More time passed and Shindou's ankle healed nicely. He could walk without trouble now and he could even run without feeling any pain. But when he played soccer, he still tied a bandage around his leg to support it. Soccer was a rough sport after all and he didn't want his injury to worsen, but he really wanted to play again.

He put the broom away after he had swept the entire floor of the bakery. It was already late in the afternoon and the shop had closed down. Sweeping the floor was always the last task of the day. Now that he was done with that, he could finally go out and play soccer again. He tucked the bandage for his brace in his pocket and headed for the door.

"I'm going out," he told his mother, who just entered the room.

"Wait a moment, Takuto," she replied and took a small box from a shelf. She handed it to her son and smiled. "I told you about the performer who came to Raimon, didn't I? Can you give these pastries to him? He did a really good job yesterday and I made a little too much, anyways."

The day before, a lot of people passed through Raimon and it had been a good day for business. Apparently, there was a performer among all those people and this man had spent the night in Kino-san's inn. Shindou had been too tired to come yesterday, but he hoped that he could go today. Performers usually stayed a few days in a town and performed. Some told jokes, some played an instrument and others told stories. It was always good when a performer came to town, because many people would come to see them. In the usually constant and boring life of the villagers, a performer meant entertainment and fun. That was why people like that were always welcomed with open arms.

Shindou took the pastries from his mother and headed out. He was later than usual, so his friends were already on the field. He saw how they played together with an adult. The grown man had black hair and a short beard and he wore a blue vest and brown trousers. A purple cape was lying on the ground, not far away from them. The man seemed pretty inexperienced, but still managed to hold his ground against Tenma and Shinsuke. Both boys tried to steal the ball from the man, who kept it out of their reach by sluggishly kicking it around.

"It's mine!" Tenma suddenly yelled and he dashed for the ball. The man was caught off guard by this sudden yell and kicked the ball up high in his surprise. Shindou watched for a second as the ball flew towards him with a high arc. Then his body moved on his own as he ran forward and jumped, neatly catching the ball with his feet. He landed gracefully in front of his friends and the grown-up and placed his foot on the ball.

"Good afternoon," he smiled.

"Captain! Nice catch!" Tenma smiled as he gave Shindou a thumbs up.

"Is this also a friend of yours, Tenma-kun?" the unfamiliar man asked politely.

"Yes, he is."

"I am Shindou Takuto. Nice to meet you," Shindou smiled as he made a light bow for the other man.

"Same here," he replied. "Noburu Naoki is the name, performing is my craft." He bowed deeply and made a gesture as if he took off an invisible hat before he picked up the purple cape and draped it around his shoulders.

Shindou chuckled lightly at the act played out before him and held out the pastries. "I wanted to give you these. I heard from my parents that you were very good yesterday. It's a shame I couldn't be there myself."

"No harm's done," Noburu smiled as he took the pastries. "Thank you for the treats. But anyway, will you come tonight then?"

Shindou nodded eagerly and Noburu laughed. "Then it's a promise. But now on to more important business: these pastries smell really good!"

"Shindou-san's pastries are the best!" Shindou laughed excitedly. "Sometimes Captain brings some for us. They are really good!"

Noburu chuckled. "Really now? Well, let's put it to the test, shall we?"

They all sat down and to their great surprise and delight, Noburu cut the pastries in half and shared them with the three boys. After every crumb was gone, loud praises could be heard over the field. Shindou blushed a little and averted his eyes while scratching his cheek. His gaze fell on the Misty Woods and he unconsciously thought back to the time he had spent in there.

It had been almost three weeks since he was trapped in there. Eleven days ago, he went in there again and left his ball as a token of gratitude. He hadn't told anyone about that, because he was certain that they would think that he was insane. To be honest, he still didn't fully understand why he had done that. He hadn't gone back to see whether the ball was still there or not. After all, Kiriyoshi had said that he, Shindou, shouldn't come back, right? He had already defied the sorcerer once. Nothing had happened so far and Shindou actually started to believe that Kiriyoshi had spared him, but that wouldn't happen a second time. It was better to stay out of the sorcerer's way in the future.

He got pulled back to reality when more friends appeared on the field. "I can't believe this, Tenma-kun!" Noburu exclaimed in mock anger. "Thou appears to be more popular than I! I can't forgive thy for that! Tenma-kun, I hereby challenge thy to a soccer duel!" His dramatic show earned him many laughs and giggles from the children on the field. Tenma eagerly accepted and soon the 'duel' with the older man started.

Despite the fact that Noburu was above Tenma in age, the young brunette wouldn't lose easily when it came to soccer. Moreover, the adult kept on making clumsy mistakes to keep his audience entertained. Shindou suspected him to fake at least half of the movements, but it didn't really matter anyways. Plus, it sure brought a nice atmosphere among the people on the field. Even though he knew Noburu for less than an hour, Shindou already felt like the man was a lifelong friend of him.

After a few minutes, Noburu sank to the ground and panted heavily. Shindou couldn't tell whether the man was genuinly exhausted or pretending to be exhausted, but he laughed nonetheless when Noburu exclaimed that Tenma was the winner of their duel. With words that sounded very old and official, Noburu 'begged' Tenma for forgiveness for his challenge, which Tenma immediately granted him.

