Hunter and Willow walked away from their friends and walked along the shoreline. They conversed a little, but after a while Willow became quiet and started to look nervous; initially Hunter respected her silence, but then he began to find it strange, and seeing her twisting her fingers he understood that evidently her offer to take a walk wasn't just a whim of the moment. "Willow, is there anything you wanted to talk to me about in private?"

Willow stopped and took a deep breath; he couldn't hesitate any longer, the moment had come. She was now completely human, she had no more excuses; and since practically everyone had gathered the courage and confessed to their crush, it was stupid of her to back out. "Yes... I have to talk to you about something important"

Hunter raised an eyebrow, and swallowed a little saliva; something told him that he already knew what the topic of the conversation would be. "Speak up. I'm listening"

Willow steeled herself, and then she said to him: "Hunter... I like you. Not just as a friend, I like you deeper. I've liked you for a long time... actually almost since we met, but I've I always avoided expressing these feelings of mine because... well... I was a cricket and you were a human being, and I didn't want to risk getting you stuck in an unhappy relationship. But... now that I'm human too... I no longer want to pretend I don't feel what I'm feeling". She looked him in the eyes and said bluntly: "Hunter, would you like to go out with me?"

Willow had taken a lot of her courage to say that last sentence, which despite being made up of just five words had seemed eternal; but despite this he had done it without losing his composure and without faltering. Anything could be said about Willow, but not that if she decided to do something she didn't complete it; and since she had decided to confess her feelings to Hunter, she had done so with extreme dignity. Hers had been a much better confession than Skara's or Luz's, but that didn't mean her feeling wasn't as intense as theirs.

And Hunter had expected it. Contrary to what everyone believed, Hunter realized that Willow felt more than just friendship for him; he had simply played dumb. He wasn't an expert in human relationships, much less romantic ones, but certain signs had been unmistakable even for him. He had expected that sooner or later he would receive a confession, but as long as the issue had not arisen, he had simply ignored it. He had ignored it because he, Hunter, had also started to have feelings for Willow; he had admired and respected her greatly even when she was a cricket, and he found her company very interesting and pleasant; and after she had become human, just being near her had been intoxicating to him. Hunter knew that if Willow confessed, he would have to do something that would hurt not only her feelings, but also his own; and precisely for this reason he had always pretended nothing had happened, hoping that any type of confession would never come and that an event would not occur that would force him to deal with his feelings.

He didn't want a confession to ever come because he loved Willow, and therefore he knew exactly what he had to do: break her heart. Because being in a relationship with him was equivalent to being in danger of life. If his uncle found out, even by chance, that he had an interest in Willow, let alone that the two of them were dating, there would surely be nothing but pain in the future for the girl. Hunter couldn't let this happen; and even though a part of him wanted to have hope that he had found a potential escape route, he knew that if Willow stayed with him he would be condemning her to hiding for the rest of her life as well; but above all he had no intention of lying to her and her friends once he was freed, and he would confess to them everything he had done. By now that secret weighed too heavily on his heart: the night before he had almost revealed it to Luz. And when the truth came out everyone would see him for exactly what he was: a monster, not too much different from his uncle. It wasn't hard for him to imagine how Willow would react to the discovery, and admitting that he had the same feelings for her and therefore starting a relationship with her would only make everything more painful.

Yes, Hunter loved Willow, or at least had a strong feeling for her; and therefore he knew exactly what he had to do at that moment. "Willow..." he muttered with difficulty, as it almost felt like his vocal chords were paralyzed. "... believe me, I'm flattered that you see me like that... and trust me, I like spending time with you... but I'm not interested in you in that sense. I'm sorry, but I don't want to deceive you by pretending to feel feelings that I don't feel"

The last sentence was almost ironic given that it was exactly what he was doing at that moment. But after all, deceiving others had always been his nature. He wouldn't have been able to hide his secret and true identity for so long otherwise.

Willow seemed to lose all the light in her eyes and looked down at her feet; she clasped her hands tightly, and took a couple of deep breaths; then she raised her head and smiled faintly. "Okay, don't apologize. After all, I didn't want to force you... this isn't a decision I can make alone"

"I'm still sorry to have to make you suffer" Hunter told her, and in his heart he hoped she hadn't been too upset.

