Hey guys,

Well, just as you get into the swing of me being around, I have to say goodbye for a while. Turns out I am being taken on a cruise to return home on Monday. I am excited, but since I don't know if the boat will have Wi-Fi or not, which means I may be able to update or I may not, I just don't know. But, I promise to come back.

Alright, so this could be your last chapter for a while, but we get to understand just a bit more thanks to something, or maybe somebody, giving Kenja something he seeked, but soon didn't want. I hope you enjoy and well, hope we can see one another again soon.

xKiha

Alright, deep breath. Hold it in for a few moments, then let it out. Think of peaceful things, Kenja, think of peaceful things. Mhmm, release.

Kesai frowned as he walked onto the porch of Kenja's home, seeing the blond sitting there with a relaxed look on his face and sighing. He looked calm right then, completely enlightened and focused on this inner relaxation but he was an uncomfortable pale the more Kesai focused on him. "Kenja?"

"Nng," An eye opened, trying not to break from his concentration as he looked to the kitsune demon.

"You're trying to keep yourself healthy for now, right?

"No," His voice calm as he spoke a soft reply. "I am fine, Kesai. You have nothing to worry about; I only came out here for some relaxation."

The demon's ears went flat, scowling with anger as he shook his head. "How come you always lie to me when you start to get sick again? You never tell me the truth unless it's about what could happen after you get sick and once you consider it bad! You think I don't know how everything goes!"

Now both eyes were open, the teenager frowning to himself as he placed his hand on the child's shoulder. "Calm down." The red headed child blinking in a bit of surprise as he found himself slightly lulled, sitting down beside Kenja for a reason he didn't now. "You cannot snap like this, Kesai, it's not exactly something I need or desire at the moment. You need to calm yourself down otherwise we may have more troubles here that I'd rather not deal with at the moment."

"But, you're ly "

"Weather I am telling the truth or not does not matter at this point in time, you know exactly how my life is and why everything works as it does; completely out of my control and hand. The only problem is you do not know how to control your anger when it begins to boil up so you do not snap and yell at others."

The fire demon's green eyes had grown wide, the child turning away in frustration only because he didn't want to hear what his partner had to say. Shaking his head when Kenja reached out to touch him in silence before whispering in a frail voice. "I only want to protect you."

"I know," Kenja saying as he went to fix a stray lock of red only to continue being shoved off. "However, you cannot do this. Even if I did need a doctor at this moment, a doctor could not stop me from dying if this was the time of the end I will inevitably face one day."

"Don't say that!"

The sudden yelling shocked the blond, watching the kitsune stand up with slight tears beginning to fill his eyes. It was obvious the concept of death was still too much for him, the fire demon trembling for a moment before shaking his head. "Y You're not going to die, nobody is going to die!"

The child then went to violently rub his eyes, shaking his head before vanishing and leaving a stunned Kenja on his own, sitting on the porch as the wind began to play with his hair, eyes wide with shock.

"Kesai...Kesai!"

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"How did you?"

Kimiko blinked as she went out to check the mail only to find Kesai sitting on the pavement with his ears drooping and his eyes focused on the ground, the girl sighing to herself as she bent down. "Kesai?"

The fire demon jumped at once, hearing her voice and wincing as he tried to come up with something to say. "H-Hey, Kimiko."

"What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

For a moment the little boy didn't want to say anything, biting into his lip and shaking his head vigorously for a moment as the brunette frowned to herself and gave him an understanding and patient look. "Come on, you can talk to me about whatever is happening, I'll listen."

"Kenja and I yelled at each other." The child's ears drooping further. "He's starting to get sick again and he got mad at me for noticing that, he yelled and I got mad and yelled back. He even brought up dying, talking about how doctors couldn't save him if the time came soon."

Somebody as calm as Kenja had said something like that to his partner? Kimiko frowning to herself as she tried not to think too much about this and offering the child a sympathetic look. "I know it's hard, but I'm sure he was just a little bit tired when you talked to him. High school can be stressful and since Kenja's a deep thinker I guess he has been thinking about this for long enough to stress him out. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"I hope so," Kesai's voice getting softer, stunning Kimiko with how helpless and afraid the child had really become when it came to this. "D-Do you think that maybe, Kenja could die?"

The girl didn't even want to think about this, frowning softly before shaking her head. "No, no Kenja is going to be fine." Placing her hand against his shoulder and offering him a smile of warmth. "Now come on, you should come inside for a while."

Well, at least for now he could stay around, after all today was Saturday and all the bookreaders were going to meet up at a local café to talk and even Kyo was coming up for this. They had figured they would leave the demon's at the park to play and since the plan was still in go this meant hopefully by the end of the day the both of them would be on common ground and be able to get along rather well.

"Kimiko?"

The girl paused as she look to the still quiet Kesai. "You won't lie to me, right? You will tell me the truth, even if everything is going wrong and we don't know if we're going to live or not, you'll tell me, right?"

