Oh, so I found out we can't post links in chapters. ): I'm going to be posting HnH's pictures on my profile soon.

And omg, guys. Thank you so much for all the support everyone's giving me. ;--; I've reached halfway in the story with this chapter. I'm not saying the remaining chapters of the story will eight as well, because I like stretching things out sometimes to give some things time to grow. But plot-wise, we've reached the middle. Expect things to get a little.. more adventurous from here on. Enjoy this chapter, it's my favorite so far.

Fireflies

Shiori looked outside the window of her room and sighed. Her garden was full of people. All the trees, plants, and the giant fountain in the middle of it were glowing radiantly at night since they were decorated by paper lamps by everyone in the household the day earlier. The people looked like they were being dissolved into the everlasting glow, the sight infront of her was so beautiful. Since the Akiyama estate's garden was massive, Hotaru decided to hold the party in the two-third portion of the garden. It was enough to contain all the people in the village.

The people Hotaru hired as helpers were such hardworking and kind people, Shiori thought. Sure they bickered a lot with each other and were strange in many ways, but they were good people. Shiori smiled, like Hotaru. She grew fond of everyone of them already. She felt happy in their presence.

"Shiori?" Hotaru called out, bursting inside the room. He too was dressed up in a celadon-colored kimono. His ebony-colored hair was lying all over his face, he looked quite dashing.

"What is taking you so long? Everyone is waiti – " the demon paused as he laid his wine-colored eyes on his wife. The young girl was draped in a cream-colored kimono. Her hair was also pulled up in a traditional Japanese-styled bun with many strands displayed on her face, her bun was decorated by Japanese orchids; her favorite firefly hairpin accompanied her tonight. The girl's lips were painted and her cheeks looked like they were reddened artificially. She looked like a goddess of some kind.

Shiori didn't like wearing light colors because they looked too feminine and had higher chances of getting dirty, she preferred dark clothes that would blend in with the background and not attract so much attention. There was a time when she liked wearing vibrant-colored clothes, but she had already passed that phase.

The twins forced her to wear it on this occasion though, they said it would look nice since it was the night time and the party was outdoors. If she wore dark colors tonight they would go unnoticed, and since a lot of people came to see her, her appearance would be talked about the most. Shiori hated this. She disliked dressing up for so many people – it wasn't only that but she had to give a speech today, for her return. Ever since 'the incident' she had a hard time talking to new people and putting her trust in them, let alone talk infront of many strangers. This was too troublesome for her. Shiori felt her stomach turn upside down, anxiety and nervousness were taking over her. But she knew she had to do this, she was the leader of the Akiyama leader.

All the people out there wanted to see their leader.

Hotaru was left speechless for a few seconds, he stood there blinking. Shiori noticed this and scowled, her colored cheeks growing even a deeper shade of red. "Don't you dare make fun of me! – I didn't want to wear this. I was forced, okay? "

Hotaru nodded enthusiastically, snapping out of it and clearing his throat. "Ahem, yeah, of course.. "

"Everyone's waiting, right? Let's get this over with."

---

Everyone applauded at the village's most talked about couple as they made their way to the garden. Shiori and Hotaru were walking down the stairs that were suspended from the back entrance of the house. The lights were so much brighter when you were entering the garden, they almost blinded their view. The lights struck Shiori and reflected back from her kimono, doubling the intensity of her glow and radiance. Everyone gasped and murmured compliments about their leader's appearance to each other, all the people being excited and supportive of the woman.

Silence soon spread upon the crowd of people. The leader of their village was suppose to say a few words of greeting, devotion, and commitment to them, like all past leaders did. Hotaru smirked, he wondered what Shiori was going to say infront of the village, he knew very well she didn't like talking infront of people.

