"What are you trying to do?" Minamino asked. Hinata had been staring at an ant on the ground in front of her for about a minute now.
"I'm trying to have a staring contest with an ant! What does it look like?" She replied not taking her eyes of the ant. Minamino laughed and turned to look out over towards the horizon. It was the second week into the school holidays and Minamino and Hinata had decided to go on a camping trip up in the hills. They had chosen the perfect spot and had a gorgeous veiw all the way to the sea with the bonus of a fresh water supply in the woods just next to them. They had made sure they would have enough food and clothes for the week and they had been out here for three days. The last few weeks of term had gone brilliantly, with Minamino not being bothered by the face or prophecy, no more disturbances concerning demons and he had also scored the highest in the school on the tests. Hinata had only got thirty seven out of the seventy marks availible, but it was a record for her so she was happy and had celebrated with a meal out to which her closest friends attented. It had been an all round good end to the term and now they were having a good start to the holidays. Hinata gave up on the ant and gazed across to the sparkling waters in the harbour. She smiled peacefully and her eyes mimicked the beautiful spakling water. Minamino sighed contentedly and they stayed looking out over the horizon this way for about five minutes. Hinata shifted her eyes to Minamino halfway through seeing him to be a picture of serenity. She liked seeing him this way; calm and peaceful. It suited his calculating nature and brought the best out in him. She shifted slightly, her heart fluttering and hoped he didn't notice her blushing. Minamino hadn't of course, but had been thinking about his friends again and the upcoming tournament. He had entered on the closing day last week and had seen all his friends there, naturally there were some fights to be broken up but it was good to see them all. Remembering this made him smile and he found himself getting worked up about competing next week. He smiled and stood up.
"Going to get some more water." He said, breaking the easy silence. Hinata smiled.
"'Kay." She replied. She then stood up and stretched. "I'll start preparing dinner." She said walking over to the tent to fish out vegetables and a knife. Minamino picked up the water bottle and began walking towards the stream.
"Don't chop your finger off!" He taunted.
"Don't fall in again!" She retorted, emerging with the ingredients and knife. He grinned and then turned to pay attention to where he was walking. He didn't paticularly mind being taunted about falling in a few days ago, but he didn't particularly want to fall in again either. He filled up the water container and then stood up and checked the area for any youki. With the tournament only next week, some of the competetors would stop at nothing to eliminate the competition and there had been many of the weaker entrants trying to take out some of the main competition when they were least expecting it so he knew he had to be careful. He finished checking the area and when he was sure there was nothing her returned to their camp.
"Hey." Hinata gave him a simple greeting as he returned to camp and he smiled in reply and sat on a log/makeshift-chair, setting the water down beside him. Hinata chopped up the rest of the vegetables and Minamino found an unusual plant he didn't recognise by the side of his log/makeshift-chair so decided to sketch it whilst Hinata finished preparing dinner.
"All done!" She announced and scraped the vegetables she had been chopping into the pot where Minamino had put some water on to boil a couple of minutes before. The water splashed up and almost hit her hand but she had moved it away quickly with a yelp.
"It didn't even touch you." Minamino said raising an eyebrow and pausing his sketch.
"It came close!" Hinata retorted pouting and sticking her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes and looked out towards the sunset. The clear waters of before were now tinged orange and pink, it was a truly spectacular sight. He sighed silently and finished his sketch and compared it to the plant itself. He'd at least be able to tell what it was, he supposed. He tucked his drawing into the book he had been leaning on and stood up to go and put it back in the tent. After he had done that, he brought out the bag of pasta and threw it at Hinata. She only just managed to catch it.
"You should put it in now." He said as Hinata looked relieved she hadn't dropped it.
"You shouldn't throw it at me! I can't catch very well!" She only just managed to make the 'very well' fit on the end; Minamino would have corrected her that she had caught it and so it was not an impossibility if she hadn't have added it. She poured about half the remaining amount of pasta in and put the lid on the massive pan, leaving to cook for a while. Minamino looked out at the sunset again and thought back to the time on the beach after reading the will. He smiled slightly as he remembered Yuusuke being pushed into the sea and all of them joining in eventually. Even thinking about something like that made his stomach feel like an empty pit had just opened up. It felt like he was desperately lonely and despairing. He sighed whimsically and temporarily sealed the pit by reminding himself that he would only have to wait until the tournament to see them again. He made a vow that after that he would visit the beach to see them more often. He heard a twig snap which violently shook him from his thoughts and he exchanged glances with Hinata.
"What was that?" She whispered as they both got up and walked towards each other so they ended up near the pot of dinner which was bubbling away merrily over the campfire.
"I don't know but for some reason I don't like it." He took a slightly protective stance in front of Hinata and scanned the edge of the forest. He would have sensed something if it was demons or even his friends. Not knowing what or who it was made him feel uneasy and all he could do was wait and see. The thought struck him like a lightining bolt. He knew he couldn't reach the tent easily yet his only means of defence were in there. He tensed and shifted uneasily his eyes scanning the woods more carefully now until he could make out three shapes. He didn't change his manner as the shapes seemed to be waiting for the right moment to move and he knew it would be when they were getting more tense. One of the figures moved slightly and another twig snapped. Hinata gasped from behind him and moved in closer. Her anxiety was so thick you could almost see it in the air. He glanced round and just from that he could tell that she was petrified. He angled his body more protectively and she moved in a bit closer. She had no idea of what was happening but she felt safer when she was closer to him. Even when he was anxious like this, there was still a hint of his calm and calculating aura under it and this made her feel safe. She realized that she was relying on him to protect her when she never would have done something like that normally. She looked down at the knife in her belt and gulped. If whoever or whatever it was came close enough to hurt him she would defend him with her life, he meant more to her than that anyway. Another twig snapped and she pressed herself against his back. She could feel his steady heartbeat which made her feel calmer. Minamino didn't mind her doing this, the only thing that mattered to him was that she stayed safe and didn't get hurt because of him. He kept up his protective stance and slightly scared expression and three demons emerged from the shadows. There was an obvious leader as he walked slightly ahead of the other two. He had black hair and dark green eyes and wore a slightly cocky smirk on his face that Minamino didn't like.
"Evening." He greeted them smoothly."Nice day for camping, isn't it?" The other two wore the same expression but all of them were supressing their auras and so there was no way of telling how strong they were. The leader licked his lips and pulled out a knife, beginning to walk towards them.
"S'pose better get down to buisness straight away, huh?" Minamino tensed and Hinata took a deep breath preparing to pounce on him when he got close enough. He took two more steps and Hinata jumped out from behind Minamino with a yelp, stabbing him in the chest. A fatal blow. Minamino was shocked but he didn't have time to think about that now as the other two demons rushed in either side of them. Hinata met one of them getting scratched slightly as she delivered yet another fatal wound. Whilst she was doing that Minamino dodged the others attack and snapped the demon's wrist causing him to yelp in pain and drop the knife. Minamino then retrieved the knife and delievered his first fatal blow.