---Tsuki's P.O.V---

I open my eyes to find myself covered in King's jacket. I'm full size again! But my clothes...I see them neatly folded on the bedside table. I put them on and walk outside. I have bandages and a slight headache. I wonder why. I walk through the forest to see King and Ban training. I hold the jacket closer.

"You think I can't handle it, King? Now take this seriously. Like you're trying to kill me." Ban yells at him.

"Why should I be trying to do that?" King responds.

"I wanna get better fast. Gotta crush the Holy Knights and take back the kingdom as quick as we can!" He says and jumps up, grabbing King's head and throwing him down to the ground. King yells in surprise but catches himself before he can hit the ground.

"Take back the kingdom? Never thought I'd hear you say something like that." He laughs. "I always figured you didn't care about anyone but yourself." He adds.

"And weren't you the same way?" Ban asks.

"I suppose so." He crosses his arms and leans back into his pillow. "But in my case, I have a special objective which is to take care of Tsuki." He continues. I blush. He's just so sweet.

"I have one of those too. Save the kingdom, then I can take the Trumpet of Cernunnos. Seems like a pretty good reward to me." Ban says. My eyes widen. Why would he want that? Unless...

"You want the Trumpet of Cernunnos? That's a ritual device used to commune with the Goddesses! I don't get it. Why would you-Wait," He realizes Ban's objective. Elaine.

"Yeah. I'll call on 'em, and make them bring back Elaine!" Ban says. King just stands there. "So keep 'em coming! Bring it!" Ban yells. King smiles and mumbles something. Ban looks really distressed.

"You're worried about the Captain, aren't you. Deep down, I feel the same way." King flies to the ground. "I saw how the Captain looked, it was like-" Ban interrupts him.

"Go ahead! Say it! Just one more word, and I'll knock your teeth out!" Ban grabs him by the collar.

"B-but, you see it too. Don't you?" King protests.

"The Captain isn't a damn thing like that! Something like that, just can't be true." Ban says angrily. Ban starts talking about his life story. He reminds me of myself. "Ever since the day I was born, people everywhere steered clear of me." Every time I wanted to talk to the 'normal' children, I was shunned and driven away. But, after I joined the Eight Deadly Sins, I finally found friends. I step out and yawn. Ban relaxes. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." He rolls his eyes.

"Hi..." I yawn again. King rushes over to me and gently touches my head.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me.

"My head only hurts a little bit. What happened?" I ask.

"Well, when you were still tiny, you were all depressed and sitting in King's jacket, waiting for him to wake up. When he did, I think it surprised you and you fell down and hit your head. Not soon after, you returned to your normal size. Oh man, you should have seen King! You outgrew the tiny dress, and he almost passed out from a huge nosebleed. Then, he gave you his jacket to wear and we carried you back to the tavern. Well, Captain did because King couldn't. Also, he wants to talk to you later." Ban explains and starts laughing at King. Our faces go red.

"T-thank you for your jacket." I say, taking it off.

"N-no, you can wear it for a bit longer." He says.

"But it's a bit too big for me..." I say, putting it back on. He just waves his hand around. "Alright...I'm going to go talk to Meliodas for now. See you later!" I wave and walk around trying to find him. I find him sitting by a river, with a petal in his mouth. "Hi, Meliodas." I say, walking up to him. He spits it out.

"Hey." He says and I sit down next to him. "How're you feeling?" He asks, gesturing to the bandages on my head.

"My head only hurts a tiny bit. I heard about what happened. Thanks for carrying me." I say.

"No problem." He shrugs.

"You wanted to talk?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm really really really sorry about what I said. I totally spilled your secret. But I was drunk and I couldn't control what I was saying." He apologizes.

"It's okay. No one really cares, so I guess that's good. We've all got our own stories to worry about. I'm sorry for scratching you. I just got really mad." I apologize too, looking away. I don't want to look at him. Because every time I do, my heart still skips a beat sometimes. I don't know why...

"It's cool." He nods. "So, I still love you." He says. I freeze. What? "Want to get back together?" He asks.

"Well, first of all, when we were in a relationship you never paid that much attention to me. You were always all over Elizabeth." I say.

"It'll be different this time, I swear." He says. I shrink away uncomfortably.

"And...I'm kind of dating King now..." I look away.

"Oh." He says calmly and picks up a stick and slashes a mountain in two. He jumps down into the drained river and starts walking.

"Meliodas..." I call out quietly. He walks down into the hole he created. I follow but stop outside the entrance. The other sins and Elizabeth show up. We watch him walk down.

