After going shopping they were walking down the street towards the bus stop that would take them back to Hinamizawa. Amuro ended up carrying about 5 boxes and 15 bags or so. He had changed the punishment game, so he couldn't complain.

"Mion, I know it was a stupid punishment to put a limit of bags to take, but is it possible that you preferred to change it so I would carry all this stuff?"

"Pretty much. I mean, it was a dull punishment, but I wanted to buy lots of more things. There were so many pretty clothes!"

"Even though you wear almost the same clothes on your daily life"

"It's because I don't want to get my beautiful ones dirty!"

"Yeah whatever. I must admit you did buy some pretty things" He remembered as Mion showed him how the different clothes looked on her. She looked beautiful in all of them, but especially dazzling in the ones she picked in the end.

"I have a great taste for clothing. I don't show it on everyday life like Shion does, but we both use to pick only the best fitting pieces"

"Clothes have changed a lot haven't they..."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh! I mean... They are so different from the designs you find in Europe of course!" He realised that he had said something weird.

"Really? Shion once said that Milan is one of the capitals of fashion. It must be quite the experience to buy in those shops..." She started daydreaming. "Amuro! What are you doing here?! Come back and take me with you!!!"

"Hahaha. Hell no. First of all, it's only wonderful if you're rich. Second, I really like it here. Finally, I already fulfilled my job at the mafia. If I went back, they would put pressure to make me come back"

"Sorry. That was a selfish wish I guess"

"I could take you if it's just for vacation though. I wouldn't mind it at all, but in the future of course" He said thinking about his empty pockets.

"That would be wonderful!" Mion got distracted for that second and hit a bike too roughly, which started a domino effect with the other 2 bikes that were parked there. "Shit!"

"HEY! WHADDA FUCK YA THIN' YA DOIN"

"THOSE R BIKES BITCH!"

"Hey da girl is kinda sexy tho"

The three owners were some street punks of the worst kind.

"Ey, you rite"

"After this you wouldn' mind repayin' your debt entertainin' us a little would'ya?"

"No! Please, I was just being careless, I'm sorry..." She tried to apologise.

"Shud'up u thot! Grab 'er!"

There was no one passing at that time, so no one could help them.

"Don't even think about it" Amuro said in a serious tone Mion had never heard.

"Huh? And whad'ya think ye gonna do?"

"Nothing much... If you turn back now I'll just forget this ever happened, and you'll be left unscathed" He said as he left the bags and boxes well piled in the sidewalk.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Dis lil' shit thins' high of himself don't he!"

The grunt that seemed to be the leader grabbed Mion by the arm. Amuro was done giving second choices. His eyes turned darker and his face showed an evil smirk.

"Wha-?" The grunt felt the hardest punch that had hit him in his life and lost three teeth. Of course he was left on the floor instantly.

"Come 'ere u fucker!" The other two guys tried to take Amuro two versus one... to no avail.

"You're gonna regret this so badly..." He grinned.

The furious pair rushed at him but he saw through their movements. He evaded the first hit and pushed the closest grunt so he would get hit by his team mate. The confusion made an opening for him, so he kicked the more lucid one in the stomach and spinned to throw a devastating kick on the other one's back.

The one that was on the floor stood up and approached him from behind.

"Amuro!" Screamed Mion when she realised that the guy was throwing a punch right from behind.

Mion's warning made him notice the situation, so he crouched a fraction of second before the punch landed and turned around to punch him with a spinning fist (common in Karate and Taekwon-Do) in the stomach. The grunt vomited a lot of blood and fell unconscious. He almost killed him.

"Thanks Mion, I almost got hit, haha... now, now, let's finish it" He said as he walked towards the beaten trio on the floor.

"Amuro, what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna kill them by crushing their skull" He said with his eyes closed and a simple smile.

"You can't be serious! Are you listening to yourself?"

"What's the problem Mion? You were being attacked by them..."

"Yeah, but I don't want them to die!"

"Oh come on! All lives are already worthless, so what's wrong with taking a bunch?" He looked at her with those dark empty eyes, not the ones of her best friend, but the ones of a demon.

