Disclaimer: I do not own DanMachi or any of Omori's original characters, nor do I make any profit off of my writing.

"And you're positive this will work?"

"What? No? What gave you that idea? I literally just spent the last five minutes explaining how this was untested and entirely experimental and—were you even listening?"

Bell shrugged.

"What the hell, Bell?"

In his defense, she'd been kind of droning on. It was incredibly boring.

Maybe her sleepiness was contagious? That felt like a possibility.

Naaza groaned and her face felt into her arms where they were crossed on the counter. Her brown ears flopping even lower than typical as she bemoaned her luck. Of course, her only regular customer would be somebody like this.

"Just – I can't be sure of the potions effects without somebody willing to test it. Considering it was you who commissioned its creation, I feel like it should be you who tests it."

Bell couldn't say he liked the sound of that. Drinking an untested potion from somebody who'd scammed him in the past?

.. perhaps I should just try Dian Cecht?

A tick mark appeared on the chienthrope's forehead as she bolted upright, a snarl on her lips. "I heart that!"

Oops.

Rather than face her ire and finally determining which was worse, her bark or her bite, Bell downed the experimental potion in one singular gulp. Had he been listening to Naaza's lengthy explanation of safety precautions he would have heard the rather important point that one is to only drink a moderate amount at first.

Meaning a sip.

A sip of mystery elixir at most.

Why?

Well, it was rather simple.

Nobody knows what it does.

The best way to find out?

Test it!

If she were a black smith and that potion a sword, would she have demonstrated its edge by cleaving her customer's arm off? No? Then why would that customer drink an entire potion!

Idiots! The lot of them!

She scowled at the boy as he shrugged, completely unabashed by the sheer amount of dumbassery he just displayed.

"It is a miracle you're still alive," she snarked.

Maybe she should use that as an advertisement for her potions? 'Shop at the Blue Pharmacy! Capable of keeping even the infamous Rabbit Foot alive!'

Then again, he had a bit of a reputation after the whole 'Bell Cranel is a monster fetishist' debacle. Might not be the wisest of ideas to associate herself with him.

Either way, it didn't matter anymore because that right there on the floor was a rabbit. Why was there a rabbit on the floor?

Naaza blinked.

"Fuck."

Of course.

Of course!

What else would happen?

Certainly nothing typical!

Turn his eyebrows green for the day? Preposterous!

Remove his sense of taste for a week? Certainly not!

Turn the boy into a rabbit for gods know how long? Now that's more like it.

"Daphne, Cassandra! I could use a hand out here!"

Daphne emerged from upstairs almost immediately, peaking her head around the shop frantically before frowning. "Aw, man! I thought we finally got some customers, what the hell, captain?"

Naaza growled at the reminder, why was she still manning the counter when she was the captain anyways?

"Where's the seer?"

Daphne shrugged. "Sleeping still, I assume."

Naaza could respect it.

"Well go get her! We have a problem!"

Daphne nodded, turning to walk back up the stairs before pausing after the first step. She turned back toward the still rather unhappy chienthrope, her brown tail swiping through the air agitatedly behind her. "What's the problem, cap?"

"The bunny, of course!"

"What bunny?"

".. "

".. "

".. shit."

…

Aiz was having, by all accounts, a rotten day.

To start things off, she had to train alone. She normally did, but she really missed training with Bell.

It was fun.

It was also really easy.

The boy could barely put up a fight when they last sparred. Really enjoyable. Nothing says 'inflation of sense of self-importance' like beating a boy senseless. Plus his hair was soft!

Now she had to just train alone.

Hypothetically, she could ask Bell to come train with her again, but they just had that whole 'Bell Cranel is a monster fetishist' debacle and just eugh.

So, Aiz woke up and trained alone.

Not as fun.

Then, then it rained. Which fine. She couldn't blame the weather for her bad mood.

Except she absolutely could.

She means rain? Who approved that?

