Seto Midori sat crosslegged on the ground, right next to a thin mattress with a slim shadow girl on it. The visitors, a group of humans and a merman, had left three days ago and they were on their way to warn the angels. Since their leave, Aoi had woken up twice, but she was still very tired and didn't manage to stay awake for longer than an hour.

Ever since the shadow was attacked, Midori had worn a deep scowl on her face. Aoi was her best friend in the village and Midori knew her character through and through. She knew that the blue-haired girl always did her best to help others and prevent fights and arguments, like a true shadow would do. Aoi was always calm yet enthusiastic at the same time and never did she refuse to lend a helping hand, even when the other didn't deserve it in Midori's opinion. And this Leader-person expecially didn't deserve it! She didn't know exactly what had happened to her friend, since Taiyou and Shuu hadn't shared those details with the other villagers. All she knew was that Aoi had endured a lot of pain because of that attack and she simply couldn't forgive the Leader for that!

She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, barely concealing her anger. A faint smell of smoke filled her nose, accompanied by the soft crackling of her hair as it reached the point of ignition. A tanned hand gently envelopped her fist and she looked up in a pair of sympathic black eyes.

"How is she doing?" Shuu asked softly.

"Still the same," she replied. She held his gaze for two more seconds, but then she had to look away. He might see in her eyes what she was up to. She pulled her hand out of his, turning back to the almost motionless body of her best friend. Every second she saw Aoi like this hurt, but she couldn't look away. If only that man hadn't-

"Midori."

Many might think that Shuu was too young to be a village's leader, but when he spoke resolutely like now, there was no doubt about his authority. She stealthily glanced up and waited for what he had to say.

"I know you're angry, but don't do foolish things. That person is not someone to mess with. We don't want you to get hurt... or worse. Do you understand?"

She bit her lip and nodded, casting her gaze again on her friend's face. She heard the rustling of the canvas as Shuu exited the tent and sighed in relief. "It'll be fine, Aoi," she whispered softly and she caressed her friend's cheek. "I'm fast, I'm strong... I'll get back at that man for doing this to you." Then she stood up and exited the tent.

There's no way I can let him get away with this!

The third day started at daybreak, just like the days before. Kirino yawned as he rose from his sleeping spot. It was getting colder during the night, he noticed. The woolen cloak that he wore to keep himself warm at night was barely enough to shelter him from the cold. It was a good thing that Shindou had foreseen this situation and asked Shuu to pack extra blankets. The blankets weren't very thick either, but when combined with the cloaks, they did their job well enough.

Still overcome with sleep, he sauntered towards the river. An advantage of traveling alongside a river was that it was constantly close to them. They were never short of drinking water and the cold fluid also helped to wake them up in the morning. But to Kirino, the sound of the water was calming too. He had fist heard it when he went to the surface in order to study the 'doubletailers', as he still called humans back then. It seemed like years had already passed since that time, but it had only been a few months. He briefly thought of his father, wondering if the king had already given up on his son or still believed that Kirino would come back. But Kirino knew that he had hurt his father either way, so he quickly thought of something else before the guilt would become too much.

He sank to his knees when he reached the riverbank and splashed some cold water in his face. He longingly glanced at the mass of water in front of him, wondering if he should dive in for a quick swim or not. He eventually decided against it. Not because of the cold (since his scales would protect him from that), but because he didn't have the time to swim leisurely. They needed to reach the angels as soon as possible. Until that point, swimming for fun was out of the question.

"Good morning," someone yawned from behind him. Kirino recognised the voice right away and he couldn't suppress a smile when he turned around.

"Good morning, Shindou. Slept well?"

"Like a log," Shindou replied and smiled. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, something that Kirino had seen him do every day so far. It was probably Shindou's way to wake up, as it was his that he splashed his face with water every morning. But today Kirino didn't pay attention to Shindou's little trait as he was preoccupied with the brunette's words.

He tilted his head and shot a questioning glance at the other boy, but Shindou didn't notice it for his eyes were still closed. That's why Kirino shifted his gaze to a big branch that had been broken off a tree by the wind. "Then, is that one asleep too?" he asked, pointing at the wooden log.

"What?"

Kirino pointed and repeated his question eagerly. Although his entire world and even his body changed, one part of him would never change and that was his sateless curiosity. The log that he pointed at didn't seem alive, but maybe it was sleeping, as Shindou just said? The brunette, however, let out a merry laugh when he realized what Kirino was asking. The former merman felt his ears warm up at the sound. "What is it?" he asked slightly indignantly.

