Once Dan said he didn't need the information, Kouta closed her mouth. "Hmmm...well, there's no point in telling you facts you don't need." She smiled slightly. The duo was busy with making food, and Kouta was in an awkward position, not know what to do. She wanted to help Rin, she was adequate at making food, but that didn't require three people. And she had barged in on them.She was surprised how well it all went. Going over to the TV, she touched the side of it. The house wasn't old, but it wasn't new either, and the wiring of the building wasn't the greatest. But a moment after she touched the TV, it turned on.

"Uhh...did you guys already try to turn the TV on?" She kept her hand on it, feeling a slight tingle in her fingertips.

"Yes, I suppose that would definitely be a problem." She agreed, looking thoughtful.

I do know how to pick 'em. Smart and adaptable. I can't give you too much help. Your on your own for a few minutes. the voice spoke, almost as if speaking was draining its very life essence. All of a sudden he felt the presence recede, almost as if it--she wasn't watching anymore. It felt awkward. The feeling that he was being observed had finally disappeared. It seemed as if there were multiple guiding hands in all of this. Omi's mind was in silence for once. The roaring waters that occupied his mind were gone. The pressure he was under was gone.

Fuu seemed to be acting strange, she was usually very sure of herself from what he could infer about her. "I think I know of a better place--if it's still there..." Fuu told Omi hesitantly. He nodded his head as a response and quickly followed. He filled his lungs full of fresh air as ash was kicked up by a strange gust of wind, it was like the bursts of air that had been occuring before. Visions hit hid mind like a brick wall, he stopped for a few moments as the pressure returned to his skull once more. This time not quite as bad.

Much better, now where were we? Ah yes! It seems as if the old coot has taken the reins finally. I can't be doing everything. The voice made absolutely no sense. There were no old people around? The voice seemed to be amused at his confusion. You'll find out soon Omi, you always do. The voice spoke in yet again a very cryptic manner. He followed Fuu quietly, still brooding on thoughts that he dared not speak about. He slowly looked around, the buildings made of contrete shifted, small micro rubble drfited about. Wooden structures groaned, in the distance he could hear birds cawing. Strange, Omi expected the ashen air to ward off the bird population. Animals had a funny way of avoiding disasters.

He walked along. Still curious about their destination.

"Sorry to pry, but where are we going exactly?" Omi asked with an open mind. His ideas so far hadn't been so good. Maybe if he scouted the city better he could've had an answer for the whole shelter problem. As it stood he didn't, but he was glad Fuu had an answer, whatever it may be.

Fuu could hear Omi following after her, luckily believing that she had any idea as to where they were headed. She should have been an actress..They had traveled for at least ten, maybe twenty minutes--south based on her perception--before Omi asked the question Fuu had dreaded,

"Sorry to pry, but where are we going exactly?" His voice showed now signs of distrust--just simple curiosity. That reassured her a little. But, she had no idea as to how to answer him. Fuu bided her time, carefully climbing over what felt like an fairly well crushed car. It allowed her time to reach out to that raspy, inner voice again, Well, you heard him as well as I did. Where are we heading? There was what felt like an unnervingly long pause inside her head, as if the voice was choosing to ignore her. But it was more like, the male voice was focused on the task at hand--and was allowing itself to pause before answering,

There was a low elementary school building south of here from what I saw...I can wander much farther than you can...much faster.. Fuu wasn't sure what he meant by that. The voice was only in her head--wasn't it? The voice sensed her question but chose not to answer it. "It is uphill from here--the air is cleaner there, and the building was build to withstand nuclear attacks..so, I would think it's a safe bet. Fuu contemplated the voice's answer. It made sense. And now that he had said it--she felt as if she had been there before.