The only thing worse than water falling from the sky is water sitting on the ground. Namely in the form of pools, rivers, creaks, ponds, what have you.

So, to tally everything so far: she woke up early to train (without Bell so it was worse) and then got rained on.

Of course, her day just had to get worse from there.

She dropped her breakfast.

It wasn't even all that bad. Most of her plate was spared, she just tilted it a bit too much and some of her eggs slid off and it shouldn't have been a problem, but it was. Why was it a problem? It wasn't a big deal. It shouldn't have been a big deal. Why did it feel so bad? All she could do was stare down at the remains of her food and fight back the urge to cry.

Today wasn't a good day.

Now, Aiz wasn't big on public emoting.

She also wasn't really big on private emoting either.

Emoting as a whole was kind of a no-go. That was more of little Aiz's thing. She had emotions (quite a few if she were honest, especially after that rain, gods the rain!), she just wasn't great at expressing them.

Obviously, she didn't want her familia to see her have a full breakdown over the omelet that now lay prettily on the hardwood floor of the Twilight Manor dining hall. It wouldn't have been pretty. She was pretty sure she would at least have frowned. At most, though? She shivered at the thought. She probably would have done something mortifying, like sniffle.

Or whimper.

Unforgivable.

Aiz, naturally, ran away, leaving behind a brisk gust of wind and a floor omelet for everybody to enjoy.

And she went to her favorite food stand.

Jagamarukun.

They were closed.

Because it was raining.

She hated the rain.

It didn't stop there, oh no, it certainly did not.

Aiz was already on the verge of a complete mental collapse, like 'this white-haired boy keeps running away from me every time I see him and I always forget to apologize to him and I'm pretty sure he hates me and I'm sad' mental collapse. She didn't like it.

And Bell wasn't there to help.

And it was raining.

And she was hungry.

And she already felt pathetic for not practicing that morning. Who was she to decide she didn't have to protest when her mother was out there, potentially suffering at the hands of the One-Eyed Black Dragon?

It was not a good day.

So, could she really be blamed for wanting to do something to do something just to cheer herself up?

"Wallenstein-san? What are you doing here?"

"Is Bell here?"

Aiz looked around the courtyard outside the Hearth Mansion, if he was, at the very least he wasn't outside. She turned back to the renard girl just in time to see her frown in thought and tap a finger on her chin.

"I think he stepped out already, but he didn't say where he was going exactly."

Great.

Wonderful even.

Just perfect.

Haruhime squeaked, her arms waving sporadically through the air as she tried to recover some semblance of hope for the girl. "W- wait! Please don't cry! I'm sure we can find him! P- please! Just– just– I'll be right out and we can go together, okay?"

Aiz nodded, not trusting her voice.

Today was not her day.

She was usually so much better than this!

She couldn't even really say what had led up to this point. Had it really just been the events of today? Or the summation of everything that had happened recently?

Her frustrations with Bell early on in their friendship; she doubted she could really even call it a friendship at that point.

Her confusion around Revis and the demi-spirits.

Her memories of her parents and the times they shared back in that little cabin all those years ago.

Bell's betrayal in Daedalus.

Her meeting with Wiene and her heart's betrayal of her soul; reaching out and yearning to protect that monster girl.

The Renard girl appeared back in front of her in a flurry of limbs, looking the image of stress incarnate as she moved.

She'd traded out her maid's uniform for a long, red, flowing kimono that stretched down to her ankles. Through her tears, Aiz couldn't help but acknowledge a very obvious fact, "you– you're very pretty, miss."

She really wished these damnable tears would stop. She was upset and she was crying and the fact that she was crying in front of a stranger was only serving to upset her more which made her cry more which made her more upset and– and she was a mess. She hated this.

She wanted to lock herself away in her room and not speak to anybody for a week; only leaving the comfort of her blankets to venture forth in the dead of night and steal some food. She'd be forced the dodge the wards Riveria always puts up around the manor, but she could do it.

The Renard smiled and it only made her look prettier. "Haruhime, Wallenstein-san. Please just call me Haruhime."

