Reborn had spent the whole rest of the day destroying targets with his gun.

Fon had barricaded himself in his room, just forcing himself to meditate.

Colonnello had tried to find her in the forest, not succeeding and he sat down at the beginning to not miss her when she came back. The moment he had started to shrink he had known he had gone too far and turned back.

Lal had locked herself in her room, trying to figure the situation out.

Verde had turned back to his laboratory, trying to distract himself with work.

Viper had vanished into their room as well, just scratching out anything they had collected on Skull in the past as most of the information were completely wrong. Fantasma close to them.

Skull hadn't come back for dinner. Not even coming returning at night. They knew she was close as none of them shrunk but even when they collectively tried to find the sky in the forest they came back with empty hands. They didn't know where she was, not even footprints were visible, the only thing they encountered were animals but not a human in sight.

They didn't talk much either, everyone still lost in their own head, going over everything they knew about the sky and… she never had hid it from them. They had never asked her about her age and honestly most of her statements had even hinted at it. Just one inquiring question would have lifted that secret long ago. They had been blind, once again. Still she was alone in the woods once again and it was again their fault.

No one slept that night, instead using flashlights to still keep roaming the forest even while nothing was visible. They didn't give up. Not this time.

It was lunchtime when Nello suddenly heard steps next to him.

Leilani had kept her distance, leaning against one of the trees "You back to your senses?"

"Skull… where were you?"

"In the forest."

"We searched every corner."

"You didn't look close enough. I saw all of you, several times."

"But.."

"There was a good reason why not one of you found me ever before when I was living in the forest. Fon only had luck as I was sleeping back then. Have you calmed down, now?"

He stepped closer "I.."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Being frozen."

"You don't have to apologize for that." she sighed "But have you calmed down?"

"Yes."

"So no more freaking out about my age?"

"I'm trying."

"You know I'm the same as before."

"I know."

"But?"

"It's just… it.. implies so much."

"So what?"

He paused "Huh?"

"So what? What does change? I'm an adult. Verde even said I'm mentally one and I lived for almost 50 years. I'm an adult and.. you got to know me for who I am. You were never bothered before when I acted childish so where is the problem now?"

"It's…a change of perspective."

"Then figure it out."

"Skull?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I hug you?"

Her lips slightly curled up "You have to ask?"

He barely took any steps to shorten the distance, just pulling his sky close, his grip tight around her small body "Don't do that again."

"What?"

"Running away."

"It's not like you guys left me a choice and as I came back it wasn't really running away."

"You were gone for the whole night."

"Not like I didn't do that before."

"You had no tent."

"I didn't have one in the beginning either."

"You didn't have dinner."

"I ate fruits."

He sighed, still holding her and his eyes closed.

"Nello?" she mumbled against his stomach.

"Yes?"

"We good?"

"Always."

She smiled slightly "So do you want to move out of my room?"

"I probably should."

"Why?"

He paused, not answering.

"We slept together for years. We shared a room since we came here… why does it matter now?"

"I don't know."

"Then forget about it. Nothing has changed, besides the fact that it got revealed that you all are pretty bad at gathering information."

He slowly nodded, even as she couldn't see it.

"Nello?"

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry."

"Then let's go back."

"Do you think Reborn will scream at me again?"

"No. He calmed down… I think."

She sighed.

Colonnello had texted the group to get food ready but she was still wary when she stepped inside, all eyes on her again.

Reborn immediately pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on "Skull."

"What? You're not finished yet with your tantrum?"
"That's not it."

"Then what?"

"I… should have had myself better under control and I apologize for that."

"You're not thinking you overreacted?"

"No, I didn't."

"You're still trying to enforce your weird rules on me? Nello stays in my room."

"Skull."

"No, Reborn, you don't have options here. It's that easy. It's either you finally start to respect me or I'm off. I don't need you, alright? I can manage on my own but I'm not letting myself get treated like a child, as I'm not one.

I've handled more than enough situations. You relied on me before and you're relying on me right now to keep you grown. So excuse me If I think it's hypocritical of you to think you have any right to enforce your beliefs on me. Respect me or accept me walking out of your lifes."

Her eyes were firm, not faltering as she stared him down.

The hitman didn't answer verbally, just nodded before stepping back, his Fedora pulled down deeply into his face.

She looked in the round, almost provoking them to say anything but they kept quiet. She slowly made her way towards her chair and Fon placed a plate in front of her. She just started eating even while the rest of the arcobalenos surrounded her.

Fon sat across from her, his eyes wandering over her body and looking over her "Did you sleep?"

"Yes, in a tree."

"I checked the trees."

"I know, you looked into my face a few times. I saw all of you to be honest, Verde almost stepped on me."

Viper tilted their head "I checked for mist flames."

"I didn't use mist flames."

"Then how?"

"Well I thought using sun was way more of a middle finger to Reborn."

"You hid yourself with sunflames?"

"Yeah." she gulped another bite down.

"How."

"With glitter. What do you think?"

"Did you let the plantation grow over you?"

"Too basic, you would have noticed."

"Then how?"

"Well if you ever start to use your flames correctly then you might find out."

"I don't understand."

"You don't have to for it to be true." she shoved her last bite in her mouth "I'm going to nap some more." She already was searching for Nello's hand "And If I even hear anything about leaving the door open I swear by merlin that all of you will wake up bald tomorrow and Sunflames won't be able to regrow it."

She pulled the silent rain with her and into their room. Just switching into the shirt she had stolen from him, before sitting on the bed.

Colonnellon was still standing slightly lost in the entrance..

She raised an eyebrow and patted next to her "Come on."

"You sure it's okay?"

"Obviously."

He slowly sat down next to her, still way more quiet than usual.

"Nello?"

"Yes?" his head jerked up.

"I've had a nightmare."

"Was it bad?"

"Yeah."

He slowly wrapped one of his arms round her and she immediately leaned into it "Can we just leave it behind us? I want to nap in your arms… You know just because I'm younger than you thought… it doesn't change what we had. it doesn't change that we have been friends for 19 years."

"You're right."

"So can we?"

He just scooted back on the bed, his shoes carelessly shoved off and she just crawled under the blanket, burying herself in his chest.

"Skull?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming back."

"You were here. where else would I have gone?"

He didn't answer, struggling to put his arms around her.