“Luna… would you stop squeezing so tight to me?”

“You said it was a date!”

“Yeah I did say that…”

“Then it should be fine.”

We were walking through a hiking trail together and Luna was right next to me, her hands clutching fixedly onto my arm. Onlookers glanced at us— well, glanced at Luna to be honest. She was stunningly beautiful and dressed in a cute outfit for hiking that complimented her perfect physique. On the other hand… there wasn’t much to say about myself. Trackpants and t-shirt was what I saw fit for the occasion.

“This was such a fun idea to go hiking!” Luna said, her excitement bubbling to surface.

I laughed weakly in response. Originally, I had planned to go hiking because I figured that it would be the place with the least people around. I didn’t want to attract attention and I had enough of crowds after what happened at the amusement park and Shinjuku. To my surprise, there was actually a small number of people out here today.

Well… a promise is a promise…

“Ryo, look at that waterfall!”

Luna waved her hand, pointing at a waterfall to our side, but my eyes instinctively went to her face. Her pale violet eyes stood out in an enigmatic way from the rest of her face, drawing attention in an alluring manner. Velvety eyelashes, a dainty nose, and strawberry-sweet lips. I could feel my head beginning to spin.

“—Ryo?”

Luna was blinking at me, staring at me with genuine concern. “Ryo, are you alright?”

“Uh,” I woke up from my daze, trying to recover my breath. Why does this always happen? “Yeah, it’s fine…”

“Are you sure? I can carry you if you’re tired.”

“W-what? No, of course not. I'm fine.”

How pathetic would I look? Being carried by a girl… as if I would accept that offer.

“Or you could carry me.” Luna said dreamily. “You’ve never carried me before.”

I was tired as hell from walking all over the place. If I had to carry Luna as well, I would probably collapse and faint.

I didn’t say those words though, I just laughed meekly in response.

Luna pointed at the waterfall again with her index finger. “We should take a picture together!”

“Uh…”

Before I could respond, Luna dragged me in front of the waterfall. I was helpless to her power, though I didn’t resist. She pulled her phone out from her pocket and pulled me closer to her, till our cheeks were almost touching. My face grew hot. I could hear her breathing next to me.

“Don’t move.” Luna whispered, positioning the camera in an angle that would capture both our faces and the waterfall in the background.

“I’m not going to…” I mumbled, feeling uncomfortable by her closeness.

A moment of silence, then a shutter sound came from the phone. Luna pulled away from me to glance down at her phone, seeing if the photo turned out okay. I glanced to my side, thinking about how close we were just then.

“Ah! It’s actually pretty good!” Luna said, lifting her phone up to show me. I squinted at the screen. "What do you think?" She asked.

The photo made us seem like lovers, our cheeks were almost pressed together and Luna had a cheerful smile on her face. I didn’t really like how I looked, but I never liked how I looked in photos anyway. From the photo, we seemed somewhat normal despite the fact that Luna was strikingly pretty…

I wished that we were actually normal.

"Pretty good." I replied.

“Ahh! I finally have a photo of us two together!” Luna hugged the phone to her chest, weaving from side to side in joy. “I’m going to print it out and frame it on my wall!”

“Haha…”

“Here, I’ll send you the photo.” Luna said, pulling the phone away from her chest and tapping the buttons on the screen. "That way, you have a copy."

My text message ringtone sounded, and I lifted my phone up to see the photo that Luna had sent me. In addition to the waterfall photo, she sent me a selfie of herself, doing the v sign at the camera, from what I presumed was her bedroom.

“You can use that as my contact photo.” Luna stood on her toes next to me, glancing down at my phone. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah…” I stared at the selfie. “When did you take that photo?”

“It was at Akane’s house. Not too long ago.”

So, it wasn’t her bedroom. Did she even have a house? I doubted the one that she took me to when she kidnapped Yumi and me was her actual house. There was still so many things I didn’t know about Luna.

