt to retrace our steps from yesterday," the shorter teen suggested. "Just because there wasn't anythin' there then doesn't mean there isn't anythin' there now."

"That's true." Rin looked around, trying to peer through the trees. "Then from there… maybe we can follow the water? The little river we saw, I mean. Maybe it'll lead to a bigger place or like a lake or something!" Rin smiled, hoping the idea sounded as good as he thought as he looked to Konekomaru for approval.

The shorter teen grinned at the suggestion. "Let's check it out then."

The heatwave that followed them on their trek was nowhere near as bad as yesterday's had been, though the lack of breeze reminded the two of them to hydrate more often. Rin and Konekomaru took care of paying close attention to their surroundings as they explored, though much like yesterday, nothing in particular caught their eyes. Or at least, nothing related to the test.

It really was a beautiful forest. As the morning went on, the sound of young birds filled the air, their chirps and tweets attracting their attention upwards. The thicker trees were heavy with vividly green leaves which provided a decent amount of shade. Light trickled in between the gaps like a kaleidoscope. The drone of insects hummed gently in the background as they continued forward.

Finally, they reached the river once more.

"I never knew bariyons could be so small." Rin crouched down at the edge of the river, looking into the water at the smooth stones they had encountered the previous day. Looking closely enough, he could see faces etched into the stone, barely noticeable unless one was looking for it. He stood up and watched the flow of the river before pointing upstream. "We probably want to go that way, I guess? Maybe we'll find a lake."

"We'd have to follow it downstream, actually," Konekomaru corrected him with a patient smile. "But it might be worth checkin' out either trip. I'm curious about the source of the water. Most likely, it's running down some sort of waterfall, and we'd have to do some climbing if that's the case." Konekomaru looked indecisive on which option might yield better results for their investigation. "What do you think we should do?"

"Oh." Rin looked downstream. "We should probably pick what's more likely to have whatever item we're supposed to be getting, yeah?" He scratched the back of his head. "Maybe… it's at the bottom of a lake." His eyes suddenly lit up. "Or a secret cave behind a waterfall! We should go upstream first in that case!"

Rin's excitement drew a laugh from Konekomaru. "I don't think we'll find a secret cave, but you might be onto something." He crouched down next to the river and peered at the bariyons, then followed the river path up with his eyes. "These guys must've floated down from somewhere. It's probably our best bet." He straightened up and shared a motivated grin with Rin.

"Let's go!"

The two headed off up the river. The trek through the forest was supposed to be pretty uneventful. After all, Shiro had told them that during the day, the forest was safe. A recon mission implied that they were just looking, so nothing should have gone wrong at all. So Rin was partially shocked when, suddenly, he felt a prickle in the back of his neck. He looked around quickly, reaching out for Konekomaru's arm, wanting to still him.

"H-Hey, wait a sec-"

Konekomaru tensed at once, trusting Rin's instincts.

"What's wrong?"

The words faded into the background as a chance gust of wind softly trickled down and shook the leaves above them. When nothing happened after another moment, Konekomaru's shoulders relaxed, but only just a little.

"Was it somethin' you heard?"

"S-Sorta…" How could he explain exactly what he felt? Rin just held on to Konekomaru's arm as they walked and Rin noticed the roots and vines hanging from the trees around them had gotten thicker. The humidity had grown and so did Rin's discomfort. He suddenly felt as though there was something big nearby.

Konekomaru stumbled on one of the roots, and if it wasn't for Rin's firm steadying grip, he would have fallen right on his face.

"Thanks."

Even as the word formed around his mouth, Konekomaru's brow furrowed. He adjusted his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as the tension once again settled on his shoulders.

They continued on. Rin felt uneasy. The excitable atmosphere from before had been replaced with a tension that gripped at the back of his neck. He didn't let go of Konekomaru's arm as he tried to step carefully.

"Who?"

Rin gasped as he felt a whisper in his ear, almost like the sound of rustling leaves.

"Ahh… It's been so long since we have had playmates."

"There's something here…" Rin whispered, looking around for the source of the voice and keeping close to the smaller teen.

Konekomaru looked around as well, his brow furrowed with trepidation, but he was unable to hear the voice that was speaking directly to Rin.