Fuu, had managed to land on the other side of the car. Though, none too gently. She jarred her ankle painfully, and sucked in a sharp breath as the joint began to ache. Other than that, she remained silent about the pain, dealing with it in her own quiet way. She cleared her throat and "looked" to Omi,

"There's an elementary school that was built as a fallout shelter south of here." She told him calmly, brushing her bangs from out of her eyes. "if it's intact--and there's a good chance it will be--it's the safest place I can think of to rest a while. It's uphill, so it should be safe if there's a second portion of the eruption.." She told him, using her pole to test the terrain ahead of her. The wind still seemed to be guiding her, tugging her slightly to the left and thankfully, helping her to avoid another twisted ankle. Her pole clattered against something that sounded like it would have been painful to run into. She followed the wind onward, hoping it was right. And wondering what the voice meant by..wandering...

“Guardian Dan, at your service.” Rin heard from beside her and laughed, looking over at said man. He seemed in a good mood, which made Rin in an even better mood. He continued to joke by saying, “I doubt it, maybe it'll turn out to be that your blood is... pretty?”

"Hm, pretty blood? Maybe. Have you turned out to be a vampire like in those silly Twilight novels? I would love to see you sparkle in the sunlight." she laughed and began to cut and peel some fruit. Rin tried her hardest not to cut her fingers off. She handed Dan a few oranges. "Can you peel those Mr. Vampire? I mean, it's not blood but they do taste good."

"Hmmm...well, there's no point in telling you facts you don't need." Kouta smiled slightly, behind the duo. Rin looked back and smiled. "Sure, maybe you could tell us another time." The small nineteen year old then heard small footsteps away from the kitchen and into the living room. She hoped the girl liked fruit, she seemed pretty shy so she probably wouldn't have spoke up if she didn't. If not, Rin could always make something else simple... She wasn't the best chef.

Throwing some strawberries into the mix of fruit, she heard Kouta yell for them. "Uhh...did you guys already try to turn the TV on?"

"We didn't did we?" she looked at Dan and then called to Kouta, "No, it looked pretty sketchy, I didn't want to try it. Why?"

"There's an elementary school that was built as a fallout shelter south of here." She told him calmly, brushing her bangs from out of her eyes. "if it's intact--and there's a good chance it will be--it's the safest place I can think of to rest a while. It's uphill, so it should be safe if there's a second portion of the eruption.." She told him, using her pole to test the terrain ahead of her.

Omi nodded, a very great idea. fallout shelters were designed to withstand earthshaking explosions. Short of the place being covered in lava it was a great idea. Though it was on a hill so the whole lava possibility wasnt a possibility at all. The idea was a very good one. Schools had cafeterias, nurse's offices and lockers for various supplies. It wasn't just a good idea, it was a perfect one. He really was glad Fuu had agreed to let him an Sai tag along, so far Fuu appeared to be the saving grace of their little group.

Omi clambered over the remains of a car, he silently wondered if it was the car that had hit him. There was always a possibility. The thought was morbidly entertaining before he shrugged off the thought and continued to follow Fuu. He slowly looked up and realized they were walking up an incline. That was a good sign if the school/fallout shelter was close. He kept pace with Fuu silently contemplating on conversation. Normal form of conversation would be slightly rediculous. Then a thought hit him like a brick wall. He felt sick to his stomach. All of those kids... gone.... burnt up or buried under a wall of rubble. His face went pale, his eyes turning slightly saddened by the realization. He figured most people had been evacuated.... but there was no evacuation.

He thought about asking for a break, because of the feeling a nasea that had come over him but he stealed himself for what needed to be done. This was survival. Even if that meant swallowing the horror of children buried under the very rubble they walked over. [/i]Enough of these morbid thoughts Omi, our survival hinges on it. These emotions are clouding your mind.[i]

"Thanks for everything Fuu, honestly, I'd porbably be fumbling around in the dark if it wasn't for you. I don't exactly have the best sense of direction." Omi responded with a nervous laugh, trying to forget the thoughts haunting his mind.