“Hey, what’s with that face?” Luna peered into my face. “You don’t think there’s something going on between Akane and me, right?”

“No, I wasn’t thinking of that at all...”

“It’s one-sided from Akane’s end. I would never do anything with anyone else other than you, Ryo.”

“I guess I’m supposed to be happy about that?” I phrased it like a question.

“Aren’t you happy?” Luna laughed, then pulled me to her, wrapping her arms around me. “You got me all to yourself!”

“Alright, alright…” I pulled Luna off me, my face red. There was people around but she didn't seem to mind. “Let’s just keep walking.”

We continued down the path for a few more seconds before Luna suddenly stopped. The people that were around us before, walked ahead on the trail, eventually disappearing from sight.

“What’s wrong, Luna?” I turned to face her, puzzled.

There was a serious look on Luna’s face and my confusion turned to worry. Could it be that there was an Ashen at the park?

“There’s someone following us, Ryo.” Luna whispered, her eyes glanced to her side. “I didn’t notice before, but they’ve been there for a while now.”

I swallowed. “We should probably get out of here then.” A forest was the last place I wanted to be confronted by an Ashen.

“Hang on…”

Luna waited for something, and I kept my mouth shut, enveloping us in silence except for the noise of our surroundings. Insects buzzing, birds chirping, wind blowing. It was hard to make out any other noise. I waited impatiently, my heart growing faster the longer the time etched on.

All of a sudden, Luna spun around and threw her switchblade straight behind her, the knife whirling through the air at a lightning speed. The blade slammed itself into the trunk of a tree, pushing past the wood and almost piercing straight through despite the tree’s thickness.

Besides the switchblade was a head and streaks of light blue hair. A frightened Mayu stood by the tree, unhurt but shaken. The blade was right next to Mayu’s ear, narrowly missing by a hairline.

“Mayu?!” I exclaimed, shocked.

“Hey, Ryo…” Mayu laughed meekly, waving a shaky hand. "That was close..." She breathed.

Luna walked to the tree to retrieve her switchblade. “Why are you following us? I told you that today Ryo and me were on a date, for us two only.”

“Well I don’t want to stay in the house alone.” Mayu pouted. “It’s soo bo-ring…”

“You got Emi though.” I said, letting my breath out. Mayu and Emi were supposed to be staying at Akane's house. Thank god it was only Mayu that had been following us.

Mayu scrunched up her nose. “Ugh… Emi just keeps talking about Luna the whole day.”

“Whatever, I don't care.” Luna pulled her switchblade out of the tree, the force of her strength shook the entire tree. The leaves rustled, falling from the branches. “Get out of here, you’re in our way.”

Mayu’s cheeks flushed. “Come on, can’t I just hang with you guys…” Mayu turned to me, giving me a puppy eyed look. “Please, Ryo?”

“No!” Luna snapped. “Just go do your own thing!”

“Come on, pleease,” Mayu cried, “I don’t want to be alone with Emi!”

I sighed. “Luna, just let her stay…” Why did I always have to be the one to make the hard decisions? I tried to give Mayu a stern look. “But Mayu, this was supposed to be just Luna and me. Next time you can’t do this again…”

Mayu beamed at me. “Thanks Ryo! You’re the best!”

“Argh…” Luna bit her lower lip, her arms crossed. “This always happens…”

“It’ll be fine, Luna.” I tried to cheer her up, laughing gently. “It won’t happen again. Besides, we can have more fun with us three.”

Luna’s gave me a look that said she seriously doubted if that was possible. Then, she shook her head, and forced a weak smile. “If you are fine with it, then I’m okay, Ryo.”

“Great!” Mayu skipped to join us, walking by my side as we continued down the path. I was stuck between the two of them and an uneasy feeling formed in the bottom of my stomach. The atmosphere was intense.