"Are you afraid?" The voice giggled.

Rin's grip tightened around Konekomaru's arm, making the shorter boy wince. "Ouch!"

"I'm sorry!" Rin immediately let go of Konekomaru's arm, jumping back as if he was afraid of hurting his friend again.

Konekomaru rubbed his arm a little with a wince. "No, I'm okay," he said, but there was a curious glint in his eye. He opened his mouth, a question on the tip of his tongue, but in that moment, whatever was watching them chose to strike. Roots grew up like a wall between the two and they felt strong vines winding up their ankles. A pair of yelps escaped the two boys as they were pulled upwards and away from each other.

"Rin-kun!"

Konekomaru pressed a hand up to his glasses to prevent them from falling. His heart raced a mile a minute as the ground grew farther and farther away from him.

"Teehee. Don't be scared. We just want to have a little fun!"

Rin was swung around, face to face with a huge flower. It looked as if it was just opening up, which would explain why they hadn't seen the bright reds and yellows before. A pair of eyes opened up between the petals and looked between the two boys.

"We don't get many humans who play around here!"

"Put us down!" Rin was reaching back, gripping on to the Kurikara to make sure it didn't fall out of the cloth sleeve. As a result, he couldn't break free from the vines.

"But why? We just wanna play!"

"We don't wanna play! We're on an important job so put us down already!" Rin shouted at them. He heard Konekomaru's surprised voice again and Rin craned his neck to see vines had grabbed onto his hands now. "I said put us DOWN!"

Rin turned back to glare at the overgrown flower, his eyes flashing with blue sparks. The vines holding them quivered suddenly with indecision, but eventually, with a reluctance that was very much palpable, the two were set back down on the ground.

"Tch. Boooooring."

The second they were on their feet again, Konekomaru wasted no time in rushing back to Rin's side. He grabbed his hand and, without a word, he bolted out of the clearing, not sparing a glance behind them.

It was only when they were sufficiently far away from the danger that they finally slowed down to catch their breaths. Konekomaru was bent over, his hands resting on his knees as he panted. Rin, meanwhile, had allowed his legs to collapse and he was sitting on the floor, gasping in relief.

"I think it was a Dekalp," Konekomaru said eventually. He straightened up slowly, and his heartbeat resumed its usual rhythm as he exhaled a long breath. "They're usually benign. Sometimes they like to play tricks on people. We must have stumbled into a bad batch."

Konekomaru stayed silent for a little longer. He rubbed his arm absently.

"Hey... I..." The shorter teen fumbled for the right words, but in the end, he must have decided that there was no easy way to say what he was thinking about rather than just saying it. "You were talkin' with it, weren't you?" The question was more rhetorical than anything else. "How did you understand what it was sayin'?"

Rin froze from his spot on the ground. He forgot that people normally couldn't hear demons. He had just had a full conversation with it! Rin couldn't blame himself since he'd only been doing what he could, but even then, the cold grip of self loathing and anxiety twined tightly around his chest.

"I… uh…!" He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. Lying to Konekomaru was never easy. "Well, I think it's the attack thing that happened before school!" He tried to sound nonchalant. "I just… hear demons now! Weird, isn't it?" It wasn't a lie, per say, but saying it still caused his stomach to churn. Rin wanted to trust Konekomaru with the truth.

"That… is weird." Konekomaru seemed to be testing the words, somewhat doubtful by the explanation. "That's not exactly… a normal symptom." He stared down at Rin in thought, something that made Rin's stomach clench further, but in the end, the shorter teen didn't say anything more against the claim. Instead, he stretched his hand towards Rin to help him get up from the floor.

"Well, in any case… I guess that came in handy, so, thanks."

Rin tried not to sigh so heavily in relief as he reached out and took Konekomaru's hand. His grip was soft. Nothing like the firm grip from before. Rin, in fact, was quick to let him go and brush off his clothes. Then he looked over Konekomaru. "You're not hurt or anything, right?" He hovered near Konekomaru before pausing. "Oh. Should we text Ryuuji and let him know what happened? This forest is seriously not as safe as they said it was!" Rin was slowly getting back to his normal self, jumping from subject to subject without leaving much room for responses.

