"Can you believe how many new groups have started forming?"

"I know. It's crazy. I wonder why they are doing this now?"

"Who knows. Most fail after a month, though."

"True."

Kasumi had heard similar conversations for a while now. She knew that groups were forming, but she didn't realize there were that many. It was starting to inspired her to create on herself.

Her group wasn't really that. They didn't have an official name or a territory. They migrated all over. So, Kasumi felt like she had a good chance at making a group herself.

But, who would she recruit to join it? She knew normally new groups started off with only a few members until they got settled. She only should choose a few.

That still didn't really help much. She had no idea how to decide. Was there a certain criteria that the members should meet? Or, should she just let anyone join?

Kasumi was really stumped. She spent the entire walk home thinking about it. What could she do? Was there perhaps someone she could ask? Maybe there was.

Kasumi immediately started searching for her friend once she arrived back at the group's camp. She had no idea where they might be. That was making the search a lot harder than she would've liked for it to be.

It took quite some time, but she eventually did manage to track down her friend.

"Arisa! Hey!"

"Kasumi? What do you want now?" Arisa sent her a slight glare.

"I want to create a demon group." Kasumi stated with a smile on her face.

"W-what!?" Arisa yelled in shock.

"What? I wanna make a group. Is that a bad thing?" Kasumi cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Kasumi... I swear..." Arisa grumbled, "You aren't going to be able to just simply create a group just like that."

"Why not?" Kasumi asked.

"Do you really think it's that easy? Where do you plan to live? How do you plan to protect yourself against other groups attacking? What about resources?" Arisa questioned.

"Eh..." Kasumi blanked on those answerd.

Arisa sighed, "See? You can't even answer the basic questions."

"We can work with it as we go?" Kasumi offered.

Arisa flicked her head, "No. That doesn't work."

"Fine... I'll come up with answers then." Kasumi stated.

"Good luck with that." Arisa grumbled.

"Well... it's getting light out. I better get home." Kasumi waved goodbye.

She made her way to her house and then promptly went to bed. She was exhausted. Her dreams were filled with her creating a demon group.

DIVIDER--

Kasumi jolted awake. A loud boom had just occurred. She smelled smoke. Kasumi shot out of her bed and ran outside. There was dust and smoke everywhere. She could hear the cackling of fire all around her.

Kasumi dashed toward Arisa's house. She needed to find her now. Kasumi made it in no time. The dust was thick. She couldn't see far.

"Arisa!?" Kasumi called with urgency.

There was no reply. Kasumi kept calling her name as she searched around. She gulped when she noticed the house was destroyed. That wasn't a good sign at all.

"Arisa!? Where are you!?" Kasumi called again.

There was still no reply. Kasumi was growing worried. Arisa would've come to her first if she could have. Something happened to her then.

Kasumi soon found out what had happened. She found Arisa. Her lower body was crushed by a tree. She didn't appear to be conscious.

"Arisa!" Kasumi ran over to her.

She frantically felt for a pulse. Thankfully, she was still breathing. Kasumi tried to push the tree off of her, but to no avail. She wasn't strong enough.

Kasumi fell to her knees as her legs gave out from exhaustion. She was crying. This was bad. Arisa needed help and she couldn't do anything.

"Push when I say so." An unknown voice spoke.

"O-okay." Kasumi quickly got back to her feet and readied herself.

"Now."

They pushed the tree off of her. Kasumi was relieved. She tried to get a better look at the demon who had helped her. She couldn't make much of them out from the dust.

"Grab your friend and follow me. We need to hide before they come back to finish off everyone else." The demon stated.

Kasumi nodded and quickly scooped Arisa up. They ran off into the woods. Kasumi soon could see the demon. It was a girl. She had long beige hair.

"W-where are we going?" Kasumi asked.

"To a cave. Your community wasn't the only one attacked by the organization. Ours was too. Me and two others managed to escape." The demon said.

"What's your name? I'm Kasumi and this is Arisa." Kasumi asked.

"Saaya."

"Thank you for helping me."

"You're about my age. We need to work together. Right?" Saaya said.

"Oh... alright. I guess we should." Kasumi agreed.

They stopped running. They had reached a cave. Saaya led Kasumi inside. Two other girls were sitting in the cave.

