The bright morning light and the slight twitter of birds and wildlife alike, blazed into Kazune's thoughts as Karin slept nearby. He should be sleeping too, they had just traveled more than a person should in a day without fresh air and with dust filling their lungs. He couldn't get the events of the past out of his head and it was wearing him down. Kazune thought of his family and how they died while he was young, he thought of all those who had bullied him for his gift of fire conjuring and most of all, he thought of how alone he had been. It was the kind of feeling he'd never realized he felt till he met Karin. Up till now, he had always been fending for himself and solitude seemed like the most natural thing. Now that he had a companion to travel with, suffer with, argue and laugh with, the thought of being alone again was like torture.

"Tsk, how week are humans?" he thought to himself. "One glimpse of the good life and we can't fathom returning back to how it was." He lived before and he should be able to live that way again, but of course it can never return to the content and pleasure it once brought him.

He still had mixed feelings about her too. He hated women, they were a waste of air, but even she found her way into the once impenetrable walls he built. Not only that, but she was scathing and tearing them down from the inside, out, making him more vulnerable than he already knew he was. She is like a plague on the city behind his walls. She is poison and she should be disposed of in the worst way for disrupting his life.

Kazune was about to pour over with rancor towards her, but his mind wandered towards their quarrels. Each time they have fought, he has felt elevated and witty. She was an unmistakably perfect match for his battles. It was as if their brains resonated the same way and that their rage that boiled over as they'd try to one-up the other was enriching.
In those moments, Kazune could have sworn that he loved her madly. The push and pull of the argument and the fight over dominance aroused emotions in him that he was sorely inexperienced with. All his pubescent years were worthless as far as learning how to deal with the opposite sex, other than ignoring them. Now that he was being confronted by a woman who would not go away, his mind was running miles.

"I don't like her" he assured himself. "She is just another woman who gets under my skin and makes it crawl. Love is supposed to be light and airy and you want to cuddle up to that person all the time... not wanting to strangle them and abandon them." Not that Kazune really wanted to kill her, but she did irk him far too often. "I refuse to go soft on her, she'll worm her way in further if I let her do as she pleases. I'm the man, she has to obey me."

Feeling smug and pleased with his new found confidence that he could deter his urges and her advances, Kazune closed his eyes and began to hum.

At some point he must have fallen asleep because when he woke up Karin was nowhere to be seen. He sat up a little groggy and looked around. Puzzled, he stood up and wandered a few steps in each direction to see if he could see her that way. She was still nowhere.

Kazune felt a bit of panic rising in his chest as he wandered further to no avail.

"Damn it! We're in a swamp! If she got stuck in quicksand, so help me..." he yelled as he began to run. He called her name and searched in every mud hole and tree well. His eyes were burning a deep angry blue, the color of blue fire. He was sweating like mad and making irrational decisions such as looking under large rocks and in the trees for her.

Kazune's anger started to turn to fear. He feared for his return to loneliness and for being ratted out, but most of all, the fear he resented himself for was that he feared that she was in pain. All his confidence and snarky feelings towards her melted away. He found himself just wishing for her safety and warmth. Wanting her in his sight, in his arms; Kazune ran where his instinct carried him. He cried out that he hated his current self, but no one could hear him.

"How have I become so twisted?" he questioned. "What even are my dreams? Surely I had them at one point. She told me hers, where is mine!" He ran thinking about how he could think of Karin in such a disgusted manor. She was like him and if she was repulsive, he must be too. Kazune had always been narcissistic towards himself, but since he'd met her, his thoughts have seemed ugly to him.

Kazune's mind was on a meltdown. Everything he knew began to crumble in his panic and frustration of not being able to find her. He began to blaze with flames. Torching everything he set foot on, and heating the air to a dry, parching heat. He hated her, he love her, he was ugly, she was repulsive, he wanted to hurt her and he wanted to hold her tenderly; where were his dreams, who ruined them, everything swirled in his head till he let out a blood curdling scream. His once blue eyes burned white and as he turned to engulf everything in his flame he was hit in the face with dirty swamp water.

A loud hiss of steam sounded thought the air, his heat caused his assaulter to be blown back by clouds of hot air. Kazune stood their wide eyed and staring into space. He was steaming and dripping with water. As the cloud parted, he vaguely noticed a cowering and furious snow woman. She seemed so distant, yet she was right here. Kazune fell to his knees still staring blankly at nothing. His mind was blank and everything was muted. The curvaceous snow woman stormed over to his bewildered body and blew frosty air on his face. When she was sure he had calmed down enough, the snow woman changed back to the Karin he knew. She was angry and confused at his actions.

"I was only gone for thirty minutes to bathe and when I'm getting ready to return I hear you yelling your full head off and burning the place to the god damn ground! What the hell is your problem, fire boy!"

Kazune looked at her with his cooled eyes but couldn't find the words to answer her. Tears started streaming down his cheeks as he registered that she was safe. He could have done without her swearing, but she was still alive.

Alarmed at Kazune's tears, Karin backed down a bit. "Kazune, are you okay? Did something happen?" she asked with concern for his health. All Kazune could think to do was hug her close and mutter the words...

"I thought I was alone again."

His actions and words were even more strange to Karin, but she put it aside. Even she couldn't blame him because she had done the same thing the day after he had met her. Karin didn't know what to do at this point so she just hugged him back, taking over the control of the hug as he went limp to her affections. Kazune was so elated to be near her again, he had no idea he'd go so insane over her absence. Her scent filled his nose and he seemed to just realize his face was nestled atop the cleavage of her breasts. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled in closer. It was warm and soft, it reminded him of a long forgotten feeling of protection and love. Without realizing it, he had begun to kiss this spot of kind love. Long and lingering kisses adorned Karin's bosom as she fought back embarrassment, anger and the sounds she wanted to let out. If it was just for a bit she wouldn't mind. It seemed to be making Kazune feel better at least. She didn't get a feeling of lust from him so she allowed him to kiss her there. Watching him calm down and blissfully kiss her, reminder her of a baby suckling from its mother. A melting pang rang in her as she felt closer to him. Kazune had fallen asleep again. This time Karin sat and waited for him to wake up, letting him rest with his head on her lap. When he woke up, there would be consequences for his actions, but for now, she let him sleep.