"Yes, I'll be honest."

"Thank you."

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"I see, well it's really nice to meet you!"

Kyo smiled as he and Michael shook hands after meeting one another, Kimiko giggling with joy at the fact that this all seemed to be going well when it came to the three of them. Her eyes falling onto the clock only to find that Kenja was late, rather unlike him indeed.

"Hey, Kimiko." The girl turning to see Kyo with a slightly more serious look in his eyes as he spoke. "Michael knows all about what's happening, right? Has he seen any of those partners under the trance, right?"

"Yeah, he has." Kimiko smiling. "He actually managed to save me from another demon pair when I was out with only my book and not my partner."

Right as Kyo went to say something, his eyes showing his amazement he was feeling on the inside however it was another voice that came instead. "I-I am so sorry for being late!"

Everybody turned at the sound of Kenja's voice, seeing the blond and going silent at once. He had an exhausted look in his eyes as he took in a deep breath and sighed to himself. "I ran into a few bumps and after experiencing what I have to tell you all, I got into an argument with Kesai and he took off before I could apologize for scolding him like I did. I spent too much time looking for him and after a while I simply figured he would come back on his own time."

"He actually came over to my place. Saying you had yelled at him and he became sort of a different person, sulking and keeping himself rather quiet." Kimiko saying quietly, knowing it needed to be said. "I had Tsumi take him to the park where they could spend time with Shura and Amera. So they could all get to know one another and talk over different things."

"Oh, I see. Well at least I know where he is," Kenja sighing as he took a seat beside Micheal. "I didn't mean to yell at him, it was more of an accident than anything. I was a little stressed is all. Something came to me last night and I still don't know how it happened or why I was able to recollect it enough to create an exact replication."

Kyo frowned. "What exactly did you do?"

"Take a look for yourself." Kenja's azure eyes lowering in shame as he reached into his bag, pulling out a large piece of paper he had curled up to make it fit.

What he unfurled was a large map of Hokkaido, detailed but with interesting little drawings on it that seemed to surprise them all. Circled was where they all lived Otaru and their eyes all followed a thin line leading up to a rather interesting looking castle for a non-detailed map. Above the map was only one thing, but enough to make them all cringe. 'Xenolith'

"How did you do something like this?" Michael frowning as he inspected it further. "I thought we knew nothing about this guy."

"Yeah!" Kyo pursing his lips with confusion. "How would you know where puppet master's hideout is when the rest of us knew nothing else about it."

Kenja turned to both of the guys, frowning deeply as he shook his head. "I-I don't know! I swear to you, it became ingrained into my mind thanks to a voice, a voice that was more than happy to share everything they knew about the bastard with me."

Kimiko frowned, thinking about it hard as she found herself focused on something that sounded too familiar. "Was the voice deep, coaxing and promising to care for you? Did it call you blossom?"

"H-How did you know about the voice?"

For a moment everything went silent, Michael and Kyo exchanging looks that basically stated their concern in their friends losing their sanity right before their eyes. In a crisis, don't stick with the crazy people, so had they made the right choice in deciding to fight with them?

"It spoke to me in a dream, talking to me in a soft tone that promised to help me." Kimiko whispering as she stared at the map. "It just soothed me and got into my mind without even struggling. It's like it knew just what to say and do to get me to somehow listen."

Kenja nodded, his hand reaching out into the map. "It promised to give me all the knowledge I was seeking in rewards for my hardships. That in exchanged all it wanted from me was the poison gem he so desperately wanted, but I have no idea what that meant. I guess I must have agreed though, because he handed over the whereabouts of the puppet master without hesitation or a single thought about it. He burned it into my mind, which means no matter how much I would like to forget it, all I see in the back of my mind is that image."

Kyo frowned, looking from one to the other before furrowing his brow. "Alright, so this means that somehow through some voice in the both of your head's, we now know where Xenolith is hiding and where we can go to find him?"

"In the simplified form, yes, that is exactly what has happened."

"So," Michael saying as he took a sip from his glass. "How soon are we going to go after him? Like when are we going to storm his base and take the bastard down?"

That was a good question, all of them pausing for a moment to think about this. Kimiko biting at her lip as she tried to find something that made enough since to help everybody out. "Well, we're going to have to wait until we feel completely capable to fight in that place and know we will be able to get out of there. Also, we're not allowed to go until Aislinn is a full time member of our team."

"Kimiko," Kenja saying with a sigh. "That could take a long time before she warms up to all of us."

"None of you believe me, but I'm really making progress with our friendship." Kimiko stating as she folded her arms. "We're getting better though, she was so close to remembering me, I swear to you guys."

The guys all snickered to themselves; it was almost funny to see Kimiko so consumed with the desperation to make friends with this one girl. Sure, they had never seen Cheshire and Aislinn in battle before, but could they really be great enough to get the brunette to basically devote her free time to try with all of her might to build up such a simple friendship? Well, it didn't matter for now, all of them only nodding to the girl who seemed to be growing more determined.