Aiz nodded but said nothing, merely sticking to the girls side as she turned and locked the front door.

"Shall we?"

…

"So.. "

Naaza groaned. This is decisively not what she wanted to be doing. They were on a potential time crunch here, she didn't have time to explain this eighteen different times!

".. Bell Cranel commissioned a potion to erase memories of his."

Yes! Hurry up!

"You made said potion, or tried to, and when he came to collect it he drank the entire thing at one time. Without testing it first."

Come on, come on, come on.

"And the potion turned him into a bunny or a rabbit?"

"Bunny, rabbit, hare, I don't really see how it matters right now! We need to find him and give him this," she shook the vial in her hand, the violet liquid twirling around the cylindrical tube, "to fix this!"

Daphne frowned, her eyes flicking over to the still mostly asleep Cassandra to her left, "and how do we know that," she pointed to the offending tincture, "won't doing something worse?"

Naaza groaned. "I explained that already!"

I can't believe they don't trust me!

"This is not a potion, nor is it experimental. It's a natural extract that will get the potion out of his system quicker. That's all it does. It's a tried-and-true method for stuff like this, if the damn thing didn't bolt out the door right away I would have had time to give him this!"

The formed member of the Apollo familia nodded, that made sense, she supposed.

But there was one more thing.

"How exactly do we plan on finding him?"

Naaza just smirked and tapped her nose.

Ah. Right.

Naaza was half dog.

It would be child's play to just have her follow the trail the bunny left, surely it would be easy to follow the scent of the only bunny in Orario.

They opened the door and stepped outside.

"Fuuuuuuck."

They forgot it was raining.

…

If Aiz had anything to say about her new.. friend? Companion? If she had anything to say about Haruhime, it was that the girl was thoughtful.

And smart.

She smiled smally through her tears as she accepted the proffered umbrella with a wavery 'thank you.'

She could add that to the list of things she screwed up today. She'd been in such a hurry to flee her familia that she hadn't even thought to grab her umbrella.

Gods she hated today.

Today was the worst and she wished it would just end.

Tomorrow would be better.

Hopefully.

"What are your thoughts on Bell-sama, Wallenstein-san?"

Her thoughts?

Aiz wiped away a mixture of rain water and tears from her face, doing little to hide her puffy eyes from view but at least clearing her cheeks of any evidence. "My thoughts?"

Haruhime nodded, her tail curled up tightly around her waist to protect it from the rainwater. It did little to prevent the water splashing off the cobbled streets from reaching the underside, but it helped. She had little intention of returning to the house smelling like wet fur. "Yes, your thoughts."

Aiz turned back to the street before them, her eyes flicking over to the alleys they passed to see if he was hiding in one of them. She wouldn't put it past him, he hid from her a lot. Truthfully, her first choice on where to check had not been the Hostess, if it had been her, she would have hidden away in the dungeon. But this wasn't her, this was Bell, and Haruhime had insisted that this was their day off and Bell would never. Especially not with their expedition coming up.

"Bell is.. "

What were her thoughts on the white-haired boy?

Bell was.. frustrating. So frustrating. He was ridiculously annoying in the ways he always ran from her. She knew there was something wrong with her but she didn't need it thrown right back in her face like that. Gods, he was frustrating. The way he ran off to face down danger that had nothing to do with him. The way he was always in way over his head.

The minotaur on the fifth. The silverback in Daedalus. The orcs on the tenth. The minotaur on the ninth. The pass parade on his first trip into the middle floors. Whatever it was that had happened on the eighteenth after her familia had left. The Apollo familia's man hunt through the streets of Orario. The war games. The monster business.

Gods, he was frustrating.

But, at the same time, Bell was–

"Bell is kind."

Haruhime hummed an acknowledgement but said nothing, choosing instead to focus her attention on smelling the air. The rain was certainly not helping.

"He's strong too."

"Brave."

"Fluffy?"

"And kind."

