A/N: I'm taking some creative liberities here for this chapter. Since I'm to lazy to replay the entirety of Re;birth 1 (up to chapter 2 at least), and the Nepedia doesn't specify levels, I'm going to assume that the monsters portrayed in the scene aren't high level.

Disclaimer: All rights belong to their respective owners, I only wish to write a story :)

Drama.

Humans tend to love this genre. So much so, that it's led to the creation of TV shows and various other outlets of media to be centered around this very topic. Be it from NepV, Neptube, Nipper, Numbler, or whatever you use. You can find drama just about anywhere.

*Slash*

Drama is also a very common topic for people to talk about. It's a simple and easy topic for anyone to get into. It's the kind of topic that you can casually bring up and it can be a hit. Of course, it depends on what exactly the kind of drama it is. Relationships of any sort are the typical main topic of drama, but just about any dispute can qualify.

*Slash* *Slash*

It's not so fun if you're part of the drama though. Having others talk about your personal issues so freely with no regard to you is pretty horrible.

It's like having your life being played out while the world is watching you through a window while making commentary about it.

*Slash* *Slash* *Slash*

Drama. It's two or more people having some sort of issue that isn't easily solved for whatever reason. That's what it feels like between me and Kasumi, and it feels like we're involving Lady Noire unknowingly. Well, Kasumi is. I think. Ugh, this is so complicated for no reason.

Looking around, I see the digitalization of the monsters around me that I had just slain. Nothing big, some Terits and Spiders.

With the nearby danger now gone, my thoughts return back to what I said to Lady Noire last night, and what led me to be out hunting again.

"Well, if that's the case. It'd be best for me if we hung out the day after tomorrow. I kind of have something important to take care of tomorrow, if you don't mind of course."

"That's no problem at all! I also have something important to take care of tomorrow, so that's just perfect!"

"Then, I'll text you the details tomorrow, I'm pretty tired and I just want to knock out."

"Sure! Have a good night. Talk to you tomorrow Adam!"

That's how I had ended my late-night conversation with Lady Noire. Afterwards I promptly fell asleep and woke up early in the morning to avoid my mother. I didn't want her to question me about last night, as she would interrogate for hours for the details of last night before she let me step foot outside the house. I wouldn't even know what exactly to say to her about last night.

After my conversation with Kasumi last night, I needed to get into contact with her again. All the way from my room to the park bench that I found myself currently seated in I had been constantly calling her and getting no answer. She usually would answer any of my calls at any time, so there was no issue of her being asleep, but she hasn't answered a single call since the first one. Not even a text of acknowledgement.

After the events of yesterday, in the mall and out, I just have this overwhelming feeling to be in Kasumi's presence. Enough so that I had decided to blow off Lady Noire for the day in favor of attempting to contact Kasumi. I felt horrible blowing Lady Noire off like that. New friends should try to hang out with each other as much as possible. If my education taught me anything, it's that constant contact helps build a relationship. Said relationship I'm blowing off to mend another. Just have to make it worth it.

I'm not sure how long I had spent attempting to contact her really. Hours of course, how many exactly? No idea. All I know is that she eventually responded with a simple "No.". That was it. No explanation, no nothing. Just a simple straight-forward no.

I'm not sure what line of thought led me to do it, maybe it was the feeling of ditching Lady Noire, maybe I didn't want to return home, maybe I just wanted something to clear my head, but I decided to head to the guild and pick up a couple quests and head out of the city.

I hadn't gone out hunting since I got out of the hospital, and I needed the distraction. The money is just a plus this time. I didn't bother to check what the quests were exactly, except that they were in THELAND SANCTUARY. I passed by a weapons shop and bought the cheapest sword and set out to my destination.

Which leads me to me where I am, in THELAND SANCTUARY, having just slain some monsters and moving deeper. When I first started to hunt, it was out of necessity to quickly earn money, but as time moved on, it served as an excellent outlet for the frustrations of life. Moving on from my father's death wasn't easy, but for better or worse, this method worked. Now, being out here will hopefully clear my head to find some way to fix everything.

