Zero had the boy up by his collar before I could even blink, smoke rising from his knuckles, the barest hint of flames creeping across his skin. I recoiled at the sight, briefly terrified, desperate to pat them out before they burnt him. Ichii, not looking the least bit surprised by the fact that fire was climbing up Zero's wrists, merely rolled his eyes and nonchalantly nudged the bluenette's shoulder, who immediately waved away the embers, reluctantly releasing his grip on the strange boy.

I spat dirt out onto the ground and hurriedly wiped my mouth, shaken but relatively unharmed. Aside from the nasty bruise that would certainly have blossomed across my back in the morning, that is.

The boy, mechanically rubbing the back of his head, showed no semblance of emotion. "I messed up... my landing..." Blinking sedately at me, he lowered his head in a measured little bow. "I'm sorry."

"Huh? O-Oh! I'm sorry, too." Somewhat started, I copied his action, before snapping to my senses. "I mean... Who... Who are you?"

"My name is Rill," I flinched as he moved, cupped my cheek with his hand and studying me as though I were a fairly interesting Maths problem. "I came to... help you."

"Hands off, man!" Zero smacked Rill's hand away, forcing his way between us. Rill merely tilted his head at the action, only mildly confused. "Why are you really here?" The bluenette demanded, while Ichii lifted me to my feet and gently guided me a couple of steps away. "Are you new examinee? If so, I won't let you lay a finger on Hikari!" His fists clenched, black plumes snaking out, hastily extinguished after a sharp look from Ichii.

The crow that had previous been watching the scene, barely interested, squawked indignantly at that, flapped her wings and perched herself on Rill's shoulder. "What's with you kids? You have no manners."

"Here," Rill cautiously dipped his hand down the neck of his robes- Ichii recoiled, insistently tugging me behind him like he was fully convinced the strange boy would suddenly pull out a machine gun and start mowing us down- obviously that wasn't the case, as he instead lifted a chain over his head, opening his fist to reveal a small bottle delicately hanging from the silver. The brunette seemed suitably shamed by his extreme reaction as he allowed himself to relax somewhat. "This... is a potion that will remove the Crystal Pearl from your body... I was told by the Exam Centre to deliver it to you."

Beaming, I collected the bottle in my palm, staring at it in wonder. "This is great! I don't have to run for my life any more!"

"That's good..." I smiled gratefully at the boy, his turquoise hair ruffled by the breeze. "Now you can say goodbye to the examinees."

My heart dropped to my stomach.

Say... Goodbye?

I threw a glance over my shoulder, towards Zero and Ichii, both boys intense, tension coiled in their bodies like a spring. They were prepared to jump in should anything happen. Prepared to go to any lengths to protect me. I allowed the bottle to roll across my hand, slowly curling my fingers around the cool glass casing.

He's right...

Once the Pearl is out, Zero and Ichii won't need to protect me.

There's no reason for us to stay together.

"What's taking so long?" I blinked, focusing on the crow as she impatiently shifted her wings. "Hurry up and drink it!"

"R-Right-"

With a triumphant cry, it was roughly snatched from my hands by a figure who emerged from the bushes. A low growl rose in Zero's throat, but- after a moment of hesitation, because he wasn't that brave- Forte merely smirked, evidently amused by Zero's anger. "I heard everything. I bet Hikari would be in trouble without this potion." The blond boy took off running like a headless chicken, yelling over his shoulder, "If you want it back, give me the Crystal Pearl!" He tossed the bottle to San, who caught it easily and immediately summoned an army of miniature Step-Cats.

Rokka appeared, complete with her busty teenage form, as if by magic- which, all things considering, was probably likely- and planted her hands firmly on her hips. "What's gotten in to you?" That seemed to be directed at Ichii, who seemed fairly perplexed by the question. "You don't need to stay with her if she takes the potion, right? This is the perfect opportunity to separate you! I'll get it back, don't worry. Come on, Gou!"

