DISCLAIMER; I own nothing but the plot.

So I've been reading these stories, and they're really good and really long, and it totally makes me lose my motivation to write. But, I'm pushing through and writing when I can so I can get this chapter out to you guys before you forget about me. :P

Also; writers block sucks. x.x

Enjoy~

General POV

"King," a guard called, followed by a group of others. "We have an important matter to discuss with you."

The King, clad in expensive silk, sat atop his golden throne. He looked down at them and asked, "Yes?"

The front guard hesitated before answering him. "We've discovered a fire user. We pursued him until he turned his magic on us and killed one of our men. His location is currently unknown."

The King gasped at those words. "W-what?! We can't have him running around! Don't you know just how dangerous he is? Out of all the magic types, fire is the most destructive! How on earth did you manage to lose him?"

The guards, who had been standing straight, suddenly shrank back and glanced at each other. "Well," the front guard started.

"We ran before he could kill the rest of us," one towards the back called, flinching once the King set his sight on him.

He continued glaring at the guards until he finally broke the heavy silence. "Well, I suppose we do need as many of you as we can get. Gather the others and immediately start a search."

The guards, happy to have been forgiven, quickly nodded and left to do as ordered.

The King smirked once he was alone. "Try to overthrow me, huh? If only you could see what's coming."

Len POV

About a week had passed since me and Rin went to the park. My leg, despite the small stinging here and there, had been doing much better than before. I sat on my makeshift bed on the floor, pulling on the shirt Rin had gotten me from her dad.

The door suddenly opened, and I spun around to find Rin. "They're gone," she said, turning around to bound down the stairs. I smiled, finally being able to head downstairs and not be stuck in a cramped little room.

I followed after her, turning into the kitchen to get a bite to eat. Having found my food of choice—a banana—I sauntered to the living room, plopping down on one of the small loveseats opposite of Rin.

"Luka and Gakupo are coming over today," she said.

I stared blankly. "What?"

"Luka and—oh wait, you weren't conscious," she sighed. "They helped me bring you here, so they know you're here. They don't know my parents don't know, though, so we have to get to them before they can come over."

"And I'd get kicked out if we didn't, right?"

"Right," she confirmed, nodding.

I stood up to throw away my banana peel. "So, what do we do? Are we going to their house?" I called from the kitchen.

"Well, yeah. That's the plan," she stated.

"Let's go, then."

We started down the road, walking past a couple of abandoned shops.

Must have been run by fellow magic users, I thought, bowing my head a bit in respect to them and their families.

Rin stopped us in front of a small, brown house accented by a flourishing garden. She opened the gate and ran to the door, knocking loudly a few times. After a moment of silence, a tall woman answered the door. She wore a black vest outlined in gold, along with a matching skirt. Her gold boots covered half of her legs.

"Rin!" she exclaimed, flipping her long pink hair before noticing me. "And…" she paused for a second, suddenly growing wide-eyed. "Oh, it's you!"

She stepped aside and gestured for us to come in. I hesitated at first; mistakenly thinking of all the things that could happen, which, of course, put me even more on edge.

After sitting us down on the couch, she ran to another room, muttering something along the lines of "Hold on."

She came back, pulling the arm of a strange man. His purple hair was tied back into a tight ponytail that reached past his back, and he donned a white haori jacket with purple accents on the sleeves and back, as well as white hakama pants.

"Look who's here," the woman chirped, sitting down as well, moving a bit for the man.

"It's good to see that you're leg's doing fine," the man said, looking at me. I nodded. "My name's Gakupo and this is my wife, Luka." The said woman smiled.

"My name's Len," I replied.

"So," Luka began, "what brings you two here?"

"You guys are coming to my parents' today, right?" she asked for confirmation.

"Right," Gakupo nodded. "And?"

"Can I ask a favor," Rin started, "please?"

Luka and Gakupo exchanged glances before both saying, "Go ahead."

I started before Rin could say anything, feeling it would be the polite thing to do. "Do you mind not telling Rin's parents about me? She warns me of how overprotective they are—" they laughed in understanding "—and although I would leave to prevent her from getting in trouble, I don't have much of a choice." I kicked my bad leg forward in annoyance.

"Well…why not?" Luka asked, tilting her head in confusion.

I blinked, opening my mouth to say something but deciding against it. They hadn't a clue about magic.

"His parents died, and he doesn't have any family left," Rin blurted, saving me.

They were quite for a moment. "Oh," Gakupo finally said.