Willow shook her head. "It's okay" she said, still smiling, but as she did so she was clutching the edges of her bathing suit. "Don't worry, I don't hold a grudge against you. I have no reason to do so, it's right for you to tell me to my face if you're not interested in me. Let's remain friends, so it's not that bad. Thanks at least for listening to me"

Hunter really felt a bitter taste in his mouth, and he really wanted to hug the girl, but he knew that at that moment he absolutely had to hold back. "Do you want... to go back to the others? I can continue the walk on my own"

Willow nodded. "Yes... yes, I think I'll do that. See you later, Hunter" she told him, and without waiting for his response she set off again towards the direction they had come from; she did so at a normal and confident pace, but Hunter could still see her raise her arm and pass it over her face, as if she were wiping away tears.

He sat down on the sand, taking a deep breath, and put his hand in front of his face. He hated himself for making her suffer like that, but it had to be done. It was better for everyone. However, this knowledge did not stop him from gritting his teeth and grabbing some rocks and throwing them into the water with such force that they flew more than ten meters before hitting the sea. He felt as if his heart was being torn by thousands of sharp points.

He was so immersed in his thoughts that for a moment he let his guard down, and his senses were no longer as sharp as usual; it was for those reasons who didn't notice a presence behind him, and when someone touched his shoulder he snapped like a spring and instinctively threw a powerful punch in the face of the one who had appeared behind them; fortunately he didn't have his staff with him at the time, or he could have done serious damage. "Urgh! Wait, please, it's just me!"

Hunter stopped when he saw that Darius had appeared next to him, his face completely remodeled in his purple liquid and he was slowly rebuilding himself; he had evidently hit him with enough force to smash his head. It was fortunate that djinn were not composed of solid matter. "Darius? What are you doing here?"

"You could at least apologize to me, you know? You hit me for no reason!" the djinn protested, but he didn't seem too upset. "Anyway, I came because I wanted to take a look at your staff, so that I could better understand the magic of... you know who, and be able to continue studying the spell aimed at protecting you. When I saw you two having so much fun I was miniaturized and I worked without him noticing me. Flapjack helped me with this"

In fact, Hunter noticed that his Palisman had appeared on Darius' shoulder. "You bonded well, you two"

"Well, we are both made up of life magic. Creatures of similar species understand each other" Darius replied scratching Flapjack's head, who seemed quite pleased by this. "Anyway, I was about to leave when I noticed your friend was walking alone and looking pretty sad. I got suspicious and Flapjack claimed he thought he knew what it was, and on our way here we found you. What is happened?"

"You don't need to know" Hunter replied, standing up. "Flapjack, come on, let's go back to the others"

"Hey, come on, Hunter! I'm just trying to help you!" Darius exclaimed, a little hurt by the boy's behavior.

"If you want to help me, then just focus on preparing that damn spell!" Hunter grumbled. "My social life is of no interest to you"

"I'm concentrating on preparing that spell, Hunter, I haven't done anything else since last night; but that doesn't mean I have to ignore it if I notice that you or anyone else is having any problems" Darius replied in an annoyed tone. "Come on, Hunter! We're practically accomplices now, and so far I've shown you that you can trust me and that I won't go around spilling your secrets; with a consultant so good at keeping his mouth shut available, why not use him too just to vent?"

Hunter was about to retort that technically Darius had kept his mouth shut for not even a full day, and in fact that wasn't long enough to identify him as someone capable of keeping secrets, but Flapjack flew onto his shoulder and chirped in his ears, and the translation of what he said appeared in his mind: "I think you can trust him. If you have a problem, you should talk to him about it"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "I don't have a problem, I'm just a little upset" he told his Palisman, but then he followed his advice anyway because he admitted: "Willow confessed to me that he has feelings for me"

"Really!?" Darius rubbed his hands with an interested look, but then he evidently remembered that he had seen Willow leave dejectedly and that Hunter had a rather sad face, so he asked him: "Um... and you?"

"I rejected her, of course" Hunter replied with a lot of acidity in his voice.

Darius cocked his head slightly to the side, and he seemed unsure for a moment what to say; then finally he muttered: "Look, Hunter, normally I mind my own business about things like this, although I'm reevaluating that lifestyle of mine since pretty much everyone in this town is having marital problems... but please, can you explain to me why you rejected her? I mean, I understand if you're not interested in her, but given your reaction..."

"I'm interested in her" Hunter stopped him immediately. "And that's why I told her no. It's better for her if she doesn't commit to a relationship with me any more than she already has"

Darius bit his lip, then he let out a sigh. "It's because of that monster, right?"

