“Kumori-san...” A soft voice spoke in the darkness. She stood there at the same place where she tried to stop him from going off to war. Ryuu Linok, one of the Dragon Halfas, stood there alone, staring into the darkness again, while the wind made her silky hair swoosh gently. She didn’t take her hazel eyes, one darker than the other, away from that very gate where Kumori once waved his last goodbyes.

“No worries. He'll return.” She smiled a bit. She knows its highly unlikely.
“But how can he survive...?” She whispered, looking down.

“That’s why he left,” she whispered. “To gain strength to do that.” Ryuu wrapped her arms around herself. She only had a black tanktop and dark jeans. Standing there in the wind makes it cold after a while.

‘I don’t want to go back, maybe he’s coming back right now! I mean, if he comes back, I want to be there to... to welcome him! And give him a slap in the face. But... he'll probably snap my wrist again’. Ryuu giggled sheepishly.

Ryuu now shivered. Tears puddling in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away. ‘I’m so stupid... Crying over him, again.’

Ryuu shivered again. Suddenly, she felt something warm on her shoulders. She looked behind her. A gentle smile was seen on a young boy’s face.

“What are you doing, Ryuu? You’ll catch a cold like that.” Daisuke whispered, his hands still on her shoulders.

Ryuu looked surprised, “Daisuke-kun? What are you doing here?”

Daisuke still had a gentle smile on his face, his hazel-green eyes looked even brighter in the dark. It was clearly to see that he wore the same thing he always does; A black long-sleeved shirt and camoflauge pants. He also had his jacket, which was poofy and dark blue. “I could ask you the same thing. I was looking for you. I hadn’t seen you this afternoon-“

She cut him off, “You were worried about me?” She asked, her eyes wide, no one ever worried about her.

Daisuke blushed, scratching the back of his head. “Well, yeah. I mean, this town is pretty dangerous, you know.” He shook of his pink expression by keeping it cool.

Ryuu smiled, a soft expression on her face. “Daisuke-kun... That means a lot to me.”

Daisuke blushed heavily now, “No problem, Ryuu.” He tried to shake his blush off by changing the subject, “So, what are you doing here, Ryuu?”

Ryuus smile disappeared again. “Oh... nothing really...” She turned away from him, looking at where she was staring at before.

Daisuke looked with her, seeing the same as she did; darkness. “Are you... expecting someone?”

Ryuu still looked forward, hiding her face from Daisuke. “No... not really.”

“Ryuu, are you worried about Kumori?” Daisuke didn't like to see Ryuu saddened like this.

Ryuu quickly turned around after hearing his name. “What? How do you-“

Daisuke cut her off, “Ryuu, he's not coming back. Even if he does survive the war, he won't be coming back. They'd keep him at the base camp. Why don't you let me walk you home?” While he said that last sentence, although he was smiling, he had a look of sadness in his eyes. He tried to hide it, of course, but Ryuu could see it clearly.

“Daisuke-kun...” she whispered into the wind.
Ryuu stopped smiling and looked at Daisuke. He seemed to be glowing. “Daisuke-kun...?”

Daisuke stopped grinning, but a smile didn’t left his face, “Mhmm?” He simply replied. The two looked at each other for a while. Neither of them said something, until Ryuu took a step forward and hugged Daisuke.

“Ryuu, what are you-“ Daisuke mumbled, as his crush hugged him, and it felt like she hugged him with everything she had.

“Shhh...” She said, with her eyes closed, listening to his heart beat. “Can we just... stay like this for a while?”

Daisuke smiled, putting his arms around Ryuu, “Sure...” Daisuke smelled the scent of her sweet smelling shampoo. He loved the smell. He wouldn’t mind if they stayed longer like this.

Ryuu sighed, a rather happy sigh. She felt comfortable and safe in Daisuke’s arms, something she would never feel if she would have done this with him when she just met him. Daisuke smelled like Axe. It seemed that this scent relaxed Ryuu, as she inhaled it deeply.

Although neither of them wanted to admit it to each other, they liked this very much. As much as they wanted to stay like this, they knew it had to end soon; it was getting late.

Surprisingly, Daisuke was the one who pulled away, “Ryuu, it’s getting late... Maybe you should go home.”

Nodding, but a little disappointed, Ryuu agreed, “Yeah, I don't ant to get into trouble.”

Daisuke smiled, “I’ll walk you home, ok?” Ryuu nodded, and they walked home together.

No one said something along the way, but they didn’t had to; they enjoyed each others company anyway.

As they walked, they suddenly noticed that they were already at Ryuus house.

“Well, here we are, Ryuu.” Daisuke said as Ryuu walked up to her door.

“Yeah,” She said quietly. She didn’t know what else to say.

Daisuke shuffled his feet a bit, “Well, guess I’ll be going now.”

Ryuu nodded, “Thanks for walking me home, Daisuke. It was really sweet of you.”

Daisuke smiled, “No problem, Ryuu. I’ll see you tomorrow."

Ryuu nodded again, without saying a word. Daisuke began to walk away, until he heard Ryuu call out to him.

“Ah, Daisuke-kun? If... if you don’t have anything planned for tomorrow after school... would you like to come over my house or go to the mall or something?”

Daisukes eyes went wide and the biggest smile was seen on his face, “Yeah, that sounds great.” Daisuke smiled with his eyes closed, “See ya tomorrow, Ryuu!" And with that, Daisuke sped way.

Ryuu let out a little giggle as she saw him disappearing in the dark, before she went inside.

Ryuu giggled, already looking forward to tomorrow. ‘Strange...’ She said to herself.

Just when Ryuu was about to go to her room, she noticed something; “Ah! I still have Daisuke-kuns jacket!” She said, as she took his jacket in her hands. She secretly smelled at it, smiling.

“Looks like, another reason to see him tomorrow.”