Fuu carried on ahead, carefully but at a surprisingly steady pace. Omi had gone quiet after her explanation--which to her meant he had accepted it. But also--something more... Omi's feelings were starting to become more noticeable to her as they continued to interact. Though, he always seemed to keep them to himself, and Fuu wasn't the prying kind--she was still acutely aware of the changes in the scents of the air, the tastes of movement around her.

Sorrow, or perhaps something more along the line of heartsickness began to permeate the space around them. Omi's emotions, she noted, tended to be particularly salty..or maybe he just had a salty aura about him, strange as that might seem. But his sorrow seemed twice as much so, tinged with a scent that she could only compare to garbage rotting on a summer's day. A nauseating, pricking sensation ran its fingers along the inside of her stomach. It was an emotion she neither enjoyed feeling nor sensing from those around her--and she attempted to avoid it if at all possible. But, under the circumstances, she was surprised it had taken someone around her this long to feel this way. She slowed her pace slightly, to allow Omi his time to recuperate from this sudden wave of emotion, and to listen as he spoke up,

"Thanks for everything Fuu, honestly, I'd probably be fumbling around in the dark if it wasn't for you. I don't exactly have the best sense of direction." Omi responded with a nervous laugh, trying to forget the thoughts haunting his mind.

Fuu attempted not to wince at his praise. She was always fumbling in the dark--she simply looked as if she wasn't. She had more practice at it, after all. She gave a small, tired smile and a weak sort of bow as appreciation of his words,

"A kindness for a kindness." She replied simply, softly. She turned away from him again, continuing her walk uphill. The wind seemed to be gathering strength behind her as they proceeded. She caught snatches of conversation from it, some encouragements from the raspy male voice, but others seemed to be trapped bits of the agony of man all around them. Fuu's brows furrowed as she attempted to block them out. The sounds of pain and suffering that her sensitive ears could not seem to ignore.It was then, as the scent of Omi's sadness continued to blanket them that Fuu realized why he felt that way.

The school.

As they traveled closer, his feelings seemed to grow more intense. Though, Sai was walking too far behind them for her to sense, she bet he may even feel the same. The sounds of children crying, carried on the wind came at that moment, sharp and intense for her--though probably unheard for the other two. The children. A school. She realized then exactly what Omi must have been upset about. They would more than likely find the children at this school. There was a faint hope that some had survived, taking shelter in the building. But there was an equally good chance of them being out at recess at the time, or on their walk home. What time had it been when the world turned to ash? She couldn't get her muddled mind to function well enough to tell her. She wouldn't be able to see it--whatever they came upon. Wouldn't be able to see the ground, and if tiny corpses littered it...Fuu froze, finding it suddenly difficult to breathe as her own grief began to surface again. Her knuckled turned white from gripping her pole so tightly to keep her steady as she attempted to regain composure. Yes, that realization must have been exactly the one Omi had had..She turned to face him then, moving suddenly closer to the man and without warning reached out to him, finding his hand to gently grasp it in hers. She found it, almost instinctively, and with a gentleness that hadn't previously surfaced, stroked his hand in a reassuring sort of way. Her eyes looked bigger, wider than usual, and more glassy. Up close, she refused to turn her face to his, but looked away as she attempted to be comforting. Not wanting him to see the vacant emptiness that she was told was behind the blue of her eyes. If she hadn't managed to get it together, she might have actually been crying..but...again, so told herself...now is not the time,

"I know..." she told him softly, patting his hand with her small warm hands. "I know..but...we will deal with what comes ahead of us--all of us together." Fuu had often done this with her friends when they had needed reassurance. And it never ceased to amaze them how in tuned with their feelings she always seemed to be. She gave his hand one last pat, and began the climb ahead once more. The raspy voice seemed to purr at her, soothingly, as she continued.

