The light of the morning sun warmed his face. This is odd, was the first thing Shindou thought. I must've slept in. Why didn't my parents wake me up? Seeing as he was a baker's son, he always got out of bed before the sun rose. It had been a very, very long time since he had woken up with the sun in his face, so why...

A breeze stroke his cheeks, bringing him various scents of nature. That was another strange thing, considering he slept in a box bed and usually kept the doors shut to keep the cold out. Had his mother opened them for him? If so, why hadn't she woken him up?

He opened his eyes, but didn't see much because of the sunlight that blinded him. What he did see, though, was that the ceiling above him was not the ceiling he usually saw when he woke up. He was used to seeing thick, wooden beams and straw, not these... sticks and branches? Indeed, the roof above him was made of somewhat straight sticks of dark wood and covered with smaller sticks and branches. It looked more like a stock of firewood than a roof, if he was honest.

Where was this place?

He became more aware of his surroundings, particularly of a sped-up breathing a small distance away from him. He turned his head and squinted his eyes because of the light of the rising sun. Once he blinked a couple of times, he could make out a boy. Shindou had never seen him before, but he estimated that the boy was of his age. His pink hair was tied in two pig tails and his eyes were solely focussed on the ball at his feet. The boy's lips were parted in a gentle smile as he took in big gulps of air. According to the small, glistening beads of sweat, he had been playing for a while already. Shindou unconsciously smiled.

The boy was playing soccer.

He watched quietly as the pink-haired boy played and noted that the other was quite good at it. Moving from left to right and back and forth, the boy made sure to keep his ball in the air, using his entire body except for his hands. Then he dropped the ball to the ground and started to dribble with it. Shindou's smile widened as the boy let out a soft chuckle that was filled with a childlike happiness. Turning around a few times, the boy tossed the ball in the air with use of his instep. When the orb reached the right height, the boy swung his leg back and forth, kicking the ball away with much force.

Shindou silently gasped when the ball seemed to explode without a sound. Dirty rags and pieces of rope fell scattered on the ground. The boy sighed in defeat and kneeled down to gather every single piece of it. It was only then that Shindou realized that the ball with which this boy had been playing, was nothing more than a bundle of torn cloth. Due to the low quality of the ball, it fell apart when the boy kicked it. He didn't seem very downhearted, though. He merely picked up all the pieces and walked back to where Shindou was.

The brunette let his eyes travel over his surroundings once again, succeeding now that the sun had risen a little higher and was blocked by the odd roof. He wasn't at home, that was sure. For as far as he could see, he laid on a low stretcher that was made of sticks and woven plants. He was outside, on a small platform underneath a veranda in front of a wooden cabin. There was approximately fifty centimetres between the edge of the stretcher he laid on and the edge of the platform, which was surrounded by a fence that consisted of slightly dented sticks. The fence was interrupted at the middle of the platform, allowing people to get up without the trouble of a climb. Opposite of that opening was an open door, which led into the wooden cabin. Shindou couldn't see what was inside, for his feet laid near the door and his head laid at the opposite side of the veranda.

Right now, the pink-haired boy gently placed the rags down and turned to a crackling fire that Shindou hadn't noticed before. It was burning inside a stone circle, a few metres away from the cabin. The flames were small, but they started to live up as soon as the boy poked the remaining wood with a stick. It wasn't close enough to the forest to create a forest fire, but Shindou was surprised that anyone dared to live this close to those haunted trees. The azure-eyed boy grabbed a small and dented cauldron, filled it with water from an old bucket and hung it above the makeshift stove. Then he shifted his attention back to the rags and, after sitting down on the platform, tied them together to restore his third-rate ball. He faced the bonfire while he worked and consequently, he sat with his back turned towards Shindou, oblivious to the fact that the brunette was awake.

"You... You're really good at playing soccer," Shindou said after a few seconds of watching the other's back. He saw he'd startled the boy, for his shoulders tensed and he straightened his back. He still didn't turn around though and relaxed after two or three seconds, acting as if he hadn't heard Shindou at all. The latter frowned a little and tried again. "We could play together sometimes! I'm Shindou, Shindou Takuto."

No response.

"So... what's your name?"

The boy stood up and walked towards a bush near the edge of the forest, still ignoring him. Shindou furrowed his brows. Why didn't this boy respond? He wanted to turn his body to look around, but stopped when a stingy pain shot up through his right leg, originating from his ankle. When he looked at it, he found that it was rather swollen. He sat upright to take a better look at it, but was stopped halfway by a strong tug at his throat, which cut off his breathing for a moment. When he'd recovered from the shock, he carefully touched the assaulted area and found a leather collar and a thick rope that tied him to the bed he was laying on. He could move around without choking himself, but getting away or even getting up, was impossible.