"Yeah. Let's do that. I'm sure they'll be better off with a warning than without anyway."

Ryuuji's response to their text was full of worry and exclamation marks. Konekomaru quickly reassured him that they were alright before inquiring about how they were doing. In response, Ryuuji sent back a frown-y emoji followed by a picture of Renzou crouching down on the floor, his hands covering the top of his head. There was a spiderless coweb stretched out between a pair of branches directly above him.

"It looks like they're doin' alright," Konekomaru said with a sigh as he sent out one last text.

[Hang in there! d(=^ω^=)b]

"Ready to continue?"

Rin nodded and off they went. They heard the waterfall before they saw it. A small break in the trees showed off the small vegetation-covered cliff with water rushing down into a small pool that poured out into the river they'd just followed.

"Whoa!" Rin's eyes widened. "I've never seen a real waterfall before! It's loud!" He didn't need to yell as loud as he did but his excitement took away his ability to control his volume.

The teens approached the cliff, one with fascination, the other one studiously. While Rin's eyes roved over the clear water, Konekomaru looked at the top of the cliff with contemplation.

"We should probably climb up. But we don't have any equipment for that in our bags." Konekomaru tried to recall if there had been any available back at the camp. "Maybe we're not supposed to?" He looked around a bit more. "Oh, though it looks like we might be able to if we go up that way," he said, eyes lighting up as he pointed towards a set of smaller cliffs.

Rin followed Konekomaru's finger. His eyes travelled up the smaller cliffs before he nodded confidently. "I can climb that easy." He adjusted his sword on his back, making sure the straps were tight and secure before he crouched down in front of Konekomaru. "We don't have any equipment though, right? Get on, I'll carry you."

"Eh? You don't have to do that!" Konekomaru's eyebrows shot up, but even as the words left his mouth, he looked dubious over his ability to climb up by himself.

"C'mon!" Rin bounced on the balls of his feet from his position and moved his hands down, waiting to help adjust Konekomaru on his back. "Trust me, it'll be easy!" He smiled brightly.

"Well, if you're sure…"

It took some shuffling around, but Konekomaru's arms wrapped securely around Rin's neck. The shorter teen held on just a little tighter as Rin got up to his feet.

Rin made sure Konekomaru was firmly holding on before he looked up at the series of cliffs. He jumped up, his fingers grabbing hold of a small ledge. Rin's strength was enough that he was able to pull up as if Konekomaru hadn't been on his back at all. He climbed, concentrating hard on making sure he held on to the right handholds, the right ledges, and was painfully aware that Konekomaru was not as indestructible as he was. He had to make sure he made it up safely.

As if in a response to his thoughts, a couple pebbles and dust fell down around the two of them from above. Rin looked up and his eyes widened. Several large bariyon, at least four times the size as the ones they had held in their laps, were looking down at them and mournfully crying. The one right above his and Konekomaru's heads tilted forward until the boulder demon was heading straight for them and falling fast.

"Watch out!"

Konekomaru's fingers dug into Rin's shoulders, but he acted quick and spitted out a chant Rin had only heard once before. A series of glyphs emerged right above their heads out of thin air, forming a sturdy shield that the bariyon bounced off of. It continued its tumble all the way below until there was a loud thump that left a crater on the ground.

"That… was close," Konekomaru said after a long moment of silence.

"Way too close…" Rin had paused in his climb, his heart palpitating with anxiety and fear. He turned his head a bit, though, and grinned. "Thanks, Konekomaru! You're really cool, you know?" Another bariyon tilted forward and fell but hadn't bothered to readjust its position, so the boulder demon fell past them as Rin resumed his climb. He kept his eye on the others, making sure not to stay underneath one lest it try to bludgeon them as well. Konekomaru's rising blush at his words went unseen.

When they arrived at the top, they both let out a giant sigh of relief, though they still eyed the nearby bariyons with caution. However, the rock demons paid little attention to them as they continued to dive towards the ground below them.

"I wonder what they are up to," Konekomaru said as he peered over his shoulder.