"Amuro, you don't have to do this, I'm alright, I'm not even angry at them anymore!"

"Fufufufufu... And who said I was doing this for you? Mion, I'm doing this because I want to kill" He put a hand in his face and split his fingers between his eye to show Mion the most evil face she had ever seen.

"Amuro... please... come back to me! This is not you!" She was crying now.

"Oh no you won't-GAHHH!!!" He screamed and grabbed his head with both hands.

She was terrified. She couldn't understand what was happening.

Amuro stood still and took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry Mion, I lost my cool and things got out of control... Can you forgive me?" He looked at her with his shiny eyes.

"What does that mean?"

"I discarded every humanity I had in me for a while. I was the embodiment of nihilism"

"Don't do that ever again!" She said as she hugged him.

"Mion, it was unconsciously... and I did it to protect you" He said as he thought: "What is this? Am I feeling... sad?"

"Stupid. I'm sure you can do that without transforming into a hollow demon!"

"Transforming? That's right, how could I be so careles!?" He thought. "I'm sorry Mion, I'll try to control myself so this doesn't happen... but I'm afraid that this may repeat if you are in grave danger" He told her.

"I'd prefer to hear you promise not to do that EVER again, but it would be too much to ask. In the end, it's true that I was in danger"

"Lucky that there was no one around to see that show"

"I was so scared... It was like you were a completely different person!"

"I... I think I was"

"How's that possible?"

"I hadn't realised until now, but my being is split in half. The me you know and is your friend is the good side of the coin, while the other half of me is a vicious psycopath obsessed with killing and feeding his bloodthirst because he's empty inside. This is called personality disorder, and it's a very complex psychological condition"

"It's like, there are two people inside of you... Like if me and Shion shared a body-"

"With the difference that Shion is not an evil being. She may not be perfect, but she's not a bad person, and even if she was, at the very least she's human. He... he's not. I'm sure of that"

"That's true. Can you control it?"

"I think I can, at least for now. But like I said, nothing guarantees that a friend in danger or something similar doesn't trigger my evil self"

"It's good enough. But please, do it for me, you don't have to become a monster to protect me!"

"I'll try to think about you if that side of me ever wants to show up again"

"It's alright Amuro, I'm with you now" She looked at him for a couple of seconds and then slightly blushed and looked away, to be exact at the three unconscious figures that a minute ago were attacking them. "Well, I guess we can go now. This old man wants to be in time for dinner!"

"Yeah, I think I'll be hungry in a couple hours or so. I should go back to my house after leaving this stuff in the manor" He said as he picked up all the boxes and bags from the floor.

"Wait a second, I have to make a call" She said as a phone cabin appeared on sight.

"Ok, take your time"

Mion spent like 5 minutes talking. She seemed happy, so it was possibly Shion or another member of her family.

"Hey, why don't you come home and have dinner with us?"

"Are you ok with that? You know, after all this stuff happened and..."

She grabbed his head with both hands so he would look directly at her. "Amuro, you saved me! Regardless of anything else, the least I can do is to repay you in some way, and it seems that way is through your stomach"

His stomach made a sound somewhat interpretable as happiness. "Welp, the belly doesn't lie, does it? hahaha"

"hahaha, yeah. Let's go to my house then. Mom, dad and Shion will be there too! Well, if you don't mind of course..."

"They seemed cheerful, I wouldn't mind sharing a meal with them at all! If they tease you with anything just let it slide"

"Yeah, I don't really care what they say when they want to bother me. Sometimes it's a bit shameful, but I guess all families are like that..."

"They must be" He agreed since he didn't have a family of his own to compare... or so did he believe.

They waited for the bus for a little while. When it arrived, they hopped on and sat next to each other. They talked about trivial stuff on the way to Hinamizawa.

Once they arrived at the stop they left and walked towards the Manor.

"Hey Amuro, are you hungry?"

"Honestly... I am"

"Good"

"Why?"

"Hahaha, I can't tell you, cause it's a surprise!"

"I wonder what it is..."