As that last thought sank in, the events from before came racing back to his mind. Tsurugi's disappearance, the journey into the Misty Woods, the occult things that happened after they entered and the injury of his ankle... He casted another look at his swollen foot and fear slowly took over him. You mean... it wasn't a dream? he thought and looked around. Now he noticed that the cabin wasn't just near the trees, it was surrounded by them. They were still inside the Misty Woods! T-then... that boy... is he really...?

Speaking of the pink-haired boy, he had come back and took the cauldron out of the fire. When he reached the platform, he carefully poured some of the hot water in a small, wooden, bowl that looked like a cup without a handle. Shindou eyed every single movement closely, scared of whatever would happen next. If this person was indeed Kiriyoshi, and Shindou had good reasons to believe that, there was no telling what would happen to him. Kiriyoshi placed the cup down and picked up a few small berries that were as black as the night. He must've picked them from the bush a little earlier. He squeezed the fruits between his fingers and counted the drips of juice that fell into the cup.

Shindou's throat tightened with fear when the sorcerer casted a look on him, acknowledging his presence for the first time since he was awake. The calculating look in those azure eyes gave him the uncomfortable feeling that whatever Kiriyoshi was making, he made it for him. His suspicions got confirmed when the young sorcerer stood up and walked towards him with the cup in his hand. He extended it with a blank expression on his face, but Shindou didn't dare to take it. Was it a potion? A magical one? What would happen to him if he drank it? Would he die? Or would something even worse happen? He wondered what could be worse than death, but quickly shook the thoughts away. He was sure Kiriyoshi could find something.

"Take it."

The voice was stern and cold, the complete opposite of what he'd seen when he woke up. Was this person in front of him really the same boy that had played soccer so happily? Shindou was scared to take the cup from the boy, but he was scared to disobey as well. In the end, he slowly took it and noticed from the circles in the water that his hand was shaking slightly. He kept on shifting his gaze between the cup and the sorcerer, afraid that either would do something if he looked away for too long.

"Drink."

He had expected this order, but was still hesitant to follow it. He looked in the other's azure eyes, silently begging for mercy, but nothing changed. The other didn't move, he just kept strictly staring down at Shindou.

"Do you not understand what I'm saying?" he said as he raised an eyebrow. Shindou opened his mouth to speak, but learned that he suddenly forgot how to do that. Kiriyoshi bent down and said calmly: "Do you know, Shindou Takuto? I can get a lot less friendly than this."

Shindou immediately got the hint and it didn't exactly help to calm him down. He didn't think the other boy was very friendly to begin with, but then again, this was probably the friendliest an evil sorcerer could be. He gulped to get rid of the giant lump in his throat and closed his eyes tightly to escape from the sorcerer's piercing gaze. He brought the cup to his mouth, hesitated for one more moment, took a deep breath and poured some of the liquid into his mouth.

The drink had barely any flavour: it was just hot water with a little bit of juice. 'Nothing special', is what one would call it, but Shindou wasn't sure about that for he knew who made it. It was still a little too hot to be comfortable for drinking, but he didn't complain. With closed eyes and tensed muscles, he awaited anything that would happen to him. Was his body changing? Was he dying? Did he feel some sort of unimaginable pain?

Kiriyoshi let out a soft chuckle and Shindou felt how the other boy patted his head like a one would do to a dog that just performed a trick. He carefully opened one eye and then the other, checking if anything had changed about him. That didn't seem to be the case, luckily. He watched as Kiriyoshi wound a wet cloth around his swollen ankle. When the sorcerer was done, he glanced meaningfully at the cup in Shindou's hand and the brunette took another sip, still rather scared of the consequences of disobeying. The drink had cooled down a little and made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. It was a nice feeling, but he mentally reprimanded himself. He couldn't let his guard down in the presence of a dangerous sorcerer!

To distract his mind from the warm feeling, he decided to take a risk and try to get some answers from the other boy. "Ano..." he started unsurely, "why am I tied to the bed?"

He hadn't expected the pink-haired boy to answer, so he was rather surprised when the sorcerer replied. "To make sure you don't do stupid things when I'm not around." A soft snicker followed before he continued. "Not that you would get very far with that ankle, of course."

Shindou tried to swallow his uneasiness by taking another sip of the drink. "What are you going to do with me?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out when the time comes." Kiriyoshi's tone was light, as if he was talking about the weather. Shindou's heart sped up and he tried to ignore it. He thought about his next question. He knew it wasn't smart to be too curious when it came to sorcery and magic, but he couldn't help it. He knew so little and he was almost desperate for answers, even if that meant asking a wicked sorcerer.

But he didn't get to ask his next question, for the hand that held the half-full cup suddenly lost its strength, causing both the cup and its contents to fall on the wooden planks. Shindou's heart skipped a beat and he glanced at the sorcerer to gauge his reaction. It didn't seem like Kiriyoshi was either bothered or surprised by it, but Shindou wasn't entirely sure for his vision started to blur slightly and the colours blended. 'I'm sorry,' was what he wanted to say, but he only produced some incoherent sounds. What was happening to him?