"You found others?"

"Yeah. Get the med kit. She's injured. Got crushed by a tree." Saaya ordered.

"Right on it!"

Kasumi set Arisa down on the ground. She shakily sat down. She was exhausted. That had drained her a lot. The smoke and dust also seemed to be affecting her. She coughed a bit.

"Here. Drink." One of the demons pushed a water bottle to her lips.

Kasumi gratefully accepted it. She felt better now.

"I'm Tae. That's Rimi. I assume Saaya already introduced herself." The demon said.

Kasumi nodded, "I'm Kasumi and that Arisa... will... will she be okay?"

"Can't guarentee her legs will work again, but she won't die." Saaya replied.

"That's... good..." Kasumi's vision started fading and before long she had passed out.

DIVIDER--

Kasumi woke up later. It was just starting to become dark outside. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was laying down now, a blanket over her. Kasumi sat up.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Rimi was beside her seconds later.

"Okay." Kasumi looked to her side. Arisa was still out. She had a lot of bandages on her body.

"She should wake up soon. I have to go fetch some water. I'll be back. Tae and Saaya went to scavenge some food. They should return soon." Rimi said.

"Okay..." Kasumi nodded.

Rimi left the cave. Now it was just her and Arisa. Kasumi looked her over closely. Her left leg looked horrible. It was bent at an awkward angle. Her right leg looked relatively normally.

Kasumi sighed as she brushed some hair from Arisa's face. She hated this. Why did she have to get hurt? Why did the organization even attack them? It didn't make sense at all.

Arisa groaned. Kasumi watched her in worry. Was she waking up? It seemed like it. Arisa was groaning as she squirmed. Kasumi noted that her legs did not move at all.

Arisa weakly opened her eyes, "Kas...umi...?"

"Hey." Kasumi placed a hand over one of hers, "I'm right here."

"What... happened?" Arisa's voice was weak.

"The organization blew up our town for some reason." Kasumi explained.

"I can't feel my legs..."

"I know... you got crushed by a tree. Um... you may not ever get feeling in them again." Kasumi frowned, the reality of those words sinking in.

"Hurts..."

"I... I can't do much... I'm sorry." Kasumi's frown got bigger.

Arisa's eyes fell shut. Kasumi assumed she fell unconscious again. That wasn't good. Just how much pain was she in?

"Hey. We're back." Saaya and Tae returned.

"Rimi went to get water." Kasumi said.

"Tae, can you start the fire?" Saaya asked.

"Sure." Tae nodded and started gathering wood.

Saaya set down the stuff she had been carrying and then walked over to Kasumi. She knelt down and studied her.

"Does anything hurt?" Saaya asked.

Kasumi shook her head, "No. I'm fine. But... Arisa woke up and... she said she's in pain..."

Saaya carefully checked Arisa out. She removed the bandages and replaced them with new ones. That allowed Kasumi to see the true damage that had been done to her.

Arisa's left leg was... bad. The bone was completely broken. It was jutting out of the skin slightly. Saaya tried to push it back into place, but it only moved a little bit. Arisa's right leg was better, but not much. The skin was completely gone, torn off by them removing the tree. You could clearly make out almost all of her bone. It wasn't a pleasant sight at all.

"Do you think there's any chance she could move either of them again?" Kasumi asked with worry.

"Potentially her right leg may work again. Her left leg... we'll be gathering the supplies to amputate it as soon as possible, lest it get infected and kill her." Saaya said.

"It's that far gone..." Kasumi stared in shock.

"Unfortunately, the bone has cracked too much to repair. Too much of it is missing to just bind it and let it heal. It has to go or else she will get an infection." Saaya sighed. She didn't like it either.

"Why... why did this happen...?" Kasumi felt tears streaming down her face. When did that happen?

"We can't say for certain, but we believe the organization finds us a threat. As we move a lot, they can't keep very good tabs on us." Tae explained, "Perhaps they think we could be planning something bad? Especially now that Roselia is starting to take them down."

"I... I guess it does make sense..." Kasumi sighed, "They don't seem to like anyone who doesn't do exactly as they want."

"Indeed. It sucks."

Rimi returned to the cave. She set down the bucket of water and then helped Tae cook. They had managed to find some animals around. It wasn't much but it would have to do for now.

