The next day at night, the Mahora team was coming back from the Umi village. After Setsuna discreetly took the sealed package from the Chief, they all three led their way back home. The samurai girl avoided talking or looking at her male teammate, and everytime they fought demons, Mana was the one to rescue him as he couldn't use his spell more than once a day.

' We're almost there. I can't wait to see you Kono-chan… ' the raven girl thought with warm.

They were now walking quietly and faster. But Jima was so tired from the fight or rather the stress of the fight, that he couldn't walk with the women. He was walking far behind, to the two hanyou's indifference.

' Why did I agree to go on this mission?! I'm really an idiot! ' the male 'bodyguard' thought in a big sight.

He tried to walk faster, but stopped abruptly.

' Ah! ' he turned back to watch the quiet trees.

Setsuna was leading the way, as she was really impatient to see her princess.

" At this point, you should run. " Mana told her friend in a teasing way.

Which made the latter to blush heavily as she jumped back.

" So much passion to give, huh? " the gunlish woman always took so much pleasure to make fun of her samurai friend.

" S-shut up! " Setsuna answered angrily but she kept walking fast.

Until they felt their other teammate wasn't following anymore. They turned back to look at him, but he wasn't anywhere to see.

" Wait for me please! " Jima shouted at them.

Then the two girls got a sight of him. He was running to their side.

" You could walk slower so I wouldn't lose myself in the wood! " the brown-hair man told them as he caught up with them.

" It's you who should walk faster. " Setsuna replied darkly as she resumed her walk.

They walked for few minutes before they reached Mahora's entrance doors.

' ! '

The two half-demons looked back at the forest with a frown.

" Um, what did I do again? " as he was behind them, Jima thought the girls were looking at him.

Then the two professionals looked at each other, and nodded silently.

" Did I miss something? " the man asked as he didn't understand their wordless communication.

He saw his female teammates walking inside the Academy as soon as the doors opened, and followed them without any answer.

" Here's the package, Sir. " Setsuna handed him the object as she bowed respectfully.

" Thank you Setsuna-kun. " he took the sealed box from her hands and put it on his desk.

She started to report what they learned during the mission.

" Where is the bodyguard now? " the old man asked on his chair as he brushed his white beard.

" He went back to his room. But I'm pretty certain that tonight, he'll go back to check the World Tree. " the smaller raven girl said as she stood straight.

" Okay. Then Tatsumiya-kun, I will charge you to keep an eye on him tonight. And come back the next morning to give me your report, Setsuna-kun will take your morning patrol tomorrow. "

" What's more, Sir… " Setsuna said as she looked back at her friend.

" It seems that they are encircling the Academy. We don't know how many of them there is and who they are, either demons or simple guards. " Mana continued her sentence.

The dean frowned deeply at this information. He really wasn't suspecting the Cloud kingdom to be this serious.

" Hm…I will have a meeting with everyone tonight. Setsuna, you will not only do the round in the Academy, but you will also check outside in the area. We need to stay alert. As long as the magic researcher hasn't find the way to activate the World Tree yet, they won't make a move. You two stay on guard. I'm entrusting to you the safety of the Academy. That's it, you're dismissed. "

Both women nodded before bowing a last time to leave. When they parted, Setsuna decided first to see her girlfriend. She knew how worried she may have been and would be if she wouldn't show up at least to tell her she was back.

knock knock

" Coming! "

The door of Konoka's room opened to let a red-hair girl appeared.

" Setsuna-san! You're back! How was your trip? " the samurai girl's bestfriend greeted her with joy and let her come inside.

" Hello Asuna-san. It was…okay. And it wasn't a trip but a mission. Thanks for asking anyway. "

She replied to her friend as she took off her shoes and dropped her sword. When she raised her back, she noticed her kendo student was holding a bag in her hand.

" Are you off to somewhere too? "

" Hm, yeah…I'm going to inchou's room because I asked her to help me with some homeworks. It's probably gonna take time so I'll be sleeping over there. " Asuna told her with a nervous smile as she was taking her leave.