Kiriyoshi acted like nothing was wrong. He picked up the fallen cup, bent over Shindou's motionless form and closed the brunette's eyes with his fingers. Shindou tried to open them again, but his body wouldn't cooperate. His arms, legs and even his fingers were completely out of his control. He was scared and tried to figure out what was wrong with his body, but it was so hard to focus on his thoughts.

A voice came from far away, echoing through his messy thoughts. It sounded familiar, but strange at the same time. "It's nothing personal," the voice said. "I just can't have you hogging my bed again. My back wouldn't allow another night on these hard planks."

Kirino groaned from the effort as he walked through the mist between the trees. The few kilometres he had to walk to reach the forest's edge were usually no big deal to him, but it became a lot harder when he had to carry someone who was his own size. Kirino wasn't weak and Shindou wasn't fat or anything, but gosh, this was heavy!

He noticed that the vegetation got thinner, indicating that he had almost reached his end goal. He paused for five seconds to listen to the other boy's breathing and heartbeat. It seemed like no harm had come from the diluted extract of the berries. Those berries, fruits of the deadly nightshade, were extremely poisonous, even though they tasted a little like cherries. Three berries were enough to kill a full-grown adult.

Kirino didn't like to use them, but this had been his last option. He needed Shindou to be asleep when he executed his plan, or else the boy would ask questions. It had already been hard enough to act like a cold and evil wizard for the short time that the brunette was awake. But he had succeeded. One look at the other's fearful eyes and trembling figure had told him that Shindou was terrified of what he, 'the wicked sorcerer Kiriyoshi', would do to him.

He sighed and adjusted his hold on the boy at his back. His arms were wrapped around Shindou's legs and he was bending forward so that the other boy's upper body rested on him. He wasn't strong enough to carry him in any other way for such a long time.

Kirino wearily glanced around as he stood between the last trees. He didn't see anybody, but decided to take no risk. The clouds of mist that surrounded him expanded and piled out of the forest until he could come out without being seen. Even if the villagers noticed the extraordinary clouds of fog, they wouldn't dare to come close until it had disappeared. He carefully lowered his burden to the ground and groaned softly as he stretched his back. Sleeping on wooden planks and carrying teenagers around... His back sure had to endure a lot!

Then he kneeled beside the unconscious teenager and shifted the body until Shindou laid on his stomach. The brunette's clothes were still dirty from the hectic chase of yesterday and there were also dirty streaks on his face. Kirino adjusted his arms and legs - being extra careful with the injured ankle - so that it looked like Shindou had crawled out of the forest all by himself.

Kirino smiled softly to himself. Yes, that was how it would be. Shindou Takuto, the boy who had disappeared into the Misty Woods for one whole day and survived Kiriyoshi's dark magic. The people would be happy that he survived and they would tell him to be more careful next time. Shindou himself was probably too scared to set foot into the Misty Woods again, afraid of what 'Kiriyoshi' might do.

"You're really good at soccer. We should play together sometimes." Kirino stood up and shook his head to clear Shindou's vivid voice away. He knew that soccer was played by more than one person and he really wanted to play with others, but... not as much as he wanted to be safe. "Pull yourself together," he mumbled to himself. "You can't always get what you want."

He wanted to walk away, but stopped when the boy on the ground made a sound. Kirino stared at him for a few seconds. Shindou wasn't awake yet, but Kirino didn't know how many signals the boy could already perceive from his surroundings. It was possible that Shindou had been able to hear everything Kirino said during the walk. He glanced back at the village and noticed that some people were gathering around the edge and staring at where he was. One flick of his wrist and the mist thickened, decreasing the chances of being spotted even further.

The people were approaching, he had to get away. His expression changed to a stern one when he casted a last look at Shindou. Summoning whatever he remembered of the stern person he had played this morning, he left the brunette with a final message.

"Don't come back. That's the best for both of us."

Me: Sorry if the scene was confusing, everybody! It's just that I've replayed this part over and over in my mind and eventually, I took some details for granted. I hope that everyone could follow it and if not, tell me about it in the reviews and I'll change it!^^

Kirino: And that was the third chapter already, wasn't it?

Me: Yesh! *fist bump* I'm sorry for not uploading my other stories, by the way. I swear I won't abandon any of them, but I'm really really busy and I'm currently only writing the stories that I have inspiration for. That's why updates may be a little slow, but I WILL UPDATE THEM!

Bye~

Ps. If you're interested, the plant that Kirino used DOES EXIST and is indeed REALLY POISONOUS! Atropa Belladonna originally doesn't grow in Japan, but in this story, it does ^^ Please bear with me for that small detail!