Omi shivered ever so slightly as he contiued to walk up, whatever was residing in his mind was doing its best to soothe Omi's mind. He took a deep breath trying to silence the burst of emotion. Sadness wouldn't help them, only hamper them. Countless people had died, Omi was a nobody, why couldn't a handful of those kids still be on this earth rather than Omi. He had no family, that he knew of anyway. If he were to die no one would miss him. Those children had families that would have to mourn them. Brothers and sisters that would never be the same.

Omi stopped when Fuu turned to face him, his pale face winced, even someone who had lacked sight was able to see right through him. She gently reached out and grasped one of his worn hands. Her hands were soft, comforting, and welcoming. Those eyes of her seemed to be tearing through any emotional barrier he had erected when encountering her. "I know..." she told him softly, patting his hand with her small warm hands. "I know..but...we will deal with what comes ahead of us--all of us together." Fuu's words seemed to help Omi through what he was feeling. He slowly nodded his head, and grunted in response. Fuu seemed a lot more human to Omi now. It seemed as if she was emotionless for a little while. A small smile here and there, but Omi was being sucker punched bye the situation while she was so reserved. It didn't matter if a stranger or a loved one died in his presence. He was always hit hard by the loss. It never got easier for Omi.

"Losing people, I'll never get used to that horrible feeling." Omi spoke in a distant voice. Contemplating on the people lost to him.

"I'm sorry--Its just... hard to comprehend." So many had fallen, so many more were suffocating under tons of rubble. While Omi was walking to safety.

He continued to walk past fallen buildings, slowly reaching the top of the hill.

Fuu felt Omi's mood calm slightly, ebbing like a tide, receding. The scent in the air became more bearable. The tingling subsided. And Fuu could breathe a little easier. She nodded as she listened to him explain, voice distant.

"I'm sorry--Its just... hard to comprehend." he told her as they continued. She paused, expression soft. The wind fluttered her bangs and hair slightly as she turned to him. Her pole leaned in her hand, looking dull.

"It is sometimes easier,for a while, not to comprehend it..." she suggested in her soft way. After all, that was what she was doing. It made her thoughts more clear and survival more likely. Perhaps this was how soldiers went to war. Shutting down to survive. Doing what must be done and dealing with sticky things like feelings later. She gave a small sad smile, "sometimes, one must be blind...for a while..." It was a dark expression,and grim in its own way, but Fuu tended to have an ironic sense of humor. She was laughing on the inside. So was the raspy male voice.

Dark, and cold? Are you sure you're human? Fuu inwardly grimaced at the voice's comment. And the voice, sensing her hurt, withdrew slightly, apologetically. Fuu buried the feelings once more, moving onward as the winds led her. She could sense the air becoming less thick to breathe as they walked on. And the winds urgency increased, drawing her more quickly ahead as the air grew more clean. They were close. She could feel it. That was when the smell hit her...

Fuu stopped instantly in her tracks, hit by the overwhelming scent of death as it came barreling downhill toward them. She tried to keep it together as best she could--but the rotting, wretched, scent seemed lodged in her sinuses. Doing her best to step out of the way of Omi and Sai, she lost what little water she had drank earlier to the debris beneath her feet. She gagged for a few minutes, hunched over, hands on her knees but she had nothing left in her stomach but bile. Yes..you are human after all... The voice admitted, softly. He reminded her of her grandfather for some reason..the voice sounded old, and apologetic. Like a verbal back rub. Wiping her teary eyes on the back of her sleeve she managed to stand, gathering herself.

Still gasping a bit, she tore the end of her shawl into jagged strips, wrapping one over her mouth and nose, to try and filter out some of the stink. She wasn't sure if the smell had hit the others yet, as her senses were more acute from the lack of sight. She also wasn't sure if the other two had seen her be ill--and was immediately embarrassed at herself. She thought about using her water to rinse her mouth--but worried she may only be sick again and did not. Fuu cleared her throat, swallowing thickly.

"Sorry..."she said, usually musical voice rasping. "Here..." She offered them the strips she had torn from her shawl. "If you don't already...you're going to need these..."

