[i]Stars dotted the sky as a million pairs of feline eyes in the dark, glinting downward toward three teenagers with the depth of a bottomless chasm. A soft breeze carried with it the cool air of the mountain as lights lined the residences about the small village, dimly illuminating the narrow, rather primitive roads.

“Well, I’d better get going, guys. I’ve got a competition tomorrow and I have to be up early – you guys’ll be there in the afternoon, right?” Asked a boy of no more than fifteen as he rubbed his nose, adjusting the scarf about his neck to keep warm.

“Wait, that was tomorrow?” Alex asked with a furrowed brow, holding up his hand and counting on his fingers as though he was trying to figure out the date, eliciting a small giggle from the nearby Mizuki.

“Of [b]course[/b] we’ll be there, Hiro, cheering you on as always,” She said to reassure him as his face flashed with worry that his best friend truly had forgotten the event.

Alex laughed and nodded, shoving his hands into his coat pockets after pulling up the collar a bit more, “Yeah, good luck. Get your rest and we’ll see you tomorrow,” He stated as he and the girl beside him waved to the budding snowboarder as he took another street to get home.

Mizuki sighed softly, a small smile resting over her lips. Alex paused, watching her for a moment before she blushed and looked away, “What?” She asked slightly more sharply than she had meant to.

He flinched, “Oh, uh, sorry… You’re always smiling – why?” The boy asked curiously as they began walking again.

The girl’s eyes drifted up to the sky as her hands clasped together in front of her, their pace slowing to a very lazy crawl. “Hmm… I don’t know. Why not? I don’t have a reason not to, I think that’s enough,” She rebutted, turning her head towards him as he raised an eyebrow.

“Erm… Okay,” He replied with a nod, laughing softly as he felt something pull his hand from his pocket and lock with him. His eyes glanced down to see her smaller fingers between his and he looked around, “MIzuki, we’re in publ-“ His statement was soon cut off.

“Nobody’s here, Alex, we’ll be okay,” She promised teasingly before he nodded, squeezing her hand softly.

Minutes in pleasant silence passed before they reached a corner and they paused, Mizuki breaking the quiet, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” She said softly, moving to release his hand and go home.

Alex didn’t release her as she moved to go home, “Hold on, can we keep walking for a while?” He asked.

The girl seemed to be thinking for a few moments, tapping her chin before nodding, “I suppose so,” She teased, “But just until we get to my house.” The boy nodded in agreement as they started walking again, though something seemed to be weighing on his mind now. When he said nothing, she cleared her throat, halting their movement and turning to face him. “Is everything okay?” The girl asked, sounding a little bit worried.

Alex seemed to snap from thought as she addressed him and he shook his head, “Oh, sorry… I must have spaced out,” He explained with an embarrassed smirk.

Mizuki remained, staring at him skeptically, “What’s on your mind, then?” She asked flatly. Credit where it was due, the girl wasn’t afraid to ask questions or be invasive. Her hair was dark and fell to her shoulders, pinned back with a red barrette. Another gust of wind ruffled her muffled and she tucked her chin down more tightly into it until it slowed as Alex seemed to be thinking of how to place his words.

“I dunno, just glad to have you and Hiro, I guess… I don’t know how we all stay friends – we’re all opposites from each other,” He pointed out, shrugging.

She nodded in reply, “I don’t see how we wouldn’t stay friends; we never run out of things to do or talk about because of it,” she quipped. “Now what were you really thinking about?”

Good god, nothing got past her. Alex grasped her other hand and sighed, “I really don’t know, I just feel like… Well, have you ever left the house feeling like you forgot something, but it isn’t for a while that you realize what it was, but you really wish that you’d remembered it before leaving?”

The girl nodded, clearly confused, “Did you… forget something? You’ll be home in a little bit, right? I’m sure you’ll remember in time… Was it something to do with Hiro’s competition tomorrow?”

He shook his head, “No, it’s hard to explain… Hey, uh, what do you think your parents will think when we tell them about… us?” The boy asked a bit nervously; he wanted nothing short of making her happy, but he wasn’t on any track to fortune or status and they had long-since wanted Mizuki to stop hanging out with him and Hiro so much.

The girl shook her head, “We’ll worry about that when we come to it.” She smiled and let go of his hands, hugging his neck reassuringly, “How are you the high-strung one when it comes to us? Such a worried guy,” She pointed out with a laugh, leaning back and beaming at him teasingly.

He shifted a bit uneasily, “Alright, alright, I’ll try to be easier,” He said sincerely. “I don’t know why I’m so wound-up, you know I’m usually not… In fact, nothing does that to me apart from you…” Her face distorted into one of slight pain and confusion. A moment later, Alex realized what he said and shook his head, “No, no, I mean… In a good way; I just want so badly to do something right that I’m not used to it, that’s all.”

Mizuki seemed satisfied and replied with a smile, “Better.” She told him, biting her lip for a brief moment before leaning forward and pushing herself up on her toes. What was happening? Alex stood there blankly for a moment as her arms pulled and he felt her growing ever closer to him. A moment later, their lips connected and…[/i]

He watched another creature shatter into a hundred shards, a menacing scowl on his face as he tore through one after another. He needed to forget, needed to stop thinking, and needed to find that numbness again. His friends were all tackling a unique quest today, and he’d decided not to go, knowing they would assume that he wanted to be alone or that he didn’t want to go out so soon. In reality, he was trying to slowly ease out of their field of vision, hoping they would simply forget him.

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Nero smiled softly as he read through the message he’d received only minutes ago. He got one every time he was going after a boss or any other challenge – sometimes just before his daily grinding. It was from Yuna and it had to be at least a thousand words… Her eloquence amazed him. The material hunter was a poor speaker, despite his mental capacity, but he had his own ways of impressing and shocking people. As he finished reading, he heard Kenshin and Alphard starting after somebody and he looked up in confusion. He closed his menu and stuffed his hands into his pockets, striding easily over to them as an argument about the sapience of NPCs was brought forth. Nero sighed, [i]These things are just as soulless as the monsters we kill every day… They may not be hostile, but that doesn’t mean that they can feel… Even the conversations are algorithm based,[/i] he thought before shaking his head. No, he shouldn’t be so disapproving of the strange boy’s beliefs. He clearly wasn’t Japanese, but he had a really heavy sense of honor, it seemed. Nero shrugged and waited for the scene to settle before clearing his throat.

“Feel free to join us, erm, Jason…” He said, though his mouth felt like it was full of marbles when he said the name. It had such a strange sound to it, like the sounds were all out of place. It would take some practice, as Nero’s English pronunciations were rather awful. “You’ll not be getting away with anything more than you’ve earned, though. Our drop rules are sealed rather tightly, and to be honest… While you seem sincere, I have a rather hard time believing you because of pure logic… I try my best to empathize, though, so you can come along. Don’t forget, however, we’re all top-tier clearers, so if you try anything, you’ll be out-numbered and overcome before you can do anything,” He stated flatly. In all honesty, he would have liked to have Fitch with them, as they were quite lacking in their damage threshold without him.

Nero worked on his own as they moved about the dungeon, making rather strong progress, though it felt quiet in the approach to the quest’s endpoint. When the knights appeared, he was able to take on two alone and give assistance with another before they were all wiped out.