"All that really matters right now is that we know where we have to go to do what we need to. We know where the puppet master is hiding and now all we need to do is become powerful enough to be able to take him down."

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"Hey, catch!"

Kesai turned around to see Tsumi throwing the Frisbee towards him, smirking as he brushed a long lock of red out of his way. Such a simple thing was an easy way for them all to bond and now it was giving the kitsune an option to show off. The child boosting his speed and catching the disk in mid-air before tossing it to his right. "Shura, catch it!"

"I got it!" The tallest of the male demon's shouted, bracing himself as he suddenly jumped up and caught the disk, laughing as he took in a deep breath before tossing it again. "Amera!"

The only female of the otherwise male dominated group turned around, watching it come and not moving a single muscle but instead confusing the others as they watched her stand completely still and only stare at the thing like it would just suddenly disappear. However, just as the other three cringed and waited to watch the Frisbee make impact, the woman caught it with ease. "Tsumi!" Then throwing it once more.

The poison demon laughed, running forward as the disk began to catch up with him. He closed his eyes, waiting a few moments before nodding to himself and jumping up with certainty. "Here we go!" The child grabbing the thing and landing on his feet in self-satisfaction. "Got it!"

"Yeah, we noticed." Kesai muttering as he smirked. "Just throw it back, come on."

Tsumi nodded in joy, getting ready to throw the disk when he heard rustling in the tree behind him. At once the child stopped, turning around. "No use in hiding, Cheshire, I know you're there so quit it."

Everybody went silent for a few moments before the snow leopard showed herself to the group, her glowing grey eyes inspecting all of them. "Hmm, it seems there are more than just the both of you."

Tsumi nodded. "Yeah, we added two more people to our group. The woman's Amera."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The graceful woman bowing in respect.

"And the guy with the black hair over there is Shura."

"Hey there," Shura giving Cheshire a look of neutrality but slight respect even so.

The anthropomorphic cat didn't seem very displeased, smirking to herself. "Well, you both don't seem to be pains like the little brat over there." Glaring to Tsumi who only fumed slightly at this remark. "I don't think I'll have any problems with either of you."

"That's good to hear." Amera replied, giving the cat a smile of accepted friendship. "I think we will all be able to get along rather well."

"Don't push it," Cheshire muttered, not liking this quick acceptance of her.

"Cheshire, this is where you went."

The cat turned to see Aislinn, Tsumi going silent as he backed up to get himself closer to the rest of the demons. Cheshire leaping out of the trees and returning to her partner's side. "Yes, I was simply checking out the new people they have joining their team to see if they are really worthy of considering as allies."

The girl with scars nodded with intent, seeming to understand and retain all of this information. "So, which one of them belong to the girl in class who is determined to get me to be her friend?"

"The little kid with the purple hair, Tsumi."

"Figures," Aislinn muttered as she looked over the poison demon. "A simple demon for a very simple person."

However, just as the child went to say something about his bookreader in an attempt to defend her, he found himself silenced as he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

"Aislinn?"

Sure enough, that was Kimiko and the rest of the group. Tsumi blinking as he took his place beside the brunette who continued to speak. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question." The girl with scars hissed back. "You're everywhere I am all of a sudden! Why don't you leave me alone instead of ask questions like that."

'She remembers me.' Kimiko turning to Kenja and giving him a look that read 'I told you so,' before turning back to Aislinn. "Look, all I want you to do is join us. It won't hurt you to fight alongside us, will it?"

"Tch," Aislinn muttered as she turned her back to the group. "I will consider it, okay? No promises but I will think about maybe joining you guys."

That was all the girl felt she would say, her and her partner walking off after that and leaving the stunned Kimiko to shower in her own mini-victory, clenching her palms together and giggling in joy. "There, I told you I could do it!"

"Alright, you win." Kenja muttering before sighing, knowing he had to do something much more important than allow Kimiko to gloat like this. "Kesai."

The kitsune's ears went flat against his head, the child hesitating for only a moment before turning around to see his partner but trying to man up and appear strong while around the others. "Y-Yeah?"

The defeat in Kenja's eyes was what brought fear to Kesai who didn't want to bring his real emotions into this, shaking his head. "I am sorry about snapping at you before; I should not have done that. I was dealing with something that I didn't feel I deserved and I took it out on you for a reason I cannot find."

"N-No, it's fine."

"No, it's not," Kenja walking closer to the child and drying the slight tears that appeared in Kesai's eyes. "I shouldn't have done that, it hurt you and it was not my place. I can promise to you that I won't be dying, not with you to take care of. I need to stay around, to protect and fight with you."

With that the kitsune lost it, turning around and pulling his bookreader close as he whimpered, Kenja's hand rubbing the child's back soothingly. "It's alright, no need to cry."

"P-Promise to tell me the truth from now on? Even if it stings at first..."

"Yes, Kesai, I promise you."