Gou looked as if he would rather down an entire bottle of cyanide, but loyal as ever, obediently followed Rokka into the fray.

Zero clenched his fists, annoyed, but not uncontrollably so. "What the hell do they think they're doing?"

Ichii gave a bewildered little shrug and tipped his head skyward, cupping a lazy hand around his mouth. "Hey, Forte! You can keep it, we don't need that potion!" He grinned and playfully bumped his fist against Zero's as the younger boy caught on. "We've already decided to protect Hikari until the very end, so it doesn't really matter either way. We don't need to remove the Pearl. Right, Hikari?"

"Yeah," Warmth exploded in my chest. I smiled tentatively, eyes shining gratefully. "That's right."

Forte deflated, and pouted like a child, sulkily throwing the bottle at Rokka's snatching hands.

The crow, bristling, settled down three feet from us, where Ichii was teasingly ruffling my hair. "Come on, don't be do naïve about this. That magic exam will only get tougher! This is too dangerous for a human, you know that!" Zero immediately snapped his head around, glaring as if the crow had just insulted him on a spiritual level, but she merely directed her attention to me, deftly ignoring Zero's angry hissing. "You'll be in trouble if you don't take the potion."

The bluenette snorted contemptuously. "You don't know anything. She'll be just fine! Come on, Hikari, let's go home."

Zero practically dragged me away. I could feel the heat radiating from his hand, occasionally spiking, but never once causing me harm. I couldn't help but feel concerned at the spectacle I had witnessed earlier. Absently, the pad of my thumb traced Zero's skin with care; it was clear, unblemished by the flames I was certain had been there.

Gnawing thoughtfully on his lower lip, Ichii walked sedately alongside us, more distracted than I'd ever seen. Even so, he still managed to come to an abrupt halt at the road, shoes hanging off precariously off the curb. Apparently he was still taking his older brother duties way too seriously, considering the fact that his right arm shot out to block my path, even though I'd already stopped. I suppose watching someone nearly get hit by a car is enough to put anyone on edge.

I patted his hand reassuringly, before Zero gave me an impatient little tug and we continued on, mostly in silence.

After we returned back to my house, we spent the remainder of the day lounging around, playing Monopoly, Zura enthusiastically cheering us on. Zero protested, at first. He'd crossed his arms and pouted childishly, declaring that he was still looking for his dignity from the last time we had played the game. The appearance of my infamous puppy-dog-eyes and a whole minute of begging later, he relented. This time around I was faring much better, to my utmost relief, however Ichii still lorded over us, the unstoppable dark horse that he was.

The dice slammed into the box, spinning wildly from Zero's roll, all three of us waiting with baited breath to see his fate, complete with Zura performing an over-dramatic drum roll- then the lights disappeared with a sharp click, plunging the room into darkness.

"Well," Zero deadpanned. "This isn't good."

"Please don't tell me it's another examinee." I said, wincing when one of the boys stumbled over my outstretched legs.

The curtains shifted microscopically and a heavy sigh sounded. "It's not just us. Looks like the power's out in the whole block."

"Damn it all," Zero whined, bones cracking as he crossed his legs underneath him. "This sucks! I was totally going to win this game as well." We humoured him, knowing full well that, despite his best efforts, Zero would be the first to go bankrupt. Insanely poor management of money and lack of any strategic planning generally resulted in failure. Too bad he could never learn.

Ichii separated the curtains, allowing a miniscule amount of light to flood the room.

"Whoa, it's so dark outside," I observed, a little astonished.

"Someone isn't ready to hear about night."

I stuck my tongue out at Zura, wisely choosing to ignore him. "It wasn't like that before, right?"

Zero considered this for a moment, using his phone to check the time, then slowly shook his head. "It's not that late. Guess there's a storm coming or something."

Offering a small hum of acknowledgement, I used my phone screen to illuminate my immediate surroundings. It was just my poor luck that my phone was almost dead.

"Hikari, do you have any flashlights?"

"Um, yeah, we do. They should be in one of those cabinets."