"Rimi. After we eat, you'll come with me to gather supplies so we may amputate her leg." Saaya stated, "We need to work fast."

"Understood." Rimi nodded.

Kasumi hated all of this. She felt awful. Why did this have to happen to them? Why Arisa? Why did she have to get hurt?

Kasumi laid down and huddled close to Arisa. She gently caressed her cheek.

The food was soon done. Kasumi sat up so she could eat it. Once done, Saaya and Rimi headed out. Tae remained behind.

"Are you guys a group?" Kasumi asked.

"Not officially." Tae replied.

"We should make a group together." Kasumi stated, "Find somewhere safe and get some territory."

"I don't know how wise that is with... what's going on..." Tae said.

"We don't have to make it official with the organization." Kasumi replied, "We could just be there in secret."

"I guess that's true. I suppose we should ask the others when they return." Tae agreed.

"Is Saaya like the leader here?" Kasumi questioned.

Tae shrugged, "I don't know. She just took charge while we were in shock."

"Okay."

A few minutes passed. Arisa woke up again. Kasumi was immediately right there for her.

"Hey... do you think you could manage some food or water?" Kasumi asked her.

Arisa shook her head, "It... hurts too much..."

"Here. Take this. It should help." Tae held out a small vial of liquid.

Kasumi lifted Arisa up slightly as Tae helped her drink it. Once she had swallowed, Kasumi set her back down again.

"Where are we?" Arisa asked.

"In a cave." Kasumi said, "There's three girls from another group here with us. That was Tae. Saaya and Rimi went to get supplies. Um... they have to amputate your left leg. It's... unsalvageable."

Arisa didn't say anything. She just stared at Kasumi with wide eyes full of despair. They also held fear in them. Kasumi didn't blame her for that at all. It was scary.

"Hopefully you're right leg will heal and you can soon use it again." Tae said.

"Can I sit up? It's hard to breathe on the floor." Arisa requested.

Kasumi nodded and very cautiously shifted her so she was now leaning on her body. Arisa relaxed against her with a sighed. Kasumi kept a firm grip on her, lest she accidentally slip out.

"So, think you can stomach something now?" Tae asked.

"I can try." Arisa replied.

Tae grabbed a cup of the water that had been boiled already. She carefully helped Arisa drink it. Arisa's hands were too shaky to be of any help. She couldn't care for herself right now. It was embarrassing but she was in too much pain and shock to care.

"Alright. You don't have to eat this all. I'd be happy with at least a quarter of it." Tae said as she held a plate of some animal they had cooked.

Arisa nodded. Tae slowly fed her small pieces. Kasumi was making sure she didn't fall while doing so. Arisa was holding her hands.

"Do you want more or is that enough?" Tae asked once they reached the quarter.

"I think that's enough..." Arisa mumbled.

"Alright. That's good enough for me." Tae set the plate aside, "Drink a bit more water, please."

Arisa nodded and took a few more sips of water. Just that had drained her of all her energy. She was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. She rested as comfortably as she could against Kasumi and drifted off.

"Well, at least she's managing to eat." Kasumi was relieved by that.

"Yeah. I honestly didn't think she'd manage a quarter of it, but she did." Tae nodded.

"Um... how exactly will they amputate her leg?" Kasumi had been bugged by that thought for a while now.

"We'll knock her out with this medicine, " Tae held up a small vial, "And then do it."

"Alright." Kasumi sighed, "It's just... hard..."

"I know. You hate that she's suffering but you know you can't change it."

Kasumi nodded. That was exactly what this all was. She hated seeing Arisa in so much pain, but she couldn't do anything to help her. She couldn't even make her completely better. Her leg was going to be gone. There was nothing she could do. It was hard to come to terms with it all.

"We got everything." Rimi announced as they entered the cave.

"Alright. I got her to eat and drink a bit." Tae said, "Gave her some painkillers too."

"Good. She'll definitely need them. And it's good to know she's able to eat." Saaya nodded, "Well, wake her up so we can start this."

Kasumi gulped as she gently woke Arisa back up. Arisa groggily opened her eyes. She was exhausted still.

"They want to do it now." Kasumi told her, "You'll be given medicine to put you to sleep. When you wake up, it'll be all over."