---timeskip----

Elizabeth and I are going out to advertise the tavern and do some shopping.

"Alright! We're going now!" I smile and wave.

"Be careful!" Meliodas smiles.

"Elizabeth, if anything happens to Tsuki, just rush right back here and tell me, okay?" King tells her.

"Or me." Meliodas adds quietly.

"Okay, King!" Elizabeth adds, clearly not hearing Meliodas. I walk down with Elizabeth, putting the tavern's flyers over the wanted posters. "I'm curious, has Sir Meliodas ever carried a real weapon?" Elizabeth asks aloud.

"Don't ask me. Not since I've known him." Hawk says.

"Yeah, he has. He was really strong with it too." I shrug.

"Wow. But he's always carrying around a sword with a broken blade. I wonder why he-" She starts but I cut her off.

"Elizabeth! Find cover!" I say quickly as Holy Knights ride into town. We hide behind bushes as they pass.

"They're Holy Knights!" Elizabeth says.

"You think they've already sniffed you out?" Hawk asks.

"Hmm. So Holy Knights have senses of smell as sharp as an animal's, huh?" Someone says from behind us.

"No way man, my nose is way better than all of theirs." Hawk says. Wait, who's behind us?! We spin around in surprise.

"Hey. Are the two of you playing hide-and-seek as well?" A man asks. He has green hair and gold eyes with glasses. He looks familiar...

"Uhh..." Elizabeth starts.

"I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself first." He gets up. "Hello there, young ladies." He bows to us.

"Hello." We say.

"And also, oink oink oinkity-oink." He says to Hawk. I almost laugh.

"Hey! Are you making fun of me?!" Hawk yells.

"Oh! There's a pig who can speak like a person!" He says in surprise.

"I guess it is startling at first, isn't it?" Elizabeth smiles.

"Don't tell me those guys from the kingdom are after you too." Hawk says.

"Hold on, too?" He asks. "Are they after you and that creature?" He asks us. Hawk grumbles something. We walk away from town with him. "I'm Alan." He introduces himself.

"I'm-" Hawk interrupts her.

"Hold on, Elizabeth. Fugitives shouldn't tell people their names." Hawk says. I face palm. Now he knows.

"Yes, you're right Hawk!" She says determinedly. Even worse.

"You're Elizabeth and Hawk?" He asks.

"Oh no! I just blew our cover! I'm so sorry Elizabeth!" Hawk cries.

"It's good manners to share names. They're only used in conversation." Alan says and is hit in the face by a flyer. It's a poster of Elizabeth. "I can get money for you?" He asks. "Only kidding."

"Mr. Alan, do you need money for something?" I ask.

"What I really need, is some glue to fix armor." He says. "But it's not as if that will really help. There's someone suffering, and I'm not sure what it is I should do. Or what it is I should say. Or what kind of look I should have on my face. It's not written in any book." He explains.

"There's nothing you can do, but you still wanna try...I understand. Especially if it's someone you cherish." Elizabeth says. I look sideways at her. Is that how she feels?

"I'm not sure what you mean." Alan says.

"Isn't this someone you love?" Elizabeth asks.

"Let me see...Someone I love...The word is best described by harboring a strong feeling toward another. Do you have someone like that too?" He asks. Elizabeth blushes and I nod.

"No...I uh..." Elizabeth struggles for words.

"I don't feel like our relationship's like that." Alan thinks aloud.

"R-really?" Elizabeth asks.

"Then...a friend?" I suggest.

"A friend..A companion..." Alan looks lost in thought. He excuses himself and leaves.

"I wonder what that's about." I say. All of a sudden, my ears turn into a different direction. King's in trouble. "Hawk! You stay here with Elizabeth! Run to the tavern and keep her safe!" I order and sprint to where King is. Wait...this is the direction where Alan went. I knew there was something up. How curious...I hear a loud roar. I need to run faster! I come to a giant crater to see a monster, Meliodas grabbing Ban's arm, King, and a pink haired guy. "Uhhh what's going on, guys?" I ask. The pink haired man turns around.

"From your scent, your tone of voice, and your slightly altered appearance, I take it you're the Cat Sin of Curiosity, Tsukiko?" A very familiar voice says.

"Gowther?" I ask. He nods. So that's what he looks like.

"Tsuki?! What are you doing here?! Go back to the tavern!" King yells at me.

"No." I shake my head.

"Yes! You're going to get hurt!" He argues. I shrug.

"That's okay." I say nonchalantly. King just stares and I watch as Ban rips the monster's heart out.

"Ban...why did you kill him?" Meliodas says angrily.