Tabby began screeching from somewhere within the house. I pulled up a flashlight app and guided Zero safely to the door, which he opened and called for the frightened kitten in a parade ground bellow over the sound of tortured souls. Not one of his proudest moments, I assure you.

A couple of moments later, there was a resounding thump, which silenced the playful banter between Zero, Zura and I. I figured, by Ichii's strangled cursing, that he must have rammed his toe into the couch like he had a year long family feud with it.

It seemed as though while I was busy helping Zero- who's unconventional tactic had somehow successfully led to Tabby locating us, the little kitten having skittering across the floor and immediately perched herself on her cat tower- Ichii had stumbled his way across the room directly into the path of the only piece of furniture obstructing his way.

The brunette, illuminated by a soft, flickering glow, was sprawled across the floor, hands clasped around his throbbing foot, moaning with the sheer agony that only stubbing your big toe can cause, fearing that he had shoved his toenail well and truly back where it had come from. The source of this unearthly light was reasonably unexpected. Nestled in the palm of Zero's hand was a small, wavering flame, occasionally crackling and spiking upwards.

Eyes widening wondrously, I eagerly leaned forward, completely forgetting the fact that Ichii was still rolling across the floor in pain, almost touching my nose against the fire. Zero seemed to be incredibly amused by my fascination, his iris' twinkling with laughter.

"Do you like it?" He asked, teasingly.

"It's so cool," I whispered, suitably awed. "I didn't know you could do this."

"Yeah, well, neither did I, until recently," Zero was beaming with pride as he allowed the flames to crawl over his fingers, weaving between his slender digits. "I've been practising like crazy for it to get this good- even set the curtains on fire. Accidentally!" He added hastily, in response to my disapproving expression.

"He wanted to impress you." Zura crowed, smirking devilishly.

The bluenette went bright red, glaring venomously at the little seahorse who laughed giddily and zipped behind Ichii.

The brunette, having recovered, good naturally rolled his eyes at the seahorse's antics and settled comfortably down next to me, Tabby immediately bounding into his lap as he explained. "Zero's grown a lot stronger over these past couple of months and so has his flexibility with his magic. Destruction Magic is mostly flame-based, anyway, so summoning fire at will isn't much of a stretch, even if it took him a while to fully master his control over it."

"Impressive!"

Zero flushed and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, evidently not accustomed to praise. "Want to hold it?" He looked so endearingly hopeful that I swallowed my hesitation and slowly nodded. "It won't burn you, promise."

Despite his assurances, there was something decidedly insane about holding actual fire. I was appropriately terrified. But he grinned, carefully took my hand, transferring the fire to my palm with ease, flat-out laughing at my briefly horrified expression. Unlike what I'd expected, the flames weren't searing. They were gloriously warm and pleasantly tickled my skin, eliciting a giggle from me as it coiled up to my elbow, flaring there like a flickering arm warmer.

Since I was so obviously captivated with the flames crawling up my arm, Zero merely summoned another plume to rest on his hand, instead of commandeering the ones he entrusted me with. He remained as our own personal flashlight for the rest of the evening, even going as far as to sit up on the counter and light the kitchen as both I and Ichii pooled together enough junk food to kill a normal human. Considering all of this, it wasn't all too surprising that Zero was out like a light the moment that he curled up on the couch.

Ichii tutted playfully. "Such a child." He murmured, tenderly tucking a blanket around his best friend, while I propped myself up on my elbows, lazily sitting up in one of the futons I had set out. Burrowing himself into his own futon, Ichii folded his arms behind his head, sighing contently. "Hey, we're going to keep you safe." He declared, suddenly.

Blinking, I angled my head to the side, carefully arching an eyebrow. "Where's this coming from, Ichii?"

Becoming a little flustered, he absently twisted a lock of his hair around his finger. "Earlier, with Rill..."

"Oh, so that's it, huh?"

"I just wanted to make sure you knew... in case you were worrying about it..."

