I've tried working on giving more details on the setting, but I think it'll actually start getting better after the next couple of chapters. Here's hoping...

Yo Kasukabe was leaping from branch to branch in the dense forest with ease. Spots of light were gleaming here and there, but the trees were thick enough to cover the area in a somewhat thick blanket of darkness, making it difficult to see anything further than a couple feet at most. Her hair and clothes gently swayed through the wind as she matched Ryo's pace and silently followed him like an expert stalker. Thanks to her [Gift], her eyes had already adjusted to the darkness from the moment they went inside so keeping track of his whereabouts wasn't a problem.

On the other hand, Ryo, who was just blindly running through the forest, didn't seem as lucky since he was always making close calls as he ran, just barely avoiding the trees, bushes, and logs that were in front of him. Granted, he did seem to have a knack for instinctively passing through the area, but he was still moving a lot slower than she thought. Still, she couldn't go try capturing him just yet since one wrong move could lead to her own defeat.

"Kurousagi probably wouldn't summon anyone that couldn't help us out much." She thought to herself. "She'd want everyone to have some sort of [Gift], so he probably has one too…"

In order to make sure that she didn't lose, she needed to understand what his [Gift] was so that she could dodge or counter accordingly. That's why she was following him while keeping a good distance away.

Eventually, Ryo was starting to look tired, so she sat on the branch and silently watched to see what he would do next. He looked around quickly before suddenly diving into a thick group of bushes to hide himself from any prying eyes. She mentally applauded him for thinking up something interesting, but thanks to her enhanced hearing, she could still tell where her opponent was, from even the slightest rustling of the leaves. She simply waited with her eyes closed while keeping her ears wide. Minutes had passed since he hid himself, but eventually, she heard some movement at the west, so she silently followed the noise until she saw his figure make a quick dash in the same direction. She smiled to herself as she continued the chase

At a clearing near the waterfall where the water god resided, the problem children and Kurousagi were waiting for their gift game to end. The calming sound of the rushing waterfall was accompanied by the gentle breeze that blew through the area as each of the children sat by themselves or in pairs around an assortment of large rocks. Izayoi started talking to Cecilia and Kyle while Hikari still clung on tightly to his arm.

"So you guys are supposed to be our new recruits? I guess that means you all have some kind of trick or something that's useful, right?" he asked, referring to their [Gift].

The two of them casually shrugged, making faces that seem to say "Who cares?" without even looking at the blond-haired boy. Izayoi chuckled a bit. "We've got a couple of interesting guys here…"

"Umm, excuse me…"

Asuka started to speak while raising her hand.

"What is it, ojou-sama?"He didn't turn his head, but Kyle responded while emphasizing the last word as much as possible in a mocking tone. Asuka briefly twitched, but she continued to speak in a calm manner.

"Well….do either of you know each other, or even that boy that Kasukabe is playing with right now?"

"No…"

"Then why did you select him to participate in the Gift Game? Didn't you think it was a bit risky to just send out someone you just met?"

Kyle turned his head with a confused look on his face.

"I thought you wanted to win this game…"

"Huh?" Asuka was taken slightly aback. "W-Well, it's just that…"

"I just chose him by chance. It sounded like it would've been fun, and besides, none of us really knew anything about each other in the first place…"

"That's true…"

"Really?" Cecilia smiled evilly while turning her head towards the boy in black. "I thought you could've made a better choice than that weirdo…"

"Then maybe you can say something instead of staying quiet…" He turned his head over with an equally evil smirk. "That way, you could actually help out instead of trying to act like some spoiled princess…"

Sparks flew between the two of them as Asuka nervously took a step back.

"W-Well, just ignoring them for a moment…:" she turned back to Izayoi and Hikari. "Why didn't Izayoi say anything about a little sister? It would've been nice to know that you had some kind of family back in your own world…"

"It's not like it mattered if you knew or not. Besides, nobody seemed to care enough to ask, so there wasn't a reason to bring it up in the first place…"

"Fair enough."

"Hey…"

Hikari suddenly spoke out for the first time in a while.

"I've been wondering for a while now…but what exactly is your relationship to nii-sama?"

"Huh? Izayoi is just a friend, it's not like we're anything closer than that…" The red-dressed "ojou-sama" answered simply while brushing her hair with her hand.

"Ehh…is that so…"

Hikari started to point her finger at Kurousagi.

"Then what's that perverted bunny girl to him?!"

"Kurousagi isn't a perverted bunny girl!" Kurousagi replied while red-faced. "Kurousagi is an aristocrat of Little Garden, a [Judge Master] for many [Gift Games], and one of the strongest players in any game! In short, Kurousagi is…"

"She's our pet…." Izayoi and Asuka answered together in unison.

"That's right, their…NO!"

