Hayate woke with a pounding headache. Woke was not necessarily the correct word for how he was feeling at the moment. He had barely slept. Every time he had reached a level of unconsciousness, Himeno's form had haunted him. He still felt unsure that he had made the right decision. He clenched his fist. He hoped that Mawata and Go would be successful in finding Himeno—alive. It rankled him to leave it in their hands, but the thought of Himeno's angry face if he had gone to search for her caused him to pause.
"She would be angry at me, wouldn't she?" he mused aloud, a small smile forming on his lips. Realizing his mistake, he erased any trace of a small and headed out from his room. Kei and Sasame were already in the hallway.
"Where are Mannen, Hajime and Shin?" Hayate asked.
"I've let them sleep in a barrier I erected. We don't know what we will be up against, and I don't want them to come along for now," Sasame explained.
"I hold him that they're probably safer with us anywhere than on their own," Kei countered.
Hayate understood Sasame's reluctance to bring the younger members of the Leafe Knights. But thanks to Go and Mawata's absence, they needed all the help they could get. Besides, Mannen would never let it go if he was left behind.
"They're coming with us," Hayate said firmly. Sasame's frown deepened.
"I have no say over Hajime and Mannen, but as for my own younger brother, he is not coming with us," Sasame responded.
"Then you're proposing to leave Shin on his own?" Hayate snapped.
"I promising my parents as they died in front of me to protect Shin no matter what," Sasame said softly.
Hayate could not answer. He had been an orphan his entire life, moving from foster home to foster home. Unlike the others, he had never known what it was like to be part of a family until he had met the Leafe Knights.
And part of him could understand why Mawata was so determined to find Himeno. She feared being alone and abandoned.
"I will protect them," the girl said suddenly. Sasame turned to face the girl, whose determined gaze mirrored the one Himeno had before battling demon larvae.
"Fine," Sasame said stiffly, going into the room to wake the others.
"Are you ready?" Kei asked her. She nodded.
"I don't know what not being ready feels like, so yes, I believe that I am ready," she answered cryptically.
Kei nodded as if he understood. The analytical, detached manner in which the girl understood everything was consistent with his style of thought as well.
"We should give you a name for now," Mannen said cheerfully as he walked into the hallway. The girl looked at him in surprise.
"A name?" she asked.
"Yeah. A name," Mannen repeated.
"But I am only a copy of Himeno. I cannot take her name, nor can I take one of my own," the girl responded.
"It would be convenient for you to have a name, for communication during battle at the very least," Kei said.
"I see," the girl responded, as her brow furrowed in thought.
"How does naming work? Do I give myself a name?" she asked.
"Uh, well, normally people are babies when they get a name so…" Mannen began to blabber.
"It holds greater meaning if the name was given to you," Sasame explained, placing a hand lightly on her head. She flinched slightly from the sudden contact, which caused Sasame to pull his hand back.
"Then what name will you give me?" the girl asked. Sasame looked over to Hayate, who had turned away from the entire conversation. True, he was reluctant to name a girl who looked exactly like Himeno anything other than 'Himeno', but at the same time, giving her a different name was to give her a new identity—one detached from his sin.
"Hikari, meaning light," Hayate said after a moment's silence.
"Because you found me in an orb of light?" the girl asked.
Hayate did not answer.
"Do you like your name?" Hajime piped up. The girl smiled for one the first times at Hajime and at Hayate's receding back.
"Yes. I think I like it very much," she responded.
"Then what are you waiting for, Hikari? Let's get going," Hayate said gruffly. At the sound of her new name used so casually, Hikari felt a blush creep up her cheeks. She placed a hand on her cheeks, surprised at how warm they felt.
"Shall we?" Sasame asked, taking her hand in his. She felt as if the simple action of giving her a name had given a place among these knights. As if she belonged…
…
Mawata and Go had entered the portal walking side by side. In the shock of entering into blinding light, Mawata's hand had found itself in Go's. While they entered into the realm, Go tightened his grip on her hand. Truth be told, he was nervous about what they would find if they found anything at all.
"You're going to cut off the circulation to my fingers," Mawata snapped once they were through the portal. Go removed his hand from hers, turning away in embarrassment.
But Mawata's attention was elsewhere. She was gazing at her surroundings in awe, her eyes sparkling. She felt as if she had entered a fantasy world where the light itself was as sweet as candy.
