"Good, now push the throttle forward slowly and…" the jet lurched then began to speed up gradually. Eru sat, hunched forward in the cockpit, still frightened to operate the large machine. As the jet flew forward smoothly from there, she relaxed a little.

"You're doing really well," Hotarou said from the other side of her watch. He had been substituted for Haruki, who hadn't come because of some business back at his house. Because Hotarou also knew how to fly some jets he coached one person as Ken'ichi coached the other. Irisu was being instructed by Ken'ichi at this point; she seemed to have a knack for flying. She had hardly been told how to operate the jet when she began doing loops and barrel-rolls in the sky. Ibara, who was in the jet Irisu was flying, feared for her life every time the zero-gravity set in and was begging to get out.

Satoshi attempted to help Eru as she flew, but needless to say, the flying was a little rough, and even made Satoshi a little nervous. "Okay," Hotarou said over the watch. "Let's have you land so we can save the fuel." There was a pause. "On second thought, land, but I want to test something in your jet."

"Right." Eru said. "But how do I land?"

"You…hm, let Satoshi land. Flip the switch above your head, it should say 'auto' on it."

Eru looked around then flipped the switch and traded places with Satoshi. He brought the jet full circle and landed neatly about 200 feet away from the group of on-lookers, which included Irisu who had landed a few minutes before (Ibara made a mad-dash to the ship after landing). Hotarou walked toward the jet as Satoshi powered down the engines and stepped out, helping Eru out of the smallish compartment. Hotarou climbed up as they landed on the ground. "I'm curious, Oreki, what are planning to do?" Eru asked watching him shimmy up the ladder.

"Both jets have a set of gun on them. I want to test them," he replied, sealing the cockpit.

Eru frowned. "Why would a little jet like that have weapon on it?"

Hotarou shot the jet back into the air and flew until it was just a tiny dot to the others watching him then he flew up. He flicked on a small screen and read the monitors near it. He engaged the cannon to see what his ammunition was. What-? I've never heard of that before…lichtpulver? Is that German? This must have been a German machine. He pressed the button to fire off the ammunition, but it hesitated, making a similar sound that that of an old windows computer starting up, then fired a heavy blast that shoved the jet backwards. He saw a stream of red light fire off and hit the ground in a matter of seconds, causing a grand explosion.

Hotarou was thoroughly surprised by the power of this 'lichtpulver.' He lowered the jet back down to the ground to examine the damage. It had caused a good-sized crater in the dirt and had scattered some lumps of rock and clay for a couple hundred feet. Inside, the crater had a fine layer of powder that let off a faint small of dandelions.

He glanced around then walked back to the jet and flew back to the group. They seemed a little bewildered. Eru wandered up to him and asked, "O-Oreki, was that the weapon on your jet that you fired a while ago?"

"Maybe, what happened?"

"The whole ground shook! It was as if a meteor crashed into the Earth!"

"Hmm…that canon's a lot stronger than I thought. I'm going to test the other jet too." Hotarou turned and walked toward to other jet.

"Okay, I am heading to town with Fuyumi and Yamato," Eru called as she walked back inside.

Eru walked along with Irisu around the market center looking for some food shops. The two walked without speaking. Eru stepped into a shallow store which contained fruits of various colors. Irisu waited patiently outside. When Eru returned, having made her purchases, she noticed Irisu who had a look of interest in her eyes.

"I would like to look at that store," she mentioned casually. "You can continue shopping."

Eru smiled, glad to see Irisu take in interest in something, then nodded. Irisu quickly disappeared into the crowd, so Eru continued down the lane. She stopped at another store and slipped inside. The fragrant smell of herbs filled her mind with memories. She looked around the store, following her nose to familiar scents; cinnamon, orange, vanilla, and chocolate. She stopped as she found a box of ginger tea and picked up in, inhaling the unique smell and looked at the box.

She suddenly felt a familiar presence. She turned and noticed a lanky boy standing next to her, grinning like a little school boy who had caught a frog. "Well! I didn't 'spect ta see ya here!"