Hang on… now that I was actually in the situation… this was a horrible idea…

“Hey Ryo, look at those flowers over there! They’re so pretty!” Mayu pointed to her side, then nudged me gently on the side of my waist with her hand.

Luna’s eyes twitched and she jerked me away from Mayu, stepping in between the two of us. “Do you want to die?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Mayu shrugged. “I was just trying to tell Ryo about the flowers.”

“Y-you…”

“Let’s keep walking.” I chimed in nervously, trying to end the tension.

“I don’t think she understands her place here.” Luna refused to budge. “She’s just here as a third wheel, something akin to an annoying house fly that flown into the wrong place.”

Mayu’s cheeks turned crimson. “Hey, I’m not a fly!”

“Yes, you are!” Luna retorted. “You’re a disgusting fly that needs to die! And I would have killed you already if it wasn’t for Ryo!”

“Try it!” Mayu reached behind her skirt.

“Hey, hey!” I stepped in between the two of them. “Let’s just keep walking! We’re never going to make it to the end like this!”

Luna and Mayu shot venomous glares at one another, but the argument died down and a quiet tension took its place. We continued walking silently, Luna and Mayu refusing to look at one another. I sighed, walking in between the two of them. If only there was a way to make them get along.

We continued walking further ahead, until the trail split into two. Stopping at the intersection, I glanced between the two paths, confused.

“Which way should we go?” I asked.

Luna glanced down at the footpath and pointed to the left side. “The footsteps of the other hikers went that way.”

“That looks boring though.” Mayu yawned, raising a hand to her mouth. “The right path looks more exciting.”

I glanced at the right path. It descended into a trail that was less clearly marked and more narrow, whereas the path on the left was much more wider and clear. It was obvious which path I preferred.

“There’s a sign there that says to not go through that path.” Luna said, pointing at a sign near the right trail. It was covered in grass, almost hidden from sight and in big, black letters were the words; ‘OFF TRAIL. DO NOT ENTER.’

“I guess we shouldn’t go then.” I laughed, feeling relieved that the decision seemed to be settled.

“It does look more interesting though…” Luna added, and I stopped laughing. She smiled at me and nodded her head to the right path. “Come on, Ryo, let’s go and check it out!”

“Right? That’s what I said!” Mayu walked ahead, leading the way as Luna dragged me with her.

“I’m not so sure about this, Luna.” I said, then glanced down at the uneven footing of the descent. “The sign told us not to enter…”

But it was too late, and we were already heading down the path.

“Don’t worry, Ryo.” Luna laughed by my side. I could feel her hand gripping onto my arm tightly. “I’ll protect you if anything happens.”

“I’m also here too.” Mayu said, annoyed that Luna didn’t include her. She glanced back at us, and her face turned red, seeing Luna clinging onto me. “H-hey, why am I walking in front?”

Luna flicked a hand at her, motioning for Mayu to keep walking. “Just be quiet and keep going. You’re annoying us.”

“Argh...” Mayu’s face flashed a look of anger. She jogged to my free side, and tried to grab on.

Luna jerked me away and I was subject to her immense strength. It was like I was a ragdoll and she pulled me behind her, shielding me away from Mayu. “I already told you not to do that.”

“This isn’t fair.” Mayu complained. “Why do you get to hold onto Ryo?”

“This isn’t a matter of fair.” Luna stated. “I’m his girlfriend, and his soulmate. You’re just a nobody.”

“No, you’re not.” Mayu shot back. “Stop making up delusions in your head.” Then Mayu turned to me. “Is Luna your girlfriend?”

“Uh…” We never really made anything official. Sure, I had confessed to her, but I had never actually asked her to be my girlfriend. It was a complicated question.

Luna noticed my hesitation and tried to change the topic. “You’re just trying to confuse him.” She said to Mayu angrily. “Why are you always trying to get in our way?”

“You can’t just keep him all to yourself like a pet.” Mayu said. “That’s not humane!”

“That’s not what I’m doing!” Luna exclaimed, frustrated.

