'Grandpa should know what's going on with Takao.' Hiro inwardly deems.

He eventually locates the elder busy in the kitchen in the midst of preparation for dinner tonight and occupies an empty stool.

"Hey," The blue haired male strikes up a friendly conversation with his grandfather, who washes some vegetables in the sink.

He rotates his head toward his eldest grandchild, notes the expression on his face, and proclaims, "I won't tell you anything unless you get up and help an old geezer like me cook."

Hiro merely smiles at the proclamation as he stands to his feet, locates a spare apron, and begins to help the older man.

"So how long has this been going on?" He asks him while he washes his hands as well as the other vegetables that were on the counter.

"Ever since Hiromi just up and left for China." Grandpa reveals exactly when his youngest grandchild's behavior starts to change.

"She went to China?!" Hiro questions in shock as he watches his elder dices some carrots with a knife.

"Yep, that's what the little man told me or rather I found out." He explained how he found out, which prompted the bluenette to tease, "So you were eavesdropping?"

"Any…anyway, the squirt has been up and down ever since her departure." He adds once he finishes up with some of the other vegetables.

'I wonder why?'

"Those two were pretty close, huh?" Hiro suddenly mentions, which earns a clarification from the older man. "Close ain't even the word! She was the one to actually instill responsiblity in Takao whether he believes it for himself or not."

'I'm surprise she was able to even do that.' He honestly considers when he mutters, "I see."

"Those two used to go at it like cats and dogs over the smallest things. It kinda of reminded me of how you used to be." Grandpa frankly acknowledges their type of relationship.

Hiro directs his sights toward his grandfather with an expression of confusion until he recalls, "I remember you use to have arguments like that with your little lady friend."

"Eh…" He shrieks from the comment, which instantly earns a retort, "Don't play dumb with me Hiro! She used to come over to tutor you and you showed her some Kendo moves in exchange."

"Why would you bring that up?!" The bluenette exasperates at his grandfather's sudden recollection of a far off memory.

He simply dumps the small bowls of vegetables in a soup pot, gently stirs it with a spoon, and calmly downplays, "Oh, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Do you know how she is doing?"

'Now that I think about it…what was her name again?' Hiro ponders as he taps his index finger against his cheek.

He then concedes, "I honestly don't know. We lost contact after high school graduation."

"Ah that's a shame, you probably should have made her your wife." Grandpa firmly states while he stirs the pot and earns a shout, "Grandpa!"

He grabs the lid of the pot, places it on, and confidently declares, "Yep, you and the little man are definitely the same."

'Who knows…she might have become a teacher.' Hiro mentally considers.

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'She has definitely matured.' Lanying determines from her expression and how she carries herself.

"I didn't know how I inherited good fortune so I was just trying to understand a bit more." "Do any of your fishing people worship a god?"

'Now that she mentions it, I do kind of miss home.' She suddenly begins to reminisce about her homeland.

Her and her father resided in a quaint one room wooden shack, which closely resembled the one Inoue permitted her to create with provided supplies.

There was just a sense of honest warmth that constantly radiates from her people from their smiles to even their body language.

She remembers the bakery she would pass by on her route to the ocean. The baker would timely toss her a spare loaf of bread from yesterday's batch.

The purple haired teen would awkwardly catch the bread before she leisurely devours it with each step.

Her route cuts through the local market place that always appears busy due to the amount of traffic that would travel through on a daily basis.

Her charcoal grey eyes would carefully scan each of the booths that offered a variety of foods such as fishes, vegetables, fruits and other assortments.

"Oi, Lanying," A familiar masculine voice calls out her name as she searches for the source until she spots a hand wave her down.

She tediously weaves in and out of the crowd, eventually skids to a halt in front of the man, and politely addresses him, "Bo, I have the list."

The man, name Bo, nods his heads, accepts the paper from within her hand, and asks, "You're heading out today?"

A confident smile stretches across her face as she asserts, "The best time to catch the fish is in the morning!"

