MIRIKITEKI SAT ALONE IN A TREE, not too far from the camp. She was deep in thought after her most recent plan had failed.

"That stupid little girl is royally screwing my plans," she exclaimed to herself, beginning her monologue. "I won't be able to get close enough with her sniffing around like a mutt. The only solution to this thorn in my side is to remove it entirely."

Without a second thought, she pulled out a knife and gazed upon its blade as it glistened in the night. She then stabbed the knife into the bark of the mighty oak within which she had perched herself, watching for her opportunity. She began to laugh, with the extent of this laughter being able to convince anyone around her that she had lost her mind.

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Yukan was sitting in his room, playing chess with Ite, who laid upon his bed, her hair flowing over the sheets like an elegant stream. She was holding a pillow across her lap with her knees up and her head resting on the pillow. Since the fight, she had been completely silent and rarely ever, if at all, made eye contact with Yukan.

"Hey," Yukan began, breaking the silence, "Ite, are you doing okay?"

"To be honest..." she replied, "no."

"I don't know what's going on," Yukan reached out to her, "but I'm going to try my best to understand you and what you're going through. Let me into your head."

"I don't think you're safe here alone," Ite said to him, making something up. This was not the reason why she was in a low spot. Regardless, Yukan began to reassure her.

"Why would you say that?" he beckoned. "I have Zero right next door. His snoring could scare away Kunshu if need be." Yukan cracks a smile but sees that Ite is still rather upset. His reassurances did not seem to work. His smile went back to an expression of worry.

"It's not about Kunshu though," Yukan realized, "is it?"

"No," Ite responded, worrying that Yukan might put two and two together and find out the true source of her woes.

"Then that leaves that Brunnhilde chick," Yukan concluded.

"Yeah..." Ite reluctantly confessed. She had felt that Yukan's target of affection had changed.

"Ite," Yukan returned to a reassuring position. "I would never go for someone like her."

"But why not?" Ite began once more, recalling the argument she'd had with the assassin before she'd tried to stab her behind the barrack. "She's pretty and smart. She's carefree and doesn't hold you back."

"Whoa, whoa," Yukan was baffled by the things Ite was saying about herself. "Where is this coming from?"

"I don't know!" Ite replied out of instinct as she began to sit upright instead of lying down. "I'm just scared that she's going to prance in here and take you away from me."

"What?" Yukan reacted, knowing how strange of an idea that was. "I'd never let her take me anywhere. Ite, you don't have to worry about her. I can protect myself from some field nurse."

"I still think we should have a guard posted outside of your room," Ite continued, still fearing for Yukan abandoning her.

"Now that's just overkill," Yukan said in response, still confused by what made Ite so worried about Brunnhilde. "I have a sword that has magically connected itself with me. I'll be fine."

"No," Ite carried on, "we need-"

"Okay," Yukan said, cutting her off, "what is this really about? You're never this paranoid about anything. I'm getting worried."

"I-I don't know," Ite stammered. Her grip on the pillow in her lap visibly tightened, as if a vice had begun to close itself in on the unsuspecting cushion.

"Has the war got you stressed out?" Yukan asked, trying to help his girlfriend through her predicament.

"No," Ite said once more, her grip tightening further. "It's nothing like that."

"Ite," Yukan began, "what could ever-"

"I don't think you like me anymore!" Ite finally yells out, her hands shaking as her worries burst out. Yukan sat there in stunned silence. He believed that Ite thinking such a thing was insane. There was no way he didn't love her anymore. After slowly gaining his ground once more, Yukan continued.

"Ite..." he began to say, "you are confident." Ite looked over at him, a look of surprise in her expression. She was not expecting Yukan to take this course of action. She'd thought he would say how ridiculous of an idea it was.

"You are gorgeous," the swordsman continued. "You are tough and level-headed. You are a guardian. You protect what you believe in and the people you love. And most importantly, you don't try to stab people behind buildings." Ite let out a giggle at how Yukan had directed the attack against Brunnhilde.

"You're not arrogant or flirty," Yukan carried on. "You are respectful of yourself enough not to dangle yourself in front of others. You are you, and that's all I could ever ask for, Ite."

"Okay," Ite started back up once again, her eyes getting damp from the tears that began to run down her face from the emotion of the current circumstance. "Thank you, Yukan."

"You will always be my number one. Don't forget that, Ite."

"I think I'll head to bed now," the archer said. "I'm feeling a lot better." She then held Yukan in an embrace, a long-overdue hug. They stood there in that position for three minutes. However, that time seemed to fly by for them, as the world around them seemed to stop for them. For a few brief moments, all was fine with the world.

"Goodnight, Ite," Yukan said to her after the hug had concluded. Ite then grabbed the pillow she had gripped onto so tightly and left for her room once more. As the door closed behind her, a small click could be heard. Yukan went to the fireplace, which had been casting it's warm light while they were in the room, and considered putting it out. However, he decided to keep this flame alive.