"To attone for my ill manners," Noburu said, "I will tell you one of my very special stories." The children smiled and whispered while moving closer to the storyteller. "But, this isn't just any story. It's about someone you all know. It's about Kiriyoshi." As he was talking, Noburu's voice changed into a low, soft voice.

"Is this about the legends again?" Midori asked. "There's nothing special about that, is there?"

"Oh, but it's not about that," Noburu said. "This is a story that I heard when I was traveling. The town where I was staying was called Danburg, do you know where that lies? Well, two children who lived there disappeared from their houses."

Gasps were heard among the crowd and Noburu waited a little to build up the tension.

"They were brother and sister, and both were good children. They helped their parents, they played with their friends. Of course they argued sometimes, but they weren't bad children. Then one morning, when their mother went to wake them up, their box bed was empty."

"Empty?!" someone yelled.

"Yes. The sheets were already cold but the blankets laid in the same position as they did the night before. And when the mother took the blankets off, she got the shock of her life."

"What did she see?!" at least five children yelled, completely caught up in the story.

"On the exact same place where her children lay sleeping, was a branch. It was an ordinary branch, nothing special, except for the fact that it came from trees in the Misty Woods." Shindou felt uneasy and looked around at his peers to gauge their reactions. Everyone seemed pretty nervous by now. "No one else but Kiriyoshi could have stolen those children from their homes."

"But what does Kiriyoshi want with them?" Akane asked worriedly. "Why did he steal them?"

"Who knows?" Noburu replied. "Some say he used them for a pagan ritual, to honour a devil. Others say he ate them alive." The whispers in the crowd grew louder, now and then accompanied by a soft wail. "I tell you this to warn you, since Raimon is very close to the Misty Woods. Make sure he doesn't catch you as well!"

All children glanced at the dark trees that were about threehundred steps away from them. It always seemed like quite the distance, but after a story like this one... Kiriyoshi was indeed very close to them, wasn't he? In an instance, a flash of memory passed Shindou's mind. The roof of Kiriyosh's cabin... it was made of small twigs and branches, wasn't it? Were those the same branches that Kiriyoshi used when he abducted children? But if the sorcerer stole children away from their homes, why did he let Shindou go? It didn't make any sense!

"It seems like you were even more lucky than you thought, Shindou!" Nishiki said and he slapped the baker's son on his back, abruptly calling him back to reality.

"Y-yeah."

"Did I miss something?" Noburu asked politely.

"Some time ago, Shindou got stuck inside the Misty Woods," Sangoku replied with a serious expression. "He disappeared for a full day."

"Oh my..." Noburu breathed as he looked at Shindou, who started to feel uneasy with all the attention. "Could you tell us a bit more about that, Shindou-kun?"

Shindou gulped and started to sweat. What should he say? "Ehm, well... I, eh... There was drumming and laughter and all kinds of sounds, so we started running. But then I injured my ankle and I couldn't go on anymore. I, eh... I kept still and hoped that everything would end soon and that he wouldn't notice me... And at some point, when all the strange things finally stopped, I crawled out of there as soon as possible."

"Incredible. You're indeed lucky that he didn't get you, Shindou-kun. Did you go back into the forest afterwards?"

The moment when he placed his ball on the ground after thanking the sorcerer flashed through his mind, but he pushed it away and wildly shook his head. "No way," he said with a nervous half-smile. "I'm not going back in there. Never again."

After that, they talked about lighter subjects and played some more soccer. In the evening, Noburu was in the taproom of Kino Aki's inn and entertained his audience with funny stories and merry songs. He didn't say a word about the wicked sorcerer who lived so close to them. He stayed three days in total, before he gathered his things and moved on to the next village. All the children gathered on the field when he came to say goodbye to them and he greeted everyone personally. Then he walked away with his little luggage on his back. When he was at a little distance from the village, he turned around again and waved.

After Noburu was gone, things soon returned to normal. But the tale that the storyteller had told them remained in their thoughts. Even the collected ones like Tsurugi and Kariya were obviously taken aback by it and it became harder for them to relax and play after their work. In time, the story would probably become less threatening and the people might even completely forget about it if nothing happened.

But something would happen very soon.

On a regular morning in the near future, one bed would be found empty.

And in place of the person, there would lay a small, dented branch.

Me: And another chapter is completed! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I decided to stop it here. This is my first update in 2015, woohoo! *claps* can I have some applause for that?

*silence*

No? Well, alright then. Anyways, I know I haven't updated some stories in forever, but it's becoming harder and harder for me to write. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but there are so many other things I need to do that I have barely time left to write. Of course I want to write for all my stories, but for the time being, I'll focus on the stories that I have inspiration for. It will probably be very slowly, I apologise for that.

Kirino: More importantly, what did you think of this chapter? We love to hear your theories about what is going to happen in the future, too!

Me: *sweatdrop* Kirino-kun, why so formal?

Shindou: Review please! :)