Rin watched another bariyon give a mournful cry as it tipped over the edge of the cliff. He crouched down to let Konekomaru stand on his own. "Maybe this is their idea of fun?" He looked at him. When he finished speaking, he heard the crack of the demon hitting the ground below.

Konekomaru winced. "That's a bit… violent, isn't it?"

The two of them watched the bariyons hit the ground for a while longer. There seemed to be no real explanation behind their actions at first, but the slow-moving rocks did begin rolling their way towards the river. Once they were submerged in the water, their mourning cries faded.

"Hmm."

That's when Konekomaru began taking a closer look at their surroundings. Several feet away from the edge of the cliff, there was a large lake which was the source of the waterfall. There were several bariyons of varying sizes sitting in the lake, though many more were crowded around the edges of it. More impressively was the fact that right in the middle, there was a giant-sized bariyon, ten times as tall as they were, just sitting there, barely half submerged. Many of the surrounding bariyons were launching themselves at the bigger one as if trying to get it to move. The others seemed to have resigned themselves to rolling down below.

"Whoa. That must be why they're doing that. That thing is huge!"

"Holy crap! That thing's huge!" Rin pointed, spotting the large bariyon as soon as he'd turned around. At Rin's words, the large bariyon let out a low sobbing noise and twisted as if trying to get deeper into the pool that definitely could never fit it.

"Oh…" Rin's finger faltered and lowered a bit. "Did… Did I hurt its feelings?" He looked to Konekomaru, remembering his dad when they'd sat in the room with the bariyons the first time. Shiro had insulted them and it'd caused them to get heavier. Maybe these bariyons were of a similar temperament.

"Maybe. Though, I think it was already kind of upset."

The giant bariyon began wiggling from side to side, rocking in place. The momentum caused some of the water to splash up, which seemed to make it less upset, but the movement disturbed the rest of the bariyons that were already in the water. They let out moaning complaints. Some fell right down the waterfall with a wail that was only drowned out by subsequent splash.

Rin tilted his head and walked closer to the edge of the pool. He looked down into the water at the bariyons, then the ones outside of the water crying in distress. "Already… Oh! It can't fit in the water! It's too big!" He looked over at Konekomaru, who'd trailed after him, and nodded. "Okay, maybe we can help. We gotta find a way to get it so that it can be covered by water." Rin frowned in thought. "But how can we do that? It's in the way so it's not like we can dig a deeper pool. And that'd take way too long."

Konekomaru pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Well, it's not like they're really disturbing us… I do kind of feel bad for it, but we should probably leave it alone," he concluded.

When he saw Rin's expression fall, however, Konekomaru hesitated. "But I guess… maybe if it were to lay flat? Though it's still too tall, huh? If only there was some way to get it to be any smaller. There's no way we can break somethin' like that..."

"Break it?" Rin frowned thoughtfully. He looked over the bariyon before hearing a particularly loud snap and crack from another falling bariyon. Rin hurried over to the cliff edge and found that one of the falling bariyons had nicked itself on a ledge and broken into pieces. It stayed shattered on the ground but after a few moments, the individual pieces began rolling towards the water, all of them crying individually until they finally made it in.

"I'll push it off the edge!" Rin grinned as the idea hit him like, well, a rock.

"Eh? No way!"

"Yeah, I can do it!" Rin bent down and started rolling up his pants above his knees and then took off his shoes and socks. "Hold on to these for me." He placed them down at Konekomaru's feet as he began to wade into the pool. He was careful of stepping over the bariyons that were there and dodging the ones that threw themselves at the larger one, trying to shove it off.

Rin moved behind the large bariyon, making sure he was aiming right for the waterfall, before he took a deep breath. Then he shoved his body forward and braced his shoulder against the large bariyon. At first, it didn't budge. His heels dug into the soft, wet ground of the bottom of the pool as Rin pushed. He could hear Konekomaru trying to talk him out of it, but his whole focus was directed into this. Rin grit his teeth and shoved harder, letting out a yell of effort.

The bariyon shifted.