"Don't worry," I hummed, happily. "I'm not that fragile any more. I can handle this."

"That's true." Ichii hesitated, peeking up through his hair. "Are you really okay?"

I nodded once, firmly.

"I'm glad." He smiled, bright and warm. "We'll protect you, no matter what."

"I trust you."

The next day was the start of it all.

Rokka, being her usual rambunctious, Ichii-obsessed self, had bounced out of nowhere in particular and was currently being a pain in the ass- that was certainly how Zero would have described her if he had been present. Luckily for him, he'd chosen exactly the right moment to disappear, having headed to go buy some melon bread not even ten seconds before Rokka arrived.

I sorely wished I'd had the foresight to accompany him.

Of course, it was just my luck to have to endure the poisonous glares brimming with murderous intent. Evidently, some deity enjoyed messing with me. Thankfully, Ichii was present to prevent the girl from acting on her most violent fantasies, otherwise I certainly wouldn't still be in one piece. The aforementioned pinkette was currently flirting with the ever patient Ichii, which I accepted grudgingly seeing as though it focused her attention on something other than her utter contempt for me, even if I had to sacrifice Ichii's sanity in the process.

Well, someone had to take one for the team and I was unfortunate enough to bear witness to this ungodly display, so it certainly wasn't going to be me.

Arms throw happily around his neck, Rokka gave Ichii an overzealous squeeze, the boy managing to mask his discomfort incredibly well for someone on the brink of suffocation. She was certainly heading for new angle here. While going full blow Yandere, strangling the poor boy and transporting his lifeless corpse to whichever hideout she had planned presumably seemed like a good idea in her head, transforming into a raving psychopath probably wasn't good for her mental health.

Probably.

The moment I noticed even the faintest flicker of pain cross his features, I took action. Noisily clearing my throat, I deliberately stepped a little closer than I usually would, impatiently tugging on the brunette's sleeve to attract both his and, more importantly, Rokka's attention. The said girlreleased him and planted her hands firmly on her hips, glaring, a silent demand for me to back off. That sort of thing may have fazed me six months ago, but I was quite used to her temper tantrums by now. Instead, I observed her coolly, slowly arching a single brow.

She snorted disdainfully, switching loving eyes to the brunette. "I've got something nice for you, Ichii!" She declared, proudly, which piqued his interest somewhat. That was until she almost took his eye out thrusting the delicate bottle under his nose, invading practically every aspect inch of his personal space.

Recognition flashed in Ichii's mellow ochre orbs. He smiled, soft and sugar sweet, adopting the tone he always reserved for children. "That's very kind of you, Rokka, but I've already explain, haven't I? We don't need the potion."

She scowled, childishly stamping her foot. "Why? I have it right here!" Her head whipped to clock me, brows drawn intensely in thought. "This potion... It's the one the examiners made. You can remove the Pearl with this, right?" She demanded, snatching the front of my blouse. "Just hurry up and take it! Then you can break up with Ichii!"

Ichii pried her away as carefully as possible, swiftly swiping the potion, and handing the struggling girl to an exasperated Gou. She gave a furious half-shriek, lunging futilely towards me. Gou secured her by the scruff of her neck, looking as though he would much rather being doing literally anything else with his time as he dragged the thrashing girl away.

Despite almost being swallowed by a multitude of my bewildered classmates, her lowly hissed parting words twisted like a knife in my gut. "Let me say this; you're bothering him, Hikari. It doesn't make any sense to refuse the potion, removing the Pearl will help him to protect you!" That really did hit rather too close to home. It wasn't as if I hadn't thought that already. I'd barely slept at all, anxious thoughts plaguing me well into the night, relentless in their assault, making me question even the most trivial of things.

Ichii's hand landed solidly on my head. Uncertainly, I peeked up at him through my hair, melting inside from the warm, sweet smile he presented me with. "Don't worry about it, Hikari. You're not bothering me at all. I want to stay with you." I flushed, eyes shining with gratitude. Ichii twirled the potion in his palm for a moment, before carelessly throwing the chain around his neck. "I'll hold on to this, okay?"

