The two had been walking for a few hours now. The sunset’s orange color set the room ablaze in dazzling light, refracting from water and crystal alike.

“Doesn’t it look pretty?” Asked Tamatsu, taking in the scenery.

Toumi looked around, then shrugged. “It’s nice I guess,” He answered, “But we still have to get out of the caves. What do you think we’ll find out there?”

“Maybe more monsters? Maybe escaped humans? Either way they’ll no doubt be aggressive.”

Toumi continued walking, no words escaping his mouth. Tamatsu followed behind him.

“Hey… You ok?” Tamatsu followed up her previous words. “If I find a weapon, you won’t have to-”

Toumi looked at her, tears dripping down his face. “If I was brought here to save everyone, why can’t I handle my own power?”

Tamatsu took a moment to think, then held his hand. “We’ll sort it out eventually-”

Toumi pushed her away. “Don’t touch me! What if I kill you? What if when I get home, I kill my parents too?!” He took a breath. “If I can’t control it, I don’t want to put you in danger…”

Tamatsu jumped forward, hugging him.

“It won’t happen," She reassured him. "Listen to me, I won’t let it happen, I promise. Now let’s get out of this cave while there’s still daylight left. Got it?”

Toumi nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. A few seconds later, after Toumi had calmed down, the two continued walking at a reasonably slower pace. The unexpected shift in speed meant they would need to camp inside the caves overnight, and reach the exit the next day.

The two stumbled around the caves, looking for a flat surface to pitch their tent on, and found one next to a small lake after an hour of searching. Tamatsu pitched up the tent, as Toumi stood watch over her, sword drawn.

“Toumi, you can set down the sword. Come sleep.” Tamatsu yelled from her comfortable sleeping bag. Toumi started walking back to the tent, sword set gently on the ground, when he heard a faint dripping. What started as a gentle trickle soon became a cacophony of water upon water. Toumi turned around to come face-to-face with a gargantuan mosquito, towering at maybe 3 stories tall. Its massive wings just barely scratched the cave’s ceiling, and its proboscis was large enough to swallow a car if it wanted to, of course there were no cars in this world, but the size was accurate enough.

“Shi-shit,” Toumi gasped, falling to the ground. The massive insect took a step towards him, and he scrambled for a sword. His hand brushed the sword away, and it clattered into the lake.

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The mosquito took a step towards Toumi, a loud, low, bass-like hum echoing across the walls. He cowers away just as the mosquito leans closer toward him, but nothing happens.

He opened his eyes to see a guy standing over him, holding a sword covered in blood.

“Are you ok? That mosquito looked pretty powerful for a kid like you to fight on your own,” He spoke. “My name’s Kyouko.” He offered to help Toumi up.

Toumi stood up, confused. “Thanks, I guess?” He smiled uncomfortably. “But I gotta go…” He turned to walk away.

Before he could leave, Kyouko asked the one question Toumi knew was suspicious.

“Why didn’t you use your powers, if I may politely ask?” He inquired, trying to act casual and hide his stiff posture.

Their surroundings got quiet for a moment as Toumi processed the comment.

“How did you know? Get in the tent and tell me how you know that.” Toumi furiously replied. “Tamatsu deserves this explanation as much as I do,” He struggled to push Kyouko into the tent and shove him down into a sitting position. If anything, he had let Toumi push him around.

Moments later, the three had a conversation, and ultimately would leave the tent as a group of friends, no matter how much Toumi wished otherwise.

Kyouko was an orphan who worked in a temple, and a goddess had told him to protect Toumi with his life. Toumi was highly skeptical of this newfound group (he preferred to travel only with Tamatsu, hoping he had a chance at a relationship with her.)

“So now I have a tall, edgy bodyguard. What a lovely addition to my life,” His voice wrought with sarcasm. Kyouko smirked at him.

“We should get to sleep now. The exit is close enough. we’ll get there after another few hours of walking.” Tamatsu tried to keep the conversation as nonviolent as possible. Toumi and Kyouko both sighed and went to sleep on opposite sides of their tent.

Toumi awoke to the bright rays of the sun once again filling the cave. Glancing around he could tell he was the only one awake. He stood up to find something to drink, but stumbled. His entire body was sore, like he had spent all night trying to fight something. He shrugged it off as sleeping weird, but still felt it was kind of odd. He pushed his way out to check the cave and see if there was anything worth doing.

The small lake glistened with the rays of the rising sun, blinding Toumi as he walked about. Violets blossomed in the tiny meadow near the lake, and Toumi plucked one, sniffing it, and taking in the sweet, flowery aroma.

“That’s a cute flower, Toumi. Who’s it for?” He heard a voice ask.

“You know exactly who it’s for,” he giggled, turning around to tuck the flower into Tamatsu’s hair, right above her ear. This gesture made her blush, taken aback. Seconds passed with the two flustered individuals waiting.

Until Tamatsu leaned forwards and kissed Toumi. A long, passionate kiss that left his heart rate so high he was dizzy. So this was what love was like?

“Come on Toumi,” She smiled, holding his hand and pulling him to the cave’s exit. “Kyouko is getting impatient. We only have a little while left until we reach the mouth of the cave.”

As they trudged through the cave, Kyouko grumbled angrily about Toumi taking too long to do stuff.

“Toumi, it’s dangerous to go out without someone there to protect you,” He ranted, out of breath. “Please don’t do that again. Please.”

Toumi snickered. Kyouko knew how dangerous Toumi was. Even if he didn’t want to use his power, if it was a life-or-death situation, Toumi clearly didn’t need some fanatic ready to worship his every move.

From what Tamatsu estimated, they would make it to the outside by about midday, meaning it was about a 5-hour walk, which was fine, but Toumi didn’t think Kyouko would make it any easier. And he still had a suspicious feeling about the brooding yet joyful newcomer.