That night, they all sat around a large fire. This time, though, they had done it the easy way and used Tasuki's tessen.
"I'm sure that we'll find the last seishi tomorrow," Miaka said. Hotohori agreed, as usual.
Nikki sat quietly, staring into the flames. Tasuki noticed that she was looking rather distant, so he asked her if there was anything wrong.
"No," she said quietly, "I'm just thinking." Tasuki shrugged and went back to his conversation with Nuriko. Suddenly, Nikki stood up and announced, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. I'm going to bed now." She walked away from the fire, and after propping her bag against a tree, lay down.
The truth was, she wasn't tired. She just wanted to be alone for a while. She lay awake listening to the conversation around the fire. Miaka was saying how much she missed her mother and brother, not to mention fast-food, and how she still had to study for the high-school exams.
`It would be nice to be able to go to school again,' Nikki thought to herself. She quickly pushed the thought away. She didn't want to think about her world right now. She wasn't sure if she would ever get back there again. She wasn't sure if she would want to leave this world she was in.
Eventually, the conversation around the fire died down, and everyone got ready for bed. Hotohori loudly objected to having to sleep on the dirt, but eventually gave in, and everything was quiet.
The night was rather chilly, and Nikki hadn't bothered putting her jacket on before. She waited a few moments, until she was sure everyone was asleep, then got up and went to sit by the fire again.
Nuriko was stretched out on his back next to the fire, which was starting to die down. Nikki stared at him for a moment. With his hair being so long, he really did look like a girl.
`He's probably never cut his hair in his life,' Nikki thought, `He's lucky,' She ran a hand through her own, considerably shorter hair. Noticing again that the fire was almost dead, Nikki grabbed another log and threw it on.

The fire snapped and popped a few times before the log finally caught, and the fire roared back to life. Nikki found the flames beautiful; almost hypnotizing.
"I know you're awake," she said to Nuriko.
"How would you know that?" he asked, opening one eye.
Nikki turned to face him. "Because you're talking to me," she said, smirking.
Nuriko rolled to his side and propped himself up on one elbow. "Why aren't you sleeping?" he asked.
Nikki turned her face back to the fire. "I'm not tired," she said quietly.
Nuriko sat up. "But before, you said that you..."
"I just wanted people to leave me alone for a while," Nikki snapped, "I never get a minute's peace! Between Miaka's bottomless stomach, and you and Tasuki always arguing, I can never find a minute for myself!"
Nuriko looked away, hurt.
Nikki sighed and turned to him. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean it like that. With so many people in our little family here," she looked around at the others, who were sleeping peacefully, "I suppose it's hard for anyone to find a quiet minute for themselves. I'm just not used to being around other people, I guess. Please don't be mad at me, it's not really your fault," Nikki reached out and put her hand on Nuriko's shoulder. "To be honest, I really like having you all around. It's nice to have a family for once."
Nuriko smiled and placed his hand over Nikki's. "That's okay, I'm not mad at you,"
Nikki couldn't help but notice a tingling sensation where Nuriko's hand was touching hers. It was almost electric, and it moved up her arm until...she pulled her hand away before she did anything she might regret later.
"So," she said, "I guess we really should get some rest," Nuriko nodded his agreement. "Well, good-night." Before she could stop herself, she leaned forward and kissed Nuriko's cheek. He stared at her in shock. Nikki could feel her face turning bright red, so she walked away as quickly as possible. She lay her head down on her bag and curled into a ball.
`What the hell were you thinking?' she thought, `He's in love with Hotohori. He would never love you. You're just going to get yourself hurt.' She closed her eyes. "I can't help it. I love Nuriko," she whispered.