Hunter nodded. "Being in a relationship with me will expose her to too much danger"

Darius wrung his hands. "Well... very chivalrous of you. I understand your choice, and I reiterate that you are a good boy with a good head on your shoulders" he said. "But... if you want my opinion... you shouldn't let go of the opportunities that life offers you"

"My life can never offer me opportunities, it can only offer me one choice. The choice to make someone else's life as miserable as mine" Hunter replied.

"Come on, boy, now you're exaggerating" Darius told him putting his hands on his shoulders. "You speak as if you have no hope. I'm working on a spell just to..."

"I have no hope, Darius. That's a fact" Hunter muttered, shaking the djinn's hands off him. "I'll always just be someone who hides, and I'll always be someone who will kill for someone else. It's all I know how to do. I don't mean to condemn Willow to be with someone like me. And besides...". His fists clenched slightly: "... she doesn't know many things about me... and when she will, she will hate me. It will be easier for both of us if we forget about these feelings now"

"Now you're a little arrogant. Do you think you're so wise that you can predict how a person will react?" Darius scolded him.

Hunter's eyelid quivered. "How stupid can you be!? You looked into my mind, you know what I did to her and all of them! My uncle ate their friends and family because of me!" he growled. "How do you think they'll react? Can't you understand the gravity of what I've done!?"

"Of course I can!" Darius replied, and for the first time his voice sounded decidedly stronger and more authoritative, and his expression also became more severe. "But what will you do from now on?"

Hunter looked at him confused. "What… what are you saying?"

Darius let out a long sigh. "Hunter... I understand that what you did is very serious, although after looking into your mind I can't deny that practically anyone in this world would have done the same to avoid... well, that. And I understand that surely your friends, Willow, Gus, and especially Luz, will be furious with you, there's no way they won't be. But... you shouldn't assume that they'll hate you"

Hunter couldn't decide if the djinn was mocking him or he was just too dumb. More likely the second option. "Wouldn't you hate me?" she asked him rhetorically.

But to his surprise Darius shook his head. "I don't know, Hunter. Any answer I can give you, whether affirmative or negative, will always be a lie, or rather an opinion born from my current perception of the situation. I can't tell you how I would react if I were in that position. of your friend Luz when you reveal to her why she no longer has a mother. I can try to imagine it, but I will never really know, not until I find myself in that exact same situation" he replied, and then he looked at Hunter sternly. "That's the point: you don't know what will happen, or how others will react. Could they punch you in the nose? Likely, but not sure. Could they refuse to talk to you forever? Again, likely, but not sure. Could they hate you? Maybe, but that will be up to them alone, and only when the time comes will you really know what their reaction will be. None of us can really predict what your friends will really think of you when the time comes"

Hunter was surprised; he didn't expect Darius to be able to give such a serious speech. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"Simply put, stop being an idiot" Darius replied. "Instead of worrying about what will happen when your friends know the truth and acting as if your goodbye is safe, make an effort to show them the best part of you. Whether they hate you or not will be their choice, not yours; so don't act assuming you know what they will want to do with you. Show them that you are a different person than a simple monster hunter, reveal all your strengths and weaknesses, and then leave the judgment to them. Their choice might be exactly what you expect... but it might also be something totally unexpected"

Hunter looked at Darius for a moment that seemed endless. His words didn't seem completely out of the blue, and the djinn seemed quite sure of what he was saying. For a brief moment she considered listening to him... but then she became rational and turned away. "What you're saying is ridiculous. Please, do me the courtesy of disappearing"

Darius looked rather disappointed, but he nodded anyway. "Okay, I won't bother you with my presence if you don't want me to. But please, think about my words, Hunter. Life is too short to waste the opportunities it provides... especially good ones like love" and having said that he turned into a mass of purple liquid and disappeared in a few moments.

Hunter looked at the spot where the djinn had disappeared feeling a little bitter in his mouth, but he quickly pushed the thought away. Flapjack chirped something at him, and in response he blurted out: "Are you getting into it now!? Everyone, stop talking nonsense!". The Palisman seemed a little displeased, but nevertheless he closed his beak; finally silent, Hunter was finally able to take a long sigh and walk towards the spot where he had left his friends.

Hunter: "I have to keep people at a distance because I could put them in danger"

Darius: "Dude, we already heard this symphony in chapter 63 with Luz, come up with something better"

Hunter: "Um... because I have a monster chasing me?"

Darius: "We heard that too"

Hunter: "Well, give me a hand! I don't know what to invent anymore!"

Darius: "So what are you waiting for? Go to that girl and kiss her, for once we'll save ourselves the drama"

Hunter: "You're not helping!"