Mayu made a move towards me, trying to get around Luna. Luna’s eyes sharpened, and her switchblade made a frightening noise as it came out from behind her, the blade snapping out of its black handle.

The switchblade swung forward, narrowly missing Mayu by the front of her neck as she swerved away on the last second, a look of surprise on her face.

“H-hey, Luna!” I yelled, but Mayu’s own face took on a serious look as she pulled her dagger out from behind her skirt. The sound of metal clashing erupted as Mayu dashed forward, retaliating with her own attack.

Luna took a step back, blocking the attack, but pushed me backwards in the process. I lost my footing on the uneven ground, and felt myself falling backwards.

“W-wha—”

I never got to finish my sentence. The ground that was supposed to be behind me disappeared, and I realised I was falling down a hill. Leaves and branches shrouded me as I fell into what I presumed was a bush, and more bush hit me as I fell further along the way. They weren’t stopping my fall and instead the razor-sharp leaves cut into my skin as I scrambled helplessly to stop my fall.

“Ryo!”

I heard Luna and Mayu shouting, but they quickly disappeared from my view.

I kept rolling further down, and it felt like it would never end, until my head hit onto something hard, and my vision faded.

I woke up to the feeling of something warm on the top of my forehead, and I opened my eyes slowly, wincing as I did so.

A blurry figure came into view, looming over me. I couldn’t out make out anything besides their long hair, and a gentle face. They had the palm of their hand on top of my forehead.

“L-Luna…?” I whispered, staring up into her eyes. The hand moved away from my forehead.

My vision gradually grew more focused and strawberry blonde hair and pale maroon eyes were revealed.

She frowned, tilting her head slightly. “I’m not Luna.”

“Emi?” I said, surprised, but my voice was weak. It came out more like a cough.

She nodded energetically with a cute smile. “Hi, Ryo.”

My face grew red, and I felt my heart fluttering in my chest. I realised she had laid my head on top of her lap, her soft thighs acting as a pillow. She was so close to me, and I was staring up at her chest and face. It was an awkward position to be in.

The sun was still up and the sky was a clear blue. That meant I must not had been out for long.

I tried to get up, but pain soared through my body.

“Ugh…” I groaned, resting my head back on her lap.

“You fell pretty badly.” Emi said, watching my reaction. “You should stay still for a while more.”

I glanced at our surroundings. We were in a small clearing, surrounded by forest, and on our side, was the giant hill that I had rolled down from. The climb was filled with large trees and bushes that made it impossible to look further beyond. My body was covered in small cuts and bruises from the fall, but miraculously, I wasn’t too badly injured.

“Where’s Luna and Mayu?” I asked, gazing up at Emi's face. Even though she looked like a child, she was still extremely cute. There was a certain charm about her that seemed to captivate your attention.

“Searching for you.” Emi said, glancing around. “This place is pretty big.”

I closed my eyes, focusing on my breathing. My head was still hurting and my body was aching. I opened my eyes when I remembered something.

“Hey… what are you doing out here anyways?” I asked Emi. “Weren’t you supposed to be at Akane’s place?”

“Yep…” Emi said. “But I decided to follow big sister Mayu after she sneaked off alone.”

“Right…”

“Hey, if I didn’t come, you might had been dead.”

“I guess so.”

“You should thank me.” Emi said cheekily. “For saving your life.”

“Uh… you’re right… thank you…” I couldn’t tell if she was just joking around or not.

“That’s okay.” Emi smiled, once again flashing her cuteness. “You saved my life too.”

“Haha…” I laughed weakly, remembering what had happened. A brief memory of a demonic-looking Emi charging at me with her giant machete and glowing blood red eyes streaked across my mind.

I glanced over Emi’s shoulder and noticed she was carrying a giant mahogany-coloured bag on her back. It looked like it was holding something solid and heavy. There was no doubt in my mind that it was carrying her machete.