Her assertion earns a rub of her head before he sends her off along her way.

"I'm almost there." The purple haired teen happily mutters once she reaches the pier, descends down a flight of steps and treks across the sand.

She overhears a group of children abruptly shout her name after she ventures closer to them in order to reach her boat.

"Hey there guys!" The young teen cordially greets them with a smile as the swiftly approach her.

"Do you have time to play?" One of the boys eagerly wonders while she squats to their level with a smile on her face.

"I'm too busy today. I'll be free tomorrow." She promises them before she sends them off on their own.

Lanying then envisions herself in her father's longboat as she rows it out on to the sea.

Once she would reach their usual location, she would begin to set the net as well as the bait and patiently wait for a bite.

She would eventually sail back after a decent catch or if the sun started to set in the day's sky. Her route would have her head up to the docks, visit the marketplace in order to pick up her items and head to her home.

"Lanying, Lanying," Audrey's voice repeatedly calls her name until she blinks out of her memory and poses, "Hm?"

"When can we go back?" The dirty blonde wonders aloud since boredom starts to sink in, which causes her to smile at her student,

"We did give you all a few days but I guess we can head back."

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Lin continued to watch Wenling deeply emerged herself in the history of the writings as she even asked a nearby tour guide a couple of questions.

"Wenling," She addresses her pupil right before she passes in front of her again in order to pose, "Are you ready to go?"

The brunette suddenly diverts her attention back on the wall as she zealously begs, "Can we stay ten more minutes?"

'I guess ten minutes wouldn't hurt.' The goldenrod blonde mentally thinks before she concedes, "That's fine."

She then observes her happily skips with a wide smile on her, which prompts her to reflect, 'I wished the others I had before her could match her drive.'

"I don't want to continue. I don't see the point of going further if it means I have to put my life in danger." How badly she wanted to encourage those downhearted that all they had to do was muster enough strength to go on.

'I never told the others but I sorta felt like a failure whenever a student of mine didn't want to continue ahead.'

'I mean who won't be affected by a little negativity.' She fairly judges until "I'm ready now, Lin."

'No more sad thoughts, hm?' Lin sternly asserts to herself.

She gently smacks her cheeks and proclaims, "Let's go back."

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"You are an interesting, child." The woman, with her hair in a fancy updo decorated with a pink flower and red ornaments, curiously mentioned as she studied the young girl that stood in front of her.

"I have a question…uhm," Hiromi nervously speaks up at the woman with multiple dragons presently behind her.

"I am Long Mu." She cordially introduces herself as Long Mu when she anxiously requests, "How do I get back to Longquan?"

"Longquan, you say?" Long Mu politely repeated with a slight confused expression on her face.

The teen nods her head a "yes", which earns a honest response, "You're actually here. Welcome to the Dragon Spring Nunnery!"

Her ruby red eyes view green grass, dragon nests with eggs, hills and mountains in the far off distance. She then utters, "This doesn't look anything like the temple."

'I see.' The goddess instantly surmises about the child before she deliberately mentions, "You have excellent timing, child! It's almost playtime for the dragons, care to join?"

"As long as they don't think I'm their next prey, yes." The brunette fretfully wishes as the raven haired woman giggles at her comment.

"They're really quite docile….as long as you don't provoke them." She cheerfully proclaims while she rubs the head of one of the dragons.

"There are six stones hidden in each of these nests. Your goal is to recover as many of these stones as possible." The goddess explains the goal of the game while she shows her an image of the stone.

'That sounds pretty easy.' Hiromi deems until she hears, "There's a catch though…the dragons will attempt to stop you from recovering these stones. And to make it safer for you, I will shrink them down."

"Do you accept?" Long Mu curiously wonders about the child's decision to participate in her little game.

Her ruby red eyes peek around at the strange scenery, stare back at the woman and declare, "I don't think I have much of a choice…Deal."