"Well, we would let you stay here, but we don't have any open bedrooms, and I know these loveseats aren't satisfactory. We'll stay quiet about it, but you'll have to tell them sooner or later, yeah?"

"Yeah," we agreed, "thank you so much." We stood to leave, Rin leading me to the door.

"Thanks again!" Rin yelled from the doorway.

"No problem," I heard them yell.

We walked to the gate, unlocking it and starting back home.

"I'm glad they understand," I smiled. "I can't imagine what'd happen if they hadn't."

Rin looked up at me before turning her gaze to the road once again. "Yeah," she said, "they're a pretty cool couple. You can count on them for anything; they'd have your back no matter the circumstances." She paused for a moment. "What now? Want to head back, or do you want to do something?"

I shrugged. "Want to walk around a bit?"

She smiled up at me. "Sure. I know this trail going through the woods, being we can't really walk around town too much."

She made a U-turn, walking down the road to a small opening covered by a vast array of trees and vines. I, being the klutz I am, had a great time trying to maneuver around all the greenery. I eventually emerged, a small dirt trail underneath my feet.

It was beautiful. The sun shined through the leaves just right, and the trail, despite being hidden, was clear of fallen branches and things of the sort. Rin skipped ahead of me, stopping about 30 feet away.

I was about to catch up before I vaguely heard a couple twigs snap. I abruptly stopped, causing Rin to walk a few feet before noticing.

"What is it?" she inquired.

"Shh," I whispered to her, putting a finger over my lips.

We stood still, listening for about a minute before I heard more twigs snapping disturbingly near. I ducked down, grabbing Rin's hand and pulling her with me behind a bush.

Rin trembled a bit, obviously frightened by the sudden happening. I turned my head to look at some brush that had been rustled, the leaves shaking from the movement of something.

To my surprise, a small fox ran out, a small bird hanging out of its mouth. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding in relief, standing up and helping Rin to her feet. I wiped some grass off of my clothes before I spoke. "Sorry. I'd thought it'd been guards."

"I understand," she said, starting to walk again. I followed after her. "I don't think they'd come here, though," she continued. "It is a hidden trail, after all."

I was still skeptical. "But, if you found it, then couldn't they?"

She thought for a moment. "Good point."

We eventually ended up on a small road—Rin, not skipping a beat, sharply turned to the left, directing us back home. We decided to keep to the outskirts of town; keeping in mind the trouble we could be in if we did otherwise.

She stopped at the entrance of an alley. "Do you mind waiting here for a few minutes? I need to get some stuff at the store."

"Go ahead," I nodded.

"Thanks!" She smiled, turning to run towards the small shop a few feet away. I walked into the alley, sliding myself down a ways from the entrance, looking up at the clear sky. My black hoodie hung loosely over my shoulders.

I don't know what to do, I thought. I'm enjoying being with Rin—she's funny, and can lift me up when I'm down, like that incident at park. But then again, if I stay with her, there'll likely be trouble. I don't want her to get hurt.

I picked up a nearby stick, poking at the ground with it. I sighed loudly. There's so much shit to deal with.

In the midst of my thinking, I hadn't noticed Rin walking back carrying a couple of bags.

"Len," I jumped up, holding the stick up like a knife. Once realization set it, I lowered it down.

"Oh, it's just you," I sighed, dropping the stick to the ground.

"Yeah." She didn't move. Instead, she asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said, "why?"

"Well, when I walked over, you looked pretty upset. Also," she pointed to the stick I'd dropped, "you were stabbing at the ground. Thinking of something?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "But I'm alright. Let's just go." I took the bags from her and started walking. She reluctantly followed.

"I could have gotten those," she said, peeking her head into my view.

"Yes, you could have. But I'm the guy," I said, rolling my eyes.

Once we found our way back—and carefully making sure no one was home—I found myself not wanting to do anything. The thinking and contemplating what may happen had ruined my happy mood. Not wanting to interact, I went to bed early—drifting off to sleep with thoughts of resentment swirling around my head.

I'm not too big on this chapter; I may rewrite it in the future.

I'm also never promising anything ever again; I'd said I would update more regularly, but writers block happened soon after that. Sorry! x.x

Here are the reviewers from last chapter;

Rumi Amano

ZanyAnimeGirl

YukkiMalin

ShadowPrincess02

"w" (I think you should get an account, even if you don't write. I made one before I attempted writing, and I just liked having an account to review and favorite on… I dunno, do whatever you like. Just throwing it out there :)~)

Ozora-Chan

Thanks for the feedback! I hope to hear from you again!