"It was just a saying, Kirino. Logs don't really sleep."

The heat in his ears spread to his cheeks when Kirino realized his stupid mistake and he turned his head away so Shindou wouldn't see it. "O-oh, is that so?" he murmured quickly. "Well, if you say so..." He bent forward again to splash some more water in his face. He really needed to cool his head or the others would be able to bake eggs on his cheeks.

Shindou waited patiently and spoke up when Kirino stopped to nearly drown himself with the little water in his hands. "Thank you for yesterday, by the way. It..." he took a shaky breath, "it really helped me to sort things out."

"Glad to be of help," Kirino replied, glad that the subject had changed. He stared at his wet palms and then an idea popped into his mind. Trying with all his might to suppress a grin, he said: "Hey Shindou? Can you turn around for a bit?"

Shindou blinked. "Huh? Why?"

"Nothing much. Just do it, please."

"Eh, okay." Shindou turned around, wondering where the merman's request would lead to. He found out sooner than he would have liked, though. Kirino swiftly moved his hair to the side with one hand and dumped a handful of ice-cold water on his neck with the other. For a moment Shindou was paralysed, but then he basically did anything he could to get rid of the sudden cold. He groaned to overpower Kirino's laughter. "What was that for?"

"I thought it would help you to wake up a little," the pink-haired boy smiled innocently. Too innocently. Before Shindou could reply, the smile dropped from Kirino's face and the boy turned serious again. "We need to go back to the others, it's almost time to leave."

"You're right."

They walked back to the campsite and found out that their juniors were just about to start with their breakfast: hard bread and some dried meat. It wasn't the tastiest meal, but at least it kept their stomachs from imitating a pack of angry wolves. The younger boys had even been so kind as to tidy up the small encampment while their senpais were at the riverbank. It made Kirino feel a little guilty, but Tenma said that he shouldn't. "It wasn't that much work to put your blankets away, Kirino-san," he smiled. It was an odd smile, and even Kirino noticed this. It was like Tenma was trying not to smile, but couldn't force the corners of his mouth down.

"Is everything... alright, Tenma?"

"A-ah, well..." Kariya, who suddenly emerged next to the brunette, nudged him quite forcefully in the ribs. He smoothly grabbed Kirino's attention as Tenma tried not to groan at the impact.

"I'm pretty sure everything is alright with him, Kirino-san," the teal-haired hunter said innocently. "Until you came back, he kept on repeating how well he'd slept and how well he felt."

"Well, I didn't re-" Tenma was yet again interrupted by Kariya's elbow.

"Yes, you did, didn't you?" the shorter boy said emphatically. Kirino watched the scene in front of him with mixed feelings. He sensed that something was off with the other boys' behaviour, but he didn't know what that meant exactly.

Tenma seemed to catch onto what the teal-haired boy meant and he nodded frantically. "Oh yeah. Yes, I'm feeling great now. Shuu's medicine really helped."

"Really? That's good to hear," Kirino smiled.

Their conversation died down when Shindou signalled that it was time to leave.

.

They all hoisted their backpack on their back and lined up in two rows. Shindou mentally groaned when he felt Kirino's hand in his again. He had completely forgotten to tell the merman about the odd behaviour of the day before! He knew from experience that it was pointless to struggle: Kirino's grip was pretty tight and he didn't want to hurt the other's feelings. After all, Kirino still thought that he was helping Shindou and it wouldn't be nice if Shindou rejected his help. He tried to have the same mindset as the day before, when he'd accepted that Kirino simply misunderstood a custom. But it was much harder this time for some reason. His mind kept on pestering him with doubt and annoying questions.

What if Kirino isn't misunderstanding this?

He didn't know why he had such thoughts all of a sudden. They didn't make any sense at all! If Kirino wasn't misunderstanding the meaning of holding hands, why would he still hold Shindou's hand? They were both guys, for crying out loud! He blushed at his own ridiculous thoughts and vigorously shook his head to clear them away. His sudden movements earned him a few muffled snickers from the boys behind him and a confused glance from Kirino. He smiled reassuringly and after a second or two, the merman smiled back. Shindou suddenly became aware of the loud thumping of his heart.

Strange, he thought. We haven't even been running that long, so why beats my heart so fast?