Rin looked over to Dan and couldn't help the stream of laughter that fell out of her mouth. The man just plain sucked at peeling oranges and the girl decided to voice her opinion.

"You know you really suck at doing that." she laughed, grabbing an orange. "It's really simple you know."

She dug her nail under the skin at the top of the orange and pulled down slowly, coming out with a perfect orange. She looked at him and stuck out her tounge. "See?" she joked. Though she didn't admit the fact that it had taken her many years to learn how to do that.

She peeled the rest of it and split it into the little slices. Thinking about it for a minute, she laughed as she asked him, "How about you cut the bannanas? I already have them peeled so no worries."

Awaiting his response, she turned back to the living room and called for the oddly silent Kouta. "Are you all right out there?" she yelled.

Omi treaded carefully, silently not feeling as if he wanted to talk very much anymore. Usually he would be the one offering reassurances, he held strong and continued on. He survived where others had died. He wouldn't waste the life that had been bestowed upon him. It was the least he could do for the ones that didn't make it. A feminine voice in his head mumbled to herself, it sounded like rippling waters. Somehow Omi found it to be slightly comforting. He knew as well as anyone else when someone had your back you could feel more at ease.

A foul smeel reached Omi's nose, he coughed ever so slightly. Surprised by the smell of rot. Fuu coughed up what water he had drank before. Omi winced rushing over to her. She tore her shawl apart and draped it over her nose and mouth to counteract the stench.

"Sorry..."she said, usually musical voice rasping. "Here..." She offered them the strips she had torn from her shawl. "If you don't already...you're going to need these..."

He took them and after he put them on. He put a hand on Fuu's shoulder, and spoke in a comforting tone. "Would you like me to go first? It might get worse. I could maybe, get rid of the smell if I can." Omi spoke softly. The remaining bottles of water he had swirled around in the confines of the bottles. He had a good idea of how to dispose of any bodies. Only a temporary arrangment. As soon as any bodies were moved out of the area Omi would bury them. One at a time. Day by day if he had to.

Fuu felt a cool, heavy hand on her shoulder, comforting and strong. She jumped a bit, thrown off by how close Omi was. She had been too distracted by being ill to realize how close he had gotten--and her pale cheeks flushed with shame and embarrassment.

"Would you like me to go first? It might get worse. I could maybe, get rid of the smell if I can." Omi spoke softly. Gently.Trying to be of comfort. She could hear the pity in his voice, and it made her only flush deeper. She hated pity. It was something her and her twin had shared--a deeply penetrating determination and sense of independence. Fuu shook her head fervently. She had started this leading the way--and they would reach their destination in that way as well. "No...I am...fine to proceed..." She insisted, swallowing hard.

Forgive me--I had forgotten your sensitive senses... The male voice rasped in the back of her mind, sounding genuinely sorry. But you are capable of..cleaning the air...so to speak... Fuu frowned, wondering what he could mean by that. Absently, she rubbed her scarred palm against the cool of her metal pole. It itched for some reason. The wind came again, now from behind them, hard and cold. As if it had come from the tip of an iceberg. Fuu's tattered shawl flapped in the wind, and she shrank somewhat into the folds of her hood, pulling it up against the cold. You, Fuu, can bring the breath of fresh air... The voice told her mysteriously. Did it mean that she was--refreshing? Hardly. It had told her she was cold..inhuman...what could it mean?

Fuu gingerly moved around Omi, pushing onward toward the school. They were obviously close, as that horrifying smell had told her. Though now, with the cold winds blowing from behind them, pushing them forward, the smell faded--if not completely vanishing from her senses. A breath of fresh air? Fuu paused in her climb, looking thoughtful. Could it be--that this wind was...from her? Fuu shook her head, clearing the fuzziness that felt settled in her mind. That wasn't possible. People did not harbor the wind.

