Pets

The trip back from Nagano was in equal parts troublesome and uneventful. The Shinkansen the Sol Family took, made his way back without any eventuality and it was even a few minutes earlier than expected.

The mood surrounding the small family was however, just a bit… diverse. Lantis was more than a little frustrated with the results of his quest to meet his soulmate; Zagato on the other hand was sporting a small knowing smile that could simply be translated into a mischievous "I told you so!" clearly directed to his younger brother. Emeraude was just half amused, half exasperated with her little family's antics.

Once home, and feeling just a bit sorry for his brother, Zagato decided to be a good and generous older sibling, so he handed Lantis the registry of all Japanese martial Arts Dojos, highlighting the ones that talked about the Shidous, and told him how they owned a familiar dojo near Shibuya, somewhere between Meguro and Minato.

A long way to go, considering that they lived in Chiyoda.

But still, not as long as he originally feared; for a moment, the worry that, since he met her at a national competition, his lovely soulmate could have lived as far as the most remote point of the Hokkaido Island crossed his mind.

With this sudden positive development, the only thing he had to do was look for a train guide and lots of patience while looking for the missing dojo.

For his missing redhead.


If Hikaru was to be honest with herself, she could easily admit that the days following the Martial Arts demonstration have been really peaceful…

And horribly boring.

Then again, she was not sure if said boredom was more acutely felt in contrast to the previous exiting days or if it was just that the dojo was usually peaceful this time of the year. The fact that her work load at her part time job at the pet hospital had also been really low was not exactly helping matters.

She was not sure what to do with so much free time anymore.

It was not that she disliked to have it, quite contrary in fact; however, having so much free time was allowing her mind to wander to places she was not exactly sure she wanted it to go.

She had been daydreaming about the cute stranger she "met" during the competition, how their gazes found each other and how he gave her a strange look seconds before she got up the taxi with her brother.

To this day, she was still unable to decipher it; it was filled with something that looked like curiosity, fascination, some sort of happiness and another thing she was unable to place, but it was a look that she would not mind in the least to have it sent her way again.

"I wonder if I'll see him again someday. Who knows! Maybe another tournament will be organized soon and I'll be able to meet him properly then!"

Smiling to herself with that last thought and quietly humming her soul melody, she decided this was as good a moment as any to have a walk with Hikari. So picking her leash and a couple of plastic bags, she whistled a bit to gain her dog's attention.

"Come on Hikari! Let's go to the park!"