I nodded, only too happy to oblige.

My phone buzzed importantly, attracting my attention. Ichii cocked his head, reasonably amused, while I scanned the text. "Ayumi?" He asked, knowingly.

"Yeah. Thinks I'm bailing."

"You better get going, then. Go straight to the courtyard." I teasingly poked my tongue out at him. "Be careful." He added softly, having gently tugged me to a stop, electricity dancing from his palm making my heart almost skip a beat.

"I will," I promised, waving shyly.

And I was, for the most part.

Sure, I probably shouldn't have stopped to buy some grape juice from the vending machine. Sure, it was a bad idea to go the scenic route, even if I figured there would be more people than there actually were. Sure, I was a little bit of a naïve idiot, but I figured I would be okay. I wasn't, of course, but at least I knew that for future reference. Ah, who was I kidding? I'd definitely make the same mistake again. Possibly the very next day, in fact.

I almost roundhouse-kicked Rill into next week when he tumbled out from a nearby tree, scaring the absolute hell out of me in the process. The boy, stoic as ever, pouted just the smallest amount, his hand cupping his injury. Hesitantly, I kept my distance, still somewhat concerned for the dazed boy. "Ah... You're that guy from yesterday... What was your name again? Rill, w-wasn't it? What are you doing here?"

"I was napping in a tree... and fell."

The crow, Ruby, flapped her wings impatiently. "You still haven't taken the potion yet?" Now, she sounded more motherly, all tenderly concerned rather than bossy. "You should take it now. I told you, it's far too risky."

I gnawed down on my lower lip, anxiously twisting my hands.

Rill's head snapped up, focusing on something that I couldn't see. He stood, never shifting his gaze for a moment. "... Something cold is approaching," He announced, slowly manoeuvring his staff into a more manageable position. "Step back."

A blurry shape screamed through the air, striking Rill's staff and ricocheting off. A perfect sculpted crystal made of pure ice was embedded into the ground, three feet from our current position. My eyes widened in horror. Rill was immediately in front of me once more, coolly spinning the staff, deflecting three more crystals.

He deftly pointed the end at the tree line, crouched in a protective stance before me, looking calm and unfazed, silently challenging them to attack once more. In a flash, two figures had jumped out from the trees, over the fence and had disappeared.

"Examinees." Rill stated, answering my unspoken question. "They've found you."

"How... How did you know they were coming?"

Ruby, perched on his shoulder once more, looked a little self important. "Because Rill can see the future. He said you were going to take the potion, yesterday." I firmly shook my head, desperately not wishing to believe, protests rising on the tip of my tongue. "It's true," Ruby insisted. "Show her, Rill."

My denials were in vain. When Rill used his Future Spell: Illusion, sure enough, there I was taking the dreaded potion.

"Was that really the future?" I asked, in a small, sad voice. "Does that really happen? I really... take the potion?"

"You will take the potion..." Rill said, calmly. "Because that would be your solution..."

He gave my head a stoic little pat before leaving.

I stood, staring after him, confused and a little scared.

My phone buzzing once more was what finally brought me back to reality. Ayumi, again. I scooped up the juice cartoon from the floor, deftly brushing the dirt from it. Ayumi would kill me for desecrating her scared grape juice, even if the reason I'd dropped it had been shock.

When I finally arrived, Kei was taking a deep breath, her eyes squeezed shut, head tilted skywards. More than likely, she was requesting the strength necessary to make it through the day. I didn't blame her. Ayumi was kicking her feet impatiently, looking every bit a hyper five year old, making it very difficult to summon the willpower not to strangle her.

"Sorry I took so long!" Ayumi brightened up like a Christmas tree and made insistent grabbing motions at the juice, almost entirely ignoring my presence. I chuckled and handed it over, exchanging an eye roll with the exasperated Kei. Yeah, we were on our own. Juice took priority, that's just how it worked.