The movement caused the other, smaller bariyons to clear the way. Maybe they knew what Rin was trying to do or maybe they just didn't want to get crushed. Either way, the moment it was clear, the first shifting made movement easier. Rin tensed his entire body and shoved again, ramming his shoulder hard into the boulder and sustaining the push as much as he could. Slowly, but surely, the bariyon was pushed forward. At first, the bariyon resisted. It yelled and panicked, becoming heavier and halting progress.

"C'mon! I'm just trying to help!" Rin grunted with effort. "Just let me help you!"

As if in response to his plea, the other, smaller bariyons rolled up behind Rin and began throwing themselves at their huge brother. The impacts gave the bariyon enough of a jolt for Rin to keep pushing. Slowly, but surely, the bariyon reached the edge of the waterfall, plugging it up almost entirely.

"Just…! A bit more!" Rin grunted as he glanced over, seeing Konekomaru at the edge of the cliff, looking down with anxiety as his hands held out, hovering as if wanting to do something but unable to think of any way to be useful. Rin just gave him a grin before he backed up and then charged forward, his hands out. He yelled and pushed and shoved until finally, the large bariyon tilted forward. There was a loud crack as the bariyon collided with the rocky floor underneath the waterfall followed by loud splashes as the water resumed flowing, washing over the bariyon entirely. The little ones at the top immediately rolled into the water, content with all the space they now had. Rin leaned down and looked to see the fate of the larger one.

The bariyon had broken into several pieces, each one growing its own face, but they were all faces of contentment. Whatever pieces couldn't fit under the surface were getting washed over by the waterfall.

"Alright!" Rin pumped a fist up in the air. Victory crowing in his chest, he made his way back to his friend.

Konekomaru's arms had fallen back to his side now that the ordeal was over. He was staring at Rin with wide eyes as he approached, in a way that almost made him feel a little self-conscious, but the thought passed the moment he heard Konekomaru's awed voice.

"That was incredible, Rin-kun..." The shorter teen's mouth hung open. He closed it, opened it again, then shook his head. His eyes drifted away from Rin as he looked back at the waterfall.

"You were right, you know." Konekomaru stepped a little closer to the edge of the lake. "There is somethin' under the waterfall. I saw it briefly when you were pushing the bariyon down the stream."

"Huh?! Really?!" Rin's eyes widened as he shook the water off his feet before bending down over the edge. He squinted. He could barely see it past the rushing water but there was definitely some sort of empty space in the cliff. "That's… so cool!" He grinned and quickly got up to grab his socks and shoes.

Konekomaru's lips twitched into a smile. "If we climb down this way, there, on that ledge," he said, pointing to it, "we should be able to get to it."

Rin nodded. He laced up his shoes and crouched in front of Konekomaru again. "Alright, hold on tight!"

He carried Konekomaru easily down to the ledge, following his instructions and sticking close to the cliff face so they didn't get too wet. Once they arrived at the opening of the cave, Rin allowed Konekomaru to jump off before he hopped off the cliff wall himself.

It was a small grotto more than an actual cave. The walls were blank and nondescript. In fact, the only thing of note was a small chest in the back next to which was a small oil lantern burning away.

"Is that… for us?" Rin approached it carefully, poking the chest with the toe of his shoe.

"It's gotta be." After everything they had been through, it would be crazy to think otherwise. Still, Konekomaru was equally as cautious as he approached the chest.

"There's demons that possess chests… But this doesn't look like one of them. I think it's probably safe to open it."

Konekomaru knelt in front of it, then glanced back at Rin one last time before pushing the lid up, a movement which gave no resistance.

Inside the chest, there was…

Another lantern.

This one was much smaller than the one lighting up the small cavern. The miniature lamp was nothing more than a toy, plastic and cheap-looking. Konekomaru picked it up between his fingers and examined it curiously before passing it over to Rin.

"I'm pretty sure this is what we were supposed to find, but I'm not sure what Sensei's tryin' to tell us with this," Konekomaru admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Huh." Rin crouched down to look inside the chest before looking at the little toy lantern as well. "Well if this is it, then let's head back to camp. Maybe we can ask some questions or something when we get back." He rubbed his chin. "Or maybe the others will have different clues we can all put together!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Konekomaru reached over to grab the toy and securely packed it away in his bag. "I think we've had enough of an adventure today." Thinking about it made him let out a tired sigh. "It would be nice to rest up before we have to set out again tonight."