Thinking about it, it's rather weird that my method calming down my stressed-out mind involves slaying monsters.

Anyway, I'm not sure how long I've been out here, or if I've even completed any of the quests that I toke up. I've just been destroying anything that's crossed my path with no real thought put into it. Luckily any items, credits, and exp is automatically collected upon a monster's death. Again, these RPG vibes are up there. These particular monsters aren't that threatening for me to have my guard up 100% anyway. Not to say I'm some sort of anime bad ass or anything that can destroy cities in a single sword swing, but some low-level monsters won't kill me easily. I've learned a thing or two about surviving out in the wilds in the time I've spent as a hunter. Of course, I've received many wounds in that same time, but you grow and learn. Although, the case with the Ancient Dragon isn't something I want to do ever again. I don't think I'd survive a second encounter with one. At least I now know that dragons certainly live up to their legend. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget the feeling of a giant claw swiping me away and throwing me like a rag doll.

*Sigh*

You know, I really do have to ask myself just what am I doing? I know it's to clear my mind of what's recently been going on, but I know that I'm really just running away. At the same time though, I really do feel like I need some time away from Lastation to sort out the possibilities of what can happen.

In one scenario, I could accept Kasumi's offer and finally learn everything that's been going on with her. Her life and her whole reasoning for her proposal would finally be known to me, but at the cost of my mother being upset with me and me having to practically give up on my friendship with Lady Noire. Since, for whatever reason, Kasumi has a dislike for Lady Noire already and would likely want to me stop interacting with her. Not to mention, being married to someone tends to take up a lot of time naturally.

Next, I could ignore Kasumi and outright cut her out of my life. This would naturally please my mother as I would no longer interact with Kasumi and I could spend more time with Lady Noire and further my friendship with her. Not to mention, without having Kasumi hanging over my mind, I could maybe do something else with my life beyond being a hunter. Being a hunter was just a quick thing I could do, it was never something I wanted to do forever. The only problem with this plan is that… I couldn't do that to Kasumi. It wouldn't be fair, and I would just be reminding her of her younger days when she had no one.

I…don't think there's anything I can do to remedy this without hurting someone's feelings badly. Even if I somehow managed to get Kasumi to get along with Lady Noire, she wouldn't back off in trying to get me to marry her and I'd be forced to eventually drift away from Lady Noire. As weird as it sounds, I don't want to leave Lady Noire alone. She…reminds me of something, I don't exactly know what, but it tells me to be her friend.

It's so weird to feel this sort of attachment to someone so soon, and to a Goddess no less!

Although, I really do feel like I'm betraying Kasumi, almost as if I'm cheating on her. I've blown her off and have broken my self-induced promise to her in favor of Lady Noire in such a short span of time. I should be feeling like complete shit for doing so quickly, but I don't. Maybe all the stress and frustrations I've with her have finally shown their ugly faces and made me resent Kasumi. Maybe her acting the way that she has finally made me want to be with her less. Almost as if she's just been a ball and chain on my life and I've finally decided to let myself go free.

I haven't had the chance to think about it until now, but coming here to the Sanctuary (I've reached the end of it a while ago, guess I really got lost in my thoughts), has really given me the opportunity to go over everything in my head and I feel a sense of peace gazing at the ever expanse of the dungeon.

You know, it's just the sort of peace that you could fall asleep to. I mean, I sure as hell can't fall asleep out here in the field just like that. I'd practically be inviting some random monster to come eat me.

Still. Out here, it feels like all my troubles are miles away. It's just the right place to let my mind go and leave it to nothing. Maybe I'll just do just that for a while…can't be… har…mful…

Noire

I can't believe it. I really can't believe it. Like, I REALLY can't believe it.

I have a friend. An actual REAL friend. A real person!

Laying in my queen mattress with phone in hand staring at all the text's we shared, I can't help but let a huge smile escape onto my face. He's a real friend!