The blue-haired girl nervously stood on the last steps of the stairs, glancing down at the people who were standing at a distance from her platform. Hotaru stepped aside so that all eyes would be on her. Shiori couldn't really see anyone's face, their heads looked like blurs because of the lightening. They look like fireflies at night. Shiori smiled generously at these blurs, her eyes getting lost in the amidst of this crowd. She could feel her anxiousness fading, she didn't like talking infront of people but now she could imagine they were all fireflies and was talk to them. Shiori cleared her throat.

"I wish you all a good evening, and I thank everyone for coming here. You all look very beautiful tonight." Shiori's eyes were lit up with tears forming in them, Shiori was thinking of how proud her father would have been if he was here to witness this moment. The young woman paused to compose her tone before going on. "I don't think I did anything to deserve this position, this position was given to me because I was born to be placed in the position because of my father. But, I promise to prove to everyone that I do deserve to be here – and no matter how long I'm going to remain as your leader, when I leave I hope you all remember me in a small place in all of your hearts. Together, we'll continue to glow together. That is all."

Shiori shut her eyes for a few seconds to stop her tears from escaping her eyelids and then felt someone's arm clutching her shoulder tightly. It was Hotaru. Shiori opened her eyes to look at him with a forced smile on her face, telling him that she was okay. Everyone in the crowd the applauded and whistled at their leader's short, but to the point speech.

---

As the party went on all of the villagers greeted them, complimented them, and gave them presents for Shiori's return. There was food, music, and a magic act performed by Yasu. Everyone seemed to be having a nice time. The helpers of the household were running around the entire garden, they were quite busy attending to all the guests.

"Urgh, move out of the way, you brat! I have lots to do!" Arashi shoved aside the short-haired twin as they collided.

Cho fell on the ground and so did the towels she was clutching for the guests, the girl began wailing and kicking and punching the air. "Sho! Arashi's being mean to me again!!"

The longer-haired twin appeared from the gardener's behind and started pulling his crimson-colored hair, a scowl formed on her face and her eyes shot daggers at the man. "How many times have I told you to not mess with my sister, you idiot!? Do you want me to rip your hair off!?" The young man shrieked and absentmindedly waved his arms in the air to try and get a hold of the older twin. Yasu stood there and decided to point and laugh at the situation infront of him. He was still cloaked.

Shiori's uncle, aunt, and Wakana were also in the party. They also greeted her and presented them a gift. They were mingling around with people in the party, they were mostly keeping to themselves instead of causing a ruckus because they didn't want anyone to find out them being kicked out of the Akiyama estate, twice.

Shiori decided to take a walk in the garden. She wanted to be away from all the talking and smiling at random people, her cheeks were starting to hurt. Hotaru was doing a fine job and continued to do so as she signaled her leave. She bowed and waved at people who greeted her in the party as she strolled around to take a look at everything. The helpers really did a fine job.

The leader of the village was then unexpectedly approached by five little children. They all had picked flowers from the garden, escaping Arashi's wrath, and decided to give it to her. "You're very pretty, miss leader! I want to be just like you when I grow up!" one of the little girls in the group said and Shiori laughed at the compliment.

She thanked them by hugging all the kids individually. "Thank you very much, I'm very flattered!" all the kids nodded shyly and ran away. Shiori smiled at the group of little people and got up, noticing a figure infront of her. Shiori's smile vanished.

Itsuki.

The familiar man was draped in a dark kimono. He was staring right at her and making his way towards her. Oh no, what was she going to do? Should she pretend she didn't notice him coming towards her and run away? – no, that wasn't like her at all. That was the old Shiori, the new Shiori wasn't like that at all. Why would she be running, anyway? It wasn't like she did anything terrible. Sure, she married a demon and formed a contract with him – but did he not know her situation? He married her cousin. He betrayed her. Shiori narrowed her mud-colored eyes at the man and tightened her fists, waiting for him to greet her and ask how she has been this past year she was gone.

"Who are you?"

Those were the words that came out of his mouth instead of what she was expecting. Shiori blinked. Did she hear him right? – why did he ask that? Was he trying to make the situation more comfortable by pretending not to know her at all, erasing their past's existence?

Shiori crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. "You don't know who I am?"