"Yeah!" Rin was grinning. He was almost lightheaded with the happiness from their completed recon mission. "Today was so cool. And you're so smart and cool too, Konekomaru!" Rin clenched his fists before pushing one forward, expecting a bump against his knuckles which once received, had his grin widening. "We'll get back and see what Ryuuji and the others have found and we'll definitely all figure this out!"

Rin did his best to forget what his dad had said that morning, instead focusing on their victory just now.

"What are you sayin', Rin-kun?" Konekomaru's cheeks reddened slightly at the praise, but he shook his head to will the heat away. "You were definitely the cool one today. We only made it this far because of you!" he told him, his brows knotting together at his earnest words.

"But I wouldn't have made it without you! You're really smart and have good ideas and your shield saved us back there too!" Rin beamed, though it was with red cheeks that he did so. He suddenly felt happy that he'd teamed up with Konekomaru. He had always liked him. Konekomaru was sensible and smart and, besides Ryuuji, out of all his friends, his was the reaction he was worried about the most.

Rin bit his lip as he climbed back down with Konekomaru on his back. He wanted Konekomaru to like him, to keep being his friend.

He will! Dontcha worry about it so much!

A Ryuuji-like voice seemed to sound in his head that relaxed the knots in Rin's stomach. It helped and Rin was able to hit the ground with Konekomaru with a smile back on his face. They headed back to the camp but Rin was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he didn't notice Konekomaru had also gone quiet on the way back.

As they entered the clearing and stepped over the painted lines, the familiar sight of Ryuuji's hair caused the rest of the tension to leave Rin's body.

"Ryuuji! We're back!" Rin called out as he waved towards the tall teen.

"Yer back!"

Ryuuji jogged over to meet them the moment he met Rin's eyes, Renzou and Shiemi trailing behind him.

"I was startin' to get worried. Ya guys okay?"

Renzou rolled his eyes as he saw Ryuuji studiously examine both Rin and Konekomaru, clearly looking for injuries, despite the fact that their own group was more visibly worn out.

"Don't let him fool ya, we just got back ourselves."

"We found a clue!" Shiemi burst out, unable to help herself. She was beaming with pride.

Konekomaru's eyes lightened up. "Us too!" he said.

The group drew closer together and exchanged information, and Konekomaru and Ryuujo shared a look immediately.

"It's gotta be a peg lantern," Ryuuji declared.

Konekomaru nodded. "Looks like we'll each have to retrieve one. They can be tricky, but this seal you found oughta help a lot."

"What a pain," Renzou sighed.

Rin peered at the seal Ryuuji had shown them. The squiggles and runes barely made sense to him but it looked as though Ryuuji and Konekomaru had recognized the make up quite easily. Dread clung to his chest. If he didn't manage this, he wouldn't be able to make it to the meister exam. Rin swallowed harshly and smacked his own cheeks. He just had to study hard in these last couple hours that they had left before sundown.

"I'll start cooking!" Rin found his determination and pulled himself together again. "Ryuuji, do you think you can teach me about the lanterns?" He knew time was of the essence and Ryuuji's tutoring was easier for him to follow than most.

"'Course!"

Ryuuji didn't blink an eye at the request. In fact, it looked like he had already been planning to study for the next few hours to freshen up his own knowledge.

After a quick afternoon lunch, they did just that, ducking away into their tent to avoid the growing heat of the sun. Ryuuji and Rin were spread out on their stomachs, pouring over a textbook as Ryuuji taught Rin quick shortcuts to memorize the material, highlighting the most relevant pieces to their mission.

The sound of the tent's entrance zipper being undone caught their attention.

"Hey." It was Konekomaru's head that popped in. "Mind if I come in?"

Rin and Ryuuji made space in the tent for him and Konekomaru let the flap of the tent fall close as he sat down in front of them on his knees. He looked a little nervous at first, scratching his cheek absentmindedly before he seemed to take in a breath of determination. When he looked up, he looked at Rin first, staring at him straight in the eye, then doing the same to Ryuuji.

"We need to talk."