"Just wait and see"

They arrived at the manor and went through the entrance a couple of minutes after.

When they entered the house they went first to Mion's room, and Amuro left all the stuff Mion had purchased on it.

"There it is. Is dinner ready?"

"Wait a second. I'm gonna check if it is. You can sit somewhere meanwhile"

She went to the dining room and left Amuro in her room for about a minute.

"It's ready!" She said from her room's door.

"Ok" He stood up and walked to the dining room.

Mion opened the door to it and went inside. Her whole family was there. Shion, her mom, her dad and her grandmother. The room was Japanese style, you had to sit with your knees to approach the table. In the table there was a lot of food. Personal rice bowls, little colourful things that Amuro identified as rice with fish, pieces of raw fish, chicken with a dark sauce and a tremendous piece of meat that looked especially tempting.

He opened his mouth and stood in awe as he realised the banquet that was awaiting him.

"Thank you Amuro, for saving me today, and for being my best friend!" Mion blushed a little but had a shining smile. "This rice is called Gohan, that is called sushi, that's sashimi, the chicken there has Teriyaki sauce and that piece of beef is not ordinary, that's Kobe beef, the best cattle in the world. Eat to your heart's content!"

He felt as a whole part of his cold stone heart became shattered by this event. It was not only gratitude, but also the true love of a friend he had just met, but was so caring and loving that she made him feel like it was worth living.

"Mion, I don't know what to say..."

"Just eat Amuro, that's the best way to express yourself right now"

But he felt that he had to do something more, so he hugged Mion in a way he couldn't have done before. It was a warm hug full of gratitude and, even though he couldn't tell, pure love.

She became redder than any time before, and including past timelines.

Her family was speechless. Her parents' eyes shined, Shion had her mouth wide open and her grandmother had an intense glare.

Amuro tenderly broke the hug, walked towards the table and without saying anything for those seconds, he sat at the place he assumed was for him, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and said: "Itadakimasu!"

He started engulfing the food the Sonozaki family had cooked quickly, but enjoying it a lot too. Once he started eating, the rest of the family began too.

After a while, it seemed that everyone had forgotten about the hug and were happily eating and having different conversations, which included Amuro.

"So Amuro... was it all really how my daughter said it was?" Sonozaki Akira asked.

"Eh... what would that mean?"

"That you fought all alone against three guys and didn't get a scratch?" Akane completed.

"Oh that. Yeah, I was used to fighting when I was in Italy, so a bunch of nobodies were nothing to have fear of. I gave them a warning, they didn't take it, so I had to teach them a lesson"

"Hahaha, I see!" Mion's father seemed delighted with that answer.

"I was astonished when Onee told me about it. I was very happy of course, I'm sure if it had been someone else it would've ended pretty badly" Shion said.

"Needless to say, after Mion called Shion she told us everything that had happened, and she had the brilliant idea of thanking you with this feast of Japanese delicacies" Akane revealed what Mion's call was about.

"I'm still so grateful I can't express it in any other way than to keep putting food on my plate!" He said as he grabbed a piece of kobe and put it in his mouth. "Mhm..." He made a sound of pleasure.

"His appetite really is something..." Oryou spoke for the first time in the meal and with a serious expression.

"Ba-chan don't say it like it's something bad!" Mion told her.

"Hm? And who said it was? Hehehe, I was just thinking that I'll have to teach you a lot more of cooking in order to feed him properly..." She clarified with a smirk looking as Mion blushed.

"Ba-chan!"

"Hahahaha" Everyone laughed at the situation... Except for Shion, who had a disturbing angry look for a moment.

"Now, in all seriousness, after protecting my daughter in such a way, I think you're more than ready to go out with one of them. Make your pick, it doesn't really matter since they are twins!" Akane told him.

"Oka-san!" Screamed the twins as they grabbed Akane and shoved her Kimono in sign of pure anger.

"Hahaha! Don't worry, I'm not interested in that. Mion's my best friend, and Shion may be as cute as her sister but I don't know her so well anyway. I haven't got any more money than the one I managed to get before coming here and I don't have a part-time job either so..."