He isn't Neptune who sends mixed signals like it's her job about the state of our relationship, but an actual fully established relationship that I don't feel the need to question every second of its validity.

I'm… honestly still in shock somewhat.

When I first saw him in that hospital bed barely clinging to life, I just knew I had to save him. Not just for saving my sister, but because I felt that he was different.

With the events that recently toke place, I had lost quite the number of shares and have been very slowly recovering from that loss. One of the biggest issues was maintain the monster levels around Lastation while spearheading recovery of the nation. Uni helped, but even with an extra set of hands, it proved too much for just the two of us to handle. Normally, I'd issue quests for hunters to take on in order to regulate the number of monsters, but most of them had met their end during the crisis and the Guild was struggling as it was. The people themselves couldn't issue quests much either that yielded the usual desire for hunters, so I was quite surprised to hear about a new hunter. I hadn't the chance to thank him for volunteering for such a dangerous job with how busy I constantly was, so all I could in the mean time was issue quests with higher than usual rewards. So when I saw him in that hospital bed barely hanging onto his life, a life that was used to save my sister, I just had to save him with everything I had.

I'm… honestly surprised that it went as well as it did. As loath as I am to admit it, I'm not exactly capable when it comes to any healing ability. So, when I went with my gut and transferred my shares into him, I really had no idea what to expect. Shares are an energy that empower and keep us Goddesses alive. Introducing such a thing to a human could have done many things to him, it's never crossed anyone's mind on what shares could to humans. For all I know, it could have done something horrible to him. Luckily, it did nothing of the sort. His heart-rate stabilized and color had started to return to his face. Of course, doing this made me incredibly weak, if not on the edge of death as well. Suddenly using so many shares like that was never something I ever tried but was worth it. Seeing his mother's look of relief was just one of the things that made it worth it. Hiding my fatigue from everyone until I made it to the Basilicom was another story, luckily Uni arrived and made the trip easier.

I had to rest longer than I wanted, but Uni was able to keep me updated on his condition and his acceptance of our dinner invitation. I was a little hesitant to invite him for dinner, as most people tended to decline the invite. After Avenir and Arfoire, a lot of people didn't trust me. People only came to discuss repair projects and the future of Lastation, no one ever stuck around me longer than was necessary. I was cold to the people of Lastation and it reflected in how the people acted towards me. Brief interactions, stiff words that showed fear, a blatant desire be away from me as soon as possible, and many more. I…I knew I wasn't the nicest person, but I never thought the way I acted was a problem. Never thought about what people thought about me would do to me. Never thought about the empty office. Uni helped alleviate that pain, but it wasn't enough.

I guess that was one thing Neptune got right. I really was a Cold Heart, Lonely Heart, and whatever heart. I know she only said those things to tease me, but her jests hit the heart more than she likely realized.

I never saw my behavior as an issue before, but the recent events have really opened my eyes to myself.

Friends… have always been a difficult subject for me to approach. I get naturally nervous and afraid, so I put up a strong front to mask it. Only now have I realized that that very strong front is what keeps me from making friends or any sort of relationship. Not like many people would like to befriend a Goddess. Humans don't live long, while Goddesses live forever. I can't even begin to recount how many different people and eras of Lastation I've seen. The many new buildings and laws that have been made to this accommodate this ever-growing nation. Not a single time throughout all this time can I recall having a friend. It was all…fighting. There was never a thought of making any friends during that entire time.

I'm sure that if Uni wasn't my sister, she wouldn't want to have much to do with me. Goddess knows how much she tries to make me proud of her when I already am. Funny, how that very same desire is what put me in this situation in the first place.

Meeting Adam went way better than I had expected. Thanks to our accidental meet-up at the mall before the dinner, I was able to paint the right picture about him. Honestly, I feel that without that happy accident, I wouldn't have had the courage to ask him to be my friends when he refused all my other offers. Let alone give him my number. That was probably the most embarrassing thing I've ever done! To not only give my number to another person, but to a guy! I really thought my heart was going to explode while the exchange happened, but luckily it went over fine. He went home, and I returned to my room more excited than I ever have been in my long life.