"You look out of breath." Kei noted, observant as ever, while Ayumi was busy devouring her juice. Evidently Ayumi figured nothing was of any real importance. Except her juice. That was worth more to her than most people's lives.

"I ran the whole way." Which was partly true. After that little scare with the examinees, I had sprinted away as fast as I could, acutely aware that I was an open target just milling around by myself.

The next several minutes consisted of me chatting with Kei, while Ayumi remained remarkably silent for once in her life. The blissful peace was abruptly ended once she finished her juice and switched the conversation to everyone's favourite subject; boys. Thankfully, Kei interrupted that train wreck fairly quickly, and we allowed her to obsess over a new game that was being released soon.

"It's all good gushing over it and everything, but how are you going to afford this game? It sounds like it'll be expensive." Ayumi, as ever, was the crusher of dreams.

Kei tipped her head up self importantly with a small huff. "I'm saving up for it." She faltered at our disbelieving expressions. "I really am this time! Gotta be extra careful not to be wasteful, but I'll do it this time."

"I remember this," Ayumi said, with a devilish grin.

"So do I." I agreed, nodding with mock thoughtfulness.

"She's said this before, hasn't she?" I hummed in acknowledgement, watching as a vein on Kei's temple throbbed. "Didn't it end in total disaster last time?"

"Don't mock me!" Kei lunged at Ayumi, pulling her into a headlock and grinding her knuckles against the top of her head while the girl writhed and squealed through her laughter. I called out a sharp warning, but it didn't put a stop to their antics, so I forcefully pushed myself between them, tutting disapprovingly.

"You two are such children." I admonished fondly, rolling my eyes.

"Like you aren't." Ayumi retorted, cheerfully.

"Says the one that gets excited over juice."

"Hey!" the girl protested, protectively. "Don't insult the juice." I poked my tongue out at her, brushing imaginary dirt off my skirt as I stood. "Where are you going?"

"Back inside," I replied, smiling. "It's too cold out here." My words were punctuated by an intense shiver, making us all laugh.

Kei's voice yelling after me stopped me dead in my tracks. "Hey, Hikari! Don't forget about Hiro's party!"

I flashed her a thumbs up, jogging to return to the warmth. Stamping heat back into my feet, I scaled the stairs, pausing to create some warmth in my hands.

"Hikari!" Ichii raised a slender hand, casually waving me over.

Zero lightly hit my upside the head when I'd reached them. While I whined, he crossed his arms with a loud huff. "Idiot," The bluenette scolded. "You took way longer than necessary. Remember, you've gotta stay close to us. Don't take any risks, okay?"

Pouting, I copied his gesture. "Fine, you're right-"

Zero's head snapped up, focusing on something just over my shoulder. My breath caught painfully in my throat.

The next thing I registered was a sickening weightlessness. Zero yanked my wrist, tugging me against him. He was warm and alive, heart thumping wildly against my cheek. His arms coiled around me in a protective embrace, one hand on the small of my back, gently guiding me against him. In a second, we were crouched, my face buried in Zero's chest, his hand tenderly tangled in my hair.

Sharp and loud, the sound of shattering glass reverberated off the walls.

Pandemonium erupted.

Other students scattered almost immediately, stumbling away, into each other and walls, tripping over their own feet in their haste to escape to a safe distance. Of course, only one was suicidal enough to run towards the chaos. Hiro's hands clapped down on my shoulders, face pale and pinched with worry, lips moving to form hurried words that I couldn't hear.

I almost bashed heads with him as I stood, accidentally knocking Zero over.

Glass littered the floor around us.

Ichii, head cocked to the side, was staring out the broken window, mildly interested; his arm still raised from forming the invisible barrier. Hiro tenderly gripped my upper arms, insistently attracting my attention. Zero was brushing off imaginary dirt from his knees, a twinge of pain flitting across his features as he hit a sore spot. Hiro's hands were warm against my cheeks, firmly lifting my chin to meet his eyes. Again, Hiro spoke, but I couldn't understand anything.

