Okay, so, for those who're so still confused: Sebastian equals Hotaru.

I wanted to talk about something before going on -- I was actually a bit worried earlier because I wasn't getting as many as reviews as I'd like for this fanfic. Because you know, reviews -- even if they're one-liners, they help encourage the authors to write because they get a sense of warmth and encouragement from them. Or something. o_o So anyways, I was looking at random author profiles in this site and there was this one person going, 'give me x amount of reviews and then you'll see the next chapter' -- which was okay, because it's every author's right to want reviews from their work. What wasn't okay was that the person was so obsessed with reviews that even when they got the right amount of reviews, it just wasn't enough? That person wanted more and is now saying they're quitting this site once the fanfic is finished because they're fed up of 'this', which is very silly. You write because you love to write, not because you get reviews -- if I understood that long time ago, I would've had a million fanfics by now. :P

So yeah, I admit, I actually continuously check my e-mail again and again to see review notifications, I can't help it. I jumped in my seat and told all my friends when I got the give alerts and one favorite notifications, and the few times I've got a review. I'd like to say thank you all, and to please review if you have the time -- if you don't review, well, I definitely will continue writing. Because I love to write, and that has nothing to do with it. :D

Lost

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Oh no, this is terrible!" Shiori pouted, tears stinging her eyes. She was sitting, her knees bent, leaning towards the surface and staring down at her now mud covered possession.

I'm going to be in so much trouble. Wasn't there some kind of stick around so she could reel the thing back from the muck? Oh, this was such a disaster. What was she going to? The nineteen year old panicked.

"Well now, what's going on here?" Shiori flinched as she heard a masculine voice booming from nowhere. The blue-haired girl turned to the voice to see a young man, who just had a deep voice. The stranger was sitting right beside her and it seemed like he had already followed her gaze to the object lying on the puddle of brown, the source of the problem. The man cocked his head in confusion.

"I dropped Michi in the mud," Shiori explained herself, her lower lip quivering as if she'd burst crying out loud any moment.

The man nodded understandingly, "I see, why not get it then?"

"Well, I would, but it's just, um – I kind of look nice today.. My father's friend is coming over so my dad told me to dress nicely, and I did. I was just going out for a walk with Michi and I guess I wasn't paying attention and Michi slipped out of my hands.." Shiori murmured, "if my clothes get dirty, my grandmother is going to get mad at me. She helped me dress up for today, you know!" It was true, the girl looked more radiant than she normally did.

Shiori had pulled her thick blue hair into a traditional Japanese-styled bun with a beautiful hair-pin to hold it up. The hair-pin was a long chop-stick like thing with a firefly hanging from its end, the lightening bug was made out of a rare stone. Other than her hair, the young woman wore a colorful kimono with a bright flower print. Her lips were painted red, and she was forced to apply blush on her cheeks. She didn't quite understand why she had to dress up for her father's friend. But she had no choice in the matter.

For some time the man remained silent, staring at Shiori with a lot of concentration like he was calculating something in his head – dumbfounded. For a while, an awkward silence enveloped them. But then he, himself, tore the envelope of awkwardness by bursting out laughing, making Shiori redden. She felt so stupid, maybe she didn't really look nice at all and ended up sounding like she was a self-obsessed brat. How stupid of me! So embarrassing!

The man quietened and rested his hand on his chin and pretended to ponder a solution for this oh-so difficult problem. "Hmm, I agree, this is quite a predicament," Shiori frowned and the man smirked, trying not to laugh. Was this girl for real?

"I have an idea!" The stranger said out loud, pointing up at the sky as if he'd been struck by lightening.

Shiori blinked, "really? What? What did you think of?"

"I can get your Michi for you. That would be alright with you, right?" The man grinned. It was then that Shiori truly saw him. The girl couldn't help widening her eyes even though she knew she was doing it, even though he might laugh at her again and she'd look stupid. – she couldn't. His smile, even though she wasn't able to touch it, felt so warm just like the sun. He had ruffled hair that was a strange color – a mixture between a deep brown and a bright, sunny yellow. It was right then when she had noticed them for the first time – his eyes. His eyes were hazel, a mixture between a light brown and the sunny yellow from his hair. His eyes sparkled brightly whenever he smiled.

Just like the fireflies.

Shiori snapped back to reality.

".. Would you really!? Thank you so much, mud man!"

The man paused and arched an eyebrow. "Mud man?.." he muttered to himself and started laughing out-loud again. Shiori watched him chuckling and this time joined in. The mud man shook his head.