' Since when this girl is serious about homeworks, and mostly, since when she sleeps over at the class rep's room? ' Setsuna decided to think those words instead of speaking them, so she won't madden her bestfriend.

" Konoka's cooking right now. See ya tomorrow in class! " and she closed the door.

Setsuna stood stunned for a moment. She was lost to see such weird behavior from her bestfriend.

" Secchan? Is that you? " a sweet voice asked from the kitchen.

" Yes…I'm back. " the knight decided to put on hold her questions and went to see her princess.

However when she was walking quietly, she didn't know her lover was also walking to see her.

They almost bumped into each other at the entrance of the kitchen.

Their eyes met.

She didn't know if it was because she didn't see her dear princess in two days, but Setsuna felt her heart beat faster and stronger.

todom…todom…

She didn't know if it was because the missing was so hard to take, but the chocolate-hair girl felt her heart beat the same as her lover.

todom…todom…

They didn't say a word. They just glared at each other, a small blush slowly burnt both of their cheeks.

And the knight made a step, and the princess raised her hands.

todom…todom…

And the raven girl carefully put her arms around her lover's waist, and the brown-hair girl gently put her hands on the cutely handsome face.

todom…todom…

And they both closed their eyes as their lips met.

The couple tightened their grip. Setsuna pulled her closer to her body. Konoka pulled her head closer onto hers with her hands now on the back of her head and neck.

They both parted their lips slowly, to let their tongue met, and danced together.

Time stopped in their mind. Only this moment was living in their heart.

And they kissed, they tasted each other's sweetness in their mouth. Only this was important now.

To kiss, to hold, to love, to touch.

But their kiss was so slow, so tender. So soft as the tongues were vainly trying to hug each other.

It couldn't do. So the kind knight decided to withdraw, and kissed her princess' lower lip.

The latter thought her lover wanted to end the kiss, then slowly withdrew herself too, but she was quickly kissed inside once more.

The kind knight didn't want to let her go. She wasn't done yet, in feeling and giving her love.

She raised her left hand which was holding her waist, to hold her behind her neck and forced her head deeper in the kiss. She knew the smaller girl stood on her toes as she felt her tongue coming more inside in her mouth, and felt her small fingers clenching her hair and the skin of her neck.

A sudden stroke came in her belly. A sweet burn which alerted her of something.

Lust started to burn inside her.

She let a thin grumble escape from her busy mouth, telling the girl she was kissing she wanted to do more than kissing now.

However, she felt her princess withdrew to end the kiss this time. Setsuna slowly opened her eyes to look into her eyes. She didn't understand why she stopped this sweet moment.

" You really missed me, didn't you? " Konoka whispered with a cute smile.

" So did you… " Setsuna told her because she felt it in their kiss.

" Very, very much…yes… " the princess softened her eyes drowned in the dark glowing ones before her.

She quickly closed her eyes as if she was hiding something, and put her head on her knight's chest.

" It only have been two days, but it seemed it has been a week. " she said as she breathed in her scent.

" Hm… " Setsuna nodded to her words and held her closer to feel her entirely.

It wasn't the first time Setsuna had to go on missions, but it was the first time she had to go for more than a day.

They stayed like this, in each other's arms for very long minutes. All their worries vanished during that time. Time just stopped.

' I wish to stay this way forever. ' the couple thought together, but they didn't know.

bip bip

" Ah… " Konoka broke their embrace to take a look at the oven.

" Ready on time! Let's eat Secchan, you must be really hungry after your work! " she exclaimed with her usual cheerful tone.

When they were done, Setsuna was preparing herself to leave for her night shift.

" Kono-chan, I'm sorry I have to go now. "

" To where? " Konoka asked as she appeared to her side in one second.

" Um, to do my daily night shift. " the raven girl replied with a dumbstruck look.

' Why is she so surprised? ' she thought as she noticed the look in her eyes.

The smaller girl lowered her face.

" But, just tonight…can you stay with me? " she asked even though she knew she was acting selfish.

" I wish I could but you know that I can't. " Setsuna answered her as she approached her love partner.