Mumbling assurances, I shook free, blindly stumbling forward.

Ichii was gazing down at his palm.

Red.

The colour of passion, of deep sunsets in summer, of roses and love and life.

Of hate.

Of pain.

Of blood.

It smeared across his palm, trailing rivets down his arm, marring his delicate pallor with a unforgiving scarlet.

He looked at me, as if grievous bodily harm didn't warrant much concern, and managed to muster the same sweet smile as always. "Hikari! Are you injured?" I took his wrist in my shaking hands, slowly drawing the appendage closer. "I guess I got a little hurt, huh?" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Idiot." I said fondly, my voice cracking at the end. "What were you thinking?" He gave a helpless little shrug that melted my heart. "Let's get you all fixed up."

A flash of white in the corner of my eye stirred up my distant feelings of guilt.

Three days had passed, yet Ichii's hand was still swathed in bandages, the white material stretching all the way up to his wrist. While he wasn't particularly tanned, it was still a stark contrast to his skin tone, making it easy for me to spot in fleeting glances. Fairly deep as it may be, Ichii still didn't pay the wound as much heed as he probably should. Zero, on the other hand, was still noticeably furious. Yes, one of Ichii's closest friends may be plotting to kill someone for mildly inconveniencing him. No, neither he nor I could find it within ourselves to care.

The brunette, noticing the object of my attention, absently tugged on the material, his reassuring smile warming my insides.

I'm okay, he mouthed, his smile reaching his eyes, making them sparkle in the light. Happily, I hummed a quiet acknowledgement, inconspicuously bumping him with my hip. Faltering a step, his mouth twisted in surprise, but he recovered quickly and bumped me back, making me stumble to the side. The both of us suddenly dissolving into laughter, thoroughly bewildering Zero, who glanced between us with an expression that stated that he thought we were clearly insane.

"Hey, Zero, Ichii-"

Zero stiffened, his flowing gait becoming somewhat disjointed. Very slowly, he clocked Ichii, who's lips were pursed sharply together. "Ichii, you feel that?"

"Yeah," The boy agreed, grimly. "We're being followed." Instantly, I went to turn around. Ichii grabbed my hand, tugging me back and pointing up at the sky. "Look how cool that cloud is!" He exclaimed, voice brimming with excitement, while his expression looked completely and utterly done with life.

"Are you an idiot?" Zero hissed to me, making me flinch. "Act normally or they'll get suspicious." Then he rounded on Ichii. "Clouds. Really?"

"Shut up," the brunette snapped, with a little grin. "I don't see you coming up with anything better."

"Trust me, it wouldn't have bee hard."

"Two pairs." Ichii reported, over the top of Zero's endless scoldings. "There's at least two pairs behind us." He gnawed on his lower lip, eyes sliding closed in concentration. "It's not San and Forte. Or Gou and Rokka, for that matter; the magic feels much too different." His eyes bolted open. "Damn, watch out-"

Ichii tossed an arm across my body, summoning up a shield to block the crystals of ice that rained down on us. Just as Ichii predicated, four examinees touched down, glaring spitefully at the two boys at my side. Two girls, a boy, and what looked to be a strange wolf-hybrid sized us up.

"Zero, get Hikari out of here."

The bluenette's hand tangled with mine. Flames danced warning over his knuckles, spiking along his arms and spreading up mine when the strange male examinee threw his head back and crowed loudly. "Is this it? How pathetic, this won't even be a challenge."

Ichii threw a smoke bomb onto the ground.

Zero shot off like a bullet. I stumbled after him for the first couple of steps, but he was sweet and gently guided me, carefully easing me back into a collected run. Heat seared across my body. He swung around, firing off a few blasts of fire, pushing me behind him.

The smoke curled in dark tendrils, obscuring our vision.

Around us, the clamour of battle was loud and confusing.