We are here... the raspy voice announced as Fuu managed to clamor over the lip of the hill. The land grew suddenly straight and flat. Land cleared for construction. Or...for a playground. The smell was only faint now, thanks to the strange wind, but Fuu was acutely aware of the presence of bodies on the ground ahead. And of the silence...an oppressive, mournful silence. Fuu reached out with all of her senses, trying to feel movement of any sort--any signs of someone alive--but could find none. Fuu felt a pang of sorrow, but buried it for a later time.

"We've arrived..." She told Omi and Sai over her shoulder. "Brace yourselves...things did not go well here..." Fuu wondered, at this height, what would have killed them? Was the air here bad after all? No...more than likely, debris had rained down from the explosion of the mountain losing its top. And crushed their tiny bodies under molten stone...Fuu shivered, wishing it was only the cold wind that gave her the chills.

"No...I am...fine to proceed..." Fuu insisted, swallowing hard. Omi slowly nodded, Fuu was always sure of her self from what he had observed. Probably even more stubborn than Omi was. Then again Omi's thoughts and decisions were slowly seeming more felxable. He calmly rolled his shoulders, his left one ached when he did so. Still he moved on aware of the smeel getting worse along with his sense of dread. He stepped across the field cleared for the playground very carefully. The building seemed intact.

"We've arrived..." She told Omi and Sai over her shoulder. "Brace yourselves...things did not go well here..." Fuu spoke. Omi's eyes went wide as he quickened his pace. He knelt down next to a small charred body, the little boy's eyes stared off into the distance. His lifeless body reminded him of tragic events in his life. Events that had left emotional scars as well as physical ones. He closed the boy's eyes with his right hand. He got up and saw three more. It seemed as if a large rock had landed on the clearing. The shrapnel the rock produced had ended the few fleeing kids that had tried to make it out.

He sheilded his eyes and looked up to see birds circling above them. He would need to bury the bodies soon. The birds would get hungry soon.

"The rest of them must already be buried under the debris." Omi said in a grim tone. He rubbed his face and got to his feet. He continued to walk behind Fuu. Ready to forget what he had just seen. He never would.The memories that were brought about by the bodies seemed to make the presence gasp. The feeling of pity was present. The feeling of shame filled Omi's mind.

“Hey, are you sure you want to trust me with a knife and a banana? You don't know if I screw this one up as well.” Rin looked over as he purposely put the knife on his fingers. “Unless you like to have fingers with your fruit salad.” She watched as he winked and could feel heat rising in her cheeks. Despite that, she tried to keep her head straight.

"Hey," she laughed and pointed one of her own fingers at him. "Your not getting injured quite yet. Not until I sharpen my medical skills, then go ahead! But really Damien, I don't know what I would do without you. As cheesy as that sounds. You took us here, your keeping me safe and I thank you for that. You could have easily left me back there with Fuu, telling me I couldn't come but you let me stay. I mean, I'm sure you would have met Kouta and everything would be fine but I'm here still and things are probably a bit hectic for you." She sighed, it really did sound cheesy. Rambling, of course. "What I'm trying to say is thank you for keeping me around."

She got up on her tippy toes, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. She could feel the blush on her face intensify.

Rin liked him, she couldn't help it. In such a short amount of time she had begun to crush on him like a schoolgirl. Falling for people easily wasn't the best trait, but it was one of Rin's all the same. But who wouldn't like Dan (Aside from Fuu)? He wasn't normal, but that was the most attractive thing about him! He was sarcastic, funny, lazy, his speech patterns were different from others. He was a challenging human being, but Rin liked that about him. Dan wasn't afraid of showing his emotions too, whether he was angry or happy, it could show. He was kind to her of all people, that meant something right? Right.

She went back to peeling the oranges silently, hoping he wouldn't be angry with her actions.