" Please…I need you to stay… " the princess begged her knight with a deep sad voice.

The raven girl's eyes widened. She never saw her Kono-chan acted this way. Acted this, needy. Feeling this, sad.

She held her by her shoulders.

" Kono-chan…what is it? Look at me. "

And the chocolate-hair girl did. She looked back.

' Please don't go. '

Setsuna frowned at what she read in her eyes.

" Why are you feeling so down? Kono-chan, did something happen? " she asked her with a concerned voice.

Even though she had a lot in her mind, she didn't give a crap about it when she was looking into her princess' painful eyes.

" Nothing…it's just…I haven't seen you in two days and I don't know why…I really need to be with you. " Konoka tried to smile but she couldn't really act as cheerful as usual.

After what Setsuna had been through during these two days, she knew somehow that maybe it was her case too.

That is the soulmates' power.

' She won't tell me anything before she feels better… ' the swordwoman thought as she smiled to her princess.

" Alright…I will stay. As long as you want, as much as you need. I'm not going anywhere Kono-chan. " she kissed her forehead and hugged her.

" Thank you… " the princess whispered against her strong chest.

Afterwards, they spent the night holding each other in Konoka's bed. That was all the brown-hair girl wanted. They kept quiet for the next hour. Setsuna understood she didn't want to speak right now or else she would have if she really wanted to. But suddenly she did.

" Secchan… " the princess was laid on her right side so she could hug her girlfriend who was laid on her back.

" Yes? " Setsuna's voice was gentle.

The raven girl felt the head resting on her left arm moved. So she turned her head to look back at her while she also felt a hand clenching her shirt.

" Don't ever leave me… " Konoka's voice shuddered.

Setsuna felt a cold sensation on her left arm. Her upper sleeve was now wet. She turned her body to lay on her left side, and moved her right hand to caress away the chocolate-hairs which was hiding her princess' face.

Tears

" Kono-chan… " she whispered sadly.

Her lover suddenly bursted into tears, and dug her head deeper against her bodyguard's chest.

Setsuna automatically wrapped her with her left arm, and pulled her closer with her right arm. She knew it wasn't the moment to ask questions. Her princess was crying. All that matter to her right now, was to ease her pain.

" It's okay…I'm right here… " she kissed her hair.

" I will never leave you, I will never dare to. " she whispered against her head as she wrapped her princess' legs with her right one.

" Don't cry…It's gonna be alright… " and she tightened her hug, softly caressing Konoka's back with her right hand.

She then heard her cries slowed, and her sobs quiet down.

" I love you. "

pouf

" Shikigami, go look around the school to see if there is any demon or suspicious thing. Be careful to not be seen by anyone, understood? I count on you. " Setsuna whispered in order to not awake the princess sleeping in her arms.

" Yes… " the chibbi Setsuna nodded sadly.

" Why are you sad? " the swordwoman was surprised to see a shikigami feeling emotions.

" Because I'm worried about Kono-chan…why is she sad? It hurts to see her like this… " chibbi Setsuna said as small tears appeared in her eyes.

The raven woman looked at her with confuse.

' Can she feel what I feel? ' she thought as she watched her shikigami closely.

" Yes…I can. Because I'm chibbi Setsuna, I am a part of you. And I feel so sad because you feel sad too. That's why I want to cry… " chibbi Setsuna began to sob.

" Ah! Don't cry don't cry! " Setsuna told her with a nervous look. She felt so disturbed to talk to her crying shikigami.

" I want you to do what I told you. That way, I will feel better. And you won't feel so sad. So can you do it? " the bodyguard said with a smile.

" Okay! I'm on my way! But promise me you will stay and watch over Kono-chan before! " chibbi Setsuna grinned back.

Which made her master to sweat-drop.

" I will. Promise. "

' What the heck am I doing? Consoling and making a promise to a shikigami? ' she thought in a sight.

" hmm… " Konoka mumbled against her lover's chest.

Setsuna nodded to her shikigami to tell her to go before turning her head back to her lover's face and drop a soft kiss on it.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against hers.

' Why are you so sad Kono-chan?… '