Hikari didn't smile, but she seemed to have calmed down significantly.

"I see, well that's fine then…"

"That's wrong! Kurousagi isn't…"

"Hey Nii-sama, Are you having fun in this world?" Hikari asked, ignoring their pet rabbit. She gazed into her brother's eyes with a look that seemed to give off sparkles. Izayoi's expression didn't change much, but he gave a casual smile.

"Yeah, this place is pretty interesting to live in, so maybe it's a good thing you came here to join us. With your own ability and all…"

"Oh?" Asuka made an interested face. "So she has a [Gift] of her own?"

"Of course!" He placed a hand on her head. "She may not be as strong as I am, but she does have an interesting [Gift] that'll be useful for the community."

Petting his sister's head, Hikari reacted by giving a bright, satisfied smile. She seemed to be giving off a faint light from her body, but everyone in the area suddenly felt warmer and more uplifted.

"Eh? Suddenly I feel…happier…all of a sudden…"

Asuka mouth started to curve up as she felt a bit of euphoria rush through her body. Kurousagi couldn't help but smile as well, despite the troubles she felt earlier. Somehow, everything seemed just a bit brighter as she saw this young girl smile.

"Course, keep in mind that she's still my little sister…"

Izayoi stopped rubbing Hikari's head and sighed contently. Hikari's smile faltered a little, but the atmosphere went back to normal as the euphoric feeling suddenly disappeared. Even though the feeling wasn't that strong, the reaction they had was a little bit like an addict struggling from withdrawal.

"Anyways…" Izayoi thought to himself. "I wonder how Kasukabe is doing right now…:"

"I think I've finally got him…"

Yo was silently hiding in the branches while spying on her opponent. Ryo didn't seem to notice her, but he was still looking around frantically, like he expected her to jump out at anytime. His face seemed to show fear and insecurity, so it didn't seem like there were any plans for him to make a counter attack. If he wanted to use his [Gift], there didn't seem to be any reason why he didn't use it until now, besides the possibility that he needed to be fighting or something like that in order to use it. In other words, now was probably a good time to capture him.

Her plan was simple. First, sneak up as close as possible and hide in the bushes. Second, toss a few rocks occasionally to another direction and check for his reaction. Third, get the timing right and capture him while he's distracted so that he wouldn't be able to use his ability before she won.

Overthinking a plan wasn't her thing, and the longer she took thinking, the less likely that it would work, so she decided to carry out what she had, and improvise when she needed to.

Using her cat-like skills, she crept up into the bushes a few feet away from Ryo without him noticing. Keeping her focus on the target in front of her, she held the rocks she gathered nearby, and tossed one into the area on the opposite side, making the grass rustle and giving the illusion that she was over there. Ryo quickly turned around as an instinctive reaction to the sound. Yo kept quiet while counting the seconds in her mind.

"One…two...three…four…five…six…seven…"

At the count of 'seven', Ryo turned his head back to its original position, satisfied that nothing seemed to be coming for him. Yo gripped her hand tightly. It would take about seven seconds to capture him, but with the speed of her friends, she wouldn't have any trouble at all. She took a deep breath before tossing the stone quickly into the area that was a little bit more to the left than the last. As soon as the grass rustled, she quickly ran towards him while counting down in her mind.

"One…two…three…"

As she got closer and closer, she was about to spread her arms out when suddenly she instinctively jumped to the right.

"?"

Confused by her own actions, she didn't understand why she suddenly felt a strong urge to leap to the side instead of capturing her target until she turned back to face Ryo…..or actually….both "Ryo"s.

One of them was turning toward her direction, chuckling as he gave a victorious grin. The other was kneeling at the spot she was at only moments before, grinning like his twin.

"What?"

She didn't have time to think about it as one of them started to rush towards her with his arms wide. She leapt back and turned to run away from the area, leaving the identical twins to themselves while she started to get an idea of what Ryo's [Gift] was.

Author's note:

A few people who reviewed have mentioned their regret about being unable to share an OC for this story. Let me say that I'm REALLY sorry about that. If I could add in more, then I'd love to, but I felt like that to get a good "feel" for the story, I had to draw a limit to the number of new "problem children", so please forgive me for that.

However, I'm eventually going to be taking requests for [Gift Games], Rival Communities, and possibly [Demon Lords], so look forward to that, and I'll let you know when you can start sending them in if you're interested.

Anyways, I felt like this chapter could've been a bit better regarding the [Gift Game], but then again, this is my first time, so it was just more or less a test run. I'd appreciate it if you share with me what you've thought about it and what I could do to improve.

Reviews, both positive and negative are always welcome, and once again thanks for reading this fanfiction.

(P.S. With the new games coming, I want to try and get at least one more chapter in before getting too distracted for a while, so expect at least one chapter to appear this week)