He had placed his hands on her shoulders, his hands felt nice and warm. “I should be thanking you.” he smiled at her softly, she could feel her heart melting on the inside. Which was odd, because she hadn't been okay with the word melt recently, but this seemed okay. “For holding it out with me and my strange personality, I mean.” She had to smile, strange personality... So what? She was odd herself, she could handle it, at least she thought she could until he ducked down and put a kiss on her own cheek. Rin was at a loss for words, mind going blank. “And hey, if I left you on the beach. Who would smack my head whenever I mention you are short?”

With that, he left the room to go talk to Kouta.

She reached up and touched her cheek. It was warm. Of course, it wasn't her first kiss (even on the cheek) but it had felt different with Dan. No she did not believe in that shitty girl nonsense about 'a magical spark that made everything right when her price charming kisses her' absolutely not. Nope, she was more: You kiss me, I kiss you: It means something but it wasn't the most important thing. She honestly thought the little things were better. Like holding hands or hugging, always lasted longer anyways. Rin couldn't explain it though, maybe some answer would come along the way?

"Wait a minute..." She suddenly growled, hand clenching. "He called me small didn't he..."

She finished throwing the fruit into the bowl and grabbed the nearest eating utensils, which happened to be a spork, knife and a actual fork. Not caring for the bowls that she should have brought, she took her supplies and brought them into the living room. The pig-tailed girl set them on the nearest surface, a coffee table, and walked over to Dan.

He was beside Kouta, the fox girl, by the T.V. The nineteen year old looked over to Kouta and smiled at her. "Sorry for this." she said to her and turned back to the male of the group. She raised her fist and slammed it down on the top of his head. "Stop calling me small, you ... You... Vampire!"

Pathetic. She frowned, she would have usually hit harder, or even used a better name. Dan must really have been special to her.

It was rather depressing that the T.V was broken, not that Rin had watched much before hand. The old woman at the shrine had usually watched soap operas or whatever the heck they were, and swooned over men and such. Pointless if you asked her. Anyways, she had chuckled at Dan's whack-a-mole comment and listened as he talked about the T.V. She was sort of surprised when he took a seat next to her. She barely noticed as she leaned a tad closer to him.

“So... 'Stop calling me short, you... You... Vampire!'?” Dan recalled as Rin reached for the knife, stabbing a strawberry with it. “Is there any particular reason for those words? Or was it just a 'spur of the moment thing'?”

"Pfft, when do I ever say anything that isn't spur of the moment? Really, just think about it. I'm very impulsive." she ate the strawberry. She passed Kouta the fork, leaving Dan the spork. She mumbled, "Odd utensils."

She sighed, eating a bit more fruit and standing up. "I feel like going for a walk, stretching and such. If either of you want, you can come. Maybe I can find some magical Unicorn that will heal the town and make things okay."

Rin skipped out the door and raised her arms over her head in a stretch. The girl then began her pointless walk around the house, listening for any footsteps behind her or such.

Yep, Rin was deffinitley a 'spur of the moment' kind of gal.

“Wait up...! I want to see that Unicorn you are going to search for.”

She looked behind her to see Dan running up behind her and laughed a bit, the laugh that sounded like icicles tinkling together to form a beautiful sound. Ah the Unicorn, if only there was one.

“Something on your mind? Aside from your anger at me, having you called a shorty.” he paused and then continued. “Which I am genuinely sorry for. Okay... you can whack me now... I suck at apologizing.”

Rin honestly had no clue why she was walking. Maybe she was searching for something that wouldn't come? Not that there was much to search for in a ruined town. But yeah, she did have a few things on her mind. Her Aunt for one, whom she was sure hadn't survived. She could only hope that she had though, apteral, the woman had raised her since infancy. Also, the whole 'water turning to ice when she touched it' jazz was confusing her. Sure that girl had explained that Rink was going to be using her... Powers... But what did that mean? She would just touch anything wet and freeze it from now? Guess that meant no swimming for her.