The events that followed were something I could only ever dream of. Granted it wasn't long, but I was already starting to cherish our rather awkward friendship. I knew it would be hard. I mean, who could start to act so casually with their Goddess after all. So, I reached out to him first to try to break the ice. It's my duty after all to make my citizens comfortable, so its's only fitting that I help Adam out here as well.

Of which I almost immediately regretted because I thought he hated me! He didn't answer for what felt like hours! I knew trying to make friends was a horrible idea! Letting anyone close was only bound to hu- he answered…

O-o-of course he's busy! He has a life that doesn't constantly revolve around our friendship! I wouldn't spend every waking possible second with him either, so why would he? It's only natural that we can do things separate from each…other…

Maybe I have more to learn about this friendship thing than I thought?

I do know one thing. Being able to spend time with someone who isn't obligated to or feels the need to please is so amazing. He didn't have to accept my hand in friendship. He could have just ignored it and went on with his life, but he did and is making an honest attempt to be my friend. I'm going to have to beat out that formality of his though, can't have my new friend being so stiff with me.

Which leads me to right now, sitting in my office typing away and dealing with the daily work. Although, I can't help but worry about him and his friend Kasumi. Each time I've met her, she gives me the biggest look of obsolete hatred and changes it before Adam notices. I'm sure that I felt that look during our accidental encounter as well. I'd bring it up to him, but with how rocky their relationship seems to already be…I think it's best that I leave him to fix that. I also feel that if I spoke to her myself, it wouldn't end well.

I can't really help but feel worried about Adam right now. It really does seem like the trouble between these two runs deeper than either one of them realizes. Or at least Adam realizes.

I'd like to talk to him about it right now, but he's busy now…most likely trying to talk to Kasumi.

I just hope everything is going well for him right now.

Adam

*yaaaaaaaaaaawn* Ah. Man. That was a lovely nap. I don't think I've ever napped like that in over 10 years now. I feel great from that, until I realized it's horrendously chilly out now. How long did I sleep?

A quick look around tells me that it's night now, and holy crap I can't see anything. The earlier Sanctuary has gone from being a beautiful landscape to gaze upon to a totally dark and scary dungeon. Which is what it's supposed to be...anyway, I'd better hurry back to the Guild and get back home. It isn't safe to be out in a dungeon at night. Something I learned during my early days, night time brings out the worst monsters and it's best not be around at this hour. Plan in mind, I start to rush on out, paying little attention to my surroundings and focusing on getting out.

I cleaved some of the mobs as I made my way out with little to no issue and was about to reach the exit point, when a crack in the woods around me alerted me. Suddenly, two very large wolves pounced in front of me with beady red eyes that spoke of blood lust blocking my path. Ordinarily, I'd be panicking over how they even got here, but the night brings about creatures unknown to unlikely areas.

They begin to circle me, with me pointing my sword at them cautiously. I just hope I can make it out of this with all my limbs intact.

A/N: Sorry for the terribly long wait again. Me and the family are currently moving to another state, and it's been rather complicated as of late because of it. It's going to hinder me a lot, so I apologize in advance for the future wait. Anyway, I hope I wrote Noire alright here. I was tepid with putting her in like this, but I had to try. Hope everyone likes it. I've also noticed that some of the previous chapters have some pretty obvious mistakes. As I write a new chapter, I read previous ones to ensure consistency, so I'll be going back to fix some of those.

Just to let you guys know of the future of this story, this should last until chapter 25 at the least. With what I currently have floating around in the mind, that's the current end goal. Also, I have a little one-shot that I've been writing in-between writing this current chapter, so that should randomly pop up when it's done. Hopefully you all enjoy that when it comes out.

Final thing, I've gotten a new profile avatar! Eriksonix is the creator and I'd appreciate if you guys would go and check em out!

And as always thank you everyone who has followed/fav this story! Hope you all enjoy, and have a pleasant thanksgiving! If you celebrate, otherwise, just have a great day.