"You can start whenever you are ready." The female deity gives her the signal to start as she watches Hiromi dashes to the first nest.

The brunette frantically searches through the nest of woody twigs and branches before she eventually deems it empty.

She suddenly dodges a fireball after she reaches the second nest where a stone sits off to the far side.

Two more fireballs head in her direction as Hiromi rolls to avoid them and scoops up another stone along the way.

She temporarily hides behind a slab of stone in order to conjure up a plan until a fireball singes the edges of her hair.

'If you master this power then you should be able to predict your opponent's next move.' The brunette was recalling what her master was trying to teach her from earlier.

'I guess it's time to use that lesson.'

'The dragons only ever aim at my feet or my head, I think there is a pattern. But what is it though?' Hiromi ruminates.

She frequently observes the dragon's flight path whenever she would draw closer to the nests.

'That third and fourth one were pretty easy.' The brunette considers after she secures stones from those nests.

'It's coming.' Hiromi timely dodges a volley of fireballs once she approaches the fifth nest.

'She has pretty good reflexes.' Long Mu sharply notes while she observes the child in action.

She then solemnly affirms, 'It's only going to get harder from here.'

All of the dragons apparently seem to dutifully circle around the last nest, which earns a "No fair".

She purposely charged headfirst before being instantly repelled back with multiple flames.

'Come on Hiromi…what would be there next move?'

The brunette repeatedly charges in while they slowly create flames in their mouth. She swiftly redirects her position and gracefully somersaults toward the nest. "Got it!"

"Wonderful! Splendid work, child!" Long Mu enthusiastically claps her hands at the display of courage.

The dragons then happily roar before they contiously circle around the brunette.

"Seems as if they've taken quite a liking to you now, Hiromi." She coyly mentions while the dragons occasionally licks the child's face.

"I think you've became one step closer to your purpose." The raven haired goddess sincerely admits while she lightly presses one of the stones against the palms of the brunette's hand.

"Make sure you visit from time to time or the dragons will burn your hair off again." Long Mu gravely yet cheerfully advises after she sends her back to her realm.

'I bet.'

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Archimedes and Akane ventured back to their designated stop, which was not too far but they opted for the more scenic route.

The sun slowly descends which means that it was the early afternoon. Archimedes grew a bit curious about her teacher since she rarely mentioned anything about herself.

"Sensei, I have always been curious about you." She suddenly breaks the silence between them, which earns a dull response, "Really?"

The raven haired teen nods her head before she explains, "I mean...you pretty much keep to yourself other than when you are with me but surprisingly you're really sociable."

"I see." The woman with powdery white hair colorlessly mutters, which quickly earns an apology, "Forgiving me for asking,"

"I actually don't mind. You were completely open to any and all of my inquiries about yourself." The older woman stoically replies as she directs her sights on to her student.

"I guess I can start off where were you born?" She asked the first question that is centered around her birthplace, "Japan, Kansai region, Kyoto prefecture,"

An expression of slight shock materializes on her face once she connects, "So both you and Meifeng are from Japan?"

"Yes but we were born in different prefectures." Akane merely clarifies after she simply shakes her head a "no".

"So what do you do for fun?" She curiously wonders what her sensei would usually do in her free time.

"Practice Kyῡdo, tend to my siblings and the house," 'A straightforward kind of life. I'm not surprise at all.' She immediately asserts with an inward shake of her head.

"Since you and Meifeng lived in Japan did you all ever attend school together?" Archimedes probes further about the connection between her and Meifeng.

Akane directly stares ahead of them, shakes her head again, and enlightens, "She resided in a different prefecture than me so maybe, maybe not. Anymore questions?"

"Do you have a favorite color?" She picks her next question more along the lines of preference, "I tend to prefer red, white or black."

"I think I know about you a little better now." Archimedes honestly divulges as she steps over a small hole in the ground.

"I'm happy to hear that."

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Author's Note:

04.29.17 Major editing revisions