"That can be arranged..." Said the twins' father with a smile.

"For now, let's honour Amuro with a cup of nihonshu ok?" said Akane. "It's a little one, so you won't have trouble going back home"

"What is it? It's some kind of beverage?"

"In occident people know it as sake and yes, it is an alcoholic drink made of rice. You look grown enough to drink, so if you don't have any problem with it, have a cup with us!"

"Okay, I would love to!"

She stood and went to the kitchen. A little while after she was back with a bottle of sake and small cups.

She filled each cup with sake and gave it to each member of the family, with no exceptions.

"Now, before drinking it, we cheer for the reason of this celebration saying kanpai!" Said Akira.

"Got it"

"For Amuro! My best friend!" Mion said rising the cup.

Everyone rose their cups and said: "KANPAI!"

Mion drank it all in one shot, and so did Amuro.

"These kids are so rash... I hope he doesn't get drunk, otherwise we can't send him home" Oryou said.

"It was a small cup mother. I don't think that will affect him. I wouldn't be so sure about Mion though"

When they finished Amuro had a slightly red tone in his face, indicating that the alcohol affected him a little bit. Mion was the same at first, but after a while her face became completeley red and had a drowzy expression.

"I'm feeling sleepy" She admitted.

"How wouldn't you be? You drank it all in one sip! wait for dessert and you can go to bed" Akane told her.

"She reminds me a lot of you when we were younger sometimes" Akira told his wife.

"You do silly things when you are young, it's always like that"

"Hahaha, those were crazy times weren't they? Kasai would agree... I forgot to invite him"

"Poor Kasai, you better take him to eat somewhere to repay him. After all he has done for us..." Shion told her dad in a disapproving way.

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do"

Akane went to the kitchen and brought back bowls filled with green round creamy stuff Amuro had never seen before.

"Dessert is ready!" She said as she served the bowls.

"What is this?" He asked.

"It's maccha ice cream. Maccha is a variety of green tea pretty common in Japan"

"I see... Ice... cream..." He muttered as he carved the dessert with the spoon in an investigative way.

"What? You've never had any ice cream Amuro? But Italy is the birthplace of it! You should know it as Gelatto" Shion told him.

"Sorry, but I don't think I did... Still, it's never too late to try!" He decided to put a good quantity in his spoon and he put it in his mouth. "OH MY GOD! Its creamy texture, its cold refreshing taste, its sweet flavour, ice cream is the best invention to date!" He thought.

"It seems that you liked it, I'm glad" Akane said with a smile.

"It's delicious!" He continued eating until he finished.

"I'm full... Amuro, do you want-?" Mion offered him.

"Absolutely. You're the best Mion!" And he devoured her ration.

"Well, that settles it. It seems our guest of honour enjoyed his meal, so we can call this a success!" Akira claimed.

"Yeah. I'm so happy and grateful for this. In fact, I think I've never been so happy in my whole life. Thank you all for this wonderful experience, I can assure you that your daughter is the best friend I've ever had" He thanked the Sonozaki family.

"I'm so happy that Mion has made so good friends. Each of the club members are such good kids!" Akane said in delight.

"All club members are awesome!" Mion shouted full of happiness. She yawned after saying that.

"Mion, can you leave by yourself?" Shion teased her as she knew that her sister was a bit drunk now.

"Stupid Shion. This old man can do everything by its own!" She tried to stand firmly, but she was too dizzy and sleepy, so she kept moving trying to find balance.

"I'll take her to her room" Amuro said. "Thank you for everything, I'll keep taking care of your daughter, so as long as I'm with her you have nothing to worry about" He told them with a determined look in his eyes.

"Thank you Amuro. I'm looking forward to seeing you again" Said Akira.

He waved a general goodbye and put Mion's right arm on his neck and grabbed her shoulder with the other one, that way she wouldn't fall.

Once outside, they were slowly walking to Mion's room.

"Hey Amuro, you are stronger than you look. I can feel how strong your arms are in this position..."

