Naru's POV:

I walked down the busy street, ignoring the looks people shot at me, and focusing on memorizing the path I was taking, managing to include stalls and suchlike because of my pace.

I stiffened slightly when I turned a corner only to hear a flute playing somewhere.

Perfect.

I was running in less than a moment, turning back on myself and racing down more roads to familiarize, slotting them neatly in my head as I ran.

I entered a thin road, where there were no people except for a masked child dressed in a floral-cream-pink chèuhngsāam. A White mask with a blue streak on the side hid most of her face.

My eyes were drawn to the caramel hair she had.

"Excuse me!" I called, and she stopped playing, her head shooting up.

The eyes of the mask had a thin fabric stopping me from seeing her eyes, and she started to run.

"Wait!" I called, running after her.

I chased her back into busy streets, and she turned at a corner, narrowly avoiding a patch of grass half-churned into mud.

I wasn't so fortunate, slipping right into it.

Shaking myself, and ignoring the various comments I gained, I picked myself up and charged on…

···

A while later, having rolled and tumbled my way though several more incidents, I ended up finding myself out of breath, covered from head-to-toe in mud, and slumping onto a wall in an alley.

That's one way to map a village – running all the way around it to catch one girl.

"Are you alright?" I heard, and my head shot up to see the very same- "My name's Mai, Mai Taniyama, what's yours?"

I felt myself freeze, before I felt anger, relief, and annoyance.

"Oliver Davis. I got called here." I replied, choosing the safer option. "May I ask why you chose to let me chase you through all of this village before I finally get to meet you?"

She took in my current state, and giggled.

"You've got mud in your hair." she snorted, before laughing.

I shook my head.

"Just answer the question." I asked.

"Well, first off, it was because you scared me, but then it just was, I don't know, fun!" she replied. "No one's been allowed to play with me but Yi, but no one tells me why."

"Hmm… Tell me, M- Taniyama-san, you don't have the same way of talking as the other villagers I have met, so where do you come from?" I continued.

Mai's face turned puzzled.

"Well, I remember I went to school, and I raised myself after my teacher-friend left, but then I was ill… Fortunately, I met some people who had moved away from here, and they helped me, so now, here I am! I met Yi about a week ago. Her life is so lonely, and after we became friends, she let me move in with her! I remember I had a lot of girls pulling my hair and making fun of my eyes back where I stayed, so I live more happily now!" Mai said, sounding confident. "Let me ask something! Are you with that troop of people who came to the village yesterday?!"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Who are they?"

I tried not to let my annoyance show as I answered. "My twin brother, and our Perfect Medium, Eugene; Masako Hara, a normal Medium; Ayako Mitsuzuki, a Miko; Kojou Lin-"

"Kojou Lin!" Mai exclaimed, covering her mouth. "He's that awesome Demon-Man Yi told me about! But, to be honest, I'm scared of him – he sounds so powerful and fierce…"

I felt my eyes narrow.

"He's also an Omnyoji, my assistant and my bodyguard. He didn't actually reveal he was a half-demon until James Brown joined our group as a half-angel… Eugene and I both owe him our lives after several near-death incidents we accidentally created." I replied.

"You're a Foul-Blood, though, so protection from someone with Demon-blood is understandable." Mai argued.

"You sound like a louder version of Gene." I remarked, hoping it poked a memory in her.

It didn't, and she only tilted her head at me.

"Why do you sound so grumpy?" she asked.

"He woke me up too early this morning just for his birthday present, I have every right to be annoyed." I stated.

Mai's face morphed into surprise.

"As he's your twin, it's both your Birthdays?!" she asked, surprised.

"No, I was born five days after him." I replied sarcastically, standing and feeling glad that I had left my blazer back at where we had been staying – since my wrist-watch hasn't survived, I believe the pocket-watch wouldn't have, either. I realised what time it had stopped on.

"I appear to be late for breakfast. If you'll excuse me…" I swiftly bowed, before running back towards the inn…

Joker: YE~Y! UPLOADING!

Naru: I take this to be saying you've finished all the important stuff you had to do?

Joker: 0-0 ... =w=" more like, I'm now hiding in a closet so my head doesn't explode?

Naru: Joker~...

Joker: LIN PROTECT ME \(^~^)/ *hides behind said qt)

Lin: ... *moves out the way.*

Joker: UWAAAA! TRIPLE R~! *runs away at high speed*