"Fast, he's fast."

"Determined!"

"He's kind."

Haruhime wasn't really positive on why exactly Aiz had started counting her list off on her fingers when she'd already repeated kind three times but who was she to judge. Each character trait was accompanied by the extension of another finger. She had a total of eight now, which was pretty good in Aiz's mind.

The swordswoman smiled and nodded, obviously pleased.

And then something caught her eye and she was gone.

"Wha– Aiz!"

Her previously held umbrella laid abandoned on the ground, rocking slowly back and forth in a puddle of muddy water. Haruhime grumbled to herself as she picked the handle up and spun the umbrella around in a tight circle, clearing as much of the excess water as she could before holding it in on itself.

".. where did that girl run off too now?"

She was worse than Mikoto when she saw a bath, at least she could see Mikoto move then. Aiz just vanished. Totally not cool.

Haruhime sighed and stared around the misty street. The city was nearly devoid of life, the storm being far too heavy for anybody to brave the outdoors. She couldn't blame them, the rebound of the raindrops alone was casting a thin, white veil over the area around her, obscuring the areas further off from view.

She wanted to go home.

But now she had to people to find.

Joy.

…

".. maybe, the potion will just wear off on its own?"

Naaza scowled. Why on earth had they accepted two members who knew nothing about potions into their familia? Sure, Cassandra could heal but she was practically– no, she couldn't say that. That would be mean. But the girl didn't know a thing about potions and their effects!

What if they had only seen what the potion's immediate effect was, what if his body was still absorbing the rest of the solution and they had yet to see its true effect?

The transformation could have just been a side effect or it could have been the first stage, they just didn't know.

She was not going to be responsible for the death of Bell Cranel because it was a little wet outside.

If she was she'd never forgive herself.

She couldn't just lose a valuable source of income like that! It was irresponsible. Bell was about the only person who repeatedly came back to their shop day after day. If he died, they'd lose just about their only chance of ever getting out of debt.

And she supposed it would be sad to lose a good friend. Probably.

She really needed the money though and Bell had yet to pay for the commission.

Would it be immoral to request money from his familia should they fail in giving him the antidote? She didn't think so, he agreed to the amount, after all.

"Yeah, we can go home."

She needed a nap.

Naaza spun on her heel, already dreaming of the couch and the blissful experience that would be her face hitting the cushions.

Yes, she could practically taste the warmth of her blanket cocoon, the orgasmic feeling of sleep.

Naaza sighed.

".. damnit! Come on."

Fucking Bell.

Curse that fool of a boy and her stupid ass morals.

…

"Wallenstein-san?"

Nothing.

"Wallenstein-san? Are you out there?"

Only the rain fall answered her call.

"Aiz? This really isn't funny, I thought we were looking for Bell-sama? Where did you go?"

Oh dear, oh no. What if Aiz got hurt? Wet stone was no joke, she could have slipped and fallen. Haruhime was nervous, what would happen if Aiz needed her help and she couldn't get to her.

"Aiz? I'm worried, can you just.. I don't know.. groan or something? Anything to help me find you so I can see if you're okay?"

She didn't like this. There was a queasy sensation in her stomach and her heart was pounding and her skin was cold from the rain and her fingers were pale and trembling and where was she!

"Aiz this really isn't cool! You don't just abandon your friends like this!"

Haruhime knew she shouldn't be yelling at her friends (even if they weren't there to hear her) but she was frustrated. All she had wanted was to do her chores and cook a nice meal with Mikoto at the end of the day, not– not this.

Damnit! Where is she?

…

Damnit! Where is he?

Aiz had been certain that she'd seen Bell and she was so ready to finally get out of this funk of hers. Just a few good moments with his head in her lap and she'd be right as rain. It was like a miracle cure, she swears.

She'd seen the briefest flash of white down an alleyway and she dove after it.

But the little jerk was gone!

What's new?

He was always running away from her.

