It had been a year since the pair had met in that tree house, and had continued to meet there regularly over the months. Outside of the fort, Hinata had never seen Komaeda once, whether at school or anywhere else. He had found this odd, but didn't really matter. What did matter was the war being waged in the yard. Soldiers dashed around in preparation, wary and anxious, but not Captain Hinata. He was, in fact, ready for anything.

At this moment, Captain Hinata adjusted his proud paper hat, and rolled up a sheet of paper to create a telescope. He surveyed the land below the tower with extreme caution, but his fear was justified. The enemy was a strong one, and clever too… and their army could be just about anywhere…

A berry tapped his chin from below. The tower's soldier's panicked, eagerly struggling to locate the enemy while securing all areas for attack. Captain Hinata remained calm, and was clearly as impressive and wise as he said he was. All the soldiers stood in awe while-

another assault by berry while his back was turned. A shuffling and exposed white hair in the bushes gave Hinata- Sorry, CAPTAIN Hinata a clear idea of where the enemy stood hidden. He plucked more berries from the tree and threw relentlessly.

"Where'd you go, cowards?" He roared, impressively and wisely as always. The brunette was thrilled. There wasn't much he enjoyed more than playing "Raid the tower" with Komaeda.

There are two outcomes of playing with him. One, Komaeda let Hinata win. He almost always did that, and it was as obvious as the sky is blue. Two, after constant pestering about actually trying, Komaeda would win. Inevitably. But today was going to be different. Today not only Hinata would and could win, but fairly too. A true victory. All that was necessary was finding him.

He scanned the scene swiftly. Komaeda hid remarkably well, he had to admit. So much that "All that was necessary was finding him." is a considerable understatement to the difficulty. How could someone with bright white hair like that hide so well, anyways? This guy… sometimes I think he just turns into a blade of grass…

Truth is, Komaeda wasn't exactly hiding in the battlefield. He had pressed against the tree, looking up at the fort. The cracks in the wood flooring revealed Hinata's shoes, and this provided him with the knowledge of where Hinata was. He scaled the tree stealthily, preparing an attack from behind. Komaeda considered letting Hinata win easily as usual, but he had promised to put in effort.

He peeked over the edge, and watched the foe obliviously stare over the opposite edge. If he could just reach the enemy flag…

Without warning, Hinata whipped around, and startled Komaeda before throwing a stick at him.

"Ow. Hah… what was that?" Komaeda smiled carelessly.

Hinata paused. "Um… a battering ram!"

"Why would you use a battering ram if you're on defense?" Komaeda perked his head to the side in confusion

the brunette frowned. "What do you mean?"

"They're usually used for breaking down a barricade or door, so it would make more sense for the attacking team to have it… but I suppose you can use it too for knocking down my soldiers if you wanted to, of course!"

Hinata drooped. He didn't really know that. So much for looking impressive and wise.

"Unpause game." Komaeda climbed over the edge and gripped the red flag before leaping back to the ground, satisfied.

"Hey!" Hinata regained battle mode, and flung whatever he could at the fleeing Komaeda. More berries, more "battering rams". Unfortunately, he had arrived at his base unscathed.

Komaeda hunched his head down and gave a sheepish grin. "I win… sorry, Hinata-kun." The other boy glared a little, but more or less accepted that he lost. Sort of. "Whatever… did you want to play again? I'm better at offense, anyways."

"I wish, but I have to pack for the trip tomorrow." Komaeda shrugged. That's right, Komaeda's going on a trip… for quite awhile too.

As he waved goodbye to his friend, Hinata pondered Komaeda's absence. It was going to be a long two weeks without him. He was shocked he even forgot about the trip up till now. Komaeda had talked about it frequently, since he had never been on a plane before. It'll be something, that's for sure. He knew he would miss his friend dearly of course, but the white haired boy was bound to have fun there and it wasn't like he and his family weren't going to come back.

Right?