"I do a lot of exercise to be in perfect physical condition. You're quite fit yourself"

Mion put one of her legs between his to make him trip. She succeded.

"Mion, what the-" He fell on top of her, but they didn't make a lot of sound. He felt something soft and big on one of his hands.

"Amuro-kun... what are you doing? Tha- that's my..." She said in a delicate way. She had never blushed so much in her life.

He realised what the soft object was. Of course, it was one of Mion's breasts.

"S-so-s-sorry Mion!" For the first time in his life, he blushed.

"Amuro-kun I thought Kei-chan was the only perv, but you surpassed his level..." She said in a soft tone that he had never heard before.

"Is she... seducing me?" He thought.

They stared at each other's eyes for a while, speechless.

"You... Are so cute Amuro. But at the same time you're so... manly" She started touching one of his arms.

"Mion, don't-"

"You are the first guy that makes me feel so much like a girl, Amuro..."

"Mion, you're drunk. You're not on your senses" He stood up and grabbed her. He decided to carry her to her bedroom.

"Ahh... See? you're so strong, and I'm being carried like a bride... I want to stay like this forever, in your arms..." She looked at him as she was carried.

"We're almost in your bed Mion, there you can sleep and forget that this happened"

"Sleep? I don't want to sleep. I want you to pet my head and to caress my face..." She said as Amuro left her in the bed.

"I'll do it but try to sleep while I'm at it"

"Ok"

He started caressing her gently. Mion loved the way he did it, she wanted this to last forever.

"Hey Amuro. You said something about me forgetting about this but... I don't want to forget. Unless... You want to forget?" She told him in a sad tone.

"No, that's not what I meant"

"Or maybe I'm not girly enough for you... Or for Kei-chan... or for anybody..." She had tears in her eyes.

"No! Mion, that's not true!"

"Then why do you want me to forget these beautiful moments we just spent?!"

"I just said that because I thought you did all of this cause you were drunk..."

"I am drunk, but that's not the point! I do this because I... I... I love you Tsugaru Amuro!"

He felt as a blade went through his heart. He felt so guilty about this. Now he had done it, Mion was in love with him. A being that couldn't love, a person that would disappear and the vessel of a wicked demon was the person Mion had chosen.

"Mion... I... I can't do this. This is not fair for you... You're a beautiful girl, you have an amazing personality and you have made me the happiest I've ever been, but I can't love you or anyone else! That's why I'm sorry but I want you to forget..." He cried a bit.

"Amuro... If you keep saying that you can't love, it will always be a reality..."

"Maybe, but it's better this way. One day, I will disappear forever!" He told her.

"Then, just kiss me once. Please. I want to show you what it means to feel, I want to help you! And most important of all... I want to show you how much I love you!"

"Mion..." He bent over and their lips touched. At first it was a gentle touch, but later their mouths wanted more, and they went further inside each other, until their tongues touched.

Amuro had never felt that way. Just like Mion had promised, it felt like it was wonderful to be alive, like everything made sense. They stayed like that for a minute. Each second that passed made him feel even better, but it wasn't to last. For some reason, everything became gradually dull, plain, hollow. For some reason, kissing Mion didn't have an effect on him anymore. He broke the kiss.

"I'm so sorry Mion, Psychan" He used his special ability to make her forget everything that had just happened. He gave her the idea that she was so drunk that she just forgot everything that happened after exiting the dining room. He also erased her memory of loving him as something more than a friend. After this she fell asleep. Amuro left as fast as he could, a single tear fell on her room's floor.

During his walk home he started singing something, something he felt went out of his heart:

"Let's just forget...

Everything we said...

And everything we did...

Best friends...

And better halves...

Anything...

Between you and me...

Was never...

Meant..."

His inspiration got cut by a feeling of emptiness that he had never felt before. He didn't know what was causing it, but it made him think awful things... things he wouldn't like to see or do, but for some reason were crossing his mind. Killing, torturing, destroying. He was somehow fed up with this world now. Any chance of being able to love had been torn to pieces after realising that even sharing a kiss with the woman he thought would save him couldn't change shit.