The bronze-haired man shook his head, his eyes still focused on Shiori's face. "I don't. Ever since I saw you that day, I.. I don't know how to explain it but it was like, right then, I felt like there was some kind of deep connection that we shared and I was so shocked at the sudden strong feelings rushing through my body – your face kept trying to pull me closer to you." The man said in a desperate tone, searching the young woman's eyes for some sort of answers.

At the moment, Shiori felt like something crawled down her spine. He looked so frightened and vulnerable. But why was he acting like this? Shiori chose to quietly continue stare at him. Confused as to what this man, her past lover, was trying to do.

Itsuki noticed the girl was not willing to reply yet, so he pushed her harder. He needed answers. He was going crazy thinking of this over and over again. "I asked Wakana, but she just brushed it off by saying we were family friends. But, I.. I think we were much more than acquaintances. I was involved in some incident an year ago. Ever since then, I lost all my memories.. I can't remember anything from my past – but when I saw you again that evening, even now, I feel like.. I've seen you before and I have felt this way before. I know I have shared some kind of a strong bond with you before.. please, I beg you. Tell me."

Shiori's eyes widened.

What? Was this true? During that incident when they were attacked by masked man in the pond, it caused him to have amnesia? How? How could have this happened? So he really couldn't have moved on since there was nothing to move on from in the first place. Because he couldn't remember her, he couldn't remember them back then.

Shiori couldn't feel like she could move any part of her body, tears were starting to sting her eyes again. So she was the one who betrayed him, not him? She wasn't ready for this – she thought of various conversations and scenarios in her head these past days where she would be pretending to be okay and tell him off completely. But this, she never thought about this.

Itsuki shook Shiori by her shoulders. "Please – just tell me!"

Shiori could feel like her tears were going to slip down her cheeks anytime. The girl, mustering all the strength she had in her, pushed the man's hands away from her. She narrowed her eyes at him, swallowing, keeping her tears from falling down her face – her vision was starting to get blurry. "You have it wrong, mister. We were nothing – nothing. There was absolutely nothing between us. Our parents were friends and you visited our house twice or thrice, but that's it."

With that, she turned and walked away. Itsuki stood there, calling her out for a while but she didn't reply to any of his calls. The bronze-haired man clenched his teeth and decided to leave the party. Wakana noticed her husband exiting the garden. She threw awa the noodles she was eating in the ground. "Honey! Where are you heading off to!? – wait for me!"

The lights, the people, the tears – she was seeing blurs again. Shiori smiled at the blur-formed fireflies and continued to walk past the crowd that was laughing and talking away. She was suppose to be strong. Why was she affected by this so much? The old Shiori had died. Why did she care so much? Was it because she was still human, and not a demon like Hotaru? She heard someone call her name from behind but she continued staggering past everyone and everything, to an isolated place of the garden where there were no lights and fireflies. A place where just the moon and stars could watch her.

"Shiori!"

She heard her name once again, this time much louder than before since there was no more crowd. Shiori turned around to see Hotaru with a bitter look on his face. She couldn't really tell what he was a infuriated at, right now she couldn't care less. The woman's husband made his way to her. Tears were running down her face as she looked the demon with a forced smile.

"Itsuki forgot.. He didn't move on, all this time.. he just forgot.." Shiori murmured sitting on the dark grass, her hands placed on the surface to support herself. "He lost all of his memories, Hotaru and I.." the woman started shedding more uncontrollable tears. She didn't want to cry. Then again, did anyone really wanted to cry? – but she was strong. She was the new Shiori, she couldn't cry. Not now.

Then suddenly Shiori felt warmth oozing inside her body, she looked up to see the dark-haired man holding her. His lips were now on hers and he caressed her hair, comforting her. Shiori's eyes widened. She was shocked for the first couple of seconds. She wanted to shove him away and slap but she had no strength to push him off; her arms wouldn't obey.

The girl's cries faded away as the demon tightly embraced her under the moonlight.