The girl clenched and unclenched her hand. Hit him for calling her short.... Or not? It was pretty obvious that she would (and she wanted to), but she oddly changed her mind. Instead, she slipped a cold hand of hers into his and gave it a tight squeeze. Even when she finished her little death-hold, she didn't let go of his hand. Looking up at him, Rink stuck out her tongue. "It's no fun when you expect it coming."

They walked for a bit and she looked at him again. "If I tell you what's on my mind, are you prepared to hear me ramble about some pretty useless stuff?"

He had grabbed her hand back, something she didn't think he would do. His hands were nice, bigger than hers, but she thought that her hands felt good in his. He had joked about trying harder about her 'no fun when your expecting it' comment. She smiled at that, but next time she would remind her self to hit extra hard.

As for her question about useless rambling, she caught him smile a bit, so tiny she almost missed it, but it was there. “Don't worry about it. I would be pretty disappointed if you wouldn't ramble about useless stuff.”

"Disappointed? Well I wouldn't want that, now would I?" she smiled. "What I'm thinking of is sort of a long story, so as you said I can ramble: I will do just that. It all started nineteen years ago when me, the amazing Rin, was born. My Mother and Father weren't... On the best terms, I guess you could say? The thing is, I was one of those 'mistake' children. My parents met at some party. He had a girlfriend at the time, but he ignored her because my mother was actually quite beautiful. They had sex that night and conceived me. All by accident though. When they heard about it, my Father was angry and wanted my Mom to have an abortion." Rin reached up with her free hand to play with her hair. She gave a bitter laugh as she continued, "I guess you can tell she didn't because: Here I am! But yeah, my Father and his parents weren't happy, neither were Mom's. It seemed my parents had fallen for each other though, and decided to run off. They decided to leave me here though. My Aunt took me in, she always wanted a child but was unable to have any. My Moms folks didn't agree, but they shut up after a while. I never got to meet my Grandparents but my Aunt told me they were mean."

She sighed. "When I was eighteen I moved out of my Aunts to live on the Shrine. I talked to her about a week ago I suppose. Before all this crap happened. I guess I'm just wondering if she's okay. I guess not, because really: things aren't;t looking to good right now."

Tears were forming in her eyes, which made her mad. Was she sensitive to death? No. Was she sensitive to the closest person she ever hads death? Of course. She had a feeling her Aunt was gone, which made those tears flow gently down her cheeks. Oddly enough, she could feel them crystallize as they came down her skin.

Looking down at the ground, Rin bit her lip. "My life story in a nutshell, other than not mentioning I had a fetish for sticking things up my nose when I was three. And here I cry. God I'm pathetic, aren't I?" She laughed a bit at herself.

She knew the answer and stayed quiet. Rin felt ashamed for crying in front of Dan, Honestly, she thought she was stronger than that.

She had never had someone comfort her other than her Aunt. It was odd. Foreign even. To hear with her own ears, Dan trying to keep her positive. It made her cry more, though not in the sad, heart broken way. More of the happy crying, the type where you can't help but smile. Rin stopped walking and faced Dan, her eyes shinning with tears.

"Thank you." she sniffed and laughed. She let go of his hand and engulfed him in a hug, resting her head against his chest. She could hear his heartbeat, a strange but melodious sound. The girl whispered, so soft that she could barely hear it herself, "For a few moments. Let me stay here for a few moments."

It was the most peace she had felt for a while. Before the eruption as well. The feeling of having another close body beside her made her happy. Fuu had talked like she didn't like the fact that she was so trusting, but if she wasn't, where would she be now? Definitely not there, with Dan. So damn right she will be over trusting!

"Dan, thank you for listening to my idiotic sob story. I just... I trust you greatly. Which is odd for the fact that we only met about a day ago? Maybe even less than that." She laughed.

Had her mother and father been like this? She remembered her Aunt saying that they had fallen in love within three hours of being together. Not that she was saying she was in love! H-Heck no! She thought love developed over a series of time and odd situations. What? Love wouldn't be fun without odd situations!