“I would like a hug as a thank you though.” Emi said. “You didn’t hug me back last time.”

What’s with her and hugs? I was already feeling uncomfortable from having to lie on her lap and now she wanted a hug?

But she did save me I guess, so I should probably listen to her request.

“Alright.” I said, then lifted myself off from her lap. I was still hurting slightly from the movement, but I felt a lot better after resting while talking to her.

We were sitting down, facing one another. Emi had her legs tucked beneath her, from giving me her lap to lie on, and I was also sitting on my knees. She was staring at me with overwhelming excitement, it looked like it was hard for her to keep still.

I leaned forward, and wrapped my arms around her small frame. Her body felt soft, but my hands touched the bag she was wearing on her back, and I felt the hard, sharp steel of the machete. My body shivered, feeling the blade against my fingertips.

“Yay!” Emi pulled me closer, wrapping her arms around my back tightly. “Thank you, Ryo!”

“Uh… no worries…” It wasn’t like I was doing much. I was just giving her a hug.

Eventually, I pulled away from her when she was satisfied. I glanced at her face. Her cheeks were red and she seemed overjoyed.

“You’re the second person that’s ever hugged me in my life.” Emi said. “The first time was at the apartment when you convinced Luna to hug me.”

“Oh…” I felt bad. I remembered that Emi wasn’t a normal human like me. She was born in a laboratory where she never had the love of parents, family or friends. It all made sense now that I thought about it. Why she acted the way she did.

“Anyways, you should be feeling better now.” Emi said. “Let’s go and find Luna and Mayu.”

“T-that would probably be a good idea.” I coughed, breaking from my thoughts. “Let’s hope they haven’t hurt each other.”

“That would be fun to watch.” Emi giggled. “Although, Mayu stands no chance.”

I raised an eyebrow, but shook my head. Ashens had a different idea of fun, and I guess I had to just accept it for now.

I stood up from the ground, and like Emi had said, my body was feeling much better than before. Emi got up too, and as I was about to walk, she grabbed onto my hand, pulling me in another direction.

“You should follow me, Ryo.” Emi laughed. “This place isn’t anywhere for humans to find their way out alone.”

I nodded, following her lead as she tugged my hand, pulling me along with her as she strolled through the forest, maneuvering past raised tree roots, overhanging branches and thorny plants. It wasn’t unusual for people to die getting lost while hiking, so I was glad that I had Emi by my side.

Emi bounced energetically as she swung our interlocked hands. “You’re the first person I ever held hands with, Ryo!”

I laughed, seeing her cheerfulness. I had a whole different outlook now that I took to mind Emi’s lack of a proper upbringing. I guess I should be more easy on Luna too.

“Hold on.” Emi stopped in her tracks, and I followed suit. She stared in front of us intently, and I waited.

Slowly, a wild boar emerged behind from one of the trees. It didn’t seem to notice us, and was nibbling on the grass near the tree.

“Isn’t that cute?” I laughed, then glanced to my side at Emi. “E-Emi?”

There was a serious look on Emi’s face and the same murderous aura that she had when I first met her was seeping out rapidly. She raised her free hand slowly to the bag behind her back, and her pale maroon eyes were starting to shift colours.

It couldn’t be— she never saw a boar before?

I grabbed onto Emi’s shoulders. “H-hey, get a hold of yourself.”

Emi’s attention broke, and her eyes fell back to its usual pale maroon.

The boar, hearing my voice, turned and saw us, made a weird snorting noise, then quickly darted off to the side, disappearing from view almost immediately. Smart decision.

Emi glanced at me, blinking, her hand still raised to the bag behind her back. She had on a confused look.

“Ryo?” Emi said, lowering her hand. “Why are you staring at me?”

“Hah?” I left my mouth hanging open, perplexed.

Hang on.

Don’t tell me... she suffered from amnesia every time she was about to get violent…

That was when I realised.

I was in an incredibly dangerous situation.