All day long, he got pestered by thoughts like these and it was distracting him greatly. He couldn't get himself to relax during the breaks either, so he was very glad when they finally stopped for the day. He sank to the ground and took a few minutes to catch his breath. Now that Kirino wasn't holding his hand anymore, his thoughts from today seemed ridiculous. He chuckled to himself for his own stupidity. He had acted like a nervous maiden in love for no reason at all! It was a good thing that Kirino didn't know these things, or it would turn out really awkward on Shindou's behalf.

Dinner was served shortly after that. Just like their breakfast, it wasn't a big or tasty meal, but it would do. Shindou scolded himself for still not telling Kirino about the odd behaviour, as the merman still fed him like it was the most normal thing to do. Despite his earlier declaration that his suspicions were ridiculous, he couldn't stop his cheeks from heating up every time he took a bite. Unlike the first and the second day, Kariya, Hikaru, Tenma and Shinsuke didn't discreetly look away anymore. They talked and laughed and even made a few comments on it, but Kirino didn't seem to notice.

Shindou straightened his back and frowned at the four younger boys. 'Kirino doesn't know that it's odd to do things like this,' was the message he tried to convey with his eyes. 'It's wrong to laugh at him for that.' As proudly as he could, he took the next bite of rice that Kirino held in front of his face. It was weird when a guy did it, but with Kirino it was still pretty comfortable. Besides, he would tell the merman the true meaning behind his actions tonight and then they would all just laugh about things like this.

That was what he thought, at least. But when the night kicked in, another problem that needed his attention occurred.

It seemed like Kirino's blanket had gone missing...

"Oi, where have you been all this time?" one of the cooks growled angrily at an unfortunate kitchen helper. "I don't have time to look for you all day, you lazy dog. Hurry up and get me some water."

The boy wasn't at all fazed by the harsh words of his superior. "Easy, easy," he said, angering the cook further. "I was with Leader-sama and I have an order for you."

"An order?"

The boy smiled proudly, content that he could finally tell his superior what to do. "Yes, from Leader-sama. He said that he wants you to prepare the best meat you have and to open up a bottle of your finest wine. He wants to eat in fifteen minutes, so hurry up a bit."

The cook scowled, not happy with the way his subordinate was talking to him. "Did you really think I'd let you alone with such good food? If it's you, the Leader won't see a single crumb of it. I'll bring it to him myself. Hurry up and go fetch me some water already!"

With a frustrated expression, the boy looked around for a bucket. Meanwhile, the cook took the key that he wore around his neck and opened a sturdy chest that was filled with bottles of wine. He was the only one who had access to the chest so that the Leader's followers couldn't waste the drink to get drunk themselves. The scum in the camp could drink cheap brandy if they wanted, but this fine wine was only for the Leader.

Only for the Leader and the cook himself, but no one had to know about that last part. He picked one of the bottles and closed the chest again before he turned around. The kitchen helper hadn't moved from his spot and the cook felt like kicking the laziness out of that boy. "Why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to get water for me?"

"I can't find a bucket," the boy complained.

The cook threw a wooden bucket at his head, but the boy had good reflexes and managed to catch the object before it hit him. As he was about to leave, the cook spoke. "By the way, why does Leader-sama want such an exuberant meal?"

"Haven't you heard?" the boy asked. The cook shook his head and the boy shrugged. "It seems like he caught a devil this afternoon. She looked just like a normal girl, but when she saw Leader-sama, her hair caught fire! I've heard some men talking about how Leader-sama wasn't at all fazed by her attack and simply disarmed her. A devil with flames on her head... Can you imagine? Leader-sama really is incredible!"

"Of course he is," the cook growled, trying to suppress a shiver at the thought of a girl with fire as hair. What kind of monsters lived in this world? "Stop lazing around and get me that water already!"

Me: Pfew, it's done. I wanted to post this when Sinterklaas came to the Netherlands, but I didn't make that. Then I wanted to post it when he came to my village, but I didn't make that either. AND NOW I FINALLY MADE IT! HAPPY EARLY PAKJESAVOND EVERYONE! :D

Shindou: What are you talking about?

Me: Sinterklaas. It's a Dutch festivity. I'll tell you about it some other time. If anyone's curious, ask in the reviews and I'll tell you.

Kirino: What's with this ending?

Me: Don't look at me, it needed to happen for plot reasons. Anyways, I'm sorry for not updating in a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong long time, but I hope this sortof made up for it? I don't know, I feel like I kinda failed you with this chapter, but I'd appreciate it if you reviewed :3

Kariya: Att-chan would like to thank Sekami-chan and all the others who sent in suggestions. She'll use as many as she can!