She would have stomped her foot petulantly in her frustration if it weren't for the fact that she caught another glimpse of his pure white hair.

She dove.

"Aha!"

Bell had.. certainly gotten smaller since the last time she'd seen him. And squeakier. And furrier. And lighter. And far less nervous. But he had the same white hair, the same wide, innocent, red eyes. She was certain this was him.

A clump of whiskers shifted up and down through the air as the creature in her arms chewed on the blades of grass sticking out from its mouth.

Blessedly, it had been eating some of the weeds beneath a store awning so neither of the pair were actively getting wet, but that didn't really stop the shiver that ran down Aiz's body when a gust of wind kicked up through the alleyway.

Aiz stared into Bell's eyes and frowned, narrowing her own eyes as she did.

"Bell," she began, a disappointed lilt to her voice, "why are you a bunny?"

Bell squeaked some more.

She didn't speak bunny.

"I don't understand you, can you try speaking in Koine?"

Some more squeaking.

Aiz sighed. There's never an off day with this boy was there? Just one thing after another.

She could not, in good conscience, take him out into the rain, lest she wished to risk him suffering from hypothermia when the rain soaked through his thick fur. So, she was stuck.

Great.

That was exactly what she needed after a long day of awful. Aiz loved being cold and wet and uncomfortable. It was her favorite.

With an effervescent and strangled sigh, she plopped down on the curb. Her arms curled protectively around the animal in her lap as she pouted. Naturally, naturally when she finally finds Bell he just has to be in some kind of trouble that prevented her from actually enjoying his company. All she wanted was some comfort and all she was getting was more work.

How did the boy even turn into a bunny anyway?

Idly, her fingers stroked at his fur.

It wasn't like she had anything better to do. She'd forgotten her umbrella when she ran after Bell a while ago. She wasn't even sure how long she'd been chasing the idiot, but it'd felt like a long time.

So, she pet the bunny form of her friend.

Bell's legs would occasionally kick out and he'd roll over. Aiz took that as a sign he was enjoying it, so she kept going.

Bunny Bell was definitely less nervous than human Bell., he would have already run from her, screaming, if he was awake for this. She preferred it this way. She didn't like it when he ran.

Aiz hummed softly as she reclined against the front door to whatever building was behind her. Her wet hair stuck to the wood, but that was preferable to sticking to her skin like her bangs were.

She shivered.

It was cold.

Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Psst! Bell!"

The bunny's ear twitched but it gave no other response.

"Bell! Say 'firebolt!'"

This had to work. It was ingenious. The magic would not be as powerful in his bunny form – who had ever heard of a bunny mage? – obviously, being a bunny decreases one's magic capabilities. By her calculations, the spell would do little more than create a flicker of flames, no bigger than a candle's. Still, if the bunny kept that contained and the flame held its life, it should be enough to warm her.

"Come on, just say it."

Of course, that only world work if the bunny would cooperate.

The darn thing was just continuing to munch on its grass, not even trying to utter the incantation.

Why was Bell being such a jerk?

…

"Grab him!"

She was trying! What the hell were they doing anyways? Nothing! What did she bring them along for moral support!

"It would be easier if you two helped me!"

Why was this bunny so damn agile? Naaza was half tempted to drink that potion herself just so she could turn into an animal and catch the asshole.

It had been rather easy to find Bell than she originally thought. The guy made for awful prey, barely covering his muddy prints on the ground and not even bothering to camouflage himself on the grey streets.

The issue was that what he lacked in common sense he made up for in speed and dexterity.

Seriously, she had come close to grabbing him so many times and yet she had nothing to show for it unless you count scrapes, bruises, and a pissy mood.

Of course, Daphne and Cassandra hadn't lifted a hand to help, neither one willing to leave the comfort of their shared umbrella to catch the little bugger. Naaza was certain she would have teased the two if she wasn't foaming at the mouth with fury. It was bad enough the two were oblivious gays with absolutely no self-awareness, but now they were forcing her to watch them continue to be cute and oblivious and dumb and awful all while she was covered in mud.