"All I did was bring the curtain down on some crappy life of a guy who turned into a monster. Trust me, I did him a favor." Ban rolls his eyes.

"What?!" Meliodas yells.

"Both of you, look!" King says and we all look at me man. "I think he's whispering something!" King says and I pay attention. He dies and the monster rages.

"What is this? I know I ripped his heart out! Damn. So he's a demon too?" Ban asks angrily.

"Tsuki, I'm begging you! Please get out of here!" King looks at me pleadingly.

"Why?" I narrow my eyes. I'm not weak.

"You're hurt, you can't fight with your head like that!" King yells, gesturing to my bandages. I rip them off.

"I'm not weak!" I yell. I hate that people think I'm a weak little girl. Meliodas looks at me furiously.

"Get out of here!" He yells at me. The demon swipes at me and I barely dodge.

"Leave!" King yells at me and gets hit with acid, falling to the ground.

"Sir Meliodas!" Elizabeth yells. Why's she here? She throws a sword. "It's not that Liz wanted you to fight, she wanted you to live! Don't you understand?! You're someone who stands up for what he believes in! And if that's your sin...then I'll carry that burden with you!" Elizabeth yells. Liz...

"Are you fine with that? Making a woman to go that far to..." Ban never finishes his sentence because Meliodas jumps up to face the demon. He cuts it to pieces and they fall to the ground. Meliodas stands there, sheathing his sword.

"That was amazing, Captain!" King smiles.

"Impressive." Gowther says, carrying King on his back.

"Hey King, sorry about that." Meliodas says, talking about his injuries.

"No problem. I can take it." He smiles.

"I knew you could pull it off, Captain." Ban says and walks over to the human part of the demon.

"A human transforming into a demon...is that really possible?" I ask. Ban pulls something out of the human.

"No way! Do you think they created a man-made demon?" King asks.

"Guess so. And they used a Holy Knight to do it." Meliodas says.

"But that means someone had to go behind the backs of two Holy Knight Grand Masters..." I trail off. Or not... "Could it be true?!" I ask in surprise.

"Yeah. And there's a good chance that a Holy Knight Grand Master is involved." Meliodas turns to me.

"Then it's either Dreyfus...or..." I trail off.

"Hendrickson." Gowther interrupts.

"Did you figure something out?" Meliodas asks.

"Yes. The person likely to be involved in this incident is Holy Knight Grand Master Hendrickson." Gowther says.

"I'm getting hungry. So let's head back." Ban says.

"Yeah, Diane must be getting worried too." I say, turning around to leave with Ban. I step on my right leg and almost wince. It hurts. I must have hurt it doing the fight. But I can't show it. I'm not weak. I walk with everyone and King stares at me out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you doing?" He asks me. I stop.

"What do you mean?" I ask, looking up at him.

"You're hurting. Why are you walking?" He asks me.

"No I'm not." I lie. How does he know? I spin around, trying to show off how not weak I am, crying on the inside and smiling on the outside.

"Hmm." He says. He picks me up in the air with his magic. "Now, we'll really see." He says and drops me on my hurt leg. I cringe, waiting for the impact. It doesn't happen. I open one eye to see him staring at me. "Don't lie to me, I can tell." He says and puts me on his pillow next to him.

I try to drop down but he doesn't let me.

"Stop it! Let me down!" I try but he holds me in the air.

"No. You're only going to hurt yourself." He says, staring at me with a bored expression on his face.

"I'm not weak!" I yell. I can see Meliodas and Ban looking at me. I don't care. "It's not fair! No one acts like this when Ban gets hurt! Or Meliodas! Or Diane! Or you! It's all because you have special powers! I'm not giant like Diane, or capable of regeneration like Ban, or super powerful like Meliodas, or have a super great magical ability like you! All I have are these useless claws. Everyone trusts that you guys are going to be alright, so we leave you guys alone. But when I get hurt, the world ends! I understand you guys being like that with Elizabeth because she's a super important princess and isn't as strong as us, but not me! I'm not so weak that you have to look after me all the time!" I yell at him, tears forming in my eyes. It was the same in my village too. I was always the one needing to be looked after. I was the youngest, and always underestimated. It's almost funny, how you leave me alone for a second and I completely ruin everything. I'm not like that anymore. Surprised by my outburst, King drops me. I hit my leg but don't cringe at all. I display no emotion and keep walking, my leg on fire. I can see King reach out to me from behind, but I turn away. I'm sick and tired of everyone calling me weak. We walk back to the tavern, my face hardening along the way. I'm never going to be considered weak again. I'll make sure of it.