Tae handed Kasumi the vial. Kasumi took it. Looks like she was being trusted with giving it to Arisa.

"Open up, please." Kasumi opened the vial and pressed it to Arisa's lips.

Arisa weakly opened her mouth. She was too exhausted and in pain to function much. Kasumi gently pried open her mouth with her thumb and poured the medicine in. She held Arisa's mouth closed and set the vial down. She gently massaged Arisa's throat to try and coax her to swallow.

How did she know how to do that? One time she had gotten really sick and Arisa had done that to help her take some medicine when she couldn't move. It did the trick here and Kasumi felt her swallow. A few moments later, Arisa had gone limp against her again.

"Give it a minute. She might've just passed out herself." Tae stated.

Kasumi gently laid her down on the ground. Saaya started to unwrap her leg. Rimi was preparing everything.

"Kasumi, come with me. Let's see if we can find more food." Tae tugged Kasumi to her feet.

Kasumi nodded and followed her out of the cave. She knew why. She really didn't want to watch them anyway. It was a good distraction.

"Where should we look?" Kasumi asked.

"There's a pond close by. Maybe we could get lucky and find some fish." Tae suggested.

"Lead the way." Kasumi said.

Tae started walking. Kasumi glanced back at the cave briefly, before following behind her. She trusted them to do a good job with Arisa.

They didn't speak as they walked. They soon came to the pond.

"Do you know how to fish?" Tae asked.

Kasumi shook her head, "Not really. I've only ever hunted forest creatures."

"Let me demonstrate then." Tae said as she scanned the water for fish.

Kasumi watched her closely. Tae suddenly plunged a hand into the water. She brought it out with a fish stuck on her claws. Kasumi was in awe. She made it look so easy.

"Think you can do that?" Tae asked as she removed the fish and set it aside.

"I can try." Kasumi said.

They silently started fishing. Kasumi wasn't doing too well. She kept failing to catch the fish. Tae was an expert on it to her. She was really good at it.

"Tae... I'm worried about... everything..." Kasumi said quietly.

"I know. It's going to be tough." Tae said, "But, all we can do it move on and deal with what each day brings."

"I'm worried about Arisa. I don't know how she'll handle all of this." Kasumi frowned.

"She'll have to find a way. Unfortunately we can't make a prosthetic for her." Tae sighed, "That would make everything so much easier..."

"Yeah... it really would..." Kasumi agreed.

"Wanna head back? They should be done by now?"

"Sure." Kasumi nodded.

They split the pile of fish evenly between them to carry. They took a slow walk back to the cave. When they entered, they were indeed finished. Arisa's leg was gone.

"We buried it a bit away." Rimi said, "Hopefully it won't attract anything."

"Yeah. We got fish." Tae said as she set the fish down.

Kasumi set her pile down as well, "I... caught one of these fish... the rest were Tae's."

"You'll learn." Tae placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's a skill that takes time to perfect."

"Well, how about you watch over Arisa in case she wakes up. I'm gonna get more water for us to boil." Rimi said.

"Okay." Kasumi nodded and plopped down beside where Arisa was lying.

Saaya and Tae started preparing the fish to be cooked. That was going to be their food for the time being.

"Kasumi had an idea. We could form a group but not be official. Might be wise to find a place and have some territory of our own." Tae said.

"That does sound like a good idea." Saaya nodded, "We'll have to start searching. We shouldn't leave this cave unless we have a secure spot or until Arisa is healed enough."

"True." Tae nodded.

"Is her right leg healing at all?" Kasumi questioned.

"Slowly. All we can do is hope it heals properly." Saaya replied.

"Yeah..."

"What would we call our group?"

"Hmm... good question."

"I don't know why, but the name Poppin' Party came to mind when I was thinking of making a group of my own." Kasumi offered.

"Well, we can use that unless we think of another name we like more." Saaya said.

"Who would the leader be?" Kasumi asked.

"You came up with it. You should be it." Tae stated.

"Me?"

"Just because you're the leader doesn't mean you always have to lead. It just makes you in control of the group." Saaya said.

"Alright... if that's what you think is best." Kasumi felt intimidated by the thought of being the leader of this group.

"I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I hope so..."