They were all up early the next morning. Nikki avoided Nuriko for most of the day. She was able to eventually convince herself that it had simply been a good-night kiss, and that it hadn't meant anything, but her thoughts were still holding on to the `What If's. Nuriko tried many times to start a conversation, but Nikki would simply give one-word answers, or change the subject completely.
Late in the afternoon, it started to rain. Luckily, they were all able to take refuge in a small mill on the edge of a waterfall. It was warm and dry, and looked like it hadn't been lived in for a while, so everyone settled in to wait out the storm.
There wasn't much room, but Nikki managed to find a place in a corner, as far away from Nuriko as possible. She took her CD player out of her bag, and turned it on. At least this way she had an excuse not to talk to anyone. She sat there for a while and stared off into space.
She was brought back to reality by a sudden poke in her forehead, which slammed her head into the wall behind her. Nuriko was kneeling in front of her. Slowly, she removed her headphones and rubbed her forehead.
"Something wrong?" he asked, "You looked kinda...distant."
"I'm fine." Nikki looked around the room; anywhere but Nuriko's face.
"It's just, you've been avoiding me since last night," he continued.
`Why won't he just go away,' Nikki thought.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with that little goodnight kiss, would it?" he asked quietly.
Not quietly enough, because Tasuki yelled out, "What! You kissed Nuriko?"
All eyes slowly turned to Nikki. "N-no," she stammered, but she could feel her face turning red. Not knowing what else to do, and needing to get away from the other seishi's stares, Nikki jumped to her feet and bolted for the door.
"Real sensitive, Tasuki!" Nuriko said, going after her. Tasuki just sat there, confused.

Outside, Nikki ran down the path, almost unable to see through the tears that stung her eyes. Slipping in the mud, she fell to her knees. She didn't bother to get up, she just sat there, shivering in the rain.
She wiped away the tears. There was no reason to cry; she was more angry than sad. Angry at Tasuki, but more angry at herself. Why did she have to feel this way? She'd never felt this way about anyone before; she'd never much liked anyone before.
Nikki could hear Nuriko's footsteps behind her. "You know, you'll catch a cold if you stay out here," he said in his cheerful manner.
`How can he sound so happy all the time?' Nikki thought. She didn't answer him, she just sat there, watching the splash of raindrops in the puddles.
"Come on," Nuriko urged,placing a hand on Nikki's shoulder, "You're getting soaked!"
Nikki pulled away. "No! I'm not going back there. I...I can't."
"Why?" Nuriko crouched beside her.
Nikki wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop shivering. She didn't know why. She just knew that she didn't want her friends staring at her like that. She felt so confused.
"Come on," Nuriko repeated. He took Nikki by the arm and helped her to her feet. "Let's get you inside and dried off."
He started to head back, but Nikki didn't move. "Don't worry, I'll tell Tasuki to lay off."
"You don't get it!" Nikki screamed, "I'm in love with you!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Nikki regretted it. She turned away from Nuriko and covered her face with her hands. She tried taking a deep breath, but it caught in her throat.
Nuriko couldn't believe what he had just heard. Sure, he'd suspected something for a while now, but he didn't know what to say. He stood there scratching his head for a moment.
"You know," he said finally, "That could be a problem, since I'm gay,"
"Ugh!" Nikki moaned, "You think I don't know that? Look, let's just go back, and pretend like nothing ever happened."
As she walked past Nuriko, he kind of smiled and gave her an `I'm sorry' look. Nikki tried to smile back, and kept walking.

Later on, Nikki sat against the wall, wrapped in a blanket. Mitsukake had made some hot tea, which Nuriko insisted she drink. Nikki didn't like tea much, but she was too emotionally drained to argue.
The only thing she did notice was that as much as Nuriko fussed over her, he never once mentioned his own discomfort, and he was just as wet and cold as she was. `Must be a guy thing,' Nikki thought. She got up and poured another cup of tea, which she gave to Nuriko.
As he took the cup from her, Nikki started laughing.
"What?" he asked, looking confused.
"Your hair is a complete mess!" Nikki said. One by one, the others turned and nodded their agreement. Hotohori started snickering, but covered it up with a well-timed cough.
Nuriko's hair was all wet and matted, and the braid was starting to come undone. There were flyaway pieces sticking out all over.
Nikki knelt behind him. "Don't worry, I'll fix it." She took out her brush and carefully undid his braid. "My God!" she said, "Your hair is so long! I guess that's the style here," She looked to Hotohori, then ran her fingers through her own short hair.
She picked up her brush again and started to untangle Nuriko's hair. As soon as she could run her fingers through it smoothly, she began making two braids, one on each side.
Nikki liked the way Nuriko's hair just flowed around her fingers, so she worked as slowly as she dared. Once the braids were done, she wrapped each one around and around itself, making two large buns at the side of his face.
Nikki pinned them there, then called to Miaka. "Hey, Miaka! Like the hair?"
"He looks like Princess Leia!" Both girls started laughing hysterically. The others looked on in curiosity.
Nikki stopped laughing and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, "It's something from our world." She unpinned his hair and brushed it out again. She braided it and pinned it up at the back, but she couldn't stop herself from snickering now and again. She cleared her throat, patted Nuriko on the shoulder, and went back to her corner.