As he pulled away from his kiss, Hayate watched as the girl gained consciousness.
She looked up with sleep-filled eyes at Hayate, and a blush covered her cheeks.
"You're really handsome," she said sleepily. Hayate started and then frowned in irritation as the girl returned to sleeping. He placed a hand on his lips, disbelieving.
"The legends were true," he muttered.
As daylight faded, he decided it was not safe to stay beyond the barrier. He picked up the sleeping girl and headed back. He watched her with growing unease. Her resemblance was remarkable. The same vivid colored hair, the same bright eyes and slender form. Even her lips…
Locating the crack in the barrier, Hayate made his way back into the city. Serenity was an ironic name for the last city on this world that could sustain sentient life. Serenity was anything but peaceful since the fateful day that had torn their world apart. Hayate preferred moving in the darkness of the city, masking his presence in the fading moonlight.
After sealing the barrier using his Leafe energy, Hayate proceeded towards the place he and his comrades called home. When he reached the run down building, he emitted a sliver of his wind into the keyhole. Responding to his magical signature, the door clicked open.
Hayate walked down the unlit hallway, ready to collapse under the weight of the girl.
'Gods, she's heavy for someone who looks so light,' he thought, as he reached the main room.
"Ow, ow!" Mannen cried out.
"Sit still! You wouldn't have gotten this cut if you had stayed put like I told you!" Go said angrily as he applied alcohol to the cut Mannen had received on his arm.
Because supplies—especially medical supplies—were few and far between, they were using leftover whiskey they had found in this building to disinfect the cut. The lack of supplies had been one reason that Mannen had jumped at the chance to check out the light he had seen the night before; he believed that it was a supply kit, like the ones they used to receive when he was younger. But it had been at least two years since a supply kit had made its way to Serenity.
Sasame was patting Shin to sleep on his lap, while Hajime had already fallen asleep on the couch. As Hayate walked into the room with the girl, Go gasped in surprise, while Sasame opened his mouth in shock and Kei narrowed his eyes.
"Is that…?" Sasame began. As Hajime began to stir, Kei put a finger to his lips.
"Is there a spare room?" Hayate asked almost in a whisper. Sasame nodded, placing Shin onto the couch and getting to his feet.
Wordlessly, he led Hayate to the far room that none of them had yet claimed as their own. They had moved here recently, no more than a few months ago, so they had yet to explore the entirety of the building.
Hayate groaned in relief as he placed the sleeping girl onto the moth-eaten mattress.
"She looks exactly like…" Sasame began, when Hayate interrupted him.
"She reacted to me…just like the legends say," he said. Sasame looked at Hayate in surprise.
"You kissed her?" Sasame asked.
"She woke, if only for a moment," Hayate replied stiffly, "She was suspended in some kind of light, that broke when I touched it."
"Then there's no doubt…she must be the next Pretear…" Sasame mused aloud. Kei walked into the room thoughtfully gazing at the sleeping beauty on the bed.
Without another moment's hesitation, he made his way to her bed and pressed his lips to hers. As he pulled back, her eyes fluttered open and took in her surroundings in confusion.
"I assume you woke her up like that?" Kei asked mechanically.
"Yes," Hayate replied, irritation filling his eyes. Sasame looked at Hayate knowingly.
"I'll get her something to eat," Go said from the doorway.
She looked around with her bright pink eyes and drank in her dimly lit surroundings in silence.
"Hey," Sasame said softly, kneeling so that he was eye to eye with her.
"Where am I?" she asked. Hayate started at the sound of her voice. It was exactly the same, except much less harsh. If Sasame noticed the similarity, he ignored it and answered her question instead.
"You are in the city of Serenity, in the realm of Liora," Sasame explained.
"I see. And who are you?" she asked with unusual calmness.
"My name is Sasame. And this is Kei and Hayate. The red-head you saw earlier is Go," Sasame explained. She nodded.
Hayate frowned. If this had been her, she would have been raging up a storm about not knowing what was going on. This girl was poised and calm—too calm. And the fact that she recognized none of them…
"Here's your food!" Go said happily. Kei almost rolled his eyes. Go would definitely take this opportunity to rub it in that he had been right all along. She thanked him, gazing at the bowl in silent contemplation.
"Why haven't any of you asked me who I am?" she asked, stirring the porridge mixture.
"Err…good question!" Go said, his initial enthusiasm fading, "Well, why don't you tell us your name?"
"I don't know," she responded.
"I don't know. What an interesting name…" Go said, receiving a whack from Kei.
"Memory loss," Kei said, examining her eyes, "She doesn't seem to have a concussion, surprising after the impact she must have made after landing here."
"Landing?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion. She brought the spoon full of porridge to her mouth but hesitated.
"It's not poisoned, tulip head," Hayate muttered. She looked up in surprise.
"What did you call me?" she asked, her voice still calm.
"Eat," Hayate commanded, leaving the room. He could no longer stand being in the same room with that girl. She was so much like her, yet not at the same time. It was like she was only a shell of the girl he had once known.
If not for the legends, he would not have brought her all the way back here. Leaving her in the shelter would have been enough to ensure her safety until she woke at least. He placed a hand over his face. Seeing her made a tremor run through his system. It was as if his sin had returned to haunt him once again…