"I want to find the fragment, that's all I want"

"wE cOUld KiLL 'Em alL AftERwaRdS" A voice said in his mind.

"What?" He thought. It was a mental conversation.

"ThiS WoRld HAs NoTHinG tO oFfeR, iT's beTteR oFf DEAD"

"So you finally show yourself... Speak clearly so I can understand you, cunt"

"Fufufufufu... I was just playing with you a little"

"So, if I can use Psychan, that means you're..."

"The part of you respective to the fragment of Voracité"

"Everything was clear to me after Mion mentioned that it was like I had transformed. I forgot that the fragment of Apothéose is a twin fragment that is made of both the fragment of Voracité and Psychan"

"You did the math pretty late pal"

"Why did you have to appear now?"

"And you think it was easy you piece of shit? I was fragmented in pieces of thoughts, confined in a journey of timelessness! Vengeance became my only obsession, and now, I will deny you, I will desecrate you, I will skin your soul and finally, I will devour you"

"What did I do to you?!"

"And you have the nerve to ask! Or maybe... you don't remember"

"I don't!"

"In that case I will tell you. You used that damn ability of yours to disintegrate and supress my being. I may not be able to control minds, but I will show you what my ability does when the time is right..."

"I'll make sure that time doesn't come"

"Fufufufu... HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Oh... it will come Amuro, I'll make sure it does. This chit-chat is making me tired, so I'll leave ya, for now..."

"Go fuck yourself! That doesn't make sense, shit!" He was now as angry as he could get.

When he finally reached home all he wanted was to sleep. How could a perfect day get ruined by a minute, he would never understand it.

"*sigh* Welp, things are back to how they were. I just have to save them and get the fragment somehow. How stupid could I be to think that regaining my empathy and emotions would get the fragment for fuck's sake?"

He got inside the bed and closed his eyes.

The next day passed without anything important happening.

By Monday he was back at school, and he sat with Mion again, but this time he wouldn't be talking so much with her. He was afraid that if he did, things would turn grey once again. Still, he was her best friend, so he helped her a lot with classwork and kept a close relationship, just not as close as before.

"I got so sleepy from the sake, I can't even remember what happened after we left the room..." Mion told him

"I took you to your room and you fell asleep" Amuro lied by omitting a lot of information.

"That's how it was then huh?"

"Yeah"

She seemed okay with that answer and didn't suspect anything.

At the end of classes they would be playing a card game called UNO that Mion had imported from the US.

They played various rounds. The winner in the end was Amuro, followed by Mion, Satoko, Rika, Rena and, the loser, Keiichi.

"Damn it!" He said.

"Now Amuro, you get to choose his punishment!" Mion told her best friend.

"Well, if that's the case... What do you like doing Kei-chan?" He asked the loser.

"Hum... I like playing baseball, eating cookies, I used to like playing at an Arcade in Tokyo..."

"That's enough. Keiichi, your punishment will be... Playing a baseball match wearing a maid suit!" He decided.

"Bull's eye! How did you know?" Mion asked.

"Know what?"

"Irie-sensei is the coach. He is mad about maids! I'm sure that even if it is Keiichi he'll be delighted!"

"I had no idea, but I guess this just makes things better, hahahaha"

"~Ohohohoho~ Not even I would've come up with such a great idea!" Satoko laughed.

"How did he come up with such a torture? Mion, this is your fault. Amuro has been under your influence one week and he already designs the most humilliating punishment games!"

"Stop whining Keiichi-kun, I'm sure that it can always get worse" Said Rena.

"Unless you want me to create an even worse one I advise you to fulfill this game Keiichi"

"Ok, ok I get it! I'll play the match as soon as possible"

"That's the spirit!" Mion encouraged him.

That was all for the day. The rest of the week passed pretty fast, Amuro didn't lose one game, in fact, he always came 2nd or 3rd, while Mion was 1st most of the time. The match Keiichi had to play would be on Saturday, so he decided to speak with Rika about the plan to save her and the village on Sunday.