The boy did as he said and grabbed the troubled girl's item from the mud and handed it over to her. Shiori bowed quickly, thanking him for his kindness, and ran towards a nearby well. The girl pulled up a bucket of water from the well and washed away the dirt that was hugging her adored possession. Once clean, the mud man could now clearly tell what it was. Michi was a brown-black colored firefly rag doll.

The mud man smiled, she really likes fireflies.

"So, that's Michi? Nice to meet you, Michi," the man said as he approached the girl from behind. The mud man watched her as she rushed to clean her doll and apologized to it again and again, like a mother taking care of her child. It was an amusing sight, but it showed how compassionate this person was. The girl was now raising the firefly towards the sun as if the burning start would obey her thoughts and dry the rag doll immediately with its warmth.

The girl turned around, laughing. The mud man felt as if his knees froze as soon as he saw her angelic face, lighting up with ecstasy, it was just so captivating. "Yes, it is! Michi says hi back. Thank you very much, mud man. My grandmother made this for me, she would be really upset if I lost it.. I would be very upset. Thank you so, so – oh my God! I forgot!" Shiori's eyes widened.

The mud man blinked, "what?"

"My father's friend! He's probably already arrived by now. Father might get worried, I have to go right away – I'm sorry! Thank you very much again! I won't forget your kindness!" the young girl yelled, slapped herself a few times, and ran away clutching the firefly close to her chest.

"Wait, uh –" the mud man called out but she had already disappeared from his sight, leaving dust in the air.

"What's your name?..." the man asked himself, completing what he wanted to ask her. The boy looked down at his hands and sighed, they were covered in mud from earlier.

What do I do about this?

---

"Shiori! Come inside and meet my old friend, Keitaro," Shiori's father called out laughing as he sat in a low-leveled room with his friend, Shiori's grandparents, and a couple of other people that came to socialize at their house. Everyone's legs were crossed as they sat on the wooden floor, a tiny table was placed in the middle of the room and on top of the table was a kettle and some empty teacups.

"Yes, father," Shiori stepped inside the room obediently, entering from the paper-cane doors. She smiled as she saw everyone gathered in the room, all eyes on her. She bowed in a greeting and wished them a good evening, and they all greeted her back. All of the guests started talking and laughing, and complimenting her beauty.

She saw a middle-aged man sitting across her father, assuming that it was his father's friend since his face was unfamiliar, another man sat behind her father's friend but she couldn't really see him. "Nice to meet you, unc – " the blue-haired girl stopped midway in her bow. She straightened herself again, and everyone gasped at her strange behavior.

Shiori's grandmother scowled and spanked her from behind, "What are you doing, Shiori!? Bow properly – don't be disrespectful to our guest!"

"No, it's quite oka – "

"Mudman.." Shiori said outloud. It was him, the mudman sitting behind her father's friend – it was no mistake, those eyes and that hair. It was definitely the same guy she saw earlier. What was he doing here? Shiori stood still and cocked her head to stare at the man who was gawking back at her.

"Nice to meet you, miss Shiori," the mud man said formally, a smirk appearing on his face. Everyone in the room started staring back and forth at both people in confusion, not understanding what was going on.

Shiori's father laughed. "Mudman? – Do you already know this young man, Shiori? He's Keitaro's son, Itsuki! Itsuki Kawaguchi."

Shiori kept staring at him in a zombie-like state.

Was he the reason she was dressed up like this?

---

"Shiori?" Hotaru called her in a voice that didn't really sound concerning but authoritative. They couldn't waste anymore time, they were at the graveyard for more than two hours now. The house was filled with servants and helpers that were hired by Shiori's aunt and uncle's preference. It wasn't safe to leave the mansion unattended for too long, if not at all.

Shiori brushed off her tears quickly – make sure he didn't see her crying – as she stood up, looking down her father's grave. Her father and grandparents' graves were placed together, right where the sun would green them every morning. Shiori didn't want them to stay too hot though, so she had plotted their graves right under an old, giant cherry blossom tree that would provide them shade. This way, they could be warm and protected forever.

Shiori still remembered how she had ordered her servants to dig up graves for these people she cherished so much, one by one. She hadn't visited the gravesite for an entire year, because of her disappearance. Oh, how much she desired to ever since that 'incident'.

The blue-haired girl held her hands together and prayed for their safety, for her safety. For strength, luck, and intelligence – for vengeance.

"Let's go, it's time to prepare for our plan – too much time has been wasted," Shiori turned away from the graves after a long-lasting final look and started walking beside the demon as they both exited the graveyard.

"Right away," Hotaru assured her.