"Oh! Haruki! I never expected to see you here…either," Eru replied, startled.

"Well what're ya doing in a place like this?" he asked taking a step closer to her.

"Just…shopping. You know, for tea leaves…"

"Well me too! Isn't that such a coincidence…must be fate, us meetin' here!"

Eru laughed lightly, hoping for a way to quickly slide out of the conversation. Oh! Fuyumi! Where are you? she glanced at her watch. "I may be getting a call, please excuse me!" she shuffled away politely, attempting to hide herself in the crowd. Haruki found her, though, and continued talking.

"Well I'll be! I ain't ever seen a watch-phone thing-a-ma-bob like that before! You sure it's a phone?"

Eru nodded, and then pressed a button. Her watch beeped as if it had a call. "Oh look! I do have a call; I'll really just be a moment…"

"Why don't we go outside?" he asked. "It's quieter out there."

Eru nodded politely then followed him out onto the street. She turned and pretended to look busy on her phone. Haruki stood close-by, waiting for her to finish. She turned after a moment. "Well I think I should really go now…my friend is waiting…"

"Well I'll walk with ya over to where she is, the city's not real safe for a pretty girl such as yerself."

Eru thanked him but attempted to decline. But at least he's trying to be nice…He came with her anyway. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as if they were on a date. She felt nervous and a little embarrassed when suddenly a tall man stopped in front of them.

"I'll thank you to leave that girl alone," said the man. Eru looked up and noticed that he had light brown hair and was fairly tan with dark eyes. He didn't look like one of the people from Earth, his skin was too light, unless he was from one of the southern islands. "She looks quite uncomfortable, don't you think?"

"How'd you know?" Haruki challenged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "ya don't even know who she is!"

"True, but I can sense a maiden in distress anywhere. Ma'am, is he bothering you?"

"Well…"Eru stuttered.

"Well now, here's the problem!" said the man with humor in his voice. "She's too polite to tell you that you're a bother! I'm sure you're a very nice fellow, but perhaps you should take a few lessons in 'reading the mood' before you try to hit on a pretty girl like her. Don't take this to heart." He clapped Haruki on the back in a friendly manner then took Eru's hand and led her away as Haruki stood, contemplating what the man meant by 'reading the mood.'

"T-thank you for saving me!" Eru exclaimed as the two swiftly walked away.

"It is my duty as a gentleman," he replied. "Now you said you were going to meet up with a friend?"

"Oh! Yes! Fuyumi! She's this way!"

"You want me to come with you?"

"You did save me, so why not?" she began to turn but paused. "We don't know each other's names yet, do we?" She moved so that she completely faced him, then bowed saying, "My name is Chitanda Eru."

A shadow passed over his eyes, then his cheerful countenance returned. "Shun Loki."

The two went to the store that Irisu said she wanted to see and found her with 3 new dresses and left Eru wondering where she had gotten the money. "Fuyumi, this is Loki, Loki, this is my friend Fuyumi Irisu."

"The pleasure is mine," he replied bowing.

Irisu looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "Have we, perhaps, met before?"

"No, I don't believe so."

A shadow of doubt flashed through her mind, but she shrugged apathetically.

"He saved me from Yamato Haruki," Eru told Irisu as they left the store, Shun following behind. "The poor boy. I feel bad for him, he is very awkward…I know that someday he'll find the perfect girl. Anyway, I was thinking of inviting Loki over for dinner, what do you say?"

"A-ah…well that's unexpected…but If you want me to, I suppose I can't refuse."

This girl, Irisu sighed. She'll take any friendly stranger home. Does she even consider what Oreki might think? Though, Oreki may never say anything because it's her.

So the group made their way back to the ship to have their guest over for dinner.

bleh. College. Meh. Sorry peeps I just slammed this out tonight…but it'f Friday at least, right? Hahahaha…oh…I guess leave your comments and I'll spell check this later…