If things continued like this she was going to have a tantrum.

Cassandra, the shy little minx, merely shrugged her shoulders and squatted over the wet ground, plucking a few stray leaves and flowers and holding them out in front of her.

Then, she waited.

And she waited.

And she waited.

And Bell – the asshole – just walked on over to her.

Where was his survival instincts? Did he not see anything wrong with trusting the first person he met after somebody attempted to capture him and force a mysterious liquid down his throat and wow! He was literally no different than human Bell. Far too trusting and far, far too stupid.

The bunny started eating from Cassandra's hands without complaint and Naaza wanted to scream.

Fine. Fine. This was fine. She was happy, she was calm.

Daphne caught the vial she tossed their way with a smug smirk and boy she was testing her luck. Bell didn't even protest as the uncorked tube was slipped into his mouth and its contents drained down his throat.

Then, they waited.

And they waited.

And they waited.

And Bell – the asshole – just went right back to eating.

"Was something supposed to happen?"

"Yep."

"Nothing happened."

"Yep."

".. so.. "

Naaza stood up, swiping a gloved hand over muddy skirt and only managing to spread the dirt elsewhere. She nodded to herself, that seemed about right.

"Ladies, we have the wrong bunny."

She was going to kill Bell.

What are even the chances of there be a wild bunny in the city? Did somebody just lose their pet?

…

Meanwhile, Haruhime wandered the streets.

"Aiz?"

Still no answers.

She'd been walking a while now. If this kept up she was going to miss her time cooking with Mikoto.

"Aiz? Come on already, we need to find Bell before it gets too late."

…

"What do you think, Bell? Will it stop raining soon?"

".. "

"I think so too."

".. "

".. "

".. "

".. "

".. "

She was bored.

Was this what people did normally? Just sit down and do nothing?

She can't remember the last time she did something like it. Normally she was so focused on going to the dungeon and getting stronger that she never really had any time for just sitting. She didn't have the energy for all that today, she really didn't. It just felt like she was doing everything.. wrong.

But the bunny in her lap felt nice. It was calming. There's nothing wrong with petting a bunny, right? Surely not. Even if it felt like she was messing up everything recently, she couldn't mess this up.

Right?

There was a soft chitter – or whatever it is that you call the sound a bunny makes – from her lap. Aiz glanced down to see the bunny gently butting his head into her palm, entirely unenthused by the stillness of her hand.

"Sorry, little guy."

Still, she allowed herself a small smile as she brushed her thumb gently across the space between his ears.

She was doing it right.

She wasn't useless.

Unconsciously, Aiz brought the animal a little bit closer to her, relishing in the warmth of its fur.

"Thank you, Bell."

…

Naaza scowled and glared angrily at the empty streets.

"Where the hell is he!?"

…

It wouldn't be another few hours until he and Aiz were found in their little hovel.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Hey everybody! Guess whose back?

I'm happy to let you all know that I've got a great drop of fics for you all this week and next, starting with 5 today! I've written over 100,000 words and nearly 40 chapters for all of your enjoyment! (Though with twelve whole days to release them all you can bet your butts I'm going to be writing more!)

Story releases will continue around 5 p.m. EST every day between December 13th and December 25th. Happy Holidays!

Now, you may be asking "why?" which is fair. I said I was taking a little bit of a vacation and now I'm proving that I did the exact opposite of that! Well, the answer is pretty simple! I'm asking for all of your support in raising money for a charity fundraiser I help head with my university, all of the information is included in my profile but I can assure you it's for a very good cause! Head over there to check out more about it.

Any amount you can spare will be truly helpful, if all of my followers alone (and that's only about 1/10 of my viewers) were to donate just $2 that's already over $700 we'll have raised which is honestly crazy!

Oh, also I've started doing my own artwork for some of my characters. Check out my Deviant Art page to see the first few members of the Astraea familia that I've been working on for Great Spirit of the Skies. More coming soon!