Saturday was a hot day with a shining sun. Perfect to see Keiichi ashamed. Amuro estimated that he should be one week away from the invitation to Angel Mort's dessert buffet, so there was no problem with them having fun that weekend.

He woke up at 9 AM and had some eggs for breakfast. They would meet at the baseball field at 11 O'Clock, so he would've had some spare time if he had a bike, but that not being the case, he had to take a bus to Okinomiya.

The bus wasn't so frequent, so you had to either take it by morning, evening or dusk. It was possible to walk, but it was a pretty long distance. He took one of the early buses to the city.

Once he arrived, he still had time left, which is why he had brought his Shamisen with him. He looked for the baseball field on a map. After identifying where it was, he went to the location.

In the field the players were already jogging and training, which meant that there wasn't too much time left. Keiichi wasn't to be seen though, but Amuro was sure that he had probably arrived but didn't want to come out dressed like a maid until the last moment to avoid an early laughter of his fellow team mates.

He got the instrument out of the bag and started playing a version of Sakura, a traditional Japanese song he had heard when he went to the music shop.

After a couple minutes, Rika and Satoko arrived.

"Amuro-kun, how have you been?" Satoko asked.

"Fine, thanks Satoko. How about you two?"

"Good as always, we can take care of ourselves pretty well"

"You play the Shamisen wonderfully ~nipah!~" Rika told him.

"Really? Thank you, I was used to play the Oud, but I thought it would be hard to find one here, so I learned to play this instead"

"It sounds like you were a traditional Japanese musician, amazing!" Rika complimented him.

"I really like music that's all" He said, happy to hear that someone recognised his talent.

"You're terrible at drawing though. The other day I remember how awful you drew in art class. Well, I guess Keiichi had to beat you on something..." Satoko reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. It's always been like that so it doesn't bother me to hear someone making that remark"

"Hey, guys how's everything going?" Mion appeared at the field with Rena by her side.

"Mion and Rena! We were waiting for you, Keiichi should appear at any moment now" Satoko said with a smirk.

"Now that everyone's here, we just have to wait for Keiichi-kun to appear dressed like a maid! ~Hau~ He must look sooo cuuute!"

"Kei-chan is always fun to tease with the punishment games isn't he? Oh, Amuro is that a Shamisen?" Mion asked him.

"Yeah, I bought one when I arrived in town. I've learned to play it quite good since"

"Ba-chan has taught me about music too. I play the Koto"

"Koto... is that a harp-like thing?"

"I guess you could say that. It's a bit difficult to learn at first, but it was worth it. The Koto is such a beautiful instrument..."

"Music in general is beautiful, all arts are, but music is special to me"

"One day you could bring your Shamisen to the manor and we could play an improvisation or something"

"Yeah, one day we could..." He answered thinking about how he preferred to be more distant to Mion now.

"Hey look! The match is starting, and they are all taking their positions" Satoko announced.

"The batter is missing though" Mion observed.

"No, Mion-chan. In fact he has just arrived, dressed in a cute maid suit ~nipah!~"

A shameful Keiichi appeared on sight wearing a maid suit with a particularly short skirt. Amuro looked at the bat just in case, but it was an ordinary one, not Satoshi's.

"Ok! Let's do it!" Keiichi said all fired up as he stood in front of the pitcher.

A general laughter of both teams and the spectators was heard.

"See Amuro? This is a punishment game, I'm really proud of you!"

"Hahahaha, thanks Mion! Now, let's enjoy the rest of the match, this is just getting started..."

~~~~X~~~~

And that's it for today. Damn it, I'm sure this story will be in the dark for a while, but once someone reads it I'm sure they'll love it. So far, I'm loving writing it, I think I'll take a little break and finish Pokémon Zero though, and possibly a Megaman ZX chapter afterwards.

PD: Those lyrics are from the song Never Meant by American Football, so it belongs to them. I could've written something myself, but it fits so well... so yeah, that remains the same.

Darkmatter17 out.

PD: If you want to improve the experience of Amuro x Mion moments you can listen to Naima by John Coltrane and put it on loop as you read it. It works for any other couple as well.