My fingers tightened around Zero's hand. He squeezed reassuringly back, pulling me back two steps as a figure screamed through the space I had been just moments before. The boy, Tomi, wheeled around, about to spark off an attack. Ichii appeared from thin air, his spinning kick connecting solidly with the boy's chest and sending him flying.

Zero tackled the wolf as it went for my throat, teeth snapping just inches from my skin, commanding for me to run as he struggled to restrain it.

From somewhere behind me, Ichii gave a sharp cry of pain. Zero's voice rose in a curse twisted with fury as I struggled to navigate through the dense smoke.

A crystal slammed into the ground by my foot. Biting back a squeal, I changed direction, haring away as fast as I could, listening intently to the solid thuds from the ground a metre from my heels. Throwing myself to the ground, I barely managed to avoid the fire flaring over my head. It wasn't Zero's. His was always more precise and control, even when he was furious. It didn't look like his either. Zero's flames looked far more attractive than the ugly streak flickering out of existence.

Hurriedly scrambling back up to my feet, I ducked under something bright and sharp and continued running.

Spinning around a lamp post, I realised belatedly that I was heading back towards the boys just a moment before I smacked into Zero's chest.

He gripped my upper arms, eyes wide and intense, searching our surroundings before yanking me against his side, sprinting away from the sounds of battle. Tomi sprang out of nowhere, hitting the the bluenette with a precise attack that knocked him off balance for a couple of strides. I screamed, instantly swerving to avoid the grabbing hands but failing by a hair's width, struggling as I was forcefully wrenched from Zero's side.

Let's just say, the bluenette didn't take kindly to another guy putting his hands on me.

A blast of heat hit Tomi in the chest, sending him sprawling with enough force to fracture a normal person's skull as he slammed into the ground.

Heart thumping wildly in my chest, I made it one entire step before Zero had sprinted forward, throwing his arms out in front of me.

In sickeningly slow motion, I watched as a storm of crystals whizzed past, cutting into Zero's delicate skin. A high, terrified scream tore itself from my throat, wild and feral as he flinched, spitting blood onto the ground, his hand tightening around a crystal embedded in his thigh. The force of which he bit down on his lip had blood spurting out, but he didn't allow it to distract himself as he shot off a Magic Cannon, taking both female examinees down.

Ichii stumbled out of the smoke, wide eyes snapping to Zero's form as he crumpled. Acting as a crutch, the brunette helplessly supported the bleeding and battered Zero, who's head whipped around wildly, only stilling once he focused on me. "Hikari," He breathed, lips breaking out into a relieved smile. "Are you okay?"

Instantly, tears welled in my eyes. How can he say that? He's beat up way worse than me!

My throat constricted, swallowing the words I could barely muster.

It's all my fault.

Zero's hurt because of me.

He's hurt so badly.

And. It's. All. My. Fault.

Ichii faltered as the tears streaked red hot rivets down my cheeks.

I don't want to leave them... But I can't put them in danger any more!

Chest heaving, I flew at Ichii so suddenly it startled him, quickly snatching the potion from around his neck and retreating back, tripping over my own legs in my haste and falling down. Eyes widening, Zero lunged uselessly to grab it back, to stop me, his expression pleading. He couldn't reach me, though. Ichii must have been holding him back.

I swallowed the liquid without interruption, and in a sudden flash of light, the Crystal Pearl burst from my chest, hovering in the space just before me. Closing my fist around it, I tossed the perfect little ball that had caused so much trouble over to Ichii, who caught it without hesitation.

"Get out of here!" I commanded. "Get somewhere safe! Please!"

It wasn't like he had any other choice. Cradling an injured Zero to his chest, Ichii did just that, the examinees flocking after him like a swarm of angry birds.

"This is... What's best for them..."

Even as I said those words, I felt my heart shatter into pieces.

A/N: Again, I apologise for the late update. I'm really struggling to stay on top of everything. I need to get my act together, I know.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter. There are parts that I found extremely difficult to write, as you can probably tell. If you find any mistakes or anything that you feel I can improve on, feel free to let me know, it would be a huge help.