The sunlight on her skin, the soft breeze running through her hair, the smell of flowers tickling her nose, and the blue, blue sky above her loosened the tension that had built up in her ever since she had heard that her sister might have been found. It was as if finding her would take its own course, and it was an action she had no control over, nor had any need to take control of.
"Peaceful," Go commented. Mawata sighed at his blundering manner. Trust her to bring with her one of the most insensitive, bumbling idiots with her into one of the most beautiful places she had ever set eyes upon. His trite comment had ruined the moment.
"Makes you wish she was here, doesn't it? It would've been nice for her to spend the last five years here," Go said after a moment's pause. Mawata looked up at him in surprise.
"You make it sound like this is heaven," Mawata replied.
"For all we know, it could be," Go replied, running a finger down the long stem of a flower.
"We should take a look around. It doesn't look like it will be night anytime soon…" Mawata began, when Go chuckled.
"Uptight as always. You can relax and leave some things to me, too, you know," he remarked.
"I don't trust you," Mawata said bluntly. A sharp wind picked up at her words, causing a shiver down her skin. It was almost as if the weather itself was responding to her animosity. And she could tell it disliked it.
"Very well. But you're stuck with me for the time being, so we should work something out," Go said.
"I didn't invite you," Mawata said quickly, even though she was secretly glad for his company. If anything, he would at least appear to be a ruffian, allowing her to keep a wide berth from others.
"I know. But I bet you wanted someone with you, anyway, even if that someone wasn't me," Go murmured in such a low voice that Mawata almost missed it.
Mawata had heard him clearly, but had nothing to say in reply. Or nothing she had wanted to say in reply, at least.
"Let's look for some clues," she said, flicking her tiny ringlets of her hair with the back of her hand.
"Aye, aye, captain," Go muttered. Mawata turned and gave him a searing look before continuing on.
This expedition better be over soon, Go mused, or otherwise one of us will end up killing the other in irritation…
…
The monster was hideous with razor-sharp teeth and oozing saliva that burned through any metal it made contact with. Sasame and Hayate were attacking the creature from the sides while Kei approached it head on. Hikari and the boys were waiting in the wings, according to plan.
As the creature struggled between a three-way onslaught, Mannen grabbed Hikari's hand. In a burst of Leafe, Mannen's spirit had fused with Hikari's. She opened her eyes to find herself garbed in an unusual velvet skirt with an emblem of a snowflake. A quick hand through her hair confirmed the presence of a headband.
"It's coming!" Mannen cried out, breaking her out of her reverie. As Sasame had instructed her over and over, she waited until the last split second before she released a blast of ice. Frozen in its tracks, one the monster's eye movements demonstrated that it was still alive.
"Find its core!" Hayate cried out. Hikari flinched at his sharp tone, but began her search for the core.
"What will it look like?" she asked in a low voice to Mannen only.
"I don't remember," he responded, "It's been a while since I even pret-ed."
She nodded in understanding and send out streams of Leafe, probing its surface. A sudden flash told her where the core was. She summoned a cannon made of ice to her hand, and was armed and ready to use it.
Suddenly, the creature burst out of the ice and lunged straight at her. Unable to move in shock, the full effect of the creature's attack hit Mannen, who acted as her shield.
His cry of pure agony filled her with guilt. Who was she to be doing this anyway? She was not truly Himeno—she was a copy. She was someone who did not know anything, who could not protect anyone. Why had she made such a bold claim that she would be able to protect the boys?
Vines shot out from nowhere, ensaring the creature, while Kei moved to protect her just in case. Her—what was it that she was feeling?—disappointment? Anger?
No, her frustration drove her to strike the creature—to shatter it into a thousand pieces. To send that hell-creature to oblivion.
The creature vanquished, Hikari immediately unpret-ed from Mannen and held him in her arms.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, holding his small, injured frame in her arms.
"It's not your fault. I just need to become a stronger knight," Mannen said, before losing consciousness.
Sasame took his now immobile form and created an orb of Leafe around him. A safe haven to heal. Without hesitation, he poured his Leafe into the orb, hoping to heal Mannen as quickly as possible.
"Don't be hasty," Kei said, bringing his hand to the orb. He closed his eyes and focused onto Mannen, reading his vital signs and Leafe levels.
"He'll be fine after a night in this," Kei stated. Coming from him that was as a good as a full recovery for Mannen. Hikari nodded but could not erase the feeling of her inadequacy and culpability…